CLEAVER OF SIN Chapter 576: Clash

"You know," Number Six started saying, "I never imagined we'd face infiltration. Sure, we implemented safeguards and steps to prevent it, but in my wildest thoughts, I never expected to be deceived into allowing a spy within our ranks." She halted briefly, her dark eyes locking with Asher’s violet ones in a sharp, probing stare.

"And that claim of yours about being resistant to poisons and the like, it was all part of the scheme, right? You weren’t truly immune to them at all. You just mentioned it to ensure we wouldn’t deploy them against you, and it succeeded flawlessly, I have to admit." Number Six went on, but right then, she fell quiet, as if anticipating Asher’s response.

In fights, conversations demand input from both parties, after all. However, Asher stayed mute. He just gazed at her with a subtle grin and unflappable poise. Her unraveling his strategy now offered her no advantage. Plus, he wasn’t one for chatting amid combat.

"Got nothing to say?" Number Six inquired, the atmosphere turning tense with his quietness.

Asher kept his silence once more, not voicing a word. He’d already shown his position: he sought only their demise, not a trade of words or insights. Number Five, noticing the smirk on Asher’s face, smirked back. He appreciated encountering someone who grasped that fights were won through weapons and flesh, not chatter.

"Fine, if you won’t talk," Number Six declared decisively, her aura shifting as if from now on, she’d unleash her full arsenal. But she wasn’t alone. Number Four’s aura intensified, his Astra energy pouring out to envelop his form, boosting his bodily prowess. Number Five and Number Six followed suit right away, their Astra energy bursting forth too, wrapping them in fiery halos of might.

Asher uttered no words. He summoned no Astra energy. Instead, he assumed a ready pose, his rapier held out front, its edge tilted with exacting accuracy. His gaze intensified, his concentration tightening until the whole scene narrowed down, isolating just the trio opposing him.

Strain built like a cord pulled to its breaking point, with the atmosphere growing heavier. Then, as if repelling forces of a magnet yanked irresistibly close, the opponents lunged at each other with scorching velocity and immense power, the strain exploding like shattered crystal.

In a devastating rush, the groups smashed together, four distinct arms clanging simultaneously, three battering against a lone one. Fiery orange sparks erupted on impact like tiny blasts, spraying over the combat zone. Without a hitch, they surged onward, their forms blurring into sheer action and might.

The clash of steel on steel rang out like a savage melody, crafting a brutal anthem of conflict. They dashed with horrifying velocity and power, the trio as three dark blurs while the solo fighter formed a lone purple blur. The dark blurs hammered unyieldingly at the purple one with brutal power and ceaseless assault, but the purple blur held steady, eerily serene.

In their path, the ground crumbled like thin sheets. The soil erupted beneath their strides and drive, pits emerging with each position change. The atmosphere howled and buckled whenever blades cut through it, the noise booming like lightning over the field.

Fundamental sword and armament skills exploded with ideal form. Cuts encountered counters. Lunges faced redirects. Chops met solid halts. They flowed between maneuvers with smooth expertise, like inventors of each action performed. Every skill launched at the ideal instant, at times blending two into one fluid strike with astonishing simplicity.

The breeze appeared to withdraw before blasting out with each smash and blow. Pressure waves ripped rearward with alarming force, while quakes spread across the surrounding ridges and peaks as the foes engaged over and over.

Each blow bore the heavy intent of their resolve. Each block reflected the urgent resistance for life. Sparks flew like shooting stars as metal slammed fiercely into metal.

One wrong move spelled doom. Still, no one eased up. No one stopped or wavered, as if battling for survival was just routine in their world. Their skirmish sliced through the atmosphere, trailing residues of lethal purpose.

The trio of assailants were enhanced by Astra energy, their actions in perfect harmony. Their flanking setup was impeccable, their strikes delivered with icy accuracy. They operated as a unit, avoiding interference, like they possessed one thought, one limb, one form.

They avoided hitting the same spot at once. One went for the sight, another for the chest, the last for the limbs. Their teamwork displayed total excellence.

Yet despite their flawlessness and seamless teamwork, they faced a superior entity: Asher.

Though the three struck with Astra enhancement, Asher required none. He countered every assault using raw bodily force. He equaled their pace solely with his muscular strength. Every incoming blow was either deflected with graceful exactness or evaded with the quick elegance of a stalking beast.

Even as assaults poured from three angles all at once, it changed nothing for Asher. The count of blows held no weight. The count of foes held no weight.

Only he and his rapier, Virelass, counted. He brandished that rapier not just as a tool, but as a part of his essence, every motion infused with the wisdom from endless fights.

In yet another thunderous impact, the sides rammed together again like a torrent smashing an immovable barrier, neither yielding an inch.

Intensity rose steadily, lethal aura saturating the sky and breeze alike. Saplings ripped from the ground by the raw energy from the fray, while fracture lines like spiderwebs tore through the soil underfoot.

This clash couldn’t conclude merely by desire; no, they had to battle until one fell.

And before that point, they’d keep surging, strikes launching without cease, swords gleaming nonstop. They’d persist until weariness overtook their frames, until crimson marked the dirt, until one dropped dead to the surface.

Until a body lay still.

Before that unavoidable time came, this fight would rage on relentlessly, unceasingly, eternally.