In the roiling miasma that was the final realm of the abyss in the archailect, the aspects of the remaining lords of the abyss rolled together in space, bathing an entire system in ethereal storms that ravaged real space for as far as they eyes could see. Amidst this sea of abyssal energies stood a planet that defied size, as big as a black hole, dwarfing even the yellow sun that once bathed that system in its light. The fiery star itself had succumbed to the malevolent energies of the abyss itself, burning with red and black energies, ensuring whatever its rays touched was transformed into the likeness of the ravaging powers where it had once nurtured growth.

The planet itself was ringed by three satellite moons, each roiling with a different aspect of the abyss, they should had been four though. Four moons rotating the final planet, four moons feeding their powers into the planet itself, for that had been the plan. So as Araman, lord of destruction decked in his midnight black armour and a sentient blade fed with the lifeblood of ten thousand greater abyssal monsters before consecrating it in the blood of a hundred diamond rankers stood on one of the satellite moons, he was glad he could bear witness to what was happening.

His elite Shayne blight touch behind him, they paid no mind to the servants of his brother lord of the abyss, Vusal the conqueror, as they laboured to fortify the satellite moon itself. Tall spires ringed with Bloodfiend blades, large creatures whose scythe like claws on both hands and feet as well as their deadly affinity to blades patrolled the large structures, snarling to themselves spitefully as they threw their gaze into the distance where a beam of red light glowed from the top of the main large castle like structure. There, Vusal himself, a lord of the abyss and conqueror of the abyss prepared for battle, the shrieks of a hundred dying greater Bloodfiend warriors of his realm sacrificing themselves in the most brutal of fashions, tearing and ripping into each other in ecstasy as they filled the vat in which Araman could feel Vusal had submerged himself into.

Soon the cries would reach a crescendo and Vusal himself would appear, clad in his armour of bloodshed and raise his fallen strongest Bloodfiends again to follow him into the battlefield when the fight eventually got to this point. Around him the abyssal energies roiled with the aura of pure bloodshed, driving every creature under it to murderous rage, not Araman though, he and his elite merely stared as the creatures around them tore into themselves in fits of blood frenzy, butchering weapon made from crude sharpened bones tearing into soft fleshy hides as they ripped themselves to no avail, the aspect of Vusal preventing them from ever fatally ending themselves.

These creatures lived for the bloodshed, crying in orgasmic throes even as they tore themselves apart, it amused Araman though, the realm of destruction had no underlings, had no servants and simply existed to end things. It was what the abyss was intended to be,

Before it had been corrupted,

Araman threw that errant thought away as Shayne alerted him to the opening pathway that heralded the coming of a greater Bloodfiend of Vusal. Araman merely turned his head to observe who general Vusal had sent to deliver his message, withholding a smile as he saw Shayne reveal the presence of a midnight dark blade, its very presence seeming to drink in the very aura of Vusal, transforming it into energies of destruction that empowered both the blade and its wielder. The creature that stepped through though piqued the interest of Araman, a tall bulky and terrible looking creature that exuded the blessings of Vusal himself.

A crown of six red horns sat atop its head, thick, muscular features hidden behind shaggy matted hair that was soaked with blood that ranged from deep black to blood red. It revealed a set of sharp looking canines that filled its mouth and its red glowing eyes roaming around the area, as if searching for where to indulge in its next bloodshed, drunk on bloodlust.

It bowed to him, its massive blade claws on its hands digging into its own flesh as it gripped to bone white axes that were forged from actual bones, covered in dried blood and bits and pieces of entrails. The weapon had runes of bloodshed adorning its very form, empowering it to cleave through even the strongest of armours, nothing short of an ancient could weather an attack from that weapon and live to tell the tail, even at that, the ancient wouldn’t come out unscathed.

