Chief Abhimanyu couldn’t understand whom Sharv was even talking to. He thought Sharv had gone mad, and turned his gaze toward Varsha.

  Varsha had once again stood back up. Her hands had regained strength once more.

  Seeing this, the Chief’s lips curled upward, and he raised his fist.

  Bam!

  With a dash he charging toward Varsha again.

  He covered half the distance between himself and Varsha in just a single leap.

  “Let’s see you dodge this now!”

  Seeing the incoming fist, Varsha’s pupils shrank.

  But just then…

  Tak!

  ‘..!’

  The Chief’s eyes widened in disbelief.

  Sharv caught that powerful punch with his hand and stopped it.

  ‘Wha… how?’

  The Chief couldn’t understand.

  His fist, which was so strong and metallic, had been stopped by this boy?

  A boy who didn’t even have internal energy?

  The bandit couldn’t tolerate the fact that a mere child had stopped his punch.

  So he put even more force into his fist, but Sharv’s hand didn’t budge an inch.

  Seeing this, the Chief grew even angrier.

  Meanwhile, Varsha, who herself was shocked by what she was seeing, realized this was the perfect opportunity to strike.

  Bam!

  She dashed up to the cheif who was still struggling with Sharv.

  Slash!

  ‘..!’

  Sensing Varsha’s blade, the Chief quickly retreated to defend himself.

  But Varsha was not someone to let go of such a golden chance.

  Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!

  She continued to swing her sword relentlessly at the Chief, forcing him to defend again and again.

  At first, he had been interested in Varsha’s swordsmanship.

  But now his focus was on Sharv. In fact, deep inside, he began to feel a kind of fear.

  He didn’t know what kind of fear it was, but it was fear nonetheless.

  ‘Maybe I’m just overthinking…’

  The Chief shook off the fear in his heart and looked at Sharv and Varsha again.

  Varsha glanced at Sharv and said.

  “How did you block his attack?”

  “...With my plam.”

  Sharv replied calmly, as if it wasn’t a big deal. Varsh left the matter and said quickly to him,

  “Alright listen, I have a plan. I’ll attack, and when he tries to counter, you protect me. What do you say? That way we can defeat him faster.”

  Sharv thought for a moment, then said,

  “Fine. But I’ll be the one to kill him. Okay?”

  “Yeah! Yeah! Fine! Now don’t waste any more time. And make sure to stay tight on my defense.”

  After saying this, Varsha raised her sword.

  Whoosh!

  She leapt at him in a single bound.

  ‘Eclipse Sword Art: Dark Gust Thrust’

  Whuuuuuurrrr!

  With a strange sound, from the tip of Varsha’s sword surged a large black gust of wind, like a whirlwind, rushing toward the Chief.

  Seeing the whirlwind coming at him, the Chief first thought of evading it.

  But...

  Swish!

  Just as he tried to move aside, suddenly a flying sword came at him. He quickly tilted his face to block the sword.

  That sword had been thrown by none other than Sharv.

  “Don’t even think about running away.”

  Sharv said, picking up another fallen sword.

  “Tch! This brat…”

  By then the black whirlwind had already reached the Chief.

  He had no time, so he tried to block it with the strength of his arms.

  “Ugh!”

  But the moment the whirlwind hit his body, he felt pain.

  He immediately channeled his prana throughout his forearms to endure that pain.

  Pushing through the whirlwind, he lunged at Varsha, unleashing a flurry of raw punches that looked extremely painful.

  But at that moment, Sharv stepped in between and countered each and every punch with his own fists.

  Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

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  Their fists clashed repeatedly, neither one retreating even an inch.

  ‘This child… how is he so strong?!’

  The Chief couldn’t believe it. Until now, he thought he was the only physically powerful one—but this boy had completely shattered that illusion.

  The Chief roared and threw a devastating punch. This time, it wasn't a raw fist but, a fist imbued with his prana.

  Because of the prana, the punch became even faster and more powerful.

  Sharv was about to counter that punch with his fist too, but just then,

  Clang! Bang!

  Varsha’s sword intercepted. With her blade, Varsha blocked the prana-coated punch.

  “That punch had prana in it. Don’t try to block it with your bare hand, or your hand could shatter.”

  Varsha quickly warned Sharv, before striking at the Chief again.

  Sharv understood Varsha’s point. He watched her moves carefully.

