Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 534: Perfect Bait

Asher immersed himself within every piece of information his Astra Sense skill fed him, and after he was done scanning a particular distance, he would teleport to the very edge of that radius before activating Astra Sense once again with meticulous precision and unwavering focus.

As for what he was trying to sense, he was looking for any sign of battle, any disturbance in the ambient flow of energy, any indication of something being even slightly out of place. Asher’s body flickered from one kilometre in distance to another, his figure becoming akin to a phantom as he immersed himself completely in his investigation, discarding all distractions and narrowing his awareness to the faintest anomalies.

But after about an hour of endless searching, he found nothing, everything seemed... perfect.

’System, what’s the time?’ Asher asked the system calmly, his tone steady and calm.

[It’s 1pm in the afternoon, Host]

The system’s mechanical voice chimed within his mind with sterile precision. Asher nodded slightly at the reply, ’Notify me after another hour, and after that, I will simply head to the village.’

[Affirmative, Host]

The system replied in its usual emotionless cadence.

With that, Asher continued his investigation, but he found nothing, just well-created paths that caravans and various carriages used to travel; these paths were old, and it was clear they were somewhat maintained and had been used for a very long time, so Asher came to the conclusion that the kidnappers did not create them and were likely not relying on such obvious routes for their operations.

He tried looking for a newly created path, or even one that had been created and later concealed to hide their tracks, but he found absolutely nothing. However, that did not truly bother Asher, as trying to find a trace of these kidnappers barely two hours after arriving at their last known location was nothing short of wishful thinking. He would need a form of Heavenly Luck like those possessed by novel main characters in order to achieve something that convenient and absurdly fortunate.

’Sigh, those protagonists really have it easy,’ Asher muttered to himself as he came up with nothing substantial. Within those novels, the main character could simply stumble across the gate of the enemy hideout by accident, as if destiny itself had been scripted in their favour from the very beginning.

’If I ever reincarnate again, I hope I meet some Random Omnipotent Being, then I can request some absurd luck,’ Asher mused to himself before continuing his investigation with renewed yet restrained determination.

Although he found nothing tangible, Asher’s investigation skills were rising in real time, a natural perk of possessing a ridiculous level of talent in almost everything he chose to apply himself to, whether it be combat, perception, analysis, or deduction.

[Host, it’s been an hour]

The system’s chime made Asher pause mid-step, and without any form of hesitation, he began to walk towards the direction of Blackstone Village, and as he walked, his mind operated in relentless overdrive, analysing countless possibilities with cold rationality.

’How do the kidnappers move their victims?’ Asher thought to himself before sighing faintly when he failed to arrive at a singular answer... or rather, he arrived at too many answers, numbering in the millions. After all, the kidnappers possessed unknown abilities, and perhaps those very abilities were what allowed them to operate without leaving even the faintest trace.

Teleportation? Space manipulation? Illusion? Hypnosis? Flying beasts? Time manipulation? Underground travelling? Flight through wind manipulation? Dimensional concealment?

There were simply countless methods, and without even a shred of concrete information, it might as well have been anything imaginable.

’Sigh, if this were some movie where no powers exist, one could just check for tire markings on the asphalt, track movements through CCTV cameras, and think like a criminal to catch them,’ Asher reflected inwardly, his thoughts tinged with dry amusement, ’but here, even if you are about to catch any of them, they could simply teleport to gods know where,’ Asher concluded to himself with a faint shake of his head.

He exhaled softly, then rose into the sky as he prepared to continue his investigation within the village he was heading towards. With a single thought, he shot forward at blinding speed, sonic booms echoing behind him as the air split apart under the force of his acceleration, and within mere minutes he drew close enough that he could now see the village without the need to use Star Energy to enhance his perception.

Upon getting closer, Asher descended and landed gracefully. He seated himself upon the branch of a tall tree and gazed ahead, observing the settlement with measured scrutiny.

As usual, a wall surrounded the village, but to Asher, the wall was no different from paper, as a single casual attack from him could reduce it to rubble; it was neither as strong, durable, nor resistant as the ones he had seen within various noble territories. Which was understandable, as neither the head of the village nor the villagers themselves were particularly wealthy or swimming in gold coins capable of funding formidable defensive infrastructure.

At the forefront, two guards stood vigil, but once again, these individuals appeared as though they merely wished to be guards rather than truly embodying the role, as they were simply too weak to inspire any sense of security. Both of them were at the Faintstar Life Rank, and Asher could not help but contemplate what these two Faintstar Life Rankers would realistically accomplish if someone of significantly higher rank decided to attack.

’Can they even defeat an Echo class monster together?’ Asher thought to himself as he observed them from afar. He was not mocking anyone; he was merely stating, within his own mind, how negligible the presence of these two guards truly was in the face of genuine danger. The only thing both of them could realistically do was raise an alarm before being reduced to lifeless corpses by a single decisive attack.

Or perhaps they would simply abandon their posts and flee, allowing monsters or enemies to tear through the village without resistance.

After a brief period of contemplation, Asher jumped down from the branch upon which he sat and walked forward with a steady, composed gait as he headed towards the guards who were blocking the entrance.

Initially, Asher had intended to conceal his identity, sneak into the village, conduct his investigation quietly, and uncover information on his own without drawing attention. However, he ultimately discarded that idea, as he could still resort to such methods later if necessary, but not now, as he had formulated a far more efficient plan.

The idea was simple: since the kidnappers had taken the adventurer team that came after them previously, Asher decided to be open and conspicuous about his presence. If the kidnappers noticed him, they might make a move and attempt to kidnap him as well, thereby transporting him directly to their base without him having to exhaust time and effort searching blindly for hidden traces.

Besides, unlike the adventurer team that had come before him, he was merely a student from the Star Academy; how strong could a mere student possibly be in the eyes of seasoned criminals who had already succeeded multiple times?

He would present himself as vulnerable prey.

He would use himself as the perfect bait.