Moyo watched Ajax tear through the air with the blow he landed, it had been hard for him to restrain his strength, even with his Hud pulsing as it was within his mind. To be honest, it had been easy for him to restrain his blow, he just didn’t want to, his mind was a cold and terrible place currently and it took a lot of restraint not to unleash his full might on his traitor of a master. One second he was watching Ajax tear through the air towards a continent on the horizon, a new one from what he could see, large enough to take three to four of the continents on Gaia and still have enough space.

It was the perfect place for what he had in mind as he was next to Ajax in the blink of an eye, gripping his form and crashing into the ground with an explosion that rocked the very plates of the continent. He could feel the presence of his masters locking on to him, observing what was going on as he released a pulse of his power, a warning for them to back off, a request they immediately complied with. Watching as Ajax slowly extracted himself from the deep crater he had made with his body, he kept mute, not trusting himself to talk.

Ajax shook his head, glancing at him.

“I deserved that,” he said.

Moyo gave no reply, opening his vault as his raw aspect billowed out, painting the skies purple and gold again as Ajax narrowed his eyes. He picked an average looking blade from within his vault, some weapon he had obtained a long time ago, and pointed it at Ajax, taking a stance. Ajax’s eyebrows rose in surprise.

“I will not raise my blade against my disciple and brother,” he said.

“Too bad” Moyo replied and swung his blade.

Intent tore through the position Ajax occupied, his master having to raise his blade, Krial, to deflect the attack. It managed to leave him in one piece with lines adorning his body, closing up almost immediately, but it was the shock on his face that lasted as Moyo shot towards him. He locked away his emotions, and his newfound abilities, and simply depended on his sword skills and raw strength. He saw Ajax’s expression go from shock to acceptance, to determination.

“Fine then,” he said.

Krial burned with white blistering power, power Moyo was familiar with as rage burned within him.

“What did you do to Eses?” he growled.

Ajax glanced at his blade, realization dawning on his face, but before he could talk, Moyo was next to him, sword swinging as the blade collided with Krial and shattered. Moyo grabbed the shattered blade in the air with raw aether, sharpening it with intent and sending it hurling through the air towards Ajax. The omega blade danced through the rain of blades, the sharp projectiles tearing through his skin no matter how many times he dodged and turned, no doubt wondering how Moyo managed to know his next position.

It took a few seconds for him to realize, growling.

“Anshara,” he said grimly.

Moyo was on him, his aspect coating his hands as Ajax brought his blade swinging down on him, with a snort he slapped away the weapon, catching Ajax off guard as he delivered a deadly punch to his midsection. He heard bones snap as the omega blade shot into the distance, crashing far away on the continent that was simply black rock and ash, in another blink he was next to Ajax, dodging as he felt the attack before he manifested, feeling the intent gather around him. With a thought he dispelled the attack, Ajax’s eyes wide as Moyo seized the aether around the air.

“I trusted you” he growled.

With one thought, he coalesced it all, lightning, intent, and fire, imbuing them with the aspect of intent and sending them crashing on Ajax, tearing apart the entire area with a bang. When the dust settled, he saw a white translucent shield of cosmic power protecting Ajax, a reminder that he had somehow acquired the aspect of Eses. He drew his fist back, aura and aspect coating it.

“BREAK” he commanded before releasing the punch.

The shield wobbled and then shattered into a million fragments, but Ajax had dodged the blow, with one eye swollen he roared as his fist connected with Moyos’ chest, blasting him backward. He felt nothing, but he heard the bones in Ajax’s hands crack as the omega blade bit back a scream, landing on his feet to see Ajax tearing towards his front, rage in his eyes. Moyo watched as his former master drew his blade backward, preparing to strike.

“Oro” he called out.

Like it had always been there, the blade flashed into existence, crashing into Krial with barely restrained glee, two powerful aspects warping reality around him as he extended his Ashe, willing the damage to remain on the continent alone. He tore towards Ajax whose body had healed back, the two of them crashing in a series of blows, Moyo desperately wanted to feel something, but his body was too strong, too powerful.

He felt the hidden aspect within Ajax, his confusion growing more and more as well as his disgust.

“how’s daddy treating you?” he growled as he landed a punch on Ajax, the omega blade staggering.

“Feeling accomplished yet?” he asked as he threw another punch.

For some reason, Ajax was able to deflect the blow, landing his back on Moyo who stood stoically.

“No, I don’t” he growled.

“Good, you shouldn’t” Moyo replied as a knee to Ajax’s midsection robbed him of his breath.

