Mysoap5

When the gods erased his homeland from existence, Astha emerged as the sole survivor—scarred, flame-bound, and remembered only by the ash beneath his feet. Branded by divinity’s cruelty and haunted by a forgotten past, he now walks the ruins of a sacred world with a single purpose: to burn down the heavens that dared to rewrite fate.

Bound to him is Smritidhaara, a cursed chain-sickle forged from the memories of the erased—an extension of Astha’s rage and sorrow. But when he crosses paths with Luv, a thunderborn exile from the celestial realm, their fates intertwine in a war neither of them yet understand.

As buried truths awaken and mythic beasts rise from divine prisons, Astha and Luv must confront ancient gods, dead empires, and a reality that refuses to stay sealed. With every step, the fire grows. The thunder sharpens.

And the gods begin to remember what they tried so hard to forget.

This is not a story of heroes.
It is the beginning of a reckoning.

Ashes of Deva : Rise of the White Flame

Chains clinked in the dark like the breath of something ancient exhaling after centuries of silence. Glyphs flared across the stone floor, blinking in irregular patterns — not like a trap, but a heartbeat reawakening.

"It's waking up," Luv muttered, crackling lightning across his knuckles.

Kālaratri, his summoned blade, glowed faintly in his hand. Its spine pulsed like a sleeping volcano, and Smritidhaara coiled tighter around his forearm, sensing the presence of forgotten divinity.

The chained mass at the center of the Vault twisted. Bones cracked. A low gurgling sound filled the air — part growl, part whisper. Thirteen arms uncurled in opposite directions like insect legs made of ash and black marrow. Each limb had talons. Some had mouths.

And at the center — where a face should have been — was nothing.

Just a spiral void spinning slowly like a third eye that saw only erasure.

"Naag-Vetala," Astha whispered. "The beast that eats identity. Once it locks onto your name… it feeds on it until there's nothing left."

And the Vault collapsed around them.

Naag-Vetala lunged, dragging shattered chains behind its monstrous bulk. One hand lashed out at Luv — a blur of corrupted bone and mantra-flesh.

Luv's feet lit up in thunderburst. He dodged mid-air, landing in a spin, then blasted a bolt of lightning directly at the creature's side. Sparks erupted — but the beast didn't stagger. It twisted, its limbs spiraling unnaturally.

Astha charged, Kālaratri bursting with flame. He leapt from a broken pillar and slammed the blade down across the creature's arm.

The sword sliced clean, severing one of its limbs.

The limb dissolved into ash — not blood — as if the body itself didn't exist fully in this reality.

"Keep it off rhythm!" Astha shouted. "If it starts chanting, it'll erase our names!"

Naag-Vetala hissed, several of its mouths opening at once. A mantra-beam of golden erasure symbols launched toward them.

A dome of thunder formed, cracking against the beam. Sparks rained.

Astha hurled Smritidhaara — the chain-sickle flared mid-flight, wrapping around the creature's torso, glowing with flame-memories. Every wrap began to bind the beast to a forgotten moment — weakening its divine presence.

"Remember what the gods tried to erase," Astha growled.

"Smritidhaara will anchor you to every crime."

The creature thrashed, slowed by the weight of remembrance.

Astha vanished in a burst of memory-flame, reappearing directly above the beast.

"This blade remembers," he whispered,

He drove Kālaratri down — flame first — straight into the spiral void of Naag-Vetala's chest.

A scream unlike anything mortal tore through the ruin.

The beast convulsed… cracked… then shattered into thousands of burning glyphs, each vanishing with a whisper:

Astha lowered his sword. Luv stood beside him, breathing hard, storm fading from his skin.

"Not bad," Luv said. "We make a decent team."

Astha didn't answer. He was staring at the smoldering spot where the beast died.

Lay a small golden tablet, inscribed with ancient script.

Etched into it were the first words in a dead tongue.

"The Herald of the Hollow approaches.**"

"This wasn't just a beast," he said. "It was a warning."

Chapter 5 – Naag-Vetala Rises