Ch.115Twelve Heavens (10)

The Twelve Heavens (10)

Tina’s problem was something La•Pa could easily solve.

Yes, when it came to matters concerning the weight of karma, no one was more suitable than her.

After all, she was the oldest living being in this world.

Even Lug had sought her out to lower his status.

“As you probably know, after receiving this procedure, you’ll become something that can’t be called human anymore.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“Exactly what I said.”

Lug frowned at La•Pa’s nonchalant words.

Becoming not human? He hadn’t heard about such a side effect.

“Wasn’t I fine back then? Are you planning to do something different?”

“No, it’s the exact same procedure as yours.”

Tina’s problem was that her vessel was too weak compared to the karma accumulated within her.

This imbalance was caused by the forced implantation of the ancient dragon’s heart.

There were two ways to resolve the imbalance between karma and vessel.

One was to create a vessel worthy of the karma, or to accumulate karma worthy of the vessel. However, since the two typically develop simultaneously, training just one side was impossible.

Lug himself was a prime example.

He wasn’t originally a vessel meant to become a god, but he achieved it through asceticism.

The asceticism he accumulated over many years became his karma, and in the process of gaining that experience, his vessel also grew.

And Tina, having forcibly received only karma, was experiencing a pronounced imbalance.

In that sense, the Three Poisons and Five Desires Seven Emotions would serve as a buffer between that imbalance.

Intense emotions generate numerous causes and effects that allow one to build a vessel worthy of karma and karma worthy of the vessel.

That’s why Lug thought only La•Pa, who governs all worldly troubles, could solve this issue.

But if there were side effects, he had no choice but to be cautious.

“…What kind of problem is it?”

“There was a side effect I didn’t know about. I just confirmed it recently.”

La•Pa pointed at Lug with a smirk. The evidence was right in front of her.

Someone who had improperly received the Five Desires Seven Emotions and became less than human.

“Side effects… then what should we do?”

“…”

However, Lug wore a serious expression, not understanding La•Pa’s joke.

“I didn’t think you’d be this oblivious to sarcasm.”

“Sarcasm?”

“You know, honestly, don’t you think you’ve become too honest with your desires to be called human?”

“That’s precisely what makes one human.”

“…”

La•Pa was speechless again.

When he put it that way, it did seem correct.

The closer one gets to godhood or transcendence, the more diluted emotions become, and one grows numb to all things.

Even Lug, when he was ascending to heaven, had almost no discernible emotions.

In that sense, his current honest expression of desire might indeed be considered truly human.

“…Well, if that’s how you see it, I suppose it’s not so bad.”

La•Pa sighed deeply as if bored, then approached the sleeping Tina.

“I’m going to undress her now. Are you planning to stay there?”

“The hero told me to keep an eye on you.”

“For someone doing that, your gaze seems to be focused elsewhere.”

“What! My job is to make sure you don’t try anything funny with Lady Tina!”

“Even when you say that with your desires so plainly written on your face…”

100% a lie.

Lug simply didn’t want to miss the opportunity to peek at Tina’s naked body under the pretext of treatment.

“Hmm…”

La•Pa pondered.

Normally, she would have enjoyed watching Lug’s fallen state.

She was the ruler of the realm of desire, a being who hadn’t moved beyond it.

One who enjoyed human corruption.

A being who gained power through the worldly troubles people experienced.

In that sense, the current state Lug was displaying should have been nothing but enjoyable.

Wasn’t it? The man she had tried to corrupt for countless years had now corrupted himself of his own accord.

‘But something feels off.’

She felt this outcome was slightly different from what she had wanted.

If asked what was different…

‘This bastard pisses me off.’

While she would normally have enjoyed the sight of a corrupted ascetic, this time she felt displeased.

Perhaps because she wasn’t the one who corrupted him.

How should she put it? Had she lost her target?

Of course, there was another reason.

“I’d rather avoid entrusting my daughter to you again.”

“…”

“That child loved you quite sincerely.”

Among her methods to hinder Lug, there was naturally the honey trap.

Her beautiful daughters whom she had selected.

She had Arati, Tanha, and Raga seduce Lug.

But somehow, Lug had the ability to make these three women, who had approached him with ulterior motives, develop genuine feelings. Thus, each of La•Pa’s daughters had their own romance with Lug before eventually parting ways.

Of course, it was essentially an amicable divorce since they understood Lug’s decision to continue his asceticism.