A punch to the skull drove him like a nail into the ground.

“You wanted him released, and now you’ve unleashed something terrible on the Archailect,” Moyo said.

Watching as Ajax struggled to get up.

“Tell me, omega blade, was it worth the trillions who died?’ he growled his voice rising.

“Was it worth the countless planets and systems you destroyed?” he roared as he grabbed Oro in the air.

Ajax struggled to his knees.

“They had it coming!” he shouted.

“Every single one of their despicable race!” Ajax continued as Moyo watched.

“If I had a chance, to do it again, then I would raze them all to the ground, every single last member of their specie” he growled.

Moyo gave a weak laugh.

“How hypocritical of you” he started.

“One half of you belongs to their progenitor!, the other half to your abomination of a father” he growled.

“he’s not my father!” Ajax growled back.

Moyo shook his head, power coalescing on his blade as it burned brightly.

“You don’t even have anything left within you, do you?” he said, pity and rage in his eyes.

Ajax breathed heavily.

“My only regret is releasing that bastard; I regret nothing else” he finished.

Moyo shook his head, fighting back the tears, staring at his former master, he found himself unwilling to strike him down. The presences on the continent drew his attention, Ashira, Martha, Annika, and the rest of his clan head and legion lords, he growled.

“I told you not to come,” he said.

He watched Martha walk towards him, at her side stood Josh, the Valoris moving quietly as well.

“Josh, stay back, this does not concern you, any of you” he growled, the aether carrying his voice towards them.

“My place is at your side lord” Josh simply replied.

One by one they moved as well, Ashira walking briskly as she passed Martha and Josh, he could feel it all, feel everything, and he hurt. His breath was ragged.

“Well?” Ajax said.

“Are you going to finish it?, relieve me of my burden, because believe me I’d- “

“Mr. Ajax, silence,” Marthas’ voice said as she appeared, Ashira already at his side, one hand holding his hand that held Oro.

“don’t,” she said softly.

His eyes flicked to her.

“don’t, he saved us, don’t “she repeated.

Martha stood silently, hands folded behind her as she stared at him, he could find no judgment in her eyes, none at all, and it nearly broke him. She nodded as he dropped his hand, Oro extinguishing his aspect as it floated by his side.

“Your benevolence is legendary,” she said as Moyo snorted.

Martha turned to Ajax.

“Do you see now?’ she said to him.

Moyo wondered what had transpired between them.

Ajax fell back, panting softly, the rest of his house powers surrounded him silently.

“Two enemies are coming for us” Moyo started.

“Azael is after Araman,” Ajax said softly.

Moyo was loathe to agree but he nodded.

“And yet, they realize I am the bigger danger” Moyo replied.

“they’ll want to draw us out,” Martha said.

“The rest of the Archailect remains undefended,” Moyo said, holding his head as his Hud pounded the more.

Ashira stared into his eyes.

“Hud?” she asked.

He nodded.

“You can deal with all these later, you need to go through them,” she said.

Moyo shook his head, turning to Martha and his assembled powers.

“I’ll be out for a while, draw a plan, we need to protect as much of the Archailect as we can, slow down Azael,” he said.

Martha nodded

“Rest, your domain is in safe hands,” she said.

He nodded, bending his will to open a pathway to his palace as he stepped through, Martha behind him. The rest was a blur for him till he reached his room and collapsed on the king-sized bed, and in a second he was out, sweet darkness taking him.

Ω

Ashira watched him sleep, biting back the rage as she turned to Martha, ignoring Ajax who stood behind them. She smiled at Augustus; the diamond ranked butler who bowed to her.

“Ensure no one disturbs his rest, he’s earned it,” she said.

“Rest assured my lady,” he said as the three Shieldborne who had accompanied them stood at attention right next to his bed.

“Not even the supreme beings will breach this sanctuary,” Augustus said.

She nodded and turned to Martha.

“We have a lot to talk about,” she said.

Martha nodded.

“Right this way,” she said.

Ashira paused, turning to Ajax.

“The only reason I’m remotely willing to stand your presence is the fact that you would remotely be of use to us,” she said coldly.

“I haven’t forgiven you, Moyo might have, despite his rage, he would never strike you down,” she said as she stepped closer to him.

“I, on the other hand, would have no compulsion, got it?” she said.

Ajax stared at her for a second.

“clearly” he replied.

She turned swiftly from him and back to Martha.

“Is the Archailect communication still up and running?, it’s been restricted on my Hud” she said.

Martha nodded.

