The Legend of Tantus - Book 3

Chapter 3 - The curtain of war

    After the battle between Sumith and Leand-garai, the intervention of Omega and Ultima totally changed the course of history. A new great war was underway and a new group was forming to lead the battles ahead, personal problems should be put aside, for now, to overcome the storm. The five headed to the Kingdom of Mérit, where the priority now was to inform regent Régulo of the new threat, in addition to clarifying some things of great importance. On the same night Omega, Ultima and Yasmine went to the palace to meet the regent, while Sumith, for obvious reasons, would stay out with Garai, who would still like to have a word with him, and alone near the limits of the shield they talked:

- Tell me, Maxlyeben, you promised to break my curse, but how do you intend to do that?

- As needed.

- You... – said Garai with his eyes fixed on the traveler, his powers were active. – You want it too, do not you? Death is also attractive to you.

- Maybe yes... – replied Sumith. – But now you tell me, why “Tantus”?

- My predictions are basic, I see a path or the consequences of it. Somehow I see Tantus in you, but I can not see everything, even if I want to.

- ...

- Just as I cannot see clearly the evil that we will soon fight.

- What do you see?

- Just a shadow... and three pairs of eyes...

- Do you know that this world and yours are linked?

- Yes. I understood that a long time ago, but that is irrelevant to me, this world does not matter to me, only what interests me is the end, nothing more.

- I learned a long time ago from a great friend to see evil in events and in people. I do not know you to know much about you, Garai, but I know that you are better than this.

- ...

    The other three arrived at the palace. The night was quiet in the kingdom after the end of the crashes that alerted the population, Yasmine quickly met Omega and Ultima, and somehow she trusted them strongly, found the darkanian's posture imposing like that of a king, attractive and respectful, and she liked the direct and rebellious way of the princess of Darkan very much, she could not forget their trance mode forms, she wondered what that was, as she did not yet know about their origins, and what types of warriors they were. Finally, before the regent, the darkanians explained everything they had seen and foreseen, obviously that was not a pleasant news to give and even less to believe, but with the reinforcement of Yasmine things were simpler:

- Hard to believe that all of this is happening across the ocean and we have not confirmed anything yet. – said Régulo. – I can not warn the whole country like that, based on theories.

- I believe them, uncle. – said Yasmine.

- Lord regent, the news you are waiting for should arrive soon. – said Omega.

- But who are you anyway? – asked Régulo.

- No enemies, make sure of that, and we are only here to help. – said Ultima.

    Régulo thanked the concern, but as regent of a kingdom he could not act without convincing evidence and decided to wait. Omega and Ultima returned to the others while Yasmine obviously stayed at the palace, they spent the night at Sumith's house, but Garai, who was unable to sleep because of the power of Aethril, who kept him active all the time, preferred to walk the city alone, according to him that was part of his curse, not allowing time to pass quickly... He was really thoughtful in the words of the traveler, that his curse, from so much torment in his life, seemed to be finally coming to an end, but for so many times losing hope he doubted that he would actually be free, perhaps he should not care about the problems of others and being more selfish, killing Sumith would free him once and for all, he was sure of that, but he had given his word, he would fight, perhaps it was the only valuable thing to be done in so long a meaningless life, somehow his reward should to arrive, the choice to respect the love of others could never be wrong, not on his part, because he only did what he thought was right, for someone who has spent lives and more lives lonely and bitter, not even remembering the faces of loved ones, spending any time with worthy people, who fight for a noble cause, could be worthwhile before the much desired end.

