...Because a few years ago, as everyone knows, [Magical Girl Pazuzu] once gave a live demonstration of how she entered the lower unconscious sea from the upper space of the StarNet, entered the Netherworld, and fought against death.
At this very moment, in this most vulnerable place in spacetime, Pania once again opens that door, opening a passage to the mysterious, dark abyss.
She carefully opened the door and then gave Hayden the space in the doorway: "Here you go, Uncle. You can take the helm from now on."
Hayden didn't stand on ceremony; he stuck his head in and half his body into the dark, mysterious, and indescribable depths of the astral plane. Only cold and darkness lingered there, like slowly sinking into a dark, deep sea.
In the deathly still, icy sea, Hayden reflected on his life, filled with love and death, and recounted the suffering of countless people he had swallowed in the time tunnel over four hundred years. As he recalled this feeling, he channeled his power. A tremendous force erupted from the depths of his soul, radiating out like colorless, transparent waves that spread into the endless, dark sea of death…
"Come, return! You suffering souls, grieving, resentful, and indignant because of the world Mithra created!"
Hayden called out,
"The time for retribution has come! The time for justice to prevail has finally arrived! Take up your swords of revenge once more! Let your flames of rage burn anew!"
"Let us set this wrath ablaze in the heavens, and into Mithra's heavenly palace!"
Before the words were even finished, flickering bluish-white soul flames began to appear on the empty sea. Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands—millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions, billions—of the dead surged forth from the Sea of the Underworld. They were the "losers" who had failed in life, unappreciated by the god of capital, and destined for the underworld after death. But it didn't matter; they were exactly what Hayden wanted. The souls of the dead flew to Hayden's side one after another, surrounding him completely.
Shock, pain, and their longing flooded Hayden's mind. Their regrets, sorrow, reluctance, and hatred for the exploitative and cannibalistic society—all these turbulent emotions surged into Hayden's heart, and an incredible surge of power welled up within him.
This power must not be used recklessly, or it will surely backfire. Fortunately, Hayden had already previewed it once in the time tunnel.
"bring it on!"
He reached out to the resentful souls accumulated over four hundred years, then looked up at the sky, at the largest network host in the [StarNet] sky. That was, of course, the Mitra Group's network host, slowly rotating at an altitude of 100,000 meters in the astral plane, looking like a golden lotus flower larger than a city.
The torrent of the undead army lifted Hayden and his companions up into the sky, and they charged toward the golden lotus!
438: Ragnarok (Part 2)
A torrent of undead surged through the StarNet space, soaring into the heavens and charging towards the golden lotus!
Generally speaking, this is something no one can do.
The so-called true death, the true underworld, is not something like an artificial underworld, but a mystery located at the deepest and most profound level of the world, which no one can fathom.
Pania once went down to the underworld and was almost dragged down by the undead.
Even Mikkelsen, the goddess of death, could only defeat all the vengeful spirits in her own artificial underworld in South America; she couldn't establish a good "relationship" with them. And this was just an artificial underworld, let alone the real netherworld.
The resentful spirits of the dead are not to be manipulated at will.
...But Hayden could do it.
A prophet who has been born, died, and resurrected, who has traveled from the present to the past and back again, can serve as a bridge between the past (death) and the present (life).
Using four hundred years of records as a guide, Hayden led the wronged souls of four hundred years back from the underworld to the modern-day StarNet. All he could do was guide the undead back; he couldn't command them… but that was enough.
The injustice has the head and the debt has the owner.
Watching the raging torrent of vengeful spirits rise into the sky, Alastor laughed heartily, transforming his body in the astral plane into a white dragon-serpent. He was as clear and beautiful as a celestial spring, yet this beautiful being also glared angrily, his tongue lolling out, soaring up with the flood of the dead, stirring up towering, turbid waves, displaying the magnificent wrath of nature!
The StarNet space is equipped with various defense systems; no major company's mainframe would allow billions of vengeful spirits to surge out of the underworld and crash into it. But the white dragon-serpent, protecting the torrent of the dead, shattered all these systems to pieces! Shattered them completely!
Throughout history, hackers have been categorized into two types. Alastor primarily engages in the more technically demanding type of hacking. For example, a hacker might first calculate the location and logical address of an enemy host, steal and parse the source code of the running program, rewrite a portion of it to achieve their own goals, and escape without leaving a trace—a highly craftsman-like attack method.
But now, it's different! Although this operation is still essentially a hacking attack, it's basically like beating up a security guard and heading towards the enemy's mainframe, kicking down all the doors along the way, and then brutally beating up the server with karate, mercilessly pouring coffee inside!
