Born in Blood

Chapter 392 Fleas

Touch of Anarchy was the Rank 3 spell Liam had made.

The spell was something Liam was honestly proud of.

It momentarily subdued the volatile nature of his Chaos, allowing him to 'plant' it on any surface he wanted.

It didn't make Chaos stronger in a sense. It just gave Liam more control over it.

It was made through the combination of Controlled Chaos and Focused Havoc.

Even though Liam made it a while back, he hadn't used it too many times.

In fact, the only time he did, was when he was inside the sandworm's giant mouth.

The reason?

Because it only worked in some situations, and the spell actually used more Chaos than normal, despite not increasing its strength in any way.

Liam used just a finger-sized amount of Chaos at the base of the Tube, which stuck to it like gum.

It crackled quietly, itching to explode, but Liam didn't allow it to.

As soon as it left his finger, Liam bolted towards the toxic slime barrier.

He turned into a streak, webbing himself across the buildings using his Sanguine Strings.

In two and a half minutes, he made his way to the toxic slime barrier.

Liam groaned.

Then, empowering his body, he'd burst through from the wall of slime.

It took thirty seconds from him to wriggle himself out, gobs of flesh melting from his form.

But by the end of it, he grinned, glancing back at the building with the Slime Tube inside.

Liam snapped his fingers.

BOOOM!

A loud boom echoed from the Slime Tube building, sending bits and pieces of obsidian rubble flying everywhere.

A moment later, the toxic barrier crystalized once more, turning translucent and foggy.

Liam smiled.

The gesture he chose for the activation of the spell was a finger snap.

Why?

Because it looked good.

With that, Liam bolted towards the coordinates Jax had given him.

They weren't too far away, and there wasn't any particular time limit Liam had to abide by.

'I'll stop by the Flea Demon colony first,' Liam thought with a slight smile.

Killing three Zeniths at the same time gave him higher goals.

But it wasn't like Liam had much of a choice.

There were colonies he had to go through in the first place.

A few days of travel passed.

Liam continued on the incline downwards, heading deeper and deeper in.

If there wasn't that pesky darkness hindering his vision, Liam would have spotted wherever the Empress lived by now, and all the other colonies.

But unless he got close, he couldn't see much.

Liam passed by several colonies that he didn't fight against.

They were off course, and some were heavily populated compared to the others.

As he continued swimming beneath the shadows, Liam studied the state of his body.

Eating so many people at once gave him a boost in all centers of power.

Mainly his body and core.

'I'll reach the upper tier of Rank 4 soon. And the solid stage of Rank 3, too.'

But, most important of all, was Liam's sea of consciousness.

Liam had become a Rank 3 Magus when he was 17 and a half years old.

And now, he was 22!

5 years!

He'd been a Rank 3 Magus for quite some time now.

'I feel like I'm close.'

'If I dedicate some time to it, maybe I can push past the third Rank.'

But becoming a Rank 4 Magus wasn't easy, and the Self Tribulation that came with it was perhaps the hardest.

'Not here, though,' Liam thought with a slight scowl.

Taking the Self Tribulation made the cultivator go unconscious and completely defenseless.

Doing so behind enemy lines, especially in this place, was a death sentence.

'Once this is over, then.'

Eventually, Liam arrived at the Flea Demon colony, which was way smaller than he thought.

Its barrier was… well, made out of fleas, buzzing loudly and repelling any monster that thought of coming close.

Fleas with fangs.

Human-sized fleas.

Fleas with bright sapphire eyes, mantis-like 'blade arms' and crude fangs protruding from their sides.

SHING!

Liam took out his swords and sank into the shadows.

'No flashy stuff,' Liam thought seriously. 'In and out.'

***

In the once lively Flea Demon colony, there were Abomination and human corpses everywhere.

In Liam's hands was a Zenith's ripped apart body, which he stuffed down his throat a moment later.

Bite marks and fangs were still lodged in Liam's back and arms.

The colony was weaker than Liam thought.

There were only three Zeniths there as a whole, and barely any civilians.

Who would want to live in a city made of fleas?

Not Liam.

He killed off the two Zeniths silently, and their Abominations shortly after.

Of course, Liam tried to interrogate the two, but they'd self imploded themselves.

The third didn't give anything up, either.

Liam shook his head, then left after devouring everyone's bodies.

At least, what remained of them.

A few more days of travel passed.

Now, wherever Liam ran, there was a noticeable incline downwards.

Not as much as walking down a hill, but a barely noticeable ramp.

Finally, Liam finally spotted a massive, black bubble, surrounded by a chain of obsidian mountains protruding with palisade spikes.

The Trapped Reality colony.

Liam hid himself beneath a small cavern, between some disgusting plants and flesh-like trees.

He tried calling Jax or Verium, but more than three dozen shadowy puddles formed beneath his feet.

"Finally," Verium said with a slight smirk, giving Liam a firm, fatherly squeeze on the shoulder. "Took you long enough."

Jax gave him a smiling nod.

Jane wanted to pull him into a tight hug, but the smell caused her to pull back and grimace a bit.

"You stink!" Aki said loudly, a condensed stream of water appearing in your hands. "Care for a bath?"

Judging by all the Elders' sour faces, the smell was indeed putrid.

Liam sighed. "Fine."

SPLOOSH!

The jet stream of cold water smacked away all his impurities, top to bottom.

With the filth and grime off of him, the time for pleasantries was over.

"Show me Ian."