Power Thief's Revenge [BL]-Chapter 197: Karma’s Verdict

Chapter 197: Karma’s Verdict
When Shani entered the van, he crinkled his nose immediately.
"Well... it sure is humid here even with the air conditioning. You poor boys must be sweating buckets from this curse, huh?"
Five very innocent, suspiciously well-behaved men turned toward him.
Their clothes were on. Hair tousled, cheeks still faintly pink. All smiling like they’d just passed a surprise inspection.
"Oh yeah," Somner said, stretching his arms behind his head with exaggerated ease. "It’s been real hard."
"We’re all soaking wet," Ymir added dryly. "From sweat, obviously."
Hermes pressed a hand to his temple. "I swear, one day both of you have to learn to control your tongues."
"Really, Master?" Somner grinned. "Because you can always take control of them anytime you like. Just like earlier—"
"Enough." Hermes glared, but his lips twitched upwards a bit.
Shani chuckled, stepping deeper into the van. The air around him seemed to hum faintly. Softly metallic, like distant chimes. His presence always had that effect, somewhere between sacred and casual.
"Good to see that humor survived the ordeal." he said. "But let’s move on. Raphael told me everything. The curse needs to be purged."
Aphrodite adjusted his glasses. "I must say, you look rather calm for someone who just woke up from being frozen in time."
"Calmness is my natural state." Shani replied simply. "Panic complicates the verdict."
Somner blinked. "The what now?"
"The Verdict," Shani said. His tone lowered a notch, steady and deliberate, as he raised his hand.
The air shimmered. A faint constellation formed around his wrist, bright lines connecting between pinpoints of starlight. From one palm emerged a small, scale, its two pans glowing faintly with cosmic dust. From the other, a sword materialized, its blade translucent like a crystallized night sky.
"Okay," Ymir muttered. "I was expecting some lawyer magic, but this feels more like an astrologer’s magic."
"You have to admit, it’s out of this world." Somner quipped.
Magni tilted his head, curious. "What does this power of yours judge, Brother Shani?"
"Karma." Shani answered. "The weight of every action you’ve made... Past, present, and future."
Aphrodite’s eyes gleamed. "So, a cosmic audit."
"Exactly." Shani stepped closer to Hermes first. "You will see your karmic imprint soon."
As he chanted, faint Sanskrit text began to swirl out of everyone’s chest like smoke. The others watched in awe as four distinct colors glowed within the script: saffron, white, green, and blue.
"Whoa," Somner breathed. "So... is that like our soul’s search history? What do the colors mean?"
Shani ignored the comment. "Each hue represents a facet of karma. Sanchita is the total of all that came before." He gestured at the white text.
"Prarabdha is the portion destined to unfold now." His fingers brushed the glowing blue.
"Kriyamana is the choices you make at the moment." The saffron shimmer pulsed.
"And Agami is the fruit those choices will bear." The green symbols flickered briefly like leaves caught in sunlight.
"So white and blue are fate, determined by our past lives..." Hermes murmured. "And the other two are from the choices we made in this life, our free will."
Shani nodded once. "Precisely. Fate is the road. Free will is how you walk upon it."
Somner squinted. "And if you don’t walk straight?"
"Then the road cracks." Shani said. "And sometimes someone else digs a hole for you."
"That’s what happened to us?" Aphrodite asked softly.
Shani gestured. The scales floated from his palm, positioning themselves before the group. On one pan gleamed the colors of fate, and on the other, the hues of choice. The beam tilted heavily toward fate, the white and blue script spilling over like molten light.
"Your destiny outweighs your choices," Shani said. "Meaning someone tampered with the natural balance. Forced an outcome that was never yours to bear."
"The curse," Hermes realized. "Dr. Khemia’s punishment of lust."
"Yes."
The word hung heavy, final.
Magni clenched his fists. "Then we must destroy this imbalance."
Shani smiled faintly. "In time. But karma is not only punishment. It is balance. Sometimes what must be cut away is not evil... merely excessive weight."
"Hold up," Somner said. "When you say ’cut away’—"
A brilliant shimmer ran down Shani’s sword as he turned toward them.
"Wait, you’re not gonna—"
Light cut through the air.
The sword never pierced flesh, only shimmered as if slicing through mist. The glowing Sanskrit text scattered like dust, breaking apart into hundreds of starlit fragments that spun around them.
Then came the sound. A low chime, like temple bells submerged underwater.
The van filled with radiance. Every surface gleamed with soft, moving constellations. The scales above them balanced briefly, then steadied in perfect equilibrium.
"W-What just happened?" Somner looked around, patting himself for wounds. "Did I just get... spiritually mugged?"
Hermes exhaled slowly. "No ache." He flexed his fingers. "Just warmth."
Aphrodite tilted his head, examining the glow fading from his own body. "It felt like silk brushing against my skin."
