The entire planet consisted of one large continent, one absurdly large landmass that stretched in a circumference to cover almost 70% of the planet with deep seas around it. Moyo had gone on a tour of the entire planet, firstly going to meet the captured ascenders that had attempted to sneak into his world. Led by a diamond ranker who was dressed in a plain robe with no insignia to indicate his affiliation, they were ten in number, all golds with the exception of the leader. Floating a few meters above the ground, they were bound in chains of Aserite that locked them in place, his authority sealing their paths and leaving them as weak as mortals.

The sentinels led by josh had followed him, surrounding the ascenders with looks of cold indifference, tense and watching for any movements from the captured to unleash their wrath on them. Moyo crossed his arms,

“Now before you go about spinning any tales, realize that I’ll know, and my displeasure could be quite…. well, let’s not reach that point, hmm?” he started,

Their leader nodded slowly, eyes darting to josh and the peak golds behind him who held different weapons,

“Good, now, who sent you and what was your goal on my world?” Moyo asked,

“The diamond licked his lips as he turned to gaze at Moyo,

“We are the silent whisper sect, a mercenary group hired by unknown clients to complete certain desires for them” the diamond said,

“And you are?” Moyo asked,

“Captain sogar of the silent whisper sect lord titan blade, I beg your mercy, the sect bears the clan of the titan blade no ill will sogar said,

“That remains to be seen, you say you have no idea who sent you, right?” Moyo asked,

“Indeed, lord primordial, we receive our jobs through the archailect message itself, anonymously sent to our sect head” sogar said,

Moyo nodded and sighed, cracking his neck,

“Let me be frank with you” he started,

“I have a lot on my plate, now I could simply hand you over to one of my sects and believe me, you don’t want that, so here’s the deal, I’m going to make you a deal, what exactly was the main goal of your…. client?' he asked,

Sogar looked uncomfortable as he spoke,

“To assess the strength level of the clan and report back to them” sogar replied,

Moyo nodded,

“Good, good, now here’s what’s going to happen” Moyo started with a smile.

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

Watching as the diamond passed through the shield of the planet he had weakened softly, Moyo spoke softly to Martha at his side,

“You think that plan’s going to work?” he asked,

She nodded,

“I placed a spider on them” she replied,

He glanced at her,

“you sent one of our ascenders after them?, isn’t that risky?” he asked,

“Not an ascender, a construct made of pure aether, a construct I’ve been working on with Boyle, it leaves no trances of distinct mana and self-destructs if touched roughly” she replied,

Moyo nodded, turning his gaze to the distance,

“and how have you been?, how’s Asa?” he asked,

“The clan is now categorically the strongest force on Gaia, no faction comes close and that’s saying a lot as they now boast of either a peak gold or a diamond ranker individually” she said,

“And we have, what, five diamonds and over ten masters?, talk about overpowered” Moyo replied chuckling,

“Indeed, which brings me to my next topic” she said,

He turned his attention to her fully, noticing a large vessel carrying legionnaires to another location,

“What are your plans for Gaia?” she asked,

Moyo paused, blinking as he realized he actually never even thought of it, Martha raised an eyebrow,

“Let me guess, you never really thought of it?” she asked,

“Not really, I mean, I never expected the clan to grow this big so fast or own an entire planet to myself, a planet that mind you, could take the entirety of Gaia fitted into it” he explained,

She nodded,

“I do see your point, but now that we have a planet we can call our main territory, do we still really need Gaia?” she asked,

Moyo glanced at the ground, watching as a small plant sprouted out of the fertile soil, tapping it and infusing it with his aspect. the ground rumbled as the plant began to grow taller and taller, becoming a tall tree as it glowed,

“Gaia is our home, our place, are we to simply abandon it?” he asked softly,

Martha folded her hands around her body as if cold, Moyo frowning and wiling the weather to become warmer. She smiled in appreciation, moving closer to him,

“You know, when you’ve been gone, more…notable figures have risen from the absurdly large shadow you casted” she said,

