Deep beneath the earth, under the Royal Palace of the Kingdom of Egypt, Ashura emerged surrounded by seven people. Their eyes were fixed on him with a glint that mixed pure terror with a final glimmer of hope.
Ashura stepped out from the dark portal, saying with clear boredom, "How I hate this." He then eyed those who had summoned him with a sharp gaze and asked, " Does anyone else know the method by which I was summoned?"
They answered with voices trembling with panic and tension, "No, no, my lord."
Ashura asked coldly, "Then where are we?"
One of them stepped forward and said, "We are in the Kingdom of Egypt, my lord." They all bowed on their knees before his majestic presence. His eyes coldly looked at them with disgust. "What do you want?"
One stood up with shaking courage and said, "We want you to do as you did in the Kingdom of Uruk."
Ashura raised an eyebrow and said mockingly, "And why?"
They wondered among themselves. One began speaking to the person next to him, saying, "Did we summon the Lord of Destruction or what?" Another person stepped forward to ask him doubtfully, "Are you truly the Lord of Destruction?"
Ashura did not answer with words; instead, he released a wave of raw energy that shook the entire kingdom and made the Royal Palace walls crack under the weight of his presence.
High in the starry firmament, where tranquility resides, Astra sat on her throne. Suddenly, her entire world began to shake. She stood up in shock as she sensed that familiar frequency. "What happened? Has Ashura returned to the human world?"
Calm returned to the dark vault. Ashura spoke in a quiet voice that carried the weight of mountains, "Answer me, you. Why do you want to destroy the kingdom?"
One replied, trembling with fear, "We have had enough of the nobles and ministers; they are all corrupt! Our families are starving, and children fall day after day in the streets from hunger. As for the nobles and ministers, they live as if they were in paradise. Those among us who want to live go to them to be enslaved, and if you want to live with dignity, you must die. So please, Lord of Destruction, if we are all going to die, destroy this kingdom over the heads of these bastards!"
A throne of fire formed behind Ashura. He sat on it, resting his face on his palm in contemplation, then asked, "What about the ruler?"
The same man answered, "King Anubis knows nothing of this. He is only fifteen years old, so the ones controlling the kingdom are the nobles and ministers."
Ashura stood up and said with cutting coldness, "So that's it. Depart from here."
One of them objected sharply while standing up, "Depart? Do you know how many people we sacrificed for you?"
The first speaker tried to calm him, "Calm down, know who you are talking to."
But the remaining five stood up, saying, "No, we have sacrificed too much. We want an answer for what he will do."
Ashura said in a deep voice that echoed throughout the vault, "Fine. I will do as I did in that kingdom. All those who stood up, I want you to extend your hands to receive your prize." Then he turned to the first speaker and said, "You, stay in your place."
They extended their hands with eagerness and joy, chanting, "Thank you, Lord of Destruction!"
Ashura flicked his hand in the air with a lightning-fast movement and said, "There, I have done what I did there." He said to the man on the ground, "You, stand up."
Ashura began exiting the dark vault with steady steps. The person he ordered to stay turned around, and the blood froze in his veins. He saw his five companions standing motionless, each one carrying his own head between his hands, while spears of compressed air pierced their bodies to pin them in that terrifying standing position. Suddenly, the air spears disappeared, and the corpses fell like empty sacks.
While the lone survivor was paralyzed by shock, Ashura's voice reached him from afar, saying, "Get out, or you will die too!"
The man stumbled in his steps and rushed out, his eyes wide with horror. He found Ashura standing in the palace courtyard saying, "One of those idiots was a guard so you could enter the palace."
The man answered hesitantly, "Yes my lord, he was the first to stand."
Ashura headed toward the Royal Palace. The person asked Ashura in wonder, "Don't you intend to destroy the kingdom? Why not do it from here?"
Ashura looked at him with contempt, ignored him, and walked on. The person was terrified and apologized immediately. Ashura said, "I feel something in this place, as if someone I met before was here."
At the upper palace gates, the guards were yawning. One said, "Did you feel an earthquake? They say one of the Great Wizards is in the kingdom."
One of the guards saw two people approaching. The first was human, but he panicked when he saw the second person and shouted, "Jinn!"
Ashura vanished, and they all fell. The person wondered, "Did you kill them?" Ashura ignored him and smashed the gate. He heard guards shouting, "There is an attaaack!" The dust settled; the place was empty.
Inside the Royal Palace, the nobles were gathering in the throne room with King Anubis on his throne. King Anubis, despite his majestic title, was still a boy of fifteen. He had a slender body not yet fully developed, and his face was pale, with light dark circles under his eyes as marks of permanent fatigue. His eyes were wide and black, reflecting a mixture of confusion and constant fear, as if they hadn't yet grasped all the corruption surrounding them.
