From the frame and the exit of the tunnel, a bridge made of light manifested. It connected the two and built itself an altar right below the item.

Along with the flask that contained the red liquid and the bridge was a hologram of a woman. It stood behind the flask, her arms reaching out as though she was carrying the flask in between her palms.

"Who are you?" Zeus was the first person who walked forward and asked. He used the bridge of light that had solid structure that could support everyone inside the Ruby Maiden\'s chamber.

"If you can see this, that means that Terrans have achieved greatness," the woman said, looking straight forward. "My name is Sheeva and I am the Second Eternal of Terra. I am here to tell you that this flask contains the power to change everything."

"The Second Eternal of Terra," Zeus repeated like it was an aftertaste that remained in his mouth. "And what does the Terran Eternal doing with the Ruby Maiden?"

"I don\'t think she can hear you," Frederick pointed out. "It\'s a pre-recorded voice."

"We received a prophecy from one of our Suns, Topaz the Oracle," Sheeva continued. "He said that in the future, darkness will consume the land and there will be no hope for us. With this prophecy, the One Sun gave his own blood and magic and poured it into this flask so that when the time comes, the future will be prepared."

"But there was one more catastrophe that the Topaz Sun couldn\'t perceive. Though he caught the tragedy of the future, he didn\'t get to see the tragedy in our time. The Suns were wiped out of existence, including their brides. The One Sun went missing, and I suddenly became the next Eternal," Sheeva sighed deeply. "I had the power to stop the darkness from spreading even more but sadly, even after all the things that had happened, you cannot change what has happened in the past. Those who died may never revived."

Sheeva raised her right hand and conjured a golden cube. "To let you understand more about what\'s happening, I will take you back to thousands of years ago. Long before your time."

With a snap of her finger, the gold cube turned to ash and formed a vortex. It wrapped itself around the bridge as it increased in size, taking everyone inside. "Let us go to when the One Sun was born."

The vortex made of gold exploded, blinding everyone with its yellow light. It swallowed all the people in the bridge, leaving no one behind.

Elliot opened his eyes and found himself hovering in the air. He was in the middle of a land filled with despair and death. The soil was dry, the plants were dead, and there were bones of people lying around scattered on the ground.

"Where are we?" Elliot asked as he looked at his allies who were hovering beside him. He tried to look for Lance and the man appeared beside him. "Lance, what\'s going on?"

"I have no idea," Lance replied. "The last thing I remember was that I was being swallowed by a blinding light. Now, we\'re here."

"Same here," Elliot said. "Where in the hell could this be?"

"This is the East in our time," Sheeva\'s boomed all across the skies. Everyone looked around, trying to find where the voice came from but they all failed. "On the ground is the barren lands of our time. This was our reality when the world was just starting."

They heard another snapping of fingers and the scenery changed. This time, they were in the middle of an snowstorm. Everything was covered with ice and snow, but it wasn\'t blinding nor was it cold.

"A hundred years later and the world became this," Sheeva narrated. She snapped her finger again and the scenery changed once more.

This time, the soil looked much healthier and the plants were healthier than the first one. "And this is what happened a thousand years after that."

They badly wanted to ask what was the point in showing everything. Sheeva was showing them random sceneries from different timelines, but they don\'t know how it connects to their problem.

Just when Zeus was about to snap, a young boy walked under a tree. The boy was pale, short, and his eyes were narrow. His lips were thin, and his hair was black paired with his dark hazel eyes.

"And who is that boy?" Zeus asked out loud. Everyone felt themselves getting lowered closer to the boy. "What the f*ck."

"I wish everyone would just listen to me," the boy said with a disappointed sigh. "I know building a system composed of multiple villages is difficult, but it\'s not impossible. He took a rock and threw it in the air, grunting as he did. "Why can\'t they just listen to me?"

"Listen," a young girl walked towards the boy. She was barely able to walk— almost tripping a couple of times on her way, but she managed to get close. "Listen!"

"Not now, Sheeva," the boy said. "I am in a middle of a crisis here. Everyone just doesn\'t listen to what I have to say."

"Listen!" Sheeva repeated. "Uncle, listen!"

The boy sighed and shook his head in defeat. He grabbed the little girl and raised her above him, "Soon, young child. We will rule the world."

Another snap of fingers made the scenery changed. They were now in a middle of a city and the people seemed to be walking in the same direction.

The Adventurers had no other choice but to follow the crowd as they hovered in the air. They went to the village square where the same young boy stood on top of a wooden platform.

He was talking, but his voice was silent. It seemed like everyone could hear him since they were nodding their heads, seemingly agreeing to what he was saying.

"What is happening?" Elliot asked. "Why is this realm silent?"

With a deafening boom, the voices were back. The people of the village were raising their hands and they were chanting the same cheer over and over again.

"Hail the emperor! May he reign!"

"Hail the emperor! May he reign!"

"Hail the emperor! May he reign!"

…

"He\'s the One Sun," Lance said. "But I thought he got the power from the Almighty that\'s why he was able to unite the entire population of the East?"

"I guess not," Elliot said.

Another snapping of the fingers made the scenery changed. This time, the village had turned into an entire city composed of modern civilization\'s parts. A market, a city square, shops, and a large castle.

In the middle of the castle was a tall tower that contained a flat tip. The tip had a single hole in the middle which contained the ladder to climb up the tower.

A man walked out of the hole and stepped into the flat surface of the tower. This was the same boy who was talking to Sheeva and the one who preached in their village.

He raised his arms and the people cheered for him. They were chanting again, seemingly endlessly screaming to praise for their ruler.

"I am god!" the man yelled.

In a blink of an eye, a lightning struck on the tower, making it explode.

The cheering stopped.