/*I realized my story was missing a prologue. This scene was reserved for a dream sequence later, but I decided to add it as one. Sadly, My first chapter was not up to the mark, but I can't suddenly go and change things I have already established. If you are already reading this, the story has progressed quite a bit, so if you like the prologue, I ask you to be patient and skim through the first three chapters. The actual story starts from Chapter 4 onwards. I hope the payoff later will be satisfactory for you. Thanks for your interest.
P.S. Now I have to add some new tags, I guess.
*/
The space around us was falling apart.
The stars that once adorned this dimension's black sky streamed down like comets.
They were like colorful gemstones once sculpted into the dark granite surface above that imitated a magnificent starry sky.
After eons of hanging up there, right from when the Will of Kalpa Vrikshya first manifested this dimension, those unfortunate rocks have been separated from their rightful place. But not anymore.
They were now returning to the earth, where they belonged.
They burned with all their vigor, flickering away in a line of stardust before reaching the ground we were standing upon. Their futile attempts and dying iridescence burned into my eyes, leaving me wondering if my time had also come.
The ground lit up blue and green, reflecting the flashes of the streaking meteorites until an ominous red crack breached the craftily hidden dimension of the Celestial Wish Fulfilling Tree, Kalpa Vriksha.
The neon blue clouds emanating from her spherical top trembled, afraid of the terrible being that was just beyond the crack.
Thick masses of sentient dark red Kundalini kept coiling around a shape that vaguely resembled a human as it casually strolled through the crack.
"How does it feel to have someone barge right into your house, Kalpa?" a deep male voice emanated from the humanoid mass of blackish-red Kundalini, mocking the omnipotent presence behind me.
His left eye was glowing red, and his right... was empty darkness.
Then, he mumbled, with a completely different tone, "I've come for you."
It was filled with complex emotions heavy enough to overwhelm me, giving birth to a doubt that made me question what I was even fighting for.
"Don't listen to his honeyed words. Focus your mind. Strengthen your connection to Him. It's time to get rid of the manifestation of all the evil in this World." my Guru, Lord Parashurama, warned me, clearing my mind of whatever questions creeping up within me.
"But I haven't said anything yet." The demon glanced at my Guru's direction and raised his hand.
Low-pitched, growling sounds that summoned dark red ancient Aksharas around Parashurama emerged from his throat.
"This is... Shukracharya's Spell!! Don't tell me...", Parashurama's voice died down, ending in notes that vaguely imitated the sounds you hear underwater.
"You have long completed your duty, Parashurama the Sixth. Go back to being one with Him. You are no longer welcome here with the form you currently have." The mass of dark energy flicked his smoky hand dismissively at my Guru, who helplessly got sucked into a red space crack and disappeared in an instant.
A moment of despair erupted within my chest because of the otherworldly demonstration of a curse that could even bind veteran Avatars, disarming them helplessly.
I quickly shoved the feeling down and remembered why we were there. The Hiranyagarbhas are being activated in all three new Lokas right now. We have to keep Kalpa alive until the process ends.
Letting Kalpa's final sacrifice go to waste after all this time will spell doom for us, Manavas.
"The Gods have forsaken us. How can we preserve ourselves when the barrier between Patala and Marta has dissolved??" I shouted, trying to bide for time.
"Marta?" The black demon laughed maniacally. "Which one? At times like these, you all love to use the collective term. An excellent case of hypocrisy! I don't have time to deal with you little puppies. Kalpa, it's time for you to go."
The spherical-headed tower shivered visibly.
"Pour everything. Don't leave behind any hidden cards..." I ordered my friends who were struggling under the pressure of the enemy before us.
They burst into action, fighting against the instinct telling them to leave everything behind and run.
The area where the black mass was standing was obliterated.
The incoming rain of divine weapons and arrowheads didn't stop for quite a while. There's no use giving a last boss like this any moment to take a breath.
We had to settle it as soon as possible.
Pieces of the gouged-out black reflective ground stayed afloat in the air even after the downpour had ceased.
I despaired after hearing chants coming from the impact zone instead of the silence I had expected from the aftermath of our bombardment.
"Vajra Kavach." The voice in the smoke whispered with such low intensity that it was almost impossible to catch what the spell was, even with my superhuman auditory perception skill.
It was the highest-level barrier spell. No wonder he didn't even get scratched. What were all our training and divine missiles for?? If nothing worked in the end?
In my journey, I had often come across mind-crippling despair, but this was way worse. It made me want to cower in some dark corner of the universe and disappear forever.
I had realized instinctively that none of my usual skills would work. Descent of Avatar is the only thing left.
I pulled out my trusted rapier, Ratnamala, but the sword's handle bounced back against an invisible wall before I could extend it outward.
"The barrier wasn't for him. It was for us." Avanti commented, running her palm across the invisible surface, trying to understand the Will that generated the barrier.
"We don't have a choice. I'll have to use my one-time skill." I sighed, "Take care of the rest."
Avanti caught my arm but released it soon after. "I just...don't want you to die here. Make sure to come back. Please. My journey till here will become meaningless otherwise." Her eyes were full of worry about our uncertain future.
We had just reached adulthood. All our time till now had been spent in life or death situations, without having a single moment of respite. And now, deep down, I felt like this was the end.
