Moyo could feel the very planet beneath his feet begin to warp and twist even as the masters threw their realms over his, fighting off the tentacles that smashed at them, blistering, oozing limbs of pus accompanied by the stench of decay slamming down on them with all the fury of an awakened monster.
Dominion sang not once but twice through the air, cleanly shaving off the limbs, titan aspect ensuring they never grew back from the stump they had become as it sizzled on the very edges it had cleanly shaven through. The masters Keman and Kelsi who shared similar names but came from different systems gritted their teeth as their master ranked body healed them, the titan blade purifying their body with his aspect after the limbs had caught them unawares.
It spoke of the level of laxness they had been in when the limbs came flying at them, masters no longer moving at the average speed of an ascender or even the top speed of a diamond shouldn’t had been caught off guard that easily, however the limbs didn’t feel like master ranked weapons, in fact, Moyo guessed they were extensions of a greater being, like some secret quest boss or something. Duval sol blade, roared in fury, his sword a blur as he burnt and sliced apart every appendage coming for them, his entire being on fire,
“Sol edict: solar flare!” he shouted,
Moyo found it weird how they shouted out the fact that they were about to use their edicts like some Japanese anime character, but he admitted it was stylish though. Watching as the bright ball of sun fire above his head exploded in a wave of fire and light that shone for miles, blinding them all in a flash and disappearing just as quickly as it had appeared. It left behind a charred landscape, one filled with the smoking and burning flesh of the limbs. Killian moved immediately, his silver blade glowing as the manifestation of the moon shone brightly,
“Stellar edict: moons’ embrace” he said,
The moon grew brighter, but this time the masters knew what was about to happen and shut their eyes accordingly, the flash and bang of ice-cold power blasting past them with pure energy and authority. They opened their eyes to a frozen landscape, one of pure ice coating everything for miles as far their eyes could see, master Killian gave a light huff as he sheathed his blade,
“We need to move, I can feel it, it won’t hold for long” he said,
“The main body could be anywhere” Moyo replied,
Kimiv rune touch stepped forwards,
“Perhaps I can solve that” he said, runes of red and blue flaring up behind him as they wove themselves into a runic circle,
“Rune edict: hounds of fate” he murmured,
The runes grew brighter, fusing together from the circles they had been a part of before become large canines that shot towards a direction in the east, the mage pointing one finger,
“We have a location” he said softly,
“Good, let me redeem my clan in the eyes of the thousand blades” Keman iron hammer said,
Moyo could see Teva singing lance frown at the words, Moyo averted his gaze though, he wouldn’t be the one to tell a master how to go about his duties, Duval however had no restraint,
“You want to run off again into sure ambush?” he asked,
Keman stiffened as he gripped his hammer tighter, the runes flaring,
“I will not be so confident again, lesson learnt” he said,
Killian raised on hand, Moyo noticing Kelsi bloodmist gathering red fluids from little containers strapped to her waist that he suspected were blood,
“We do not question your strength or preparedness, look around master iron hammer, this world had been prepared for months to trap masters, I’m pretty sure the thousand blades knew about it now, however, if we decide to go off on our own, we will be picked apart one by one” he said,
Moyo nodded, typical horror movie strategy, a crack of ice beneath his feet drew his attention,
“masters” he said softly, stabbing dominion through towards the budding flesh attempting to shatter the ice,
“We can argue as we move” Teva said, shouldering her lance,
“agreed” Kelsi replied softly, glancing at the titan blade in gratitude, a gesture he responded to with a slight nod of his head,
The masters blitzed through the frozen landscape; their perceptions casted around them to warn them of any surprise move. Moyo with dominion in one hand and his other tightened into a fist, glowing with runes followed at the side of Kimiv rune touch who glanced at him,
“Your runes” the master started,
“They come directly from your aspect, a rare power often searched for by rune users” he said,
Moyo glanced at him, then down to the book strapped to his side,
“Yours don’t?” he asked, genuinely surprised,
The rune touched shook his head,
“Runes in the archailect come as a gift from the system itself, bestowed upon those with the paths of runes. My clan has been one of those opportune enough to carry on the path of runes, hence our name” he explained,
Moyo nodded,
“My runes come from languages and actions in my native tongue” Moyo replied as Kimiv nodded,
“My point exactly, hence they cannot be stolen or subverted, I am the first of my clan in five hundred years to reach the rank of master, should I ascend to ruler, then the archailect may bestow upon me, runes of my own aspect” Kimiv said with a forlorn look on his face,
Moyo was beginning to like the man, just a bit though, he’d be foolish to explicitly trust anything he said,
“How many ascenders do you know who have runes forged of their aspects?” he asked,
“in recorded history?, not more than five, the ones we know exist?, just two currently” Kimiv said,
They were approaching a large fleshy structure that had been frozen, but the closer they got, the more they could hear the beating of what was apparently a heart,
“Lord jade Lucirion of the jades and lady Eisnar harbinger of the supreme of mana Vazyra” Kimiv said with no small reference,
That explained why Lucirion was adamant about his runes and getting his hands on them, but if he knew they couldn’t be subverted, then why was he after them and how did he to reengineer them?. Perhaps there were secrets of rune usage that even Kimiv was unaware of, but Moyo would find them, he had no doubt they would play a major role in his next ascendancy.
