The ship belonging to the sentinels dropped off Samantha and her gaggle of healers that kept pestering Moyo for more information concerning his time off the world at Bastion as they flew over it, beaming them down before heading east towards the shores of the continent and towards Rimor. Moyo had been going through the compiled brief given to him with a slight frown on his face, Gaia, his world had gone through momentous changes in the short while he had been gone and he could hardly recognize anything he was seeing and it rubbed off him wrongly.

Ideally all the factions were expected to grow, that wasn’t disputed, but the manner in which they grew were giving him the wrong mix of signals. Aside from the issue of the theocracy he was going to get a look at, the other factions were slowly splitting apart from the unified front that had been his dream. The Bharat empire had become an almost secular state, hardly anyone ventured that far down to the continent now formerly known also as Bharat. Its borders weren’t closed so much as the indigenes were becoming hostile, trading through proxies with the outside world in a bid to recover their culture and build up their ascenders.

Moyo could see through the propaganda to realize it was probably the work of the royals that ruled the empire, the children of Brahma as they called themselves. Devesh as the emperor ruling with six princes who ruled over the six provinces of the continent and empire as a whole, Moyo wasn’t sure if this was a case of the same issue the theocracy probably had, Devesh as a figurehead with a more clandestine figure in the shadows giving the orders or Devesh himself growing drunk with power. Mrs. Martha hadn’t deemed it fit to investigate, claiming it was not their place to interfere in the issues of another continent.

Moyo agreed also, the last thing he wanted was to poke his nose where he wasn’t needed, while his clan was no doubt a world power, he took the lessons to heart about the world powers of old that had spread themselves too far and too thinly only to have their empires come crashing down on them. Egypt, Oyo empire, Babylon, Persia, Rome, Greece, ottoman empire, Great Britain and even recently but debatable, the union formerly known as the United States of America. Although these were ages past, the lessons were eternal, and so he let the issue die, resolving for himself to see Devesh before jumping to conclusions.

The glorious empire had gone through reforms so drastic, Moyo wondered what the hell was going on in Taiyang. The empire seemed on the verge of collapse, many independent states rising to declare their independence from the empire ruled by Ba Ji. Most were crushed under the pure might of power and state authority Ba Ji wielded, showing his enemies no mercy as he cut through them like swaths of stalks with a shear. Leaving them almost powerless, he had for political reasons turned them into vassal states that swore loyalty through the archailect to Ba Ji and the glorious empire, however Moyo knew it was a matter of time before they had gotten enough of the empire and rebelled even with the threat of death hanging on their necks.

Again Mrs. Martha advised he not interfere, at least not yet, not to fan the fires of rebellion. For when the rebellious vassal areas realize the titan was in support of them, they could rise in total rebellion and the last thing Moyo or the clan wanted was to interfere in an issue through force of arms. Moyo grunted as he accepted her point, but he was also frustrated at the fact that the world was slowly falling back to pre archailect issues once power was in play. Accepting to watch out for Ba Ji also, he moved on to the next faction.

The union had seen an era of relative peace, if such could happen in the archailect. With Cassandra raging fusion leading the militaristic/pro-democratic faction who had christened their continent with the name Washington in honor of one of the founding fathers. With their nation states been run by elected generals who were all bronze rankers, they ran a pseudo independent government, Cassandra overseeing it all from the dominion state of Falcon herself with her army. So far they had been able to push deep into their red zone, keeping the worst of the dungeons on their borders while allowing random weaker dungeons manifest well enough in their populated areas, using them to rank up their ascenders all the way to advocates before sending them on a journey once a month to the badlands as they were called to gain their ascension to experts.

So far their faction had no issues, interacting well enough with the rest of the world while keeping their power at an all-time high, rivaling the clan well enough. He was hoping he’d have an ally in Cassandra, the red-haired woman of pure power and ruthlessness who ruled with an iron grip. Perhaps they could work out a joint exercise first before he pitched the idea to the rest of the factions.

