Feeling a sense of relief calm his previously dulled senses, he heaved a sigh.
Continuing his motion, he straightened his back further. His blade brushed against the winds that came in his way. The darkening shadow of the humongous Gate was covering up most of his view.
Black lightning severed through it occasionally. The Gate was a great opportunity to return back to his home, should he fail to enter it in time, it'd be a great loss.
The battlefield was becoming closer and closer if he had to guess, he was only a couple minutes of distance away from the blood-stained battlefield.
Asher felt a sense of serenity befall him. His intuition told him that nothing would go wrong, the very same intuition that led him to this mystery of a million questions that are still hanging in the back of his mind.
What are Fated Signs? Why did he mean by defy fate? What was the voice? And the most confusing one was the text that had just appeared before him before vanishing.
No, in fact, this entire incident was filled with mysteries: the visit to the Unknown Heavens that felt like a dream, the spears that dwarfed planets in comparison befalling upon him, the mysterious force that held him at the very beginning and that wasn't even all!
Nothing made sense!
'Did I get reincarnated into a movie?' Asher mused to himself with a tinge of exasperation. The silver and black armoured men became much clearer. He was only moments away before entering the battlefield.
His eyebrows remained still; his eyes were indifferent. His lips suddenly curved up as he stared at the silver-armoured soldier nearest to him.
Without any hesitation, he leapt in the air, bringing his blade behind his back, seemingly preparing an attack. The silver-armoured man was drenched in blood; he had just killed his opponent.
Before he could move to face off another opponent, he felt a shadow over him. Staring to the origin, he saw an indifferent Asher with a nonchalant face leaping right into his face.
Just as the man was about to react, a splash of blood suddenly echoed in the air. The man was beheaded smoothly.
[You have slayed a soldier of the Ark 9th]
[Your Essence evolves...]
The voice entered his ear, still as serene as ever. Ignoring the voice completely in order to avoid distractions, he twisted his body, bringing his legs to the ground in an instant.
Asher squatted there, taking a moment of relief. His entrance had gone smoothly, but now the real challenge was starting. The soldiers continued their battle, engrossed heavily in it.
For a split moment, he remained still before standing up and moving forward with light steps. The soldiers were wholly indulged in their fierce battle, which gave him some relief for movement.
'Lets hope the situation remains the same and I can traverse through this ordeal easily.' He thought before rushing ahead. Much to his surprise, almost everyone didn't bother him; they either completely ignored him or simply were too busy with their battle.
Asher, however, did not care. Since fate gave him the chance, then he shall take it with open arms. Just as he was traversing through the bloodied battlefield, he suddenly came to a sharp halt before bending backwards, dodging a sword's thrust just barely.
Before he could do anything, pain flared up from his left cheek up to his nose, and a line of blood appeared.
'Curse the Gods.' He grimaced to himself before swiftly moving himself away from the beneath of the blade, dodging the slash that was previously a thrust.
Standing up to see the perpetrator, a trail of blood suddenly flashed through him; another line of blood appeared, this time on his ear. In less than a second, his expression became solemn before moving beside the blade towards the masked man in black assassin clothes. His eyes were hidden beneath the shadow of his cloak.
Twisting his wrist slightly, Asher increased his grip on his blade before swinging it towards the man's neck. Just as the blade was about to tear his head off from his body, the man vanished, appearing behind him.
Asher swang his arms again, bringing his sword to his back, blocking an incoming attack just in time. Both of their swords rattled under their sheer strength. In a split second, Asher twisted his body, moving his body beneath their clashing swords, appearing in front of the masked man.
The masked man, surprised, was unable to dodge the incoming punch to the face. Receiving the punch head-on, the man stepped behind for a split second. Blood started to flow from Asher's knuckles.
'It felt like I punched a rock instead of his face.' He said to himself before sidestepping a thrust that had appeared out of nowhere.
Another light gash appeared somewhere on his face; gritting his teeth, Asher dodged thrust after thrust, the speed of the opponent's blade increasing.
A black steam oozed off from his blade with reddish lines coursing through them like threads. Under the darkening shadow that covered the world, Asher felt that he was on the verge of getting pierced by one of these thrusts at any moment.
Suddenly, his eyes widened before twisting his body before jumping, dodging a shockwave that decimated several soldiers instantly.
Asher immediately glanced at the man with a distorted expression.
'He was holding back.' He cursed to himself; his entire being told him to escape this man, but he knew better than just following his instincts foolishly, especially under such circumstances.
Running was of no use; the masked man, with his strength, would, without a doubt, would catch up to Asher, eventually killing him.
Instead of sacrificing himself for nothing, Asher decided to wound the man before running towards the Reality Gate.
Just as Asher landed himself on the ground beneath, he instantly brought his blade forward, blocking the man's thrust again.
'He seems to specialize with thrusts. If only I can hold him in a one to one lock, then I have a chance.' Asher thought to himself before launching himself forward just as the man tried to go for another thrust.
Leaping into the air, he dodged the incoming thrust, tapping his left foot against his blade gently; he brought his own blade forward, going for the man's neck. The man immediately twisted his waist in order to avoid the incoming attack.
Falling into Asher's trap.
Instead of continuing his attack and allowing him to retreat his sword to block the thrust, he changed his blade's trajectory, going for the man's shoulder instead.
A splatter of blood echoed through the air. Asher had wounded the mysterious Assassin. Immediately, he retreated himself to a distance as his opponent held his shoulder in agony.
'The guy didn't even let out a single sound.' He thought, surprised by his opponent's endurance. After that thought, Asher immediately ran towards the Reality Gate, avoiding any free soldiers in his path.
'I have to be fast, he could catch up to me even now.' He thought to himself before increasing his speed. At the moment, he had barely escaped death.