The Forsaken Heir's Ascension
Chapter 99: Origin Wars: Rise of the Elemental Vanguard

Chapter 99: Origin Wars: Rise of the Elemental Vanguard

She closed her eyes and whispered:

"Ice is strong... like the pride of the Ice Phoenix."

A surge of elemental energy burst from her.

The ice beneath her feet glowed and cracked—then reformed.

A crystalline deer emerged from the ground, forged from pure elemental ice. It gleamed with elegance, its surface glittering like frozen starlight.

Selene opened her eyes.

The real Ice Deer was staring at her—but it didn’t charge.

She pointed at it calmly.

"Go play with her."

The crystalline deer leapt forward, smashing into the real one.

Boom!

Their antlers collided, sparks flying everywhere. They clashed—antler to antler—nearly equal in strength.

Selene narrowed her eyes and channeled more elemental energy into her construct.

With renewed power, her crystalline deer overpowered the real one—flanking it, then ramming its shimmering antlers into the monster’s stomach.

The Ice Deer let out one final cry—then shattered into shards of snow.

The storm vanished. The frozen mountain faded.

The training room returned to stillness.

Selene dismissed her crystalline deer with a wave.

It bowed slightly—then crumbled into gentle flakes of ice.

She smiled proudly and walked out of the Elemental Training Room.

As the Rebel team left the battle arena, another match of the day was about to begin.

Veylor Club vs. Stormgaze Club

The Stormgaze Clan—known as the Mythical Eagle Clan—once commanded the storms of the skies. Their Elemental power was unrivaled.

Their primary element used to be lightning, but now they could only awaken the air element.

As Riven stepped into the arena alongside Lyra, Aslan Veylor, captain of the Veylor team, walked toward the opposing team with a smile that made his face look ferocious. His long, lanky arms swung loosely, almost reaching below his knees.

He stopped in front of the Stormgaze Club captain, who smiled and said in a respectful tone,

"Hello, Sir Aslan. How are you?"

Aslan stared at him like he was looking at a groveling insect.

"Ah, hello there, captain... what was your name again?"

He scratched his head, then added with a widening grin,

"Forget it. It doesn’t matter. No need to remember a brat from a dying clan."

The boy clenched his fists but didn’t refute.

The umpire stepped between them, breaking the non-existent tension.

"Please choose a side. I’m going to toss the coin."

Aslan replied without emotion,

"Phoenix."

The Stormgaze captain responded, stammering slightly,

"D-D-Dragon."

The umpire nodded and tossed the coin into the air.

As it landed with a metallic clink on the stage, he looked down and announced in a loud voice:

"Winner: Stormgaze."

No reaction came from the crowd.

Stormgaze replied,

"We’ll... choose... to be defenders."

The umpire nodded and announced:

"Please prepare. The game will start shortly... and it will be a Wild Zone."

Their eyes widened in shock.

The Stormgaze captain blurted out:

"WHAT?!"

Aslan exhaled slowly to calm himself, then walked over to his team, who stood on the opposite side of the battleground. His smile remained, but a slight tension had crept into his expression.

Riven noticed and asked with a carefree smile,

"What happened?"

Aslan replied,

"We lost the toss—but that’s not the problem."

Riven raised an eyebrow.

"Then... what is?"

Aslan ran a hand through his short hair and said,

"It’s going to be a Wild Zone."

"WHAT?!" the entire team shouted in unison.

Riven and Lyra looked around, confused by the reaction.

Aslan exhaled again and explained to Riven to clear up the confusion.

"Wild Zone... is different. Wild plants and dense forest are the least of the problems. There are hallucination-inducing plants, dragging vines, biting flowers, and trees—many of them far more dangerous than normal terrain hazards. They don’t just attack us... They’ll attack the defenders too—but after 20 minutes, they start attacking the defenders."

Riven fell into thought.

"Then why don’t we just wait and move after 20 minutes?"

Aslan replied with slumped shoulders,

"We can’t. There are ten columns to cross, and doing that in ten minutes is impossible. Clearing the zone in thirty minutes is already considered near impossible. Do you know what the all-time record for fastest clearance is?"

He looked at Riven and added grimly,

"Eleven minutes."

Riven nodded with a smile.

"Then what’s the plan, Captain?"

Aslan shrugged.

"Let’s huddle up and figure it out."

The team gathered in a tight circle.

