As Ethan and Lily continued walking atop the water, a brilliant blue light erupted from the city and bathed the two teenagers with its radiance.
When the light receded, the two of them were no longer in the spot where they were walking. Instead, they were teleported to the top of the pyramid, which was located in the center of the city.
Lily found herself standing in front of what seemed to be a trident-shaped stone.
It stood three meters tall, and there were runes glowing on its surface.
Suddenly, Ethan’s body shuddered.
The young man looked in front of him in confusion, and then around his surroundings.
When his gaze landed on Lily, he regained a semblance of calm before asking her a question.
“Where are we?” Ethan asked. “Are you the one who brought me here, Lily?”
Lily blinked in confusion, thinking that Ethan ought to be aware of what was going on.
After realizing that the handsome young man was as clueless as she was, she understood that the latter might have been in a trance when he decided to take a midnight stroll towards the Ancient City.
“No,” Lily replied. “Actually, you were the one that brought me here. You don’t remember anything?”
Ethan shook his head. “The only thing I remember was sleeping early. I didn’t recall going anywhere after that.”
Lily nodded in understanding. However, before the two of them could continue talking, they heard a faint chuckle in front of them.
“To think that an innocent boy like him would actually have descendants—color me surprised. Should I refer to you as this generation’s Tide Bringer?”
Ethan and Lily glanced at their surroundings, trying to look for the source of the voice. But, instead of seeing where the voice was coming from, they heard another chuckle, which made the two of them look at the stone trident that had glowing runes on its body.
“Congratulations and welcome to the City of Zentris, Tide Bringer,” the Trident said. “I am its Steward, and you can call me Sebastian.”
“…You can talk?” Ethan looked at the Trident in disbelief.
“Duh?” Sebastian replied. “Of course, I can talk. What’s wrong? Is this your first time hearing a trident talk?”
“Yes.”
“Well. I guess there’s a first time for everything.”
An awkward silence descended upon the surroundings, which Lily broke.
She decided to take over and ask the Stone Trident some important questions.
“Do you know if there is any kind of gateway here that will allow someone to travel in different timelines?” Lily asked. “Or any kind of phenomenon that will make it possible for someone to travel to the future?”
“Young lady, are you referring to what the Ancients call a Nexus?” Sebastian answered. “If so, the answer is yes.”
Lily and Ethan exchanged a glance, and after so long, a hint of excitement appeared on their faces.
“Then, can you tell us where it is?” Lily inquired. “We need it to travel back to the future.”
“I see…” The Trident’s body glowed faintly. “Now it makes sense. I could tell that you were his descendant, but to think that you came from the future… this is truly unexpected.”
A moment later, an image of an extremely handsome young man with blue hair stepped out of the Stone Trident.
He was only wearing pants, and his near-perfect body—which was oozing with strength and manliness—made him look like a deity that had descended into the world to make mortal women fall in love with him.
Even Lily found herself unable to avert her gaze as she looked at the young man, who had a smile that could cause the downfall of nations.
“It’s hard to talk as a trident, so I took on the form of my Master instead,” Sebastian stated before smiling at Lily and Ethan. “Now, where was I? Ah—yes, the Nexus. If you are looking for something that would allow you to travel to the future, then you are in the right place. I am capable of doing that.”
Ethan’s and Lily’s expressions became solemn as they looked at Sebastian, who had an amused look on his handsome face.
“But I will not send the two of you back to your present right now,” Sebastian explained. “If you wish to return, you have to do something for me first. Also, it takes time to gather enough Magical Energy to open a Nexus. At most, you will have to wait until the next lunar eclipse before I can open the gateway to the future.”
Ethan frowned. “When is the next lunar eclipse?”
“Two months from now,” Sebastian replied.
The two teenagers breathed a sigh of relief because they thought that they would have to wait for a few years for the next lunar eclipse to occur.
Seeing their relieved faces, Sebastian chuckled again before a look of ridicule appeared on his face.
“Let’s put aside the lunar eclipse for now,” Sebastian commented. “Now, let’s talk about what the two of you need to do in order to get back home to your own timeline. First and foremost, although I am the Tide Bringer’s servant, I only answer to my original Master.
“Since you are his descendant, I can, of course, extend my help to you. But it won’t be for free. Have you heard of Equivalent Exchange? In order for you to go home, you need to do something of equal value.”
Ethan nodded his head in understanding. “Then, what do we have to do in order to get back home?”
“Straight to the point.” Sebastian grinned. “I like that.”
Sebastian then looked at the South with contempt.
“You see, after my Master disappeared, a bastard decided to make the Lands of Alastor his sacrificial grounds,” Sebastian replied. “He slowly built up his army, annexing one force after another. Now, he had full control of nearly the entirety of the Lands of Alastor, with the exception of this territory.
“Currently, he is amassing his forces to attack this city. No matter what happens, he must not be allowed to succeed. If he were to gain my Master’s Legacy, then this entire continent will be under his mercy.”
Sebastian’s expression became solemn as he looked at the young man in front of him.
“This person is a Necromancer,” Sebastian added. “The number of Undead under his control is in the tens of thousands. A force that can easily swallow up the nearby kingdoms if left unchecked.
“Right now, he is on his last legs and has only been able to survive after sacrificing countless lives. But that too can change now that you are here.
“You see, only those with my Master’s bloodline can obtain his legacy. So, since this Necromancer wants this legacy, what do you think is his priority?”
Ethan’s face paled after realizing what Sebastian was hinting at.
“You mean… his main target is me?” Ethan asked back.
“Right.” Sebastian nodded. “To him, you are the perfect vessel. So, there are two conditions that you need to meet before I help you go home. The first one is to defeat the Necromancer and end his reign of terror once and for all.
“The second is for you to survive until I am able to gather enough power to send the two of you back to the future. Very easy, right?”
“If you win, you will be the talk of legends. If you lose, a different legend will be born, and that would be the downfall of this entire continent at the hands of that Necromancer. Either way, people will talk about this tale for the next few hundred years.”
The Steward of the Ancient City smiled mischievously as he looked at the descendant of his Master.
Truth be told, he was annoyed with the Original Tide Bringer for leaving him to watch over this city in his absence. 𝗈𝑣𝑳xt.𝗰𝒐𝓜
It had been three hundred years since then, and not once had the Prince Of The Sea returned to the Lands of Alastor.
Before he left, the Tide Bringer told Sebastian that he was going to fight a Primordial Monster that planned to drown the entire world and kill all life within it.
That was the last time Sebastian had seen and talked to his Master.
The world wasn’t drowned by the raging waters of the sea, so he assumed that his Master had succeeded.
However, as to what price the Tide Bringer paid in order to win, Sebastian could only make a few guesses, and one of them was that he sacrificed his life in doing so.
‘It’s no use thinking about these things right now,’ Sebastian thought as he looked at Ethan, who had now grown quiet after his revelation. ‘Since he is here, it means that the Master managed to leave his descendants behind.’
Sebastian smiled bitterly as he looked in the direction of the Sea.
‘That fool always tried to carry the burden of the world on his shoulders all by himself. I just hope that this boy will not grow up as stupid as him.’
Although he was still bitter after being left behind, that didn’t change the fact that Sebastian’s loyalty was still strong towards his Master.
Because of this, he was willing to extend his helping hand to the two teenagers, who had appeared in the right place at the wrong time.