Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 794: Absolute Silence

Across the planet of Crymora, everyone who was watching the battle between Asher and the Grave-class Monster sat in absolute silence as though the concept of sound was forbidden in the moment. Even Thomasinho and AlyxAtlas, who were supposed to be the Hosts, were also left speechless. After all, as the Hosts of the event, they were required to memorize the backgrounds and lore behind every single student across all Empires for greater commentary performance, allowing them to explain even the smallest details to the countless viewers watching.

It didn’t matter who it was; Emperor. Empress. Overlord. Duke. Marquis. Commoner. Tall. Short. Handsome. Beautiful. Ugly. They all adopted a single concept; absolute silence and disbelief.

Who didn’t know what a Grave-class Monster was? They were seeing it before their very eyes at the moment. A being capable of erasing over a kilometre radius in a single attack. To call them calamitous on a certain level wasn’t far-fetched.

And now, right before their very eyes, a child, a boy who was looked down upon, a child who was thought to be trash, a child who was labelled the genesis decline of the Wargrave family, matched such a being that was bred for pure physical destruction with ease and the smile of a madman.

But that wasn’t even the most shocking part. No, the shocking part was that he had done that without any form of ability, technique, skill, or Astra energy. He literally had zero augmentation. And on top of that, he was supposed to be a first-year student, a class that wasn’t even supposed to look beings like these in the eyes, as they were only supposed to handle Fang-class Monsters and Beasts at most; and that was even limited to monsters amongst them like William and Ryaen.

Those from the Zarethorne Empire and prominent figures of other Empires who knew it only took Asher two years to arrive at such a height were the most stunned. When they gazed at the purple-haired boy before their very eyes, all they could think about was a singular man who pressed down upon the world with his talent; Malrik Wargrave, the elder brother of the being they were staring at at this very moment.

Yet, their minds, souls, and bodies couldn’t help but tell them a singular truth; even Malrik Wargrave, such a man, didn’t possess such talent at the mere age of nineteen.

At this moment, they came to understand why the Wargrave Bloodline remained the most sought-after Bloodline on the planet. At this moment, they came to understand that the word ”trash” can’t and shall never be linked to the Wargrave name, let alone a child of the figure known as Azaron Wargrave. Many of those who had once mocked Asher silently lowered their heads, unwilling to acknowledge the foolishness of their previous judgments.

Within the Wargrave Luxury Viewing Box, every Elder, Great Elder, Sun, and Moon all sat speechless.

Just moments ago, they had believed that Asher might be able to win when he unlocked his Astra energy and affinities. Now they understood they had been too short-sighted; they were the ones who didn’t possess the eyes to gauge such talent.

Their minds snapped back to the moment barely twenty minutes ago when they had thought of the youngest matching a Rank 7 being on any power-scaling system, but they had immediately discarded that thought. After all, not even Thalric, the one whom they believed would win the competition, could pull such a thing off even if he was at full power. After all, although a Rank 7 being was just a rank above a Rank 6 like the Grave-class Lizardfolk, their strength was on a different scale altogether.

Now a question echoed within their minds; didn’t this mean that the youngest could match a few Rank 7 beings at full power?

”Shit!” Wuthenya was the first to speak, her voice breaking the silence as it dawned on her that she had made the wrong choice and staked a couple thousand Platinum coins on her younger brother, Thalric.

No one asked why she was cursing; they understood. At this moment, they were all royally fucked as they had all placed bets on Thalric. And unless Thalric could miraculously match a Rank 7 powerhouse within the time they hadn’t seen him, then they were now paupers.

The only means of making any real money in the millions was that they had staked on the Zarethorne Empire to win.

Within this Luxury Viewing Box, Great Elder Morthen had placed a bet on Asher to win the competition. He had called it intuition, but it seemed his years of reading novels within the Wargrave Library had helped him realize who the main character was and who the side characters were. Looking at the battlefield now, even he felt vindicated in that strange line of reasoning.

