1024 - Childhood Friend of the Zenith

# The World's Greatest: Childhood Friend - Chapter 1024 "No." "......" The word I uttered made Yeongryeong freeze. Even with a face veil, I could tell her expression was one of disbelief. "What do you mean... by that...?" "Just what it sounds like. No." I scratched my cheek, sensing her confusion. "I understand the situation well." I understood everything—the peaceful surroundings disrupted by the appearance of a leader, and the prediction by the Master of Myriad Worlds of a savior who would resolve it all. I had a suspicion that the so-called savior might be me. "I get that. But I'm not a volunteer." Regrettably, a savior was something I was not. "I'm not the kind of person who helps just because someone asks." "What...?" Yeongryeong seemed taken aback as if she couldn't fathom the idea of not being rescued. "So... what do you want?" "That's for you to decide," I replied with a chuckle. "I don't have any particular desires from your side. But at the same time, I don't want to offer something for free." I shifted my gaze to check the entrance I came from. "Think of something that could persuade me. If I am satisfied, maybe I'll provide the salvation you ask for." "Oh... great being..." Yeongryeong urgently bowed her head again. "How do I get back in if I step out?" I asked Yeongryeong, not bothering to address her reaction. "......Pardon?" "I need to step out briefly. How do I re-enter?" "......" "I have businesses outside of this place too. I intend to return, so answer me clearly." "To leave... follow the path to find the exit. Returning is also through that exit, re-entering through it... However." "However?" "If it becomes night... the entrance will close until dawn, preventing re-entry." "Oh, is that so? Good to know." I wasn't planning on staying till nightfall, so it wasn't a problem for me. "Then, I'll head out for now." With that, I started walking towards the path, glancing back at Yeongryeong. "Consider what I mentioned." "......Ah-" Yeongryeong tried to add something, but I didn't listen as I continued on. With a whoosh, flames enveloped my body as I shot down the path. As Yeongryeong mentioned, following the path led to something resembling an exit. Though there appeared to be a guard, I paid no mind and charged through. "Hm?" With a fiery flare---!!! "Urgh!?" Before the guard could react, I turned into flames, passing through him. I reached the door, grabbed it, and pulled it open. With a loud creak---!!! "Ah! What the-!" The guard reacted belatedly, but I had already opened the door wide enough to slip through. Before the guard approached, I leaped outside. With a flare, my flame-covered form exited the Devil's Cave. Floating in the air, I took another look at the rocky mountain. The mountain remained unchanged. Nothing but rock was visible. Feeling that, I moved immediately. There was something I needed to check on. * * * With a woosh----!!! Flames roared, spreading countless branches. Moving furiously, the flames spewed out a rough orb. Inside, thin strands of flame burst and spread in all directions like the branches or roots of a tree. Gradually, they engulfed their surroundings, expanding meticulously and extensively. This was the alternate form of the flames' sensory perception. I could detect my surroundings with greater precision and delicacy. The sense crafted from flames engulfed most of the Devil's Mountain. "Hmm..." Endless information flooded into my mind. I scrutinized each detail, narrowing my eyes. Although there was a sheer volume of data, it was not much different from the night before. 'Still nothing.' The presence of life forms remained minimal. Other than the presence within the Devil's Cave. 'It remains the same.' Outside of that, there was no sign of life at all. Should I extend it further? I pondered, but then shook my head. With a rapid swoosh---!!!!! The extended branches swiftly retracted back into my body. Covered in flames, they all soaked into my heart, and only after gathering the scattered energy could I halt the flames. "Hmph..." I chewed on my thumb. "What is it?" Understanding eluded me. The mountain, of course, but more importantly— "……The leader's whereabouts are unknown." The leader I fought last night showed no trace or presence. "I wanted to confirm it." I thought if I could spot him during the day, I could deal with him more easily. That was why I ventured outside. 'Where has he disappeared to?' The presence of the leader, which had been so palpable last night, was now nonexistent. Had he vanished into the ground or risen to the sky? Or perhaps he left the Devil's Mountain altogether. 