The inner walls of the last citadel were a lethal beauty, its structure built in a bizarre manner, circular but with sharp corners all carved beautifully with inscriptions etched in an archaic draconic tongue not even Eses understood. Statues lined the halls, carved in the images of old primordials and harbingers that were worthy of note, even the structure of Eses, the cosmic dragon and her partner, Jothas, the now deceased one were among. Still, the cosmic dragon stared at the assembled highest powers of the Archailect in silence.

Lucirion aether blessed, fellow transcendent and lord of the jades went through different images at once, his mouth moving silently as he transmitted orders to the jade command outside of the citadel, controlling the ever-growing defensive lines. The harbingers and prime messengers of the supreme beings conversing silently, Xandros, her own emissary, glancing at her with dubious looks. She was on trial here, at least, unofficially. Ishum, prime of Lotes called the hall to order, staring at all the powers decked in their strongest armor, primordials trickling in as news of the loss of the titan blade had spread to even the last citadel.

Eses wondered when the child had suddenly become the face of resistance against the enemies of the Archailect. Xerxes was once the poster boy for that, his twin Xandros hating every moment of it even if he wouldn’t wish it on his worst enemy. And now that the forces of the Archailect had withdrawn from the battle, all battered with the primordials retreating to lick their wounds, it left them with three main enemies, two, if you ask Eses, but currently, no one was willing to hear her out. Araman had for all purposes, ascended to the rank of a prime abyssal lord, and the coming of chaos in the farthest reaches of the Archailect, heralded by Garda whose true name had been returned to him, Azael, it meant that they should be expecting a two-front battle.

She sighed again as Xerxes glanced at her, unwilling to meet her gaze despite her calm exterior, he was angry with her, that much was clear. However, she wondered if he failed to realize she was much more than a primordial he could hope to match wits withs, she smiled as Ishum spoke.

“We are gathered here, we, the rulers of the Archailect, to decide the way forward” he said.

“I don’t see Kairos or the terrestrials here, don’t they have a say in things?” Lucirion asked even as he closed off his Hud, turning his full attention to the prime messenger.

“They lost that authority when they decided to separate themselves from the services of the supreme beings” Rieus replied.

The primordial sat a few places behind Eses, the large room acting as some sort of round hall table, still, perhaps it lured the bright scourge into thinking he was within equals. Xerxes shot him a dirty look, freezing the primordial.

“at least they stood and fought against the abyss, your entire impact in the war was simply posturing, you should be the last to raise accusations” he said.

Rieus’s eyes blazed with power, only for Ishum to shoot him a withering look, the primordial holding his anger in check. Eses snorted to herself, what was the bright scourge going to do to an actual harbinger of Lotes?, perhaps she should take this opportunity to sow a few seeds of discord among the many planets the bright scourge called an empire, fund rebellions and the likes, assuming they survived of course.

Ishum turned his gaze to her, Eses finally getting the attention she deserved, she was beginning to get a bit angry, she was a dragon afterall. He spoke, knowing fully well what transpired.

“Eses, we all want to know, why?” he said.

“Why?” she echoed.

“Why did you imbue your cosmic aspect into the omega blade, as a transcendent, he is right now on par with the harbingers of the supreme beings” Tixuhl asked.

Eses shrugged.

“I could go into a long tirade about the pros and cons of having our own pawn among the forces of chaos” she started.

“Short form though, it’s none of your businesses, and before you all come bearing your fangs at me, it was an order from above” she replied.

Lucirion glanced at her, staring for a second or two before nodding.

“Moving on” he said.

“Moving on?” Eisnar asked.

“Moving on?” she repeated.

“Do you have a point?” Lucirion asked.

“We just hunted that bastard across the stars, watched him wipe out an entire great house, one whose progenitor sits right here, watched him unleash the greatest horror the Archailect has ever seen, and then that same progenitor grants him near unrivaled power saying it's by the order of the supreme beings and you say moving on?” she bit out.

“There is nothing we can do about it” Ilu said, placing one calming hand on her shoulder.

“It is the will of the supreme beings” he completed.

The elvish looking woman stared in shock, mouth opening and closing as Grimswolf snarled.

“We debate on what was and what is, not what is to come, I grow weary of your games” he said.

“The Fenrai is right” Zane said softly from where he had been silent as a ghost, chewing on a stalk of some plant.

Eses noted how he was always chewing on something, perhaps he wasn’t being fed well back in his system. All eyes on him, the true blade sat straight up.

“he’s an unknown case, nothing we can do about him, nothing we should do about him actually” he started.

“What we should be facing now is the tracks of the reaper of chaos, yes, that’s what I think we should call him, not his name, not in this place” he completed.

“Denying his name won’t push away the reality that he exists” Xandros said.

“But it’ll treat him just as any other enemy we’ve faced, how are the defenses coming?” the lord of the brigade asked.

