The entire island coliseum shook with the roar of the spectators, banners flew with the sigils of house thousand blades and Dracon. On one side was the house that had made history for the second time in its existence in the archailect, the first being when the patriarch of the house won the tournament and tore his way up to the rank of ruler. House thousand blades, the house that defied the will of the greater houses and fought its way to power and a seat among the great houses.

The second house was the behemoth of the archailect the unsurmountable block of power that had ruled with little to no serious opposition to their power, house Dracon. They had done all that was possible to reach this stage and with the pure fervor in their eyes, it was obvious they came prepared. The fighting arena blazed with aether induced fire, the very atmosphere filled with toxic poison and intent ravaged the very air, the runes that protected the spectators this time were forged by the rulers themselves, each imbuing a bit of their authority into the runes that hummed much louder than usual.

Ashira Kairos sat in the sands, legs crossed, eyes closed as she took steady breaths. All distractions and voices faded away, the crowd, the chants, the announcer, even the almost silent and subtle clashes of intent that floated in the air as they came in contact with each other. She had done it, she had gotten to the finals of the tournament, the same way master Vardant did, the same way other legendary masters and rulers of the archailect had done so.

While she didn’t fly the banners of house Kairos, she knew she carried the weight of responsibility that house Kairos was known for. Soon enough she would need to make her way back to her house, to assume her ordained responsibilities as heir to the Kairos line, but that could wait. If this tournament was to be her last solo feat apart from the house, then she would enjoy it with all the monstrous brutality she had within her. Opening her eyes to see the announcer descending, she stood up, besides, she had a vengeance to deliver and a message as well.

Kenuran stepped out of his waiting room in the far distance, the roars and chants of his name by the hundreds of Dragonoids and other house Dracon supporters filled the air. He was dressed in the finest red scales that glittered, a black sash that seemed to be dripping black blood tied to his waist and his hair combed backwards. White skin shone with black painted nails and his red eyes blazed with pure power and malice, house Dracon had spared no expense for their heir, he had a dynasty reaching back a thousand years to represent anyways.

Kenuran froze as he saw her, eyes frozen at her attire and Ashira felt a deep sense of satisfaction as the desired effect she wished to pass across was established. Forgoing the designed attire made for her by house thousand blades, Ashira had gotten her usual robes, paid a gold rank robe weaver of house thousand blades to saw three different crests on it. The first was the blade with hundreds of blades around it, the sigil of the thousand blades himself, the second was the sigil of house Kairos, the claw marks with a star above it all.

What grabbed the attention of the red jaw was the final sigil, a mountain with a blade above it, the sigil and crest of clan titan blade, the sigil of Moyo. The dragon regained his posture almost immediately, a smirk on his lips,

“You honor the cripple, a most worthy cause” he said,

Ashira gave no reply, spared him no expressions on her cold dead face. She produced talon as he produced his blade, the red blade that literally glowed with barely restrained flames. Those flames were seemingly imbued with the authority of a ruler and should naturally be against the rules, but Ashira knew her protests would fall on deaf ears. For once she finally got to see what life was like for the average ascender going up against great houses and she was disgusted, had she entered the competition under the banner of house Kairos, Azar and house Dracon would be foolish to try such petty tricks against her. Any threat of intergalactic war would be met by cheers from the bored clans of house Kairos who had been itching for war, however she represented a recently ascended house who entered the ranks of the ten great houses.

Altair thousand blades neither had the masters nor manpower to wage a war on an intergalactic scale, perhaps the Garudas might help, but the birds were known to be fiercely territorial alone. They would initially enter the war with a fierceness rivaled only by the Kairos, but as soon as their losses began to mount up, Raye Garuda or the diamond king would withdraw the house from war, such were the tactics of the Garudas.

There would be no lamenting, no gnashing of teeth by the unfairness of the archailect, the titan hadn’t complained when he had lost, nor would she. Twirling her blade in hand as she followed his movements with her eyes, she had no aim of losing.

*********************************

Altair thousand blades sat on his chair, lady Skatha by his side, Ajax, Killian and Duval on chairs a step below him. He could sufficiently say his aims for the tournament had been attained, he had no aim of winning the tournament, no aim of going home with the mythical path evolution scroll. Those were perks he deigned beneath him, any ascender worth their salt would advance their paths by themselves, it was how he did it anyways. He was after the chink in the armor of the Dracons, a step in the direction to depose the dragons of their monopoly on the archailect and he had done it beautifully.

