Xingyue, is Xiaokai also considered Kai?

Strangely enough, Kama thought that consuming only souls would be enough and there was no need to eat the body as well, but he just couldn't bear it. As for why there was only one person each time, Kama didn't think about it in detail.

Maybe it's just a lack of publicity, she thought.

After all, in Kama's mind, everything he did was for the purpose of "avenging the imposter Mara, the demon king."

However, as time went on, problems began to emerge—the side effects of consuming souls.

Because of the long-term absorption of only souls, Kama's spiritual foundation was also corroded. The goddess core that was originally able to maintain her beauty and agelessness began to deteriorate gradually and eventually disappeared with the continuous advancement of physical labor.

In other words, the beast that used to destroy all of humanity with its youth, beauty, and love has now become old and frail.

This forced Kama to make one last decision, namely the reincarnation ritual... so that even when he was old, someone would come.

In some versions, Kama was burned to death by Shiva and reborn as the son of Krishna, Vimalakirti. However, at birth, he was targeted by a demon and thrown into the sea, where he was swallowed by a large fish. The fish was then captured and offered to the demon. Thus, Vimalakirti was very lucky to survive next to his nemesis. After many trials, the grown-up Vimalakirti defeated the demon and returned in triumph.

Although this is a nauseatingly patriarchal legend for Kama, and I personally dislike it, she did indeed play the role of Mingguang. Although she considers her experience of "killing Krishna's entire family and causing Krishna to commit suicide upon seeing it" as a dark history, it's too late now, and that's all she can do.

There are only two conditions for this ritual: first, one must have been reincarnated as a human before, and second, one must be swallowed by a fish.

As for the first condition, Kama has already done it, but in order to avoid failure, she still plans to try again, so she specially prepared four conceptual costumes: Daruma, porcelain, wooden fork, and sickle.

These four represent the four aspects of life in the Indian world of thought: Dharma, wealth, enlightenment, and love.

Finally, if she successfully commits suicide using her Mystic Code, it will create the concept that she has "truly experienced life once," meaning she can be regarded as human. For this reason, Kama had her three clones receive the Mystic Code.

Originally, all that was needed was for the three clones to commit suicide, and then for the person to be swallowed by the fish, to successfully reincarnate. However, the ritual failed.

One reason is that the "fish" was wrong. Kama originally intended to summon a suitable fish-shaped creature, but ended up summoning...

The Kraken...that's a monster of catastrophic importance in the Norse world...

If it were just this one problem, Kama could still find a way to solve it, but there is another fatal problem.

A traitor was discovered within Kama, because Kama and several of his clones were supposed to commit suicide together. However, one of them refused to commit suicide, or more precisely, did not want to become human. As a result, the ritual failed, and the area around the singularity, except for the village, was destroyed by the Kraken.

Because the legend of the Kraken has the characteristic of "destroying the world," this world itself has become a singularity that has been "destroyed," endlessly repeating the cycle of destruction.

As a result, Kama's spiritual foundation has deteriorated significantly, making it difficult for him to even maintain his existence. He can only stay in the basement of the dilapidated village, curled up in his blankets, looking like a dead man.

Kama, who already looked like an old woman, had faint bruises appearing all over her body, which were what humans call age spots.

Outside the village, a persistent, cold rain spread through the pitch-black darkness.

And so, Kama moved his body slightly, and in an instant, intense pain surged through his entire body, turning into agony.

Tears were about to spill from his old, dull eyes.

But in fact, Kama felt no urge to cry, yet her eyes involuntarily welled up with tears, overflowing with regret and burning as they dripped down her cheeks.

Suddenly, she yawned and slowly wiped away her tears.

The tears had been flowing uncontrollably for a long time, but it didn't matter anymore.

Kama didn't want to pay attention to his own weeping, but his numb mind refused to think.

Suddenly, a thought popped into my head—thankfully, I was the only one who could see this terrible scene.

"Get out of here..."

Kama, who had been in this small singularity for countless years, knew this familiar aura all too well. It was the imposter Mara who had helped Chaldea before. So, despite her weakness, she still managed to pull out a scythe and aim it at the people around her who were wreathed in flames.

Even though she is still blind and understands that she would never be a match for him in a real fight, she still feels this way.

"You've gotten old."

"Yes, imposter, you win. The beast who used his youth and beauty to destroy all of humanity with love has ended up looking so old and decrepit. For you, imposter, it must be just a feeling of pleasure. Laugh if you want to, isn't that great?"

