The Legend of Tantus - Book 3

Chapter 5.1 - The last amazing grays

    The battle in Ultros ended with the victory of Laguna, for the total destruction of the city and the cut of the enemy's supplies, few and unviable options remained for Sumith and the others, they would inevitably be defeated in the future unless some satisfactory solution appeared. Lieben's armies were soon to return to their continent, as Laguna's footsteps would now be unpredictable and they could not risk staying there leaving their land unguarded, but the defenders of light and resistance would remain alongside the lobimes and shinobis. Sumith and the others went to Wolver too, it was still difficult to understand how Laguna's life resulted in all this, they were meeting with the wolves to study a solution, but Walkan and Rothgar just said not to worry about them, the question would be really Lieben and Tantus, Laguna probably had already solved this point on his side, it was the only explanation to order the destruction of a city like that, there were other cities that could serve as a commercial engine, but worldwide as Ultros was, to supply two continents against the rest of the world, it would be too long a job and all the time was precious now. Régulo left to Merit three days after the battle ended, but Yasmine decided to stay with Sumith, who, in turn, would like to return with the regent, but the need prevented him, the darkanians remained by his side, after all for them to get to Lieben quickly was not the least problem. Arkan sent his troops to be together with Régulo, but he also remained in the colony. The time was generous with Wolver, and the prosperity brought by Sumith's projects made that place simply amazing, a superb fortress and at the same time a fantastic, futuristic city without a doubt. Arkan, Omega, Garai and Sumith were always in meetings with the king and queen while Yasmine and Ultima, who felt trapped by boredom, kept company for each other always, strolling through the beautiful center of Wolver, talked a lot about their lives, and the princess of Darkan told her all story to her new friend, about the arch sorcerers she had mentioned, but still could not find any explanations for the powers of the regent's daughter, who was simply fascinated by the legends of Darkan, its technology and traditions, it seemed nostalgic for her to hear about it, as if it brought back ancient memories, and this also intrigued the great warrior.

- It would not be easy to believe such a story, but seeing your power I cannot doubt it. I wish I had known... Darkan. – said Yasmine.

    But Ultima did not tell her about the link between her old world and now her new.

- You are in love with Sumith, are not you? – Ultima asked indiscreetly, turning Yasmine totally red.

- Can you read my mind?

- Not exactly. My great-grandmother could, because she was a telepath, since I am an empath, I can know about your emotions, but I confess that I do not need to use it on you. I know that, because I also felt exactly like you are now.

- What do you think... of Sumith?

- He is a great warrior, honorable, worthy, and not to be thrown away. In fact, my brother and I owe him a lot, that is why we are here, but also because we want to protect this world.

- You should stop talking like you are not from here. This is your new home, you are part of us now.

- You are right.

- And you, have you ever fallen in love?

- Yes, a long time ago...

- Tell me!

- He was the most incredible warrior I have ever met, his charming beauty and his serene and true way... All this attracted me in a strange way, as I had never felt before, and when we fought face to face I realized that he was the one I wanted.

- Did you fight?!

- And what better way to get to know someone? A deadly and splendid fight, I must say. He was the first one who made me go so far in combat.

- What a strange way to fall in love. – said Yasmine, drawing a beautiful smile from Ultima. – What happened to him?

- He became unreachable, he became a lord...

- Enghon Reizeu?

- No.

- Seth Alberich?! But did not he give his heart to Shayera Sea?

- Please do not mention that woman to me, I envied her from the moment I fell in love with him, but on the other hand maybe she deserved more than I did. In fact, that day, when I looked into his eyes, I feared... I was afraid to find out that he already had an owner, and that fear came true, she already had his heart, she had already taken over. I made myself strong, but I was anguished inside, all I could do was wait, allow time. I saw in her the same strength and determination of women in my world, just like me, we never really met, but I put myself in her place and that is why I decided to respect her for her whole life. I do not like the idea of doing for others what I would not like for myself. 

- Wait a second! How many winters do you have Ultima???

    Ultima just laughed at Yasmine's question, who deduced everything precisely, but obviously paid no attention to details, it was clear that she had not mentioned her longevity. At this moment a hooded man approached, the two were surprised, as they thought that all Lieben's soldiers were already gone, but he could also be a resistance soldier, he just arrived quietly asking about the results of the war:

- Sorry ladies, but I can not help worrying about our fate. – said the man. – What are we going to do now? Mr. Sumith, is he really that legendary warrior from the past? Can he save us?

