Chapter 24

The door creaked open, revealing a scene that was both tense and charged with anticipation. Alia stepped inside first, her presence confident and assertive, leading her father, Uncle Ricky, and two distinguished women into Dhruv’s room. Dhruv sat at a desk cluttered with papers and diagrams, his brow furrowed in concentration. As they entered, he looked up, meeting their eyes, and with a hint of regret, nodded his head. “I'm sorry for not greeting you properly,” he murmured, a slight smile attempting to break through his serious demeanor.

Uncle Ricky, ever the pragmatist, quickly reassured him. “No worries, just do your thing,” he replied, his voice steady and encouraging.

Alia, wanting to establish the importance of the gathering, cleared her throat and began the introductions. “Ahem! To my right is my father, Ricky. Next to him is Mrs. Meheta, who stands among the top five leading doctors in our country. And that lovely lady over there is the secretary of our Prime Minister.” Her voice was steady, and pride gleamed in her eyes as she presented each individual.

Dhruv nodded in acknowledgment. “Hello, everyone. I guess you know me pretty well, but anyway, I'm Dhruv Bakshi.” He paused for a moment, scanning the faces before him, making sure everyone was present and accounted for before continuing. “By coming here on my invitation, I assume you are all allies and aware of the unexpected phenomena that have been occurring.”

An uncomfortable silence settled in the room as everyone processed his words. Sensing the tension, Dhruv spoke up again, taking a deeper breath. “I know I’m the youngest among all of you, except for Alia. But I have an idea going forward. If you don’t mind, I would like to explain it to all of you.”

With a supportive nod, Mrs. Meheta responded, “You don’t need to be so humble, Dhruv. It was our duty to guide you through this.”

The Secretary added, “Let’s hear what you have to say first. We can make adjustments to our needs based on your insights.”

Dhruv nodded in appreciation, then made an unexpected declaration. “I’m out. You guys handle the Asteroid.”

Everyone in the room was dumbfounded. They can't believe the statement they heard.

“Wait!” Dhruv interrupted their whirlwind of thoughts before they could react. “Hear me first. From what I understand about the current situation, the Asteroid will hit in six days. And due to the interference from my clone, the boundary hole has shrunk considerably, which has in turn shortened the duration that the Black Soul users can remain on this planet.” He turned his gaze to Tara, seeking her input. “How many days do you think they can stay?”

“About eight to ten days,” Tara replied, her expression indicating that she understood his idea.

“That's it then,” Dhruv sighed, a sense of relief washing over him, even amidst the chaos. “Ah! You do know that I’m half dead, right? I also have to leave the living plains with them.”

Alia’s eyes widened in shock at his revelation. “Huh! What do you mean by half dead?” she asked, genuinely bewildered by Dhruv’s statement.

"Don't worry. I won't actually be dead; I'll just move to another world, I guess," Dhruv reassured everyone with a hint of confidence in his voice. He took a deep breath before continuing, "There are two critical actions we need to focus on. First, we must minimise the damage that results from our battle. Second, we need to come up with a solid plan to defeat one of the Black Soul users."

He paused, gathering his thoughts before expanding on his strategy. "The Black Soul users are currently holed up in the military camp, gripped by their fears of dying before the asteroid strikes. So, how do we turn that to our advantage? My objective is to take them down as soon as possible. The sooner we act, the better our chances of preventing them from causing any more chaos.”

The Secretary chimed in, “And once you all are gone, we can defend against the Asteroid without any interruptions or disturbance.”

“Exactly,” Dhruv confirmed with a serious nod. “I’ve heard they’ve taken hostages as a means to control the military camp. Can you break down how they’re managing the situation there? Is the camp completely shut off, or are people able to move around for their daily needs?”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“The security is exceptionally tight,” the Secretary responded, “People do exit the camp, but only to retrieve supplies that we supply them at the entrance.” She took a moment, stepping forward as if to emphasise the gravity of the next points. “We’ve figured out a discreet way to enter the camp and we also have the codes to deactivate the six missiles stationed there. During our strategic planning session, one of the key topics was the sequence of actions we must take once we get inside. The agreement we reached was to first secure the missiles, and then shift our focus to rescuing our team members. By neutralising the missile threat beforehand, we can create a safer environment for everyone involved.”

Dhruv nodded in agreement with the plan laid out before him. He then turned his attention to Uncle Ricky. "Uncle Ricky, Alia mentioned you have a Tracking ability. How does that work exactly?”

Uncle Ricky paused for a moment, clearly deep in thought. “Hmm, how do I put this?” He glanced towards Mrs. Meheta for a moment before continuing. “I can essentially see everything within a 500-meter radius on the ground.

Noticing Uncle Ricky's gaze, Mrs. Meheta instinctively covered her chest. Alia, clearly unimpressed with the awkwardness of the moment, kicked Uncle Ricky's leg. “Aww!” he exclaimed, surprised by the sudden jab. “What was that for?”

