The next morning Mumbai woke beneath gray skies and restless humidity. News vans still crowded near the accident site while television channels continued replaying footage of the mysterious highway incident. Social media already transformed the event into conspiracy theories, memes, supernatural debates, and fake edited videos.
Inside Vikram's room, none of that felt entertaining anymore.
He sat on the edge of his bed staring at the news article displayed on his phone.
SOLE SURVIVOR REMAINS IN SHOCK.
UNEXPLAINED BIOLOGICAL INCIDENT UNDER INVESTIGATION.
Witnesses claimed hospital staff approaching the girl suffered sudden hair loss accompanied by bleeding scalps. Doctors refused giving official statements.
Vikram rubbed his face tiredly.
"This is getting worse very fast."
Power stood near his window in physical form once again.
Unlike her royal appearance inside Mayasabha, today she looked strangely modern while still carrying that ancient aura impossible to ignore. She wore a long crimson-red dress layered over black leggings while her hair rested in two perfectly neat braids falling over her shoulders. Gold bracelets shimmered faintly around her wrists while morning light reflected softly in her sharp eyes.
She crossed her arms while watching the city outside.
"The balance weakens further."
Vikram glanced at her. "You keep saying balance like some disappointed yoga instructor."
Power ignored the comment.
"She awakened too violently."
Vikram stood slowly and grabbed his hoodie from the chair. "That's what I don't understand. How did someone randomly get powers because of a car crash?"
Power turned toward him calmly.
"Mana does not create equally."
The room temperature shifted slightly as she spoke.
"Most humans exposed directly to raw mana die instantly. Their nervous systems collapse before adaptation begins."
Vikram frowned. "Then why did she survive?"
"Because death opened her mind fully for a brief moment."
Power walked slowly across the room while speaking.
"Human consciousness normally operates under limitations. Fear. Biology. Instinct. But extreme trauma can temporarily force the brain beyond ordinary thresholds."
Vikram remembered the accident footage.
Golden eyes.
Hair moving unnaturally.
"She adapted," he muttered.
"Yes."
Power looked genuinely thoughtful now.
"Her emotional attachment to identity likely shaped the ability."
Vikram blinked. "Identity?"
"She centered her life around beauty. Hair. Self-image. Confidence. Human powers often emerge through emotional anchors."
"That sounds psychologically terrifying."
"It is."
Vikram wore his shoes quietly. "Can she control it?"
"No."
That answer came immediately.
"She awakened through grief and panic. Her mana remains unstable."
Power's expression darkened slightly.
"If emotional collapse continues, her ability may begin reacting instinctively to stress."
Vikram frowned harder now.
"So she's basically a walking supernatural panic attack."
"Accurate."
Outside the window, distant thunder rolled faintly above Mumbai.
Power suddenly looked toward him sharply.
"You intend visiting her."
Vikram paused.
"…Yes."
"You should avoid attachment."
"That's easy for immortal palace queens to say."
Power narrowed her eyes immediately. "I am offering logical advice."
"You're also standing inside my bedroom criticizing human emotions."
Power looked entirely unbothered. "Correct."
Vikram sighed while grabbing his keys. "I'm still going."
Several seconds passed.
Then unexpectedly—
Power walked toward the door too.
Vikram blinked. "You're coming?"
"You possess terrible decision-making instincts. Supervision is necessary."
"That sounded almost caring."
"It was not."
Far away across the city—
Another conversation unfolded inside darkness.
King sat silently in the backseat of a moving taxi while rain droplets crawled slowly across the window beside him. The hospital address glowed faintly on his phone screen.
Kill the girl.
Simple mission.
Yet Kali continued speaking inside his mind.
YOU STILL DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF BALANCE.
King rested his head lazily against the seat. "Then explain."
For several moments only silence answered.
Then Kali spoke again.
Long ago, when Krishna left the mortal world…
The atmosphere inside King's mind shifted strangely.
The voice became colder.
After his death, divine power withdrew from Earth.
King listened quietly now.
Arjuna himself experienced this truth.
Images formed briefly inside King's thoughts.
A tired warrior.
An empty sky.
Broken power.
Kali continued.
Arjuna once possessed strength capable of defeating celestial armies.
The vision shifted again.
