The moment Moyo emerged from the temple, he took one look at the crowd already gathering outside, shouts of “lord titan blade” filling the air and shook his head,
“No, not ready for this” he said, snapping his fingers as a pathway to the citadel of endurance opened up and he passed through, Ashira shaking her head behind him.
They both stepped out of the pathway, Moyo noticing his sect leaders had followed behind him quietly. Perhaps he had been too distracted to realize they were still around, either way he turned to them, eyes flicking from one to the other,
“So, you finally have me where you want me, as some higher existence the entire continent can look up to” he started,
“don’t be like that” Martha said, hurt still in her voice,
“The people need someone to look up to during their time of need” Ayo said,
“it’s why they have the clan, why they have you guys there for them” Moyo replied,
“The clan is a body, a body could sway left or right, what they need is an existence they can put their faith in” Annika said,
“you’re literally building a cult around me” Moyo said softly as Ashira shook her head,
“Look at it this way, you won’t even be around to boss them about” the chimera said,
“Thereby leaving a group of people to begin to do things in my name” he said,
“That won’t happen, the clan would see to it that it doesn’t, this I cans wear to you” Idris said,
Moyo turned to the citadel,
“200,000 venerations already” he said as he opened his palm and wisps of golden energy tinged with purple began to form in his palm,
Flicking the energy towards the landscape in front of him, he watched as the once dry and barren land began to grow tall tress that stretched skywards, then the ground split and water began to gush out, wetting the dry and arid land in front of him. He turned to them, the sect leaders staring in awe at the power,
“that’s what a primordial juiced up on veneration can do” he said,
With that he expanded his presence to cover Asa, watching everything all at once before snapping it back to himself,
“I’m stalling” he said,
Ashira snorted,
“Glad you can see so yourself” she replied,
He turned to the sect leaders,
“I’d upgrade your weapons later, now though, I need the clan in the black zone as soon as possible” he said,
“done” Mrs Martha replied as she called up her HUD and sent a message,
“The entire bronze and iron ranked forces of the clan are enroute to the black zone” she said,
He nodded,
“I need squads of ascenders, not more than ten per squad, sort them out, ten squads together would make a regiment, what is the current fighting force of the entire clan?” he asked,
“Just the clan or allied sects and schools as well?” Martha asked,
“Just the clan” he replied,
“We stand at 100,000 ascenders of expert rank” she said,
His eyes widened,
“Wow, that many?” he said,
Ashira snorted,
“Not enough, how many ascenders total does the clan have?” the chimera asked Martha,
“More or less 500,000 give or take” the spider replied,
Moyo looked stumped,
“Wait a minute, what is the population of the continent right now?” he asked,
“Asa stands at around 5 million inhabitants” Boyle said, the sect leader of the hammers of Ogun speaking up,
“When did we get that much?” he asked bewildered,
“Moyo, the world pre archailect was around 7 billion, this is merely a fraction of a fraction of humanity left” Martha said with a frown,
“If my sources are correct, the entire population of the world in total right now sits at around 20 million, that’s well, you get what I mean” she finished as Moyo frowned,
“I do” he said softly,
“We have a standing army of 100,000 experts, 98,000 of which are irons, 1,900 of which are early bronze rankers” Samantha said,
“So only a 100 or so ascenders are of peak bronze stage?” Moyo asked,
Martha nodded,
Moyo turned to Ashira,
“We break the dungeons?” he asked,
She shrugged,
“No choice if you want to go on with your plan” she replied,
“Wait, you can break the dungeons at will?” Idris asked,
The other sect leaders looked shocked as well,
“If the aether density in the area of the dungeon increases from its rank, the dungeons will break open at the bountiful aura present” Ashira explained,
“The clan?” Moyo asked,
“a few minutes out” Martha replied,
“Should had just open a pathway for the ships to make their way here” Moyo said to himself,
“iron rankers remember?, most mages would likely puke their cores out at the transfer” Ashira reminded him,
He turned to her blinking,
“I’ve been hopping spatial pathways from acolyte rank” he said,
She rolled her eyes,
“Again, not all ascenders are weird as you titan, no acolyte should be stepping through pathways” she said with a smile,
He brushed off the thought and floated skywards, eyes on the hundreds of silver ranked dungeons and below in the distance. An idea came to him and Moyo opened his HUD, checking if it was possible, lips pursed as he read the query he typed into the system, he nodded at the reply that whatever A.I running the archailect gave him before closing his HUD for a minute, eyeing the dungeons in the distance. He opened his HUD once more and put in the order as a loud gong echoed around the entire continent,
Domain notice: primordial lord titan blade has issued a reward for those about to participate in the ‘event’. Depending on the amounts of dungeon monsters killed and ranks, the primordial lord titan blade has decided to bestow rewards on those who impress him the most!.
