“By defeat, I mean defeat,” he said firmly. “He must be defeated permanently. That means he must be destroyed.”

I blinked. “Kill him? You think I can kill an Asura? That Asura?” This was absolutely not what I had agreed to. I turned to Chamundeshwari, who hadn’t yet said a word. “Can’t you do it?”

“Lord Vishnu says that the version of me in the real world already tried,” she replied. She had a warm, musical voice. “She was only able to banish him, which is why he’s here now. So I am afraid I could do no better.”

“No man or god can kill Mahishasura,” Vishnu reminded me. “Brahma’s boon still protects him. It cannot be revoked. We tried to subvert it once, and we failed. Chamundeshwari is a goddess who was made by gods, and thus could not truly defeat Mahishasura. We cannot repeat that mistake. You, on the other hand, are neither a man nor a god.”

“No, I’m a girl, but—”

“Yes, regrettably.”

That made me pause. “Regrettably?”

“Little girls are not very strong or powerful,” he said calmly, “and you are, unquestionably, a little girl. But that potentially also makes you the only one who can get past Brahma’s boon.”

“There are other girls here,” I pointed out. “Ashwini, for one. She would be a much better choice.”

“And if you think the right thing to do is to send her after Mahishasura, feel free to do so,” said Vishnu. “I, however, think that this world was your creation and it is therefore your responsibility to ensure its evils do not find their way back to our universe. In any case,” he added, “your friends outside this room have been trying to destroy Mahishasura. They have failed. You, however, have not yet tried.”

“But—”

He raised a hand to cut me off. “I assure you, I am sympathetic to how impossible this task must seem,” he said. “You are just a child, a girl who is more comfortable with her pencil than with a sword, and you do not have the typical qualities of a hero. But you are also the only line of defense we have between Mahishasura and the world on the other side of that tear, so you’ll have to do.”

I stood in stunned silence, my cheeks hot and red. Even Lej, I was pretty sure, had more faith in me than this.

Okay, maybe not.

“But,” I tried again, “I don’t even know how to use a sword.”

“Then learn,” Vishnu replied.

“But it makes far more sense for me to break the—”

“Stop,” he said impatiently. He didn’t raise his voice, but his tone made me go quiet immediately. “We do not have time to waste on cowardice. I trust you will do what is necessary. Now I must return to my place in the heavens. Chamundeshwari will do her best to rally the people of Mysore to assist you and your friends in the battle that is to come.”