Neither Sunny nor Asher were smiling.
Steel rang against steel, sparks bursting into the air as their blades flashed in rapid succession. Clearly both were holding back with the wooden swords, but now... it was different.
Asher gritted his teeth as he pulled himself back. The world slowed down as he analysed. The [Cruel Sight] was an ascended weapon while his was Awakened. Asher exhaled slowly as gravity coiled around his blade.
Unlike Sunny's shadows or Nephis' flames, Asher couldn't linearly increase his strength or by adding gravity. His augmentation works like a bell curve. He had to find the optimum augmenting power, or it will either be too heavy or too fragile.
The silver lining was that, Asher, didn't have a real limit on it, expect if his body can't take the toll and moves too inefficiently.
Sunny brought his sword closer to his chest, directly aiming at Asher's heart.
Asher's eyes narrowed. 'What an obvious trap…'
Sunny wasn't careless.
He was testing him.
All of the sudden, a sudden, crushing force twisted the space between them.
Sunny's blade was pivoted downward ever so slightly—just enough to disrupt its trajectory.
That moment was all Asher needed.
He moved instantly.
His wrist turned, redirecting his own blade as it slid past Sunny's disrupted guard. Steel scraped against steel... and then Asher struck, the edge of his weapon cutting upward toward Sunny's neck.
For a fraction of a second, Sunny's eyes widened.
His dobok fluttered with the force of movement—
—and then he vanished.
Shadows swallowed him whole.
At the same time, [Cruel Sight] left his hand, tossed into the air.
Asher didn't hesitate.
He hurled his own blade backward without even looking, gravity snapping into place as acceleration surged through it. The weapon tore through the air behind him like a bullet.
Sunny re-emerged from the shadows just in time.
His expression was cold.
Looking at the incoming sword, he narrowly stepped to the side, a line of crimson appearing on his cheek.
Using the momentum, his body twisted as his fist shot out, aiming straight for Asher's liver with brutal precision.
But Asher was ready.
His hand snapped out, catching Sunny's wrist mid-strike as a blade whistled through the air behind him.
Sunny's teeth clenched.
At the last possible moment, [Cruel Sight] dropped back into his grasp.
He turned his wrist and—
Clang!
The returning strike was deflected, [Cicada's Cry] knocked off its path and sent spinning away.
The clash forced them apart.
Sunny surged backward, shadows erupting around him as he reinforced his body fully this time, slipping free of Asher's grip.
The two separated, quickly distancing themselves.
Heaving heavy breaths, Sunny grinned, "You can't use your gravity powers on other people's memories can you?"
It was obvious. Otherwise, Asher would've manipulated [Cruel Sight] the moment it left Sunny's hand. There was no way Sunny would have gotten it back without resummoning it.
That throw hadn't been reckless.
That was the reason Sunny threw it up, to test his theory. He wasn't an idiot to throw his weapon away.
Asher let out a breath, rolling his shoulder slightly before shrugging.
"Yeah. You got me there." He paused, "I'm more limited when it comes to anything tied to someone's soul—especially if their rank or class matches or exceeds mine."
Sunny's grin faded slightly.
That confirmed it.
There were limits.
But even so…
Asher was still far too versatile.
Sunny frowned faintly.
There was something else, too.
Something… wrong.
He was constantly bombarded with a strange noise that made him consider more irrational options. Sunny narrowed his eyes at the [Cicada's Cry].
From Nephis' explanation, that was the reason the crimson terror had died.
Asher's eyes narrowed slightly as he studied Sunny.
"Wait," he said after a brief pause. "I want to try something."
Sunny didn't move.
They had both, without needing to say it aloud, agreed not to use their Ascended abilities here. However, it seemed Asher wanted to test something.
Sunny bit the inside of his lip, then exhaled slowly.
"…Do your worst."
Asher didn't respond.
Instead, he raised his hand.
A faint hum cut through the silence as [Cicada's Cry] lifted from where it had fallen, gliding smoothly through the air before settling into his grasp. He held it loosely, almost absentmindedly—yet his focus was absolute.
For a second…
Nothing happened.
Then—
Sunny blinked.
Asher was gone.
No.
Not gone.
He was there.
Right in front of him.
