The Legend of Tantus - Book 3

Chapter 7.2

    Immediately they left on the Ragnahawk, Arkan remained with the lobimes, shinobis and his defenders of light to continue the economic projects, and in a short time the group reached the great continent of Tantus. Their destination was the country of Pandemonius, located where before it was the great natural fortress, finally regained a few centuries ago, after the total disappearance of the goblins, it could be considered a small country, not by territorial extension, but by the lowest total number of inhabitants , having two port cities, Pademus and Narshe, but the floating kingdom was the true vision of the beauty of the future, the cloud city, Partus, suspended in the skies by powerful air crystals, was golden as the sunlight that bathed it by day, and silvery like the stars at night. Having its restricted access to air transport obviously, it carried all the technology seen on Terra, Brambal and Anarkandy, decades ago taken beyond the clouds by the dream of regent Ciel Kalvaria, who saw there a celestial city, and was in fact one of the most spectacular kingdoms of the current era and of all times, as well as superb administrative organization. Ultima, Omega and Garai appeared to be retrieving the Celestial Fortress from the arch sorcerers. The crystals that supported Partus were unique, gigantic, for decades filled with elemental force, and in the heights of this form, constantly touched by the force of the winds from all over the world, they became inexhaustible. Ciel could be considered one of the best rulers that ever existed, but now her magnificent kingdom was threatened by an unknown evil.

    Ragnahawk was given permission to land, as all recent events in Saitar had already been broadcast to all the allies, and Partus would clearly be one of them, already contributing with their help in expanding trade, as it was also beginning to suffer the effects of the scarcity of supplies. Sumith and the others were received by the regent, who thanked the legendary warrior for coming to her city:

- Thank goodness the legendary warrior is here to our aid. – said Ciel.

- My lady, what is going on in your kingdom? – asked Sumith.

- We still do not know for sure, but I better show you directly.

    Ciel took Sumith to the palace, showing him the large observatory room that controlled the various telescopes used to monitor the sky (even more), space and the country itself, again incredible technology.

- Watch, just in the region below the kingdom. – said Ciel.

    Sumith saw a strange, glowing, gigantic sphere larger than the city, and he himself had a bad feeling:

- I am not liking any of this...

- You seem to have guessed our crisis. – Ciel. – We do not know what that is, but I can feel a lump in my throat. Something terrible is starting.

- That is right. – said Garai. – I can predict... the end of this kingdom if that thing is not stopped...

- What do you mean, Garai? – asked Sumith.

- I do not know, I can not see beyond.

    Apparently the strange shiny sphere was not moving, it was just standing there, and according to Garai, as long as the kingdom stayed away there would be hope for that country. And it was at this very moment that a crash of thunder shook the entire kingdom, it seemed that a lord had struck the city, and suddenly Partus began to fall slowly! Sumith, Ciel and the others left the palace and came across the panicked population, in fact Partus was collapsing and the reason for that crisis was simply waiting for them, standing right in the heart of the city. Sumith felt a destructive power emanating from there, and when he arrived at the place he faced an old enemy that had long been forgotten, defeated in That Great Battle, his s******c face, long black hair and silver eyes did not let him fool:

- Impossible... Kraven!

- Maxlyeben. – said Kraven.

- Time devourer... – said Sumith in a low voice. – So you are already starting.

- I did not expect to see you again, honestly. How do you live today???

- ...

- Well, I can not be surprised, after all, I am here too. The devourer gave me another chance, as you may be wondering.

- He makes bad choices.

- Who cares. Now he has my loyalty, like my new master.

- Sumith. – said Omega after speaking to Ultima. – My sister calculated an immense power coming from this guy, dangerous even for us.

- Tell me, Kraven, how is it possible for people like you to be brought back into this world? – asked the traveler, which had no time in the fight against Zeijadel. – How did you escape from hell?

- My dear. Although I was not an expert like others, there are many dark secrets in the past.

- Do you speak of...?

- Rituals and spells excluded from the library of magic. Why do you think the ancients decided to forget this?

- ...

- You have no idea of the blasphemies that were created in the past... I would say that the exclusions were fair. But something like this is never completely left behind, as there will always be someone who carries the least amount of knowledge.

    And raising his hand, Kraven made the city shudder again and the fall accelerate slightly.

- If you want to save this kingdom, you must beat me.

- You were always a cheap lackey. What are you doing to this city?

