They both breathed flames at Black Rose, but she simply crossed her arms, and the flames could not hurt even her clothes.
This was force covering. The art of being able to cover oneself with force, increasing the level of defense to the maximum of one’s capacity.
“Your flames are weak.”
Black Rose spat, growing two more spikes. The moment Asher clashed with her spikes, she was shocked to see that Euodias sliced right through them, and the same blade came for her neck.
Black Rose leaned back and struck her leg out. Her feet hit Asher’s abdomen, launching him to the wall.
Web-like cracks spread out as he slammed the wall. It vibrated heavily!
Flames blasted out of his back, pushing him away as three spikes struck the spot of his head, heart, and abdomen!
Even when he moved, he discovered Black Rose was waiting for him. He was playing right into her game.
Her claws for fingers ripped his chest open, and she also slammed her palm into the same chest.
A spike came out of her palm, but it couldn’t go deep as Sirius pinned her to the ground. As it tried to devour her, Black Rose quickly slipped away.
For a split moment, she felt fear. In the end, she was an assassin. Against a beast of her rank in terms of raw strength, she would lose like a child to an adult.
“You’re merely delaying your death, little lord!” Black Rose vanished and appeared six times around Sirius.
Five were afterimages, and when she was gone, all that was left of Sirius was a wolf with six long spikes piercing deep into its flesh right to the bones!
“Let me see how you heal those wounds with my spike still there.”
“Sirius!”
Asher ignored his flames, which had grown considerably weaker, and engaged in a heated battle with Black Rose. As time went by, she kept inflicting wounds on him with poison spreading gradually, but he couldn’t land a single hit.
Black Rose was too agile, and her talent made him only able to track her with sight. Not even the smell worked on Black Rose.
The moment he lost sight of her, it would be as if she ceased to exist. He would get the illusion that he fought against air, and his mind would begin to question him.
Doubting oneself was greatly dangerous during a battle, but Asher couldn’t stop his body from acting naturally.
Seeing her smile as she inflicted more wounds on him, Asher came to a realization that she knew what was happening to him.
“Our game ends. You were fun to play with, but that’s it. There is nothing too special about the man that killed Slade Nubis.”
Black Rose appeared on the throne and pointed her arm at Asher. Asher’s mind didn’t even scream at him when all of a sudden, a spike pierced right through his chest!
He heard it when it drilled right through the bones in his ribcage!
“Awoo!”
Severely weakened and bleeding, Sirius howled, trying to move. Unfortunately, it couldn’t.
Blood spurted out of Asher’s mouth as he staggered backwards. He looked at the bone spikes lodged into his chest with flickering eyes.
For a split moment he recalled Mr. Kang’s face as he shot him on top of X gamers. Somehow it felt like that day.
Asher took another step back as Black Rose shot another spike. She could somehow transfer her talent coverage ability into the spikes, making them a silent death strike.
The black veins became more obvious as his flame died down.
Swoosh!
Black Rose vanished from the throne and appeared before him.
Bam!
She launched a swift kick that sent Asher right through the great doors, straight to the end of the hallway and through the doors at the end of the hallway.
“Humph!”
She snorted, and an unseen force killed the fire in the room.
“Now that I’ve killed that wastelander, I’m done with my mission. But I should enjoy sitting on a throne, even though it’s roughly made. It’s much better than a—!”
Black Rose, who was about to sit, paused. She looked in the direction she kicked Asher.
The man who was supposed to be dead stood at the end of the hallway!
However, his eyes were pure white and pulsed with prideful anger. His flames became blue, and even from there, she felt the intense heat!
“What—?!”
Before she could utter those words, Asher was already inside the sacred hall. He held Euodias in his right hand, and blue flames burst out from his open left hand, transforming into another exquisite longsword.
A pure elemental weapon.
“What kind of talent is this?”
Black Rose gasped and activated her talent. She included that of sight because Asher’s battle force was overwhelming.
Suddenly, Black Rose appeared, but the moment she did, she saw Asher pointing his blade at her throat.
“W…What?”
“Child, I have been fighting wars centuries before your grandfather was born. I don’t need to sense you to predict you.”
Black Rose’s eyes widened to the limit, and she sprouted long black spikes.
These specific spikes gave her the name she bore. These spikes were tougher than any steel, durable, and could pierce through anything.
Almost nothing at her rank could cut through it, but Asher simply swung his swords, cutting both spikes off!
Looking at his eyes, which were colder than ice itself. It had reached a certain stage that even the icy eyes could burn through her spirit!
“You dare hurt my descendant! Perish!” Asher bellowed, but the voice of Torah could be heard.
Slash!
He performed an X slash, and all that remained of Black Rose was a corpse that could be reduced to ash at the slightest touch.
In the next second Asher’s eyes became normal and his wounds, including the poison, were gone, but…
His connection to Sirius was gone. He could see his pet beast lying there, devoid of breath.
His friend, companion, and aid, who was pinned to the wall, was also devoid of life.
Everything around him was death.
Tears gathered in his eyes but refused to fall. Asher stood there, his arms trembling, his face red, and his heart burning, yet there was no flame.
Something cracked inside of him as he walked to his throne and sat down, looking at his failure and allowing the pain to eat him up.
‘What have they done…’
From the spirit world, Torah watched. With a glance, he knew Asher’s heart was bleeding. A result of the brutality in Boundless.
For a young lord with a pure soul, he has seen too much loss.
‘They have opened the gate of coldness. Asher, do not take this path before you. Bear the pain and have patience, or else…’
…
Katarina, who lay on her bed fast asleep, frowned deeply as she found herself in a horrible dream or… nightmare.
She could see herself standing in a city burning with blue flames, and thousands of soldiers clad in pitch black armor with silver crests were marching.
Leading them was a man whose hair was as white as snow; he had dignified white beards trimmed till the strands were extremely short.
His jet-black armor, and three swords; Euodias and two others, were nothing before his piercing golden eyes.
He sat upon a one-eyed white wolf.
Just seeing him, one emotion flooded Katarina…
Terror!
Unfortunately, the flag this frightening army led by this fearsome man held had the sigil of a wolf!
“… His Lordship!”
Katarina woke up, covered in sweat and trembling severely.
‘… The one who would burn the world might have been born.’
Torah’s sigh had the weight of a mountain as it was carried by the wind.
….
[A/N: Wow! It’s the end of 2024! Thank God we all made it throughout the year, and this would be the final chapter for the year.
VOLUME 3: INTO THE DEPTHS continues next year.
I don’t know when. Maybe months later… kidding.]