There were few things, relics or even beings that could cause Moyo to feel fear so deep, it rattled his bones. Two of those beings were suddenly at a standoff in the rune warded room he currently stood in and should a battle break out, Moyo was sure that it would take everything he had within him just to avoid being wiped out of existence. Eses, the cosmic dragon and one of the original primordials from what he knew faced down a lord of the abyss, although not the actual lord of the abyss in whatever desiccated and decayed form Moyo imagined he would possess. The mere echo of the true aspect of decay and mutation sought to destroy the room, burn up the runes or in other words, taint reality around them.
The aura of Eses, of a cosmic dragon bathed in her aspect so deep and fiery, it caused even the heat of her flames to light the aether around them, effectively burning and purifying the effects of mutation released by Molrik. Eses eyed the green glowing form of Molrik,
“you’re the reason why he’s as strong as a ruler I see” she said,
“You could rule as a higher being, even as one of your so called supreme beings, and yet here you are, meddling in the games of children” Molrik replied,
Eses chuckled,
“I could say the same for you, one would think you lords would learn after the death of your, ah, prime lord, was it?” Eses said,
The aura of Molrik pulsed stronger as Eses flared a bit also, eating up the power of Molrik so quickly, the lord of the abyss seemed to dim,
“a bit touchy on that subject, are we?” Eses said with a smile,
“You would find out that I am not like the previous lord of mutation, I am far far superior” Molrik replied,
“And yet you hide behind your servants, your elite beaten, your invasion of reality burnt and yet, here you are, seeking for some sort of unholy alliance to stop Ajax” Altair said,
Molrik turned to the thousand blades,
“Your time will come Altair thousand blades, be glad, for I have gone to great lengths just to know your identity” he said,
“And while your death will be but a fleeting pleasure, it is you I really want” Molrik said turning to Moyo,
Instinctively Moyo gathered his aspect, feeling it thrum through his entire being as he fought off the fear in his chest when the lord of the abyss turned to him,
“somehow, an insignificant little master like you who has gotten but a taste of the true powers of the archailect, pushed back the elite of Araman from what I could piece together, pushed back my elite and somehow burnt my realm” he said,
“While luck played a big role in the former two, my servants call you the anathema due to the last one, the reviled they say” he said,
“When you kill enough abominations, you tend to leave a mark on the minds of your enemies” Moyo replied, runes on his body flaring,
Molrik gave a light chuckle, turning to Eses and effectively dismissing him,
“So, what do you say cosmic dragon, will you reign in your errant ascender, or will I have to unleash my Arbor of mutation?” he asked,
Moyo hadn’t heard that term before, Arbor,
“You already did that” Eses replied,
“And you lost to a master and a group of diamonds, at this point I wonder if you could be considered a threat any longer, perhaps we should simply leave you to the brigade to handle” Eses replied,
“The realm of mutation” Moyo suddenly thought,
That had been the Arbor of mutation as Molrik had called it, the chuckle of Molrik drew his attention back to the being,
“but you can’t do that, can you?, they’re all fighting in that other place, a side effect of the same being I proposed we handle together” Molrik said,
For the first time, Moyo saw Eses frown,
“Nothing but a minor issue, you may have gotten a reprieve from our invasion Molrik, but I assure you, the push will grind forward soon enough, and no power in the abyss, not even the shard of the prime lord you wield within you would save you from our wrath” she finished,
Molrik laughed, a throaty one as if his throat was filled with phlegm,
“Then I await you at my Arbor oh cosmic dragon, your head will be planted on my tree of decay, a sign to the abyss and archailect that I, Molrik, am the true heir to the prime lord” he said as his the lord of the abyss glowed brighter,
Eses threw up a barrier immediately, even as the runes in the room began to burn up and the very walls of the room cracked around them, Eses simply stared on, pushing back the actual effects of the mutation on reality as a whole but leaving it to wreak havoc on the room. A shattering of chains drew their attention of Mortas who had been freed of his bindings, the brother of the cult getting to his feet with a wide smile as an abyssal pathway opened up behind him,
“Till we meet again, thousand blades” he said,
Moyo had no idea why he moved or why his blade was swinging in fury at the crane lance, dominion humming with barely restrained power as Mortas reeled back into the pathway, but not before dominion tasted his flesh, tearing a gash from the side of his head to his jaw as Mortas screamed in agony, falling through the pathway that disappeared, the room crumbling with the explosions of the burnt-out runes.
