Symbiotic Ascension : A Progression Fantasy Adventure

Glenn's smile from enjoying his time flying with Liara faded away as they approached the battlefield. The sun was still high in the sky, sometimes momentarily obscured by flashes of grand spells and massive blades of Mana. Liara clenched his shoulder softly before standing up on Pebble's back, her sword and spear drawn. Countless soldiers were slaughtering each other beneath them, skeletons and orcs cutting through humans with ease, respectively outnumbering and overpowering them.

"Don't slow me down!" Sahro roared while jumping down from Whitey, his Primal Aura surging out into a crimson bolt of lightning. The Black Heir crashed down in the center of the enemy camp, destroying everything around him. Three Orc Saints came out of nowhere and made contact with him.

"He hasn't changed even a little bit," muttered Glenn. Milena shook her head and directed Whitey to drop her closer to the front. The Witch of house Dela Luna took control of powerful Orc warriors without hesitation, not even requiring physical touch anymore. The world folded upon a necromancer and his undead army, flattening him.

Milena's true powers were one sight to see. Liara patted Glenn's back and smiled.

"Good luck." She jumped off Pebble and onto Whitey, white wings of light appearing behind her back. She charged into battle atop her might steed like a proud valkyrie, cleaving through the enemies with ease.

Pebble growled impatiently, and Glenn chuckled. "Yeah, yeah, let's get to it. Don't get yourself hurt, Pebble."

With one thought, he called Diamanes back to his hand, the entity gasping in shock. "Ah! Another minute in there, I would hunger for worms and seeds, I swear! Can't you find a better temporary host than this damned bird, Glenn?"

"No. Whitey does his job perfectly as the guardian of my privacy. Now, shut up and let me concentrate." Glenn's eyes flared up with a purple hue as he pointed down at a powerful energy source. A powerful necromancer, no doubt. Black sand exploded as Orcs roared and charged at their enemies mercilessly. Blood and flesh-colored, the dark desert red. The sickening smell of iron and death gripped Glenn's throat, but he was used to it.

The sun disappeared, replaced by the shadow of two coiling dragons roaring and flying in the sky. The battlefield's soldiers on both sides looked up, just in time to see Glenn standing on top of Pebble, his eyes blazing with fiery purple.

"Draco & Tiamat." Glenn lowered his hand. The two dragons rushed down with a violent roar, shaking the world. A large blade of golden Aura tried to fight against Glenn's spell, but it was too late. The spell exploded, devastating the Orc army and digging a burning gash into the earth. A rift hundreds of meters deep opened into the enemy ranks, an abyss that swallowed countless enemies.

"Impetra Monstrum Stellare!" An Orc Saint roared, pointing his jagged blade at Glenn. The latter raised an eyebrow.

"Monster of the Stars? That's not my proper title, Orc. Maybe this will change your mind." He cast another spell from his new collection to prevent the Orcs from attacking him, a product of his training with Exan.

"Melt in the Sun's heat," he muttered mercilessly, his Mana surging out in a massive, burning wave. "The End of Sol."

Both skeletons and Orcs below the Grand Chevalier rank turned to ashes in a snap, thousands dying without a sound. The wind scattered their remains without a sound as the surviving Orcs roared painfully at him, their skin scorched and charred black.

Glenn coldly looked down at them, observing his handiwork. "You should have stayed in your lands. Begone."

But before he could put an end to the enemy frontline, he felt a powerful presence above him. He and Pebble glanced up, watching as corpses fell from the sky, surrounded in magenta light. Lucian, his crown shining brightly, pointed his sword forward, a large grin upon his unharmed face. "Hear me, soldiers! Munirp cannot be defeated! Follow the Heroes of Munirp and defeat these daring fools!"

"WOW!!!" The shout that the soldiers returned to him made the desert shake, Pebble even flinching from the pressure. Thousands and thousands of men screaming, their morale at an all-time high from watching their allies slaughter the 'monstrous' Orcs. And to top it all off, their Crown Prince was even fighting with them.

