Ascenders Rift

Chapter 146: Defeating the Plant Man, A Secret in the East?

At the summits of a series of tall trees, Layla, Emilia, Breya, Rick, and Joe were currently engaged in a fierce battle against the vines that came from a terrifying plant creature below them. These vines whistled about the air as they swept about in a blur-like manner, trying to smash everyone to bits. Yet, despite their crazy speed and overwhelming offensive might, they were incapable of harming the party.

Rick blurred about like a bluish-white figure quickly catching up to a bunch of the vines as he swung his spear countering the vines. While he was unable to produce an offensive force comparable to theirs, it seemed that Rick had learned a thing or two about technique, pushing them to the side using their power against them.

While Rick did this, Breya moved by using her Superior Sense to form an image of the vines in her mind, as they moved in slow motion to her eyes, she was about to counter easily.

Instantly, Breya spread her arms apart, causing a myriad of thin-glowing threads to scatter from her fingers, binding and repelling a few dozen vines simultaneously. However, though it seemed to be easy, it was a very taxing chore on her mind and Battle Energy. 

'I can't hold all of them' Breya thought as her forehead was covered in sweat.

Suddenly, a few dozen more extra vines had managed to slip by both the struggling Rick and Breya. They zipped through the wind like rays of light, making their way towards Emilia and Layla that were constantly firing arrows and light beams towards the plant creature's main body.

However, right before they could even catch them, Joe jumped forward and lifted his shield as he invoked his skill, "Arc Barrier!"

A barrier formed around the shield, expanding for a few meters as it clashed with the dozens of vines soon after, sending shockwaves into the air. 

Though Joe tried to resist, he found that he was slowly losing ground in the clash, he bit his lips, and fiercely roared as his body quickly began to give off steam turning more muscular and slimmer.

"Hmph! Try this one, Arc Crusher!" As Joe invoked his next skill, the shield itself began to expand while maintaining the effect of the arc barrier.

Instantly, it became as if a giant's weight was pressing against the vines causing them to fall back before ultimately being repelled by Joe, who similar flew bacs due to collision forces landing on the branch nearby tree.

The moment Layla and Emilia saw this, they launched a series of attacks towards the main body once more, bombarding its tough plant shell as it created a series of explosions below.

Yet, despite their efforts, the plant lifeform was quick to act, shifting the core of its body into the earth each time it was at a disadvantage.

Much like previous times, it had dug into the earth once more, leaving the only cluster of endless vines upwards that had exploded due to the bombardment of attacks.

However, once the attacks faded, it sprung back out of the ground with even more vines as the ones destroyed grew back even stronger before they launched themselves upwards again.

"This darn tenacious shit! How do we even kill it?" Joe complained, getting ready for a clash once again, his body was still shrouded in steam. 

"Stop complaining, we only need to keep pressuring it, sooner or later it will loosen up, it doesn't have that much Life Mana to begin with, and Evan is already down there. Just be ready to do what you need to do," Rick said, twirling his spear and gripping it, as he again adopted a battle stance.

"Tch! Fine," Joe muttered as his eyes narrowed when staring at the incoming vines, the battle here once more erupting with shocking booms.

Down below from that scene, within a sea of vines and tall grass. Evan was currently fighting the tall green-skinned man, who had projected himself from the opened mouth of the plant monstrosity.

With a whooshing sound, the two swept through the grasses at alarming speeds, as while Evan was naturally much faster than it by a few notches, it was able to maneuver more freely as it was in its natural habitat.

The two swept through the hedges no different from nimble apes, crossing back and forth repeatedly as Evan swung out his Havengaurd cutting through the tall grass with sword flashes. Still, every time he did so, the green man would narrowly evade.

Shing! With another humming sound, Evan's sword made a cross slash, but the plant man flipped over the blade with precision. He then twirled in the air, and pointed his finger towards Evan with a sneer on his face as he spoke in the human tongue, "Human... try dodging this..."

