Ajax floated next to the space vessel that had brought him to the position of the Defiance, the vessel was barely the one he remembered Moyo getting from the tournament, its very hull and platings carved with far stronger metal, better than the mithril that it had been built with. The ascenders who stood before the vessel were foreign to him, they burned with his aspect, masters all, a very confusing situation. One thing was clear though, they were members of his house, and they were not the enemy, that was all Ajax needed to know.

He faced the four abyssal beings whose strength pressed down on the space around them, eyeing the man on the horse whose gaze locked in with his.

“We do not take kindly to interference” the man said.

Ajax felt the power of the abyss pulse strongly around the man, his hand resting on his blade at his waist.

“Neither to I take kindly to abominations” he replied.

One of them was suddenly at his side, the one with the oversized blade, its edges burning with greyish energy that sought to corrode his very body. Ajax caught the blade, watching the power of the abyss lash at his body but doing absolutely no damage. He felt the power behind the blow though, it carried the strength of one of the creatures of Vusal, it spoke to their strength, just not to where he was concerned. He gripped his blade, preparing to draw it when grey and red striped of flesh wrapped around hid hand, attempting to hold it in place.

He glanced up to see the female abyssal creature, her body elongated with her body sporting numerous eyes, opened mouths all over her skin with long stick tongue flapping around like tentacles, some wrapped around his arm. It gave a shrill and the tongues caught on fire, burning all the way to his arm. The strongest of the vassals of Moyo, and Ajax could tell from the raw aspect of the titan blade that came from the dark-skinned man was suddenly there, a powerful spear burning with more aspect of the titan burning the tongues away before hurling the spear with all his strength at the man on the horse.

Ajax gave a ‘tsk’, about to berate the man for throwing his weapon in the middle of a fight when he rolled out of the way in pure instinct, the horse rider suddenly at his back. Without thinking of how the man had gotten there, he drew his blade, imbuing it with both cosmic and chaotic energies, watching it burn as he clashed with the man on the horse who wielded a poleaxe, both weapons crashing together in an explosion. The lightning master was there in that moment, her arcane spear going for the neck of the man only for the horse to turn to her and belch unholy grey and red flames.

Ajax considered her dead, it had been a full on attack and she had taken the brunt of it, he only prayed she wasn’t someone really important to Moyo or his house but seeing as she was a master, he highly doubted that. The master fell out in a cage of lightning, badly burnt and guzzling a legendary elixir as she healed rapidly, Ajax whistled, wondering where she had gotten such expensive thing, seeing as she was guzzling an entire clan’s finance in that one bottle.

He turned to the apostles, raising his blade as he spoke.

“Alright, playtime’s over” he growled.

Despite his numerous false ascensions as he slowly began to realize, the one thing he hadn’t lost was his sword skill, his gift with the blade and his lethality, it was something he had honed himself and with the combined powers within him, fueling his every move, he decided to go all out. The apostles went for him immediately, all four of them coming for him with all they had as reality warped and space shifted, they clashed in a cacophony of shrieks and explosions, exploding in a near supernova effect that lit up space.

It generated enough power to glow as a celestial body, Ajax feeling the heat scald across his face even as the apostles shrieked in voices that grated at his ears. Then the strongest of the masters was at his side, the dark-skinned man with the spear that burned with the aspect of the titan, he drew his hand back, channeling as much power into the spear as possible before releasing it with a command.

“BEGONE!” he thundered.

Ajax could see it took a lot out of him, watching as the aspect of the titan burnt with pure unrestrained power, Ajax wondering where Moyo was and how he had so carelessly imbued his power into a weapon of such magnitude, how the weapon was even whole for that matter. When it cleared, the apostles were gone, not dead, Ajax knew that, whatever Araman was using to fuel them, it was grounded in reality as well, and they had gone back to lick their wounds.

The man sagged even as Ajax caught him.

“Easy there” he said softly.

