Pain made it impossible for Rudra to open his mouth, yet curiosity was like an itch beneath a scab. Though he knew scratching it would only make things worse, the urge was too irresistible to ignore.
Getting up, the top of the rock disappeared from his line of sight, revealing its front. Looking toward the distant horizon, Rudra’s body froze, and his eyes widened in surprise. Lightheadedness washed over him as he panted for breath.
Only now did he realise that, in his shock, he had stopped breathing altogether.
As far as his eyes could reach, there was nothing but destruction and desolation. The national highway had been completely obliterated, with not even a trace remaining. In its place was a canal-like formation filled with lava, rocks, and debris of all kinds.
The top of the gigantic Congress plant that should have been visible on the horizon was no longer there. To his astonishment, in its place was a crater whose edge began just a few hundred metres from where he stood.
He had read about the meteor that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, and now he had firsthand experience of what its aftermath might have looked like.
Rudra gazed into the distance with a dull expression for several minutes. If not for the sudden heat that struck his face, he might have continued staring. Turning toward the source of the blistering air, his heart skipped a beat.
(Gulp)
Like melted chocolate, half of the boulder they had hidden behind had melted and hardened into glass on the ground.
Right in front of it lay a massive object the size of an elephant, continuously radiating heat.
Rudra could not help but feel fortunate. Using the rock as cover had always been a gamble. If it had been nothing more than a small structure resting on the surface, it would never have withstood the wind pressure and explosion. Thankfully, it appeared to be an ancient rock whose true bulk extended deep beneath the earth, allowing it to withstand everything.
He knew everyone was still waiting with bated breath for his verdict. Looking at their expectant faces, he finally spoke.
"Both the monsters are dead."
It was as if the sword dangling over their heads had finally been lifted, and the relief washing over their bodies made their emotions turbulent. Laila closed her eyes and sprawled on the ground. Prabhu let out a deep breath in exhaustion, while Pranay covered his eyes, hunched over, and began to cry like a baby.
Recalling the dangers they had faced, the tragedies and life-and-death situations they had survived, the monsters they had killed and the people they had lost despite their efforts, even Rudra’s eyes turned wet and tears flowed down his cheeks.
Feeling hungry and wanting to eat a few bites to replenish the Aayu in his body, Rudra was about to sit down when the molten lava bubbled, sending a small strand flying toward him.
Rudra reflexively turned his head and avoided being burned by the molten liquid, but when he turned to look at it, his brows tightened into a frown.
He noticed an emerald gleam from within the blob.
He looked at it with nothing but curiosity, but moments later, a sense of restlessness settled in his heart. For some reason, he felt hunger emanating from his very being. It was not hunger for food, but a hunger for whatever was inside that green object.
He tried his best to rein in his emotions, but the desire became overwhelming.
Unable to resist, he walked around the boulder and, after a moment of hesitation, used the cracked bone spear to part the lava. The shaft immediately caught fire. Molten sludge dripped from it and hardened into a dark grey droplet with a metallic texture on the ground.
Rudra stared at it.
’Does most of the bone’s strength actually come from metal?’ he wondered.
But he had no time to ponder further.
Putting the thought aside, he gripped the remaining shaft and cleared out a large enough opening to reach the emerald object.
His hands unconsciously stretched toward it, yet he used every ounce of his will to stop himself an inch away from its surface.
He had already grown skeptical of the incomprehensible emotions he had experienced, be it the hatred for the red giant, admiration for the flying ant king, or now the desire for the emerald. But his eyes became more determined when he noticed the Aayu in his body growing increasingly turbulent.
Rudra made contact with the emerald object and was immediately surprised to feel a cool sensation emanating from it instead of the blazing heat he had expected.
The object felt like glass beneath his fingers. He stared at it in bewilderment, wondering why he felt such an intense craving for it.
However, at that moment, the cool sensation from the emerald spread through his palm, entered his arm, and coursed throughout his body.
His strength vanished and he lost control. Like ducks frozen in Russian winters, he stood motionless, a statue incapable of movement.
The unease he felt only intensified as the pain in his leg grew unbearable. Eventually, it reached a point where being knocked unconscious felt merciful. Yet trapped inside his own body, unable to lift his hand from the gem or even scream to relieve the pain, he continued to endure the torment that seemed eternal.
Rudra’s face turned red, and heat constantly rose from his body; steam escaped from his skin, and even the air around him turned hot. Yet an instant later, his complexion turned unnaturally pale, and the outer layer of his skin began to peel away.
A light brown complexion resembling golden-red sandalwood was revealed underneath. The dead skin was burned to a crisp, and ashes scattered into the wind.
Then came his hair.
Strands fell one by one until he was completely bald. New hair quickly regrew, reaching his shoulders.
Astonishingly, even his eyes were replaced. The old ones were forced from their sockets before a new pair formed in their place.
A similar phenomenon occurred with his tongue and teeth. It seemed as though the transformation had completely stopped, but the truth was far more terrifying. Rudra could feel changes taking place deep within his body.
A mysterious green energy burrowed into his bones, and a second later, tiny hairline cracks appeared all over its surface as if it were a brittle egg. In the next instant, the outer shell of each bone was completely discarded, turning into mist that escaped through his skin.
The bones were only the beginning.
His organs, his lungs, liver, heart, and even his brain, began to undergo a similar replacement.
Whatever energy was contained within the Emerald Gem, it was replacing everything in his body and rebuilding him from the ground up.
Rudra was convinced that he was being replaced by a foreign entity.
He was unwilling and cried desperately in his heart.
Yet to no avail, organ replacement did not stop.
However, surprisingly, even though it felt as if a million mosquitoes were crawling beneath his skin, his memories remained intact.
He could still think and maintain control over his thoughts. More importantly, he could monitor the changes taking place within his body through the state of oneness he had somehow been thrown into.
The replacement of his blood began as the green energy dug into his bone marrow and replaced it entirely.
The old blood evaporated from his body as a red mist escaped through his skin, and new blood took its place.
With the complete replacement of his body, even the clarity of his thoughts improved, and the pain no longer felt as intense.
However, there was a problem.
Despite rebuilding his body from the ground up, the green energy continued to seep into him. A feeling of pressure began building beneath his ribs, growing stronger with every passing second.
Rudra’s heart sank.
If this continued, he would explode and die.
He desperately tried to pull his hand away, but it remained motionless, as though a mountain were pressing down upon him.
He racked his brain for a solution.
Then he remembered the several times he had been saved by his mental projection.
He was not too confident since he was not dealing with uncontrollable emotions, but with nothing else to lose, he felt like it was worth giving it a try and began chanting the mantra.
"Om Namah Shivaya Namah."
Almost immediately, although he could not control the rampant alien energy, he found an outlet.
The chanting allowed him to perceive the area of heat between his lower abdomen and gut. It was the place where he had always suspected the mysterious Kanda to exist.
As soon as he could perceive the Kanda directly, the alien energy reacted as if it had found a magnet and dove into it.
Outside his body, a vortex appeared between his palm and the gem, and the green energy was being pulled in at a faster rate.
Rudra felt the heat within the Kanda rapidly increase, and his heart sank as it became almost unbearable.
Right as he thought he was about to vaporise from the inside out, the energy stopped.
He regained control of his body.
Without a second thought, he yanked his hand away from the Emerald Gem.
The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was the gem turning to dust.