The Legend of Tantus - Book 3

Chapter 8.2

    Yasmine was in the regent's hall in the Kingdom of Balvera, locked in every way she was looking for some way out, she still had her sword, which she thought was strange not to be disarmed by the enemies, maybe they considered her weak and without any danger to them, but for being the niece of the regent of Mérit a lot of bad things could be done against Régulo because of this, bargaining object, maybe her uncle was right, he should not have come to this battle, she only made things worse with her presence, if she had stayed in her city none of this would have happened. Taking her hostage implied terrible possibilities in the war and she was fully aware of it, she also missed Sumith, she imagined that he would blow up that whole place and appear to save her, because he was the only one who could, but she soon understood that it would be stupid to think like that, he did not want to see her hurt either, so he would not risk anything like that, but she was sure that sooner or later he would be there for her. It was then that the door opened and a man in black armor appeared, the leader of the enemy armies, Laguna was before her, his frightening aura made her retreat slowly even with a sword drawn, she had never felt anything as evil as that, he looked like a demon hungry for conquests, blood, and power... But at the same time she noticed something different, some unusual sparkle in his eyes besides a deep sadness, as if two people were in conflict.

- Hail, lady Delta. – said Laguna, the moment the doors were locked again.

- ???

- Great goddess of Tantus, creator of the seas and mountains, and lady of the skies.

- Who are you?

- I am time reborn, the one who holds the knowledge of this world, and destined to take it under my care.

- Why did this war start? Why did you destroy the peace that had existed for so long?

- Nothing lasts forever, not even immortals, my lady, except time...

- ...

- Many obstacles still stand in my way, but soon, with your power, it will only be a matter of time before my victory. – And Yasmine could see a leftover behind Laguna, with three red eyes watching and terrifying.

- What...? What are you?

- Where did you leave your life force, Delta?

- My name is not Delta!

- I feel your power divided in two, filling the world again. One is here, but the other, where does it come from? Where is your life force?

- Get away from me!

    In a quick movement she tried to attack him, but Laguna was agile and defended himself, for a few seconds they remained that way, until he touched her head and the shadow of before taking her completely, as if searching her soul, the very air of the place became heavy and she saw a strange creature with three heads, dragon, lion and serpent more clearly, but it was like a spirit, obviously did not understand what it would be until her conscience started to fade, she could not even manage scream, she no longer had the strength to resist. Then suddenly Laguna was "blown" away from her in a very violent way, rolling across the floor of the hall, and when he looked again he saw the princess of Mérit surrounded by a beautiful golden glow, her eyes covered with shadows and her long golden hair were totally rebellious. The entire palace shuddered only by the power of Yasmine and the alarmed soldiers entered the hall, but were promptly ordered by Laguna to withdraw, the tyrant claimed to have everything under control, and the two remained there, face to face:

- Show me your power, great goddess!

    With a simple step on the ground Yasmine created a great and strange pentagram symbol, and from it emerged strange creatures, spectacular humanoids that destroyed the entire royal hall, the golden beam of Darkan's royalty, shot into the ground, penetrated the ground and shuddered all over the region, the whole kingdom panicked and now it was the turn of the palace itself, taken by a golden glow, to be devastated, she simply pulled it out of the ground with the arch powers!

- Do not bother me again, insect! – said Yasmine with her head down.

    She was terrible, the strength of a great goddess was able to envelop the world, but oddly enough that was exactly the plan of the devourer, despite the immense danger he was in. Yasmine just raised her hand and her golden beam was fired at Laguna, who needed a shield of all his elements at maximum power to resist:

- Delta... is strong... She is too strong!

    Now all the beings generated by her attacked Laguna mercilessly, a persecution began throughout the kingdom devastating terribly. He rejected arch powers with powerful magic, the power of the devourer was also impressive, although he was unable to face her even if he wanted to. He was already reaching the limit, Delta's power called phenomena that terrified the whole continent, as if divine punishment was starting again, two huge golden and shiny circles, bigger than the city itself, appeared on the ground and in the sky, both again showed the star symbol, the arch pentagram! It seemed that she was preparing to eradicate the entire kingdom at once! The great goddess fired her golden beam again, forcing Laguna to hold it again, but this time with the other golden creatures attacking him together!

