Ascenders Rift

Chapter 150: Arriving at the Destination

Time swiftly passed and it had already been fifteen days since Evan and the others left the Origin Lab. While they were careful not to provoke any powerful entities, swiftly traversing the woods through the darkest of nights, and brightest of days. It ultimately couldn't be avoided in most cases, leading to a fierce confrontation. 

One such scene was currently occurring within a region where few trees grew, surrounded by many hills and no traces of ruined buildings. It could be seen that this was the deepest of the wilds, and the creatures here were the mighty that dwelled in the depths of nature.

The bright rays of the morning sun shone down from the sky, scattering spots of lights onto the verdant ground through the openings from various tree leaves. It may have been an otherwise gorgeous sight, but sadly, the scene within was of its opposing nature.

Ting! As if blades were colliding, four silhouettes flashed back and forth, leaving behind remnant shades as their battles caused flashes of sharp lights to linger about the area.

These lights cut apart any trees or objects in the vicinity, scarring both the earth and surfaces as if blades and sharp objects were used to slash gashes and pierce holes into them.

With a loud shuffling sound, the trees which suffered deep gashes had begun to tilt as they fell downwards, smashing onto the ground as many different leaves were swept around the area by the brisk wind.

If one paid closer attention, one would notice that within this sea of fluttering leaves, two of these battling individuals were none other than Evan and Rick, who moved at alarming speeds with their weapons in hand.

However, the opposing party was a much slender creature, each with an extremely slim and tall build. They had an angular body structure, with green skin, large wings, large black eyes, two antennas, four skinny legs, and two long blade-like arms.

As they moved, their bodies left multiple images behind, seeming as if they were more agile compared to Evan, being only a notch faster than Rick using his average speed.

[Blade Arm Mantis - Level 9]

[Race - Insect (Superior Evolved) | State - Stage 1 Lesser Tier Lifeform (Early-Level)]

[Health - 950/ 950]

[Dark Mana - 50/ 50]

[Strength - 97]

[Vitality - 90]

[Agility - 100]

[Defense - 91]

[Skills:]

[Innate Skill: Sharpened Sense - A passive skill that allows the host sense and avoids potentially dangerous attacks.]

[Furious Blade Strikes - A berserk skill that allows the users to attack with several slashes, leaving no road for evasion, striking at its enemies with the intent to end everything in a fury.]

[Description - An insect lifeform evolved from an ordinary a mantis; it is a dangerous creature, naturally blessed with high speed and sharpened senses.]

...

Suddenly, one of the Blade Arm Mantises left a trail of images as it appeared at Evan's flank, its eyes shone in a cold ray as it chopped its blade-like arms in a flurry, creating an illusion of many different blades cutting towards him from all angles.

Though Evan was a bit slower than the Blade Arm Mantis, he was able to pick up its movements and counter its attacks immediately. 

His eyes had a sharp glint as his Havengaurd shimmered at its edges when he swayed his body left and right, narrowly dodging the storm of blade attacks and parrying a few of them with his sword edge. Each of the attacks parried left behind sparks which scattered across both man and insect, lighting up parts of their bodies.

The two glaring at each other with calm expressions as if they were waiting for the right moment, but suddenly, the eyes of the Blade Arm Mantis flashed as it hurriedly retreated and crossed its two arms before its head.

In this instance, a ray of purplish light had swept past Evan's hand, striking directly on the Blade Arm Mantis's blade-like arm. The Blade Arm Mantis's body glowed in a blackish aura, causing the ray to shatter to pieces, as it remained extra vigilant.

However, Evan merely smiled as he turned his palm upwards from his free hand and raised two of his fingers. Before the Blade Arm Mantis could even react to its sudden senses of danger, a star-like sword bore from the ground and chopped its body into two, showering the area with its green blood.

As the corpse of this Blade Arm Mantis fell to the ground, Evan shifted his eyes towards Rick, noticing that he had suddenly increased his speed to disorient the mantis before Layla bombarded it with beam attacks, blowing it to oblivion.

