Mahabharat: Shiva's Last Variable

(A/N):

Drop a meme here that you find funny. Or reflects your mood.

Guys I hope you put more comments and power stones... Which will encourage me...

-------------------------------------------------

Devara saw the opening immediately.

The Yali was still immobilized beneath the golden chains, its enormous body straining against them with furious growls while the wounds inflicted upon it continued to close with unnatural speed.

For the moment, however, the divine restraints had done their work.

The beast could neither charge nor unleash another devastating attack.

A short distance away, Kandarpaasura remained sprawled upon the ground, having been neutralized by his own spear after Devara had caught it and sent it back at twice the force.

His left shoulder throbbed violently, and the recent trampling by the freed golden horse had left him struggling even to rise.

Devara knew better than to waste the opportunity.

He straightened himself upon the back of the golden horse and tightened his grip around Pinakodanda.

The magnificent creature beneath him shifted nervously as the Yali continued to roar, but Devara gently lowered one hand toward its neck, calming it before turning his attention back to the chained beast.

His eyes narrowed with concentration.

If physical attacks merely allowed the Yali’s body to regenerate, then there was little reason to continue striking it with weapons.

What he needed was something that could bypass its monstrous strength altogether.

Something that would not destroy its body, but instead take away its ability to fight.

Devara slowly raised Pinakodanda toward the heavens.

Yogic energy began flowing through his body, gathering around his arms and spreading into the divine bow.

The energy that formed around the weapon was unlike the violent golden lightning he had used earlier.

This time, a soft pink radiance began gathering around the bowstring, gradually becoming brighter until it resembled a tiny celestial flower blooming in the air.

Devara focused his mind upon the sensation he wanted to create, shaping his Yogic energy into an Astra of sleep and tranquility.

The pink light grew denser, swirling around itself before finally forming into a brilliant sphere of rose-colored energy at the tip of his arrow.

Kandarpaasura, still lying on the ground, noticed the strange glow and forced his head upward.

His eyes widened slightly as he watched Devara preparing another attack.

"What is he doing now?"

He muttered through gritted teeth, trying to push himself up despite the pain in his shoulder.

He expected another destructive Astra, perhaps something powerful enough to tear the Yali apart.

Instead, Devara simply drew the bowstring back and aimed directly at the sky.

For a brief moment, everything became silent.

Then Devara released the string.

The pink Astra shot upward with tremendous speed, leaving behind a luminous trail that disappeared into the heavens.

It continued rising until it became little more than a speck of pink light.

Devara watched without moving, waiting for the precise moment when it reached its destination.

The Astra suddenly burst.

A soft, almost dreamlike glow spread across the sky.

Then the first petal descended.

It was followed by another.

Then hundreds.

Within moments, the heavens above the battlefield seemed to bloom.

Countless delicate pink flower petals began drifting down from the sky, carried by an invisible celestial breeze.

They sparkled faintly as they fell, turning the battlefield into something strangely beautiful despite the destruction surrounding it.

Trees lay broken, the earth was scarred from the Yali’s attacks, and Kandarpaasura was still struggling on the ground, yet above them came this gentle rain of petals.

The Yali looked upward.

For a moment, the enormous beast seemed confused.

One of the petals landed upon its massive head.

Another touched its shoulder.

Then dozens began covering its body.

The moment the petals touched its hide, they dissolved into soft pink light and were absorbed directly into its body.

The Yali growled.

It shook its head violently, trying to throw the strange substance away, but the petals continued falling.

They landed upon its mane, its legs, its trunk-like nose and its enormous back before disappearing beneath its skin as their energy entered its body.

The beast’s movements gradually became slower.

Its roar weakened.

Its massive head dipped slightly before it jerked upward again, as though it were struggling to remain conscious.

"What...?"

Kandarpaasura whispered.

He watched in disbelief as the creature that had terrified both of them began swaying on its feet.

The Yali shook its head again, but this time the movement lacked its previous strength.

Its eyelids began growing heavy.

It tried to pull against Devara’s golden chains, yet even that effort seemed to exhaust it.

Devara remained perfectly still, watching the effect take hold.

The pink rain continued.

The Yali’s breathing became slower and deeper.

Its enormous chest rose and fell with increasingly long intervals between each breath.

The beast attempted one final roar, but what emerged was little more than a low, exhausted rumble.

Its knees buckled.

The golden chains rattled loudly as the Yali’s enormous body began descending toward the ground.

It fought to remain standing.

For several moments, it managed to lift itself again, shaking violently as though sheer willpower could overcome the Astra.

But the pink petals continued to fall, and every one that touched its body carried the same tranquilizing energy deeper into its system.

Eventually, the Yali could fight no longer.

With a tremendous thud that shook the earth beneath them, the gigantic beast collapsed.

Its head rested upon the ground, its eyes slowly closing until they finally shut completely.

The muscles that had been straining against the golden chains relaxed, and the monstrous creature became utterly still.

The rain of pink petals continued falling over its sleeping body.

Devara lowered Pinakodanda slightly and studied the unconscious Yali.

He could still sense its powerful life force.

It was not dead. Not even close.

The creature had simply been overwhelmed by the sleeping Astra and had surrendered to unconsciousness.

A faint breath escaped its nostrils.

Devara exhaled slowly.

"That should keep you quiet for a while,"

He said, his voice calm as he looked at the sleeping beast.

Kandarpaasura stared at him from the ground, his expression twisting between disbelief and anger.

The creature that had been nearly impossible to approach had been defeated without Devara destroying it.

