Chapter 269

As for Kavia, Krishna's feelings were conflicted. On one hand, he genuinely considered him a friend, but on the other hand, he felt that Kavia was acting this way because he was Vishnu. It was precisely this feeling that made Krishna care about Kavia, who only occasionally came to see him.

Although Kavia almost never appears openly before Krishna, the few times he does appear are Krishna is being sent away, Krishna tells Radha to open his eyes, Krishna lifts up Govardhan Hill, or sometimes as a shepherd boy to listen to Krishna's flute.

Time passed slowly, and Twilight gradually fell. Krishna put away his flute, letting everyone who had listened understand without him saying a word that it was time for him to go home.

In that instant of retraction, Krishna glanced at Kalindi, who was located on the Yamuna River. He had sensed long ago that Kavia, who had come to see him, carried the aura of a son of the Sun God, probably a younger brother that Kalindi herself did not know about. He guessed that the reason he was not here today was probably because he was over there.

Krishna smiled at this thought, and because it was an unconscious smile, everyone present stared in disbelief.

"Tomorrow is the ceremony held by King Kamsa, and I will be unable to play the flute here for a long time. Please forgive me."

Krishna a large step forward and spoke in a clear, melodious voice.

King Kamsa held the ceremony and specifically invited Nanda's family because he had deduced from the deeds of Krishna that Krishna was the one who was prophesied to kill him, so he laid a trap to deal with Krishna and Balarama.

Krishna, of course, but he was not afraid, for King Kamsa would surely pay the price for his tyranny.

After killing King Kamsa, Krishna will invite his imprisoned Grandpa to become king, and he himself will naturally become the prince of the Yadava.

Earlier in time, at the moment of Sun, Kavia stood atop the mountain, and just as Krishna had imagined, he was watching Karna, the son of the Sun God, slide down the mountain.

Born as the son of the Sun God, Karna naturally displayed exceptional talent from a young age and had an extraordinary affinity for the Sun.

The reason Karna behaves this way every day at Sun is entirely due to a chance encounter with Kavia when he was a child.

As the son of a coachman, Karna's status within the Caste System was undeniably low. Even though those around him shared the same social standing, Karna's naturally pale complexion, the deep red slit at the corner of his eye, the Sun -shaped earring that jingled with the boy's gentle movements, and his silent act of cleaning his elderly father's dilapidated coach, made him a frequent target of ridicule and bullying among the neighborhood children.

But young Karna never took it to heart and simply continued doing what he was supposed to do.

Until one accident, Karna got lost. While trying to save a child who was teasing him, he accidentally fell off a cliff. Although he could hear the chirping of birds and the babbling of the stream nearby, all he could see was the dense jungle. As the sky gradually darkened, the young child was worried about his parents and wanted to get home as soon as possible, but he couldn't find it, which inevitably made him anxious.

As time went on, Karna was still just a child, grew tired. He squatted down and buried his head in his knees, neither sobbing nor trembling, letting the 'darkness' known as silence lurk around him.

Just then, a voice came from behind—

"Child."

A young man's voice echoed somewhat unreally from behind a large tree not far away, in the dense darkness.

Karna got up and followed the sound. Although it was the first time he had heard it, it felt so familiar. He then saw a light completely different from the Sun in the darkness, which made Karna's white hair and breathing slightly disordered due to excitement. The soft light reflected from his Golden Armor flowed between the two of them.

"Let me take you home, Vasusena."

Karna couldn't quite remember what happened after that, but he did return home, putting his worried parents at ease.

As well as--

Are you the Sun?

Why do you say that?

"Because you smell like the Sun."

"No, I am not, but the Sun is indeed watching you, watching everything in the world, whatever it may be."

"... Will we ever meet again?"

"Certainly."

"Thanks."

"In that case, let's compare ourselves to the Sun. When the Sun rises, let's race against its light and see who is the fastest."

"I will."

After finishing these tasks each day, young Karna would return home to help his father repair the old car and help his mother do the laundry.

Today was no different. The laughter of the nearby children sounded somewhat distant to Karna, who was being targeted. With nothing else to do, he could only gently draw circles on the ground, clearing away the small stones blocking the ants' path.

"Vasusena, come play!"

