The night was quiet.
Too quiet.
Rudra sat alone in the storage basement of the school's old building — a forgotten concrete chamber where no one ever went. Dim emergency lights hummed overhead. Dust coated every surface. Old desks leaned crooked against the walls like corpses left to rot.
It was the perfect place to test something forbidden.
He stood at the center of the room, his palm open, the Zix Core pulsing like a second heartbeat in his chest.
> [Zix Core: Sync 2.1%]
[Demon Realm: Avatar Control Available]
[Projection Mode: Minor Summon – Tier I Unlocked]
Rudra exhaled slowly.
His thoughts focused, sharp, clear. And then—like instinct rather than action—he spoke.
"Kaalkrit," he whispered.
The world shivered.
The lights flickered.
Heat exploded in the air around him. Not fire. Presence. The smell of ash. The sound of bones cracking in distant thunder.
From the floor, red cracks appeared — glowing, jagged, throbbing with unnatural life.
And then — a shadow rose.
Seven feet tall. Half-formed. Kaalkrit's projection.
Not his full body, but a raw silhouette — muscles like stone, golden eyes burning like suns, chains wrapped around his wrists, crackling with demonic energy. Horns curved from his skull, and every breath released a wave of pressure.
Rudra stumbled backward instinctively, eyes wide.
Even this projection… was overwhelming.
"Master," Kaalkrit said, his voice low, distant, yet filled with restraint. "I felt your call."
His head bowed slightly, golden eyes glowing beneath the shadowed face.
"This form is weak. Only 12% of my might can reach your world."
"It's enough," Rudra said. "I just needed to know… if you could come."
Kaalkrit's jaw tensed.
"I can do more than come. I can destroy."
Rudra looked around the room.
This concrete shell wouldn't last if Kaalkrit so much as moved wrong.
"Not yet," Rudra said. "Stay."
Kaalkrit stood completely still.
His restraint was terrifying.
Even more terrifying?
He obeyed.
---
> [Projection Test: Complete]
[Summoner's Authority: Confirmed]
[Sync Bonus +0.3%]
[Fertility Connection: Ratri – Reacting]
Rudra blinked.
The moment the core notified him, he felt her.
Somewhere far beyond the stars — in the Demon Realm — Ratri was trembling.
Not from fear.
But from longing.
---
Meanwhile — Demon Realm
Ratri curled on black silk, her body drenched in sweat. Her skin glowed faintly pink, her thighs squeezed tightly, and her chest rose and fell in erratic rhythm.
> "He called Kaalkrit," she whispered, fangs showing behind her lips.
> "He touched him. I… felt it. Through the bond."
She gasped, her back arching in a ripple of overwhelming desire. Her fingers dug into the sheets as her body responded against her will.
It wasn't lust for Kaalkrit.
It was him.
Rudra.
The one whose power now curled around her soul like a hand at her throat. The only one allowed to take her. The only one who owned her womb.
> "Please," she whispered, alone in the dark. "Let him come. Let him come… to me."
---
Back on Earth
Rudra closed his hand, and the projection faded.
Kaalkrit vanished without protest — replaced only by silence and a faint burning mark on the concrete where he had stood.
Rudra sat against the wall, his breath shaky.
He had done it.
He had summoned a being that could destroy this city with a flick of his hand — and it had obeyed.
The Zix Core pulsed warmer now, syncing deeper.
> [Projection Memory Stored]
[New Avatar Potential Detected – Second Realm Gateway: Locked]
[Synchronization Threshold: 3.0% Needed to Unlock Realm 2]
Another realm.
More avatars.
More worlds.
He would reach it soon.
And when he did… this school, this city, even this Earth — would mean nothing.
---
That night, as he walked home through the dark alleys, his phone buzzed.
No name.
No number.
Just a message.
> "They're watching you.
Be still.
Don't act… until you see her eyes again."
Rudra stared at the screen.
Then deleted the message without a word.