Ascenders Rift

The bright rays of the morning beamed across the gloomy horizon, painting the dark skies with their hues. Though this world had no sun, the artificial lighting source was more than able to light up a portion of this land. Now, the creatures which thrived at night had receded, leaving those of the daytime to run amok.

Usually, the days would be one of chaos where the smell of blood wafted in all directions, and the sounds of fierce battles with the creatures of this wilderness would sound from time to time.

However, this day was destined to be different, all monsters had an intuitive sense for danger, they each knew that a battle was about to unfold, one that would shake the stillness of this ruined city.

A cool breeze whooshed across the surroundings, shaking the branches and the hedges as it trailed to the old temple of Belanore. Here, the army of goblins and crocomen stood silently, stacked together by the dozens at the entrance of the old temple. Their loose cloths that wrapped around their armors fluttered about as they gazed at the distance.

At their fronts were the four strongest commanders that were lucky enough to not encounter the enemy by themselves; they rode on top of large Razorback Crocodiles as they held a variety of weapons, with sharp edges that shimmered with the morning light.

Far away from this group, were the Reptile King Dreadtooth and Goblin Sorcerer Gragtaasz. They sat before the tragic-looking statue while gazing towards the entrance of the vast temple with confident eyes.

The air here carrying a tense vibe, as if at any moment their battle could begin. Suddenly, the eyes of Dreadtooth and Gragtaasz flashed as if they sensed something.

Dreadtooth sniffed the air before he grasped the handle of his hammer and shield then spoke with a cold ray in his eyes, "They are coming..."

As soon as Dreadtooth said this, Gragtaasz stomped his staff on the ground and yelled, "All troops prepare for battle! We will kill these humans and get one step closer to freedom!"

"Uaaaaah!" The hundred-plus goblins and crocomen lifted their weapons and made an excited shout as their morale shot to the peak, their eyes flickering in harmful rays.

At this moment, from the edge of the old temple, a slight amount of shuffling was heard when six blurry shades appeared from the bushes. The moment they arrived, they stood in an open field that was roughly a size of a hundred or so meters, its edges surrounded by a sea of dead trees and hedges.

These humans then stared at the army that was standing at the entrance of the old temple; it was a building that was even larger than any ruins found on earth, reaching more than a few hundred meters in height and width.

An army of goblins and crocomen swarmed its opening along with Razorback Crocodiles that were used as mounts. If it were any ordinary man, then with just one look at this army, he would feel a chill in his spine due to their current appearance.

Yet, despite seeing this, the small human team didn't falter as though a few of them were nervous. Some kept a calm and confident composure.

Yes, at the front of this group was a hero, a fat warrior who seemed to have crawled from the legends, as if he just came off an extended vacation. He was garbed in fine light armor with a sturdy-looking shield and dominating halberd in one hand. He fiercely gazed at the army commander with a look that said I am the one you will be facing, causing each of the previously excited troops to swallow their spits in nervousness.

"This human... his aura, it's different!" One of the commanders said in awe.

"Indeed, he is definitely the strongest amongst them; we must strike him down together!" Another commander said with a grave look.

"That's right!" Another replied.

Dreadtooth and Gragtaasz, who saw the hero smiled as they spoke.

"Grah-grah-grah! So, he is the one who's been causing so much trouble these past few days; I can't wait to sink my teeth into that flesh," Dreadtooth said as he licked his lips, seeing the abundant meat on the hero's body.

Gragtaasz smiled and spoke, "Indeed, he should make for a hearty meal, but I don't think we should count the others out. Maybe their skills are no inferior to his own..."

"Mm, but even so, no matter what they do, today they won't survive," Dreadtooth said with a cunning smile.

"Kekeke! Indeed..." Gragtaasz also added with a sly look on his face.

At this time, the commanders had regained their composure, they lifted their weapons before pointing it towards the humans and yelled, "All troops attack!"

With a roar, all the troops positioned around the entrance of the old temple began to charge towards the small human squad. It seemed as if the end of the world had arrived, as in a few moments, the tiny group will be overwhelmed.

As the hero saw the army approaching with heavy stomps on the trembling earth, with dust clouds behind them, his eyes flashed as his arm holding his weapons tremble.

'Shit-shit-shit! Do I have to face this upfront? Damn!' Joe thought to himself, feeling as if he was about to soil himself.

He was about to panic, but he soon felt a hand on his shoulder, looking to his side Evan had appeared with a smile on his face as he spoke, "Don't be afraid you can do it, Joe, I'll be leaving the core of this battle to you, Emilia, Breya and Layla. Take care not to die now... Rick, let's go!"

