Free Web NovelChapter 52: Investment 52— Round Two
By the looks of things, Liam was totally outnumbered—one to six, a vivid difference of five—but he wasn’t ready to back down; he had a mission he was dead set on carrying out.
’Behind every action there’s always a motive or purpose—’
’So what could Liam be after?’
Elliot was more concerned about Liam’s ulterior motives at the moment.
Not like Liam gave them any room to ask him questions.
"I knew you were nothing but foul scum—"
"But I didn’t expect you to stoop so low."
Edith sneered.
"Are all the Clokleins good at making silly jokes?"
Dark lines manifested on both of Liam’s arms. His mana suddenly skyrocketed, but it wasn’t enough to scare them away.
"And all you are is a wuss and a sellout."
Seria deployed a frost mist around them to keep Liam from escaping.
"So you think that this can stop me?"
Liam swirled his hands around and created a black vortex that sucked up the mist. Deria came up from behind him and slammed a fist covered with stone into Liam’s face.
His body spiralled into a tree. Sharp vines sprouted from the ground, which pierced through the tree. The shadow of a huge iceberg was suddenly cast upon the tree.
The iceberg then landed on the tree and smashed it to bits. A barrage of flames set the tree’s remains ablaze.
Shards of mirrors condensed in the air like a thousand raindrops. They descended upon the blazing ashes with no remorse.
Elliot crouched against the ground as he tightened his grip on the hilt of the blade he was slowly unsheathing.
A golden slash wave parted the burning ashes and the ground beneath them in half.
"There’s no way he’s surviving that."
Jin pumped a hand in the air. He was now assured that their victory had been earned.
The ground beneath their feet began to rumble violently. Dense dark fog burst from the ashes. Liam’s body rose like a mechanical doll.
"Is this... really all you got?!"
In a split second, he appeared in front of Deria and placed his fingers over her head.
"You will be the first to die."
He pressed his hand harder against her skull. Before he could pop Deria’s skull like a watermelon—
Spiky vines attacked Liam from below.
"Tsk!"
He flung Deria into a tree and refocused his anger on Edith. His current strength was dimensions away from what he displayed against the sea dragon.
Liam closed in on Edith.
"In close-quarters combat, you are most vulnerable. Aren’t you?"
Liam punched Edith in the torso—the very impact of the attack blasted her into the ground.
’Since when did he get this strong?’
Elliot could only wonder how Liam got this insane boost in overall strength and power in such a short while.
"Look sharp!"
Liam sprang up at the side of Elliot with a devastating punch. Elliot managed to block Liam’s fist in time with his sword, even though the impact from the attack sent vibrations through his spine.
"I guess you aren’t that bad," Liam sneered.
"Time to get serious."
He conjured a blade from smoky dark energy. The blade in itself felt wrong—it was filled with so much malice and anger.
"Advanced 4th-tier spell—"
Elliot’s survival instincts tingled—whatever spell Liam was about to cast was too dangerous for him to handle head-on. At this range, it was impossible to get away in time.
"Rhapsody."
A black skull-like slash broke away from Liam’s sword. The temperature dropped drastically until it reached zero Kelvin.
"Absolute Zero: Supreme!"
Seria’s breathing heaved. Part of her face and fingers were already frozen over from casting the spell. She soon lost balance—Elliot caught her in the nick of time by the shoulder.
"Seria...."
Elliot’s eyes were full of worry and concern.
"Don’t worry, my darling. I’ll be fine. I just need to rest."
The spell she used now froze even her own mana circuits.
"Hahaha. As expected of the Ice Queen—"
"I should have killed you first!"
Both Liam’s spell and mana circuits were completely frozen.
"But unfortunately, this is only going to buy you a few minutes."
Dark energy sizzled around Liam’s body as he tried to unfreeze his circuits. Elliot couldn’t stop him since his own mana circuits were also rendered useless.
"That will be just enough time for me to kick your sorry ass."
A mirror shard pierced Liam’s right shoulder. Professor Neuman stepped back into the fray. Before Seria launched Absolute Zero, she warned him with a signal to leave its area of effect.
"Grahhhhh...I don’t need spells or mana to kill you... Professor!"
Liam’s voice rasped like a broken radio.
Neuman didn’t answer Liam; it was clear that he was already out of his senses.
’It has been a while since I last used this... But I have no choice.’
Neuman knew he was short on time, so he had to pull out all the stops. Liam lunged forward at him, but the gust released by the sudden eruption of Neuman’s mana prevented Liam from moving any closer to him.
"What the hell is this?!" Liam grunted.
"This world is a hollow place—"
"In the benchmark of destruction... the sages sing praises and demons rejoice—"
"Cracked sky that severs every illusion—"
Cracks started to appear around Liam as if he were a reflection on a broken mirror.
"The sages have nothing to offer, and demons are greedy—"
Neuman conjoined his fingers.
"Ripple and fold—"
"Atenos Crabevous Olcer!"
The space around Liam shattered like glass, leaving him in a near-death state.
A mirror shard formed within Neuman’s hand. He walked to the front of the nearly dead Liam.
"Hahaha... who would have thought that you would risk it all on an ultimate spell?"
"Just look at the price you have to pay."
Liam’s eyes fell on the bloody cracks on Neuman’s fingers.
"Good luck curing that bastard!"
He spat blood on Neuman’s face.
"You don’t deserve salvation."
Neuman swung the shard at Liam’s neck. But it didn’t meet any flesh, just air.
"So you finally decided to show yourselves—"
"Four Bug Lords of Entoma," Neuman exasperated.
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