When King Zurmatu and his retinue left the arena of the **COMBAT TOURNAMENT** and headed to the palace, the physicians lifted Champion **MARGIM** and carried him to the medical chamber to treat him, for blood was still pouring from the severe wounds inflicted upon him by the leader of the elites.
Upon entering the treatment room, they gathered their instruments and stripped off his shirt to suture the wounds on his body and set his broken legs.
Suddenly and completely unexpectedly, the entire room began to shake as if it were about to collapse, and a violently powerful gust of wind forced its way into the chamber. The sheer force of the wind picked up the physicians who were preparing to treat Margim and slammed them relentlessly against the walls, causing them to fall back down entirely incapacitated. Within moments, they were all utterly dazed and disoriented by the sheer pain of the injuries the wind had inflicted upon them.
After about one hundred and twenty seconds, the wind stopped completely, and the room ceased its shaking. Suddenly, a dense red smoke enveloped Champion Margim, and he vanished along with it.
At the sight of this occurrence, all the physicians panicked. Filled with sheer terror, the chief physician sprinted to King Zurmatu’s palace to inform him of this strange phenomenon.
Meanwhile, upon arriving at his private quarters, King Zurmatu sent for his Vizier to investigate the true origins of the champion who had fought his elite forces in the arena. Within a short time, Vizier Mikilas arrived at the King's chambers. Once they were settled, King Zurmatu looked at the Vizier and said, "Oh Vizier, know that the reason I summoned you is for us to investigate the origin of this strange warrior who fought today.
Know that this warrior has achieved a magnificent feat that few others could ever replicate. Out of a thousand warriors, it is rare to find even five with his unique gift. Therefore, it is imperative that we discover who he is before he recovers from the wounds he sustained in the arena."
King Zurmatu continued, saying, "Vizier, know that roughly twenty-five years ago, when I was desperately seeking a child and could not conceive, I visited 177 different sorcerers to no avail. I had begun to completely lose hope of ever gaining an heir.
It was only later that I heard news of a notorious sorcerer in the region of the land of **BANBUS**, who lived on the outskirts of the town inside the cave of Mount **BUKUL**. I learned of this famous sorcerer from the very last mystic I visited—the 177th one. After conducting his divination, that mystic smiled and said, ‘Oh King, know that in this entire world, there is no one who can give you a cure for your problem except one man, and he is none other than Sorcerer **RAKUL** of the land of BANBUS.’
At this moment, there is no sorcerer in the entire world who surpasses him in the strength of dark magic, for he is the sorcerer who has traveled the entire world! He has gathered every single secret of dark magic within it. Only a single spell remains for him to possess and combine with his own to become completely invincible. The moment he possesses this magic, he will not die until he completes seventy thousand years on this earth, and throughout those years, he will continue to hold the **CHAMPIONSHIP MANTLE OF THE LEADER OF THE WORLD'S SORCERERS**.
This magic that Sorcerer Rakul seeks is nothing less than gathering the blood of every single warrior in the world, both from humankind and the Jinn. He will combine their blood with certain mystical dark formulas and then enter a spiritual seclusion for seventy days to seal this great magic. Divination has confirmed that if Sorcerer Rakul fulfills this desire of his, it will be as though he rules the entire world, because everything will operate solely by his command.
For this very reason, Sorcerer Rakul dedicated himself to finding a path to fulfill this grand ambition. He spent one hundred days in the isolation of his dark chamber performing divinations without food or drink throughout that time, and finally, he found a solution. The solution revealed in his mirror was that his goal could never be fulfilled unless he made use of King Zurmatu, because at that time, no place in the world surpassed the land of BALLUS in size, numerical strength of its armies, and wealth.
Therefore, he used the power of his dark magic to twist the womb of King Zurmatu's wife, ensuring she would never conceive until the King came to him seeking help, at which point he would present his conditions to fulfill his own desire. Upon concluding this divination, Sorcerer Rakul burst into a mad laugh, tears of joy streaming down his cheeks because he had discovered the path to his ultimate goal."
"As for me," King Zurmatu continued, "after I received these solid reports regarding Sorcerer Rakul and his immense renown, and after that last mystic assured me that only Sorcerer Rakul could solve my problem, I immediately returned to my city and began preparations to head to the city of BANBUS to visit him.
