Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 241: Beak

Asher, seeing the incoming attack, didn’t bother summoning an Astra barrier to defend. The memory of the bird’s first strike, which had already cracked his shield earlier, lingered in his mind. Nor did he raise his rapier to parry. Instead, he relied on sheer mobility. The circular platform beneath his leg shot sideways at his command, and in an instant his form streaked across the sky, weaving away from the storm of death aimed at him.

But the bird was far from finished. The metallic feathers it had unleashed were no ordinary projectiles. They possessed a sinister quality, a homing ability that allowed them to twist and curve midair, as though bound to Asher’s presence. Or perhaps the monster itself retained control over them, its will commanding them to pursue their target relentlessly. Whatever the truth, the moment Asher evaded, the feathers altered their paths with frightening ease, following after him in a streak of murderous red light.

The air around Asher screamed as he streaked through the sky, his head and garments billowing violently in the rushing currents. He knew this could not go on forever. He could not simply keep dodging.

Astra pulsed from his Astra veins once more, a deep, throbbing power surging through him. In response, purple lightning crackled into existence, dancing across his palm with wild, untamed fury. His purple eyes locked on the deadly feathers rushing toward him.

With a sweeping gesture, he unleashed his will. Lightning and Astra fused, exploding outward in cataclysmic waves. The blast radiated from his body like a tempest of sundering wrath, tossing aside the feathers with force and weight so immense that the air warped and thundered from the impact.

But Asher was far from finished.

With a sharp snap of his fingers, lightning javelins materialized in the space around him, each one humming with lethal potential. They shone with a blinding purple brilliance, their very glow searing into the eyes, as though they carried enough destructive essence to burn down the world itself. With a single thought, they streaked forward, hurling themselves through the air in a storm of radiant destruction, each moving faster than the metallic feathers had before.

The bird, however, remained undaunted. To it, the sky was its dominion. With a blur of motion, its form vanished, streaking away in a crimson flash. Every single javelin tore through empty air, their blinding radiance striking nothing of flesh. The creature had evaded them effortlessly, weaving through the sky as though mocking the very concept of pursuit. Then, instead of retreating, it surged forward with renewed ferocity, hurtling directly toward Asher.

A faint smile tugged at Asher’s lips as he watched the beast bear down on him. He launched himself forward as well, their speeds colliding in a race toward annihilation. The distance between them erased in an instant. Talons reached outward, gleaming with murderous intent, while his rapier gleamed in reply, ready to clash.

Just as the collision was about to occur, his form dissolved into nothingness, leaving behind only an afterimage like a phantom of the wind.

The bird’s massive body halted midair, stunned. Its prey had disappeared again. But before it could fully register the loss, the sky itself betrayed it.

From above descended a blinding pillar of lightning, vast and merciless, tearing downward with divine wrath. It was as though the sky themselves had decided to intervene, unleashing punishment upon the world.

The bird’s head snapped upward in alarm as it felt the sudden displacement of air currents. Though caught off guard, its instincts did not fail it. With incredible reflexes, its massive body twisted to the side, wings straining as it pushed itself to the limit. It narrowly avoided the catastrophic strike, the pillar grazing past its form.

The world shook in the wake of the impact.

The purple lightning slammed into the earth below, detonating with deafening crackles of destruction. A blinding radiance burst outward, searing the land in every direction. The ground split open, rocks melted and sizzled as though touched by volcanic fire, and the very landscape seemed to shift, transformed into a smoldering ruin ready to erupt.

The monster’s crimson eyes darted back toward where it assumed Asher would be, but he was not there.

Instead, its predatory senses caught the flicker of displacement behind it.

Asher had reappeared once again. His rapier thrust forward, lightning coursing along its frame, his arm nothing but a blur as he struck directly for the back of the beast’s head.

The bird’s body twisted with unnatural motion, its neck snapping another full 180 degrees. Its eyes burned with madness as it thrust its head forward, its massive beak surging to meet the incoming blade.

The sky split with a thunderous echo.

Rapier and beak collided, a sundering purple flare erupting from the point of contact. The very air screamed as the two forces met, vibrating with such violence it was as though the world itself recoiled in pain. The impact flung both combatants apart, inertia ripping them in opposite directions like ragdolls in the gale of their own destruction.

Asher’s thoughts burned with frustration as he was cast backward through the air. ’How is this monster able to sense me so clearly? Is this some hidden ability, another strength I have yet to uncover?’

Twisting midair with flawless grace, his body rotated like a dancer of battle, one leg planting firmly upon another Astra-forged circular platform that had formed beneath him. His landing mocked inertia and gravity themselves, for even trying to pull him down to the earth in the first place.

His purple eyes fixed on the beast once more. The bird flapped its wings frantically, steadying itself in the air, but unlike Asher, it had not emerged unscathed.

Blood trailed from its beak, now fractured and torn. One side of its face was scorched black, skin and feathers burned away by the clash. An entire crimson eye had been obliterated, reducing its vision to half. But despite the devastation, it still lived, defiance gleaming in its remaining eye.

Asher frowned. ’How intelligent is this creature? To willingly sacrifice a part of its body to prevent certain death... remarkable.’

This was his first encounter with a Fang-ranked beast since his transmigration, and the experience left no room for underestimation.

’It should be at the upper limits of the Fang Rank,’ he reasoned silently. Though the monster ranks lacked further classifications, the reality was undeniable: not all beasts of the same rank were created equal. Some were simply far too strong compared to others.

This bird, with its arsenal of deadly offense, nearly impenetrable defense, terrifying speed, immense strength, and uncanny sensory ability that rivaled stood near peak of its rank.

Refusing to relinquish the advantage, Asher acted swiftly. He teleported once more, his body vanishing into nothingness. But this time he did not reappear behind the creature, where it could expect him. No, he appeared directly before it, lightning surged violently across Virelass, the rapier glowing with such radiance it seemed to burn with the fury of a thunder god.

He slashed forward, his speed reaching its absolute peak as he streaked toward his foe.

The bird, already wounded and stripped of its beak’s defensive edge, could no longer defend. It still attempted to evade, wings flaring in desperate protest, but against a point-blank strike at this speed, its struggle was futile.

Like a knife through butter, Virelass tore cleanly through its head. Lightning roared through the heavens as steel met flesh, and the sky itself thundered in harmony with the strike.

A geyser of crimson erupted. Blood sprayed into the air in a rain of scarlet, falling to the ground below in a gruesome storm. The monster’s massive body convulsed once, then collapsed, gravity claiming it at last. It plummeted earthward with tremendous force, slamming into the shattered ground below with a crash that shook the battlefield.

Asher exhaled, steadying himself as another Astra-forged platform appeared beneath his feet, holding him aloft. His gaze shifted away from the fallen corpse, scanning the battlefield once more.

His eyes settled on Williams in the distance. The boy was manipulating bones, weaving them into weapons and shields with desperate precision. But even from here, Asher could see the truth, Williams was about to be overwhelmed, a stronger opponent bearing down on him with lethal intent.

Without hesitation, without even a breath wasted, Asher launched himself forward. His circular platform streaked through the sky at ridiculous speed, carrying him toward his comrade with flawless finesse.

The battle was far from over.