Chapter 225: Chapter 223: Time As Come For Revenge... Pushpasura Army arrives....
(A/N):
Drop a meme here that you find funny. Or reflects your mood.
Guys I hope you put more comments and power stones... Which will encourage me...
Guys I have decided to go with Karuppu as the next template. Is because I still feel I was not ready for other demi gods template. As my research on them were still proceeding.
But the point where mc need to gain the new template as arrived.
So I decided to go with a template which I feel easy.
Hope you support me and share your opinion.
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Meanwhile, far away from the Kingdom of Pushkarnya, the royal palace of Kalingavara stood brightly illuminated beneath the evening sky.
Unlike the tense military camps gathering around Malikavana, this palace still retained its royal grandeur.
Servants moved silently through its vast corridors while elite guards stood at every entrance with unwavering vigilance.
However, the atmosphere inside the palace was anything but peaceful.
Within the private royal council chamber, five rulers sat around a large circular table carved from a single block of polished black stone.
These were not ordinary kings.
Every one of them had once stood proudly in the royal court of Trivenivrata, only to leave with their pride trampled beneath the feet of a young king who had refused to bend to their authority.
At the head of the gathering sat King Rudrasena of Kalingavara, the host of the meeting.
To his right sat King Mahipala of Velanadu,
While opposite him was King Virendra Varma of Suryagarh.
Beside him sat King Somakeshi of Ananthapura,
And finally King Pratapaditya of Nandivana completed the gathering.
None of them had forgotten that day.
The humiliation they had suffered in Devaratha’s court remained as fresh as if it had happened yesterday.
Never in their lives had they imagined that a newly established kingdom, ruled by a young monarch, would openly reject them before ministers, nobles, foreign envoys, and scholars.
What had hurt them wasn’t merely the refusal.
It was the fact that Devaratha had dismantled every one of their arguments with absolute confidence before dismissing them without the slightest fear of their combined influence.
On that day...
The five rulers had sworn an oath.
One day, they would bring Trivenivrata to ruin.
The last time they had gathered inside this very chamber had been shortly after that incident.
Then tried tantra to bring the kingdom to ruin.
It was also the first time they had encountered the mysterious figure cloaked in darkness.
That being had offered them no weapons, no army, nor any immediate plan for revenge.
It had simply told them to wait.
"Your opportunity will come."
At the time, they had been skeptical.
After that they have never saw the shadow.
But recently...
Everything had begun to change.
Over the past several nights, every one of the five kings had experienced the exact same dream.
A world consumed by endless darkness.
A figure draped in a black cloak standing amidst rolling smoke.
Two crimson eyes staring directly into their souls.
No words. No commands.
Only a silent summons.
"...."
"...."
"...."
None of the five rulers believed such an identical dream could be dismissed as coincidence.
That alone had been enough for King Rudrasena to call for another secret gathering.
As the meeting continued, the kings exchanged their experiences.
"It appeared before me three nights ago,"
Mahipala admitted while absentmindedly rotating the ring upon his finger.
Virendra Varma nodded immediately.
-Nod!
"The same for me. At first I thought it was merely exhaustion, but the dream repeated itself every single night."
Somakeshi leaned back in his chair.
"I even ordered the royal priests to examine whether someone had cast an illusion upon me. They found nothing."
Pratapaditya slowly folded his arms.
"Whatever that being is... it wants us to gather here."
Rudrasena looked around the chamber before speaking in a low voice.
"I believe..."
"...it has finally returned."
No sooner had those words left his mouth than every flame inside the council chamber began to flicker.
One after another...
The torches hanging upon the walls lost their brightness.
The warm golden light faded until the room was bathed in an unsettling twilight.
A cold wind swept through the chamber despite every door and window remaining firmly shut.
The temperature dropped so suddenly that several of the attendants instinctively shivered.
The kings slowly rose from their seats.
Not out of fear.
But anticipation.
They had expected this.
Dark smoke began seeping from every shadow within the room.
It crawled silently across the polished floor before gathering at the very center of the council chamber.
The smoke continued thickening until it resembled a living creature.
Then it slowly rose upward.
First came a pair of skeletal hands, their flesh hanging loosely upon yellowed bones as though centuries of decay had failed to consume them completely.
A long black cloak materialized around the figure.
Finally...
Two crimson eyes opened beneath the hood.
Their blood-red glow immediately swallowed what little warmth remained inside the chamber.
