Ascenders Rift

Chapter 201: The Enemies Whereabouts, One Month's Difference

Far away from the region of the City of Hope, on an unmanned island surrounded by blue waters. Here, there were a series of caves with a variety of constructs around it, each seeming no different from strange types of power generators as they flickered on and off with electrical lights.

Traveling towards the depths of these caves, one would see a vast underground network connected to a massive base. 

Just by looking in any direction, one would see dozens of Body Shifters that moved about, as in a field that seemed more geared towards combat training a few Body Shifters that had just gotten human bodies were testing their genetic abilities.

In sealed off room, the Genetic Blood Corpse was currently placed in a standing posture, looking no different from a nine-meter tall giant human that emanated a dense amount of murderous intent.

Below it was the severed body of Valoz, placed in a container that was keeping him barely alive. His arm was holding onto the leg of the Genetic Blood Corpse, as a strange power was flowing around it. Paying close attention, one would notice that Valoz's arm was glowing in reddish lights, as his entire body and flesh was slowly being transferred into the corpse. 

A few Body Shifters that wore helmets and white coats stood around him with tablets as they conversed with Pira with a hint of fear in their eyes.

"The Genetic Blood Corpse was the counter product of many generations, spanning from the Primal Era; it was solely engineered on the genes of hundreds of primal life to allow for our kind to shift and become the ultimate being. Pira, are you certain about this? The High Elders, what would they do if...?" The person was about to say something, but right at this time, Pira glanced at him, causing him to feel a wave of oppression as she spoke, "Hmph? What Elders, the Master was always in charge, as the True Ancestor of our race. Those elders only have the luck of being roused from their Primal Slumber much earlier. Yet, despite awakening, they still failed to return us to the place where we truly belong. Why would he even subject himself to their senseless management? Listen up, from this point onwards we will decide everything, do you understand?"

The scientist shuddered but didn't dare to regret her words as he spoke, "Understood."

Pira nodded at this; she carefully watched as Valoz continued to transfer to his new body while thinking, 'If it's the master, then even if this body has an astonishing amount of blood energy. He should be able to complete his transference in no more than two months. Humph! By that time, the God Tree should be ready to descend again; unlike the Primal Era these humans are far too weak, and if we had only awakened during the most recent appearance we would have achieved even greater power, che! We won't lose to likes of those new-born Origin Mutant Plant, nor that evolved queen amongst those flesh mutators.'

As Pira thought to this, her eyes shone with a ruthless light as she sat down and began to conjure her powers, she had not so long away awoken from her slumber much like the Master, as such, her strength was limited prepared to awaken her power before that time comes entirely.

The scene here unknown to all, as if acting like a prelude to the fierce battle that would start in the not too far off future.

***

Time passed quickly, and it had been over a month since the previous battles had occurred. During this time frame, Evan's party and Milon's forces had each launched separate raids on various secret bases they had learned about from records.

Each base was utterly destroyed, leaving no survivors other than captives behind, while a few of them were already abandoned, with some of them being explosive traps.

At this moment, Evan was currently standing before a mountain range; his face had a bit more coarseness as his hair grew a bit longer. 

Suddenly, Evan tapped an earpiece as Breya's voice sounded, "Their moving..."

Evan's eyes grew sharp as he spoke, "Good, begin the hunt..."

Not only Breya, Layla, Rick, and the other voices sounded back in unison, "Roger!"

BOOM! Instantly, a large explosion had occurred as the mountain face blew to bits, sending chunks of a boulder rolling down its slope.

A series of shockwaves and tremors came from within the mountain as if a fierce battle was occurring. However, Evan didn't move; he was waiting for something.

A minute later, another boom sounded as the mountain sent more chucks of rocks flying, but this time a figure had jumped out from the crack as it soared into the air for a considerable distance before landing on a tree.

Looking at this figure, one would notice that it was a brown-haired humanoid with a long and thick tail that dangled from behind as it shone in a metallic hue. He wore a dark robe and had strange looking arms as if rocks surrounded them.

Evan knew that this was their High Elder, and as he was pushed to this state, he knew that it must have reached its limit and was trying to flee.

'Hmph! As if I'd let you get away,' Evan thought as his body vanished like a blurry shadow, sweeping across the distance at incredible speeds.

'Those darn humans! I can't even understand how they came to possess such terrifying strength; how did they even find out about my lair? I can't let them catch me; otherwise, things will certainly fall out of place...' The High Elder thought as he prepared to jump from the tree and escape, but right as he put power into his legs, a red shadow had appeared before him and blocked his path of retreat.

"Hmph! You foolish human die!" The High Elder shouted as he jumped towards Evan and raised his earth covered fist which he struck towards Evan's chest.

Evan didn't seem to mind it, he stared at him and smiled while speaking, "Fighting head-on are we? Ha, a bad choice om your part..."

As he said this, he raised his palm and faced it towards the High Elder's fist; the elder sneered at this as his arm swept forwards with full power.

'Such a silly human, did he think that just anyone can block my power? I am not called a High Elder for noting, my physical strength is even the strongest of all High...' The High Elder had a menacing look on his face while he thought to himself. However, his face soon changed as he saw an unexpected result when his fist hit Evan's palm.

Without even a ripple or shockwave, all the force of his attack vanished as if Evan's palm had not only blocked it easily but also mitigated its power.

The High Elder's eyes shrunk at this, as he exclaimed, "This... how is this possible?" 

Evan merely chuckled and spoke, "I'm simply stronger than you..."

Having said those words, Evan raised another palm calling out his Void Sword before chopping off the High Elder's head.

The High Elder cursed despite having his head chopped off, "You bastard human, do you think that you'll be able to get anything from me? You can forget about it even if you capture me alive!"

Evan smirked as he spoke, "I actually won't be expecting you to spill any secrets, but there are ways to learn more secrets..."

The High Elder was a bit confused by this, but Evan didn't say anything else, he chopped up the rest of his body, destroying it in entirety before he crushed the head of the High Elder.

Soon, a surge of EXP went into his body, but it wasn't enough for another level up, by this time, his level had risen again since his battle with Valoz, arriving at the late phases of Level 11.

As for Joe and the others, they had already arrived at the peak of Level 10. Evan held onto the High Elder's perfectly fine brain and placed it into his storage space before he looked up. 

Not long after, a series of blurs flashed as Joe, Emilia, Breya, Rick, and Layla had appeared, their features a bit maturer, as this entire month of constant battle had changed their atmosphere a bit, each of them now having a dense murderous air, as their eyes shone with spirit.

Evan nodded at this as he smiled and spoke, "Good work everyone that was the last base on land, let's head back, for now, let's hope that we can find something else from this fella..."

"Tsk, it's been one hell of a month. Finally, I can get back to rest. Look, I've even gone and lost weight," Joe said as he gripped a section of fat on his belly that now seemed smaller than before.

Layla and the other girls giggled at this, while Breya's eyes shone in a strange ray, causing Joe to feel uneasy. The party then left the wilds as they traveled towards the City of Hope.