Neel believe that he was a coward.
On the night his father and brother died, fear had chained his feet. He ran—carrying nothing but his breath and his shame—and that memory followed him ever since, clinging like a shadow. No matter how strong his body became, he believed he had failed when it mattered most.
That belief hollowed him out.
The emptiness swallowed Neel slowly. His mind filled with dark memories, his ears haunted by a single word spoken by those he loved most.
Coward.
In that darkness, Neel saw a light.
It was warm.
It was gentle.
It was a memory.
Years later, on a quiet hill washed in pale sunlight, Neel bent and lifted heavy branches from an old tree. His muscles strained, but his hands did not tremble. Nearby, Kaal watched him with wide, shining eyes.
"Father… you're amazing," Kaal said, his voice bright with wonder. "No one is stronger than you. I'm happy you are my father."
The words struck deeper than any blade.
In that moment, Neel understood something he had never allowed himself to before. Strength was not measured by a single moment of courage, nor erased by one night of fear. It was the choice to endure. To rise again. To become a shield for another life.
As the wind moved through the hills, Neel smiled softly—no longer a coward, but a father strong enough to be believed in.
—
Reality returned.
The dark dream faded like smoke, leaving only the cold weight of the present. Small shards of stone lay scattered around Neel's feet.
The monster was slammed against the rock wall, half its face drenched in fresh blood, the other half twisted and scarred beyond recognition. It howled—not in rage, but in disbelief.
Neel slowly lowered his arm.
His fist glowed like a fallen star, light spilling between his fingers—quiet, absolute. The air around it trembled, as if the world itself hesitated to move closer.
The dream was gone completely.
This was no longer a fight between human and monster.
It had become—
A fight between monster and monster.
The monster roared.
Not in pain—
but in rage.
The ground split beneath its feet as its body swelled grotesquely, muscles knotting and tearing through its own skin. Its frame expanded violently. Bone cracked. Flesh stretched. The glowing green scars across its body flared, flooding the darkness with a sickly light.
It had been wounded.
And it hated that.
The monster moved.
Neel barely survived the first strike. A claw ripped through the air where his head had been an instant earlier. He threw himself sideways, rolling across stone as the impact behind him shattered the ground into fragments. The shockwave slammed into his back, ripping the breath from his lungs.
Too fast.
Too strong.
Neel staggered upright, lungs burning. His leg shook—not from exhaustion, but from fear clawing its way back into his chest.
If I fall here…
The thought sliced through him.
It will go back.
Back to the hill.
Back to Lava.
Back to Kaal.
Neel's jaw tightened.
The monster charged again. This time, Neel did not panic.
He moved.
A step to the side—barely enough. Claws grazed past his ribs, tearing cloth instead of flesh. Pain flared, sharp and immediate, but he stayed upright.
Once.
Then again.
The next strike came lower. Neel twisted, the air screaming past his legs as stone exploded where he had been standing moments before.
And then Neel realized something terrifying.
He was learning.
He was reading the monster's movements. Evading its attacks. Adjusting. The monster noticed it too. Its red eye narrowed. The black eye burned colder.
Neel lifted his gaze.
For the first time—
The monster hesitated.
Because the man standing before it was no longer looking away.
Neel's eyes were steady. Focused. Sharp.
Then—
The sky broke.
High above them, the Agni Chakra finally released its fury. The clouds tore apart, bleeding orange and red across the heavens. The first fireball screamed downward, ripping through the air like a falling star.
And beneath that burning sky, man and monster stood facing each other—
As the world caught fire around them.
The ground trembled as it struck somewhere far away.
Then another.
And another.
Rain of fire.
The world was ending.
Neel didn't look up.
Neither did the monster.
They stood facing each other amid falling embers and burning wind, heat rolling across their skin, ash drifting like snow. The orange-red glow painted everything in bloodlight—but in that moment, the sky did not exist.
There was only him.
And it.
One thought moved through Neel's mind, heavy and absolute.
No matter what… I have to defeat it.
Across from him, the monster lowered its stance. Its claws dug into the ground. The red eye burned. The black eye narrowed.
It shared the same thought.
They moved.
Both launched forward at the same time.
