Annika felt the bloodlust and raw rage aura the moment she got close enough to what she suspected was the heart of the Cranage Strider. Thankful for the Dessert Lord's foresight in preventing the Diamonds from getting close, she gripped Asagai tighter as her Thunderstep skill brought her close to the heat of battle, and battle it was. A single being, wrapped in a column of sharp, glowing golden sands, engaged in combat against three behemoth beings simultaneously. The stench emanating from them caused Annika to gag, choking on her own saliva as she hurled bolts of lightning at the red-skinned creatures.
The Archailect referred to them as Bloodfiend Sentinels, and Annika couldn't help but be extra wary of the fact that they shared the same name as one of House Titan Blades' deadliest clans, which had become personal protectors of the Titan himself. Glancing through the notice from the Archailect about the sentinels, Annika landed with Thunderstep, preparing another bolt as her eyes burned with white arcs of lightning.
"The Bloodfiend Sentinels," the notice read,
"Are a formidable species of bloodborne creatures, born from the dark rituals conducted within the Abyssal Maw. They are bound to the service of Vusal, the Conqueror. Under the leadership of their mighty champion, Erythros the Bloodforged, they have become the loyal protectors of the numerous Carnage Striders that ferry Vusal's forces through the stars."
Azarath, a demigod made flesh, wielded two curved blades in his hands, somehow fending off the onslaught of attacks from the two demon-looking creatures. Standing at eight feet tall, muscular with actual red tendons interweaving through their flesh, black veins pulsing just beneath their skin, and blood-red scales providing natural armor that even a legendary ranked rune weapon struggled to cut through, they were nightmares incarnate.
Annika's lightning bolts blasted the two sentinels apart, driving them into the large black flesh door behind them. Annika activated Asagai into its battle mode and landed next to Azarath, who spared her a glance.
"Your entrance was as timely as possible, Master Stormseeker," he said.
"Well met, Master Dessert Tempest," she replied.
Her Thunderstorm Mantle burned to life, her hair crackling with the elemental power of thunderstorms whispering through the air. The bronze-skinned master took a stance as a haze of golden light poured from the golden scarab on his chest. The two sentinels stood up, their eyes blazing as red bubbles of blood began to float upwards. The sentinel on the right, a figure with bone-white protrusions shooting from his shoulders, wielded a poleaxe. Twirling it in one hand, it stepped forward.
"Servants of the Anathema and the Golden One," it rumbled.
"You know who we are," Azarath replied.
"We know all who dare enter the Abyssal Gateway. You teeter on the gate to our realm. This is but a taste of what's to come, and Lord Erythros has ordered the immediate end of all servants of the Shatterkins, especially those of the Anathema," the being replied, pointing at Annika, who gripped Asagai tighter.
The Aserite, tainted blue with her power burning, narrowed her eyes.
"Well, you could try," she said.
"So, on behalf of the Great Conqueror and Lord of Carnage, by the authority of the Accursed One, Gorefang, we offer the Shatterkin known as the Golden One and his emissary, the Dessert Lord, a chance," the Bloodfiend said.
"A chance?" Azarath rumbled.
"Indeed," the other Bloodfiend replied.
A tall, lanky figure with tightly sown muscles and a white bone mask permanently carved into a grin appeared, wielding two bone scythes with profane runes carved into their forms, which glowed with malevolent energies.
"Offer the Lady of Storms and Lightning, this master under the service of the Anathema to us, and Lord Gorefang swears on the name of the Conqueror to let your forces escape safely from the coming catastrophe," the second sentinel said.
Azarath paused as Annika tensed. Was the Dessert Lord considering it? Had his primordial seen such a move coming and actually sanctioned it? Then she felt the master draw from the aspect of his primordial, the feeling of the dry, humid air akin to that of a desert suffusing the entire room.
"You would question my honor, foul creature of the Abyss?" he asked as his body burned with pure aspect energy, sucking the very moisture from everything around it.