    Ultima looked at him for a few seconds, and already drawing her sword, she set off for the swift attack, but the man stopped her with his sword with a slightly silver glow, which sometimes gave the impression that small stars surrounded it, and with a beautiful crystal of Isil set in guard. The impact of the blow scared Yasmine more than the reaction of her new friend, then the two exchanged more impressive sword strokes until they stopped in a classic way:

- So it's you! – said Ultima. – The strange force that I feel, all comes from you!

- Hahaha... – laughed the man, his hood had already fallen back, it was none other than Laguna. – Your power is really very intriguing, darkanian. And I must say that you are more beautiful than any woman I have ever seen.

- Do not flirt with me, or I will rip your tongue out and then your head!

- And aggressive...

    The princess stepped away to strike harder, but the moment she approached to hit him, he disappeared in a bluish light, Laguna dominated the “Ethereal Step”! Ultima looked for him for a few moments, until she saw that he had the sword in Yasmine's throat! Immediately she stopped, the regent's niece tried to fight back, put her hand on the handle of her sword, however Laguna realized this and soon pressed the sword to her throat:

- No. Do not be silly. Do not make me kill you here. – And the young woman gave up the attempt.

- Yasmine, I can finish him off, but that would risk you, what is your choice? – asked Ultima.

- Kill him! – replied the young woman.

    The princess went into trance mode, exhaling all her immense power, and even for those who had already seen, those golden flames burning all over the princess's body were fascinating, Sumith, Omega, Garai, Arkan and the lobimes came quickly, felt the strength of the enemy and the traveler contained Ultima, did not want to see Yasmine hurt in any way.

- Hahaha... What a power! You are really the princess of Darkan. – said Laguna.

- Coward! – replied Ultima.

- Why threaten her? – asked Sumith. – Leave her out of it and I will come with you.

- No, my dear. That is exactly why I am here, Delta's power is my goal, and with it I will be the winner!

    Everyone was astonished, and even more so the darkanians, the greatest of the arch sorcerers, “Delta”, Laguna called Yasmine so, but why? Even Leand-garai with his unique predictive power was unable to see Laguna, strangely, even Ultima could not understand the confused and conflicting emotions she felt in him, Arkan, through Anarky, also saw nothing but a man with a mind strangely determined, there was no explanation for any of that. The tyrant used the ethereal step again, disappearing and taking the beautiful young woman. Sumith could never imagine that magic, used a long time ago by Kraven Licaon, being used now by Laguna, and how audacious, unpredictable enemy. The traveler imagined Régulo's despair when he heard this, he felt terribly tormented and anguished, nothing could be done now, just praying that he would not hurt Yasmine, just thinking about some evil against her squeezed his heart, and only felt this once, in the past, for Iris.

- Sorry. It was my fault. – said Ultima. – If I had been more careful I would have stopped it.

- No, Ultima, it was not your fault. – said Sumith. – Maybe it's mine for letting her come.

In fact, Sumith wanted her close, it was his fault, and Arkan noticed this:

- Are you in love, boy? Finally after all this time. – said the sailor.

- What? No! – replied Sumith confused.

- Do not be silly, it's stamped on your face.

- I... can not.

- And why not?

- Iris was the woman of my life, I swore by her that no one would ever take her place.

- Hahaha... No one can control the heart, and you are an i***t!

- ?

- Such a promise should never be made! Even more in immortality!

- ...

- Everything we lost will be recovered one day.

- I can not... I can not break my word.

- Wake up boy! Open that hard head! Do not see? Still do not understand?

- ???

- Iris... Yasmine... They are the same woman!

- ...

- Fate has blessed you a second time, and what have you done? So obsessed with the past you are. Always looking back. You have lived long enough for several lives, without even thinking about what could have been, or what you could have done...

- I do not know you to know about this subject, but it is clear that you are privileged, Maxlyeben. – said Garai. – And I do not need to use my power to notice this.

    Of course, Arkan's words echoed in Sumith's mind unexpectedly, it was true, he was too caught up in the past, unable to admit to himself that he loved Yasmine, and now she was in unknown danger, just imagining what Laguna could do was already troubling his heart, losing her without revealing his feelings now, what worse punishment could he receive?

