Dracon empire
Planet: Nest
The moment Ajax crashed through the planet, he had torn through ancient runes built from the onset of the planet, imbued by both the cosmic dragon and the two rulers who once ruled over the planet, each piece of the rune carried enough strength to repel rulers, even ancients, now, it was nothing but pieces of aether dissolving into the air. Of course, to the average citizen of the nest, those experts and above, it was simply the end of the world, they watched as their skies cracked open like an egg, vital aether too powerful to their existence pour into their world, the seas boiled and the landmass churned.
To Hagan though, she saw it as clear as day, even as she wove runes and pure mana into a power to rival any ancients, she runes of fire, of destruction, of immolation, rune songs woven to tear a being from an inside out, a pillar of pure sunfire absorbed for centuries and primes for a single use shot out in an arc that evaporated a line through a sea, ripping a continent two and arcing skywards with blazing power. All these and more, she released with but a thought, the nest was a tier 5 planet, and if there was something higher than a tier 5 planet, it would be the nest, it could take the attacks of rulers and ancients to a respectable degree.
Hagan watched as all her attacks connected with the Omegablade, and was summarily vanquished, a large hollow form manifesting in the skies above even as she felt a chill permeate her body. The physical manifestation of whatever made up the path of the Omegablade, and all of a sudden, more than half of the aether in the entire planet was snatched away. Hagan staggered in pain and shock, all over the planet countless millions died in a single instant, their essences and lifeforce forcefully wrenched away so quickly, she doubted they even knew they had died.
The diamonds and golds were able to resist the pull, and even then, she was sure it was only the strongest of their numbers, the rest stripped helpless like they were infant fledgelings, shock filling the entire planet. Entire clans and sects wiped out, sacred beasts and even sentient defensive constructs suddenly gone in an instant, the nest left like a barren new planet beset upon by colonizers. She felt her internal reserves reduced to that of a mere ruler, her armor, bestowed upon her by her primordial mother bereft of power and now an additional weight on her body. However, Hagan was not a ruler in name only, she had faced worse odds,
“No, never something as terrifying as this” she immediately corrected her draconic mind,
But she would adapt, she was a Dracon, a pure-blooded dragon, she would do what dragons always did whenever their possessions were threatened, she would hoard them. And with that thought, she blazed like a bonfire, her ruler ranked strength drawing all attentions to her way in an instant, ensuring the few diamonds left alive and with whatever little strength they could muster place their perceptions on her. She spoke with the voice of royalty, her staff strengthening her authority,
“Protect the weak, evacuate to the shelters, members of house Dracon, open the vaults” she commanded,
All over the planet, from the two continents, diamonds scrambled to obey her command, she felt a slight irritation at the fact that her child and grandchild weren’t on the planet, sent to distant planets to protect their holdings. A necessary risk, but with the communicative constructs cut off from interplanetary calls and her Hud fizzling due to the interference from the thrice damned path of the Omegablade, she resolved to simply hope for the best. As Hagan prepared to unleash her forces, the skies screamed again, but this time, it came with the song of aether itself.
To the average ascender, and that meant anyone lower than the expert rank of gold, all they’d see was a blinding light and all they’d feel would be an overwhelming rush of aether pouring into the planet, revitalizing its inhabitants in one go, even Hagan herself felt the edges of her ancient ranked power trickling back into her core. For once, she nodded,
The harbingers were here, descended in their full strength,
The aspects of aether itself, intent, aura, mana, mantles and constructs burned to life around the planet. Continents healed, wildlife rose back to life and even those on the verge of death suddenly felt their bodies pushed to the peak of their rank, Hagan knew with joy that tales of hundreds if not thousands of ascensions from all over the continents would be pouring in per day. She wielded the aether in the air, floating skywards as she felt the overwhelming power of Ajax pushed away, alarm in her eyes, she searched for the Omegablade and snarled as she saw he had punched through the crust of the planet, down into where the prisoner was kept.
Xerxes appeared first, his red mantle gleaming as he held a burning broadsword in one hand, his body burning with the aetheric flames of Lotes. Empyreal, Hagan had heard tales about that weapon, an arcane rank weapon of pure destruction, it had the ability to wipe anything its wielder deems unfit from the archailect, leaving no traces behind, a pure extension of his supreme being herself. At his side was the harbinger of Alastor, Zane Trueblade, dressed in a flowing robe whose very material were intent itself, why wear a defensive mantle when you could simply slice anything that came close to you?. Floating down with her elvish looks was the harbinger of Vazyra herself, Eisnar, imbuing life-giving energies from her rainbow-colored crystal floating above her head into the planet itself, tying it closer to the archailect.