This war couldn't be lost!

'He does a great job at lifting their morale, even if they suck at fighting,' remarked Diamanes. 'You know, I would have thought Munirp had better soldiers, but that was my mistake, obviously.'

Glenn shook his head, his arms crossed. 'Munirp's way is to focus their resources on promising talents and raise powerful one-man-armies such as I, Sahro, or the others. Just the four of us were enough to turn the situation around. Look, Sahro already took down all three Saints that attacked him and is assaulting the enemy's back line. In ten minutes, there won't be a single Orc or necromancer standing on this battlefield.'

'This is a one-sided slaughter,' laughed Diamanes wickedly. 'The orcs must think that it's really unfair, haha!'

'I wouldn't be so certain. Without us or someone like Lucian around, Munirp's forces can't do anything to push back against the unstoppable onslaught. Munirp will inevitably run out of soldiers faster than the Celestial Gods. We can't create fighters in two years like them. Damn it!'

Diamanes clicked his tongue. 'I sure hope Duke Noir has some great idea. Seriously, I'm starting to get tired of tanning under the sun. The black sand is terrible for my skin!'

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'Your skin?'

'Whatever, you know what I mean.'

Despite the entity's jeer, Glenn couldn't help but agree with him. Even he was starting to tire of the constant conflict. Every time he helped one side of the battle, another would crumble. He was just constantly running around, but unfortunately, he was just one man. The best solution would probably be to dive into the enemy forces and destroy as many high-ranked fighters as possible, but he wasn't immortal.

Well, almost not immortal. The power of Regeneration Diamanes had taken from Laurance was strong enough to heal the most grievous wounds, even though he wouldn't try to chop out a limb to test how far it could go. And his lifespan was apparently assuredly long thanks to reaching the Sixth Circle. He had a few centuries before him, easy.

He brushed the thoughts aside and turned his attention to Lucian, who hovered closer to him. The Crown Prince had a crimson cape fluttering behind him just like his father, and wore a regal battle suit of gold and magenta.

"Haha, did you see that! It's been a while, bro!" Lucian went and clasped Glenn's forearm in a brotherly manner. The latter returned it with a wide grin, glancing at the corpses of Lucian's enemies.

"Two Saints and an Archmagi, huh? I understand better why I wasn't seeing your spells flashing around the battlefield."

Lucian shrugged dejectedly. "You know how it is. The big shots fight the big shots. Thankfully, I'm the big shot in town." He froze and looked at Glenn with a scowl. "Hmm, maybe was is the better term. I heard of the dragon, but I never thought he was that big. Is this really Pebble, the tiny, cute thing you always had in tow?"

Glenn rubbed his dragon in between the ears, smiling. "It was a big surprise for me too, you know."

"Lucky bastard!" Lucian scratched under Pebble's chin, fawning over him. "Oh yeah, you like that, don't you big boy? Yeah..."

"Kyuu!"

"We've demolished their offense," Glenn redirected the conversation onto a more serious path. "Noir told us about their supply lines."

Lucian's face hardened and he crossed his arms. "Good. I'm the one who requested for you. My father wanted to play this in a standard, safe manner, but we're running out of time."

Glenn's eyebrows rose. "We are?"

The Crown Prince nodded tensely. "Keep it to yourself and the others, but the Southern Continent just fell to a plague. We've been welcoming refugees from the sea for a while now. Ever heard of Zephyr's Port?"

"Oh, oh, I know!" Diamanes suddenly exclaimed, eager to be part of the conversation. Lucian looked at the purple hand without surprise. Instead, it was resignation that he wore on his face. "Noir said it was one of the fastest-growing cities in Munirp's history and would soon require a proper noble to lead it or it would crumble!"

