Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 409: Dark Dancer

Xavian and Xavienne looked at each other, and a wide grin flashed across their faces, as though the very same thought had ignited within their minds at the exact same instant. There was no need for words, no need for signals or hesitation. In a single flash, their figures vanished from where they stood, space itself rippling faintly in their wake.

When they reappeared, their weapons were already firmly in their hands, as though they had always been meant to be there. Xavian awakened his hammer, a massive blunt weapon that radiated oppressive weight and destructive intent, while Xavienne manifested a double-edged axe, its curved blades gleaming with lethal promise. Both weapons seemed perfectly suited to their brutal, outlandish personalities, as if forged to reflect the savagery within their souls.

The very next second, their weapons were already tearing through the air toward the body of a single assassin, as though they had instinctively chosen the same prey. Xavian’s hammer ripped forward toward the man’s chest, while Xavienne’s axe screamed through space toward his neck. Before the assassin could even blink, let alone react, his chest exploded outward under a maddening, brutal force, organs and bone reduced to fragments as his head soared helplessly into the air.

Before the corpse could even collapse and strike the ground, the twins vanished once more. Their grins never faded as they glanced at one another yet again, perfectly synchronized as they moved toward their next targets. This time, however, they chose different prey, splitting apart with flawless coordination. They were both at the Dust Voidstar Life Rank, and although they shared the same major Life Rank as Wuthenya, their sub-Life Ranks were entirely different, each having carved their own path to power.

Minutes passed, and within that short span of time, they had already torn through the assassins’ numbers as though their enemies were nothing more than fragile paper. Every opponent they encountered fell before they could even register what was happening. The twins moved like twin stars streaking through the void of outer space, unstoppable and merciless, leaving nothing but ruin in their wake.

Explosions tore outward again and again as they advanced, their movements so fluid and instinctive that it seemed as though they fought without conscious thought, without restraint, and without the slightest hesitation. Wherever there was life, their soul-bound weapons were there to claim it. Their bodies became streaks of black through the battlefield, and although they maintained a clear distance from one another, they still managed to converge repeatedly at intersecting points, as though bound by an unseen force.

Suddenly, the air screamed violently around the both of them. Without missing a beat, they vanished from their positions, instinctively dodging an incoming attack without even sparing it a glance. Their bodies flickered like phantoms, leaving behind nothing but afterimages.

The twins came to a halt beside one another, their forms drenched in crimson blood, blood that belonged solely to their enemies and not to themselves. Their pitch-black eyes shifted in unison, locking onto two assassins who stood their ground before them. These two were different from the others. They, too, were at the Voidstar Life Rank.

Not a single word was exchanged between the twins. At literally the same moment, they tapped into their elemental affinity. A suffocating heat surged into the air around them as flames erupted violently from their bodies like twin blazing stars, tearing upward into the sky. With each passing moment, the temperature climbed higher and higher, the air distorting under the unbearable heat as their eyes remained fixed on their prey.

They were twins, and through some unforeseen circumstance, both had awakened the same element, flames. It was an element that suited them perfectly, mirroring their destructive nature and ferocious temperament.

At the same time, their feet dipped forward, muscles coiling like compressed springs. The heat and burning ember surrounding them intensified sharply, and in the blink of an eye, they were gone, vanishing in a blur of crimson flames.

Xavian tore toward the right, while Xavienne streaked toward the left, each immediately selecting their opponent without the slightest hesitation.

Xavian’s hammer rose high toward the sky, swelling in presence until it seemed to blot out the sun itself. Searing heat poured from it in endless waves, scorching the very air. Then, without mercy, the blunt weapon came crashing down like falling thunder, collapsing from above and tearing straight toward the assassin’s head.

The assassin was ready. In a blur of motion, he raised his sabre, its blade coated in shimmering Astra energy that gleamed with a golden sheen. In a cataclysmic blast, the two weapons collided, kissing one another with devastating force.

A titanic shockwave burst outward in massive concentric rings, the power behind a single clash spreading for kilometers and swallowing everything in its path. The earth below instantly turned to molten lava, liquefying in real time beneath the overwhelming heat. Yet the assassin did not seem to mind, as though the inferno beneath his feet and around him meant nothing to him.