After a journey spanning forty days on thoroughbred horses, I arrived at the cave of Mount BUKUL where Sorcerer Rakul resides. Upon our arrival at the mouth of the cave, we suddenly saw the entire forest surrounding the cave engulfed in a darkness so absolute that a man could not even see the palm of his own hand. About sixty seconds after this happened, we heard a mad burst of laughter echo through the air, its reverberations filling the entire forest. Eventually, the laughter fell silent, and a voice said, ‘Welcome to the champion and the **WARRIOR OF KINGS**, King Zurmatu Ibn Turmadu. Know that I am aware of everything that brings you here, and you have certainly come to the place where your tears will be wiped away. Therefore, enter this cave alone, and leave your troops outside.’
The moment the voice finished speaking, it vanished, and a bright white light appeared to illuminate the path leading to where Sorcerer Rakul was, while the rest of my troops remained outside in the forest. I continuously followed wherever that light led, witnessing wondrous and terrifying things as I walked.
Along the path into the cave, I saw countless skeletons of various creatures lining the walls, covered in strange inscriptions written in different languages. I continued walking for two hours until I arrived at a grand throne room of immense size, breadth, and beauty. Everything inside that palace operated completely on its own. Even the food and drink—the moment a person sat upon a chair, they would appear on their own before him, moving perfectly to the person's mouth so they could eat until they were full. Truly, that place was a paradise on earth, provisioned with everything imaginable for worldly pleasure.
While I was marveling at this cave, I spotted a man suspended in mid-air, his legs crossed as if sitting on a throne, his eyes closed as he chanted unintelligible incantations. Slowly, the old man floated through the air until he neared me, settling down close by and smiling at me as though he were looking at his own blood relative.
Before I could even open my mouth to speak, Sorcerer Rakul stopped me and said, ‘Oh King, ease your mind. I know everything that troubles you; you do not need to say a word. Your only grievance is the lack of an heir. You visited 177 sorcerers to no avail until you met the mystic who told you about me, leading you to seek me out.’
I looked at Sorcerer Rakul in absolute astonishment and asked, ‘How do you know all of this when there is such a vast distance between us?’
Hearing this, Sorcerer Rakul burst into laughter and said, ‘Ease your mind, oh King. Know that I have achieved a status that no other sorcerer in the world has reached. Right now, I will show you how it all happened so you may find peace.’
No sooner had he said this than Sorcerer Rakul gestured with his left hand toward the wall of the room, and instantly, an image of the city of BALLUS appeared. The wall began displaying images of the problems that had arisen due to my lack of an heir, my visits to various sorcerers seeking a cure, and all the places I had traveled up to the very last mystic. The moment it reached that point, Sorcerer Rakul gestured with his left hand again, and the image vanished completely.
Seeing this, my amazement deepened, and I became entirely awestruck by Sorcerer Rakul's power, realizing he was a terrifyingly proficient master of the dark arts.
Sorcerer Rakul looked at me and said, 'Oh King, your request is simple, provided you agree to two conditions. The first condition is that if your desire is fulfilled, twenty years from now, you must organize a **COMBAT TOURNAMENT** in your city, to which you will invite all the greatest warriors of the world to participate.
The second condition is that you must travel to the Land of **ROME** to purchase a specific group of elite forces who originate from the ancient people of Thamud (*Samudawa*). These elite forces you purchase are the ones you will use to run the tournament against the warriors you gather from across the globe. Know that the weapons these elite forces utilize have been infused with a powerful dark magic; any living soul wounded by them will not survive past two days on this earth. Therefore, I want all the invited tournament contestants to perish as a result of clashing with these elite forces.'
'If you agree to these conditions,' Rakul said, ‘I will grant your request this very instant.’
Hearing this, I drew a deep breath, paused, and finally said, ‘Oh wondrous sorcerer, know that if this will bring about the fulfillment of my desire, I accept.’
Upon hearing my acceptance, Sorcerer Rakul burst into a joyful laugh and said, ‘I promise you that within seven days, your wife will conceive, and she will safely give birth to a child who will achieve great fame, glory, and a long life on this earth. However, after this child, you will never conceive again.’
