The speakers cracked across the state of Odisha.
A cold, mechanical voice echoed through every street, every home, every shelter where people huddled in darkness.
"Attention. Attention. Stage Four Asura. Warrior Class. Confirmed in Area 16, Puri District. All citizens must remain in designated safe zones. Do not approach the area. Repeat. Do not approach the area."
The announcement bled into every corner of the state. Bhubaneswar. Cuttack. Rourkela. Sambalpur. The words crawled through radios, televisions, phones, emergency broadcast systems. People stopped eating. Stopped talking. Stopped breathing.
In a crowded shelter in Bhubaneswar, a young woman clutched her mother's hand.
"Stage Four? I thought Stage Three was bad enough."
Her mother said nothing. She just stared at the ceiling, lips moving in silent prayer.
In a control room in Cuttack, an officer watched the red dot spread across his screen. His coffee went cold in his hand.
"Warrior Class," he whispered. "When was the last time we had a Warrior Class?"
His assistant checked the logs. "Never, sir. Not in Odisha. Not in fifty years."
The officer closed his eyes. "God help them."
But the announcement did not stop at Odisha.
It spread like wildfire.
West Bengal. Jharkhand. Chhattisgarh. Andhra Pradesh. Maharashtra. Tamil Nadu. Delhi. Punjab. Kashmir. Every state. Every city. Every village with a radio or a phone or a television.
"Stage Four Asura. Warrior Class. Area 16, Puri District, Odisha."
In Mumbai, a man in a high-rise apartment paused his dinner. He looked out the window at the distant sea. "Warrior Class," he muttered. "Someone is about to die."
In Kolkata, an old woman set down her tea. She folded her hands and closed her eyes. "May the King's court arrive in time."
In Delhi, a group of Vessel candidates gathered around a news screen. One of them, a young man with lightning crackling around his fists, clenched his jaw.
"I'm going."
His friend grabbed his arm. "You're Stage Two. You can't fight a Warrior Class alone."
"I don't care."
"You'll die."
He looked at the screen. At the red smoke rising from Puri. "Then I die."
Across the country, they moved.
The military mobilized. Tanks rolled through highways. Fighter jets screamed across the sky. But they were not enough. Everyone knew. Tanks could not stop a Warrior Class. Bullets were useless. Bombs were jokes.
The real weapons were already in the air.
Vessels. Candidates. Masters. Clan leaders. They flew from every corner of India. Some rode beasts winged tigers, giant eagles, floating chariots of light. Some flew on their own power, their bodies glowing with soul energy. Some rode in sleek black aircraft that cut through the clouds like knives.
The sky above Odisha became a river of lights.
Red. Blue. Gold. White.
All heading toward Puri.
Toward the red smoke.
Toward the monster.
Inside the barrier, the world was ash.
Veda knelt on the ground. His hands were pressed into the blood-soaked earth. His body was cracked, leaking light, breaking apart. But he did not feel any of it.
He felt nothing.
His mother's remains lay scattered behind him. His father's body was a ruin. The house where he had laughed and eaten and felt something close to peace was gone.
Why?
The word repeated in his skull. A broken record. A prayer to no one.
"Why..."
His voice came out as a whisper. Then louder.
"WHY!"
He slammed his fists into the ground. The earth cracked. A crater formed beneath his hands. He slammed again. And again. Blood and dust flew.
"WHAT DID I DO?! WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME?!"
The tears came. Hot. Fast. Unstoppable.
"I JUST WANTED A HAPPY LIFE! A NORMAL LIFE! IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?!"
His mother's face flashed in his mind. Smiling. Stirring dal on a kerosene stove. Humming an old song.
His father's face. Reading the newspaper. Pushing food onto Veda's plate. The way his eyes had lit up when Veda called him Papa.
They were gone.
Both of them.
And the monster who killed them was still standing.
The Heavenly Lord stopped eating.
He turned his head. Blood dripped from his chin. His yellow eyes watched Veda with something that looked like curiosity.
"You ask why?"
He stood. Walked toward Veda. Each step slow. Deliberate. He stopped in front of the broken man and sat down. Cross legged. Like a friend sharing tea.
"I ask that question too, little ant. Every time I kill you. Every time I watch your world burn."
Veda looked up. His eyes were white. Empty.
"I have killed you more times than there are stars in the sky. More times than there are grains of sand on every beach. I have broken you. I have shattered you. I have erased you from existence itself."
The Heavenly Lord smiled. A soft smile. Almost gentle.
"And yet. Somehow. You keep coming back. A different universe. A different timeline. A different world. You are born again. You grow again. You suffer again."
He leaned closer. His yellow eyes reflected Veda's broken face.
"Tell me, ant. Why do you keep coming back? What makes you so special that the Cosmic Law refuses to let you die?"
Veda could not answer. His mouth moved. No sound came out.
The Heavenly Lord tilted his head. Then laughed. A quiet laugh. Almost sad.
"I don't know either. But I do know one thing."
He stood. His foot came down on Veda's face. Pushed it into the ground.