“I’ve been keeping an eye on things. I’ve also eliminated the Kraken outside and cleaned up the village.”

Mara did not utter the mocking laughter that Kama had imagined; instead, there was only a calm and undisturbed silence.

"The flow of time in this world is different from that outside. You've been here for two thousand years, and I've been watching you for two thousand years, but from a realistic perspective, it's only been a few minutes."

"What a joke! If you'd been here all along, how could I not have noticed..."

“Kama, your plot was clearly to kill everyone who came here, yet you treated the good people kindly and let them go, while you chose to kill the evil ones, right?”

"..."

Kama remained silent, for that was indeed what she had done.

"In that case, I need not say more about the reasons for the failure of your ritual, Kama."

The Kama in the four rituals of Dharma, wealth, enlightenment, and love betrays Kama as the true self.

"Waaaaaah!"

The aged Kama began to weep.

"What is this?! What is this all about?! Even without this, I can vaguely sense the atmosphere, right? Ah, that's right!"

"Indeed, I didn't consider things thoroughly enough! But I also understand that killing them all was wrong! So I treated the kind people with hospitality while showing them disdain and sent them away, and then killed all the evil people who came for the property and women! Even so, the rumors didn't spread, so this approach is just empty talk, and the argument is invalid!"

"That's right! Although it's only occasional, there are still unexpected saints and gentlemen who make people think, 'Why is this guy human?' They manage to sneak in! I've wasted a lot of mental energy trying to drive them out safely! After years of this happening repeatedly, in the gaps when my mental energy is exhausted, super villains appear again! Do you understand what happens at that time?! I have no choice but to kill them!"

"All I wanted was to see Gavia! That was enough, but I don't understand! Why can't everything just go smoothly? Why do you have to get in my way? Why are there so many super villains? Why are you so evil yet willingly let me eat you?!"

"This kind of approach can constantly put pressure on me, so that during the final ritual, I'll have doubts like, 'Huh, have all my actions up to this point been wrong? Is this really necessary?' Is this what they call restraint, the feeling of humanity? It's so cool, it makes me want to throw up! It's great, it's really great, all of humanity, using the worst and most terrible way—ah, whatever! This kind of thing is fine no matter what!"

And so, Kama looked at Mara with the eyes of a child, filled with sorrow, loneliness, and a longing for love, and cried out.

"It doesn't matter if it's the worst, it doesn't matter if it's the worst!! Why, why, why—"

Even after all this, Gavia still hasn't come!

After shouting, Kama stopped speaking and instead bent down to breathe heavily.

Novia grasped Kama's hand, and the other did not resist. If she applied a little force, Kama's dry yet warm hand would return the grasp.

"I've been eaten by you for almost two thousand years, a total of five hundred and twenty times, right? Although it hurts a bit, it's still bearable."

"……Eh?"

Kama blinked.

"You have already become a very qualified Demon King, Kama."

Novia laughed, "After all, Mara has already devoured you, so you are undoubtedly the Demon King. So, you should be able to see it now."

The instant the words fell, Kama truly saw the true face of the human before him, the imposter he had always believed to be 'Mara'—

The person I've been waiting for, the person I love most, Gavia.

However, Kama's first reaction was not to report it, but to swing his sickle with even more force, and then immediately run back to his bed, where he curled up under the covers, trembling uncontrollably.

"I look terrible like this..."

Tears welled in Kama's eyes as he, now an old man, trembled, "Old, ugly, and disgusting..."

"No, she's always been beautiful."

Novia gently lifted the blanket, her smile unchanged. She first patted Kama's shoulder lightly, and then gently kissed the aged Kama.

"...Although it's a bit late, the main responsibility is actually mine. Even though I've made you suffer, I've still come, Kama."

Novia has been watching for the past two thousand years, ever since she followed Kama, who was driven out.

He was always the guest welcomed by the Kama. At first, his personality led the Kama to send him away. Later, after learning about their actions, Novia made herself act like a villain and let them eat her... just to change Mara's mindset back.

Although this is actually a strange behavior, given Novia's power, whether it was in the previous Great London Labyrinth or here, the things about Moro not being able to see himself and lacking magic power should theoretically be things that don't require much power to do.

However, for Novia, it was simply a matter of feeling that this was better.

"Alright, now that you know it's me, it's time to revise your perception."

"What's the meaning……"

"You've always been eating me, so how could your spirit origin have deteriorated? It's just your own perception."

"Doesn't that hurt...?"

"Because you have become a demon king, though not Siddhartha Gautama, but Dipankara."