The federation led by Perun in the continent now named Kievan was a land of cold and brutal battles that were oddly enough organized in nature. The various provinces that acted as an independent state were allowed to war between themselves, so far as it didn’t bite deep into the military power of Kievan and Perun as a whole who led them. The red zone was a hugely contested site of warfare between the various provinces that fought for resources in order to adequately delve the dungeons proper.

So far they were living in relative calm, allocating seasons to their wars and mostly trading with the other continents for most of their goods as the land mass of Kievan itself was a frigid place allowing for little to no farming, predominantly monstrous bison like creatures with a wide array of mutations rampaged around and acted as sources of meat and fur used for stylish attires and exported to the other continents.

Avalon, the home and continent of the literal knights of king William, wielder of Excalibur brought a smile to the lips of Moyo. William had excelled, turning his continent that had oddly enough doubled in size into a veritable fortress where the populace prospered, spurred on to grow stronger through the antics of William who allowed the continent to flourish under his rule. Mages planted crops, knights protected the various kingdoms under his domain, and he had exponentially grown his troops in response to the moves made by the glorious empire, acting as a solid ally to the clan and Moyo wouldn’t forget such an act.

Finally were the explorer society, the continent of Rimor, the headquarters of the society and home to their leader William Finn, the ascender on the path of the freezing bow. It was one of the most technologically advanced continents on the planet, trade and commerce active in thousands of shapes on the continent as the continent saw hundreds of factions coming over to buy the services of the society and purchase things that could only be found on the continent.

Their services were mostly needed for the new expert dungeons that were popping up all around Gaia, partnering with the delving guild back on Asa who lent them some technological devices implemented to sort out which dungeons in which they used for leveling up their members. Their circular continent reminded Moyo of the red sands kingdom, back on Duhiri.

Even as they crossed the oceans from above, Moyo rolled up the parchment, his gaze on the horizon, observing the movements of the clouds in silence. The differences were beginning to become glaring; the power structures were beginning to show subtle cracks as more and more factions on the planet began to walk their own paths, but still he needed to unite them for what was coming. He sighed, running his hands through his dreads, squinting as a large bird on flames that looked like a phoenix cried through the air, turning the clouds red with flame aether for a brief minute before diving down to the vast oceans below where large shapes broke through the ocean surface.

His world had evolved so drastically, that he couldn’t recognize it for what it was again and his actions and name faded to something more of a legend, a being of the highest reverence. To put it short, Moyo was beginning to realize that he was slowly being detached from the concept of being human in the minds of the inhabitants of Gaia, like he had outgrown them. He frowned at the thought, that was the last thing he wanted, to be viewed that way, but what was to be done when you were leagues above them in power and strength?.

He felt more than heard Idris walking up to him, sentinels bowing at their sect leader as he made his way up to the platform where Moyo sat, cross-legged. The very platform had been cordoned off by sentinels who stood tall and proud to be the first line of defense against their patriarch. Moyo had frowned when he realized that and had thought of politely informing them it wasn’t needed, nothing could remotely harm him on the world currently.

Then again he had seen the looks of steel in their eyes and had restrained himself, if they felt the greatest honor protecting him currently, then he wouldn’t deprive them of that. Idris stood at his side in silence, observing the skies also, Moyo noticed his arms were bare, conquerors’ might missing and strayed his eyes to his waist where they hung, diamond ranked weapons that could be classified as divine artifacts to other factions and his clan had more than enough to dominate the entire world. Idris spoke first, his voice rumbling even though he tried to reduce it,

“Reports of rampaging storms were reported from the kingdom of titans’ storm a few days ago” he started,

Moyo remained silent, aware of the topic Idris was about to raise, wincing at the mention of Annika’s kingdom. Idris continued, stretching his hand out, feeling the gentle breeze on his hands,

“Even Julius was forced to declare a state of emergency, towns and strongholds told to keep all their inhabitants within their walls till the storm had passed”

Moyo sighed, finally turning his purple eyes to Idris, looking for the judgmental look he was expecting. He saw none, confusion marring his expression, Idris smiling softly,

“You would find no judgement on my face brother” he said,

Moyo kept silent for a few seconds before looking away,

“Thank you” he muttered,

Idris placed his hands on the metal structure that held Moyo,

“To be honest, I wasn’t expecting you to come back the same, not really, not since when I saw the video you sent back the first time” Idris said,

“Even then?’ Moyo asked,

Had he changed so much even then?

