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Volume 5 Chapter 4 Part 4

And yet, here they are, talking like equals.

 

「. . . ..So, did you manage to figure it out? My identity, that is?」

 

And then, the black wind howled all around them for the briefest of moments. Homura nodded while looking at him with grim eyes as he felt wave after wave of cold sweat pouring down his back.

 

「. . . Yes, I did. You are not Arjuna. You are Krishna. . . right?」

 

「That is a correct answer, If I may ask, when did you realize that I was only impersonating him?」

 

「I noticed it from the very beginning, because your manner of speaking did not match with the one I remember him using in our earlier conversations, and there was also that sudden change into third person just now, but most importantly. . . but he would sooner die than call his father Indra, the King of the Indian Gods and the Strongest God of War in anything other than a mocking tone.」

 

But that was not the only reason why Homura was able to figure out that he was not talking with Arjuna all this time. It was thanks to a girl named Lamia who provided them with the information on the nature of the relationship between Arjuna and Krishna.

 

“Let me start with the conclusion. Arjuna and Krishna are not the heroes who exist on the same time axis.”

 

This is essentially the same thing as what the Orpheus the Poet said to Izayoi. The two of them existed in different time periods. This presents us with a historical contradiction, and there are a few methods that can be considered to resolve it.

 

「The first one would be the so-called 「Split Personality Theory」. If it turned out that Arjuna and Krishna were actually one and the same person with two personalities inhabiting a single body, then the mystery would have been resolved and that would have been it. But that theory cannot be the solution, because if it was, it would only serve to increase the number of contradictions surrounding these two figures, because Arjuna was not the only one who has actually met Krishna in person. The same can be said about all of the heroes presented in the 「Mahabharata」, or at least the ones who participated in The Battle of Kurukshetra. If they did not meet personally meet Krishna at least once at some point in their lives, that would only increase the number of contradictions even further, because there were more heroes who got roped into Krishna’s evil schemes, not just Arjuna himself.」

 

One of the things that Krishna is known for is forcing heroes other than Arjuna into breaking the vows and oaths that they have made. In other words, if Arjuna and Krishna were one and the same person, the parts of the where he meets other heroes would not hold together. Similarly, the mythological story of these two would not be complete without “someone claiming to be Krishna” or someone who taught 「Bhagavadgita」to Arjuna and his brothers.

 

「Hmm. . . that is a very curious line of reasoning. Tell me then. If I am not Arjuna’s split personality, then who am I?」

「I am going get around to establishing that right now. But before that, a last question from myself.」

 

Krishna was about to prepare himself for battle, but these last words made him stop in his tracks. Homura looked at him with eyes that were filled with a little bit of sadness, and then asked his last question.

 

「Is it true that what you want. . . is to save the world?」

 

「. . . ? ? ? ? ? Of course. Saving the world has always been my ultimate objective.」

 

「In that case, why not quit 『Uroboros』 and join forces with us? If someone as powerful as you cooperated with us, then I am sure that humanity would definitely be saved, but that is not all. We need to expand our options and methods of saving the world, and in order to do that, we could definitely use the help of such a renowned savior such as 「Krishna」.」

 

Now that he was looking into Homura’s honest eyes, Krishna felt that he understood why Arjuna has grown so close to him. And that may be exactly why he chose to do this thing that was so unlike his usual self.

 

(. . . . I see. There is a part of you that reminds me of Arjuna.)

 

He hates killing, is always willing to sacrifice himself for the good of others and harbors an incredibly altruistic dream deep inside his heart. And while his sensibilities could be described as relatively average for a human being, Krishna had no doubts that the heart beating in Saigo Homura’s chest was the one of a modern-day hero. If he did not possess such a strong heart, he would never have been able to offer help and extend his hand to the person who tried to kill him once already. One look at him was more than enough for Krishna to know that he is someone with the ambition to properly develop the Star Particle Bodies so that he could use the to take the entirety of humanity onto the next stage in their evolution with them. Maybe that is why it must have been fate that Saigo Homura is the one who has been chosen as a substitute for Sakamaki Izayoi.

 

. . . . and that is exactly why the pity and regret that are welling up inside of him are genuine, coming straight from the bottom of his heart.

 

「I am sorry, but I am afraid that I have no choice but to politely decline your offer. The future that you and your comrades wish to achieve is the wrong one. It is a mistake in the history of mankind, and the mission of everyone in 『Uroboros』 is to ensure that this mistake is corrected.」

 

He declared that with an expression that was has been void of any shreds of human weakness.

 

The time for talks and discussions was over. They each tried to convince the other of why their approach to the problem of humanity’s ever encroaching ruin and the methods used to stop it is the correct one and it has gotten them nowhere, so the only thing that was left to do was to take up arms and prove the correctness of the paths that they have chosen through battle.

Wearing the gusts of black wind all around his body, Krishna looked down at Homura, causing even more chills than before to run down his spine.

 

「Saigo Homura. . . no, let me address the one that sleeps deep within you directly, the one who is my target. 『Absolute Evil』 Azi-Dahaka, The Strongest Demon Lord, 『God Slayer』 and 『The Final Trial of Mankind』! Show to me that care about the life of your Avatar and come out! Let us finish properly what we have started last night. . . . assuming that you did not grow soft and took a liking to one-sided fights, that is!」

 

「. . . . . . . . . . .」

 

But Homura was only looking up at Krishna with a bitter expression written all over his face. Perhaps he was counting of finishing it all without having to fight him after all? Well, whatever his hopes for the outcome of this discussion were, it does not matter now.

 

Even though they were sitting some distance away from each other, it was nothing that Krishna could not cover with one swift dash. Materializing a chakram in his right hand, he immediately begun to move and jumped towards defenseless Homura, aiming the blade of his weapon right at his throat. . . .