Ascenders Rift

Chapter 73: The Struggle Against the Commanders

As an ominous ball of darkness enveloped the scene within the old temple, a fierce battle was currently in progress between the mighty goblin and crocomen troops against a Fatty Joe and his party. The clash was far from typical, for, despite their tiny numbers, Joe and the others were somehow capable of keeping their opponents at bay.

Currently, four mighty looking monsters were engaged in brutal combat with Joe, who clashed against them with his shield and halberd, his appearance seeming no different from a hero at the helm of his party.

His foes were none other than the leading commanders of the joint army, two being of the goblin race as the remaining duo were of reptilian lineage. The goblins wore nimble light armor, as one of them held a dagger, and the other held a bow, as for the two crocomen, they were garbed in thicker armor with one wielding an ax as the other held a long sword.

Suddenly, the two crocomen had charged forwards at a rapid pace with their heavy steps causing the floor the tremble. In moments, they had closed in on Joe ready to attack him with their weapons.

Joe's face turned solemn when he saw their movements; his body emanated with a slightly denser amount of earth-colored energy. Soon, his arm that held the shield bulge slightly, the fat surrounding it condensing by a minor section as his muscles became more prominent.

As this happened, Joe took a defensive posture by sliding one foot back against the grassy earth as the other foot remained forwards, facing the direction of his enemies. He pulled back his arm which held the halberd, positioning its edge towards the side as his body slanted when he pushed the shield forwards to cover a significant section of his body.

"Let's see what you've got!" Joe said with a look of confidence as his eyes gleamed with battle zeal; it seemed as if he had somehow overcome his initial fears.

The two crocomen commanders glared at Joe, their eyes flashing in reddish lights which left behind trailing lines when they shook their bodies, one veering towards Joe's side as the other continued to rush forward to attack.

"Hmph! You arrogant human, take my Wind Slash!" One of them yelled as he struck his long sword in sideways chopping manner, creating a splendid arc of greenish wind energy that cut towards Joe at blur-like speeds.

"Earth Cutter!" The other said in a rough voice, as he jumped and cut his ax downward, his body glowed in a dark light that condensed around the ax.

Upon seeing the enemy's attack pattern, Joe didn't panic; he dealt with the more troubling attack by promptly waving his halberd and striking it against the blurry arc of wind that came from his unguarded side.

As the arc of wind disappeared, Joe's eyes shifted upwards where the other opponent's ax was rapidly descending with a baleful light shimmering around its edge.

"You want to cut me? Not today," Joe murmured as he pushed his scaly shield forward, reinforcing it with his Battle Energy.

Swoosh! The ax cut through the air with swooshing noises as it slammed onto the upraised shield creating a loud booming noise and a shockwave.

As Joe received this attack, due to his opponent's strength, even with his incredible amount of defense, he was still a bit shaken up. He fell back by half a meter's distance as his feet slid against the ground.

"You damn wretch! Get away from me!" Joe shouted in anger as he nudged the shield forward, pushing away the crocoman that held the ax by over two meters.

As Joe got a moment to breathe, he wiped the blood from the corner of his lips as he glared at the two crocomen while thinking, 'This is so troubling, if I had fully mastered my Battle Energy I would have been able to deal with their attacks easily, but right now I can only properly wield half of it. Those sword attacks aren't a threat, but the ax wielder isn't going to be an easy chore. Yet, these two are only half of my troubles...'

While Joe thought to here, at a few dozen meters away, one of the light-armored goblins had already knocked his bow in full. His arrow glowed in a blackish light before it flew from the goblin's bow with his shout, "Shadowless Arrow!"

Screech! With a loud screeching sound, the arrow turned into a ray of black light, which separated into the two indistinct arrows that shot towards Joe from two angles.

'Shit, these are even faster than that wind attack, I have to strike them at the same time,' Joe thought as his eyes flashed, he quickly readied his shield and his halberd while striving to track the two arrows within his field of vision. However, because of his focus, he had left himself wide open for an attack.

