Chapter: 944
“….”
“….”
A moment of silence drifted by. Under the fading glow of the sunset, I exchanged glances with Mongmong.
Crack.
The pressure around my neck seemed to intensify, but there was a hint of hesitation somewhere.
[No…? Really not?]
Mongmong asked back. It felt just like before.
My heart had a ticklish sensation.
After hearing that, I spoke up.
“Yes. No.”
Once again, the answer was the same.
It spilled out without any hesitation.
What was this?
Wasn’t it a force similar to a verb?
The sensation resembled the power the Blood Demon had used on me. Yet, the result was different.
It only brushed against me lightly. Nothing else felt the same.
“Is that really not true?”
The guy asked again.
What does he want me to do?
“I said no, didn’t I?”
I spat out in irritation, and the guy’s eyes shifted peculiarly.
His look of confusion was unmistakable.
It felt like something that shouldn’t be happening?
Thus, silence blanketed us again.
What the heck should I do? The pressure around my neck still lingered.
Should I just push through and tackle him? It was a tough decision.
I shot a sideways glance at Cheonma.
I could see a slight intensity in Cheonma’s eyes.
If I left him be, it felt like he would act too.
If that happens, everything would be in ruins regardless of what’s at stake.
Thump.
I steeled my heart. Just as I was about to shove Mongmong’s arm away.
Swish-!
The hand that was gripping my neck released its hold. The massive arm shrank back and returned to the delicate, pale arm it had been previously.
Ffffssss.
Debris from the wall scattered, and my feet landed firmly on the ground.
I rubbed my sore neck with one hand while dusting off my clothes with the other.
“That’s odd… Why is it not?”
I frowned at the words that slipped from Mongmong’s lips.
“… What are you saying isn’t?”
“… No… That.”
“You said you’d help me navigate. Was this what you aimed for?”
“That’s not it…”
Mongmong waved his hand dismissively. Then he cradled his chin.
“What is going on? Seriously? This can’t be right! My instincts are never wrong…”
Hah.
I exhaled, almost in disbelief.
“What on earth do you want from me…?”
“…”
Mongmong gave me a quick glance from head to toe.
I felt his grassy gaze darting past rapidly.
He clasped both hands around his neck as if he couldn’t comprehend. Then came…
“… Um… Er. Sorry… I’m really sorry.”
Mongmong chuckled, seeming genuinely apologetic as he patted my shoulder.
Though his casual glitch in speech irked me a tad, I chose not to nitpick.
‘This guy has something going on.’
It was clear. Whatever Mongmong was, he certainly possessed something remarkable.
“I must have misunderstood a bit. Hahaha.”
“I mistakenly thought you were going to strangle me…”
Just as I was about to press him for answers.
Whoosh-!
The wind rustled nearby.
BAM—!!!
A thunderous blast erupted on my left.
Looking over, I saw a massive hole had been blasted open into a giant circle.
“…”
It was the aftershock of Mongmong’s punch.
‘This jerk.’
I narrowed my eyes. The presence I previously sensed as minuscule was far from it now.
‘It’s unstable.’
His body was trembling precariously, forcibly compressed.
As he slightly released the hidden power, his presence surged.
‘… Strong.’
I sensed it for sure.
I had thought he resembled that leader or something from before.
That had to be a correct observation rather than an expectation.
‘What level is this?’
Even if he’s not top-tier, he seems at least a teenage master in the central region.
Among them, he’s at the level I faced against the swordsman.
‘Can I win?’
I quickly ran a mental calculation.
It was something I routinely did when facing an unclear foe or a strong opponent.
What would my odds of victory be if I fought him now?
Crunch.
I slightly clenched my fist and spun my energy for a moment.
I assessed my state.
‘Hmm.’
I wasn’t at my best. First off, my left palm was bruised.
The last time I used Cheonma’s Shingong had shaken my insides as well.
What would happen if things remained as they are now?
‘I don’t know.’
Even if I were in top form, I wasn’t sure how it would go. In this state, the situation felt precarious.
Especially.
‘That punch I just threw.’
