Chapter XXIV
"Are they going to be okay?"
Issei couldn't help but break the silence that had formed between him and Sanzang.
She paused when he spoke, the two having been following a trail leading up the mountain, and walked over to a small cup formed by the roots of a peach tree. One of the strange trees that had grown out of the Monkey King's abode, it was nearly fifty feet high with boughs full of ripe fruit swaying in the breeze. Even Issei would admit they made for quite the scenery, with beautiful peach flower petals fluttering in the wind around them, all as they followed a path that had been carved into the bedrock of the newly formed mountain.
Was this what the real Flower Fruit Mountain looked like, he wondered? Or just a reproduction based on what people believed it looked like?
"If you are speaking of the two young devils, then the answer is likely yes. It was wise to send them away from this last part of the conflict. Had they approached Sun Wukong, the curse that partially afflicts them would have grown stronger and turned them into his servants."
That was… bad.
He hadn't considered the possibility.
If the full group went, there was the likelihood that the monkey king would have made them fight Issei, just like Sanzang was struggling not to do even now as they approached the peak and his hometown became visible, sprawling over the land like a carpet of roots, flowers, and fruits. But mostly he'd been worried the Monkey King would hurt the two girls. Even if they had far more combat experience than him, they weren't Campione, they didn't have his durability. And the idea of either of them being hurt, especially for his sake, made Issei's stomach turn sour.
"Will it all disappear if we beat him?"
Waving his hand, the teenager indicated the vastness of the changed world around them.
"That is likely. What that monkey did was to slap his personal domain on top of the existing reality. Think of it as the world having a very vivid dream, believing itself to be the legendary mountain."
The land itself… dreaming?
"So it's like it was always like this? Not that he smacked a mountain here?"
The monk nodded with an approving smile.
"Full marks, Mr. Hyoudou. But yes, power of this magnitude isn't just about transforming the land. No, you could say that a sufficiently powerful Heretic God becomes a blight on the world itself, changing it into their personal world and humans into the captives of these delusions. Though I admit that is an oversimplification."
"No worries, teacher, I appreciate even this much. So, this isn't the real world, then?"
The monk hummed, pursing her lips in thought.
"Right now you could say that it's a coin flip. On one side you have your hometown and on the other side you have the domain of a heretic god. Right now that coin is up in the air, flipping wildly. Which is why we can perceive the two sides overlapping."
"And when it lands?"
She smiled wryly.
"Well, let's hope you are the one to catch it and not Wukong, yes?"
So it was a really good thing that they had the place emptied out before Luo Hao unleashed the heretic god, huh? He could have really done without all the pressure though.
"What about you?"
"Me?"
"How are you holding up? Feeling anything different?"
"The urge to pop your head off of your shoulders, perhaps? But that's nothing unusual, being able to control one's desires is all part of the doctrine even if it strains every part of my being."
Oh yeah.
That would be terrible for him, and he didn't actually want to fight her. He'd had enough tragic fights with people who didn't have any choice in the matter.
Now?
Now was the time to deal with the mastermind behind this mess.
"Thanks for holding back." Issei rubbed the back of his head. "I do actually appreciate that a lot. Still, do you have any advice about facing Goku?"
The monk slowly nodded.
"Many different pieces of advice. And I'm afraid I don't know which bits are useful. I will say this… as trite as it may sound. Hold on to yourself during this battle. Willpower and sense of self, I think, will determine the outcome just as much as strength or cunning."
"Yeah. Understood. Though any warning about his techniques? I, well, is there any move in particular I should avoid?"
"All of them." Her veil shifted as she giggled. "I hate to offer useless guidance, but avoiding his blows will serve you better than blocking them. I fear he's simply too strong, even for a God Slayer, to survive head on."
"Hmm. Sun Wukong, ah, the original one, said just the opposite."
"Oh?" Sanzang sounded genuinely curious. "And how is my wayward student?"
"Heh. Guess he was your student, too, yeah? No other-self. No other-place or other-time."
"Good, young student, you are learning well."
