Chapter 253.

PART 1.

Once they leave the period where they faced the T-Rex, Hatori shares the information about the moving fragments. Those two fragments are now getting closer to the third fragment, towards which they are also approaching. But given the distance, they do not know what to do about this situation.

So far, they have decided to do nothing. "Are you certain about this?" Hatori asked James, who is operating on an injured Raven. "This could be a potential enemy who might reach there before we arrive."

"I am certain that we will arrive there first." He answered. "What about the fragments? Did you give one to Shin as we planned?"

"Yeah. He has it." Said Hatori. "He is keeping it safe."

"Good. Now leave me alone. I need to nurse him back to health before we reach our target." Said James.

Hatori agrees and leaves James with his work. He floats away and listens to Shin explain how exactly he made that musical attack work at the end of the battle. Hatori stops nearby to listen to this explanation, he was not in the battle when that happened.

"Given how low the growl of that beast was, I figured it could communicate using low frequencies. I took advantage of this, and started to play a tune at the same frequency, which caused it to get confused, and gave you that chance." Said Shin. "Mind you, this is nothing new. I've tried that with dogs before."

"You monster!" Accused Josh.

"Well, how else was I supposed to know whether it would work?" Said Shin in his defense.

"You monster!" Said Josh, not convinced by the reasoning of his friend.

Leaving the two of them to bicker, Hatori comes to a halt right next to Tom.

"Hey man, what are you thinking about?" Hatori asked Tom, having seen him with an expression of deep thinking on his face.

"Nothing much. I was thinking that beast we encountered, could be a perfect training partner for the soldiers." Said Tom. "Apparently, their quality is falling. Avinash keeps complaining about that."

"Not just him." Said Hatori, looking at Raven who is now testing out his body with various stretches under the supervision of James.

"But we don't have anything like that in our time." Said Tom. "Not even in the forests of Academy. Not that they would let us use the animals there for that purpose. Maybe if we could have some giant spiders?"

"It would be perfect. Not only those would be deadly, but they would strike fear in their hearts. A perfect recipe for training soldiers." Hatori agreed with the suggestion. "But there is one problem with that. We can't have a spider of that size. It will collapse under its own weight."

Tom shrugged. He doesn't know about anything else.

"But don't worry, I'll think of something. If everything works out correctly, then the sample of that species should appear in my own artificial system." Said Hatori. "I'm sure I could lend a few to train the soldiers."

"What I am more interested in, however," Continued Hatori, "Is how exactly those trees fail to burn? I have never seen something like that. I don't think that beast enchanted those to resist fire."

"Those trees were using magic." Said Munshi.

"Don't you need sentience for that?" Asked Kalicharan.

"They can feel pain, can't they? That is enough sentience I believe." Said Hatori.

"True that. But I have not seen something like that. Sure, there are some passive effects, and there can be especially enchanted trees too. But outright resist fire damage, that is something new." Said Kalicharan.

"Maybe this ability was lost over the years?" Offered Tom.

"Possible." Said Hatori. "In which case, I know what I must do. Just enchant a few plants, and then do some selective breeding. A few generations of that, and voila! I would have magical trees and plants of my own."

"We have arrived." Said James to Hatori. He is done healing Raven. He said that to partly inform his friend, and partly to give relief to Josh and Shin who are horrified by Hatori's plans.

"Also, do give me a few samples when you have the whole thing worked out." The horror increased in others. James shrugged. Why should he overlook such a chance? Hatori's experiments are usually great for increasing his own knowledge.

"Will do." Hatori agreed.

PART 2.

After coming out of the portal, they are struck by the cold wind. When they observe the surrounding area, they see nothing but flat ground and grass everywhere. "Where are we?" Asked Hatori.

"It is the western part of the Eurasian Steppe." Said Raven. "According to the spell, our target is to the east."

"Correct." Said Hatori and Munshi, having sensed the fragment in the same direction. So, they start to walk in that direction.

