Yuvaan, Varun, and Dilruba stood at the edge of the hall, their eyes wide, hearts hammering as the hypnotized family remained trapped inside the hovering cage—Bhoomi, Chandrika, Vinod, Aakash, Riddhi, Susheela, Angad, and Vikram—all frozen in unnatural stillness.
Kiara's chest heaved, anger and desperation fueling her every breath. With a sudden surge of strength, she jerked her hand free from Dev's grip, shoving him backward across the mandap.
"You might be Agnishwa," she said, voice sharp and echoing, "but don't forget who I am. I am God's gift… Jishwa."
Her eyes blazed, glowing faintly as her divine aura flared around her.
Before Dev could react, she reached out and levitated a heavy sofa from the side of the hall. It hovered like a living weapon in her hands, shaking slightly with the power she poured into it.
With a swift motion, she hurled it toward Dev. The sofa spun through the air, massive and unstoppable, and Dev had to leap back, his crimson eyes widening as he barely shifted out of its path.
Dust swirled, candles flickered violently, and the tension in the hall crackled like a storm about to break.
Yuvaan's jaw tightened, fists clenching. Varun's eyes glimmered with urgency, while Dilruba's nine-tailed fox aura flared faintly behind her, a silent promise of aid.
Kiara's aura expanded, shimmering across the hall as she hovered, unwavering, every inch the goddess in mortal form, every motion a challenge to Dev's dominance.
Dev steadied himself, smirk returning—though now tinged with caution. He had underestimated the force he faced.
The mandap, the floating cage, the suspended furniture—all seemed to hold their breath as the two divine beings faced off, the air between them heavy with power, defiance, and the promise of a war yet to fully ignite.
---
Dev erupted into a swirl of divine flames, his body lifting effortlessly into the air above Kiara. The heat radiated in waves, scorching the hall and causing the floating furniture to tremble. His crimson eyes locked onto hers, unyielding.
"Look," he said, his voice carrying the authority of fire itself, "fighting me won't get you anywhere. First, because I am more powerful than you. I control the elements of fire. I am the Lord of Fire."
He hovered, the flames around him crackling and licking the ceiling like living serpents.
"Secondly," he continued, his smirk widening, "you can increase your powers… by getting married to me."
Kiara's jaw tightened, her hands clenched into fists, the glow of her divine energy beginning to pulse around her.
"You call yourself a divine being," she spat, voice sharp as glass, "yet you are greedy for power. I am not like you. I am not greedy for powers, so keep your offer to yourself."
Dev's flames surged higher, casting a deep crimson light across the hall.
"Fine," he said, his tone icy, detached. Then, with a swift motion of his hand, he conjured fireballs, molten and roaring, hurtling toward Kiara with lethal precision.
Kiara leapt, twisting gracefully in the air, her own aura rippling as she dodged every fireball with calculated agility. Sparks exploded around her as some fireballs grazed the floor, scorching tiles.
Yuvaan's eyes widened, his fists tightening. "Kiara!" he shouted, worry etched deep into his voice.
Varun's stance stiffened, arrow nocked instinctively as he readied himself, tension radiating from every line of his body.
But Kiara's focus was absolute. She twisted, flipped, and finally landed lightly on the marble floor, her stance firm, aura blazing, eyes blazing with unwavering determination.
She had evaded. She had endured. And she was ready.
Her gaze met Dev's in silence—no words, only the unspoken challenge of a goddess standing against the Lord of Fire.
Dev descended sharply, landing just a foot away from Kiara, flames curling around him like a living crown of fire. His expression had shifted—no longer smug, now frustrated… desperate.
"Give up now, Kiara," Dev said, voice low, strained, almost whining. "Stop this struggle."
Kiara arched a brow, almost amused despite the chaos around them.
"Why are you whining?" she shot back. "Come at me."
Dev's jaw clenched. In the blink of an eye he lunged—his speed inhuman—his hand shooting toward her neck to seize control.
But Kiara's reflexes were pure divinity.
Her fingers wrapped around his wrist before it could touch her, gripping him so fiercely that the flames around his arm flickered unstable.
Dev's eyes widened.
"You—!"
Kiara didn't let him finish.
Her other hand surged upward, glowing with pure, concentrated divine energy—light swirling like a miniature sun in her palm.
With a sharp thrust, she palmed his chest.
A burst of light exploded between them—
Dev's body shot backward like a comet—
CRAAASH!
He slammed into the wall so hard the marble cracked behind him, dust falling around his collapsed figure.
Kiara straightened, her hair lifting slightly from the residual force of her power, eyes burning with righteous fury.
Dev looked up from the rubble, shocked—
not just at the impact,
but at the realization:
Kiara wasn't just resisting him.
She was overpowering him.