The Royal Hall did not panic.
It moved.
Outside the fortress,
Royal Security Chief Sendrav Garuda charged through the security gates, flanked by his senior officers.
Sendrav turned toward the gathered Mayaveers.
“Second rank and below—fan out. Civilian priority. Third rank and above—form with me.”
His eyes hardened.
He unfurled his wings and rose above the ground.
The high-rank Mayaveers using Void Manipulation floated into the air and followed the Chief toward the city.
Kairav sprinted toward the city alongside the second- and lower-rank Mayaveers and the royal guards.
The city had already descended into chaos.
Karuna, Arun, Megh, and Seth ran through the streets, guiding civilians away from the approaching wolves.
Chief Sendrav descended and closed his large wings.
“Containment first. Kill fast. No stragglers.”
He instructed.
The Mayaveers moved.
Moksh saw Kairav and joined him without a second thought.
The younger Mayaveers formed smaller groups, directing civilians toward safer routes and preventing stampedes.
Non-Mayaveer guards sealed exits and controlled the movement of the crowds.
At the edge of the city, the Head of the Nag Clan raised her hands.
A massive Naag Kavach formed around the city.
The wolves slammed against it.
The barrier trembled.
Beyond the city limits, the Head of the Chitta Clan and Guru Goalpara and Guru Sariputta formed a second barrier.
Inside the city, Sendrav moved like a storm.
Each strike was precise.
Each wolf that reached him fell.
Kairav moved beside him—silent, exact, never wasting a movement.
Moksh, on the other hand, ushered the crowds away alongside several royal guards.
Higher-ranked Mayaveers herded the creatures into contained zones before eliminating them.
But the waves did not stop.
Kairav noticed it first.
“They’re not thinning.”
Sendrav looked across the battlefield.
Another wave emerged.
Then another.
“They’re increasing.”
Sendrav’s expression hardened.
“Hold the lines.”
The Mayaveers pushed forward.
But the numbers continued to rise.
This was not an outbreak.
It was not an accident.
Someone—or something—was driving them.
Above the fortress, the Queen and Mervil hovered over the battlefield.
Below them, the Nag Head struggled to maintain the barrier.
The impacts grew stronger.
The barrier barely held.
The Queen raised her royal sceptre.
A blood relic of the first monarch—a Nag.
Energy surged through it.
Sesha Kavach.
Another layer of protection spread across the city.
Mervil looked toward the battlefield.
“I will end this.”
The Queen glanced at him.
“Won’t that expose you?”
“I’ll cover it.”
The space in front of Mervil distorted.
He stepped into it— and vanished into thin air.
Void Travel—an ability possessed only by fourth-rank Mayaveers.
Mervil emerged from the void behind the Nag Head and lowered himself toward the ground.
“Assist the Panchbhuti Vaidyas. Stabilize the injured.”
She nodded and moved immediately.
Mervil stepped back into the void.
A moment later, he appeared behind Guru Sariputta.
“Create a new barrier for me. Hold it until I finish. Remove it when I shift.”
Guru Sariputta understood.
Mervil crossed the two illusory barriers.
The wolves reacted immediately.
Their movements changed.
They turned toward him.
As though they sensed something wrong.
Mervil raised one hand.
Fire gathered.
Precise spheres of flame formed around him.
He released them.
Several wolves vanished into fire.
Then Mervil lowered his hands.
His ring finger folded to the base of his thumb, sealed with pressure.
His palms aligned.
Brief contact.
He began to chant.
Low.
Measured.
Unhurried.
Once.
Twice.
Five times.
Seven.
Eleven.
The flames around him began to bend.
The air changed.
Mervil’s eyes opened.
He spread his arms.
Guru Sariputta immediately dropped the barrier.
The world split. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
A sheet of fire tore across the land.
It spread for kilometers, controlled and immense, burning across the battlefield like the surface of the sun.
The wolves vanished into ash.
For a moment, everything went still.
Then hundreds of fire ravens emerged from the flames.
They swept across the battlefield, striking the remaining wolves.
Some inside the barrier.
Some outside, in the dark woods.
One after another, the creatures fell.
Silence followed.
A long silence.
Then came the cheers.
Relief.
Disbelief.
The remaining wolves within the city were cut down.
The containment held.
The system had not broken.
Far beyond the city, deep within the woods, another battle had already taken shape.
Lady Shakuntala placed the Yaksha blood relic.
Yani stood behind her.
She closed her eyes and activated the Chandra blood relic using her Nadi Urja.
Then she focused on every creature within the space, bending them under her control.
Birds fled.
Creatures scattered.
Mob Hypnosis.
She pulled them out of the perimeter, selectively.
Lady Shakuntala activated the Yaksha relic.
Cursed Land.
The howls stopped.
Thousands of creatures froze.
Kaushiki dropped to her knees.
Beside her, Anshuman and Samarth placed his hands against the earth.
The ground trembled.
One by one, the wolves collapsed.
Their bodies ruptured.
Blood.
Flesh.
Stillness.
The forest fell silent.
And just like that— it was over.
Above the fortress— the Queen watched.
Below— the city survived.
And somewhere— far beyond the flames— the question remained.
Who had summoned them?