Ascenders Rift

At the summits of a large continent, the World Tree stood alone with its branches cascading across the sky, seeming as if it wanted to reach out to the edges of the world. It gave off a dazzling light as if filled with a majestic aura, the likes of which were beyond all living beings.

Currently, a bright light was shining from the tree's center, beaming towards an area that seemed no different from a crack into the heavens. Occasionally, this crack would send down wisps of energy, which seeped into the branches bit by bit, but as this happened, the branches would begin to grow small fruits over time.

Not too far away from this tree was a giant fleshy fortress build at the summits of a broad open hill. Deerut, the supreme commander of Galgorax's forces, a flesh mutator that wore the trademark organic pattern cloaks with multiple-colored glowing eyes, stared out from the peak of the fortress, glancing towards the tree with a look of expectation.

'The tree has already descended; all that's left is to wait for mother's arrival.'

Deerut thought with a deep look in his eyes; he was about to turn away, but his attention soon went elsewhere due to a sudden change.

There, in the not so far distance, he noticed what seemed like a horde, a massive army of insects that soared across the sky, some being larger than others having a gigantic scale, with the largest of their center having a beautiful yet overwhelming woman at its core.

'That's the Insect Queen's. It seems she's finally arrived.'

Deerut thought with a complex look in his eyes; he gripped his fists tightly, knowing that fighting a battle in this state wouldn't be as easy as it sounds.

'I don't have a choice; I must protect the base until mother arrives.'

Deerut concluded in his mind as he waved his hand, sending out a terrifying amount of power as he shouted, "All mutators prepare yourselves for combat, do not let the Insect Queen's forces advance!"

With his resonant shout, the entire fortress of flesh shook as if undergoing an earthquake; it didn't take long for hundreds of flesh mutators to squiggle out from all corners, some taking to the skies as others lined themselves around the fortress.

At this time, the Insect Queen Yelshiva's forces had noticed the change in the distance. She narrowed her beautiful black eyes when she glared at the fortress in the distance.

'That creature should be the strongest arm of that bitch, tsk, he dares to confront us, he must truly think too highly of himself.'

Following her thoughts, she snorted before she commanded, "Destroy them all!"

Marcruse, clad in his unique black and gold armor, kneeled before her as he replied, "As my dearest queen commands it."

Following those words, Marcruse stood up and turned to face the distance; his body then glowed in dazzling lights as multiple black armored bugs appeared around them, they flew out of the insect horde, standing at the head of the multitude of insects as if awaiting a command.

"Attack!" Marcruse commanded as each of the black-armored bug men made a similar but insect-like battle cry.

The sky sound after rippled with the cries of all insects as they charged towards the Flesh Mutator's fortress-like blurs throughout the sky.

Deerut frowned as he saw this, he felt an oppressive power from each of the black-armored bug men, knowing that even he would need to expend a few of his energies to crush them all. Thinking like this made him look towards Marcruse, who remained at the center of the insect horde with a hint of dread.

"Destroy them!" Deerut shouted, causing each of the Flesh Mutators to fly towards the incoming insect horde in the sky or land.

It took only a few seconds for both sides to collide, creating a disastrous change, the ground below them being littered with corpses of their kin due to the endless bloodshed from battle.

Looking at the scene, one would notice that while those on the side of the Flesh Mutators were more numerous, the Insect Hive's forces individually had greater combat power. As such, most of the insects could maneuver between the flesh mutators and cut them down in bulks, even more efficiently for the black armored bug men who pulled out black blades from their spines and severed all things in their path.

'No choice, they can't fight them on their own; I have to make a stand here.' Deerut thought as he no longer hesitated, his battle power rapidly rising as his cloak fluttered due to the winds.

"Body Change..." Deerut said as his figure transformed into what seemed like a long-haired human in seconds, the only difference being his enormous height and sinister power flowing around him.

The moment this happened, he glared at the bugs soaring in the sky before flying from the ground, leaving behind a blurry remnant shade.

At this time, a black armored bug man had just slashed apart a few dozen flesh mutators with one swing of his sword, he prepared to attack again, but before that could happen, a light flashed by him which reformed into Deerut's changed body that floated in the air.

Seconds after, the black-armored bug man exploded into bits of pieces before falling from the sky to the ground of littered corpses. Deerut's figure didn't remain in one place. He continued to flash about the airborne battlefield like a ray of light, eliminating all bug men in his path with ease, his arms dancing about as he controlled remove objects using what seemed to be psychic powers.

Marcruse looked at this with an interested look in his eyes but said nothing in the end, Yelshiva on the other hand, glanced at him and spoke, "You're still planning not to get involved?"

Marcruse smirked and replied, "My place is by your side."

"Hmph! Do what you will, but I must have you know, you won't have the luxury of such words from now onwards."

Yelshiva said with a more serious look on her face, her eyes now focusing on the fortress behind Deerut. Marcruse also narrowed his eyes as he felt something strange, and as expected, powerful energy started to saturate the air as a black portal opened from the base.

Marcruse shook his head with a bitter look in his eyes as he spoke, "I suppose you're right, my dearest queen; it looks as if this tree is more valuable than we thought. To think that she would even go as far as to send her strongest here to protect it."

Yelshiva snickered with a stern look in her eyes as she replied, "Indeed, I can feel my cells dancing just from slightly basking in its aura. I feel that this tree is a treasure that can lead to our evolution. So no matter the cost, we must destroy anything in our path to get those fruits."

Marcruse nodded in agreement as the two stared ahead silence, staring at the destructive energies pouring out of the black rift that beckoned a change.