Moyo stood under the falling building, his aura forming a bubble around him as the falling rocks smashed against it harmlessly, the bright skies above shining down on them as whatever spatial magic that transported them to another location fizzled away. The air was suddenly filled with gold and diamond rankers, each brandishing weapons as they gazed down at the destruction, wondering just what in the archailects name could had caused such. Reeling back at the appearance of Eses and Altair, they bowed in the air,
“Well,” Mardar said as he dusted his suit of imaginary dirt even though he had been behind the barrier of Eses,
“That was quite enlightening” he finished,
Moyo turned to Eses,
“Someone mind explaining to me what’s going on?” he asked again, suddenly regretting passing out previously again.
***********************************
It had taken less than an hour to clear the rubbles, the entire forces of the planet had been placed on high alert and Moyo could see the supposedly inconspicuous forms of two gold rankers who no doubt belonged to his legion trailing him about, Idris’s handwork he believed. The presence of one of the high council members had driven the planet into overdrive, planet force commanders scrambling into putting up a semblance of authority and diligence, diamonds parading themselves with their weapons unleashed and golds simply strutting around.
Moyo found it comical that even the masters themselves were displaying their wealth and power, every town they possessed showered with riches and opulence, a waste of funds in Moyo’s opinion, but he kept his lips sealed. Perhaps he was indeed too desensitized to the power structure around truthfully, seeing Eses as nothing more than an overpowered being who he knew well enough not to get on the bad side of. However, what he found most amusing as he sat in the banquet thrown by Altair in honour of her coming, was the fact that he, who hadn’t even considered chasing after her in a bid to acquire her favour or something, was suddenly sitting at her right, on the high table left for her and Altair.
He could see the deadly looks of envy, anger and a few outright hatred from the masters seated below, no doubt wondering why a kid whose name hadn’t even been known that well apart from participating in the swordsmanship tournament was suddenly seated with the cosmic dragon and not below them. As far as the masters seated there were concerned, the titan blade was simply an outcome of favourable circumstances, being in the right place and at the right time. He chuckled at that, while it might be true to an extent, he himself knew he had bled for every inch of power he had gotten.
Eses cocked her head to his side,
“Something funny?” she asked,
The bubble of privacy around the high chairs where she sat along with Altair at her other side prevented whatever they spoke from leaving their side, Moyo adjusted,
“Just wondering if you’re trying to get me killed by ordering me to seat up here with you” he replied,
“It was simply a request” she said with a smile,
Moyo shook his head,
“One I would be either foolish or suicidal to reject” he replied,
Eses said nothing as she sipped from a golden chalice, the content which was also within Moyo’s cup staggering him at its potency, distilled aether that had somehow been refined, if it wasn’t for elixir of Oya and his strong constitution he should had evolved already, he’d be a mess already, his master ranked body fighting desperately to cure him of the liquid that acted no better than a toxin.
