Chapter 113: Impossible!!!
".....?!"
Grayson, and even the sniper, were stunned, watching as Asher effortlessly squeezed the high-velocity round with two fingers, tossing the crushed lead onto the ground.
".....??"
The sniper was absolutely paralyzed. This was a custom rifle built exclusively to fight against Awakened, heavily enchanted with armor-piercing energy where even an SSS-RANK would suffer severe trauma if hit. Yet here he was, staring at a monster who caught the supersonic bullet with bare fingers and crumpled it like wet clay.
"Is he human??" he asked himself, his hands shaking against the stock of his weapon.
"Stop hiding, and come out. If you don’t... Your head will roll out," Asher said, his glowing eyes still fixed on Grayson below, not even bothering to look up at the distant threat.
"What is he talking about?"
The sniper instantly froze as a cold dagger rested against his neck. He slowly turned his head, seeing Juliana staring down at him with an abyssal, suffocating killing intent.
"Um... I surrender," he quickly stammered, his survival instincts screaming.
Juliana stared at him for a moment. To her, honor in combat meant nothing when protecting her family. With a completely blank expression, she moved the dagger, seamlessly splitting the man’s throat in one fluid arc.
"...?!"
"Argh!"
She watched as he grabbed his neck, struggling for a fleeting moment as his blood spilled over the rusted corrugated roof, before laying still, completely dead.
"The moment you pulled the trigger, your life was decided," she said coldly, mercilessly kicking the body off the edge of the roof.
BAM! CLANK! BANG!
Grayson and Asher turned to the jarring noise, watching as the man’s lifeless body rolled down the mountain of scrap metal, hitting the dirt hard in a twisted heap.
"....?!"
The two were stunned, looking up at the armored lady standing at the pinnacle of the junk pile like a female demon, looking down at them bathed in pale moonlight.
’You got to be kidding me? Are you that ruthless?’ Asher thought in surprised awe, witnessing the brutal efficiency of her action.
"Hahahahaha!!!"
Grayson burst out laughing, his unhinged laughter resounding all over the silent, metallic graveyard. He tightened his grip on his broadsword as thick, suffocating dark energy flowed out from his body and his eyes, warping the very air around him into a toxic miasma.
"You kids don’t know who I am, right?!"
BOOOOM!!
A massive shockwave of dark energy burst out from him, spreading rapidly across the junkyard, forcefully pushing the four towering knights two meters back. The sheer pressure caused a heavy frown to appear on both Asher’s and Juliana’s faces.
"Listen up!!! Today, I will show you the terror of SSS-RANK!!! Today, I will show you how I ruled the underground, and remain undefeated!!"
BOOOOM!!
He shot forward, crossing the distance instantly and appearing directly before the Knights. The summons raised their dark blades and lunged forward, meeting him head-on.
BAM!!
His heavy sword collided with the first Knight’s blade. Before the Knight could register a counterattack, Grayson slapped the blade away with his left hand, exploiting its rigid posture. He spun to the second, deflecting a plunging sword with the flat of his sword. With a brutal forward thrust of his palm, he knocked the Knight’s guard upward, following through with a devastating spin kick that struck the Knight’s chest plate, sending it flying off its feet.
Grayson didn’t slow down for a microsecond. He surged toward the third Knight, smoothly dodging a sweeping attack by dropping his center of gravity, easily sliding into its blind spot. With a reverse spin of his wrist, his sword slashed violently across the Knight’s back.
"....?!"
He leaped backward just in time, as a massive black greatsword smashed into the exact spot he had been standing, violently caving in the earth. Grayson darted his gaze around, his battle-hardened instincts locking onto the fourth Knight.
WHOOSH!
He quickly turned around, blocking a downward cleave with his own blade. Before Asher and Juliana’s eyes, the two combatants exchanged more than five blindingly fast blows, neither yielding an inch, their shockwaves destroying the surrounding junkyard and carving deep craters into the earth.
"Die!!!"
Grayson gripped his sword with both hands, dense dark energy wrapping around the jagged steel. He lunged toward the Knight, bringing his weapon down with the crushing weight of a collapsing building.
The Knight didn’t back down, its absolute loyalty overriding preservation, and thrust its own attack forward.
BOOOOM!!!!
The two titanic attacks collided, violently shattering the Knight into a shower of dissipated dark metal.
’Hmm... I just learned something new. The knights’ stats are high, twice the number of Grayson’s current stats, but they lack the combat experience this guy has forged in real blood... I don’t even think I can fight him in pure swordsmanship and win without any cheat.’
Asher stood up, staring down at Grayson, who stood still amidst the wreckage, dark energy rolling off his body as he took a minute’s rest to catch his breath.
’Is this the true strength of an SSS-RANK? Terrifying,’ Asher thought, a confident smirk blooming on his face. ’But I shouldn’t mistake one detail; the Knights are just S-Rank, not SSS-RANK... He is still far from defeating me---’
He was suddenly stunned as Grayson vanished from the ground below, compressing the physical space, and instantly appearing directly behind him, his heavy sword dropping toward Asher’s skull like an executioner’s blade.
"Watch out, Asher!" Juliana yelled in absolute shock.
BOOOOM!!!
"...?!"
Grayson stared wide-eyed as the dust cleared, revealing nothing but a sheared pile of metal beneath his blade. He lowered his gaze to the ground, seeing Asher standing casually fifty feet below, hands casually tucked into his overcoat, which was his Mythic-Tier Dark King Judgment Armor.
’Is he faster than me?’ Grayson thought, genuinely rattled as he stared down at the young Patriarch.
"You are quite bold attacking me." Asher said with a dark smirk as he stretched his right hand forward. The next moment, the Devouring Sword materialized in his grip. The crimson bone blade vibrated in hungry excitement, feasting on the dense dark energy saturating the air.
"You are a swordsman, with the dark element... But compared to my Sword physique, which made me the God of all swords, you are nothing but trash."
"I haven’t used this skill on anyone, not even against the Priestess... Count yourself lucky."
{Skill: Sword Proficiency - Activated.}
{Master’s rank has temporarily been pushed to EX-Rank.}
BOOOOOOOM!!
A catastrophic pillar of absolute energy burst out from Asher, piercing the clouds and shooting straight into the night sky, stunning everyone present as the sheer, reality-bending gravity of an EX-Rank existence crushed the junkyard.
{Sword Physique has Advanced.}
{Shadow Physique has Advanced.}
{All Skills below Divine-Tier have Advanced one rank.}
{All weapons bound to Master, and below Mythic-Tier have Advanced one rank.}
"This?! What sort of power is this?" Grayson muttered in pure terror, his own SSS-Rank aura flickering and dying out like a candle in a hurricane.
Asher lowered his now glowing golden gaze onto Grayson, radiating the absolute authority of a divine being looking down upon a mortal insect.
"Judgment Strike."
"....?!!"
BOOOOOOM!!!!!!