Asher stood with composed stillness, his gaze sweeping over the devastation he had unleashed. His eyes moved swiftly, examining each fallen assassin ensnared within the radius of his attack. None had survived. Without another glance, he began to turn, he couldn’t afford to remain here any longer. He needed to move.
But, the moment his head shifted, a massive claw tore through his vision with terrifying speed. Before thought could intervene, Asher’s body responded instinctively, Instinctive Adaptation ignited once more. His spine arched fluidly, bending backward until his body aligned parallel to the earth beneath him.
The wind screamed as the claw cleaved through the space where his head had just been, the deafening rush slamming against Asher’s eardrums. He didn’t hesitate. Even before the echo had faded, Astra surged to his feet, and his figure blurred, vanishing from the spot as he widened the distance between himself and whatever had just tried to take his head.
His head snapped forward, eyes locking onto the very spot he had occupied mere seconds ago. His Omni Perception hadn’t sensed a thing. If he hadn’t turned at that exact moment, hadn’t reacted purely on instinct, his skull would have been split open and his brain torn from his body.
It was a sleek, obsidian panther, tall, menacing, and unnaturally still. Its tail swayed with an eerie calm, curling through the air in slow, deliberate motions. Darkness clung to its form like a second skin, as though the very shadows of the forest bent to cradle it. Its jet-black eyes locked onto Asher’s glowing purple gaze, an abyss staring into another abyss.
’Veil-ranked,’ Asher noted silently. He had spent the last five months battling creatures of that rank. But not all monsters within the same rank were created equal, some stood leagues above their kin. And this one... this panther radiated a quiet supremacy that placed it far beyond a standard Veil rank beast.
Asher’s mind raced. ’It bypassed my Omni Perception...’ That could only mean one thing, it possessed some form of stealth, or an ability that masked its presence entirely. Coupled with its overwhelming speed and raw physical power, it was a predator built for assassination.
Though his gaze remained locked on the panther, his awareness extended outward, sweeping the surroundings. He didn’t believe for a second that the assassins were finished, not simply because a few had fallen.
He had been spotted effortlessly, twice, mere seconds after concealing himself. That wasn’t coincidence. Asher had already drawn a grim conclusion, he’d been marked. By what, he couldn’t say, but something clung to him, revealing his position to his pursuers like a beacon in the dark.
Asher didn’t waste time searching for the source, he already knew. It was the Wargraves. Of course it was. They wouldn’t simply allow the Suns and Moons to hide and wait out the six hours; that would defeat the very essence of the True Awakening.
He understood the assassins’ next move before they even made it. They would stay hidden, patient and calculating. Attacking now would be foolish. No, far better to let the panther, and whatever other beasts wear him down or kill him outright. If he survived, it would be with drained Astra and shattered stamina.
Asher couldn’t deny it, had their roles been reversed, he would’ve made the same call. It was a flawless strategy.
The black panther, seeing its prey merely staring back, lunged without hesitation. Its form blurred into motion, tail swirling like a ribbon of darkness, guiding its agility, amplifying its speed. Its claws gleamed with pure blackness, a void-like sheen, as they carved through the air, aimed straight for Asher’s eyes.
But this time, Omni Perception caught it.
Asher moved with explosive maneuver. Astra surged beneath his feet, launching him forward like a bolt unchained. His muscles coiled, his instincts sharpened, and in his grip, Virelass shimmered with anticipation, as if thirsting for blood once more.
With a thunderous crash, Virelass met claw. Sparks erupted in a brilliant flare, only to be swallowed whole by the surrounding darkness, devoured as if the abyss itself had opened to consume the light.
The soil beneath Asher’s feet exploded backward as he launched himself forward, colliding with the panther in a relentless exchange of rapid, razor-precise strikes. Claws and paws came from every direction, but Asher met each one with composed grace, his movements fluid, measured chaos met with calm mastery.
Yet he knew he couldn’t afford to drag this out. There were more enemies lurking beyond the treeline, watching. He could feel their eyes like talons in the dark, waiting to strike the moment he faltered.
Crackling lightning surged across his frame, wrapping him in electric fury as he lunged to deliver a decisive blow. But the panther’s tail twirled once more, its feline body twisting impossibly as it slipped just beyond his reach, vanishing into the shadows and reestablishing distance between them in a blink.
But Asher had anticipated the retreat. Virelass shimmered in his grip, its sleek form glowing with radiant purple as arcs of lightning danced along its blade. Then, in a blur so smooth it seemed whispered into reality, he thrust forward.
A deafening thunderclap shattered the air.
From the rapier exploded a sundering surge of energy, violent and unrelenting, filling every path the panther could have possibly taken to evade. It was as if the very air was swallowed by the strike, leaving no room to escape.
The forest trembled.
Trees were obliterated, trenches ripped into the earth as the lightning-laced thrust erupted in a frenzy, wild, unforgiving, and on the verge of madness. The attack consumed everything in its path, leaving behind only devastation and the raw scent of scorched life.
Asher panted heavily, each breath ragged as his chest rose and fell in sharp rhythm. He fought to steady himself, but fatigue was setting in fast. His stamina was waning, and his Astra, once a surging tide, had thinned to a shallow stream.
Dragging the battle out would have been a death sentence.
That’s why he made the trade, funneling the last of his Astra into a single, devastating burst. It was a calculated gamble. Asher knew firsthand that Veil-ranked beasts couldn’t be dispatched easily. A concentrated, wide-range attack had been his best, and perhaps only, chance at survival.
Sweat streamed down his body, mingling with soot, grime, and drying blood. His already scorched clothes clung to him like a second skin, torn and darkened, a testament to the brutal toll of battle.
As Asher leaned against a tree, his senses flared once more, danger. A hand erupted from the bark behind him, dagger in hand, slicing toward his throat with silent accuracy. It was the same assassin who had severed his Achilles tendon before. Asher had suspected he was still lurking nearby, and this moment of perceived weakness was the perfect opportunity to strike.
But Asher was prepared.
Virelass possessed a third ability, Astra Veil, which allowed her to store up to 30% of Asher’s total Astra and transfer it to him instantly, without any drawn out channeling process.
This was why Asher hadn’t hesitated to expend all of his Astra in the battle against the panther. He had a backup. The very moment he had launched that devastating attack, he had already drawn Virelass’s reserve into his Astra veins.
As the blade shot toward his neck, Asher didn’t dodge.
He attacked.
Lightning bloomed violently across his body, racing through the tree like a storm let loose. In a single, explosive burst, the entire trunk erupted, splintering apart with a thunderous crack.
But it wasn’t only bark that burned.
The assassin’s scream was brief, cut off as the scent of scorched flesh filled the air. A heavy thud followed as his charred body crashed to the ground, lifeless.
Asher exhaled and the lightning calamity vanished under the control.
Leaning against the tree had never been a moment of weakness, it was a trap. A calculated lure meant to funnel the assassin into a singular path: the tree itself. With nowhere else to strike from, the assassin had played directly into Asher’s hand.
And the plan had worked, flawlessly.