Romulus beast walker stood face to face with a creature he couldn’t describe and yet was more familiar with than any other, a canine predator. Its body mottled green and oozing the aspect of the mutator, claws green and dripping with what he was sure was a lethal poison or virus of some sort. It growled at him, the both of them standing in some place he wasn’t familiar with, he doubted it was within the same castle he had invaded with his lord.
Hefting his twin axes that glowed silver at the edges, the blades hungry to slake its thirst, Romulus’s eyes glowed silver, his master ranked powers burning to the fore front, his beast side begging to be let loose at once, but the beast walker was nothing if not disciplined. Hailing from the frozen wastelands of the northern hemisphere of Gaia, Romulus had journeyed all the way to Asa at the advent of the great clan’s rise, intent on learning under the tutelage of the great titan blade. Fate however, was a cruel and fickle thing, for he arrived just as the news of the titan blade leaving the planet began to spread, missing even the tournament itself.
Feeling the raw power on the continent itself, his latent path in hand, he decided to journey the path of the titan blade, throwing himself into the most ruthless of battles, delving dungeons of his rank and level alone. Many ascenders looked down upon him for this, most even considering him a mad man for such an undertaking, for most would rather join a dungeon delving team and weather the forces of the dungeons together, as was proper of course.
Romulus knew better, he knew from the beginning that the archailect wasn’t a place you could lean on other people for strength, not if you want to survive for long though, so he learnt the ways of the wild, he learnt how to survive alone in the harsh conditions of the dungeons, and soon enough, he had begun to thrive.
Slowly but surely, Romulus didn’t even begin to realize he had been losing touch with his humanity, spending the majority of his time in the wilds of the continent and only coming back to civilization when he needed to get supplies and sell a few dungeon loots he had acquired. So out of touch he was, that he didn’t even realize the titan had returned or that his fame had grown, counted among those who walked the path of the titan.
All that changed when vice leader josh of the titan’s sentinels had arrived in his front the moment he exited a dungeon, ordering him to accompany him at the behest of the titan blade. Of course, Romulus fought back as all ascenders would do when accosted, except he was no match for the sentinel, josh beating him to an inch of his life before bagging him like luggage and hauling him to the titan blade. The rest is history as they say, Romulus had finally met the titan, and he didn’t let that opportunity pass him by, climbing the ranks with a speed he didn’t think possible till he met the titan to where he was of current.
Spitting to the side, he thought to himself, what a damn shame it would be to die here. The monster spoke in a gravel like voice,
“Servant of the anathema” it said,
“Your death is assured at my hands, for I serve the great servant of lord- “was all it could say as Romulus moved,
Master ranked speed fuelling his movements as he hacked at the monster who responded in kind, quickly dodging his swipes lest it lose a limb. It snarled and began matching him blow for blow, Romulus parrying and cutting with all the ferocity of a barbarian, his hulking figure pushing down on the equally muscular canine. It shot backwards, swiping its claws through the air, a sharp feeling of decay coming at Romulus who roared, his authority flashing out and shattering the attack.
The landscape he found himself was suitable for both combatants, a dying forest, somehow imposed on where he had been standing before. The beast growled,
“’you dare” it said,
Romulus’s eyes, glowing silver found the creature despite its best attempt to hide from him in the dark, pointing one axe at the creature,
“You sought to hide from my blade, no doubt your master has enhanced you to match blows with a master” he said,
“But you would find that I serve the titan blade, a being not even your master would dare face” he said,
The beast snarled, Romulus unleashing his aspect of the titan within him, the axe burning bight as purple flames wreathed its form, the forest catching fire just as quickly in reaction. The creature stumbled backwards before howling to the skies, forms coming out of the woodworks, more of its kind. Except these were a mixture of diamonds and golds, nothing he couldn’t handle.
He had a rethink when he began to see their numbers, hundreds began to grow to hundreds more, Romulus grimacing at the numbers he faced. The creature smiled at him, all canines reflecting in the moonlight,
“I told you, servant of the anathema, this will be your grave” it said,
Romulus mentally activated a construct at his waist with the sliver of his intent, staring down the creatures,
“Were you expecting me to beg in the face of battle, filth?” he said,
Walking forwards, one step at a time, he let the aspects of the titan and his budding beast walker path flare out, the creatures whimpering and snarling at the pressure that overwhelmed the most of them. Their leader snarling at them, Romulus grinned,
“Come, let me show you how a beast walker truly fights, come taste my blade, if you dare” he goaded,
Silently praying that his cohort trace the signal before it was too late, Romulus gave a great roar as they came for him, his fang skill coating his blade along with the flames.
