It had started with a single rock hurling towards the nest, triggering the defenses of the world burner and the brigade. Ships were placed on full proximity alert, turrets and ship guns obliterated the single dark rock that seemed out of place in the void. The ten generals had turned their attention to the spot, aether defenses enhanced with that single shot. Then one rock heralded hundreds that became thousands, seemingly appearing out of nowhere and heading for a collision with the nest, the planet of Dracon.
The generals had moved then, rulers and wielders of arcane weapons, they released just but a wisp of their power, a single drop of power that sang through the aether in the air. Flames, the power of the brigade sprang to life all across space like a burning star, rampaging around as it turned the rocks into oblivion. One by one the ten generals who had forsaken their names to take up the position of power in the brigade blazed to life, they could feel it now, the encroaching foe coming for them.
Passing through pathways the jades that held the frontlines were oblivious to, they began to manifest in the far distance, reality screaming as klaxons wailed, signaling the incursion into real space. Like shadows of oily stains on a portrait, they pressed upon reality as they stood in the distance, stars winking out of existence around them due to their corruption of reality. The generals were prepared for this, as were the entire army of diamonds the brigade had mustered, thousands standing behind the generals in a sea of bodies to prevent even a single corruption from reaching the planet.
With no possible pathways directly into the planet itself, the cult members would have to fight their way into the planet physically. The nest was devoid of dungeons in an attempt to avoid situations like these, the brigade knowing fully well the cult could bore through dungeons occasionally to get to their intended targets. The cultists who began to appear from tears in space made way for a large oily ship that forced its way through, sentient in the way a malevolent being could be, its structure looked more or less like an abomination come to life.
The generals had seen enough, the first moved, an ancient being of pure mana, a female general of the first cohort of the brigade. Clad in the red robes of the brigade with fiery burning eyes, she stretched her hand out as a large burning rune manifested behind her. Its fires burning with the pure sanctifying power of Lotes, she spoke, the command echoing through reality itself,
“BLAZE”
From the rune behind her shot a beam of pure destructive energy wrapped up in flames the attack made a beeline for the ship, burning cult members who stood in its path to cinders. The ship screamed, a feat impossible for any normal construct, but this was forged in the murky depths of the abyss and was an abomination. A vile and churning power blazed to life next to the ship, containing the flames before snuffing it out, the ship fully phased into reality proper, eating away at its fabrics slowly to reveal a murky black sea of pure abyssal power where a large spire stood.
The generals reacted immediately, knowing full well what was about to happen, with a pulse of power they unleashed their diamonds on the cult members who numbered in their hundreds. The cult it seemed had abandoned all their battles on the frontlines to attack the nest, for the tear in space kept spilling cult members in their hundreds, those who had been exiled to the abyss during the war with the Grim and had found dark means to multiply. They reeked of blight infestations, meat suits for the blights of the abyss to possess in their thousands.
With the power of category 6 blights, the equivalent of peak experts in the archailect, the blights clashed with the diamonds, the very stars burning bright and winking out of existence as their fights tore the galaxy asunder. These were just the opening salvos of a battle that threatened existence as a whole, the brigade in their foresight moving ahead to evacuate the thousands of souls living on the throne world of the Dracons into runic underground bunkers where they shivered in trepidation at the battle rampaging above them.
The abyssal ship paused in space, its helm parting as it opened up to reveal a black-haired man stepping out of the bowels of the ship, behind him were arraigned ten figures in black robes, hoods hiding their faces. The man that led them commanded the attention of every being currently embroiled in this battle, milky white skin, inky black eyes with a presence that spoke of rot, decay, and destruction. Tania thousand whips blinked into existence, a mythical arcane whip with thousands of whip-like mouths that moved through the void of space, each burning with the power of a miniature star.
