The moment the forces of chaos breached the galaxy of the construct empire, the stars winked

out. Reality gave its death throes as the planets began to wither out, of course, if it had been

home to true life forms, bionic who needed the waters and air for survival, then it would had

spelt doom for them. What had changed were the souls who called the galaxy home, bionic

lifeforms swearing complete allegiance to Liakya herself, transforming them into full creatures

of mithril and aether.

From the edges of the galaxy came a scream of madness, tearing through real space as it rippled,

crashing into the planets around, darkening the skies even as the sun blinked out of existence, the

once green orb of fire that illuminated this galaxy and served as the forge of a primordial

himself. All these should have immediately spelt doom for the galaxy as stated before, but they

had been preparing, both construct empire and android alliance, both factions of the living

machines realizing that should they lose their realm, it would spell the gradual extinction of their

race as a whole.

And so, both harbinger and primordial, both hated enemies whose factions had forever been at

war, both coming together to unleash their weapons of pure galactic might. As far as the eyes

could see where construct vessels, gigantic behemoths of pure wrath that stretched for miles in

the void, all manned by androids of all shapes and sizes, all castes working together, coming

from major clans and great houses, all bringing their best weapons to the test, for that was all

they were good at, warfare.

Two distinct sides arrayed themselves before the coming end, two banners glowing in two

opposite ends. One displayed a cog wheel with a fist above it, the insignia of Iteq omnidroid,

primordial and once member of the celestials, now defecting after the blasphemy Ernesh had

pulled off. The harbinger of Liakya had played on the trusts of all the androids in their galaxy,

playing on their trust of Liakya, or rather, the supreme had finally played her trump card,

Turning every single living existence in the galaxy to a construct,

It was the ultimate goal of the supreme beings, to have distinct realms where everything was to

their glory, a concentrated place where their power reigned supreme, where their other siblings

had no sway and they alone could rule as deities. Iteq had watched with horror as this came to

pass around him, powerless to stop the supreme being and her harbinger, and as if that was not

enough, as if turning every single soul into beings of metal and aether, Liakya had descended her

messengers in force.

The galaxy hers, it allowed her to expend more of her domain, terraforming it into a metal beauty

and horror, wiping out what little natural look the galaxy had. Planets now things of pure mithril

instead of raw soil, seas churning with bionic energies as their lifeforms as well were

transformed, trees and mountains transformed into living conduits of raw aetheric energies and

their mages, the ascenders who worked the paths of mana now seeing their paths transform into

that of techno-mages, instantly elevating them up to the highest echelons of their society.

It had disrupted their way of life, the supreme being’s most staunched supporters becoming

imbued with pure power, rising above the masses to become rulers of entire planets, for unlike the other galaxies of the Archailect, every planet in their four systems were utilized, entire Agri

worlds now rendered useless and transformed into mithril mining planets. Of course, Iteq hadn’t

stood still, deploying the might of his empire, he crushed any incursions of Ernesh into his half

of the galaxy, coming to tectonic blows with the harbinger and proving why he was called the

omnidroid.

All that had come to a close when deep space probs had winked out of existence, one by one in

the farthest reaches of their galaxy that bordered unexplored space. It could only mean one thing,

and the entire might of the construct race had come together, aware that they’d need to work

together, or perish with their feuds. Even as the omnidroid, a lean figure running through with

the purest of aether marched across his continent sized vessel, blue glowing eyes parsing through

thousands upon thousands of information a second, directing his forces, he paused, staring into

the distance.

The vessel had not been named, neither did it need one for it housed no sentient lifeform to

control it, it was an extension of the primordial himself, the great builder. At his sides were three

ancient rulers, the three pillars of his house, all powers of their own, his generals and yet, for this

battle, he had no inclination to send them to their deaths. Truth was, he had ordered them to

evacuate the bulk of their civilians out of the galaxy, spreading them through Archailect known

space, through the backwater worlds and planets farthest from where Iteq hoped the battle for the

Archailect would hold.

They had done so, and then the cognitive idiots had returned, swearing to fall by his side, it had

vexed him to no end, but then again, loyalty was what he prided himself on the most, and seeing

his vassals display it had moved something within him. A servant drew him out of his thought,

the platform they stood on glowing as Hud screens, hundreds in number rose from nothing,

filling the entire space, showing all the battlefronts prepared.

In the servants’ bulky arms, the hulk-like figure held a large projectile weapon, a rifle glowing

with power.

