A sharp whistle cut through the skies.
The moment both warriors fired, the battlefield was bathed in radiant light. Vajra-Shakti, blazing with Indra's celestial wrath, streaked across the heavens—an arrow of pure lightning forged from the very essence of his thunderbolt.
Yet, Hayagriva did not waver. His lips curled into a knowing smirk as he invoked that which dwelled within him—a power long hidden, waiting for this moment.
From deep within his being, Samudrāstra awakened.
His bow, gleaming like the crescent moon, pulsed with ethereal energy. But he did not fire it. He became it.
BOOM!
As Vajra-Shakti hurtled toward him, an oceanic force erupted from within his form. Waves of cosmic water surged forth, not from an arrow, but from his very existence. Samudrāstra was no mere weapon—it was a part of him, a blessing stolen from the depths of Rasatala, imbued with the might of Varuna himself.
FWOOOOOOSH!
The skies tore apart. A celestial deluge poured forth, an unending flood born from Hayagriva's essence itself, rushing forth to drown the heavens.
Lightning clashed against the cosmic sea. Vajra met the abyssal torrents.
CRACK!
A deafening explosion shook the fabric of existence, the raw forces of Indra's storm colliding against the infinite waters of Samudrāstra. For a moment, the heavens themselves seemed to hesitate, the power of sky and sea locked in a cosmic struggle.
Through the chaos, Hayagriva's laughter rang out—deep, guttural, triumphant. His burning red eyes locked onto Indra as he spread his arms wide, the tides of destruction swirling around him.
"You thunder in the heavens, Indra, but I am the abyss beneath! You call yourself a king, yet what is a king before the ocean that drowns empires?"
Indra's grip on Indradanush tightened. His bowstring thrummed at his fingertips, divine might still coursing through his veins.
This battle was far from over.
Then, without a word, Indra raised his bow.
The bowstring trembled, thrumming with divine power. An arrow formed at its nocking point—seven radiant hues shimmering along its length, merging into a single beam of celestial brilliance.
"Thunder is my wrath! Lightning, my fury! Rainbows, the path of my triumph!"
"Amritavisha!"
Lightning crackled through the sky as Indra loosed his arrow.
FWOOOM!
A seven-colored radiance erupted from his bow, spiraling into the heavens. The arrow did not merely cut through the waters—it commanded them, shaping the flood into a bridge of light.
The surging deluge turned upon its master.
Hayagriva's eyes widened. Horror flickered across his face as the very ocean he had summoned now roared toward him, a cosmic tide reversing its course by Indra's decree.
"No...!"
He thrust his hands forward, summoning his divine might to dispel the raging flood. The celestial waters shattered, dispersing into mist.
But in that very instant—
THWACK!
The Indradhanushastra struck him square in the chest.
"GRAAAH!"
A searing pain shot through him. His body convulsed. His fingers clawed at the wound. His breath came in ragged gasps.
"P-Poisoned...?!"
His voice trembled. His crimson eyes flickered with shock. It was no ordinary wound. The weapon was imbued with Amritavisha—a paradox of nectar and venom, a force that eroded the strength of the Asuras yet could not be healed by their Maya.
But an asura king does not fall so easily.
With a growl of defiance, Hayagriva wrenched himself upright. His hands gripped his bow with renewed fury, his defiant glare piercing through the storm.
FWOOOSH!
He loosed his next arrow. Its form twisted and coiled, writhing like a living entity.
One became two.
Two became four.
Four became eight.
Eight became sixteen.
A thousand spectral Nagas burst forth, their fangs gleaming like crescent moons in the void.
Sarpaastra.
The divine serpent-arrow, its venom drawn from the depths of the Nagas of Patalaloka, slithered through the air. Each serpent bore a venom potent enough to sunder the very life force of any being it touched.
Yet Indra did not flinch.
He raised his bow once more.
But this time, his aim was not at the serpents. His gaze locked onto Hayagriva.
His Sahasrakavacha gleamed, an armor forged from his devotion and granted by Brahma himself, imbued with the years of his austere practice and Halahala itself. No poison could pierce it. No venom could claim him.
The war was far from over.
And so, he whispered:
"Halahalaastra."
The air grew heavy. The battlefield shuddered.