“Rohan” she said, the very name sending silent trembles through everyone present,
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Within the nest, beneath the fiery skies that would forever burn with fire, the pure gold streets that spoke of the majesty of house Dracon, underground and far below the crusts of the planet sat a single cage, its very presence strengthening reality around it as intent, aether, authority, mana of different affinities held a prison forged from pure divine shards of mantles. In it was a figure bound in heavy chains, wrists and legs bleeding continuously as it strengthened the cage itself. The figures’ arms were spread wide and chained to the far corners of the cage, same as its legs.
Floating in front of the cage was Xerxes himself, eyes closed as he stood motionless, lava bubbled beneath, and a gigantic form that seemed to defy the concept of size shifted beneath the boiling lava of aether and intent. Xerxes opened his eyes, flicking them to the being below before glancing back at the figure in the cage,
The Grim,
His HUD lit up with the notification of the attack on the tournament, he noted it quietly. Rohan would have sent his forces to tie down the rulers of the great house present there. He received a message through HUD that Rohan had appeared and according to Tania, with ten lords of chaos, beings formed in the primordial ooze of the abyss to continually wage war with the archailect.
He checked on Tania, seeing she was fine before focusing his attention back on the prisoner, this was the end goal and as far as they could drive off Rohan, the generals were more than a match for the ten lords, and Tania was capable of holding her own against Rohan till at least, he was needed there. He felt the Grim twitch and then move a bit; the only inch of respite given to him in this cage.
Xerxes slowly uncoiled his power,
“This much protection for me” a croaky voice said from the cage,
Xerxes spared no reply, no emotion on his face as he stared into the soulless black eyes of the Grim who grinned at him, hollow sunken face. The Grim was a hulk of a man, brought low by the power of the cage that held him at bay. His frame looked malnourished, face jaunt and nails cracked and chipped, but that didn’t take from the lethality he exuded, the almost imperceptible but muted cries of those he had ended their existence.
Xerxes twitched and the chains blazed hot as the Grim groaned in pain, agonizing for a few seconds before chuckling as his blood dripped steadily down his body, after a few seconds he continued,
“You know how good Rohan was, even now you doubt within yourself if all is going as planned, if this isn’t some game of the avatar of chaos” he croaked,
“It is, for Rohan has something you don’t”
Xerxes cocked his head; however, no words left his mouth,
“Brutality and decisiveness, you aren’t stupid Xerxes, you think he’d attack your dogs head-on?” the Grim asked, heaving in dry laughter before a rune blazed on his tongue and began to get scorched, the Grim groaning in pain. Xerxes glanced at his HUD as a notification glowed,
Rohan was here,
He whirled back to the Grim who chuckled between his groans, eyes light as stared at Xerxes, the leader of the brigade focused his attention below him, into the form in the lava who paused,
“It is done” the words drifting into his mind,
Calling up his HUD and realizing Tania was in battle with Rohan, he typed a message to her immediately, typing messages to other individuals. This was expected, it was within the plan and he accounted for it, with that done he whirled back to the cage where a globe of dark red flames shielded the cage from external influence, the power of an ancient ruler, the one who slept below the sea of lava beneath him.
With a pulse of his aura, he relieved the ruler of a watch, allowing her to fall back into a half slumber as he took up vigilance, the message he sent glowing in his HUD,
Rohan watches,
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Tania clashed with Rohan, the message flickering in her HUD as her mind processed it. The avatar of chaos was a terrible being, whose very presence dissolved reality around him and only the presence of Tania and the generals held the rot at bay. The generals had engaged the hooded figures who turned out to be lords of the abyss, the generals of the infinite forces of the abyss. Each wore the meat suit of some unfortunate humanoid who had been fortified to withstand the existence of the lords within their bodies.
Looking like soulless mannequins with grotesque-shaped features, the lords whose names Tania had sealed with her authority back into the void of the abyss, halving their powers and letting the generals run rampant around them. Arcane sigils and runes blazed to life around this battlefield as the diamonds of the brigade clashed with the category 6 blights who fully manifested within the proximity of the void hole that had been torn open in reality.