Then a blade was at his neck, held by some android that burned with a power Ajax was intimately familiar with. He stared into the eyes that glowed.

“Runebearer” he said.

“Chaos filth” the android replied.

Ajax could feel ruler ranked aura coming from the Runebearer, he could easily overpower the android, plus he was sure he had a bit of immunity to the cosmic powered attacks the android would consider using against him, something he knew the android would be putting under consideration.

“How did you get that aspect?” the android asked,

“you’ll have to take it up with higher management” Ajax replied with an infuriating smile.

“We don’t have time for this” the sagging master hissed as the other masters watched from a distance.

He glanced at Ajax.

“My name is Idris, emissary of the titan blade, you were sent by lady Martha” the man said as a matter of fact rather than a question.

The lightning master, the female burning with power floated closer.

“Why do you have chaos aspect within you?” she asked bluntly,

“Because he is known as Ajax omega blade, one time emissary of Altair Thousandblades and supposed master of your lord, Moyo” the android said.

Ajax cursed as the masters all turned to him with suspicion.

“You simply couldn’t say my name alone, could you?” be bit out at the android who folded his hands, runic circles floating above him.

“The one who betrayed Moyo?” the female master asked.

“yes” a new voice said as Ajax turned, recognizing it.

Floating right behind them was Ashira, cradling something in one hand in some sort of container as her blade was in the other. She exuded ruler ranked aura, burning with pure power.

“Ashira” Ajax could only say.

“Come here to finish the job?” she asked softly.

The masters floated to her side, burning with renewed zeal.

“What job?’ Ajax asked confused.

“You think you’ve won; it wasn’t enough that you almost broke him mentally, you sent your allies after him, you all, coveting what he had” she continued.

“Ashira I swear to you, I have no idea what’s going on, I’ve been out of the loop for-“

“YOU ARE THE CAUSE OF EVERYTHING!” she roared with rage in her eyes, her presence exploding out.

Ajax stared in shock as her hair floated and her tail whipped behind her.

“You were the one who declared war against house Dracon, you wiped them out” she started.

“He did?” the female master said, eyes wide opened.

“You released that monster, not caring that we’ve had enough on our plates, well congratulations” she spat out.

Ajax was beginning to get a clear picture of what happened, cold flowing down his spine.

“Ashira, where’s Moyo?” he asked softly.

She gave a short bark of laughter, holding out the cylindrical container.

“you’re looking at him” she said softly.

“I don’t understand” Ajax said, his face turning white.

With tears freely dripping down her face, her voice as hard as steel.

“he’s dead Ajax, killed my Araman” she said.

Ω

Moyo sat lotus style on the ground, staring at his fists as he was surrounded by what was left of his throne and crumbled dusts. He stared at the next throne, that of mana, the titan next to him.

“We have built your body and your sword, your ability to recover and fast from attacks that would fell even a primordial is necessary for what comes next” the titan said.

Moyo glanced up, hopping to his feet in one fluid movement, he pressed one finger into the air and sort of felt a resistance, light, durable, but it was there. The titan nodded.

“The Ethereal realm and the physical realm are separated by a thin layer alone, however, all the strength in the cosmos wouldn’t be enough to pierce through it” he explained.

“So what can?’ Moyo asked.

“Aether, the supreme control of it, something Shango's resonance allowed you to tap a little into it” the titan replied.

Moyo nodded.

“I’m guessing this is where you tell me to have patience, that I’m not ready to pierce the veil just yet” he said.

“Well, are you?’ the titan asked.

Moyo kept silent for a brief few second.

“No, no I’m not, but I want to be, as fast as possible” he replied.

The titan nodded.

“Time grows short on the outside despite the near infinite one we have here, all forces are coming to a head, you will be needed if both your house and the Archailect is to survive” the titan said.

Moyo took a deep breath, Oro, the blade, floating next to him in silence, he closed his eyes, stretching his senses out to encapsulate the entirety of his realm.

