Cold darkness surrounded Rahul.
For a moment, he felt nothing. No pain, no fear, no thoughts. It was as if his entire existence had vanished inside the deep ocean.
Then suddenly—
His heart began to beat.
One beat.
Then another.
And another.
Each heartbeat echoed loudly in his ears like thunder.
Rahul's eyes snapped open.
But something was wrong.
He was still underwater.
The dark ocean surrounded him from every direction, yet strangely… he could breathe.
His lungs were no longer burning.
The crushing pressure of the deep sea no longer affected him.
Instead, an unfamiliar warmth spread through his entire body.
Rahul looked down at his hands.
For a brief moment, faint crimson lines moved beneath his skin, like glowing veins carrying fire instead of blood.
"What… is happening?" he muttered.
His voice sounded calm, but his mind was in complete shock.
The last thing he remembered was the boat flipping and the freezing water swallowing him.
He should have been dead.
But instead, he felt stronger than ever.
Rahul slowly moved his arm.
The movement felt incredibly light.
Almost effortless.
He pushed against the water and suddenly shot upward with terrifying speed.
Within seconds—
He burst out of the ocean.
Splash!
Rahul gasped as he stood waist-deep in the water, waves crashing around him. The storm had already started to calm down, and the dark clouds were slowly drifting away.
Far away, he could see the faint lights of Mumbai on the horizon.
"I… survived?" he whispered.
Rahul swam toward the broken remains of his overturned boat. Grabbing a floating wooden plank, he slowly climbed onto it and sat there, trying to understand what had just happened.
His body felt… different.
Stronger.
Lighter.
Alive in a way he had never felt before.
His senses sharpened.
He could hear the distant crashing of waves miles away.
He could see clearly even in the dim light of the night.
And his mind…
His mind felt terrifyingly calm.
Almost too calm.
Rahul looked at his hands again.
"That bead…"
He remembered it clearly.
The strange crimson bead he had touched underwater.
The moment his blood touched it, it had entered his body.
A sudden memory flashed in his mind.
Not his own memory.
Something ancient.
Three shadows.
Three towering figures filled with darkness and power.
Then a blinding light.
A weapon.
And destruction.
Rahul grabbed his head.
"Ahh—!"
The vision disappeared instantly.
His breathing became heavy.
"What was that…?"
He couldn't understand it.
But one thing was clear.
Something inside him had changed.
Suddenly—
Rahul felt a strange sensation in his chest.
A pulse of power spread through his veins.
It felt like fire.
He looked toward a distant wave rising toward him.
For some reason, a thought crossed his mind.
Stop.
Without thinking, Rahul raised his hand.
The rising wave suddenly split apart.
The water moved around him as if obeying his command.
Rahul froze.
"…What?"
He stared at the ocean in disbelief.
"That's impossible…"
He tried again.
Rahul focused on a floating wooden board several meters away.
He stretched his hand forward.
The plank suddenly lifted from the water and flew toward him.
It landed beside him.
Rahul's breathing became slow and heavy.
"This… can't be real."
But deep inside his mind, a voice whispered quietly.
Power.
Rahul clenched his fists.
He remembered everything that had happened to him.
His parents dying.
His girlfriend leaving him.
The humiliation.
The loneliness.
The pain.
For months he had felt weak… helpless.
But now…
Rahul slowly stood on the broken boat plank.
The ocean wind blew through his wet hair.
His eyes grew darker.
"If I really have this power…"
His voice turned cold.
"…then no one can hurt me again."
The anger buried deep inside his heart slowly surfaced.
Images of certain people appeared in his mind.
People who had betrayed him.
People who had mocked him when he was weak.
And one face above all others.
His ex-girlfriend.
And the man she had chosen instead of him.
Rahul's expression hardened.
"They thought I was nothing."
He looked toward the distant city lights of Mumbai.
The place where everything had been taken from him.
The place where his life had been destroyed.
A faint, dangerous smile appeared on his face.
"Let's see if they still think that now."
Rahul stepped forward.
Instead of falling into the water—
He stood on the surface.
The ocean held his weight as if it were solid ground.
For a few seconds he remained completely still.
Then he slowly began walking across the sea.
Each step created small ripples beneath his feet.
The distance between him and the city quickly grew smaller.
The wind howled around him, but Rahul's eyes remained calm.
Something dark had awakened inside him.
Something ancient.
Something powerful.
And tonight…
The people who destroyed his life were about to learn what it meant to face a man who had nothing left to lose.