âUgh⊠Thatâs why I tried to end him fast.â
Budda smiled bitterly. He knew powerful world power equal to his and Droyan was approaching. He just didnât know it was Ignis, the God of Flame.
Now, there were two Gods of the 8 Gods of .
If they were together, no one had a chance against them. Karavan shouted valiantly, âHah! I will finish you!â
Ignis spoke to Karavan.
[âŠKaravan. Thatâs a cheesy line.]
âOh, Iâm just fired up. I was pushed around too much in that forestâŠâ
Fire began to explode around Karavan and went straight to Buddaâs hands. The hands that were struck down by the fire were left with holes. Budda became serious. The flame was so intense that it burned all of Buddaâs remaining clothes.
[What? Why are you burning down his clothes? Donât tell me you got that weird taste in that forest.]
âHeh, Why would I take off a manâs clothes?â
But Budda was becoming naked. The hands were now increasing against the flames. The fight tilting toward Ignis and Karavan. Buddaâs spirit began melting as it couldnât fight back all the heat. Budda gritted his teeth.
âWas Ignis always this powerful?â
The flame was beyond the data he had before.
[That monk is something. Iâve never seen anyone take our flame for that long other than Droyan.]
Karavan nodded.
âRa-hamad also talked about him too. There was one who was hiding power within the 8 Gods. He said Budda was one of them.â
The voice was loud and Budda heard it also. With many hands clapping at once, the flame was pushed away. Budda asked, âRa-hamad? Did you just say Ra-hamad?â
âOh, did you hear?â Karavan cackled. Budda seemed to have realized something.
âI see. So youâve been to the Forest of Madness. Thatâs why you werenât at the 3rd site.â
âYeah. I heard about you there. God of Reincarnation, Budda. The being who went the closest to the [Eye of Geshtalt].â
[What? He went to the Eye of Geshtalt?]
Ignis was shocked. He didnât know the story either.
âOh, yeah. He couldnât get it because he didnât understand Ouroboros⊠but he was close.â
[What? What is Ouroboros?]
âOh, thatâs hard to explainâŠâ
And fortunately, Karavan couldnât explain as Budda interrupted.
âSo youâve met them.â
After they exchanged a large blow, the fight came to a stop. Budda smiled.
âI see. So you also tried that training.â
âTried?â
âYes.â
Karavan laughed hard, âHAHA! You ran away during the training. You can hardly call that a try.â
ââŠâ
âThey told me so many times that you and Anonymous ran away before the training was finished.â
ââŠThey spilled needless information.â
Budda became cold. He didnât guess they would speak to that extent.
âRa-hamadâs training can never be finished. You would know if you tried.â
âNo, it can. I know a man who finished it and got his hands on the [Eye of Geshtalt].â
âFinished?â
Budda knew more than anyone how hard Ra-hamadâs training was. He also had to give up on metamorphosis and had to come back out. But to find one who was successful in getting their hands on the âeyeâ⊠it was hard to believe. Budda thought it was impossible.
âAnd who is that exactly?â
âThatâsâŠâ
Buddaâs question went unanswered as the powerful world power charged at him.
âHAHAHAHA! Move out! Flame of Fire!â
The dark flame moved from the air as the living, dark dragon-like shape shot past. Droyan, who was holding his right arm with his left shouted, âHAHAHA! I never thought the day would come for me to use this power! You will fall! The humans are now done for!â
âN-no Droyan! You should leave the humans alone! And that monk is a God!â
âHAHAHA PUNY HUMANS!â
As Ignis looked at Droyanâs self discussion, he spoke.
[Itâs been a while since Iâve launched a joint attack with him.â
ââŠYouâre doing WHAT with him?â
[Joint attack. Thatâs the only way to finish him at once.]
âPOWER SURGES THROUGH ME! POWER OF THE WEST, TO THE SOUTH! TO THE NORTH! THE GREAT POWER OF DARK DRAGON FLAME!â
Karavan and Ignis wanted to point out all the nonsense he was blabbering about, but decided not to. The giant body of the Dark Dragon soared through the air. It circled the air once and began charging toward Budda. Karavan then sent his world power to Ignis too.
The flame engulfed the Dark Dragon and fastened it.
