Another crocodile said, "Have you ever eaten a human? I ate a part of one once, and since then, I've wanted more. But no humans come to our area. Only some archaeologists came, and after that, not a single human."
The crocodile who came with Abhimanyu angrily said, "What nonsense are you talking? He's our distant cousin who came to see us and check on our well-being."
All the crocodiles were surprised and said, "A distant cousin? How is that possible?"
Just then, there was a yawning and stretching sound. Abhimanyu saw a crocodile-like human getting up from a bed. This crocodile had two legs and one hand like a human, but its skin was crocodilian, and it had a crocodile's face and tail.
The crocodile rubbed his eyes and shouted, "What's this gathering in the middle of the night? Can't you let me sleep in peace?" But as soon as he saw Abhimanyu, he said, "A human! Wow!" and in a moment, he was in front of Abhimanyu, circling him and said, "Wow, you brought a human here. Today will be a feast!" and started laughing.
The crocodile who came with Abhimanyu nervously said, "Leader, he's our cousin."
The leader calmed down and said, "What nonsense? How can a human be our cousin?"
The crocodile said, "His grandmother was a mystical crocodile."
The leader crocodile stared and asked Abhimanyu, "Do you have any crocodile traits?"
Abhimanyu spoke in their language, "Isn't speaking in your language enough?"
The leader crocodile said, "Normally, yes, but why don't you look like us? You don't have any part of our body."
Abhimanyu said, "I have teeth like a crocodile," and showed his mouth, where his teeth resembled a crocodile's.
The crocodile leader said, "Alright, let's welcome our cousin. Today will be a party, my friends. Prepare for a feast."
After a while, Abhimanyu asked, "How long have you been here?"
The crocodile leader said, "We came here a few years ago, but never went far from this cave. We know the pond and the surrounding area well, and I'm even friends with the village chief."
Abhimanyu asked, "Suryavardhan?"
The crocodile leader realized he had said something wrong and said, "No, no, just a small acquaintance."
Abhimanyu asked, "How did you get acquainted?"
The crocodile leader said, "Are you here to know about Suryavardhan?"
Abhimanyu said, "No, I came to meet you. Then a crocodile started making sounds, and others joined, creating music. The crocodile started singing in their language."
On the other side, Cherry went down the wrong path and, returning, said, "Where did they disappear so quickly? They must be around here." Then she saw a cave.
Cherry entered the cave and soon saw many crocodiles partying with Abhimanyu. Some were dancing, some making sounds like singing, and others roaring along. Abhimanyu was eating raw fish.
Cherry thought, "What is going on here?"
Just then, many crocodiles surrounded her, and the crocodile leader and Abhimanyu also noticed her.
The crocodile leader roared, and all the crocodiles cleared a path straight to him.
Then the crocodile leader called Cherry to him with a finger gesture.
Cherry emerged from the water and walked towards him.
The crocodile leader turned to Abhimanyu and said in their language, "Ask this girl what she is doing here."
Abhimanyu said, "She's my friend, following me but got lost."
The crocodile leader said, "How dare you bring a human to our territory? You will both be punished. We were treating you as one of us, but now you will both be our meal."
Soon, Abhimanyu and the girl were tied up with ropes.
All the crocodiles started drooling.
The crocodile leader said, "Today we'll have two humans to eat."
Abhimanyu said to him, "What are you doing? We were family."
The crocodile leader said, "Just being 10% crocodile doesn't make you one of us," and laughed. The other crocodiles were also drooling at them.
One crocodile said, "What are you talking about, boss? Cut them into pieces."
Abhimanyu said to the girl, "Now what? Do something."
Cherry said, "What can I do? You're the soldier and martial artist."
Abhimanyu said, "I'm a martial artist, not a warrior who can fight and defeat them all. Besides, the leader looks quite powerful."
Cherry said, "When you had no confidence, why did you come with them?"
Abhimanyu said, "You crazy girl, why did you come here? Everything was going well, but you ruined it by coming."
Cherry said, "What did you say?"
Abhimanyu said, "Your brain is in your knees."
Cherry retorted, "My brain is in my knees? Wait, I'll show you." She applied force, breaking her ropes. Her eyes turned red, and a red aura appeared around her body.
Cherry then spread her aura around, and due to the pressure, all the crocodiles fell unconscious. The crocodile leader, lying on all fours, now looked like a normal crocodile.
Cherry walked over to the leader, placing her foot on his head, and said, "You were planning to make us your dinner? Now, you'll be mine." She was about to stomp on his head when Abhimanyu intervened, "Wait, I need to ask him something."
Cherry stopped.
Abhimanyu approached the crocodile and said, "Look, brother, I heard you've been here for many years, guarding something. Can you tell me what it is? And how do you know Suryavardhan? I need all the details."
The crocodile responded, "I don't know anything."
Cherry stepped forward and said, "He won't talk like this."
Suddenly, darkness enveloped the crocodile leader, and after multiple hits, he conceded, "A demon placed me here to guard something for a certain period, but I don't know what it is. Since then, I've been in this dungeon."
