The Legend of Tantus - Book 3

Chapter 7.1 - The fall of Partus

    The day before the start of the Battle of Ultros, Laguna, having his army slow on the return journey, decided to leave first and alone to Saitar with Ragnarock. He went to the Kingdom of Balvera and isolated himself in the highest tower of the palace, and remained there until the army arrived to start the war, some people said that strange clouds surrounded the tower while he was there, and that even lightning was seen crossing the skies on occasion.

    Two days before the battle in the merchant city the world of Tantus received an illustrious visit, with a higher power, more splendid than any being has ever witnessed, but curiously the lords did not see him, as it was not his will. This being wandered the world observing and marveling at the beauty and technology of Tantus, but that was not the reason for his coming, he was looking for something, until then, unknown. The time devourer, the only one able to feel the presence of this higher power, leaving Laguna's body, but in spectral form, to continue to remain hidden from the lords, followed his trail, for a day he was lurking sure that his presence could not be noticed, until suddenly the being moved at divine speed, heading from Saitar to Scyra and from there to the Flame Archipelago, the devourer, also fast, though not in all of his intended powers, followed him until he was simply trapped in a sphere of pure power. He was a man dressed in heavy blue and gold armor, his great helmet had claws that looked like a dragon, he carried a large shield, attached to his back, with the symbol of a wall, and he had a large and frightening sledgehammer on his waist, his face was that of a mature, but not middle-aged, with short light brown hair and golden eyes, as well as a simple beard, which reinforced his appearance.

- Who are you? – asked the devourer, surrounded by black clouds and only showing his terrible bright eyes.

- Time devourer, I know with what intent you chase me. – said the man, but he did not seem intimidated, on the contrary, he was in control of the situation. – I am Armus, the god of protection, one of the three great gods of Gaia.

- Gaia?

- This is not a story for your ears.

- ...

- I feel great evil in you... Something like that becomes a threat to this world and even mine. But you are just a parasite, and parasites tend to be expelled by their hosts.

- What you want? – In fact the devourer was very afraid, the adversary was not a lord to do that to him, but he could feel an overwhelming force emanating from there, he was really a great god!

    The sphere where the devourer was shone brightly, and he started to be electrocuted inside by the power of Armus, as someone who punishes simply:

- Aaaaahhhhhh...!!! – The devourer suffered like a wretch.

- This is for the audacity to covet my power. And that serves as a lesson, parasite. – said Armus, just before he stopped and released a harmless enemy now. – For you who seek the power of realization, pay close attention to the tree...

- Why... are you... giving me advice?

- Because faith, once shaken, one day needs to be renewed, not by alternative means, but by the very way it arose.

- ???

    Armus left the enemy behind, following his quest around the world.

- But that does not mean that you will be the winner... Huhuhu... – Armus talking to himself, already far away.

    The devourer, wounded, even in spectral form, and humiliated by the absurd power of the great god, who could have exterminated him there, saw no alternative but to return to Laguna's body and recover from the lesson suffered, in addition to reflecting on the words of Armus. Even he, who had the knowledge of the time, knew nothing about that world, "Gaia", in fact difficult to believe that he was simply walking around Tantus, no, something of extreme importance happened behind the curtains, and this did not need much intelligence to know. Although it was still extraordinary to know about it, the devourer would proceed with his plans, but more alert than ever, it would be terrible to have an enemy like that along the way, able to do what he did and the way he did, he was praying that his affairs were indeed different, and he swore that when his victory was achieved and his power reached that level, the god of protection would feel his vengeance. “Never leave your enemies behind alive.” – He thought to himself. And even his world, Gaia, could be the next target, wherever it were.

    Sumith went to meet the lobime king and the others, being received with joy, thanks to Arkan's explanations about the time traveler, about the incomprehensible mysteries of travel, he managed to convince them that it was not worth trying to understand this subject, and it relieved him of questions and more questions. They were still focused on the issue of war and supply, but thanks to Rothgar and Walkan everything was almost resolved, although it could not be the same. Sumith's armor arm was still shining mysteriously, but hidden by the cloak it did not attract attention, and he was still very concerned about Yasmine, although Alexander assured him that she will be safe for now, it was easy to deduce that it was not the enemy's goal to hurt her, he needed her in some way, but the traveler did not reveal about the devourer, he thought it was not time besides being a matter for travelers, his duty.

