Martha sat at the large round table, sipping a steaming cup of tea, at her side was pontiff Matthew of the newly established titan order who stared at her speculatively,

“You must really like that cup of tea” he said, a smile on his face,

Martha glanced at him from the corner of her eyes,

“Helps calm my nerves when I’m about to have a meeting as serious as this will be” she replied,

Matthew nodded and stared out of the glass building, watching ships fly by with the crest of the explorer society. They were currently at Rimor, continent of the explorer society, a meeting had been called after a month had passed and all had settled down.

The Pontiff now boasted of a denomination in the hundreds of thousands with millions venerating the titan who had not for once shown himself to those who venerated him. His presence however was felt all the way from holy bastion where he had secluded himself for more than two months.

Idris, champion of the titan had fully taken his role as the head of the titan guard, the special forces dedicated to the titan blade alone. Not that the titan needed such, but Idris had taken it upon himself to create one, and as rumors circulated, at the behest of the master and supposed lover of the titan, Ashira chimera.

The moment the protection of the strongholds and other areas was called off, dungeons began spawning in their hundreds, necessitating the deployment of the clan sects, schools and titan guard to protect the vulnerable from the wrath of the monsters. Gold ranked dungeons of peak strength along with silvers all the way to bronze broke out within days of manifesting.

Rampaging like a tsunami of the apocalypse upon the continent, a situation so dire, even the sect leaders had to move, adding their significant strength to the mix. Rumors began to spread of strongholds on the brink of destruction suddenly having a purple barrier of aura shielding them from the monsters, buying time for the forces of Asa to relieve them from the siege, opening lines for provisions and reinforcements. The clan neither issued a statement validating nor debunking the issue, but the order of the titan milked it for all they got, proving to the people the strength of the titan blade, drawing more to his veneration, still no word came from the titan blade himself.

At times Matthew began to wonder if the titan blade was still on Gaia, no one should go that long without human contact and for all the claim the titan made about being human, he was beginning to show signs of aloofness. At one time the storm empress had marched all the way to the mountain of the titan now the capital of holy bastion, determined to root him out of wherever he was. It was a futile effort, for the moment she stepped foot on his mountain, the aspect of the titan gently repelled her with a strong feeling of the titan wishing to be left alone.

Idris had to interfere, dissuading Annika from striking the mountain with a barrage of bolts for the fifth time with no effect, it was indeed comical. The clan even began a legalized betting pool, placing bets on which sect leader would finally manage to draw the titan out of his seclusion, the bets stood at a staggering hundreds of thousands of diamond coins, accumulating just as fast as people delved dungeons and placed stakes, the most odds on Idris or Martha. The leader of the hands of Anansi could care less, she had bigger issues to deal with than an overpowered clan leader who in her opinion was sulking at the temporary absence of the woman he loved.

It wasn’t like he wouldn’t see her again and in her humble opinion though she never voiced it, the two of them seriously needed to just do the deed and get it out of the way, the tension between them had been strong enough to power an entire country pre-archailect days.

It had come to her as no surprise though when Luke Finn had invited her to Rimor at the behest of the other world powers, calling a secret meeting. She knew what it would entail and had prepared for it in advance, in truth, she had spoken to the titan blade during his seclusion, much to the ignorance of everyone else, even the other sect leaders.

The titan blade appearing in her room one dark night as she went over the reports of the monster attacks, bringing up the issue that had her eyes going wide with incredulousness, not believing what she was hearing. It had taken her days to put together her research from the akashic library, validating the claims of the titan as her head barely wrapped around what he had proposed.

Even now as she sat, drumming her hands on the table and waiting for the rest of the factions to arrive, she couldn’t believe what she was about to propose. The moment the continents had fused, another continent twice the size of the combined continent of Asa and titan had appeared in its place, sealed off from any access to it.

The archailect had dropped a global notice, informing them about the continent and how it would be the home of monsters diamond rank and below. It had also stated how the monsters would be unable to leave said continent and would be open for exploration two months from now.

