MY GAME BEGINS Episode 4 / Chapter 4: The Truth, Atonement, and Redemption Part 9: The Power of Truth, Andhra Vallabha — Part 2

MY GAME BEGINS

Episode 4 / Chapter 4: The Truth, Atonement, and Redemption

Part 9: The Power of Truth, Andhra Vallabha — Part 2

With a simple flick of the Shadow Lord’s wrist, the darkness exploded.

The shadow doppelgängers, backed by a surging horde of dark beasts, lunged forward with blinding speed.

They didn't just attack—they aggressively drove a wedge through Team Divine, deliberately separating them and forcing them into individual battles.

Up into the crimson sky, Jin, in his RAIJIN form, was suddenly dragged high into the air by his dark shadow reflection.

Dark-blue lightning clashed violently against the black, corrupted electricity of his own replica.

To the right, Rose, in her Goddess of War form, was driven toward one side of the battlefield, forced to defend herself as her dark reflection attacked her with her own dark energy.

To the left, Kaito, in his Blue Crystal Samurai form, was forced toward the opposite side, his crystal armor sparking under the relentless assault of his mirror image.

Aira, radiating brilliant pink energy in her Empress form, stood directly in front of Srinivasulu—who remained frozen in Ren’s form.

She was desperately trying to protect him.

But before she could hold her ground, her own dark reflection suddenly appeared before her, attacking with ruthless precision and forcing Aira farther and farther away from Srinivasulu.

"Ren!" Aira cried out, struggling against her dark reflection.

It was an absolute nightmare.

The dark reflections were not simply copying Jin, Kaito, Rose, and Aira.

They were using the exact same powers and attack moves as their originals, only turning those very abilities against them as dark, corrupted replicas.

Meanwhile, the shadow army swarmed the gaps, forming a thick, impenetrable wall of dark steel and writhing beasts that completely cut Srinivasulu off from his friends.

Srinivasulu could do nothing.

He simply stood there helplessly.

Behind his expressionless face, his chest heaved with terrifying helplessness.

His friends were fighting a battle they were struggling to win, and he couldn't even help them.

Hot tears began forming in his eyes, yet his face remained unnaturally expressionless behind Ren’s appearance, as though he were wearing a mask.

He could only stand there and watch.

From a few feet away, the Shadow Lord stared down at the trembling imposter.

You escaped me back then (at the Battle of the Shrine)... the Shadow Lord thought, a cruel smile spreading beneath his helm. But I finally got you now.

"Come here, Ren," the Shadow Lord commanded, his raspy voice cutting through the din of battle.

Aira, desperately parrying a barrage of dark energy, immediately cried out.

"Ren! Don’t!... Don’t go!"

The Shadow Lord ignored her, his burning crimson eyes locked on Srinivasulu.

"You know it, don’t you? You understand what’s happening."

He gestured grandly toward the exhausted members of Team Divine.

"Your friends can't win this battle. Only I can spare them."

His voice became colder, heavier.

"Come to me, and I will let your friends go."

"Ren, don’t listen to him!" Kaito shouted, his crystal katana clashing against his shadow double. "Don’t believe a word he says!"

"No, Ren! Don’t do it!" Rose shouted from across the battlefield, her crimson aura flaring.

The Shadow Lord didn't even glance at them.

"Don't listen to them. The decision is yours."

Srinivasulu looked at his friends.

Jin, Kaito, Rose, and Aira were slowly becoming exhausted.

Their divine energy was being drained as they fought their own dark reflections.

Srinivasulu couldn't bear watching them suffer.

"Give me your word," Srinivasulu said, his voice trembling with raw desperation. "Promise me you'll let my friends go."

The Shadow Lord smiled.

"I give you my word. I will let your friends go."

Slowly, Srinivasulu took his first step toward the Shadow Lord.

As he moved forward, Jin—who was still fighting his dark RAIJIN reflection in the air—noticed him and roared down in absolute disbelief.

"Ren! What do you think you're doing?! Come back!"

Srinivasulu stopped for a fraction of a second.

He turned around and looked at Jin, Kaito, Rose, and Aira.

His eyes were filled with heavy, solemn sadness.

"I’m doing this for all of us," Srinivasulu whispered.

Everyone stared at him in shock as he turned back toward the Shadow Lord and continued walking directly into his reach.

When he finally stopped just feet away from the towering Shadow Lord, he looked up, swallowing hard.

"Tell me what I have to do. To make you let my friends go..."

The Shadow Lord smiled menacingly.

"I know you're not Ren."

Srinivasulu’s heart dropped.

His eyes widened in sheer horror.

The Shadow Lord stepped closer, the oppressive scent of dark magic rolling off him.

