Ascenders Rift

The clash between the Three Calamities was a dreadful one, their blows causing the earth to quake as if it was undergoing a disaster. Still, no matter how dreadful the attack, none could escape the confines of the all-encompassing roots that firmly sealed off all directions.

At this moment, a giant series of roots snaked around the sky, chasing after two beautiful forms, both of which gracefully and speedily avoided with exact precision.

As the two women avoided the roots, they both performed an attack.

"Fusion Power!" Galgorax invoked as she concurred a multicolored light around her arm, which then fired a streak of all-encompassing burning flames that burned everything in their path.

"Web Cutters!" Yelshiva yelled as she merely waved her palms, causing a cluster of spider webs to flicker about, each thread shining in a cold ray as they severed the roots they encountered.

As both of their attacks destroyed the giant roots, they continued unimpeded towards the Origin Mutant Life. Ion looked at the incoming attacks with calmness as he lifted his palm, facing it towards them, and chanted, "Rootless..."

As if the world heard his words, space rippled as many different roots rose up, tearing through the air at high speeds before crashing into the clusters of flames and spider webs.

The attacks created a shockwave due to their collision, but unlike before, the flames didn't completely burn away the roots, neither did the exceedingly sharp spider webs.

Looking more closely, one would notice that these roots were different, each having a metallic-like sparkle as if they were countless times harder than metal.

"Such a meddlesome skill..." Galgorax complained as she floated in the sky.

"If I keep struggling here, I'll never be able to acquire those fruits..." Yelshiva thought to herself, her eyes angrily staring at Ion.

Ion smirked as he saw their manner; he calmly stood his ground, causing an extensive root to propel him from the earth into the air. As he stood on top of this giant tree root, it seemed as if he was riding on the eastern dragon, giving him a tinge of majesty.

"You two have failed to achieve true evolution... such a pity, even if you were to both use your full strength, it will not be enough to defeat me. Besides, right now, I think you both have more pressing matters to attend, huhu..." Ion said calmly, his eyes hinting towards the scene outside.

Both Galgorax and Yelshiva frowned as they naturally knew what he meant; they could sense the numerous death's occurring outside as their troops fought against the Human Resistance.

'Those troublesome humans, to think they've come this far, but that's not enough, with Deerut, Ezgods, and Vrak at their command, they should more than be enough to solve them...'

Galgorax thought as she momentarily glanced in the direction of the battles, she could hear the deep booms of various stray techniques that even crash against the roots that sealed them away.

'There are too many losses, but if it's Marcruse... he should be able to put those pesky humans down,' Yelshiva thought to herself; she grew a bit concerned about her horde, but that was it; she decided to leave it up to her strongest soldier.

Ion frowned as he noticed their expressions; it didn't even seem that they were concerned about the battle outside. His eyes flickered as he pondered, 'So troubling, I'm indeed superior to them, but if they went all out, I might not be able to hold them off truly, and they'll hinder my chances at acquiring those God Fruits, not unless I...'

As Ion tried to conclude his thoughts, both Yelshiva and Galgorax showed smiles on their faces; they stared at him as if they figured something out and spoke separately.

"Heh, you're nothing more than a plant that grew sentient, so you think that you can fend me off by yourself, then let see if you're competent. My Gene Eruption is the highest grade of power that any flesh type lifeform can achieve..." Galgorax said with a sinister smirk, her hair flowing upward as her energies rose sharply.

"Hmph, I'll show you why I'm called the Insect Queen, prepare to witness my Web Domain..." Yelshiva confidently said as she spread her arms wide, causing many different spider webs to form around her slowly.

'Blast, it seems I'll have to do it, I must use my True Origin, even before the fruits descend...' Ion cursed inwardly, but he could only accept this situation as he found that he had no other choice.

Suddenly, they heard a thump as Ion closed his eyes; both Galgorax and Yelshiva frowned as they listened to the sound, followed by a dangerous power that started to coil around his body.

