Campione 07

by Great Sage Equaling Heaven

  "Hmm woaaah!? What is this monstrous strength?"

  Zhu Ganglie was being thrown by the Benevolent King. Exactly in the manner of a shot put, the lustful giant god was propelled through the air into the distance.

  Crash! As the landing impact resounded, Luo Cuilian ran with her subordinate Benevolent King towards the fallen giant deity. With great speed unexpected from his massive body, Zhu Ganglie got back up and summoned the weapons for his six arms.

  The first pair of hands held a sword and a halberd; the second pair, an axe and a club; the third, a bow and arrows.

  With black clothing and black armor, the god with a pig's head clashed with the Benevolent King led by Luo Cuilian and the two giants began to fight.

  "O Dragon, annihilate these people — Om vaisravanaye svaha!"

  The water suddenly exploded.

  As Vaisravana stood on the water dragon, a portion of its dissociated body splashed on the ground. Godou and John Pluto Smith jumped backwards to evade the attack. The water formed powerful currents which were tearing apart the ground of the Senjougahara plains!

  Like a blade of water, the liquid sliced through rock and flourishing forests as if they were made of paper. Godou and Smith beside him marveled as they muttered to themselves.

  "A demonic deity with Buddhist roots... From his appearance, I originally expected an attack of pure power but he turned out to have such skillful moves."

  Vaisravana had an appearance like a demon with a particularly frightful face and ferocious-looking body.

  Smith's instincts should have been correct, but it was Vaisravana's gloomy and intellectual aspects that avoided giving others an overly violent impression.

  "Since ancient times, Vaisravana was the one who inducted countless Shramana ascetics.[90] However, his earlier incarnation killed people and was a sinful deity that had broken precepts against murder..."

  Vaisravana began to laugh to himself as he stood on the dragon's head.

  "As the Curtain Lifting General at the Palace of the Great Emperor of the Waters in the celestial realm, the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas were once under my command. What I've shown is simply a minor portion of my old powers..."

  "Ah, I recall the Daoist pantheon having categories of Water and Thunder Departments, right?"

  The Water Department was in charge of the naval forces in the Daoist celestial realm. Though he did not cheat like Godou through instruction magic, Smith was apparently knowledgeable of myths and legends of foreign countries.

  "In that case, let me show off some of my skills... The ruler of the underworld commands, offer to me the black wings that penetrate the heavens! O Sky, thou existest only for me to display the breadth of my magnanimity!"

  Smith softly chanted spell words, causing the ground to rumble and shake.

  It was quite an intense earthquake. Cracks and crevices appeared on the ground as it trembled violently, while Smith began to transform over the shaking land. The black-clad eccentric turned into a massive black demonic bird.

  "Now, properly savor my transformation mystic arts! Will you be able to keep up with me!?"

  "What pretentious words! Looks like I am being underestimated!"

  Chasing after the rapidly ascending black demonic bird, Vaisravana drove the water dragon flying through the air.

  Flying towards the heavens, the black-winged devil king and the mysterious sacred dragon formed from water continued to make their ascent.

  However, the ground continued to shake intensely. Most likely, the culprit was the American Campione.

  Godou had once heard from Erica that Smith had an authority requiring the offering of [Sacrifices]. This earthquake was most probably one of those sacrifices. The tremors were not too severe, but this continuing series of earthquakes must each have been around 3 or 4 on the Richter scale.

  It looked like the earthquakes were going to persist for some time. What a troublesome fellow that Smith guy was!

  His irresponsibility of leaving messes behind made Godou a bit stunned as he faced off against the Great Sage Equaling Heaven on the shaking ground.

  "Hmm hmm hmph, let us start as well. Are you ready? Kusanagi brat!"

  "Fine, come at me with everything you've got, I'm not letting you get out of here in one piece!"

  Facing the Great Sage Equaling Heaven who jumped down from the golden cloud, Godou displayed calm composure.

