Ascenders Rift

"Quickly charge forward; we must move at one speed!" A goblin roared as it charged towards the distance with high speed, a few other goblins and crocomen bundled together as they followed behind him with their s.h.i.+elds and weapons held in their arms.

The eyes of these troops were different, even their equipment and weapons were of a higher standard as they each carried an aura of experience. As this squad swiftly moved through the b.l.o.o.d.y scene, countless thin threads would soar towards them from a distance along with a flurry of arrows.

Upon seeing this, the leading goblin"s eyes flashed as he spoke, "Don"t cut the threads, use your weapons to push them away! As for those arrows, keep your s.h.i.+elds above your head and cover your vitals!"

Following his words, the troops acted in kind as they swung the broad side of their weapons towards the incoming threads. Within moments, they collided, causing an odd metallic sound to resound as if two alloys were clanged together.

As they did this, the squad members slanted their weapons, pus.h.i.+ng away the threads as they rapidly moved through the scene, leaving their range.

Tak-Tak-Tak!

A series of wood piercing sounds soon after resounded as the following the threads, the golden arrows that rained from heaven rapidly plunged into their upraised s.h.i.+elds.

A few amongst them were injured as the arrows broke pa.s.s their defense, but none of them had suffered any significant losses. Soon, they had successfully overcome the most challenging hurdle, arriving in a broader field with less of their comrade"s corpses, their faces now carried a relieved look.

The leader of the group smirked and spoke, "Continue onwards! They can"t keep doing that forever; their stamina and energy aren"t of an endless supply. The moment we catch up to them is the moment of their demise!"

"Uwaaah!" The squad of elites roared as they glared at the nearing duo a distance before them with cruel eyes as they sped up.

Currently, Emilia was holding a semi-transparent golden bow in her arms. If one looked closely, they would notice that her fingers were red, and her face dripped in sweat as she was worn out.

She took a deep breath before looking at the somewhat tired Breya and spoke, "Sister Breya, I am almost at my limit, and that squad is the fourth squad that had managed to pa.s.s our defensive line. I"m sorry that I couldn"t do any better..."

Breya hearing this wiped the slight amount of sweat on her forehead as she spoke, "It"s not your fault Emilia, the enemy"s numbers are far more than what we can handle. Plus, those four squads are made of all the superior breed among these monsters, so they were easily capable of breaking through the weaker versions of our attacks."

Emilia, hearing this nodded with understanding as she spoke, "Then, should I use the remainder of my power to conjure a few more powerful arrows?"

Breya rejected her idea and replied, "No, save your strength, right now, we only need to gather a bit more energy to face them; I will handle them upfront for as long as I can, you should get some distance from here and try to recover as much as you can."

Emilia looked at Breya with a worried look as she spoke, "But Sister Breya, these four squads have a total of twenty-eight monsters. You won"t be able to face them in your current state."

Breya smiled as she glanced at Emilia and spoke, "Don"t worry, I"ll be fine, this wouldn"t be the first time I"ll be in a troublesome spot. Go now, Emmy; we don"t have time to be indecisive."

Emilia stared deeply at Breya"s face before she grouped ger fist and spoke, "Okay, please do take care of yourself."

As Emilia said this, the bow in her arms vanished as a wave of power came over her body. With a swoosh, her figure blurred as she rapidly ran towards the distance.

The approaching monsters seemed to have noticed this; one of them pointed its weapon towards her and shouted, "Quickly pursue her; she"s the most troublesome of these two human girls!"

Several of the ordinary goblins and crocomen that had survived the previous onslaught charged towards the fleeing Emilia, vanis.h.i.+ng through the dark woods in a few moments. The leader, along with his group, was about to join them in the chase for Emilia. But, by this time, Breya had already acted.

"Hehe, sorry guys, but you are going to have to keep me company for a bit," Breya said with a sweet giggle unlike her natural character as she spread her arms apart, many strings wrapped around each of her fingers as if one looked closely, they would notice that thin threads bounded this entire area.

The squads were forced to halt their advance as they found themselves at the center of these threads; they looked around cautiously as the leaders spoke, "Tsk! Since it"s like this then forget about the other, this one is just as dangerous we should focus on getting rid of her before we join the others on their chase."

"Understood," The other squad leaders replied.

Soon, the various squad began to fan out in all directions as they surrounded Breya carefully. One of the leaders sneered as he looked at the silent Breya and spoke.

"What"s wrong human girl? Are you feeling sad that your companion betrayed you? Don"t worry; we"ll send her to meet you soon..."

"Kekeke!"

"Gahaha!"

