Reni's claws scraped against the ground, tearing chunks of dirt as she closed the distance, a blur of muscle and rage. Ayan braced himself, his mind racing for a way to survive—to find anything that could slow her down. His options were as empty as his lungs; he could hear nothing but the pounding of blood in his ears.
Then—a flicker.
Reni's monstrous form faltered, a slight pause in her relentless charge. Her eyes—those terrible, glowing eyes—blinked once. Twice. She stopped, her massive body quivering as if torn by an internal struggle.
For a sliver of time, Ayan glimpsed something behind the corruption: a flash of recognition, an echo of the girl she was.
Reni's head rocked from side to side, a guttural growl escaping her lips as though she was fighting against herself.
Ayan dared not breathe, his voice choked as he whispered, "Reni…"
Before he could lodge another thought, Kanshul burst into action, his movements a blur of mechanical precision. "You're mine," he howled as his arm shot forward, muscles coiling like steel springs as he unleashed a pulse of raw Prana from his fists.
The force slammed into Reni's chest like a volcanic explosion, driving her backward into the cavern wall with a shuddering impact. Mineral chips rained down as she slumped to the ground, momentarily stunned but already beginning to rise again.
Reni charged again—faster than before—closing the distance with alarming speed, her claws slashing towards Kanshul's throat.
He stepped aside at the last instant, fluidly redirecting her momentum with a savage strike to her flank. As she reeled past him, he pivoted sharply, planting one foot and then launching himself at her exposed back with unrestrained fury.
Both fists came down like hammers in a massive overhead blow that smashed Reni into the ground with earth-shaking force. The cavern floor cratered beneath her impact; stone fractured and dust rose in choking clouds.
Kanshul landed lightly beside her collapsed form and stepped back, giving her time to recover. His smile was a cruel, twisting thing that didn't reach his cold eyes.
He's enjoying this, Ayan thought, and a wave of nausea washed over him.
"Weak!" Kanshul shouted as he advanced on Reni, each step resounding in the hollow cavern. "I'll show you what becomes of weaklings!"
Reni roared—a sound of pure hatred and hunger. She launched herself at Kanshul with terrifying speed, claws extended like sickles.
But Kanshul was ready; he side-stepped with blinding swiftness, avoiding her charge by mere inches. His hand flickered out like a serpent striking its prey.
[Thunderous Gale]
A shockwave blast of compressed wind slammed into Reni and sent her spinning in mid-air before crashing violently into the ground. But Kanshul didn't let up; he pursued her relentlessly, each attack precise and merciless.
Reni writhed, but Kanshul's relentless assault forced her down again and again. Her jagged teeth gnashed at the empty air as she struggled to find footing against this overwhelming force.
"Is that all?" Kanshul taunted, circling her prone form like a predator toying with its wounded prey. He formed a spear like thrust with both hands—an attack so dense it left scorch marks on the floor where it struck.
[Piercing Tempest]
Reni let out another howl as the blow pierced through her shoulder, pinning her to the stone beneath like an insect on display. Her limbs flailed wildly, tearing at the earth in fury while Kanshul stood over her with disdain etched across his face.
"Finish her!" Sharav yelled from behind Ayan.
Helplessness gnawed at Ayan like rats in the dark. Fury rose within him at the unfairness of it all. They turned a helpless servant girl, who only wanted to earn a little money for her family, into a feral beast because they deemed her life worthless.
And now they were playing with her like a toy for sport; for their own amusement.
Kanshul leaped back to give space and stretched his hands toward Reni's struggling form, as if to pull apart reality itself: energy gathered at his fingertips until it burned white-hot and blinding. The crackling energy danced wildly at Kanshul's fingertips, a searing brilliance that threatened to consume everything in its path.
Kanshul roared, and struck the air with a snapping motion, unleashing [Rending Thunder]. The air twisted as if recoiling from the motion. Cracks of condensed sound peeled away from his arm as a wave burst forth, laced with sonic blades.
The very cavern screamed. Cracks spidered across the rock as the concussive force tore forward, its core a jagged arc of vibrating lightning that howled like a blade cutting through the very air.
Reni's wide, terrified beastly eyes locked onto the impending wave.
And yet, in the heartbeat before impact, the world around Ayan blurred into mist.
