The thing that came out of the shard was no longer human, not in the plainest sense. It was Ajax, his face, his smile, his stance, but Eses knew there and then that she was staring into the eyes of chaos incarnate. The Nethervoid buckled under the significance of his aspect, the shattered blade that had been reforged into a terrifying midnight glass looking weapon had materialized right back into his hand and his cloak trailed like endless shadows, its darkness near infinite.
Eses had no doubt, had no compulsion to reason with him, she unlocked every seal, broke every oath she had made to Lotes, and she could feel the supreme being assenting to her decision, now was not the time for politics, now was the time to fight. Like pieces of glass, the Nethervoid cracked, beams of pure white light poking through as it homed in on Eses, her eyes glowing gold. Ajax, or whatever it was that had taken his place smiled,
“please” he said with his infuriating smile,
“Take your time”
Eses paid him no heed, her willpower for the first time in eons coalesced into one mind, her authority settled on her like a warm cloak in winter. Her scaled rippled with barely restrained power and even as she forced herself back to her humanoid form, her draconic wings burst forth from her back as she began to glow brighter, staring into the endless darkness that was the eyes of the Omegablade,
"No, not Omegablade again” she thought,
Chaosborne,
She inhaled, closing her eyes as runes burned to life around her, white and golden runes that rumbled the Nethervoid, cracking it further from the raw power that was building up within her, the white light pouring in revealing itself to be pure aether, the purest possible. When she snapped open her eyes, it was with the aura, the presence and the authority of a being that had surpassed the rank of primordial,
She was a transcendent,
A being whose very existence has surpassed the very limitations of the physical realm, at least in this moment. A simpler albeit weaker version of the supreme being herself, but in this moment, she could as well have been one, opening her eyes as she spoke a single word. It could had been mistaken for an edict by the strongest of primordials, a command to reality itself, a promise of power,
“COME” she said,
The Nethervoid froze and then exhaled, pure undiluted aether, in its rawest and most powerful form flooded the Nethervoid, bathing it like scalding hot water as it rotated in a vortex around Eses herself, imbuing her with power. First came the crown of golden light, woven from strands of pure aether and shed skin of Lotes herself, imbuing her with but a fraction of a fraction of the supreme being’s presence and authority. Her body became encased in a mantle forged from the divine fusion of mithril and aether, the authority of the supreme of mantles herself, Filvux, imbued within it. Each process of the tempering of the metal had seen runes of unimaginable power folded into it, the pure power of the archailect called upon.
Her wings shone gold, her very aspect of the cosmic dragon settling on it, and behind her, a ring of white halo bigger than her entire body formed, her complete mastery of her aspect manifesting. Then, the blade that was not a blade manifested, like arcs of pure white fire and lightning wreathed in one spot, bound together by the will of Alastor himself, the supreme of edges. Finally came the shield, a burning white thing that radiated the absolute authority to protect, its very roots steeped in the presence of the archailect,
For as long as the archailect existed, so will it,
It reminded her a bit of the titan blade, what one day he might choose to represent, but now was not the time for the next generation to take on the mantle yet, not if she ended the threat to them. She felt other presences begin to manifest into the Nethervoid as fate was arrayed before her, Ajax cocking his head with a smile,
“The more the merrier” he said,
One by one they arrived, sent by their supreme beings themselves in their stead as they realized just what was unleashed on the archailect. The prime messengers, pure aspect representations of their supreme beings, hard to create and powerful in their own right, as powerful as primordials themselves. First came Ishum, prime of Lotes herself, wreathed in flames with burning golden eyes, dragging aether from the ethereal realm along with him. A perfect thin tear was made in the walls of the Nethervoid and a prime passed through, made of pure mithril herself, glinting like liquid metal with a long blade that switched forms continually, Sharur, prime of Alastor.
A colorless crystal took form as it began expanding, cracking and reforming itself into the shape of another woman with wings, a large crystal of rainbow colors floating above her head, Ilu, prime of Vazyra herself. Another metal like woman appeared, this one with a giant shield in hand that seemed to stabilize the Nethervoid around her, her gaze unyielding, Anzu, prime of Filvux. A giant of a being appeared, made of what looked like pure white rocks with runes of pure strength etched into his very form, even his wings were made of stone and yet he floated, Lugal, prime of Draulr.
Finally, a large ship broke its way into the Nethervoid, every piece of it humming with pure aether and its guns trained on Ajax who still maintained his cool demeanor. From the ship floated down a humanoid construct with rotating runes for eyes, her hands morphing into large cannons. Eses gave a curt nod of greetings to the assembled powers, powers that were enough to bring Rohan and his ilk to knee in a blink of an eye. Theirs was not a strength spent in fighting the persistent vermins that were the denizens of the abyss, perhaps if another prime lord showed up then it was possible.
A prime lord and a Chaosborne were not simple creatures to be overlooked, while the former was simply what a master was to a ruler, a Chaosborne was an emissary, wielding the extra power that a prime lord would burn into oblivion should it attempt to do so. Few knew of these, few like those assembled and Lucirion himself, not even the primordials were privy to it, not all anyways. Her attention was dragged back to Ajax who moved, the smile still on his face as he swiped Voidbringer through the air, its discordant note of destruction threatening to dismantle even the Nethervoid.
