Zero to Peak: Ascension Online

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Character Name: Nnamani Ivan

Skill (3): Battle Lord

Skill Type: Passive

Skill Description: With every enemy or target that falls by your hands, you accumulate a part of the target's energy. This accumulated energy can be unleashed in a single burst that spans a period of three minutes. During this period, the strength exhibited is comparable to that of a character at the peak of the Honoured Bronze rank. There is a chance it could rival the strength of a special character at the bottom level of the Supreme Crusader rank.

Cons: However, there is a threshold for how much energy can be accumulated. Once this threshold has been reached, no more energy can be absorbed.

Accumulated Energy: 10,000,000/10,000,000 Joules.

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Ivan reviewed the details of his passive power, Battle Lord. The numbers glowed on his internal heads-up display, a stark confirmation of the power he held in reserve. He wondered just how potent an explosion of ten million joules could be on this chaotic battleground. He considered the best course of action, the single most effective way to swing the tide of this desperate battle. It was clear that changing the flow of the conflict relied heavily on eliminating the oppressive presence of the humongous battleship that dominated the sky. The ship, supplied devastating aerial support for the aliens' ground troops once in a while. It was a miracle that the military still had any ground units fighting after every relentless wave of aerial bombardment.

With a clear objective in mind, Ivan set the MRAP on auto-pilot, feeding the virtual intelligence a set of instructions it could modify and execute based on the unfolding situation. He then alighted from the armoured vehicle, the door hissing shut behind him. The distance he had to cover to reach the battleground was a sprawling ruin of what were once quiet suburban streets, now occupied by disgruntled, hollow remains of single-family homes and duplexes.

Ivan broke into a sprint, his armoured form a blur against the wreckage. He reached his top speed of 340 kilometres per hour in just eight seconds. The fourteen-kilometre distance vanished in a matter of moments, the world streaking past him in a dizzying display of motion before he arrived at the edge of the battleground. The instant he was in proximity to the conflict, he activated Battle Lord.

He felt his entire being surge with an incredible energy. It was a raw force that ignited every cell in his body, sharpening his senses and flooding him with a feeling of absolute power. He immediately closed in on an unsuspecting alien soldier. He summoned his sword into his right hand, the blade materialising with a faint hum, and slashed down on the creature. The force of the slash was so immense that the alien did not just die; it exploded on contact, its body disintegrating into a shower of gore and ichor.

The surge of newfound energy spurred him on, helping him to overcome any lingering doubts he had about his own capabilities. He became bolder, his actions filled with a confidence that allowed him to execute powers he had not previously dared to display.

An ear-piercing screech suddenly tore through the air. Almost everyone on the battlefield, human and alien alike, was affected by the crippling sound. Ivan had executed one of the powers of the Veiled Owl, a divine ability bestowed upon him by the Goddess of Serenity.

In the ensuing confusion, he sensed a hostile gaze directed at him from a distance. A powerful enemy had taken notice of him through the chaos. He turned his attention towards the source of the threat: an Und with four pairs of arms which was unusual, each armed with a long, harrowing scythe that gleamed wickedly in the dim light. Three stunned human soldiers sat defenceless on the ground before the scythe-bearing Und. With a contemptuous flick of its multiple wrists, the alien cleaved their heads from their shoulders before it sped towards Ivan.

Ivan did not wait for the alien to approach; he pressed forward, meeting the rapidly approaching threat head-on. Ivan manoeuvred past the makeshift blockades and the terrified human soldiers hiding behind them as he raced towards the alien. The creature, in contrast, was reckless, clattering indiscriminately into anything or anyone in its path.

It seemed that in his haste, Ivan had overlooked the inherent threat of the multiple arms the alien possessed. So, when he and the alien finally collided, he managed to parry two pairs of scythes with his sword, but the others cut straight through him, slicing his body into six unequal halves.

The alien's power was ranked at Supreme Crusader, its name a fitting tribute to its abilities: Grim Butcher (The alien's power is called Grim Butcher). The alien turned, diverting its attention to a squad of human soldiers who were firing at a group of aliens marching openly towards them. The Butcher attempted to take a step forward but halted abruptly—something was not right. It gazed down at the corpse it had just butchered; the pieces were still there. So where was the intense hostility it was still perceiving coming from?

At that instant, the scythe-bearing Und felt the chaos around it cease. The sounds of battle faded into an eerie silence. It gazed around, only to see that its own alien comrades were now pointing their weapons directly at it. The humans were nowhere to be seen and it hadn't noticed that.

"Stand down, Butcher. We have been ordered to arrest you for betraying our race," one of the aliens said, its voice cold and accusatory.

The Butcher was taken aback by the declaration. It was a steadfast and loyal member of its race, so it could not understand where this absurd accusation was coming from. It vaguely remembered an unbelievable story it had heard in the past, a rumour of fellow aliens switching their allegiance to the human race. It thought that this must be what was happening at this very moment.

"All of you are traitors!" the Butcher yelled as it lunged forward with a furious pace.

The alien danced through the crowd of its 'former comrades' that had gathered around it. Its deathly scythes moved in a ruthless, efficient arc, slicing off body parts like a wheat harvester machine working through a vast wheat field.

Little did the Butcher know that it had been pulled into a dream. The battle it was currently fighting was not for its life, but a battle for control over its own body and mind. Ivan had planted a possession parasite in the alien after he had successfully pulled it into the dreamscape.

In the real world, the battle had been turned on its head. Ivan had accomplished a lot in just one minute. He sustained a steady pace of three hundred and forty kilometres per hour as he sprinted across the battleground. No one could stop him; confusion erupted everywhere he went. Any alien position he dashed across dissolved into immediate chaos.

Ivan's sword slashes were like releasing rounds from a .50 calibre anti-materiel rifle. Whenever he slashed down on a plasma rifle or a plasma cannon, the consequences were devastating—a terrifying explosion would erupt, engulfing anything within a twenty-metre radius. Ivan was careful where he deployed this strategy, always considering the safety of the human soldiers.

Ivan had pressed deep into the heart of the brigade of alien soldiers. He still had two minutes on the clock before his three-minute burst was over. He abruptly raised his gaze to the sky. He saw the Butcher, now strapped to a jet pack, flying towards the enormous battleship.

The adversaries around Ivan did not notice that he was a threat. He had employed the power, "Serene Presence," which made adversaries or prey fail to register him as a danger.

Within his helmet, Ivan's lips parted as he began to sing an off-key lullaby. The unsettling melody was a means of causing mental confusion, and it carried his intentions: to sow discord and chaos among the aliens.

He then leapt high into the air with tremendous power, releasing a shockwave upon taking off that knocked the nearby alien soldiers off their feet. Ivan's effort hurled him towards the hull of the humungous battleship.

Meanwhile, the possessed Butcher had swiftly entered the enormous battleship. The Supreme Crusader-ranked alien wreaked havoc upon the crew members and the vital equipment aboard. It danced through the ship's cabins, a whirlwind of destruction.

The Butcher soon reached the control pit. The pilots in the pit were so preoccupied with the battle on the ground below that they had ignored the surveillance footage of the massacre the Butcher had just executed aboard their own ship. They were completely surprised by its murderous presence. The possessed alien threatened the pilots, forcing them to unlock the main hatch door for Ivan to come in. There were a dozen pilots in the pit, and they were all seized by a paralysing fear. None of them were bold enough to even hit the SOS button. The pilots, terrified for their lives, heeded the Butcher's order.