Everyone scanned the battle with slight apprehension and excitement. It was an obvious reason as to why, no one had ever had the opportunity to see something as rare as an Imuchakk warrior fighting a knight of Sasan.

Meanwhile, Sinbad and Ja'far were commenting on the battle, both finding critical things to analyze. It was mostly Sinbad that seemed more interested as there was a huge difference between the two.

Sinbad reached a hand to rest over his brows, "he's got the same ridiculous strength as always, huh?" Asked Sinbad, "It would be difficult to withstand even one on those attacks."

Ja'far hummed in response, "but he can't just keep running away, either."

Mystras seemed to be getting the upper hand as he snuck up on Hinahoho and attacked him from behind, catching him off guard. Everyone stayed wide eyed as Mystras attacked him with great speed.

"He's so fast!" Exclaimed Sera, having never seen his fighting style. Although, unfortunately for Mystras, it didn't leave a scratch on Hinahoho.

It seemed to be a good match like Zepar had said; a man with an overwhelming number of attacks against a man with a few devasting attacks.

"It's a good match," said Ja'far, crossing his arms.

"Mystras had practiced hard and gained a lot of experience for his age," added Sinbad, "this match may be a prolonged one."

Sera narrowed her eyes as she examined it, "I have to disagree... Something tells me it'll end sooner than you think..."

They both seemed to be reaching their limit at this point, both determined to win and be their king's spear.

...If we can't,

Then we...

Can never become our king's sword!!

Sinbad turned to his metal vessels as the insignia began to glow, Sera turned and as she did she could've sworn she saw something gold come from it. She rubbed her eyes only to see it disappeared.

I am...

I am!!

I am the strongest spear!!

She turned to look behind her as she felt a pair of eyes on her back, Kimi was staring at her with slightly widened eyes. Almost as if she just figured something out. Sera rose a brow but was interrupted as a small explosion coming from Mystras and Hinahoho.

The two were knocked out from each other's attacked, they must have canceled each other out. Zepar picked them up and examined them, "My, my... They are alive, although they've both completely exhausted their energy," he said, "the power of their household vessels was at the same level, so the attacks canceled each other out."

He dropped them on the pillar where Sinbad's group was, "they were able to get this far by drawing out each other's power," he explained, "well... That means they both pass," he said reluctantly.

Zepar then spoke of how he wanted something more serious, a death match. His eyes landed on Masrur and Ja'far, "Ja'far, Masrur. But this isn't going to be a simple contest of strength. It'll be a fight to the death."

"NO!"

Zepar's eyes widened to see Sera standing there in partial Djinn equip, her eyes shined with rage as she pointed her spear at him. Zepar glared at her, "someone restrain her until a kill her," he said menacingly.

Sinbad quickly strode up to her and tried holding her arms back. She struggled in his hold, "LET. GO." She said sternly, ripping her arms away, "I don't care what you do to me, just don't make Masrur do this! He's not a slave anymore-" she pointed her spear towards the Djinn- "You can't force him to do your bidding!"

Zepar rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers causing Sera to double down in slight pain and grip her head tightly. He sighed and crossed his arms, "well... Now that that's over with, let's get back to business."

Sinbad's eyes widened and cradled Sera as she fell over, she woke up soon after. The only problem was, her energy was all gone and she could barely move, "damn it..." She mumbled.

"What did you do?!" Exclaimed Sinbad.

Zepar scoffed, "Don't worry about it. I only implanted some of my Rukh in her, Amdusias must've canceled it out..."

Ja'far glared at him, "I'd have to refuse," he said, referring to the death match.

Zepar seemed to be growing impatient as Ja'far told him off after refusing. He was almost like a spoiled child as he told Ja'far he's supposed to do as he told him to.

Things began to take a turn to the worst as Zepar brought up Ja'far's past. "I know all about you. Sham Lash chief assassin, Ja'far," he said with a smirk.

Sera felt her eyes widen, "he was once with Parthevia?" She whispered to herself.

Zepar kept tormenting him, "you enjoy it, don't you? Killing."

Shadows covered Ja'far's eyes, "I don't."

"I don't believe you, murderer."

Everyone expected Ja'far to attack but to everyone's surprise, it was Masrur. Sera looked in shock, "Masrur!" She exclaimed worriedly.

"... I'm not a slave anymore... No one can order me to fight to the death ever again," he said confidently. Sera smiled at him as tears came to her eyes.

"You kids really don't listen to what you're told," he sighed, "it's pointless. As long as you're in a dungeon, its Djinn is invincible. Not a single one of your attacks will be effective."

His eyes narrowed at Masrur, "Fine... If you're really that against following my orders... Then I'll do this." He pointed his finger towards Masrur causing his body to go shock and his eyes begin to swirl.

"Masrur!" Yelled Sera and Ja'far in unison, Sera struggled in Sinbad's grip but he refused to let go.

As they looked at Masrur stumble the next thing they knew he was bouncing off walls and running everywhere, Zepar had him under control. He ended up breaking one of the pillars.

"Masrur! Is he okay?!" Exclaimed Sera as she tugged herself away from Sinbad.

The scarf around Masrur's neck landed in Ja'far's hands. "Masrur" came back up and examined himself, "wow~ Amazing! So this is the power of one of the ancient red lions.-" he clenched and unclenched his fists- "it far surpasses normal human limits."

