The Forbidden Element

The air inside the ancient temple remained thick with residual energy. Surya stood before the throne, his body still tingling from the chains that had once bound him. He could still feel the weight of the past—the burden of every ruler who had sat in this very seat before him.

But he did not sit.

Not yet.

The others were silent. Kiran rubbed the back of his neck, clearly uneasy. Rudra remained still, his usual sharp gaze unreadable. Saria, however, was the first to speak.

"Surya."

He turned to her.

She hesitated, then exhaled. "You... you broke free. But what exactly happened?"

Surya looked down at his hands. The golden light of his aura was... different. Darker at its edges, as though it had absorbed something from the temple itself.

"I don't know yet," he admitted. "But I can feel it—something changed."

Kiran huffed. "Well, no kidding! One second you were getting wrapped up like a damn festival lantern, the next you were breaking whatever that was. I thought we were about to fight some cursed king again, but instead, it just... bowed to you?"

Rudra nodded. "That's the part that worries me."

Surya glanced back at the kneeling figure—the one once bound by golden chains. It had not moved since submitting to him.

"That wasn't an enemy," Surya finally said. "It was a test."

Saria folded her arms. "And you passed."

A heavy silence settled between them.

Then—

BOOM!

A deep rumble shook the temple. The inscriptions along the walls dimmed, the throne's glow fading as the ancient energy began to withdraw. The ground trembled beneath them.

"Shit!" Kiran cursed. "Tell me this place isn't about to collapse!"

Rudra's eyes darted to the throne. "No. This is something else."

Surya clenched his fists. He could feel it, too.

A shift in the world itself.

As if something far beyond this temple had noticed what had just transpired.

Then—

A presence.

Cold. Vast.

And watching.

Surya's heart pounded. This wasn't like before. It wasn't like fighting Varun or resisting the temple's trials.

This was something else entirely.

And it was coming.

Saria gasped. "Surya, something's—"

But before she could finish—

The world around them shattered.

Like glass breaking in slow motion, the entire temple seemed to fracture, splitting into fragments of light and shadow.

Surya barely had time to react before—

A whisper slid into his mind.

"We see you."

Then—

Everything went dark.

A Place Beyond Time

When Surya opened his eyes, he was somewhere else.

The sky above him was black—not empty, but endless, stretching beyond imagination. The ground beneath him was made of smooth stone, but it held no warmth.

And in front of him...

They stood.

Nine figures.

Each cloaked in darkness, their forms shifting like living shadows. They were not men. Not gods.

Something in between.

Surya's breath hitched.

He had never felt this before. A presence so ancient, so utterly overwhelming that his own aura flickered like a candle in a storm.

Then, the one in the center spoke.

"So, you are the one who shattered the chains."

The voice was neither male nor female—just power.

Surya's grip tightened on his sword. "Who are you?"

The figures did not move.

"We are the ones who set the pieces. The ones who guide the cycle. The ones who ensure that the throne remains shackled."

A chill ran down Surya's spine.

"And you... have broken the cycle."

The figure closest to him stepped forward. The air around it rippled, warping as though existence itself refused to hold its form.

"Do you understand what you have done, mortal?"

Surya exhaled, standing tall. His golden eyes burned with defiance.

"No."

He lifted his sword, pointing it at them.

"And I don't care."

Silence.

Then—

The figures laughed.

Not in amusement.

But in acknowledgment.

"Very well."

The space around them shifted.

"Then let us see if you are truly worthy to claim what has been denied for eternity."

Surya barely had time to react before—

The first attack came.

A hand moved. A single gesture.

And the world itself bent toward him.

TO BE CONTINUED...