#655 The Students’ Perspective – Ritheseus’ Standpoint

Hello, it’s me, Ritheseus.

The same Ritheseus studying at the farm.

However, I am in the middle of facing my final challenge today.

Literally speaking, a final, or graduation exam.

As expected of an exam given by Sensei, the Lifeless King.

The difficulty of each of the twelve trials is nothing short of terrifying.

So far, we’ve managed to get through without a single dropout (amazing!), but one mistake could lead to instant failure, which is scary.

But no one has gotten cold feet and given up.

Life on the farm is enjoyable.

The food is delicious, and each day is packed with fun-filled events.

However, we know that we must eventually leave this place.

We all have things we need to do back in our hometowns, so Sensei and various people have trained and taught us many things.

We can’t keep staying on the farm forever and betraying the expectations of the people who have cared for us.

Therefore, we must pass this exam and leave the farm as full-fledged, mature individuals!

My fellow classmates must be just as determined.

So, we will persevere through this tough final exam together.

And...all of us will pass with flying colors!

We were fortunate enough to defeat Horus just now and pass the sixth trial.

That means we’re halfway through the exam.

We’ll push through the remaining half at full speed!

Go, go, go!!!

...Or maybe we were getting ahead of ourselves.

The original Labors of Hercules were all difficult, with the slaying of the Hydra being perhaps the toughest. But in today’s tests modeled after them, the difficulty varies depending on the substitute chosen.

Hence, what was once an ordinary challenge can suddenly become an insurmountable obstacle.

...as is the case with the seventh trial.

In the Twelve Labors of Hercules, capturing a bull was relatively simple. 

And here, just like in the original, a bull awaited us.

...But the problem is not the bull itself.

It’s the person straddling it.

There’s someone on the bull! 

It’s like he’s riding a horse!

It’s evident that the person riding it is no ordinary man. At first glance, he looks like a burly individual.

But he’s undoubtedly a monster.

He’s not just any typical man; he has six faces, six arms, and even six legs!

Each hand holds a terrifying weapon, and all six faces express fierce anger like a demon’s.

He carries a raging inferno on his back, and one can’t help but wonder, “Doesn’t that feel scorching hot?!”

The substitutes for the trials we have faced so far were already ultimate challenges, but the person in front of us represents an insurmountable despair that we can feel in our souls just by standing before him.

“...Um, excuse me...!”

In spite of that, I summon the courage to talk to him.

“Who might you be, sir?”

“I am the Kyourei-shin, the manifestation of Amitabha’s wrathful aspect, who destroys enemies of the Buddha and guides the ignorant...”

I see... I didn’t get anything at all. 

Is the difference in our existence so vast that I can’t comprehend what he’s saying?!

“My name is Daiitoku Myoo. I am the Wisdom King who incinerates all sins and ignorance.”

“Oh, are you also a god?”

“No,” replies Daiitoku Myoo. “I am more than a god.”

A being terrifying beyond words has appeareeeeeeeeeeed!

But weirdly enough, I feel convinced!

The overwhelming pressure emanating from Daiitoku Myoo might be enough to overpower any deity that has visited this farm so far!

“I have received a request from Enma himself, stating that I should lend Vahana, my water buffalo, for a certain purpose. However, as we cannot be separated from each other, I have also ventured into this otherworldly realm.”

“You’re an accessory of the buffalo and not the other way around?!”

“I am also called Gou-Enma-son.”  

“W-What does that mean?”

“He who unilaterally beats up Enma.”

And he earnestly requested to such a p-person(?)?!

Lord Enma has way too much courage!

“Granted that it was an insolent conduct on Enma’s part, it is the duty of the Kyorei-shin to guide the ignorant in every age. This task is the same even in other realms. May you be released from avidya by the enlightenment of the great Daiitoku. As for Enma, he shall later be made to drink melted lead.”

Lord Enma!!!

It’s all your fault!

You call upon such a super-powerful being without even being asked! 

And the trials prepared by Lord Enma are so grotesque that they shatter my imagination and are vividly terrifying. 

It makes me wonder how dangerous Lord Enma’s world really is. 

It must be literal hell!

“Then, I ask you. Why do you seek power?”

“Gwaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Without reason, Daiitoku Myoo launches an attack... 

As soon as the water buffalo he rides on takes a step forward, a tremendous shockwave occurs, almost blowing us all away. 

