In the High Courtroom, the silence was the lull before a legal storm. Lisson stepped forward with confident strides, adjusting his black tie while fixating Judge Nichiren with cold eyes.
Lisson: "Your Honor, based on Article Seven of the Emergency Law, Prince Pionel's actions in the border villages were not an extermination, but a 'preemptive cleansing' against an ill-defined riot. Since the law exempts a commander from execution if rebels are intermingled with civilians, I demand the immediate cancellation of the penalty and the substitution of financial reparations to be paid by the Royal Treasury."
King Ragus (Slamming the dais in rage): "This is blatant manipulation! Innocents died, Lisson, and justice cannot be bought with gold!"
Pionel (With a provocative smile from behind the bars): "Justice is what the victors write, Father, and Lisson is writing a new history today."
Judge Nichiren (Whispering to the jury): "The legal text is clear... despite its cruelty. Mr. Manatok, does the jury agree?"
Manatok (Frustrated): "We are forced to, Your Honor... the law protects him."
Behind the towering walls, Nilon was crawling through massive pipes, alongside Fix, whose fingers trembled over the encrypted control panel.
Nilon (In a sharp whisper): "Fix, if you don't disable the electro-crystalline waves now, Kayan and the comrades will be turned to ash at the first step. Hurry!"
Fix: "The system is complex... there's a second security layer... wait... three... two... one... Breach confirmed!"
Suddenly, the glowing blue lights atop the palace walls flickered out. Nilon sent a brief light signal toward the nearby forest.
Kayan (Drawing his sword): "Nilon did it! The Great Collapse begins now! ATTACK!"
The shouts of the Liberation Army erupted as they clashed with guards who were in total disarray, their commanders preoccupied with the trial. At the very moment Judge Nichiren raised his gavel to announce Pionel's acquittal from execution, something occurred that neither man nor jinn expected.
A silhouette appeared in the sky—a figure riding a strangely designed flying vehicle. He leaped into the air with an acrobatic flourish, and suddenly, glowing orbs resembling falling stars exploded around him.
Ortinus (Astounded while running): "What is this? Is this ancient Aether technology? The stars are falling on the palace!"
Judge Nichiren struck the table loudly with his gavel: "The court has ruled—"
He never finished his sentence. One of the "stars" pierced the ceiling of the hall and exploded, shaking the entire foundation of the palace. Consecutive explosions rocked the royal fortress, turning the scene into a ruin of dust and debris.
Kayan: "Who is this person? He's destroying everything! Don't stop, enter the palace now!"
As the palace collapsed, the comrades slipped into the secret "Laboratory" passages. They were intercepted by a platoon of elite guards.
Romulius (Drawing two daggers): "Meron, stay behind me! These guards know no mercy."
Romulius charged with stunning martial prowess, stabbing vital joints with incredible precision, dropping three guards in seconds.
Nikos (Firing charged arrows): "Darius! Watch your right!"
Darius (Tripping over an old shield): "I'm trying, Father! But Picos is throwing arrows everywhere!"
Picos (Laughing hysterically): "Take this! 'Explosive Pepper' arrows! They'll make them sneeze to death before they touch us!"
Picos and Darius fought in a chaotic and comedic manner; Darius would close his eyes and strike randomly, while Picos tripped over his own feet only to land on a guard, knocking him unconscious from the shock.
Ortinus (Parrying a sword strike): "No time for laughs! That unknown person above might level the palace over our heads. We must reach the solution!"
The Fortified Room
In the shattered courtroom, the Royal Guard dragged King Ragus, Laura, Pionel, and Lisson toward the fortified emergency room underground.
Laura (Screaming while wiping dust from her face): "Who is this cursed person who dares to shell my palace? Pionel, are these your men?"
Pionel (With a stunned expression): "No... I don't know who this is. But he possesses power beyond anything I created in the lab."
Ragus (In a broken voice): "You destroyed my plan... and this is the harvest."
The massive steel door slammed shut on the royal family, while Kayan and his soldiers stormed the upper halls, the comrades dove into the depths of the laboratories, and the mysterious figure continued to hover above the palace, scattering his deadly stars as if announcing the end of the old era of Atheria.