The Earth Base of the Shadow Veil was a fortress hidden within the folds of a mountain. Inside, the Shadow Lord's presence was a heavy, suffocating weight. He stood before Riha, holding a staff that seemed to drink the light of the room.
"This is the Sovereign's Spine," the Shadow Lord's voice echoed. "A soul-sucking staff forged in the heart of a dying star. It does not obey the weak."
Riha stepped forward. She didn't hesitate. She bit her thumb, pressing the wound against the cold, black metal. The staff shivered. A vein of glowing crimson blood traveled down its length, and Riha felt a sharp, agonizing pull—as if the weapon were trying to drain her dry.
Riha (Internal Monologue): Eat then. If you want my blood, take it. But in return, you will give me the power to crush my enemies.
The staff turned blood-red and settled. It was now bound to her soul. She felt a new sensation—Teleportation. The space around her felt like a thin sheet of paper she could simply step through. With a flash of violet light, Riha appeared in the center of a blizzard. But the cold didn't touch her; her First Chakra (Muladhara) had begun to glow at the base of her spine, radiating a heat that stabilized her body against the Earth's atmosphere.
She stood before the Crystal City. Its spires were made of translucent geometry, vibrating with an ancient intelligence. The Elders—beings made of pure light—floated toward her.
"The prophecy of the Secondary Evolution," the Lead Elder vibrated. "We have waited for you. Humans have poisoned this world, Riha Roy. We are leaving. But the secrets of the ancient civilizations—the ones who ruled before the first man breathed—cannot be left in the hands of the unworthy." They presented her with a Ring of the Void. It was a simple band of silver, but inside it lay an infinite storage dimension. One by one, they transferred scrolls, mental weapons, and historical spellbooks into the ring.
"The Earth will fall into chaos when we leave," the Elder warned. "New civilizations will come to claim it. A team of warriors will rise to protect it—the Indraneel Parivar. To them, you will be the demon who abandoned her world. To them, you are the villain. You must become stronger than their justice."
Riha: (A cold smile touching her lips) "Let them play the hero. I have an empire to build."
Returning to her base, Riha sat in the center of a massive ritual circle. She had six months. Around her, she placed the icons of Julian's life.
"Phase one of Astadhigbandhanam," she whispered.
She activated a mental weapon—a "Neuro-Virus" scroll from the Crystal City. She didn't just want to kill Julian; she wanted to bind his eight directions. She began her physical training, lifting weights under artificial gravity that simulated Planet Nexus, while her mind was busy tearing Julian's financial empire apart via the dark web.
The last memory in the diary for this month showed Riha at her parents' grave. She didn't cry. She placed white flowers on the dirt.
"I have the treasures of the Ancients," she whispered to the wind. "I have the Staff of Souls. Julian is already a dead man; he just hasn't realized it yet."
As she turned to leave, the sky above Earth flickered. The Crystal City was gone. The shield was down. The age of Earth's isolation was over, and Riha Roy was the one who had taken the keys.