Tania frowned as she used her authority to cut off the workings of power Rohan used, something was wrong, this battle while it tore asunder the very stars around them, any existence lower than diamond instantly being obliterated, she felt it. This was no Rohan,
“Who are you?” she growled,
Arms spread as her spiritual form took shape, a large monstrous creature of primordial origins, flames of the brigade burning all over its form with its golden eyes blazing. Rohan whom she doubted was him smiled,
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“I am Rohan” he replied, a grin on his face,
“Observe your fickle attempts” he continued and stretched his hands sideways, snapping his fingers,
Immediately all the stars in the galaxy went dark, the red-burning sun sputtered out, throwing the entire galaxy into perpetual darkness. Cold permeated the air and Tania could feel the aether in the air unraveling, even now diamonds screamed as their sanities began to unravel, in the throne world hundreds had died in a blink, lives snuffed out so quickly they blessedly went to their deaths without even realizing it.
Tania staggered under the pressure of the abyss pressing down on her and she screamed, raw anger and rage pouring it as her mantle blazed to life on her body, illuminating the very galaxy and rescuing the diamonds left alive from the clutches of the abyss. Rohan stood with his arms folded, a smile on his face, she bit back the pain at seeing a general felled by a lord, the body exploding, eradicating the lord along with him in death.
She raised her whip up and, with a power born of centuries of warfare, blazed toward Rohan, her flames the only light source. Together they clashed in a deluge of power so strong, a reality already weakened groaned, trying to hold back the power of the abyss. Then she heard the ship groan, fracturing as it began to fold in on itself, melting back to a liquified form. She watched wide eyes as her HUD blinked in alarm, red inscriptions writing themselves into existence as she desperately fought to gain a chance to destroy the ship,
Notice: you are in the presence of an abyssal incursion, evacuate, or risk taint!
Rohan held her at bay, her generals blasting towards the ship before the lords intercepted them, they were evenly matched, but it won’t remain that way for long. She blazed harder, pouring out all her reserves of power she had been stockpiling for decades, lighting up the very galaxy but still Rohan held her back, even as all category 6 blights burned under the influence of her power, the avatar of chaos laughed in her face, driving her backward.
The liquid form solidified and became a tree, black leaves sprouting as it pulsed, sending waves of abyssal energy around, empowering the last of the lords in a heavy battle against the generals who were also blazing to life,
Notice: Warning!, abyssal incursion reaching a critical level, archailect functions would seize to work once the threshold has been attained, requires immediate elimination.
A spire was being created, a spire of the abyss to steal this part of the archailect while leaving a taint behind and it was to happen under the watch of Tania. She repulsed the idea, she cursed the notion, no, she would eliminate this threat the same way she had eliminated hundreds of threats to the archailect. Rohan however didn’t relent, a part of her mind realizing he was only defending, holding back as he protected the tree.
The very galaxy trembled as a voice spoke, the stars blazing back to full strength and the red sun of the draconic galaxy blazing back in all its glory,
“BURN”
The very darkness of the galaxy turned to gold with flames and Rohan cursed, the lords were burnt to cinders as the aether-infused fires that raged spoke of an authority that transcended space and time, it transcended the strongest authority of the primordials, ancients, and any existence that was, is and is to come. The authority of Lotes the true dragon herself echoed throughout reality, the abyssal pathway burnt itself out of existence and the spire crumbled into nothingness.
Reality pulsed with renewed energy as Xerxes world burner appeared, arms folded behind him and a gigantic dragon at his side, golden scales glittering in the light of the sun, red claws gripping the very fabric of reality itself, the dragon opened its mouth and roared, its cry echoing through reality with the authority of a ruler,
Hagan, the second ruler and ancient of house Dracon had awakened from her centuries-deep slumber,
Rohan screamed in mindless rage as he made a line for Xerxes, abyssal power cocooning in pure power that fought to rip into reality again. Then Xerxes was there, one hand punched cleanly through the chest cavity of Rohan, the still black beating heart of the avatar of chaos in his hand. The heart burst into flames, Rohan screaming as he caught on fire,
“The Grim lives!” he shouted before being consumed by flames, leaving only a pile of smoldering bones floating in the air,
The diamonds of the brigade left alive shouted in a cheer, Hagan vanishing in a blink, no doubt going back to watch the cage. Tania floated towards Xerxes, her mantle chipped and cracked as it fixed itself in a blink,
“That wasn’t Rohan” she said,
Xerxes nodded tersely,
“And you think the one attacking the tournament isn’t Rohan either” she continued,
Xerxes nodded again, together leader and vice leader watched as the nine remaining generals and their ships tore open pathways, en route to Altera, their minds trying to piece what was going on together.