As Novia revealed the truth, the aged Kama quickly reverted to her youthful appearance, eventually transforming back into the young girl she was first seen in the Indian pantheon.

Then Kama cried again, sobbing in Novia's arms until he was exhausted and fell into a deep sleep.

This singularity, trapped in a cycle of destruction, ended on such a night.

The next day, early in the morning, in the village's basement.

"Will it really be safe for me to go to Chaldea using a beast's spirit origin...?"

Following Novia, Kama, who was about to step out of the gate, asked with his head down.

"I will make some adjustments, I will reassign you, Kama, to be an assassin, and I will take care of the rest."

"And why do you have short hair now? You always had long hair before..."

"I can adjust it if you like."

"Yes! I understand! In that case, in exchange, I will take good care of your sexual desires, Gavia!"

Kama nodded vigorously with a smile, already planning how to make Gavia feel his 'love' once they arrived at Chaldea. He had imagined all sorts of positions. However, when she looked up—

“…Ehhhhhhh!?”

Novia, who should have been standing in front of the gate, was nowhere to be seen.

"What's going on! What's going on?! Where did my Gavia go?!"

Kama clutched his head and shouted.

At the same time, in a space where there exists a 'past', 'present', and 'future', there is a gray sky, a dry and cracked earth, and a giant mountain piled with countless corpses. The surrounding scene is like a living purgatory.

In different eras and times, the species of planetary primates change again and again in the gray sky and the arid earth, and the ending is mostly the same: endless despair and endless death.

Novia arrived here the instant she stepped out of the village's basement.

Novia naturally sat in the very center, which made her sigh and look up at the sky.

"...I said I wasn't here to investigate, it was just an accident, is that okay?"

At this moment, Novia has transformed into a young boy. It is probably because she used the power of Dipankara that people believe 'Maitreya' has arrived, since Dipankara and Maitreya are one in Novia's eyes.

As Maitreya is the savior of the Dharma-ending Age, that is, the representative of humanity in the 'future', and in the future, the mystery has been explained and is no longer an unknown existence, as a representative, he can examine the humanity of the corresponding era through the 'end of the universe and the human universe'.

In modern terms, this can be simply understood as your boss sending someone to conduct a spot check, which is something to be careful about.

Furthermore, since the 'future' often corresponds to 'wishes', since Novia appeared as 'Maitreya', all 'wishing machines' or similar entities in parallel universes had to send their wishes to her before granting them, to see if they passed the review.

After all, some wishing machines can actually grant wishes, but the resources may not be sufficient. If the application is approved, you may even receive resources, which is a good thing overall.

This made Novia feel like a terminal processor. In fact, the moment Novia appeared here, he immediately sensed countless 'wish' files, like emails that a programmer had accumulated over thousands or even tens of thousands of years, which he had to check one by one.

From a temporal perspective, this is a literal stillness, so there is no possibility of the wish being postponed.

"Alright, alright, you don't need to make demands of me like this. Just do what you're supposed to do, the usual way is fine."

Novia sighed as she casually glanced at the 'wishes' accumulated over thousands of years and sent them all back. She was just waiting for Ritsuka, who was returning to Chaldea, to return by summoning or some minor singularity, so that she could go back with her.

I wonder if Leonardo da Vinci and Romani will...

"...Is anyone there?"

With nothing to do, Novia squinted at the land below, which was being battered by desert winds, where two figures, one large and one small, were visible.

"Oh, it's a human-shaped wishing machine. You're lucky..."

Novia, appearing in Lily's form, slightly raised the corners of her mouth.

"Let me see if you bring your child before me, Yoshiko Sakuzuki."

Chapter 382 Ivia, outwardly warm but inwardly cold.

Just minutes ago, the centuries-old magic circle embedded in the Shuoyue family's barrier was slowly fading away, and the world before them transformed into a world that looked as if it had been destroyed.

As the new moon rose, Yoshiko naturally withdrew from her past memories and turned her gaze back to the present scene. Looking at the child she was holding hands with, she gently asked:

"...Miyu, did you make this?"

The black-haired girl didn't answer, but just shook her head listlessly.

For some reason, at that moment, Yoshiko realized that this place, which seemed to be a 'world of destruction,' was, to be precise, a world-like structure.

Magic and matter are materialized and exposed in the air. Even in the seemingly dark world, there are scenes of strange creatures different from humans, and at the same time, there are giant mountains with countless corpses piled up, creating an atmosphere of incredible terror and peace coexisting.