Ymir blinked, still tense. "I thought he was gonna cut my soul in half."
"You all were split from the bad karma that was forced upon you." Shani said calmly, lowering his sword. "Your fate and choice were misaligned. I simply restored what was stolen."
Raphael’s eyes softened. "Then it’s done? The curse is gone?"
Shani gave a small nod. "The weight has been lifted."
They all looked at one another, the silence sinking in.
The strange pressure that had clung to them for what felt like days, even though it’s only been one or two hours at most. The heat in their blood, the haze in their heads... It was gone.
Hermes felt clear. The air tasted sharper. The faint scent of sweat and tension had been replaced with something clean, like rain over marble.
Somner stood up and stretched, laughing in disbelief. "I-I don’t feel like grinding against everything I see anymore!"
"Congratulations." Ymir muttered, rubbing his eyes. "You’re back to being a regular whore instead of a sex-addicted whore."
Aphrodite smiled faintly. "I know it must be a relief to us all."
Even Magni let out a short chuckle. "So the curse is defeated at last. Thank you, Brother Shani."
The lawyer waved his hand, the scales dissolving into thin air. The van’s hum seemed louder now that the celestial quiet had faded.
"No need for thanks," he said. "Justice is not a favor. It is a right of all things."
Raphael tilted his head. "I have to ask, though... how did you see the corruption from us? Through the karma colors?"
"Exactly." Shani said. "The colors danced wrong around all of you. I can see it in your auras. Someone added a thread that shouldn’t exist."
Hermes folded his arms. "And you severed it with great precision."
"Yes. But remember, cutting away karma doesn’t erase its echo. You may feel lighter now, but there will be lessons left behind."
Somner blinked. "Lessons like what? Abstinence?"
"Perspective," Shani said evenly. "And humility."
"Yeah," Ymir muttered. "You could use a bit of that, McNamara."
Somner stuck his tongue out.
"Case in point." Hermes sighed.
A small laugh rippled through the van. It was the kind of laughter that came after tension breaks. The tired, genuine kind that sounded more like relief than humor.
Shani gave a small nod, content. He sheathed the star sword, and the constellation faded into motes that vanished near his fingertips.
For a moment, the group simply breathed together in the soft aftermath.
Raphael leaned back. "Feels strange. Like everything finally aligned."
Hermes nodded. "Our heads are clear again. No fog. No urges. Just peace."
Aphrodite smiled faintly. "It’s strange how you only realize how heavy something was once it’s gone."
Magni’s gaze softened. "We owe you, Brother."
Shani shook his head. "Fate owed you this mercy already. I simply delivered the verdict."
Hermes glanced at Raphael. "How long has it been since we casted Rewind?"
Raphael looked at the shimmering clock by his side, and Hermes did the same. "Quite a while. The hands are turning back again."
Right on cue, the world began to move again. The faint sound of city life resumed beyond the tinted windows.
Shani blinked once, steady. "Ah. Time resumes. I did like this extended lunch break."
Hermes turned to him. "Before you go, there’s something I wanted to ask. Dr. Khemia said Saturn brings the black sun. What did he mean by that? Does it have to do with you?"
For a heartbeat, Shani didn’t answer. The air shimmered faintly around his shoulders, like a veil of cosmic heat. Then he smiled. A quiet, knowing smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
"You are not fated to know all the answers today, Hermes."
Hermes frowned slightly. "When will I, then?"
"There is no need to be anxious. The flow of the universe must be trusted." Shani replied.
He turned toward the van’s door, the silver rings in his rust-colored eyes spinning. "I’ll be off, then. My students await, and those exam papers do not grade themselves."
"Wait... you’re going back to teaching after all that?" Somner asked.
Shani looked over his shoulder. "Karma never sleeps. Neither do professors during midterm exams. Gotta keep a watchful eye on the kids."
Aphrodite smiled faintly. "I see the students share our suffering."
Magni gave him a respectful nod. "Until we meet again, Brother."
Shani raised his hand in parting. "You will. In the court trial for the Soyuz incident."
The door slid shut behind him.
The group sat in silence for a few beats, listening to the sound of the rain.
Somner was the first to speak. "He just saved us from a curse and then said, ’See you in court.’ Man’s got priorities."
Hermes chuckled under his breath. "That’s Shani for you."
But even as he said that, Hermes was still reeling from the fact that his old friend just confirmed he knows more than he lets on. And even though he basically said that all his questions will answer themselves in time...
He doesn’t know if he can bear his curiosity any longer.
Luckily, they have been summoned for the trial a week after that. So he will learn more about Shani’s involvement in all this, plus they have just gained leverage over the Thirteen Stripes by acquiring solinium for the Pleroman plant.
The wheels of their fortunes and karma seem to be spinning, twisting into each other into its rightful end.