The forest was so dense it seemed to have swallowed the light itself. The only saving grace was the pale, sickly white glow of a lone moon, barely filtering through the twisted, ancient branches above.
Crunch. Crunch. The dry leaves beneath their feet echoed like small explosions in the terrifying silence. The wind was freezing, biting at their exposed skin and making the hair on their arms stand up.
Dev walked at the very front. His face carried a strange sense of confidence that completely clashed with the dreadful atmosphere. His eyes were glued to an old, torn map held firmly in his hands.
Right behind him was Maya. Her lips were trembling slightly. She had both her arms crossed tightly over her chest, as if trying to keep her own racing heart from jumping out.
And at the very back... was Rudra.
Rudra was already scared shitless. His eyes were wide as saucers, constantly darting left and right. The air carried a sickening stench—a mixture of rotting meat and damp, ancient earth that made him want to gag the moment it hit his nose. With one hand pressed hard against his chest, he was just dragging his feet forward.
Suddenly, Rudra felt something on the back of his neck. A gaze.
He slowly turned his head to look behind him.
There, hidden within the pitch-black bushes... was a red face.
It wasn't human. Its eyes were so red and glowing they looked like burning coals, staring directly into Rudra's soul.
Rudra's spirit left his body. His scream got stuck in his throat. In sheer terror, he leaped forward and literally climbed onto Maya's back!
Maya, who was already on edge, let out a piercing shriek at the sudden attack. "Aaaah!"
She shoved him off violently and yelled, "I told you not to take your hands off your chest!"
Rudra, his face pale as a ghost, stuttered, "S-Sorry... it... it was checking you out!"
Maya's anger shot through the roof. "Is this what I am here for?! To be checked out?!"
Hearing the commotion, Dev turned around. He narrowed his eyes, staring at the red face that was now retreating back into the shadows of the bushes.
"Those are Prana-Jivis," Dev's voice held a heavy seriousness. "Just don't look at them. Never make eye contact."
Dev then looked at Rudra, disappointment clear in his gaze. "And Rudra... you made a promise to your friend. You promised you would bring back the Prana-Kamal (Life Lotus) to save his life. But seeing you tremble like this... I don't like it at all."
Rudra lowered his head. A sharp sting of guilt pierced his chest. He questioned himself, 'If I keep acting like a coward... I'll never be able to do it. Pawan... I'll never be able to save my friend's life. I have to bring the Prana-Kamal back.'
Rudra gritted his teeth—so hard that a grinding sound echoed. He clenched his fists so tightly that his fingernails dug deep into his palms.
Seeing this sudden shift in his demeanor, a faint smile appeared on Maya's lips. "When it comes to his friends," she whispered, "he leaves both his pain and his fear behind."
Dev rolled his eyes and let out a deep sigh. "Here he goes with his big talk again."
The three of them resumed their march.
A while later, Dev's footsteps suddenly stopped. Before them stood a massive, pitch-black cave, carved right into the chest of the mountain.
"Yes," Dev said, folding the map. "This is the place our master told us about. He was right... this cave is huge."
Maya took a step back, scrunching her nose. "I don't feel good about this. The stench of Prana-Jivis is too strong here. That rot... it's overwhelming."
Rudra stared into the thick darkness of the cave. His mind was racing. 'Dev and Maya... they came here because of me. I don't want anything to happen to them. I need to be at the front.'
Thinking this, Rudra quickly marched forward.
Maya watched him in disbelief. 'What the hell is he thinking?'
As Rudra tried to pass Dev, Dev reached out and grabbed his arm. "Stop right there, Rudra. I am the captain here."
Rudra glared back at him. "Yeah, I know. Master made you the captain. But you guys are here because of me. I don't want you to face a danger that I can't even handle."
Dev looked deep into Rudra's eyes. "Idiot... Pawan is our friend too."
But Rudra was in no mood to listen. He yanked his hand away and stormed straight into the pitch-black cave.
The darkness inside was so thick, it felt like he had gone blind. Rudra was blindly waving his hands and feet, trying to navigate.
