"Mm..." Bulma illuminated the line of ancient characters on the wall with her flashlight, the writing now blurred but still exuding an ancient charm. "Monsters... there are no more monsters in this world..."
Yamiru and Tights exchanged a glance, both sensing the ancient, sorrowful tone from just these few words.
It almost felt as if they could imagine the enormous demon, "Dabura", standing in front of the wall, carving these words as a final sigh.
No more monsters in the world.
Indeed, on Earth today, there were only monster-type Earthlings, not the various demons and monsters described in the murals.
Monsters were long-lived, naturally skilled in strange and powerful magic, whereas monster-type Earthlings had only a small chance of awakening special abilities. Additionally, animal-type humans could also awaken powers. Thinking about it, the "monsters" in the murals not only resembled monster-type humans but could also resemble the "demonic creatures" that could exist in animal-type Earthlings.
"I actually think there might be a connection between animal-type and monster-type humans with those so-called demons and monsters..." Yamiru said.
He wasn't truly from the Dragon Ball Earth, so discussing such matters didn't weigh on his conscience. He could be rational about it.
Tights didn't know how to respond. She felt the same way, but it was hard to say aloud. The three types of humans were all human, without distinction of superiority, and this had almost become the basic moral view of modern Earthlings. Even though inequalities still existed in social roles, no one would dare publicly say things like, "Actually, monster-type and animal-type humans aren't truly human; their ancestors were demons and monsters." It would be a taboo to express such a thing.
"There's more writing below," Bulma's flashlight shone down, revealing a dense line of characters. "It looks like there's an actual story being told here..."
She couldn't hide her annoyance at the previous vague sentence. It was just like the old folks in storybooks, always leaving behind cryptic words for people to guess. Such a terrible habit. But after discovering the small characters on the lower part of the wall, Bulma felt much better about the engraver. It's always uncomfortable not knowing the context. Those who leave suspense and don't care about the outcome are the worst.
Son Goku moved closer to the text, carefully examining it, his tail swishing behind him. Bulma squeezed in beside him to take a look as well.
"Can you understand it?" she asked.
"Some of the words, Yamiru taught me... but some I don't recognize..." Son Goku said honestly. "Learning is the worst. I'm not looking anymore."
It seemed the Saiyan race was least suited for studying. But that wasn't entirely accurate. After all, learning martial arts was also a form of study. From Yamiru's perspective, Son Goku's resistance was only toward reading books. If knowledge was passed on through hands-on practice, Son Goku would learn quickly. After all, this kid could copy others' techniques on the spot and adapted quickly in battle, proving his intelligence was above average.
Actions spoke louder than words. Once he experienced something firsthand, he would remember it immediately. That was one thing Yamiru envied about Son Goku. By contrast, Yamiru felt more like the type who would sit in a classroom and repeat problems over and over.
By the time Bulma and Tights had read through the dense text, Yamiru had lost focus.
Tights, squatting behind Bulma, noticed Yamiru zoning out and asked, "Aren't you looking?"
She thought Yamiru was probably a curious person.
Yamiru said, "There's too much text, I don't want to look. You can just summarize it for me later."
"Hehehe," Son Goku laughed. "Yeah, yeah."
"Geez," Tights sighed. "Do martial artists always act like this? They prefer to deal with things directly with their fists... If you don't exercise your mind often, it'll get rusty!" She warned Yamiru, "Dumb people aren't liked, and you might have trouble finding a girlfriend!"
"I think fast thinking during battles actually trains the mind better," Yamiru countered.
Besides, he wasn't too eager to engage with Dragon Ball Earth's culture and knowledge.
He didn't want to forget the culture from his previous life.
He was even a little afraid.
As the years passed, there were times when he'd think of a character and find himself struggling to write it down.
If he couldn't even write Chinese characters anymore... who exactly was he? He couldn't find his biological parents on this Earth, making him someone without a home.
The things in his mind, and his name, were the only remnants he had to prove that he still had a past. Just like Yamiru wouldn't change his name to something more fitting for Dragon Ball Earth's style, he stubbornly resisted fully integrating into this new culture.
Sometimes, during his downtime from training, he would spend time reviewing how to write: Chinese characters, simplified and traditional, English words, grammar...
It might seem ridiculous, but Yamiru took it seriously.