Both of them laughed. Issei relaxing a little even if he could see the tension in Sanzang's shoulders ratchet up for just a moment. He trusted her. And this problem, he decided, was as simple as that.
"So yeah. He said I shouldn't monkey around. That this would be a contest decided by raw strength."
"Hmm. I suppose I ought to be disappointed, but there's wisdom in that. After all, the seventy two transformations aren't the limit of Sun Wukong's abilities, merely the most well known and foundational of them. As oxymoronic as it may be to describe that many varied techniques as foundational, it is the truth. Though I can attest, at the very least, you need not fear his allegedly redundant immortality. Though if I were to tell you that there is no such thing as immortality, what would you say to that, my student?"
Issei knelt before the monk, struggling not to ogle her chest, and instead did his best to answer seriously.
"Hmm. Death and Birth are a cycle, right?"
There was a noise of agreement from his teacher.
"But even that is… illusionary." His face scrunched up. "Immortality implies permanence, right? So it would be a… permanent illusion? It's an oxymoron. But is that just a logical failure of Japanese, or is that actually… what you're trying to say?"
"A bit of both." Sanzang agreed. "But you understand the most important part. As a Heretic God, he - we - are an illusion of an illusion. A dream within a dream. And so our authorities, our powers, are just the same. While I can confirm that he possesses many authorities of immortality, I do not believe it is within his power to use them, as to do so would be to reject the culmination of our own Journey."
"Immortality is a rejection of Buddahood?"
"Buddahood is an acknowledgement of the impermanence of all things and awakening to a higher truth. Immortality has no use to a Buddha, as life and death are terms without meaning, distinctions without difference. To be blunt, immortality is a concept, an idea, and is impossible in the fundamentally impermanent nature of all things."
"So… what are the chances he has a Buddha authority?"
That got him a giggle, even though there was a good deal of stress in his voice, and the monk simply rose from where she had reclined.
"No Heretic God can claim to be a buddha, nor may they wield the gifts without one, as transcending the cycle of incarnation would be a rejection of their very nature. One would simply cease to exist as one reunited with one's previous… hmm… not self, but, perhaps, incarnation? I find it difficult to express this in terms that would not be pointlessly technical and obfuscate the teachings."
"Ah, well, um, is it ok if I say I'm already a bit lost?"
There was a small laugh from his teacher and she ruffled his hair.
"Yes it is, my student. Now. Come. There is a journey of ours to be finished. And thankfully it is much shorter than my first." Her eyes became a little sad. "Prepare yourself."
"Yes, teacher."
So Issei did.
When they arrived at the summit, Wukong was waiting for them.
The Monkey King didn't seem all that different from when they'd first fought. If anything, Issei expected some kind of change from what Sanzang told him about his collected powers returning to him. But there wasn't a single hair out of place on him, just the same easy confidence as he sat in front of a massive peach tree with his legs crossed and a lazy, amused smile.
"Well look what we have here. The spoilsport and the party pooper."
Issei could feel Sanzang rolling her eyes at the demon from beside him.
"You were the one who summoned us. Are you really that surprised I wouldn't try and fix this whole mess you made, Sun?"
The heretic didn't seem upset at the biting retort.
If anything it made him smile.
"No, no. Not at all. Really, it wasn't the plan to call you guys down here but I was happy to get the gang together again, even if I couldn't bring you over properly. Glad that the others managed to get some fun out of it too."
Fun.
Fun?
Issei really didn't understand this guy. He did know that the heretics didn't have a whole lot of leeway in how they could act, and were sort of stuck in a script. But the way the Monkey King said it, it felt like he'd just called up some friends for a day out at the arcade with some karaoke.
Not a deadly struggle between life and death.
"Are you trying to get exercised, you cheeky monkey? Because I have half a mind to slap a few sutras on you and try right now."
Wukong let out a snort.
"And I would love to let you try. But we both know that's not how this works. Afraid to say that you probably spent most of your power guiding the godslayer here on your little journey. Good job, by the way, don't think any other Subordinate God could do what you did."