Suddenly... Thwack!
His foot caught on a rock.
Thud!
Rudra fell face-first onto the ground. The cold, rough surface of the cave floor slammed right into his face.
From behind, Dev's cold voice echoed, "This is why I told you to stay in the back, idiot."
Then, a sharp snapping sound—Snap!
Dev raised his hand, and suddenly, a burst of flames erupted from his palm! He had used the Agni-astra (Fire Art), and within seconds, a blazing torch materialized in his hand, bathing that section of the cave in warm red and yellow light.
Seeing this, Rudra was genuinely shook. He stared at Dev from the floor.
'What the hell?! He knows the Agni-astra?!' A storm of jealousy and frustration crashed over Rudra. He felt incredibly disappointed as he dragged himself up and continued walking down the slope.
'Wait, that was supposed to be my Prana, right? How did he learn it? And the shocking part is... I don't even know how to use my own Prana! And he learned mine! That too, the Fire Art! Man... what am I even doing?'
With a miserable expression, head hung low, Rudra walked deeper. The slope was taking them further underground.
Until... a soft, magical light fell upon his face.
He blinked. 'What is this light?'
As Rudra lifted his head... his eyes widened in absolute shock.
His jaw literally dropped, tongue hanging out as if he had just witnessed a miracle beyond human comprehension.
Right in front of him, in the dead center of the massive, dark cave... a flower was blooming.
It was the Prana-Kamal. Its petals were glowing with such an intense, blinding mix of blue and white light that it instantly banished the cave's darkness. But the glow wasn't just ordinary light—it was pulsing like a heartbeat.
Thump... Thump... The light would suddenly dim, then burst into brilliance again. Dim, then shine.
That magical heartbeat created a faint, echoing hum that bounced off the cave walls.
Dev stepped up from behind. Surprise flickered across his face, but he quickly composed himself. "Oh... so this is the Prana-Kamal."
Maya took a deep, shaky breath. "Yes, it's beautiful..." But then, deep lines of worry etched across her forehead.
The air pressure suddenly felt heavy. Goosebumps erupted all over Maya's arms. A sickly-sweet yet suffocating odor hit her nose—the smell of old, dried blood mixed with rotting earth.
"But the energy radiating from this lotus is too much," Maya's voice trembled as she took a step back. "Something is very wrong here."
But Rudra? He couldn't hear a thing. The only thing shining in his eyes was the hope of saving his friend Pawan's life.
Without a second thought, Rudra sprinted forward.
Thud-Thud-Thud! His footsteps echoed loudly. The Prana-Kamal was blooming on top of a tall, strangely shaped pedestal. Rudra leaped up and climbed right onto the platform.
His fingers were trembling, but he reached out.
The moment Rudra touched the Prana-Kamal... the petals felt impossibly soft, as if someone had woven wind and water into silk threads. The sensation was so soothing that, without thinking...
SNAP!
He ripped the magical flower right off its stem!
Maya and Dev's eyes practically popped out of their sockets.
"You bastard!" Dev blurted out. "What did you just do?! You don't just pluck it like that!"
Rudra hoisted the glowing flower in the air, screaming in triumph. His face was beaming with the joy of victory. "Did you say something? I swear... I'm shocked myself, bro! Look at this!"
Rudra was going crazy with happiness, celebrating his win. "Look, guys! I got the Lotus! Maya, look!"
Maya was turning red with pure rage. She clenched her fists, grinding her teeth. "You idiot, come down here! I'll shove that lotus up your—!"
Suddenly...
RUMBLE... GRUMBLE... SHAKE!
The entire cave began to quake violently. Rudra, who was waving the flower in the air, jerked his head down. The color drained from his face. The ground beneath him was shifting.
Massive boulders began crashing down from the cave walls. Crash! Boom! A thick cloud of dust filled the air, making them choke and cough.
Rudra's legs wobbled. He was about to fall off the pedestal when... he noticed a thick 'pillar' right next to him.