A great archer surrounded by glowing weapons.
Storms.
Battles.
Then suddenly—
Everything dimmed.
After Krishna departed, the flow of divine energy vanished.
Arjuna lost access to powers he once commanded effortlessly.
King frowned slightly.
Kali's voice deepened.
When bandits attacked the women under his protection…
The image showed terrified travelers fleeing.
Arjuna raised his legendary bow.
And failed.
His arrows lacked strength.
His divine weapons refused answering.
He could not even protect them from ordinary thieves.
The vision vanished.
Because balance changed.
Silence filled King's mind.
Kali continued calmly.
Power does not belong permanently to mortals.
It enters.
It leaves.
Worlds rise and collapse according to balance.
King stared out the taxi window thoughtfully.
"So now mana is returning."
Yes.
And balance shifts again.
Kali's tone darkened.
If left uncontrolled, humanity will destroy itself before gods ever intervene.
King smirked faintly. "Sounds entertaining."
YOU FIND TOO MUCH JOY IN SUFFERING.
"Correct."
The taxi finally stopped near a crowded market road.
King stepped outside calmly.
Rainwater splashed beneath his shoes while crowds pushed through narrow sidewalks. Nobody paid attention to him.
Until someone accidentally bumped into his shoulder.
A middle-aged man carrying tea containers stumbled slightly.
One drop of spit from his hurried apology landed on King's black shoe.
Silence.
The man froze instantly after noticing King's expression.
"S-sorry bhai—"
King slowly looked downward at the shoe.
Then upward.
The man backed away nervously. "By mistake—"
King grabbed his jaw.
Fast.
Too fast.
People nearby barely reacted before it happened.
CRACK.
King tore the lower half of the man's jaw clean off.
Blood exploded across the pavement.
Screams erupted instantly.
The mutilated body collapsed twitching while terrified pedestrians stumbled backward in horror.
King looked mildly irritated while wiping blood from his hand onto the dead man's shirt.
Then calmly continued walking toward the hospital.
Behind him—
Chaos exploded across the street.
Meanwhile Vikram finally reached the hospital nearly forty minutes later.
The atmosphere felt wrong immediately.
Police stood outside certain corridors while nervous nurses whispered among themselves. Several bald patients sat bleeding from irritated scalps while doctors argued nearby.
"What happened?" Vikram overheard one man shout angrily.
"I only entered the hallway!"
Another patient screamed at hospital staff. "MY EYEBROWS FELL OFF!"
Vikram slowed uneasily.
Power walked beside him invisibly to everyone else.
"She lost control again," Power said quietly.
Vikram frowned while moving through the corridor. "This bad?"
A nurse nearby cried while holding chunks of her own hair inside shaking hands.
Power glanced around calmly.
"Her fear is reacting defensively."
The deeper Vikram moved toward Sadhna's ward, the worse conditions became.
Hair covered the floor everywhere.
Not small amounts.
Massive clumps.
Black strands scattered across tiles like dead insects. Blood stains marked several sections of the corridor where hair had apparently ripped directly from scalps violently enough to tear skin.
Even security guards refused approaching the room now.
One officer whispered nervously, "Anything going near her starts losing hair."
Another muttered, "Not normal."
Vikram stopped outside the isolated ward quietly.
The door remained slightly open.
Inside—
Sadhna sat motionless upon the hospital bed.
The sight genuinely unsettled him.
Her beautiful long hair now spread unnaturally across the floor around her like living shadows. Some strands still moved faintly despite no wind existing inside the room.
Her eyes looked hollow.
Emotionally broken.
A girl who once filled livestreams with endless energy now stared silently at nothing while hospital monitors beeped softly nearby.
Vikram noticed framed family photos sitting on the bedside table.
Her parents smiling beside her during happier times.
Sadhna slowly looked downward toward her own trembling hands.
Then whispered softly—
"Maa…"
The moving hair around the room twitched violently.
Power immediately spoke inside Vikram's mind.
Careful.
Sadhna's breathing became uneven again.
Tears rolled silently down her face.
"I didn't save them…"
The hair on the floor slowly rose.
Dozens of strands floated upward around the room like snakes responding to emotion.
And somewhere else inside the hospital—
King arrived smiling.