Ajax met the first of the Wyrmguard in a shower of sparks, black blade steeped in the roiling powers of chaos versus the rune blessed weapons of the guard, silver blistering power versus black oily power. He stepped in between the guard of the first Wyrmguard, keenly aware of the runic circles blooming to life with harsh lights around him, runes of annihilation he guessed. It amused him to no end, the similarities in the archailect and the abyss when he knew where to look. Like the runes of the jades for example,

Granted, he hadn’t met Lucirion aether blessed, but Ajax was willing to bet his entire crusade of vengeance on the fact that the jades were actually tapping into a bit of chaos power itself to give their runes the powerful edge it had over regular aetheric powered runic workings. Willing to test his theory even amidst the terrible clashes of mithril blades, he willingly let a rune detonate close to him, specters of intent shards tearing into his robes that withstood most of the attacks, but he felt the bite of pain nonetheless and Ajax omega blade welcomed it.

Grinning, he spread out the powers of his path, seizing another rune before it exploded, pushing his aspect into it even despite the rune burning the tendrils of his aspect as fast as he could pour them into it. All these, he did as he avoided the attacks of the Wyrmguard, that all ended when the leader of the Wyrmguard turned up, two massive meat cleavers in his hands as he came for Ajax. The mood of the omega blade went from relaxed to serious, feeling the leaking powers that came from what he suspected to be a peak master.

The man built like a war deity gripped the two weapons Ajax was also sure even rulers would think twice before going head-to-head with, still, the omega blade had faced worse monsters, and this dragon was not among their ranks, close, but not there just yet. With a flick of his wrist, a pulse of his power blasted the Wyrmguard around him, the construct infused dragons showing impressive resilience as they actually weathered the destructive powers of his aspect, glaives, staffs and blades coming for him. He had less than a few seconds to either face the accumulation of diamonds and masters before their leader got to him or find himself pressed,

That, or he could tap into the runic circle he had just stolen from them,

The leader was the first to notice, the old dragon stopping in his tracks as he roared a command in a tongue that was foreign to Ajax but sounded harsh and gruttal, rune blackening the moment Ajax got close to inflict a devastating damage on the dragon. Instead, he let the rune explode, his aspect reversing its intended effect, for where it was previously meant to excise his aspect violently. Instead, the rune tore open a direct hole into his realm itself, the place of perpetual darkness so deep, not even light could escape.

And from that inky blackness came tentacles of pure darkness, seizing the Wyrmguards and dragging them screaming into the void, at least the few that were caught off guard, the rest began to effectively hack at the tentacles that multiplied by the minute, freeing Ajax to battle with the leader of the Wyrmguard. Ajax happily stepped up to the fight, the biting blistering pain that came with his proximity to the runes etched into the blades, he ducked an attack, going to disembowel the dragon who’s mantle actually deflected his midnight blade perfectly.

With the screams of the diamond behind him and the moon shattering battle he had with the Wyrmguard master, Ajax actually laughed when he felt the very moon fortress itself tremble as the largest ship under the armada of house Dracon began to slowly push forwards, its side cannons training themselves towards his position. He wasn’t sure what got him laughing, the look of shock on the Wyrmguard master or the fact that whoever was leading the ship thought they could blast him into oblivion,

He was oblivion,

With the moment of concentration broken by the master, Ajax slipped into his guard, burying krial straight through the chest of the Wyrmguard master. Eyes wide in shock he glanced down at his previously thought impervious mantle,

Turned down, and saw it had blackened to an oily grease,

Even as the entire area was bombarded by explosive rounds and the remaining Wyrmguard were torn to shreds, Ajax summoned his realm, the oily inky blob of darkness cocooning him, absorbing the power of destruction that happened around him and feeding his aspect. With a grin, he shook his head and made his way towards the burning Dracothorn stronghold.

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

Vaelin Stormscale couldn’t believe his eyes the moment the Hud showed him Ajax right on the moon station turn fortress, the guardians of the station themselves, the Wyrmguards moving to engage him in battle. The deck crew shouting commands at each other as the Dracothorn fortress itself swiveled its guns to target the omega blade, Vaelin activated his ability,

Storms eye(R): this bestows the ability to discern hidden moves of your foes, allowing you to see through whatever ruse they had put up to get the main aim they are going after.

