The nest was gone, all that was left was a roiling storm of energies that clashed in an enclosed space where runes barricaded the system that was once the pride and joy of the now defunct house that was Dracon. All that was left were destruction and creation itself battling at the space, each vying for superiority within said space, and within those two archaic energies zipped beings of unfathomable strength, battling as their very powers sought to tear reality apart.
Garda grim, terror and once abyssal prime lord on the rise versus the full might of the harbingers of the archailect themselves, chaos wielder versus the literal avenging powers of the supreme beings. Amidst all these, Eses held the realm shut even as it strained the ends of her near infinite strength and power, her psychic might strong enough to view the fights in their entirety and push back the intrusions the grim shot her way, attempting to distract her.
She had fought for centuries deep within the abyss, she had slain numerous terrors unnameable, she had tread paths where the archailect’s light was nothing but a distant thought, she would hold on, hold on till the help she sought arrived. Even now, the astral bastion hurled itself deeper into the archailect, to the lost galaxies and systems, gathering the strongest of their forces, the spread Runebearers whose sole duty for hundreds of years had been to watch for this same threat that now revealed itself.
Their duty was at an end, they had failed, and it was time for them to redeem themselves by making sure the spawn of the great evil didn’t leave this galaxy itself and its prison system. However, Eses couldn’t shake the fact that they were playing into the hands of Apophis himself, something about the encounter struck her wrong, and no matter how many times she tried peering into the threads of fate, she only saw darkness. Not inherent darkness like someone was shrouding her vision, no, it was the definite shroud of darkness,
Oblivion,
It had terrified her and later assured her that her fears were indeed right, the great evil one was indeed scheming something, but no matter how many times she tried to work around it, the darkness held fast. Still though, she watched the harbingers labour to weaken the grim, the authority and aspect of Filvux crashing against every swing of the Grim’s blade, blocking out his attacks that sought to split reality. The harbinger of the supreme of mantles was at the end of her wits, Tixuhl, struggling and shielded by her own mantle which had begun to crack at the edges.
She was but one among the six that moved with deadly but weary precision, Ernesh, commanding what Eses was sure was one of the mythical class galactic destroyers as his ship vessel strained as the number of stars the ship kept devouring numbered in its hundreds, blasting torrents of planet killing attacks at one man, but even the vessel showed signs of weariness, its celestial metal, forged from Divinium itself, its very metal groaned from the constant attacks of the grim himself. The wolfen was there in those times, his might comparable to that of a tier 5 planet, each punch enforced by the aspect and authority of his supreme being, deflecting the attacks of the grim on a physical level, attempting to crush the chaos wielder with futility.
Zane Trueblade was one of two harbingers that met the grim himself with blades, he and Xerxes clashed with grim, three forces of pure power crashing against each other continually, seeking each other’s destruction. But even as both sides continually tore reality and stitched it back up, the main reason why the forces of the archailect still held on was the harbinger of Vazyra herself, Eisnar, the wielder of mana and elemental energies, her authority expanded into the preservation of life itself continually healed them, ensuring their mantles retained the life-giving power to stave off the worst of the chaos effects,
And Garda knew that,
Eses had been waiting for the right moment, waiting for her enemy to strike, and when he did, she was ready. With one blistering powered talon prepared to strike, she watched as the grim raised Voidbringer again, its power glowing as even the combined transcendent state of the harbingers struggled against its potent significance on reality, it had broken a planet reinforced by the purest of aethers, its strength really was unquantifiable,
And then he swung it, activating three of its abilities at once,
* Chaos Embodiment (A): In moments of dire need or when the wielder taps into their true potential, the Voidbringer undergoes a temporary transformation. The blade morphs into an ever-shifting form, becoming an extension of the wielder's arm. It manifests wicked barbs and tendrils that lash out independently, seeking out foes with unerring accuracy. This form amplifies the wielder's combat prowess and chaos-based abilities, enabling them to become a whirlwind of destruction on the battlefield.