Lucian grimaced. "He's not wrong. Zephyr's Port was a fisher's village just months ago, but as the main landing point for all the refugees, it soon turned into the largest port city of Munirp. Hundreds of thousands, and still growing. At the rate it's going, we're going to have a second capital in Munirp."

Glenn raised his hand, confused. "Wait, wait, what does that have to do with us running out of time, though?"

The Crown Prince looked at him with a somber expression. "That plague I mentioned? It's highly contagious—just a bite and you're infected. You'll be fine if you're a True Initiate or a Knight, but below that..." He clenched his hands. "The reports spoke of alienated creatures who still retained some parts of their consciousness, just enough to feel the pain. They could barely be called humans anymore. Our researchers are collaborating with the Magi Brotherhood and the Church of Onnea to find a cure to their condition, but it seems induced by a Divine curse."

"A Divine curse?" Glenn repeated, confused. His eyes widened, and his anger rose like a furious wave, the hand in his palm grinning wickedly. "The fucking Thorn's Church. Shit, that has to be that creature's doing, Doloratrox!" Veins popped on his forehead at the thought of the nasty being that the Thorn's Church summoned by sacrificing countless innocents back in the incident of Eari and Satidipug. Hundreds of thousands dead, their corpses used to feed that filthy ritual.

"Fuckers," Diamanes cursed out.

Lucian clenched his teeth. "We've got no proofs yet, but there's a good chance your theory is correct."

"What about the Southern Continent's fighters? I heard the King of Salaphos is as good as your father?" Glenn rubbed his chin. Salaphos was the country closest to Munirp, owning most of the coast, and the rest he didn't know. He didn't know much about the Southern Continent, aside that Javier came from there and that the people living there had it tough.

But then, in Limbo, everyone had it tough.

"I... can't say for sure, but it's not looking good." Lucian shook his head. "What I mean, Glenn, is that Munirp will soon no longer be able to afford this war!"

"We can't fight on two fronts while at the same time keeping in check the northern barbarians." Lucian got closer to Glenn and grimaced, whispering. "Listen, I have a plan, but it's one my esteemed father will certainly refuse. Duke Noir would love it, though."

Glenn grinned. "I'm all ears."

Lucian took his Observer out and displayed the map. The change in dynamic due to their arrival on the main front was already showing, with other fights decreasing in intensity and the enemy sending reinforcements their way. "I have a suspicion their supply lines is situated around here." Lucian pointed at a specific point on the map. Glenn looked and nodded like he understood what the Prince was saying, blissfully confused.

'You never succeed at boring me, Glenn.' Diamanes' mocking laughter failed to elecit a reaction from him. Lucian continued, focused.

"But I also know they'll have their elites guarding this stuff. The ones who survived whatever hell they used to engineer powerful Orcs. The worst of the worst. I can't attack this point alone."

Glenn rubbed his hands together. "So you want us to delve in, destroy everything, and scurry off?"

Lucian blinked. He scratched the back of his head and looked at the map with a dumbfounded look. "W-well, that's simplifying it a lot, but yeah, that's the plan—"

"That won't be enough," Diamanes suddenly interrupted. Glenn and Lucian turned to look at the smug grin in the purple palm.

"Explain yourself, parasite," Lucian commanded coldly with his princely demeanor, the one he reserved for stuck-up nobles and enemies.

Diamanes snarked. "They'll just fix their supply lines in a couple of weeks. You'll get a break, but as long as they keep on creating more Orcs, this will never end, and eventually, Munirp will lose."

"Then what is the genius plan you propose, o great Diamanes?" Glenn asked while rolling his eyes, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Delving into the enemy lines isn't enough," grinned the entity.

"You guys will need to attack the heart of their territory."

Lucian and Glenn's eyes widened as they realized what Diamanes was aiming for.

"The only solution is to put a stop to the unlimited reinforcement glitch the Celestial Gods found."

Diamanes laughed madly. "In other words, their Orc-manufacting factories!"