CLEAVER OF SIN

Chapter 867: Forfeit

The moment the signal was given, Theodore didn’t dare hesitate. He immediately sprang into action, using his ability right off the bat, unlike the other students who relied on physical combat and weapon-based combat first.But unlike them, Theodore’s ability didn’t expend his own Astra energy. He only consumed Astra when his ability summoned the coins into existence, and that was all. As for the Astra energy required to power whatever attack he unleashed, well... that was up to Reality.

"Five hundred thousand platinum coins. Poisonous Atmosphere."

As his words echoed, five hundred thousand platinum coins appeared around Theodore in a massive heap before they immediately burned away in golden flames and vanished as Reality accepted his bid.

The air instantly became suffocating as it seemed to pulse with a sickly green hue, as though space itself were being dyed in that sinister color. The poison saturating the atmosphere at that moment was several times more terrifying than what Asher had experienced back in the Swamp Forest during the Qualifier Rounds. Every breath became a silent death sentence, and even the surrounding vegetation began to wither under its influence.

Asher didn’t bother taking another breath. He simply stopped breathing altogether, which was by far the easiest way to deal with the situation. Such tactics might have worked against many opponents, but they were utterly useless against Asher.

"One thousand platinum coins. Gas Mask."

Theodore’s voice rang out once more as a black gas mask appeared in his hand after Reality accepted his bid. He swiftly put it on. After all, even he could be affected by his own poison if he remained careless.

While Theodore was making preparations, Asher simply stood there, seemingly lost in thought.

’Kimberley helped me a great deal during the gala. It would be wrong of me to one-shot her elder brother,’ Asher thought to himself.

He wanted to hold back a little against Theodore, allowing the boy to display his ability and talent for a while since he, Asher, was acquainted with his younger sister. To Asher, this was the least he could do.

As Asher remained lost in thought, Theodore attacked, immediately capitalizing on whatever opening he believed he had sensed.

"One million platinum coins. Endless Lightning Storm."

Theodore seemed to understand the gap between himself and Asher, so he immediately jumped straight to spending one million platinum coins. That was an amount of money most people would never even dream of seeing in their entire lives, but to Theodore, it was merely another string of numbers.

The sky darkened as bolts of crimson lightning began crackling with apocalyptic madness, as though a storm capable of erasing everything in sight had gathered overhead. Then, in the very next instant, the storm descended like divine wrath. It wasn’t just a single lightning bolt, it was an endless barrage, continuous and relentless.

Asher didn’t react. He simply channeled Astra energy and protected only his clothes rather than his body, as he had no intention of letting them burn away and having himself provide fan service with his body.

The first bolt crashed against his head with the force of a comet. The second thundered into his chest. Another blasted into his back, while yet another tore across his shoulder. Yet Asher simply stood within the endless storm of lightning as though it wasn’t attacking him at all. Every strike capable of reducing ordinary people to ashes merely dispersed across his body without leaving behind the slightest trace of injury.

Asher’s head slowly rose toward the sky. His hand moved to Virelass hanging at his waist. He drew her in one smooth motion, and with that very same motion, unleashed a lazy, almost careless upward slash toward the sky.

There was no silver streak, no crescent-shaped sword wave, no dazzling flash of light.

Nothing.

Then, in the very next moment, the sky itself bulged inward before collapsing as a perfectly straight sword mark stretching for unknown meters suddenly appeared across the sky, cleaving through the formation of the endless lightning storm. The violent bolts vanished as though they had never existed. The sky cleared once more, and moments later, rain gently began to fall upon the battlefield.

Asher’s eyes shifted, locking onto Theodore’s position. With that, he took a single step, but before the sole of his foot could even touch the charred earth, his body had already appeared behind Theodore as though he had always been there. He slowly raised his rapier, almost as if giving Theodore time to react, before bringing it down in a simple downward slash.

Theodore’s senses screamed in warning as he immediately tapped into his Wealth Manipulation ability.

