Ascenders Rift

Chapter 119: Layla's Race? A Similar Fate

Here was a room that looked like a royal bed-chamber. It was a vast room of a few hundred square meters, with an oddly well-polished floor that reflected the dim lights from the various candles that lit up the room from the distant ceiling and walls. These candles burned with green fire, giving off a spooky vibe, as if one looked more around the surroundings, they would see that curtains danced even without there being any winds, and other strange sightings such as spirits floating about randomly.

A slender woman's silhouette with long hair stood silently at a large windowsill, garbed in a royal dress that flowed down to her knees. Though her figure was hidden by uncanny darkness, one could surely tell that she was an embodiment of beauty. Her long eyelashes added a hint of grace to her large slender purple eyes that stared towards the distance with a sad and melancholic look.

Suddenly, the woman shifted her sights from the scene of death and decay, her eyes now falling into the body of another charming female with purple hair. She laid on top of a bed as if she had fallen into an eternal slumber, in a safe ground. Yet, if one looked at her more deeply, they would realize that it was not that she was in a safe environment, but it was instead herself that had created a field of safety with extraordinary power.

Her body glowed in brilliant purple lights that lit up one section of this pristine room, forcing any ghost or undead that loomed over her being to retreat as they could only stare at her from a distant corner. Those unlucky enough to enter her range were instantly purified as if they contacted the world's purest and noblest energy.

The beautiful silhouette that stood at the window stared at this girl in silence for an unknown period before her eyes flashed as she spoke in a soft voice, "This power... I remember it; it's the power of their kind... no, the power... of our kind... the light of angels..."

As the woman said this, though her voice carried traces of hatred and bitterness, as she looked at the young girl that was in an unconscious state she couldn't help but sigh as she spoke to herself, "It's been so long, and now it seems another was born to share my fate... sweet child, I hope that your life will be much better than ours. So, enjoy your rest for now, as when you truly awaken, you shall face far more painful things."

As the woman's voice echoed, her body started to grow elusive as if she was fading from reality. Soon, the green flames on the candles flickered as they began to out one by one. Finally, the last candle burned at the center of a portrait, the remnant image of a beautiful purple-haired haired woman like no other with gorgeous white wings. The flames flickered once more before fading, as the room descended into darkness, leaving only the patch of purple light that glowed around the female at their center.

Bang! Suddenly, the door of this peaceful room abruptly opened, as a handsome brown-haired young man appeared from the door, illuminated by the lights from the halls that shone from behind him.

As the young man appeared, the entire room underwent a drastic change as many apparitions rose out of the darkness, along with Level 6 Skeleton Knights and five Level 7 Corrupt Skeleton Generals with eyes that shone in orange lights from all corners.

The young man seeing this adopted a battle stance as he waved his hand, causing a sword to form out of nothingness with star-like patterns as he spoke, "I knew I felt something strange, it turns out that the disturbance came from here, the princesses chamber."

As Evan said this, the undead and ghosts didn't seem interested in waiting on him to attack. Instantly, a myriad of trailing orange lights flashed about the room as the Corrupt Skeleton Generals blurred about due to their rapid movements, launching a series of Death Slashes towards his location.

While they did this, the Skeleton Knights also charged forwards with their glowing blue eyes and their gleaming weapons raised before them, along with the sinister spirits that chuckled and wailed alternatively, creating a spooky scene.

Evan's body flashed as he twisted from side to side, avoiding each of the slash waves fired by the Corrupt Skeleton Generals before they could even hit his body. He then jumped into the air, avoiding the horde of Skeleton Knights that now swarmed below him as the spirits made a sharp curve soaring towards his airborne figure.

As he completed his previous movements, Evan's eyes narrowed as he wasn't paying attention to them, but Layla, who seemed to be in a strange state. He thought, 'I don't know what happened, but it's most likely some defensive mechanism brought about by either extreme fear or danger. I didn't think pushing her once more into life and death training would cause her to have such an odd chance, I hope it's a good thing...'

After wrapping up his thoughts, he glared at the evil spirits that were now within range to attack him, noticing that they each opened their jaws wide, preparing to spit out something.

