Moyo stared into the flames the masters had started, shivering a little as he held dominion close to himself. He had handed over the red aspect or ancient shard to Duval, stating that he had no use for it before relapsing into silence, Skatha urging the two brothers to give him some space to gather his thoughts. He knew they needed to keep moving to stay ahead of the forces of the fang blade and any other masters that may deem to come after them, but he felt weary for the first time in a long while.
It was not the exhaustion that came after fighting a battle for his life, but an exhaustion that came from his bones, a tiredness of the gravity of events that surrounded him. He had long since come to the conclusion that the path of the titan would lead him through different routes he would not be comfortable with, but this latest revelation by Ina suddenly threw things into a whole new light for him.
Those he thought could be trusted, Kairos, Altair and even funny enough, Eses seem to have some agenda of theirs. Which was all fine and good, till they decided to throw him in the big board not as a player but as pawn and the most annoying issue was the fact that he could do absolutely nothing about it.
Snorting to himself as he remembered the speech he gave Akriel about freewill, numbly noticing Killian sitting next to him, he spoke softly for the first time in minutes,
“how’s master sol blade?” he asked,
“You tell me” Killian replied, nodding towards the direction of the master who sat cross-legged, the red aspect shard absorbed and the power running rampant within his body,
“that’s the happiest I’ve seen him in a long time” Killian said,
Moyo wondered how the stellar blade could tell, seeing as the sol blade was putting on a mask, he nodded though, before pushing his hands into the flames that burned, feeling the warmth on his fingers,
“Whatever horrors you faced when you battled that creature, you can talk to us” Killian said,
Moyo sighed,
“I didn’t face any horrors” he replied,
Those words got the attention of the other masters, Skatha looking up at him from where she sat, cleaning her blade delicately, Duval giving a slight jerk as he paused whatever he was doing, the flames dimming around him. Raising his eyes to the masters, he blew out a breath,
“What do you know about the primordials, not their names or feats, but their true histories?” he asked,
“Skatha is right, but not much, not that anyone is foolish enough to go asking anyways” Duval replied as he stood up,
Moyo nodded,
“Ina according to my old clan back home is the familiar or let’s call it guardian of Shango, one of my old deities my people used to worship” he started, the masters nodding,
“turns out the Ina we faced here was a remnant of that same Ina, Shango was real, he was a primordial and he, well, he’s one of the lost primordials” Moyo said pausing,
“That explains why the aspect shard was that strong” Duval murmured as he opened his palm, a ball of fire forming that burned hotter than his regular flames,
“You saw all these?” Killian asked, Moyo nodding,
“I’m not sure how to say it, or describe what I saw” Moyo replied,
“But there is a whole lot more than meets the eyes with the primordials, and right now, I’m not sure drawing attention to myself from them was the right choice” he said,
“Many masters and ascenders would agree to that” Duval said,
“You know what I say is true, the other masters already consider him an anomaly, while not unprecedented, his rise has cast ripples across the archailect, and he hasn’t even seen the entirety of the archailect, what happens when he inevitably reaches the rank of ruler and he’s inducted into the ranks of the primordials proper, bypassing the ancients?” Duval asked,
Silence prevailed throughout the room as the sol blade sighed,
“Moyo, I’m sorry, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful or callous, but you need to see my point” he said as Killian sighed,
“I do, believe me I do, but I have no choice than to keep moving, keep swinging my blade to protect those I care about” he replied,
“See that’s the thing that bothers me about you” Killian said,
“Moyo, this is the archailect, I’m sorry to burst whatever bubble you have wrapped around your head, but you can’t protect everyone!” he said, his voice rising,
Moyo glanced at the master,
“Yes, I can’t, but the path of titan blade is a path dedicated to protecting not just everyone, but the archailect itself” Moyo said, wincing at his words,
“What do you mean protect the archailect?” Duval asked,
Killian turned away, sighing, Duval pointed at his eyes,
“I’m guessing that’s some skill you acquired?” he asked,
Moyo scrunched up his face,
“What do you mean?” he asked,
“Your eyes, you now have runes for irises, glowing blue and purple runes I can’t read” Killian said,
Moyo nodded,
“Skill upgrade, not sure how it works yet, will test it in battle” he replied,
“that’s a bad way to test a skill, try it out now” Duval replied,
Moyo nodded and got up, watching the sol blade grab his red glowing blade,
“Ready yourself” he said, Moyo nodded,
The sol blade attacked and Moyo sucked in a breath as time seemed to stop, no, not stop, he was staring at a double of himself fighting the sol blade. The master moved, whipping his weapon from below as Moyo took a step back, dominion crashing down on the weapon of the sol bade. The master had been expecting it however, twisting his hand as flames covered his other hand, Moyo snapping his mantle in place quick enough to deflect the attack of the master, watching the elemental flames bite into his mantle but being repulsed by its strength.