Issei looked at Sanzang, questioningly.
She looked… frazzled.
Tired.
Had she been resisting the urge to give into Wukong's command to fight him all this time. They'd left the city ages ago, so had she been spending her own power to keep from doing something she knew the two of them would regret.
Issei was a god slayer.
He knew that, he felt that.
He didn't have to like it. But his body seemed to shudder with anticipation at the thought of another fight, hair standing on end. Even though the very idea of fighting her made Issei wanna shake his head to get rid of the thoughts. Worse, though, he could tell Wukong wasn't lying and that sent him spiraling for a moment.
"Issei Hyoudou."
Only for them to be broken by Sanzang's own voice.
"Y-Yes?"
She looked down at him with a thin smile.
"Before you stands a Heretic God. Sun Wukong. The troublemaker who many times defied heaven and many times defeated monsters, demons, and even gods in equal measure. Undoubtedly, if we allow him to continue as he is, the Monkey King will bring about a great calamity upon this world."
His spine straightened, that warm, burning feeling kindling in his gut as he stared at the lackadaisical heretic.
"To prevent this calamity, you, the Campione. Must overcome the legend here and now."
Issei felt his heart beat inside his chest like a drum.
Echoes thundering in his ears.
'Is she… glowing?' Indeed, the monk no longer seemed quite as solid anymore. Her form shimmered with golden light, flickering in and out of existence.
"Desire is the source of suffering, my student. And I desire to not fight the Godslayer. It is my choice to reject my very nature, thus placing myself into discord. Surely, this is blasphemous for one who has seen the Buddha to affirm personhood. But I must politely decline your command."
Issei's eyes went wide.
"Wait, teacher!" Sun Wukong leapt to his feet. "No, no, no. Return, now! Don't… do that." The flickering ceased and the Heretic Goddess disappeared, the ape slumping down as she did so. "Damn humans."
Plopping down on his ass, one arm under his chin, the Victorious Fighting Buddha glared at Issei.
"Tell me, little slayer, how you managed to convince my teacher to betray me so soundly she was gonna unmake herself rather than attack you."
Frowning, the young man shook his head.
"I don't think I did. Truthfully, I'm not sure I could. But you did."
"Oi!" The ape leapt up in a single motion, clearing the ground, kicking his staff to hand, and pointing it like a spear directly towards the teenager's throat. "Watch what you say!"
"Oi at you! You're the one that rushed in and ignored your companion's wishes. Just because you were forced to take a nap, you threw a temper tantrum. How childish."
Issei jabbed his finger at Sun Wukong and the demon king barked a laugh.
"Well said, human brat, I suppose when I kick your ass you can become my new little brother. The others will love having you around."
"Hardly. When I defeat you, I'm gonna go watch Dragon Ball and cheer for Vegeta!"
There was a sudden pause.
"I don't know who that is… but somehow… that pisses me off, you shitty brat! I'm gonna shut your mouth for that!"
"Then come and get some old man, before you fall asleep again!"
There was nothing else to say.
A sweet wind blew across the face of a serene mountain.
Leaves rustled and full peaches swung heavy and bright on the boughs of ancient fruit trees.
The grass was low and their arena was a simple dirt circle, seemingly formed by repeated footsteps over a great many years, with their audience the sky and the birds.
Immortal and child.
God and God Slayer.
Heretic and Buddhist.
Their first clash was mutual. Issei went for an immediate killing blow, manifesting a stone spike that coiled around his arm and darted out directly at Wukong's throat. Tiny thorns bit into his flesh and Dr. Venom bubbled freely in the construct's fangs.
Screeching, the ape flicked his wrist and smashed the spike - debris being sent flying - and immediately exhaled. The cloud of shrapnel was blown straight towards Issei, who merely smiled, and dashed through. Even if his clothes were shredded, his own powers wouldn't hurt him.
A pole strike, on the other hand, would.
Ducking under the overhead swing, Issei's leg was shoved upwards by a pillar of marble into a perfect knee strike, blasting the legendary staff upwards and exposing the Monkey King's chest.
