Chapter 44: Amirtha's Worry... Dev Needs Blood...
Highway to Ooty...
The road twisted between dense woods and sheer cliffs,
The evening sun cast long shadows as Ravi drove the car, tapping the steering wheel to a mellow tune on the radio.
Tarun sat beside him in the front seat, casually scrolling through his phone,
while in the back seat,
Rudra leaned against the window, deep in thought.
Rohit sat to his left, quietly munching on a packet of chips,
The remnants of their laughter from earlier were still hanging in the air.
Suddenly, Rudra's phone buzzed.
BUZZ. BUZZ.
"____"
He picked it up without checking the screen.
"Rudra speaking,"
He said casually.
But the voice on the other end changed everything.
Amirtha's voice, sharp and filled with barely suppressed panic, snapped through the speaker.
"Rudra, listen carefully. Dev's men ambushed Mohan Bhargav on his way to Ooty. There were too many—even with the Vanar Astra, he was overwhelmed. He's alive but barely. You need to be careful. You might be being watched."
Rudra sat bolt upright.
"How many were there?"
"At least thirty. Some were Astra users. It wasn't random—they were waiting for him. This is more than a warning."
Just as Amirtha's voice dropped to a whisper, a sudden roar of an engine came from the side road.
Rudra's instincts flared.
He twisted in his seat—
A truck—massive, rust-covered,
With no license plate—
Came barreling out of nowhere.
Its target was clear.
"____"
"____"
"____"
Their car.
"Ravi—BRAKES!! NOW!!"
Rudra shouted, gripping the seat in front of him.
Ravi slammed his foot on the pedal, tires screeching—
SCREEEEEECH!
Tarun's phone flew from his hand as he grabbed the dashboard in panic.
Rohit clutched the handle above the window.
"Shit—hold on!!"
But it was too late.
The truck smashed into them with a deafening CRASH.
CRASH!
The world turned upside down—
Metal twisted, glass shattered, and the car flipped once, then again, before slamming onto its roof with a gut-wrenching thud.
THUD.
The spinning wheels slowed.
Everything went quiet.
"____"
"____"
"____"
Only the flickering turn signal clicked softly in the chaos.
The phone had flown from Rudra's hand during the crash—
But Amirtha's voice could still be heard, tinny and panicked from the other end of the call.
"Rudra? Rudra!! ANSWER ME!!"
The car lay still, smoke rising from the hood.
The twisted wreck of the car hissed and smoked in eerie silence.
A light wind rustled the leaves overhead.
Then—
CLANK.
The door of the truck creaked open, and a gruff man in a black jacket stepped out.
A half-burnt cigarette dangled from his lips,
Its embers glowing with menace.
He cracked his neck, surveying the destroyed car like a hunter admiring a fallen prey.
A second man—
Leaner, nervous, holding a strange compass-like device—
Emerged from the other side of the truck.
The needle of the compass was spinning erratically before locking dead-centre on the car.
"Confirmed,"
The compass-bearer said, grinning.
Grin~
"There's one… no—two Astra users in there."
The gruff man exhaled smoke through his nostrils and gave a crooked smirk.
Smirk~
"Good. Drag them out. All of them."
He said coldly.
"Check who's alive. Naman wants results."
Two more henchmen climbed down from the truck bed, armed with stun batons and thick chains.
They approached the car with calculated steps.
As they moved, the gruff man pulled out a burner phone and dialled a number.
On the other end, a voice picked up immediately.
"Report."
"Sir. We intercepted the vehicle. One of 'em triggered the compass. That means he's carrying an Astra. We'll confirm in a few minutes. I'll send the image as soon as we pull him out."
"Good,"
Naman's voice replied, cold as ice.
"If there's an Astra user, kill everyone else. I don't want loose ends. Retrieve the Astra intact. No mistakes."
The man's lips curled into a sneer.
"You got it."
He ended the call and turned to his team.
"You heard him. Kill the others. Just keep the one with the Astra alive until we extract it, then finish him too. No witnesses."
The henchmen gave a nod and yanked the mangled car doors open with crowbars.
Nod~
Inside the wreckage—
Unconscious, bloodied, and battered—
Lay Rudra, Ravi, Tarun, and Rohit.
One of the henchmen leaned close to Rudra, reaching for his wrist to check his pulse.
