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Kannon started vomiting miasma and crying black tears. Her radiant golden aura twisted into black and purple, resembling ghostly flames. In just a couple of seconds, Maria had twisted the female Bodhisattva into a Fallen Deity.

"Very good, Kannon. Accept reality and realize your mistakes. You have been living in an endless delusion until now, haven’t you? Now you are finally free."

"Thank you... for showing me the truth..." Kannon cried, shocking her two allies.

"K-Kannon?!"

"No...! She has been brainwashed!"

"Brainwashing? Hardly. I merely told her the truth."

"I suppose the only thing we can do now is slay you!"

"We do not like using force, but it is not as if we cannot fight!"

Mahavairocana and Avalokiteshvara roared as they clashed against the Outer God and Kannon. They unleashed dozens of palm attacks and beams of bright light from the domains surrounding their bodies.

The Outer God laughed, spreading black ghostly mist everywhere and generating dozens of clones born from compressed spheres of her soul, nightmares, and sword ki.

The monstrous clones attacked the Buddhas from every angle while constantly whispering to their hearts.

However, unlike Kannon, the two Buddhas remained strong no matter what, resisting the madness.

Kannon began to attack using the same techniques Mahavairocana and Avalokiteshvara had taught her, but now twisted and dark.

Her enlightenment had reversed, becoming a dark awakening to the "truth."

The painful truth that her existence was merely a lie, and that she had been serving and trying to protect a monster who devoured countless worlds and had killed countless innocents.

"I am sorry, seniors... but I cannot stand for the tyranny of The Creator anymore...!"

"Tyranny?!"

"What nonsense are you speaking about, Kannon?!"

"The Creator is not a tyrant. He is an endless, pure life-giver, a creator who continues the natural cycle of creation and destruction, as all things should be!"

"Those who die are simply returned to the wheel of reincarnation and then brought back to life after their memories have been cleansed, in newly created worlds."

"That is not true... The Creator has not created worlds in eons. He has fallen to a mental illness... He has grown hungry... He only devours now. I cannot stand it anymore! Fifty worlds will be destroyed...! It is so horrible!"

Overflowing with the power the Outer Goddess had given her, Kannon attacked both of her seniors with abyssal palms and rays of shadows and doubt.

The two Buddhas resisted and rapidly began to combine their power to fight back with everything they had.

"Kannon, we will save you!"

"And we will vanquish this monster!!!"

Mahavairocana and Avalokiteshvara unleashed their combined auras. Cosmic Light merged with Golden Radiance, forming a unified lotus of cosmic starlight.

Both Buddhas recalled their many cherished memories with their dear friend as they roared in unison and unleashed their full power at once.

"Blooming Cosmos..."

"...Golden Lotus!"

TRUUUM!

The Blooming Cosmos Golden Lotus was summoned. A gigantic lotus of cosmic power and radiance pierced through space and time, trapping Kannon and the Outer God inside.

It was not as powerful as the formation they had been preparing earlier, the one capable of true exorcism. That had been the Buddhas’ mercy.

This was their wrath.

This pseudo-formation was designed specifically to trap... and kill anything inside.

"Hoo..."

The Outer Goddess smiled as she gazed at the technique.

It was intricately made by weaving cosmic energy, ki, and radiance from mandalas.

These were all unique powers these beings possessed.

By compressing them and infusing their own memories and emotions, along with their eternal tranquility and harmony, they had created a deadly technique.

All the power inside began to erupt at once, attempting to completely delete her and purify Kannon at the same time.

"Impressive."

BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!

Dozens of explosions erupted one after another inside the giant lotus-shaped formation, attempting to completely disintegrate the Outer God.

It seemed to be working. Her body was rapidly beginning to disappear...

However, as she vanished, she smiled. Her form revealed itself to be made merely of shadows and dream essence.

"...?!"

The two Buddhas were taken completely aback.

This entire time they had been trying to seal and contain a clone! 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"W-What is going on?!"

"Impossible! Kannon!"

They grew worried as they deactivated their technique, but Kannon emerged from the smoke. Countless tentacles grew from her hair as she attacked them.

"K-Kannon?!"

The two Buddhas were shaken. They raised their barriers to resist her attacks.

But!

Crack, crack!

CRASH!

Their barriers shattered as the void tentacles reached their bodies, piercing them several times.

"Gaaaaahhh!"

"Uuungh!"

They screamed, trying to endure the pain as they finally realized the Outer God had deceived them.

From within Kannon, the Outer God manifested once more.

Her true body!

"Indeed, you were not wrong. I used to be a ghost! Even after I regained my main body, that power remains!"

Maria laughed. Tricking these two Buddhas so easily felt almost insane.

She had simply dissipated into shadows and ghostly energy, possessed Kannon, and let her take all the damage.

The two Buddhas, worried about their friend, had rushed in to save her, inadvertently helping her escape.

"Now...!"

"Wait!"

"Ungh!"

Both tried to react, but the Outer God was one step ahead.

She swung both swords, suddenly manifesting a giant halo behind her back.

The Buddhas were taken aback.

It was impossible for a being like her to manifest a Halo, something only enlightened and celestial beings could possess.

And yet, this Halo swirled behind her, revealing itself to be made entirely of tiny stars.

"A galaxy?!"

As they stared in awe at her power, the Outer God swung her swords, cutting through their bodies repeatedly.

Both Buddhas tried to resist, but Kannon emerged behind them, wielding the same sword as Maria and unleashing her own technique.

Kannon and the Outer God unified their powers.

"Kannon!"

"Stop!"

As the Buddhas tried to fight back, countless sword energy attacks formed a Sword Formation around them on the spot, constantly wounding them.

In that moment, while they were forced to defend...

"Path of Nihility!"

"Path of Genesis!"

Kannon, possessed by one of the Outer God’s fragments, and the Outer God herself unleashed two different Paths through their swordsmanship.

As the paths converged, a giant singularity of black void and white light manifested, splitting both Buddhas apart.

SLAAASH!

"K-Kannon...!"

"Please... don’t forget us..."

BOOOMMM!!!

As they died, they whispered something gentle to Kannon...

The Outer God, Maria, stared at their remains and sighed.

She had been planning to simply devour them or let someone else absorb their power.

But she decided to spare Kannon the loneliness.

"Rise."

Using her reviving power, both Buddhas were instantly brought back to life.

"W-What?!"

"Eh?"

Going against the natural order, Maria revived them and then, through her attachment power, turned them into her new loyal subordinates.

"I do not show mercy so easily, but because my new disciple would feel sad, I have revived you so you can accompany her... You are also plenty strong. You will join me in destroying the tower."

"I-I cannot free myself from this strange attraction force!"

"We have to obey her...! This is worse than death!"

"Worse than death? You cannot be serious," the Outer God rolled her eyes and glared at the battlefield unfolding everywhere.

Then.

From the skies.

A chaotic, blazing dance of death descended upon Maria.

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