"Keke! You're wide-open human," A sinister voice said from Joe's side, pulling him away from his concentration.

Joe's eyes widened in shock when he saw the skinny goblin with a dagger that was rapidly approaching him, being only one foot distance away from his neck. He wanted to find a solution, but at this distance, not even thoughts would be useful. Joe felt a tinge of despair, but as all seemed as if it would end, a purple light flashed, and the sound of metal colliding was heard.

Ting! Following the collision, a knife had unknowingly appeared before the goblin commander's dagger, parrying his strike with the broadside of its edge.

"This... what the hell?" The goblin commander said in shock as he looked at the girl before him.

At this moment, Layla was now standing at Joe's side with her slender arm gripping the knives handle as she kept the surprised goblin commander at bay.

"Joe, watch out!" Layla said as her body glowed in vague purple lights which shrouded her body and knife; she then made and upraised slashing motion with the knife that parried the goblin commander's dagger, causing him to lift his arm above his head.

As Layla did this, she stooped before jumping and turning her body as she struck her leg towards the vulnerable head.

"You little bitch!" The goblin commander cursed as he was yet again surprised by her slender frame's strength; he rapidly raised his other arm for defense, bringing it above his face.

Bang! Layla's kick was square on; her slender leg smashed onto the goblin's arm, which in turn crashed into this face, crushing his big green nose as her attack hurled him backward by a few meters.

Layla's figure then fell to the ground where she somewhat jaggedly regained her balance as she was not too used to doing such maneuvers, even if she was now more fit than any athletes or shaolin, she didn't fully have enough combat training.

By this time, Joe had already regained his senses, and the moment he did, the arrows were already upon him, both assaulting him from two sides of his head. He rapidly raised his shield one side as he struck the halberd on the next, quickly colliding with the arrows.

Peng-Peng!

Instantly, the arrows shattered as they collided with both weapons, and Joe heaved a sigh of relief. He then kept his eyes forward, gazing at the two commanders as he spoke to Layla, "Thanks for your help Layla, I was almost done for."

Layla smiled and replied, "Don't worry about it, for we're a team. You can't handle them all by yourself you know, so I'll try to take care of that one called Turg. As for that Gnat, Dulltooth, and Tichuk, you'll have to deal with them more carefully."

Joe's eyes flashed when he heard her words, causing the stats of each of the commanders to pop up before his eyes.

[Turg Goblin Commander - Level 2]

[Race Goblin (Superior) | State Stage 1 Lifeform]

[Class Dark Assassin]

[Health - 350]

[Dark Energy - 5]

[Strength - 26]

[Vitality - 21]

[Agility - 28]

[Defense - 21]

[Skills:]

[Life Cutter An attack of baleful energies that can steal the life of its foes.]

[Stealth The ability to shroud oneself with darkness to become invisible.]

---

[Gnat Goblin Commander - Level 2]

[Race Goblin (Superior) | State Stage 1 Lifeform]

[Class Dark Archer]

[Health - 350]

[Dark Mana - 5]

[Strength - 24]

[Vitality - 21]

[Agility - 29]

[Defense - 21]

[Skills:]

[Dark Mana Arrow A bolt conjured from dark energies, can corrupt any life.]

[Shadows Arrow An indistinct bolt that can transform into multiple arrows to give a swift end to the enemy.]

---

[Dulltooth Reptile Commander - Level 2]

[Race Reptile (Superior) | State Stage 1 Lifeform]

[Class Sword Warrior]

[Health - 400]

[Corrupt Energy - 5]

[Strength - 29]

[Vitality - 27]

[Agility - 23]

[Defense - 27]

[Skills:]

[Wind Slash A slash of sharp wind energies than swiftly bring an end to the enemy's life.]

[Tichuk Reptile Squad Leader - Level 2]

[Race Reptile (Superior) | State Stage 1 Lifeform]

[Class Ax Warrior]

[Health - 400]

[Corrupt Energy - 6]

[Strength - 32]

[Vitality - 29]

[Agility - 22]

[Defense - 26]

[Skills:]

[Earth Cutter A brutal blow that deals terrifying damage that can break apart the earth into rubbles.]

