Valerius and his Crimson Cloaks charged into the square, instantly recognizing the immense danger of the ritual Kaelen was executing.
The Mass-Scryer Rune was now pulsing at 95% completion, the entire central fountain shimmering with blinding blue light. Kaelen was completely exposed, his Staff and the Codex of Echoes his only anchors.
"Contain him! Do not let him finish that rune!" Valerius shrieked, firing a quick-cast Orange Rank Binding Rune straight at Kaelen.
Elara didn't hesitate. She didn't have the power to block the spell, but she knew the weakness of the Crimson Cloaks' formation. They were trained to protect Valerius, not to spread out.
She grabbed the closest piece of debris—a broken granite paving stone—and hurled it, not at the King, but at the feet of the two lead Crimson Cloaks. The mundane action caused them to momentarily stumble, breaking their tightly synchronized protective formation.
Kaelen seized the microsecond breach in the magical shield. He poured the final surge of Codex Aether into the fountain.
With a silent, overwhelming force, the Mass-Scryer Rune completed.
The effect was immediate and catastrophic for the King's regime. Every mirror, every window, and every magical banner in the capital instantly flashed with a unified, piercing blue light.
The broadcast began. The city was flooded with the raw, undisputed evidence of Valerius's crimes:
Projection 1: A frozen image of the King, now deceased, lying in his royal chambers, accompanied by official, sealed reports detailing his sudden, suspicious illness.
Projection 2: The massive, self-destructed wreckage of the Executor in the Weeping Stone Crossing chasm, confirming its failure.
Projection 3: A close-up of the short-circuited Sunstone Aether Bank regulators, proving the ongoing destabilization of the capital's power.
The King's attempt to silence the truth was futile; the Mass-Scryer Rune was designed to be uncensorable, overpowering the entire city's magical filtering capacity.
Valerius stood paralyzed, his eyes fixed on the projection of the destroyed Executor. His carefully constructed illusion of authority collapsed around him.
"Lies! All lies! I will end you myself!" Valerius bellowed, dropping his scepter and drawing his personal, enchanted longsword. He lunged at Kaelen, driven by pure, murderous rage.
Kaelen was exhausted, but ready. He did not raise his Staff to block. He simply met the King's charge with his final, subtle Transfiguration.
"Temporal Shift, Self-Targeted!"
The effect was barely visible. Kaelen shifted his personal timeline forward by exactly 0.5 seconds. The King's charging figure—his blade mid-swing—passed through the space Kaelen had just occupied. Kaelen was untouchable, existing in a reality half a second ahead of his opponent.
Valerius, driven by momentum and rage, ran straight past Kaelen. He stopped, realizing the impossible had occurred, and turned back, his face contorted in disbelief.
"My Archmages! Bind him!" Valerius screamed at his Crimson Cloaks.
But the Crimson Cloaks were already looking away from their King. They were staring at the pervasive projections, seeing the proof of their King's treason, the death of the true ruler, and the collapse of the city's power source. Their loyalties, built on power and structure, instantly fractured.
The two lead Cloaks slowly lowered their weapons. One of them, a high-ranking veteran, stepped forward, his eyes burning with disillusionment.
"The King is dead," the veteran stated, his voice ringing with finality. "The Aether Bank is crippled. The Crown has committed treason against Eldoria." He looked at Valerius, who stood breathing heavily, defeated by a fraction of a second. "King Valerius, under arrest for high treason against the Crown and the citizens of Eldoria."
The Crimson Cloaks moved, not to defend their King, but to disarm him. Valerius, betrayed and exposed, struggled violently, but the unified will of his elite guard was overwhelming.
Kaelen, watching the King's humiliating, final collapse, knew the conflict was over. Political truth had defeated military power.