"You know something, the places we have seen so far would be perfect to turn on a historian." Said Hatori.

"What, are you turned on by history?" Asked Shin. "Didn't know that about you."

"Not me. But someone else. Someone who is excited when they see historic events happening right in front of their eyes." Said Hatori.

"Do you know someone like that?" Asked Josh.

"Yep. I'm talking about Daphne." Said Hatori. "When I get back, she would be so jealous, and turned on..."

"Shut up. We don't want to listen to the gory details." Said Tom.

"Do you not think it is unfair that we have to walk like this?" Asked James. "We are mages, aren't we? Shouldn't we have an impressive way of arriving somewhere?"

"I already do." Replied Hatori, hovering in the air just for a moment. "The only reason I walk the ground is because the rest of you can't keep up with me."

"Was he this insufferable during the training trip with you as well?" Asked Raven to Munshi.

"Not at all. He was quite easy to handle. Just tinkered with the runes in his free time." Explained Munshi. "Of course, he also had a steady hand. He was quite helpful in preparations for me."

"Luckily for us, the fragment is not far." Said Kalicharan, nodding at a group at some distance from them. They are sitting in a circle near a fire, chanting some spells in a complicated rhythm. "We better stop this." Said Hatori, turning serious. "There is some insane buildup of magic happening here."

"Dammit. Is that a ritual in progress?" Asked Kalicharan.

"Not yet. It is the perfect time to interrupt this. Any later, and we would have a problem in our hands." Said Munshi, agreeing with the assessment of his student.

"Well then. You were complaining about the entrance, weren't you?" Said Josh, as he conjured water, and it started to swirl around them. "Let me give you one impressive entrance."

Hatori jumped on the large wave of water conjured by Josh, while others followed behind slowly. They have no interest in playing games at this stage. Hatori is not worried about this, as he has already done this once during his Academy days with Josh.

The chanting is disrupted, as a monstrous wave of water comes at the group. Due to the water, the fire goes out, and the area is filled with water up to their ankles. A battle starts, where Hatori swiftly decapitates the man in front of him while trying to pursue the one with the fragment.

Others also arrive, and the fight is taken over by others. Munshi and Hatori try to pin their target down, but in the chaos of the battle he flees from them.

After the slaughter is complete, Hatori points to the direction where their target has fled. "He is unable to stop us from sensing that fragment. We should go after him."

"Perfect." Said Munshi. "But before, let me do this."

He burned down the sight of this disrupted ritual. As they walked away, he looked at the questioning gaze of everyone. "What? That was necessary. Hatori, explain them."

"That was a summoning ritual." Said Hatori. "If I understand correctly, it had global... No. Universal scope." He realized why Munshi did what he did. "Though I doubt it is truly universal. You can't pull something across the universe, no matter how good your ritual is."

"Do you remember why we don't say or mention words like 'God' or 'Gods'?" Asked Munshi.

"Yeah. Because you might end up completing the chanting of summoning by accident, and no one would know how to handle the thing which appears." Explained Hatori. "Quite honestly, I found it strange as a kid. But it makes sense to me now."

"This would have done the same thing." Said Munshi. "The only difference is that it wouldn't have been accidental."

"Do we have any records of this happening?" Josh asked Raven.

"None in particular. Remember, even the magic users transferred their knowledge orally in the pre-literacy age. Besides, records of our own interference will be erased, remember?" Reminded Raven.

"True that. Just to be certain though, we should check things up when we get back." Said Josh.

"Good idea." Raven agreed.

PART 3.

"Chief! Chief!" Several men run into the camp of the chief. A well-built man responded to their urgent call.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Do you know that idiot priest whom we kicked out? He was performing a strange ritual with a dangerous object. Suddenly, a group of strange men comes out of the void nearby and assaults him and his men. His men died, but he fled with that strange object." Reported one of the men.

"Please don't tell me he managed to anger the old gods?" He considers the matter for a moment. "Make preparations. Evacuate this land immediately. We'll leave and settle somewhere else. Meanwhile, if you are an able fighter and understand rituals, come with me. We will investigate this."

