CLEAVER OF SIN

Asher's body rematerialized a short distance ahead, his stance composed, his breathing steady. Ryaen's black eyes snapped toward him instinctively, sensing his presence, but before she could react, Asher was already in motion.

Lightning crackled into existence, wild but tamed, racing along the length of his rapier with blinding speed. It surged like living energy, building to a crescendo. Without pause, his form shifted seamlessly, transitioning into a decisive slash.

With a thunderous roar, the forest ignited in incandescent brilliance. A crescent-shaped arc of purple lightning ripped forward, tearing through the air with devastating force.

Ryaen did not hesitate. Astra surged into her palm, precise and controlled, as she moved into another skill with flawless timing.

Bone Wall

The earth before her split apart with a violent tremor. From the fissure, colossal bones erupted, slamming together in rapid succession as they fused into a fortified barricade. Within seconds, a towering wall of ivory stood three meters high, looming like a fortress and shielding its master from the incoming strike.

A cataclysmic detonation erupted as Asher's strike collided with the wall of bone. The impact birthed a world-ending explosion, earth and air alike disintegrated in an instant as lightning ran rampant, a storm unchained, embodying the wrath of the heavens themselves.

The towering wall of ivory endured no longer than a heartbeat before it was annihilated, shattered into shards and dust. Asher's attack carved through it effortlessly, as though the bone was nothing more than paper before molten steel.

The aftermath was apocalyptic: shockwaves thundered outward, earthquakes rippled through the forest, and the land itself convulsed under the weight of destruction.

But Ryaen was no longer there.

The moment her bone wall clashed against that purple crescent, she had already retreated, instinct screaming that no defense could hold against such force. Her figure blurred through the forest, weaving past splintering trees as she widened the gap between herself and the cataclysm unfurling behind her.

'How is his attack this strong?' The thought reverberated through her mind, disbelief gnawing at her even as she fled the storm.

Her gaze snapped toward the Tenth Sun, resolve hardening in her black eyes. Without hesitation, she unleashed her counterattack.

Skeletal Rain

Astra roared to life, thundering through her Astra veins with unrestrained ferocity. She did not care about conserving strength for the exam's remainder, her entire focus was on Asher, her nemesis in this moment.

At once, Asher's head tilted upward. The sky itself darkened as hundreds of bones materialized high above, suspended like a white pale storm. In the next instant, they plummeted, raining down with lethal velocity, each fragment gathering momentum as it carved through the air.

But Asher did not flinch. His expression remained impassive as he raised one hand. Astra surged from his core in a violent pulse. Space buckled; gravity itself twisted under his command.

A gentle ripple burst outward, slamming into the descending storm. In an instant, the rhythm of the falling bones was broken, their deadly harmony scattered, their paths warped and thrown aside as though the skies themselves had denied them.

But that brief window was all Ryaen needed. Astra pulsed violently beneath her feet, propelling her forward in a blur of white. Her figure reappeared at Asher's side, closing in before he could release his earlier technique.

In that instant, she had drawn upon every ounce of her arsenal, bones and skeletal augmentations reinforcing her frame, Astra fueling her Astra veins, pushing her speed, strength, and stamina to their absolute peak.

Her fist blazed forward like a comet, aimed squarely at the Tenth Sun's head.

Asher did not move. To the eye, it seemed her speed had surpassed his ability to even register the strike.

Her punch connected with cataclysmic force. The air itself shuddered, shrieked, and then detonated outward in a shockwave of sound and pressure. But before she could even savor the hit, her vision fractured.

Blinding silver afterimages, over a hundred of them, flared into existence around her in a single instant.

And then came the pain.

Agony exploded across her body as her bone armor was ripped apart under the endless assault. Asher's rapier had moved with impossible speed, slashing over a hundred times within the span of a second, carving through her defenses even as her fist connected with his illusory form.

Her body blurred once more as she instinctively retreated, tearing meters of distance between herself and the Tenth Sun. Her breath ragged, her thoughts reeled.

'He can manipulate space.'

The realization burned in her mind. He had phased through her strike, letting it pass harmlessly into nothingness, while his blade ravaged her in return.

Her armor bore the evidence, fractured plates of bone crumbling and falling to the ground, sword scars etched deep across her flesh. Blood trickled freely down her frame, every wound a reminder that her injuries were piling up far faster than she could endure.

"I have to say, your defense is top-notch."

Asher's voice carried across the battlefield, calm and genuine. It was the first time in a long while that he had witnessed Virelass fail to cut cleanly through a defense, without the aid of his lightning element or Astra.

He raised a hand. Immediately, the air shimmered as motes of light gathered, condensing with blinding intensity. They coalesced into cross-shaped constructs, multiplying with every heartbeat until they filled the air and space around him like an army of radiant blades.

Ryaen's eyes widened. Each construct pulsed with devastating power, each one capable of annihilation.

Without hesitation, Asher flicked his wrist. The sky itself seemed to ignite as the light constructs streaked forward with blitzing speed.

Astra thundered within Ryaen's Astra veins, coursing through her frame with frantic urgency as she invoked another skill.

Bone Dome

The ground beneath her feet split open as jagged pillars of bone surged upward, interlocking at impossible speed. Within moments, they formed a dome of pale ivory, enclosing her in a fortress of bone.

But defense was fleeting.

The instant the final piece snapped into place, Asher's radiant barrage struck. The world convulsed as if struck by divine wrath. Blinding detonations collapsed upon the dome, their force like hammers crashing against fragile glass.

Shockwaves erupted outward in cascading rings, leveling swathes of the forest. The Bone Dome quaked violently, groaning under the relentless barrage. And then, inevitably, it shattered.

With a deafening explosion, the dome disintegrated into fragments. Light beams carved through the wreckage, spearing mercilessly into the earth and slamming down upon Ryaen with catastrophic force.

Pain consumed her. Her armor had already been obliterated; now her very body was battered beyond recognition. Bones turned to pulp beneath the crushing weight, skin split open, garments torn asunder, and her once-pristine white hair singed and scorched. Her entire being screamed in agony.

But through it all, she endured. Teeth clenched, eyes burning with defiance, she refused to break. Her body staggered, broken but unyielding, as she clawed her way out of a ravine, blood splattering against the earth with every step.

She, Ryaen Silvershade, a noble, a prodigy, had been reduced to this state.

Her mind screamed at her to stop, to surrender half of her points and recover them later. But her soul rebelled. For the first time in her life, she had found a true adversary, and she would not turn away. Not now.

Even if she lost half her points, she would still qualify for the Star Academy. That much she knew.

But this was no longer about points. This was about pride, about will. About proving herself.

Her determination burned brighter than her pain. With ragged breath, she forced her trembling body to move.

Marrow Regeneration