The trio rested in the aftermath of the serpent's fall, but the land did not. The air hung heavy with unshed thunder, and above them, the sky had turned strange—layered with angular clouds that moved not with the wind, but with purpose. Like watchful gods shifting their gaze.
The world was watching again.
The gods were listening.
And something had begun to awaken.
---
Astha stood at the edge of the ruined grove. Smritidhaara cooled around his wrist, its charred links still faintly steaming. His robe, torn from the last strike, revealed divine script burned into his skin—mantras etched not by ink, but by memory.
He stared upward.
"Those clouds," he muttered. "They're not weather. They're formation markers."
Luv walked up beside him, golden eyes narrowed, silver armor still humming with static.
"Then whatever they belong to... it's airborne."
Naira landed beside them with a soft hover, her talismans spinning defensively around her.
"They're shaping a route. Not for a creature—" she paused, voice darkening, "—but for a construct."
Astha nodded slowly.
"A Sky-Fortress."
---
[The Emergence of Vajratma]
Above them, something breached the stratosphere.
First came the sound—a chime, broken and metallic. Then a shape: a titanic ring of celestial steel descending slowly, dragging behind it a crumbling constellation, like a bleeding wound in the sky.
It was not flying.
It was falling… with purpose.
A floating citadel made of impossible stone and starlight, shaped like an inverted lotus blooming in reverse. At its center burned a flame—cold, silver, and sentient.
Inscribed along its edges were glyphs written in Trideva Script, the tongue of primal gods.
Naira exhaled sharply.
"That's Vajratma. The Eye of Cosmic Judgment. A war relic from the Age of Flame."
Luv tilted his head, hair swaying in the lightning-kissed breeze.
"Didn't that thing kill gods?"
"Seventeen," Naira whispered. "Before the pantheon caged it."
Astha tightened his grip around Smritidhaara.
"Looks like they set it loose again."
---
[Inside the Citadel]
Within the floating fortress, nine thrones sat empty. One—cracked. One—burned. One—fused into the wall, as if someone had tried to erase it but failed.
And standing at the center was a new figure.
A woman draped in black-gold robes. Her hands covered in threads of mantra-steel. Her face masked by a veil made from broken timeglass.
She spoke only once.
"Deploy the Chariot of Ekagra. Let the sinners below feel the gaze of Vajratma."
---
[The Chariot Descends]
Back on the battlefield, the sky lit up. A beam of molten blue light fired from the citadel toward the earth.
But instead of impact—it unfolded.
What landed was no ordinary weapon.
It was a chariot of divine origin, shaped like a skeletal horse-headed beast dragging behind it a temple-shaped war-altar. From its side burst forth hundreds of aerial drones—sentient mantra stones that screeched in divine binary.
Each one locked onto Astha.
"Target locked: Violation of Memory Principle. Divine trespass confirmed."
They attacked.
---
[Combat Begins: Chapter Fight Direction]
The first barrage was pure light—plasma-mantled beams spiraling down like rain. Astha didn't dodge. He stepped forward, raising his hand.
Smritidhaara extended—
And spun.
The chain ignited, forming a flaming barrier sigil mid-air that caught the blasts. Vaayutal appeared in his other hand. He hurled it into a drone.
Direct hit. The drone exploded, raining broken mantra-cores.
Luv leapt next, silver armor flaring with arcs of thunder. He split his spear in two, dual-wielding lightning-tipped daggers as he danced midair between drones, piercing their cores and redirecting energy shots back at them.
"How many are there?" he shouted.
"Too many," Naira answered, casting a multi-phase mantra shield over the battlefield. "But they're connected. Like an array."
Astha's eyes narrowed.
"Then we kill the source."
---
[Target: The Chariot Beast]
Astha launched himself skyward, Smritidhaara trailing behind him like a flaming serpent. The beast pulling the chariot bellowed—it had no eyes, only scripture-brands across its face and chest. Its hooves struck the sky like it was solid.
Astha threw Smritidhaara—
The chain wrapped around one of its legs.
He pulled.
Hard.
The beast flipped, crashing against its own war-altar. Lightning coursed through the atmosphere—Luv following up with a spear through its spine.
The creature let out a warping howl as Naira burned mantra seals onto its neck, momentarily binding its motion.
Astha landed on its back.
"I'm done playing defense."
He raised Vaayutal high, then called out:
"Smritidhaara—Bind Protocol: Triveni Ashtaraksha!"
The chain lit up. Eight fiery arms of mantra energy erupted behind him—each holding a different weapon form. The beast roared and collapsed beneath the weight of divine suppression.
---
[Aftermath]
The fortress in the sky began to withdraw.
But the woman in the veil watched… and smiled.
"Ash-Walker. You are early. But not unworthy."
She turned away, her voice fading into the void.
"Let the next door open."
The sky twisted once more.
And broke.