Chapter 26: Attack on the Royal Capital, pt2

The Hansen family was known throughout the Clover Kingdom for their lineage of skilled assassins. For generations, they had served as silent enforcers for various noble families and even the royal family when the need arose. They were shadows, executing their deadly duties with unmatched precision. Among them, Rela Hansen was a prodigy, the eldest daughter and the most gifted assassin the family had produced in decades. Her prowess in combat, coupled with her mastery of Azure Flame Magic, set her apart as a force to be reckoned with, even at a young age.

Rela was always ambitious—too ambitious, some would say. She thrived on challenges, on proving herself superior to others, whether they were fellow assassins or even her own family. For years, her insatiable drive had been tolerated by the Hansens, as long as she followed their code and completed her missions without question. But Rela's hunger for power and control went beyond the family's objectives.

It all began when Rela, at the age of 21, was assigned a high-profile mission by the Hansen elders. Her target was a nobleman from House Zavala, a member of one of the more influential families in the kingdom's political sphere. Zavala had betrayed the Clover Kingdom, selling information to foreign enemies in exchange for wealth and influence. Rela's task was simple: eliminate him, and ensure that no trace of the betrayal remained.

A/N: shh secret update

Rela completed the mission flawlessly, as expected. But instead of returning to the family to report her success, she kept something for herself - a document outlining secret deals between the noble houses, including her target's agreement with the Spade Kingdom. It wasn't just evidence of one noble's betrayal; it was a map of the entire underground power structure of the kingdom. Rela saw it as an opportunity, something that could elevate her beyond the status of an assassin, something that would make her more powerful than her family could ever dream of.

She kept the document hidden, deciding that she would use it to blackmail and control the nobility herself. She was tired of being a mere tool, following orders without question. She wanted to rise above the Hansens, to bend the powerful to her will. However, this was more than just defiance against her family's strict code of loyalty—it was treason.

Rela's ambition soon caught up with her. The Hansen elders had their own spies, and it wasn't long before they discovered her betrayal. When confronted, Rela didn't deny it. Instead, she arrogantly claimed that the Hansens had become complacent, too willing to serve others when they could seize power for themselves.

"You're all fools," she had spat, her azure flames flickering around her in a display of raw power. "We have the skills and the strength to rule from the shadows, to control everything. Why do we bow to these pathetic nobles?"

The elders were horrified. While the Hansens dealt in death and subterfuge, they had always abided by a strict moral code—loyalty to the kingdom and its people above all. Rela's vision was not one of loyalty or protection; it was one of domination and control. She had crossed a line that could never be forgiven.

"You have betrayed the very foundation of what it means to be a Hansen," the elder had said, his voice cold with finality. "You are no longer one of us."

Her punishment was swift. Rela was stripped of her status within the family and declared a traitor. Her family could not allow her to roam free in the kingdom, knowing what she knew and possessing the power she had. But rather than executing her—a fate many believed she deserved—the Hansens opted for exile, believing that it was the crueller punishment. They bound her with magic restraints, ensuring that she could not use her flames to escape, and sent her to the borders of the Clover Kingdom, where she would live in isolation for the rest of her days.

To Sharya, her younger sister, this betrayal was a shock. Rela had always been a figure of admiration in her life. Growing up in the shadow of her older sister, Sharya had trained tirelessly to emulate her, to be as strong and as skilled as Rela. But when the truth of Rela's ambition and the depths of her treachery came to light, Sharya's admiration quickly turned to disillusionment. She had loved her sister, but the woman Rela had become was someone she no longer recognized.

For years, Rela lived in exile, her resentment festering. She honed her skills in secret, waiting for the right moment to strike back. Despite the magic restraints placed on her, she found ways to weaken their hold, tapping into the depths of her Azure Flame Magic. The isolation only fueled her hatred for the family and the kingdom that had cast her aside. She vowed that one day, she would return—not as a sister, not as a daughter of the Hansen family, but as a conqueror.

Her chance came when she encountered the Eye of the Midnight Sun. Drawn by her power and her hatred for the Clover Kingdom, the group offered her an alliance. They promised her the freedom to exact her revenge on the family that had exiled her and the kingdom that had turned its back on her. In exchange, she would lend them her skills and power in their campaign against the Clover Kingdom.

Rela accepted without hesitation.

And so, after years of plotting and waiting, she finally made her return, not as the sister Sharya remembered, but as a powerful adversary bent on destruction, and taking the only child of the Hansen family away from them.

…

"Azure Flame Magic: Cerulean Dragon's Breath!" she yelled, pointing a finger at Sharya. A sapphire flame appeared, flying towards Sharya in the shape of a dragon, exuding intense heat. She dodged nimbly, but not before the dragon singed the soles of her boots.