Without wasting time, Sorcerer Rakul performed an incantation, and a packet of medicine manifested in his hand. He handed it to me and said, 'Take this, oh King of Kings. When you return home, burn this as incense in the bedroom with your wife; the very day you do this, she will conceive. Go now, I dismiss you. We shall meet again in twenty years.' The moment he finished speaking, he vanished completely, as if he had never existed there."
"Filled with intense joy," King Zurmatu continued, “I exited the cave to find that light had returned everywhere outside. We mounted our horses and returned home. On the day I did exactly what Sorcerer Rakul instructed, my wife conceived, just as he had spoken.”
As King Zurmatu reached this point in his tale, tears welled up in his eyes, and he added, “I am terrified that this single warrior might triumph over those elite forces without me fulfilling Sorcerer Rakul's conditions. If that happens, a monumental disaster will occur—one that could trigger the total annihilation of this city and every living soul within it.”
As the King finished his speech, the Vizier was left in absolute shock. Just as the Vizier opened his mouth to say something, the chief physician whom the King had tasked with saving Champion Margim burst into the chambers in a state of sheer panic. Arriving before the King, he collapsed to his knees, gasping for air as if his very soul were about to depart. The chief physician immediately recounted everything that had transpired in the medical room during their attempt to treat the warrior Margim.
Upon hearing this report, both the King and the Vizier stood up in profound shock and terror. In a fit of rage, King Zurmatu let out a terrifying, thunderous roar that echoed throughout the entire palace. He and the Vizier intended to rush to the chamber to see the evidence with their own eyes and determine what action to take.
Suddenly and completely unexpectedly, the **LEADER OF THE WORLD'S SORCERERS, SORCERER RAKUL**, manifested directly in front of them out of thin air! He appeared in a hideous, frightening state, his face heavily distorted in a dark scowl, and his entire body adorned with mystical dark charms and talismans…
*(The chapter breaks off momentarily with a meta-commentary from the author Najibullah Muhammad before proceeding to Part B)*
**THE CONTINUATION OF THE STORY...**
When King Zurmatu and his retinue saw Sorcerer Rakul manifest so suddenly before them, their panic intensified—especially King Zurmatu, who knew with absolute certainty that whatever brought Sorcerer Rakul at this exact moment was no minor matter.
With an expression of deep anxiety, Sorcerer Rakul looked at them and said, “Truly, a monumental crisis is advancing upon us. If we do not act with absolute gravity to counter it, every single one of us will perish. Even this city of yours will become mere history; within a short time, it will be flattened as though it had never existed.”
In a shaken voice, King Zurmatu looked at Sorcerer Rakul and said, “Oh profound sorcerer, quickly inform me of what is about to happen so we can take immediate action before darkness overtakes us.”
Before either of them could say another word, Sorcerer Rakul gestured with his left hand toward the wall of the chamber. Instantly, they saw an image of the medical room where Champion Margim had been taken for treatment, and it proceeded to replay all the events that had occurred: starting from the moment the room began to shake, how the powerful wind threw the physicians against the walls, up to the exact moment the red smoke enveloped Champion Margim and vanished with him.
Sorcerer Rakul gestured with his left hand again, and the image vanished from the wall. He then faced them, saying, “Oh King, know that the calamity heading toward us is far greater than anything you can comprehend. Millions of lives may be lost in the attempt to solve this crisis.”
Hearing this, King Zurmatu looked at Sorcerer Rakul and said, “Oh sorcerer, I implore you to tell me what is happening. I am fully prepared to wage war against any threat that dares jeopardize our lives, our reign, and our honor. I am simply waiting for you to tell me what step to take.”
Sorcerer Rakul let out a long sigh, accompanied by a grimace, and said, “Oh King, know that the crisis we face is this: There is a **NOTORIOUS SORCERER** in the continent of the city of **SIN** (China) who is my direct rival in the dark arts. For this reason, he conducted divinations and uncovered our plot to conquer the world and everything within it by organizing the Combat Tournament, and our plan to use the blood of all the slaughtered warriors to finalize our grand spell. Upon witnessing this, he swore an oath to block the fulfillment of our desires. He resolved in his heart that he must stop us, for throughout his life, he has loathed being under the rule of another, being issued commands like a slave. Therefore, he immediately initiated a plan to rescue any warrior who fought in the tournament arena.”