"Your suffering makes me feel like a human. Not a god. Not a ruler. Just a man watching another man break."
He pressed harder. Veda's skull creaked.
"Every mother you ever had. Every wife you ever loved. Every child you never got to hold. I killed them all. With my own hands. Because seeing you break... it fills something inside me. Something that has been empty for a very long time."
Veda screamed. His voice was muffled by the dirt. The sound was animal. Broken.
The Heavenly Lord grabbed Veda's hair. Pulled his head up. Forced him to look at the bodies. At the blood. At the destruction.
"Your mother's cry. Your wife's scream. Everyone connected to you. They are all toys. Walking dolls for me to break."
Veda's mind cracked open.
Memories flooded in. Not just one life. Not just two. Millions. Trillions. An infinite ocean of pain.
He saw himself in a thousand different bodies. A thousand different worlds. A thousand different families.
He saw them die.
Every time.
Every single time.
His mother, stabbed in a dark alley. His father, burned alive in a fire. Gita, poisoned by strangers. His child, never born, always dying.
Over and over and over.
The endless cycle of his own personal hell.
Blood burst from Veda's nose. His ears. His eyes. His body convulsed. His scream became a wet, gargling sound.
Then he went still.
His body fell to the ground. Limp. Empty. A doll whose strings had been cut.
The Heavenly Lord stood over him. Laughing.
"The Cosmic Law chose you to kill me? Kill me? HAH!"
He spread his arms wide. The red moon behind him pulsed.
"Look at you! You cannot even save a single person! Your own foolishness let them die. You wanted a happy life? You wanted to pretend you were human? To hide from the truth?"
He stepped closer. His shadow covered Veda's body.
"The world belongs only to the strongest. Human relationships are just illusions. Temporary. Fragile. Meaningless."
He raised his face to the sky.
"ONLY THE STRONGEST GETS EVERYTHING! AND I AM THE STRONGEST! I AM THE GOD!"
Young Veda appeared.
Floating. Silent. His ancient face calm as still water. He stood between the Heavenly Lord and Veda's broken body.
"You talk too much."
The Heavenly Lord stopped laughing. His yellow eyes narrowed. Not in fear. In amusement.
"Ohhh. You finally speak. I was wondering when you would show yourself."
He walked closer. His tail swayed. His horns caught the red light.
"Hello, Watcher."
Young Veda did not move. Did not blink. His grey eyes held nothing.
"So the Cosmic Law chose you to be this weakling's guardian? I never thought you would agree to guide someone so pathetic."
He stopped inches from Young Veda's face. Their eyes met.
"Do you remember when I killed you? When I cut you down? It was a perfect cut. Clean. Beautiful. I almost felt bad."
Young Veda spoke. His voice was low. Calm. Like a river flowing under ice.
"Your emotions are mixing with that creature's body. The chains are growing. Every time you use your power, the Cosmic Chains multiply. They will seal you. Trap you forever."
The Heavenly Lord threw his head back and laughed. A loud, genuine laugh. Not fear. Not anger. Pure delight.
"Hahahahaha! And your emotions are mixing with that child's soul, Watcher. I can feel it. You care for him. That pathetic, broken ant. How far have you fallen?"
He spread his arms. The golden chains on his skin glowed brighter. He did not care.
"The Cosmic Law binds me? Let it bind me. I am beyond chains. I am beyond laws. I AM THE LAW."
He pointed at Young Veda, still laughing.
"You think I fear being trapped? I have lived for eternity. A few thousand years in a cage means nothing. I will break out. I always do."
Young Veda's face remained emotionless. "You are not the strongest. You cannot break the Void. Forget about the Cosmic Law itself."
The Heavenly Lord stopped laughing. His smile remained. Wide. Sharp. Hungry.
"We shall see, Watcher. We shall see."
He turned away. Kicked Veda's body. Sent it flying across the rubble.
"Now. Let me finish what I started."
He walked toward Veda. His footsteps cracked the earth.
"The tree has spoiled. The fruit is rotten. It must be destroyed so a new one can grow."
He raised his foot.
A metal rod blocked his heel.
The Heavenly Lord looked down.
An old man stood between him and Veda. White hair. Wrinkled face. Small sharp eyes. Black suit. A massive wooden rod in his hands, carved with glowing symbols.
Behind him, the hole was surrounded. Hundreds of warriors. Black suits. Armor. Swords. Guns. Glowing eyes. They formed a ring around the crater.
The Heavenly Lord looked around. At the warriors. At the weapons. At the old man.
He smiled. Every tooth showing. Blood still on his lips.
"Finally. The party has arrived."
The old man raised his rod. Pointed it at the Heavenly Lord's chest.
His voice was low. Rough. Ancient.
"It's been so long that I forgot a stage four Asura still exists."
The old man smiled. A demonic smile. Wrinkles deepening into something hungry.
"I want to see you bleed."
The Heavenly Lord's smile grew wider.
The red moon shone above them.
The battle was about to begin.