The blinding white beam of the halogen light hit the lead Wraith. The liquid shadow tentacles collapsed back into the black water with a heavy splash, the Wraith screaming as the light burned through his dark suit.
But the other two Wraiths moved fast. They jumped into the shadow zones behind the stone pillars, their bodies dissolving.
"Rahul, watch the back!" Rohan yelled, swinging the light.
A Wraith appeared from the shadow of a pillar, driving a solid blade of compressed dark photons toward Rohan's neck. Rohan ducked, but the blade clipped the floodlight, shattering the glass bulb.
The vault went dark again.
In the pitch black, the temperature plummeted, frost forming on Vikram's face.
*Ignition,* Vikram willed.
A bright blue electrical light flared from Vikram's knuckles, illuminating the stone walkway. He lunged at the nearest Wraith, throwing a rapid combination of punches. The Wraith blocked with a shadow shield, but Vikram's Prana-empowered blows crackled with high voltage, shattering the shield and throwing the Wraith into the freezing water.
The third Wraith lunged at Vikram from behind, but Rohan tackled him from the side, sending both of them tumbling onto the wet stone.
Vikram turned to help, but a loud, metallic screech echoed from the ceiling.
A large stone segment of the vaulted ceiling cracked, falling into the reservoir. Descending from the hole, supported by a platform of solid, floating shadow, was **Javed**.
And standing behind Javed, his hands bound in dark-matter chains, was **Mr. Desai**. The old gym owner looked weak, his eyes closed, his chest barely moving.
"You are too late, Rathod," Javed's voice boomed through the cistern. "The grid is fully charged. We only need the anchor's resonance to lock it."
Javed grabbed Mr. Desai by the collar, throwing him forward.
The old man fell directly into the glowing, black energy well of the inverted pyramid transmitter.
As Desai's body made contact with the core, a massive wave of black energy erupted, pulsing outward through the stone walls. The hum of the transmitter turned into a deafening roar.
Vikram willed his Prana to ignite, but the black radiation from the core was too dense, the blue sparks on his knuckles fading under the pressure.
Above them, through the cracked ceiling, Vikram saw the sky of Mumbai.
Even though it was 5:00 AM, the morning sun was not rising. A massive, artificial eclipse of black light was spreading across the horizon, swallowing the city in a permanent, freezing dark.
"The Grid is locked," Javed laughed, his body merging with the rising shadow dome. "Welcome to the new Mumbai, Vikram."