“There’s no rule saying it can’t happen again, right?”

But that Lug had returned to earth. By then, all three daughters had already passed away.

If her daughters were still alive, how would they have viewed this Lug?

Look at the man who chose asceticism and ascended to heaven. Who’s to say this man, who has come back down, won’t try to ascend again?

“Tell me straight. Will you marry her or not? No, can you make her happy for the rest of her life, or not?”

“No, marriage is too extreme all of a sudden…”

La•Pa, being old-fashioned, had a patriarchal side.

“I’ll let you see her when you’re certain. Otherwise, get out.”

The betrayal of her beloved daughters had been a great pain for La•Pa.

It wasn’t so much that she felt sorry for the daughters Lug had abandoned, but rather that her well-cultivated children had been thoroughly ruined by a single pest.

Despite being divorced and returning home, her daughters still praised Lug as wonderful and blessed him, which to La•Pa only made them seem intellectually diminished.

‘Not this time. Do you know how much I’ve invested in her?’

She even gave her an ancient dragon’s heart.

Dragons already live long lives, but how much time must have passed for one to earn the title of ancient dragon?

“Tanha.”

La•Pa pressed firmly on the heart area of the peacefully sleeping Tina.

“Since I overlooked your rudeness once in the past, this time you must definitely be of help to me.”

The ancient dragon’s heart given to Tina.

It belonged to one of the three daughters who had been abandoned by Lug in the past.

“This time, you can’t get divorced for some nonsensical reason, okay?”

La•Pa gently stroked Tina’s hair, which closely resembled her daughter’s appearance in childhood.

***

Extra was in agony.

Now that Lug had regained the divine mind, the anxiety that Lug had experienced in the past had become his burden.

An outcast who couldn’t fit in anywhere. A situation where he could only be caught between two sides, constantly walking on eggshells.

Such a person had now returned to the workplace he had once fled.

“What are you looking at?”

Crunch!

Garnet took a carrot from a grocery box and bit into it as she spoke.

True to her nature of eating to recover energy, she merely brushed off the dirt on the carrot before consuming it raw.

It was quite intense.

But her eating habits weren’t the only intense thing.

“Um, doing this here is a bit…”

Extra’s insides were burning up too.

Garnet was glaring with half-closed eyes at the blue-haired woman who had come to see her.

The Water Heaven of the Twelve Heavens.

Varuna.

For the Twelve Heavens, Garnet was unforgivable. She had killed their kin, Agni.

Moreover, for Varuna, the Water Heaven who had maintained a rather close relationship with Agni, it was impossible to forgive Garnet.

She had heard about the hero’s party, understood it, and agreed to follow La•Pa’s will, but she hadn’t been told about such an unwelcome guest.

And La•Pa was the same.

She hadn’t predicted Garnet’s presence and, understanding the hearts of the Twelve Heavens regarding her, hadn’t given any specific instructions.

That’s why an ominous atmosphere inevitably flowed between Varuna, who had suddenly appeared, and Garnet.

Varuna, who seemed to have come specifically to hold Garnet accountable, and Garnet, who held her head high even in front of such a person.

Extra, both dragon and demon caught between them, felt his heart swell at this unprecedented big match.

Swell to the point where it felt like it might burst.

“Lord Extra.”

“Yes?”

“Instead of standing there, please come over here.”

Varuna called out to Extra, who was fidgeting uncomfortably.

“Extra,”

“Yes?”

“Don’t go, stay here.”

Garnet stopped Extra as he hesitantly tried to approach Varuna.

He had received a dragon’s heart but was a demon.

A combat force of the Eye of Truth while simultaneously being part of the Demon King’s army.

He could be an ally to both sides or a traitor to both.

And right now, choosing either side would make him a traitor.

‘Why… Why am I facing such a trial?’

At that moment, a memory from the past flashed through his mind. The incident that had marked the beginning of his life’s complications.

-The heavenly energy is clouded. If the Lieutenant Colonel intervenes, disaster will befall this place.

He should have listened when Lug warned him. He was being punished for not heeding the words of the divine.

‘This son of a bitch!’

Of course, it was all a situation he had brought upon himself by trying to play both sides.

But people need someone to blame in the face of despair, so Extra actively cursed Lug.

“Are you siding with them?”

“Are you planning to betray again?”

Garnet and Varuna.

Seeing the two who were speaking on the premise that they were about to fight, Extra’s vision went dark.