Chapter 57: Cities Without Gods
Chapter 57: Cities Without Gods
The first city fell without a whisper.
Not to war.
To quiet.
It was called Suryanagar, once a bastion of golden faith. Ten thousand temples, each louder than the last. Bells rang by the minute. Worship never slept.
But now?
The bells stopped.
The temples stood hollow.
And the people?
They were breathing.
A single traveler had passed through weeks earlier.
He carried no weapons.
He gave no sermons.
He taught no doctrine.
Only a stance.
A breath.
A stillness.
And the city remembered.
Not who they worshipped.
Who they were before worship began.
Then came the second city.
Then the third.
Then the fourth.
Not conquered.
Unclutched.
Back in Shraddhalok, Aarav sat atop the old temple ruins, watching a new garden grow where the idol once stood.
He did not smile.
He did not speak.
Because this was never about victory.
It was about release.
And now… the world was letting go.
In the Celestial Court, gods vanished.
Not in blood.
In irrelevance.