Awoo!
Sirius’ light howl made Asher turn his head toward his wolf. It just appeared at the beginning of the hallway, walking toward him, but its eyes were fixed on the door.
Or behind the door… to be more precise.
Asher turned his head to look at the door.
What in the world was going on in there?
Why was there the scent of blood in the scared hall of all places when the executioner, Sirius, hadn’t killed anyone?
Filled with questions, Asher began to push the great doors. Just halfway through, he found a woman sitting on his throne with crossed legs.
Black sleeveless gown that had a slit revealing her legs, black lip gloss, black unusually long fingers, pale skin, and cold, almost emotionless ocean blue eyes.
“Welcome, Lord Asher.”
Asher could sense she tried to make things humorous but failed miserably because of the lack of emotions.
All he felt was a discomforting chill coming from her.
Without opening the door entirely, Asher walked in, and that was when he saw Alex impaled to the wall by two daggers.
The bodies of his King Swordsmen littered the ground. All of them were killed in one move!
He could see some signs of battle between her and Alex.
This woman…
Even while she sat before him, she felt unreal.
His senses were telling him this woman wasn’t real, but he could see her sitting right before him!
“Usually, none of your senses would work on me, but I wanted to enjoy the thrill of you looking into my eyes as I take your life.”
Black Rose said softly, her lips curling into a simple smile.
At this moment, Sirius walked through the door and stood behind Asher. Black Rose merely smiled at the wolf, which was a head taller than Asher.
Although the beast looked intimidating, it was no more than a big target before her eyes.
Black Rose turned to Alex. “This one is something. No one informed me of him or what he is.”
She chucked, looking at Alex’s wings, which were on another part of the hall, completely severed from the BloodBlade.
This was the first time Asher had seen someone defeat Alex.
His eyes narrowed. For her to sneak into Ashkelon without him or any other Ashbourne powerhouse getting a whiff of her powerful battle force, she must either be more powerful, or an assassin, or have a talent that hid her force.
“You’re strangely calm. Let me remind you that I have slain more than these few. I’ve also killed the remainder of your guards, servants, and officials. Every breathing thing in this manor is dead. And of course you couldn’t have noticed when I bought this scared-ranked self-controlled illusion spell scroll.”
Black Rose revealed a yellow paper burning with purple flames. She crushed it, and a violet light burst out.
In the next moment, Asher could perceive the stench coming from every part of the manor. It was extremely thick, yet his expression remained the same.
However, on a closer look, Black Rose noticed Asher’s head was shaking, and so were his arms.
“So… I finally made you angry. That’s good. I wouldn’t have killed so many if your sister was around. I mean, lots of lives could have been saved.”
She smiled, a little bit more brightly.
Asher silently reached out for Euodias.
Black Rose’s eyes followed his actions to the sword. “Is that the sword that took off Slade Nubis’ head?”
Shing!
Blue light filled with great, piercing energy flickered as he drew the sword out of the sheath.
It crackled with a bit of lightning.
“I have one question. Who sent you?”
Black Rose rose up. “A man who could squash a bug like you.”
“I see. Sirius, lend me your strength.”
The moment Asher said that, his eyes lit up in flames, and his shoulder-length gray hair became flames and billowed upwards.
His eyebrows also became flames! Flames coated Euodias while Asher’s clothes burnt off.
The temperature of the room skyrocketed, and Black Rose licked her lips.
Swish!
She vanished; in the next moment, Asher sensed a spike, but when he sensed it, the spike was already through his thigh!
“Ah—!”
He bit his lips to stop himself from screaming. Seeing Asher’s state, Sirius lunged forth, breathing flames at Black Rose.
Black Rose leaped to the other side, and all of a sudden, Sirius couldn’t see her nor sense her!
Alarmed, it suddenly reduced its size to the minimum, causing Black Rose’s spike to miss.
Her eyes widened.
All of a sudden, she looked back only to see Asher, bathing in flames, swinging his sword down, aiming to cleave her apart.
She chuckled, and black bone spikes came out of her wrists. She shot the spikes.
Asher blasted flames from his left leg, forcing his body to the other side, narrowly evading the spikes.
Looking down, he could see black veins spreading outward on his thigh. It was poison!
The spikes were poisonous.
“Let me inform you, boy, my poison can’t be treated. You were as gone as gone from the first hit!”
Black Rose chucked and vanished from Asher’s senses. The next moment she appeared behind him, but Sirius lunged toward her.
Clenching her teeth, she vanished.
‘In order to attack, she reveals herself. It seems her supposed invincible talent has a fatal flaw.’
Asher’s flames burned up his blood so he couldn’t even see it, which was why his talent didn’t activate.
However, after learning Synergy, Asher felt he had no need for his talent to deal with Black Rose.
Just after this thought, Black Rose plunged a spike into Sirius’ hind thigh, pulled it out, and cut its abdomen, but to her shock, the wounds healed up.
Greater mastery of Synergy did not only give the master of the bond the beast’s elemental powers; it could also give the beast the master’s battle skill!
‘How annoying.’
Black Rose clenched her teeth and launched several spikes without stopping. Both Asher and Sirius opened their mouths, and an orange light appeared in the depths.