- She is stronger... She is superior to Armus!

    The tyrant's death was approaching, the devourer would have to leave his body if he wanted to stay alive or he would be sprayed along. As a specter he would not be seen by the lords, so he went after Armus like that, also to preserve Laguna, but he did not know that he was going to meet a great god, who would demean and imprison him shamefully, but losing that body now it would take a long time to find another person with a blackened heart to get hold of, and this would unpleasantly delay his plans, but he did not imagine that the death of the destined third traveler would end everything, he did not even consider what he accomplished in the past, so travelers together considered only two options for this: either he was blinded by unprecedented greed, or he had a genocidal sadism to transform the world into a new purgatory, as Zeijadel had claimed. But to his delight, Delta's power stopped and Yasmine collapsed on the ground unconscious, the great arch symbols disappeared from the ground and the sky, she narrowly did not destroy the whole kingdom and much of Saitar. It was a close call, a very delicate moment, but the devourer reached his goal, provoking the ire of Delta he managed to locate the place he was looking for, although he had not yet revealed his next step:

- Tree of Life... – said Laguna to himself. – It is with this power, Delta, that the lords will be silenced.

    The Kingdom of Balvera was almost devastated, Laguna ordered Yasmine to be taken to the dungeons and not disturbed, he did not wish to awaken that power again or it could be worse.

- Take your time, Delta. On the right time.

    With his powers the devourer intended to remain camouflaged, only one thing was known: it would not be pleasant to face the lords for now. Due to the incident, Laguna had some significant losses, but his great asset was in the form of technology, he managed to perfectly understand the design and engineering of the ships, due to the great knowledge of the time of the devourer, who analyzed the entire history of Tantus, the darkanians and everything he could, in fact, be a remarkable prodigy, and so he perfected his ship, transforming it into the “Ragnadoom”. The weapons and propellers were now powered by a mysterious black energy that affected the crystal of Isil, probably this had to do with the alchemy of Alexander and Tantaluz, the devourer must have studied and unraveled over the centuries about this very valuable secret, and being correct he managed to overcome the geniuses by perfecting Isil! Obviously it was not at all easy to achieve, as only now has he achieved such a result. The ship was more powerful, maybe even at the level of the Ragnahawk or more, both in firepower and skills, but he still would not attack, patience, he had the advantage of the largest army and the cutting of enemy supplies, or so he thought. He was also impressed by the fall of Kraven Licaon, in fact the cheater was only brought back to give him some time, he knew he would be defeated, but he did not imagine it would be so fast, but he lost his surprise when he realized that his puppet was defeated by a lord. Things were becoming dangerous, but his plan still remained on the intended path, as the imbalance he managed to cause with the powers of the summons was keeping the lords very occupied, a reinforcement not to be found before the hour, because in one way or another it was just a matter of time, he also knew that Partus was on the ground now and that undoubtedly the continent's surveillance was complete, diverting attention from Lieben, where he intended to attack soon, and with what he had just discovered from Delta the Tree of Life could be his target.

*****

    Sumith went to the Kingdom of Terra with the power of time, no guardian, he wanted to get used to it perfectly and was almost getting it. He went directly to the regent's palace, although it was very difficult not to admire the splendor of that city, Alaster Sona was waiting for him, already informed of this by Ciel, although he still had no idea what the subject would really be, supposing that it would be about the theft of the ships, although everything has already been properly disclosed. The traveler's meeting with the regent was friendly, as were others, Alaster was yet another great admirer of the heroes of the past, and it was impossible for him not to have heard about Lieben's silver guardian. The regent could be considered the most fond of old legends, because of all the valiant warriors of the past he had records even before the Discord of the Power. He said that, in the then Kingdom of Mérit, five great statues were built after the great war, in honor of the warriors who saved that place, Sumith Maxlyeben, the spellcaster of the millenarian shield, Seth Alberich, the great king and leader of the battle, Enghon Reizeu, the exceptional sorcerer who guaranteed resistance in the fourth battle, Arkan Marne, the sailor, and an unknown man, referred to only as Laguna... Just like the names of all the others who fought there written on the bases of the statues, and it is at this moment that one of those who was there arrived in time, the immortal sailor.

