Chapter 230.

PART 1.

After witnessing the destructive effects of Hatori’s spell on Londinium, everyone is left in awe. Nothing is left in that city, and all the ancient wards are annihilated. Seeing the fear on everyone’s faces, Avinash took that moment to announce that any splinter group who dared to fight against them would get this spell on their turf as well.

That was two years ago, and the king is glad he did not have to resort to that terrible spell again. Truth be told, he felt that such a dangerous spell should not be outside of his control. But Hatori can be trusted. He might behave strangely in front of him, but he will not use that spell against his own country… as long as they do not give him a reason to.

Besides, it takes too many people to execute. So suffering a sunburst out of nowhere is not a possibility Avinash has to worry about.

After the pocket resistance was crushed, and the nobles who supported those three were killed, the fifth magical war ended. The alliance formed during that war is still going strong, but Avinash is under no illusion that it will continue like this forever.

Akshit has settled as his prime minister, while Sagar also handles another ministerial department as well. Josh has been the diplomat, while Raven and Suresh are serving as generals under Avinash.

“We are only thirty, and yet, I feel as if we’ve lived a lifetime.” He said to Akshit.

“I don’t feel it that way. true, there have been a lot of challenges, but we still have a lot to look forward to.” Said Akshit.

“Yes. and one of which is to attend a funeral.” Said the king, preparing to leave with his prime minister.

Porus died yesterday. The years of ruling, duels, political and magical struggles, and fighting in two wars have finally caught up with him. he never surpassed the age of his master Corvus, who also died while defending the Academy.

After Avinash gives his speech, which is broadcasted all over the country, the funeral pyre is then lit. Porus explicitly stated in his will that his body should be burned, rather than be enshrined somewhere, which could be used by some mad necromancer later to resurrect him.

PART 2.

Mira is giving the last touches to the annals of the war she was asked to write. As the funeral for Porus is concluded, she comes to speak with Hatori, who agrees to speak with her for one final interview.

“What made you use that final spell? What was your thought process behind that?” she asked as her first question.

“My thinking went like this: these are people with the delusions of world domination, even if they rule over a mountain of corpses, they will not stop fighting. Therefore, one final attack has to be done to annihilate them and their defenses.” Said Hatori. “It took me a while to convince the others of this, but as the resistance went on, and the siege continued, they finally saw the things my way.”

“What about the civilians you ended up killing?” asked Mira.

“During that entire time of ten years, when these bastards started the civil war here by egging on the nobles, and caused the chaos elsewhere, how many civilians died? How many lost their home and families? No one considers that. besides, the question never came up when we were steamrolling the enemy forces while we were on our way to Albion.” Said Hatori. “I regret the loss. But I do not think that the blame falls squarely upon my shoulders. Europeans knew the dangers of such groups. They should have kept a tighter grasp on them, but they did not. so I argue that they share the bulk of the blame.”

“What about the damage to the environment? The city has started to cool off, but it is unlivable to this day. not to mention, the destructive effect your spell had on the river.” Asked Mira.

“I did not expect that one to be honest,” said Hatori. “I thought most of the energy would be gone since it would be expended in overwhelming the wards, but it still had enough energy to vaporize the water, melt the river bed, and boil the distant water that was coming closer to the city. But remember, this was during a war. I would have never destroyed a city and a river just because I did not feel good in the morning.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Well, you’ve been remarkably open. Thanks for giving me your time. do you have any words for Porus?” She asked.

“I feel sad for him. he spent so much time trying to keep the peace, and yet failed in such a brutal manner. One by one, he lost everyone close to him. let us hope that our current king will not face this situation in the future.” Said Hatori.

PART 3.

Now that the war is over, Shin is leaving to find some clues about his origins which he has painstakingly gathered over the years. Lavanya is accompanying him on this journey.

“So, how long do you have?” he asked.

“Three weeks.” She said. “After that, I have to go back since the classes will start.”

“Don’t you need the time to prepare the material for the classes?” asked Shin.

“Nah, I’m already done with that,” she replied.

Lavanya has gotten the position of a professor in the Academy. Her subject is history. Professor Bhagwati has now left full-time teaching, instead, she is helping out with the information they have collected about the last war, and inspecting some of the sights of the battles throughout the world.

Given that she spent 300 years as a ghost in the school, Lavanya did not have much trouble cracking the interview for the position. She was scared at first, about whether she would be able to handle the teaching responsibility or not, but by this point, she had been doing this for two years. Now she is confident enough to teach and handle the younger years at least.

This is why she has to leave Shin in three weeks. Whether they find anything or not. “What about you? You can’t just run around the country.”

“Don’t worry.” Said Shin. “I’ve gotten some composing deals for certain shows. I’ve got work lined up for me.”

“That is good. in our day, we despised people who did not work.” Said Lavanya.

“Of course, grandmother.” Mocked Shin.

“What did you say?” Shin laughed, and Lavanya chased after him.

PART 4.

It is lunchtime in the hospital of the Academy, and James is eating with the older healers. After Slaughter, he is handling the responsibilities of the head healer, but there has been a shortage over the last few years.

“Look. The thing is, we need healers, fast. If we lower the entry burier, we will be able to fill our current requirement, and then we can raise that burier back up again.” Argued one man.

“That is a slippery slope, and you know it,” James replied. “Besides, it will reflect badly upon us if we let subpar people handle the lives of other mages. This will cause a problem, not fix one.”

“But—” they tried to say.

“But nothing. Slaughter trusted me with this responsibility. And I am not going to disappoint him.” said James with conviction. “If you are not fine with that, then you can replace me, and find someone willing to lower the burier. But I will not do it.”

Done with his lunch, James walks away. He thought given their experience, they would understand his point. But apparently, not. They are only thinking in the short term. Lowering the entry barrier will have devastating consequences, and once lowered, that barrier will remain at that level forever.

PART 5.

“My mother is pushing me to get married already.” Said Raven, already feeling the buzz of the drink. “Honestly, I don’t have the time or the interest.”

“Haha.” Laughed Suresh, also feeling the buzz. “I don’t have to worry about it since I already fulfilled that will.”

“You poor hopeless fool.” Said Raven with pity. “The next thing they will demand is the children.”

Suresh has a horrified face. “Nooooooo!” he said drunkenly and passed out.

Raven carries him to his bed and then leaves for his own room. The generals are enjoying their downtime as much as they can because they know that this peace will not last forever. So they want to enjoy it as much as they can.