Chapter 233 The Advent Dawn Begins

"Oh?" Tsukikage watched.

Ash kept his distance, allowing more smoke to pour from his sleeves to extend the range of the hydras, "...Brute strength won't save you against my hydras. Die."

Though to the surprise of the gloomy, amethyst-eyed fighter, the jewelry-wearing man maintained a bright, confident smile despite the terror of the gargantuan, smoke beasts.

"Too simple!" Tsukikage claimed.

"...Hm?" Ash watched.

From the pommels of his twin blades, chains were forged out of thin-air, made out of the same, cosmic material before the swords were instead wielded by those chains, not their handles.

As the hydras of the black smoke enclosed in on the man, he began rapidly swinging his swords with his monstrous strength, conjuring a storm of wind around himself that caused the smoke beasts to dissipate.

"--" Ash watched, disgruntled.

Tsukikage stood with a smile, catching his chain-linked blades in his grip again, "I haven't even spent a single spirit yet. I feel as though I'm being underestimated."

"...The feeling goes both ways," Ash muttered, "It's starting to annoy me. You're starting to annoy me. I'll kill you now."

It was from the man's position that the smoke grew further in abundance, thicker and more potent before it began to shape itself into many forms.

Ash silently invoked, "Mist Dopplegangers."

Standing beside the man, the black smog shifted into perfect replicas of himself, matching his complexion and demeanor perfectly.

"Oh? Now, that's dazzling!" Tsukikage exclaimed.

"Shut up," one Ash doppelganger said.

"I'll kill you," another doppelganger said.

"Let's kill him," one more added.

"All at once," another commanded.

Each doppelganger of the bitter assassin wielded their dual daggers, watching him and encircling him as the smoke billowed from each of their positions.

"Come on, then! The Great Tsukikage welcomes all challengers!" Tsukikage shouted with a confident smile still present.

Though behind that smile, which irked the smoke-manipulating man, Tsukikage was calculating; closely watching each doppelganger and keeping an immaculate perception of the battlefield.

The leftmost and the rightmost–they're more centimeters closer, but that's a whole mile against somebody like this. They'll attack first, Tsukikage thought.

As predicted, the leftmost and rightmost doppelgangers of Ash dashed in with smoke obscuring their form, unleashing spinning slashes at him in unison. It was a difficult combination of attacks to compete against; the leftmost clone of smoke used low attacks, attempting to cull the tendons on his legs, while the rightmost aimed to sever his head, or at the very least cut his throat.

Not bad! He thought.

Still, he managed to possess a counter even towards such a brutal combination-attack as he squeezed the handle of his left sword.

"Celestial Forge: Space Technique: Rend Displacement!"

The technique caused the cosmic blade in his hand to glow as the star particles that sat within it shined as he swung it, causing space to distort between him and the leftmost doppelganger before the daggers could reach his legs.

Ash watched from the smoke, staying his distance to gather information on the man while his doppelgangers fought.

It's that same ability from before. It's slightly different though–he's changing the air? No, it's something greater than that, Ash thought.

Space expanded, humming out as it contorted and twisted unnaturally, causing the air to shift and stretch in that space between the two, causing the doppelganger to be moved back several meters without having moved a step or being physically touched.

By the time the unorthodox ability had ended, there were no alterations to the ground, but the doppelganger was left perplexed by what had just happened.

That's right, Tsukikage thought, I'm untouchable. I can manipulate space at will–so just try and get me!

With just the other doppelganger rushing him down now, he flipped his right-held blade in his hand with a confident smile, countering the flurry of slashes with his own swords.

"Haze!" The Ash doppelganger invoked.

It was a quick-cast spell that allowed the man to exhale smoke from his mouth, pouring it onto the man and blinding him momentarily.

But, again, it was proven futile as another ability was displayed with space contorting once more around the blinding haze.

"Celestial Forge: Space Technique: Erase!"

A single slash of his celestial blade caused the space between him and his foe to be erased, which eliminated the smoke and dragged the doppelganger forward against any technique or strength.

"--!" The doppelganger's eyes widened.

"Get…!" Tsukikage began to say.

As the erasing of space flung the smoke-formed assassin towards him, he used the momentum to cleave right through the clone, dispelling him into puffs of smoke.

