The bulk of the archailect’s forces broke through the abyssal storms shielding the final system of the abyssal stronghold, hundreds upon hundreds of warships both absurdly large and little fighters tore into the range of the planets, but came to a jarring halt as they saw what was waiting for them,
And the unholy aspect of the abyss that settled around the planets,
Thousands of carnage striders filled the expanse of space itself, blotting out the rays of the already dying sun, roaring into space itself. The largest of the archailect’s ships moved to the fore front, the strongest of their forces, preparing for what would turn out to be hell on earth, assuming they made it to the planets themselves and got past the hosts of carnage striders themselves. Aboard the defiance, Moyo stood, surrounded by the Shieldborne, josh, their Valoris decked in an armor of pure mithril, his Warhammer slung behind his shoulders, silver burning eyes glowing as he marched at the front of the titan, encircled by his guards.
Entering the large hall of the defiance, he stood and stared at his entire legion arrayed before him, promethean battle suits at the far end, the banners of each respective cohorts held with poles in their metal mecha arms. The legion stood at attention as he entered, his master ranked commanders walking to his side, staring down at their forces as well, Idris subtly appearing at his side. He glanced around, noting the absence of Annika, frowning as he turned an inquiring gaze to his champion,
“Still recovering” Idris mouthed to him,
Giving an imperceptible nod, he took a deep breathe, Annika the Stormseeker and her Stormwardens had sequestered themselves in one of the thousands of chambers within the defiance, her wardens catering to her healing, something that been quick seeing as she was a master, and wielded his aspect as well,
Which was the issue itself,
She had drawn too much on his aspect, flooding her body with strength she couldn’t wield properly, it had given her the strength she needed, but it had then left her totally useless for at least the first proper engagement in the coming battle. He had wanted to see her, but the head of her Stormwardens, Siris Stormblade had bowed in his front, head down as he pleaded, the empress of storms had not wanted him to see her in her weakened state. Moyo had grown steadily angry as Siris pleaded, they had been together at the beginning, they had gone through the tribulations together, did she think he’d mock her for having a moment of weakness?.
He knew it was his anger and hurt talking, but he had nodded to the Stormblade that had been prepared to clear the way, knowing he could do nothing in the eventuality that the titan decided to pass through the door, few beings could really stop him and none were currently aboard the defiance. He had stopped though, he had respected her wishes, and with a simple thought, warped space around himself as the Defiance ferried him back to his room. And as he stood above his forces, he spoke,
“One more step” he started as he drew dominion, his arcane blade humming with power yet unleashed,
“One more step and we’re at the finish line” he continued, aware that more than five thousand eyes were currently on him,
“Usually, I’d be doing this by myself, bearing the weight on my shoulders he said,
“But time and time again, I have been proven wrong, I have been shown the errors of my ways and I know, that as much as I fight to protect you all, you also fight for those you love” he said,
He gripped dominion as his aspect settled upon the entire hall softly,
“You fight for your families, for your children who look to the stars, believing their fathers and mothers are fighting for liberation. You fight for that special someone, who holds on to the very hope that you would come back, bathed in glory and respect he continued,
“We fight to protect our homes, our very planets and our continued existences, so I say today, look to the person next to you, they are your brothers and sisters, we go into the jaws of hell itself, I will guide you, I will be your pillar of fire by night and column of light by day” he said,
Dominion lit up with golden runes, its very blade lighting up with purple fire,
“Your will and authority are your greatest weapons, your faith in good your shield, march my legion, march into the jaws of death and believe that I go as an unbreakable shield, a mountain to take the worst of attacks, vent your wraths on those who would threaten your very existences!” he roared,
“We march for Gaia, for Ibere, march for your lives!” he finished,
The forces of the legion roared, their weapons blazing, chanting his name.
**********************************
The brigade had finally let loose all their cards, well, supposedly. Scores of smaller brigade vessels tore through the expanse, shooting for the striders in the distance, carrying small kill teams of both brigade and jade forces, they went to blunt the sharpen tips of the abyssal forces, hoping to clear a path straight for the planets in the distance, the first of which was a blackened and dead rock, but the power it emanated was all the forces of the archailect needed to know they had to cleanse it. The hemisphere of the barren planet played hosts to pods of abyssal creatures shot out of the striders, attempting to intercept the numerous fleets of the armada.
Nets of pure rune artistry sought to hold back the bulk of the creatures, fighter crafts, both Ashas and other obtuse models of crafts brought into the battle by the brigade and the jades, lighting up space with crackling bolts of pure power that sought to tear the stars asunder. A set of ships tore forwards shouldering the hail of fire power, bearing the crest of house Garuda and Thousandblades, they made for the black rock of a planet, carnage striders and their contents harrying them. Amidst all the chaos, more smaller vessels sought to clear a path for towards the planet as well, but most of the striders had turned their attentions to the large vessels headed for the barren planet.