Storms eye activated, Vaelin could see the lines of aether form around Ajax, waiting as the ability that took mere seconds began to take minutes to extrapolate the main goal of Ajax. And then the ability simply seized to work, it simply shut down around Ajax,

“impossible” Vaelin breathed,

it was simply impossible for such a thing to happen, the ability could pierce any veil, see through any runic enchantment and had been bestowed upon him by the ancient Hagan herself, in short, wherever there was aether, then the skill could and should work. Vaelin’s eyes widened in that moment as a theory passed through his mind, an almost impossible concept, glancing back at the feed showing the omega blade battle the Wyrmguard to a standstill, he pored through the live video, activating storms eye over and over again and watching it shut down with a finality around the omega blade. He realized what this meant, he realized what he was seeing but couldn’t say, his mind not able to wrap around the meaning,

“No aether” he whispered horrified to himself,

Grasping the arm rest of his mithril throne so hard, it bore the dents of his scaled fingers,

“The omega blade uses no aether” he said out loud,

Not loud enough for the entirety of the deck to hear amidst the shouting but enough for key people to hear, eyes going wide as they understood the meaning. With a pulse of another of his ability,

Tactician’s calm(L): this ability allows its user to being a sense of calm and battle clarity to those under their control, enhances communication and ensures smooth command control.

The entire deck and vessel crew of the Dracon’s fury quietened into a sense of alert lull, the entire ship hanging on to his every word,

“Great ascenders and servants of the fury” he started,

The rush of control, the feeling of power that came from thousands listening to his every word filtered through his body, holding Vaelin in throes of orgasmic pleasure as the grimness of their situation began to set in,

“Over there, on the very sacred crust of Dracothorn’s fortress station stands our enemy, the pariah known as Ajax omega blade. He has betrayed the archailect and its laws, he has waged war on our people and has dared to come to the dragon’s lair in search of glory and fame, we shall purge him of such imaginary glories" he said grimly,

“As of this moment, I hereby order complete annihilation by any means possible, all weapons either restricted or censured are to be brought to bear on my command and await my signals” he said,

Eyes glowing a bale blue, he spoke, his last words to the vessel crew as he could feel the rush of energy flowing through the vessel’s occupants,

“For the Dracon empire” he said,

“FOR THE DRACON EMPIRE!” they roared,

He turned to his communications dragonoid, a tall feminine green serpent,

“Get me whoever’s in charge of the stronghold, let them know the fury has a plan” Vaelin said, the communications expert saluting,

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

Vaelin faced the face of the dragonoid stronghold commander, a scion of a noble clan under house Dracon, most of his face and left side replaced by bionics that whirled, the man even with half a face of flesh scowled,

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“What is the meaning of this?” he demanded,

“Why does the fury bring its side cannons to bear on the stronghold, and is that an aetheric spiral class cannon I see coming online?, what in Lotes’s name are you thinking?” he hissed,

Vaelin had never felt so much irritation in a while as he currently did for the commander, no doubt, simply because he thought he had the protection of his clan and if Vaelin wasn’t mistaken, the construct empire seeing by the emblem attached to his left breast. No doubt, he had a good working relationship with the empire judging by the fine craftsmanship that had gone into replacing the parts of his body he had willingly parted with.

Vaelin stood up, revealing the crest of the fury, a statement to the upstart to remind him of just who was superior in their conversation and who held the cards, barring the intent shredder cannons the stronghold boasted of, nothing in their arsenal could remotely damage the fury, its mithril body enchanted by the strongest runic forgers the empire had to offer, and they were a lot. He narrowed his eyes,

“Commander?” Vaelin asked,

Of course, Vaelin knew his name, he knew the names of every commander and lieutenant in the forces protecting the core system of the empire, he simply wanted to show how little he cared for whatever clan the commander hailed from. Judging by the flash of rage that vanished in the brief second from the commander’s gaze, it had worked,

“Lyaron” the man said,

“Commander Lyaron, may I remind you who’s in charge here?, or do you think because you have been granted command over the Wyrmguard, you have the final say in the protection of the core system?” Vaelin bit out harshly as the entire deck crew came to a halt,

