CLEAVER OF SIN Chapter 582: Tragedy Of The Highest Order

Asher gazed upon the battlefield from his position high in the sky, hovering without effort in a posture of eerie calm that set him apart from the chaos underneath. In mere moments, he descended smoothly, his feet touching down on the soil with elegant poise.

His violet gaze swept leftward, then rightward, and finally backward as he surveyed the scene with a steady, analytical look. Though still amid the woods, the area where the fight had raged was now utterly demolished. A span of nearly three kilometers lay in shambles, the formerly lush terrain transformed into the remnants of some apocalyptic disaster.

Gaping fissures, deep pits, and hollows had been savagely carved out by the immense force of those at the Swiftstar Life Rank. The earth seemed torn asunder by unseen forces of ruin. In the distance, he spotted the fractured peak where Number Two had first appeared via teleportation.

A massive expanse of blood from more than a hundred lifeless forms pooled across the surface. The red fluid sluggishly collected in the shallow grooves and channels forged in combat, climbing up to Asher’s ankles.

Asher looked at the blood pooling nearby, his thoughts and form utterly unaffected by the nauseating sight. Internal organs bobbed on the surface of the bloody expanse like macabre flotsam on a scarlet ocean. The metallic odor permeated everything, while his drenched footwear and soaked feet registered the viscosity as he waded through it.

Asher turned his attention aside. Without pause, he started to move forward. Shortly after, he reached Number Five’s remains, surrounded by the mangled and shattered corpses of his Rank Five subdued beasts.

Asher admitted it to himself honestly. He truly appreciated the powers of Number Five and Number Six. Their talents held much more promise than those of the other Numbers he had clashed with. There was a profound quality to their skills that captivated him, offering the sort of capability that could alter entire battlefields or sway the destiny of realms if honed correctly.

Had Number Six survived longer to refine her golden box power, she could have placed one in a remote Empire and warped straight to it from any corner of the globe. That single use would prove horrifying for both combat and espionage.

Regrettably, her mastery at present let her only jump to freshly made golden boxes kept within a close proximity to herself.

Moreover, she might have advanced to direct leaps to the boxes, skipping the need to chain them sequentially. Beyond that, the repelling impact of the boxes showed no apparent boundaries. The idea itself was mind-blowing. Her power was truly exceptional.

Regarding Number Five, his knack for swapping places with a monster sans portal or prior setup already rendered his beast-taming skill incredibly potent.

Asher respected how Number Five’s taming power seemed boundless. Even the Ducal family, renowned for their lineage’s beast summoning—one per Life Rank—lacked this fearsome trait. In exchange, they could claim a lasting skill from each summoned creature, possibly gathering up to ten over their lives.

By contrast, a typical awakened person had just one power, or rarely two, like Vice Commander Cassandra from the Wargrave Knight Order.

Yet the standout technique in Number Five’s kit was his fusion with beasts. Asher couldn’t stop picturing the immense strength if such a shift occurred while keeping complete mental command. A human’s intellect blended with a unified beast’s frame—a horrifying yet awe-inspiring mix of cunning and savage force.

Number Five’s quick downfall, despite this mighty merge power, stemmed from his shaky psyche. Had he combined mental steadiness with his combat savvy, he could have flawlessly integrated all monster skills and held the reins during the change. In that case, he would have lasted much longer against Asher.

Thus, his top strength doubled as his fatal flaw.

Before Asher could ponder Number Five’s prospects further, a distortion warped the space near the headless body on the dirt. His eyes sharpened in wary focus. In a flash, his form blinked out of sight, materializing a few meters distant from the remains.

Instantly, over a dozen rifts ripped through the atmosphere. From them surged countless hordes of creatures and beasts in relentless streams. Their howls and shrieks echoed across the devastated field as colossal shapes burst forth continuously.

Asher knew these rifts at once; they were Number Five’s beast repository gateways.

‘Hasn’t he perished?’ Asher wondered inwardly, his thoughts racing back over every instant of the fight with Number Five, searching for any sly trick or evasion that might have slipped past him.

The deeper he delved, the more convinced Asher grew that Number Five was truly gone. From his spot, he could plainly view the man’s body sprawled there.

Still, the events playing out contradicted that entirely.

Number Five had the gift and promise to challenge all of Crymora had he been shrewd enough and granted time to mature. His power posed a threat far beyond what most could comprehend.

Picture a figure at the Crownstar Life Rank, taming limitless Myth-Class, Void-Class, and End-Class beasts. Each conquest would net him all underlings those mighty ones led. That ripple effect would spawn a rapidly swelling legion of dread.

Envision that figure loosing his vast monster floods on four Empires at once. He wouldn’t even need to show up personally. Just tear open the rifts, let the forces loose, slip away to security, and behold the inferno from afar.

What Asher witnessed now was Number Five’s ultimate power, once dubbed the "Death Trigger."

As the title suggested, it sprang to life only after his demise.

Death Trigger called forth every creature Number Five had ever subdued in his days, dead or living. The deceased ones got yanked back to unlife by the power, while the live ones in his summon realm were hurled out forcefully.

At once, the fallen wolf, bird, and snake beasts Asher had slain earlier revived as if untouched by death. Their tissues mended at impossible speeds, skeletons rebuilt, and vitals restored. Soon, they stood anew, gazes alight with fresh vigor.

Their forms flickered away, rematerializing among the portal-spawned beasts still flooding out in huge quantities.

Consider Number Five at Crownstar Life Rank. Even if bested at last, with Crymora claiming triumph, did activating Death Trigger upon his end mean a real victory for them?

The group that once handled Number Five obviously missed the foresight to nurture him right. They overlooked having someone who could assault the world doubly—once breathing, once beyond.

Yet it appeared even Number Five never grasped the full horror of his own might.

A profound tragedy indeed.