CLEAVER OF SIN

Chapter 879: What Lies Above

Asher simply leaned backward without taking a step, the glaive carving through the position where his head had been a split second earlier. Asher’s purple eyes locked onto him as he stumbled forward due to his missed attack. Before Teo could so much as blink, Asher’s fist tore into his ribs, the sound of bone snapping into fragments thundering across the airport.Teo Swig’s body shot sideways yet again, the wind catching him as he landed on his feet. The moment he did, he clutched the place Asher had just punched as he vomited a large portion of blood. His internal organs twisted in pain and horror from that singular point of impact.

’So, this is the gap between us, huh?’ Teo Swig thought to himself as he wiped the blood that stained his mouth.

’He hasn’t even taken a step from his position,’ he thought to himself as his chest rose and fell while he steadied his breathing.

And indeed, Asher had never taken a step; there was no need to. Teo Swig came to him each time.

Teo Swig settled into another martial stance, his Astra energy surging like never before as he increased his energy output with even greater resolve. Fire bloomed across his body as it surged through his glaive. Wind compressed around him like swirling rings as it also flowed into his glaive. He raised his glaive toward the sky as his blazing eyes remained fixed on Asher.

The air around Teo Swig trembled as gravity seemed to increase naturally on its own. The earth below him turned into liquid flames in real time as the boy simply poured more Astra energy into his attack, testing the limits of his Astra energy control.

His control remained remarkably stable despite the overwhelming pressure threatening to consume everything around.

The moment he was about to lose control of his own Astra energy and go berserk, he immediately swung his glaive downward with every ounce of physical strength he could muster.

[The Swig’s Technique: Combination: Erasing Swing]

The moment he unleashed the attack, the entire world seemed to become devoid of sound. Colors vanished one after another until only two remained at that moment: crimson-orange from the flames and white from the wind. And with that, an enormous flash of white light exploded outward with erasing might as both flames and wind combined into something unknown.

An explosion erupted outward in a dome of flames that rose toward the sky with rings of wind circling it. It expanded with every passing moment. One meter. Two meters. Ten meters. One hundred meters. Two hundred meters and more. Everything within the dome was erased in real time. The moment it reached a staggering nine-hundred-meter radius, the dome paused before collapsing outward.

The entire airport was consumed. It was as though Satan himself had descended upon the planet itself. Buildings were wiped off the battlefield. Planes and their hangars were erased. Network towers were sent into oblivion.

Earthquakes tore through everything and anything as the shockwave slammed into the green barrier, throwing spectators backward to the point that some of them were almost knocked unconscious.

As the madness settled, everything spanning almost a two-kilometer radius had been erased, true to the name of the technique Teo had just used.

There was no airport anymore. The battlefield didn’t even exist anymore.

Within the battlefield, Teo Swig could be seen panting. Sweat covered his body as his clothes had been burnt away, soot stained his face, and his black eyes remained fixed forward. At this moment, he had burned through fifty percent of his Astra energy reserves just to unleash that attack.

It was an attack capable of killing many Rank 6 Emovirae or Grave-class Monsters. But alas, no Monster or Emovira was simply going to sit back and watch Teo charge up an attack of this magnitude to be used against it.

Through the smoke, Asher appeared once more. He stood there with his hands clasped behind his back as his purple eyes met Teo’s black ones. He hadn’t been injured in the slightest. While Teo’s attack had been enough to erase a two-kilometer radius, it still wasn’t enough to close the gap between them.

But Asher had to admit, Teo Swig had achieved perfect harmony between his flame and wind elements, allowing him to boost his attacks to an insane degree. Which was also one of the reasons he had been able to unleash such destruction. Even among the Academy’s finest, achieving such flawless synchronization between two elements was an extraordinary feat. Most Awakeners spent years attempting to accomplish such a balance, yet Teo had managed to reach that level through immense talent and sheer training.

Asher’s hand curled around Virelass’ hilt as he unsheathed her. Teo Swig, who had been panting, immediately felt his senses scream the moment he sighted that motion.

His Astra energy surged as he created a wind barrier, a water cocoon, an earth dome, and a flame sphere, all of them shielding him from whatever apocalypse Asher was about to unleash.

Asher saw his defenses but didn’t react. He simply swung Virelass from below in a smooth upward diagonal motion. There was no flashy movement, no wasted movement, just pure, outrageous swordsmanship that those still within the Academy and beyond it could only dream of achieving.

With that singular swing of his rapier, an enormous diagonal silver sword line appeared. It didn’t streak forward, it didn’t burst into motion, it simply carved itself into the atmosphere and reality like a thumbprint etched upon existence itself.

With that singular slash, a blast of shockwave exploded backward with invisible force as everything before Asher was immediately diced and sliced into finer pieces. Chunks of the destroyed ground tore apart in madness.

Space itself cracked ever so slightly before stitching itself back together. The attack met Teo Swig’s defenses, and like paper being used as a shield against a rocket, Asher’s attack obliterated them out of existence.

Teo Swig couldn’t even defend himself after pouring his remaining Astra energy reserves into the shields. The attack landed, tearing endlessly through his body as hundreds of sword marks marred his flesh, as though he were now made of sword wounds instead of flesh and bone.

His two upper limbs were severed at the shoulders, a small gash tore through his neck, drawing blood. His left eye had been blown away. Pain tore through his entire body, his brain sending him nothing but endless waves of agony, yet at this moment, Teo Swig’s mind seemed to exist within another dimension.

His only remaining eye gleamed as though he had seen something within Asher’s final rapier slash. A form of enlightenment... a momentary trance.

’I see... so this is what lies above,’ he thought as darkness finally claimed his consciousness.

In his final moment of defeat, Teo Swig had glimpsed a higher form of Weapon Mastery. And whenever he became conscious again, his own Weapon Mastery would have taken a step forward. He had lost, yet he had gained something in return.

With that, his body collapsed forward with a dull thud.

Asher raised his head toward the sky where three students sat watching, his lips parting as he spoke one familiar word.

"Next."