4. Breaking bad
Rudra stood on the ground, gazing at the vast Himalayan mountain range. The mountains loomed large, beautiful yet perilously daunting. Somewhere within them lay a hidden path to Shambhala, though how he knew of it wasn’t a mystery; countless sages had lost their lives seeking this way, and perhaps one of them had left behind the secret. Rudra had read about it in the Dead Soul Library, a place demons had built in Patal Loka.
He scratched his arm, and an unusual amount of blood began to flow from his body. Each drop transformed into a clone of himself, creating thousands of duplicates. He commanded, “Everyone, go find the way to Shambhala.” His clones shouted in unison, “Let’s go!” In moments, they spread across the entire mountain range, their presence as abundant as snow. They searched every cave, every peak. Even if one fell, it didn’t matter—its body would dissolve into blood, and from each drop, new clones would arise.
One clone suddenly noticed a strange, irritating light. Curious about its source, he followed it into a cave. As he stepped inside, he heard the word “Ram.” Before he could see what lay within, he was instantly vaporized. A chain reaction followed, vaporizing all the other clones. Watching this, Rudra was devastated. “How is that possible? No one can destroy my clones,” he muttered, examining the last memories of his fallen duplicates.
“Oh, so there's a source of fire powerful enough to melt my clones, even on ice,” he realized as he stepped into the cave himself, approaching the mysterious light.
