Chapter 242

I'm a little worried; Mingjia said she was reincarnated, but so many years have passed and there's still no news.

No matter what kind of harm, earth-shattering war, or crisis it might be, Vishnu felt he could manage it on his own, since Brahma wasn't involved, Shiva remained in asceticism on the Himalayas Mountains, awaiting... Kasyapa's return.

That was an important friend of Vishnu's, someone he was very familiar with since the beginning of creation, whose cheerful voice and smiling expression he always knew.

But on that very day, Sati fell into a deep sleep, Kavia was reborn, and Shiva, in his anger, slew Daksha...

The Divine Lila seems unchanged, yet it also seems to have changed slightly.

However, as Jia said, he will return during the Treta Yuga era, carrying many flowers engraved with his own.

Whether this can be considered a consolation remains unclear to Vishnu.

Whether it was from exhaustion or the necessity of doing this to his worshippers again, Vishnu a long-lost sense of distress.

Long before Kavia departed and before King Bali of the Asuras King, Vishnu had already fought a great battle with the ascetic Dambha Bhava for 999,000 years.

This ascetic named Dambha Bhava received the blessing of the Sun God Surya, Surya bestowed upon him a thousand layers of armor. To break through each layer, one needed to practice asceticism for 1,000 years. Each time a layer was broken, the ascetic would die. Dambha Bhava conquered the Three Worlds with his invincible armor. Vishnu, in turn, transformed into Nara and Narayana, and through alternating battles and mutual resurrection, waged a great war against him for 999,000 years.

Dambha Bhava realized he was about to be killed, so he hid back with Surya. Surya instructed him to reincarnate with the last layer of armor, and his reincarnation was the later Karna.

Vishnu really felt exhausted after that incident.

If Jia were here, things might be a little better... If only Jia were here, Jia, where are you now?

As he murmured this in his heart, the dwarf Vamana, an avatar of Vishnu, began the 'three steps' witnessed by Bali—

The first step is to cross the earth.

The second step is to cross the Intermediate World between the earth and the Heaven Realm.

There was no way to advance further. At this moment, Bali suddenly said:

"Homage to the Lord of the Himalayas! I now know your true identity, my Lord Narayana. Since that is so, please step upon me to complete your third step. Homage to Narayana!"

Upon hearing this, Vamana also sighed:

"Bali, in some yoga you will once again become the king of the Three Worlds, for you are one who, even without glory, is still revered by the gods."

"Praise be to Brahma, praise be to the Great God, praise Narayana, praise Lord of the Himalayas."

Bali accepted his Fate without complaint.

Then Vamana Bali into the ground.

At that very instant, Vishnu sensed that a switch had been turned on with a click.

Vishnu never felt this 'switch,' as if it were a prompt that the era had instantly entered a certain stage, something that was almost instinctive for the Aspected God.

"..."

Vishnu saw the light shining from the Sun, as if it foreshadowed the birth of a new era in the world.

What happens?

The time for Satya Yuga has come to an end; the golden age has ended.

The Treta Yuga hour begins, and the conflict between the Asura and the gods will shift to humanity, which has entered the Silver Age and is gradually declining, focusing more on material enjoyment and less on spiritual pursuits.

That's right, that's why I could hear that sound.

Is that all? Is that really all?

Vishnu was not entirely clear on the details, but he strongly sensed that something momentous, comparable to a change in the course of history, had occurred.

"... Ga?"

Vishnu did not sense any familiar figure, but his throat still automatically emitted a sound.

At some point, Vishnu turned his head toward the Sun and looked at Sun light.

The brilliance that has never changed seems different this time.

Why do I feel this way? I'm not quite sure, but... it's very similar.

In that instant--

Vishnu understood what he was experiencing.

Just now, with the changing of the times, the reincarnation of Jia was born.

Welcome back, Jia.

Vishnu's voice was hoarse, and his cheeks were wet, though he didn't seem to be crying.

Then, just as Vishnu was about to go and see, Indra, the Heavenly Emperor, appeared before him again, clasped his hands together, and sincerely said:

"Oh no, Lord! Another Asura has become the Asuras King and is attacking! Save us!"

"... ha?"

This time, the Asuras King was named Taraka. He stripped naked in the snow and ice to temper his body, then put himself on a fire to roast, and even cut off pieces of his own flesh and threw them into the fire until he became a skeleton. While practicing asceticism, he also prayed to Brahma for blessings, so much so that he chanted Brahma's name every moment without stopping.

Therefore, Brahma descended as he wished, and Taraka prayed that he would never be defeated and would win every battle.