Of course, relying solely on Alastor, even a world-class hacking genius, would still be very unsafe for such a task. Therefore, Hayden opened his mouth and spat out the giant wolf Fenrir, allowing it to accompany Alastor in protecting the undead army.
This is StarNet.
Willpower is power.
Giant wolves and dragons, leading an army of vengeful spirits accumulated over four hundred years, charged toward the divine palace seated atop the astral plane. This must be the scene of Ragnarok, a spectacle even Odin had foretold.
The torrent of undead broke through the firewall and crashed violently into the golden lotus!
----------------------
"The time has come! Let's go!"
Sensing the changes in the StarNet, Karen immediately gave an order.
The main gods present worked together to tear open space. In an instant, an army of 100,000 traversed a distance of 384400 kilometers and appeared on the surface of the moon.
The lunar surface, though a desolate place, houses many of the Mitra Corporation's facilities and production buildings. Normally, outsiders can't even teleport in; anyone illegally approaching the barrier will be blasted to dust by various protective technologies.
In theory, countless spells should have been unleashed, blasting all 100,000 illegally entering group tourists back to their hometowns—but nothing happened this time.
The undead horde attack triggered by Hayden and Alastor in the StarNet has temporarily paralyzed the defensive magic of the Mitra lunar base!
“Loki is indeed very resourceful.” Odin glanced at StarNet with his one eye and sighed. “If anyone else said they could dismantle all the security here immediately and let our entire army storm in unscathed, I would just consider them crazy.”
"Don't waste time talking," Karen said coldly. "Of course, there are still troops stationed here—Mithra's Five Hundred Arhats are coming!"
No sooner said than done! Five hundred monks dressed in tattered robes, known as "Arhats," had been teleported out of the Mithra lunar base. They hovered in mid-air in meditative postures, exuding an unshakeable majesty.
One of the heroic warriors charging at the forefront of the Allied Forces suddenly burst into blinding flames from his fully mechanized body.
"Homage! Vajra, Cakra, Maitreya, Svaha!"
As they chanted incantations, the heads of the heroic warriors exploded one after another like a string of firecrackers. Within seconds, more than five hundred Allied Protoss soldiers had been blown into ripe pomegranates.
Fortunately, the gods were not afraid. Some of their warriors hesitated for a moment, but immediately launched a counterattack. The power of the gods, including Odin, Thor, Apollo, Mars, and Takemikazuchi, erupted from their soldiers. Countless different supernatural powers, spells, guns, and arrows rained down on the Arhats, exploding within the ranks. The intensity of the conflict was beyond description.
Mitra's newly created special force, the Arahants, using the power of reincarnation, though currently numbering only five hundred, is already more powerful than any existing combat god force. Can the Allied forces' hastily assembled ragtag army, even with a combined force of one hundred thousand, truly defeat them?
However, this is not a question of whether or not we can win.
We must win.
Karen and her allied forces are tasked with destroying three specific facilities within the lunar base, Tushita Heaven. According to Hayden, these are physical devices used by Mitra to seal Raphael (Angela) and cannot be destroyed through the StarNet attack. Without destroying them, Angela cannot be released to break the Cycle of Reincarnation.
If they fail, even if they fight Mithra with an army of 100,000 on the moon, they will ultimately be defeated by the divine power of [Reincarnation].
Everyone present is here to save the world, and is prepared to die for it. The sounds of battle will be deafening. Odin's valiant warriors and the brave gods of Olympus will fight to the death against the Arahats of Mithra.
Their leaders, the true gods, were not merely responsible for arranging troops, issuing commands, and bestowing divine power upon the warriors.
Soldiers against soldiers, kings against kings. It may sound a bit mundane, but they each have formidable enemies to face in this battle.
A towering—extremely towering, over four meters tall—Wang (Vidyaraja) suddenly emerged from the Tushita Heaven. He was entirely golden, wearing a crown with fiery hair resembling that of a Super Saiyan. In his right hand he held an eight-spoked vajra wheel, and in his left a single-pronged vajra.
He exuded an aura very similar to the Eight Great Vidyarajas, but even more powerful and majestic. However, none of the gods present had ever seen or even heard of this Vidyaraja.
So Kallen and Odin exchanged bewildered glances—how could it be such an unfamiliar Myō-ō? Where were Fudō Myō-ō and the others? Then Kallen spoke first, shouting, "Where is Fudō Myō-ō, hailed as the head of the Myō-ō? Let him come out and fight me! Otherwise, let Mithra himself come out!"