"Tell me the truth. Admit who you really are."

He pointed a sharp finger toward his own chest.

"If you were the real Ren, you would have killed me by now. I have already seen my own future. If I'm still standing here alive, then you are obviously not the real Ren."

His voice became dangerously threatening.

"So tell me who you really are... or your friends will die."

The Shadow Lord placed one heavy hand on Srinivasulu’s shoulder and pointed toward the struggling heroes with the other.

"You know what happens to them if they keep fighting. They are losing their energy little by little. If they continue fighting until all their power is gone, their transformations will disappear and they will return to their normal forms."

The Shadow Lord smiled cruelly.

"Once that happens, killing them will be very easy."

He leaned in closer, his spiked helmet inches from Srinivasulu's face.

"Do you really want your friends to end up like that?"

Srinivasulu trembled violently under the heavy hand.

"No..."

He lowered his head, his vision blurring with tears.

"I’ll admit it."

"You will admit it in front of all your friends," the Shadow Lord demanded. "I want every one of them to hear the truth."

Srinivasulu nodded brokenly.

"I agree."

The Shadow Lord laughed.

Then he raised his right hand into the air.

"Stop!"

The moment he gave the command, the entire battlefield went silent.

The shadow army stopped.

The dark reflections froze mid-strike.

Jin, Kaito, Rose, and Aira also stopped, dropping to their knees, exhausted and breathing heavily.

The Shadow Lord looked at all four of them, gesturing grandly toward Srinivasulu.

"Look carefully. Today, you are going to see the true identity of the friend you love so dearly—the secret he was hiding all this time."

Jin, Kaito, Rose, and Aira looked at one another in confusion under the eerie silence.

Aira, clutching her side, spoke first.

"Ren’s secret...? What secret is he talking about?"

Kaito pushed himself up with his katana, glaring at the Shadow Lord.

"His true identity? What the hell is he talking about?"

Rose's expression became deeply uneasy.

"Something is wrong. This doesn't feel right."

Jin forced himself to his feet, clenching his fists.

"There is no secret! There is no ‘true identity’!"

He glared fiercely at the Shadow Lord.

"He's just trying to put false accusations on our Ren and turn us against him. Don't believe his lies!"

Srinivasulu couldn't take it anymore.

The crushing weight of the moment broke something fundamental inside him.

Tears began streaming down his face as an agonized sob ripped from his throat.

"Please... stop!"

His voice trembled, cracking into raw pieces.

"Please, stop this! I’ll admit it! Enough... please! I can't watch this anymore! I can't take it anymore!"

Jin, Kaito, Rose, and Aira stared at him in shock.

The utter desolation in his voice hit them like a physical blow.

Srinivasulu took a deep, ragged breath.

He looked directly at the four people who had given him everything.

"I’m not your friend... Ren."

Silence.

Jin, Kaito, and Rose stood frozen.

Aira couldn't even speak.

In that quiet hell, the sacred voice of Devarshi Narada echoed clearly through the depths of Srinivasulu's mind:

“Truth itself is the Divine. That Divine is Lord Venkateshwara. The moment you accept and welcome the truth of who you really are, you will come closer to Swamy.”

Srinivasulu closed his eyes.

He took one last deep, agonizing breath.

Then he faced his friends.

"Ren form... dismiss!"

A brilliant golden light suddenly erupted from his body, shattering the air.

The magical disguise of Ren began dissolving away, turning into shimmering particles that drifted into the dark night.

The golden light slowly faded.

And standing before them was Srinivasulu.

His real form.

His real face.

His true identity.

Jin, Kaito, Rose, and Aira stared at him in complete, hollow shock.

They couldn't speak.

Srinivasulu slowly fell to his knees.

He placed both hands on the cold pavement before them and bowed his head, his forehead touching the ground.

"Please forgive me..."

His voice broke as a volcano of suppressed grief erupted from his chest.

"I made a very, very big mistake!"

All the sorrow he had kept buried inside himself for so long suddenly came pouring out.

Tears streamed down his face, splashing onto the dusty ground beneath him.

Jin, Kaito, and Rose looked at one another in disbelief.

Jin finally spoke, his voice barely a breath.

"So... all this time..."

Kaito continued, still unable to process what he was seeing.

"The person who stayed with us..."

Rose stared at Srinivasulu with wide eyes.

"The one who joked with us..."

Jin swallowed hard.

"The one who spent all this time with us..."

Srinivasulu cried hysterically through his tears.

"It was me!"

He lowered his head again, pressing it into the dirt.

"It was me!"

Aira's face went completely pale.

Behind them, the Shadow Lord laughed, the sound echoing cruelly.

"So the truth is finally out."

He looked toward the weeping boy on the ground.

