Absolute Cheater - Chapter 501

Chapter 501: Bionics IV

Asher barely finished speaking before the chimera moved.

One instant it stood across the chamber.

The next, it exploded forward—so fast the air itself bent around it. Its two void cores spun together, forming a distortion wave that swallowed the room. The creature vanished in a blur and reappeared right in front of Asher, moving with silent, deadly precision.

Its demonic fist shot toward his face, wrapped in compressed void energy strong enough to erase matter. Asher tilted his head just slightly. The punch grazed past him and detonated behind him, blowing open a crater in the wall big enough to swallow a house.

Asher countered with a palm strike aimed for its ribs, but the chimera shifted its liquid metal torso out of the way. Its molten tail snapped upward toward his throat. Asher caught it—only for the metal to melt instantly, slip out of his grip, harden again, and stab toward his heart. He moved back just in time, the tip missing by an inch.

He frowned.

“You’re learning too fast.”

The creature attacked again, mixing all three of its natures flawlessly. Its demonic side struck with brute power. Its metal side flowed and reshaped its limbs mid-motion. And the void blink teleports let it attack from impossible angles. Every strike came clean and controlled, hunting for openings.

Asher finally had to take it seriously.

He threw a punch, but the chimera blinked half a meter to the left and countered with a sweeping hit to his ribs. Asher blocked with his elbow—bone cracked, then healed as Crimson Initiate flared. The creature didn’t stop. Its metal arm reshaped into a long blade that slashed down at him. Asher parried, sparks flying, but the blade split into three thinner spikes mid-clash. They shot toward his ribs, his neck, and his leg all at once.

Asher bent back, sliding underneath them as the floor shattered beneath him.

He didn’t get time to breathe.

The chimera blinked behind him, and a demonic knee slammed into his back, launching him into the wall. Stone exploded around him as he fell, dust coating his coat.

Asher stood, rolling his shoulders.

“Alright. Now I’m impressed.”

The chimera charged again, and Asher met it head-on. Their fists crashed together, creating a shockwave that tore the chamber apart. Asher followed with a rapid series of strikes—fast jabs, palm hits, sharp kicks—but the creature blocked with demonic bone, redirected with fluid metal, and countered with fast void bursts.

Asher ducked under a claw, but the chimera blinked instantly to his blind side and sliced across his torso with its blade-arm. A clean hit. Blood sprayed as Asher slid back, touching the wound. It was healing, but slower than it should.

“You can cut Bloodlit Dominion…?”

The chimera’s eyes glowed brighter. Its twin cores spun even faster, bending the air around it like a small black hole forming in the room. It wasn’t just strong—it was evolving with every moment.

Asher tightened his fists. Red cracks lit along his arms as his blood power surged. He closed the distance and struck with perfect footwork, slipping inside the chimera’s guard and landing a crushing blow to its chest. The armor dented, the void flickered—but the creature didn’t fall. It immediately countered, smashing its demonic arm into his face and sending him rolling across the floor.

A molten spear shot down at him. Asher rolled aside just in time and rose again, breathing steady. His coat was torn, a cut bleeding across his cheek.

The chimera kept coming.

The chamber turned into a blur of motion. They fought across the entire room, smashing stone with every step. Fist slammed against claw. Blades scraped against bone. Void energy collided with waves of blood aura. Every time Asher dodged, the chimera learned. Every attack he used, it countered faster the next time.

By the twentieth exchange, Asher felt real pressure.

By the fiftieth, sweat formed on his brow.

By the hundredth… he was grinning.

It had been too long since something forced him to push himself this hard.

The chimera blinked behind him again, faster than before. Asher turned just in time, catching the blade it swung at him. Blood ran down his fingers as he tightened his grip. The chimera’s eyes flickered in surprise.

“You’re good,” Asher said quietly.

Then he crushed the blade in his hand.

“But I’m better.”

The chimera retreated slightly, its twin void cores spinning into overdrive, drawing in the room’s air and light as it prepared for the fight’s final phase.

And Asher smiled, ready for more.

Asher barely had time to finish his smile before the chimera launched into its next evolution.

The creature’s two void cores spun so fast they fused into a single vortex. The air shook. Pieces of the chamber floor lifted into the air and crumbled into dust before they could touch the creature’s body. Demonic veins lit across its limbs, and its metal frame thickened into sharper, more brutal shapes.

It had stopped learning.

Now it was copying him.

Its stance shifted—into Asher’s own fighting stance.

Asher narrowed his eyes.

“…Really? We’re doing this?”

The chimera moved first. It dashed forward using his exact footwork, the same pivoting steps he used for close-range control. But its speed was boosted by void bursts, making every movement twice as fast as a human could normally react to.

It threw a punch—Asher’s punch.

A perfect, precise Bloodlit Dominion–breaking punch.

Asher blocked, but the impact drove him back several meters, his boots carving long lines across the stone. The air stung his skin from the force.

“Copying my moves now… damn,” he muttered. “This might actually be fun.”

The creature teleported above him and hammered down with a flying knee—exactly like one of Asher’s finishing moves. Asher rolled aside and swung up with a counterstrike, but the chimera’s liquid metal spine bent unnaturally, dodging the blow by twisting its whole torso around like a snake.

Its tail stabbed at his back again. Asher grabbed it—

This time it didn’t melt.