They both released Shakti from their bodies. The dust and small pebbles flew away from them with a screeching noise, indicating that the fight had entered its final moments. Both of them held their Dhanush tightly. The area around them was in shambles—broken trees, rocks, and traces of blood could be seen.
Arjun was just intimidated by the release of Shakti from their bodies, despite being at a very long distance.
Behind one warrior, clusters of wind started to appear, slowly forming the shape of a big arrow. The parts of rocks and trees that were there began to blow away. The wind in the entire area turned unstable. A powerful blow was released toward the opponent.
At the same moment, the Dhanush vanished from the other warrior's hand.
Arjun seemed confused about the disappearance of the Dhanush from his hand.
A massive dark mace appeared in his grip. The ground near it smashed as the mace appeared, and it started to pull in the air, rocks, and everything around it. The man threw a Shakti blast with the help of his mace.
When both attacks collided, a huge explosion erupted. Everything went blank for Arjun and the others. Thick dust now surrounded the entire battlefield, but branches, trees, water, and pebbles were still seen flying out of the dusty area.
The Dhanush bearer spoke through the dust, his voice loud and clear.
"So finally used your main weapon?"
Arjun could hear him, but he could not see anything.
But Arjun's thoughts were somewhere else.
The scale of the fight was too big for him. His face remained in shock. Despite training for many years, he still felt like a newborn child in front of them.
Arjun thought, "They appear only a few years older than me… then how can the gap in strength be so much?"
At that moment, one of them spoke again. A dazzling golden light filled the entire place, sweeping away the dust instantly.
A Dhanush appeared in the man's hand. A heavy sound of thunder clapping followed as it formed. The bow radiated golden light. The wind around it shifted, as if the weapon's appearance alone affected the environment.
He said,
"So, you've been recognized as a worthy opponent by my Dhanush. That's why it appeared for this battle. Be honored, even if you lose."
He calmly positioned the bow, even as everything near it was being blown away or burnt. He patiently took aim, as if time itself was slowing for him.
He then stretched the string of the Dhanush. A faint vibration followed.
And then he fired.
A single arrow was fired.
For a second, the world held its breath. The air felt thin, silent, watching.
Arjun could only register the arrow inside the Dhanush. The moment his fingers released the string, nothing was visible again. It was so fast that he couldn't even notice the release.
A faint whistle sliced the silence—whoop—like wind startled late.
The arrow made no sound, no trace, no visible path, as if it barely existed.
Arjun whispered,
"What was that? It was impossible to dodge."
His mind tripped over the moment, and he muttered softly,
"Can I ever do something like this?"
A low heartbeat echoed in his ears—thud… thud… steady, nervous.
The opponent didn't even get time to react. The arrow pierced him. Blood burst out from the wound, pouring instantly. The impact was so strong that his body flew back a couple of hundred meters, smashing into trees behind him. He landed in a small crater filled with water—splash. The blood reddened the water. He appeared to be in severe pain.
A dull splash echoed again from the pit—ploh—heavy, real, unsettling.
Still lying in water, he grinned and said,
"The arrow is very powerful. If you can hit me, you can definitely win. But can you do it?"
He took out an object from his waist, chanted a mantra quietly—hiss faint and vanished with a flicker of water sound.
The Dhanush bearer smirked and said,
"Let's see what you've got."
He fired another arrow—carrying the same unreal speed. It pierced nothing, hitting only air. The arrow flew far away, cutting through trees on the way, vanishing into a distance that couldn't even be seen from where Arjun stood.
A far echo followed the strike—khruum… shaking distant rocks.
Arjun muttered,
"The speed… the range… I can't even see it. And why does this arrow feel different from the ones made using Shakti? Is he using an Astra?"
Arjun grew impatient. His archery skill was nowhere near his. His heart felt heavy slow, sinking, but real.
For the first time in many years, Arjun realized he was still weak.
At that moment, the vanished warrior appeared again—no warning, no movement—directly in front of the Dhanush bearer, carrying a gigantic dark mace. The mace pulled in the air around it with such force that even the nearby trees were uprooted from the ground and threw it towards his opponent. The Dhanush bearer fired another arrow.
The air grew more turbulent with every passing second, as if the very atmosphere braced itself for the clash that was about to happen.
Subha remained calm through all of it, as if she already knew what was about to happen.
She finally said,
"It is not an Astra, it is the power of the bow 'Gandiv'."
Arjun's eyes widened.
A soft gasp left him—hah—quiet, but tinged with disbelief.
Then suddenly, a voice emerged from behind them—cold and layered with echo, like a mountain speaking through mist.
"Little Rajkumari, you seem to know a lot of things… Mind if I ask something?"
A cold breeze followed the voice, brushing past their spines.
Another moment passed. No one moved.
Leaves trembled once barely alive under the chill.
They felt as if a entire mountain had been placed on their backs. But it was only the air pressure around the voice.
A long hush followed—ffffhhhhh—forest bowing late.
Arjun thought again,"Could there be another person? Will he attack? Will he be as powerful as both of them? Can I defeat someone as strong as them?"He placed his hand on his own Dhanush. They didn't have the strength to turn around or speak. For a moment, the air felt heavy and still.
A faint pressure settled a late, distant reminder of power.
That person said,
"I won't harm you all. If I wanted to, I would've already done it the moment you laid a step on my mountain."
Arjun's thoughts paused for a moment after hearing that.
A cold whisper brushed the silence thin, steady, slow.
He thought,"His mountain? Is he a protector of nature? A Yaksha?"
Arjun gathered his courage and turned around to face the one floating before him. His voice carried hesitation, but curiosity pushed him forward.
He asked,
"Are you a Yaksha?"
The man had green eyes, white hair, and a long beard, confirming he was very old. Yet his face was handsome, like time hadn't fully overtaken him. His clothes were made from leaves—ancient, unnatural, stitched into fabric that hugged him perfectly. It gave a strange contrast—gentle in one moment, terrifying in the next.
The air coming from the Yaksha was so cold it nearly stung the skin.
Arjun was lost in thought and didn't notice something significant in the battlefield.
Arjun thought,
"Despite living on the top of this mountain for many years… this coldness is too much for me."
A low rustle slipped from the leaves alive but subtle.
The Yaksha said,
"Ask the girl who came with you. I'm curious to know the knowledge of someone who is Varis."
Subha, standing beside him, still hadn't turned.
Arjun caught the word "Varis", and with questioning eyes, turned toward Subha—only to get even more stunned because he realized they were in bubble.
He noticed that the splashes of water and blood floating in the air weren't moving. The battlefield stood frozen—not because the warriors paused, but because time had truly stopped outside the bubble. Small pebbles hovered in the air. The arrow, fast enough to bend light earlier, now looked fragile, locked in motion.
The area cracked because of uprooted trees and scattered rocks, but even that destruction held no motion now.
No storm, no chaos—just a quiet suspended echo—ffffhhhhh.
Golden particles still radiated from the Dhanush. Arjun thought silently,
"Not even stopping time could stop the Gandiv. Truly a terrifying weapon."
A faint vibration of awe thrummed inside him—not loud, not sharp, just a personal sound of realization.
With shock still swirling, he asked, "What did you do?"
The Yaksha shifted his gaze toward Subha, signaling to Arjun that she should answer instead.
A faint green glow radiated from Subha as the Yaksha focused his attention on her.
Her lips trembled before she finally began to speaking.