He was looking at the terrified nobles. Noble Cyrus shouted, "What is happening? First an earthquake and now an attack! Who dares attack the palace?"
Ashura stepped out from behind the throne and said, "It is I…. Does any of you mind?"
They looked at him and his majestic appearance. Minister Meron said, "And who are you? Just because your form is scary doesn't mean we should fear you. Half of those present here are warriors!"
One of them began stuttering, saying, "Impossible! Impossible! It is him, as they described him!"
Noble Cyrus said, "What are you talking about?"
He said in terror, "This is the reason for the fall of the Kingdom of Uruk!" They were all shocked.
Ashura smiled mockingly and said, " Tell them who I am, you there!" he drawled. The terrified man choked out, "Please! I beg of you, please"
Ashura said in a sharp voice, "I said ... tell them who I am."
King Anubis stood up amidst the tension and said steadily, "Welcome, Lord of Destruction... Ashura."
Ashura smiled and said, "Well done, boy! You are stronger than these bastards who hide behind their authority and money."
King Anubis asked, "What do you mean, Lord of Destruction?"
Ashura said, "Have you never gone out to your kingdom?"
Anubis answered in wonder, "No, why?"
Ashura looked at the person who accompanied him and said in a serious voice, "Tell him."
The man stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I am a citizen of this kingdom." He began recounting all the nobles' acts of greed, human crimes, and even their enslavement of the common people to make them feel they could only live for another day.
"My Lord, you only see the golden walls of the Royal Quarter. But we live on the other side, where thirst is sold and dignity is bought. Last year, drought hit everywhere. But water wasn't the problem; the problem was greed. Noble Cyrus wanted to build an artificial lake for his luxury boat inside his palace, and Minister Meron signed a decree in one night without any thought of what would happen to those who depend on the river. He signed to divert the main course of the river that used to water us."
"Your Majesty, within two months, our wells dried up and our crops and livestock died. We were drinking filthy water to stay alive. Meanwhile, the nobles were celebrating with their boats in the new lake! We pleaded with Minister Meron to return the water, and his response was: 'Water costs gold, go and work in Noble Cyrus's lands for a sip!' They turned water into a tool of enslavement!"
"And when my little son, six years old, was starving and thirsty, he crawled stealthily to the other side of the dividing wall, trying to drink a drop of water from that cursed lake. Noble Cyrus's guards caught him and cut off his hand publicly. They didn't cut it because he was a thief, but because he dared to look at the bright side!"
"Your Majesty, your people are dying day by day, not just from hunger, but from humiliation and loss of hope."
Shock overcame Anubis's face, and he looked at the nobles with frustration.
Ashura laughed with a biting sarcasm that shook the hall walls, "What a fool you are, realizing nothing! They are manipulating you to make this kingdom submit to their law, boy."
Anubis turned toward the ministers and nobles with a pale face overcome by anger and shock. Their limbs trembled and they began to stutter, "No... do not believe this talk, Your Majesty! They are trying to..."
The person accompanying Ashura interrupted with a brave shout, "Do you dare call the Lord of Destruction a liar?" The nobles collapsed under the weight of terror, crying out pleadingly, "We are sorry, Your Majesty!"
With a piercing gaze as if penetrating the soul, Ashura stared at Anubis and said in a deep voice, "What a fool you are, carrying responsibilities far greater than you. You are not fit to lead sheep, let alone a people. You are not worthy of being called a King. The least punishment for your ignorance is that you live what your people lived."
With a strange brokenness, the young King Anubis bowed before Ashura and said in a shaky voice, "I appreciate that, Lord of Destruction. I will carry out their punishments and my own."
Ashura turned his back on the King while the nobles trembled behind him waiting for death. He said coldly, "Their punishment? They shall receive it now!" He had barely finished his word when black lightning flashed from his hands with an ominous light, hitting the nobles' heads with terrifying precision, turning them into charred corpses in moments. Silence prevailed in the hall amidst the shock of the King and Ashura's companion.
Ashura pointed toward the remaining ministers and said, "As for the ministers, you are the one who will tend to them."
Ashura turned toward the massive doors, then cast a cold look at the one who accompanied him and said, "Will you come?"
With a voice trembling between loyalty and fear, he answered, "At your command, Lord of Destruction."
He exited the throne room doors. The person who followed him stepped forward and Ashura asked coldly, "Are you happy now, you?"
The person burst into tears and said in a broken tone, "Thank you, Lord of Destruction."
Ashura stopped suddenly and asked in a quiet, suspicious voice, "What is your name?"
He replied, "My name is Mounish, my lord."
Ashura said in a quiet voice, "And how many did you kill to summon me, Mounish?" Mounish bowed his head toward the ground with regret tearing his gut, "We offered a thousand people... a thousand souls who were on the verge of death."
