Faith had turned into law.
Whispers had become sermons.
And now, the world awaited a new kind of authority—not gods, not kings, not mages.
But Apostles.
Chosen by avatars, empowered by Rudra's hidden will, these beings would act as his direct agents across realms. But unlike avatars, they were mortal—passionate, flawed, emotional, unpredictable.
Some would build temples. Others would wage holy war.
And one… would betray everything.
---
Apostle One: Asha of the Broken Sun
Realm: Verdant Rebellion (6th Realm)
Chosen by: The Elf Queen (6th Avatar)
Asha had once been a child-slave in the mining pits of the Iron Thorns—a kingdom that scorched sacred forests to smelt their war machines. Her arms were scarred by chains. Her voice broken. Her eyes dim.
But when the Elf Queen appeared, bathing the cave in moonlight, everything changed.
Asha had expected death.
Instead, she was offered reincarnation—not into a new body, but a new identity.
Brought to the Sacred Grove, Asha's body was bathed in nectar from the Monarch's dream. Her scars became runes. Her chains melted into living silver threads now braided through her hair.
She wore no armor. Her body was her weapon.
> "You shall not kill," said the Elf Queen, gently brushing her cheek.
"You shall inspire. You shall convert through grace, not blade."
Asha, now called "the Broken Sun", began walking from village to village with a flute carved from Rudra's branch. Wherever she played it, trees rose, curses broke, and hatred dissolved.
Women wept in her presence. Children touched her feet.
And kings feared her because she said nothing—yet people followed.
---
Apostle Two: Dronak the Hollow Flame
Realm: Demon World (1st Realm)
Chosen by: Kaalkrit (1st Avatar)
Where Asha healed, Dronak destroyed.
Born of a forbidden union between a fire demon and an ice harpy, Dronak had been cast into the Abyssal Rift as a baby. There, he survived by feeding on ash, blood, and shadows. He grew up amidst monsters, developing a voice that could silence demons, and a body that radiated agony like an aura.
He hated everything. Until Kaalkrit found him.
> "You want revenge," Kaalkrit had growled.
"Then burn this world clean—and rebuild it in my Lord's image."
Dronak knelt, not out of worship, but agreement.
He received Infernal Baptism—his blood replaced with molten black ichor from the Monarch's ancient flame. His voice became fire. His body, a walking cathedral of destruction.
Wielding twin axes named Sin and Sermon, he began marching through the Infernal Wastes. His first act: slaughtering the tyrant who had enslaved his mother and feeding his soul to a newborn flame.
Every night, Dronak meditated before a dark altar and chanted:
> "The Monarch is not kind. He is necessary."
Demons feared him. Succubi desired him.
But none could command him—except Kaalkrit, and through him, Rudra.
---
Apostle Three: Vaidehi the White Mask
Realm: Twilight Conflict (Shared Realm)
Chosen by: The Lich (2nd Avatar)
Secret blessing: From the Merchant Avatar
Vaidehi had been a high priestess of a forbidden cult—one that believed death was liberation. Her beauty was flawless, but her soul was hollow. Her followers wore masks, performed blood rites, and worshipped "The Unknown Flame," never realizing they were subconsciously drawn to Rudra's sleeping divinity.
When the Lich visited her in her dreams, she was bathing in a pool of sacrifice.
> "You already serve Him," the Lich rasped.
"You just don't know His name."
She awakened screaming—but awakened changed.
The Merchant Avatar arrived in person, draping her in translucent veils of contract-bound silk and whispering knowledge of the inter-realm economy of faith.
Vaidehi became an invisible empress—a dealer in belief.
She wore a white mask with no mouth and black tears drawn beneath each eye. Her temples used dreams and poison, not steel. Every noble who made a deal with her slowly fell under her spiritual chain.
She smiled once beneath her mask and whispered:
> "I don't need to rule openly. They beg for my leash."
---
The Council Forms
In the Temple Between Realms—a structure existing outside time, built by all eight avatars—the three apostles arrived.
Asha walked barefoot, every step blooming flowers.
Dronak entered in flames, axe resting across his shoulder, eyes glowing with suppressed rage.
Vaidehi appeared silently, her body shrouded in fog, her mask reflecting nothing.
Waiting at the center were:
Vishvarath, the Hero, who guided Eshan, Rudra's Paladin.
Ratri, who leaned lazily on her throne of hands and moaned at the sight of Vaidehi.
> "Oh... you'll be trouble," she purred.
Kaalkrit, nodding in satisfaction at Dronak.
The Lich, whispering to himself, "One more piece in the gameboard..."
Then came Rudra's voice—not loud, not thunderous, but serene and omnipotent.
> "You are my blades, my quills, my whispers. You shall not reveal Me. But you shall spread Me."
> "Each of you shall command legions. Temples. Laws."
> "Asha—You will awaken ancient forests and cleanse cursed lands."
> "Dronak—You will purge tyrants and baptize sinners in black flame."
> "Vaidehi—You will bend rulers and markets to My faith."
Then he added, colder now:
> "But only one of you shall ascend. The others... may break."
The avatars grew still.
This was the True Game.
---
Behind the Veil – A Betrayal in Bloom
Unknown to all, deep within the Court of Night Traders—a secret realm accessed only through three seals—a shadow watched the apostles.
It was a childlike being, with gold stitched across its eyelids and no mouth. A forgotten experiment.
Its hands clutched a fragment of a failed avatar—a corrupted memory of Rudra, stolen by an old enemy.
And as the child whispered into the bone relic, the words echoed across the void:
> "Let the crack begin."