"You're getting slower, sister," Rela taunted. , her eyes gleaming with malice, as Sharya landed gracefully. She raised her hands. "This spell could either work… or go horribly wrong and I die," Sharya said, regaining her sense of balance.

"Clone Magic: Mana Copy!" Suddenly, Sharya felt magic power welling up inside her, and she grinned. "You really do have bucketloads of mana, sister. Just a shame you didn't use it for something better than being the lapdog of a personal organisation,"

"We were the lapdogs of countless organisations!" Rela yelled. "Countless nobles used the Hansens for their own gain! I was tired of it! If a moth sees other moths at a light, would it not want to be there as well?"

"Comparing yourself to a moth?" Sharya asked, cutting her off. "That's unlike you, sister."

"Enough of this! Azure Flame Magic: Cornflower Field!" she said, stamping her foot on the roof of a building. The building caught fire, and then another, and then another.

"No!" Sharya yelled. She used a spell she had sneakily cloned from a water mage a few years ago, and had been storing for a long time. "Cloned Water Magic: Tidal Wave!"

A wave of water erupted from her hands, crashing over the buildings and smothering the flames. Sharya put on her gloves with blades, the treasure she'd found in the dungeon. The blades may have been old and slightly rusted, but they had a reinforcement that made them 10 times sharper and harder than Lars's naginata. She smiled, the adrenaline of the battle ahead finally catching up to her.

"You've been a thorn in my side for far too long, Sister," Rela said, bringing out her own weapon. It was a flail with a slightly longer chain than usual. She swung it, and the spiked ball ignited with flame. "On the good name of the Eye of the Midnight Sun, I swear I will beat you senseless and bloodied!"

Sharya rushed towards Rela with a war cry, creating multiple clones with Doppelganger Blitz that echoed the cry all around their vicinity.

"Pathetic!" Rela yelled! "Azure Flame Magic: Cerulean Ashes of the Lost!" Cerulean, flaming clones of Rela began to emerge from the ground, each one with the same flaming flail as her. Sharya gritted her teeth.

This was to be a battle of tactics.

…

While this was happening, Kian had been rushing through the city, looking for Lars. Where could that Mertens have possibly gone?

"Halt, small child!" a voice rang out. "Or I will kill these tykes!"

"Who ya callin' small, guy?" the force mage said, turning around. He was quite annoyed at the mage's observation

The mage, also with the Eye of the Midnight Sun, discarded his robe, to Kian's surprise.

Kian slowly turned, his hand clenching into a fist as he sized up the figure before him. The mage wore the Eye of the Midnight Sun's insignia, his robes now discarded, revealing a muscular frame beneath. His smirk was as condescending as it was cruel, and in his grip, two children cowered, their faces streaked with tears and soot.

"Who ya callin' small, guy?" Kian shot back, annoyance creeping into his tone. The mage was bigger, sure, but that didn't matter. Nothing about this guy felt particularly strong to him.

The Eye mage chuckled, his grip tightening around the children's arms, causing them to cry out in pain. "You're mouthy for someone about to die. But don't worry, I'll deal with you after I'm done with these brats."

Kian's eyes darkened, and the humour slipped from his face. "You hurt them, and I'll make you regret it."

Without wasting another moment, the mage tossed the children to the ground and began gathering mana, summoning swirling orbs of wind around his hands. "You? Make me regret it? Ha! Don't make me laugh, kid."

Kian cracked his knuckles, a small smirk returning to his lips. "Force Magic: Gran Peso."

A pulse of invisible energy exploded from his body, rippling through the air with immense pressure. The Eye mage's grin faltered as he was nearly thrown off balance by the sudden wave, his footing shifting awkwardly. Kian didn't give him time to recover.

In a burst of speed, Kian shot forward, his fist colliding with the mage's midsection before he could properly react. The mage's eyes widened in pain as he stumbled back, gasping for air. Kian's punch had hit with much more force than a guy his size should have been capable of.

"I warned you," Kian said, stepping forward, his tone cold. "Now you're gonna pay."

The mage, still reeling from the blow, wiped blood from his mouth and snarled. "Damn kid... You think that's enough to stop me?" His wind orbs condensed into sharp, rotating blades of air, and with a yell, he launched them toward Kian, each one cutting through the air with deadly precision.

Kian didn't flinch. Instead, he planted his feet, readying himself.

"Force Magic: Air Resistance!"

A translucent barrier formed in front of him just as the blades of wind slammed into it, shattering on impact. The Eye mage's eyes widened in disbelief as Kian pushed the barrier forward, sending shards of broken magic back toward him. He tried to dodge, but the fragments struck his side, leaving shallow cuts.

"How are you this strong?!" the mage roared, desperation creeping into his voice.