Idris nodded,

“You looked like a man who had seen enough of the evils of reality and had stood firmly against it, a fate even I wouldn’t had wished on myself”

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Moyo chuckled quietly to himself,

“It wasn’t that bad” he replied,

He felt Idris frown at him, glancing at his friend,

“Moyo, tell me right here and now that if you hadn’t had someone who was with you every step of the way, that it wouldn’t had been hell on earth” Idris said,

Moyo kept quiet, the truth glaring right at him, Idris nodding,

“I thought as much, and the fact that the chimera was there all through the way explains the dynamics of the situation, a bond you don’t share with the storm empress, not when she wasn’t there to see you through those experiences” Idris explained,

“Still, I shouldn’t….” Moyo started, groaned and sighed,

Idris placed a hand on his shoulder,

“I understand, Martha does, Boyle does, Ayo does, Samantha does, and even Annika, deep down realizes this” he said,

“But you have to understand that, forgive yourself and move on, do you regret what you have between you and the chimera?” Idris asked,

Moyo’s reply was immediate, shaking his head, that was the part that left him with guilt, he didn’t regret it one bit, infact, in as much as he tried to fight it, he felt it deep down, the love, Idris patted him again,

“Love, eh?” he said jokingly as Moyo rolled his eyes,

“I noticed you addressed her as the chimera instead of her name” Moyo observed,

Idris shrugged,

“Martha had a long sermon about how those from masters and above have this uncanny ability to hone in on wherever their names were being spoken and how we should never use it” he said, wincing at the memory,

Moyo chuckled,

“Must had been a long sermon” he said,

Idris shuddered and shook his head,

“You my friend, have no idea” he replied as Moyo laughed,

“Last I heard, you had a woman, Aminat, right?” Moyo asked,

It had been a point of teasing for Idris whenever they all brought it up,

“Married, expecting a kid, a girl” Idris said proudly,

Moyo’s eyes widened at the news,

“that’s…wonderful!” he announced, his voice drawing the attention of the sentinels below who turned in a flash, weapon drawn before bowing and respectfully turning back,

Idris laughed,

“Indeed, she made me a happy man, my only point of sadness being the fact that my parents aren’t alive to see this, Gaia knows they bothered me for a child” he said, a hint of a sad smile on his face,

Moyo nodded somberly for a few minutes,

“The heir to the sect of the titans’ sentinels” Moyo said as Idris laughed,

“I hadn’t really thought of it that way” he replied,

“Now all that remains is for the clan head to give us a heir” Idris said mischievously,

Moyo coughed with a startled expression on his face,

“Me?” he asked,

“Do you even have any idea how many petitions we get from supposedly high ladies of cities and new royal families springing up and down like flies to bear your offsprings?” Idris asked incredulously,

Moyo furrowed his eyebrows,

“you do?, why haven’t I heard of such?” he asked,

Idris waved his hands dismissively,

“We have officials in charge of such, they are under strict orders to politely decline any of such requests, after all, you wouldn’t entertain such requests” he replied,

Moyo nodded, that was the right thing to do,

“I’m out of the loop, aren’t i?, I barely know what goes on within my domain” Moyo said,

“it’s expected, you deal with the large pictures, the bigger games, things like that would hardly even go through your head on a normal day” Idris said,

Silence relapsed again for a few short moments,

“Ever miss the days when Bastion was nothing but a wall with us fighting to protect a piece of land?” Moyo asked,

“hardly, the comradery?, yes, the constant battles just to see the dawn of the next day?, at all” Idris replied,

Moyo sighed, Idris placing a hand on his shoulder,

“No matter how far away you think you drift off, we’ll always be here to draw you back, all of us” Idris assured him,

Moyo clasped a hand on Idris’s, nodding appreciatively at him as Idris’s eyebrows rose up,

