Chapter 15: The Weight of the Setu
The Vasavi Shakti glowed with a light that shouldn't exist on earth. It was a spear of pure, unadulterated intent, granted by Indra himself. As Meghanada pulled back his arm, the ocean beneath the bridge went silent; the waves froze in fear, and the air crackled with the ozone of a celestial execution.
[ SYSTEM WARNING ]
Attribute Check: Vasavi Shakti vs. Mortal Vessel.
Probability of Survival: 0.00000001%.
Recommendation: None.
Vikram looked at the golden spear. His Reaction (L10-MAX) stretched the second of the throw into a lifetime. He knew his L11 Strength could crush mountains, but the Vasavi Shakti was a conceptual weapon—it didn't care about how hard his skin was. It was designed to find the soul and extinguish it.
"You have no defense for this, blacksmith!" Meghanada roared, his face illuminated by the spear's killing light. "Even the Devas trembled before this strike!"
The Rudra-Transcendence
Vikram didn't look for a shield. He looked at the stones beneath his feet. The Setu—the bridge built by the Vanara army and blessed by Lord Rama himself—wasn't just rock. Every stone was inscribed with the name of the Divine. It was the most "Dharmic" structure in existence.
"System," Vikram whispered, his voice vibrating with Rudra-Shakti. "Channel every ounce of L11 Strength into my legs and back. We aren't dodging. We're changing the landscape."
Vikram knelt. He plunged his fingers, now as hard as divine drills, into the bedrock of the bridge.
"HRAUM!" (The Bija Mantra of the Destroyer).
The Great Flip
As Meghanada released the Vasavi Shakti, the spear became a line of golden death, streaking toward Vikram's heart at the speed of thought.
At that exact millisecond, Vikram HEAVED.
The sound was not a crack; it was the roar of the Earth Goddess herself. Using his L11 Strength, Vikram ripped a massive, fifty-foot-thick section of the Bridge of Rama right out of the ocean. He didn't just lift it—he flipped it, standing the million-ton slab of sacred stone vertically between himself and the incoming spear.
BOOM.
The Vasavi Shakti struck the slab. Because the stones were blessed with the name of the Divine, they possessed an "Infinite Punya" defense. The spear of Indra, designed to kill one target, found itself buried in a mountain of sacred Earth.
The shockwave sent a tsunami of salt water five hundred feet into the air.
[ KARMIC ACHIEVEMENT: IMPOSSIBLE DEFENSE ]
Action: Used a Blessed Structure as a Shield.
Reward: +100,000 Punya.
Status: The Vasavi Shakti is neutralized (Single Use Expended).
The Price of Ego
Meghanada stood on the remaining section of the bridge, his arm still extended, his jaw dropped in utter disbelief. He had just used his greatest "Cheat," and the boy had simply used the bridge as a toy.
"My spear..." Meghanada whispered. "How... how can a mortal move the Setu?"
Vikram stepped over the side of the vertical slab, his Charm (L10) glowing with a terrifying, righteous heat. He looked at Meghanada. The Prince of Lanka was now out of weapons, and his Paap was catching up to him.
"The bridge didn't move for me, Meghanada," Vikram said, his voice echoing over the waves. "It moved for the Dharma. You used a gift of the Gods to bully the earth. I used the earth to honor the Gods."
[ SYSTEM MESSAGE ]
Current Punya: 100,005.
Meghanada Status: [Broken Spirit] — Defense reduced by 80%.
Opening Detected: The Anjana-Astra is still active (02:30 remaining).
Vikram didn't give him a second to recover. He used Flash-Step (L10) combined with L11 Strength. He was a silver-blue comet.
Vikram is airborne, closing in on a defenseless Meghanada. This is the moment to decide the fate of the Prince of Lanka.
The Purging Strike: Use Vajra-Mushti to shatter Meghanada's crown and ego, draining all 1,200,000 of his Paap into a Punya-explosion that clears the sky.The King's Capture: Use your Charm (L10) to force a surrender, taking Meghanada as a prisoner to use as a bargaining chip against his father, the Ten-Headed King.The Karmic Rebirth: Use the 100,000 Punya to buy the [Mantra of Forgiveness] from the Shop, attempting to forcibly reincarnate Meghanada's soul into a better path, ending his threat forever without blood.
What is the final strike of Volume 1?