Tixuhl with her shields rotating around her, each an indomitable power on its own, not even ancients would attempt to dent it lightly. Her eyes narrowed, she stared ahead resolutely, ignoring Hagan all together like vermin, Hagan would have it no other way, no love was lost between her and the harbinger anyways. The final two were Grimswolf and Ernesh, both harbingers of strength and constructs respectively, the wolfen gave her a once over before snorting, Hagan chaffed at the look, he had considered her weak.
Ernesh on the other hand waved at her cheerfully, he, she had always been wary of, his loyalties unknown despite the fact that his empire and that of the Dracons were actually on good terms, but she knew better than to trust the self-ordained emperor of constructs, she knew what went on in his galaxy where unholy experimentations went on. She turned her gaze to Xerxes, gnashing her teeth,
“You had one chance to end him” she said,
“And your entire house somehow created not one but two inter-galactic terrors, congratulations, how’s that going for you, o favored house of Lotes” he replied back smoothly,
“Points!” Ernesh shouted as she turned her smoldering eyes to the harbinger who stared at her with no small amusement in his eyes,
“How are you people calm?, even now I can feel it, the chains holding the grim have been shattered!” she snarled,
It had been a subtle feeling, like the loss of hope, the inevitability of death, but she had felt it all the same, the grim was lose, and soon the abominations of father and child would soon be let loose on the archailect once again. Tixuhl snorted,
“You say it like we could barge in and end their existences without dooming the entire inhabitants of this planet, speaking of which, Ernesh” she called,
“On it” he replied, all mirth wiped from his face,
Hagan staggered with wide eyes as she felt her authority forcefully wrenched from the planet as the aspects and authority of the two harbingers scoured her planet clean, tracing out every defense and every secret kept hidden for thousands of years. Hagan fought back, her body burning bright as the power of her aspect manifested through her spiritual form, a roaring dragon above her, the harbingers paid her no mind, and as just as right as well, for her aspect crashed into the planet and was summarily repelled. The aspect of Tixuhl had been shaped as a guardian, even from her early years that were now shrouded in mysteries and secrets protected by her house.
She herself was a bastion of protection, chosen by Filvux herself, still, it shouldn’t had repelled her so easily, the planet was saturated with the aspect of the dragon, the only way the harbingers would have so easily supplanted her was if someone had given them the authority. She froze as Ernesh chuckled,
“Finally clicked didn’t it?” he taunted,
Amy other time, Hagan would had made the harbinger pay, perhaps fund a group of mercenaries to start terrorist attacks on the galaxy and planet of the harbinger, but now, all she could feel was hurt. Squeezing her staff tight in rage, she whispered,
“mother” she said, the word filled with the authority of the dragon aspect,
She felt it resonate with the planet as a larger aspect of the dragon revealed itself, this one a white thing filled with cosmic might. It gave one look of disgust at her and closed itself off, weaving and twisting as she felt a net encircle the galaxy itself. The raw power it took to accomplish such was mind boggling, even for an ancient like her, but her mother was a primordial, was more than a primordial if her suspicions were correct, and therefore had near infinite power to expend.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
She dragged her attention back to the two harbingers who began to gather their authority and willpower as one, weaving whatever command or edicts they were about to say into a grand working as the very planet itself shook with the power. Then Xerxes stepped in, his voice echoing around the planet,
“By the authority of the supreme being Lotes, I empower this working” he boomed,
It was not a command, it wasn’t even an edict, it was a declaration of reality made manifest. All of aether, intent, aura and mana were in alignment, she felt reality tremble as a large hole manifested, leading into the deepest corners of the Nethervoid,
“So that’s what the Nethervoid was for” she said to herself,
The Nethervoid was known as a barrier between the realm of the abyss and the archailect, but she had suspected for countless centuries that it could be used for something else. And in this case, connect one galaxy to the other, while she couldn’t see the other side, her perception not yet at the rank of a primordial yet, she wondered if the harbingers were attempting to force the Omegablade and his father through to the other side,
Then why was Eses weaving a web of protection around the galaxy itself?
