When he was out of the tower room, Ashen felt as if he'd arrived at a parallel reality for a brief moment.
The composed soldiers were no more. Everyone was running for their lives, and vibrations constantly assaulted the ground under him.
A particularly strong one—more like an earthquake—turned his attention toward the source. There, on the horizon, he could feel enormous concentrations of mana radiating, even though his section and that section of the wall were kilometers away from each other.
He didn't waste time and started running in that direction. If he wasn't wrong, Sabrina Chase was responsible for that stretch of the wall, so nothing should have happened.
But judging by the unfolding events, that assumption seemed wrong.
{Path Skill Activated: Blindstep}
Everything within a one-kilometer radius froze for less than a second. 0.4 seconds to be exact.
And in that minuscule amount of time, he exploded forward, swishing between frightened bodies and scattered debris.
The moment the skill halted, he called for it again. This time, he was shielded from the sight of time for 0.35 seconds.
The next activation, it was 0.3 seconds. By that time, he was merely a kilometer away, and his perception finally allowed him to see the source of the mana.
His gaze went past the charred corpses, the large hole in the wall, and even Sabrina and the professors who taught him back in the tutorial, to land squarely on him.
'Astrologer…'
The moment his gaze landed on the airborne figure, he knew who it was. Even if he burned in hell and came back, he'd still recognize him, let alone from a measly thousand meters.
His mind lagged for an instant before starting to replay the mental torture he'd been subjected to.
The countless images passed by in vivid detail. Deaths, torture, his incompetence to stop it all, the disappointed gazes, the hurt, the agony…
"I'll kill you."
Aside from monsters, he'd actually never killed a single sane human until now. But he didn't think he'd have any burden if it came to that man. In his opinion, the Astrologer wasn't even sane to begin with.
And who would complain if he rid the planet of this scourge that was the enemy of humanity?
"Who am I kidding? I'll still drive my spear into your guts at the first opportunity I get, even if you were a fucking saint."
Ashen's golden eyes glowed with barely suppressed frenzy.
With that, the Hourvault opened a path to his personal space in the air beside his hand for him to pull another spear. This one was made from the hardest metal he could find in Ashbastion and prepared especially for his next move.
Inhale—
He let go of the original spear and assumed textbook spear form: front foot planted, hips coiled, arm drawn back like a tensioned cable.
Exhale—
{Path Skill Activated: Somatic Autonomy}
The muscles that relaxed with the exhale abruptly contracted to their limits, making red veins map his whole body.
{Path Skill Activated: Hourvault}
The vault opened once more, this time not outwardly, but at the center of his heart, pumping mana instead of physical objects.
The mana he'd persistently hoarded for the past month flooded back to his circuits, strand by strand, until he'd emptied 80% of the vault.
Mana Authority worked in tandem, taking those strands out of his circuits and concentrating them into a single white point of compressed mana.
Riven State - Rupture.
The dot danced between every activated muscle, enhancing them to their limit to make the throw the deadliest it could ever be, while Somatic Autonomy worked overtime to keep his body from collapsing under mana's tyranny using the vast vitality the vault contained.
The spear arced overhead. Ashen leaned back, sighting along the shaft. The mana-dot passed before his eyes, making them ache and weep blood.
Conversionalist—
Now, his mark was as clear as his desire to kill.
Target and intent fused. He stepped through the throw: a driven hip rotation, a sharp forward transfer of weight, the shoulder and arm snapping in a single fluent motion.
The dot followed simultaneously, drawing a constellation across his form.
When he released, it rode the spear, pouring into the shaft and concentrating at the tip until the metal whitened.
And in the very last moment, he imbued the move with the last touch that made it the deadliest.
{Path Skill Activated: Blindstep}
This was his best. This move contained all his hopes for survival, for killing that monster, and saving everyone he held dear.
And thus, he called it—
"Salvation—"
A white line traveled over the horizon. Air resistance heated it brutally. The air itself was vaporized and ionized into a plasma tunnel that eventually reached less than a meter away from the collapsing Cassius.
That very same moment, Blindstep seemed to release its hold, revealing the spear to the concept of time and putting it back under its authority.
Unfortunately for the Astrologer, not even the senses of a Second Step could react to hypersonic speed at such close distance.
He only reacted when the white light of death had long pierced past him.
"DIIIEEE—!!!"
Ashen saw the spear strike true and let out a guttural cry containing all his feelings—to kill him at all costs.
BOOOOOMMM—!!!
Everyone had the same thought at the unbelievable image suddenly presented before them. A Second Step pathwalker had fallen in a single strike before their eyes. Sabrina and her cohort retreated while they intently watched as the white mana ate away at the man's body with vicious will.
Alas, reality is often disappointing, and nothing worthwhile has ever been easy. The same went for killing a transcendent with a grudge he'd nursed for more than two hundred years.
{Path Skill Activated: Wrath Incarnate — Second Burning}
Cassius felt the skill he'd acquired on his second step passively trigger. It was a skill he never thought he'd use this early.
Fire engulfed the rest of his intact body, but even then, the foreign mana was persistent. He could feel the will behind it. It contained hate, resentment, rage… and the desire to kill him above all else.
For a moment, he felt his black fire falter under its relentless encroachment.
But then, the broken sight of his abused daughter flashed before his eyes, followed by the used corpse of his wife.
'Die…? Me?'
The remnants of the past hero that whispered for him to finally let go and rest were buried once more under the relentless, endless, ceaseless wrath of his Sin, nourished by the blackest hole that was his hopeless, warped mind.
'No... Not yet.'
'I still haven't killed enough.'
'I still haven't destroyed enough.'
'My anger still burns, so how can I die now?'
The fire bristled.
'You resent me? You want to kill me?'
His internal voice rose to a roar.
'I RESENT you!! I resent this WORLD and want nothing more than to witness its eventual and ultimate DEMISE.'
'I SHALL NOT DIE BEFORE I SEE TO THAT.'
The weakening black flame, spurred by an indomitable will, began fighting back fiercely—biting, clawing, and eventually devouring the remnants of the white mana under its embers.
Sssst—
The ball of fire detonated to reveal an utterly unharmed silhouette.
Cassius stood in the air, whole once more. The hole in his chest had closed. His heart beat again… each thump echoing with fury.
He turned his crimson gaze downward, sweeping across the defenders until he found what he was looking for.