The courtyard was a graveyard.
Elders lay dead like broken statues.
Blood soaked the stone.
The air still smelled of spirit energy burning like smoke after lightning.
Arjun stood in the center, holding the black sword—his aura sharp enough to cut breathing apart.
And in front of him stood Elder Vayu.
Calm.
Untouched.
Like the massacre was nothing more than a lesson.
Arjun's eyes were cold.
"You used me."
Elder Vayu nodded.
"Yes."
No denial.
No shame.
No apology.
Only certainty.
Arjun took a slow step closer.
The black sword trembled slightly, responding to his killing intent.
⚫ VOID-CUT pulsed inside his bones, eager to be unleashed.
"You marked me," Arjun said. "Tracked me."
Elder Vayu's expression didn't change.
"You would have died without that mark."
Arjun's lips curled faintly.
"Then I should thank you?"
Elder Vayu's eyes narrowed.
"No."
"You should understand."
He raised his hand slowly.
The air rippled.
Then a formation appeared in the sky—a projection.
Not illusion.
Not trick.
A true spiritual image.
It showed Iron Mountain Sect from above…
and beyond it…
a massive shadow moving across the land.
Not a beast.
Not an army.
A cult.
Tens of thousands.
Black robes.
Masks.
Blood banners.
They moved like locusts devouring cities.
The image zoomed in.
Arjun saw cages.
Humans chained like livestock.
Disciples screaming.
Children dragged by hair.
Bones piled like mountains.
At the center of them all stood a symbol:
A crimson eye with a vertical slit.
The kind of eye Arjun had seen in his own mind when his seal broke.
Arjun's pupils tightened.
Elder Vayu spoke quietly:
"The Crimson Eye Cult."
Arjun didn't speak.
Because something in his soul recognized that name.
Not memory.
Instinct.
Like his blood had heard it before.
Elder Vayu continued:
"They hunt rare bodies."
"They hunt bloodlines."
"They hunt talents like yours."
Arjun's voice was flat:
"So they're coming for me."
Elder Vayu nodded.
"They were always coming."
He pointed at the image again.
It shifted to show the border of the sect territory.
A burning village.
A dead river.
Corpses nailed to trees.
A message written in blood on a wall:
WE WILL TAKE THE DEVOURER.
Arjun's grip tightened.
The black sword's blade vibrated.
The air around him became colder.
"You knew."
Elder Vayu nodded.
"Yes."
Arjun's voice became sharper:
"And you still let Rudra slaughter the courtyard."
Elder Vayu's eyes remained calm.
"That slaughter wasn't important."
Arjun's lips slowly moved into something darker.
"…Not important?"
Elder Vayu stepped forward.
His aura pressed down like the sky itself.
"Those disciples were weak."
"Weak disciples create weak sects."
"Weak sects get eaten by the world."
He looked at the corpses.
Then back at Arjun.
"I simply accelerated what would happen anyway."
Arjun stared at him for a long time.
Then he asked:
"Why didn't you kill the cult yourself?"
Elder Vayu smiled faintly.
Because he was waiting for that question.
"You think elders are gods?"
He lifted one finger.
A small flame appeared.
Then it froze into a crystal of blood-red ice.
A terrifying technique.
But he crushed it easily in his palm like dust.
"Even I…"
"…am prey to someone."
Arjun's eyes narrowed.
"You mean the Sect Master?"
Elder Vayu looked toward the sect hall.
"You finally understand."
The air became heavier.
The wind stopped.
Elder Vayu whispered:
"Iron Mountain Sect is not ruled by elders."
"It is ruled by one person."
"The sect master—Master Shailendra."
Arjun's eyes stayed calm.
But his body felt something new:
Danger.
Not the kind he could punch away.
The kind that erased worlds.
Elder Vayu continued:
"He made a deal long ago."
Arjun's voice was low:
"A deal with the cult."
Elder Vayu nodded.
"Yes."
The words landed like poison.
Even after all the blood Arjun spilled…
this truth felt worse.