TYPE POINTS
SILVER 10pts
BRONZE 5pts
iron 1pts
Rewards for the event are as follows:
POINTS REWARDS
1000pts 1 legendary core & 1,000 diamond coins
500pts 1 rare core & 500 diamond coins
300pts 1 rare core & 1000 gold coins
200pts 1 uncommon core & 500 gold coins
100pts 1 uncommon core & 1000 silver coins
Ashira floated up to him with a smirk on her face,
“Are you in the habit of giving away obscene amount of wealth, cause you’re about to destabilize the economy” she said,
He glanced at her with a smile as he snapped his fingers,
Notice: members of clan titan blade are not included in this event
He glanced down at the clan leaders who were pouting, Annika rolling her eyes at him from below where she stood. He turned to Ashira,
“1,000 diamond coins could hardly destabilize an economy” he said,
She cocked her head at him,
“Amazing, you’re so detached from the lives of those below you that you hardly realize it, how much do you think the average ascender on your world earns per dungeon delving?” she asked,
Moyo shrugged, floating down towards Martha, he asked her,
“More or less 50-100 bronze coins, add a few weapons and armor gotten from delving and you have maybe 300 bronze coins” she explained,
“The occasional silver dungeon monster a school or sect is able to put down at great expense and manpower earns them maybe 10-20 silver coins, enough to fund the sect or school for a year or two” Boyle put in,
Moyo glanced at his HUD again before realizing his error,
“oh” he said with a wince,
Ashira simply shook her head with a smile,
“Congratulations patriarch, you just ensured the entire sects and schools in Asa would be vying for glory by all means” Ayo said sarcastically,
Moyo shrugged,
“that’s my plan” he replied,
Ashira stared at him as her eyes lit up,
“Oh, you sly one” she said sniggering,
The sect leaders stared at them in confusion, Moyo explaining,
“Silver ranked monsters juiced up on strong aether and even the bronze ranked ones aren’t easy to bring down, ascenders who are foolish enough to think they could do it on their own would end up losing their lives. Teams will be made, agreements struck in order to ensure survival and the money split” he said,
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“Still, a thousand diamond coins?” Samantha asked,
“Split between ten bronze rankers would give each a 100 diamond coins, that’s an obscene amount of wealth” Martha noted,
Moyo smiled,
“there’s a reason I exempted the clan” he said,
He waved his hands at the distance,
“You think ten bronze rankers can bring down one or more silver monster at a time?” he asked,
“One on one, yeah” Idris said,
Moyo nodded,
“True, but what happens when you’re facing an entire invasion force of silver ranked monsters with hordes of bronze and iron?” he asked, his eyes glinting,
Idris stared slack jawed at him,
“The entire battlefield becomes one cohesive army of fighters, multiple alliances will be struck by sects and schools to ensure the survival of their scions” Martha said, nodding approvingly to Moyo,
Ashira stared at him,
“Wow, must had been hard work to think up that sort of plan, your head must hurt” she said,
Moyo rolled his eyes at her as she sniggered,
“They are here” he said, his tone serious,
In the distance, six large construct ships approached, each flying the banner of one of the six sects that made up the clan titan blade. Ashira moved closer to him,
“Ever thought of creating your own house?’ she asked,
Moyo glanced at her, a frown on his face,
“eventually” he replied,
His clan was no way ready to take on the responsibility of a house, a house being made up of numerous clans, each of the sects weren’t up to the military strength of a single clan individually. She nodded,
“You have the makings of one though” she noted as Moyo kept silent,
He turned his gaze to the citadel where he could make out the hidden form of the ten silver ranked ascenders. He could see Tomasa staring at him and nodded at the ascender who looked shocked to have been seen but bowed back before fading away along with the rest. Moyo nodded to himself, satisfied a form of hierarchy had been made between them, the other 90 ascenders who had failed his tests were now being subtly placed under their purview.
