Ascenders Rift

Chapter 132: Startling News, An Odd Scene?

Having left the restaurant, Evan and the others had got into a hover cab that charged an excessive amount of credits simply to bring them towards the MSS headquarters outside of the city. While Evan's face was one of calmness, even Joe and Rick couldn't bare the shamelessness of the driver. They stared at him with a cold look as he drove with an oddly smug look on his face as if he was greater than them. In fact, if one looked at him closely, they would see that his eyes carried a trace of scorn towards Evan's party.

Evan narrowed his eyes as he saw this man's look, he pondered, 'I can understand the price being hacked up due to the current dangers, so each of these drivers should now be Ascenders. However, what's with this man's behavior? He seemed to be pretty nice at first, but once we determined our destination as the MSS headquarters, his manner had changed completely.'

Evan knitted his brows as no matter how he thought he still couldn't come up with a suitable answer, the driver, on the other hand, didn't want to stare at them or hear them, he merely turned up the radio as the virtual screen on the other side of his window played images.

Curiously, the screen had switched to the news as a reporter was speaking on events that had transpired not too long ago.

"With the recent attacks of those Flesh Mutators, all current powers are on edge, bringing together their finest forces and weapons to prepare for another such outbreak. More and more talks are being made between each power, especially with regards to our newly risen King Erickson IV, whose abilities might be the kind ever human needs to survive in these desolate times. Rumors have that a people have started to call him by another name rather than king, titling our bright shining star as God's Chosen. With such a figure at our lead, one can only feel an enormous promise towards this uncertain future and hope that all humankind will eventually pull through," The news reporter said with a bright look on her face. The images of Horde Carriers, Elumar rising to the throne, and other scenes flashing by on the screen during her speech.

Not only Joe, Emilia, Breya, and Layla, both Rick, and Evan, were stunned by the news. Rick's eyes turned dark when he saw his brother, who was wearing a noble crown on his head. He gripped his fists tightly as he cursed under his breath, "So you really did it"

On the other hand, Evan recalled the images just now of the Horde Carriers; his mind went blank as he questioned himself, 'This... how can this be? This isn't supposed to happen so soon, when did they discover us?'

When Evan thought to here, he looked through the windows of the cab and stared at the blue sky with a barrier erected above it with an in-depth look as he pondered, 'I can't understand, they shouldn't have been able to find us so soon, just what the hell is going on? Plus, even if they did find us, the battle shouldn't have been over so quickly; they would've done what they did last time by surrounding the entire Earth Sector with their horde. All of this is strange, nothing is adding up, Elumar? God's Chosen? What the hell did he do to get rid of them? Who the hell is this prince?'

As Evan began to think more rapidly, he couldn't figure out what the hell was going on; his head soon began to feel a splitting headache as if someone took an ax and chopped it.

Instantly, Evan felt as if he was on the verge of death; the pain grew by an alarming amount causing his face to turn ugly. He gripped his forehead with his palm as beads of sweat rolled down his skin while trembling, his eyes grew blurry as if he was going to pass out at any moment.

Yet, despite the horrifying pain, Evan never screamed, his pride wouldn't allow him to scream in front of his friends and woman. He gritted his teeth, trying to stomach the pain, but sadly, he couldn't. Soon, the other's couldn't help but notice his change and became worried. 

Layla, who sat nearby him, grasped his arm and spoke, "Evan, are you okay?"

"Hey-hey, Evan, what's wrong?" Joe asked as he leaned closer.

Rick looked at Evan deeply, trying to make sense of what was happening, he saw that he was sweating by an unusual amount as if he was undergoing an intense amount of pain.

"Why's this happening? Is he sick?" Rick asked in puzzlement.

Breya promptly grasped Evan's arm and checked his temperature and shook her head while replying, "No, it's something else, he seems to be suffering from some migraine."

"A headache? What kind of headache could cause someone like him to fall into this state?" Joe asked in alarm.

