Chapter 23: Too many MAGIS!

Franklin's View

"My eldest brother's name is Benjamin, he's the usual big brother, who's expected to be a role model to his little brothers,"

Mira nodded, taking note of my brothers.

"Please, continue," she said.

"He can write, talk, sing, study, and play games better than me. Even if I was inferior to him, no one compared me to him and he still loved and respected me as a normal brother," I sighed with a nostalgic smile on my face, though my eyebrows basically expressed sadness,"I wish I could show you an image of him, if you happen to have clairvoyant magicians, then it could be possible."

Speaking of magicians, I miss Emiline. She may be easy to anger, but she's reliable, fun, and strong willed. The thought of her added a bit more sadness to my smile.

"I do have court magicians, but you can show me another time,"

I nodded.

"Got it."

I continued from what I was saying.

"Those traits, do you find them worthy of being a King?" I asked Mira.

"I believe Benjamin would have made a great king," she replied.

"I also had another elder brother, Johann. Though a rebel, he still cared for his family and though rough, can prove a point through that rugged exterior. He may have been involved in what you would call "illegal" activities, but he still retained his friendliness to friends and family alike,"

"Judging by this, he could have made a decent king. What's your point? Look at yourself, you're a King Vessel and you ha-"

I sighed once again and faced away from her, but still staring at her with my right eye.

"My point is that I never had any of their traits. I was the runt of the family and I accepted it for life through excessive laziness and anti-social growth. Heck, I would be a bit too shy to talk to you if it weren't for their Rukh being bonded with mine."

At this point, I started to cry. Mira's concerned face showed some surprise.

"Why am I the one with the Djinn? It's just Benjamin and Johann's Rukh that made me deserve this power. Without them, I'm just a dumb and useless pig. Kings aren't dumb and useless, they were strong and powerful, and it was because of their strength that they've garnered the respect they deserve. I never had any circle of real friends or ideals. Why am I caught in the cliche chosen one archetypes? It just feels stupid that a teenager that puts low effort in everything deserved to have such power,"

I silently cried my eyes out and sat down with absolute shame in telling her.

"Royaltly like you obviously deserved a Metal Vessel. After all, you WERE born for it, due to your royal lineage, weren't you?"

"You're wrong!" she shouted. The shout caught me off guard and looked at her with surprised eyes.

"Have you ever heard of Sinbad's story?" she asked me.

"No. But I'm pretty sure it involves him probably being royal blood or something and being sent to a dungeon. Or just a royal heir to some throne that was exiled to the slu-"

"No! He was never born into royalty at all! He was born in a poor family-"

"So? He was already born and raised talented and strong! Look at me. Take away my zombie properties and Metal Vessel and what do you see? That's right a l-"

"Strong-willed man," she said softly.

"You're ruining the moment, I was always-" I was too consumed with negativity that I found no hope in finding greatness inside of me.

"Franklin... stop this self-degrading, please,"

"I'm not! I'm being-"

"No. The reality is that you're an amazing person," she now had a smile on her face,"If you were a useless pig, then how did you make it all the way here? You were in control of your own actions and the Rukh of your brothers helped you. Even Kings need help from others before they are crowned. Fayleene has told me about Amelia and she says that she believes you will be a great person one day and she'll support you."

"She's right you know," Amelia slithered to me and put a hand on my head.

"You can't already be born perfect you know, you have to go through trials. Of course, a little help won't kill ya,"

"Hehe, thank you," I said with some happiness.

The Queen of Artemyra walked up to my scissors and picked it up. She walked toward me and handed me my scissors.

"You braved a dungeon, fought your way up to here, and managed to achieve Full Djinn Equip. You were never fighting as Ben and Johann, you were always fighting as you. You may have gained some of their traits, but the only thing I see who decides is you."

Rukh started to come out from behind Mira and surrounded both of us. The stream of Rukh directed to the window and flew toward where the sea was. She turned to me and lovingly wiped my tears away from my eyes. Mira looks young, but she's probably really old. I'm not saying I'm falling for her, but I see her as a gentle loving mother.

