The chamber roared as the Divine Messenger landed, the floor beneath his feet splintering into radial cracks that glowed with molten gold. Every talisman in the room burst into flame, disintegrating into ash. Even Iksara's eyes dimmed slightly—fear, not reverence, flickering behind its broken mask.
The Messenger's wings spread wide—eight radiant blades of burning light—each etched with solar mantra. His armor was wrought from halos, layered like molten glass. In his right hand, he held a weapon that pulsed like a miniature sun:
Aayomara — The Sunblade That Cuts Memory.
"I am Sharvaka, Executioner of the Ninth Pantheon," he declared, his voice thunder, wind, and hymn all at once.
"You carry the glyph of the Blueprint. That makes you a heretic."
Astha's fingers twitched.
Smritidhaara wound tighter up his arm. Vaayutal hummed in his left hand. Flames flickered across his cloak—but this time, not from anger.
From purpose.
---
"You serve the ones who erased my people," Astha growled.
"Tell me, does justice taste like soot in your mouth too?"
Sharvaka didn't answer. He lunged.
The room ignited.
In a flash of impossible speed, Aayomara's arc split the air in two. Astha parried with Vaayutal, the force of the clash sending both of them hurtling to opposite walls. Light fractured like crystal; the walls of the shrine buckled.
Sharvaka blurred again—this time behind Astha.
Too slow?
No.
"Smritidhaara—Form Two: Kaal-Phand!"
The flame-chain erupted, catching Sharvaka mid-strike. The divine executioner twisted, light peeling the flame away, but Astha was already above him—bringing down Vaayutal like a guillotine.
CLANG!
Solar light clashed with mantra-forged windsteel, sparking an explosion that sent Naira and Luv tumbling back.
---
"He's not going to survive alone," Naira muttered.
"He won't be alone," Luv said.
Electricity tore the ground apart as he vaulted forward, lightning wrapping around his limbs, eyes glowing brighter than ever.
"Vajrasankalpa!" he roared, invoking a divine bolt from above.
Thunder split the ceiling open, crashing down on Sharvaka from behind. The Messenger flinched, his golden wings folding in a dome to shield himself.
Astha didn't wait.
"Smritidhaara—Vikara Mode: Ugra-Paash!"
The sickle-chain blazed like a comet, slashing through the wing barrier. A gash opened across Sharvaka's side—his blood was liquid sunlight.
"You dare bleed me," he whispered, stunned.
"I'll do more than that," Astha said, eyes now branded with the glyph's glow. "You're not the first sun I've burned."
---
Behind them, Iksara pulsed.
"Enough," it murmured. "This place cannot hold such divine violence…"
The entire shrine began to tremble.
Talismans reignited. Pillars cracked. The Blueprint Glyphs on the ceiling began collapsing inward—an implosion of history and truth.
"If we don't leave, we die here," Naira warned.
Astha looked at Iksara.
"Then come with us."
"I am bound."
"Not anymore."
Astha swung Smritidhaara at the glowing sigil that held Iksara in place. The chain of memory, now blazing with past and present, severed the god-seal in a single flash.
Iksara stood, uncoiling its tall, cloth-wrapped form fully for the first time.
"Then let us run… before the gods send more suns."
---
The trio ran through the collapsing corridor, the breath of divine fire chasing them like a second sun being born.
Sharvaka gave chase—but Iksara turned back.
"This fight belongs to those already dead."
The Unforgotten unleashed a mantra of unbinding, whispering forgotten words that even the gods flinched at.
A wall of golden script rose from the ground, sealing Sharvaka behind a veil of ancient silence.
"You'll see me again," the Messenger warned.
Astha turned back once as they fled, eyes locking with the radiant killer's.
"I know," he said.
"And next time, I'll break your wings."
---
Aftermath – The World Above
They emerged into a dead forest, the sky above split between night and burning aurora.
Naira collapsed to her knees. Luv leaned on a jagged stone, his breath sharp, arms glowing with overused thunder-script.
Astha stood still.
Smritidhaara curled back into his arm. Vaayutal vanished in a shimmer. The glyph above his heart now pulsed steadily.
"One piece," he said.
"Eight to go," Luv replied.
Iksara towered behind them, its bandaged form now gently flickering with stolen stars.
"You carry the Blueprint. And the gods will come for it," Iksara said.
"What will you do?"
Astha's voice was quiet.
"What they did to my people… to the forgotten… it ends with me."
He looked at the sky.
"No more hiding. No more fearing gods.
We're going to war."