Moyo felt Ajax clash with Araman at the other side of the system, scores of rulers, hundreds of diamonds, and thousands of golds joining in his attack, the system echoing with flashes of power. He pushed the thought from his mind, focusing on his own battle to come, watching as a sleek gold craft burned close to him, the Shieldborne on it. Josh had brought along the three commanders of the Shieldborne, the same ones that had followed him from the galaxy of the constructs.

Their armors burnished and glowing, their vessel had been built for one thing only, pure destruction and as it carved its way towards the ship of the Thousandblades, the large vessel that rivaled the former size of the Defiance before the upgrade by Liakya, Moyo kept an eye out for the battles happening around him. Josh and the three commanders landed on the vessel of the Thousandblades, laying down suppressive fire into the hordes of chaotic creatures that assaulted them. Deep within the vessel, Moyo could feel Altair and his masters as well as the aura of his former friends as they battled, keeping the chaos beings at bay.

Marthas’ signal pinged within his Hud and like a bolt of lightning, he crashed into the vessel of the Thousandblades, Oro in hand as he spread his aspect everywhere. Pausing as his Shieldborne surrounded him, he closed his eyes, scanning the vessel and locking on to Alvar and Sonia, and with a smile, he activated Ogun’s step, space twisting as he moved. Alvar was a blur, now master ranked, he had a literal ball of sunfire burning behind him, surrounding him in a domain of pure blistering heat that pushed back the creatures to an extent, protecting the refugees around him.

Even though his aspect did little to eradicate the creatures, the sol blade moved with finesse, scorching them to the extent of retreating, lances of burning flames burning them just as quickly as they reformed. Then Moyo was there, his aspect suffusing the room, his aspect dropping a boon on Alvar as his flames now burned with the gold of creation, his fire burning the creatures to a crisp. The shrieks and death throes of the creatures snapped Alvar out of the state he was in, panting softly, a soft smile on his face.

“It is good to see you Moyo,” he said.

Moyo nodded and moved, Ogun’s step taking him deeper into the vessel, Alvar pushing along with him, the both of them carving a path of destruction through the creatures of chaos that twisted into horrific shapes, their hold on reality tenuous at best as the aspect of the Thousandblades assaulted them continually. He could feel his Shieldborne in the distance, steadily carving their way through the creatures.

“Grandfather and father are at the engine room; the creatures have been making attempts to disable our ships!” Alvar called out.

Moyo nodded, suspecting so, if there were to be any signs of Azael on the ship, then that was where he would be. They met up with Raina, the dancing lady of ice-cold death and moonlight also standing her ground, rage and desperation in her eyes turning to elation as the aspect of the titan blade slammed into the area. The room, large enough to be a palace held the hundreds of ascenders of house Thousandblades, attacks, and techniques flying through the air as ascenders and creatures died on both sides, the battle as desperate as it was bloody. His entrance turned the battle the same way it did in other sectors of the ship, steadily they pushed towards the engine, Moyo closing down chaotic pathways, closing his mind from the gory sights they saw as they pushed.

He met up with his Shieldborne where they fought large oily creatures that looked like the mix between a scorpion and a mantis, its attacks blasting deadly chaotic energies at the Shieldborne whose Aserite armor took the brunt of the attacks. The other ascenders hadn’t been lucky, few remained standing, the rest either dead or their minds broken by the creatures. He still sensed no signs of Araman even as with a swing, he wiped out the creatures.

“PURIFY” he commanded.

With a blast of power that suffused the ship, he burnt every inch of chaos away from the vessel, grunting at the energy expended in one attack. With the ship cleansed, the ascenders slumped to the ground in exhaustion, eyes wide as some sobbed and others remained mute, their minds barely holding on to sanity. As a pathway opened, Altair and his three masters stepped through, the Thousandblades surrounded by his weapons, Durandal in his grip, Killian a mess with blood and torn cloth, lightning and moonlight glowing from his form.

Duval had his mask cracked and his face somewhat healed, he nodded at Moyo, Skatha however was missing one hand, and behind them was a hulking creature slowly burning to a crisp. Altair winced.

“Moyo,” he said in greeting.

“Altair” Moyo replied.

The Thousandblades was a cauldron of pure intent and aspect, his eyes roaming Moyo.

“You truly ascended to the rank of primordial,” he said.

Moyo gave a soft smile.

“we’ll talk later, right now I’m needed almost everywhere” Moyo replied.

Altair nodded.

“We were harried by near-infinite numbers of chaos creatures, entire planets completely consumed by Azael and the things he controls,” Killian said with a shudder.

Moyo was about to reply when he felt the urgent call of Martha.

“Link up with the other primordials, Ashira leads a vanguard to fortify her fathers’ forces, same with my masters,” Moyo said as he opened a pathway his Shieldborne right behind him.

“To see a day when even primordials would be pushed to the brink, supreme beings help us” Duval muttered.

