Dhiviya turned toward Athavan with solemn eyes. She took his hand and squeezed tightly.
Then, without a word, she leaned forward and pulled him into a tender embrace.
"Husband," she whispered softly, her lips brushing his ear,
"If you feel ready to share your story with me… I'm here to listen.
But don't do it for me. Whether I know your past or not—I believe you're a good man.
I'll stand with you. Always."
Athavan remained quiet for a long moment.
The crashing waterfall beside them echoed like a heartbeat through the forest.
"I'm ready," he said finally. "But you should be ready too."
"Once you know everything about me… your life won't be the same."
He looked her in the eyes, his voice dropping.
"Sometimes, knowing too much is its own burden.
Let me ask you again—are you ready?"
Dhiviya tilted her head, leaned closer—and kissed him.
It was a clumsy, unplanned kiss.
Her first real kiss.
When she pulled back, her cheeks were glowing red.
She nodded, signaling her answer without words.
They sat together on a smooth wooden log nestled beside the waterfall, the sunlight filtering through the leaves above in golden streaks.
Then Athavan spoke.
"To understand my story, you first need to learn about the organization I come from—
The Devil Liberation Army.
I don't know who gave us that name. It's been whispered through centuries.
Our origins trace back long before the rise and fall of the Chola and Pandya dynasties.
We were created for one purpose:
To preserve ancient wisdom and protect humanity's core from destruction.
Throughout history, wars ravaged the land.
With every conflict, libraries burned. Temples crumbled. Truth was erased.
But behind those wars… there was a darker force.
According to our records, our founding guardian was Maharishi Vyasa—the eternal keeper of knowledge.
He entrusted us to safeguard sacred teachings and stand against chaos.
The chaos itself was no ordinary evil.
It came in the form of a force known as Kali—the Demon King prophesied to destroy the world at the end of Kali Yuga.
The followers of Kali believe in conquest, manipulation, decay.
They operate in shadows—sowing corruption, triggering wars, poisoning governments.
They were the unseen hands behind World War I, World War II, and countless atrocities humanity can't explain.
It might sound like myth, like folklore.
But every fairy tale is stitched from truth.
And this is our truth.
My ancestors—every man and woman in my bloodline—belonged to the Devil Liberation Army.
My grandfather was our Supreme Commander.
Seven years ago, I inherited his position.
Since then, I've expanded our reach—across nations, across oceans.
We became the most feared underground force in the modern world.
Not because we harm innocents—but because we destroy evil.
You might ask, 'How many people have you killed?'
If I told you it was in the hundreds of thousands—you'd think me a monster.
But not one innocent life has been taken by my hand.
Those we've eliminated?
Rapists. War criminals.
Mercenaries who trafficked children.
Terrorists who murdered by the thousands.
Psychopaths wearing human skin.
We clean what the world refuses to touch."
Athavan paused.
The wind stirred through the valley, rustling leaves like whispers of ghosts.
Dhiviya didn't speak—she simply reached for his hand and held it firmly.
She was listening.
Not just to words.
But to history unraveling at her feet.
Athavan's voice was steady. The wind around the waterfall carried his words like prophecy.
"Have you heard of the lost land of Kumari Kandam?" he asked.
Dhiviya nodded slowly.
She knew the stories. A sunken continent. A forgotten cradle of Tamil civilization. Half-legend. Half-truth.
Athavan continued.
"Despite leading a war against evil… I've always loved ancient history.
The stories that survived. The ones that didn't.
Two years ago, my team found coordinates.
After years of research and planning, we launched a deep-sea expedition into the ruins of Kumari Kandam."
His eyes darkened with memory.
"It was there—on the ocean floor—I found it.
A stone.
Not just any stone. Something ancient. Alive. Charged.
When we returned, I spent months studying it.
Then my mother recognized it."
He paused.
"She told me it was the Sacred Stone of Vishwakarma.
A relic older than empires.
It holds the master code of creation.
The cult of Kali has hunted it for centuries—
and burned every trace of its existence."
Dhiviya's breath slowed.
Athavan kept going.
"My mother made a copy of the stone's image.
She tried to learn more.
That act… cost her everything.
The cult found her.
They killed her."
His voice cracked—not with weakness, but with rage long buried.
"Her death shattered me.
It turned me into something else.
I hunted her killers across five nations, dismantling syndicates, raiding bunkers, infiltrating warzones.
I eliminated over 300,000 mercenaries and criminals during that journey.
And only later did I understand—
They were all connected.
All because of that stone."
Dhiviya stared, frozen in silence.
"My grandfather…
He told me to fast for a year.
To mourn.
To cleanse the blood from my hands before what's to come.
Because now—now a war is brewing again."
He stood and faced the horizon.
The waterfall roared behind them, but his voice was louder.
"This stone must never fall into the hands of the cult.
They will use it to rewrite the fabric of the world.
To weaponize creation.
SoI'm building this place—AD Tech City—not just as a tech empire.
"It'll be a fortress.
A research stronghold.
A sanctuary—built to unlock the secrets buried inside the stone."
Athavan turned to Dhiviya.
His eyes, no longer just calm—were heavy with inevitability.
"Truthfully, I didn't want you to be involved in this.
I wanted you untouched.
Safe.
Far away from the shadow I walk in."
He paused.
"But you're your father's daughter.
And that means there's no escaping the storm.
You'll be pulled into this… whether you want it or not."
Dhiviya furrowed her brow.
"What do you mean?"
Athavan looked off into the distance, where the sky met the jungle canopy—torn between love and legacy.
"It's not my place to tell your father's story. He's a good man—honorable.
But his family… isn't."
"Your uncle wasn't just arrested for what he did to your family.
He was the banker for one of the largest underground mafia syndicates in Walaysia."
Dhiviya's face went pale.
"He managed their black money.
All their shadow transactions—
Weapons deals, narcotics, human and organ trafficking…
He moved funds for monsters.
He gave infrastructure to evil."
"Taking him down wasn't just a family affair.
It was an act of war."
He turned slowly toward her.
"That war was against the Gang Nagas."
"You saw the headlines.
You saw the arrests.
You saw the fall."
He took a breath.
"And now… the entire country is being swept clean.
Nationwide.
City by city.
Thousands of criminals rounded up.
It's not just coincidence."
His jaw set.
"It's my signature."