Just in time for the titan to leave Gaia,

Martha knew better than to consider it a coincidence, still she played along, eager to see what the future held. Matthew sighed as he reclined on his chair, frowning,

“This is most disrespectful, keeping us for an hour” he said,

Martha nodded,

“Power play, I believe the Bharat and glorious empires to be the source of the misinformation, we are allies with the imperials and the federation, mutuals with the union. I won’t be surprised if the glorious empire gave them another time for the meeting” she said,

Matthew’s frown only worsened, the door opening in that moment to admit all the faction heads. Perun led the procession, frowning as he saw Martha and Matthew, his eyes glancing at the clock at the far corner of the room.

Keeping his silence, he marched to his seat, his protective guard, a woman with snow white hair and blue eyes that glowed standing behind him in silence. Emperor William of the continent of Avalon followed behind, a knight with dark hair who if Martha remembered correctly was called Galahad walking behind him with a long sword at his waist.

Next was union commander Cassandra, dressed in a black armless top tucked into her camo military jeans, dark sunshades that did little to hide her orange glowing radioactive eyes. Camo jacket sitting on her shoulder unworn, she was followed by a man with military cut, all muscles and a cold look. Martha eyed the man, affirming the info her hands had supplied her as she tore her gaze away and stared at the last two leaders who made their way into the room.

Devesh of the Bharat empire dressed in his best silk, a supposedly demon infused blade at his waist and a woman with four hands holding four different weapons at his side, her face covered by a silk pink cloth, hiding most of her features. He took his seat opposite of Martha who pointedly ignored him, her gaze on the Ba ji of the glorious empire, dressed in an armor made in a typical samurai fashion, he wielded a blade that hummed with intent, behind him an Asian man whose lower half of his face was shielded with a black mask styled in the form of a snarling demon.

Luke Finn dressed in a black suit stepped in finally behind them with Natasha, his second in command behind him. Taking his seat, he frowned,

“Welcome to Rimor everyone, although I must protest and complain about this lateness, we agreed for 1pm, this is 2:30 pm” he said,

Cassandra removed her glasses as she frowned,

“I was told 2:30 by Ba ji” she said, turning her gaze to the man who gave a tight smile,

“Same as I, Devesh, care to explain?” Perun asked,

“The letter Ba ji sent to me said the meeting was to start by 1 pm, the letter as I understood was sent at the joint approval of the rest of you to the clan” Luke said,

William simply shook his head,

“Here we go” he said sighing,

Ba ji nodded,

“a slight miscalculation on my path, time zone difference it would seem confused me” he simply said,

Martha smiled as she dropped her cup of tea,

“The sun rises and sets on all of us at the same time now Ba ji, there’s no such thing as time zones any longer” she said,

Ba ji shot her a cold look,

“habit” he replied stiffly,

Luke drummed his fingers speculatively on the table, eyes glancing between all of them as he spoke,

“This council also recognized the former leader of the Luminian theocracy, now founding pontiff of the order of the titan, pontiff Matthew” he said as Matthew nodded,

“How the strong have been brought low” Devesh said,

Matthew turned to the man shrugging,

“Depends on how you see it” he replied, ignoring the jibe of the Raja,

“It begs the question of how and why you handed over your theocracy to an already powerful nation” Ba ji asked,

“I’m sure you all saw the global notice, you all were there when you saw the entity that held my continent hostage” Matthew said with a frown,

“a situation I’m hearing was your fault, you were the one searching for enlightenment in places you should not” Ba ji said,

“Are we here to throw accusations or are we here to understand what is going on with the clan?” Cassandra asked, shooting a cold look at Ba ji who clamped his mouth shut reluctantly at the rebuke,

Matthew stood up,

“I will not apologize for what has happened, I do not owe you one, I owe those who trusted me and those who died in the fight for liberation one. I owe the titan blade who had no cause or need to come to our aid but did an apology” he said, eyes glowing a mixture of purple and red,

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“Peace pontiff, this is not a fight, I for one see reason with you” Perun said,

“Although I must ask how the continents came to fuse to one” William said, glancing at Martha who kept staring at them in amusement,