***********
Ajax moved forwards and immediately seven powers sang with the chord of creation, seven burning authorities and aspects that rang supreme in the archailect tore through the exact spot where Ajax occupied. By virtue of his new found aspect and power, Ajax’s eyes were suddenly opened to the truth of aspects in reality in general and it had caused him to chuckle, chuckle as the attacks screamed towards him in the blink of an eye. Whatever his new Hud was, it couldn’t translate aspects as a power, not even the archailect itself could translate it, leaving rudimentary skills cultivated from the early stages alone as the source of power. Moments before the attacks landed, he drew from his power, his connection to chaos, to the void, and uttered a single command, an edict of sorts from a sub-aspect tied to his path of the Chaosborne,
“Erase”
The attacks vanished even as they detonated, wiped clean from reality and the Nethervoid as a whole, Voidbringer swinging in an arc as it chewed away the physical form of the Nethervoid, its rampaging power seeking to chew away at the aspects and physical form of his foes even as he too moved. A roar answered his power, shuddering him as he frowned, in the distance a large white power in the shape of a dragon took shape as well as a ball of burning white fire,
The aspects of cosmic power and the dragon itself,
He felt the mantle imbued with the authority of a supreme being repel his attack as it crashed upon it, few scales falling from its body, legendary ranked forging items in their own right. The crown rang, imbuing the authority of Lotes along with that of Eses,
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“Hold” she commanded,
Ajax froze for a bare second,
It was enough for the prime messenger of Alastor to appear, in her hands a divine relic of a weapon, its pure blistering aspect enough to sunder reality going for his head. Ajax innately knew that given enough time, should the attack lob off his head, he could regrow it back, but the prime messengers would obliterate his physical form and destroy his core, the link he had with the aspect of chaos. Voidborn clashed with the weapon and held its ground even as he was blasted backwards, mantle wrapped around him as the messenger of Draulr appeared close to him,
“Crush” he commanded,
Reality became a fist, a very, very heavy fist and pummeled him into the unyielding grounds of the Nethervoid. If his body had still been that of a ruler, of the Omegablade, then he’d be nothing but a paste on the ground, powers of chaos or not. Instead, he crashed with the force of a meteor as he spoke another command,
“Vanish”
The entire force of the blow along with its subsequent effects were transferred into the Nethervoid itself which buckled under the authority of the supreme of aura. Twisting through the air, he cursed as he fell into the trap so delicately laid out, seeking to look into the orderly fate he had succumbed to and shred it to pieces with his ability of chaos. He met the prime messenger of Lotes there, a shining beacon of fire that fended off his tendrils of chaos,
“No” he said,
Expelled from the strands of fate itself and his touch summarily cauterized, he cloaked himself in chaos itself, seeking to burn out the attacks with another erase when he staggered. Realizing his body was struggling with the power, he was too new to it to do battle with six prime messengers and…
Where was Lotes?
Hastily rolling out of the way with pure instincts, he felt the stinging pain of the blade that was simply an extension of aether itself as it bit into the position he was a few seconds ago. Reversion Voidborn in his hand, he slammed it into the ground of the Nethervoid, bellowing in pure rage as pure chaos power blasted out, seeking to infect the beings in front of him. Eses burned brighter with both her aspect of cosmic dragon, and then with pure aether, the anathema of chaos itself,
Not the anathema, something whispered to him,
Close to it,
The other prime messengers though calmly watched as the prime of Filvux herself stepped forwards, her large shield in hand as she spoke,
“Protect”
Large flickering shields appeared over every of them, blocking the worst of the attacks, ensuring they could live to fight again. Ajax wasn’t stupid though, he couldn’t handle them all together, not yet anyways, besides, that was not what he aimed to do. With his aspect of chaos, he spoke a command that rang throughout of reality, both Nethervoid and archailect,
“Reveal”
The Nethervoid shook as it strained to obey his command, something it had not been built to do, the very foundations of the space between realms shuddered as Eses raised her blade up, preparing a command,
"Hold" the prime of Draulr spoke,
The Nethervoid stabilized, even as his command raged on the outside, Ajax prepared to move away, to tear the distance between himself and Eses in an attempt to catch her before she completed what was looking like a devastating attack when he realized he couldn’t move,
He had been locked in place by the prime of Filvux,
Raging hard, he pitted his very aspect against the authority of Filvux when he activated one of his skills, feeling the drain on his infinite core.
* Oblivion's Embrace: Summons the embodiment of oblivion, a colossal entity that aids the boss in battle. This entity unleashes devastating attacks, consumes enemies, and spreads chaos and destruction wherever it treads.
While he could theoretically keep throwing attacks after attacks, his physical form despite being baptized in the powers of chaos itself was simply that, a body. Its very presence went against the edicts of chaos itself that sought to dispel or dissolve anything created, black tendrils spread all over his body, groaning as a large gigantic shape took form behind him. A swirling vortex in a humanoid shape, and it began to suck everything into itself.