The masters all came to a stop in front of the fleshy structure that thundered like a beating heart, weapons drawn and watching it light up with dark runes even as the ice cracked,
“This is the source” Kimiv said,
The masters needed no push, coming down on the abomination with their powers combined, reality groaning at the force of the powers they unleashed on the bulging flesh. Leaving nothing but a smoking, charred fleshy crater, the masters paused, then shooting backwards as the very charred ground broke open, fleshy tentacles shooting for them all at once. Keman roared as his very body blazed with his aura, his hammer swinging once but the echo of his weapon formed with aura smashed at the tentacles going for him.
Moyo twisted through the air, dominion flashing, leaving echoes of blade intent slicing through the tentacles, his mantle blazing as he landed and swung dominion, activating his black hole ability. The attack tore through the air, sucking in the gore and fleshy parts that had been torn off the main form still coalescing where they had previously gathered,
“That isn’t the main body?” Duval asked, surprise in his voice,
“probably underground” Teva replied as her lance whipped through the air, melodious sounds following the attack in form of intent copies of the weapon, stabbing straight into the main fleshy body that was slowly coming out of the ground again, the ice around them shattering. The explosion of the black hole and lance attack shattered their surroundings, digging the crater even deeper to reveal what looked like an egg,
A beating egg on at the bottom,
Surrounded by a network of vines like flesh that pulsed with power, each a different shade of colour,
“By Vazyra herself” Kimiv muttered,
Each of the fleshy vines carried a part of their power, power they had expended in trying to destroy the very creature. From the icy powers of Killian, to the burning flames of Duval, the red blood colour of Kelsi, the egg shuddered,
“we’ve been feeding it all along” Killian said grimly,
The egg pulsed and they all felt the power echoing around them, a mutation of some sort, an aberration born of the powers of the archailect and the abyss, something that shouldn’t even be possible. Moyo saw the flesh carrying his purple energies explode and shrivel up, his aspect infused path not compatible and shot forwards, dominion swinging at the egg in reflex. The egg split and a large eye formed, its gaze locking on Moyo with pinpoint accuracy. He felt his limbs lock up, felt the overwhelming power of mutation seize him,
The aspect of mutation and decay,
“you” a voice echoed all around them as Moyo pit the full force of his aspect against the aspect of mutation,
“Molrik” Killian groaned from behind Moyo,
The titan cast his eyes on the eye shooting from the egg of flesh, the gaze of whatever was behind the creature staring him down,
“What are you?” it asked,
Moyo felt the aspect of mutation waver, a single second of miscalculation that his master ranked mind and physique took advantage of to cast his realm directly above the eye, shattering its hold on him and dominion completing its swing to tear into the eye that gave an unholy shriek of pain. The force shooting them backwards for miles, a lance of green light going from the damaged eye skywards. Moyo felt his head ringing as he struggled to his feet, the masters around him recovering as well,
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“The mutator himself” Duval said,
Moyo glanced at him, terror in his very bones,
“that was him?, that was Molrik?” he asked,
“No young one” Keman said gravely,
“That was simply his attention drawn to us” he finished,
Moyo bit back a curse as he watched in the distance, a large runic circle of green and black power come to life, ferocity of oshosi screaming at him incoherently, warning him that there was danger everywhere despite not seeing or feeling anything,
“You impress me, masters of the thousand blades, and you, whatever you are” the voice of Molrik said, echoing all around them, the mere authority in his voice crashing them to their knees,
Moyo gripped dominion tighter, shutting his eyes as he unleashed his aspect, watching as his realm shattered under the voice of the lord of the abyss, the blow back disorienting him for a brief few seconds. The masters however unburdened by the titan’s aspect and aura that permeated the very vicinity around them summoned their realms, overlapping them on each other just to be able to get their thinking straight.
