Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 250: Keep Up

A pair of purple eyes met a pair of deep black ones as Asher stared calmly at Thalric, who had just arrived.

Thalric, sensing the unflinching gaze upon him, turned to meet his brother’s eyes. Asher stood beside him, silent and unreadable. The two brothers seemed locked in a contest of wills, a battle of gazes, neither uttering a single word nor allowing the other even a flicker of dominance.

’What is he doing here?’ Asher thought, his sharp eyes briefly shifting toward Thalric. But he quickly pushed the thought aside; this was not the time for questions. Doris still stood before him, his battle had yet to end.

”You look pitiful, Asher,” Thalric’s lips parted gently as he spoke, his voice carrying the calm indifference of one who owed no explanation. He made no effort to justify his sudden appearance; he didn’t need to. His presence alone carried meaning enough.

Asher simply stared at Thalric for a heartbeat longer before tearing his gaze away. His focus shifted back to Doris, who now stood watching the reunion in silence. Her cold eyes betrayed no emotion, only faint amusement.

’It seems I’ll have to tap into Virelass’s Astra reserves,’ Asher thought to himself grimly. This was the third ability Virelass possessed, known as Astra Veil. It was an ability that allowed Virelass to store up to thirty percent of Asher’s current Astra reserves for later use.

With a mere thought, Asher commanded Virelass to release the stored energy. A surge of energy erupted as Astra flooded into Asher’s veins like waves of molten light. Though it was only thirty percent of his full reserve, it was better than nothing, and Asher would take any advantage he could get.

”Great. Another old noble child,” Doris’s voice sliced through his thoughts, cold and mocking.

Asher wasn’t surprised by her words. After all, she was known for her twisted sense of amusement and cruelty. Thalric, on the other hand, simply stared at her in mild confusion, though his expression betrayed a faint trace of disdain.

”Take a step back. I’ll handle her from here,” Thalric said calmly, his tone carrying quiet authority. The ice spreading beneath his feet crackled and decayed, unable to freeze him within its eternal frost.

Asher didn’t respond immediately. He wasn’t about to step down from a battle he had begun. Doris was his opponent, no matter how powerful she was or how little his attacks had done to her so far. He could still support Thalric, create openings, and make her bleed, even if only a little.

”You can’t just steal my prey and tell me to stand aside,” Asher replied at last, his tone calm but sharp as a blade. ”You’re the one who needs permission to even engage in this fight, Thalric.”

Thalric shifted his gaze from Doris back to Asher. Then, with a faint exhale, he shook his head as if conceding to the futility of arguing. His sabre, which had been hovering lightly in the air, descended gracefully into his waiting palm.

”Try to keep up then,” he said softly.

And with that, Thalric took a single step forward, and vanished. The ice beneath him shattered into fragments, exploding outward from the sheer pressure of his movement. Within a heartbeat, he was upon Doris. His sabre tore through the air toward her neck, fast enough to blur into a streak of silver light.

Doris reacted instantly. Without even a flicker of hesitation, her katana flashed upward, cleaving through the air to meet his sabre mid-swing. The collision between the two weapons shattered the silence, an explosive wave of force rippled outward as air and frost were torn apart.

The two weapons met again and again, each strike heavy with lethal precision.

Asher took a deep breath as he watched their duel unfold. Then, exhaling slowly, he moved. Without wasting another second, he stepped forward, and vanished completely, using the movement technique he had once copied from Hillary during his true awakening.

In a flicker of purple light, his form reappeared beside Doris. His body and rapier were enveloped in incandescent purple lightning, the crackling energy illuminating the battlefield in streaks of chaos. He thrust forward, aiming directly for Doris’s heart from the side.

For the first time, Doris’s composed expression shifted. Her eyes widened slightly as she turned. In the same instant, she deflected Thalric’s sabre with a sharp parry and brought her katana sweeping across to intercept Asher’s thrust.

With deft precision, she angled her blade, deflecting the tip of Asher’s rapier with a ringing clash of metal. But Thalric was faster than she anticipated. His sabre blurred again, this time glowing faintly grey as decay energy surged along its edge.

Doris’s eyes flickered in alarm. She raised her hand and summoned her ice. A crystalline wall erupted before her, gleaming like polished glass. But Thalric had already anticipated this move. His sabre, infused with decay, tore through the wall as if slicing through silk. The ice shattered instantly, breaking apart into fragments that decayed into mist before they could even fall.

A violent explosion followed, the blast wave hurling Doris forward. She skidded across the fractured ground, her boots grinding against the ice.

Asher didn’t waste the opening. Astra pulsed from his veins again as he transitioned smoothly into the second technique he had copied from Hillary.

Within a heartbeat, he raised his rapier skyward and slashed. Lightning and Astra obeyed his will as though bound by divine command. Hundreds of purple, crescent-shaped attacks materialized in the air, each one burning with radiant madness.

The storm descended upon Doris with cataclysmic force.

Doris frowned deeply, her face shadowed by the glow of oncoming destruction. Her body blurred into a phantom of motion. She swung her katana in a dazzling arc, ice energy coating its length. The first wave of attacks met her blade, and shattered, exploding into showers of crackling lightning.

But the rest struck true.

Explosions tore through the frozen battlefield as dozens of energy crescents collided with her form. The impact unleashed torrents of heat and cold simultaneously, fire and frost devouring one another in an endless dance of annihilation.

The once-serene landscape became a maelstrom of chaos. Dust and smoke spiraled skyward, twisting violently as the ground trembled beneath their feet. Steam hissed from the ruptured ice, mixing with the eerie blue decay energy that radiated from Thalric’s strikes.

Asher stood amidst it all, his breath heavy, his rapier humming softly in his grasp. His lightning still flared, painting the air with streaks of purple radiance. Across from him, Thalric remained calm, his sabre poised effortlessly by his side.

Doris emerged from the storm, frost clinging to her form, her expression unreadable. The air around her warped from the clash of extreme heat and cold, the remnants of her ice aura flickering like dying embers.

Neither side spoke.

The air itself felt heavy, dense with tension and power. Lightning crackled faintly around Asher’s body, while Thalric’s aura pulsed with grey decay energy, corroding even the frost beneath his boots. Doris’s katana gleamed, small cracks running along its length from the previous blows, though her grip on it remained steady.

It seemed, for a fleeting moment, that the battle might never end.

Heat and frost, lightning and decay, all intertwined, consuming the air, the ground, and the very essence of the valley itself. The battlefield trembled under their combined might, each breath laden with destruction.

Dust, steam, and chaotic energy hung suspended in the air, refusing to dissipate, as if even the world itself dared not interfere with what was to come next.