The Ahankari general, moments ago a figure of imposing arrogance, now stared in disbelief. His cruel smile had vanished, replaced by a mask of pure terror. The blinding golden light radiating from Karan was not the fragile magic of a child, but the raw, unadulterated power of a cosmic being. The polished obsidian armor on the general's body began to crack and shatter under the sheer force of the energy, its fragments scattering across the blood-stained floor like shards of glass. The very air, once thick with the stench of death, now crackled with a divine, terrifying energy. The general, a veteran of countless battles, had never seen anything like this.
Karan stood up, a figure reborn from the ashes of two tragedies. The innocent face of Prince Karan Raymond was gone, replaced by the grim, determined countenance of Suryaputra Karna. His eyes, once a gentle brown, now burned with a fierce, golden light that was the very essence of the sun. He didn't need a sword. He didn't need a shield. The golden light coalesced around his body, forming a shimmering, ethereal armor, an echo of the Kavach and Kundal he had been born with. It was a power that felt both ancient and new, a perfect fusion of his past and present lives.
He raised a hand, and the golden energy swirled into the form of a magnificent bow, its string humming with a sound that was both a divine melody and a silent threat. It was not a weapon of war, but of righteous fury. He looked at the Ahankari general, his voice, now deep and resonant, holding the weight of two lifetimes.
"You said I was weak," Karna said, each word a hammer blow against the general's sanity. "You said I failed my duty. You were right. In my last life, I was cursed to be powerless. In this life, I chose to be. But now, the curses are broken. The seal is shattered. I am no longer a prince. I am no longer a victim. I am the one who has returned to collect a debt."
With a speed that defied mortal eyes, the golden bow released a bolt of light. It didn't pierce the general; instead, it hit the shattered remains of the armory door behind him, and from that point, a wave of golden energy expanded outward, pushing back the remaining Ahankari forces. Their swords and spears shattered against the invisible force field, and their armor crumpled like tinfoil. They screamed in terror, retreating as fast as their legs could carry them, convinced they were fighting a god.
Karna stepped over his father's body, his expression a mask of cold resolve. The child who had lost his father was gone, replaced by a warrior who had lost everything twice over. His heart was a fortress of ice, fueled by the fire of revenge. The peaceful life he had craved was now nothing more than a ghost, a beautiful lie he was willing to bury forever. He looked at the wreckage of his home, at the silent, terrified faces of the surviving servants and guards. They saw a monster, a force of nature they could not comprehend.
But Karna was not a monster. He was an avenger. He had been mocked twice, humiliated twice, and this time, he would make his enemies pay for both lives. His journey had just begun.