Fate changed tactics.
When pressure failed, it reached for doubt.
The challenge arrived in daylight, carried not by armies but by voices—loud, coordinated, carefully amplified.
A conclave of priests, nobles, and self-proclaimed moral authorities gathered at the capital's outer square, banners raised high.
"You rule without mandate!"
"You bend dharma to your will!"
"No man commands destiny!"
The system registered escalation.
—
[Legitimacy Challenge Detected]
[Source: Narrative Correction Attempt]
—
Rudra watched from the palace balcony.
He did not order arrests.
He did not silence them.
He walked down.
Alone.
The crowd quieted as he stepped into the square.
"You question my right to rule," Rudra said calmly.
The priests stiffened.
"We question your interference," one declared. "Kings are bound by tradition."
Rudra nodded.
"Then let tradition speak."
He removed his crown.
Gasps rippled.
He placed it on the stone steps and stepped back.
"I will not defend my rule with power," Rudra said evenly. "If I have ruled wrongly—take it."
Silence fell.
The system froze.
—
[Karma Decision Point]
[Outcome Dependent on Collective Will]
—
No one moved.
Then—
A farmer stepped forward.
"You stopped the bandits," he said simply.
A merchant followed.
"You broke the hoarders."
A soldier.
"You walked with us."
An old woman.
"You listened."
Voices rose—not shouted, but steady.
The priests retreated.
Rudra waited.
When the crown was returned to his hands, he did not smile.
The system finalized the outcome.
—
[Legitimacy: Absolute]
[External Correction: Failed]
—
Bhairava stirred.
Rudra suppressed it.
Not out of fear.
Out of choice.
Devika watched him from the edge of the crowd.
"That," she said later, "was more dangerous than any war."
Rudra nodded.
"Yes."
The kingdom had spoken.
Fate had lost ground.
-- chapter 21 ended --