Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 991: Heavenly Battle [GT Ranking Bonus Chapter]

Azaron and Threshold I appeared upon the side of a mountain as they stood against its sheer walls, effortlessly defying gravity without needing to rely on Astra Energy.

Azaron unleashed a backfist toward Threshold I’s face from the side, the strike swift and deadly, faster than sound, faster than thought, faster than a blink. Threshold I’s eyes snapped toward the incoming attack as she immediately leaned backward, her head slipping just beyond the path of the strike as she dodged with only the slightest amount of movement necessary.

Azaron’s missed backfist unleashed a shred of compressed wind that tore through the mountain, causing it to crumble. But before it could fully collapse, Threshold I, who was still leaning backward, immediately pushed off with both feet as both legs stomped toward Azaron’s stomach, as though she intended to inflict devastating internal damage.

Azaron’s battle experience was simply too vast, his combat talent and efficiency too monstrous as he read Threshold I like a nursery book. His bulky body immediately moved with the fluidity of flowing water as he sidestepped out of the way, Threshold I’s feet meeting nothing but thin air once again.

Azaron, having sidestepped to her side, was already in motion as he seamlessly linked evasion and offense into one flawless sequence, as though they had never been two separate actions but one to begin with. His fist shot forward like a gatling gun, the wind barrier and sound barrier crumbling in his wake as he punched toward Threshold I’s ribs while she remained suspended perpendicularly in the air.

Threshold I’s eyes snapped toward the incoming attack, her own battle efficiency flowing as naturally as milk and honey. She had attacked with her legs earlier, not her hands, so even while suspended perpendicularly in the air, both of her hands remained free to defend. Her palm flashed outward as she moved to stop Azaron’s fist with perfect timing.

She had anticipated this exact attack, her mind operating within a world entirely of its own.

Just as Azaron’s fist and her palm were about to collide, Azaron changed techniques in the middle of the motion, only nanoseconds before impact as he adapted on the fly, his reactions impossibly swift.

His clenched fist immediately unfurled, his fingers drawing together as his entire hand seemed to transform into a serpent. His hand flowed around Threshold I’s blocking palm, slipping past it with an uncanny display of sheer combat talent.

Then, with meteoric impact, his serpent-like hand instantly became rigid once more the moment it slipped past her defense, his palm thundering directly into Threshold I’s chin. The impact was brutal in every conceivable sense of the word.

Although Threshold I’s mind still remained within a world of its own, Azaron’s sheer combat talent, efficiency, adaptability, and experience were something even Asher would require years merely to dream of matching, as when it came to close-quarters combat, the man existed upon an entirely different plane of existence.

Threshold I’s head snapped backward as her lower jaw slammed violently against her upper jaw, her teeth crashing into one another. Her body was immediately blasted backward in a blur as Azaron successfully landed the very first clean strike of their heavenly battle.

Azaron didn’t hesitate. The instant Threshold I’s body was carried away by inertia and impact, he immediately vanished from where he stood and gave chase. The moment he disappeared, the mountain that had shattered what seemed like ages ago finally collapsed with a deafening crash, as Azaron and Threshold I had been moving so unimaginably fast that they had completely surpassed the brief interval between the mountain’s destruction and its eventual collapse.

Although Azaron had landed the first strike, Threshold I wasn’t injured. Her body was simply too durable to suffer even a minor damage from a single palm strike to the chin.

Her senses flickered as she detected Azaron closing the distance with blinding speed. She immediately twisted her body as she regained complete control over herself. Stepping upon the air as though it were a tangible platform, she launched herself directly toward him with a broad grin across her face, as though she genuinely loved the fact that she had finally taken a clean hit.

Azaron didn’t slow down. He matched her madness as he too stepped upon the air before propelling himself forward, accelerating even further. With a thunderous boom, their palms slammed into one another, but neither of them stopped. Their hands immediately blurred as they unleashed an endless barrage of palm strikes against one another.

One. Ten. One hundred. One thousand. Ten thousand.

Gravity asserted itself, pulling both of them toward the earth as the surrounding air screamed for mercy. Yet even while obeying one of the universe’s most fundamental laws, their hands never ceased moving.

The instant their feet touched the ground, the rhythm of their battle shifted once more, their speed and power continuing to climb with an impossibly steady pace.

Azaron had landed the first clean strike. Threshold I was determined to land the second. She refused to become the weaker of the two.

She immediately threw a perfectly straight punch toward Azaron’s face. Azaron reacted instantly, his head snapping sideways as he narrowly avoided the blow. The missed punch erased a seventy-thousand-kilometer stretch of land from the map as a cataclysmic boom erupted afterward, as though a world-ending nuclear weapon had detonated upon the planet.

The deafening shockwave rang violently within Azaron’s ears, but he completely ignored the noise as he immediately launched his counterattack. His right leg left the earth as he unleashed an upward Brazilian-style high kick toward Threshold I’s head.

Threshold I simply leaned backward, Azaron’s foot slicing cleanly through the space her head had occupied only an instant earlier. But she wasn’t finished. Before Azaron’s leg could completely pass her face, she immediately caught it by the knee, locking it firmly against her shoulder. Without hesitation, she violently twisted his leg with ruthless efficiency, intending to break it completely.

However, Azaron simply shifted his center of gravity, bending naturally in the same direction as the twist.

Yet he didn’t merely bend. The instant he did so, he transferred every ounce of force directly into his waist before channeling it through his left leg, which still remained planted upon the earth. The very next moment, he launched himself upward with explosive force, his body rotating gracefully through the air as he used the momentum generated by Threshold I’s own twisting motion against her. His left leg whipped around in a devastating spinning kick.

Threshold I hadn’t anticipated it, the sudden adaptation had caught her completely off guard. She attempted to dodge, but it was already too late.

Azaron’s foot heel thundered directly into her cheek with devastating force. Her head snapped violently to the side, her lips bursting open as Azaron finally drew blood. Her body was hurled sideways as though she had been struck by an invisible truck, crashing through trees and everything else that lay within the path of their battle.

Threshold I twisted gracefully in midair before landing lightly upon her feet like an agile jungle cat. Her feet dug deeply into the ground as she carved enormous trenches across the earth, dragged backward for several kilometers before finally coming to a complete stop.

Her black eyes slowly rose toward Azaron, who had now landed upon the ground with effortless ease. She smiled before casually spitting out a mouthful of crimson blood, then wiped the corner of her lips with the back of her hand.

The injury on her lips had already healed. It wasn’t because of any special ability she possessed, but simply due to the absurd regenerative capabilities of Crownstar Life Rankers, who could naturally heal minor injuries such as the one Azaron had just inflicted in less than a second.

Not a single trace of hesitation entered her eyes, if anything... the grin on her face only widened.