Suryaloka;
Lord Surya went back to sit on his throne as soon as his powers returned. The light returned to the earth and the other worlds. However, very soon, the situation changed as he received news from Gandharva Loka.
The sun started burning hotter than ever as Lord Surya was filled with rage as soon as he heard that his son appeared to be missing and confirmed the news with his vision.
Meanwhile, on the earth, humans started fainting on the streets due to heatstroke, vegetation started dying, and small lakes and rivers started drying up. Just like 12 years ago, everyone started praying for the gods to save them. The condition was so severe that devas had to continuously provide their divine energy to Sangya, the goddess of clouds, to cover the earth and protect life.
Sangya didn't know that her son was missing and was clueless about why Lord Surya was so angry, but she was also not in a condition to even enquire about the matter with her husband, while the rest of the demigods refused to speak the truth to her. Hence, she cooperated to bear the sun's heat while leaving the talk with Lord Surya to Lord Indra.
Meanwhile, deep in the Patala loka, the rich netherworld where one can see gold, splendid jewels, beautiful groves, and lakes in the presence of artificial light created by Shukracharya, for the sunlight cannot enter this place, a prison was created inside one of the mines.
There was heavy security in this prison, where numerous asuras/demons could be seen constantly roaming around, despite the fact that there were only two prisoners at the moment.
Each of those prisoners was in a separate jail, which is nothing but an empty cave covered by a strong magical barrier.
As Karna slowly opened his eyes, he looked at his surroundings and panicked right away. "Where am I? What happened back then? How did I end up in this place?"
The 15-year-old tried to jog his memory, but all he could remember was that he lost his consciousness during the solar eclipse and woke up in this strange place. While he was wondering how to get out of this place, his eyes fell on two armored soldiers who were passing the cell while chatting between themselves.
"What are they?" He was taken aback once again. Their faces appeared to be the same as humans and the demigods, but not only do they have wings, but also horns. "Asuras?" He gasped.
The bat demons with keen senses heard his gasp and turned their heads to look at him before one of them smirked, "So, you have woken up, kid. Good thing that Lord Shukracharya is still here. He will be happy to hear this…"
As one of them stayed outside the cell, the other one rushed toward somewhere.
Trying to be as calm as possible, Karna began to ask questions. Surprisingly, the guard answered him quite honestly despite how the demons are known to be liars and tricksters.
Once he realized where he was, he asked the guard about his reason for abduction. To which the guard shook his head and told him that he had no idea.
Karna began to wait until an old man with long white hair and long beard appeared in his view. Unlike the others, he wasn't demon-like. If anything, the aura he was expelling is quite similar to that of someone from Svarga loka.
In an instant, Karna recognized the individual. After all, there was only one demigod (deva) who was respected in Patala Loka.
Ignoring the fact that he was abducted and imprisoned by the demons, Karna respectfully joined his hands together and greeted the old man, "Greetings, Guru Shukracharya."
Shukracharya was surprised by Karna's behavior. He couldn't help but comment, "You are well-mannered, kid, unlike your father and those other devas. However, it doesn't mean that you will be freed, well, atleast for now. But, don't worry, once we get what we want, you will return to your home."
Perhaps it is because Shukracharya isn't a demon, or perhaps Karna is just naïve, as he never encountered evil in his 15 years of life. Whatever the reason, as he heard those words, he felt a lot at ease.
And once he was at ease, Karna started to think of a quick escape strategy in his head while Shukracharya was explaining his plan with great confidence that the kid could not have the ability to resist.
According to Skukracharya's plan, Karna's divine energy will be extracted from his body and then from a divine beast imprisoned in the next cell; both of them will be combined and fed to his next creation, a demon lord who will have both divine and anti-divine energy. He proudly claimed that the demon will be invincible even without receiving any boons.
Karna had a plan in his mind, but he was nervous. After all, he never fought previously. He remembered the warnings from his father and future-father-in-law about letting his divine energy run wild.
There were two plans in his mind to unleash that. One is praying to his deity and asking for help, and the other is his weaponized music. He chose the second option, because his father taught him that you have to depend on your God only after you have put in efforts by yourself, if not, it is considered an insult to one's devotion.
Moreover, Karna also wanted these demons to pay for abducting him.
With a plan running in his mind, Karna responded to Shukracharya in a calm manner as soon as the latter was finished with the explanation of his grand plan. "Will it take a long time? When will I get home?" He asked.
Shukracharya was surprised at first, seeing how calm Karna is, but then, thinking that the kid was just putting up a brave front, the guru of asuras played along and replied truthfully, "4 hours of preparation and 18 hours of process. In one day, you will return."
"Well, it is not like I have any choice, do I?" commented Karna, continuing to be calm on the surface. "Anyways, since I'm doing great benefit to you, will you provide me a veena so that I can relieve my boredom?"
"A veena?" Shukracharya blinked twice and looked at him in silence at his unusual request. The other two bat demons were also surprised at the same time.
Karna replied, "I don't have any other hobbies other than playing veena, Guru Shukracharya. And it is not like I was asking you for anything unreasonable, like asking for a weapon or letting me roam outside freely or something."
Shukracharya stared at him for a few seconds in thought. Because of Karna's young age and his possible weak combat strength, as he had yet to go to Gurukul to acquire knowledge of combat, the teacher of the Asura Race wasn't that careful and made the arrangements as requested.
Karna didn't know where these demons brought such a luxurious veena in a matter of minutes. But, as his request was fulfilled, he simply thanked the asuras and sat down.
"Om Nama Shivaya…" He prayed to his beloved god, Lord Shiva, and then started to play a raga.
At first, Shukracharya was amused by the antics of this youngest child of the Sun god, and even became a spectator for a while as this tune was composed by Lord Shiva himself, but then, as Karna picked up the pace, the atmosphere in the surroundings changed.
The peaceful music suddenly turned violent as the destructive divine energy forced itself out of his body and continuously struck the barrier. The cracks started to appear, and Shukracharya's face turned dark. "What is this…