"It's forcing him to get into a car accident."
"I have seen countless people suffering from hunger and cold."
"Perhaps I can see myself in this too."
So she sang it like this:
Why must we accept this bitter "blessing"?
"Experiencing the bitterness of life, walking towards death day by day?"
"I want them to know whose blood, whose will, whose voice—it is!"
"We can refuse this game that blinds us to greed!"
So believe! Believe that your life is not in vain!
"Your sacrifices and suffering were not in vain!"
These are lyrics to Angela's songs, things Pania has secretly learned from Angela over the past two months. Pania probably doesn't even know how amazing her stolen knowledge is—but she'll find out soon enough.
Slowly, something began to rise from her, growing stronger and stronger. It was a strange exhilaration. Panya sang and sang, no longer considering or questioning. She let this passionate excitement drive her to sing as if possessed, her voice gradually shaking the entire stage space, even engulfing and enveloping the [Bajrangi Bhadra], transforming the emptiness of death within into the radiance of passion, and turning the impending disaster into a triumphant song.
"I can accept this 'blessing'!"
"I am willing to bear the hardships of life!"
"From this day forward, I will dedicate my entire life to bringing hope to all living beings!"
"Pain, you permeate everything, but I have broken free from your bonds!"
"O death, you who overcome all things, now submit to love!"
She copied a lot of Angela's lyrics; in other words, Pania is now imitating Angela. And by imitating her, she can borrow power.
Facing the dark void, chaos, and death emanation of the [Divine Image of Mara], Panya made her own great vow. This vow was immense, shaking the very fabric of time and space. Even the previously uncertain future was distorted by this incredible, overwhelming power.
In the darkness, a vast power, as boundless as the stars and the sea, surged down from the future, transforming into a golden river that flowed onto [Magical Girl Pazuzu].
The black raven wings on her back changed; they were no longer raven wings, but eagle wings. Her legs, which originally resembled eagle claws, also changed, becoming adorable lion-shaped legs, perfectly complementing her lion-style hands. Her scorpion tail also disappeared, becoming a lion's tail with a ball of fur at the end.
The wings of an eagle, the body of a lion.
This is the king of the sky and the earth, and also the legendary beast god.
"Having endured the scorching heat of suffering, I have gained new wings,"
"Soar towards the distant horizon beyond our sight!"
"Behold! Behold how I use my life to kill death!"
A song of vows shook the entire stage space.
The faceless witch's song and dance had initially stirred the inner demons of tens of millions of viewers, plunging them into desire and chaos. However, Panya's vow song shattered this chaos, bringing them back to their senses, leaving them dazed as they gazed at the scene unfolding on the stage before them.
How many of the virtual idol's audience members are people who suffer like the characters Pania mentions in her songs? How many fans love virtual idols because their daily real lives are too boring and painful?
It's likely only large companies have done the data analysis, but out of these tens of millions of people, there must be at least ten million. They echoed the song of "Magical Girl Pazuzu," watching her, and she watched them in return. The exchange of glances caused these fans to involuntarily clasp their hands together in prayer and worship.
Even the gods and goddesses sitting on the judges' bench outside the stage couldn't help but change their expressions at this moment.
“I never imagined that the idol you nurtured would have such abilities,” Goddess Mikkelsen said with a shrug. “Congratulations to that little kitten. From now on, she is no longer an idol, but a goddess.”
The other gods and goddesses remained silent, but they clearly did not deny what was said.
Because Pania is indeed a god!
After she finished singing, she flapped her eagle wings and charged towards the [Bojun Divine Image]! With each flap of her wings, the winds of the stage and the surrounding world were summoned, gathering from all directions and from the void. The power of her flapping wings now was enough to blow away a mountain!
However, this is merely the power of a [Heaven]-level True God, and even then, one of the weaker [Heaven]-level beings. Although tens of millions of viewers are praying and worshipping her, [Magical Girl Goddess Pazuzu]'s current power is still inferior to that of Dajini.