But just as he touched him—
Rudra's fingers twitched.
A faint aura pulsed beneath his skin, invisible to the men… but deep inside, the Astra stirred.
As the henchman leaned in, ready to pull Rudra out by the collar—
FWOOM!
"____"
Rudra's eyes snapped open.
His normally calm blue irises now shimmered with gold, radiating with the divine fury of the Brahmastra.
"Uhh—"
The thug stammered, but he couldn't react fast enough.
WHAM!
Rudra's hand flashed upward,
A glowing backhand strike cracked across the attacker's jaw with terrifying force.
The sound of impact echoed like thunder.
The man's body was launched like a ragdoll, spinning through the air and across the shattered highway.
Before he could hit the ground—
HONKKKK!—
SMASH!!
A speeding heavy-load truck—
Unable to stop in time—
Obliterated him, slamming into his airborne form.
The body vanished beneath the tires in a sickening crunch, leaving only silence and stunned faces.
The gruff leader dropped his cigarette.
"…What the hell was that?"
Rudra slowly sat up in the ruined car, blood running down his forehead—
But his presence now radiated raw power.
His shirt tore slightly at the shoulder, revealing glowing golden veins etched along his skin—
Brahmastra runes pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat.
He looked up through strands of blood-matted hair, his golden gaze locking on the attackers with unshakable focus.
"You shouldn't have come for me."
He said calmly—
His voice was cold and steady like a brewing storm.
The air around him began to shift—
Winds stirring, dust spiralling, as though nature itself was awakening to his call.
The remaining henchmen stepped back instinctively.
Even the man with the compass hesitated, glancing at his device—
It was now vibrating violently, unable to register Rudra's rising astra energy.
The gruff leader clenched his fists.
"Don't just stand there! Kill him!"
But deep down, a sliver of doubt crept into his hardened nerves.
The gruff leader's eyes narrowed as he noticed something unnatural—
Rudra's wounds were healing rapidly… right in front of them.
"Don't let him recover!"
He barked.
Four goons surrounded the car—
Rage and fear mixed in their eyes—
knuckle brassers, iron rods, and spanners gleaming in the rising sun.
The first thug raised a spanner high above Rudra's head—
But before it could fall—
THWACK!!
A hand shot out, grabbing the attacker's head mid-swing.
The goon froze in terror—
Just as a devastating knee smashed into his face.
CRACK!
His nose exploded.
Teeth shattered.
He slumped to the ground without a scream.
"____"
The second one lunged with a steel-toed kick—
—but Rudra twisted, snatching the dropped spanner mid-motion and—
CLANG!!
—slammed it into the thug's knee.
"AAARRGH!"
The man howled, collapsing and grabbing his leg—
Rudra didn't hesitate.
THUD!
A precise roundhouse kick to the neck silenced him, dropping him like a sack of bricks.
The third goon, now trembling, backed away and flung a small hand-knife in desperation.
The blade flew fast.
Rudra's gaze didn't even flicker.
Still holding the first attacker by the hair, he simply yanked the body in front of him.
THUNK!
The blade was embedded deep into the corpse's eye socket.
Rudra dropped the limp body—
It hit the ground with a dull thud, knife still sticking out grotesquely.
Only one attacker remained now.
The fourth man froze, his iron rod slipping from his hand as pure terror overtook him.
The gruff leader's jaw clenched.
"____"
This wasn't a teenager.
This was a walking calamity.
The gruff leader's smirk faded, and he crushed the compass in his fist.
CRACK!
A thick, red mist hissed out, swirling around him—
He inhaled deeply.
His body shuddered.
Twitched.
Then—
SNAP!
SNAP! CRACK!
His bones broke and reformed grotesquely—
His spine arching, muscles bulging grotesquely under his skin.
Within seconds, his frame grew massive, towering nearly three times his former size.
Flames ignited across his fur as he transformed into a towering fire-bear, pulsing with rage.
A strange red pulse throbbed in the centre of his chest, like a beating furnace—
The price of power:
His life force burned away with every second.
Behind Rudra, two sharp gunshots cracked through the chaos—
BLAM! BLAM!
The fourth and fifth goons dropped like puppets with cut strings, blood bursting from their heads.
Rudra turned quickly.
