Chapter 412: Battlefield
No moral conundrum afflicted Liam. Those thoughts didn’t arise at all. He quickly reviewed the battle, even if that had little to do with his prowess.
A proper battle would have gone far differently, but that had been the whole point behind the Defying Stomp. The outcome would have likely been the same, but Liam’s abrupt use of a rank 3 martial art had prevented the Guild’s team from putting up a fight.
With the surprise effect, a rank 3 martial art, a rank 2 weapon, and all of Liam’s advantages, it would have actually been stranger not to achieve such a feat. Only elite rooting experts at Lancelot’s level had a chance to oppose that.
Instead, Liam found his new friends more interesting.
Despite the sudden attack, Troy had kept up with Liam, both physically and, especially, mentally. He had shown deadliness and readiness, perfectly joining that improvised strategy.
Lucas had been half a step behind, but he had also shown his worth. A rooting expert killing foundation experts was nothing surprising, but his deadliness gave insights into his praiseworthy skills.
Back then, Liam had been able to endure Cecilia’s beating, but Lucas had a sword on his side. Moreover, his invisible, flying slashes had happened when the two foundation experts were in the air.
Lucas would probably feign ignorance, but Liam knew that such timing had been by design. If it had been him from back then instead of the brown foundation experts, his fate would have been the same.
At most, Liam could have hoped for his sharp senses to react to the slashes, but he would have still lost his arms to preserve his life.
’They are good,’ Liam acknowledged. ’No wonder no one in their Sect dares to target them.’
Liam’s superhuman senses had confirmed that Lucas had spoken the truth. His mask wasn’t as good as Grace’s. However, he might have been delusional, genuinely believing a lie. The half-spar had partially proven otherwise, and Liam had complete certainty now.
There was no exchange of words, but everyone was on the same page. There was also no time to waste. The still-trembling ground, the distant roars, and the shockwaves from the other mountains said as much, so Lucas resumed leading everyone.
For some reason, Grace bumped her shoulder against Liam’s before they resumed running, but she ignored his confused look, forcing him to postpone the matter.
Liam’s Qi reserves weren’t in a bad spot. He had depleted close to one-third of his energy, but his core was already producing more at a pace worthy of his new level, sending it to his body.
Still, normally Liam would have resorted to his pipe. The main battle promised to be ahead, and it was unwise to tackle it at anything but full strength.
However, Liam didn’t have any smoking powder. The news about the Rainbow Roses had been too sudden, not giving him time to prepare a new batch.
Liam also had some experimenting to do. The powder’s recipe had to be improved significantly to work at his current level, and it might take a full day to fine-tune something worthwhile.
Nevertheless, just like Liam’s heart, his mindset had also changed, or rather, he could finally make proper use of his standing as an alchemist. He had tens of Qi-Storage Pills filled with his energy, and that without accounting for the slower Qi Recovery elixirs.
Moreover, Liam had enough personal stashes of ingredients to restore part of that collection, meaning his Qi wouldn’t be a problem. He had immense reserves and ways to refill them almost instantly.
So, Liam just kept going, following Lucas diagonally through the mountain. They were gradually adjusting their course, heading toward the peak, getting closer to the main chaos.
And the chaos eventually unfolded in all its terrible magnificence.
The six brown-wearing cultivators had probably been tasked with managing the perimeter, ensuring that no new variable joined the main clash. Still, honestly, Liam believed that things were already too far gone.
A devastation of fallen, snapped, eradicated, and destroyed trees expanded everywhere Liam looked, together with a sea of cracked, caved-in, lifted, and trembling ground.
Dust tried to rise but could never last long enough to create a cloud. There were too many shockwaves, continuously blowing it away.
On one side, two rooting experts wearing dark-blue robes identical to Lucas and Troy’s were exchanging blows with a pair in dark-red, putting their swords against strangely clawed hands.
On the other side, a group of five in brown fought four huge, five-meter-tall, grey-furred bears, rooting experts and foundation experts using battle formations against level two magical beasts.
Two dozen owls flew through the area, occasionally descending to strike the tens of cultivators engaged in other fights. Liam saw the yellow of the Messengers Guild, more brown, the blue of the Merchants Guild, and more, including cloaked experts who wanted to hide their identity.
