Aladdin: Emperor Of The Seven Deserts

"This is impossible!"

"This is impossible!"

Mulan and Li Shang exclaimed at the same time.

Yes, they could believe that they were facing living Metal Men.

They also believed these Metal Men could speak. But to believe that they were the Huns, and that the Metal Man kneeling before them was Shan Yu, was…

Unbelievable!

Shan Yu's helmet jingled softly as a haunting laughter resonated from within.

"HAAHAHAA!!"

Mulan stepped backwards. Li Shang stayed beside her.

A shiver crawled down their spines.

"HOW…?" Mulan mustered the courage to ask. But she couldn't finish her sentence before swallowing back the rest.

Whether it was because she didn't know what answer to expect or was afraid of Shan Yu's response, she found herself unsure of what to say.

"How did I become like this?" Shan Yu asked.

Without waiting for either of them to respond, Shan Yu added, "I owe you no explanation. Go ahead and end this curse."

He glanced around. His slain men were slowly rusting. Cracks appeared across their metallic skin.

Never in his life had he imagined that he would encounter a situation like this.

Still, Shan Yu breathed a sigh of relief. He shifted his attention back to Mulan and Li Shang. The witch's curse had taken full effect, transforming him fully into a metallic suit of armour.

Although the eye slits of his helmet were hollow, somehow Mulan and Li Shang felt as though he was staring directly at them.

It was an almost instinctual, indescribable feeling. Neither one of them could exactly explain it.

After a brief silence, Mulan swallowed a deep breath and nodded.

"Let's put an end to this… once and for all."

She stepped forward.

Li Shang grabbed her hand. As Mulan looked at him with a frown, he said, "…Let's capture him and take him back to the Forbidden City. Once the investigators handle him, we could find out if it's truly Shan Yu."

Li Shang shifted his gaze to Shan Yu. "And if it's truly him, then we might be able to find out who did this. Perhaps Shan Yu made a deal with a devil. And perhaps they are still somewhere in China."

But Mulan shook her head, a sigh escaping her lips. As she regained her composure, she quickly pieced together everything that had transpired and made a connection.

The only person she knew who could curse Shan Yu was Aladdin. But she was unsure whether Aladdin had the power to afflict thousands of soldiers, or whether he could inflict such a haunting curse upon another person.

The remaining conclusion was that someone else with magical powers like Aladdin had done it.

Then, it made sense how she had managed to encounter someone like Aladdin. It made sense why he had helped her. It made sense why he had helped them increase their strength to such an astounding level.

It made sense why he had appeared on the battlefield of all places, just when they were about to clash with the Metal Men.

Because she had Mushu and had spent the most time with Aladdin and his team, she could easily accept this revelation and make the connections. Unfortunately, someone like Li Shang hadn't had the same opportunity as her, so he still found everything difficult to believe.

Mulan shook away Li Shang's grip.

"I don't believe he is lying. Besides, even if he is, then it would be more dangerous to bring him to the Forbidden City. The best thing to do is to eliminate him here. Because we have no idea if the one who caused this had also planned for that."

Li Shang wanted to stop Mulan once more, but upon hearing her words, he stopped. He sighed and nodded. He struck down the helmet of a Metal Man that had slipped through his men.

The Metal Man slumped onto the earth and slowly rusted to death.

Mulan had already placed her sword above Shan Yu.

"Any last words?" Mulan asked, glaring at him.

She remembered how he had raided her encampment along with various others, mercilessly killing those who resisted and taking others as prisoners.

She would have died if Aladdin hadn't passed by and saved her.

Even if this was war and she had already prepared herself for death and the possibility that she might not return home to her family, those emotions were burned into her heart and coursed through her veins.

Her fingers tightened around her blade.

"Last words?" Shan Yu asked, his voice tinged with confusion.

"Only the living leave behind last words. I, Shan Yu, the conqueror, am already on my way to meet death. She will have my last words."

Mulan's face twitched.

"Die!"

She brought her blade down against Shan Yu's head.

The helmet flew into the air and landed a distance away from them.

Shan Yu fell backwards, lying on the snow as an empty suit of armour.

"Finally… It is done," Mulan breathed in relief as she sheathed her sword.

Even if Shan Yu was now dead, the war wasn't over yet. They still needed to eliminate the remaining Metal Men and stop them from escaping. But from what she had heard and witnessed, she doubted the latter would happen.

As Mulan was about to return to her horse, she noticed something unusual happening.

The Metal Men all began dropping onto the snow one by one. It didn't matter what they were doing. It was like a domino effect, with them chaotically collapsing one after another.

"What's going on?" Li Shang asked, tightening his grip around his blade. He thought that this was another one of the Huns' schemes.

"I think that they are all dead," Mulan commented.

She glanced at Shan Yu and the other Metal Men. Seeing the rust and cracks quickly spreading across their bodies helped her to piece everything together.

