On the other side of the Tupania Empire, Tupã, the twenty-fourth emperor, rose on his throne as if the world itself bowed under his presence. His eyes opened slowly, shimmering like emeralds that guard ancestral secrets. His voice broke the silence, deep and reverberant, as if each syllable were a sentence of the cosmos itself:
"Finally you arrived, Anhanguçu… just as Odin foresaw. But observe well: even the fiercest of beasts, if chained, is nothing more than a sigh before a god. Chains do not bind only the body, but also the fury — and before me, your fury is irrelevant."
As he pronounced his words, Tupã's eyes — the only light that illuminated the throne hall — closed. And, in the instant when the darkness spread, even the silence seemed to bow before his power, as if the air weighed upon each lung.
In the dense forest, near the last village of the marquisate, there were four people and an invisible force, yet extremely threatening. Distant from Telvaris, a shadow was taking form. Anhanguçu emerged like a colossal entity, half beast, half spirit. His skin was marked by incandescent tribal tattoos, that seemed alive, pulsing like embers under the full moon. The muscular body exhaled raw power, and his dark mane, adorned with feathers and braided bones, gave him an ancestral presence, while the wind stirred his feathers and hair.
From his head sprouted curved horns, resembling both a predator and a demon of the forest. The orange and flaming eyes burned like living coals, penetrating the soul of whoever dared face him.
Clothes and adornments: he dressed with rustic fabrics and adornments of feathers, like a spiritual lord of the forests. A luminous pendant on his chest, that shone like a heart in flames, symbolized his essence — the dark spark that kept him in balance between the physical and the spiritual world, reflecting small lights upon the wet leaves of the ground.
Anhanguçu looked in the direction of Telvaris with his flaming eyes. In an instant, before he could react, a colossal hand advanced toward his face, making the air vibrate and the dry leaves crack under the force of the movement.
But below, where once Ereon and Karna faced Isabela, they already moved, preparing to assist them. Each action — of Anhanguçu, of Ereon, of Karna and of Telvaris, who shaped the iron to protect himself — occurred simultaneously, in a fraction of a second where an error could cost Telvaris's life.
Ereon turned quickly to Karna, the urgency making each second heavy, while the cold wind of the forest twisted into his hair. Karna spun and knelt toward the mountain, shouting:
"Brahmastra!"
At the same time, Ereon knelt near the body of a mercenary — Lunar Mark — and murmured, with firm voice:
"Shadow Marionette."
A half-moon of shadow was formed, connecting Ereon to the target with a black thread, almost liquid, that undulated like dense smoke. A quick movement, a word that cut the air:
"Reversum!"
In an instant, the body of the mercenary and Telvaris switched places. Everything happened as if time had been compressed: the scene was marked by a heavy silence, interrupted only by the rustling of leaves, and by the sensation that the impossible had happened.
The beast saw the body before him and held the arrow that came in his direction. The explosion reverberated throughout the forest, accompanied by a glow that resembled the dawn. Dry leaves and branches cracked with the impact, while the wind generated by the clash stirred the air and the smell of wet earth rose from the ground. Telvaris, still stunned by what had occurred, looked at Ereon and asked:
"How… how did this happen? A second ago…"
Karna, with firm gaze directed at the creature, answered, feeling the heavy air vibrate around:
"That did not kill it… and now it is coming in our direction."
Isabela turned to Telvaris, about to ask about the girls, but Ereon interrupted:
"Enato… that was what the count was planning."
"You know what that is?" insisted Isabela.
"I don't know… what creature he pulled from the Abyss with those sacrifices," answered Ereon, hesitant, while the smell of leaves lightly burned by the friction of battle rose from the ground. "But, a year ago, Lili did the same thing." He diverted his gaze, bitter and melancholic. "But now is not the time for this."
Before them was Anhanguçu. All felt, immediately, that that creature was not something they could face. A false move could cost them their lives, while the dense air seemed to press their lungs.
Isabela and Karna prepared to attack; Ereon and Telvaris kept in defense position. As much as they were ready to act, none of them dared attack first. Any false move could be fatal.
Anhanguçu advanced a step, enough for Ereon to feel each strand of hair bristle, but he made no mention of attacking. The cracking of dry branches under his paws echoed through the silent forest.
