The two diamond rankers had narrowed their gaze towards the last island, Moyo clearly seeing the unfolding battle,

“I see what you meant about diamond rank, to be able to clearly see a battle happening over there from over here is amazing” Ashira said, her brown hair flowing like it floated through water,

Moyo frowned,

“The cult is here, Lirun was a member and he sacrificed his body, more like I stabbed him through the head and he died to bring something called a lord to this realm” Moyo explained,

“Then we need to get out of this dungeon and world, the brigade will be sure to destroy this world, the more we tarry the more we delay the inevitable” Ashira replied,

Moyo shook his head,

“Something isn’t right, and did Zortes just attack Haran?” Moyo said as his eyes widened,

Ashira glanced in the direction of the fight and saw Pevina ripping the head of the glowing sun diamond king. Moyo cursed,

“cult” he said and blinked away,

Ashira followed suit, willing herself to appear over Pevina. Space twisted, different from blinking, or a better version of the skill. She appeared in the air above king Zahil, watching as Haran appeared again next to king Biyo, it was the second time she had watched him escape death and Ashira was curious to what his secret was. The explosion that followed next disoriented her bearings as Pevina seemingly destroyed her own core after screaming the words “by his will”, Ashira wasn’t sure whose will it was that could drive a diamond to suicide, but she wasn’t sure it was a will she wanted to follow.

Her bearings had been stabilized a few seconds after the explosion of intent and aether from Pevina, cursing as she raced after Zortes who was aiming for king Biyo, having dispatched king Zahil who had suffered the brunt of the attack, with her escaping in time for the shock wave to reduce. Moyo had appeared in front of Zortes, gripping his blade in one hand and punching him into the distance. She turned to king Biyo whom Haran protected by standing in his front, the female diamond ranker appearing also, orbs of healing mana floating above her head.

Ashira raised herself up with all the majesty of a member of house Kairos, unleashing her full power that shook even king Biyo and the other diamonds for a few seconds,

“Believe me if I wanted you dead, you would be” Ashira said quietly to king Biyo,

“We don’t have to do this” king Biyo said,

“do what?, kill you?, no, I doubt your world would survive seeing as a category 7 blight spawned in your dungeons” Ashira replied,

Their eyes widened in alarm, glancing in the direction of the titanic fight even they as diamonds were not willing to go check out,

“And the fact that I’m pretty sure the overseer has called in an armada, and even if you survive those, by some twist of insane luck, believe me you won’t survive the hunt by house Kairos” she said,

“so that’s it?, you’d petition your house to come after us, in Ironash territory no less?, I doubt the powers of house Kairos would go to war with Ironash over a single member of their house” Haran replied,

Ashira turned to him and slammed her realm over them, the diamonds freezing at the pure feral and toxic potencies of her realm, the eyes of her three-fold monster glaring down at them from on high. The diamonds summoned their realms, bashing at hers, but at level 3000, she clamped down on its presence and spoke,

“My name is Ashira Kairos, true blood of the ruling families of house Kairos, favored of the sage and wielder of talon, forged by master vardant son of the sage and master forger to house Kairos” she said,

While keeping her true identity hidden, she managed to let them know how deep her influence went. King Biyo shook with fear and a tinge of anger,

“Then I’d be honored to take down a vaunted member of house Kairos” he growled and blasted towards her,

Ashira grinned, her fist coming down to crash on his, his realm of dazzling fists decaying under her realm as his diamond ranked vitality struggled to match up the toxin that floated in the air. Haran and the female diamond wisely stayed back, they belonged to guilds and their guilds could cover for them, especially if they had a master or something. King Biyo’s eyes widened as her fist clashed with his and was stopped, much to his surprise, then her toxin began to spread to his fists as he wisely retreated.

He turned to his diamonds, fury in his eyes,

“Attack her, and why don’t you heal me!” He shouted,

Haran folded his hands behind him as he floated backwards, the female healer following suit,

“New issues have come to light, her position as an influential member of house Kairos has changed the narrative, hence the weeping wind guild has no immediate reason to assist you in such a foolish endeavor” Haran replied starkly,

“The same goes for the broken sword guild” the female diamond said,

King Biyo seemed speechless,

“Well?, are we going to do this or what?” Ashira asked,

“Your man servant will die by the hands of Zortes,” king Biyo said,

“I highly doubt that, by the way, he’s not my man servant” she replied as she drew her blade and clashed with the king.