  Clang! Bang! Clang! Bang!

  At that moment, both Varsha and the Chief were fighting using internal energy. Varsha has now too coated her sword's blade with prana.

  Sharv looked at his own hand, then recalled what Vijay had said earlier:

  ***

  ‘Yeah! So what I’m saying is, the prana you’ve absorbed is Death Prana! When a person dies, their prana gets corrupted and changes into death prana, since the person died, you just took inside his death prana with the power of Samavesh.’

  ‘!!!’

  Death Prana?

  Sharv had read about it in the book ‘The Wall Between Spirit and Man’.

  But he had never thought of using it, because it was written that it is dangerous for humans.

  But now…

  Had he unknowingly used Samavesh and drawn out Death Prana? He couldn’t understand how.

  ‘‘But… there’s one thing I don’t get. From what I read in the book, Death Prana isn’t good, it can cause prana deviation and can even kill human. So then… why hasn’t anything happened to me yet?”

  ‘Look, that book was written by my ancestors. And in my lifetime, I wasn’t a martial artist myself. But from what knowledge I’ve gathered from other texts and books…’

  “...”

  ‘…according to them, prana deviation happens when there is prana inside of you but you don't have any, so that's not a problem for you. And you being alive till now... Maybe...maybe your body was made in such a way that it can accept Death Prana?’

  “What?!”

  ‘T-That’s just my theory. Because you see—most humans naturally have Prana within them, even if it’s as small as a grain of salt. Whether they’re martial artists or not, as long as they’re alive, they have Prana. But in your body…’

  “There was no Prana.”

  ‘Exactly... Not even a grain-of-salt amount was present in you. You know every living person has Prana as long as they’re alive. But you… the absence of Prana in you makes you…’

  “...Like a walking dead?”

  ‘Yes, exactly.’

  “But I’m still alive.”

  ‘That’s what I’m trying to explain. Maybe… maybe your body was made to house Death Prana instead, not Life Prana...’

  Sharv said nothing.

  He just kept staring at his hand, then closed his eyes and focused inward on his chakra.

  But he found no change there. Still, as empty as ever. Nothing was there.

  It was still filled with only his useless Lunar Energy's coldness and nothing else.

  But then Vijay spoke again,

  ‘Listen, even so, I think you should stay away from Death Prana. Who knows what it might still do to you. It’s better to keep your distance from it. Otherwise we both could die.’

  In the end, Sharv agreed with him.

  ***

  Clang! Bang! Clang! Bang!

  Varsha and the Chief were still clashing.

  Their swords and fists collided again and again, yet neither of them backed down.

  And on the other side...

  Swish! Swish! Swish!

  Sharv, from the ground, was hurling stones, swords, and daggers at the Chief.

  Because of that, the Chief was gradually losing his balance while fighting Varsha.

  Just then, Varsha thrust her sword toward him.

  ‘..!’

  The Chief twisted his body and barely dodged the thrust by an inch.

  But then...

  Swish! Tak!

  A stone flew straight into his forehead, striking hard, and blood began to trickle down.

  Grit!

  The Chief clenched his teeth in rage as he felt the blood flow.

  “That brat! If I get my hands on him just once!”

  The Chief couldn’t understand why his remaining bandits weren’t catching that boy.

  But when he glanced around, he saw no one, then he looked a little lower on the ground, then he saw all the remaining of them lying dead on the ground.

  ‘!?’

  ‘When did this happen?!’

  The Chief couldn’t comprehend it.

  He was sure his entire attention during the fight was fixed only on that girl and boy.

  He hadn’t sensed anyone else here, then who killed his men?

  Drip!

  A bead of sweat fell from his forehead, merging with the blood running down.

  ‘Could this be some kind of mystical art?’

  While the Chief was still thinking...

  ‘Eclipse Sword Art: Solar Shroud!’

  Whoosh!

  Varsha’s sword and body suddenly accelerated, her figure vanishing.

  Slash!

  Varsha reappeared behind the Chief.

  Drip!

  Blood dripped from her blade, and it wasn’t just anyone’s—it was Abhimanyu the Chief’s own blood.

  “Arghhh!”

  The Chief screamed and clutched his chest in pain.

  A large gash ran across it, inflicted by Varsha’s sword.

  With a smile, Varsha looked at the bandit and said.

