Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 841: Dark Domain

AUTHOR’S NOTE: The former chapter has been replaced. If you haven’t read it, do so. Thank you for your patience with this greedy author.

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Before Asher and Teo could so much as blink, numerous long, enormous dark spikes immediately filled the upper floor of the building from every conceivable angle and direction, tearing through everything in their path without the slightest sign of slowing.

Teo didn’t hesitate. He immediately tapped into his Earth Affinity. The earth beneath his feet instantly rose into a sturdy brown dome that effortlessly stopped every dark spike. As for Asher, he didn’t even bother dodging, simply phasing through the attack without making a single movement.

A smile appeared on Asher’s lips. Since his opponents were using shadows and darkness, he would simply use light. The next moment, his body brightened as though he were some sort of Hero of Light, and in the following instant, a blinding brilliant radiance erupted outward with explosive force, illuminating everything around him.

An explosion followed immediately as the entire upper floors of the high-rise building were completely destroyed by Asher’s light explosion attack, chunks of concrete, steel, and shattered glass scattering in every direction as the structure groaned violently.

Asher and Teo could be seen plummeting downward as Asher had erased nearly half of the building. But while they were still midair, more dark spikes came. This time they were smaller and shorter, their speed faster and far more vicious as they targeted only their vital organs while they fell through the air.

Asher immediately tapped into his Space Affinity once again as he created numerous portals around himself and Teo Swig. The moment any dark spike entered one of the portals, it emerged roughly a kilometre away, chipping away at the Vital Points of unfortunate students caught in its path instead.

The moment Asher landed on the ground, his entire body brightened once more as he prepared to unleash another area-wide attack and erase the hidden Shadow Assassins. But the instant his body began to glow, the various shadows on the ground twitched and shifted as the hidden Shadow Assassins immediately raced backward to evade the incoming attack.

The very next moment, the light enveloping Asher’s body disappeared completely. It had been nothing more than a ruse to expose the hidden Shadow Assassins.

Teo immediately blurred forward, flames coating his glaive once again as the weapon swept outward. With a brutal swing, he hacked toward a Shadow Assassin’s head, only for it to block the strike with surprising ease. Teo’s eyes narrowed as he realized he had encountered something equivalent to a Rank 6. The next instant, both he and his opponent vanished simultaneously.

Their weapons repeatedly collided as they darted back and forth throughout the city at blistering speeds, their bodies becoming little more than blurs as their speed continued increasing without the slightest indication of slowing down.

The Rank 6 Shadow Assassin’s twin daggers blurred forward, one aimed toward Teo Swig’s neck and the other toward his ribs. Teo Swig was no pushover. Although he couldn’t instantly eliminate a Rank 6 like Asher could, it didn’t mean he couldn’t at least contend with one. Besides, this was a Shadow Assassin, meaning it specialized in speed rather than overwhelming destructive force or raw power.

Astra energy immediately coated his body as he increased his speed once again. With a slight shift of his body, he stepped backward, effortlessly dodging both pincer attacks. The moment he did, he waved a hand, and in an instant, the entire area transformed into a vast lake as a massive torrent of water materialized from thin air before crashing downward upon the Rank 6 Shadow Assassin with crushing force.

As the torrent of water descended, the Shadow Assassin created a dome of darkness around its body. With a tremendous crash, the collision erupted. The asphalt road trembled violently, cars and vehicles were hurled backward, while smaller buildings were toppled by the resulting shockwave. But Teo Swig didn’t care. His Astra energy simply surged as he increased the crushing pressure of the water torrent surrounding the dome of darkness protecting the Rank 6 Shadow Assassin.

The Shadow Assassin met his gaze before vanishing entirely, its body reappearing nearly four hundred meters away as it utilized a movement technique that allowed its kind to travel effortlessly from shadow to shadow.

