I saw in the comments that people wonder where Rudger was branded, well you'll find the answer in this chapter.
[Hahaha, that's funny, I might have to give you credit for that now that you're saying it].
Basara laughed out loud at Rudger, but then his pure white eyes widened.
[Boom!]
Immediately afterward, the petals on the ground exploded, and a jet-black spike tried to pierce Rudger's back.
It was only Rudger's reflexes that saved him.
Spinning around, Rudger grimaced at the pain in his back. He hadn't dodged perfectly, and the thorns had carved a long horizontal gash into his back.
Not surprisingly, his clothes were torn to shreds.
Relieved that he was in the spirit world, Rudger realized that the condition of his physical clothing would be no different.
'All that matters now is his attack.'
Basara did not use magic. This space itself was his world, and he could make anything happen if he wanted to.
At that moment, Basara's massive arm swung like a whip.
As the arm swung, pushing back the red flowers, it was as if a black wall was approaching at high speed.
Rudger stretched his hands out in front of him and summoned his magic power.
In an instant, five layers of magic barriers were created.
[Choo-choo-choo-choo!]
But Basara's arm shattered the five-layer barrier as easily as glass in an instant.
Taking advantage of the arm's deflected trajectory, Rudger ducked as low as he could, narrowly avoiding Basara's arm.
Rudger straightened, the recoil sending him stumbling backwards while Basara watched him in amusement. It was a kind of confidence, knowing that he could strike again, but not doing so.
In this space, Basara had absolute power. That's why he watched Rudger's every move to see how far the little bug would go.
'You're clearly intent on toying with me.'
He didn't realize that Basara had no emotions when he took over Louispold's body.
A demon with emotions was a pretty bad thing. Of course, he hadn't met any other demons, so he couldn't be sure.
Rudger stretched out his right hand toward Basara.
Within moments, the spell was complete, and a dragon-headed flame flew toward Basara.
Basara snorted in disdain and the flame dragon was extinguished
'What?'
As Rudger hesitated, Basara extended his flailing arms, three on each side. A total of six arms stretched out like whips toward Rudger.
Rudger calculated the trajectory of the flying hands with his eyes and created a barrier of magic at an angle but didn't stop there and charged forward.
The barrier that he had set up at an angle to maximize his power was shattered easily and the shockwave that spread out hit Rudger in the back.
The surrounding flowers were swept by the wind, sending red petals into the air.
Rudger tried to run through the gap, but was forced to stand still as something like a black root had grabbed his ankle.
Rudger focused his energy on a very small area, burning just the root that was holding his ankle. It was an incredible feat of magic control.
However, the roots that had been burned away now grew many times in number, binding Rudger's calves. And there was something strange about the flow of petals around him.
The dancing petals that had descended had become fixed in midair, elongated, and turned into sharp awls that were pointed at Rudger.
[Let's see if we can dodge this one, shall we?]
"Sir!"
Flora cried out urgently, but Basara had no mercy and countless petals shot toward Rudger.
Flora's mind spontaneously conjured up a terrible sight. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to turn her head away. But a faint glow of light forced her closed eyes to open again.
"Don't look away Flora."
Surprisingly, Rudger was unharmed and with a halo around his back, he looked more transcendent than magical.
Flora couldn't take her eyes off him.
"I have yet to hear your answer."
[Not that strange magic again!]
Basara reacted violently, shouting at Rudger.
It wasn't just a shout, it was a shockwave attack of immense physical force.
Rudger stared at the oncoming petal storm and the halo behind his back formed the shape of a great tree, The Sefirot Tree.
The raw power emanating from it shattered Basara's shockwave and his face contorted in irritation.
"Indeed."
Rudger shook his head at the sight.
"So this is how you use it."
He wasn't using magic with mana now, he was using pure imagination.
This was the spirit world, after all. It was unlikely that there was a set amount of mana in the spirit world.
If there was a limit, it would be the strength of the person's mind. So Rudger handled his power in a manner befitting of the spirit world.
It took a few spells to get a feel for it and now he just needed to sharpen it.
"Fighting in the spirit world doesn't give you an advantage."
A man whose only weakness was the amount of mana he had but was now no longer at the mercy of that weakness.
"First of all, could you stay away from my student?"
Rudger gently extended his hand toward Basara and Basara felt a chill from the simple gesture.
That was the blow that had annihilated his body in the form of Louispold.
A dazzling glow emanated from Rudger's back, and the image of a giant Buddha emerged.
In the spirit world he had no limits so its size and majesty were far greater than what he had seen in the outside world.
It made Basara, who was already huge, look up once more and stirred his emotions.
[Do you think I'll be defeated?]
No matter how great your power is.
I am the king here, I am the god.
Basara puffed himself up, growing even more massive. His lanky body became muscular, and horns sprouted from his head.
His three pairs of arms joined together again, but they were even thicker than before.
[I am a god here!]
The Buddha stretched out his arms toward Basara and Basara punched.
[Boom!]
The two enormous forces collided but unlike before Basara wasn't pushed back. In fact, his strength was slightly stronger.
A smile formed on Basara's face.
[Do you see? Your brilliant attack doesn't work anymore!]
"Certainly. One strike won't be enough."
Rudger gave Basara a friendly warning.
"Then how about a thousand of them?"
[What?]