Shaking his head as the migraine died down, Moyo once again added his realm atop theirs, bolstering their defence against the mere presence of a lord of the abyss,
“To still exist despite a fraction of my focus on you all is laudable, I suppose war really does breed strong enemies” the voice mused with a chuckle,
Cracks began to form at the edges of their individual realms, Moyo watching with wide eyes,
“However, this is the end of the line for you all, consider it a privilege to die by the hands of my servants” Molrik said before the voice retreated, the masters slumping,
It took a minute for his body to be revitalized by his aspect, enough time for Molrik to complete whatever abomination he had created. The rune shattered, releasing a wave of abyssal energies and mutations that coalesced right on the eye that crystalized into the form of a crystalline humanoid with green glowing eyes, indiscernible features and large crystalline wings. Moyo stood up, already feeling the power that came from the creature, the power of a ruler, even as reality tore behind it, revealing the realm of mutation, empowered by the world itself as Moyo and the masters realized all along what the plan was.
Turning to Duval, Moyo spoke,
“We have to find Altair” he said, panic in his eyes,
“His aspect is still within us, wherever he is, he is fine” the sol blade said even as Killian nodded,
Pointing his glowing orange blade at the creature and the hordes of Nethertaurs, Muttites and Devigians that poured out of the pathway,
“We need to deal with those” he said,
“The entire planet is a conduit, how are we meant to close it if the planet itself if keeping them here”?” Kimiv asked,
“we’ll buy time” Moyo said softly as he took a deep breath, the masters turning to him,
“we’ll buy time for you to find anything about the runes that tore open the pathway, can you do that?” Moyo asked,
Kimiv unlatched the book at his waist, holding it forward as he spoke,
“Edict of Isis: echoes of fate” he said,
Moyo stared at the multicoloured light that shot out of the book, Isis, goddess of magic, Egyptian mythology, he shook his head, not considering the ramifications of what that meant. If there were Greek names monsters, in an infinite universe, there stood to be other beings as well, Kimiv glanced at him,
“The lost ancient Isis” he said,
Space around them froze, turning black and white as the veins of abyssal energies around them were revealed, all leading to one being, the mutation of Molrik itself that led the slow-moving hordes,
“The creature, it’s the source” Kimiv said,
Moyo should had guessed they wouldn’t had gotten it easy, the creature roaring as the skill was shattered, Kimiv screaming in pain,
“Everyone, on me” Killian shouted before blitzing forward,
All the masters going for the creature itself, oshosi screamed as the creature crouched, then shot towards them in a blink, appearing right within their midst. Dominion already swung before it appeared, going for its crystalline body as it dodged, its fist slamming Moyo straight into the hordes below. Moyo’s sight wobbled, but his aspect flaring as he bathed his surroundings in Ashe, activating it along with his mutators resistance that began burning the creatures around him.
Crashing to the flesh ground, he was up on his feet even as Keman crashed close to him, summoning his runic shield, deflecting attacks after attacks from the denizens of the abyss. One swing of dominion infused with veneration and piles of burning ashes filled his surroundings, glancing back up at the crystalline form that battled the remaining monsters, he turned to help Keman who waved him away,
“Go help them, let me deal with the hordes” he said,
Moyo nodded, shooting towards the crystalline form that extracted itself from the flurry off attacks that were chipping away at its body, turning to counter the titan. One step and Moyo fell into the path of the titan blade, dominion breaking the guard of the creature that attempted to block dominions’ swing, wherever the blade touched exploding.
