The courtroom remained silent long after Rehman finished speaking about Azaldera.
It was not the ordinary kind of silence that existed when people simply had nothing to say. This silence felt heavier. It lingered in the air like an invisible weight pressing against the walls, the floor, the very breath inside their lungs.
Dust floated slowly through thin beams of sunlight that slipped through the tall courtroom windows. The old brown leather book still lay open on the large wooden desk between them, its ancient pages slightly curled from age. The strange symbols written across the parchment looked less like letters and more like scratches carved into the skin of time itself.
Harun stood there quietly.
For several long seconds he didn't move.
His eyes remained fixed on the floor as his thoughts ran wildly through his mind.
So the weird light was telling the truth…
The memory surfaced clearly.
The endless darkness.
The soft white glow.
The calm female voice.
"You do not have much time."
Harun exhaled slowly through his nose.
"So that means…" he muttered under his breath.
"…I really don't have much time left."
Aqsa heard him.
She didn't interrupt.
Instead she simply watched him quietly, her eyes filled with concern. She had already learned that when Harun entered this kind of thinking state, disturbing him usually made things worse.
Harun rubbed the back of his head in frustration.
"Alright…"
He let out a tired breath.
"But how the hell am I supposed to fix all of this?"
Across the courtroom, Rehman leaned back in his chair with the same calm expression he had worn since the beginning of their conversation.
He folded his arms.
"You figure it out."
Harun looked up immediately.
"What?"
Rehman met his gaze without hesitation.
"You said it yourself."
His voice was steady. Unemotional.
"That you would protect this land."
Harun's eyebrows pulled together.
Rehman continued calmly.
"Then do it."
For a moment the two men simply stared at each other across the desk.
Harun eventually looked away with a quiet sigh.
"…I need your help."
Before Rehman could respond—
"Big bro!"
Aqsa suddenly stepped forward.
Harun glanced toward her.
"Should we really be wasting time here?" she asked quickly. "Shouldn't we be trying to find the vessel right now?"
Her voice wasn't angry.
Just urgent.
Harun paused.
"…Yeah."
He nodded slowly.
"I know."
He turned back toward Rehman again.
"Rehman sir… you're strong, right?"
The judge didn't answer.
"You've been controlling this entire courtroom with your power since we walked in here."
Harun gestured toward the massive hall around them.
"That invisible pressure earlier? The one that nearly crushed me?"
His voice became more serious.
"Please help us."
He took a step closer to the desk.
"Come with us."
"Help us find the person with the arrow mark."
Rehman remained completely silent.
The judge slowly turned his gaze toward the tall windows on the far wall of the courtroom. The sunlight falling through them illuminated one side of his face while the other remained hidden in shadow.
After several seconds, he finally shook his head.
"I cannot."
Harun frowned.
"What?"
Rehman spoke quietly.
"I cannot leave this court."
Harun blinked.
"…Why not?"
Rehman's eyes remained fixed on the distant windows.
"…It is my curse."
Harun stared at him.
"Your curse?"
He stepped closer.
"Who cursed you?"
For a moment Rehman didn't respond.
Instead he slowly closed his eyes.
And when he finally spoke again…
His voice sounded tired.
Not physically tired.
But the kind of tired that comes from carrying the same memory for too many years.
"That…"
He exhaled slowly.
"…is a very long story."
For a brief moment, the courtroom disappeared from his thoughts.
And the past returned.
Thirteen Years Ago
Bhouldera had once been a peaceful land.
It wasn't rich.
It wasn't powerful.
But it had something far more valuable.
Order.
Rehman had been the one responsible for maintaining that order.
Back then he was known as one of the most respected judges in the entire region. Travelers spoke of his fairness. Villagers trusted his decisions.
Justice had been the foundation of his life.
He had believed in it completely.
Bhouldera followed an ancient tradition that had existed for centuries.
Every fifty years, a sacred phenomenon would occur.
A Dravillian Scantum would appear somewhere within the land.
When that happened, the people of Bhouldera were allowed to enter.
But there were rules.
Children were forbidden.
Pregnant women were forbidden.
Everyone else could participate.
The Scantum was believed to be a divine trial.
A place where the worthy could obtain a Dravillian Stone.
Those stones granted power.
But they were never easy to obtain.
Each Scantum contained a trial.
A guardian.
A challenge.
Only those who passed the trial could claim the stone.
For centuries the system had worked exactly as intended.
Until thirteen years ago.
Something impossible happened.
A Scantum appeared.
Too early.
Only thirteen years had passed since the previous one.
The elders immediately recognized that something was wrong.
But by then the news had already spread.
