Born in Blood

Chapter 403 Dagger

There were several things that caught Liam's attention.

Very strange things.

Liam's eyes slowly trailed along, brushing past the thousands of Battle Stations that splayed across the Line, each differing in size and power.

Firstly, on one side, there were the Fear Imperialists, with their disgusting, threatening, morbid Abominations.

Most of their Battle Stations were basically hubs for other Imperialists and Abominations to heal themselves.

Liam saw special Rank 4 monsters that were specialized in healing other Abominations.

Cockroaches wearing nurse outfits, Liam thought, and donkeys wearing doctor outfits.

Doctor Donkeys…

Liam never thought he'd see something like that, but the world was indeed a strange place.

Liam half-expected to be bombarded with deafening booms and bangs as he entered the space.

But to his surprise, there was no such thing.

As of now, there was no battle!

On the other side of the battlefield, were the Couragists, of the Empire of Courage.

The Battle Stations they lived in were… normal huts!

They weren't even inscribed!

Liam spotted a few Courage Imperialists and studied their features.

They radiated a warm but fiery aura.

Their bodies were strong and well-built.

Obviously, no two people looked the same.

They wore heavy sets of armor on their bodies, the material of which seemed like crystalized marble.

They also had gigantic, brass gauntlets on their arms!

They were similar to Liam's gauntlets.

Regal, sturdy and ornate, but obviously not made with the same material.

Some were just bare naked, wearing only their undergarments and gauntlets.

There weren't any magical beasts or creatures they relied on for battle, either, unlike the Fearists.

A muscle-head's dream, Liam thought.

Though, the Line was shaped really weird. Uneven.

It looked as though some of the territories belonging to the Fearists were seized by the Couragists.

And some of the territories belonging to the Couragists were claimed by the Fearists.

And yet, they kept at least a hundred meters between each other.

Then, there was the third thing.

Past everything else, one thing in particular took the icing on the cake.

Above the very center of the battlefield was a radiant, sun-like object that sent glaring rays of light in all directions.

It hovered in the center without any support.

As though it really was a star.

However, its shape was not circular.

It was just eight inches in length, cylindrical in shape, with some parts of it thinner than others.

It resembled… a dagger?

Liam's eyes widened.

Just then, a Rank 5 Imperialist flying atop of a vicious-looking vulture appeared in front of Liam, then raised a hand, signaling for them to stop.

Kitsu stopped.

Liam stopped.

The Zeniths stopped.

The Acolytes stopped.

Was this it?!

Were they caught?!

Here?

Now?!

"To the right," she ordered with a war-hardened frown. "You'll do well in the corners with your size."

A short silence ensued as all the parties present tried to digest the words.

Kitsu said nothing.

She just stared at the Fearist in her Abomination form.

[What am I supposed to say?!] Kitsu transmitted to Liam in a panic. [Tell me, quick!]

Liam furrowed his brows.

[Nothing. Be quiet.]

Silence.

The Rank 5 woman grimaced, then surprisingly let out a groan, which turned into a tired sigh.

"Sorry," she said, genuinely apologetic.

"Been doing this a long time. I keep forgetting to explain the basics to the newbies. No knowledge of this gets out of this place. Not alive, at least."

She sounded melancholic and slightly bitter.

[Nod slightly,] Liam told Kitsu mentally.

Kitsu nodded subtly.

"We're going through what's called a break period," she explained in a memorized tone.

The woman made a wide gesture at the ground below.

"As you can see, we won't fight those meat brains during this time."

"However, this peace will last until morning."

Another look at the sky made Liam realize it was night time.

But the sun made it look like it was a sunny day.

"Once that continues, we're going to unpause our attacks and continue pushing forward."

"See that little glowy thing?" she asked, pointing at the radiant 'star'.

On Liam's order, Kitsu slightly nodded again.

"That's your goal. If we take that down, we win the war…"

"But if it was that simple…"

The woman sighed.

"There's a Rank 6 Force Bubble stopping any outside forces from reaching it."

Force Bubbles.

They were basically like Isolation Barriers, except invisible, and smaller.

And made out of sheer force.

A Rank 6 Force Bubble had to be broken by something with the force of a Rank 6 attack behind it.

In short, it was incredibly powerful.

"Unless we find a way to take it out, or until we beat these animals, we're stuck here," the Zenith said.

"You're the new batch. Try to last longer than your predecessors."

"You can go now," the Imperialist said, heading to intercept another group of newcomers. "Take the empty Battle Station in the corner."

Kitsu said nothing and made her way towards the corners of the Battle Stations.

It worked like a charm!

They were fighting the enemy, for the enemy!

With how Liam was positioned on top of Kitsu's face, he looked like some sort of parasite.

Thus, the Imperialist didn't pay too much heed to him, even though a closer inspection would have definitely alerted her.

Liam took another look at the Line.

This entire battle was centered around that… thing in the sky.

That star.

And Liam wasn't stupid.

Something to cause two powerhouses to fight over?

Something like that had to be a priceless treasure.

And Liam's mind fell to one thing in particular.

Minadyon's Dagger.

One of the five Worldly Artifacts!

The cloak, the dagger, the staff, the ring, and the crown.

And this had to be one of them!

'No wonder they've hidden this off so well,' Liam thought. 'The General would wage war if he knew about it.'

The Imperial Legion's goal was finding these five Artifacts.

Liam didn't know if they already had a few.

They probably did.

Maybe…

'Maybe Alucard already knew about this,' Liam thought with a deep frown.

That would be problematic.

'Why wouldn't he try and claim the five artifacts himself?'

Slowly, Liam glanced at the dagger with a sinister gaze.

A grin appeared on his face.

'I just have to beat him to the punch.'