Harun gritted his teeth so hard that his jaw began to ache.
His legs refused to move.
It wasn't just that they felt heavy. It felt far worse than that. The invisible pressure filling the courtroom pressed down on his entire body like a mountain that had suddenly decided to sit on his shoulders. Even breathing felt difficult. Every inhale pushed against something thick and unseen, as if the air itself had turned into stone.
Damn it…
The thought echoed sharply in his mind.
I can't move…
His fingers curled slowly into fists, nails digging into his own skin.
If I can't move… then how am I supposed to fix anything?
His mind raced wildly.
I have to fix everything.
Images flashed through his thoughts.
Mira's stone face.
Ishan frozen in place.
Kunal's statue standing motionless.
Omair leaning forward forever in a moment of protection.
And behind them
The village.
Broken houses.
Frightened people.
Aqsa's hopeful eyes.
Everything..
I have to fix everything.
Harun forced his muscles again.
His shoulders trembled violently as he pushed against the invisible force.
"Ughhhh…"
The sound escaped his throat without control.
Nothing happened.
His legs remained locked in place.
The pressure didn't even weaken.
It held him there like chains forged from the air itself.
Across the courtroom, Rehman sat comfortably behind the large wooden desk that served as the judge's seat. His posture was relaxed, almost bored, as if he were watching an uninteresting performance rather than a desperate struggle.
Then he chuckled softly.
"Huh."
The quiet sound echoed across the empty courtroom.
"Failure."
Harun's jaw tightened.
Behind him, Aqsa's voice suddenly broke through the silence.
"Big bro! You can do it!"
Her voice trembled slightly, but it carried something stronger than fear.
Belief.
"I believe in you!"
"Big bro, you can do it!"
Harun heard every word.
But inside his own mind the situation felt impossible.
His power…
The invisible pressure around him was terrifying.
This is on a completely different level.
When Raj had attacked him, it had felt violent and explosive.
When Kareena had used her ability, it had felt sharp and calculating.
But this
This was something else entirely.
This power wasn't attacking him.
It was controlling the space around him.
The air.
The ground.
His body.
Everything.
How am I supposed to move under this?
Still
He refused to stop.
Harun tightened every muscle in his body.
His arms began trembling harder.
His shoulders strained.
Veins slowly appeared across his neck as he forced himself forward.
Then suddenly he roared.
"YEAHHHHHHHH!"
His entire body contracted violently.
Muscles tightened.
Bones strained.
The invisible force pressed harder in response, as if the room itself was rejecting his attempt to move.
His face slowly turned red.
But his feet still didn't move.
Not even a single inch.
He screamed again.
"AAAHHHHHHH!"
For a brief moment
The invisible pressure inside the courtroom became visible.
Distorted waves rippled through the air like heat above burning sand, pushing down on Harun from every direction.
Rehman burst into laughter.
"Hahahahaha!"
The sound echoed loudly across the courtroom walls.
He spread his hands slightly, almost theatrically.
"In this court"
His voice carried calm authority.
"nothing happens without my permission."
His cold eyes narrowed.
"You cannot even protect yourself."
His tone sharpened.
"And yet you claim you will protect Bhouldera?"
Harun didn't answer.
He didn't even look at him.
Instead
He screamed again.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"
This time he forced even more strength into his body.
His muscles pushed harder.
His shoulders shook violently.
Every part of his body strained against the invisible force pressing him down.
And then
Something changed.
A thin red line appeared beneath his eye.
Blood.
It slowly trickled downward.
Then another.
From the other eye.
Moments later
Blood began leaking from his ears.
The pressure inside his body was becoming too much.
His entire face slowly turned darker red as blood vessels began bursting under the strain.
His fingernails dug into his palms.
Blood seeped out from beneath them.
Aqsa saw it.
Her expression broke instantly.
"Big bro!"
Tears filled her eyes.
"Please stop!"
Her voice shook desperately.
"Please stop… big bro!"
"You'll die!"
But Harun didn't stop.
He couldn't stop.
Because inside his mind one thought repeated again and again like a broken echo.
I promised.
I promised them.
Across the courtroom
Rehman stopped laughing.
His smile faded slightly.
For the first time
He looked surprised.
No one had ever pushed themselves this far under his pressure before.
Most people collapsed immediately.
Some fainted.
Some simply accepted defeat.
But this boy
Even while bleeding
Even while suffocating
He was still trying.
Harun's nose began bleeding.
Red drops slowly fell onto the cold marble floor beneath him.
His entire body trembled violently.
Inside his mind, the same thought continued repeating.
I have to fix this.
Everything.
My team.
This village.
Everything has to return to normal.
I promised.
I promised all of them.
His vision blurred.
The courtroom began spinning slowly.
The pressure grew heavier.
His body finally reached its limit.
And then
Everything went black.
Harun collapsed.
His body fell motionless onto the cold floor.
"Aah!"
Aqsa cried out instantly.
She tried to run toward him.
But the moment she moved
The invisible pressure stopped her.
Her legs froze.
She couldn't move forward.
"Big bro!"
Her voice cracked with panic.
Rehman spoke calmly without even looking at her.
"Little girl."
His tone was cold.
"I told you already."
"Do not interfere."
Still
His eyes remained fixed on Harun.
Inside his mind, a quiet thought appeared.
If only he could move…
If he actually managed to break this pressure…
The thought faded before it finished.
Because at that moment
Harun was already somewhere else.
