Chapter 329: Her Fall
Just as Malik stepped over the corpse of the last guard, a black owl materialized before him.
It was Black.
He held a scroll in his claws.
Malik took it off him just as he paused before him.
He unfurled it open.
{Roya fell for it all. Her people destroyed some of Al-Ayan’s camps, thinking they were our own. We’ve already dealt with them and many of the other groups that tried to threaten a few of our rallies, but we weren’t entirely successful… or we made it seem that way. A masked group escaped. There’s no doubt that they’re the ones you expected, and of course, you are their target. They’ll likely approach you from the northwest wing with her in the lead.}
He nodded once, then walked in their direction.
Soon after, figures came in a line.
Seven of them.
Their faces were covered in iron masks.
Their movements were too coordinated.
Those were the assassins.
They found Malik calmly standing in the hall, admiring a painting on the wall.
Just as one of them stepped forward, Malik looked at them.
“You expected us.”
A mask tilted.
“You, who came here to bring ruin.”
Malik nodded his head.
“I did.”
The assassin took off their mask.
“Are you Corrupted?”
As expected, it was Roya.
“I don’t believe that’s possible.”
Technically, he was both right and wrong in saying that, for his soul was Corrupted, and his life was a constant falling hourglass, but he was also immune to its effects, able to survive the darkest of Drowned Lotuses.
“I see.”
The assassins behind her didn’t question her actions.
They were hers, and their monotone actions said as much.
Roya stopped near a pillar, mirroring the first time they met.
At least in this life.
“Then is this all really for revenge? A man of your strength could’ve killed the King at any time. There was no need to destroy his kingdom… so I can’t believe that to be true.”
Malik stared at her face for a long time and then asked:
“Did you ever Fall?”
***
{Outside The Projection}
“…”
“…”
“…”
…Now they got it.
Now it all made sense.
Why the war was skipped as if it were just something that happened every other day.
Why the killing of Jinn after Jinn was brushed aside like Malik was just running errands.
Why years flew by in a blur, skipping all the planning, strategizing, and preparing.
It wasn’t just because those things weren’t important.
It was because they weren’t the point.
That was just the warm-up.
The buildup, a blur before clarity.
None of it truly mattered.
It was all background.
What mattered was this moment.
It was the actual core of it all.
And not because of Roya. No.
She, too, was medium, even now.
A trigger. A lens. A name caught in his story, same as everyone else.
What mattered… What really crushed the crowd into silence… was something far greater than her.
Malik.
Because this was when he realized a massive personal truth.
A truth relating to his future, further confirming what he knew of Roya.
Although unclear to the crowd, they all saw it.
Their Sultan knew that he’d become a protector of the realm.
A caliph, perhaps a king… Sultan would never cross his mind; they were sure of that.
He didn’t say it. Didn’t need to. But the look he gave Roya… the tone he took… the question he asked…
“Did you ever Fall?”
That wasn’t an insult or a clapback, nor was it a test.
That was a memory echoing forward from some other… timeline.
Indeed, Malik had realized why he killed Roya in that future.
And the moment he said it, Roya’s face changed.
She froze… that was all it took.
Her eyes locked on the projection, staring at her own face.
Her unchanged face. Moment after moment, for what felt like years.
And slowly… very slowly…
Tears began to fall.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then it became a waterfall.
Her lips trembled.
She bit them.
Then she started hiccuping.
Sniffling.
Wheeze.
Sniff.
Hic.
The same Roya who once sneered at Huda, Layla, and Safira for crying like little girls was now doing much worse, especially considering her usual ice-cold image.
Her camp moved toward her, shielding her from prying eyes.
They didn’t even speak or reach towards her; they knew better.
But she flinched away, seemingly terrified.
Her blue eyes were as wide as can be.
She looked all around, her mind breaking.
Everything she did in this life…
Everything was done for a lie.
A LIE.
She couldn’t…
“N-No.”
She couldn’t process it.
It broke her mind.
And so…
Thud!
She collapsed.
Just like that.
The room didn’t cheer, shout, or mock.
They watched in stunned silence, because they knew…
Whatever Roya was… Whoever she once was…
She wasn’t coming back.
***
{Inside The Projection}
Roya’s blue eyes widened.
What kind of question was that?
If she Fell then she’d be dead by now?
Was he just trying to throw her off? Or was he really petty to clap back with the same thing she said?
Either way, she didn’t see it as a question worth answering.
But Malik got all the answers he wanted from that alone.
There was no larger conspiracy like usual.
In her other life, she had no memories of death.
She didn’t train as hard as she did now.
Perhaps she was a simple noble girl.
A low-ranked Dune Guardian.
She got Corrupted.
Malik killed her before IT could take over.
It was just that, nothing more.
Roya didn’t answer the question.
Instead, she raised her hand.
Her people moved.
Malik’s figure blinked in and out.
Tap.
…They fell.
Eyes wider, Roya glanced around her.
Her people were dead.
“W-What?”
Malik looked down at her.
“Hm? Did you think I’d be exhausted?”
Her eyes returned to his.
They stared at each other.
One was of confusion, and the other of pity.
Confusion quickly turned into rage.
Roya ran at him, blades high.
“Die!”
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