Authority, aspect, willpower, it sought to gorge itself as all his assailants staggered, eyes wide as they felt its effects. The shield of the prime of Filvux flickered and lost its sheen, the prime of Lotes sputtered as his flames dimmed, the blade of Alastor suddenly lost its cutting-edge blunting, and Ajax felt all these and more saturate his body. With a cry, a deep hatred coming from his core, he screamed the command again,
“Reveal!”
The Nethervoid cracked like an egg, imbued with the powers he had stolen, his authority reigned supreme, his willpower was ironclad and none may contest it, not right away. The nest appeared, the planet that had been pocketed away by sheer authority of Eses herself, the cosmic dragon’s eyes widened in alarm,
“No!” she screamed,
The crown above her head cracked as she drew heavily from it, the aether blade in her hand revving to life as she lifted it up. The Nethervoid began to heal rapidly as Ajax’s eyes widened too before he shot for the planet, pushing everything he had,
“Repel!” He heard the prime of Filvux roar,
A shield appeared over the planet itself, no doubt its aim was to prevent him from passing through, Ajax laughed bitterly, activating another of his skill as his sight dimmed,
* Fatebreaker: Overrides the very laws of fate and destiny, allowing Ajax to defy predetermined outcomes and manipulate the course of events. This skill grants him unparalleled control over his own actions and the ability to alter the narrative of the battle.
Ajax felt his chaos aspect swell to unimaginable heights, felt his very eyes home in on the shield around the planet and with simply a thought, dispel it like a thread. The migraine was blinding, his eyes shut, he fell into the planet like a meteor, his mind somehow locking on a particular energy source he had never forgotten. Like a fallen angel he broke through the underground structure with his mere body alone, defensive constructs flared to life and were summarily wiped from reality,
“Break” he whispered,
The shackles holding Garda grim himself were shattered in an instance and the grim moved, bones and muscles that hadn’t moved for over three hundred years protested but moved all the same, catching Ajax. Father and son stared into each other’s eyes, sharing a smile.
∞
Eses whirled to the prime of Liakya, eyes burning,
“Why?’ she screamed,
The prime, Hazara gave a shrug,
“Orders are orders” she replied,
For that, a blade that should had never been blunted went for her head, attempting to decapitate him in one fell swing. The prime was suddenly sporting a large energy shield, interwoven with pure aether itself, it managed to stop the blade for a fraction of a second before she avoided its deadly edge,
“Enough!” Ishum shouted, stepping in between them,
“Rest assured the rest will bring Liakya to order, she will answer for this” he promised, glancing at the rest of them who were on the verge of attacking,
“We don’t have time for this” Lugal rumbled, folding his bulky arms,
“Indeed, even now the mere presence of the Chaosborne in that planet is unravelling its connection to the archailect, it could be lost to the void” Ilu said, her voice soft but filled with concern,
“that’s the least of our concerns, the grim has been released, the nest is compromised, we cannot enter a planet, it’ll blow up on itself, not even Eses with how much authority she wields” Ishum said,
“harbingers” they all said at once,
Eses nodded,
“I’ll have it no other way, but please, convey the urgency to the supreme beings” she pleaded, despite how much it irked her to do so,
The Nethervoid rumbled as six presences suddenly manifested, imbuing their vessels with their attention, Eses kneeling. The supreme beings within their respective primes spoke as one,
“We see, and we watch, help comes” they said before summarily leaving their primes who nodded at her and disappeared in a flash of power and rune works.
In their place were six harbingers who were suddenly standing there, their eyes hardened as they stared at Eses. Xerxes stepped forwards, burning with the power of Lotes,
“so” he drawled,
“I was right, wasn’t i?” he said,
Zane sighed as he shouldered his blade,
“let’s get this over with, we have a war to attend to” he said,
“There won’t be a war if we don’t end this threat as quietly and quickly” Grimswolf the harbinger of Draulr spoke, his arms sheathed in gauntlets that bore the strength of an entire planet replied,
“Again, we are called to clear up the mess of one of you primordials” Tixuhl spoke, her shield held in one hand and a broadsword in the other,
Eses paid them no heed, pointing one finger to the harbinger of Liakya,
“Pay attention to that one, his supreme is scheming something, I’d be wary if I were you” she said,
Ernesh looked in shock and then anger,
“This is my reality too, whatever issues you have with Liakya, it’s between the two of you, don’t drag me into it you sniveling serpent” he bit back,
Xerxes whirled to look at the harbinger whose body was already brimming with arcane weapons and guns when the planet shuddered, the crystal looking woman who resembled the fae from old myths shuddered,
“This is worse than abyssal decay, I can feel the planet dying, its life force being leeched” Eisnar said,
No other words were spoken, the harbingers shot for the planet, phasing through into the carnage that was apocalyptic in nature. Shadow beings made of chaos ran rampage, entire continents burned and the seas were boiling, they moved as one though, shining beacons of light as they sought to do the best they could.