He desperately lunged and hugged the thick pillar with both arms and legs, clinging to it for dear life.
"Oof! Safe!" Rudra let out a massive sigh of relief.
He looked down at Maya and Dev, still possessing that childish, overconfident grin. "Hey! Did you guys survive?!"
Maya and Dev were standing frozen at the bottom. Their faces were so pale it looked like their blood had been drained. They were glued to the spot like statues. The sheer terror on their faces... was indescribable.
Dev whispered in horror, "Bro... what the hell is he doing...?"
The sight before them was soul-crushing.
The 'pillar' and 'pedestal' Rudra was clinging to... was rising from the ground.
It wasn't a stone pedestal... It was a Prana-Jivi! A monstrous, colossal snake!
Ten stories? No, at least three stories high!
Its eyes, which had been closed, snapped open—glowing, terrifying yellow eyes the size of coins. Small, bizarre wings on the sides of its body began to flutter.
And Rudra... Rudra was riding right on top of the giant Prana-Jivi snake's head, hugging it like a pole!
Seeing this, Maya and Dev absolutely lost their minds.
'He got us killed...' was the only thought echoing in Dev's head. 'We aren't surviving this... we're dead!'
Then... another terrifying sound reached their ears.
BOOM!! A deafening crash echoed from the cave entrance. They whipped their heads around.
The entrance of the cave... had been completely sealed shut by a massive, falling black boulder. The last ray of moonlight was gone forever.
Now, the only light was Dev's torch... and the glow of the snake's yellow eyes.
The situation just went from dark to pitch-black. Not only had this lunatic (Rudra) woken up a giant boss-level monster, but the exit was sealed!
Rudra, still perched on the snake's head, panicked when he saw the door shut.
"Oh crap! What just happened?! Shit! What now?!"
He started screaming down at them like a madman from atop the snake. "Hey Dev! Get us out of here! Dev, do something!"
Dev's eyes were bloodshot with rage. He screamed back, "Get your ass down here! I'm gonna kill you!"
In a blind panic, Rudra started smacking the snake's thick, rough head. "Get me out of here! Are you deaf?! Get us out!"
To emphasize his point, Rudra mindlessly began kicking the top of the snake's head with his boots.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Down below, Maya and Dev facepalmed hard.
Maya screamed, "This is all our fault! We shouldn't have brought him!"
Dev whispered furiously, "Why the hell... is he kicking it?!"
And in that exact moment... Rudra lost his balance. One of his forceful kicks...
SPLASH!
His boot went straight into the center of the giant Prana-Jivi's glowing yellow eye!
Blood and a sticky, gooey fluid burst out. Out of sheer terror and clumsiness, Rudra had literally popped the giant snake's eye out!
The snake convulsed in agonizing pain, letting out a roar that threatened to shatter the cave walls.
HISSSSSS-RRRROAARRR!!!
Even Dev was dumbfounded for a second. "Yeah..." he muttered, "He's insane... but he's got raw power."
Dev and Maya screamed together, "That's not your pet ride, you idiot!! Are you trying to get us all killed today?!"
The Prana-snake, now literally half-blind and driven mad by the pain, was losing its mind.
'Who the hell is crazy enough to climb on my head?!' the snake seemed to be thinking.
It began thrashing its massive head wildly side to side. It shook so violently that the air whipped around them with a whoosh.
And for Rudra? It was the most terrifying rollercoaster of his life.
"Heeeelp meeeee!"
Rudra's grip on the thick, fleshy scales began to slip. His hands were drenched in cold sweat.
The jerking was so violent that he literally got dizzy.
"Oh... dizzy... so dizzy..."
Rudra's head spun, and he tumbled off the snake's back!
Thud! A groan of pain escaped his lips as he hit the ground. The world was spinning. He was so nauseous that, while lying flat on the dirt, he turned his head and threw up.
Blargh! The bitter taste of bile filled his mouth. Maya quickly looked away in disgust. Dev let out a tired sigh. 'Man... I thought this was going to be a dark story... what do I even do? This guy is just like this.'