'Had he planned for all of this?' Mulan couldn't help but think. She stared at the mist that covered the sky like a ceiling. If Aladdin was watching over them, then she was certain that he was up there.

Li Shang nodded, thinking that it was the only explanation that made sense.

The soldiers around them soon reacted.

"What's going on?"

"Are they dead?"

"I think they are... Look! They aren't moving!"

"They are dead!! The Metal Men are dead!!"

They were sceptical at first, but after a few of them struck the Metal Men with their weapons and watched as they crumbled into rusted dust upon the snow, their doubts vanished. The entire mountain ridges were stained with the same rusted dust.

As it mixed with the snow, a remarkable sight emerged.

They transformed into beautiful silvery snow that gleamed under the night sky, contrasting the horrors of the battlefield.

General Li soon arrived at their position, riding on his horse with his trusted soldiers around him.

Mulan and Li Shang bowed.

"You have done well."

General Li nodded at them with a relieved smile. This battle had been filled with ups and downs, and although there were many things he still couldn't understand, all that mattered right now was that they had won the war.

Every other thing could be figured out later.

"Sound the trumpets!!!" General Li commanded.

The soldiers beside him took their trumpets and raised a blast.

Even Li Shang and several soldiers with their horses beside them took out their trumpets and released a blast of victory.

***

Have you heard about the Legend of Mulan?

A young woman who had answered the call for war in place of her father after discovering that he was unfit to pick up arms for war. Within the training encampment, their soldiers were attacked by the Huns, and she was left for death.

But that isn't just what we are here for…

Have you read the Legend of the Metal Men?

I have told you this Legend before, haven't I?

Cursed to become Men of Metal, and to never perish, they went in search of death.

Death used to come to them with a feast prepared for many. But her wine was left to sour, and tables were scattered across China. She wandered their paths, screaming at the top of her lungs to draw their attention, but they paid her no heed.

And so, as they searched for death, she paid them no heed.

But if that were all, would it be a fairy tale?

Have you read about the Odes and Myths of Aladdin?

A young man from another world who transmigrated into Aladdin and, using his wits, built his envisioned dream of the Great Empire of Ababwa and married Princess Jasmine.

But with his emergence, the world changed, for better or for worse. So he left for the farthest reaches of the Earth, saying to himself,

'Surely I can fix everything… Nothing less than a happily ever after.'

He crossed paths with Mulan. Then, he crossed paths with the Metal Men. He laid a curse upon the cursed and armed the former to slay the latter.

Mulan fulfilled her desire to protect her nation in place of her father.

The Metal Men found death and delivered themselves into her arms.

A happily ever after, is it not?

But that's not all.

As the Sun sets, so it will rise on a new day.

As a chapter ends, so a new one will begin, and so, I will say again…

Once upon a time.

High in the boundless sky, Aladdin produced a piece of cloth and wiped the sweat from his face. He could have removed it with a thought, but the simple act of wiping away his sweat helped him process everything calmly.

Aladdin gazed at the soldiers on the Mountain Pass and sighed in relief. He smiled when he caught sight of Mulan constantly looking skyward, as though searching for something. But Aladdin knew that she was searching for him.

After a bit of thought, he decided to give her a little surprise. He waved his hand forward, unleashing another wave of magical power at the cold mist before him.

The mist rippled and froze mid-air.

Then, he shot forward.

The mist parted and followed him.

At the ridge of the Mountain Pass, the soldiers helped one another onto their horses so they could leave for better ground.

Meanwhile, on their way back, Mulan and Li Shang had just finished explaining their encounter with Shan Yu and revealing all the information they had gathered, along with their assumptions, to General Li.

"You have truly done well. Not only have you discovered the weakness of the Metal Men, but you have also gathered credible information before landing the decisive blow that led to their defeat," General Li said, nodding with a mixture of pride and admiration.

"I will make sure that you are promoted and given your own force if need be. I will ensure to speak with the Emperor so he can grant further substantial rewards. You have done no small deed for China. And such merits will be repaid."

The more he had learned, the more his heart trembled. He wasn't even certain that he could have done what they had done. The others felt the same way.

"Even if the General forgets, I will see to it that I, Chi Fu, inform the Emperor as well." Chi Fu placed his hand on his chest as he spoke. His face was filled with joy.

It was clear that he was quite satisfied with the war and couldn't wait to return to the Forbidden City.

"Of course I won't forget. How else am I going to deliver the report of the war to the Emperor?" General Li's face twitched with a frown.

"I'm just making sure the Emperor doesn't think that you are exaggerating because he is your son. Besides, he will surely believe my words more," Chi Fu snorted.

Except for Li Shang, who looked away in embarrassment, the rest of the Captains chuckled loudly. Even Mulan laughed briefly.

As the banter between Chi Fu and General Li escalated, Mulan shook her head, amused. She stealthily glanced upwards.

Her lips parted.

The mist above them had transformed into a faint figure of Aladdin, waving at her with a wink.