Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 554: Harvest

Asher stood in absolute silence, his mind blank, his stomach and chest twisted as though he wanted to regurgitate everything he had ever eaten both in his life as Ethan and his life as Asher. He had no words to describe what he was seeing, literally no words.

Horrific? That seemed like a joke of a word compared to the scene before him. His thoughts stalled, unable to properly process what his eyes were witnessing, as though his mind itself rejected the reality unfolding before him.

He had seen dead bodies, he had seen torn organs, he had broken corpses, blood had pooled under his legs before, he had walked on a battlefield of corpses before. His True Awakening had tempered him and made him see all these things, even his battle against Blue where he had to fight and kill various assassins before Blue intervened. He had endured slaughter and witnessed death countless times, experiences that would break ordinary people, yet he had endured them without faltering.

But all those horrors, all those kills, those battles that filled his lungs and nose with the blood of the dead, none of it seemed to compare to the scene before him. This was different, not because of the blood, not because of the death, but because of the deliberate cruelty, the enjoyment, and the complete absence of humanity displayed so openly.

Only words like abomination seemed able to describe a scene like this, a nightmare to say the least, dreadfulness, slaughter, butchery, bloodbath. Even those words felt insufficient, inadequate to truly capture the depravity before him.

Asher felt nothing more than to draw his rapier and end these people right here and now. But he could not, he had his mission, he could not act on his emotions, not yet. Besides, even if he wanted to act on them, he could not exactly do so as there were about five people hiding within the shadows of this very lab. Their presence remained concealed, but he could feel them clearly, watching, waiting, ready to intervene.

Asher clenched his fist as he watched the horror unfold before him, the screams, the sound of flesh tearing, the echo sickening, the splatter of blood against the ground below. Asher did not tear his gaze away, he watched as he took it all in, his stomach twisting even more as though his mind could not hold on anymore. His breathing slowed deliberately, controlled through sheer will, forcing his body into submission.

’These people are more than sick... they are more than twisted,’ Asher thought to himself as he forced himself to calm down, he tried to control his own emotions, the wrong move and he could die before he could even do anything. He understood that recklessness would only lead to failure.

His increased heart rate seemed to return to normal, but at this moment, his eyes were now cold, he did not unleash his presence or any form of killing intent, he simply stood at his position like a machine. His emotions were buried, suppressed beneath layers of control.

Virelass who was floating beside him seemed to hum as though comforting him, she did not feel the horror and anger Asher was feeling, but she could sense Asher’s emotions. Her presence remained steady, constant, providing silent support without interfering.

’Thank you, Virelass,’ Asher thought as he communicated with Virelass. Although Asher considered himself a selfish person who did not care about those he did not truly know and put himself above everyone else, it did not mean he was an emotionless machine. He was still capable of feeling, still capable of reacting.

He still felt anger, he still felt emotional pain just from watching, but that did not mean he would sacrifice his life to avenge them, he was not some summoned Hero from Earth. If he could, he would wipe out these people, and if he could not, he would leave. His survival remained his priority above all else.

The operation seemed to finally begin in earnest as the six deranged people were finally done having their dark and twisted pleasures. Various medical equipment which Asher was familiar with were created by these six people through Astra energy manipulation as they did not need to carry any objects around. Their control was precise, efficient, and practiced.

With delicate care, they removed the lungs from the woman strapped to the table, the man handed the lungs to the other man assisting him, the man moved and placed it in a container containing a liquid, which was placed on another table. They moved with surgical ease, precision, and motion that showed that clearly, this was not their first rodeo.

They harvested every single thing, they pulled out even the ribcage with a sickening pull, separating it from the flesh, they took out the heart too. They stared at it in fascination as it beat in their hands as though they loved the rhythm the human heart beat at. Then they transferred it into one of the jars without hesitation.

They turned to their eyes, and using a clamp formed from their Astra energy, they pulled out their eyes with sickening ease. After that, they simply flipped the bodies they were in charge of, their scalpels appearing yet again as they tore the flesh on the backs of their victims, then with masterful control and finesse, they pulled out the entirety of their victims’ spines, the veins were still connected as they intentionally left it there.

But strangely enough, these victims seemed unable to die, as though even death did not dare to claim them. But Asher suspected that the ability of one of these six deranged people was forcefully keeping the victims alive, just so they could listen and enjoy their screams. The prolonging of life itself had become a tool of torture.

One of the four men hummed as he worked, he matched the rhythm of his humming to the tempo of his victims’ screams as though they were conducting a song and were in a band together. His enjoyment was obvious, his satisfaction undeniable.

As they were done with the back, they shifted to their heads, cracking open their skulls, they pulled out their brains with precise control over Astra manipulation and elegant dark motion. The moment the brains of the three victims were pulled, the three immediately died, their screams ending as the chamber returned to absolute silence. The sudden quiet felt unnatural after the prolonged suffering.

The six deranged people seemed to stop, then frowned as though their joy in the job had been taken away. Transferring the brains into the jars, one of them walked towards the orb on a table within the room, channeling Astra energy, he spoke, "bring in the next batch in exactly six hours, we have been working for a few days nonstop, we will take some rest."

The figure on the other end of the line simply nodded then the communication ended just like that. The next moment, the door behind Asher opened, before the door could slam into him as he was standing at the door, he phased through it with ease. His form shifted seamlessly, unaffected.

Three people stepped in, each not bothering to hold their breath as though they thrived in a blood-filled environment. They did not speak, they simply took every corpse within the lab as though it was routine, then turned and left without a single word, the door shutting behind them, leaving the lab in silence once again.

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AUTHOR’S NOTE: I guess I’ve turned into a dark author, or maybe a dark story teller. Also, how are you seeing this mission? Need y’all opinion, and also, I still need your golden tickets. We are falling off the ranking more and more, and it breaks my heart. And in case you’ve forgotten, I still do bonus Chapters for super gifts.