전생검신 82권 13화

Then Krishna said, looking surprised, “Are you curious about that?”

“Yeah. There must be humans living in Kalpa, and keeping the [Old Rulers] at bay seems like it’s also to protect humans, right? If you just gave up on Kalpa, you’d be much more strategically free. I want to know why you divine beings, like you, are putting in so much effort for humans.”

“Hmm….”

Krishna pondered for a moment, then suddenly laughed as if it was absurd.

“It seems like that might not be the only reason. Don’t you have another reason for wanting to hear that from me?”

“…….”

This guy seems sharp.

The reason Vishnu protects humans…

The reason I want to hear that is because of the conversation I had with him in my 28th life.

[What I did was definitely hypocrisy. But what I needed was [maintenance]. For the sake of maintaining, good and evil don’t matter. Because… all life has meaning just by existing.]

[Yes. This universe must be maintained, and all lives, regardless of good or evil, should continue to live and carry on that flow. Life is suffering due to fate and providence; I can feel pity for their pain and show sympathy, but I must fulfill my duties as a god.]

[Ultimately, if it means that all mortals can be happy in the future, I’ve decided to walk whatever path, whether hypocrisy or wickedness. That’s why I, [the maintainer], am cooperating with Emperor Gong Sun Xuanwen. Is that satisfactory, Baek Woong?]

[Do you have the right to extinguish the will to live of mortals in this universe? Do you have the right to proclaim the destruction of the world just because you’re a reborn person!]

Vishnu, Krishna, and the Guang Chengzi said that to me.

Since life has meaning in itself, even if suffering is the destiny and providence of life, one must continue to live.

And as [the maintainer], he focused on sustaining the world so that living beings can continue to exist.

Of course, I didn’t agree with his opinion, and I had sworn to save the world in my own way. But even so, I wanted to hear what the benevolent god Vishnu, who was still fighting for humans without being tied to the emperor, was thinking.

As I remained silent, Krishna began to put away the weapons of Gandiva and said,

“It’s not for any particular reason. We just feel pity for them.”

I was surprised and retorted.

“Pity? Humans are less than insects compared to you guys, so you truly felt that kind of emotion?”

“While it’s normal for some to treat insignificant beings cruelly, not everyone reacts like that. Sometimes, they might be fascinated, curious, or find enjoyment in their potential for growth. Of course, Brahma and I go beyond mere curiosity and actively try to protect them, making them the tribes that serve us.”

“……!!”

“Admittedly, our actions might seem foolish and strange by the gods’ standards. There might not be any other gods willing to suffer losses because of humans, haha.”

Krishna’s hearty laughter felt very strange to me.

‘This guy was definitely a hypocrite…’

From what I saw in the 28th cycle, Krishna and the avatar of Guang Chengzi exhibited behavior indistinguishable from a hypocrite. They pretended to care for humans, yet didn’t fight directly against the [Old Rulers], instead hindering the Great Bear Empire that was trying to fight back. Not to mention, becoming a puppet of the emperor to assassinate Fuxi made him seem like the epitome of hypocrisy and evil. That’s why I had provoked Arjuna intentionally earlier and tried to take him down.

But now, Krishna’s actions and intentions don’t fall short of being called benevolent. He’s willing to sacrifice without hesitation to protect humans, even if it would be easier to handle hundreds of [Old Rulers] if he just abandoned the city where humans live, Kalpa. That wasn’t just for show—his sincerity was palpable, leaving me confused.

Why would Vishnu become a hypocrite in the future?

Not understanding, I remained silent. Krishna then said,

“If you don’t have any more questions, now lend us your help. We need to fill the gap left by Divine Avatar Arjuna’s absence.”

I snapped back to attention from Krishna’s words and asked,

“What should I do?”

“I used Gandiva a moment ago, but I, Krishna, have lower combat prowess than Divine Avatar Arjuna, and can’t eliminate many of the enemy’s followers. Ideally, Arjuna should have been raining down area arrows with Gandiva.”

“Can’t you just transform again into Divine Avatar Arjuna and use it?”

Upon my suggestion, Krishna vigorously shook his head.

“Because you dealt significant damage to Arjuna in such a short time, even transforming now would be meaningless. At this point, Arjuna has weakened to the point where I might be stronger. Furthermore, you’ve caused him to lose power rapidly by killing five other avatars….”

“R-Right?”

“If you don’t help, today the protective barrier will weaken significantly, and the risk of the [Old Rulers] invading will multiply.”

Krishna’s calm voice made me feel a twinge of guilt. The situation arose because I had just beaten Arjuna without mercy. I scratched near my temple, saying,

“In simple terms, you want me to kill as many monsters as possible beyond the wall, right?”

“Exactly.”

“……Let’s give it a try.”

I replied like that and mulled over,

‘What’s the best technique to wipe out a large number of enemies at once?’

