Nearly Dangerous

There wasn't any doubt in Asher's mind. That red liquid substance leaking from Metal Killer's mask was undoubtedly blood.

And the question boggling Asher's mind was, just what was specifically causing this?

Even for how powerful his Spirit Aura is, Asher wasn't at the level where he could use his Aura alone to damage his foes. Furthermore, despite blood leaking out from him, Metal Killer's Magical Aura didn't get weaker.

In fact, it remained at a constant firm level that wouldn't waver at all even against Asher's powerful Spirit Aura.

Most obviously, Asher connected this strange happening to the gray color amulet Metal Killer had crushed.

But before Asher could ponder more, Metal Killer made another move.

A layer of gray Metal Aura wrapped around his armor as he had then brought out a long gray sword. Right then, Metal Killer tensed his body, just seconds away from rushing towards Asher.

However, instead of allowing Metal Killer to make the first move, Asher finally decided to attack.

In a split second, he brought his axe and swiftly sped towards Metal Killer, leaving a dazzling blue Lightning trail in his wake.

Distance meant nothing to Asher's current lightning speed as he neared ten feet from Metal Killer within a mere second.

The sheer speed and indomitable pressure Asher exuded wasn't anything Metal Killer has ever faced before. He sensed an unfathomable level of danger from Asher that near-instant death level!

However, despite being majorly outclassed, Metal Killer was still able to swiftly and calmly react. Pushing forth all of his power within his veins, Metal Killer swiped his sword out at lightning speeds, soaring it straight at Asher's face.

However, no matter how fast Metal Killer attempted to go, Asher was naturally far faster.

'Hua!'

By just the skins of his teeth, Asher smoothly dodged Metal Killer's sword and smashed his axe right towards Metal Killer's chest.

Streaks of blinding Ghost Lightning arcs filled Metal Killer's vision. A painful, searing sensation burst within his eyes just from the bright flashes of Ghost Lightning.

With this sudden burst speed, it was impossible for Metal Killer to react at all.

"Graa!!" A miserable wail shrieked from Metal Killer's mouth.

Like he was a withered leaf in a stormy wind, Asher's Ghost Lightning axe sent Metal Killer sprawling through the air before violently crashing into the stage.

Most obviously, just from that single exchange, it was clear to Asher that whatever that power amulet did for Metal Killer, it still couldn't hope to match Asher's prowess.

And yet, Asher didn't see any trails of blood spewing out from Metal Killer.

Furthermore, when striking Metal Killer, Asher didn't feel his axe cutting through any flesh. Instead, he only felt that surprisingly tough metal armor!

Asher couldn't stop his curiosity from flowing even more. Whatever that armor is was definitely magically crafted through some sort of unique means.

It just had to be; otherwise, Asher was sure he should've easily torn through that metal armor at his full strength.

Not only was Asher surprised, the surrounding audience and even Elsa felt their intrigue towards Metal Killer's armor increased. Despite getting tossed back like a ragdoll, everyone could sense that Metal Killer's Magical Aura wasn't decreasing at all!

'Hmph. Just little tricks in the end. Let's see if this guy can survive another, Asher~.'

Yuki suddenly spoke to Asher; her voice sounded a mixture of teasing and cruelty.

Seeing that Metal Killer was struggling to get up, Asher naturally obliged to Yuki's words, not wanting to give Metal Killer any clear opportunity to retaliate.

With a slight sway of his body, Asher swiftly flashed over to Metal Killer. However, in the middle of his dash, Asher spotted that Metal Killer actually managed to snap upright to a kneeling position.

While in this position, Metal Killer felt uncontrollable, painful shivers wrack his entire body.

Asher's Ghost Lightning may not have caused any external battle damage. But throughout his entire body, Metal Killer could feel Asher's Ghost Lightning painfully fry his organs, bones, and veins.

But despite the tremendous pain crushing his body, Metal Killer only had one thought in his mind. He felt no fear, dread, or apprehension; he only wanted to kill Asher no matter what!

Suppressing his tremendous pain, Metal Killer strutted his palm forward, causing the gray metallic Aura shrouding it to turn into a darker shade.

Instantly then, a couple of feet in front of Metal Killer, five metal energy spikes tore out of the stage and shot right towards Asher.

The five metal energy spikes indeed were fast. If this was any other peak Early Stage Spirit Tier warrior, they would have immense trouble reacting to this attack, let alone dodging it.

But to Asher, it was simple child plays.

