The thugs Dashrath had summoned had Aryan completely surrounded. Murderous intent was plain in all their eyes. (When a person has killed countless others, an aura forms inside them that, once released, leaves those nearby helpless — this is what is called killing intent.) They closed in on Aryan from all sides, and the only thought in their minds was: why did foolish Dashrath call so many people to kill a boy of seventeen or eighteen? Any one of us could have done this.
A sour-looking man began to step toward Aryan. He looked to be about forty to forty-five years old, stood roughly six feet two inches, and bore a scar on his face. His murderous aura was so dangerous that even his own men kept a couple of steps away from him. His name was Vaibhav Shrivastav, and he was the boss of the men who had come to kill Aryan.
Vaibhav Shrivastav glared at Aryan, and then, speaking with contempt, said, "Our Young Master has gathered us just to kill a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old? Do they truly believe this boy is so dangerous? Asking us to come kill him is an insult to all of us." He looked straight at Aryan and continued, disdain dripping from his words: "Listen, boy, I don't know how you angered our Young Master, so I'll give you a warning. Go to him now and beg at his feet — maybe he'll spare you a painless death. If you don't, then not only will our Young Master be angry, but we'll also have to take action against you. We're not so low as to dirty our hands by killing a worm like you; trying to take your life would be our own insult."
Hearing Vaibhav Shrivastav's grand words, Aryan stared back at him, then said, "I don't know where you get such confidence to speak nonsense like that. If you've come to kill me, then just do it quietly — don't make these big speeches, they make my head spin. Once my head spins, I kill the one in front of me. Besides, your so-called Young Master is hiding in a corner anyway, so why don't you call him out first?"
Vaibhav Shrivastav was enraged by Aryan's insolence. Grinding his teeth, he snapped, "You little wretch, do you even know who I am? I'm the right hand of the Devine Dragon gang boss, and you dare insult me? You'll be punished for that, mark my words. At first our Young Master wanted to kill you with his own hands, but now I'll do it myself." Saying this, Vaibhav began to advance.
When Aryan saw Vaibhav move toward him, he laughed and said, "Hey insect, you want to kill me? Fine — but at least think about who contracted you to kill me. Do you honestly think that once you kill me you'll be safe? The moment you kill me, your boss will tell someone to kill you in return. He'll have you executed. So listen to me and call him out first, otherwise you might end up dead while trying to kill me."
Aryan's words only increased Vaibhav's fury, but they also made him realize something: the boy standing before him might be telling the truth. If Vaibhav killed the lad in front of him, his boss might indeed kill him in retaliation — Dashrath's identity and reach were not unknown. Dashrath's full name was Dashrath Singh Shekhawat, the only son of the wealthiest man in Jaipur, Vinayak Singh Shekhawat. Vinayak controlled the entire state; nothing happened in Rajasthan that went against his will. To keep up appearances, Vinayak had kept the Devine Dragon gang at arm's length so people would think he was a benevolent man.
Dashrath had tried to humiliate Aryan several times, but Aryan had always turned the tables. That had bred deep hatred in Dashrath. He'd decided that on the last day of twelfth grade he would finally put Aryan in his place — and if he failed, he would hire the Devine Dragon gang to eliminate him. When Aryan ignored Dashrath that day, Dashrath flew into a rage and put out a contract on Aryan with the Devine Dragon gang. Although Dashrath was the gang's Young Master, his father forbade him from ordering things done through the gang directly, so Dashrath had to spend his own money to hire them.
Upon hearing Aryan's remark, Vaibhav looked in a particular direction and called loudly, "Young Master, there's no need for you to hide — from what I can tell, this boy already knows of your presence here."
At Vaibhav's words a young man stepped out from the dark alley — someone Aryan's age. It was Dashrath. Seeing Vaibhav, Dashrath snapped angrily, "Vaibhav, how foolish are you? Did you really believe this boy would know I was here? He's just guessing, and you made him right by reacting. Anyway, whatever's done can't be undone. Now that I'm before this poor lad, he should learn his place. Go beat him properly. Beat him until he begs for mercy. When he begs, bring him to me and I'll make him suffer and die slowly."
Vaibhav and his men hesitated at Dashrath's command; none of them dared disobey their Young Master. Together, the fifteen men who had come to kill Aryan advanced. Seeing them close in, a warrior's smile spread across Aryan's face.
What a joke. The same people who had killed aliens were now trying to take his life. Perhaps his enemies could not tell the difference between Earth and Heaven.
As Vaibhav and his men advanced, Aryan thought, These fools are coming to me — giving them an easy death would be a disgrace. I'll make them suffer; maybe they've slain countless innocent people already. With that in mind, Aryan began to walk toward them. Vaibhav was stunned. He couldn't tell whether the boy before him was brave or insane, because the lad was walking straight toward probable death — but what Vaibhav didn't know was that he would be the one who'd die today.