    It was at this moment that Sumith felt a familiar power, which he had felt a long time ago when he was mortal... A man wearing samurai armor, in the same colors as his, with gray hair and black eyes, approached calmly, at his waist the incredibly shining shinobi-style swords, was none other than Alexander Crescent, the first time traveler:

- Alexander... I did not expect to see you here. – said Sumith.

- But the fact was, you expected to see me. – said Alexander.

- Indeed.

- Forget everything that is going on right now, just like me, you already know that we have urgent matters.

- But I can not imagine a more urgent matter than this one.

- Come on my dear, we have a meeting.

    Sumith did not even question Alexander, they were time travelers, it was always clear that they would meet again throughout history, and to find each other that way it could not be anything simple to solve. Even though he could not get Yasmine out of his head, being desperate, he should be as strong as ever, strong as only he could be and follow him.

- The speed of things happening... – said Sumith. – The importance, that kind of thing always seemed desperate. But at least I have already learned to understand, in part.

- So my congratulations. – Alexander. – You just understood a little more about what it means to be the time traveler.

    The first traveler opened the time portal right there, in front of everyone, an unparalleled power and only Arkan, through Anarky, knew exactly who they were.

- I thought we should be as discreet as possible. – said Sumith.

- As close to the end as we are there is no time for that.

- But time should not be a problem for us.

- But now it is, believe your windhead.

- ...

    Both entered the portal, and now the traveler's secret was made public. Arkan took care to keep the darkanians and the lobimes properly informed about everything, because something crucial was happening in time, vital to the world.

    The two travelers emerged in Wolver, just over a winter in the future, and the view was more bleak than when Oblivion, Darkan's doom, dominated Tantus. Alexander suggested that they go to Lieben, as he said there was the target of the most violent attacks. The samurai exploded his power in an unprecedented way for the hero of Lieben, where small stars formed a trail in the air with his every move, impressive, the second traveler did not hide the surprise:

- But what power is that? – asked Sumith.

- This, my dear, is the true power of time.

- ?

- It is called “Hachimon”.

- Eight gates? – Sumith soon understood that it was ancient language.

- Exact. Just focus on opening a portal, but just do not open it, keep the power in you and never lose that focus. It is not the easiest task, I admit, but over time you will learn to control instinctively, being able to activate it to fight whenever you want.

- Never thought of this before.

- Ironic that you were able to unravel the power of the guardian in common form, and not even get close to this. But it took me a long time to master this, I believe you will also do it occasionally.

    The Lady of Light, Neveu, taught the first traveler that the power of time was composed of eight portals, they were: Strength, Speed, Power, Karma, Limit, Instinct, Vision and Eternity. The whole of this work generated all the capacities and skills of time travelers, who could not be gods, but could have influences considered divine, influences to change history. Even being taught by the lady, Alexander had to work hard to master this to perfection, until it became a practically automatic power, and it would obviously be his task to pass this on to his successors. Sumith fought powerfully against enemies on a divine level thanks to the power of the guardian, but the first traveler, to face Zeijadel and hand him over to Harkonen, needed this, and was sure that the others would dominate this much faster than he did, since time is what allows everything to evolve. Sumith felt his strength increase absurdly, it was perhaps superior to the power of the guardian in common form, but unfortunately both entered into conflict, and could not be used at the same time, but on the other hand this would come in handy.

- I suggest that you get used to it as soon as possible, although eventually you should give up all your powers.

- What you mean?

- Follow your instincts...

- I understand.

    In fact, he would not immediately become accustomed to that power, he would need time, but since it was Sumith it would probably be a short time. With such a strength the guardian would become unnecessary, except for the extreme elemental blast, but the great (in fact tremendous) advantage was that this way he had no time limit, a mysterious power and without logical explanations, very similar to the trance mode, depending only on his own resistance. It is curious to discover something great like this, in such a simple and direct way, and even unpretentious, at least good news amid so many problems.

    With his new power Sumith and Alexander headed quickly to the other continent, and the speed of movement was equivalent to the dragon, more than convenient. Lieben's hero had indeed developed his time force in a frightening way, but this was exactly what was missing to be complete. At this moment he remembered curiously the past, where traveling at this speed, as if the continents were right next door, like neighbors' houses, was unthinkable, at a time when his trips lasted many days with friends, sleeping in tents, hunting and replenishing supplies, Sumith considered that a charm of life, and was not wrong, but if he really wanted to save the world as he would like, this level could not be limited to the imagination, he needed to be part of this to be as strong as the gods.