    Thanks to the technology brought by his projects, Sumith contemplated the impressive progress of the lobimes, in addition to being privileged to discover one of their greatest secrets since the Gulf of Lobimes was opened by king Korgan. It has been extremely important in Wolver's commercial prosperity, as wolves developed a great partnership in this matter with the mers, and it was there that the goods had an alternative option to reach them. Sumith's engineering allowed them to create submarine transports that took and brought trade with the lords of the oceans, and the solution to the loss of Ultros in the war was precisely this, the lobimes already had a project to increase their production of supplies, aiming at an emergency like this since Laguna started the war ten winters ago, and they would be the ones to supply, by less by 50%, Lieben and Tantus, luckily the other continents were out, and these same projects would be brought to them so that they could also increase their production capacities from the Merchant City of Mernys, which would now receive all kinds of supplies and not just from the oceans, distributing to the allies, not to mention that the submarine transport used was the safest in terms of being attacked by the Laguna army, and with current technology it would not be necessary to depend on nature for the speed of travel, as previously mentioned.

    The work started immediately, wasting time was not acceptable in this war. For a week Sumith and the others stayed in Wolver helping as much as possible in the progress of the projects, Laguna was too busy repairing Ragnarock, because he would not risk taking a step without it, especially now, and as he did not have the original designs he had to bring together the best engineers he had to fix it properly, he would need time and had his plans for it.

    Throughout this time, the traveler's armor arm continued to shine, but more or less intensely depending on where he was in the city, reacting clearly to something, and it was on the seventh day that Wolver shuddered, looked like an earthquake, the quakes scared everyone, including mers, Sumith could feel a powerful and familiar energy, but it seemed to simply call him, and it was at this moment that Arkan and Rothgar came to talk to him:

- Looks like it's time to show you your greatest gift. – said Arkan.

- Gift? – asked Sumith.

- Come on my friend. – said Rothgar. – It's time for you to know our biggest secret.

    The royal hall of the wolves was located exactly on the frozen beach in the gulf, the traveler was taken to the underground of the place, which had a strong security, arriving at a kind of elevator, big enough to support tons of goods, they just went down for a few minutes and Lieben's hero was amazed by the view down there. It was nothing less than an aquatic city, built by the wolves in partnership with the mers, Sumith remembered that project perfectly, but did not know that it had already been put into practice, those were the docks to receive and send the supplies by submarine transport, which were as big as the biggest ships, everything had been planned for some time and the same thing was built in the city of Mernys. An impressive technology worthy of Darkan, and for the first time the young man really found himself in front of the lords of the oceans, who could live perfectly out of the water, they were exotically imposing, in addition to being robust and very efficient workers, the shinobis were also quickly incorporated into the work because of the friendship with the lobimes, also efficient because they were independent for hundreds of winters, but now, discovering the benefits of teamwork, they were of great help being highlighted especially for underwater docks. But that was not exactly the reason why Sumith was there, the shocks that scared everyone had stopped since he got there, and Arkan took him to the farthest dock where he could catch a glimpse of the true symbol of that era's technological power, the ship supreme, Ragnahawk! When the traveler approached, it simply moved towards him, like a pet! In fact, it looked like a living being reacting to the presence of its lord, and every time this happened the whole city shuddered, but Rothgar assured that it was not dangerous, because the whole place was designed for that kind of shock, the ship seemed wanting to "crawl" to Sumith, causing some slight damage, but with an instinctive movement to make it stop, raising his right hand, it just... obeyed!

- But what is this?! – asked Sumith confused. – Does it answer me???

- In fact, my dear, this is YOUR ship, and it responds only to you. – said Arkan. – This thing on your arm is not just a weapon, it's the control of the ship.

    According to Arkan, the ships were built about seventy winters ago, by Alexander Crescent with his own help, because, a few centuries ago, the first time traveler found a technology ship then never imagined in that world, built on Darkan, the Oblivion's ship. Extremely well hidden on a remote island off the maps between the continent of Tantus and the nameless fog, remaining there after the death of the bastard, it no longer worked, but in good condition, it was studied, dismantled and gave him all the ideas he needed for his projects, a lot of unremitting work he had for several winters, but everything was done following his precise instincts, achieving a magnificent result, while the ship of Omega and Ultima ended up destroyed and lost at the bottom of the ocean. But the Ragnahawk was different, it was more powerful simply because it had all the "skills" of the other four ships, its own design was separate and exclusive, in fact it used the original shell of the ship that brought Oblivion from Darkan to Tantus, and Alexander considered it the real change from one world to another. The first traveler showed that he was also a genius in terms of engineering and manufactured it as a safety measure, in case any of the others fell into the wrong hands already predicting a crisis. When Laguna was unable to steal it with Ragnarock, it fell into the ocean, but was rescued by Arkan with the help of the mers and taken to Wolver, to be at Sumith's disposal when the time came, this was Alexander's plan, and even if Laguna succeeded in stealing it, he could never use it, as it only responds to the second traveler, apparently. But Arkan also mentioned that the real secret of the ship was not this, it could be considered a weapon, but unlike anything seen, Lieben's hero looked at the sailor again with an irony, but Arkan guaranteed that this time the puzzle was not his, but Alexander's, revealing that the secret of its operation was in that armored arm, which was also manufactured by the first traveler.

