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BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

RUMBLE!

Apophis was sent flying hundreds of kilometers across the sky. Anubis and Zobek watched in horror as the man who had slapped a mountain-sized monster stood tall.

"W-Who the hell is that guy?!" Anubis glared into the distance.

"S-Shiva! That’s the god Maria’s clones were fighting! Eek! We don’t stand a chance against that monster!" Zobek cried.

"But we have Apophis!" Anubis roared. "Apophis, go all out!"

With the command, the giant snake hissed angrily and charged toward Shiva, jaws wide open.

From her massive maw, a chaotic black hole formed, unleashing a devastating beam of primordial chaos straight at Shiva.

"What?!"

Shiva defended with all six arms, covering his chest and head as he endured the massive breath attack.

TRUUUM!

"What sort of monster is this?! Tch! No matter!"

Shiva gathered his own chaos and smashed the beam apart with raw physical force. The redirected attack struck the interior of Apophis, causing her stomach to explode.

BOOOMMM!!!

The giant snake was hurled back once more, but because Osiris was one of her components, her wounds healed rapidly as if she had been resurrected. She charged toward Shiva again.

"How annoying!"

Shiva began smashing the snake repeatedly while Apophis used her sharp fangs to bite into his body and inject chaotic venom. Shiva remained completely immune to it.

"Hahaha! It seems I am your worst matchup, you damn snake!"

Seeing Shiva fight, Kali, Brahma, Vishnu, and the rest of the Deities quickly scanned the chaotic battlefield, searching for the Outer Goddess.

And there she was, surrounded by Buddhas who were using their powers to seal her once again.

"Don’t stop! Keep pushing with all your Auras of Tranquility!" Kannon commanded, concentrating every ounce of her energy. Her mystic spirit jars spread sacred water everywhere, forming a powerful sealing barrier.

"Don’t let anyone interfere while we are busy!" Mahavairocana declared, unleashing his cosmic power at full strength. A golden lotus throne manifested beneath him, spreading an infinite mandala aura.

"Your madness does not affect us as much as the others, Outer God! We are forged by tranquility and harmony! We have reached ascension through eternal balance!" Avalokiteshvara roared. The merciful-looking man possessed thousands of golden arms, a serene face, and lotuses blooming in every hand.

While the three major Buddhas of the pantheon continued trying to seal Maria inside a large dimensional triangle formed by their combined power, the other Buddhas and their many disciples, the Divine Monks, clashed fiercely against Maria’s family and her endless army of Undead.

Using their Palms of Tranquility and Rays of Harmony, they easily destroyed the Undead and forced their souls to ascend to Nirvana. They were the only ones capable of permanently reducing her army.

"Honestly, I’ve always wanted to learn Buddhism. Why won’t you teach me?"

Maria’s voice whispered into the minds of all the Buddhas. They clenched their teeth, closed their eyes, and continued praying while chanting with their beads, spreading their potent auras across the battlefield.

"Don’t fall for her words! Concentrate! Focus on the Mandala and Nirvana! We will force this vengeful ghost to pass on in peace!" Kannon urged.

She knew Maria was actually a ghost. She had sensed it from the very first moment. Or rather, Maria was something in between: both a ghost and a living being. Kannon assumed the Outer Goddess had taken over the body of an innocent person and was trying to exorcise her from it.

Meanwhile, four other Great Buddhas battled Maria’s allies, struggling to keep up against all of them. Their monks were dying in droves, unable to put up any real fight even when they numbered in the tens of thousands.

The Great Buddhas eventually told them to escape, but the loyal monks refused to give up. They sacrificed their lives for the greater good.

"Do you realize the Creator you serve is accelerating the death of many worlds while planning to devour them?! Do you truly stand for such tyranny?"

"You’re nobody to speak about such things! You have no right to question our Great Creator and his Divine Will!" Kannon snapped. "The sacrifices of many will usher in a greater era. Their souls will achieve salvation in Nirvana and then reincarnate with new opportunities in better worlds!"

"So that’s what they told you, huh? That’s complete bullshit, Kannon, and you know it. I can feel the cracks in your heart. You’re already doubting your own master, right?"

"Nngh! Get out of my heart, you foul demon!"

"Your creator is bringing endless destruction to all! I am simply trying to save as many people as I can! There are trillions in the lower realms. You’re sacrificing all of them?! You are not true Buddhas. You are merely copies of the ones I know. You are imitations born from that monster peering into the records of myths and legends!"

"S-Silence! I am...! I am Kannon!"

Kannon tried desperately to resist Maria’s erosion, but as the Outer Goddess had said...

It was not wrong.

They were indeed not the "true" gods Maria knew.

Nor were the Egyptian Gods.

The Heavenly Father possessed the bizarre power to access a "Multiversal Record" that stored the history of all universes. From there, he recreated beings from written legends and mythology, bringing them into reality.

Could these gods even be called genuine?

This growing self-doubt toward her own existence intensified with every word from Maria, and ultimately...

"AAAAAGH!"

Kannon screamed, crying black tears as she broke the formation.

"No! Kannon!"

"Don’t let the Heart Demon consume you!"

Mahavairocana and Avalokiteshvara tried to help her, but it was futile.

Already deeply consumed by Maria’s Madness, Kannon stopped pouring her energy into their Forceful Nirvana Exorcism Formation.

"Good. This should be enough!"

The Outer God roared as her body suddenly gained golden and black armor along with a helmet shaped like the jackal of death, further strengthening her powers.

Using her strange and bizarre abilities, the Buddhas watched in horror as their formation exploded and black ghostly fog spread everywhere.

Her Undead, which had been dying easily to the Buddhas and their monks, quickly became nearly immortal. They were now covered in mummy wraps and golden armor, granted divine weapons, and evolved into powerful Tomb Guardians through the Outer God’s strange Anubis Transformation Skill.

Through this power, her Undead regained their immortality. At the same time, Maria attacked Mahavairocana and Avalokiteshvara simultaneously.

Her dual swords of starlight and abyss clashed against their invisible barriers of harmony while wheels of mandala spun behind the two Buddhas. Golden radiance pushed her back.

"You might have destroyed the formation, but we can simply create a new one!"

"You truly believe you can stand against our combined power? The power we have painstakingly cultivated for all these years?"

Maria could feel it within them. These two Buddhas were at X Rank as well, or perhaps even one step away from reaching X+ Rank.

Kannon had been the weakest, at X- Rank.

However, she had been strong enough to serve as a good "disciple."

Maria, having already infected her heart, infused a piece of her own soul inside Kannon.

In just a couple of seconds, the female Bodhisattva began vomiting miasma and crying black tears. Her radiant golden aura turned black and purple, resembling ghostly flames.

Maria had twisted her into a Fallen Deity.

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