'Is this due to some power?' I didn't think it was merely a temporary absence. If the leader could move only at night, as Yeongryeong indicated— 'He probably arranged things so there's no threat during the day.' It seemed there was a mechanism set in place to counter any daytime threat. "Tsk." I clicked my tongue in disappointment. As expected, there was no easy way out. If that's the case— 'I must verify again at night.' When the moon rose and the leader took action, I needed to confirm things once more. 'Is it possible?' The leader had known my location instantly last night, so I figured there might be some mechanism for that as well. # The World's Greatest: Childhood Friend - Chapter 1024 ‘Otherwise, it would be impossible.’ No matter how I thought about it, it didn't make sense that my whereabouts were simply discovered through extraordinary sensory perception. ‘There must be a secret.’ There seemed to be some mystery behind the leader's power. This applied not only to their exceptional senses but also to why their presence couldn't be felt now. "... Let's leave it at that for now." I was about to take a break from searching for the leader and deal with the reason I had come outside. "What are you doing?" "Whoa, what the—!" A voice startled me out of nowhere. "Jeez!" It was the Heavenly Demon who had addressed me. "Could you at least make some noise when you approach? You scared me!" "Sorry." She replied nonchalantly to my complaint, without a hint of remorse on her face. 'Damn it.' How long had she been there? I hadn't realized the Heavenly Demon was approaching. Maybe she appeared when my senses were temporarily dull from retracting my aura? If so, it did make sense. ‘... Could it really be because of that?’ I wondered if that was truly the reason. "... Where did you go again?" She had disappeared suddenly and reappeared just now. She had done this often before, but it felt strange now. This wasn't even the volcanic sect. Where could she have gone? The Heavenly Demon answered my query with her usual blank expression. "A walk." "You call that an excuse? If you're going to make stuff up, at least try to make it believable." It was a suspicious claim. "...I'm serious." "Bull. Do you think this is a place you can just stroll around?" Going for a walk in a place filled with nothing but rocks seemed laughable. "Be honest. What were you really doing?" "..." The Heavenly Demon didn't respond. I frowned at this. "No answer?" Already in a situation where I couldn't help but be suspicious, I was growing frustrated with her silence. What was she up to? Was she really up to something behind my back? Just as I was about to confront her— "... I was searching." She said she had been searching for something. "Searching? For what?" What could the Heavenly Demon possibly be looking for here? Was she searching for an unusually shaped rock? "The thing we saw yesterday. I went to find it." "Saw yesterday... Are you talking about that creature?" Was she talking about the leader? But why would she be searching for it? Puzzled by the odd words, I spoke with a furrowed brow. "No, not that." The Heavenly Demon shook her head in denial. If it wasn't the leader, then what was it? "Something else." "Something else...?" Ah? It clicked. "You mean the one you mentioned that was hiding?" "Yes." During my battle with the leader, the Heavenly Demon had mentioned someone lurking and observing. That was why she whisked me away during the fight, she had said. ‘She’s been searching for that?’ Was the lurker still around, hiding somewhere? But— "Are you saying my sensory perception didn't catch them?" I had just spread my senses everywhere. If there had been a hidden presence, it meant my perception had failed to detect it. As I was about to swallow nervously at the unnerving idea— "But it wasn't there." What she said brought an involuntary sense of relief. Feeling that, I scrunched up my face. 'Idiot, why are you relieved?' Why did I feel reassured by her claim that she didn't find anything? It was ridiculous of me to believe her so readily. I was about to smack my own forehead for this absurd thought. "Why are you out here?" The Heavenly Demon asked me. "What?" "Why are you outside?" It seemed she was asking why I had left the Devil's Cave. "For a similar reason as you." I replied, implying I had something to look for. Whether that something was the leader or anything else. And more importantly— "It’s kind of unsettling in there." The Devil's Mountain, where Yeongryeong resided. For some reason, that place made me uncomfortable. It was absurd that they expected salvation from me, but aside from that— ‘There's something there.’ There was something about the Devil's Cave and Yeongryeong. I came to that conclusion. After all, ‘That entity they call Yeongryeong.’ The entity said to be born in the likeness of its master definitely— ‘Is hiding something from me.’ While appearing to display utmost courtesy, they were hiding something from me behind that front. It left me with an unsettling feeling.