The people rushed toward the location of the Scantum like a flood breaking through a dam.
Rehman had gone as well.
Back then he was curious.
Everyone was.
But the moment he entered the Scantum, he realized something was… wrong.
There was no guardian.
No challenge.
No trial.
Nothing.
Just a massive chamber filled with faint glowing stones embedded in the ground.
Anyone could simply walk in…
…and take one.
At first the people believed it was a blessing.
A divine reward.
They took the stones and returned home.
Rehman had taken one as well.
But then something strange began happening.
Some people returned to the Scantum again.
And again.
And again.
They kept extracting stones.
More and more of them.
It had never happened before.
In the entire recorded history of Dravillian Scantums.
But greed has a way of destroying common sense.
Soon the entire town was talking about it.
People began entering repeatedly.
Taking as many stones as they could carry.
And then…
The attacks began.
Without warning.
Those who had taken too many stones began changing.
The change had not happened all at once.
That was what made it worse.
At first the people of Bhouldera believed the strange sickness spreading through the town was simply exhaustion. After all, many of those who had entered the Dravillian Scantum had returned carrying not one stone… but several. The power inside those stones was unstable, heavy, difficult for ordinary bodies to handle.
So when the first few people began complaining about headaches, trembling hands, or strange whispers inside their ears, no one panicked.
They thought it was temporary.
Something the body would adjust to.
But then the first scream echoed through the streets of Bhouldera.
It happened late at night.
Rehman remembered that night clearly.
He had just returned home after settling a dispute between two merchants. The town had already grown darker and quieter than usual in those days, because rumors about the Scantum had started spreading. People were uneasy, though no one fully understood why yet.
He had barely stepped inside his house when he heard it.
A scream.
Sharp.
Animalistic.
Not the kind of scream a human throat normally produced.
At first he thought it came from the marketplace.
Then another scream followed.
Closer.
Then another.
And another.
Soon the entire town had awakened.
Rehman stepped outside his home and saw chaos unfolding across the streets. People were running. Doors slammed open. Lanterns were lit in panic.
And in the center of the road, something was moving.
Something that had once been a man.
But no longer was.
The creature's body had twisted grotesquely. Its spine bent unnaturally, bones protruding beneath stretched skin that had turned a sickly gray color. Its arms were longer now, fingers clawed and trembling as it dragged itself forward across the ground.
Its eyes were empty.
Completely empty.
And when it opened its mouth…
Another scream came out.
The kind that made people freeze in terror.
That night was the first attack.
But it was not the last.
Within days, more people began changing.
Those who had taken too many stones were the first to fall. The power inside them had broken something deep inside their bodies.
And the transformations grew worse.
The creatures no longer resembled humans at all. Some walked on four limbs like animals. Others crawled along walls and rooftops. Their movements were violent, unpredictable, driven by something that seemed closer to instinct than intelligence.
Bhouldera fell into chaos.
Families barricaded their homes.
Shops closed.
The streets became empty after sunset.
But the monsters kept appearing.
And among them…
Was the person Rehman loved most.
It had started subtly.
His wife had returned home one evening looking pale and exhausted. Her steps were unsteady, her breathing uneven.
Rehman had noticed immediately.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
She nodded.
But her voice sounded strange.
"…Just tired."
That was all she said.
Later that night, he heard her whispering in her sleep.
At first he thought she was having a nightmare.
But when he leaned closer…
The whispers didn't make sense.
They weren't words.
They sounded more like fragments of something.
Broken sounds slipping from her throat.
Rehman felt something cold crawl down his spine.
The next morning she was worse.
Her hands trembled uncontrollably.
Her eyes looked unfocused, as if she were staring at something far away that no one else could see.
"Did you take more than one stone?" Rehman asked quietly.
She didn't answer.
But her silence told him everything.
Over the next few days the changes became impossible to ignore.
Her body temperature fluctuated wildly.
Sometimes she shivered like she was freezing.
Other times her skin felt burning hot.
And then…
The whispers started again.
Not just at night.
During the day.
She would stand in the corner of the room, staring at the wall while murmuring strange things under her breath.
Words that didn't belong to any language.
Words that felt wrong.
Rehman understood what was happening before she did.
And it terrified him.
The same thing happening to the others…
…was happening to her.
But he refused to accept it.
He refused to believe the woman he loved could turn into one of those creatures.
So when the first violent change appeared…
He made a decision.
A terrible one.
He chained her.
Deep inside their house.
The room was hidden behind two locked doors. Heavy iron chains bound her wrists and ankles to a pillar in the center of the room.
Rehman told himself it was temporary.
