Darkness had taken over everything.
Suddenly, a stir was felt in that darkness.
In the midst of tightly shut eyes, a faint light began to emerge from the deep blackness.
Slowly, that light started growing brighter and brighter.
Just then, Abhimanyu raised his hand in front of his eyes to shield them.
He tried to peek through his fingers.
Gradually, his eyes started adjusting to the brightness.
He lowered his hand.
Then, he began to think to himself:
Abhimanyu: "Where... where am I? Kreeti!? Where... where is she?"
Suddenly, flashes of memories started appearing in his mind.
A sharp pain shot through his head. His face, which had been calm until now...
Everything changed.
He grabbed his head tightly with both hands...
And started screaming—
"Kreeti... Where is Kreeti...?
WHERE IS MY SISTER!?"
Other side
In a room, two doctors were having coffee and chatting.
First Doctor: "Rakesh, in the past two or three days, a few people have awakened."
Rakesh: "Yes, because scientists have finally figured out how awakening works."
First Doctor: "Yes, it happens when a person's anger or desire reaches its peak."
Rakesh: "But why weren't people awakening before?"
First Doctor: "Dr. Rajesh says that until now, there wasn't enough aura in this world for humans to awaken."
Rakesh: "What's so different about human awakening?"
First Doctor: "No one knows yet. But from the scientists' experiments, one thing is clear — during awakening, humans absorb an immense amount of aura. And now it's proven that aura is increasing on Earth."
Just then, a nurse came running into the room in a panic.
Nurse: "Doctors! The patient in Room 125 has regained consciousness! But he's acting strangely!"
The two doctors were shocked.
Rakesh: "What!? I saw him myself... all his bones were broken. He should've taken years to recover!"
First Doctor: "Come on, let's go check immediately!"
Saying this, the nurse and both doctors rushed toward Abhimanyu's room.
As soon as they reached outside the room, a loud scream echoed in their ears—
"Ahhhhhhh... Kreeti... WHERE IS MY SISTER!?"
Rakesh: "Doctor Raj (first doctor), what... what is happening?"
Raj: "I don't know. Nurse, who is this Kreeti?"
Nurse: "The rescue team saved two children from there — a boy and a little girl."
Raj: "So that girl must be Kreeti..."
Rakesh (in shock): "Wait! Kreeti and this boy... the boy looked around 14 or 15 years old. And the girl?"
Nurse: "8 years old."
Raj: "That means... both of them..."
Rakesh: "It seems these two children are the kids of the former Army Marshal... who was martyred in the war a few years ago."
Raj: "There's no time to think about all this right now... let's go inside!"
Rakesh: "Yes, let's go!"
As they entered the room,
Their eyes fell on Abhimanyu.
Abhimanyu's eyes had turned red.
It looked as if he wasn't a human anymore, but a devil.
Dr. Rakesh: "Such a young boy... he's awakened?
That means the rescue team was right... this kid really killed a Beast King?"
Dr. Raj: "But how do we calm him down now?
If an awakened loses control, he can cause more destruction than a monster. And he's already taken down the King of Beasts!"
Rakesh: "Wait, they're trying to calm him down—'Wait!'"
But as soon as Abhimanyu heard their voices,
He looked toward them.
His eyes were glowing red.
A strange pressure radiated from within him.
Just by looking, the hearts of the three people started pounding fast.
Sweat broke out.
Their bodies went cold.
Abhimanyu: "MY SISTER... WHERE IS KREETI!?"
None of the doctors could say a word under his aura pressure.
Their breaths began to halt.
Abhimanyu (again): "WHERE IS MY SISTER!?"
The nurse somehow gathered the strength to say in a trembling voice:
Nurse: "Your sister... Kreeti is alive."
Suddenly, Abhimanyu's aura and pressure disappeared.
His eyes turned black again.
Abhimanyu: "Where is she?"
Nurse, hesitantly:
"Well... actually..."
Abhimanyu: "What?"
Nurse: "She's alive, but... due to severe damage, she's gone into a coma..."
Hearing this, Abhimanyu stepped closer to the nurse,
grabbing her shoulders and saying,
Abhimanyu: "Take me to her. I need to see her!"
Nurse, a bit scared:
"A-alright... o-okay..."
Saying "okay", she began walking ahead,
and Abhimanyu followed behind her.
Meanwhile, the two doctors were drenched in sweat.
Dr. Rakesh: "He's the real monster..."
Dr. Raj: "Are all awakened humans this strong?"
Dr. Rakesh: "I don't know..."
The nurse was leading Abhimanyu to another building.
It was the ICU block — where coma patients were kept.
Stopping at a door, the nurse turned to him.
Abhimanyu (in a firm voice):
"Where is she?"
Nurse (nervously):
"In this room..."
Abhimanyu opened the door without waiting...
and his eyes immediately landed on her.
But instead of joy... his face went pale.
His sister... Kreeti...
She was connected to a machine.
One of her hands... was missing.
Her breathing was barely visible...
Abhimanyu slowly walked to her in small steps.
He held Kreeti's hand —
It was cold... but her heart was still beating.
Abhimanyu's eyes slowly filled with tears,
and soon a stream of them flowed down.
No words... only silence.
A brother... broken.
From behind,
the nurse gently asked:
Nurse: "Sir... are you okay...?"
Abhimanyu said nothing.
Suddenly... he turned around.
And without a word... walked away.
The nurse just stood there, watching him leave...
---
Abhimanyu (in his thoughts):
*"Who's truly right...?
A warrior... who always protects their family.
So were those monsters really wrong?
Maybe... they're just evolved creatures —
Running from bigger monsters in the wild to protect themselves, or taking revenge on us humans.
We humans had oppressed them first —
With weapons, with power...
But now...
They have power too.
Now they've enforced the law of the jungle across the world.
Only the strong survive. Only the strong have the right to live —
To protect the ones they love.
And I... I was so weak
that I couldn't even protect my own sister.
It's all my fault.
Kreeti... forgive me. But...
I promise —
One day I'll bring you back, no matter what.
Even if I have to become a monster or challenge God himself."*
To be continued...