Chapter 319 - 317: Forest Of Lazy... Beauty Hides The Danger...

(A/N):

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Meanwhile, Devara, Kandarpaasura and the gathered gods left the River of Sin and travelled toward the location of the second stage.

After passing through several celestial paths, they finally arrived at a vast forest unlike anything Devara had ever seen before.

The moment he stepped inside, he slowed down.

The entire forest looked almost unreal.

The leaves of the enormous trees were shades of pink, ranging from soft rose to deep crimson, while the grass covering the ground had the same unusual colour.

Even the smaller plants growing between the trees carried pink flowers and strange glowing patterns along their stems.

The trunks and branches, however, were a pale sandalwood colour, giving the entire forest a warm, almost dreamlike appearance.

Devara looked around quietly.

"I’ve never seen a forest like this."

Karna, who had accompanied him, looked around as well.

"Neither have I."

Even several of the gods seemed intrigued by the unusual landscape.

Kandarpaasura, however, wasn’t interested in admiring the scenery.

He stood with his arms crossed, looking at the forest with suspicion.

Lord Vishnu stepped forward.

"This will be the location of the second stage."

Everyone’s attention shifted toward him.

Vishnu continued to explain.

"Somewhere within this forest is the golden horse."

A faint image of the magnificent creature appeared before them.

Its golden coat seemed to glow from within, while its mane flowed like strands of sunlight.

"Your objective is to find it, catch it and mount it."

Kandarpaasura nodded his head.

"Simple enough."

Vishnu raised a hand.

"There are conditions."

The Asura’s expression immediately became more attentive.

"No mounts may be used."

Kandarpaasura glanced toward Devara.

"No weapons either."

Devara nodded.

Vishnu continued.

"You must rely entirely upon your own physical abilities and whatever skills you can use without weapons or outside assistance. The first person to successfully mount the golden horse will win the second stage."

Kandarpaasura gave a faint smile.

"Understood."

Vishnu then looked around the forest.

"But there is another characteristic of this place that you should know."

Devara’s expression became slightly more serious.

"This forest has a peculiar effect on anyone who enters it."

Kandarpaasura raised an eyebrow.

Vishnu continued.

"The longer you remain here, the stronger the feeling of laziness becomes."

Devara looked around again.

"Your body will gradually begin telling you to stop."

Vishnu’s expression remained calm.

"You may feel unusually comfortable. Your muscles may become relaxed. Your mind may tell you that there is no reason to hurry. Eventually, even moving may begin to feel like an unnecessary effort."

Kandarpaasura let out a dismissive sneer.

"So that’s the trick."

He looked around the beautiful forest.

"You expect us to become lazy simply because we walk through a forest?"

Vishnu didn’t answer immediately.

"Don’t underestimate it."

Kandarpaasura folded his arms.

"I have endured far worse."

He glanced toward Devara.

"And I certainly won’t lose because I feel like taking a nap."

A few of the gods chuckled.

Devara, however, wasn’t laughing.

He was looking carefully at the ground beneath his feet.

Something about the forest felt strange.

It wasn’t threatening.

There was no obvious hostile energy.

If anything, it felt extremely peaceful.

Too peaceful.

The air was warm, the grass was soft beneath his feet, and a gentle breeze carried the faint fragrance of the pink flowers through the trees.

Devara narrowed his eyes.

’That’s probably the problem.’

The forest wasn’t trying to frighten them.

It was trying to make them comfortable.

He flexed his fingers once and took a slow breath.

He muttered to himself.

Kandarpaasura glanced at him.

"You actually believe this place can make you lazy?"

Devara looked toward him.

"I believe anything that makes an opponent lower his guard deserves attention."

Kandarpaasura gave a small laugh.

"Then keep worrying."

He looked toward the forest.

"I’ll find the horse before you even realize you’ve become tired."

Devara said nothing.

He simply continued studying the strange pink forest.

Somewhere deep among those trees, the golden horse was already running.

And neither contestant knew that the greatest enemy in this stage might not be the horse at all.

It might be the sudden desire to simply sit beneath one of those beautiful trees and do absolutely nothing.

Lord Vishnu looked at both Devara and Kandarpaasura for a moment before continuing.

His expression had become more serious, and the playful atmosphere created by the strange beauty of the forest slowly faded.

"One more thing."

Both contestants turned toward him.

"Do not allow the beauty of this place to deceive you."

Devara glanced at the pink trees surrounding them.

Vishnu continued with a smile.

"The most dangerous things are not always those that appear frightening. Sometimes danger hides behind beauty precisely because beauty makes you lower your guard."

He gestured toward the forest.

"Everything you see here has been designed to make you comfortable. The colours, the fragrance, the gentle breeze, even the peaceful atmosphere. Your mind will slowly begin telling you that there is nothing to fear."

Kandarpaasura gave a faint scoff.

Vishnu looked directly at him.

"That feeling is exactly what you must fear."

The Asura’s expression became slightly more serious.

Vishnu then turned toward Devara.

"Once your guard falls, you may not even realize that you have stopped moving. You may sit beneath a tree believing you will rest only for a moment, and before you know it, you may no longer care about the contest at all."