"Now tell them. Who are you? Where did you come from?"

Srinivasulu slowly lifted his head, his voice trembling with absolute self-hatred.

"I don't belong to this world. I came here from another world."

He swallowed hard, forcing the words out.

"I came here because I wanted to live with all of you. I took Ren's place because I wanted to live his life. I wanted to become him. I was a... great sinner."

His tears continued falling endlessly.

"I thought I was only fulfilling the things I wanted... the things everyone dreams of having. But I never imagined that my foolish desire would end up playing with so many people's lives!"

He looked up, his vision blurred.

"My name is Srinivasulu! I am from Bharat (India)... Andhra Pradesh... the Konaseema region!"

Srinivasulu took a deep breath.

He forced his gaze past the Shadow Lord.

There, ripping through the dark fabric of the barrier, a cosmic vision appeared to him alone.

Seated upon a magnificent golden throne in his royal court was Kali Purusha.

The lord of Asuras was watching Srinivasulu's suffering with a mocking smile.

Srinivasulu's eyes filled with even more pain.

He screamed at the sky in pure anguish.

"I admit it, Kali Purusha! You won! You succeeded in trapping me in your illusion and destroying my life!"

Kali Purusha continued smiling silently from his golden throne before disappearing.

A quiet shadow fell over Srinivasulu.

Aira walked forward slowly, her movements robotic and hollow.

She stopped directly in front of him.

She looked down at him, her eyes swimming with raw, fragile heartbreak.

Her voice trembled violently.

"Srinivasulu... tell me one thing."

Srinivasulu couldn't bring himself to look at her.

He kept his eyes lowered to the ground and gazed at her feet.

Aira continued, her breath hitching.

"As far as I knew, my real Ren was always too shy to even talk to me properly.

But the person who talked to me all this time... The person who was so close to me... The person who spent so much time with me... If that weren't Ren..."

She stared directly at him, a gaping void of despair opening in her chest.

"Then who was it?"

Srinivasulu couldn't even find the courage to look at her face.

He shook uncontrollably.

"It was me, Aira."

Aira's expression shattered.

"Tell me the truth, Srinivasulu!"

Srinivasulu squeezed his eyes shut and broke down completely.

"It was me! It was me...! It was me all along!"

Aira's anger and sorrow finally burst out together.

She reached out and grabbed Srinivasulu by his collar, shaking him violently.

"Why did you do this?!"

Her voice shook with agonizing grief.

"Why did you do all of this?! What did you get from playing with my feelings?! What did you want?! Was it me?!"

Srinivasulu couldn't bear her words.

He fell forward, slipping from her grasp, and grabbed Aira's feet in total, desperate surrender.

"Please forgive me!" he wailed, holding onto her feet tightly as he wept against the pavement.

"Please, Aira... forgive me! I came into this world because of my selfishness! But after I realized my mistake, I understood what I had done. Because of the grace of Devarshi Narada, I truly repented! I wanted to tell all of you the truth, but I was afraid!"

He sobbed, his voice muffled.

"I was afraid that I would lose the love and affection you all had shown me! So I continued living in Ren's form! I acted like him! But I swear to you... I never looked at you with any wrong intention! Please forgive me!"

Aira's hands hovered in the air, trembling.

Her rage slowly began to subside, leaving only a devastating sorrow behind.

She reached down and gently lifted his head so he had to look at her tear-stained face.

"I’m not angry with you right now," Aira whispered, her voice hollow and dead.

"I just want to know one thing. Where is my Ren? Please... tell me where my Ren is."

Srinivasulu looked directly into her weeping eyes.

Despite the tears streaming down his own face, a sudden, solemn clarity settled over him.

"I gave you my word, Aira," Srinivasulu said, his voice becoming eerily calm.

"I will keep that promise. Your Ren will return safely to you."

Then, Srinivasulu's expression changed.

"But if I have to wash away the sin I've committed..."

He reached up and took Aira's trembling hands in his own.

With terrifying resolve, he forcefully placed her palms flat against his own bare throat.

"Then you have to kill me."

Aira's eyes widened in sheer shock.

"Kill me, Aira!" Srinivasulu cried out through his tears in absolute agony.

"Kill me with your own hands! Maybe only then can I atone for the sin I committed!"

Aira stood frozen, her palms locked against his throat, unable to say a single word.

Srinivasulu could no longer control his grief.

He collapsed in front of her, completely and utterly broken.

Behind them, the Shadow Lord watched with a cruel, amused smile.

And from a distance, Jin, Kaito, and Rose could only stare at Srinivasulu and Aira in deafening silence, their faces etched with immeasurable pain and shock.

(Episode 4 / Chapter 4: Part 9 — Part 2)