Because it meant—
The sect wasn't corrupt by accident.
It was corrupt by design.
Arjun spoke slowly:
"So the Cult was allowed to hunt inside sect territory."
Elder Vayu's eyes glinted.
"Not allowed."
"Invited."
Arjun's aura surged violently.
🩸 CRIMSON KILLING INTENT exploded outward.
The stone floor cracked again.
The broken corpses trembled on the ground like they could feel fear.
Arjun's voice became ice:
"And you… are what?"
Elder Vayu answered calmly:
"A man who doesn't like being someone's dog."
Arjun tilted his head.
"You want me to kill the sect master."
Elder Vayu smiled slightly.
"Yes."
Arjun laughed softly.
Not happy.
Not amused.
Just… disgusted.
"Funny."
Elder Vayu's eyes narrowed.
"What's funny?"
Arjun stepped forward, sword tip scraping stone.
SCRRRR…
He stopped one meter away.
And whispered:
"You want me to kill him…"
"Not because you care about justice…"
"But because you want his throne."
Elder Vayu didn't deny it.
He didn't even blink.
"Correct."
The honesty was terrifying.
He was not pretending to be righteous.
He was just offering Arjun a deal:
Kill my enemy. Become my weapon.
Arjun stared at him.
Then he said something that made Elder Vayu's smile fade.
"I won't be your weapon."
Elder Vayu's eyes sharpened dangerously.
"Then you will die."
Arjun nodded.
"Maybe."
He raised the sword.
⚫ VOID-CUT flickered.
Then Arjun whispered:
"But I'll die while cutting you first."
Elder Vayu stared at him.
Long.
Then he smiled again.
Slowly.
Like a man watching a knife sharpen itself.
"Good."
He lifted his hand.
And a small black token appeared.
On it was the same crimson eye symbol.
Elder Vayu tossed it toward Arjun.
Arjun caught it instinctively.
The token was cold.
Too cold.
Like it wasn't made of metal.
Like it was made of dead souls.
Elder Vayu said:
"This token is a key."
"A fake cult key."
"It will open their outer gates."
"But it will also…"
"…lead them to you."
Arjun stared at it.
"So you're offering bait."
Elder Vayu nodded.
"Yes."
Arjun's lips curled slightly.
"You're confident you can control what happens."
Elder Vayu's smile widened.
"I don't need to control it."
"I just need you to survive."
Arjun looked into Elder Vayu's eyes and understood:
This man didn't want Arjun to be safe.
He wanted Arjun to be sharpened.
Bleeding.
Hunted.
Cornered.
Until Arjun became something even more terrifying.
A weapon that could kill sect masters.
A weapon that could kill cult leaders.
A weapon that could kill anything.
Arjun whispered:
"You're worse than Rudra."
Elder Vayu replied calmly:
"Yes."
"And that's why I'm still alive."
Arjun's aura settled.
His smile returned.
But it wasn't friendly.
It was the smile of someone who accepted the truth of the world.
The world wasn't unfair.
It was a meat grinder.
And Arjun…
had decided to become the blade inside it.
He put the token inside his robe.
Then he turned his back on Elder Vayu.
Elder Vayu's eyes narrowed.
"You're leaving?"
Arjun walked away slowly.
Over corpses.
Over blood.
Over the ruins of his past life.
He answered without looking back:
"I'm not leaving."
"I'm expanding."
Elder Vayu asked:
"Where will you go?"
Arjun's voice was quiet.
But every word was a threat.
"To the sect master."
"To the cult."
"To anyone who thinks they can own me."
Then Arjun paused and whispered one final sentence:
"Tell Master Shailendra…"
"…I'm coming to devour his heaven."
Far above…
the clouds shook.
A pressure descended.
A voice echoed from the sect mountain peak, calm and ancient:
"Who dares speak my name…"
"…with such arrogance?"
Arjun's lips curled.
Because he knew.
The next enemy had arrived.
And this time…
it wasn't an elder.
It was a god of the sect.