The battlefield collapsed around him.
Arin crashed violently across fractured ground while broken space shattered endlessly in his wake. The impact tore through the crater beneath the floating fragment of Vijaya, splitting the battlefield apart completely as dark storms raged overhead.
And then—
everything became silent.
The giant's final punch had carried enough force to rupture stabilized space itself. The invisible control Arin maintained over the Expanse shattered instantly while the fractured world spiraled violently out of control again.
Floating ruins collapsed from the sky.
Time distorted.
Reality cracked apart endlessly around the battlefield.
And at the very center of it all—
Arin stopped moving.
Liora's face lost all color instantly.
"…Arin?"
No response.
The dust clouds spreading across the crater swallowed him completely.
The giant slowly stepped forward afterward while dark energy spiraled endlessly around its massive body.
"The cycle remains eternal."
Its hollow voice echoed across the collapsing Expanse.
Around it, the remaining underlings began advancing again.
The group immediately moved forward instinctively despite exhaustion and injuries burning through their bodies.
"No…"
Liora's voice trembled slightly now while staring toward the crater desperately.
"Arin!"
Still nothing.
Even Vijaya's energy had disappeared.
For one horrible moment—
everyone thought he was dead.
The giant raised one hand slowly afterward.
The battlefield darkened completely beneath expanding fractures overhead.
Then suddenly—
the floating fragment moved.
Every underling froze instantly.
Even the giant stopped.
The final fragment of Vijaya pulsed violently above the crater while golden-black energy erupted outward across the broken skies of the Expanse. The entire wasteland trembled beneath the resonance.
Then slowly—
the fragment descended.
Straight toward Arin.
Liora's breathing stopped completely.
The fragment floated silently through the collapsing battlefield before finally reaching the center of the crater where Arin's motionless body lay surrounded by fractured earth.
And the moment it touched him—
everything exploded.
Golden-black light consumed the Expanse.
The force released from the completed resonance shook reality itself while every fracture across the wasteland froze motionless. The floating debris surrounding the battlefield halted instantly. Time stabilized. Space stopped collapsing.
The fragment merged with Vijaya completely.
And the weapon changed.
The staff shattered apart into streams of divine light before reconstructing itself entirely.
Long.
Elegant.
Terrifying.
The true form of Vijaya emerged at last.
The divine bow of Karna.
Golden-black flames spiraled endlessly across its surface while celestial symbols ignited along its frame. The very presence of the completed weapon bent reality around itself naturally, no longer struggling against the Expanse but dominating it completely.
And then—
Arin opened his eyes.
Golden light burned within them.
Not fragments anymore.
Not incomplete memories.
Everything returned.
Kurukshetra.
The war.
The blood.
The betrayal.
His friendship with Ashwatthama.
His rivalry with Arjuna.
Mira.
Aditya.
Every death.
Every battle.
Every life he had endured through the endless cycle.
It all rushed back at once.
The memories nearly shattered his mind beneath their weight.
But he endured.
Because this time—
he was whole enough to withstand it.
The battlefield fell silent.
Even the giant stopped moving entirely while staring toward him.
Slowly—
Arin stood.
His injuries began healing instantly beneath the divine energy pouring endlessly through Vijaya. Golden-black flames spiraled around him while stabilized space expanded naturally across the battlefield again, stronger than before.
No strain.
No instability.
Reality obeyed him effortlessly now.
The underlings began retreating instinctively.
Fear.
For the first time—
they felt fear.
Arin slowly raised Vijaya afterward.
And the Expanse itself trembled.
The giant immediately charged forward again with enough force to collapse the crater beneath it.
But this time—
Arin didn't move.
The massive fist stopped inches before him.
Frozen completely in space.
The giant struggled violently.
Impossible.
Arin's expression remained calm.
Cold.
Ancient.
"…you talk too much."
Then space folded.
The giant's arm shattered instantly beneath invisible pressure before exploding apart into fragments of dark energy. The massive creature roared violently while stumbling backward for the first time during the battle.
But Arin was already drawing the bow.
Vijaya hummed like a living sun in his hands while golden-black energy condensed into a single arrow formed entirely from divine force.
The moment the string pulled back fully—
every underling across the battlefield froze.
Instinct screamed at them to run.
Too late.
Arin released the arrow.
The battlefield disappeared beneath light.
The single arrow split instantly into hundreds.
Then thousands.
Celestial arrows rained across the Expanse like divine judgment itself while golden-black light consumed the battlefield entirely. Every underling caught beneath the storm was erased instantly.
No resistance.
No survival.
The arrows hunted them through fractured space itself.
The skies exploded with light while the entire army vanished beneath the barrage within seconds.
Riven stared upward speechlessly.
"…that is the most unfair thing I've ever seen."
Even Kael looked stunned now.
"He erased all of them…"
Not one remained.
Silence swallowed the battlefield afterward.
Only the giant survived.
Barely.
Its massive body knelt beneath the collapsing storm while broken armor crumbled endlessly from the damage. Dark energy leaked violently from the cracks spreading across its form.
Still—
it tried standing again.
"You cannot… escape…"
Arin slowly walked toward it afterward while Vijaya glowed brighter with every step.
Then suddenly—
another memory surfaced.
Kurukshetra.
The battlefield burning beneath crimson skies.
Karna standing against impossible enemies while divine flames gathered around Vijaya.
Agneyastra.
The celestial weapon of fire.
Arin stopped before the giant afterward.
Golden-black flames ignited around the bow while the surrounding air itself began burning from the pressure released by the Astra.
The giant finally understood what was about to happen.
And for the first time—
it showed fear.
Arin drew the bowstring slowly.
A single flaming arrow formed between his fingers.
The flames surrounding it weren't ordinary fire.
They burned existence itself.
Just as Karna once wielded it before.
The giant tried moving—
too late.
Arin released the arrow.
The Agneyastra erupted across the battlefield like a second sun.
Flames consumed the giant instantly while divine fire spread through its body faster than reality itself could contain. The creature roared violently for several seconds before the flames devoured everything completely.
Then—
nothing remained.
The battlefield fell silent.
Completely silent.
And slowly—
the Fractured Expanse began changing.
The broken skies repaired themselves first.
The fractures spreading across reality disappeared one by one while floating ruins descended peacefully back toward the earth. Rivers resumed flowing normally. Distorted time stabilized completely.
The impossible wasteland faded.
Returning to an ordinary world once more.
The Expanse was no longer fractured.
No longer distorted.
No longer broken.
Because the final fragment had returned to Vijaya at last.
And standing at the center of the restored world—
Arin quietly lowered the divine bow while the wind moved softly around him again.
For the first time in countless lifetimes—
everything felt still.