Chapter 259.

PART 1.

"Sir, I have urgent news from the City of Salt." said the aid, giving the report to Avinash. The king handed the report to Suresh.

"That is concerning." Said the general. "He is not someone we can afford to ignore."

The door of the office opens, and Hatori arrives there with James and Shin to accompany him. He is going stir-crazy being cooped up in the castle. The latter two are trying to keep his attention to ensure that Hatori does not end up escaping.

Raven is currently not with them in the castle. Before this news arrived, Samay appeared and took him with her. Josh is still with her and has not returned yet. Hatori has an idea of why it is taking him so long to return, but he has not told anyone.

"Porus." Said Avinash, before anyone could ask him. "An alternative version of him."

"Fuck." Shin cursed. "Is he as strong as ours was?"

"Debatable. But either way, the forces in the City of Salt are unable to handle him." Explained Avinash. "Maybe I should go there myself?"

Hatori has a brilliant idea. He will go there, and handle this problem. This way, he will get to go out of the castle and get rid of his boredom. 'I must make sure that he does not suspect me though. Or else, he won't let me go.' He thinks in his head.

Hatori shook his head. "Bad idea. You are needed here to coordinate everything. Besides, what would happen if some powerful mage decided to attack and cause problems here? Who will deal with them?"

"Point. Are you volunteering then?" Asked Avinash.

"Sure, why not?" Said Hatori, making it look as if it was Avinash's idea all along.

"Hmm. But it doesn't seem right to send you alone. Especially since we have alternates running around. It is an identity crisis." Said Avinash.

"True. In that case, send Suresh with me in the official capacity. That should be enough." Said Hatori.

"Sure. Are you up for it, general?" Asked Avinash.

"Absolutely." Agreed Suresh. This way, he would get to go out on official orders, and he couldn't even be accused of insubordination.

"Very well. You may leave in an hour. Make your preparations, any version of Porus cannot be taken lightly." Warned Avinash. Before Hatori could leave, Avinash called and said to him. "And one more thing. You are quite bad at manipulation, Hatori. Your face revealed all. Still good arguments. There's hope for you yet." He said with a smirk.

"Keep talking like that, and you might need hope for yourself, your majesty." Hatori fired back and left the office.

Avinash chortled in amusement. "See? That's more like it!"

PART 2.

Hatori arrived in the City of Salt with Suresh. They hear about the evacuations while Suresh is getting the report from the soldiers already present outside of the city.

"He is not going out of his way to attack us. When we were evacuating people, he let us do that in peace." Explained the soldier. "The fight broke out when the police tried to arrest him."

"Has he made any demands?" Asked Suresh.

"Apart from trying to order us around, he has made no demands."

After listening to that report, Suresh and Hatori go to the city. Immediately, Hatori looked up a building, where their target was observing them. Hatori noticed his looks and compared them with the Porus he knew. This alternate Porus looks younger, but his power is not the same as the Porus Hatori knew.

"You." He addressed Suresh, his voice easily reaching them. "By your bearing, you are a soldier. Given their deference to you, you are the general."

He then looked at Hatori. "The way you move and carry yourself reminds me of my former student. Have you come here to join me?"

"No," said Suresh in reply. "We are here to explain it to you. This is not your world. We have a king here already. But you can join us until we figure out a way to send you back from where you came here."

"Fool! How dare you defy me!" A massive wave of fire descended upon their Position, but Hatori grabbed Suresh and hurled him away.

The general was nimble enough to land on his feet, just in time to see Hatori rip that wave apart and send it back to its creator. He is grateful for Hatori's quick reaction. While he can fight, Suresh is a tactician, not a frontline fighter. He is out of his depth here.

"You think you can beat me?" Asked Porus, walking out of the flames. He jumps and lands before Hatori. "There is no way you can face me."

Hatori knows the trick. Porus used it during a duel that was televised during his childhood. He had a thin film of water around his body which kept him protected from fire. It appears that this Porus has the same trick.

'Judging by the steam, it appears he has used more water though.' Hatori analyzed in his head, not responding to the words of the alternate in front of him.

