Born in Blood

Chapter 407 Reaper

Although Liam won his battle with relative ease, the same couldn't be said for the rest of the Fear Imperialists.

Goro was just one fighter among the thousands.

The crystalized, marble armor the Couragists wore seemed to be a perfect counter to the Abominations the Fearists used.

They seemed to redirect attacks made by Abominations, even if it was any of the six elements, or any combinations produced by mixing them.

The gauntlets were in the same boat.

Most of the Abominations actually fought from a long range, using spells in unison, paired with mental distortion attacks.

Getting physical was an incredible disadvantage to the Fearists.

Especially when the two armaments could lay waste to a Rank 4 Abomination in four or five solid punches.

'Now… where to go?'

Liam spotted Ryu having a wrestling match with another Couragist, both of them roaring with laughter as they tried to overpower one another.

They looked less like enemies and more like long-lost, idiotic brothers who happened to be on opposite sides and decided to kill each other anyway.

He didn't need Liam's support. Neither did Jane, Aki, Kitsu or any other figurehead of the Temple.

Except Jax seemed to be having some trouble with a 7 '3 feet tall, cruel bear of a human.

Jax never was much of a fighter. He was isolated from the rest of the group, and he was getting beat down pretty badly.

Using his inscriptions would possibly give him the upper hand, but how many Abominations could do such a thing?

Granted, fighting with four swords wasn't something an Abomination did, either, but there were some who achieved more or less the same feat.

Plus, Liam had altered his swords' appearance, adorning them with slitted eyes on their bodies and jagged teeth for hilts.

They looked less like swords and more like Abominations.

'Guess it's a good chance to use it here.'

Shadowy tendrils flashed across Liam's figure. In milliseconds, he was covered.

Liam appeared behind the Couragist in the blink of an eye, as though he'd been there the entire time.

Ever since Liam had put more effort into harnessing the sub-power of darkness, his understanding of the shadows had gradually improved.

Enough for a new power entirely.

Liam called the ability 'Shadow Blink', which essentially teleported him from one short distance to another in exactly 0.3 seconds.

But it came with a catch.

Upon using the move, 10% of Liam's total blood reserves were sacrificed almost instantly.

It gave him a total of 9 Shadow Blinks to use, depending on how much blood remained.

Liam made the move by combining Expel with his shadows.

Thanks to both having unique properties, the outcome was something unbelievably amazing.

In the first place, Liam's Blood Shadow was exactly that.

Darkening his shadows made it revert back to its abyssal-black shade, but the properties remained the same.

And with each body Liam consumed, his purified ichor was turning into an entirely new substance.

Liam merely scratched the surface with what he could do with something so unique.

Liam called the next move execution.

The hulking Couragist was raining down a barrage of punches at Jax's figure, when his senses perked up.

Panicked, he snapped around fast, swinging strongly with the gauntlet outstretched.

He hit only air.

Liam had only ducked, then jammed the odachi into the man's nose, splitting it open as it pierced through the back of his skull.

That was that.

'Shadow Blink is actually amazing,' Liam thought as he pulled back his sword, producing a soft squelch. 'Though, using it more than four times in a real fight is dangerous.'

Liam silently stored the man's corpse, then picked up the incredulous Jax from the ground.

"What're you gawking for?" Liam told him in a drill-sergeant's accent. "We're in a war, son!"

Jax took his words seriously, nodding firmly and regrouping with the rest.

Liam inwardly chuckled to himself. The joke didn't land all that well.

Though, a moment later, Liam questioned why he joked in the first place.

'I'm just… a little excited for some reason.'

Now that he noticed, a smile had been plastered on his lips as he witnessed the carnage unfold.

Violence and brutality didn't hold a special place in Liam's heart… not that he knew of, anyway.

A means to an end, like everything else.

But now that he witnessed a war with his own two eyes, there was a certain… morbid fascination involved.

War was both chaos, and order. It was both terrifying, and beautiful… to some. It could be a force of good, or a force of evil. The outcomes were life, or death. A win, or a loss.

It was this… duality that Liam was enamored with, since it resonated with him quite well.

'Maybe that's where my Path is. Duality. Order in chaos. Chaos in order.'

Liam put the thoughts in the back of his mind, but he didn't forget them.

Paths were something that defined the future of a cultivator. They were, in a sense, what allowed them to move to higher ranks.

Liam's gaze snapped back to the center of the battlefield, where the priceless dagger still hung above reach, as though it really was a star.

The brawl between the fifty Rank 5's was still ongoing, without a moment's respite.

Both sides suffered no losses despite the magnitude of attacks being exchanged, but the battle no longer had the same momentum it did in the beginning.

The end goal laid there.

'If I use Shadow Blink while they fight…' Liam thought, then instantly dismissed it. 'No. I'll die instantly. I have to get protection.'

As strong as the Temple was, getting between fifty Rank 5 cultivators was blatant suicide. No matter who it was.

The vampires fit the bill, but they couldn't support him from the other side without exposing themselves.

Not to mention, making things irreparably worse.

But…

What if he had the protection of the Fearists themselves?

To do that, Liam required a pristine reputation, built on the backs of corpses and adorned with blood.

'The Reaper' had to become a symbol.