Chapter 347: Compulsion
A boiling blackness rose from the depths of Liam’s mind, washing over it, submerging it, drowning his very sense of self.
There was no reason or thought involved. True Hatred didn’t need any of that. Everything vanished from Liam’s mind, even himself, leaving a single, all-devouring idea.
The world had hurt Liam, so he would swallow the entirety of existence, including himself.
The black Qi took over what was left of Liam’s defensive technique. His entire figure turned black, the vibrating membrane around him radiating green hues, gaining power, as well as new effects.
Dominic had more experience in the cultivation world than Liam and Lancelot combined. He understood what was happening as soon as the transformation started, but he remained a branching expert.
Even when mostly dead, Dominic believed he could handle whatever nature Liam’s Qi was summoning and finally finish him off.
Sadly for Dominic, he couldn’t have been more wrong.
What Liam possessed was beyond the weight and firmness Dominic could apply to his Qi. Even what a genius like Lancelot wielded paled compared to Liam.
Liam didn’t have a mere affinity. It was an unnatural compulsion, so intense that the power of his Qi increased by leaps and bounds once it could finally call upon his core’s nature.
Then, there were the additional effects.
Dominic’s fingers had been almost about to close on Liam’s neck when the now-black Qi Repulsion began pushing them back.
Moreover, that blackness spread to Dominic’s own Qi. The solid, heavy energy that reflected his core’s nature suffered at that direct contact, as if Liam’s Qi was infecting it.
In theory, even with Liam’s superior affinity, Dominic’s Qi should have still come out on top. It belonged to a higher cultivation stage after all, having gone through a qualitative change that no rooting expert could match.
That was also why Liam and Lancelot had to rely on martial arts to defeat Dominic’s raw Qi. They were outclassed as living beings. If everything were equal, Dominic would always win.
However, the black Qi was insidious. It didn’t fight fairly. It had no interest in facing Dominic’s energy head-on. It seemed meant to taint everything, as if bringing death was the sole reason for its existence.
The infection weakened Dominic’s Qi until gaps appeared in his innate defenses, allowing the blackness to spread even further. Liam’s energy touched Dominic directly, and his skin sizzled, corroded by his energy.
Liam was still using a martial art to contend with Dominic’s raw energy, but his victory was clear now, not requiring additional conditions or techniques. Dominic actually was one step too late retracting his hand due to how surprising he found the matter.
The hand around Liam’s neck snapped back, grey smoke rising all over the corroded, caved-in palm, and Lancelot used that loss of balance to his advantage.
"Higher, higher," Lancelot chanted. "There’s nothing but fire."
The canvas of flames that had risen behind Dominic advanced, enveloping him and Lancelot. Fiery tendrils grew from it, like tentacles that wrapped themselves all over Dominic, lifting the weight his presence exerted.
It was no different than a spring. The fiery tentacles and Lancelot himself tensed to throw Dominic away. The latter remained on his feet, but they dug through the ground as he crossed the canvas of fire, stopping a few meters away.
Still, there were shallow burns all over Dominic’s body now. Lancelot hadn’t used any martial arts, but his empowering chant and the debilitation caused by Liam’s Qi had left their mark anyway.
Actually, once again, the fault lay with Dominic. His innate defenses had weakened, highlighting his worsening condition.
If Lancelot had known, he would have gone for something stronger, but he had prioritized getting that threat away from Liam, and glancing at him proved him right.
Liam fell, barely supporting himself on all fours, the Qi Repulsion vanishing on its own. Retches took over his body. He puked blood, and then more of it, forming a puddle on that barren, cracked ground that soon reached a concerning size.
The Qi Repulsion had saved Liam, but not before he had suffered from the initial part of the massive eruption. He had endured Dominic’s rank 3 spell with empowered body alone until his figure had risen high in the sky, which had done more than turning him into a mess of torn skin.
And yet, Liam still lifted his head, hissing through the rivers of blood flowing from his lips. His insides were in shambles, but he wanted to keep fighting, and that wasn’t the end.
The Core-Sheltering Pill preserved the integrity of Liam’s core, but did nothing for the wild release of Qi the Primal Urge caused. His energy kept blowing out of his body violently, and it was all black now.
And somehow, something even worse had afflicted Liam. He looked at Lancelot, albeit only because he was the closest to him, his eyes showing no sign of recognition.
Lancelot suppressed the instinctive fear he felt toward the black Qi rising from Liam. The latter seemed to have gone feral, not moving simply because his damaged body stopped him, but Lancelot knew exactly what was happening.
Actually, Lancelot was the only person in the entire world who could know. After all, he was aware of Liam’s greatest secret, and he had fought that very battle himself.
But the predicament gave Lancelot no time to take care of Liam’s issue since a suffocating pressure fell on the entire area. The ruined ground cracked even further, and tremors spread everywhere.
"Who do you think you are?" Dominic said, not moving from his position, his voice low, his anger having grown quieter but also more chilling. "No matter what happens to me, there’s only one way this ends for you two."
Honestly, Lancelot couldn’t argue with that. Dominic had weakened and was continuing to do so, but he could inflict a lot of damage in his remaining time, especially if he went for suicidal attacks.
Even now, Lancelot and Liam were barely hanging on. The former had just begun to recover, both in body and Qi, while the latter looked as if his organs had turned into a gory pulp, on top of having gone crazy.
Yet, that peculiar choice of words gave Lancelot an idea of how to help his Brother with his tribulation. He knew his passion had affected him during the Trial, so he could inspire him again.
"Listen well, Brother," Lancelot exclaimed, smirking. "Listen as I chant my life’s fire."
