The arcane generals were not happy, even as they guzzled elixirs of healing, their bodies all but rejuvenated from the worst of the abyssal effects, their eyes spoke another word entirely,

Rage, pure rage,

Moyo had been staring at them from where he sat, ignoring his notifications, he watched the beings in front of him in silence. Anger, resentment and pain warred within him, each battling for dominance as he breathed in and out, an act he no longer had any use for but used in this situation to contain his powers from bubbling. They had failed, technically they had won, but they had failed, Mortas was still alive. As absurd as the notion was, Mardar had announced it to them the moment he had released the power of the aether blessed and the fortress had settled down to a husk of a vessel devoid of power.

Floating in space with no power, the full forces of the armada had latched onto the gigantic craft, scores of reinforcements making their way through the labyrinth that was the vessel. Moyo had no idea who now owned the vessel, but he could care less, not when the main reason they had made it to the ship had failed,

“How?” he spoke, for the first time since the battle had ended,

All gazes turned to him, Altair where he crouched, staring at the spot where two of his rulers had been annihilated, no doubt some kingdom or empire had lost their main icons of strength. The generals turned to him, seeing the looks of barely concealed disappointments in their gazes. They blamed him he thought with anger, blamed him for failing to kill the crane blade, he turned to Mardar though, unwilling to let his rage consume him,

“Why, why didn’t he die?” Moyo asked,

“You killed his shell, his mortal form, to my dawning horror, Mortas has ascended not just his body, he is now truly a creature of the abyss, a higher tiered one now if what I saw was true” Mardar said,

Sighing as he stared at his burnt robes, the scourge rune continued,

“And if my guess is right, this same situation would be playing out in all systems, the brotherhoods ascenders serving as a conduit for their respective lords, their mortal forms being extinguished and sent deep into the abyss” he explained,

Judging by the looks of pure anger on the faces of the generals, Moyo guessed this was true. Getting to his feet, he let Gegun vanish, noticing the look of curiosity Mardar gave the weapon, walking to the now broken crystal column of former abyssal powers, he picked a shard that crumbled to dust before vanishing,

“you’re saying we played right into their hands?’ Altair asked softly from where he knelt,

Moyo turned, staring at the grey moist walls that spoke of millions of tiny cracks, unwilling to meet the eyes of the thousand blades. His HUD blinked aggressively at the side as he took deep breaths, stilling his nerves,

“We were, for no better words, played” Mardar confirmed,

“No doubt retreating to that archailect forsaken world that now boils with the raw energies of the abyss” the male general said, spitting,

“Then we blow the world, we pound it till nothing but dust and light is left, we have the firepower, we can do it” Altair said as he stood,

They had lost two rulers, one Moyo had noticed, the other he hadn’t even seen when she had ceased to exist. The horror and fear had been too much for the other two rulers who had quickly torn open pathways back to their flagships the moment they had cleared the room of abyssal power. Moyo understood where they were coming from though, for masters to so easily be killed, the supposed height of the archailect, it brought a jarring realization to them.

No one in their sane minds, who had struggled to the rank of ruler, would so willingly throw their lives away in battle for the slim chance of gaining enlightenment to ascend to the rank of ancient. Evidently the rulers thought as much and had for no other words left the campaign, a loss in reputation was better off than death in general though, and Moyo silently agreed.

The generals shook their head as one,

“The planet must be wrestled from the powers of the abyss” the female said,

“It is the will of the supreme beings” the male completed,

Altair gave a dry laugh as Moyo felt his skin prickle with the sharp edges of a blade, the power of the thousand blades spilling all around him,

“The will of the supreme beings” he said, his tone mocking,

“Ancient Altair” Mardar said, his tone conveying the warning he no doubt was trying to pass along to the thousand blades,

The generals would take no blasphemy to the supreme beings,

“Look around you!” Altair shouted as his power exploded out of him,

Moyo could had shielded himself from the force, from the rain of aspect blades that further deteriorated the entire room further like the jade and generals did. He let it touch him though, he let the stings that left no visible scars crash against his skin in a wave that conveyed his own rage along with it,

“Altair” he said softly, not like the ancient could hear him though, but still he tried,

“We have sacrificed countless lives in the pursuit of this goal, even now, our planetary forces have been reduced to a husk of their former glories” he raged,