As Evan said this, he jumped and vanished from the group.

"Okay!" Rick said as he performed the same movement, his speed seemed to be no inferior as he disappeared similarly.

As both vanished from the group, no one on the opposing side had even noticed as their eyes focused towards the flashy looking Joe.

Joe was a bit alarmed by Evan's and Rick's actions, he cursed out loud, "Darn, you're expecting me just to tank all this myself? What the hell man, are you guys crazy or something?"

As Joe cursed, he was at a loss for what to do, Emilia and Layla was also a bit nervous, Breya looked at Joe and shook her head before she spoke, "Okay everyone, listen here, this is how we'll face them."

As they heard Breya spoke, the fears they had started to die down for a bit, they kept their eyes forwards while keenly listening to her words.

"Fatty, you're going to stay at the front; whatever comes your way will have to be held off by you and your sturdiness. If you have enough power, try your best to strike down as many of them as you can with that halberd of yours." Breya said as she glanced at Fatty Joe.

Joe hearing this gripped his fist, but as he looked behind him and saw that it was only women he didn't complain again, his eyes became firm as he spoke, "Fine, I'll keep them all bay. What kind of man would I be if I lacked the stamina to take on great tasks?"

Breya smiled at his submissive side, and rolled her eyes at his extra words; she looked at Layla and Emilia before she spoke, "Layla, your position is right behind Joe, anyone who passes him will be left for you to handle. Emmy, you're the one with the weakest defense. You can't afford to get caught by the enemy, so you must stay at the furthest distance and kill as many as you can with your arrows. I will stay at your side to protect you as I use my threads to control the overall situation; my task will be to hold off as much of their numbers as I can so that you can take them down without too many worries. Do you think you're able to accomplish this?"

Layla and Emilia looked at each other before they gripped their fists tightly and replied, "We can do it!"

Breya nodded in satisfaction as she looked before them at the rapidly approaching army and spoke, "Good, then let's start!"

As Breya said this, she spread her arms apart and opened her fingers wide. Soon, a myriad of threads began to appear around each of her fingers.

Emilia also wasted no time; her hair began to dance as if the wind was blowing as a semi-transparent golden bow appeared in her hands when she took battle posture.

Joe gritted his teeth as he promptly rushed towards the army like a lone warrior with his scaly shield positioned before him. He drew the elbow of his other arm behind him, pointing the blade of the halberd towards his enemies and shouted, "Come and face me!"

Layla's eyes flashed with a purplish light when she ran behind Joe, both of her arms held two sharp knives as she stuck close behind him like a shadow.

The commanders seeing their actions sneered as they continued to urge their mounts while shouted, "So foolish, crush them all with our charge!"

Both sides seemed as if they were ready to clash at any moment, as a terrifying battle was only seconds away from occurring. Yet, within the old temple itself, a different scene was about to happen.

Dreadtooth and Gragtaasz, who were seated on their thrones, were observing the distant scene in anticipation. However, they suddenly narrowed their eyes as they saw two individuals appear out of nowhere, standing a few meters away from their positions.

Dreadtooth looked at the brown-haired and blackish-blue haired human in surprise as he spoke out loud, "Well, Gragtaasz, it would seem that we've made a mistake once more, who would have thought the mightiest of that bunch was none other than these two flimsy looking weaklings."

Gragtaasz was a bit surprised as well, he spoke, "Interesting, these humans are truly something else, they even managed to bypass our senses. Kekeke, they should be worth killing..."

As both spoke, they slowly rose to their feet from their thrones, Dreadtooth grasped his massive hammer and shield while Gragtaasz hoisted his staff that was even larger than himself.

The instant the two stood on their feet; two auras erupted from their bodies. A bright green ray and a dark reddish ray respectively, it rose towards the ceiling of the old temple before condensing around the bodies of Gragtaasz and Dreadtooth, who now glared at the duo as if they were already dead men.

Despite their mighty aura, however, both humans showed no signs of fear. The browned haired human looked at the blue-haired human and spoke with a calm smile as his eyes shone with happiness, "Rick, allow me to teach you another skill, you can use it to fight against that goblin..."

Rick hearing Evan's words snorted and spoke, "I don't need you to teach me, I can learn on my own,"

Evan shook his head and said no more; he knew that even though Rick had said this, he would be paying close attention to his movements.

Evan looked at Dreadtooth and smirked as he spoke, "Well then, this should be fun..."

The air now growing sharp after his words, as it beckoned for the climactic battle between the legendary conquerors of an old world, and its rising challengers.