Neel's fist cut through the air, glowing red, heat spiralling tightly around his knuckles. The monster's claw came down in a brutal arc, muscles bulging, green scars flaring violently.
They collided.
Fist met claw.
The impact detonated.
A shockwave blasted outward, throwing fire and ash aside as the ground beneath them cracked open. Neel's arm screamed in agony as bones protested, but he held his stance. The monster snarled as its claws scraped against the burning energy coating Neel's fist.
They broke apart—and struck again.
Too fast to see clearly.
Neel ducked under a sweeping claw, felt heat slice across his back as fireballs crashed nearby. He pivoted, drove his elbow into the monster's ribs. The creature retaliated instantly, a knee slamming into Neel's chest, launching him backward through smoke and sparks.
Neel skidded across stone, coughing blood.
Before he could breathe, the monster was already there.
A claw came down.
Neel rolled, barely clearing the strike as the ground exploded where his head had been. He pushed himself up, breath ragged, eyes locked forward.
He remembered one thing.
If I fall here… it goes back.
That thought anchored him.
The monster attacked again—faster now, heavier. Neel barely dodged the first blow, then the second. His movements were rough, imperfect, driven by instinct rather than skill.
Then—
He adjusted.
A fraction earlier.
A step cleaner.
The next strike missed by inches instead of breath.
Again.
Again.
The monster noticed.
Its red eye widened slightly.
Neel's eyes met its gaze.
There was nothing wild in them now.
Only focus.
Only resolve.
The monster roared and unleashed everything.
Its body convulsed, muscles tearing and reforming as it split apart. Flesh peeled, bone cracked—and two monsters stood where one had been.
Red eyes on one.
Black eyes on the other.
They attacked together.
Neel exhaled.
The world slowed.
He watched the tension in their shoulders, the way their weight shifted, the timing of their steps.
They're synchronized.
Both monsters struck.
Neel stepped aside—just once.
The red-eyed monster's claw passed in front of him.
The black-eyed monster's claw followed—
And they collided.
The impact was catastrophic.
Flesh tore. Bone shattered. Both monsters screamed as they slammed into each other, blood spraying across the fire-lit ground.
Neel didn't hesitate.
His fist flared brighter, red energy roaring around it as he drove a punch straight through the red-eyed monster's chest. The body collapsed, dissolving into smoke and ash.
The black-eyed monster staggered back, shrieking.
Fire rained harder now. The sky burned openly.
The remaining monster convulsed, screaming, flesh dragging itself together as the two forms merged once more. It stood again—larger, warped, overflowing with unstable power.
Its chest expanded.
Energy gathered.
A final attack.
Neel planted his feet.
His fist burned so hot it scorched the air around it. Blood ran freely down his arm. His body screamed at him to stop.
He didn't.
They charged each other.
Monster's claw.
Neel's fist.
"For them," Neel whispered.
He punched.
The world seemed to break.
The impact detonated outward, shattering stone and fire alike. The monster's head burst apart—half its face torn away, skin ripped clean from bone as blood exploded into the air. Its massive body was hurled backward, crashing across the ground and carving a deep trench through earth and rock before finally collapsing in a heap.
Silence followed.
Only the distant roar of falling fire remained.
Neel stood where he was.
His arm hung uselessly at his side, fingers twitching faintly. His legs trembled violently, threatening to give way at any moment. Blood poured from his wounds, soaking into the cracked ground beneath his feet.
But he did not fall.
The monster twitched once.
Neel stepped forward.
Slowly, deliberately, he reached out and grabbed the monster's tail, his grip tightening with what little strength remained. He held it firmly—not in victory, but in refusal.
It will not stand again.
It will not go back.
Not to them.
His vision blurred.
In his fading consciousness, memories surfaced—soft and warm against the cold.
Lava's quiet smile.
The way she looked at him when she thought he wasn't watching.
Kaal's small hand wrapped around his finger.
His laugh.
His voice calling him Papa.
And somewhere beyond that—
A future he would never see.
A child not yet born.
Neel smiled faintly.
I'm sorry…
But you'll be safe.
His grip remained firm.
His body finally went still.
And Neel died—
Standing.
To be continue…