Silence pervaded the entire room and Vaelin could have loved it no less, he watched Lyaron become stone cold, eyes one biological and the other bionic stare hard into the cold chiseled gaze of Vaelin. Then he spoke, each word no doubt tasting like gravel in his mouth,

“My apologies, lord commander Vaelin” he said slowly,

“I simply worried about the censured and restricted weapons I see coming to bear from the fury, the bane’s elixir is simply- “

“Allow me to bother about such weapons, they were mine to use, and I will use them as I see fit, are we clear on that?” he said softly,

The video communication cracked as another attack rocked the very grounds of the moon station, causing Lyaron to glance back at his crew who were monitoring the situation and firing weapons at the incoming vessel of the omega blade, the star fortress itself. It drew attention to Vaelin's task of ensuring the star fortress didn’t get to the surface of the nest itself. With a flick of his hands, he continued, not waiting for acknowledgement from Lyaron,

“You will order the Wyrmguards back to the fortress and allow complete bombardment of your surface, the stronghold will be shielded from direct hit and then with whatever’s left of the omega blade on the surface, the Wyrmguard can wipe from existence” he ordered,

“You assume he’ll survive orbital bombardment” Lyaron replied, his one biological eye narrowing,

“The omega blade has ceased to draw power from the archailect, I hope you know what that means, or were you too young to remember the last time we had an ascender of his like?’ Vaelin said grimly,

Lyaron gave an involuntary shudder as he realized just what Vaelin was implying,

Garda grim,

Among the upper echelons of house Dracon, it wasn’t a secret as to what the grim had wielded during his time as a destroyer of systems before the forces of the archailect brought him to his knees,

“As it is in the father” Lyaron whispered,

“So it is in the son” Vaelin completed with a short nod,

It was nice attaining common ground with Lyaron, it didn’t mean Vaelin wouldn’t actively find a way to end either his career or his path in the archailect, he was a dragon and a member of house Dracon, such insults as Lyaron had shown today shouldn’t go unpunished. Still, he watched as Lyaron shook his head,

“so what you’re saying, is that whoever manages to kill the omega blade would have the honor of saving house Dracon and its empire?” the commander of the Dracothorn stronghold asked,

Vaelin froze,

“don’t you dare” Vaelin whispered harshly,

“Lord commander Vaelin, the Dracothorn stronghold is mine and mine alone, should you fire on its surface, believe me the stronghold would return fire, you’re not the only one with access to censored weapons” Lyaron said smugly,

Vaelin quietly activated his storms eye skill, eyes widening as he realized just what censored weapons the commander of the stronghold had in his keeping,

“you’re willing to activate the sirens cry?, are you mad?” Vaelin roared as the dragons around him shook,

Lyaron looked shocked as he realized his hidden card had been revealed,

“How did you- “

“Open fire on the stronghold!” Vaelin roared,

The weapons commander on the deck still within the grasp of tacticians’ calm nodded once and simply opened fire, Lyaron cutting off the connection with a snarl as the first of the aetheric payloads slammed into the surface of the lunar station. He watched the gaze of the Wyrmguard widen in shock at what they assumed was betrayal by their own forces,

Vaelin thought of it as collateral damage,

Under no circumstances must the sirens cry be activated, the malevolent weapon forged by a now disgraced dragon royalty that had dabbled in mental mana, a weapon that had the ability to turn its intended targets into frothing rabid animals that tore at their foes an then each other in madness, the mana virus spreading through the air itself till an entire planet was wiped of life. Perhaps Lyaron thought that in the expanse of space and with no air, the virus would die away after doing its short-term work, but the idiot failed to realize that it worked on ascenders without air just as fine.

Snarling as the shields of the stronghold held under the first barrage of his cannons, he watched as the Wyrmguard were decimated, while an elite troop, they were made of survivors from other worlds house Dracon had taken over, then with the partnership they had with the construct empire, they had forged them into the most loyal of warriors, their sacrifices were not in vain.

Then Vaelin ordered one of his restricted weapons, the intent shredder be activated on the planet itself, the shredder was another of weapon of mass destruction, tailored to infect the intent of blade and weapon users, it would turn it on their wielders, shredding them to pieces from the inside, once house Dracon had used it to wipe out an entire planet of intent users.

