"Gravekeeper Damian!"
Shaka's voice rang out of nowhere, loud and lucid. The mouth of that colossal Buddha also opened to speak at that moment.
"You cannot escape this Buddha Kingdom in the Palm."
"Perish within this Buddha Kingdom in the Palm."
Suddenly, that seemingly infinitely compassionate Buddha face turned terrifying and ferocious in an instant.
It became the wrathful visage of a Vidyaraja, and figures of the Five Hundred Arhats appeared around the sky.
These Five Hundred Arhats were awe-inspiring, riding clouds and mist, radiating boundless pressure. Each held a different treasure-weapon, looking fierce as demons as they charged in to kill.
"Absolve!"
"Go to hell."
The Five Hundred Arhats hemmed Damian in so tightly not a drop could leak through. One by one they raised their treasure-weapons and fired waves of golden Buddha light at him, each beam bristling with killing intent.
Clang, clang, clang!
Endless Buddha light struck Damian, but was blocked by the golden armor on his body.
Those golden rays instantly ricocheted away, instead lancing back at the Five Hundred Arhats, sending them sprawling and wiping them out.
"Shaka, stop playing kids' games. They don't work on me."
"Slash!"
Damian suddenly swung the Holy Sword, bringing a downward slash at the giant Buddha.
Shhk!
The colossal Buddha was cleaved in two in an instant; its face and body split apart.
The Buddha Kingdom in the Palm collapsed and dissipated. The sky returned to its clear blue, and the surroundings reverted to their original state.
Shaka sat cross-legged in the air ahead, his whole body wrapped in a translucent jeweled lotus. He truly looked like a Buddha.
"You actually broke my Buddha Kingdom in the Palm. I did underestimate you."
Shaka went on, "How about this: give me the box His Holiness entrusted to you, and I'll let you go."
"The box His Holiness gave me?"
Damian narrowed his eyes. With a ripple of space, the box hidden in an extradimensional space dropped into his hand.
"You both want this box?"
"Looks like His Holiness gave me something remarkable."
Dismask and Shaka both seemed to have come for the box.
That's strange.
He had originally thought Saga was just giving him some mysterious little gift—nothing major.
Now it had Saga thoroughly regretting it and sending two pursuers after him.
Saga had even told him to wait until he reached Japan to open it. Now it seemed what he held was anything but ordinary.
"Hand over the box, and I can spare you."
Upon seeing the box, even the closed-eyed Shaka stirred slightly, his face growing more solemn.
"Shaka, the Pope said it himself: power is justice. So let me ask you—if my power is greater than the Pope's, will you listen to me and acknowledge me as Pope?"
Damian caught that subtle change in expression and pressed him.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because you are not normal."
Damian was speechless ￣□￣｜｜.
"Was Shaka insulting him?"
"The Pope is the one who's mentally abnormal! He has a split personality—you can't not know that, right?"
He shot back.
"Every person has both good and evil; it's just more obvious in His Holiness. Whether his good side or his evil side, he can govern the Sanctuary well."
Shaka paused. "But in you I see not only power, but also madness and reckless abandon."
"Your good and evil are hard to distinguish because you act only according to your own will—unpredictable, unfathomable. That's why you're not normal."
"Sounds very reasonable. Enough talk."
Damian shrugged. "In that case, I'll just leave the box here."
"Come and get it if you can!"
He knew full well Shaka recognized only Saga's power, not his.
He just hadn't been beaten and didn't know pain.
Then he'd give him a taste of his fists. Damian tossed the box onto a nearby rock and once again unleashed an incomparably powerful Cosmo.
He burned his Cosmo to the extreme. Every muscle in his body blazed with Cosmo, and the Pegasus Cloth on him shone with rising golden light.
Shaka was also burning his Cosmo. A galaxy seemed to glimmer in his hands, and behind him appeared the Eastern Buddha preaching at the Great Thunderclap Temple in the Western Paradise, with Sanskrit chants echoing.
At this moment Shaka's Cosmo swelled immeasurably, building to a burst.
"It's Heavenly Demon Subjugation!"
Damian knew what was coming.
He had seen this move before.
It counted as one of Shaka's offensive ultimates: he burns Cosmo in his hands, then erupts outward; it can be used for ranged attacks.
When he executes it, scenes arise around Shaka—the Eastern Heavenly Court, Amitabha preaching at the Great Thunderclap Temple in the Western Paradise, the Twenty-Four Devas of India, Yahweh's heaven—because Shaka has fused the scriptures of multiple faiths.
The golden lotus beneath Shaka blossomed at once, and his mighty Cosmo surged forth almost instantly.
He's charging up!
"Now."
Damian gave Shaka no time to continue building his Cosmo and swung both arms at once.
Swish, swish, swish, swish...
Blades of sword aura flew in a frenzy from his arms, golden arcs streaking toward Shaka.
Boom...
Before Shaka could strike, he was battered by a storm of sword aura.
Heavenly Demon Subjugation!
He still unleashed his attack. A thick golden pillar of light erupted forth, packed with destructive force.
The heavy sword auras Damian hacked out came faster and stronger one after another, turning into golden crescents that slammed into the pillar.
Bang, bang, bang...
Under the furious impact of more than a dozen slashes, the giant pillar formed by Heavenly Demon Subjugation was completely neutralized and dissipated.
Explosive roars filled the sky. Air waves rolled, shockwaves blasted the surrounding flora away, even shattering the boulders around them.
"Job done—sixteen slashes in all!"
Damian looked at the falling Shaka. He was a bit disheveled, with blood dripping from his arm.
Obviously he'd seized the initiative, using chained sword aura to break Heavenly Demon Subjugation and wound him.
"It's the Holy Sword—it reminds me of Shura. But your swordsmanship surpasses his."
There was shock and unwillingness in Shaka's voice.
"Oh, it's nothing, just a little move of mine. I call it Starburst Stream."
On the spot, Damian gave his new invention a flashy name to bolster his momentum.
The move is simple to describe: chained sword-aura strikes requiring speed, precision, and ruthlessness, with enough firepower—like a machine-gun sweep.
Your big rocket may be fierce, but my sustained fire is strong enough.
He turned to Shaka. "You haven't gone all out yet, Shaka. Are you going to use Tenbu Hōrin?"
"You know my ultimate secret art, Virgo Shaka's greatest?"
Even as calm as he was, Shaka was moved now, showing surprise.
To this day, he had never told anyone about that finisher, much less used it.
The other truly knew?
"Hurry up and use it. What are you waiting for?"
Cosmo pulsed in Damian's palms; Titan Nova was primed.
Shaka was at his strongest with eyes open; his Cosmo would also peak.
If Shaka dared open his eyes, he'd smack him immediately, leaving him no chance to unleash Tenbu Hōrin.
Go on, open your eyes!
Shaka remained unmoving; Damian was coiled to strike.
They faced off, auras crossing and Cosmos canceling each other out.
It seemed both were searching for the moment to act.
Clack!
At that moment, the box sitting on the rubble fell to the ground.
The box that had sat on the rock hit the ground, its once-locked lid flipping open, and a smaller box tumbled out from inside.
"The Ark of the Covenant!"
Shaka started, blurting out involuntarily.
"What?"
"Saga sent me the Ark of the Covenant?! Σ(⊙▽⊙a?)"
"The one that seals the twin gods of Death and Sleep?"
(End of Chapter)
[Get +20 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Mutter"]
[Every 100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]