Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 602: Friction Manipulation

Tanking the explosion that came from compressed space, Debro stood unbothered as though tanking the explosion was the easiest thing in the world for him at the moment, his posture steady. He stood uninjured as though Asher hadn’t attacked him to begin with, as though the violent detonation had been nothing more than a passing breeze that failed to even graze him.

Asher stood at a distance, staring at Debro, his mind running through various thoughts of what Debro’s ability might be as the man seemed uninjured every single time, every exchange only deepening the mystery. But at the same time, Asher knew he couldn’t stand around, time was ticking for him to move, every second slipping away like grains of sand in an hourglass, it was do or die for him, hesitation meaning certain death.

He raised Virelass towards the sky, his Star Energy humming like never before, vibrating with a deep, resonant power that seemed to echo through the very atmosphere. His control over the Star Energy climbed in real time, sharpening and refining as though his very existence was adapting to the pressure of battle.

Lightning flickered and crackled around him with overwhelming intensity as though he was turning into a purple sun, radiating destructive brilliance. The next moment, Asher channeled an overwhelming torrent of Star Energy into the sky, forcing his will upon the heavens.

The blue sky seemed to tremble as it turned purple under his control, the natural order bending to his command, then from the now purple sky, a lightning storm sundered and thundered violently, crackling and slamming into itself, forming a roaring vortex that seemed to brighten and deepen with every passing moment, growing more unstable and destructive.

Debro didn’t rush forward, his head simply snapped upward, his eyes meeting the lightning storm vortex with a calm, calculating gaze, as though analyzing rather than fearing it.

And from the vortex, a large column pillar of pure, unadulterated, rumbling lightning dropped with sundering power and terrifying speed, descending headfirst towards him like divine judgment. Seeing the incoming attack, Debro’s face immediately twisted into a frown, his instincts recognizing the threat, he knew he couldn’t tank that attack, he needed to act with precision rather than arrogance.

He raised his hand towards the incoming pillar of lightning, and the moment the attack reached him, it stopped as though it was colliding with an invisible barrier, halted abruptly despite its overwhelming force. The lightning pillar hummed even more, intensifying as it tried to break through whatever was holding it back, crackling violently with resistance, but Debro’s hand remained where it was, unmoved and absolute.

Asher frowned behind his purple lightning helmet, as a student in his past life, he could tell that his lightning attack wasn’t being blocked by an invisible barrier, rather it seemed to be being... discharged by something, redirected and neutralized instead of resisted. Realizing this, Asher immediately stopped channeling Star Energy into the attack, cutting off the supply, and like a shooting star, he shot forward towards Debro, who had changed position and was still dealing with the remnants of the incoming attack.

But suddenly, Asher felt it, his speed reducing in real time as though the air resistance he barely felt before had now multiplied by a hundred times, pressing against him from all directions. Before Asher could even think, Debro was already there, his foot screaming towards Asher’s jaw with devastating force, catching him completely off guard.

Asher couldn’t react, the foot connected with his jaw, his body thrown sideways like a mere pebble, but Asher immediately regained control over his body within the next instant before he could cross any meaningful distance, the Lightning helmet and Star Form protecting him from any injury from the last attack.

Asher immediately wanted to move, but he couldn’t, as though his own feet refused to move, as though his own legs were defying his control, betraying him at the worst possible moment. But before he could even blink, Debro was already there, his katana already tearing towards Asher’s neck with lethal intent.

Knowing he couldn’t move, Asher tapped into his space affinity, and in a flicker, he vanished from where he stood, escaping the inevitable. The moment he reappeared, motion returned to him, his own legs obeying him once more as control snapped back into place. The moment he regained motion and control, he tore forward like a bullet, his intent to re-engage immediate and unwavering.

But the moment he closed the distance between him and Debro, Asher felt his speed vanish again, his body dragging, as though resistance was increasing with each passing moment, slowing him down unnaturally.

’Is he increasing air resistance?’ Asher thought to himself, realization beginning to form, but the moment that thought fully manifested, his senses screamed violently, warning him of imminent danger, and the next moment, the air within the space trembled, compressed as it heated up unnaturally, then exploded outward in sizzling and cindering apocalyptic madness that slammed directly into Asher with overwhelming force.

Asher immediately shifted into his spatial phasing state, the moment he entered his phasing state in order to phase through the explosion, Asher knew he had made the wrong decision as his senses didn’t stop screaming, the danger persisting despite his attempt to evade. With titanic impact, the explosion crossed through layers of space and still landed with pinpoint accuracy even in his phasing state, bypassing his defense in a way that defied his expectations.

Asher’s body was immediately blown backwards, the heat from the attack burning him from within with unforgiving fury as he streaked through the air uncontrollably, before impacting against a mountain fifty kilometers away from the explosion with devastating force that shook the surroundings.

Pain tore through Asher’s mind, his lungs burned, his hair, his skin, his teeth, his gums, every part of him screaming under the intense damage, but the smile behind his Lightning Armour helmet never left, a defiant expression in the face of overwhelming adversity. Virelass appeared above him, and Crimson Pact immediately erupted into motion, beginning the process of healing and restoration without delay.

But Debro wouldn’t allow that. Which warrior allowed their opponent to heal during battle? Definitely none, and Debro was no exception to that rule.

In a blur, Debro appeared before the burning and burnt-smelling Asher, his katana descending with the force of a comet, its trajectory absolute and merciless, but before the attack could land, Asher teleported away immediately, escaping by the narrowest of margins.

He appeared above a body of water, his body healing in real time under the aid of Virelass, the damage slowly reversing. Asher knew he had messed up badly. He shouldn’t have phased through the explosion, he should have teleported instead, a critical mistake in judgment. Debro knew about his phasing ability, and if the man knew about it, why would he unleash a heat-based detonation unless it could bypass it.

Besides, Asher was now able to figure out the man’s awakened ability, the pieces finally coming together within his mind.

It was... friction manipulation.

The man had made Asher unable to move by removing friction on the ground beneath him, effectively nullifying his traction. Then he reduced Asher’s speed by increasing air resistance through friction manipulation, amplifying the drag acting against him. The man had also been able to render himself immune to Asher’s light-based illusion by sensing disturbed light photons through friction sensing of air molecules, turning even perception into a weapon.

Debro had also boosted his own speed and strength, enhancing his movements and impact, and had even discharged Asher’s sky lightning attack through friction manipulation, redirecting and neutralizing it with precise control.

His control was so refined that he could make his friction affect space to a certain degree, which was how he made his friction-based explosion still affect Asher despite Asher phasing through it, extending its influence beyond conventional limits.

With friction manipulation, he had rendered almost everything in Asher’s arsenal useless, aside from perhaps teleportation, since he couldn’t know where Asher would appear next, making it the only unpredictable variable left in Asher’s favor as the battle continued to escalate.