Amid Seth's attack, he felt his surroundings suddenly stop moving, and everyone became immobile as if frozen.
Seph felt something 'heavy' acting on his body, but at most, it made him feel a slight numbness like you would feel if you slept on one of your arms.
He realized that the First Elder of his tribe would not allow him to act!
'Shit!'
"Elder, why are you doing this?" He turned and looked down, where the man who had been defending the village was now standing with his eyes closed, still in the same position as a few moments ago.
But Seph could see the First Elder's blood dripping from this man's nose. He knew his old leader was not well.
The old man with the black and white hair looked at Seph. "Go away. Run while you still can. Take those who weren't in the village when these people attacked us and travel west. Eventually, you'll know what to do."
"What? Why? Elder, I can defeat these men by your side!" Seph tried to approach where the ten-handed golden silhouette stood, knowing that under the First Elder's ability, not even he could change reality.
The First Elder of this tribe had an ability that, among other things, gave him control over TIME!
He could stop time, move into the future, and go back a few moments into the past.
Unfortunately, this ability had its limits and its price. The old First Elder couldn't stand it and said. "Seph, do you trust me? If you do, do as I say. The future in which you would join me in this battle was bleak, so I'm taking an alternative path.
Run away. From now on, the survivors of the Misty Woods Tribe will rely on your efforts. You are now the First Elder!"
The old man saw the angry expression on Seph's face but finished what he was doing and linked all the hands of the bright yellow silhouette behind him.
Seph saw the space around him change, his body making gestures beyond his control and returning to the position it was in before.
The old First Elder of this tribe was controlling time, making Seth return to the position he was in a moment ago!
Seth was aware of everything happening, making him feel doubly bad.
Tears threatened to form in his eyes as he saw the people in the First Elder's group for the last time, sure that they would all die somehow.
The First Elder would never have sent him away if that wasn't their fate!
Unfortunately, he couldn't even cry. During the First Elder's ability, those under his dominion could only do what they had already done.
"Seth, your powers are great." The First Elder's gentle voice reached Seth's ears for the last time. "I believe that one day you will be able to fully reactivate my powers in this world.
Go! Reach a position I was unable to reach! I will wait for you on the other side, but take your time!"
'Elder...'
In the blink of an eye, Seth found himself back in the forest, a moment after he had separated from the group of Dax, Emery, and Atlas.
"Seth? What happened? Why did you stop?" Atlas asked as the other two looked at Seth strangely.
One moment, Seth had said he would go on and had started running. But the next moment, he stopped a few meters in front of them.
Dax saw this and narrowed his eyes, getting a bad feeling.
Emery watched Seph's eyes and saw tears welling up.
"It can't be..."
"The First Elder sent you back?" Dax asked.
"What?" Atlas opened his mouth and turned pale, understanding what that meant. "Is it that bad?"
Gulp!
"Seph, what happened? What were the First Elder's orders?" Dax insisted, knowing that his rival probably had a lot on his mind, but they didn't have time to mourn!
It was time for them to change their plans and solve their tribe's situation in an alternative way!
But Seth didn't have a plan for that. Wiping away his tears, he said in an emotional tone. "The First Elder has ordered us to leave the tribe and flee with those outside the village. We must go west and sail to new lands."
These words struck the three of them like thunder, and they fell silent for a moment, for such an order was too shocking for them.
The tribe had existed for so long that they didn't even know how their people came to be and formed the traditions they still follow today.
Almost everyone in the village had always been in this place, and the Giant Island was all there was in the world for them.
The tribe had given everything to them, raised them, nurtured them, taught them to be warriors, awakened their abilities, but... But now they had to give it up?
"Why?" Emery asked.
"I don't know. The First Elder said he saw a very dark future if I went into battle... I don't know what he saw. Maybe we would all die or something worse."
"Worse?" Atlas swallowed his saliva.
"Anyway, there's no time to mourn!" Seth clenched his fists, determined to take advantage of the opportunity the First Elder had created.
He sincerely wanted to fight and wouldn't mind dying for the tribe. However, the First Elder was determined to sacrifice himself and the rest of the village so that at least some would leave alive.
Seth couldn't be sure what the First Elder's purpose was. Revenge, survival of the tribe, or something else. There was no telling.
The only thing Seth knew for sure was that he couldn't disobey the First Elder's last command!
Whatever his intention, it would be for the tribe's good, and sooner or later, the rest of them would understand!
Seth then said as he gathered his strength. "Let's split up. Each of us must approach the village, but without showing ourselves.
Our goal is not to join the fight but to prevent people like us who were outside the village before the attack from joining the fight.
We will take everyone we meet on our way west! That was the First Elder's last order, so we'll carry it out while we have the chance.
We'll discuss everything after we've managed to escape with the survivors."
Atlas, Dax, and Emery accepted the First Elder's order, even though they hadn't heard it directly from the old man.
There was everything in their tribe: quarrels, rivalries, feuds, and so on. But two things were common knowledge among these people. First, the First Elder knew what he did, and his orders were supreme. Second, Seth was incapable of lying!
If he had said that about the First Elder's orders, there was no way he could have lied.
So, the three of them separated from Seth and went in a slightly different direction from the one they had intended to take a moment ago.
Seth did the same, approaching the village again, but this time with no intention of joining the fight.
'Damn invaders! One day, I'll find out who you are, who you represent, and what this is all about!' Seth swore to himself as he watched the enemy's flying ships attack the place where the First Elder was doing his best to defend his people.
Meanwhile, no one in the enemy group had any idea that time had changed. For all of them who were attacking the only village on this island, they had just started their attack, and their target was right below them!
On one of the ships, a white-haired woman stood at the bow of her flying craft, looking down with a smile.
"Commander, this is the village the Ancient Scroll spoke of. The Elemental Stone must be here. One of these locals probably found it from the damned refugee." A woman with red hair and beautiful curves said to the woman in military armor, indicating that she belonged to a well-defined hierarchical power.
"Do whatever it takes to get the Elemental Stone. Kill, torture, threaten them all. These people have gone far with our item, but now it's all over for them." The white-haired woman said, without expressing her satisfaction at this critical moment.
'It is just a pity that someone as strong as this man has to die... It would be interesting to study his abilities.' She looked at the First Elder, sensing the strange power of the elder who single-handedly disrupted their entire group.