A single black arrow formed, its presence twisting the very fabric of space. It carried the essence of Halahala, the primordial poison, born of the churning of the ocean, potent enough to bring devas or Asuras alike to their knees.
Indra released his shot.
Indra's divine armor, Sahasrakavacha, shimmered with celestial radiance, illuminating the vast expanse of the battlefield. Like the ocean reflecting the first light of dawn, its golden surface rippled with the energy of a thousand sacrifices offered by him.
Threads of blue lightning surged forth, weaving together along the bowstring of Indra Dhanusha. The divine energy coalesced, condensing into a single, brilliant Astra blessed by the very essence of Rudra's fury.
FWOOOSH!
The Halahala Astra tore through the battlefield like a comet unleashed by the cosmos itself. In its wake, lesser arrows disintegrated, their power insignificant before its might.
Meanwhile, countless Naga Astra loosed by Hayagriva twisted through the air, each imbued with the venom of the primordial serpent Vasuki. Fanged serpents emerged from their shafts, their spectral bodies writhing like the coils of Ananta Shesha himself. Their ghastly hissing filled the battlefield.
Hayagriva's lips curled into a victorious sneer. His grip tightened around his bow.
"Strike him down!" he commanded.
The serpentine arrows surged forward, their fangs bared to sink into Indra's divine flesh.
Yet—
CRACK!
The moment they touched Indra, the arrows shattered into nothingness. The spectral serpents shrieked as their venom was consumed, siphoned away by the divine glow of Sahasrakavacha. Like the sacred Samudra Manthan, where Shiva had swallowed the Halahala poison to save creation, Indra's armor absorbed the venom, rendering it powerless.
Hayagriva's eyes widened in horror.
"Impossible!"
And then, the Halahala Astra reached him.
A deafening ROAR split the battlefield.
The divine arrow twisted, its form shifting mid-flight. From its core emerged a terrifying entity, shrouded in the cursed fumes of Halahala, the primal poison birthed at the churning of the cosmic ocean. Four elongated fangs gleamed in its monstrous maw, its wild mane billowing like a storm-tossed sea. Its eyes, burning with unrelenting malice, mirrored the wrath of Shiva.
With an ear-splitting shriek, the being lunged for Hayagriva's forehead.
BOOM!
The entity erupted upon impact, a devastating explosion of poisonous energy engulfing the Asura King.
"AAAAAAGHHHHH!"
Hayagriva's scream echoed across the battlefield, shaking the very fabric of existence. The celestial beings bore witness as his divine essence withered beneath the relentless assault of Halahala. His body convulsed violently, his veins burning with a pain beyond mortal comprehension.
Indra's gaze remained steady, his divine authority unshaken.
"It is not yet over."
With a measured breath, he drew Indra Dhanusha once more.
TWANG!
Arrow after arrow, infused with the sacred poison, tore through the battlefield, each one guided by divine will. They fell upon Hayagriva like the wrath of Rudra unleashed during Pralaya, inescapable and absolute.
The Asura King's desperation peaked. He loosed more Naga Astras, summoning a great swarm of spectral serpents, their venomous fangs glistening like crescent moons in the darkness.
But the poison-born entities summoned by Halahala Astra turned upon them.
CHOMP!
The ghastly beings devoured the serpents, consuming their essence and growing stronger.
"NO!"
Panic overtook Hayagriva. His form blurred as he leaped through the battlefield, twisting and weaving in a desperate bid to escape. But the divine arrows pursued him relentlessly, like the unerring judgment of Kala himself.
From the skies, the Devas roared.
"The Asura King falters!"
"Behold the might of Indra, Lord of the Skies!"
"Victory to the Devas! The Asuras shall fall!"
Their voices thundered across the battlefield, their divine energy flaring like a celestial inferno, igniting their spirits with the fire of impending triumph.
…
Amidst the deafening roars of battle, the Asura generals were in turmoil—some trembling in fear, others seething with rage, while a few wavered, hesitation creeping into their eyes. Some had already begun to retreat, choosing to stand aside and watch the battle unfold from a safe distance.
Kailasha.
From his divine seat upon Mount Kailasa, Vishnu observed the battlefield below with a knowing smile.
Victory was within reach.
All that remained was to find a way to shatter the boon of Hayagriva, whose blessings had rendered him nearly unkillable until the conditions were met.
