[Author Note (AN)]

Volume 1 is the prelude to the actual genesis ark of Dharmik Chetrapal, which starts at V2 - "The Cosmic Pause Undone". However, I do recommend that you go through the V1 - "The Non-Existing Existence" because it is full of tragedy, mysticism, and adventure and will give you a better insight into the psyche of the protagonists.

Irrespective though, I love that you guys chose this Novel and gave me a chance to bring you into my world of Desi chronicles inspired by 10,000 years of Indian folklore, stories, and myths. Please stick with me for at least a few chapters before you decide the story is worth investing your time in or not and share your feedback through comments (good or bad). Love you all (❤)

[ AN End ]

-----------

**(Yr. 2220 - Secret Lab | Earth)

"Ravana was the greatest Demon that ever lived", I heard this sentence being paraded as a pearl of enlightened wisdom.

At that time, Ravana had become that pleasure point of modern theology and anarchists that brought liberals down to their knees because of the cosmic orgasms. And why not? After all, he was an existence, according to the legends, that made all the three plains quiver in fear with his strength. No matter Gods or Animals, everyone feared Ravana.

In modern times he had become a representation of a mortal peak, they called him "the one that every conquerer aspired to be". He stood at a pedestal that represented the epitome of anarchy in a world dominated by Gods.

Bashing on Gods and religion was a common chai-time debate of modern Bharat which had discarded all its spiritual baggage a century ago.

However, when I looked at Ravana, all I saw was a poor creature being toyed by the strings of faith. In my eyes, he was your typical overpowered and egotistical villain that despite knowing that he was the villain was stupid enough to kidnap the protagonist's wife.

Then again, all stories are like that, aren't they? Plot armour is always stronger on the Dharma's side.

I thought I was different, just like the atheists and liberals thought they were... I too had chosen a team in that fictional war between mortal and divine. I chose God.

To me, Ravana, despite all his achievements, was a criminal and an ADharmiI, and knowing my legends well I had chosen the winning side and not the underdog - a very unpopular choice, I might add.

That is why my life was in complete contrast to that of humanity's chosen warrior in a godless world. My life was a cruise through time without the need to justify and create even the slightest of the reverberation in or beyond the space that surrounded me.

My only goal in life was to not be the butterfly that caused the hurricane.

All I wanted was to live and die in silence of my own happenings, away from the mundane and uselessness that the world prided itself on.

(*cough...cough... ugh!*)

Nothing belonged to me, and I belonged to no one.

"Ugh! These damn itches!!"

However, I think I know I was just being naive thinking that I could live detached from everything in the world.

You see I was a fanatic in most people's eyes, and rightly so. I was a priest after all.

One of the last remaining ones anyway. In a world full of anti-theism and disgust towards Gods, I was one of the rarest homo sapiens that went against the flow of society - a believer.

(*gurgle... gurgle... pop*)

Then why did I end up inside a cylinder filled with weird black fluid, you might ask?

Well, in simple terms, I was betrayed by the same [Destiny] which screwed the good ol' Ravana.

It is funny that after living my whole life as a priest, I have now finally come to question my faith? I have lately been wondering whether Ravana was right in denouncing the Gods and just doing whatever the f**k he wanted.

I am not sure whether it is because of the black-ish liquid or my own thought though... I know that my psyche is intact, but the line between myself and the rest of the world has become so blurry that I don't know anymore.

Am I still "me" if what is left of me is just a half-dead body dipped in a weird magical liquid for the past two decades?

(*gurgle... gurgle... pop*)

"I should have simply ignored those children back then"

Recently I have been thinking a lot about the choice that landed me here. Saving those children is what got me caught in the trap set by the Military, after all.

"are those kids even alive? hahahah, definitely not. They are as dead as me, probably!!"

I should have just minded my own business like always, and shouldn't have bothered what the government and the military were doing. It was so out of my character for me to go outside the cosy library and meddle in something I had no relation to.

"F**ing itch won't stop!!!"

Anyway, that was then and this is now. I wonder when I'll die?

"If only I had powers like my five Gurus, or better yet like my mother!! I could've just reversed the whole damn timeline... Hahaha. I must be going crazy!! Hahaha."

Reminiscing in one of my only core memories from the troublesome and tragic past, I imagined the figures that gave me a sad farewell before their death. All my Gurus, my teachers, my parents, and my family. I hope they didn't f**ing reincarnate on the same planet!

What different choice would I make if I could temper with time like my mother, you ask?

I would choose to be "Ravana" this time. Even if he was stupid, at least he lived and died with a BANGG...!!!

(*bang... boom... crash....*)

---------------

My father was a priest just like me, and it is because of him that I walked this path. Had he taught me Physics and Maths instead of scriptures though, my life would have been a lot better.

My mother was a scholar of Sanskrit, "The Language Of Gods" they called it. She wasn't religious like my dad, but she had her fair share of obsessions with the language.

Despite their different personalities, however, they made a damn good team. Both of them were part of a six-man team called [Maiyatt]. It was a government-sponsored excavation team whose only purpose was to excavate and study the ancient [Ruins] spread across the Milky Way.

At the beginning of the 22nd Century, Bharat became the overlord of Earth. It was the discovery of star energy on the surface of the moon that had fueled Bharat's ambitions and also allowed for rapid advancement in science.

In the dawn of the 22nd century, after Bharat had conquered the whole Earth, it established new state religion and named it "The Hinxu Religion". It was a simple anti-theistic and authoritative doctrine that gave all the power to the government, basically equalling the leader with God.

Although it was just an abomination in the name of religion - a heresy so to speak, but it worked well for the government's design for Earth. They labelled the new Earth as "Modern Earth" as if everything before it was just barbaric and crude.

It was natural though, in the later years of the 21st century, Gods had become as irrelevant as petroglyphs, so establishing Hinxu as the de facto religion of Earth wasn't very hard for the government, especially not after the "Great Purge of 2100" when every religious faction on Earth was eradicated in a mass genocide of billions.

Maiyatt and other excavation teams were formed after the "Great Purge" to go out in the Galaxy and find the Ruins that were spread across the dead stars.

There are many theories regarding the [Ruins], most common of which is about an advanced ancient civilization that has either gone extinct or moved to another part of the Universe.

However, the most interesting fact about the [Ruins] isn't that there existed an ancient civilization much more advanced than humanity, but rather, that they were also humans, or at least belonged to the same genus 'Homo'.

The walls of these Ruins were covered in a language that largely resembled Sanskrit - a language that was on the brink of extinction in 2100.

When the translators and archaeologists discovered that the [Altar] (a sacred place in the centre of the Ruins) were covered with stories described in the ancient scriptures of Earth, Bharat had immediately released a referendum labelling these Ruins as pagan and anti-government. The last thing Bharat wanted was for the religious faction to gain power after all it did to eradicate its existence.

However, Bharat's arrogance didn't last long. More than just the stories of gods and goddesses, these Ruins consisted of advanced Machinery and systems that shamed the whole scientific community of Earth.

The more the scientists studied these Ruins, the more it became evident that the scriptures were a crucial piece of the puzzle in the formation of these Ruins, and thus came an embarrassing blow to Bharat's pride.

The largest blow to Bharat came when one scientist from the very first excavation team successfully translated the 'glyphs' and shocked the world with a revelation that changed the course of Humanity.

A discovery that plunged Earth into a war between religion and Science.

He was the first [User], and the ability that he had gained after decoding the text on the Altar was to 'see' the Universe's lifeline.

It was an ability to 'use' and 'materialise' [Prana].