The pillar broke and tumbled over, momentum carrying Issei downwards as the Campione twirled in place.
And a familiar hammer manifested in his hands.
A swing with this much force would have completely blown through a building and the impact blasted Wukong off his feet and into the air with a startled gasp, a bed of marble nails forming under him with practiced ease as he tumbled downwards.
"Kinto'un!"
Only to stop mid air as a large golden cloud appeared from seemingly nowhere to catch him before he could plank face first into the carpet of nails Issei laid out for him.
"You are a vicious little brat, ain't ya?"
Issei snorted, rolling his eyes.
"And you're supposed to be a tough bastard. So what gives? Getting afraid?"
The monkey smiled mischievously.
"Hey now, don't think that just because I can take it that I'll make things easy for ya. You've already defeated Bailong, Zhu, and Wujing, you don't need me babying you like that, right?"
Well, there went the exploiting overconfidence angle.
Not like he was counting on it!
Planting his hands onto the ground, the scattered debris and stone softened and melted together into a massive pool of rippling white liquid, before a massive spike shot upwards like a spear, nearly impaling the heretic through the cloud, which barely managed to fly to the side and avoid it.
"You've gotten some steel in your spine it seems."
Not steel.
He was just really freaking pissed with the Monkey King and the mess he just put him through. Which is why he couldn't help the triumphant smile on his face as the tip of the marble spike softened, and then inflated… before popping like a balloon and spraying shrapnel all over the airborne heretic.
Issei wasn't far behind, launching himself at the floating cloud with another pillar, the Campione took a deep breath as power thrummed through every fiber of his being and settled on his throat.
Before being unleashed with a loud bellow, the powerful sound waves rattling his bones and blasting the Heretic God off his cloud and into the ground with a thunderous crash. And for a moment, Issei felt like he'd gotten one over on the Monkey King.
Only for the adamantine staff to come flying out of nowhere and smack him down as well.
"Oww…"
He groaned, clutching the side of his head.
"I guess that's why they call it adamantine…" It stung like hell. More than the time he'd gotten smacked by Stheno. Or Hell, it hurt as badly as that crazy chinese lady's fists.
"A thousand years too early, boyo!"
Wukong came rocketing down, the golden cloud carrying him as a horse carried a knight as the Heretic aimed his staff to skewer Issei. Issei who was able to throw himself to the side, head still ringing, in time to avoid the crushing blow, but not in time to avoid the double kick that followed. The ape-man used his momentum to swing from the top of his staff and drive both feet directly into the teenager's chest.
Then, as the Campione bounced off the ground, Sun Wukong followed through with a vicious axe kick to the gut.
Spittle blew from Issei's mouth and he nearly vomited, only fighting the urge back at the last moment and, instead, screeched. The wail slammed into the monkey king's face with enough force to rattle his bones - but just as the young man was sure he'd overloaded his enemy's hearing, Sun popped and a single hair was blown away!
Manifesting a pillar to lift himself off the ground, the Campione kept moving before his opponent could follow up with a counter. But, stumbling, head only ringing a little, he walked straight into a flurry of kicks as his opponent popped up out of the ground.
"One, two, three! One, two, three! Come on kiddo, you gotta do better than that!"
Each blow slammed into Issei's arms as he tried to keep a guard up. But blocking such powerful blows was already starting to raise welts on his arms.
"You're too simple!"
Right as a third combo began, and Sun Wukong's accusation rang out, the Campione dropped his guard and took a blow straight to the chest. Right where he'd manifested a stone plate! It wasn't enough to stop the kick, or stop it from hurting, but it left him aware enough to grab his enemy's leg. And to promptly manifest two, huge, crunching pillars that were aimed straight at Wukong's knee!
He, the Heretic God, simply flickered out of existence.
In the fraction of a second it took the two pillars to slam together with an almighty crash, the humanoid disappeared, and in it's place was a wriggling, spitting, hissing cobra.
The massive serpent reared back, fangs flashing as droplets of venom freely leaked out, and the huge, hooded monster, easily twice as long as he was tall, reared back.
