Free Web NovelChapter 318: Self-detonation
Those sharp rank 2 items bent before Liam’s fingers ultimately pierced their fabric. That was how he had trained the Metal Hand, at least part of its conditioning, and it seemed Julian’s knives weren’t oriented toward resilience.
But the knives weren’t the only thing flying at Liam.
The metal shards of the broken items barely had the time to fall from Liam’s bleeding hands when the three shields threatened to slam on him, forcing him to thrust his palms forward. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
Liam’s hands were outnumbered. They blocked one shield each, which kept pressing on them, while the third slammed on his legs. The torn cloth was also continuing to wrap itself around them, tying the hexagonal slab on metal to them.
Performing the Lighting Step in that condition was impossible, but Liam had options. The Qi Repulsion’s vibrating membrane messed with other techniques, but using it now could push away what was pressing on him, allowing him to slip out of that entanglement.
However, something else took priority.
Julian hadn’t merely remained on his knees. The injuries had frozen him for a second, and the gory holes on his neck were expanding, even spreading to his bleeding face, but he didn’t just wait for death.
While Liam dealt with the knives, Julian had opened his tidy robe, exposing his chest and the intricate symbol carved in its flesh. It was big, reaching down to his abdomen, and a strange energy flowed inside him once he pressed on it.
Liam only caught the scene from the corner of his eye, but that couldn’t diminish its incredible nature. He saw Julian’s injuries closing at unfathomable speed, faster than the best healing pills could cure, but he was far from fixed.
The injury on Julian’s forehead closed completely, and the same went for some gory holes, but poison was an insidious substance to fight.
Julian had no antidote. Honestly, Liam didn’t have it, either, so Julian’s strange technique could only continue healing while the poison kept spreading and damaging, hoping that the former lasted longer.
While some holes closed, more opened, and those that survived kept expanding. Moreover, chunks of Julian’s skin caved in due to the melted flesh underneath.
Throughout the process, Julian’s face paled. Strands of his long brown hair turned grey, and some directly fell. Even wrinkles appeared around his eyes, as if he were aging.
Clearly, Julian’s inscriptions were far from orthodox. He had even hinted at that in the brothel, but Liam only guessed its full extent now, and kept that realization in his subconscious since the scene prompted a different reaction.
Julian was recovering, and Liam couldn’t allow it. His situation wasn’t great, but only killing his opponent would solve it completely. His hands were stuck keeping the shields away. His legs were in pain and restrained by the cloth, but he still had his mouth.
Liam inhaled deeply before blowing pitch-black smoke at Julian’s kneeling figure, his spell catching him by surprise, enveloping him while he was still dealing with the poison inside him.
Meanwhile, the veins on Liam’s hands bulged as he forced his fingers to arch so that they could point at the shields’ surface.
With the shields still pressing on Liam, he only had to close his fingers for them to start digging through the items’ surface. He hadn’t dared to use the Seismic Palm after what had happened with his arrows, but the Metal Hand seemed to suffice.
However, Liam’s animal instincts suddenly screamed in fear, and a tangible reason for that arrived right afterward. The three shields began to tremble oddly, releasing a hum that quickly grew high-pitched, hinting at a build-up of energy.
All that happened in the span of a second, culminating in the three shields’ self-detonation, unleashing explosions superior to what a single one of Liam’s ethereal arrows could produce, even blowing gales of incandescent metal shards.
The explosions blew away the Poisonous Breath’s pitch-black cloud, engulfing Julian, too. His blue robe was torn to shreds, revealing more gory holes, new, expanding black veins, as well as more intricate symbols carved into his flesh.
The shards also stabbed Julian all over, but he only focused on summoning another item. A disk of one meter in diameter materialized under him, and he crawled on top of it to set off among the storm of Qi and incandescent metal.
By the time the storm subsided, Julian was about to fly past a roof, but a clanging noise resounded from under his disk, tilting it, a white arrowhead piercing its metal fabric.
Julian was still healing himself. He had finally dealt with the poison corroding his tissues, only for the neurotoxin to follow. It was a miracle he had managed to crawl on the disk at all, so its tilting threw him overboard.
The disk immediately shot after Julian, trying to catch him before he could crash on the roof, but an impending danger forced it to change trajectory, flying in front of him to become a shield.
Another white arrowhead slammed on the disk, pierced it, and pushed it back so that the sharp tip could touch the back of Julian’s shoulder. Most of the bolt’s momentum was no more by then, but it still drew a drop of blood, giving something in exchange.
Another deadly substance invaded Julian as he crashed on the roof. He felt his flesh melt. Holes that released blood and gore spread all over his left arm and back, and worse was happening inside.
Even worse, Julian glanced down at the crossroad, finding Liam. His cloak was nothing more than rags that didn’t even try to hide his appearance. His hands were bleeding, and the same went for his thighs. He held the quiver on his back by biting on its torn string, and a third white arrow had just left his bow.
The disk tried to come to Julian’s defense, but the two arrows stabbed in its fabric messed with its functioning. It reached the roof, only to crash on it and roll away.
Meanwhile, the arrow was already upon Julian, so he slapped his mangled arm, which exploded into a cloud of blood, engulfing the incoming attack and destroying the roof.
Julian’s figure also flew away, shooting from the other side of the crossroad, propelled by the explosion, before another disk appeared under him, bringing control to that hurried departure.
Liam was about to give chase when a white, half-transparent hand landed on his shoulder. He didn’t actually sense it, but saw its glow, which prompted him to jump away and turn his bow at its source. freewēbnoveℓ.com
But that alertness waned when Liam recognized Archbishop Ignatius’ spirit, only to be rekindled by his irregular voice. "No ... Time ... Must ... Claim ..."