Moyo attempted to talk when she raised a finger, halting him like a child with a twinkle in her eyes,

“I know you didn’t want that, but Moyo, I think by now, even you would have accepted the pure fact that to the people of Gaia, you’re a deity, well, not literally, but you embody the principles of humanity” she started,

“Strength, determination, courage, perseverance, kindness and the will to protect those weaker than you are” she said,

Moyo simply nodded as she laughed softly,

“I can see it in your eyes you know, that urge to resist what I say, but you know deep down, that you’ve become a man worthy of every respect you’ve gotten. You’re no longer that brash kid who wanted to take on everything and anything in the bid to grow stronger and prove his strength” she said,

“I have people to look after Martha, I can’t afford to die” he said softly,

“Indeed, you have the entirety of humanity of Gaia’s strain to look after whether they like it or not” she replied,

He blew out a breath,

“These figures, are they the ten kings?” he asked,

Martha glanced at him,

“you’ve heard of them?” she asked,

“a little bird told me” He replied,

“Augustus, I swear, that man believes his goal in life is to ensure your every whim, he spoils you” she said with a laugh,

“does he have family?, wife, kids?” he asked,

Augustus had proved himself valuable to him over and over, Moyo suddenly felt a twinge of guilt at the fact that he hadn’t thought of that in a while, Martha nodded,

“Rest easy, we’ve handled that a long time ago, his kids are on scholarship at the clan’s institutions and he owns a little piece of land in the yellow zone. He left it all to come with us though” she explained,

“That begs the question, how did you make it here?” he asked,

He was astonished the thought had totally eluded him, but with his awakening and the arrival of the primordials and Xerxes, he supposed that had been the least of his troubles. Martha spoke,

“When you vanquished the lord mutator” she started as she shuddered, no doubt the stories she had heard of Molrik were enough to cause anyone to shudder,

“We received a worldwide notification that you had now created a planet to yourself, let’s just say Asa blew up in celebrations and the other factions went mute, the Bharaj and glorious empires suddenly sending envoys seeking to join the preliminary stages of the house we’re trying to build” she said with a giggle,

He chuckled,

“And what did you tell them?” he asked,

“Squeezed them of a few hundred thousand diamond coins and a few peak gold tier dungeons, you know, little negotiation things” she replied,

Moyo shook his head,

“Knowing fully well that we have no need for such things?” he said,

Martha shrugged,

“They don’t know that, do they?” she replied as he laughed,

“Then a grand pathway had opened up at Ife itself, allowing us to come through at no charges to those allied directly under the titan blade” she said,

“Interesting, well, I heard the coffers are running dry?” he asked again,

“depends on who you ask, to Boyle and his thousand projects that need fundings?, yes, for Samantha and her ludicrous potion and elixir experiments that always threaten to blow up dominion itself?, yes, but for infrastructure and economic stimulation?, we have more than enough” she said as Moyo laughed again,

Wiping a tear from his eyes, he spoke softly,

“I do miss these talks of ours” he said,

“And I remember asking you to not take unnecessary risks, and yet, here I am, hearing you almost died, again” she said, a hint of flint in her voice,

“In my defence, I had no choice, someone’s got to stop them” he replied, scratching the back of his head,

“I see, and the numerous, rulers, ancients, primordials and whatnots that exist in the infinite expanse of the archailect couldn’t stop these apocalyptic threats?’ she asked, hands on her waist,

“weeeeeeeell” he said as she rolled her eyes,

Grabbing his ears and twisting it, hissing in pain, Moyo wondered how a mere diamond had the strength to inflict such pain on him,

“Listen to me clearly Moyosore titan blade” she started, a smile hidden in her voice,

“Loud and clear mama bear” he replied trying to release her hold on his burning ear,

“You have too many people invested in your continued existence for you to try to go out in a blaze of glory, understood?” she said,

“Yes, o great overlady” he replied,

“Good, that lady that somehow sees something in you” she said softly as she released him,