  It was a bluff of course, for Godou was completely unprepared. Even though he had that sword, he did not have a usable incarnation able to counter the divine monkey's lightning-fast godly speed. Nevertheless, Godou's fighting spirit was strong as ever, and he intended to snatch victory in his hands even if it meant biting the enemy by the throat.

  Wait a minute... Was there really no incarnation that could be used?

  There was a strange sense of certainty that he still had an available weapon. This was a very faint feeling of confidence.

  Voices telling him to fight could be heard. Voices calling for the defeat of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven. Right, so that is the case now.

  Having figured things out, Godou turned his attention to the voices coming from the depths of his body.

  Only now did he truly master the ninth incarnation of Verethragna, the [Goat].

  This priestly ability converted the thoughts and feelings of the surrounding people into magical power and controlled lightning. During the battle against Marquis Voban, he had once turned the will of the Dead Servants into his power source. But simply gathering willpower was insufficient to use the incarnation freely.

  Thanks to being connected to Yuri's psychic sensing, Godou finally understood the true method of using the [Goat].

  A king rules by leading the will of the people, thereby raising his own prestige and authority.

  Godou extended the tendrils of psychic sensing, traversing the plains of Senjougahara and the area of Okunikkou as well as the Nikkou city streets, mobilizing the hearts and minds of over ten thousand victims.

  No mistake about it, this was the consciousness of all the ordinary people who had been forcefully transformed by the Great Sage Equaling Heaven and were now in deep sleep.

  These unconscious people originally led peaceful lives but were suddenly turned into monkeys one day, thus entering a nightmare. The sole culprit responsible for these heinous crimes was the [Heretic God] the Great Sage Equaling Heaven. Even though you people were fortunate enough to be rescued, the Great Sage still stands.

  The god who changed you all into monkeys, do you not hold him in contempt?

  The god who treated you all as toys, do you not hold anger at him?

  Do you not want me to defeat the Great Sage Equaling Heaven!?

  Godou used psychic sensing power, entering people's dreams to rouse them, gathering the willpower of the people together, telling them the identity of the true culprit of the incident, fanning the flames of their anger. Lend me your power and believe in me. As long as you lend your power to me, I will definitely help you vanquish that contemptible foe!

  He could sense the anger of the unconscious people directed towards the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, forming a swirling vortex of fury in the realm of dreams.

  This was exactly what [Goat] needed as a foundation. Godou's left hand was finally able to fire off lightning attacks.

  "By the art of spell words I vanquish adherents of injustice and evil! This is the heavenly mandate of victory!"

  The Great Sage Equaling Heaven dodged the flash of lightning with great agility.

  However, the Great Sage cannot be allowed to do as he pleased any further. Having obtained new power, Godou stared acutely with great intensity at his formidable foe.

  Part 3

  Using the vast wetlands as the stage, the close-quarter battle resembling a special effects movie was reaching a climax.

  Towering at a height of ten-odd metres, there was the three-headed and six-armed Zhu Ganglie.

  Then there was the golden Benevolent King as his opponent
, a half naked giant with only crude fabric covering his lower torso. The demonic cult leader summoned a spear using Daoist arts and pointed it at Zhu Ganglie. Known as the "King of Weapons" in China, the Qiang[91] or Chinese spear was Luo Cuilian's favorite weapon.

  As the two clashed in battle, it was so intense that one would not wish to blink lest a moment is missed.

  Each of Zhu Ganglie's six arms held a different weapon.

  Sword, halberd, axe, club, bow and arrows. All the weapons were used simultaneously in combination with incredible footwork. He moved everywhere within the vicinity of the Benevolent King as he continued his attacks. Whenever he distanced himself, he attacked with arrows and the halberd, switching to the sword, axe and club at close range. (As a side note, the halberd refers to a weapon with a shaft like a spear and a sickle-like blade combined together, allowing the spear end to be used for thrusts and the blade for slicing attacks.)

  Zhu Ganglie moved so quickly that afterimages were left behind. With such horrifying speed, the five weapons rained attacks down upon the Benevolent King without pause, making the three heads and six arms look like there were thirty heads and sixty arms, or even sixty heads and a hundred and twenty arms.

