Born in Blood

Chapter 384 Dead

The circular dome looked like it was a bubble, but it clearly didn't consist of water.

It was made out of slime.

Toxic slime.

Usually, mermaids had control over that sort of thing, not Fear Imperialists, but what did Liam know?

He'd seen a lot during the past week, and studying Abominations hadn't bore fruit.

They were too complicated and formless.

And their anatomies were incredibly strange.

It just looked like everything was mixed and matched together, and it somehow found a way to work.

There wasn't any core or center of power in them, either!

Liam found that incredibly strange.

Everything had a center of power.

Even regular humans had their cores, which formed eventually, even if they had no cultivation base.

The body was also a center of power, but in reality, it was just the vessel that contained everything.

Afterward, Liam realized what it actually was.

The entire Abomination was a center of power on its own.

These creatures, birthed from the Empress of Fear (in one way or the other), had no particular set of powers.

Each one had a different purpose.

Some had sinister eye abilities that made Liam feel like his insides were burning, just from a glance at them.

Some had so many arms it put Liam to shame.

Some were strong in other ways.

The Whisperer, as Liam called them, were a type of Abomination that murmured words of nonsense into Liam's ears.

Eerie, sinister words of nonsense, such as how Liam felt when his mother died, and how he failed to enact revenge, and how Lloyd and Rogan died in vain, and how—

Liam heaved a sigh.

He had to be careful not to let his thoughts stray off for too long in this place.

More often than not, he'd find himself thinking about dark memories, replaying them over and over in a trance until he finally snapped out of it.

Mind Warpers, Liam called them. Bastards were like fish.

Any time Liam was near one, they'd sink into the ground and disappear.

Nevertheless, the discovery that Liam made was that each and every one of these Abominations were unique in their own right.

Liam also used Admit, but what came as a result wasn't anything special.

It just made him look like ugly, and it didn't give him any special abilities of note.

He tried it on a Whisperer and a Mind Warper, but he didn't obtain their powers.

Liam looked at the colony once again.

Colonies differed in size.

The closest to the borders were the smallest, and they even contained a population of regular civilians.

Those nearing the border of the Empire of Courage were the biggest, and strongest, too.

Liam took a deep breath and started taking slow steps forward, melting into shadows like a crocodile gliding through a body of water.

Swimming through the Sea of Darkness was a neat way to counter the Abominations.

Granted, there were some pesky creatures that lived beneath the ground.

Liam swam for two minutes before a Parasite Mole tried to dig into his spine.

He twirled around with the Black Blade in hand, swinging in a wide arc that split the creature apart through the middle.

It died where it stood.

Parasite Moles treated the ground as though it was water, and they targeted anything that passed by them.

And when they died, they simply became one with the ground, turning into fossils.

Liam swam for at least an hour, before reaching the toxic slime.

Unfortunately, a hurdle appeared.

He couldn't swim under.

He had to walk straight through.

Why?

He sensed a powerful Abomination beneath the ground.

Something massive created violent ripples deep within the ground.

Something long, judging by how the ripples moved.

'Should I go in anyway?' Liam thought for a second. 'The toxic barrier might have some sort of alarm ability.'

Just then, a Parasite Mole swam through the toxic bubble barrier. Liam paid close attention.

Obviously, he couldn't see it.

He could just sense and hear, with his Shifter Sense and Shadow Sense.

It continued forward for several seconds without being hindered.

Silence…

Silence…

Silence.

A snap-like movement occurred within the Sea of Darkness that caused a powerful ripple to spread through the darkness.

Silence again.

No more Parasite Mole.

Dead.

Well, Liam had his answer.

He'd have to walk straight through the toxic barrier.

'I'll just use an Abomination as a meat shield,' Liam thought, but then hesitated.

'What if it has the opposite effect?'

'Clearly, it's meant to deter Abominations from entering through.'

Liam didn't want to overthink.

He found a secluded part of the dome, way out in the corner where the crescent-shaped structures weren't as jam-packed.

Then, Liam emerged from the Sea of Darkness, empowering his body and covering himself with the Redirection Cloak.

A moment later, he rammed through it, shoulder first.

As Liam thought, it wasn't as gentle as a bubble.

Except for the Redirection Cloak, Liam's inscribed clothing was melted apart, along with three inches of skin beneath.

But he was through.

Alive and pissed.

There was no such 'alarm' Liam imagined, just a barrier of pain no Abomination could survive through.

Except him, of course.

Liam's blood surged through his veins and grew out the lost muscle mass.

Wet squelching noises sounded from his wounds.

It took four liters of his ichor to do so, but he'd rather not fight looking like melted ice cream.

At the same time, the Redirection Cloak had become entirely white, which meant its redirection capabilities weren't as sharp.

With that done, Liam spread his senses to find where the trouble was.

Shadow Sense, Shifter Sense and mental energy all spread out to cover as much ground as possible.

The place was teeming with all kinds of life.

And uncharacteristically, the Abominations here weren't as ugly and deformed.

They were quite majestic, all things considered, and the fearful environment was not as dreadful.

That would change.

Liam pointed his index at the peak of a nearby building.

A single Sanguine String shot out from the tip of his finger at the speed of a bullet, eventually digging into the obsidian crescent-shaped building.

No one noticed.

Who would?

A single Sanguine String had the breadth of a hair strand.

Then, the string crystalized, and Liam yanked on it.

WHOOSH!