Then, the other party's answer far exceeded any of the gods' predictions.
"I am Acala, and I am also Mithra."
The golden-haired Great Ming King spoke calmly.
“I am the Great Wheel Vajra King, the wrathful manifestation of the Bodhisattva Mithra to subdue the heavenly demons and liberate stubborn beings.”
The Dharma form of a Bodhisattva, an incarnation!
This is nothing unusual for the gods; every god does it. For business and other reasons, each new god knows how to create emanations and incarnations—forms manifested through divine power. The wrathful form is a special combat-type incarnation created by a bodhisattva for fighting and subduing demons.
However, Karen felt a sense of foreboding upon hearing his words: "You are an incarnation of Mithra, what is your relationship with Acala?"
"The Eight Great Vidyarajas' performance in their previous battles with the Peacock King and others was no longer sufficient to meet the demands of my duties. Therefore, Mithra Bodhisattva has completely transformed them."
The Great Wheel Vajra King pointed to his chest and said quietly,
"All the wisdom and power of the Eight Great Vidyarajas are contained within this body, along with the supreme supernatural powers and will manifested by the Bodhisattva Mithra. Come, daughter of the Peacock King. I alone will be the opponent of all your supreme gods."
This is absolutely insane, insane!
It wasn't just that Mithra wanted to wipe them all out with a single incarnation—that was nothing; no one dared say Mithra couldn't do it. What truly astonished Karen was the Great Wheel King's claim about his own origins.
Mithra, what... what have you done? Did he kill all eight Great Vidyarajas and mold them into a super-enhanced fusion beast or something? Is this something a human would do? Is this something any leader, regardless of power, should do with their subordinates?!
Karen didn't know whether she should be angry or shocked. However, at least she knew what she should do.
"All troops, move out!"
She waved her hand and gave the order.
"Odin, Mars, don't hesitate any longer! Surround this Great Wheel King and use a wheel-like tactic to finish him off! Don't treat him as a King, treat him as the real Mithra!"
...Karen's judgment was probably not wrong.
———————————————————————————————————
Let's look back at the StarNet side.
Panya didn't rush up with Hayden and the others. She was responsible for guarding and controlling the Nether Gate at the deepest part of the Astral Plane—after all, such a thing couldn't really be left unattended, and Hayden wasn't that irresponsible, so Panya was in charge of watching over it from below. Besides, Hayden hadn't planned on having Panya accompany him on the ascent of the tower in the first place.
Alastor followed him, protecting the countless torrents of undead, forcefully smashing through the outer shell of the Mitra Group's mainframe on the StarNet and crashing into the interior, as if drawing back a curtain and forcefully entering a unique new space.
【StarNet】is a space of pure will and thought, so going through the casing of the main unit and entering it is not like walking into a real building, but rather like stepping into a completely different world, a magnificent world that seems to be built with diamonds as its foundation, extremely solid and indestructible.
Everything here seemed to be made of seven materials: gold, silver, lapis lazuli, crystal, jade, pearl, and agate, displaying various orderly and beautiful geometric patterns. Besides these, there were magnificent pavilions, towers, and gardens, beautiful jeweled wheels, countless precious flowers, and pure mani jewels, adorning the entire land and making it appear incomparably solemn. Rows and rows of mani trees covered the ground, their branches and leaves lush and radiating boundless light.
In the heavens, there are also celestial banners made of Mani jewels, which not only shine constantly but also continuously emit beautiful music. Around the entire majestic earth, there are nets made of various treasures, all of which are manifestations of the Mani Jewel King at will.
Such a scene is as deep, vast, beautiful, and boundless as the ocean.
…That being said, in Hayden's eyes, despite its magnificent appearance, the place was almost devoid of life. There were pavilions, golden bridges, flowing water, precious trees, colorful birds, and auspicious jewels—but not a single passerby. Though incredibly beautiful, it was lifeless, its atmosphere resembling a well-decorated, vast cemetery, beautiful yet cold.
"Is this what Mithra's domain is?"
Looking around, Hayden couldn't help but scoff, "What exactly is he planning to live in? Is this what he calls transcendence?"
“This place should normally be inhabited; it was originally the Mitra Group’s most exclusive sanctuary.”
Alastor explained from the side,
"I guess Mitra went all out and sent all the souls in these Pure Land servers into [Reincarnation]."
