Ascension of the Nephilim

The moment Diana and Branze woke up, they found themselves in the Temple.

"What happened?" Diana asked.

"Lady Diana! You're awake!"

"Ugh..." Branze was touching his head as he slowly stood up.

"Lord Branze!' You're alright too! We were worried!" The servant cried.

It was then that they noticed the strange situation before them. A battle was going on outside of the walls of the Temple. The knights and servants were shooting their arrows.

Above the Temple, only one mage champion flew out and began to shoot various fireballs with her scepter.

"Where are they?!" Branze asked.

At the front of the Temple, guarding the central doorway were Gojirrah and Reptilia. The Coven also guarded the sides to block the path leading to the other entrances of the Temple.

"Fire!" A knight shouted, and the servants at the bottom shot several arrows once more.

The knights who fought at the front continued to attack and slashed their enemies. The attacks somehow did damage that even the knight's shield could stagger the approaching creatures.

The arrows that were launched also did the same thing.

"Amazing. The Temple is bestowing Holy energy on our weapons!" Diana realized.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Scarlet shot out another series of fireballs that blew away the ranks in front of them.

At the gap that was formed from the attacks, the knights hurriedly captured the dying shadows that were wounded and brought them inside the Temple.

The knights were able to hold them as the holy energy covered them.

At the gap, Branze and Diana saw several tall golems that had a white glow.

"Send more of those back inside!" Mardock was there at the center and continued to give out orders.

There were several odd golems that had fire and lightning energy around, and they also assisted in carrying several wounded and amputated shadow creatures inside. The strengths of these golems allowed them to move in and easily resist the struggles of the shadows until the Temple absorbed them.

"We're replenishing the Temple. But this is too few! We may run out of energy soon." Branze concluded.

"That's why they moved ahead." Mechiel appeared next to the two of them.

"Mechiel, correct? You were the one who took care of us?"

Mechiel nodded.

"Where are the rest?" Diana asked.

"What happened after we fainted?" Branze asked.

Mechiel began to recount what had happened after they lost consciousness.

Nearly two hours ago, right after Branze and Diana fainted...

Aron, Mezal, and Kyros stood at the forefront of the battle. With them at the front, the shadows that managed to slip down had been decreased.

No one within the area in front of Aron could approach. His slashes and attacks were so powerful that they began to incinerate everything. 

Yet the horde rushed crazily without fear of their life.

"They are trying to make me waste my energy! What idiots!" Aron laughed.

"Easy for you to say..." Mezal grumbled.

On the other side, Mezal kept using his wall to push back and had been slashing and cutting the enemies in front of him. It was clear that Mezal was expending a larger amount of Force energy to keep the wall up.

"That's a good idea! They have numbers. It's best for that Commander to fight us when we are a little low on energy." Kyros laughed.

Kyros was fighting in the center and used his sword. But around his fist, balefire flame was emerging, and Kyros was using both of them to fight back.

For some strange reason, the shadow creatures that moved closer would suddenly focus their attention on Kyros and charge madly.

Martha was guarding the small gaps that allowed some of the shadows to slip through.

She had appeared and captured several shadows and was constantly feeding on them while shooting dark arrows that maimed or disabled those that were charging through the gaps.

The Commander flew high near the portal and watched the four powers who were holding the line and preventing more shadows from aiding the battle against the champions at the back.

"Those fools. They have tainted the glory of Champions! They died without even killing a single one of them!" One of the Champions who emerged from the portal cursed. He was a human with bones as armor. Unlike the other creatures, this man was not a shadow.

"They blocked the attacks of several Champions and Siege Cultivators. You try fighting them." An orc appeared. Just like the man, this one was a Champion that was alive.

"A mysterious cutting energy. That sword expert on the right is quite strong. His attacks could even harm me. That old man to the right is also terrifying." The dragon Commander frowned.

"Shall I go there and rip off his head?" A tall orc with insect-like appendages moving on his back appeared and offered his services.

