Chapter 32: Old Friends
"It's beautiful indeed. β
The sun had completely left the horizon, the brilliant glow had dimmed, the sun had turned into a pale disk behind the light clouds, and the clear blue of the sky had returned to its misty pure white.
"Let's go. β
Magellan turned around and was ready to get moving.
Although in the Ramayana story, the protagonist Rama is helped by Hanuman to gather a huge army of apes in order to defeat the army of the demon king, and finally rescue his wife, completing the main body of the story, for Magellan, all that is unnecessary.
Now he can do everything that the protagonist of the story does on his own, and Magellan has never been in the habit of wasting time.
The ape remained silent, but it hesitated quietly before following it.
Magellan began to run wildly.
It had been a long time since he had run in the wilderness like this, and for an explorer, conserving physical strength was a habit necessary to survive, and running without facing danger was the greatest waste of physical energy.
Magellan didn't care, though.
He's strong.
It was only after his travels in the Dragon Kingdom that Magellan truly realized what he could do, and now he was confident that he would kill any god with all the power of Indra, and that the game was nothing more than a game.
To Magellan's surprise, however, the ape followed.
It was like a pure beast that seemed to follow for some purpose, but in the end it became an instinct-driven run.
The ape's long golden fur fluttered in the wind, and its shrill cries drifted into the distance, and a strong wind began to blow in the otherwise calm mountain forest.
Magellan turned a blind eye to all this, but in the end, he reluctantly stopped.
The fluctuations of divine power disturbed his only clue, and the taste that belonged to the Asura could not be distinguished from the divine power of the son of the wind god, and Magellan lost his direction.
The ape laughed wildly and rushed in front of Magellan, screaming and declaring victory, before stopping.
It turned around with a quiet composure completely different from that of the beast, facing Magellan.
"Are you looking for the queen who was taken away by the Demon King?"
Magellan nodded.
"Last night's meat was a delicacy I've never tasted, but this morning's sunrise was enough to pay it off," the ape straightened up like a human, with a look on his face that even a wonderful ordinary person could understand, "but the race just now was so painful that I had to pay it back." β
"I'll take you to the queen who was taken away by the Demon King, and this is my reward. β
"You don't have to do anything, and I don't give you meat in return, and I don't want to race against you. β
"That's nothing to do with my return," the ape stretched out in an inhuman way, revealing the strength of the beast, a beast large enough to threaten humans, "I am the strongest in this mountain forest, and I do not accept handouts." β
Magellan looked at the beast, and he began to wonder if the ape in front of him was really just an illusion created by the asura.
"Well, how are you going to help me?"
"Go find a guy you met a long time ago. β
"Who?"
Magellan doesn't know why he suddenly asked this question, but he certainly knows that according to the development of the story, the helper that Hanuman finds for the protagonist is the king of the monkeys, Sukaripa.
But looking at the beast in front of him, which looked like a lion more than a macaque, Magellan couldn't help but wonder if all this would continue like the story.
"The only guy who is faster than me, who sees far and should know where the queen has gone. β
It's not the same as the development in the story.
"Okay. β
Magellan followed the ape and ran wildly again.
The power of the Son of the Wind God was revealed, and although Magellan saw Vayo being consumed by the darkness with his own eyes, he could clearly feel the divine power in the wind, and the apes were helping them with the wind.
It's a primitive, and when Magellan begins to wonder if the ape has forgotten where its true destination is, another beast joins the race.
It was a giant golden bird, with its sheer size and incredible speed, like a golden lightning bolt in Indra's hand.
"Garuda. β
That's the old knowledge in the mouth of the ape, a "non-god" as powerful as the ape, they are not gods, but they have the power of the gods, which can be called outstanding among the gods, but they are not the enemies of the gods, Asura.
Garuda, meaning golden-winged, is different from the ape, the giant bird's father is a Brahmin, and it has its own story, but it should not be in front of Magellan today.
The ape continued to run wildly, and then roared, its hoarse and strange voice with a powerful vibration, which soared into the sky.
"Garuda!"
Finally, the Goldfinch landed on the top of the mountain with a strong wind, it was an abrupt boulder, overlooking the vast wilderness, although it was high and far away, but as far as the eye could see, until the heaven and the earth met, there were only reckless mountains and forests.
"Hanuman, don't you feel ashamed?"
The big golden bird stood on top of the boulder, looking condescendingly at the ape and Magellan, with an undisguised expression of disdain on the strange face of a non-bird, non-human, non-beast.
"You're actually racing against a mortal. β
"This is not one of those mortals you know, he is different from everyone else. β
Big Bird lowered his head and looked carefully at Magellan's face: "Ah, that prince, so, are you looking for that queen?"
Magellan nodded.
"I watched the conspiracy complete in the sun, the malevolent in a beautiful appearance, and the naΓ―ve fall into the trap, and I watched the demon king fly through the sky, like lightning and as fast as the wind, and finally return to his lair. β
"Where?"
The ape remained quiet.
"Ranga City. β
"Where?"
"I don't know. β
The expression on Garuda's face was subtle, a bit like a mockery.
"Which direction?"
"Hmm......" Goldfinch sighed as if he had finally given up, "the Demon King naturally has a way to hide his home, otherwise I will go and tear that city to shreds." β
"I thought you could see farther from the sky. β
The ape remained calm, but there was still a hint of mockery on his face, which was like a crack in which he could glimpse the pure beastliness.
"You're in the middle of the road, but you look up at the sky and complain that there's no way up, Hanuman, if you're a monkey, no one can stop you until you die, but you're not. β
"I don't like Bolin, even though it's the Monkey King, it's very powerful, but I don't like it. β
"Sukaripa is not dead. β
The Goldfinch had a meaningful smile on its face.
"You'd better not lie to me. β