Just until he found a cure.
Just until the transformation stopped.
But the transformation didn't stop.
Each day she looked less human.
Her skin hardened.
Her nails sharpened into claws.
Her voice became deeper… harsher… filled with a hunger that made Rehman's stomach twist in fear.
But he couldn't kill her.
Even when the chains began shaking violently at night.
Even when the screams became unbearable.
Even when the creature that had once been his wife began begging him to let her out.
He still couldn't do it.
Because part of him believed…
Somewhere inside that monster…
She was still there.
And then the warrior arrived.
No one knew where he came from.
No one knew how he had heard about Bhouldera.
But the moment he stepped into the town…
Everything changed.
Rehman saw him for the first time standing at the edge of the main street.
Tall.
Unmoving.
He wore armor unlike anything the people of Bhouldera had ever seen before. The metal shimmered faintly with a pale silver glow, as if light itself flowed through the armor rather than reflecting off it.
A long cloak rested behind his shoulders, moving gently in the wind.
At his side hung a sword.
And even before he drew it…
Everyone could feel the power radiating from it.
The warrior didn't speak.
He simply walked forward.
The first creature appeared moments later, leaping down from a rooftop with a distorted scream.
The warrior didn't hesitate.
His sword moved once.
A single flash of silver light cut through the air.
The creature's body split in half before it even touched the ground.
Silence followed.
The warrior didn't stop walking.
Another creature lunged from behind him.
The blade moved again.
Another corpse hit the ground.
And then the slaughter began.
Over the next few days, the warrior hunted every monster in Bhouldera.
He moved like a storm.
Silent.
Precise.
Unstoppable.
The creatures that had terrorized the town for weeks were destroyed one by one.
Some tried to flee.
Some tried to fight.
None survived.
People began calling him a divine warrior.
A messenger sent by the heavens to cleanse their land.
Rehman watched it all happen.
And every day the same fear grew inside his chest.
Because the warrior had not yet come to his house.
But eventually…
He would.
And when that day came…
The creature hidden in the locked room beneath his home…
Would be discovered.
The night it happened, Rehman heard the footsteps.
Slow.
Calm.
Approaching the door of his house.
The warrior did not knock.
The door opened.
Rehman stood frozen in the middle of the room as the armored figure stepped inside.
For a moment neither of them spoke.
Then the warrior looked at him.
His voice was quiet.
"Where is it?"
Rehman's heart pounded violently in his chest.
"…What?"
The warrior's gaze remained steady.
"The creature."
Rehman felt the world closing in around him.
"…There is nothing here."
The warrior walked past him.
And stopped at the hidden door.
Rehman's blood turned cold.
The warrior reached forward.
And opened it.
The hidden door opened with a slow creak.
The sound echoed softly through the quiet house, but to Rehman it felt like thunder exploding inside his chest.
Behind that door lay the room he had hoped would remain hidden forever.
The warrior stepped forward without hesitation.
Rehman moved instinctively, grabbing the warrior's arm.
"Wait."
The word escaped his mouth before he could stop it.
For the first time since entering the house, the armored man paused.
He slowly turned his head.
His eyes were calm.
Too calm.
Rehman's throat felt dry.
"There is… nothing there," he said weakly.
The warrior studied him for a moment.
Then he gently removed Rehman's hand from his arm.
"You know that is not true."
His voice carried no anger.
No judgment.
Just certainty.
The warrior stepped through the doorway.
Rehman followed behind him, his heartbeat hammering violently in his ears.
The room was dark.
Only a faint lantern hung from the ceiling, its light swaying slightly with the movement of the door.
The chains rattled immediately.
The creature sensed them.
The moment the warrior entered the room, the monster jerked violently against the chains.
Its body had twisted beyond recognition.
What had once been a woman now crouched on all fours like a starving animal. The skin across her back had hardened into dark plates that looked almost like armor. Her fingers had lengthened into curved claws that scraped against the stone floor whenever she moved.
But the worst part was her eyes.
They still held fragments of humanity.
Just enough to make the sight unbearable.
The creature snarled when it saw the warrior.
A deep, broken sound that didn't belong to any living person.
Rehman stepped forward desperately.
"Wait!"
The warrior didn't draw his sword yet.
He simply observed the creature silently.
"She can still be saved," Rehman said quickly.
His voice shook.
"I'm working on a cure."
The creature suddenly lunged forward, chains snapping tight as it tried to reach the warrior.
The sound it made this time was louder.
More violent.
Its jaws opened unnaturally wide as it hissed through sharp teeth.
The warrior's expression didn't change.
Rehman stepped in front of him.