He had lost his footing however, and the sol blade took immediate advantage of it, knocking his other foot off the ground and pointing his blade at his neck. Snapping out of the vision, Moyo watched it play out, already aware of what was going to happen. Dominion moved immediately, Moyo pushing himself forward instead of backwards, employing the sages eyes that coordinated his move, incorporating the dance of Shango into it as he caught the sol blade off-guard, dominion at his neck as the master froze,
“How?” he whispered,
“New skill” Moyo replied,
“let’s you read people’s moves” Killian asked,
Moyo nodded, sheathing dominion back,
“It lets me see probabilities in battle” he replied,
“You mean the outcome of any fight you’re in?” Duval asked, Moyo reluctantly nodding,
“it’s called sage’s eyes” he said,
“haven’t heard of it, but there’s only one sage we all know of” Killian said,
“The great sage, that explains his prowess in battle, I hope you aren’t in the habit of telling everyone your skills?” Killian asked as Moyo shot him a reproachful look,
“Just asking” he murmured in apology,
Packing up their things, the masters continued their journey through the cavern, moving cautiously through the path opened up for them till they got to a clearing where large stone monsters slept, lightning dancing through their frames. Made of some dark rocks, the creatures were rolled up together into a ball, the cavern silent,
“I’m guessing we just passed the stage of fire and into lightning, again” Killian whispered,
“Another of Shango’s familiars or in this place, former masters was Ara, lightning itself” Moyo whispered back,
“No doubt we’ll be facing another sort of creature as Ina” Duval said,
Skatha donning the lesser elemental lightning robe moves quietly through the cavern, weaving silently through the monsters as she got to the other side, where a waterfall covered the exit of the clearing. Landing softly, Moyo watched as she touched the waterfall and get summarily repulsed backwards, a loud gong echoing as he cursed. The monsters woke up together like an automaton, a notification coming to life on all their HUDs,
Dungeon notice: you have entered the domain of lightning, prepare to fight for glory:
* Consists of three waves of elemental lightning golems
* All aether around this area will be converted to the element of lightning
* All elemental attacks will do 50% less damage against lightning golems
“Why does it have to be golems again?” Moyo groaned as he shot off towards the golems that turned to Skatha, fists attempting to crash down on her,
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The titan was there, repelling the attacks that had enough strength to twist reality to their wish, gritting his teeth as the attacks forced his feet straight into the ground. Skatha opened up elixirs behind him, downing two at the same time as her body blazed with strength, twisting in the air, intent trailing her blade, crashing down on the first golem who staggered backwards as it lost one arm, groaning with a sound akin to the winds blowing. Moyo shot forwards, dominion swinging as it shattered the golem, twisting out of the way as another fist crashed into his position, shaking the very ground.
Fire and lances of moon light tore through the area, slamming into the golems that attacked masters Killian and Duval, attacks causing glancing damages on the monsters despite the slight power up Duval had acquired. Moyo blazed with power, weaving himself through the legs of the monsters, sages eyes working overtime as he anticipated where every golem would be, crushing their feet causing them to stumble to the ground while dodging whatever weapon they attempted to crush him with. He slammed dominion into the ground, summoning his gravitational ability as the monsters all fell at once, Moyo pitting his very authority and dominion over them.
Groaning from the strength it took to hold down over twenty master ranked golems, with relish he watched as Skatha began beheading them one by one, masters Duval and Killian joining also as they moved freely under the influence of his power. Soon it was over and moyo stumbled to the ground, blinking rapidly and panting. He could had opened a black hole, he could had brought the entire cavern crashing down if he wanted to, but he knew it would be disastrous, not to talk about stupid as it would only hamper their movements.
Notice: you have killed 20 elemental lightning golems!, prepare for wave 2!
Sighing, he let his aspect replenish his body as he hopped to his feet, watching as a large runic circle made of lightning appeared beneath them before ten larger golems appeared, these ones however with four arms each, a blazing rune on their chest and weapons in each arm,
Elemental guardian lightning golems
Level 850
“we’re facing creatures as strong as Ina?” Killian sputtered, shocked,
Duval shouldered his blade as he blazed brighter,
“Then let us face them as we face any greater foe” he answered,
Moyo blinked and saw a golem in front of him, a large mace coming for his head, oshosi screamed as he spoke,
“hold” he said,
The golem paused, lightning exploded out of its frame and the mace continued its trajectory for his head. Dodging out of the way, he slammed one hand into its mid-section. Blasting the creature backwards, master Killian called his realm, a domain of pure moonlight covering them all,
“equinox” he commanded,
The moon behind him flared as shards of the summoned moon broke off the larger body, slamming into the golems as they ripped apart their bodies, the appendages floating skywards. As one the golems groaned and the workings of power of the stellar blade shattered, a greater authority sizzling the air,
“Ara” Moyo whispered,
Lightninging shattered the room, striking sporadically around the room as the masters summoned their realms, pushing everything they had into repelling the lightning. Moyo however, employed sages eyes, moving to the strikes of the lightning. He could hear the untold rhythm of the lightning bolts, feeling them as they passed so close to his face that he could see the miniature sparks across each bolt. Dominion drawn, he shot towards the golem parts that floated towards the top of the cavern, blazing with power, oshosi warned him in a split second.