The five kings watched silently.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Not one of them dared interrupt.
The mysterious being slowly turned its gaze toward each ruler before speaking in a voice that sounded less like words and more like countless whispers layered upon one another.
"The time... has finally come."
Its words echoed unnaturally through the chamber.
"You have waited patiently."
"You have endured your humiliation."
"And now... the opportunity you sought stands before you."
The skeletal hand slowly lifted.
"The King of Trivenivrata has marched to Pushkarnya."
"His strongest generals stand beside him."
"His greatest warriors have left their homeland."
"The kingdom he worked so hard to build... stands more vulnerable today than at any other time since its founding."
The crimson eyes narrowed.
"If you still desire revenge... This is your moment."
"Wage war."
"March upon Trivenivrata."
"Reduce it to ashes."
"By the time Devaratha learns of your invasion... everything he treasures will already be burning."
Silence filled the chamber.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Not because the kings were uncertain.
But because every one of them had imagined hearing those very words for years.
A slow smile spread across Rudrasena’s face.
"So..."
"The heavens themselves have finally favored us."
Mahipala rose from his seat, unable to hide the satisfaction in his expression.
"I have dreamed of this day ever since that boy insulted us."
Virendra Varma’s fingers tightened around the armrest of his throne.
"Without Devaratha standing in Trivenivrata..."
"The Lion Kingdom has lost its fangs."
Somakeshi let out a cold laugh.
"He was so eager to play the righteous king."
"Now let him watch helplessly as everything he built is torn apart."
Pratapaditya slowly drew his sword from its scabbard.
The steel reflected the crimson glow of the shadow’s eyes.
"We swore that one day we would erase Trivenivrata from the map."
He pointed the blade toward the center of the room.
"That day has arrived."
The five kings looked at one another.
No further discussion was necessary.
The decision had already been made long ago.
This meeting had merely confirmed it.
Hidden beneath the hood, the mysterious figure silently observed them.
None of the rulers noticed the faint smile that formed upon its unseen face.
They believed they were finally taking revenge for their wounded pride.
They believed this invasion was their own decision.
They never once considered that, from the very moment they had first allowed hatred to take root in their hearts, they had ceased to be kings making choices of their own.
Outside the palace, war horns soon echoed across Kalingavara.
Messengers hurried through the royal streets carrying sealed military orders.
Generals were summoned from their estates.
Royal smiths reopened their forges.
Within a single hour, the armies of five neighboring kingdoms began preparing for war.
Far away, Devaratha was preparing to confront the Rakshasa King Pushpasura.
Completely unaware...
Another war, born not from the ambition of demons but from the resentment of men, had just begun to march toward the heart of Trivenivrata.
Meanwhile, the scouts stationed along the outer watchtowers suddenly sounded the war horns.
The deep, resonating notes rolled across the entire military camp, instantly drawing the attention of every commander present.
A soldier hurried into the command tent before dropping to one knee.
"Your Majesties!"
"The Rakshasa army has been sighted!"
Without wasting another moment, everyone rose from their seats and walked out of the command tent.
Devaratha, Ashwatthama, King Padmanabha Varma, the Crown Prince, Shakuni, Hanuman, and the senior generals climbed onto the elevated watch platform overlooking the vast plains beyond Malikavana.
The moment they looked ahead...
Even the seasoned warriors fell silent.
The Rakshasa army had grown.
No...
It had multiplied.
The horizon itself seemed to have turned black.
Countless Rakshasas stood in disciplined formations, stretching farther than the eye could see.
Their banners fluttered beneath the crimson sky while enormous beasts marched alongside them, each one large enough to trample an entire squad of soldiers beneath its feet.
Pushpasura’s legion was no longer merely an invading force.
It looked like an army capable of swallowing kingdoms.
King Padmanabha’s expression gradually darkened.
"This..."
"...is several times larger than the force we encountered yesterday."
One of the Pushkarnya generals swallowed nervously.
"They’re still coming."
Indeed, the dimensional rift behind the Rakshasa army had not completely closed.
Even now, fresh legions continued emerging from it, filling the ranks with frightening efficiency.
However...
That wasn’t what troubled Devaratha the most.
His emerald eyes slowly shifted upward.
The sky.
Only then did everyone else notice it.
Hundreds...
No...
Thousands of Rakshasas hovered in the air.
Some possessed enormous bat-like wings.
Others had feathered wings dark as midnight.