  However, the one who took on this intense barrage of attacks was the demonic cult leader, whose martial arts were simply divine.

  Unlike Zhu Ganglie who was circling around in arcs as he attacked, the glorious Benevolent King stood its ground without shifting his position while Luo Hao stood in the center of the circle wielding her spear.

  Although there should only be a single spear, it looked like a thousand spearheads were thrusting continuously all at once.

  All five of Zhu Ganglie's weapons were intercepted. Arrows were struck down, roaring attacks of the halberd were blocked, the sword was deflected, the axe was sent flying back, and the club was stopped.

  As Zhu Ganglie maneuvered in an oval arc to the Benevolent King's back, Luo Hao extended the spear backwards without even turning her head — in other words, the blunt end of the spear blocked every single attack from behind.

  "Hohoho, surely you cannot defeat me with this shabby-looking avatar without committing yourself to mutual destruction. I don't mind if you surrender here for I shall give your pure and pristine complexion a good loving..."

  The Divine Marshal made a lewd smile as he paused his movements.

  Up to this point, attack initiative had been firmly in his control. Though Luo Cuilian disrupted every single one of his attacks with her godlike techniques, she was purely defending. She seemed too occupied with fending off the five weapons' continuous attacks to mount a counterattack.

  However, Luo Cuilian frowned and spoke:

  "Marshal, your foolishness knows no bounds. True, you have displayed the courageous might of the Divine Marshal serving the North Pole's Great Emperor Ziwei, but at the same time I have completely seen through you. You are no match for me at all. The one who ought to beg for mercy should be... You instead, the Marshal Canopy Zhu Ganglie."

  "Ha! What nonsense you speak!"

  "Do you seriously believe that? I have already discerned your true abilities. For one to expect a fellow like you to match me, Luo Hao, in a one-on-one duel, what an embarrassment!"

  For some reason, her defiant words made all three faces of the three-headed six-armed war god turn pale.

  And then the demonic cult leader dispelled the Benevolent King.

  "Using three-headed six-armed martial arts is certainly extraordinary, but as the Ruler of the Martial Realm, Luo Hao will defeat you in a frontal confrontation as befits a king. Now, come at me with everything you have!"

  Even when her opponent was a god, she maintained her supercilious airs as usual.

  This was the truth of Luo Cuilian's abilities. Such was the grandiloquence delivered by the unarmed Ruler of the Martial Realm.

  Meanwhile, John Pluto Smith and Vaisravana were battling in midair.

  The sun had already come up. This was a refreshing morning sky and even a great sunny day. Flying through the air, Smith penetrated the blue sky and hovering clouds as Vaisravana pursued behind the demonic bird, standing on the head of the water dragon.

  Vairavana had a material body, but nevertheless, he fearlessly accelerated without any regard for G-forces in flying. As befitted a god with a body incomparably resilient beyond mortals, or perhaps he was using some sort of protective spell?

  "Eight hundred perish in the quicksands, three thousand drown in deep waters. May swan feathers never float again, and reed flowers sink to the depths!"

  Vairavana chanted spell words, causing clouds to gather in the sky.

  The clouds shaped themselves into a long slender form, with a shining radiant surface and transparent interior. Soon after, it took on the likeness of a dragon, gathering clouds and moisture in the air, another water dragon had been formed.

  This continued beyond a single dragon as more water dragons were born in rapid succession. Including the original that Vaisravana was riding, there was now a total of nine dragons.

  "Oh? You're not bad at all."

  In his demonic bird form, Smith offered mild praise.

  The nine water dragons slithered and exchanged positions continuously, widening their ferocious jaws and performing biting attacks.

  Smith dodged with skillful flying for the black demonic bird not only possessed speed but also extraordinary agility. However, it was still unable to evade every attack. As the long neck of one of the water dragons brushed past one wing, the masked king finally felt true fear.

