Malerion was almost back to Sin Rouge when the atmosphere shifted.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
A sudden spike of frantic energy rushed straight toward him fast, uneven, panicked.
And then
CRASH!!
Vael slammed through the side door of Sin Rouge so violently the frame shook.
Feathers everywhere.
Wings trembling.
Eyes huge with shock.
"MALERION!!"
Quill nearly swallowed a screwdriver.
Donnie froze mid-sentence.
Bit hid behind Dreg's leg.
Vael stumbled forward, breathless:
"HE MOVED HE ACTUALLY MOVED OH FUCK MALERION lLISTEN!!"
Malerion raised an eyebrow.
"Vael."
Vael grabbed his sleeve with both hands like someone begging for sanity.
"It's PAIMON!! He LEFT the Sanctum!! Do you hear me?! He MOVED!!"
Malerion didn't respond.
Inside, he already knew.
He had seen it minutes earlier through Alastor's sight:
A reckless, newly ascended Overlord…
so arrogant he tried to seize territory far above his station…
accidentally stepping into land under a very old Goetia's protection.
And Paimon ended him.
Effortlessly.
But Vael didn't know that.
He kept spiraling:
"Hasn't left the High Sanctum in a HUNDRED YEARS, Malerion! One. Hundred!"
His voice cracked into a near-squeak.
"Malerion PAIMON KILLED AN OVERLORD. Personally. With holy steel. No resurrection."
Quill choked.
Donnie whispered, "Holy shit…"
Vael paced in circles, tugging at his feathers:
"He NEVER does that! EVER! Overlords handle Overlords! Goetia don't intervene unless the situation is CATASTROPHIC do you understand what this MEANS?!"
Malerion watched him quietly.
"Vael," he said calmly, "why did Paimon act?"
"I don't KNOW!!" Vael yelled.
"That's the problem! The council is panicking! Even my father's advisors are losing their minds! Nobody knows what triggered him!"
He pointed wildly in the air.
"That idiot Overlord was new barely days old! Completely feral! He tried to take land that wasn't his and he picked THE WORST possible owner!"
Malerion folded his arms.
"So Paimon enforced order."
"YES!!! And do you know how rare that is?! He ignores almost EVERYTHING. He watches. He judges. But he doesn't MOVE."
Vael stepped closer, voice dropping:
"For him to get involved… something was WRONG. Something big."
Malerion answered truthfully:
"It wasn't me."
Vael stared at him.
"…You're sure?"
"Yes."
Vael sagged with relief a dramatic collapse of wings and shoulders.
"Oh thank the Rings… Because if Paimon moved because of YOU"
He slapped his own forehead.
"I don't even want to imagine it."
Sucked in a shaky breath.
"But Malerion… please tell me you felt something. Even a ripple. Anything."
Malerion's tone stayed steady.
"I felt the Overlord's death through… other means."
(A polite way of saying Alastor showed me the whole execution.)
Vael nodded quickly, grateful.
"Okay. That makes sense. Overlord deaths shake the Ring sometimes. But Malerion listen carefully."
He grabbed both of Malerion's arms.
"Paimon is not just any Goetia. He's one of the OLDEST. One of the most powerful. And he hasn't personally killed anyone in more than a century."
A pause.
"This wasn't politics."
Another pause.
"This wasn't a message."
And then, softly:
"This was simply order… correcting something beneath him."
Malerion nodded once.
Inside, Alastor's amused whisper echoed:
A truly amazing display of power.
Vael finally let go, wings settling a bit.
"I need to return before anyone notices I left the upper district but Malerion…"
He swallowed hard.
"…If ANYTHING strange happens again, please tell me. Paimon moving is not normal. Hell might be shifting, and… I don't want you caught in it."
Malerion watched him fly off, feathers scattering behind him like panic in physical form.
Only when Vael vanished into the sky did Malerion exhale quietly.
Hell was shifting.
But not for the reasons Vael feared.