    The next day, just like clockwork, the news arrived. A large army was slowly moving towards the country of Vida from Saitar, the kingdom was agitated with the imminence of a new war being formed, and due to the estimated number of enemies, the continent of Lieben should make available all its armies, this to have any hope of resistance. The enemy leader, Laguna Leon, this time sent a message to the four regents of the continent, stating that everything would be devastated if they did not abdicate their weapons and submit to his new world order, without any chance for negotiations, or it would be war and just war until the end of it. In desperation, confirming the veracity of the rumors that had emerged winters ago, everything they had worked for so long was threatened and they could not allow the victory of a new tyrant, the regents asked for reinforcements to the continent of Tantus, taking the bait of Laguna, who had promised to do so as soon as possible, but they should also be concerned with their defenses, as they could not let their guard down this way, after the theft of two of their ships, things started to be naturally linked, the board was being prepared.

    In the afternoon Omega, Ultima and Garai presented themselves at the palace, asking Régulo not to allow panic among his people, just as they asked to join the force of the continent, obviously the regent accepted them, but doubted that only three people were enough to guarantee the country's confidence, that is when Yasmine interfered:

- No, uncle, they are very powerful, they are able to carry an army on their backs.

- But how? – asked Régulo.

- I saw them fight, and I remembered the ancient stories of the great warriors.

- Are they elemental users?

- No sir. – said Omega. – We are just what we are, your allies, and you can trust our strength.

- ... – Régulo was afraid, but curious. – Okay, I will trust you, after all we do not have much choice at all.

- There is one more thing you should know. – said Ultima. – Sumith Maxlyeben, the legendary, will be with us.

- What are you talking about? – Régulo found that totally strange to say.

- That is what you heard. He is alive and on our side.

- It is true. – said Yasmine.

- Impossible. Maxlyeben lived about six centuries ago, he was a man, even if he were a moghran or tartar he would be at the end of his life.

- This is a mystery that not even we know, but it does not surprise us. – said Omega.

- If this is really true why have I never seen him? Why has he never introduced himself to anyone?

- He never introduced himself because he just wanted to live in peace. – said Yasmine. – And because you have never seen him, do you remember the legends of the past?

- The millenarian shield... that has protected our city for centuries... – Régulo understood. – But still, I only believe seeing.

- You will see, do not worry.

    The simple entry of Garai into the millenarian shield, without any resistance, was exactly the proof that Sumith was waiting for him, so he did not say a word, now he knew he was a good character indeed. But Régulo was still too worried, he knew he should send as much contingent as possible to the neighboring country, but what about his country? What if they were attacked? The shield could protect them, but they would be trapped and condemned there, but Leand-garai ensured that the entire enemy force was concentrated in a single point, a single decisive attack and then sweeping the continent without obstacles. According to the information, the enemy contingent reached about six hundred thousand, and even the entire Lieben army barely reached one hundred thousand, although they still speculated about the contingent of the country of Vida, which nobody knew exactly, there was no hope of victory.

- I fought, a few years ago, against a small army of these that are heading here. – said Garai. – And I must say that I had no great difficulty in defeating them, but they are dangerous indeed, their weapons are intriguing to me.

- “Years”??? But...? What you mean? You alone???

- Do not ask uncle. – said Yasmine. – I said that they are powerful.

- Ah... Enough talk! We have a lot to do, let's find this Maxlyeben, if he is the real one.

- I also want to go, I want to help. – said Yasmine.

- No way! You will be here managing the kingdom, taking care of the people. I will fight.

- You can not leave me behind!

- Your father left me responsible for everything that was most precious to him: you. And I must honor him.

- I am not a child anymore!

- But you will die if you go to war!

    Régulo did not argue anymore, he really only thought about Yasmine's safety, because he promised Neto that he would take care and protect her until the end if necessary. In his last words the former regent said that his daughter was not just a simple princess, she was much more than meets the eye...

    Neto's daughter was too upset to be left behind, she wanted to help in any way, but besides that she wanted to be close to Sumith, anyway, the lack she felt of his company was almost unbearable, as if they were meant for each other... While Régulo, already in his traditional armor of the kingdom, and the others walked away, Yasmine remained immobile, it was when something totally unexpected happened, simply a golden tiger, shining like a flame, stood in front of them threateningly, Omega and Ultima opened their eyes wide, even Garai, as he was not responsible. The regent looked back only to see his “niece” with her hand raised and slightly downcast, while the same symbol of the arch pentagram was shining before her palm, her eyes seemed to be covered in shadow, and her voice was powerful, intimidating:

- I have not spent ages away from him to be left behind. I will.