Issei yanked it forwards.
Still having a good grip on its tail, the teenager violently jerked the monster snake in his direction and then belly flopped on top of it.
While the giant thing rolled and flailed about, he kept both hands firmly fixed on its mouth, knowing that it wasn't a constrictor and that anything that came from there was probably a Hell of a lot more dangerous than the possibility of being crushed by the rope of muscle and sinew and scales trying, and failing, to coil around his leg.
And that's when the snake suddenly grew six more heads.
All of which immediately began trying to bite Issei.
The teenager jumped away, avoiding most of the strikes, but feeling a sort of burning cold rush up his arms and chest until he could steady himself.
Even as the clear liquid forced itself out of the bite holes on him, he felt woozy and needed to boost himself up and away from the monster serpent. If only so Issei could breathe for a moment and clear his head.
That was the wrong move.
Wukong wasted no time in leveraging his shapeshifting abilities and taking on a horrific, monstrous shape. Roughly gorilla like, with six arms, each one as thick as a tree trunk, each ending in tiger paws, the screaming heads of a chimpanzee, a snake, and a spider popping into place from the central trunk, and the barbed tail of some unknown sea creature completed the visage of a truly horrific thing. Made even worse when curling ram's horns, large spurs, and the taloned claws of a great bird formed from the matted fur and twisted muscle of the monster's shape.
Gone was the Buddha, however arrogant and not yet enlightened.
Gone was the powerful warrior possessed of nobility.
Here was the monster, the Demon Ape, the great enemy of the virtuous.
Yet… he could relax.
Issei felt the power pouring off of the new shape, even as the sounds of screaming and braying beasts filled the air, even as the Monkey King's eyes glowed like burning stars, a heavy tension left him.
Because this wasn't some misunderstood spirit, or a ghost born of infinite regrets. This was a monster throwing a temper tantrum because he was bored and didn't care that other people got caught up in it.
"Heh. I didn't think I was really this shallow!" The Campione called out, as he raised his hands. "But you made this whole thing a Hell of a lot easier!"
Throwing his hands down, hundreds of stone spearS manifested above and Issei followed the strike down. With the rain of attacks covering him, the young man concentrated his power within his fist, focusing on the single need he felt. And even though there was no chant, he couldn't speak, not with the wind snatching at his clothes and body and not when the words weren't there, but the focused spear manifested into existence as a jagged spike of marble.
Its barbed tip seemed to thrum with the desire to impale its enemies and the young man simply aimed as best he could at the monster below.
Who was more than happy to receive the attack.
One hand spun his staff fast enough that the weapon became a blur, while five other limbs darted out to smash apart, bat away, or even throw back each different marble spear.
"Yes! Yes! Yes! This is it! This is what I crave!"
He parried.
He blocked.
He crushed.
"You feel it too, don't you?! That thrum in your heart! That fire in your belly! That's what it means to fight, kill, and survive! What you are feeling right now… is killing instinct!"
A hammer smacked against the side of the monstrous ape's face, shattering into a thousand pieces. Not that Issei cared, he'd made it more fragile just to cover the monkey's face with a mass of white dust.
Before a pillar rose from the ground behind him intent on crashing into the heretic from behind like a battering ram.
Only to shatter against his spine.
'Crap.'
The monstrous beast smirked.
"I've gotten too strong for tricks like that kid!"
A blast of light flashed from the creature's eyes, Issei covering his face in pain at the sudden brightness, only to be hit backwards by fist burying itself into the side of his ribcage with such force that it knocked him away. All as the remnant of the falling spears and the debris dropped to the Earth all around the Monkey King.
Tumbling backwards with a gasp, Issei felt the world go dim for a moment as his vision hazed over before narrowing into focus.
'What the hell?'
He'd been punched before.
He'd been punted across the city too.
But this was the first time that a single hit nearly took him out of the fight.
Panting, ribs aching, feeling something sharp and wet in his chest, the teenager forced himself to turn over - crying out as he hit the ground.
"Damnit!"
