CLEAVER OF SIN-Chapter 612: Connection

As Asher was thinking about the Wargrave’s first founding Patriarch or Matriarch, Malrik’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"You remember the father and son that you killed?" Malrik asked as his eyes shifted towards Asher briefly, his gaze calm yet faintly probing.

Asher nodded in response, how could he forget, those people had cost him over four hundred thousand points, a loss that still lingered in his mind with a faint but persistent sting.

"I think they are still alive, little brother," Malrik stated with an indifferent tone, his voice carrying no trace of hesitation or doubt.

Hearing those words, Asher’s eyes immediately narrowed to slits, a sharp glint flashing within them as confusion and disbelief surfaced, he couldn’t understand why Malrik would say that, he had seen those two die by exploding themselves in a suicide bombing, their bodies obliterated beyond recognition.

"Why do you say so, Big Brother?" he asked as he stared at Malrik with his purple eyes, his tone steady but laced with restrained curiosity.

"It seems those two possess or are about to create their own bloodline ability, since it seems like the son inherited the ability from his father," Malrik stated absent-mindedly as though he hadn’t heard Asher’s question, his voice calm and detached.

After a moment, he finally spoke again, "think back carefully, although you’ve fought and killed over a hundred of the organisation, did any of them suddenly explode themselves by detonating their Astra energy?" he asked, his gaze now resting more intently on Asher.

Asher didn’t need to think, his ridiculous brain had already produced the answer, which was a no.

"Which means, those two were probably clones of themselves, or something else entirely, but their ability seems to allow them to explode by suicide bombing while they also remain alive, although I don’t know the details of their ability, I can at least guess this much," Malrik stated indifferently with a calm and measured tone.

Asher stood silent, he didn’t speak for a moment as he processed what Malrik had said. Indeed, he hadn’t thought of it this way, well, he had no time to think about it at the time. The moment the explosion had been caused, wiping out over four hundred villagers in an instant of devastating destruction, he had escaped with the remaining ones that were alive.

He didn’t wait, he came back immediately, fought those six sick people that wanted to rape him, fought over a hundred members without pause, then immediately fought the ’Six Numbers’, then ended Number Four’s Death Trigger ability, then battled Debro and fainted after the battle.

There was simply no time to think about it, he had simply been too occupied, constantly pushed forward by one battle after another without a moment to breathe or reflect.

Asher couldn’t help but curse at himself internally, although he had thought he was unconcerned and unbothered about the deaths of those villagers, his mind still subconsciously flashed to that moment, replaying moments of that catastrophic scene, he thought about them, how he could have saved them, how he could have maybe reacted faster, how different choices might have changed the outcome even if only slightly.

He had suspected the man from earlier, the moment the man saw through his plans to escape, he had suspected him... he should have remembered, he shouldn’t have left the man unchecked at that moment, that single lapse now echoing loudly in hindsight.

But he had let his guard down... or rather, in the moment when he was rushing to gather every single villager and escape because he knew they would be caught in the destruction caused by the freed Emovirae, in that moment of haste, in that moment of urgency and pressure, the man had slipped his mind, lost amidst the chaos of the situation.

Asher couldn’t help but close his eyes, although not everything ever went according to plan, still... there was always that lingering weight of what could have been done better.

Even if he had handled the man, there would have still been a matter of his son, whom Asher hadn’t bothered to check on when the man talked about his son, he would have still lost some villagers, but still, the number at least wouldn’t have reached that high, the scale of loss might have been reduced, even if not entirely prevented.

Asher clenched his fist for a moment, tension coiling within his muscles, it had taken the deaths of four hundred people for him to learn, a lesson carved into him through consequence rather than foresight.

But then, a sudden thought flashed through his mind, sharp and unexpected, this Father and Son ability reminded him of something... or rather, a certain someone named Hito, a memory surfacing from the depths of his past experiences.

He had met the orphan boy at the First Training Ground of the Wargrave estate during his training days.

He perfectly remembered Hito’s ability being the ability to create clones that fought alongside him, duplicates that mirrored his movements and intent, and Hito could make these clones commit suicide, hence causing a heavy explosion, a destructive tactic that was both effective, swift and precise.

This was exactly what that father and son had done, the similarity too precise to dismiss lightly.

’Do they possess the same abilities?’ Asher couldn’t help but think to himself, the question forming with increasing weight. Abilities were hardly exclusive to anyone, variations or duplicates of some abilities existed across different individuals.

Like how many people possessed the ability to manipulate various elements, just like how Asher himself had a soul-bound weapon and Finch had one despite not being a Wargrave, proving that uniqueness was not absolute.

’Is Hito related to them?’ the thought flashed through Asher’s mind, suspicion flickering persistently through his thoughts. What was stopping this so-called ’The Consumed’ or ’The Corrupted’ or ’The Maddened’ organisation from training children and sending them as spies into various families? Surely an organisation this old could concoct such a meticulous and deeply calculated plan, one that would take years to unfold.

But still, Asher knew he could just be making connections that weren’t there, he could be connecting nonexistent threads, he could be accusing someone innocent of something based on mere coincidence and circumstantial similarity.

The image of Hito stayed in his mind for a while, lingering with usual clarity, he had known the boy for over a year, observed him, interacted with him, and although Asher had sensed nothing wrong, no irregularity or hidden malice, it was best to... investigate further and confirm rather than rely solely on guesses.

He had ignored the father and son once and look how that had turned out, the consequences of that oversight still fresh in his mind, if he ignored Hito and he ended up being a spy, this time, the Wargraves would be affected directly, and it wouldn’t end with him fainting, the damage could extend far beyond himself.

Asher made his decision, his resolve settling firmly within him. It wasn’t like they would capture Hito and cage him without reason, so, if the background check and investigation came back clean, then there was nothing to worry about at all, and his suspicions would simply remain as cautious thoughts. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

But at the same time, if Hito was part of this organisation, then definitely his background would have been arranged and perfected by this organisation with great care, crafted to withstand scrutiny and suspicion.

But... nothing was perfect, nothing was ever too clean... if Hito’s background came back spotless and too picture-perfect, then that in itself might be a red flag, something worth questioning, something that would demand deeper investigation rather than blind acceptance.