Mara struck forward in a blink of an eye and pinned his sword onto the soldier's neck. Indra had asked him to show his skills when it came to assassinating. And so he did. 

Indra was impressed by the boy's agility and quickness. But, of course it was common with people of a young age. Especially if the person was personally trained under Trailokya. He knew of his assassinating skills back in the day.

After finishing and drawing the sword back from the terrified guard, he turned to Indra, his expression unknown due to his cloak. 

Indra enquired an eyebrow, debating whether he should send Mara or not. From the sidelines, Trailokya watched with crossed fingers. Hoping Mara would achieve the task. If Indra thought he was not up to the task, it would severely embarrass him. And he didn't want to get on anymore bad terms with king of the gods.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, Indra beckoned for the guard to come near him.

'Rally Airawat and the army. They will be intercepting Akileshwar between Mt. Vindhyachaja and Narmada. And take Mara with you. He is to conduct an assassination'

▪

Airawat sat in his corners of the Aakashprasadh. He stared into space, wondering nothing at all. His mind was clear of it's thoughts. 

'General Airawat!' Standing in the doorway, was one of the guards in Airawat's army that Indra had left for him to command.

'Yes, Adishakti?' Asked Airawat. Despite there being among 100,000 soldiers in his army, he knew every single one of their names. It was something done to gain your subjects' loyalty. And it was something the soldiers respected.

'Lord Indra has asked of you to assemble the whole army and intercept the Paramatma and destroy the Brahmabalaks and the Lingamputras. But the lord has hired an assassin for the Paramatma who goes by the name of Mara'

Airawat sighed. With a flick of his hand, Adishakti left the chambers. As much as Airawat did not want to conduct this order, he was loyal to his lord. He got up to leave the chambers and prepare for battle 

▪

'How do you feel? Different?' Asked Narada eagerly as Akileshwar sipped the Amritameer.  For some reason, he seemed particularly interested in Akileshwar after he had drank the immortal drink. 

'No. I feel nothing' Replied Akileshwar nonchalantly. Narada was crestfallen as Bhringi mirrored his expression. Both had been sent by their respective lords for respective reasons. But the summary of those reasons were clear, they must aid Paramatma's incarnation.

Narada and Bhringi locked eyes, each of them thinking the same thing. Their job was done. But Bhringi had different plans. During the journey he had grown close to Akileshwar. And now they were good friends. And a true friend helped a friend in need.

'Akil, can me and Narada speak with you?' Asked Bhringi. Though he was reluctant to leave Akileshwar, it was for the welfare of the country Another quest lay for them. At least for Narada. Bhringi had his own plans. Besides, the other threat had to be taken care of.

Everyone walked out of the room until Akileshwar, Bhringi and Narada remained.

'Akil. You are aware that our quests are personally assigned by Brahma and Shiv-' H was cut short by a loud BOOM!

Akileshwar, Narada and Bhringi ran out of the decks to see a group of people standing by some large items that Akileshwar did not recognize.

They were about half the size of a normal ship but with a flat bottom and wheels. It had two wooden sticks rising up from the front but not the most farthest front. From the farthest front, two more wooden sticks rose up that were placed diagonally and joined the first wooden sticks. From the flat panel in the bottom, rose a giant spoon like item where rocks lay. A rope was tied to the giant spoon and moved around another wooden stick slightly above the flat panel in the bottom. The rope looped through the wooden stick then tied around the other side of the large spoon. Men held the rope, pulling it far back. Thus, pulling the large spoons back that held rocks. So, the rocks when aimed correctly, hit the ship.

'What are those?' Asked Akileshwar as another volley was readied. The first volley had already been launched and had destroyed the upper deck.

'Get to the below deck!' Screamed Narada. Everyone did as they were told and ran to the below deck. Akileshwar couldn't but feel a deja vu once again. 

'What are those?!' Shouted Akileshwar once again. Narada and Bhringi shook their heads hopelessly.

'Those are catapults. Their a new design that was done by the U.S government. I have no clue how those people got it' Said David Cross. Akileshwar studied him carefully. Something told him that he was lying.

