CHAPTER 15: THE RED LEGACY'S REBIRTH
After Aslam's terrifying and soul-shaking order, a death-like, suffocating silence descended upon the valley.
In the air, the bitter stench of burnt blood, ash, and ozone still lingered.
The broken mountains of the valley stood as silent witnesses to this impending, horrifying sight.
Zahira, who was sitting on her knees in the dirt, was trembling violently with fear and grief.
As a healer, she had spent her entire life saving people's lives, but today her commander had ordered her to tear into the body of her own sworn brother.
No one had the courage to step forward. Standing in the crowd, the young children—Yusuf and Hashim—could feel this heavy tension.
"Ammi..."
10-year-old Yusuf fearfully caught the hem of his mother Fatima's clothes.
There was pure terror on his innocent face.
"Uncle Aslam...
what is Uncle Aslam going to do with Uncle Maazin?
He has already...
gone to sleep, right?"
Tears streamed from Fatima's eyes.
She quickly pulled Yusuf and Ali close to her chest and, placing her hand on their heads, whispered tearfully,
"Nothing, my child...
You just close your eyes.
For God's sake, do not look there."
Hashim, who was hiding behind Zainab, also asked tearfully,
"Ammi,
I am feeling very scared...
let's leave this place, right?"
Just then, piercing through that heavy silence, a cold, emotionless, and steady voice emerged.
"I will do this."
Raziq stepped forward. In his steps lay the absolute composure of an assassin.
"I have experience with all these things.
Removing these eyes and this arm is not a task for an ordinary person.
If even a slight wrong cut lands on them...
Their 'Soul Core' connection will be destroyed forever.
In our world, the power of the Soul Core is always deeply connected to a person's soul and their physical parts.
This must be extracted in an exact, proper, and perfect manner."
Raziq cast a cold glance at the terrified people standing there.
"Whoever does not have the courage to witness this, close your eyes immediately."
Raziq slowly walked over and sat on his knees right beside Maazin's lifeless, blood-stained body.
Despite being a cold-blooded, high-speed assassin, today when he drew that extremely sharp surgical knife from his side, his fingers trembled for a single fraction of a second.
He took one final look at the peaceful face of his commander and friend.
Without any further hesitation, Raziq began his work.
He utilized his absolute skill and precision to the fullest.
In the silence of the valley, only the sound of flesh and bone being severed echoed, piercing the heart of every single person standing there.
After just a few agonizing seconds, Raziq separated Maazin's right arm from his body.
Carrying that blood-stained arm, Raziq slowly moved toward Zahira.
Zahira extended both her hands while weeping.
The moment Raziq placed Maazin's cold arm into her hands, Zahira began to weep bitterly, tears flowing endlessly from her golden eyes.
"This... this is his arm..."
Zahira sobbed, holding the lifeless arm against her chest.
"The one who always placed his hand lovingly on my head...
The one who always saved me by becoming my shield in every difficult time!
How can I look at this arm lying so lifeless before me ? ! "
Haibat, who was standing nearby, his booming voice as a 7-foot-tall massive Titan was also heavy at this moment.
He placed his massive hand on Zahira's shoulder.
A fire and pain that could not be described in words filled his blue eyes.
"The soul of our team resided in this arm, Zahira,"
Haibat said, gritting his teeth in grief, his fist tightly clenched.
"This arm never accepted defeat before any demon.
Do not let this fire fade away, my child.
Keep it alive !
Give it to Aslam !"
Haibat's words reawakened the broken healer inside Zahira.
She wiped her tears, a new determination filling her eyes.
She approached Aslam, who was sitting like a stone in the dirt, covered in mud and blood with blood continuously flowing from his severed stump.
Zahira perfectly set Maazin's slender arm onto the blood-stained, severed stump of Aslam.
Then, she extended her 'Golden Clover Relic' from her staff.
Her eyes began to shine with a soft divine glow.