She gestured with her head at the masters,
“When you look at them, what do you see?” she asked softly,
Moyo glanced at Altair who stared back at him, a light smile on his face, no doubt enjoying the predicament of Moyo,
“I see powerful masters” Moyo replied,
Eses frowned,
“One thing I dislike the most titan blade, is dishonesty, I ask again, what do you see?” she asked,
Moyo turned again to stare at the masters, some averting their gaze from his while others tried for a few minutes before looking away,
“Well?’ she asked,
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“I see ego” he responded,
“oh?, do explain” she urged,
“They believe it is their right to get whatever they want, they see themselves as the elite of the archailect, granted, not all of them, but most of them” Moyo said, Altair giving a slight nod,
Eses shook her head,
“Not most of them, all of them” she replied,
Moyo glanced at her,
“One of the reasons I have great respect for the thousand blades was his manner of managing both his immediate clan and offsprings” she said,
Moyo heard a tinge of regret and bitterness in her voice but kept silent, Altair bowing a bit at her,
“You honour me, cosmic dragon” he replied,
Eses waved her hand,
“It is not flattery, merely the truth and you know it” she said,
“You raised them right, showing them the harsh realities of the archailect, making them forge their own path forwards while keeping an eye on them, it is for this reason the sol and stellar blades are actual forces to be reckoned with in the archailect” she explained,
She turned to the hosts of masters,
“All of them seated here are either scions of a house, clan or sect, all have been spoon fed to reach the heights they have acquired, to them this war is simply a means to acquire resources and accumulate wealth, to expand the reach of whatever factions they represent” she said,
Turning to Moyo, she spoke,
“You, titan blade, came from nothing, a mere fledgeling with the guts to shout back at the archailect, to defy the order of things as the archailect was built for. The rule adapt or die wasn’t meant to force you to find a way to slave under a greater power to acquire yours, it was meant to force you to break free of whatever bonds the archailect placed on you, to grow and defy the very archailect, rules, after all, were meant to be broken” she said,
“It was not easy” Moyo whispered,
Eses nodded,
“Strength is never easy to acquire, especially in the archailect, but the rewards were worth it, were they not?” she asked,
He nodded,
“I could feel you back then you know, when you broke through to expert rank, gaining the title of a draconic slayer” she said,
Moyo whipped his head to her, confusion in his gaze, Eses chuckling,
“We older beings, call it resonance” she explained,
“I had indeed heard rumors of such a concept” Altair said,
Eses nodded,
“It is when we feel significant events happening around a place or a being” she said, turning to Moyo,
“Like for example, when you, a mere advocate, killed Evon, a Dragonoid bronze ranked expert as a mere advocate” she said,
Altair glanced at Moyo and then Eses, the same look Moyo had on his face as he realized what she was saying,
“You didn’t know?” she asked,
Moyo shook his head slowly,
“All the archailect said was that Evon had been capped at level hundred” he responded,
“No doubt, the work of house Dracon, wasn’t it?” she asked again as Moyo reluctantly nodded,
“I thought as much, however, this was my first encounter with you. I had considered sending my followers to go retrieve you” she said,
“Why didn’t you?” Moyo asked,
Eses took another sip from her drink in silence, Moyo and Altair hanging on to her every word,
“I decided against it, rather, despite being half awake, I sent my agents to dissuade other beings who had felt the resonance from interfering in your growth, beings you would no doubt know now, for example the bright scourge” she said,
“Rieus has been targeting my world for that long?” he asked,
She nodded,
“All primordials felt you titan blade, we just didn’t know it was you until you ascended to a pseudo primordial” she replied,
“So even Kairos?” he asked, the words of Eisnar coming back to him,
Was he really being played as a chess piece?, had Ashira been purposely sent out of house Kairos, her path to meeting him planned out somehow?. Eses shook her head,
“While Typhon does indeed have a bit of precognition, without meeting the intended target, he couldn’t have planned that far ahead, not with a mere resonance” she explained,
That settled his mind a bit, Eses raised one finger,
“However, now that he has known you for this long, he may or may bot be manipulating you for his own ends, I’m not accusing the king of monsters, simply stating things as primordials do” she said,
The protection, the boon of his own bloodline abilities, Moyo was indeed steadily compiling a significant amount of debt it looked at truthfully. He turned to her,
“I defied the archailect, pretty sure I can defy a very old primordial” he replied,
Eses chuckled,
“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t” she said,