"Five hundred thousand platinum coins. Phase."

Platinum coins appeared around him before burning into golden flames as he immediately phased through Asher’s sword attack at the very last possible moment.

In a normal scenario, Theodore would never have spent five hundred thousand platinum coins just to phase through a simple slash. But this was an attack from a Wargrave. Who knew whether it was truly just a simple slash?

The instant he phased, he vanished from where he stood and rapidly created some distance between himself and Asher. But the very moment he did, the same thing happened. Asher had appeared behind him with a single silent step, the same rapier slashing toward his shoulder with effortless precision.

’How? A movement technique?’ Theodore wondered as that same dreadful sensation gripped him once again.

This time, he no longer chose to phase. Instead, he decided to retaliate, knowing he couldn’t afford to remain on the defensive throughout the entire battle.

"Fifty million platinum coins. Time Acceleration."

The concept of time itself was already absurd, and manipulating it was even more so. But Theodore didn’t need to manipulate it personally. As long as he paid a sufficiently extravagant price, Reality would do it for him. That was precisely why such a skill cost an unbelievable fifty million platinum coins.

If it were entirely up to Theodore, he would have loved to trap the Tenth Sun inside a time loop or freeze time around him altogether, but he simply couldn’t perform such actions directly on his opponents.

His speed exploded instantly as he sidestepped Asher’s attack with ease before immediately drawing his spear and thrusting it toward Asher’s throat with vicious force. Yet despite time accelerating his movements, it was still futile. Asher merely shifted aside with the same effortless grace, as though he had already predicted the attack long before it was launched.

As Asher dodged, his palm shot toward Theodore’s jaw as he casually increased his speed to match Theodore’s sudden burst of acceleration. Theodore immediately attempted to activate another skill, but it was already too late. Asher’s palm crashed into his jaw faster than Theodore’s thoughts could even keep up.

Theodore’s head snapped upward as he was launched high into the air in a blur of speed, his jaw dislocating from a single strike.

"Ten thousand platinum coins. Heal."

Coins appeared and vanished in golden flames as his shattered jaw instantly snapped back into place, restoring him to perfect condition.

Before he could even blink, Asher was already above him, silently staring down with the same indifferent expression. Before Theodore could tap into his ability again, Asher’s leg blurred as his toes connected squarely with Theodore’s temple. A deafening sonic boom erupted as Theodore was blasted out of the sky, his body tearing through countless trees before ricocheting violently across the ground like a discarded doll.

Theodore refused to stay down. He forced himself back to his feet as pain assaulted every inch of his body. His gas mask shattered and fell from his face, unable to survive the force of Asher’s previous attack. His body was riddled with blunt-force injuries, blood rolling down his skin as every movement sent waves of agony coursing through his limbs.

"Fifteen thousand platinum coins. Heal."

He activated his ability once more, restoring himself to full health. He then created another gas mask, calmly put it on, and stared at Asher, who simply floated down from the sky with his hands tucked inside his pockets.

When Asher had said he would hold back, he hadn’t meant he would hold Theodore’s hand like a child. Even now, he was restraining himself by an overwhelming margin.

"Still want to continue?" Asher asked as he slowly walked toward Theodore with an indifferent pace.

’How is he not being affected by the poison?’ Theodore questioned inwardly as he watched Asher approach without the slightest hint of discomfort.

Theodore remained silent for a moment as Asher came to a stop before him, the two standing barely a few centimeters apart.

To be honest, Theodore wanted to continue. He could bid for an attack costing hundreds of millions of platinum coins if he truly wished; it was well within his budget. But he could clearly tell that the Tenth Sun was holding back. If he spent that much money on an attack of that magnitude and still failed to defeat Asher, Theodore knew he would be in for a great deal of suffering. He had witnessed what Asher had done to Hilton and knew just how brutally merciless the boy could be when he stopped showing restraint.

With a quiet sigh, Theodore stopped staring Asher directly in the eyes before calmly speaking.

"I forfeit."