The sound of goblin and crocomen laughter filling the air as they glared at her in mock. Yet, although the sounds around her were threatening, Breya remained at ease, she looked at the squads that surrounded her with a smile as she spoke in a soft tone, "Well, shall we dance?"

"Hmm?" The leaders were a bit puzzled by her words, but soon, their faces turned serious when they saw the countless threads s.h.i.+mmering in a cold light as they started to move around.

"d.a.m.n! Kill her now!" With a shout, all of the squad members charged at Breya, who licked her lips as a hint of battle l.u.s.t came into her eyes as she muttered, "Hehe, this should be fun," Her voice carried a sign of madness as the battle here entered new and even more brutal act.

***

A distance away from Breya"s and Emilia"s b.l.o.o.d.y battlefield, a fierce struggle was currently in progression against Joe and three of the commanders. Their blows left shockwaves as the earth shattered, sending chunks of rocks about the area with as they clashed.

Suddenly, the densely armored Dulltooth ran across the fissured earth, bouncing from rock to rock as he sent a flurry a rapid slash towards Fatty Joe.

"Have a taste of my rapid Wind Slas.h.!.+" He yelled as his arm blurred when he waved it, his sword hummed as it glowed in a greenish light as each of his slashes sent a speedy greenish arc of wind would go towards Joe.

Joe, who was much slower than Dulltooth, couldn"t avoid any of his strikes; he stood firmly in the field as if he had taken root into the ground, his body-baring a lot of pressure as even the ground sunk due to his ma.s.s.

He brandished his halberd, sending a variety of wild strikes towards each of the wind arcs efficiently dispersing those he could reach. Although he tried his best, a few still managed to break past his guard striking his body at various locations.

Joe"s body, however, had a thin layer of brownish energies over it. As such, these wind blades could only leave behind minor flesh wounds on his skin as the others struck into the ground behind him. They easily tore through the earth for a few inches as if someone had used to blade to chop it.

While Joe managed to parry Dulltooth"s attacks successfully, he didn"t let his guard down. His eyes flashed when his pupils s.h.i.+fted to the side as he said in his mind, "He"s coming from the right, you want to catch this fatty off guard? Sorry, not today!"

As Joe thought this, he quickly swapped his s.h.i.+eld with his halberd, grasping it in his left arm as he raised his s.h.i.+eld towards his right side, pus.h.i.+ng most of his energy within it.

Moments after, the bulky Tichuk appeared at his flank with both of his arms grasped around his ax. His eyes shone in a threatening manner as the blade on his ax coldly glistened when he swung it with full force.

"Take this!" Tichuk roared as his muscles swelled when he made a sideways chop towards Joe"s right, the ax making swoos.h.i.+ng noises due to its force as it cut through the wind.

Bang! With a loud bang, Joe was pushed back; the force of the blow caused him to lift his now trembling arm with the s.h.i.+eld as he slid across the ground for a few meters distance smas.h.i.+ng into the upraised rock.

"That son of a b.i.t.c.h!" Joe cursed out loud as his throat felt sweet as if something was inside of it.

Not daring to dally, Joe spat out the blood to his side as his eyes glared at Tichuk. He wanted to recover his posture, but it was at this time, the sneaky Gnat who had fully knocked his bow from a distance smirked as he spoke with joy, "I"ve got you now brat, die! Rapid-fire, Mana Arrow!"

Swish-swish-swis.h.!.+

Following Gnat"s words, a flurry of arrows coated in dark mana swished across the distance like speeding bullets. It only took a few moments for them to appear before Joe"s figure.

"If you want me to go, then be prepared to leave with me!" Joe said in anger as he gathered all his strength and tossed his halberd into the air like a rocket, he then quickly pushed himself from the impression on the rock. However, as he did this, an unexpected scene occurred; his foot slipped on top of a small upraised stone, causing him to lose his balance.

Joe"s face sunk as he shouted, "You"ve got to be kidding me!"

His face turned pale when he saw the arrows bolting towards him, the icy rays that gleamed around their sharp tips seeming to resonate with his mind as if saying they will soon bring him salvation.

The commanders watched at this in satisfaction as they showed looks of mockery.

"The fool tossed away his weapon out of madness, truly a simple human," Gnat said with a sneer.

"Haha, who cares, after today we"ll have fine quality meat for dinner tonight!" Dulltooth said as he licked his lips, revealing his jagged teeth.

"Indeed," Tichuk said with a joyous expression.

They each smiled as they already imagine biting a few chunks from his meaty flesh. Yet, despite their vivid fantasies, a scene occurred which caused their expression to turn into one of shock.

Though Fatty Joe had lost his balance, his figure seemed to have pulled down by even more potent force. Instantly, his body blurred as it smashed into the ground causing the dark mana arrows to soar above his head as they crashed into the rock behind him, tearing through it before they burst into the field.

