The Ascension Of The Celestial Priest

Light on their feet, and arranging themselves in a fan formation, they slowly got closer to the approximate area where the beast is supposed to be. Geoff took his position as the vanguard, with his huge shield on one hand and his gleaming sword already unsheathed in his other hand. It seemed that he didn't only repair them the last time they got damaged; he upgraded their strength as well as they shone even brighter under the shards of light that filtered through the canopy above.

Mira and her twin Sister Moira were each on the either side of the Shield Bearer, while Lukas lagged behind, his view covering all three of them. One of the main things he had learnt about taking on a support role (especially from all of the games he had ever played in his last life) was to always have a clear view of every member you're supposed to protect in order to respond promptly when needed and maximize the efficiency of the spells casted.

With slow steps they ate a few more meters before they were hit by pungent smell. Almost instinctively Lukas materialized the familiar motes of light, the same purification spell he had mastered eons ago. Although this time, it was even more powerful, easing the strong smell on their senses.

"Where is it coming from?" Lukas muttered as he was afflicted by a sense of déjà vu. Except this time he was in a heavy forest instead of some underground dungeon and there hadn't been a sight of the blasted rats so far.

"Up ahead." Geoff answered as he took huge strides while the rest followed.

In front of them, in a large patch of burnt grass and scorched ground, laid two blackened corpses too charred for even their faces to be recognized. But with their remaining attire, their classes could clearly be seen. One of them was clad in what was once a shiny armor, dazzling even as it would be hard not to miss it even under the broad light, while the other wore a green flowing robe, with only patches of it remaining of what was once a bright luminescent robe. Judging by what clues they could find, they could only guess that the one in armor was a male warrior while the green robed corpse could only have been a female mage who most likely awakened wind as her elemental attribute. They shone a pitiful light being together even in death.

"Adventurers?" Lukas suggested before Geoff shook his head. "They must be Mercenaries." he said as he turned around and observed their surrounding even more intensely.

The forest still smelled like blistered corpses and parched leaves but all around them, there were no traces of any spells cast or any shrubs stampeded upon as one would expect from a resulting encounter with the demonic beast.

"There are no signs of battle…" Geoff said.

Mira agreed, "They were probably ambushed. They didn't even get to raise their defenses before they died. Only mercenaries would try to hunt this beast on their own."

Moira only glanced at the corpses in contempt before she added. "Serves them right, overestimating their own strength."

Lukas's face could only twitch before he stared at corpses with sympathy. Carefully knelling beside them, this would be his first time he ever witnessed a dead human body on this world, and deep inside something told him it wouldn't be his last. Just like that, the lives of two souls were abruptly ended within the red woods, forever to be forgotten. Sighing to himself, he got up and reported.

"Looks like the beast's flames are pretty formidable. My senses can still pick its lingering force" he said pointing at the bodies.

Geoff heaved his shield properly. "The bodies must be less than a day old. That can only mean the beast is around these parts..."

Mira nodded as she added her face thoughtful. "Well at least their deaths can be taken as good news and bad news."

Lukas turned towards her. "What do you mean?"

She continued, "The good news is that the beast is still injured. Or else it wouldn't have to resort to sneak attacks to overpower its enemies. Some mercenaries or adventurers must have conveniently disturbed it giving us a considerable chance. The only bad news is that the beast still retains some strength and a cornered beast is the most dangerous of creatures."

She gave everyone a warning glance. "We have to tread carefully from now on."

They all agreed before they continued on their way through age-old trees with overhead canopies and overgrown roots that meandered and twisted on the floor of forest. All the while they kept a lookout for any sign of trouble as they trekked for more than a few hours, when the once noisy forest suddenly became calm and very still, like death.

Lukas was suddenly flooded with a strange sense of unease. He had secretly taken some measures on their way here and within that time, where his nerves were taut and his mind sharp, he felt a light cloying taste within his psyche that almost made him sick. It was a like something was watching them from beyond the woods and its gaze was powerful enough to emotionally affect him.

"It's here." Lukas only got a chance to whisper before Mira suddenly warned, "Be careful!" when a bright comet flashed right into their midst and exploded.

WHAM!!!!

A huge fireball disintegrated in their vicinity. Luckily they were caught prepared and thus they were able to react abruptly. The moment the fireball materialized, they all instinctively jumped away as they stood a fair distance from each other. Moira was the closest one from the point of destruction and if weren't her defenses, she would have been incinerated in a heartbeat or at best came out with very heavy injuries

"Ice Wall."**

A crystalline shield of ice immediately materialized in front of her, protecting her from the raging flames. The force of the fire ball wasn't about to let down after it met the powerful wall, causing to crack, letting out noises the likes of glass shattering while the resulting force carried Moira even further away.

Lukas was only able to hurriedly cast a protective spell on himself while Geoff withstood the resulting force with his shield. Meanwhile Mira was already enveloped with an energy curtain of reddish hue, circulating around her as she evaded.

Realizing its ambush didn't work as intended, the beast had no choice but to show itself and within a half second, Lukas and the rest found them in front of a immense bird, 10 meter tall that hovered above them in all its glory. It looked exactly like a raven, with its dark glossy feathers shining under the sun except of two very noticeable streaks of red that stretched from across its body, starting from its head to its tail.

It shrieked in defiance as its wings that spanned for several meters fully widened. They all had a moment to truly envisage its majestic form before they noticed a glaring wound on one of its wings in which they all immediately realized. This bird no longer had hopes of flying any time soon with such a grievous injury on it, and that meant that they could fell it without it escaping to the skies.