But in the very next instant—
BOOM!
A sudden thunderclap shattered the silence of the universe.
Vishnu's smile faltered. His expression darkened, and his keen eyes snapped toward Svarga.
And he wasn't the only one.
Mahadeva Shiva, Parvati, and Devi Lakshmi all turned their gazes toward the celestial realm.
Something was terribly wrong.
Somewhere in the depths of creation. Madhu and Kaitabha's penance… had borne fruit.
BOOOOM!
The skies above Kailasha trembled as an ominous force erupted. Darkness poured forth from Svarga, swallowing the heavens in its abyssal maw. The very fabric of dharma wavered, flickering like a fragile flame struggling against a violent storm.
Vishnu's voice, low yet carrying the weight of the cosmos, resounded through the heavens.
"Madhu has stolen the Vedas."
Lakshmi's eyes widened in alarm. She turned to her husband, her divine radiance dimming with an uncharacteristic unease.
Parvati inhaled sharply, her breath catching in her throat. Rage twisted her features, her celestial form trembling with barely restrained fury.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Shiva gripped his Trishula tightly. His piercing gaze flashed with glacial brilliance, his expression unreadable. The Damaru in his other hand resounded with a deafening cosmic rhythm, its celestial echoes pushing back the consuming darkness, preserving the sanctity of Kailasa.
And then, a hand, firm yet gentle, rested upon Shiva's shoulder.
"Mahadeva, please wait. I shall handle this."
Vishnu's voice was calm, yet it carried the weight of absolute resolve.
The Sudarshana Chakra, the Panchajanya Conch, and the Kaumodaki Gada pulsed with radiance, their divine energies piercing through the cosmic gloom.
SWOOSH!
In the blink of an eye, Vishnu lifted his celestial mace—and vanished from Kailasa.
…
Among the Stars
Darkness devoured the cosmos.
In an instant, the radiance of the universe dimmed, swallowed by an abyssal void.
A creeping sense of dread settled over the devas as they felt their divine power begin to wane, their strength draining away like water slipping through trembling fingers.
But the asuras, too, were affected. Fear flickered in their eyes as they staggered, realization dawning—the very tattva that sustained them was being eroded.
Indra's gaze dropped to his hands, his heart pounding.
The divine glow that once shrouded his body in brilliance was fading, dissolving into the creeping darkness.
His strength was vanishing.
"Could it be… the Vedas have been stolen?!"
His mind raced, piecing together the implications.
"Hayagriva is here, it could not have been him. Then… Madhu and Kaitabha?!"
A surge of shock ran through him.
At that very moment, two figures emerged from the shifting void before Hayagriva—
Madhu and Kaitabha.
The horse-headed Asura's eyes widened in disbelief. His gaze immediately locked onto the golden Vedas, glowing brilliantly in Madhu's grasp—its sacred essence shimmering like a pillar of cosmic wisdom.
"You succeeded?!"
Hayagriva's voice trembled with exhilaration.
Madhu let out a triumphant laugh, his grip tightening around the divine scriptures.
"I HAVE IT!"
And then!
FWOOOSH!
A blinding radiance erupted across the celestial expanse, banishing the encroaching darkness in all directions.
A towering presence had arrived.
Vishnu.
The Supreme Preserver stood bathed in golden light, his divine radiance piercing through the abyss, scattering the gloom like the first dawn breaking over the horizon.
"!!!"
Hayagriva's breath hitched.
Without hesitation, he threw his head back, his gaping maw opening as a violent gust of wind whirled into existence.
WHOOSH!
The golden Vedas shimmered—then vanished into his throat in the blink of an eye.
Hayagriva wiped his mouth, his equine eyes flickering with determination. He turned to the two demon brothers.
"You delay him." His voice was cold, decisive. "I will take the Vedas and depart."
And with that!
SHOOM!
His form blurred, vanishing into the cosmic void, retreating into the depths of Rasatala, beyond the reach of the divine realms.
For the first time, Vishnu's calm demeanor wavered. His sharp gaze bore into Madhu and Kaitabha, but his voice reached the ears of a still-reeling Indra.
"Indra!"
The command thundered through the heavens.
"Pursue Hayagriva and recover the Vedas!"
---
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