Ajax death blade appeared over Moyo’s HUD, the master with his arms folded in front of him and a multitude of people moving in the background, carrying various items to and fro smiled at his disciple,

“Moyo?, nice to hear from you, recovering well enough?’ the death blade asked,

Moyo nodded,

“You could say so, how goes the preparation for the war?” he replied,

“Well enough, the great houses are moving, diamonds and masters are being awoken as we speak, hundreds of lesser houses, thousands of clans and an innumerable number of sects and schools are preparing for the muster point call” Ajax said,

“The scope of what’s to come still baffles me, it’s just a galaxy we’re invading, isn’t it?” Moyo asked,

Ajax nodded,

“true, but have you explored your galaxy?, really explored it?” Ajax asked,

The pre-archailect world had seen the governments and powers of that time reach mars, albeit with the use of drones; humanity had only step foot on the moon. He shrugged,

“a few planets close to ours, predominantly our moon” Moyo replied,

“By moon, you mean the satellite asteroid circling your planet?” Ajax asked again as Moyo nodded,

“Good, that eases my explanation” Ajax started,

“Imagine your galaxy is an egg, and you’ve merely explored the vast space it has, although with your current position and wealth, it is within possibility for you to soon start colonizing the worlds, but bear with me” Ajax said,

Moyo nodded along,

“The galaxy the brigade has given the code designation oblivion, the same one where Rohan now resides along with hordes of abominations straight out of your nightmares; is five times the size of your galaxy, roughly more but with the abyss somehow shrinking the size of the galaxy, we can’t really say as of yet” Ajax said,

“oh” Moyo replied, stumped by the sheer size,

Ajax flicked his eyes to the side,

“Lady Ashira, or should I say princess Ashira?” Ajax said as a form of greeting at Ashira who stood behind Moyo,

He projected the image of Ajax onto a communication construct, Ashira gave a curt bow to the master,

“Master Ajax” she responded,

“Congratulations on your ascension to master, as expected of the heir of two primordials” Ajax said,

“Your teachings and words of advice played a significant role in it” Ashira responded,

Ajax subtly inclined his head,

“Although I must say I’m surprised to find you here, on the planet of the titan blade, I would had thought the king of monsters would call his favourite child home” Ajax noted,

“There are certain.... issues that must be dealt with here and now” Ashira replied,

Ajax nodded and turned back to Moyo,

“So you see, the scope of the coming war while absurdly large also requires an equally absurdly large army to combat the things seeping into reality. Make no mistake, with a foothold in the archailect, Rohan has opened the gates to the abyss, every inch of oblivion would be fought for in blood and pain” Ajax said,

Moyo nodded,

“Meaning we won’t get an easy landing on the planets in oblivion?” he asked,

Ajax snorted,

“I doubt we’d find it easy to even punch past the first line of defence without employing our diamonds and masters” Ajax replied,

Moyo nodded again,

“Besides that, what can you tell us about master ranked dungeons?” he asked,

“risky” Ajax simply replied,

Moyo paused at the simply reply, Ajax continuing,

“Moyo, how many times have you heard either I or Killian or even Duval say we’re going dungeon delving?” Ajax asked,

Now that Moyo thought back on it, he hadn’t heard them say such, ever. Ajax nodded,

“exactly, that’s because most times, apart from the thought of obtaining primordial essence?, it isn’t worth it” Ajax said,

“The loots aren’t good?” Moyo asked,

“They are, the average loot of a master ranked dungeon is legendary in nature, but the number of masters that die while delving these dungeons are staggering as compared to the results. Therefore, it’s mostly masters who do not belong to any notable house that tend to brave these dungeons, but the majority of masters who struggled to reach this stage hardly bother putting their lives at risk, they could count on one hand the number of things that could kill them at that point” Ajax finished,

“So you don’t delve again?” Ashira asked,

Ajax gave her a fat grin,

“don’t be absurd, of course I do, whenever I get the chance” Ajax said as Moyo rolled his eyes,

For a moment there he had questioned if it was truly Ajax he was talking to, his master of blood and battles wouldn’t turn down a chance to go full out. Turning his attention back to the death blade who spoke,

