Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation

It was a gruesome scene that met my eyes.

The first thing I noticed was a huge cracked boulder split into several pieces. It left a strong impression on me, because I remembered this thing falling from the sky and causing the sudden change in the situation before everything erupted into chaos.

"That looks like a Doomsday Meteor!" Selene cried out, naming what sounded like a magic spell.

The boulder had smashed out several extremely wide fissures in the ground, and the golden veins that had previously shone brightly were now completely dull, as if devoid of life. The scene felt extremely chaotic, with rubble and shredded clothes and armor scattered everywhere, surrounded by misshapen corpses piled up like a massive garbage dump. The multicolored blood had long since dried, but countless trails of it running across the ground were still visible.

"These are all beastmen corpses," Brennan said gravely as he looked around. "I don't see any human bodies."

I felt very uncomfortable. Although the beastmen had been dead for a long time, there was still a disgusting aura lingering in the air, and it was much stronger than the last time. On top of that, the overpowering smell of blood mixed with the horrific state of the mangled corpses and guts strewn everywhere made it seem like a nightmare. As someone born on Earth, this was my first time seeing such a scene.

The others weren't faring much better. The two guys and Vivianne managed to keep frowning, but Selene already had her hand over her mouth with a nauseated expression. As for me, the aura made me unable to hold it in any longer, and I dry heaved over the ground but couldn't bring anything up.

"Maybe we should leave this place first," I heard someone gently patting my back, and looked up to see Vivianne standing behind me suggesting to Brennan.

"I'm fine, I'll get used to it after a while," I shook my head, not wanting my problem to disrupt their mission, especially since I hadn't actually thrown up anything. Maybe it was because I hadn't had much to drink recently, so there wasn't even any liquid in me.

After retching a few times, I did feel much better.

"Weren't we told this was the site of a battle between angels and beastmen? Why don't I see any angel corpses?"

I remembered the boulder falling and probably crushing quite a few angels, yet there wasn't a single body to be found at the scene.

"Angels are elemental creatures. When they die, they dissipate into light element, leaving no remains," Selene glanced at me, seemingly finding it odd that I didn't know even such basic common knowledge.

I see, so that's why I have so much light element in me. In other words, if I die in the future, it'll be a "no body" situation too? What a bizarre feeling.

By now, the two guys had left the central area to search the outskirts. This place was so spacious they quickly disappeared from view.

"Those two really are impressive, seeing a scene like this without any reaction." I suddenly felt immense admiration for Brennan and Adrian. Just how much tolerance did it take to appear completely unfazed?

"We're all part of the Adventurers' Guild. We often form parties and adventure together, so we're long used to sights like these," Vivianne said indifferently. "And Adrian frequently takes mercenary work from the army, so this is nothing to him."

"I was only assigned to this mission. I rarely leave the church otherwise," Selene nodded repeatedly in agreement, looking deeply moved.

Looks like I'm the weakest link here, I thought wryly.

A roar that shook the earth suddenly came from somewhere, making my heart skip a beat. I had a very bad premonition, as the disgusting aura in the air suddenly grew several times stronger. My whole body felt oppressed.

Vivianne and Selene also turn pale at the sound, immediately pulling out their weapons.

"It's from Brennan's direction!"

Vivianne identified the location and rushed over. Selene and I hurried after her.

The monster's roars grew more frequent. Coming over a tall broken boulder, we quickly caught sight of Brennan's conspicuous red hair, along with an enormous minotaur.

"It's a minotaur!"

Vivianne screamed in shock. The minotaur was at least three meters tall, making Brennan look extremely tiny before it. And it was wielding a gigantic axe, looking very fierce as it swung violently at him. Although Brennan was agile enough to dodge frantically, it was clearly very difficult, and he barely managed to evade the axe blows. Occasionally the axe smashed into the ground, making me feel the tremors through the earth.

"How can such a high level beastman be hiding here?" Selene cried out in disbelief. "I should have sensed the intense dark aura! But..."

Her expression changed suddenly as a thought struck her. "It's because of the battlefield. The stench from the beastmen corpses concealed its presence."

"Help, Brennan can't hold out much longer!" Vivianne's screams rang out. By now, the minotaur had forced Brennan into a retreat, nearly unable to dodge the giant axe blows anymore.