"Thank you, for helping me, Mira," I stood up from the floor and grabbed my scissors,"Let's train a bit more,"

Surprised by my change in mood, she decided to be happy as I was. She held her lance with both hands and we both walked out of the throne room.

Ramses's View

After another round of clashes, I was yet again exhausted. Emiline aided me by giving me Wind Magic power through the Asfal. Emiline and I plan to make this a war of attrition. We did hit and run tactics in case she would try to absorb our Magoi and I mostly focused on fighting her with only my sword and Lykos. Every time she got close to Emiline, she'd use Light Magic to deceive her and we'd repeat the process. Slowly, she managed to figure it out and now her only viable choice was to exhaust Emiline by constantly going to her.

"Don't you dare run away from me, coward!" she said to Emiline,"Noctis, help me!"

Suddenly, a pair of dark chains constricted the blonde Magi. She kept on trying to wring out of the chains, but it seemed like it was too strong for her.

"What has gotten into you, Serket?!" I shouted.

No response. She flew toward the chained up Emiline and was about to put her palms on her.

"Know now that Life and Death will only end up being consumed by the darkness."

A series of Black Rukh started to dance around Serket as her hands got closer. Emiline's eyes were wide open and her pupils were dilated. I tried to fly to her, but I was captured by black chains. The chains were too strong and I found myself unable to break free. What am I gonna do now? I'm gonna watch my friend die and she'll leave me in shame of not being able to save her.

"Amribin Sayf!"

Suddenly, she was cut in half by blue flames. A mysterious Metal Vessel user has appeared from out of nowhere. The mystery man then spun twice while flinging blue flames precisely to our chains, burning them off. I moved my arms around for a bit and looked at the man in blue flames. He was engulfed in his own flames, which caressed his very body, but I couldn't see what he really looked like.

"May, look out!" a female voice called out.

"Got it," he simply took a stride backward, dodging a speeding chain.

The flames faded and revealed this "May" character. His long spiky hair flowed up to his chest and was flourished with pure white. His eyes were small lakes of cyan crystals and his skin was as tanned as mine. His build was slightly bulky, shown through his thick arms. On his right hand, he wielded a curved scimitar with a flame motif. Black markings of flames were engraved on the blade. On his left wrist lay what looked like his scabbard. A silver breastplate covering his left pectoral was his torso armor, adorn with sapphire orbs. He wore long silver tassets that reached up to his upper shins and a long loincloth that extended to his heels. Black baggy pants were worn and he wore silver boots with chrome knee pads of a horse's head with wings sprouting behind it.

"So you're Franklin's friend," he spoke with a very alien-like accent.

"Wait? Are you from our world, May?" Emiline asked.

May nodded with a smile.

"Yes, I believe you're Emiline Lazarus, are you not?" There he goes with his accent.

"How do you know my name?" she asked the man.

"It's because I told him, Emiline," the more mature female voice spoke.

We looked to our left and saw a girl with cyan hair in a white dress. She wore cyan colored shoes and held a staff with a five pointed star. Her eyes were closed, implying she has some strong clairvoyant powers.

"I'm Holly, I'm a Magi like you, Emiline,"

I sighed from the amount of new Magis that come up. It's as if Magis were as common as sands on a desert. But nonetheless, they're not in high production like normal magicians. Being a Magi is of course hard work, considering you're granted infinite Magoi for the sake of summoning dungeons and finding kings. That's probably the case for most Magi... except Yunan.

"Seriously, how much more Magis have you met up with?" Emiline said with a raised brow.

"In our world, we have four Magis that resemble polar opposites as well as everyday elements we face in this world. Light, Dark, Life, and Death," she opened her eyes, revealing her bright cyan eyes,"Emiline, you're the Magi of Life,"

"Curse you, Magi of Light!" another female voice spoke.

Suddenly, a murky black ooze started to form in the aether. Out came a lady clad in black with long flowing white hair.

"Why have you come to the aid of Anima so early?" she said with anger.