Worse, Devara had accomplished it while Kandarpaasura was lying helpless because of his own attack.

And for the first time, Kandarpaasura began to understand something that irritated him more than any wound.

Devara was not merely stronger.

He was thinking several moves ahead.

For a few moments, there was nothing but silence.

The battlefield, which only moments ago had been filled with roaring beasts, crashing trees and the thunder of divine weapons, had fallen strangely quiet.

The Yali lay unconscious beneath the golden restraints, its enormous chest rising and falling slowly as the last traces of Devara’s pink Astra continued to course through its body.

Devara remained seated upon the golden horse, Pinakodanda still in his hand, his eyes fixed upon the sleeping creature while the celestial petals continued to drift gently through the air.

Then, from somewhere to his side, came a roar.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Kandarpaasura’s voice tore through the silence with such fury that several birds hidden among the distant trees burst from their nests and fled into the sky.

He forced himself upward from the ground, his injured left shoulder hanging awkwardly and his body covered in dirt from being struck by his own spear and then trampled by the very horse he had tried to control.

His breathing was heavy, his face twisted with rage, and yet beneath that anger was something far more difficult for him to accept.

Defeat.

He stared at Devara as though refusing to believe what his own eyes had witnessed.

"I cannot have lost!"

He roared, clutching his injured shoulder with his other hand.

"I am Kandarpaasura! I possess the power granted to me by Shukracharya! My strength has grown every single day! My Yogic powers have returned to their former glory! I command darkness itself! How could I lose to you?"

Devara slowly turned his head toward him.

There was no arrogance in his expression, nor any desire to mock the defeated asura.

He simply looked at him with the calmness of someone who already knew the battle had ended.

"You lost because you kept trying to overpower everything in front of you,"

Devara said quietly.

"Not every battle is won by being the strongest creature standing in the field."

Kandarpaasura’s eyes burned with fury.

Before he could answer, the atmosphere around them suddenly changed.

One by one, brilliant divine lights appeared throughout the forest.

The gods began arriving.

Brahma descended first, followed by Vishnu and Shiva, while the other gods emerged from their respective positions around the battlefield.

Narada appeared with Tarini beside him, his veena resting against his shoulder, while Ganesha and Kartikeya followed close behind.

Surya Dev, Chaya, Yama, Dhumorna, Shani and the others soon gathered as well, all of them having watched the contest from different points and now coming forward to witness its conclusion.

The golden horses, which had earlier behaved like terrifying predators, gradually returned to their magnificent forms.

The one beneath Devara remained beside him without resistance, its golden mane moving gently in the celestial breeze.

Lord Brahma stepped forward.

The Creator looked first toward the unconscious Yali, then toward Kandarpaasura, who was still struggling to remain standing, and finally toward Devara, who sat calmly upon the golden horse.

For a moment, Brahma allowed the silence to settle.

Then his voice rang across the forest.

"By the conditions established for this contest, the duel has reached its conclusion."

Kandarpaasura’s expression immediately hardened.

Brahma raised his hand toward Devara.

"Devara has successfully crossed the River of Sin, reached the shore while carrying the souls within that river and granted them Mukti. He successfully captured and mounted a golden horse without using a weapon."

"And in the final stage, he confronted the Yali and rendered it incapable of continuing the battle."

His voice became firm, carrying across the entire celestial forest.

"Therefore, before all gathered here, I declare Devara the winner of the contest between Devara and Kandarpaasura."

The declaration echoed through the forest.

Kandarpaasura’s fists tightened.

He looked toward the sleeping Yali, then at the golden horse standing beneath Devara, and finally toward the assembled gods.

His breathing became heavier as his mind desperately searched for some way to reject the result.

Yet there was nothing.

Every condition of the contest had been fulfilled.

He had lost.

And somewhere among the gods, a completely different emotion was unfolding.

Yami had spent the entire contest forcing herself to remain where she was.

Every time Devara had been thrown into danger, her heart had urged her to run toward him.

When the River of Sin had swallowed him beneath its mass of grasping souls, she had nearly stepped forward.

When the golden predators had surrounded him, her fingers had tightened anxiously.

When the Yali had unleashed its devastating fire, she had fought every instinct within herself that screamed at her to rush into the battlefield.

But she had stayed.

She had trusted him.

Still, trust had not made the fear disappear.

Yami’s eyes had never left Devara throughout the entire contest.

Her hands had remained clasped together before her, her fingers occasionally tightening whenever the danger around him became too great. She knew Devara was powerful.

She knew the gods themselves respected his strength.

She knew he had survived battles that would have killed ordinary warriors countless times over.

But knowing all of that did not make her heart any less afraid.

Because this was not merely a warrior fighting before her.

This was the man she loved.

When Brahma finally announced Devara’s victory, Yami released a breath she had unknowingly been holding for what felt like an eternity.

Her shoulders relaxed, and the tension that had gripped her entire body finally began to disappear.

Her eyes remained fixed upon him.

Devara looked toward the gathered gods, and then his gaze found hers.

For a moment, everything else seemed to fade.

Yami’s worried expression softened into a smile.

Devara answered with a small smile of his own.

That was enough.

The fear that had been sitting inside Yami’s heart throughout the entire duel finally gave way to relief.

She had wanted to rush to him from the very beginning, but now that the battle was truly over, she no longer had any reason to restrain herself.

She took a step forward, her eyes still fixed upon Devara.

*******************************

(Author note:)

I hope you guys give me your opinion and idea’s.

-->

Don’t forget to review guys...

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!