Satya and Vayunanda stood at the edge of a shattered battlefield, their bodies covered in bruises, their breaths shallow and ragged.
The Dual Gate behind them crumbled into stardust—finally defeated. They should have been celebrating. Satya was already fantasizing about a nap, a spicy biryani, and maybe flirting with someone if his legs still worked.
But the universe, as usual, said: "Not today, hero."
A deafening silence fell.
Suddenly, the sky cracked like a mirror. A cosmic symbol—an ouroboros wrapped in burning Sanskrit letters—burned into the sky.
The ground beneath their feet shifted like liquid.
"Satya," Vayunanda said, voice dangerously calm, "that's not a new Gate… it's a Loop."
"Oh, come on!" Satya groaned. "Can I not get five minutes without some hellhole sucking us in? My ass still hurts from the last portal landing!"
Before either could react, a vortex of shadows and light swallowed them.
∞ Loop - 7 Star Hell Gate
[New Dungeon: The Eternal Labyrinth — "∞ Loop"]Exit: UNKNOWNTime Elapsed: InapplicableGatekeeper: ???Tip: Pray.
They landed—violently—on a floating island surrounded by a glowing void.
Portals hovered midair, each showing a different reality: desert ruins, ancient temples, futuristic cities, one that just looked like an IKEA showroom on fire.
"Okay, I've had weird dreams before," Satya said, brushing dust off his cloak, "but this? This feels like I got drunk on mango lassi and fell into a Marvel multiverse."
"IKEA one looks promising," Vayunanda muttered. "If the chairs don't kill us."
The Infinite Trials Begin
Each portal led to bizarre challenges:
A library run by sentient books that beat them with pages whenever they mispronounced spells.
A reverse world where they were villains and had to debate themselves out of being executed.
An emotional simulation where Satya had to comfort a crying demon child by singing a lullaby. (He failed. The child exploded.)
A horror house where mirrors showed their worst fears. Vayunanda saw himself bald. He screamed.
A courtroom where they were sued by all the monsters they'd ever killed.
Each time they thought they were done, the loop reshuffled.
Time lost all meaning.
Satya began keeping count with tick marks on his belt.
438 challenges and counting.
Small Break, Big Problems
Sitting near a floating campfire on the 70th floating rock, Satya roasted a chunk of mushroom meat.
"Do you think anyone misses us back in Bharat?" he asked.
Vayunanda sharpened his blade. "I think they assume we died. Honestly, I kind of envy that version of us."
A pause.
Satya looked up at him.
"…Bro, if I don't get out of this with at least one legendary sword and a harem of cool girls, I'm gonna riot."
Vayunanda deadpanned. "Forget harem. You'll be lucky to walk straight again."
Suddenly, a giant golden sigil appeared beneath them.
[Gatekeeper Appearing.]
Satya jumped up, holding the half-burned mushroom. "Oh come on! I was mid-chew!"
The Gatekeeper Revealed
The air twisted. Gravity reversed.
From the center of the mirror lake, a child emerged—barefoot, dressed in ragged robes, glowing gold eyes with galaxies inside.
"You found me," he whispered, voice echoing in infinite tones.
Vayunanda stood still, eyes wide. "That's… not a child. That's the Gatekeeper."
The child smiled.
[Gatekeeper Form: PRIME - UNSTABLE][Stage: Judgment Spiral]
Reality bent. The lake exploded upward like shattered glass. The sky turned into a spiral of gears and stars.
The Gatekeeper split into six mirror clones, each wielding unique powers:
Sword Style
Fire Control
Illusions
Time Chains
Martial Arts
Shadow Form
"Yup," Satya muttered, cracking his neck, "it's a boss fight alright."
The Fight: Phase One
Satya lunged at the Sword clone. Their blades clashed midair with sonic booms. The clone used a Sword of Reality Cut, slicing the sky.
"Bro, why does this one fight like he's in a K-drama?"
