Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 814: End Splitter [Ko-fi Bonus - ]

’This guy... he isn’t exactly on Debro’s level, but his ability brings him up to that level, if not just a minor step below,’ Asher thought to himself as he stared at the Emovira... but he wasn’t exactly sure, as the being hadn’t gone all out.

He had already deduced Xal’Thar’s ability, as the Emovira had done nothing to hide it from the very beginning, so it was very easy for someone with Asher’s intelligence to figure out.

At first, Asher had thought that the Emovira possessed some kind of super-speed ability, but after a couple of exchanges, he understood that he had been wrong. Xal’Thar’s ability was Momentum Manipulation.

Which allowed him to speed up, increase his strength to absurd degrees, channel momentum into things, and also use it to halt at any moment. The being was even capable of either canceling or absorbing momentum, as he had used the ability to cancel out Asher’s first thrust attack.

Just as Asher was analyzing Xal’Thar, Xal’Thar was analyzing him. Although he might appear lazy and carefree, he knew when to be serious. And now he already knew that Asher possessed both Lightning and Space elements while also possessing enough power to match a Rank 7 being despite not being at the Wavestar Life Rank.

They had been testing the waters with each other, but the time for that was over. Now, it was time to kill each other. Xal’Thar was fighting for his freedom. Asher was fighting for the fun of it.

Asher tapped fully into his Astra Energy as he immediately dropped into a stance. His strength peaked, his speed peaked, lightning coursing through his body in purple madness accompanied by crackling sounds as his perception stretched to its limits.

The current Asher didn’t need Star Form to kill someone on Xal’Thar’s level.

Xal’Thar also entered his own stance, and the smile on his face vanished instantly. Then, as though a signal had been given, they both disappeared as though they had never existed to begin with. The next instant, they appeared at a point in space, their weapons streaking toward each other with maddening force.

With a booming sound, rapier met flamberge in a titanic crescendo as an overwhelming torrent of power tore outward, erasing everything within a fifty-kilometer radius in utter madness. The entire pit they were in instantly collapsed from within from the collision of a single attack.

With a booming blast, they both appeared within the grand canyon, their speed increasing with each passing moment, their strength following the same trajectory. The canyon itself seemed to shake beneath their mere existence the moment they appeared. They didn’t care about the other students. They didn’t care about anything else at this moment, as they only existed within each other’s worldview.

Asher’s blade moved again, his rapier streaking toward Xal’Thar’s neck, but before he could finish executing the attack, Xal’Thar simply canceled the momentum behind both the attack and Asher’s movement, grinding him to a halt.

Without a shred of hesitation, Xal’Thar swung his flamberge to end Asher where he stood. But once again, Asher simply teleported out of the way. However, Xal’Thar seemed capable of reading the flow of momentum through space itself, because the moment Asher appeared, he was already there, his sword already in motion to take off Asher’s head.

But before the attack could even happen, Xal’Thar felt his body pause for a split second, and before he could even think, Asher swung Virelass with madness in his eyes. Xal’Thar moved to cancel the momentum behind the attack, but it was too late, as he couldn’t cancel all of it in time.

Asher’s rapier tore through his chest, and blood splattered.

Although the injury wasn’t deep, Asher had drawn first blood.

Xal’Thar’s eyes flickered. Asher had been able to catch him off guard because he had manipulated gravity at that precise moment, slowing Xal’Thar’s speed before capitalizing on the opening.

Xal’Thar used a movement technique to vanish from where he stood, his body appearing a kilometer away. The moment he materialized, he entered a stance, his Astra Energy exploding outward as he raised his sword toward the sky. Momentum poured into the flamberge as he swung it downward, utilizing his sword technique.

[Great Sword Technique: End Splitter]

Asher felt it in real time. The destructive force. The speed. The raw power behind that singular slash from Xal’Thar. After all, one couldn’t possibly measure how much momentum the being had poured into it.

Asher didn’t delay. He welcomed the attack with one of his own rapier techniques.

[Song Of Virelass: StellarFlame Stanza: Illuminating Star]

Astra Energy boomed outward through Asher’s veins, pouring into Virelass as, in the next instant, whitish flames appeared along the blade. Without delaying any further, Asher slashed forward with a wild swing.

The moment he did, Astra Energy itself seemed to halt, the air seemed to freeze, and even light particles appeared to pause for the briefest of moments. Then, in the next instant, overwhelming heat and brilliant burning flames consumed everything as they tore forward with devastating madness.

The next instant, the two sword techniques met midair, and colossal destruction erupted outward as everything across a seventy-kilometer radius was immediately erased by pure power. A titanic explosion followed as heat and flames consumed everything in sight. Even space itself seemed to melt for a split second before reality forcefully corrected itself. It was as though the end of the world was about to begin as a mushroom cloud of smoke rose into the sky while a dome of explosive force covered everything in sight.

The entire area was now a wasteland.

The StellarFlame was the new affinity Asher had awakened a couple of months ago. But it wasn’t just any flame. No, it was unique, far too unique, as it required only Star Energy to use. However, through months of training, Asher had managed to use a lesser version of the StellarFlame through Astra Energy. Yet even then, its power was nothing to look down upon.

StellarFlame didn’t just burn things like ordinary flames, no, it did far more than that.

It consumed. It devoured. Itt erased things from existence entirely.

It was so potent that Asher could now melt space itself with it. And not only that, even at this moment, Asher was still discovering new aspects of its capabilities.

Through the haze, Asher’s eyes landed on Xal’Thar, who stared back at him. At this moment, a few burn marks could be seen on Xal’Thar’s body, as it seemed that even his Momentum Manipulation couldn’t completely negate the explosion caused by the watered-down StellarFlame, considering Asher had powered it with Astra Energy rather than Star Energy.

Asher smirked as he immediately used the same movement technique he had employed earlier. His body turned into countless still afterimages that trailed behind him, making it nearly impossible to differentiate the real one from the illusions as he moved towards Xal’Thar.

But Xal’Thar merely smirked in return. The moment he raised a leg and stomped it against the ground, everything within a ten-kilometer radius was instantly devastated as he canceled the momentum governing Asher’s movement technique.

He had seen it once before, and that had been more than enough. Having witnessed it previously, he had already created a solution for it with ease.

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