{ CHAPTER - 11 } FIGHTING THE RESIDENT OF HELL

Karma mutters to himself at the dinner table as the rest of the family eats. "It's good, huh?"

Even bland food tastes delectable after a day of intense training.

"What makes this so great? It is just typical" His father asked after hearing him.

Karma said, "Well, you know mom made this," after being startled.

Dad was perplexed and enquired, "So, mom still does all the cooking? What makes it so good if it's just like the food she usually makes?"

The chief said this without realizing how irritating it was to his wife. She questioned angrily while feeling irate. "What's wrong with my cooking, please? You're not fond of it? So why don't you prepare meals for yourself?"

His father tried his best after realizing his error. "I— Um... Hahaha. you know, it's just that your cooking is always so good I sometimes don't understand how you do it, hahaha"

When his father made a strange laugh, Karma realized it was pointless and quickly changed the topic of conversation. "Dad, are you finished with your work yet?"

His father quickly picked up on his cue and responded, "For the time being, yes."

So I was thinking, why don't we go on a trip or something," Karma said, seizing the chance.

"A trip?" dad enquired.

"Yes, you know that my exams are over, and following the farewell, I thought it would be nice to take a short vacation."

He responded as though he had just suddenly remembered something significant. "Now that you bring it up, when is it?"

"It's the following week", said Karma.

When his father heard this, he asked, "What are you going to wear?"

"Well, just some formal dress,"

His parents said in excitement because they knew Karma didn't care about his appearance. "Oh, please remember to remind me to take off your coat later."

Karma was still eating his dinner when he noticed his mother's smile.

"What are you smiling?"

His mother gave him a long look before speaking. "You have a handsome face, so I bet the ladies like you a lot."

Hearing this made Karma a little uneasy, so she inquired. "What direction are you taking with that?"

His mother said while flashing a small smile. Do you have one, then?

Karma didn't know what she was getting at. "Who has what?"

"You know what I'm talking about, tell me if you have a girlfriend or not"

! cough-cough!

The sudden comment startled Karma, and he nearly choked on his food.

He slightly flushed and exclaimed, "NO, I DON'T!"

His mother soothed him by telling him it was all in good fun. "Don't take it personally, it's just a joke"

Karma murmured to himself and sighed. "JEEZ"

Karma was brought up once more about the trip as the conversation was veering off-topic.

Dad questioned, "Okay, do you have a place in mind?"

Karma proposed right away, seizing the chance. "Yes, I was considering going skiing. Why don't we?"

Dad thought it over and said, "Skiing, sure, why not?" pretty quickly.

'If it involves skiing, I can use the trip as a cover and look into the issues secretly in the Himalayas; I could even put together a team while we are there.' The idea that crossed the chief's thoughts at the time satisfied him.

'This is wonderful if we travel to the Himalayas, then I can seek the object Agastha was talking about, and if anything occurs I can just play it as I got lost. I can always rely on my dad to send up a search team should I get into danger, and I already have Agastha by my side,' the boy thought. This was Karma's internal stream of consciousness at the same time.

"Why don't we go to the Himalayas if it's for skiing? anyway, it won't be long before the skiing season there begins." The chief exclaimed with excitement.

"You're right, dad, we should, yes," Karma seized the chance as well and quickly concurred with his father.

After hearing that, the family decided to go skiing in the Himalayas.

–NEXT DAY–

After finishing his breakfast, Karma got ready to leave for somewhere in the morning. "Mom, I'm going to go outside for a while."

"What? Where are you going?" asked his mother.

"Don't worry, I'll be back soon," Karma said as he sat at the entrance tying his shoelaces.

"Ok, don't trip today," his mother said to him.

He left after saying, "I won't."

Agastha abruptly materialized on a wall while Karma was walking down the street and began to stare at him.

After observing Agastha's silent gaze, Karma questioned. "What? Why are you staring at me in that way?"

(You look lively today), Agastha remarked.

In a sarcastic tone, Karma said, "Well, since a certain someone stopped bothering me, I was able to sleep comfortably at night."

As long as he had Agatha by his side, Karma was no longer troubled by the nightmares he was experiencing and had no fear of anything. Perhaps it was because he was depending on him more and more, but he had no idea that his entire world was about to end.

Karma was strolling along the street when Agastha abruptly stopped him. (Stop a moment)

In confusion, Karma enquired, "What happened?"

(Karma, you are being watched)

Karma was startled to learn that someone was watching him in broad daylight when he heard this, and he briefly stood still.

He kept walking without altering his facial expressions. "Do you who it is?"

(It is not a human; rather, it is a low-level demon.)

Karma pondered whether this demon was acting on his own or if someone had discovered him. "Do you think I can kill it?"

(At your level, it will be challenging)

Again pondering the situation, Karma inquired, "Do you think it will attack us?"

(It won't, at least not right now; demons are cowardly beings; at this moment, it's testing whether it can kill you or not.)

"I see, I think I might have a plan"

Karma purchased some items from a hardware store. He purchased three bottles of kerosene oil, a matchbox, two ropes, an axe, a hammer, and some red paint.

When Agastha saw his purchase, she was extremely perplexed and enquired, "What are you going to do with these things?"

"You did say that I won't be able to beat it at my current level, correct? I'll set a trap for it, then."

Curiosity piqued, Agastha inquired as to what kind of trap he was referring to, and he responded. "Just wait and see"

Karma purchased a large bag from the shop, put his tools inside, and then dialed a taxi.

He was carrying such a large bag that even the taxi driver was perplexed, but he resisted asking. "Sir, where would you like to go?"

"We're going to set up camp in the woods today in the mountains that are behind the city."

As Karma had mentioned, a taxi took him there, but even the taxi was perplexed after seeing the location. "Are you certain this is the location, sir? I believe that the other side is the route to camping."

Don't worry, Karma said with a small smile, "We've decided to camp in deep tonight."

As the taxi drove away, Karma called Agastha. "Where is the demon, Agatha?"

(It hasn't arrived yet, but it will get to you soon enough; don't be alarmed, though; I'm positive it will only attack at night.)

"If so, I believe I will have some time then."

He only had a short window of time to set up his whatever-trap before it got dark outside because it was still light.

Karma said as she turned to face the sky. "Probably going to be late for dinner tonight."

Then Karma started to scan the area and set up his traps.

"It's finished and about to get dark, too."

He looked at his phone to see if his parents had called, but they hadn't yet, much to his surprise.

Agastha looked in the distance and said (Karma, it will be here soon)

Karma started doing push-ups at the top of the hill after climbing it with his hammer and the paint he purchased from the store.

"What are you doing?" Agastha asked in confusion as he regarded Karma.

"I'm just getting warmed up for the battle; the traps are in place, so all I have to do is wait for darkness to fall."

Agastha surveyed the area beneath the forest after it had grown completely dark and remarked. (Get ready, it's here.)

To alert the demon to his location, Karma picked up his hammer and began pounding a rock.

Due to the demon's presence, no one could even see the animals, and the sound of a beating hammer echoed throughout the entire area.

!RAAR!

Karma recognized the scream as not coming from an animal when it was heard coming from the forest below.

CHAPTER - 11 - TO BE CONTINUE

Note: In India, after graduation juniors give seniors a farewell party for completing high school and getting accepted into college.