Legacy of Hatred

Liam subconsciously recorded the environment, but his mind was elsewhere, dealing with far more pressing thoughts.

Leaving that unexpected encounter didn’t imply safety. Liam was still in the Evergreen Canyon, far away from home and allies who could help him contend with a branching expert, especially genuine ones.

The solution sounded obvious. Liam had to run away and return to safe ground. As his Master had said, there was ambition, and then there was recklessness, and remaining in a place with an enemy branching expert definitely belonged to the latter.

The formation around the Evergreen Canyon also differed from the Mutated Battlefield’s. It hadn’t needed keys or special paths to enter, so it stood to reason that Liam could merely cross it to escape it.

However, things weren’t that easy.

The unexpected encounter hadn’t escalated, which Liam could see as the white-masked man’s desire to avoid making a scene and exposing his secret identity.

The white-masked man might have opted for inaction to preserve his unique position inside the Swallowing Forest Sect. Yet, that would probably change if Liam suddenly ran away since his reasons would be evident.

And Liam didn’t know if the white-masked man or the formation would spot his early departure, but he had to believe that it wouldn’t go unnoticed.

At that point, two and a half days of travel would separate Liam from the Pale Moon Sect, which was plenty of time for a branching expert to catch up with him and do whatever he wanted.

The road was even pretty open, mostly consisting of wilted grasslands and occasional, small patches of trees. Liam would have nowhere to hide if such a thing existed when his opponent was a branching expert.

’There’s no good choice,’ Liam half-cursed in his mind as his team settled on top of one of the less gigantic trees.

The battle royale would start at dawn and would last a whole week. Fighting wasn’t even mandatory. Any team could spend those days hiding, preserving their three tablets, achieving victory over those who failed to protect theirs.

Simon handed Liam one tablet, seemingly begrudgingly, but the latter barely recorded the action or the words that followed, instead inspecting his surroundings.

The tree where the trio had settled was quite high in the canyon, meaning close to the formation. That was a simple but effective strategy since it would prevent attacks from behind, but Liam could only think about how quickly he could leave from there.

’But would Senior Brother and Senior Sister even let me leave?’ Liam wondered. He hadn’t forgotten how Maxwell had threatened to break his limbs if he got in the way of the mission, and something told him that Simon wouldn’t be as friendly.

’Is my best option truly to feign ignorance?’ Liam considered.

The benefits seemed to outnumber the downsides. Liam could even hope that the white-masked man’s inaction stemmed from inability rather than desire for mutual secrecy.

After all, the Evergreen Canyon had another Elder from the Swallowing Forest Sect, on top of twelve rooting experts around Maxwell’s level. Some might be undercover agents, but the white-masked man would probably still be outnumbered, making wanton attacks dangerous even for someone in the branching stage.

’But won’t the problem present itself again once we leave?’ Liam wondered. ’Though, can the Divine Cult even cover mine and my Seniors’ deaths?’

Liam was important and famous, and much of that had been by design. Simon and Anastasia were even core disciples. The Pale Moon Sect would probably never let a cover-up for their deaths stand, eventually leading it to the Divine Cult.

’Or maybe he just wants to use this week to disappear and remove his traces,’ Liam thought.

By then, smoke was blowing out of Liam’s ears. He had never considered a topic in such intricate ways. He honestly didn’t know that his understanding of the world had reached such levels, but the effort remained challenging.

’Why is this stuff always so complicated?’ Liam cursed. ’This would have been much easier if he had just attacked me there.’

Naturally, that was false, and Liam knew as much. At least now, he had a chance to do something, as well as something else.

Liam finally focused on his team. Simon was explaining the battle plan, while Anastasia had already closed her eyes, sitting cross-legged to meditate.

It was unclear whether Anastasia could hear Simon, but Liam didn’t really care. He wasn’t paying much attention himself, his cold gaze darting between his Seniors while he went to scratch his forearm.

The hiss had never ceased, or rather, Liam wasn’t sure if it had ever done so. It had become a constant background noise ever since inspecting how Simon ran, and meeting the white-masked captor had rekindled its enhancing sound.

Despite the unexpected, fearsome discovery, Simon had to die. Actually, whatever unpredictable consequence that encounter would cause had a high chance of working in Liam’s favor.

Yet, Anastasia was Liam’s teammate, and she had even answered philosophical doubts he had yet to absorb fully, other than giving advice on Melissa that he had failed to understand.

No matter what, Anastasia had to survive. Liam would protect her.

Moreover, there were other teams. As far as Liam knew, the mission featured no ploys, no outright collusion to kill him, so it wouldn’t be too fair to strike with deadly force proactively.

The combat lessons hadn’t changed how nonsensical Liam found fighting for sport. Still, he knew he would regret taking innocent lives, so he had to compete without resorting to such extreme measures.

Of course, Liam wouldn’t hesitate if the situation demanded it, but if everyone played by the rules, he would, too.

Liam also had to win. It wasn’t just about eventual rewards and increasing his fame. He had to sell his performance so that Simon wouldn’t suspect anything.

Finally, Liam had to do all that amidst a branching expert’s unknown plotting.

’This might be the most difficult hunt of my life,’ Liam realized, only for his brain to study and sort out everything calmly, experiencing no challenge now that he had categorized that intricate mess as his comfort zone.