- I think I am getting the hang of it! – said Sumith, much to Alexander's amazement.

- What?

- It's not that hard.

- Are you kidding me?

- Really.

- I spent weeks focusing on this until I managed to hold all the gates. – said Alexander very quietly, to himself. – Motherfucker windhead...

    Little time passed on the journey, with Alexander hilariously frustrated that he was overcome so fast, until finally they reached the Kingdom of Lieben, and once there the scene was unreal. Absurd devastation, more absurd than they had ever witnessed, an evil power could be felt everywhere, with every stone overturned and even more, many buildings and large blocks of earth simply floating! Still filled with the power that devastated everything there, the skies covered by black clouds as far as the eye could see and rays crossing in the distance, even without rain or wind, a hot and unpleasant climate, it seemed like hell on earth, impossible to believe it if they were not seeing it with their own eyes.

- It is not possible... So you mean...? – Sumith.

- Yes. Defeat. – Alexander.

- Are there survivors?

- Dying and paralyzed like vegetables, they actually look more like the walking dead. – said another voice approaching.

    It was none other than... Laguna! This time he had a simpler, non-threatening expression, he wore black and silver suits, with a chain mail underneath, in a way they were similar to Sumith's and he also carried the old Laguna sword, without the crystal of Isil. Now looking at him more closely, Lieben's hero remembered his face, from a long time ago, the man he found on the verge of death in the Forest of Illusion, whose spirit resided in the sword, exactly the same, so this was fate... But still confused and failing to notice his power, the second traveler pulled out Maxlyeben and stationed himself for combat, but the first traveler stood between them and stopped Sumith.

- I do not blame you for that. – said Laguna. – I must ask you to forgive me, for being a puppet. I let myself be carried away by hatred and, consequently, by darkness...

- But are you the third traveler? How could I pass my power on to him? He is evil. – said Sumith to Alexander.

- Unfortunately I must say that this is your fault. – said Alexander. – And we must resolve this soon, or there will be no future, not even present.

    The first traveler explained that the reason for all this was due, in a way, to Sumith's impetuosity. The day he met a man on the Tree of Life, challenging him to a fight for suspicion, even though he was not really an enemy, and it was on this day that a great evil was born by the conflict of power between the two Max swords.

- The meeting of the great power of Harkonen in the same two swords, one of which belonged to the traveler and, consequently, bathed in the power of time, created an anomaly. – said Alexander. – And that man was just you.

- But I never did that. – said Sumith.

- Then at some point you will return to that day and it will all start, but it will not be your fault now, it will be your past self.

- What was born has acquired a conscience of its own, none of us can explain precisely, but in the last seven hundred winters its power has only increased, always hidden, avoiding the lords. – said Laguna. – Then he got to the point where he was able to overcome Kenobe's spell, absorbing the force of the summons and adding this great power to his unique knowledge of time, he titled himself "The Time Devourer". This explains why I was able to find the temple without being a summoner.

- Time is what absorbs everything. That creature could be the ultimate enemy of this world, a nightmare. – said Alexander. – History has already happened, that is why Laguna is here, but the devourer is changing courses to benefit himself, for all the knowledge of the time he has. Tantus cannot turn into a sea of mourning.

- The guardians are dead and the lords have been sealed in Plane, they can do nothing but watch the slow doom of this world. The devourer is also able to directly interfere with balance, probably because he has absorbed the powers of the summons. – Laguna.

- The big question here is that you faced, around a winter ago, the puppet Laguna. No offense. – Alexander.

- You are welcome... – Laguna.

- But you hesitated, and died...

- ... – Sumith. – And what about Yasmine?

- She committed suicide when she heard that you died.

- !!!

- At this point the devourer was very cunning, after killing you, he discovered that the power of time was the only thing he could not absorb, because he was born from it, so he did not become the third traveler, but then he was inexplicably stupid. He began to bring back our worst nightmares, to assist him in destroying and restarting this world at will, but what he brought back betrayed him for having the same ambitions as he did. Laguna will end up dying sooner or later.

- ...

- The problem is that if Laguna dies, the third time traveler will disappear, a lot will not happen since the discord of the power, you will be dead centuries ago, Mérit did not resist the meteor, you probably did not even win the war against Zeijadel.

- My God...

