[A few hours ago]

A strange mass of dark energy engulfed the atmosphere, the density of which was too much for breathing. A dim light filled small fractions of the endless void, scattered around with their sources not in sight. Some were blue, some yellow, while some dawned a bright red color. The dark energy filling the place was calm, as if in harmony with the scattered patches of light. In the unknown position of the void, the dark energy was slightly displaced by a blue aura rushing throughout a man. His silver hair floated above his head in rhythm with the flow of blue aura. His eyes were closed with lips sealed under a silver mustache. His right palm was placed on the left one, both facing upwards while resting on his lap. His eyelids radiated blue light, unable to cover his blue glowing eyes. He kept drifting aimlessly in directions not under his control.

[WOOSH!]

The dark energy suddenly rushed away from the man, repelled by an unknown appearance some distance away from him. The man felt his blue aura vibrating as it collided with the dark energy. He slowly opened his eyes, finding a man with long white hair and a similar beard floating in front of him. The man had a warm smile on his face, while his old wrinkled eyes gazed with amazement towards him. “Pralaya… You keep attempting to achieve something you aren’t yet ready for,” the man said in a powerful voice. Arav’s eyes drifted once left, then to the right of the man. He found every iota of dark energy removed from his sight, along with the few patches of energy. The old man noticed Arav’s gaze. “Leaving trails of energy behind… May I ask the reasoning behind it?” the old man asked while his open palms slightly stretched towards Arav.

Arav lifted his hands and stretched his legs. He stood up without moving an inch from the spot. “It’s a way to keep track of direction... and the spots I have already been to,” Arav answered in a calm tone. The man’s smile changed into a smirk. “Your mental resilience is quite astonishing, retaining a dragon’s will even in a human’s body,” the man added. Arav smirked at the man’s remark. “I can’t help but doubt that.” As Arav spoke, a brief silence ensued. The man kept gazing at Arav, while Arav had his complete focus placed on the man. “You can’t sense my energy.” The man’s sudden words startled Arav, his focus abruptly breaking that made his eyes flinch. “You were not born,” Arav said with a serious expression. This time, the old man was the one with startled eyes.

“Ho ho... impressive. Besides, that isn’t important at the moment. My presence here is something that should’ve never occurred... and it will have consequences.” The man’s expression turned serious with his voice getting heavier every word he spoke. This made Arav intrigued. “My name is Prithvi. I am the god of earth,” just as Arav was about to speak, the man said in a serious tone. “A god? Of earth?” Arav’s doubtful words were clear as day, even in the endless darkness around him.

“My purpose is the protection of earth ” the old man said with his serious tone maintained. A smirk suddenly replaced the intrigue on Arav’s face. “Then I must say, you have done a marvelous job at that,” Arav said with the last of his words almost turning into laughter. The old man shrugged his head. “There is always a caveat. Gods are prohibited from meddling with the matters of earthlings.” This sentence unexpectedly threw Arav down a spiral of thoughts and theories, his mind rapidly beginning to recall the past events.

“A threat far greater than anything you have witnessed is about to befall our oblivious world.” The old man’s tone suddenly showed concern as he spoke while lowering his eyes. “Gods decided to interfere once in the past… and the consequences of that action are about to appear. Unfortunately, with the gods being responsible, the scales have tilted towards darkness.”

The old man raised his gaze and looked at Arav with eyes that showed regret. “Brahmastra… wasn’t something that humans achieved on their own.” As the old man continued, his expression turned darker. “Humans are the only species that worship the gods. This single difference made your constant victories over humans quite a sore point in the gods’ eyes. In fear of your absolute rule on the earth, an Avatar with the ability to wield Brahmashtra was created.” The man went silent upon adding the final words.

Arav turned his gaze away from the old man and stared into the abyss. “Aren’t you repeating the same mistake again?” Arav said in a calm tone. The old man was taken aback by his non-existent reaction to the entire information. After a brief silence, he spoke, “This time... I have chosen the right side.”

"What is the threat you speak of?" Arav asked while turning back towards the man. The old man stayed silent until he confirmed the calm expression on Arav’s face. "A demonic existence, a being created to cause utter annihilation without leaving anything in its path. The last instance of its appearance was millennia ago, in the great war between gods and demons." The man’s silence slightly bothered Arav; he expected his explanation to span even further. "Why haven’t you prevented the previous demonic invasions?" Arav asked.

“Once again, even gods have rules they must abide by. Interference with the matter of mortals is strictly prohibited. I am allowed to only interfere when an otherworldly threat arises. Even if this is the case right now, the one ultimately causing it… is still a mortal,” the man answered with a sigh.

“Why now?” Arav asked with his eyes contracting.

“I am breaking the rule because if I don’t… there will be no earth left for me to protect.”

The old man raised his right arm and pointed it towards the endless darkness. "The choice is yours… either you can bring the mortals together, make them put aside their differences and fight this threat united, or you can find the one summoning this being and prevent it from ever happening." As the old man spoke, his hands released a stream of silver energy, forming a symbol of a dragon in the distance that turned into a crack in space within a few seconds.

“I apologize for leaving such a burden on your shoulders… again. But it is also true that you... and only you have the capability of achieving such a feat,” the old man added. Arav turned towards the old man with a confused expression. “Again?” Arav’s question was met with a warm smile from the man. “I could’ve done that myself,” Arav said with a smirk while he began floating forward, not expecting any further explanation nor truly desiring one.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“You have a burdensome task to fulfill. This can, at least, add a little time to your rest. Consider this a strange way of repenting,” the old man said, while regret engulfed his entire face. Arav reached right next to the crack. “I won’t be able to meet you on earth without the gods noticing... and more importantly, your erased memories will return as you get closer to your former strength...” the old man added while placing his arm on his back. Arav began moving towards the crack. Just as he was about to enter, “Pralaya... Take care of my daughter.” The old man’s eyes got teary, with the final words escaping his shivering lips.

