"It seems he either joined forces with Gaia, or he desires something from him!"

A few minutes later, they emerged from the trees to find the city ablaze. Bodies littered the path. The Astra soldiers were fighting Gladious's troops, some of them covering their bodies in wood and manipulating roots, while others possessed powers different from what Omar had seen when he fought them in the forest. Some soldiers were surrounded by an aura of water, their bodies completely changed as if they were fluid beings, shooting jets of water at the burning houses and trees to extinguish the fires. Others were encircled by flames, red and blue fire, scorching Gladious's soldiers who stood before them.

Omar stopped amid the chaos, and Menora froze beside him in terror. Gladious's soldiers wore black suits and black glass helmets, wielding strange firearms that had two valves—one for bullets and one for projectiles—and shot at anyone in their path.

Both Omar and Menora were paralyzed by fear. Then Omar snapped out of it, pulling out his weapon and firing relentlessly. Soldiers fell before his shots. Noticing him, they turned their fire his way, but Omar activated his energy shield, deflecting the incoming bullets. Menora stood straight, clasped her hands, and lightning descended from the sky onto her body, enveloping her in an electrical aura. Her eyes shone bright white, and her appearance completely transformed.

She unleashed successive electrical charges from her hands toward the attackers, shocking them until they fell dead, their bodies scorched by the immense electrical power. Omar's eyes widened in astonishment.

They truly control the forces of nature! he thought.

Menora electrocuted the attackers one after the other, and many of them dropped dead, but their numbers were vast, and they kept up their barrage of fire. She created an electrical barrier that vaporized any approaching bullet. The humble city was burning, and the helpless civilians fled to shelters, protected by the soldiers.

The Astra soldiers continued to put out the fires caused by Gladious's followers, who carried fire-spitting weapons, burning forests and homes as if they intended to destroy this simple world and leave no refuge for the inhabitants.

Gladious's forces continued to multiply. The Astra realized they couldn't put out all the fires right now, so they focused on repelling the attackers, engulfing them in water. It seemed only ten soldiers could control fire, while many more controlled water, wood, and rocks. No one possessed power like Menora's; she was the only one who controlled lightning, and it seemed an inseparable part of her.

Omar felt insignificant compared to them, yet he kept contributing, firing his weapon and dropping the large number of Gladious's soldiers pouring out of the forest.

Menora soared into the air and raised her hand, gathering lightning in the sky. Thunder roared, and Omar recoiled in fear. Suddenly, tongues of lightning struck several of Gladious's soldiers, tearing them to shreds. The rock manipulators quickly erected a massive stone barrier at the eastern and southern entrances to the forest to block the enemy's advance. The fire users burned anyone who managed to cross before the stone barriers were complete, and the water users returned to dousing the flames in the city.

Menora descended, letting her power subside. Omar looked at her with increasing confusion. She laughed at him, saying, "Didn't I tell you I'm Gaia's sister? That means I'm the strongest one here."

Omar was silent, unable to utter a single word. She tried to reassure him: "I know these powers disturb you, but you'll get used to them."

He nodded slowly, following her with hesitant steps. Suddenly, the stone barrier at the eastern entrance exploded, sending the rock-manipulators flying from the force of the blast.

A strange figure emerged from the rubble, completely unlike the other soldiers in dress and stature.

He wore a dark cowl and a white skull-shaped mask marked with various etchings.

The stranger advanced slowly, staring intently at the stunned Astra. One of them asked, "Who are you?"

The stranger did not reply, continuing his calm walk toward them. An Astra soldier conjured columns of jagged rock and launched them at him, but the stranger kept walking calmly. As the rocks approached, they were sliced into pieces. They saw a strange golden sword circling the stranger, realizing that this flying sword was what had cut the rocks. The Astra watched in amazement as the strange sword darted forward and pierced the heart of the soldier who had attacked him. The man spat dark red blood, collapsed, and fell dead. The sword returned to circle the stranger again.

The stranger finally spoke, his accent foreign, struggling with the Astra language so his words came out slightly distorted:

"Greetings, people of Atlantis. My name is Margoth, and I am a member of the Inyx. You are probably wondering why I attack you! The reason is simple: I want Menora, Gaia's sister. If you hand her over, I will leave you in peace. And of course, because I know your nature—that you would choose war over surrendering her—I cut straight to the chase and began the attack, so as not to waste my time or yours. Therefore, this war will not stop until I find her."

