1204 - Childhood Friend of the Zenith

"Father..." Upon hearing those words, father's expression turned strange. The trembling at his fingertips wouldn't cease. Even having spoken, he wasn't surprised. He truly couldn't grasp what to do next. "......" He turned his gaze toward his hand. He saw the cold, black mass. Once a heavenly demon in its true form. He wiped the foreign feeling from his eyes. Something was flowing down. Was it tears? 'Am I crying?' I was crying. Why was I suddenly sobbing? Tears streamed down continuously, and they wouldn't stop. At that moment. "What have you done?" Do Cheol, standing behind my father, spoke with a hardened gaze. "What did you do? What exactly happened here?" "......" "You scoundrel...!" The shards of a broken egg. The damaged iron cage. All of it seemed to disturb Do Cheol's mood, and an aura emanated from his feet. Even as I witnessed this, I couldn't move. The heavenly demon disintegrating before my eyes. That was what was unraveling my mind. The root of all evil. The heavenly demon I wanted to kill more than anyone else had vanished. That should have been the end of it. But what was this feeling? Why so... 'Is it emptiness?' It's as if something inside me had emptied, leaving a hole behind. An inexplicable void wrapped around my body. It's an unbearable sensation. 'Why?' Why does it linger in my mind? The heavenly demon that shattered while caressing me, that is. Just as those thoughts made my eyes tremble. Ssshhhhhh—!! "......" The mass in my hand melted away. Sizzle. It fell to the floor, disintegrating completely. Thus, every trace of the heavenly demon vanished. "......" I touched the floor with my stiff fingertips. Hoping that something, anything, might remain. "Answer me...!" Even now, Do Cheol was shouting at me. "You—! What did you do here!" Bang—! He stomped the ground. The hard floor crushed, causing debris to scatter. Filled with emotion, Do Cheol was poised to charge at me. Hoo-! As Do Cheol was about to delve into me, exuding his energy. Thud—!! "......!" A powerful impact caused Do Cheol's body to tremble. Screech—!! Bracing himself, he reduced the shock. Only after his flying momentum slowed did Do Cheol gaze ominously at someone. The one who initiated the shock. It was father. Father attacked Do Cheol with a fist wrapped in flames. And then. Thud. He stood in front of me, showing his broad back. Faced with this, Do Cheol curled his lips. "Ridiculous. Step aside." "......" Father did not reply. He merely raised his fist, pointing it at Do Cheol. "It's not even funny. You intend to protect a bastard? Even for you, Gu So-ju, this shouldn't be a great issue." "......" Do Cheol seemed to want to persuade father with a change in attitude. Yet. "That one is your father's mistake." Those words jabbed sharply into my chest. My father's mistake. "A being that shouldn't have been born in the first place. A threat to your position, he is." A being that shouldn't have been born. That's a fitting phrase. "......" I could only repeat silence without raising my head. Judging by the life I've led, that's more fitting than anything. Looking at my damn fate. Indeed, just as Do Cheol said, I was someone who shouldn't have been born. "A creature that will eventually cause you harm. Step aside now before me... and I'll take care of him. I'll pretend you never came here." So just step aside. At those words, father still gave no response. Normally, I thought he wouldn't listen. No matter how much that bastard tried to sway him, it wasn't something that warranted listening. However. '......Perhaps.' At this moment, it resonated deeply. Even if father stepped aside now, he said it wouldn't be a significant issue. As he thought this, he gazed absentmindedly at father. "Get out of the way—." A deep, resonant voice rang in his ears. "Perhaps." "......" "Yes, indeed." "One." Rooooooar---!!! A wild heat surged from father's back. The suffocating heat permeated the space, filling it entirely. The intensity, the will contained within the heat. Those were impressive, but more so. 'Presence.' The presence felt from father was a league above anything experienced until now. How could he exude such overwhelming fervor? The moment I wondered about it, "A mere reason like that is not enough to stop me from protecting my family." "......" My eyes widened at father's words. It wasn't a word that seemed probable coming from that heavy mouth. 