Although Brahma is an Aspected God who gives away everything, remembering some things that happened due to his past blessings, he answered tactfully:

"Except for Shiva's son, you can be invincible in a hundred battles."

For Brahma, knowing that Sati had awakened and changed her name to Parvati as proof that she was Kavia's daughter, Brahma considered himself to have facilitated their relationship, which was a rather good blessing.

Vishnu was aware of Sati's awakening, but given how simple the matter was, why did Indra, the Heavenly Emperor, seek Vishnu's help instead of Shiva?

This is because Parvati and Shiva firmly believe that they must follow the Lila's process so that Kavia can return sooner.

Therefore, after awakening, Sati, who had changed her name to Parvati, followed the Lila's schedule and practiced asceticism in the Himalayas Mountains. Shiva also firmly did not give her a second glance, waiting for the reincarnation of Kavia to appear so that he could propose marriage to Parvati's father, the Lord of the Himalayas.

Brahma had not foreseen this, so the gods had no choice but to ask Vishnu to first deal with the attacking Taraka.

Vishnu was completely numb, but since such things happened, he had no choice but to defend himself.

"Okay, I'll go right now."

In the Human Realm, somewhere in the mountains.

The Sun, like beams of rising light, bathed the flowers on the other side of the earth. The buds, warmed by the sunlight, received this joy in their light sleep, contrasting with the light shining through the gaps in the Leaf on the earth.

Although the Sun is the same everywhere, its sunlight is undoubtedly exceptionally strong at this moment.

Kama, the god of love, had worked diligently for so many years, but he finally couldn't take it anymore.

"Ugh, so annoying! Why are all the relationships they're in so weird? They're all awful, and it's infuriating that they dare to be so fickle..."

Love God started grumbling as soon as he got out of bed.

Well, Kama sensed that love and affection among humans and all things had become somewhat defiled in the last tens of thousands of years.

In fact, this is the prelude to the transition from Satya Yuga to Treta Yuga, which is a manifestation of all things paying more attention to material enjoyment and gradually weakening spiritual pursuits.

Kama naturally couldn't perceive this connection. The Love God simply felt that it was far more unpleasant compared to his earlier romances... But there was nothing he could do. After all, Kama was the god of love, and this was his duty. He had to do it whether he wanted to or not, but his patience had been worn down considerably.

Ugh, I'm so tired. I really don't want to go out at all. I just want to lie down and relax...

Although this thought crossed his mind, Kama still went out the door.

Love God looked at his hands and the ground, and let out a soft sigh of white breath. Even though the Sun was almost at its zenith, the air was still icy cold, and the sunlight filtering through the sky offered no warmth whatsoever.

Kama then casually glanced around. At this moment, there was only one house left on the mountain, and even the many flowers that were originally under the lush greenery of the mountain were now almost withered.

Answer reason for this is quite simple.

Because Kama's 'lover' Rati left.

During the Fire Sacrifice of Daksha was beheaded by the Wrath Shiva. Afterwards, Brahma resurrected Daksha and replaced his head with a goat's head, saying that it was Kavia who made him do this. Daksha's actions were not the reason for his reincarnation, and he could continue to be in charge of the Fire Sacrifice. After his resurrection, Daksha put away his anger towards Shiva. Daksha not only made offerings to the four Aspected God at every Fire Sacrifice, but also showed kindness to everyone. When the Fire Sacrifice was not being held, he went to the Himalayas Mountains and knelt in the snow to practice asceticism.

Although Daksha had some regrets, many Rishi and other beings who worshipped Kavia cursed him to the point of being no different from a dead man; in fact, living was more painful than dying. Daksha accepted this completely and did not seek forgiveness from other Aspected God. Instead, he continued his ascetic practices in the Himalayas Mountains.

Seeing Daksha, the many Rishi slightly reduced the harm of the curse, but not entirely. In Daksha, if Daksha were to be free from the harm of the curse, he would have to be forgiven by the Lord of the Himalayas himself.

Seeing her father become like this, although she felt he deserved it, and since Daksha was no longer as arrogant as before, Rati went back with some of Daksha's daughters to maintain the family. Kama didn't care, but he felt a little bored being alone after Rati left.

At least I used to be able to look at the flowers that Rati grew...

The reason Kama didn't grow flowers wasn't Kama was lazy, but because Kama duties as the Love God were too tiring. He didn't have much extra time to care for such trivial things. For example, Kama felt that he hadn't changed much over the years, which was definitely due to being too exhausted...

Love God truly believed that if he hadn't had all these troubles, he would definitely have grown up.

"Coo coo coo."

Hearing the Cockatoo's call beside his shoulder brought Kama back to his senses, and he decided to continue his duties for the day.