Haran and the female diamond nodded at each other and went after the matriarch that slowly rose back her feet, her wings spread wide.

***********

Moyo appeared beside Zortes, dominion swinging towards his head, the diamond brought his blade up to deflect dominion, his sword shattered into pieces, dominion tearing a gash in his chest. Zortes cursed and shook his barely healed arm, a mace now in his hands,

“I see, you’re not actually a swordsman” Moyo said,

“How?, what are you?” Zortes growled,

“I feel like If I say batman, you’d give me the same look Ashira did” Moyo replied as he blitzed towards Zortes,

“HOLD!” Zortes shouted,

Moyo snorted, the command shattering the moment it felt his authority, Zortes took another blow to his chest, puking blood as he spiraled down the air. Moyo appeared next to him, his realm appearing out of nowhere and Zortes landing on the black ashy soil, then Ashe held him captive, Zortes unable to move. Moyo crouched in front of the diamond that groaned in pain,

“Who are you?” Moyo asked,

“The Grim lives” Zortes growled softly,

Moyo froze, shock on his face, he had heard master Killian call Ajax the true disciple of the Grim, it couldn’t be that Grim now could it?. Moyo stood straight,

“Whoever that Grim is, let’s hope he can save you from the wrath of the brigade” Moyo replied,

Zortes choked a laugh,

“I’d rather die than be taken captive by the dogs of the archailect” he said as his eyes flashed,

Zortes exploded, shattering Moyo’s realm and blowing him away. Wrath of Oya saved him as his skin burnt and repaired itself, he looked around to see Zortes somehow alive, from his waist down had disappeared and he looked more like some desiccated dead body than a diamond ranker. His body desperately tried to heal the injury but something held it back. Then a black orb floated out of his body, emanating decay and the feeling of oblivion,

“Stop him!” Moyo heard in his head, the mechanical voice of Iveph the overseer,

It was all Moyo needed to hear, dominion sang as he attempted to lob off the head of the diamond when he felt the orb lash out at him. Ferocity of Oshosi screamed at him to dodge the black energy tentacle the orb sent his way and with diamond ranked precision he did, retreating. Zortes looked at him with dead eyes, opening his mouth as a loud voice Moyo was sure didn’t belong to Zortes spoke through him,

“Even in death you serve”

The orb began to pulse, like a heartbeat, Zortes opening his mouth in a silent scream. Right before Moyo’s eyes, the body of Zortes began to stretch and twist, like a being had possessed what remained of the diamond ranker. The eyes of Zortes finally fell on him and Moyo felt a chill pass through his body, the now bloodless and white face of Zortes carved a malignant grin on its face.

The eyes that stared at Moyo carried neither the ego of Zortes nor his rage, it had a cold, evil and slippery nature to it, something or some being now possessed Zortes. It regarded Moyo in amusement,

“Consider yourself lucky to witness this moment young diamond” the being said,

“Who am I speaking to?” Moyo asked,

“a mere disciple of a great one,” the being replied,

It stretched its right hand out, a long black stalagmite crystal took shape and pulsed as it merged with the black orb. Moyo’s HUD went crazy

Notice: you are in the presence of an abyssal incursion, evacuate or be cleansed!

* Note: abyssal incursion is at 5%!

Moyo’s eyes widened and swung dominion, intent baptized in Ashe roiled the air as it screamed towards the possessed Zortes. The being gave a chuckle that revibrated through the air,

“admirable” it said,

Moyo’s attack seized to exist the moment it touched the orb, seemingly being absorbed,

* Notice: abyssal incursion is at 6%!

His attack had fed the growing stalagmite that stabbed straight down into the island below, the island roiled and suddenly became frozen in the same material as the crystal. Moyo shook, whatever was happening, he couldn’t handle it, not alone. Iveph appeared by his side, his brigade cloak burnt, charred and flapping in the wind. The overseer pointed backwards towards the position of the matriarch, his plasma blaster appeared in his hand as he fired a shot, the matriarch cried in agony immediately,

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Note: Strux the matriarch of the dungeon is dead, prepare for the primordial form!

