Ascenders Rift

There were burnt trees in the open land and within the fortress; even the sky seemed to be influenced by flames carrying a warm hue and blazing wind that could scorch the skin of any living being. Occasionally, one would see a cl.u.s.ter of flames that blazed out from lava pools, dancing about the air. 

A few even made their way over to the walls of this ma.s.sive fortress, scattering about the area at will, giving this place an even more dangerous atmosphere. Nevertheless, despite these hazards, some could wander its domain freely and undisturbed.

Currently, Evan, Layla, and the others were wandering about this fortress with calmness and curiosity on their faces. While walking, they looked around at the various ancient style black stone buildings of the fortress and the scorching flames that bolted down from the surroundings every once and a while, seeing the h.e.l.lish scene they couldn"t help but speak amongst themselves.

"Are we in Demon World or something?" Joe asked with a skeptical look on his face, if it weren"t because he didn"t see a red skin man with a fork and shovel, he would have believed his own words.

Layla and Emilia also found it to be much like the rumored h.e.l.l while Rick shook his head, jumping towards the top of a nearby building to keep a lookout.

Evan smirked at Joe"s words and spoke, "Joe, it"s not quite right, but I"ll have you know that there is indeed a Demon World..."

When Layla and the others heard this, their faces turned pale as they looked at Evan with serious expressions.

"E-Evan, are you serious?" Emilia asked a bit stutteringly, she used to have terrifying nightmares, and had only recently blocked some of their effects through the use of Evan"s artifacts.

Layla also had a slightly dark look on her face recalling the things Evan had spoken to her while Joe gulped in silence, pretending to act tough.

Evan chuckled at their looks as he replied with a sly smile, "Yes indeed, it is a world we will have to face sooner or later, so there"s no point fearing it, though what we"ll be facing is merely a subset of it and not the actual thing."

As they heard his confirmation, Emilia and Joe felt a dark feeling hearing those words, even Rick that was on top of the nearby building, didn"t have a pleasant expression on their face.

Evan shook his head seeing their looks; he decided not to tease them, he spoke, "Alright, don"t think about such things, for now, we should focus on the current, I can promise you all that we"ll be ready by that time."

"F-Fine, if you say so," Joe said in half-hearted tone.

"Okay, Evan," Emilia replied with a slightly better look on her face.

Rick snorted, not saying anything, as he continued to look around, but all he saw was nothing more than a sight of blazing trees, black stone buildings, and chains hanging from constructs and other ancient siege weapons.

"Where are they? I could have sworn they said that we would have arrived at the same location, why can"t I find them?" Rick thought to himself.

Evan looked up and saw Rick"s look, he shook his head and spoke, "Rick, come down, let"s talk for a bit."

Rick didn"t waste any time; he jumped down from the building landing nearby as he spoke, "What do you have in mind?"

Layla, Joe, and Emilia had already s.h.i.+fted their focus from their surroundings onto Evan, ready to hear his plans.

Evan replied with flas.h.i.+ng eyes, "We are in their territory now, we know too little of this so-called Training Zone. Right now, what we should be doing instead of running about to find them blindly is understanding our current location and its advantages. We will set up our battle camp here, and master this location, picking the most inconspicuous vantage points to identify them when they do make an appearance."

Joe hearing this nodded in agreement before he spoke with a slightly puzzled look, "That makes sense, so instead of acting as bait, we can pretty much set up a net in this region and lure them to us evening the disadvantage of the terrain. It"s a good plan, but what if they don"t come towards us and expect us to come and look for them?"

Layla and the others also felt Joe"s words were in reason. They looked at Evan, waiting for his answer. Evan smiled and spoke, "Haha, they will come. You can be certain about that fact."

"Oh, and why do you think that Evan?" Rick asked with a curious look.

Evan"s eyes flashed when the corner of his lips rose into a smile as he replied, "It"s simple, unlike us, they do not have much time..."

Rick and the others were puzzled, but after a moment, their looks changed as they each showed a look much like seasoned hunters waiting for prey.

A distance away from this scene, within the Magma Fortress"s opposing sector, one would see a neatly fitted zone with all sorts of contraptions.

Looking closely, one would see barricades formed with the surrounding equipment and odd siege contraptions that were custom fitted. It looked as if a small battalion had gathered to prepare for a long-standing battle, but the oddest thing was that no matter where one looked, there were no soldiers.