A runic circle formed the moment he appeared within the vicinity of the now glowing appendages, crackling with arcane power as a smile made of lightning carved itself across the circle, blasting down power that shattered the entire area, wreaking havoc across the cavern. Ears ringing but body moving, Moyo watched the masters hold on despite the golems battering at their realms, wincing at the attacks they took only for oshosi to scream again, instinctively rolling out of the way of the attack. A fist crashed down where he had previously occupied, his fist whipping up to clash with that of a golem, shattering the rocky appendage, the golem stumbling backwards and staring at its stump in shock.
Moyo was on it in a second, driving dominion straight through its skull, releasing a pulse of intent within its head and watching it explode. Turning to the masters who ganged up on the few golems left, he watched the shattered parts of the defeated golems began to floated towards the still glowing parts being protected by the runic circle. Growling inaudibly, he swung his blade, intent layered along with all his other powers crashing into the rune that shook from the attack but endured. Soon enough the masters followed his movements, sending attacks after attacks at the runic circle in an attempt to destroy it all to no avail.
A loud gong echoed across the cavern as master Duval spat on the ground,
“I thought as much” he said,
“What?’ Moyo asked,
Dungeon notice: you have defeated 10 elemental guardian lightning golems!, prepare for the last round!
The lightning runic circle glowed, a female voice coming from it,
“You may have gotten past Ina, but you will find me a whole different obstacle”
Dungeon notice: prepare to face the wave boss!
“Wave boss?” Moyo asked,
“rare, but strong, and a master wave boss at that?, well” Killian said grimly,
To be honest the dungeon hadn’t gone the way Moyo had expected it to go, not like the dungeon back on Gaia. In perspective that dungeon had been relatively easy for him to scale through, with the exception of the final boss, this dungeon even with three masters, just going through one of its path was proving to be deadly and Moyo for the life of him couldn’t help but think about just how much things tended to revolve around him.
Karma,
The same concept he had considered back on Gaia when Atreus had warned him about interfering too much in the ascensions of those from his home world. The concept that he could see play out during the war as thousands upon thousands of ascenders died with every engagement all across the dire galaxy. Reflecting on it, he could somehow see the method to what the archailect and the powers that ruled over it did, the war was as much as a battle for the archailect as it was a purge.
Pushing out the millions of ascenders who had climbed the ranks over the centuries, weeding out the weak, leaving only the strong to survive who would bring up the next generations, a cycle of death and life. A bright light and a thunder boom disrupted his thought process as a figure began to descend from the lightning rune circle above, made of the same rock-like substance as the golems, except with a leaner figure, the female wave boss descended.
White lightning crackling above her smooth golem-like head. Blue glowing slit where her eyes should be with no mouth, lines of pure lightning aether ran through her body in loops around her stone breasts and ribs, in her hand a spear made of concentrated lightning, flashing and crackling with power.
Skatha moved first, weapon whipping as she attempted to catch the creature off-guard, a move the creature somehow saw coming and Moyo as well. Sage’s eyes caught the movement as time seemed to slow down, the being whipping behind to grab the blade of Skatha, drawing her arm that held the spear back and preparing to skewer the silent blade.
Moyo moved with speed rivalling the creature, body coming in place to take the spear straight to his mantle that shook, his eyes wide as both he and the silent blade he grabbed were blasted into the ground from on high.
His body smoking, Moyo coughed, oshosi screaming as he cocked one hand, channelled his titans might and uttered an edict,
“Da pa da!”
His fist came in contact with the spear, a loud explosion broke out and Moyo was pushed deeper into the crater he had created, a loud laughter coming from the creature,
“Beautiful, so long have I missed those words!”
The stellar blade and sol blade moved into the battle, both masters blazing as they began trading blows with the creature at lightning speed, shooting all over the cavern as the three forces of nature and elements rumbled around.
Moyo turned to Skatha who was shaking her head, opening an elixir of healing and drinking it in one gulp, he dreaded to think of what would have happened had that spear skewered her. Turning to the masters that crashed into the cavern floor as well, he growled, turning to the creature, sage’s eyes glowing.