The First Elder, Castle Wargrave, had also placed a bet on Asher simply because Asher was his nephew and he was willing to lose a million Platinum coins supporting him. Yet now, it seemed those Platinum coins were about to transform into sixteen million Platinum coins.

He had lost the ten million Platinum coins he placed on Thalric, but with just a single gesture he made out of kindness and supportiveness, he recouped his losses and also made a gain of five million Platinum coins.

But hey, if there was a consolation prize, it was the fact that they had placed their bets on Asher to win against the Grave-class Monster, although they expected him to come out injured and almost half dead. Instead, the boy looked far too lively for someone who had just fought such a monster head-on.

”Does Azaron have some magical dick that I don’t?” Fourth Elder Zane Wargrave stated with a speechless expression.

Willow, the Third Elder, replied, ”I understand where you are coming from. First he gives birth to that boy Malrik as his first child, and now his last child is even more ridiculous than the first child,” she stated. Her words earned several silent nods from the surrounding Elders who found it difficult to argue otherwise.

But even as they talked, everyone was already taking action, since they didn’t have millions of Platinum coins anymore, they could only stake the gold coins they had on Asher from now on, trying to regain whatever money they had blessed the betting organization with.

And if there was anything the betting organization was known for, it was their ability to pay people their rewards immediately after a battle ended.

In that instant, magical circles lit up before them as the thousands of gold coins they made in profit from betting on Asher versus the Grave-class Monster arrived. Without missing a beat, they moved to stake it all on Asher to win the Inter-Empire Competition.

But again, the betting organization wasn’t a charity event; they regulated odds based on ongoing battles.

Asher’s odds, which John had originally placed a bet on at seven odds, had immediately plummeted to 0.5 odds with incredible speed, as within their eyes Asher was now the sole favourite to win if Arianna and the others didn’t perform the same ridiculous feats. The shift was so dramatic that countless gamblers across Crymora nearly choked on their drinks upon seeing the updated numbers.

But still, the betting organization was almost losing its mind. They had made gains, yet those gains had vanished as a few people had swallowed up some part of their profit as their own betting profits.

A few Luxury Viewing Boxes away from the Wargraves, Azaron and Malrik clinked their glasses of wine together as they had both made another round of millions from this. Especially Azaron; the man had come with almost every fund he could get his hands on.

Azazel, who was seated with them, also sat in silence. In this battle, he hadn’t suffered any loss. No, he had made a bit of money because he staked on Asher to win simply because Azaron and Malrik did.

But the reason for Azazel’s silence was because he had come to understand that his daughter might not beat down every single person as he had originally thought. At this moment, he could only try to believe in his daughter.

In another Luxury Viewing Box, three familiar Baron families sat with wide smiles on their faces.

”Sigh... seems like yesterday that he was able to fight a Grave-class Goblin by using a sort of trump card ability or technique,” Baron Rivelle sighed as he spoke. ”But now, he doesn’t even need that anymore, he doesn’t even need anything, just his hands and body,” he reminisced.

Baron Canestane and Baron Whale didn’t speak, but they knew about the Star Form to a certain degree as Baron Rivelle had told them about it.

Baron Rivelle had basically preached about it, the way the Tenth Sun had fought the Grave-class Goblins, while also saving everyone simultaneously with perfect ease. And how couldn’t he? He was still shocked till this very day.

So, they couldn’t help but ask themselves; could anyone make a monster like the Tenth Sun pull such a card in front of the whole world? If such a thing happened, then the battle that followed would undoubtedly become one of the most talked-about events in recent history.

Their curiosity peaked at that moment, their hearts beat with anticipation, and their eyes remained glued to the battlefield. This was the ultimate bliss. Watching expectations shatter one after another, watching a boy repeatedly accomplish what should have been impossible, was an experience few of them would ever forget for the rest of their lives.