CRUMBLE! CRUMBLE!
The adjacent building began to violently collapse. It had been shaking for a while, ever since Lavanya had forcefully drawn Authority from her own consciousness and the assassin. Now, the overwhelming pressure created by the Cultivators' clashing techniques was the final push it needed.
The structure gave way. The night sky, illuminated by a pale moon, was suddenly swallowed by a thick, suffocating cloud of dust.
Screams rose from inside the collapsing building—innocent people who had been living there, now buried under tons of concrete. But the collapse didn't stop the violence.
Nor did it stop the Cultivators. They completely ignored the crumbling structure and the dying screams beneath them, their bloodlust fixed entirely on the battle above.
"You did it on purpose, Kruti!"
Sneha shouted, grabbing Kruti by the collar of her robe. Wrinkles appeared across Sneha's forehead as her eyes narrowed, her grip tightening in absolute fury.
Sneha had been manipulating the crowd alongside Kruti, but she had never expected this.
Kruti had deliberately pushed her Authority into the adjacent building, fracturing its foundations and pushing it past its limit to ensure no one inside could escape alive.
"What will you gain from this?! We agreed to follow the plan! Why did you kill the innocents?!" Sneha screamed, no longer able to understand Kruti's intentions.
She could clearly sense the lingering trace of Kruti's Authority spread through the rubble, having crushed everything within its reach. The fading screams of the people trapped inside reached her ears one after another.
And then there was the smell.
Blood.
It grew stronger with every passing second, filling the dust-choked air around them.
Sneha's expression shifted from anger to horror. Kruti hadn't merely caused the building to collapse. She had made absolutely certain that not a single person inside would survive the fall.
"You're imagining too much. Why are you bothering with insignificant crowds?" Kruti replied, her voice eerily calm. "Just tell me where Yug is, and I'll leave this place quietly. I'm not interested in your plans anymore. I only wanted to secure them."
Kruti casually knocked Sneha's hand away from her collar and took a slow step back.
Sneha's eyebrows rose. She flinched at how effortlessly Kruti had broken her grip. That single, casual movement told her everything she needed to know. Kruti hadn't even needed to use a fraction of her force. If Sneha wanted to leave alive, she had to give Kruti exactly what she wanted. The location.
"You aren't in your right mind, Kruti," Sneha said, staring at her cautiously. "What do you mean by just Yug? We came here for both of them. Lavanya is in danger. She's our friend, a fellow Breather." Her expression tightened. "And yet you're only concerned about Yug... someone who hasn't even Awakened yet."
Sneha hesitated. If she gave Kruti the location, she would be putting a target on her own back. She feared that once Kruti found Lavanya, the chaos would eventually be traced back to Sneha—especially if Kruti somehow managed to escape from Dhyan and Diya.
She couldn't take that risk. If Kruti was caught, Sneha's involvement as an informant would be exposed. But if Kruti escaped, the Cultivators would undoubtedly suspect someone had tipped her off. That was the worst possible outcome for Sneha. She wasn't a warrior. She was an outsider who dealt in secrets.
"Don't make me say it again, Sneha."
Kruti's voice dropped to a dead, freezing whisper.
"I don't want to push you too far and make you regret it. I'm not here to discuss conscience or justice, and I'm certainly not in the mood to play the hero with you." Her unblinking eyes remained fixed on Sneha. "My only reason for coming here is Yug. I've already run out of patience."
She paused, letting the silence hang heavy between them.
"Speak... or die."
Kruti had enough of the endless conversation. She refused to waste another second arguing with someone incapable of understanding her desperation. Her blood was boiling with every passing moment. Her body tensed, and her vision blurred slightly beneath the mask. Yug. Her thoughts kept violently returning to him.
"Will you tell me, or do you really want to get on my nerves badly enough to die by my hand right now?" Her voice suddenly became eerily calm again. "Just tell me, and I'll leave you alone. Don't mistake my patience for weakness. I can find Yug on my own if I have to. I simply want the information as quickly as possible. That's the only reason I'm still being reasonable with you."
Kruti's expression beneath the mask didn't shift. She had laid out the ultimatum perfectly.
"Say it."
A heavy pause.
"Say it."
Another pause.
"Say it."