Meanwhile, Vayunanda dodged a flurry of time chains, flickering in and out of existence.
He spun through the air and smashed his sabers into the clone, only for it to rewind and dodge backward.
"They're learning," Vayunanda said grimly. "Each clone copies us after three moves."
"Great," Satya muttered. "They're Pokémon but with Wi-Fi."
The shadow clone leapt at Satya, morphing into multiple versions. Satya fired a Phoenix Burst into the sky, vaporizing them temporarily.
"I swear, if another clone hits me from the back—"
SMACK!
The martial arts clone dropkicked him from behind.
"I hate this Gate."
Comedy Break: Almost Dying Edition
Satya: "Vayu, on a scale of 1 to 10, how screwed are we?"
Vayunanda: "Yes."
Satya: "Cool. I just needed emotional clarity before dying."
As the illusion clone made a copy of Satya dressed in a bunny suit, Vayunanda couldn't help but laugh mid-fight.
"Why does your illusion have rabbit ears?"
"WHY DOES IT LOOK BETTER THAN ME?!"
The Final Strategy
Vayunanda snapped. "No more playing. We trap the real one."
"How? There's six clones and a toddler with god powers!"
"We use his ego," Vayunanda said. "They always underestimate emotion."
Satya nodded. "Right. Let's traumatize him."
He activated a forgotten artifact: The Riddle Sigil—a puzzle they solved in a previous loop.
It expanded midair like wings, freezing space for a second.
"NOW!"
Vayunanda surged forward, twin sabers turning into light.
Chrono Fang: Thousand Cuts of Oblivion
He slashed faster than time itself. Each cut hit the core of a clone, fracturing it in slow motion.
Satya followed, creating a Phoenix Spiral Dive, slamming into the real Gatekeeper midair.
The child screamed—not in pain, but in glitchy, broken echoes.
[Gatekeeper Form: SHATTERED]
The entire realm trembled.
False Victory
[Gatekeeper Defeated.][Exiting Gate…]
Satya collapsed, bloodied but smiling.
"I swear, the moment we get out, I'm marrying a biryani."
But just then, golden chains of time wrapped around his limbs. The exit portal dissolved.
"What the—NOOOO!"
Time-Sealed World
Satya was yanked into another vortex—alone.
He crash-landed in a new world. A modern Bharat-like city. Flying vehicles, glowing billboards, yet ancient temples dotted the skyline.
But something was wrong.
There were no Hell Gates. No Systems. No memory of the past.
Satya wandered for what felt like a year.
He tried activating his powers. Nothing worked.
He tried contacting Vayunanda. Silence.
He tried eating street food. Finally, a win.
This world was a blank slate. One day, while investigating an ancient ruin, a Gate began to form again in the sky.
Satya looked up.
"No. Not again…"
Back Into the Loop
Vortex reopened. This time—he wasn't alone.
Vayunanda fell beside him, aged slightly, beard thicker, aura stronger.
"You...?" Satya blinked.
"I've been searching for you. You left during the fracture."
They hugged, briefly. Manly. Awkward. Beautiful.
Then the sky shattered again.
Final Layer of the Loop
The new realm was a fusion of all loops: futuristic cities beside deserts, floating temples above oceans, physics-defying hell beasts roaming wild.
They fought side-by-side, using all their experience: Satya blending Phoenix Runes with modern tech, Vayunanda wielding chronal weapons like a war god.
Then, in the distance, two figures appeared.
A girl in white, glowing faintly.
And a boy with mismatched eyes—one golden, one icy blue.
Satya's heart skipped.
But beside him, Vayunanda froze completely. His swords dropped.
He fell to his knees.
"…No…" he whispered.
Satya looked at him, alarmed. "Vayu?"
Tears streamed down the veteran warrior's face.
He choked, voice breaking for the first time:
"That's… my daughter…"
The white figure smiled softly.