“We have no issues concerning that here on Ibere, this entire planet runs on the aspect of Moyo” she responded.

“Trying to get in contact with house Kairos?” Martha asked.

Ashira nodded.

“We need to start working together, the Archailect is too big a place to try and defend despite Moyos’ good intentions” Ashira murmured.

“What are you proposing?” Martha asked, a gleam in her eyes.

“The same thing I believe you want to propose as well” Ashira replied.

They got to a large room, Martha tapping a side of the wall as it was immediately covered in darkness. Metallic black shutters slammed down on the windows and a sticky feeling, more like a shrouding aspect suffused the entire room. One by one the masters of house Titan Blade made their way to the room, including the legion commanders, each taking a seat around the large black table that appeared. It was a sober mood, grim looks on all the faces of the powers in one spot, Ashira tracked Ajax as he made his way into the room, aware of all the eyes on him.

He sat at the farthest chair in silence, Martha nodding at him before turning to Ashira.

“I’m guessing house Thousandblades as well?” she asked.

“The Thousandblades has ascended to the rank to primordial status, he needs to be here as well, all our allies,” she said.

It took a few seconds, but the connections were placed through and the faces of Typhon, Tiamat, and Altair graced the holographic stand.

“Daughter,” Typhon said with relief in his voice.

“Hello father, mother, lord Altair,” she said.

“Please, call me- “Altair said as his eyes froze, locking on Ajax.

It took a few seconds for the Thousandblades to get his bearing before speaking.

“I believe you have a spy within your numbers, a very deadly one,” he said softly.

Ajax gave no reply, merely watching, Ashira spoke up.

“He saved us during her rush out of the system,” she said.

“Quite coincidental, don’t you think?” Typhon asked.

The gaze of the primordial burned with such cold lethality that the masters in the room shuddered, Ajax raised his blade, revealing the aspect of Eses burning on it.

“I serve Azael no longer,” he said.

Altair’s’ gaze widened.

“So, it’s true?, the grim has been unleashed?” he asked.

“That explains the chaos incursions on the fringes of our galaxy,” Tiamat said softly.

“You managed to repel their forces?” Martha asked.

“To an extent, all outlying systems and planets are being evacuated, only the core system will remain,” Typhon said.

“It has strained our resources, but with the sparse aether, we have no choice” he finished.

“Killian, Duval, and Skatha somehow have enough resistance to the aspect, I believe it’s something Moyo did to the primordial shards he bestowed upon them, again, we owe him a favor,” Altair said.

“Then we can all agree that we need to put up a united front against the enemies from all sides,” Ashira said.

“We have it in good faith that Araman gears up for an attack against Ibere, Moyo repelled his initial stealth attack,” Martha said.

“he’s back from his death and ascension?” Typhon said, eyes lit.

Ashira gave a smile.

“Yes, but you knew that already, seeing the look on your faces” Ashira accused.

Kairos shrugged,

“I had my suspicions, a full-blown primordial and aether blessed, another great power has risen,” he said.

“War does breed the strongest ascenders,” Altair said quietly.

“What would you have us do daughter?” Tiamat asked.

“We would love to spare reinforcements, but mere travel between systems is hard enough as it is, to send forces would weaken the house, our masters already have their hands full fighting back incursions from what we now know is Azael” she finished.

Ashira turned to Ajax, and the omega blade nodded.

“Azaels” goal first and foremost is to bring down the system that is the Archailect” he started.

“To do that, he needs to bring down the last citadel, and to also do that, he had two options,” he said.

“One is to get to full strength, and he can’t do that yet, something about the abyss being half the strength of chaos as a whole and forcibly separated from it,” Ajax said.

“So, the rumors were indeed true,” Typhon said to Tiamat who nodded.

“Rumors?” Martha asked.

All eyes turned to the primordial who spoke.

“I suppose with the literal end of days bearing down on us, secrets are useless,” Tiamat said, nodding to her husband.

“We are not clear yet, but the biggest secret the supreme beings won’t let out is the origin of chaos, we’re led to believe that the abyss and all its corruption was the greatest threat to the Archailect,” he said.

“But as we grew stronger and broke through the ruler, we began to notice a few things, especially as new primordials, the abyss felt incomplete despite its full aspect,” he said.

“of course, Eses and Lucirion knew, as well as the harbingers, well, those that existed then, Zane and Xerxes were among their number so they were in on the secret” Tiamat added.

“It is rumored, that chaos was the original foe, one splintered by some unknown force to weaken its power,” Typhon said.

“Not the supreme beings?” Ashira asked.