'What do we do?' Asked Tanvi. Akileshwar glanced around. Unlike the last ship, there were no rowboats. They had a big army, but arrows would have been useless against the other side.

'I got it!' Said Akileshwar as a plan formulated in his head. 

'The catapults are designed for long range. So, what if we made it a close range battle'

'But how?' asked Sakradeva. Kali nodded in response.

'The ship is already half destroyed. And if we get to the above decks we will be squashed' She explained.

'I know how' Said Narada as everyone looked at him expectantly

'The waters of the Thirtasarita. It will help. It purifies anything it touches. But it can also be used as a fuel' 

Everyone nodded as Narada shot out of the below decks, Adhishtavikth tailing behind him. It made Akileshwar wonder what kind of relationship Narada had with the assassin.

'What do we do now?' Asked Sakradeva.

'Prepare all your weapons! I want to hit them with full force. When the fuel is launched each one of us is going to fire arrows and then battle' Said Akileshwar.

He expected the fuel to take some time. But all of a sudden the boat lurched forward just as a rock was about to hit their coverage.

In a few seconds, as they were below decks and could not see, they only relied on the boats movement.

Finally, it stopped as though it had something and a big hole opened in front of the whole army who were waiting. In sync, everyone bellowed the unmistakable cry of lord Shiva.

'Hara hara Mahadev!' 

Immediately, 60,000 soldiers poured out of the boat and charged into battle. The opposing side, not expecting such renewed force, were immediately removed of their front lines. Quickly, they pulled out their swords and charged into battle.

Dozens of CLING! CLANG! were heard as the battle raged on. Even Tanvi, Kali and David Cross were finding ways to join the fight.

Akileshwar charged to one soldier and ran him through with his sword. Due to the momentum of the charge, he could not slow down when another soldier appeared. He then sunk to his knees and slashed at the soldier's knees, who cried out in pain. He finished the job and jabbed at another soldier. Like that the battle raged on, Akileshwar's side clearly winning.

He glanced around for the moment as none of the enemy had approached him. Grinning from ear to ear, he saw almost every single one of the enemy lines had perished. It seemed that they did not prepare for any war except for their armor and swords.

Then, his eyes landed on one soldier who had cornered Kali to the wall. He knew he was too faraway to help, and that Kali had to help herself. And he knew she could do that.

A random soldier being slayed covered his eyes, removing the view of Kali. And a split second later, he heard a scream of pain. After what seemed like ages, his vision cleared but Kali was no longer there.

Horrified he ran to where she last stood to see the soldier had disappeared too.

No. No. Noooooooooooo. He thought.

Soon, the battle was over, Akileshwar's side having won. Only few had died, the main group remaining unscathed.. except for Kali. There was no point in going on the quest now. Since the last Asuran, was dead.

▪

Airawat waited in his chambers for the soldier to come back with information. Indra had ordered him to stay, much to his confusion. But he guessed his lord had sensed something bad was to happen in the battle.

So he waited in his chambers. Waited for who knows long. He hated not venturing with his army. Sending them off to battle without a leader. He also dint trust the new weapon Indra had received from the U.S government. 

Finally, after what seemed like Millenia, the royal messenger rushed in, having dictated the battle notes.

'My lord-'

'Please, Just Airawat' Smiled Airawat. He hated formalities, despite using it all the time.

'Airawat. The battle was a failure. Our troops were all extinguished and the enemy's still remain. We managed to only destroy few of them'

Airawat nodded and dismissed the attendant. He went back to his thoughts, thinking about why he dint send in the whole army. The army they had sent was only 30,000 in numbers of 100,000. If Airawat could have sent all of them, Airawat included, it would have been a guaranteed win.

But at the same time, he was glad he dint go. There may have been a possibility where he would have to choose, between India, or Indra. But he knew where his loyalties lay..

Or did he?

▪

'You fool!' Snapped Indra as he slapped Trailokya across his face. He stood in the Aakashprasadh's halls, on his knees. They had just received news that Mara had not done his job and instead escaped. Now he was on the run.

He grabbed the guard's sword and glared at Trailokya who was begging for mercy. For he did not know that Mara would disobey orders.

'Please, my lord. I did no-' He was cut short as he could not talk. For he no longer had his head.