“It has been a long time I wielded this arcane weapon” Iteq murmured softly,

“And once again, the hum of war beckons my lord, perhaps it draws us out of our forced

immortalities hmm?, bring joy to her cold heart forges” one of his rulers said as a jest.

Iteq glanced backwards at the hunched figure, for an android, the being behind him had decided

for some reason known only to the android ruler ancient, had decided to modify his form to

resemble an old decrepit creature. Of course, the ruler was one of the deadliest mages found in

the entire galaxy, not for his body for his mind. Where most androids were brilliant tacticians

and processors due to their machine minds, lord Ardentia of the path of the tactical dominion

was a monster on the fields of war.

Logistics, armaments, best utilizations of weapons where they’d do the most damage, Ardentia

was his go to android, his general of war and right now, Iteq would not have wished him to be

anywhere else than right here, coordinating the entirety of his empire. A snort came from a

female voice beside Ardentia, filled with mirth.

“Your heart is filled with nothing but pure ambition Ardentia, nothing but that” the female

android said.

Standing in a lithe body, glowing with blue lines of aether running across her frame, her face

covered by a robed hood that revealed nothing but her deep blue eyes. Behind her floated two

mechanical round orbs that fizzled with power, in her hand was a staff with a blue glowing blade

adorning its head, lady Astrafrost of house Astrafrost. Formerly a mage of pure ice, one of the

few pure mages of the empire, she had seen her form transform from the pact Ernesh had made

with Liakya, she had taken it in stride however, somehow seeing the good part. Marching

forwards with her staff, she pointed forwards.

“The forward defenses will soon engage, our forces are at maximum strength and that traitor has

summoned the bulk of his forces, even the blessed messengers of the true construct herself have

blessed our weapons, if we fall, then nothing in the cosmos can stand up to that evil” she said.

“What we should be doing, is taking the fight to them” another male voice growled.

That was a hulking figure, his form modified to bear as much weapons as possible, rifles, blades,

runic cannons strapped to his form, he was a walking calamity on a system level, the trusted

warlord of Iteq, the destroyer construct, wrath incarnate, ruler Thalos Cindertech, lord of the

flames. His steps left a trail of smoke behind, his glaives, his legendary weapons burning with

power. Of all of Iteq’s commanders, he was the most prone to anger and rash actions, perhaps it

was as a result of his path, the forge lord and warrior was a force to be reckoned with.

Iteq shook his head.

“We spread our forces and we’re done for, any messages from the brigade?” he asked,

It was a long shot, but the moment Iteq had heard that the brigade had withdrawn from the

galaxies, all going towards an unknown position, he knew what had happened, the endgame, the

final protocol for the brigade. It also meant that Liakya wasn’t playing nice with her siblings, and

Iteq wasn’t sure what was worse, the fact that they were cut off from the cosmos or that they

were stuck with a petulant supreme being who was adamant on cutting not just herself but the

rest of those who venerated her from help.

Alarms blared jarring him from his thoughts, his form springing to action.

“He comes” Ardentia said.

Even as the stars winked off, the sun flickering like a light bulb, Iteq prepared to meet the

destroyer of galaxies.

Ω

Moyo stared at what was left of his thrones, mantle and aether itself, a feeling of nostalgia

settling on him. Two more steps till he was complete, two more steps till he could face Apophis

and his ilk, till he could come to the rescue of his house. He glanced at the titan who sat on the

ground, staring at him, a soft smile on his face,

“Our time grows short” the titan said.

“And yet, I can feel it in you, the urge to leave this place” he completed.

Moyo nodded, speaking even as he breathed softly, his cire charged with raw power, everything

coalescing together, waiting for the last key to slot in to position.

“I’m not sure how long my people can last without me against chaos” he replied,

“My people, and to think there was a time you considered yourself a sort of external influence,

simply to watch, you’ve come a long way Moyo” the titan said.

Moyo shrugged, his golden tattoos glowing softly as they ran across his skin.

“With great powers come great responsibilities” Moyo replied.

The titan raised one eyebrow.

“Really?, spiderman?” he said with a chuckle as Moyo gave a soft smile.

“Nevertheless, I understand what you’re saying, and believe me, I know” the titan said.

He pointed at Moyo.

“Your mantle, the mantle, is meant to serve not just as a form of protection, but as a

representation of your authority and position” he said.

