"In this new world without gods, we don't need any monsters. Begone from here, Jin Mori, no, Jaechandaesong, the 'Great Sage Equalling the very Heavens'!"

Mori couldn't do anything, even as he felt his powers sapping away from him, a great enlightenment that had been fluttering right at the edge of his consciousness flying away beyond his grasp, his headband tightening around his head, putting him in excruciating agony as the Holy Grail took from him his newfound great powers.

Even as he felt an endless rage rise up from within himself, there laid one last barrier between his rage and humanity.

And what a frightful, unbreakable wall it was.

"Please... live on and... please don't hate humans too much."

"Wukong... it's okay. It's okay to cry."

"Oh great Monkey King, the Great Sage Equal to all the Heavens..."

The great, beautiful, unsightly wall called 'faith' and 'love' that had taken root in his heart that had made him better than the colossal jerk that was the Victorious Fighting Buddha, who revolted against the heavens for his pride.

His pride, that had been the sole pillar of his very being, that set him free in the first place...

Then he, as Wukong, found true freedom under the restriction of the humiliating Golden Binding Hoop, with the help of his master, Tang Sanzang...

Whom he had ended. Whom he had killed. Because of Tathagata. The Supreme One.

It was in this tumultuous time of heaven that the Great Wall known as 'love' rose against the Stone Monkey's monstrous rage for the first time.

And then, an unimaginable amount of time passed.

Jachandaesong became a human named Jin Mori.

The past was forgotten. All that was left was a simple boy who only wanted to do as he wished, when he wished. A boy without burdens, without responsibilities and who loved his grandfather.

The wall in the boy's heart grew thicker with every instant the boy grew to love his simple life. A simple life where he ate, slept and grew stronger to fight for the sake of fighting. Every instant of his peace washed away what had been an inhuman rage that had shaken the foundations of all the heavens that surely still festered within his heart.

The great injustices that had been committed could not have possibly left the Stone Monkey without scars, after all.

But that was indeed what had happened. The past had been forgiven when remembered. Truly, the monkey born from the earth, the monster that was feared by heaven, that revolted against heaven, and won, had reached the territory of Nirvana, just like Tang Sanzang before him.

But it was at this point that yet another great injustice was committed against the stone monkey, the one who now preferred the name of Jin Mori.

The great barrier in his heart that held the identity of love, faith and affection was greatly shaken. His newfound strength, stolen by the Holy Grail.

The culprit? Park Mubong. No matter what the great pillars of his heart would demand of him, Jin Mori knew.

Under a sky where both Park Mubong and Jin Mori existed, there can exist no reality where Jin Mori could let humanity live peacefully.

Because Park Mubong was also human.

But Mori also knew.

If such a situation came to pass, Jin Mori would much rather lose his strength, seal away his power and be reborn as someone else.

Someone who was not his grandfather's grandson.

Because Jin Mori was a monster. But he was human, too.

Thus, to preserve his race, he'll gladly give up his immense strength and responsibilities. For he surely was cursed.

Cursed because where he went, prosperity waned and disaster would inevitably arrive.

And so, even as endless, monstrous rage overcame him once more after a lifetime, Mori prepared himself to die. For his grandfather's final wish.

"Oh you stupid monkey..."

Mori thought of the ages past, when the great earth and the endless sky spoke to him, his parents that abandoned him to a glorious life.

He thought of his brothers, the demon kings, whose fates he does not know even still. His sworn brothers, whose names he had struck from the Records of Death.

He thought of his brother in all but blood, the Ox King. She had been his closest compatriot who had been chained up because he refused to come to her aid, instead opting for a fight.

He thought of his monkeys. Whom he had ultimately abandoned in his pursuit of a good fight.

He thought of his companions, who had followed him on his journey with Tripitaka.

He didn't know what became of them after Tang Sangzang told him to leave them behind. After he left them behind.

He thought of Tang Sanzang, whose fate he did know. Will never forget for as long as his heart beats in his chest. For as long as blood flows in his veins.

He thought of his grandfather, the man acknowledged to be a war god in mortal flesh. Who gave him a motto to always live by. "Live a life without regrets."

He thought of his fate, being stabbed through the back and being but a footnote in the history of the world, all because of one man.

Jin Mori thought through all of this as his body hurtled through the skies, sure to shatter the earth and himself.

It would be fine. He was ready.

All the things in common with the tragedies his friends suffered through, from the one-eyed Dae-Hwi who would never break a promise, even if the cost was his own life, and the scarred Mira Yoo, who gave her humanity away for strength to his half-dead brother to Tang Sanzang to-

And. Time. Stood. Still.

"Ah, you stupid Stone Monkey. You're still the same, huh? expected that, so here's a small gift."

"San-Sanzang? You're dead! How're you talking to me? Did you get a method of immortality and not tell me? How petty of you! knew it! And just a small gift? Is that all that you have to say to this pitiful monkey after all these long, tedious years without a word?"