It was as if I had already felt this same way, at this moment in time, for a thousand times.
This was definitely a death flag, wasn't it?
Removing useless thoughts, I stole a glance of the single-eyed demon and got petrified.
Pieces of the dimension were disintegrating in real-time and absorbed by his right side, while his left hand was creating a bloody weapon unheard of even in the mythologies.
I had no time to waste.
"O' Preserver of the Universe, you have, time and again, vanquished the evils of the past eras, bestowing peace to this world. For one last time, I beseech you to manifest your ultimate incarnation, The Cavalier of the celestial steed Devadutta, and descend upon me." I chanted the words that had been taught to me by Lord Vishnu himself.
He had said that I'll know when to use this. I doubt I will ever encounter such a situation again, which made me feel so insignificant, frustrated, and helpless.
A golden crack appeared in the isolated dimension's sky, and divine light poured over me.
The final Avatar of the Preserver was descending.
I lost control of my body and watched from within, like a video game character I was supposed to control, doing whatever he wanted during the cut scenes.
I suddenly realized, only a few seconds into the ordeal, that being connected to a Higher Being slowly made me lose my sanity.
It was as if everything that made me who I am was slowly withering away into the void.
Even if I were to disappear right now, nothing would change in this world.
My body phased through the Vajra Kavach that I could not breach just a few moments ago.
"How was it?" the black mass of Kundalini asked Lord Vishnu for his opinion.
"I have no complaints. I am satisfied." my body replied.
I was confused. Was there something else going on beyond my understanding? A hidden deal between that monster and Lord Vishnu? Why? Was I just a tiny cog in a giant machinery? Born only to help Lord Vishnu arrive at this moment in time and at this very place?
"I believe you can uphold your end of the bargain right now..." the black mass pointed at the base of Kalpa.
He was oddly expectant, as if it was his final wish.
How am I supposed to interpret these events?
"Only after I accomplish what I came here for." My body surged with an unimaginable amount of power.
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"What have you done!!!!! Kalki!!!!!!" the black demon screamed, vibrating the space of the dimension. His smoky appearance was slowly stripping away, exposing the mystery of the entity behind it.
Everything around me was in tatters, floating around like space debris. The whole sky was now like a shattered glass. Pieces of it were flying off into the unknown violet space beyond the reaches of this dimension.
The ground started breaking away like glass shards as it collapsed, swallowing up my friends.
The anguish and shock in my mind wanted to force my body to jump after them, but I was so useless and powerless that my body didn't even give it another look, didn't even shed a single tear.
"Sadly, no one here was worthy of witnessing the new Satya Yuga. We set the laws and are the laws themselves. Even we cannot make exceptions." my eyes stared at the broken body of a human once veiled behind the black mass of Kundalini.
He clutched a piece of Kalpa's bark close to his chest, a spoil from his recent enemy. It eerily resembled the side face of a human.
He looked just like any other regular nineteen-year-old, blood staining his mouth while he trembled in pain.
He then started laughing like a maniac. He laughed. And he laughed. It finally ended up like a cry as his voice collapsed. He laughed even while vomiting bloody spit.
A red flash suddenly appeared behind him, instantly removing his existence from this dimension.
"No!" my body shouted, "With you still alive, we can't move on to the next era!!"
Only a few Aksharas stayed where he was. They were alive and seemed to be rearranging themselves wildly.
I was broken inside. Losing my friends, losing my goal, and my objective of coming here. Where did everything go wrong? What should I have done differently?
Losing everything after all those preparations, quests, hardships... And my underwhelming feelings that resulted from the loss only sickened me.
I was slowly losing myself. With only so little left of me, how was I even supposed to feel sad about my losses?
Ultimately, I was just reduced to a tool, degraded to a puppet, moving at someone else's wishes.
As most of my being became one with the Almighty Preserver, I only wished to preserve myself and whatever memories I had of myself.
At that slight moment, which seemed smaller than a millisecond, yet longer than a whole Yuga, I came across so many of me, all meeting the same demise across every timeline.
Past and future memories all jumbled up, leaving me with a realization: It was not the first time this had happened.
Within the next few seconds, the Aksharas left by that nineteen-year-old will vibrate with the exact frequencies required to chant them and activate a terrible weapon that I had died to countless times in previous timelines.
Trimurti Vinashak. What a terrifying name, as if it threatened to destroy the very laws of this Universe.
What kind of a life one must go through to be able to create such a thing?
From my previous memories, I picked up the knowledge that had allowed me to go through this life and all of my previous ones—the understanding of alternate possibilities.
Tapping into the enormous knowledge and infinite power of the Preserver, I cast the spell I required before the Sudarshan Chakra invoked by my body and the Trimurti Vinashak could clash, destroying everything in the process.
All to give myself another try. One more time.
Why do we keep fighting? Is there no other way? I thought as I felt my Atman being pulled apart and coming back together again because of a mysterious force.
It was successful. It had to be. From where would I get those future memories, then? I don't know most things that kept happening behind the scenes.
I'll have to change that.
Only then will I be able to make an appropriate decision in that final stage. It's time for yet another attempt. My previous selves have paved a path for me till here, and I now must carry it forward for the Me who'll come next.