The silence relapsed as the masters clapped for the ascenders who were putting on a show for them, silver rankers engaging in a friendly duel of abilities that looked like nothing but kids playing with toys to Moyo at his stage, Eses spoke again, breaching a topic that had constantly been in his mind,
“Have you ever wondered why I didn’t respond to what you did to my great grand child Kenuran?” she asked,
Moyo froze, Altair also, both realizing what the topic meant,
Turning to her, Moyo picked his words carefully, noticing she said great grandchild and not simply descendant,
“I’ll admit it had crossed my mind once or twice” he responded,
She chuckled,
“Liar, you and I know it has constantly been hanging around your neck” she said,
Moyo said nothing, merely waiting for her to talk,
“It was also the same reason I let you grow from afar without the influence of another, to see what sort of person you would become” she said,
“My house, or what passes for my house now” she started with a sigh,
“Is due to my mistakes, my fault, I attempted to overprotect my hatchlings after the death of my partner, to ensure they survived by giving them all they desired, building an entire galaxy spanning empire around them as a protective measure” she said bitterly,
“I had forgotten the same path I took that ensured my strength in a period of motherly love, I lost him, I would not lose my offsprings also”
Twirling the liquid in her cup with one perfectly manicured black claw on her hand, she continued,
“I even made that aether dragon hand them the reigns to dungeon control in the archailect” she said with a chuckle as Moyo and Altair’s eyes widened,
Lotes, she had strongarmed the supreme being of aether, the true dragon into giving them that role, it explained why the brigade couldn’t do anything about it since it was their boss that bestowed it upon them. Eses continued,
“And in return I created tyrants, beings who thought that simply because they were dragons, they were of divine origin” she said with a deadly chuckle,
Moyo and Altair inched back on their chair a bit as the chalice in her hand began disintegrate,
“I could had ended them, should had ended them” she whispered,
“but what mother would simply do that to her own offsprings?, betray the memory of her partner who had sacrificed himself to protect me and my hatchlings?” she said rhetorically,
All sounds had died in the room as very master felt the bubbling power from her,
“Lord cosmic dragon” Moyo said as Eses seemed lost in thoughts,
“Eses” he said firmly this time, somehow praying she didn’t wipe him from existence for that insult,
It worked however, Eses glancing at him,
“do I dislike your house, children and everything that they stand for?, yes” he said as he gulped
Altair simply covered himself in his aspect, no doubt expecting the titan blade to be evaporated where he sat, Moyo continued however,
“But one thing I’ve learnt is the fact that nothing happens without a reason, you did your best, they just decided to turn out that way. Plus, it was why I left Kenuran alone when I could had gone after him later on” he said,
“He was simply a victim of circumstances as well, it wasn’t his fault he grew up under the tutelage of Azar, there is a chance, a slight one that he had learnt his lesson, perhaps he will be the torch that carries house Dracon into the future” he said,
Eses stared at him coldly for a few seconds before chuckling to herself, stretching a hand out as another chalice appeared in it,
“I knew there was a reason why I liked you” she said,
Moyo heaving a sigh of relief internally at the thought that he wouldn’t end right here and now,
“it’s nice when someone realizes my plans as well” she said offhandedly,
Moyo stared at her in confusion,
“His core is broken as you might as well know, his mother came crawling to me, begging me to fix him”
“Can you?” Moyo asked,
Eses snorted,
“I could revive his path back if it had disintegrated to nothing, he is of my blood after all” she replied,
Moyo let the next question hang in the air, why didn’t she?,
“I simply said no, then ensured no other power who could helped as well, let her pay for the sins of letting another person raise her child” she said,
Sipping from the cup, she continued,
“She knew well enough the sort of influence Azar would have on her child, after all, she had escaped from his clutches as a child, training with my followers before returning to house Dracon to assume her duties” she said,
“She will toil and sweat, taste pain and loss, perhaps defeat a few times before I decide if I want to heal that brat of a child of hers” she said,
Moyo honestly wasn’t sure if he should say the next words, but he did all the same,
“She already lost one child, isn’t that punishment enough?” he asked,
“she’s a dragon, there is no such thing as punishment enough” Eses simply said,
Moyo wisely kept shut after that, Altair giving him a side eye to seal his mouth, there was no use antagonizing a primordial that had looked fondly upon them, especially when it came to matters pertaining to her house.