"Interesting… very interesting. You still have not realized, have you?" A crooked smile opened on his distorted face. "When you discover, it will be too late to choose."
For an instant, it seemed he would continue, but he only laughed low, a sound that resembled the cracking of bones, reverberating among the trees.
"It is not time… my contract calls me." With a leap toward the marquisate, he left only a whisper in the air: "No war forgets its children… and you will soon feel this."
The silence that followed was almost palpable. All could feel the weight of the impossible, and that there, before them, transcendent forces were awake. The rustling of leaves and the whisper of the wind were the only sounds that remained.
Karna squeezed the bow with force, the knots of his fingers white with tension. Around, the bodies of the vanguard were scattered on the ground, some partially covered with earth and leaves, others still stained with fresh blood that shone under the pale glow of the moon. The silence of the forest, broken only by the cracking of dry branches, seemed to crush the hearts of all.
Ereon stood up, looking around for an instant, absorbing the weight of destruction. Then he began to walk toward the western village, with firm steps, but heavy from the weariness and the fear that all felt, while the icy wind brushed his clothes. Before disappearing among the trees, he spoke, firm:
"Return."
Telvaris, still stunned, looked at him, his voice loaded with surprise and doubt:
"Ereon… are you thinking of facing that?"
Karna shouted, incredulity overflowing:
"Are you crazy? We barely escaped death! That arrow did not even scratch it! You want to go meet death?"
A memory passed through Ereon's mind, a voice that once told him: "Everybody has a weakness. So do not fear them. After all, if they bleed, it means they can be killed."
Isabela, who had surrendered before that being, breathed deep when hearing Ereon's words:
"He is right… and if that creature went toward the marquisate, it means there is some way to control it. That is what I want to believe."
Telvaris, pouring out all he had kept, spoke with voice loaded with pain:
"Ereon… is it not better we give up? You know, all the time I tried, but I cannot anymore… They are dead. They will not return… the director, Edda, the orphanage… none of them will return."
Karna squeezed the bow even more, teeth clenched, breathing with difficulty, feeling the smell of iron and blood in the air mixed with the humidity of the forest.
Ereon remained in silence for an instant, observing the scene and the weight of the decision, before continuing to walk toward the western village.
Isabela gave one last look to those who remained in the forest. The blood on the trunks and on the ground, the wet cold and the lifeless bodies reinforced the painful truth: there was no return anymore. With a contained sigh, she said softly to herself:
"There is no return anymore."
And, following Ereon, she left behind what remained of the vanguard. Telvaris and Karna remained there, stopped, observing them move away.
Isabela, walking at his side, spoke:
"This does not mean that I forgave what you did, it will only be a temporary truce, since you have a vague notion of what is occurring here."
Ereon continued looking forward. Then, in a whisper, he spoke:
"Reversum!"
And disappeared before Isabela's eyes.
Observation: In Tupi-Guarani mythology, Anhanguçu is considered the most powerful enemy of Tupã, the god of thunder. Ancestral and wandering spirit, he assumes multiple forms, protecting the forest and the animals, but bringing disgrace and bad omen to whoever dares defy him. Even for a god, his power is feared and respected.
[Observation: Abilities of Karna]Karna is master of the bow and arrow, capable of launching projectiles with supernatural precision. His most devastating weapon, the Brahmastra, is a cosmic arrow capable of devastating entire fields, comparable to the power of a bomb. No less lethal, the Nagastra takes the form of a serpent and relentlessly pursues the enemy until hitting him. His Eagle Eye allowed him to identify targets at great distances, while his agile and silent movement made him almost invisible in the terrain, using each shadow and each relief to his advantage.
[Observation: Abilities of Ereon]Ereon masters the Manipulation of Shadows, shaping darkness into sharp weapons or shadowy creatures, like snakes, crows, spiders and wolves, using them both for combat and for distraction, infiltration or tactical control. His ability Lunar Mark – Shadow Marionette connects shadows to an enemy, allowing him to manipulate their movements as if they were puppets. With the technique Half-Moon, Ereon marks a target and creates a thread of shadow that connects him to it, making possible to teleport instantly to the enemy or bring him to himself. At the apex of his power, the ability Full Moon can be activated upon a target, unleashing a fatal effect or sudden death, making him a deadly adversary even for the most powerful.