Silence ruled the broken battlefield.
The once magnificent land of the Master Universe now felt hollow, like a stage abandoned after a grand performance.
The sky stretched endlessly above, cold and distant, while the ground beneath was stained with the echoes of destruction.
At the center of that silent world stood a boy.
Or rather, what remained of him.
Gaurav's body trembled as he struggled to remain standing.
His clothes were torn, his breathing uneven.
Bruises covered his arms and face, and dried blood clung stubbornly to his skin.
The seal placed by the disciples still burned faintly on his chest, like a brand reminding him that the monster inside him had been chained.
His powers were gone.
Completely.
He looked ahead.Across the barren land, a dark figure slowly emerged.
A demon.
It wasn't massive or terrifying like the dragons of the Master Universe. It looked almost ordinary compared to them.
But right now, for Gaurav, even this single creature felt overwhelming.
The demon stepped forward.
Gaurav tightened his fists.
His body screamed in protest.
He had nothing left.
No strength.
No energy.
No power.
Yet the demon continued approaching.
Gaurav exhaled slowly
."So this is the punishment…"
The disciples' words echoed faintly in his memory.
Fight.
Survive.
Or disappear.
The demon roared and charged.
Gaurav barely managed to dodge.
His legs felt like stone.
Every movement hurt.
His muscles had already been pushed beyond their limits during the battle against the disciples.
But the demon didn't care about his condition.I
t swung its claws again.
Gaurav raised his arm to block.
Pain exploded through his body as he was thrown across the ground.
He rolled several meters before stopping.
The demon walked toward him calmly, as if it already knew the outcome.
Gaurav tried to stand.
His legs failed.
He fell again.
For a moment he simply lay there, staring at the endless sky.
"...So this is how it ends."
The demon approached.
Closer.
Closer.
Gaurav clenched his teeth.
"No."
His fingers dug into the ground.
"I can't die here."
The demon lunged forward.
At the last second, Gaurav rolled aside and forced his exhausted body to stand.
His vision blurred
.His heart pounded violently.
But he moved.
One step.
Then another.
The demon attacked again.
This time Gaurav countered.
His punch landed weakly against the demon's body.
It barely reacted.
But Gaurav didn't stop.
He punched again.
And again.
Each hit drained the little strength he had left.
The demon finally grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the ground.
The world spun.
Blood filled his mouth.
His body refused to move.
The demon raised its claw for the final strike.
And suddenly—
The image of someone appeared in his mind.
A girl standing in front of a mirror.
Tears in her eyes.
Watching him.
Waiting for him.
Anzhu.
Gaurav's eyes widened.
"No…"
His hand slowly lifted.
"I can't die."
His voice trembled.
"If I die… she'll cry."
The demon's claw descended.
At the final moment, Gaurav twisted his body and grabbed the demon's arm.
With a desperate roar, he forced himself upward and slammed his head into the creature.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The demon staggered.
That tiny opening was enough.
Gaurav used every last bit of strength remaining in his broken body and drove his fist straight into the demon's throat.
The creature collapsed.
For a moment, the battlefield fell silent again.
Gaurav stood there, barely conscious.
Then something strange happened.
The demon's body began to split.
Two figures slowly formed from the corpse.
Two demons now stood before him.
Gaurav stared at them.
His expression froze.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
The two demons attacked at the same time.
Gaurav tried to move.
But his legs finally gave up.
Darkness swallowed his vision as he collapsed to the ground.
Anzhu and the decision
Far away in the human universe—
Anzhu stared at the mirror.
Time inside the Master Universe flowed differently now.
Minutes here.
Months there.
And what she saw terrified her.
The battlefield.
The demons.
And Gaurav.
Each day he fought.
Each night the battlefield froze, allowing him a few hours of rest.
A small portion of food appeared beside him.
Just enough to keep him alive.
Nothing more.
She watched as days turned into weeks.
Weeks into months.
His body changed.
The boy who once stood proudly now looked thin and exhausted.
His ribs slowly became visible.
His movements grew slower.
But something strange also happened.
He kept standing.
Every single day
Even when his body begged him to stop.
Even when death seemed easier.
He kept standing.
Anzhu clenched her fists.
Tears quietly fell onto the floor beneath her.
"Why…?"
Her voice trembled.
"Why are you doing this…?"
In the mirror, Gaurav stood once again.
Surrounded by demons.
Barely alive.
Yet still fighting.
Anzhu wiped her tears.
Her eyes slowly hardened.
"…Enough."
She turned away from the mirror.
"If the gods won't save him…"
Her voice became calm.
"…then I will."
With that decision, she began walking toward the one person who might know how to reach the Master Universe.
The old man.
But even he would warn her.
The Master Universe was not a place meant for humans.
It was a world built on absolute laws.
A world ruled by mathematics itself.
And unfortunately for Anzhu—
Mathematics was the one thing she hated the most.
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