After puking, Rudra shakily raised a hand into the air, and without even looking at Maya and Dev... gave them a weak 'thumbs-up'.
"I'm... I'm fine... nothing happened to me..."
"You idiot, behind—!" Dev yelled, trying to warn him.
Because right behind Rudra... the blind, enraged Prana-snake had turned around. Its focus was solely on Rudra.
As Rudra slowly turned his head... his eyes widened in terror once again.
'Bro... why is it looking at me? It's not like I invited you to a party!'
Before Rudra could process anything else, the snake raised its massive, stone-heavy tail... and slammed it right into him!
SMASH!!!
The impact hit Rudra squarely in the chest. He was launched through the air like a ragdoll and crashed brutally into the cold, hard cave wall.
Crack! "Knocked... out..." Rudra mumbled, before slumping to the ground, out cold.
"I think... he just got knocked out from the dizziness," Dev said, placing a hand on the hilt of his weapon. "No way a hit like that puts him down so easily."
Dev's face turned dead serious. He threw his torch to the ground and looked at Maya.
"Maya... get ready. The time has come... to use what Master taught us."
The situation had officially shifted from chaotic comedy to a deadly game of survival. This was the dark path... and there was no room for jokes anymore.
Following Rudra's knockout, a chilling silence fell over the cave, broken only by the heavy, raspy breathing of the giant Prana-snake.
Dev closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Maya... get ready," Dev ordered. He placed his right hand over the palm of his left. Suddenly, a brilliant, blinding blue light erupted from between his hands—Shhhhing!
Dev had drawn out his Prana-shakti (Life Energy) and forged it into a sharp, glowing longsword! Seeing this, even Maya's eyes widened in awe for a split second.
On the other side, Maya extended both her hands forward.
The stale, suffocating air of the cave instantly morphed into a violent tornado. 'Vayu-astra!' (Wind Art). A sharp, brutal blast of wind tore through the air, hurtling straight toward the massive snake. The gale was so powerful it blew Dev's hair and clothes violently backward.
Using the distraction, Dev sprinted toward the snake at top speed.
But just as he got close, his footsteps faltered.
Under the flickering light of the torch, Dev got a closer look at the snake's skin. It wasn't ordinary scales—the monster's entire body was encased in solid, impenetrable stone!
'If I strike that stone, my blade will shatter,' Dev's mind raced. He quickly shifted his trajectory, sliding to the side of the snake. 'I need to find a way to kill it without breaking my weapon.'
Then, Dev spotted it—small gaps between the thick rocky armor, where the underlying skin looked somewhat smooth and vulnerable.
"That's the spot!"
Dev leaped off the ground and, diving through the air, plunged his glowing Prana-sword into the soft gap with all his might!
[Sound]
Crack... SHATTER!!
A split second later, a soul-crushing sound echoed through the cave. Dev's eyes widened in horror.
His sword... his magical Prana-blade... had struck the snake's hidden armor and shattered into a million pieces of blue glass!
Dev crashed to the ground, holding nothing but a tiny glowing hilt. 'Am I so weak that I can't even pierce its thinnest skin?'
Before Dev could recover, the Prana-snake violently whipped its head, throwing Dev aside. Now, the half-blind beast turned its full, terrifying attention to Maya. Opening its massive jaws, it began slithering directly toward her.
"Maya!" Dev groaned in pain, scrambling to his feet and sprinting to stand between the monster and Maya.
"Maya, I only see one weakness!" Dev yelled, panting heavily. "It's the eyes! They have to be soft! We need to blind it!"
Maya understood instantly. She aimed the power of her Vayu-astra directly at the cave floor.
Centuries of ancient dust, dirt, and sharp pebbles were swept up into a swirling vortex. The air became so thick with debris that the bitter taste of dirt coated Maya and Dev's tongues.
With a powerful thrust, Maya blasted the mixture of dust and rocks directly into the snake's remaining eye!
