— — — — — —
Ryo blinked at the monkey's words, then gave an exasperated look. "So I've already been kicked out of humanity, just like that?"
The monkey snickered.
"You may look human, but inside? Not so much. No human grows stronger the way you do—surging every ten seconds like the tide. Well… to me it looks like a massive surge. To you, it might just be a drop in the bucket."
He shook his head with mock regret. "With growth like that, even if I wanted to strike you down as some outsider from another world, it'd be nearly impossible."
"So you saw through it." Ryo's mouth curled in a faint smile. He didn't bother denying the 'otherworlder' part.
The monkey's grin widened.
"Not that it matters. Power or no power, with your nature, history's correction will brand you as an enemy. When that happens, I'll be able to draw on the Old Covenant Ritual and strengthen myself."
He chuckled. "And if I do that… facing you might not end in my loss."
"Oh?" Ryo arched a brow, his interest piqued, especially at the mention of the Old Covenant.
He knew of it.
The so-called ritual of the Old Covenant was an authority belonging to the King of End.
Its effect was terrifying: multiplying one's power by three to tenfold, and what's more, its boon lingered far beyond the fight.
For this monkey to claim he could rival Ryo with that was… startling. Their gap wasn't small—it was measured in thousands.
"Honestly," Ryo said with a light smile, "you've made me curious about this Covenant of yours."
The monkey froze, then burst into raucous laughter.
"Interesting! A godslayer, curious about a power that only the gods themselves have sanctioned!"
He stood, his grin mischievous. "In the world of steel, even among us, only a handful could wield it. Whether a god slayer can? I don't know. But if you could… that would be amusing indeed."
His eyes gleamed. "Alright then. Defeat me, and I'll be the first god to recognize your right to wield the Old Covenant. Provided, of course, you can steal the authority from me."
As he spoke, his body began to turn ashen, stiffening from his feet upward until stone consumed him.
Yet even as he petrified, he fixed Ryo with a fierce, gleaming stare.
"Come on. Have the Disaster Purification Shrine Maiden use the ritual blade. Release my sealed name. Let me raise the heavens in chaos once again."
Ryo glanced at Hikaru.
She took a deep breath, then, with trembling arms, raised the blade. Slowly, steadily, she poured her sorcery into it, chanting the words of release.
Before their eyes, the monkey's body became a perfect stone statue. It looked lifeless, yet his eyes blazed gold, shining like molten fire.
The Fiery Eyes of Truth. Steel Body. Size variation....
Bit by bit, Sun Wukong reclaimed his divine power as a god that refused to yield.
Then, from the stone figure, a booming laugh rang out.
"I remember now! I am... the handsome Monkey King! I am the one who stands equal to Heaven!"
"I am the monkey born from stone, master of boundless transformations, the thief of heavenly peaches and celestial wine, the rebel who stirred havoc in the world!"
"My name is Sun Wukong. I am the Great Sage!"
The stone burst apart. A streak of lightning shot skyward, splitting the roof before crashing back down. Hay exploded into dust, the ground cracking beneath the impact.
When the dust cleared, a figure stood tall in the ruins.
A monkey with a fierce, leonine face. Upon his head, a seven-starred crown. Across his chest, chainmail glimmered. On his feet, cloud-treading boots. In his hands, a golden staff carved with dragons and phoenixes.
The Monkey King, Sun Wukong.
"Ha! At last, I remember!"
He wasn't tall, but the laughter rolling from his chest carried sheer dominance. He slammed the golden staff against the ground, grinning ear to ear.
Then his gaze sharpened, locking onto Ryo. "Layer after layer… like fog, like clouds. It's as if I'm staring at the constellations themselves. You carry quite the secret, boy."
He muttered, puzzled. "Strange. The Keeper of the Horses spell has unraveled itself?"
Talking half to himself, his golden eyes seemed to pierce the distance, as though staring at something far away.
"Well, no matter. I'll deal with them later. For now… I'll test this strange enemy, neither god nor man."
He hefted the staff, his gaze burning into Ryo as the young man rolled up his sleeves.
"Give me a moment. I've got a few things to tidy up."
Ryo's expression twitched. "And why do you think I'll give you the chance?"
"Because if you strong-arm the weak, your foster-mother Pandora won't acknowledge your god slaying," Sun Wukong replied bluntly.
Then he glanced at Luo Hao, then far into the distance, clapping his hands with a laugh.
"Two godslayers, perfect! Just perfect!"
He lifted his voice in incantation:
"I, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, call upon my sworn brothers—come forth!"
His roar thundered: "Second Bro, Zhu Ganglie!"
From the void waddled a plump, porcine man with a pig's snout and an iron rake slung over his shoulder. He grumbled as he arrived:
"Coming, coming. Big Bro always knows how to order people around."
Wukong's eyes flashed.
"Come forth, Third Bro—Vaisravana!"
A bald blue monk stepped out, with fiery red hair spilling down his back, a necklace of skulls at his throat, fanged jaws gleaming, and tattered robes hanging from his frame.
"Big Bro," he rumbled.
The moment his sworn brothers appeared, Sun Wukong's aura weakened, his divine power dropping sharply. Yet his fighting spirit only blazed brighter.
"Brothers, keep those two godslayers tied up. I want space to fight this one."
Ryo's brows rose. Extending his senses outward, he caught sight of the mountain below: a lively young woman with tanned skin and Middle Eastern garb had just arrived.
Luo Hao saw her too, and her face darkened. "Aisha, you fool… of all times, you pick now?"
At that instant, Zhu Ganglie chuckled, hefting his rake as he lunged.
"Pretty lady, let me show you what this old boar can do!"
As Luo Hao dodged, Sun Wukong laughed uproariously. "Good, Second Bro! Keep her busy!"
Then, without warning, he glanced at Ryo once more, his body flaring into a streak of golden light that vanished into the sky.
Only his voice lingered, echoing from afar: "Let's change the battlefield."
Ryo frowned, sparing a glance at Luo Hao. By plan, Wukong was her opponent. Yet the Monkey King clearly had no intention of following such arrangements.
"Tch." Luo Hao smacked the pig aside with a single palm, muttering darkly, "That damned monkey. Fine, I'll leave him to you."
Ryo gave a small nod. Then, with a single step, he followed Sun Wukong's trail out of the Netherworld.
.
.
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