Chapter 201.

PART 1.

After the chaos and unrest, Dhiraj is finally chosen as the new headmaster. Corvus is lucid enough to consent to this decision, though he is in no condition to make public appearances.

As soon as he took the position in the office, he disbanded the council and ordered that the classes which have been irregular at this point be resumed with their regular schedule. He then goes to the hospital, and visits Corvus.

“So, how the office is treating you?” asked Corvus, gripping Dhiraj’s hand in his own hand.

“Quite stressful.” Said Dhiraj. “I have to prepare for a civil war.”

“One might think that you won’t have to deal with that, given the recent events,” said Corvus.

Dhiraj smiled. “You and I both know that is not true. Some people will do anything to get the power, even if they don’t know what they will do after gaining the said power.”

“That is the truth as old as the civilization, my boy,” said Corvus. “Also, I can call you that in open, since I’m not in the office anymore.”

“Yes, I suppose you can,” said Dhiraj with a smile of his own.

After chatting about a few more topics, which are considerably lighter than their first discussion, Dhiraj leaves. The budget is in a mess. He has to make it work this year, lest some department head come to complain to his office about their monetary problems.

PART 2.

Ravina manipulates the sand along with Daphne, and after digging a pit wide enough for all nine of them, they go inside this pit for the day. Hatori draws some runes on the sand to cool the temperature inside, and then he joins them inside as well.

Trekking through the desert has been a taxing experience for all of them. nothing like this has ever happened to them, they feel that the land itself is sapping their spirit slowly. Dimitri is taking it the worst, since he is not exactly built for hot and arid climates, having grown up in the cold weather of Scythia.

After their initial escape, they all have been walking the desert in the night, since it is not possible for them to travel during the day. the last of their water ran out several hours ago, and ever since the morning sun started to cook them again, they dug this pit and hid themselves under it. Hatori marvels at the ability of magic in a survival situation. A pit like this they could not have dug by hand.

Avinash knows that the water situation is going to get worse sooner or later. despite being in the Kemet, they are nowhere near close to the legendary river Iaro, which actually provides a small oasis of life in this harsh land. He is envious of Hatori. the boy has not lost his composure despite the heat getting to him. Even now, he is working on some runes at the corner of the pit. Judging by his sour face, however, Josh is not happy with his friend.

Avinash understands why he is angry with him. As they ran out of water, Hatori kept collecting the seeds of the nearby cactus. The plants were absolutely useless for them, as not only they were growing on the little moisture available in the night, but they were also poisonous. By all means, they are absolutely useless in their current plight. At least they don’t have to worry about the food, since they have sizable portions of emergency supplies sealed within their wrists, as a precaution for this exact situation. Too bad that Hatori could not figure out a way to store water in the storage runes.

as the evening comes, and they leave their pit, Hatori collects some more seeds. Josh has had enough of this, and he seizes Hatori by his shirt. “What do you see in those worthless little seeds? Don’t you see we’re about to die in this place?”

“Why are we dying?” asked Hatori, very calm despite Josh’s strong grip.

“This desert will kill us. in case you didn’t notice, we don’t have any water now!” reminds Josh, feeling like he is talking with a wall. At the back of his head, he is considering whether Hatori has gone mad or not, before ignoring that voice. the possibility does not appeal to him anyway.

“Oh.” Said Hatori, easily removing Josh’s grip from his shirt. “Then why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

He kneels in the sand and draws some runes. “That won’t work.” Said Ravina.

Ignoring her, Hatori channels some magic, and after some rumbling, a stream comes bursting out of the ground. Avinash controls his urge to gawk and quickly replenishes their water supply, and after that, Hatori grabs and dunks Josh in the fresh cold water.

“Maybe this will cool your head,” he said to the struggling boy, effortlessly keeping him inside of the stream despite his larger size.

once they quench their thirst and refill their water, the team moves on. Hatori leaves the modified seeds of the cacti behind, which quickly grow and create a thorny wall behind them. As they move towards the human settlement guided by Avinash, Hatori continues to work on some other symbols, feeling that these runes will come in handy soon enough.

