Chapter 376: Scatter
Chapter 376: Scatter
Naturally, Grace had completed training the Metal Hand. She even knew the Qi Repulsion, and Liam believed she had other martial arts at her disposal, as well as whatever else her time in the Merchants Guild had enabled her to acquire.
It was a bit strange seeing the usually elegant Grace resorting to such direct, brutish methods. She usually kept a degree of polite distance, even with people. Liam seemed to be the only exception in that regard.
Yet, Liam had to admit that the unusual approach didn’t deprive Grace of her iconic trait. She might be crushing skulls with her bare hands, but there was a graciousness to the whole act. Her name suited her quite perfectly.
Of course, at that speed, Liam couldn’t see much. He had made a point to keep an eye, or whatever else he could sense, for Grace, but abusing the Lightning Step had long since made everything in his perception fleeting.
That didn’t apply to the fan. The weapon saw everything and, despite Grace being fine, its priorities remained quite straight.
Liam felt it with his mind before the pressure spread in his left hand. The fan wanted to head to Grace, so it pulled Liam’s arm toward her even if he was running in the opposite direction.
To avoid slowing down or letting the fan dislocate anything, Liam released the weapon. He planned to continue his approach through the Metal Hand, only for gravity to bring a revolutionary change to the situation.
A loud thud resounded among the chaos of battle, almost going unnoticed, but the cry that followed brought everything to a standstill. "I’ll kill you! I’ll make you pay! I won’t be satisfied until I gouge your eyes out!"
There had been plenty of battlecries around the hill’s peak, so that additional scream could have easily blended with that cacophony. Yet, the voice it featured was impossible to dismiss. After all, it belonged to Eugene.
As predicted, Eugene had survived the arrow, and much of that was due to Liam. He hadn’t cared about putting the best the Black Blow could do against the cultivator’s physical enhancements. He had only wanted to debilitate him, saving time instead of charging his bolt with more Qi.
Nevertheless, Eugene’s condition was far from good. He was on his knees, supporting himself on the axe. He had two holes instead of eyes, and he was coughing blood due to the two Concussive Palms he had suffered.
That appearance poured cold water on the fear-fueled battle drive the Brigade’s members had fallen prey to, drawing their eyes to the many headless corpses on the ground. Of the initial twenty-nine cultivators, only seventeen were still standing, with merely three rooting experts among them.
Many had even suffered injuries due to the swords, and the situation hadn’t changed for their enemies. Grace was still there, battle formation surrounding her, the fan hovering above her shoulder.
Meanwhile, Liam was among the enemy lines, hair in front of his face, blood and black Qi leaking from his feet, the feral killing intent radiated by his presence turning that superficial injury into an additional detail of his terrifying figure.
There was no need for additional explanations or events. Lone cultivators were sharp when it came to that stuff. They had to be if they wanted to survive.
With the leader in that condition, the number of rooting experts more than halved, and the invaders still in perfect shape, the Axe Brigade was no more.
As for what came next, it was unclear, with some of it up to the remaining members. They could slam their heads on the ground and beg their new leaders for mercy, or scatter.
Most decided to scatter, and for good reason. Up until now, the invaders had been nothing but merciless, even publicly announcing how they wanted to plunder away the only reason for occupying that location.
However, three figures remained, immediately kowtowing to Liam, only for him to ignore them completely and hurry toward Eugene.
"I’ll make you regret-!" Eugene launched another cry, straightening his back and swinging his axe when he heard incoming steps.
The axe had barely begun to swing when Liam grabbed its shaft. His fingers leaked black Qi as they pressed on the metal, his grip tightening while the weapon’s structural integrity receded.
Eventually, the shaft split in half, and Eugene fell forward. He lifted his head, his eyebrows depicting his understanding of what was happening.
"Wait! I can-!" Eugene begged, but he never had the chance to complete his plea since Liam slammed his palms down on his face, both performing a half-circular motion.
Eugene’s head didn’t falter during the impact, but blood and gore erupted from his ears, nose, and eye sockets. His body crashed lifelessly to the ground afterward.
"You had to destroy a rank 2 weapon," Grace sighed. "Shall I remind you of their market value?"
"Do you have one, too?" Liam half-hissed, half-snorted. He knew he should have avoided destroying the axe, but his hatred was far from satisfied.
Grace understood the angry jab’s hidden meaning. She was glad Liam had realized that point. Her entire ploy about riling him up had been about that. Yet, she had to delay that business strategy a bit longer.
Liam also knew that wasn’t the time to bicker, so he stored the broken axe and approached Grace, or rather, the fan.
"We are giving chase," Liam declared. With his senses and the fan’s speed, he could probably catch up with many, if not all, of those who had escaped. He even knew he should, both to remove unwanted trails and to punish those who had attacked him.
The fan seemed to agree with Liam’s intentions, but Grace caressed it, holding it back, putting it on the spot as if it were a child among its fighting parents.
"It’s a waste of time," Grace commented. "Let’s take everything and leave."
As angry as Liam was, he still trusted Grace, especially in those matters. She might have given their real names, but they had already entered the unique environment between regions, and they planned to fly even deeper in it.
So, Grace drew a handkerchief from her robe, cleaning her hands while storing the swords and pointing her firm stare at the three kowtowing cultivators. Liam did the same, his feral eyes making those three figures shudder.
The three were none other than the rooting expert who had played escort and Eugene’s women, the two rank 2 items on their belts suggesting why they had chosen to stay. Leaving would only turn them into targets of whoever else had departed with them.
Still, Grace didn’t hide her annoyance at those two’s decision as she uttered a threat. "You won’t come with us, but if you show us everything this place has, we’ll let you walk out alive."