***
{Outside The Projection}
Hours had narrowed into a point.
It had all passed so quickly without them even realizing it.
They were too focused on themselves, missing many a revelation and truth from the projection, as they only glanced at it in between breaths.
During that very long but short ti, so of the crowd had snuck out of the hall, trying their best so as to not be heard.
They did not want to die, unwilling to stand in the middle of Fate.
Their montum was lost, as was their adrenaline, making them think objectively.
Objectivity made them see what was possible and what wasn't.
It forced them out of the tide and into individual thought.
'Thought' that had them prioritize their own lives.
But surprisingly, most of them stayed, even after their logic ca into play.
They stayed because they loved him, because they hated what he'd beco, because they were tired of running, and because they learned of his courage, so stubborn, stupid, and real.
Rather, more had co in the hall than went out.
A lot more, all wanting to see this through to the end.
An 'end' that seed to be sure death, as even then, Safira's expedition had yet to co back. So even if they sohow managed to break this Ten Commandnt, Malik would still die, his Corruption completely taking over.
Even worse, Sinbad might interfere. Though he'd permitted them to prepare; he didn't actually tell them he'd allow the attack without the Holy Relic that would ensure Malik's humanity.
They NEEDED the expedition to co; otherwise, this was a lost cause.
But... even if it were a lost cause, none of them had backed down.
With Layla at the lead, they took their attacking stances.
Staffs and blades in hand, they pointed them at Malik.
They could see his skin and body start to crack; each fissure leaking a light.
…There was barely any ti left. If they wanted to save him, they had to act now.
Whoosh!
Sinbad, not permitting that, stepped forward and floated before them.
Again, HE WOULD NOT ALLOW HIS ELDER BROTHER TO DIE CORRUPTED.
If they wanted to attack, they'd have to go through him.
That was the rule he'd set for them.
And so… for a few incredibly tense monts of silence…
The hall had grown into a deeply condensed pocket of Aether.
If a mortal ever set foot in this place, they'd be crushed flat in a fraction.
Thankfully, the marches were still far from reaching the Holy City, giving them more than enough ti to go through with this attack without worry.
An attack that'd have to kill Sinbad to complete its goal...
"Fine."
It was a sacrifice that Layla seed willing to make.
"Don't bla for this."
She raised her staff high.
"ATTTTTAAAAAAAAAAACCCKKKKKK—"
"STOOOOOOP!"
The shout cut through her battle cry.
For one loud heartbeat, everyone froze, muscles locking up.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Footsteps in their thousands thundered through the ground as Magi ca pouring in.
It was the expedition.
Safira, Duban, Faqir, Zafar, Nasir Al-Sultan, and ragged, sweating Jinns.
They seed utterly exhausted, faces washed with both panic and triumph.
"The Hero's got the Holy Relic!"
Those words ca from one of Zafar's yes-n.
They fell like a mountain, and everyone imdiately began to act, not needing the order.
While they did so, Sinbad looked at Zafar, and Zafar looked back at him.
""Hm.""
They nodded at each other with nothing but respect.
"There's no ti. ATTACK."
Saying that, Sinbad disappeared and reappeared right next to Scherezade.
Given permission;
"NOOOOOOOOOOOWWW!"
Layla let out a roar of war.
She moved first; her ultimate spell unleashed.
"Guillotine Of Death!"
Above her, a purple scythe materialized, the shape of everything she had lost ford from the pure death within her.
It descended directly onto where the chains holding her once-husband originated from.
The very splits of reality that tethered his soul to whatever Law imprisoning him in this cold.
On impact, Aether was forced to spill out in an incredibly massive gush.
That attack alone had sliced the Holy Palace in half.
The sounds that it made were nothing more than snaps.
Laws within the hall began to collapse, revealing just how strong her attack was.
It had taken everything out of her, and yet she didn't fall.
Each millisecond she held on weakened the Holy Relic.
Layla couldn't fail again, not here.
Malik was the love of her life, and he had taught her most of what she knew.
He was the one who showed her the real world, who revealed to her how cruel love can be and how one could control their own Fate, training her to be near him in strength, if even a little.
He was the father of their little girl, and he was the only one for her.
Her soulmate.
When her scythe swung, it cut for him, for herself, for Rehan, for her people, for the place where love had been rearranged into duty, and for the little hands that never reached for her.
She needed him alive so she could teach him compassion.
She wanted him punished so he would finally be human. Yes...
LAYLA WOULD NOT LOSE HIM HERE.
"Rukh."
