Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 275: Pushed Back

Asher saw the wind barrier around Instructor Jane shatter like fragile glass, and instantly her form burst into a storm of motion. The moment he saw this, his senses screamed like never before, warning him of the danger that approached like a divine whisper of death carried by the wind.

Instantly, he saw Jane’s sabre multiply midair as she slashed forward, as though he had stepped into an illusion where time fractured and reality bent under the sheer pressure of her speed. Asher’s purple eyes sparkled as he watched her, Jane was still using the limits of their speed, yet she had applied a different concept to her speed limits, transcending ordinary motion and stepping into something far more refined.

Asher swiftly moved, not lost in the beauty of the attack. His Omni Perception instantly detected which of the incoming strikes was real. His rapier tore forward as he pushed his own speed even further. Their weapons clashed in a violent rhythm, a song of war that knew no end, a battlefield symphony composed by steel and will.

Their blades carved the wind, splitting even the space between them. Their duel set the mountain ablaze, leaving behind only embers of its former peace. Sparks erupted like fallen stars, and shockwaves rolled across the rocky terrain, causing even the distant mountain ridges to echo with the sound of their unending exchange.

As Jane decided to increase the tempo in order to test Asher’s limits, her attacks became ferocious, deadly, as though she had made killing him her only purpose in life. Her eyes did not carry hatred, only precision and calculating intent, the terrifying focus of a master dissecting her target.

She moved with ridiculous ease and pace, her sabre thundering upon Virelass with each swing, the air rumbling and screaming as she moved. Each slash poured forth with the weight of a storm, each thrust like a thunderbolt tearing through the sky. She instantly found a space between Asher’s defense and dug into it mercilessly, her sabre cutting into it with a silver slash, and instantly her blade kissed skin for the first time. Blood splattered into the air like crimson petals carried by the wind.

But she didn’t break her rhythm just because of a single successful attack. She moved for more, as though a vanguard that sought blood, like a reaper harvesting souls in a field of war.

Eyes. Lungs. Heart. Neck. Ribs. Spleen. Head.

She attacked every vital organ as though she already knew the Tenth Sun would block it. As though she already saw his defense before he even made it, predicting his movements with frightening clarity. Her sabre seemed to dance, yet every motion sought death.

Left. Right. Left. Left. Above. Below. Right.

Her attacks came from every existing angle without a predefined set of motion, as though erratic yet impossibly beautiful and lethal at the same time. Her unpredictability was not wild, it was controlled chaos.

’I’m being pushed back,’ Asher thought as his body moved on instinct, his muscles straining under the pressure. He could barely follow the speed of Jane’s attacks at this moment. He felt the pressure increase with every strike, the air in his lungs growing heavy as he pushed his body to its limits. His heart thundered, and blood pumped through his veins with rapid force like drums of war.

But Asher remained calm. His Battle Intuition ability shone as his purple eyes tried to pierce through even the smallest window or gap in her attack. Although there were none at the moment, he could begin to understand her movement, slowly and subtly, but it helped nothing yet. Understanding death did not mean one could escape it.

His foot dug deeper into the mountain surface, carving a trench as another powerful attack from Jane sent him skidding backward. Virelass was already moving to heal the minor injuries on his body, but he instructed her not to. But as he was giving that order, Jane had already erased the distance between them, her eyes calm yet calculative, like a cold moon overlooking a battlefield.

Her sabre blitzed forward like lightning sundering darkness apart. Seeing the incoming attack, Asher took a step forward, his hand blurring with blinding speed. He had decided to change tactics; instead of defending, he moved to attack, going for destruction on both sides.

After all, there was no rule that stated that once Jane was attacking, he must remain in a defensive position. A predator remained a predator, even while being hunted.

As his rapier cut forward, Jane instantly saw through his plan, but she didn’t withdraw her blade. She simply twisted her body mid-motion, her sabre shifting slightly but still streaking toward Asher regardless, refusing to yield space.

Asher, seeing the change in Jane’s sabre trajectory, instantly dodged. He wasn’t surprised that she adapted, it would have been more surprising if she had fallen for his tactics. The battlefield was no place for predictable warriors.

Virelass sang through the air once more, this time, singing toward Jane’s knees with absolute certainty. But Jane was no amateur. Instantly, she jumped into the air, her body spinning with elegant grace. Asher’s purple eyes tore upward as he followed her movement, his perception tracking every shift in her posture.

Gravity acted, plummeting Jane back down from the air, and as her body streaked downward, she didn’t land on the earth, she landed skillfully on the flat side of Asher’s rapier. Her black eyes immediately tore toward Asher’s wrist, reading his intentions like an open book.

Her sabre was already in motion tearing towards his wrist to disarm him. Asher, seeing the incoming attack, knew there was no time to draw Virelass back. Instead, he let go of his rapier, freeing his hand and skillfully dodging the attack with a fluid twist of his body.

Losing her foothold, Jane began to fall once more, but Asher was already in motion, his form tearing forward like a phantom. The rapier that had been under Jane’s feet vanished, reappearing in his hand as though it had never left. His control over his weapon was absolute, a testament to his refined mastery.

He thrust forward toward Jane’s shoulder with deadly speed and finesse. Jane didn’t even blink; she simply moved her hand as though conducting a symphony, her sabre flowing forward to meet the thrust with its flat side. But the heavy metallic ring of weapons clashing never came.

Asher adjusted his attack trajectory mid-motion, his strike shifting from Jane’s shoulder to her lungs, threatening to tear it apart like a predator about to end its prey. Jane was momentarily caught off guard, her reflexes instantly kicking back in as her speed spiked once more. She parried the redirected strike as though it was the simplest thing in the world, her control over motion absolute.

In that moment, her feet finally touched the earth below, and the instant they did, she stood still without moving.