Annika felt her mantle begin to wane from the dry air and pushed more of her authority and aether into it, tapping into the aspect of the Titan within her. The sentinels turned to her, roaring as they drew on the very aspect of carnage around them, seeking to drown everything in bloodlust. Azarath moved, and she followed, both sides clashing in a hail of attacks. She summoned her core realm of thunderstorms and lightning, continually striking the Bloodfiends with lightning bolts that rang like bombs. Azarath moved with a column of sharpened sands as he struck as well.
However, in this domain of blood and carnage, their attacks, despite their sheer devastating abilities, only seemed to enrage the sentinels more. Their wounds rapidly healed.
That was until both masters actively switched to drawing directly from their respective primordial aspects. The effects were immediate. The aspect of the Titan actively burned the very blood and aspect of the Conqueror in the air. The sentinels changed their attacks, and Azarath barely fended off the scythe-wielding sentinel that loomed over him. Its mask glowed with ethereal red energies as it snarled, pathways bursting open behind it. Berserkers poured out in their hundreds, attempting to swarm the two masters.
Annika battled with the other Bloodfiend, its arms now sheathed in long, sharpened bone claws that sought the flesh of the Stormseeker. She parried as she blasted the sentinel with bolts of lightning, driving it back as she pushed into the attack, its scorched skin smoking and burning. Pumping out as much aether as she could in this accursed place, she raised one hand, churning the very aether into storm clouds that rumbled and spat lightning. She grasped it, grasped her very aspect given flesh, as the pleasure of the power tore through her body.
"STRIKE!" she commanded.
Arcs of lightning devastated the area, scorching flesh from bone. Wails of agony and bile-inducing pleasure rose from the berserkers as they were cut down in numbers, charred beyond recognition before turning to sludge. On the other side of the battle, the Dessert Lord sucked the very vitality from the berserkers, leaving dry husks behind as he empowered himself. The pure vitality stolen somehow made him stronger, a similar technique she remembered the Titan using as well. The entire area was a beacon of destruction, yet the sentinels didn't fall. Their flesh scoured clean, they continued to draw deeply from the waning aspect of the Conqueror, seeking to bolster themselves.
Annika had seen and heard enough of this malicious place. Even now, she knew that without the power of the primordial she wielded, she would have fallen under the thrall of the bloodlust, would have been nothing but a raging mess destined to forever shamble across the stars, a part of the numerous hordes of the Conqueror. A fate the Diamonds would have shared.
No, she needed to get stronger. She needed to stop relying on the strength of that monster. And while she saw the veneration within the gaze of the Dessert Lord, even as he roared into battle again, his body burning with pure life energy, she knew what she wanted.
She wanted what the Titan had, and she would reach there even if it meant putting herself in situations like this. With Asagai, she channeled the very aspect of the storm, her spear glowing dark blue as she kept funneling her growing aspect mixed with that of the Titan into the spear. It began to tremble with barely restrained power. The area grew colder, the temperature dropping as dark clouds began to cover the area. Her body burned with the aspect of the Titan she drew on. She watched as the sentinels stumbled to stop, Azarath staring at her with wide eyes as he retreated and began weaving a ball of sandstorm barrier around them, understanding flashing within his eyes.
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The sentinels unleashed everything they had on the barrier as Azarath began to draw on his primordial's aspect as well. The image of the scarab glowed brighter as his bronze skin took on a golden sheen, holding the barrier as he glanced at her, she nodded and Azarath dropped the barrier, catching the sentinels off-guard,
“Rampage!” she whispered furiously, rage in the very command,
The very clouds opened up her fury, arcs of bolts of lightning showered the very insides of the strider as the very vessel itself convulsed from the pure rage of the Stormseeker, Asagai speared the two sentinels cleanly through, acting as a conductor for the power that blew apart the sentinels, their gory parts hardly flying a few meters before they were turned to pure ashes, the concussive wave blowing the bolts of lightning across the area in a haze of bleaching the area white.
