Chapter 375: Defensive formation
Chapter 375: Defensive formation
Liam knew the arrow wouldn’t kill Eugene, but blinding him and his internal injuries were bound to incapacitate him greatly. Meanwhile, while gravity did its slow work, Liam could help with the encirclement.
A distant explosion reached Liam’s ears, alongside a scream. His first arrow seemed to have hit its target, probably involving the cultivator managing it. He didn’t know if the Brigade had more of those harpoon-firing weapons, but that was a problem for later.
The fan had moved to its second victim, but it was also the item that the Brigade was most wary of. No one there had the ability to dodge it, but even a partial evasive maneuver could make them survive the first clash, forcing the flying weapon to waste time on a single opponent.
Instead, as expected, Grace was struggling to draw blood while fighting six battles simultaneously. Her swords were dangerous, and she even arranged them in a defensive formation that attempted to keep as many people away, but there were gaps and too many opponents.
Of course, that didn’t render Grace defenseless. Even if someone crossed her formation, she still had herself, but the danger of being overwhelmed remained.
In that fraction of a second Liam spent reviewing the situation more consciously, he realized what he could do, as well as his mistake. He and Grace had a rank 3 weapon on their side, a tool worthy of branching experts, but it was failing to turn the tables on mere numerical disadvantage.
The fan was fast, incredibly so, but it could be far faster, provided the right Qi. Such was the description on the Archbishop’s list. Liam could do that, but the superior rank would empty his Qi reserves in no time.
There was also a factor of mental dissonance. The fan had fallen for Grace’s act, but it wasn’t really on Liam’s side. The connection with it was already heavy on his brain, and attempting to control it more actively triggered opposition that intensified the issue.
Besides, Liam wasn’t good with that type of mental manipulation. It was a novel field for him. He was even more of a hands-on guy.
Still, there was a way to make better use of that rank 3 weapon in ways that Liam’s rank 1 knife and his Metal Hands couldn’t hope to match.
A thundering noise resounded. The ground under Liam’s feet exploded, leftover black Qi rising from the hole, as he charged at the rooting expert the fan had stabbed. The item was in his torso, rising toward his head.
By the time the fan had almost cut the cultivator’s head in half, Liam’s hand landed on its handle. The item could oppose the pull, but Liam’s intentions made it release an annoyed but yielding snort.
A thunderstorm descended on the hill at that point, one that had blood and heads following it rather than lightning bolts preceding it.
The rank 1 knife was too weak. It risked getting stuck. Even if it didn’t, its sharpness might fail against stronger opponents, meeting an opposition that could slow Liam down.
Instead, the Metal Hand lacked range. It demanded more precise movements to inflict fatal injuries, meaning calculations and a manageable speed.
The fan solved all of those problems. It was unbelievably sharp despite not being its main feature, facing no opposition against the rooting experts’ raw skin.
Moreover, the weapon had a will that could hear Liam’s intentions. It could aid his attacks, pulling the hand holding it to quicken the thrust or slash, adapting and enhancing what he wanted to do.
That resulted in an unstoppable, immediate offensive. Liam unleashed the Lightning Step nonstop, chaining speed burst after speed burst, ricocheting over the area without ever daring to slow down.
Liam didn’t need to reach his targets. He only had to sprint past them. He didn’t even require full control of his speed. The fan would simply handle things once a neck came close.
The fan was simple on its own. It was a smart, terrifying child, but a child nonetheless. It just charged at enemies.
With Liam, the fan gained a battle strategy. It could even keep up when the speed became too much for Liam’s senses, creating perfect teamwork.
And due to a strange twist of fate, that incredible prowess ended up working against Grace.
Liam was keeping himself at the top speed his feet could handle without breaking. The skin under his soles was bleeding, but that was an acceptable sacrifice, one he didn’t even record.
Nevertheless, that meant that Liam was too fast for anyone to notice. His killing efficiency with the fan was also superb, so the Brigade’s members didn’t see that a quarter of their group had already lost their heads.
Such a show of force would have usually interrupted any offensive, but it didn’t work with the Brigade because no one could follow what was happening. No one had even seen that their leader had gone blind while still falling toward the ground.
So, people kept charging at Grace. Some fell prey to her swords, but others ran past them. Two rooting experts slipped through the same gap in her defensive formation, leaping at her.
There was no need for precise battle stances in such a chaotic environment. Overwhelming Grace with numbers was the most straightforward and efficient approach, especially since she had the Brigade beat in terms of assets.
Still, Grace had long since been ready for a similar development. It was the most glaring weakness in her defensive formation after all. She knew her opponents would exploit it, so she had turned it into a trap.
As soon as the two rooting experts jumped, Grace’s arm snapped at them, two of her fingers stretched in their direction. A pale glow shone on her fingertips before a humming noise exploded forward.
A shockwave of dense Qi advanced from Grace’s fingertips, like a wall of energy that dug through the ground while slamming on the two rooting experts in the air.
The impact was violent. The two cultivators splattered themselves on that invisible wall, their skin breaking in multiple spots. A few cracking noises even resounded, but their survival instincts soon rang the alarms.
Without notice, Grace had jumped, appearing right between the two rooting experts, her hands wrapped around their faces, her slim fingers pressing on their skulls until they dug through them.