Even now hundreds of minor clans that ruled systems were coming over to his side after they witnessed the brutalities of the dragons and the titan blade had helped him prove that point most beautifully. In all honesty he hadn’t expected the titan to win against the dragons, with the tricks they would play, it was acceptable. What he hadn’t expected was the titan drawing the support of the spectators both in world and the archailect as a whole, protests had shot out even in the galaxy held by the dragons. Hundreds of worlds chanting his name even as world governors and the clans they reported to tried their bests to put out the fires of rebellion as quick as possible before it fell into the ears of the royal dragons themselves.

He had sparked the power of the titan Altair had expected of him, evoking the spirit of resilience he had tried his best to attain during his youth, but he was known as the thousand blades for a reason. He would keep changing blades, switching till he found a solution that worked, an edge rather. He wouldn’t stand and withstand an attack with bare conviction and one blade, he was no titan. However, Altair was nothing if not pragmatic, he owed the titan blade for reaching heights even his own offsprings couldn’t reach in the tournament and he had a perfect way of paying it back.

Centuries of being a ruler informed him of what was going to happen next and he watched with amusement and a twinkle in his eyes as the masters reacted a whole two seconds later. He couldn’t imagine he had been that weak at a point in his life and it amused him to no end, his authority had began to twist and bend as a being forced its way through to the current position. Ajax and Skatha were the first to move, Krial and her silent blade whistling with all the authority and aspect infused power of a master, their infant spiritual form coming to bear on the being whose furry leg strapped in sandal stepped into the chamber.

The masters probably didn’t see what had hit them, but Altair did, a staff. The golden staff whose bottom had flashed so quickly, time might as well not exist at all, for that was the raw power of a ruler, the ability to surpass time, and this one wasn’t even an ancient, he was a primordial. Ajax and Skatha crashed to the ground and were stuck there, held by a fraction of the will of the ruler. Killian and Duval went next the sons of Altair, moon and sun complementing each other in an attempt to lay waste to the intruder.

Their attacks were known in galaxies to be devastating, once known as the twin celestial wraths due to the rampaging power of their paths, it was guaranteed destruction. The only problem was that their intended target was no longer in the position they thought he stood, only an after image. They were also slammed to the ground as the figure in gold sat on their hunched backs leisurely, like they were made to be his stools. Altair was always up for a bit of fun, but to disrespect the masters of his house in such manner, primordial or not was an insult to him.

Blue eyes blazing as he channeled his nascent ancient power, he spoke,

“You insult me sage” he said,

He saw the masters freeze as he uttered the name, awareness of the calamity that sat on them dawning. The sage, the mythical ape creature who had lived for so long, no one except close members of his house and the primordials who knew him during his youth were aware of it. The golden staff next to him shrank into a pin which he fixed into his golden glittering hair, perfectly manicured nails and golden eyes that glowed with runic circles within its rings stared at Altair indifferently.

The sage was a lean creature, golden tail with the power to wipe out a world with one swish flickered behind him, golden hair combed backwards on his head and green coin on his palm which he tossed up and down. Altair mentally noted that his name the party crasher was well earned, no one told the sage he couldn’t do something or go somewhere, no master no ruler, not even the harbingers for they were rumored to possess equal strengths to those who were bestowed power by the supreme beings.

If the rumors were true, then it meant the primordials who safe guarded the archailect at the frontlines were akin to deities and Altair had been hearing rumors of primordials and even ancients who somehow began to absorb the devotion of those under them, infusing it into their paths to create what was called divine attacks, bestowing their followers with perks known as miracles. Truly the archailect was filled with secrets upon secrets and ruler wasn’t the pinnacle of power, there were rulers and there were rulers.

The sage floated off their backs and towards a chair as the masters flashed to their feet, giving the sage a good distance. The ape king flicked his eyes from Altair to the masters and then back to Altair again,

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“When I saw you last, you were a newly minted ruler whose children were making a name for themselves” the sage rumbled,

Altair was aware the sage had dodged his initial statement, he had hoped to tie the sage into owing him with an apology and while other rulers would play the intricate game of pushing and prodding, the sage had to time for such. Scratching his beards, the sage glanced at Ajax and pointed his finger at the death blade,

“I swore to end you, and only the words of the great beasts themselves saved your existence” he started,

Another interesting fact about primordials and the supreme beings was that where average ascenders and even rulers venerate them, the primordials simply called them great beasts. Altair was sure there was a secret behind that, but until he got to the primordial rank, it wasn’t worth the dangers of finding out,

“Tell me why your disciple would think he has the right to worm his way into the life of my goddaughter” the sage asked,