It is far inferior to the [Bo Xun Shen Xiang] who possesses 30% of the power of the [Ming Wang] level.
Pania charged towards the [Portrait of Mara] with the force of thunder, her lion claws cleaving the earth. However, just as her claws approached within ten meters of the [Portrait of Mara], the four-headed, six-armed phantom suddenly raised three magical weapons: a sword, an axe, and a trident, accompanied by thunder and lightning. A tremendous force erupted, creating immense resistance that blocked Pania's claws, preventing them from penetrating beyond ten meters.
"Such immense power. No wonder it was the most powerful demon that was slain by Fudo Myoo back then, the Demon King Mara. Even the death incarnation reflected in its corpse is not something a minor deity (minorgod) can defeat."
The goddess Mikk was not familiar with Mara in his previous life. When she saw this scene for the first time, she was quite surprised to see that Mara's Divine Form, with only 30% of its power, and not even all of it, managed to prevent Pania's claws from penetrating.
“Mr. Hayden, it is indeed an amazing achievement that you can create a new god on the spot, but it seems not enough. Do you have any more rabbits in your hat?”
As she analyzed the power of the incarnation of death with great interest, she asked questions with curiosity.
Hayden glanced at Dakini and the five-colored goddesses, then turned back and nodded: "Of course."
He had always believed that Pania could become a god, but he never thought that a single [Heaven] level true god could reverse the situation.
So Hayden took out the Alastor Dragon Ball that he usually wore around his neck.
There should be at least two!
180: The Price of Life
Hayden had just taken out the Dragon Ball, preparing to cast a spell, when he suddenly felt his body sink. A chilling sense of loss washed over him, and an intense heaviness swept through his entire body, even oppressing his soul. The pain from over-casting was raging through his nervous system.
This is the price.
It was the price he paid for helping Pania distort time and space and forcibly borrow power from the future.
Turning the future into cash is a standard skill of every financial magnate, and every financial magnate must learn it.
Conversely, mortals who are not gods certainly cannot easily accomplish such a thing. Pania, who is not a god, forcibly borrowed certain divine power from an uncertain future; how could such an act be without risk and cost? If mortals could do it so easily, it's obvious that everyone would have done it long ago.
Hayden couldn't possibly let a young girl bear all the risks and costs alone. That wasn't his nature. So Hayden became the guarantor for this loan, the bridge between the present and the future. He was the one who guided Panya on how to become a god, so Hayden had to bear the risks and pay the price.
Fortunately, the price wasn't too high. Pania was already just one step away from becoming a god. She inherently possessed great perseverance and compassion; all she needed was to accumulate the necessary skills through persistent effort.
So Hayden didn't collapse from exhaustion or even die. It did take some toll on him, but much less than he had expected... or perhaps while taking a toll, it also gave him something in return...
To be honest, Hayden felt that what his body needed most right now was a good night's sleep, but he couldn't.
He still has things to do.
[Magical Girl Pazuzu] alone cannot defeat [Bojun], Hayden will have to conjure at least another god.
Moreover, Hayden had been planning to revive Alastor for a long time. Now everything was ready except for the final push.
...However, it's not easy to borrow this favorable wind.
Hayden closed his eyes and began to try to communicate with someone on the stage through magic. But the person he wanted to communicate with was not Panya or the nineteen idols, nor was it the incarnation of Mara's death.
There is one more person on the stage, someone who has almost been forgotten by everyone.
--------------------------
Having lost its costume, Hongye huddled in a corner of the stage space, curled up like a ball.
【Magical Girl Pazuzu】is fighting in the sky above the stage, fighting to save everyone, fighting at a place much higher than Momiji, like lightning and thunder in the sky.
Hongye is now like a child hiding in a basement, hoping the storm will end.
She didn't like it, but what could she do?