Sunny's eyes widened as Asher's blade came down in a clean, decisive arc aimed straight at him.
Instincts took over, however...
Sunny frowned.
The distance was wrong.
The blade stopped just short. It was an inch too far to actually hit him.
There was no way that strike would connect.
'What is he—?'
Just then... everything screamed.
Every instinct, Every sense, Every fragment of battle-honed awareness. They all screamed at once
Move.
But it was too late.
Sunny reacted anyway.
All five shadows surged into motion at once, flooding into his blade as he augmented himself to the absolute limit.
The impact came a heartbeat later.
Not a cut.
Not a slash.
A Overwhelming force.
It hit him like a truck.
Sunny was launched backward, his body smashing into the wall behind him with a violent crack. The air was knocked from his lungs as pain flared across his back and ribs.
He coughed harshly, struggling to draw breath as the world spun for a second.
Then he forced his eyes open.
Asher stood a few steps away, chest rising and falling heavily. His grip on the sword loosened as he stared at it—almost as if he hadn't expected that result.
A moment later, he dismissed the blade.
The oppressive presence vanished with it.
Asher walked forward, rolling his shoulder slightly as if shaking off the strain. He extended a hand.
Sunny grabbed it, letting himself be pulled back to his feet.
"What was that?"
He dusted himself off, still frowning.
"I get the first part," he continued. "That movement... you basically teleported."
His gaze sharpened.
"But the second one?"
Asher took a slow breath.
Then he grinned.
"My Ascended ability lets me mold gravity into any shape I want," he said casually. "So I thought… why not shape it like a sword slash?"
He tilted his head slightly, thinking.
"…Turns out it wasn't sharp enough to act like a proper cut. It was more like getting hit with a really fast pole."
Sunny stared at him.
"…Unfortunately?" he repeated, incredulous. "I could've been seriously injured!"
Asher waved a hand dismissively.
"Stop lying," he said flatly. "I saw what you did."
Sunny stiffened slightly.
"You shifted all your shadows into your blade at the last second," Asher continued, completely unfazed. "Even if the shape had been sharper, the outcome wouldn't have changed much."
Sunny huffed, "Why would I lie? I am the most honest person in the world! Two worlds even!"
Asher shrugged, "Whatever, I got it. Your flaw is that you can't lie, isn't it?"
Sunny froze, "Y-Yes.".
Sunny blinked, then frowned, realization creeping in as he looked at Asher.
"…When did you figure that out?"
Asher's grin widened, almost amused.
"When I started asking you embarrassing questions."
Sunny's face went pale.
"For spell's sake..."
That was near the beginning of forgotten shore...
Processing it he looked at Asher, opening his mouth, but them he noticed something behind Asher. "What's that?"
"Hmm?" Asher turned back. His eyes widened. There were two cracks in space.
Sunny's expression darkened immediately.
For a split second, he was reminded of something all too familiar.
Nightmare Gates.
Asher looked at them and muttered, "Where you walk, the space remembers the wound."
That was it.
Suddenly the gates ceased to exist as Asher realised something. "I see."
He looked at Sunny. "They are what they look like."
Sunny raised a brow, "Gates?"
Asher nodded as he turned to the exit. In a blink of an eye, literally, Asher was at the exit as he turned to Sunny. "Quickly now, jump through the gate, it won't last long!"
Sunny seemed hesitant at first, them complied. Hopping into the gate, Sunny found himself in front of Asher.
He had just teleported.
He exhaled slowly.
This…
This was an acceptable drawback.
For something like near-instantaneous teleportation, leaving behind a temporary crack that others could follow wasn't that bad.
Not really.
After all, not everyone would blindly jump into an unknown spatial tear. There could be traps. Ambushes. Worse.
It was a gamble.
And most people weren't that reckless– or for a lack of better words... retarded.
Sunny shook his head slightly, letting out a breath.
"Your Aspect is broken."
Asher hummed, completely unbothered as he started walking.
"Of course."
They moved forward together.
Then, casually, Asher spoke.
"So…"
He glanced sideways at Sunny.
"When are you leaving for Antarctica?"
**
[A/N: Big CHAPTER!!! I didn't upload before right, so I wanted to make up. Also, can y'all leave comments about the fight. I wanted to ask if my writing improved for fights.]