Chapter 206.

PART 1.

The nobles led by Jeevan Reddy meet with some outsiders. While these outsiders have been useful in rebelling against the throne, most nobles do not know about them, apart from Jeevan, the Sharma Representative, and now dead Aarna and General Banerjee.

“How goes the progress?” asked the woman.

“It goes well,” said Jeevan. “Apart from a few holdouts, our takeover is complete.”

“We need to pacify the population though.” Said the Sharma representative.

“Wonderful.” Said the man who came with this woman. “Once the other regions complete their progress at your level, be certain that you will be given high positions for your swift work.”

“We are honored.” Both of them said together.

However, in reality, none of them are interested in taking some hire position. The Subcontinent is a rich land, and they have no interest in going outside of it for some empty position that looks great at first glance, but in reality, is nothing.

Once Jeevan and the Sharma representative leave, the man turns to the woman. “Have you prepared the forces?”

“Yes.” she nodded. “After Amelia’s death, I had to complete her tasks, but our forces are ready. Once these morons are done, we will take them by surprise.”

“Indeed. They probably have the same plan for us though.” said the man. “I could feel that they are not interested in any hire position.”

“Why would they? It is a good place.” Said the woman. “If you know how to use your resources properly.”

As they start to leave, these two Succubi feel that the world of strong mages is finally ending. Once the nobles around the world are under their control, and monsters like Porus and Zuo Chi are removed from power, no one can resist them. then, it will be the turn of the other side.

PART 2.

“You seem upset.” Said Slaughter, taking a seat near James. “Mind sharing what’s eating you?”

James gives him the newspaper. Where Slaughter sees the picture of Hatori, smirking in the ring, while a girl is outside unconscious. He remembers this picture being shown on the papers from a year ago. But the headline is different this time.

Another picture of Hatori is shown, this time in chains, and being led to a van, right outside the court. The paper is calling this a justice served too late after many children lost their lives to this monster.

“I was with him the entire time,” said James, and Slaughter looked up from the paper. “Whatever he might be, he never went out of his way to attack anyone, or threaten someone with his powers.”

“Do you think they care about the truth?” asked Slaughter.

“No. they don’t,” said James. “But I feel bad, I should be there, helping him out.”

“Stay here for now,” suggests Slaughter. “Your talents are not suited for warfare, no matter how good you might be at inflicting violence. You will get a chance to help your friend sooner or later. do you know why?” asked Slaughter.

“Why?” asked James in return.

“Because he will need a long treatment to recover from the prison he is sent to,” said Slaughter.

PART 3.

While tracking the king, Zeko hears about the imprisonment of Hatori. “Sending him to Black Water Prison of all things. killing him would be a kindness.” He grumbled.

“That’s it.” he burns the paper. “I have enough of this. I’ll return to Sundar and rescue my student. the king can return when he wants to.”

Zeko then gets in his car and leaves for the City of Throne to meet with General Sundar, and report his unwillingness to continue on this mission.

Nearby, once Zeko leaves, Porus steps out of the trees, breathing a sigh of relief. His student is outstanding. he dogged him every step of the way, and if it weren’t for the constant chaos around him, he would have tracked him down.

Though he is concerned about Hatori being sent to that dreaded prison. He tried to end that prison, but surprisingly, the nobles resisted. He thought at least on this one issue, they would agree with him. how wrong he was.

PART 4.

After they put him in the van, they took him to the airship. unlike his previous experiences of flying in an airship, Hatori is restricted in his movement, and they keep an eye on him during the entire flight. The guards did not speak to him, nor to each other in his presence.

From the airship, they bring him to the prison. As they were about to land, Hatori is brought from his room where he was kept, and he observes his place of imprisonment. It is an island in the middle of the ocean, but unlike the islands he has seen in his travels about a few months ago, this island has a sinister feeling.

Not only Hatori senses no natural life on it, but the magic itself is suffocating around this island. The steam just adds to the sinisterness of the island, as hot water meets the cool water from the wider ocean. Hatori does not know where it is coming from, because he is not sensing any volcano nearby.

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As the guards leave after transferring him to the guards of the prison, the warden comes to see this new prisoner. He is the youngest prisoner on this island, and by his looks, he looks like any young man who graduated the school recently. But he knows the reality of this boy.

