As XalâTharâs stomp covered everything in hazy dust and smoke, Asher simply called upon his Lightning affinity. The next moment, the Heavens themselves responded. From the sky, a thick bolt of pure purple lightning descended under Asherâs control.
XalâTharâs head snapped upward toward the incoming attack. He raised his hand, and using his Momentum Manipulation ability, he simply shifted the lightning bolt to the side with calm ease.
But Asher had already expected this. The next instant, a portal opened the moment the lightning bolt was about to crash into the ruined floor. The lightning bolt tore through the portal as another portal opened behind XalâThar in a linked sequence.
XalâTharâs eyes flashed. He had been caught off guard. He hadnât expected Asher to be able to open portals.
The lightning bolt crashed against his back, his body shooting forward under the bombardment of the attack. His body flooded with immense energy as he immediately tried to cancel the momentum despite the pain he was feeling. He landed calmly on the ground, his body smelling like burnt meat as he had been fried alive. Blood couldnât even drip from his body as that too had been dried up.
Through months of training, Asher was now able to open portals with ease. Although the distance wasnât that great yet, unlike how Cindralis and Azaron could cross thousands of kilometers, as it was simply impossible to achieve such mastery in only a few months, a radius of one kilometer was now well within his expertise.
And if it wasnât for the StellarFlame training consuming much of his time, he could have achieved even more.
Asher appeared before XalâThar as he moved to finish the job with a single decapitation. But XalâThar wouldnât go down that easily. His Astra Energy pulsed as he immediately tapped into his Momentum Manipulation ability and froze Asher where he stood.
His flamberge blurred forward as he unleashed another momentum-infused slash. But Asher simply created an Astra Dome and tanked the attack head-on. Since XalâThar could sense momentum through space, there was no need to teleport.
But XalâThar seemed undeterred. He simply used his Momentum Manipulation ability and accelerated the air particles within Asherâs Astra Dome. By accelerating them outward through momentum, a devastating shockwave tore outward within the dome with ruinous force.
But Asher wasnât affected, as he had simply used his Spatial affinity to block the shockwave that slammed into him. While XalâThar might have momentarily pinned him in place, it didnât mean he was helpless.
The next instant, Asherâs body caught ablaze as whitish flames enveloped him. The next moment, the heat in the air skyrocketed, and in the next instant, Asher removed his Astra Dome as a rocketing blast with the force of a nuclear weapon erupted outward in an annihilating wave of burning and searing force. Everything within a twenty-kilometer radius was erased with ease.
XalâTharâs body immediately shot backward as he streaked through the air. At this moment, his left hand had been burned away and devoured by the StellarFlame.
Asher felt his momentum return the next instant. With that, he stepped forward in a blur of motion as he arrived before XalâThar yet again. But the moment he appeared, XalâThar froze him in motion once more.
However, Asher wasnât one to fall for the same trick twice.
From behind XalâThar, another Asher, a clone, appeared. The clone landed a lightning-infused punch straight into XalâTharâs ribs from the side. XalâThar, who had been caught off guard yet again by the appearance of a second Asher, was sent tearing sideways.
Since Asher was no longer within the abyss-like pit that was the Negative Zone, his Light affinity was no longer sealed.
XalâThar landed on his feet as he canceled his own momentum. His eyes snapped toward Asher as he couldnât believe just how many abilities and skills the Human was pulling out. It made it difficult for him to predict what was going to happen next, and he had already been caught off guard three times.
His eyes shifted toward his injuries before returning to Asher once more. A thought crossed his mind, and without hesitation, he acted upon it. He vanished from where he stood and immediately made a run for it. His Momentum Manipulation ability boosted his speed to a devastating level.
Asher was stunned. Whenever he was in a fight, he and his opponents usually fought to the death. This was the first time he was seeing someone make a run for it. And a Rank 7 being at that. Where was its dignity and honor?
Lightning coursed through Asherâs body as he blitzed forward in a burst of purple radiance as he chased the Emovira. How could he simply allow it to escape?
XalâThar, noticing the pursuit immediately, used his Momentum Manipulation ability to attack other students in an attempt to force Asher to stop. But Asher only needed to create clones that teleported toward the attacks and defended the students.
Asher himself appeared before XalâThar through teleportation, Virelass swinging downward in a beautiful arc. But XalâThar used his own momentum to throw himself backward, easily dodging the attack.
Truly, the guy had countless ways to utilize his Momentum Manipulation ability.
But Asher didnât care. He teleported again, his blade swinging toward XalâTharâs neck. Yet XalâThar pushed both his Astra Energy and Momentum Manipulation to their limits, his momentum carrying him farther as he dodged once more.
Their bodies became twin blurs as one was a streak of black while the other was a streak of purple. Thus began a game of cat and rat, one running for his life while the other sought to end it.
Asher teleported once more, his figure appearing directly in front of XalâThar. He slashed horizontally with calm ease, this time with the certainty of one who had already won.
XalâThar immediately tapped into both his Astra Energy and Momentum Manipulation in an attempt to push his speed beyond its previous limits. But to his shock... he failed to use his ability. The power that had obeyed him for years suddenly refused to respond. Not only that, even his Astra Energy seemed unresponsive.
And with that, Virelass sliced cleanly through his neck.
The head soared skyward as the headless corpse took several more steps before collapsing to the ground with a heavy thud. Moments later, both the body and the head disintegrated into fine dust
Asher stood in silence as the lightning coursing through his body faded away. He remained there quietly as he gazed at his hands. A smile couldnât help but appear on his face. He remembered when he had fought Debro; that battle had been far more intense than this one. Both opponents had been Rank 7 beings, yet now he had killed one without even going all out.
Although it had forced him to use a skill he had only recently developed through Star Energy.
Through Star Energy, Asher could nullify someoneâs Astra Energy and ability if that ability relied on Astra Energy. Which was why XalâTharâs Momentum Manipulation ability had failed him at the final moment.
After his battle with Blue, Asher had gotten the idea. At first, he had tried to accomplish it through Perfect Astra Control, but it hadnât worked.
However, through Star Energy, he could now achieve it thanks to his growing mastery and proficiency. Even then, it depended on the opponentâs level of Astra Control, and he couldnât nullify someoneâs ability and Astra Energy forever as there was also a time limit.
It was still a work in progress, but progress nonetheless.
And with that, the Special Negative Zone had been conquered by the most talented man the world of Crymora had ever seen.
Making the impossible possible once more.
Truly... the man named Asher Wargrave stood in a realm of his own when it came to talent and combat.
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Bonus Chapter Sponsored by PrimordialParagon through Ko-fi
This Author is about to collapse. His greed might just kill him.
Also, the other rank is catching up to us on the Golden Ticket Ranking.