In the blink of an eye, several months passed.
Though Taufik had once declared that he accepted the arrival of the "outer" gods, that didn’t an he allowed them free passage to Earth. The Barrier remained intact, unyielding, a silent guardian forged by his own presence, the new Aboriginal of Earth.
They could co, yes.
But they had to earn it.
Break through it.
It wasn’t rely about power, it was about control, about buying ti.
Ti for humanity to grow.
Ti for the Tower-born warriors to sharpen their fangs.
Ti for Olympus... to prepare.
When Taufik last t with Zeus, he had left behind more than words. Threats. He had left a task:
"... Gather them"
The gods from the forgotten pantheons. The beings who had ruled ages ago. Those who now knocked on Earth’s door.
Taufik didn’t want them descending all at once like parasites. He wanted them contained.
Watched. Observed. Managed.
And among all the old gods, Zeus was the one he trusted, for a simple reason:
Even among gods... Zeus was strong.
And more importantly, Zeus knew few of them. Their sches. Their pride. Their hunger.
And so, hidden beyond the skies of mortal n, a space like Olympus, not of Earth, but tethered to it, was slowly built, shaped like a diplomatic stronghold.
A celestial waiting room for those who would soon walk the mortal world again.
But ti moved on. And the barrier... began to crack.
Small signs. Faint pulses.
Not enough to break through... but enough to whisper:
"Soon"
And yet, Taufik didn’t flinch.
Because during those sa months, another door had opened:
The Realm Gates, those mystical, ancient bridges between Earth and other dinsions tied to the Infinite Tower, had been strictly controlled.
But a few were different. A Realm Gate pulsed not with malice, but with potential.
A ’Good’ Realm Gate.
And now... Taufik gave it his permission.
Its inhabitants were neither allies nor enemies.
But they were... familiar.
Elves. Dwarves. Beastkin.
Nations from fantasy... now nations of fact.
They did not storm through. They observed.
They did not beg. They negotiated.
Most human factions failed to impress them.
Too divided. Too arrogant.
But the Saranjana Kingdom?
They succeeded.
Why?
Because Saranjana was never purely human.
Elves walked their streets.
Dwarfs work in their workshop.
Dragonkin trained in their towers.
Even Many of the high-ranking people of the Saranjana Kingdom are not human.
So when the inhabitants from behind the Realm Gate looked at Saranjana, they didn’t see humans trying to dominate.
They saw a kingdom that had already embraced diversity, peaceful, and strength through unity.
Talks progressed. Trade began. Even shared cultivation techniques surfaced.
And Where Was Taufik?
Not in court.
Not on a throne.
He had long abdicated his role as king.
The Saranjana Kingdom had been left in trusted hands, capable hands. To his own son.
On the surface, he seed relaxed. Wandering. Watching. Teaching.
But in truth... among all the gods, kings, and warriors...
Taufik was the busiest.
Every day, he gazed at the sky, not with eyes, but with his heart.
He listened.
To the wind.
To the pulse beneath the soil.
To the whispers of the ocean tides and the cracks in the mountains.
He heard what the Earth was feeling. What it feared. What it rembered.
And each ti, he tried to calm it.
Because the Earth knew:
A new Chapter was opening.
One wrong step... and it would all return.
The battlefield.
The blood.
The screams.
He would not let that happen again.
--------
- Another Day
Taufik lay beneath the massive canopy of the Great Tree, the living heart of the Saranjana Kingdom.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, dappled and warm.
He rested there, eyes closed. Still. Breathing.
Then-
His eyes snapped open.
It happened.
The breach.
A pressure shifted across the world, subtle, but undeniable.
And then:
[DING]
[Unknown Entity has entered Earth. What should we do, Master?]
Taufik exhaled slowly, his gaze turning upward, through leaves and sky.
"...For now, nothing," he said. "Let’s leave it to Zeus first... See how it plays out"
But even as he said it, a sliver of concern threaded through his heart.
Not fear. But caution. Instinct.
"Just in case..."
"I’ll call Lembu and Basukhi back"
He closed his eyes again.
And felt for them, not by distance, but by essence.
Two Ancient Souls... Forever Linked to Him.
Lembuswana.
Basukhi.
Taufik reached out.
Their soul-signatures flared in his awareness like twin stars in a sea of black, ancient, powerful, eternal.
He snapped his fingers.
A portal opened.
Taufik stood without haste and stepped through... And in the Blink of an Eye...
He was elsewhere.
High above the sky.
And then-
*BOOM!!!*
The explosion rocked the heavens, rattling the clouds.
Winds howled. Pressure cracked the air like thunder.
Taufik hovered midair, cloak rippling behind him.
Below...
A battlefield of madness.