"Do not be overconfident, Rigsdurr. That old man is powerful. He is the balance between the Paladin with the strong defense and the swordsman with the powerful attacks. But what isn't obvious is that man is both a Sword Expert and a Shield Expert!" The Commander frowned. 

"While he doesn't have an extremely powerful offensive power or the defensive energy, do not forget that those two have attacks and defenses that can challenge even commanders! None of you Champions can beat him. Even in a two-to-one scenario." The dragon growled.

"Forgive my blind eyes." The orc bowed.

The human and the other orc both frowned.

"And the one at the center, that boy, seems to be their leader. And yet, he has not shown us his powers yet. If you underestimate that being because he is a child, you will surely die. That armor he wears is even stronger than my Quarter Dragon Armor. It's definitely a legacy armor, and my suit fears it!" The Commander revealed.

The Champions were stunned and had revealed a cautious expression for the first time since they entered. Nevertheless, they were far stronger than the previous Champions that fought and died.

"The reason why I did not send you to attack is that I want to see the full strength of that boy. Keep pressuring them and order more archers to attack. Have them fire even if there are some of our men fighting. We have a horde of shadows at our command, and we best use it to our advantage and keep sending out attacks of oppression. They are the last enemies that we will face to be free from this wretched place. Have you contacted the other Commanders?"

"They will be sending one Siege Cultivator each."

"Good. Oh? It looks like those Champion mages are finally acting." The Dragon commander watched the distant figures that began to release magic energy.

The attacks of the mages were directed to the area in front of Kyros and Mezal.

The power of the five Champion Scepters they had was revealed as it could shoot out Magic energy that had elements just by pouring it in.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"This scepter is too amazing! So my Elemental affinity is actually lightning! Maybe I should have trained like brother Demerus after all!"

"Entropy. Mine is actually entropy! We have to read more of that book! We've been missing the mark in our cultivation all this time!" Demerus frowned.

"Mine is Ice! We don't have any inheritance in the Lowlands that teach Ice!" Ressi cursed as ice magic erupted from her scepter.

"The path, of course, is to ally with Kyros. The powers they have shown are far stronger than the Vaux Imperial. What they need is more military power!" Faye added.

"If we survive, and if our family allies with them, we would be placed in these situations." Triona reminded.

"Are you afraid, sister?" Stellya asked.

"Not at all. Sister, you should aim for Grand Master Kyros."

"Haven't you seen how he looked at that dhampir? He's clearly in love."

"Aren't they all?" Faye sighed as he glanced at Branze and Aron.

Back at the front lines, Mezal, Aron, and Kyros were now standing up as they killed the last shadow that tried to move in.

The attacks of the Emberdon had stopped the charge.

"Kyros? Why did you tell the Emberdon to shoot?" Mezal frowned 

"The Commander didn't move and wants us to waste our energy. We can estimate that the numbers that they are sacrificing aren't worth mentioning. And this includes the Champions that they send. And I think it's possible that these armies have a Cardinal. If we keep fighting like this, we will be dead. Better rush in and kill the leader."

"A Cardinal? Well, I guess if Destiny will try to kill us, that's the very minimum." Aron chuckled.

"Minimum, huh? I wonder what Destiny is in store. I feel that it's almost certain that a Cardinal lies beyond those gates. So you plan to go on the offensive?"

"Yes. This is an endless army, and we will soon die, and the Temple won't be able to handle it. So we have to move immediately. I'll have to go a little all out before we do, though. I need to stock up food for the Temple. So I made the Emberdons shoot to prepare for our retreat. I'll move in and go wild and swiftly retreat. Since I showed my ace, it should make the Commander order the group to attack. And there, right when they think we are on the defensive, we attack."

"Who will go?" Aron asked.

"The three of us, Martha, and four of the Emberdons. We need one to act one of them in case the attacks become critical. But before that, I need to make them believe that we are retreating so that more of the Champions will rush towards the Temple. We'll take care of this last set of Champions and that Commander before we charge onwards." Kyros explained.

"Emberdon..." Kyros called out.

"Prepare that Magic Carpet. It's time for us to be on the offensive!"