Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 729: Lost

Half an hour passed, and finally Asher arrived at the peak of the hill. His eyes fell upon the human silhouette he had seen earlier. It was a man sitting calmly on the floor with an unbothered gaze. He had black hair and black eyes, with a slash scar running diagonally across his cheek.

The moment Asher reached the peak of the hill, the man turned towards him and spoke with an exasperated tone, "Urgh, finally, you are here. I’ve been waiting for ages, you know," his tone remaining utterly unbothered.

"Ohhh... so I got a Wargrave, the Tenth Sun at that," the man continued as he rose to his feet, his height easily over seven feet tall.

Asher’s eyes narrowed slightly as the man recognized him, though he immediately became expressionless the next second. After all, as an Instructor of the Star Academy, it was normal for an Instructor to know him, although Asher himself didn’t recognize the man. The same thing had happened with Instructor Sane and Instructor Mira.

If this had been another enemy, Asher would have already attacked, but this was an Instructor. They weren’t so easily caught off guard, so Asher wasn’t fooled by the man’s easygoing and careless movements.

’Crownstar Life Rank?’ Asher thought to himself before pushing the thought aside, the question didn’t matter at the moment.

The man also wore the same jumpsuit and bracelets as Asher, and the moment Asher arrived, the man snapped his fingers and activated both pieces of equipment. Immediately, his body was restricted to the same level as Asher’s current physical parameters with seamless measurement; this was done to make the battle fair.

Although the man didn’t explain anything, Asher already understood just from watching. After all, if the Instructors simply overpowered their students through raw strength alone, there would be nothing meaningful to learn.

"It’s a shame the other student is still climbing the hill. I would have loved to take on both of you at the same time so I could rest afterward," the man added with a sigh. His eyes left his bracelet as he met Asher’s gaze while speaking. "Here I come, Tenth Sun," his voice calm and almost eager.

The moment those words left the man’s lips, he had already closed the distance in a flickering blur, the tip of his dagger screaming towards Asher’s eyeballs as though he intended to blind him permanently.

Asher’s senses screamed with danger and death. His body immediately snapped backward as he dodged at the very last split second, his back arching deeply until it was almost parallel to the earth itself. But the Instructor seemed to have read Asher like a child. His dagger spun dexterously across his palm as he instantly transitioned into a downward stab.

Seeing this, Asher immediately threw himself to the side frantically, the moment he dodged, the dagger tore through the air like scissors through silk. Asher’s body rolled violently across the earth, but he didn’t dare delay, he immediately rose back to his feet, his eyes snapping sharply towards the Instructor.

But the moment he did, all he saw was a knee collapsing into his ribcage from the side, the impact was brutal, merciless in every sense of the word.

Asher groaned as his body tore sideways like a broken kite, the moment he was about to crash against a tree, he immediately rotated midair like an agile cat, his feet landing upon the bark of the tree with controlled motion. The instant he landed, he didn’t hesitate, his pole tore outward as he smashed it forward with all his might without even looking.

The Instructor, who had already closed the distance, simply dodged with a grin spread across his face, his dagger blurring as he unleashed a hundred attacks within the span of a single second.

Asher, who had just landed upon the earth from the tree bark, immediately drew back his pole. He knew he couldn’t dodge this barrage, he could only block.

And with that realization, his speed reached its peak, there was no time to hold back at this moment. His pole transformed into a blur as he deflected attack after attack with astonishing precision and motion. But as he blocked, the Instructor simply punched the earth with immense force, the peak quaked violently, the ground beneath Asher immediately shattering and destabilizing him while he defended against the attacks.

Asher immediately frowned as he tried to recalibrate himself, but it was already too late, the remaining attacks instantly tore into his body, his skin splitting open as blood splattered into the air.

The instructor had taken advantage of that singular moment when Asher had been focusing on blocking the barrage of attacks, disrupting his foot, making the earlier attacks land.

Asher didn’t feel the pain, or rather, he ignored it completely, they were merely cuts, he had endured far greater pain prior to this moment, he simply focused harder, his senses heightening further, his mind sharpening as he attacked again, his pole blurring while he unleashed a barrage of attacks towards the Instructor.

The Instructor simply vanished from where he stood, not even bothering to block, but the moment he moved away, Asher immediately gave chase. However, the instant Asher pursued him, the Instructor, who had originally created distance between them, suddenly erased it again by closing in at terrifying speed, his figure appearing directly before Asher in a flash.

Asher was stunned for the briefest moment, the man had been retreating... yet now he had somehow closed the distance instantly.

The Instructor’s dagger screamed towards Asher’s neck, but Asher had already anticipated that possibility. He simply raised his pole and blocked with seamless precision.

A metallic crash rang outward as their weapons collided midair, with that, both of them vanished from where they stood, their bodies turning into blurs as explosive sounds thundered outward continuously while they remained in constant motion.

Asher was completely on the back foot, he couldn’t land even a single attack, even when he managed to read the man before him correctly, it somehow ended up being bait deliberately set by the Instructor.

Asher was practically hopeless as the man displayed movements, combinations, and transitions he had never seen before in his entire life.

With a boom, a foot attack collapsed against Asher’s chest, his body crashing into a tree hard enough to shatter it apart. Pain bloomed violently across both his chest and back, but he didn’t dare remain in place for even a second.

He immediately vanished, the moment he did, the Instructor was already there, a fist attack tearing open a crater where Asher had previously stood. The man closed the distance again, never giving Asher even the slightest opportunity to think or breathe properly or even blink, he pressed his advantage endlessly and mercilessly without hesitation.

The moment he closed the gap between them once more, he suddenly tossed sand towards Asher’s eyes.

But this was something Asher himself usually did to opponents, not the other way around, so he had at least expected something similar to happen eventually, he immediately dodged, but the moment he moved, he found the Instructor’s dagger already positioned exactly in the space he had dodged into.

Asher had no choice but to use his pole to deflect the dagger to the side, but the moment he did that, another dagger, a second one appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and with one brutal slash, the Instructor cut across Asher’s neck with frightening efficiency and ease.

Blood splattered outward, and with that, the fight came to a halt.

Asher had lost without even landing a single clean attack or being given even the smallest chance to breathe properly.