Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 544: All Part Of The Plan

Asher, who had been asleep for an unknown amount of time, finally stirred awake from his unconsciousness, his purple eyes once again blessing the world with their quiet, otherworldly beauty. The moment his eyes snapped open, clarity struck him instantly, as thoughts, memories, calculations, and carefully layered plans aligned and locked into place with mechanical precision.

’It seems I’m already in their base,’ Asher thought to himself, he attempted to move, but he immediately heard a metallic clang and clink that attempted to restrict his movements. Asher’s eyes snapped downward at once, and on his hands were huge chain cuffs that bound both entire forearms, another set binding his legs, while thick chains extended from them and were embedded deeply into the wall behind him.

’Is this any different from slave trading?’ Asher thought to himself, his gaze steady and analytical, the chains and cuffs somewhat restrictive, yet nothing compared to Asher’s overwhelming strength. With a mere thought, Asher attempted to manipulate Astra energy, but the moment he did, nothing happened, he arched an eyebrow in faint surprise. He tried again, concentrating more carefully, yet nothing occurred. It was as though he had never awakened to begin with in the first place.

Asher’s mind instinctively drifted back to the assassin named Blue; only he had ever done something remotely similar to Asher. Asher did not need to deliberate for long to understand what was happening, as it was painfully obvious to someone of his intellect. ’It seems that these aren’t ordinary chains, but specialized ones that block the ability for one to connect to or manipulate Astra energy,’ Asher thought to himself, his conclusion calm and precise.

But despite this revelation, he remained entirely unbothered, nor did he panic in the slightest. The chains and cuffs were nothing more than paper to him; with a simple flick of his hands and legs, he could shatter everything effortlessly, as those kidnappers, or whoever they were, had used restraints capable of physically restricting someone at the Radiant Brightstar Life Rank.

However, he neither broke them nor attempted to in any way. He was certain that if he did, an unknown number of individuals would immediately flood this place, and so he remained cautious and deliberately patient. His purple eyes shifted to his body next as he continued his assessment, for he could not recklessly throw himself into battle without knowing precisely what those people had done to him.

’My breastplate, my vambraces, and greaves are gone, even my cape,’ he thought to himself, his gaze lowering further, then his eyes shifted to his waist, ’my sword and daggers were also taken,’ Asher concluded internally, his mind cataloguing each missing item with clinical detachment. Them taking these was only natural; after all, what kind of enemy would kidnap someone and leave them with their equipment? ’Even my space ring was taken too,’ Asher mused inwardly, recognizing the thoroughness of their preparation.

Ordinarily, if someone so much as touched Asher, even while he was asleep, he would immediately know the exact moment contact was made with his body. He was simply that sensitive. Even his Omni Perception would detect a presence long before anyone could get close to him. Aside from that, even Virelass would retaliate instinctively if Asher could not awaken in time, yet none of that had happened, as Asher had not even known when his armor and belongings were removed from his body.

He understood that it was because his body, mind, and Virelass all seemed to comprehend the plan in seamless unison. After all, if he had woken up while they were removing his equipment, his carefully constructed strategy would have collapsed. Although he could have feigned sleep once more, individuals of his calibre were simply too perceptive for such a shallow deception to succeed without flaw.

’When I’m done with this mission, I will train a method to fake sleeping flawlessly,’ he thought to himself, preparing contingencies even for hypothetical future scenarios, just in case he ever had to repeat such a tactic in another mission.

Although Asher had resolved this internally, he understood how difficult such mastery would ordinarily be, yet he remained unconcerned. His Absolute Physique was an overwhelmingly overpowered constitution, and with his Perfect Muscle Memory, he could master such control within mere minutes at this very moment if he so desired, but now was neither the time nor the place for such indulgence.

As Asher concluded his external inspection, he shifted his attention toward the internal aspect of his condition. There was no telling what might have been done to him while he was unconscious, and he needed to ensure that he himself was in perfect condition before attempting to assume the role of any hero and begin rescuing people.

And so, he closed his eyes and commenced his internal inspection.

Although it might appear as though he was wasting valuable time that could be used to formulate an escape or strategize the rescue of the captives, Asher did not particularly care about strangers he had never met. He would save them if he could, and if nothing detrimental had been done to him, but if something had been altered or compromised, he would prioritize completing the mission and leaving with his life rather than dying for hostages he held no attachment to.

Earlier, when the three assailants had entered his room to abduct him, Asher could have simply fallen asleep deliberately and allowed himself to be taken without resistance, but he had not. No, he had risen to his feet, resisted, and attempted to fight them instead, and although that might have seemed unnecessary or contradictory to his plan, it had, in fact, been an essential part of it.

During his staged battle and calculated resistance against the three assailants, he had subtly made it known that he possessed high resistance toward "such substance." Back then, he had chosen his wording with meticulous care. He had said "high resistance" and not "immunity" because those kidnappers might have decided to experiment and test new poisons or other substances on him. He did not know the depths of their depravity or how deranged they might be, and it was best not to test the boundaries of their insanity.

Furthermore, he had said "such substance" without specifying any particular type of substance. Was it poison? Was it a sedative? Was it a neurotoxin or a paralytic agent? He had deliberately left it ambiguous and undefined, allowing their imaginations to fill in the blanks, subtly implying that he possessed high resistance to all of them. The goal was simple: when he was unconscious, these people would hesitate to attempt anything out of the norm in his body.

It had all been part of the plan.