Chapter 49
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Tripitaka and Gonghyeok
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Kyarrung! Kyarrurung!
The neck of the respawned Sword-Tooth Tiger King was gripped in the grasp of a brown stone giant.
Its claws could slice through rock, yet bizarrely, they couldn't pierce the stone giant at all.
It raised its other crude, rocky hand to smash the tiger king's head.
But then—
Plop.
The stone chunk clutching the tiger's scruff lost its strength and crumbled away.
Realizing the gap in power, the Sword-Tooth Tiger King desperately fled to the corner of the cave.
The stone giant quietly gazed at its collapsed hand.
'Damn it. Can't maintain my form. Used up too much power.'
The Monkey God who would rank second to none among all gods when it came to fighting.
'Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong.'
But after going too wild in the recent battle with the demon, he was losing the strength to sustain himself.
Unlike Poseidon, who had a clear form, the Great Sage—who now looked like a toy stone monkey figurine—was proof that his end was near.
'Good thing there's a volcano here, and the rocks are in solid shape. If I assimilate with the surroundings and grow massive, I can absorb enough power.'
Yet in his current state, the Great Sage had lost too much of his true power.
If he enlarged himself even once and time passed, it was obvious he wouldn't be able to hold his form.
Losing his divine power and sense of self completely.
For a god, that meant death.
'Well. If I smash everything to bits, wreck it all, and go out with a bang one last time, that ain't so bad.'
The Great Sage looked up at the sky one final time.
The damn sky hadn't shattered.
'You bald-headed Buddha bastards. Should've fought to the death, win or lose.'
In the dimension where he was born and raised, the 'Pure Land Paradise,' there were gods with flower fields blooming on their heads.
For lowly beasts or run-of-the-mill yokai, no matter what they did, he could always crush them later.
But against Babel, which brought an even greater crisis, they fell far too pathetically.
The Great Sage—no, Wukong—couldn't stand it and rampaged.
For six hundred years, the skulls of two hundred Heavenly Knights were crushed under his fists, and one of the Four Heavenly Kings, Hidrich, got his teeth all knocked out by a 13,500-catty Ruyi Jingu Bang and carted off.
But that wild journey ended here.
Time for one grand final fireworks show.
"I am Sun Wukong. Born a worthless stone monkey, I met brothers who matched my spirit and called ourselves the Seven Demon Kings of the East Continent, charging ahead like a blaze through dry grass.
From stable hand at the Heavenly Palace's horse barns to the lofty title of Fighting Victory Buddha—I claimed every honor worth having. And the adventures I shared with Tripitaka on the way there became the most precious memories of my life."
He couldn't even form proper eyes, but somehow, a faint wistfulness seemed to glimmer from where they should be.
We crashed through everything, did stupid things, idiotic things aplenty. But once I set my mind to something, I never bent.
Wujing, Bajie, Shakyamuni, Thousand Hands, White Horse, Maitreya—sorry I couldn't avenge you all to the end.
Couldn't take the Demon King's head, but I wanted to rip off at least one of his balls. Just wasn't strong enough."
With that short life-flashing montage done, a wind stirred before the Great Sage.
"Don't go so hastily, King of the Beautiful Monkeys from Flower-Fruit Mountain."
Standing before him was a human with wings spread wide.
Ju Gonghyeok, arriving right on time.
Gonghyeok took a deep drag from the pipe he'd pulled out on the way.
"Honestly, no need for long talks..."
"Hoh?"
Gonghyeok placed a hand on the Great Sage's shoulder.
"You. Be mine."
"......"
An indescribable silence filled the cave.
The giant's body flushed red and trembled.
"You human bastard... How impertinent."
"Right? So, Beautiful Tail from Flower-Fruit Mountain."
He grinned slyly.
"You gonna be mine or not?"
"Hmph, a mere human dares..."
The stone giant wiggled its fingers and turned its head away.
The part that could be called a cheek burned red.
"No human's treated me like this since Tripitaka..."
- He's insane. The world's gone mad.
Nathaniel, standing nearby, paled at the sight.
＊＊＊
While Poseidon rampaged outside and humans trembled, praying to the gods,
A drinking party broke out in the Sword-Tooth Tiger cave to the east.
Sun Wukong from the parallel dimension 'Pure Land Paradise,' the Monkey King, and Gonghyeok's epic booze-fest.
"You know it's dangerous out there. Soon the Heavenly Knights will come swarming like mad. Then you're done for here, Monkey."
"So what? I don't care. Lived a full life..."
"You can't die here. I won't let you."
"!?"
Under Gonghyeok's straight gaze, the Great Sage—Monkey—felt her heart sink and turned away.
She'd already shed her stone chunk form, now clad in light armor with long brown hair cascading down.
Stealing glances at Gonghyeok, Monkey thought,
'Looking closer, this guy's kinda like Tripitaka...'
Ridiculous notion.
Gonghyeok, who pushed forward aggressively, was the polar opposite of Tripitaka, who burst into tears at every mishap.
Yet there was a reason she sensed the similarity.
Tripitaka, who built up mana until he radiated a halo, and Gonghyeok, who built up holy power to the same effect—their auras felt strangely alike.
Plus, Tripitaka always acted like he knew everything, bluffing with overconfidence. Just like Gonghyeok right now.
Though Tripitaka's shiny words were all talk—he got duped and kidnapped by yokai every time, putting her through hell.
Monkey let out a deep sigh.
'Why does Tripitaka keep popping into my head at a time like this?'
Tripitaka was a flower boy who sprayed infinite mana pheromones, always drawing fervent lust from women and female yokai.
He'd repelled them—hell-bent on taking his chastity (and meat)—with lion-like ferocity over a hundred times.
