CLEAVER OF SIN-Chapter 577: Technique
Number Four, Number Five, and Number Six’s eyes narrowed at Asher’s ridiculous speed and fluid motion. They couldn’t believe what they were witnessing; to them, it seemed utterly impossible. They were overwhelming the boy before them with endless attacks from every conceivable direction, yet he made not a single mistake. He didn’t just defend, he also found gaps within their pincer assaults to even counterattack.
And the most shocking part of it all was that he wasn’t even augmenting himself with Astra energy. He was matching them purely with his natural physique. Even Number Five, who greatly enjoyed battles and possessed a sharp instinct for combat, could already tell that if this battle continued in its current direction, it would inevitably end in their deaths.
Asher’s purple eyes suddenly snapped to the left. He immediately dodged a spear thrust from Number Four. The moment he avoided it, a dagger was already singing toward his throat. Yet he dodged again in one seamless, flowing motion, as though he had anticipated the attack long before it was even launched.
The moment Number Five closed in with his scimitar, Asher slashed outward in a silver flash, and their weapons detonated into a passionate kiss of steel.
But Asher didn’t hesitate. The instant he blocked Number Five’s attack, he pushed the blade aside and unleashed a storm of strikes within the blink of an eye, forcing the trio to fall into purely defensive techniques. The moment they did so, Asher stepped backward, creating distance between himself and them. However, before he could even cross any meaningful gap, Number Four hurled his spear forward.
The weapon tore through the air like a sniper’s bullet.
Asher simply tilted his head to the side with casual ease, the wind around his ear screaming as the spear narrowly passed him. But the moment it did, his Omni Perception immediately picked up Number Four suddenly standing behind him.
Asher’s eyes flickered slightly. He hadn’t sensed space ripple when Number Four appeared, which meant the man hadn’t teleported. This ability he had displayed must have been tied directly to the spear itself.
The moment Number Four appeared behind him, he immediately unleashed a technique.
[Spear Technique: Flowing River Thrust]
Astra energy exploded outward, surging violently into his spear as he activated the technique. His weapon seemed to transform into a venomous viper as his speed skyrocketed, unleashing well over a hundred thrusts within the shortest fraction of time possible. The air compressed violently around the spear’s tip before tearing outward again and again, more than a hundred times in rapid succession.
Asher’s reaction was faster than the blink of an eye. He turned swiftly, and rather than unleashing one of his own personally created techniques, since these people were not worthy of such honor, he instead unleashed Hillary’s technique.
His rapier blurred with freezing sharpness as he generated over a hundred wind arcs that collided directly with Number Four’s assault with terrifying power and precision.
With a deafening concussive blast, the two techniques devoured each other entirely. Dust exploded outward in all directions as screaming wind blades tore across the battlefield, threatening to rip both Asher and Number Four into shredded pieces of flesh. Their techniques carved deep scars into the earth itself, gouging massive trenches across the soil and erasing entire portions of the surrounding forest.
Both fighters burst out from the rising smoke and dust created by their clash.
Asher emerged completely unharmed.
Number Four, however, had suffered damage. Thin wind cuts littered his body, shallow but numerous, clearly created by Hillary’s technique. Yet the Astra energy cloaking his body had protected him from any fatal or deeply penetrating injuries.
The moment Asher appeared again, Number Five and Number Six immediately tore toward him. They didn’t hesitate for even a fraction of a second.
They both unleashed their techniques simultaneously.
[Dagger Technique: Illusion Fangs]
Number Six vanished instantly, her body appeared everywhere across the battlefield at once. Every time she appeared, a slash followed. The attacks converged around Asher like a deadly net closing from every imaginable angle, as though she intended to bury him completely within the barrage. Her Astra energy further boosted the speed and lethality of every strike.
Asher didn’t hesitate. One small slip would mean blood.
He could feel the danger radiating from the incoming assault, but he was ready to face it head-on. He immediately dropped into a stance, his knees dipping slightly while his sword lowered to waist level. Then, without wasting even a single moment, his body spun with astonishing speed in a circular motion as he unleashed a perfect three-hundred-and-sixty-degree slash.
There was no Astra energy. No Star energy. Just pure swordsmanship and terrifying talent.
The moment Asher completed his movement, an enormous circular ring of wind erupted outward with annihilating dominance. It screamed violently toward Number Six’s attacks, and the instant both forces collided, the world itself seemed to be swallowed within a titanic explosion of ruinous power.
Over a kilometer of land was instantly reduced to nothingness as the world was dyed pure white. A seismic shockwave rolled outward as though a nuclear weapon had detonated at point-blank range. A colossal mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke and dust rose toward the heavens, as though begging whatever existence resided above to intervene and stop the madness unfolding below.
Yet even within the destruction they had wrought with their own hands, their blades continued to collide with lethal precision.
Number Six’s face was covered in dust and a deep frown. Multiple gashes covered her body, her blood staining her clothes. She hadn’t been able to escape the collision in time, and when her technique met Asher’s slash, the overwhelming force had slammed directly into her. If it weren’t for the Astra energy surrounding her body, she might have already died.
She couldn’t help but click her tongue in irritation, if she had activated her Golden Box in time, she wouldn’t have been injured like this.
[Sword Technique: Scimitar Conclav—]
Before Number Five could even finish activating his technique, Asher suddenly appeared before him in a flicker of motion. His rapier sang through the air toward the man’s neck with merciless precision.
Number Five immediately abandoned his attacking technique and transitioned into a defensive parry. Using the momentum behind Asher’s strike, he redirected the force and created some distance between himself and Asher.
Number Four and Number Six immediately appeared beside him, they didn’t hesitate, recognizing that they had already been overwhelmed with frightening ease, the three of them simultaneously activated their abilities without holding anything back.