In the center of it all... Two giants stood.
Lembuswana, The Beast of the End.
Majestic and brutal, each movent a promise of finality.
Basukhi, The Dragon of the Beginning.
Primordial. Serpentine. A divine storm coiled into a body.
The two titans carved through the sky like living calamities.
All around them, chaos reigned.
Creak Beasts, grotesque, winged horrors twisted from sinew, steel, and spite, filled the sky like a black tide. Their screeches were jagged. Their flight erratic. They sward with a madness that mocked order.
But Lembuswana and Basukhi...
They were surrounded.
They were outnumbered.
But they were not afraid.
Their eyes glead. Their smiles were wide. Not in defiance. But in delight.
They were laughing.
They were dancing.
They were fighting for the joy of it.
To them, War was breath. Chaos was play. Destruction... was sport.
Above them, sothing shifted.
A ripple in the clouds.
A pull in the air.
Taufik hovered above it all, calm as the eye of a storm.
His cloak fluttered.
His eyes scanned the battlefield, then narrowed with tired amusent.
A long sigh escaped his lips.
"...I leave you two alone for a few months," he muttered, "and this is what happens?"
He raised one hand.
No chant.
No gesture.
Just will.
And the sky responded.
*SHHHHRRRIIIIING*
A sound like a thousand unsheathed truths.
Above him... A halo of blades blood into being.
Each sword unique.
Each impossibly beautiful.
Each forged not from steel... But from pure imagination.
They vibrated in perfect formation, suspended in divine stillness.
Taufik flicked his wrist.
And the swords fell. Like divine rain. Like judgnt.
The wind scread as the blades tore downward, carving streaks of gold through the sky.
A storm of swords.
The Creak Beasts looked up... But too late.
Light flashed.
Wings tore.
Screeches died.
The sky turned red.
They fell.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Dead before they even understood what had arrived.
From below, Lembuswana blinked mid-punch.
"Huh?"
A pause.
He looked around at the shredded remnants of their enemies, blinking in confusion.
"...What just happened?"
Beside him, Basukhi, coiled mid-spin, a vortex still spiraling around him, stared upward, eyes wide with surprise... and then grinned wider.
Taufik floated above them, arms crossed, brow arched.
His voice ca low but sharp:
"You two... what the hell are you doing?"
Basukhi laughed, voice like rolling thunder.
"We were having fun"
Taufik gave him a long stare.
His arms were crossed.
His expression was unreadable.
His voice was calm, but tinged with sothing else.
"...Basukhi, didn’t you change way too much? I an, your personality?"
He squinted at the great dragon, as if trying to confirm if this was really the sa ancient being he once brought back.
Basukhi grinned wider, his massive coils twisting in mock surprise.
"What? I’ve always been like this. You’re just rembering wrong"
Taufik didn’t respond imdiately.
He blinked once.
Then again.
And finally, he sighed.
"...Forget it. Maybe it is "
Then his tone shifted, and the atmosphere changed with it.
"Anyway. Stop playing. I need your help"
That got their attention.
Lembuswana tilted his head.
"...Help? From us?"
"You? Asking for help?"
Taufik raised an eyebrow.
"Is there sothing wrong with that?"
Basukhi let out a low whistle, amused.
"Well... given your weird level of power, what exactly could we offer you?"
"Tch. It’s probably sothing annoying," Lembuswana muttered, "He wants to stay relaxed, so he’s dumping the problem on us. I know how you work, Fik"
Taufik gave a slight grin, but didn’t deny it.
Instead, he hovered forward, his gaze sharpening.
"Don’t ask too many questions. I’ll just say this once, help this ti, and when it’s over, you can do whatever you want. Go fight space beasts, nap in a volcano, dance with cots, I don’t care"
The two ancient beings exchanged glances.
"Ooooh~" Basukhi coiled in a circle, his tail flicking. "So this is about those few things creeping in from outside, huh?"
Taufik nodded once.
"Yeah. Sothing like that"
He turned slightly, facing toward Earth’s southern skies.
"Lembu. Basukhi. Head to Olympus. Assist Zeus"
Lembuswana’s brow twitched.
"What?"
"Tell him I sent you," Taufik added, casual as ever. "He’ll understand"
Lembuswana groaned, already regretting this.
"Huh?! Since when did I agree to this-"
"Lembu," Taufik interrupted, voice flat, "just this once. You don’t have to do anything. Just be there"
A pause.
Lembuswana muttered sothing about annoying favors and lazy gods, but eventually nodded.
Basukhi just gave a half-laugh.
"Guess we’re your diplomatic gift now"
"Call it insurance," Taufik replied. "Zeus knows what’s coming. He’ll need help holding the gate... until I decide what’s next"
....
...
..
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