He had transformed back into human form from his dragon form, and reached out to manipulate the surrounding space, creating several rectangles of different sizes, each filled with a rotating cloud of glowing characters. Some were just 0s and 1s, some were letters and numbers, and some were Greek symbols, swirling around his fingers like a data storm.
“Good…very good. I’ve found the location where Angela is sealed, or at least its contact point inside the StarNet. As long as you go that way and Karen and the others outside successfully shut down the physical equipment, it’ll be fine. If they fail, we’ll have to use another method temporarily.”
Hayden shrugged. "I believe in Karen's abilities. Let's go to the contact point and wait for her."
"What about all those billions of undead you brought with you?" Alastor glanced at the countless wronged souls still surrounding him and around him. "Let them roam freely, attack Mitra's mainframe equipment, and continue to buy us time?"
“No,” Hayden replied, shaking his head. “Since they resent the society Mithra created, and since they want justice from Mithra, the biggest ‘leader,’ I can’t just bring them into the mainframe and let them run around and fight. What’s the difference between that and going to the company to complain, then smashing up the lobby, and finally only finding a lobby manager? They have the right and the qualification to go with me to see Mithra.”
439: Ragnarok (Part 2)
Sensing the vibrations emanating from the moon in the night sky above, Isham flinched slightly in fear.
Because this successor of Mickett, the little goddess of tomorrow, is somewhat of a minor god, albeit the weakest among them. Even from a distance of nearly 40 kilometers, she could see the aftershocks of the lunar war, the crackling of lightning. It was a terrifying power, more glaring, and more intense than a nuclear explosion.
Although she couldn't see the specifics of the battle—the fighting on the moon was intense, with power bursting forth, and there were very few strong individuals on Earth who could still clearly see the situation on the moon—Isham knew what was happening there.
She, or rather Hayden's companions—any one of them, even the weakest—knew exactly what was happening and what was being done on the moon. Hayden had told them everything before he left, and he had never cared about things like strength.
"As the saying goes, when someone is struggling with something and can't find the answer, talking to someone else will make it easier to find the answer."
Although it was a rather absurd viewpoint, Hayden had said this before setting off, and visited several old friends in New Sprouts, mainly to hear their opinions. He was particularly interested in Ismail, this little goddess who was born from the life, death, suffering, and sorrow of South America, yet in some ways transcended these sorrows, striving to survive for tomorrow.
On the other hand, after returning from Japan, Hayden began doing some strange things. Probably few people could understand what he was doing.
Fortunately, although many of his friends, including Isham, did not fully understand Hayden's thoughts, they had communicated and discussed with Hayden beforehand, and because of the various strange things Hayden had done in the past, they had an indescribable confidence in him.
In Newbeam, gazing at the moon, Isham silently prayed in her heart—though she didn't even have many people to wish upon—that Hayden could once again do the impossible, defeat Mithra, and save the world.
The wounds of this world have been too deep and too long.
————————————————————————————
Meanwhile, Hayden and Alastor continued to move around inside Mitra's mainframe.
Mitra already possessed the ability to divide and distort space, especially since this was the StarNet space. Everything here was merely thought and will; buildings, passageways, and layouts could be cut and rewritten at will. If Hayden were left to wander aimlessly here, he would surely get lost and suffocate.
Fortunately, Hayden wasn't alone; fortunately, he had Alastor to help him. Alastor reached out and fiddled with the StarNet space, walking at a steady pace, able to discern the correct path, the illusion, and the firewall trap.
Of course, occasionally some defense programs will still misbehave and pop up, but in the current situation, Alastor doesn't even need to intervene. The billions of undead following Hayden will swarm in and tear apart any programs in their path. How terrifying!
But no matter how powerful a vengeful spirit is, it is not invincible. Moreover, this is the domain of a super bodhisattva. How could a vengeful spirit be stronger than a bodhisattva? Many wronged souls have been damaged when they broke through the golden lotus shell and rushed in, and when they broke through the defense and security procedures. They were burned, rotted, melted and disintegrated. Most of their spiritual bodies are in a state of collapse.
Even so, their resentment remained, but they were probably no longer able to fight. Hayden reached out to them, spoke to them, and guided them one by one into his own astral body. His words to them were undoubtedly comforting, praising, and blessing these wronged souls.
One by one, the souls on the verge of dissipation flowed into Hayden's heart, their thoughts flooding his mind. Their regrets, their weeping, their reluctance to leave, their struggle to survive, and their hatred for society after their failures—all these surged into Hayden's mind. Hayden solemnly accepted these souls into his body.