Xerxes twitched in shock before vanishing in a blink, appearing in front of the cage, a blade in hand that sang through the very air with arcane power, terrible whispers of countless souls slain, their essences absorbed. He and Hagan stood at opposite sides of the cage, rage in their eyes, Xerxes trembling as a black pathway closed up from within the cage…….
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Moyo stepped out of the portal swinging, blade cutting an arc of pure power through the category 6 blights that assaulted Titus, obliterating them in a rush of aspect-tinted intent that cleared the area of any blight attacks. Titus battling desperately with a cult member twisted as his realm shattered, dodging the spectral claws of the lanky frame and a mask covering the lower half of his face with a sickly green skin. The cultist barely had time to react before Moyo fell on him with rage born of pure hatred.
Dancing as he crushed every move of the cult member, dominion tore into the shoulders of the cultist who released a shrill scream before being summarily decapitated. Moyo felt the throne of the titan staring within him as he held back its powers with pure will, tearing open a pathway to the continent of Altera, Titus’ eyes widening,
“How did you?” he asked, unable to complete it,
“go!” Moyo shouted, the urgency in his voice laced with Ashe that jolted Titus and had him nodding, blitzing into the pathway as it closed up behind him.
Moyo finally let the throne loose, the essence of the cult member soaking into his body and straight for the throne that swallowed it up. He had no idea what the throne used the power for, except it would somehow empower him somehow. He turned with a vengeance to the dungeons and once again let his intent and Ashe loose within it, collapsing the dungeon in its entirety. The fact that diamonds shouldn’t have the power to collapse dungeons wasn’t lost on him, but deep down Moyo had accepted the fact that his path to ascension wasn’t following the laid down principles.
He was an oddity, a freak of the archailect, a monster among monsters, especially for his rank and he was fine with it now, it served his needs. Maybe when all these was done, and he had a moment of respite, he would analyze what was going on and why he kept accumulating powers that defied the usual ascensions and ranks, but for now, there was work to be done.
The dungeons were destroyed along with their blight inhabitants and caving in on themselves with the last of their tainted essences being absorbed by his throne, he spread his aura out again and felt Sonya her aura burning a line through the blighted creatures. He was beginning to understand what was going on with battling abyssal creatures.
His first encounter was back in his home world where he fought off and successfully eliminated a category 4 blight, then he fought and managed to escape the essence-sucking attacks of the Rohan-possessed Zortes. It had all boiled down to authority, authority that supersedes whatever abyssal creature an ascender currently fought.
Moyo had fought Rohan, a terrifying being whose twisted version of authority surpassed his, but with an average category blight creature or a cult member, Moyo would crush them, and he intended to do so. Without pausing he tore open a pathway to Curtis, appearing in a realm of darkness, his aura blasting towards the cult member who fought Curtis, the eclipse blade skills shining as he battled the cult member to a standstill.
A bloated abomination looking like a cross between a puffer fish and a human, Moyo wrapped the cultist in a tight grip with his aura and Ashe, the struggling humanoid abomination screaming in a shrill voice as it pitted its power against Moyo, a pebble would have done better against a steel wall. With a gesture Moyo crushed the abomination to a paste, not wasting time exchanging attacks with it, he tore open a pathway to the continent of Altera, using his aura to push Curtis through to avoid the questions.