He frowned at the thought of how he had crushed the notion of them venerating him and here he was, a primordial with a temple with over 200,000 venerating him. He checked the HUD again as he shook his head, 500, 000 now in less than two days. He would have the talk with Tomasa and the rest, seeing where they stood concerning the issue, but an organization meant to protect the world from external threat should have no allegiance to anyone, least of all a primordial who seemed to have an entire domain under his purview.
The ships were now visible and the respective sect leaders were floating over to each of their ships, Ashira turned to him,
“Babysitting your entire continent isn’t going to solve the Lumia issue fast enough, I say we strike now that the eyes of the world are on the crusade” she said with a frown,
Moyo smiled,
“Been reading my mind, have you?” he asked,
Ashira smiled,
“Although it does bring into question my existing plans, seeing as I’m looking to push my sect leaders into peak silver” he noted,
“Might I suggest taking them along?” she asked,
Moyo shook his head,
“Too risky, a single death could destabilize the clan, not worth it” he responded,
“Moyo, this is the archailect, everything is risky” she said,
Moyo nodded,
“I know, believe me, I know. However I have a feeling they’ll be needed soon enough to protect the clan from greater threats” he responded,
She shrugged,
“you’re the boss, besides, I have golds and a few diamonds I can dedicate to the invasion of the continent” she replied,
Moyo shook his head again,
“Again I must decline, this is a battle for my world, I doubt the other side have golds to throw into battle, I want to send a message to this certain Rieus of a primordial” he said eyes glowing,
Ashira chewed her lips as she stared at him, hands on her waist,
“so what’s your plan?, just the silvers you’ve trained against an army under the control of a master and his primordial?” she asked,
Moyo nodded,
“I’m not going to war with the state of Lumia, I’m going to war with those that holds them captive, besides, I’ve been considering the last option” he said with a terse look,
“What last option?” she asked,
“I’ll be holding Akriel during the duration of the siege, someone needs to handle the cardinal Elita who would no doubt be juiced up on power by now, probably silver rank, the archbishops themselves as well silver rank” he replied,
“You have ten silver ranked ascenders, petty sure they can hold their own” Ashira said,
“against ascenders on the power of a master?, I doubt it” Moyo replied,
“Their bodies can’t handle the authority of a master, not unless they’re diamond” Ashira noted with a frown,
“And still I felt the authority with a tinge of aspect of the bright scourge coming from them when we met, the silvers we’ve trained are strong no doubt, but unless you want them dying, the best they can do is stall for time” he said,
“We need to fight aspect with aspect” he continued,
Ashira cocked her head to a side,
“Unless you can readily start sharing your aspect out to ascenders without them imploding, then I hardly see how you could handle that” she said,
He shook his head,
Not all of them, just one” he responded as her eyes lit up,
“Oh I see, finally stopped fighting the fact that you need to do it, did you?’ she said,
“I still need his decision, there’s no way I’m forcing this on him” he responded,
Ashira snorted,
“Like he’d say no to such a position” she responded,
The armies of the clan had assembled together with their sect leaders in front of them, all kneeling before Moyo,
“You must had seen the notification” Moyo started as he moved closer to them,
“The clan doesn’t need those, you don’t need those, your strength through training with our allied members of house Kairos has seen you rise to the top of your ranks; therefore this is merely an exam of sorts to see you crossover to the next rank” he stated,
“Prepare yourselves, it will be a battle unlike any you’ve seen before” he warned as they bowed and he left them,
Taking one step of Ogun and appearing close to the dungeons, he unleashed his intent and aura into the air, flooding the area as the dungeons glowed brighter. Martha appeared next to him, kneeling as the force waves of the power blew around, shouting over the maelstrom,
“The sects and schools are arriving” she informed him,
“Good, we can commence” he replied and snapped his fingers as his Ashe blasted out, Martha disappearing immediately to avoid the backlash,
The dungeons broke and hordes of monsters, silver rank and below began to tear out of their respective dungeons. Like swarms of ants they covered the landscape, thundering towards the location where Moyo, the assembled ascenders behind him. He felt someone flying above him as he glanced up, seeing captain Rark of the green spears above, her gold ranked aura around her. She bowed to him, a subtle sign that the green spears sect stood ready to step in should the need arise.