He turned to her, wiping the smile on his face as he saw tears in her eyes,

“Martha” he asked softly,

“All I’m saying is, thank you, you- “she said as she shuddered,

He gathered her in his hands as she smiled gratefully at him,

“When our world ended, and I expected nothing but death, you brought a light to shine on our path, you raised us up back to civilization again, you gave me a purpose, and I’d die than ever betray you, I’d die than watch all you’ve entrusted to us burn, so please, don’t die, please” she finished,

Moyo said nothing for a few seconds, simply holding her tight, a shared bond of an adopted mother and child,

“I promise, on my existence, I promise” he whispered to her,

The spider gripped his hands tight, silence pervading the air,

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

That night, the entirety of his people partied, they danced, they held a feast under the burning fires of his mountain core that served as his main abode, and Moyo laughed, he cried, and for the first time in forever, he enjoyed just what his power and strength had brought him. That night, Moyo, the titan blade was not a pseudo primordial, he wasn’t some perceived deity, he wasn’t some overpowered being, he was simply a man in the midst of family.

The next day rose as Moyo stood at the gates of his castle, behind him stood a hundred strongest of his legion, banners of different cohorts flapping in the wind, Idris at his left and pontiff Matthew at his right. His clan leaders stood directly behind him, watching as a large luxurious shuttle floated towards them, the crest of clan titan blade forged into its side,

A craft built by Ahib and Boyle in honour of the titan blade, while sleek and beautiful with its purple and gold paint also hid deadly weapons as well. According to Boyle, plasma mana guns, automated nuclear intent missiles, and black hole generators, Moyo wondered how far Boyle had come in his craft to integrate such Gaian technologies into archailect powers. The craft opened seamlessly, Urne marching out and saluting before dropping to one knee,

“Lord titan blade” she said,

“I bid you welcome to the shield of Gaia” she said,

“By your will, please, do me the honour of letting me pilot your craft” she said,

Moyo rolled his eyes,

“at least it isn’t name named something with the word titan within it” he said as mild chuckles broke out from behind him,

“Very well, let’s be off on my apparent trial” he replied,

She nodded and stepped aside as Moyo with Ashira at his side made their way into the ship. Looking small on the outside but bigger on the inside, Moyo stared around at the ship that no doubt used spatial machinations to expand the inside to insane proportions. Settling down along with his retinue, the hundred legionaries making their way deeper into the craft, he and his top leaders all making a stay in what looked like his official business room judging by the large hololithic lit table that showed his planet along with the hundreds of ships that converged around the planet itself.

Sitting on the numerous chairs that popped up, Moyo adjusted the robes he was wearing as he sighed,

“As most of you know he started,

“we’re going into a nest of vipers” he said, glancing at his clan leaders to his guard, Idris and Matthew,

“One thing I’m assured of however, is the fact that we have as much allies as we have enemies in that place” he continued,

“you’ll be prodded, you’ll be pushed to lash out, under no circumstances must you do so, nut unless you’re a master and if I had my way, I’d had shared my aspect with you all, but I’m trying to present myself as less than a threat to whatever body will be trying me” he said,

“I’m guessing a master with over ten other masters sworn to him is considered abhorrent?” Annika asked,

Moyo nodded,

‘it’s practically unheard of from what I know, then again, most of the archailect have no idea of my primordial status, I’m merely a master they suspect have ties to the abyss” he replied,

“But won’t coming out as a primordial quell all these questions?” Ayo asked,

Moyo nodded,

“It would” Ashira replied,

“But then you’d have numerous rulers and powerful factions attempting to dig into his origins, it would be putting Gaia and the other worlds he owns at risk, not to talk of the fact that some would attempt to replicate what he did, thousands of viable or potentially powerful ascenders would be lost in the ensuing madness” she explained,

Ayo nodded,

“Ah, I see, so the charade continues?” Matthew asked,

“Quite so, at least, till I get to the rank of ruler and create my house, then whosoever becomes foolish enough to come after me would have the might of house titan blade crashing down on them” he replied,

“So, what’s the plan boss?” Samantha asked,

Moyo smiled….

