The Ascension Of The Celestial Priest

The ancient trees surrounding them were strangely silent. After the sounds of explosions and roaring of spells, an immediate silence spread all over the forest, straining their nerves and raising their caution to an extent they could were able to pick up the faint wind rustling through the leaves of the woods beyond them.

Lukas patiently maintained his spell dome, his mind tranquil and his mana stable. In the past, it used to take a lot of his strength to hold such spell for long periods but with time, his proficiency had effectively risen. Considering his current circ.u.mstances he had to no choice but to do so, especially when Mira had barely just began her refinement process.

It didn't take long for the newcomers to arrive and when they finally did, Lukas and his crew found themselves facing a group of 6 people; all who trudged inside the scorched field with confident gazes on their faces along with their striking red robes swaying silently in their wake.

"Well what have here?" the one in the lead said in a way of greeting as his eyes and countless others roamed over the previous battlefield, littered with burnt logs, scorched leaves with shards of ice still melting under the sun.

"It seems like I was a little bit too late." He muttered to himself and the moment he turned, Moira stiffened as recognition passed through her beautiful features. He was clothed in a crimson regal robe, with a dark sash that held it in his waist. His face was particularly bequeathed with soft features that made him appear particularly charming; adding his long smooth tinted red hair, he was the perfect visage of a gentleman placed in a fantasy setting.

"Ulqiorrra." Moira breathed as her face got even colder, her glacial aura practically freezing her surroundings.

The man in the lead was a little taken aback. "Ohh…."

It took several glances but it eventually dawned on him. "Similar face, white robes…you can only be the famous Moira, a twin descendant from the House of Fyre, an ice mage in training under the World of Ice Sect"

But Moira wasn't about to have a few pleasantries.

"What are you doing here?" She coldly demanded as she eyed at the rest of the people Ulqiorra had behind his back. In terms of manpower they were sadly outmatched in every sense, without forgetting the fact that they had just experienced an intense battle in which they have barely recovered from.

Ulqiorra reacted as if he was asked the most obvious question.

"I'm here for my prize." he responded. "Though it seems like it was just rudely taken from me…" he made a point to whisper as he stared at the huge carcass of the fire streaked raven lying on the burnt ground.

"I'm sorry, who is this guy?" Lukas had to ask, seeing as no one was in a hurry to introduce themselves.

Moira answered. "Ulqiorra; the 2nd descendant from the House of Firaun, the other affiliated house to The Tabernacle of Flames."

Ulqiorra made a show of courtesy…" At your service"

"So I take it he is bad news?" Lukas whispered.

Moira could only explain. "The House of Fyre and the House of Firaun have always had been at odds with each other. We have had countless confrontations between us, from the intense competition over resources to the designated positions on the Fire Rankings. If it wasn't for the patriarchs on both sides seemingly possessing similar strengths we would have already been at each throat by now."

Lukas took a deep breath. "Good to know."

Ulqiorra slowly walked towards them, a little amused. "And I guess that would be my sweet beautiful Mira, refining my trophy."

Lukas, Moira and Geoff immediately tensed. From the moment they had arrived, they vividly sensed that their new guests didn't come here with good intentions especially when they realized that they were hunting for the same beast they had fallen. The only caveat was that they had arrived first.

Sensing the wariness in their eyes, Ulqiorra only smiled before he raised his hands in a sign of good will.

"Can we come to an agreement?" he said as he froze his steps. "How about you all decide to gift this beast to me and I promise worthwhile remunerations in turn?"

Moira snorted. "Do not let your guard down even for a second." She said to Lukas. "The House of Firaun has been known to rescind their words countless of times in the past. It's what made their reputations to suffer in the first place."

Ulqiorra pretended to be hurt by the comment. "Why would you defame my family so?"

He then smiled as he stared at them. "But...at your current circ.u.mstances you all have no other viable choice. We overpower all of you in every sense of a word and if I'm not wrong, one of your powerhouses is tied up with the corpse right? She aims to refine the beast essence which might take a while even for her…."

Moira slightly paled while Lukas hardened his resolve. There was no way he would be letting this oily bastard and his goons take away the very fruits of their labor. It had taken countless spells and strategies to fell down the beast and he had already given his word. The only way they would be getting to beast's corpse was through him.

"Then I am afraid you will have to cross through us" Geoff announced his stance, hefting his shield in front of him. Lukas smiled before he flicked his freed hand at him, dispatching a simple healing spell that further helped him recover from some of his most visible wounds.

Ulqiorra could only watch with amus.e.m.e.nt.