- It's... It's all right. – said Régulo.

- Are you seeing what I am seeing? – asked Ultima.

- Arch... – said Omega and Garai.

    For a minute she stayed that way, but suddenly she woke up, as if unconscious.

- Why do you look at me like that? – asked Yasmine returning to normal.

- Come on my dear... let's go to war. – Régulo was frightened and unable to counter her.

    The regent secretly mentioned that, as a child, Yasmine used to “create” animal shapes to simply play with, he and Neto initially thought it was an elemental domain, but as she grew up this stopped happening. Régulo, like a moghran, always made a point of maintaining the elemental strength of his ancestors, and had great skill in this matter, but obviously like the few like him, who did not work in the manufacture of crystals, he kept it discreetly, this time what he felt there was nothing elemental, it was something totally unknown, and very powerful.

- I have no idea what is going on here. – said Ultima. – But this girl will be of great help.

- Maybe... even more than that... – said Garai.

    The subject of Yasmine should be kept secret for now, and undoubtedly her strength, whatever it may be, should be welcomed. Régulo gave orders to gather the army and leave to the country of Vida, in the meantime he went to meet the supposed hero of the past and found him at the limits of the shield, already with his black time traveler suits, his arm in armor and the powerful and brilliant Max and Lyeben on his back, Andriel and Andurel, the daughters of the lords, were also under his cloak, but they did not attract attention, so he was sure of who he saw, especially after feeling his immense power, even Yasmine was astonished, she had never seen him in these warrior costumes, despite having contemplated him in action, the architect was ready for war.

- Like old times, huh? – said Omega.

- You... are the legendary... – said Régulo.

- Great regent, forgive me for never meeting you, but you must know why I never made it to your palace. – said Sumith.

- A great hero of the past... I dreamed of moments like this when I was a child, and now I see these dreams come true.

    Régulo was simply the number one fan of two men, Sumith Maxlyeben was one of them, knew everything about this (except the part of the traveler) and was almost asking him for an autograph, the other was Seth Alberich. But it was in a brief moment of relaxation that one of the soldiers of the kingdom arrived at full speed, speaking alone with the regent, gave him an extremely unpleasant news, and now really worried he was going to the others:

- Things go from bad to worse. I now understand why supplies have been slightly in short supply recently.

- Ultros, is not it? – asked Ultima.

- Yes. How do you know?

- We saw with our own eyes the battle that is going on in that city, and this would be our next conversation with you.

- The merchant city? – asked Sumith.

    Ultros was simply the largest and most important merchant city in the world, although located on the frozen continent, technology allowed it to produce all kinds of the most crucial supplies, immense orchards and farms, manufacturing industries of all kinds, the world's commercial engine, and everything was exported to all corners of the planet. Laguna had been strategically attacking that city's routes over the winters, as a way of harming the Colony Wolver and the shinobis, but now he was simply investing in its destruction. The countries were in fact independent, there were several other commercial engines on the other continents, but the supplies purchased from Ultros were of extreme importance, that great city evolved, in this point, so impressive that it became inevitable to centralize world trade there. Without this they would be weakening little by little, something that was already happening, the scarcity of supplies was already starting to show up, the problem is that Régulo would never expect such an attitude, because without the city the armies of Laguna would also lose strength over time, unless he was already planning to plunder everything and prepared. In fact, it could be considered imprudent to have only that city as a major global distributor, but after several centuries of absolute peace, who could imagine something like this happening now?

- If Ultros falls, Lieben and Tantus will weaken in a short time, and if Zelante, Meira and Scyra are really under Saitar, this Laguna Leon must have already provided an alternative, as he had time for this. The only ones affected will be us. – said the regent.