- My brother watched your steps, Sumith. – said Arkan. – And we deduce your goal by coming here.

- I understand. – said Sumith.

    After being revered by the regent, Arkan joined the conversation, already knowing the direction it would take.

- Lord Alaster, I come here in search of an ancient power guarded under your city. – said Sumith, and the regent was frightened by this.

- What... secret do you mean? – asked Alaster.

- Something of great value that only a ruler like you could know.

- The relics of Tantus, Alaster, it's time to unearth this power after so long. – said Arkan.

- He was a terrible threat to Terra in the past, only stopped by his own stupidity... – said the regent. – If that breaks free, we may be lost.

- I will never allow anything to threaten this place. – said Sumith. – But I was advised to come here and look for an ally, not an enemy. – Alaster stared at Sumith for several seconds before finally speaking.

- If the legendary hero asks me, I will answer. I believe I can trust you, silver guardian.

    Sumith and Arkan were taken by the regent to the palace underground, which in the past was also the king's castle, on a huge staircase as they descended to the center of the planet, but the climate only became colder and not hotter. Several old and reinforced iron doors had to be opened by the many keys that Alaster brought, it really seemed a secret unknown to many, since distant times. After about eight heavy doors, and a cold that made their lines expel a lot of smoke, they arrived at their destination, an immense cave, with lighting specially provided almost a century ago, practically like a small town under Terra, and the most spectacular sight was there, a world of ice crystals everywhere, and although out of sight someone lay motionless in the center of everything, as a weak power could be felt.

- It is here, my dear, that a great threat has been sealed. – said Alaster. – Part for the courage and power of a summoner, part for his own greed.

    About eighty winters before the beginning of the discord of the power, a magnificent warrior appeared, proclaiming himself “ark-warrior”, Bastian, son of Arthus of Gaia. Nothing was understood about his origin, but his strength yes, he wandered the world with the speed of a lord, looking for something he called “the relics of Tantus, manufactured by Kairos”... In a strange rush to find them, he, who before seemed serene and friendly, became ferocious and abusive, until he arrived at the Kingdom of Terra where he attacked the city aiming for its underground, many sorcerers came to fight him and prevent the destruction of the kingdom, but his battle talent was impressive and everyone was defeated, all but one, Severus the great, the greatest summoner until then, still young, but already possessing nine of the unparalleled elemental representatives. His fight against Bastian was memorable, as he also made use of spectacular and unknown summons, were of his own world, and in fact the two ended up sinking the city itself, but not without Severus heroically protecting and removing all the inhabitants, competing in talent with the opponent, but at the height of the battle the ark-warrior found what he was looking for: Tantus Armor, Ultima Helmet, Delta Shield, Omega Blade and Gaia Staff, intriguing names that alluded to the future. His power became too overwhelming and the kingdom shook, but Severus resisted powerfully, the summons of Tantus and the “aeons” of Gaia fought a titanic battle, indescribable even for the best narrators and greatest historians, even creating an imagination of rivalry between the two worlds never envisioned, but due to the superiority of the ark-warrior himself, the combat was destined to end with the defeat of the summoner, however, in a moment of inexperience, Bastian used the element of ice at maximum force, without due control over that new power, then unknown for him, he ended up freezing that whole place, imprisoning himself, but he would soon escape if it were not for Utargard, Severus's ice summon, who concluded that icy prison and sealed the ark-warrior ever since. But incredibly, even after many days, Bastian did not die, until the great king of Terra realized that he would remain there forever. Rebuilding the city on all that ice and transforming the castle underground into that cave, guarding the threat ever since, passing this secret on to other generations of the rulers of the continent of Tantus. What nobody knew yet, precisely, is that Bastian was a demigod of Gaia, son of the god of justice, Arthus. Kairos, son of Tantus and Delta, felt the essences of the one he loved becoming dark, but he also predicted other great threats from his world in the distant future, so he made that armor and weapons, first he intended to just give his father a gift, not making anything else, because his mother said that darkanian armor was her favorite, and Gaia just did not like wearing armor, so he kept them in that place to be used by a great warrior, to fight and win whatever was necessary, to save the world of Tantus and perhaps beyond... Even though he could not see what was coming. Due to the crisis that started on his planet, Bastian went to Tantus in search of the relics revealed to him by his father, who had already been there when he went to punish mother-earth for her impurity, in order to recover the essences of Gaia, Bastian arrived in that world feeling all the negative power of what he was looking for, he understood that one of the best ways to win, despite his great power, could be with the relics, but so focused on that he was foolishly corrupted by the negativity of the essences, an abnormal weakness for someone with admirable goals, becoming violent and threatening to everyone, destroying cities in their search and taking innocent lives, until ending in combat with the summons of Severus and frozen under Terra, according to Armus, for his own idiocy. It is not known whether the goblins who took over the kingdom in the past explored and discovered this place, but in any case they could do nothing and probably did not even reveal it to their master, as they later lost the war. Bastian was not an evil man, he was simply seized by black power, but now, with the destruction of the first essence, his mind could return to normal and become the noble warrior he intended to be.

