on the other side after a long journey that lasted three days and nights of continuous flying elios and zarion reached the edge of the desert that separates them from the green spaces and fertile nature. the scene was completely different from before as the barren sands turned into green spaces extending as far as the eye can see.
but suddenly the two felt a terrible energy blowing on them like a merciless storm until both of them bowed from the intensity of fear and terror in front of this mysterious power that seems as if it is coming from a being that exceeds imagination in its strength!
despite that they did not lose their senses so they rushed to hide behind a group of large rocks to avoid any possible confrontation.
not minutes passed until the major shock reached them: arissa the brutal girl who left a bloody massacre that destroyed millions of the akrit people on her way there landed on the ground with force as if she were a destructive storm sweeping the place!
she looked around with sharp eyes and said in a decisive and harsh voice
"come out now! i know there are two insects hiding here."
elios and zarion hid anxiously hiding in complete silence but arissa added in a threatening tone
"if no one comes out within five seconds i will destroy everything in this range!"
they had no choice so the two came out slowly and submissively from their hiding place with a mixture of fear and extreme caution painted on their faces fully realizing that the upcoming confrontation with arissa would undoubtedly be a life or death confrontation.
the atmosphere is charged with tension and anticipation after elios and zarion emerged from their hiding place and arissas smile which carries within it a malice that hides nothing of her confidence and control over the situation.
arissa says in a tone full of sarcasm
"wonder what beautiful luck that the two big insects are here!"
elios trembles with fear and says to her
"what do you want from us? did you not set us free? why are you chasing us?"
she answers coldly
"i want what you have."
the two exchange suspicious looks then ask in a hesitant voice
"what is it?"
arissa responds firmly
"the map you poor insects!"
the two deny the matter stubbornly but she does not back down and continues
"unfortunately i caught the old man who handed you the map and he told me that he gave this map to two of the heroes who would save his poor people. he was crying from his torment and for that i killed him immediately."
elios responds angrily
"liar! i saw how you destroyed the old mans village by the hands of your soldiers."
arissa responds with malice
"if you admit that you were there and you have something then i will hand you what you want or i will kill you."
elios collapses a little but she follows cruelly
"in fact i did not know anything about the old man or the villages or the like but now you admit. come on hand over what you have or i will kill you!"
elios thinks for a moment then looks at zarion who whispers to him
"trust me."
elios takes a deep breath then tells arissa
"what you want is with me. let me leave the place and i will hand you the map."
arissa agrees unexpectedly and zarion intends to ask elios about his plan but he responds simply
"trust me and go."
elios flies away quickly leaving zarion with arissa. when zarion steps forward to hand over the map arissa takes it and opens it with anticipation but soon her facial expression turns to extreme anger after she realizes that the map is empty.
she says sharply
"you deceived me little one!"
she directs one strong blow to zarion knocking him to the ground. she looks around but elios has moved far away and she cannot see him.
with suppressed anger arissa decides to return to the base taking zarion with her as she prepares her next plan with caution and ingenuity no less than the intensity of the confrontation they experienced.
on the other side arius notices the massive movements of the soldiers and immediately feels that they have discovered his place and the place of his companions. the huge numbers of soldiers surround them from every side. the place is filled with the noise of shouting and the sound of weapons.
raymos trembles feeling panic as he looks around searching for an exit but he finds himself completely trapped in a moment of extreme tension. he turns to arius and orders him in a firm voice
"stay here! i will try to find an exit!"
but arius descends to the ground with confidence as if he fears nothing and stands tall in front of the huge army.
the soldiers start laughing and mocking him as they see his number appearing on the level detector: only 5! he seems in their eyes weak and worthless.
raymos asks in surprise as he looks at arius
"what are you thinking? how can you stay silent like this?"
suddenly arius opens his eyes with force and his body trembles then he says in a low voice that no one believes what they will hear
"no... this... is impossible! is this all i showed them?"
raymos trembles violently as he feels arius true power that he has started to smell now a power that exceeds all his expectations.
at that moment one of the soldiers steps towards arius challenging him but he suddenly falls to the ground motionless amidst the astonishment of everyone.
with one look from arius he raises his aura and the ground and the atmosphere shake violently and the winds start blowing fiercely around them as if all nature is warning of his coming power.
arius sets off at a speed that cannot be seen by the naked eye erasing the soldiers one after another with swift and bloody movements leaving behind him a battlefield exploded with destruction and awe.
even raymos who accompanied arius for a long time stands amazed in front of this scene that he did not expect seeing before him the weak child he was but now he is an incomparable cosmic power capable of erasing entire armies easily and surpassing him personally in strength and control.
now the scene expands and the sky of the planet is filled with arius exploding power announcing the beginning of a new phase where that weak child no longer exists but an absolute legendary warrior!
after arius eliminated the soldiers with a dazzling performance and power beyond description he turned to raymos with a serious look and said to him
"we must move away from here as quickly as possible. this place is no longer safe."
the two took off into the sky at great speed disappearing among the clouds until the suns rays pierced the horizon of the sky announcing the beginning of a new day and they searched for a quiet place to catch their breath.
when they finally settled in a place far from the noise and destruction they sat under the shadow of a huge rock for raymos to start with his confused looks asking arius
"how did you reach this level of power suddenly?"
arius with a light smile on his face answered calmly
"just regular training fighting a group of monsters daily breaking out of caves being exposed to injuries then healing. this is my way."
raymos did not fully understand the meaning but he started to think seriously about raising his level. he forgot his pride and with rare humility said to arius
"can you crush me? and i ask the child to treat me as he did with you... i want to rise to your level."
