A man with golden hair forwarded towards the forest while followed by hundreds of soldiers.
[TTAK…TTAK]
Their rapid steps echoed in the cold and quiet woods. A sense of uneasiness filled the soldier’s heart as closed in towards the center;
[WOOSH]
A gust of warm wind made every single hair of Vijay’s body erect. He widened his eyes, while scanning the darkness to find the source.
“Huh?” A soldier in front of Vijay whispered, as his eyes caught something shining in the moonlight, barely visible behind the tree. Without thinking and filled with curiosity, he forwarded and leaned towards it;
“STOP!”
[GLUBL….FSS]
Before Vijay could utter his words of warning, the soldier’s entire body melted and turned into a mass of blood and flesh.
A chill ran down the soldier's spine, they restlessly looked in the darkness while stepping back.
‘What pushed nagas to enter their berserk state?...And they still died?’
An unfamiliar uncertainty crept its way in Vijay’s heart. Then his eyes widened, as he saw a silver haired man sitting in the distance while staring at the moon. His surprise was elevated upon seeing the man’s seat, a pile of dead nagas with venomous fumes leaking through their body.
The soldier’s heart got engulfed in fear, hesitation to take a single step forward paralyzed their resolve.
‘That has to be some kind of mantra…no living being can survive that…’ Vijay jumped down from his heart while reassuring himself,
‘Digvijay was much weaker than me…there’s no way I would lose to this scra….’
Vijay’s thoughts were halted, as Arav turned towards him. His unrecognizable appearance was the least of Vijay’s worry, as he saw a purple liquid covering Arav’s bare skin.
[SHING….WOOSH]
Vijay quickly unsheathed his sword, with it getting surrounded in a blue energy.
[SHING..]
The sound of spears cutting the air echoed in the area, as the soldiers gained their will upon sensing the energy radiating from Vijay’s sword;
“IT APPEARS THE WORM STILL CRAWLS!!” Vijay exclaimed while pointing his sword towards Arav.
Arav blankly turned towards him, then looked behind him;
[HUM!...SPLURT…]
“RAAARGH!!!’
Vijay’s ears heard the sound of hundreds of metal armor getting impaled, followed by the screams of agony. As he turned, he found most of the soldiers flat on the ground, leaving a dozen standing in front of him.
[TAK..TAK…TAK]
“You might as well call them out..” Arav calmly spoke while walking down the pile of naga corpses.
“YOU WORM!!...DO YOU THINK KILLING A FEW SOLDIERS WILL SCARE ME??!!”
[WOOSH]
The energy on VIjay’s sword intensified, as he took a battling stand;
“HAAAA!!!” Vijay jumped forward, while thrusting his raging sword towards Arav;
[SHING…]
His sword hit nothing but air, as Arav moved in the nick of time;
[SMACK….THUD]
A strong punch landed on Vijay’s gut, causing him to fly through several trees;
[KRIAH….]
“HAAAH” As the trees were falling, Vijay jumped towards Arav,
[DHUM…WOOSH]
As the blade hit Arav’s hand, Vijay felt a strong force in his hand holding the sword, which created a shockwave and threw him meters away.
While confused and annoyed, he looked at Arav and found his hands healing at a rapid rate. His brows expanded, as within several seconds, Arav’s hand recovered without a spec of damage visible. Vijay stood up, while bewildered by his opponent’s abilities, as the pace of recovery surpassed any mantra he was aware of.
‘Healing?…and.he redirected the force of my attack to my own hand….How does he know such techniques?’
Vijay had begun to realize, this isn't the same weak boy he once towered over. The uncertainty about Arav’s abilities slowly began shaking the pillars of Vijay’s confident;
Arav silently gazed at Vijay, along with a sharp ringing sound constantly echoing in his head, accompanied by unpleasant memories of torment by Vijay’s hands. Arav still had control over his anger, but the grip over that thread appeared to loosen with every instance he gazed upon him;
“Tch…LET’S SEE HOW LONG THAT ABILITY TAKES YOU!!”
[SHING!!]
Vijay’s sword vibrated, he jumped towards Arav once again,
[HUM!]
Yellow energy appeared and surrounded Arav’s hands;
[BOOM]
As the both warriors collided, an incredible explosion happened with a powerful shockwave throwing the remaining soldiers away. As they regained their balance and the dust settled, they found Vijay’s sword trying to pierce through the energy surrounding Arav’s hand.
[WOOSH]
Blue and yellow energy rose feets above the ground, trying to overpower each other. Vijay ragefully tried to push through, but failed as equal amount of force resisted against him;
‘This worm is equal to my strength?...How’s that possible?.Just what is happening?.’ Vijay wondered, while suddenly, his sword began moving back;
“HAAA!!!!!”
Vijay shouted, with even more energy erupting through him.
[BOOM!] [THUD]
Another explosion forced the soldiers to cover their face,
“UGH!...” Vijay found himself thrown away from Arav, who stood with yellow energy flaming at his palms.