- My new master gave me this place, and from it I will build my kingdom as it was before, the Pandemonius!

- Over my dead body!

- Let me take care of this guy, Sumith! – said Omega.

- It seems... It seems that this enemy is not for any of us here... – said Garai.

    And it was at this moment that the skies darkened, a black whirlwind descended between them, followed by thousands of black birds that concentrated in the center, and the black force of the element of darkness filled the whole place, the Morgil staff, magnificently powerful, could be seen going down and hitting the ground, the flowing golden hair was immediately recognized by the traveler, Enghon, the Lord of Darkness!

- For the boldness of returning from purgatory, I will send you back, Licaon.

- The new... lord of darkness... – said Kraven astonished.

- No... Not his either... – said Garai to Sumith.

    Enghon concentrated an incredible force on his staff, while Kraven set himself up for combat, but at this very moment Sumith felt another singular power, also long familiar to him, and without a word removed the daughters of the lords from the waist and tossed them to the skies, both were captured by lightning and disappeared, soon after the thunder began to announce the descent of another legendary warrior, the saying capable of guaranteeing the future of the world, a white whirlwind formed to the ground and another ray revealed his silhouette, the brilliant Andriel was placed in front of Morgil, calming the power of darkness, he was there, Seth, the Holy Lord.

- I am sorry, Kraven. – said Sumith. – But I think you are screwed anyway.

- Ah! Knock it off! – said Enghon. – There is no harm in wanting to end him now.

- We already talked about it, hasty. – said Seth.

- Ah... You owe me one.

- Are you kidding? I already owe you a lot.

- I will forgive you just this once. Until next time, gentlemen, ladies. – said Enghon before retiring hilariously frustrated, drawing smiles from Sumith and the others, except Ciel, who was gaping at the grandeur of the lords, first seen in centuries.

- Holy lord... Seth Alberich. – said Kraven. – My dreams come true. We are really destined to fight, are not we?

- So you intend to rebuild your goblin kingdom? – asked Seth.

- More than that, I will wipe out all those who have challenged me in the past. With this new power I will be the king.

- For that you will have to beat me.

- In a few minutes this city will collapse, and you know what will happen when these people enter the sphere.

    In fact, Seth knew. That was the "Deformation of Dreams", f*******n magic, darkness, status and planar life, capable of deforming and altering any form of life inferior to its power. It told the legend that that was the magic responsible for the creation of the goblins, developed and used by Zeijadel a long time ago. Kraven intended to rebuild the goblin population from the thousands of Partus residents, targeting the entire continent, he could have started in any other city, but chose it there by order of the devourer, he was probably being used. The cheater affected the air crystals that support Partus, and gradually losing power the fall of the city was accelerated, if that place plunged into the sphere all the people there would be transformed into goblins, and this could never be allowed.

- What will you do? – asked Kraven. – Will you beat me in time and destroy the sphere, or will you let Partus fall?

- Old friend. – Seth said to Sumith. – Can you give me some time?

- You did not even have to ask. – replied Sumith.

    And with the darkanians, he headed down the city, with their great powers and influence over gravity they could literally hold on to Partus, buying time for the lord to defeat the enemy and save everyone. The Ragnahawk, under the command of his lord, would also help and Ciel, like all the residents of the city, still did not believe everything they were witnessing, the legendary warriors of the past were back, fighting once again to protect them. Ultima felt her heart pounding as she looked at Seth, and it was hard to contain herself:

- Thorgele... – She said, wishing to go to him.

- Princess. – said the lord revering her.

    But there was no time to speak now, she was supposed to help stop the fall of the city, just waiting for another chance to see him again. Now facing each other, the holy lord and the black sorcerer were face to face once again:

- Lord or not, I am going to split you in two this time!

- Same old. Shut up and come.

    “The Battle Chosen by Destiny”, it happened again. Kraven drew the powerful Starluz, who was also back, and Seth drew Andriel, these weapons were also destined to face each other, and so they rushed against each other quickly, the first impact of their attacks created a powerful displacement of air, scaring all those who watched the titanic battle, the cheater was in fact much more powerful, with skills at the divine level and the lord wanted to prove it, understanding that that enemy sold his own soul just to take revenge, becoming too dangerous now and needing of due punishment. They stayed that way for a few seconds until they started a spectacular exchange of attacks, as in the old days, remembering their epic fight from the past, and as the fight went on Ciel seemed more and more appalled, what a battle, what a force! Both locked up again and Seth pulled Kraven by the clothes:

- This place has already been very bothered by you, let's go to another arena. – said the lord.