“The first thing you need to realize is that the bosses of these dungeons are literal calamities in every sense, do not for one second underestimate them, you will lose your lives” Ajax said,

“The second thing you need to know is that the denizens of these dungeons aren’t the mindless rage infused monsters you’ve been having fun battling up till now. These adapt, they think, in some cases they speak and they will show no mercy” he continued,

“Where do these monsters come from?” Moyo asked,

“The abyss, dungeons are a way for the archailect to steal from the abyss, using it to empower itself and its inhabitants, these monsters while ruthless would be nothing compared to their forms in the abyss, and it’s thanks to the jades that we can safely battle them without the majority of their abyss infused powers” Ajax said,

“Jades?” Ashira asked,

Ajax waved it away,

“The higher you climb the ladder of master, the more you know, you aren’t even 600 yet, that’s when rulers deem it fit to call you masters, for now they consider you diamonds high on power” Ajax said with a smile,

“Ascension is slow, too slow” Moyo replied,

“And it would be, master rank is more about killing your foes and then absorbing their aether and essence, purifying it along with their aspect infused authorities. At the end of the day, a master would need to kill at least ten or more monsters of the same rank to ascend one level” Ajax said,

Moyo looked stumped by the calculation, Ajax chuckled,

“you thought you could breeze your way past master to ruler?, think again” he replied,

Moyo glanced at Ashira who nodded,

“That explains the majority of masters allying with rulers, rather than risk the dungeons, it’s a lot safer borrowing the aspect of the rulers to act as a pseudo ruler, albeit a significantly weaker one” she said as Ajax nodded,

“Precisely, master rank has been called a training stage for ruler rank, where you move into an elite circle and find out if you have what it takes to become a ruler. Most masters I know lead a clan and hold a system to themselves, reigning as rulers do although in a little and clustered space” Ajax said,

“I have a master ranked dungeon about to break open on my world” Moyo replied,

“No doubt due to your ascension to master earlier than as scheduled for your world” Ajax said frowning,

Moyo nodded,

“The archailect should readjust its schematics after that blunder, the system runs itself with little help after all, despite what those lizards would say or make the majority of the archailect believe” Ajax said,

“How are the Dracons?” Moyo asked curiously,

“Hagan has awoken, the female ruler now rules in Azar’s stead and a lot of reforms are being taken, at least that’s what they want us all to believe” Ajax said,

“What do you think?” Moyo asked,

His master’s hatred for the Draconians was legendary, something about his past. Ajax still owed Moyo the tale of what happened to him, and also his plans for revenge that had played a major role in him taking Moyo under his wing, but they could discuss that when they met in person. Ajax idly glanced at his nails,

“Embarrassment, Hagan is enraged that the house was so disgraced for the entire archailect to see, and she knows she can’t bare her fangs and claws at Kairos, not if she wants to live to see another sunrise; no, she is seeing to the house regaining their reputation, but someone must take the fall” Ajax said,

“Kenuran?” Ashira asked,

Ajax shook his head remorsefully,

“No, the hatchling is broken beyond reason, forever stuck at diamond with a leaking core, his mother however is a prime candidate” Ajax said,

“the red jaw?, what did she do?” Moyo asked baffled,

To the best of his knowledge the red jaw hadn’t done anything other than try to protect her offsprings, as rotten as they were. Ajax shrugged, a look of pure distaste on his face,

“Politics, Hagan, the elder ruler and senior sister to azar can’t take out her rage on house Kairos, and she can’t afford to split the house with infighting should she turn to her brother who rampaged while she slumbered” he explained,

“So she turns on Azar's lineage?” Ashira asked, her tone conveying her disgust,

“Such is the way of the powers of the archailect; however, house Dracon cannot afford to throw away a master during these times, rumours are she has been assigned to the scythe squad” Ajax said,

“Scythe squad?” Moyo asked,

Ajax glanced at him and Ashira,

“You got clearance Kairos heir?” he asked,

Ashira nodded and showed him a scroll Moyo didn’t recognize,

“Wow, dad really is letting you participate in the invasion?” Ajax asked, mild disbelief in his voice,