Ancient Arabic healing prayers of 'Life Resonance' began to flow from Zahira's lips:
"Yaa Shaafi, Yaa Kaafi, ahyi hadhal jasad wa ruddah ilal hayaat..."
(O Giver of Healing, grant life and strength to this body).
An extremely swift, glowing green and golden light enveloped the arms of Aslam and Maazin from all sides.
This was no ordinary healing.
The people standing there stepped back in pure awe.
The eyes of Fatima and Zainab widened in absolute shock.
"May God have mercy..."
Fatima joined her hands in shock and reverence.
"What kind of miracle is this..."
Inside that green glowing light, a terrifying transformation was taking place.
Aslam's muscular system was accepting the new arm.
Maazin's slender arm began to alter its shape according to the pressure of Aslam's massive 'Titan-like' body and Soul Core.
The bones of the arm widened, and the muscles and veins became thick and war-forged just like Aslam's body.
But the most shocking part was that the section where Aslam's arm had been severed fused so perfectly that not even a single scratch or cut mark (scar) remained.
Maazin's arm joined Aslam's shoulder in such a way as if Aslam's arm had never been severed in the first place !
Completely flawless and real. Due to this incredible healing surge, Aslam's shattered ribs and all other terrible wounds on his chest were also completely healed.
Aslam slowly closed his new right fist tightly. Inside that fist, the strength of two legends was now beating together.
Yet, there was no joy on Aslam's face, only the absolute, stone-cold silence of death.
The moment Zahira's healing finished, Raziq went back to Maazin's body.
This time, it was the most difficult and delicate task.
"Forgive me, my friend, but unfortunately
I have to do this to save someone's life,"
Raziq muttered.
Holding his breath, he utilized his absolute skill to carefully extract Maazin's 'Red Legacy' (the golden and fiery eyes) from his face.
He took those eyes in a cloth and moved forward toward the 14-year-old blind boy, Omar.
As Raziq stepped forward, the atmosphere of the place completely shifted.
Around that blind child stood the most powerful and legendary figures of this world at this moment.
This was a visual that time itself could never forget.
Zainab and Fatima sat in the dirt and, weeping, tightly caught both of Omar's small hands.
"Do not be scared, my child..."
Zainab tearfully kissed Omar's forehead.
"We are all right here... nothing will happen to you."
Haibat stood right behind Omar with his massive frame, placing one mountain-like heavy hand on Omar's small shoulder, as if he would shield him from every catastrophe of the world.
Noor Jahan stood on Omar's right side with her 'Star Gazer' bow, her purple eyes holding the deepest sorrow and anticipation of this cursed world. Her posture was strict.
Aslam, with his new massive right arm, stood right in front of Omar like a stone statue.
Everyone's eyes were solely locked on this boy.
Raziq slowly sat down in the dirt directly in front of Omar.
Omar, who no longer possessed eyes, became utterly terrified by their sheer presence and the sound of Raziq's approach.
His breathing accelerated, and his small chest heaved rapidly.
"No... stay away from me!"
Omar cried out in terror, trying to move backward on his knees in the dirt.
"Who are you people ? !
What are you going to do to me?!
Let me go!"
Raziq firmly but gently gripped Omar's face with his hand.
"Be quiet, kid,"
Raziq's voice was cold yet carried a strange calming effect.
"Keep control over yourself.
We are only doing what is written in your destiny."
Without any further hesitation, Raziq used his surgical knife to reopen the closed veins inside Omar's eye sockets (which Zahira had previously healed and closed).
In the very next second, he properly inserted Maazin's 'Red Legacy' eyes into those sockets.
The moment those eyes connected to Omar's nervous system...
"AAAHHHHHHH!!!!"
A terrifying, soul-tearing scream erupted from Omar's throat, shaking the broken mountains around them.
A thick stream of dark, red blood began to flow from the sides of his new eyes, staining his clothes.
He began to thrash violently in the dirt like a madman.