- Do you understand what is going on here?

- The timeline we know will be completely destroyed... Can not we just go back to that day and stop me from creating all of this?

- Yes, we can, but maybe it is inevitable, maybe we can only make things worse, because that is already part of today's history. Furthermore, we are time travelers, and as its guardians we must bear our responsibilities and consequences for all our actions, honor the trust that lady Neveu has placed in us, she cannot be disappointed, we must choose between the path easy and the path right.

- There are many futures in progress, all true, and it is up to us to decide the right one, this is our duty. – Laguna.

- A winter ago the devourer was looking for two things to complete his goals, I never found out what those things were, but until he found them he kept provoking wars and shedding a lot of blood. – Alexander. – He always remained hidden as much as possible, avoiding being found by the lords, he knew that if Seth and the others laid eyes on him he would be immediately annihilated. He has limitations that prevent him from acting as he wishes, apparently something went wrong for him, so he still hides behind a host, he looks more like a parasite.

    Sumith was tremendously thoughtful and saddened, all because of stupidity, it was a very heavy burden, even for him. But he would carry it anyway!

- Delta... – said Sumith. – Before you arrived he said Delta's power was his goal.

- The great goddess??? – Laguna. – But she disappeared a long time ago. And even if he found her today she would kill him easily.

- Maybe he has plans, and he undoubtedly knows more than we do. – said the first traveler.

- So if Delta has returned to this world somewhere, and she is the first objective, what is the other? – asked Laguna.

- ... – Everyone was silent for a few moments, then Sumith remembered everything Garai said about his predictions, the strange powers that Yasmine showed as a child that Régulo told him, the pieces fit together, and he began to wonder if the spirit of the great goddess would actually be inside her. If it were true this would explain why the devourer had abducted her, in which case she would be taking a totally different risk, or maybe he for trying to irritate her... The second traveler inevitably continued to fear, but for not being sure about anything and because he found it really hard to believe it (he was hesitant to believe this, he was a really windhead), he decided not to mention anything to his companions yet.

- Something tells me that you will have to sacrifice yourself for Tantus. – Alexander said to Sumith.

- “But do not try to understand too much the directions and the mysteries of time, or you will end up going crazy...”, right, surly? – said Laguna to Alexander, who looked at him out of the corner of his eye.

- I caused... all this... – said crestfallen Sumith.

- Yes, you did. But we will help you to carry this burden, and we will not abandon you, for even with that windhead your heart is the most noble of us all. – said the first traveler, bringing some comfort to the young man.

- So that is why you managed to remove the millenarian shield. – Sumith said to Laguna. – The devourer controlled you and the shield would not react against you.

- Yes. – replied the third traveler.

- When do we start?

- Puppet Laguna is still alive, and if we want to keep the past and have a chance to change this future we cannot allow him to die. – After these words from Alexander, Laguna gave a hilarious smile.

- I understand.

- We are here because only the three of us can now deal with the enemy that caused all this that you are seeing. – said Laguna. – You know him Sumith, but your father and your master knew him better than all of us.

- !!!

- The time has come! Get ready, you freaks! – Alexander.

- Hey, woodworker! See if you stop calling me a puppet! – Laguna.

- One more thing, windhead. You know very well the weapons I use, and you know very well that you carry them there with you.

- Yes. – Sumith.

- So keep your distance in the battle! If they touch each other we will be irreversibly screwed, as they would be worse than Maxlyeben!

- Answer me a question. – Laguna. – Considering your preference for your father's weapons, has it never been uncomfortable to fight with a sword sheathed at your waist? – said this referring to the daughters of the lords in the waist of the second traveler.

- Well... Now that you mention it, they never disturbed me. – Sumith, looking at swords. – I do not know how to explain.

- I explain. – Alexander. – Andriel and Andurel are not common weapons, you know that, but their efficiency is not limited to simply fighting, they are able to benefit even without being used.

- ???

- ???

- They help you even if it means getting out of the way. And I can say that as their first master.

- Impressive. – said Laguna.

- Wait, why did not Seth ever tell me that? – said Sumith.

- Did you ever ask him?

- ... – A vein almost popped out of his forehead. – Nevermind. – At this moment Alexander tried hard not to laugh.

- Thank God you avoided the fight with Seth that day... – Laguna.

- Hahahahahaha...

- Hahahahahaha...

- Hahahahahaha...