Without decreasing his speed at all, Asher swiped his axe with pinpoint precision and immense speed. His axe became an untraceable blue blur, slicing the five metal energy spikes like they were mere fragile glass, shattering them to tiny bits.

Right then, Asher was about to continue his relentless assault. However, he was in for a mild surprise as he saw Metal Killer's gray sword piercing right at his head.

Unexpectedly, Metal Killer has more fight left in him than any other of his previous opponents.

Still, Asher remained entirely calm. Using his superior speeds, he directly clashed his Ghost Lightning-covered axe against Metal Killer's gray sword!

'Clang!'

And just like their initial clash, Metal Killer got sent blasting off like a pathetic rag doll, causing him to crash thirty feet away.

No blood flew out of Metal Killer once again, and Asher finally had enough. He wasn't entirely sure why and how Metal Killer was tanking his full-power attack, but he wasn't going to let this farce go on any longer.

But just as Asher was about to rush Metall Killer again, he suddenly stopped moving entirely.

Within his body, Asher immediately sensed foreign energy trying to directly invade inside his veins!

An ice-cold feeling swept through Asher. Whatever this energy was, Asher sensed a particular dangerous sensation from it. A sensation informing him that a terrifying threat was nearing him.

And since this energy had managed to sneakily invade near his veins, Asher wouldn't be able to simply overpower it unless he wanted to risk damaging his veins.

This would've been a challenging situation for any Spirit Tier warrior. Any type of damage to one's veins can cause irreversible damage that would forever affect the rest of their life.

Thankfully for Asher, he had just the ability to deal with invading energy like this.

With a thought, Asher surged a small stream of his Ghost energy, coating all of his veins in it. Then, without any trouble at all, that dangerous foreign energy simply phased through Asher's veins and directly exited his body.

"Ahh!! No!! How did you do that?!"

Immediately when Asher was clear of that foreign energy, Metal Killer sprang to his feet.

His body convulsed in utter pain, and he could barely stand on his feet. And around his gray sword, remnants of sickly looking liquidity substance dispersed into mere nothingness.

"Wh-what happened?? Why is he so upset?" Everyone in the audience was utterly confounded.

Even though Metal Killer was easily getting tossed around, his reaction remained amazingly calm throughout it. But completely out of nowhere, Metal Killer was acting like he experienced some sort of colossal shock!

However, nobody could tell why.

In one second, Asher mysteriously decided to not pursue Metal Killer. Then in the next, this exaggerated reaction from Metal Killer happened. Just this extremely short exchange made utterly zero sense to anybody in the audience.

'Asher! No time to explain. Rip him apart with telekinesis! It's the only way!' Yuki suddenly urgently shouted in his mind.

Asher didn't think at all, letting his body move on natural instinct, and shot right towards Metal Killer.

As Metal Killer was recoiling in sudden shock, he couldn't react at all when Asher abruptly appeared right in front of his face.

Using this momentum, Asher had already put away his axe, coating both of his palms with Ghost telekinetic energy, and then clamped his palms right down on Metal Killer's sword.

'Bang!'

The resounding sound of metal shattering to thousands of pieces boomed into everyone's ears.

In an utterly stunning display, Asher caused Metal Killer's sword to burst into tiny metallic fragments!

Since Metal Killer was far weaker than Asher, Asher was able to directly take control of the energy within his sword in a nanosecond. And as he guessed, that strange energy that attempted to invade his veins was swirling around inside his sword!

Because his Ghost telekinesis had complete control over that energy, Asher immediately caused it to explode without an iota of hesitation.

"Geh!!"

Blood couldn't stop pouring out from Metal Killer's mask when Asher decimated his sword. His body went completely rigid as it felt like he had part of his soul brutally ripped out of him.

Seizing the opportunity, Asher immediately followed up his next attack, slamming both of his Ghost telekinetic palms right on Metal Killer's neck.

Just like how Asher pulverized his sword, his Ghost telekinesis swiftly took over the energy within Metal Killer's entire armor.

Another resounding metal shattering echoed out in the underground arena as Metal Killer's once-mighty armor got shattered into tiny metal fragments.

At this point, Metal Killer was wholly defenseless and hopeless. Without that armor protecting him, he was immediately suppressed by Asher's indomitable Spirit Aura pressure.

And right then, Asher flashed his axe out once more and mercilessly swiped towards Metal Killer's exposed neck, slicing through it like hot butter.

'Chi!'

Blood gushed out of Metal Killer's headless corpse like a chilling crimson fountain. Even in death, Metal Killer never even understood just how Asher broke through all of his tricks.