“I have my ways” Ashira responded,

Ajax nodded,

“And seeing as Moyo would no doubt be participating, I can explain” he started,

“During this invasion, there will exist a team, their mission despite how ridiculous it sounds, would be to take out key and specific targets at the orders of the harbingers who will act as the de facto leaders of this invasion seeing as they speak with the voice of the supreme beings” he said,

“And these specific targets are worth the attentions of a team of ruthless masters?” Moyo asked,

“I believe those Ajax are referring to are the lords, like the one we met on Duhiri” Ashira said, turning to Moyo who understood immediately,

Beings like Araman,

He turned back to Ajax,

“Can they do it?” he asked, already fearing the answer,

Ajax shrugged, his gaze sharp,

“hard to say, for a brigade master?, possible, they wield the flames of Lotes herself, but for an average master?, they’ll be hard pressed. Also, we need to factor in the fact that each lord would be protected by a team of high-ranking blights that would give any diamond a run for their coins” Ajax said,

Moyo rubbed his head at the scope of what was to come, realizing they were straying off point, he spoke again,

“And Hagan is willing to risk one of her masters in this squad?” he asked,

“With the debacle they pulled at the tournament, they know they’ve lost the favour of a lot of potential allies and even the ones they have are working hard to disassociate themselves from the actions of the house. Rumour says the brigade is contemplating removing their position as dungeon overseers” he said,

“About time” Ashira grumbled,

Moyo glanced at her before turning back to Ajax,

“They can do that?” he asked,

Ajax snorted,

“The leader of the brigade is the harbinger of Lotes, the one who bestowed them the rights, well supposedly. Should he remove it, it would be at the bidding of his supreme being, not even the Dracons and their hosts of dragons and serpents would dare anger the brigade, nor Xerxes himself” he said,

“So, Hagan uses Anala as a chip to get back into the good graces of the other great houses?” Moyo asked, as Ajax nodded,

“Either she comes out alive or dies trying, a martyr for the cause or a propaganda of the house to show they are protectors of the archailect, a win-win situation for the Dracons” he said,

Moyo shook his head, the intricate games of the great houses of the archailect revolted him, it was why he didn’t want a hand in it, he preferred to just battle and stick to that. Ajax glanced behind him momentarily before turning back to them,

“Look, I have to go, things are in progress and the logistics is mind numbing, but here is my advice for a master dungeon” he said,

“Do not ever underestimate the monsters, go in swinging and treat them like you would treat any master you would potentially face. Oh and always have each other’s backs, something I believe should come easily to you both” he said with a twinkle in his eyes,

Moyo rolled his eyes and cut off the transmission, turning to Ashira who was beet red, he wisely decided not to bring up the remark Ajax had said. He spoke, his voice now cold,

“Are you ready?” he asked,

“let’s just get this over with” she replied,

He nodded and with a snap he opened a pathway to the coast where the master ranked dungeon sat, glowing brighter. The both of them stepped out of the pathway,

“it’s so close to breaking, moving ahead of schedule” she said grimly as he nodded,

Moyo looked around and nodded in satisfaction, the clan had done the only thing they could do and had cleared the area for miles upon miles, ensuring the lives and safety of the inhabitants of the area. He drew dominion, Ashira drawing talon,

“Here goes nothing” he murmured and activated his bloodline ability, his body taking a black glossy sheen as it became as hard as Aserite,

Ashira followed suit and activated her bloodline ability, her scaled form covering her skin. Together the both of them stepped through the dungeon and appearing in a rocky terrain, his HUD lighting up,

Notice: you have entered a level 550 dungeon,

- you have 7 days to clear out the dungeon

- loots are of majorly rare and legendary with a 1% chance of mythical

- this dungeon is inhabited by an ecosystem of master ranked monsters,

- the boss of the dungeon is a level 550 creature

Moyo closed his HUD as he whispered,

“That was more descriptive than before” he remarked,

She nodded as she glanced around,

“Probably our level” she replied,

Moyo was about to reply when he felt the spike in power, without so much as faltering, he used the entirety of his titans might to swing dominion, pouring intent and Ashe through the blade as it clashed with a stone clawed hand that suddenly materialized. The attack blasted him backwards, flipping through the air as he glanced at Ashira who had taken to the air,

“ROAR!” she commanded,

Her edict basted out with the aspect of Kairos, tearing through the air around them to reveal forms that had somehow blended with the very reality of the dungeon. His HUD revealed their identities,

Phasing golems, level 510

He activated his Digi aye, his core realm manifesting as he snatched away the ability of the golems to merge with reality as his realm imposed itself on the area. The golems fully manifested and Moyo took in their form. Contrary to the large form of the typical golems he had faced, these took the form of slim humanoid shapes with human features including looks.