Alia shot back defiantly, “You could just explain things normally instead of making it so awkward here.”

"Ahem!" Dhruv interjected.

“You hold on for a moment. Why didn't you know about my power?” Alia asked Dhruv with anger.

“Didn't you tell me earlier? It is ‘Truth Finder’ skill, right.”

“There is more to that. I get a sensation in my heart, If you lie to me. Then I can use that sensation to materialize in my hand and shoot back at you.” Tara explained.

Dhruv asked again, taking interest in her skill, “So, it was like that and what will happen if I get hit by that?”

Alia spoke with a snug face, “You are lucky, I didn't use it on you; you would have been destroyed by how many times you lied to me. She paused and said in a low voice, almost whispered essentially, “I don't know the effects of my skill. But something bad will happen to you.”

“Right, so it's random.” Dhruv remarked and steered the conversation back on track. "Alright then, Tara, you should join the missile diffusing team while Uncle Ricky and I will be part of the assault team. We need to make this our final battle."

Tara replied, “I'm cool with that,” casting a glance at Mrs. Meheta, she spoke again. “I also don’t want to be stuck with a certain someone.”

‘Has their situation become even more bad in the last few days?’ Dhruv thought and asked the Secretary, “When will you be executing your plan?”

“Tomorrow night,” the Secretary replied, giving a firm nod.

With that, Dhruv acknowledged the timeline and the short meeting came to an end. The Secretary and Mrs. Meheta took their leave while the remaining group lingered, engaging in a lengthy conversation; confessions flowed freely as they shared the secrets they had been holding back from one another until now.

…

In a dimly lit underground stone room, a sense of unease hung in the air as Anbu muttered to himself in confusion. “Am I going crazy? We thought the Unknown Black Soul user had killed Shambu, which prompted us to move to a secure location. But why is there no activity from him yet?” His voice, barely above a whisper, echoed off the cold stone walls, amplifying his feelings of uncertainty and dread.

Rajiv, sitting nearby, couldn't resist the opportunity to tease him, “Maybe there was a fault in your puppet.”

Anbu frowned while giving a sharp look. “It's not a laughing matter you know it too. I'm already feeling regret for leaving the Soul Box behind.”

“I know how grave the situation is. We lost two of our own in the span of a single day,” Rajiv admitted, his voice taking on a more serious note. He continued, trying to make sense of the chaotic situation, “But you see, the possibility of the Unknown Black Soul user being at the right time and in the right place is quite low. Sure, the White Soul user Nico was unable to finish him off, but he weakened him substantially. Plus, you and your team left Patna just as he was releasing the pure souls from Henrik's Soul Box. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Anbu regarded Rajiv with a serious expression, sensing the implications beneath his words. “Are you indirectly telling me I’m stupid?” he asked, annoyance creeping into his voice. In a sudden outburst, he stood up from his seat and shouted, “I don’t think my skill is flawed, or rather, I don’t want to believe it. I can’t shake the feeling that he’s somehow involved in this.”

At that moment, Mia walked in through the door, her presence a welcome distraction. “My goodness,” she remarked, raising an eyebrow. “Stop yelling, will you? You had the same conversation with me earlier, and yet you still can’t let go of that Black Soul user.”

Feeling exposed, Anbu shot back defensively, “You shut your mouth! We lost so many pure souls while you’re just continuing to improve your skill.”

Mia, undeterred by his outburst, calmly reminded him, “Didn’t you get nearly a hundred thousand in the incident at the water supply facility?” Her voice dropped to a gentle tone. “Why are you venting at me now?”

Anbu paused, considering her words for a moment before responding with newfound determination, “Yeah! No, you’re correct. I should find that bastard and shoot him in the head this time, just like Shambu.” Anbu declared, his resolve hardening as he prepared to storm out of the room.

“Wait a second,” Rajiv interjected, his voice firm yet calm. “You’re not thinking clearly right now. This might be exactly what he’s been waiting for.”

Haah! Anbu couldn’t contain his frustration any longer, letting out a scream while tugging at his own hair. “This is infuriating! Alright, Mia, did you manage to heal the hostages? Let’s go for another round.”

With that, he stormed out of the room, leaving Mia to briefly reflect on the situation. “Although I feel sorry for him,” she muttered under her breath, “his frustration is actually beneficial for improving my skill.”

“Just make sure he doesn’t go too far,” Rajiv called after her as she hurried to catch up with Anbu.

Sitting alone, Rajiv began to tap his finger against the armrest, lost in thought. ‘But honestly, is the Unknown Black Soul user really involved, or are we just being overly paranoid? If he isn’t involved, where could he possibly be right now? One thing is for certain—whether he’s involved or not is irrelevant at this moment. He must have made his way to Chennai by now, especially with all the chaos we’ve stirred up. Even though the security here is decent, for a Black Soul user, the ability to change bodies at will makes things far more complicated. We’ll have to wait and see what he does next. If he doesn’t make a move, then perhaps we will win by default.’