Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 572: Woman

As Number Two teleported away, Asher didn’t bother to go after him. Teleportation had always been a troublesome ability depending on how it was used, and it seemed Number Two was exceptionally proficient at it. Pursuing someone capable of vanishing across space in an instant would only waste precious time and stamina.

With that thought in mind, Asher redirected his attention to the opponent still before him. In the next blink of an eye, he arrived before Number One, his form blurring forward once more, Virelass singing sharply through the air as it darted toward the man’s neck.

However, Number One was no pushover. His sabre blurred upward from below in a swift, fluid motion as he parried Asher’s attack with practiced ease, the metallic clash ringing sharply across the battlefield.

The both of them blurred into motion yet again as they exchanged attacks after attacks, every part of their bodies targeted without hesitation or mercy.

Eyes. Heart. Lungs. Spine. Liver. Knees. Ribcage.

Each strike carried lethal precision, each movement meant to maim or kill. The lethality between the both of them was immense, almost suffocating in its intensity. Asher increased his speed and strength, his body blurring even more as the wind around him howled in madness, spiraling violently around his figure like an enraged storm.

But Number One seemed entirely unbothered by the escalation. Instead, his own strength and speed rose in tandem, matching Asher’s pace as though this clash was nothing more than a routine sparring session he had experienced countless times before.

Asher’s eyes flashed with rapid calculations. Personally, he was already pushing beyond the speed a Swiftstar Life Ranker was supposed to be capable of, exceeding the natural threshold of that realm through sheer mastery and control. But the man before him matched him effortlessly without even augmenting his body with Astra energy.

Asher shifted to the left, skillfully dodging a slash aimed directly at his shoulder. His purple eyes briefly landed on the thick, snaking veins visible beneath the skin of Number One’s hand. They pulsed faintly, unnaturally pronounced, as though something within them surged with unnatural force.

’I see,’ Asher thought to himself as he parried another attack, sparks flying where steel met steel. ’He is using his blood manipulation ability to increase his blood flow, thereby increasing his speed to a ridiculous threshold. With his level of proficiency, he might even be able to manipulate his adrenaline as well, further boosting his speed and strength.’

The realization came to him instantly as his mind pieced together the mechanism behind Number One’s sudden physical performance. The accelerated blood circulation would flood his muscles with oxygen and nutrients at extreme speeds, granting explosive bursts of power and speed far beyond what his base body could normally achieve.

’Although I was trying to conserve stamina for my battle against their boss, it seems I can’t delay for too long, or they will all gang up on me,’ Asher thought to himself.

Then, without hesitation, the wind barrier surrounding his body shattered like fragile glass. The moment it broke apart, his figure vanished and suddenly appeared behind Number One with such overwhelming speed that it seemed as though he had teleported through space itself.

The moment he appeared, he swung without delay. His rapier flashed toward Number One’s neck with ruthless precision, the blade gleaming coldly as it cut through the air.

Number One’s senses screamed in warning, every instinct within his body erupting in violent alarm. Without hesitation, the man channeled Astra energy into his feet, his speed peaking as he immediately dove to the side in a desperate attempt to dodge the lethal strike.

The sickening sound of flesh tearing and blood splattering echoed through the air like a thunderclap.

For a split second, an arm floated before Asher’s face before gravity took hold of it. It fell toward the ground, hitting the battlefield with a dull, faint thud.

Number One had dodged the fatal blow, but his arm had been severed in place of his neck.

The man reappeared several meters away, sliding across the ground before regaining his balance. Yet even then, he didn’t pause for even a moment. His voice echoed across the battlefield, deep and menacing.

Blood Regeneration

The moment those words left his lips, the stump on his shoulder began to move grotesquely. Skin, flesh, blood vessels, and bones erupted outward in rapid succession, weaving and forming as though guided by an unseen force. In mere seconds, an entirely new arm formed in place of the severed limb, complete and fully functional, as though he had never been injured in the first place.

’Is this guy from the Stormveil Ducal Family?’ Asher thought to himself. That family was widely known for their outrageous Blood Manipulation bloodline ability, a power so refined and dangerous that many nobles considered it terrifying. There were even rumors circulating across the Empire claiming that their secret blood techniques could grant them a form of resurrection. However, those stories were largely dismissed as exaggerations. No one truly knew how much truth existed behind those legends.

Asher shook his head slightly, deciding to stop guessing and instead focus entirely on the matter at hand. The next moment, the same killing sensation rang out sharply within his mind once again.

Asher vanished yet again, already aware that Number Three was making another move. The moment he teleported, Light affinity flickered brilliantly around his sword, radiant energy gathering along the blade like condensed sunlight. Without hesitation, he slashed outward, unleashing a torrential storm of light-based sword crescent attacks.

With cataclysmic devastation, the battlefield exploded outward in a thunderous impact as Asher’s attacks tore violently through the terrain. Trees were shredded, the ground cracked apart, and dust erupted into the air as radiant crescents carved across the landscape.

Before he could even blink, he felt it again, another death sensation, this time, it was aimed directly toward his heart. Asher’s eyes flashed once more as the world around him seemed to slow down. His mind pulsed with yet another wave of calculations, analyzing every possible variable within the fraction of a second he had available.

He was still struggling to fully understand how Number Three’s ability worked since the person couldn’t be sensed at all.

’He can even ignore magical attacks of any form,’ Asher thought. Earlier, he had attacked Number Three with gravity manipulation, yet the man had completely ignored it. Now, Asher had unleashed a storm of light-based attacks, yet Number Three hadn’t even bothered to dodge them and instead went straight for another lethal strike.

Which meant that whatever form of invisibility ability Number Three possessed, it granted him immunity to magical attacks, or at least attacks powered by Astra energy.

With that thought in mind, time snapped back into motion. Asher dodged with ridiculous ease, his body tearing sideways as he evaded the invisible attack. Without missing a single beat, his rapier flashed toward the direction from which the attack had come.

And with macabre smoothness, the blade tore through flesh like a knife through butter. Blood splattered violently into the air as a head soared upward before falling back down toward the ground like a discarded pebble.

Asher turned to gaze at the now-visible Number Three, who still had a shocked expression behind their mask as the light within their eyes faded away.

And it was a woman.

On a normal battlefield, Number Three might have been the most dangerous opponent present. After all, her ability ensured complete undetectability against any form of sensory technique or ability. Even disturbances in the wind and fluctuations of Astra energy were totally absent whenever she attacked. That was how terrifyingly refined her ability was.

But with Asher’s intelligence and analytical mind, he had already discerned that pure physical attacks were her only weakness.

And as for how Asher had managed to aim for her neck without even seeing her in the first place, the reasoning was simple. The hand and shoulder were always used to initiate an attack. Knowing the exact point in space where a weapon appeared meant that only a short distance behind that weapon would be the shoulder, and above the shoulder would inevitably be the neck.

Hence, Number Three’s death by decapitation.