Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 1138: Someone Familiar [GT Ranking Bonus Chapter]

Asher stood in silence, his hair whipping backward as the carriage rolled forward. He simply listened to the sound of the remnants of lightning bolts crackling in the air.

After a moment, he turned to Lyra and spoke, "I will be returning to my cultivation. If more come, you can handle them, but if any are at the Myth-Class, I will take them on myself," he ordered.

"Yes, Young Master," Lyra replied.

Asher vanished from his position and reappeared within the carriage. He settled Virelass across his knees, then entered a state of cultivation. Since there was a little over a week left on the road, he would spend the remaining time cultivating.

As he remained in cultivation, Lyra simply burned every Monster that came close alive without a change in expression. She didn’t unsheathe her sword, leave her position, or say anything.

However, as they continued moving, she couldn’t help but glance in another direction, a frown appearing on her face as she sensed something more than ten kilometers away. The presence seemed to be heading in the same direction as them.

Lyra vanished from where she stood and reappeared before Asher within the carriage, her voice breaking the silence.

"Sorry to disturb you after only a day of cultivation, Young Master, but there is something you have to see," she stated.

Asher opened his eyes. "What happened?" he asked.

Lyra didn’t beat around the bush. "There is someone about ten kilometers away from us. They seem to be heading in the same direction as us, and they seem quite familiar, so I decided to inform you," she stated.

"Someone familiar?" Asher murmured, his eyes flashing with memories of people he knew.

He didn’t bother delaying. He rose to his feet, ending his cultivation process. "Let’s go."

He shot upward, his body phasing through the roof as he streaked toward the position Lyra had pointed to. Lyra followed right behind him, and within seconds, they arrived at their destination. Floating above, Asher stared down at a particular individual he was indeed familiar with, who was fighting a couple of Emovirae alone.

The person possessed a bald head and wore a kasaya. Two beads, one large and one small, could be seen around his neck, while a staff was held in his hands, which he swung around as tears fell from his eyes.

It was none other than Acker Holloway, the Buddhist, the delusional child of Buddha.

Asher couldn’t understand how this guy had even made it to the Zarethorne Empire all the way from the Vandross Empire. Acker Holloway wasn’t a Crownstar Life Ranker, so how had he managed to travel from one Empire to another? And the most shocking part was that the guy was clearly heading toward Great Elder Damian’s Frontier.

Asher couldn’t help but remember what Acker had talked about the last time they met: how he was The Cleaver Of Sin, how he was the Hero, and how he, Acker, was supposed to be the priest within the so-called Hero party.

’Did this guy’s Buddha send him here?’ Asher thought to himself. It was the only explanation that made sense.

If Acker couldn’t summon Buddha, then perhaps he could have his Buddha create a portal that crossed from one Empire to another.

Not only that, but Asher had thought Acker would be captured, experimented on, killed, or subjected to something similar, all so they could understand how he was able to summon a being from the Outside. Yet, here the boy was, making his way toward the same Frontier, as though he had received some sort of prophecy from his Buddha.

After a couple of minutes, Acker wiped out the Emovirae. Through his delusions, Acker had grown absurdly stronger. After seeing how strong Asher had been during his battle with Arianna, Acker had felt that he wasn’t strong enough to be a member of The Cleaver Of Sin’s party.

Hence, at the moment, Acker Holloway possessed greater strength than he had ten months ago, surpassing anything his natural talent should have allowed him to achieve within ten months.

His delusions were simply that absurd. By using Asher as a template for his delusion, he had scaled his own strength to that level.

Asher stared down at Acker. He wanted to leave the guy there, as he had no time to listen to him cry and speak about cleansing the world of sin and all that nonsense. However, Asher knew that doing so would only delay the inevitable. Surely, the low-budget wannabe Avatar would still reach the Frontier.

He sighed and spoke, making his presence known.

"It seems we meet again, Buddhist Acker Holloway," Asher stated as he floated downward, removing his invisible skill and allowing his body to appear.

Acker froze for a moment, his head snapping upward. He remained motionless, as though staring at an Angel descending from the heavens. The brightly lit sky above Asher seemed to amplify the effect of his delusions at that moment.

"It’s you, Oh Cleaver Of Sin!" he exclaimed, his tone almost fanatical. "I knew Buddha wouldn’t forsake me. He had guided me to you as intended." He clapped his hands together as tears flowed down his face.

To Acker, his meeting with Asher was fate designed by Buddha. It was proof that his destiny remained tied to helping the Hero.

At Acker’s first words, Asher started to regret making his presence known. He couldn’t help but think that perhaps he should have simply left and met Acker at the Frontier instead.

"Can you drop the Cleaver Of Sin thing?" Asher spoke with a sigh as his feet touched the ground.

Acker Holloway didn’t agree. He simply replied, "The more you run from your destiny, the faster it arrives." His tone was assured, as though he had already witnessed the end of everything.

Asher simply gave up, knowing there was no need to engage this guy. People like him would never bend their beliefs or thoughts; they would rather die clinging to them. Therefore, he decided to change the topic.

"Last I remember, you were in the Vandross Empire. How did you even get to the Zarethorne Empire?" he asked, as the question had been bothering him, although he already had a few guesses.

Acker didn’t hide how he had arrived. He answered truthfully, "I tried to establish a temple for Buddha back in the Vandross Empire, but the Emperor refused, citing the fact that I lost against you." Tears continued to stream down his face as he spoke. "And since I couldn’t do that, I decided to follow you by coming to the Zarethorne Empire. But since I couldn’t come here on my own, I sought help from the Emperor. However, he refused to help, and I had nothing to offer any Crownstar Life Ranker in exchange for their assistance." He sighed.

The next moment, a smile appeared on his lips as he continued, "Buddha heard my heart and intentions, and He sent me here by having me fall into a tear in Reality that appeared during a battle between two Crownstar Life Rankers back in the Vandross Empire," he stated in finality.

Asher was speechless. He could never have imagined that someone could cross Empires by simply falling into tears in Reality. He couldn’t help but wonder what Acker had even been doing on a battlefield where two Crownstar Life Rankers were fighting.