Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 384: Not An Easy Prey [Bonus Chapter]

William’s claymore moved in a silver blur, the massive blade cleaving an assassin cleanly in half from the crown of the skull down to the groin. Before the blood could even fall, William vanished in a streak of black, his figure flickering like a distorted shadow as he reappeared at the side of another assassin. His claymore tore toward the man in a ruthless arc.

A heavy metallic blast rang out as their blades collided. Sparks scattered into the air like shattered stars, the clang echoing sharply through the forest. Without exchanging a single word, the two vanished into motion, two phantoms weaving in and out as an explosive succession of attacks detonated across the sky. Steel clashed against steel in rapid succession, each strike punctuated by streaking sparks and ripples of pressure.

From behind, another assassin lunged at William with predatory silence. William bent forward sharply, ducking just as the blade cut through the space above his neck. His hand snapped outward. A spear of blinding purple lightning erupted from his palm in a thunderous bolt, ripping through both attacking assassins in a single devastating blast. The air trembled from the discharge, the corpses falling in smoking halves.

Unlike Finch, William didn’t bother retreating. Running was pointless for someone like him. He possessed far too many ways to kill. Why should he flee? If anyone needed to run, it was them.

A monstrous explosion erupted nearby as flames surged into the sky, ballooning into a towering mushroom cloud of smoke, ash, and fire. William did not flinch. He moved from assassin to assassin with the silent efficiency of a natural-born executioner, almost as though he were the real assassin in this scenario rather than the target.

He raised his hand. Light bent toward him like obedient servants, gathering into condensed blinding spheres, each one thick, volatile, radiant. Without delay, he hurled them forward. They streaked through the air with blinding velocity.

The assassins immediately retreated, instincts screaming. But William gave them no time. The moment the light spheres neared their fleeing bodies, he made them erupt outward. The explosions vaporized the assassins before they could even process the movement.

William’s feet touched down on a tree branch. His eyes snapped toward another assassin perched at a distance, this one wielding a bow drawn taut. As the arrow volley came, William merely tilted his claymore. With casual precision, he deflected every arrow, sending them spiraling harmlessly into the forest as though they were no more threatening than falling leaves.

Then he moved.

He tore forward with such speed he resembled an arrow himself, pure velocity aimed at the archer. The assassin leaped aside, relying on his speed to escape. But William was faster. He erased the distance in a blink. His claymore carved through the assassin’s neck in a clean sweep.

Blood splattered in an arc as the head rolled across the forest floor, bouncing lightly with an almost eerie grace. William stood tall, unmoving, like a silent storm resting between thunderclaps, his body drenched in fresh crimson.

From below, another assassin sprang upward, blade targeting William’s legs. William didn’t even shift his stance. Purple lightning erupted across his feet, detonating outward in a catastrophic burst. The shockwave obliterated the assassin instantly, leaving nothing but scattered and charred fragments.

A rain of senbon needles burst from multiple directions. William didn’t move. Astra pulsed violently through his Astra veins, flowing outward and forming a semi-transparent shield around him. The barrier deflected the incoming needles with ringing metallic chimes, sending every last one spiraling away.

William’s black eyes swept the area. Although he had already slain more than twenty assassins, twice that number emerged from the shadows, surrounding him again. Their collective killing intent pressed in like choking fog.

’It seems they won’t leave until we’re all dead,’ he thought, expression darkening. His thoughts flickered to Finch. ’I wonder how he’s doing... He doesn’t exactly possess any offensive power worth relying on.’ His brows furrowed, then his mind drifted toward Asher.

’He will obviously be fine,’ William decided, dismissing the thought of Asher instantly. In his mind, if Asher couldn’t survive this, then neither he nor Finch had any hope at all.

Suddenly, William felt his vision twist. The world warped. In front of him appeared the gentle image of his mother, smiling warmly as a young version of himself ran circles around her. His heart tightened for a moment, then the illusion shattered like brittle glass.

William’s gaze hardened. He recognized the deception instantly. But breaking the illusion took just long enough. A blade was already a few centimeters from his throat. With a soft slicing sound, the blade cut directly through his neck.

But the assassin frowned.

As someone who had taken hundreds of lives, he knew the sensation of cutting flesh, the resistance, the warmth, the weight. He felt none of it. Before he could react, a claymore erupted through his chest from behind.

William stood behind him, face expressionless.

Although he had seen through the illusion, it had still allowed the assassin to close the distance dangerously. Had William not twisted space and phased through the attack, his severed head would be rolling across the forest right now.

Suddenly, a massive torrent of water erupted across the battlefield, blanketing the trees and ground in a violent flood. William frowned, momentarily confused.

’What is someone with the ability to manipulate water doing as an assassin? Isn’t he in the wrong occupation?’

But the thought didn’t last. He leaped upward, bounding from tree to tree, seeking higher ground. Before he could ascend further, the water ballooned, then detonated outward in a crushing, thunderous tidal wave of force. Everything in its path crumpled like wet parchment.

William responded immediately. Astra surged through his body. Light bent to him once more, forming a broad barrier. The tsunami of pressure slammed into it with brutal weight. Cracks raced across the shield.

’It wouldn’t hold’ he realised instantly.

William vanished, teleporting away at the last possible moment. The barrier shattered entirely a fraction of a second later.

He reappeared on a distant tree branch, but the assassins gave him no moment to breathe.

From the fingertips of one assassin, steel threads shot outward in an intricate web, intertwining into a lethal net. The assassin flicked his wrist. Instantly the space William was standing on was shredded into ribbons. Had he remained still for even one heartbeat, he would have been minced like meat in a grinder.

William teleported again.

But the assassin had anticipated his movement, steel wires whipped toward him in perfect synchronization.

William didn’t panic. He teleported repeatedly, flickering through space like a misfired glitch. Then, he vanished once more, but this time he didn’t reappear on a tree branch, he appeared behind the steel-thread assassin.

Before the man could blink, William’s claymore sliced through his waist. Before the surrounding assassins could react, William took advantage of the split-second opening and cleaved down two more.

Then he vanished once more in a flicker of teleportation. His figure materialized on another tree, standing tall, his claymore dripping blood, his gaze cold enough to freeze fire.

And all the assassins below felt it; William was not an easy prey; he was going to be hard to kill.