“Without the bulk of the androids and constructs, we’ve been forced to rely on runic constructions and what stores we have of defensive constructs we’ve been able to find” Lucirion replied.

“Mostly legendary and mythic” he said.

“it’ll have to be enough, now we prepare and hunker down, we wait for the reaper” Xandros said.

“And the rest of the Archailect?” Xerxes asked.

Eses could see his eyes, see the war happening within him, he had watched over the Archailect for countless centuries, and right now, when they needed him the most, he had forsaken them. Ishum shook his head.

“The messengers would do the best they can, we can only hope the rage of the reaper is directed at us and not the countless infinite numbers of the Archailect” he said.

Xerxes walked out in anger.

Ω

Josh felt the Defiance shudder as he twirled his hammer, slamming a creature of the abyss into oblivion, his visage calm, his aura burning the pathways close with his sheer rage and potency. On and on, he chanted the mantra, the words that would go on to be the creed of the Shieldborne.

“Shield, endure, prevail”

His last three commanders at his side, Aetherblasters firing away even as the Defiance ate at the creatures that manifested. It was a tricky thing, the aspect ate at the monsters, indicating they shouldn’t even be able to manifest at all, but something about the now fused aspects of the abyss proved stubborn, for even as they caught fire the moment they manifested, the sheer numbers that poured in made up for that. Still, the Shieldborne commanders stood prevalent, their armor sizzling with gore and fluids from the abyssal creatures, dying by blade, blaster or raw blows.

They worked in silence, these guardians of the titan blade, knowing that just behind the giant doors housed the only connection their liege had with the physical realm. Their fates were tested however, when a creature stepped through the pathway that strained. Its physical presence alone caused the ship to shudder even as legionnaires from numerous cohorts poured through their own pathways, no doubt called to this very spot by Shola.

Promethean battlesuits met it in battle, firing away with oversized Aetherblasters strapped to their hands only to get sheared in halves by one swing of the creatures grey and red blade. Josh winced at the deaths of the ascenders within the suits, his Hud fizzling before eventually writing a name for the creature.

Abyssal Commander

Level 800

It was a hulking brute, all black slimly but humanoid looking thing, sinews and veins popping out of its frame. Blood red eyes, long coiled grey horns, two grey spiked leathery wings. It gave a roar even as Josh slammed his domain down on the area, trapping the creature before blasting forwards. Warhammer held with both hands, he brought it down in a crushing blow against the creature, his level 750 strength bringing the creature to its knees. Releasing the hammer as he took a blow from the blade the commander carried, Ihamora Ashe shrugging off the attack without so much as a nick in its coating.

It had been forged by the titan blade, it would take more than that to crack, with a mental command, he activated his skill,

Titan's Wrath: Josh channels the raw power of the Titan aspect, enhancing his physical strength and striking force. His attacks become infused with energy, allowing him to cleave through enemies and break through defenses.

His body burned with the aspect of the titan, his blow crashing the creature backwards even as it roared, rage in its eyes as its body healed in a blink. Josh spoke once.

“The pathway” he said.

His three commanders needed no further commands, directing their firepower towards the pathway, trying to close it as they realized it was what fed the creature with its power. Another change they noticed, the abyss wasn’t acting like some sore on reality any longer, it acted like an aberration, but one reality could manage. Josh idly wondered why that had happened even as he dodged blows from the creature not because he couldn’t tank it, but because he needed a good angle to strike it down.

Lightning tore through the room as a spear flew towards him, the lord of the Shieldborne caught it without hesitation and drove it through the creature’s chest even as it bellowed.

“STRIKE!” the voice of Annika Stormseeker came from somewhere in the mayhem.

Lightning struck consecutively, the smell of rotten burnt meat filling the air, its putrid smell enough to be tasted on the tongue. Josh didn’t replant though, twisting the spear left and right before using one hand to slap away its blade, Aldric there in a flash, his boot coming down on the hand before using the Aetherblaster to literally blast it into nonexistence. Josh produced his Aetherblaster, stuffing the mouth of the creature whose eyes opened wide.

“Go back to your wretched master” he growled.

He wasted the entire energy pack on its skull till nothing was left, the entire room going silent even as the pathway folded in on itself. The ascenders gave a roar of victory, their voices raging through the bowels of the ship, Josh stepping backwards along with the Shieldborne who snapped back to attention even as Annika stretched her hand from where she stood, her Stormwardens around her, Asagai, her spear, flying back into her waiting hands. Josh stared at his hammer.

“versatility” he thought to himself.

Perhaps, when all these were done with, he could have clan leader Boyle forge him an entire spatial vault of weapons he could use. Pathways tore open again as the commanders of the legion stepped through, looking worse for wear, Hajin, marcel and Tomasa along with their captains behind them, grim eyes looking around.

“Things have quietened down here I see” Hajin said.

Josh nodded.

