That black wind snatched up the Black Shaman's body and sent it hurtling into the dense jungle behind the ancient city. This forest had a reputation for being so dark and thick that even sunlight struggled to push through. Every leaf pressed against the next in a solid mass, like enormous clumps of deep-green cotton wadding packed tight. The air hung as silent as a graveyard — but Diamond Axe Kid wasn't scared in the slightest. The little guy moved with quick, nimble steps, "light as a sparrow on the wing," following the trail of that foul, ominous energy deeper into the woods with a spring in his step.
"Hmm… that potbellied shaman definitely got blown this way, but I've been walking forever and still no sign of him. Did a tiger already drag him off for dinner?" the young boy muttered to himself, scratching his topknot with a chubby hand.
The deeper he went, the thicker the mist became, shifting to a murky pink that carried a sickly-sweet smell — the kind that made your head swim. Then, without warning, the tangled trees and undergrowth simply vanished. Before Diamond Axe Kid stretched a wide clearing piled high with mountains of silver and gold, towering over his head like small hills. There were rings and necklaces, and heaping mounds of golden sweets — egg-yolk drops, syrup-soaked bites, mung-bean confections — all wafting a mouthwatering fragrance.
"No way! A mountain of golden sweets?! For real?!" Diamond Axe Kid's eyes went wide as saucers, and he nearly drooled all over himself. He broke into a run, reaching out to grab a handful — but just before his chubby fingers touched the soft surface of the candy, Sage Fireye's voice echoed inside his head: *'Nothing in this world is truly free. The moment greed stirs in your heart, you become a slave to your own desires.'*
The boy froze mid-reach. He narrowed his eyes and studied the piles of sweets and treasure with deep suspicion. "Okay, wait. Up on a sky-high mountain you'd barely find wild berries. So who in their right mind would haul a mountain of golden sweets out here and just… leave them sitting in a soggy jungle? Eat that stuff and you'd be running to the bathroom all day. Why does everything have to be so complicated? You're using a sledgehammer to swat a fly — and you're trying to trick a *kid* with this?"
The instant Diamond Axe Kid steadied his mind and let go of his greed, the illusion of treasure before him began to warp and twist. A whirling gust of wind blasted through, and the golden piles transformed back into their true form — hundreds upon thousands of enormous centipedes and scorpions, their needle-sharp tails raised and ready, writhing in a horrifying mass! At the same moment, the "Hundred-Soul Krasue" — a fearsome servant of the dark demon lord — came gliding down from the treetops. Her form was nothing but the head of a beautiful young woman, eyes hollow and burning with malice, with a trailing curtain of glowing entrails that shimmered in sickly blue-green light.
"SCREEEE! You little brat! If you'd been greedy for treasure and food, my illusion would've sucked your soul dry by now — but you saw right through it!" The Hundred-Soul Krasue shrieked so sharply that the leaves shook all around her.
"Yikes, you nearly gave me a heart attack! Ma'am, why are you dressed so weird? Just a head and some dangling guts — aren't you cold? And how do you even go to the bathroom if you don't have a bottom?" Diamond Axe Kid asked with a mix of genuine innocence and pure mischief, which made the Hundred-Soul Krasue's face contort with fury.
"Why you little—! Running your mouth at me! Everyone — tear him apart!"
The moment her shriek died, the swarms of illusory centipedes and scorpions launched themselves at the boy like a storm of arrows. Diamond Axe Kid didn't hesitate. He reached back, grabbed the handle of the Diamond Axe, and drew it in one smooth motion. The Diamond Axe's righteous radiance blazed from the blade and swept outward in a powerful wave of light!
FWUMP! FLASH!
The sacred diamond light blazed through the bodies of the illusory creatures, and they dissolved into wisps of smoke that melted away into the air. But the light didn't stop there — it drove straight into the Krasue's trailing entrails with a sharp—
CRACK!
—and the filthy enchantment she used to ensnare people's minds shattered apart.
"AAAAAGH! It burns! What IS that light?!" The Hundred-Soul Krasue wailed, her body trembling like a bird with a broken wing. The beautiful illusion fell away, leaving only a shriveled, hideous old ghost-head.
"Ma'am… my Master told me that all illusions are born from people's greed and delusion. You used people's desires to lure and trap them — but in the end, that same greed burned through your own body until nothing was left but rotting guts. That's what you call mistaking a millstone for a lotus, right there," the boy said gently, walking toward her with genuine pity.
When the Diamond Axe's righteous radiance washed over the Hundred-Soul Krasue, the jealousy and ignorance that had clouded her mind began to lift. Tears streamed down her face — dark as blood. "I was wrong… I believed the dark demon lord's promise that he would give me a beautiful, immortal human body if I helped him trap the souls of people in this forest. I understand now — this is karma, coming back to me exactly as I deserved…"
Before Diamond Axe Kid could help free her spirit, the ground beneath them lurched and groaned as if the earth itself were splitting open. A roar — deeper and more terrifying than anything before — thundered from the darkest heart of the jungle. A coiling surge of black pressure swallowed the Krasue's form and dragged it straight down into the earth.
"Diamond Axe Kid! Don't think defeating that small-time krasue means you've won. The Spell of Ignorance has now fully awakened the *Pob Rajan*. The Three Realms will be destroyed!" The deep, mysterious voice boomed its declaration.
Diamond Axe Kid tightened his grip on his beloved axe. The mischief in his eyes hardened into iron resolve. He squared his shoulders and stood tall. "Big Pob, little pob — if you like bullying people and doing evil, then you'd better come meet the Diamond Axe!"
*Lesson of the chapter: The dazzling temptations and beautiful illusions of the mortal world — if we lose ourselves to them and reach out with greedy hands, they carry a poison that turns back and destroys our own minds. Having 'mindfulness' — the awareness to see through our own desires — is the only path that leads us safely through every darkness.*