Sorcerer Rakul continued, saying, "Oh King, know that as I told you years ago, the wicked weapons your elite forces possess are enchanted; anyone slashed or wounded by them cannot survive past two days on this earth. If anyone is to survive after being wounded by those weapons, one must travel beneath the **SEA OF ZALLUS** located behind the city of SIN, pluck the **KATUL** herb, crush it, and apply it to the wound inflicted by the weapon before the two days expire. The moment it is applied, they will heal instantly as if nothing had ever happened to them. If there is a delay reaching up to two days, they will die instantly.
From here to the city of SIN where this notorious sorcerer resides is a journey of 180 days on the finest, healthiest thoroughbred horses. Right now, it was a group of Black Jinn that Sorcerer **GARGUS** sent to execute this extraction. These Jinn are colossal, merciless champions of their race; even in the realm of the Jinn, they terrorized everyone until no one knew how to handle them due to their extreme cruelty and matchless physical strength. It was for this reason that Sorcerer GARGUS summoned their entire clan to serve him, under an agreement that every single month, he would feed them the blood of one thousand humans and one thousand animals, as human and animal blood is their sole sustenance. Furthermore, these Jinn possess a terrifying, unnatural speed resembling an arrow; they can cover a journey of over a month in a single hour."
As Sorcerer Rakul reached this point in his explanation, King Zurmatu's anxiety spiraled completely out of control. He looked at Sorcerer Rakul and asked, “What exactly will happen if Sorcerer GARGUS succeeds in saving the life of Champion Margim before the two days are up?”
Upon hearing this question, Sorcerer Rakul burst into a violent fit of weeping like a small child. He began jumping and falling to the ground like a madman until King Zurmatu and the Vizier physically held him down to calm him.
Once composed, he said, “Oh King, know that if we allow even a single life to survive from among the tournament warriors, we will not last past one month on this earth before we die. We will wake up to find sections of our bodies failing and rotting away. Slowly, bit by bit, maggots will emerge from our flesh, consuming the decaying muscle until we rot completely before thirty days pass. And the exact type of death we suffer will strike down every single citizen of this city until everyone is dead.”
Hearing this, both King Zurmatu and Vizier Mikilas were gripped by absolute terror, realizing their lives were caught in a deadly vice. In a state of deep distress, nearly weeping, Vizier Mikilas said, “Oh King of the World, I implore you, let us do whatever it takes to save our lives, our land, and our reign.”
Deeply shaken, King Zurmatu looked at Sorcerer Rakul and asked, “What is our escape route from this disaster now?”
Sorcerer Rakul fell silent for a moment, then looked at King Zurmatu and said, “There is only one single solution: We must pursue those Jinn who stole Champion Margim before they succeed in delivering him to Sorcerer GARGUS to be healed.”
King Zurmatu looked at Sorcerer Rakul again in deep worry and said, “How do you expect us to catch up to them before they reach the city of SIN when you just told us that no Jinn in the world match their terrifying speed? And how can we succeed in reclaiming Champion Margim and destroying him out of their hands?”
Hearing these questions, Sorcerer Rakul replied, “It is true, as I told you, that the Jinn sent by Sorcerer Gargus possess a speed like a flying arrow. However, know that there exists another specific group of Jinn—great **IFRITS**—who possess a speed matching that of a shooting star. These specific Jinn number one thousand, and all of them are as colossal as mountains. In their entire history, no other creature has ever beaten them to a destination, for seventy thousand times they have won the **GRAND RACING COMPETITION** organized at the end of every year within the palace of the Emperor of the Jinn. Due to their extreme speed, they can traverse the entire globe in a single day! They can reach the ends of the earth across the East, South, West, and North. I assure you that if we pursue them using these Ifrits, we can catch up to them five hours before they ever reach the city of SIN.”
Hearing this, the rulers' anxiety began to ease slightly. Vizier Mikilas looked at Sorcerer Rakul and asked, “So how do we ensure victory over them once we catch up to these Jinn?”