---

[Joe Goldsmith]

[Race - Human | State -Awakened]

[Class - None

[Level - 2]

[Next Level - 3000EXP]

[Total EXP - 1]

[Health - 250]

[Battle Energy - 10]

[Strength - 22 (16+6)]

[Vitality - 14(12+2)]

[Agility - 15(11+4)]

[Defense - 31(18+ 5+3+2+2+1)]

[Stat Comparison:]

[Previous: S - 12 | V - 9 | A - 8 | D - 15]

[Current: S - 22| V - 14 | A - 15 | D - 31]

[Talent:]

[Toughness (+4 Defense and +1 Strength per level)]

[Skills - None]

[Croco Shield - Rank 1: Mid-Grade]

[Defense - 5]

[Durability - 3]

[Weapons:]

[Battle Halberd - Rank 1: Mid Grade]

[Damage - 6]

[Durability - 4]

[Scaly Cuirass- Rank 1: Low Grade]

[Vitality - 2]

[Defense - 3]

[Durability - 2]

[Scaly Gauntlets - Rank 1: Low Grade]

[Defense - 2]

[Damage - 1]

[Durability - 4]

[Scaly Leg Armor - Rank 1: Low Grade]

[Defense - 2]

[Durability - 2]

[Scaly Boots - Rank 1: Low Grade]x

[Defense - 1]

[Agility - 4]

[Durability - 4]

After comparing their stats to his, Joe made a smile when he replied while focusing on the others, "If it's only three, then there's no problem,"

As Layla heard this, she spread her arms to the side and flipped her knifes holding them in an inverted style as she glared at the Goblin Commander Turg, who was staring at her from a distance. The cloth on his robe fluttering with the rising winds, much like Layla's long hair as they faced each other in silence, the dust swept across the chaotic battlefield.

Turg glared at Layla as he gripped his dagger in the same manner and lowered his posture, he then spoke with a sly smile, "Kekeke! Human, you're good, but not good enough... you might be able to face me in a one to one, but how can you fight me when I have my army?"

As Turg laughed in a sinister tone, he prepared to summon the surrounding troops to aid him against her, but at this time, he felt something strange. He saw that the girl before him was looking at him with a mocking look, as he was curious about it, he glanced around and noticed a shocking scene from the corner of his eyes, the scene of countless thin threads that were semi-visible, causing confusion amongst the joint armies.

From a distance, he even saw many different semi-transparent golden rays, which transformed into small arrows as if they were condensed to use only the minimal amount of power. They rained down from the sky, striking the vital points of all their targets, one by one, the goblins and crocomen were slowly falling apart as their cries sounded across the battlefield.

"How could this..." Turg wanted to think more, but at this time, Layla had already blurred and vanished, rushing towards him like a blurry purple shade.

"Damn! I'll have to kill her first," As Turg said this, his eyes gleamed sharply as dark energies spread out from his being while he whispered, "Stealth..."

In moments, he vanished from all sights as Layla appeared in his previous location, Layla looked around from left to right while in thought, "He disappeared, he must have used that stealth ability of his, this might be a bit harder than I thought..."

As Layla said this, her eyes glowed in purplish lights, as the wind rustled around her form, this region of the battle became oddly quiet as if it was a world of its own.

Suddenly, a region in space shimmered in a cold light as an object swiftly and silently pierced across the void towards Layla's unguarded back. It happened within an instant, as the moment Layla sensed it and turned around, the object was already a few inches from her neck, the figure of Turg had appeared with a sneer on his face his eyes as he spoke, "You were too slow... now die!"

Turg's voice resounded across this area, as Layla's panic-filled eyes were filled with the scene of Turgs knife slowly penetrating her skin. A flesh piercing sound resounded, as a gush of blood rose into the air as a key person on the battlefield finally met their ends.