“I’m ready” he replied opening his eyes.

The titan nodded, motioning for the throne of mana, Moyo sitting on it and immediately taking a deep breath as he felt a power both foreign and familiar course through his body.

“What you’re feeling right now, are the natural energies of existence, after filtration through aether” the titan started.

“Aether as you know, is the life blood of reality, but most mages can’t outright wield it, it burns to the touch and those who know how to wield it go on to become great rune mages, careful of their own power lest they burn themselves out of exhaustion” the titan said.

“Hence, the Archailect found a way to filter it into different sub aspects, light, darkness, time, earth, fire, water, air, even void, the list is endless” he explained.

“What am I learning then?” Moyo asked through gritted teeth.

“isn’t that obvious by now?” the titan asked with a grin in his voice.

“All of them, every single sub aspect, imbued within your body not to wield but to serve as resistance, for they all come together to create mana” the titan explained.

Moyo felt his mind begin to wonder, feeling one of his skills resonate, Oya’s boon, his skill that allowed him his near insane regeneration. It had often worked along with his health and endurance, but now that his body was linked to his endurance, it needed something else to take that slot, something powerful enough and infinite enough to take its place, to fuel his ever-burning power. He felt his mana, his latent power that he barely used begin to rise, like multi-coloured veins glowing across his body, he felt the power begin to settle within him.

Eyes wide, staring at the burning prime aspect above him, he took one deep breath and dragged from it, just a thread of power from the aspect of creation and it lit him up with power. It seeped through every pore of his existence, wrapping itself seamlessly with every sinew, every cell and every part of his being, grounding him in reality and more. While he almost lost himself in it, he tapped into that latent part of his psyche that could still think, tapping into his veneration as well as he felt the faith of millions wrap around his core finally, his realm shuddering gaining color by the second till it closed, Moyo panting.

He gripped the throne as it crumbled to dust, depositing him on the ground, a light sheen of sweat on his body.

“Amazing, isn’t it” the titan said from where he watched.

Moyo glanced up at the being, seeing wisps of multicolor floating around, instinctively realizing what he was seeing.

“Mana, it’s all around us, even here, in the Ethereal realm” the titan said.

“Mages of each sub aspect can see their respective elements, they can wield it through either spells or those who dig deeper for power, runes, to an extent” he continued speaking as Moyo stood up.

“For example,” the titan said as he snapped his fingers.

Arcs of lightning tore down from on high, fusing into one bolt that struck Moyo where he stood, enough to incinerate even a master to ashes and put a ruler out of commission for a long time. The realm shook and rolled, the seas roiled, and yet, Moyo stood, one hand raised, catching the bolt of lightning that danced in his hand. He brought it down to stare at the flashes of electric power, and with a thought, wiped it out as he clenched his fist. It died with a sizzle, doing absolutely no harm to him.

“Between your body and immunity to mana, let’s just say not even primordial mages are a match for you at this point” the titan said.

“All these” Moyo started.

“Just to face chaos?” he asked.

The titan nodded.

“You feel it’s overkill, but that’s because you haven’t met what exactly you’ll be facing, not Ajax as a Chaosborne, not even the shadow form of the being you met” the titan said.

“Right now, it has released its champion, and if I’m right, it’ll begin to pick off the supreme beings’ presence in the physical realm, cutting them off completely” he continued.

“Whatever your friends and allies are facing now, it’s just the beginning of the end, a deluge of pure destruction that would sweep across the Archailect like a flood, billions upon billions, wiped out in the blink of an eye, then, you’ll realize that you barely did enough to stop it” the titan completed.

Moyo closed his eyes again, feeling the power run through him, and pointed one finger skywards, the lightning he had absorbed returning two folds. The skies crackled with white and dark blue power, painting reality like some gothic picture, the clouds above rumbling. When it cleared, he turned to the titan.

“Three down” he said as the titan nodded.