Araman felt his apostles materialize back within his realm, the fabric of this world parting to let them through. One by one they knelt before him in this realm of pure esoteric creation, the mountains wept blood, the seas bubbled with grey mist, the land itself filled with sharp thorns and groaning lifeforms, it was pure melody to his ears. His very being was a vortex of power so great, he wanted to reach out into the Archailect proper and snap a world or two. He would had if two distinct factors weren’t stopping him.

The titan blade and chaos.

Two factors that a few days ago would had been nothing but a wishful nightmare, something to shudder over and ignore. Now, it was a reality, a reality to jarring as the moment he felt the aspect of the titan blade resonate through reality, and he was sure chaos felt it as well, or whatever that creature the grim had turned into. It had left him with two options, pit his forces against chaos and the titan blade respectively, splitting them into two, but that would only weaken his power.

Watching them in silence, his mind straying again, perhaps he should lead a full-scale attack on the base of the titan blade?. With the forces of the Archailect, those that really mattered anyways, away from the majority of the Archailect, he could run rampage, gather a few systems now that the entirety of the abyss wasn’t some other reality but an actual planet that was slowly taking over an entire system in the Archailect. However, the power he had felt from the titan blade gave him pause.

Araman killed him.

He was sure of that, he saw him die, he saw his forces retreat and the forces of the Archailect run around like a headless animal on the throes of death. So why had he felt a power that rivalled the strongest of the primordials?, it reminded him of the cosmic dragon, a foe even he would be careful to face currently.

If only he had that last rune.

Still within the grasp of the titan’s forces, it irked him to no end to see it within his grasp but also out of reach as well. The apostles shifted uncomfortably under his scrutiny, Araman paid them no mind, they would stay like that for a thousand years should he demand it, these spitting image of his once brothers, the irony brought a smile to his lips.

“report” he commanded.

Their leader, the amalgamation of steed and humanoid spoke.

“We caught up to them, we found the forces of the anathema” he said.

“And?” Araman asked.

“We were close to overwhelming them my lord” the female spoke, her tentacles wrapped around her frame.

“I’m sensing an excuse here” Araman said lightly.

The four of them tensed, aware that their next words could either see them saved or cause their dissolutions, literally. Their leader spoke, the apostle of the literal embodiment of carnage itself.

“The Chaosborne interfered” he said.

Araman sat up.

“Now where did you hear that name?” he asked.

Carnage shuffled uncomfortably.

“It just felt right” he replied.

Araman narrowed his eyes, the bond to the true aspect was stronger than he thought, he needed to severe the bond and quickly, get the last rune and imprint on it. It had come as a jarring realization when he felt the bond between his realm and that of chaos itself, bending his entire willpower and authority to locking the forces of oblivion out completely, it was where the majority of his strength was being funneled, that, and the growing existences that were propping up on the planet.

Creatures of old that had gone extinct, the Yazen, fae like creatures, wraiths, wights, and all sorts of things that the brigade had stamped out of existence simply for their ties with the abyss. They had been reborn, with the infused power of three abyssal aspects, he really shouldn’t be thinking of it that way again.

The abyss was one, he was the abyss.

He returned back to carnage, aware he hadn’t given each of them names yet, not until he got his hands on the last rune of mutation, not yet. He spoke, his voice rumbling with the power of an existence that rivalled those of a primordial.

“This Chaosborne, what was it called?” he asked.

Carnage bowed lower.

“It simply attacked my lord, but we know where they are headed, we know where the domain of the anathema lies” he hastily said.

Araman felt a smile creep up his face.

“Indeed?” he asked.

The rest nodded, his hand moved in a flash, gripping the skull of carnage and filtering through his memories, pausing at the sight of Ajax, eyes widening. He hissed in shock, seeing the aspects the Chaosborne wielded.

“What have you done Eses?” he whispered.

Whatever abomination the cosmic dragon had made with the union of her aspect and that of chaos, it had made Ajax another unpredictable factor, as if Araman didn’t have enough on his plate. Now he had to bother about a child primordial, the original being of existence and a mutated creature of vengeance, he released a sigh. Flicking his hands as carnage stumbled backwards, he spoke.

“begone”

They disappeared in a flash, each of them going in different directions, towards where their fledgeling worshippers and would be followers congregated. Already, a society of deception and backbiting was already forming, and Araman couldn’t be prouder, as long as they knew who was at the top anyways. He wondered just what Rohan and his lord of chaos was up to, no doubt they were moving and it would be time for him to as well, all forces were now aligning properly.