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Are you certain?" Said an old man, sitting next to the chief. "This could be dangerous for you."

"I have to take that chance. I am the strongest among us. I can't run from the first sign of danger." He answered.

"Very well." The old man gets up. "I will help in the evacuation. I will caution you against unnecessary dangers. There is no shame in fleeing before gods after all."

"Noted." Said the chief. Together with his men, he leaves to find out what exactly is going on in his territory, while behind him the camp is being dismantled.

The group led by the chief comes to the sight of the location, riding on the horses. They notice how the entire area is filled with water and blood, and the bodies of the dead forces are lying nearby.

"Are there any from that strange other group?" Asked the chief.

"No. Just the men of that exiled priest."

"Chief, I have found some footmarks. We should pursue them." Said one of the men who is a scout.

"Very well." They follow in their footsteps, still riding their horses. Soon enough, they come across the walking group of Hatori and his friends.

They are shocked by the appearance of this group. In height and build, some of them are absolute monsters. Others are of their size, but even they would be the tallest members of their tribes if they were a part of it. Their clothing is also strange, and the sense of magic coming from these people is something that the chief has never experienced before.

"Halt! State your business." He ordered them.

They all clutched their heads. Thinking this might be a hostile action, the chief prepares to order the charge. But the strange conversation stopped him before he could order that.

"Why do things have to be so painful?" Complained the shorter member of the group, the one with bells in his hair.

"Pain and suffering are the fundamental truth of life. Better make peace with it." Replied the second-tallest man with artificial-looking eyes.

Even though these people are unknown, the chief agreed with the man. "I say it one more time: Stop, and state your business."

"We have no business with you." Said one of the old men. Fitting, these must be the elders of the group. "Once we have gotten our prey? Is that the right word?" Asked the old man to another member of this group, the one with a rigid posture.

"Correct. It is close enough in this language anyway." He replied in an unknown tongue.

"We will leave once we have our prey." Said the old man once again.

"That is an insufficient answer. We will now use force against you." Replied the chief.

They started charging, and the tallest man in the group complained. "Can't we ever have peace in this world?"

"Peace is a lie, cooked up by weaklings." Replied the man with artificial eyes. Even though he blasted him and his men back, causing panic within the horses, the chief marveled at the wisdom of this guy. 'He must be trained as a leader by the elders.' He concluded in his head.

"Forget about them." Said Hatori, ignoring the oncoming second charge of the horse riders. "I have tracked him down. Come with me."

"Sure." They all quickly abandon this fight and go in the direction where Hatori is running.

"Men, after them!" Ordered the chief.

Hatori and company arrived at the location of their target. Behind them, they also hear the stomping of the horses. The chief and his men are probably coming after them.

However, instead of finding their single target, they run headfirst into an army of undead. "How the hell does he have so many people? Wasn't this era supposed to be low in population?" Complained Hatori.

"Kalicharan and I will deal with the army. You handle the ritual." Said Munshi. "It is already in progress. So be careful this time."

"Oh, I completely ignored that." Said Hatori, moving to stop the ritual.

Using earth magic to move the ground, the mage with the fragment is tossed on his back. Hatori summoned the fragment to himself, and then he started to deal with the unraveling ritual. "Seriously, he fled from us just a few hours ago. How did he do all of this in such a short amount of time?"

"Probably had prior preparation." Said James, who is attacking the mage who formerly had the fragment, and who is trying to get to Hatori and restart the ritual.

Shin and Josh are looking for other threats. The spectacle is chaotic enough that the chief and his men have stopped at some distance, unwilling to approach the hoard of undead. Even though the two elders are clearing them rapidly.

Once the final walking corpse is turned into ash, Hatori releases the pent-up energy in the sky. After that, they quickly huddled together and teleported away with the fragment.

"What now, chief?" Asked one of the horse riders.

"What else? We will leave this land. It is tainted. We can't live here anymore."

