The Sea of Unspoken Prayers collapsed behind them.
But its whispers remained.
Astha didn't speak as they climbed out of the cavernous hollow beneath the Vale of Silence. Shaanshaapa had vanished beneath the ink, leaving only ripples of scripture etched in light across the rocks.
Luv followed, his silver armor now sharper—its plates curved like thunderheads and marked with static runes. The gauntlets shimmered with silent electricity, ready.
"This path leads straight to the divine realm?" Luv asked.
"Yes," Astha replied. "To Swarnalok. But not through the heavens."
"Then where?"
"Through the back gate. The forgotten gate. The one only failed gods remember."
And when they reached it, even the air recoiled.
---
The Forgotten Gate
It wasn't golden.
It was rusted, cracked—set into a mountain with no name. Its stone archway had once been etched with mantras, but time had devoured them. Only one glyph remained, glowing dimly:
"Kaala-vrata"
Oath of Time.
Smritidhaara twitched around Astha's wrist, flame pulsing as if sensing ancient agony. The gate radiated not power, but consequence.
"This isn't just a door," Luv whispered.
"It's… a judgment."
Astha nodded.
"The gods made it for divine exiles. Those who failed their duties. This is where even gods were sent to forget themselves."
"So why does it lead to the Pantheon Core?"
"Because the most dangerous roads are hidden in shame."
---
As they passed through the gate, the world changed.
The light grew sharp.
The air began to burn.
Luv fell to one knee, clutching his chest as the divine weight pressed down like a collapsing star.
"It's… crushing my thoughts—"
"It's designed to break belief," Astha growled.
"Keep moving."
Flame filled the sky—but not natural fire. These were devouring flames, forged from the regrets of gods who had broken oaths. They had form—mouthed serpents made of fire, biting at the soul, whispering in broken Sanskrit.
"You let your brother die."
Astha didn't react.
"You left your people to burn."
He raised his arm.
Smritidhaara lashed out, forming a barrier of memory flame, pushing the voices back.
"You are not my gods," he said.
"And I owe you no belief."
---
Suddenly, one of the flame-serpents solidified into a massive humanoid shape—twisted, burning, with three mouths and eyes made of fallen scriptures.
It swung a blade made of funeral smoke.
Astha stepped forward.
"This one's mine."
He summoned Ashvaanta, the cosmic-summoned sword granted by forgotten fire priests. The blade erupted from air, curved and molten with a deep black core, its edge jagged like thunderstruck glass.
The fight was brutal.
Ashvaanta clashed with the smoke-blade again and again—each strike letting out a wail from the forgotten dead. Astha spun, Smritidhaara extending as a counterweight, wrapping the being's arm in memory-chains.
"You fight with their guilt," Astha growled.
"But I've forged mine into resolve."
He cleaved through its chest.
Not once. But seven times, each blow etched with the names of those the gods abandoned.
The creature burned, screaming as it disintegrated into molten pages.
---
Luv's First Kill in Swarnalok
Two more flame-forms descended.
Luv cracked his neck.
"Finally," he muttered.
Lightning surged from his spear—not in bolts, but in waves. He rode the strike upward, flipping mid-air and impaling the first beast through the eye. It convulsed, turning into sparks.
The second beast roared—but Luv didn't wait.
He twisted, slammed both palms into its chest, and released a burst of raw divine thunder.
"Say my name," he whispered.
The being disintegrated before it could speak.
---
After hours of fire and echoes, the path finally opened into a floating bridge of glass, suspended over a void of stars.
Ahead stood the Temple of Swarnalok's Heart—not golden, but dark, carved from obsidian and trimmed in runes that pulsed with the heartbeat of the gods.
Astha slowed.
"Once we enter," he said,
"we won't be able to leave the same way. This is a one-way path."
"Do we have a choice?" Luv asked.
"No."
They walked forward together.
Behind them, the flame-serpents knelt.
And the forgotten gate closed forever.