‘H…he has condensed his entire mantra on his palm…again…he redirected the force of my attack…But,..that’s an elite level of control…How does this pest know of it?’
“Heh…uncle taught you well…” Vijay chuckled while getting up, trying to make sense of the situation;
“But THAT WON’T BE ENOUGH TO DEFEAT ME!!!”
[WOOOOSH!!!]
Vijay’s blue aura erupted, far more intense than anything he had shown before. The aura was visible from the elf town as well as the castle, making the inhabitants of both places gaze with wonder;
“YOU CAN NEVER SURPASS ME!!! MAY THAT BE A PROPHECY OR EVEN A GOD!!! I WILL DEFEAT THEM ALL…HAAAA!!!!”
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
[THOOD]
[SHING…SHING…SHING]
Vijay rapidly moved towards Arav, and slashed countless times in a fraction of seconds. The soldiers stared while frozen to their core, as they couldn’t even witness the attacks of Vijay;
‘Huh?’ Vijay’s eyes widened, his heart suddenly slowed it’s beating as he found Arav negating every single attack he sent his way;
‘How is this possible?..’
Vijay’s last slash forwarded towards Arav, who moved rapidly, with the sword brushing from his hand. Vijay stared in utter surprise, as he saw Arav’s fist forwarding towards his face. Vijay tried to move, but his hands weren’t as fast as his vision,
[SMACK….SMACK…SMACK…SMACK]
[SPLURT]
“URK!...”
[SMACK…THUD]
Hundreds of punches pummeled his face, with the final strike throwing him away.
“UGH!...” Vijay grabbed his jaw, which felt like a mass of flesh on his hand. Warm blood covered his palm, while leaving his heart devoid of even the slightest confidence he had. Vijay looked at Arav, who was slowly forwarding towards him while his eyes coldly stared at Vijay. His hands, holding a mess of a face began shaking wildly;
“SWOV HIV!” Vijay screamed, only a shadow of words could escape his lips. The soldiers were startled, as if awakened from a dream, they understood Vijay’s order, but their heart failed to provide the strength to hold their weapon against Arav.
[THMM!!!]
The ground trembled, making the soldiers realize that the order wasn’t aimed towards them;
Within moments, the entire area was filled with nagas, making the soldiers freeze on the spot.
Arav didn’t appeared even the least bit of surprised, he slightly raised both of his fists,
[THRUSH!!!]
An intense yellow energy erupted from his body, cracking the ground around him, while making his silver hair wave. Vijay’s entire body shivered, as he finally managed to sense the energy radiating from Arav.
“Hugh!..” The soldiers stepped back, as their chest got heavier just by Arav’s presence around them.
[WOOSH]
Hundreds of purple light sources illuminated the forest, as every naga present transformed into their true form.
—
“WHAT?” Yaksh, who was still on the hill whispered, as his green eyes reflected the hundreds of purple light sources in the forest. His mind recalled the fight against the naga, making his feet shake upon seeing the sheer number of them.
[WOOSH]
Green energy surrounded Yaksh, allowing him to move at a rapid rate towards the forest, he jumped over the houses, then the trees, while his eyes stared at the forest in trance. The concern for Arav clouded his thoughts, along with the regret of losing his sister intensifying..Then in that split moment, a realization shook Yaksh to his core;
‘These nagas….they…they are far…far stronger than the one I fought..’
His concern wasn’t resolved in the slightest, as upon arriving at the center, his fearful gaze was met with Arav standing while surrounded by hundreds of naga. Yaksh tried to find ways out of this situation, but every path led to a losing battle;
“HEHEHE!!...HAHAHAHAHA!!....DESTINY TRULY IS FUNNY!!...YOU WERE NOT SATISFIED BY JUST DYING ONCE!!...” Vijay stood up, while throwing a red glass bottle on the ground. His face was completely healed with red steam visible around him.
‘A healing potion….’ Yaksh recognised the item instantly, as his previous experience with humans had revealed several mysteries to him.
Vijay’s enthusiasm did not affect Arav in the slightest, who stood with a brilliant yellow constantly burning out of him;
“What are you all waiting for?” Arav spoke while waving his palm up and down, challenging the naga warriors with a smile;
“YOU!!!...SSS!!!!”
[WOOOSH]
Dense purple fog erupted out of the naga, causing every single tree to turn into ashes in the proximity.
“YOUNG MASTER!!! PLE–” The soldiers exclaimed in agony, stretching their arm towards Vijay while their body melted within moments. But their painful cry for help wasn’t answered, as Vijay just proudly smiled at the ability of the nagas.
[FISS]
The purple fog was negated as soon as it touched Arav’s yellow aura, causing the nagas to get infuriated even further.
“HAAAAA!!!!!” Four of them in the front jumped towards Arav, while constantly releasing their venomous fumes;
[SMACK…SMACK…SMACK…]
Arav punched three of them away, completely unaffected by their attack.