Ω

Deep within the palace of the titan blade, Rohan was held in perpetual darkness, with no sight, no sound, and no touch. He had no idea of the passage of time, merely existing, rage, terror, and anger bubbling within him. He had almost gotten it all, the power of chaos, the power to snatch the very aspects from the supreme beings if all things had gone according to plan, but Ajax had to interfere, to release the reaper himself. Rohan had found himself contesting against not one but two adversaries, Araman and Azael, both of them pulling one over him. He felt his impotent rage lashing within him.

He had laid the foundations for all they were benefiting; he was the one who riled the Archailect to war, it was he who found a way for the abyss to break into the Archailect, and now, he was the one locked away, forgotten in some coffin, left to rot for Archailect knew how long. He shuddered, his throat sore, he had raged, screamed and his now empty core suppressed so badly that he might as well have been a fledgling. They had taken everything from him, but there was one thing they couldn’t take from him, his hatred, it burned ever bright, threatening to consume him.

He would persist, he would endure, the titan and his ilk were prone to make mistakes, or better still, Azael would make his way to this planet, Azael and Araman both, and when they cracked this world like an egg, he would be there, he’d find a way, he always did. He felt something within his core pulse as his eyes widened.

“Impossible,” he thought,

The titan blade had wiped out all traces of Azaels’ presence, including his aspect of chaos within his body, so what was that?. And then he felt that presence, eyes wide as he strained.

“Hello, my son,” the voice of Azael said within his mind.

Rohan found himself in a barren ashy wasteland, chained by the same aspect of the titan as a skeletal figure stood in front of him, eyes burning with the power of chaos. He strained, Azael chuckling.

“I’ll admit, seeing you so humbled makes me amused,” Azael said.

“I should be enraged, that a son of mine has been treated such, and yet, I can’t help but wonder if you truly were my seed,” Azael said as Rohans' eyes widened.

Azael gave a soft laugh.

“don’t get me wrong, I truly appreciate your actions, bringing the Archailect to war, stealing aspects from the supreme beings, your plan to become an abyssal prime and then sacrificing it to lord Apophis to ascend to a true Chaosborne or as I call it, chaos lord” Azael recounted as Rohan bristled.

“I truly appreciate your mind, I do, but you see, you have to admit, you had no plans to let me live, infact, I believe it was your plan for the harbingers or Eses to completely erase me from existence along with the nest” Azael continued,

“That way, your oath to see me freed would have been broken, because technically, you did try!, using your half-brother like that?, I couldn’t be prouder,” Azael said.

Rohan knew it now, he could see it right in front of him, the reaper had gone mad, but his lethality remained intact as Rohan felt his bones begin to burn with pure chaotic power as he felt his soul and core crack. Eyes wide, he stared at Azael, unable to talk, the power of the titan blade holding him still, even in this accursed projection, Azael knelt directly in front of Rohan.

“I knew when I sent you to find the home of the titan, I knew you’d believe you could take him on,” Azael said as he shook his head.

“Hubris my son, it was one curse you got from me, or should I say I gave it all to you,” he said.

He turned to the terror and raging eyes of Rohan.

“See, whenever you take in the power of chaos, it leaves a rune within you, carved into your very bones and soul, and it gives whoever is the lord of chaos, complete control over his minions, that would be you and Ajax in this case” he continued,

“Except in the case of the bastard, Eses somehow interfered, blasted dragon oracle that she was, I thought I’d cut her access to the strings of fate, and now, Ajax has been freed of my control,” Azael said with a sigh.

“His body would have been the perfect vessel, while you were ever the conniver, he was a true warrior, a shame I couldn’t have a child with both in one body,” Azael said again.

“And now I’ll have to make do with you, you have given me a path into the home of the titan blade, for while they fight to hold back my forces from overrunning the system, I will break down his home from within, and it’s all thanks to you,” Azael said as he stood straight.

“You have served me well Rohan, everything that has happened up until this point, has been by your work, have no fear, our dreams will be realized,” Azael said,

Rohan raged, pulling at the chains fruitlessly, watching as the skeletal hand of Azael descended on his head.

“My child, my second seed, my right hand, by the authority of Apophis, REST” Azael commanded.

Rohan wept on the inside, even as he struggled to put up his resistance, he knew it was futile, his very aspect was of chaos. There was no alternative plan, no scheming, nothing he could pull, watching as the aspect shattered his core and began to eat his soul, dissolving it as he slowly began to lose himself.

He was Rohan, son of a bastard, son of the traitor, the betrayer.

He was Rohan, son of the reaper, he was destined for great things.

He was…. who was he?, why was he angry?.

What was he?, where was he?

As the last vestiges of soul left his body, only one impression was left, hatred, hatred even as Azael took control of his body, opening his eyes in the nothingness, the reaper of chaos smiled as his mythic core formed and with a sliver of his power, tore the chains apart and blew open the coffin stepping foot within the realm of the titan blade.

Ω

Martha felt all strands of fate go blank, and watched as her sight was cut off, terror speared straight through her as she sent the signal straight into the mind of Moyo before the connection was cut off. All around the system, entire battalions and cohorts of the legion lost all coordination as they were cut off from her commands. Her first hand moved, seated at her side, he wrapped her in hundreds of illusions, more and more illusions spread across the entire planet, hundreds of Martha manifesting.

