CLEAVER OF SIN Chapter 628: Arrogance

Yveric remained composed amid his own frenzy, with corpses scattered around his feet; the forest—or whatever remained of it—had transformed into a vast blood ocean, a horrifying expanse of slaughter visible to the horizon. Even though he eradicated his foes in just one minute, the tremors, echoes, quakes, and thunderous blasts from his might and ruin persisted, as if the world itself battled to heal from the catastrophe that unfolded.

'Perhaps I ought to have restrained myself further,' he mused inwardly while maintaining a stoic face, his eyes scanning the wreckage devoid of any feeling, 'it's no surprise the Duke dispatched them all with one strike every time,' his mind went on, head shaking slightly in mild letdown, like he hadn't lived up to his standards.

His intention to enjoy the next five minutes shattered because of his immense strength and dominance... this was the plight of the mighty, where holding back demanded true exertion, and surplus power frequently spoiled the sparse thrill in combat.

Five fresh auras announced their coming, discreet but undeniable; these were the Void class monsters, who had lingered in the background, observing Yveric shred their horde like mere tissue. For these Void class monsters, the rest were just disposable fodder, worthless lives sacrificed to gauge their foe's prowess.

"It seems the Duke is too busy to come this time," declared the first Void class monster, a towering ten-foot Orc exuding raw power from its enormous build.

"We didn’t manage to draw him out this time, huh?" chimed the second, an eight-foot Monkey balanced on a tree branch, glaring down at Yveric without a trace of dread in its gaze.

"Hiss!!! The new Lord would be angry with us," hissed the third, a colossal serpent spanning meters, its words laced with a bone-chilling sibilance cutting the air.

"It doesn’t matter, with the Lord’s power, we can storm the Duke’s land by ourselves," boasted the fourth with a smug grin, the massive wolf voicing an eerie assurance.

"Sigh... our forces couldn’t even last five minutes as the human had stated earlier," lamented the fifth and last Void class monster, a Peacock—the tiniest of the group, yet equal in might to its peers.

Yveric held his tongue briefly, his thoughts racing as he analyzed and absorbed every utterance accurately, 'they aimed to bait the Duke? For what reason?' he pondered, the scheme's ramifications sparking a subtle interest in him.

These Void class monsters clearly schemed something major, though he remained unaware of the details, and truthfully, he cared little right then, since their schemes wouldn't alter the end result.

'Moreover, who's this Lord they're mentioning nonstop, is that the mastermind?' Yveric reflected silently, his stare steady and unruffled. He felt no urgency to move, for these beasts facing him were only Void class monsters, entities he could crush anytime with ease.

Yet prior to uttering a word or posing queries, a crushing aura enveloped the battlefield, a weight so profound the atmosphere seemed to congeal. At once, the lingering booms and shockwaves from the recent clash halted, as if they dared not resound now, like noise itself cowered in terror.

Yveric's impassive look morphed into sheer, raw astonishment; an End class monster had entered the fray.

'I failed to detect its arrival until now,' Yveric's eyes sharpened as his mind whirled, senses sharpening to their max while he braced fully for the clash ahead.

"It seems the Duke couldn’t even be bothered to come this time," the End class monster's voice boomed upon revealing itself. This creature bore humanoid traits—two legs, two arms—towering nine feet with rippling muscles, its form dotted with countless eyes that twitched grotesquely, forever hunting the invisible.

"We greet the Lord," the five Void class monsters and beasts dropped to their knees at once, chorusing their salute, prior haughtiness yielding to total deference.

The monster's numerous eyes turned toward Yveric, and for a short instant, they locked gazes in silence, an unseen strain building between them. Yet in the blink of an eye that followed, the astonishment on Yveric's face melted away completely, shifting back to utter detachment, as if the creature facing him posed no threat at all.

"I will be killing you first, before I make my way to the Duke," the End class monster declared in a frigid, emotionless voice.

Yet before the End class monster could take any action, Yveric uttered ahead of it, "Don’t move."

With that order, the End class monster halted rigidly in place, its body seized as if shackled by unseen chains, while the Void class monsters likewise stiffened in their kneeling stances, incapable of even the tiniest shift. Without further speech, Yveric strode ahead in steady, composed steps, his power clamping them down with unchallenged dominance.

Word Law, his ability, transformed whatever he uttered into fact so long as he held sufficient Astra energy, although its strength also hinged on the foe's power level—a horrifying gift that converted words into ironclad decrees.

Pure horror twisted the End class monster's features, its many eyes bulging wide as it thrashed wildly to break free, but to no avail, the Void class monsters trapped just the same. The next heartbeat saw their Astra energies erupt in a desperate push to trigger their powers against it, yet it proved far too late; Yveric’s Astra-wreathed lance flashed through the air, and in one swift motion, six heads arced high before crashing to the earth with heavy, deadened thumps.

Still, the corpses hung suspended, locked firm by Yveric’s ability. He then released the hold, sending the bodies slamming down hard, blood spraying in all directions as a heavy, suffocating hush fell over the battlefield, echoing long after.

Only moments earlier, Yveric had warned Asher that End class monsters bore that name for good cause, and now he had slain one in a lone strike—an feat most would label utterly impossible.

"What a disappointment, I got my hopes and guard up for nothing," Yveric muttered, his tone dripping with letdown, having thought at first he'd encountered a real challenger, one to test him fully and let him unleash his true potential.

He felled the End class monster with such ease because it had only newly advanced to that rank days before. Yveric perceived this at once with a mere look, his long-honed insight unveiling such details without effort.

No freshly minted End class monster stood a chance against Yveric, who had lingered at Crownstar Life Rank for centuries; pitting them together would mock his reputation and the might he'd forged across ages.

Even among the world's supreme elites, gaps in battle skill persisted. This End class monster resembled a complete beginner, a raw recruit at this tier of strength, its bravado vastly outstripping its true might.

'To think it dared aim for the Duke with such arrogance,' Yveric thought, giving a faint head shake—the beast's doom stemmed solely from its swollen ego. Having hit the world's top rank just days prior, it fancied itself untouchable, a deadly blunder.

'No matter, an End class monster's corpse will prove highly valuable,' he mused inwardly, then with a casual hand flick, all the monster remains hurtled toward him at his bidding, yanked in like by hidden strings before vanishing into his space ring. Task complete, he rose leisurely into the air, wheeled around, and soared back to the territory, abandoning only desolation and quiet in his trail.

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