Chapter 136 Svarga's Judgment, Patala's Defiance
"Worry is beneath us! Sorrow is wasted breath! And fear... fear has no place in Svarga!"
Agni's voice thundered like a rising blaze. "Under the might of my great flame, Vajranga shall be scorched from the sky! The Asura armies will crumble to ash!"
Slowly, deliberately, Agni rose, like a volcano preparing to erupt.
His body trembled not from excitement, but from the sheer force of Svarga pulsing through him. Blazing red light erupted around him in waves, distorting the air with scorching heat. At the center of it all stood Agni, radiant, terrible, divine.
The sweet fire of Soma coursed through his veins like holy fuel. The armies of Svarga stirred at his back, a chorus ready to sing of his victory. And the divine might of the heavens surged beneath his feet, lifting him into unshakable glory.
"Let Vajranga remember this day," Agni declared, voice booming like an ancient bell."I will grant him his first and last failure… as King of Patala!"
He flung his arms wide and began to march, each step igniting the clouds beneath him. His crimson armor shone like molten iron in the sky, a living inferno swaggering across Svarga. Wherever his feet touched, the ground sizzled and melted.
BOOM!
"Devas! Gandharvas! March with me! Let no Asura escape our wrath!"
Agni's voice cracked through the heavens like thunder, shaking even the sacred halls of Svarga.
"So strong…" Rahu whispered, his face flushed red. His crimson eyes gleamed with disbelief. "He's even more overwhelming than Indra."
Rishi Brihaspati froze in place, eyes wide in stunned awe. Agni's presence was wild, radiant, divine, so consuming, he almost forgot to breathe.
"Could he… truly defeat Vajranga?"
All around the banquet, the assembled Rishis gazed at Agni's back, towering, glowing, indomitable, and felt their hearts stir.
"Pranāma to Agni, the divine purifier, who has honored us with sacred hospitality!"
"May your offerings ever be abundant, your conquest be fulfilled, and your brilliance rise with each new dawn!"
"May your name resound across the three worlds, Be it Svarga, Mrityu, and Pātāla! May your flames dispel the darkness of every Asura!"
One by one, the Rishis bowed deeply, reverently. Their chants carried into the air like incense.
In the distance, Surya, Varuna, Vāyu, Soma, and other Devas watched as Agni approached.
A wave of intense heat struck them, dry and searing like the breath of the sun itself.
"So powerful…" Surya murmured, his eyes sharp with renewed faith. "Perhaps he truly can defeat Vajranga."
"With a host this grand and a spirit that bold," Vāyu added, fists clenched with fire, "this may be the end of the Asura blight."
"The might of Svarga is not yet spent," said Varuna, smiling faintly.
Soma raised his cup, chuckling, "And never forget this is the strength born from Soma's blessing! Drink, and feel the devas stir within!"
As the Gandharvas fell into formation, singing a song of war and flame, Agni stood at their head like a storm of fire wrapped in armor and glory.
"Come," he roared, "ride with me to battle!"
BOOM!
He raised his golden shield and slammed it against the clouds, sending a shockwave through the sky. His divine spear pierced upward, drawing streaks of starlight in its wake.
And with that, the golden army surged behind him like a divine avalanche, blazing across the heavens toward destiny.
Antrariksha.
The eternal void stretched in every direction, an endless ocean of blackness where starlight flickered like scattered candle flames.
But in that silence, an army waited.
The Asuras had arrived first.
Their dark hair billowed like smoke, eyes glinting with savage purpose. Some wore silver-gray armor that shimmered like moonlight on steel, while others draped themselves in monstrous hides, trophies from ancient hunts. They gripped weapons of every kind: giant maces, war hammers, wickedly curved scimitars, jagged bows strung with sinew.
And all of them shared the same air of menace.
At the front stood generals of grim repute, Shumbha, Viprachitti, Puloman, and many more silent and ready.
But towering before them all was King Vajranga.
His gaze was sharp as iron, his crimson cloak whipping behind him like a battle banner. He sat tall atop a monstrous beast, a stallion as white as pure snowfall. Its head was held high, mane thrashing like storm winds, its hooves scattering stardust with every stomp.
The king of horses, Uchchaihshravas, was born of the Kshira Sāgara, the churning ocean of milk. A beast fit for no lesser soul than the Lord of Pātāla himself.
Vajranga narrowed his eyes toward the distant blackness and murmured, "They're coming."
BOOM.
A deafening sound ruptured the silence.
From the highest heavens, a torrent of light came crashing down. The celestial army of Svarga descended like a tidal wave of fire and steel.
At the head, Agni.
