The moment Harun turned, his instincts screamed—but his body failed to follow.
A streak of lightning tore through the battlefield, not like an attack, but like a verdict already decided. It didn't travel with speed alone; it carried inevitability, a force that denied reaction itself. Harun's eyes caught it, his mind understood it, his muscles even tried to respond—
—but he was too late.
The lightning rod pierced straight through his chest.
There was no resistance.
No clash.
No defense.
Just a clean, brutal passage through flesh and bone, entering from the front and exiting from his back in a violent surge of crackling energy. For a fraction of a second, everything slowed. The world dimmed, the sound of impact delayed, and Harun felt nothing—only a hollow emptiness where something vital had almost been erased.
Then reality caught up.
Pain exploded through him.
His breath shattered as if his lungs had been crushed from the inside, his body jerking violently while blood surged out from the wound in a thick, unstoppable flow. His knees nearly buckled, his balance collapsing under him as his vision flickered between clarity and darkness.
A strangled sound escaped his throat.
"…What… was… that…?"
Behind him, Aqsa's scream ripped through the air, raw and desperate, echoing far beyond the battlefield itself.
"NOOOOO!!!"
Her voice trembled uncontrollably, her entire body frozen in place as she stared at him, unable to process what she had just witnessed. The sight of Harun—standing there with a hole through his chest, blood pouring down like it refused to stop—felt unreal, like something her mind was trying to reject.
Harun lowered his gaze slowly.
The wound.
The blood.
The damage.
His heart…
Missed.
By barely an inch.
From somewhere in the distance, a voice echoed, irritated rather than shocked.
"…Shit. I think I missed."
There was a faint click of the tongue.
"I threw that perfectly. How did he survive?"
The words felt distant, almost disconnected from the moment, but they carried enough weight to settle the truth.
That attack had not been random.
It had been meant to kill him.
Instantly.
Harun coughed violently, blood spilling from his mouth now, his body struggling to stay upright as the delayed shock began tearing through his system. His muscles weakened, his breathing turned ragged, and yet—he didn't fall.
Not yet.
Because something else had arrived.
A sound broke through the chaos.
Slow.
Heavy.
Deliberate.
Footsteps.
Each step pressed against the ground with quiet authority, but the effect it created was anything but subtle. The air itself grew heavier, as if the battlefield had recognized something far more dangerous than anything that had come before.
Harun's body stiffened instinctively.
Even in his state—
He understood.
This was not Khaizar.
This was something else entirely.
From the edge of the battlefield, a figure emerged.
Anwar.
He walked forward without urgency, his posture relaxed, his gaze steady, as if the destruction around him was nothing more than a background detail. Faint sparks of electricity crawled along his body, controlled and contained, never bursting out wildly, but always present—like a reminder that his power was not something he needed to show.
And behind him—
A trail.
Drops of blood.
Falling one by one from something he carried.
Harun's vision focused slowly.
Then—
It stopped.
His mind refused to move forward.
"…No…"
The word slipped out before he could control it.
"…No… no… no…"
His breathing broke completely now, his chest tightening painfully as his eyes widened, locking onto the object in Anwar's hand.
Rehman's head.
For a moment, nothing made sense.
The battlefield faded.
The pain vanished.
All that remained—
Was that sight.
Rehman's eyes were still open.
Not wide in fear.
Not frozen in shock.
But calm.
Unbelievably calm.
Even in death, there was something steady in his expression, something that refused to collapse into despair. Blood flowed from the severed neck, dripping steadily down Anwar's arm, falling to the ground in slow, deliberate drops that echoed louder than any explosion.
"…REH…MAN…!!"
The scream tore out of Harun's throat, breaking whatever restraint he had left.
It wasn't controlled.
It wasn't strong.
It was raw.
Aqsa covered her mouth instantly, her body shaking violently as tears filled her eyes. She couldn't even scream again the horror had stolen her voice, leaving her frozen as she stared at what remained of the man who had just been speaking to them not long ago.
Anwar stopped a few steps ahead.
He glanced at the head in his hand.
As if it meant nothing.
"Oh… this?" he said casually.
And then
He threw it.
The head rolled across the ground and stopped near Harun's feet.
Harun didn't move.
Couldn't move.
