***
{Outside The Projection}
Again, it was...
It was... something else entirely.
They didn't care for his prostration, though they were surprised he did it so unhesitatingly, considering he was a Goddamned Sultan, but it was Malik, something expected by now.
Nobody knew what to say, and nobody even knew how to think right now.
This... this wasn't just Malik's journey anymore.
It was a pilgrimage.
A cursed Path.
A passing of the torch.
A facet of their world they never knew existed and never ever expected.
One walked only by those desperate enough... selfless enough... mad enough... arrogant enough... to dive into Jahannam itself to save their people.
And now the world was sure.
Malik was far from the first.
Many fools tried to fight Corruption by facing Hell.
Many of them failed, but they tried; oh, they tried.
Just knowing that made them hold their Former Sultans in even more respect.
"...They all... tried..."
"...Yeah... they did..."
"They really did..."
