Moyo sat within the Defiance, feeling the thrum of the engines as they powered up, the fleet of the cohorts circling the Defiance like a wall, all sensors on the look out for any unwanted visitors that would foolish enough to take their chances with the titan blade. What was left of the galaxy of the constructs was a graveyard of silence, entire stars burned out of existence, suns gone from their systems and the broken debris of planet that were destroyed floated in the infinite darkness, forever destined to be nothing but a reminder of the terrible destruction wrought against an entire way of life.

He stared outside of the ship from his quarters in silence, Idris seated at his side in silence, along with Ashira and Annika. The three Shieldborne stood at the doors t the chamber, eyes glued on him, never letting him out of their sights as the five commanders and lords of the cohorts spoke in hushed silence, poring over maps and looking for the fastest routes back to Ibere. Moyo could had spared them the effort, Shola knew her way through the darkness of the cold galaxy, she was now fully linked to him, she felt what he felt, saw things he allowed her to see lest he overloaded even her stellar sentient mind and that was saying a lot.

He felt the eyes of Ernesh and Iteq on him, the messenger frozen in a comatose position at a corner of the ship. The doors opened as Urne marched in, pausing at his front, hands stapled together as she bowed, her voice trembling.

“lord” she said softly.

“Thank you, again” Moyo said, cutting her off as she stared with wide eyed.

“The Defiance couldn’t have been in better hands, I know I haven’t been the best of lords, hell, I barely know what’s going on around me, caught up in my problems, but I say thank you” he finished.

Glancing to his commanders as well, the once fabled titan guard.

“And that goes for you all as well, you’ve led in my absence, held the legion together, I couldn’t have done it better” he said.

They nodded at him, Moyo turning to Urne, watching as she forced back the emotions in her eyes.

“We will soon approach the limits of this galaxy, two options are open for us, either we follow the normal route back to Ibere, or we find the nexus point to jump” she said.

“The nexus point is not an option; it was the first thing Azael took down the moment he manifested” Ernesh said softly.

Moyo flicked his eyes to the once harbinger, watching nothing but ancient level power within him sputter. He again thanked his stars for not truly been chosen as a viable candidate to become a harbinger, to have no control over the strengths was a chain he didn’t want no matter the benefits. Ernesh felt his stare, glancing away.

“Shola” he called out, the stellar sentient appearing next to him in a blink.

“How did you find me so quickly?” he asked.

“Your command echoed across reality, that’s all I can say, I overpowered the aspect crystal to attain maximum velocity, pushing the Defiance and the other flagships in tow with all I had” she explained.

“The hyperdrive?” he asked.

Shola nodded, Iteq’s eyes gleamed.

“She has a quantum hyperdrive?” he asked.

Moyo glanced momentarily at the primordial, nodded.

“Marvelous, perhaps I shouldn’t have…, well, not that it matters any longer” the primordial lord said, eyes dimming.

Moyo gave the primordial a few minutes to get himself before speaking.

“We also have a stellar sentient you see” Iteq said.

“And you sent it away, you sent one of our strongest forces away” Ernesh said with gritted teeth.

Moyo turned slowly to the ancient, his presence filling the room.

“you’re in my domain now former harbinger, be careful” he said softly.

Ernesh turned to him with wide eyes, feeling all eyes glue on him, Annika’s spear crackling with lightning as her eyes bore into him. The former harbinger gave a light chuckle.

“You all don’t understand do you?” he started.

“You blame me, I can see it in your eyes, but you never understood the great game” he continued.

“Enlighten us” Moyo said simply.

“I can feel it in you, before the connection was severed, I felt the power within you Moyo, you’ve gotten to the peak, haven’t you?” Ernesh said.

Now it was time for all eyes to turn to the titan blade in astonishment, Ashira’s widening as she looked him over. He stapled his fingers together, purple and golden eyes glowing as Oro floated to his side, giving a lethal hum of power.

“I am who I’ve always been” he said softly.

Ernesh gave a snort.

“Please, even now I can sense absolutely nothing from you, and they don’t even understand” Ernesh said, waving his hand at the others in the room.

“Your emissary and the Shieldborne was it?” Ernesh said.

“They wield powers billions would kill for, your mere subconscious itself the only thing keeping them from turning to ash from the power they wield” Ernesh said.

“it’s why your masters, your other vassals whom you’ve shared your powers with hit so high above their stations, again you’ve managed to topple the order of things in the Archailect, and how long did it take you?” the ancient said.

Moyo never replied, simply boring his eyes at the harbinger now ancient, Ernesh tsking.

“The great game is played by all the supreme beings, a never-ending board to surpass each other, to become the prevalent power in the Archailect” he finally explained.