When Vaibhav was only three meters away, he drew a dagger from behind his back and lunged at Aryan. Aryan made no reaction to the attack. Vaibhav's companions felt a surge of satisfaction — perhaps the boy was afraid. But in the next instant, their expressions changed. With lightning speed Aryan's hand shot out and in a single motion he snatched the dagger from Vaibhav's grasp.
Vaibhav and his men were dumbstruck; their mouths hung wide open in stunned disbelief. Even Dashrath stood frozen, unable to understand how Aryan had done it.
Dashrath soon pulled himself together and shouted, "Vaibhav, open fire on him! Shoot him down!" Vaibhav snapped back to reality at Dashrath's command, and the men drew their guns and opened fire on Aryan.
Aryan watched them as if he were looking at a herd of fools. He paid them no heed. Instead he let a faint aura flow out from his body. The bullets fired at him froze in midair as if an invisible, thick wall had appeared before them. The men gaped in astonishment. Aryan, enjoying the moment, flicked his wrist and redirected the bullets. In an instant every bullet turned and struck Vaibhav and his companions — all fourteen of them were killed at once.
Aryan could not help but shake his head. His gaze then fell on Dashrath, who now looked pale and helpless. Aryan stepped forward and said, "I had no wish to get into any trouble with you, but you tried to have me killed. If that's the case, you don't belong in this world anymore."
As Aryan prepared to end Dashrath, the boy stammered in panic, "You can't kill me like this! My father rules Jaipur — after my death he'll have you wiped out!" Aryan paid him no attention. He merely flicked his hand, and Dashrath's body shattered into countless tiny fragments and dissolved into the atmosphere. Thus Dashrath Singh Shekhawat was completely wiped from existence.
Haider Ali was in charge of monitoring Jaipur's CCTV cameras, and he took pride in making sure law and order in the city functioned properly. That morning, when he arrived at 7:00 a.m., he was in a terrible mood because he'd had an argument with his wife — he couldn't focus on the monitors and kept snapping at people. Because of his temper, his colleagues were careful to stay away; they knew that if they irritated Haider Ali today, he might fly into a rage and start a fight. Still, despite his sour mood, Haider Ali did not neglect his duty. He watched the CCTV feeds with diligence: whenever he left his post to use the restroom or fetch tea, he made sure someone else sat in his chair.
In the evening, near the end of his shift, Haider Ali noticed something on one of the cameras: in a narrow lane of Jaipur that was known for frequent crimes, a young man was casually walking through. At first Haider decided to ignore that camera, but just as he was about to switch away, he saw a gang of about ten to fifteen people rush in from the other side and surround the boy. Haider immediately sent the footage to his superior, the superintendent of police, Kavya Vashishth.
Kavya Vashishth was thirty-two and very beautiful — so striking that even Miss World might have blushed beside her. Film producers had offered her movie roles many times, but she had turned them all down: from childhood she had decided to devote herself fully to the police force and serve the country. That day Kavya was especially well-dressed because her parents were trying to set her up on a blind date. She didn't want to go, but to keep her parents happy she had decided she would attend after her shift at 5:30 p.m., and she had put on makeup that morning.
While Kavya was thinking about how she might escape the blind date so she could focus on her work, a subordinate sent her a live CCTV link. At first she almost ignored it, but after thinking for a moment she opened the live feed and was shaken to the core. She saw around fifteen men opening fire on a boy of about seventeen or eighteen. Her heart dropped — the boy seemed to be on the brink of death — but then she saw something she would never forget: the bullets heading toward him froze in midair, as if some invisible force had stopped them. The shock didn't stop there. With a single gesture from the boy, all those bullets changed direction and struck the attackers. Then the boy, with a mere flick of his hand, made one of the men standing before him vanish completely. Kavya was stunned.
She immediately assembled a police team and ordered them to arrest the boy at any cost. As the team moved toward his location, Kavya let out a breath of relief — but she was also afraid. She had seen on the CCTV how the boy had effortlessly killed more than ten attackers. If the police approached, there was a very real possibility he would slaughter them too.
Kavya then realized who the boy was: Aryan. Although on the feed he had just eliminated Dashrath and his companions, Kavya suspected that if the police arrived now, Aryan would have no qualms about erasing the recordings with the help of Paras, thereby making the whole incident disappear. What she didn't know was that in this matter Paras would not help Aryan — at least, not right now.
That boy was none other than Aryan. Although he had killed Dashrath and all his companions, if the police had arrived at that moment Aryan would not have been afraid at all, because with Paras's help he could have had all the recordings deleted and thus completely removed himself from the affair. What Aryan did not know, however, was that Paras would not help him in this matter — at least, not right now.