Ten days passed almost in the blink of an eye.
For Karna, there had been little time to think about the strange gathering in Mancherial or the purpose behind Ripudhaman's yajna.
His attention remained fixed upon the responsibilities that had fallen upon him the moment he accepted the kingdom
Each day brought another matter before the royal court, another report from a vassal state, another problem that required his attention, and Karna continued putting his administration into order with the same steady determination with which he had approached every other responsibility in his life.
He continued to stay in Anga, away from his family. His wives… his children… the people of Kanipura who have him in their hearts…
Orders were sent to officials, revenue systems were examined, roads and trade routes were inspected, instructions were issued regarding the protection of villages, and the first preparations for the policies he had announced before the vassal lords were put into motion.
The kingdom had not transformed in ten days, nor could it, but the machinery of administration had begun to move in a different direction, and Karna intended to ensure that it continued moving even when he was no longer physically present in every place where a decision had to be made.
On the eleventh day, Karna finally travelled to Mancherial.
He did not arrive in the divine chariot that had become so closely associated with his presence, nor did he wear the royal garments that would have announced his identity before he even entered the town.
Instead, he dressed himself as an ordinary citizen of Anga, wearing simple clothes without royal insignia, and walked into the town while keeping the chariot outside the town, in the wilderness, and let the divine steeds graze the grass. There were no heralds before him, no royal guards surrounding him, and no banners announcing the arrival of the King of Dakshina Kalinga and Maharaj of Anga.
He had come exactly as he had said he would.
As a spectator.
The yajna was proceeding exactly as one would expect from an event that had continued for eleven days. The sacred fire burned brightly within the yajna kund;, more than a hundred priests sat around it, and their voices rose and fell together as they chanted the ancient mantras. The air was heavy with the fragrance of ghee, sacred herbs and burning wood, while the sound of the chanting carried across the gathered crowd.
Karna remained among the ordinary people, watching from a distance.
Nobody recognized him.
For a while, there was nothing unusual about the occasion.
The priests continued their rituals, the sacred offerings were placed into the fire, and the gathered people watched in silence. Even Karna found himself becoming absorbed in the solemnity of the event. Whatever his political disagreements with Ripudhaman might be, the yajna itself was a religious ceremony, and Karna had no intention of allowing his position as king to interfere with something sacred merely because the man conducting it had chosen not to attend his summons.
Then, just as the flames rose higher than they had at any point before, the light of the fire suddenly seemed to diminish.
Karna looked upward.
The sky had darkened.
A shadow spread across the heavens, and within moments, a formation of enormous winged Asuras emerged from the darkness.
Their broad bat-like wings beat against the air as they descended, their bodies clad in dark armour, their weapons already drawn.
At the forefront of them flew a massive demon warrior, his heavily muscled body covered in scarlet armour, two curved horns rising from his head and enormous bat wings extending from his back.
The chanting stopped.
The priests looked upward in alarm.
The spectators began to panic.
People stumbled over one another as they tried to move away from the yajna ground, while several of the priests hurriedly rose from their positions.
The vassal lords who had been participating in the ceremony also stood in confusion, their faces changing as they realized that this was not some ordinary disturbance.
Keshivarma was among the first to recover.
"Soldiers!" he shouted. "Shoot them down!"
The soldiers stationed around the yajna immediately raised their bows.
But before they could release their arrows, the Asura commander laughed from above.
"I heard that you lot have been conducting a yajna for days."
His voice thundered across the field.
"Good. Unfortunately, you are not going to succeed."
The Asura spread his wings and hovered above the gathering.
Somasura.
He slowly raised one hand above his head.
Dark, crimson energy began gathering around his palm.
The air itself seemed to tremble as the energy condensed, taking the shape of an enormous spear formed entirely from Asuric power. The weapon grew larger with every passing moment until it looked capable of crushing the entire yajna kund beneath it.
Somasura grinned.
Then he hurled it downward.
The spear tore through the air toward the sacred fire.
The priests screamed.
Several spectators turned and ran.
The vassal lords froze as they watched the enormous weapon descend toward the yajna kund, knowing that nothing they possessed could possibly stop it in time.
Then something flashed through the air.
An arrow.
It came from somewhere among the fleeing crowd, moving with such speed that many did not even see it until it struck the Asuric spear.
There was a tremendous burst of light.
The spear disappeared.
Not shattered.
Not deflected.
It was completely nullified.
The energy vanished from existence before it could come within even a few feet of the yajna kund.
For one stunned moment, nobody moved.
Then the panic returned.
The spectators began running in every direction, while the priests abandoned their positions and hurried away from the yajna ground. Even the vassal lords began retreating, their earlier confidence gone as they looked toward the sky and then toward the mysterious warrior who had stopped an attack that should have destroyed the sacred fire.
A figure emerged from among the crowd.
He walked forward with a bow in his hand.
The common clothes concealed his identity, but they could not conceal the way he carried himself.
The vassal lords turned toward him.
Who was this warrior?
Somasura's expression changed as he looked down.
"Hmm?"
His eyes narrowed.
Then his frown deepened.
The bow.
Even from that distance, he could recognize its nature.
A divine bow.
In the hands of a human.
Somasura stared at the man below for several moments before shouting, "Who are you, mortal?"
Karna did not answer the question.
He looked at the Asura above him and spoke calmly.
"I do not know who you are, Asura, but attempting to disrupt a yajna is a sin, and attempting to destroy one is an even greater offence."
He glanced briefly toward the yajna kund, confirming that the sacred fire remained untouched.
"There has been no damage, and today is an auspicious day for those gathered here. Therefore, I will give you a chance to leave. Go now, and I will spare your life."
For a moment, Somasura simply stared at him.
Then he laughed.
"Human!"
His laughter echoed across the field.
"You stopped one mere attack of mine and now believe that you can defeat me?"
His expression became arrogant.
"Somasura."
He spoke his own name with pride.
"The Devas and that Vishnu are truly to blame for this. They have suppressed the Asuras for so long that even humans of the late Dwapara Yuga have begun to believe that they are a match for Asura generals like us."
He raised his hand once more.
This time, the Asuric energy gathered around his palm with even greater force.
A massive mace appeared.
Somasura hurled it toward Karna.
The weapon descended with tremendous speed, tearing through the air as the earth beneath its path seemed to tremble from the force behind it.
Karna did not move from his position.
He merely raised his bow.
His fingers drew the string back with effortless precision.
One simple divine arrow was released.
It met the Asuric mace in mid-air.
There was another flash.
The mace vanished completely.
Karna lowered the bow slightly and looked up at Somasura.
For the first time, the Asura's expression changed.
His confidence remained, but there was now something else behind his eyes.
Confusion.
He had attacked twice.
And twice, the mysterious warrior had destroyed his weapons with a single ordinary arrow.