Prologue

War is such a fickle thing. It starts as a spark, perhaps a word or two spoken in anger or perhaps a disagreement over a small portion of land. Then it spreads like fire, consuming a piece of paper as it races across the land. For some, it brings profit, others power. And for some gods, the souls of the dead bring them even closer to true dominion. The house of death was one such house, and as it was considered the primary military house of the alliance of 110 houses, its military might was second only to the royal family. At its helm stood the Primordial of Death, a being who had earned his wings fighting in many wars against the Elderazi. He was said to be an emotionless, ruthless, and deadly serious Primordial, the only God to have ever been born into the domain of death. As a Primordial, he held unfathomable amounts of power and was known for wiping dimensions off the map if he believed it was impossible to recover from his enemies. However, because of his ruthlessness and his power, he was feared by many, and eventually, his enemies set aside their differences and joined together to make an attempt on his life.

The End of the Beginning

Stars flashed and winked out like beams of light flew through the void of space. Massive warships fired volleys into each other's sides. But even these massive warships were dwarfed when compared to a single fight going on all around them. 77 beings dashed through the void, all of them aiming for a single person. As soon as one of them was about to pierce his target with a spear, the being who looked like a mortal teenager reached backward and grabbed the man's face in a death claw grip. The man's spear that had shattered space and time alike bounced off the hardened body of the child. The man began struggling with all his might but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't escape. He looked into the eyes of his capturer and his face went pale, for looking back at him were three eyes. One in the center of Death's forehead had just opened! As soon as the man looked into the third eye, his very soul screamed in pain. His skin began sloughing off and his blood evaporated into dust. Despite the void of space being totally silent, everyone could hear his scream and the other 76 backed off as they watched their compatriot be wiped from the very reincarnation cycle itself. No chance at survival, his soul was obliterated, an ability of Deaths that scarred beings even several ranks above him. There were no divine miracles capable of bringing back someone who fought with Death. However the now 76 beings still persisted as they knew there was someone on their side capable of fighting equally with him. Despite one of their own being gruesomely annihilated in front of them, they were all smiling. Their smirks self-assured and full of confidence, this attitude did not escape Death's eyes and a black swirl started forming around him as thousands of souls of forgotten warriors swirled around his body shielding him, whispering to him, helping him. Around him, space began fracturing and planets shattered as he devoured the energy of Millions of mortal souls.

As he stared unabashedly at those who wished him to enter his own domain the Primordial of Death raged internally as his wrath nearly overtook him, despite his outwardly calm facade inside he was livid, ¨THESE INSIGNIFICANT GNATS! They don't know their place! I am Leonidas Yakove Deathwing El Statera. I am the crown prince of the alliance of 110 houses. I am the chosen of the first of the six constants, Lord Chaos and Lady Order. I am the champion of our people and the bane of the Elderazi And yet they still dare spark a coup to overthrow me! I will wipe the entirety of their houses from the cycle for all eternity!".

As he punched one of his attackers away and kicked another through a planet nearly forty light-years away he continued to calmly analyze his predicament.

He knew he had always been feared by those he called, ¨old codgers¨ and yet the cowards seem far too self-assured of their victory. What could possibly have given the council such courage as to challenge him out in the open where all can see? He knew his parents would kill them for treason if they managed to succeed, his Lord Chaos would shatter dimensions in his rage if his chosen one were to be killed and that would result in catastrophic damage to these fools. With no way for them to win, he wondered why they continued to persist. Only another Primordial of one of the six constants could hope to truly kill Death. And there were None among the ranks of the seventy-seven who held one of the six domains. Nore did Death believe that even these cowards would fall far enough to make a deal with Stagnancy.

As he was contemplating the possibilities a spatial rupture and bright flash of light erupted from behind him. Without turning around Death's entire body seemed to shrink in on itself as his shoulder slouched for only a millisecond. Straightening his back he let out a long sigh as he spoke to the ball of light that had warped in behind him, “Greetings little sister, or do you want me to call you Life while we’re in public? I’d like to ask why you're here but I think I already know. Now I just want to know… ” Not waiting to finish his sentence Death spun around and fired a blast of true death from his palm, the blast, only a spell thrown together in haste dissipated upon coming into contact with the shield of light that surrounded the young-looking teenage girl. “For what reason could you possibly come here?” he finished. The girl gazed at Death, as she held a single black and white orb in her hands. She seemed hesitant as she looked at it and as soon as he saw the small orb in her hand's Death's wrath, fell away as he gazed into the eyes of his younger twin sister.

