Moyo stared at where his throne of aura had once sat, now nothing but shimmering motes of aether remained. Within his body flowed strength unrivaled, etched into his very being, his body when reformed would literally be made of it. The titan floated close to him, eyes in the distance staring at something.

“Curious question, where did you get that?” he asked.

Moyo followed the gaze of the titan to his ocean.

“The sea?, it’s always been there” he replied, confused.

“No, not that, that egg sitting within the sea, the draconic egg” the titan said.

Moyo paused, and with a light touch of Ogun’s step, found himself right in front of his sea, the waves scattering from his mere presence. He saw the egg he had totally forgotten about, glowing with power, floating towards it with his hand stretched out.

“don’t” the vice of the titan said, filled with raw steel.

He glanced at the being whose face was etched in concentration.

“what’s wrong?, it’s some sort of wyvern or dragon, not too sure on the specifics, got it from defeating a creature of the abyss” Moyo said.

It had been Malgrakor, the ascendent devourer he had slain, the titan however nodded.

“It isn’t the creature itself that bothers me, it is the being who bestowed it upon you” he said.

“The Archailect did, what- “Moyo said pausing as his eyes widened.

“Lotes” they said in unison.

“Just how many games is she playing” he growled.

“she’s the custodian of the Archailect, she’s allowed to move things in whatever direction works for the betterment of the Archailect” the titan replied.

“And is this some sort of special weapon she’s keeping in reserve?” Moyo asked, turning his gaze back to the dragon whose shell was purple and red, a rune glowing on it.

“I wish it were so my heir” the titan said with a shake of his head.

Seeing Moyo’s look of confusion, he continued.

“You are her secret weapon, with your apparent death to both the forces of the abyss and chaos, she has given you leeway to reach as high as you can for the final battle” the titan said.

“that” he continued, pointing to the egg.

“Is something I cannot speak on right now, I hope it never comes to pass either way” he finished.

Retreating from the egg that pulsed, he turned back to the titan and floated over, the being speaking.

"You have the strength of creation, along with the body as well, but you won’t feel it yet till you reform your body” he started.

“Now we move to your sword skill, and Alastor so benevolently gave you the ability to unlock the peak of it” the titan said.

“How much time has gone on the outside?” Moyo asked suddenly.

The titan smiled in understanding.

“By intuition?, barely a few hours” he said.

Moyo nodded.

“And we’ve spent more than two days here” he said.

“Meaning you have time to use, pay no heed to the outside world Moyo, there’s barely anything you can do for them any longer” the titan said.

“Their lives are for no better words left in their hands, at least, till you return” the titan said.

“Not necessarily” Moyo replied as a thought came to him.

Flying over to his chair, he was about to seat when the titan grabbed him forcefully.

“Are you mad?, you’re attempting to risk your existence through your rune, the only thing keeping your aspect and life I might add anchored to a spot, to pass an info across to whoever might possibly appear for the few seconds you appear?” he growled.

“I was able to hold it for more than a few seconds” Moyo replied, trying fruitlessly to tug his hand away from the titan.

“When you had a body young one, now, you’re nothing more than a clump of really powerful aspect and sentience in one spot, you do that and you alert the enemy” he said.

Moyo paused, thinking it through, if what the titan said was true, then his forces would arrive at Ibere with news of his death. He couldn’t believe he was admitting this, but everything he had built with his friends, the clan, then the house, it could all come crumbling down with no cohesion. Sitting on the ground, he stared into the distance, the titan sighing as he sat next to him.

“I understand your pain, but you need to realize there is a limitation to your powers currently, your champion should be a rallying point to your house, proof that you still exist in one form or another” he said.

Moyo nodded silently, resting on his throne as he felt his aspect burn through the structure, eyes flickering to his gate, the raw aspect of the titan that came from creation itself, he wondered how he could had missed the link between the two. The titan stood up.

“We don’t have time for mopping around, too bad you don’t have a sort of cult worshipping ascenders like Eses and the rest did, still this is a chance to gr- “

“What did you say?” Moyo’s said as he grabbed the titan, eyes wide.

“This is a chance for you to grow to the strongest you can?” the titan said, unsure.

“No, before that, something about a cult?” he said hastily.

“Oh, well, during my parsing of the millennials worth of information, turns out the supreme beings and transcendants such as Eses and Lucirion were able to take control of their strongest venerators to pass info or even work miracles” the titan explained.

Moyo smiled, a smile that grew into a full-blown laughter.

“Oh, the irony!” he cried.

The titan blinked.

“Did I say something funny?, I’m still trying to understand humor you see” he said.

Moyo waved his hand.

“Oh no, I’m just about to prove myself a hypocrite” he said with a smile, bringing up his Hud.

He scrolled through, finally seeing what he was looking for.

Contact your herald

Mischief in his eyes, he tapped it and felt his consciousness dissipate with alarm, feeling himself fly through the currents of aether before the titan could cry out in alarm. He felt all the knowledge of the Archailect attempt to flow into him and quickly cut himself off from it, he couldn’t take it yet, not now anyways. The moment he appeared right above Matthew, he smiled as he saw the herald speaking with Martha, both staring at an holographic map of the system they were currently in.

With the distinct awareness that he was burning valuable time, he spoke a word of apology to Matthew and dived into his body.

Ω

Martha stared at the map, Matthew at her side as Ayo walked in, dressed in red shimmering robes, her avian eyes blinking at them.

“what’s the rush?” she asked.

The ascenders at the doors, golds saluted as they bowed.

Martha spoke.

“a few minutes ago, we got a burst of communication from deep space, it came from outside of the system, it was gone in a flash, but Ibere caught it, one word” she said.

“prepare” Matthew said.