I couldn’t see my fist clearly. Even if I weren’t using heightened aura, it was definitely not weak.
‘This won’t work.’
With Cheonma in the equation, my odds wouldn’t be hopeless.
‘Including Cheonma in my calculations just feels odd.’
She’s an enemy, no doubt about it.
Even though I felt uneasy being with her now, I needed to remember she was, in fact, my enemy.
So…
‘I shouldn’t fight.’
I answered inwardly.
This shouldn’t result in battle.
At that moment.
“If you keep going this way, you’ll find the Black Family.”
Mongmong smiled awkwardly and pointed at the hole he had dug.
There, I could indeed see the mansion of the Black Family looming.
‘No way.’
Did he really clear the path for me?
He tore down all the walls…?
‘What kind of radical is this?’
I frowned.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Haha. How strange.”
Mongmong continued to wear an awkward expression, oblivious to my thoughts.
“I misunderstood? Can you allow me to make amends?”
“…What on earth are you?”
I asked in bewilderment.
At my inquiry, Mongmong widened his eyes briefly and then replied.
“Well, I shouldn’t tell you, but is that alright?”
“Then I’ll just pretend I don’t know.”
“You’re quick to come to conclusions?”
“I prefer not to get embroiled in troublesome matters.”
Of course, as I said that, I was already tangled in all sorts of annoying issues.
“Um, alright.”
Mongmong nodded repeatedly in response to my words.
“That sounds good too.”
Then, with the same smile from before, he added something more.
“If you’re really curious, go over there and ask the black kid.”
“… ”
The black kid.
I immediately recognized whom he meant. The issue was that…
‘… The chief is regarded as a child.’
I don’t know everything about this place yet, but I gather that nobles hold a fairly high status.
Especially the chief, who manages an entire region.
Mongmong referred to the chief while labeling himself a child.
I focused intently on that.
“It has been fun. I’m truly, sincerely sorry.”
Mongmong put his hands together and spoke to me almost prayer-like.
“When we meet again, I’ll do better. Farewell.”
He waved his hand as if urging me to leave quickly.
Just moments ago, he seemed to be in complete control, and now he was even sending me off alone.
It was both absurd and amusing.
‘Is he just going to send me off?’
I thought it was a relief that we hadn’t had to fight right away.
As I attempted to walk away while maintaining a stoic expression.
“Ah. Just to clarify…”
Mongmong added one more thing.
“Didn’t you mention the Volcano Sect is called the Iron Line?”
“… Ah. Yes.”
Volcano Sect.
He must have deduced that from my clothes.
I was wearing the uniform they had given me previously.
“Got it. I’ll remember that. See you next time?”
“… ”
If possible, I’d rather not see him again.
I wanted to vocalize that thought but…
‘… This isn’t good.’
My instincts were hinting I’d encounter him soon.
That hunch was insisting as much.
*
Pushing through the shattered streets, I made my way towards the Black Family mansion.
This hadn’t been my original destination, yet here I was, somehow arriving at the spot.
“Who….”
The gatekeeper in front of the mansion aimed his weapon at me, just as fiercely as he had at the city gate.
But upon seeing the token in my hand, he halted immediately.
After that, things were as simple as ever.
Just by showing one card, he ignored all protocols and let me in.
I was given the token, but thankfully, I had received it at just the right moment.
Thus, I entered the mansion and stood before the massive door.
The moment the guide was about to knock with trembling hands,
[Come in.]
A voice echoed from inside the door.
Creek.
The door opened on its own. I stepped inside naturally.
The interior was much like the last time I visited.
A pitch-black darkness where no light crept in.
In the gloomy void, a table stood, with a man sporting black hair seated at it.
“Here again.”
“Pleasure to meet you.”
“It seems the company you brought this time is different?”
The chief of the Black Family glanced at Cheonma and remarked.
“Yes. Your young master is slightly preoccupied today.”
Truth be told, he wasn’t busy at all; there was simply no need to drag him along.
It didn’t seem like they were missing him either.
Well, the household appears to be in decent shape. Just as I suspected, they seemed to be a rather disorganized family, akin to mine.
