Chapter 348: The Fall Is Coming

Words : 1959 Updated : Oct 7th, 2025

Chapter 348: The Fall Is Coming *** {Outside The Projection} "..." "..." "..." "..." "..." "..." "..." "..." "..." "..." "..." "..." This turned them speechless. Truly speechless. So many things... so many things happened back to back, one after another after another after another. Concepts stacked on top of concepts. Events. Scenes. Things most never thought they’d witness, not even in dreams. They didn’t even know how to react properly. A good half of them were still stuck back on Malik’s words. The way he spoke—so long, heavy, and detailed. Describing himself as if he were looking straight into his own soul, peeling it apart for all to see. His life. His doubts. His truths. His sins. His sacrifices. His pride. His pain. His happiness. All of it. It made them pause. Was this what all Mithqals had to do...? Speak like this? Pour their entire being out in the open? Or... was this something only he did? They wanted to ask. They were ready to glance at their leaders, to whisper the question. But one look at those faces... and they had their answer. Even they didn’t expect this. It was surprising but somewhat expected; this was Malik. And everyone’s surprise didn’t stop there, not just at the way Sinbad so casually returned, as if he’d never been gone, not just at how Sinbad weaved Malik’s steps into ascending, not even at how Malik stood alone inside the void... facing a literal mithqal, a scale of existence. One that showed both his corruption and his purity. Even when IT appeared, the one thing they all knew but— Their thoughts paused midway. Forgotten. It... all of this was simply too much. And if there was anything that truly got them—anything that made them shift from stunned to something more—it was Malik’s choice. Because while watching, deep down... they all thought this was it. This was the moment that Malik finally broke. The moment he truly became the villain the world screamed for him to be. Everything... everything was set up to make it seem like it’d have gone in that direction. His tragic past. His complacencies. The Corruption. The endless sins. The line he always walked. The line between mercy and violence. It was the perfect stage for him to Fall. But no. Once again... he did the thing no one expected. Malik didn’t reject Corruption. He didn’t reject purity. He took both. He claimed both. A concept so foreign, so alien, even the boldest of Jinns wouldn’t dare lean into it fully. Everyone else... they would transcend sin. Purge corruption. Cleanse themselves. All the fancy and holy words. But not Malik. Malik didn’t run from it. Malik didn’t bow to it. He won by owning it. And oh... did he win. Because now... now he was meeting the True Sultan. THE TRUE SULTAN. ’He’ was no angel. No Malāk... an echo of one, no. ’He’ was a literal God to many of them! Someone above Rukh, above the Divine Hierarchy! An Araaf... Araaf Al-Kitab, the Diviner of THE Book! A Cosmic fucking Emperor! Now that... That was what truly stunned their leaders. Huda. Layla. Safira. Zafar. Noor. Even Azeem. All of them, jaws open and faces pale. None of them... none of them had a direct meeting when they ascended to Mithqal. They had seen a Malāk, an echo of it, a shadow, a representative... A fraction of the Divine. They had seen horror. Something that could not be described. Something that was beyond sight. But this... this way worse. This was a GOD. And this was direct. A face-to-face with GOD. That could not be stated enough. It was something they could not process. Not one bit. Not one. Only Sinbad wasn’t shocked. Because, well, he already knew. But the crowd... the Holy City... the entire world watching... Oh, they panicked. They all panicked. Because they realized something terrifying. Something that Malik had realized long ago. YOU. CANNOT. SEE. GOD. DO NOT PRY INTO ’THEIR’ MYSTERIES. Never without consequences. Even saying Malik’s name, a man near the Malāk Divine Rank brought disaster, so what of an actual Malāk? A mere whisper from a Malāk would be enough to destroy all mortal life on Fam Iblis... A glimpse of a Rukh would destroy transcended minds, shred their bodies, and erase their souls. And if they... If the crowd... If the world heard a God’s voice, death would be the smallest problem. It wouldn’t just kill them. It would Corrupt them. IT WOULD CORRUPT THEM ALL, FORCE THEM INTO DEPRAVITY, DROWN THEM IN LOTUSES, MAKE THEM FALL, AND TURN THEM ALL INTO BLACK EYES. ...All of them... millions, billions, everywhere. Fam Iblis as they knew it would cease to exist. The entire world would fall. No, this was a universal threat. They’d all be gone, done in by a single whisper. And yet... When their leaders finally calmed themselves... When their breathing slowed, when that realization truly settled... They didn’t panic. No, thankfully for them, their logic returned. They turned to each other, nodded, and without a word, Huda stepped forward. After stopping near Zafar, she turned around and stared straight at Layla, Safira, Duban, and Faqir. "That’s it! Enough waiting around, get ready. We’re destroying the Ten Commandment now. I’m getting my brother out of those chains, whether Sinbad likes it or not!" Layla glanced to her side, her eyes drifting toward Dunya and then to Sinbad. The boy who once called her sister and doted on her whenever Malik wasn’t around, even as she did nothing but bite back at him. And yet now, that gentle soul... He stood ready to kill her for doing what he would’ve done once. Her eyes narrowed, her lips pressed... then she nodded. "I’m in." Safira sighed. Malik’s... death, near death, taught her that hesitation was a form of cowardice—a hesitation she’d been living in for years. She shook her head, not this time, not