***

[Inside the Chandra kingdom's main castle]

Eleven nobles sat around a large table filled with various food items and cuisines, leaving a single, most luxurious chair in front of the table. The chair had arms made of gold and was covered in the softest and most comfortable wool found in the kingdom, with a bright blue cloth covering the seat. With bright eyes, they appeared to be restlessly awaiting someone's arrival, while the aroma of freshly cooked food in front of them gave their patience quite a daunting challenge.

Someone's hasty and vibrant footsteps echoed in the room. Every single one of the eleven nobles' faces brightened, their eyes stretching to catch a glimpse of the anticipated arrival. Before long, a young man wearing royal blue clothing and holding a sword with a golden hilt - with the old king's blood smudges still apparent on the golden sheath, entered the room with a proud expression.

A constant and heavy flow of energy kept vibrating in the air, hinting at an incredible phenomenon appearing right out of the castle. But the nobles didn't pay attention to the energy and had their eyes focused on the young noble, who slowly dragged the chair slightly away from the table and moved his backside towards it to sit down.

[SMACK!]

The nobles' expressions didn't take even a second to turn from bright to dark. A strange man suddenly appeared with a powerful gust of wind and kicked the young noble right on his backside. The young noble crashed into a white marble pillar right in the intended trajectory of the kick.

For a split second, the nobles gazed at the young noble lying on the ground with his backside lifted and pointing at the ceiling while their peripheral vision formed a blurry image of the man. Their enraged faces turned left, and now faced the man, but just as previously, their expression turned from enraged to horrified.

The man stood with long silver hair that appeared to be left dry and uncombed for months. His tattered black clothes had a striking resemblance to their worst nightmare. The man gazed at them, his silver eyes barely visible under his hair.

The nobles went silent. They couldn't comprehend the man's expression, but the worst part was their inability to sense the man's energy. "Urgh..wh-..what in the world?" The youngest noble groaned while standing up. His shaking feet hinted toward the incredible strength the man’s attack had, hence solidifying their horror-filled suspicion.

The man sat down on the chair and dragged a bowl of food towards him, all the while the nobles were frozen, with their mouths dry, even in the presence of the delicious food they previously could barely wait to eat. “Truly exquisite!" The man said in a satisfied tone after he devoured the entire bowl of food in what appeared to be seconds. "I didn’t expect you to be preparing for my arrival so wholeheartedly.” The man said while placing the bowl down and wiping his face, giving a split-second glance at his silver bearded chin.

The man’s voice erased any signs of suspicion or doubt left in the twelve nobles' heads. Instead of chasing the man out, arresting him, or killing him on the spot, their hearts raced, with their minds, quickly attempting to find a way of survival.

The oldest noble’s expression turned into a bright and warm one, but signs of fear and desperation could be easily noticed by the drops of sweat streaming down their faces. “Hehe..Of course, Young Master Arav, we were-.." Just as he began to speak,

[SWISH!]

The oldest noble's eyes widened with shock, while the other confused nobles began turning their heads towards him in confusion. Their curiosity was answered by a horrifying sight: the old noble's head had a spoon completely embedded inside it. Arav's stretched arms provided them with the origin of the occurrence before blood could even begin to flow out of the old noble's head.

"Not young master, but your Majesty," Arav spoke in a calm tone, adding to the nobles' utter horror. The youngest noble's eyes shivered with rage, he unsheathed his sword and threw the golden sheath on the floor. "YOU BASTARD!!"

[SLASH!]

The sword raged with dark energy while heading directly at Arav's silver head, intending to split his skull in half. The youngest noble, along with the rest of them, was left with shivering eyes; his hands felt a strong vibration from the sword the moment it clashed with Arav's head. Arav began tilting his head towards the youngest noble.

"He had his feet already in the grave…quite similar to my grandfather.." Arav spoke as his gaze stopped on the youngest noble's face, filled with fear instead of his previous rage. "Won't you agree?" Arav's eyes were finally revealed to the youngest noble; his eyes were shivering with immense rage and bloodthirst, making his uncanny ability to speak in a calm tone send chills down the youngest noble's spine.

The sword fell from his hand. He began taking hasty steps backwards, with his pale face shaking the other nobles’ souls. Arav’s eyes traced the falling sword. Just as it was about to touch the floor, a thin blue layer of energy formed around it, and made it float above the floor.

The nobles were too terrified to notice this. All of their strength began concentrating in their legs, with the intention of making an apparent final run for their lives. The sword moved up along with Arav’s eyes, and it was placed on the table right next to him without producing any sound. Arav noticed the nobles’ terrified expressions and their feet slowly dragging away from the table.

“I won’t kill you all,” Arav said while standing up, freezing every noble's movement. He then turned towards the entrance of the hall. As if waiting for this very moment, four footsteps resounded throughout the room. A wave of utter fear washed over the nobles. The slight hope of life from Arav’s words was shattered immediately. Every single one of them recognized the being entering and gazed at each other with shivering eyes.

A centaur entered the room, with his eyes failing to rise above the floor, while his hands were shivering and placed respectfully in front of him. Arav began to move forward towards the golden sheath lying on the floor. "Each wound you engrave on their bodies will serve to increase your lifespan," Arav said as he picked up the sheath without even looking at the centaur.

[Chapter 45: END]