“Then why have you come back this time…”
It seemed he was about to get straight to the point, so I raised my hand to halt him.
“Oh, let me ask you something first.”
This was a pressing issue for me.
“…?”
The chief regarded me, puzzled.
I continued, “I just met someone.”
I detailed my encounter with Mongmong from the very moment I arrived.
As I continued speaking, the chief’s expression twisted further with each word.
Judging by his reaction, he seemed to recognize who I was referring to.
Plus, honestly, I suspected that too.
As I finished up by mentioning the hole I’d dug to come here.
“… This.”
The black chief’s tone turned uncomfortable.
“The general has been looking for you.”
At those words, I narrowed my eyes.
Just as I had expected.
‘That guy was the one.’
A being who treats the leader like a child, able to manipulate the castle as if it were their own playroom.
One among the four rulers brought along by my mother.
The being known as Mongmong.
He was the de facto ruler of this region in the shadows.
*
-So, about the last time…
-No, listen! At this weapon shop…
Above a street drowning in all sorts of noise.
On the rooftop of a building that couldn’t decide on its height,
stood a young man with green hair, tilting his head in confusion.
Although called a young man, his appearance was closer to that of a boy.
“Uggggh….”
It seemed like he was troubled by some kind of dilemma, rolling his eyes continuously.
“It’s odd.”
No matter how hard he thought, it eluded his understanding.
The young man reminisced about the person he’d just encountered.
A sharply featured young man in white, accompanied by a strikingly pretty woman with black hair.
Out of the pair, he fixated on the male.
“What’s up with that?”
What on earth could it mean?
“It definitely felt off…?”
Even recalling it now, something felt wrong. His instincts had never led him astray, so he expected the same result this time.
The moment he gazed down at the bustling city and spotted that child.
He felt an unexplainable shiver run down his spine.
Go right away.
Rush over and apprehend that guy to clarify for yourself.
That sensation surged like a raging tide.
So he tried to hurry off to see for himself.
Yet…
“No?”
He uttered “no.”
“Ugggh…?”
It simply didn’t make sense to him.
“You’re really saying that’s not true…?”
You might wonder how anyone could believe it when he merely stated it wasn’t true.
“I used my power and still got a ‘no.’”
What he asked wasn’t a casual inquiry.
An engraving that formed a fundamental aspect of existence within the universe.
The Lord of all Worlds.
The general immediately beneath him.
They had the ability to imbue their souls with authority, allowing them to issue absolute commands to those ranking below them.
If ordered to crawl, they crawled.
If ordered to die, they had to die.
This was the irrevocable law inscribed upon existence itself.
‘Didn’t he say it wasn’t true?’
When the young man asked with palpable force, the response he received was a denial.
“… Strange…”
How could that be?
They claimed it was a gut feeling, yet the answer delivered was “no.”
This was the first time he faced such a situation since his ascension to general.
Such a thing was unfathomable.
Having one’s intuition go astray could heavily tie into matters of authority.
“Ugggh…”
Was it possible that he truly had miscalculated?
As unfathomable as it seemed, reality still played out as it was.
It could not make sense otherwise.
If the general issued a directive, it held no capacity for deceit.
It was an absolute law written into the very fabric of existence, one that simply could not be altered.
But…
‘Just one.’
There existed one scenario where a lie could slip past even a general’s command.
That was…
‘They are higher than the general.’
It meant being a being of rank above the general, one who was positioned just beneath the Lord of all Worlds.
Naturally, that would render the orders ineffective.
“Hahaha! That’s utterly nonsense.”
The young man contemplated the thought and promptly dismissed it.
For only one master resided above him.
There was no way that child surpassed him in ranking.
“It’s possible my intuition was off.”
The young man nodded as he came to terms with that conclusion.
No matter the circumstance, it was utterly impossible.
He was completely convinced of that.
“If all else fails, I can verify it next time we meet.”
After all, it wouldn’t be long before they encountered each other again.
The young man’s instincts reassured him on this front.
He was sure that his feelings would bode true.
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