    The ice that trapped Bastian was very reminiscent of Seth's maximum ice, and it could be almost as powerful as, only a very intense fire could melt that, a fire from hell, and by coincidence a guardian was there. Sumith transformed into the great dragon and started using his infernal flames, Arkan and Alaster moved away, it took almost two minutes to see the crystals finally starting to melt, and a long time until they transformed the place into a small lake, leaving only the exact crystal for Bastian's body, Sumith stopped to watch, he could feel his gaian power, somewhat similar to Armus, so the ice cracked and finally broke, and the ark-warrior was there, on his knees and alive. The Tantus Armor was white and silver, beautiful and shiny, the Ultima Helmet had golden dragon wings on the sides, both were indeed splendid, the Delta Shield, silver, looked hard as a diamond, but light as a leaf, bearing the symbol of a three-legged bird, the Omega Blade had a black handle with a beautiful yellowish eye on the pommel, the guard also had golden dragon wing shapes, and the blade was silver too, one of the most powerful swords ever seen and was not carried at the waist in a sheath, it just fit perfectly into the shield, being carried there, the Gaia Staff was white as armor and had the black shape of a humanoid skeleton at the tip, was powerful enough to easily rival Enghon's Morgil, and had a custom fit on the back of the armor, where it rested diagonally upside down, to be easily removed by the cable. The whole of this unique work resulted in the “relics of Tantus”, and according to Kairos these weapons would help to defeat one of the greatest evils that have ever appeared in this world, in its entirety.

    The time traveler approached the kneeling warrior, who had white skin, brown eyes and long red hair, then he removed the helmet that hid much of his face. Arkan and Alaster approached, the regent was afraid, but the traveler feared nothing:

- All this time I saw you, silver dragon. – said Bastian. – I ask forgiveness for my weak mind, and for everything I have caused...

- If your words are true, you will be forgiven, ark-warrior, but you will have to prove. – said Alaster.

- If you saw the guardian who would set you free, you are also able to see what will come from now on. – said Arkan.

- I am Sumith Maxlyeben, and you will be my ally to save this world. – He said reaching out to Bastian, who accepted.

    The demigod, for all the centuries that he was frozen, was too weak, in fact only 20% of his power was recovered and it was not known when he would be in full force, but without a doubt the strength emanating from him, that Sumith could feel, was of someone without equal, and who was there to help save two worlds. Unusually there was no need for more words, they already understood each other perfectly, seeing their paths together as far as needed, and the regent was highly relieved to know that a great threat from the past was gone, now on course to help them, not to destroy them.

- My weak mind has caused much suffering, but I promise that this force will now be used in the right direction. This is my penance towards you tantanians. – said Bastian lowering his head.

- A foolish weakness for a noble goal. – said Sumith, with the ark-warrior agreeing.

    And so the conversation ended, now a new ally was on the scene, the crises would soon be confronted and Tantus' fate would be at stake again.