(Within the Time-Stilled World, Leo’s Private Mansion, Leo’s POV)
The flickering blue light of the holographic projector painted the walls behind Leo in cold shades of sorrow as he pressed play.
*TRRRR*
A faint hum filled the room, like the heartbeat of a dying star, as the image came to life before him, grainy at first, then sharp enough to draw blood.
As there he was– Aegon Veyr.
His cousin. His brother in all but direct blood.
The same boy who once wielded his sword with unshakable pride and carried the future of the Cult upon his back, who now stood stripped of all dignity, as he was paraded naked through the streets of the righteous planets in a transparent glass cage.
Chains coiled around his wrists and ankles, glowing faintly as suppressive sigils flickered across their surface. His head hung low, but his spine remained unbroken, his silence louder than any plea for mercy could have been.
Outside the prison box, a sea of Righteous citizens cheered, their faces twisted with contempt and pleasure. They threw stones, rotten fruits, and worse... filth that splattered against the glass with every hateful cry, while laughter echoed through the broadcast like a mockery of the heavens themselves.
Leo’s fingers tightened around the armrest of his chair, as he saw the footage, as the air around him grew denser.
’They dare parade him naked?’
He thought, as the veins along his forearms bulged, a faint crimson aura coursing through them, as his killing intent stirred beneath the skin like a caged beast awakening from slumber.
*Crack*
The first fracture appeared on the marble beneath his feet.
His jaw clenched, his breathing steady but sharp, as he fought to suppress the storm building within him.
*Clink*
*CLANG*
The sound of chains clinking on the screen only fueled the rage already clawing through his chest.
He tried to keep his composure, reminding himself that this was only an image, a recording, yet every second of it felt like reality itself daring him to lose control.
"Veyr..." he whispered, the name heavy on his tongue, as it carried more affection than what he usually allowed himself to show.
On the screen, the cage was pulled through the capital’s central plaza, the parade stretching on for miles as banners of the Righteous Faction waved proudly above the jeering crowds.
Children pointed and laughed, merchants halted their trades, soldiers threw curses in the name of their gods.
And then came the next horror.
The cage stopped at the base of a massive platform, a massive concert stage of sorts, flanked by guards wearing the Universal Government uniform.
*Tug*
The guards then dragged Veyr out like he were a beast, as they forced him to the centre of the stage, before making him kneel before a whole mob.
*SNAP!*
At this point, the first lash struck, the sound tearing through the silence of the mansion as Leo’s eyes twitched, his aura pulsing once, just once, as the entire room shook.
*TREMBLE*
The silver runes embedded in his chair flickered weakly as if begging for mercy under the pressure of his power, while dust fell from the ceiling as the walls groaned.
The whip fell again, and again, and again, until the number of lashes became meaningless.
Each strike sent waves of anger rippling through Leo’s veins, his heartbeat echoing like thunder in his skull, while his surroundings began to warp with faint gravitational distortion.
The mana in the air crackled audibly now, drawn toward him in uncontrollable streams, as his killing intent began to leak.
The glass of the nearby window fractured silently, forming thin spider-web lines that spread outward with every breath he took.
"How dare they..." he whispered, voice trembling not with weakness, but with restraint.
He could feel it—his blood boiling, his soul roaring, his entire existence rebelling against what his eyes were forced to witness.
To humiliate a prisoner or a criminal was one thing. To humiliate a dignified warrior was another.
And to humiliate the messiah of the Cult... that was unforgivable.
The recording shifted again.
The crowd roared. A new figure appeared, an announcer, standing proud at the center of the stage, his voice amplified across the city.
"In sixty days’ time," the man declared, his tone gleeful, "the Cult’s fallen Dragon, Aegon Veyr, shall face his final judgment. His execution will be public, broadcast across the entire universe, as proof that righteousness prevails over corruption. Let the heretics tremble. Let them know the age of the Evil Cult has ended!"
Cheers erupted, deafening, disgusting, endless.
The moment the word execution left the announcer’s lips, something inside Leo broke as the lights in the mansion shattered at once.
*BANG*
A burst of raw aura exploded outward, shattering the chair beneath him as cracks spread across the stone floor like veins of destruction.
The furniture around him disintegrated to dust, the air itself seeming to tear apart under the weight of his fury.
*Tremble*
*Quake*
Outside, the ground quaked, waves of invisible pressure rippling across the cliffside, as they flattened the grass and bent the trees toward the earth as if they were bowing in fear, while the clouds above twisted into a spiral storm, lightning flashing through them as the heavens themselves seemed to respond to his wrath.
*THRUMM*
Leo’s eyes burned bright gray, brighter than ever, as the hologram continued to flicker before him, still showing Veyr’s chained figure, still echoing the laughter of the damned crowd.
"I will kill them," he said quietly, each word carrying the weight of divine judgment. "Every single one of them."
The words were not shouted, not screamed, they were whispered with such certainty that even the universe seemed to listen.
His aura expanded further, uncontrollable now, turning the once-calm air into a swirling tempest of oppressive killing intent that made the ground around the mansion tremble like an earthquake unleashed for a full 30 kilometres radius.
The protective enchantments constructed around his mansion trembled, the runes along its structure flaring desperately to contain the eruption of force that could have leveled a city.
"Enough..."
Leo closed his fist, and the hologram froze mid-frame.
The image of Veyr, bruised and broken but unbowed, lingered in the flickering light.
His eyes, defiant even in pain, met Leo’s through the projection, as if across time and space they still recognized one another as Leo felt his rage falter for the briefest heartbeat.
*Sigh*
He exhaled slowly, letting the tension coil back within his chest, though the air continued to tremble around him.
"The righteous faction know exactly what they’re doing," he muttered, his voice steadier now but still layered with venom. "This... was never just an act of cruelty. It’s a message."
He leaned back slightly, eyes narrowing as he studied the paused hologram. "They want us to come for him. They want the Cult to break containment, to rush out like enraged beasts. This is bait."
For a moment, silence returned, fragile and uneasy as the only sound within the room was that of the broken headlight above.
Leo knew trying to save Veyr after he had fallen into Righteous hands was suicide.
Every fiber of logic in his mind screamed for caution, for patience, for restraint.
And yet...
As he looked again at Veyr’s image, his cousin’s once-noble face marred by pain but never surrender, he somehow felt like logic was no longer enough to stop him from attempting a rescue.
"Even so," Leo whispered, his voice low but unwavering, "if there’s even the smallest chance that I can reach him... that I can save him..."
The floor beneath him cracked again as his aura surged for just a heartbeat, fierce and unrelenting.
"Then I will find it."
He let the hologram fade into darkness, his reflection the only thing left upon the screen—cold, calm, and burning with purpose.