Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

It had been a while since they last unsealed Minas Mar's magic banquet hall. The last time the magic light, booze fountains, and automaton servers were powered up, it took as much mana as the tower's shield in a whole week. Afterward, they decided only to open it for special occasions.

Seth was currently getting ready to go down, when his communication orb vibrated on the table. Who was calling him at this time? Practically everyone that had business with him was going to the party...

When he answered the call he saw the distorted face of a small black Imugi staring into his own com orb. Tatzel? Was that the valley in the background? What was he still doing over there instead of getting ready for the celebration?

"Mom? I can't come to the party. I might sleep for a while to absorb the dragon core...and I might have eaten some of the dragon bones please don't be angry!" Tatzel said the last part almost too fast for the bard to understand. After the pseudo-dragon said what it had to say, it simply ended the call...

How was he supposed to react to this? For a moment he entered Legion. and brought out one of the names Golems.

"Espada, can you go to the valley beyond the portal and look after Tatzel?" he asked the golem knight, explaining to him how to get to the portal.

"Alright, Master. I will call back once I find the little wyrm," the golem said carelessly and walked away without another word. Seth watched him leave for a moment. The named golems had really developed some personalities for themselves.

"You coming?" Mina asked him. She leaned in the door, wearing a breathtaking black evening dress. Seth swallowed.

"O-on the way~"

He quickly followed Mina out, where Fin in a similar but red dress, gave him another shock.

...

Commander Garroun looked over the streets of Delta. For the past almost 4 years he had been stationed, he had seen the district in various stages of development. From the years of promising change when Leana was in charge to the troubling times under various representatives and even the darkest moments when Merkraut Sar took control.

There had been a few festivities organized by the Princess and others, like the first tournament Minas Mar held. They paled in comparison to the current state of the city. Although there were many sections brought to ruin, right now none of that mattered.

Two days of festivities. It was not just the core members of Minas Mar that celebrated for themselves, but Garroun was tasked with supervising the celebration of not just Minas Mars' victory, but also Delta's incorporation into the new District.

Minas Mar had opened their storages and flooded the district with food and drinks. The streets were filled with more people than Garroun had ever seen in one place. tens of millions of people had flooded the streets of their city to join the happy occasion of having survived, many looking positively at the better future.

Garroun couldn't help but feel a little sad, considering that part of their joy was about Chrona finally leaving and Urth becoming independent. Even though the empire had made mistakes, seeing them celebrate the defeat of invaders, when talking about the empire he still loved, was a little bitter.

However, the bitterness quickly faded when his men pulled him into drinking with them. The nightlife of Urth was more radiant than Garroun was used to. When the night fell, the city was decorated in bright colored lights that gave the whole festivity a surreal atmosphere.

Yet nothing could compete with how surreal it was when the massive tree above their heads started blooming in the night. Pale blue and violet blossoms shone brightly in the night, covering the whole city below in a soft glow. Who would have thought that something so terrifying could be this pretty?

The commander enjoyed the party and the alcohol until things calmed down around him. More and more of his people were slowly passing out, unable to form coherent sentences. Left alone with his thoughts, they started wandering again as he looked across the city.

He could not calm down. Seeing the people celebrate so carelessly in the shadows of Hell Gates, he thought that ignorance was truly a bliss. For him on the other hand it was hard to discern what he was more disturbed by, the gates themselves and the danger they posed, or the power of the tree that kept them under control.

Would Minas Mar really manage to deal with this problem in the long run? Many before them had tried to fight the appearance of hell gates. Greater powers had tried and often failed in the past. Closing a hell gate was usually bound to immense sacrifices.

He remembered the stories the generals told him, of a time when the Hell Gates were more common. Usually, demons would flood from the gates, corrupt the land, and entrench themselves before slowly increasing their territory. In this circumstance, Delta was better off, since very little demons got out before the tree plugged the gates.

In his drunken mind, he imagined the scene on the other side of the gate and chuckled. He had seen the tree roots turn undead into dust by draining them of everything. Just what were demon beasts to the tree, if not nutrients?

His reason said that the Hell Gates were an immense danger. But the alcohol whispered in his ear, suggesting that the demon might end up being the ones begging to close the gates. Just what would would happen to a world where this kind of tree ran rampant?

...

--- World 234Z, Empire of Spatia---

He stood on the balcony of his summer palazzo, looking over the vast lands of the frontier. World 234Z was a world that was the world Spatia had conquered over a century ago. There was nothing special about this world. No unique magic, no great mana levels, or fascinating resources.

Because of its lack of specialties, it had no high worth in the eyes of Spatia. Byron's father had invested quite a bit of money into this world in an attempt to find something that could make it worth more than just a mining world.

In the end, it was a fruitless endeavor. However, to Byron, that made this the perfect place to act in the shadows. A world nobody cared for, one nobody vied for and that was worthless in his rival's eyes. Where else could he have built something like the world stele that used the heavily controlled strategic resource of stone gates?

His eyes wandered over the vast lands at the foot of his palazzo until stay got stuck on where his world stele was supposed to stand. Now a giant tree towers over his lands, casting its shadow across the horizon.

"Soti, just what happened on the other side?" he asked. His voice was calm, but the suppressed anger was clear. He still remembered vividly what happened on their side and he hated how much the memory shook him.

Massive vines had suddenly shot from the gates. They broke the safety measures and attacked the waiting army. Despite their excellent equipment, outstanding class, and high level, his precious elite troops had been turned to dust and ground to paste, being absorbed like fertilizer by the monstrous tree that erected itself atop his world stele.

The elven archer shook in despair, remembering their battle against the guardian tree, but began to recount what happened to the royal. Everything from their first encounter, to the point when the teams decided to unite, to her dishonorable decision to flee, leaving behind everyone who didn't make it. And finally describing Kirsta's last moments. Ultimately, it was only Soti and some of the party members of the legends, that managed to get out.

With a big sigh, Byron fell back on his chair. Hearing her detailed explanation it became clear that there was no point in trying to fight this. He would not be able to recover his gates... or this world.

"Get ready to leave, Soti. We are leaving this world." Explore hidden tales at My Virtual Library Empire

It was best to cut his losses here and erase all traces of his involvement. Let someone else deal with that tree, if it caused a problem.