Omar looked at Menora, who returned his look of fear, unsure what they wanted with her. She saw the elder, Minoth, advance toward Margoth, stroking his silver beard.

"And why do you want her?" Minoth asked. "After all we have done for you—welcoming you and sharing our planet—you now attack us without mercy or compassion!"

Margoth looked at him for a few seconds, then replied: "What we want from her will help end the war, but you would not agree to what we will do with her, so we will take her by force, for your own good. As for compassion and generosity, these things mean nothing to me. They are just principles subject to your own customs, and I owe you no thanks or appreciation for them, as they are merely the principles that led you to your current state."

The elder was enraged by his amoral way of thinking and declared firmly, having made up his mind: "Then you shall never take her."

"We shall see about that."

Margoth raised his hands and slowly swept them left and right. Five flying swords—red, yellow, blue, silver, and gold—emerged from his back and circled around him. A single sword remained sheathed in the middle of Margoth's waist, unused.

Margoth sat down as his five swords spun and unfolded like flower petals, rotating on their axes. The elder stepped back, signaling for his people to prepare. The Astra fortified themselves with stone, wood, and fire, and the elder himself reinforced his body with rock until he became a stone giant, fire igniting around his rocky form.

Margoth signaled his soldiers to advance. They obeyed, opening fire, while his five swords shot through the air like arrows toward the Astra. The Astra troops grouped together, charging toward them, unleashing everything they had. The swords attacked them, cutting some, stabbing others, and at times spinning like rotors, severing limbs and necks.

Omar warned Menora nervously: "We have to get you out of here."

"No. I won't leave and let my people fight alone."

"Don't be stubborn! If they catch you, it's over! We have to escape. I'm sure they can defeat these wretches."

"They need my strength, and I will never fail them."

Omar was exasperated by her stubbornness and knew she wouldn't run. Menora signaled to the sky, and lightning enveloped her body. She launched into the battlefield. Margoth noticed the lightning, immediately recognizing her as his target, as Gladious had informed him she was the only one whose body could harness the power of lightning.

As Menora sped to join her people, one of Margoth's swords shot toward her. She ducked quickly, and it passed harmlessly by, but she immediately saw another sword coming from the front, while the first returned to attack her from behind. She created a barrier of lightning to prevent them from touching her, but the swords spun rapidly, digging into the barrier until they nearly pierced it. Menora leaped away, and the barrier shattered. As she was getting up, a third sword surprised her. She gasped, thinking it was the end, but Omar shoved her aside, falling beside her.

The three swords circled around them, spinning like rotors at incredible speed. Omar felt that if he put his hand between them, it would be instantly shredded into unidentifiable pieces. Margoth advanced through the soldiers. The Astra tried to attack him with fire, but one of his swords quickly spun in front of him, extinguishing the flames before they could touch him. Another tried to hit him with rocks emerging from the ground, but his swords sliced them apart. They even deflected the waves of water, arranging themselves in a fast-spinning circle to block the water's advance.

The Astra thought he was invincible. His defenses were unmatched. He walked through the battlefield with an unprecedented carelessness and confidence, heading straight toward Menora. He reached them, no one able to stop him, having trapped her and Omar with three swords while the other two protected him from any surprise attack from the Astra. Margoth reached them and saw them helpless like mice amidst his swords.

He said, "Surrender now, and I won't harm your people."

Omar aimed his rifle at him and fired furiously, saying, "Shut up, you insolent bastard!"

One of Margoth's swords came out and deflected every bullet, as if it sensed and anticipated its location.

Menora raised her hand to the sky and directed it toward Margoth. Lightning bolts descended, but his five swords flew above him and spun like rotors, shielding him from the lightning. Omar and Menora took this opportunity to escape, but Margoth quickly sent one of his swords toward Menora's leg. It struck, and she fell, blood gushing out. She screamed in pain until she fainted, and the electrical aura around her vanished.

Omar was beside himself. "What did you do to her?!"

"You should know that each of my swords has a unique property. This sword can put anyone it touches into a deep sleep. You could say it is covered with a fast-acting hypnotic substance that spreads rapidly through the body and quickly reaches the mind."

Omar felt like a boiling volcano. He saw Margoth's swords surrounding him from all sides and knew that if he didn't think fast, both he and Menora were finished.

Omar slowly raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, I'll hand her over, but don't kill us."

Margoth smiled beneath his mask and clapped his hands. "A wise decision."

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