Ascension of the Nephilim

The Dark Dome stood over the land, and there was immense silence in the region.

The injury of Qara and the near-death of Neteri caused Destiny to move and make the warning. And with Chance speaking, Heralcus ordered everyone to stop listening to the taunts of the Nephilim. This was done so that no more incidents would fall, for they now feared the taunts of the Nephilim.

And the loyal minions of Destiny followed and remained locked up and focused on the resurrection of the fallen Commanders.

The Commanders inside were all fulfilling their respective responsibilities. 

The Shade Lord was preparing a huge amount of darkness to be used for rebirth. 

Qara was surprisingly given the task to defend despite her previous wild attacks. But every now and then, she would cut off her arm and would devour some of the soldiers in the dome to recover. Her arm, which had tremendous regenerative abilities, would become important ingredients for all Commanders.

Neteri was still in the process of recovering, but she was already resuming her search for the souls of the Commanders and had to start the process all over again.

Heraclus was preparing his dark spell and was bestowing his darkness that creates false life. 

"I am Heralcus Psevdos, and I speak truth into these bodies. Let these that have not died to be born again and have life everlasting..." Heralcus chanted as he channeled the power.

Everyone was busy and didn't mind the world outside. However, sending spies and scouts was too dangerous. If the ones they sent were below Commander level, they would die and be eaten, and Heralcus didn't want to give the Nephilim even the bits of darkness to empower them.

But even though they did this, a strange worry fueled the heart of Heralcus.

"What this Nephilim? How was he able to trick Qara? Am I not a son of Psevdos? How was it that he managed to deceive Qara with the falsehood that I didn't sense?" Heralcus questioned. He was a servant and follower of the Fallen Psevdos. He attained the Corruption of this Fallen, and yet, even he, who wielded the powers of lies, was deceived.

"Is it Fate? Is Fate helping the Nephilim deceive me?" Heralcus thought. 

"If this is so... Are we still being deceived? What plans do the Nephilim hold?"

Outside the dome, Martha had revealed the claw of the Commander and a massive form of Puff which revealed the might of a Commander.

"We have conquered and slain commanders! Join us! Journey to Alpha Draconi and hide under our wing as we take the flight to challenge those who covered the sky! The earthen dome in the sky has shone, and the bright light of hope has come!" Martha gave the speech that Kyros prepared for her to give.

The people in this settlement were the weakest and the ones who were closest to dying. They saw the light shine and had hope. And now, one bearing the claw of the Commander made the people accept.

The group had a majority of goblins but no hobgoblins among them. The humans were all women and not even a single Skeleton among them.

Martha made Puff lead them back and went on to the last settlement.

Kyros was also headed towards the last settlement they could gather in this short time. Kyros knew that anymore, and it would be too dangerous.

Yet every now and then, Kyros would turn and glance at the location of the Necromancer. Ever since he arrived here, he felt a strange conflict that resonated within him.

"What concept guides this place? That Necromancer definitely is using his corruption! If I wish to fight him, I need to understand it!" Kyros thought to himself.

Unknown to Kyros, a war of strange power had begun when he made the group deliver those lies to the Cardinal. 

The Code of Kyros and the Corruption of the Cardinal were acting against each other. Kyros won the first round of that war that led to Qara and Neteri being severely wounded. But Kyros was afraid that he would die if he could not pierce through this mystery.

Nearly five hours passed since Kyros emerged to call out the various settlements to an alliance. But inside the Temple, a full day has passed.

Time was accelerated on the Temple grounds. The place where the fortified wall was had a wide space, and people were freely training within it. The space easily allowed many to train and fight.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Sword fights were occurring all over the place. The lizardmen and humans now had the strength to stand from the blessings of the Temple. The Steele family was training everyone. 

The newly recruited warriors were amazed by the skills of the soldier. And not only that, but the Library of Light allowed everyone accesses to the Record of the Nephilim, which detailed the journey of Kyros.

The fights and clashes within the Temple were recorded and replayed, and even projected on the skies above them.

And the knights and archers were using this record as a visual guide to show everyone how they fought. The scenes of the battle were replayed for everyone's learning. Even the Steele family was learning as they saw the battle seeing more instances in the battle that they could have made smarter actions.

On the other side of the Temple was the ongoing class about magic. The Emberdons decided to divide their team. Triona would aid and help the new mages and servants on how to use magic and how to wield it.

The Temple gave fifteen powerful scepters. The five strongest ones were given to the Emberdons. But there were ten weaker scepters, one of which was used by Scarlet. And so, Kyros instructed that they use this time to train them to wield magic properly.

The nine people who have bestowed a scepter throughout the battle learned how to shoot out magic energy. And now, it was the time to harness it. Triona Emberdon stood with her Skeleton body. She continued to teach several students how to wield the elements and the basic theories and application of magic energy.

Scarlet, Reptilia, Aron, and Hunter were listening to her instructions. They were the ones bestowed with Elemental Cores. The Temple had given five Elemental Core to Kyros's team. Two Fire, two Lightning, and an Earth Core were granted to a member of each.

Mezal received the Earth Core, which he was able to expertly wield thanks to his training and experience with his shaman father-in-law.

Scarlet and Reptilia received a Lightning Core. Scarlet had been using along with her scepter. On the other hand, Reptilia had passed it along to Gojirrah, and the two were using it interchangeably. The lightning core was given to Gojirrah by the Temple, but as Gojirrah had a mission, Reptilia stayed and started studying how to use it.

Aron and Hunter had a Fire Core as well. But as he had no time to experiment, Aron rarely used it.

Triona didn't have a hard time instructing them. The person she thought would have difficulty proved to be a monster not just in Force but also in Magic.

Aron had created a True Cut power that harnessed fire. The combination of True Cut and Fire with Holy created the rarest element that any being could wield.

Aron sat down as Brimstone energy covered his sword. The Temple restored his limbs, but he needed to train in it as the feel and control of these new arms and legs was strangely different from his original arms and legs.

"Magic Energy and Force Energy are similar but different. Force Energy is the energy that your body creates. But Magic comes from the mind. It is the mind that wields it and controls it, while Force is considered to be an extension of the body." Triona explained.

FLASH!

Suddenly, a majestic power erupted nearby.

It was a contest, and Demerus won.

The Skeletons training within the Temple were shocked and saw how Demerus eclipsed them in potency and power.

The magic he wielded went beyond double his original power, and it continued to increase until it reached the triple of his original power.

The Skeletons felt the vast inferiority they had compared to Demerus, and all began to approach and bow at him.

"So this is the power of a Lich?" Demerus smiled. 

His skeleton form had changed. Expressions could now be read as his face had become clearer, and it was as if a layer of flesh had covered his mouth.

"My magic is so potent that it gave me the power to recover flesh?" Demerus could sense the changes.

"Triona. We switch. I'll continue training them. You go and meditate on the books of the Nephilim." Demerus smiled.

After the great life and death battles, the Emberdons now wholeheartedly served the Nephilim and the Steele family. And so, Kyros gave them full access to read all the books in the Library of the Nephilim.

"Yes!" Triona excitedly moved over. Ressi had yet to achieve the power and complete the process that Demerus managed to figure out.

"Alright, class. Let's have a practical test." Demerus smiled.

"Let's fight!"

"Fight?" Aron smiled.

"Errr... But only use magic. I don't want to die again, Lord Aron.." Demerus chuckled.