The first signs of something about to go awfully wrong were the stars blinking out at the farthest reaches of the tiny system the last citadel occupied. It was enough to get the alarms blaring at full blast as Lucirion immediately activated all defensive and offensive runes, internal and external. With pure power born from one who could only be an aether blessed, the runes tore to light in a flash of light, large circular things humming with unrestrained and righteous fury. Xerxes and his twin, Xandros, both brothers leading what was arguably the strongest forces of the Archailect moved together, schematics coming to life as the whole map of the system came online.
“Incursions on the northern sector, we’re bringing the aegis online” Xerxes said.
He glanced at Eses whose hands were folded behind her, eyes closed in what one could only assume to be concentration. She nodded in his direction, the messengers materializing.
“The devourer has sent a force to test us out” Ishum said.
“Then we answer in kind” Zane said, the true blade entering the command room.
It was a place built of pure white crystals that glowed, power burning within them, enough to power an entire system indefinitely, all linked to the defensive structures that littered the system like land mines, systems that were nowhere to be found for now. Lucirion was in the room in an instant, eyes glowing as his body began to change, an armor made of the purest of Divinium and aether, burning to life as he held a staff in his hand, the weapon an extension of his will. He glanced at Eses.
“Let the forward defenses handle them, we observe” he said.
Tixuhl snapped her face to the aether blessed.
“We have no idea just what manners of horrors are about to tear their way straight to this citadel” she said.
“Nothing significant” Eses murmured as she snapped open her eyes, runes dancing in them.
“And you know this how?” Xerxes asked.
“For the devourer to push his way to the last citadel, he’ll need to go through one force we didn’t put into calculation” Lucirion said distractedly.
“The titan blade” Eses said.
Xerxes groaned and Xandros rolled his eyes.
“Are we putting all out bets on that kid again?, we have no idea if he or his house still even exists!” Eisnar said, rage in her eyes.
“He lives, you all felt the birth of the second aether blessed in existence, meaning his house and domain world is one place Garda simply cannot overlook” Lucirion said.
“Be that as it may, I’ve ordered the aegis protocol into effect” Xerxes said.
“Who thought we’d see the day” Xandros murmured.
“The Archailect is changing, there’s always a first for everything” Xerxes murmured.
“I believe your disciple leads this defense?” Xerxes said, glancing at Lucirion.
The aether blessed snapped his fingers, a holographic image of Mardar scourge rune coming up, the ascender bowing at the waist to them.
“Your orders my lord” he said formally to Lucirion.
“Aegis protocol has been put into effect, you know the rest, wipe them from existence” Lucirion bluntly said.
Mardar nodded and cut off the feed, the room going back into its humble silence as more figures entered, the powers, the primordials and the messengers, all watching as different structures deep in the system came to life. Giant structures forged of Divinium and mithril large vessel like stations with all assortments of cannons and weapons, pushing past the third sphere of defense of the citadel. Eses sat on her chair, fingers stapled together as she spoke.
“And so it begins” she murmured, Lucirion folding his hands and standing next to her.
Ω
Mardar scourge rune, near ancient and lord of the jades stood aboard his vessel, a giant warship of war, forged deep within the Nethervoid, in the home system of the jades. Each vessel had been consecrated in runes; every inch of the vessels was a vital weapon against the coming chaos. He watched as his fellow jade order members moved around the ship, gathering weapons and preparing for the battle. Two holographic images came to life, Tania thousand whips and Eldrakor Runeforged brawler, the two captains of the two other factions invested truly in this battle came to life.
Eldrakor spoke first, the captain of the Runebearers speaking first.
“we’ve detected their point of entry, calibration of all assault weapons on this particular spot has been advised” he said.
“Know anything about what we face?” Tania asked.
Eldrakor shook his head.
“For all its faults, the one thing you can put on them is predictability, their nature is always in flux” Eldrakor replied.
“It would have taken an insane amount of power to tear a space straight through to this system, fortified as it is” Mardar said.
“Precisely, so whatever’s coming our way, it’s barely the tip of the attack force we would expect" Eldrakor replied.
“My guess is he’s attempting to probe our defenses, test our preparedness for the assault that would inevitably come” he finished.
“Then we will show them that we’re ready” Mardar responded.
“Assume the spear tip, I’ll lead the charge with the chiefs of the jades, the brigade would serve as a shield lest we be encircled, the Runebearers will join the assault the moment we can verify the enemies” Mardar ordered.
“All forces are to watch out for each other, we simply cannot lose our forces this early, not against this, splinter force” Mardar said as both captains nodded and cut off the call.
He turned back to the bridge of his ship, taking a deep breath as Ingvar and Bjorn grim rune, two of his fellow jades moved closer to him.
“can’t remember the last time I’ve felt my blood pumping like this” Ingvar said.
Mardar glanced at the elder jade, a light smile on his face.
“we’re going into unknown odds” he reminded the man.
Bjorn gave a grunt, hefting his axe as he crouched, eyes on the horizon.
“Even better” Ingvar said.
“Such darkness” Bjorn said, cutting into their conversation as both jades glanced at him.
“It is the end of reality grandson” Ingvar said as Bjorn stood straight.