Midnight black body made of some earth-like substances, they glanced at Moyo and opened their mouths in a roar that shook the area. Moyo blazed with all his full strength, aware the dungeon could take it as he swung dominion, aspect infused intent screaming through the air as the very skies took a purple hue. Ashira was one step behind as she swung talon, the area around her taking a bright green glow as the toxin infused intent followed behind the attack of Moyo.

The golems nimbly moved out of the way of the attack, all except one, a bulkier golem that roared and slammed his two arms together in a boxers block and weathered the attack. The attack of the titan fractured the substance that made up the body of the monster as it stumbled backwards, clearly not in the right position to take the attack of Ashira. Another golem, a female looking one appeared in front of the bulky one and opened her arms wide, a rune with absolutely no meaning taking shape as it absorbed the attack before she threw it away, the rune exploding safely away from them.

“a body aura user and a mage, Ajax wasn’t joking” Moyo commented,

Ashira nodded as her gauntlet claw appeared in her hand and she went on the attack, diving down like a streaking comet towards the mage golem. Ferocity of oshosi screamed as he used dominion to deflect an attack from another golem that suddenly appeared at his side, the force of the attack pushing him backwards. He growled and turned the attack, his first move breaking through the guard of the golem, his second attack cracking its hard exterior and his final attack stabbing the golem that released a loud shriek even as Moyo activated the black hole ability of his blade.

A miniature blackhole began compressing the body of the golem, its aether and essence filtering into Moyo as he felt his titan aspect lash at the power of the golem, subverting it and slowly transforming it into his. The other golems turned immediately to Moyo shrieking, it gave Ashira the opportunity to cleanly remove the head of the mage before retreating, dodging a golem with its hands outstretched and shooting projectiles at her.

With one step of Ogun, he appeared in front of her, using his body to weather the attack,

“I could take it!” she shouted as she clashed with another golem, her realm of poisonous trees and feral monsters straight out nightmares appearing next to the realm of the titan,

“Force of habit!” he shouted as he went straight for the projectile user,

The body aura golem rushed to protect its kin, Moyo grinning at his plan coming to fruition. With his fist cocked, he clashed with the body aura user, echoing his command with Ashe,

“BREAK”

The body aura golem shattered into a hundred pieces, its aether and essence absorbed. Without pausing, dominion came down hard on the projectile user who raised its hands too late to attack Moyo. Coming to a stop atop the disintegrating bodies of the golem, Moyo checked his HUD,

Notice: you have killed 3 phasing golems, you get:

- 30,000 diamond coins

- 60,000 gold coins

- 90,000 silver coins

- 120,000 bronze coins

- Three phasing golem armour (L)

Moyo snorted,

“Ajax was right, the rewards really are shitty” he said,

Ashira nodded,

“The dungeon boss is our goal” she responded,

He flicked his eyes around, feeling nothing step into the reality of his core realm before he removed it, the rocky terrain coming back into focus. He sheathed dominion and glanced around,

“Be on guard, I’d take the ground, you take the air” he said,

She nodded and went back into the air, Moyo spread his aura out carefully, trying to root out any more surprises. He felt nothing, but ferocity of oshosi screamed at him again, whipping dominion in an arc as a humanoid clad in red armour came out of a tera in reality, a blade swinging for the head of the titan. Moyo snarled in anger, HUD updating,

Nightmare knight, level 520

The knight, whatever it was began in intricate dance with Moyo immediately, the titan staving off the attack with ease. Ashira shot towards them before getting intercepted by another knight that appeared out of nowhere, wielding a large hammer and going for her head. With a flexibility that defied all logic, she dodged the vicious hit in the last minute, her claw going for its head where two red eyes stared at her.