Nodding back at the quiet gesture of support from Mrs D, he held his hand out and spoke, the command strengthening reality in front of him,
“SHIELD”
Reality became a wall in front of him, the monsters crashing into it like a wave, scratching and using the bulk of their bodies to press into it, their biological attacks hammering into the wall. The titan felt nothing, not even an itch from the combined attacks and he turned his gaze to the thousands of ascenders who stood ready, gaze alight with the fervour of battle,
“Let it begin” he announced,
The barrier came down and the monsters made a mad dash at the assembled army of ascenders who broke into different factions of two or more schools and sects. Moyo could feel hundreds upon hundreds of realms being unleashed as the forces clashed, the landscape coming alight with the explosive powers of ascenders as they destroyed monsters and they in turn were killed.
He took a deep breath, watching the battle and accepting the outcome he was seeing being played out in front of him. The sects of the clan however were at the fore front of the battle, dedicated and organized teams that showed the results of the weeks of training the members of house Kairos had dedicated to them.
Each team was made up of two members each of a sect, coming together to create a team of 12 ascenders per team, wreaking havoc with their coordinated layered realms atop each other and layered attacks that managed to fatally wound even silver ranked monsters. Moyo turned his gaze to where the peak silver ranked monsters stood at the back, their gaze covering the battlefield as they sent their lesser to battle. These weren’t even the dungeon bosses, but Moyo was satisfied with using them for his plan and with a light hop appeared where his sect leaders stood, large holographic maps showing the layout of the battle as they passed messages to their second in commands who relayed them to the teams.
The entire area became quiet as Moyo appeared,
“Ready?” he asked them,
They nodded, their second in commands assuming control immediately, he opened a pathway right towards where the peak silver ranked monsters were gathered, turning to his sect leaders,
“Right, I’d need you all to hand over your weapons” he stated,
They stared at him confused, he rolled his eyes,
“Those are diamond ranked and Annika’s case, master ranked weapons, the archailect would most definitely take it into consideration when giving you points” he stated,
“we’ll be vulnerable without them” Martha stated,
He smiled,
“Welcome to the archailect” he replied,
Annika handed over her spear, tying her hair with a piece of cloth and stepping through. Idris took one look at her and followed, conquerors might being handed over to Moyo, the rest following suit. The monsters turned to the now approaching set of ascenders, a set of 8 monsters looking totally alien to anything they had ever seen before. The first looking like a mottled salamander, the next a bat with crab like legs and so on, it really felt like the abyss was just messing around with life forms which it might as well be doing.
The monsters moved to attack but froze at the sight of the titan blade, pure dread pouring from their frame at the sight of the apex predator. Moyo turned to his sect leaders, uncaring about the terror filled monsters at his back,
“So here’s how we’re going to do this” he started,
You all can’t take on a silver ranked monster individually, at least not one as high as these ones, and I need you crossing over to silver as soon as possible before throwing you into the dungeons to seek out the bosses, thankfully this time with your weapons” he stated,
“you’re six, pick yourselves in two’s” he ordered,
Annika went with Ayo, Martha with Boyle and Samantha went with Idris. Nodding in satisfaction, he opened three pathways simultaneously to isolated parts of the zone where the battles were neither felt nor heard, areas where he had erased the diamond and gold dungeons from and where his aura still terrorized the monsters from stepping foot. With a finely controlled use of aura, he picked the still trembling creatures and began tossing them through the pathways.
Martha turned to him, gaze questioning the plan,
“Be calm, I have…people watching” he replied,
Tomasa and his nine colleagues were stationed in the areas, overseeing the battle the sect leaders would be participating in, their main aim apart from the rest of the team who were rendering support to the war efforts were to protect the sect leaders. She nodded and the sect leaders filed in, two per pathway, Moyo felt the hurt in his chest lessen at the show of faith they had in him.
Opening his eyes, he felt the zone around him, his sect leaders standing out as beacons to him as he searched for them. He could swoop in at any moments notice should he decide to, but all what these proved to him was the large gap in power structure between him and his sect.
ideally golds would be overseeing the mission, with one diamond acting as the general of the entire thing, reporting back to him. Instead, he as a master was burdened with the task of ensuring the safety of the majority of the ascenders present, and while he had subtly employed the green spears to save the worst of the worst cases, they were not to interfere overly much.