Lyra suggested,

"Why don’t we attack aggressively, like the Rebel team did?"

Aslan thought for a moment, then spoke as all eyes turned to him.

"Let’s go with that. Sir Riven is our shield breaker, Miss Lyra is our dasher, and I’m the blaster."

He looked around at each of his teammates and smiled.

"Everyone... just do what you’re best at."

They broke the huddle with a resounding battle cry that echoed through the arena:

"Yes, Captain!"

They moved toward the first column, where the defenders stood, gripping their traditional tridents with fierce expressions.

Riven chuckled in amusement.

"A declining clan showing this much spirit for a battle?"

He drew his shimmering Dawn-Breaking Daggers and smiled, bending his knees into a crouch, ready to strike—his violet eyes gleaming.

Beside him, Lyra pulled out her twin curved daggers—black blades with golden patterns on the handles. She mirrored Riven’s crouch, but her feet were wrapped in a thin layer of water, ready to slide forward with speed.

Aslan followed, crouching low to the ground with a short sword in hand, ready.

The whistle blew.

Timer started:

30:00

29:59

Wild trees erupted instantly, shrouding the arena in a dense forest—as if a jungle had grown out of nowhere in the middle of the battlefield.

But clear markings remained: the wild forest only grew in the zones between the columns, leaving the columns themselves—and the defenders stationed there—untouched.

Gasps echoed through the crowd as the infamous Wild Zone took shape.

Alex, seated with his teammates, stared wide-eyed.

"What is that?"

Luther replied with a sour expression,

"That, my friend, is every team’s worst nightmare—the Wild Zone."

As the timer ticked down, Riven took off like a gust of wind, leaving a sharp breeze in his wake. Lyra followed, sliding smoothly over the platform—her feet wrapped in flowing water as she skimmed across the ground.

Aslan leapt like a monkey, flipping through the air before landing and sprinting forward with unnatural speed.

Riven reached the first column and attempted to blink past it, but the space felt unusually rigid—sealed and unmoving, like a locked space.

He appeared near the first defender, catching him off guard.

A dagger tore through the very fabric of space, aimed straight at the defender’s chest—

Clang!

It was parried at the last second by the defender’s silver-blue trident.

The trident slashed in retaliation—

Blink.

Riven reappeared at the defender’s side.

The defender, unable to recover his stance or pull back his trident in time, felt the cold steel of Riven’s dagger sink into his liver, slicing through ribs with a sickening crunch and squelch.

"Arghhh!"

A muffled groan escaped.

The defender stumbled backward.

Riven smirked, stepping into the second column—into the Wild Zone. He tossed a vicious remark over his shoulder:

"Dogs should always stay loyal to their masters... or they’ll be neutered."

As Riven entered the Wild Zone, he heard the umpire’s voice echo:

"1-DEFENDER INCAPACITATED."

He smiled again, moving forward—each step crunching softly on the wild grass beneath his feet. The scent of fresh greenery and flowers hit his nose.

"It feels like a real forest... Magic really can do the impossible," he muttered.

He moved carefreely, like a man strolling through a peaceful garden.

But as he continued, his frown slowly deepened.

He looked down—vines were slithering up around his feet, trying to trap him.

With a swift slash, he cut them off.

But they regrew. Three became six.

He cursed under his breath and broke into a run, not wanting to waste time.

As he neared the edge of the forest zone, he spotted a defender.

Quickly, he slipped behind a thick tree trunk, observing.

The defender held a sword tightly in his hands, eyes darting around, muscles tensed with anxiety.

A smirk crept onto Riven’s face.

He picked up a stick from the ground and tossed it far to the other side.

The moment the defender turned toward the noise, ready to attack—

Blink.

Riven appeared behind him.

Two daggers sliced through the air, leaving glowing purple streaks in broad daylight.

Slash!

Slash!

"ARGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

A scream tore through the arena as the defender collapsed, clutching both legs—blood spurting out like twin fountains.

"1 - DEFENDER INCAPACITATED."

Riven smiled, strolling into the next zone without a care in the world.

Behind him, healers rushed onto the field, lifting the screaming defender onto a stretcher.

Riven stepped into a similar forest, strolling through it like before—but this time, he was a little more alert.

As he walked, the scene around him suddenly shifted.

It was as if he had been dreaming before, and what now unfolded before his eyes was reality.

He found himself in a dark, filthy alley.