Hagan horrified by its result had ordered the remaining batch sealed away and to be brought out only when house Dracon was in dire need of salvation or close to eradication. Hagan had given it to him on the onset of the galactic war with Ajax, under very specific instructions to only employ it along with the banes’ elixir, a virulent weapon that stripped flesh from bones no matter your rank and left you a pile of sludge on the ground in writhing agony when he had a clear chance at Ajax,

Oh it didn’t kill, simply reduced a once humanoid shape to nothing, a fate worse than death itself,

Here he was, with a clear chance at Ajax and if only Lyaron had listened to his command, then all these would had been done in a matter of minutes, nonetheless though, he was sure Hagan and the ruling royals would understand the destruction of the stronghold itself. And with that thought, he ordered the already firing cannons to release the payload. Besides, he had another reason for wanting the stronghold destroyed,

See, while the weapons itself were devastating, they couldn’t be replaced, their maker, the same dragonoid mind rune mage that had created the siren’s cry had been imprisoned, locked away never to see the light of day again or the blue sun that graced the nest, and with the situation as critical as this was, Vaelin had no choice, he had to destroy the stronghold,

Destroy the stronghold, and the imprisoned dragon mage within its bowels.

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

Ajax felt the weapons being deployed and paused in his trek to the stronghold itself, eyes widening in shock as he realized just what was being fired. With a wince, he let his mantle coat his entire body, turning him into a walking oily black form as the weapons detonated. The intent shredder sought to permeate his body, simply attaching themselves to his oily form and getting absorbed by his aspect, steadily breaking them down to nothing. Then came the bane’s elixir, filtering through the air as the leader of the Wyrmguard screamed before his body melted into goo, his bionic parts clanking to the ground in a head of mithril and wires.

He stared in distaste at the thought of how far the empire of the dragons would go to bring him down, even friendly fire wasn’t off the charts it seemed. He glanced at the Dracon’s fury as its thrusters came to life, the behemoth of a craft moving to intercept his star fortress and its gleaming prow glowing with a capital class canon that hummed to life, its vibrations causing even the ground of the stronghold to shake.

He watched as the shields of the stronghold shattered and he phased through its runic mithril barriers, burning them to slag as he entered the stronghold, no use letting the fury know that he survived their bombardment. He’d let the scythe handle the fury, buy him enough time to get to his main goal, slicing his way through ascenders that could barely put up a fight, he let his aspect invade the entire structure.

Chaos melting and destroying barriers, room fortifications and the likes as he chewed his way through the defenders who screamed to the supreme beings to aid them, but nothing came, neither help nor salvation, only simply death. The master and commander of the stronghold, Lyaron he was called, had stepped forth to stop him, wielding bionic weapons as he transformed to his full draconic state, the dragon had wielded dragon fire and the energy core of the bionic blasters that would no doubt be enough to destroy a continent with time. Ajax has simply swallowed the master with his aspect, sending him into his realm where the light of his path and aspect would slowly decay, not even the aspect of the flying terror that he wielded would save him,

Nothing could,

And with the strongholds’ weapons powering down with their destruction, the stronghold now a ghost of a fortress, Ajax paused at the cell door buried deep beneath the fortress itself, a single desiccated being on the ground with the only signs of life being his shoddy breathing. Stinking with the putrid forms of its last meals, no doubt slaves lining the room, Ajax spoke,

“Virethrax” he said,

The body stirred, a blackened tail swishing lazily as the form stood up, black eyes glowing,

“so, you’re the one I’ve been hearing much about?” the dragon said,

Virethrax, mage on the path of the Plaguepath, disgraced royalty and forgotten master, Ajax smiled grimly as the black oily coat around his body peeled away,

“Depends on what you’ve been hearing” he replied with a grim smile,

“oh lots of things” Virethrax hissed, blackened claws gripping the rune covered bars as he hissed,

Skin cooking, the Plaguepath stepped backwards, arms stretched,

“You seek the end of the empire, correct?” he asked,

“indeed” Ajax simply replied,

“I merely seek to create new weapons and test them” Virethrax replied, eyes glowing as his powers were cut short, the manacles on his arms glowing to life, the mage staggering in agony,

“then” Ajax started, snapping his fingers as the bars exploded,

He stepped into the cell, placing his hands on the manacles as they turned to slag, freeing the mage,

“I believe we have something in common” he finished with a grin.