Wreath of Lilies, Cauldron of Poison

Chapter 181

Samsara, By Any Other Name

“Explain,” Connie said with a chilly tone.

“…Dark-Mother, may I have talk with her first? She might still be a bit confused.”

“As you wish, Tian Gu. I will wait here,” the beautiful woman replied. “I will avail myself to your tea, if you allow me, just like mortals do.”

“You are my guest, Queen of Dreamless Sleep,” Tian Gu, waved his hand and the pot of tea poured itself into a cup. He waved his hand again and a plate of sweets appeared on the table. Each one as fine as jewels. “Please, partake of my hospitality.”

Tian Gu quickly pulled Connie to a spot behind his shack. Once there, Connie shook off his hand and growled angrily. “Why the hell did you let a Goddess into your world?!

The man sighed audibly. “Let me tell you first, if not for her, you would’ve truly died from your reckless experiment.”

Connie furrowed her brows. “What…do you mean?”

Tian Gu waved his sleeves and walked a few steps back. “I have been watching you ever since we strengthened our connection. You have done the unthinkable, remaking your body using an experimental technique. I understood your logic, by making it so that your soul is anchored to your Dao Symbol, you made it so that you enter a state of redeath forcefully. But you haven’t taken into account the power of the cycle of life and death in Grea,” the man made a fist with both hands to illustrate his meaning. “Your soul is being pulled by both your Dao Symbol and the cycle. Normally, this would not be a problem, but the fact that your Dao Symbol has been divided into two meant that it was not strong enough to resist the pull.”

“That’s…” Connie sucked in air in frustration. “Dammit!”

The man helplessly shook his head. “Don’t blame yourself. I also only realized this when I felt my connection to you weakening severely,” he said while stroking his beard. “Once I noticed this, I had to act fast, before my connection to you is completely cut off. Thus, I asked the Dark-Mother for help to find you before you are integrated into the cycle and to bring you here,” Tian Gu explained, he wet his lips with his tongue before continuing his words. “In exchange, she has something she wanted you to do. You, specifically. I hazard a guess that she needs something done in Grea.”

This last sentence brought ire to Connie. “Am I to be her tool now? A fucking apostle to a Goddess?”

Tian Gu scoffed. “Do you think I’m that stupid? Look, me. I’ve told her that you won’t be doing anything that goes against your moral. We might as well set the terms now and pay it outright. Or, do you want to owe her a life debt?”

Connie sucked in air. “No. I don’t,” Though she had never been in a position to be in debt to a deity, she had heard of tales about those who were indebted to them. After all, not all Gods are good. “Very well. Let’s rip off the scab now rather than to wait for it to fester.”

“I agree. Mind you, the Gods…don’t understand subtleties. I think none of them do. So, make sure you speak as clearly as you can when you talk with her.”

When the two returned to the pavilion, they saw Anukara was sitting on a stool by a circular table, sipping from the cup in her hand, unbothered by the heat coming off from the piping hot tea. Her expression serene.

The two of them sat before her as she put down her tea with both hands. “You have returned,” she said. “Has the Heavenly Poison King explained to you about our agreement?”

“…he has,” Connie replied, scratching her head with a bit of unwillingness. “However, as far as Gods are concerned, I would take their boon with a healthy amount of skepticism. So, tell me, Dark-Mother. What is your price?”

Anukara moved her head slightly, seemingly not offended by the brusque question. “Forgive me, I don’t quite understand the human’s way of speaking. What do you mean by…price?”

Connie glanced at Tian Gu, slightly exasperated. She began speaking again, this time slower and more deliberate. Like speaking to a child. “What…do you want me to do…in exchange for saving my life?”

“Ah, that is what you mean,” Anukara paused for a breath. And then, with a level tone, she stated her wish. “In exchange for saving your life, I would like to ask you…to find my Crown.”

Tian Gu raised both eyebrows upon hearing it. “A Crown?”

“Yes. The Crown of Dreamless Sleep. It is the symbol of my Authority. Just as my husband and his Robe of Seven Colors. All Gods have them. But for you to understand my reason and why finding my Crown is of utmost importance, I should start from the very beginning.”

Anukara clasped her hand together and opened them. A sphere that looked as if it was plucked from a starry night sky appeared and floated above them. Dots of white stars gathered from all over the sphere to form illustrations of the Races. Large and small, with long ears and short ears.

“In the beginning of time, when Grea was young, I birthed five children. And from them, were born the Races. Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and many others. They worshiped us as their creators. Prayers and feasts were offered in our name, which empowered us. And in return, we blessed them with bounties of the earth, sea, and sky. One of the many gifts that we gave them was the Level System, which Mydirr, learned from the world beyond Grea. All was well, and everyone was happy.”

The images blurred and the white dots now formed many small men turning their heads to the Gods.

The story is the same as the one Sidonai told me. But the Level System coming from another world is news to me.

“However, as the Races flourished, their beliefs began to dwindle. Prayers stop, feasts that praised us disappeared, the tales of our feats were forgotten. My children bore the brunt of this. They tried everything they could to stop this change, but nothing came to fruition. Our names were no longer praised, but whispered in fleeting memories.