He only did these things when he was alone.
Since he'd already decided never to speak about his past life, it didn't really matter whether he forgot everything about it. But Yamiru insisted on remembering, as a way to preserve and honor his past.
For Yamiru, this wasn't a burden; it was a way to keep his identity and cherish the memories.
Tights, of course, didn't know about Yamiru's peculiar habits, but she didn't mind summarizing the content of the densely written text on the wall for him.
"In short," Tights said, "we now know the name of that giant demon's corpse." Tights said, "He is known as the greatest devil, Satan"
Yamiru was surprised. "Satan?"
"Yes, it should sound familiar," Tights smiled. "It seems that some places still carry on the legend of this Demon King Satan, even turning it into a custom and a cultural mark. After getting to know you, I've done some research on martial arts, and I heard of a famous dojo called the Satan Dojo. The strongest and most talented fighter in their tournaments is given the title Satan. I believe this stems from the ancient people's admiration for Satan's immense power."
"Yet, people have long forgotten the terrifying image that Satan actually represented... I see," Yamiru nodded.
Tights continued, "As described in the murals, this Demon King Satan was born in very ancient times. Back then, a place called the Immortal Mountain was destroyed, the gates of hell opened, and terrifying energy polluted the human world, giving birth to countless demons and monsters. Satan, the Demon King, was one of the most powerful demons among them."
Listening to Tights's account, Yamiru said, "That sounds similar to the mythological stories in the storybook Bulma was reading earlier. A time when demons ran rampant and so on."
"Is that so strange?" Tights said. "This is actually a well-known storytelling template. Many stories, novels, and plays include the setting of 'ancient times when demons ran rampant'. It's an ancient myth that everyone agrees upon."
Yamiru nodded. It was similar to the "Great Flood" in his previous life. In different regions, countries, and cultures, ancient myths spoke of a great flood. In Chinese mythology, there's the story of Great Yu controlling the flood; in Western mythology, the great flood and Noah's Ark, and so on. On Dragon Ball Earth, the era of the Great Flood had become the era of demons.
"As time passed, the hellish energy dissipated, and the traces of demons and monsters gradually disappeared... Satan, the last powerful Demon King, held on for thousands of years, but eventually succumbed to time. With his death, the era of demons and monsters came to a close..." Tights finished retelling the story with a light sigh.
"Why the sadness?" Yamiru teased. "A Demon King dying is a good thing, isn't it?"
"Melancholy is the basic emotion of a creator," Tights shook her head. "Without a sensitive heart, how could you create something that touches people's hearts?"
Yamiru smiled. "I think I'd prefer a heart of iron. Sometimes I feel too weak, easily shaken, full of self-doubt."
He shook his head as he spoke.
Tights was speechless. "Aren't you strong enough? You've become so powerful now, you can even use the Kamehameha! Don't be too hard on yourself."
Yamiru said softly, "Sometimes, it's precisely because I've become strong enough that when I realize this is my limit, I feel discouraged."
Tights didn't quite understand but stayed silent, gently holding his hand.
Meanwhile, Bulma had explained things to Son Goku twice, only to realize he wasn't really paying attention, so she gave up.
---
Son Goku and Yamiru, each leading a girl, walked out of the eerie ancient castle, which now had two extra holes in its ceiling.
"Alright, the adventure's over! Time to head out~~!"
Tights stretched, feeling even better when she saw the airship belonging to the mixed-rice crew parked by the door. "And we got an airship for free! What a big gain!"
Bulma climbed onto the Nimbus Cloud, asking, "But the Dragon Radar shows that one of the Dragon Balls is gone. What should we do?"
Tights responded, "Yeah, that's a problem."
Yamiru smiled. "This is easy. We just go after the only Dragon Ball we can still track."
"I remember you said that the Dragon Ball is the three-star ball and it's with Master Roshi right now..." Bulma said while holding onto Son Goku on the Flying Nimbus. "But even if we get that three-star ball, we still won't have the seventh one."
"Maybe Master Roshi has a way?" Son Goku asked innocently.
"Master Roshi can't help," Yamiru smiled and tossed out a capsule containing a small airplane. "But his sister might."
---
This Satan is a reference to Lucifer, a character from Sand Land, another toriyama work.
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