"It would be well for you to fall back, Ulqiorra." Moira said to him. "We killed this beast with our own strength and we would not go down without a fight if you aim to steal it from us."

Ulqiorra softly sighed as one of his men spoke in contempt. "Maestro, what are you waiting for?"

"It will only take a moment to break through the shield..." another one chimed in.

"Just give us a signal and these people would be defeated in no time." A particularly burly one added, his elongated staff vibrating with power.

'What would you know' Ulqiorra snorted in his mind. He could roughly tell the depth of such a shield and he had hoped he would have intimidated them enough to drop it. But it seemed the priest in question has been stable throughout the exchange.

His eyes settled on Moira." You words might have had some weight when you were at your peak but from where I am currently standing, you all stand no chance."

He paused before he later added.

"Well, let it not be said I didn't give you all chance..." He waved his hand and his group of 5 men gathered, arranging themselves in a single file, each and every one of them clad in the red robes decorated with the eye-catching insignia of the Tabernacle of Flames.

The burly man, who had placed himself in the center, smirked at them.

"You only have yourselves to blame." He spoke to them before all hell broke loose.

The Tabernacle of Flames was famous for recruiting some of most talented fire mages in the whole continent and the deluge that followed was the exact proof. Fireballs and sprouts of fire emanated from their staffs and rained on the dome shield in massive wave of destruction.

Moira immediately tried to raise a curved wall of ice on top of the dome to help withstand some of the spells coming their way. She had used her utmost control to manifest a thick barrier that stood against them but it was almost to no avail. If she was facing one to two fire mages she could have surely held her ground but her barricade could only survive a few more rounds of spells before it finally shattered, forcing Moira to retract her mana, her face paling even further.

The only reason she even lasted that long was because most of the assembled mages only had Mid to Late Mortal Cultivational stages with Ulqiorra possessing the highest strength at Peak Mortal Rank just like her.

"Fall back." Lukas said to her. "Focus on recovering and protecting Mira. Leave the rest to me."

With that, he took a deep breath and with his starlight staff shining bright, he raised his other hand with all of his might.

He knew it was useless to further enchant his dome with fortify, as that would only tire him even faster, leaving him vulnerable. But he still had a few tricks as with a deep roar that seemed to emanate from his very soul, his hand almost rose into the air and the dome immediately shook in response.

Before they could comprehend what he was doing, the dome spell that was still standing strong against their onslaught of spells visibly shuddered before it slowly started to twirl, revolving on itself underneath Lukas's supreme control.

At first it was barely notable, the process severely halted by the fire spells that heavily clashed against the translucent surface but with time it gained momentum. The dome circled on its own, the increasing momentum** creating a swirl of raw energy that helped neutralize the incoming spells even more as time went on.

It still took a lot of his concentration and mana to maintain such drive, but this was a much better option than the latter that involved the Fortify sigil. The only thing needed was his absolute control in maintaining the shield, as the available propulsion churned a massive whirlpool of energy around the dome that halved the might of all incoming fire spells. This was enough to relieve the burden he would have experienced if he had decided to withstand the barrage directly.

Ulqiorra was already impressed by the fact that the dome of light could stand for so long against their barrage but by the end of it, he was stunned when he witnessed the priest revealing such a useful trick that nullified his followers' spells even further.

And now they didn't only have to pierce through the thickened shield, they also had to contend for the powerful momentum gathered that formed another layer of defense of its own against them. By now he was sure knew his men's' spells would achieve no results and their only hope was to continuously bombard the barricade, tiring the priest's mana until he can't maintain it any longer.

But waiting wasn't an option, as he was still aware of what Mira was doing. In fact with the latest trick the Priest has unleashed, it was the perfect for their current circ.u.mstances. As long he held on, they would surely be able buy enough time for Mira to finish assimilating the beast's purer flame essence, but that could only happen if he didn't raise a hand against them.

More than impressed, Ulqiorra made sure to recall the priest's face with a little twinge of jealousy passing through him. Where had his rival managed to obtain such a formidable priest from? Because from what he was just witnessing, he was sure the priest paid a huge part in her successfully killing the down beast so quickly.

But all of that didn't matter as he wasn't about to stay in the sidelines and watch. The beast's inner essence would surely increase his strength by leaps and bounds just the same and its worth was high enough to fight for it. He wasn't about to let her enjoy all of the gains and who knows if he will ever get another chance like this, where he didn't have to risk his life fighting the beast instead.

Walking towards them, he softly smiled before he muttered to no one in particular.

"This might be just your unlucky day…" he advocated before he summoned his regal staff into his hands and settled down on a special spell that would surely vanquish their might once and for all.