1 Magic is no more

(I have also posted this novel on Royalroad as the Elements)

The sound of giant rocks resounded throughout the whole castle. The soldiers were catapulting the castle's magic barrier.

The magicians anxiously waited till their last defences got destroyed. They prepared their spells and got ready for battle.

As soon as the barrier got forcefully broken, arrows and falling boulders, awaited them. They easily deflected these with their defensive spells and quickly casted long ranged spells to destroy the siege weapons oppressing them.

The magic cannons repeatedly shot randomly towards the endless soldiers attacking them.

Uncountable numbers of warriors that surrounded the castle charged and killed their way into the mage defenses.

The magician towers easily burnt down every warriors that approached. The catapults were brought out and they shot down the magic towers.

The magicians managed to repel the warriors but the time to cast their spells put them in an uncomfortable situation.

A warrior in shiny silvery full armor calmly slashed his way through the magicians. His sword cut spells half and his armour easily repelled any other hidden spells he couldn't see. As he approached the castle's main gate, three magic towers twice the size of the normal ones sent blazing fire rays to him.

He raised his sword to his shoulders and performed a powerful horizontal slash. A giant sliver wave got expelled from it.

An explosion louder than the catapults, louder than the explosive spells, louder than the magic canons resounded throughout the whole battlefield.

The sword slash was so long that it managed to destroy not only the magic towers but also opened up a giant hole on the gate.

He put the sword back in the scabbard on his waist and arrogantly entered the gate.

A middle-aged man sat arrogantly on his throne. He waved his sleeves and ordered the old magicians. "Use the magic portal to teleport them! Hurry! We don't have much time left!"

The King shouted to the Mage Elders as they just finished opening up the portal.

One the Elders anxiously asked the King.

"Are you sure we send them there!? We are sending our last hope, no your sons right into the lion's den!"

"Don't worry. He is trustworthy. Just send them."

All the Elders nodded and the magic circle shined as the two children on its centre disappeared.

A huge explosion accompanied by a small earthquake made him look in the direction of the gate.

The king sighted as he took his magic staff and stood up. He slowly walked towards the gate as the Mage Elders silently followed him from behind.

They walked to the castle's courtyard where the man in silver armor stood there as if he was waiting for them.

The Mage King looked at the swordsman straight into his eyes. Many emotions and memories surfaced in his mind. Happiness, love, loneliness, hatred and betrayal.

"Long time no see...brother." He slightly loosened his grip off the staff. It has been years since he had seen him.

The man in the armor frowned when he heard his words. He replied him with his deep hoarse voice containing no emotions."Don't you dare call me brother. We are not from the same blood...Ralka Goldblood."

"Indeed..." Ralka stopped looking straight into his eyes. He raised his head and put his gaze on the deep blue sky. Such a beautiful sight. The fall of the Magic Kingdom on such a beautiful day.

Maybe such beauty is the heaven rejoicing the calamity...or the heavens are giving hope...he didn't know.

Ralka erased all useless thoughts and closed his eyes.

"My choices led us here brother...no...rather Manral the adopted one."

One Elder stepped up next to Ralka. He was the oldest among all the Mage Elders. He was supporting himself with his long magic staff.

The old man adjusted his glasses with his old withered fingers and started talking.

"A mighty powerful king ruled over two continents. Like his name, he called the two continents Goldblood. His magic so powerful he was almost revered as a god. He was The King"

He locked his gaze towards Ralka. "His wife died giving birth to his son... prince Ralka. Once The King put his hands on prince Ralka's body, he immediately knew his magic aptitude."

He turned off his gaze of the prince and looked at Manral instead. "He knew the prince's talent would never surpass his...he knew that he would never be able to rule over the two continents. Thus he had to find another person to help his son rule over them. Someone without any ties to avoid betrayal."

The old Elder coughed lightly. He was already old. He quietly resumed his speech.

"Thus he choose the orphan Manral. He was no ordinary child. He stepped over all the children with just his physical body...alas he had no magical aptitude. No one knew why The King chose him."

"The two princes quickly became friends. They shared everything together. Prince Ralka was personally trained by the king, while prince Manral honed his skills under mortal soldiers."

"As the prince Ralka rose in reputation over the mages, prince Manral rose in reputation over the mortals. As they grew, The King grew older and older."

The old man sighted as he continued his story. "The King finally took his last breath and died. The princes were already old enough to govern but The King never specified which would take the throne. The GoldBlood or the orphan. The mage or the mortal. The orphan wanted to rule the two continents together with his brother, while the Goldblood wanted it all."