But that fake-smart Tripitaka fell for their tricks like an idiot, keeping Monkey on edge the whole journey to the West.
'Still, he was a man I had to look after.'
Another deep sigh escaped.
Monkey mumbled, still avoiding Gonghyeok's eyes.
"Why won't you let me die?"
"I need you. And you need me."
"Need me? You shameless jerk! And why the hell would I need you!?"
"Didn't you just say you wanted to rip off one of that Demon King's balls?"
"B-Balls? Where'd you hear that!"
Gonghyeok smirked at Monkey's embarrassed shriek.
"What're you embarrassed about? I'll take his last ball and his head for you. Can't clear Babel without you."
He grabbed her turned shoulder and pressed their foreheads together.
If anyone could measure her heartbeat right now, the machine would've shattered.
Her eyes spun with mortification.
"Come inside me. We'll kill the Demon King together and finish your revenge. Until then, we're partners."
The GM appeared beside them, mantle unfurling.
Within it stretched Flower-Fruit Mountain in a vast jungle, lined with ancient temples and shrines.
She screamed, covering her face.
"Fine! Yeah! I'll do it! You're just useful till the Demon King, got it? Don't get any funny feelings! Okay! But what's your name! Not that I care or anything, it's just awkward not knowing!"
Gonghyeok chuckled softly and scooped her up. Being able to touch her meant she'd entered his control as an avatar.
"Ju Gonghyeok."
"Ju Gonghyeok! Fine, this big sis'll protect you! Tell 'em all to come at us!"
"Nah, today I'm protecting you."
"......"
"Demons, angels—won't hand you over to either side. So... rest up for today."
Gonghyeok stared through her hand-covered face, and she slowly lowered it, yelling,
"Those words don't make my heart race or anything—!"
With her face beet red, the Monkey King vanished into the GM's mantle.
[SS-rank Avatar. Fighting Victory Buddha, Great Sage Equal to Heaven, is bound to Hunter Ju Gonghyeok.]
[Current Avatar Slots Remaining: 3/3.
'Game Master(?)'. 'Ra-Djehuty(SS)'. 'Great Sage Equal to Heaven(SS)']
[Avatar: Great Sage Equal to Heaven(SS)] LV.28
Stats Increased - Strength +108, Agility +128, Technique +128, Will +88, Mana +68
1st Ability 《Unlocked》 'Art of Cloning'
2nd Ability 《Unlocked》 'Art of the Cloud Somersault'
3rd Ability 《Sealed》 'One─to─13,500─catty Ruyi─'
Ultimate Ability 《Sealed》 'Vic─tory Bud─dha'
Got her.
A beastly grin spread across Gonghyeok's lips.
This was undoubtedly a top-tier combat avatar.
With the Great Sage in his possession, Gonghyeok's combat power had jumped from 5x to 8x.
Compared to Ra-Djehuty, whose combat efficiency focused on mana, will, and mind—the comparison wasn't even fair.
His boosted Strength now hit B-rank; A-rank, which leveled buildings and warped terrain in its wake, wasn't far off.
Borrowing her power, he could punch straight through caves like this...
'But she's lost a lot of strength. Better let her rest for now.'
He could use her Cloning Art or Cloud Somersault when needed, but for now, it was best to take it easy. Their trust wasn't fully built yet—forcing it would just cause problems.
As Gonghyeok emerged from the cave, Lilianne wagged her tail in welcome.
"You absorbed the avatar? It went well, right?"
"Of course."
Gonghyeok smiled leisurely.
"Congrats, elite demoness Lilianne.
You cleverly averted the crisis of the 3rd floor's destruction caused by two gods."
"Ahaha, haha. Yeah!"
To her awkward laugh, Gonghyeok shook his head and launched into a speech.
"Lilianne, the demon managing the 3rd floor as usual.
One day, unprecedented invaders—two 'traitors'—burst in.
Stopping them would've needed ten Heavenly Knight-level demons. Impossible for her alone.
But this capable demon never gave up. Instead, she had a brilliant idea! She gave a quest to a hunter with an empty avatar slot, successfully sealing one of the two traitors into his body.
With that flash of insight and judgment, she prevented the 3rd floor's collapse. As reward, she receives the 1st-class Demon King medal, paving her way to Heavenly Knight.
Happy ending—happy ending."
"Hehe, oppa~ I really, really appreciate it..."
Lilianne tickled Gonghyeok's cheek with her tail while gently kneading his shoulders.
Thanks to Gonghyeok, she'd turned a crisis into credit.
More than empty words like 'just trust me'—he'd actually built her merits. Trust in him began to blossom in Lilianne.
Now, time to clarify the hierarchy.
Gonghyeok stroked the tip of Lilianne's tail.
"Lilianne. You prayed to that Demon King up in the sky earlier, right?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, but that was just demon habit. I never meant to—"
Gonghyeok brushed her lips.
"Don't pray to some Demon King.
I'm the one building your merits.
I'm the one making you a Heavenly Knight.
I'm the one who'll make you a Grand Duke of the demons.
Not some demon trash holed up on the 88th floor all day—me, right here."
"......"
"Got it?"
Gonghyeok yanked her tail hard, and Lilianne yelped "Kyaa!" and jumped.
"From now on, answer with 'kyaang'."
"Huh? Oppa, what if others hear? That's kinda..."
"Want me to engineer an accident that drops you from Heavenly Knight straight to the bottom of Hell?"
"......Hic."
"Think you can't?"
"Kya..."
"Kya?"
"Kyaang..."
"Good girl, our Lilianne listens so well."
Gonghyeok tugged her tail with an approving look.
[Chapter 48 - Tripitaka and Gonghyeok] End