Sneha's eyes widened. Cold sweat trickled down her face as the realization settled in. Kruti wasn't bluffing. She was genuinely going to kill her. If Sneha wanted to survive the next ten seconds, she had no choice but to give up the location. But a sudden, chilling doubt barged into her mind.
How does she know I have his location? I haven't revealed anything about my Breath Authority. Yet somehow... she already has an inkling of what my Authority can do.
Sneha paused internally, raising an eyebrow as she studied Kruti from head to toe. She was caught between two massive threats, and she had to decide who would suffer the most from her choice.
I have no choice. I have to tell her. I need to believe in Vidyut and Nitya; I have to give them a small signal or this will escalate beyond what I can handle.
Sneha glanced briefly at Vidyut, who was currently occupied with Nitya and Kant, before returning her gaze to Kruti.
But Kruti has completely lost herself. If I make the wrong move... I'm done for.
Sneha stared at her, swallowed hard, and finally spoke. "Lavanya is heading toward the university."
The moment the words left her mouth—Kruti was already in front of her.
Sneha blinked. She didn't even have time to register the movement.
BANG!
Kruti's fist slammed directly into her face.
Sneha didn't even get the chance to scream before her body was violently launched through the air. She flew downward to the ground, crashing heavily onto the uneven rubble of the crumbled building below.
Kruti remained suspended in the air, staring down at her broken form.
"I held back," Kruti's voice drifted down, cold and detached. "I'm allowing you to live for now. But not next time."
A pause.
"You were too late."
With a sudden burst of speed, Kruti vanished into the night, streaking toward the university as though she had never been there at all.
For a brief moment, the surrounding crowd stood in shock. The woman who had just incited them into a frenzy had been taken down with a single, brutal punch.
Above the fray, Diya raised a delicate eyebrow. Dhyan smiled.
Yet, even after Sneha's sudden defeat, the crowd didn't stop fighting. Instead, the momentum violently shifted toward Dhyan's faction.
"Hahaha! We're going to win! We have the masked man with us! Raise your blades and finish them!"
"Yeahhhhhhh!"
"KILL THEM!"
The crowd erupted again, completely misinterpreting what they had just witnessed. They didn't realize the most important part of the exchange: Kruti, the most dangerous variable on the board, had already left.
Vidyut and Nitya saw it happen, yet neither of them understood why Kruti had suddenly departed. They could only look down toward Sneha's unconscious body with a trace of pity.
Kant stood among his vanguard, his body trembling with excitement as the battle turned in his favor. At the exact same time, he sensed Kruti's immense presence disappearing from the perimeter. His expression tightened. Everything had just shifted one hundred and eighty degrees.
Dhyan noticed it too. From his distant vantage point, he watched Kruti disappear in the exact same direction the newly awakened Breather had fled earlier. His smile remained fixed. So, she is following the prize.
Diya stared down at the shifting crowd.
Her side was rapidly beginning to lose ground. She knew Sneha's fatal weakness—the informant had almost no actual combat experience, despite possessing a level of Cultivation beyond what an ordinary Cultivator could achieve.
Diya had never expected her to lose so easily, but it had happened too quickly to intervene. She couldn't remain idle here any longer.
There were two massive problems she had to deal with immediately.
First, she couldn't break her standoff with Dhyan. If she moved, he would strike. Second... Kruti was actively pursuing her target.
Diya raised her head, locking eyes with Dhyan. He hadn't moved an inch. He simply stood there, radiating calm, as though every single chaotic event happening around him was already entirely within his control.
"Vivek, go after her."
Diya had no choice. She needed someone she could trust to intercept the rogue Breather, so she passed the burden to one of her personal disciples.
Ugh... Why is this happening to me? Diya complained internally, her perfect, indifferent facade never slipping. I'm a supreme being... Ah, wait. No, I'm not. I'm a top-tier Cultivator! So why can't I even handle something this simple without everything falling apart?!
Sob... sob... Now I have to use my darling disciple to clean up the mess.
"Yes, my Lady," a voice replied from the shadows behind her.
"Hmm," Diya nodded, her face a mask of absolute, icy authority.
Vivek immediately turned and vanished into the night, following the exact path Kruti had taken toward the university.