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First division captain Ragni of the claws of Romulus barked orders to his squads, Ijas and battle suits covering his flanks, giving additional firepower to their brothers and sisters in the second cohort as they moved down lines of abominations coming for them. Equipped with a gun and a cleaver in both hands, the ascender on the path of the ruthless fighter waded through enemy lines, his squad sergeants doing their best to keep up with their captain who was too far gone in anger.
His rage came from the fact that his place was by the side of his commander, their cohort lord, just as the beast walker’s side was at that of their true lord, the titan blade. However, the titan blade needed no protection, supreme beings knew nothing they had seen so far had been able to take him down, nothing here would as well. Their commander on the other hand was a master, while on the same rank as the titan blade, was truthfully, nothing like the titan blade and they all knew it.
Despite the ferocious nature of their lord, his bloodthirstiness in battle they were all proud of, Ragni knew well enough they he could still be beaten, and archailect forbid, killed. Therefore, it was the duty of the three division commanders to protect their cohort lord, their leader, and Ragni raged on at the sight that they couldn’t fulfil such a task. Pushing his gun, a large mithril made weapon that utilized mana into the mouth of a snake-like creature, he blasted its skull to smithereens, blade hacking at another houndlike creature as the Prometheans began to drop heavy fire,
“Orm!, Vikar!” he called out,
Lances of intent and blue flames answered his call, the two other division commanders showing their presence on the battlefield that had devolved into chaos. So thick was the battle, that the other cohorts who were fighting were far from each other, the castle somehow warping and stretching to accommodate the entirety of the legion and the forces attacking them that poured out of abyssal pathways all around them.
“Hold tight brother!” the voice of Vikar flame wielder came through his communication device,
“Has anyone laid eyes on the captain?” Orm barked, lances of intent from his naginata shooting out, scything down any creature that came close to him,
“None, push for the castle doors itself!” Ragni replied, hacking down at an orc that came for him,
A battle suit fell to the ground close by as a group of wights, bloodless, white skinned creatures with razor sharp teeth descended on it, in response ascenders descended on them, weapons and skills tearing into the wights before they could reach the ascender within the battle suit. Turning from the sight, he saw a flight of undead wraiths coming for the cohorts when he went on the attack, diamond ranked strength propelling him forwards as his gun barked out mana bullets made of aether, tearing into the creatures that shrieked in agony.
The mages in his division had been given the task of locating the commander, and as such, they had reverted from offensive spells of pure devastation to divination, pooling their knowledge of elemental tracking learnt from the fabled scholars of Gaia, at least, the mages that still survived till now. Ragni felt it for a brief second, even as the cohorts were fractured for a brief second, the beacon attached to the commander,
“Vikar!” Ragni called out through the construct,
“I felt it brother, find it!” he shouted back, an inferno eclipsing the diamond ranker who began to burn everything he came in contact with, his squads passing harmlessly through the flames to put an end to the creatures,
Ragni cursed, pushing harder into the castle, trying to reach the last location of the master when he felt the beacon ripple again, gritting his teeth, he focused his entire willpower and authority on the beacon, his skill rage of the blood cursed saturated the entire area, pushing all the creatures around him into a frenzy. This served two purposes, the first being that all the creatures would come for him, therefore streamlining the area of fire, allowing his Prometheans to mow them down in the hundreds, the second being that he allowed him to sense the beacon should it so much as blink again.
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And blink it did, this time though, Ragni was ready, diamond ranked strength allowed him appear right where it came from, feeling the distortion in space that barred his entry. Gritting his teeth, he pushed his authority to the extreme, whipping out one of the blades given to them all by the titan blade, he stabbed it through the distortion that looked like a recently healed scar. The blade sank in easily like hot knife through butter, again saying a silent prayer of appreciation to the titan blade he gripped the hilt of the mithril forged blade and roared, infusing all of his diamond ranked strength into tearing the distortion open, the aberration changing into a pathway almost immediately.
Whipping behind him on instincts forged from the almost countless battle fronts he had fought, he stabbed the blade straight into the skull of a nightmare creature of shadow and abyssal energy coming for him, the creature shrieking as it died.
