The dense foliage of the forest gave way to an unnatural, deserted dirt pathway stretching through the trees. Moving with deceptive speed, Ruturaj glided down the trail before slowing his pace, his eyes locking onto the shadow cast by a towering oak tree.
"Show yourself, Shakuni!" Ruturaj shouted, his voice ringing across the quiet clearing. "Come out, you cheating bastard!"
The shadows beneath the oak tree warped, and Shakuni stepped out into the light. A cruel grin crossed his face, his dark eyes fixed on Ruturaj.
"Ruturaj..." Shakuni purred smoothly. "The high demon of the VAMIL Crown spoke of you. He said you hold invaluable intelligence. Yet here you stand, refusing to quietly surrender and come with me."
"I have zero interest in walking anywhere with you, Shakuni," Ruturaj retorted coldly, resting a hand near his waist.
Shakuni tilted his head, his smile widening with malicious intent. "Is that so? Well, then... if the father refuses to accompany me, perhaps I should pay a visit to your son instead. I'm sure he'll prove far more cooperative."
At the mention of his son, Ruturaj's entire posture stiffened. His body locked up, freezing dead in his tracks as if hit by a sudden wave of paralysis.
"N-No... Please!" Ruturaj gasped, his voice instantly quivering with desperate horror. Tears began to well up in his eyes, streaming down his pale cheeks as he trembled before Shakuni. "Leave my son out of this! I'm begging you, Shakuni... please!"
Shakuni stared at the sobbing warrior for a long moment, then let out a dry, exasperated sigh.
"Cut the crap, Ruturaj," Shakuni scoffed, waving his hand dismissively. "Stop the fake acting."
Instantly, the tears vanished from Ruturaj's face, his terrified expression melting away into a cold, amused smirk.
Shakuni chuckled softly to himself, playing along with his own dark commentary. "'Am I a convincing actor, Ruturaj? Why yes, Shakuni, you certainly are,' he thoug
Shakuni lowered his stance, his hand gripping the hilt of his weapon. "If you won't come willingly, Ruturaj, then I'll drag your corpse back with me."
"Oh?" Ruturaj chuckled, bouncing lightly on his toes. "Go ahead and try, Shakuni."
Shakuni drew a long, gleaming blade from its sheath, stepping forward with lethal grace. "Come on then, Rutu! Show me what a mere human can do!"
"Come on, Shakuni," Ruturaj taunted back, shifting his weight. "Step up!"
Ruturaj casually tapped his foot against the dirt path.
WOOOSH!
In an instant, the reality surrounding them fractured. The entire street, the trees, and the earth vanished into a void—erased entirely from the fabric of space and time. They now stood on an absolute, featureless plane created by Ruturaj's domain.
Shakuni looked around at the erased space, adjusting his grip on his sword. "Impressive trick. Just do me a favor, Rutu—don't start begging for mercy once the fighting starts."
"Let's see who ends up begging first," Ruturaj shot back with a dangerous glint in his eye.
Without another word, Shakuni channelled a dark, pitch-black aura into his weapon. The steel turned as dark as a starless night. Moving at blinding speed, Shakuni vanished from sight and reappeared directly beside Ruturaj!
SLASH!
Shakuni's black blade cleaved straight through Ruturaj's torso, slicing his body cleanly into two halves! Dark blood sprayed into the void as the severed upper body collapsed onto the ground.
Shakuni sheathed his sword, letting out a low laugh. "That was almost too easy. The fight's already over."
"Oh really? You think cutting a body is all it takes?" a voice whispered directly into Shakuni's left ear.
Shakuni's eyes widened in shock as he spun around. Standing right beside his shoulder, completely unharmed, was Ruturaj!
Shakuni's face twisted in rage. "You arrogant worm!"
Emanating an intense, violent shockwave of dark energy, Shakuni released his full power. Black, suffocating smoke erupted from his body, expanding rapidly and corrupting the white void of Ruturaj's domain, painting the entire pocket dimension in complete, pitch-black darkness.
Ruturaj rolled his eyes, waving a hand in front of his face to clear the dark smoke. "Seriously, Shakuni? I didn't create a space-time domain just for you to paint the walls black."
Shakuni growled, his dark aura flaring wildly as he prepared to strike again.
"Alright, my turn to show you real power," Ruturaj said, his tone shifting into absolute seriousness.
Ruturaj raised his right hand into the air. "This is a sacred technique passed down from Grandpa Parashu. A power so destructive, he vowed never to use it upon the Earth itself."
Tracing his finger through the air, Ruturaj drew a complex, glowing divine symbol in mid-air.
FLASH!
The symbol erupted with a blinding, crimson light that instantly incinerated Shakuni's dark smoke. A surge of catastrophic energy poured into Ruturaj's body, his aura spiking to unimaginable levels.
Ruturaj raised his index finger, aiming it dead-center at Shakuni's forehead like a loaded gun.
"Goodbye, Shakuni."
BOOM!
A beam of hyper-concentrated crimson energy erupted from Ruturaj's fingertip. The attack bypassed Shakuni's defenses entirely, slamming straight into his skull and completely blasting Shakuni's head to pieces in a violent explosion of red light!
Shakuni's headless body staggered for a second before collapsing heavily onto the void floor.
Is Shakuni truly dead? And what consequences will this forbidden technique bring? Find out in the next chapter of Kala-Agna!