His entire body locked in place as he stared down at it, his hands trembling uncontrollably. The world around him blurred again, but this time not because of injury—because something inside him had cracked.
Anwar's voice continued, calm as ever.
"Don't know why he chose to sacrifice himself like that," he said, tilting his head slightly. "He kept talking about someone… said there might be someone who could protect this place."
A faint pause.
"…Pathetic."
The memory shifted.
Not Harun's.
Rehman's.
The courtroom stood broken, its structure barely holding itself together as cracks spread across its walls like the remnants of something sacred that had already been destroyed. Dust filled the air, the silence heavy, suffocating, as if the place itself knew that justice had already lost here.
Rehman stood alone.
Wounded.
But unshaken.
Across from him
Anwar.
"You understand what's going to happen, right?" Anwar said, stepping forward slowly. "We take the vessel… Azaldera is released… and after that"
A faint smile touched his lips.
"The entire world falls under Azaldera and Gautam."
Rehman didn't respond.
His eyes remained steady.
Anwar stopped in front of him.
"You're going to die anyway," he continued calmly. "Your court is gone. Your power is useless now."
A pause.
"So I'll give you something most people don't get."
His gaze sharpened slightly.
"YOUR LAST WORDS!!."
Silence filled the space.
Rehman closed his eyes.
For a moment
He said nothing.
But inside
Memories surfaced.
Harun entering the courtroom for the first time.
That stubborn expression.
That refusal to back down even when he lost.
Then
The news of his fight against Raj and Kareena.
A boy risking everything.
Again.
And again.
For others.
Then
Their last meeting.
That moment.
When for a brief second
Rehman had seen it.
Not clearly.
Not fully.
But enough.
The reflection of that divine warrior.
Hope.
Real.
For the first time in years.
Rehman opened his eyes.
And smiled.
"I believe in him."
His voice was steady.
Stronger than before.
"And now… I'm certain."
"HE WILL PROTECT THIS TOWN HE WILL PROTECT BHOULDERA."
"HE WILL PROTECT MY PEOPLES"
"HE WILL FIX EVERYTHING!."
A faint breath left him.
"I KNOW THAT HE IS STILL YOUNG AND HE CARRIED VERY BIG RESPONSIBILITY ON HIS SHOULDER AND I KNOW HE IS STILL CONFUSED THAT HOW HE WILL MAKE EVERYTHING CORRECT."
"But that does'nt matter."
BUT I m sure that HE IS THE ONE WHO WILL DEFEAT ALL OF YOU.!!!!
His fists clenched slightly.
"I'M PROUD AND I CAN PROUDLY SAYthat this time, I Chose JUSTICE."
"That I helped the right one."
"That I told him everything about your plans and about AZALDERA."
His gaze locked onto Anwar.
"And I DONT REGRET THAT I BETRAY YOU AND I THINK IT WAS MY RIGHT CHOICE ."
"Not even once."
A pause.
Then softly
" I m gladthat after helping him."
A small smile.
"I GET TO DIE LIKE THIS"
For a brief moment
Even Anwar didn't move.
Then
Lightning.
A single flash.
And everything ended.
Back in the present
Harun's eyes shook.
That smile.
That last expression.
Burned into him
The air did not change all at once.
It tightened.
Slowly… heavily… as if something deep within the battlefield had awakened and was now pressing outward, crushing everything that existed inside it. The dust that floated moments ago seemed to freeze mid-air, the faint sounds of destruction fading into a suffocating silence that no one dared to break.
Harun stood there.
Still.
Head lowered.
Blood continued to drip from his chest, each drop hitting the ground with a soft, hollow sound that somehow echoed louder than anything else around him. His fingers trembled not from weakness, but from something far more dangerous that was building inside him.
Rehman's head lay at his feet.
Those eyes.
That expression.
That final belief.
It refused to leave his mind.
"I BELIEVE IN HIM!!"
The words echoed.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Harun's breath grew heavier.
Unstable.
His shoulders rose and fell unevenly as something inside him twisted violently, emotions colliding rage, guilt, helplessness none of them separate anymore, all merging into something darker, something sharper.
"YOU"
His voice came out low.
Broken.
But it didn't stay that way.
"KILLED HIM."
