Ascenders Rift

As Valoz died, his giant corpse fell towards the ground and crashed down with a loud sound. When this happened, the unique blood of his primal body began to seep into the earth. Within moments, the ground started to sprout with life as new plants rose from around his corpse as if his blood had an incredible amount of vitality.

Evan looked at this scene while hovering in the air, his handsome face carrying a tinge of devilishness due to the crimson runes on his skin along with his murderous battle energy that coated his now long half brown and half crimson hair. He currently held onto the unconscious Layla in a princess hold as he gazed down at the corpse with a cruel look in his eyes.

Joe, Rick, Breya, and Emilia looked at this with strange looks on their faces as they didn't know what to say about the current Evan; the presence from his being was much too different from his norm.

Luckily for them, though, Evan suddenly closed his eyes as his murderous energies faded along with the change of his hair, which was still long and no longer had a division of brown and red strands.

As his bad energies faded, Evan once more opened his eyes, showing his usual temperament. With a blur of his figure, Evan suddenly appeared within the vicinity of Joe and the others before he spoke to them.

"You guys sure had a tough time, but I guess it should be expected; he had an Eruption Skill after all, it was my bad for not properly inspecting him that time."

The others looked at each other and shook their heads before they gave him a reply.

"Well, it's not like you could have known; you did mention the details of the future beforehand; no one would have thought that such skills would have been available to Valoz," Joe said as he tried to play it down.

"Big brother is right, Evan, you shouldn't take it to heart; what matters is that we're safe," Emilia also nodded in agreement.

Evan, however, looked at them and spoke, "No, it's still my fault. I knew that such techniques were available for Galgorax and that those darn boss entities from the other worlds, but I didn't want to believe that Valoz could achieve it despite being incomplete. I almost got us killed due to this mistake, and for this, I apologize; I will strive to be even more careful from now onward."

Joe and the others sighed as they heard this, they knew that no matter what they said, Evan wouldn't take their words for an answer, so in the end, they acknowledged that it was his mistake and tried to shift the topic.

"Alright, Evan, we got it, you'll do better next time; as for now, how is Layla?" Joe asked as he looked at Layla with a hint of concern.

Breya and the others had also come over to see what's up; Evan looked down at Layla in his arms as he showed a deep look before he replied, "She's fine; I've temporarily suppressed the cause of her change."

Breya looked at Evan and asked, "What was it?"

Evan glanced at her and replied, "It was that Dream Eater."

"What? That thing, didn't you already seal off its influence back during that time before all this chaos?" Joe asked in surprise.

Evan nodded and gave a reply, "Yes, I did, but it would appear that Layla had somehow fallen prey to its summons once more and received its curse. I have no idea how this happened, but for now, I can assume that it won't be able to perform such a feat again; Emilia, how do you feel? Have you still been suffering the effects of your Dream Eater?"

When the others heard Evan's words, they showed solemn looks. Still, Emilia looked at him with a thoughtful look before she replied, "Evan, I've been fine, although I've suffered a bit even with the aid of the Warding Shard; ever since I got Uni's Blessing, I had never been bothered again."

Rick, who had been intently listening, made a look of understanding as he thought to himself, 'So that's how it is, the power of that Supreme, it would seem that the best way to counter these things would be to rely on a Supreme's Strength. Likely, these Dream Eaters are not yet at the ranks of a Supreme.'

Evan also thought the same; he gave Emilia a good look before speaking, "Alright, it's good that you're no longer being troubled by it; as for Layla, she just needs to rest for when she wakes up, she'll need to find some time to get used to her new powers, here you girls hold on to her."

Breya and Emilia nodded as soon after taking Layla from Evan; Breya then took out a metallic cube and tossed it on the ground before it expanded and turned into a small hovering carrier.

After placing Layla inside, Breya seemed to have recalled something. She turned and gave the area a good look before staring at Evan and asked, "Hey, we just defeated that big guy, right? He should have been a high priority Stage One target on that Special Rift Quest, so why haven't we gotten any rewards?"

"Hmm, she's right; just what's going on here?" Joe said as he was about to grow angry, after such a life and death battle, it would be a shame if they didn't get EXP, not to mention-worthy rewards."

Rick and Emilia also thought the same, Evan hearing their words was also a bit surprised; he only now recalled that there was no notification, he thought for a bit to himself.

'Odd, even if different and this Valoz was never a target in that time, as a prominent target on the Rift Quest we should be getting if not EXP, Merit Points. Why is there no change?'

Evan thought as he turned around and looked at Valoz's body, noticing the plants around it, filling the area with rich vitality. He was about to walk over and inspect it, but right at this very instance, his eyes widened as a change occurred before his and everyone's eyes.