In a blur, both figures vanished, their weapons crashing through the air again and again. A bladed weapon met a blunt force weapon repeatedly, and for every ounce of strength Xavian poured into his attacks, the assassin matched him without hesitation and with ridiculous ease.

The assassins of Crymora were not the frail figures of old stories who relied solely on agility and stealth. They were warriors in their own right. Even without their covert techniques, each possessed immense raw power granted by their supernatural physiques and abilities.

In the next instant, Astra energy surged violently through Xavian’s Astra veins. The flames surrounding him flickered with maddening intensity, burning so fiercely that even the air itself seemed to be incinerated in real time.

[Flame Hammer Technique: First Rotation: Ember Blast]

A mad grin stretched across Xavian’s face as he raised his hammer high above his head before dropping it like a collapsing meteor upon the assassin. The assassin’s expression immediately darkened. He could feel the immense weight and force carried by the technique. Only a fool would attempt to meet such an attack head-on.

His own Astra energy pulsed violently, and in the next moment, he activated a technique, not one personally created by him, but one bestowed upon him by the Assassin Guild.

[Assassination Technique: Dark Dancer]

His blade turned pitch-black in the next second. Without missing a beat, he slashed out in a flickering burst of speed, his hand dancing ceaselessly through the air without daring to pause. In a single split second, over five hundred black sword lines materialized, each one converging precisely around Xavian’s descending hammer.

With a world-splitting impact, reality itself seemed to scream. The battlefield was drowned in a violent fusion of searing crimson flames and suffocating black darkness. Death and fire danced together as though hell itself had risen upon this battlefield. The landscape was shredded beyond recognition, and the city the Assassin Guild had once used as its headquarters was obliterated in its entirety.

Plants, trees, and grass were erased completely, reduced to burning cinders and drifting embers. Thick dust billowed violently into the air across the battlefield, or rather, what little remained of it. Hundreds of sword marks carved through the land as though the ground itself were a canvas and those blades were its paint.

Although the Voidstar Life Rank was not the peak of the world, it did not change the terrifying truth that a single strike from beings of this level could erase an entire city. With one attack, they could level vast territories. That was the sheer magnitude of power they possessed.

As the smoke slowly cleared, Xavian emerged from within the haze. The air around him danced violently with residual heat as he walked forward, as though he owned the battlefield itself. His eyes settled upon the assassin. Though the man was still alive, he bore visible injuries. His clothes were torn and partially burned, and blood seeped from shallow wounds.

The assassin clicked his tongue in irritation. He was supposed to be winning this exchange. Though they shared the same Life Rank, he was higher in sub-Life Rank. Each step between sub-Life Ranks was meant to represent a vast difference in power. Yet the Wargrave standing before him was matching him blow for blow. The legendary Wargrave physique, combined with their terrifying natural talent, was compensating for that gap entirely.

Xavian did not use his flame affinity to hurl fireballs or engage in meaningless displays of magic. No, he preferred the pure, unfiltered destruction that occurred when flame was paired with overwhelming physical force and his hammer.

[Flame Hammer Technique: Fourth Rotation: Thousand Flare]

The moment his gaze locked onto his enemy, Xavian transitioned into another technique with absurd speed and fluidity. In a blink, the air around him twisted violently, as though reality itself was bending to accommodate his presence. Space distorted, and suddenly, the area around both him and his opponent was filled with a thousand burning hammers, each one suspended in the sky, all of them encircling the two figures.

A feral grin spread across Xavian’s face as he moved. Without mercy, the hammers dropped from the sky with apocalyptic force. The assassin felt as though the very world around him was collapsing inward. Yet he was no novice. A man who had reached the Voidstar Life Rank had not done so by hiding from danger or avoiding battle.

His Astra energy flared violently into the sky as he transitioned instantly into another technique.

[Assassination Technique: Will Of Darkness]

With that, the world was consumed beneath the overwhelming collision of these two mad beasts, their powers tearing at reality itself as destruction reigned supreme.