Armed with the cosmic map found inside the estate, King Rudra and his wives stepped out of the sanctuary and ventured deep into the suffocating fog of the Doom of Forest domain. The eerie, scratching sounds of the 500 million ghosts echoed all around them, but the path on the map kept them just out of the spirits' reach.
As they navigated through the gnarled, twisting trees, Isha suddenly stopped, pointing into the brush. "Rudra, look over there!"
Lying in the dirt was a half-dead woman, her breathing shallow and her clothes stained with blood. Isha's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Be careful, Rudra. In a place like this, she could easily be a ghost or a disguised monster trying to ambush us."
Rudra nodded, acknowledging the warning, but his absolute authority as a king wouldn't allow him to leave someone to die without confirmation. He stepped forward to inspect her. "How can we help her?" he murmured, looking for wounds.
Manasa frowned, stepping back. "Rudra, we shouldn't even try to help her. If we waste time here, she will just die anyway, and we risk exposing ourselves to the ghosts."
Before Rudra could make a decision, the trees shattered. A massive, majestic tiger leaped into the clearing, its eyes burning with a divine aura. This was no ordinary beast; it radiated the cosmic energy of Tapa Loka.
The tiger pinned the half-dead woman down, its jaws inches from her neck. Surprisingly, the tiger spoke, its voice deep and echoing. "This woman committed a grave sin. She stole and saved a rabbit that belonged in my mouth. What she did was wrong, correct, King Rudra?"
Rudra looked at the terrifying beast calmly. "Yes, interfering with your hunt was wrong. Please, leave her. What do you want in exchange for her life?"
The tiger's eyes flashed with a cruel, divine intelligence. "An eye for an eye, a limb for a limb. If she took my food, you must replace it. Give me your right leg, King."
"That is utter bullshit!" Uma, Rudra's eighth wife, yelled out, stepping forward furiously. "A standard rabbit weights barely 1 to 7 kg! Rudra's leg is pure muscle and divine weight, easily weighing over 15 kg! The mathematical value of this deal makes absolutely no sense. You are trying to cheat us!"
The tiger growled, ignoring Uma's logic. "The deal is absolute. Do we have a deal, or does she die?"
Without a second thought, prioritizing the life of the innocent over his own flesh, Rudra drew his blade, severed his own right leg, and threw it to the beast. The tiger took the offering in its jaws, turned, and vanished back into the fog of Tapa Loka.
The moment the tiger left, the half-dead woman burst into movement. Rushing toward Rudra with tears in her eyes, she didn't just thank him—she pulled him into a passionate kiss.
Instantly, a blinding gold light erupted around Rudra's lower body. Within seconds, his severed right leg completely regenerated, good as new.
Rudra stumbled back in shock, flexing his new leg. "What... what just happened? Who are you?"
The woman stood tall, her bloodied appearance dissolving to reveal a stunning, divine beauty. "I am Ananya, the Goddess of Tapa Loka," she announced, her voice filled with deep admiration. "I was testing your righteousness, King Rudra. You sacrificed your own flesh for a stranger. I must have you. Can we marry, Rudra?"
Isha immediately stepped between them, her face flushed with anger. "Absolutely not! No way!"
Rudra cleared his throat, holding his hand up. "Ananya... I am already married to eight wives. My heart and my responsibilities are full."
Ananya smiled beautifully, completely unfazed. "Then I will gladly be your ninth wife."
"I said NO!" Isha barked, refusing to welcome another rival into the family.
Ananya's expression turned serious, her eyes locking onto Isha. "If you marry me, I will find the absolute throne for you right now. I possess a legendary, cosmic skill called Finder. With it, no secret in this universe can remain hidden from me."
Isha crossed her arms, glaring. "And why should we believe you? How do we know this isn't another trap?"
Though Isha and the other wives desperately wanted to reject her out of jealousy, they looked around at the dark, terrifying forest and the 500 million howling ghosts. They knew their strategy had been leaked to the enemy, and time was running out. For the sake of the empire, and to secure the throne before the second wife's faction could react, Isha bitterly closed her eyes and nodded.
"Fine," Isha muttered. "For the throne... we accept."
With Goddess Ananya now joining as the ninth wife and unlocking her Finder skill, the location of the absolute throne was fin
ally within their grasp.With the deal struck and Goddess Ananya officially joining the family as the ninth wife, the immediate threat of the dark forest felt slightly managed. Ananya, looking around at the gloomy, suffocating fog of the Doom of Forest domain, turned to Rudra with a playful but curious expression.
"Before I unleash my Finder skill to locate the absolute throne," Ananya said, stretching her arms, "I want to take a tour outside this immediate area. I want to see the roots of this world."
Isha stepped forward, her voice softening as a wave of deep, painful nostalgia washed over her. "If we go outside this domain, we will find the ruins of the Golden Fun Village. Rudra and I... we were both born in that village. It was a place of joy once."
Aadhya, listening intently, nodded gently. "Tell us what happened, sister Isha."
Isha looked down, her eyes misty. "Years ago, when we were taking a train toward the Himalayas, a catastrophic demon struck. It completely destroyed our village, tearing it apart and devouring our people. It left nothing but ghosts and memories."
Hearing the tragic history of her new husband, Ananya's playful demeanor instantly vanished. She stepped closer to Rudra, her eyes locked onto his stoic countenance. Without warning, she reached out and gently placed her hand on the side of Rudra's neck. Her divine fingers traced the skin right near his collarbone.
"Wait... what is this?" Ananya muttered, her Finder skill automatically shifting into a passive diagnostic mode. She looked into Rudra's eyes. "There is something lodged deep inside your flesh right here. It feels like an ancient, cursed bullet."
Rudra didn't flinch. He looked back at her, his voice low. "An old remnant of past battles. It remains."
Ananya kept her hand restfully on his neck, her thumb softly brushing against his skin. The sheer intimacy of the gesture made Isha and Aarini's blood boil. They stood just a few feet away, crossing their arms, their eyes flashing with intense jealousy as they watched this new ninth wife act so boldly with their husband.
Ignoring the daggers being stared at her back, Ananya looked deeply into Rudra's eyes. "Rudra... tell me the absolute truth. As a King who faces 500 million ghosts, as a warrior with god-blood... what is your ultimate weakness?"
Rudra remained silent for a long moment, the ambient scratching of the spirits outside echoing through the walls. Finally, he spoke a single word. "Fear."
"Fear?" Ananya echoed softly.
"The fear of losing those I protect," Rudra explained, his voice grounding the room. "The fear that despite all my power, I might fail to save my family from the dark forces alignment against us."
Ananya smiled, a deeply comforting, divine warmth radiating from her hand directly into his neck. "Then let me give you my wedding gift, King Rudra. Using my divine authority from Tapa Loka, I will extract that cursed bullet, and alongside it, I will take the concept of fear away from your soul. I will make you truly fearless against the 500 million ghosts."
Watching Ananya stand so close, practically embracing Rudra's neck while offering to alter his very soul out of pure devotion, Isha and Aarini gnashed their teeth. The bond between Rudra and his new ninth wife was growing far too fast, setting the stage for an intense domestic rivalry even as they prepared to face th
e outer world.