Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 1194: Heavy Hammer Versus Sharp Axe

Thousands of kilometers away, Michael Novrak and the First Regent appeared as they finally crossed enough distance that the destruction from their battles wouldn’t reach their armies and wipe them out.

They both stood on branches of trees as they stared into each other’s eyes with flat expressions. Personally, Michael was pissed, his mind couldn’t help but imagine the number of Soldiers he would have lost if the Tenth Sun hadn’t discovered the underground bunker.

After this battle, when he got back, he would have Soldiers constantly sense underground areas from this point forward. Although the Velkarin Empire wouldn’t try something like this again, as only a fool would repeat such a tactic, it didn’t mean they would leave this blind spot open.

So, artefacts and Soldiers who possessed Earth Affinity would be deployed once in a while to sense underground areas as deeply as they could.

But Michael wasn’t the only one who was pissed; the First Regent was also pissed. He had lost two million Soldiers to an explosion. Although he wasn’t the Grand Regent, they were still his men, people under him, and also people of the Velkarin Empire. And also, this battle would reflect on his record, and he might be demoted from his Regent Military Rank if he didn’t achieve something worthwhile.

Killing Vice Commander Michael Novrak would make the Velkarin Military Force consider a lighter punishment on his behalf, as killing the Vice Commander wouldn’t be enough for him to go completely unpunished.

"It’s been a while since I’ve been this pissed."

Michael Novrak stated as he drew the battle double-edged axe hanging on his back, his tone frosty.

"The same goes for me. And I’m the one who actually lost Soldiers, not you."

The First Regent replied, his tone cold as his eyes contained nothing but pure killing intent.

Although he was a cautious man by nature, it didn’t mean he was a coward or would run away from a battlefield. He would step up when it was time to fight and step back when it was time to strategically retreat.

His space ring flashed as a heavy hammer appeared in his right hand.

Although both men were angry, none of them planned on acting based on their emotions and making useless mistakes. They hadn’t gotten to their positions in life by acting recklessly and reacting to their emotions alone.

Experience had taught them that anger could sharpen one’s killing intent, but it could also cloud one’s judgment. Neither man intended to give his opponent such an advantage.

In less than a split second, both men vanished, their speed surpassing anything Radiant Voidstar Life Rankers could hope to achieve. They met at a point in space, a hammer bearing down from the sky with raw power as the First Regent attacked like a barbarian, Michael Novrak’s axe tearing through the air as he met the hammer head-on.

And with a deafening, world-imploding burst of raw carnage, a compressed ring of skin-tearing blast wave erupted outwards, devouring everything within a thousand-kilometer radius with insulting ease.

Trees snapped backwards, earth was torn apart, terrain was rewritten through sheer physical strength, and mountains in the distance exploded and collapsed from their peaks as a literal apocalypse descended upon everyone and everything. The shockwave continued to spread long after the initial collision, reducing everything caught within its path to debris and dust.

The two didn’t stop; their bodies were a blur, both of them flickering through the battlefield, blunt, heavy hammer and sharp-edged axe colliding with eardrum-shattering force, gravity inverting as space seemed to tear and warp beneath their force.

They both appeared above a body of water, Michael’s axe screaming downwards as he parted the air with a swing, his axe aiming to tear the First Regent from the head downwards and split the First Regent into two perfect halves. But the First Regent had already reacted, his heavy hammer moving upwards in a muffled whistle and blur as he blocked with ease.

The body of water beneath their feet boomed as a tsunami erupted, the entire mass of water being torn from its basin. They both sank downwards, their feet meeting the waterbed. The moment they landed, Michael was already on the move as he unleashed a whipping kick toward the First Regent’s forehead with crushing might.

The First Regent’s reaction was instantaneous as he had read the attack and devised a counter within the span of less than a moment. He raised his left hand, blocking the whipping kick with his forearm, but he didn’t just block; as his left hand blocked, his right hand attacked, the flat side of his hammer surging toward Michael Novrak’s exposed chest.

Although Michael Novrak wore a breastplate, it didn’t mean he would simply stand there and tank the attack even if he could. His left leg, which was still planted on the ground, gathered power as he leaped into the air with a single foot.

As he shot towards the clouds like a missile, the First Regent wasn’t too far behind. His knees dipped forward, the waterbed beneath his feet sinking in, then shattering in a one-kilometer radius as he launched forward like a heat-seeking nuke.

He rotated midair as he gathered momentum and force, and with a booming force, his hammer met the axe once more. The impact streaked through Michael’s arms and body as he blocked. Using the momentum and force, he allowed himself to be launched freely through the sky, creating distance between them.

’Tsk, the innate Physique of the black people of the Velkarin Empire is troublesome.’

He thought to himself as his hands felt a bit numb, and he could tell that the First Regent was physically stronger, with the man seemingly drawing even more physical strength as the battle went on.

As he caught himself midair, the First Regent pressed his advantage as he erased the distance between himself and Michael as though the distance had never existed in the first place. As he appeared, his heavy hammer spun in his wrist as he slammed it sideways with wild power and raw physical strength that could explode the atmosphere itself.

Michael Novrak didn’t block; he stepped into the air like it was some solid platform as he evaded with a calm expression. He stepped on the air again as he repositioned, his body rotating as he unleashed a knee attack toward the First Regent’s jaw.

With brain-jolting force, knee met jawline, the First Regent’s head snapping to the side, his body shooting down from the sky like a comet. With a boom, the man’s body slammed into the ground, unleashing a deafening bang as a yawning, ravine-like chasm ten kilometers wide opened beneath him, dust rising toward the sky.

The next moment, the clouds of dust forcefully parted as the First Regent could be seen standing after crash-landing on his two feet. Although the attack had landed, he took zero damage, as his constitution as a black man reduced the damage he received.

His black eyes snapped upwards, meeting Michael’s black ones. He didn’t surge towards the sky; he remained within the ten-kilometer-wide ravine as he waited for him to come instead.

Michael didn’t delay; he shot downward from the sky like a hunting hawk that had set its eyes on its prey. Momentum, force, and power gathered around him during his fall, his axe rising as he unleashed a broad overhead swing with brutal efficiency.

The First Regent didn’t take a step back, his eyes blazing with the intent to block. Veins snaked beneath his black skin as he gathered even more power. Adjusting his stance, he swung his hammer upwards without a shred of hesitation or fear, as such words didn’t exist in his dictionary.

A roaring, maddening blast wave slammed into the ground as the ravine turned into a sinkhole and the ground parted. It was as though hell itself was being summoned, everything within a two-thousand-kilometer radius reduced to pure smithereens beneath the overwhelming force of their collision.

They hadn’t even tapped into their Astra Energy or used their abilities, as they aimed to gain an advantage before using them at an unexpected moment to land a decisive strike. Fatal or critical would do.