Ascension of the Nephilim



The power of Pronto was a time spell used on a person's perception.

This was a skill that Kyros had invented with the help of Calaminus. Due to the curse of [De-Spacito], Kyros had always had a faster perception, which made his Dexterity stat naturally higher.

The spell which triggered the appearance of Kyros's soul was simple. But it required a lot of mental and psychological hurdles to achieve it. It needed great courage and will to force the perception to tip out of the balance.

The moment Emeros saw time moving slowly, he realized he had activated this power.

Emeros quickly scanned the battlefield.

The fiery flames that the oil had spread had engulfed many.

While Wesret and Don were at the front of the group, they faced a single Puk who had chosen to ignore their burning bodies and attack the humans.

Most of the Puks were charging at Philip and Serena at the command of the Chort.

Philip and Serena were shooting and slowly retreating as several Puks ran at them in great rage.

They were shouting and calling out to Don and Wesret to retreat.

Emeros saw the path and knew how to save all.

Emeros moved through them and felt like his body was extremely heavy and hard. But the sudden slowness of time allowed Emeros to know where to move. He took out a dagger and had his sword in hand. He slipped through Serena and Philip and passed by them.

His body felt heavy, and moving it took a lot of effort. Emeros knew this was the effect of trying to move outside of his own mental perception.

The Puks reacted as Emeros approached them and swung their weapons.

Emeros easily avoided them by tilting his body as he dove deeper into the group of beasts.

The Puk's speed couldn't keep up with Emeros's perception.

Emeros kept his body low and began to stab and slash at the foot or knee of the short beasts.

Quick stabs through his dagger and continuous momentum on his sword as it made shallow wounds on the foot. Emeros couldn't utilize even half of his strength due to the strange effects of Pronto. But he didn't need to land powerful attacks. His weapons of good quality could allow him to inflict wounds that would slow the enemies down.

SLASH!

STAB!

SLASH!

STAB!

---

Damage Inflicted: 86

Damage Inflicted: 83

Damage Inflicted: 81

Damage Inflicted: 85

Damage Inflicted: 79

Damage Inflicted: 88

---

He had studied the rules of group combat for Quick Blades and Bltizers. If they couldn't defeat the monsters in one hit, then they were to slow them down. Quick Blades and Blitzers were meant to be rescuers within the group.

The group of Puks couldn't surpass the speedy and sneaky charge of Emeros and received wounds on their legs that caused some to stumble and others to reel in or grimace to the side.

Emeros then saw his two allies, who were knocked down. It was good that both faced only one Puk as the rest had run toward the archers.

Emeros hurled the dagger in hand and slashed his sword at the one attacking Don.

STAB!

SLASH!

---

Damage Inflicted: 132

Damage Inflicted: 112

---

But attacks were made on the head of the Puks, and Emeros didn't stay to aid his friends more. This was the most that he could do as there was a bigger monster that he needed to kill. This was another mission that Quick Blades and Blitzers were tasked to do. Find the strongest enemy and attack them!

Emeros ran towards the enraged Chort, who was still covered in flames. His face was still on fire, and the Chort was still trying to pat and extinguish the fire.

It then noticed Emeros.

"You!" The slow cry of the Chort echoed, and he swung his saw-blade at Emeros.

Emeros kept the powers of [Pronto] active but knew he was reaching his limits.

He reached into his pocket for the last Fire Ore Bomb and began to pour out mana on it as he ran deep into the wild swing of the Chort.

The fast swing moved too fast that Emeros knew he would not make it. He tilted his sword and aimed for the arm of the Chort. With his perception, Emeros stabbed his sword toward the swinging arm of the Chort.

STAB!

Emeros used one hand to hold the sword, and as his other hand held the fire ore bomb, it was acting as a lock to keep his other hand from drifting and resisting the swing of the Chort.

The force of the Chort's swing was still moving forward, and Emeros kept pressing the sword forward to stop the swing.

SNAP!

The sword broke from the force of the swing. But it was enough for Emeros to charge closer, and without hesitation, he directed the broken sword straight toward the face of the Chort.

"Roar!" The Chort shouted in pain at the attack.

Emeros stabbed the broken sword on the upper lip of the Chort.

STAB!

The wide roar of the Chort and the stab kept the mouth open as Emeros quickly lodged the Fire Ore Bomb in the mouth.

Emeros pushed it hard and even used the force of his arm to push himself down.

Pronto ended as Emeros fell to the ground.