Ashura laughed a bitter laugh and said, "On the principle of sacrifice for a higher goal, right?" Mounish replied while on the ground, regretting his sacrifices of fellow humans, "Correct, Lord of Destruction."
Ashura turned his back on Mounish and began walking away, saying in a decisive voice, "Goodbye, Mounish. You have made me do something I haven't done before."
Mounish couldn't respond... because at that moment, his head had separated from his body and rolled on the ground from an invisible strike. Ashura continued his walk, muttering coldly, "Your life is worth much, and this is the completion of my promise to you."
Ashura headed out of the palace, making his way through the corpses of guards scattered in the palace corridors. Suddenly, he stopped... A mocking smile appeared on his face, and he said without turning, "Haven't you gotten bored yet... Lady of Stars?"
The radiance cleared to reveal Astra in her majestic dignity. She said in a quiet tone, "How strange you are, Ashura. I expected to find this kingdom destroyed."
Ashura laughed a booming laugh, "Yes, true, I wanted to destroy it, but I feel something from it, Lady of Stars." He stepped toward her slowly, and in an unexpected gesture, placed his hand on her head with a touch characterized by a strange gentleness, and asked, "Do you know why, Lady of Stars? Do you know the reason for this hateful feeling in not destroying this place?"
Astra didn't utter a word, her features remaining cold as ice, but her eyes watched him cautiously; he was the only entity whose next step was impossible to predict. Ashura sighed deeply and removed his hand, saying, "Well, do not worry, I will return."
Astra asked him before he left, "You broke your seal, Ashura, why haven't you shown your true form of Destruction?"
He didn't answer her but gathered his fingertips and ripped the fabric of the air with a lightning movement; a black portal opened, emitting a thick darkness. Ashura entered it, and as the portal was vanishing, Astra called out in a decisive voice, "I know why!"
Ashura stopped inside the void and said with a mocking laugh, "What? You are strange; usually you don't answer anything!" and laughed.
Astra replied with a coldness that shook his being, "Because Eric Yursha's son grew up here!"
Ashura's features froze, and shock flooded his red eyes. "What are you talking about?"
The portal closed, and his angry shout echoed in the void, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, ASTRAAAAAA?!"
Ashura found himself standing in the middle of a desert of golden sands enveloped by eternal darkness. He looked at his palms and whispered quietly, "Eric Yursha has a son."
Near the shores of the village of Amil, Argus was shouting while panting, "How long will I continue blowing air onto the sail, Gilgamesh?"
Gilgamesh didn't answer him; rather, features of anger were rising on his face like a storm, and he said sharply, "That bastard has left! I don't feel his presence in the village! Damn it!"
A heavy silence prevailed among everyone, until Luce replied with a suspicious calmness, "Wait, something is wrong. Don't you feel this, Gilgamesh?"
Gilgamesh said quietly, "Yes, I do.... the residents are alive." Gilgamesh's features suddenly changed, and he burst into a mocking laugh, "That bastard did it!"
Luce smiled and nodded his head, "He truly did!"
Amidst everyone's bewilderment at Gilgamesh and Luce, Jasmin asked in confusion, "What is happening?"
Gilgamesh answered, still laughing mockingly, "That bastard deceived us, little one! He said Ashura was in Amil while he was somewhere else! He seized the opportunity to create a lie we would all believe without any doubt. He is truly dangerous!"
Jasmin's eyes widened in shock, "You mean Ashura wasn't in Amil?"
Luce replied, "Yes." Jasmin sighed and said, "My God, my heart was pounding!" Then she asked curiously, "Who is this Ashura? And how did he come to be?"
Luce looked at the horizon and said in a voice carrying solemnity, "What we know is that he is someone who possesses the power of a Cosmic Entity, which is Destruction. It was described that the entity of Destruction was in its weakest state, so it handed its powers to an unknown person. After a while, in the Jinn world, a legend was found saying there is a person who possesses powers beyond imagination and is considered a symbol of destruction and evil; they call him Ashura."
Jasmin was fascinated and asked, "Waaah! How do you know about the legends of the Jinn world, Luce?"
Luce replied, smiling, "Little one, I met one of the Jinn in the middle of the desert, and after that, I realized that not all Jinn are deranged murder-lovers. There are those who are kind-hearted like him, but their nature is tense. He told me everything about him and the Jinn world: that the Jinn world is not only inhabited by Jinn; there are creatures far stronger than Jinn, and even some consider them a legend. I also intend to visit him in the Jinn world if he is still alive."
The residents of the village of Amil gathered at the port, looking at the ship directed toward them. The village Chief arrived and said, "Has he returned?" He glimpsed Jasmin on the front of the ship, and the old man shouted, "They have returned! They are here, villagers! Arthur and Jasmin!"