Harried and sustaining damages, it broke through for an instant before beams teleportation light blasted for the planet, dropping hosts of ascenders unto the planet. Scores of ascenders from house Garuda and Thousandblades combined along with other lesser known houses poured out, meeting the hosts of abyssal creatures that crashed into the ascenders, and from their midst poured out masters and diamonds of the houses. Killian now dressed in black with a blue sash and his blade, now a thing of marvel crackling with lightning stepped forward, swinging his weapon,
“shimmer” he commanded,
Reality bent and twisted despite the overwhelming aura of the abyss that saturated the entire area, tearing into the abyssal forces that were made up of Bloodfiends of all types and shapes. From hulking monstrosities to nimble, fast but deadly to the average ascender, but that was the use of the masters, to hold back the torrents of forces for the diamonds and lesser ascenders to deal with. Artillery power, everything they had was thrown against the hordes that blotted out the entire planet ground, coming for the little pinprick of ascenders huddled around an aether resonator, beating back the forces of the abyss. Then from the ship came two beings, revealing their full strengths as the abyssal creatures turned their gaze skywards, freezing as two power aspects held them to the point. Then they appeared in the skies above, a man with muscular features, a shaggy grey beard and one eye sewn shut, but the maniacal smile etched onto his face spoke volumes,
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Thorian Stonehelm, the diamond king,
Second ruler and now ancient ascendant of house Garuda, the berserker like fighter shouldered a large mace made of the bones of some ancient but terrible creature, its very weight warping reality around it. He pointed the mace at the creatures and uttered a command,
“CRUSH”
* Diamond Avalanche(R): Draw upon the power of the diamond to create an avalanche of crystalline shards. Thorian hurls the shards with overwhelming force, shredding through obstacles and enemies in his path.
The air above the abyssal creatures shimmered and large diamond shard fell on the Bloodfiends, splattering them in the hundreds at a time, the larger of the fiends attempting to crush the command given form when a searing cry tore through the air, painting everywhere red with the power of fire. Coalescing into the shape of a bird, it converged into the figure of the woman clad in a red robe, orbs of burning fire floating at her side. Pointing one finger to the Bloodfiends that kept on pouring in their thousands, she spoke,
“IMMOLATE”
* Phoenix's Inferno(R): Unleash a devastating wave of fire, incinerating enemies in its path. The flames deal significant damage and leave a lingering burn effect.
Arcs of flames as pure as they were deadly tore through the ranks of the Bloodfiends, lighting them as easily as clothes doused in gasoline, while healing the wounds of the ascenders on the front ranks. The diamond king boomed with laughter, pointing his bone mace into the distance,
“Onward!” he boomed,
Shooting towards the large red spire in the distance, the ascenders roaring as they pushed forwards, Raye spread her burning wings as she followed closely behind her husband, the both of them aware that the true battle lay in that spire. The aspect of blood bubbled and spat across the entire planet, hundreds of pathways tearing their way into reality with ease, depositing thousands of Bloodfiends as well as large walking creations of horror, mismatched bones held together by clumps of rotten decaying flesh and dripped acid burning blood, the diamonds attempting to cover for the lesser ascenders who died n droves despite tens of teleportation beams landing, depositing more reinforcements.
Killian, Duval and Skatha tore their way through the host of Bloodfiends, no finesse, no elaborate skills, merely the simple art of hacking and destroying, their gazes on the spire in the distance as well. A large beam of light appeared behind them and a single man stepped out, white hair tied behind him, a single golden and silver blade in his hand and his aspect a blistering fountain of intent. The ascenders cheered as he took to the skies, blade raised,
Altair, ancient and ruler of house Thousandblades raised Durandal, the blade burning with aspect as he cleaved through the very skies,
“EVISCERATE” he uttered,
All over the battlefield, all over the planet where hundreds of ascenders did battle against the hundreds of thousands of Bloodfiends and other creatures of the abyss, the creatures fell in neatly dissected parts, those without at least the strengths of masters dies with that stroke of pure mastery of intent. Altair sagged a bit, wincing as he felt the drain on his core, the abyssal aspect shrouding the entire system holding sway over what little aether filled the air.
Glancing skywards, he produced a crystal shard, cracking it as a lance of sun-burning energy shot skywards, a signal, a pulse came from the ship of the dragon’s brigade, his signal had been seen. Lances of teleportation beams crashed into the ground, figures stepping out, arcane generals of the brigade nodded at him before they began they began to weave their powers, planting giant crystal columns that pulsed with the burning power of Lotes herself, sanctifying the very area around them, allowing the aether resonator to pulse with more power.