When it cleared, the entire door and area were nothing but dead flesh—blackened, hanging, and putrid-smelling flesh. Annika staggered as she struggled to stay upright, her sight swimming from weakness. Azarath was there, though, helping her keep her feet as she gritted her teeth in pain. Her core slowly replenished despite her nearly sucking the aether around them. She shook her head, clearing her swimming gaze to see the entrance to the chamber where the heart resided.
It had been burnt to char, nothing left of what it might have even remotely looked like.
"Well, that's one way to destroy it," she said softly.
Azarath glanced at her with pursed lips, as if unsure of what to say when the strider shuddered, and its already dark putrid walls began to decay faster.
"This vessel is dying. We do not want to be within it when it does," Azarath said as he attempted to carry Annika.
She shook her head, using mere willpower to force her body to move, both masters becoming a blur as they shot towards their former position. Sounds of clashes were coming ahead. Annika attempted to draw from her core again when a lance of pain shot through her, stifling a scream. It felt like hot molten lead had poured right into her core. Azarath stopped her.
"You force your body to push any more aether, and you could irrevocably damage your ascension," he chastised her gently.
Wielding his sand path, he sent a hail of it towards the battle upfront where echoes of battles began to die down. A master with a silvery blade appeared. She paused as she stared at Annika with wide eyes.
"Was that you?" she asked softly.
"Pardon me, Masters of House Titan Blade, but we have no time," Azarath pressed, glancing behind him.
The once red dull glowing pathway went dark, the flesh melting away into abject darkness. The new master nodded, bringing out a construct and grabbing Annika before shooting forwards, the desert lord in her wake. They arrived at the line where Spadas, Stormwardens, and diamonds belonging to Azarath and his house stood, weary but still standing, some sporting one injury or the other from fighting off Bloodfiends. Lucina planted the construct as it pulsed to life. Azarath waited while glancing behind him.
"Anytime now," he whispered, preparing to activate another skill by the looks of it.
Two pathways tore open—one of swirling sands as a lady in a soft silk gown came through the first, Idris through the second of burning purple and gold fire.
"Zahra?" Azarath said astonished.
The woman smiled, snapping her fingers as a force pulled the diamonds of House Viaris through in a flash.
"How many times do I have to save you, beloved?" she said softly with a smile.
All masters shuddered under the pure power of her words, like glass grating on their bodies. Azarath felt something else, though, something sensual, and he forced himself to pretend like it had the same shuddering feel as the other two masters. It was something Zahra, ancient and daughter of Viaris, knew and smirked. Idris frowned as he stepped forwards, pointing one hand at the encroaching darkness.
"HOLD," he commanded.
A pulse of titan aspect mixed with his—a swirling deep yellow aspect pulsed forwards, keeping the destruction at bay, runes of gold and purple pulsing around him. The Spadas and Stormwardens bowed to him, pushing through the pathway with Annika and Lucina in tow. Idris stared as they went through before turning to Zahra and Azarath.
"Master, ancient," he said, bowing a bit.
Azarath inclined his head too, Zahra merely nodded at him.
"Till we meet again, vassal of the Titan Blade," she said, eyes glowing.
Both forces withdrew through their pathways, closing up behind them as the strider's darkness continued through, tearing apart the Carnage Strider as it imploded on itself. All Archailect forces retreated from the blast, watching as the other strider exploded as well, turning into bright little pinpricks of light.
On a behemoth vessel made entirely of some creature that had overgrown its normal life expectancy, kept alive in the service of its masters through arcane means known only to themselves, two golden-looking beings appeared through a pathway grown on its body. This vessel floated just to the north of the entire Archailect armada—a silent but deadly creation, capable of taking an entire subcontinent on itself. It was a miniature planet given life. Trees of different species, exotic but deadly wildlife, even the fauna was alive with vines slithering across the ground, predators and prey alike hunting each other with equal levels of animosity.
