The Power of Sun Wukong
“Why a scarf in this weather?”
After class ended, during the brief break before the next lesson, Reglia approached me while I was preparing and asked the question. We had exchanged a few words during training that day and traded greetings since, but this was the first time we’d actually conversed.
“Aren’t you hot?”
“It’s actually refreshing.”
And to correct one thing: what I currently had wrapped around my neck wasn’t a simple scarf.
Thump. Thump.
“Grr?”
At my gesture the creature that had been sleeping peacefully lifted its head. Reglia, the only one to catch the subtle movement, widened her eyes and asked in a tiny voice no one else could hear.
“A demonic beast? Don’t tell me you brought a demonic beast here?”
“Not a demonic beast. A fantasy beast.”
When I carefully scratched its head, it let out a pleased yawn and buried itself again. Reglia watched closely and breathed an admiring sigh.
“Contracting a fantasy beast is supposed to be nearly impossible unless the aptitude matches perfectly…”
“I got lucky.”
“I’m not sure if ‘luck’ quite covers this.”
Even as she spoke, Reglia’s gaze stayed fixed on the sleepyhead wrapped around my neck.
“Can I touch it too?”
“Will he let you?”
“What’s the harm? It’s not like it’ll wear out.”
Even if I gave permission, I wasn’t sure the little guy would agree. I shrugged lightly at that, and Reglia cautiously extended a finger.
“Sniff?”
“Wow, a dragon-type fantasy beast. These are so rare to even catch a glimpse of.”
Surprisingly, he didn’t reject her touch. Maybe because she was a fantasy beast contractor herself.
“Snakey, you like that?”
“Kao.”
Squeeze.
“Okay, okay. Sorry.”
Still, strangling your contractor’s neck wasn’t exactly ideal. The creature had gotten worked up at the name “Snakey” and tried to coil around my neck with its full strength. I gently stroked its head to calm it down.
“You two seem close.”
“Even though he’s strangling his contractor?”
“It’s just affection.”
Some affection. That was downright murderous.
“But he can’t speak properly, can he?”
“He just sleeps all the time instead of studying.”
Of course I was joking. Though given how much he slept, it might not be entirely untrue. Still, with parents like the Fantasy Beast King, he was probably just young.
“I’m a little jealous. You get to walk around together like that.”
“Can’t you do the same?”
Fantasy beasts could adjust their body size at will. Since the ‘Aaron’ she possessed was also considered a fantasy beast, it should have been capable of the same.
“…More importantly, are you ready? We have a test today.”
It was an obvious subject change, but I simply nodded and let myself be led along. There was no reason to create friction when I already knew what Reglia was worried about.
“Of course.”
“You sound confident.”
“I should at least place in the top three of our class, right?”
Today was the written exam. With my existing knowledge and all the studying I’d done, it should have been a breeze.
“Then let the test begin.”
Yes. It definitely should have been exactly like that.
“Huh?”
But why wouldn’t my hand move at all?
Why couldn’t my eyes properly register the questions on the paper?
Why couldn’t my brain recall any answers!
“Time’s up. Pass your papers forward from the back.”
“This can’t be happening…”
The exam was over, but my paper had far more blanks than I’d expected. I wondered if the test had been exceptionally difficult, but the other students’ faces weren’t particularly dark, which disproved that theory.
The only one with a noticeably dark expression was…
“No way…”
Mir, of course it was you.
Hmm…
“Huff… huff… What’s the matter?”
It feels like Zeon failed his test.
“You seem to have more than enough energy to joke. Huff…!”
Hoya turned her head while regulating her ragged breathing. Unlike her, Cheonma remained perfectly composed—a sight that stood out sharply against the horde of yokai covering the land.
Still, it looks like there’s no end to them.
The monkey yokai that had followed Hoya. I had lost count of how long we had been fighting the one who called himself Son. The land was filled with yokai, and the two of us fought against them all. By sheer numbers we should have been overwhelmed, but amusingly the tide of battle was even… no, it was tilting in our favor.
“The nine-tailed fox is one thing, but what the hell is that spirit!”
“How many of us has that bastard already killed!”
“Everyone, keep your distance!”
From the yokai’s perspective, Cheonma’s existence was an unforeseen catastrophe. At first they had assumed she was merely an ordinary spirit accompanying the nine-tailed fox, but that carelessness had cost most of them their lives, felled by her violet lightning.