Altair frowned at his fellow ancients who were forcing their way through the skies towards the spire,
“Inform the jades to join me, we storm that spire, and we destroy it” Altair said,
“We cannot accompany you, our orders were clear, provide a safe space for most of the forces to land in preparation for the push into the true footholds of the four remaining abyssal lords” one of the arcane generals said,
Altair shrugged,
“Suits me, the jades” he said again,
“Will be informed, one of the clan lords will be on their way” another of the generals said,
Altair slashed his blade, cutting the distance between himself and Thorian, appearing next to diamond king when he felt the area around him hold him down, as if wading through jelly. Raye turned to him, her body burning with her phoenix aspect, Thorian merely smiled,
“Altair!” he proclaimed,
Altair fought the urge to sigh, the child-like but deadly ancient that was Thorian actually enjoyed the challenge, pitting his very aspect of strength against the very authority that held them down. Altair had once heard rumors that Draulr himself, the supreme being of strength had once given Thorian the chance to become his harbinger, access to the very true and pure aspect of strength from the supreme himself. It was said that Thorian had rejected the offer, rumor was he said,
“I’d get bored with unlimited strength”
Altair had every reason to believe the tale, the only thing the ancient lived for was the thrill of a battle, and he was getting one here, right in the middle of a life and death situation. Altair flared his aspect, actively burning at the syrupy aspect of blood and gore that wanted to hold him down, tearing free the same moment as the other two ancients before they powered straight for the spire. As they got closer, Altair bit down the bile that rose to his throat, realizing just what made up the spire itself,
Bones and flesh,
Somehow fused together, then glazed with thick congealed blood, it had frozen into a clear but powerful structure that rose to the very skies of the planet. Raye gave a growl as she summoned her aspect,
“Wait!” Altair hissed, eyes wide,
Raye paused, halfway through imbuing the flames that gathered with her authority, ignis, roaring behind her, he floated closer,
“can’t you feel it?, the way the aspect seems to flow through the spire to one spot within?” he asked,
“Something strong is within the spire” Thorian said, no smile on his face now, body on edge,
Altair floated closer,
“PART” he commanded,
His aspect tore at that of the conqueror, seeking to reveal what was within the spire, a chuckle coming through, resounding through the very air of the barren planet as the once dry ground began to seep with blood, as if it had been lying in wait, causing entire pools of blood to litter the landscape, and from said pools came Bloodfiend berserkers, bigger and stronger versions of what had been encountered in the carnage striders.
Then from the spire came a large hulking creature, all muscles and raw strength, eyes of burning aspect and bled blood continuously and bone like vambraces that covered its entire arms, it grinned at him as it stepped out, staring up at the ancients with distaste in its eyes,
“meatsuits” it said with a grin,
“I take it you’re one of the named Bloodfiends?” Thorian asked,
Altair could see the strength it took the Stonehelm to hold himself back, rage burning in his eyes, the creature pointed one finger at Thorian,
“Meatsuits do not talk” it replied,
Altair winced,
With a crack of force, Thorian was right in the front of the creature before it could react, bone mace swinging for its skull when another presence manifested and Altair flashed to the side of the iron helm, grabbing his robes as Raye’s flames suffused the area, giving them a cover to retreat from the presence. Appearing back in the air, they floated, watching the figure that lumbered into view. A colossal creature of blood red muscles and bone armored body, two large horns curling upwards and two large axes with runes that actually offended the senses of Altair, biting at his rune sense for their wrongness. It radiated the power of the conqueror in its fullest strength,
The elite of Vusal, Gorefang,
It stared at them with unimpressed eyes, pointing its axe at them,
“I expected more from the forces of the archailect, you three wouldn’t do’ it rumbled and Altair almost staggered,
Its very words caused the pools of blood sprouting around the planet to double in size, the power of Vusal pushing at the workings of power the brigade was building, seeking to unravel it. Another presence revealed itself, drawing the attention of Gorefang to its presence, a beam of teleportation light descending as a figure crouched suddenly standing. A Viking in both size and looks, grey and white beards tied together with bands of black crystals, long hair tied behind his head as well, arms covered in glowing blue and white runes, the figure stared at the elite,
“Then what about me, am I enough for you, foul creature of blood” he asked, his authoritative voice,
Ingvar grim rune, jade of the first order and jade chief of the grim rune clan, a deadly presence unto himself. He glanced skywards with a frown and snapped his fingers, activating one of his skills,
Abyssal Ward(L): Ingvar creates a protective barrier infused with runic energy, shielding himself and his allies from the corrupting influence of the abyss. This ward provides defense against dark magic, curses, and other sinister forces.
Abyssal ward did the work the arcane generals were building towards, albeit in a small localized area, burning away the bloodlust power of the aspect of Vusal, the first Bloodfiend hissing as Gorefang placed one hand on its shoulder, grounding it to the same spot,
“jade” it said,
“Gorefang” Ingvar replied,
Gorefang nodded, shouldering his two bone axes,
“you’ll do” he said as Gorefang shot himself at the jade, the other Bloodfiend tearing through the air at the masters.