* Rift breaker(A): By channeling chaos energy into the Voidbringer, the wielder can unleash devastating rifts in space itself. With a powerful swing, the blade tears open temporary portals to the chaotic void, summoning tendrils of raw chaos to strike down enemies. These rifts can disrupt magic, sunder defenses, and inflict devastating chaos-based damage upon impact.
* Chaos Incursion(A): Each strike of the Voidbringer unleashes chaotic energy, tearing through the fabric of reality. It has a chance to inflict chaos-based damage upon impact, rending both armor and flesh alike. The chaotic nature of its strikes disrupts magical barriers and defenses, leaving opponents vulnerable to subsequent attacks.
They had all been expecting it, they had all felt the build up to that moment even as they had battled, and they thought they had been prepared as possible,
They were wrong,
First was the unravelling of the barrier around the galaxy, Eses felt rift breaker and chaos incursion tear through her barrier with a savage force not even two to three primordials could bring against her, it melted the barrier like wax Eses reeling back from both the physical and psychic attack as she roared into the darkness of space itself, her transcendent rank shattering due to loss of concentration. The harbingers fared worse, the flames of Lotes dimmed, the galactic destroyer wielded by Ernesh imploded on itself, the harbinger of Liakya lost within the explosion that rivalled that of a sun going supernova. Tixuhl’s shields flickered in and out of reality before blinking out entirely.
Zane and Xerxes both felt the biting edge of Voidbringer as chaos embodiment transformed the blade into something of shadows and nightmare, like veins of lightning, it crashed into their mantles, fracturing it and spilling their bloods, both harbingers reeling away like shooting stars. Draulr saw his entire body torn from being directly in line of the attack, his fate unknown and Eisnar,
Sweet Eisnar,
She who peered deep into the strands of fate but somehow was completely ignorant of this instance, who ensured the survival and rejuvenation of the harbingers saw a blade pierce right through her heart, eyes wide as she stared into the pitiless eyes of Garda, but the harbingers bore down on him, even in their weakened state, with burning vengeance in their eyes, they prepared to expend themselves to destroy him.
Eses roared, gathering her raw energies as a primordial and hurled it, reality cracked, it screamed, its very existence twisted with her wordless command as she bent everything into ending him, she and the other harbingers together as one,
“DIE”
It was the command, it was they all bent their will to, their entire existence and for that instant, their transcendent status was restored, their powers blossomed and Eisnar herself tore herself free of the corrupting blade, and then rift breaker activated, a yawning gap tore its way open in reality, inky black darkness revealing itself as the grim fell through, a smile on his face even as the combine attack slammed into him and summarily got unraveled dispersing into the inky blackness of chaos itself.
Reality forced the hole shut the moment grim passed through, leaving the forces of the archailect with nothing but destruction and silence. Eisnar stumbled, her aspect dimmed and her body ashen white as Tixuhl caught her,
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“The aspect of chaos still runs rampant within her very body” she hissed,
Cradling her gently she pushed her way through a pathway,
“Return her to the Nebulae protectorate, stay with her” Eses commanded,
“But the war” Tixuhl asked,
“The forces of the archailect can do without the harbinger of the great protector and the life giver, we will shore up the defenses” Xerxes replied,
Tixuhl gave a terse nod,
“don’t die on me” she said, her mask of gruff indifference cracking for once,
“Same as you little cub” Grimswolf replied from where he cradled one arm, pushing his aspect to heal him as quickly as possible.