- Then we will have to bet everything on that city. We will take the available army there. – said Sumith.

- But they are coming here, if we leave they will devastate this continent.

- Maybe there is a chance, I have a plan.

- ?

- Trust me. Their leader is a shrewd man, but also prudent, from what I heard, if it succeeds he will do the most logical and will not attack Lieben yet, after all he does not know our contingent. But what we cannot, without a doubt, is to lose Ultros.

    Omega, Ultima and Garai were sent ahead as scouts, to assess the distance that the enemy army should still travel to reach it, and by the large number of soldiers that were heard the journey would be slow.

- Leave it to us! – said Ultima.

- Lift that head, Garai, let's bet a race to distract your sadness. – said Omega.

- It will be good or I will end up killing Maxlyeben on instinct. – said Garai.

- But what a rushed guy. – said Sumith very quietly, to Yasmine.

- Race??? – Régulo.

The three darkanians left almost flying at their divine speeds, scaring people, Yasmine and mainly Régulo.

- !!!

    At Sumith's request, Régulo set the army in motion to the country of Life, leaving his lieutenant in charge of the regency, there was no way to not trust the legendary hero, and everyone was simply delirious when he became the silver guardian, who long ago time was not seen or heard.

- I will wait for you in Estar. – said before taking off and spreading the wind.

- You fell in love with a living legend, my dear. – said Régulo to Yasmine, who was just watching the great dragon.

    Mérit sent a statement that at least 90% of the continent's entire army would be concentrated in the country of Vida, a request that was granted, and the entire command was left to the regent of Mérit under common agreement of all other kingdoms, where their respective rulers would remain in the event of an emergency. Régulo and Yasmine took their troops for two days to the Kingdom of Estar, the most brilliant of Lieben's kingdoms, built next to the Tree of Life, was shaped like a beautiful star when viewed from above, a splendid work of architecture that rivaled strongly with the Kingdom of Terra, there were also rumors about it having an underground part, although this has not been proven. The armies came together quickly, Sumith, Omega, Ultima and Garai waited for them in the company of the regent of Estar, Arkan Marne, the immortal, his brother Anarky was nowhere to be found, as he headed to Plane to stand beside the lords, just watching and judging whether his interference would be necessary, since the balance continued to flow properly and also because the time traveler was there to act for them. Sumith's plan was simple, to take the entire Lieben army to the city of Ultros, there they were to fight to save the city and maintain the important supply, and also for the help they would receive from the powerful wolves, who had already been damaged for winters by this. Obviously Régulo did not agree, because he believed in an attack in several points, not only there, but the darkanians guaranteed that the enemy contingent was gathered in one place.

- But to know that you should visit all sides of the continent. – said the regent.

- Exactly. – replied Omega.

- Impossible. You could not have done it in just two days.

- Indeed. It was in just one day.

- !!!

    Régulo still found it hard to believe that these people were so extraordinary, but this time he surrendered. Arkan told them that, not long ago, he formed a small army of warriors to help the resistance of the countries taken over by Saitar, these were called “The Defenders of Light”, skilled warriors as much as possible in these times, trained by the sailor himself, who also had about a hundred old-fashioned sorcerers, of quite interesting power compared to those of the past, the best that Arkan was able to provide and that were already being of tremendous help, they were responsible for supporting the resistance that was already struggling to hold Ultros, but they would inevitably fall if they did not get help soon, and the day was coming.

    Shortly after important conversations, the old sailor saw Yasmine, finally meeting her, and showed a tremendous surprise when looking at her young face:

- !!!

- Is something wrong, Mr. Marne? – asked Régulo's niece.

- No... It's just that... you just reminded me of someone I knew a long time ago.

- So it's an honor for me.

- Please call me Arkan.