"You shall not absorb her powers yet, Zalam," May said, pointing her sword at the white haired lady.

"My name is Leila, young King," she said politely, but still with anger in her voice. She looked at me with a relaxed smile.

"Relax, honey, I have no connection with your little girlfriend,"

I sighed with relief, but had a huge crimson shade. She's not my girlfriend!

"Don't think you can just wipe out our existences. Overuse of that will result in your own self destruction," said Holly.

Leila, the Dark Magi, sighed and shrugged.

"Know too that too much use of your Light Powers to discover information would cause you to damage your body more, so don't be so nosy next time,"

"I'm aware, Zalam,"

She looked at the dismembered Serket and witnessed her regenerate her body. After her regeneration, she was panting as if exhausted.

"Poor dear, your Magoi is nearly depleted from Asmodeus's flames," she grabbed what looked like a wedge of reality and tore it, revealing a black rift.

This Dark Magi. This Zalam. Who is she? Better yet, as who is IT?

The two entered the rift and instantly closed as soon as they were fully inside. We were still hovering in the air and both Emiline and I turned our heads to the two older King Vessel and Magi.

"Who exactly are you guys?" Emiline asked,"Some sort of Ramona Flowers, and a British speaking King Vessel?"

"I'm Australian, mate," May replied with a tone unaffected by her somewhat offensive question.

"I'll tell you more later. Let's meet up in Qishan, Emiline, Ramses," said Holly.

Without anything really to say, we all flew back to Qishan. I'm not so sure how Leila(the blonde one) will react to my sudden leave. I hope she's not angry with me. That's the last thing I want to see.

While in flight, I took a glance at both aliens. How did they come here? Why is Franklin's world suddenly getting involved with our world? I have a bad feeling about what's going to happen in the future.

One year later.

Sasan

A damaged Darius Leoxses stood in the middle of the ruins of his city. The black knight's magoi is running low and the one who stood over him, an eight foot tall humanoid with two large pistols. His helmet had the eight pointed star engraved on his head. Black Rukh danced around him, much to the horror of the Knight King. In the background, many humans started to apprehend the citizens of Sasan's capital and burn down the houses with their rifles. Poor Alibaba, who was once here a year ago, traveled back to Balbadd to learn of the status of his home town. He wasn't here to help, with his newly found power from Caim.

"I have a strange feeling that Franklin is behind all of this," Dorian said from behind, who is now a grown giant that touches the skies.

A large bipedal mecha that matched its size was clashing with the giant knight. They both fought brutally and Dorian seemed to be losing. Darius, though never meeting the Undead Marauder, doubted he had anything to do with this alien invasion.

"No!"

He gritted his teeth and raised his guan dao up in the air.

"Spirit of Dominance and Dedication, let your powerful Iron Fist of Justice imbue me with the power to bring order and balance!"

Darius was suddenly enveloped in a black and purple aura until his whole body became the Strength Aura itself. He charged toward the commander and then zipped to all of the subordinates of this alien force, dragging all of them into the air alongside the giant mech.

"Dorian! Use your magic!"

"Alright!"

The giant knight clenched his fist and formed a black and purple lance. With a battle driven roar, he threw his black spear at the gathered troops.

"Household Vessel: Ahadeem Khanjar!"

The clumped group of agents were suddenly shot into the air, dragged by the black lance. They were all put in place, between two large eight pointed stars. Darius appeared in front of them with a calm yet angry face.

"Never invade my land ever again, you fiendish aliens!"

Sudden pressure started to compact the victims of his upcoming attack. Gritting his teeth, he drew his trump card.

"Extreme Magic: Ahadeem Inqared-Madquq!"

In a split second, the vision of everyone caught in that circle faded as they were instantly compacted into a small sphere the size of a pea. The usage of his magic to push all of those people in and his extreme magic has exhausted the Knight King to near exhaustion. Exhausted, he soon fell into the ground, but his loyal knight came to his aid and caught his falling body before gravity continued to accelerate him into the ground. Heavy breathing was the result of his hard work and he can barely move a limb.

