Chapter 59: The City That Asked Too Much

It was once called Kaamyapur — City of Desire.

Now, it had no name.

Just hollow buildings, silent streets, and walls that whispered like hungry mouths.

Aarav stepped through its gates alone.

The air was thick, not with smoke—but with asking.

Every brick seemed to echo:

"Give me safety.""Give me love.""Give me power.""Give me peace."

But none of it came from voices.

It came from memory.

From the residue of generations kneeling without ever rising.

From the weight of dependence.

At the center of the city, Aarav found the heart of it:

A temple without windows.

Its entrance shaped like a mouth.

Inside: darkness.

He stepped in.

And the Devourer spoke.

Not in thunder.

In his own voice.

"You could have saved them.""You could have been their god.""Why choose silence when they were ready to worship you?"

Aarav stood still.

Breathing.

He didn't fight the voice.

He didn't deny the temptation.

He simply said:

"Because they never needed a god.""They needed to remember they weren't broken."

The shadows trembled.

The Devourer lunged—not with teeth, but with guilt.

Aarav exhaled.

And the entire temple collapsed inward.

Not from force.

From refusal.

Kaamyapur would never chant again.

It would become a city of practice, not prayer.

And the Devourer?

It fled.

Back to its pit.

Weaker.

For now.