Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 448: Uncontestable

Through the swirling and hazing smoke, Asher walked out with gentle steps, his pace unhurried and composed, his cape billowing softly to the lingering sound and fading rhythm of the last destruction. Despite the violence that had just unfolded, his body remained as pristine as ever; not a single speck of dust marred his clothes or skin. He walked forward as though he had existed outside the very concept of that explosion, as though the chaos that had consumed the battlefield moments ago had never been meant to touch him in the first place.

Asher’s deep purple eyes shifted calmly toward William. Without missing a beat, he closed the distance once more with his ridiculous speed, space itself seeming to fold beneath his steps. His rapier flashed forward in a sharp, precise arc as he moved to tear William’s skin apart. But William reacted instantly, tapping into the space element as his body vanished completely. In the next instant, he reappeared behind Asher, his claymore roaring through the air as it tore toward Asher’s waist with lethal intent.

But Asher wasn’t caught off guard. He had already seen it, already sensed the attack before it even fully formed. His left hand snapped out casually, fingers closing with terrifying precision as he stopped William’s attack with his bare hand. The force behind the claymore vanished into nothingness the moment it was caught. Seeing this, William didn’t even hesitate. He vanished yet again, retreating through space itself, but not without leaving a present behind for Asher.

A sphere of condensed light appeared at William’s previous location, hovering for a fraction of a second before erupting in a blinding flash. The world was instantly drowned in searing brilliance as William aimed to blind Asher completely. Capitalizing on that moment, the Rivelle siblings moved in perfect coordination, immediately unleashing their abilities. Astra energy surged violently from their bodies as a colossal titan sand tsunami rose toward the sky, its sheer size blotting out light as they poured everything they had into its formation.

The sand tsunami roared forward like a natural disaster given will, tearing down trees as though they were nothing more than twigs. Everything in its path was erased, ground stripped bare, air crushed beneath its advance, as it moved to erase Asher from existence where he stood. Yet Asher’s eyes remained wide open, calm and unfazed, as though William’s blinding attack had never affected him in the slightest.

Asher didn’t dodge. He didn’t retreat. Instead, he simply raised his rapier with the serene composure of a true swordmaster.

Then he swung.

The motion was clean, effortless, yet terrifying. There was no Astra energy, no Star Energy, no lightning, no space distortion, no light affinity, no form of augmentation whatsoever. It was a purely physical strike, backed by nothing but mastery, intent, and overwhelming strength. Yet with that single swing of his rapier, Asher cleaved the colossal sand tsunami in half as easily as a hot knife slicing through butter.

The next instant, the sand tsunami crumbled, collapsing in on itself like a massive sandcastle struck by an unseen hand. Mountains of sand fell uselessly to the ground, dispersing into nothing more than debris and dust. The Rivelle siblings could only swallow hard at what they had just witnessed. Such weapon mastery was simply impossible for someone their age. And yet, here the Tenth Sun stood, performing such a feat as though it were nothing more than a mundane task on a regular Monday.

Asher took another step forward. He didn’t blur. He didn’t become a phantom. He was simply gone, vanishing as though he had slipped through the folds of reality itself. In the very next instant, he appeared before William once more. Without missing a beat, William tapped into the gravity element, desperately increasing the pressure around Asher as he tried to pin him in place. Gravity surged downward violently, crushing the air and warping the ground beneath them.

But the moment the gravity mounted, Asher’s rapier blurred. Both man and blade moved freely, ignoring the oppressive force entirely as though it were nothing at all. And indeed, to Asher, it was nothing.

William couldn’t even follow the attack. All he saw was a flash of motion, a silver streak that crossed his vision. In the next moment, his entire arm was severed cleanly from his shoulder. Blood splattered outward immediately from the stump, painting the ground in crimson as agony exploded through his body. William screamed at the top of his lungs as pain flooded his mind and brain. No matter his Life Rank, he was still a child, and his tolerance for pain was nowhere near enough to ignore the loss of an arm.

He wasn’t Ryaen Silvershade.

Asher didn’t pause for even a moment. His foot left the earth with explosive speed and thundered against William’s jaw with terrifying grace and force. The scream was cut off instantly. William’s teeth tore free from his gums as his brain rattled violently within his skull. His head snapped to the side as inertia ripped him through the air, his body ricocheting from one tree to another before collapsing lifelessly against the ground. Asher didn’t need to check. He already knew William had lost consciousness.

From the right, countless projectiles of sand tore forward in an endless barrage. Asher didn’t even bother turning toward them. His right hand blurred, rapier moving in a smooth, circular motion as he intercepted the incoming attacks, cutting through each projectile as though they were nothing more than drifting leaves. From the left, another torrent followed, sand hardened by Astra energy and hurled with lethal speed and force. Asher simply raised his left wrist, his movements becoming a phantom of motion as he swatted every projectile aside as casually as one would brush away flies.

Then, without missing a beat, his right hand flickered again mid-motion. A straight silver sword line tore forward through the air, racing directly toward the Rivelle siblings who stood together in shock.

They reacted instantly, erecting a dense sand barrier reinforced by Astra energy. But it was futile. The sharpness behind Asher’s singular attack was absolute. Like a scissors through paper, the sword line cleaved through the barrier in a single slash. A perfectly straight vertical line split the construct in two, as though it had been dissected with surgical precision. A heartbeat later, the barrier collapsed completely.

Without hesitation, both siblings sank into the earth beneath them, attempting to escape underground. Asher didn’t chase. He merely swung Virelass once more. In the next instant, another silver sword line tore through the ground with cataclysmic force, ripping apart a massive chunk of earth and forcing the Rivelle siblings violently back to the surface.

Their eyes snapped open, but all they saw was swirling dust and violent wind that clouded their vision. Before either of them could even locate Asher’s presence, he appeared in front of them as though he had teleported. But he hadn’t. His speed was simply beyond anything their perception could register.

Before shock could even take hold, Asher’s sword blurred again. A single attack. Yet in that instant, hundreds of injuries were inflicted upon their bodies. Both siblings collapsed to the destroyed earth like puppets whose strings had been severed. Beneath them, blood flowed slowly and gently in thin streams as the forest fell into a stunned, speechless silence.

Throughout the entire spar, Asher had not once used devastating elemental attacks, techniques, or overwhelming energy like he normally would. He had fought them with nothing but his sword and pure physical strength. And yet, despite their awakened power and abilities, they had all lost decisively.

Such was the difference between them. A difference so vast that their awakened abilities were rendered completely meaningless beneath his overwhelming might.

William now lay unconscious against the earth, missing an arm. Finch lay nearby, unable to move, his body ruined as Asher had severed numerous tendons and muscles with precise restraint. As for the Rivelle siblings, they shared the same fate as Finch, broken and utterly defeated.

Caldor, Annabelle, and Finch stared at Asher as though they were looking at a monster disguised in human skin.

’Is this the might of the Wargraves?’ Caldor and Annabelle thought silently as they stared at the lone figure who remained standing, calm and victorious amid the ruin.

Asher didn’t speak. There was nothing to celebrate, nothing to feel pride over. He had already been stronger than the four of them combined. That was a simple, undeniable fact. The outcome of the battle had been expected, inevitable, and completely uncontestable.