Zainab and Fatima tried their best to hold him down, but a strange, terrifying power had suddenly emerged within the child.
Raziq's eyes widened in pure shock. He quickly looked back.
"Zahira! Hurry up!!"
Raziq shouted at the top of his voice for the first time.
"He is bleeding out !
This child's body and Soul Core are rejecting this new power !
If you don't heal him right now, this boy will die right here !"
Zahira immediately slid forward through the dirt.
She extended her Golden Clover Relic and placed her hands over Omar's blood-stained face.
This time, she began chanting the 'Soul Stabilization' spell with all her might: "Bismillahi ash-Shaafi... Bismillahil mufaani..."
(In the name of God, the Healer... In the name of God, the Granter of Health).
Zahira's ancient Arabic chants and prayers echoed through the valley.
A completely pure, life-supporting green energy wrapped around Omar's entire body.
That green light swirled like a tornado, forcibly fusing the connection between Omar's body and his new eyes.
After a few agonizing seconds of bone-chilling screams, Omar's voice suddenly halted.
His bleeding stopped.
Omar, who was thrashing brutally until now, collapsed onto his knees in the dirt, panting heavily, drenched in sweat.
His head was bowed toward the ground, and his heavy breaths kicked up the ash-filled dirt.
Silence blanketed the area. Everyone's breath was hitched.
Haibat, Aslam, Noor Jahan—all looked at the boy like stone structures.
Then... slowly, Omar raised his head.
When he opened his eyes, there was no darkness left. The iris of those eyes had now turned into a terrifying, glowing 'Red' color.
They were burning exactly like fire. And just then, small sparks of fire began to emerge from the edges of his eyes, floating into the air—exactly like the ones that used to release from Maazin's "Fireworks" power!
A strange, heavy, and burning 'Aura' began to expand from the boy's body, causing cracks to form in the surrounding dirt.
This pressure was so heavy that Yusuf and Hashim began to cry out of sheer fear.
"My God..."
Haibat stepped back, the hair on his arms standing up.
"What kind of strange pressure is this ? !
This power... inside a mere child..."
Noor Jahan stepped forward, her eyes widening in absolute shock upon witnessing that red glowing aura.
She explained the terrifying reality to the crowd, her voice slicing through the heavy wind:
"This is the absolute law of our cursed world,"
Noor Jahan's voice echoed.
"Power alone decides survival.
This child is 14 years of age and was Dormant until now.
His Soul Core had never awakened.
But today... Maazin's eyes have forcibly shaken and awakened that Dormant core !
Every Soul Core has a limit to its elements—ranging from Tier 1 Common to Tier 4+ Legendary. And Maazin's fire... this is a 'Tier 4+ Legendary Primal Element'!
These sparks you see emerging from his eyes are no ordinary light; this is the child's 'Aura Ignition' !
His body is creating a Resonance with that Legendary power for the very first time!"
Noor Jahan's words sent a wave of fear and shock through every single person standing in the valley.
A 14-year-old blind boy, who should have died, was now sitting before them, having awakened one of the most dangerous powers of this world inside him.
Omar was panting heavily, his fiery red eyes still darting around in confusion and fear.
Aslam, who had now fused his brother's arm to his body, slowly stepped forward.
He lifted Maazin's blood-stained, massive 'Scimitar' sword using his new fist.
He extended that sword toward Raziq.
"Merely gaining power is not enough, Raziq," Aslam's voice was colder than death itself.
He looked straight into Raziq's eyes.
"Power without a direction brings nothing but destruction.
Now, the absolute responsibility of showing this new Maazin his path... and preparing him for the oncoming war lies entirely on you."
Without uttering a single word, Raziq took the heavy sword from Aslam's hands with his cold-blooded composure.
He looked down at the boy with fiery eyes sitting in the dirt.
A new era had begun, initiated by the death of a warrior and the awakening of a blind child.
The world would now witness its final outcome.
END OF CHAPTER 15