Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 810: Public Reaction

The whole world sat in silence as they stared at Asher. At this point, he had always been the number one source of entertainment. Arianna? Issac? Thalric? Acker? They all paled in comparison to the display of ridiculous force and efficiency he had displayed thus far.

Yes, they were all strong, stronger than everyone else, stronger than even most of those on the top ten rankings; they knew that much. But none of them possessed as much power as Asher, and so the boy had always been their number one source of entertainment.

At this moment, they watched him stand in front of a pit. Unlike Asher, who didn’t know what was within the pit, the Inter-Empire Competition had already labelled the abyss-like pit as the home of a Rank 7 existence.

They had all watched students jump in there like fools, as though they possessed no sixth sense for danger. They had also seen many students stand in front of the pit and then turn and walk away, which they commended. After all, while this was an Inter-Empire Competition, it was meant for entertainment, not to send people to their deaths.

They saw Asher stand there, staring at it. Although they couldn’t read his mind, they could already more or less guess what he was thinking.

Half of the world roared and suggested he jump in, while the other half was against it. Although they had seen Asher reduce Rank 6 beings to nothing, Rank 7 beings were another existence entirely. While they believed that Asher would be able to exchange a few attacks with one, they ultimately believed it was an almost impossible feat.

It was just like how a few third-year students could one-shot Rank 5 beings with ease, yet couldn’t fight a Rank 6 being one-on-one and win without help from others.

Basically, the same logic applied here... at least to them.

And besides, not all Rank 7 beings were of the same level. Some were simply stronger and more ridiculous than others of the same rank. And if the Rank 7 being within that abyss-like pit was anything like that, then their Asher might not even be able to exchange a single attack before being utterly crushed.

The women screamed for him to leave as though he could hear them, while some of the men suggested he jump in and be a man. After all, it wasn’t as though the Inter-Empire Competition would allow any student to die, let alone such a genius.

To them, with various Crownstar Life Ranks gathered here, they could arrive in time, save Asher, and also eliminate the being within the same timeframe.

As for the Wargraves, they stared intently at Asher. They weren’t ones to run away from battle if there was even the slightest chance of victory. An example was Wuthenya, who had simply faced Orvak without fear or hesitation.

As they stared at the youngest, expecting him to jump in, they saw him turn away from the abyss-like pit as though he had given up on it. At that, some of the Wargrave family members wore minor expressions of disappointment before they vanished the next moment.

Seeing Asher leave, some immediately began to boo at him. Some outrageous individuals who simply wanted to see him suffer and fall from grace called him a pussy and a chicken. Of course, none of it was serious; it was all part of the entertainment.

Then, the next moment, they saw him pick up a stone and slash against it. Their booing chants paused as they wondered what he was doing, and they watched him throw the stone far away. Some smart and experienced powerhouses who were watching had already reached a conclusion within their minds.

The next moment, they watched Asher jump in. The moment he did, grins appeared across the faces of all the Wargraves as satisfaction finally settled within their hearts.

Although Asher was consumed by total darkness and couldn’t see until he used his Star Energy, it wasn’t the same for the spectators. They could see everything regardless of the darkness that swallowed The Shallow.

But the moment they heard the announcements from whatever voice always made them, some of those who had been eager for Asher to jump in earlier sat frozen in their seats as they couldn’t believe their eyes.

A Special Negative Zone? They had never seen anything like that since the Inter-Empire Competition began. Besides, the outrageous reward of the Special Negative Zone being his life left them speechless.

The worst part was that they couldn’t understand how Asher was supposed to see what he was going to fight. Yes, they knew he possessed some form of sensory ability, and they had seen him close his eyes to fight that first Basilisk back in the swamp forest yesterday.

But would that work here? Under such darkness and unfavourable conditions, they couldn’t help but have their doubts.

Some immediately started shouting for Asher to leave and run away, that he could simply fly upward and leave. But unknown to them, the entrance had already sealed itself; it was kill or be killed for the boy from this moment onward.

But the next moment, they saw the shock on Asher’s face as he stared ahead, which suggested he could see regardless of the darkness that consumed him. As they wondered what could possibly leave such a powerful boy in shock, the camera angle seemed to pan at that precise moment, and their eyes immediately fell upon what Asher had seen earlier.

Over one hundred Emovirae, all Rank 5 at minimum, all staring at Asher with their eyes locked onto him without a sound or squeak. Those watching immediately felt a chill run down their spines without even actually being there.

All of them immediately began to guess that this was where Asher’s journey ended. After all, fighting this ridiculous number of Emovirae and then going on to fight whoever that Xal’Thar guy was, bordered on insanity. They considered his stamina, his strength, and everything else that would be spent fighting these Emovirae before he even reached Xal’Thar. And judging from the sheer number of Emovirae gathered here, they knew that Xal’Thar was definitely an Emovira.

Yes, they had seen Asher erase Rank 6 Monsters and Beasts as though they were nothing, but Emovirae were always stronger than Monsters of the same rank by default. Meaning, this battle would be much harder for him on a fundamental level.

The betting industry immediately jumped on the opportunity like animals on heat. Betting odds immediately flooded people’s vision as they gave Asher 5-to-1 odds to conquer the Special Negative Zone while giving the abyss-like pit itself 0.5-to-1 odds of victory.

If it had been before, they would have increased Asher’s odds to anything above ten. But it seemed they had learned their lesson, as this particular boy was making them bleed dry instead of earning them profit. Hence, they reduced Asher’s odds to five; not as high as before, but enough to attract people.

But it seemed that this betting organisation was destined to go bankrupt at this Inter-Empire competition, as Azaron, Malrik, the Wargraves, and the three Baron families immediately poured another round of platinum coins into the betting pool.

The moment everyone placed a bet, they watched Asher step forward, and with that, every Wargrave felt their hearts beat faster and their blood stir, as one of their own was about to unleash madness in their name.