Teo Swig immediately dismissed the raging torrent. Entering a martial stance, his Astra hummed once more as the flames surrounding his glaive vanished, replaced instead by roaring winds. Without missing a beat, he slashed outward. The instant he did, the atmosphere screamed as an apocalyptic storm erupted forth, a devastating wind explosion tearing through everything in its path with terrifying momentum.

Enormous blade marks carved through the concrete, sliced apart abandoned cars, while fuel tanks were instantly ruptured, causing fiery explosions to erupt outward, further amplified by the violent winds. Smoke, dust, debris, and flames churned together as everything within a five-hundred-meter radius was reduced to utter devastation.

Teo Swig observed the destruction he had unleashed, searching for any sign of the Rank 6 Shadow Assassin. He didn’t possess the bracelet from the first round that confirmed kills and point acquisition with a beep.

His head instinctively rose toward the point ranking system to see whether his score had increased. The instant he did, the Rank 6 Shadow Assassin emerged directly from Teo Swig’s own shadow, its twin daggers screaming toward both sides of his neck.

Teo Swig immediately frowned. The attack was completely point-blank. He couldn’t dodge in time, and even if he created some form of barrier at the very last moment, he knew the Shadow Assassin would simply phase through it and continue its assault.

He had been completely caught off guard by the Rank 6 Shadow Assassin.

Before Teo Swig could even whisper Asher’s name, Asher was already on the move. The next instant, Teo Swig felt space compress around him before he vanished from where he stood. In his place, another student instantly appeared.

The Shadow Assassin’s twin daggers immediately slammed into the student’s neck. The student’s Vital Points instantly dropped to zero, and the student vanished before he could even comprehend what had happened, eliminated from the competition in a single instant.

Teo Swig appeared beside another student, who happened to be the teammate of the participant who had just been eliminated. But before he could even blink, he vanished once more, while an enormous portion of a high-rise building appeared where he had been standing, crashing directly toward the remaining student with crushing weight.

The moment he appeared beside Asher, Teo Swig let out a sigh as a faint smile appeared on his lips.

“Don’t beat yourself up over it. Rank 6 opponents aren’t so easy to defeat. If they were, this round of the Inter-Empire Competition would have featured only Rank 7 and above enemies,” Asher spoke calmly.

Although he had been fighting his own Shadow Assassins, his Omni Perception had remained focused on Teo Swig the entire time.

Teo Swig simply nodded before speaking.

“Thank you,” he replied calmly.

He wasn’t particularly bothered. He knew he would have won if he hadn’t looked toward the point ranking system. Teo Swig silently made a mental note never to look at it again unless he was absolutely certain his opponent had been defeated.

Asher’s eyes rose toward the rankings. Seeing that they remained ranked first, he simply shook his head and said nothing more.

But the Shadow Assassins were far from finished. One of them appeared directly before Asher and Teo, and before either of them could attack, the Shadow Assassin activated a skill.

Dark Domain.

A dome of absolute darkness immediately swallowed both Teo and Asher. They could see nothing except endless darkness, as though they had suddenly gone blind.

Asher’s senses immediately buzzed as he detected well over a hundred attacks approaching from every conceivable direction. He simply lifted one foot before stomping the ground with immense force. The very next instant, the Dark Domain cracked like fragile glass before collapsing entirely as Asher destroyed it through nothing but pure physical strength.

Light flooded both his and Teo’s vision. The instant they could see once more, they found countless daggers already racing toward their bodies. Neither of them looked surprised, as they had already sensed the attacks moments earlier. Teo moved immediately. Rather than defending, he chose to attack instead, attempting to replicate what Asher had done earlier with his light-infused body explosion.

His body instantly erupted in blazing flames before the inferno screamed outward, a blazing orange explosion consuming everything surrounding them. The earth beneath their feet seemed to transform into molten lava as it rapidly liquefied beneath the searing heat, scorching the battlefield beyond recognition.

Asher didn’t need to defend, as Teo Swig had already protected both of them while simultaneously annihilating the incoming assault.