"____"
Ravi, bloodied and half-limping, stood with a pistol in hand, panting.
Behind him, Tarun and Rohit crawled out from the wrecked vehicle, coughing and bleeding,
But alive.
Ravi's voice was rough.
"I… got your back, Rudra."
But there was no time to respond—
The fire-bear roared, unleashing a sonic shockwave that blasted through the air.
The crashed car was pushed backwards, tires squealing on the asphalt, metal groaning.
Rudra held his ground, dust swirling around him as the burning beast charged.
Its claws descended like a falling guillotine—
But...
BOOM!
A transparent golden shield of Brahmastra energy flared into existence above Rudra, catching the blow.
CRACK! The impact cracked the pavement beneath them.
Without hesitation,
Rudra slid beneath the shield, dodging under the bear's bulky frame.
Brahmastra energy surged through his body, glowing through his veins like molten lava.
His right fist glowed bright gold, radiant and terrifying.
With a sharp grunt,
Rudra twisted and punched the bear's exposed ribs—
Directly into the pulsing red heart core.
KRA-KOOM!!!
The creature let out an unearthly screech as it was launched into the air, crashing down the road like a comet.
Its body twitched, then began glowing violently, the red heartbeat accelerating—
It was overloading.
Rudra's eyes widened.
"It's going to—"
BOOOOOOM!!
The beast exploded into a fiery inferno, the shockwave blasting across the road like a miniature meteor strike.
Flames spiralled into the sky, smoke rising above the trees.
Ravi shielded Tarun and Rohit.
The three of them stared in awe as Rudra stood at the centre of the road,
Cloaked in golden light and ash swirling around him.
As the dust settled,
A faint buzzing broke through the heavy silence.
BZZZ…
BZZZ… BZZZ…
Rudra turned his head.
"____"
The mobile phone of the gruff leader lay among the rubble, screen flickering, name flashing:
"Naman – Encrypted Line."
Rudra picked it up, his hand still faintly glowing from Brahmastra's energy.
He raised a hand silently toward Ravi, Tarun, and Rohit—
"Stay quiet."
With a calm swipe, he accepted the call.
On the other end,
A smooth but impatient voice crackled through:
"What the hell is taking so long? Where are the pictures? I've been waiting for this long. Do not test me."
Rudra didn't miss a beat.
"____"
His tone was ice-cold—
Deadly calm.
"I will."
Then he cut the call.
Naman's Side...
Naman, seated at a darkened workstation deep inside one of their hidden bunkers, frowned at the abrupt reply.
"That bastard… What does he mean by 'I will'?"
He muttered, annoyed.
Ping!
A WhatsApp notification appeared on his terminal.
New Media – 1 Image Received from 'Gruff pawn'.
Brows furrowed, Naman opened the message.
The download bar crawled.
20%... 55%... 92%... Complete.
The image loaded—
And his blood ran cold.
On the screen was not what he expected.
Instead, it was Rudra.
Standing tall, illuminated by the golden afterglow of the Brahmastra's power,a mocking smirk on his face.
He held up a peace sign—
Fingers in a "V"—
While one foot rested arrogantly on the corpse of the gruff leader.
A message below the image simply read.
"Looking for me?"
Naman jerked back from the screen, heart pounding.
His lips trembled.
"No... no, no... impossible..."
His mind raced back to Varanasi.
The hospital.
That brief meeting.
The aura. The confidence.
The eyes.
It was him.
The wielder of the Brahmastra—
The man Dev, screamed about daily, raving to kill, obsessed like a madman.
And now—
He knew.
"He made contact. And he knows,"
Naman whispered, pale and trembling.
Then, in a sudden outburst of rage and humiliation,
He grabbed the phone—
CRASH!
And smashed it against the wall, shattering it into fragments.
The screen cracked.
Sparks popped.
Smoke hissed.
His breaths were ragged.
His pride was shattered.
His defeat, undeniable.
And somewhere across the distance, Rudra's smile remained imprinted on that broken screen.
Highway Edge...
The roar of the fire-bear's explosion had faded into an eerie silence, broken only by the low groans of pain from Ravi, Tarun, and Rohit.
Rudra, now calm, holstered the gruff leader's phone and quickly made his way to the others.
His face, still illuminated by residual golden energy, hardened with focus.
He knelt beside Ravi first.