arius smiled with admiration and said
"fine. if you are serious then let us start now."
and so they began implementing the plan. arius breaks from raymos body with deliberate force and the child treats him after every blow while raymos tests the limits of his endurance and patience in order to become stronger. this was the beginning of a new chapter in their journey towards power and dominance.
arissa returned to the base boiling with anger her face glowing like fire and she grabbed zarion by his hair strongly and dragged him behind her as if he were just a doll. she entered her fathers room and her eyes carried sparks of anger and she said to him in a voice full of resentment
"they deceived me those dirty celestines! how dare they betray me?"
kaiser looked at her coldly and said
"raymos and elios must be killed and arius too."
but arissa did not leave room for doubt or hesitation she exploded saying
"what are you saying?! that pet animal the eve escaped he and his friend and the namekian child from here!"
the room began to shake from the intensity of her anger and she began to smash everything around her screaming and screaming
"find them immediately! bring them to me alive or dead!"
at that moment a group of soldiers entered panting and said to kaiser in a tense tone
"sir we found the village where you followed those celestines... they were killed in the most hideous way."
a deep shock prevailed in the hall and the tension rose to an unprecedented level as this was the beginning of a new confrontation and it will carry in its folds a lot of destruction and burning conflicts.
kaiser went out with a group of his fighting soldiers their atmosphere gloomy carrying the omens of death as they set out without mercy searching for those boys who brought him trouble. before he left arissa whispered to him in a cold voice
"bring me arius alive. as for the rest kill them all without mercy."
after kaiser and his soldiers left arissa entered a frozen room where she threw poor zarion inside. she began torturing him with unspeakable brutality as if she were discharging her accumulated anger on his body. every blow and every torture tool carved a terrible trace of terror in the souls of the soldiers who watched those scenes. they froze from the horror of the terror their bodies paralyzed in front of the monstrosity of what is happening as if time stopped for a moment in front of arissas brutality that knows no mercy.
on the other side of the planet elios was walking alone in the middle of the scorching desert the heat of the sun burning his head without mercy and his body exhausted from extreme fatigue. he was lost not knowing where to head and every step took him deeper into the heart of this sandy hell. suddenly he could not stand the fatigue any more so he fell to the ground unconscious.
after a period of time he opened his eyes to a dark and cold world and felt something strange pulling him gently away from the hot sands. then he fainted again.
elios woke up inside a dark and quiet cave where he found a mysterious person caring for him preparing a cure for him and rubbing his wounds with extreme care. this ointment was soothing the sunburns and relieving the pain so elios began to feel the flow of life returning to his body after the period of suffering and loss.
after elios gradually regained his activity and strength he looked at the mysterious man with questioning eyes and asked him about his identity and the reason for his presence in this isolated place. the man smiled calmly and answered
"i am the guardian of this desert. no one is supposed to approach it for here is a cursed place that does not spare intruders."
then elios turned towards the surrounding desert and said
"why did you stay here?"
the guardian answered in a sad tone
"this land was cursed to stay here forever for i tried long ago to use the life cube for a selfish matter so my curse was a punishment for me for that."
elios look is full of wonder and concern so the guardian continued his speech saying
"the cube is extremely dangerous. whoever possesses it is seduced by his deepest desires and becomes a prisoner of his greed. i advise you to return from where you came and not to look for this thing again for it may destroy your life and the lives of those you love."
the guardians words were a stern warning but at the same time they ignited in elios heart the flame of curiosity and determination to move forward in his mission.
elios answered
"and have you met the star wizard before?"
the man replied with a calmness full of sorrow
"yes i met the star wizard one day. and he is the main reason for my curse that does not leave me until today."
he hesitated a little then continued after he touched in elios eyes something of kindness and sincerity
"that was at a time when my tribe was drowning in severe drought and poverty. the akrit people then were divided among scattered tribes each tribe seeking to achieve its goals and accomplishments away from the other. i was assigned a long journey across the planet to ask the star wizard to save our tribe from decline and extinction."
he continued saying
"when i reached him he offered me two options: a test to measure the sincerity of my intention. in one of the options i saw my tribe prosperous and happy but i did not get anything for myself and my situation remained as it was of weakness and poverty. as for the other option i saw myself living in prosperity and luxury but my whole tribe had perished and their situation was changed to the worst."
the man pointed to himself as he added
"greed took hold of me and after deep thought i chose my life at the expense of my tribe. then the trap fell and i did not get anything but rather a curse turned into my curse. i was exiled and the mention of my tribe was erased from history only because i chose the wrong choice."
he fell silent for a moment then looked at elios with sadness
"this is the truth that the star wizard tries to hide from everyone because greed may destroy even the noblest hearts."
after elios listened attentively to the mans story he asked in a voice full of sympathy
"and is there anyone left from your tribe?"
the man looked at him with eyes overwhelmed by deep sadness and said in a voice heavy with sorrow
"no no one remains. they perished forty years ago..."
elios felt the weight of the words choking him as if the pain the man is suffering from had crossed into his heart so he shared with him the bitterness of loss and sadness. then he revealed his story too saying in a shaky voice
"i also lost my people. everyone was killed and our planet was destroyed during my journey outside this world. my parents died and my little sister disappeared and i have no one left but my little brother arius."
he paused for a moment then added in a voice full of hope and determination
"but do not worry. everyone makes mistakes and no one is perfect. even the worst skins hide behind the clean skin so the error must appear in order for completeness to be achieved."
his words were like a healing balm for the man and a glimmer of hope shining in their hearts amidst the darkness of the past.