Ashes of Deva : Rise of the White Flame

The forest burned.

Not with fire, but with energy—echoes of battles past and battles unfinished. Thunder cracked across the sky. The trees no longer whispered; they screamed with ruptured bark and broken roots.

Astha gripped Ashvaanta tighter.

Ahead of him, the Nameless Beast—the creature summoned by Sharvaka—dragged its limbs across reality. Its skin was parchment, inked with the names of those erased from existence. Its head was a mask stitched together from forgotten faces.

Every step it took distorted the world around it.

"It's not just a monster," Astha muttered.

"It's a record of divine murder."

Luv floated beside him, silver lightning arcing along his Indra-forged armor. He glanced at Astha, blood drying at the edge of his lips.

"We take it together?"

"We burn it into memory."

---

The Clash

The Nameless Beast lunged.

Ashvaanta met it in mid-air.

The summoned sword screamed—a deep howl, like a storm remembering its name. It collided with the beast's claw, sending a shockwave that tore apart the trees for miles.

Luv dove from the air, hurling his thunder-lance through the beast's torso. It screeched—but didn't bleed. Instead, names poured from the wound like dying stars, fading before they hit the ground.

"It's feeding on everything we forget," Luv cursed. "Memories… identities… timelines."

"Then we remind it," Astha growled.

---

Astha's Flame Awakens Further

Astha's outfit shimmered—black battle-cloak laced with mantra-thread, now glowing with memory-fire. A new mantra tattoo across his chest blazed to life:

"Smritipath."

(The Path of Remembered Flame)

As he struck again, Ashvaanta split into mirror-shards—illusions of his old self, his younger self, even his broken self—all attacking at once, synchronized.

Each strike called a name.

"Rishav."

"Karna."

"Ma."

"Aaryan."

Their echoes laced his strikes.

The beast shrieked. Its form destabilized—flickering between beast, child, and god.

Sharvaka narrowed his eyes.

---

Luv's Limit Breaks

Seeing Astha fight unleashed something in Luv.

His armor glowed brighter—gold and silver storm-tatters circling his legs. He clenched his fist, and the sky responded with a celestial roar.

"Vajrapāta Sutra: Heaven's Judgment!"

Thunder cascaded like waterfalls, forming a sphere of divine lightning. Luv launched it at the beast, blasting it across a mountain slope.

But even as the dust settled, Sharvaka stepped between them and the falling creature.

"Impressive," Sharvaka said, calmly wiping blood from his lips. "But you're wasting divine grace."

He pointed at Vaidehi, who had fallen to one knee.

"Your third cannot keep up."

---

Vaidehi's Darkness

The ground near Vaidehi had begun to warp. Her blade pulsed erratically. Shadows curled up her arm.

"Vaidehi!" Astha shouted. "Stay with us—don't let it in!"

But the Nameless Beast had whispered something. It had reached into her guilt.

Her forgotten sins.

Her divine past.

---

The Final Strike

With no time left, Astha and Luv moved in tandem.

Ashvaanta surged with flame-memory, forming a double helix of burning script around the blade.

Luv channeled Indra's judgment, forming a bow of thunder from his palms, launching three bolts at once.

"Now!" Astha called.

Their attacks collided in the air—flame and lightning twisting into a spear of remembrance and wrath.

It pierced the beast's skull.

And all the names screamed out one last time before vanishing.

The Nameless Beast collapsed into nothing.

---

Aftermath

Sharvaka stood silently.

"You're no longer beneath me," he said.

He turned.

"But you're still not free."

And he walked into a portal of unwritten script, leaving only silence behind.

Astha turned to Vaidehi—but her eyes were glazed.

"Something's wrong," he muttered.

Luv knelt beside her. Her veins pulsed black, her blade shaking.

"She… she touched too much of the Record."

Astha looked up at the darkening sky.

The gods would strike again.

But now, he wouldn't just resist.

He'd invade.