Born in Blood



Liam could go two ways about his rule. Since only he could dictate one, it could steer the entire fight towards him.

First, he could center it around incapacitation. 

'If I don't defeat you in 20 attacks, you win.'

This was the safer option, and the surefire way of assuring himself a win. 

The Unmoving Mountain Sect had incredible defense. Usan had told Liam about it. Their names weren't boastful. 

Like mountains, they were firmed to the ground and immune to knockback.

But Liam wanted to make this a death battle. And when lives were put on the line, both parties would have to attack and defend.

Thus…

"A battle of endurance," Liam said to the man. 

"We can exchange one attack – any except mental – in turns. If you incapacitate me, you win. If I cripple you, I win."

"The attacks will be direct, and you cannot use external defenses to block them."

"Only, this is a death battle, and you cannot declare defeat until either one of us dies."

A strange silence descended on the battlefield. 

There was always that natural cheering noise in the back, but now, there was an abrupt pause of murmurs and questioning curses.

Shard of Earth blinked with shock.

…Of all the rules he could get, that was what he decided on? 

Did Shadow Demon have a death wish?

No sane person would choose the same rule he did!

In one way or another, limiting the attacks the Zenith could do on him was the most logical rule to apply.

But the idiot didn't do that!

[Does your disciple have any mental illnesses like yourself?] Unmoving Mountain transmitted to Usan. 

[He's worse,] the Unforgiven replied, noticeably exasperated. 

[I like him,] Sun's Spear added to him with a sunny smile. The six of them were connected to each other's mental spheres. [He has grit.]

[No, he's a retard,] Cerulean Dragon mentioned. Usan glared at him. [Strong or not, he's letting his pride cloud his mind. Winning against a Zenith is one thing, killing a Zenith is another.]

North Star remained quiet, but furrowed brows creased his forehead. 

Shadow Demon chose those rules for a specific reason. 

He was confident in winning… and that unnerved North Star.

Meanwhile, Liam said nothing and waited for the Shard of Earth to respond.

The Myriad Brush clearly didn't see an issue with it, but if Shard of Earth made that rule, he would have denied it straight away.

"I… guess? Are you sure?" Shard of Earth asked with wide eyes. "I won't hold back, just so you know."

Liam nodded tersely.

'Neither will I,' Liam thought.

And he really wouldn't.

Using his Ashura Form was on the table for this battle. 

"Fine. Let's get this over with," Shard said. "I'll be nice and give you the first strike, too."

Myriad Brush nodded and activated the Isolation Barrier, leaving two, but expecting only one to come out.

Liam heaved a breath. His aura spread, and his eyes grew cold.

'I need to make every attack count.'

Shard of Earth spread out his knees and planted both feet into the ground with all his strength.

A slight tremor ran through the ground where he stomped. Evidently, the battlefield could endure much more than that.

A moment later, the Shard's body began to vibrate. Air rippled and shook around him. Slowly, his skin turned dull as rock.

In every sense of the word, the man looked unmovable.

Shard of Earth shifted his attention to Liam and smiled.

"Do your worst."

Liam responded with a grin of his own.

First, his Blood Shadow began to condense around his right fist. 

It effectively tripled his natural strength!

Ever since Liam put more effort into enlarging and darkening his shadows, their capabilities had grown to a powerful amount.

Immediately after, Liam activated his Blood Demon Arts.

Blood oozed and spread from every orifice of his body, encasing him in a wonderful set of knightly armor.

Not the face, though. There was nothing wondrous about that – just dread and fear.

Shard of Earth grimaced.

Blood spells?

There were no martial art clans that used blood to fight in Ilali!

There were demonic cults.

But those were long extinct. Even before the Temple's exile.

Not to mention, their blood arts were nowhere near the level of what Shadow Demon was expressing.

'No wonder the Temple forced the Binding Oath on me.'

'Everything about this guy sounds suspicious and strange.'

'What else is he hiding?'

Shard of Earth grew stern.

Liam used Transfiguration paired with a semi-transformation on his right arm. 

With his Ashura Form, Transfiguration worked in smaller doses. He couldn't transform his entire arm, but a fist was easily doable.

Under the armor, Liam's muscles twisted and his skin grew aurate, but the Shard of Earth didn't see that.

Liam wouldn't spare anything for this strike. 

More and more power poured into Liam's fist. 

It felt… destructively powerful.

Then, Liam added his chaos.

The fist burst with red energies that enveloped Liam's grim armor, causing Shard of Earth to narrow his eyes even further.

That attack was extremely dangerous!

What caused even more alarm, was how Liam suddenly started strafing backwards to create space.

More than 90 meters, to be exact.

Then, Liam stopped.

Right after, Liam crouched, his legs twisting as they underwent a semi-transformation. 

Like a predator, Liam locked in on Shard of Earth's crouched body. 

Then, Liam… disappeared.

The distance of 90 meters was closed in a fraction of a second! 

A deafening rumble shook the air, ground and Isolation Barrier as Liam's fist connected with Shard of Earth's stony face.

The defensive coating surrounding Shard of Earth's body cracked instantly, giving him the full brunt of Liam's disgustingly powerful strike. 

The skin on his face was the first to rip away.

Followed by his flesh and bone.

The Shard's footing lost contact with the floor a moment after, flying more than 200 meters away before smashing into the ground and tumbling several times.

Liam's wrist broke during the hit, making it limp, but he wasn't paying attention to that.

'Did I do it?'

'Is he dead?'

Silence.

…

Slowly, Shard of Earth began to rise from the ground. Letting out a low growl, his gaze slowly shifted towards Liam.

His jaw was bent the wrong way, but even then, the wrath radiating from him was terrifying. 

Liam coughed awkwardly.

'Oops.'