Chapter 222 - Episode 29. Fallen Star (2)
Chapter 222: Episode 29. Fallen Star (2)
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Buddha gave a bitter smile as they watched the raging flames.
‘This is why I tried to finish things quickly.’
Buddha had already sensed powerful World Force approaching, enough to rival their own. They had never imagined it would belong to Ignis, the God of Flames.
Two of the Eight Divine Thrones, no less.
And they were the God of Flames Ignis and the Dragon God Droyan.
If those two attacked together, it was clear that no one in the 《Abyss》, not even Buddha, could come out unscathed.
Karavan held flames in both hands and spoke boldly.
“Buddha, I will finish you for good.”
Ignis clicked their tongue at the cliché provocation.
[Karavan, where did you learn a line that lame?]
“I got carried away. I have been taking nothing but beatings in the forest of madness every day...”
There was a trace of sorrow in his voice.
Whoooooosh.
Countless buds of flame swayed around Karavan. It looked as though one side of the sky had blossomed with dazzling fire. The fully bloomed crimson flames followed Karavan’s command, burning through the air and leaving trails like a meteor shower.
Their target was Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara.
The palms brushed by the flames blackened and burned away, leaving holes behind. Buddha’s expression hardened. The heat was fierce enough to burn away the remaining Clothes on Buddha’s body, which had been half-naked from the start.
[Why are you burning Clothes? You did not pick up any weird tastes there, did you?]
“Heh heh. I prefer scrubbing off grime to stripping Clothes.”
Despite the words, Buddha continued to be stripped away.
The number of palms regenerated by Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara increased in proportion to the flames of Crimson Flame Tribulation pouring in. World Force collided with World Force, and deafening thunder shook the area.
It was a battle between evenly matched powers.
Still, the advantage was gradually shifting toward Ignis and Karavan. Buddha’s soul form was slowly melting, unable to block the heat completely.
Buddha gritted their teeth.
Was Ignis’s World Force always this powerful?
The destructive force of the incoming 「Crimson Flame Tribulation」 far surpassed anything Buddha had known.
[That bald monk is pretty impressive. Other than Droyan, that bastard may be the only one who has endured Crimson Flame Tribulation this well.]
Karavan nodded in agreement.
“I heard it from the Longevity Clan. They said some Divine Thrones were hiding their strength. Buddha was one of them.”
That was when Buddha’s movements changed completely.
「Thousand-Handed Joining Palms」.
As the palms of Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara pressed together, a terrifying blast of wind swept away the flames at once. Buddha spoke at the same time.
“The Longevity Clan? Did you just say the Longevity Clan?”
“Oh, you heard that?”
Karavan snickered.
Buddha stared at him in disbelief, then seemed to realize something.
“Did you enter the forest of madness? Is that why you were nowhere to be seen at the Third Site?”
“That is right. I heard about you there too. Buddha, the God of Reincarnation. The one who once came closest to 「Gestalt’s Eye」, one of the Three Divine Artifacts.”
[That bastard came closest to 「Gestalt’s Eye」?]
Ignis sounded shocked. It seemed even Ignis, one of the Divine Thrones, had not known this story.
“That is what they said, God. Buddha never fully understood Ouroboros, so Buddha did not obtain 「Gestalt’s Eye」, but apparently came very close.”
[What is Ouroboros?]
“Ha, that is complicated to explain...”
Fortunately, Karavan did not need to explain. After the World Force of Crimson Flame Tribulation and Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara clashed, the battle entered a brief lull.
Buddha smiled.
“I see. You are my junior.”
“My junior?”
“Yes.”
Karavan burst into loud laughter.
“Ha ha! What junior? Should I treat someone who ran away halfway through training as a senior?”
“...”
“I heard so much about how you and Nameless ran away without completing La-Hamad’s training that my ears nearly bled!”
Buddha’s expression turned cold. They had apparently never expected the Longevity Clan to share even that story. Buddha opened their mouth as if making an excuse.
“La-Hamad’s training cannot be completed. You would know if you tried it. Rather than waste time there...”