"Please."
For the first time, the warrior looked directly at him again.
"There is no cure."
The words felt like knives.
Rehman shook his head violently.
"You don't know that!"
"I'm a judge of this town. I will find a way."
Behind him, the creature screamed again.
The chains rattled violently.
The warrior's gaze softened slightly.
"She is already gone."
Rehman's hands clenched into fists.
"No."
His voice cracked.
"No she's not."
The warrior slowly reached for the sword at his side.
Rehman grabbed his arm again.
"Don't."
The warrior stopped.
For a moment neither of them moved.
Then the creature spoke.
Not in a scream.
Not in a growl.
But in a voice.
Broken.
Barely human.
"…Reh…man…"
The sound froze both men in place.
Rehman's entire body trembled.
"See?" he whispered desperately.
"She's still there."
The warrior's eyes remained fixed on the creature.
Then the creature lunged again.
This time the chains broke.
The metal snapped like brittle twigs.
The monster launched itself forward with terrifying speed.
Rehman barely had time to react.
The warrior moved first.
His sword left its sheath in a single fluid motion.
A flash of silver light cut through the darkness.
The creature stopped mid-air.
For a moment everything was silent.
Then the body collapsed to the floor.
The room became completely still.
Rehman stared.
His mind refused to accept what his eyes were seeing.
The creature that had once been his wife lay motionless on the stone floor.
The warrior lowered his blade.
And in that moment…
Something inside Rehman shattered.
The trial took place three days later.
Rehman summoned the warrior to the courthouse.
The armored man came willingly.
He believed in justice.
He believed in the law.
The courtroom had been full that day.
Villagers filled every seat.
They all respected Rehman.
They trusted his judgment.
The warrior stood calmly in the center of the room.
He didn't resist.
He didn't argue.
Rehman sat behind the judge's desk, staring down at the man who had killed his wife.
The rage inside him burned hotter with every passing second.
"You executed someone without trial," Rehman said coldly.
The warrior remained silent.
"You entered a private residence and killed a citizen of Bhouldera."
Still no response.
"You claim you were protecting the town."
Rehman's voice rose slightly.
"But who gave you the authority to decide who lives and who dies?"
The warrior finally spoke.
"The monsters were killing your people."
Rehman slammed his hand against the desk.
"She was not a monster!"
The courtroom fell silent.
The warrior looked up at him.
"Yes."
The single word echoed through the room.
"She was."
Rehman's vision turned red.
He raised his hand.
And activated the power of his Dravillian stone.
Invisible pressure filled the courtroom instantly.
The warrior's body froze.
Chains of force wrapped around him from every direction.
Gasps filled the room.
People had never seen Rehman use his power like this before.
"You trusted our laws," Rehman said slowly.
His voice trembled with fury.
"You believed justice would protect you."
He stood from his chair.
"And that was your mistake."
The warrior struggled against the invisible force.
But inside the courtroom…
Rehman was absolute.
No one could resist him here.
The blade of execution descended.
And the divine warrior died.
But death did not silence him.
As his body collapsed to the floor, the warrior lifted his head one final time.
Blood ran down the corner of his mouth.
His eyes met Rehman's.
"You have abandoned justice."
His voice was weak.
But every word carried weight.
"This court… will become your prison."
Rehman felt something cold run down his spine.
"You will never use your power outside this place again."
The air trembled.
"And Bhouldera…"
The warrior's breathing slowed.
"…will live in fear."
Rehman stood frozen.
But the warrior wasn't finished.
"If I ever return…"
His voice faded slightly.
"…and this land still chooses injustice…"
"…Bhouldera will fall forever."
Then his eyes closed.
The warrior's body went still.
And the curse took hold.
The memory faded.
The courtroom returned.
Rehman slowly opened his eyes.
"…That is my curse."
The room was silent.
Harun stood there quietly.
Aqsa stared at the judge with wide eyes.
For several seconds no one spoke.
Then Harun scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"…That's rough."
Rehman looked at him.
"That is why I cannot leave this court."
He leaned back in his chair.
"But I will try to help you."
Harun nodded slowly.
"Alright."
He turned toward the door.
But as he began walking away…
Rehman suddenly froze.
For a brief moment…
Something appeared beside Harun.
A faint figure.
A man clad in shining armor.
A long cloak flowing behind him.
A sword resting calmly at his side.
The same warrior.
The same one Rehman had killed thirteen years ago.
The divine warrior stood silently beside Harun.
Watching him.
Rehman's eyes widened.
And for the first time in years…
He felt something inside his chest that he thought had disappeared forever.
Hope.