The chamber remained quiet after Lavya revealed the truth about the trial. The floating blue lamps drifted lazily through the air while glowing symbols crawled slowly across the walls like living script. Vikram leaned against the cold marble behind him, trying to process everything at once. Supreme King Mudras. Heavenly Queens. Ancient illusion palaces hidden inside coins. His brain genuinely felt exhausted.
Lavya, meanwhile, looked completely calm.
She crossed her arms and stared at him with the same mildly disappointed expression she usually reserved for particularly stupid furniture.
"So," Vikram finally said, "how exactly am I supposed to pass this test?"
Lavya answered immediately.
"You fight them."
Vikram blinked.
"…Excuse me?"
"The people hunting you."
"The magical psychopath army?"
"Yes."
"With what?"
"Yourself."
Vikram stared at her for several seconds in silence before laughing nervously. "Okay good joke. What's the real answer?"
"That is the real answer."
His smile vanished.
"You cannot be serious."
Lavya slowly walked toward one of the glowing walls, her silver ornaments softly chiming with each step. "The Queen observing you governs courage. Not reckless violence. Not power. Courage."
She glanced at him over her shoulder.
"If you rely on borrowed strength, magical tricks, or escape, the Sabha will reject you."
Vikram pointed toward himself dramatically. "I have zero powers. I'm literally built for escape."
"Unfortunate."
"You're telling me I need to fight an army of magic users head-on while being completely normal?"
Lavya tilted her head slightly. "Yes."
"That sounds less like a test and more like attempted suicide."
"Mayasabha enjoys dramatic evaluations."
Vikram groaned loudly and rubbed his face. "Amazing. Fantastic. I came to Delhi for mental peace and accidentally entered cosmic Squid Game."
Lavya ignored him and gestured toward the hidden corridor outside the chamber. "Come. The throne room is preparing."
"The throne room?"
"The trial ends there."
Vikram looked deeply unconvinced, but eventually followed her into the twisting passages of Mayasabha once more.
The deeper they traveled into the palace, the more impossible the structure became.
Mayasabha was not simply large.
It was endless.
Entire worlds seemed hidden within its halls.
One corridor opened into a massive ancient library larger than any modern university Vikram had ever seen. Endless shelves stretched upward toward invisible ceilings while glowing manuscripts floated gently through the air on their own. Golden oil lamps burned without fuel beside enormous wooden tables carved with Sanskrit symbols. Some books whispered softly when they passed.
Vikram slowed down in awe. "This place is insane."
Lavya kept walking calmly. "This is only the Seventh Knowledge Wing."
"Seventh?!"
"There are forty-three."
Vikram almost tripped.
As they moved further, the architecture constantly shifted around them. Some hallways rearranged themselves mid-walk. Floors occasionally became transparent, revealing entire chambers beneath their feet filled with sleeping warriors clad in ancient armor. One room contained floating gardens where glowing lotus flowers bloomed in midair above rivers flowing upside down.
Another corridor led past a gigantic dining hall filled with endless silver plates arranged neatly upon low wooden platforms. The scent of saffron, sandalwood, and incense drifted through the air even though nobody was present.
Guest chambers lined entire sections of the palace, each designed differently. Some looked royal enough for emperors while others resembled peaceful hermit temples hidden in forests. Massive carved beds stood beneath silk curtains embroidered with golden thread. Open balconies overlooked illusionary skies filled with constellations that didn't exist on Earth.
Every room carried ancient Indian architecture at its grandest. Intricate carved pillars. Domed ceilings painted with cosmic stories. Marble floors reflecting firelight like water. Every inch of Mayasabha felt alive with forgotten history.
And everywhere they went, danger followed close behind.
Several times they barely avoided patrols searching the corridors silently. The inhabitants of Mayasabha still never spoke to each other. Not once. Warriors carrying glowing spears moved through the halls like living shadows while ministers in jeweled robes searched alongside them with floating magical sigils orbiting their hands.
At one point, Lavya suddenly grabbed Vikram's wrist and pulled him into what looked like a solid stone wall.
Instead of breaking his nose again, Vikram stumbled into a hidden chamber concealed inside the architecture itself. He nearly crashed into her in the darkness.
Outside, armored guards walked directly past the hidden wall without noticing them.
Vikram lowered his voice instinctively. "How do you even know where all these secret passages are?"
Lavya looked mildly offended.
"I live here."
"Fair."
The guards disappeared down the corridor.
Lavya released his wrist and continued walking. "Stay closer. Your survival instincts are embarrassing."
"You've insulted me every five minutes since we met."
"And yet somehow you continue proving me correct."
Vikram muttered dramatically about emotional abuse while following her deeper into the palace.
Eventually they entered a quieter section of Mayasabha.
This area felt older.
Holier.
Gigantic pillars lined the halls, each carved with celestial beings and ancient battles. Massive curtains of red silk hung from the ceilings while golden fire bowls illuminated the corridors with warm flickering light.
