Typemoon: Starting Out as the Lion King’s Personal Knight - [Chapter 38]: Journey to the East Part 2

“As a high monk and a lady, how could I hide behind a foolish disciple? I must personally use the teachings of Buddha to guide others. Like this—Hee-yah!”

Sanzang thrust out her palm, stirring up a gust of wind that raised yellow sand and left a deep trench in the earth.

“But Miss Sanzang—aren’t you a Caster?”

With a casual strike, Alaric saw a surprising amount of power in Sanzang’s movements. She enhanced her physical strength with magical energy, gaining extraordinary might.

“A Caster must fight in close combat! The profundity of Buddhist teachings can only be demonstrated this way!”

Sanzang’s words were firm and powerful as if declaring an absolute truth. Alaric nodded, showing understanding.

“Your martial arts skills are indeed impressive. Did your disciples teach you?”

“Yes and no. I learned some techniques during my time at the temple, but Wukong and the others taught me much more.”

“May I have a look at that?”

Curious about Sanzang’s Staff, Alaric couldn’t resist asking to try it out. Sanzang readily handed it to him.

“Be careful!”

The moment Alaric took the staff, he felt his body sink slightly into the yellow sand.

“How do you transform this?”

Alaric swung the Staff experimentally, but besides the jingling sound of the rings, it felt like nothing more than a slightly heavier staff.

“Wukong’s weapon, you mean? Let me think.”

Understanding Alaric’s interest, Sanzang took back the staff, shook it lightly, and handed it back.

‘What kind of magic is this?’

Alaric’s brow twitched.

When the Staff in his hands transformed into a black iron rod—the Ruyi Jingu Bang—he felt its immense weight immediately. His feet sank into the yellow sand!

‘It’s heavy—’

This was Alaric’s first impression of the Ruyi Jingu Bang. As he attempted to swing it, even a slight movement made him feel the overwhelming force of its mass, nearly causing him to lose his grip. He had to use magic to reinforce his muscles just to hold it.

Strangely, though, the Ruyi Jingu Bang felt familiar to him, as if he’d seen a similar weapon before. This was incredible, given he had only encountered the mysteries of this world a few days ago and had met a few Heroic Spirits. But Alaric was certain—he had seen something very similar up close, a treasure being summoned and released.

A thought surfaced in his mind: Rhongomyniad. One of Lion King’s legendary weapons—a holy Lance, said to be the anchor of the storm that binds the stars, its true form a tower connecting worlds inside and out.

The Ruyi Jingu Bang in his hands was a divine iron rod that anchored the celestial river. Like Rhongomyniad, it wasn’t initially a weapon but rather a vague existence given form by its wielder. Rhongomyniad was kept as a treasure by the Round Table’s thirteen restraints, while the Ruyi Jingu Bang was wielded as a weapon by Sun Wukong himself.

In a sense, the Ruyi Jingu Bang was an anchor that maintained the world, just as the holy lance did.

‘Is the Ruyi Jingu Bang on par with a top-tier treasure like the holy lance?’

If Alaric’s feelings were correct, the true Ruyi Jingu Bang could rival Rhongomyniad in ultimate power.

As he realized the significance of the Ruyi Jingu Bang in his hands, a thought quietly surfaced.

‘Can I wield it?’

This bold and reckless idea struck him. Sun Wukong, who wielded the Ruyi Jingu Bang, was undoubtedly a high-ranking, divine figure. Could someone like Alaric wield such a weapon?

In terms of rank and skill, Alaric lacked any qualifications. Yet, as if compelled, he raised the Ruyi Jingu Bang and swung it down!

The magical energy from the Holy Grail surged through him. Within a second, Alaric felt the magic output exceed his limits many times over.

The effect of this strike became instantly apparent. Within a ten-meter radius, space itself froze.

Yes, froze.

The howling sandstorm, the roaring winds—everything stopped. Even grains of sand were suspended in the air, visible in minute detail. Alaric could see each particle and feel the stillness of the world. Only the space within ten meters was immobilized.

‘This is the Ruyi Jingu Bang, the anchor of the celestial river—’

An anchor…

Like the holy lance, a treasure that maintained the world’s balance. The Lion King, who had merged with Rhongomyniad, had even built a world using the holy lance and its tower. Surely, the Ruyi Jingu Bang could achieve something similar.

Without stopping, Alaric moved the Ruyi Jingu Bang again, slower this time, as if each motion drained his strength.

The magic kept flowing into the cudgel, unceasingly. Using the Holy Grail’s infinite magical energy, Alaric swung the Ruyi Jingu Bang once more.

At the far end of the ever-extending cudgel—

Space fractured.

Through the cracks, stars were visible.

If it could anchor the celestial river, it could also tear through the sky.

The first attack froze space, immobilizing the enemy. The second strike would pierce the helpless target.

Crack!

A black void appeared in the ground. Color, sound, everything vanished, leaving only emptiness spreading out.

The lingering scent of myth.

The twisted void consumed everything—the sandstorm, the yellow sand, all vanished into the abyss.

‘!’

Almost simultaneously, Alaric cut off the flow of magic. The moment he released the Ruyi Jingu Bang, all abnormalities disappeared as if nothing had happened. But Alaric knew exactly what he had done.

A few meters away, a bottomless pit stretched before him.

The space had fractured for mere seconds, yet such destruction had occurred. What power did the true Ruyi Jingu Bang hold?

“Oh wow, you can use Wukong’s power too? How touching! Whenever Wukong wanted to spar with me, he’d stop space and sneakily hit me on the head,” Sanzang remarked in amazement, reminiscing as she watched Alaric wield the Ruyi Jingu Bang.

‘And this wasn’t even the Noble Phantasm’s release—just a basic application?’

Drenched in sweat, Alaric swallowed hard. He could only imagine what Sanzang’s daily life must be like.

‘The Ruyi Jingu Bang, the anchor—’

Alaric didn’t dwell on its power. Returning the cudgel to Sanzang, he was left with a new thought.

“Miss Sanzang! Do you need another disciple?”