Upon hearing this, Karna looked up at the group of children who had come to him. Among them were girls who had always played with him, and children he had gradually become familiar with after apologizing for what happened. They were all his friends.

Because they were friends, Karna nodded and joined them.

According to the Mahabharata, Karna's wife was the child who lived with him there, and the two had a son Vrishasena.

The Kuru Dynasty, with its capital at Hastinapura.

Drona, the guru of the Kuru and Pandu, looked at his disciple Arjuna had come to him, with some confusion. But before he could ask, Arjuna respectfully spoke:

"Master, when I was alone, you once embraced me and said affectionately, 'I have no disciple who can surpass you.'"

But why is there someone who surpasses me? He is incredibly brave and is another of your disciples, the son of Nishada King.

Earlier, the princes of the Kuru and Pandu went hunting in their chariots. One of them grabbed a piece of a chariot and happened to join the Pandu in the Forest, bringing a dog with him.

While the princes were hunting, the dog spotted a dark-skinned Nishatta man in the Forest, covered in mud and wearing a black deerskin coat. The dog barked wildly nearby, attracting the attention of all the princes. Then, the Nishatta man displayed Perfection archery skills, killing the dog and demonstrating a skill far superior to everyone present.

Then the princes asked him, "Who are you? Whose family do you belong to?"

"Fellow heroes! Please know that I am Duzhuo, son of King Jin Gong of Nishadha, and a disciple of Drona. I am diligently practicing archery."

Ekalavya answered in this way.

This is also why Arjuna came to Drona after his return.

After hearing Arjuna's words, Drona pondered for a moment, then nodded to Arjuna and disappeared from the scene.

When discussing the Mahabharata, one cannot help but mention Arjuna, the divinely ordained hero who occupies a central position, whose birth was a divinely ordained act.

I love my brothers, and I am loved by them.

While loving my parents, I am also loved by them.

While loving people, I am loved by people.

In the past, Kunti obeyed her husband Pandu's request and used magic to summon Yama, the god of the Dharma, and gave birth to a son named Yudhishthira; she summoned the Wind God Heavenly Emperor and gave birth to a son named Bhima; she summoned Indra, the god of the Arjuna, and gave birth to a son named Arjuna. Kunti also summoned the Ashvins for Madri and gave birth to a son Nakula Sahadeva. These were the Pandavas.

"..."

After Drona left, Arjuna, with his dark skin and dressed in a long white robe, stood in the empty Main Hall, holding his breath, seemingly unconcerned about the reason for Drona's departure.

Suddenly, Arjuna opened his eyes, his gaze indifferent.

"Do not come out, Krishna."

Where the divinely ordained hero saw, a dark shadow appeared, which then transformed into Arjuna's appearance, exactly the same.

In the Nasuverse, Arjuna's second personality, "Black," is referred to as Krishna. Of course, this Krishna is not the same person as Vishnu's eighth avatar Krishna; they just share the same name.

In the original setting, because of the existence of this second personality, Arjuna, after becoming Heroic Spirit, passed on all the despicable things he had done to Arjuna, such as killing Karna, who was powerless to resist.

"You should know quite well what Drona is going to do."

"Black" said with a grin to Arjuna.

"This is all your fault, get out of my heart!"

Arjuna, abandoning his usual indifference, became enraged.

Arjuna naturally understood what Drona was going to do, because Drona had promised him that in the future, this Nishada King would definitely be inferior to him. No matter what methods his Teacher used, as long as he was the strongest... that was enough.

Arjuna then projected this despicable thought entirely onto his second personality, 'Black'.

Even the 'black' character seemed indifferent as he admitted:

"So what? So what if I'm despicable? That's normal. Admit it boldly, I am you, Arjuna, and I've always been with you."

"Get out, get out, go to hell! Stop bewitching me, Ekalavya, forgive me..."

Despite his verbal resistance, Arjuna couldn't stop a wicked smile from creeping onto his face.

In the Main Hall where the divinely ordained hero resided, amidst the magnificent surroundings, the Aspected God of Drona, the revered Lord of the Himalayas, Kavia to be watching over everything concerning Arjuna.

Later, just as Arjuna had predicted, Drona left to find the Nishada King.

"Master!"

