The courtroom remained quiet for several seconds after Rehman finished explaining the strange line from the ancient book. The brown leather volume still lay open on the desk between them, its old pages slightly curled at the edges, as if time itself had been slowly eating away at them for centuries. Strange symbols covered the parchment — crooked marks that looked less like writing and more like shallow scratches carved into the surface by a careful blade.
Harun stared at the page for a long moment.
The words Rehman had translated echoed inside his head again and again.
The vessel will carry a mark upon the shoulder.
He exhaled slowly and straightened his posture.
"Alright… wait a second," Harun said.
Rehman raised one eyebrow but didn't interrupt. Aqsa looked between them, clearly confused but trying to understand what was happening.
Harun tapped his own shoulder lightly.
"If the vessel has some kind of arrow mark on their shoulder, then the easiest thing we can do right now is check the people already here."
Aqsa blinked.
"Check… what?"
"Our shoulders."
Rehman leaned back in his chair with an annoyed sigh.
"This is pointless."
But Harun had already stepped toward Aqsa.
"Relax," he muttered. "Just checking."
Before she could properly react, he carefully pulled aside the edge of her sleeve and glanced at her shoulder.
Aqsa stiffened instantly.
Her face turned bright red.
"B-Big bro! What are you doing?!"
Harun ignored the protest and looked closely for a second.
Nothing.
No arrow.
No strange mark.
Just normal skin.
"…Alright," Harun said quietly as he stepped back.
Aqsa immediately fixed her clothes and glared at him, still flustered.
But Harun was already turning toward Rehman.
"Your turn."
Rehman looked completely unimpressed. For a moment he didn't move at all, as if silently judging Harun's intelligence. Eventually he lifted his robe just enough for Harun to look.
Harun leaned slightly closer.
Again—
Nothing.
No arrow.
No mark.
Harun frowned.
Then he checked his own shoulder as well. The faint glow of the Dravillian stone pulsed quietly beneath his skin like it always did, but aside from that there was nothing unusual.
No arrow symbol.
No mark.
After a moment he crossed his arms.
"So none of us are the vessel."
Rehman nodded calmly.
"That appears to be the case."
Harun began pacing slowly across the courtroom floor while thinking. His footsteps echoed faintly across the marble tiles.
If the vessel wasn't here…
Then that meant the person they were looking for was somewhere else in Bhouldera.
He stopped walking.
"Which means we have to find them," Harun said. "Someone with an arrow mark on their shoulder."
Aqsa looked uneasy.
"And when we find them?"
Harun's expression hardened.
"We protect them."
The room fell silent again.
The words hung in the air like a quiet promise.
Then Harun turned back toward Rehman.
"Alright," he said. "Now answer my second question."
Rehman folded his hands calmly on the desk.
"You mean the petrification."
Harun nodded.
"Yeah. Kareena used those vipers against us. My whole team turned into stone. Aqsa's brother too. I was petrified as well for a while… but somehow I came back to normal. I don't even remember how. When I woke up, Raj and Kareena were already gone and everyone else was still statues."
He leaned forward slightly.
"So tell me how to fix it."
Rehman studied him silently for a moment.
Then he shook his head.
"You are a fool."
Harun blinked.
"…Excuse me?"
Rehman continued calmly, as if he hadn't just insulted him.
"The vipers Kareena used were never real creatures."
Harun frowned immediately.
"What do you mean?"
"They were illusions," Rehman said. "Kareena's magic specializes in illusion constructs. Through those illusions she channels various effects — poison… paralysis… and petrification."
Harun's jaw tightened.
"So the snakes were fake."
"Yes," Rehman replied.
"But the petrification they cause is very real."
Harun leaned forward.
"Then tell me how to undo it."
Rehman didn't hesitate.
"You cannot."
The words fell into the courtroom like a stone dropped into still water.
Aqsa's expression instantly collapsed.
"There is no cure," Rehman continued calmly. "Once someone becomes stone through Kareena's magic, the only person capable of reversing it is Gautam himself."
Harun's fists slowly clenched.
"That's impossible."
"Exactly."
Rehman's gaze shifted toward him.
"Which makes your recovery… strange."
Harun frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"You were petrified as well," Rehman said. "Yet somehow you returned to normal."
Harun didn't answer.
Because deep down he already suspected the truth.
The strange white light.
The mysterious voice inside his mind.
Rehman leaned back slightly in his chair.
"And the masked man who attacked the village," he continued. "That was only the beginning."
Harun looked up immediately.
"What do you mean?"
"The one you fought was not even using his full power."
Harun narrowed his eyes.
"Then who was he?"
Rehman answered calmly.
"A clone."
Harun froze.
"…A clone?"
"Yes."
Rehman continued.
"The real man's name is Khaizar."
The name lingered in the air.
"Khaizar works under someone far more dangerous."
Harun frowned.
"Who?"
"Anwar."
Harun blinked.
"…And who exactly is Anwar?"
For the first time since their conversation began, Rehman hesitated slightly before answering.
"Anwar is Gautam's chosen right-hand man."
The room went silent.
"He is Gautam's strongest general."
Harun immediately thought about Raj and Kareena.
"…Stronger than them?"
Rehman let out a small laugh.
"Much stronger."
A cold sensation crawled down Harun's spine.
"Raj and Kareena left you alive," Rehman continued. "Anwar would not."
He leaned forward slightly.
"He would kill you without hesitation."
Harun crossed his arms while thinking.
"So Gautam sends him only when he's serious."
"Yes."
Rehman nodded.
"Anwar has never failed a mission."
"That is why Gautam sends him last."
Harun thought for a moment.
Then he asked another question.
"Then why was Khaizar sent first?"
Rehman looked at him.
"To evaluate."
Harun frowned.
"Evaluate what?"
"Whether the vessel might be here."
The realization slowly settled inside Harun's mind.
"So Khaizar came to search…"
Rehman nodded.
"And if he finds confirmation…"
Harun finished the sentence quietly.
"…then Anwar comes next."
Rehman did not deny it.
Instead he added something else.
"I once heard something about Anwar and Khaizar."
Harun looked up.
"What?"
"If the two of them fight together," Rehman said quietly, "they could destroy an entire town."
The words hung heavily in the air.
Harun exhaled slowly.
"No wonder Gautam made him his right hand."
Then another thought crossed his mind.
"Wait."
He looked at Rehman again.
"If Anwar is Gautam's right hand… then who is his left hand?"
Rehman shook his head.
"No one knows."
"It could be Raj."
"Or someone even stronger who has not appeared yet."
Harun frowned again.
"And Anwar?"
"Does he have a left hand as well?"
"We only know one," Rehman said.
"Khaizar."
"His right hand."
"The other one remains unknown."
Harun remained silent for a moment.
Then he remembered something.
"One more thing."
Rehman looked at him.
"What?"
"When Khaizar fought me… he said something strange."
"What was it?"
Harun repeated the words slowly.
"Evaluation has begun."
Rehman fell silent.
Several seconds passed.
He looked down at the ancient book again.
Thinking.
Finally he spoke quietly.
"It probably means one thing."
Harun waited.
Rehman raised his eyes.
"The time for Azaldera's release is getting very close."
Far away, deep beneath layers of ancient stone where no sunlight could reach, a vast chamber stood in complete darkness. The air there felt cold and unmoving, as if even time itself hesitated to pass through that place.
In the center of the chamber, a faint red glow floated silently.
It was a timer.
Cold.
Precise.
Merciless.
24:23:54
And the numbers were still falling.