1287 - Childhood Friend of the Zenith

Crack--!!! Kyaaaaa--!!! The cries of the monster echoed incessantly. Ignoring the ear-splitting wails, I continued to move my hands. Crunch. I drove my hand inside its flesh and pulled out a bone. Then— Whoosh—!!! Kyaaaaa—!!! Flames engulfed the monster, and it continued to scream in agony. Thunk-! The huge monster fell to the ground. Watching it fall, I took a step forward. “Don’t come…! I said don’t come!!” Beyond, a terrified creature locked eyes with me. Its ears were uncertain if they belonged to a bear or some other animal. An apostle. An apostle of unknown name yelled at me. “I told you not to come…! You monster…!!” “Monster?” I let out a chuckle at its words. “Look at your own face. Who's calling whom a monster?” A tail and ears that didn't belong to a human, calling me a monster? It was absurd. Just as I was about to approach him in displeasure— “...You're the one looking more like a monster…!” Snap-! His voice was nonsense, so without mercy, I grabbed and twisted his neck. "Ugh…!" Even with his neck twisted, he didn't die. The apostle's vitality exceeded my expectations. “Why do you hurt people’s feelings like that?” While looking at him, I exerted my power. Ssssshhh—!! "Uggghhh!!!" As the Heavenly Martial Absorption Art was invoked, I sucked out all of his life force. By the time his body was starting to shrivel completely— Thump. I released my grip on his neck. Ashhh... His body disintegrated into dust, leaving nothing behind. Grrr. The sound from Tam indicated satisfaction, an indication of a full stomach. "This way of feeding, it satisfies, doesn’t it?" I had spent days darting about searching for apostles. Even though I found only four, it was quite the harvest considering I was working alone. ‘Not bad.’ I moved slightly, lifting the corners of my mouth. ‘I have no complaints.’ Filling my energy to capacity had shown me something new. “So this is the aura of the apostles.” I began to sense their presence. Which I hadn’t been able to do before. “I think I know where the apostles are.” On this vast land, I could somewhat discern where the apostles were moving. Surprisingly so. “Maybe it’s because I devoured so much.” Whether it was from indiscriminately absorbing them or if it was something I could naturally grasp now, I wasn’t sure. "Either way." It was advantageous to me. There was no longer a need to rely on the Dark King to find apostles. “Hmm.” I brushed my hands sparingly. Satisfied with the energy I had amassed, it was time to turn my thoughts elsewhere. ‘It's time to identify the strange parts.’ There was something else I noticed while hunting apostles. These guys. ‘Why are they acting alone?’ They just tamed and led monsters from separate locations but didn’t act collectively. Was there a reason for this? ‘Did they think they could defend themselves alone against martial artists?’ Or was there another reason they acted independently? It piqued my curiosity. Once, I tried to capture one and extract information. ‘They wouldn’t talk.’ Even under torture, they refused to divulge any secrets, so I ended up absorbing them out of frustration. "This is difficult." How should I proceed? Gathering information piece by piece was painfully slow. The apostles wouldn’t give in no matter the pressure. In that case. ‘Should I try to revert them to human form and extract information that way?’ I had thought about interrogating them after human transformation, yet the process required too much of my energy, making it a challenging prospect. ‘Hmm.’ I stood up and looked around. The corpses of the slain monsters were slowly disappearing. ‘There’s a distinct difference with these monsters.’ Typically, a monster's corpse should remain unless you extract its magic stone first, yet creatures operating within an apostle’s domain simply vanished without a trace once the apostle died. ‘Are they connected to the apostles somehow?’ I wondered as I blinked my eyes. “Ah.” Thinking about monsters, another thought brushed past. "Instead of gathering information bit by bit." Wouldn't it be better to obtain it broadly? “…Now that I have gathered enough energy. Maybe it's time to utilize it." I had a powerful method for gathering information. Ssssshhhh—!!! I focused my strength on my heart. At that moment— Boom—!!! Several Demon Gates opened behind me. The dark, bluish gates appeared one after another. Kyaaaa—!!! Krrrr—!!! Monsters began crawling out of the Demon Gates, summoned by my power. Looking at them, I commanded. “Spread out and search.” Boom--!!! Following my order, the monsters immediately scattered, fanning out like a giant wave in every direction. After watching them, I sat cross-legged, closing my eyes. Sssshhh--!!! The sight of the scouting monsters instantly came into view. The large quantity made my head ache, but it was bearable. Shhh—!!! Especially the bird-type monsters, soaring rapidly, gathered information far and wide. Though there was friction with other monsters they encountered, I had instructed them to avoid conflicts and focus on collecting information. How much time had passed like that? Roughly two initial watches later. “…Whew.” I opened my closed eyes. I released the power as I clutched my throbbing head. Though a substantial amount of energy had been drained, the harvest was significant. “As expected…” Mass numbers seemed to be the best approach. Thanks to this, I had managed to find what I was seeking. "I found it." I had discovered the location I was after. * * * When night fell, I moved. As the peculiar moon rose, I gathered my aura and headed somewhere. It was to reach the location identified by the scouting monsters. I traveled for about one watch. Given my speed compared to that of the monsters’, I arrived relatively quickly. “…Is it here?” I frowned as I observed the location I had arrived at. It was a place I somewhat recognized. No wonder. ‘This is.’ In a previous life. During the Mishap of the Dimensional Gate, this was the location that Moyong Hi-ah and the other survivors chose as their hidden refuge. ‘The heart of Mount Tai.’ A spot impervious to monsters. It was a hidden shelter accessible only to martial artists, who were smaller and quicker than the beasts. ‘Something's here.’ It seemed there was something unusual about this place. From the reconnaissance, it certainly appeared that way. With that thought, I immediately reactivated my power. Ssssshh. A Demon Gate opened, and a bird-type monster emerged, flapping its wings. “Go.” It headed towards Mount Tai swiftly. I shared my vision with the creature. It advanced quickly into the mountain's depths. Whoosh—!!! Using a small-sized monster, infiltrating was not difficult. It pierced through numerous trees, making its way towards Mount Tai, when— ‘No monsters.’ For some reason, there were no monsters surrounding Mount Tai. Normally, it should have been teeming with them. The monster flew tirelessly and finally reached Mount Tai. That’s when— ‘A cave?’ I saw a cave near Mount Tai. I recognized it as the cave formerly used as the entrance to our hideout. As soon as I saw it, I poured my consciousness into the monster's body. I intended to use the monster’s body to enter the interior. Then— Slash-! “……!” The monster's body was sliced, forcing me to open my eyes. Something had attacked and killed the monster. “Well, well.” It seemed I truly had found something. I focused on the air around me. Closing my eyes, I sent my senses towards the mountain. And then— ‘Ha.’ An enormous aura was palpable. Recently, I had learned how to detect the apostles' auras. ‘What is this number?’ In stark contrast to the apostles who roamed alone like survivors, inside, I sensed countless auras of apostles. It was difficult to count them all. * * * Grrrr. The monster that was lying low quietly responded. A woman sitting by the sounds, the Sword Queen, opened her eyes gently. “What is it?” Perhaps displeased with the disturbance, the Sword Queen spoke with a hint of irritation in her tone. Quickly kneeling before her was an apostle with rabbit ears. “…The reconnaissance team outside reported something unusual.” “Something unusual?” “Yes... A monster they'd never seen before approached this place.” An unfamiliar monster. The Sword Queen turned her gaze to the apostle at those words. “A monster…?” It wasn’t unusual for monsters to exist in this world. However, them approaching here was a different story. This place was meant to be out of reach for monsters. “A monster approaching despite the defensive barriers in place…” An impossibility had occurred. With that realization, the Sword Queen smiled quietly. It seemed something had indeed happened. "Find out more." “Yes.” With the command given, the figure faded away. Crossing her legs, the Sword Queen's expression softened. “Is it happening just as you said it would?” She posed a question expecting no answer. When anomalies arose, it would be the perfect opportunity to obtain what she desired, or so someone had once told her. “I hope your words are true.” Despite her relaxed demeanor and expression— Her voice rang with an unmistakable earnestness.