8:00 PM - THE LANDING: DHURVA'S INFILTRATION PROTOCOL
The air above the old Mumbai Fort was cold, damp, and heavy with the scent of stagnant sea and ancient stone. Kala Kotta (Black Fort) was not just a ruin; it was a scar—a place where the veil of illusion between worlds was thin, constantly vibrating with the potential for collapse.
I was strapped into a silent, matte-black Vayu-Glider, flanking CMDR. SHAKTI of Project Dhruva. Below us, the ruins were a labyrinth of collapsing walls and deep, shadowed bunkers.
"Remember the plan, Heir," Commander Shakti's voice was sharp, cutting through the wind, amplified by her suit's internal comms. "My team—Dhruva Delta—will clear the outer ring and neutralize the Pisacha Fuel Cells. Your job is the Core Chamber—Dr. Veda and the Engine. Fail to neutralize the Engine, and I will neutralize the site with a Pralaya-grade Vajra Sutra. No hesitation."
"Understood," I replied, the word an iron certainty. My circuits were blazing—the 500+ Mana pool fully charged, ready to be poured into the final SHRIM code.
🎵 "System Status: Infiltration Protocol Active. Threat Level: Catastrophic. Target: Adharmic Engine (Fusion of C⁻¹ and HRIM/KLIM). Mana Cost for Engine Neutralization (SHRIM Inverse): 400 units. Warning: Localized Adharma field will reduce Mana efficiency by 50%."
We landed with the whisper of a Vayu Dampening Field on the fort's highest rampart. The Dhruva soldiers, a picture of disciplined force, immediately deployed, their movements silent, their weapons—the glowing tridents and sonic emitters—pulsing with controlled Dharmic energy.
Kabir, my silent partner, deployed a Prithvi Seal behind us, collapsing the path we took—a guarantee of no retreat.
8:30 PM - THE FISSURE: K-9'S LAST STAND
The entry point was a deep, black fissure leading into the Earth—an old Mughal-era dungeon that had become the perfect anchor for the Adharmic Engine.
We descended, the air immediately turning thick and suffocating. The darkness was not just an absence of light; it was a hungry, palpable presence.
Suddenly, the fissure erupted. K-9, his black armor now fused with strange, throbbing filaments of dark energy, dropped from the ceiling, blocking the path.
"The Heir," K-9 snarled, his voice a distorted, metallic growl. "Dr. Veda anticipated your interference. I am your final Sentinel."
His armor now radiated the chaotic signature of the Rakshasa. The Null-Rod he carried was not silent; it was screaming with negative Mana.
🎵 "CRITICAL THREAT: K-9 now equipped with Entropy Fusion Armor. Null-Rod Emitter now fused with Pisacha Mana (C⁻¹), creating a self-sustaining Chaos Field. Recommended: Overload his fusion point (Mid-chest reactor) with a high-frequency, non-entropic attack."
K-9 charged, his speed unnatural, amplified by the raw chaotic energy. He swung the Entropy Null-Rod.
I didn't try to evade. I had to hit him with everything I had left before the SHRIM sequence.
Phase 1: Grounding the Chaos (Prithvi)
As his foot hit the ground,I slammed a massive Prithvi Bandhan into the concrete floor beneath him. Not to trap, but to Ground his energy. The floor instantly turned into dense, magnetized iron, sucking the raw chaos from his feet.
K-9 stumbled,his chaotic energy partially neutralized by the Earth's stable Mass (M).
Phase 2: The Focused Strike (Agni Chakram - Homing)
This was my one shot.I didn't want to use the full Agni Shuddhi; I needed a surgical strike.
I threw the Agni Chakram.Not in a straight line, but in a violent, multi-ricochet pattern against the iron walls, charging the blade with max friction and heat.
"Agni Chakraaya Hum!Pura-Shuddhi!" (Complete Purification)
The Chakram returned to my wrist,but not before striking K-9's chest reactor—the fusion point—with blinding precision. The Entropy Fusion Armor flashed violently, the black filaments shriveling instantly as the purified Agni energy (C⁺¹) overloaded the chaotic negative source (C⁻¹).
K-9 screamed—a sound of raw defeat—and crumpled,his armor disintegrating into a pile of smoking, neutralized ash.
9:00 PM - THE CORE CHAMBER: VEDA'S VISION
We pushed past K-9's remains and entered the Core Chamber. It was a cavernous, subterranean temple—part ritualistic chamber, part hyper-advanced physics lab.
In the center, the Adharmic Engine pulsed with a terrifying, rhythmic beat. It was a massive, rotating, mirrored Yantra, powered by two intense light sources—the stolen HRIM and KLIM Sutra shards, now fused into a single, aggressively humming crystal. The air was a churning vortex of black smoke and chilling energy.
And standing before it was Dr. Veda.
He was a man of cold, intellectual precision, dressed in flowing robes that somehow blended ancient tantric style with modern high-tech materials. He didn't look back; he was absorbed in the terrifying machine.
