With only seven days left on the apocalyptic clock before the Demon Sky tore wide open, Rudra knew he needed to move fast. Leaving the estate in Gota Village to find a massive, isolated space to awaken his remaining elemental beasts, Rudra, accompanied by Mouni and his nine wives, traveled down toward the bustling streets of Vijayawada.
As they walked along the main transit road, the atmospheric pressure of the red sky hung heavy over the city. Suddenly, Rudra spotted two incredibly familiar faces walking down the pavement ahead. His eyes lit up with genuine warmth.
It was Pushkal and Geta—his absolute best friends from his past.
"Pushkal! Geta!" Rudra called out, stepping forward with a bright smile. "Hi!"
Pushkal and Geta spun around, their jaws dropping as they saw Rudra. They immediately rushed over, completely ecstatic to see him after so long. As they started talking and catching up, Geta's eyes suddenly wandered behind Rudra. She stared in absolute, wide-eyed shock at the stunning convoy of ten incredibly beautiful women standing perfectly behind him.
Geta blinked, completely bewildered, and nudged Rudra. "Uh... Rudra? Who on earth are all of those women standing behind you?"
Rudra rubbed the back of his neck, giving a calm, matter-of-fact smile. "Oh, them? They all are my wives."
Pushkal's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. He gasped, grabbing Rudra by the shoulders. "WHAT?! All of those gorgeous women are your wives, Rudra?! Are you out of your mind?!"
Rudra laughed faintly. "Yes, Pushkal. It's a long story..."
But before the laughter could even finish leaving his lips, the ambient sound on the road completely died. A sharp, high-frequency fswish cut through the air. A massive, cursed throwing knife laced with lethal, light-speed demonic energy was hurled straight toward the back of Rudra's neck from the shadows of a nearby building.
Rudra's sensory perception flared, but because his body was still recovering from his previous injuries, his reflexes lagged by a microsecond.
Seeing the blur of steel moving toward her best friend, Geta didn't think twice. Driven by pure loyalty, she threw her body directly between Rudra and the incoming trajectory of the blade.
SHWACK!
The cursed knife struck with terrifying, decapitating force. In a single, horrific second, Geta's head was completely separated from her body, tumbling heavily onto the concrete as her lifeless torso collapsed into the dust.
The cheerful atmosphere instantly shattered into pure, unadulterated horror.
"GETA!!! NO!!! GETA!!!" Pushkal fell to his knees beside her body, grabbing his head as tears streamed violently down his face, his screams echoing across the highway.
Rudra's blood-red eyes flared with a mixture of intense grief and explosive fury. The hidden enemy was hunting him, and his innocent friends were paying the price. He knew the killer was still lurking, and Vijayawada was no longer safe for Pushkal.
Rudra grabbed the weeping Pushkal by his jacket, pulling him up with absolute urgency. "Pushkal! Pushkal, look at me! Please, you have to come with us right now! We aren't safe here!"
Without waiting another second, Rudra activated his spatial energy, enveloping Pushkal, Mouni, and his wives in a defensive shroud as they retreated back to the safety of Gota Village, leaving the bloody road of
Vijayawada behind.Back inside the fortified boundaries of the Gota Village estate, the heavy silence of grief hung over the courtyard. Pushkal sat on the ground, his knuckles white, his eyes red from crying, and his teeth gritted so hard they nearly bled.
"I want revenge, Rudra," Pushkal whispered, his voice trembling with a terrifying, dark resolve. "Those bastards took Geta away... I don't care what it takes. I will butcher whoever did this to her."
Suddenly, a powerful, familiar presence stepped into the courtyard, the air pressure shifting respectfully. It was none other than Master Madhu. He looked at the mourning friends, his eyes taking in the gravity of the apocalyptic Crimson Sky above.
Rudra stood up, looking at his old mentor, and then down at his broken best friend. "Master Madhu... can we recruit Pushkal into our army? He wants to fight. He needs to fight."
Madhu walked over to Pushkal, sensing the explosive, raw vengeful energy radiating from the ordinary human boy. Madhu gave a firm, solemn nod. "Okay. If his resolve is this absolute, we will forge him into a warrior. But a soldier needs a target."
Pushkal snapped his head up, his gaze locking onto the black weapon Rudra had retrieved from the bloody scene in Vijayawada. "I want to see it... I want to see the exact sword that cut off Geta's head."
Rudra silently stepped forward and drew the cursed, heavy metallic blade, laying it flat across the wooden table. The weapon vibrated with a foul, sickening dark energy.
Master Madhu leaned in, his sharp eyes examining the jagged, demonic runes etched deep into the dark steel. At the same moment, Ananya walked over, her eyes widening in absolute horror as she recognized the signature smithing style of the underworld.
"Look at the crossguard," Ananya gasped, her voice tightening with dread. "This isn't just any random weapon. This is a high-level royal demon clan sword. The demon clan name... is Mokura."
"The Mokura Clan..." Rudra repeated, his blood-red eyes flashing with dangerous cosmic intent. "The executioners of the dark realms."
Pushkal stared intensely at the Mokura blade, the image of Geta's final moments burning into his brain. He didn't show an ounce of fear. Instead, the dark confirmation only fed the fire in his soul. He looked up at Master Madhu and Rudra, his voice dead silent but filled with absolute conviction.
"Okay. I am ready. I want the training. Teach me how to kil
l a demon."