Abhimanyu asked, "And how do you know the village chief?"
The crocodile leader said, "One night, I saw some people heading somewhere in the dungeon. Later, I found out that the village chief discovered a treasure here and was secretly taking it out. We stopped him, and in exchange for his life, he made a deal to drop a live human into our home every month. He kept his promise; we got a human every month."
Abhimanyu remarked, "Suryavardhan is quite cunning. Alright, show us the path to the item you're guarding."
The crocodile agreed, "Follow me."
He swam in a direction, and Cherry and Abhimanyu followed.
Abhimanyu asked Cherry, "How did he submit to you so quickly, and what was that aura?"
Cherry replied, "Just consider that I'm a martial artist too," and smiled.
Abhimanyu thought, "Learn to lie properly at least."
Saily commented, "I don't see any of your traits in her. She seems like a naive girl on an adventure, but she's so foolish that her secrets are revealed to everyone."
Abhimanyu replied, "Stop criticizing my daughter."
Saily said, "Wow, in the love for your daughter, you've forgotten your virtual girlfriend."
The three reached a wall.
The crocodile leader said, "I know the item is somewhere in this place, but I don't know exactly where."
Abhimanyu said, "If I'm not mistaken, the portal is right above this."
Cherry went to the wall and used her demonic energy. She placed her hand on the wall, which opened on its own, revealing a path.
Abhimanyu and Cherry went inside.
However, the crocodile was afraid. Seeing this, Abhimanyu said, "Walk quietly, or else..."
The crocodile moved forward, and they continued through a path. The place was vast, like the cave, but as soon as the crocodile stepped into the area, something grabbed him by the mouth and started eating him.
It was a creature with a human-like body but the claws and mouth of a lobster. It was red and white with huge muscles and the size of an elephant.
Saily said, "What is this? Was this hidden in the dungeon?"
Abhimanyu replied, "No, it's another security guard. The item it's protecting is the demon stone, and it's completely pure."
Saily asked, "What is this demon stone?"
Abhimanyu explained, "That red glowing stone is the demon stone. It accumulates demonic energy from the surrounding area, pulls in external energy, and converts it into demonic energy. This stone has significantly increased the demonic energy in this area."
Abhimanyu thought, "So this is how they were trying to activate the portal."
Meanwhile, the lobster creature had completely eaten the crocodile.
At that moment, Abhimanyu noticed the lobster extending its claws towards Cherry, who was rushing towards the demon stone.
Abhimanyu took out his copper coin, which formed a shield around Cherry, creating a force field to protect her from the lobster's attack.
Cherry reached the demon stone, placed it in her ring, and the lobster, enraged, tried to attack her with its other claw. Again, the coin created a field, forming a half-ball around Cherry. Despite the lobster's multiple attacks, the field remained unscathed. Defeated, the lobster turned towards Abhimanyu and charged at him.
Cherry panicked, punching the field in frustration, but it held firm.
Meanwhile, Abhimanyu dodged the lobster's attack and jumped onto its claws, running up to its shoulder.
The lobster tried to slice Abhimanyu with its claws, but Abhimanyu dodged, causing the lobster to cut its own neck. Seizing the moment, Abhimanyu drew a sword he had taken from Rudra two years ago and struck the lobster's head, decapitating it.
Abhimanyu then jumped back and landed next to Cherry.
With style, he retracted the coin and placed the sword back into his ring.
Abhimanyu asked Cherry, "How did you like the action?"
Cherry replied, "It was okay."
As soon as Cherry took out the demon stone, the lobster's body turned into red smoke and merged into the stone.
Cherry then said to Abhimanyu, "This isn't of any use to you," and ate the demon stone, sitting down to meditate.
Saily remarked, "She does have one trait of yours, sitting down to meditate anywhere, and she's quite greedy."
Abhimanyu responded, "Yes, she's just enhancing her powers."
Saily teased, "You've changed a lot in your daughter's love."
Abhimanyu retorted, "Shut up."
Saily laughed, "Yes, yes, you'll silence me now," and continued laughing.
Abhimanyu waited for Cherry to finish her meditation.
On the other side, morning had come, and Abhimanyu hadn't returned yet.
Everyone was quite worried.
However, Ammy said, "Don't worry, everyone. If he's disappeared, it means he has something to do. But we shouldn't make too much noise about it."
Surya said, "I'll look for him in the village."
Surya's daughters also agreed to search in the village.
The Black Dragon said, "You stay at home. If Abhimanyu comes home, inform us."
The girls nodded in agreement.
The two then went outside.
Ammy said, "They are searching in the village, so I'll look in the dungeons."
Riya said, "I'll come too."
Ammy replied, "The dungeons are filled with water. A human won't be able to stay there for long."
With that, she spread her white wings and flew into the forest, reaching a well, retracting her wings before diving in.
Elsewhere, Surya said, "Abhimanyu must have gone to the dungeon."
Black Dragon replied, "But it's filled with water. How will we go there?"
Surya said, "There might be a place where the water hasn't reached. We need to find that path."
