Scorching Ascension - [Progression Litrpg Apocalypse]

Audrey's POV

Audrey threw herself forward and slammed her tower shield down in front of the oncoming fireball. The spell detonated, and her shoulder rattled as the sickly green flames she'd redirected roared up. A few wisps slipped by, and a sickly feeling stole over her as the flames licked up her shoulder and touched her face, but soon enough, the discomfort faded away as her empowered constitution took over.

Good thing I focused on Toughness, she thought as she let out a strained breath. Ethan was on to something.

Glancing back at those she'd just covered for, she found Amelie and Gerald still tearing into the Direhound, cutting, stabbing and dodging whenever the nasty-looking jaw tried to clamp on their limbs, but no matter how deep they cut into it, the damn creature refused to drop.

"Don't flag!" Audrey shouted, her voice reverberating over the din of battle as she burned more essence to bolster them specifically, and from the corner of her eyes, she saw the light nimbus of golden light shine brighter as their movements sped up. If they finished that thing fast enough, they'd be able to join her and Amanda in protecting Liz from the ghost. That way, the archer could focus all of her efforts on supporting Ember.

Looking up, Audrey had hoped the boosting effects of her Prime enhancement had reached the cat, but while Ember and Caleb weren't that far above the ground, Audrey was disappointed to see no golden light around the cat.

Her vocal magic didn't carry that much. Not yet, at least.

More green, burning projectiles continued falling, cast by Caleb's offhand, and Audrey dodged one and deflected a second, careful to not let the sickening flames touch her. Most importantly, though, she made sure her companions wouldn't be hit by them, and if she had to take some for the others, then she'd gladly do it. The damn things were debilitating enough for her, and if the others got hit, they might be out of the fight. At least for a couple of seconds.

Then things would get dicey.

Thankfully, it did seem like the green flames were costly for the man, so there weren't as many of them compared to the start of the fight and with Ember managing to keep up with him, he most likely was becoming a bit more frugal with his resources. Which was good for them. A longer fight would work in their favor. So long as they didn't take bad hits, they could outlast him.

Unless…

Audrey shook her head and pushed aside the worst-case scenario. She wasn't being optimistic, but she also had to keep her mind in the game. If things got bad, then she'd react then. For now, her job was simple.

Keep her companions in the fight.

Looking up, Audrey waited for more spells, stealing a glance back just in time to see a limb get lopped off from the undead dog.

Good, she thought as she looked back up and readied herself for the new fireball being channeled, only for the man to abort his spell as Ember nearly tore into his neck. He dodged away with a curse, only for a gout of flames to engulf him a moment later.

Audrey was glad she wasn't hearing his stupid laughter anymore.

Come down here, you emaciated rat, she thought, the muscles under her forearms rippling as she gripped her shield tighter as smaller flaming projectiles came out of the deflagration, only for Amanda's own spell to intercept them before she turned her attention back at the ghost.

More spells came down from Caleb, and this one Audrey called to herself, letting Amanda focus on the ghost. At this point, it was clear that the specter was some sort of spell. They'd blown it up a couple of times already, but the man could heal it. Or reform it. And while it couldn't kill any of them in a single hit, it was debilitating enough for no one to want to get hit.

There was a flare of green and orange above, and both Ember and the man came out of a detonation as smoke trailed in their wake.

The man was panting, eyes crazed as they swiveled down toward them. He pursed his lips, then clicked his tongue as his eyes flitted back toward Ember.

"You guys are making me lose my bet," he growled, breathing hard. He glared at Ember, who completely ignored him and spat out another particularly fast fireball that the man still managed to dodge with a curse, then he let out a sigh. "I wasted enough time here," he said. Then brought his fingers up to his lips, dismissing the claws, and whistled.

Audrey froze, then her head instantly whirled about, watching the ground, expecting another ghost or monstrosity to come down as her stomach twisted, fearing the second possibility.

Or he wasn't alone?

Audrey let her gaze go past the battle and looked toward the abandoned city, just in time to see the air ripple, revealing a hooded figure and a large, swinging man in bulky, rusty armor. Out of his hand, a hand-axe flew out, flying straight up toward Ember, and before she looked away from them, she noted their identifications.

[?]

[Human (II) - Level 71]

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It was curious, but she didn't dwell on it. Someone had tried to attack her companions, completely ignoring her, and she couldn't have that.

Audrey lunged forward, activating her Prime vambraces and watched as the rusty axe curved down and away from its initial target, coming straight for her. Heart hammering in her ears, she waited, breathing fast, then with a roar, she braced behind her shield, angling left and down.

Her arm screamed as a gong-like impact rang in the battlefield, deafening her for a second as the axe tore through the metal. Audrey felt the spellform struggle to maintain its form, but the shield didn't break just yet.

