***
{Outside The Projection}
Every time they thought things couldn't possibly get worse...
They were proven wrong, again and again and again.
One could've heard a breath.
One could hear people blink.
That was how dead quiet it was.
The massive hall felt like a graveyard.
Thousands just stood there, mouths open. Eyes wide. Breaths held.
And it wasn't only them.
Fam Iblis, too, was a graveyard.
Their eyes couldn't leave their Sultan's face.
His smile.
It haunted them all.
Never in their lives had they seen such an expression.
An alien unfamiliar with anything human could've mimicked a smile and pulled off a more believable one.
This... it was just strange. An expression that didn't know what it wanted to be.
Somewhere and everywhere in the world, men and women of all religions kneeled.
They whispered one thing in unison:
"...God have mercy."
The hall, unfortunately, was given none.
They were expecting more horror to pour out of the projection.