PART 3.

Batya is visiting Ramses, the Pharaoh of Kemet. Along with signing a new trade deal between their two countries and renewing several old ones, Batya is telling Ramses of what happened in the tournament, and the resulting chaos around the world due to those events.

“What of the Subcontinent?” asked Ramses with a croak in his voice.

“The blockade continues.” Said Dimitri. “No news is coming out of there, and any attempts of penetrating that blockade have failed. None of us are willing to risk our citizens for a doomed attempt, particularly when Porus is missing, or assumed dead.”

“Such a shame.” Said Ramses. “He was the oldest ruler after me. though I get the feeling he is not dead.”

“Yes, but he is not a ruler anymore. or else that country would not be in such chaos.” Said Batya.

“True.” Agreed on Ramses.

In his youth, he visited the Subcontinent once. Having grown up in a desert, such a geographically diverse area was quite a shock for him to experience, particularly the cold in the north. That was the first time he saw the natural ice.

Their conversation is interrupted, as the Vizier walks in. “Forgiveness for interrupting this meeting my lord, but I have some urgent news.” Said the man, kneeling before Ramses.

“What is the news?” asked Ramses.

“A small Albion force has appeared on one of our ports, and they are demanding the team of Subcontinent who escaped to your land be handed to them alive. Should you not comply with this request, they are threatening some great action.” Said the Vizier.

“Action, you say? How big is their force?” asked the pharaoh in return.

“It is just one ship. Two women are in the command, and judging by their looks they are related.” Said the vizier.

Ramses turns to Batya. “Are these the women you spoke of?”

“Judging by their demands, yes,” said Batya. “What do you intend to do?”

“A moment.” Said Ramses. He summons some ink and paper and begins to write. once completed, he gives the note to the vizier. “Give this to the woman in charge, and tell her that no one makes demands of me on these lands.”

“Yes, my lord.” The vizier leaves to complete his task at once.

“Now. what do you suggest? What are my options?” asked Ramses.

“Either find the team and deport them, or give them to the Albion.” Said Batya at once.

“The latter is out of the question. looks like searching in the desert is in order.” He grumbled.

Ideally, he would like to send those children with some of his own forces to their home, but given the chaos going on in the Subcontinent, this severely limits his options. Though he did send a threatening letter back in return for those demands, Ramses would prefer not to pick fights in his old age.

PART 4.

As the morning approaches, they look for another place to rest. Unless they find something, they might need to hide in another pit. But their search has to be halted, as the wind starts to pick up. Shin, who is the most sensitive to this element, then gives them the warning.

“Guys, a storm is coming.” Said Shin.

As their search to hide intensified, Praduman asked. “Is it the watery storm?”

“Nah, just a sandstorm.” Said Shin.

“Look, we can hide there,” said Ravina.

She points to some large structure in the distance. As they got close, they realized it was one of the pyramids. “Is it safe to go in there?” asked Daphne.

“I don’t sense any magic in there,” said Hatori.

“Good enough for me in this condition. What do you think, coach?” asked Avinash.

“We have no choice.” Concurred Dimitri.

Thus, the team enters the pyramid to avoid the sandstorm outside. they do not go any deeper than they have to, lest some unknown defenses get activated. Unfortunately for them, Hatori’s face twists in horror, as he finally realizes that they have tripped up some soul-containing wards.

“Guys, be ready for the trouble.” He said, preparing to fight.

“Oh, to hell with it,” said Josh, tired from the constant running and now fighting.

From above, soldiers made of rock march out, led by a withered mage. he looks like he might shatter at the slightest breeze, but he is moving around just fine. Taking a deep breath, he breathes from his mouth, and creates a wind stream inside, pushing them to the outside of the pyramid.