It was the first time Moyo had seen the thousand blades let loose, the façade of calm that covered him cracking, revealing the concealed anger within. It vanished almost immediately as he gained control of his rage, breathing in and exhaling,

“How many more lives, more rulers, masters and those beneath us must we sacrifice for this?” he asked calmly,

“No amount of lives is enough for the eradication of the taint of the abyss” the female general said,

“that’s where you’re wrong” Moyo calmly said, drawing all attention to himself,

The fiery gazes of the generals settling on him, Altair’s eyes observing and Mardar, a silent but powerful presence stood behind them, barely on his feet. He turned to them,

“The thousand blades is right, we continue in this trajectory and there will be few powerful ascenders left by the end of this conquest, not in great numbers anyways” he said,

“There have been records of great cataclysms the archailect has faced, it has overcome them and it will overcome this one as well” the female general said,

Moyo stared at her in absolute silence, keeping his disgust on a tight leash, he nodded wordlessly and opened a pathway, honing in on Idris and his masters now that he could feel them clearly. Without another word to them, he stepped through, coming out right on a large floor of black rock where his forces were gathered,

What was left of them anyways,

His presence had not been noticed, and Moyo shrouded his core immediately, floating to the top of a black column and observing in silence. The cohorts had been decimated to half their strengths, that much he could see, each cohort setting up an archailect resonator that pulsed with aether. Finally opening his HUD, its notifications flooding into his screen,

Notice: you have killed:

Elite of Molrik, Hoshan decayer level: ERROR Mortas (mortal form) level: ERROR

For this you get:

Level 700! (2,000 points) Step of Ogun(R)- 850 Digi Aye(R)-850 Runic Shield(R)-600 10,000,000 diamond coins 100,000,000 gold coins 500,000,000 silver coins 1,000,000,000 bronze coins 100 mythic aether shards 1000 legendary aether shards 10,000 rare aether shards 100,000 uncommon shards 1,000,000 common shards

Notice: you have been awarded the title: mutator’s bane

Mutator’s bane:

You have etched your name as an eternal foe of the aspect of mutation and its lord, every creation of mutation will immediately attack you on sight!. Benefits of title:

-100 to all aspect and aura abilities of mutator’s creations Rage of all mutator’s creations on the battlefield Terror: all mutator’s creations will be gripped by terror at your presence.

Moyo stared at the notifications, taking a deep breath and exhaling, bringing up his stats, he added one thousand points each to his agility and mana, rounding them all up to six thousand. He hadn’t been strong enough; he had seen it during that battle. Sure, his aspect had been the deciding factor, but only because he had caught their enemies off-guard, nothing more than a stroke of luck. He checked his stat, seeing his aspect tier had increased to 20% to the third tier,

Name: Moyosore titan blade

Path: Titan blade

Body: Draconic Titan (+90% defense against mental attacks)

Bloodline name: titanic body

Race: Human

Rank: master (primordial)

Level: 700 (100 points)

Titan Aspect: Tier 2 (20% to tier 3)

Legendary core user: mountain stronghold of the titans

Mantle: Deific scales of the titan

Title: bane of the hive, draconic slayer, evolving ascender, mutator’s bane

Skills:

Deific Greed of Esu (L)-800 Sage’s Eyes(L)-800 Oya’s Elixir (L)-950 Step of Ogun (R)-850 Oshosi’s Ferocity (L)-850 Digi Aye (R)-850 Runic Shield(R)-600 Mutators Resistance(L)-550

Edicts:

Da pa da Shi Irapada

Attributes:

Titans might: 6450 Titan’s Tenacity: 6072 Titan’s Ashe: 6000 Titan’s Physique: 6100 Titan’s Agility: 6020 Titan’s Mana: 6105

BOONS

Resistant to rucar poisoning Resistant to lava Resistant to razorback poisoning Resistance to elemental lightning (10%)

It was astonishing how much growth killing an elite could bring to him, added to the fact that he had taken out Mortas’s mortal form. Watching in silence as Idris spoke quietly to the legion, he closed his eyes, taking a moment to gather his thoughts before activating his step of Ogun, appearing next to a gold ranker who was seriously injured. Bringing out a rare healing elixir from the bunch he had in his vault, he gave the groaning ascender who only stared with wide eyes as his body was instantly healed.