Upon hearing this question, Sorcerer Rakul fell silent, entering into deep reflection. After a long period of thought, he suddenly raised his head, looked at King Zurmatu and Vizier Mikilas, and burst into a booming laugh as if he no longer had a care
When King Zurmatu and his retinue left the arena of the **COMBAT TOURNAMENT** and headed to the palace, the physicians lifted Champion **MARGIM** and carried him to the medical chamber to treat him, for blood was still pouring from the severe wounds inflicted upon him by the leader of the elites.
Upon entering the treatment room, they gathered their instruments and stripped off his shirt to suture the wounds on his body and set his broken legs.
Suddenly and completely unexpectedly, the entire room began to shake as if it were about to collapse, and a violently powerful gust of wind forced its way into the chamber. The sheer force of the wind picked up the physicians who were preparing to treat Margim and slammed them relentlessly against the walls, causing them to fall back down entirely incapacitated. Within moments, they were all utterly dazed and disoriented by the sheer pain of the injuries the wind had inflicted upon them.
After about one hundred and twenty seconds, the wind stopped completely, and the room ceased its shaking. Suddenly, a dense red smoke enveloped Champion Margim, and he vanished along with it.
At the sight of this occurrence, all the physicians panicked. Filled with sheer terror, the chief physician sprinted to King Zurmatu’s palace to inform him of this strange phenomenon.
Meanwhile, upon arriving at his private quarters, King Zurmatu sent for his Vizier to investigate the true origins of the champion who had fought his elite forces in the arena. Within a short time, Vizier Mikilas arrived at the King's chambers. Once they were settled, King Zurmatu looked at the Vizier and said, "Oh Vizier, know that the reason I summoned you is for us to investigate the origin of this strange warrior who fought today.
Know that this warrior has achieved a magnificent feat that few others could ever replicate. Out of a thousand warriors, it is rare to find even five with his unique gift. Therefore, it is imperative that we discover who he is before he recovers from the wounds he sustained in the arena."
King Zurmatu continued, saying, "Vizier, know that roughly twenty-five years ago, when I was desperately seeking a child and could not conceive, I visited 177 different sorcerers to no avail. I had begun to completely lose hope of ever gaining an heir.
It was only later that I heard news of a notorious sorcerer in the region of the land of **BANBUS**, who lived on the outskirts of the town inside the cave of Mount **BUKUL**. I learned of this famous sorcerer from the very last mystic I visited—the 177th one. After conducting his divination, that mystic smiled and said, ‘Oh King, know that in this entire world, there is no one who can give you a cure for your problem except one man, and he is none other than Sorcerer **RAKUL** of the land of BANBUS.’
At this moment, there is no sorcerer in the entire world who surpasses him in the strength of dark magic, for he is the sorcerer who has traveled the entire world! He has gathered every single secret of dark magic within it. Only a single spell remains for him to possess and combine with his own to become completely invincible. The moment he possesses this magic, he will not die until he completes seventy thousand years on this earth, and throughout those years, he will continue to hold the **CHAMPIONSHIP MANTLE OF THE LEADER OF THE WORLD'S SORCERERS**.
This magic that Sorcerer Rakul seeks is nothing less than gathering the blood of every single warrior in the world, both from humankind and the Jinn. He will combine their blood with certain mystical dark formulas and then enter a spiritual seclusion for seventy days to seal this great magic. Divination has confirmed that if Sorcerer Rakul fulfills this desire of his, it will be as though he rules the entire world, because everything will operate solely by his command.
For this very reason, Sorcerer Rakul dedicated himself to finding a path to fulfill this grand ambition. He spent one hundred days in the isolation of his dark chamber performing divinations without food or drink throughout that time, and finally, he found a solution. The solution revealed in his mirror was that his goal could never be fulfilled unless he made use of King Zurmatu, because at that time, no place in the world surpassed the land of BALLUS in size, numerical strength of its armies, and wealth.
Therefore, he used the power of his dark magic to twist the womb of King Zurmatu's wife, ensuring she would never conceive until the King came to him seeking help, at which point he would present his conditions to fulfill his own desire. Upon concluding this divination, Sorcerer Rakul burst into a mad laugh, tears of joy streaming down his cheeks because he had discovered the path to his ultimate goal."
"As for me," King Zurmatu continued, "after I received these solid reports regarding Sorcerer Rakul and his immense renown, and after that last mystic assured me that only Sorcerer Rakul could solve my problem, I immediately returned to my city and began preparations to head to the city of BANBUS to visit him.