    It was difficult to see Arkan surprised by something, but whatever it was he kept to himself. The Kingdom of Estar had a contingent well beyond the speculated, about fifty thousand soldiers for the joy of the allies, in addition to a military force previously unknown to other countries, in terms of equipment everything was basically the same, but their crystals were more powerful, courtesy of the defenders of light, and with greater firepower his country alone built fifteen combat frigates and five air carriers, undoubtedly the most cautious against any crisis were the armies of Vida, it seemed that they already foresaw all this.

    On the same day they set out across the ocean towards the north of Saitar, the intention was to pass in view of the enemy armies, and if Sumith was right his leader, intelligent as he should be, would necessarily take the bait, as he could not allow them to take the control of Ultros or would have unlimited supplies, not to mention that he did not know that all their strength was there and that the continent was vulnerable, it was a long shot, they should pray. Arkan's frigates and air carriers had a much higher speed than they had seen before, courtesy of their technology, and this was what would allow them to leave enemies behind and reach their destination first, small troop ships were also with them and the others traveled on their own aerodrons for escort. The darkanians walked and ran over the water leaving everyone gaping, acting as scouts, indicating the precise direction to execute their plan, and it was in the middle of the night that they finally saw Laguna's great army in the distance. Ultima, as expected, would like to attack, but Omega did not allow it, they should follow them and think they were not naively seen, it was a delicate moment, Lieben's destiny was there... But it worked. Laguna wisely deduced the opponents' intentions and made the way back to Ultros, that was where the war would happen, but for him it did not matter, because wherever it all happens, in the end his victory would be absolute, the continent could be visited later and taken without the slightest resistance.

    Régulo thanked God that his plans had worked, he could not think how terrible it would be for the people to be attacked without defense. In fact, he loved Lieben, which is why he venerated the heroes of the past so much who fought to preserve that land. Using their superior speed, Lieben's army went ahead, much to Laguna's frustration, but at least they already knew their destination, obviously they would not travel there to hide, and in just three days they reached the northern coast of Saitar, record time in this century, ships would obviously be waiting while Sumith went on to execute the other part of his plan. Transforming into the silver guardian, he traveled to Colony Wolver, where he long ago saved the life of the lobime king, thus achieving an immense friendship with the powerful wolves, besides being the main responsible for their enviable evolution, with his designs and engineering, the wolves developed an impressive war force, apart from their new stupendous fortress, which is why they were feared even by Laguna, who dared not attack them like that. And speaking of a new fortress, Wolver, a few decades ago, was simply relocated, more to the northeast of the old city, as the projects for its evolution required a more appropriate location, and thanks to technology, it was no problem for them to build a new city, bigger and more in keeping with the current times, and the old colony became a peaceful farming village, ideal for those who wanted a more remote life. It was time for them to fight too, and Rothgar answered promptly, he really wanted to end that senseless tyranny that had stolen their peace winters ago, it was thanks to him that Sumith knew a little more about the opponent he would face, his history sad and his inexplicable change. Under instructions from the traveler, Régulo and his army set out on the march three days after his departure, and in half a day they reached the city sight, when they saw the terrible battle that was already taking place, the resistance and the defenders of light were fighting fiercely to maintain the line of defense, but fewer in number each day they lost more ground, it was an incredible dispute for every inch of the city, it no longer seemed that the enemies were trying to destroy Ultros but to take it, apparently a change of plans occurred. Their forces were already at the limit, it was when the trumpets sounded all over the place, the armies of Arkan appeared from the northeast, who were sent to attack from that direction as a way to strategically surround the opponents, from the north came Régulo and the entire Lieben army at his command, and from the west, punctual as dawn, Sumith beside the lobimes, fifty thousand of the most powerful wolves, a fearsome army and still five hundred shinobis, descendants of the skilled mercenary warriors, who, like their neighbors, have not weakened at all, their forces added to the technology of the current world would be terrible for the enemies, the curtains of war opened again.