Before Basara could ask what that meant, a change came from the Buddha.
It wasn't the statue itself that changed but the expanse of light behind it began to take on the shape of a hand and countless hands formed behind the Buddha's back.
"Can you stop them all?"
[The Thousand Hands and Thousand Eyes of the Potalaka.]
[…….]
Countless hands stretched out toward Basara who gritted his teeth and stretched his arms.
The muscles in his arms exploded, and he threw punch after punch at an incredible speed.
Countless shockwaves exploded in the air and with a deafening roar, black light and pure white brilliance flashed out one after another.
The ground was turned upside down, and countless petals spread outward in concentric circles.
It was a battle worthy of the myths but the fierce struggle gradually favored one side over the other.
[How……!]
Basara threw out his fists, which had multiplied in size, in an attempt to resist, but he could not fend off a thousand hands.
One by one, blow after blow fell upon his body, until he was completely pierced.
Once the breach was made, the attacks came at once, as if a dike had been breached and white flashes of light beat on Basara's body like drums.
Flora could only stare at the sight as the fight between the giant demon and the giant, strange statue was unbelievable to behold.
More than that, it was the beauty of it that caught her eye.
Countless palms reaching out into thin air and each one was magic perfected to the extreme.
Yes. Magic.
Flora's eyes were seeing it as magic now. Her eyes were telling her so.
There was an enormous impact behind her, and Basara's body bounced off into the distance.
Flora's shadow was clinging to Basara, and she was pushed away.
With the impact, a scent wafted in, a sweet, spicy and soothing scent. It was a scent Flora had never smelled before, but strangely enough, she knew what flower it came from.
"Do you know about the lotus?"
It was Rudger's voice that brought Flora back to her senses.
Rudger, who hadn't taken his eyes off Basara, who had flown off into the distance, spoke with his back to Flora.
"By nature, lotuses are supposed to float on water, but this is not the case. It actually grows in the mud of a dirty swamp, and yet the flowers it produces have a beauty untainted by the mud."
There is a saying that goes something like this.
It grows in the mud, but it is not stained by the mud.
No matter how full of absurdity the world is, it is not colored by it.
"Flora, I want you to walk that path."
Unshaken by anything.
He wanted to walk her own noble path.
"You are too good a child to give up on yourself because of ignorant people."
"Sir……."
Even as she listened to Rudger, Flora couldn't take her eyes off his back.
Rudger's clothes were torn away, revealing his bare back and something like a tattoo etched there.
"On your back, what the hell……."
"Oh. You mean this?"
Rudger smiled bitterly as he realized what Flora was talking about. He didn't want to show it, but there it was.
"Sir, that symbol can't possibly be……."
"Yes, it is. You're right."
The tattoo on Rudger's back like a scar that can never be washed away was a stigma. The kind the Lumensis use to brand their illegitimate children.
"Woy on earth would you put that on your…….?"
As Flora rubbed her eyes in disbelief, Rudger replied.
"I told you. I went through something similar to what you did."
"That's……."
This.
This is, like, not even close.
Flora was almost branded, but not quite. Her mother, now deceased, had protected her as best she could. But the memory of that day was still traumatizing for her.
For Flora, at such a young age, it was a scar that couldn't be washed away.
But what about Rudger?
He wore a complete brand on his back.
Judging by the size of the torn garment, it must have covered more than half his back.
Normally, the Lumensis brand their illegitimate children before they reach the age of eight. That said, Rudger had been branded at such a young age.
"Don't worry about it. It's all in the past."
"That's not the point!"
Flora covered her face with her hands as she felt ashamed of herself.
She thought she was the only one who suffered. That she was the unhappiest person in the world and that no one else could understand her pain.
A tear rolled down Flora's cheek.
"I didn't know, I didn't even know that you……!"
"Stop."
Rudger cut her off as she began to scream.
"Flora, I didn't come all the way here to fight that monster to see you suffer. Nor did I come to you to see you cry. And yet you insult me with your tears."
"Mm-hmm."
Flora bit her lip and held back her tears.
"Answer."
"……What answer?"
"I asked if you wanted to go outside again."
At the word outside, Flora hesitated for a moment.
"What if I say I want to go outside……?"
"As long as you don't give up, I'll do whatever it takes to help you."
"Really, if I don't give up, you'll help me all the way?"
"Of course."
Flora asked in a sobbing voice.
"Why would you ……why would you do that for me? You don't need me, I shouldn't have been born in the first place."
"Cause……."
Rudger said, looking back at Flora.
"No one should ever say that they shouldn't have been born."
One look into those unwavering eyes, and Flora's heart completely changed.
"It may be hard now, but you'll find a reason to live in this world. I promise."
Flora couldn't hold back her tears any longer and kept her head down, barely able to contain herself.
Flora pleaded with Rudger.
"Then……help me."
"Of course."
Hearing the answer he wanted, Rudger turned his gaze straight ahead.
[Kaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!]
An earth-shattering roar erupted from beyond the horizon of the red flower field as red petals exploded and scattered in all directions.
Basara, whose body was partially destroyed, raised his gigantic body.
[This is my world! I can do as I please!]
Its bright white eyes glared at Flora, who cowered behind Rudger.
[Flora, you'll never get out of here!]
"Then I guess I'll just have to beat you out of here."