The ground beneath his feet cracked slightly.
Not from impact.
From pressure.
Anwar watched.
Silently.
Observing.
The faintest hint of interest appeared in his eyes, as if he had been waiting for this exact moment.
"Good," he muttered.
Harun slowly raised his head.
And his eyes
Had changed.
The white and black energies inside them no longer pulsed separately. They clashed. Collided. Refused to remain stable, sending faint distortions through the space around him like reality itself was struggling to adjust.
Blood still ran down his face.
But his expression
Was no longer human in the same way.
"I'mgoing to kill you!!"
There was no shouting.
No uncontrolled anger.
Just certainty.
Cold.
Absolute.
For the first time
Anwar smiled.
Not widely.
Not mockingly.
But genuinely.
"Now that," he said quietly, "sounds interesting."
He stepped forward.
And disappeared.
Not fast.
Not with any visible motion.
Just—
Gone.
Harun moved instantly.
Not thinking.
Not reacting.
Just knowing.
The Eclipse Blade formed in his hand as he swung toward his right side, the fibres along his arm tightening violently
But Anwar was already there.
Closer than expected.
Too close.
His hand moved.
Calm.
Precise.
And then
Impact.
Anwar's fist slammed into Harun's ribs with a force that didn't explode outward, didn't create a shockwave, didn't waste energy in visuals.
It was pure.
Direct.
Perfectly controlled.
Harun's body bent unnaturally from the hit before being launched across the ground, crashing through broken stone, tearing a path through the battlefield before finally stopping several meters away.
The ground cracked along his path.
Dust rose.
Silence followed.
For a moment
Nothing moved.
Then
Harun coughed.
Violently.
Blood spilled from his mouth again as he forced his body up, his muscles shaking under the strain. His ribs screamed, his chest burned, the earlier wound from the lightning rod tearing open further under the pressure.
And yet
He stood.
Again.
Anwar watched him.
"Still getting up."
A short pause.
"Good."
Because now
He stepped forward again.
And this time
He didn't disappear.
Lightning gathered around his arm.
Not wildly.
Not chaotically.
But tightly condensed, forming around his forearm like a controlled storm being held in place.
"You've got something interesting inside you," Anwar said calmly, his voice carrying through the heavy air.
In the next instant
He moved.
This time
Harun saw it.
Barely.
A blur of motion.
A streak of lightning compressed into human movement.
Harun raised his blade instinctively
Too slow.
Anwar's strike came from below this time, an upward blow that connected directly with Harun's abdomen, lifting him slightly off the ground before a second hit followed instantly, driving him back down with overwhelming force.
The ground shattered beneath him.
Fragments of stone scattered outward.
Harun's vision shook violently as the impact forced the air out of his lungs again, his body momentarily refusing to respond.
Anwar said Calmly
"Your body reacts But your control is terrible."
Harun's fingers tightened against the ground.
Blood pooled beneath him.
But his eyes
Didn't fade.
They burned.
Slowly
He pushed himself up again.
And this time
The fibres reacted differently.
The black ones pulsed harder.
The white ones stabilized.
Not clashing.
Not colliding.
But beginning
To align.
Anwar noticed.
Immediately.
"…Oh?"
Harun lifted his blade again.
There was a hint of genuine interest in his face
Harun moved.
Event Horizon Step.
The space behind Anwar distorted
And Harun appeared.
Closer.
Faster.
The Eclipse Blade came down with a sharp, controlled motion
But Anwar turned.
Effortlessly.
Their movements clashed for the first time.
Not power against power
Skill against survival.
Anwar blocked with his bare hand, lightning forming a thin layer around it, absorbing the impact without breaking. Sparks scattered from the contact point, illuminating both of their faces for a split second.
And in that moment
Their eyes met.
One calm.
One burning.
"Better," Anwar said.
Then
He countered.
Fast.
Precise.
A strike aimed directly at Harun's neck—
But this time.
The fibres reacted before impact.
They surged.
Intercepted.
The blow landed
But didn't fully connect.
Harun slid back slightly, his feet grinding against the ground as he stabilized himself, his breathing heavy but controlled.
For the first time
He hadn't been completely overwhelmed.
Anwar noticed.
A faint smile returned.
"This might actually be worth my time."