"This is an infant?" Lukas only had a short moment to complain before Geoff instructed them.

"Fan out." He shouted as he elevated his shield and made the direct beeline for the bird. The beast was finally in front of them and all that was left was for them to arrange themselves according to plan and attack. They all ran to the sides, keeping a fair distance from each leaving the agro to Geoff while Lukas made sure to place himself directly in the middle and within reach where he will able to hurl spells when needed.

Riled, the demonic bird swiped one of its claws directly at Geoff only to hear a metallic ding resounding through the air as he withstood its tremendous force. On quick glance, Geoff was already surrounded by a golden glow that softly radiated a transparent sheen that covered his whole body, greatly increasing his defenses and allowing it to withstand such attack.

"Protective Shield"

Lukas had just finished his spell, when the beast lunged for Geoff. As one of the most common spell a Priest of Light can possess, it directly bolstered one's defenses and helped recover a little energy, specifically meant for warriors who were always on the forefront of battles.

This spell was prepared the moment he got his breath and it seemed Moira was a step not too far behind. Within her hands laid an elegant staff deftly stuffed with a blue gem, that perfectly accentuated her figure and when the beast's immediate focus was on Geoff, she collected her mana and slammed her staff to the ground sending a river of ice that furiously traveled towards the beast before managing to trap one of its claw the moment it shifted its steps in a flurry of wings.

"Ice Trap."

She muttered to herself with an arrogant look. Her spell crawled itself up the bird's legs, supremely locking it in place with ice. Lukas could only be impressed by her quick thinking. Even though the raven might be injured, its wings still afforded it the kind of mobility they can barely keep up with especially during battle. So her first move was lock it in place, limiting its movement, making it an easy target for the follow-up spells.

When the beast realized it was trapped, it screeched in panic though its voice was immediately stifled by the countless fireballs that Mira rained down on it like rain. With Geoff right in front of it, it could barely breathe as the space it could flutter around was severely limited.

When the Fire-Streaked raven felt overpowered, it furled its large wings around it, shrugging off the fire balls that barely dealt any damage. Mira's face barely registered any frustration by the result and when it immediately unfurled its wings after, it counterattacked by breathing powerful fireballs of its own from its beak towards them. They fell from the skies like meteors heading towards them before Lukas abruptly responded with a spell of his own.

His hands went through a series of motions before a variant of the same sigil he had used in the catacombs appeared in front of him. But this time instead of sending it to the grounds, he sent it towards the air directly above them before it burst in a brilliant light, transforming into a translucent screen of light that towered over the three of them like a phosphorescent veil. One of the main things he made sure of, during last few weeks was to master all spell forms of the protective sigil before he shifted his focus on learning some new runes.

"Sigil of Protection; Protective Light" he shouted.

The translucent shroud hovered directly above them, before it met the onslaught of fireballs that promptly crashed against it. Each fireball hammered against the luminous screen fracturing it, before it finally shattered when the last fireball smashed against the weakened spell, extinguishing each other on the process.

The Protective Light was a weaker derivation spell of The Dome of Light and the reason Lukas was forced to cast this instead of the latter was because all three of them were panned out over quite a distance. It would have taken more time trying to summon them near him and both of the sisters would have been forced to let go the spells they were currently preparing.

He was still glad the spell he prepared had effectively protected them, although he suffered a little backlash that rebounded to him when it finally got destroyed.

When the beast realized its barrage was effectively cancelled by Lukas, all it could do was send a seemingly intelligent glare at him before it was bombarded by the follow-up spells from the Twin Sisters of Fire and Ice. Moira had used the time afforded to directly compress a spell that materialized into an ice ball that slowly grew in size before it flew towards the beast at that precise moment only to collapse.

"Explode," her dainty voice resounded and within a second the compressed spell burst into a shower of white cloud and freezing mist. Elemental Ice was famously known for its controlling properties and all of that was seen from the resulting spell. While it didn't possess an offensive edge, the collected magic washed over the beast, quelling its flames and effectively snuffing out the surrounding fires, turning the immediate area within its vicinity into a world of ice and cold. The spell tremendously slowed down its movement allowing the next spell to hit for maximum damage.

"Flame Swathe"

Mira cast her spell. A small fire materialized in front of the beast, and in its confusion it could only stare as the small globe quickly recollected itself into a large sphere of of swirling flames, all absorbed from the ambient surroundings. By the time it realized, the ball of fire exploded directly on to its face, the resulting force was so powerful that it forced the beast back, allowing its trapped leg to break free from the trapping ice but not before Geoff had a half of mind of lunging at it with his sword, maiming it before he retreated back erecting his shield on the process.

Now the beast was half limping, with some of its feathers torn off, and a few burnt patches on its head. One of its eyes was blinded from the fire explosion and so it could stare at them with its remaining eye that seemed to spew infinite rage and hatred. It raised its wings, bellowing with such anger and power that it became a physical force that swept out from it like waves, uprooting the nearby greenery and clearing away Mira's spell before directly smashing towards them.

Geoff was jolted further back while Lukas and the sisters were effectively stunned, the clawing sound ringing within their ears, reducing them into a mass of confusion. His ring of protection immediately manifested a shield around him, blunting the worst of force when a wave of danger suddenly washed over him, forcing him to recollect himself, recovering earlier than most. When he finally laid his eyes on the beast, his face paled even further, fully knowing that what was about to happen would be enough to spell their doom if they don't restore themselves fast enough.

**does anyone get those chilling vibes from Overwatch's Mei? Only me? Well i will show myself out...