The knight dodged the attack, blasting backwards, that was all the attention Moyo could give that battle as he used his step of Ogun to create space between the both of them before activating Digi aye. The knight stumbled immediately as Digi aye began siphoning its aether and essence, without giving the knight the chance to recover, Moyo blitzed closer and landed a punch that drove the knight straight into the ground, its armour cracking and shattering.

A creature covered in mucus shot out, flipping through the air before landing on pincer-like legs and sporting two blades on its centipede looking body appeared out of nowhere. His HUD updated again,

Nightmare, level 510

Moyo shouted to Ashira,

“Break their armour, they become weaker” he said,

Not sure if she understood, he went on the attack, the nightmare screeching as it began swinging its blades with master ranked speed. Moyo tore through its guard with ease, its blades rebounding off his bloodline infused skin as he lopped off its head. He glanced up as pieces of armour and nightmare flesh fell from the skies above, Ashira floating down innocently, tail swinging behind her calmly,

“That was…brutal” he remarked,

“It went for my face, I took it personal” she said,

He shook his head, turning back to the distance,

“All those deaths and we didn’t even go up one level” he said,

“Welcome to master rank” Ashira replied,

Together they made their way across the terrain, phasing in and out with their skills, eyes peeled for attacks from any angle. Eventually they arrived at a pyramid where a lone figure sat atop, shrouded in a hood and with a literal scythe in its hand. Sitting at the pinnacle, two other beings stood at the lower levels, the first was a phasing golem, level 540 and with the term guardian with its name. the next was a nightmare guardian knight level 545. Moyo glanced up at the being that sat atop the pyramid, frowning at what he saw,

“Are you seeing this?” he asked,

Ashira nodded,

“yes” she replied,

He glanced at his HUD again,

??????? level 550

Level: calamity

Whatever the boss was, it was obscenely strong and overpowered, Moyo glanced around,

“I’m guessing those two are its guardians” Ashira said as Moyo nodded,

“I’m more bothered about the denizens of the dungeon, those couldn’t be all, right?” he asked,

Ashira glanced around,

“Master ranked dungeon, different rules I guess” she replied,

He blasted his aura out as a challenge but the guardians didn’t move, not one inch, infact it felt like they were staring down at them condescendingly. Moyo gripped dominion hard and took one step, the being atop the pyramid tapped his scythe gently as the pyramid glowed, his HUD lighting up,

Notice: the dungeon boss as bestowed perk: guardians might on his two guardians, increasing their strength and vitality by 50%. The pyramid now serves as a recharging spot for the guardians and the dungeon boss

Moyo narrowed his eyes,

“How in the archailects name are we expected to beat them with such an advantage?” Ashira asked, shock in her voice,

Moyo took another step and swung dominion with everything he had, uncaring about the raw power that cracked reality. The- phase golem took one step and met the attack with a punch, it stumbled backwards at the attack that blasted it into the pyramid itself. Moyo felt the gaze of the dungeon boss turn to him and stared resolutely hard at the boss. It gave a shrill wail and the guardians knelt, clearing the way for the titan. Moyo glanced at Ashira who shrugged,

“Guess you impressed it enough for a one-on-one duel” she said,

“together” he replied,

“I’m not sure those guardians would be accommodating enough for me to accompany you, go, let me deal with the lackeys” she said,

He nodded and with one step of Ogun passed the guardians, appearing next to the boss who stood up and threw its hood off to reveal a bony form that gripped the scythe whose blade gleamed, red eyes staring at him maliciously. Moyo took a stance and waited, the boss pointed at him with one bony finger,

It clacked, the voice coming from somewhere,

“Wrong language buddy” he responded,

The boss gave a shrill and swung the scythe, Moyo felt the wrongness immediately, the distinct pungent smell of putrid waste and met the attack immediately, his titan aspect reacting immediately as his spiritual form took shape, swinging its blade as well as a black hazy form clashed with it. Reality twisted and warped as Moyo held on, growling,

“Blight!” he said,

He saw the eyes of the dungeon boss glow and pressed his attack down below Ashira moved to engage both guardians.