She nodded and stepped through into a lush looking world filled with plant life, its very exposure spoke of wisps of life-giving energy that filled the planet of glistering spires and mind-bending beauty. It closed immediately, leaving the harbingers in the gloom of a destroyed galaxy, broken smoldering pieces of the prime planets that had made up the prime system of the once house Dracon floated around in the great expanse. Ernesh who has survived spoke first, a pathway opening up,
“Our respective holdings are at risk” he simply said as he prepared to step through into a bizarre looking planet filled with flying constructs both humanoid and plain machine looking, the air clogged with electrical energy and aether in copious quantities,
“It won’t all matter if the archailect falls” Xerxes said softly,
Ernesh turned, pointing one hand into the distance,
“Hundreds upon hundreds of millions if not billions of light years away lays the last fortress” he started,
“The gateway to the realm of the supreme beings, protected by runes unspeakable, whose very sigils are enough to peel the sight away from an ancient and obliterate anything ruler rank and below, it has the strength to permanently blind a primordial who stares at it for too long” he continued,
“Behind that fortress lies the secrets of the archailect, whose knowledge resides solely with the supreme beings and the cosmic dragon here, if the grim or his spawn have the power to bypass that, then nothing we do can stop him” he finished,
“You speak things we already know” Grimswolf said,
“Then why bother trying?, the archailect is infinite, correct me if I’m wrong, but you all can feel the call from your respective beings, do you not?’ he asked,
Xerxes pursed his lips, exchanging glances with the other three harbingers as Ernesh nodded,
“You all know what it means, even you Eses, unspoken warden of the harbingers, not even your Runebearers, your unspoken wardens and watch hounds against the incursion of the great destroyer have accomplished anything” he bit out,
Eses narrowed her eyes, biting down her power from lashing out,
“you’d leave the archailect to its fate then, to a period of terrible destruction?’ Zane spoke,
Ernesh turned his head to the harbinger of Alastor,
“I go to protect my empire, to finally give in to the demands of my supreme being” he said softly,
Eses snarled,
“you’d condemn your people to that fate?” she asked,
Xerxes gripped empyreal hard, as if holding back his wrath,
“Look around you!!” Ernesh shouted, eyes blazing blue,
“The archailect is crumbling right before our eyes, a new age is coming, one in which the supreme beings will be the only power capable of protecting us!” he said,
“Not primordials, not Eses, not even we harbingers, the only safe place will be with the supreme beings!” he bit out,
“We all signed up to be harbingers to keep their hands off our people and the archailect, don’t be a coward" Grimswolf growled, yellow aura pouring out of his body,
Ernesh laughed,
“You call me a coward?, I, who held the eastern fringes of the archailect solely for two hundred years? or have you forgotten what I was called?” Ernesh said softly,
All of them shifted a little, hands-on weapons, Ernesh placed one foot into the pathway, in the distance behind him, large golem looking constructs rose, floating in the air, red eyes glowing, each giving off the strength of a peak ranked ruler,
“No doubt, your supreme beings would table the offer to you all as well, I’d advise you take it, save those you can while you have the choice” he said before stepping through, the pathway closing up behind him.
The remaining harbingers stared at themselves, Xerxes closing his eyes tight, gripping empyreal tight,
“We answer the calls and we go straight back to the war” Grimswolf said,
“We leave and we just might not have the permission to go back” Zane murmured softly,
Eses kept silent as a pathway opened up and the astral bastion passed through, its planet sized shape floating into the galaxy, pushing away debris as it stopped,
“The bastion can cut off connections to your respective patrons, I can shield you till we get into the realm of the abyss where their calls would be silenced for as long as the realm exists, I could buy you time” she said,
“no” Xerxes said shaking his head,
“No, we do that and they could withdraw their boons, what then happens to the thousands of brigade members who reply on the power of Lotes?, or the vassal sword clans under Zane?, the list could go on and on” he said,
Zane adjusted his reed hat, covering his features again,
“They say we are the harbingers of the wrath of the supreme beings, I’ve always known the powers came with chains, and now that it’s time to pay up?, I believe I dictate my fate, not some supreme being” he started,