His presence began to be noticed as he unshrouded his core, revealing his full strength and power. Eyes blazing with power, the ascenders around him went to their knees, his aspect bathing them in its power that restored them to full health. Standing tall in the midst of bowing ascenders, Moyo spoke, his voice breaking,

“Rise, my legion” he whispered,

Rising to the gaze of their lord, Moyo turned tohis masters who had come closer, he gave a soft smile,

“I’m glad you’re all alive” he said softly,

“it’ll take more than that to end us lord” Fern said softly,

Moyo nodded with a sad smile,

“How many did we lose?” he asked,

Idris stepped forward, pausing before turning to the rest, reluctant to speak,

“How many Idris?” Moyo asked again softly,

“Approximately two” he said,

“Two hundred?’ Moyo asked,

Idris shook his head,

“No lord, two thousand, a hundred Prometheans included lord” Idris replied,

Moyo nodded wordlessly he tore open a pathway, leading back to his ship itself, the protective shields parting with his mental command,

“All cohorts, retreat back to your respective battleships, withdraw to titan itself” he said softy,

Idris held back Tomasa who attempted to talk, sensing the simmering rage of the titan blade. The general of his forces nodded, a general order ringing around the entire forces. Additional pathways to each of the ships opened u, fuelled by the titan blade as they trudged through in silence. Soon enough, only he and Idris were left, primordial and champion standing in silence,

“Are you alright my lord?’ Idris asked,

“That remains to be seen, doesn’t’ it?” Moyo replied softly,

Idris nodded wordlessly,

“We have a list of names, everyone that fell during this campaign have been recorded and their names sent to titan” Idris said,

Moyo nodded again in silence,

“Walk with me” he said after a while,

“You doubt my decision to withdraw the troops” Moyo said,

“To be frank my lord, titan belongs to pontiff Matthew and his entire order of ascenders who love you a bit too much” Idris replied as Moyo chuckled, cracking a soft smile,

“But yes, I doubt that decision, as your second in command of your forces, and as a brother” Idris said,

Moyo paused, taking a deep breath,

“I’m not sentimental Idris, I’m not doing this from a place of me thinking I can save everyone Idris” Moyo replied,

“I know, you fear by the time the war is done, the legion will exist in name only” Idris said,

Moyo nodded, gazing at the reinforcements from the other fleets began to pour in securing every area, disgusted by the looks of victory they had on their faces, he spoke,

“let’s get out of here” he said,

Snapping his hands as a pathway opened up straight to the defiance itself, primordial and champion stepping through to the defiance. Ship mistress Urne saluted, shola appearing next to his throne, Moyo nodding at them both,

“Status?” he asked,

“All battleships of the cohorts received no damages, the defiance is working at 95% capability, repairs are taking place as we speak” Urne reported,

“And the other forces of the armada?” he asked,

“Similar situation all round, all forces have been told to gather and make haste for the space around planet Molrik, the flagship of the brigade and thousand blades will lead the charge” Urne said,

Moyo turned to Idris, staring in silence at his champion before sighing,

“One more time Idris” he said,

The Geb hand and champion of the titan blade nodded solemnly,

“it’ll be a battle to remember lord primordial” Idris replied,

Moyo nodded,

“Urne, connect me to all cohort battleships”

“I comply” she replied,

A few seconds Moyo, the face of the titan blade was being shown on all communication constructs on all cohorts. Seated comfortably on his throne, he spoke,

“Legionnaires, ascenders, brothers and sisters, we have lost too many of our brethren, too many that I am forced to come to a decision” he said,

“we’re about to take the first step in liberating an entire galaxy from the forces of the abyss, but this will not be as easy as we’ve had it” he continued,

“I cannot promise that we won’t be decimated so much that we would come out of this whole, I mean mentally and physically. I go to break the back of the enemy, to take back what is ours and to avenge our fallen.” He said,

“Should you wish to accompany me, request teleportation to the defiance in ten minutes, we leave to either end the enemy or we die. For those who won’t come along, know that I bear you no grudges or ill will, left to me, you all won’t be coming along. However, a good friend of mine just pointed out to me, that I can’t do it alone, and most importantly, revenge isn’t mine alone” he completed,

“For the archailect” he said as the transmission cut off.