Chapter 854 Not At All
Sylas stood unmoved. He had already seen through as much long ago. The only thing he wasn't certain of was whether Astrid was responsible for it or not. But now, that answer seemed clear enough.
This was almost certainly against the family rules, but Astrid was also a person not much unlike Sylas. Rules only mattered up to a certain point, and if you got to the point where following them would only be a detriment to you, then you should either break them or flip the table.
Astrid wasn't quite ready just yet to flip the table, but she was certainly more than willing to break them.
She was certainly a dangerous woman.
It was just that… Sylas was far more so.
Astrid didn't say a word. The fatigue that had once been on her face vanished as a sharpness radiated from her amber eyes. A white-red flame began to dance on her blade as her Blade Aura morphed, shifting and changing into something entirely new. And then…
She and Malachi burst toward Sylas at the same time.
Sylas slowly raised a hand as the two weaved in and out of one another, Malachi taking the vanguard with a sudden burst. He thrust his blade forward, crossing the final distance in a blink.
At that moment, Sylas' enormous blade rose from his back. It hovered above his palm for a moment before it slashed down.
Malachi came to a grinding halt, his forward momentum meeting an impenetrable wall. His blade nearly flew out from his hand, a chip appearing in it in an instant. He was forced to retreat lest his blade fall apart.
Snaking beneath his shadow, Astrid appeared to Sylas' side, piercing a conniving blade right at his ribcage and liver.
Runes suddenly flickered in Sylas' eyes. Strong lines of pressure filled the air and the black waters beneath them rippled with a violent momentum.
The flame on Astrid's blade faltered and her expression changed. She felt that if she kept piercing forward now, her blade would shatter on impact and it would all be over.
She hurried to deviate her blade, twisting her wrists and hips to avoid contact with Sylas…
Only to suffer an elbow right across the chin.
It looked as though she had presented herself for the blow, her pretty face snapping in the opposite direction of her body's rotation. Her teeth flew, blood spurting from her mouth and nose.
It looked as though she had presented herself for the blow, her pretty face snapping in the opposite direction of her body's rotation. Her teeth flew, blood spurting from her mouth and nose.
In her entire life, she had been through a lot. But she had truly never been hit so hard.
Her vision spun and black spots began to appear in her line of sight. But her Will flared up, her intent pulsing with a fierce bite at her tongue.
Her back arched and she ducked beneath the rest of Sylas' blow, spinning out toward his back and rolling across the blackened waters toward safety.
Sylas didn't bother with a follow-up attack toward Astrid. He took a step forward, his free palm still up as his giant blade twisted in the air, lopping one of Malachi's arms off.
The husk of a man dove to the side in a vain attempt to dodge, but the moment he left his feet, Sylas beckoned with his second hand. A strong pulse of telekinesis ripped him out of the air.
The weakness of all of these husks was quite simple. They had no Will… so how could they resist his telekinesis?
Malachi was yanked right toward him.
Sylas hardly moved, his two fingers pressed toward him as a surging Blade Aura took shape.
It ripped right through Malachi's forehead, a bursting blade of white-green tearing out of the back of his skull.
Malachi dangled from Sylas' fingers, and then, slowly… his body went entirely limp.
Sylas flicked his wrist and the second Grimblade heir to fall to his hands likewise fell to the waters before him, collapsing in a heap of despair and blood.
CLANG!
07:42
As though it had a mind of its own, Sylas' Grimblade blocked Astrid's sneak attack from the back. The middle-aged woman unleashed a furious barrage of attacks, her blade-work quite fluid and skilled.
She seemed to realize that she didn't have the luxury to hold back anymore, and she gave it everything she had.
Her sword left streaks and afterimages in the air, multiplying in what seemed like illusions, but were actually very real attacks of Will carving across the air.
Sylas' blade calmly blocked them all as he turned to face her. As fast and fluid as she was, it was hard to do much of anything when even meeting the blade you were fighting against meant risking shattering your own.
It was true that Sylas' telekinesis couldn't put as much strength behind each blow as Astrid could, not without his Comprehensions. Even with them, it was too difficult to maintain the same steady pressure as the force of a body could.
But in this situation…
It simply didn't matter.
Astrid unleashed a roar, a white-red flame enveloping her body and lighting even her hair on fire. She entered another new state and her vitality seemed to burn with a furious momentum.
Her Physical almost doubled as she crossed the distance, appearing at Sylas' neck in an instant. Just when she seemed to be on her last legs, she erupted with a surprising amount of strength.
And yet…
One would never guess by the look in Sylas' eyes that this was the first time he was seeing such a thing at all.
From the very first day of the Summoning, the Madness Key had taught him the most valuable lesson of this world, and the only lesson in philosophy he needed.
Be Strong.
The enormous blade that Astrid thought she had just barely managed to circumvent vanished, becoming a beam that entered Sylas' forehead at a speed no less than that of light. And then, it appeared before him once again in the real world as though it had always been there.
CLANG!
Astrid's face fell.
Just how… This wasn't her Grimblade family's Blade Aura… at all…
CRACK.
BANG!
The blade in her hand exploded on impact, her body being sent sprawling into the distance.