"Okay, everyone get up..." the healer said eventually. "We will do Baba-sama's funeral tomorrow..."
"Yes..." the others agreed tiredly as they dried their eyes, exhausted from all the crying they had done.
"Faith, Hope, Ugo-kun... a lot has happened since we came here..." Aladdin said as they stood outside the tent, gazing down at the village and off into the distance.
"Yeah..." the twins agreed quietly.
"But I'm glad I came to this village," he said with a hopeful smile. "I feel like I'm finally beginning to understand myself now. Just like you said..." he added with a glance down at the Djinn in the flute. The twins smiled a little, glad to see that he appeared to be feeling better after a good cry. "Hm?" Aladdin said when the eight-pointed star on Ugo's flute started to glow. "A light... from my flute?"
"Huh? What's this all of a sudden?" Hope asked, surprised when two beams of light shot out from it, one of which connected straight to her ring, while the other went on until they lost sight of it over the horizon.
"Hey, wait, that's the ring your Djinn is in, right?" Faith said. "I don't know what's up with that other one, but haven't we seen this before!?" she asked Aladdin excitedly.
"Ah!" Aladdin gasped in realization, remembering how this had happened in Amon's dungeon. "Just like that one time...!?"
"What 'one time'!?" Hope asked, starting to feel left out.
"Come on!" Aladdin told the twins, pulling off his turban for them to ride. "Let's go, Ugo-kun!" he said, summoning the Djinn.
"... War is unnecessary," Hakuei said firmly as she and Seisyun dismounted to approach Ryosai and a couple of his ranking officers, who had also dismounted. None of them seemed to be aware of the beam of light connected to her metal vessel. "The Kouga village has determined to join us through negotiation. Please retreat." Ryosai smirked.
"Wow, the Kouga Clan is a lot weaker than I thought," he sneered. "Even after being subjected to slave hunting and our sneak attack, they still caved in to your negotiations?" Hakuei furrowed her brow and clenched her teeth.
"So, it was you all along, Ryosai... This was your doing!" she said angrily, placing a hand on the hilt of her sword. Because of him, those poor people...!
"That's right. However, this is the scenario that I had in mind: 'the princess that headed to migrating barbarians was pathetically killed. Left in command, Ryosai destroyed the Kouga village with his soldiers for revenge.' What do you think?" he asked smugly, signaling for his men to raise their weapons against her. Since those barbarians had failed, he would just have to take her out himself.
"... Huh, I wonder too, Ryosai. A senincho like you, who has only commanded a thousand men, commanding the entire army? I wonder why you would think of something so ridiculous," Hakuei retorted coolly with the hint of a smirk. The soldiers with him cringed at the icy insult while Ryosai shook with anger.
"That's because I wanted to be a general instead of you!!" he roared furiously. If you hadn't come, I would've been promoted to be the leader of this Northern Station Corps! These men are under my direct control... I can safely throw you into darkness," he finished shadily.
"..." Hakuei watched as the archers aimed their bows and arrows at her. "Traitor Ryosai, may the one who hurts their own name repent through death."
"Go to hell, bitch!" he snapped, signaling for them to shoot. Hakuei held her ground as the arrows flew at her, and to their shock, not a single one hit its target. They were all repelled, as if blocked by an invisible force.
"!?" the archers gasped when they felt the edge of a sharp gust. "W... What? The wind?"
"..." A cool smirk played on Hakuei's lips.
"Ryosai-dono! The arrows won't hit her!" the captain shouted in alarm as they continued their futile actions, wasting many arrows in their failed attempts at repeatedly trying to kill the princess.
"Using some mysterious magic... stupid dungeon capturer. You may be proud for now..." Ryosai muttered darkly. "Relentlessly attack!" he ordered all of his men. "I shall reward those who hit her with honor!!" His soldiers let out a war cry as they rushed forward to attack with their swords drawn, but they were quickly intercepted and incapacitated by Seisyun.
"Household Vessel, Sougetsuken!" he said as he attacked, activating his secret weapon to blow the enemies away. "How was that, princess?" he asked, twirling his twin blades deftly in his hands.
"Please buy us some time. With that little amount of soldiers I can use what's left of my magoi... to scatter them," Hakuei replied, drawing her Metal Vessel from her dress. The Djinn's eight-pointed star seal shined on the golden handle of her feather flabellum as she fed it more power. "The Spirit of Maniacal Love and Chaos," she recited while Seisyun continued to fight. "I order thine ancestors... To use my Magoi... to give me power! Come out, Paimon!" she commanded her Djinn, releasing a huge blast of wind that sent the attacking soldiers flying. Hovering above the princess was a huge tornado spinning in the shape of a grinning woman. Ryosai's troops stared up in horror at the monster before them.
"Traitor, Ryosai..." Hakuei said, tightening her grip on the flabellum. "I, Hakuei, the first imperial princess, sentence you to death! Prepare yourself!" she shouted sternly with a glare.
"!!" Ryosai gasped as he reared back nervously, gritting his teeth.
"What is it, Dorji?" Toya asked back at the village when she noticed he was peering out of the tent, staring off into the distance.
"Whoa... that tornado..." he said, wondering why he felt like there was something strange about it. It wasn't acting the way you would normally expect one to. His eyes widened when he noticed the cloud of dust being kicked up in the wake of Ugo's giant footsteps. No way, it couldn't be...!