He entered the guard of the creature only for its face the shatter and a beam of light from an orb within its skull blasting him backwards with mutative energies, his mutators resistance shielding him from the attack along with his runic shield. Moyo weathered the attack, oshosi forcing him to dodge the follow up of a crystalline spear going for his body,
“The skull, destroy it the orb within it” he shouted,
Teva was there immediately, lance going for its head as the creature grabbed it, shattering what was no doubt a legendary weapon as easily as breaking a stick before impaling her with its broken shaft and disposing her body by flinging her away. Kelsi gathered spikes of blood crystals that sizzled right in the air, raining it down on the creature that froze everything, black ice forming all around the blood crystals as they turned and shot back towards the master of the bloodmist.
Moyo was there, dominion swinging as he enacted his edict,
“Da pa da”
The black crystals shattered into dust, preventing another master from being skewered, the sun blazing above, Duval swung for its head in that same second, Moyo keenly being aware of the very fight they were in not being more than a minute or two in length, but already one master was indisposed, another gravely injured and the rest fighting for their lives. If it took eight masters to barely hold on in a fight against a ruler, how many would it take to simply survive or even escape the wrath of a lord of the abyss?.
The creature created a shield of ice, black ice that somehow had enough strength to stop the burning blade of Duval halfway through it, the sol blade master releasing the blade just in time to avoid getting skewered. Moyo had seen enough, utilizing his titan’s body but hiding it just beneath his mantle, he appeared in front of the creature, its crystalline spear hand shattering against his mantle and skin as he forced dominion towards its head. The creature encased the titan in black ice in a fraction of a second, but he had been expecting it too, his Ashe shattering the attack with great difficulty.
It gave the creature enough time to swerve away from the blade, but into the hammer of Keman that appeared next to its head, the hammer crashing against its skull, throwing it back into the path of dominions’ edge. Slicing cleanly through the top half of its skull, Moyo saw the orb light up as it prepared to blast its energies when the silver blade of Killian stabbed right through its green body,
“freeze” the master commanded, pitting his authority against that of the pseudo ruler,
Perhaps it was due to the shock of the unexpected attack, but its defences wavered and all the other masters pitted their authority against the orb also, supporting the stellar blade as well. The orb developed fragments of cracks all over its form before exploding in a tectonic wave of power, blowing the very masters away from the body of the creature. Moyo felt his body crash somewhere, blinking away the concussions in his eyes, he groaned as he saw his body steaming, burnt flesh healing as his mutators resistance began to heal him.
Glancing skywards, he saw a woman standing near the sight of the explosion, a green orb in hand, the same orb they had destroyed. Not comprehending what he was seeing, the woman glanced at him, frowned before a pathway opened up behind her, turning to go. He saw the needles there, sitting behind her back and blanched at who he realized she was,
“Vesh!” he shouted,
The woman pausing to glance at him, then she stepped through as the pathway closed up, the very planet shook, the pathway to the realm of the mutator shutting with a wink as the orb that powered it, acting as its conduit was taken away. The creatures still left on the planet that was being shaken by seismic waves of destruction suddenly found themselves left without reinforcement. Moyo could care less, groaning to his feet as dominion appeared next to him, he stumbled his way towards the aura of the masters he could feel, thankfully all thrown in the same direction. His blade eliminating any creature of the abyss that came his way without his active control of it, he forced his body to move even as his aspect worked overtime to heal him.