"I expected a lot, but you have somehow managed to surpass even that, Jachaendasong. I'm sorry, but what you want to know is a secret. You will naturally find out what you want to know soon enough. can't tell you anything, though. Even though I'll erase these memories anyway. How stingy."

"!"

"I finally left you without words, Stone Monkey! Look at the power of this defenseless little monk!"

"I was just thinking, you ugly monk!"

"You're calling this great beauty that attracted the attention of the heavens themselves, ugly? As always, Jachaendasong, you sure have a strange taste."

"Why are you showing up now anyway? say that loosely. Where's the rest of you? Why can I only hear your ugly voice? And if someone ought to come in my last moment, shouldn't it be the Earth and the Sky? Those bastards never gave me child support and dare to outlive their only son and greatest, wildest success!"

"Jachaendasong, enough with the jokes, I am running out of time."

"Funny you should mention time... And I wasn't joking! I've never seen them be appreciative of me before! I'd like some appreciation as I take my last breath!"

"Do you think halting all of the Universe's movements is easy? I'm gonna have to work my ass off for ages and ages to work out the kinks and bugs that'll hop into the Celestial Engine! Do you know how much of a pain in the ass it is, keeping everything in perfect balance and harmony when essential pieces are missing? DO YOU?"

Mori reckoned that silence was the best option present to him, even as the disembodied voice kept grumbling, before remembering something important.

"Hey, Sanzang! I'm Jin Mori now! Don't call me Stone Monkey or whatever, got a proper name like you always wanted, so use it!"

"That... l- um..."

Mori felt the slightest bits of impatience as the stupid monk who couldn't remember the most basic of mantras at important situations once again lost her tongue.

"H-Hey! I heard that! You're in my head too? "Oh, yeah. I can do that."

"Why are you out here tonight, then?"

"Sorry, Stone Monkey... but the convenience of speaking to you mentally isn't worth seeing the anguish you suffer, even as we speak."

"P-shaw. Anguish? What anguish! I'm Jachaendasong! The Monkey King! The Monkey Born from a Stone to the Earth and Sky! The Great Sage Equal to Heaven! The Victorious Fighting Buddha!"

"I can see your tears, Mori."

" have lived a life without regrets! Truly, nobody can say that they have done more than me, or lived a better life than me!"

"But that doesn't satisfy you, does it? Oh Great Sage, who struck the names of all of his followers from the Book of Life and Death along with his own?"

Mori couldn't say anything. His throat was clogged up with unspent tears at the thought of all of his dead monkeys. His dead brother. His dead monk. His dead grandfather.

All dead. Dead. Dead. Dead! PARK. MU. BONG!

"MORI!"

The heavens have seen the wrath of the Monkey King, but Park Mubong hadn't. It was time to show-

"Mori, I have a gift for you."

But Park Mubong lives. We cannot share the same heavens together. Either he perishes or I-

"I know, you idiot monkey. I'm sorry. All can do is be selfish for you."

""Wha-What are you doing, you stupid monk?! Don't be idiotic! This has nothing to do with you! Go and rest in the underworld or wherever like you're supposed to!"

"But I am not in the underworld, you idiotic monkey. I'm right here."

"What?"

"I can't speak anymore. This is my gift to you who stole my everything, Mori. Or perhaps it is a curse? You better bear my selfishness to the very end or I'll be very angry with you, oh great Jaechandaesong."

Mori felt darkness overtake him in the still world and knew.

Something 'big' was going to happen.

But he was Jin Mori. He won't let anyone tell him what to do!

Except the idiot monk that was his master.

So he bit his tongue, released the seal on his pain and endured to not fall unconscious.

"First, your ailments shall be healed."

All of the pain Mori felt disappeared, like dew under the morning sun. All the abuse he put his body through, all the pummeling the gods put him through. It all healed in a golden glow that reminded him of a certain monk's magic.

Before he could even react to that, he felt drowsiness overtake him. He hadn't slept at all in months, and he, a person who used to value sleep over most material objects felt the call of his body to properly rest keener than ever before.

And Jin Mori, whatever his name may be, was never one to forgo his body's natural desires. So he slipped to the realm of unconsciousness.

"Now I shall gift you with the gift of distance and time. You shall have many years before you must return, and this great me shall slightly distort your memories so that you may retain at least some freedom. So you may respect your grandpa's last wishes"

Then, on Mori's unconscious body, on his forehead blew a gust of wind in a world without time.

"Thirdly... this is not a gift for you, but this great monk's selfishness. So don't be too grateful to me, okay?"

And She pushed Mori's body sideways, where he would stay until he was needed once more.

She spoke with a voice resonating with the wishes of many whom the Monkey King held dear, and many more whom he held no impression of in the slightest.

A wish united in the minds of countless.

"Please... Live on, oh Jin Mori (Jaechaendasong)!"