The tornado howled and roared as it continued to sweep away anyone foolish enough to approach the princess and her faithful retainer.
"Ryosai-dono! We can't attack that monster!! If we keep going, we'll be annihilated!" one of his soldiers cried. "Ryosai-dono...!!"
"..." Ryosai stared down at the defeated troop as he watched from a safe distance with the rest of his men. "Don't worry, it's only wind," he told the other commanders, whom were all trembling in their saddles with fright. "Plus, even if they are annihilated, our supremacy will not be shaken, am I right?"
"R-Right..." one of the commanders replied nervously. They still had them outnumbered, for now.
"Also, the dungeon capturer has a fatal weak point," Ryosai added with a smirk, stepping forward as the wind began to die down.
"Dammit, I ran out of magoi," Seisyun cursed when his household vessel deactivated itself.
"The wind giant is shrinking!" one of the soldiers exclaimed as Hakuei also ran out of magoi. "Now's our chance! Attack!"
"We've reduced the enemies' numbers enough! Seisyun, capture Ryosai!" she ordered, drawing her sword to defend herself.
"Yes!" Seisyun answered dutifully, hopping back on his horse. If they cut off the head of the snake, then it would be over.
"Ryosai-dono!" the soldiers yelled as Seisyun shot past them, headed straight for their leader. Ryosai pretended to look surprised for a moment, but then he smirked.
"What numbers do you think you've reduced?" he asked cockily as the rest of his forces came forward to reveal themselves.
"...!!?" Seisyun and Hakuei gasped in alarm when they saw a thousand more soldiers on the horizon.
"What are... these soldiers...!?" Hakuei demanded, shocked to discover that Ryosai had so much support.
"It's come to this because you're a meddling little girl who can't even handle an ambush... idiot," Ryosai sneered as he moved closer while his soldiers restrained the princess and her retainer. "Hmph... Once you've exhausted the magic stored in a Metal Vessel, then the Household Vessel that receives its benefits is rendered useless. How powerless you are now, dungeon capturer!" he gloated.
"Guh!" Hakuei grunted in pain when he kicked her while his soldiers kept her restrained. She gritted her teeth, burning with rage. She could see that Seisyun was lying on the ground a few feet over and bleeding, with two arrows in his back. 'Those mysterious twins were right... I can't believe so many of our soldiers were under Ryosai's control...' she thought bitterly as blood trickled from her nose. 'I cannot die here!'
"Don't worry, Hakuei-dono. I'll make sure he goes along with you," Ryosai leered nastily at her. "As well as your precious younger brother, Ren Hakuryuu!!" The princess lost it when she heard that.
"Son of a bitch!!!" she yelled, grabbing one of the soldier's swords as she broke free from them, charging recklessly at the hateful man who dared to threaten her brother's life. Ryosai grinned as he raised his own sword to block the attack. He had finally managed to crack her façade.
"Very well," he said. "I, too, am a soldier. Let us decide with our blades which one of us should be general!"
"I wouldn't have it any other way!" Hakuei agreed readily. 'Yes!' she thought. 'I have a chance of winning in a one-on-one battle...' Her eyes widened in shock when she suddenly felt a piercing pain in one of her shoulders. "...!?" she gasped as another arrow pierced her leg.
"Pu...Hahaha, you believed me!?" Ryosai laughed obnoxiously as his archers shot her again, and she fell to the ground. "Stupid bitch, you'll be tortured to death!!" Hakuei's pupils constricted in fear and anger.
'Am I finished, then...!?' she thought, breaking out in a cold sweat as she squeezed her eyes shut, cursing her own weakness in frustration. 'Is this really it...'
"Hahaha! First princess, my ass!! You're just an insignificant existence!" Ryosai sneered as he raised his sword above his head, preparing to strike. The eyes of Hakuei and the soldier holding her widened in astonishment as they looked past him. "I, Ryosai, will..." he continued, so focused on finally defeating the princess that he was oblivious to everything happening behind him, like the giant blue arm that had just swatted several of his men away like a bunch of flies. "Crush you..." Another wave of men was sent flying. "In one hit, like a piece of trash!" he yelled. His eyes widened in shock when something suddenly slammed into his body with immense force before he could strike. Blood spurted from Ryosai's mouth as he lost consciousness from the extreme pain and physical damage caused when Ugo swatted him away from the princess. Needless to say, it was an instant K.O. Ugo had crushed him in one hit, like a piece a trash.
"Dayaaaaammn!!!" Faith cheered as they watched Ryosai's body hit the ground, rolling like a limp ragdoll.
"Sweet Lincoln's mullet!!!" Hope exclaimed, paling slightly in shock. She hadn't realized Djinns could be so dangerous! The human spine, legs, and arms were not meant to bend those ways!! Hakuei stared up at Aladdin and his Djinn in amazement.
"Young boy... Who in the world are you?" the princess asked as Ugo returned to his flute, and the twins hopped off the turban.
"Me?" Aladdin said. "I am..." He tightened his grip on Baba's staff as he remembered what she had told him about himself. "... A magi," he answered with a smile.
"Magi...!!" Hakuei gasped in astonishment.