"The overbearing greed of the golden price enraged the mortals. They wanted the orphan to be king. He excelled in both physical and spiritual. He was wise, humble and strong. He created a set of way of fighting called martial arts himself. He discovered the aura, an energy residing inside the body."

"The mages would never allow a mortal to rule over them. They wanted the one with Golden blood to rule. The Goldblood chased and persecuted all mortals that refused his rule. He forcefully titled himself king and ordered the death of his brother. The orphan brought all mortals of the continent and escaped to the other continent."

"Many struggles and events occurred...but all these led to the actual magic and sword continents. Only one tiger can stay in the mountain."

The old man bowed towards the two princes and went back to the Elders.

Ralka opened his eyes and looked arrogantly at Manral. "I always knew you were a genius brother. Father would never choose someone normal to become prince. You are a threat."

He slowly tightened his grip on the staff.

"You are no ruler Ralka! You are losing! Your kingdom is destroyed, your defenses are destroyed...you will be destroyed! Your arrogance is getting up to your head!"

He quickly grabbed his sword and pulled it out of the ground but before he could do anything else, not only Ralka but all the Elders launched tens of spells towards him.

Manral nonchalantly stood there as a silver aura covered his armor and sword. The whole courtyard got destroyed but Manral was still standing still.

His silver sword was already raised up towards the sky. He did not wait for them to catch a breath at all. He immediately slashed downwards causing a giant silver wave heading towards the mages.

The Elders quickly chanted and a huge circular mana shield surrounded them. All the Elders mana sustained the shield with their mana. Ralka didn't waste time and started chanting. He knew it was hopeless but he still tried. He started chanting his most powerful magic spell.

Manral repeatedly struck shield sending tens of silver rays to it. Cracks slowly appeared on the shield. The old men sustaining in were already shaking uncontrollably. The shield should have already collapsed but it was their willpower that held the shield up.

The mana shield finally broke. The fell unconscious due to the overuse of mana. Their mana were depleted but their efforts weren't in vain.

A magic circles surrounded by runes appeared on Ralka's forehead and palms. His body levitated in the air as he aimed his palms towards Manral. His body became the head of a fire dragon and the rest of the dragon's body slowly materialized. The fire dragon's mouth was wide open ready to shoot it's scorching fire.

Manral was already prepared for his next spell. His aura power rose to a very powerful intensity. The silver aura surrounding his body shot towards the sky and became an avatar of him in full body armor with him in its center.

The silver giant and the red dragon glared at each other. The dragon roared and launched its blazing flames.

A round silver shield appears on the giants hand blocking the dragon fire. The giant slowly advanced, heading closer and closer to the dragon.

The dragon fire became more and more powerful but it couldn't stop the giant's advance.

When the giant got close enough, he bashed the dragon's head with the giant round shield. The red dragon was slightly stunned from the strike.

The giant took this opportunity to materialize a silver sword on its other hand. It slashed down with all its strength and beheaded the dragon.

The dragon disappeared and Ralka dropped on the ground causing a giant crater. He spewed a mouthful of blood and tried to stand up.

Ralka gathered all his willpower but he only managed to kneel on one leg.

The giant silently stared at the pitiful prince. The screams of the losing mages made their situation even more pitiful. An arrogant prince that has lost due to it. Burning from the fire you put on. Falling inside the pit you dug...Ralka struggled to stand up with all his power. He managed to stand up but he was barely able to keep his balance.

He sluggishly advanced forward after casting fireball spells on his palms. He wildly waved his arms sendings the fireballs to the giant. He repeated this sequence while pitifully walking in direction of his brother.

The giant stood still not bothering with the fireballs that hit him. The impacts caused him no damage at all. He only looked at his brother. How did he start from a hot-blooded youth to a persistent man trying to avoid reality.?

Ralka finally ran out of mana. He fell down on his knees. His head was lowered as his hands were clutching the floor.

Droplets of tears fell down from his face. He heard the cries of his mages all around the castle. He could hear them call fro help.

Ralka raised his head hoping to see the deep beautiful sky...he wanted to see hope again. Alas, the sky was no longer blue. His line of sight was overshadowed by a cold cruel silver wave heading towards him.

That day was the fall of the Magic Kingdom...the fall of Magic itself. The royal family was annihilated, all official Mages were executed and the use of magic was prohibited. The continents were renamed as the North and South Aura Continents and the North Continent originally also called fallen mage continent got strictly under military surveillance.

All little crime would lead to the death penalty by the sword.

The orphan Manral...no Manral Silversword is now King... The King.