Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 594: Tree

Asher watched the katana screaming towards his shoulder; he hadn’t heard the air screaming as the katana blurred towards his shoulder. This was usually the method he used to sense attacks that were far too fast for the Omni Perception, yet even so, he had still managed to at least catch a fleeting flicker with Star Energy Sense, a faint, almost imperceptible glimmer that barely registered within his perception yet proved enough to warn him of the incoming danger.

Asher’s rapier screamed upwards to meet the incoming attack; the moment the two blades kissed, concurrent rings of air tore outward like an overfilled balloon bursting under pressure. The surrounding atmosphere warped violently, pressure waves rippling outward in layered distortions as if space itself had been struck.

Asher felt the overwhelming weight behind the attack slam into him, his hand trembling slightly under the force, the earth beneath his feet sinking inward as cracks spiderwebbed outward due to the immense weight imposed upon it, the ground unable to withstand the concentrated pressure of the collision.

Asher’s purple eyes met Debro’s calm black ones, which simply stared at him pitifully as he struggled, but Asher didn’t care about the emotion the man looked at him with; he simply acted. His hand tightened around his rapier, his muscles straining even more as veins surfaced along his arm, and with a greater force drawn from the depths of his body, he pushed the blade to the side, redirecting the pressure with calculated motion.

Without missing a beat, he thrust towards Debro’s throat with the speed of a bullet train, the motion sharp, clean, and lethal, but Debro wasn’t caught off guard. Although his katana had been shifted to the side, his reaction was still faster than anything Asher had expected; the man simply drew his blade back and blocked with the flat side of his katana, as though it were the easiest and most natural thing in the world, as if such speed and force were trivial before him.

Metal screeched violently as orange sparks detonated outward in a brilliant yet fleeting shower. The clash rang sharply, echoing through the battlefield like a shrill cry. Asher didn’t pause; the moment Debro blocked, he simply transitioned into his next attack seamlessly, his rapier shifting trajectory into a precise slash aimed at Debro’s thighs, his intention clear, to cripple or at the very least reduce the man’s movement speed and gain a decisive advantage.

But Debro’s eyes snapped instantly towards Asher’s incoming attack, his katana, which had been angled downward from the previous block, dove further down as though guided by instinct alone, intercepting the strike effortlessly as he blocked with the ease of a master correcting a student’s flawed technique, his movement devoid of hesitation or excess.

But Asher didn’t stop, he didn’t think, he didn’t guess, he didn’t plan; he simply executed his attacks in perfect and rapid succession. The moment Debro blocked the second attack, a third followed immediately, and with a thunderous boom, the earth beneath his foot shattered as his right leg left the ground, tearing towards Debro’s neck from the side with devastating momentum.

The air screamed and collapsed as Asher’s foot tore through the air barrier, compressing the atmosphere into a violent shockwave, but Debro, again, with an ease that seemed mocking rather than composed, simply raised his hand and blocked. The air at the point of collision exploded violently in his ears, yet he didn’t react at all, as though the impact held no meaning to him, as though it didn’t affect him in the slightest.

Asher didn’t stop, he didn’t slow; he immediately withdrew his leg in a fluid motion, but Debro didn’t allow that, as the man’s hand clamped down on Asher’s ankle with a strong grip. Asher, meeting the resistance, didn’t hesitate or falter; he simply leaped into the air with his other foot, using the captured leg as leverage, the sole of his left foot now tearing towards Debro’s chest in a crushing stomping motion filled with force and intent.

Debro, seeing this, simply smiled faintly, a subtle curve of his lips that carried quiet amusement. Unlike what Asher had expected, the man simply dodged to his left, evading the attack while still holding Asher’s ankle firmly. But the moment he dodged, he rotated his body with controlled precision, then flung Asher forward as though he were nothing more than a mere stone, discarding him without effort.

Asher’s body tore backwards like a broken kite caught in a storm as he struggled to regain control, his form ripping through the sound barrier as he unleashed sonic booms in his wake, each burst echoing like distant thunder. The next instant, Asher regained control over his body mid-flight; the moment he did, his rapier flashed as he slashed upward with brutal efficiency and lethal intent, his motion sharp and unforgiving.

With that single motion, an enormous silver sword flash tore outward, erupting forward as it raced towards Debro, who remained ahead, crossing a three-kilometer distance in the blink of an eye, the attack cutting through the air like a streak of condensed destruction. Debro, seeing the incoming attack, didn’t step back or evade; he simply acted, meeting the attack head-on as his blade flashed upward, unleashing his own ultra-thin sword flash that shimmered with condensed power.

And with a world-shattering impact, both attacks collided violently, the clash releasing an overwhelming shockwave as various silver sword flashes tore outward, weaving together like intertwining threads of destruction, tearing through everything in their path and reducing all they touched into utter ruin. Dust surged into the sky in thick clouds, obscuring the battlefield entirely, while sword marks carved across the earth in intricate, almost artistic patterns that spoke of overwhelming force and precision.

Asher dove forward like a bullet fired from a gun, his speed reaching its peak, the world blurring beyond recognition as his focus narrowed solely on Debro. The moment he closed the distance, he unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks; he thrust out a thousand times with surgical precision, each motion perfect, elegant, and efficient, with zero wasted movement or energy, as though he had reached the absolute pinnacle of rapier mastery, every strike flowing seamlessly into the next.

Only if Lily Of The Abyss were here to witness this scene... only if she were here to see her greatest dream now finally becoming a reality, the culmination of countless hours of discipline and endless pursuit of perfection manifesting before her very eyes.

Although the katana wasn’t known for its thrust, the truth remained that it could thrust, and thrust Debro did. His own blade shot forward repeatedly as he met Asher attack for attack and speed for speed, neither yielding nor faltering, the air bursting outward with each collision as space itself rippled like the disturbed surface of water, unable to remain stable under the intensity of their exchange.

A tree crumbled beside Asher due to the force of their movements and the sheer pressure radiating from their clash; Asher didn’t hesitate. He spun sharply on his feet, his forefoot striking the trunk with controlled yet immense force as he kicked it forward, the tree transforming into a blurred brown streak as it blitzed towards Debro’s position with overwhelming speed.

Debro didn’t spare the incoming tree a single thought; he merely glanced at it briefly, and it shattered instantly into a rain of splintered wood, fragments scattering in all directions. But within that fleeting moment, Asher had already vanished from his previous position, his body blinking into existence beside Debro as he targeted the man’s ankle with deadly precision, striking like a venomous snake seeking a fatal bite.

Debro’s black eyes snapped towards the incoming strike; he calmly took a step back with one foot, then raised the other with effortless control, allowing the attack to pass just beneath him, the blade missing by mere inches from its intended target, a precise and calculated evasion executed without strain.

But Asher wasn’t done; he seamlessly linked a lower body motion into an upper body motion with maddening efficiency and near-impossible precision, his rapier erupting upward in a sharp thrust as he aimed directly for Debro’s jaw, the air splitting cleanly in his wake as his speed intensified.

But Debro was ever ready, as always; his head snapped backward in a smooth motion as he dodged with the effortless grace of one who dominated the battlefield entirely, his movement flawless, his control absolute, every action executed with perfect timing and insulting composure, as though the entire battle unfolded at his command.