Red Leaf has no power, never has. At best, she's at the level of an ordinary god, with combat strength no more than that of a high-ranking demon. What use is such power on the battlefield of true gods?
For hundreds of years, such long-term efforts have not changed her role. So when Momiji saw other idols fighting against [Bojun], and when she heard [Magical Girl Pazuzu]'s song, Momiji was not moved, not inspired, and even found her a bit noisy.
(Whatever, let it be. Let's just let everyone be slaughtered by Lord Mara.)
Hongye even curled up in the corner and thought this way.
(...I'm already tired.)
Thinking of this, she shrank even smaller.
If she were to give up completely like this, she might turn to stone forever.
So before that, another voice entered Hongye's mind:
[Really? You'd rather see Mara's afterimage wreak havoc here, killing everyone, only to be killed again by the new gods and have his power rewritten?]
That was Hayden's voice.
[No way? Surely no one is so blindly loyal as to rather be killed by the monarch's zombie than do something better for the monarch? Weeping today, weeping tomorrow, but can weeping kill the traitor Dong Zhuo?]
Even if Momiji was already disheartened and resigned to death, Hayden's sarcastic remarks were still a bit too biting. Besides, Japanese yokai also knew about the Three Kingdoms period, so she couldn't help but retort in her mind: [What do you know now?]
Even if it's just telepathy... perhaps it's precisely because it's telepathy that Hongye's sorrow has surfaced.
I never intended to destroy the world as it is now. Of course, I know that returning to the original era is impossible. I simply want to preserve the people and things left behind from the old era.
At this moment, her heart could no longer be suppressed, and she let out a mournful cry like a cuckoo crying blood.
To prove that we, their former retainers who ek out a living, are no longer a threat, I killed for them, served as a ninja, and committed countless dark deeds. My silence about the past is not out of resentment towards the world, but because silence is the only way to protect the honor of the defeated souls!
[And now they want me to dismember the remains of Lord Mara! To use his corpse to play a strange idol in this world, to completely destroy the traces and glory he left behind!]
In this telepathic connection, one could almost hear the sorrowful tears of the red leaves.
Today, Prince Mara has actually resurrected, albeit in such a mutilated form. Let him kill everyone, including me. I... no longer want to fight.
This time, Hayden didn't speak to her sarcastically and listened obediently to Hongye's complaints. In this situation, the fact that the other person was willing to complain and pour out their grievances was actually a good thing.
Moreover, Hayden already knew about the things that Koyo is complaining about.
Strangely enough, even Hayden didn't know why, but when the White Celestial [Mira] had someone send him the personal files of all the virtual idols from the Mitra Group participating in this competition, she actually sent Red Leaf's personal file along with it. Moreover, the file was very complete, to the extent that it greatly surprised Hayden.
The file clearly stated Momiji's identity: she was indeed an ancient god, a yokai from ancient Japan, a fox spirit with some demonic nature, and a member of the clan of Mara, one of the ancient demon kings.
As for her Tengu attribute, it was only after she was subdued by the Mithra Group that Dakini Ten added it to her; it was an element of magic used to control her.
Four hundred years ago, the last demon king, Mara, led his old gods in battle against the new gods of the Mithraic group. Mara was ultimately slain by Fudo Myoo—but what happened to his old gods?
Most of them certainly fought to the death, but it was impossible for them all to be killed. Old gods like Dakini even surrendered outright and managed to secure a deputy director position within the Mithraic group, which was known for its benevolence towards life.
That being said, the Mitra Group has never truly trusted these surrendered Old Gods and their races. The Old Gods within the Mitra Group have never risen above the rank of Deputy Director, and have only ever reached the [Heaven] level.
Peacock King? I've already said he's an exception. There's only one Peacock King in the whole world.
If even the Old Gods are treated so poorly, the situation of the Old God race must be even worse. Moreover, Mara's followers were die-hards who resisted until the very end of the great war. Even after four hundred years, many of Mara's former subjects are still suspected, guarded against, and even persecuted by the Mithraic group.
