---
The battlefield was soaked in blood. Smoke coiled around the broken remains of the village. Screams echoed. Fires crackled. The Kara Army had returned—and this time, they brought no mercy.
Parashu and Veerath stood back-to-back, bruised, breathless, their blades heavy with exhaustion. They had tried. Gods knew, they had tried. But the army was too vast, too ruthless. The villagers—men, women, even children—fell like leaves in a storm.
And then… Kamravinash arrived.
The air turned heavy.
He didn't shout. He didn't run. He simply walked, barefoot over the burning soil, as if the world itself bent for him. His presence whispered into every soul:
> "Remember... every heartbreak you've buried."
Soldiers dropped their weapons, clutching their chests. Screaming. Weeping. Some fell to their knees. Some took their own lives.
Kamravinash's voice wasn't loud—but it echoed louder than thunder in the hearts of the weak.
Veerath gritted his teeth. "He's feeding on their sorrow."
Parashu could barely stand. The wound from the Kara General's strike was deep. Blood pooled at his side.
And then Jalandhara stepped out of the flames.
Armour glowing, eyes cold. "This village ends tonight."
Veerath pushed forward. "Parashu, fall back."
But Parashu stepped forward instead. "No… I feel it. She's not coming this time."
His voice cracked.
"She trusted me to fight… without her."
Kamravinash turned toward Parashu. "You're the one she touched."
Parashu narrowed his eyes.
Kamravinash smiled sadly. "Then you'll be the first to break."
With a single wave of his hand, a wave of black sorrow swept toward them—memories of loss, betrayal, grief. It crushed their minds like a storm of knives.
Parashu fell to his knees.
"I can't…" he gasped.
Jalandhara drew his blade. "End it."
But as he stepped forward—something shifted.
The winds changed. The fire died.
A silence heavier than death settled.
Then—
BOOM.
A shockwave cracked the earth. Dust flew. Even Kamravinash stumbled back.
And from that dust…
A figure emerged.
Worn leather armor. A scar down the left eye. Two swords crossed behind his back.
Every heartbeat froze.
Veerath whispered, "No…"
Jalandhara's eyes narrowed. "Impossible."
Kamravinash stepped back. "It… can't be."
The figure raised his head.
Eyes sharp. Calm. Cold.
"Jamadigini," Veerath said. "The one man army…"
The forgotten hero had returned.
---
Jamadigini didn't speak at first. He just walked—slowly, toward Parashu.
Then he stopped.
Looked at Kamravinash.
Then at Jalandhara.
And finally, at Veerath.
He spoke quietly.
> "You thought I stayed away because I was afraid. I stayed away because I was tired of killing."
His voice deepened.
> "But today… I see monsters feeding on broken hearts. I see the innocent burned for nothing."
He drew his blades.
> "So here I am. Once again. For one last war."
Kamravinash's face twitched. "You… you think your steel can cut sorrow?"
Jamadigini stepped forward. "No. But I can cut the source of it."
He moved like lightning.
One swing—Kamravinash flew back, crashing into stone. Screaming.
Jalandhara attacked next—faster than sound—but Jamadigini blocked it with ease.
Clang.
Blow after blow, and yet the old warrior didn't falter. He pushed Jalandhara back, step by step.
Veerath watched, stunned.
> "The night I tried to kill you, he stood between us," he whispered to Parashu.
"He said, 'Revenge does not heal, Veerath. It devours.'
I didn't believe him.
But now… I see it. I see the man who lost everything… and still came back."
Parashu nodded. Eyes wide with something between awe and guilt.
Jamadigini was surrounded now—but he didn't waver.
Kamravinash rose again, blood dripping from his lip.
> "You are alone."
Jamadigini grinned, blood on his teeth.
> "That's how I always fought."
He charged again. Against both.
Steel flashed. Power clashed. Wind screamed.
The forgotten hero had returned.
And the world would remember his name.
---