  “In battle, one should never take their eyes off their enemy. You forgot your own words. Hehehe!”

  Her mocking laugh and voice made the Chief’s rage shoot through the skies.

  Clench!

  He clenched his fists tight.

  But he didn’t immediately attack Varsha, because now he had figured out their trick.

  If he went for Varsha, Sharv would step in and save her using his physical strength.

  And if he used his Prana to attack Sharv, then Varsha would interfere.

  And while fighting Varsha, Sharv would still keep throwing things on his face making him loose balance.

  At this rate, Cheif would lose!

  But the Chief didn’t care about that. What he cared about was ‘that thing’ which the Crimson Heaven Society had ordered.

  At first, he hadn’t known why this boy and girl had come to the bandits’ den. But now, he was certain.

  ‘This girl… she must have come here for ‘that thing’!’

  As for the boy, the Chief assumed he was just helping the girl out of revenge for his relative—just a temporary alliance.

  The Chief didn’t care even if all the White Frost Bandits were wiped out.

  What mattered was safeguarding ‘that thing’.

  Bandits could always be recruited again as long as the Chief lived. But if anything happened to ‘that thing’, the Crimson Heaven Society would never spare him.

  The Chief resolved that he must kill these two, no matter what.

  “Haa!”

  He took a long breath and spoke:

  “Girl, your swordsmanship and your Martial Art skills are precise and sharp, I’ll admit that… but there’s one thing you lack, the most crucial thing in a fight.”

  ‘?!’

  Varsha couldn’t understand what he meant. She raised her sword in front, ready for any sudden strike.

  Meanwhile...

  Vijay came up to Sharv, his peacock feather and hands stained with blood.

  ‘I’ve killed the rest of the bandits… should I help finish this one too?’

  “No… leave it.”

  ‘…Haa! Fine. Just stay alive, because if you die, then I’ll die too.’

  “Alright. Alright! For now, you just go and rest…”

  Sharv took vijay inside the sacred thread.

  The Chief continued.

  “…and that thing is Prana!”

  Woong!

  ‘!!!!’

  The moment he said this—The Chief’s internal energy;Prana, which had seemed low until now, suddenly surged.

  No—it doubled! Then suddenly Tripled!

  But along with it, his hands turned blood-red.

  ‘That technique?...’

  Varsha looked at his hand, it was clearly a martial art technique that she has seen before.

  But she just couldn't remember it.

  “Y-you weren’t using your full internal energy all this time?!”

  Varsha exclaimed, sweat dripping from her forehead.

  Sharv’s condition was the same. Through his expressions were cleaner than Varsha's, his eyes were on the cheif's red hands.

  At first, he had sensed that the Chief’s internal energy was low. But now…

  Now it felt like staring up at a towering mountain.

  How did it increased suddenly? Was He hiding his full power? He couldn’t understand.

  “Did you think I was some fool who would fight with all his power from the start? I thought it would be fun to toy with you both. But I underestimated you. Now, I’ll fight with everything I have!”

  However...

  ‘I can’t maintain this form for too long.’

  The Chief had to finish them quickly.

  Today, someone from the Crimson Heaven Society was coming to collect that thing. If he could stall these two until then, he might even borrow that envoy’s help to finish them off.

  Bam!

  The Chief dashed toward Varsha. She widened her eyes in shock.

  Not only had his internal energy increased, but now his speed too!

  Grip!

  Varsha tightened her hold on her sword.

  But...

  “Wahaha! Boy, your body is truly remarkable—maybe even stronger than mine! But sadly… you lack internal energy!”

  The Chief’s voice rang out. Sharv was startled.

  ‘Sharv! behind you!’

  Swish!

  Sharv instantly turned his gaze behind.

  But...

  By then, the Chief’s fist had already sunk into his stomach.

  ‘Son of a…’

  Sharv cursed inwardly.

  Bang!

  “Kuak!”

  Pak! Thud!

  He flew across and crashed hard into a wall.

  ‘Sharv! Sharv! Are you okay?!!’

  Vijay wanted to come out and help, but he couldn’t leave of his own will.

  “Ugh…this… Huff! Huff! Internal… Huff! Huff! energy…Huff! motherfuc…”

  ‘Sharv!! Sharv!!!’

  Vijay shouted desperately, but slowly… Sharv’s eyes began to close.