The angry Chort's sideward swing was pivoting to become a downward hack.

But as he raised the saw-blade, the fire ore bomb detonated before the Chort could spit it out.

BOOM!

The head of the Chort burst into two as the upper cranium flew off the head.

The Chort stumbled down, but Emeros spared no wasted seconds, grabbed the large saw-blade that the Chort carried, and sprinted back towards his allies.

Don and Wesret survived the Puks despite having large wounds, and Emeros quickly hacked them with his new weapon.

SLASH! SLASH!

Emeros didn't even bother to take note of the math and kept attacking and hacking at the enemies.

He attacked the Puks that were attacking Don and Wesret again and ran towards those headed for Philip and Serena.

Philip had remained shooting at the back while Serena was forced to fight in close combat to delay the incoming Puks.

But now, Emeros was able to rejoin the group and strike the head of the foes.

Some of the more burnt ones finally died at Emeros's attacks.

Wesret and Don stood to guard Emeros's attacks but noticed that the Puks and Gremlins behind them were starting to retreat!

"I'll guard the back! Go!" Don shouted, and Wesret immediately rushed back to kill the rest.

Soon, the flames from the oil died out, and what remained was Emeros and his exhausted and wounded allies.

Several slashes and strikes later...

THUD!

The last of the Puks fell, as did Serena and Philip.

Don and Wesret were petrified and stiff, with their hands gripping their weapons tightly.

"We survived..." Serena exclaimed.

"Let's go back! That was... that was...!"

"We can't." Emeros panted and stood up.

"What?!" Everyone else exclaimed.

"That Chort made his declaration. It seems that we triggered something we shouldn't have. That Chort said that the Demon Imp plans to send out his armies to attack the mine."

"Attack the mines?!"

"Yes. If we return now, and the demon imp sends the army, we would all be implicated in this. The best thing we can do is hidden within the deeper parts of this subterranean world. I plan to make it look like that we were caught up in the monster's war and we had no choice but to hide. It's less suspicious than going back and allowing imps to move in. The mine won't fall. At least... not with the strength and level of the soldiers guarding there."

"But... we can't stay here! It's too dangerous!"

"We don't have a choice! If we go back, we become the prime suspect. Even if we wait for some time and then go back, we still will be treated as suspects!"

"But... but...!"

"Philip! Calm down!" Wesret shouted.

"The enemies we just fought were all stronger than us!"

"They were all level seven. That taller goat creature that I killed was level ten." Emeros revealed.

Everyone was startled.

"Help me get to put them, and let's quickly absorb the life energy out of them. And then we get out of here. I estimate that each of us should grow by at least two levels! This will help survive."

"But where can we hide?" Philip asked.

"I remember what my dad said; this region was home to many hermit alchemists and mages before this became the route of the monsters. We could find one of their old homes there... If we barricade it with stones..." Don suggested.

"Great suggestion Don! Let's do that! For now, bring all the corpses. It's time for us to get stronger."

The group began to move and clear the corpses.

Emeros began to use the formation plate and started drawing out the energy from the beasts.

By the end of the ritual, everyone had grown by two levels, except for Emeros, who grew by one level.

The team quickly departed.

"Master... Is it alright? You only grew by one level!" Serena exclaimed as they quickly left with their wheelbarrows and the corpse of the Chort, and several Puks.

"I'm still stronger than all of you. It's enough. You guys need to get stronger now! You guys need to train while we hide!"

Emeros and the group moved deeper into the mines. Emeros and Philip went ahead while the rest hid somewhere Emeros sought one of the old houses and rooms the previous mages had.

Twenty minutes into their exploration, Emeros came across a strange pillar of stone that was glowing with magic.

"A spell? A mage must be in there!" Emeros exclaimed. He pressed his hands into the stone pillar and sent out magic.

The mana flowed towards the stone pillar, and Emeros could map out an energy conversion circle hidden within the stone's dusty and dirty sides.

Emeros made his magic flow through it, and the strange rolling sound was heard. A small door opened, and a pathway was revealed.

Emeros brought out one of his magic stones and poured some magic into it, and it became a light source.

Together, he and Philip moved inside.

They found an old house with a skeleton corpse seated.

"This place will do! Let's go get them!" Emeros decided.

The group managed to bring the team and discreetly bring their wheelbarrows without attracting attention. Numerous sounds of battles and growls could be heard in the distance.

Soon, the group moved inside the room, and Emeros used another mechanism of magic that closed the room.