But it's about to, she thought bitterly as she saw the man running toward her, and it might take her a second to re-summon it.

A second axe was already in the stranger's hand, and as he extended his second toward her, the one at her feet tore itself free of her shield and flew back toward him.

Audrey had to admit… the situation was looking a little hairier.

"I'm gonna need some help, guys," she called back, unwilling to look away from the new oncoming threat. "I'll—"

Something orange blurred above her, and Audrey unconsciously flinched. At first she thought Ember was sprinting to meet the armored man, which she was about to protest as the cat didn't do that well against that sort of enemies, but as her eyes tracked the orange blur, she realized it was too large to be Ember.

And Ember didn't have wings.

[Human (II) - Level 74]

Relief washed over Audrey as the familiar form of Ethan collided with the armored man, sending the stranger skidding away. The man bared his teeth, seemingly feeling proud for having taken Ethan's mundane charge, only to find himself face-to-face with a beach-ball sized fireball.

The space lit up as the spell detonated, and Audrey immediately turned away toward the Direhound and the ghost. Those had to go next. Still, she stole a glance up, and a smile stretched across her lips as she saw Caleb's face.

It was as if he had swallowed a lemon. And he didn't even have the chance to chew on it, as Ember had upped her offense now that she knew reinforcement had come about.

Audrey's shield slammed into the Direhound as it tried—and failed—to bite down on Amelie, and with another shove, it was destabilized enough for Gerald to chop off its head.

Now they just needed to mop-up.

***

As the smoke cleared from the man Ethan had knocked away, he took a second to get a good read on the situation.

Ember was fighting off the winged fellow. The dead-but-still-alive dog was down, though creepily enough, the severed head still tried to wiggle about and bite, but at least its powerful body couldn't do much else. With it dealt with, Audrey, Amelie, and Gerald turned their attention up to the ghost, which just took an electrified bolt in its face.

The ghost shrieked and disappeared, but seeing the faces of his companions, Ethan believed that it wasn't over just yet.

Oh well, they can manage, he thought right as Amelie began shooting up at the man, and when Ember finished sending her own attack, he reached for the link between them and spoke up.

"[Ember. Who are these people?]"

The cat hopped back, dodging a clawed swipe before she returned one of her own, right as the ghost appeared behind her and tried to get its ghostly hand around her only for another bolt to catch it and dispel it once more.

"[Another faction. They showed up at the same time as another… The Union. Or something. But those were cowards, and these want to force the strongest of us in their ranks.]"

Oh? Another representative of the Union tried their luck here?

He'd initially been a bit annoyed with having to deal with the political crap, but now, he was kinda looking forward to paying the Union's settlement a visit. Still, what he just learned about this new group was a little odd.

"[They weren't trying to take over the pylon?]" he asked as he began channeling more fireballs in his crown.

Ember hopped away as a swirl of green flames surrounded and shielded the winged stranger. "[The cowards of the Union wanted to. But not them. These ones wanted me and Amanda to join their ranks. By force, when we told them no.]"

A cold wave of anger spread out in his chest, but he wasn't too shocked. Eyeing the man in rusty, smoking armor and the hooded figure behind him, he sent another message to Ember.

"[So this one's to the death, I'm guessing?]"

"[It is for me. I'm tearing their throats myself. At least this one. Just for the insult of trying to force his will on me. And if you hadn't shown up in time, one of the young ones might have died. We had our paws full with this one already, then two more of them showed up? They weren't up to any good. So get to work.]"

A dark chuckle escaped his throat as something twisted in his stomach. "[Yes ma'am,]" Ethan sent back, right as the axe man roared and charged. But Ethan ignored him for a moment and eyed the one he couldn't identify, letting the axe slip by his head before he drove his fist into the man's armor and sent him skidding.

Tough. This should be fun, he thought. "Before we start. What's your trick for hiding your level? I don't think you're that high level. Is it an item? A spell?"

The hooded figure tilted their head, and a nosy, amused voice came through. "Survive, and maybe I'll tell you," the hooded man said, summoning a gnarled, pale wooden wand that made Ethan frown.

Something about it made him feel uneasy. So Ethan just let one of his fireballs fly toward the man and his wand and turned his full attention to the armored man.

It was a little alarming how little anger and surprise Ethan was feeling. Now that he knew that no one got really hurt and that the situation was somewhat under control, a part of him was already looking forward to what would come next. To when he'd be able to take a break and catch up with his companions and explore the functionalities of the pylon.

As if these psychopaths were just… trash he had to take out and throw away.

But this trash fights back, so let's focus up, Ethan told himself. Then he lunged forward to meet the axe-man.