Urvi's eyes narrowed, lips curling into a smirk the moment Kiara raised her bow again.
The arrow glimmered with metallic resolve as it sliced through the air toward her.
Urvi didn't even flinch.
She lifted her hand lazily, as if swatting away an insect.
A pulse of crackling black magic burst from her palm—
and the arrow shattered mid-flight, splintering into harmless dust that scattered across the chamber floor.
She flicked two fingers outward.
The broken shards twisted in the air and hurtled back toward Kiara.
Kiara dove aside, rolling across the stone, breath catching in her throat as the splinters hissed past her cheek. The moment she sprang to her feet again, Urvi was already charging toward her—fast, feral, vicious.
Kiara backed away, hands shaking not with fear but with a rising fire inside her.
And then her fingers brushed the small pouch at her waist.
Rudramani dust.
Her last safeguard. Her last hope.
She slipped her hand inside silently, coating her palm in the sacred, burning powder. She hid it behind her thigh as Urvi closed the distance, claws outstretched, face twisted in rage.
"You think you can protect that child without your powers?" Urvi hissed. "You are nothing but a mortal mother. Weak. Breakable. And I—"
She lunged.
Her hand shot toward Kiara's throat.
Kiara didn't move back.
She didn't flinch.
She caught Urvi's wrist in mid-air with one fierce, unwavering grip.
Her eyes blazed. Her jaw tightened.
A strength rose from somewhere deeper than magic—deeper than destiny.
"Har…" Kiara whispered, her voice trembling not with fear but with wrath.
Urvi blinked, startled.
Kiara's grip tightened.
"Har Mahadev!"
Her smeared palm swung across Urvi's face in a violent, stunning arc.
The slap echoed like thunder across stone.
A burst of brilliant red light exploded from Kiara's hand as it connected—
Rudramani searing into Urvi's skin like divine fire.
Urvi screamed.
A raw, feral, unholy sound.
Her head snapped sideways as she staggered and fell, hitting the ground hard.
Her cheek burned, the shape of Kiara's palm glowing bright and angry on her skin.
Her scream sharpened into a sonic wail, piercing the walls, vibrating the air, slicing through the chamber like a blade.
Kiara clutched her ears, teeth gritted—
but the sound grew sharper, stronger, unbearable.
Kiara collapsed to her knees, the chamber spinning as the scream tore into her senses.
Urvi rose slowly, expression twisted with humiliation and fury, her burned cheek pulsing with red light. Her steps echoed as she approached the fallen Kiara, every footstep dripping revenge.
"You dare mark me," she whispered, her voice vibrating with rage. "You will suffer for this."
She reached for Kiara—
And Kiara's hand shot out, grabbing Urvi's ankle with the force of a trap locking shut.
Urvi gasped as she lost balance and was shoved to the ground.
Kiara stood.
Her breathing rough. Her body trembling. But her eyes—steady.
Unbroken.
She pulled off the faint cotton plugs from her ears, letting them fall to the ground like a small, silent triumph.
Urvi froze.
Kiara wiped the sweat from her brow, lifted her chin, and said with calm, deadly confidence,
"I came prepared."
The words landed like another slap.
The kind that hits the soul.
Yuvaan's eyes burned with a storm barely contained.
Every fiber of his body coiled with protective fury.
With a swift, almost fluid motion, he spun in a perfect arc, his Reeva Talwar slicing through the shadows of Ratri and Nishi.
The two witches screamed, their forms flaring with dark energy—then fell lifeless, their bodies dissipating like smoke caught in wind.
Urvi staggered back, eyes widening in disbelief and rage.
Her braid unfurled behind her like a living beast, writhing, pulsating with dark, venomous power.
Kiara's hands moved almost instinctively.
She drew a dagger from her waist, the blade shimmering faintly with sacred runes.
She poured a stream of holy water over it, droplets hissing as they met the steel. The scent of sanctity filled the air.
Urvi lunged, her braid whipping forward like a striking serpent.
Kiara took a deep, steadying breath.
Her eyes locked on Urvi's with unwavering focus.
Then—she spun.
Every movement was a declaration, a prayer, a strike of devotion and fury.
"Jai Bholenath!" she shouted, voice carrying the weight of every parent's love and rage.
The dagger swung through the air, cutting through Urvi's braid.
A shriek of pure, unfiltered malice ripped from Urvi's throat as she fell to the ground.
The braid, pulsating with her dark powers, lay severed beside her.
Her body convulsed, weakened, mortal at last.
Kiara didn't pause.
She grabbed her bow, nocked a single arrow infused with rudramani, her eyes blazing with fire.
"Har Har Mahadev!" she roared.
The arrow flew, striking Urvi's chest with divine precision.
Urvi's scream echoed one last time, a horrifying wail as her form burned from within, black smoke spiraling up, until nothing remained but ash scattered by the wind.
Kiara exhaled slowly, knees trembling, but her gaze never wavered from the now-silent battlefield.
Her chest rose and fell with ragged breaths.
Every heartbeat hummed with relief, every nerve singing the triumph of love and fury combined.
Yuvaan approached, eyes softening as they met hers.
Together, they looked over the ruins of their enemy's power, the air still shimmering faintly with residual magic—and above all, their child, safe, waiting for them.
The battlefield was quiet.
The danger had passed… for now.