'This power...' Both Galgorax and Yelshiva thought in shock, as they felt a threat like none before; they prepared to accelerate their full strength's activation, but soon. a new change occurred, one that drew even Ion's attention.

In an instant, the world shook with a loud boom, as if heaven and earth were shifting places. The force destroyed even the cage of roots that sealed off their battle with this sound.

"What? Already?!" Ion exclaimed as he spat out a bit of green blood as he looked at the crumbling roots in shock, his eyes turning towards the direction of what he called the Origin Tree.

Galgorax and Yelshiva also looked over, noticing that brilliant lights had condensed around three head-size fruits, filling them with a luster like no other, dimming everything else within the world.

When this happened, a few other minor fruits lit at various branches. Suddenly, as if these fruits grew sentient, they pulled themselves away from the towering branches, floating in the air before they turned in three streaks of light that bolted towards the core of the tree.

"Damn! I can't let them get away, my evolution is almost complete, I shall not be disturbed!"

Ion cursed out loud, his face contorting as he erupted in full power; he didn't hold himself back from unleashing his True Origin, which transformed his entirety.

Suddenly, his slender pale skin grew more muscular as odd, white-colored branches coiled around his flesh, handing down loosely like vines, some even having spikes on them.

Ion glared at the two before with his now sinister green and black eyes before tapping the giant root below his foot, causing it to turn in a white color. As if it felt his intention, the giant root tore through the earth, pushing his body towards the core of the Origin Tree at alarming speeds.

"You think that you can take them for yourself? Well, guess again!" Galgorax shouted; she erupted all of her mutant genes, her body growing one size larger as a pair of black bone wings sprouted from her back.

"None of you will claim any of those fruits!" Yeshiva shouted, similarly transforming, her hair turning white like it was made of spider webs, one that continuously extended.

Not even wasting a second, Galgorax turned into a ray of black light as Yelshiva flickered like a white beam, both chasing after Ion Newzer, who vanished towards the core of the Origin Tree.

While they left in a hurry, the battles of the army only grew more intense, each side fighting as if they didn't notice the change.

But soon, in a place the trio had failed to notice, Evan and the others appeared from what seemed like a shrouded space as he had previously used his skill to bend light, causing them to hide from their enemies.

"This has gotten more troublesome, I'd have thought that they'd weaken a bit more, but it seems that we can't hope for such a perfect plan," Evan said.

"Evan, what do we do? Milon and the others are about to fight that troubling Insect General and those Eight Destroyers. Should we help them first?" Joe asked as he looked at the nearby battlefield.

Rick and the others also felt it to be a bit tricky; Evan shook his head and replied, "No, we can't afford to divide our attention; our duty is to finish the Rift Quest, we'll simply have to trust that Milon, and the others can hold off until then."

"I understand," Joe said with understanding.

Rick, who was quiet for a while, finally spoke, "Evan, I'll ask again, how do we divide those bosses? Even if the rest of us can fight Yelshiva or Galgorax separately, that's still going to leave one extra. We can't possibly take all three at the same time."

"That's right, is there another way?" Emilia said she found it a bit difficult now.

Evan sighed while contemplating, 'If they can fight Yelshiva, I can kill Galgorax within my strongest state in a short time, but if I do, I won't have any strength left, to defeat Ion Newzer. Hmm, how do I solve this mess?'

Rick and the others stared at Evan deeply, awaiting his words, but right as they all seemed lost. They heard a chuckle from nearby.

"What? Who's there?" Rick said with a cold tone, his eyes turning sharp instantly.

Joe and the others also took on a battle posture and a look of alertness, Layla's eyes glowed as Emilia closed her eyes, but as if their method failed, they didn't seem to sense anything.

Much like then, Evan also narrowed his eyes, using his spatial power to check the environment, but he didn't sense anyone even now; he looked around carefully, but soon, his eyes widened as he familiar yet very unexpected party.