Lavya slowed slightly.
"We're close."
Vikram swallowed nervously. "Still think this entire plan is terrible."
"You only need one moment."
"One moment of what?"
She stopped walking.
Then for the first time since meeting him, her expression softened slightly.
"True courage is not the absence of fear," she said quietly. "It is action despite fear."
Vikram blinked.
"…That sounded suspiciously motivational."
"Do not ruin the moment."
A faint smile almost appeared on her face before vanishing instantly.
They finally reached enormous doors standing hundreds of feet tall.
The Throne Room.
Even closed, the doors radiated overwhelming pressure.
Ancient symbols glowed across their golden surface while deep vibrations pulsed through the air itself. Beyond them, Vikram could sense thousands waiting.
Lavya turned toward him.
"This is where your trial ends."
Vikram stared at the massive doors uneasily. "You're seriously sending me in there alone?"
"Yes."
"You're unbelievably heartless."
"I am efficient."
He exhaled slowly.
Fear twisted heavily inside his stomach now.
Not normal fear.
Primal fear.
The kind that screamed survival.
Yet somewhere beneath it, something else existed too.
Determination.
Lavya noticed immediately.
Good.
Without warning, she stepped closer and adjusted the collar of his hoodie impatiently.
"You look ridiculous."
"That's your concern right now?"
"Yes."
Vikram stared at her in disbelief while she fixed his clothes like an annoyed mother preparing a child for school battle.
Then she stepped back.
For a brief second, silence settled between them.
"You can still fail," she said quietly.
"Very encouraging."
"But…"
She hesitated slightly.
"I do not think you will."
That surprised him more than everything else tonight.
Before he could reply, Lavya turned away sharply.
"I'll open the hall. Once you enter, the Sabha will begin."
Vikram nodded slowly.
The gigantic throne room doors began opening.
Golden light exploded outward instantly.
The enormous chamber beyond looked even larger than before. Thousands of figures filled the royal hall beneath floating chandeliers of crystal fire. Kings. Warriors. Priests. Ministers. Silent and unmoving.
At the far end stood the massive throne itself towering above everything else.
Lavya stepped aside.
"This is your test, Contestant 174390."
Then she disappeared into the shadows.
The doors slammed shut behind him.
Every eye in the throne room turned toward Vikram.
Silence swallowed everything.
Then the hunters began moving.
Dozens of magical weapons materialized instantly across the hall. Spears made from lightning. Floating blades burning with silver flames. Giant beasts formed from smoke and molten gold emerged beside armored warriors.
Vikram's heartbeat thundered violently.
Every survival instinct screamed at him to run.
Instead—
He remembered Lavya's words.
Action despite fear.
The warriors charged.
Magic exploded across the throne room.
Vikram ran directly toward them.
The entire hall erupted violently. Lightning spears shattered pillars beside him while giant flaming arrows crossed overhead. Massive illusionary beasts lunged across the marble floors. The polished ground shifted unpredictably beneath his feet, sometimes becoming water, sometimes stone.
Still Vikram kept running.
Straight toward the throne.
Warriors closed in from every direction.
One launched chains made from glowing symbols toward him.
Vikram jumped over them desperately.
Another summoned walls of black fire.
The heat burned against his skin.
The throne loomed closer now.
And suddenly Vikram understood.
The throne itself was the target.
Not the warriors.
He sprinted harder.
Dozens of magical attacks gathered behind him simultaneously.
This time there would be no escape.
No hidden corridors.
No tricks.
Only him.
Vikram reached the giant throne and climbed onto its steps while the entire hall shook violently around him. Thousands of silent figures rushed forward together.
Then he jumped.
Straight toward them.
The moment his feet left the throne, countless magical attacks launched simultaneously.
Lightning.
Fire.
Spears.
Creatures.
Enough power to erase him completely.
Vikram closed his eyes.
And punched forward anyway.
For one strange second—
Everything vanished.
Silence.
No explosions.
No impact.
Nothing.
Confused, Vikram slowly opened his eyes.
His fist had been stopped midair.
Someone held it gently.
Lavya.
But not the Lavya he knew.
She stood before him wearing magnificent royal attire of deep crimson and gold. A delicate crown rested upon her head while layers of elegant red silk flowed around her like liquid fire. The sharp-tongued maid from earlier was gone.
This version of Lavya radiated authority.
Grace.
Something divine.
Soft pink clouds drifted through the air around them while golden lanterns floated peacefully overhead. The room itself looked calm and dreamlike, filled with warm light and flower petals slowly drifting across marble floors.
Vikram stared speechlessly.
"…You look expensive."
Lavya immediately sighed in disappointment.
"Truly extraordinary," she muttered. "Even after passing a heavenly trial, your brain remains useless."
Vikram finally realized something.
The throne room.
The warriors.
The attacks.
Gone.
He looked back at her slowly. "Wait…"
Lavya released his fist carefully.
Then, for the first time since meeting him—
She smiled gently.
"You passed."