“You will pay for killing Swaraj, mark my words.” Muttered the warden.

But that will come later. for now, Hatori is thrown into a cell with another prisoner, and the door of the cell closes behind him with finality.

For a moment, Hatori contemplates his life. son of a lawyer and a housewife, a blind child who ends up in another world, which is a much more brutal counterpart of the world where he grew up, and now, he is in prison.

At least his cellmate is not interested in speaking to him. Hatori doesn’t have any energy to talk either. He just knows that if he ever leaves this place, this helplessness and this depression will follow him for a long time.

The sleep was not easy for Hatori. the prison is humid to an uncomfortable degree, and he is still chained. He has not eaten anything for two days, and the last time he drank any water was yesterday. The door opens, and the guards roughly halls him from the floor. “The warden wants to see you, kid.”

The other prisoner stirs after hearing those words. “Good luck, kid.” He croaked. “You will need it.”

The guards said nothing in reply to this wish of luck and took Hatori to the center of the prison. “Just so you know, every prisoner on this island can hear us.” said the warden. “I am Shravan Joshi, the warden of this prison.” He then grabs Hatori’s face, digging his fingers under his jaw. “And you are the youngest prisoner in this prison, and the killer of my son.”

“Who?” asked Hatori, not remembering anyone who looked like him.

The warden strikes him in the face. “Swaraj. You killed him. and you don’t even have the decency to remember!”

Hatori straightened his face and then said. “Still doesn’t ring a bell.”

“Very well,” said Shravan. “Guards, tie him to the post.”

Hatori’s arms are straightened, and along with his legs, he is tied to the post. The chains are restraining his arms and legs, as they are bound to the metal bars on both ends. “Now, suffer!”

The warden brings out his foci. It is a Europa-style focus, a wand which looks dainty. Hatori feels he would accidentally end up snapping it in half, rather than use it to cast magic. a whip of fire comes from the wand and hits Hatori on his back.

Despite making a grunt, he did not scream. The warden strikes him again, and another grunt comes out, a longer one this time. the warden strikes him for the third time, and Hatori screams. Every prisoner shutters, as Hatori is struck seven more times, and screams like an animal. The guards watch this happening with impassive expressions, as the smell of burning flesh starts to spread around them.

As the warden smirks at Hatori who is writhing in pain in his bonds, his wands disappear in his sleeve. “This is just a start. You will experience this pain until you die!”

“No, you die!” said Hatori, in a maddened state.

His magic surged and overwhelms the seals put on him, destroying the chains, and injuring his legs and wrists with the broken steel. He attacks the warden, shocking him with streaming electricity, and the warden is the one who screams like an animal this time.

But the punishment earlier takes its toll. The guards get him off from Shravan, and he is bound and sealed again. Now looking at Hatori fearfully, the warden says with a trembling voice: “Put him in an isolated cell. No one is to speak with him, understand?”

“Yes sir.” The guards take Hatori to follow their boss’s orders.

PART 5.

Avinash is dejected by this latest failure. “Wow. Haven’t seen you this low.” Said Raven, when he saw him alone, Raven decided to speak with him.

“The situation is like that,” said Avinash. “I wanted to be a king. and during the last year, I got a chance to test my leadership as well. but I never thought it would end up like this.”

“What are you saying?” asked Raven. “It has not ended. Not by a long shot. we are all here, aren’t we?”

“How can you say this with such confidence?” Avinash shoots back, “Your childhood friend is in the worst prison this country has to offer. And you still talk like that?”

For a moment, Raven’s face twists, and the expression of absolute anger comes on his face. But just after a second, his face smooths into his usual placid expression. “He won’t stay there forever.”

“What?” asked Avinash.

“You see,” said Raven, “It is pointless to think about helping Hatori. we need a powerful base if we wish to bring him out of there. and we must make our way to that goal.”

“And how would we do this?” asked Avinash.

“Simple.” Said Raven. “The general has some help. already our influence is spreading. We might not be able to drive out the invaders, but we can still carve out half of the city for us. Once we do that, it would be easier to spring Hatori out of his prison.”

“And what role do I get to play in all of this?” asked Avinash.

Raven leans forward, and after a minute later, he leaves a smiling Avinash behind.