"Final warning," Vortir's voice echoed. "Hand over the stone or perish."
"I would like to see you try."
Vortir was angered. Imdiately, he ordered for another attack.
The celestial battlefield crackled with energy as the Celestial Schemata unleashed their second wave of attack. Drones, sleek and ominous, descended from the heavens with a singular purpose – to overpower Aldred and his crew and claim the Stone of Ti.
The sky beca a canvas of luminescent streaks as the drones fired beams of energy toward the crew. The ground trembled beneath the onslaught, and the celestial runes around the Stone of Ti dimd under the relentless assault. Aldred and his crew, standing firm, activated the Stone once again. The energy surged through them, rejuvenating their bodies and fortifying their resolve.
Aldred and his crew were protected by the barrier, but they were constantly being pounded at a rapid rate.
The feeling was like holding a shield high up and being struck by a thousand hamr every second. The bones on his body cracked nurous tis but the ti stone restored his body back.
Vortir, observing from the Astral Sovereign, clenched his tallic fist in frustration. The Celestial Schemata had not anticipated the Stone's power to replenish the crew's strength so rapidly. This turn of events had shifted the balance of power, and Vortir was not accustod to facing resistance.
"The Stone of Ti is too powerful." Vortir couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not.
As the drones unleashed their destructive force, the landscape bore witness to chaos and upheaval.
Cracks ford in the terrain, and pockets of ethereal flas danced in the wake of the attacks. The celestial runes etched into the ground glowed intensely, resisting the intrusion of the advanced weaponry.
After a while, the attack stopped, and it took an entire hour for the dust and flas to finally settle, revealing Aldred and his crew standing on what ground they had left.
They were completely unscathed during the onslaught.
Salamander looked around. They were currently standing on a little bit of land while the earth around them were dug out.
From afar, they looked like they were standing on a circular pillar made out of rocks and dirt.
"One more chance. Hand over the stone!"
"Never!"
A rocket struck on the pillar, snapping it imdiately and it began to fall.
The crew scread as they lost their balance and leaped off the pillar.
They landed on the massive, charred crater with all the robots aiming towards them.
"You have no chance to leave this place with that stone," Vortir said. "The mont I saw it with my own eyes, I knew it was mine to own."
"And people said that I was arrogant." Aldred shook his head. "Let tell you sothing, tal boy. This stone is our, and nothing you do will make us give it to you."
"We will see about that."
For days, the Celestial Schemata constantly attacked Aldred and his crew over and over again, releasing all kinds of energy weapons, kinetic projectiles, atomic bombs, and ionizing rays that could decimate an entire army at once.
But again and again, Aldred and his crew replenished their strength and heal all the wounds on their body.
The attacks continued for weeks and then it turns into months.
Aldred and the crew fell on their knees, heaving up and down. They weren't actually tired physically, but sothing made them feel tired.
It was psychological. Even though their body weren't tired, their mind were.
The robots retreated for the ti being. They would return in an hour after they charged their batteries. It was a routine that had been going on for the last few months.
"I am going to try sothing." Aldred grabbed the ti stone and swiped it near Shuzib's head.
Suddenly, Shuzib stood up. "Where are we? Who are those people?"
Salamander glanced at Aldred. "What did you do?"
"I think I reverse the ti of his brain too far." Aldred swiped the ti stone again, and suddenly Shuzib fell to the ground again.
"For the Emperor… this attack has been going on for months already. Will they stop anyti soo—"
Before Shuzib could finish his sentence, Aldred reverted back his brain again, and suddenly, Shuzib stood up, all energized.
"Shuzib, how long has passed since these tal cans attacked us?"
"How could you forgot? It's been 3 days already."
"Well, that works."
"Do you guys want to do the sa thing to you?"
They all agreed imdiately as they could not take the ntal burden anymore.
Aldred reverted their mories to months later, since they completely forgot about it, their ntal exhaustion vanished imdiately.
Aldred was about to revert his own mories as well, but he stopped himself.