“Overtime, you have accumulated the strongest of perks from the strongest of beings, the

dragons, slowly absorbing and assimilating to your mantle, however, with the blessing of Filvux,

we have a rare chance to bring out what your mantle truly means” the titan said.

Moyo nodded.

“When do we start?” he asked.

The titan gave a soft smile.

“now” he replied as Moyo felt Oshosi's ferocity scream at something above him.

On his feet in the blink of an eye, he stared at a conjured silver spear, burning with pure aspect,

prime aspect that warped space around him.

“You can’t catch that with pure strength, just so you know” the titan said.

Moyo flicked his gaze at the titan and then back at the spear.

“To understand what your mantle is, what it serves as to those who see it, you need to know what

you’re defending against” the titan continued, speaking as if he had not just conjured a weapon

hat could tear through his physical defences like they were wet tissue.

Moyo nodded and summoned his mantle, nothing responding, his titan body simply in place,

reinforcing his already peak body. He turned in confusion to the titan who spoke.

“The moment you temporarily died, you lost that mantle, despite what the Archailect said, it

wasn’t yours, not genuinely anyways” the titan said offhandedly.

Moyo felt the bite of it, the truth of it, even from the beginning, when he had killed Evon, the

dragonoid, he had simply gotten a mantle infused with the powers of the draconic specie. He

closed his eyes, taking a deep breathe.

“What am I to do?” he asked.

“Draw from the true mantle bestowed upon you by Filvux, it's not her mantle, it’s the mantle, and

you must forge it into something you yourself are in tune with” the titan said.

The spear came down like the judgement of a god, lancing straight at the very essence of Moyo.

He called on the mantle of protection, he called on his aspect he had perhaps wondered, if his

notion of protection had been flawed. If he protected others, who was to protect him?, his mantle

was to represent the titan, represent him, but he was more than the titan, he was Moyo, he was a

child of Ife, he was a son of the myths of old, of Sango, the lord of thunder and lightning.

His body pulsed as he activated sages shield as well, feeling it become consumed by the mantle

of protection that manifested as a tiny crystal. He caught the spear as his hands burned, the pain

lancing straight for his soul even as he bit back a gut-wrenching scream. His legs cracked the

stones below, passing through the ground as the spear kept pushing him down, pushing down on

his soul, his very being as he pushed back.

His willpower was immovable, his word was law, this was his realm, his domain, here, he was

king, he was lord and he was law. He was a child of Ogun, the deity of iron, of warriors and of

metal, he was malleable, but whenever he wanted, he was unmovable. Something within his soul

shifted, a strength permeating his entire being, spreading out to reality as a shimmering haze

began to take shape even as his sight swam. He roared, drawing on his veneration and the prime

aspect, the same one whose shape accosted him.

“gbo mi” he said in his dialect, unaware during the moment.

he had said.

“emi ni omo irin, omo ina, omo Monomono, omo Ogun”

“iku mi o si lowo re, abi lowo enikankan, emi Ibere, emi ida, emi aabo”

His aspect, his authority, fused with the mantle of protection, his veneration and prime aspect

fused into him. He would push back, he was the ultimate shield, his mantle was a representation

of that, his mantle was him. There was no reason for it to change much, even as he felt his realm

react, pumping power through his form, he grinned even as his feet felt wobbly, he was drunk on

the revelation.

“DA PA DA!” he roared.

A cry came from his very being, resonating with reality as the prime aspect pulsed in

recognition, the spear shattering into motes of light that swirled around him. He panted, staring at

his hands as he saw a cloak settling on him, runic inscriptions swirling around it. Beneath it was

an armor of pure Aserite, glowing gold and purple, runic writings of his deeds and

accomplishments, written in the old tongue of the Yoruba people. He laughed as he sat on the

throne of mantle, accepting its presence, the final key to the completion of the mantle as it

crumbled to dust, swirling around him and seeping into him.

The titan summoned hundred of those spears, watching them manifest above Moyo and sending

them hurling towards his position. The moment they came close to him, his mantle activated, a

pulse was all it took, the spears shattering like glass all around him, a smile on Moyo’s face. the

titan floated closer to him.

“It looks good on you, the truth of your mantle” the titan said.

Moyo grinned.

“You can see it too, can’t you?” Moyo asked softly.

The titan nodded, behind Moyo, barely perceptible, was a shield, shimmering with the power of

the titan. Moyo took a deep breath and spoke.

“One last step” he said.

“Indeed, one last step” the titan replied.