Following that, a heavy sound was heard, as an area covered in dust was slowly cleared. There, Joe could be seen with many different light wounds on his flesh, and his shield covered in bits of unusual colored blood and flesh.

Below him, a crater had formed were another mantis was crushed into bits, as if it didn't even have a chance of victory.

Evan seeing all of this, nodded and thought, 'They've all grown stronger, already at Level 9 while I am only one bit of EXP away from Level 10. This is good, we have roughly two months before the Protection Field fades, and that is when the true war begins. We can make it to Level 12 or if we try hard enough Level 13 or 14 in this last strand of time. There's not another minute to lose...'

As Evan wrapped up his thoughts, Joe wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking at the corpse below him with disdain as he spoke, "Ha, it was so arrogant earlier, look at it now, nothing more than a crushed insect."

With a 'swish' Rick had also now appeared nearby, he looked at Joe's side and nodded his head as if liked the way Joe crushed his opponent. 

Evan looked at the two before shifting his sights to Breya, and Layla was currently standing to Emilia's side. She was still in a state of slumber, causing them to feel a little concern, but as they've already learned about her details, it was more of a slight worry than major fear.

'The Void Blood Pendant said she was undergoing a perfect evolution, as she's been injected with the genes of an entity that was compatible with her. Now that I've seen such a thing, I am curious about what she will gain when she awakens...' Evan thought to himself as his eyes showed a strange look.

Soon though, he cleared these thoughts and spoke to everyone, "Guys, since we're all wrapped up, we should arrive at our destination just beyond that path. Maybe, once we arrive within their domain, Emilia would have already awakened.'

"Okay," Layla and Breya replied as they helped up Emilia.

"Right, then lead the way Evan," Joe said as he hurried over to help Layla and Breya, gently placing her on his back.

"...." Rick looked at this in silence, and turned away, his eyes staring beyond the hills and sparse trees.

"Let's continue," Evan said, as he and everyone else left the scene of carnage and ruin.

***

Another day passed, and Evan's party had finally arrived at their destination. They stood at the edge of a hillside, looking down towards a valley with a large waterfall, the waterfall had a width of a few dozen meters as it fell from the top of a cliff.

It poured into a lake that was a few hundred meters wide, with roses and plants growing around it, giving this region a colorful vibe as if it was someone's back garden. Looking around this region, one would even notice that no creatures were seen as if some force had pushed away all manner of threat within this vicinity.

Joe, Layla, and the others had bright looks on their faces as they exclaimed.

"Holy hell, look at this place," Joe said while piggybacking Emilia.

"Wow, it's such a beautiful place, if it weren't in such a dangerous world this would have been the perfect area for recreation..." Layla said as her eyes beamed with happiness, she didn't like the previously gloomy air of the world. As such, when she saw this peaceful scene, she couldn't help but feel at ease.

"Mm, I would have rather live here than anywhere else in this world, these natives surely know how to choose some very good spots," Breya said as she looked around, she had already used the device to inspect the area and felt no signs of life anywhere.

Rick nodded as he thought, 'Maybe father would have loved this sight... a pity, he's no longer around to see it.'

Evan smiled as he looked at the scene below, he then turned to everyone and spoke, "We've arrived, now there's only one thing left for us to do."

"Hmm, and what would that be, Evan?" Joe asked.

"Naturally, it would be to find the entrance, but only one of us here can do so..." Evan said as he glanced at Emilia.

When they heard this, they finally recalled Evan's previous words and Emilia's abilities.

"But she's not yet awakened? How will we find it if she's asleep?" Joe said.

Evan shook his head and replied, "We'll just have to set up a temporary camp; in the meantime, I can also try my luck at finding the Void Passage if she takes longer to awaken."

When they heard this, everyone nodded in understanding. Evan soon took a step forward, jumping from the edge of the hill as his voice sounded behind in everyone's ears, "Well I will get to scouting, I'll leave the rest to you all."

Joe and the others shook their heads at his actions, but they didn't waste time arguing and headed off to prepare themselves a temporary resting ground. The lights from the new day, brightly shining as if welcoming a new phase in this world.

***

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