Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 897: Pure Madness

Asher’s body appeared atop a skyscraper, his senses and perception finally locking back into reality. Blood flowed from the stumps of his shoulders. Despite Asher’s ridiculous control over Lightning, which made him immune to most forms of lightning damage, he had still taken damage from Arianna’s Lightning attack, demonstrating just how terrifying her own mastery was. Even her blue flames had managed to burn him.

Virelass didn’t hesitate to activate Crimson Pact. From the injured stumps, new arms began to grow once more, while the burn marks covering his body rapidly vanished as Virelass restored him back to his peak condition within the span of a single second by burning the highest quality blood she had stored. Had she used anything of a lower quality, her regenerative speed would have been slower, giving Arianna the opportunity she needed to press her advantage.

Asher sighed, his body still felt numb, but the sensation was fading away in real time. Standing upon the towering skyscraper, he gazed downward to see Arianna staring back at him with a wide grin stretching across her face.

At this moment, Arianna was burning an enormous amount of Astra Energy, an amount that not even Acker in his Blessed Form could continuously expend, yet to her it seemed like absolutely nothing. Her reserves were truly monstrous, second only to Asher’s own.

Asher’s smile slowly returned as, in the very next moment, his presence began to rise, climbing higher with every passing fraction of a second as violent purple Lightning immediately erupted around him with overwhelming intensity, causing the surrounding air itself to feel suffocated beneath its pressure.

Lightning Armor.

Asher’s body was immediately covered in dazzling purple lightning as a magnificent suit of armor materialized around him. Wicked claws formed over both his hands and feet while a lightning-forged helmet encased his head as well. His strength, speed, reaction time, and brain processing capacity all rose to a terrifying level as Asher enhanced his brain, spine, central nervous system, and every individual nerve throughout his body.

But he wasn’t finished. His Light Affinity blinked into existence, causing his already absurd speed to rise to an entirely new level as he simultaneously used Light to apply Weightlessness to himself, shamelessly stealing the very same application Arianna had displayed moments earlier through a different ability. Gravity around his body diminished drastically, further amplifying his already monstrous speed.

Virelass, who had been floating silently beside him, finally slipped into his grasp as unbridled purple lightning poured into her blade. She trembled violently while humming with excitement as though eager to bring an end to the witch called Arianna where she stood.

Neither Asher nor Arianna spoke. They simply stared at one another, both wearing broad grins as they pushed themselves towards the absolute limit. Then, as though some invisible signal had finally been given, they both launched towards each other simultaneously. The skyscraper beneath Asher exploded backwards before being completely torn apart under the sheer force generated by his acceleration. Likewise, the asphalt beneath Arianna’s feet blasted apart as an enormous chasm split open solely from the force and speed of her movement.

Within a mere nanosecond, they met in midair, and the instant they collided, a world-ending, titanic explosion erupted outwards in an all-erasing crescendo as every form of energy and Affinity rampaged wildly, crashing violently against one another. Lightning crackled without restraint, Light flashed across the air, blue flames burned fiercely, wind howled like countless furious dragons, Astra Energy slammed relentlessly against Star Energy, only to be swallowed whole before exploding once again.

Everything within a one hundred and fifty-kilometer radius was wiped clean from the battlefield as they finally fought at their absolute peak strength. No more holding back. No more reservations. No more testing one another. It was simply madness against madness. Perfect control clashing against perfect control. Elements against elements. Talent against talent. Monster against monster.

A colossal sinkhole spanning an astonishing one hundred and fifty kilometers yawned open beneath them as though the Abyss itself was finally preparing to crawl towards the surface of the world.

As for Asher and Arianna, the two of them unleashed their full power without pause. The faster the Worldshaper’s Relic repaired the battlefield, the faster they tore it apart once again. As though both of them instinctively understood that there was no more meaningful destruction left upon the ground below, they simultaneously abandoned the earth altogether, their figures soaring into the air as they flew freely, openly defying gravity itself in real time.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Space shattered with every collision while the atmosphere itself collapsed beneath every exchange. The deafening sound of steel clashing echoed throughout the skies while thunderous explosions drowned out everything else, leaving nothing but endless destruction in their wake.

The two of them resembled Primordial Behemoths that had been summoned for the sole purpose of bringing devastation upon the world.