The little men in the sphere took up arms and then started to fight amongst themselves.

“They turned against each other, coveting what they did not have. In doing so, their negative emotions gave birth to the Demon God, Nakir-Sud-Mara,” Anukara’s voice trembled as she said the name. Disgust, perhaps, with a tinge of fear. A being made of darkness appeared, devouring the little men.

“This new God had nothing but hatred for the creatures that created him. And from him were born the Demons. Fell things that were created only to cause chaos. The most powerful of them, was the Demon King. The Demon King and his dark army, servants of Nakir-Sud-Mara ravaged the nations. Wars were fought, and sacrifices were made. Eventually, the Demon King is defeated.”

“But there’s no happy ending,” Connie interrupted. “The Demon King revives a few hundred years later.”

“Yes. And each time he is revived. He became stronger. It did not take long for the Demons to conquer the world,” the image now turned into countless hands clasped in prayers. “Helpless and in despair, the people turned to us once again. My husband and I did not answer. For the Demons were not of our creation, but theirs. In spite of that, my children took pity on the Races and sought to help them.”

Anukara was silent for a moment. “Unfortunately, their power had become a fraction of what they were at their peak. With no other choice, they asked my husband to help them. He said that they could not directly intervene with the mortal world, but they could introduce a solution that will indirectly solve the problem. Thus, he created the Hero Summoning Skill and told them to give it to their worshipers. After that, my husband left on a journey to another plane for reasons unknown.”

“When they accepted the Skill, they realized that to be able to breach the boundary of another world, they still needed power. Power that they no longer have. For that, they needed to borrow from the Mana of the Great Cycle. Thus, they sought for my help,” the woman looked down, her sadness palpable. “As the one governing the Law of Death and Rebirth, I could not allow this, thus I refused them.”

She lifted her hand and a picture of her wearing a seven-pointed crown appeared on the sphere. Then a small hand offering a goblet of wine came into being.

“One day, Udurr tricked me into drinking wine made from the blood of Ilurante, the Dragon Lord of Wind. And made me sleep for seven nights and seven days. In that time, they stole from me the source of my Authority, my Crown.”

“With their newfound power, they helped the Kingdoms to summon their Heroes, the Otherworlders. Soon, the Races managed push the Demons back to the North.”

The little men pushed back against the horned creatures with seven men with halos in the lead.

“When I woke up on the seventh day, I came to them and begged them to stop. But after tapping into the power of the cycle, they had become too powerful. And with each death that followed, the power became even more potent.”

Tian Gu, who had been stroking his beard, knew the temptation of power. And he knew what happened even before Anukara said it. They had become addicted to that power.

“The power changed them. The eyes that once loved me, have turned to hate. My children, they fear…me. They fear their…end,” Anukara said, with a heavy tone. “They feared me, for my existence signifies the ability for them to end.”

Her image in the sphere was enveloped in stars and she was gone.

“They then took away most of my power and imprisoned me in another plane. This body you see before you are only a fragment of my existence. For centuries I’ve watched as they encouraged the Races to fight the Demons, causing many souls to return to the Great Cycle beyond its capacity. Life and Death must be in balance. If nothing is done, it would not be long before Grea is destroyed.”

Connie, who had been silently listening to the story, suddenly shot up from her seat, excited.

“Oh…oooh,” Connie’s face went from a contemplative frown to one of wide-eyed understanding. She remembered of her thoughts when she spoke to the Blacksmith back in Courandhel. Then to the reasons why Demons needed to eat members of the Races.

“Sorry?” Anukara was perplexed by the sudden outburst.

“Oh….oooh…that’s good. That’s downright brilliant!” Connie gestured with her hands, making both forefingers spin around each other in a circle.

“Ultimately, it is all a system. A system in which the Races die so that the Demons can eat them, and the Demons die so that the Races can obtain the treasures that is their bodies. A cycle of suffering fabricated by the Gods so that they could gorge upon the Mana like pigs! AHAHAHAH!! Samsara, by any other name, is still Samsara!!”

Connie laughed maniacally. At the ridiculousness of it all. The audacity, the cruelty, all so that the Gods might live just a bit longer. Her laughter suddenly turned sinister and she shouted. “How dare you! How dare you do this!! We are not your playthings! We are not some cattle being bred for the slaughter!! Your children are no better than Nakir-Sud-Mara and his Demons!!”

Tian Gu sat still in his seat, his expression still as he watched his other self went from laughing to fury, and then to disgust, all within minutes.

“Connie! Calm yourself.”

“And you are too calm! Didn’t you listen to what she was saying?!”

“I have. And you are too affected by this. What does it matter that people in Grea you don’t know died for something the Gods cooked up?”

Connie then realized another truth. While they are the same person, one had lived on Grea, ate of its bounties, made friends with, and found a new love. While the other one had lived for centuries, alone, without attachment to others.

This realization poured cold water on her head. Connie took a deep breath and sat down.

“…” Anukara closed her eyes and accepted her anger without flinching. “I’m aware of their mistakes. And as their mother, I am going to take responsibility of it. However, I am an exiled Queen without her crown. Without my Authority, I cannot do a thing. That is why, you must help me find it.”