Xerxes glanced at him, nodding, a rueful smile on his face, turning to Grimswolf who snorted, his arm popping back into place with an audible crack,
“You think I’d miss one of the biggest wars in the history of the archailect?, think again” he growled,
Xerxes chuckled,
“One last fight as harbingers?” Xerxes asked,
“You say it like you’re going to your doom” Eses whispered,
Xerxes glanced at his godmother,
“Do you really think they’d let us live if we disobeyed their order?” he asked,
The cosmic dragon paused, then she spoke, her voice grave,
“They draw you back because they know well enough that should the grim get the aspect rune of the four abyssal lords, then nothing’s stopping him from becoming an avatar of chaos” she said,
“Still don’t see why it affects us” Zane said,
“Because as a full avatar of chaos, he has the mandate of the great evil to begin taking back what it thinks its his, like the aspect energies of the supreme beings made flesh” she said,
“Us” Grimswolf said grimly,
Eses nodded,
“For a start, and then the messengers, the prime messengers, steadily crumbling the foundations of the archailect itself till it has enough strength to assault the last fortress itself, the gateway into the realm of the supreme beings” she said,
“And handing over our domains seems the better choice?” Xerxes growled,
“No, you’d be trading one master for another, and while I do consider it a last option, we can still prevent that” Eses said,
“We get the rune in the titan blade’s possession, the grim would be going after him, both father and son, by the supreme beings, what have we unleashed?” Zane murmured,
A pseudo avatar of chaos and a Chaosborne,
Eses shuddered at that,
“Then we have no time to waste, Xandros?” Xerxes asked,
A lance of light came from the fortress shooting right in front of Xerxes as a carbon copy of him stepped out, dressed in white robes with golden runes dancing all over both his clothes and body. They both stared at themselves silently,
“brother” Xandros said,
“brother” Xerxes said,
“So, the rumors were true” Grimswolf said,
Xerxes silently nodded at him,
“You had just one job, to hold back the chaos” Xerxes said,
Xandros raised an eyebrow,
“And yet, under your watch, the abyss has broken into the archailect, you’re too far fallen to start passing blames” he replied,
Energy began bubbling between the two of them,
“Boys, play nice” Eses growled,
Grimswolf chuckled,
“it’s like staring at Xerxes argue with himself, except with a more handsome version of himself” the harbinger of Draulr said,
Xerxes flicked his eyes to the harbinger,
“We do not have time for this, I bid you welcome into my vessel” Xandros said,
“it’s for the cosmic dragon” Xerxes tersely replied,
“And I’m lord regent and steward, have a problem with that?, fire whelp” Xandros asked,
“I’d be happy to make my way back to the war front on my own strength” Xerxes said,
“By all means, be my guest” Xandros replied,
Eses snapped her fingers and both brothers were instantly teleported along with the rest of them into the astral bastion, materializing in the large hall that served as the muster point for all the Runebearers. Dressed in robes of white with black etching on their shoulders, they bowed briskly before continuing on with their business. Xerxes glanced around dusting his robes of perceived dust as Eses coalesced, taking her humanoid form before waving her hand and the room blurred transporting them to another location within the ship, a room with a large glowing ball of aspect and cosmic authority. The pressure alone was enough to force an ancient to their knees and the harbingers barely held on,
“This is where you will reside for now, within the core of my vessel, barring the time we breach the abyssal infested space” she said,
Xerxes nodded,
“what’s our plan” he asked,
“We get to the war front and thwart any plan of grim and Ajax, we get the rune of decay from Moyo and then we try to push the Chaosborne and avatar out of archailect space before they go after the remaining lords of the abyss” she said,
“So now we have to protect the lords of the abyss?” Zane asked, incredulity lacing his tne,
“No, we end them and obtain the runes before Ajax or grim does, and you run like hell to your supreme beings with the runes” she said,
“I’m guessing you intend to do it to pacify them?’ Grimswolf asked,
“precisely” she replied,
“Well then, let’s hope this titan blade is still standing” Xandros said,
“Oh, he will” Xerxes replied,
“If there’s anything I know about that child, it’s that his will is comparable to that of a primordial” he said,
“Is that praise I hear from your tongue brother?” Xandros asked,
“One more word, I dare you” Xerxes growled.