Devara nodded slowly.

"So the forest doesn’t force us to become lazy."

"No,"

Vishnu replied as he shook his head.

"It convinces you that being lazy is your own decision."

That made Devara look around with greater caution.

The pink leaves swayed gently in the breeze.

Beautiful flowers released a sweet fragrance.

The entire forest looked peaceful enough to make anyone forget that they were participating in a divine trial.

Vishnu folded his hands.

"Remember this throughout the second stage. The more beautiful something appears, the more carefully you should observe it."

Kandarpaasura gave a confident smile.

"I won’t be fooled."

Vishnu simply smiled.

"That is what everyone says before they are fooled."

Narada, standing behind them, quietly chuckled.

Kandarpaasura gave him an irritated look.

"What?"

"Nothing,"

Narada replied innocently.

"I was merely enjoying Lord Vishnu’s warning."

Devara took one final look at the forest.

Then he looked toward Kandarpaasura.

"Ready?"

The Asura cracked his knuckles.

"Whenever you are."

Vishnu stepped back.

"Then begin."

The moment the signal was given, both contestants entered the pink forest.

Neither of them noticed the subtle change that occurred behind them.

The moment their feet crossed deeper into the trees, the breeze became warmer.

The fragrance became sweeter.

And somewhere among the distant pink foliage, the golden horse lifted its head and watched them enter its territory.

The moment Lord Vishnu gave the signal, both Devara and Kandarpaasura took off without wasting even a second.

They sprinted into the strange pink forest, each choosing a different direction so that neither could simply follow the other and steal the advantage.

Devara moved through a wide stretch of pink grass while Kandarpaasura disappeared among the tall sandal-coloured trees on the other side, both knowing that whoever found the golden horse first would have a considerable advantage.

Devara kept a steady pace as he moved through the grassland, his eyes constantly searching between the trees and the open fields.

The forest was beautiful enough to make him forget for a moment that this was a competition, but the warning given by Lord Vishnu remained at the back of his mind.

He didn’t know what exactly the forest could do to someone, so he wasn’t willing to lower his guard simply because everything around him looked peaceful.

Then he felt something move.

Devara immediately slowed down and turned his head toward the grass beside him.

The tall pink blades were swaying gently, but there was no obvious creature hiding among them.

He waited for a few seconds, watching carefully, before finally deciding that perhaps the wind had simply brushed through the grass.

He took another step.

Again, something moved.

This time Devara stopped completely.

His eyes narrowed as he looked around the field.

There was definitely something nearby.

He slowly turned his head from one side to another, searching beneath the grass and around the trees, but nothing appeared.

Then the answer suddenly revealed itself.

A large butterfly rose gracefully from the middle of the grass and flew directly into the open air before him.

Devara blinked.

The butterfly was unlike anything he had seen in the ordinary world.

Its wings were enormous, covered with delicate patterns that shimmered whenever the light touched them, and tiny glowing particles fell from its wings as it moved through the air.

For a moment Devara simply stood there watching it, because there was something almost unreal about the creature.

Then another butterfly emerged from the grass.

Devara turned his head.

A third followed. Then another. And another.

Within a few moments, the entire field seemed to come alive as dozens of these beautiful creatures began rising from the grass and flying around him.

Some were larger than his palm, while others were almost the size of small birds.

Their wings carried different shades of pink, gold, violet and blue, and whenever they flew past him, tiny sparkling particles remained suspended in the air for a few seconds before disappearing.

Devara slowly turned around as the butterflies gathered around him.

"How many of you are hiding in there?"

One of the larger butterflies flew close to his face before landing gently on his shoulder.

Devara glanced at it from the corner of his eye and gave a small smile.

"So this is your home."

The butterfly remained on his shoulder, calmly opening and closing its wings while the others continued circling him.

For a moment, Devara forgot about the golden horse.

The whole scene was strangely peaceful.

The warm breeze moved through the grass, the colourful butterflies floated around him and the sweet fragrance of the flowers filled the air.

It was exactly the sort of place where someone could easily stop running and simply sit down for a while.

Then Devara remembered Vishnu’s warning.

His expression slowly changed.

’Don’t be fooled by the beauty of this place.’

He looked around again, this time with more suspicion.

The butterflies weren’t attacking him.

They weren’t even behaving aggressively.

But perhaps that was precisely the problem.

Devara carefully stepped forward.

The butterflies followed him.

He took another step.

They continued following.

Devara stopped.

They stopped as well, hovering around him.

He stared at them for a moment before quietly muttering,

"You’re trying to make me stay here, aren’t you?"

The butterflies obviously gave him no answer.

One of them simply landed on his shoulder again.

Devara sighed and gently lifted his hand, allowing it to move onto his finger.

"I don’t have time to admire you all day. I’ve got a horse to catch."

He started walking again, and the entire swarm followed him for a short distance before gradually drifting back toward the grass.

Devara glanced over his shoulder once.

Then he continued deeper into the forest.

He still hadn’t found the golden horse.

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(Author note:)

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