Ascenders Rift

Chapter 125: The Fierce Battle Against Fidelis

As the explosive lights from the scene of destruction slowly cleared, Joe, Layla, Rick, and the others looked at the sight before them in shock. Their eyes were clearly recalling the scene of Fidelis's sword severing Evan's head before it cut him into two halves.

At this moment, Fidelis was staring at their party with his claymore held at his side, his towering 2.5-meter tall figure looming over everyone as they each felt an aura of certain doom from his being.

"Evann!" Joe yelled angrily, his face turned dark as his body began to erupt with steam. In moments, his body had slimmed down by a section as all of his fat turned into hardened muscle.

"You son of a bitch! How dare you kill Evan?" Joe then said as he pressed his foot against the ground, causing it to crack as he shot forward like a muscular tank with his shield held before him.

Rick was similarly angered as he quickly picked himself up from the ground and brandished his spear, vanishing like a blurry figure as they swept towards Fidelis.

Currently, the faces of Emila and Layla were pale, Breya frowned as she saw this and spoke, "Emmy, Layla, snap out of it, we can't afford to get distracted, not at a time like this one!"

Following her words, Breya joined Joe's and Rick's charge, as she lifted her hand, causing her threads to dance around her figure as she rapidly moved.

'T-that's right... we can't lose focus here,' Emilia, who had managed to calm down thought as she promptly knocked her bow, causing her golden arrows to form.

She then cast a glance at Layla, but as she did, she saw something strange. Layla looked as if she was about to break down at any moment, as her eyes had lost all light, showing a dark look. Soon, a terrifying power had begun to rise around her; the previous Life Power seemed to change into something more of the sinister kind as one of Layla's eyes, which shone in a bright ruby light turned a shade darker.

Emilia was alarmed as she thought, "Oh no, she can't handle the shock; this isn't good; I have to find a way to snap her out of it!"

As she thought to here, she was about to speak to Layla, but right at this moment. A strange scene occurred before Fidelis.

Fidelis, who had been looking at their group, was preparing to attack once more, ignoring Joe's, Rick's, and Breya's offensive. However, right as he raised his humming claymore, Evan's figure had suddenly appeared from his blindside with his Void Sword held before he slashed it.

Swing! The Void Sword left a crimson line as it cut towards Fidelis's neck at blinding speeds, causing its lights to illuminate his being.

Fidelis narrowed his eyes at this sight; he shifted his glowing pupils down towards Evan's sword edge as his upraised arm slashed down his claymore once again as he spoke, "I knew you weren't dead, human. Your speed is much inferior to mine, but you've found a way to constrain those in your surroundings. Truly an impressive trick..."

"The power of the void is boundless..." Evan said as he didn't say anything more.

Moments after their words, both Evan's and Fidelis's sword clashed, causing the sounds of metals colliding to resound along with sparks and ripples of Aura Power and Battle Energy. Now, the scene of a giant and man who faced each other became prevalent to all eyes. They stood opposite each other with their swords pressing against the other to determine who was the strongest. 

Looking at them, one would notice that their hairs and cloth that covered their armors flowed backward due to the rippling powers, as the shockwaves disturbed the surroundings, cracking the pillars and the floor.

Joe and the other seeing Evan's sudden reappearance were surprised, even Layla that was about to descend into madness had suddenly awoken with clarity in her eyes. The dark power that formed around her vanishing the moment it appeared.

Emilia, who had been observing, showed a sigh of relief, be she was determined to get to the matter at hand once they made it out of here. She then focused back on the battle before her, and knocked her bow in full, causing a single golden arrow to shine in even more brilliance.

While Joe and the others were shocked, they didn't stop their actions, as they knew this was a being that was certainly never be underestimated.

Evan, who was clashing against Fidelis, narrowed his eyes as his figure began to slip back despite him deliberately creating a crack in the floor to lodge his feet as a foothold. His body bent back as he slid, causing the ground to tear apart as it left two trails that followed his feet.

'He's even more troublesome than I'd thought, back then the party I did it with was at Level 13, and we even had a few Rank 2 gear. Though he was much stronger at that point, we were still able to fight him with bigger advantages in our base stats,' Evan thought as his arms which held the Void Sword trembled slightly as Fidelis's claymore pressured it.

