Chapter 276 - 274: Rakshasa Question’s Goddess Maha Kali... News Reaches Trivenivrata...

(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...

-------------------------------------------------

The brilliant light surrounding Maha Kali had only just begun to fade when she stopped.

For a moment, the five kings thought the goddess had already decided to leave them behind and return to Trivenivrata.

They remained kneeling where they were, their clothes covered in mud and dust, their faces still carrying the shock of everything they had witnessed.

None of them dared to raise their heads too much after seeing their entire army destroyed before them.

Then a voice came from behind them.

"Devi¹ Maha Kali..."

The tone wasn’t arrogant.

It wasn’t challenging either.

There was genuine respect in it.

Maha Kali paused.

Her expression changed almost immediately.

She slowly turned her head toward the source of the voice, her eyes narrowing as she looked past the five kings.

A figure stood there, completely covered in a thick layer of unnatural darkness.

The shadow around him was so dense that even the faint light from the goddess seemed unable to reveal what was hidden beneath it.

For a few moments, the figure simply stood there.

Then the darkness began to retreat.

It didn’t disappear all at once. Instead, it seemed to pull itself away from Maha Kali, almost as if the shadow itself had sensed the divine presence before it and understood that continuing to hide its master would be pointless.

The five kings slowly looked over their shoulders.

What emerged from the darkness made even them uncomfortable.

He was a Rakshasa, but his appearance was unlike the warriors who had served Pushpasura.

His entire body looked as though it had been left to decay for years.

His skin had turned pale and grey in places, while portions of his flesh appeared rotten and loose against his bones.

Small worms could be seen moving across some parts of his body, disappearing into the decayed flesh before emerging somewhere else.

Yet the most unsettling thing wasn’t his appearance.

It was his eyes.

Two sharp red eyes stared directly at Maha Kali without the slightest sign of fear.

The Rakshasa slowly lowered his head.

"Forgive me for stopping you, Devi¹,"

He said respectfully.

"There is something I wish to understand before you leave."

Maha Kali didn’t answer immediately.

She simply looked at him.

The Rakshasa straightened himself slightly and continued, his voice remaining surprisingly calm despite the terrible appearance of his body.

"Why did you personally descend to this battlefield?"

His red eyes moved briefly toward the ruins behind him.

"Those five kings were fools. Their armies were already defeated. Their attack had clearly violated the laws of war. But for a goddess of your stature to personally descend from the heavens and intervene..."

He looked back at her.

"That is something I did not expect."

The five kings remained completely silent.

They were still trying to understand what was happening themselves.

Maha Kali finally spoke.

"They violated Dharma."

Her voice was quiet, but it carried clearly across the ruined battlefield.

"They entered this kingdom without informing him or his people that they intended to wage war. They chose the night to begin their attack, believing that darkness would give them an advantage over those they intended to conquer."

Her eyes briefly moved toward the five kings.

"They knew the rules."

"They simply believed those rules did not apply to them."

The Rakshasa listened without interrupting.

Maha Kali then looked back at him.

"Devaratha performed his penance and received my boon. I promised him that I would protect what he entrusted to me when he was unable to do so himself."

The Rakshasa’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"So this was because of that boon?"

"Yes."

Maha Kali gave him no further explanation.

There was no anger in her voice and no need to justify herself.

She had answered the question he had asked, and as far as she was concerned, there was nothing else worth discussing.

The Rakshasa remained silent for several seconds.

He seemed to be thinking about her words.

Then his gaze shifted toward the five kings.

Their heads remained lowered.

Their armies were gone.

Their kingdoms had lost the forces they had gathered for this invasion.

And the one thing they had believed would guarantee their victory, the absence of Devaratha, had turned out to be the reason they had walked directly into the goddess’s protection.

The Rakshasa slowly looked back at Maha Kali.

"I understand, Devi¹."

Maha Kali simply nodded.

She turned away from him.

A brilliant golden-white radiance began gathering around her body, slowly becoming brighter until the ruined battlefield was illuminated once again.

The five kings instinctively lowered their heads even further, unable to look directly at the divine light.

The Rakshasa, however, continued watching her.

He didn’t move.

He didn’t speak again.

Maha Kali’s form gradually became surrounded by the light, her divine presence beginning to withdraw from the mortal realm.

Just before she disappeared, she looked back once.

Her eyes met the Rakshasa’s red eyes.

Neither said anything.

There was no need.

Then the radiance suddenly expanded.

WHOOM!