    They went several meters up, like a jump, Kraven tried to react, but Seth restrained him well, crossing all that floor with him and leaving under the city! Sumith and the others were terrified to see them break the city floor, enter the sphere and go straight to the ground to fight in the ancient Pandemonius, the power had no effect on them, because they were more powerful than that, when they reached the floor of the place they pushed, and when they stepped on the ground their great powers raised so much dust that it looked like a hurricane. Despite the first damage received the cheater was not intimidated, now the battle went on faster and more violent than before, Kraven was determined to kill Seth there, with no chance for bad luck, for everything he did to him in the past, and with the help of the power of the devourer he had full confidence that he would do it, the lord now drew Andurel, it would be as before, in their maximum techniques. The entire ruined fortress was used effectively in battle, they simply roamed the place exchanging sword cuts and absurd spells, destroying what was already falling apart, Seth took him there because he knew there was no one to hurt, he would never risk losing any life in his battle, the only one to die there would be his opponent. Kraven stopped for a second and faced the lord again:

- I will show you the terror you have never known.

    He raised his left hand and frightening black clouds began to cover the entire region, his goal was to use that to his advantage, like the lightning and the darkness itself to partially camouflage his attacks, but Seth just shook his head negatively, and when he got up now his hand made the same clouds accelerate and create a frightening swirl shape.

- Let me show you how it's done.

    Lightning simply fell on Kraven, who defended himself miraculously, and frightened he cursed, the “Invocation of Thunder”, magic that he himself showed to the lord in the fight against Tantaluz, a long time ago. In hatred he fired his invocation of thunder, but Seth simply absorbed it with his element of thunder, the battle was starting more terrible now, the darkanians, holding the city, could not see them because of the clouds brought and the glow of the sphere, but they knew that their absurd powers were in conflict, in addition to the crashes that could be felt even by the inhabitants of Partus, lightning streaked across the skies and winds blew strongly, a scene worthy of a combat of that magnitude, and at this very moment Sumith simply disappeared, only the Ragnahawk remained helping them, Omega noticed that he was gone, but whatever the reason should be urgent, but they were keeping their strength as expected, without a doubt without them the city would already be on the ground. Seth hurled Kraven towards a mountain, burying him there, but it was then that he felt a strange power, something he had never felt before and more powerful than anything, including himself, before he had the feeling of being watched by someone, and in the distance he could feel something more, as if some other battle was taking place simultaneously, the black sorcerer was taking too long to rise, he was probably plotting something, and during this time he suddenly saw a great figure leave towards the west, he could not say what it was, but it looked like a huge dragon, but it was not a guardian... Due to his distraction Kraven almost managed to hit him in the chest, but he narrowly defended himself, being thrown against another mountain, the battle should continue. The cheater has now concentrated his power on the element of light and created five extremely long strands, thin as hair, coming out of each finger, but shiny as his element, the “Grim Reaper's Hair”, an exclusive and very dangerous technique, never shown before. The strands of light seemed to cut like razors, capable of slicing mountains, and this is exactly what happened, a magnificent and terrible chase began, Seth flew between the mountains of Pandemonius to outwit the enemy, while Kraven simply cut them with his wires in the pursuit of the lord, a great devastation was done in almost all the east coast ending the old fortress, a unique battle.

- Are you just going to run away now? – asked Kraven.

    Cowardly Kraven went up to Partus and tried to attack the darkanians, a dirty strategy to bring down the city soon, and they were indeed helpless holding the great burden, but when his threads were about to hit Leand-garai, Seth restrained them with his swords.

- Do you really think you are going to touch any of them?

    Then he tried Omega, but was stopped again. The daughters of the lords, indestructible, were so powerful that they could never be severed even by the wires of pure energy, but Ultima was the furthest away and the cheater invested in her direction at full speed, with powers now almost matched, Seth would not arrive in time to defend her.

- Ultima!!! – shouted Omega.

    The princess had no way of reacting and saw the end approaching, but before she was hit by the strands of light, she was surrounded by an ice box that completely protected her, the "Ice Skiff", the enemy's wires even partially penetrated, but were contained:

- If you touch a single hair of her, you will want to go back to hell on your own! – said Seth, and Omega was relieved.

