Ascenders Rift

As the lights once again shrouded the sky, Joe, Layla, Emilia, and the others looked up with worry-filled eyes, hoping that the result wouldn't be too catastrophic.contemporary romance

'Shit! That was far too powerful, can he resist it?' Joe thought to himself as his arm that held onto his arc shield trembled when he looked up.

Even Rick, who was usually indifferent to most things with the utmost confidence in Evan's skills, had a tinge of concern in his eyes.

'I can feel his life force; it's greatly diminishing... this isn't good.' Emilia thought as her eyes showed a look of fear.

"Evan, please be alright..." Layla muttered in a soft voice as she stared at the scene.

Breya stared upward in silence but said nothing; she merely glanced towards Rick, who seemed to have sensed her stare; the two looked at each other before nodding as they started to gather their battle energies.

Not long after, the lights once more faded, but the scene that played out was in a stark contradiction to everyone's wishes.

In this instance, not only Joe's and Emilia's, Layla's eyes that stared up with worry suddenly widened as her face became pale, even more so when she noticed the figure that fell from the sky towards the ground.

A trail of blood followed his path as he rapidly fell from the sky like a dying bird that lost its wings. Sadly, while most would think this to be the end, Valoz had no intention of taking any chances.

With a swoosh of his body, he charged forward with his full speed, gathering his entire power into his fists that he struck towards Evan's falling figure as he yelled excitedly, "Haha, human, accept your end!"

"Evan!" Layla's mournful cry sounded from a distance along with Joe's and the others, they used all of their powers to rush forward, but due to the battle taking place a reasonable distance away, they knew they still wouldn't be able to make it on time.

Rick, the fastest amongst them, had already launched his second step talent, his figure flashing towards Evan's position at high speeds as he blurred before leaving behind a trail of blue lights.

"Crap, I can't reach in time! Breya!" Rick shouted as he saw that Valoz's fists had already neared Evan's broken body.

"On it!" Breya said as she had long since gathered her entire battle energy, sending a series of strings towards Evan's direction.

Her threads moved at a speed that was many times faster than even Rick, rapidly arriving before Evan's figure. Knowing that she couldn't pull him away in time due to Valoz's speed, the threads then formed a multi-layered cocoon around his body to act as a cushion for the damage.

"He won't get away!" Valoz yelled as his glaring red eyes shone even brighter; his fist struck down with even more force as his genetic blood power erupted in full before smashing into Evan.

Evan was blown from the sky towards the ground with a loud bang, moving like a rocket that soon after crashed into the earth. In that instance, the ground exploded, sending chunks of rocks flying high into the air, the dusty debris filling the entire area as it obscured some of the surroundings.

Emilia had tears flowing from her glowing blue eyes as Breya showed a worried look; Joe seemed to have almost lost himself with red eyes as Layla, she stared at it with a strange look. Her expression then changed from terror to rage; her right purple pupil shone in even brighter lights compared to her left hazel colored eyes as it seemed as if she was about to transform.

Instantly, a bright purple light illuminated the entire surroundings as it shone from Layla's body; this purple soon after turned a shade dark as if it was being corrupted by something.

The moment everyone saw this, their faces grew alarmed as they stared at Layla in shock.

"This... what the hell?" Joe exclaimed as he noticed her change.

Emilia frowned as her heart made a heavy beat; she sensed a terrifying presence from Layla's body, causing her to shiver as she thought to herself.

'Not again...it's happening again; I can't let it persist.'

As she spoke those words, Emilia stared at everyone and shouted, "Everyone, don't get near her; I've seen her in this state before, and though it wasn't serious, this time I don't know what can happen!"

When Joe heard this, he looked at Emilia and asked, "Emmy, are you saying that this was what almost happened during our battle against Fidelis?"

Breya also looked at over with a serious look on her face that now carried a tinge of paleness; it seemed that Valoz's attack had caused her to suffer a bit of backlash as she tried to protect Evan.

Emilia stared at them and replied, "That's right, I don't know much of it, but this isn't the time for thinking, my spirits sense a danger far beyond that of even that monster. So, brother, work with Rick and try to hold back that Valoz, I'll try to bind her for as long as I can."

Following her words, Emilia then looked at Layla's figure that was shrouded by brilliant dark purple lights. Her long blond hair flowed upwards as she spread her palms towards her and spoke, "Dear Uni, lend me your strength to suppress her fury."

In an instant she spoke, a series of radiant roots filled with an abundance of life energy broke from the earth as they rapidly swept towards Layla; they bounded her in a few layers sealing her off from the outside.

"Fine, be careful, Emmy," Joe replied, no longer wasting any more words, his attention focused on the silhouette that hovered above the dust could, glaring towards Evan's position in silence.

"Rick!" Joe shouted as his body erupted with a large amount of steam, soon after his figure became muscular as he dashed forward at high speeds with his shield raised.

"I know," Rick replied as his body blurred and vanished before he jumped from the ground and soared towards Valoz.

At this time, Valoz finally took his eyes from Evan's dust-filled crater; both pupils emanated a rich amount of hate that couldn't be sated even after he killed his most hated foe.

As if he only noticed Joe's and Rick's presence, Valoz sneered as he spoke, "Ha, you foolish humans don't know your limits, even if incomplete, in my Primal Blood Form, I am invincible!"

As if his body wanted to prove the world right, he clenched his fists tightly with his arms at his sides, his genetic blood power skyrocketed once more, sending bright lights across the surroundings.

In this state, both Joe and Rick seemed no different from bugs; Rick seemed to move at the pace of a normal human as Joe seemed similar to a snail.

Valoz made a cruel grin as he was about to finish them, but suddenly, his eyes narrowed as he stared at the thick roots that bounded an individual. As if it sensed his stare, the roots started to show signs of breakage as little by little bright dark purplish lights shone from their cracks, creating a glamorous but ominous sight.

'This power... humph! I want to see who it is amongst these wretched humans besides that bastard that can give me an ounce of threat!'

Valoz's eyes shone with even more killing intent as his figure blurred swept past both Joe and Rick when he dashed towards Layla's position.

'This isn't good! I can't hold her back!' Emilia thought as she felt the change, her eyes showing a look of worry and fear as she watched as the roots broke one by one, releasing an endless amount of dark purplish light.

Valoz, seeing this grew even more excited; he aimed his palm down and yelled, "Haha, die, Primal Psycho Beam!"

In an instant, he shouted, a giant ball of energy formed around his palm once more before firing towards Layla's position; it split apart into multiple rays that formed a spiral that swept towards multiple areas around her.

"Take cover!" Joe's panicked voice said from one side as he tried to run to help.

"Noo!" Rick yelled as he says that the blast range swept up Emilia; all seemed to be dire. However, it was at this instance, a shocking change occurred. 

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