It cleared its throat, spitting out a skull that had Araman wondering how it had managed to swallow the entire thing. The creature of bloodshed went on one knee, bowing before his presence as the other creatures around suddenly realized that an intruder had been standing in their presence. Still high on their bloodlust, they swarmed the location of the lord of destruction, seeking to rend him and his elite in pieces. Shayne moved, blade swinging as one of the bone white axes of the creature slammed into the blade, stopping its trajectory,

Or rather, Shayne allowed the axe to stop his movements,

Then the great beast that looked like a cross between a bull and a lizard roared, snatching one of the creatures off the air and biting into its skull, swallowing it in one bite as its stuffed the remainder of the bat like creature down its gullet, swallowing as the other creatures retreated, the haze of bloodlust clearing from their eyes as they fled from their superior. Gaining some semblance of control, the creature loomed over Shayne, breathed fetid breath on the elite of Araman as its voice rumbled with the death throes of a thousand creatures,

“This is the domain of lord Vusal, do not tempt me, Shayne of the blight touch” it said,

“Gorefang” Shayne replied,

Gorefang, elite of Vusal,

The greatest of the Bloodfiends, the name of the servants of Vusal, Gorefang wielded untold amount of his lords’ powers, authority and aspect, he also highest kill among the greater Bloodfiends of Vusal of rulers and masters in the archailect with a few ancients under his name as well. Standing at eight feet tall, he dwarfed both Araman and Shayne respectively. Retreating from Shayne who sheathed his blade and stepped backwards, Gorechild bowed at the waist to Araman,

“Forgive the intrusions lord Araman, we are children of our father afterall” Gorefang rumbled,

Araman simply nodded,

“What news from the outskirts?” he asked

The moon fortress of Vusal was the closest to the archailect owned space and the first defence should the forces of the archailect decide to invade, it almost made Araman pity the forces of their enemies, almost. Gorechild nodded,

“Our Bloodfiend assassins managed to reach as close as the very borders of the abyssal storms before retreating, they speak of thousands of ships of the great enemy gathering for an invasion” Gorechild reported,

“and was there signs of the mutator?, any signs of his existence?” Araman asked,

“None, they felt nothing except a revulsion in the distance, something so powerful, it threatened to unravel their very existence” Gorechild growled,

Araman noticed Shayne stiffening in the fraction of a second,

The titan blade,

Gorefang noticed it as he sniffed for weakness, Shayne turning his full gaze on the elite of Vusal, Araman cleared his throat as both sides retreated, keenly aware of the existence in front of them that could end them. Araman turned to Gorechild,

“Anything else of note?” he asked,

The greatest of the Bloodfiends shook his head,

“Nothing, but it is stated that the strongests of the archailect are gathering, this coming battle shall be the most beautiful in all of existence” Gorefang rumbled, shuddering in orgasmic throes as Shayne retreated in disgust,

Araman shook his head,

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“Not the strongest” he thought to himself,

Not the one he had been expecting,

With grim realization, he turned to Gorefang,

“Inform your master, tell him that as of this moment, Molrik, lord mutator of the abyss and his entire realm have been wiped out of existence, thrown into the cold embrace of oblivion” he said,

Gorefang’s eyes widened at the words spoken by Araman,

“Tell him, that we have a greater enemy, one we must end at all cost” Araman continued,

“Tell him, that the titan blade must die” he finished,

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

The empire of house Dracon was on fire, world after world conquered by the forces of Ajax omega blade. What had started as a simple abyssal star fortress had grown into an armada so large, it contained hundreds of lesser ships, most of them looking battered and barely moving. Thousands of freed slaves of house Dracon had flocked to the banner of the omega blade, willingly accepting his path of the reaping katana, their vessels flying the banner of the grim reaper. With each world snatched from the ever-decreasing forces of house Dracon, their troops swelled in size, and soon enough, only the core worlds of house Dracon were left, ringed with all the power of house Dracon.