As he crushed the dungeons again, finally feeling the levels of aspect-tinged Ashe and intent settle within him, he thought to himself how only the first cult member he fought seemed to be actually a human, what were the other cult members?. Without much knowledge of the creatures he fought, he didn’t have much to base his assumptions on, but as long as he could keep reducing their numbers he would.
Opening a pathway to Sonya, he stepped out into a scorched hillside, whatever resources were found there before burnt to a crisp with huddling merchants who trembled, eyes wide as they stared at Sonya in fear. He tore open a pathway, eyes on the smoldering dungeons that burned on the inside,
“Someone has to stay and hold the dungeons till backup arrives” she said,
“I’ve got this, go with them back to the continent” Moyo replied,
“Are you sure?, with your path broken, how are you even able to open a pathway?” she asked,
Moyos’ eyes simply glowed purple, his aura settling on them all as Sonya took a short breath, eyes wide, the merchants turned their gazes from her to him, apparently, a bigger monster had arrived,
“Trust me” he repeated,
She nodded and went through, apparently keeping whatever questions she wanted to ask to herself, taking the merchants with her. Moyo surveyed the area with the burnt corpses, one with the overwhelming taint of a cult member he was familiar with. He winced as he crushed the bones underfoot, no one listened to him about keeping one of them alive, and he couldn’t blame them, they must had come across the killing the same way he did.
Stepping into the dungeon, he summoned his Ashe and intent, one cut from dominion ripping the fabric of the dungeon to pieces, collapsing it in its entirety. Stepping out he moved towards his last stop, Kel fading blade who danced around the cult member in a world of illusions and dreams. It was a losing battle though, with the taint of the cult member slowly eating into his realm of dreams and intent. Moyo stopped it as he let his throne begin idly eating the tainted essence of the cult member, a being of pure pitch-black crystals turning to him, a sonic scream echoing through the air as it battered Moyo.
It might as well be a gentle breeze as Moyo tapped the crystal body of the cult member, aspect-tinged Ashe in that touch that tore through the body of the cultist,
“BREAK” he commanded,
The cultist shattered into hundreds of pieces, Moyo absorbing the essence till nothing was left,
“That wasn’t a feat someone with a shattered path could had accomplished” Kel said,
Moyo tore open a pathway, watching the diamonds eyes widen in surprise,
“Go, I’ll clean up here” he said,
Kel turned to him, nodded,
“I’ll pass the message along to my house, don’t mess with the titan blade” Kel said,
Moyo gave a tight smile and nodded, Kel passing through, there were no merchants here to save, all had been slain. Moyo ripped the dungeon apart, stepping out as it collapsed behind him in a clap of power. Moyo flew up into the air, the continent below him as he spread his aura and authority through the nooks and crannies of the continent, pure power running through every bit of the continent and searching for runes, runes he was sure were being powered this very minute even though he had deprived them of their power source.
His eyes snapped open as he found them and with a force akin to a blacksmith using a hammer on a rock, Moyo gathered his Ashe and spoke, his voice echoing around the continent in a haze of pure undiluted power,
“BREAK”
The runes shattered with a resounding bang, echoes and waves of power hitting and roiling through the landscape like a tsunami as he eradicated every trace of taint. He breathed in as he felt the aether in the air previously restricted release a sigh like it was a living being, opening a pathway back to the tournament coliseum, he stepped through and immediately felt a force hammer him into the ground. Channeling his aspect through his Ashe, he sought to break it when he realized where he was, in front of the spire, dead bodies all around, arranged in a ritual pattern with a man in all black, arms folded behind him staring at the spire.
He suddenly felt cold as the tainted authority fought with his aspect, his throne absorbing as fast as it could but seemingly being oppressed. The man glanced down at him and Moyo knew, deep within him he knew,
“you’re becoming a thorn in my side, I hate thorns, although I must applaud your skills” the man said, his voice silent and deadly,
“Rohan” Moyo grunted,
The man, the avatar of chaos and most wanted being in the archailect nodded,
“Good, you know me, let’s talk titan blade” he said,