Curiously though, if one were to gaze in the most inconspicuous areas, they would vaguely be able to perceive the figures of Leo"s party, each who had arranged themselves at various sectors while eyeing the distant contraptions with antic.i.p.ation.

Razel was the only person who laid down on a building top, with his trusty modified sniper rifle in arm pointed towards the distant ground.

He looked at the scene before him with confidence, but as more time pa.s.sed, his look turned into a frown as he ushered, "What"s going on? Are they not searching for us?"

As if someone heard him, with a swoos.h.i.+ng sound, Leo had appeared directly beside him with an embarra.s.sed look on his face as he spoke, "Well, Razel, it looks like we"ve lost this round."

Razel soon realized his meaning; he shook his head and replied, "So it seems..."

Oron and the angry-looking Irene soon walked over with Julie, each having a helpless look.

Irene slammed her fist against the wall causing it to break apart as she spoke, "Darn, we set up the perfect trap, and they countered us by not coming. Did they know that we"d have to come to them due to our lack of time?"

Leo nodded and replied, "Most likely, it appears that we"ve underestimated them, but even if it"s such, it"s not likely they will win, no matter what they do, we are the ones with the complete advantage. We still know this place better than them. As such, we can sneak up on them and take them down individually."

Irene, hearing snorted as she spoke, "Hmph! d.a.m.n right we will!"

Oron shook his head at Irene"s manner and said nothing, but Julie, who had been silent for a while, spoke, "Fine, it"s a little slower than planned, but it can still work. The only question now is, who do we each target?"

Leo heard her words and looked at everyone before he replied, "We"ll do it like this; if they are all widely separated, we"ll attack each of their members one by one and crush them with full force. However, if they are still within reach of either, we"ll have to split up and pick them at random, I"ll naturally takedown Evan as he seemed to be the strongest of their group, the rest would be for you all to decide on your own."

Julie and the others thought for a bit before nodding their heads in agreement. Leo smiled before his eyes flashed when he pointed forwards and spoke, "Let"s go!"

Not even wasting a second, everyone blurred and vanished, dissipating from their carefully crafted base camp as they charged into the distant sector like silent ghosts fading into the surroundings.

***

While both Evan"s and Leo"s teams were prepared to engage each other in the Training Quarter"s Magma Fortress. 

Far away within a luxurious building, one that had the marking Anderson etched in bold above a large sign. A figure was seen storming through its s.p.a.cious and decorated halls at a quick pace, each of his steps making loud stomping noises on the pristine ground.

Mark Anderson was currently in rage, he had encountered his fiancée and a few beautiful women, but not only was he shamed in the face by her and Leo, but he also didn"t get to taste the la.s.s he met and could only watch as Joe took her away.

"That fat little b.i.t.c.h, when I get my hands on him, I will let him rue the day!" Mark cursed in his mind as he huffed and puffed due to his harsh movements, and rising blood pressure.

Bang! In moments he arrived in front of a large door at the end of the hallway and opened it with a single heavy push, the loud noise echoed in the room behind it, revealing a well-decorated scene, with all manner of luxury items.

At this moment, a man sat with a sofa, with his face gazing out the window as he smoked a pipe. He was a slender looking refined middle-aged man with a swirly beard, curvy eyebrows, and similar mustache. His eyes carried a shrewd look by nature as if everything in the world was in his palms, and the mood he evoked was on that implied he wouldn"t even blink to sell his daughter.

This man was the leader of the Anderson Family, and one of the famed ex heroes of the City of Hope, Kelvin Anderson. Kelvin heard the noise behind him; he frowned as he spoke, "Mark, why have you disturbed my rest time?"

Mark paused for a bit before he spoke, "Father, it... it"s that darn Morison and those outsiders, I... I want to..."

As if Kelvin heard enough, he waved his hand, causing Mark to shut his mouth, not daring to speak further. Hearing the quiet, Kelvin then replied in a cold tone, "Say no more. All have already been arranged; I don"t need you to be messing up the current affairs. Now, if that"s all you"ve got to say, hurry on out of here. I don"t have time to waste with you!"

Mark trembled at those words as he replied, "I... I understand, father."

Not long after, the sound of the door closing behind was heard, as now Kelvin"s face showed a sinister smile as he spoke coldly, "Finally, it"s my time..."