Ravi was bruised and bleeding from multiple cuts, but he gave a weak smirk.
Smirk~
"Told you I wouldn't go down easy…"
Rudra gave a slight nod before checking his pulse and heartbeat—steady.
Then Tarun—
Conscious, but clearly dazed.
No major internal injuries.
Finally, Rohit.
His face twisted in pain, his left arm bent unnaturally.
"Broken arm,"
Rudra muttered under his breath, examining the angle.
But otherwise, no signs of internal bleeding.
"You'll live."
Rohit gave a pained chuckle.
Chuckle~
"Thanks, Doctor Rudra…"
Then Rudra's eyes shifted toward the wrecked car—
And spotted his phone still lying on the front seat, the screen faintly lit.
The name on the screen still blinked:
Amirtha – Connected.
His heart skipped.
She had heard everything—
Or worse, nothing.
He rushed over and snatched it up.
"RUDRA! RUDRA! PLEASE SAY SOMETHING—RUDRA, ANSWER ME DAMMIT!"
Her voice was shrill, panic rising like a storm.
"I'm here,"
Rudra said, steady but quiet.
There was a moment of stunned silence on the line—
"____"
Then a long, shuddering sigh.
Sigh~
"Oh, thank god… I—I thought—"
Her voice cracked.
"I thought I lost you…"
Rudra sat down beside the car, hand over his face for a second before replying.
"We were ambushed. Five of them. Not Astra users, but their leader. Transformed into a bear-like beast using red mist. Must've been some kind of Astra. I took care of it."
A beat.
"The others are alive. Injured, but stable. Ravi saved two of them just in time."
Amirtha exhaled, trying to calm herself,
But Rudra could still hear her pacing.
"Location. Now."
Rudra looked up at the scattered, dark road—
Beyond the trees, hills sloped gently under a blood-orange dusk.
"Old Highway 12. Near the Ravine Bridge. About ten kilometres west of the Ledge Outpost."
"Hold tight. We're coming."
The call ended.
Rudra stood up slowly and turned to his friends.
Sigh~
"Help's on the way."
Ravi gave a nod.
Nod~
Tarun slumped against the car, eyes fluttering shut.
The golden shimmer in Rudra's eyes had faded, but the fire in his soul only grew stronger.
Because now, Dev's people knew where to find him.
Island where Dev is sealed...
The sky above the cursed island churned with dark clouds, ever trapped in twilight.
Crumbling obsidian cliffs surrounded the massive, ancient statue—
A towering monolith carved in the shape of Dev, the man who once stood at the pinnacle of Bramanash and chaos.
Though still bound, his influence pulsed like a living storm.
A low hum echoed across the island.
Suddenly,
Naman appeared—
His consciousness projected before Dev.
His spiritual form stood at the base of the statue, staring up at the monstrous figure, whose glowing red eyes flickered to life.
The air turned cold.
"You dare return without what I asked for?"
The voice wasn't spoken aloud—
It rattled inside Naman's skull, ancient and thunderous.
Naman immediately dropped to his knees, bowing low in reverence.
"O Brahma Dev, supreme wielder of Astras, your servant brings grave news… One of our field teams encountered him—the wielder of the Brahmastra…"
The moment the name "Rudra" was spoken, the entire island trembled.
The cliffs cracked.
Lightning tore across the blood-red sky.
The statue's eyes blazed.
"RUUUUUDRAAAA!!!"
Dev's voice became a savage snarl.
"I need my other half's blood. Use Crimson Stone as a medium."
A red pulse emanated from the statue's chest, and a jagged, glowing stone formed in its hand—
A blood-hungry relic, waiting to be soaked in divine essence.
"Soak the Red Stone in his blood."
Dev growled.
"Only then can I connect with it—only then will this prison SHATTER!"
Naman raised his head, eyes wide with purpose.
"I shall not fail you, Brahma Dev. I swear it on my soul."
The statue's eyes dimmed slightly, but a dark smirk formed in the massive stone mouth.
"Go… and let the world feel the dread of my return."
As the spiritual link broke, Naman's form vanished into mist, and the cursed winds howled louder.
Dev's prison still held—
But the cracks were growing.
And now… the hunt for Shiva's blood had begun.
**********************************************************************************************************************************************************
(Author's POV)
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