Born in Blood



The lecherous Warrior was sent flying towards the furthest wall, which he crashed into.

CRACK!

A weak cracking noise left the man's face, but the walls were without a scratch.

Protective inscriptions made him bounce back and fall to the floor, but he raised his head at Liam with a pissed off look.

The skin on the Warrior's right cheek was shredded off, and his jaw looked a bit slacked. 

His cheekbone was broken too, but other than that, the Warrior simply looked annoyed.

In fact, it was Liam's hand that was a bit sprained.

As the punch connected, Liam realized the man had a peak Rank 3 body.

It definitely wasn't as strong as a Rank 4.

But since Verdant Warriors fought with their bodies, their physicality was much more powerful compared to normal. 

Martial arts brought out certain qualities of a cultivator's strength, after all, and even a peak Rank 3 body could take on a semi Rank 4 state.

Liam half-expected the man to shout "You dare?!" and lunge at him.

But to his surprise, that didn't happen.

Instead, the Warrior calmly fixed his footing.

He cracked his jaw in place and grimaced in sharp pain, then looked at Liam with a hostile gaze.

His mental waves shot out to pressure Liam, but the latter pushed them away with some effort.

"Who are you? I've never seen that red energy," the Warrior asked in a hard tone, his brows furrowed when Liam defended himself. "And how did you get past the Border Guards?"

Liam made the illusion dissipate and revealed his true form, which made the Warrior's eyes widen in shock.

Especially once he saw the tattoos on Liam's arms.

Liam couldn't hide those tattoos since the Warrior's mental waves pushed them away.

"The Temple of Shadow…" he said under his breath, incredulous.

A moment later, he was stern again.

The atmosphere within the underground grew tense and battle hardened.

The Warrior clenched his metallic fists and Liam unsheathed his blades.

There was a fragile silence and neither of them attacked first.

Then, both their forms blurred.

CLING!

Liam's katana and wakizashi smashed against the Warrior's left and right metallic fist.

A loud shockwave spread throughout the basement that made Liam's hair flutter wildly.

The strength in the Warrior's body was completely unnatural!

Liam felt his wrists sprain under the weight of the Warrior's attack. 

Even his peak Rank 2 katana cracked a bit.

Liam pulled back and evaded to the left, watching as the Warrior's metal punch brushed past his face by half an inch.

BOOM!

Another cone of force burst from the Warrior's fist, sending a shockwave that made Liam's ears ring for a split second.

Liam jumped back again, but the Warrior followed.

BOOM! BOOOM! BOOOOM!

With the tenacity of a crazed beast, the Warrior punched and kicked with all his strength. 

With his terrifying stature, he towered over Liam with ease.

With each attack, shockwaves and cones of sheer force burst from his hands and legs, sending gales of wind in every direction.

Liam was forced to dodge, but now and again, he had to use either Obsidian Skin, his Dark Wraith capabilities, or Cartilage Brace to deflect a direct strike with his weapons.

A blunt mental attack would try to pressure his mental sphere now and again, but Liam responded with Corrosive Mind and Piercing Blade.

CLING! 

CLANG!

BOOM!

WHOOSH!

SHING!

Such were the deafening sounds ringing out from the basement.

It was rhythmic and musical almost.

At the same time, Liam narrowly studied the attacks as he evaded. 

As the Warrior began his punch or kick, high amounts of 'Ora' would gather from his core and spread to his limbs. 

As that happened, the metallic sheen on the Warrior's body would glow brighter.

When the attack reached its climax, the gathered 'Ora' would explode wildly, hence the shockwave and burst of strength.

The Warrior didn't realize his martial art was being studied.

He also didn't realize that nearly all his basement lights were broken, since his reckless rampage wrecked his surroundings.

There was darkness now.

An arrogant smile appeared on the Warrior's face as he saw Liam constantly evading like a coward. 

His assault was relentless, after all. 

He didn't give Liam a chance to use that strange red energy or any attack for that matter.

Still, he was getting annoyed.

Liam was like a slimy eel. 

He slipped between his strikes and evaded by the skin of his teeth. 

Since the beginning of the fight, the Warrior had landed exactly six hits!

He had enough!

In the next moment – as Liam dashed away to safety for the umpteenth time – the Warrior stomped both of his feet into the ground.

His legs gathered high amounts of 'Ora'.

BOOM!

The ground below him shattered as it sent him flying to Liam's figure.

He was too fast, even for Liam.

However, Liam didn't even plan to dodge.

Even before the Warrior did his charge, Liam prepared himself behind a screen of illusionistic mental energy.

First, he split into two with the Shadow Clone spell and positioned himself behind it.

Then, in his right, darkness concentrated in his palm and tightened.

It was the Surging Burst spell.

In his left hand, chaos churned and grew in size with each pulse.

It was the Controlled Chaos spell.

At the same time, Liam coated himself with his Shadow.

Now that the basement was much darker, Liam's Shadow was way stronger. 

Finally, Liam activated the thin membrane underneath his skin that contained all his accumulated wounds.

As the burly martial artist exploded forward, Liam first threw his chaos forward. 

The red essence freely lingered in the air, giving enough time for the Warrior to change his trajectory…

But it didn't explode when he expected it.

The result was a sequence of quick attacks that happened back-to-back.

First, a large mass of chaos blew up on the Warrior's head. 

It discombobulated the man's senses, but he was still conscious.

Then, the Warrior collided with Liam's Shadow Clone and softened his charge.

Darkness surged against the Warrior's metallic body and slightly corroded his skin, but not enough to be fatal.

But right after, Liam ducked under the Warrior, then clenched his fist as he smashed it over the man's cheekbone as hard as he could.

Liam's Shadow, Surging Burst, and the boost from Throes of Anguish, allowed him to crack the man's skull in one attack.

The Warrior was dead.