After a journey spanning forty days on thoroughbred horses, I arrived at the cave of Mount BUKUL where Sorcerer Rakul resides. Upon our arrival at the mouth of the cave, we suddenly saw the entire forest surrounding the cave engulfed in a darkness so absolute that a man could not even see the palm of his own hand. About sixty seconds after this happened, we heard a mad burst of laughter echo through the air, its reverberations filling the entire forest. Eventually, the laughter fell silent, and a voice said, ‘Welcome to the champion and the **WARRIOR OF KINGS**, King Zurmatu Ibn Turmadu. Know that I am aware of everything that brings you here, and you have certainly come to the place where your tears will be wiped away. Therefore, enter this cave alone, and leave your troops outside.’
The moment the voice finished speaking, it vanished, and a bright white light appeared to illuminate the path leading to where Sorcerer Rakul was, while the rest of my troops remained outside in the forest. I continuously followed wherever that light led, witnessing wondrous and terrifying things as I walked.
Along the path into the cave, I saw countless skeletons of various creatures lining the walls, covered in strange inscriptions written in different languages. I continued walking for two hours until I arrived at a grand throne room of immense size, breadth, and beauty. Everything inside that palace operated completely on its own. Even the food and drink—the moment a person sat upon a chair, they would appear on their own before him, moving perfectly to the person's mouth so they could eat until they were full. Truly, that place was a paradise on earth, provisioned with everything imaginable for worldly pleasure.
While I was marveling at this cave, I spotted a man suspended in mid-air, his legs crossed as if sitting on a throne, his eyes closed as he chanted unintelligible incantations. Slowly, the old man floated through the air until he neared me, settling down close by and smiling at me as though he were looking at his own blood relative.
Before I could even open my mouth to speak, Sorcerer Rakul stopped me and said, ‘Oh King, ease your mind. I know everything that troubles you; you do not need to say a word. Your only grievance is the lack of an heir. You visited 177 sorcerers to no avail until you met the mystic who told you about me, leading you to seek me out.’
I looked at Sorcerer Rakul in absolute astonishment and asked, ‘How do you know all of this when there is such a vast distance between us?’
Hearing this, Sorcerer Rakul burst into laughter and said, ‘Ease your mind, oh King. Know that I have achieved a status that no other sorcerer in the world has reached. Right now, I will show you how it all happened so you may find peace.’
No sooner had he said this than Sorcerer Rakul gestured with his left hand toward the wall of the room, and instantly, an image of the city of BALLUS appeared. The wall began displaying images of the problems that had arisen due to my lack of an heir, my visits to various sorcerers seeking a cure, and all the places I had traveled up to the very last mystic. The moment it reached that point, Sorcerer Rakul gestured with his left hand again, and the image vanished completely.
Seeing this, my amazement deepened, and I became entirely awestruck by Sorcerer Rakul's power, realizing he was a terrifyingly proficient master of the dark arts.
Sorcerer Rakul looked at me and said, 'Oh King, your request is simple, provided you agree to two conditions. The first condition is that if your desire is fulfilled, twenty years from now, you must organize a **COMBAT TOURNAMENT** in your city, to which you will invite all the greatest warriors of the world to participate.
The second condition is that you must travel to the Land of **ROME** to purchase a specific group of elite forces who originate from the ancient people of Thamud (*Samudawa*). These elite forces you purchase are the ones you will use to run the tournament against the warriors you gather from across the globe. Know that the weapons these elite forces utilize have been infused with a powerful dark magic; any living soul wounded by them will not survive past two days on this earth. Therefore, I want all the invited tournament contestants to perish as a result of clashing with these elite forces.'
'If you agree to these conditions,' Rakul said, ‘I will grant your request this very instant.’
Hearing this, I drew a deep breath, paused, and finally said, ‘Oh wondrous sorcerer, know that if this will bring about the fulfillment of my desire, I accept.’
Upon hearing my acceptance, Sorcerer Rakul burst into a joyful laugh and said, ‘I promise you that within seven days, your wife will conceive, and she will safely give birth to a child who will achieve great fame, glory, and a long life on this earth. However, after this child, you will never conceive again.’