Darkness surrounded him.
Endless.
Silent.
For a moment
There was nothing.
Then slowly
Awareness returned.
Harun opened his eyes.
The same endless dark space stretched around him again.
"Not again."
He rubbed the back of his head with annoyance.
"How did I end up here again?"
He had barely finished speaking when.
A soft white light appeared in front of him.
The same presence.
The same voice.
"Harun."
He sighed loudly.
"Oh great."
"It's you again."
The white light floated quietly in the endless darkness.
Harun stared at it with a mixture of irritation and confusion. The space around him felt the same as before an endless void where there was no ground, no sky, no direction. It was like standing inside silence itself.
He sighed and folded his arms.
"You really have a habit of appearing at the worst times."
The light flickered faintly, as if reacting to his tone.
"Harun."
Her voice remained calm.
But this time there was urgency behind it.
"You do not have much time."
Harun rolled his eyes slightly.
"Yeah, yeah. You said that already."
He looked around the dark void.
"Every time I show up here you start saying mysterious things like that."
He pointed toward her.
"So this time explain properly."
"What exactly is happening?"
The white light remained silent for a few seconds.
The silence stretched longer than before.
Then she finally spoke again.
"There are only twenty-four hours left."
Harun blinked.
"Left for what?"
The light brightened slightly.
"For Azaldera's release."
The name echoed through the darkness like something heavy being dropped into deep water.
Harun frowned.
"Azaldera again…"
He rubbed his forehead.
"That masked guy also mentioned something about that."
He looked back at the floating light.
"So what exactly am I supposed to do?"
"You must protect her."
Harun stared at the light.
"Protect who?"
The light remained quiet.
For a moment it seemed like she was deciding how much she should say.
Then she spoke again.
"If you fail…"
Her voice grew quieter.
"Azaldera will awaken."
"And when that happens…"
"Nothing you wish to fix will ever return to normal."
Harun groaned loudly.
"That's not helpful at all."
He ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
"You're telling me to protect someone without even telling me who that person is."
"How am I supposed to do that?"
He threw his hands up.
"And on top of that I can't even move my body right now."
"That judge is using some weird power."
"I tried everything and I still couldn't move."
He looked directly at the light again.
"Seriously."
"What do you expect me to do?"
The white glow pulsed softly.
Then she answered.
"Your body has already moved."
Harun froze.
"What?"
His eyebrows pulled together in confusion.
"How?"
The light flickered playfully this time.
"It's a secret."
Harun narrowed his eyes.
"That doesn't answer anything."
The light remained silent.
Then she added lightly,
"Relax."
"You're already doing what you need to do."
Harun made a face.
"Wow."
"That explanation was completely useless."
He sighed again.
"By the way, what's with you calling me here every time I pass out?"
"Is this like some kind of emergency meeting room?"
The light flickered once.
"You appear here when your mind reaches its limit."
Harun scratched his cheek.
"Great."
"So basically whenever I'm about to die."
Silence answered him.
Then suddenly
The white glow shifted slightly.
"Listen carefully."
Her voice lost its playful tone.
"You must protect her."
"This time you cannot fail."
Harun frowned again.
"You keep saying that."
"But who exactly"
Before he could finish
The entire dark space trembled slightly.
The light flickered.
"Time is running out."
Harun raised an eyebrow.
"Time for what?"
"For you."
Then suddenly—
The white light brightened sharply.
The darkness around them cracked apart like shattered glass.
And Harun's vision exploded with brightness.
Back inside the courtroom.
Something changed.
A faint glow appeared on Harun's right shoulder.
At first it was small.
Barely noticeable.
Then it grew brighter.
The Dravillian stone beneath his skin began releasing a soft white light.
The glow slowly spread across his body like gentle waves.
The blood on his face began disappearing.
The wounds closed.
The bleeding stopped.
Across the courtroom
Rehman's eyes narrowed slightly.
He felt it immediately.
The pressure he had placed on Harun was weakening.
The invisible force pressing down on the boy began cracking apart.
Like glass under pressure.
Then suddenly
It shattered.
The entire courtroom pressure vanished.
Rehman's eyes widened slightly.
"That"
The word left his mouth quietly.
Aqsa gasped.
"Big bro!"
She immediately ran toward Harun now that the pressure was gone.
She dropped to her knees beside him.
"Big bro!"
"You woke up!"
But Harun didn't move.
His body remained completely still.
His eyes were closed.
He was still unconscious.
The white light slowly faded from his shoulder.
The courtroom became silent again.
Rehman stood up slowly from his chair.
For the first time since Harun entered the courtroom
His expression had changed.
He walked down the steps slowly.
His eyes fixed on the unconscious boy lying on the floor.
"Interesting."
He stopped a few steps away.
His gaze shifted briefly toward Harun's shoulder.
Then back to his face.
"Very interesting."
Aqsa looked up at him angrily.
"You did this!"
Rehman ignored her completely.
Instead he continued watching Harun carefully.
Inside his mind a quiet realization formed.
That wasn't normal.
Something had just broken his pressure.
Not weakened.
Broken.
And whatever it was
It didn't come from the boy's muscles.
Rehman slowly folded his arms.
For the first time in a long while
He looked genuinely curious.
Because something inside Harun had just responded to his power.
And it had done so without the boy even being conscious.
The courtroom fell silent again.
But far away
In another place entirely
A glowing timer continued counting down.
24:47:12
And the clock was still ticking.