Ascenders Rift

Chapter 117: The Strange Palace Master, Joe's Heroic Battle

The palace of the late king who lorded over the world of Tusalon was an extensive one indeed. Though it seemed to be roughly two million square feet in size, its interior was on a vastly different scale, filled with wide corridors that spanned a few dozens of meters, a red carpet lined the floor for all sectors and vacant areas of its dreary domain.

While it may appear empty and free of danger, if one looked around more carefully, they would notice that at every corner of a corridor was a heavily armored knight with skeleton bones. They each held onto large shields and short swords as their eyes from behind their helmets shone in bright orange lights.

These were once the famous protectors of the late necromancer who turned the world into a land of death. Now, they've all turned over to a new rule, one cursed to watch over a dead world due to his own past delusions.

At this very moment, within a dark room with no light, two mighty looking silhouettes of skeletons with glowing red eyes garbed in sturdier-looking black armor were kneeling before an indistinct individual seated on a throne.

His silhouette sat in silence free from the worries of the world around him, but while he rested, one of the red-eyed eye skeletons couldn't help but to speak, "Master, it would seem that we've gotten a few guests, should we...?"

The skeleton was about to say something, but suddenly, the voice of the person on the throne sounded across the room, "You will not! Allow them to do as they please; we will receive them when they get here."

The two skeletons were a bit puzzled by this, but they didn't dare to reject or counter his orders, they promptly replied before fading into the darkness of the room, "Yes master."

The person on the throne remained silent, not even opening his eyes as he calmly awaited everything to reach its inevitable conclusion.

Currently, within the deep and dark region of the palace, a shocking battle was currently unfolding, or rather, a chase.

One fat man was currently running with all his might as he tried his best to fend off the attacks made by a vicious ten-meter large skeleton creature that seemed like a drake. Its eyes shone in bright red lights as it spat scarlet flames about these remote hallways while chasing the prey before it in glee.

"Damn! Damn! Damn! Must I die to this beast?" Joe cursed in his mind as he felt the flames searing his rear.

"Ouch! Goddammit! I won't die here; I'll fight with everything on the line!" Joe said before gritting his teeth and glaring at the drake, causing its stats to appear before his eyes.

[Corrupt Bone Drake - Level 8]

[Race Undead Drake (Superior) | State Stage 1 Lifeform]

[Health - 950]

[Death Fire Energy - 30]

[Strength - 89]

[Vitality - 0]

[Agility - 81]

[Defense - 85]

[Skills:]

[Corrupt Fire Breath A powerful fire breath that annihilates anything its path, these flames don't die easy, and when they reach their target, they will be certain to suffer a torturous end.]

[Scorching Eruption The condensed eruption of all the fire energy within the creature's body, resulting in an explosion that will end everything, including itself.]

Joe felt a bit hesitant once more as he saw those stats, but as he made up his mind to fight rather than flee, he didn't want to back down.

The Corrupt Bone Drake was only a few meters behind Joe at this moment; it saw that its foe had halted his movements and sneered before it spat out a chunk of red fire once more, completely enveloping the hallway.

As Joe saw this, he channeled his powers to his Arc Shield and shouted to activate his shield's skill, "Shield Barrier!"

Following Joe's words, his shield expanded by two meters as an earthen colored barrier formed in front of his body.

Blaze! In moments, the terrifying flames swallowed his figure as they continued across the hallway.

If one looked closely, they would notice that Joe was currently standing at the epicenter of this firestorm, which was being routed towards his sides by the shield. When Joe saw this, he felt a tinge of excitement as he felt that he could face it alone, but suddenly, he heard a screeching sound of something rapidly move in the wind.

As his eyes turned to the side, he saw the silhouette of a massive blurry tail headed towards him. It seemed that the drake was more battle efficient compared to himself.

"Oh shit!" Joe exclaimed as he tried to get out of the way, but sadly, he was far too slow to avoid it.

The tail smashed down in an instant creating a loud boom; Joe, who had closed his eyes due to fear, felt puzzled as he thought he would have been smashed into the walls.