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The rock soldiers attack as well. tired as they were from the entire night of walking on foot, they are still in good enough condition to fight back. And that is what they did, while Hatori and Tom faced the mage.

“Tell me,” Said Hatori, as he defended against another spell from their undead enemy, “Have you ever faced a battle mage?” he asked Tom.

“Not yet.” Said Tom in a wary tone, not liking where this is going.

“Congratulation. You are now facing one. you are lucky to have someone like me.” said Hatori, as he sent a stream of fire to the mummy, “Not only have I faced one before, but he was actually stronger than this one since he had his reasoning intact.”

Tom and Hatori give just as good as they got, but it is clear that unless they manage to outnumber the mage, they will not win by themselves. The rock soldiers are slowly being eliminated, but it is not enough to turn the numbers in their favor. Even though its consciousness is at a basic level, the mummified battle mage is getting frustrated. he should have been able to crush these bugs, instead, they keep fighting and keep biting him. At this rate, they will destroy his body.

Having enough of this, he points his staff above, and destroys the two floors above, and the roof. The rock soldiers are destroyed in the falling debris, while the living mages survive by shielding each other. still, it does not leave them in any better condition.

The storm is over, but the sun is out. Hatori spied the jewel in the staff of this battle mage, and he remembers what Kemet mages can do with sunlight. “Everyone, duck!” he said, following his own warning.

A beam of focused light goes above their head, melting the rock and sand alike, and scorching their skin. Hatori remembers the way to counter this power, but all this jumping around to dodge the attacks is not giving him any chance.

As the lightning eagle takes shape on his shoulder, he tosses his diary in which he has been writing all of his runes so far. “Josh, Ravina, set these runes up! rest of you, help me out here!” said Hatori, sending the lightning eagle to attack the mummified mage.

Avinash listens and sends his tiger to attack him as well, and Dimitri sends his earth bear. The rest provided support, by pinning the battle mage with cover spell fire.

But even this is not enough to keep the mummy down for long, as their spells wink out after sustaining too much damage. “Josh, are you done?” asked Hatori.

“Yeah. now channeling the magic,” said Josh.

Normally he would like to keep some distance when he activates some unknown runes. But given their situation, he decides that whatever may happen, it wouldn’t be worse than being burned alive in the sunlight. Ravina agrees, and therefore she also channels the magic with him into this array which they carved on a few of the rocks of the half-destroyed pyramid in a hurry.

As the magic took hold, the sky was covered with clouds. Not just with overcast clouds, but thundering rainclouds which gave Hatori an easy source of lightning. Channeling the power of the cloud, he focuses it into his own hands, turning it into positive lightning. He runs to the frustrated battle mage, who is experiencing a breakdown of sorts as the source of sunlight is taken away from him. getting within the three meters of range, Hatori lets go of his spell, and the lightning fried the runes keeping the mummy alive. The staff is also destroyed in his attack, which makes Hatori a little sad. He would have liked to study that focus.

The clouds rumble, and it starts to rain. They have stopped channeling the magic in the runes, but it seems these conjured clouds will stay here for a while. Dimitri and others collect some water during this time, and Hatori decides to rest after finding a rain-free corner.

By the time of evening, the rain stops, and after enchanting their clothes and shoes to resist sand once again, they leave to travel in the desert. Hatori throws some more modified seeds of cacti, which immediately bloom into thorny plants behind them.

After another night of traveling, they finally arrive at a settlement. As soon as they stepped into the town, they were detained. Knowing the possibility of this happening, Avinash told them to store everything in the runes, lest it be confiscated.

Hatori gives Josh a look. “What, what! I didn’t even say anything this time.”

“Yeah, you didn’t.” he agreed.

They are sitting in a room, waiting for the people in charge to make a decision, and deal with this “problem” which has landed on their lap. At least the seats are comfortable, and the room is cool enough to rest here. though Hatori refuses to drop his guard. They might need to fight out of here if they decide to imprison them or kill them.