  The wing did not suffer a simple scratch but was cut opened and bleeding. Was this the same effect as the blade of water witnessed earlier on the ground?

  It was as if the water dragons' bodies were made of blades, and they had the power to rip apart everything they touched.

  "Oh my... Do I have to gamble my life away for a dance invitation!?"

  Due to the wing injury, it was impossible to fly properly. Nevertheless, the black demonic bird did not need to flap its wings to fly.

  Smith ascended rapidly on wind currents and then swiftly descended. Like a swallow gliding on sea breezes, Smith nimbly flew back and forth, evading the wave-like water blade attacks made by the dragon heads.

  Naturally, Smith did not expect to escape that easily.

  "Smoking mirror, symbol of Tezcatlipoca!"

  From Smith's jet black wings, out spewed smoke that wrapped itself around the bodies of the water dragons.

  Inhaling this smoke would cause poisoning that produces a paralyzing effect on magical power. For ordinary enemies, this was enough to weaken them for easy pickings...

  "Thousands of evil, tens of thousands of filth! May all be cleansed by water!"

  Not to be outdone, Vaisravana chanted spell words in turn, causing steam to be emitted from the bodies of the nine water dragons, purifying the gray magical smoke. This was purifying divine power that dispelled magical corruption.

  However, Smith was not going to be outdone either, and he opened the beak of the demonic bird.

  A magic bullet was fired from its mouth, aiming straight at Vaisravana's body! It was targeting the blue-black demonic deity riding on the head of one of the flying water dragons.

  With a god as its target, Artemis' flash of light sped off. At that moment, another water dragon rushed into the trajectory of the magic bullet, getting its head impaled instead of its creator and disappearing without trace.

  However, the attack of the magic bullet did not end there, and continued to fly towards Vaisravana!

  Water dragons continually rushed to intercept it, and were dispelled one after another.

  The water dragon carrying Vaisravana was the only one remaining. In order to protect Vaisravana, the last water dragon transformed into a shield — and deflected the bullet. Somehow, the body of the water dragon had solidified into ice.

  Deflected by the ice dragon, the magic bullet flew away into the distant sky.

  "Hohoho... Finall
y, ice to deflect that bullet has been created."

  Vaisravana laughed with a gloomy face.

  His mount, the water dragon had frozen into ice, transforming into an ice dragon.

  No — that was not all. Using the moisture in the atmosphere, new ice dragons were being created, and the ranks of the army of nine dragons were filled once more!

  Smith opened the demonic bird's beak and shot another magic bullet.

  However, the attack he fired was again deflected by an ice dragon, disappearing into the distance opposite to the previous bullet.

  "Hmph... A mirror of ice with the magic of reflection? What troublesome divine power, but it may very well create a good opportunity."

  Despite the ineffectiveness of his trump cards, Smith spoke in a relaxed manner.

  "Oh? What do you mean?"

  "Because there is something that has intrigued me for quite some time... For gods like you, strength and divine authority is not always proportional to how well-known you are, and there are times when minor gods show greater resilience than half-assed major gods. What is the cause of such disparity... I believe that now is a good opportunity to find out."

  The ninth incarnation, the [Goat], had the power to control thunder and lightning.

  However, the target must be a common enemy recognized by the people and there was the major caveat of taking the life force of nearby people indiscriminately. Godou recalled his memories from the last time he used this incarnation and released a thunderstrike.

  A flash of lightning was fired from his right hand, giving off the stench of ozone from the ionized air as the intense electrical current headed straight for the Great Sage Equaling Heaven. At the same time, Godou did not forget to direct his awareness towards the sky.

  Thunderclouds were summoned into the sunny sky, and these heavy clouds rumbled with thunder.

  "Damn it, all this static electricity is annoying!"

  The Great Sage Equaling Heaven grumbled with displeasure as he dodged lightning coming from in front and above at the same time.

  Normally, being struck by lightning would cause severe burns and a massive shockwave impact. However, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven's iron body was a conductor. Though he was blown back, there was apparently no damage.