Her answers were given in the next few seconds,
“shield”
“transport”
The harbingers spoke as one and Hagan shuddered with terror at the pure aspect power that wrought itself into existence. Every single soul on the planet was suddenly transported to a large vessel that manifested itself in the air, warping space itself with its weight and strength on reality. She knew it was bigger than the planet, she could feel it and if her eyes weren’t lying to her, she could see it, but somehow, it was within the planet as much as it was bigger than the planet. With every living soul within it, the craft shrank to the impossible size of a pebble, and Ernesh flicked it into the Nethervoid,
“No!” Hagan shouted as she threw her entire willpower and authority into the words, seeking to hold the act,
Her authority slammed against the combined authority of both harbingers and she felt like a leaf blown into the path of a moving locomotive, it made her feel like an acolyte again, under the gaze of an expert. She staggered in despair, her entire house, every single soul, even the artifacts, priceless elixirs, everything was simply gone. Turning with wide eyes to Xerxes who stared at her with cold eyes, the harbinger spoke, again with aspect and authority,
“By the authority of Lotes and Eses the cosmic dragon, Hagan, as the ruler of house Dracon, I hereby strip you and your house as the official custodians of the dungeons and its systems, all access have been irrevocably denied, and all authority divested” he completed,
Hagan actually felt the loss like a cloth forcefully drawn from her body in a cold, harsh environment. The entire legacy of house Dracon, the one thing that made them stand out from the rest had been taken from them and then left them for the wolves. She could only stare in shock till Eisnar jarred her from her thoughts, the harbinger not even sparing her a look of pity,
“They come!” she said softly, her voice echoing through the barren planet,
“Finally,” Grimswolf muttered, releasing his arms from where he had crossed them, staring at the proceedings with a bored look,
Zane stared up and for the first time in forever, Hagan actually saw a look of pure concentration and shrank back unconsciously, the harbingers had revealed themselves fully, she was way over her head. Xerxes looked skywards and spoke again, another command,
“Authority code: 001, release restriction on category 6 aether flow, initiate flooding sequence” he said,
Hagan wondered what that meant when her heart gave a jolt and she felt the purest of aether, something only primordials and above could wield suffuse the planet. Her draconic scaled skin began to heat and blister, the aether actually hurting her itself, Xerxes slashed empyreal through the air, the blade parting reality to reveal a large rune covered ship with a floating woman staring serenely at her. She also noticed it had parted the web of power woven by her mother,
“That is your ride out of here, I’d take it if I were you though, hate to see Eses lose another child” he said,
Hagan hissed as her tongue blistered, pushing through with her power as she fought through the burning aether, appearing next to the woman. She turned back to see the rift healing, staring at the burning figure on the outskirt of her galaxy that burned brighter than the brightest star of her galaxy,
Her mother, the cosmic dragon, and she had turned her back on her,
The floating woman who looked like mithril given form spoke, her voice soft as it flowed with aether,
“Greetings, I am Lyra starborn, stellar sentient and protector of the thousands aboard my body” she said,
Runebearer,
A member of her mother’s secretive order of fighters, hope blossomed in her chest,
“Are my people?, my planet” she said, unable to complete it,
The stellar sentient shook her head, a sad smile on her face as her eyes glowed white,
“I’m afraid not, but wherever they might be, I’m sure they are safe under the protection of the harbinger of constructs” she said,
Hagan felt her heart plummet with each word, she knew what Ernesh could do, given leverage over her, the woman spoke again,
“But I have a few thousand from other planets around though” she said,
Again, Hagan’s heart soared, the woman nodding her head,
“Including those direct descendants from your house” she continued,
Hagan was close to tears, nodding gratefully in a way demeaning for an ancient, the ship opened up, Hagan floating inside, staring into the faces of Anala and Kenuran.
