Spirit's Ascension-Chapter 35—Higher Threat

Cole stared at the enemy in front of him. His enhanced vision allowed him to notice something he hadn’t previously seen.

Just beside where the man’s heart is supposed to be, there was something else.

It was a dark crystal like object. It was pulsating ominously. After every pulsation, it released a miasma-like energy.

From Cole’s observation, that seemed to be what was powering the man opposite him.

"What is that thing? What about his innate spirit?" Cole questioned.

He didn’t have enough time to think though, as Lucius’s situation seemed to be getting precarious.

"I better do something," Cole decided resolutely.

The moment he made that decision he rushed out with his still activated Flaming Fist and Eyes of Scrutiny.

Cole changed his utilization of the Eyes of Scrutiny from trying to check within the man’s body to trying to judge his reaction.

His sub-ability granted him crazy enhanced perception. The enhanced perception can be divided into two though.

The first being studying the flow of life energy and interaction of energy when using abilities that allowed Cole to copy them.

The other aspect being studying the physical body itself making him recognize and predict(to an extent) the tiniest form of movement.

Cole had always been using the second part of his abilities most of the time.

And this time, that was exactly what he was doing. While still in his charge Cole decided to attack the chest area.

To test out his opponent’s reaction. Seeing Cole’s approaching body, his opponent tightened his grip.

This activated Cole further causing him to push his body even further as a result he arrived in front of the man.

Cole fiercely sent a flaming punch at his opponent’s heart area.

Noticing the attack’s trajectory, the man’s eyes widened in shock before switching to a serious look.

He hurriedly released his grip on Lucius and faced Cole squarely to fully block the attack.

He raised one hand and placed it in front of his chest while preparing the other for an attack.

Bam!

Cole’s attack was successfully blocked and his enemy countered with an attack of his own.

Immediately switching his stance, Cole dodged the attack by a close shave and proceeded to create some distance.

The released Lucius also created some distance between them while painfully gripping his shoulder.

He didn’t show any sign of fear though, his eyes only grew more ferocious.

"Are you still able to fight?" Cole asked from a distance away.

"I sure can," Lucius replied resolutely.

The man still stood his ground, slightly lost in thought, not really putting the two kids in his eyes.

"Does he know there’s something in my heart?" he wondered.

"He can’t possibly know, it must have been a fluke, our power is beyond anything they can fathom," he continued while regaining his confidence.

"We need to work smoother this time," Cole shouted towards Lucius.

Lucius didn’t reply, only nodding slightly.

"Attack First. I will be behind you," Cole continued.

Hearing Cole’s words, Lucius was slightly skeptical as he doesn’t fully trust Cole yet—but he decided to trust him for now

A plan began to form in Cole’s mind, all built around Lucius’ performance.

"This better work," Cole thought when he finalized his plan.

Having a plan in mind gave Cole his highly needed confidence boost.

His developing analytic ability was now in full display. He steadied himself preparing for Lucius’s actions.

Following Cole’s order, Lucius rushed out again, this time utilizing a new ability.

Ice coalesced forming an armor around him, along with his Ice spear. Lucius now looked like a well-seasoned knight.

As if gliding on Ice, he arrived in front of the man and sent a spear stab directly.

The spear stab was blocked easily but Lucius didn’t let up; he kept sending out more spear stabs.

The spear stabs weren’t random though, they followed a pattern, culminating and increasing the power.

Cole watched all of this with a steady gaze and using the Eyes of Scrutiny, he noticed something from Lucius.

"Could he be utilizing a technique?" Cole wondered but with no way to actually confirm he could only push it aside.

When Lucius’s attack reached the peak, the man that had been steadily blocking finally displayed some seriousness.

Though he managed to block them all, Cole’s chance finally arrived, using his prepared state he got to a desired position as fast as possible.

On getting there, he read the movements and at the perfect moment sent an attack straight at the heart again.

Due to his distracted state, the man wasn’t able to block or dodge this at the right moment.

The attack landed cleanly on the man’s chest.

In an instant both Cole and Lucius retreated after the successful attack.

The man, for the first time, displayed a pain expression with unstable dark energy emanating from him.

Cole was quite satisfied by the outcome as a smile formed on his face.

The man grew ferocious after that attack. He grew increasingly deranged and completely lost his cool.

He began attacking wildly without any form of order.

Utilizing that opportunity Cole and Lucius used their previous tactics and kept attacking the man, each attack leading to an increasing amount of damage to his chest.

The next time they proceeded to attack, they suddenly froze.

The man across from them already lost all composure, but that wasn’t why they stopped.

They stopped due to the overwhelming surge of dark energy coming off the man.

His limbs began expanding and ballooning grotesquely. His body too followed suit.

His whole body expanded widely while the dark energy still continued flooding out.

Before any of them could do anything, the man looked towards them, his eyes regaining an inkling of rationality.

"You actually figured it out. My overconfidence cost me" The man said with a raspy voice.

"Simone, I will be leaving it to you," the man said while staring at the sky.

As if reaching the limit, his expanded body seemed about to explode completely.

"I will be taking the two of you with me though," He said with a crazy smile.

An intense feeling of foreboding suddenly gripped Cole. He looked straight at Lucius before shouting.

"Run,"

Lucius didn’t attempt to say anything, he picked up his battered body and rushed away. Cole also followed closely behind him.

"Hahahah," The man laughed out loud.

Boom!

The man finally exploded out violently leaving the area in complete ruin. The dark energy in him also surged out.

Killing almost all plants in its range.

Cole and Lucius tried as much as they could to escape the range but they were still caught up to and heavily injured.

****Not Far Away****

The bigger Simone looked at the sky in both shock and slight pain.

"Brother," he called out softly.

His gaze though already morphed into something else. His pain already converted into extreme annoyance.

"You all shall pay," He screamed out.