Rain fell heavily over Silver.
Water ran down the walls.
Through the destroyed streets.
Across the bodies scattered between stone, ash, and blood.
CRACK.
Lightning tore through the clouds.
For an instant.
The motionless figure at the center of the street was illuminated.
Gigantic.
Runic marks pulsed through the dark skin.
The wind slowly turned around him.
As if the storm itself orbited that body.
Karna remained still several meters ahead.
Breathing heavily.
The bow still raised.
Wet fingers tightened around the arrow.
Rain ran down his face.
Bharvan observed the bow.
Then the quiver.
His smile widened slightly.
"Five."
The wind turned between them.
"When the last one disappears..."
Bharvan kept watching every reaction from him.
"you die."
"And all those who escaped too."
Karna did not look away.
"That's a strange bet."
Bharvan tilted his head slightly.
"Hm?"
"Betting your own life on my aim."
CRACK.
Another lightning strike illuminated the street.
The string was pulled.
To its limit.
"Indrastra."
TWANG.
The arrow vanished.
Thunder exploded above them.
Lightning descended from the sky like roots tearing through the clouds.
Light swallowed Bharvan.
Stones exploded.
Water evaporated.
The impact tore across the ruined street.
Karna was already moving.
Fast steps over wet stone.
Changing distance and angle.
Electrical smoke still filled part of the street.
Then it opened.
Bharvan emerged through it.
The broken arrow in his right hand.
Small lightning currents crawled across his arm.
Slowly dying.
BOOM.
His body vanished with superhuman speed.
The intent arrived first.
Karna's eyes moved immediately.
Behind him.
His body reacted before the strike.
He turned.
Wind passed through the place where his head had been.
The pressure tore across the street.
CRASH.
The facades behind Karna exploded.
Stone and wood were ripped from the buildings.
Fragments scattered through the rain.
Bharvan's fist tore through empty space.
Karna had already slipped through the debris.
Another arrow was drawn.
Bharvan did not pursue immediately.
He observed the arrow pointed at him.
Then he looked at Karna's face.
Heavy breathing.
"Four left."
Rain ran down his face.
"You know."
Bharvan's gaze never left him.
"None of them will be enough."
"It's a waste."
Karna remained silent.
"Hm?"
"Your talent."
Drops struck stone, blood, and steel.
"Very few make it this far carrying a debt like that."
The shaft creaked under the pressure of his hand.
The words did not go unnoticed by Karna.
Bharvan continued.
"You can already feel it, can't you?"
"The price increasing every time you use that power."
Only the sound of the storm occupied the space between them.
Karna answered.
"Sounds like you're speaking from experience."
Something close to amusement crossed Bharvan's face.
"I am."
"I've seen many die trying to carry more than they could."
The red eyes remained fixed on Karna.
"You don't need to end up the same way."
Karna remained silent.
Water ran down the tip of the arrow.
"I don't need your concern."
Bharvan's smile widened.
"No."
"You do."
The red eyes stayed locked onto him.
"Because I know exactly where this path ends."
"And your abilities are far too useful to waste."
Karna's fingers tightened around the string.
"Useful."
Silence hovered for an instant.
"There's an organization that would appreciate someone with your talent."
"Serve me."
The offer crossed through the rain as if it were something trivial.
"And maybe I'll allow you to keep using that power for a few more years."
The bow remained raised.
Karna's eyes studied every movement.
"Allow?"
"You speak as if you can negotiate with the Abyss."
The smile did not disappear.
"Negotiate?"
A small laugh escaped Bharvan.
"No."
"The Abyss does not negotiate."
The red eyes narrowed slightly.
"But there are ways to stop it from collecting."
Karna took a few seconds before answering.
As if he were truly weighing the offer.
"Looks like you found a way to deceive it."
For the first time.
Something changed.
Small.
Almost imperceptible.
Bharvan's smile hardened.
"No."
"I found a way to survive it."