[SWOOSH]
“SSS….URK!” The naga was startled, as Arav disappeared from his front and grabbed his tail;
[WOO….WOO…WOO]
“HAAAA!!!’’
[SMACK…SMACK…THUD]
The other nagas jumped, but each one of them were struck by Arav moving the naga in circles by holding his tail.
“WHAT?!...HOW??!!” Vijay looked startled, as finally he saw some emotion on Arav’s face, but it wasn’t fear or despair as he expected. It was a smile,...a smile that represented the monstrous strength ARav possessed.
‘W…what is this?!’ Yaksh wondered while lowering his bow, as he saw the nagas constantly attacking and Arav easily deflecting their attack.
“UGH!!...SSS!!!!” The naga, whom the other ones appeared to follow, crashed in a tree. He wriggled his tail and quickly stood up, upon looking in Arav’s direction, he found Arav holding a naga with his face turned into a purple mass of blood and flesh.
“YOU VERMIN!!!..HOW DARE YOU DISRESPECT THE NAGAS?!” The naga screamed, while a strange purple aura radiated from his body.
“Hmm?..” Arav found the naga he held reacting in a strange way,
[WOOSH]
All the nagas turned into purple energy and headed towards the apparent leader. Vijay, who until now just stood and watched the whole ordeal, suddenly wore a bright smile on his lips, making it clear that he was aware of the phenomenon.
“HUP!..” VIjay jumped and landed beside the naga, who’s body began changing rapidly. Arav felt the rapid growth in energy, but chose to stand still and watch, as his curiosity overwhelmed the need of action;
[HUM!]
A bright beam of purple light shot towards the sky,
“SSS!!!”
A terrifying hiss trembled the forest, as the changed form of the naga was revealed. A snake with a huge body and hundreds of heads stood right beside Vijay, who had already gathered energy on his sword.
“You will die!!!”
[BHMM…..WOOSH!!!]
As Vijay spoke, the energy on his sword condensed, forming a sphere on the tip. While the hundreds of heads of the naga began gathering a large sphere of energy in front of them.
A stream of sweat covered Yaksh, as the energy from just them summoning their attack terrified him to his core. The concern about Arav was now intensely occupied with the concern for his town;
[THUD]
“WHAT WILL YOU DO NOW?!” Yaksh exclaimed, while his shaking hands nocked an arrow on his bow.
[THRRR]
The energy gathered was so dense that it began attracting the trees around them,
“Hmm…It appears the end has arrived..”
“WHAT?”
Yaksh exclaimed in disbelief, as Arav’s words made his face turn pale;
“Stay here..”
Arav stepped forward, while the force from the energy kept supporting his movement;
[HUM!]
A yellow sphere was formed around Yaksh and began taking him towards the town.
Yaksh brought both of his palms forward,
[WOOSH]
The yellow aura surrounding him began rapidly moving between his palms, forming a small yellow sphere in the process.
[BHM!!!!!.]
Two powerful beams of energy were released from Vijay’s side, trembling the entire mountain range and the city.
The town trembled in a horrifying manner, all the elves were already staring at the bright light coming out of the forest. The sphere that previously surrounded Yaksh, now had become huge and covered the entire town.
“Here goes..”
[BHUM!!]
As ARav spoke, a strong yellow beam of energy rushed towards the terrifying attack coming towards him.
[WHUM!!!]
Arav’s energy beam collided with the two opposing attacks, and began getting pushed back towards him.
“HAA!!!!”
“SSS!!!”
The war-cry of Vijay and the naga made the beam even stronger, which completely engulfed Arav’s attack.
[THUM!!]
Arav collided with the beam, with a bright blue light on the left side, and a purple light on the right, illuminating the forest.
“No!..”
The elves let out a gasp, as their hearts sank by the imagination of what might’ve occurred. Yaksh went on his knees, as he could no longer sense the incredible energy of Arav. His eyes were wide open while staring at the ground, he felt the same amount of pain when he lost his sister.
But then,
[GRHH!!]
Yaksh’s ears twitched, he quickly raised his head, causing the tears to fall out of his eyes. His heart began racing, as he recognised the strange sound trembling the forest.
“WHAT?”
Vijay and the naga, they both confusingly stared at the impact point, while a strange roar made their heart tremble. Their energy beams still raged forward, but to their utter surprise, they felt a sudden resistance against their attack,
[SWIP!!!]
Vijay’s hands were thrown back, with his sword shattering into pieces. His eyes followed a red energy blade piercing their attack in the middle.
“SSS!!!...AHH!!!” An agonizing scream caused Vijay to look left, who found the naga split in half.
[THUD!]
Both halves of the naga fell on the ground, while Vijay blankly stared at them;
[GRHH!]
Vijay heard another roar, he slowly turned his shaking head. His eyes widened, heart sank into horror as he saw Arav standing in front of him with a huge crater around him. The strangest part was the terrifying red aura blazing around him and the roar that accompanied it.
[Chapter 17: END]