บท 44: Talk with the First born of the Gods
After a brief moment of looking, Alex saw time dials in his eyes, and his brown hair made him more of a menace.
"I have come here for two things."
SWOOSH! BOOM! BOOM!
Suddenly, two swords lunged at Alex. He turned his head to dodge the long sword and knocked the blue sword away with his left arm, feeling a tingle as it made contact with his anti-magic armor.
"Speak those two things. And if you want me back, return to Olympus and fight my father. My answer is no," Arthur said, shaking his head and gesturing with his hand to create two seats and a long table.
"Well, it's different. First, I want to know the reason for the destruction of a recently exterminated Elven kingdom. Second, are you willing to serve me?" he asked, sitting down on the chair as the youthful grandma brought some snacks and drinks.
Arthur began to think and spoke, "Well, for the first thing, sure, I will tell you. But for the second, let me see and continue thinking."
"It all started a few years ago."
(Flashback begins)
A few years ago, a certain elf girl was traveling through the land of the Stepstones. At one moment, she encountered a group of titans about to attack her. In that instant, they were killed as two swords pierced their chests.
"Who the hell are you, and why are you walking in my territory?" Arthur asked as he levitated nearby, looking down at the elven girl, who appeared to be about 18 years old.
"My name is Elera Moonshadow, a princess of the Moonshadow kingdom," she replied, standing up and blushing slightly.
"I see. Why would a princess be here without guards, walking into the territory of a god?" Arthur inquired, increasing the pressure around her.
"I was kidnapped, and I got lost when my kidnappers were killed by the royal guards that were after them. But the cage holding me fell off a ledge, and now I'm lost," she explained, breathing hard.
Arthur continued to look at her. Soon, his eyes began to change as time dials moved around. He stopped them, released the pressure from her, and soon, footsteps were heard.
Soon, ten elven soldiers wearing silver armor, bearing the sigil of the royal family of Moonshadow, found the princess. They immediately launched an attack on her, but Arthur snapped his fingers, creating a barrier around her.
"Well, I can't believe it. The ones they were supposed to save are going to be killed by them," he said, snapping his fingers again. Blue spheres were created above them.
[Stasis Pause]
Their bodies paused as if frozen in time. Arthur turned his gaze to the elven princess, who was in shock but recovering from the pressure.
Soon, Arthur tapped his toe, and vines emerged from the ground, wrapping around the limbs of the elven soldiers still paused in time.
[Stasis Resume]
Time resumed, and they were first in shock, now tied to the ground.
"Now, tell me, soldiers, or to be exact, royal guard assassins of the Moonshadow kingdom, why are you in the territory of the Stepstones, in the territory of Arthur Chronos, firstborn of the gods of Olympus?" he spoke, releasing a small amount of his pressure as his two blades began to move around him, waiting for the order to slice their throats.
"We were sent here to kill her," he turned his gaze to the elven girl, who was already processing the information.
"By whose order did you act upon?"
"The third princess ordered us to kill her older sister to gain the position on the throne. It's politics. It's better a god like you not to interfere," the man said with venom, but he knew when to retreat and that a god could wipe out their kingdom, given the civil unrest in the Olympus kingdom.
Three months later
After that incident, Arthur erased their memories and sent them back to the kingdom. He brought her to his land and ordered thirty of his Time knights and soldiers to guard the border of the Moonshadow kingdom to prevent an invasion. He took her in as a disciple.
Although she was a bit clumsy, she had potential in combat, and he decided to let her be his first disciple since he wanted to test out how effective it would be.
Days turned to weeks, and months to years. The Moonshadow kingdom suffered some backlash and sent scouts to the Stepstones, but they failed due to the soldiers guarding the border.
Four years later
"Master, I want to return to my kingdom and claim my throne!" the elven princess shouted at the meditating Arthur. When he heard her, he opened one eye and spoke.
"I know, and you're quite ready. So here, take this final gift of mine," he said, stretching his hand out to give her a pendant.
"This pendant gives you enough strength to fight a demigod. It can be used for 30 seconds with no backlash, and the cooldown is 1 day," he finished, and she nodded, leaving to pack her things. Soon, a shadow appeared near Arthur.
"Keep an eye on her. I believe things will get hectic if she returns to her kingdom," he finished, feeling a large number of enemy soldiers entering his territory from the east.
He stood up, snapped his fingers, and summoned his battle gear.
"Come, my legion," he spoke with an authoritative tone, and soon, soldiers clad in blue iron knelt before him. Five hundred of them were his Time knights, beings who could control time but not fully.