again. "I am, too." Duban cracked his knuckles. He still remembered that day in the village, the day when Malik asked if he was abandoned—this was his answer. "It’s not happening again." Faqir tapped his foot on the ground, quelling his nervousness. "N-Never again." Meanwhile, Zafar stood up and casually walked up to Noor. "So... what do you think?" Noor scoffed, without even bothering to look at him at first. "I think they’re dumb. There’s no way the projection would allow it. The same thing is going to happen as last time. It’ll pause, claiming ’sensitive information’ or whatever." Zafar raised a brow. "...Ah. True." Then suddenly, his tone shifted. "By the way... random question... have you ever heard of a silver-haired old woman? Almond eyes?" The moment he said that, Noor’s eyes shot open wide. "Wait. Did you—did you actually talk to her?" "Tried." Zafar shrugged. "Didn’t get anything." Noor laughed. "You’re lucky she gave you mercy." He blinked twice and leaned forward. "...So?" "..." She said nothing. Zafar tilted his head. "...What’s the deal?" Her lips curled into a smirk. "Not telling." Zafar clicked his tongue. "Both of you are useless." "How mean~." A voice floated in, light, playful, yet sharp. Both of them froze. A loud FWOOOOOM of air pushed the air. Sinbad was gone from his spot, now standing—no, looming—right in front of her. Right in front of the Lady. The one draped entirely in black, not a trace of skin visible except her eyes, her silver hair now fully tucked away beneath layers of silk. "LEAVE." Sinbad’s voice dropped, not an ounce of his usual patience behind it. "That’s not how you treat an ’old lady~.’" She tilted her head, trying to act cute. "Must I teach you some manners?" "..." Mimicking his Elder Brother, Sinbad didn’t answer; he just stared blankly and coldly. Then, after a long while, he turned his gaze toward the far corner of the hall. "Stay if you want. But only... over there." Just then, Azeem stepped behind Sinbad, his hands resting calmly behind his back. "YOU are not welcome near MY Lord." The Lady paused. Something flashed in her eyes, but then, slowly, she nodded... turned... and walked back without a word. Huda, Layla, Safira, Duban, and Faqir all exchanged glances, then looked at her, the Lady... then glanced at the now tense Dunya, who was angrily staring at the Lady, then looked back at Sinbad. Wow... What reaction from these two... Even Dunya, who, even when hating them earlier, never showed such hostility. Was the Lady that... bad? Was she really that strong? Strong enough that Sinbad himself had to move? Strong enough that Azeem, who was almost never serious, looked like death had come? That he deemed her a threat higher than any other? A thought suddenly flickered between them all. ’If she’s with us... would we actually have a chance to free Malik?’ But before Huda could even take a step toward her, Azeem materialized right in front of her. "Don’t." His voice was serious, more serious than Huda had ever heard it before. "If she interferes... we all lose." Her lips tightened. If even Azeem... even Azeem found her that troublesome... then yeah. Best not. Reluctantly, she nodded. "Fine." Then... "Brother." Back to the main problem. Sinbad. They all turned back to face him. And Sinbad... slowly... lowered his gaze toward them. Crimson feathers ruffled. His claws scraped against the marble floor. Tension gripped the entire hall. A fight was close. Real close. Huda clenched her fists, ready, not to hurt him, never, but her brother... her older brother... She would not let him stay chained. Layla bit her lip, her hands trembled from conflict, her mind was telling her to back off, not to fight her husband’s little brother, but she had to... she had to. Safira shifted, gripping her staff tightly. She didn’t want to hurt her teacher’s little brother, but if she had to, she would. Duban and Faqir both set their stances, looking dead ahead. Malik’s little brother or not... lines were getting crossed. It was tense. So tense, the entire crowd instinctively stepped back, clearing the hall, giving them space. They knew that if a fight broke out, they’d die in moments. "I..." Huda glanced at them and then waved her arm. "I’m sorry." A gale burst from her palm. One that instantly reached Sinbad. But just as it did—BANG! Zafar appeared. His luck flared. In the last final fraction, the wind twisted. It veered off and slammed against the wall. The entire left side of the hall cracked open, its protective runes shattered, and a long gash split the marble from floor to ceiling, nearly destroying it all. One basic attack, just one, nearly felled the Holy Palace. Everyone stared. ...Their leaders were really strong too, huh? They almost forgot that fact after watching Malik wipe the floor with them for so long. Zafar blinked at the damage, then sighed, turning back to Huda. "...Nobody’s going to Fall. Remember what happened earlier? It’ll pause." ...Oh. Right. They... they kind of forgot that. Too lost in the moment. Too hyped. Thought this was finally it. Sinbad side-eyed Noor, then shifted back to the group in front of him. "I see it now..." His pink eyes narrowed. "I see your resolve. I understand what you want." His feathers fluttered. "But listen well... You will wait and watch. Watch this projection until the end. Perhaps... perhaps I’ll change my mind by then." His claws dug into the marble. "But until then... if you dare try it—" His head lowered. "I’ll kill you first... sister." "..." "..." "..." Silence. No one dared breathe. And just as that sank in... just as the tension fully hit its peak... A title burned across the dark projection. {Volume 7: The Fall Is Here.} The world trembled.

Chapter 348: The Fall Is Coming

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