Karna's eyes remained on him.
"And what's the difference?"
Rain continued to fall.
Bharvan answered.
"The difference..."
The wind began to turn harder.
The marks spread across his body pulsed slowly.
"is that I no longer carry Ghatotkacha."
Something close to pride crossed his face.
"He carries me."
Karna remained silent for an instant.
The arrow was still aimed at him.
"And what was the price?"
Bharvan's smile disappeared.
Only for a moment.
Brief.
Almost imperceptible.
Karna noticed.
"Power like that doesn't come for free."
No answer.
Rain continued striking the shattered stones.
Karna slowly released the air from his lungs.
"I understand..."
His fingers adjusted the arrow against the string.
"I'm going to refuse your offer."
Bharvan smiled again.
But there was no amusement.
"In that case..."
BOOM.
The ground shattered beneath Bharvan's feet.
"I have no choice except to kill you."
TWANG.
The arrow fired that same instant.
Bharvan tilted his head.
The tip scraped past the side of his face.
But he was already inside Karna's guard.
The punch came like an explosion.
Karna crossed his arms.
BOOM.
The impact launched him across the street.
Stone shattered.
Debris exploded.
His body slid several meters through mud, water, and blood before finally stopping.
Pain tore through his arms immediately.
Deep.
Heavy.
But his eyes were already searching for Bharvan.
Long before his body stopped.
And before the pain had fully crossed his arms.
The gigantic figure was already charging through the rain.
Without pause.
As if the previous strike had only been the beginning.
Karna moved two fingers:
"Nagastra."
Back there.
The arrow that had passed Bharvan changed direction.
Spinning violently through the air.
It shot back toward Bharvan.
Pursuing him.
The sound cut through the storm.
Bharvan did not even look away.
He kept advancing.
The distance vanished far too quickly.
Karna lowered two fingers:
"Indrastra."
The arrow dove in front of Bharvan.
CRACK.
Lightning exploded against the stones.
The entire street was swallowed by white light.
Water evaporated.
Debris leapt from the ground.
Electrical currents tore through everything around them.
For an instant.
Bharvan's silhouette disappeared.
Karna was already trying to stand.
Heavy breathing.
His body protesting with every movement.
The electrical smoke opened.
Bharvan walked through the discharge.
Currents crawled across his dark skin.
The smile returned.
"You already used that."
"It won't work twice."
Karna rolled.
The fist struck the place where he had been.
CRASH.
Stone split apart.
The street collapsed inward.
Karna continued the movement.
Trying to create distance.
Trying to recover balance.
And he realized.
Too late.
Bharvan was no longer in front of him.
Instinct screamed.
Behind.
Karna's eyes moved.
Bharvan's hand had already reached the quiver.
CRACK.
The straps snapped.
The quiver was ripped from his shoulder.
The kick came that same instant.
BOOM.
The impact struck the side of his body.
Karna was launched again.
The bow escaped his hand during the fall.
His body rolled several times across the soaked stones.
Until he stopped on his knees.
His vision wavered.
His breathing failed.
Once.
Then again.
Blood ran from the corner of his mouth.
His hand pressed against the wet ground as he forced his own body upright.
Ahead.
Bharvan watched him.
Rain slid across the marks spread over his body.
His hand closed around the quiver.
CRACK.
The quiver split apart.
The arrows broke with it.
Fragments scattered across the street.
Karna's eyes remained on the remains scattered across the ground.
Bharvan took a step forward.
"Now..."
"we'll see how much an archer without arrows is worth."
Karna did not answer.
His fingers still pressed against the soaked stone.
His breathing failed again.
His vision wavered.
For an instant.
The street disappeared.
Then returned.
Distorted.
As if it were being seen through water.
The sound of the rain felt distant.
Only the sound of his own heart remained.
BOOM!
BOOM!
His heart kept beating.
Heavy.
Slow.
Rain ran down Karna's face.