Amalia looked at the ship in wonder and said, "Did they return this fast?"
Their ship stopped at the port, and Jasmin got down running toward the village Chief, saying, "We're back, old man!" She jumped and hugged him.
The Chief laughed and said, "Welcome back, you sharp-tongued girl!" Jasmin whispered in his ear, "Ero... Arthur is angry with you. You must explain everything to him."
Erold got off the ship, his face bright, saying, "Hello, guys!" The residents' cheers rose, "The Hero has returned!"
Argus looked surprised at the people's cheers and said to Luce, "Whoa! Did Erold do something here?" Luce replied with a smile, "Yes, a lot. By the way, Erold's name here is Arthur. Do not call him Erold." Argus clutched his head in confusion, "How strange!"
Luce and Argus got off the ship behind Erold. The village Chief said, looking at Luce, "So you've joined him, huh?" Luce replied, "Yes, he convinced me." The Chief shook his head with relief, "How this pleases me!" Then he turned to Argus and asked with intentional coldness, "Who is this?" Argus bristled, protesting, "And why do you say it like that?" The village Chief replied coldly, "I don't know you." Argus muttered mockingly, "My name is Argus, you!" The Chief ignored him and looked at Jasmin, pointing to her, "This little one acts with more maturity than you, boy!"
Erold advanced toward the village Chief and said tersely, "Hello." The Chief replied, "Hello." Erold asked in a quiet but serious tone, "Why did you lie?" The old man sighed and answered, "I didn't lie, my son Arthur. You should know that information is not always presented to you in the same place. You must strive to search for it. How do you want me to be reassured about you in the Jinn world if something as simple as gathering information will be difficult for you? Your fate would be destruction."
Erold was silent for a moment, then said with a slight smile, "I don't know whether to be angry with you or not, but thank you, old man."
Suddenly, voices began to rise and the crowd became agitated. Someone shrieked in daze, "My God, it's him!" Gilgamesh was watching them from atop the ship, then began descending slowly and steadily. In a moment, all the villagers bowed on their knees. The village Chief stood with a bowed head and said, "Your Highness, I am sorry!"
Gilgamesh bypassed him coldly and said, "No matter. I spoke with Erold about this." Erold turned to him and said, correcting, "My name is Arthur here." Gilgamesh looked at him with wonder and mockery, "I'm not stupid! I know how to distinguish between your names. The strange creature inside you is Arthur."
Erold turned toward the villagers to find them dealing with him normally despite knowing his identity. One of the villagers said simply, "We know your name is Erold; the Chief Richard told us so."
Erold's eyes widened in shock, and he turned toward the village Chief, shouting, "Village Chief! Is your name Richard?" Richard exhaled in annoyance and said, "Yes, you idiot, I told you before, don't you remember?" Erold replied with features both serious and funny, "No! What a strange name!"
A short silence prevailed before Gilgamesh's solemn voice broke it, "How much longer until the full moon?" Luce answered quietly, "Two days." Richard said welcomingly, "Come, I will take you to your lodging." While they were walking through the crowd, Erold glimpsed Amalia standing afar, but he pretended not to see her and made his way silently. Richard brought them to the guest house and said, "This is your home now. Rest, do as you wish; you are guests of this entire village."
Argus and Jasmin threw themselves down tiredly, shouting, "We are truly exhausted!" Erold said, "Then let's go in."
But suddenly, Luce grabbed Erold's forearm and said, "Wait, Erold." Erold turned in surprise, "What is it, Luce?" Luce said in an unusually sharp tone, "Did you not promise me a fight before?" Erold replied, "Yes, I did."
Jasmin tried to intervene, "Alright, stop the stupidity and let's rest." Luce interrupted her sternly, "Stop the stupidity, Jasmin. We are now heading to the Jinn world, and it is extremely dangerous. We must know if we are ready for this or not."
Erold's features changed, and he stared into Luce's eyes, saying, "Wait! Do you mean I'm weak for the Jinn world?" Luce replied with cutting coldness, "Yes, I suspect so."
Fire ignited in Erold's eyes, "Fine, let's do it!" Jasmin shrieked anxiously, "Guys, wait! What are you doing?" Luce said, "Then a fight without conditions, as if it were a real fight." Erold replied defiantly, "I don't mind that." Argus cheered with sudden enthusiasm, "My God, it looks exciting!" while Jasmin was worried about them.
While features of anxiety dominated Jasmin's face, Gilgamesh, who was watching the situation with interest, intervened: "A wise decision, Luce. Then your fight will begin in 15 minutes." He then pointed with his hands to an empty grassy area and said, "In that spot."
Erold nodded his head, "I don't mind." Luce said quietly, "Alright."