"My, my, you're quite the strong man aren't you, Knight King," Dorian looked into the sky and saw a woman with pink flames dancing around her.

"Kristina! You're behind our backs all this time?" Dorian exclaimed.

"I can beat you all so easily thanks to your exhausted energy, but I'm feeling generous today."

She pointed her magenta rapier at Dorian's large head and leered at him with a threatening face. Dorian's vigil stare remained firm, not wavered by fear.

"Leave Sasan, give Sinbad and your little alliance a message: AZRAEL is coming for you."

Inside that helmet, Dorian gritted his fangs, but the raspy voice of the old Knight King caught his attention.

"Sasan may have fallen, but our lives are more important in this cause. We need the aid of the alliance in order to face this enemy."

The assistant knight was hesitant, but he had to agree with his king's decision.

"Spare the citizens too," Darius said weakly.

Kristina nodded. She may have joined a dark entity, but she still had morals, and her leader allowed her to be moral if she wished.

"I'm not into killing anything weak and helpless, we just wanted your land. You wouldn't accept our agreement peacefully, so AZRAEL had to show you, and I truly commend our first force's effort."

Suddenly, another garrison approached Sasan. The garrison was larger than before, and Darius and his forces were low on energy and couldn't fight back.

All of Sasan's citizens and knights were forced to go into the boats headed to Sindria. Darius recovered a few Magoi as soon as he sat down. He walked to the back of his boat, using his lance as a hiking stick to keep his weakened body up. The sight of Sasan's ruins were shrinking as the ship sailed farther, and all Darius could do at this moment was mourn silently for his fallen country. Sasan has fallen.

A/N: Yet another time skip.

Since Leila(Zalam) came from the modern world, I decided to make her forces use a fusion of magic and technology as well as special training focused on fighting Magicians, Households, and Metal Vessel users.

The soldiers of AZRAEL will mostly use advanced modern day weapons developed through intelligence gained by Zalam. Some will use hybrid weaponry (magical and technological weapons). Will there be Metal Vessel Commanders? Yes, but with some... additions.

If you really want to find out the purpose behind why AZRAEL invaded one year after the Serket vs Ramses fight, and why they invaded Sasan first, await the next chapters ahead, there might be truths revealed.

Also from now on, I'm going to update weekly. Starting on next Friday, my next chapter will come. Expect some delays because I too have generic teenager stuff to deal with such as homework and other stuff. The reason for this is because I update way too fast and maybe that's what makes this story go by too fast, not giving my fellow readers time to recollect what just happened.

Also, new cover image starring a special character. I'll try to make images of other characters, though don't expect me to be some sort of super artist or something.

Someone's view. Early morning.

The green grass crunched as I walked in the grassy hills. She told me to go to Sasan to investigate any strange activity after I heard about its insurrection. What really surprised me was that the once medieval looking town has now been turned into a modern day construction site. A fusion of technology and magic were utilized to create a city from the ashes of Sasan. Guarding the construction site were a bunch of armored men with custom assault rifles. The words, AZRAEL were engraved on the back of their body armor as if they were SWAT. I grabbed my Eye of the Rukh and spoke into it in a hushed voice.

"You can't believe what's going on here,"

I wore a ragged brown cloak that flowed with the ocean winds. Underneath my cloak is a black shirt with a green sash wrapped diagonally across my torso. My pants are now baggy white pants with black boots that reached up to my higher shins. Around my waist, a green sash is wrapped with a silver chain hanging from it, holding a pair of kitchen scissors. On my right hand, a steel battleaxe was in my grasp, engraved with a special Jolly Roger I implemented in the base of the axe.

With everything ready, I slowly walk into the construction zone. Axe in hand, I used my left hand to unveil my ragged cloak. The cloak revealed my full body, with a black and green scarf flowing in the wind.

I want to find my friends and if these people are guarding the harbor, then I'm going to have to get them out of my way if they do so. I walked toward the construction site slowly with my axe gripped tightly. Guess it's time for the Undead Marauder to raid on these landlubbers.