Kian didn't answer. Instead, he closed the distance again, his body a blur as he delivered a devastating kick to the mage's chest, sending him flying backward into a pile of debris. The mage groaned, coughing up blood, his body shaking from the force of the impact.

"You Eye guys are all the same," Kian said, walking toward him with a casual stride. "You think you can do whatever you want just because you've got power, but you don't actually know how to use it right."

The mage struggled to stand, his legs shaking beneath him. He summoned more wind magic, forming a massive whirlwind that encircled his body like a protective shield. "I... I won't lose to some punk kid!" he shouted, trying to hide the fear in his voice.

Kian's eyes narrowed. "You're already done. And I'm nineteen, thank you! I'm a legal adult!"

In an instant, he slammed both hands down onto the ground. "Force Magic: Upthrust!"

The earth beneath the mage exploded upward, launching him high into the air as chunks of stone and dirt followed him in a chaotic storm. The whirlwind around him faltered as the shockwave disrupted his control, and in the next moment, Kian leapt into the air, closing the distance between them.

With a single, focused punch, Kian struck the mage mid-air, his knuckles cracking against the man's rib cage. The force of the blow shattered the remaining defences the mage had, and he plummeted to the ground, crashing into the rubble with a sickening thud.

The dust settled, revealing the mage lying unconscious, his body limp. Kian landed lightly beside him, brushing dirt from his hands.

"That's what you get for messing with kids," he muttered, turning back toward the two children who were still trembling behind a broken cart. He approached them, kneeling down with a reassuring smile. "You're safe now."

The children hesitantly nodded, their tearful eyes still wide with shock. Kian gave them a quick nod and gestured for them to run. "Find a shelter and stay there, okay?"

They wasted no time, scampering off into the distance. Kian stood up, cracking his neck as he turned his attention back toward the chaos that still raged around the capital.

"Now… where the hell is Lars?"

…

Meanwhile, Sharya's battle was escalating to dangerous heights. Her clones darted between rooftops, flickering in and out of sight as they attempted to surround Rela's flaming duplicates. The azure flames danced like living creatures, each clone of Rela moving with the same deadly precision as the original. Sharya's brow was damp with sweat, her breaths growing more laboured with each passing second.

"Azure Flame Magic: Cerulean Ashes of the Lost!" Rela shouted again, and more clones rose from the ground, their flames roaring with life. They moved like a swarm, each one mirroring her every move.

Sharya gritted her teeth, her mind racing as she tried to come up with a strategy. Her clones were good for distracting Rela's flame apparitions, but she couldn't keep this up forever. Every moment they spent fighting drained her mana, and she couldn't risk a prolonged battle—Rela would overpower her with sheer force.

With a swift motion, Sharya summoned another set of clones, sending them to attack from different angles. Her bladed gloves glinted in the firelight as she weaved through the battlefield, her attacks swift and precise. But no matter how many of Rela's flame apparitions she cut down, more rose to take their place.

"Is this all you've got?" Rela's voice echoed, taunting her from somewhere amidst the chaos. "You should have stayed a shadow, Sharya. You're nothing compared to me."

Sharya clenched her fists, forcing herself to stay focused. Her sister's words stung, but she wouldn't let them break her. She had to find a way to outmanoeuvre Rela—there had to be a weakness in her magic, something she could exploit.

Suddenly, one of Sharya's clones managed to land a hit on one of Rela's flame apparitions, slicing through it with precision. The apparition flickered for a moment before collapsing into ash. Sharya's eyes widened.

That's it.

The flame apparitions were linked directly to Rela's mana. If she could disrupt the connection, even for a moment, she could weaken them all at once. It was a risky gamble, but it was her only chance.

Gathering her remaining mana, Sharya leapt onto the rooftop, positioning herself directly above Rela's real form. The flames below flickered ominously as Rela's apparitions moved to block her path, but Sharya was faster.

She'd always been fast. That was one of her greatest strengths.

She aimed for Rela's core, her blade cutting through the air with lethal speed. But just as her attack was about to connect, Rela's figure vanished, replaced by a torrent of blue flame that engulfed the rooftop.

Sharya cursed under her breath, retreating just in time to avoid being scorched. Her sister had anticipated the move, her flames now swirling around her like a protective inferno.

"You've always been predictable, little sister," Rela's voice taunted from within the flames. "You'll never win if you keep fighting like that."

Sharya wiped the sweat from her brow, her eyes narrowing. "You're not as invincible as you think, Rela. I'll find a way to beat you."

The flames around Rela intensified, their heat warping the air around them. "You're welcome to try."

...

The battlefield crackled with tension as Hugo Vance stood at the ready, his White Sand Magic swirling in an eerie, ethereal glow around him. Beside him, Russell stretched lazily, his eyes glinting with a mischievous spark as his Dust Magic coiled around his fingers like a living mist. Lilian, calm but alert, took a step forward, her Prism Magic flaring in her hands, casting a rainbow of fractured light across the rocky terrain.

