(A/N):
Drop a here that you find funny. Or reflects your mood.
Guys I hope you put more comnts and power stones... Which will encourage ...
Guys with this Volu 8 Ends... And From Next Chapter we will have a new Volu-9...
Focusing on Devara’s adventure to et Sage Veenadhara... Who had strayed from his Dharma Path...
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The clan leaders did not speak after hearing all the insults directed at them.
The room slowly grew tense.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Then King Rudrasena casually poured so wine from his goblet onto the stone floor.
The dark liquid splashed near the feet of the clan leaders.
The scent imdiately spread through the chamber.
A rich sll. Sweet. Tempting.
The dwarven elders froze.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Their throats imdiately beca dry.
The curse reacted.
The thirst awakened in them.
Every one of them felt it.
The desire to drink.
The need of wanting more.
The endless craving.
Not specifically for wine.
For liquid.
For relief.
For sothing to quench the thirst that never truly disappeared.
Their fingers tightened.
The kings noticed their reaction.
And misunderstood it completely.
Mahipala smirked mockingly.
-Smirk!
"What happened?"
He lifted another goblet.
"Want so?"
More laughter followed.
Another splash of wine hit the floor.
The scent spread further.
The clan leaders remained motionless.
Yet inside, their tempers were rapidly reaching their limit.
They had stood by these kings.
They had risked everything for them.
They had perford rituals on their behalf.
They had lost their clans honor.
Lost their status. Lost their bodies.
Lost their futures along with their future generation.
And now...
Instead of assistance. Instead of gratitude.
Instead of even basic respect.
They were being mocked.
Like entertainers. Like fools.
The eldest clan leader slowly lifted his head.
The laughter around the room began fading.
Because sothing in his expression had changed.
His eyes were no longer filled with pity.
They were filled with anger. Pure anger.
The sa anger appeared on the faces of the other four leaders.
The kings noticed.
But instead of becoming cautious, they beca annoyed.
Rudrasena scoffed at them.
"What?"
The elder took a step forward.
His beard dragged across the floor behind him.
"You find this amusing?"
His voice was shaking.
Not from fear.
From rage.
King Mahipala rolled his eyes.
"Don’t start lecturing us."
The elder’s hands clenched.
For days.
For nights.
He had endured humiliation.
He had endured thirst.
He had endured the collapse of everything he had built.
Yet sohow these kings had managed to hurt him more than any of that.
Because they were mocking lessons written in divine judgnt itself.
The other clan leaders stepped forward as well.
The air in the chamber subtly changed.
The kings imdiately noticed.
Their smiles faded.
The elder’s eyes were glowing faintly.
Old instincts returned.
Ancient mantras stirred within their minds.
For a brief mont, rage overwheld reason.
The desire rose. A terrible desire.
To make these kings understand.
To make them suffer.
To make them feel the sa endless thirst.
The sa helplessness.
The sa despair.
The eldest elder slowly raised his hand.
The others followed.
The temperature in the room dropped.
The lamps flickered.
Several servants imdiately backed away.
A few guards reached for their weapons.
The kings straightened in their seats.
The clan leaders’ voices rose together.
Ancient words began forming on their tongues.
Words of power. Words of cursing.
Words they had spoken countless tis throughout their lives.
For one brief mont...
They were ready to unleash everything.
To make the kings experience exactly what they had endured.
To force them to understand.
To share their suffering.
And then...
The glowing collars around their necks suddenly burned.
Violently.
The pain struck like lightning.
All five elders cried out.
The mantras died instantly.
Their knees hit the floor.
Smoke rose from the collars.
The pain was unbearable.
Not punishnt.
A warning. A reminder.
Mahakali’s judgnt.
The lesson they had been given.
The room fell silent.
"...."
"...."
"...."
The kings stared. Confused.
The elders remained kneeling.
Breathing heavily.
The urge to curse slowly faded.
And with it ca a realization.
The old them would have done it.
The old them would have lashed out.
The old them would have spread suffering simply because they were suffering.
But that was exactly what had brought them to ruin.
The eldest elder slowly looked up.
Not at the kings.
At the glowing collar around his own neck.
Then he laughed. A tired laugh.
Not joyful. Not bitter.
Just tired.
"-HAHAHA!!!"
The other elders understood imdiately.
One by one, they lowered their hands.
The kings looked confused.
"What happened?"
King Rudrasena asked.
The elder rose slowly to his feet.
His anger remained.
But now it was controlled.
He looked directly at the five rulers.
And for the first ti since entering the chamber, his voice carried genuine authority.
"You should thank the Mother."
The kings frowned.
The elder’s eyes hardened.
"Because tonight..."
He glanced at the faintly glowing collar.
"...she saved you from becoming exactly what we once were."
A silence settled over the room.
"...."
"...."
"...."
And for the first ti since the eting began, none of the kings felt particularly comfortable.
The five clan leaders did not stay any longer.
There was nothing left to discuss.
Nothing left to gain.
And certainly no respect left to preserve.
Without another word, they turned around and began walking toward the exit.
Their oversized robes dragged across the stone floor.
Their long beards swayed with every step.
Not once did they look back.
Behind them, the kings continued grumbling.
King Mahipala scoffed loudly.
"Good riddance."
Virendra snorted annoyed.
"What a waste of ti."
King Pratapaditya grabbed his wine cup.
"We trusted those fools with an important task."
"And look what happened."
King Rudrasena shook his head.
"They return cursed."
"They fail completely."
"And then they lecture us."
The kings laughed bitterly.
Even after hearing the entire story, none of them truly understood what had happened.