She shook her head as she placed a calming hand on Matthew, the pontiff taking his seat. She turned to the rest of them,

“I’m surprised you all still do not understand the ways of the archailect, not fully” she started,

“Enlighten us” Cassandra said with a frown,

“You all must be thinking the titan took the continent, right?” she asked,

More than a few heads nodded,

“See that’s the thing, he didn’t, the archailect rewards actions based on their gravity or importance” she said,

“so the archailect gifted the titan an entire continent for what?, fighting an otherworldly being, what next, Gaia?” Devesh scoffed,

Martha turned to him,

“When you have the strength to go toe to toe with an emissary of a primordial being bent on turning Gaia to a husk of a planet and squashing said emissary like an insignificant being, let’s have this conversation hmm?” she replied as Devesh burned with rage,

“So you’re saying this being intended to take the entirety of Gaia as its own?” Perun asked,

“In time yes, without explaining the long and arduous process that is the politics between primordials, what the titan just did was lay claim to this galaxy, putting it under his protection” she explained,

“See that’s where you and I differ Martha, the titan has no claim to the galaxy, it is our galaxy” Ba ji said,

Martha smiled,

“True, it’s humanity’s galaxy” she said,

“However, when the rules of the archailect come into play, the strongest holds title and responsibility to defend their domain” she said,

“And I’m guessing the entire planet is his domain?” Cassandra asked,

Martha shrugged,

“Hypothetically the entire galaxy is his domain, he’s a master and a primordial now, rules hardly apply to him” she said,

“Putting the clan in a favourable position” Perun said with a frown,

“No, the titan has made it clear, he has taken his hands off any affairs of the planet for the next foreseeable future” she stated,

“So if hypothetically you get invaded, he won’t move?” Ba ji asked as all eyes turned to him,

Martha smiled as her eyes glowed silver,

“Please, it’s been so long I’ve had a chance to stretch my muscles, indulge me” she said,

“Dibs on who gets to attack first, the guards are itching for battle” Matthew said with a smile, Ba ji frowning,

“There will be no declaration of war here, not on my continent” Luke said,

Both sides nodded reluctantly, Luke satisfied turned to Martha,

“Please continue” he said,

She gave a curt nod and did so,

“In the bigger games of the archailect, powerful beings, beings which the titan blade now tangles with hold sway over large pieces of the universe” she started,

“For example, master Ashira Kairos, friend and ally of the titan blade belongs to a house whose ruler is also a primordial, and they hold sway over more than one galaxy, let that sink in” she said as the scope of the issue floored them all,

“Now in this great game they play, any galaxy unclaimed is open to invasion from any of them, any powerful being actually, from diamonds all the way to rulers and primordials” she explained,

“So what you’re saying is that we’re lucky to have one of our own protecting us?” William said,

“Precisely, take for example, the secret ruler of the glorious empire, the silver ranked dragon known as the golden sun who terrorized them” she said, nodding at Ba ji who fumed in anger,

“He was actually a pawn of a greater house, one of the fabled ten great houses of the archailect, a vicious one at that, house Dracon” she stated,

All eyes were on Ba ji who bristled with indignation, his guard at the back placing one hand on his blade,

“See that you do no more than hold that blade” Luke said, turning to the guard who froze as blood lust leaked from the peak silver ranker leader of the explorer society,

“Lest you lose said hand and worse, head” he finished silently,

The guard calmly removed his hand from the blade, keenly aware of the other guards who had locked in on him with cold detachment. Luke glanced at Martha who continued,

“The house planned on subjugating this galaxy by proxy of a lesser house allied to them during the one-month lockdown at the beginning of the archailect. Their plans ultimately failed due to the interference of the titan blade” she said,

“Then what you’re saying is that we are at the mercy of the greater archailect without the protection of the titan blade?” Luke asked,

“Yes, we are, and if my info is right, there is a war coming, a war between the forces of the archailect and as I understand it, hell” she said gravely,

“Hell?” Perun asked confused,

“If there is life, there is death, if there is light, there will be darkness and where there is creation” Matthew said,