Angry tears gathered in the corner of his eyes as exhaustion warred with anger.
"It's not over."
Coughing, he spat a wad of blood and mucus on the ground.
"I'm not beaten!"
There was a deep, rumbling chuckle.
"Good." The monster said, one head speaking. "It would be a shame to end this here." Another rumbled. "But you better get ready." The third snorted and smirked. "Because if you lose-" All three cried out. "We'll devour you!"
"Then try it! I'll pound you to mush!"
Ignoring his pain, the Godslayer screamed his defiance, flecks of blood flying from his mouth and mixed with his spittle. The monster laughed and rushed forwards, jaws snapping, claws slashing, and the teenager aimed a single punch straight ahead.
There would be no blocking!
There would be no hesitation!
"Gah!"
He screamed as lines of white hot fire split open his belly, shredding his shirt and the muscles underneath. But, as Wukong roared in victory, the monster's claws were suddenly tangled up in some strange red thread. The teenager didn't remember wearing anything with that color, his dress shirt was white after all, but Issei was more than happy to take advantage of the opportunity and follow through on the punch - landing his fist right inside the open maw of his enemy!
Who promptly complied and bit down, digging teeth into meat and tearing free a fresh surge of blood, even as Issei's abdomen screamed in pain and fresh blood began to gush from the wound.
But Issei only smirked.
"Let me tell you of the Eldest sister." He began, white marble, connected by lines of creeping vines, melting into soft clay. "Mighty and dignified. Her love was both a gift and a curse, death and salvation." The substance clung to Goku's body and held him fast - just long enough for the boy to cry out. "Coil over the tip of the caduceus and bite your own tail!"
[Doctor Venom!]
The effect was instant.
The blood spilt from Issei's fist, the blood smeared across the monstrous heretic's face. The blood he'd swallowed when Issei shoved his hand into the beast's mouth immediately changed from red to a sickly sizzling green as the chant was called and the otherwise maiming strike exploded into a hissing, sizzling blast of pain.
And the monkey king howled in sudden agony and surprise, stumbling back, hands breaking through the marble in a panicked frenzy, reaching to scrub away at the poison, only for it to cling to his limbs instead.
To say nothing of the stains forming on his skin, discoloration spreading through the heretic much like it had coursed through Luo Hao's veins.
Only there would be no magical pill to purge it this time.
So the great monster didn't bother.
No, he launched himself forwards, stumbling and flailing about, striking at Issei with everything he had. However, weakened, and with a flood of marble climbing higher and higher up his limbs, Sun Wukong was unable to break free. Giving the Campione all the time he needed to land his next attack.
Dashing forward, Issei jumped, his feet landing on the heretic's god's forearm as he took a wild swing at him. Soles pressed against the mutated limb, Issei felt himself be thrown upwards by the force.
All according to his plan.
"Let me tell you of the Middle sister. Her passion, her sorrow, her rage… echo through the soul! Let your voice be heard, and your power drown out thunder… for you hold the war trumpet!"
[Screech Wail!]
The sound blast rattled Issei's bones as he was shot upwards by the force of Wukong's swing, further propelled by the powerful bellow as it pushed the Monkey King down onto his knees and then into the ground. His form growing smaller in the distance as Issei rode the momentum of the attack as far as it could carry him.
Over the school.
Over the mountain.
Over the city.
The heretic had become a vaguely defined shape, unmoving after the combination of poison and paralysis. For anyone else, the two authorities together would have meant a slow and unavoidable death, but even now Issei could feel in his gut that the Monkey King wasn't beaten. Fear and poison could weaken, could reduce, could bind. Yet was Sun Wukong not irrepressible? Did he not slumber for a nearly endless while, waiting until he'd be free?
Issei only managed to stop him for a moment.
But a moment was all he needed.
"Let me tell you of the Youngest. Skin as fair as ivory, her eyes were a treasure forbidden to mortals. Across the lonely sea, upon that lonely island, was the tomb of that beautiful goddess. Now hear the name engraved on the heart of the last man who witnessed her!"
