Ascension of the Nephilim

The tall creature had shrunken his form, yet the threat and danger of this being presented were still terrifying for the group. The creature was not only disgustingly strong, but it was also wise and did not dare underestimate them. 

The previous form of this man was a huge crab. It was as big as the Drake dragon that they just fought and killed. But unlike that dragon whom they never truly fought with all of their strength, this one performed an impressive ambush that even Kyros was unable to counter.

The attack of the Crab Commander was timed in such a matter that it would have killed them as they exited the portal. 

"Is it Foresight?" Kyros wondered.

Such an attack required amazing Foresight and Combat to know when to make the attack. And when he failed to kill everyone, he immediately took the massive doorway and tossed it afar.

The armies had them surrounded from afar. But the armies were not comprised of human shadows, orcs, and other of the previous races that attacked them. Instead, this army had massive and tall creatures. Every beast that surrounded Kyros and his team was over three meters tall.

Some were shadows, while others were actual living beings.

The world where they now stood was no longer like the one before. 

The ground of this new world was dark—almost pitch black. The rocks and even the trees had different shades of this darkness.

"This world... A Dark Dependent world!" Kyros realized recalling Calaminus's lessons.

Above the sky, several moons and other massive cosmic structures glowed with borrowed light from another source.

But around the team was a powerful Magic Dome that covered them.

Kyros watched and was rather impressed at the detailed plans of the enemy.

"Sometimes, I forget that Destiny really wants to kill us." Kyros chuckled.

"That claw was so hard. My slash didn't even leave any notable damage." Aron frowned.

"He tossed away the portal so that we couldn't escape. That force explosion he created was to prevent us from moving in. If we died, it was just a plus. This guy us quite cunning for a crab." Kyros praised.

"He who plans ahead, wins." The Crab commander laughed.

"As you can see, I prepared all this before you. I initiated an attack to test your full might and defenses and a formation that is against you. And that attack was also made to pull away from your retreat path, which is the portal. Champion Mages! You saw that power that caused that man and the dragon to teleport. There is a Space Mage among them! Create an elemental distortion to lock everyone here! I don't want them to teleport out of this place, do we?" The Crab Commander ordered.

Almost immediately, a strange spatial reinforcing occurred.

"How cruel. You sure are different from that Dragon. We never even got his name." Kyros smiled.

"Hmph! Perhaps it is a little unfair that my plans outmatch yours. I'll give you time to prep your team, Nephilim. You-"

"Thank you. Everyone! This battle won't be like the previous one where we managed to defeat the enemy through tricks and lies. We fight now, and we fight with all that we got. But be careful guys, he has an army of giant creatures beside him, and they can join this battle anytime. The mages that he commands create this massive barrier to trap us inside. This is to prevent us from flying and fleeing. We have to fight fast as the doorway is still functioning and is bringing in these larger monstrosities to the other side. Worst of all, this beast has somehow guessed that we would have the ability to grow stronger by devouring and by feeding. And as you can see, he sealed off our teleportation ability." Kyros began to speak with such speed and gave elaborate explanations.

[Taunt activated.]

[Deception activated.]

"..." The Crab Commander glared at Kyros.

"Anything else?" The Crab Commander asked impatiently.

"What?! They followed us? Those idiots!" Kyros shouted in shock as he looked towards the portal.

The many Champions and Captains outside of the Force field all turned towards the direction that Kyros suddenly shouted at, but the Crab Commander had a very disappointed look.

[Deception failed.]

"You tried... to make me look using lies? Do I look stupid?"

"You kind of do, to be honest."

"Nephilim. Show me your power." The Crab Commander began to walk slowly towards Kyros.

"Let's take it easy and let me test if my speed alone can be matched.

"Everyone! He's lying! Remember the speed of his previous attack? That's his full speed. He intended to kill us in that blow."

"How perceptive." The Crab laughed as he launched to attack.

"Attack!" Kyros ordered.

SLASH!

FWIP! FWIP!

A sword slash and several arrows attacked immediately. The Champions also shot several rounds of their attacks.

"How pathetic. My Force wall alone will be enough."

BOOM!

An eruption of force energy exploded out and blocked all the attacks.

But as that happened, Aron harnessed an even stronger attack.

"[Force Slash]!" Aron used the strongest skill he had in his arsenal.