It had to be a long-range attack since attacking over the wall was safer. I contemplated which technique of mine would be best and asked Heuk Woong who was beside me.

“Heuk Woong, what technique do you think is good?”

[From what I know, it’s the power of Shao Hao Jin Tian.]

“Ah!”

[There’s no other annihilation ability among what you possess that is more powerful than that. However…]

“However?”

[It seems you trained quite a bit while you were away, but the abilities gained during that training haven’t been shared with me. So, what potential you’ve built up while I’ve been absent is still unknown to me.]

“Hmm….”

Heuk Woong was definitely right. If I expanded and fired the power of Shao Hao Jin Tian, it would undoubtedly yield power comparable to Gandiva. But soon, a different thought crossed my mind.

‘What if I mixed the power of Shao Hao Jin Tian with Trimurti?’

The Trimurti had three slots, and if I placed the power of Shao Hao Jin Tian in one, I could additionally combine two more powers. And regardless of how the outcome of that combination turned out, it would surely possess a much richer characteristic than the original ability.

‘Alright, let’s give it a shot!’

Each time I take on a challenge like this, I might acquire a new technique!

My curiosity and spirit of adventure bubbled over, and I instantly muttered with half-opened eyes.

“Trimurti.”

Chi Chi Ching

As the bright red gem in the center started to glow, I began to arrange the powers one by one.

‘First, the power of Shao Hao Jin Tian… And what about the other two… It’d be good to finish with the power of the Wheel King that can impose death upon enemies, right?’

So what should I choose for the last power?

‘Hmm… How about trying out the newly acquired power… Uh… oh.’

Bloop

Damn it!!

That one shouldn’t go in!!

As I was pondering, I lost focus and realized I mistakenly assigned an irrelevant power to Trimurti. A little while later, the red gem began to shine brilliantly, and I could only watch in bewilderment at the structure of the divine power I had placed.

“No, that’s not it…!!”

Wiiing

Shining brightly!

In the next moment, my eyes glowed white and shot forth enormous beams of destruction. And like a mighty surge, the beams expanded and soon engulfed everything beyond the horizon, dyeing the world in white flames, with the area of the attack being tremendously vast as I had anticipated.

KWA-KWAA-KWAAANG

[KYEEEEK!!]

[CAW!!]

What’s more, the destruction beams, now empowered by Trimurti, were infused with the deathly force of the Wheel King, so even monsters with immortal abilities fell powerless and perished without being able to resurrect.

KWA-KWAA-KWAAANG

Watching the wide-scale destruction from my eye beams, Krishna seemed amazed and said,

“What an incredible power……!! You must truly be a renowned higher god!!”

“Ah, no, that’s not…”

“Is something wrong?”

“I think the Trimurti ability combination was flawed…”

“……”

Krishna wore a momentarily stunned expression, and after a while, the destruction beam from Shao Hao Jin Tian ceased. And it was starkly visible that all the monsters that had infested this dimensional realm had been completely wiped out. However, it seemed this attack didn’t hit the [Old Rulers] who were near the horizon, as the real monsters remained unharmed.

Thud thud…

Was that the sound of dust falling?

But soon, I felt that sound was changing into something different.

Clink…

Clink…

Chwa-rararara

“……?!”

Suddenly, where there had been a mass of monsters filling the horizon, a pile of coins was falling down? Those coins were not only made of copper but were mixed with silver and gold coins, and soon the area beyond the horizon turned into a situation where coins were raining down like crazy.

Kuwuuuu

The [Old Rulers] also stood perplexed, not knowing what the unexpected change was, merely providing confused sounds as I felt the same astonishment. Krishna, clearly puzzled, asked,

“That seems to be money… but what kind of power did you combine?”

“Oh, that…”

As I pondered awkwardly, Heuk Woong crossed his arms and spoke.

[Master, it seems you’ve combined Chi You’s [Power of Commerce].]

As soon as Heuk Woong spoke the answer, I turned to him, delighted.

“Yeah! I accidentally put that in.”

Why did I make such a mistake?

Looking at the destruction beam of Shao Hao Jin Tian or the power of the Wheel King’s death, they were all clearly powerful, so I had been thinking of adding an ability from the destruction god Shiva for the final combination. Yet somehow, I had mistakenly inserted a power that had little to do with direct destruction!

Then Heuk Woong said,

[Well, after all, you’d already built up demons based on the value of your defeated foes, so this isn’t so strange. Why did the monsters of the enemy take shape as golden coins…?]

That was certainly true. I was left puzzled when I answered his question.

“Isn’t it possible to double the money?”

[Oh, that’s indeed….]

Just as Heuk Woong seemed inclined to agree with my statement, the spirit of commerce opened its mouth.

[The coins just absorbed do not count as demons. Instead, they will serve to help you advance to become a coin god.]