    Sumith entered the ship and glimpsed the unique technology from engineering that made him jealous, and the closer he got to the center the more his armored arm glowed, until he reached the energy source, containing an empty space for some kind of stone, he remembered that the other ships were powered by Isil, this also explained this crystal in them, they were designed by Alexander himself, however he developed a new method of creation, stating that this would be his last and definitive work, managing to concentrate the crystals at an extreme level, about a thousand times more, making them self-sustaining, even more special, so that they were able to not only strengthen, but feed the great ships, perhaps, forever. But the Ragnahawk did not accept any of the crystals, so it's been deactivated all this time, but a few minutes ago it moved, reacting to his arm. Sumith looked closely at his weapon (called stuff by Ultima) and discovered, touching his right elbow, a small compartment that simply opened, revealing a dazzling crystal, looked like Isil, but golden like the darkanians' royal power, and the exact size to fit the energy source. The traveler removed it, extinguishing the shine on his arm, and by placing it on the ship it was activated! This was the secret, this was the only energy it accepted, although he still did not know exactly what it was, it should probably be answered by Alexander at some point. Sumith headed to the control room, but strangely there was no control at all, only seats for the pilot and passengers, the young man scratched his head confusedly, how would it be operated on then? But the moment he raised his right arm it reacted again, this was really the control of the ship, the armored arm, he had not put faith in Arkan's statement. One move was enough for him and it answered, of course there was a specific line of command, each move meant an action, taking flight, preparing weapons, directing the flight, shooting, all inspired brilliantly by Isil's extraordinary magical connection. “The secret is in the mind, know it is, and it will be.” – Alexander's sons once said. What was needed was just there, in his arm! In return, he could no longer fire the golden beam (for obvious reasons), but this was undoubtedly much better, it was like commanding his own pet, and the best part is that he did not even need to be inside it to do this, Sumith took some time to understand exactly everything, but he managed it naturally, without help, his travel instincts were crucial there. Leaving the docks as the transports, Sumith, Arkan, Ultima, Omega, Garai and the lobimes set out on a flight, from there to Lieben and back, Ragnahawk behaved and moved like a living creature, at the command of her master, and everyone were amazed by the feeling of traveling on such a wonderful machine, except for the darkanians, who naturally felt very comfortable with that technology.

- Sumith. – Ultima.

- Yes?

- You said once that you never part with this stuff, right?

- Yes.

- And how is the hygiene of your arm in there?

- !!! – Sumith was a little embarrassed by Ultima's question. – For your information, I take it out and wash it every day!

- Really? You seem a little lazy at times, and removing and replacing it must be a little tricky.

- No work! It's pretty easy!

- I know I know... Okay, Sumith, I will trust your hygienic skills and continue to shake your hand.

- I did not know you were funny like that, Ultima.

- Huhuhu...

- Hahahahaha... – All others.

    The traveler looked forward to the next meeting with Alexander to learn more about all that, in addition to the other secrets, they now had a weapon superior to Laguna's, and the turning point in the war, without having to risk the lives of their friends against the immense enemy army, could be approaching.

    For two more days, Sumith and the others remained in Wolver, waiting for Laguna's movements, and the idea of attacking him was being considered, taking advantage of his fragility without his ship, but there was still much work to be done and the tyrant should not be helpless, not counting Yasmine in his custody. The traveler already knew that the devourer was dangerous even for darkanians, even out of their totality, something unknown like that should never be underestimated, something he was secretly plotting, because in the future he proved to be capable of terrible acts, and also much was at stake for using Laguna... Ultima had developed her special ability so absurdly that she was now able to use the powerful perception into the area of a continent! An incredibly magnificent power, in this way she noticed a very strange force forming on the continent of Tantus, far south, but she was not able to locate precisely, since she was not a tracker, on the other hand this has already given them a direction, and Leand-garai predicted something terrible in that place and not just once. Arkan also said that an ancient and terrible force was actually being born there, or being reborn. The time traveler's own instincts seemed to flood Sumith's mind, they should go to the Floating Kingdom of Partus, there the next part of the battle would take place.