“Claws of Romulus, to me!” he roared,
It was pure contest of willpower, using his authority to hold the distortion turn pathway open as well as pushing back the hordes of creatures coming for him. Gun barking out aether bullets and blade flashing through the air, he felt his willpower wobble as the pathway closed a fraction, wincing at the mental strain,
“to the captain!, protect the captain!” he heard one of his gold ranked sergeants shout,
Affording a light smile, the pounding of aether shells from above signalled the arrival of Ashas that screamed through the air, Prometheans converging on his location almost immediately. Relieving him of the strain of having to both hold the portal open and fight monsters, he felt his other two cohort captains getting closer,
“Orm, Vikar, get here as quickly as possible” he growled,
Shielded by the Prometheans and his cohort ascenders that were being led by their sergeants, he focused his entire willpower on opening the pathway more, falling to his knees,
“Negative, we have sighted Muttites converging on your location, diamond ranked Nethertaurs and if I’m right, a Devigian leading their hosts in the distance” Orm replied grimly,
“Lead your cohort through brother, we’ll hold the pathway open from our side while you go the commanders aid, go!” Vikar barked,
Ragni didn’t argue, no use trying to play the hero, and to be honest, he should had thought of the fact that someone would need to hold the pathway open from their end. Nodding to himself, he shouted his orders,
“one promethean through with the forces, go!, the remaining Prometheans hold position till our brothers and sisters are through!” he shouted,
A promethean jumped through almost immediately, lines of squad ascenders and their sergeants following as a streak of red hot flame in a humanoid shape landed next to Ragni. A clone of Vikar the flame wielder, nodding to Ragni, it sat next to him lotus style, Ragni feeling the willpower and authority of the mage hold the pathway along with him. It was his signal to get moving and Ragni responded immediately,
“shred” he commanded as his gun fired into the distance, his last salvo to aid the remaining two divisions of their cohort,
The aether bullet exploded in a wave of fire and shrapnel filled metals forged with intent, the attack tearing into the converging forces that were trying to isolate the two divisions from coming together. Turning to his remaining Prometheans, he barked the order,
“Through the pathway!” he shouted,
The Prometheans moved, mithril armour shooting straight into the pathway, Ragni right behind them. A flash of light later, Ragni arrived in a kneeling position, steam coming off his body as an aether resonator wisely planted by someone in his division protected them from the abyssal energies that saturated the withered forests around them.
Wincing at the shredded body of one of his ascenders, Ragni flared his diamond raked perception, honing in on his commander in the distance who stood on a heap of bodies that were slowly disintegrating. Beset on all sides by gold ranked abyssal creatures while the diamonds were slowly making their way towards him, held back by his master ranked aura and power that was fine tuned to specifically hold diamonds and masters at bay. The diamonds need not rush though, for while golds were specks to diamonds, the sheer numbers being thrown to Romulus ensured sooner or later, he would be worn down.
Ragni saw two master ranked creature in sight, no doubt whoever led those forces was somewhere, assessing the new forces that just barged into his domain curiously. Ragni would die ten times over before letting his commander be injured by mere golds, gun firing and blade hacking into the wolflike monsters, he shouted, his voice echoing through this mini realm,
“To the commander, in the name of the titan, tear down these abominations!” he roared,
“For the titan blade!” his division replied back,
The golds were suddenly beset on all sides by his division, Prometheans firing ceaselessly as they mowed down the lines of golds, the diamonds leading them snarling as they turned to face the Prometheans. Ragni was suddenly there, the blade infused with the power of the titan stabbing through the skull of a grey wolfen, a name he came up with for the creatures.
It turned to ash after a loud whine that caught the attention of the other two diamond wolfen,
Good, come for me he thought grimly,
The diamonds honing in on him would free the Prometheans from them, allowing them to bolster the squads who pushed forwards to the commander’s side. They shot towards him with the speed only diamonds were capable of, Ragni was ready though. Putting a bullet exactly where he knew one of the wolfen would appear, he twisted in mid-air, dodging the swipe of the other wolfen’s claws that carried decay and mutation.
Landing on his feet, mantle locked in place, he heard the bullet explode where it met flesh and bone, the wolfen snarling and whining in agony. Trading blows with the second wolfen, his blade flashed, severing one limb at the long elbow, the diamond snarling as it sought to hold him at bay long enough for its diamond ranked powers to heal its second arm. Ragni wasn’t in the mood to have a prolonged duel, perhaps some other time and place. His gun shot rounds after rounds into the body of the wolfen, completely obliteration its already decayed insides, his shoulder mantle taking the brunt of the other wolfen’s attack, he rolled away.
A quick glance showed the first of the Prometheans had reached the side of the commander, allowing him to roll aside, a quick smile on his face,
“die” he growled, the command going out to seize the diamond ranked wolfen that growled, the contest of wills from both sides a through sight to behold.
Ragni knew well enough that the creature could contest the command, besides, it had no blood, not in the sense he had used when he uttered the command, he had simply intended to tie down the willpower of the wolfen. Then his realm descended, a place of gore and intent, blood flowing around as much as the overpowering sense of rage, the creature buckled under power of his realm, allowing him to get up close and personal with it. Soon enough his blade had decapitated the creature, gun putting rounds into its already disintegrating body just to be sure.
