Vikram stood tall, golden energy surging from his body like a storm. It roared around him, tearing through the air with a divine presence that made the very atmosphere tremble.
Anna, overwhelmed by the sheer pressure, collapsed to his knees. His hands trembled, fingers digging into the broken concrete. His teeth clenched, and his eyes burned with fury.
"Why… why… WHY?! I gave everything for this power!
So why am I still not strong enough?!
I'll kill you, Vikram!
I'll rip you in half!"
He roared like a mad beast, launching forward with reckless rage. His billhook gleamed as he unleashed another massive slash wave, larger than ever before. The neon energy grew as it tore across the dock, threatening to consume everything again.
But Vikram… didn't flinch.
His golden eyes narrowed.
He slowly raised his right hand into the air, forming his palm like a lion's claw.
And then—
he pulled down.
A shimmering, radiant slash — shaped like a golden claw mark — tore through the air with a deafening howl.
SHHRRRRRAAAAAAKK!!
The golden slash collided with Anna's wave — and annihilated it in an instant.
Anna, in a split second of desperation, raised his billhook like a shield —
but it shattered on impact.
The force of the golden claw sent him flying, his body smashing through several containers like a ragdoll, metal crumpling around him.
Unconscious and broken, Anna drifted in the void of his own fading mind.
Thoughts flickered like dying embers.
**"Everything's gone…
My gang… my son… my wife…
Everything I built — ruined.
And now… even my power is shattered.
Everyone…
always comes and takes it all from me."**
Then—
a twisted, childlike voice echoed in his mind, sing-song and sinister:
"Uhhhhhh… haaah~
You let me taste Vikram's blood so many times…
How generous.
I'll give you one last chance.
Very good… how nice of me.
Come, come, let's have one final attempt."
Anna murmured internally, barely able to think:
"But… you're broken…"
Suddenly, the voice distorted, growing dual-toned — a childish lisp layered with venomous rage:
**"Don't TELL me... just DO what I say!
I left a fragment of my soul inside you — enough to move, enough to fight.
Now give me the rest of your soul.
You'll die…
in two minutes.
But you'll take Vikram with you.
Now tell me, Anna…
Do you want to die like a loser?
Or like a KING?"**
---
Anna's eyes snapped open — bloodshot, glowing faintly purple.
He coughed violently, blood spilling from his mouth, but his expression had changed. No longer desperate. No longer human.
He stood, bones cracking, limbs trembling, his entire body drenched in blood. Every movement screamed pain — yet he rose.
A dark, purplish-black aura swirled around him like smoke leaking from hell itself.
His broken billhook still in hand, he leaned forward, both palms grazing the ground...
Then — it happened.
The shattered weapon began to pulse — but not from its fragments.
A new form emerged, forged entirely from that ominous aura.
The billhook re-formed, not in metal, but in concentrated dark energy, oozing with malevolent intent.
Anna slowly lifted it into the air.
The moment he did —
BOOOOOM!
The ground trembled.
Everything nearby — crates, rubble, even metal structures — were blasted away by the sheer pressure.
Anna, now a vessel of seething rage and sorrow, screamed with every ounce of his broken soul:
"VIKRAAAM!!
I lost everything!
That's why I have this power!
You… YOU don't belong here!"
His voice cracked — not just with fury, but grief.
But Vikram stood still, golden energy calmly surging around him, his red lion-cloak fluttering in the wave's rising energy.
He looked at Anna — not with hatred, but with piercing clarity.
"Power isn't a compensation for suffering," Vikram said, voice calm as steel.
"It's your delusion that made you believe it was.
You're not a hero.
You're just an asshole."
Anna's face twisted in blind rage.
With a final roar, he unleashed his ultimate technique —
A massive Megalodon, formed from corrupted dark-purple aura, surged forward — a colossal spectral beast of rage, agony, and death.
Its very presence cracked the ground, tearing through the air like a demonic tsunami.
But Vikram didn't move.
He didn't flinch.
His cloak danced in the wind generated by the oncoming monster, the golden threads catching the eerie light.
Then — from beneath his feet,
a radiant golden lion burst forth, formed entirely of divine aura.
The golden energy wrapped around Vikram like armor — no fear in his eyes, only unwavering resolve.
As the Megalodon came within striking distance — mouth wide open to devour him —
Vikram's golden aura surged.
He raised his fist — and struck.
"RAAAHHHHH!!"
The lion's fist, wrapped in holy golden light, collided with the Megalodon in mid-air.
BOOM!!
The shadow-beast shattered like glass.
Then — from the remnants of that destruction —
the golden lion fully emerged, leaping through the air.
Its fangs glowed like sunlight sharpened into blades.
Anna's eyes widened in horror as the massive lion raced toward him,
its eyes locked on its prey.
He couldn't move.
He couldn't even scream.