“Kill the primordial form and get out of this dungeon” Iveph said,

“You killed the matriarch” Moyo responded,

“oh?, does a pup of Xerxes intend to battle me?” the being possessing Zortes spoke,

“Get out!” Iveph said harshly at Moyo,

Moyo turned to the overseer and nodded, with a step of Ogun he appeared over where Ashira stood, gripping Biyo by his throat, toxin ravaging his body as his bloodshot eyes turned to Moyo and pleaded for mercy,

“Ashira, he’d face worse with the brigade” he simply said,

She nodded and flung him away, with a hard punch that cracked his head and reverberated the air around. The blue form of the matriarch screamed into existence, and summarily got swallowed up by Moyo’s vault that appeared with his realm, his core mountain opening up and swallowing the creature.

Ashira smiled at him, rolling her eyes as he scratched his head,

“greedy” she said,

“resourceful” he countered,

Notice: the dungeon boss has been cleared!, all dungeon creatures have been killed!, you can now exit the dungeon.

He turned back to the place where the overseer was currently in a faceoff with the being,

“We can’t Moyo, its way out of our league” Ashira said softly, touching his arm,

He furrowed his eyebrows,

“Something tells me whatever’s happening there is important” he replied,

She floated to his front, gazing into his eyes for a second, looking for the spark of determination she knew he always had whenever he set his mind on something he wanted to do. She nodded after affirming her thoughts,

“Fine, but any sign of the overseer losing and we scram” she said,

He gave her a cheeky smile as she rolled her eyes, producing her blade,

*******

Ajax crossed his hands as a ship appeared over the planet, a majestic and gigantic craft that looked more like a disc than the usual ship shape. On it was the crest of house thousand blades, one sword surrounded by miniature shapes of different shapes and types of swords. The ship opened up to reveal a man in blue robes, a mask on his face and snow-white hair cascading down his shoulders, the man floated towards where Ajax and Killian stood, Haden and Jager standing behind them.

The man paused in front of Ajax,

“Report emissary” the man said,

“Nice to see you too Duval,” Ajax replied,

“Hello brother” Killian said,

“Are you two even aware of the magnitude of problems you have heaped on house thousand blades?” the man named Duval asked, the same man Ajax had been conversing with a long time ago when he had been given the mission to train an ascender, the same ascender that was stuck in a dungeon in the world behind them.

“Brother, we don’t have time for this” Killian urged,

Duval turned to Killian,

“Indeed, the patriarch wants this done with quickly” he said

From the ship came five diamond rankers, wearing the blue colors of house thousand blades, Ajax whistled,

“you brought the diamonds?, my oh my” he said,

Duval was about to reply when a ship bigger than that of house thousand blades appeared, bigger than even the planet, a behemoth of construction. Its front was shaped like a snarling dragons head, its black glossy body glowed and the insignia of a flame burning in the palms of a clawed lizard. Ajax’s eyes narrowed, the ship eclipsed everyone and everything, its hull humming with the titanic power that powered the ship, an entire legendary aether crystal.

The ship opened up to reveal a tall woman with caramel colored skin, red eyes that blazed and short cropped hair stepped out, the brigade had arrived. Killian winced,

“they sent her?, things must be going badly” he said,

The woman stepped out and with one move appeared next to them, staring at the world behind them. Everyone froze,

“Lady Tania, house- “

“Nobody enters that planet Duval Sol blade” vice commander of the dragon brigade, lady Tania spoke, effectively shutting up Duval.

Ajax tightened his arms and turned to her,

“Least of all from you death blade, as of right now you are on the watchlist of the brigade. You suddenly become a master and the cult starts to move?” she said,

“I could care less where you put me, a charge of mine is on that world and if I have to plow through a hundred of your members I would” Ajax said softly, his voice so dead cold that Killian glanced at him in alarm, hoping he wasn’t stupid enough to take on Tania,

“What he meant is a charge of house thousand blades, not his in particular” Killian said, cutting in before Tania summarily came to a conclusion,

Tania glanced at him also,

“Oh, I know of this titan blade, I could care less about house thousand blade’s interests, I will perform my duties to the best of my ability” she said and blinked away, straight into the planet and the dungeon.

Ajax cursed, around them appeared other brigade ships, surrounding the planet and cordoning it off. The diamonds of house thousand blades had wisely retreated back into their ship, seeing as diamonds and even masters of the brigade had appeared around the planet. Killian put his hand on the shoulder of Ajax who shrugged it off,

“Patience, trust him” Killian said,

“If he dies, the archailect burns, I promise you Killian” Ajax whispered,

“The archailect burns” he murmured to himself,

****************

Moyo and Ashira attempted to move towards the battle when the exit portal flashed and a woman stepped through. Haran and the female diamond had escaped, along with what was left of the diamonds and golds of the other kingdoms. They had also dragged a convulsing king Biyo along with them, it wasn’t like he could run anywhere, with the world most probably restricted by now, travel through space was locked down and tele hubs to other planets would be sealed also.