Or perhaps they simply refused to understand.
Arrogance had a way of protecting itself from uncomfortable truths.
The heavy doors closed behind the departing clan leaders.
The chamber fell silent.
Only the kings and their trusted guards remained.
For several minutes nobody spoke.
The rulers sat around the large table.
Thinking.
Planning.
Searching for alternatives.
The failure of the tantra clans had created a problem.
A very large problem.
Months of preparation had been wasted.
Months of effort had vanished.
Yet their hatred toward Devara remained unchanged.
If anything, it had grown stronger.
King Rudrasena clenched his jaw.
"There must be another way."
King Mahipala nodded with furstration.
"There has to be."
Virendra leaned forward.
"As long as Devaratha lives, his influence will continue growing."
Pratapaditya’s face darkened.
"And every day he grows stronger."
The room beca quiet once more.
Each ruler lost in thought.
Then suddenly...
The nearest oil lamp flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then went out.
The kings looked up.
Before anyone could react, another lamp extinguished.
Then another. Then another.
Within monts every source of light in the chamber vanished.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Several guards imdiately drew their weapons.
Steel scraped against leather.
"Protect the kings!"
One guard shouted.
The room erupted into movent.
The kings rose from their seats.
"What is happening?"
King Virendra demanded in anger.
No answer ca.
The darkness felt wrong.
Not natural. Not ordinary.
It seed thicker sohow.
As though shadows themselves had entered the room.
Then the temperature dropped.
A cold chill spread through the chamber.
Several guards instinctively backed closer together.
Sothing moved.
Not a person. Not an animal.
A shadow.
A massive shadow.
It appeared along the far wall.
At first it looked like a patch of darkness.
Then it grew. Larger. Taller.
Stretching across the chamber.
The kings watched in horror.
Even the guards hesitated.
The shadow continued expanding until it towered over everyone present.
Its outline constantly shifted.
Changing shape. Changing size.
Never settling into a single form.
Then a voice erged from the darkness.
A strange voice. Unpleasant.
Almost erratic.
As though several voices were speaking at once.
"Do..."
The shadow paused.
"...you..."
Another pause.
"...want revenge against Devaratha?"
The chamber froze.
"...."
"...."
"...."
The guards imdiately raised their weapons.
Several pointed spears toward the shadow.
Others positioned themselves between it and the kings.
King Rudrasena felt his heart pounding.
Everything about the creature scread danger.
Yet the mont it ntioned revenge...
Sothing changed.
The kings exchanged glances.
Interest slowly replaced fear.
Mahipala narrowed his eyes.
"Who are you?"
The shadow laughed.
A loud unsettling laugh.
"-Kekekeke!!!"
The sound bounced around the chamber.
It seed to co from every direction.
Yet from nowhere at the sa ti.
Virendra stepped forward.
"What are you?"
Again the laughter ca.
Longer this ti.
The shadow shifted. Its form twisted unnaturally.
Then the voice returned.
"What I am..."
The darkness stirred.
"...is not important."
The kings frowned for a second hearing the proposal of the mysterious figure.
King Pratapaditya folded his arms.
"Then why are you here?"
The shadow beca silent.
"...."
Then slowly answered.
"Because..."
The room sohow felt colder by the sudden pause from the shadow figure.
"...I heard your hatred."
The kings exchanged another look feeling sothing is very wrong with the way the shadow figure speaks.
The shadow continued to explain.
"I heard your desire."
"I heard your frustration."
"I heard your wish for revenge."
Its voice carried an unsettling amusent as if it has found a new toy to play with.
"As for why I would help..."
The shadow laughed again.
"-Kekekeke!!!"
"That is none of your concern."
King Rudrasena frowned hearing the dismissal on the tone of the shadow figure.
"We have every right to know. Especially when they need to make decision whether they should join them."
Imdiately the shadow’s laughter stopped.
"...."
The chamber beca silent. A dangerous silence.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Then the voice spoke again.
Much colder this ti.
"If I told you..."
The darkness expanded as if sothing very wrong is about to take place.
Several guards instinctively stepped backward feeling the cold aura from the figure.
"...then I would have to kill every soul in this room."
The guards tightened their grips on their weapons.
The kings felt chills run down their spines.
The shadow continued to speak with a sneer.
"Secrets are troubleso things."
"They tend to follow people."
"And people talk."
The voice suddenly beca cheerful.
Far too cheerful.
"So it is easier to bury secrets."
A pause followed to make sure its words were heard by everyone present who were curious enough to know who it was.
Then—
"Along with the people who know them."
Several guards visibly swallowed.
-Gulps!
"...."
"...."
"...."
The kings remained silent.
The threat had been delivered casually.
Almost playfully.
Which sohow made it worse.
The shadow shifted again.
Its form stretching across the walls.
Across the ceiling. Across the floor.
Then the voice returned.
"So."
The word echoed throughout the chamber.
The kings listened carefully.
"You have two choices."
The darkness seed to lean closer.
"You can continue sitting here."
"Complaining."
"Rembering your humiliation."
"Hating Devaratha."
Its laughter returned.
"-KEKEKE!!!"
"Or..."
The chamber fell silent.
"...you can listen."
The five kings looked at one another.
Every instinct warned them sothing was wrong.
Very wrong.
Yet another feeling pushed against that warning.
The sa feeling that had led them down this path from the beginning.
Hatred.
The shadow seed to sense it.
Its laughter grew louder.
"-Kekekeke!!!"
Because it already knew what answer they were likely to choose.
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(Author note:)
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Don’t forget to review guys...
Guys I have a new fic which nad: Karuppan: King of Openings.
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