Without wasting time, Sorcerer Rakul performed an incantation, and a packet of medicine manifested in his hand. He handed it to me and said, 'Take this, oh King of Kings. When you return home, burn this as incense in the bedroom with your wife; the very day you do this, she will conceive. Go now, I dismiss you. We shall meet again in twenty years.' The moment he finished speaking, he vanished completely, as if he had never existed there."
"Filled with intense joy," King Zurmatu continued, “I exited the cave to find that light had returned everywhere outside. We mounted our horses and returned home. On the day I did exactly what Sorcerer Rakul instructed, my wife conceived, just as he had spoken.”
As King Zurmatu reached this point in his tale, tears welled up in his eyes, and he added, “I am terrified that this single warrior might triumph over those elite forces without me fulfilling Sorcerer Rakul's conditions. If that happens, a monumental disaster will occur—one that could trigger the total annihilation of this city and every living soul within it.”
As the King finished his speech, the Vizier was left in absolute shock. Just as the Vizier opened his mouth to say something, the chief physician whom the King had tasked with saving Champion Margim burst into the chambers in a state of sheer panic. Arriving before the King, he collapsed to his knees, gasping for air as if his very soul were about to depart. The chief physician immediately recounted everything that had transpired in the medical room during their attempt to treat the warrior Margim.
Upon hearing this report, both the King and the Vizier stood up in profound shock and terror. In a fit of rage, King Zurmatu let out a terrifying, thunderous roar that echoed throughout the entire palace. He and the Vizier intended to rush to the chamber to see the evidence with their own eyes and determine what action to take.
Suddenly and completely unexpectedly, the **LEADER OF THE WORLD'S SORCERERS, SORCERER RAKUL**, manifested directly in front of them out of thin air! He appeared in a hideous, frightening state, his face heavily distorted in a dark scowl, and his entire body adorned with mystical dark charms and talismans…
*(The chapter breaks off momentarily with a meta-commentary from the author Najibullah Muhammad before proceeding to Part B)*
**THE CONTINUATION OF THE STORY...**
When King Zurmatu and his retinue saw Sorcerer Rakul manifest so suddenly before them, their panic intensified—especially King Zurmatu, who knew with absolute certainty that whatever brought Sorcerer Rakul at this exact moment was no minor matter.
With an expression of deep anxiety, Sorcerer Rakul looked at them and said, “Truly, a monumental crisis is advancing upon us. If we do not act with absolute gravity to counter it, every single one of us will perish. Even this city of yours will become mere history; within a short time, it will be flattened as though it had never existed.”
In a shaken voice, King Zurmatu looked at Sorcerer Rakul and said, “Oh profound sorcerer, quickly inform me of what is about to happen so we can take immediate action before darkness overtakes us.”
Before either of them could say another word, Sorcerer Rakul gestured with his left hand toward the wall of the chamber. Instantly, they saw an image of the medical room where Champion Margim had been taken for treatment, and it proceeded to replay all the events that had occurred: starting from the moment the room began to shake, how the powerful wind threw the physicians against the walls, up to the exact moment the red smoke enveloped Champion Margim and vanished with him.
Sorcerer Rakul gestured with his left hand again, and the image vanished from the wall. He then faced them, saying, “Oh King, know that the calamity heading toward us is far greater than anything you can comprehend. Millions of lives may be lost in the attempt to solve this crisis.”
Hearing this, King Zurmatu looked at Sorcerer Rakul and said, “Oh sorcerer, I implore you to tell me what is happening. I am fully prepared to wage war against any threat that dares jeopardize our lives, our reign, and our honor. I am simply waiting for you to tell me what step to take.”
Sorcerer Rakul let out a long sigh, accompanied by a grimace, and said, “Oh King, know that the crisis we face is this: There is a **NOTORIOUS SORCERER** in the continent of the city of **SIN** (China) who is my direct rival in the dark arts. For this reason, he conducted divinations and uncovered our plot to conquer the world and everything within it by organizing the Combat Tournament, and our plan to use the blood of all the slaughtered warriors to finalize our grand spell. Upon witnessing this, he swore an oath to block the fulfillment of our desires. He resolved in his heart that he must stop us, for throughout his life, he has loathed being under the rule of another, being issued commands like a slave. Therefore, he immediately initiated a plan to rescue any warrior who fought in the tournament arena.”
