THE LAST FORM OF THE LIVING MIRAGE

A silence spread across the collapsed royal hall—a silence so unreal that Kedar wasn’t sure whether it belonged to the world outsideor the world inside his head.
Stone fragments slid off his shoulders as he rose, breath trembling.His Rosha had faded. His wounds screamed.His heartbeat echoed inside the hollow, dying palace.
And yet…
Mayan still stood.
Or rather—what remained of him.
The cursed prince’s cracked body glowed from within like a lantern stuffed with dying stars.Illusions flickered around him uncontrollably—faces, beasts, fragments of memories—like a projector burning through its last film.
Mayan didn’t move.He simply whispered, almost to himself:
“If this is to end… then let it end with truth.”
The air warped.
Then—
—SHELL BREAK : FINAL RELEASE—
Reality tore.
A monstrous roar reverberated through the ruins as Mayan’s humanoid shape burst open, light exploding outward like shards of glass.
Kedar shielded his eyes.
When he looked up—
Mayan was no longer a man.
He was a storm of forms, flesh forever melting into imagination.
But these weren’t random.
They were deliberate.Symbolic.Chosen.
And each was a nightmare made real.

---
◆ FORM 1 — LAVA COLOSSUS OF THE FALLEN FORTS
A titan of molten stone rose from the cracked marble, glowing veins running across its body.A creature of war—of burning kingdoms—of vengeance.
It swung a magma-coated fist at Kedar.
Kedar leapt aside, barely maintaining balance as the punch shattered three pillars.
Heat scorched his face.
His breathing stuttered.
His flame…his Fire Prana…
It flickered weakly.
But he clenched his jaw.
“I’ve fought Karkotak. I can fight this too.”
Fire erupted around his arms—the first spark since the dome fight.
He dashed forward.
His punch smashed into the titan’s molten chest.
The chamber lit up with orange-white light.
Crack— crack—
The lava giant crumbled—but as it fell…
It reshaped.

---
◆ FORM 2 — THE SERPENT OF LOST ROYALTIES
The molten debris twisted, stretched, and slithered into a massive black serpent with iron scales.
Its eyes glowed gold, like ancient royal crowns melting into hatred.
It lunged.
Kedar dodged—but the serpent’s tail wrapped around him, crushing his ribs.
“Gaaah—!”
His vision blurred.
Illusions layered over reality—his father’s face—his village road—Dhuma Parvat—everything overlapping, messing with his senses.
Then, a voice echoed in him:
“Kedar… focus.”
It was not real.But it felt like his master’s tone.
He closed his eyes.Found his breath.
Fire Prana — Ignite.
With a roar, flames exploded from his body, forcing the serpent’s tail to loosen.He blasted upward, kicking off the serpent’s jaw—
—splitting it in half.
The body shattered into ash.
But ash became mist.
And the mist became—

---
◆ FORM 3 — THE MIST BEAST OF FORGOTTEN WAILS
It had no solid body.Only hollow, smoky shapes forming claws and mouths that vanished as soon as they appeared.
It screamed—not a roar,not a cry—but a wail.
A wail of people who once lived here.
A wail of memories Mayan had absorbed.
Kedar staggered.
His hearing cracked.His knees buckled.
The mist surrounded him like a coffin.
“I can’t— breathe—”
His Fire Prana flickered again…
and nearly died.
But at the edge of consciousness,he saw something—
The villagers.The children he saved.His friends smiling as they waved him off for this vacation.His mother cooking dinner as she scolded him for fighting too much.
That warmth—
that memory—
burned brighter than any illusion.
“NO.”
His eyes flared red again—Rosha awakening like a storm.
Flames surged out of him, spiraling violently.
The mist creature shrieked—evaporating instantly under the scorching blaze.
But it wasn’t over.
Because the remnants of mist gathered again…
condensed…
darkened…
and—

---
◆ FORM 4 — THE SHADOW KING OF FALSE REALMS
A humanoid silhouette stepped forward—pitch-black, edges undulating like torn cloth.
Two horns of illusionary fire.Four eyes—two of them his, two belonging to unknown memories.
This was not Mayan.
This was what Mayan had become after years of feeding on illusions, fear, and loneliness.
A living mirage.
The nightmare of the ruined palace.
The true curse.
The final form.
It spoke in a calm, layered voice:
“Mirages are born from thirst.You are thirsty too, Kedar.Thirsty for truth.”
Kedar’s jaw clenched.
“…Shut up.”
The shadow king attacked—moving faster, striking harder, illusions exploding around each punch.
Kedar blocked one.Dodged another.Took a third straight to the chest—
It sent him crashing across the hall.
His vision blurred.Blood dripped down his lip.His Fire Prana sputtered, nearly extinguished.
The shadow lifted a hand—reality around it started to warp again.
“Break.”
Everything trembled.
Kedar’s heartbeat slowed.
His strength faded.
His senses blurred into illusions—
And then—
The last fragment of Rosha flickered inside him.
The last spark.
He inhaled deeply.
Fire + Rosha…Together…Just like during Karkotak.
But this time—
He controlled it.
Focused it.
Merged it.
A spiral of red and blue flames erupted from his core.
Kedar stood tall.
Eyes burning red.
Aura blazing in two colors—the strength of Fire Prana,the fury of Rosha.
He whispered:
“Let’s end this…Mayan.”

---
◆ FINAL CLASH — “FIRE ROSHA: HEARTBREAKING STRIKE”
The shadow lunged.
Kedar sprinted.
Two streaks collided—one of darkness,one of blazing wrath.
Their fists met.
The palace cracked.The mountains trembled.Light burst outward.
Kedar roared as he forced his Fire-Rosha energy through the shadow’s body—burning illusion, curse, memory—
Everything.
SHAAAAAATTER—!
The final form of Mayan dissolved into sparks of fading mirage.
Silence returned.
A soft wind passed.
Then—
A figure knelt before Kedar.
Mayan.
Not a monster.Not a shadow.Not a cursed beast.
Just a tired young man with gentle eyes.
His soul, translucent, flickered like a dying flame.
Kedar knelt slowly.
“…Your name. Tell me.”
The prince smiled weakly.
“In my kingdom…they called me—‘Manikanta’.”
Kedar whispered:
“Manikanta… the Lonely Mirage.”
The fading prince smiled even brighter.
“That name…means someone who sees dreams others fear to.”
His body began to crumble into light.
He looked at Kedar one last time.
“Thank you… for freeing me…from a dream that became a nightmare.”
The ruins trembled—
and the cursed palace finally collapsed,
burying Manikanta's curse forever.
To be continued.....