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"Now, burn!" Porus struck the ground with his staff, and it exploded with fire. Hatori responded by conjuring a massive wave of water. The water has the alchemic properties to ensure it can take out fire. The wave struck the surprised alternate, and Hatori froze it into a massive block of ice.

The block of ice explodes, and the alternate Porus descends upon Hatori again. "I can counter any trick you throw my way!"

"Maybe." Said Hatori, finally responding to the alternate. "But can you fly?"

"What?" Porus realizes that he is standing within touching distance of Hatori.

The man gave him an uppercut, and he was sent flying into the sky. Hatori used that punch to deliver the concussive spell which sent Porus flying.

"Even in the sky, you can't escape me." Several bolts of lightning struck Porus. He was dizzy due to all these attacks. He found Hatori floating right above him. He appears to be flying. His motion in the sky was too controlled for anything else. He dismissed it as nothing more than the conjuration of his mind.

"Now, disappear." Said Hatori, covering the alternate with several runes. The runes struck and covered his entire body. And with a large explosion, the entire body of Porus the alternate turns into ash.

Hatori lands to watch the falling ash. A moment later, when nothing happened, he concluded in his mind that this alternate is no immortal with regeneration.

"Is it over?" Asked Suresh, walking up to him.

"Yeah." Sighed Hatori. "Let's go back to the castle. We don't want more identity crisis in our names."

"Right." Said Suresh, agreeing with Hatori's suggestion.

PART 3.

When Hatori and Suresh return to the castle, they learn that Samay showed up and took Shin and James with her. She has also brought back Josh and Raven and is now taking Avinash with her.

"Did they encounter any problems in the template I prepared?" Asked Hatori.

"No. You did a good job with it." She said to him. "Now my king, are you ready to go?" She pronounced Avinash's title in a sarcastic tone.

"In a moment. Josh, Raven, are you ready to handle some responsibilities in my absence?" He asked them.

"Yes." They answered together.

"Very well. Josh, I give you all the responsibility to handle all the political developments. Raven, you will handle the military matters. Do not leave the castle for combat. Let Suresh handle it. You are not ready yet. Give your changes time to settle down." He ordered.

"Understood." Said Raven.

"Now, I am ready to go." Said Avinash to the sorcerer.

"Excellent. Let's go, time is running short." Having given his final orders, Avinash disappears in a swirl with Samay.

"I am worried for his safety." Said Suresh to Hatori. "Those too are unusually silent. Can he handle this?"

"Don't worry. He wouldn't be the king otherwise." Hatori assured the general. "Besides, I think they are just tired. Although I will speak with them just in case."

"You do that. I have some matters to deal with." He said to Hatori and left the office.

Hatori also started to walk out, and Josh and Raven fell in step with him. "Sooooo. How was the training?" He asked with a grin.

"I'm going to murder you if it is the last thing I do." Declared Josh.

"You will die trying." Said Hatori in reply.

He then turned to Raven. "Anyway, Suresh is worried about you. Go talk to him, make sure he is not anxious on your behalf."

"Will do." Said Raven.

"Also, I'm leaving the castle." He said to both of them.

They immediately glared at him. "As soon as the king is gone, you start to violate his orders?"

"Orders, shmorders. Besides, I have some important work to do. I am not shirking my responsibilities here." Explained Hatori.

"What is that work?" Asked Josh.

"I need to speak with Sushima." He said to them. "He needs to be prepared."

Their glare softens into a look of understanding. "Why don't you call him here in the castle? You can speak to him here."

"Sure. But I will still end up leaving, though I won't go out of the city." Said Hatori.

"That is fine. As long as we can keep tabs on you, it doesn't matter what you do in your free time. If you leave the city though, it will be troublesome to prove that you did not do something." Said Raven.

"Don't remind me." Grumbled Hatori. "I do not trash restaurants, thank you very much."

"Well, unless you are attacked there. You turned that entire place in Zhongguo into a smoking crater, remember?" Reminded Josh.

"I have some memory loss. Symptom of my old age you see. What are you talking about lad?" Said Hatori, wheezing like an old man. "As a matter of fact, I am unable to walk properly." He said this while continuing to walk with a straight posture.

"You liar!" Josh called after him, while Hatori left for his room to call Sushima.