Suddenly, Evan narrowed his eyes as he felt danger from all directions. Evan's eyes flashed as he gripped his Havenguard with both arms and allowed for his newly formed Void Sword to hover behind him. 

Instantly, hundreds of vines attacked towards Evan from all angles, moving many notches faster than the previous ones, these vines had an odd liquid oozing from them. 

'Paralysis secretions... it's a troublesome thing, but that won't be enough to stop me,' Evan thought as he readied himself.

'Cut!' With a shout in his mind, the Void Sword form behind Evan moved at a speed far faster than him swinging it. It swept around his body coating by his crimson Battle Energy, cutting apart all of the many different vines that were assaulting him, before it fell towards the ground and vanished from sight.

The plant man was most worried by the Void Sword, as he saw that Evan had used it, his face showed a devious look as he attacked from the air with a savage expression.

"Without that sword, there is nothing you can do to harm me human! Now prepare to die!" The plant man shouted as he opened his mouth and spat out a wave of mist in the area, enveloping everything in sight.

Evan naturally knew that this was his [Sleeping Mist] technique, he manipulated the space around him, forcing all of the mist away as now only breathable air remained. 

By now, the plant man had already vanished, hidden within the surroundings of the mist and hedges as he rapidly assaulted Evan from his side.

Yet, even in the face of this danger, Evan merely smiled as he spoke, "You were right about one thing, only with that sword can I harm you, without it, I can only fight a protracted battle. I wonder, why did you think I'd go so far as to fight such a disadvantageous battle with your true form?"

The plant man didn't care about Evan's words and was only moments away from severing his head with his large arms. However, right at this moment, his body came to a halt as he turned around in shock.

"This... my tongue, oh no!" The plant was in shock, but he knew it was too late; his tongue had just been severed by Evan's Void Sword that had seemingly vanished after cutting apart the vines.

"You bastard human! I'll kill you!" The plant man roared, trying to push his wobbling body forward.

Evan smirked as he spoke, "Sorry, you'll be dying first, do it now, Joe!"

"About damn time!" Joe's voice sounded from the heavens, followed by a sound much like a meteor descending from the sky.

Soon, a massive shield that had steam coming off appeared from the region of tall trees, crushing through anything that got in its path. In only a few seconds it had smashed into the main body of the plant lifeform, generating a shockwave as it crushed it into gore now that it's lost its controlling element.

Not long after, the plant man glaring at Evan with hate started to wilt as if he were drying up. He glared at Evan in silence, before he sighed and spoke, "I guess this was my fate from the beginning... tsk, how truly saddening..."

Evan felt that this plant lifeform was a bit strange, even more so after hearing his words. As if the plant man guessed his thoughts, he opened his mouth and spit something towards him.

Evan didn't even need to use his hands as his Spirit Power was enough to make it halt, when he looked at the object, he saw that it was a card with unique engravings that was dripping with mucus and other liquids.

'Hm, this looks like a keycard, I wonder, where does it belong?' Evan thought as he stared at it in curiosity; he found that the things he didn't know in his last life were quite strange.

The man gave Evan an in-depth look with his dried-up face as he spoke one last time, "Human from this ruin era, that card is but a key connected to the Origin Lab. I do not seek redemption for my sins, but for someone to know of how this all began. Go there to the east from this region, maybe... just maybe... you'll find something of use to you..."

As he finished his words, the plant man's body faded into the earth; his life truly ended, sending a chunk of EXP to Evan and the others.

However, while Joe and the others felt excited, Evan's face was solemn as he turned to the east with a sharp glint in his eyes as though, 'The Origin Lab... it appears there's more to this world than I'd thought and things just got more interesting.'

A brisk wind swept across the area, as it scattered bits of the fallen plant man's leaves towards the east, hinting towards a secret like no other.

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Hey guys, I am deciding to host a special event in every month from now out, I have posted it as an auxiliary chapter you can check it out and comment on it to let me know what you all think and if you are interested :) Have a great day!

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