***
{Outside The Projection}
The moment the projection froze, the hall exploded into noise.
“What the fuck was that?!”
“No, seriously, what the fuck was that?!”
“His head, man. His fucking head rolled off like a—like a—”
“Like a Goddamn melon!”
“Shit, shit!—That was fucked.”
“…What the fuck did we just watch?”
“Ya’ll never heard of him before?”
An older man asked, shaking his head.
“You from the upper district or somethin’?”
“No, I—”
“That statue.”
A rough voice cut through the noise.
It was a middle-aged man with a thick beard, his scowl deep, standing not so far from Safira.
His green robes marked him as someone from one of the three main religious militias, Nasir Al-Sultan.
“That fucking statue… is one of the Twelve Great Ones.”
The murmuring stilled. Heads turned.
“You sure?”
Someone asked cautiously.
The man gritted his teeth, practically snarling his next words:
“Yes… but it’s corrupted. Defiled. This is no relic to honor. This is a blight that should have been erased.”
A ripple went through the group. A few sucked in sharp breaths. Others just nodded, grim-faced.
“Fuck yeah, it’s corrupted.”
“It doesn’t matter how strong you are; that thing could never be killed for good.”
“The way it looked at him—”
“The way it smiled.”
“The way he just—just blinked and suddenly—”
No one finished the thought.
Silence stretched, oppressive.
“Everyone… please.”
And then, all eyes turned to Safira.
She hadn’t moved since the title drop, not even during the explosions and fix job.
Safira just stared at the projection, the space where Malik’s final moment infinitely played out in her mind.
“…My Lady?”
One of her subordinates hesitantly called out.
She took a moment before answering:
“Will you allow me a few minutes of silence?”
“Y-Yes, my lady.”
No one uttered a word after that.
***
{Inside The Projection}
Malik gasped, his body jerking like he’d been ripped from the jaws of death itself.
His lungs burned, his pulse thundered in his ears, and for a moment—just a single, terrifying moment—he wasn’t sure if he was really alive.
Then a voice hit him… the same man he last killed. Cassim.
“Don’t resist, kid; we don’t wanna rough you up too much.”
Those words rang like a bell in his skull, grounding him in the present… in life.
And just like that—he knew. He was back.
Not in the cavern. Not with him… that cursed thing.
That grin. Wide, sharp, something not quite human behind those teeth.
He shuddered slightly as the memory came unbidden.
“…Hah.”
Then he let out a chuckle, which tore its way out of his throat.
“Heh… Heh—hahah… Hah-hah-hah—”
The laughter twisted, unraveling into something broken.
“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!”
The Faraja around him stiffened.
“The fuck—?”
One of them hesitated, stepping back.
Malik doubled over, wheezing, clutching his stomach like he’d just heard the funniest joke in the world. He cackled, breathless, shaking, cracking. The man’s grin wouldn’t leave his mind. It was burned into his skull, carved into each cell.
“He’s lost it.”
“Shut up.”
Malik heard their reactions and that only made it funnier.
Because, oh—if they had any idea what he had just been through.
He sucked in a sharp breath, straightened, and grinned at them.
Wide. Too wide… and yet, it died the next moment.
His blank face had returned like nothing had even happened.
“…No worries. I’m good.”
They, not knowing how to react, quickly stood him up.
This time, he didn’t try to escape. He let them grab him, cuff him, and shackle his legs.
The chains provided a somewhat strange comfort in comparison to what could have been.
“You wanna see the girl before we take you up?”
Malik paused a moment and thought about it.
Safira would be worried.
If she saw him like this, she’d feel guilty. Discover stories at My Virtual Library Empire
He didn’t want that.
“No… Just make sure she gets back safe with the others. Don’t let her see me.”
***
{Outside The Projection}
Safira silently stared at the projection.
Everyone around was looking at her for the past minute.
She didn’t move. Didn’t speak. Didn’t blink.
Her mind was empty, but her chest—her chest was a sinking, crushing thing.