A pillar of divine light rose from the battlefield and pierced through the clouds above. For a few seconds, the entire border of Trivenivrata was brighter than daylight.

Then the light vanished.

Maha Kali was gone.

The battlefield became quiet again.

Only the wind remained, moving through the broken banners and scattered weapons.

The five kings slowly lifted their heads.

The Rakshasa continued staring at the empty space where the goddess had stood.

For the first time since he had appeared, his expression changed.

His red eyes narrowed.

"So..."

he murmured.

"Devaratha’s kingdom survived due to his boon."

One of the kings heard him.

The man’s face immediately tightened.

"You knew this would happen?"

The Rakshasa didn’t answer.

He simply continued looking toward the direction in which Maha Kali had disappeared.

A faint smile slowly appeared across his decaying face.

"No... But Interesting."

The five kings exchanged nervous looks.

They had already lost everything.

Now they weren’t even certain what this mysterious Rakshasa intended to do next.

And the worst part was that, despite having just witnessed Maha Kali destroy their entire army, the creature standing before them didn’t look frightened.

He looked intrigued.

Meanwhile, on top of the outer walls of Trivenivrata, the atmosphere was completely different from the devastation that had taken place beyond the kingdom’s borders.

Dronacharya stood at the highest section of the wall, his eyes fixed upon the distant battlefield where the last traces of divine radiance had disappeared into the night sky.

Around him stood the soldiers who had been stationed along the walls,

Along with several commanders and guards who had witnessed everything from the moment the five kingdoms launched their attack until the moment their entire army was brought to ruin.

For most of the night, they had been preparing themselves for the worst.

They had known that their main army was away.

Their king, Devara, was fighting at Malikavana.

Their Senapati, Ashwatthama, had also been summoned to the war at Pushkarniya.

The kingdom had therefore been left with only the forces necessary to protect its people and maintain the walls.

When the five kingdoms appeared at the border with such a massive army, there had been very little they could have done if the invaders had followed the proper rules of warfare and attacked during the day.

But they hadn’t.

They had chosen the night.

They had come without warning.

And because of that decision, the people of Trivenivrata had not been forced to fight the battle themselves.

The goddess had come.

Dronacharya slowly lowered his head and folded his hands.

"Devi Maha Kali,"

He said quietly, his voice carrying enough for the soldiers around him to hear,

"you protected this kingdom when its king was away and its army was fighting on another battlefield. We will never forget the protection you have shown us tonight."

The soldiers around him followed his example.

One after another, they folded their hands and bowed toward the place where the goddess had disappeared.

Some of them had tears in their eyes.

They had watched thousands of enemy soldiers gather outside their borders and had wondered whether they would see another sunrise.

Instead, they had witnessed the divine mother herself descend to protect them.

A young soldier beside Dronacharya whispered,

"We were prepared to die defending the walls."

Dronacharya glanced at him.

"And you were prepared to do your duty. That is enough."

He looked once more toward the battlefield.

"But remember what happened tonight. Do not mistake divine protection for an excuse to become careless.

The goddess protected us because Dharma demanded it. We must still fulfil our own responsibilities."

The soldier immediately bowed.

"Yes, Acharya."

Dronacharya turned his attention toward the kingdom behind them.

The streets were quiet.

"...."

"...."

"...."

Most of the people were still unaware of the full scale of what had happened outside the walls.

Some had probably heard the distant sounds of battle and wondered whether the kingdom would survive the night.

Now...

They were safe.

The walls were still standing.

The gates remained closed.

Not a single enemy soldier had managed to enter Trivenivrata.

Dronacharya let out a slow breath.

During the absence of both the king and the Senapati, the responsibility of protecting the kingdom had fallen heavily upon his shoulders.

Devara had trusted him enough to leave him behind.

Ashwatthama, despite being the kingdom’s Senapati and Devara’s son, had been ordered to accompany the forces fighting at Pushkarniya.

That meant Dronacharya had been left with the difficult task of ensuring that nothing happened to Trivenivrata while its strongest warriors were away.

He had accepted that responsibility without hesitation.

And tonight, when the enemy finally came...

He had been ready.

Even if the goddess had not descended, he would have defended the walls with everything he had.

But now he understood something else.

Devara had not merely built an army.

He had built a kingdom whose people believed in Dharma strongly enough that even the gods themselves were willing to stand behind it.

Dronacharya looked toward the soldiers surrounding him. And he ordered.

"Remain alert until morning, We don’t know what happened to the surviving kings, and we don’t know who that Rakshasa was."

