That mad bastard.
That heroic, stupid, impossible bastard.
Nasir.
Caring not for his life, he jumped right toward the core, throwing himself over it.
Once upon it, his hands slammed the earth.
CRACK—BOOO—!
"NEVER!"
The implosion should've swallowed the hall.
Should've ended everything. Should've burned them all out of existence.
But it didn't.
Nasir had done something. Malik didn't know what until it was too late.
The earth moved through the marble. Shot up like jagged waves, thick and layered, wrapping around Nasir and the core. Wall after wall of stone, dirt, and sand hardened in an instant, fully sealing him—and the implosion—inside.
Then came the pulse.
Not a blast. A pulse. Like a Malāk's heartbeat.
The whole world shook. The ground screamed. The walls cracked. Beams snapped like dry twigs. The entire city groaned, about to fold in on itself.
But it didn't.
Somehow, by some absolute miracle...
The hall held.
The buildings held.
The world itself had held.