“that’s stupid, Lotes is the superior, she’s the supreme of aether herself” Moyo replied.

Ernesh nodded.

“you’d think that, seeing as aether is all around us, but aether in its purest form is nothing but raw power, it needs to be wielded, to be molded, hence, you get the other supreme beings” Ernesh said.

Moyo didn’t refute the claim, no use correcting the harbinger with his limited knowledge, he simply nodded.

“Liakya told you this?” he asked with a smile.

Ernesh paused, staring at Moyo.

“Are you saying she’s wrong?” he asked.

Moyo wondered if he should rip the foundations of everything Ernesh believed in but paused, far be it from him to interfere in the machinations of the supreme beings themselves. He reclined on his chair.

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“I’m simply saying she didn’t tell you the full tale” he replied.

Ernesh paused, fighting the urge Moyo saw in his eyes.

“And you know this how?” he asked with gritted teeth.

Moyo raised an eyebrow, leaving the question unanswered before turning to Shola.

“The aspect shard, I could repair it” he said.

“True, but it would require me shutting down the entire Defiance, and we can’t afford that, perhaps you could open a pathway?” she asked.

Moyo slapped his head, shaking it.

“Must be nice not thinking like we ordinary masters” Annika said as everyone chuckled

Moyo nodded, turning to Urne and the commanders of the legion.

“Prepare for pathway travel, I should be able to create one big enough to get us to Ibere” he said.

“Should?” Ernesh said with a chuckle.

“You could take entire planets from one system to another right now and won’t feel it a thing, humbleness doesn’t suit you” the ancient said,.

Moyo rolled his eyes, getting up from his chair and rubbing his forehead.

“Something wrong?” Ashira asked.

“Nothing, simple headache” he said softly.

She stared at him concerned, Moyo giving a weak smile,.

Stretching his hand out, Oro flying into it, he took one step and was outside the ship entirely, floating in the expanse of space. He raised the blade up, Oro humming in his hand.

“Home?” the blade asked.

Moyo nodded, closing his eyes, letting his existence connect with that of Ibere, feeling the soft but urgent call of the planet. He frowned, extending his presence around the system that was so close to.

Araman.

He felt a hot flame burn within his chest, the pseudo prime abyssal lord was lurking on the outskirts of the system, slowly tracing his way towards the planet, well outside the extended nets of the surveillance Martha had set up. He swung Oro down, willing reality to part for him, to open its many folds with minimal resistance, it gave none, even as he uttered the command to take them home, he felt it that it wasn’t needed.

“ILE” he said.

Home in his language, a pathway of golden and purple aspect burned into existence, large enough to fit double of Defiance, large enough that the planet of Ibere looked like a pebble in its sight. He pointed his blade forward, twitching his eyebrow as his Hud began to blare in his mind eye, he felt the Defiance push forward as well as all the ships of the legion as he triggered every surveillance rune placed by Martha, feeling her presence hover over him as shock emanated.

Moyo smiled, feeling the entire planet of Ibere pulse with joy, the titan blade had returned.

Moyo had returned.

Ω

Martha felt her entire runic skill, webs of the spider hum with power, freezing her in her tracks as she turned to her first hand, watching the spider glance upwards. The entire skies were glowing with purple and golden light, the very planet pulsed with power, all around the planet, ascenders froze in their tracks, eyes wide as they turned skywards too. She smiled, laughing as she felt and then saw Matthew burning with raw power step out of the large building belonging to the order, Boyle, Ayo and Samantha as well.

She pointed to the skies, laughing again.

“he’s back!” she exclaimed.

All around the planets, refugees, turned skywards, feeling the otherworldly presence that manifested, alarms blared, the clans of house titan blade scrambling in confusion at first and then joy. It was like a weight had been lifted off their chests, a pressure they hadn’t known had existed, power surged through the planets, all eyes turned to the skies, parents shouted in cheers of victory, the kids shouting, unaware of just what was going on.

The clans however, all over the planets, the sentinels on Titanprime, the stormcallers on Stormsreach, the spiders on Arachna, the hammers on Moltenheim, the archers on Sagittara, the order on Titanor and the cult on Primordia. They bowed as one, hearts bursting with joy and pride, for they had prepared for the eventuality, they had been prepared to make their final stand, to hold for all the titan had stood for. And yet, here he was, burning from the borders of the system, his power so great that it caused the very planets sworn to him to burn with power.

Ω

Araman felt it, halting his advance with all his forces, the unseen millions of abyssal creatures that had journeyed with him. His four apostles halting with him, feeling the power that came from the distance, the power of the titan blade. Araman felt a shudder run through him involuntarily and clamped it down.

What was this feeling of dread?.

This chill that ran down through his metaphorical spine?.