"Welcome, Aryan Shastri," Veda said, his voice calm, educated, and saturated with terrifying conviction. "My former Guru's final, desperate attempt. You are too late."
He turned, and I saw the true horror: Veda's eyes were not human; they pulsed with the same aggressive, malicious red as the Rakshasa.
"Vishwamitra calls it Adharma. I call it Efficient Physics," Veda stated, gesturing to the machine. "The universe is too slow, too bound by 'Dharma.' This engine uses the Pisacha's Entropy (C⁻¹) to run the Core Codex—KLIM and HRIM—in reverse! Total control through total chaos! The SHRIM Sutra is my final goal, but first, I will use this machine to Reverse the Mana field of Mumbai!"
9:05 PM - THE COLLAPSE: REVERSING THE FIELD
Dr. Veda initiated the final sequence.
The Engine screamed to life. The black smoke surged.
Outside, on the surface, the Dhruva team—already engaged with the Pisacha Fuel Cells—began to falter. Their Vajra Yantras sputtered.
🎵 "CRITICAL EMERGENCY! Adharmic Engine Active! Status: Localized Mana Field Reversal Initiated. Mana Efficiency dropped to 25%. Warning: All Dharmic Mantras will backfire. Akasha Drishti (C⁴) is required to sustain SHRIM's purity!"
I felt a terrifying pull—my own Mana was trying to leave my body, drawn to the Engine. My stable energy felt like it was turning toxic, corrosive.
"You feel it, Aryan?" Veda laughed, his red eyes burning. "The collapse of your little order! The Code of the Universe is folding in on itself! Your SHRIM is useless in this chaos!"
He fired a dark, shimmering bolt of pure Entropy at me. It wasn't fire or light; it was concentrated chaos, designed to unravel my atomic structure.
I had to use the SHRIM key—not to attack, but to shield myself by stabilizing the space around me.
"Om Klim Shrim Akashaya Namah!"
The bolt slammed into the micro-warp field I created. The Entropy bolt didn't explode; it dissolved into harmless, grey static, failing to penetrate the absolute order of the C^5 code.
9:10 PM - THE FINAL EQUATION: SHRIM INVERSE
I knew I couldn't destroy the Engine with fire; Veda was using the very collapse of reality as his fuel. I had to rewrite its foundational code. I had to prove that Order (C⁺¹) is more powerful than Chaos (C⁻¹).
I channeled every drop of Mana—the final, massive 400 units—into the SHRIM Inverse Sutra that Vishwamitra had taught me. I ignored the chaos, the collapsing walls, the screaming Engine. I focused purely on the Engine's HRIM/KLIM crystal.
My intent: Rewrite the -1 back to +1.
I began the chant, the SHRIM syllable resonating not as sound, but as an immense, physical pressure wave of pure order that attacked the machine's foundational logic.
"OM HRAANG KLEEM SHREEM... DHARMA PRATISHTHAPANA! C⁻¹ TO C⁺¹!"
The Engine fought back violently. The cavern shook. Veda screamed a counter-mantra, throwing bolts of chaos.
But the SHRIM Sutra was the Master Key. It slammed into the fusion crystal.
The effect was instantaneous and absolute. The crystal didn't explode; it simply reset. The demonic energy was instantly vaporized by the overwhelming, ordered reality of the SHRIM command.
The Adharmic Engine ground to a halt, smoking, defeated. The red glow in Veda's eyes faded, leaving behind the look of a defeated, deranged scientist.
9:15 PM - VICTORY AND ISOLATION
Veda stared at the dead machine, then at me. "You... you will not stop the collapse! It is the destiny of this universe!"
He tried one final, desperate bolt of chaos, but my Agni Chakram materialized and intercepted the attack, pinning Veda to the wall with a non-lethal, high-frequency kinetic field.
I looked at the smoking wreckage. The Mantra System pulsed with a profound, calm SUCCESS.
🎵 "Adharmic Engine Neutralized. Sutra Code: C⁻¹ successfully rewritten to C⁺¹. Mana Reserve: 100 units. Critical System Update: The Code of Dharma is proven superior to the Code of Adharma. Objective Complete."
CMDR. SHAKTI rushed in, her face streaked with soot and sweat, her team securing the perimeter. She looked at the smoldering wreckage, then at the defeated Veda, then at me.
She lowered her Vajra Yantra and gave me a slight, respectful nod. "The Code is clean, Heir. You have saved the city from the Pralaya we could only dream of fighting."
As the Dhruva team took custody of the defeated Veda, I slipped away. I didn't want the recognition; I didn't want the questions. The fate of the world rested on an invisible mechanic who could rewrite reality.
Kabir was waiting at the exit. "We won the battle, Aryan. But Saturnia is still out there. And now, they know the full potential of the Core Codex."
I looked out at the sleeping city of Mumbai, now safe, unaware of the war fought beneath its feet. My war was just beginning. The universe was an engine, and I was the only one who could truly fix it.
CHAPTER END
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