    The holy lord wrapped his swords in the strings, undid the skiff so as not to bother the princess so cold and took the cheater back down, burying him again in the ground, he in turn quickly rose and went after him. Seth stopped at the top of one of the few untouched mountains, and when Kraven was preparing to cut him, he felt a terrible power above him, looking at the sky he contemplated a beautiful galaxy, but that soon poured a deadly rain on him, "Meteorites". Now it was the cheater's turn to flee while the rain of stars fell incredibly devastating the empty land, the whole place shuddered scaring everyone, what a fight! Kraven could feel death stalking him again, and he started cursing Seth, he was determined to never lose, even if it cost him everything. At the end of the magic the cheater took advantage of the dust raised to attack his enemy from behind, and he did it! The holy lord was cut in three parts, his blood poured out everywhere, Kraven smiled sadly, finally his revenge was complete and everything he suffered in the past was satisfied, now he just needed to finish with the others and carry on with his plans, maybe he was the true lord of this world, but to his surprise the head of Seth, who looked at him, simply spoke to him!

- Do you really think things are that simple?

- Impossible! You can not be alive!

- Someone like you, take this world? Do not make me laugh.

- Shut up!

- You are just a lackey.

- Shut up!

- And lackeys do not rule!

- Shut up!!!

    Kraven attacked again by slashing the talking head, he was terrified, panting, his sweat was cold, how did his enemy still live that way? Was his ghost already haunting him with defeat? It was then that the cheater felt something come out of his stomach, and looking at it was a black spear, his former master, Zeijadel!

- So you want to betray me, servant?

- Zeijadel! No... you are dead... I saw you in hell!

- No, my dear, we never left hell!

    Kraven saw the whole place turn into mountains of flame, a terrible sight, but when he paid more attention he noticed that he was inside a cauldron, and on top, looking at him, was Tantaluz preparing to close the lid.

- Aaaaaahhhhhh!!!

    Kraven screamed in terror, was being swallowed up in purgatory again, but suddenly everything was gone, and Seth was there, standing in front of him calmly:

- This was for playing with my family in the past.

- What...? What was...? Fantasy? – asked Kraven.

- Do not worry, soon all of this will come true, again!

    Seth learned fantasy! The element was used terribly against Kraven, now the cheater had an idea of the terror he caused many people, a punishment, but it was not over yet. He attacked the lord in his maximum rage and strength, but when he was about to hit him, he saw ice crystals and felt his arm strangely numb, it was freezing! Seth took advantage of the cold air of the skiff when removing it to surround Kraven and surprise him, not to mention that the Pandemonius' own area was favorable to ice, even snowing in winter, a cunning bath, proving that the cheater's time as greatest warrior in the world, as he was, had been forgotten. Kraven could not, even with his fire, efficiently melt the powerful ice, and was at a great disadvantage. Seth attacked quickly causing the cheater to retreat to the ground, and just before hitting him he used his teleport, the ethereal step, escaped to gain breath, but immediately raised his sword to defend, at the last second, an attack from behind that would sever his neck.

- The ethereal step remains impressive. – said Seth. – But do not forget that I am also fast.

    Kraven was in bad shape, and blind with hatred fired the maximum elemental blast. With all that power he was able to eradicate the whole Pandemonius, but just as in the past he was stopped by the unparalleled "Supreme Defense", Seth held the enemy's fifteen elements, already going on the offensive and continued to attack, the cheater defended himself as he could and yet was hit by several piercings in his arms and legs, and having his right shoulder crossed:

- It's not possible! – said Kraven. – Never... I will never lose to you again!

    He took Andriel's blade with his left hand, his blood running, but when he tried to pull it out the sword did not move.

- I am sorry, my dear. – said Seth. – But you are not able.

- Even with all this power... I can not beat him???

- It is not the power that brings victory, it is your reason for achieving it.

    He himself removed the blade from the enemy's shoulder, and more than quickly crossed his heart without wasting time, the sphere began to unravel quickly, the cheater just stopped moving and collapsed on the ground lifeless, he was falling apart into dust miserably, like someone who was given an artificial life by f*******n rituals, his own body did not exist, and the Starluz sword broke in half, returning to what it was... “The Battle Chosen by Destiny”, was definitely over.

    Partus was close to the ground, and now it was the Ragnahawk's turn to abandon them and head west, going after Sumith, but the lord was in charge of helping the darkanians. The floating city, now on the ground, was safe.

*****