Bab 16: Chapter 16
Halahala!
This is the poison of the Milk Ocean. It is extremely toxic and spreads rapidly in all directions upon its appearance. Even a slight touch of this poison, as small as a speck of dust, can instantly kill gods and asuras alike.
The potency of this poison is such that it can be considered the opposite of amrita!
Amrita grants immortality, while halahala brings death!
Two sides of the same coin!
"The poison of halahala can only be countered by divine blessings; it is almost impossible to resist otherwise."
Indra instinctively looked down at his own strong body clad in the golden Sun God's armor. This armor, golden and radiant like the light of dawn, emitted a faint warmth.
This divine armor was a blessing from Surya and would not vanish due to any curse.
"My armor can be enhanced through ascetic practices, increasing its attributes. I might be able to use its power to resist the poison," Indra thought.
His golden Sun God's armor, given by Surya, could be forged into divine armor through the power of ascetic practices.
Relying on Surya's blessings, Indra could endow this armor with a special power. Perhaps it could make the armor impervious to any attack except one forged over a thousand years of asceticism, but it clearly could not defend against poison.
"Maybe I could wish for immunity to the poison, or even the ability to absorb it."
"But my ascetic power is running low; only three hundred years of asceticism remain!"
"This is difficult!"
Indra pondered.
He sensed his accumulated ascetic power and couldn't help but click his tongue.
After practicing asceticism for hundreds of years in the heavenly realm, he had been forced to use most of it to curse Garuda, leaving him with only three hundred years' worth of ascetic power!
However, this power was still growing slowly, indicating that his ascetic practices had not completely ceased.
"Three hundred years?"
"So, I only used less than five hundred years of ascetic power to successfully curse Garuda."
"Perhaps his karma influenced this, but the quality of my ascetic power is quite high!"
Indra muttered to himself.
As he was deep in thought, Garuda flew to his side. Many gods jumped off and landed on the Milk Ocean like dumplings, armed and glaring at the asura army on the other side.
Mount Mandara began to rise and fall.
The divine tortoise Kurma moved its four feet lightly, slowly sinking down.
Vishnu appeared, like a great sun descending, radiating golden light, and stood before the assembled gods and asura army.
"All the world's wealth lies beneath the Milk Ocean. Only with the combined efforts of you gods can Mount Mandara be turned to churn the Milk Ocean," Vishnu said softly, smiling.
Golden Eye's figure flickered as he squinted slightly, staring intently at Vishnu, and said, "How are we supposed to turn it? Mount Mandara is so massive that even I can only turn it a few times. What use is a bunch of small fry?"
Hearing this, the faces of the asura army turned dark, but they said nothing.
The gods, on the other hand, were furious.
Golden Eye's arrogance, calling them insects, was truly infuriating.
"Just a blessing!" Surya snorted. "If I still had my divine power, I'd burn him to ashes with the fire of the sun."
"Indeed, my divine wind could blow away his flesh!" said Vayu.
"My waters could drown him!" added Varuna.
"My flames would incinerate him and send his soul to Yama's city!" nodded Agni, the fire god.
With Vishnu before them and the divine army behind, Golden Eye stayed silent, allowing the gods to speak freely.
Golden Eye sneered in contempt.
Vishnu, however, did not get angry but smiled slightly.
"Shesha can naturally bind Mount Mandara and serve as the rope for churning the Milk Ocean," Vishnu said, smiling.
Splash!
The Milk Ocean surged with endless waves and foam as a segment of a black body emerged.
This body appeared intermittently, rising and falling in the ocean, covered in countless black scales as if mountain ranges overlapped, stretching to unimaginable lengths.
Rumble!
The thousand-headed serpent king Shesha rose from the water, causing the ocean to roar and tremble, creating dense sea fog that obscured visibility.
"At your command, Lord!" Shesha said.
In the thunderous voice, the sea fog cleared.
In the sky, countless serpent heads stood towering, blocking out the sun, with countless snake eyes like stars dotting the sky, displaying immense power.
Shesha coiled his body.
The serpent's body wound around Mount Mandara, with thousands of serpent heads on one side and a thick tail on the other.
Swish!
Vishnu's form vanished, transforming into a golden light, and landed in front of Indra and the other gods.
"The asuras are arrogant, but also suspicious!"
"Next, you should go to the side of the serpent heads. The asuras will surely demand to switch places with you, and you should agree. When the churning begins, the pulling will cause Shesha pain, and he will spew fire, injuring the asuras at the head, causing them great suffering," Vishnu said softly.
Hearing this, the gods were both surprised and delighted.
The Lord was indeed on their side!
"Praise the Lord! If the asuras are exhausted and heavily injured, they will be powerless to fight, and the gods will surely win," Surya said excitedly.
"Praise the Lord!"
"Praise the Lord!"
Agni and the other gods were also overjoyed, praising the Lord's kindness.
"Praise the Lord!" Indra also joined his hands in prayer, contemplating.
If he remembered correctly, churning the Milk Ocean would take hundreds of years, just enough time for another round of ascetic practices, forging the first layer of divine armor, which would surely come in handy later.
The position at the serpent heads seemed quite advantageous!
Shesha spewing fire could help accumulate more ascetic power.
Indra's eyes twinkled, and he spoke up.
"We should go to the serpent's tail!"
"As warriors, even if they are asuras, we should uphold fairness. Fighting them after Shesha's fire injures them goes against the dignity of a warrior," Indra said.
Vishnu: "..."
You weren't saying this before!
Not long ago, Indra had asked him to kill all the asuras, and now he was talking about fairness!
What flexible morals!
"The gods are weakened; only by severely weakening the asuras can the gods have a chance to win!"
Vishnu said softly.
"Enough. A Kshatriya must die as a Kshatriya. I'd rather die as a warrior than live as a coward!"
Indra said, pausing.
He seemed to have gone too far. He just wanted to gain some ascetic power, not actually die!
"Praise Lord Vishnu!"
"May the Lord bless me!"
Indra joined his hands in prayer, praising Vishnu.
Vishnu looked at Indra, hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded slightly.
Done!
Seeing this, Indra breathed a sigh of relief and flew towards the serpent's tail.
The divine army followed suit, moving after their emperor.
"Huh?!"
Surya stood stunned, his mouth slightly open, almost dropping his jaw in surprise at Indra's words.
(End of this chapter)
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