The soldiers immediately became serious again.

"Yes, Acharya."

Dronacharya gave one final glance toward the dark horizon.

Somewhere far away, Devara was still fighting his own battle.

And here in Trivenivrata...

His kingdom had survived its first great test.

Not because its king had been present.

But because those he trusted had remained standing in his absence.

Meanwhile, back in the royal palace, the atmosphere inside the throne room had been tense for hours.

Queen Gandhari sat upon the throne, carrying the responsibility of ruling the kingdom while her husband was away at war.

Around her stood ministers, palace officials, guards, and members of the royal household, all of them waiting for news from Malikavana.

The war had dragged on far longer than anyone had expected.

One hundred days.

One hundred days of fighting.

One hundred days of waiting for messengers to arrive with some piece of information that would tell them whether Devara was safe.

The news that had reached the palace earlier had been particularly frightening.

Devara had been buried beneath the battlefield.

Pushpasura had remained alive.

The war had continued.

Since then, everyone in the throne room had been carrying the same silent fear.

Would their king actually return?

Gandhari herself had remained composed throughout it all, but even she had found it difficult to keep her mind from wandering toward the battlefield.

Then the doors of the throne room suddenly opened.

A messenger hurried inside.

The guards stepped aside as he approached the throne.

He was exhausted, his clothes still covered in dust from the journey, but there was something completely different in his expression.

He was smiling.

He immediately dropped to one knee before Gandhari.

"Your Majesty!"

Gandhari straightened.

"What news?"

The messenger lowered his head.

"The war at Malikavana..."

He paused, catching his breath.

"...has ended."

The entire throne room became silent.

Gandhari’s fingers tightened around the armrest.

"Tell me."

The messenger raised his head.

"King Devara has won."

For a moment...

Nobody reacted.

It was as though the words had taken several seconds to reach everyone.

Then the messenger continued.

"Pushpasura is dead."

A collective gasp swept through the chamber.

"The Rakshasa army has surrendered."

"King Devara returned to the battlefield after being buried beneath the earth."

"He fought Pushpasura on the hundred and first day..."

"And defeated him."

The throne room erupted.

Cheers broke out from every corner.

"Victory!"

"King Devara has won!"

"Long live the King!"

"Victory to Trivenivrata!"

Ministers who had spent days discussing the possibility of defeat suddenly found themselves smiling.

Several palace guards raised their weapons into the air.

Some of the older officials folded their hands and thanked the gods.

The tension that had filled the chamber for so long finally broke apart.

Gandhari remained seated for a moment, simply listening to the celebration around her.

"...."

Her husband was alive.

He had survived the hundred days.

He had defeated Pushpasura.

And the war was over.

Her expression softened.

She quietly closed her eyes and let out a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding.

"Thank the gods..."

she whispered.

The messenger wasn’t finished.

"There is more, Your Majesty."

The throne room gradually became quieter again.

Gandhari looked toward him.

"What else happened?"

The messenger smiled.

"After defeating Pushpasura, King Devara ordered the Rakshasa army to surrender."

"He refused to slaughter those who had laid down their weapons."

"He also ordered that the fallen Rakshasa warriors be given proper funeral rites alongside the soldiers who fought for our side."

A few ministers exchanged impressed looks.

Gandhari’s lips curved into a small smile.

"That sounds like him."

The messenger nodded.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Then he hesitated.

"There is also something else that everyone is speaking about."

Gandhari raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

The messenger took a breath.

"After defeating Pushpasura, King Devara appeared in a divine guardian form."

Several people immediately began whispering.

"He was covered in chains..."

"He carried an Aruval and a spear..."

"And his appearance was terrifying."

The messenger smiled nervously.

"The warriors who witnessed it have begun calling that form Sangili Karuppan."

The throne room filled with murmurs.

Gandhari quietly listened.

"...."

A strange mixture of pride and relief settled within her heart.

Her husband had gone to war as a king.

He had returned as something far greater in the eyes of those who had witnessed him.

But to her...

He was still simply Devara.

Her husband.

The man she had been waiting for.

She slowly looked toward the great doors of the throne room.

"Prepare the palace."

The ministers immediately looked toward her.

"My husband will be returning."

Her voice carried through the entire hall.

"And when he does..."

She smiled.

"...I want this entire kingdom to welcome its king home."

*******************************

(Author note:)

I hope you guys give me your opinion and idea’s.

-->

Don’t forget to review guys...