Ω
The moment the rift Xerxes opened closed up, he took a deep breath and spoke,
“Alright, no witnesses, we have permission to remove restrictions” he said,
As one the harbingers unleashed their full might, aether and their individual paths in synergy, their bodies pushed to the peak of what was acceptable for a being below that of a supreme being,
A transcendent,
While each won’t admit it, they all knew they were on borrowed time, they couldn’t keep it for long, not near indefinitely like Eses who had the experience and strength to carry a significant portion of a supreme being’s power, and she wielded a good amount of the combine pantheon’s power as well. Empyreal gripped in his hand, he could hear the song of its blade clearly in reality as it waxed stronger, he could hear all the harbingers as well. Their willpower was synergized, their authorities interwoven, a feat that hadn’t been done before, not even during the rise of the prime lord of the abyss.
Their eyes as one honed in on the chasm where lava and smoke billowed out as one, a figure carrying another stepping out in silence. Immediately, the aether in the air became sluggish, half of the planet leeched of color and life as all things died, even rocks seemingly crumbling to grey dust around the man, behind him, the spiritual form of a large reaper wielding a scythe took shape,
The physical manifestation of the reaping aspect,
Clean shaven hair, bleach white skin with black oily runes, tattered cloak and pitch-black eyes, the man stared at them with a soft smile,
“Even hundreds of years later, your lies still stand” he said softly,
The harbingers were in concert, they would hold him here till the forces of the supreme beings arrived, no matter how long it took, for they couldn’t simply manifest. Xerxes knew that the probability they were banking on was a single strand of fate, there were thousands, and the most versatile of them took a look into the thousands of webs,
“Probability of the supreme beings sending forces is slim, probability that we can take him down, significantly higher, 95% chance” Eisnar said within their shared mind,
It was exhilarating, Xerxes bathed with the flames of Lotes, the strength of Draulr, the protection of Filvux, the blessings of Vazyra, the sharpness of Alastor and the pure destructive power of Liakya, they were invisible,
Or they would be if they weren’t facing the grim,
Garda, the name given to the man after his true named had been scrubbed from reality itself, he shouldered a black blade that stank of chaos itself, its very presence revolting reality and the archailect itself, a blaspheme unto creation itself, and it was spreading all over his body. The harbingers understood at once and they moved in concert, it was why they had flooded the world with pure aether, strengthening it beyond all reasonable sense, its very air hardened enough to withstand even the pummeling of a primordial. It had cost them resources, but it was done, and its use would soon manifest itself.
Zane swung his blade at the same moment Xerxes did, both authorities intertwined to crash into Garda in an attack that would had no doubt wiped out an entire planet, ensuring the other planets in that system were sterile for years like a radioactive spill. Even as they threw the attack, they peered into fate via Eisnar in that same second. The answer was revealed, and it was terrifying, Grimswolf along with Tixuhl moved in tandem, large cannons manifesting around, brimming with the power of entire suns within each one.
Tixuhl threw a shield around the area of the explosion, even as lances of blistering golden light speared down on that same spot, Tixuhl containing the energy, bending every bit of the combined authority they had into the spot, and then they spoke as one,
“ERASE”
And reality bent its full strength into that command, even the planet pressed both physically and metaphorically as distance seemed to lengthen and perception was distorted. Then nothing was left in that spot, nothing save ash, Xerxes on guard,
“It couldn’t be that simple, could it?” he whispered,
Zane glanced at him, wincing as they felt it as once, a large boil like sore growing around reality, it pushed back against the planet and they realized at once what happened again. Garda had sought to use their explosion to escape the planet and galaxy, to deceive them into the notion that they had wiped both him and Ajax from reality, but had faced Eses’s indomitable web of sealing. Like a pus seeping from a wound, Garda reappeared with the blade still on his shoulder, a coy smile on his face and the last of the physical form of Ajax seeping through his tattered coat that felt more like a deep infinite chasm.
He glanced at them and sighed,
“Oh well, never let it be said that I didn’t try my best to solve issues amicably” he said and swung his blade,
Reality gave a shriek of agony, all over the universe tears opened on planets, abyssal pathways opened, catching both archailect forces and abyssal creatures offguard, both died in that instance, both sides snuffed out and the harbingers could only stare in shock and terror,
How?, how had his attack passed through the planet, the seals, the galaxy into the wider archailect,
And then Eisnar groaned in pain as she bled, the harbingers bending both the restorative abilities of her supreme’s aspect and their authority into healing the wound that that passed through mantles like they were nothing. Garda gave a loud laugh,
“oh I’ve missed this” he said as his eyes came alight,
Both forces clashed immediately, warping reality as it shrieked both in pain and relief at once.