Thousands of battleships filled the space above these planets, preparing for the inevitable war that was coming. House Dracon had opened its vaults of both riches, weapons and rare paths, hiring mercenaries in their millions, their wealth so vast and deep, that it was nothing but a minor inconvenience for them. The vaults of previously restricted weapons were the most interesting of what they had, rare and legendary weapons bestowed to hundreds of noble clans under their aegis, their warriors decked in the finest armours forged from their prime smith world and their star vessels refitted with planet destroying weapons.

Once, these would have been considered overkill for a renegade force coming for the house, but now, nothing seemed to be enough, and the very thought that war would come this far into the galaxy of the Dracons was appalling in itself. Then Ajax had slain azar the burning claw, sending his decapitated skull to his sister and fellow ruler Hagan, it had shaken the empire to its core, its clans already talking quietly of seceding from the house and only the untimely ascension of Hagan herself to the rank of ancient had somewhat quelled all protests from the noble lords of the house.

Hagan had declared the empire to be in a state of war and the forges of the prime smith world had begun to churn away, androids with blood oaths to house Dracon had been called upon to fulfil their words, forging new vessels and weapons of pure destruction, the empire had hunkered down, sacrificing their outer planets but destroying them before the forces of the omega blade could get to them, annihilating entire planets along with millions of slaves. The noble houses had protested, their uproar at the wastage of slaves and manpower. House Dracon and their core royals paid no mind though, more slaves could always be found but Ajax had to be stopped at all costs.

The heart of fire, a grand vessel the size of a capital class warship, a behemoth of construct creation floated quietly at the forefront of their defences in the outer reaches of the last system house Dracon held. Commander Zephyrion of clan iron claw folded his arms as menials laboured across the command deck of the heart of fire, weapons were coming online and scanners ever vigilant for the coming of the enemy. Info had placed Ajax at two days from their frontlines.

For some reason or the other, Ajax, rather than opening a pathway straight o their territory had taken to slowly making his way across the expanse of the burning Dracon empire itself. Zephyrion growled silently, his human slaves whimpering as they scuttled like rats away from him lest his ire fell on them. Built like a war machine, dark brown scales instead of humanoid skin and a swishing draconic tail behind him, the master ranked dragon breathed smoke as he turned to the navigational chart that was linked to the sensory drones that flew in their thousands across their defences.

Every few minutes, he checked in with the communications ascender, ensuring that other defence spots were at high alert, nothing must get past him, nothing ever did anyways. Back on his throne on the heart of fire, he drummed his black claws on his arm rest, restless,

Something was wrong,

No matter how slow the forces of the omega blade moved at, they should already be within sensing distance of the fleet. Glancing at communications, he watched the stoic and cold detached look with which they stared at their systems with efficiency, monitoring for so much as a bleep. He turned his gaze back to watching the stars of the galaxy winking around him and gripped his large staff in his hands tighter, whatever was happening, Zephyrion didn’t like it one bit.

Then the first signs of something happening was the communications personnel drawing his attention, a short stout dragonoid from some backwater planet that had finally made his way to the esteemed position of a communications expert aboard the heart of fire. The man turned to him as Zephyrion snapped his head in his direction,

“My lord, drones are transmitting something incoming in sector 7” he shouted,

Sector 7,

That was the direction of the battle barge eye of the storm, a place where the weakest of their forces were stationed, most of them gold rankers. Zephyrion grinned, the omega blade had fallen for their trap. Purposely creating a spot where the forces of the omega blade could exploit, they had been hoping their forces would try and push through, saving themselves stress and time to face the entirety of the warships house Dracon could throw at them to slow them down.

