Chapter 368: Axe Brigade |
Liam had changed. He knew as much. He had taken the Ancestral Snake’s Hatred for himself, devouring it, becoming its rightful son without the previous distinctions.
If the sky were too high, Liam would bring it down. If a hill attacked him, he would plunder it.
Gravity became an ally, pushing the fan beyond its previous speed, almost making it unbearable.
Yet, Liam took it, an ancient hiss filling his mind, carrying Hatred he felt ownership of, other than complete agreement.
Liam’s hair fluttered in the wind, as did Grace’s. She looked down, uncaring of the pressure drying her eyes, ready for whatever else might come, planning to handle that part since Liam was busy maneuvering the fan.
However, Grace found herself unable to follow through with her intentions since Liam pulled her closer, hiding her face behind his hand, protecting her from the wind, and securing her in his grasp.
Another booming noise resounded as soon as Liam finished adjusting his grip. A metal harpoon shot at high speed toward him while he flew even faster in that exact direction.
Still, the fan saw what Liam saw. They knew their respective intentions and capabilities, becoming one in the following aerial maneuver.
The fan sharply swerved, narrowly dodging the harpoon while spinning in the air. Liam’s figure went upside-down before making a full circle, his feet remaining on the item due to the accumulated momentum and the item’s perfect inclination.
Liam jumped off, and Grace climbed down him, also landing, only for the unfolded fan to fill her vision, releasing a proud, clanging noise.
"You have been incredible," Grace praised, rubbing the fan’s flat side. "I’ll give you a kiss later."
The fan went to rub Grace’s cheek happily, but she glanced at Liam instead. His eyes darted left and right, his feral expression in full display, and the same went for his chilling presence.
The hill was barren, being a mixture of rocks and soil. Yet, it had multiple elevations, creating several hiding spots, and things didn’t end there.
Liam felt tremors under his shoes, hinting at underground movement. There probably was a network of caves and tunnels, and it was inhabited.
The Qi was also more abundant there. Part of it had to come from the river’s source, but everything else belonged to cultivators and items, some trying and failing to mess with Liam’s perception.
’This is a proper force,’ Liam concluded, the three presences rushing in his direction claiming his attention.
Three rooting experts jumped past different elevations to land around Liam and Grace. They were all middle-aged men, wearing ragged, worn-out robes, the dirt on their faces, nails, oily hair and beards, and their smell highlighted their poor hygiene, which said a lot about their status.
None was as strong as Liam and Grace. The latter actually took the crown there. Her presence was the heaviest in the area, suggesting a higher number of minor roots.
Because of that, the trio saw Grace as the leader. She even had what looked like a rank 3 magical weapon flying around her in a defensive stance.
Still, instead of danger, the poor-looking trio reacted with greed, ogling the fan, as well as Grace’s curves.
"How dare you invade the Axe Brigade’s territory?" The one higher up the hill shouted.
"Fellow Daoists," Grace addressed, joining her hands on her waist. "We were merely passing through. You have been the ones to attack us."
Grace felt the improper looks, but they were hardly a novelty for her. She was a beautiful woman who had dealt with shady partners multiple times. She actually saw it as an advantage when men only viewed her as a piece of meat.
"We thought you were magical beasts," The rooting expert lied through his teeth. "It is the Axe Brigade’s right to defend-."
The rooting expert couldn’t finish his line since an invisible beam of energy erupted. One of the men behind the pair fell to his knees, blood gushing out of his eye sockets, nose, and ears, only for a huge figure to hide it.
Liam had quickly arrived before the kneeling man, the soreness in his mind nothing more than a background noise as he grabbed his bleeding face and squeezed.
The man’s skull released cracking noises before giving in, squashed to a pulp under the pressure Liam’s hand had exerted during that defenseless window.
Everything had been so sudden and extreme that the two other rooting experts struggled to realize what had happened, but Liam’s threat snapped them back to reality.
"Don’t run," Liam warned. "I will catch up with you."
The other cultivator down the hill heard those words clearly, but instincts were hard to defeat. He looked at his companion’s mangled skull, glanced at Liam’s towering figure, and took a step back, a whooshing noise immediately following the action.
The rooting expert didn’t even see it coming. His body fell in the next second, his severed head rolling away as soon as he hit the ground.
The remaining middle-aged man couldn’t even gasp because an item suddenly filled his vision. The dark-green fan stopped right before his head, the tips of its seven blades still dripping blood, as if daring him to move.
The rooting expert held his breath, something catching his attention despite the embodiment of death hovering in front of him. His instincts made him look beyond the fan, at the tall man between the two corpses, and the chilling dark gaze hidden behind his messy black strands.
Instincts followed primal inputs that had nothing to do with reason, but that didn’t make them any less correct.
The rooting expert couldn’t explain it. He definitely couldn’t when listening to his perception, but he knew that Liam was the most dangerous person in the area. It was as if an all-devouring monster had laid eyes on him, as if a true predator had appeared in the world to teach mere prey their place.
"F-fellow Daoists," The rooting expert stammered, sweating profusely, mustering a smile. "Why did you resort to such hostility? It was a misunderstanding. A misunderstanding."
"You attacked first," Liam coldly explained, grabbing the corpse at his feet by its leg, placing it on his shoulder before doing the same with the other. "And I didn’t like how you looked at my partner."
Grace had to hold back from licking her lips. She had never felt such an intense desire to own something, let alone someone. She wanted to paint her name on Liam’s face, wrap a leash around his neck, and train him until he responded solely to her.
Still, all that bursting greed didn’t distract Grace from the issue at hand. The rooting expert ended up being the victim of her dangerous smile, as well as the order that followed. "The Axe Brigade has a leader, doesn’t it? Bring us to him."
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