Typhon snorted.

“The supreme beings as they call themselves are powerful, no doubt about that, but they are merely fragments of a whole, each wielding a vital aspect of a whole, an aspect we’ve tried for countless millennia to realize,” Typhon said.

“An aspect that now burns within your very beloved” Tiamat said with a smile.

Ashira scrunched her face together.

“The titan aspect?” she asked.

Typhon shook his head.

“Yes and no, we’re not too sure, and to be honest, only Moyo can explain it to us, but as it stands, he wields the most potent weapon that can harm chaos and Azael in tow. Over the near infinite existence of the Archailect, the supreme beings have tried to replicate the effect, to create powers that could for all purposes burn if not hold chaos at bay” he said.

“Eses, the cosmic aspect, Lucirion the aether blessed, these two are the pinnacle of that process, and we call them transcendents” Tiamat explained.

“Transcendent?” Annika asked, speaking up for the first time,

“Indeed, ascenders whose aspect has for all purposes, broken through the final barrier to rank up there among the true aspects of the Archailect, becoming fundamental aspects,” Typhon said.

“It is why the traitor over there is no emissary of Eses, he truly has seen his path evolve to become the aspect of the cosmic dragon” Tiamat added.

Ashira wondered just what her parents would think if they realized Ajax still had the aspect of chaos within him.

“So you’re saying Moyo is one of them, a transcendent?” Ashira asked again.

“Yes, and for all purposes, pure powerful, the more venerations he acquires, the powerful he becomes, he is the archailects one true defense against Azael,” Typhon said.

“Which proves my point that he needs to consume the abyss to be at full strength, Araman on the other hand is a pseudo prime abyssal lord and needs the last rune within Moyos' possession to even remotely have a chance against Azael” Ajax said coming in.

“Meaning Azael can’t come after Moyo, but he’ll go after Araman first right?, one problem solved,” Ayo said.

“I wish it was that easy,” Altair said shaking his head.

Ashira appreciated that the primordial could now see the full picture.

“Both forces know Moyo is the bigger threat, they both know they can’t assault your system head-on with him there, but they also know Moyo wouldn’t standby and watch the Archailect be ravaged,” Altair said,

“they’ll attack the Archailect, without the brigade, the jades, or even the Runebearers around to protect the Archailect, it’s a free slaughtering range” Typhon growled.

“All the more reason I have a plan to propose,” Ashira said.

“we’re all ears,” Altair said.

“We bring every system we can close to Moyo” she simply said.

The room was a bit silent, Typhon staring at his daughter incredulously.

“What?” he said.

“I’m not sure I follow,” Altair said hesitantly.

“I know you primordials can do it, draw entire planets through the Archailect to a certain position,” she said.

“We can, but the raw aspect and power to do so, we’re not all Moyo, besides, Azael won’t standby and watch it happen,” Tiamat said.

Martha nodded.

“It is why we will light up this system like a beacon for the next two days, Moyo and a special set of ascenders will ride out to occupy Araman and Azael, holding them in one spot while the primordials with your help do your best to pull together as many systems and planets as possible” Martha explained,

“you’re talking about a massive mini-universe, there are near infinite numbers of galaxies, and the archailect has absorbed a good number of them, even if we pull it off, we can’t save everyone,” Altair said.

Martha frowned.

“We know, but we’d be saving a lot, and it’s the only option we’ve got currently, that or watch an untold number of galaxies drown into oblivion” she finished.

The primordials nodded.

“And is Moyo aware of this plan?” Typhon asked.

Ashira nodded.

“We need to move quickly,” she said.

“What do you want us to do?” Altair asked.

Ω

A few hours later, Ibere lit up like a beacon, its aspect and power so bright that systems away, primordials could feel it, their cartographers marking out the nearest nexus jump points to get to the system. A recording was being sent around, across the empires of the primordials down to those of the ancients, rulers and even countless worlds ruled by diamonds and golds, it came up with the face of Martha, the shadow weaver, and all around her were the various sigils and crests of the great primordials,

“My name is Martha Shadowweaver, and I am the voice of the Titan Blade” she started,

“Please, we have no time, listen if you want to live,” she said

Ω

Azael sat upon his throne, rage in his eyes, he had to give the child credit, it was a plausible plan, and it could only mean one thing.

The titan blade was coming for him.

He felt the aspect of chaos roiling all around him, rage in his system, as well as the thrill of battle, he would await the chosen of the Archailect, it was time to kick things into full battle, Araman could wait, he had bigger beings to kill.