“What are you talking about? It can be completed. I even saw someone who completed it and obtained 「Gestalt’s Eye」.”
“Completed the training?”
Buddha knew better than anyone in the 《Abyss》 how arduous and difficult La-Hamad’s training was.
Buddha had also abandoned Molting at the final boiling bath and returned to the secular world. The thought that someone had finished that training and gained the Eye was impossible to believe.
“Who obtained 「Gestalt’s Eye」?”
“That is...”
Buddha’s question remained unanswered. Powerful World Force was flying toward Buddha from the front.
[Move aside! My dear friend, ‘Flame of Flames’!]
“Droyan must be in a real hurry. Droyan is speaking directly.”
With Karavan’s words, black flames shot up toward the sky.
The massive body of a black dragon twisted as if it were alive. Holding the right arm with the left hand, Droyan let out a strange laugh.
[Heh heh, to think I would have to use this power. Now, everything will be destroyed.]
‘You should tell me! You should tell me!’
[Mimi Nya, tell the humans that they are all finished as of today.]
‘That bald monk is a god! That bald monk is a god!’
Ignis, who had been watching, also spoke.
[It has been a while since I joined forces with that bastard.]
“What? What are you going to do with that thing?”
[Attack together. It is the only way to finish this in one blow.]
It seemed that side had also charged its strength nearly to the limit.
[Mimi Nya, let us go! This is the East’s West!]
‘The North’s South! The South’s North!’
[The West’s East! Uwaaaah!]
There were too many things worth pointing out, but Karavan and Ignis decided to pretend they had heard none of it.
Setting, 「Black Flame Dragon」
A massive black dragon raced through the air like a runaway train. Its enormous body bucked and twisted as it circled the sky once, then roared and dove toward Buddha.
True to the Setting called the strongest in the 《Abyss》 in terms of destructive power, the Black Flame Dragon’s momentum was terrifying.
Not to be outdone, Karavan sent forth Ignis’s World Force.
Setting, 「Crimson Flame Tribulation」
The brilliantly bursting flames wrapped around the black dragon’s enormous body, driving its acceleration even further. It was a sight worthy of the name Black Flame Dragon.
Droyan shouted triumphantly.
[Mimi Nya, tell them of this glorious moment!]
‘The Descent of the Blood Dragon! The Descent of the Blood Dragon!’
“Do not give it a name like that!”
The hastily gathered palms of Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara failed to stop the black dragon’s charge and shattered miserably.
Then Buddha screamed.
“Gyaaaah!”
World Force exploded, and dazzling light filled the sky.
Rain made of World Force poured down from above. It was a torrential downpour born from the clash of powerful Divine Thrones.
“His scream was pretty cliché.”
Karavan shook off the World Force clinging to him like dust and descended from the air.
Buddha was nowhere to be seen where the black dragon had passed. Buddha had vanished without a trace.
Karavan’s whole body felt heavy from the enormous consumption of World Force. He barely managed to catch his breath as he muttered,
‘That was my part, Jaehwan.’
The Dragon God Droyan’s body staggered, as though their World Force had run dry. Droyan collapsed onto the ground with the pillow Doll in their arms.
[Heh, heh heh.]
‘Victory’s victory! Victory’s victory!’
Karavan silently looked down at Droyan and clicked his tongue.
Tears flowed from Droyan’s uncovered eye. Karavan felt a sudden pang of pity.
“What crime did Droyan’s Vicegerent commit? To end up meeting a god like this...”
[Poor bastard. You should be grateful to me.]
“Of course. What should we do with Droyan now?”
[We should take Droyan with us. Droyan may still be useful, even like this. Droyan is one of the Eight Divine Thrones, after all.]
“I suppose so.”
[When were you supposed to meet the Guide of Destruction and his companions, or whatever they are called? We can leave Droyan with them.]
“The Guide of Destruction and his companions? Hmm. First, Jaehwan should be getting in touch with that friend soon...”
Karavan grinned as he checked the long-distance communication Setting.
Ignis found that expression unfamiliar. Karavan had never looked that happy while traveling with Ignis.
Was it the unease felt by one of the Eight Divine Thrones?