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

The vessel of the dragon’s brigade was a behemoth of a creation, all weapons and no inch of beauty, it was a construct of pure warfare and if Moyo was right, the same vessel that would lead the last charge into the system of Araman to confront the remaining abyssal lords that had retreated to the planet of the destroyer, adding their forces and realms together to create one realm of pure abyss. Moyo walked briskly through the docking station, servants bowing to him, whispers of titan blade filling the air in hushed whispers.

He made his way to a brigade officer who folded his hands in a nonchalant attitude,

“Lord titan blade?” the ascender asked,

Moyo nodded,

The officer stood straight, bowing slightly,

“I’ll take it from here” a familiar voice said behind Moyo,

He turned, eyes going slightly wide,

“Atreus?” he asked in surprise,

The brigade overseer for the milky way galaxy smiled, looking a bit roughed up,

“By the great mother herself, the rumours were true, you’re a…well…close to ranking “the overseer said,

Moyo shrugged,

“Meet Ashira Kairos, my clan leaders and my legion, Idris my…ah…champion as you know” he said, his retinue bowing slightly to the overseer,

Atreus turned to Moyo,

“Your retinue will be escorted to their chambers where they can watch the proceedings, only you would proceed from the point onwards” Atreus said,

Moyo glanced at Ashira and his people, smiling at them as they nodded to him, following the other brigade officer. He turned back to Atreus,

“Well, let’s get on with it” he said.

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

The trial hall was a large cylindrical structure that reminded Moyo of the galactic republic’s chamber room from Star Wars. Hundreds of chairs floated around the in small shrouded cubicles with different crests representing different houses of the archailect, Moyo suspected these were the notable houses of the archailect. Walking towards the floating platform that no doubt would be where he would stand, a man in silver and black robes with his hands folded behind him stepped into his part, head bowing as Atreus growled, Moyo noticed three flickering fur tails behind him. The overseer eyed the man,

“Can we help you?” he asked,

The man stood straight,

“Forgive this one’s petulance” the man said with a light chuckle,

Moyo realized the man was a master, but to he and Atreus, that meant absolutely nothing, although must admit the man felt absurdly strong for his rank,

“I am master Hisada of house shadow fox I come at the behest of my house ruler, lord Rizuki” he said,

“I know what you are fox, the question was, what do you want?” Atreus asked,

If the ascender was insulted by the words of the overseer, he kept it hidden, giving a light chuckle,

“Please, indulge this old man for a few minutes of your time, after all, house shadow fox is an ally of clan titan blade and their patriarch, the venerable lord titan blade” the man said,

Moyo raised an eyebrow,

“You are?” he asked,

“Indeed, lord titan blade, after this trial, my ruler humbly requests your presence at our ship, the shadow tail at- “Hisada said as a loud gong interrupted him,

“As you can see, our attention is needed, move, fox’ Atreus said, his tone brokering no refusal,

Hisada bowed, moving backwards as Moyo nodded to the man, walking along with Atreus to the platform, its sides opened up and Atreus gestured for him to enter,

“Goodluck” he said,

Moyo nodded and entered, the construct immediately levitating off the ground to float higher and higher till it came to a stop, Moyo staring into abject darkness. And then a bright light burst forth, Moyo wondered if they had attempted to blind him a he didn’t blink, the light affecting him in the least. From the light descended a man in white robes, a deep black hair and a staff with runes of protection and restrictions on it.

Behind him, descending on a crescent moon shaped platform were the five harbingers of the five supreme beings that were to be his judges, Moyo recognized them all but maintained his silence, each with the insignia of the patron behind them. The man in front of him slammed his staff into thin air as a loud gong echoed again, Moyo sighing softly, aware of the numerous eyes that stared at him from behind the shrouded platforms around him,

“Moyosore titan blade!” the man shouted,

“You stand accused of numerous crimes, you stand before the venerable council of harbingers, your words are your oaths, do you submit yourself to the judgement of the harbingers?” the man asked,

“I do” Moyo replied,

“Then let the trial begin!” the man proclaimed.