A few simply floated through unknown demonic arts.
Whatever their method...
The result remained the same.
They completely dominated the skies.
The Crown Prince’s expression stiffened.
"...Flying units."
Ashwatthama quietly nodded.
-Nod!
"Our armies are almost entirely land-based."
"If they begin attacking from above, our formations will be forced to divide their attention."
One of Trivenivrata’s veteran commanders frowned.
"Our archers can shoot them down... but not in those numbers."
"The moment they descend together, our infantry will be exposed from two directions."
King Padmanabha slowly clenched his fists.
"The battlefield itself favors them."
A heavy silence settled over the watchtower.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Every experienced commander immediately understood the problem.
Aerial superiority.
Neither Pushkarnya nor Trivenivrata possessed a dedicated force capable of matching an army that could freely maneuver through the skies.
Only a handful of extraordinary individuals among them could fight in the air.
That would never be enough against thousands.
Devaratha remained silent, his eyes never leaving the battlefield.
"...."
Then he slowly turned toward Ashwatthama.
"Ashwatthama."
His general looked at him immediately.
"Can you invoke the Narayanastra?"
The question caused everyone on the platform to freeze.
Even Hanuman briefly looked toward Devaratha.
Ashwatthama did not answer immediately.
Instead, he remained thoughtful for several moments before finally nodding.
"I can."
His voice was calm.
"But..."
He looked directly into Devaratha’s eyes.
"I can only invoke it once."
"Once it is released..."
"...my right to wield it ends forever."
"It is a weapon meant to be used only a single time in one’s lifetime."
He paused before asking the question everyone else was thinking.
"Do you wish me to unleash it?"
There was no hesitation in his voice.
No reluctance.
If Devaratha ordered it...
Ashwatthama would invoke the Narayanastra without questioning the consequences.
The platform fell silent.
Every commander waited for the King’s decision.
After a long pause...
Devaratha slowly shook his head.
"No."
Ashwatthama’s expression remained unchanged.
"I merely needed to confirm."
Understanding immediately dawned upon Ashwatthama’s face.
"You are keeping it in reserve."
Devaratha nodded his head.
"If possible..."
"I do not wish to use our greatest weapons on the opening day of the war."
Hanuman smiled quietly.
"Thinking several moves ahead."
"Good."
Devaratha returned his gaze to the endless Rakshasa army.
Outwardly...
He appeared perfectly calm.
But inside his mind...
Something entirely different was happening.
["System Interface Activated..."]
A translucent blue screen appeared before his eyes, invisible to everyone else.
His gaze immediately moved toward the upper corner.
[Karma Points Available: 45,000 Karma Points.]
Over the years, through fulfilling missions, protecting kingdoms, saving innocent lives, and following his Dharma...
His accumulated Karma Points had steadily grown.
Until now.
He had deliberately avoided spending them recklessly.
But this war...
This war would not be won through individual strength alone.
He closed his eyes for a brief moment.
’I can fight Pushpasura. Hanuman is here. Ashwatthama stands beside me.’
’Karna and Gurudev Parashurama will arrive before long. Even together... we can hold the battlefield.’
His thoughts became increasingly focused.
’But... This war won’t end today.’
Hanuman’s earlier words echoed inside his mind.
’One hundred days.’
Pushpasura had to be fought continuously for an entire hundred days before he could finally be slain on the hundred and first.
Devaratha slowly exhaled.
One hundred days of constant warfare.
Even if he himself could endure...
Could ordinary soldiers? Could horses?
Could supply lines? Could morale?
No matter how powerful a warrior became...
Wars were ultimately won by armies.
And armies required food.
Medicine.
Shelter.
Equipment.
Rest.
A prolonged campaign would slowly grind them down long before Pushpasura himself became vulnerable.
His greatest enemy was no longer simply the Rakshasa King.
It was time.
Devaratha’s eyes moved through the countless options listed inside the System Store.
Weapons. Artifacts.
Divine treasures.
Military formations.
Support items.
Blessings.
Ancient techniques.
His fingers scrolled steadily through the endless catalogue which most were locked.
"I don’t need something that makes me stronger..."
he thought quietly.
"I need something..."
"...that allows everyone else to survive the next hundred days."
Somewhere within the vast System Store...
He was certain the answer existed.
He simply had to find it before the war truly began.
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(Author note:)
I hope you guys give me your opinion and idea’s.
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