***************************
The event closed during the wee hours of the next day, each of the masters presenting gifts to the cosmic dragon from legendary weapons and relics to entire planets willed to her, Moyo found it ludicrous, she could have whatever planet she desired at a snap of her fingers, what would a primordial being almost as old as the archailect need with weapons when she was the ultimate weapon herself?. Eses collected them with gratitude and not a single word tying her down to repay the favour, but apparently it had been good enough for the masters who stared at the titan blade with disdain for not offering one.
They had retreated back to the main castle of the titan blade, preferring to use his abode for their final meeting. Mardar had been absent for a while, mysteriously appearing back and saying he had been on official jade business, Moyo just took it as an excuse to go mess around with the multitudes of women who would readily throw themselves at a ruler and a young one at that. Within the large hall of the castle, the four sat, Eses speaking,
“To put it simply as it is, Ajax is messing with the fabric of reality itself” she started,
“His path, this path born of pure chaos has been eating at the thick lining separating the realm of the abyss from the physical realm itself, however while we would had wished it ate at the abyss alone, it’s also drilling holes into the archailect” she continued,
“Meaning that while no abyssal monsters can pass through those holes into reality as we know it simply because they’d be obliterated, it is also destabilizing the archailect” Altair said as Eses nodded,
“What are the side effects of these holes?” Moyo asked,
“In a bid to escape these holes that randomly pop out of nowhere, the denizens of the abyss are forcing their way through whatever pathways they could find, entering into our reality in numbers not seen before” Mardar replied,
“And while we have no doubt that a majority of these numbers are entering through the planets held by the lords of the abyss and Rohan, adding more strain to the battles we would be facing soon, it has also forced those same creatures to find other ways to escape”
“The frontlines” Moyo said,
“Not exactly” Altair replied,
“The nethervoid” Mardar said,
“the nethervoid?, how?” he asked,
“The nethervoid as you all call it is a network of tunnels and a realm unto itself within the barrier separating the archailect from the abyss, and since a majority of them cannot get to the pathways leading to the planets under their control or the frontlines, they’d pass through the nethervoid, and the last thing we want is the corrupting influence of the abyss there” Eses explained,
“So that’s where most of the jades and brigade members are?” Moyo asked,
“Yes, there are beings in the abyss just as dangerous as the lords of the abyss and without fealty to any of the five ravaging powers, they serve something we do not understand, something we do not know, and it somehow empowers them” Mardar said, scrunching up his face,
“Apophis” Moyo thought to himself,
“Whatever these beings are, I and the other members of the council will go searching for them in the abyssal realm in order to understand more of this threat to the archailect” Eses said,
Moyo came close to shaking his head vehemently but managed to still himself, he would come under great scrutiny if he explained what that being was, how he had attained the knowledge as well. He turned to Eses,
“Are the supreme beings aware?” he asked, Eses snorted,
“Those pompous beings couldn’t care less, not unless it showed its face near their territory or reality” she replied,
“No, they’re scared, scared of its return” Moyo realized to himself,
He had seen the flashes of the memory from the original titan, he had seen just what the original titan had faced while he protected the newly created supreme beings, and Moyo could say it without shame that he currently didn’t have a quarter of the power the original being wielded then. Perhaps the primordials could help keep it at bay should they find it,
“When will this expedition take place?’ he asked lightly,
“not now, after the war and Rohan has been dealt with once and for all” Eses said,
“For now, we have been ordered to stand down and prepare for the final push into all the systems, the entire archailect armada will converge on the last and final system, the system of Araman the destroyer where Rohan resides” Altair said,
“But first we have to deal with Molrik in our own system I believe” Mardar said,
Eses nodded,
“You boast of a swordsman who was once chosen to be the harbinger of Alastor himself, the titan blade, a pseudo primordial and the heir of the scourging rune family, disciple of Lucirion aether blessed himself” Eses said,
Moyo glanced at Mardar again who rolled his eyes at a primordial,
“You say it like it’s a big deal” he replied,
Eses clapped her hands in delight,
“I can’t wait to see how badly you hurt Molrik’s world” she said with a chuckle.