Like someone had hollowed her out and filled the space with stones.
Obsession? Love? She didn’t deserve to have any of that.
She failed him… and he… he failed in his goal.
Avoid her so she wouldn’t feel any guilt?
Safira felt all the guilt in the world.
After all this time, the truth and its consequences were revealed.
A truth so ugly. A broken laugh. A blank stare. A man afraid of hurting a little heart yet not caring for his own.
Malik. Her teacher. She left him… she believed the Faraja and left him.
She believed them because a part of her expected that he was capable of doing such a thing, even though she was never shown a hint of that throughout their entire time together.
Because yes, even back then, she eventually realized that he didn’t kill Jasmine just for the sake of it; she didn’t see him as someone capable of that. So it wasn’t what pushed her.
That novel… it… it…
“Hah.”
Safira exhaled sharply, her nails digging into her palms.
“I should’ve been there. I should’ve helped him. I should’ve—”
Her voice came out quiet. Too quiet.
Layla turned toward her and showed a sad smile.
“You should stop…”
She pointed at the two below the projection, Huda and Crimson, trembling in pain.
“Or you’ll end up like them.”
Safira’s eyes widened a slight bit, only now noticing them.
The guilt.
It wasn’t just hers. It belonged to them too.
But that didn’t make it any easier to bear.
***
{Inside The Projection}
The officers exchanged glances before one of them nodded.
“Hmph. Least you got some manners, bastard. Knowin’ when to not resist.”
Malik smirked a humorless one but said nothing, not caring enough to respond.
As they walked, closing in on the boundary too far along Safira’s right, he decided to ask:
“How do you get them to back off?”
Cassim glanced at him, deciding to humor him after a blink.
“We’ve got a Holy Relic, it messes up with their senses.”
“Hmmm… can it malfunction? Or rather, not work.”
“Well, yes, but it’s highly unlikely. They need to be really mad for that to happen. Mad enough to block all other vibrations and focus on their target’s only.”
“So a suicidal charge, huh…”
Malik nodded and a thought popped up in his head.
‘Then them sticking close to me confused the worms? I doubt they’re any less mad now… Wait, doesn’t that mean I could cause another stampede if I manage to get away for a second?… Though is that even worth it? If I could kill the worms there’s no chance they wouldn’t be able to… Yeah. Escape is impossible. I—’
Cutting off his unending thoughts was Cassim’s comment:
“You know, you’re pretty lucky to have caused all that mess and only have juveniles chase after you.”
Malik paused.
“…Juveniles? Them?”
He nodded, pulling him forward by the chains.
“Yeah, juvies. The adults sleep this season. The elders though… they ain’t here. They’re upstairs, further south.”
A chuckle sounded behind them.
“What? Surprised those were kids?”
Malik shrugged his shoulders.
“I am… I’ve got another question. Have any of you ever been to the second layer?”
“…What?”
The same man scoffed.
“You got a death wish or somethin’? Ain’t nobody below Jinn goin’ down there and makin’ it back.”
Malik raised a brow.
“That bad, huh?”
“Worse. In this Nafas, the first thing down there’s a trap. Killed thousands of people.”
“Nafas, as in Zephyr’s Ascension? A trap?”
“Yeah for both. The Weeping Angels push you into some big-ass room, and inside it? A giant.”
His younger colleague chuckled nervously and added:
“I only heard stories, but they say that thing is terrifying. And undying. Even if you destroy it, it comes back after three days.”
Malik nodded, lost in thought.
“I see.”
After that, the rest of the journey passed in relative silence.
They reached the town, heading directly to Zephyr’s Ascension, skipping the queue.
Once there, the checkpoint guards barely spared them a glance—except for one who sneered at their prisoner.
“Trash like you shouldn’t even be allowed up here.”
Malik tilted his head, many thoughts going through his mind.
‘…Let’s have some fun.’
And that was what it all culminated in.
“Hey mate, can you get me out? I thought we had a deal.”