Chapter 7: The One-Day King
The final match of the tournament was about to begin. The arena was packed, the sky pulsing with the hum of magic, the sands trembling with tension.
Aadi stepped onto the battlefield, calm and unreadable. Across from him stood his final opponent — a towering beast of a man with a body like a mountain and eyes like burning coal.
Whispers passed through the crowd.
"There's no way Aadi can beat him."
"This guy could crush boulders with his bare hands."
"Even Aadi must fall now."
The bell rang.
Three seconds later, it was over.
Aadi didn't roar. He didn't glow. He didn't even use Vaayu.
He moved once — a blur, almost invisible — and his opponent was launched out of the ring, body crashing into the far wall, unconscious before he hit the ground.
Silence.
Even the wind forgot to blow.
Then the shock broke.
The entire arena erupted in disbelief.
His opponent, lying still, blinked in confusion. "I… lost?" he whispered, still stunned. "That fast?"
Aadi stood in the center, breathing slow. He had used the lowest level of his strength. And still — no one could stand before him.
---
But the real story wasn't about power.
Long before the final battle, Aadi had noticed a boy and his younger sister being protected from street thieves by another fighter. The sister's name was Karla, and her brother — the mysterious young man — was no ordinary competitor.
He had entered the tournament not to prove strength, but to win for a reason that shook Aadi to the core.
"I want to become the Emperor of Deadland," the brother said when they finally met. "Not for power. But to build something better. A world where people don't live in fear of monsters, hunger, or war. I want Karla to grow up in a place that's safe."
Aarna and the eight warriors sat with Aadi, listening quietly. They all asked the same question:
"What's your dream?"
Aadi looked down at his hands. "To go home. But if I can do something more before I leave… I will."
Later in the tournament, Aadi faced that same man — and won. The brother was heartbroken, believing the dream had ended.
But Aadi stopped Karla as they left the arena.
"I'll make it happen," he said. "You don't need to win. Your dream will live through me."
---
Now, Aadi stood as the new Emperor of Deadland.
The World Controller Stone was brought before him — a glowing artifact of unimaginable power. It controlled all five regions of Deadland: north, south, east, west, and the central seat of power.
Aadi held it in his hand.
And he made a decision no one expected.
"I will rule only one day," he declared.
Gasps swept across the crowd.
"One day of the celestial creatures. That equals 300,000 years in human time. In that time, I will do all I can — not for glory, but for purpose."
And that's exactly what he did.
He unified the clans. Distributed resources. Shared knowledge from Earth. Built cities, schools, roads. He taught peace, negotiation, defense. He turned chaos into a system.
The monsters that once ruled Deadland now followed order.
People stopped calling it a cursed world.
They started calling it home.
When the day ended — when the one celestial day of rule passed — every creature, every tribe, every region asked:
"Who is our true ruler?"
And they answered together:
"Aadi."
---
The Final Farewell
In the great palace, Aadi gathered everyone — kings, leaders, villagers, warriors, children.
"I kept my promise," he said. "I protected. I changed what I could."
"But now, it's time for me to go home."
The clans wept. Even the wild beasts howled. No one wanted him to leave.
But he stepped forward and activated the World Controller Stone.
A space-time portal opened — swirling, golden, beautiful.
Before stepping through, Aadi turned and said, "Make your world better than I found it."
Then, as he passed into the light, he threw the stone behind him.
It shattered.
Not into rubble.
But into a floating, crystalline dust, scattering through the sky like stars.
---
The Mystery
The rulers of Deadland watched in silence. The stone — the most powerful artifact in existence — was now gone. Not broken. Not destroyed. Transformed.
It had become something untouchable. Something final.
A sign.
That no one could or should ever replace Aadi.
And no one even tried.
The empire remained without a ruler — but not leaderless. Everyone still followed Aadi's example, his system, his dream.
And the world… stayed better.
---
Final Thoughts – The Theory
Why did the World Controller Stone break like that? Here are three possible explanations:
1. Aadi's Soul Bonded to It: The stone recognized Aadi not as a user — but as its final master. Once his will was fulfilled, it had no purpose and dissolved into a symbol of completion.
2. Balance Restored: Aadi never used magic, only pure human potential. By using the stone for unity instead of domination, he broke the chain of power — returning the world to natural balance.
3. Celestial Will: The celestial creatures — ancient and watching — may have willed the stone to vanish, ensuring that Aadi's legacy would remain unchallenged, a permanent legend.
---
End of Arc One: The Deadland Era
Would you like to begin Arc Two