Liam didn’t see white among the mess, but the worst was further up the mountain.
The upper edge of that mess featured the largest joint front of rooting experts, despite their different affiliations. There were eleven cultivators wearing dark blue, dark red, brown, and cyan, but three opponents were enough to prevent them from advancing higher.
Three giant figures, each seven meters tall, stood in the way of the mountain’s higher areas. They were thick, heavy, and grey-furred, their threatening roars sending shivers down Liam’s spine.
’Level three,’ Liam instinctively concluded.
The battle was so widespread and chaotic that attempting to circle it would spread it further due to the additional fights that would start. The owls made the sky off-limits, and those huge monsters blocked the path ahead.
Liam’s group’s arrival didn’t go unnoticed. Glances arrived from everywhere. Everyone was wary of those newcomers and ready to intercept them.
Yet, before Liam could decide how to make his way through, the faintest scent touched his tongue. The chaos had plenty of those, so he should have disregarded it, but his core reacted to it.
Liam had only read descriptions about the Rainbow Roses, but he knew poison when he smelled it.
"This way," Liam promptly urged, leading the way, knowing there was no time to explain.
Grace didn’t hesitate, and, strangely, Troy didn’t, either, forcing Lucas to follow along, heading to the side where the dark-blue pair was fighting the dark-red one.
"Lucas!" One of the dark-blue rooting experts, a blonde man, shouted after deflecting his opponent’s clawed thrust. "Where do you think you are going? And where are my alloys?!"
Liam’s group was indeed trying to sneak past that fight, but the four had noticed that, and the shout had even attracted the attention of the cultivators on that side of the battlefield.
"Hello, Rufus," Lucas laughed, pointing his sword at the ground. "Shut up, Rufus."
Lucas’ sword flashed, lifting a cloud of dust dense enough to survive for a few seconds. He and the others in his group ran through it, slipping past the fight, reaching the battlefield’s southern edge.
Liam’s nape tingled at that point. He heard shouts, people chasing him, but that sensation came from something rather than someone, and it was strong.
Rufus, his companion, opponents, and some of the cultivators deeper into the battlefield dropped their scuffles and charged at Liam’s group, but he couldn’t mind them.
Getting ahead without a fight was wishful thinking. Liam had perceived the additional threat, but had hoped that using that roundabout way would have limited his problems to pursuers. He had been wrong.
"Keep climbing south," Liam ordered, uncaring that others could hear him as something materialized in his palm. "Look for a clearing or an elevation."
Rainbow Roses needed a lot of sunlight to grow, but that was too much information to give in that tense moment. Liam had to stop at those brief directives before throwing a red pill into his mouth and unleashing the Lightning Step in quick succession.
"He’s heading for the peak!" Someone from the pursuers shouted before a roar rang beyond the ruckus, triggering a cacophony of terrified hoots.
From higher up the mountain, in an area the battlefield had yet to afflict, trees fell in a straight line until a level three bear became visible. This one was even bigger than the others, being seven and a half meters tall, scars tainting its grey fur.
There had always been a fourth level three magical beast, and it was now charging at the group that had split from the battlefield.
However, thundering noises resounded. The ground exploded in six spots, each releasing ethereal wisps of black Qi, each getting closer to the giant creature.
The bear kept galloping even after Liam slammed on it, his hands clinging to its hide, his feet digging into the ground, his shoulders shaking from the violent impact.
Yet, strength flooded every inch of Liam’s body, removing its safety limiter, creating a scene that almost brought the entire battlefield to a standstill.
Liam hissed loudly, his figure continuing to retreat until his feet stopped digging into the ground. Nothing was pushing him anymore, only immense weight. He had lifted the huge creature with his bare hands and hurled it violently behind him.
The bear crashed into the ground and rolled once before blowing it apart with a powerful leap, instantly bringing it back to Liam, its paws closing on him, its thick claws ready to rip him apart.
Liam looked at the level three beast, knowing a fight was unavoidable, but he caught a reassuring sight from the corner of his eye. His companions had kept advancing, slipping past the blockade, with only a few pursuers on their tail.
The other pursuers were still frozen in awe, but Liam could hardly care about them. He had bigger problems to handle, literally one huge mass of fur, muscles, and fury.
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