Fidelis's eyes shone as he saw Evan unable to resist, he prepared to finish him off, but right at this time, Rick had appeared directly above him with his spear pointing towards his skull as he invoked his skill, "Holy Spear Light!"

Instantly, a bright holy light enveloped Fidelis's sight, forcing him to close his eyes as they burned due to the holy power, causing them to spew out black smoke.

Rick's spear then smashed into Fidelis's head with full force, yet the only thing it did was pricked his skin unable to go any further as it sparked like hitting metal. Looking closer, one would see a small amount of aura gathered on his forehead.

"Damn!" Rick cursed, as he didn't like his attack power was so weak compared to everyone else.

Still, at this time, he couldn't complain, Fidelis, whose eyes were closed, merely smiled, ignoring the pain felt from his burning eyes as he used his free arm to smash Rick's stomach with a fist.

"Ouff," Rick ushered out as the fist pressed hard against his stomach forcing him back as he spat out fluids while in the air.

Fidelis then spoke, "Your speed might be good, but your strength is weak. You'll need more than that to kill me, human."

"Since speed isn't enough, then how about weight big guy! Arc Crusher!" Joe said as he tackled Fidelis from another side with his shield before his muscular body.

Fidelis then turned towards Joe, conjuring a bit of his aura on his free arm as he used the shiny gauntlet to block Joe's shield strike.

Bang! With a violent collision, the two remained locked into position with the shields making metallic noises. "All meat, but no substance..." Fidelis said as he merely gripped his fists tighter, causing his arm to expand by a section looking even more muscular as he waved his arm, repelling Joe towards another corner of the chambers.

Soon, two sounds were heard as both Joe and Rick crashed into two pillars, causing them to show traces of cracks.

Fidelis, after speaking, then turned his attention once more to Evan, who was still resisting his aura clad claymore. He prepared to put more power into it, but once again, he knitted his brows as he felt a hint of danger.

Instantly, a screeching noise reverberated as a bright golden arrow bolted towards him with full force, cutting through the void like a ray of light. Oddly enough, this arrow seemed to have a mind of its own as it didn't aim for his sturdy armor, but his vital point, which were the eyes of his head.

Fidelis didn't dare to take it lightly; he promptly pulled himself back and cut the arrow with his claymore before it could strike him unaware. As he did this, the arrow exploded, causing a small shockwave to push away everyone for a few meters distance, giving them room to breathe.

Evan, now free from his situation, turned and gave Emilia a nod before his body glowed in crimson energies. The ground around him fracturing due to his power as he raised the Void Sword and then made a wide slash across the air invoking another skill, "Executor Slash!"

Layla that had been conjuring her power after clearing her state of mind also attacked at this chance; she pointed her scepter towards Fidelis and invoked her skill, "LightWave!"

A giant ray of purplish energies and a crimson slash wave swept across the void towards Fidelis, who had plunged his claymore into the floor to halt the force used to knock him back, leaving a scar across the carpet and the marble as he slid to a nearby pillar.

Fidelis's eyes then glanced at Emilia, whose eyes were shining as he spoke, "Spirit Eyes, no... this is something else... something that is even more astounding, impressive."

After saying this, Fidelis then shifted his pupil towards the incoming slash wave that carried a threat to his life, along with the even more dangerous power that he knew very well; he didn't even waste any time and raised his claymore.

Instantly, the two powers crashed into his being creating a giant explosion for a few dozen meters, that blew up that section of the King's Chamber.

Evan looked at this scene with a slightly tired look on his face, as did Layla, Emilia, Joe, and Rick. Breya, on the other hand, had vanished from all sight.

"Is... haa... is he dead?" Joe asked while panting for breath as steam shrouded his body.

"I doubt it," Rick said as he wiped the blood from his mouth and used his spear to hold himself up from the ground.

Evan also walked nearby them with his Void Sword at the ready; he stared at Emilia and Layla, who looked at him with a nod before he spoke, "Prepare yourselves, it's about to get even messier..."

"What?" Joe said in shock.

Rick, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes and gripped his spear tightly, as he noticed that the lights were fading.

Soon, Fidelis's silhouette could be noticed, standing at the center of the lights with his glowing eyes that shone even more sinisterly as he held his claymore upwards with both of his arms. His overwhelming red-golden aura shrouded his body as he spoke in a cold tone that resounded across the room, "Let's begin the second round..."