HISSSSSS! The moment the dirt hit its eye, the Prana-snake thrashed wildly, rubbing its head against the ground in agony. For a few crucial moments, it was completely blind!
And then... Dev brought his hands together once more. Shhhhing!
This was Dev's true specialty! As long as he had Prana-shakti left in his body, he could forge as many swords as he wanted. Without wasting a single heartbeat, Dev created a brand-new glowing Prana-sword, launched himself into the air, and drove the blade deep into the blind snake's remaining eye!
SPLASH!!
A scream of pure agony ripped from the snake's throat, tearing the very air apart. It went completely berserk, thrashing violently. Its heavy tail and massive head continuously smashed into the cave walls and ceiling.
RUMBLE... BOOM!!
The cave roof couldn't withstand the pressure. Tons of heavy boulders began raining down from above. The entire cave was collapsing on their heads!
But miraculously, the giant snake had curled up on the ground in its death throes, and its massive, stone-clad body acted as an umbrella. The massive boulders crashed onto the snake's back, and safely underneath it... Dev, Maya, and the unconscious Rudra survived.
The dust slowly began to settle. The air reeked of metallic blood and crushed stone. Maya let out a breath of relief, her hands glowing with a soft green light (Healing Power) as she began tending to Dev's wounds.
Dev coughed, stood up, and walked over to where Rudra was still lying unconscious on the floor. Dev crouched down, shaking him. "Rudra... wake up, man..."
Suddenly... Rudra's eyes snapped open. Without even looking, he clenched his fist and threw a massive uppercut straight into the air!
SMACK!
Right into Dev's nose!
"Take that, you snake!" Rudra mumbled, still half-asleep.
Dev clutched his bleeding nose, his fist trembling with pain and rage. "You bastard! We already killed it! Now I'm gonna kill you!"
Having just survived the jaws of death, the two idiots immediately started brawling with each other. Watching them, a faint, genuine smile appeared on Maya's face.
But that smile... vanished a second later.
Suddenly, a stench invaded Maya's nose that felt like it was rotting her lungs. It was the smell of death, of putrid, decaying meat... and most terrifying of all, the stench of 'Black Prana-shakti'. She had never sensed such a dark, foul aura in her entire life.
A chill shot down her spine. Trembling, she slowly looked up.
Through a gap in the collapsed rubble, a single sliver of moonlight pierced the darkness. And in that moonlight, perched atop a broken pillar... sat a shadow.
It wasn't a giant beast. It was a humanoid figure. It had small, bizarre wings on its back.
The figure stepped forward, placing a foot on a rock. It raised both its arms into the air, like a slender human stretching, and opened its jaws.
A tongue slithered out of its mouth... a tongue that was literally the length of a human arm! It whipped through the air like a snake, and from its throat erupted a shriek—a horrifying sound that was a mix between a crying infant and a ravenous beast.
The moonlight cast the creature's shadow directly onto Dev, Maya, and Rudra's faces below.
The brawl instantly stopped. Cold sweat broke out on their foreheads.
The shadow dropped down from the pillar—Thud!—and slowly began walking toward them. As the figure finally stepped into the moonlight, the three of them saw its true form... and their blood ran cold.
The Prana-Jivi had... no skin.
There was no flesh covering it! It was just raw, pulsating, blood-red muscle. Black and crimson blood dripped constantly from its exposed veins, pooling onto the stone floor.
Looking at it, Dev, Maya, and Rudra felt as if the entire world around them had faded to pitch black. The only thing they could see was this terrifying, skinless demon. Death was literally staring them in the face.
They were paralyzed. Their breath hitched in their throats.
But then... Rudra, whose pants were genuinely on the verge of being soiled, took a trembling step forward.
He puffed out his chest, forcing a fake, deep bravado into his cracking voice, and yelled—
"Hey! You guys killed the big one... so I get to kill this one!"
(Maya and Dev's internal reaction: 'This guy is a total absolute idiot! Did he not even look at it?! He's terrified! It's going to eat him alive!')