Overslept, the Vanished Moon God

Garuda suppressed his anger. Then he opened and closed his eyes, pressed his palms together, and began chanting the names of the gods.

"Praise Surya!"

"Praise the Fire God!"

"Praise Varuna!"

"Praise Indra, God of Thunder!"

As Garuda's voice rang through the Heavenly Realm,

pillars of light rose from countless places throughout the Heavenly Realm. They shot straight into the sky, then descended before Garuda, revealing the gods' true forms.

Surya, Agni the Fire God, Varuna, Vayu, Soma...

One god after another arrived to welcome Garuda.

Yet Indra was nowhere to be seen.

Garuda lowered his hands, his expression cold. His sharp eagle eyes swept over the gods as he said, "I have come by the Supreme Lord's command to invite the gods to meet him. Why is the Heavenly Emperor absent?"

The gods looked at one another, exchanging glances.

At last, Surya stepped forward. "Indra is engaged in arduous cultivation!"

He had been planning to cultivate himself, but he still had to pull the chariot. He simply did not have the leisure for it, so he had given up on the idea.

Hearing this, Garuda frowned deeply.

He looked toward the Heavenly Emperor's Temple, snorted, and strode forward. "This is a summons from the Supreme Lord, yet he dares ignore it. He has no respect for the Supreme Lord at all. The Heavenly Realm has become what it is today because of him."

None of the gods spoke, and silence fell over them.

As brothers, they all knew each other's character inside and out. Back then, Indra had been in such a hurry to attend a gathering in the Heavenly Realm that he had neglected Sage Durvasa.

Under those circumstances, they would probably have done the same.

Arrogance was the privilege of gods. There was no need to be overly harsh!

Besides, if they caused trouble next time, they could return the favor. It would make things easier to discuss.

"Don't be hasty. We can wait a little longer!"

Surya said.

"That's right! Arduous cultivation and meditation are the righteous path of the universe. We should respect that!" Soma nodded.

Once those two spoke, the other gods immediately chimed in.

"Indeed. I agree—we should wait a little longer!" Varuna said.

"Me too!"

The Fire God said, clenching his fist.

Garuda looked at the gods and frowned.

Since they all said so, he could not go against them.

So he sat cross-legged on the ground. "Then let's wait a little longer. Just a little while!"

Time flew by.

There was no day or night in the Heavenly Realm, and time flowed like water.

Rumble!

Suddenly, deafening thunder rolled through the Heavenly Realm.

Garuda's eyes snapped open. The pleasant look on his face darkened, replaced by fury.

During meditation, he had dreamed of Supreme Lord Vishnu. Just as he saw the Supreme Lord about to say something, the thunder interrupted his meditation and jolted him awake.

"Praise Supreme Lord Vishnu!"

Garuda forcefully suppressed his anger and praised the Supreme Lord. Then he rose to his feet and looked around.

When he turned to the surrounding gods, he saw them lying or sprawled about. Their clothes were even more ragged, their divine radiance had vanished, and the fragrance from their bodies had completely disappeared.

The curse had grown worse!

"Ah!"

"How much time has passed?"

Garuda cried out in alarm.

He immediately realized that he had meditated for far too long and quickly calculated the time on his fingers.

"Two hundred and fifty years!"

Garuda's eyes widened as he shouted.

The surrounding gods also woke from their meditations and immediately noticed their own condition.

The next moment, they looked toward the Heavenly Emperor's Temple. Power of Arduous Cultivation was radiating from within, transforming into lightning that burst in every direction and sent thunder crashing through the Heavenly Realm.

The thunder just now had come from there!

"Indra, you have truly enraged me!"

"If not for your arduous cultivation, how could I have delayed the Supreme Lord's orders?"

Garuda roared.

At that moment, he could not care about anything else. With a beat of his wings, he flew toward the Heavenly Emperor's Temple in uncontrollable rage.

The gods exchanged looks, realizing that things were going badly, and hurried after him.

