Ascension of the Nephilim

The moment that Nightwing awakened, he had a strange premonition of who he was and what his mission was. But he had no memory. All that he remembered was that he wanted revenge against the one who killed him in his previous life.

He knew that the path of being reborn as a mortal and to face life and death was the key.

He awakened and found his two servants. A Hydra and a Slime. Both were also confused and the slime had a peculiar personality.

Nightwing and the trio made careful consideration of what they needed and what weapons they had. The castle was slowly rebuilt as Nightwing enacted several ingenious means to gather more blood for his castle and used the underground regions where the goblins lived and cultivated which became a mini-town of its own.

Nightwing made them wage war with each other and was slowly growing but the main concern was that he wasn't growing fast enough. His power of blood needed him to exert effort and facing Commanders, he knew that it wasn't economical to challenge them directly.

It was even more frustrating, that apart from guarding or defending the entrance, the Hydra and the Slime had no power to act as they were limited by many severe protocols that they could not bypass. Nightwing himself, had his own laws and could not choose to flee powerful opponents.

It was then, that they sensed the arrival of the Commander group. And so, the trio launched their plans to kill and conquer them.

The undead summons was a trap. They only had a lifespan of half an hour and would die.

Having practiced on the previous Commader, Nightwing used the Slime to lure them in and made them fight and kill each other and appeared only when one remained.

When Tyrs arrived with his team, Nightwing hid down the chambers to prepare his trap. The assumption of him 'just awakening' was yet another scheme when in fact, Nightwing already had Commander level power.

All of this was to draw out the perfect scenario for their easy victory.

But Nightwing's preparation failed at the last second as the unexpected spell, Sacrifice, worked.

The magic of Sacrifice was very difficult to perform. Everyone was given over to their own selfishness.

And an imperfect Sacrifice could never truly bestow and strengthen another. At most, those who are recipent of the offering that follows the sacrifice will find very little boosts in strength and will almost always recover from their wounds.

And those that could harness and casts it was very few. It took people with great legacies, inheritances, or blood lines to pull that spell of.

Angelica could feel the very hope of Menks in the power she received. In those last moments where they fought, Menks found freedom and desired for Angelica to have all of his strength to spite the Fallen. His joy of being able to defeat the Fallen also served as catalyst for the hope that Menks had.

Menks knew that with Angelica's special bloodline, she would not only reach the level of strength that Cardinals had, but she would receive tremendous blessing that would throw her at the peak of Cardinal! She would become a Crownless!

Angelica's permanent level rose from Champion and reached the middle stages of the Commander stage. But she had acquired the power to evolve her cells to become a Thane Dragon!

Dragons grow spectacularly great in their stats depending on their forms. A Dracanae that is at Commander is mighty strong, but nothing compared to a Lesser Dragon of the same level. But Angelica had reached a form! She was Thane Dragon!

BOOM!

An explosive step forward occurred as Angelica threw out a devastating punch.

"Crownless strength. I'm a Commander and I have to fight something twenty levels higher than me?!" Nightwing cursed and used his escaping method of dispersing himself as a blood mist.

"ROAR!" Angelica roared and the force energy was so strong that it blew at the mist and began to eradicate it!

BANG!

Nightwing's true form was revealed from the mist and he landed on the walls of the castle.

His human form was revealed and he was sighing at the power of the roar.

Angelica felt the surging power but could sense that the miracle of Sacrifice was slowly dispersing.

"Menks... Apart from permanently increasing my level to Commander, you gave me excess energy to wield this Thane Dragon power for several minutes! It will not go in vain! I will kill this vampire, the hydra, and even that annoying slime!" Angelica vowed as she charged towards Nightwing.

"Several minutes? Let's make it one minute. If that's the power you have, I will force your cells to grow and end this power! Thanks for the information, Angelica!" Nightwing laughed.

But suddenly, eight elemental cores appeared and surrounded Nightwing. The blood mist form he assumed didn't just make him escape but was used to gather the cores.

The cores formed an energy formation circle and the darkness was at the very center.

Angelica saw the circle and frowned. The magic and power involved in this spell far exceeded what she had learned in the Highlands!

All the cores lit up and revealed a terrifying magic.

"How about you face your kin... Awaken! Dark Serpent!" Nightwing shouted and with the elemental cores, a massive serpent formed out of the Darkness and roared as it charged for a frontal collision.

BANG!

Angelica's punch knocked the serpent back and it dispersed as her strength surged out.

"Too weak!" Angelica shouted.

But suddenly, a dark mist from the serpent exploded out and covered the entire room!

Angelica was surprised and found that the entire room was full of darkness.

"This darkness? What is this?!" Angelica cursed as her head grew distorted. The strange darkness was unlike any other she had experienced or trained in.

The power of the Darkness was trying to pull Angelica's consciousness out and into a void world!

"I will not... be defeated! I will never forget who I am and the sacrifices of everyone! All that I killed or who died before me, even Menks who gave his life for me shall not be in vain!" Angelica shouted.

"Hya!" Angelica went wild and began to unleash her attacks everywhere.

BOOM! BOOM!

Massive attacks and explosions occurred in the room and she began to hear voices all around her.

"Over here!"

"No! Over here!"

Many voices leered out and called at her and Angelica would attack out.

"Somethings wrong... What is this vampire planning?" Angelica contemplated.

The sounds of the voices continued out.

Angelica stopped moving and quieted herself as she used her extraordinary dragonic senses to pierce through the darkness and sense what was happening.

She quickly harnessed her Force energy and surrounded herself as she raised her arm which expanded like a shield.

"[Thane Dragon's Shield]!"

ZAP! BOOM!

A massive attack with seven elements shot down and pierced the ground.

The attack was so strong and powerful that it exceeded the attacks that Cardinals could do!

The darkness disappeared and a massive, deep hole appeared in the middle of the castle.

At the very bottom was Angelica who was struggling to move.

Her Thane form vanished as she glanced at the dark being forming at the very top of the hole.

Nightwing was panting and looked drained and weak.

He panted and glanced at the very bottom of the thin, small pit which was steaming with thick mist from the body of Angelica.

"I got you again... You are so predictable, Angelica." Nightwing laughed as he moved down.

"You... Trickster! You coward!" Angelica cried out.

"That's right. I made you attack the darkness and tried to hide my presence within that darkness. I knew that dragons are more resistant to the darkness of Kyriachos. But it was never meant to kill you. The stronger attacks that I can do requires more massive energy formation circles. But the stronger the are, the more time and effort I need to exert to complete those! And in that darkness, as you attacked, I made it. You did good to raise your shield in time and survive the [Star Piercing Stab] of mine..." Nightwing laughed as he stood over Angelica.

Several blood tendrils appeared behind Nightwing as the creep and moved over the wounds of Angelica.

BANG!

The fist of Angelica suddenly pierced through the chest of Nightwing.

"Wh...at?!" Nightwing clutched his chest and turned to the form of Angelica which had reverted back to a Thane Dragon.

All of a sudden, Angelica rose up and quickly transformed back to the Thane Dragon.

"Im...possible... How...?"

"I lied." Angelica sneered.

"The power that Menks gave me allows me to hold this form for days! And you went down this thin hole willingly! I couldn't catch you before, but in this place, you trapped yourself with me!" Angelica laughed.

"You lose, Fallen! Blood is always bested by Body!"