"This... how could this meaty s.h.i.+t be so quick?" Dulltooth exclaimed as he had now lost his guard.

"Could it be a secret skill of his? No wonder his aura was so different, he might have been hiding his strength from the start." Tichuk said with cold eyes as he looked Joe carefully.

Gnat, who was a distance away from everyone, said, "It might be so, but let"s hear it. Human, tell me, how did you avoid my arrows?"

At this time, Joe had already risen to his feet. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth as his lips curved into a sly smile when he replied, "Oh, that is the gift I was blessed with since birth, the power of gravity."

"What? You"re speaking nonsense! Everyone, let"s not waste our words anymore, he"s already on his last breath, we can kill him in the next a.s.sault!" Tichuk said with a savage appearance, not believing Joe"s words.

"Right!" Both Gnat and Dulltooth said as they prepared to attack once more.

Joe, on the other hand, merely brushed the dirt off his belly, and he looked at them while smiling as he spoke again, "Haha, this fatty never tell lies, your answers will come, in 3, 2, 1..."

The commanders were surprised by his words yet again, but they didn"t halt, their energies exploded as they once again readied to use everything they had. However, the moment Joe"s countdown ended, a sound much like that of an airborne projectile resounded across the field.

The commanders looked at each other in shock, as they spoke to each other.

"Do you hear that?" Dulltooth asked.

"Hmm, where is it coming from?" Tichuk asked similarly.

Gnat, who was the farthest and of the goblin race, had better ears; they slightly twitched before he lifted his head, his pupil catching sight of a rapidly approaching sharp object.

Gnat"s eyes turned dim as he muttered, "So this is, gravity..."

He wanted to say something more, but soon, a gruesome noise resounded. In an instant, a large blade of a familiar halberd pierced through Gnat"s head, slicing down into his body.

Soon, it exited his flesh before smas.h.i.+ng into the ground creating a small crater in the earth. The halved and b.l.o.o.d.y corpse of Gnat"s now rested in the earth as his body twitched before falling silent.

Both Dulltooth and Tichuk were shocked as they heard the loud boom behind them, when they turned around, they noticed at Gnat was already dead as his corpse rested in a pit beside Joe"s halberd.

These commanders had been together for a very long time; as such, the bonds they had formed over these long years were far from what a human would share. Tears started to fall from both of their eyes, which soon after turned bright red when they glared at Joe and shouted.

"You f*cking human! I will kill you!"

"Pay for Gnat"s life with your head!"

The two said as they rushed towards Joe like arrows shot from their bows, moving even faster than before. "Che! I need my weapon," Joe said as his eyes narrowed when he raised his s.h.i.+eld to defend.

Yet, as if it heard his calling, his halberd had somehow flown across the field rapidly arriving before Joe"s feet as it plunged into the earth.

Joe seeing this was surprised, even the raging Dulltooth and Tichuk had come to a halt upon seeing this scene. It seemed as if Gnat"s death had left a mark upon their soul; they subconsciously started to fear the halberd.

At this time, a soft and gentle voice sounded from behind Dulltooth and Tichuk, "Ahem, pardon me but I am here too, you know."

When Dulltooth and Tichuk heard this, they slanted their head gazing at the purple-haired beauty behind them. They had seen her appear before but paid her no mind as they knew who was fighting against her.

Yet, now that she"s appeared once more, it was a clear sign of who was the victor from that battle. Now, their anger had vanished, as their moods sunk. They felt as if two demons had sandwiched them.

"Haha, luck is on my side; let"s clean them up, Layla!" Fatty Joe said with a laugh, his eyes flashed with battle l.u.s.t when he looked at Tichuk and pointed his halberd towards him as he spoke, "I shall pay this one back in full!"

Layla didn"t mind this as she replied, "Fine, I"ll deal with the speedy one."

Layla then lowered her posture with her two knives in hand; she held them in a back-handle grip as her purple eyes stared at Dulltooth.

"Good!" Joe answered as he banged his halberd against his s.h.i.+eld, looking like a champion ready to claim victory. His eyes shone in a greedy light as he licked his lips and muttered, "I wonder, does the meat on crocomen taste the same as crocodiles, I suppose I"m about to find out..."

Although Joe had mumbled, Dulltooth and Tichuk heard his words clearly. Their faces paled as they saw a look on Joe"s face, one that they had never believed they would ever see, the look of an apex predator stalking its meal.

Gulp! They swallowed their spits as they weapon in their arms trembled, and the air around this section of the battlefield grew cold as if it was foreshadowing their tragic ends.