Moyo sat on the ground and crossed his legs, taking deep breaths as he calmed himself, by this time tomorrow, he would be making his way over to Lumia to battle Akriel and get to the root of the issue once and for all. With a sigh he gathered his Ashe and began meditating, waiting away the battle that raged all around the zone.
*******************
Annika and Ayo were the first to step through their portal, Annika helping a limping Ayo as they appeared near him, their bodies already healing from the battle as they collapsed next to him, drained. He used his aura to scan them and nodded, silver rank. The rest began to make their way back, Martha with a heavily damaged metal armor and Boyle also, the both of them silver rankers and finally Samantha with Idris who looked battered but walked with his head held high, one of his arms damaged to a pulp.
All silver rank and all with haunted looks on their faces, they all sat in silence next to him as their silver ranked bodies recovered, Martha sharing rare healing elixirs for them. Moyo quietly let them get their bearings, the shock and brutal nature of their battles still being replayed in their minds,
“How did you do it?” Ayo asked quietly, the rest turning their gaze to him,
Moyo shrugged,
“I had no choice, I had to get stronger, so I did whatever I could” he replied, eyes in the distance, observing the battles that were slowly winding down, the clan seeing the majority of their irons become bronze and more than half of their bronze now silvers; including the vice sect leaders who had joined the battles late in a bid to get stronger.
The difference between them and the sect leaders was the fact that the sect leaders were now mid silver rank, the monsters in the upper 350s and the sect leaders now at 330+, Idris however had made it to 350, Moyo eyeing the hulk of a man approvingly. Martha sighed,
“we’re sorry” she said,
“For?’ Moyo asked, curious,
“we had no idea the gravity of the things you went through, battling gold monsters as a silver?, it must had been hell” she said,
He noticed Annika staring at him, shrugging, he spoke,
“I had people who guided me, I had friends and I had the thought of you guys behind me, the very drive to protect my world, and frankly, I didn’t want to die” he said as Idris gave a light chuckle,
“that explains why you kept on throwing silver ranked monsters through the pathway?, we could barely deal with the one we were meant to face” Boyle sulked,
“Bold of you to assume that you’d have the chance to battle monsters one on one in the archailect” he replied,
“However you made it, mid silver rank, now it’s time to reach the peak” he stated as he waved his hand and his vault appeared, disgorging their now modified weapons with bits and pieces of Aserite in them,
“Once you reach the peak of silver and you cross over to gold, realize that I will no longer be able to actively help you grow, there are consequences to things in the archailect and each must walk their own path” he warned,
Martha looked at him and hugged him so suddenly, the titan was left shocked,
“Thank you Moyo, for everything” she whispered, the rest hearing though,
Idris stood and bowed,
“To the titan blade, patriarch of clan titan blade” he said and Moyo felt the titan aspect crystal pulse within his realm,
He smiled as the rest bowed as well, fighting the emotions within him,
“Enough of that” he stated,
“Get your vices, hit the dungeons and go wipe out the bosses with anything else living within them, get to peak silver and if possible, gold” he said,
As they stood, Ayo turned to him,
“you’re leaving for Lumia, aren’t you?’ she asked,
He nodded,
“Be safe titan blade” Samantha said,
Martha chuckled,
“I’d love to see whatever the theocracy can throw at him take him down” she said,
Moyo smiled at her and watched as they left,
“Idris” he called out,
The leader of the sentinels turned to him, walking over, Moyo shuffled on his feet,
“Before I say anything, realize you have the right to choose, I’d never force anything on you, and with your child on the way, well, just take your time and think about it, okay?” he pleaded,
Idris looked confused but nodded, the titan satisfied with the answer, he opened a pathway to the temple,
“Go, within the temple is a book and a crystal, I’ve left a message there also, explaining the whole issue, should you decide to walk that path, pick the crystal and the book, I’ll know, if not, leave and go wreak some silver dungeons” Moyo said,
Idris nodded and passed through without a question, Moyo sighing,
Ashira appeared next to him as the pathway closed up,
“So, ready?” she asked,
All around he and Ashira, ten ascenders suddenly appeared, the silvers he had trained for this particular moment and time,
“Yes, let’s deal with this issue once and for all” he replied as he opened a pathway straight for the shores of Lumia itself.