Sorcerer Rakul continued, saying, "Oh King, know that as I told you years ago, the wicked weapons your elite forces possess are enchanted; anyone slashed or wounded by them cannot survive past two days on this earth. If anyone is to survive after being wounded by those weapons, one must travel beneath the **SEA OF ZALLUS** located behind the city of SIN, pluck the **KATUL** herb, crush it, and apply it to the wound inflicted by the weapon before the two days expire. The moment it is applied, they will heal instantly as if nothing had ever happened to them. If there is a delay reaching up to two days, they will die instantly.
From here to the city of SIN where this notorious sorcerer resides is a journey of 180 days on the finest, healthiest thoroughbred horses. Right now, it was a group of Black Jinn that Sorcerer **GARGUS** sent to execute this extraction. These Jinn are colossal, merciless champions of their race; even in the realm of the Jinn, they terrorized everyone until no one knew how to handle them due to their extreme cruelty and matchless physical strength. It was for this reason that Sorcerer GARGUS summoned their entire clan to serve him, under an agreement that every single month, he would feed them the blood of one thousand humans and one thousand animals, as human and animal blood is their sole sustenance. Furthermore, these Jinn possess a terrifying, unnatural speed resembling an arrow; they can cover a journey of over a month in a single hour."
As Sorcerer Rakul reached this point in his explanation, King Zurmatu's anxiety spiraled completely out of control. He looked at Sorcerer Rakul and asked, “What exactly will happen if Sorcerer GARGUS succeeds in saving the life of Champion Margim before the two days are up?”
Upon hearing this question, Sorcerer Rakul burst into a violent fit of weeping like a small child. He began jumping and falling to the ground like a madman until King Zurmatu and the Vizier physically held him down to calm him.
Once composed, he said, “Oh King, know that if we allow even a single life to survive from among the tournament warriors, we will not last past one month on this earth before we die. We will wake up to find sections of our bodies failing and rotting away. Slowly, bit by bit, maggots will emerge from our flesh, consuming the decaying muscle until we rot completely before thirty days pass. And the exact type of death we suffer will strike down every single citizen of this city until everyone is dead.”
Hearing this, both King Zurmatu and Vizier Mikilas were gripped by absolute terror, realizing their lives were caught in a deadly vice. In a state of deep distress, nearly weeping, Vizier Mikilas said, “Oh King of the World, I implore you, let us do whatever it takes to save our lives, our land, and our reign.”
Deeply shaken, King Zurmatu looked at Sorcerer Rakul and asked, “What is our escape route from this disaster now?”
Sorcerer Rakul fell silent for a moment, then looked at King Zurmatu and said, “There is only one single solution: We must pursue those Jinn who stole Champion Margim before they succeed in delivering him to Sorcerer GARGUS to be healed.”
King Zurmatu looked at Sorcerer Rakul again in deep worry and said, “How do you expect us to catch up to them before they reach the city of SIN when you just told us that no Jinn in the world match their terrifying speed? And how can we succeed in reclaiming Champion Margim and destroying him out of their hands?”
Hearing these questions, Sorcerer Rakul replied, “It is true, as I told you, that the Jinn sent by Sorcerer Gargus possess a speed like a flying arrow. However, know that there exists another specific group of Jinn—great **IFRITS**—who possess a speed matching that of a shooting star. These specific Jinn number one thousand, and all of them are as colossal as mountains. In their entire history, no other creature has ever beaten them to a destination, for seventy thousand times they have won the **GRAND RACING COMPETITION** organized at the end of every year within the palace of the Emperor of the Jinn. Due to their extreme speed, they can traverse the entire globe in a single day! They can reach the ends of the earth across the East, South, West, and North. I assure you that if we pursue them using these Ifrits, we can catch up to them five hours before they ever reach the city of SIN.”
Hearing this, the rulers' anxiety began to ease slightly. Vizier Mikilas looked at Sorcerer Rakul and asked, “So how do we ensure victory over them once we catch up to these Jinn?”
Upon hearing this question, Sorcerer Rakul fell silent, entering into deep reflection. After a long period of thought, he suddenly raised his head, looked at King Zurmatu and Vizier Mikilas, and burst into a booming laugh as if he no longer had a care