The Eye of the Midnight Sun mages glared back, dark mana pulsing as they prepared their spells. Hugo's lip curled, unimpressed. "White Sand Magic: Royal Aegis." With a flick of his wrist, his magic erupted into a crystalline wall of sand, each grain gleaming like a diamond as it blocked the incoming barrage of shadow orbs.

"Already throwing up shields, Hugo? You're so slow." Russell chuckled, extending his hand as Dust Magic: Sandstorm Mirage unfurled around them in a gritty wave. His dust cloud swept forward, engulfing two mages in a shimmering haze that sapped their mana and muffled their vision. They stumbled, choking as the dust took hold.

Lilian stepped forward, her eyes narrowing. "Enough of that," she murmured, raising her hand. "Prism Magic: Splintering Veil." A wall of prismatic light sliced through the air, reflecting and amplifying the sunlight, dazzling their opponents and disorienting their movements. Streams of coloured light refracted from her magic, and Lilian let them scatter—each beam finding a weak spot among the shadowy mages.

With a smirk, Russell gestured toward the flinching mages. "Alright, let's make this interesting." His fingers curled as he summoned Dust Magic: Suffocating Haze, sending a powerful vortex to ensnare another mage, the swirling dust pressing in and draining their strength, rooting them in place.

"You think this is enough to bring us down?" one of the mages sneered, barely managing to hold their ground. They began chanting, summoning dark shadows that coalesced into monstrous forms around them, lunging straight for Hugo.

But Hugo was ready. "White Sand Magic: Scorpion's Tail!" His magic whipped into a long, lance-like spear that thrust forward, cleaving through the shadow creature with a swift, merciless strike, then coiling back defensively.

"Watch yourself, Hugo!" Lilian called, tightening her grip. "Prism Magic: Gleaming Arc." She created a gleaming prismatic sword, and with a graceful sweep, she sent an arc of light directly into a line of mages, slicing through the shadows they tried to summon in defence. The light fractured around them, each shard slicing through their dark mana.

Russell sidestepped, tossing Hugo an annoyed glance. "Quit hogging the fun." He launched Dust Magic: Dust Cloud Barricade, his dust forming a thick, gritty cloud that blasted over their enemies' heads, each grain swirling and shining in a blinding display.

The Eye of the Midnight Sun mages, coughing and struggling to see, stumbled back—but Hugo was already advancing with White Sand Magic: Sovereign's Grasp. White sand burst forth, coiling and wrapping around one of the mages' arms and dragging them toward him, immobilised.

Lilian took the opportunity to charge in, her Prism Magic flaring. "Prism Magic: Spectrum Chains!" Streams of coloured light shot from her hands, snaking around another mage and pinning them against the ground, her magic locking their movements as they struggled.

Russell watched the mages falter and grinned, crossing his arms. "You guys done yet?"

The restrained mages thrashed against their bindings, but it was futile—Russell, Hugo, and Lilian were relentless.

Hugo tightened his grip, his voice cutting through the chaos. "White Sand Magic: Celestial Purge!" His sand spiralled upward before crashing down, enveloping two mages in a crushing wave, compressing them with an overwhelming force that left them gasping, barely able to keep their footing.

Russell smirked, casting a sidelong glance at Lilian. "Want to wrap this up?"

Lilian nodded, her expression hardening. "Prism Magic: Prismatic Flare!" She raised her hand, focusing an intense, narrow beam of prismatic light that pierced through the smoke and dust, hitting the last standing mage with pinpoint precision. The beam scattered, refracting into a storm of sharp, blinding fragments that exploded on impact, leaving the mage staggering back in shock.

"Looks like you're all out of tricks," Russell taunted, extending his hand. "Dust Magic: Shifting Sands." The ground beneath the mages transformed into a quicksand-like pit of swirling dust, trapping them and draining their remaining strength.

With one last defeated gasp, the Eye of the Midnight Sun mages collapsed, magic dissipating in the air as Russell, Hugo, and Lilian stood victorious amidst the fading remnants of battle.

…

Soren's eyes fluttered open, and he squinted at the sterile white ceiling, the faint smell of antiseptics invading his senses. His body ached with a dull, throbbing pain, but a sudden roar beyond the walls jolted him upright. Forcing himself out of bed, he staggered toward the window, gripping the sill for support. His gaze settled on the city below, now barely recognizable beneath plumes of smoke and flashes of chaotic magic. Fires raged where proud structures had once stood, and the distant shouts of Magic Knights and civilians filled the air. A heavy wave of nausea washed over him as he took it all in; he swayed, then his legs buckled, sending him crashing to the cold floor, unconscious once more.

A/N: yayy soren's back

What ideas do you have for funny magic?