Manithan Vaanam

After recuperating from the foggy rage, the party continues their trek through the forest, traversing the brambles. An hour passes and the sun begins to set when a distant chant is carried to them by the wind. The group sprints, wanting to reach the chanters swiftly. Slowly, the mantra becomes clearer: Maranam, indhiri, vaalu, which Aadhi, Bhavannan, and Haavani can interpret. As they stumble through the woods, they are a mixture of stealth and commotion, creating more noise than quiet. Aadhi falls, the crash silencing the chants. She picks herself up, and they keep moving, finally reaching a clearing where a massive black-stone shrine stands, an idol of the Raatchi Raasa reaching towards the stars.

Next to the carved horns, an unconscious monkey—apparently Anjan—hangs in a net tied to a tree. On the other side of the altar, a female monkey lays on the dirt, unconscious as well. Before the party is able to rush to either monkey, five skeletons appear in front of them, reanimated from the bones in the soil. They block the group and battle ensues. Bhavannan and Shwari hack at them, cleaving them down. However, right when an opening emerges, three soonyam mages emerge from the woods. They stand near the monkey laying on the ground, and, as one reanimates five more skeletons, another mage stabs the monkey in the sternum and the third casts Web on the group. The mages then continue their chanting, circling around the wounded monkey. The fight rages on, Bhavannan and Shwari reckoning with the skeletons and Aadhi casting spells upon the mages, slowing their ritual down. At one point, Aadhi fears a mage into running away, though they soon return. As the skeletons block any escape, Haavani, after failing to harm them, calls upon the divine power of Veyyon, the sky dropping orbs of pure sun onto the skeletons, erasing all traces of undead from within. She yells "Thiruppi pongey" as all but two skeletons collapse into ashes. The other two burn from within still, the pure light illuminating from their ribcages. Bhavannan and Shwari take this chance and sprint, Bhavannan towards the net and Shwari towards the remaining mages. Shwari kills the first mage, stabbing with her dagger; Aadhi kills the second by slamming magic missiles into them; and Haavani does the last, a sacred flame catapulting into their chest. Their ritual is stopped midway, and the remaining skeletons collapse, never to live again.

Haavani immediately runs towards the bleeding monkey, healing and closing the wound. Bhavannan, having rushed towards the hanging net, starts climbing the shrine. However, when he gets to the horns, his foothold fails and he falls, thudding into the ground. After watching him fail, Shwari climbs the altar and succeeds, proceeding to cut the net from the branch. Bhavannan stands underneath the net, preparing to catch it—yet fails to do so as well, the monkey crushing Bhavannan to the floor. Bhavannan recovers from the crash, and Shwari cuts the net, releasing the monkey. The monkey then removes his gag, and, as he frees himself, the party recalls the events of the day, the phrase "maranam, indhiri, vaalu" whirling through their heads.