Ajax smiled and Altair sighed,

“he’s quite the catch” the idiot emissary of his replied,

The sage stared in cold silence and then broke out in laughter, Altair immediately weaving runes of protection around himself, the laughter of the sage was legendary and the tales never had a happy ending. In a blink Ajax was crashing to his knees, blood puking out of his mouth,

“insolence” the sage whispered, his word carrying pure authority that threatened to crush the realm of Altair,

The coin glowed as the sage glanced at it before shutting off his power, Ajax a broken mess on the ground and no masters moving to help him. Altair scanned the death blade, superficial injuries, he would be fine. The sage sighed as he sat up,

“The only reason, no, the only two reasons you’re alive right now is the fact that Eogan vouched for that titan blade of yours, swearing he was pure and righteous and loyal. And while his performance at the tournament proved him right, I still hold a piece of doubt, a rotten tree no matter how many times it’s pruned can’t produce a healthy apple” he said,

“Sooner or later the true intentions of you and that disciple you trained would be revealed, and from what I’m hearing, sooner than later” he finished,

Killian stepped forwards and bowed without speaking, maintaining that posture in front of the sage who glanced at him,

“Speak child, you are of better stock than the child of a murderer” he said,

Altair saw the death blade twitch, the words biting deep but restraining himself, Altair approved. Not everyone would like you, not when your father caused the death of untold billions and hundreds of worlds, and whenever he fought that notion, he only proved them right. Killian gathered himself as he spoke,

“Great sage, I beseech you, I have known the titan blade for months and I can vouch for him. He and lady Ashira braved dungeons together, protected each other and fought to reach the peak of mortality that is diamond rank, he has no evil intentions in him” Killian started,

He glanced at Ajax who had picked himself up as he wiped the bloodstain on his lips, straightening his hair,

“Ajax death blade has been a true friend, impulsive, sporadic, childish and sometimes stupid, but he is nothing like his predecessor, this I can vouch for again” Killian stated,

Altair frowned, Killian tying himself to the death blade could have dangerous consequences in the foreseeable future, especially with the threat of Rohan looming over them. The sage nodded, pointing at Ajax,

“You were young when his sire razed the archailect, millions died, entire worlds having to be wiped out to curtail the spread of blights with billions of lives extinguished like a candle light, you expect me and the archailect to believe the heir of such a monster could be completely clean?” the sage asked,

Altair had been a peak rank master when the final battle had happened, he had watched as a child, Ajax was put in chains and handed over to the cruelest house in the archailect for interrogation and subsequent imprisonment, one of his greatest regrets was that he had stood by and watch them do that to a child who had no idea of what was going on around him. He tapped a finger on his chair as the sage glanced at him,

“and still we watched as a mere child was dragged away in chains for the crimes of his father, are we any better than tyrants?, we wiped out his entire clan, down to women with children in them” Altair said,

The sage kept quiet before relaxing back on the chair,

“HEAL” he commanded, Ajax gasping as his body became infused with aether healing at a stupendous rate,

“I didn’t need your pity” he groaned,

“And I didn’t give you one, I merely healed you due to the ruler who thought it a wise choice to make you his emissary, be careful Altair, this one could stab you in the back” the sage replied,

“I’ll put it under consideration, now, can you tell me why you’re here?” Altair asked,

“I came to watch my goddaughter in this final battle” the sage said,

“You don’t think we can watch over her from the wrath of Azar?” Altair asked,

The sage chuckled,

“On the contrary, I’m hoping Azar moves on her, it’s been long I’ve had a good brawl” the sage replied as his eyes glowed,

Altair reclined backwards,

“an ancient versus a primordial?, some would call it bullying” he said,

“I could care less” the sage replied as he stood,

“Oh, and Kairos is coming, best make yourself scarce when he arrives death blade” the sage said as he once again opened up a pathway out of Altairs’ realm before passing through,

The pathway sealed itself behind the sage, Ajax trembled with rage, Duval maintaining the stone-cold silence he held during the presence of the sage,

“This is becoming a debacle, we have the cult hanging over our heads and now a possible clash between Kairos and Dracon” Killian said,

Altair glanced at Skatha who nodded, touched Ajax and vanished with him, the death blade would need someone to calm him down. Anger didn’t produce a result, not against a primordial anyways. Altair felt a smile fighting at the edge of his lips, the odds were turning in favor of his faction and the neutral Kairos may be swayed to their part due to the antics of the Dracons. He flicked his gaze to the screen as the battle was about to start.

Wouldn’t it be nice is she won? He thought with a feral smile,

**************************

Moyo glanced around the shores he had been deposited, watching the throngs of merchants with their gold and silver ranked guards who bought construct ships to carry materials and whatever they foraged from the large continent. He had learnt they were hubs like these all across the shores of the uncharted continent, different spots for different items, creatures and produces that could be found in the continent.