“So it’s true. You have betrayed me'' Slowly tears started forming in Death's eyes, all three had a small trickle of liquid and the black ichor that was the blood of primordials. His blood and tears seemed to defy the laws of reality as they stayed trailing down his face even in the void of space. Any one of his advisors, subordinates, or retainers would have been shocked beyond words if they saw this scene. Death had abandoned most of his emotions long ago and he had only ever been seen crying once in his entire existence by anyone, including family.

The girl, Life, looked away from her elder brother's eyes and slowly started pouring her energy into the orb. All kinds of Elements and even the golden glow of divinity started swirling around in the Orb mixing with the white and black that had originally been present slowly turning to a dull grey. Slowly the tears on Death's face evaporated and his eyes began glowing red.

“I curse you sister, and I curse you Proditor! For as long as your souls exist I curse them to be followed by the dead! May you never know rest! May you never know peace! May all those who have died for you and by your hand stalk you long past the end of eternity! Do you truly think I will go to the realm of the faded peacefully!? If I am to die I will take you all with me! I am Death, brother of life, I am the second to be born to my domain! I am a member of the six constants, I am the chosen of Chaos, bringer of Order without me stagnancy will rule and the Elderazi will devourer you all!”

As Life continued to channel her energy into the ball in front of her the remaining 76 elders gathered to shield her from Death's wrath but it was too late, a black haze had gathered around her and with her full attention on the ball none of her barriers were active. The curse took effect and immediately ghostly figures began forming around their whispers grating on her mind. Despite Life's blood being white, magic made her looks including her skin color seem normal, useful for gaining mortal followers but now it just became more obvious how much stress she was under as her face had drained of all color. Sweat beaded her forehead and blood began trailing from her eyes, ears, mouth, and nose as she focused her own energy and the energy of all the prayers her followers directed to her on a single glowing ball that was barely the size of a small moon. All around her fighter craft, warships the size of galaxies, warriors, angels, demons, and gods fought. The forces of the house of Death throwing every single soldier and assault craft they could to support their Primordial. Outnumbered by more than ten to one they threw themselves in the way of missiles, spells, arrows, artillery fire, and bombs using their own bodies and ships to buy as much time as they could for their god and for reinforcements to arrive. Upon noticing their primordial struggle against so many opponents of equal rank all of his nearby forces had thrown themselves in a concentrated attack that shattered the blockade separating them from their master. Warships of all sizes swarmed the hole made in the enemy fleet's formation firing every gun and boarding torpedo available all while Death fought on. Warriors of the house of Death darted through the void firing spells and cutting through any fighter craft or opposing warriors. If one of them fell another stepped up to take his place and they continued their desperate push stepping over the bodies of friend and foe alike, their bodies clad in divinity each of them was at least a True God in rank and yet they were considered mere foot soldiers in this conflict as Death ripped apart warships the size of planets with his bare hands stomped a galaxy-sized warship into oblivion and used one of the 76 as a living shield as he continued to rush his sister. As he charged, space and time shattered behind him as he made a mad dash towards her. Thousands of support spells rained down on him from his soldiers who were still hundreds of light-years away from him. With every second they drew closer, outpacing light itself, their loyalty to their master pushing them far past their limits as they burned their very souls to reach him just one second faster. Their roars and battle cries shook reality itself and the warships of Death fired Vollies of anti-god level weaponry as if it was nothing wasting billions of credits worth of Ammunition all to protect their master. Their FTL drives spooling as they targeted Interceptor class anti FTL warships. As soon as one was destroyed and A warship was clear of the interdictor fields it jumped. Its Helmsman ignored anything in their way, jumping through planets and stars alike whether they had life on them or not didn’t matter as long as they could protect their master!

Despite their best efforts and just as the first of the millions of warriors and warships reached their master, the Orb in Life's hands finished charging. As soon as it was fully charged Life’s tired eyes met deaths. For barely a second Death could have sworn he saw tears in her eyes before her mouth moved almost imperceptibly, she spoke so quietly only a single being heard her as she murmured, “Farewell… Elder brother, I’m sorry.” Then the orb fired, shooting out a blinding beam of light that was aimed straight at Death's chest.

The cries of despair from his soldiers echoing in his ears Death abandoned all attempts at defense as he poured every atom of power into his right palm, but he wouldn’t be fast enough and he knew it. The beam was fast approaching and he needed more power and time to stand a chance at stopping the beam.

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Elsewhere across all two hundred and fifty-one dimensions controlled directly by the House of Death mortals were committing ritual suicide by the billions. Their loyalty to Death ingrained into their weak bodies through years of constant warfare. Most Mortals in the dimensions controlled by Death were considered weak and only used as mass soldiers or were protected by the House of Death in exchange for them making the food, ammunition, and equipment needed to keep the massive war machine moving. They had long lived in relative peace but now they felt their lord in danger they refused to not help him after all he’d done for them. They ran to the temples by the millions and when Death's magistrates said the only way to help him was to tribute their souls those with no family dependent on them did not hesitate to sacrifice themselves for the glory of their god.

