Chapter 7 (The Ruby on a lotus)

 They reached a place where blocks of ice appeared like television screens. Iason slowed down a bit, giving time for Max to look at the screens. The screens showed memories of Max’s past life, majorly associated with Vithura. The day Vithura saved him from a cult, the day he started training, the day he and Vithura fought with Valac, the day they battled against Asmodeus’s company, and the day Vithura stabbed him in the back all appeared on the screens, showing how central Vithura was in Max’s life. The memories had both visions and sounds as if showing his life as a play in full. 
 Suddenly, an earthquake appeared, shaking the ocean and their boat. 
 Jizo muttered, “Something bad had happened in the living world,” He closed his eyes and kept silent for a moment, leaving Max in confusion. Jizo finally spoke, “All seals of Solomon had broken. The demons have entered the world again,”
Max’s eyes widen, “Impossible! During my life, only one seal had broken,”
Jizo said, “Max, I understand now by looking at your memories. You were a vital figure in breaking the seals. Even the demon Valac once used you to break a seal, right?”
“Right, sir,” Max spoke in a low voice.

“And Vithura knew the seals would break someday. Whether being pressured by other Deavs or not, Vithura had to kill you so you would not break or participate in breaking the seals. Or, maybe he didn’t want you to be in the demon’s arrival events. Now, it seemed that the plans had failed. Also, do you remember that my reason for coming here to save you is because I heard a cry from a boy saying, “Save Max from hell,” in my mind? Now, from your memory, I’ve realized that boy was Vithura. He never left you, Max. Even if he had to kill you,” 
 Jizo’s words calmed Max a bit. His trust in Vithura was assured. 
“Alright, but who sent the outsiders? Who would want me to be imprisoned in hell?”
“I guess it was the other Deavs who wanted your dismay. Vithura might have been aware of their plans, so he asked my help,” 
“Fellows, enough talking. Let us move on now!” The siren boy, Iason, said while pointing at the big waves of jellyfish coming towards them. He pulled the boat as fast as a deck boat, speeding up the journey. Max and Jizo took the responsibility of clearing the jellyfish on their way. Jizo summoned a protective shield around Iason and the boat. 
 As they arrived near the gate to another state of Bardo, a massive wave of outsider jellyfish, Giant squids, and native sirens guarded the gate, blocking their entrance to another realm. Max immediately thought of the portal trick that Vithura had taught him and tried to summon a short-range portal before them.
 But as he was nervous, the portal didn’t appear, and enemies got nearer. There were noises of the boat speeding against the waves. There were annoying splashes of water due to the speed. There was pressure in his heart due to the fear of failure. 
 Jizo told Max to calm him down and focus on his destination.“Just breathe in,” he said, and Max followed. 
 “Dot.. dot… dot,”
 Jizo began knocking on the side of the boat with his staff and told Max to concentrate only on the knocking sound. It was slow and steady. 
“Max, Imagine that you are a ruby sitting on a lotus,”
 “Dot…dot…dot,” 
 He concentrated on the sound. Suddenly, all other sounds, except the knocking, went clear in his mind. All other senses began to calm down. Still, his mind only concentrated on the sound. His pressure and tensions began disappearing. 
 Finally, he could summon a portal leading to the entrance. Jizo made a meaningful smile, knowing the potential of Max.
  As they arrived at the gate, Iason said, “You two, go now! I can handle them here,” But Max was reluctant as he could not leave Iason alone. So, Iason kicked both of them, including the boat, into the gate. 
 Sounds of lightning appeared.