"...Wrecked!" Tsukikage confidently boasted.

Watching the unscathed victory over the dual assault of doppelgangers, the original Ash clicked his tongue, "...Annoying. He's stronger than I thought. Still, that makes it even more necessary that I win here."

Suddenly, all of the doppelgangers began to race towards him, filling the area with smoke and zigzagging towards him to throw off their trail.

"I see! I'll change up my approach, then!" Tsukikage announced.

Stop announcing your actions, idiot, Ash thought.

A few throwing knives were swiftly tossed through the smoke, but the man repelled them–though failing to block all of them as two managed to pierce through his quick blades.

"...Tch!" Tsukikage winced.

Though the pain wasn't an issue, the moment he plucked the small-scale knives from his arms, he found a black liquid oozing from the tip.

Some sort of poison? Tsukikage thought.

Still, utter confidence beamed from the white-and-pink haired man as he allowed his twin blades to vanish before summoning something new; a frosty wind spiraled around his extended hand, coalescing into a massive blade.

"Celestial Forger: Solar System: Neptune!"

It was this invocation that invoked the presence of the ice giant; the unparalleled cold of the frost planet was felt through the black smoke as a weapon matching its biting frost was born.

A colossal greatsword, forged of ice that exuded a cold, white mist was born into Tsukikage's grip; frosty gas spiraled around it as he reared it back.

"--!" Ash's eyes widened.

What was coming was something all-encompassing:

"Tundra Era!" Tsukikage invoked once more.

It was a single, mighty slash of the blade forged of Neptune's essence, sending out a wave of frost that cascaded through the area like a storm, swirling the black smoke and repelling the incoming doppelgangers.

A single swing…did this? Just what is this man? Ash thought.

As if a storm brewed within the planet of Neptune itself swept through, the grass was frosted, stiffening as the black smoke was combated by the cold air.

[Celestial Forger System: Among all Systems held by humans, it is considered at the apex, sitting along the summit of Systems, peered by only a handful of others. It grants one an ability thought only to be possessed by godly authority: the power to manipulate space and forge weapons of cosmic properties.]

Ash's stoic demeanor was pressed as he stood his ground, "...It doesn't matter. I've already won."

As Tsukikage stood there, holding the mighty blade of ice, he suddenly faltered as a sharp pain jolted through his body, causing blood to leak from his lips. It was like a flame set within his veins, causing them to flare and attempt to reject the foreign substance, prompting his muscles to flex and strain.

"Gkk…!" Tsukikage spit out.

The poison…! He thought.

Ash pulled his scarf down, revealing his scarred mouth that breathed out the abyssal smog, "...That 'poison' is my blood; it's breaking you down from the inside as we speak. Just a single drop of it can slay a King Tiger within a minute. You'll be lucky to live for even five."

Still, somehow–he smiled with his sparkling whites.

What? Ash thought.

"Five minutes?" Tsukikage said, "That's plenty. I'll finish this in three," the man claimed, holding up three fingers.

Ash looked visibly angered as his doppelgangers returned by his side, "...You should be more worried for your friends over there."

"Huh? What's this about?" Tsukikage raised an eyebrow.

"When a mass of undead rises, something else is born–an 'anchor'," Ash explained, "It's not something subservient to me, and it can grow quite out of hand. If 'it' comes out, your friends will die."

Tsukikage looked at him, "Monologuing, are you? Worry about me!"

Ash sighed out, "Sure thing. I'll kill you right now."

–

[Advent Dawn]

"Thank you all for coming."

The voice came from the figure that entered through a secret passage that only just then revealed itself from the colossal dragon statue.

It was a man; dressed in pristine, silver robes and scale-like, quartz armor with flowing, snow-white hair that was kept neatly-kempt by a hairpin. By every metric, his appearance was fair and beautiful; he had the beauty of a princess yet the handsomeness of a prince.

[Hero of Scalyue, Zhuge | Level 47]

The red-haired assassin stayed by one of the pillars, standing alongside his comrades as he kept to himself, merely spectating with his arms folded over his chest.

"Hero", huh? He's certainly got the stats to back a title like that up, Jeong-Hui thought.