“Not our end” Mardar replied as he spoke loudly.
“Listen up!” he called out, the entirety of the jades in the bridge turning to him.
Most of them were young faces, barely with any tattoos of recognition of any part of their bodies. It pained Mardar that these young jades, barely out of their territories would be the first casualties of war, but that was the reality, this was their calling, and they would rather die than shirk from it. He pointed behind him.
“Right on that horizon, is a force no living soul apart from a few old monsters have ever faced” he started.
“We go up against a force that literally eats away at reality itself, but we will do our duty” he continued.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
“We, as jades, are the bulwark against the incursions to the Archailect, along with our brothers and sister of the brigade and bearers, we will beat back this evil from the heart of our existence” he said.
“isn’t this the job of the Runebearers?” a young jade asked, red hair and blue eyes.
Mardar nodded.
“And yet, they require our help, not because they are weak, but because the enemy is crafty, let it taste the combine wrath of all three factions” he replied.
In as much as he would like to deny what the jade just asked, the truth was that the Runebearers had failed in their sole duty, but that could be said for the other two factions. The brigade had failed to nip the problem when it had started, and the jades, well, they had been totally oblivious to the machinations of the abyssal lords, Araman in particular. It was why all three forces had to come together for this, they had messed up, and they’d have to be the ones to clean it up themselves.
His two blades sheathed at his side warmed up to his touch, forged by his master himself, they were the peak of jade blacksmithing. The first of the large fortresses that had laid hidden around the system engaged their targets, live feed coming up aboard his ship. It was at that point that it occurred to him that this was no longer just any war, there were no ascenders whose skills he’d have to be wary of or primordials to offend. This was a straight-out battle to the end, pure power against power, how wars should be done.
The moment the fortress engaged, its cannons firing away rounds of aether infused power along with runes of the jades and the literal flames of the brigade, the darkness gave a loud shriek and broke down into millions of large flying insectoids. All oily black, all with sharp pincers that could go for blades and mouths that could expand into abnormal sizes to swallow entire ascenders whole. Nothing remained of those they killed even as the jades, brigades and Runebearers on said ships took the battle to them, no traces of them even existing remained, and the very vessels themselves began to break down.
Mardar moved, aware of Ingvar and Bjorn at his sides.
“Send me to that vessel” he said.
“Lord Lucirion left your protection to us” Bjorn said.
“Fat lot that’s going to do” Ingvar snorted.
Mardar was at least grateful that he wouldn’t have to explain himself to the barbarian looking jade, Bjorn was the typical image those within the Archailect had of the jade order. Rough, tattered looking ascenders who only lived for blood and war, and Mardar was fine with that to be honest. The jade in charge of the controls nodded as the very ship he was on unleashed its cannons, Mardar swivelling in shock.
Were they that closed to them already?.
He saw the incoming swarm and raised his hand.
“Hold that order, get me Eldrakor” he ordered.
The image of the dragon ruler came up, white flames coating his hand as he burnt one of the insectoids away. The captain was leading his forces along a fortress, outside of its shield in space, the entire area burning with cosmic flames even as the fortress they were on broke down around him.
“Busy!” he growled.
“Take your forces along with the brigade to the source of the incursion, seal it up and leave the rest to we jades” Mardar ordered.
Eldrakor gave no complaints, the call cutting off as Mardar shouted orders, ordering all forward jade forces to begin firing.
“Activate the net shields, we’ll make our stand here!” he growled.
They saluted, all jade ships maintaining a straight line as Mardar opened a pathway to the top of his vessel, watching the incoming darkness with the buzz of wings that defied the infinite silence of the void. He removed a pole, muttering a few words of arcane power as it lit up, pure aether fused with arcane words of power spilling out in weird texts that floated above him. From the ships of the other jades came the same phenomenon, power burning from the jades who had produced the same pole. A near infinite power straight from the aether blessed himself, burning bright as they interwove themselves like a spiders’ net, Mardar nodded and drew his two blades, floating forwards, the grim runes behind him.
“don’t die” he said.
Ingvar chuckled and Bjorn gave a snort.
“As you will it, lord” the elder jade said.
Mardar winced at little at the term, wearing it like a heavy mantle, while the jades respected power, one unearned despite Lucirion saying he did, bringing a bitter taste to his throat. He nodded in reply, blasting forwards to meet the wave of darkness as he swung his blade, activating the first of his skills.
* Runic Mend(R): Mardar can mend wounds and restore vitality to himself and others by inscribing mending runes, providing healing and regeneration over time.
He had no idea just what sort of powers the creatures of chaos were ringing, but he was sure the end result was death, the complete one, wiped out from reality. He crashed into the first creature as the runes on his blade blazed to life with blue runes, red and golden flames burning to life on them as well as a white fire burning at the tip. This was the secret weapon they had against chaos, the power they relied on, all three factions coming together to create weapons that would burn anything not of the Archailect with but a single touch.
Mardar let himself go into the slaughter as his entire body burned with power, every swing reaped the creatures, every cut was one monster gone, the inky darkness filled with pockets of burning light that glowed in the void. The ships kept firing and the shield net held, still, he could hear the death screams of ascenders as the creatures overwhelmed some of the jades. Every death was like a nail hammered into his heart, he was in charge, these were his people, but mourning would come later.
