Ritual Of The Dead

The complete story goes like this.

Narasimha, having a human torso and lower body, with a lion face and claws, is a deity known as the 'Great Protector', who specifically defends and protects his devotees in times of need.

The objective of Lord Vishnu's Narasimha incarnation was to save his devotee, Prince Prahalada, from the demon king and his father, Hiranyakashipu.

Even after killing the demon king, his anger didn't subside and he wreaked havoc throughout the universe.

By foreseeing the negative outcome of this, other Gods and Sub-Gods sought help from Mahadeva, who then decided to take the Sharabha form to pacify the angry Narasimha and convert Lord Vishnu to normal.

The colossal Sharabha outclassed him in both structure and power. Then Sharabha lifted Narasimha with its long tail and was about to throw him. Narasimha finally realized that, and prayed to forgive him with beautiful epithets, later known as Ashtothra or 108 names of Lord Shiva.

How could I forget about that mana beast in pitfall?

He is the inactive form of the Sharabha, the guardian beast of this forest. And he would not let the mass slaughter of innocent beasts by this lion man slide.

As the shockwaves reverberated through the forest, a sense of dread gripped both the talking beast and me. The ground trembled beneath our feet as the approaching presence drew closer with each passing moment.

The talking beast's eyes widened in disbelief, a mixture of fear and uncertainty flickering across its face. It seemed to recognize the significance of the incoming entity, perhaps realizing the grave mistake it had made.

And then, emerging from the dense foliage and breaking the barrier, came a sight that sent shivers down my spine and silenced the forest with its majestic presence.

Lord Sharabha, the mythical guardian beast, stood before us in all its awe-inspiring glory. A magnificent fusion of lion and bird, with eight powerful legs and wings that spanned the sky, it exuded an aura of ancient wisdom and indomitable strength.

The talking beast, realizing the gravity of its actions, took a step back, its defiance giving way to apprehension in the face of such overwhelming power. Even I, despite my desperate situation, couldn't help but feel a sense of reverence in the presence of this divine creature.

After glancing at the lion man and the corpses beside it, the guardian beast spoke up.

"Why have you disturbed the peace of this sacred forest?" His voice boomed, echoing through the trees and reverberating in the depths of our souls.

"O, the Great Guardian, I am merely protecting my follower."

"By killing these innocent beings?"

"They were a threat."

"Whether they were a threat or not, you have committed a grave mistake by causing imbalance in this ecosystem. Prepare to be eliminated."

"....."

Upon hearing that threat, the lion man jumped towards the guardian beast declaring war against him.

However, for me, I was dumbfounded in this situation. Yes, I threw such lines like Sharabha was created to pacify Narasimha, but this doesn't make any sense.

I mean, evolution is not something that can happen within a few hours.

When a beast is to be tamed, the tamer gives his/her blood to the beast to drink and after that it is a battle of mental strength. If the tamer has greater mental stability it can gain control over the beast.

I was planning on using the inactive form of this guardian beast, as it had already sucked by blood.

But that inactive form converted to this colossal form just within a few hours? Was that sedative a mutagen or what? (Mutagen : Mutation causing agents)

Still, are they seriously going to fight? This whole area would be blown away if that happens.

No, on the contrary a barrier was created where they both were fighting. Maybe the caster was the guardian beast.

After that I was not able to see what happened inside that barrier. 

So, I thought about taking my leave.

As I started to run, the split body of the lion man went flying and fell in front of me, blood flowing from it.

And the colossal guardian beast stood firm looking at the body of the lion man.

Lion man mumbled, "...C-Couldn't protect anyone....."

With that he closed his eyes and took his last breath.

Barriers are distortion in space time. So, I can't even imagine how much time had passed inside that barrier during this fierce battle.

[Remaining Time : 11hrs 02mins 10s]

***

Yes. The God of luck is definitely on my side today.

First I was saved from the lion man by the guardian beast of this forest himself.

Then, I am getting a free ride on him?!

I don't know the reason why he is helping me, but that is not important right now. I would think about that later.

The most concerning matter is Harald's safety now.

The fact that such a powerful beast was obstructing any outsider from entering into this place means its safe to assume that my opponent(s) is/are as strong as him.

It can't be the work of mere terrorists. 

Agh! This is just getting more complicated now! Who the hell is messing with this scenario!?

By the way, it didn't even took a minute to reach the pointed location with the help of the guardian beast.

Well, what I saw at that point was a typical horror movie type, abandoned castle.

"I can't thank you enough for your help, O the great guardian. Now if you will excuse me."

As I was entering the castle, the guardian beast turned into an adult male with a strikingly handsome face and a well toned body, dressed up like a monk.

"I am also coming with you. I can feel the sinister mana around this castle."

"But-"

"My job is to establish peace in this sacred forest. So this is also of my concern. Besides....."

Besides?

"No never mind. Anyway, I would help you if you get into trouble during your journey. So rest assured and follow my lead. You want to save your friend, don't you?"

"Yes, thank you very much."

I had briefly explained my situation without revealing too much to him.

I really appreciate his help. Still why are all the people I meet in this forest too friendly towards me, except that lion man?

For the time being, I accepted his help and we both got into the castle to search for Harald.

[Remaining Time : 10hrs 58mins 29s]

***

We are trapped.

This castle consists of 4 floors.

We searched throughout the first 3 floors, but found literally nothing except outgrown creepers and climbers of weeds.

But when we tried moving to the last floor using stairs, we looped back to the previous floor. 

Basically, this was like an infinite loop.

"I am well-versed in space-time technique, but the problem is time."

"Meaning?"

"...This is a little complex even for me. To unwind this distortion in space I have to use a time taking spell. However, the flow of time is slower inside this loop. That implies several hours would have passed outside until I complete my spell."

"How much time the spell casting would take?"

"Hmm... Probably an hour. I am not sure about the proportion though."

Proportion, here, would mean the ratio of time passed here and outside with a fixed convention. 

He said a few hours, but this panel is showing that the remaining time left is less than 10 hours.

"Isn't there any faster way? Like running in opposite direction?"

"No, that wouldn't work here. I can't think of any other method too."

Then I can only hope for it to be within those time limit. 

Sh*t!

Harald is a very important character in many of the scenarios. If he dies here, then not only I would fail to complete the tasks, but also the future of this world would be in danger.

Looking at my troubled face, the guardian beast in the human form, started casting the spell.

Meanwhile, I prayed to the God of luck to let us make it within time.

However ...

***

[Remaining Time : -14hrs 53mins 48s]

Damn it!!! 

We failed. Harald must be dead by now.

The spell indeed took less than a hour, but outside, 24 hours had already passed.

As I stood there motionless, the guardian beast looked at me with sympathetic eyes and spoke up.

"Don't lose hope yet. Now that we have made it to the last floor, we should search for your friend ."

Yeah, of course he would think like that. He can't see this panel after all.

.

.

.

Wait a second. Panel?

If the time is up, then why is this still here? What does that mean?

Harald's life force would have been depleted if what the system told is true.

Then is he not dead yet?

I felt a glimmer of hope and started searching for all the rooms in that floor.

They were a little less shabby as compared to the other floors indicating human movement.

As we both entered the last room beside a large window, the scene startled me.

There were large and intricate magic circles all over the room. At one corner, a middle aged man wearing a cloak and some weird ornaments with a skull symbol was sitting while his eyes closed.

On the other side of the room, we saw a young boy with tattered clothes lying on the ground.

A panel lit up over his head.

[Name : Harald Peterson

Age : 16]

At the same time, the guardian beast looked at it with a grim expression and exclaimed, 

"This is .....Ritual of the dead?!"