Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 823: Good Doer [GT Ranking Bonus - ]

Acker Holloway could be seen walking down a path through an endless green plain field of grass. At this moment, he had killed so many Monsters and eliminated so many Emovirae over the past three days that he was pleased with himself. He, who usually cried, now held a smile on his face as he walked. To him, he had done a great deed for the world by eliminating these sins. In his mind, every fallen Monster and every slain Emovirae was another burden removed from the shoulders of countless innocent people.

As he was lost in thoughts of his own good deeds, he sensed a presence ahead. The moment his eyes landed on the person before him, he snapped back to reality as he spoke.

"Amitabha, O fellow good doer of the world," his tone calm, his hands clasped in front of his chest.

As for the person before him, it was Thalric Wargrave... well, he wasn’t in a really good mood at this moment. When he had destroyed his battlefield by letting his Decay run rampant, he had overtaken Arianna Haellight at that time, just for her to overtake him a few hours later. And ever since then, her momentum had increased for some reason, and the speed at which she gained points was skyrocketing as though she was finding nests of Monsters and Emovirae every hour.

Thalric had tried catching up, but it seemed as though Arianna could sense his intentions despite not even being remotely near him. Every time he thought he had narrowed the gap, she would somehow widen it again as though she possessed an invisible advantage that no one else could comprehend.

"What is your name?" Thalric asked, his tone and expression calm, doing nothing to betray his sour mood.

"Does this fellow good doer wish to become a Buddhist?" Acker asked as his eyes shone with mild excitement at the thought of his first recruit.

Seeing Thalric not reply to him, Acker finally answered, "This Monk’s name is Acker Holloway," his tone sincere and slightly happy.

"Thalric Wargrave," Thalric stated as he began to unsheathe his sabre.

Hearing the name Wargrave, Acker’s smile vanished as his expression turned serious, his black eyes now holding caution.

As the genius of the Vandross Empire, obviously Acker Holloway had been briefed by the Emperor, Emperor Aetherion Khaelor Vantheos, on the people to be cautious of during the Inter-Empire Competition, and he had been instructed to win the competition at all costs.

Although Acker acted like he didn’t care, his name remained within the top five. And besides that, he had already prepared to win this competition because Emperor Aetherion Khaelor Vantheos had promised to pull resources and gather people to create his Buddhist temple, which to Acker was a huge step toward his mission in the world.

Acker couldn’t help but feel unlucky at this moment. If this had been yesterday, he wouldn’t have minded. But the competition was drawing to a close, and he was supposed to fight the third-ranked person. He wasn’t afraid; he simply didn’t want to risk his points and risk the Buddhist temple which the Emperor had promised. After all, the premise here wasn’t to win in a head-on fight, but to destroy the opponent’s bracelet first. Too much was riding on this competition for him to casually gamble away his chances.

"Violence is never the answer, fellow good doer," Acker’s face returned to normal.

Thalric didn’t have time for this nonsense. To him, once he acquired Acker’s points, he would be able to overtake Arianna once again.

The next moment, he blurred forward, his sabre screaming towards Acker’s shoulder in a downward slash. But the Monk simply sidestepped with calm ease as though he could see the future. Thalric wasn’t deterred. He simply recalibrated as though he had expected Acker to dodge in that direction.

His attack changed from a downward vertical slash into a horizontal sideway slash in one linking motion, as though they had been one attack from the beginning rather than two. Acker didn’t delay. His hand moved as he took the golden staff from his shoulder and blocked with ease.

With a booming sound, wind burst backwards from the collision, green grass and chunks of earth tearing away from the impact alone, warping everything within a four-hundred-meter radius with ease. Acker didn’t hesitate. He moved with rapid efficiency as he thrust outward with the end of his staff.

As Kimberley had said, although Acker always claimed violence was never the answer, the man never hesitated to resort to violence once he was attacked.

Thalric’s body blurred as he dodged with a flickering motion, his steps light. His sabre screamed upwards as he unleashed a storm of slashes infused with his Decay. Acker felt his senses tingle as he saw over a hundred brownish-coloured attacks closing in. He didn’t hesitate and immediately created an Astra Energy Barrier. But the moment Thalric’s attacks touched the barrier, they tore through it. No... they decayed it.

Acker didn’t dare waste time. He blurred backwards, creating as much distance as possible from whatever those brownish attacks were. His eyes snapped towards his clothes, only to see them decaying rapidly. He immediately tore off that section of his Monk’s robe, his kasaya.

For the first time since the battle began, genuine caution flashed through Acker’s eyes. The destructive properties of the Decay Affinity were far more troublesome.

Thalric had already closed the distance, his battle acumen and efficiency off the charts. With precise motion, he delivered a heel kick towards Acker’s head. Acker didn’t slow. His staff blurred as he immediately positioned it in front of his head. But due to not blocking in time and the haste behind the defence, the force of Thalric’s kick threw him backwards.

Acker simply twisted midair and landed on his feet with calm ease, his face expressionless. He hadn’t taken any damage until now. But he knew he had to end this battle.

He didn’t wait for Thalric to come to him this time. Instead, he closed the distance, his figure appearing before Thalric as though he were a ghost. His staff blurred as he slammed it against Thalric’s chest. But Thalric simply blocked, then deflected the staff to the side, his sabre already streaking towards Acker’s wrist.

But just as his sabre was about to tear through the bracelet, Acker vanished as though he had teleported. His figure appeared a kilometre away as he stood in silence.

"O fellow good doer, I do not want to use my abilities. They are simply too dangerous and should only be used for the purification of the world," he spoke calmly, his kasaya fluttering in the wind.

But Thalric didn’t speak. He simply pointed the tip of his blade at Acker and prepared to move. Astra Energy surged through his body as he prepared to cross the distance once more and finish the battle by force.

But before he could, he heard Acker speak one last time.

"It was nice meeting you, O fellow good doer," Acker’s voice came.

The moment Thalric heard that, he heard his bracelet crack and immediately shatter. His body froze, his eyes widening in shock as he wondered how Acker had done it. He hadn’t sensed or seen any attack.

His eyes snapped towards Acker, and there, within Acker’s kasaya and tied around his waist, was the White Flag, which was now vanishing into motes of light.

Acker Holloway was the holder of the White Flag.

He had tied it around his waist to prevent his opponents from seeing it, and since he didn’t want to risk his points and the Buddhist temple that was destined to begin construction soon, he decided to use the Flag now and eliminate a troublesome opponent.

After all, even if he fought the Wargrave and won, he would be exhausted. What would then happen if he ran into another person at the top of the rankings? Someone like Arianna Haellight, Isaac Wrath Chillstorm, or even Asher himself could easily take advantage of such a situation.

To Acker, preserving his strength was simply the wiser decision. Victory was victory, regardless of how it was achieved.

Thalric’s face could only twist into the biggest frown in existence as a white light immediately flared around his body and he vanished from the plain field.

A Wargrave... the indomitable bloodline... had been defeated.

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AUTHOR’S NOTE: Sorry for the late release. This Author has a lot of IRL stuff going on at the moment.

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