The carriage rattled as they reached the outskirts of RR Peta. Inside, Rudra was lost in a nightmare. The screams of his villagers and the scent of burning flesh haunted his sleep.
"Bava... Bava! Wake up!"
Isha's voice pulled him out of the darkness. Rudra snapped awake, his face drenched in sweat and tears.
"Why are you crying, Bava?" Isha asked softly, her eyes filled with pain.
Rudra looked at her, his voice trembling. "There is no one left, Isha. Our village... it's not a home anymore. It's a graveyard. Every human I knew is gone."
The atmosphere grew heavy until a loud rattling sound came from the corner. A mysterious box was shaking violently. Rudra quickly unlatched it, and a misty figure—Chadan—floated out.
"Why were you shaking the box?" Rudra demanded.
Chadan yawned. "I was bored, so I thought I'd shake things up a bit."
Isha watched in awe. "Bava, what is this?"
"It's a ghost with the power of a God," Rudra explained. "From now on, his name is Karthik."
Outside, the camp was buzzing with energy. Sai summoned a glowing Celestial Bow, while Jaswant blocked his arrows with a massive Heavy Shield. They were honing their skills for the wars to come.
Isha turned to Rudra, her voice low. "Bava, I want to talk about us..."
Rudra sighed, his gaze hardening. "I can only think of my failure, Isha. I failed our people. My only goal now is to kill every demon and take my revenge."
"Then show me that resolve!" Subash shouted, stepping forward. "Rudra, let's settle this in the open field. Fight me!"
Rudra nodded. They stood opposite each other. Subash roared, "[Skill: Dark Smash!]" Huge waves of dark energy lunged toward Rudra.
Rudra didn't move. He reached into thin air. "[Skill: Void Bend]". He twisted the very vacuum of space into a sharp sword. He attacked, but Subash was faster.
"[Domain: Dark Nightmare!]" Subash yelled. Suddenly, the bright sky turned into a pitch-black night. The surrounding members gasped in shock at Subash's sudden power spike.
Rudra felt the pressure, but he smirked. "[Ultimate Skill: Time Still]".
The world froze. Subash stayed mid-air, a statue in the darkness. Rudra walked calmly toward him, the sound of his footsteps echoing in the frozen silence. "It's over," he whispered.
As time resumed, Subash found a blade at his throat. He sighed, "I lose. You're on a different level, Rudra."
Later that night, in the quiet of their room, Isha looked at Rudra. "Bava... what about our first night? We are finally alone."
Rudra looked into her eyes and leaned in. As their lips were about to touch, a sudden, violent CRASH echoed fThe intimate moment shattered as the door exploded into splinters. Rudra and Isha sprang back, their hearts racing. Standing in the hallway, silhouetted by the moonlight, were three towering demons. Their presence reeked of sulfur and death.
The lead demon, with skin like cracked basalt, stepped forward, his eyes fixated on Isha with a disgusting leer. "So, you're Rudra? The one who killed our brothers?" the demon hissed. He then turned to Isha, licking his lips. "I love you, baby. After I kill him, I'm going to have my way with you."
The air in the room froze. Rudra didn't scream. He didn't shout. Instead, a terrifying, cold silence washed over him. His anger had reached a peak where it was no longer heat—it was absolute zero.
"Subash, kill them. Isha, the one who insulted you... he belongs to me," Rudra commanded, his voice vibrating with killing intent.
They stepped into the open field outside the inn. The lead demon laughed. "Let's play a game, Rudra. Guess a number from 1 to 1000."
"3," Rudra spat.
The demon grinned, his muscles bulging and his skin turning dark red. "[Skill: Triple Demon Manifestation]. Because you chose three, my speed, power, and durability are now tripled!"
Rudra tried to activate [Time Still], but before the clock could stop, the demon moved like a blur of red lightning.
BOOM!
A massive punch landed squarely on Rudra's face. The force was so immense that Rudra was sent flying, crashing through trees and dirt until he was a kilometer away.
"Bava!" Isha screamed, her face pale with fear.
The second demon lunged at her, activating [4th Demon Skill: Void Evasion], making his body intangible to the air. Isha struggled, her attacks passing right through him. Meanwhile, Subash was locked in a brutal struggle with the third demon, who used [5th Demon Skill: Sonic Screech]. High-frequency sound waves shredded the air. In a horrifying flash, the demon's claw swiped across Subash's throat. Blood sprayed, and the screen seemed to blur as Subash collapsed.
Back to Rudra. He was being pummeled. The demon landed punch after punch, mocking him. Sai and Jaswant tried to intervene, Sai firing a rain of arrows from his celestial bow.
"Ants!" the demon roared. He vanished and reappeared behind the two brothers, slamming them into the ground. Sai screamed in agony as his bones snapped.
That scream changed something in Rudra. His eyes didn't just turn red; they turned into a void of crimson.
"How dare you..." Rudra whispered. His voice sounded like a thousand souls screaming. "HOW DARE YOU TOUCH MY BROTHERS!"
In a flash of black lightning, Rudra teleported behind the lead demon. "Karthik! Transform!"
The ghost Chadan laughed psychotically and morphed into a jagged, black-steel sword. As Rudra gripped the hilt, his aura turned demonic. He wasn't a hero anymore; he was a butcher.
"You like to talk, don't you?" Rudra growled, stabbing the sword into the demon's shoulder.
"Rudra, don't be such a psycho!" Karthik (the sword) joked, even as he drank the demon's essence.
Rudra didn't stop. He began systematically carving the demon's flesh. First, he sliced off the nose. Then, one by one, he removed the demon's fingers.
"Please! Just kill me!" the demon begged, his tripled durability now becoming his curse as he felt every ounce of pain.
"I know how to behave," Rudra muttered coldly. With a sickening crunch, he reached into the demon's back and ripped out his backbone. As the demon let out a final, gurgling breath, Rudra did the unthinkable—he drank the demon's blood, his own eyes glowing with a forbidden power.
But the victory felt hollow. Rudra turned his head toward the field, his heart sinking. There lay Subash, his head partially severed from his neck.rom outside the door! For next chapter please add to library