The first golden being was a tall figure in a golden robe, eyes flickering around with distaste as his glow seemed to shut off the moment he stepped foot on the creature, staring at the vines beneath his feet. The other being could be mistaken for an angelic being from the old religions of Gaia, close in look to the messengers of the supreme beings as well. Its golden glow died almost immediately as it winced, one hand on a blade at its waist.
It turned to the first being, doubt in its eyes.
"Speak, Habriel," the first being said.
"My lord, this is a dangerous proposition. The fact that we have to resort to meeting with... him," Habriel said.
Habriel, emissary of Rieus Ouroboros, the primordial known as the Bright Scourge, stared at his lord, pleading, Rieus turned to his emissary.
"We are called to a higher purpose, Habriel, but sometimes reality demands we stoop to the positions of our peers at times," Rieus replied.
"Then it is a good thing this meeting is not taking place in your domain, Lord Rieus," a voice said as the lush forests shivered.
Rieus turned, a look of pure distaste etched into his figure as Habriel moved to draw his blade, his mithril armor glinting from the sun in the distance.
"It would be a foolish idea to draw that blade, Habriel, not when you're within my lord's domain," the voice continued as a figure stepped out of the lush bushes.
Clad in a black robe, black and white hair extending down his head, the chocolate-skinned man with a white beard and milky white eyes stopped a few feet from Rieus and Habriel.
"Vardant," Habriel said, as if swallowing a bitter pill.
"Lord Rieus," Vardant said.
Rieus merely stared at him with cold eyes. Vardant stood with his hands folded behind him.
"Where is Kairos?" Rieus asked.
"My lord awaits you at the Seed of Genesis," Vardant said.
"The Seed of Genesis, the mere hubris," Rieus sneered.
Vardant merely blinked, glanced behind him, and then back at the Bright Scourge.
"Oh, were you talking to me, Lord Rieus?" Vardant asked.
Habriel growled, his fingers inching ever closer to his blade.
"Your pathetic attempt to rile me up will not walk, Vardant of the Forged Blades," Rieus said.
Vardant smiled, a crinkle in his eyes.
"Oh, I wouldn't dare, not yet anyways, Lord Celestial," he said with a grin.
Rieus chuckled, stepping closer.
"You think yourself invincible because you have the Lord of Monsters behind you, don't you?" Rieus whispered as he began to flare his aspect, burning at the vines.
Large mithril chains forged with intent tore through the ground, wrapping Habriel up as Rieus paused.
"I warned you, Lord Rieus, this is the domain of Lord Kairos. I'd be careful if I were you, I'm not sure any other emissary would want to defect to your side anytime soon," Vardant said.
Rieus paused, his gaze burning.
"Let my emissary go," he gritted out as his powers began to swell.
A pulse of feral otherworldly power came from the distance. Vardant smiled, bowing to the distance as he snapped his fingers, the chains dissolving away into smoke. Habriel released his golden wings as he floated to the ground.
"My lord calls," he said.
Rieus gritted his teeth as he turned to Habriel.
"Come, let us get this over with," he said as his wings of pure white, six in all, extended and he shot forwards.
Moving at subsonic speed to appear right over a dome of green energies, seated below was Kairos, eyes closed as he held what looked like a seed in his hands. Rieus waited above, Habriel at his side also quietly. Then Kairos looked up, his eyes opened, burning green with a smile.
"Hello, little messenger," he said.
"What brings you to my domain?" he asked.
"Your pet project, the Titan Blade," Rieus replied, floating closer to the dome.
It parted as the Bright Scourge and the emissary floated into the dome that closed up behind them.
"You still want it out for the child? I'd be careful if I were you. Eses comes soon after dealing with whatever is going on in her empire," Kairos said.
"Again, I could care less for the child. I come at the behest of a supreme being," Rieus said.
Kairos paused.
"Which of them?" he asked.
Rieus, for once, smiled, snapping his fingers as a golden chair appeared behind him. He sat down on it, a glass of wine appearing in his hand.
"Liakya, and she has a proposition for you, something I believe you'd want," Rieus said.
Kairos turned to Rieus.
"I'm listening," the King of Monsters said.