“So much power, how can you hold all of that within yourself?” he asked astonished,

“What?” Moyo asked confused,

“Your hands, you touched me now and I could feel such aether, powerful and pure, all in one being” Idris said, astonishment in his voice,

“Master rank” Moyo simply replied, Idris nodding mutely,

Shaking his head from his revel, he spoke,

“we’re approaching Rimor, our communicator indicates that their defenses are coming to bear on us” Idris said,

“Do I need to wipe them from existence?’ Moyo asked jokingly,

Idris turned sharply to him,

“you can feel them from here?, even one hour out?” he asked,

Moyo shrugged,

“I could feel everything around the world if I really put my mind to it, I simply don’t out of courtesy and those cannons are packing quite a punch, peak silver rank if not even gold ranked power, did the delving guild sell those to them?” Moyo asked,

Idris nodded,

“Along with other factions on the planet, Boyle developed them from the master ranked construct that protected us while you were gone, of course we have a better version” Idris said with a wink,

That meant averagely gold and possibly diamond ranked firepower, Moyo whistled in appreciation. That explained why the dragon that assaulted Bastion did so under subterfuge, his followers totally eradicated the moment they stepped foot on the shores of Asa. Idris spoke calmly to the communicator with a communication device he held, giving them the identification codes for the ship.

For extra caution, Moyo wrapped this ship in a bubble of aura, just to be safe, friendly fire was also a distinct possibility seeing as he was walking into a place he hadn’t been for a long time. Idris informed him the cannons were powering down and a direct landing dockyard was being opened up for them. He nodded and settled down, leaving the aura shield up though.

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

An hour later, the ship was pulling into the continent, slowly moving through the horrendous traffic that filled the air above.

The continent of Rimor had seen development and civilization reach almost all corners of its borders. Tall rising spires of metal and glass reaching skywards with different constructs and ascenders flying through the air, down below were entire roads of marble and metal snaked their way across the entirety of the populated continent. Moyo stood with his arms folded,

“patriarch” Idris said formerly, Moyo turning,

Arraigned before him were two rows of sentinels, decked in silver robes with the crest of the clan and sect emblazoned win gold on their chests. The two sentinels in front both carried banners, one of the clan in gold and black and the other of the sect in silver and gold raised high. Idris gestured to them,

“Your honor guard” he said loudly with all of the pride of a sect leader chosen to accompany the clan head,

Moyo nodded and turned his gaze on the steely eyed sentinels who stared at him with all the reverence they held, pride literally glowing from them, hands gripping their weapons tightly. He spoke, his voice echoing around the ships top regardless of the wind and loud traffic and voices surrounding them. Snapping his aura up, he started,

“You, are the select few chosen to accompany for this event, the second of its type” he said, watching as they drew themselves taller, if that was possible,

“You are my sentinels, my vanguard and the wall before my wall. I have no idea how you were chosen, but that you were chosen based on your capabilities, you are the face of Asa, the face of the clan and the representation of my power, let no one faze you” he said as they stamped the bottoms of their weapons on the deck of the ship,

“I care not what faction comes, I care not what power they wield, I know my sentinels will stand strong, unwavering no matter what is thrown at them. So go forth, knowing you hold the authority of the titan, that no force on Rimor nor the continents combined have the strength your patriarch and by proxy you all have. We are clan titan blade, let them feel our strength” he finished,

They banged their weapons three more times, eyes glowing silver as power radiated off them, Idris nodding at him subtly,

“By your will patriarch, we stand firm” he said,

“We stand firm!” they replied as one,

Moyo nodded and walked to their middle, standing shoulder to shoulder with Idris as the ship began to descend towards the dockyard below. The large circular landing platform held a few figures, Moyo instantly recognizing Luke Finn, head of the explorer society with what looked like bodyguards that looked larger than life. Next to him was a figure he didn’t recognize, but no doubt was an explorer, a woman with long yellow hair and what looked like short curved swords strapped to her back.