Before the Heavenly Emperor's Temple,

Garuda flapped his wings. His enormous feathers covered the sky and blotted out the sun, instantly plunging the heavens into darkness. Countless gales bombarded the temple, which had already become a straw hut.

The surrounding Gandharvas were terrified. They scrambled and fled behind the other gods.

Boom!

The black gale covered the heavens, yet it stopped before the straw hut.

Unnameable, invisible lightning crackled outward, shooting into the nine heavens. Amid the thunderous roar, it transformed into countless shrieking dragons and serpents, shattering the black wind in an instant.

"I came under the command of Supreme Lord Vishnu! Indra, come out now. I know you are in there!"

"You dared anger Sage Durvasa, so dare to come out!"

Garuda beat his wings madly.

As Vishnu's foremost devout follower, he possessed immense divine power. The storm made the entire Heavenly Realm tremble.

"Stop already!"

Vayu wore a bitter expression as he hurriedly shouted.

The brothers huddled together, supporting one another as they gathered their remaining divine power into a barrier to resist Garuda's fierce winds.

"We can talk this out slowly. We can barely hold on!"

Surya's body swayed as he repeatedly waved his hands.

At that moment, the divine barrier was on the verge of collapse.

The changes in the Heavenly Realm immediately drew countless eyes.

In the Brahma Realm, Brahma and Goddess Saraswati sat upon lotus flowers, gazing down at the Heavenly Realm below.

Above the Ocean of Milk, Vishnu held the spinning Chakravyuha in his hand and looked upward.

In Kailasa, Shiva slowly opened his eyes as well.

Boom!

The storm surged everywhere, penetrating every gap. The straw shed was finally torn apart by the gale, revealing Indra inside, meditating on his side.

"Indra!"

Garuda roared again as the wild wind came howling toward him.

Whoosh!

Yet after being filtered by the Power of Arduous Cultivation, the force of the storm turned into a cool breeze that gently brushed over his chest.

Ahh, haah~

Indra slowly yawned, groped around to scratch his chest, and swayed as he sat up cross-legged. He opened his sleepy eyes.

For a moment, the black hurricane twisting through the sky filled his vision.

"Hmm?"

Indra tilted his head and rubbed his eyes. At last, the world around him came into focus.

Strong winds, gales, and hurricanes!

There was wind everywhere, and a birdman was glaring at him murderously!

"Garuda!"

Indra came to his senses and muttered the name.

"Indra, Supreme Lord Vishnu summoned you, yet you ignored him completely. You have shown disrespect to the Supreme Lord."

Garuda instantly landed and marched toward him aggressively.

The gods immediately stepped forward to stop him.

Trumpet!

Indra's white elephant, Airavata, charged over in huge strides. With a sweep of his long trunk, he sprayed a mouthful of water into the sky and rushed at Garuda.

Garuda did not retreat a single step. He continued forward and raised a hand to push him away.

But before his hand could touch Airavata,

Whoosh!

Airavata's massive figure suddenly vanished.

Indra froze slightly and could not help looking around.

Where was the elephant?

Where was my elephant?

As the gods stood dumbfounded, Soma, who had been standing beside Garuda, suddenly let out a startled cry. His skin instantly became transparent, and then his entire body vanished from the Heavenly Realm.

Whoosh!

"Ah?"

Garuda stared blankly at his hand, then looked around. Everyone else was staring at him in horror.

"Garuda, did you ask the Supreme Lord for a blessing that lets you erase anyone you touch?"

Surya took two steps back, staring warily at Garuda.

The other gods also wore suspicious expressions.

"I didn't touch them!"

"It wasn't me! I didn't do it!"

Garuda hurriedly pulled back his hand.

Indra blinked, finally understanding what had happened.

"Airavata is gone."

"Soma is the God of Wine, and also the Moon God. Both are symbols of wealth. With Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, gone, they vanished as well. They have all fallen into the Ocean of Milk."