"No idea, we'll have to figure out once we arrive at the headquarters," Breya said with a serious look on her face.

Everyone had dark looks as they didn't know what was happening, Layla felt even more worried, she tightly held on Evan's hand afraid that she'd lose him as she spoke, "Evan, hang in there, we'll get to the headquarters soon!"

The driver didn't like the commotion from behind him, he snorted and pushed a button, causing a screen to block them off. He then smirked as he spoke, "Much better, peace, that shit better not die in my car, humph!"

Evan now in too much pain couldn't even reply, the pain only grew more and more intense as seconds passed, before his mind turned into one of blackness. His consciousness faded into the unknown as the hover cab soared across the sky towards the distant MSS headquarters.

***

Year unknown, location unknown...

It was a world of chaos, the air turning of ash and blood, ruined structures everywhere, a lurking red sky, and fresh corpses that littered the ground for as far as one could see.

Many beasts prowled about, eating even the bones from the fall corpses, these creatures of a unique kind, each having three eyes, dark skin, and savage-looking features. They numbered in the hundreds of thousands, and judging by their auras, one could tell that any single one of them could bring havoc in the current time.

Suddenly, a ray of light flashed only for an instant before it faded, once this happened, the scene which revealed became normal. The creatures had vanished from this world as if the previous light swept them away from existence.

At the center of the previous chaos, was a team of four, a handsome brown-haired man in his thirties, a beautiful woman with long purple hair, and ruby-colored eyes, along with a husky man in his late fifties with a chiseled face and sharp eyes with long grayish-black hair and a battle-ax. Finally, the last member was a silent man that wore face wrappings, with long blue hair and a divine spear in his arms.

They each sat down around a cluster of flames that was searing a large piece of meat, as they remained silent, their eyes fixed onto the distance from their current location. There, if one paid attention, they would notice a gigantic dark tower, one which had a dark portal swirling above its peak, as an ominous prestige filled the entire world.

The group remained silent; each had a dark and solemn expression on their faces as their eyes flashed while staring it.

"Soon, just a bit more, and we'll able to finish it," The brown-haired man said as his eyes shone in a strange light.

"Evan, are you sure it will go as we planned? Last time, if it weren't for..." The beauty with ruby eyes and purple hair began to ask with worry on her face.

Evan hearing this grasped her face and stared at her deeply as he replied, "Layla... it will be fine... their sacrifice will not be in vain, we've practiced for this moment for a long time. There is no way we can lose..."

The husky man with the ax smirked and bit a piece of meat as he spoke, "The boy is right, no point worrying now, we only have one thing to do... and that is moving forward to bring an end to this nightmare."

As he heard those words, the blue-haired man with the spear snorted and spoke, "Hmph! Just don't drag us down like last time, brown hair..."

Evan, hearing this shook his head as Layla's ruby eyes glowed in a cold ray when she glanced at the blue-haired man, who merely turned his eyes away in arrogance.

Time passed, and everyone had finished eating, turning to the area into one of silence. When this happened, a few steps were heard, as a different individual appeared. As if they knew who it was, no one showed any signs of alarm.

Soon, this figure had stopped a little distance away from Evan, with his back turned towards him, his entire features shrouded as he spoke, "Evan, are you ready?"

Evan, hearing this gripped his fists tightly as he stared at everyone else before speaking, "I am, let's do it!"

The others showed determined looks as they rose to their feet, while the figure shrouded by darkness spoke again, "Good, let us be off, our fate calls us..."

Following his words, he took a step forward along with everyone else, Evan stared at the back of the long-haired individual whose cape flowed like it had a life of its own, he couldn't help but recall a few words he told him, "Evan, one day all will change. One day, I no, we shall find our true paths. Our destinies are connected, and as such, only together can we make both our dreams a possibility. Destiny is ours to command..."

The words sounded in Evan's mind, as his eyes shone when he and everyone else had vanished towards the distance, making their way towards the tower that loomed over the world.