Chapter 38: Chapter 37: Truths
The void of Samsara's Mirror trembled under the weight of Skanda's booming voice, as if the fabric of reality itself was bending to his will. Skanda stood tall, his eyes filled with the fervor of a zealot who believed his victory was near. His Vajra gleamed with an ethereal light, casting ominous shadows that danced across the emptiness surrounding them.
"Surya, surrender your Buddhahood!" Skanda demanded, his voice like thunder cracking through the heavens. "Yield your power so that the world can return to the balance it was meant to have! So that the First Woman Buddha, Tara, may be reborn and guide the world back to righteousness. You, who have sinned against your own path, who have defied the natural order—you must relinquish what you never deserved!"
His words carried the weight of divine authority, a decree from a being who saw himself as the arbiter of cosmic balance. He continued to ramble on about Tara, the embodiment of pure compassion and wisdom, the beacon of order that would cleanse the world. But before he could complete his sermon, a cold, echoing laugh cut through his tirade like a blade.
Surya's laughter was not the sound of amusement but of revelation, the kind that shatters illusions. It was deep, knowing, and undeniably fearless. Skanda's eyes narrowed, his confidence wavering as he turned to face Surya. The Rebel Buddha stood there, his posture relaxed, his gaze sharp and penetrating.
"Your trickery nearly had me, Skanda," Surya said, his voice calm but carrying an undertone of iron. "If it had been anyone else, perhaps your little game of 'judgment' might have worked. But I am not just anyone."
Skanda's eyes widened, his brow furrowing with confusion. "What are you saying, Surya? You—"
"Your so-called Realm of Judgment," Surya interrupted, his voice growing colder, "is nothing more than a trick of the mind. A cheap illusion crafted to make one feel their sins weigh them down, to make them crumble under the weight of their own conscience. You wield guilt like a weapon, a tool to break the spirits of those who dare oppose you."
The realm around them seemed to crackle and distort as Surya's words challenged the very essence of Skanda's creation. Skanda's confidence faltered, his composure slipping away like sand through his fingers. "How…how are you not deep in guilt? How can you stand there, unburdened by your sins?"
"Why should I hate the world?" Surya shot back, his voice carrying the conviction of a man who had discovered a profound truth. "For I have long found my purpose within it. Why should I feel anger towards myself? I know who I am, and I walk my path with unwavering certainty. And why should I feel desire when what I seek is not mere want—it is destiny! I am the Rebel Buddha!"
With every word, Surya's presence seemed to grow, an aura of rebellious defiance radiating from him like an unyielding flame. "Within my eyes, I see the world not as you would have it—shackled and bound to old doctrines—but as it truly is, ripe with possibilities for those who dare to seize them. My staff is the very essence of freedom, paving the way through darkness and light alike. My legs carry the strength to walk towards a future unchained from the past. And within my mind lies the wisdom to make it all possible!"
Skanda staggered back, his face a mask of disbelief and horror. His lips trembled as he spoke, "This… this is impossible. A being like you should not exist! A Buddha should be an embodiment of enlightenment and peace, not… not this chaos!"
Surya's eyes burned with the fire of a thousand suns, and his lips curled into a confident, almost mocking smile. "You think me a contradiction, Skanda? You believe that because I do not follow the path set before me, I am somehow wrong, that I am a blasphemy against the natural order?" He stepped forward, his presence overwhelming, each word a hammer striking Skanda's crumbling fortress of conviction.
"You said I was born with everything, yet without anything. You claim my loneliness, my desire for something beyond what is ordained, are my sins. But that is your greatest mistake, Skanda. To see my journey as a burden when it is, in truth, my liberation. I have no hatred for this world; I see it for what it is—flawed, yet filled with boundless potential. I harbor no anger towards myself because I have accepted who I am—a Buddha who refuses to be bound by the traditions of the past!"
Skanda stumbled, his face paling. "You… you are madness given form! A paradox that should never have been!"
Surya's gaze pierced him, sharp as a dagger, yet profound as the deepest ocean. "I am the Buddha who walks the path less traveled, the one who seeks freedom not just for myself but for all who dare to dream beyond the chains of fate. You see chaos; I see a new dawn. The dawn of a world where enlightenment is not bound by rigid rules, where every soul can find their own path to truth."
Skanda's grip on his Vajra tightened, his knuckles white. He could feel his control slipping away, his carefully crafted realm crumbling under Surya's defiant words. "No… no! If you exist, then the law and order that I uphold, that I desire, will be ruined!"
Surya's smile grew softer, almost pitying, yet his eyes remained unyielding. "You wanted control, Skanda—a world shaped by your will, where everyone marches to the beat of your drum. But you failed to realize that control is an illusion. You cannot cage the sun, nor can you bind the wind. And I… I am the Rebel Buddha, the dawn that cannot be held back."
Skanda's world—his realm of judgment—began to collapse around them. The fabric of the void tore apart like fragile paper, revealing the vast emptiness of existence beyond. For a moment, Skanda could only watch in horror, his beliefs shattered like a broken mirror.
He stared at Surya, and for the first time, he truly saw him—not as an enemy or a heretic, but as something beyond his comprehension. Surya stood there, not a beacon of chaos but something far more terrifying—a dawn, a rising sun that should not be, but was. A force that defied everything Skanda believed was right and true.
Surya was simply… himself.
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