CLEAVER OF SIN Chapter 584: Had To Ask

With a fluid movement, Asher slid Virelass back into its scabbard. Scanning the slaughterhouse that was once a battlefield, he observed that nothing remained but desiccated husks, for the blade had drained every drop of vitality from its victims.

'She must be furious,' Asher mused, shaking his head. His focus drifted from his weapon to Number Five, and he could not suppress a sigh. That individual was profoundly dangerous, possessing a level of potential that was equally perilous.

Asher cast his gaze aside and channeled his Star Energy, invoking his Star Sense. He began to advance with deliberate slowness, his stride ethereal and light. In moments, he reached a patch of darkness that appeared unremarkable to the untrained eye. Asher stood motionless, staring into the void. After a minute lapsed without a response, he finally spoke.

"Do I need to drag you out myself?" he asked, his voice steady yet heavy with lethal intent.

Silence descended once more upon the devastated landscape. Asher was addressing the guardians tasked with protecting the six scientists. From the onset of the conflict with their organization, these protectors had remained passive. Their mandate was strictly to preserve the lives of the scientists, disregarding all other concerns.

And how had they managed to achieve this amidst such fierce combat?

The solution was elementary: they had submerged themselves and their charges into the shadows. Conventional assaults were ineffective against them, allowing them to remain safely obscured within the gloom.

The darkness rippled, and twelve figures gradually materialized around Asher—the six scientists alongside their six custodians. Upon manifesting, the protectors immediately erected shadow barriers to shield the scientists, remaining committed to their post until the bitter end.

Asher witnessed the terror and cold sweat marring the faces of the scientists. It required no insight to realize they had been observing the entire massacre from the safety of their shadow-bound concealment.

The six protectors circled him with weapons drawn. Their Astra energy surged, ready to lash out as they awaited his opening move. Their purpose was purely defensive, yet they remained focused.

While they possessed techniques for shadow-based maneuverability, they understood such skills were futile against an adversary capable of perceiving the dark realm. Though they were uncertain if Asher could penetrate their sanctuary, caution was paramount. Fighting from within the shadow realm was inherently disadvantageous, as it offered poor offensive flexibility.

"You know," Asher remarked, his tone measured and contemplative, "I find it impossible to comprehend." He gestured vaguely at the carnage. "You witnessed me decimate hundreds of your brethren, slaughter your senior tier, and obliterate an entire wave of monsters. Yet, you still brandish your blades as if the outcome could be altered." His voice held genuine curiosity rather than mockery. "You are aware of how this concludes. Why not flee? What binds you to such blind loyalty? Why risk your existence so wastefully?"

He was not one for idle combat chatter, but the question demanded articulation. Had he been in their position, having witnessed such a display, he would have vanished long before the skirmish concluded.

Nevertheless, these fools remained steadfast. The protectors offered no words, their expressions fixed and resolute as they gripped their armaments.

Asher released a sigh and pivoted his head. In that instant, he vanished. His hand whistled through the air, carving across the throat of one guardian; the man’s cranium launched into the air before the others could register the strike.

The remaining protectors attempted to retaliate, but Asher’s speed was overwhelming. He became a blur, moving through space like a harbinger of death. His hands struck with surgical lethality, and within moments, six corpses collapsed with dull thuds.

Blood slicked the ruined expanse, saturating the earth. There was no cause to prolong the slaughter, as he sensed Debro’s clash with the Rank 6 Emovira reaching its zenith.

His purple eyes turned toward the remaining shadow barriers.

Deprived of their masters, the wards shattered into fading motes of black energy before dissipating entirely.

The six scientists stood exposed. Upon witnessing the demise of their protectors, they shrieked and bolted in a frantic bid for survival. In their sheer panic, however, they failed to reinforce their bodies with Astra energy.

Asher shook his head in irony. These wretched individuals, who derived amusement from butchering and experimenting upon living subjects, were now paralyzed by the fear of their own impending deaths. They, who had witnessed countless agonies and likely claimed more lives than Asher ever would, were now reduced to trembling cowards. They, who had mocked death while inflicted upon others, now found their courage shattered the moment a blade was leveled at them.

One scientist stumbled and collapsed in a fit of terror, tripping over his own frantic limbs. He sat frozen, trembling uncontrollably.

Slowly, he looked up, meeting Asher’s chilling gaze. A heavy silence claimed the battlefield.

Asher was not one to cast moral judgment; he made it a principle to refrain from doing so. Every soul carried sins; he did not despise others simply because their transgressions differed from his own.

But these people were truly repulsive. He recalled the gratification they felt while harvesting organs—the screams, the endless suffering, the sheer inhuman cruelty.

He dismissed the thought with a slight shake of his head. With a casual wave, the first scientist was reduced to a spray of gore and shattered bone. Asher stepped forward, appearing before another. Before a woman could even start her plea for mercy, he dismissed her with a wave, fragmenting what remained of her.

He methodically dispatched the remaining four with the same ruthless efficiency. The battlefield fell back into a hollow silence.

Following this, Asher utilized his Astra energy to purge his attire and skin of the sanguine splatter, the crimson stains vanishing as if they had never existed.

Cleansed, he sat upon the rubble, surrounded by the husks of his foes, and waited. His most formidable and final confrontation was about to commence.