And in one swift, merciless bite —
the golden lion tore Anna in two.
The sound of cracking bone and dissolving aura echoed across the dock as the lion disappeared into fading light —
and with it, so did Anna.
Everyone present at the dock stood in stunned silence.
The destruction was absolute.
The ground was torn apart, containers scattered like broken toys, the air thick with dust and fading energy. The very place Anna had started a war for — the heart of his ambition — lay in ruins.
And Vikram... was gone.
Vanished without a trace, as if carried away by the storm he had created.
Then, through the silence, Samradh came running, panting, eyes wide as they scanned the aftermath.
He stopped when he saw Anna's body, split clean in two.
His face hardened, but his voice remained steady as he took out his phone.
"Hello… send three ambulances. Now."
---
Ansh, sitting on the hood of a police car, stared at the scorched horizon.
"This is something straight out of fantasy…" he muttered, half to himself.
He looked at his trembling hands, then clenched them into fists.
"We need to be ready. More of this… will come."
---
On the far side of the dock, the sniper, now handcuffed along with his gangmates, sat quietly on the ground. His eyes were fixed on the space where the golden lion and the dark purple Megalodon had clashed — the air still shimmered faintly with lingering aura.
He let out a slow breath and smirked.
"You're one hell of a boss, Fisherman Anna…
But thanks for saving my life that day."
With that, he raised his head and slowly removed his mask, revealing a face young man at his twenty seven and wear — not a villain, just a man who had walked too long in shadows.
"May you rest in peace."
Suddenly — a soft beep.
A green, semi-transparent gaming screen appeared in front of him — floating mid-air like a HUD from a sniper game. In the center, a reticle glowed, locking onto an unseen target.
He narrowed his eyes as the circle pulsed.
Target: Acquired.
He blinked.
The screen vanished.
He looked away and muttered under his breath:
"The war's over. No use for this anymore...
If I keep playing now, more people will die."
He sighed deeply.
Vikram was sprinting across rooftops, each leap fierce, each step driven by urgency.
"We need to hurry—before he does anything to Shrinivas's house!" he shouted, golden energy sparking behind him.
Power echoed in his mind, firm and cold:
"Tonight, it ends for him."
They raced through the quiet, sleeping neighborhood — shadow to shadow — until they finally landed on the rooftop of the Shrinivas family home.
Vikram stood still, breathing heavily. His eyes glanced around before slowly settling on the house below.
Four days of horror flashed through his memory:
Deshmukh family
Chothe family
Chaudhary family
Devange family
All slaughtered.
All erased.
By one cursed hand — Feathered Nightmare.
"Once he kills a house," Vikram whispered to himself, "the other six are doomed. But tonight, I'll break his streak."
---
He entered the house through a window and stepped into the hall. It was quiet. Peaceful. The soft hum of night wrapped around everything.
From 3:15 a.m. to 6:00 a.m., he stood silently, unmoving, like a guardian.
But nothing happened.
Vikram's brows furrowed.
"He always strikes at night… why didn't he come?"
He rushed to check each room — every family member was asleep. Peaceful. Untouched.
Power, thoughtful now, offered:
"Maybe he saw your fight with Anna… and backed off for now."
But Vikram remained uneasy.
"I don't know... it feels like he's planning something."
As Vikram descended back into the hall, he froze.
A lunchbox was sitting on the floor.
Out of place. Silent. Waiting.
He narrowed his eyes.
"Power… do you sense anything from it? It wasn't here before."
He scanned every corner of the house. Nothing.
Power, more tense than before:
"We should leave. Before they wake up."
Vikram nodded, hesitant. But curiosity still burned.
He stepped toward the box, knelt down, and reached for it.
"Let's see what's inside—"
The moment the lid clicked open—
BOOM!!
A blast of force slammed Vikram across the room. His transformation shattered instantly, leaving only his wounded human form — still bearing the deep damage from his battle with Anna. Blood burst from reopened wounds as he crashed into the wall.
The entire hall was drenched in red.
The lunchbox had spilled open — but it wasn't food.
Inside were mutilated remains:
Crushed organs. Bone shards. Twisted flesh.
Chunks of intestines.
Children's fingers.
Eyeballs.
Teeth.
Vikram was soaked in it — the blood, the gore, the horror.
His mind reeled.
His ears rang.
His senses collapsed.
He stumbled, dragging his broken body toward the room where the family should've been.
But…
The beds were empty.
Only one thing remained.
A note on the floor.
His legs shook as he stepped toward it.
His trembling fingers lifted the paper.
And as his eyes scanned the message…
He broke.
His stomach turned violently.
He vomited, choking on it.
Fell to his knees.
Then collapsed entirely — unconscious.
His body was too broken.
His soul too heavy.
And the last flicker of hope he'd held onto had just been… shattered.