"Why does he need my weapons?" asked Svetavastra.

Manu was silent for a moment as if considering the best way to put the matter forward.

“How much of your memories have you recovered, Sveta?” He asked. “Do you remember that your weapons became a stand-in for the Cardinal Generals?”

Svetavastra did not recollect any memory related to what Manu was referring to, so he nodded his head to deny it.

“No,” said Svetavastra. “I don’t remember.”

“Hmm,” said Manu. “Since ancient times, the Cardinal Generals protected the cardinal directions of Bhu-loka, each general protected one major direction and each came from a prominent clan. The North was protected by the Yaksha clan, the East by the Gandharva clan, the South by the Kumbhanda clan and the West by the Naga clan. During the Great Drought, when serpent dragon Vritra stole the waters of the world, the four clans were thrown into chaos and internal strife and went into oblivion adding to the prevailing destruction of the world. To prevent the world from collapsing, you, the god of war, used your four divine weapons as the cardinal relics to stabilise the world. They helped trap Vritra and led to the Great Victory of Swarga Loka against the demons of the underworld. Since then, they have been acting as silent sentinels protecting the Bhu-loka.”

“I see,” said Svetavastra absorbing the information.

“When the barrier between Swarga-loka and Bhu-loka was sealed,” continued Manu, “darkness started to spread in Bhu-loka, in the beginning, it was in small regions. You helped stall it for some time when you sealed the portal of Dandakaranya one of the seven portals to the underworld. But Raktabija made the physical move of marching his demon army to the Abyss of Talatala, the portal in the North. From then on, he made rapid strides and conquered much of the North and has made his way to the East where the Monastery of Kailashan safeguarded your divine sword, the Cardinal Relic of the East.”

“I don’t think, Raktabija knew that the cardinal relic was in the monastery,” said Manu. “It was more of a personal grudge to take down the monastery as it was the place of his last defeat. You had overpowered and sent him back to the Underworld during the time when the serpent dragon was gaining force.”

“But since the monastery withstood their attack a great deal longer than expected,” said Manu. “From what Shyena has seen, Raktabija had to use his weapon, the Life-Siphoning Scimitar to take the spiritual array of the monastery down.”

“The Life-Siphoning Scimitar?” said Svetavastra.

“It’s a terrible weapon,” said Manu. “One of the few weapons possessed by demons that can kill even the gods. Shyena says that it is even stronger now with darkness powering it.”

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“Hmm,” said Svetavastra.

“Since Raktabija could not find the monks even after he used the Life-Siphoning Scimitar he suspects that the cardinal relic must be at play,” continued Manu. “The cardinal relics will always pose a threat to him and to the spread of darkness as long as they exist. So naturally, Raktabija would want to get them into his hands to complete his goal of conquering the Bhu-loka and if perchance he does, no power be it divine or mortal would be able to stop him.”

“We can’t let that happen,” said Svetavastra. “You said the cardinal relics protected the cardinal directions. We removed one of them from its position, wouldn’t that cause some instability?”

“If we didn’t get the divine weapon,” said Manu, “it is possible that it would have fallen into the hands of Raktabija. The monastery was hiding its divine power, once the monks were gone, the cardinal relic would have been exposed. So, yes, its removal has made it easier for Raktabija to take over the East but we cannot risk a divine weapon to fall into the hands of demons. We would be powerless then to oppose them.”

“That is true,” said Svetavastra. “Hmm…I cannot wield the divine sword the way, Atisha did in the past. I currently don’t have that kind of power.”

“You are Atisha,” said Manu.

“I don’t have her cosmic powers,” said Svetavastra. “And my spiritual powers aren’t strong enough to unlock the true strength of the divine sword. Even my cosmic form doesn’t possess that kind of strength, her powers come from a local deity and are limited by the extent of the local deity.”

“What are you trying to say, Sveta?” said Manu.

“I’m just thinking out loud, Manu,” said Svetavastra. “How can I face Raktabija with such limited powers? I have seen that battle between Atisha and Raktabija. I don’t think I can unlock even ten percent of what Atisha wielded of the divine sword. And now that Raktabija is emboldened with this darkness, I’m not sure if I can realistically win a battle against him on the basis of strength alone.”

“Hmm,” said Manu. “That is a concern. What do you suggest?”

“Are the locations of the other cardinal relics secure?” asked Svetavastra.

“They do have natural protections to prevent the divine weapons from being discovered,” said Manu. “But if they are accidentally breached like it happened at Kailashan, then it would be a problem.”

“Hmm,” said Svetavastra. “We have to stop the spread of darkness while securing the other weapons before they may be found by the demon army.”

“Yes,” said Manu. “The local deities can help us. If we can aggregate the powers of the local deities through a common channel, they can help us unlock the potential of the divine weapons.”

“Hmm,” said Svetavastra scratching his chin. “We think alike Manu. I’ve sent my disciple to link all the local deities in and around Dayita kingdom with his celestial sword.”

“You have a disciple?” asked Manu surprised. “And he wields a celestial sword?”

“Yes, Prince Aryaman is my disciple,” said Svetavastra. “He must be a demi-god.”

“The Son of Ila,” said Manu realising who Aryaman was.

“Ila?” questioned Svetavastra.

“She is the chief of the Gandharva clan in Swarga-loka,” said Manu. “She faced a trail in Bhu-loka and was wed to the king of Dayita.”

“That explains it,” said Svetavastra. “My strategy was for Aryaman to link the powers of the local deities as a deterrence till I found a way to defeat Raktabija. But now I’m thinking what if we use it as an offence instead?”

Manu raised his brows in surprise but caught himself.

“Spoken like the god of war,” he said with a smile.