"Hmph! As if I'd let you, Executor Slash..." Evan said as his Void Sword glowed in a baleful crimson light, which he slashed towards all directions.

Following a series of crimson slash waves, the bodies of all of the evil spirits, and a few of the Skeleton Knights that clustered below him blew to pieces sending chunks of EXP into his body.

Some even dropped pieces of equipment on the ground, but Evan didn't have time to pay attention to these things. The Corrupt Skeleton Generals had once more readied themselves to unleash even more Death Slashes.

Evan's eyes narrowed as he spoke, "I'll remove these annoyances first..."

With a thought, Evan made a dive downwards. In moments, he had crashed onto the ground with a loud collision.

Bang! As he landed, his feet made fissures against the polished floor of the room, the shockwave pushing away all of the nearby Skeleton Knights.

He then adopted a typical sword posture, crouching his legs as he held his Void Sword at his side, its glowing star-like edge facing the ceiling. His Battle Energy slowly rose around his figure as it condenses around his sword in bulk, causing his hair to flutter about wildly.

The Corrupt Skeleton General's seemed to have already gathered enough power as their entire bodies glowed with Death Energy. When they saw Evan had fallen from the sky, their eyes flashed as if they changed their thoughts on slashing him from afar as their bodies blurred. In moments, they appeared at Evan's four sides as they cut their swords down in a furious manner, leaving a trailing line of sharp black lights.

The other Skeleton Knights that had recovered from the shockwave that knocked them back also began to charge towards Evan again, who stood like prey at their center. Yet, what they didn't know was that they were only acting in his favor.

Evan smiled at the changes around himself, as he thought, 'Even better, I can get you all with one attack...'

Following his thoughts, his arms bulged slightly as his Void Sword expanded by a few dozen meters size, glowing in a brilliant amount of crimson lights.

With a humming sound, Evan made a circular swing with his Void Sword at a slanted angle, causing the spiral crimson-colored sword slash to cut apart everything that was around himself.

The slash scattered across the entire room, bypassing even Layla's direction, but due to being slanted at the right angle, it had managed to avoid cutting her.

BOOM! Following a loud explosive sound, a large gash formed on the walls of this room, cutting apart all of the ornaments. Including the painting of the peerless beauty that was shrouded by darkness on the wall. As it fell onto the ground, it shattered to pieces as if made from glass, as a vague voice sounded.

"Maybe... maybe this was fate... maybe with this... I can finally rest. Child of a similar fate... I pray... your fate... is b... better... than mine..."

As the voice faded, the eyes of all undead in the room dimmed as Evan's attack an annihilated all of them. Evan narrowed his eyes when he heard that voice, he looked around the room and questioned, "Who goes there?"

After staring for a while, he didn't hear any reply, he then began to walk towards Layla, but at this moment, Evan noticed a broken picture frame on the ground.

When Evan saw it, his eyes wide as he trembled and muttered, "Layla..."

As Evan said this, his mind went blank as he recalled Layla from his previous life. The girl that grew into a full-blown woman, her eyes entirely of a ruby shade, but at this time, Evan shook his head, rejected the idea, though they were similar there were still a few distinct differences.

The most apparent being that woman had wings, as far as Evan recalled Layla had never shown wings. Evan looked at the picture from sincerely before shifting his eyes towards Layla, who oddly enough now had tears falling from her eyes.

'Wings are the divine blessings of angelic beings, that voice could have only come from the remnant spirit of that rumored fallen princess of this kingdom, was she an angel? If that's so, then why did she say such words? Child of a similar fate... could she be implying Layla herself, is also an angel?' Evan thought as he narrowed his eyes while looking at Layla.

He was about to think some more, but at this time, Layla had already started to show signs of waking up. Evan shook his head and spoke, "It doesn't matter, you can be whatever you want to be, even a spawn from hell. I will never let you suffer that similar fate, not again..."

Evan's eyes shone in a determined light, as he no longer dallied and walked over to Layla, a spooky wind blowing across the room with closed windows, as if sending off the spirit that once dwelled in these quarters.