Red leaves are a perfect example of this.
In the files Mithra Group provided to Hayden, he discovered that Momiji was originally from a prestigious samurai family, belonging to the clan of Emperor Bojun (though the bloodline was quite distant), and could be considered to have once held a noble status. However, this former noble status was not only useless in the present era, but also brought a host of troubles, and a return to ordinary life was impossible. Mithra Group even handed her over to Dajini Tian for management, and Dajini Tian assigned her to various assassination and espionage jobs as a ninja.
More than half a year ago, Momiji was dispatched by Dajini Ten as a Tengu Ninja to attack Kallen's raw material camp. This is a very standard example.
For a former noble knight, this was hardly a profession to be proud of—though Hayden didn't really care. He had no interest in being pretentious on behalf of the Old Gods' nobles. But when he realized that Dajinite's actions were essentially forcing Momiji to dig up her own ancestral graves to prove her loyalty, even Hayden couldn't help but find it rather malicious.
With so many ancient gods, why is the Mithra Group so wary of Mara, the God of Otherworld? Mara shouldn't be an ancient god from beyond the heavens like the Peacock King, otherwise he wouldn't be able to be killed—Hayden already knew that ancient gods from beyond the heavens couldn't be killed, only sealed away—but if that's the case, why is the Mithra Group so aggressive towards Mara's former subjects and clansmen?
Hayden was genuinely curious. Could this be some secret that even the Mitra Group was deeply concerned about? Unfortunately, now was not the time to pursue that secret. There were priorities.
So what are you planning to do now?
So Hayden waited patiently for a while, until Hongye gradually calmed down, before continuing to speak, asking in a more composed tone,
[Dajini, or rather, the Mithra Group has been forcing you to do all sorts of vicious work to prove your loyalty as former followers of Mara, to prove you will no longer rebel. So you just plan to wait to die, to wait for Mara's zombies to kill you?]
Hongye answered in her mind with a self-deprecating tone: "At least they won't execute my entire clan for this reason."
That's hard to say.
However, Hayden didn't directly criticize this. Although Hongye said she wanted to die, the fact that she still cared about her clan being implicated meant she wasn't actually that desperate. This was a good sign. Hayden didn't need to continue putting pressure on her.
Okay, I can understand why you want to die.
Instead, he went along with what she was saying and continued speaking.
Since you're going to die anyway, could you do me a small favor before you die?
Even though Hongye had accumulated a bellyful of resentment over the past four hundred years, she was still a little stunned when she heard Hayden's words: Who would say such a thing to someone who was disheartened and just wanted to wait for death?
Besides, even if this monster was rather straightforward, she wasn't foolish enough to obediently nod after hearing Hayden's words. Instead, she asked with some suspicion, "What do you want me to do?"
Hayden did not answer directly.
I just want to help you analyze the situation and make a choice.
He spoke in a voice as calm as a doctor's.
[First, let's look at your preferred option right now, which is to lie down and wait to die. It's easy to do. You just need to keep your eyes closed and stay there. The Bodhisattva Bojun will defeat the magical girl Pazuzu, and then kill you too. Finally, the Mithra Group will bring in a powerful deity to beat the rebellious Bodhisattva Bojun to a pulp like a zombie. The entire stage will be destroyed, and tens of millions of spectators may suffer recoil damage. After that, the Mithra Group might suspect you of deliberately sabotaging your life, pin the blame on you, and then hold your clan responsible.]
Despite Hayden's words, Hongye remained silent and motionless. After all, she wasn't so easily persuaded.
So he continued: "Now consider the second option. Stand up now and join the magical girl Pazuzu, fighting alongside her against the god Bojun. I have a way to strengthen you; you may win or you may lose, but you can choose to fight to the death. At least Dajinite won't be able to cut off the heads of your other clansmen for that."