The powerful cut slashed out and had the power even to cut the explosion itself.

"Oh?" The Crab Commander was impressed and raised his two claw hands to defend against the slash.

SLASH!

The attack didn't cut through as strong force energy enveloped his claws.

[Force Shield]!" The Commander summoned the attack.

The slash cut through the force shield but did no damage to the shell-like arms of the Commander.

"What?!" Aron cursed as he saw his strongest attack getting blocked. And the Commander didn't even look like the attack actually landed.

But as the explosion and the force were being cut, Kyros had used Dark Shroud to cloak his form and activated Pronto and Time Haste. With the speed that could match Commanders, Kyros dove faster, and he tailed the [Force Slash] attack his uncles sent out.

"[Force Pierce]!" Kyros rushed forward and used the power of his newly improved sword to harness Balefire. Unfortunately, the cut of Aron had opened a small gap that had none of the Commander's Force energy, and Kyros dove in to attack that area and stabbed out.

With the path opened, Kyros's stab reached the craggy arm of the Commander.

TING!

A loud sound that was like metal hitting metal echoed as the Commander took a step back from Kyros's attack and was standing on the edge of the wall.

Kyros frowned as he sensed that the [De-Spacito] did not connect with the enemy.

"Impressive. But that strange magic that tried to curse me won't reach. This shell of mine is just a shell. It's not my real body!" The Commander revealed, and after mocking Kyros, the Crab Commander channeled massive Force Energy to explode out once more.

Mezal had reached just in time.

"[Knight's Charge]!" Mezal charged with his shield, and as the impact of the charge struck, a Force Wall also followed to fill the gap.

The Commander tried to create a Force Energy that would push back, but the Force Wall of Mezal was unmovable for some reason.

Mezal and Kyros acted together and stabbed their sword to the ground.

"[Grand Cross]!" The two shouted.

BOOM!

The power of Holy was channeled on a certain point, and the two attacks created a Holy pillar that exploded outwards. It was a more concentrated attack as it was aimed only at one location compared to the usual [Grand Cross] that made the Holy energy burst out wildly.

"Impressive variation. But this is how you make a focused attack.

The Crab Commander punched out, and the Force Energy took the form of a large claw.

The attack also contained magic energy, and a water claw rushed out.

Martha had already reached and pulled Kyros and Mezal and was flying back in her dragon form.

The Emberdon Champions also shot out a series of explosive attacks.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

But the attack pushed through with such speed.

"[Force Wall]!" Mezal activated his barrier as the attack was racing for Kyros.

BANG!

The claw broke through the wall.

"[Dark Shield]!" Kyros shouted and created a wall of darkness that formed right in front of Kyros right before the force explosion exploded out.

SMASH!

The Claw arm pushed right through the dark shield and punched Kyros.

Kyros was thrown back and crashed on the Magic dome.

"Kyros!" Faye and Triona flew to assist him.

"Relax." The Crab laughed.

"That kid was smart. I never thought of using Dark Energy like that. He created a cushion. It was like I punched him with gloves." The Commander leered at Kyros, who was spitting out blood as he stood up.

"[Force Pierce]!" Aron took advantage of the prideful reaction and stabbed out. After seeing Kyros use it, Aron immediately tested the usage and harnessed the power of Cut, and created a concentrated power that had True Cut in it.

The Crab commander tilted his head as the piercing attack stabbed through.

STAB!

The stab created a small hole in the magic wall, and the wall was slowly closing up.

"Now, that would have pricked me a little. But unless you are as fast as that kid, don't ever think you can hit me." The Crab laughed at Aron's failed attack.

BANG! BANG!

Two dark bolts were shot out by Kyros. It went straight for the Commander, who tilted his head once more.

The dark bolt slipped through the small hole where Aron stabbed.

But the Dark bolt rushed forward and struck a Champion mage who blocked with a dark shield that he created.

"Tsk. That Champion saw that, huh..." Kyros laughed.

"Aiming for my Champions instead? They are more disciplined than that Drake's army.

"Your defense! You already have such a powerful, thick, and unbreakable body, yet you mask it with Force energy. Isn't that a bit of an overkill?" Kyros cursed.

"My enemies will make plans to try and break through my Force defenses only to find out that my actual defenses are stronger. As I said, he who plans ahead, wins. You should have made plans for this, Nephilim!"