Black Dragon added, "We came from the direction of the river. There's another river and a waterfall in the opposite direction. There's a path leading out of the village towards the library, a place we haven't explored yet."
Surya agreed, "Alright, let's go," and they smiled, heading in that direction.
Meanwhile, Ammy was exploring the dungeon underwater and reached a vast area.
Ammy said, "This is a portal. What is it doing here?"
Ammy was in the portal room. After looking at the portal in surprise for a while, she understood the reason behind the deaths happening there.
Ammy then swam ahead and saw a path leading further. She continued along that path, swimming for quite a distance. Eventually, she discovered where the water was coming from. Upon entering further, she saw a ring from which the water was flowing.
Ammy approached the ring and put it on. As soon as she wore it, she was pulled inside, and then she heard a voice saying, "Welcome to the new dimension. To gain ownership of this dimension, you must pass a test."
Meanwhile, Surya and Black Dragon were wandering in the jungle. They only saw ruins and couldn't find a path. They were in a high-altitude area. Suddenly, they noticed a pit. When they reached it and looked down, they saw many crocodiles wandering around. Surya said, "Look, just because we see an empty cave, we shouldn't go inside. I don't think Abhimanyu came here."
Black Dragon replied, "Yes, I also think he didn't come here. Besides, all I see here is water, and there isn't any path visible."
Surya suggested, "Maybe the water is inside."
Black Dragon said, "Yes, but we are looking for a place without water."
They moved on, going deeper into the jungle. Suddenly, Surya's foot got caught in a net, which lifted him up and left him hanging from a tree. The net was made of rope.
To avoid the net, Black Dragon jumped in one direction but unfortunately fell into a pit with sharp stakes pointing upwards. He managed to catch hold of the edge and jumped out. Soon, some tribal people surrounded them with arrows, speaking in their own language.
Black Dragon asked Surya, "Do you understand their language?"
Surya replied, "How would I know what they're saying? I only know Kannada, Hindi, and English. I don't know any other languages."
One of the tribesmen tried to hit Surya on the head with a thick wooden stick from behind, but Surya sensed it, dodged, grabbed his arms, flipped him over his shoulder, and threw him in front of him, causing him to fall on his back. Seeing this, the other tribesmen got angry and attacked Black Dragon with their spears. But Black Dragon quickly jumped into the air and, using the blades hidden in his sleeves, cut the rope of the net. The net fell, and Surya was freed.
Black Dragon, picking up his blades, said, "Run from here!" They started running away immediately. Some hidden tribesmen began shooting arrows at them. Black Dragon easily dodged them, but Surya, not as well-trained, managed to escape by luck.
They reached a valley and were surprised to find a whole village of tribal people there.
They hid in an empty house. The pursuing tribesmen arrived in the village but the villagers, who seemed normal, denied seeing anyone. The tribesmen asked around in their language but got no leads and left.
Surya said, "You could have easily beaten them. Aren't you an expert soldier?"
Black Dragon replied, "Being an expert soldier doesn't mean I should fight our own citizens unnecessarily. Besides, this is their territory; we intruded."
Surya said, "Because of your decision not to fight, I almost got caught. Oh my god, what is this?"
Black Dragon asked, "What happened?"
Surya replied, "Brother, look here."
Black Dragon came to the window and saw a horrifying statue. The statue looked quite strange, with a face resembling a bat, goat-like horns, a human-like body, and a tail ending in a pointed arrow.
Surya said, "This looks like a demon."
Black Dragon said, "Besides that demon, there's more. Look there."
Black Dragon pointed to a place where some plants were being brought in.
Surya asked, "What kind of plant is that?"
Black Dragon replied, "That's erythroxylum coca, the coca plant."
Surya said, "From which cocaine is made?"
Black Dragon answered, "Yes."
Surya said, "Wow, who owns this business?"
Black Dragon said, "We'll find out who owns this business later." Saying this, Black Dragon took some photos of the statue and the people taking the plants into a cave. Then both of them seized the opportunity to leave.
On the way, Black Dragon said, "We'll check out what they're doing in that cave tonight under the cover of darkness."
Meanwhile, Abhimanyu was bored watching Cherry meditate. He decided to explore the dungeon further, looking at different paths. He came across a room with a symbol of a skeleton with two horns on its head.
Abhimanyu didn't recognize the symbol, but it felt familiar. He asked Saili, "Show me that book about black magic that we found in the library."
A file opened before him.
Abhimanyu said, "I think this symbol was in that book." The page opened, revealing that the symbol was associated with demons.
Saili said, "Amazing, this is a demon symbol, and you didn't even know it."
Abhimanyu replied, "Yes, because it wasn't around in my time, but maybe Cherry knows about it."
Saili agreed, "Yes, it's possible."
Abhimanyu continued to explore the place thoroughly. Saili said, "Don't you find anything strange here?"
Abhimanyu replied, "Yes, this place was connected and built after the old dungeon."
Saili said, "Yes, it feels the same to me. There's demonic energy here, demonic stones; of course, it was made by a demon."
Abhimanyu looked down and was shocked. "This is a sacred circle," he said.