"All clear!" Alibaba waved to Aladdin, signalling that the last house in the village had been evacuated.

Aladdin waved back cheerfully until something caught his eye. He glanced up into the sky, his brow furrowing at the sight of Black Rukh swarming like an angry tornado. Without a second thought, he was running through the town towards the source of the Rukh.

"Aladdin?! Hey, wait!" Alibaba followed frantically behind.

Minutes passed before they reached an unfathomable scene of death and destruction. The entire area had been flattened, remains of houses and buildings were ablaze, withered corpses lined the street. Only two living beings remained: a Magi and a priest of the Kou Empire.

Aladdin and Alibaba were awestruck at the sight, both of them almost unable to move. Mei's body lay just feet behind where Judar stood, her eyes void of any signs of life. The priest was on the ground, trembling in terror as the flames around him flickered and danced. Judar's expression was flat, his hollow eyes trained on the priest. He took a step forward and the very earth beneath him seemed to quake.

"Judar, wait!" Aladdin shouted in hopes of stopping his fellow Magi.

Judar's gaze never wavered as he continued forward until stopping just inches from the frightened priest.

"It was an accident! I didn't think such a small wound would take her life!" the priest cried out, pleading for his life to spared.

Black Rukh fluttered around Judar, his crimson eyes focused on the weeping man before him.

"Stop!" Aladdin continued his protests. He ran towards them, his expression pained as if he knew he wouldn't reach Judar in time. He reached out, golden rukh gathering at his fingertips.

Before Aladdin could reach him, Judar had already made his move. The priest shrieked in pain as all of the fluids in his body froze. Only a few seconds had passed before the priest's veins were filled with ice.

"Tch," Judar scowled before turning and leaving behind his handiwork. He then met the pained gaze of Aladdin with his own icy stare. He didn't bother explaining anything before instructing Aladdin to come near him.

Aladdin was hesitant to comply but approached cautiously after swallowing his nerves. Judar was knelt down by Mei's body, his fingers pressed to the side of her throat.

"There's a pulse but it's weak. That priest wasn't trying to kill the body. He only did enough to separate the soul from it. Keep pumping life magic through her and heal whatever you can until we can get her back to Sinbad's palace," Judar said, his voice detached and emotionless.

Aladdin's expression darkened but he did as instructed, sending purple rukh through the open wounds on the girl's body. He reached up, gently closing her hollow eyes.

Judar then turned to leave, heading in Alibaba's direction. Black Rukh continued to swarm around him. Alibaba cast his eyes down, gritting his teeth as Judar passed.

---

It wasn't long before King Sinbad returned, praising his acquaintances for protecting the townspeople so well. Despite his praise, no one celebrated. The mood within the palace was somber and showed no sign of being uplifted.

Alibaba and Aladdin remained with Sinbad, nursing Mei's comatose body in any way they could.

Hakuryuu and Kougyoku returned back to the Kou Empire with Kouha and Kouen; all four of them resolved to crack down on anything that could be linked to Al Tharmen.

As for the dark magi, Judar... No one had seen him since the day Kou invaded Sindria. His whereabouts were unknown to all parties and it was evident that he didn't plan on showing himself any time soon.

It was rumored by some that he'd gone to end his own life at the loss of his princess. It was believed by others that he succumbed to Al Tharmen's rule and went into hiding to indulge in their schemes.

Only one person had come to the conclusion that Judar was heavily looking into the flow of Rukh.

The flow of Rukh had already been quite familiar to Aladdin and he understood how the cycle of life worked with it. Once a person met their inevitable fate of death, their soul would be returned to the great flow of Rukh.

Knowing this, Aladdin had also learned how Judar was able to summon the spirit of one Ren Mei from many generations ago. By manipulating the Rukh, Judar was able to cast her spirit away from the great flow and back into a human body. Doing this, however, taints the Rukh, and her soul is now unfit to return to that flow. To put it plainly, Mei's soul was now bound to the earth with no hope of ever returning to the afterlife.

Aladdin theorized that Judar was also aware of the present information and had his own plans set in motion.

Thus, the magi waited, continuing to keep a comatose body breathing for as long as it would take for Judar to return.