He turned to the dragonoid,

“Inform all warships to open fire the moment they can confirm a target, instruct the planets in that direction to prime orbital weapons in that direction, anything that so much as flies in their sight to be shot” he commanded,

The dragonoid immediately began transmitting the orders when he turned again,

“My lord, sectors four to six are also recording something in the horizon!” he shouted,

Zephyrion stood up, rubbing his scaly jaw, had the forces of the omega blade grown that much that could afford to throw many ships in all their sectors at once?. Each sector held a planet, sector 7 sporting a planet that directly imposed itself in front of the main planet of the nest itself, not even the abyssal star fortress would dare go alone at that amount of firepower,

So what was going on,

Alarms began to blare as personnel’s on the command deck of the heart of fire began to shout,

“What is going on?” Zephyrion asked,

“Multiple incoming signatures” the communications dragonoid shouted, trying to keep up with the stream of information coming in through to him,

“The drones, do we have a visual?” Zephyrion asked, maintaining his calm,

“We have lost communication with four hundred of the thousand drones guarding sector 1” the dragonoid responded,

“Artillery arm, what is our status?” Zephyrion asked,

Another dragonoid, a green scaled one turned to him,

“Capital aether weapons are online and primed to begin firing, secondary weapons are also online as well” he responded bowing,

“Sir, sector 7 are saying the incoming signatures aren’t ships my lord, they’re rocks, large rocks” the dragonoid communicator said,

“Rocks?’ Zephyrion replied, just as confused,

“Get me a visual, let me see just what the omega blade is planning” he ordered,

A large holographic screen came up to show medium sized rocks floating through space and towards the direction of sector 7, Zephyrion snorted,

“Inform all ships to begin firing when they get a clear shot, it seems our enemies are attempting to hide behind rocks to infiltrate our lines” he said,

The dragonoid saluted as he relayed the order and soon enough, spears of light were seen in the distance, blasting away rocks in their hundreds to clear the space. After a few minutes, it was over, rocks and metallic debris of battered ships floating through space. Zephyrion sat back satisfied, slamming his staff softly on the metallic floor of the ship, gathering the attention of everyone,

“Prepare for phase two” he commanded,

“My lord!” the dragonoid communicator called out,

“What is it?” Zephyrion hissed, irritated at the dragonoid for interrupting his moment of victory,

“The bodies in space lord” he said, pausing,

“yes?, what of them?, are they still alive and do they require another volley to put them out of their miseries?” he asked,

“they’re ours lord” he said with a dreaded whisper,

“Ours?” Zephyrion asked confused,

The dragonoid sent the image to the screen as snarls of disbelief filled the air, reptilian shapes burnt and disfigured but frozen due to the cold of space floated around in gory chunks, Zephyrion rising from his throne with shock,

“Those were Dracon forces, clan red eye, clan blue tail, clan….” Zephyrion said pausing as his eyes widened, realizing the insignia he was seeing on a Dracon hull ship,

“Clan iron claw” he said with a snarl, smoke pouring out of his nose,

The forces his clan had sent out to stall or break the forces of the omega blade on one of their vassal planets. He roared as he turned to the dragonoid who withered on the seat he was,

“Inform all forces to prepare for battle, it was a ruse, a- “he said as alarms blared forcefully,

The dragonoid turning to the screen and seemed to blanch in shock and dread,

“What is it?” Zephyrion roared,

The dragonoid couldn’t form words, merely sending the live feed to the holographic display. At first, Zephyrion had no idea what he was looking at, till his brain processed what he was seeing as he blanched in shock, his staff tumbling from his hands as the deck of the heart of fire went absolutely silent. In the distance, large rocks, no, asteroids,

“No” Zephyrion thought to himself,

Planets, broken in half but somehow dragged along in their hundred rolled towards their positions, blocking out the rays of light from their sun as they inevitably came for them,

“My lord, all forces are asking what they should do” the dragonoid communicator said with no small amount of terror in his voice,

“Dear Lotes, preserve us” Zephyrion muttered,

“my lord!, sector 7 reports half their forces lost!, capital weapons can’t break apart those…planets fast enough!” the dragonoid said,

Still, Zephyrion of clan iron claw could only whisper one word,

“fire” he said,

And the heart of fire opened up with all it had, along with the smaller vessels around them.