CLEAVER OF SIN Chapter 635: Personification

Morthen gazed at Gabriel, Daniel, and Israel with a grin lighting his features, while the trio scowled deeply, their faces etched with vigilant wariness and subdued aggression. Though they remained cautious around the soul-bound book, this didn't signify fear; they merely opted to sidestep the confrontation personally, as seasoned fighters who knew caution spelled survival rather than frailty.

A heavy silence lingered among them as their auras intensified, dense and oppressive, weighing down the air like an invisible burden from their merged presences. Then, in the blink of an eye, it exploded—Daniel, Gabriel, and Israel surged forward together, their velocity outpacing mere thought, materializing in front of Morthen with swiftness that mocked teleportation, as if space itself had yielded to speed their approach.

Daniel wasted no instant upon reaching him, summoning his sword seamlessly into his grasp, its edge shrouded in thick Astra energy, and in a haze-inducing swing that warped the atmosphere, he cleaved toward Morthen’s throat with deadly aim and clear murderous purpose.

As a martial artist, Israel donned gauntlets reinforced and glowing softly with Astra energy; from the flank, he hammered at Morthen’s ribs, his fist crumpling air and space alike with the might of a collapsing star, the immense pressure shaking the ambient air in fierce tremors.

Gabriel wielded a spear, manifesting like a specter from nothingness, his weapon enveloped in Astra energy throbbing with fearsome intensity; he stabbed ahead, stretching space and air like elastic sheets, twisting bizarrely as he targeted Morthen’s eyes with unerring lethality.

Morthen sensed the crushing assault from the trio, hurtling in at absurd velocities with crushing might, yet a sly grin crept over his countenance—he required no soul-bound book to evade, being a Crownstar Life Ranker who transcended ordinary boundaries.

His form simply dissolved into a streak, vanishing from his spot in a fluid, layered dodge that evaded every strike, his motions honed to near-prophetic perfection.

Over a hundred kilometers, terrain, sky, and ground erupted violently as the trio's missed blows ravaged outward, unleashing shockwaves laden with colossal mass and ruinous power.

Daniel pressed on without the slightest pause, seamlessly flowing from his failed strike into the follow-up, Astra energy now sheathing his whole body beyond just his sword; in a flicker, he erased himself from sight only to reemerge before Morthen, delivering a heart-piercing slash brimming with pinpoint accuracy and devastating force.

A faint smirk tugged at Morthen's lips; with a single mental command, his soul-bound book whipped its pages in a frantic whirl, flipping rapidly under some invisible guidance.

Astra energy erupted fiercely from his Astra veins as he called forth a weapon; instantly, a gleaming golden sword formed in his grip, and without pause or reluctance, he arced it upward to clash against Daniel’s blade with blinding velocity and immovable power.

Their swords collided in a cataclysmic impact, hurling out explosive compressed air waves that shredded the environs and warped spatial reality itself, yet right then, Israel and Gabriel struck like shadows exploiting the brief vulnerability, descending with merciless fury and refusing Morthen even a breath to regroup.

Morthen’s awareness sharpened on the dual threats converging from either side; though he wielded Excalibur now, sword mastery was not his innate forte.

But...

Once more, his soul-bound book turned pages, priming another skill as if he held flawless counters for any threat or scenario imaginable.

Astra energy raced through his veins to trigger the fresh ability. In that split second, his aura transformed—keener, more polished—his hold on Excalibur shifting with subtle mastery; from resembling an ordinary man handed a blade, he now embodied a sword sage of endless epochs, every stance, poise, and focus in flawless harmony.

Effortlessly, he knocked Daniel’s sword aside, his hand blurring into motion as he intercepted Gabriel’s strike aimed at Israel, redirecting it with flawless accuracy. Spotting the incoming redirected blow barreling toward him, Israel had no option but to drop his own offensive to shield himself. The instant he did so, Morthen exploited that split-second pause, transforming Excalibur into a golden streak that sliced through Israel’s body like hot knife through butter—ruthless, precise, and utterly ruinous.

Before Morthen could unleash a follow-up strike, a kick whistled from behind toward his head, surging at his temples with thunderous velocity, as Daniel pressed on relentlessly and without mercy.

Detecting the assault, Morthen dropped into a squat with impeccable timing to evade it, Daniel’s foot ripping through the air and shredding the spot where his head had just been. Right then, Excalibur vanished from Morthen’s grip as he triggered a new technique with fluid rapidity, switching forms without the slightest delay.

His physique and aura transformed yet again, evolving from an eternal sword expert into a fighter whose body was forged as the perfect instrument of war, every sinew and gesture sharpened for destruction. While still crouched low, he twisted around sharply, now squared off against Daniel with deliberate focus.

In the same instant, his fist rocketed upward like an inverted shooting star, hurtling at Daniel’s midsection; within that fleeting moment, he hammered out over ten thousand punches, each accurate, blistering, and destructive, all zeroed in on that one fragile target.

However, Daniel was a battle-tested warrior who stayed alert, reacting in a flash as Astra energy flooded his Astra veins, instantly erecting a fortified Astra barrier right at the impact zone. The second Morthen’s fist onslaught smashed into the shield, Daniel’s form was flung backward violently, akin to a kite in a ferocious tempest—even if he’d blocked the blows, the barrier failed to dispel their massive momentum.

Ere Morthen could pursue or capitalize, Gabriel lunged forward once more, his spear plummeting from overhead like a heavenly lance crashing from the firmament with irresistible power.

Though crouched low, Morthen merely sidestepped in a single smooth pivot, dodging the descent with casual grace. Gabriel’s thrust cratered the ground with apocalyptic might, gouging a massive abyss spanning thousands of meters, so profound it appeared to expose the planet’s inner core.

Yet the very moment Morthen finished evading, Israel’s fist filled his view, rocketing in with blistering speed and rocket-like propulsion, Astra energy churning wildly around his arm to boost the punch to staggering levels. Morthen raised his hand steadily, opting not for a forceful clash but instead using the back of his palm to redirect the blow aside with casual precision.

Far from settling for just a deflection, as his right hand diverted Israel’s strike, his left had already balled into a solid fist, which he plunged into Israel’s ribs with the power of a charging locomotive, the shock rippling through the nearby void.

From the flank, another assault howled in with doomsday ferocity, but Morthen didn’t even attempt a block or riposte, simply blinking out of sight from his position, abandoning that patch of space as if he’d never occupied it; the instant he vanished, an apocalyptic detonation surged outward with crushing force, the botched strike vaporizing everything in its wake, obliterating the terrain and extending over hundreds of kilometers with horrifying simplicity.