The air itself trembled when the serpent spoke, its voice an echo of ancient gods and forgotten winters.
"Little spark…" it hissed, lowering its head, vast jaws hovering like an eclipse above Ronnie. "You reek of Indra. The world may have forgotten him, not me. You carry his weapon. Yet… you are not him."
The serpent's laughter rippled across the mountainside, sending avalanches rolling into the valleys. "Come, insect. Entertain me before I swallow you."
Ronnie clenched his fist, silver gauntlet flashing with lightning. A smirk tugged at his lips.
"Tch. I didn't climb this cursed peak to get lectured by an overgrown earthworm."
Beside him, Vajra buzzed with disapproval.
"Mocking it already? You've barely touched my true power, boy. That thing is no beast—it's a relic from the first floods."
Ronnie cracked his neck, lightning sparking across his shoulders. "Good. Then it won't be like last time."
The serpent inhaled, and the entire riverbed shifted. A gale of freezing breath poured down, shards of ice spinning like knives. Ronnie raised Vajra and roared.
"COME ON, THEN!"
The serpent struck first. Its head slammed down like an avalanche. The ground ruptured, stone splintering into the frozen river. Ronnie blurred aside in a crack of thunder, lightning carving his outline in the snow.
Vajra spoke in his hand, voice vibrating through the storm. "Strike the joints. No scale will break unless you shatter its rhythm."
Ronnie vaulted onto the serpent's neck, sparks dancing from his feet. With a twist, he drove Vajra down—thunder splitting the air.
BOOM.
The serpent's screech shattered the sky. Its body convulsed, and Ronnie was flung high into the storm. Snow and ice churned as its massive tail whipped across the riverbed, tearing the earth as if it were fabric.
Ronnie landed hard, coughing blood, silver armor flickering. Yet his grin only widened.
"Heh… that woke you up, didn't it?"
The serpent's eyes narrowed. "Arrogant… like the real one. You will taste the same end."
Lightning and serpent clashed again and again. Each strike was cataclysmic: thunder peeling the sky open, coils crashing like collapsing mountains.
Ronnie's body screamed with pain. His flesh burned from frost and venom, but every time he faltered, Vajra's voice cut through.
"Steady. Breathe. You carry a throne inside you, boy. Indra's throne. Call to it."
Ronnie spat blood into the snow. "A throne, huh? Then watch me sit on it."
He raised Vajra high. The storm above howled, clouds blackening until the sun itself was devoured. Bolts of lightning rained down like divine spears, converging on Ronnie's form. His aura exploded outward, silver and white, radiant enough to bleach the serpent's shadow.
"SWARG-LOK… OPEN!"
Behind him unfolded a gate of light, shimmering like crystal thunder. For a heartbeat, the snowy valley became heaven itself. Ethereal warriors—celestial soldiers of lightning—appeared in phantasmal ranks, their eyes glowing with eternal flame.
The serpent hissed, writhing in agitation. "Impossible… a mortal touching the edge of godhood."
Ronnie pointed Vajra forward. "Kill that thing."
A Celestial Onslaught.
The army surged, bolts of lightning incarnate, hurling spears of pure thunder into the serpent's colossal form. Scales cracked, mountains shook, rivers of snow turned to steam.
But the serpent was no prey. With a roar, it coiled upward, crushing phantoms beneath its bulk. Its fangs snapped through dozens of celestial warriors, each one dispersing in showers of sparks.
Ronnie fought in the chaos, leaping onto its head, hammering with Vajra again and again. The serpent slammed itself against the ground, trying to dislodge him. Blood filled his mouth, ribs cracked, but his grip never loosened.
"You're not killing me here, snake!" Ronnie roared, lightning burning his veins.
The serpent suddenly reared back, eyes blazing. With a hiss, it unleashed a wave of golden flame-like venom, incinerating the valley. Celestial soldiers evaporated, the snow itself boiled into mist.
Ronnie staggered, aura shattered. Vajra screamed in his mind. "This is it! One strike left, boy—everything you are, everything you've inherited from Indra, put it into me NOW!"
Ronnie's vision swam. His body was broken, every nerve aflame. Yet a manic grin split his bloodied face.
"Heh… guess this is the part… where I stop holding back."
He raised Vajra overhead. All thunder bent to his call. The clouds tore apart, revealing a radiant abyss of light. The world stilled, as if waiting for judgment.
The Final Blow.
"VAJRA'S WRATH!"
He hurled the weapon down.
A column of lightning the size of the mountain itself descended, splitting the serpent's head with a thunderclap that silenced the valley. The blast carved the riverbed into molten glass, shockwaves toppling peaks miles away.
When the light cleared, Ronnie stood hunched, chest heaving, armor cracked and fading. Vajra buzzed weakly in his hand, drained but proud.
Before him, the serpent writhed once, twice. Then its golden eyes dimmed. The mountain-sized body slumped, shaking the land as it collapsed.
Ronnie fell to his knees, coughing blood into the snow. His aura flickered like a dying candle.
Vajra chuckled faintly in his hand. "Barely… but you did it. You won."
The serpent's fading voice hissed through the air, not with malice, but with grudging respect.
"Brat… you burn bright. Too bright… for long."
Its body dissolved into mist, leaving behind a glowing sigil—a divine mark etched into his soul. Ronnie stared at it through blurred vision. Then he smirked.
Inside the storm of Ronnie's consciousness, the sigil blazed like a radiant sun, carving itself deep into the fabric of his soul. Lightning veins spread across the darkness of his mindscape, illuminating everything in a celestial glow. Ronnie clenched his fists, his breath sharp and heavy, as though his very being was remade in that instant.
Vajra's voice thundered, majestic and commanding, reverberating through every corner of Ronnie's consciousness.
"It is done. The sigil has accepted you. From this moment forth, you are no longer merely a wielder of my power—"
The weapon pulsed in his hand, sending arcs of white-blue lightning spiraling around him.
"—you are the master of the skies themselves. You now hold dominion over the weather."
Ronnie's lips curled into a grin. Outside, storm clouds gathered unnaturally fast, answering his unspoken will. Snow vanished under sudden rain, and thunder roared in acknowledgment of its new king.
"Heh… Raj… you bastard. I'm catching up."
And then, exhausted, he collapsed into the snow as thunder still rolled faintly across the Himalayas.