He smirked, "how about it? Now we can make this an interesting death match," said "Masrur". Everything went haywire as "Masrur" began to run and jump throughout the entire treasure room.

Ja'far's eyes narrowed and he dropped the scarf in Sera's hands, 'this... isn't Masrur!' He thought.

He was slipping through all of Ja'far's attacks, it was obvious how much of a hard battle this was going to be but it could be said that Masrur was possessed by Zepar.

"I fiddled with the kid's brain a bit. His consciousness is asleep and I'm in control of his body now," he said proudly, "this way, we can fight without any interruptions. Now, let's get started."

"A fight to the death!"

Drakon and Sera both tried to intervene but they were soon cut off by Sinbad, "wait... This is one of Djinn's tests. Zepar may have a reason for all this... Let's just keep an eye on things for now..."

Sera turned to him with a deathly, "if anything happens to either of them, I'm holding you personally responsible," she spoke harshly. Sinbad paled slightly and nodded.

"Let's get going!" Yelled Zepar, "Ready..."

Ja'far quickly got to work and wrapped his Kunai's around Zepar, it was futile as Masrur escaped before Ja'far could activate his household.

Zepar then landed a kick to Ja'far's arm causing it to bleed, "it's not over yet!" He exclaimed, landing more blows on Ja'far's sides.

"What the hell was that attack?!" Exclaimed Sinbad, "no, that wasn't an attack. That was just..."

"A Soundwave..." Finished Sera, "I would know one anywhere. Amdusias can do the same."

Ja'far seemed to notice the same thing as he glared at Zepar. "Hmph... I can't control this body very well yet. Oh well! As long as I can move it, I should be able to eliminate you," said Zepar.

Sera drowned out everything else as the fight progressed, she felt her chest tighten as Ja'far's condition began to worsen. Zepar seemed to be pleased with how much he smiled.

Sera felt Sinbad's arms tighten around her as Zepar lunged towards Ja'far, most likely for the finishing blow. "JA'FAR!" He yelled.

Ja'far hid a small smirk as Zepar lunged. Just as Zepar was about to land his finished blow Ja'far pulled down revealing his kunai's which tied around "Zepar's" body.

"I finally... Caught you," panted Ja'far, "no matter who strong you are, you can't break a household vessel, can you?" He asked as Zepar struggled. Ja'far then began to explain how he did it, which was very clever.

"GET OUT OF MASRUR! BARARAQ SEI!"

Everyone closed their eyes a blinding shock waved through the treasure room, Ja'far knelt down beside him. He smiled as he saw him wake up, "Masrur! You're awake..." He said.

Everyone else sighed in relief as Zepar seemed to finally be out of Masrur, except that wasn't the case at all. "Heh, you sure surprised me... You almost knocked me out cold," he chuckled as Ja'far glared down at him, "don't make that face. It's okay, once this match is decided I'll leave this body."

"Decided? Wasn't it just decided?!" Exclaimed Ja'far.

"Nope. Didn't I say from the start?" He asked, "this is a fight to the death. You can't end this until one of you is dead." He pointed Ja'far's Kunai's to his neck, coaxing him to kill Masrur.

Sera kicked at Sinbad, "Sinbad, let me go now!" She yelled.

As Zepar finished talking to Ja'far stood up and looked to Sinbad with a smile, "Sin... I'll leave the rest to you."

Ja'far sighed, pointed his Kunai to his chest and plunged it in. Sinbad dropped Sera and stared at Ja'far's body go limp, "JA'FAR!" He yelled in anger.

Ja'far's body was soon in Drakon's arms as Sera did her best to use her water to try and heal him. She felt herself grow hopeless with every passing second that he stayed limp, she let out a small whimper and then shook her head.

Sinbad's eyes widened with shock and they stayed that way as Drakon delivered the news, "Ja'far, he's... Already..."

Everyone attention was soon turned to Zepar as he began cackling, "nice. Good job, Ja'far."

"The resolve it takes to be able to throw away your life for the sake of your king..." He trailed off, "that's exactly how a loyal subject should act! I wanted to see how much pain you'd be willing to go through for the sake of your king. You pass," he said proudly, his Rukh leaving Masrur's body.

Zepar smirked, "this fight is over. It was a good match, huh?" He asked.

Sinbad felt his body shake with anger, "...a good match?"

Zepar smiled, "it was a good fight that brought out the strength of desperation," he spoke, "the first pair were able to surpass the limits to their own strength, and the next two showed their willingness to offer up their lives for their master."

The Djinn chuckled, "now that that's all over, what shall we do next?" He asked himself, "the next test will be..."

Sinbad growled and Djinn equipped into Baal, "quit fucking around," he said, "what do you think you're doing? Zepar, we are not your playthings. They took their fights seriously."

"They listened to your unreasonable requests. And because it was a trial set for us by a Djinn I just stood back and watched all of this... If this... If this... Is the outcome, I won't let out get away with this," he spoke confidently but Sera couldn't help but glare at his back.

Sinbad then spoke of how he would take on all the burden for this his friends and how he would risk his life. He was seething with rage and was close to attacking Zepar until a voice cut him off.

"Geez... I said I'd leave things to you and what are you doing?"

~~~~~~~

I made this one extra long for you all!