"Chronos soldiers have invaded. It's time to repel them back and teach them a very harsh lesson," he finished, and soon everyone disappeared from the spot and appeared on the eastern plateau of the Stepstones.
While they went to war and defeated the invaders in a week, things got worse when the Time knight he had ordered to watch over came back injured and began to recount the events of what had happened.
When she arrived back at her capital and demanded her throne to be returned, the gods intervened and attacked her and the royal guards from the palace, along with her siblings, naming her the witch of the Time God, meaning she was their enemy. This made him boil in anger, and when the knight continued, saying that when he intervened, he did everything he could to save her, but he was too far from her and he was able to escape with the help of a certain passing agent.
A few days after that, he heard that she was burned at the stake for the crimes of being a follower of another god and disgracing the royal family.
This caused a huge uproar. When the Time God's name was mentioned, Olympus sent a letter to the gods of the Moonshadow kingdom, stating that they had made a massive mistake in angering the Time God, who was neutral in the affairs of the continent and could be said to be the protector of it.
But time was old, and the gods felt their titles and powers were far more worthy of the protector of the continent.
When Arthur heard of this, it was his final straw, and he sent out an edict:
"I hereby declare the Moonshadow kingdom to be exterminated under the crimes of murdering my disciple, falsely accusing her, and the intervention of the Moonshadow kingdom's gods. They and their history shall be exterminated from history and the records of the continent, and those who dare interfere shall be placed under the list of extermination."
After finishing writing the letter, he sent it out to the different pantheons and kingdoms. Instead of waiting for a response, he immediately gathered 500 of his guards and nearly all of his legion to attack the Moonshadow kingdom.
The kingdom and all of its inhabitants were massacred overnight. It took three days for the men that Arthur brought to hunt them down. Now, Arthur gazed at the bodies of the gods of Moonshadow, sprawled out. Some were in a begging position without a head, and some were impaled by their weapons. One last remaining, the one who was always neutral, was half dead since that goddess asked him to forget his first disciple. But since he taught Zeus, he didn't consider him as a disciple and went mad, nearly killing her. He gave her two options of death: burn at the stake or fight Chronos in this state. He gave her 3 seconds to decide.
She chose the first option and ordered his people to summon all remaining inhabitants and the royal family, which he wanted alive, and the priest of the kingdom's religion. He made them witness the burning of their goddess.
After erecting a stake, he doused it with the flames of Helios, making her wail in pain and ask for forgiveness. The witnesses were asking for forgiveness, but the Time God's rage was still active. He didn't give them a chance and intensified her pain. After the debacle was over, he grabbed the pendant from the king, who was using it as his new national treasure, realizing it was an amulet from the Time God.
After killing the royal family and the rest of the nation's citizens who were not present, he didn't mind. He placed a curse over the lands, freezing it in time, keeping the memory fresh. Anyone who tried to conquer the lands would die by a Time knight or soldier that he sent to patrol if anyone was planning to conquer.
After a few days of the extermination of the Moonshadow kingdom, multiple kingdoms and pantheons were in a state of shock and chaos. Many were angered for the elves, as a brethren kingdom was exterminated. They tried to send soldiers to conquer it, but no news were left after they arrived, and no one returned. When they heard another decree announced by the Time God himself, they stopped sending expeditions, sending only scouts to calculate the damages or try to recover the wealth, but none also returned. The protector of the Elven continent of Eldenria came to meet with Arthur for the reason why a kingdom under him and the tree was exterminated.
After a few days, the protector left with a few bruises and also knew the real reason. He decided to curse those gods who tried to fool him.
After that incident, no one spoke of it again until Aphrodite requested Alex to interfere, since she knew nearly all of the power of Olympus was under him and the gods that followed him.
(End of flashback)
"I see, that's the reason. So where is her body now?" Alex knew her ash might not be recovered.
Arthur twisted his body and pointed his finger somewhere else. When Alex looked in the direction, he saw a tombstone, but it was not any normal tombstone; it was created by anti-magic material, which shocked him. He also saw a pendant slung around it.
"I found the remnants of the ashes and used nearly all of my energy to reverse her body back. Although I know she's dead, at least I recovered her body and placed her in good rest along with the pendant," Arthur said after finishing his drink and looking at Alex once again.
"So, for the second thing, tell me what's your decision?" Alex said as he took a small sip.
Arthur gazed at him for a while, as if trying to gauge his powers, and knew he couldn't penetrate the anti-magic armor.
To be continued.
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