The forest did not relax.
Even after the battle had ended—
Even after the last beast had fallen—
Nothing changed.
No wind returned to stir the leaves.
No distant sounds crept back into the silence.
It remained as it was.
Still.
Watching.
Waiting.
The bodies of the beasts lay scattered across the clearing.
Unmoving.
But sothing about that stillness felt wrong.
It wasn’t the quiet of death that ca after struggle.
There had been no final twitch.
No fading resistance.
No lingering breath.
Just... absence.
Duryodhana stepped closer to one of the fallen creatures, his mace now lowered but not abandoned.
His posture remained guarded, instincts refusing to relax even after victory.
He studied the beast carefully before nudging it with the end of his weapon.
No response.
No reaction.
It didn’t even feel like sothing that had been alive monts ago.
From behind him, one of the students spoke, his voice uncertain.
"Are they... dead?"
The question lingered in the air.
But no one answered.
Because no one was sure.
From the side, Karna walked forward.
Calm.
Unhurried.
His presence carried none of the tension that still gripped the others, yet it did not dismiss the danger either.
It acknowledged it—fully—but did not fear it.
He crouched beside one of the beasts, his attention drawn imdiately to its eyes.
That faint glow—
Still there.
It hadn’t dimd.
Hadn’t faded.
It remained exactly as it was during the fight.
Unnatural.
Karna raised his hand slightly, holding it just above the creature’s head.
Not touching.
Not interfering.
Just... sensing.
A mont passed.
Then another.
The clearing remained silent as the others watched him.
And then—
"They’re empty."
His voice was quiet.
But it carried.
Duryodhana frowned, stepping closer. "Empty?"
Karna rose slowly, his gaze still fixed on the creature for a brief mont before shifting toward the others.
"There is no will," he said.
A pause.
"No instinct."
"No presence."
Each word settled deeper than the last.
Understanding began to spread through the group—not sudden, but gradual, like a shadow expanding across the ground.
These were not creatures that had chosen to fight.
They had not hunted.
They had not acted.
They had been used.
Controlled.
Reduced to sothing less than living.
Duryodhana’s expression hardened, his grip tightening slightly on his mace.
"Then whoever is controlling them..."
He didn’t finish the sentence imdiately.
He didn’t need to.
"...is still nearby."
As if in response—
The air shifted.
Subtly.
But undeniably.
A sound followed.
A single step.
From beyond the clearing.
This ti—
There was no attempt to hide it.
No effort to remain unseen.
It was deliberate.
Intentional.
Every head turned toward the source.
Weapons were raised again, tension snapping back into place instantly.
From the shadowed line of trees—
A figure erged.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
It was draped in dark robes that obscured its form completely.
The fabric hung loosely, concealing any clear outline beneath.
Its face was hidden in shadow, unreadable.
But its presence—
Was unmistakable.
It wasn’t overwhelming in the way of brute strength.
It wasn’t imposing through sheer size or force.
It was sothing else.
Sothing... wrong.
As if it did not belong in the natural order of things.
The figure stopped at the edge of the clearing.
Not advancing further.
Not retreating.
Simply observing.
Silently.
Duryodhana stepped forward, placing himself between the figure and the rest of the group.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
There was no imdiate answer.
Only stillness.
Then—
A voice erged.
Low.
Distorted.
As if it did not fully co from a human throat.
"You interfere."
The words were slow.
asured.
Devoid of emotion.
Not anger.
Not frustration.
Just... cold acknowledgnt.
Duryodhana’s eyes narrowed.
"These things attacked a village," he replied sharply. "You call that interference?"
The figure tilted its head slightly.
The motion was subtle.
Unnatural.
"They are tools."
A pause.
"For a purpose you do not understand."
Unease rippled through the group.
Not because of the words alone—
But because of how they were spoken.
Casual.
Indifferent.
As if lives held no value.
Karna stepped forward slightly.
Not aggressively.
But clearly.
Positioning himself where he could be seen—and heard.
"You are controlling them."
The figure turned toward him.
Slowly.
But with focus.
A shift in attention.
Sharp.
Deliberate.
"Yes."
No denial.
No attempt to conceal.
"Why?" Karna asked.
His voice remained steady.
Unshaken.
The figure was silent for a mont.
Then—
"To awaken what sleeps."
The answer hung in the air.
Strange.
Incomplete.
Yet heavy with implication.
Duryodhana frowned deeply. "What does that even an?"
The figure did not respond to him.
Its gaze remained fixed—
On Karna.
As if the others had faded from relevance.
"You are not like them."
The words were directed solely at him.
Karna did not react outwardly.
But the others noticed.
Duryodhana’s expression darkened slightly, a flicker of tension passing through him.
"What are you talking about?" he demanded.
Still—
The figure ignored him.
Its attention did not waver.
"You feel it," it continued.
A pause.
"The flow."
Silence followed.
Not ordinary silence.
Sothing deeper.
Because those words—
Were not vague.
They were precise.
They nad sothing unseen.
Sothing most could not even perceive.
Karna’s gaze sharpened slightly.
His voice, when he spoke, remained calm.
"You are using it incorrectly."
The statent was simple.
Direct.
Certain.
For the first ti—
The figure stilled completely.
Then—
A faint sound escaped it.
A laugh.
Low.
Uneven.
Unnatural.
"Incorrect?" it repeated.
A pause.
"There is no correct."
"Only power."
The air grew colder.
Not physically—
But perceptibly.
The ground beneath their feet felt heavier, as if sothing invisible had begun to press downward.
And then—
Sothing changed.
The faint glow in the beasts’ eyes—
Flickered.
Then shifted.
From within them—
Sothing erged.
Not visible to most.
Not clearly.
But present.
Threads.
Thin.
Faint.
Stretching outward.
Connecting.
Each one leading—
Back to the figure.
Karna saw them.
Not with his eyes alone—
But with sothing deeper.
The pattern.
The control.
The manipulation of sothing that should have remained natural.
This was not simple domination.
It was distortion.
A forced alignnt of sothing that resisted.
And in that mont—
Understanding ford.
This was not just a person standing before them.
This was a fragnt.
A glimpse.
The beginning of sothing far larger.
Sothing hidden.
Sothing that had not yet revealed its full shape.
The figure slowly raised its hand.
The threads tightened.
The air trembled slightly, as if reacting to the unseen force being exerted.
Duryodhana stepped forward instantly, stance set, ready to strike.
The others followed, forming behind him.
Fear still lingered within them—
But now it was controlled.
Focused.
Karna remained where he was.
Still.
Calm.
Centered.
Because this mont—
Was different.
This was not rely another battle.
Not another beast to defeat.
This was a doorway.
A threshold.
Into sothing deeper.
A layer of the world that had remained hidden—
Until now.
And as the tension reached its peak—
As the unseen force tightened its grip—
One truth beca clear.
This path—
Had only just begun to reveal itself.
Author Note
If you are enjoying Suryaputra Karna: 10 Million Dharma Critical Hits, please support the novel.
Give Power Stones, Golden Tickets, and share your thoughts in the comnts.
First appearance of a controlled force / cult-type characterMajor hint: "awakening sothing" flow manipulation = future serpent / hidden arc setup
Reviews
All reviews (0)