"Don't get hit! You can't tank it!" Vivianne yelled anxiously at Brennan. Seeing the dire situation, she gripped her long spear horizontally across her chest, then made a gesture with her fingers.

"Lancer Arts - Galeforce Wings!" Suddenly, translucent wing-like shapes seemed to emerge from Vivianne's back.

"Crushing Impact!"

Her speed increased dramatically, shooting towards the minotaur like a meteor.

"Arcane - Tailwind!" Brennan shouted as well, bouncing and weaving as he twisted his body bizarrely in midair. I realized his movements were changing - whereas before he had seemed aggressive and offensive, the twisting was turning him evasive and elusive.

Not only did his reflexes improve tremendously, his speed increased as well, or rather, became virtually untraceable. When pushed to a certain level, he left afterimages around the minotaur, making it impossible for the beast to land a hit no matter how it swung its axe.

Meanwhile, Vivianne had reached the minotaur's side, using her spear skills to aggressively attack its limbs. She was clearly trying to relieve the pressure on Brennan.

"We can't keep this up for long!" Vivianne still looked very worried. Like Brennan, her attacks were almost completely ineffective against the minotaur's incredibly high defense. Neither of them could afford to take even one hit from that axe.

Seeing this, Selene didn't want to fall behind either. Grabbing her staff, she rushed forward and aimed a glowing orb-like spell at the minotaur's head. But either due to insufficient power, it had no effect at all when it struck the monster. Vivianne's spear thrusts were probably more useful for harassment, even if they couldn't inflict real damage either.

"This is..." Seeming anxious, Selene muttered an incantation. The tip of her staff gradually gathered a bright cluster of light, which she then flung forcefully at the minotaur.

"Luminous Blast!"

"Don't!" Brennan tried to yell out a warning as he played tag with the minotaur. But it was too late. The light cluster smashed into the minotaur's face and appeared very effective, making its entire body stagger and nearly topple over. However, it quickly regained its balance, then let out a furious roar. Its bloodshot eyes locked onto Selene as it charged towards us.

"Crap!" Brennan shouted in alarm, pursuing the minotaur. The Luminous Blast had clearly dealt heavy superficial damage, leaving a large bleeding wound on the beast's head. But that didn't impact its actual combat ability much, only further enraging it and focusing all its hostility on Selene alone.

Although Brennan was fast, the minotaur's long strides as it ran were even faster. Meanwhile, Selene seemed paralyzed with fear, standing stiffly in place.

"Run!" I yelled anxiously, rushing forward to grab her clothes and pull her aside.

"Boom!" An enormous axe embedded itself deeply into the ground where she had just stood, the ground shuddering from the impact.

I had never seen anything like this before, and couldn't help but scream as my legs turned soft. The axehead was barely 10 or 20 centimetres from my toes. Selene wasn't much better off, half-sprawled on the ground with her staff-wielding hand shaking uncontrollably. She babbled incoherently, "D-don't... come over..."

"Beast Control Art - Light Dragon!"

A blinding beam of light shot out, striking the minotaur's head before it could react. Unlike the Luminous Blast, that spell didn't seem to explode on impact. More like it corroded the beastman when it hit. This beam caused a violent explosion, instantly wreathed the minotaur's head in flames and thick black smoke.

It looked like another of Brennan's techniques. I saw him standing not far away, his right palm extended towards the minotaur's head, while his left hand supported his right arm. The pose gave me an intense sense of déjà vu.

Although the minotaur wasn't seriously harmed, Brennan had succeeded in redirecting its attention again.

It wrenched its axe from the ground, then swung it in a wild three-hit combo at Brennan. But he had reached its feet by then, and seeing the attack, he rapidly jumped and wove, actually stepping on the sweeping axe blade to leap over the minotaur's head.

"Arcane - Crimson Lotus!"

Twisting bizarrely in midair again, Brennan's stance changed once more, becoming extremely aggressive. After several tumbles he was upside down, then flipped around into an inverted kick straight at the top of the minotaur's head. At the same time, five red claw marks suddenly flashed from his feet.

"Beast Control Art - Fire Claws!"