CLEAVER OF SIN Chapter 601: Phasing

Mindset firm, Asher prepared to launch himself into action; he was competing against time itself, his thoughts rapidly calculating his next moves with cold-blooded accuracy.

Yet, before a single step could be taken, a sensation of impending death washed over him, drowning his instincts in a suffocating awareness of doom so potent it triggered frantic alarms in every part of his being.

Through his Star Sense, Asher perceived a golden blur streaking in from behind, the looming threat screeching toward his consciousness like a harbinger of absolute ruin.

Even with his boosted pace, Asher realized turning to block was impossible; the sudden surge in Debro’s speed and the precision of the strike left him with no space to maneuver or evade.

Though shielded from head to foot by Lightning Armour and Star Form, Asher understood that Debro’s blade would easily carve through his defenses, and he faced certain decapitation unless he found a way to avoid the strike; the weight of the blow made his current protections feel laughably brittle.

In a fleeting moment, his body erupted into a cascade of crackling lightning as he shifted into his Lightning state, his physical form disintegrating into raw energy to bypass a lethal hit.

The moment he transitioned, Debro’s katana sliced through the area where his neck had been as if cutting through silk; the atmospheric pressure collapsed and detonated outward, causing a concussive shockwave that spanned thirty kilometers and altered the face of the battlefield.

Asher did not linger; the second he finished his evasion, he surged forward with explosive speed. However, upon reappearing, he found Debro already waiting, his Astra-infused katana singing toward his chest with lethal focus, granting him zero room to breathe.

Asher’s mind entered a state of overdrive, his augmented speed—leveled by near-zero gravity—facilitating rapid reactions through Instinctive Adaptation and Optimal Movement Efficiency as his powers pushed his limits.

As these two Absolute Physique traits activated, Asher’s hands blurred upward, both gripping his rapier’s hilt to parry the strike with pinpoint precision despite the crushing pressure.

When the blades collided, a force unlike anything the battle had yet produced thundered into Asher’s frame. It shredded his Lightning Armour, discarded his Star Form, and hammered his body internally as if he were an egg struck by a mountain, merciless and absolute.

Asher was flung backward like a discarded doll, hurtling across twenty kilometers in under two seconds before slamming into the liquefied, molten core of the earth, causing the ground to collapse under the impact.

Yet, Asher dared not remain grounded. He sprang to his feet with the agility of a creature far more nimble than the Wargrave bloodline should allow, his survival drive eclipsing all pain.

Upon rising, however, the tip of a katana sat merely inches from piercing his purple eye and exiting his skull; death had returned instantly. Not daring a hesitation, he bypassed his state of lightning and instead tapped into his spatial element, shifting his very existence out of this physical plane.

The katana pierced the empty air where his eye had been, driving clean through his skull, yet because Asher had stepped into another layer of space, the strike proved futile despite its perfect aim.

The region behind Asher transformed into a jagged chasm, a sinkhole of madness and ruin that swallowed the world in the wake of such catastrophic power.

Capitalizing on the fact that Debro had fully committed to an attack and landed nothing, Asher realized his opponent was exposed and barely a meter away; he acted with the lethal instincts of a viper.

With savage weight, his hand darted to his waist to draw one of three daggers in a seamless, fluid motion. Humming with Star Energy and lightning, the blade pulsed with murderous intent as he drove it toward the man’s heart, his expression icy and direct.

Before the steel could pierce, Debro’s free hand clamped over Asher’s wrist, stopping the momentum instantly. The Astra energy surrounding Debro’s palm neutralized the stinging lightning and Star Energy as he held the strike in an iron grip.

Asher remained undeterred. Virelass vanished from his other hand, blinking out as if she never existed, only to reappear poised above Debro. With a perfect, circular path of chaotic energy and blurred speed, she slashed toward Debro's neck with the singular goal of ending the fight through decapitation.

Debro’s eyes flickered toward the blade; his combat awareness remained sharp despite the turmoil. He wouldn't repeat the amateur error of forgetting the weapon was sentient.

With a mere thought, the Astra energy surrounding him condensed into an volatile state. An explosion of power, reminiscent of an atomic detonation, thundered outward. Within a twenty-kilometer radius, everything was blasted away by the catastrophic shockwave as Debro’s might reshaped the surroundings once more.

Clouds of debris and smoke engulfed them, casting the battle in a haze, yet these two men existed beyond such limitations, their senses piercing through the chaotic veil. Within the swirling dust, Asher maintained his momentum.

Aware that his opponent’s speed and potency had increased due to a mysterious awakening, Asher chose to compensate by elevating his own force, adapting in real time.

During his long cultivation, Asher had refined a technique to amplify his strikes by concentrating space around his fist, compressing it before discharging it with explosive results.

He applied this now, though he directed the spatial compression around his foot instead. Adapting the movement into an high-speed Brazilian kick, Asher whipped his leg at Debro’s head, aiming to shatter his skull with the gathered pressure.

Debro, tracking the strike, leaned back with refined timing, letting the blow sail past his face with minimal exertion.

As the kick missed, Asher didn't falter; he let the compressed space detonate, the delayed explosive force slamming into Debro’s face and catching him off balance.

Asher immediately twisted his wrist to break free from the grip and flickered away, reappearing meters back with Virelass firmly in hand, ready to resume the brutal exchange without a moment's pause.