PART 4.

As soon as they entered the void between the time, Hatori sensed the enemy getting closer. His magic started to coil in preparation like a snake getting ready to strike. Meanwhile, Josh and Raven are having a discussion about their last battle.

"Doesn't matter." Said Josh. "Even if there was a disaster of a magical kind, I bet it does not have anything to do with us. After all, it is all going to be wiped out."

"Much like you worms." A deep and malicious voice said in the void, scaring everyone.

However, Hatori did not react in fear. He was ready to strike, and thus he unleashed a fire blast as wide as his torso in the direction of that voice.

"Learn your place!" Said the monster, exposing himself. He retaliates against Hatori, who easily floats away from his attacks.

"Do you know this guy?" Asked Raven.

"Yeah, it's Arjun Reddy." Grumbled Josh. "Guess it wasn't enough for him to constantly cause problems for us. He and his followers probably caused this disaster."

"Thank you for saying this." Said Kalicharan with a smile.

While Hatori is a battle machine, others are not. They need rest after their latest fight. They give it their all but are unable to handle Arjun in his monstrous form.

Hatori then steps in. Easily swatting his spells aside, Hatori deals a huge amount of damage to the monster with one lightning spell. "Insolent brat! You are the cause of all of this. Now Die!"

"What?" Hatori Realized it too late what was coming his way. It is not a spell. It is a curse with time-related property, as much as he can tell in the heat of the battle.

The curse strikes true to its mark, and Hatori starts to rot away. But two of the fragments stored within his wrists react with this curse, and instead of rotting Hatori, Hatori is transformed into a baby.

"All the easier to kill you. I will squash you under my foot like a bug you are!" Arjun moves to do exactly that, but others get in front of him.

"You brat with no name. Have another rotting curse!" But Shin also has a fragment on him. It also reacts badly, and he is thrown into some unknown time after a broken portal opens and he goes through it. Josh makes a quick calculation to understand where exactly he has gone, and then he starts to defend Hatori.

"Since you care about him so much, why don't you follow him?" This time Arjun opens the portal and blasts Josh and Raven into it before he closes it. Their final spells do land on him, but he brushed them aside with ease.

James tries to follow them, but he is punched into another portal.

"How is he opening portals so quickly?" Asked Tom.

"That is not the time to ask that question, lad." Said Munshi. "Open a portal yourself, and take Hatori with you." "Yes sir." Said Tom sadly.

The two necromancers distract the beast for a while, but it does not take long for Arjun to murder them both. They are unable to cope with the damage he caused them, and they simply do not have enough energy to fight him after their slaughter of the undead army in the previous time.

Tom is opening up a portal, and he quickly summoned baby Hatori to him. Meanwhile, Arjun starts to howl in pain, as Munshi has put a curse on him before he dies.

Still, despite the blinding pain in his body, he appears behind Tom and grabs him in a bear hug. He is angry that Hatori is not in his grip. He squeezed Tom until his bones started to crack, and his organs were scrambled, after which he tossed him aside. His body starts to burn automatically, a defensive measure everyone has taken after the last war to make sure that no one can resurrect them, or use them as an undead slave after the last war.

Arjun howls in pain. Hatori has gotten away from him, while the three fragments that were just in his reach previously are now far from him. He opens another portal before the pain-causing curse of Munshi flairs up once again, knocking him out completely.

PART 5.

Somewhere in the void, far from the small galaxy and the small rock that is called Earth by its inhabitants, A figure is bound in a field. But this field fizzles out, and this man with artificial eyes is surprised.

"!" But he starts to laugh, once he realizes what exactly is happening. Several guards are put around this area to make sure no accidents happen. But these guards are slack in their security, for the prison is created by the gods themselves. How can it break?

And yet, exactly that has happened. They are not ready to react in time, as they are all slaughtered one by one. No one is here to listen to their screams of pain or their pleas for mercy. All the while, the man with the artificial eyes smiled in glee.