CLEAVER OF SIN Chapter 639: Neutralized

Malrik hovered with a detached stare; even though those two had endured for centuries, their strength, aptitude, and knowledge couldn't match his own. He stood as a freakish prodigy of the top tier, existing on a realm of might far surpassing their wildest understanding.

Burning eyes fixed on Malrik from the Commander and Vice Commander, their forms surging with power, red lightning snapping wildly, and blue flames roaring fiercely around them in destructive fury.

The Commander spat aside, his saliva stained red with blood. "Brat," he said in a frigid tone.

Though wounded, the absurd armors they donned absorbed most of the strikes, greatly reducing their harm. Moreover, those armors appeared to have self-repairing qualities, quietly boosting their innate recovery and mending their broken forms steadily.

Malrik drifted down slowly, his foot meeting the earth as he confronted the pair. Shaking his head faintly, he slid his blade into its sheath while speaking in the utmost insolent manner, "Although you two are elders and old fossils, you are not worth facing my katana." With the fluid poise of a true Swordmaster, his blade vanished home right as the words escaped him.

Shifting into a fighting pose, he went on, "Come, I have better things and stronger enemies waiting," he declared tonelessly, his words stripped of all feeling.

"I will be taking that sharp tongue of yours," the Vice Commander declared, his tone glacial and thick with murderous intent. In the next instant, his figure flared brighter as red lightning sparked with greater ferocity and might, his whole body shining in amplified crimson glow.

Yet before he could budge an inch, Malrik materialized right in front of them, showing no patience for the man's buildup. Foot wrapped in Solar Energy, his front kick exploded into the Vice Commander’s jaw with blazing, bursting power.

A massive shockwave burst out from the collision point, the raw force flinging the Vice Commander flying back. His helmet barely dulled the crushing impact as he smashed into a mountain, spewing a liter of blood while his teeth ripped from their sockets. He plowed through one peak, then a second, and a third, before grinding to a stop.

Paying the Commander no mind, Malrik's form shimmered ghostly as he popped up before the Vice Commander lodged in the cliff face. The Commander hadn't even moved when Malrik’s golden-orange fists blurred into motion, warping reality like a streaking blur as if dozens of strikes landed simultaneously.

Left hooks pounded relentlessly into the Vice Commander’s face in a mere heartbeat, flowing instantly into a storm of right hooks battering the other cheek. Without letting him gasp, Malrik switched to body hooks, fists drilling into the man’s liver again and again without mercy.

Next came a shovel hook from various directions at once, Malrik’s fist smashing the man’s chin with relentless power, every hit packing the same ruinous punch.

The Vice Commander couldn't cope; his Crownstar Life Ranker senses betrayed him, his Crownstar Life Ranker body failed him, his tough frame, pain tolerance, awareness, and even thoughts all scattered in chaos under Malrik's endless punch tempest. The Imperial Armor proved worthless; helmet, chest plate, chainmail—all shredded by Malrik’s bare fists like brittle shards.

Suddenly, Malrik halted. The Vice Commander stood frozen like a still corpse, body ravaged and soaked in red blood. His flesh twisted into ugly shades of brown, purple, and black from brutal damage. Malrik eyed him briefly before pivoting away. The second his back turned and foot advanced, the Vice Commander crumpled face-down with a dull boom, a puff of dust kicking up.

Malrik fixed his gaze on the Commander, whose face showed raw shock. This youth was just thirty-one; such power shouldn't exist, it made no sense. He and the Vice Commander were meant to crush this fight, not get crushed. It broke every rule... especially since they'd survived from the Wargrave’s last Primarch's time.

Even against all odds, his resolve blazed intensely inside him, his determination solidifying like forged steel. He stood as the Empire's sword, the Emperor's guardian, ready to complete his mission at any price. His frame scorched fiercer as his azure flames surged brighter, liquefying the earth below into glowing magma. In an instant, he bridged the gap to Malrik, his greatsword crashing down with cataclysmic force and savage fury.

As the lethal blow targeted his skull, Malrik stayed utterly composed. He merely observed its approach, then his hand shot out, palm extended, seizing the Commander’s broadsword with mocking simplicity using just one grasp. The raging azure inferno blazed wildly, a scorching blaze that ignited the air itself, but it meant nothing to Malrik; he commanded Solar Energy at its core.

Absolute disbelief widened the Commander’s eyes. He had unleashed his full might, pushing his flames to their utmost heat, the peak he could ever reach. The very air and surroundings ignited from the ferocity, yet this youth had blocked his maximum assault bare-handed, showing zero hint of effort.

"You should simply blame your Emperor; after all, everyone knows I hate it when people lay their hands on my siblings," Malrik declared calmly, his voice flat and completely emotionless.

Before the Commander could utter a word, a fist pounded into his chest armor. A explosive shockwave burst from his spine, that lone strike stealing his breath while his organs shuddered near failure.

Without pause, Malrik’s elbow smashed down with devastating power, fracturing the Commander’s temple like a hammer on a fragile shell. His skull cracked open, body contorting wildly as it rocketed backward, ripping through obstacles in its trajectory, hurtling over a hundred kilometers until it finally halted.

The Commander and Vice Commander were dispatched with derisive, effortless simplicity.

Malrik didn’t bother glancing their way. In one stride, he disappeared, materializing at the barrier surrounding the Imperial Palace. With a single thought, he triggered his Light movement skill, Light Displacement, merging him instantly into a light ray of the barrier and evading all its defenses. Then, he advanced toward the Palace again, striding as if it belonged to him entirely.

_____