“There will be destruction” William muttered,

“There are forces beyond the archailect, forces hell bent on destroying creation and reality as we see it. The titan goes with the strongest of the archailect to end this threat” she said,

“and how long will he be gone?, does his protection go with him?” Cassandra asked,

“No, it doesn’t, so long as there are those who venerate him and believe in him, his protection will persist” Matthew replied,

“There lies my point, sooner or later it will be required of the titan to consolidate his entire galaxy, thereby creating a house. You all can become major clans in house titan blade, tasked with protecting entire star systems within the milky way” she said,

“Or you can explore out on your own, beyond the confines of the milky way and pray whatever forces you encounter treats you as nicely as he’s done” she finished with a smile,

“Earth, no, Gaia, belongs to us all, you would chase us from our birth world?” Devesh growled,

“It is, but unless you want to be in ground zero when some malevolent force decides to strike at the heart of the titan blade, then I’d advise you start deciding how exploring new worlds would look like” Martha said,

“What you’re telling us is a massive undertaking, one only thought off in movies of old” Luke said,

Martha nodded,

“True, but that’s the great part, its not now, or the next ten years or even a century as I’ve heard” she said,

“The climb to ruler is a slow and hard process, for all we know the titan might not become one for the foreseeable future” Matthew said as William snorted, raising an eyebrow,

“Are we talking about the same man?” he asked as Perun laughed,

Martha nodded,

“True, his path always come with surprises, but my claim still stands, the sooner we colonize new star systems, the better for us” she said,

Luke nodded,

“On that issue, I have a representative from the continent given to the alien colonizers, a silver ranker of the name Afrizz,” Luke said as the door opened,

A green skinned humanoid amphibian walked in, swaddled in thick robes and large bulgy eyes, he bowed to them, clearing his throat that sounded more like the croak of a frog before speaking,

“Greetings leaders of Gaia, I am Afrizz of the path of the corroding mucus, I am here to represent the alliance of different species residing on the continent” he said,

“Welcome representative Afrizz, do have a seat” Luke said as Afrizz bowed and sat next to him,

“Now, you had something to say?” Luke asked him,

The amphibian nodded enthusiastically,

“Yes, it is the wish of the alliance to join the clan of the titan blade officially, we wish to hold a world and if possible, a system while swearing fealty to the great primordial” he said,

The tone of the room changed as all eyes fell on the amphibian who shuffled uncomfortably,

“Oh? Why would that be?” Luke asked,

“Simple, he is the youngest primordial known, their kinds are as old as the archailect, they treat those beneath them like ants, some more than others” Afrizz said,

“The titan blade has shown characteristics that has left the alliance confused” he said,

“In what way?” Devesh asked,

“For one primordials don’t ask for permission, they take what they want, we, the alliance who reside on the continent are all refugees of the great game and wars waged by the powers of the archailect” Afrizz said,

“And how are you aware of primordials?” Matthew asked,

“I served under one, my world was used as a peace offering between two primordials, colonized by a greater house that killed half of my people, I and my family barely escaping” he said, pain in his voice,

Luke looked on passively,

“We travelled discretely to the edge of the known archailect, looking for a new galaxy free from the taint of the games and wars waged by those who reign supreme, and thanks to you all we found a home here” he said,

“But now the titan blade is a primordial” Ba ji stated,

“Yes, he is, and we were close to running again, cutting our losses before our kinds are rendered extinct, till we heard of how the titan drove back a primordial and protected a continent” Afrizz said,

“You say that like it’s confusing” Perun asked,

“Because it is, primordials don’t view those beneath them with worth, to them we’re just numbers to be thrown at each other in their never-ending cycles of war” Afrizz said,

“a primordial would had wiped out the entire continent or planet in a blink, sterilizing it of what they would consider the taint of another primordial on it” Afrizz said gravely,

“However, we watched as the titan not only saved them but took them under his protection, we therefore decided to venerate him, and to our surprise, our strongholds and cities have been protected from the monsters of the dungeons, our paths made a little stronger, even now I can feel an otherworldly strength suffusing me” Afrizz said,