Raising his hands, Issei felt power burst forth, pulsing through every inch of her body as it surged higher and higher like a flame. Never before had one of his powers given him this much of a rush.
But he could feel it.
Bigger, heavier, denser.
More and more power flowed from him, the sensation of being enveloped in a cascade as his authority took shape overhead.
It loomed over the school.
Loomed over the mountain.
Loomed over the city.
[Mineral Garden!]
Like a meteorite, the mass of white stone descended from the heavens like a hammer of a god, air whistling shrilly as the rock grew closer and closer to the peak of Flower Fruit Mountain, crushing the remains of Issei's school as it descended further and further.
Dirt and wood giving way as the stone continued to sink deeper and further into the mountain and then the land underneath until the misshapen lump of marble had pierced into the city itself and cast its shadow over the buildings like the world's largest gravestone.
A massive cloud of dust rushed upwards, Issei closing his eyes and mouth as it washed over him and then rained down on the town below as he wobbled on top of the massive construction.
"Holy… shit."
This was by far the largest thing he'd ever made.
Even his attempt to crush Wukong earlier that same day only yielded something the size of the school, which was completely dwarfed by the massive slab of white stone. Sitting near the edge, Issei felt his heart clamp up at the height.
He was pretty sure there were skyscrapers shorter than this.
'Okay, okay. Calm down. You just… overdid it a little.' It would take some time to break down this thing but the only reason he decided to do it in the first place was because Teacher told him that this place wasn't actually 'real' so any damage would get fixed once Wukong was dealt with.
Still at least the city should go back to normal now.
He waited, looking down at the beautiful scenery.
'Anytime now?'
Was this gonna take a couple minutes or an hour? He didn't ask Sanzang how long it might take. Seconds ticked by and yet there were no signs of the transformed landscape returning to normal. Kuoh still remained overlaid within the Flower Fruit Mountain.
'Which means…'
Wukong was alive.
As if to further taunt him, that's when a deafening crack echoed in his ears, a fracture forming on the base of the massive slab of marble, slowly climbing towards the top as the construct vibrated and shifted, audible pops and cracks splitting the air.
Before a fissure opened at its center, heralded by a flash of heat and light as a figure climbed out.
Reverted to his original form, the Monkey King no longer appeared like a monstrous, misshapen chimera. No, the most striking aspect of his appearance was the fact his previously white-silver fur had turned a familiar shade of yellow and a powerful flame-like aura surrounded him. It was a small mercy it wasn't an actual Super Saiyan mode… hopefully.
And, as if to taunt him, the suddenly blonde ape unleashed a blast of lightning into the sky as he smiled in a too-pleased way.
Issei couldn't help but gawk.
"How is that… even possible?"
The Monkey King snorted.
"Don't blame me. You were the ones who made me like this. All it took was a bit of a near death experience and somehow I returned back to how I was, back on my mountain. I should actually be weaker! But I guess you mortals praise the Golden Ape so highly you've made me strong enough to smash a Buddha's palm the size of a star!" The ape flourished his staff. "But to think that you would push me to this extent, well, I'm as surprised as you should be honored."
He knew it was possible.
Everyone Wukong summoned to fight him had been seemingly changed in some way. From Sanzang being a lady, to Wujing's sand powers, and Bajie's ability to change forms. Those were all things they probably hadn't been able to do before, yet gained as a result of being heretic gods.
It was just his luck that he pushed the biggest red button in the history of pop culture and managed to give his enemy a not-power up. More of a power-back, really. But it wasn't like it mattered all that much.
"Is that all?"
The now-blonde monkey looked at him dubiously.
"Excuse you?"
Issei didn't care, he'd reach a plateau on how freaked out he could get. Instead his anxiety, fear, anticipation had all coalesced into a mass of serenity. A zen state where nothing really bothered him anymore. Not after everything that happened in the past week.
Giant snakes.
Goddesses
Devils.
Secret agents.
Muscle headed sect leaders.
And now an entire cast of his favorite story growing up trying to get him killed. In a single week, Issei's life had been in more danger than it had been in fifteen years and the campione was so far past caring that the only thing he wanted was for the weekend to start.