He rode not a steed, but a massive, golden goat. Its eyes flared with indignation as it saw Uchchaihshravas across the field. It stomped its hooves with wild fury, its wool shimmering with sacred fire. Its horns gleamed, pointed skyward like divine blades.
From its mouth erupted black smoke and searing flames that carved trails in the void.
"Show some dignity," Agni muttered, patting the goat's neck with a smirk.
The goat quieted, snorting embers.
Then Agni's gaze hardened, looking far beyond the chaos, beyond the stars, into memory.
"Vajranga…" he whispered. "Years ago, Hiranyaksha hunted me. Hiranyakashipu humiliated me. Hayagrīva tricked us and left us in ruin."
He clenched the handle of his spear.
"But this time, I reclaim my pride. This time, I take everything back."
His voice cracked like a thunderclap.
BOOM!
Fire rippled from his body, surging across the ranks.
Cheers erupted from the Svargan army.
"AGNI! AGNI! AGNI!"
Their voices roared through the heavens like war drums. The devās were ready to conquer, to sing, to dance upon victory's flame.
Vajranga remained still. Then, calmly, he lifted a single hand.
Divine power blazed from his fingers, golden light radiating outward like crashing waves. The void shook. Thunder echoed from nothingness.
He pointed forward. "I accept your challenge."
His voice rang clear, arrogant yet commanding. "But you will never defeat me."
"Because…" he said, the cosmos bending to his declaration," I'm stronger."
His voice echoed across the universe like an unrelenting mantra. Stars quivered. Volcanoes erupted. Oceans on distant worlds surged skyward.
And in that moment, the devās felt the sear of battle ignite in their chests.
Surya, the radiant Sun Deva, gripped the reins of his blazing chariot with fury etched across his face. Beside him, Vayu drew his longbow taut, the string groaning under the weight of his wrath. Varuna, astride his majestic sea-beast Mogara, narrowed his wide, storm-filled eyes. Even Soma, usually serene and detached, wore a grave expression.
The air trembled.
And at the heart of it all stood Agni.
Flames flickered at the edges of his armor. Shock and fury blazed in his eyes, someone had dared declare themselves powerful in his presence.
In front of the Agni Deva?
He would make Vajranga regret it.
"KILL!!" Agni roared, voice erupting like a volcano.
A flaming cane appeared in his hand with a crack of divine fire. Without hesitation, he slammed it across the hindquarters of his battle goat.
The goat let out a furious bleat, spat a gout of flames into the void, and charged forward like a comet loosed from heaven's chains.
At that very instant, golden light flared in Vajranga's hand. A colossal warhammer materialized, its head shaped like a crag of divine ore, heavy enough to bend space around it.
Uchchaihshravas reared with a shriek, its iron hooves stamping the air as it surged ahead, launching Vajranga like a thunderbolt straight at Agni.
Then, they collided.
The two divine figures, flame and force, wrath and will, met like meteors slamming through the veil of the universe. The void screamed as reality split in jagged lines behind them.
BOOM!
They clashed again.
And again.
And again.
Agni's fire clashed with Vajranga's might in an instant that seemed to stretch for eternity. Sparks flew, each one birthing a shockwave that sent nearby stars trembling.
Then, as if the heavens themselves followed their lead—
BOOM!!
The rest of the devas charged. The armies collided, and a tide of golden armor, celestial chants, and divine fury crashed headlong into the howling mass of Asura generals.
Steel sang. War drums thundered. The battlefield roared like the mouth of creation itself.
Above it all, the duel continued. Agni and Vajranga flashing in and out of view, their weapons screaming through the void, their power making gods and demons alike falter in awe.
CRACK!
In the next instant, one figure dropped to a knee.
His body trembled, breath ragged, armor cracked by divine force.
"...How... can this be...?" the voice came, hoarse and stunned. "So... strong..."
The stars dimmed for a moment, as if in awe of what had just unfolded.
...
Author's note:
Vajranga was an Asura (demon) created by Diti after long penance to Brahmā.
The mighty son of Vajranga and Varangi, Tāraka, became a fearsome asura king who conquered the Svarga.
He performed great penance and pleased Brahmā, obtaining a boon that only a son of Shiva could kill him. Believing Shiva would never remarry after Sati's death, he thought he was invincible.
These three sons inherited their father Tāraka's ambition and power.
Tārākākṣa
Kamalākṣa
Vidyunmālī
They built the three cities of Tripura, floating fortresses made of gold, silver, and iron.
The three cities were destroyed by Shiva with a single arrow in the event known as Tripura Samhāra, when they aligned once every thousand years.
