SHK CH 562: Our Ways (Patreon)

Now alone once again, Lupus looked up and though his eyes could not see past the ceiling of his castle, he felt like he could gaze into the night sky.

The words this man said kept resounding in his mind, forcing him to contemplate what kind of choice he would make for his future.

Join them or fight them?

Is it even possible to win?

Lupus thought back to what happened earlier.

The man did not show his full strength. Only the equivalent of a King but this alone had been enough to make Lupus feel helpless.

It was not even a question of power.

Concept.

The man had been able to toy as he wished with his mind, leaving him completely helpless, and from what he was saying — There were more of them.

“The world is entering a new age of god?”

There has always been discussion about the legitimacy of the goddesses. Though those all had been squashed in the simplest way possible.

These suspicions came from the concepts the goddesses wielded and the fact that if Demigod existed, gods of different concepts should also exist.

Finally, even though history had been wiped out many times, Lupus knew that the Goddess of Chaos was accompanied by the Goddess of Destruction as well as four more goddesses.

Where did those goddesses vanish? What happened to them? Were they killed by the 14? If so, their death would only be temporary and they might soon come alive again, to bring a new age of war.

Lupus knew all that. He simply never bothered thinking that it concerned him. He was sure that this would be a problem for the future generation far after his death.

“Call Sun Wukong.”

“Yes.”

Many of the servants left but a few were still present. Calling one the death-sworn warrior he had trained over the years, Lupus walked back to his throne and sat quietly.

Pondering. Thinking. Analyzing.

In the end, he came to a simple decision. He did not need days to make his choices as he knew that one needed to be decisive at times.

Closing his eyes, Lupus sighed. He would have never thought that he would find himself in this situation.

I guess I have no one to blame but myself.

Now all he had to do was wait. Wait for the final moment.

_________

Meanwhile on Sun Wukong's side, for once in a very long while, the ever stoic Monkey King could be seen laughing out loud as if he had heard the funniest news possible.

“So in the End, Camel, Flood, and Kun all got instantly destroyed by two young princesses?”

The other three Sages were speechless. This was perhaps one of the greatest losses they had faced in a long while.

“This reminds me of our old days when we were still just starting.”

After laughing a while, Sun Wukong took a swing of Monkey’s wine from his guard before continuing, “You guys…No, all of us. We all started from the bottom. We earned our fame, fought on numerous battlefields, and faced numerous losses. But after a while, the stronger we became, the less defeat we faced, and the more victory we accumulated the more prideful we become.”

“The two princess only won because they used their Zones the very moment the fight began.” Thus spoke the macaque King. But even as he did so, he cringed slightly.

“From your expression, I guess you understand just how stupid the words you proffered sounded.”

“I apologize.”

Sun Wukong shook his head, “I read the reports. Even though the two princesses won, it’s undoubtedly true that it was because they acted first. If our brothers and sisters had been able to use their full power, they might have gone either way. But…So What?”

He looked at all of them. The lion king, the Macaque King, and finally the strongest one just below him — The Bull King.

“So what if their defeat had some circumstances? This is war. This is not a playground. Defeat means death. This is a truth all of us have forgotten. Never underestimate your enemies. Always go all out from the start. The difference between life and death is separated by nothing but an instant. A snap of fingers is enough time for one to lose their head.”

His voice was calm even as he spoke as if this was nothing but an afterthought. “Bull, Macaque, Lion. The three of you will go on the battlefield next.”

They exchanged looks, “Do you wish us to bring back honor to our names?”

“Honnor?” Sun Wukong who was about to walk away stopped and looked at the Lion King in disbelief, as if he had just said something that made no sense, “Since when did we start caring about honor?”

“Wukong…”

“Stop. It seems like all those years of peace went to your heads.” He raised his hand, his golden eyes shining with intensity, “The Seven of us, on that night, even before we became Dukes, all sworn to fight alongside each other, to protect each other, and to walk a great way together. We Became known as Great sages, not because of pure arrogance but to express our goal.”

He growled, “None of us reached that Goal. I am not equal to Heaven, you do not drive away the gods and this goes for all of us. But this Title is a wish, a direction! We do not fight for honor. We do not wish for Glory. All we want is to reach the Summit!”

He stopped speaking and the light in his eyes dimmed, “Or at least I thought this was our common goal…It seems like I was the only one.”

He was about to continue but his ears twitched, “Let’s stop here. The King is calling me.” He started walking away, “As for going on the battlefield, forget I said anything. Do as you wish”

Now alone, the three Sages looked at each other, bitterness evident in their eyes. The bull King, a tanned man with two large horns above his head also stood up, “It seems like we have been blinded by our pride.”

The Lion King shook his head, “I am ashamed. I never thought I would one day receive such a wake-up call from Wukong of all people.”

As for the Macaque King, he looked up, counting on his finger, “I received information that the Prince of Lustburg appeared in the fortress of the Eternal Battlefield. What do you say?”

“Let’s go. Let’s see if the prince can make the fire in our hearts burn brightly once again.” said the Lion King.

“I believe that the Prince is undoubtedly a higher threat than the two princesses. Our chances of winning are not the brightest.”

“So what? Wukong was right. Since when did we start caring about honor? In the past, we would not hesitate to scavenge the battlefield or gang up on anyone who threatened us. If one of us cannot win, then what about? If two can lose, what about three?”

The muscular frame of the Bull King twitched as if all his muscles were squirming, “We should go with the mindset of hitting way above our weight. You don’t want to let even the Reckless Monkey mock us, right?”

The three sages laughed, the heaviness in the air dissipating quietly. They were not children and the words of Wukong did indeed make them understand the reality.

They called themselves Great Sages.

Not because they were Great Sages.

But because they wanted to become one.

“My brothers. Let’s go.”

Meanwhile, a little farther, Wukong let out a quiet smile full of relief.

It seemed like the hearts of his brothers did not fully die.

As for what happened next, he did not care. Losing or winning was not the most important. As long as their Dao Heart shone brightly, they could still walk forward.

In fact — He hoped they would lose.

Thinking so, he looked forward to his fight.

Would he lose? Or would he win?

All of this did not matter. What mattered was to have the most exhilarating fight possible.

This was his way. This was his path.

The Path of endless Battle and enlightenment. [1]

(AN: Since I am not constrained by the WN police setting anymore, I think I will try different interesting things. Let's see how far we can go.)

[1]: Sun Wukong is known as the Victorious Fighting Buddha. Also a joke but Reckless Monkey was one of his titles. Though it was more of an insult. Bull and the others aren’t insulting him.