Chapter 97: Subsequent Battles (1)
A dagger appeared in Liam's left hand, while a sword condensed in his right hand. Then his left hand moved to his right shoulder before moving in the opposite direction, throwing the dagger hard at the head of a man of 4-Star level.
Liam moved forward as the dagger flew, dodging a trio of daggers thrown from his right flank.
While the enemy Spirits were still condensing around them, a "puff" sound, followed by the sound of leaves being crushed, rang out around this Eleven City group.
"Shit!" The only woman in the group screamed as she saw one of her companions on the ground, dead!
Liam had thrown the dagger with such force and precision that the enemy didn't have time to react and was stabbed through the right eye.
Liam's silver dagger pierced the 4-Star Spirit Lord's skull, its tip appearing on the other side of the Spirit Master's head, while only a small part of his dagger could be seen in the enemy's face.
The brutal attack was fatal. Without even having time to scream in pain, the enemy died amid his fall, while his two Spirits disappeared as soon as they were summoned.
"Son of a bitch!" The group leader said as his eyes widened.
He was the first to lose his temper and attack Liam, commanding his two Spirits against the short, black-haired young man.
Thal'Korr moved in front of Liam as his master finished dodging the wooden spear attack from above and rolled on the ground.
Of the eight enemy Spirits, five attacked Thal'Korr, while three went straight for Liam.
'Oh, you shouldn't have done that...' Liam thought as he stood up, both hands gripping his sword tightly.
When they took most of the Spirits away from Liam, it was basically game over for an escape plan.
A Spirit Master would be in an awful state after the destruction of all their Spirits. Therefore, if one wanted to have the possibility to escape, it was crucial that they never sent all of their Spirits into battle. Otherwise, if all their Spirits were destroyed, they would be greatly weakened, even if they did not receive any blows to their body.
Escaping even from weaker enemies would be difficult, if not impossible!
Liam didn't want to hide what he was capable of. The moment he saw his chance, he showed his enemies why they were wrong.
Two of the most advanced Spirits against him, two demons of different races, felt their bodies paralyze and their strength slip from their control.
Then, with a single sweep of his sword, Liam sliced through the bodies of the two, passing through one of them as if it were made of nothing, before cutting off half the body of the second.
The two demon-like Spirits exploded after being severely injured, causing two Spirit Masters to tremble as they turned pale.
"He's hiding his cultivation! Run!" The 5-Star man said as he sensed a bad omen for this battle.
While the enemies comprehended the gravity of their crisis, Thal'Korr displayed a level of power similar to his master. Despite being attacked by a five enemies, with cultivations of 2-Star to 4-Star, crossing through those different types of creatures was a mere stroll in the park for him.
With simple movements of his claws, while using his Vital Drain power, he destroyed three Spirits, a breath time after Liam destroyed the two Spirits.
The four Spirit Masters tried to flee, but with each of them losing at least one of their Spirits, the battle turned deadly for them.
As he passed through the body of the third Spirit that had attacked him, Liam approached the 5-Star man standing next to the woman of the same level.
Liam's lips curled upward, revealing a mischievous smile. A fiery red glint danced in his eyes as he observed the woman's complexion shifting.
As she stared at him, captivated, her combat instincts momentarily slipped away, leaving her vulnerable.
Liam's sword sliced through the air, landing a powerful blow on his strongest opponent's chest. He stared back at Liam, a mix of fear and helplessness in his eyes, unable to defend himself without a weapon.
For most Spirit Masters, their defenses were at most shields or special talismans. With Liam's opponents, they were just newcomers to the sect, people without the resources for more than simple armor.
Faced with Liam, they had no chance of defeating him without the help of a Spirit, let alone successfully defending themselves.
"Aaaaaagh!"
As soon as Liam landed a diagonal blow on the man, he screamed as he fell, his armor breaking in half and a two-inch gash appearing on his chest.
With the two strongest enemies immobilized, the 5-Star man in agony and the woman on her knees—lost in forbidden thoughts—Liam dropped his sword and two more daggers appeared in his hands.
These daggers came from the enemies he had killed the day before, who had left him several Second Class weapons, as well as their other resources.
Even though the outer disciples had few resources to carry valuable items, they all had at least one dagger and a weapon of a similar level to their cultivation.
Anyway, the moment the daggers appeared in his hands, Liam threw them like arrows at the two 4-Star men who were running away.
Both of them were too weak as they had lost all their Spirits in the battle's course so far. Under Liam's precise aim, they opened their mouths and screamed as they felt their flesh pierced and their bones broken.
"Aaaaagh!"
Liam missed the heart of one of them, hitting the left lung, while he hit a major artery in the other.
Neither of them died instantly, but both would have died within a minute had they not had the help of a special resource or a Healer of a rank higher than their own.
At that moment, Liam stopped and looked at the two Spirit Masters at his disposal.
But he didn't hesitate more than a breath before he took the life of the dying man on the ground.
"You did this to yourself. Remember that in your next life," Liam said to the two beside him as he pierced the man's neck with a spear.
The man's eyes stopped twitching in agony as he still stared at Liam in terror. He tried to grab the body of his enemy's metal spear, but lost his strength an instant later.
With his strongest enemy dead and Thal'Korr back at his side—who had already killed the other two Spirits—Liam looked at the woman and sighed.
Without another word, he impaled the spear into her chest!
"Cough!"
Blood dripped from the woman's mouth as she coughed.
Liam just watched her die, mourning the loss of a beauty like her.
If he had wanted to use his powers on her to cultivate, he might have gained something. But it would be nothing that significant, and he would have to kill her right away.
He could not risk letting this woman return to her city!
Once she got out of his control, the risk of her betraying him and causing his end would be too immense.
Fortunately, Liam was calmer than ever with women, feeling much more in control of his powers because of his cultivation with Mary and Electa.
He watched the last breaths of his enemies and saw how terrible the fate could be for those who underestimated their opponents.
'This is also a lesson for me. I must be careful who I move against. Many Spirit Masters don't hide their cultivation, but it's impossible to know those who do until they show themselves. I have to be careful with strangers.'
His fists clenched as he looked at the blood of his enemies on the spear in his hands.
Most Spirit Masters from a sect like Demon Gate wouldn't hide their cultivation. Some might do so out of pride, status, or other motivations that might cause them to be seen as different within the force because of their cultivation. But many of them didn't hide such information because it was useless many times.
Spirit Masters didn't become stronger quickly like Liam. They took their time to get stronger, and since they were always fighting in places like the arena, they often couldn't hide their improvements for more than a few months.
When they finally unleashed their complete potential, those disciples who had concealed their progress for months ended up revealing all they have.
"Master, be careful!"
Amid Liam's thoughts, Thal'Korr did something he rarely did, shouting as he felt danger creeping up on him and his master!
Liam saw a demon-like Spirit, 2.4 meters tall, muscular, with green skin and three horns on its hairy head, attack him and Thal'Korr with a trident!
But this was no ordinary Spirit. It was an 8-Star Spirit Lord!