Martha nodded, glancing at the herald who folded his hands behind him, a look of constant consternation on his face. Martha had her suspicions, she felt the threads of fate shivering whenever she attempted to take a peek into it, the titan was clouded to her, as if he wasn’t a part of the Archailect or something. She attributed it to the powers of the abyss in the system they fought.

With Ibere and its sister worlds so close to that place, it was possible that the interference came from there, but why couldn’t she shake off the feeling of cold that settled over her everytime she attempted to take a peek?. She continued.

“We believe it came from either the Defiance or the legion flagships, we’re not too clear” she said.

“You believe they need back up?” Ayo said with concern.

Martha shook her head.

“No, whatever the entire legion and the bulk of the titan’s forces couldn’t deal with along with the entire force of the Archailect, I doubt our defensive fleets could handle” Martha replied.

“Boyle?” she asked.

“The Forgelord has commenced the emergency defensive protection of the planets, a red alert has been called, all forces are marshalling their troops at this very moment, drones are building planetary defences at blistering speed” Ayo said.

“And the archers?” Matthew asked.

“Scout vessels are waiting at the edges of our system, the moment the Defiance or any foe appears, Ibere will know in a minute” Ayo replied.

Martha took a deep breath, releasing it to calm her nerves.

“You feel it too, don’t you?’ Matthew asked.

Martha nodded, attempting to reply when a presence filled the room, halting her words in her throat. Matthew suddenly glowed as a halo appeared behind him, eyes purple as raw titan aspect flowed through his very skin, blinking rapidly. Martha spoke.

“Moyo?” she whispered.

The head of Matthew snapped to her, eyes wide as he took a shuddering breathe.

“Martha!, I’m not dead!, protect the rune, hold!, HOLD!” Matthew screamed as raw power tore through the area, driving them all to their knees.

And then it was gone, Matthew falling to his knees as he shuddered, the power receding, panting heavily. Martha struggled to her feet as spiders poured in along with ascenders from the order of the titan, searching for threats.

Ayo helped her, sweat beading both their faces as they turned to Matthew who snapped his fingers, the grimoire looking book in his hand opening with a flutter as a white wave of power poured over the room, healing the golds and others who had felt the power of the titan weigh heavily on their souls.

Matthew spoke,

“What was that?” he asked.

“Moyo, it was Moyo” Martha whispered.

Her mind began piecing the web together, coming to a rough conclusion, one she prayed wasn’t true but couldn’t deny. She snapped to her authoritative self, turning to Ayo

“Inform the archers that a contingent of sentinels would rendezvous with them in ten minutes, order Boyle to carry the threat level to the maximum, inform all planets to open the Aserite bunkers, all clans to marshal their forces immediately after securing their citizens” she said in quick succession.

Marching towards the exit, Matthew and Ayo with her.

“we’re about to get invaded?” the herald asked, shock in his eyes.

“I pray not, but one thing I know for a certain, the titan won’t be there to protect us” she said.

“And I’d be damned if I let Ibere fall in my custody” she growled.

The new machine that was house titan blade was turning its cog to go to war.

Ω

Moyo panted as he coalesced back seated before his throne, an odd reaction for a being who technically didn’t have a body, the titan staring at him expectantly.

“Well?” he asked.

Moyo took a minute to gather his breathe, breathing calmly as he nodded, the titan nodding before knocking him hard, the force causing a ripple of power to blow about. Moyo gripped his head hard, eyes watering.

“What was that for?” he protested.

“Are you deaf on purpose or you simply enjoy going against the rules?” the titan asked.

‘I specifically warned you to be careful, you should be grateful I was around to shield you from the presence of the devourer” he continued.

Moyo stared at the titan, nodding sombrely, the titan rolling his eyes.

“Well?, have you gotten it off your chest?” he asked.

Moyo smiled as he hopped to his feet, closing his eyes, feeling the aether and aspect flowing through his body. Snapping them open, he raised his hand, swinging it down as a line of intent tore through the ocean in the distance, the seas literally splitting, a grin on his face.

“Yes, I believe I’ve don’t so” he replied.

The titan smiled, nodding and speaking.

“Good, because now that your existence can somewhat withstand the power of the prime aspect, we’re about to go through the most brutal training regimen, I need your total concentration” the titan warned.

Moyo nodded, opening his vault as he gripped dominion and Gegun, the two blades appearing in his hands.

“Anshara next, right?” he asked.

The titan nodded, snapping his fingers as a broadsword appeared in his hand.

“We could simply fuse Anshara with your intent, aspect, veneration and the rest, but it would simply be that, a skill” he explained.

“What we need is for you to understand the one of the fundamental aspects of creation, intent” he continued.

Moyo nodded and stared at the two weapons, Gegun and dominion.

“You see it too, the truth” the titan said.

Moyo nodded and gripped the blades tighter, feeling a calm settle on himself.

“When you go back to the physical realm, it’ll be left to your decision, but for now, flow with it, flow with intent, flow with the need to accomplish a move, for that is intent in its purest form” the titan said.

Moyo felt it at the back of his mind, a sort of flow, an order of things, the willpower to accomplish a certain goal, he raised dominion and felt the resonating tune that came from reality, the prime aspect above resonating as he attempted to swing the blade. Like a thread it was cut off right at the moment the titan attacked, using dominion to parry the blade, the titan moving faster than his eyes could see, disarming him of dominion in a shocking move.

Moyo stared at dominion where it lay, that had been the first time since when he was an acolyte that he had been disarmed.

“You live in the use of force, to fuse the raw aspect of the titan to cut as well as crush your opponent, it won’t be enough for the hurdles ahead” the titan said.

Moyo nodded, stretching his hand out, dominion flying into it, his eyes blazing.

“again” he whispered.