Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 1216: Light Armor

Both Asher and Zuri stared into each other’s eyes. There were no smiles, no grins, no excited laughter, nothing. Just pure stares into each other’s eyes as their weapons remained locked against one another.

In a blur, they both vanished, their bodies turning into streaks of motion, claymore meeting rapier endlessly, as even amid the destruction of the landscape, they still found their footing perfectly.

Asher thrust towards Zuri’s head, the tip of his blade moving to pierce her skull. But Zuri simply snapped her head back at the nick of time, her claymore moving to tear open Asher’s chest as she aimed for his heart this time, since taking a third of his brain hadn’t been enough to kill him.

Asher immediately twisted out of the way, dodging by a hair’s breadth. But the moment he dodged, Zuri was already upon him, her claymore covered in surging Astra Energy coming down once more, moving in from the side towards his shoulder.

Omni Perception snapped to the attack, his purple eyes reading its trajectory as he twisted once more, his centre of gravity and footwork coming to life as he blocked with every ounce of strength he could muster.

As the Star Energy-empowered rapier and Astra Energy-empowered claymore met, a raging tsunami of devouring energies tore outwards, slamming into both of them. Zuri remained where she stood, tanking the shockwave with her body, but Asher staggered backwards for ten meters, his feet digging trenches into the earth.

Zuri appeared beside him with a speed that seemed akin to teleportation, her claymore tearing towards his ribs without a shred of mercy in her eyes. Asher moved to block, but the moment he did, he was pushed backwards yet again.

But Zuri didn’t stop. She attacked from every angle known to mankind.

Left. Right. Above. Below. Side.

Her attacks were ferocious, her pattern of attack entirely unpredictable, her speed remarkable, and her swordsmanship no less impressive than Asher’s. She transformed from a woman into a beast.

Asher was already on the back foot, barely reacting to the relentless barrage of attacks as Zuri continued to suppress him through sheer speed and strength, giving him no breathing room to think.

Omni Perception, Star Sense, and every perception-based ability and skill Asher possessed were operating at full throttle, but it didn’t matter. The moment Zuri found an opening, she capitalized on it, and best believe that it would be a complete decapitation this time or a torn-out heart.

Clang!

Upon collision, Asher’s body shot backwards like a stone fired from a catapult. He rotated and landed on his feet, but the moment he landed, Zuri was upon him, her claymore already aiming for his skull.

Perfect Muscle Memory and Optimal Movement Efficiency activated simultaneously. Asher immediately dove to the side, rolling across the molten earth to barely dodge the attack. As he evaded, Zuri’s sword met nothing but air, but she shifted, her eyes covered in Astra Energy snapping towards Asher’s position.

But before she could finish her attack, Asher had already closed the distance as Battle Intuition came alive, predicting her movements based on every attack she had used prior to this moment. Asher deflected the incoming blade to the side as he aimed for her heart with a thrust.

Zuri shifted ever so slightly as she dodged, but she didn’t evade completely, allowing Asher’s blade to pierce her shoulder and erupt from behind. Blood splattered across the shattered ground. But Zuri didn’t care; she simply caught Asher’s hand, holding him in place, then swung her claymore for another decapitation.

Asher immediately understood what had happened. It wasn’t that the woman couldn’t dodge his attack; she had deliberately allowed herself to be injured to pin him in place. But just as the attack was about to connect, Asher vanished from the First Layer of Space.

His body appeared above as he returned to the First Layer of Space from the Second Layer. He swung downwards with a powerful overhead slash.

But Zuri had already anticipated this. She twisted, her senses heightened, her mind sharp, and her sixth sense instantly relaying information. She raised her blade and blocked the overhead swing.

With another titanic blast, metal tore into metal with an eardrum-shattering force. A blast wave powerful enough to rewrite the entire terrain erupted. Earthquakes surged, shockwaves screamed, the air collapsed, and sound barriers shattered.

But Zuri remained standing as she continued to hold back Asher’s attack from above while the earth sank beneath her feet. She moved her arm, pushing Asher backwards through the air. Asher simply rotated and landed on his feet like a cat.

The injury on Zuri’s shoulder snapped shut like it had never been there.

Asher understood at this moment that it didn’t matter if he used Star Form. Even after it granted him greater speed, power, and strength, it was still not enough to close the gap between them, as Zuri had suppressed him in every possible way.

At the end of the day, Star Form wasn’t some skill he could simply activate, then boom he had the battle.

Life was simply not that easy.

He exhaled ever so slowly as he spoke.

”Light Armor.”

His tone was low, his voice steady despite being on the losing end of the battle.

With a booming sound, Star Energy erupted with even greater intensity, surpassing the scale of Astra Energy possessed even by Radiant Voidstar Life Rankers.

Around Asher, a golden-yellow brilliance came alive, making him seem as though he had transformed into a literal sun. His body was covered in pure golden-yellow armor made of light. On his back, a cape made of light appeared, and a crown also formed above his head, floating just a few centimeters above him.

But Asher didn’t stop there, no, he continued. Why should he use only Light Armor when other elements existed?

Lightning Armor came alive as crackling purple lightning surged around him with maddening power and burning force. It overlapped the Light Armor, increasing his speed and strength once more.

The combination of the two flowed into Virelass, the rapier trembling in his hands like she were getting drunk and high off the power.

Asher’s eyes snapped towards Zuri, who wore a frown for a moment. She didn’t know what the Tenth Sun was planning, but she was ready.

Asher raised Virelass above his head, white flames cloaking its blade as he layered three elements over one another perfectly. Space hummed around the blade, then Gravity came alive, reducing the constraints of gravity and space around him and increasing his swing speed.

Layering four elements together and powered by Star Energy, Asher swung Virelass downwards in a vertical slash, his motion swift, his swing precise, and his execution machine-like.

It wasn’t a sword technique; it was simply something he had done on the spur of the moment.

With that swing, a vertical slash of energy containing obliterative power and might erupted, surpassing every standard of power displayed thus far. The air couldn’t even screech as it was erased, time seemed to slow around the attack, yet it remained paradoxically fast as it closed the distance between Asher and Zuri.

Zuri didn’t bother trying to unleash a sword attack of her own. She wasn’t here for some swordsmanship battle. When she needed to use her ability, she would.

And with that, her ability activated once more, unleashing its full force.