CHAPTER 55 Fall of Nabhgadh and the Blood of Nakshatra
On the rampart of Nabhgadh, Akshansh silhouette was emerging. A stone statue with lightning running in its veins. Below, in the valley, a black ocean was rising. Thousands of shadow soldiers were climbing the walls. Not walking. Sliding, like ink mixed in oil spreading upward. Their swords were made of smoke, but wherever they touched, the stone turned black and crumbled.
Akshansh raised his arms.
Archers. Strike.
His voice was sharp like metal, echoing in the sky.
Thousands of arrows flew at once. A rain of burning meteors. The night darkness was scorched by their flames. But as soon as they hit the shadow soldiers. Nothing happened. The arrows passed right through their bodies, as if moving through air. One arrow entered a shadow soldier chest, but no wound formed there. Just the smoke shook a little, then steadied.
These arrows are useless, Kalpit voice trembled from behind. These are puppets of smoke, Akshansh.
Akshansh clenched his fist. Blue veins popped on his wrist, as if lightning wires were running under his skin. He drew his sword Nakshatra from its sheath. A sharp flash, a harsh sound, and then a cold, blue light flooded the entire rampart.
He jumped from the edge of the wall.
His hair flew in the air, lightning sparks dancing on his armor. As soon as his feet hit the ground, the earth cracked. A blue electric circle spread all around. The shadow soldiers within ten feet of him were crushed. No scream, no smoke, just a cloud of ash rising in the air.
Akshansh became a storm.
With every strike of his sword, lightning flashed from the sky. White blue flashes, wherever they hit the ground, a crater formed. He ran, cut, spun. Behind him, only a trail of ash remained.
Come, his voice mixed with the thunder. Come and see how hot the blood of Nabhgadh is.
His eyes had turned completely blue. Pupils gone, just glowing blueness. He drove Nakshatra into the ground and joined both his hands.
Nakshatra trap.
The ground shook. Hundreds of lightning chains emerged from under the earth. Thin, bright, flexible like serpents. They waved in the air and began to catch every shadow soldier. Wherever the lightning touched, the shadow soldiers began to crack. Falling not as smoke, but as smoldering ash.
For a moment, it seemed. He alone would win.
Then, a cold laugh came from a distance.
That laugh did not echo in the air, but inside the bones. Every soldiers hair stood up.
A chariot of black smoke descended from the sky. No horses. Just four shadows pulling it, tearing through the air. Nirag stood on the chariot. His hair was waving in the air, but they did not look like hair. It looked as if someone had tied the night darkness to his head.
On his forehead, that black eye was open. A void where everything could disappear.
Enough, Akshansh.
Nirag voice was like two stones rubbing against each other. Heavy, harsh, without any emotion. Your lightning. Is just a lamp in a dark cave. The real darkness is yet to come.
Akshansh raised Nakshatra. Lightning flashed on the swords edge. A blue flame.
Nirag, you took my parents. You took Neer from us. Today your darkness will be buried in this earth.
He rushed like a tiger. A ball of lightning shot from his sword. Bright, roaring, burning the air. The ball moved straight toward Nirag chest.
Nirag did not even move.
He just raised his left hand. Palm open.
The lightning ball hit his palm. And stopped.
Then, slowly, it began to shrink. The lightning flash dimmed, the sound slowed. Nirag closed his fist. And that terrible ball of lightning crushed in his palm and turned into black smoke.
Akshansh breathing stopped. His eyes widened. This. This is impossible.
Everything disappears in the void, Akshansh. Light too. And your hope too.
Nirag slowly raised his finger. Pointing toward the main wall of Nabhgadh.
That wall was centuries old. Made of magical stones, with safety mantras carved by hundreds of magicians. A thin, needle like ray came from Nirag black eye. So thin that it was hard to see.
The ray hit the wall.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then, the stone of the wall began to tremble. Shaking as if a giant beast was turning in its sleep. A scream of rocks came. A sound that shook even the bones.
The wall cracked from top to bottom. Not dust, but black powder flew. The stones turned to ash in the air. The whole wall collapsed like a sandcastle.
No.
Agnis scream came from above. A scream in which centuries of anger and helplessness were mixed.
Akshansh attacked again. His sword fell on Nirag armor. A sharp spark, then an explosion.
Nirag drew his black sword Andhak Dhaar. The blade was so black that even light did not reflect from it.
The two swords clashed.
There was no sound. Just a wave of pressure rose, throwing hundreds of soldiers in the air. Akshansh was putting all his strength. His hands were trembling, sweat and blood flowing from his forehead. But Nirag face was calm. No sweat. No strain.
You look tired, Akshansh.
Nirag whispered, and twisted his sword at a strange angle.
A black wave came from Andhak Dhaar. Waving in the air, without sound. The wave hit Akshansh armor, and the armor tore like paper. Akshansh flew ten feet back and crashed to the ground.
Before he could get up, Nirag was in front of him.
He grabbed Akshansh neck with one hand. And lifted him in the air. Akshansh feet dangled, he began to struggle. His sword Nakshatra fell from his hand and went far.
Your lightning. Your bravery. All useless.
Nirag brought his black eye close to Akshansh eyes. Do you want to see. The scene. When your parents took their last breath.
Nirag began to pour his energy into Akshansh.
The veins of Akshansh body began to turn black. As if black ink was running in his blood vessels. He roared in pain. A scream that stopped the whole battlefield. Nirag slammed him to the ground.
Akshansh lay in mud and blood. His left shoulder was dislocated. Bone showing outside. His breaths were heavy. With every breath, bubbles of blood came from his mouth. He was trying to reach his sword, but his fingers were just trembling. Could not move.
Guards, save Akshansh.
Anvay and Aksh jumped down from the wall, but Nirag just waved his hand and pulled out black, sharp pillars from the ground. Blocking their path.
Nirag stood over Akshansh and laughed. A laugh with no joy, just emptiness.
You wanted to become a prisoner here, right. Look, now you will become a prisoner in this earth.
Akshansh said in a trembling voice, Andhak Void. You can win. But you cannot break us.
Nirag kicked Akshansh in the chest.
The sound came. Of bones breaking. A fountain of blood burst from Akshansh mouth, and he fell unconscious.
His glowing blue sword Nakshatra now lay in the mud. Its light had gone out, blood and dust settled on the blade.
The first wall of Nabhgadh had fallen. The main gate was now open. And its bravest warrior lay half dead on the ground.
Nirag turned and looked toward the palace of Nabhgadh. Above, Agni stood. Fire in his eyes, but behind that fire, a pain beyond words.
Father.
Nirag voice echoed in the air. Cold. Ruthless. Your first pillar has fallen. Now. Whose turn is next.
Varunya, who was standing behind Nirag like a shadow, looked at Akshansh injured body for a moment. There was no expression on her face. Just emptiness.
But her fist was clenched so tight that her bangles were digging into the flesh of her wrist. Drops of blood were dripping.
The first phase of the war was over.
And Nabhgadh stood on the verge of defeat. Without walls. Without hope.
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