They had resolved to join the battle when the woman stepped through, Moyo felt the power immediately, the shift in the aura and aether of the dungeon, the fiery power that sizzled on his skin. The woman glanced at the both of them, eyes furrowing on seeing Ashira and lingering on Moyo for a bit,

“Stay here” she ordered and Moyo froze,

She hadn’t even used a command, and still ferocity of Oshosi told him not to move an inch lest he angered this being in front of them, Ashira crossed her arms,

“Lady Tania” Ashira said and Moyo choked,

“Little one” the woman named Tania replied and then disappeared,

Moyo’s muscles were locked for a second,

“Who was that?” he asked softly,

“The vice leader of the dragon brigade, Tania thousand whip or the sun burning dragon, all members of the brigade follow the path of the sun burning dragon by the way” Ashira said,

“What do you mean vice leader?” he asked just for clarification,

“The entire brigade, I mean the entire brigade, second only to Xerxes himself” Ashira said nodding,

“And you just called her lady Tania?” he said,

Ashira furrowed her eyes,

“it’s complicated” Ashira replied,

Moyo nodded mutely, seeing the way she glanced away in embarrassment, he wisely didn’t pursue that line of reasoning. Glancing back at the distance where the woman had joined the battle, he furtively glanced back at Ashira,

“I’d be surprised if we didn’t go” she said,

He shot her a grateful look and together they blinked close to the fight and marveled at what they saw. Moyo had always known the brigade was made up of monsters, overseers Atreus and Iveph being obvious references, but they paled when it came to lady Tania. Clad in blazing draconic armor that covered every part of her, in her right hand a staff of pure aether that blazed like a miniature star and her left hand transformed into a claw. Above her floated an orb of pure fiery intent that literally burned the dungeon and at both sides of her shoulders were what Moyo suspected were canons that shot devastating lines of pure energy.

Overseer Iveph floated close by, one arm torn away and violently by the looks of it. Without thinking twice Moyo blinked near the overseer and grabbed him and his torn hand,

“Ah, how nice to see you again ascender, come to watch the finale?” the being that possessed Zortes said, but this time it had grown crystalline legs and covered its entire body in the same crystal-like substance its structure had been made of.

The structure had totally consumed most of the islands, the skies above slowly growing darker and only the fire that burned from lady Tania herself held t it at bay. The woman glanced at him, her armor including a helmet shaped in the form of a dragon,

“I told you to stay” she hissed,

Moyo wanted to reply, eyes blazing when the structure shot a black energy tentacle in his direction and Ashira appeared, blazing with her full might as she deflected the attack, visibly sagging from that move alone. The being laughed, and shot another one at Ashira this time, Moyo blazed with his full power, dominion and his mantle raging with an intense amount of Ashe coming together to batter at the tentacle. The appendage dissipated at the defense from Moyo, but he felt his Ashe reduce significantly, stumbling at the feeling of his authority being depleted. He grabbed Iveph who grabbed his arm and grabbed Ashira with his second arm, then with his last strength he attempted to blitz away when he felt all movements seize as the structure cracked.

The long crystal structure began to crack as what looked like black leaves began to protrude out of it,

Notice: warning!, abyssal infestation reaching 50%, archailect functions would seize to work once the threshold has been attained, evacuate or risk being tainted!.

“enough” Tania said as her aura blazed, in her hand appeared a blade that cut at the protruding leaves and branches that were attempting to come out of the structure

Moyo gathered what Ashe he could muster left and battered at the force holding him back desperately, he felt it waver from his onslaught, the being chuckled,

“interesting” it said before flames surrounded them all,

“FREE” lady Tania whispered,

Moyo felt his limbs suddenly become free, he blasted forwards, Ashira adding what energy she could gather as the both of them tore through the air,

“We shall meet again, ascender, remember the name Rohan” the being said,

Moyo paid no heed to its words, the portal to exit the dungeon yearning in front of him as he blasted his way through, coming through to the other side. He crashed into sand, panting as his HUD began to blare,

Notice: you have cleared level 500 dungeon!

* Congratulations on reaching diamond!

* Level 500!