The man in charge enters, along with his lackeys. “We are sending you to the capital. The almighty life-giving pharaoh will decide what to do with you,” he said to them. “As we cannot send you to him in your current condition, we have provided fresh clothes for you. please bathe and wear those clothes before coming with us. I can give you two hours for these preparations.”

Then he left. “How nice of him.” deadpanned Hatori.

At least the bath was nice, and the clothes were surprisingly comfortable, if a bit plain. However, Hatori does not like that they do not have any protective enchantments at all.

An hour of flight later, which took place in a small ship, they landed in Cairo, the capital of Kemet. Josh turns to Avinash. “Do you know how to greet a pharaoh?” he asked.

“No. I suggest we keep our mouths shut.” He said to him while giving Hatori a look.

Hatori gives him an innocent smile, causing Avinash to give him a look full of disdain.

When they arrive at the court, they see Batya there. Dimitri immediately kneels. “Your majesty.” He said to him, putting his palm on his heart.

“Rise, Dimitri. We are not at my court here,” said Batya.

“Indeed.” Croaked the old pharaoh. “It is impressive that you all survived in the desert for so long.”

They said nothing. “Well? say something!”

“We are ordered to keep our mouths shut by our captain.” Said Hatori.

Avinash gives him a furious look; he knows that he will bungle this up for them. “Your captain made the right decision, given what information he has about my country.” Said the pharaoh, holding on to the laughter as the boy who is presumably the captain of this bunch gives a look of fury to this blind boy.

“Do you know that Albions are searching for you? they have demanded all of you from me,” said Ramses.

“Your majesty,” said Avinash. “If you decide to hand us over to them, then we will have no other choice but to fight out of here.”

“You’ve got guts.” Praised Ramses. “I see the shadow of young Porus within you. do not worry, I will never fulfill any demands of a foreigner over my land. But this presents a problem. I cannot give you any security, but I can provide you a vessel so you can venture out in the ocean to your homeland.”

“That is fine.” Said Avinash, “We are aware of what kind of problems you might face if we continue to stay here.”

“Very well. Grand vizier, give them a sturdy vessel and supplies.” Said the pharaoh. “Until it is prepared for you, you are free to walk around and observe my capital. Beware though, you will be observed at all times.”

“We understand.” Said Avinash. “Thank you for your generosity, your majesty.”

“Your majesty,” said Hatori, turning to Batya. “May I request that you take our coach with you? I’ve no doubt he is weary of traveling with us at this point. the Albion did not treat him kindly either, and he has not visited a hospital for the injuries they inflicted on him.”

For a moment, Batya’s face twists in fury, before settling into his normal calm expression. “I will grant your request.” Said Batya.

“But—” Dimitri tried to protest. How can he leave these kids out alone in the world, without an adult present?

“But nothing coach, you’ve done a lot for us,” said Avinash. “But you need to worry about your health and unchecked damage. And walking around with us is not going to do that for you.”

Dimitri just sighed. “Very well. I will be in your care, Your Majesty.” Said Dimitri.

PART 5.

Amelia rips the response of the pharaoh. “Who does that old man think he is? he is already half-dead. He should not mess with us!”

“Maybe we should go to the capital and teach him a lesson there?” suggests Emmeline.

“That is a good idea.” Amelia agreed.

The captain shook his head. Doesn’t these two realize that they are outnumbered and are in the enemy stronghold? But if they knew that, they probably wouldn’t have demanded from the pharaoh in an arrogant tone.

“What!” a shriek of rage shakes the Cairo.

Amelia and Emmeline have just heard how the team has departed, and how they missed them by an hour. “This is the general of the Kemet army.” Said a male voice, echoing in the entire city. “All Albion forces must leave immediately, otherwise you will be considered hostile, and action will be taken against you.” the general repeats his warning twice.

Gritting their teeth, the two succubi leave, since they are outnumbered, and they have the Subcontinental team to chase. but they vowed that they would come back to this place, and torch it to avenge their pride.