The ship landed and opened up, Moyo and his sentinels marching out along with Idris, the stomps of the sentinels walking in tandem echoing around the landing bay. Moyo dressed in black with the purple crest of the clan on his armless robe walked towards Luke Finn who seemed to have aged finely. His once dark hair now having streaks of blue in it, he wore an immaculate black suit with golden buttons arraigned on it with a clip fashioned in the crest of the explorer’s society, four arrows pointed in the four directions of the world.

Luke Finn bowed at the waist as his followers followed suit,

“It is the greatest honor to host the titan blade on my continent” he said, his voice smooth sounding smooth and firm,

“An honor to be here, Luke Finn” Moyo replied, a soft smile on his face,

Luke turned and gestured to the woman,

“This right here is my vice leader, Natasha of the snow spear, and the man behind me are explorers tasked with guarding me” Luke introduced,

Moyo nodded, shaking Natasha whose eyes widened for a bit before composing herself. Moyo gestured behind him,

“My sentinels and their sect leader, Idris Geb hand” Moyo said,

“There isn’t a notable soul who doesn’t know Idris Geb hand, the wall of Bastion himself” Luke said, Idris nodding in respect and recognition,

Moyo glanced into the distance,

“I see all are around except the pontiff” he said,

If Luke was shocked at the power of Moyo, able to find the rest of the faction leaders, he gave to inclination, merely nodding with a frown on his face,

“Ah, yes, the pontiff” he started,

Moyo raised an eyebrow,

“Is there an issue?” he asked,

“Depends on how you view it” Luke started,

“The pontiff of the Luminian theocracy has been said to be in great meditation about his path, something about getting a revelation from a greater being?” he asked, straining pointedly at Moyo who shook his head,

“Not from me” he replied,

Luke nodded,

“Then the rumors are through, you are a master now” he said,

“It was my knowledge that the archailect informed everyone” Moyo asked,

Luke nodded,

“True, however to hear it from you, sounds like a dream to be honest” he replied,

Moyo gave a light smile,

“Right this way if you will” Luke said, leading Moyo towards a large ship,

The black looking luxurious craft hummed softly as Moyo and the rest of those following them came aboard, rising smoothly through the air and towards a large mountain in the distance where what looked like its top had been smoothly removed and remodeled into a large building, Greek pantheon looking style. Moyo felt Luke’s gaze on him,

“Question?” Moyo asked,

Luke cleared his throat,

“Apologies lord Moyo, but to be frank, you don’t look the way I envisioned” he said,

“Oh?” Moyo said, glancing at him,

“What were you expecting?” he asked,

“a cold looking deity of raw power coming down on us with all the power of an entire planet, or at least, that’s the way most of the world views you” Luke explained,

Moyo furrowed his eyebrows,

“Why would anyone think that?” he asked,

Luke smiled,

“a lot of reasons I believe, a master of pure power, the first of Gaia, the leader of the powerful clan titan blade that has more monsters among their ranks than average ascenders and of course those who follow your path spreading tales of your might” he said,

Moyo nodded,

“I’ve handled those who claim to follow me, I believe they wouldn’t be doing that any longer” Moyo said,

“If you would, define handled” Natasha said, speaking up for the first time,

“The patriarch meant they are now under the supervision of clan titan blade” Idris said, speaking up,

Natasha nodded,

“You thought I killed them?” Moyo asked,

Natasha kept quiet, but the look on her face spoke volumes, Luke glanced at his second with a stern look,

“Apologies for my vice, she is quite outspoken about those in power, especially the clan” he explained,

“Has the clan does something I’m unaware of?” Moyo asked,

Luke stepped in before Natasha spoke, his voice firm,

“Pardon the intrusion lord titan blade, but we are reaching our destination, perhaps this is a topic for another day and time?” he asked,

Moyo glanced at Idris who stared at Natasha with irritation, then back to Luke who seemed to be diffusing a very tense situation. He nodded, he would look into this issue as well, whatever it was, Luke gave a light sigh and smiled,

“Lord titan blade, it is my honor and privilege to welcome you to the pantheon” he said,

Moyo snorted,

“a little on the nose, isn’t it?’ he asked,

Luke Finn laughed, the construct closing in on the pantheon.