Moyo staggered to his feet as Ashira groaned, rising to her feet,

“What was that?” she asked, her voice hoarse like she suffered from thirstiness,

“Rohan, leader of the cult of the undying hands” Iveph answered as he sat up,

Moyo startled shifted backwards, eyeing the overseer who saw his amputated metal hand and grabbed it, live cords that sparked with electricity appeared from his metal shoulder, intent sizzling on their sparking points as they connected with the arm. Immediately five brigade members surrounded them, all humans and all blazing together with the path of the sun burning dragon.

Moyo noted they were all diamonds, but that didn’t equate to handling them, these looked stronger and keener than your average ascenders, they were more like him,

“Master Iveph” they all chorused,

“Neophytes, I see this is to be your first field trip” Iveph replied,

“Indeed overseer, should we restrain them the same way we restrained those that came before them?” one asked, a tall black skinned with looked like leaves for hair and green eyes,

Moyo assumed they were speaking about king Biyo and the diamonds from the various kingdoms, he gripped dominion, Ashira adjusting her position to cover his back, eyes blazing. The black neophyte snorted, like they were children playing at war, Moyo seriously considered straightening him out, brigade member be damned. Overseer Iveph raised his hand,

“That won’t be needed, infact, they are under the protection of both I and temporarily commander Tania” Iveph explained,

Immediately the neophytes snapped to attention, all traces of amusement and mirth in their gazes changed to cold respects. Moyo released his grip on dominion and turned to overseer Iveph,

“Come with me, there are those who are bothered about you, and while I can’t let you leave the world just yet, I can at least let them know you’re both fine” the overseer said,

“Masters Killian and Ajax” Moyo said, Iveph nodding,

“What happens to this world?’ Ashira asked as the overseer stopped, glancing back at her, the rest of the neophytes trailing behind them,

“What?” Iveph asked,

“This world, what happens to it?” she asked again, slowly,

Overseer Iveph sighed,

“Well, that depends on the outcome of that dungeon” Iveph replied,

“You mean if lady Tania loses or wins?” Moyo asked,

Around him auras of blazing fire came to life, the neophytes hissing at him as they gathered their powers,

“Hold your tongue vermin!” one of them hissed,

“Blasphemy!” another cursed,

Moyo blazed his mantle to life, his Ashe back to stable condition blazed to life and dominion hummed in his hands. Overseer Iveph clapped his hands, drawing all attention to himself,

“Would you disrespect my very presence?” he asked quietly,

Immediately the auras were extinguished, the brigade neophytes bowing low and muttering apologies. Iveph waved them away, turning back to Moyo and Ashira,

“No titan, I doubt a puppet could scratch our esteemed vice leader and commander” Iveph said,

“Puppet?” Moyo asked,

“Rohan used the commander of the red dust kingdom who as it turns out was a cult member in hiding as a vessel, along with Lirun, another commander of another kingdom” Iveph said,

“While the spire being constructed by the cult is a serious issue, commander Tania should be able to handle that, the issue is with the kingdoms” the overseer said,

“What about them?” Moyo asked,

“The cult, the brigade doesn’t know how deep the cult has infiltrated this world” Ashira said,

“Also, the dungeon could be forcibly used as a staging ground by the forces of the abyss, the brigade cannot allow this” Iveph completed,

“So, this world would still be glassed?” Moyo asked, the words choking him as he uttered them,

Iveph nodded somberly,

“However, should she end the threat quick enough and shut the dungeon, perhaps, just perhaps there could be another way” Iveph said,

“What way?” Ashira asked, hope gleaming in her eyes,

“Isolation, this world would be isolated from the greater archailect at large, ships placed in close planet orbit to destroy it at any signs of decay” Iveph said,

Moyo wasn’t sure of how he felt about that option, but it was better than nothing. The portal shook, the neophytes blazing their auras again, Iveph, Moyo and Ashira following suit. Lady Tania stepped out of the portal casually, she glanced around, the neophytes snapped to attention, bodies rigid. Her eyes turned to Ashira and Moyo, with a snap of her fingers the portal collapsed on itself, winking out of existence. She walked up to them,

“You have a lot of explaining to do little sister” lady Tania said,

“Little sister?’ Moyo asked, choking a little,

Ashira sighed,

“Moyo, meet Tania Kairos, adopted daughter of the rulers of house Kairos and my elder sister” she said,

Moyo just looked between the two sisters, sighed and fell to the ground tired.