It’s a pointless trick.
Rumble.
Keeping distance was useless. It didn’t matter if they were out of sight. Her lightning would tear through this entire area, allies excluded.
“Hoya, you wretch! What kind of monster have you brought with you!”
“You all came here fully intent on ending this, yet you complain so much!”
Hoya shouted back as she wiped the cold sweat from her brow. She had things to say too. Looking at this abnormal number, it seemed they had brought their entire force to settle things here once and for all, but the actual count far exceeded what they had anticipated.
“No matter how I think about it, something’s off.”
You’re only realizing that now?
“I’m working myself to death here, so stop nitpicking.”
Anyway, from the start they’ve been sending the same ones over and over.
“The same ones?”
Cheonma nodded as she hurled down lightning. The ones struck just now were the exact same ones that had already been killed earlier. If asked whether she was simply mistaking them for the same yokai type, Cheonma would shake her head. There was no way she would miss something so obvious.
I don’t know what method they used, but the same individuals keep coming.
“Is it something like clones?”
“You could say that. However, it seems fundamentally different from the cloning technique you demonstrated.”
Yes. If Hoya’s cloning felt like splitting her own power, these showed no such signs at all. It was as if each one was a separately categorized individual.
“…Don’t tell me that crazy monkey is using that?”
An item came to mind from the explanation. And since the owner of that item was Son, this was definitely it.
Do you have an idea?
“Yes. It’s hard to believe, but based on the description, it has to be that object.”
Clones normally shared power with the main body. That was why they obeyed the main body’s commands, shared thoughts, and displayed absolute loyalty. However, what these were using was a completely different concept.
“The item they possess copies everything. Therefore, the copied entities aren’t clones but additional main bodies.”
So the same being becomes two?
“Exactly. That’s why, if things go wrong, they end up pointing blades at each other while both claiming to be the real one. He must know that as well.”
Hoh, so what is the name of that item?
“The Mirror of Division.”
It was a massive mirror easily five meters tall. Unless they destroyed that mirror, the numbers wouldn’t decrease.
What a bothersome artifact.
“Still, it definitely has a capacity limit. Considering how many it’s copied so far, there can’t be much left…”
Kwaaang!
“You seem to be misunderstanding something. The reason I copied the others with the Mirror of Division was simply to buy time.”
“Time to copy myself—the Monkey King, Lord Son!”
Son, who had been quietly observing from the rear until now, finally stepped onto the front line. With his appearance the surrounding yokai exploded. They couldn’t withstand the violently unleashed Ghostly Qi.
Didn’t you say there was a capacity limit?
“Y-yes?”
Then what is that?
If my eyes hadn’t been damaged in the previous fight, the yokai called Son now appeared not as one, but as two.
“Did he copy himself using the Mirror of Division?!”
“That’s right! The mirror broke from that last copy, but—!”
“The plan has succeeded perfectly, just as you see!”
The monkey yokai Son, whose strength ranked at the very top even among major yokai. The two of them bumped fists and glared at the enemy before them.
“I’ll handle the nine-tailed fox.”
“Then I get the monstrous spirit! Even for me, that one might be difficult.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll finish him off quickly and come help.”
“Yes! The two of us together should have no problem!”
They were really making a huge commotion, bickering back and forth.
Cheonma loosened her neck as she assessed Son’s full power.
He looks frivolous and dim-witted.
But his strength was genuine. Even if ambushed in that state, he would not only react but launch a counterattack.
And he mentioned gathering the power of Sun Wukong.
Perhaps for that reason, Karma had accumulated within him. Of course, he likely couldn’t wield it. Unlike her or Hoya, he was only a half-baked existence who couldn’t even perceive karma.
I should have no issues. But Hoya might find it somewhat difficult.
Even though she was a proper karma user unlike Son, his total karma volume and base abilities held the advantage.
Still, judging by her growth rate, it wouldn’t be entirely impossible.
Recalling the earlier fight, Cheonma nodded. She didn’t match Zeon, but Hoya possessed enough talent to be called a raw gem. Without talent, she wouldn’t be able to use karma at all.
We’ll each take one, then.
That was why Cheonma decided to trust Hoya.
You don’t think you can’t handle it alone, do you?
“Ha. Don’t be surprised if I finish mine first.”
Her fighting spirit was blazing.
Good. Show them the power of a true karma user.