Chapter 328: Brothers
Liam couldn’t help but recall his conversation with Isabel on the brothel’s roof.
The battle might have looked short or easy, but that couldn’t be further from the truth, and there were deeper layers to it.
Even with Lancelot’s addition, the Church’s team should have been able to handle those two opponents. It had all the right cards to do so.
However, Lancelot had acted before the group could prepare for that new threat, showing no hesitation in supporting Liam in such a perfect way.
After all, instead of more straightforward techniques, Lancelot had unleashed a deceptively widespread spell at the beginning of the battle, giving Liam some breathing room and a window to exploit.
Then, Lancelot had followed up with Liam’s assault, perfectly aiding it, as if he had known that he would have succeeded at piercing the dome.
Lastly, Lancelot had used that opening to launch a debilitating blow, seemingly trusting that Liam would have endured it and that they were both on the same page.
The number of opponents went down by half before any life was taken. The battle formation that had caused Liam so many problems lost power before it could suffer any death, and the latter also arrived before the Church’s team had any chance to react.
Without teamwork, the Church’s cultivators had revealed their average standing in that world. They might have full sets of unique martial arts, but Liam could overpower each one without the joint casting that made them so unbearable.
And Liam was under no delusion of grandeur. He knew exactly how all that had been possible. It would have taken Lancelot a single additional second of hesitation for that outcome to just not happen, not in any smooth way, but he hadn’t shown any.
Despite the dangerous situation and the problematic consequences of attacking the Church, Lancelot had decided to side with Liam.
Actually, Lancelot’s quick reaction had probably involved no reasoning at all. Siding with Liam had never been in question for him.
Actions spoke louder than words, and Liam wasn’t one for half-measures. His wariness of that eccentric teammate disappeared even before he could think about questions of trust. The corpses lying at his feet were all the proof he needed.
It turned out Lancelot truly was a loyal companion, so Liam’s behavior made a U-turn. He couldn’t completely relax in that location, and the mission was far from over. Still, he allowed himself to show weakness, sitting among the corpses, his following sigh perfectly depicting his exhaustion.
Liam had basically gone through three battles in a row, each worse than the last. He had fought the Church’s team at the crossroad, defeated Julian, and almost lost against the group in the Cathedral’s heart.
The elixir and pill Liam had used had helped, but his Qi reserves had taken a heavy hit. He was still dealing with many injuries, and a factor of mental and physical exhaustion had joined that equation.
While Liam could numerically afford those consecutive battles, especially with the help of alchemical products, flesh wasn’t math. There were consequences of stress and tiredness from the abuse he had put himself through, making him crave a break.
Liam used that chance to rearrange his belongings. He threw what was left of his clothes away, remaining shirtless, only covered by grey pants littered with burns and holes.
The broken quiver also went back into the space-ring, together with the knife and the remaining Cloud Pills. The Black Bow had endured the endeavor pretty well, so Liam left it on his shoulder. He did the same with his needles, summoning the pipe in the meantime.
That rearranging also brought clarity on the worst side of those continuous battles. The financial loss was immense. Liam had wasted arrows, most of his stockpiled rank 2 Cloud Pills, and his trump card.
The unworthiness of fighting rooting experts couldn’t be more evident, but Liam put the matter aside. He had many corpses to go through, there was still the inheritance to claim, which could compensate for those losses, and he had to express his gratitude.
"Lancelot, thank you," Liam said, black smoke joining his voice. "You saved me out here."
"Master William, I should be the one thanking you," Lancelot exclaimed, approaching Liam. "Fighting at your side was more entertaining than anything this inheritance provided."
Liam couldn’t help but glance at Lancelot, moving his messy black strands away from his face. Lancelot’s battered state revealed a feat that was nothing short of incredible, something Liam could finally address.
"Did you clear the Cathedral by yourself?" Liam questioned.
Lancelot stopped a few meters from Liam, his gaze on the still-expanding swamp around the central altar.
"I was alone when I arrived at this layer three weeks ago," Lancelot explained. "The Cathedral looked like the most interesting place, but the Church’s forces must have messed with it. The trials I faced were either incomplete or distorted. It just took a while to burn through them."
Liam could ask for details, but that brief explanation already gave him quite a complete picture.
Lancelot had probably avoided resting after his individual trial, immediately getting to the city of Churches. He also hadn’t bothered checking those smaller buildings, charging directly into the Cathedral.
As for the teams outside, Lancelot had noticed them but had probably ignored them. They featured foundation experts after all.
"Master William, what about you?" Lancelot asked, smiling brightly at Liam while pointing at the fuming swamp. "It seems you had way more fun than I."
Liam also looked at the central altar, not really knowing how to explain the entirety of the situation. The inheritance’s spirit had something to do with the ancestral bloodlines, so he had to omit it, but everything else could be shared.
"I arrived just now," Liam revealed. "One of the Church’s cultivators said they had built a shortcut, so I killed his team. Julian then appeared and betrayed us, but he escaped. He is badly injured but alive."
Liam took more poisonous smoke in, blowing it out while pointing his pipe at the fuming swamp.
"I got here after using the shortcut," Liam continued, "But the Church’s team was doing something to claim the inheritance forcefully, so I stopped it. You arrived at that point."
In hindsight, Liam’s feat had been incredible. Despite the terrible odds, he had prevented the Church from seizing the inheritance. He had basically saved the day, and Lancelot didn’t fail to understand that. Actually, he pushed that reasoning even further.
In Lancelot’s mind, he was the one in need of the inheritance, albeit not out of ideas of righteous ownership or basic greed. He was simply stuck in his cultivation journey, his breakthrough having demands that no one in the world seemed able to figure out.
The whole mission had also been Lancelot’s idea. Except for Isabel, Liam and the others were experts he had recruited, cultivators who had joined him to pursue personal gains, not friends there to help him.
So, Lancelot found it reasonable that he would have been the one to face most of the dangers and repercussions. He wasn’t the team leader just in name. Other than financing the mission, he was also ready to take responsibility for whatever happened.
Instead, Liam had been the one to keep the reason behind that mission alive. He had fought the Church alone, stealing the inheritance from its claws, uncaring of the danger, injuries, or consequences.
The concentric circles were no more, and the yellow fumes hid a lot, but Lancelot even felt inclined to think that he would have been one step too late to stop the Church if Liam hadn’t done his thing first.
Basically, that virtual stranger had done Lancelot a priceless favor, meaning he could be a stranger no more.
Liam brought the pipe to his mouth when his senses prompted him to spread his arms. Lancelot had thrown himself to the floor, grabbing his shoulders, pristine solemnity on his face.
"Why did the Heavens make you a man?" Lancelot complained, seemingly heartbroken about the matter.
Liam blinked in confusion, not knowing what to say, unable even to attempt to since his mouth was full of poison and Lancelot’s face was right in front of it.
"I get it!" Lancelot soon exclaimed, his face brightening. "From now on, we’ll be Sworn Brothers. Our journeys might separate us, but we’ll always be there for each other!"
For some reason, Liam felt that nothing in the world could change that one-sided decision, a certainty deepened by the threatening tone that followed.
"Call me Brother," Lancelot said, lightly tugging Liam, his request nothing short of an inescapable order.