The creature gave another high pitched giggle, turning her gaze to Moyo,
“Of all who challenged me, you’re the first to take my hit unscathed” she said,
Moyo glanced at his smoking body and winced, true none of her attacks had pierced his body, he could feel his muscles spasming and jerking from the lightning that ran within his body, seeking to cause havoc. Pointing dominion at her, he spoke as he saw her identity,
Greater elemental lightning warrior (Ara)
Level 850
“Ara, herald or master of Shango the great father, I challenge you to trial by combat” he said formally,
The being whirled, giggling to herself as she stretched her arms and legs out, lightning striking continuously around her as the masters stood up, bodies smoking and jerking as they fought off the lightning also within their respective bodies,
“To be challenged again by a child of Ife, tell me, what is left of our empire?” she asked,
Moyo gripped dominion with his two hands, sage’s eyes blazing with power as he glowed,
Notice: emissary of the great father Ara would like to share memories with you, note, this is a two-way communion, your memories would be shared in turn, rewards:
Choice of skill
One legendary weapon
“Come find out” Moyo replied as he shot towards Ara,
**********************************
Masters Urcar primal claw and Hilar scale viper along with the other masters had made all haste into the cavern the moment it had granted them passage through, pushing themselves with all haste to catch up to the masters of house thousand blades before they made away with all the loots gotten from the monsters they had killed.
No doubt they would had stored them in their spatial vaults or whatever storage devices they had, but Urcar was confident in the fact that he was brutally persuasive, he was sure he would get them to open it up for him.
As such the diamonds led the charge, and were summarily executed by the level 800 elemental fire creatures that appeared the moment they entered the burning cavern. By stroke of luck, Urcar was able to save Kasia who just so happened to be directly in front of him along with another diamond.
Pitting his aura against the explosive force of the flames that scorched him, Hilar weaving besides him to battle another elemental as all the masters tore into the creatures, hoping to salvage whatever was left of their diamonds.
Urcar cursed, nothing about this cavern made sense, monsters couldn’t regenerate after being slain, at least not when there were still ascenders within the dungeon itself. Grabbing Kasia, he tossed her back casually, unsheathing his claw on one hand and unsheathing his blade on the other as he jumped into the battle too, avoiding looking as the burnt and torn bodies of the diamonds that had been casually tossed aside, his rage descending on the golems.
A master got skewered as he snarled in disgust, watching as two more spears of fire impaled the master. He detested being placed in control of masters who in his opinion were spoon fed to the rank they currently held.
It was no news that they had ties with house Dracon, and such union had produced carefully curated dungeons in the galaxy of house fang blade where the most favoured of clans and ascenders had access to dungeons in which they could push their ascendance as fast as possible.
The general consensus in the archailect was that ascendance took decades the higher you went, and while that may be through during the ages past, that rule was beginning to unravel as time went by. Millions upon millions of ascenders were ascending faster than usual, some through sheer stubbornness and willpower to grow stronger, others through political means, and Urcar unfortunately was looking at the result of the latter.
Clan primal claw was a clan of ruthless ascenders and mythical beats, albeit not as diverse as greater houses like Dracon or Garuda, they could boast of mythical feline ascenders in greater numbers and they suffered no weaklings. Made up of battle hardened ascenders who short lifespans due to the careless manners in which they waged battles, Urcar was the product of such ruthlessness. Born of diamond ranked parents, he was the future of clan primal claw and on of the greatest masters of house fang blade.
As such, he had been saddled with the responsibility of being in charge of the masters from the other lesser clans who had bent over to the royalties of house fang blade, resulting in them getting to the rank of master. Clan primal claw never debased themselves that way, and the ruler of house fang blade, lord Ulric had seen that and respected that.
It had made enemies for clan primal claw and they couldn’t be happier, for the one rule in the galaxy of house fang blade was survival of the fittest, and clan primal claw took complete use of the opportunity. Through a series of sanctioned wars by the house itself, they had waited till the other lesser clans invaded their system before retaliating in the most ruthless manner possible.
Launching simultaneous attacks on different systems led by diamonds of the clan, they had claimed more than two systems, turning the lesser clans to vassals of their clan, using the ascenders of these clans as cannon fodders for whatever wars the house waged, this way ensuring the prosperity of their clan at the detriment of the other clans, keeping the strongest of their ascenders at diamond at best.
While the clan prospered, Urcar couldn’t help but wish they had more of the calibre of the titan blade, he had seen what that child had done to his masters, he had watched with grim acceptance that they were facing a monster bred by house thousand blades to lay waste to whoever would challenge them, and he had seen the same look he had seen in the eyes of the one master turned ruler he never wished to face again,
Ajax omega blade,
Shuddering at the thought of the ruler he had battled prior to his ascendance, the wound inflicted on him aching a bit at the thought of the humiliation he had suffered. Smiling grimly as he smashed the head of the last golem, ignoring the dead master of the blood axe clan, he would take down titan blade himself, he would preserve his head and send it to the omega blade as retribution for the shame he had inflicted on him.
The titan blade was a monster, and Urcar specialized in killing monsters.