She felt her hand going to the coin within her robes, it was a last resort, swallowing nervously, she refrained from activating the teleportation beacon that would forcibly drag her to the Defiance. She had seen this play out, she knew, she had felt it coming, but was she strong enough to face it?. Her spiders gave her no chance to protest, ten of them, the strongest of the entire clan ferried her out, moving straight deeper into the palace as entire doors forged of Aserite slammed shut behind them.

Arcane sigils began weaving even as soft alarms blared across the palace, summoning the entire forces within the palace. The Shieldborne, the new initiates that had barely been bloodied but itching for battle had been posted around the palace to protect her, and even then, she felt them running at blistering speed, diamonds all as one by one they appeared, activating defensive sigils along the way as they turned the palace to a cage.

This was the ultimate gamble, her messages couldn’t go outside the planet, but she could damn well play her cards here and now. She knew the reaper would play a card like this, intuition had warned her, and she had been ready.

“It is time” she sent to one of her cards.

It pained her to address him as such, but from the moment he had awoken, he had known as well, the aspect of the titan tied them together, and even if Moyo himself had been blinded to the strings of fate, they were not, not him in particular. she felt him respond with a sentence,.

“The titan be with us all”

Martha paused, her body doused with a chill as her first hand carried her deeper into the palace, speaking into his communication construct. Martha finally realized just what this meant, a soft pained smile on her face, she shut her eyes tight as she spoke.

“TO ME” she commanded.

Space rippled as two long needles appeared in the air, their significance in reality literally twisting space around them. They floated to her side even as she pushed deeper into the palace, finally reaching the large room and stepping in, the giant Aserite doors swinging open on her command. They stepped into the throne room of the titan blade and Martha felt the presence of the titan consume them in its warmth, it brought tears to her eyes, the raw power Moyo wielded, the magnificence of it all, and yet, she knew that she may not see the end of the day. She walked briskly to his throne, passing the canister that held the one thing the reaper was after.

The rune of decay.

Held in the most protected place on the entire planet, the very throne room of the titan blade, right at his seat of power. She sat on his throne and felt the aspect of the titan nearly consume her, her body burned bright as it recognized her and settled.

“By his will” she stated.

“By the authority of the titan blade, I hereby assume control of Ibere, to protect, as is his edict” she commanded.

The entire planet listened to her will, pulsing in synchronicity with her, filling her with so much power that Martha wondered if this was what Moyo felt like on a normal day. She held it in check, her will might not be Aserite like Moyo, but it was more than elastic to contain his power to an extent, besides, she didn’t need to use it for long, she couldn’t anyways. No master was meant to wield such power, and even now, she saw its reluctance as it began to eat at her lifeforce, the eternal rule of power, the law of equivalent exchange.

She felt Moyo above the planet, the Defiance turning its guns to the planet, she saw the burning light of teleportation as Idris appeared within the room, eyes wide as he held his spear and shield in his hands as he stared at her in shock.

“Martha, what is this?’ he said, power leaking from his every pore.

“He is here, the reaper” she whispered as her eyes roamed across the planet, struggling to contain the power.

“Then the lord- “

“No,” she said, the word a command as Idris paused,

“No, that’s what the reaper wants, he needs the titan here, he needs,” she said as she winced.

It was too much strain controlling the power and talking.

“Trust me,” she said finally, eyes pleading,

Idris stared at her, and then nodded.

“Shieldborne, with me” he commanded.

They were loyal to their Valoris, but in his absence, they knew well who was next in power and they assembled at his side.

“We will die before he takes this sanctuary of the titan” he commanded.

The Shieldborne, all powers in their rights stamped their feet as realms upon realms interposed themselves seamlessly, locking the room in so tight a space that it could have been a spatial vault. That done, she stared at where she had sent the titan blade, a spatial hole where a giant planet was pushing through, the realm world of the reaper, come to destroy them all. She smiled, sending one last message to him.

“Hold fast Moyo, please” she commanded.

She felt him stiffen and sensed the urgency in her voice as he tried sending a message to her but felt the connection cut off. Wide-eyed, he fought the urge to come for her, and he could, her shining knight, her son she never had, and how she wished for it, but resisted the urge, knowing she wouldn’t lead him astray. She had held the house together in his absence, she had fought tooth and nail to see his will made into reality, and she’d die before she saw it destroyed.

Ω

Azael had torn the prison apart, wiping out the ascenders within the prison, the so-called order of the titan, he snorted, the kid really was vain. Discarding the desiccated body of the diamond ranker known as Micah, he stepped out of the rubbles as he froze, smiling and turning his gaze upwards to the man who floated high above him, a golden halo behind him and an open book above his head.

“And who might you be?” he asked, feeling the aspect of the titan crash into him.

He’d need to move fast; he wasn’t sure how long he could stay here before the aspect of the titan burned his existence away. The man raised one hand as Azael summoned his scythe.

“I am the herald of the titan, his arm of judgment, and you, o abomination are nothing,” the man said.

Azael laughed as he attacked.