MANTRA

Crow vs Crow Hunter

The Royal Hawaldar's cold gaze fell to the man, even through his mask. The man was completely stunned. His sweat fell through his cheeks. He cannot even handle the gravity of standing near a Royal Hawaldar.

The atmosphere was cold as ever. The moon was delicately looking at them through the sky.

Suddenly, the scene infront of the man's eyes shifted. He was lying half dead on the floor, with his right shoulder completely incapacitated intensely with a sword.

He didn't even remember what happened. His natural instincts told him to run as fast as he could. They were telling him "there's no way you can win against this monster". His whole world was shook. He never taught of encountering a Royal Hawaldar in Haruma.

"Congratulations, Prakoor. You're still alive after receiving a hit from my blade. No criminal has been able to do that till now." Raman said, drawing out his blade.

"You! how did you know I was here?! I made sure that you receive no such information from the upper officials. So how?!" Prakoor said with an angry tone.

"Pathetic!! You're the only reason I came here for the first place. The strategy that you used to hide yourself is severely outdated." Raman said, while radiating fear with his voice.

The atmosphere for Prakoor completely changed. It was suppose to be a perfect plan. Then, what led to it's failure!?

"Village hunter Prakoor, the last member of the Samantha cult. Your plan was to assassinate all of Haruma, wasn't it? I saw that coming from a far away. Surrender yourself!! Criminal!!" Raman said with an intimidating voice.

Prakoor quickly tried to perform a Shakkri (full spirit release), but was suddenly rushed and impaled by Raman's two handed Talwaar (Sword).

The blood running out of Prakoor's chest and mouth was immeasurable, but he still continued to oppose against the Hawaldar's might.

"I am going perform a perfect Shakkri within the Temple. Every kid sleeping peacefully inside the temple would never wake up, stop me if you can" He said while coughing a huge amount of blood from his mouth.

"Hmm, you sure about that?!" Raman said, followed by a slight grin on his face.

Prakoor seemed confused, until he saw that Raman's Talwaar was draining out his soul energy at a faster rate. If this goes on for too long, then no soul energy would be left for him to perform a Shakkri.

"You're not the only one who is smart here, you know." Raman said.

At this point, Prakoor was completely defeated.

"Stop it Hawaldar!" Someone screamed from behind.

Raman's eyes shifted towards the person. It was the Pratham Guruji of the temple.

"You're already gone too far." The Pratham Guruji suddenly turned into Prakoor and slightly gave a scary smile.

The Prakoor whom Raman impaled, suddenly turned into Pratham Guruji. Raman's heart skipped a beat.

"Wait...but....how?" The Hawaldar exclaimed with extreme confusion.

"Still didn't understood yet? Look up there, towards the moon." Prakoor said and pointed out towards the moon.

The moon was crimson red, he realised that he was infact under a "Rakt Shashi".

"But, how? I didn't even heard the sound of the roar!" Raman thought.

"So naive. Looks like you're a newbie. You should've been aware of that. I used my sprit energy to control the sound waves that was traveling through the air, so that I could let you see what I want you to see. You thought my perfect Shakkri would be destructive in nature, didn't you?!" Prakoor said.

"You asshole!!" Raman said and attacked Prakoor with his sword, but it passed through his body, like a hologram.

"You've failed my plans to attack Haruma. Now, I have to think of something else to make a sacrifice. Until then. See you soon, halwaldar ji." Prakoor said graciously, and disappeared into thin air.

"Damn you!" Raman exclaimed angrily. He took out a syringe from the pouch on his waist, and used it on the Pratham Guruji.

Guruji opened his eyes and said "where...am.. I?"

"I have to interrogate you later on, Guruji. Your connections are pretty dangerous to the country." Raman said.

"I don't even know what are you talking about Hawaldar?!" Pratham Guruji replied.

"How do you know The Village Hunter?" Raman asked.

Pratham Guruji's heart literally stopped for a minute. He never taught that a Royal Hawaldar would be asking him this question.

"Oh! Please believe me! I don't know him, he took me as a hostage in my own room. I tried to move, but he'd locked my arms!" Pratham Guruji Hashan replied.

"Tomorrow, you'll come to the capital with me. This thing has become quite a big matter. The interrogation council shall take this case." Raman said.

"But..what about Asthav?! Weren't you going to teach him?" Guruji asked.

"Wait...where is Asthav right now?!" Hawaldar asked.

"A...Asthav...is....he would probably be in his room" Pratham Guruji said while trembling tremendously. He was fully drenched in sweat.

"Oh, is that so? But I don't sense him in his room." Raman exclaimed while suspiciously looking at Hashan.

"Infact, I sense him somewhere else. Somewhere, where he shouldn't be." Raman said with a serious tone.

Hashan's face was fully covered in sweat. He was trembling at this core. By now, Raman had realised what is going on. He read through Hashan's emotions, and spoke "Pratham Guruji Hashan, you're under arrest."

Pratham Guruji suddenly collapsed due to the tension. The Royal Hawaldar released a small amount of his spirit energy into the ground, to hold and prevent Hashan from escaping.

"Stay where you are. I am going to look for Asthav." Raman said and rushed towards the basement.

The man sliced Asthav's face with his sword. His right eye and half of his lip were completely cut off. Asthav's body was in a bad condition. Both of his elbows were heavily injured, along with his shoulders and legs. He was fully covered in blood, followed by an indescribable amount of pain.

"Is that all you got?! I thought it would be a bit more longer, what a disappointment." The man said and continued slashing him with his sword.

For the final time, Asthav experienced all memorable moments of his life flashing before his eyes. The fun he had with his friends, going on small adventures throughout Haruma, the small talk he had every month with his brother, the time he spent training in the woods.

"Now, let's begin shall we? Shastraheen Mantra : The final sacrifice" The man yelled.

Suddenly, the white scenery infront of Asthav's eyes started to become darker every breath. His eyes started to close by themselves.

"This is your fate, Asthav Ravendra. You cannot deny it, you cannot run from it. Your efforts to do so are futile." He said while laughing devilishly.

"I WON'T DIE HERE!! I WANT TO EXPLORE THE OUTSIDE WORLD!! I WANT TO FULLFILL MY BROTHER'S DREAM!!" Asthav yelled with full confidence, with tears falling down his cheeks.

"Indra Style Final Stance : Tandava Maargam" he whispered.

"Ahh, not this again. I told you it's no use. Your fate has alr-" Asthav smashed his face with tremendous multiple punches.

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT, I WON'T DIE HERE!!" he shouted with full power.

-(chapter-9 end)