Next to her struggling figure, crimson hair flew up, air bending around delicate hands.
They were Huda's, and she, who floated much like her uncle always did, called a Roc into being, where millions of compressed breaths layered over each other, forming a massive construct.
Her attack almost imdiately went forth, aid straight at the chains wrapped around Malik's chest.
When the Roc hit, it nearly punched a hole through space.
SNAP!
It destroyed everything behind her big brother, flinging off much of the hill the Holy Palace was built on.
Malik... Malik had given up on her like Sinbad did, but she knew the truth.
Even if she had let him down too many tis, abandoned him, and had gone against him, at the end, it never really mattered to him; he still loved her, and she more than loved him.
He was her big brother!
And the two words 'big brother' always opened a way through her!
It opened a way for her Roc, as it, with a hulking Will, had found a crack in the chains!
"Indomitable Life."
Unlike what one might expect, especially when compared to her contemporaries, Safira didn't have finesse.
Her fighting style was much like her teacher's, extrely brutal and efficient.
Though not given the ti to prepare an attack, she was more than ready.
She had pure force, and she planned to abuse it much worse than ever before.
Her entire body beca a machine of repetition—destroy, rebuild, destroy again.
All these thousands of rebuilds were for one incredibly condensed punch, generating enough force that even Malik might struggle to control.
The attack was killing her, yet before anyone could even notice...
SNAP!
Such an impossible force had shot out of her all at once.
A punch that tore through everything.
The entire Holy Palace began to collapse! This update is available on novelꜰire
And, of course, her body collapsed alongside it.
Indeed, Malik was once her teacher; she was his disciple.
He knew of her peculiar nature, her... unique personality, yet he was still there for her; he was always there for her, protecting her even at the cost of his own life.
She only wanted to repay the favor to the man she so adored.
Even if she embraced death as a consequence.
But Safira...
She never knew that it could feel this warm.
"Solomon's Ring..."
Azeem's soul ached as his final ring glowed black.
It was his strongest ring, a one-ti-use Holy Relic that demanded much in return.
His body bled as his eyes turned completely black, his presence increasing manyfold.
He... he had joined his Lord.
Fallen; his hourglass full.
But it wasn't for nothing.
At this mont...
He was no weaker than Sinbad.
An Eternal Spellcaster.
"Dark Sun."
The world shrank to one target.
His black ring devoured his nine other elents.
Then, without pause, he jumped up high and punched out with his right fist.
Snap!
His left ca after, and he continued it with a kick, lifting himself up further, before ending it with a final landing stomp with his right leg.
Snap! Snap! Snap!
Those four strikes all happened in under a mont, sound itself being swallowed by the end.
Each one had shot his ten elents at every chain attached to his Lord.
The damage was absurd, cracking every chain that it landed on, but not only that...
Azeem had demolished absolutely everything around them, even the falling roof above.
Malik, his beloved Lord, might've hidden much from him; even now, his chest never stopped hurting when he rembered Badroulbadour, but he... his Lord always had his best interest at heart, even if it was twisted so very wrongly.
Never had Malik felt indifferent towards Azeem, stealing parts of him and giving him better parts back.
This... this Fall was the census of his thanks.
Azeem could not allow his final service to such a man to be a betrayal.
He had to save him, even at the cost of his own humanity!
A 'cost' that had sent him to the ground, barely conscious, his marred face being lit up by what ca next...
"Ancient Rune..."
For a white haired, dark-skinned man released his ultimate attack.
Zafar, thousands and thousands of runes dominating the air around him.
They were no longer ssy but brilliant, forming complex spell after complex spell.
All had conjoined into one massive spell with multiple layers that trembled Aether itself.
Of course, there were mistakes here and there in a few runes, but thanks to his Blessing, no chip was on his shoulder, and it all went flawlessly, creating a masterpiece of design.
"Path of God."
As Zafar lowered his right hand, a light materialized in the sky.
It shot through the clouds, parting them, and fell through what remained of the roof.
Everything in its path dissolved until it landed directly on the chains around Malik's ribs.
SNAP!
For a breath, he hesitated, thinking his attack was to topple his Lord before quickly clutching his hands into fists, shoving that thought away, and forcing the light to pulse even harder.
Zafar didn't exactly have the best relationship with Malik.
They started as enemies, even though it was one-sided, as most things were with Malik, but now, without the man's knowledge, Zafar had completely submitted to him, acknowledging him as his teacher, as his Lord, the one who changed his perspective on life itself.
At least, for that, he'd repay him.
And that... he did.
Finally...
A chain broke.
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