"If I do that, I will forget that I can revert my own mory, and I will forget that I have done it. It's possible that I will think of reverting back mory again and repeat the cycle all over, indirectly trapping myself in a so sort of ti-loop."
Aldred trembled when he imagined that.
There was a chance that the Celestial Schemata would get tired, but he did not want to risk it.
And so, for two whole years, the Celestial Schemata attacked him over and over again.
He constantly revert the mories of his crew back, so he was the only one that knew how much sufferings they had actually endured.
When the robots retreated for the day, Aldred's hands fell to the floor. There were deep dark circles around his eyes, and his skin paled. Even though he had revert his body back in ti, but his condition worsened almost imdiately.
The mind had that huge effect on the body.
"Two fucking years… For two fucking years these piece of tals bastards aren't having enough of it!"
"Aldred, what are you talking about? It's only been three days," Shinari looked at him with a weird expression.
Aldred glanced at her and let out a depressed chuckle. "You've said that many of tis already."
The fact that only he understood the amount of sufferings they endured made it far more painful and lonely despite his crew were with him all the ti.
Aldred stood up and roared. "tal head! I am willing to negotiate!"
n the midst of the battlefield, as Aldred roared his willingness to negotiate, a sudden disturbance echoed from the Astral Sovereign, the flagship of the Celestial Schemata. A massive, ancient-looking coffin adorned with cryptic symbols and lines of green light floated out from the mothership.
The coffin, surrounded by an ethereal glow, descended gracefully onto the charred landscape. The crew of the Stardust Voyager, still recovering from the relentless attacks, watched with a mix of curiosity and wariness.
As the coffin settled, the lines of green light pulsated with an otherworldly energy. The lid creaked open, revealing a figure within. Vortir, Archon Stratos Vortir, erged from his stasis slumber, his tallic form radiating an ominous presence.
Aldred, stunned by the revelation, exchanged glances with his crew.
The seemingly tireless leader of the Celestial Schemata had been in a state of suspended animation. The implications of this discovery added a layer of complexity to their cosmic confrontation.
Vortir, his cold gaze fixed on Aldred, spoke with a tallic echo in his voice. "You persist long enough, human. But your persistence is futile. The Stone of Ti will be mine."
Aldred, recovering from his initial shock, responded defiantly, "What's the aning of this? You, the mighty Archon, were in stasis? All this ti?"
Vortir, unaffected by Aldred's incredulity, explained, "The stasis chamber preserves and enhances our essence. It ensures our eternal vigilance and readiness. It is a testant to the Celestial Schemata's commitnt to our cause."
Aldred, despite the weariness etched on his face, couldn't help but feel a surge of anger. The Celestial Schemata had unleashed a relentless assault, seemingly without end, and all the while their leader had been in stasis.
"You attack relentlessly, claim to be an unstoppable force, and yet, your leader sleeps while his minions do the dirty work?" Aldred scoffed. "Is this the might of the Celestial Schemata?"
Vortir's eyes glowed with an eerie light. "The Stone of Ti grants us power beyond mortal understanding. It matters not whether I am in stasis or awake. The outco is inevitable."
Aldred, realizing that negotiation might be their only chance to break free from this endless cycle of battle, cautiously proposed, "Enough of this madness. Let's negotiate. What do you want with the Stone of Ti, and how can we end this ceaseless conflict?"
Vortir's tallic features remained stoic. "The Stone holds the key to Ascendria's destiny. With it, the Celestial Schemata will usher in a new era. Hand over the Stone willingly, and perhaps your world will know rcy."
"I refuse to back down with a fight."
Vortir's eyes flashed. "I can see that. So what do you propose?"
"Bring forth your greatest champion. Let fight him. If I win, you must let go."
"Impossible! No matter what, I must have that stone."
Aldred clicked his tongue. "In that case, I will help you do one thing with the ti stone, but it cannot be sothing that harm my interest."
"That will depends on what you define as 'your interest'."
"We can talk that out after we know the result of the battle."
"Agree. Quantum. Heed my call!"
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