This hub belonged to those who wanted spice herbs and underground creatures, also, it catered for ascenders who wanted a specific kind of dungeons to delve, all dungeons on the planet were situated on this particular continent. He then wondered why they called it the uncharted continent, but he shook that thought from his mind, it was not his business and he would keep it that way, he had his goal in mind. The merchants and their protectors would make their way to a place called the spice hill, there they would all go their different ways, ascenders looking for dungeons would explore the surroundings while the merchants would send their servants to mine the spices they require under the watchful eyes of their protectors.

Creatures that were stupid enough to attack them there would be erased from existence, however this world also boasted of diamond ranked creatures and the middle of the continent was the red zone, where diamond ranked creatures ran rampant, this close to the shore sported majorly iron ranked creatures that quivered in fear at the presence of the golds and silvers. Moyo trudged to a large stall where a man stood, holographic displays of the different models of ships being shown,

“Good day sir, ten gold coins for a mini transport, fifty for a medium and hundred for a large” he said with all the enthusiasm of a shop attendant,

Moyo guessed he had been at this job longer than usual and didn’t want to make his day any worse. Producing ten gold coins, he saw the construct, a bike sized pill-like construct take shape with silver color. It floated in the air, its anti-gravity mechanisms humming, he nodded and climbed aboard, the construct coming to life with a purr.

Two handle bars protruded from its side and Moyo grabbed it, feeling it scan his hand and locking the construct to his imprint before zooming off into the trees along with the other crafts. He followed the procession as they weaved and dodged trees and giant ant hills, following the marked directions to the first and only checkpoint. Along the way he listened to the merchants that discussed a plethora of topics, from the booming sales due to the tournament, to the bets on Ashira and Kenuran. While he was intrigued about Kenuran having the greater odds, he tuned those away till they got to the topic of the disappearing merchants on the continent.

Paying close attention to the story, it appeared a string of random disappearances had been happening at the spice, salt and even farms that dotted the continent. Again Moyo wondered why anyone would be sane enough to farm on a continent where monsters literally ran rampant but pushed it out of his mind, again it was not his business and he could care less. He resolved to check out the spots where they said the disappearances had been happening, hoping to see if he could get clues from there.

Shrouded to gold, he groaned at his Ashe lashing out within him, begging to be let loose. He was in a literal paradise of dungeon delving and monster slaying, he figured he could have some fun, let out some steam while on the job. The opportunity presented itself when a large creature that looked like an alligator on two legs with fur tore out of the trees, heading for the line with the golds already priming different attacks from spells to intent.

Moyo tore past them in the blink of an eye, Ashe wrapping his fists as he punched the gold ranked monster and summarily destroyed any form of life at least a mile in front of him. Eyes alight, he glanced behind to see the golds staring at him with mixed expressions of awe and caution, cursing his over eagerness, he awkwardly climbed his construct as it hummed to life,

“Five hundred gold coins for your services!” a voice shouted startling him,

“One thousand gold coins and five percent of the produces!” another shouted,

Moyo watched as they began to bid, pushing close to him as he subtly used his aura to push them back, the golds among them pushing at his aura in vain. With a quick deft to it, he started the construct and zoomed off into the trees, already close to the spice hill, the last thing he could afford was drawing attention to himself and his little stunt might as well have done that.

Arriving at the spice mine, a large rock gate with two gold rankers at the door who stood as guards awaited him,

“HALT!” one shouted as he slowed down, coming to a stop,

“State your intentions” the second guard asked,

“delving” he replied,

They looked him up and down,

“Clan, sect or school?” they asked,

“Clan, titan blade” he stated again,

“Fee is a hundred gold coins” the first guard said, eyes gleaming,

Moyo sighed, they were about to fleece him due to his clan being unknown, knowing he was probably on the continent due to the tournament. Moyo produced the coins with no argument, tossing them to the guards when he felt the gem in the pouch on his cloth began to heat up. Glancing around, he saw reality twist as a creature began to manifest, the guards saw it too and raised the alarm,

“Incursion!” the gold shouted,

“Incursion?” Moyo said,

The only time he’d heard that word was when an abyssal creature was manifesting, with no time to think dominion appeared in his hand, coated with surplus Ashe and crashed into the creature, a grotesque looking thing that had just began to form. It died with a wail, reality reasserting itself, Moyo touched the spot where reality had twisted and found it resistive to his touch like he touched a wall,

“The hell?” he uttered,

Glancing back as the large stone gates groaned open, what the hell was going on in this continent?.