Silence remained in the forest long after the Astras vanished.
The pressure released by the divine weapons still lingered faintly in the air while sunlight filtered softly through damaged trees surrounding the clearing. Nobody moved immediately. Nobody even seemed fully capable of speaking yet after witnessing the arsenal restored through Vijaya.
Riven still looked traumatized.
"…so basically," he said weakly,
"we've been traveling with a mythological catastrophe this entire time."
"That's one way to describe it," Kael answered quietly.
But Arin's expression never changed.
Because despite everything he had shown them—
deep down, he still understood one truth.
He was incomplete.
The realization sat heavily inside him now that all his memories had fully returned.
Vijaya was restored.
The Astras had returned.
His memories were complete.
And yet—
something enormous was still missing.
Arin slowly looked down toward his own hands afterward.
Then quietly—
"But even now…"
Everyone looked toward him again.
"…I'm still incomplete."
The atmosphere shifted slightly afterward.
Darin frowned immediately.
"How?"
Riven pointed dramatically toward Vijaya.
"You literally summoned enough weapons to erase civilizations."
Arin shook his head slowly.
"That's not everything Karna once possessed."
The wind moved softly through the clearing afterward while fragments of ancient memory surfaced inside him again.
Sunlight.
Golden armour.
Divine earrings radiating celestial energy.
Kavacha and Kundala.
The divine armour and earrings bestowed upon him at birth by Surya himself.
Arin's expression darkened slightly afterward.
"I no longer possess the armour or earrings given to me by my father."
The group immediately became quieter.
Even Riven stopped joking now.
Arin continued calmly,
"I think…"
Fragments of the memory sharpened painfully now.
"…because I gave them away."
Selene blinked slightly.
"You gave away divine armor?"
Arin slowly nodded.
"To Indra."
That immediately confused everyone except one person.
Liora's eyes widened slightly.
Because unlike the others—
she remembered now.
Not fully through history.
But through Mira's memories.
The others clearly hadn't heard this part of Karna's story before.
Kael frowned slightly afterward.
"Wait… why would you give away something like that?"
Arin remained silent briefly.
Then softly—
"Because he tricked me."
The forest quieted again afterward.
Riven looked deeply offended immediately.
"Who tricks a DEMIGOD into giving away divine armor?"
Arin's gaze lowered slightly.
"The king of gods."
Nobody spoke after that.
Then finally Liora stepped closer beside him quietly.
"…they only know fragments of your story here."
Arin looked toward her briefly before nodding once.
Because unlike the world he originally came from—
this world only remembered pieces of Karna.
Broken legends.
Incomplete stories.
Distorted myths passed through time.
Not the full truth.
Liora slowly looked toward the others afterward.
"…there's more to Karna's story than what most people know."
The group immediately listened carefully now.
Arin quietly exhaled afterward before continuing himself.
"In Kurukshetra…"
The ancient battlefield resurfaced vividly inside his mind again.
"…I fought for Duryodhana."
The others nodded slightly. They knew that much already.
"He gave me everything when the world rejected me."
Arin's voice remained calm now, but older somehow.
"When everyone mocked me for being a charioteer's son…"
His eyes darkened slightly afterward.
"…he treated me like an equal."
No one interrupted.
Because even now, after thousands of years and countless rebirths, Arin still carried complicated emotions toward that part of his life.
"Before the final days of the war…"
The memory sharpened further.
"…Indra came to me disguised as a brahmin."
Kael frowned slightly afterward.
"Indra? Arjuna's father?"
Arin nodded once.
"He already knew who I truly was."
Fragments of sunlight moved faintly across the clearing as though even nature itself listened now.
"He knew the armour and earrings made me nearly invincible."
And that part was true.
Kavacha and Kundala weren't ordinary divine gifts.
They were fused directly to Karna's body at birth. Divine protection impossible to destroy through normal means. As long as he possessed them, killing him became nearly impossible even for gods.
So Indra came with deception instead.
Arin's gaze lowered slightly afterward while the memory played vividly in his mind.
"A beggar approached me asking for charity."
Riven immediately groaned.
"Oh no."
Arin almost smiled faintly. Almost.
"I already knew who he was."
That made everyone freeze slightly.
Selene blinked.
"…you knew?"
Arin nodded slowly.
"The moment I saw him."
The silence afterward felt heavier somehow.
Because now the story changed completely.
Kael stared at him carefully.
"Then why would you still give it away?"
This time—
Liora answered instead.
"Because Karna never refused anyone who asked him for something."
Everyone looked toward her.
The memories inside Mira had returned completely too now.
And through them—
she remembered that moment clearly.
Arin quietly continued afterward,
"It was part of my vow."
No hesitation.
No regret in his voice.
"If someone came to me seeking charity, I would never refuse them."
The others stared at him silently.
Even now—
that sounded insane.
Riven spoke first.
"So let me understand this correctly."
He pointed directly toward Arin now.
"You KNEW the king of gods disguised himself to steal your divine armor before a war where you were already outnumbered…"
"…yes."
"And you STILL gave it away?"
"…yes."
Riven looked genuinely exhausted afterward.
"I hate mythology."
Nobody laughed.
Because the story became painful now.
Arin slowly looked upward through the forest canopy afterward while ancient grief stirred faintly inside him again.
"I tore the armour from my own body."
The words fell quietly into the clearing.
Everyone froze completely afterward.
Liora closed her eyes briefly.
Because she remembered that part too.
Blood.
Pain.
Golden armour ripped directly from flesh.
Not removable.
Not detachable.
It had been part of him since birth.
Arin's voice remained steady despite the memory.
"And I gave it to him willingly."
Silence swallowed the forest afterward.
Even the wind seemed quieter now.
Then softly—
"What happened after that?" Aira asked carefully.
Arin's eyes darkened slightly.
"Indra was shaken by what I did."
Because even the king of gods hadn't expected Karna to actually go through with it.
So in exchange—
"He granted me Vasavi Shakti."
The divine spear manifested faintly for a moment behind Arin again before disappearing.
"A weapon capable of killing almost anything once."
Darin slowly crossed his arms afterward.
"So you traded invincibility for a single-use divine weapon."
"…yes."
Riven stared at him blankly.
"That is objectively the worst trade deal in history."
This time even Selene almost laughed slightly.
But the atmosphere remained heavy overall.
Because now they finally understood something important about Karna.
Not merely his strength.
Not merely his tragedy.
But the kind of person he truly was.
Someone who would rather suffer himself than break his word.
Liora quietly moved closer beside Arin afterward while her gaze softened slightly.
"…you regretted it later."
It wasn't a question.
Arin stayed silent for several seconds.
Then finally—
"No."
The answer surprised everyone.
Even now—
after all the suffering that followed—
he didn't regret giving it away.
Because that decision, painful as it was, remained part of who Karna had been.
And Arin refused to hate himself for it.
The forest fell quiet again afterward while sunlight slowly shifted through the trees overhead.
Then Arin finally looked toward the horizon once more.
"But without the armour and earrings…"
Vijaya pulsed softly in his hand.
"…I can still bleed."
And somehow—
that sentence frightened the group more than all the Astras combined.