And with every step it takes to approach us, the temperature steadily rises. 

It’s a sizzling heat that feels like being burnt to a crisp! 

Granted, the Wisdom King has flames burning on his back, but this heat is not normal. 

It’s not physical flames but the flame of the law that burns away all greed, resentment, and feeblemindedness!

“Answer me, why do you seek power?

“To... protect what is important to me, to fulfill my duty.”

The students who came here have their own reasons for wanting to learn and become stronger: to protect the people they left behind in the Human Kingdom and give them a better life; to advance in the Demon King’s Army and be given greater responsibilities; to live up to Sensei’s expectations who have guided them this far. 

The list goes on.

“Everyone has something they must protect. The battle to protect one’s precious possessions is also a means of destroying the dear possessions of others. It is a sinful act in either case.”

“That’s...!”

“And that which one has protected even at the cost of staining their hands with blood will eventually erode and decay with the passage of time. There is nothing that remains unchanged in the long flow of time. All worldly things are impermanent. Being bound by the form of things and tethering the soul to this world is a grave sin. It is the gateway to the three evil worlds of hell.”

“‘Does that mean our reasons for fighting... are wrong?’

“That is for you to decide.”

The words spoken by Daiitoku Myoo are indeed wise, and it’s difficult to argue against them as they are full of truth.

Combined with his intimidating aura, I feel like I’m about to be crushed.

“Being bound by a name is foolish. What do others call you? What do you call yourself? Regardless, being given a name means being bound by it. Once you are called by that name, you cannot be anything else.”

Perhaps he’s right.

Those once called heroes in the Human Kingdom fought against the Demon King’s Army as their duty, slaying countless enemies and eventually dying themselves.

They did what they had to do because they were called heroes.

Bound and controlled by their names, they ran around and died in the end.

Was that a satisfying death?

I, too, am apparently a hero. An extraordinary power awakened in me due to my distant ancestors’ blood.

It’s called the power of a hero.

Using that power, I have sometimes won with overwhelming strength and boasted about it.

But is that the right thing to do?

Did I awaken to the power of a hero, call myself one, and now find myself bound by that name?

“Everyone is bound by a name. This corrupt world is filled with suffering. Living in such a meaningless and fabricated world, what do you take pride in, what brings you joy?”

“Being bound,” I answer. “If I must live in a world where I can only exist while bound, then I choose to cherish the freedom to choose what I am bound by. If there are people who call me a hero and trust me, then I want to fight for them. In a world where living freely is impossible, we have no choice but to enjoy living with limitations!”

“Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Know that this present world is full of form and that by being attached to it, you make it empty.”

...Oh?

Daiitoku Myoo’s intimidating aura is fading away.

“Consider yourself the forerunner of enlightenment. Examine yourself closely and determine who you are. Do so, and you will be capable of anything.”

“Anything?”

Like becoming a true hero?

“To become everything and at the same time become nothing. One day, you will reappear before me. I look forward to it. Just as much as I will make Enma down boiling lead.”

And with that, Daiitoku Myoo disappears like a haze.

What was that all about?

Through a vague series of events, we cleared the seventh trial.

----------

a little background on buddhism referenced in this chapter:

• kyorei(rin)jin/shin is part of the sanrinshin (three-wheel embodiment) theory in esoteric buddhism. the kyorei is the embodiment of the wheel of injunctions, forcibly guiding people who cannot be educated by sole preaching. 
• daiitoku myoo is one of the five godai bosatsu (five great bodhisattvas) and his alias as gou-enma-son in japanese and his sanskrit name yamantaka means "one who stops the power of the King of Hell (Enma)." his six faces, arms, and legs signify his wisdom, power, and ability to guide beings on the path of enlightenment through his fierce and compassionate nature. 
• the water buffalo/bull symbolizes the daiitoku myoo's power to subdue and control the passions and desires that lead to suffering. i didn't find any accounts of it having a name, however. 
• "form is emptiness, emptiness is form" is a famous phrase from the heart sutra, a central text in mahayana buddhism. it is "the single most commonly recited, copied, and studied scripture in East Asian Buddhism" (Wikipedia).

i was not expecting the graduation exam arc to be research intensive with loads of historical/cultural/religious/mythological references, but i hope you enjoy them as much as i do :)