The forces of the Archailect were hunkering down for the long haul, chaos was about to tear through the cosmos, and Araman was about to forge his own galaxy spanning empire, and at the middle of it all was one figure.

The titan blade.

It all came down to him, again, and Araman didn’t like where this was going, but now was the time for action, and he knew just what to do.

Ω

Moyo stared at his form, his body rippling, bristling with untapped power.

“Oro” he called out.

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The blade zipped to his side, its edges gleaming, he glanced at the titan who stared at him with a calm look.

“we’re done here” the titan said.

“Is this goodbye?” Moyo asked.

The titan shrugged.

“I’ll always exist in one form or the other child” he replied.

“Now, I exist as you” he completed.

Moyo was in his front in a flash, it had taken absolutely no effort, like space had suddenly scrunched up to allow him passage. The titan nodded.

“Good, this is your time, no more doubts, crush them” he said.

Moyo smiled, clasping hands with the titan.

“Thank you” he whispered.

“The Archailect is a big place Moyo, it’s about to get smaller, but I trust and believe you” the titan said.

“What do you mean?” Moyo asked.

The titans’ body began to dim, cracking like a finely sculpted clay model.

“you’ll have a lot of work to do, titan blade” he said.

And then the titan shattered, turning to finely sieved dust that flowed around Moyo before blowing away. Moyo stared at the floating dust, clenching his fists, nodding at the departure and turning back to the mountain, walking calmly towards where the veil was the thinnest.

“OPEN” he commanded.

The moment he had become one with aether, he had instinctively gotten an understanding of the folds of reality, something he was now aware Lucirion enjoyed. Reality parted seamlessly for him, Moyo turning to stare at his realm within a realm, a place that was and wasn’t, he was going to miss it. The moment he stepped through, his entire being shivered, his body seemed to swell all at once, his sight encompassing the entirety of, well, everywhere. Oro in his hands grounded him as the waves of power assaulted and caressed him, hitting him left and right. With a brush of his willpower, he stabilized himself.

Rebooting Hud.

The words wrote themselves across his Hud, Moyo feeling his body begin to take shape.

Adjustments and ascensions processing.

error, stability and rank have been messed with, stand by.

Moyo gave a snort as he found himself being drawn through the Nethervoid, moving back into reality proper. He felt the familiarity of the world he was entering, the aether blending with his.

Notice: calculations are being adjusted, rank and ascension have reached the peak, standby.

Wiping his Hud away, he felt himself completely take form in the Nethervoid and knew something was wrong immediately. Tears and gaps were within the fabric of the Nethervoid, the once distorted and fuzzy landscape now looked like an old oily painting and the very ground seemed to be corroding. Most of all, it was the presence of black oily sacs that littered the landscape that really let the situation set in. he felt it, the power of chaos, of Apophis and in one moment, he considered unleashing his power, burning away everything in a flood of his complete aspect.

The power of creation, burned within his body, now completely fused with his aspect, it would be a work in the park, but he stopped. It would alert Apophis to his location, that, and Ajax as well, and he had no idea just what form his former master had taken. He floated above the ground, zipping across and searching around for the entrance of the creatures of chaos, he took a mental map of this place. Navigating his way through the Nethervoid was still something that was a bit of a mystery for him, and for that, he stretched his hand out. A crystal formed in it, planting it into the ground as a thought occurred to him.

With a smile, he opened his vault as thousands of common aether shards tumbled out, a malicious grin on his face as he got to work. It took a while, but it was done, each crystal embedded next to a sac filled with Archailect knew what. His work had finally revealed the sore looking aperture through which the forces of Apophis had made their entrance and it led to a place in the Archailect he had no idea. He could feel something in that galaxy, something eating away and the forces of the Archailect fighting back, a futile gesture no matter how much they held out.

The urge to go in was like a siren call in his ears, to start smiting, to burn them down, but he paused. Something was missing within him, something vital, and from far away in the cosmos, it called to him. He gave a faint smile as he stepped through the wound that healed by his mere passage, his aspect burning the residue of chaotic powers away, sealing it and depositing him within a half-torn system within a galaxy he had no idea of. He felt the presence of chaos, he felt the presence of a being, and he knew he was on borrowed time.

He tore open a pathway, his existence connecting with a vessel, connecting with the Defiance, and he spoke.