They ascended into the sky until their feet gently touched the clouds, balancing effortlessly upon them despite the pressure and terrifying power continuously radiating from their bodies, leaving both the battlefield below and even the Coliseum itself far behind as though neither place could possibly contain beings of their caliber.

At this moment, Arianna’s body was covered in injuries. Asher was matching her across every conceivable category, speed, strength, pure swordsmanship, reaction time, technique, and finesse. Her right eye shone brilliantly as every wound she received rapidly disappeared beneath the effects of her healing ability and her overwhelming Astra Energy reserves.

But she wasn’t the only one taking damage. She had injured Asher as well, although she clearly understood that the damage she had inflicted was noticeably less than what he had dealt to her.

The instant they landed upon the cloud, Asher’s rapier was already in motion. He thrust towards Arianna’s abdomen with terrifying precision. Arianna moved to block, her twin short swords appearing directly within the path of the incoming thrust to intercept it. But in the next instant, Asher opened a portal directly before his own blade. Virelass disappeared into it before bursting out from behind Arianna’s crossed short swords. With frightening ease, Virelass tore through Arianna’s flesh, puncturing her lungs and internal organs before the blade burst out through her back in a shower of blood.

Arianna didn’t panic. She attempted to retreat with a single step backwards, but Asher refused to give her that opportunity. He instantly closed the distance between them before delivering a kick that slammed directly into her jaw. The impact generated enormous concentric rings of compressed wind that spread throughout the sky, violently parting the surrounding clouds. Arianna’s head snapped violently to the side as her body streaked sideways, tearing through countless clouds as though they were nothing more than strands of soft cotton.

She immediately regained her balance, her feet landing upon yet another stretch of cloud as her head snapped forward just in time to witness Asher closing the gap once more in a blur of dazzling purple lightning and golden radiance. Arianna simply swung both of her swords upwards in a devastating X-shaped slash, unleashing an overwhelming storm of blue flames, crimson lightning, and raging wind.

But as the attack surged towards him, Asher simply teleported behind it, effortlessly bypassing the devastating technique altogether. He closed the distance once again, yet the instant he appeared, Arianna teleported away, her figure materializing directly above Asher before slashing downward.

But Asher teleported as well, appearing above her before delivering his own downward slash. Arianna teleported again, reappearing above him before swinging her blades once more. Asher answered with another teleport. Arianna teleported yet again, but this time she didn’t emerge above Asher.

Instead, what greeted her was the very same attack she had launched towards Asher only a moment earlier, the attack he had seemingly avoided by teleporting.

Asher had never teleported. He had simply switched positions with the attack itself while allowing it to continue chasing Arianna. Her own attack crashed directly into her body with explosive fury, launching her violently into the sky. But Asher was already waiting there, having teleported directly into her flight path. His battle IQ shone brilliantly.

Purple Lightning and radiant Light crackled violently around his foot as he pushed his Star Energy manipulation to its absolute limit. Without the slightest hesitation, his foot thundered towards the back of Arianna’s skull with unstoppable force, descending like divine judgment itself.

Arianna’s senses screamed. Although Arianna’s back was facing Asher at this moment, she instantly realized she couldn’t simply teleport away or phase through the attack. Asher’s control over space had increased in real time, completely sealing the surrounding layer of space and rendering both teleportation and phasing utterly impossible. Astra Energy exploded around her body as an earth barrier and an ice barrier instantly materialized to intercept the incoming kick before she immediately stacked a pink lotus-shaped barrier technique behind both of them.

Asher’s foot collided with the earth barrier first, shattering it with almost insulting ease. His crackling foot immediately slammed into the ice barrier, which fractured before exploding into countless frozen fragments. Finally, his foot crashed into the pink lotus barrier, clearly the strongest of the three. Lightning and Light battered relentlessly against its surface as violent cracks rapidly spread throughout it before it too shattered apart, although it successfully reduced a portion of the overwhelming force behind Asher’s devastating kick.

Then, with bone-shattering force, Asher’s foot slammed directly into the back of Arianna’s skull with a horrifying blast.

Arianna’s body shot forward, or rather, downward, as she plummeted from the sky like a fallen goddess before crashing into the newly restored battlefield, which now spanned over four hundred kilometers and had once again become filled with towering buildings.

Her body tore through countless structures, each one collapsing, shattering, and toppling in random directions before, with one final deafening explosion, a yawning sinkhole violently tore open as her body plunged deep into its depths.