The only thing between him and a good bout of lazing around was this overgrown filthy mon-
'Woah, okay! Better tone down the Freeza before it gets me killed.'
"The simple truth is this." Issei's arms were like lead. "I'm gonna kick your ass!" Blood leaked down his chin. "So get ready!" He pulled his fist back. "Because here I come!"
"Hah! I like your steel boyo!"
There was nothing left in the tank.
He had no ideas or plans or clever strategies.
Veins of black warred with golden fur and an aura of fire across Goku's body.
And the Campione was down to the very, very last drop. No longer able to create anymore marble, he instead softened the one under his feet, the ivory liquid climbing over his body before hardening into a rough and uneven facsimile of an armor.
'I need to end this. I can't lose!'
No matter what, no matter how bad things were right now, he couldn't let his home be wiped away like it was a dream!
So deep down. In the very pit of his soul. Past the pain and the fear and the exhaustion, there was simple, unflinching certainty.
Sun Wukong, the Heretic God, was charging a giant gout of fire in his maw. And Issei would meet it head on. He would not swerve. He would not falter. To the very end, he would charge down his foe! The blast sheared off part of his armor, the heat scorching his skin and making his body twitch as he charged through it.
Burying a fist into the stomach of the Monkey King, sending him stumbling back.
Only for a kick to lash out and shatter the layer around the right side of his face.
'If only… I was strong enough.'
He knew that it was impossible.
Hopeless.
But still… even then… he couldn't give up now. Not after everything that went down, and not without putting up as much of a fight as he could. Because as much as he didn't understand what being a godslayer meant, Issei was still a Campione. He had refused to die fighting the Gorgons and he refused to die now!
A hook met the heretic's chin, making him stumble back, catching himself before he was pushed over the edge and into the fissure he'd left when escaping the small marble mountain Issei dumped on him earlier.
Not strong enough.
He had to be stronger.
Wukong responded with a roar, the smell of smoke stinging Issei's nose as a plume of flames shot out of the monkey king's mouth, enveloping him just as he managed to put up his guard and cover his face.
A fatal mistake as a kick caught him on the stomach, shattering its cover and nearly putting him on his back.
'Strong. You have to be strong.'
Stronger than everyone else.
The Monkey King failed to press the attack, falling to his knees as the skin of his body went from pale to grey and darkening at the edges, bits and pieces of fud flaking away into dust as the sickly green veins in his body pulse ominously.
He was dying.
Issei was almost there. The finish line was right in sight!
Only he couldn't move a single step.
Not an inch.
'That last hit was… some kind of… pressure point.' Accurately hitting him through that layer of stone should have been impossible, but somehow the Monkey King had done it in a split second.
Neither of them should have been able to move.
Yet somehow the heretic started limping towards him.
'Because of course he can!' Issei's thoughts echoed hysterically.
Come on.
Move! Move dammit!
Standing over him, the Monkey King looked unsteady, fraying at the edges. Even though his Super mode helped him survive, the venom was still going as strong as it had been before, with cracks starting to appear on the heretic god's skin as he loomed over Issei.
"Hell of a fight you put up, kid. But this is the end of the line."
Raising his arms, lightning crackled and flared around them. The golden light erupting even further as the marble beneath their feet cracked and a bloodied fist descended like divine punishment.
There was only a single cry.
A desperate call as Campione's body slowly twitched and moved. Slowly, too slowly, Issei felt like he was wading through water as he did all he could to force his body to move.
Not here.
Not now.
He wasn't losing. Not against Dusa and her sisters, not against Luo Hao, not against the legendary heroes. No matter what, something deep inside him roared forth as a call, a prayer.
A wish.
"I have to be… the strongest!"
Powerful light erupted from Issei as newfound vigor pushed his body and his fist lashed out with a powerful blow, catching the heretic god just as he'd been about to be crushed. The impact rattled his bones, causing the ground underneath them to buckled and burst apart at the seams.
[BOOST]