“COME” he felt giddy with power, feeling his command take root.

Ω

Shola felt the call in her very being, it resonated with a force she hadn’t felt in her existence, both old and new, and it brought a feeling of joy within her. She along with the rest of the crew had felt something intimately familiar ripple through reality, she thought it had been her mind, that it felt like the titan blade, but she realized she had been right. The moment the call came, and the entirety of the Defiance began to hum, Ashira gave a startled yelp, the cannister in her hand that contained both the rune of the titan and that of the mutator grew blindingly hot. The masters and everyone of note staring at it with shock, Ahib muttering.

“Moyo” Shola said with a smile, her eyes wide, tears in it.

They all turned to her, confusion on their faces.

“He calls!” she said with a laugh as they began talking all at once.

Shola paid them no heed, her lord was calling, and she would answer with all the vengeance of a celestial titan, a nexus vessel. With a thought, with the power of the titan that flowed through her, she activated one of the dormant abilities of the vessel.

* Quantum Hyperdrive Matrix: The Cosmic Nexus Ascendancy grants the Defiance an extraordinary Quantum Hyperdrive Matrix, revolutionizing archailect travel. It manipulates the very fabric of space-time, allowing the ship to transcend conventional speed limits and traverse vast cosmic distances in mere moments. With this newfound speed, the titan blade can explore uncharted star systems and reach distant corners of the archailect with ease.

The vessel shook as its engines pumped to life, Shola pouring power through them.

“What are you doing?” Idris called out.

She glanced at him with a smile.

“He calls” she repeated.

Urne held her.

“Keep the lane to wherever we’re going open, we’ll need the legion” she said.

“We don’t even know where we’re going!” Annika said, eyes alight with power.

“If what she says is true, then it’s probably a war zone” Ajax said, the man staring at her intently.

The cannister shivered as its metal peeled back like the skin of a banner, the rune of the titan floating out. Urne was busy shouting orders through a communication device, trying to reach the ships of the legion, Ayo was contacting Ibere, lady Martha’s face twisted in confusion as she took the news, shouting. One minute the entire vessel had been peaceful and the next it was in chaos. Ashira stood up with a laugh.

“I’m going to kill him” she said.

Armor platings of the deepest green began to adorn her body, her blade in hand, her aspect brimming, as she took on a battle form. Shola held the call back as long as she could, doing her best to let the masters prepare, it was an irresistible call, and the Defiance itself, her physical form chafed at the mental leash. Urne turned to her, nodding once as Ayo nodded as well, she gladly allowed the ship to tear its way through space towards the location of the titan blade.

Ω

With the call, Moyo let himself fall into a planet below, or what remained of it. Flashes of battles still happening on it drew his attention as ragtag of what for no better words could be described as terminator looking robots fired on and on at shapes that changed forms consistently. Beings of chaos, he didn’t want to check his Hud, clogged with messages as they were. Oro in hand, he was there, blade slicing the creatures in two, catching flames that lit with purple and gold flames.

The metal humanoids stared at him, both giving off master ranked powers, Moyo still watching the chaos creatures burn to ashes.

“titan” they hissed in unison before leaving nothing but dust.

Moyo flicked Oro, the blade floating by his side as the masters turned to him.

“Thank you, stranger” the first said, one with large weapons seemingly grafted to its body.

“House iron fist owes you, what remains of us anyways” the second said.

“Is this your world?’ Moyo asked.

“What remains of it” the first said.

Moyo frowned.

“Where am I?” he asked.

The two glanced at each other.

“This galaxy was once the shared domains of lord Iteq and lord Ernesh” the first said.

“The omnidroid, I’m in the construct empire” he said with a realization.

A reply was forthcoming from the mouth of the androids when flashes of light blew in the horizon, Moyo realizing he had been spending too long here.

“Look, backup is coming, when they arrive, lead them to the refugees of your planet and systems” he ordered.

He was about to move when the second called out.

“We don’t even know you, are you brigade?, jade?” it said.

Moyo glanced backwards.

“Tell them the titan blade sent you” he replied and vanished in a streak of burning light, headed for the thickest of the battles.

It took a minute for them to realize the name, to come to terms with it, swivelling to themselves in shock.

“The titan blade?” the first said.

“That titan blade?” the second asked.

Both dumbstruck, they paid no attention to a plant that quietly budded on the ground next to them, healthy and brimming with power.