'Family?' I looked at him with astonished eyes. It was a word I had never heard my father say all my life. "Family?" Do Cheol reacted similarly to the word. "You think of that child as family?" The illegitimate child brought by his father. A direct descendant who might, one day, threaten his position. An unknown entity with intentions far beyond. They couldn’t grasp that my father considered such a person his family. "Why wouldn't it be?" Father only questioned Do Cheol in return. "The reasons I gave—" "That's not it. Answer again." "What?" "What I mean is." Fwooosh---!!! Flames erupted around father. Blazing red flames. "A mere reason like that doesn’t disqualify someone from being called family." "Ha. Are you going to discuss family with half-mixed blood?" "That’s not right either." Fwoosh. Heat accumulated in his palm, forming a small orb. A flame orb. It manifested in father's hand. "Blood doesn’t define family." "Then what on earth are you getting at?" "If I'm to be called a father, I must act accordingly." "......!" "What did you say?" Father looked at him, leaving Do Cheol behind. Their eyes met. Father's warm gaze gently curved. 'Is he... smiling?' Father was smiling. It was a face he had never seen before. It even possessed a hint of mischief. It was completely unfamiliar and awkward. '...Because I called him father?' Simply because I called him father. Could such an insignificant reason justify his actions? It was clear that this was merely an excuse. The issue was. '...This excuse.' It was an excuse to protect me. "Why are you doing this?" So he asked. He had no choice but to ask. To my question, father tilted his head slightly and spoke. "What do you mean?" "I just asked you to come get me. I never asked for protection. So why are you doing this?" "I thought that’s what you meant. Was I wrong?" He was right. In the state of mind he was in back then, he meant for them to rescue him along with retrieving him. However. "But I don’t understand why you’re going this far." There was nothing incorrect in Do Cheol's words. He couldn’t comprehend why father was acting this way. Then. "If you don't understand, then don't." "What?" "Baek Yangcheon. Whatever meaning you attach to it, it's not important." Hoooosh-!! Father grasped the completed flame orb. "Whether you're a subordinate of the Blue Dragon or whether your blood is mixed. Whether you called me father. None of those reasons matter much." "Then..." "What's important is simply that I want to protect you. Those reasons merely serve as an excuse for that." Rumble--!! The ground shattered massively. Using the impact as a companion, father intensified his power. "Does a reason matter for that? I don't think so." That was the end of his words. Father cast another smile at him. Roooaaaaar---!!! And with that, he charged at Do Cheol as a flame. "Gu So-ju, you vile bastard." Watching him, Do Cheol's face finally twisted. "Must I shed blood to appease you?" Ssssssss--!!! Even from Do Cheol's body, an energy was erupting. Seeing that, his eyes widened. 'Is that...' It wasn't just any energy. It was a disgusting black energy. Could it be... 'Dark qi?' Dark qi, that foul and disgusting form, emanated from his body just like that. It was an unexpected turn of events, yet father, unmoved, launched the flame orb at Do Cheol. Crackkkkk--!!! Do Cheol, who had manifested dark qi, clashed it against the flame orb. Rooaar--!!! The shock wave pushed his body back. Cracks started forming all over the space. "……." Father's brow furrowed. There was something odd about the state of the flame orb. Snap-! The flame orb cracked and erupted in an explosion. Whoooom-!! The scattered heat burst out. It wasn't an explosion caused by the caster. If it had been, it wouldn't have been such a small explosion. The dark qi forcibly triggered the flame orb to explode and absorbed the impact. Whoooosh--!! As the flames gradually diminished. "Gu So-ju." Do Cheol, summoning dark qi into his hand, addressed father. "You will regret this." Sssshhh-!! Dark qi overflowed from Do Cheol's gaunt body. Dark qi naturally suppresses a martial artist's body and disrupts the flow of qi within. It could be said to be a martial artist's nemesis. '...How does Do Cheol possess that?' How did Do Cheol, not the heavenly demon, acquire such power? Before that question lingered. '...It's dangerous.' His instincts signaled danger. He realized that Do Cheol was far from weak. And if he possessed dark qi in that state. 'Father is in danger.' It was a crisis, above all else, for my father. "Damn it." Just as he tried to lift himself up seeing that. "Your choice, ultimately—" Crassshhh!!? "What...! Ugh!" Suddenly, the side wall crumbled, and Do Cheol's body was flung away. Bang—! The flung body embedded itself into the wall. "……?" In the face of this sudden situation, father and I were caught off guard. "Ptooey." Someone appeared beyond the collapsed wall. They spat roughly, looking at Do Cheol embedded in the wall, and spoke. "What’s that thing?" "……Huh?" Seeing the elder who appeared, he was left dumbfounded. It was only natural. "……Elder?" The newcomer was none other than Pejon.