Mixing with blood.
Ahead.
Bharvan kept walking.
Without hurry.
As if the result of that fight had already been decided.
As if he were merely waiting for Karna to accept.
Or fall.
Karna's fingers tightened against the soaked stone.
Trying to ignore the pain.
Trying to ignore the growing weight inside his own body.
His eyes focused on something.
Several meters ahead.
A spear lying between the bodies.
Abandoned.
Forgotten.
His gaze remained on it.
For a few seconds.
Bharvan noticed.
The smile returned.
Karna planted one knee on the ground.
Then the other.
Slowly rising.
His entire body protesting.
Rain struck the partially ruined garment.
The cuts.
The bruises.
Bharvan watched.
"I gave you an opportunity."
Another step.
"I can give you another."
Karna remained motionless.
His head slightly lowered.
Water ran from the tip of his nose.
From his chin.
From his hands.
"Serve me."
Wind turned around Bharvan.
"And you will never need to fear the price again."
Silence remained between them.
Long.
Only the rain existed.
Karna slowly raised his eyes toward the sky.
The black clouds.
The lightning.
The water falling without end.
He felt the rain strike his face.
A small smile appeared.
Tired.
Almost imperceptible.
"I thought I could do this all day."
Bharvan let out a brief laugh.
Karna lowered his head again.
His eyes met Bharvan's.
This time without hesitation.
"You asked me..."
His voice came out hoarse.
Heavy.
"what name the Abyss carved into me."
Bharvan's smile disappeared.
His attention changed.
For the first time since the beginning of that fight.
Completely.
Karna's fingers closed around the spear.
The mark began to spread.
Slowly.
From his fingers.
Across his arm.
Climbing beneath the skin.
Like black ink spreading under flesh.
The shoulder.
The neck.
Part of the face.
His eyes lost their brown.
Darkening.
Karna raised the spear.
And took a deep breath.
"The name carved into me..."
The wind seemed to lessen.
"is Karna."
The mark pulsed.
"Karna Surya."
Bharvan observed the mark.
The red eyes traveled across the inscriptions for a few seconds.
Like someone who had finally found an answer.
"I understand."
"Even after all these centuries..."
His gaze returned to Karna.
"we still keep finding each other."
Rain continued falling between them.
Heavy.
Constant.
"In the war of Kurukshetra..."
"you were on the other side."
The smile widened slightly.
"And once again, you stand on the other side."
His eyes lowered again toward the inscriptions.
"Last time..."
"it was Ghatotkacha who fell."
Silence hovered for an instant.
"Today, fate seems far less generous to you."
BOOM.
The ground collapsed beneath Bharvan's feet.
He vanished.
Karna threw the spear.
With everything he still had left.
The weapon tore through the storm.
Straight toward him.
Bharvan raised a hand.
And caught it.
CRACK.
The wood groaned beneath his fingers.
Karna smiled.
Tired.
"Indrastra."
CRACK.
The sky answered.
Lightning descended from the clouds.
Swallowing Bharvan in an explosion of light.
The street disappeared beneath the flash.
Thunder came an instant later.
Shaking the ruined buildings.
Electrical smoke still spread through the street.
Bharvan walked through it.
Without slowing down.
Straight toward Karna.
The distance vanished rapidly.
For an instant space distorted.
BOOM.
Something struck Bharvan.
Violent.
Brutal.
The impact tore his feet from the ground.
Stones exploded from the force of his body.
Water scattered in every direction.
His body tore through the rubble before finally stopping.
Bharvan pressed one hand against the ground.
Slowly rising.
The red eyes turned forward again.
And found a figure standing between him and Karna.
Silent.
Motionless.
Rain slid across pale skin.
Almost translucent beneath the lightning.
Disordered white hair moved in the wind.
The red eyes remained fixed on him.
Without any visible emotion.
The presence alone seemed to warp the space around him.
As if reality itself still had not decided to accept him there.