Death could feel the power of his followers flowing through him but he still didn’t have enough time, he had already begun changing his body to one more focused on offense and as scales as black as the void around him began flowing along his body, his jaw began elongating becoming more angular and spikes had begun pushing through the skin on his back the beam was less than a light-year away when the first of his retainers reached him jumping in front of the beam his shield in one hand and a spear in the other. The brave soldier blocked the beam for only an instant before it overwhelmed his defense and his barriers fractured, still, he bravely held on knowing that every second he bought was a second longer he held onto his honor through his duty to protect his master. For only a couple seconds the soldier blocked the beam, and in the instant, before he consumed all his soul and was wiped from the cycle forever he looked back at his god and smiled, a whisper on his lips, “All glory to the house, all glory to my god. Forgive me for my early departure my prince I shall pray I never see you again in the land of the forgotten”

With his final words spoken he closed his eyes and was consumed by the light. With no one obstructing its path anymore the light raced towards Death but now he was ready. The black light on his palm had turned into a glowing ball of energy reinforced by the souls tributed to him by his followers. Before the beam could hit him he fired his own blast back. For the barest second, it seemed like it would be enough to save him and his soldiers cheered even as they continued to fight through the chaotic battlefield, their pace never slowing even if they thought their god safe. But their triumph was short-lived as a blade protruded from Death's chest. Their cries of triumph turned to screams of despair and they charged with renewed vigor. Many had already reached their God but were being held back by the guns and warriors of their enemy.

The Soldiers who were fighting against the House Of Death were slowly but surely being overwhelmed. Even with the powerful regeneration abilities all warriors possessed, they were taking damage faster than their physical bodies could heal, and the warships weren’t much better. The smaller warships were Subject to Warrior and Protector boarding parties and the larger warships were brought down by concentrated fire from the thousands of warships rushing through the blockade. Even with a 10-1 advantage in numbers the ferocity of Death's soldiers shocked their opponents and despite the thousands of battles the opposing soldiers and sailors were veterans of never had they seen such ferocity. A single warrior would take on several dozen opponents without blinking an eye even as they knew defeat was certain. Fighter and bomber craft flashed through space following closely behind their warriors and waiting for an opportunity to strike.

In the few seconds it took for Death to remove the sword from his chest his concentration wavered for only the barest of moments and the light rushed forward enveloping Death's body and immobilizing his legs. Then five voices shook the entire battlefield, “ELDER BROTHER!”

Death's head which the light was slowly creeping towards suddenly swiveled up and his voice echoed in the minds of all his soldiers, “Protect them do not let them get close to me!”

Instantly his soldiers, long conditioned to respond to Deaths orders without hesitation broke away to head towards the five new beings who had entered the battlefield before some hesitated and made the difficult decision to disobey their lord's orders, returning to their previous positions as they smashed against the blockade stopping them from reaching their God. The five newcomers had no such issues, smashing aside anything, and anyone who got in their way, not caring which side they were on. A galaxy-sized warship tried to block their path and was subsequently annihilated in a single blow from the being at the front of the formation. As soon as they reached Death the three eldest began firing beams of energy at the bonds around him as the youngest among them, a girl and boy who looked no older than two or three years old flew towards his head. Each of them was no larger than one of Death's pupils and their powers were nowhere near their elder siblings. When an opposing warrior tried to grab the girl a chain shot from Death's body impaling the soldier's heart and ripping his soul from his body. The fact the soldier's soul wasn’t instantly annihilated from having come into contact with a weapon blessed by Death showed how weak the primordial had become. The two children grasped tightly to Death's cheeks as the helmet that normally covered his head had dissipated when he realized their intentions. All the while the three others continued to try and free their elder brother. They hit it with every spell and element they could think of but it didn’t so much as tremble.

Finally, Death spoke to them, despite the bravado in his words the color of his thoughts betrayed his fear, to his younger siblings who had grown up knowing him as the fearless elder brother who wouldn’t hesitate to destroy an entire empire to save them his words only rang of empty promises and failing bravado,

“Little ones listen to me! You must go NOW! You must warn mother and father of the traitors in our midst and to prepare for the end of times. He will know I am gone and it will take far more than idle threats from the council to deter him and the Eldrazi. Find my soldiers, they will lead you to safety. Do not worry for me I will not fade till I have done my duty. Even if it takes me a billion mortal millennia, I will return to you all. I stand outside of fate, and I won't hesitate to fight the guardians of fate to return to you.”