Time thinned. The pressure in Ayan's chest changed. Not outward, but inward. Like something inside him had turned its gaze for the first time.
And then—pulse. Not in his heart or veins, but in the space behind breath, behind thought.
From within him emerged an unfamiliar shape—not a clump of flesh, but a luminous form forged from solidified starlight; an ethereal human figure sculpted out of shimmering celestial currents.
Behind him, a mystical yantra appeared. Seven points, glowing softly, each aligned with his spine, burned with fleeting brilliance. Thin lines of power arced from each point, weaving towards the center, a luminous core like a drop of moonlight suspended in time. The pattern spun slowly, like a celestial diagram.
One word echoed in his mind, unheard of yet remembered.
"Sphurna."
The solitary word sent ripples across distant realms. Seven domains, each hidden across the folds of the universe, stirred as ancient beings felt the ripple.
But, back in the cavern, it all passed in a breath.
The yantra splintered, its sensation slipping away like sand through fingers.
Before it could vanish completely, a delicate thread unspooled from his sternum—a shimmering, whisper-thin filament that drifted silently through the space between him and Reni, eventually merging with her chaotic form.
In that singular moment, Ayan saw past the monstrous veneer to the broken girl beneath—a being ravaged by infection, silently screaming her lost innocence.
His limbs moved without thought, and his fingers twitched into an unknown mudra.
[Rending Thunder] collapsed mid-flight, its power unraveling like a poorly tied knot. The wave of force imploded on itself with a shriek.
Kanshul stumbled back, his eyes wide with disbelief as he cried, "What?"
Ayan blinked rapidly, his heart thundering in confusion, as a strange, comforting warmth pulsed deep in his gut before fading away. He didn't understand what had just happened.
Then, as he turned, he caught Reni's feral, glowing eyes. In that electrifying moment, a silent connection bridged the gap between them.
His lips parted almost involuntarily. He didn't know what he was saying until a single word left his mouth.
"Run."
Reni stiffened. Her limbs twitched as if fighting themselves, caught between instinct and… recognition. She reared back with an anguished sound that was almost a human scream. Then, in a sudden burst of motion, she turned and fled—her hulking frame crashing through the cavern with brutal force until darkness swallowed her whole.
The echoes of her retreat filled the hollow silence left behind.
No one spoke. Not even Kanshul.
Ayan's own voice, barely a murmur, broke the stillness: "I will save you."
Somewhere Beyond…
In realms unseen by mortal eyes, seven ancient beings stirred from their ageless slumber, their awakening rippling across the intricate web of the cosmos.
Under a sky woven from thought and sound, a venerable sage halted his meditation beneath a cascade of luminescent script—flowing like a celestial river—while his third eye slowly opened, infusing the moment with deliberate insight. Suspended in mid-air, nearby scrolls froze in their graceful descent, as if time itself had been commanded to pause.
In another timeless corner, an ancient hermit carved from glossy obsidian sat unmoving amidst a sea of molten lava, witnessing as a fresh, vibrant leaf burst forth at the outermost edge of his realm—the first sign of new life since the beginning of the Yuga. With quiet wonder, the sage blinked for the first time in ages.
In the profound stillness where sound had acquired form, a shadow danced endlessly—a spectral figure whose graceful fingers wove intricate frequencies of energy. Suddenly, a tremor disrupted its rhythm, and the dancer paused, her delicate movements falling silent.
High above, where raging storms forged and devoured light in an endless cycle, a solitary figure cloaked in the essence of thunder sat immersed in thought. The tempest roared around him, intensifying and then subsiding, until at last he lifted his gaze, his eyes reflecting the tumult.
In yet another realm—a sea of mirrored, shifting memories—a sage observed the past, its reflections shimmering like molten glass in fiery light. In a sudden moment, a mirror shattered spontaneously, distorting the flow of time, and a gentle tilt of the head marked the brief interruption of eternity.
Beside cascading, shimmering pools where each droplet held the weight of a unique destiny, a sage with serpentine eyes watched as one defiant droplet ascended, defying gravity with graceful persistence; he offered a single, solemn nod in acknowledgment.
In the cold shadow of a dead sun—a realm devoid of divine light—a cloaked figure turned a luminous page in a book made entirely of stars.
In unison, across these disparate, ancient domains, their voices whispered one sacred word: Sphurna.