Ignis began to offer a warning.
[Karavan. Fighting 「Rupture」 is one thing, but don't get too close to Jaehwan...]
That was when something strange happened.
Karavan’s face went pale as he adjusted the communication Setting.
Just as Ignis’s warning reached him, Karavan kicked off the ground and flew into the air.
Countless palms crashed down where Karavan had been standing moments earlier. A thousand hands made of World Force bombarded the ground without discrimination.
Unfortunately, something had taken those palms head-on.
It was the Dragon God Droyan.
[M-Mimi Nya...]
‘Save me! Save me!’
The Dragon God Droyan reached toward the pillow Doll, then their body went limp.
The Dragon God’s final Vicegerent was disappearing.
Droyan’s fading World Force was sucked into somewhere in the empty air.
It was an incomprehensible phenomenon.
A moment later, a small lotus form blossomed in the air where the World Force had been absorbed. Inside the slowly opening lotus was the naked Buddha, who had vanished only moments ago.
“Haah, haah, haah...”
Like a newborn child, Buddha vomited up amniotic fluid, then slowly blinked and carefully examined their entire body.
Karavan muttered in disbelief.
“God, what the hell was that? How could that bastard...”
[Do not ask me. It is my first time seeing it too. I had only heard the rumor, but I did not think it would be true.]
“A rumor? What rumor?”
[The rumor that Buddha does not die.]
Buddha’s muttering reached Karavan’s stunned ears.
“The 1,617th one died too... It feels unpleasant every time.”
The tone was that of someone who had transcended even death.
Karavan watched the process unfolding in Buddha’s body with disbelieving eyes.
Wait, could that be...
Karavan had seen something similar in the forest of madness. Members of the Longevity Clan who had experienced nirvana through Ouroboros would sometimes show the same sight.
Shedding a layer of their own shell.
The process of taking off Clothes, Molting.
That was what the Longevity Clan called it.
“You there, redhead. Were you the one who killed the 1,617th me?”
“You, what the hell...”
Buddha’s eyes clouded as though searching through the memories of the dead Buddha. A moment later, a faint smile appeared on Buddha’s lips as they looked at Karavan.
“I see. You know about La-Hamad. Then you must have heard of my ability as well.”
Karavan flinched as their eyes met.
“You, those eyes...!”
Within Buddha’s eyes, the shape of a serpent spun fiercely.
Jaehwan’s eyes had looked the same after he obtained 「Gestalt’s Eye」.
There was one difference. In Buddha’s eyes, the serpent could not consume its own tail.
In other words, it was not complete Ouroboros.
La-Hamad’s words flashed through Karavan’s mind.
“He did not obtain 「Gestalt’s Eye」. Instead, he used the power of Molting to obtain another 「Setting」.”
Karavan realized that the power Buddha had just displayed was that very 「Setting」. He should have asked La-Hamad for more details when he heard that story. It had been a mistake not to.
Buddha looked almost unchanged, aside from a minute loss of World Force.
One layer of Clothes had disappeared from Buddha’s outer surface.
And Buddha had come back to life as if by magic.
‘No way?’
Karavan’s eyes widened.
“You seem to understand.”
Buddha smiled as if Karavan were ridiculous.
“All beings are collections of countless Clothes. If one set of Clothes is torn, all you need to do is discard that one set.”
A Setting that allowed Buddha to revive from any brush with death by sacrificing only one set of Clothes.
「Reincarnation」
That was the invincible Setting that had raised Buddha to become one of the Eight Divine Thrones.
“I am immortal.”
Karavan unconsciously stepped back. His will and body were moving separately.
A fierce denial that such an absurd Setting could not exist, and the fear that Buddha’s words might be true.
[Calm down, Karavan.]
Ignis urgently called out, having sensed Karavan’s turmoil.
World Force was raging inside Karavan’s body. The flower buds of Crimson Flame Tribulation held in both hands bloomed, and heat soaked the air.
Even as the palms of Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara melted, Buddha smiled.
“Yes, come at me as much as you like.”
With every ragged breath Karavan let out, the smile on Buddha’s lips grew deeper.
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