With the diamonds gone, the golds were in pure disarray, Ragni laying waste to them along with his division that were now entrenched with their commander,
“Ragni, nice to see you” Romulus rumbled, his beast form shimmering close to his skin,
“can’t say I wouldn’t had preferred better circumstances my lord” Ragni winced in response, Romulus laughing.
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Romulus had been in a contest of wills from the moment he felt his cohort division pass through the pathway, how Ragni had done it, he had no idea, but he had been determined to ensure the servant of Mortas did not lay waste to them as easily as a master could.
Twin axes bloodied with the gore of the gold ranked creatures he had been cutting through, he had wondered at just what Mortas was playing at here. No doubt, his goal was to overwhelm the forces of the titan blade, and no doubt, he hadn’t anticipated that the commanders of the titan blade would ascend to master rank, seeing as they had no ruler with them.
Romulus was beginning to understand just how delicate the situation of the titan blade was now, sure that the other planetary forces weren’t having it as badly as they did, and if they did, well, Romulus was sure the fleets would suffer a great loss of lives and paths. Standing firmly in front of his ascenders, Romulus blazed with all the glory of master rank, roaring as intent ravaged around him, searching for their erstwhile master foe. One axe swinging through the air with the fury of a master, the creature revealed itself, its workings of power to hide itself broken,
“that’s the lord of the wolfen?” Ragni asked,
“The what now?’ Romulus asked,
“it’s what I call them, wolfen” he replied,
“Oh, then yes, that is the lord of the wolfen” Romulus replied,
“Your orders my lord?’ Ragni asked,
“Gather our fallen brethren, make for the rift, I’ll join you soon” Romulus said,
“My place is at your side my lord, I’m not leaving you again” Ragni replied, his gun glowing with barely restrained mana and aether,
The beast moved, green smoke trailing his body as Romulus clashed with it,
“Move!” Romulus ordered, infusing his authority into it,
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Ragni gritted his teeth, powerless to an extent against the authority of a master, besides, it would be a total waste of willpower to contest the orders of a master, leaving him weakened. The golds and silvers of cohort had it worse, the command literally propelling them in the direction of the pathway. Ragni caught up to his Prometheans,
“Gather the fallen, to the pathway!” he roared,
He could see the look of indecision in the eyes of his ascenders, to leave their leader in battle just like that. Orders were orders though, especially those given by masters, and so with the fallen gathered, Ragni planted his feet, firmly at the gates, gun drawn. Pointed in the direction of the two masters clashing, he calmed his nerves,
“Give me a sign lord” he said softly,
**********************************
Romulus was slugging it out with the wolfen lord, his realm summoned, giving him an extra edge against the creature, but a master was a master nonetheless, and Romulus would have to put all the training he had gotten from the titan blade into work. His realm tearing at the wolfen lord with all the power he had, he let the titan aspect regenerate slowly, trusting in his own bestial instincts and power to get him through the battle.
Dodging another cut of the wolfen who now had smoky echoes of his form, Romulus let his beat form take over, growing bigger and more wolf-like with large claws burning with intent and axes floating next to him, he went on the attack.
The both of them blitzing around the area at top speed, shattering rocks and creating valleys. The wolfen lord opened his jaws, a beam of pure destructive power going for the Romulus, the commander of the claws used one axe to deflect, getting close to the creature, his other claw driving straight through its chest, coming out at the other side.
Snarling and choking, he unleashed his titan aspect, the power of the titan tearing through the creature that howled as its very essence was blown away. It snarled for one last time as Romulus raised it up, attempting to take a bite out of him when its head exploded in gore, splattering the beast walker in the gore of the creature already disintegrating.
Glancing in the direction of the shot, he saw Ragni breathing hard, the shot taking most of his aether and mana. Shaking his head as he blitzed towards his division commander, appearing in his front in the fraction a second,
“wasn’t necessary” he growled playfully,
“True, but I derived fun from that” Ragni admitted,
“Besides, I did it for those we lost” he said grimly,
Romulus nodded,
“Then let us ensure we do not lose more” Romulus replied,
With a flick of his authority, he tore the pathway wider, his entire division going through, coming out at the other side. He unleashed his aura, crippling the majority of the forces of the abyss, going straight for the Devigian at the back who was caught totally off guard, the axe of the beast walker firmly entrenched in its skull.
The claws of Romulus were as methodical as they were as brutal, laying waste to the creatures, the division commanders gathering at the side of their commander as Romulus shot down the pathways of the abyss one at a time to cut off the endless hordes from coming through. Utilizing the power of the titan, Romulus finally oversaw a battlefield filled with the smoking and disintegrating bodies of the hordes, his cohort victorious but bloody.