He extended his presence, feeling it clash at the border of his system, confirming his theory, how had he not seen it?. The enemy was hiding right in front of his doorstep, granted a few light years away, but so close that had he truly expended the effort to actually go hunting, he could had found them. He growled to himself, he had killed the titan blade, he had removed the piece of the supreme beings from the board, so what was this power?.

Perhaps the forces of the titan blade had reached their home and activated a defensive power?, that was more plausible and it stoked the rage within him. It was time he stopped thinking like a mere lord of the abyss, he was akin to the supreme beings now, close, like a final step he needed once he got the final aspect rune of mutation. He would rip it from the planet of the titan blade, snuff out the light of hope as he drowned the planet it pure destruction.

He roared, feeling his power slam against that of the aspect of the titan, his aspect roiling with his rage as his forces, thousands of different creatures of the new age roared, chanting the name ‘Araman’

And yet, it didn’t budge.

Not one inch, the system where the planet of the titan was, somehow closed off to him. He moved closer, sending his senses, stealth be damned. He froze as he saw the figure, burning like a sun about to go nova, the sight searing itself into his mind in a flash as he snapped his senses back.

Or tried to.

It reminded him of Eses, of Lucirion, the aether blessed, the power so strong, so blisteringly strong, that he struggled under it. It returned him to his time as a lord, struggling like a cornered animal, he saw him. Moyo, the titan blade, the one he had slain, and the being smiled at him, eyes glinting. When he was finally able to wrestle his senses back from the grip of the blistering power, eyes wide, he felt and saw the presence, the spiritual form of the titan, blazing with unfettered power right in the distance, clear to him all the way from where he and his forces waited.

The titan raised his blade, Araman gathered his entire power, feeling reality bend to his wish, shielding him from the coming attack, everything he could summon. His very form hummed with unrestrained power, and when the titan smiled, Araman nearly lost his mind.

“You should be dead!” he roared.

“I killed you!”

Not that the titan could hear him, or could he?, that option was taken the moment appeared in all his glory, blade still raised. He had seen the transition between spaces, he had felt it, and yet, he was powerless. A part of his mind found this totally confusing, nothing made sense around the child primordial, nothing. The Archailect was working on its last legs, ascension wasn’t possible, and yet, here was the titan blade, back from death at the peak of power, rivalling even Eses and Lucirion themselves, existences he hadn’t been ready to face yet.

He threw his entire might into deflecting the attack, everything he had, his forces still frozen within that half second it took for the titan blade to attack. When the attack crashed, Araman blanked out, no, dissipated, nothing but his rune and his will to exist remained, reforming back within his planet. He came to his senses on the ground of his fortress, his worshippers staring in abject shock, his form smouldering as the abyss reconstituted his form slowly but surely.

Staggering to his feet, he stretched his senses to his forces and found nothing, their entire forms wiped from existence. Awe struck, shock, fear and a thrill hummed through his body all at once. Even as bloody rain fell over the planet, empowering it further, more of his power taking shape and finally solidifying itself within reality, he began to chuckle. All these would mean nothing should the titan blade come for him, the bastard needed no forces, he was a one-man aberration of existence, an existence that shouldn’t exist.

He began cursing himself, he should had killed him when he had been nothing but a diamond, a minor existence, a gnat that hovered around him. Now, that very existence refused to die, refused to leave him alone, a constant thorn in all his endeavors. He had come so close, so close to complete domination of the abyss, and now, what he needed was directly in the arms of the enemy itself. He closed his eyes, willing his senses to expand into reality as a whole, skirting around the edges of the system of the titan.

He found what he was looking for, the darkness, hovering, cautious, and he smiled, laughing even. It had felt the touch of the titan blade as well, and it was hungry for revenge, Araman drew its attention, wincing at the hunger in its presence, seeing the visage of its skeletal herald and with precision, drew its presence to the system of the titan blade before withdrawing his presence. The darkness was no fool, it knew what Araman was doing, but it also saw the sense in it also, they could settle their scores later, all that came for now was to remove their mutual enemy.

Its presence shook reality as the very planet of oblivion, an irony that shouldn’t even be possible began to move, chewing its way through reality. It would take a while for it to reach the system, cautious as it was, but it was the perfect distraction for Araman, together they would strike at the titan blade. He was loathe to say this, but the last citadel was a lesser threat to him right now than the titan blade, with that annoying factor out of the way, things could finally go back to the way they were supposed to be.

He stood, roaring with both anger and excitement as his worshippers, the millions, trembled in fear, watching as the skies blackened with the power of the abyss itself, Araman raising his blade and striking it into the ground as pure power razed around the planet. He would let the darkness get as close as possible, and then he would strike again, even as his apostles began to form around him, he smiled, staring at the stars in excitement.