He had been dropping glowing orbs of runic light that burned to the touch, shielded by both cosmic and brigade fire,
* Runic Burst(R): Unleashes a concentrated explosion of arcane energy, causing area damage to enemies caught within its radius.
The moment he found himself beset on all sides, Ingvar and Bjorn roaring, shouting to their fellow jades to reach him, he activated the rune with a thought. Cascading explosions tore through the void as the creatures screamed in the throes of death, bright burning power tearing through all around him, passing harmlessly through the jades. When it cleared, the area in front of them had been wiped clean, Mardar breathing slowly, his sight swimming as the attack had drawn a lot from his core.
His senses alerted him to a presence, shielded from them all.
“SANCTIFY” he commanded.
The edict rippled through reality itself, the underlining tapestry that made up all of existence, and it bumped along something that wasn’t supposed to be there. In his hand was a spear, its nature forged from his mind with one sole purpose, its blade made entirely of pure aether and its body aflame with runic workings that shone and burned with the wrath of Mardar, scended lord of the jades.
“PIERCE” he commanded and let the spear go.
It pierced reality like the balloon, a figure coming into existence there as it held back the spear despite its power burning it. Mardar was immediately there, blades in hand as both came crashing down on the figure. It was made of the stuff of pure darkness, its only humanoid shape giving it form, one blade went for its head as a tendril of pure chaos clashed with it, the creature grew another hand, one finger pointed at him.
“Are you the champion of the aether blessed?” it asked in a gurgling voice.
“BURN!” Mardar replied with rage.
Runic flames exploded around the creature who transformed into a ball, shooting away as Mardar continued chasing after it, amidst the battle that was going on around him. The creature paused a few meters away, transforming back to its shape before producing a blade as dark as midnight.
“that’s no way to treat an invader” it said.
“Creature of chaos, you’re not welcomed here” Mardar bit out.
The creature gave a gurgling laugh.
“Excuse my look, I merely borrowed this body” the creature replied.
“a puppet” Mardar realized.
“Where is chaos welcomed?, still, it is necessary for the cycle of existence, something you and your lords fail to realize” the creature replied.
Mardar snapped his fingers as runic circles blossomed to life all around, drawing heavily from his core.
“impressive” the creature said.
With another snap, beams of blistering power came down all around them, caging both he and the puppet within. The creature extended one hand, touching a beam as it removed it with a hiss.
“that’s some deadly runic power, they didn’t have this back when I walked the Archailect” it said.
“Garda” Mardar growled with realization.
“I don’t go by that name again, call me Azael” it said.
Azael, for no better words, harbinger of chaos itself, Mardar gripped his two blades and began muttering, runes dancing around him as he drew deep from his core, feeling it dim a little. The creature tsked and swung its blade, Mardar pitted the entirety of everything he had against the creature, both borrowed powers and his as that one swing almost sliced him in two. His mantle and armor taking the brunt of the attack, he survived it though, meaning it was his turn. His attack came in two forms, runic burst and another he had been keeping for this one occasion.
* Rune of Obliteration(L): A powerful single-target skill that etches a specific rune onto the enemy, causing them to disintegrate or implode when the rune activates.
They appeared like floating motes, moving with a mind of their own as they chased Azael, the father of the omega blade danced around as he clashed blades with Mardar, allowing pieces of his body to clash with the motes that were infact runes. Each was a rune finely crafted from the ancient tongue of the jades, each had taken hours, and each was enough to put down a ruler and master without any issue.
It was such a waste against what was a clone, but Mardar needed to know where he stood power wise. Slowly but surely, he closed the distance with Azael, the cage shrinking gradually, restricting the movement of the puppet. Azael saw this and with a grunt, pushed backwards, putting distance between the both of them, blade raised high.
“Well, it’s been fun, say hello to Lucirion for me, if you survive that is” he said and swung the blade.
Mardar released the runes of obliteration, runic burst as well and activated his defensive skill,
* Runic Ward(R): Creates a protective barrier using arcane runes that absorbs incoming damage, mitigating harm to himself and nearby allies.
The ward manifested as an orb of power, coating him in aether, along with his allies as well as the attack tore through the runic barrier he put up. He felt the attack piece his ward, burn through his mantle and dent his armor, shooting him backwards. When it cleared, all traces of the incursion had been wiped away, nothing was left apart from debris as Ingvar and Bjorn appeared next to him, steadying him, their wounds healing as they held elixirs in hand. His vessel floated next to him, the ship beaming them in as Mardar spoke.
“report” he ordered.
Images of Eldrakor and Tania came up, both looking worse for wear.
“It was a scouting force” Tania said.
“We shut down the hole in reality, but there’s bigger issues” Eldrakor said.
‘What bigger issues?” Mardar asked, already dreading the answer.
Another holographic image came up, Eses appearing.
“The cosmic domain of Liakya is under siege” she said.
Mardar turning to her.
“Our worst fears are coming to life” she continued.
“he’s picking us off one by one” Mardar muttered, eyes wide.