Rebirth of the Abyssal Flame

The battlefield was a graveyard of shattered hopes, broken earth, and floating dust. The air shook with the violent echoes of Valmiki’s chants, clashing against Kaalnemi’s dark, booming laughter. Rudra stood behind him—still shocked and trembling—his bracelet completely drained, hanging lifelessly from his wrist like a broken promise.

Only moments ago, Rudra had been fighting like a titan. His transformed state had matched monsters and demons alike. But the sudden collapse of his power struck him like lightning. His legs felt weak. His breath was heavy. He couldn’t accept it. Why now? Why at the most crucial moment?

Valmiki shouted over his shoulder, “Rudra! Stay back! Your energy is unstable!”

But Rudra clenched his fists. “I—I can still fight…”

He couldn’t. Not like this. And both of them knew it.

Across the ruined field, Kaalnemi’s red eyes glowed like burning coal. His giant, skeletal wings spread widely, kicking up storms of dust and debris. “Look at you, boy,” he mocked, his voice echoing like thunder. “Your power was nothing but borrowed light. I will end your life before you discover your true darkness.”

Valmiki slammed his staff on the ground. “Kaalnemi! Your fight is with me now!”

The ancient demon laughed again. “Then come, sage. Let me break the hope of this world through you!”

Valmiki leaped forward, his staff glowing with golden flames. Kaalnemi surged upward, releasing a beam of black lightning from his mouth. The explosion shook the entire valley as the two collided mid-air.

Rudra shielded his face from the shockwave.

Valmiki spun in the air, weaving mudras with his free hand. “Narayana Astra!”

A blazing spear of divine energy appeared behind him and shot straight at Kaalnemi. But the demon deflected it with a sweep of his wing, sending the spear spiraling into the clouds above.

Kaalnemi countered instantly. “Soul Shatter Roar!”

A wave of pitch-black sound erupted from his chest. The force was so intense that cracks formed on Valmiki’s protective aura. The sage was flung back, smashing into a boulder that shattered upon impact.

“Valmiki sir!” Rudra cried out.

The sage wiped the blood from his lips. “I am…fine… Stay back!”

But Rudra couldn’t stay back.

Not anymore.

He watched helplessly as Valmiki struggled to stand and Kaalnemi advanced like a walking apocalypse.

A roar split the sky.

Kaalnemi burst from the collapsing dust clouds, covered in wounds but smiling cruelly. “Did you think I died?” he sneered. “I only needed time to regenerate.”

Rudra’s eyes widened. “No… not again…”

Kaalnemi looked at Aghori. “Master, allow me to finish the sage.”

But Aghori shook his head. “No. You deal with the boy if you wish. He is powerless now.”

Kaalnemi’s eyes shifted to Rudra, and his grin widened. “Perfect.”

He dashed at Rudra with inhuman speed.

Rudra could barely react. Kaalnemi’s clawed hand slashed across his chest, sending him crashing into the ground.

Rudra coughed out blood.

Everything hurt.

Everything felt hopeless.

Kaalnemi raised his hand, ready to deliver the final blow—

—but froze.

Because the ground beneath them began to tremble. As if something beneath the soil was awakening. As if a sealed force was reversing its own chains.

Kaalnemi frowned. “What—?”

Valmiki’s eyes widened in shock. “No… that energy… it can’t be…”

The drained bracelet on Rudra’s wrist began to smoke lightly.

Then spark.

Then glow.

A deep voice echoed—not from the outside—but within Rudra’s soul.

“Chosen bearer… you have reached the boundary… where light can no longer carry you…”

Rudra gasped, clutching his wrist as pain shot through his entire body.

“To survive… to protect… to fight… you must embrace what sleeps within.”

“What… what are you saying?” Rudra whispered.

The voice replied:

“Your power was never only divine… A dormant demon lineage flows in your blood. And now… it awakens.”

Rudra’s heart felt like it was shattering. His blood burned. His bones vibrated like they were cracking into new shapes.

Valmiki shouted, “Rudra! Control it! Don’t let the darkness consume you!”

But it was too late.

The bracelet split open like molten metal. Its pieces floated around Rudra, turning black, then crimson, then dissolving into pure energy that sank into his skin.

Rudra screamed as tendrils of black flame erupted from his back.

Kaalnemi stepped back. “What… what is happening to him!?”

Aghori narrowed his eyes. “Impossible… that aura… that is demonic royalty…”

Rudra rose slowly from the ground.

His eyes had turned pitch black with violet pupils.

His hair transformed into flowing black fire.

Dark, jagged markings crawled up his arms and face, glowing like heated metal.

Two massive demonic horns curved backward from his head, and his aura twisted the air like a vortex of burning shadows.

This was no borrowed transformation.

This was his true bloodline awakening.

Valmiki whispered in awe, “Rudra… the Abyssal Flame… the lost demon clan…”

Rudra’s voice, deeper and echoing, spoke only one calm sentence:

“Step away from Valmiki sir.”

The ground cracked under his feet as he moved.

Kaalnemi tried to attack him—

—but Rudra vanished from sight.

Kaalnemi blinked.

“What—?”

Rudra appeared behind him and spoke softly.

“You hurt my friends…”

Kaalnemi turned too late.

Rudra punched him.

A single punch.

But Kaalnemi’s entire torso twisted unnaturally and his body was launched hundreds of meters, smashing through tree after tree until he disappeared in a cloud of dust.

Valmiki stared. “Such power…”

Kaalnemi finally stepped forward. “So, the heir has awakened. Good. A real challenge.”

Rudra walked toward him, flames swirling around his feet. “This ends now.”

Kaalnemi unleashed a storm of black lightning.

Rudra walked through it, unharmed.

His demonic aura consumed the lightning like a hungry beast.

Kaalnemi roared and charged with his full strength, wings spread wide.

Rudra raised one hand.

“Abyssal Flame Burst.”

A pillar of black-violet fire erupted from his palm, engulfing Kaalnemi entirely.

The demon’s screams echoed through the sky as the flames burned through his celestial armor, his wings, his body—until nothing remained but dust drifting in the wind.

Silence.

The battlefield finally fell silent.

The war was over.

Valmiki sighed in relief. “You did it… Rudra…”

Rudra looked at his hands—still burning with abyssal fire.

He didn’t know whether to feel fear or pride.

What was he now?

Human?

Demon?

Something in between?

Before he could think further, his vision blurred. His energy dropped suddenly.

The transformation faded.

Rudra collapsed to his knees, trembling.

Valmiki rushed to him. “Rudra! Stay with me!”

Rudra whispered, “Sir… this power… it chose me…”

Valmiki held him firmly. “We will understand it together. For now, rest.”

Rudra closed his eyes.

The war had ended.

But a new era—of power, fear, and destiny—had just begun.