“The last of the abyssal creatures have been wiped, we lost ascenders though” he said, glancing at the fallen promethean suits.

“they’re mine” marcel said softly.

Josh noticed the insignia on the black demon visage painted on their shoulders, the commander of the diablos closed his eyes for a brief few second before nodding to his commanders who opened pathways, ascenders pouring through to gather the two halves of the sliced suits to take back to their flagship. Tomasa spoke.

“Urne said we’re nearing communication range with Ibere, it’s faint, but we’re receiving something about Martha sending a black sheep to guide us back home” he said.

“a black sheep?” Annika asked confused.

Josh shrugged, rapping the great doors as they swung open a bit, Idris stepping out, his spear in hand, eyes crackling with power. He nodded at them while closing the doors behind him.

“I heard” he said.

“Then we have no idea their allegiance to Moyo?” Annika asked.

“What it means, is that we should treat the person like a bomb that could blow at any minute” the titan fist replied.

Josh nodded, about to reply when the Defiance shuddered, as if something hit it, Shola appearing.

“All masters needed, we’ve been caught!” she said.

Josh turned to Idris.

“Guard the doors Valoris, I’ll handle it with the rest” Idris said.

Josh felt his tense shoulders loosening, he had been afraid Idris would order him to assemble as well, the champion of the titan now the highest commander of the house’s forces. His Shieldborne fell to attention next to him even as he spoke.

“We will not remain rigid” he said to them.

Even as they watched every angle, they held on to his every word.

“We will practise all weapons, learn from the akashic library, we will be masters of all armed and unarmed forms of combats, this we swear on the name of the titan blade” he completed.

They slammed their hammers on the ground once in answer, their silent vigil continued.

Ω

Idris, Annika, and the ten commanders of the legion watched an oily pathway open up in space right in front of the fleet even as all ships opened fire, the Defiance’s capital weapon burning to life as a bright lance of power tore towards the pathway, nearly illuminating space itself. It impacted, the pathway wobbling before a voice spoke.

“STILL” it said.

It sounded as calm and as assured as any voice Idris had heard, Romulus, the lord of the claws growled, his hackles rising as he took his semi-wolf state. One by one the commanders prepared for battle, burning to full strength as they realized what was stepping out of the pathway was on another level of strength. It rode a horse-like creature, one of deep midnight color with a bloodred mane and grey but burning hooves. Its eyes were leaking blood red nightmarish looking things, and its mouth filled with sharpened pin looking canines. on its back though was a humanoid but metal wearing masked being.

In its hand was a spiked mace and its armor, grey with an unknown sigil on it, it took Idris a second to realize it was the visage of Araman, if carved in metal. He couldn’t forget it, it haunted him, his one failure as a champion of the titan, and behind him stepped out three more beings. One carried an oversized blade, bigger than his body, the second was a female looking being, all slim with the aura of pure viciousness coming from her and the last was a robe wearing humanoid man with what looked like grotesque infant but bloody babies floating around him, their faces contorted in agony.

Idris felt Annika shudder in part terror, these very beings were unlike any abyssal being they had faced, they were a new breed, something more terrible, concocted by Araman in whatever hellish hole he had done so. They all wore metal masks, all standing next to the man on the horse, Idris floated forwards, his Hud blinking with a name for all three creatures.

Abyssal Apostles

Level 1500

Level one thousand and five hundred, something higher than even a ruler, ancient level he guessed, if those even had ranks. Meaning those creatures could comfortably wipe them out, but when had that stopped him before?, his spear in hand, his armor burning with the power of the titan blade, he spoke.

“Who are you?” he asked, his voice cold.

“We are the apostles of the true supreme being of the abyss” the horse said, startling Idris a bit,

Supreme being of the abyss, was that what Araman considered himself now?.

“We are his children” the female said,

“And we’ve come for the runic stone stolen by the anathema” the one with the large blade finished,

They came for the rune of decay.

“Then you’ve come all this way for nothing” Idris said as Obalọkẹ blazed to life.

The beings chuckled as one, Idris prepared himself for the fight of his life, one he might die in. it was a pity he wouldn’t see his child grow, wouldn’t enjoy her infancy, but she would know her father fought valiantly till the end. As the man on the horse raised his hand in silence, power of the abyss pouring from him, the rest following suit, he blasted his realm open as well, the other commanders doing the same even as the ships opened fire again. It did nothing, Idris moving into the attack and staggering for a brief second.

It felt like he was fighting four aspects at once, Annika at his side in a flash, both weathering the power that sought to suffuse them when another presence manifested. It drew every single being’s attention on the battlefield, both Archailect and abyssal, appearing in a black sleek vessel with the insignia of house titan blade on its hull. A man stepped out, dressed in tattered cloak with a black and white blade in his hand, his eyes glowing with a white ring iris,

“Glad I’m early” Ajax said with a grim smile,

“Black sheep” Idris thought to himself.