Soon enough he was running at break neck speed, tearing through the air towards where the masters were, approaching their location to see them all in one broken state or the other, fending off the attacks of the monsters that would soon overwhelm them. With a roar of rage, Moyo let dominion loose, the weapon carving a path of gore and slaughter through their ranks, clearing the immediate vicinity of enemies, buying enough time for Moyo to get to them. Killian sighed as his head fell back to the ground,
“We need to retreat” Duval croaked,
Moyo tried opening up a pathway to his ship, crashing to the ground as the mother of all migraines seized his skull, causing him to whimper,
“No pathways!” Kimiv said, the mage being the only one among them to be in any state of coherence,
His book lay on the ground next to him as he spoke a spell, weaving mana from the book around them with healing qualities. Moyo breathed with a sigh of relief, learning his lesson that his body was too weak and exhausted to open a pathway. In that moment a blue pathway opened up, Altair thousand blades stepping through with a burnt and injured Skatha behind him. Moyo glanced at the ruler and realized that even he too was in one stage of damage or the other, his hair burnt a bit, blood trailing from his eyebrows and his blade glowed, as if damage of innumerable quantity had been done to it.
He saw their state and frowned, without a word, he swung his blade once and the entirety of the abyssal forces remaining that hadn’t been cleared by dominion instantly died, the authority and aspect of the ruler erasing them from existence in an instant. Then he planted an aether spire, the planet shuddering as waves of aether permeated it, cleansing the landscape for miles and pouring much needed aether into their bodies. The titans’ gaze became blurry as exhaustion took over, rolling his body to stare skywards as he wasn’t sure, but he could see the faint outlines of the flagship of the thousand blades appearing overhead before he fell unconscious.
*****************************************
Notice: level 580!
Skill upgrade!
* Deific greed of Esu(L)- 800
* Dance of Sango(R)- 800
* Oya’s Elixir(L)- 850
* Realm of Olorun(R)- 800
* Step of Ogun(R)- 800
* Ferocity of oshosi(R)- 850
* Digi Aye(R)- 800
* Runic shield(R)-550
* Mutators Resistance(L)- 550
Moyo groaned as his upgrades were the first thing to filter across his HUD when he woke up, sunlight biting his eyes as he shut them back before opening him again, blinking rapidly. Finding himself on a soft bed, he sat up, surveying the grand and large room he was in,
“Not again” he muttered,
The doors opened as Moyo stretched his hand, dominion manifesting and crossing the space in-between him and the door as a head poked through. He stayed his hand at the last second, dominions edge close to coming in contact with the neck of a terrified woman who stared at him with wide eyes. Moyo drew dominion back as she fell to her knees in fright,
“apologies” he whispered,
Another figure entered the room, but this time wearing the robes of clan titan blade, Idris Geb hand paused at the door, glanced at the woman and then back at Moyo who looked confused,
“My lord, awake it seems” he said,
“What are you doing here?” Moyo demanded,
Idris was to lead the entirety of the legion, the defiance was in his hands, how long had he been unconscious?. Idris helped the woman to her feet who scurried off in turn, no doubt to escape the near-death experience she just had,
“The legion have successfully consecrated the targeted world to the archailect” Idris replied as he turned back to Moyo,
Sheathing dominion, he spoke, feeling his aspect coursing through his body,
“How long was I out for?” Moyo asked,
“Two days lord titan blade” Idris replied softly,
Moyo, lost for words could only nod, turning back to look at the room in silence,
“We were sent the location of the planet once we had consecrated the planet now in the hands of the war council, the legion was told to make all haste for this world” Idris explained,
Moyo turned back to Idris,
“and the legion?, where are they?’ he asked,
Idris pointed to the distance,
“On the planet, come see for yourself” he replied,
Walking silently behind Idris, Moyo let his perception spread across the entire area, picking up master and ruler ranked powers around, the powers honing in on him also, acknowledging his presence. The long hallway winded towards a large door, where two gold ranked ascenders wearing robes he wasn’t familiar with stood sentry, they bowed at his presence, Moyo nodding at them as he passed and into a large field.
For as far as the eyes could see, ships and ascenders filled the entire area, floating house constructs and flying constructs went about, hundreds of Ija tanks rumbled across the plains and hundreds of banners flapped in the winds, most of them not known by the titan blade.
“Welcome to the new headquarters for the push into planet Molrik” Idris said with a smirk,
Folding his arms, Moyo glanced into the distance, seeing his banner flapping,
“Take me to my legion” he said.