“The titan protects” Matthew said in awe,

“Indeed, he does” Afrizz said, affirming it,

“I’m about to get a headache” Cassandra groaned,

Martha turned to them all,

“I’m not asking you all to just change over to servants of the titan, I’m asking you all to start preparing for the future, war will inevitably come for our world, many covet what the titan blade has” she said,

“Only united and under one banner do we stand a chance” she said,

“Not your technological alliance with the androids” she said turning to Cassandra who became stiff,

“You have good intel” she said,

Martha shrugged,

“I have my sources, beware, they have their own primordial, and from what I’ve read, you don’t want to be his servant” Martha warned,

“How come you know so much about these beings?” Perun asked her,

“Being under the titan blade has its perks” she simply replied,

“I think we’ve all heard the main issue, I think we bring things to a vote” Luke said,

“All in favor of allying with the titan blade?” he asked as he raised his hand,

Perun, William, Cassandra and Afrizz raised their hands, Luke nodding,

“All against?” he asked,

Ba ji and Devesh raised theirs, Martha shaking her head,

“You would doom your people because of your ego?” she asked,

“We do not believe in a messiah, the golden sun claimed such, I saw the end result” Ba ji said,

Devesh simply stood and walked out, Ba ji following, the room becoming silent,

“so” William said groaning as he sat upright,

“When do we sign up?” he asked,

Martha smiled,

“that’s the great thing, you don’t, not yet anyways” she said,

“explain” Luke asked,

“The moment you all swear fealty, it registers the clan as a house, we’re in no form or way ready for that” she said,

“We do that and we inadvertently throw the titan blade into the great game of the primordials, for now he’s considered a newbie” Matthew said,

“So what’s the next course of action?” Perun asked,

“We grow stronger, we get to gold, if possible diamond, then we colonize the entirety of the milky way, we hold down the galaxy for the eventual union” she said,

“That could take decades” Cassandra said,

“True, but we have time, the war coming won’t be a short one, it would extend to galaxies if my predictions are correct” Martha said,

“that’s thousands of planets, possible hundreds of thousands” Perun said, eyes wide,

“Exactly, the best way to help the titan is to get stronger, I believe the new continent, as absurdly large as it is, is a gift from the archailect to help us reach our goals” she said,

“Then I propose we get right to it” Luke said,

Nodding, the world leaders began to plan out their strategies, Martha smiling to herself…

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

Martha stepped into her room back at Trellis, intending to take a rest and then make her way to holy bastion when she froze at the sight of the titan blade on her chair next to the window. The servants who dropped her boxes were oblivious to his presence as she raised an eyebrow, Moyo smiling. The door closed, Martha weaving webs of distortion to mute their voices,

“No need, bubble wrapped the entire domain with my aura” he said softly,

“It is an honor to see you lord primordial” she said,

Moyo rolled his eyes, gazing out of the window,

“so?, what was their decisions?” he asked,

“All except Bharat and the glorious empire are on board, even the continent of alien refugees” she said” Moyo nodded,

“As expected, I could care less what they did, if they however decide to bring down another force on the milky way, I won’t be so forgiving” he said coldly, Martha nodded as she opened a bag of tea,

“I wouldn’t expect you to, too much is at stake to indulge their pettiness” she said,

Moyo stared as she handed him a cup of tea,

“So, when do you leave?” she asked,

“In a months’ time” he replied,

“Oh, so soon?” she asked,

Moyo shrugged,

“The muster call is in a months’ time, I have no time to waste” he replied,

“Taking the defiance with you?” she asked as he nodded,

“of course,” he said,

She maintained a calming silence,

“we’ll all miss you” she said softly, Moyo paused as he turned to her, surprise on his face,

“The great spider queen feeling emotions?” he said playfully,

She rolled her eyes,

“you’ll always remain a son to me Moyo, I don’t care how strong you get or how much power you command, you come home to us safely, okay?” she said, her voice breaking towards the end,

Moyo frowned, dropping the cup and holding her hands,

“I promise” he said sincerely,

Martha nodded and the two of them relaxed in the afternoon sun.