Just as Drona was looking at Nishada King, who was covered in mud, with his long hair tied up, dressed in Ekalavya, and holding a bow and arrow, Ekalavya, seeing Drona approaching, immediately grabbed Drona's feet, kowtowed to the ground, and then Ekalavya that he was Drona's disciple, standing respectfully before Drona with his hands clasped together.

"Ekalavya, if you were my apprentice, what would you give me?"

Ekalavya was pleased to hear Drona's words.

Because he didn't actually become Drona's apprentice, he was rejected due to his identity, but Ekalavya was unwilling to give up. He sculpted Drona's image out of clay, became Drona's apprentice in his heart, and devoted himself to learning martial arts on his own. He was like an invisible master.

Hearing Drona say this now, how could Ekalavya, who had long admired Drona, not be excited?

So he said happily:

"What can I offer you, sir? Please instruct me, Master! There is nothing I cannot give to you, Master, a master of the Holy Scripture!"

Looking at the sincere smile of the Ekalavya, who treated him so well even before becoming a true disciple, Drona finally knelt down and kissed his soul, asking for nothing in return, regardless of origin. And yet Future for Arjuna 'Future sake...

But thinking of the Dharma, Drona did not consider his actions to be contrary to the Dharma, since Ekalavya was a Shudra.

This solidified Drona's resolve. He took a deep breath, his expression one of inner turmoil, and spoke to Ekalavya, word by word:

"Give me your right thumb."

Upon hearing this, Ekalavya, with his eyes wide open, could not believe that Drona was asking for his right thumb.

After all, once he lost his right thumb, even if he could still shoot arrows, he wouldn't be able to shoot them like before. In fact, considering all the circumstances, Ekalavya didn't really need to listen to Drona's words, because he only took the Drona in his mind as his teacher, not the real Drona.

"I..."

However, matching his Ekalavya talent was an equally honest and pure soul. In the campfire light that seemed poised to devour his Bow and Arrow at any moment, he smiled somewhat helplessly, yet still with a hint of joy.

"Your life--"

"Fart!"

Before Ekalavya could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a voice that suddenly rang out from the side.

Unlike the bewildered Ekalavya, Drona, who was extremely familiar with the voice, frowned slightly.

"King Drupada?"

"... Ha, you filthy beggar, I never thought you could be so shameless."

The person who appeared was King Drupada, a fellow disciple of Drona, and also the father of the Draupadi who married Arjuna's five brothers.

The two were once very close, and Muju promised that after he inherited the throne, he would give Drona his Kingdom and wealth. Later, Muju returned to his country to inherit the throne. Drona also married Kripi, and they had a son named Ashwatthama.

When Parashurama was giving alms to the Brahmin, Drona arrived late, and the alms had already been given away. So Parashurama gave him all the treasures he possessed.

Subsequently, Drona went to pay his respects to the King Drupada. Unexpectedly, the King Drupada, deeming their current status and wealth mismatched, turned his back on him as a friend.

In a fit of anger, Drona went to Hastinapura and became a martial arts instructor for the Kuru and Pandu.

It's fair to say that the two have gone from being good brothers to bitter enemies.

What brings you here?

What business is it of yours how I conduct myself?

Facing Drona's question, the King Drupada scoffed, then looked at Ekalavya, "Kid, don't listen to Drona. I have something to tell you. Come with me."

"Wait, what do you intend to do to my disciple?"

"Disciple?"

King Drupada laughed, "Hey, you stinking beggar, aren't your disciples the same few as before? It's rather laughable to still be bringing this up now."

After all, in the original Mahabharata, Drona went with Arjuna, and after Ekalavya cut off his finger, he wrote that Arjuna was overjoyed.

"... I'm sorry, King Drupada, I appreciate your kindness, but I cannot—"

Before Ekalavya could finish refusing, a black-blue flame emanated from the King Drupada, enveloping the two of them, and they vanished in an instant.

Such speed was too fast for even Drona, who possessed numerous magical treasures, to react to; he could only sense the aura of Asura from this aura.

"Wood Pillar, you... you've fallen so low, actually joining forces with Asura..."

"My lord, I have brought the person."

"Okay, I understand. Thank you for your help. You can go now."

"Yes."

Distracted, Ekalavya opened his eyes and saw a seemingly leisurely blond girl and the departing King Drupada.