However, just as Kama ascended to heaven, atop the mountain, the Love God turned his gaze, puzzled, towards a certain spot—

On this mountain, where only Love God and his pet Cockatoo reside, a roar from some unknown source echoed through the silence.

Strange things were happening all around. Birds were gathering in droves around the Forest and riverbank, as if they were guarding the area.

Dogs are barking, cats are standing in a row, and Raven are circling in the sky.

They were all staring at one spot, something that, from Kama's perspective, was hidden by a small clump of grass, and he couldn't tell what it was.

"Coo coo coo."

The Cockatoo's tiny chirping means, "Master, aren't you going to go and see what it is?"

"Forget it, whatever, it's none of my business anyway."

Love God shook his head, then looked away and prepared to leave.

But just as Kama was leaving, Love God saw a she-wolf slowly walking towards him. For some reason, Kama gritted his teeth and flew over at an incredible speed. The animals around him sensed the presence of the Deity and immediately scattered and fled, including the she-wolf that Kama saw as having ill intentions.

When Kama arrived at this place, he lifted the clump of grass—

"... So, it's just a little kid who was abandoned? Hey, who would pick up something like that...?"

Love God crouched down, scrutinizing the 'Baby' and making disdainful remarks.

But in the end, seeing the smug look in his pet Cockatoo's eyes, Kama said this with a smug expression:

"Fine, since I've seen it, I'll just take it home and raise it however I want. As long as it doesn't die, that's fine. Anyway, I can't cook. I'll just chase it away when it grows up—"

"Gurgle?"

Kama's pet stared at its owner, who had suddenly frozen in shock, looking somewhat puzzled by the change in her expression.

After all, the Parrot knows very well that its owner is a stubborn but soft-hearted Deity. In this situation, the owner can't continue to be so overly fierce. As long as the time comes, the owner will compromise by saying, "Let's keep it if we can."

However, Kama's expression has changed from indifference to something incomprehensible to Parrot, a half-smile, though from another Deity, it would be clear that Kama's expression is one of pleasure.

The reason for this is quite simple: Kama sensed in this Baby the same faint yet unmistakably distinct aura of Kavia, the Lord of the Himalayas, which he had felt before. In other words, Kama realized that this was most likely the reincarnation of Kavia, as described at the Daksha Fire Sacrifice...

If Kama had seen it immediately after the Fire Sacrifice, he would probably have sent it back to Vritra in the Himalayas Mountains without hesitation.

But things are different now. So many years have passed, and Kama has long been exhausted by the duties of the Love God. Moreover, the effect of the Arrow of Love Kama has used for many years has been activated. Because it was forged by the god of forging Tvashtar, in the place where the Asura are, it has absorbed unknown power, which has led to the possibility of turning a god into Asura. However, as long as there is a token of 'love' engraved in it, it can be suppressed.

Tvashtar never imagined that Kama and Rati were only in a fake marriage, and Kama had completely forgotten about it while in a coma. As a result, although Kama was still a god at the time of his Treta Yuga Satya Yuga, Kama sometimes became irritable like Asura.

It was alright before; Kama could complain privately in his room, but now Kama really couldn't suppress it anymore.

After all, this is the Aspected God, the noble and gentle Lord of the Himalayas whom I could only admire from afar long ago! Now he is in my hands, at my disposal... this feeling, this feeling, although somewhat disrespectful, is just too wonderful!

I will nurture the turning body of the Aspected God?

O Lord of the Himalayas.

You are the god who prays for the happiness of all things, and also the Aspected God to whom all things pray for happiness, and the god Kavia once helped me.

Longing accumulates from the Himalayas Mountains, a fragile and hazy vortex of thoughts, quietly awaiting the awakening and return of the Holy Mountain's lord.

You--

A goddess of captivating beauty, a goddess of pure innocence, a goddess bathed in the blessings of the Stars.

What will he become under my care? What will Lord Kavia become? Raising him myself... the more I think about it, the more interesting it becomes...

Thinking of this, Kama's lips curled into an extremely wide smile. He picked up Kavia's reincarnation, gazed intently at his face, and pinched his cheek:

"Who has a higher status, the one who raises the child or the one who receives care...? Heh, it's obvious now, isn't it?"

After saying this, Love God turned around with the child in his arms and continued with his work for the day.

Until the emerald green mountain disappeared into the clouds, Kavia's reincarnation looked up at the sky, and then Kama used his hand to turn her head towards him as if forcing her.

"Don't look around... It's not good if you see something dirty~ Anyway, just keep your eyes on me for now."

Then Love God smiled slowly.