Childhood Friend of the Zenith

Rustle—!

The tentacles melted in the flames, turning into remnants that fell away.

Thud—! Thud, thud—!
Ssssshhh—!!

As the remnants hit the ground, they dissolved instantly, leaving behind scorched marks where the earth had melted.

A pungent stench stung the nose, but the owner of the tentacles seemed unbothered. With indifferent eyes, he gazed somewhere ahead.

There, a young man, wreathed in white flames, stood with a contorted expression, glaring at Taechon.

"You damn bastard, how dare you."

The seething rage in his voice was palpable. Taechon found the raw emotion amusing and let the corners of his lips curl into a smirk.

"So, it’s you. The fracture that the world watches."

He knew the moment he laid eyes on him. That distortion—it was unlike anything he'd ever seen.

No threads of fate were connected to him. Everything about him was tangled, twisted beyond recognition.

And beyond that—

"Defying divinity, are you?"

Taechon glanced at the flames licking at his tentacles. The white fire continued to consume them.

It affected his divinity. That alone made him curious.

Who was responsible?

"Mangye?"

That was one possibility.

Or perhaps—

"One of the others?"

There was no shortage of dissenters. Among them, one was particularly skilled in such matters.

Especially—

"Looking to the side, there’s a rather likely candidate……."

Taechon turned his gaze to those standing beside the young man. Among them, he focused on a black-haired woman.

"Was it you, Dragon Sovereign? Are you the one who wove such a tangled fate around him?"

Dragon Sovereign.

A once-arrogant ruler of the Dragon Realm.

Taechon voiced his suspicions, but—

"What the hell is that bastard saying?"

The young man.

Gu Yangcheon showed no sign of hearing a word. Instead, he surged forward, flames engulfing his body as he charged straight at Taechon.@@novelbin@@

Whoosh—!!!