Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 239: Decay

At another location, a boy could be seen tearing through everything that dared to stand in his way. His eyes were cold, sharp as blades; his face apathetic, as though his very soul had been stripped of warmth. He carried nothing in his gaze, no pity, no hesitation, only relentless purpose.

’I have to get to my brother,’ he thought, his form a blur of motion as he shot forward like a missile. The wind howled around him, his hair whipping violently against the current as his figure darted with impossible speed. He did not pause, he did not falter, he did not even breathe as one would normally breathe. Wherever he passed, heads soared into the air, blood trailing like crimson ribbons, bodies falling lifeless to the ground as though the world itself could not impede his advance.

This was Thalric Wargrave, the Ninth Sun.

’Mother has finally gotten her wish... a Wargrave born with a rapier as his weapon. I can’t allow him to die while I still draw breath,’ he thought silently, his resolve sharpening like the edge of his sabre.

His determination only grew heavier as his speed peaked. He had known that his younger brother, Asher, carried a spark, talent so profound it was said he could embody the long-lost dream of their late mother. A dream of a Wargrave wielding the rapier, not as a tool, but as a sovereign’s blade, a symbol of unmatched supremacy. Thalric would never allow Asher’s life to be snuffed out before that dream took form.

To him, Asher was not permitted to die here, on some forsaken battlefield against nameless enemies. He was only allowed to die, if ever, after standing at the pinnacle of the world, when all empires bent their knees, when all thrones recognized his rapier and bowed before it.

Beside Thalric, a figure matched his blinding pace with effortless grace. Stephanie Ravencroft. Her long hair danced like dark silk in the air as she kept stride, her presence steady, her aura sharp.

”What is happening, Thalric? Why are you running in that direction with such haste?” she asked, her voice calm and clear despite the chaos exploding all around them. The ground shook with constant destruction, monsters shrieked, and steel clashed, yet she moved as though untouched, her tone collected as ever.

But Thalric did not reply. His mind was consumed, drowning in thoughts of his younger brother, of Asher lying broken and bloody, of his mother’s dreams reduced to ashes. He did not know exactly how strong Asher had become. True, Asher had ranked first among the first years, but in Thalric’s eyes, that achievement meant little in this moment. On battlefields like these, a random big-shot enemy could snuff out such talent in a heartbeat, erasing him with a single stroke.

Stephanie, seeing his silence, did not press further. She shook her head faintly, then focused her attention forward, her eyes narrowing.

The warning came not from words, but from the shriek of steel cleaving through air. A sword ripped forward, splitting the wind as it sought to sever Thalric where he stood.

But Thalric reacted instantly. Without even sparing the attacker a glance, his sabre screamed forward, steel flashing to meet steel.

The collision was catastrophic.

A thunderous eruption echoed, waves of force rippling outward as sparks cascaded between their blades. The ground beneath their feet cracked like brittle glass, spiderweb patterns spreading in every direction. Dust leapt skyward. The very earth trembled at the clash.

”Surpri—” the attacker began, his lips curving into the start of some villainous monologue, but he never got the chance to finish.

Thalric had no interest in words. He parried the sword aside with ruthless efficiency, his waist twisting, his body moving like a predator’s. His sabre slashed forward in a line of silver light, the sharpness of his attack enough to cleave mountains.

But the villain was no novice. With mocking ease, he reacted, parrying the strike in turn, then counterattacking in one seamless motion, as though he were sparring against a mere child.

The sword tore toward Thalric’s neck.

Yet his eyes remained cold. His expression unchanged, his face apathetic. He moved with detached grace, sidestepping the strike with the ease of a dancer, his body flowing around the blade as though it had never threatened him at all.

His sabre hummed in his hand, alive with a resonant tone. A diagonal slash came from below, rising with lethal momentum, aimed to tear open the villain’s shoulder.

Stephanie offered no aid. She had no time. Another enemy had engaged her, and she instantly summoned all of her beasts, her Astra pulsing as portals split open. Creatures of every size and form emerged at her side, loyal to her will. Together, they launched themselves at her opponent, their combined ferocity giving her no reason to spare even a glance toward Thalric.

Meanwhile, the villain facing Thalric saw the incoming strike. His instincts screamed danger. He knew he could not parry it in time. In desperation, his Astra pulsed violently, coursing through his veins and erupting outward. In an instant, crystals formed, a shield of gleaming facets designed to intercept the deadly sabre.

The clash was apocalyptic.

Thalric’s blade crashed upon the crystalline wall, sparks and fragments scattering like stars in a storm. With an ear-splitting blast, the air itself screamed as though pleading for mercy. The ground collapsed beneath them, a ravine tearing open, jagged edges splitting the battlefield apart. Dust and shattered stone exploded outward, filling the air in a suffocating haze.

’I’m wasting time,’ Thalric thought coldly. In truth, no more than two seconds had passed since the fight began, but to him, each heartbeat felt like an eternity. In those fleeting moments, Asher could have died ten times over.

Resolve flared within him. Astra erupted outward from his body in waves of destructive energy. His black eyes cut through the dust storm like daggers, piercing the veil that obscured the battlefield.

Then the air changed.

A grey energy seeped from him, spreading like an invisible tide. Stones, pebbles, dust, even the remnants of shattered glass all withered and decayed as the energy touched them, crumbling into powder. The atmosphere grew oppressive, suffocating, as though the world itself recoiled from his presence.

This was Thalric’s elemental affinity; Decay.

Stephanie felt it immediately. Her body tensed, her instincts screaming, and she snapped her head toward him, her voice sharp.

”How many times have I told you to signal me, at least something, before activating your affinity? Do you want to kill me? Or worse, my summons?” she cursed, her tone sharp with anger as she and her beasts instantly retreated, vanishing into the distance.

Thalric offered no reply. His sabre rose, grey energy flowing seamlessly along its edge as though it had always belonged there, as though the weapon and the decay were one and the same.

He lowered himself into stance as he thrust his sabre into the earth below, his cold voice finally broke the silence.

”Field of Dust.”

The words were chilling, devoid of warmth, carrying with them the weight of inevitability.

At his command, a violent eruption of grey energy exploded outward from his body and weapon. The field extended in every direction, a storm of decay covering over a hundred meters in an instant.

Everything it touched began to rot.

Weapons disintegrated. Stones crumbled. Iron rusted into flakes. Clothes withered to tatters. Flesh and blood broke apart, reducing to dust in mere seconds. With each heartbeat, the speed of degradation only increased, until everything and everyone caught within the field simply ceased to exist.

The villain, desperate, tried to block the tide of destruction. His crystals flared brilliantly, forming wall after wall in front of him. But they vanished the moment they were born, decayed faster than thought.

Then his hands followed. His body crumbled, cells unraveling, skin and muscle collapsing into powder.

Before he could even comprehend his fate, his existence ended. He became nothing more than dust scattered in the wind.

Thalric rose slowly, his sabre humming faintly as the field of dust receded back into him. His cold eyes shifted toward Stephanie, who hovered in the air, wings unfurled, watching him warily.

He spared her no more than a fleeting glance.

Then, without warning, Astra poured into his soles, and his body blurred. The earth beneath him detonated, exploding upward from the sheer force of his speed. In the next instant, Thalric Wargrave had vanished, leaving nothing but destruction in his wake.