Published at 9th of July 2026 6:54 am

Chapter 886: Flickering Dawn [Ko fi Bonus Chapter ]

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Asher and Acker appeared upon the crown of a tree, their weapons blurring hundreds of times in the span of less than a second before they vanished once again, the tree beneath their feet exploding into countless splinters.

Although Acker had boosted himself to match a Spark Wavestar Life Ranker, he was still on the losing end of the fight. At this moment, Asher had already torn through the golden scales protecting him and drawn blood multiple times. Although the injuries vanished and the golden scales reformed almost instantly, it didn’t change the fact that he remained at a disadvantage throughout the battle.

’How?’ Acker asked himself, as even his delusions couldn’t warp this reality to fit his own narrative.

He couldn’t understand what was happening. He was losing in strength, speed, reaction time, and every other category. The most maddening part to him was the simple fact that his opponent wasn’t even enhancing himself with Astra energy to keep up with him, but was instead fighting purely with his base physical abilities and a smile.

Another thunderous clash of attacks erupted outward in pure devastation as Astra energy screamed through the air, the earth beneath their feet collapsing under the overwhelming pressure. The force of the collision slammed into Acker, his body shooting backwards like a bullet fired from a sniper rifle. Acker tore through mountains as he flew over five kilometres before twisting mid-air and landing firmly on his feet, his caved-in chest healing almost immediately.

Without missing a beat, he recreated his golden Bodhisattva palms. This time, they were stronger, faster, and deadlier. They immediately surged forward, effortlessly closing the distance between themselves and Asher.

Asher simply took a single step and vanished, his body becoming a blur as he appeared on the arm’s length of one of the golden Bodhisattva palms. The palms instantly recalibrated, shifting direction before crashing towards him with doomsday-like might. But Asher was already gone. He appeared directly before Acker, his rapier becoming a streak of silver as he slashed towards the Buddhist’s waist.

Acker vanished from where he stood, but the instant he teleported, Asher was already there. His body perfectly horizontal as he levitated in mid-air, the soles of his feet crashing into Acker’s chest with brutal, bone-crushing force. Acker’s body shot backwards like a yellow laser beam, tearing through trees and hills alike. He ricocheted across the ground multiple times before crashing into the green energy barrier with tremendous force.

Pain exploded throughout his back and spread across his entire body as numerous bones had fractured into pieces, but his Infinite Regeneration was already taking effect, his seemingly endless Astra energy and regenerative ability dragging him back from the depths of unbearable agony.

Asher appeared before Acker in a blur, his rapier tracing a silver horizontal arc aimed directly at Acker’s neck as he moved for decapitation.

Acker vanished from his position at the final possible moment as he teleported away. The instant he disappeared, Asher’s rapier thundered against the green energy barrier with wild force, carving a long scar across its surface as a violent blast of wind crashed into those standing behind the barrier.

Acker’s body floated silently in the air as, at this moment, he had attained the ability of flight.

’How?’ Acker wondered once more as he remained suspended in the sky.

Personally, he was immensely powerful, absurdly so. If he weren’t, the impotent Emperor of the Vandross Empire wouldn’t have entrusted the tournament to him. It was also the reason he had wanted to fight last, after Asher and Arianna had finished their battle.

Unknown to Acker, Asher had completely dominated Xal’Thar, who was stronger than even Spark Wavestar Life Rankers. As Acker was simply regarded as a delusional man, nobody ever associated with him. To everyone else, he was merely a crazy person, and thus he had never obtained this crucial information.

Acker’s hands immediately rose to his neck. He always wore two different sets of prayer beads: the Shaolin Monk prayer beads, consisting of eighteen large beads, and the Mala beads, which were much smaller but numbered one hundred and eight.

He grasped the Shaolin Monk prayer beads hanging around his neck before pulling sharply. The cord binding the eighteen massive beads stretched to its stress limit before snapping apart, sending all eighteen beads into the air. Yet before gravity could pull them back down, they stopped completely under Acker’s control.

His monstrous reserves of Astra energy thundered into the sky as the eighteen enormous beads began spinning like test tubes inside a centrifuge. Their speed increased with every passing second as they ascended into the sky. Astra energy flooded into each bead, and the next instant they began expanding. Their size increased continuously as they floated behind Acker, positioned directly behind his radiant halo like a wheel.

Their rotation accelerated as they suddenly ignited in blazing flames, the battlefield’s temperature soaring dramatically as the forest beneath them instantly caught fire.

Everyone watching sat frozen in utter disbelief as they couldn’t believe what they were witnessing. Acker Holloway had transformed the eighteen Shaolin Monk prayer beads into eighteen gigantic meteors. They couldn’t help but swallow nervously as they felt the scorching heat pressing against their skin.

But none of them dared look away. This was the climax of the battle. They had to witness how Asher intended to defend against such utter madness. They had to witness the devastation that would follow.

Cindralis immediately warped space itself and expanded the battlefield to an astonishing one hundred kilometres.

Acker didn’t hesitate. He didn’t send the meteors one after another. No, he unleashed all eighteen simultaneously.

And with that, the eighteen blazing meteors descended together. The atmosphere shattered like fragile glass, space convulsed violently, and localized gravity instantly doubled in intensity. Truly, had this attack been directed at many other student, they would have possessed absolutely no means of surviving such an apocalypse.

Asher didn’t take a single step. He didn’t attempt to defend. Instead, he calmly entered a martial stance, positioning Virelass before him as he gazed directly at the eighteen descending meteors. His Astra energy erupted outward in a mind-boggling wave, surpassing every quantity Acker had displayed throughout the battle.

With that, he tapped into his Light Affinity, his body becoming brilliantly radiant as Virelass glowed with blinding intensity. Asher’s lips parted as he calmly spoke.

[Song Of Virelass: Light Stanza: Flickering Dawn]

The very next moment, Asher’s Astra energy and Light Affinity exploded outward as he swung Virelass upward with monstrous force and might.

Everyone watched in anticipation, yet no slashing attack appeared. Instead, light itself seemed to disappear entirely from the stadium, as though light itself and the very photons that composed it had ceased to exist. Before anyone could question what had just happened, light returned, but it didn’t return alone. Alongside it came nothing short of absolute madness.

An endless barrage of golden sword lines erupted from every conceivable angle. It didn’t matter where one looked; as long as space existed, a perfectly straight golden sword line occupied it. And with that, all eighteen meteors exploded outward with world-ending force as their cataclysmic explosions collided head-on against Asher’s Rapier Technique.

Despite Cindralis expanding the battlefield to an unbelievable one hundred kilometres, the collision between the attacks erased everything within it. Eighteen colossal domes of explosions, each spanning at least ten kilometres in diameter, blossomed across the battlefield, enormous shock rings rippling outward from every detonation. At the same time, Asher’s countless sword lines carved continuously through the explosions themselves, erasing them in real time.

The battle had now ascended to a level no battle before it had ever reached.

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Bonus Chapter Sponsored by Dao_Explorer

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