Hastinapura woke to unease.
Not panic.
Not chaos.
The far more dangerous thing—certainty dissolving.
The Dice Hall stood intact, yet everyone who passed it felt wrongness cling to their skin. Servants refused to enter. Courtiers whispered. Priests avoided its shadow.
The dice were gone.
Not stolen.
Not hidden.
Erased.
Duryodhana learned of it at sunrise.
"What do you mean—gone?" he demanded, gripping the armrest of his seat.
Shakuni sat opposite him.
Silent.
Broken.
"The dice…" Duryodhana continued sharply, "they are *dice*. How can dice simply—"
"They were judged," Shakuni said hoarsely.
The room fell still.
Judged.
Duryodhana laughed, harsh and disbelieving. "By whom? Some priest? Some wandering sage?"
Shakuni finally looked up.
By the fear in his eyes, Duryodhana understood the answer before it was spoken.
"By something," Shakuni whispered, "that does not gamble."
---
In Dwarka, Krishna felt the shift fully now.
Not distant.
Not abstract.
Close.
"So you've decided to walk," Krishna said softly, gaze lifting toward the sky.
The system registered concurrence.
—
[Entity Convergence: Inevitable]
—
And so Rudra came.
No chariot announced him.
No divine spectacle preceded him.
He simply arrived.
At the gates of Hastinapura, space folded—not violently, but obediently. Guards froze mid-breath as Rudra stepped through the threshold like a man entering his own hall.
No one stopped him.
They *could not*.
The Dharma Domain extended instantly.
—
[Domain Overlap: Confirmed]
[Hastinapura Status: Temporarily Subordinate]
—
Bhishma felt it first.
He straightened, spear grounding instinctively.
"So," the old warrior murmured, "this is the weight Vidura sensed."
Vidura closed his eyes.
And smiled.
Rudra walked into the royal court.
Every conversation died.
Dhritarashtra's blind face turned sharply toward him.
"Who—" the king began, then stopped.
Because the throne creaked.
Not audibly.
Existentially.
Rudra stood before it, hands clasped behind his back.
"I am Rudra of Aryavarta," he said calmly. "I have come to speak."
No echo followed.
None was needed.
Duryodhana surged to his feet. "You dare enter this court without summons—"
Rudra looked at him.
Just looked.
Duryodhana's words collapsed into silence.
The system recorded involuntary submission.
—
[Authority Differential: Overwhelming]
—
Bhishma stepped forward, bowing his head—not fully, not proudly.
"State your purpose," he said.
Rudra inclined his head in acknowledgment.
"I will not rule this kingdom," Rudra said. "I will not fight your war. I will not choose your victors."
Murmurs erupted.
Duryodhana sneered. "Then why are you here?"
Rudra's gaze swept the hall.
"To remove lies that pretend to be inevitability," he replied.
He raised his hand.
The Dice Hall door shattered inward—not from force, but rejection.
The empty table was revealed.
"This," Rudra said evenly, "will never decide a kingdom again."
Shakuni screamed.
"No! You cannot—this is how it must—"
Rudra turned to him.
"There is no *must* above dharma."
Bhairava stirred—not unleashed, but present.
Enough.
Shakuni collapsed, consciousness fleeing.
The system finalized.
—
[Manipulation Node: Permanently Disabled]
—
Rudra faced Dhritarashtra.
"You may still choose," he said calmly. "That mercy remains."
The blind king trembled.
"And if we do not?" Dhritarashtra asked.
Rudra's answer was immediate.
"Then history will remember you accurately."
Silence consumed the hall.
Krishna appeared then—leaning casually against a pillar, smiling faintly.
"Well," Krishna said, clapping once, "this is certainly more direct than I expected."
Rudra turned.
Their gazes locked.
Two absolutes.
No hostility.
No submission.
Just acknowledgment.
"The war may still happen," Krishna said lightly.
"Yes," Rudra agreed.
"But it will not be *rigged*," Krishna finished, amused.
Rudra nodded.
"That was the only unacceptable outcome."
Krishna laughed softly.
"Oh, this age is going to be very interesting."
Rudra turned to leave.
As he passed Bhishma, he paused.
"One hesitation," Rudra said quietly, "was enough to save millions of futures."
Bhishma closed his eyes.
When Rudra vanished, the hall remained standing.
But Hastinapura would never be the same.
Because a king had entered its story—
And stripped destiny of its excuses.
-- chapter 28 ended --