And yet the two children refused to budge as the three elder siblings also joined them on Death's shoulder and all of them held him tightly. Their shoulders shuddering as unheard tears drifted into space. All of them seemed to refuse to move even as the light began lapping at their feet. Finally, Death moved his head away from them and when they realized what he was doing they begged and pleaded with him but he only gave them a forlorn smile as he once again raised his head to face straight up.

“Dominus of the first, I call in the favor you owe me. Take my siblings to safety and safeguard them until I return.”

All five of the children started shaking their heads and begging their brother not to go as a beam of black light began snaking its way around them slowly tugging them upwards, before they could disappear into the portal the beam had come from Death managed to free a single hand and gently wrapped it around his siblings in a strange kind of hug.

As the siblings watched on Death's eyes finally shut, the last thing they saw was a bloodthirsty grin on his lips as the light fully consumed him.

Of the five the Eldest was a young girl who had only just reached her sixth divine year. She had been born into the domain of life but after being rescued by her eldest brother when she had been kidnapped by another empire she had Idolised him. Upon her safe return to the alliance, she renounced Life and embraced the domain of Death upon her third birthday. It had been her goal to be inducted into her eldest brother's house with full honors ever since she was a young godling. On her fifth birthday, she forced her brother to promise her he’d personally conduct her into his house after he fought her in her right of passage duel once she turned six. Now she knew she would never see him or receive his teachings again. Locking eyes with her eldest sister who was staring at her in shock, she projected her telepathy into the minds of every single being within hundreds of light-years.

“I, Elisa Palladis el Statera in the name of my brother, Leonidas Yakove Deathwing El Statera declare a blood feud between The House of Death and the Alliance of one hundred and ten houses. Until the criminals, rebels, and traitors who are responsible for the Fading of the Primordial of Death are handed over to us and forced to fade there will be no trade, no military support, and no communication between The House of Death, its allies, and vassals in regards to the alliance of one hundred and ten houses this I swear on my name, my family's name and my honor!”

The battlefield which had been beyond chaotic suddenly went quiet as her declaration reverberated throughout the void. A blood feud between two of the Pillar houses of the Alliance had never happened before. A blood feud between mortals meant the families would always be at odds with each other, but a blood feud between primordials would result in a total war that would result in thousands of planets being destroyed and would continue until one was annihilated beyond any hope of ever recovering even a fragment of their soul. Death's soldiers were the first to recover from the declaration and each of them slammed the butts of their weapons against their armor as they began chanting in support of the young Princess.

“We are the soldiers of Death, and we declare this feud to be true to the laws of our house. We have been trampled down and our leader killed. In accordance with the laws of retribution, We will torch the earth, burn the cities and erase the planets of our foes until the blood lost to us today has long since been repaid!”

Then to the beleaguered soldiers of Death came relief in the form of thousands of portals appearing all around the battlefield. From them came millions of warships, trillions of warriors, an uncountable number of mortal soldier transport ships and several dozen primordial level Deities. All around the soldiers and warships brought by the seventy-seven and Life began falling back from their battle lines to form up in a massive circle around their own primordials. Emblazoned On the sides of the newly arrived warships and the pauldrons of the soldiers were coats of arms never before seen by any outside of The House of Death. While they also carried the House of Death's sigil on their bows the coats were new even to the other Primordials. The primordials who had fought Death were already exhausted and they knew they stood no chance against a fleet led by Death's 17 stars so they made the only choice they could and ran. Abandoning their soldiers they warped away to safety.

The massacre that followed in the seconds after become known throughout the Dimensions as The Eve Of Bloody Waves and is regarded as the most body intensive massacre in the Alliances entire history, casualties among the Alliance are rare as destroying the soul of a being is extremely difficult and normally it would take whole armies only days to regenerate their corporeal forms after they were destroyed, but the House of Death was privy to techniques and weapons created and blessed by Death himself. No prisoners were taken that day and no quarter given as the House raged over the loss of their Primordial. The result was for the first time in eight hundred and fifty-three divine years a dimension was destroyed outside of a War against the Elderazi and by non-primordials.

But somehow amidst all the carnage and blood, A single body remained pristine and untouched its eyes closed and clad in armor that could only belong to a single being, it was found by a royal guardsman sent by The House of Death to find any traces, any possibilities of their master having survived and upon being brought back the house, they confirmed the body belonged to Death but no soul could be found in any crevice of it. The body was placed in a sarcophagus layered with runes and guarded by a battalion of royal guards and at least two of the seventeen stars at all times. Whether their master's soul still existed in this realm was unknown but they had placed their trust and loyalty in him long ago and they would continue to serve in his name until he returned to lead them again.