CHAPTER 57 The Lie of Light and the Mirror of Truth
The courtyard of Nabhgadh now looked like a scene from a demonic dream. Clouds of dust, broken stones, and the groans of soldiers trapped in them. Nirag was moving forward slowly, the soil turning black and burning under his steps. Behind him, Varunya walked like a shadow. There was no emotion in her eyes. Just void.
Then.
Stop, Andhak Void.
It was not a voice. It was a flash of light.
In front of Nirag, the air shimmered. Not a human, a burning statue emerged. Aksh. His whole body was bathed in sunlight, but that light was not soft. It was sharp, cutting, peeling. There were spots of sun in his eyes.
And next to him. Kalpit. He was so blurry that it seemed as if the air had taken a form. His shadow was not falling on the ground. There was a strange smile on his face. As if he knew a secret that no one else knew.
Nirag black eye sparkled. One lamp and one shadow. What are you two thinking.
Aksh did not raise his voice. He glowed. His words turned into rays of light and were written in the air.
Not us. Your own dark eyes will show you your end.
Aksh power. Truth of Light
Blazing strike. Not just light, but rays of truth that burn falsehood.
Thousand Suns. So intense that not just the enemy eyes, but his perception of energy also goes blind.
Armor of Hope. Creates a luminous shield around himself and his companion that dissipates dark energy.
Kalpit power. Kingdom of Illusion
Infinite Reflections. Not fake copies. Real illusions that look, sound, and feel real.
Mirage Army. Creating shadow copies of soldiers that attack, hurt, but turn to smoke on impact.
Mirror Maze. Making the enemy fight his own power. Self conflict.
Nirag laughed. A cold, hollow laugh. So you will fight. Two remaining lamps.
Aksh and Kalpit looked at each other. Without words. An understanding passed in their eyes.
First Phase. Aksh attack.
Aksh joined both his hands. A small, glowing sphere formed between his palms. Then exploded.
Thousand Suns.
The whole courtyard became day in an instant. So bright that the shadow soldiers began to scream. Their smoke bodies turned to steam and flew away. Nirag black eye tried to close itself, but the light went through his eyelids too. Began to burn him from inside.
Nirag covered his face. What is this. This light. It is causing pain.
At that same moment.
Second Phase. Kalpit illusion.
Kalpit waved his fingers in the air. As if pulling invisible strings.
In a moment, hundreds of Aksh and hundreds of Kalpit appeared around Nirag. Each had a different expression. Anger, pain, mockery. Each had the same glow in their eyes, the same weapon in their hands.
Nirag spun. What. What is this joke.
He struck one Aksh with his black sword. The sword passed through his body. He turned to smoke.
From another side, a Kalpit struck his back. And that strike was real. Blood flowed.
Nirag screamed. He was trapped between illusion and truth.
Third Phase. Each others armor.
The real Aksh saw the opportunity. He focused his power on the fallen weapons of Nabhgadh. Swords, spears, arrows. All rose in the air and began to glow, as if made of the sun rays.
The iron of Nabhgadh will bury you in your own darkness.
Thousands of weapons rained down on Nirag at once.
Nirag tried to make a void shield. But Kalpit illusions confused him. He could not tell which direction the attack was coming from.
Clatter clatter clatter.
Weapons hit his body. Some stopped at the armor, some tore through. Black blood began to flow from his black clothes. Not blood, drops of void, which turned the ground black where they fell.
Nirag roared. Stop it. Stop this.
He tried to turn all his energy into an explosion. But then, a shadow soldier attacked the real Aksh.
Kalpit quickly made an illusion. An Aksh standing exactly in front of the real Aksh. The shadow soldier strike hit the illusion, and the real Aksh turned and struck Nirag with a sharp blade of light.
Divine Thunderbolt.
The blade hit Nirag chest. With a shining scream.
Fourth Phase. The killing strike.
Nirag armor broke. Like glass. His body flew in the air, flipped several times, and fell near the stairs. He tried to get up, but his right leg was not responding. A deep, glowing wound was on his chest. As if a star was trapped inside him.
He was panting. This. Is impossible.
Aksh and Kalpit slowly came near him. Both were panting. Aksh light was dimming, Kalpit body was becoming unclear. But there was no victory in their eyes. Only sorrow.
Aksh looked at Nirag. Defeating you is not our victory, Nirag. It is our defeat. Because we saw in you what you once used to be.
Kalpit stretched out his hand. Not an illusion. A real hand. Get up. If you want to fight. Fight as the real Nirag. Not in this mask of Andhak Void.
Nirag looked at them with disgust. But behind his eyes. For a moment. Something moved. As if an old memory woke up.
Just then, in the safe part of the palace. Vedika opened her eyes.
Green golden light came from her hands. Divided into two streams. One stream moved toward Akshansh, the other toward Anvay.
Where the light touched, flesh began to join, bones straightened, breaths deepened.
Akshansh eyes opened.
Anvay took a deep breath.
Both got up. Broken, but not broken.
Final scene. A new hope.
Nirag still lay on the ground. But now he was not alone. Around him stood the warriors of Nabhgadh.
Aksh and Kalpit. Tired, but unshaken.
Akshansh and Anvay. Injured, but alive.
Above on the rampart, Agni. In his eyes, fire was no longer pain, but resolve.
Varunya stood behind watching all this. A tear fell from her eye. But that tear turned to ice before hitting the ground.
Nirag raised his head. His voice was harsh, broken.
You. All. Will die.
But there was no fear in his voice that once was. Now there was an emptiness. As if a curtain had been removed.
The second pillar of Nabhgadh had not fallen. It had stood itself up again.
And Nirag.
Nirag was now half dead.
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