For a long stretch of seconds — maybe ten, maybe thirty, maybe a full minute — the world stayed unnaturally still.
No screams.
No explosions.
No clash of demigods.
Just silence.
Above the ruined streets, the hundred-foot Compassionate Buddha sat glowing like a lotus-born sun. Soft golden petals drifted from its body, dissolving the oppressive demonic pressure that had been suffocating the city.
Inside its chest, floating in a posture identical to the avatar, Orion remained still, eyes closed, expression utterly serene.
His heartbeat was steady. His breathing slow.
The torment in his mind had evaporated like dew under warm sunlight.
Frimost — the beautiful Rank-9 Demoness of Lust — stared at him from where she had crashed against the rooftop. Her wings trembled weakly. Her seductive aura flickered like a candle in storm.
And she couldn't move.
She wasn't chained.
She wasn't held by force.
She was frozen because the presence radiating from that Buddha…
