Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 852: Musical Notes

Zis Zaitsu moved through the burning battlefield with his guitar wrapped around his neck. A bird Monster closed in, and without hesitation, he plucked one of the strings of his soul-bound guitar. The moment he did, a surging torrent of sound waves tore outward, cascading upon one another as they slammed into the bird.

The Mark-class bird was blasted backwards as the attack crashed into its body, rippling through its muscle mass like waves across the surface of water before sending it hurtling into a building. But Zis Zaitsu wasn’t given even a single second to breathe. The moment he dealt with the Mark-class bird, a Grave-class Monster closed the distance with terrifying speed.

Zis Zaitsu’s reaction was instantaneous. He immediately clutched his guitar by the neck and swung it toward the Grave-class bird’s incoming beak attack. With a detonating impact, beak met metal as concentric rings of compressed wind thundered outward. Zis skidded backward for several meters, but he held his ground. As a black man, he naturally possessed greater physical strength than most other students by default, allowing him to meet these attacks head-on without losing any Vitality Points.

As he skidded backward, the Grave-class Monster closed the distance once again in a blur, one of its massive wings sweeping toward his head with maddening force. Zis Zaitsu didn’t hesitate. He plucked the strings of his guitar, and instantly a rotating barrier of sound waves materialized around him.

The wing slammed into the barrier with immense weight, shattering everything within a one kilometre radius as buildings in the distance trembled violently before collapsing beneath the immense shockwave generated from the collision.

Another Grave-class Monster suddenly closed in from behind. Zis’ eyes snapped toward it. Without missing a beat, he unplugged one of his guitar strings and flung it toward a nearby light pole. The string wrapped itself around the pole before locking tightly into place. With a single thought, he commanded the string to shorten, and the instant it obeyed, Zis was violently pulled out from between the two Grave-class Monsters.

Both Grave-class Monsters collided head-on, sending each other flying several meters away. But Zis wasn’t about to let such an opportunity slip away. His fingers danced across his guitar like those of a seasoned rock band guitarist. Musical notes of varying shapes and sizes materialized throughout the air around him. Without missing a beat, he caught one of the floating musical notes and hurled it toward the birds before they could even comprehend what was happening.

The moment the musical note touched one of the Grave-class Monsters, a titanic sound explosion erupted outward in disproportionate madness, completely engulfing the bodies of both Monsters. Both birds screeched in agony as they felt their flesh and bones being violently torn apart by the destructive sound.

But they were Grave-class Monsters. They weren’t so easily defeated. Their bodies suddenly brightened as blazing orange flames erupted around them. Without hesitation, they unleashed twin searing explosions of fire that completely consumed the sound explosion Zis had created.

The birds immediately expanded their wings and shot into the sky with astonishing speed, their bodies now bearing visible injuries from Zis’ previous attack. Yet they didn’t retreat. Both Monsters immediately locked their eyes onto Zis before simultaneously unleashing blazing beams of fiery energy from their eyes.

Zis immediately shifted into a defensive stance. His guitar instantly expanded before him while Astra energy surged around his body, reinforcing his physique. Then, with calamitous force, both beam attacks slammed into his guitar with frightening precision and mind-boggling power.

The tremendous force behind the attacks sent Zis skidding backward across the ground. He gritted his teeth as he relied on his indestructible guitar to withstand the numbing assault.

A Mark-class bird sensed the opening and immediately went in for the kill from behind. A thousand burning feathers shot toward him with blistering speed. Zis had no choice but to divide his attention between both attacks. The strings of his guitar detached themselves, appearing within his left hand as he turned halfway and lashed out with them like whips, skillfully deflecting every incoming feather with remarkable precision.

Zis Zaitsu didn’t bother thinking about his teammate. He knew she was holding her own against multiple enemies as well, both of them having their hands completely full and unable to support the other.

But the moment he finished blocking the Mark-class bird’s attack, Zis heard the sound of tearing wind behind him. His head snapped backward toward the attacker, but it was already too late. In the very next moment, a third Grave-class Monster slammed its talons into his back with wicked force.

Zis’ body shot forward like a cannonball, crashing through multiple buildings in rapid succession as he completely lost control over his body due to the immense momentum and inertia. His body tore through walls, shattered window panels, crushed chairs, smashed tables, obliterated lockers, and demolished everything in his path before he finally came to a stop after crashing through the sixth high-rise building.

’These motherfuckers,’ Zis thought to himself as pain blossomed throughout his body. At the very last second, he had managed to create a sound wave barrier precisely at the point of impact, but even that hadn’t been enough to fully negate the attack.

He immediately glanced at how many Vitality Points he had lost, the number dropping from one thousand (1000) to eight hundred and ninety (890) Vitality Points.

His ears perked up as he heard the three Grave-class Monsters closing in once again, rapidly approaching his new location. With a single thought, his soul-bound guitar appeared in his hands as he immediately activated one of his skills.

Sound Amplification: Increased Tempo

The moment he activated the skill, he struck one of his guitar chords. In the next instant, every sound around him disappeared from existence until only he and absolute silence remained. Then, a heartbeat later, his Astra energy burst violently through his Astra veins as sound returned with maddening force, erupting with an intensity that completely eclipsed anything Zis had displayed until now.

The skill didn’t simply unleash sound waves outward. No. It amplified any sound he desired. And at this very moment, he chose to amplify the sound of the three Grave-class Monsters’ beating hearts with ruthless efficiency.

Before the Grave-class Monsters could even understand what was happening, intensified sound waves assaulted their bodies from the outside while, within their own chests, their hearts began beating wildly beyond all proportion before violently exploding from within.

While still midair, their flight came to an abrupt halt as blood burst from their beaks and eyes. Gravity immediately reclaimed them, their enormous bodies crashing into the ground with earth-shaking force.

Zis immediately spat out a mouthful of blood. Using this skill had inflicted tremendous backlash upon his own body. After all, he had just amplified the heartbeat of three Grave-class Monsters simultaneously.

His eyes immediately darted toward his Vitality Points. A smirk spread across his face as he saw that they hadn’t even dropped by a single digit. He immediately rose to his feet, preparing to search for his teammate. But before he could even take a single step, the Mark-class bird from earlier screeched as it launched a massive flaming sphere toward him.

Zis Zaitsu simply enlarged his guitar. Then, without missing a beat, he swung it toward the incoming attack, his guitar colliding with the flaming sphere like a baseball bat striking a baseball. The next moment, the enormous fireball rocketed straight back toward the Mark-class bird.

The Monster immediately flapped its wings and dodged with practiced ease. But the instant it shifted to the side, it found itself surrounded by dozens of floating musical notes suspended in the air. Before it could even blink, Zis simply snapped his fingers.

A chain of deafening explosions erupted in succession, violently tearing the Monster apart from the inside out.

Zis didn’t remain behind to admire the result. He vanished from where he stood as he erased every trace of sound around himself, slipping directly into stealth.

This was Zis Zaitsu’s ability. Through his guitar, he could manipulate sound waves to an astonishing degree while also creating and controlling musical notes that could be detonated whenever he wished. It was an utterly broken ability if he could continue digging deeper into its mastery and uncover its true potential, but that was a discussion for the future Zis Zaitsu.