Born in Blood-Chapter 559: Smile

The connection between Gorock losing some weight and gaining some strength instantly made sense in Liam’s head.

He was sacrificing blood for power.

’Just how advanced is this guy?’

Liam was starting to get annoyed, and maybe a tiny bit jealous of the mosquito.

First the blood that formed outside of his body, then the anti-regeneration powers, and now this.

Maybe Liam ought to settle around the Unholy Lamprey, too.

...If he gets out of this in one piece, that is.

Gorock sent Liam a chilling look... from all his eyes. Frankly, Liam didn’t know which one to look into.

’He looks more like an Abomination than a vampire.’

A moment later, when scythe met swords, Liam found out just how much stronger the vampire was.

CLIIIIIIIIIING!

A booming shockwave echoed throughout the quadrant, generating enough energy to boil the waters around the two.

The attack had numbed his arms and shoulders, causing them to ring with pain.

Liam used an ’L’ shaped grip on his Dusks to defend against the scythe’s curve, which scratched against his armor.

It shifted to the side, forcing him to meet its trajectory again.

Another shockwave.

Liam ground his teeth as he used Transfiguration to empower his muscles. He had to be careful, though, so as not to expend his ichor needlessly.

Following a series of quick strikes and powerful charges, Gorock made a gesture, then swung once more, nearly severing Liam’s elbow.

Instead, it merely scraped the knightly armor as the pair of swords intersected with it.

As a result, though, Liam’s chest suffered a direct strike of the vampire’s signature blood rain. Had his armor not protected him, he would have been in pieces.

With a sharp movement, Liam sent a Dusk curving towards the vampire’s side using his chains.

With the other Dusk, he made sure to hold back the scythe from blocking the blade, using its vile teeth as a peg for the scythe’s thin handle.

Gorock frowned, realizing he couldn’t get his weapon free in time.

As a last second resort, he made a simple wave of the hand, summoning another wave of invisible blood droplets to meet the Dusk’s obvious attack.

What came next, Gorock did not expect.

Liam’s arm shook wildly, before blurring into thin air.

A moment later, the arching Dusk disappeared... and a gruesome diagonal cut formed on Gorock’s left leg, blinding three of his eyes.

Grimacing, the Prince of Cruelty finally released his scythe from the Dusk Blade’s curved teeth, fluidly transitioning it into a mighty swing at Liam’s shoulder.

BOOM!

Liam was sent flying away as he blocked the blow, his bones and muscles aching horribly.

"You know I heal, right?" Gorock growled, his leg wound regenerating instantly. Good as new.

With his mask obscuring his face, Liam responded with... silence, which the vampire found strange, but understandable.

In the first place, he only gave a witty remark because of how talkative Liam was during their previous fight. Being the first to speak was quite uncharacteristic of Gorock, truth be told.

CLANNNNNGG!

Fierce shockwaves shook the bloody waters.

This time, the vampire was faster and took even riskier, heavier swings, with Liam manifesting a more defensive stance.

Any time the scythe was close to reaping his head off, Liam used his dual weapons to swiftly counter, the curved tip of which ended up leaving another weary mark on his suit of armor.

It was at moments like those that made Liam thankful he had chosen the Dusks to upgrade and not his other weapons.

So far, he’d been successfully countering almost every receiving strike, each one allowing him to inflict a quick slice that drew the vampire’s blood and absorbed it into the Dusks.

Not to mention, Liam had landed a total of five cuts with Resonance, each slice spraying out a juicy amount of blood that his Dusks licked up without wasting a drop.

The advantage of having two swords against one scythe was, indeed, quite great...

Just don’t tell the Black Blade that.

Unfortunately, out of seven petals, just five had been successful slashes. The other three were too weak to count, drawing no blood.

Of course, no wound lasted for Gorock, and Liam was slowly being worn down.

CLAAAAANNNNG! SHING! WHOOM!

WHOM! WRSH! BOOM! SHING! CLING!

The assaulting barrage occurred so fast, the sounds blended into one another, forming a clangorous, but somehow satisfying symphony of relentless battle.

Suddenly...

THMP-THMP, THMP,-THUMP, THMP-THMP!

...Wait, how?!

Liam had only sustained one or two shallow cuts so far. How did the scythe already reach its required threshold for its special ability?!

Oh, right...

...Liam’s armor was made from blood. Crystalized or not, it made no difference. With how weary his knight suit looked, it made sense.

Liam used Mind Edge just as the scythe flashed.

Unlike last time, he had a crystal clear view of the weapon’s special ability... yet that didn’t warrant his safety.

KRKK... KRSSH!

Struck by the very tip of the living scythe, Liam’s armor chipped and broke, shattering from the arm guards initially, before cracking from the chest piece and spreading outward.

Now, he was exposed.

Gorock’s loud laughter merged with the sounds of battle.

Liam felt the brunt of every strike with excruciating clarity, sending pangs of sheer force echoing through his very being.

Not to mention, cuts, although shallow, were starting to appear on his figure. Even as he defended flawlessly.

And yet... Liam had to suppress a smile from forming on his lips.

He cast a glance at his Dusks.

"Ready?" Liam asked them mentally.

All he received in response was a noncoherent, thrilled scream of affirmation.

All the blood stored in the Dusk Blades suddenly began burning away, causing an overflow of power to surge through its metal edges...

...momentarily giving his swords the status of a Peak Rank 4 weapon!

The ’fire’ had been stoked... and it burned.

CLINNNNNNG!

This time, as soon as the Dusks clashed with the scythe... Liam was no longer pushed back.

Gorock’s eyes — all thirty-ish of them — wid

ened with pure shock.

Liam didn’t bother holding back his smile, then.