âTHIS IS THE DESTRUCTION! THE CHAOS! THE HELL!â
The hands were destroyed against the charge of the Dark Dragon, and Budda screamed.
âAAAAARGHâ
A giant explosion filled the area with world power heavily raining down from the sky.
âOooh, look at him screaming.â
Karavan landed on the ground as he tapped on his body. There was no Budda anymore. He had perished instantly against the huge power. Karavan panted and said, âI did what I could do, Jaehwan.â
Droyanâs body seemed to be drained of energy and he slumped down to the ground.
âHeh, heh⊠My victory⊠hehâŠâ
Karavan looked down at Droyan with a sympathetic look. One eye that had no eyepatch had tears falling down.
âUgh, poor Vicegerent. Why was he mixed up with this GodâŠâ
[Poor guy. You should thank me.]
âYeah. So, what should we do with him now?â
[Take him. Heâll still be of help.]
ââŠRight.â
[So, when are you meeting those Fallbringers? You can let them take him.]
âFallbringers? Hmm⊠Let me contact Jaehwan thenâŠâ
As Karavan began to control the long communication setting, Ignis felt weird. He had never seen Karavan that excited when he was with him. Ignis advised Karavan.
[Karavan. Itâs good that youâre fighting Rupture, but donât befriend that Jaehwan too muchâŠ]
But then, Karavan suddenly became pale and as Ignis shouted alarmingly, Karavan jumped up into the air. In that instant, countless hands slammed the ground.
And unfortunately, there was a being that was struck. It was Droyan.
âUgh⊠Mi⊠Mimi⊠I was happy too..â
âM-me too⊠DroyanâŠâ
Droyanâs body that lost energy perished into dust. Droyanâs world power was then sucked somewhere. It was hard to explain what had happened.
From the air where the world power sucked in, a flower appeared. And from the flower, Budda, who had perished moments ago, appeared in naked form.
âArgh.. aghâŠ.â
Budda vomited as he dropped down and looked down at himself. Karavan frowned, âGo-God. What is going on? How did heâŠâ
[âŠDonât ask. Itâs my first time seeing it. I did hear the rumors, but I guess they were true then.]
âRumor? What rumor?!â
[âŠThat he doesnât die.]
Budda said, âI see. So itâs come down to this again. The 1617th one died⊠it always feels uncomfortable.â
Karavan looked at Budda standing up in disbelief.
âWait⊠is thatâŠ?â
Karavan saw something similar in the forest. The Long Living race often showed that through Ouroboros, as if they had come out of their own shells.
Process of taking off their clothes.
Metamorphosis.
âSo, you are the one that killed me. The one that was trained by Ra-hamad.â
âYou⊠but howâŠâ
Budda smiled as he saw Karavan looked at him in disbelief.
âI see. So, you know about the âclothesâ.â
Karavan flinched. He felt his hairs rise at the sight of the eye of Budda.
âThat eye! ThatâsâŠâ
There was the form of a snake spinning within the eye. Karavan had seen something similar before. Jaehwanâs eye, after earning the Eye of Geshtalt, looked like that. The only difference was that Buddaâs snake did not bite its tail. It wasnât a perfect Ouroboros.
-He has not gotten to the [Eye of Geshtalt], but he had gained another [Setting] using the power of Metamorphosis.
Karavan then realized this power was what he got from the forest. He shouldâve asked Ra-hamad more about that Setting. It was a mistake.
With world power that decreased by very little, Budda looked the same. One layer of clothes disappeared and he was revived like magic.
Karavan widened his eyes in shock.
ââŠHow can this be?â
âSo, you understand.â
Budda shouted, âAll beings are the collection of many clothes! If one is ripped apart, you just have to throw it away.â
A Setting that allowed one to come back to life just by sacrificing one layer of clothing.
[Reincarnation]
It was the Setting that allowed Budda to be considered one of the 8 Gods of .
âI am immortal.â
Karavan stepped back. Disbelief and fear came together.
âThatâs impossible..â
Ignis shouted within him.
[Calm down, Karavan!]
World power began to storm within Karavan. The flame exploded and heat filled the air. The hand began to melt down, but Budda smiled.