Inside Urvashi’s house—
Bhagavat was anxiously searching for something in his room.
Drawers opened one after another.
Books had already been moved aside.
Even the bedside cabinet had been checked twice.
But the thing he was looking for was nowhere to be found.
“Where did it disappear to…?” he muttered under his breath.
Suddenly—
A soft and calm female voice came from behind him.
“Bhagavat, it’s already late for breakfast.”
He turned slightly, startled for a moment.
“Just a moment, Aunty.” Bhagavat replied immediately.
The woman stepped inside the room quietly.
Her eyes moved across the mess before stopping on him.
“What happened?” she asked gently.
“Perhaps I can help.”
Bhagavat let out a small sigh as he continued searching through the half-open cabinet.
“Shanti Aunty, do you know where my smartphone is?
I haven’t used it since my illness… and I remember leaving it somewhere in my bedroom.”
Even while speaking, his hands continued moving through the shelves, clearly unwilling to give up yet.
Shanti Lata watched him quietly for a few seconds.
Then, as if remembering something, her expression changed slightly.
“Ah… now that I think about it…”
Bhagavat’s movements stopped instantly.
Slowly, he turned around, his eyes carrying the last traces of hope.
“I think I threw it into the dustbin.” Shanti Lata answered casually.
As if she had said something completely unimportant.
“…Into the dustbinnnnnnnnn?!” Bhagavat’s scream exploded through the room like thunder.
His eyes widened in horror, his entire body freezing in disbelief as if the world itself had suddenly collapsed around him.
At that moment, Meenakshi stepped inside the room.
And then—
“…Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…!”
Bhagavat’s earlier scream still echoed through the room when Meenakshi suddenly screamed as well, turning the room into pure chaos.
Meenakshi’s eyes widened in absolute panic as if she had just witnessed something beyond comprehension.
Her voice shattered into a piercing scream that shook the walls.
Before the echo could even settle—
Shanti Lata, startled by the chaos, followed right after them.
“Ahhhhhhh!!”
Her scream joined the others, sharp and startled, as if fear itself had multiplied inside the room.
Meanwhile at Eastern District—
Urvashi sensed them clearly.
“Meenakshi said she had something important to do in university… then why is she at my house right now?”
The thought passed silently through her mind.
Nearby, Padmavati and the others were discussing something among themselves.
Completely unaware of Urvashi’s momentary distraction.
Suddenly—
A male student from the crowd noticed her.
His eyes brightened instantly.
“How pretty she is…” he whispered without realizing it.
Without hesitation, he fixed his clothes and stepped forward confidently.
“Hey, pretty girl!
Want to head to a cafeteria with me?”
He asked with a confident grin, placing a hand over his chest.
Urvashi didn’t respond immediately.
She only looked at him.
Coldly.
The atmosphere around her felt strangely heavy.
But the boy either failed to notice the strange atmosphere— or simply chose to ignore it.
He stepped even closer, coming to within about 23 metres of her.
“I’m Shashwat.
Can I know your name, beau—”
BOOM.
Before he could even finish his sentence—
A terrifying punch struck him squarely in the face.
The ground beneath them shattered instantly.
Cracks spread across the floor like spiderwebs as Shashwat’s body slammed violently into the ground.
Dust exploded into the air.
The surrounding crowd froze completely.
Padmavati’s eyes widened.
Even she hadn’t seen when the attack happened.
Only one thing became clear afterward—
A tall figure was now standing there.
Vikrant.
His expression twisted with possessive rage.
“How dare you get close to my lovely wife?”
His voice sounded dangerously calm.
Vikrant placed his left foot heavily on Shashwat’s chest, standing to Shashwat’s left.
“She belongs to me.
Only me.”
His eyes turned sharp instantly.
“Understand?”
Shashwat coughed painfully beneath his foot, unable to even respond properly.
Then—
As if nothing had happened—
Vikrant suddenly turned his head toward Urvashi with a bright smile.
“Hey— morning!”
The terrifying aura from earlier vanished so suddenly that the crowd almost questioned reality itself.
Urvashi looked at him briefly.
Coldly.
Sharply.
“Do you have your phone right now?”
Her voice remained completely emotionless.
Vikrant was just about to answer—
SWOOSH.
Shashwat suddenly lunged upward from the ground in fury and threw a punch toward Vikrant.
But Vikrant casually tilted his head sideways.
The attack missed effortlessly.
“What a weakling.”
Vikrant’s voice carried pure disappointment.
The next second—
BAAAM.
Vikrant’s left fist sank directly into Shashwat’s stomach at terrifying speed.
The impact distorted the air itself.
Shashwat’s eyes widened.
All breath left his body instantly.
Then his entire figure flew backward before crashing across the ground violently.
*
*
*
The Shunyagarbha city roared with its usual rhythm.
Towering buildings stretched toward the sky like steel giants, their glass surfaces reflecting countless streams of moving lights below.
Vehicles flowed endlessly across the layered highways.
Neon advertisements flickered across massive digital screens.
Crowds moved through the streets without pause, each person consumed by their own destination, their own life.
From above, the entire city resembled a living organism.
Restless.
Breathing.
Never truly asleep.
Yet beneath that crowd—
Something invisible was quietly moving within the shadows of the city.
Bhagavat walked along the pavement, slightly overwhelmed by the scale of the place.
“So many people…” he muttered.
“It feels like no one is stopping anywhere.”
Beside him, Meenakshi was walking calmly, completely adjusted to the city’s pace.