However, nothing happened, as he opened them and looked before him, he saw the beautiful, but strong Breya that stood before him like both a peerless sword and a shield. Her palms stretched before her as her threads bounded the drake, which was fiercely struggling to escape.

"This... Breya, when did you get...?" Joe asked questions, but Breya snorted as she cut him off, "What are you doing with useless words? Hurry and attack it!"

Joe felt anger as he heard how Breya righted him off, but he also knew this wasn't the time for useless words. He gripped his shield tightly and bounced into the air, showing flexibility far beyond his weight limitations.

Breya looked at his back with a teasing smile, but that didn't last long, the drake seeing Joe's charge didn't seem to care, in its eyes, he was nothing more than an ant that ran away from it. Since it couldn't move its body, it lifted its bony head and conjured an even bigger ball of red flames as its entire body became covered by red fires, causing the temperature to rise by many degrees as even the hallway turned the color of red.

Breya began to sweat due to the heat as her face turned pale, her Superior Sense warned her of the danger of this attack.

"Joe, hurry and kill it! It's using its strongest attack!" Breya shouted as she did her best to hinder its attack, by activating her Thread Slicer skill onto her wires.

Sadly, now that the Corrupt Bone Drake had enveloped itself with all of its Death Fire Energy. Her threads could only make slight wounds on its scales.

Joe had only now arrived before the head of this monstrous bone beast; he struck his shield forwards as he held it with two arms pushing towards the drake's head as he invoked his next skill, "Arc Crusher!"

Buzz! Following a loud sound, the shield expanded once more, reaching a size of five meters as it released bright earthen colored lights.

In moments, it smashed into the head of the bone drake, pushing towards the ground where it pummeled it down into a vast crater that left large fissures into the concrete floor.

Not long after, the dust cloud which had formed by this assault faded, revealing Joe's figure which now stood atop of his shield, pressing down against the Corrupt Bone Drake's head. His image right now, making him seem like a true hero that fought against the final monster of an evil castle.

Though Breya had a mature mind, she oddly became a bit enamored by this sight as she licked her lips with flashing eyes. Still, she knew better than to wallow in fantasies in this kind of place, or at least, for right now.

She opened her fingers, causing her threads to recede before vanishing into her palms as she began to make her way over towards Joe who was wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"See, that wasn't too hard now..." Breya was about to tease him, but suddenly, Joe's face changed as he realized something; there was no experience from killing the drake.

"Breya, it's not dead, get behind me! Overburn!" Joe shouted as he grabbed his shield once more and backed up rapidly, his body shrinking and growing more ripped as steam began to rise from his pores slowly.

Breya was a bit unfocused, so she only reacted when she heard Joe's voice, but at this time, it was already too late.

The entire area turned the color of crimson once more, as a massive ball of fire appeared the moment Joe retreated towards her direction with the shield, the eyes of the Corrupt Bone Drake growing dimmer by the second before it faded into darkness. As if that was the marker of doom, the fireball quickly expanded before erupting in an explosion.

BOOM! A shocking bang sounded in this hallway, destroying everything in sight, even the walls at the sides as its lights remained for a few dozens of seconds before fading away.

Once this happened, the scene once more revealed, as now, the figure of a muscular looking Joe appeared, standing before Breya. He held onto the Arc Shield, which was now held before him as if he didn't use it to block his damage but Breya's instead. There were burn marks all over his back as steam kept erupting from his body.

Cough! Suddenly, he coughed spitting out a bit of blood as the shield quickly shrunk to normal size as it fell onto the ground with a clanking noise. Joe's body then fell forward, causing his temporary muscular mass to collapse into Breya's embrace as she looked at him with a slightly softer look than the usual as she spoke, "I could have protected myself..."

Joe, hearing this coughed once more, as he replied, "Haha... of course, but... I couldn't miss the chance to act like a hero..."

Breya, hearing this turned her head to the side as she muttered, "Dummy..."

As she said this, she knew that they couldn't stay here too long. She needed to find a safer place to help him heal his injuries. Quickly, countless threads formed around the duo, dragging them and the Arc Shield from the ground towards the dark ceiling as it moved towards unknown quarters of this large palace. The scene here remaining one of ruin, and stillness...