“They all have somewhere to go,” she said simply.
“Unlike you, who is still thinking about a broken phone.”
Bhagavat sighed.
“I’m not thinking about it that much…”
Meenakshi glanced at him.
“You’ve mentioned it five times in ten minutes.”
He went silent.
After crossing a signal, she pointed ahead.
“There.
The electronics street.”
Bhagavat followed her gaze.
Towering holographic signboards glowed above the crowded street, their shifting lights painting the surroundings in waves of neon colors.
Stores lined both sides endlessly, displaying futuristic devices behind transparent glass panels—floating screens, intelligent assistants, and advanced gadgets.
Small delivery drones moved through the air overhead while streams of vehicles passed along the elevated roads beyond the street.
For a moment, Bhagavat simply stood there silently, trying to take everything in.
Beside him, Meenakshi remained completely calm, already accustomed to the overwhelming rhythm of the city.
“So loud… I hate it.” Bhagavat slowly muttered, his brows slightly furrowed as the endless noise echoed around him.
Meenakshi glanced at him before letting out a small amused sigh.
“Ohh?
Our little prince forgot that we live in the Inner City of Shunyagarbha.”
A faint smirk appeared on her face as neon lights flickered across the crowded street behind her.
Bhagavat blinked at her.
“Uhh…?”
The confusion on his face only made Meenakshi laugh even more.
She looked at him for a moment before a playful grin slowly appeared on her face.
“I think that hospital possessed you.”
Bhagavat stared at her blankly.
“What kind of conclusion is that?” he asked in disbelief.
The moment those words left his mouth, Meenakshi burst into loud laughter.
“Pfft— Hahahaha!”
Several people nearby briefly turned toward them before continuing on their way.
Meanwhile, Bhagavat could only stare at her with a tired expression as her laughter refused to stop.
Meenakshi wiped the corner of her eye dramatically before finally calming down a little.
“Alright, alright… relax.”
She let out another small laugh while walking ahead.
“Come on.
We still need to buy your phone.”
Bhagavat silently followed behind her, still looking mildly offended.
The endless neon lights of the electronics street reflected across the crowded pavement as the two disappeared deeper into the city.
A few moments later—
Inside one of the crowded electronic stores, glowing holographic displays illuminated the surroundings with shifting neon lights.
Meenakshi was busy arguing with a salesman about prices while Bhagavat stood nearby in exhausted silence.
Salesman: “Final price, ma’am.”
Meenakshi: “Final for whom?”
Salesman: “Ma’am… at this point just take the shop too…”
Meenakshi: “The other shop offered lower.”
Meanwhile, Bhagavat stood nearby like a statue.
No movement.
No reaction.
Just a still presence carved out of silence amid the surrounding noise.
His gaze remained steady, but his thoughts were heavier than his expression showed.
“I should not interfere in this war.”
The words repeated in his mind like a silent oath—less a choice, more a boundary he was forcing himself to respect.
He didn’t move.
He didn’t speak.
He just watched… as if stepping in would mean crossing a line he could never step back from.
Suddenly—
Tring… Tring… Tring…
Meenakshi’s phone vibrated lightly.
She glanced at the screen.
The moment she saw the unknown number on the screen, her expression changed just a little.
“Unknown number?” she muttered softly before answering the call.
Meenakshi stepped slightly aside and answered the call.
“Hello?”
A brief silence followed.
A familiar voice came from the other side of the phone call.
“Menaka, leave him alone.”
Her expression changed instantly.
“…U-Urvashi.”
A brief pause followed.
“You mean… Bhagavat?”
Meenakshi’s fingers tightened slightly around the phone.
“B… But why?”
“He is targeted by an assassin.” Urvashi replied slowly.
Meenakshi went silent for a moment.
The noise of the shop, the salesman, the glowing displays—everything felt distant.
“…Assassin?” Her voice dropped into disbelief.
A brief pause followed.
Then—
“Are you serious?” Meenakshi asked, her voice heavier this time.
Silence followed between them.
Then Urvashi spoke again, steady and unshaken.
“I don’t joke about this.”
Meenakshi’s grip on the phone loosened slightly, then tightened again.
“…You’re sending him to die.”
Each word controlled, but burning with anger.
“Menaka, control yourself.” Urvashi said calmly.
“Believe me, and give him some space to grow.”
Meenakshi immediately cut in, her tone sharper than before.
“But he isn’t an Awakener.”
A pause—
“And what if he gets injured because of your test?”
For a brief moment, the air between them tightened.
“Do you like him?” Urvashi asked calmly.
The question caught her completely off guard.
Meenakshi froze.
Her words refused to come out.
Her throat shifted slightly, but nothing formed—like her voice had been cut off mid-thought.
A faint warmth rushed to her cheeks as her gaze instinctively drifted toward Bhagavat.
“That… that’s not—”
She tried to respond, but the sentence broke halfway, her voice losing its balance.
And then—
Urvashi snapped her fingers.
A sharp, clean gesture on her side of the call.
In an instant, the space around Meenakshi distorted for a fraction of a second—like reality skipping a beat.
And in the next second—
There was no trace of her in the store.
Just an empty spot where she had been standing a moment ago.
Bhagavat’s gaze shifted toward the vacant space.
Confused.
Then—
He calmly completed the payment for the smartphone at the salesman’s counter.
Silently.
Calmly.
Far away, inside another building—
An assassin smiled.
Some people protect others directly.
Some protect from the shadows.
And some… create danger intentionally.