Chapter 63: Why?
Rohan’s speed was only average. It was the single most important aspect of his that had yet to see a major boost from his cultivation so far. His Firestone Skin only served to boost his strength and defence, while his Origin Energy cultivation hadn’t yielded much of a boost so far.
It was something he planned to work on in the future when he found the chance, but right now it wasn’t something he could rely on. Finding out that Liam was probably much stronger than he thought didn’t give him much confidence in outpacing him to the Elite Beast.
In fact, Elane might be the better choice for that, but she was already tied up with the stone vines, so that option had been exhausted before he could even think of it.
Rohan’s whole body felt tight; every instinct screamed that the thing standing not far from him might wear Liam’s face, but it wasn’t the Liam they recognised anymore.
"I really didn’t account for stragglers," Liam suddenly spoke, almost sounding annoyed. "That part’s on me."
Rohan’s hands tightened into fists. If he gripped any harder, he might draw blood.
He wanted to lunge, drive his spear right through Liam’s throat. Rip that calm look off his face.
But he didn’t. Rohan doubted he could.
’He’s strong. Stronger than me, that’s for sure.’ Rohan thought. This was something he felt almost certain about. After all, he didn’t have the ability to control thousands of beasts at once and put over a hundred Awakened to sleep without a single one of them noticing a thing.
Rohan couldn’t help but distract himself with these thoughts, leaving Liam ample time to continue his silent slaughter spree.
"What did you do to them?" Rohan asked. The most he could do in this moment was take advantage of the stalemate to obtain a few answers from the apathetic man opposite.
Liam’s lips curled.
"Put them to sleep."
He said it so casually, like he was just talking about laying his children to bed after a long day.
Elane’s expression twisted from the pain, but she still joined in on the conversation. "Sleep? How?"
"Mm." Liam tilted his head. "The Origin Realm is truly wonderful; there are so many Genetic Armaments with all kinds of unique abilities just waiting to be found. Though this one is quite annoying..."
Rohan and Elane didn’t say a thing, waiting to see if Liam would continue explaining. They were a little surprised that it was actually the work of a Genetic Armament instead of a gas or something like it.
But it also crushed their hopes even further, as it revealed that Liam had more than one Genetic Armament. There technically wasn’t a limit to how many Genetic Armaments an Awakened could absorb, like with Genes, but the more you summoned and used, the more energy they drained from you.
Liam revealed quite a bit of strength now that he was using at least two simultaneously, and not just two mundane Genetic Armaments either. The vines restraining Elane were Elite tier, and they wouldn’t be too surprised if the one he used to put everyone to sleep was Elite tier too.
The difficulty of trying to beat him just became multitudes harder.
"... It’s an active effect. If I deactivate it, they all wake up again. If I want to use it again, I have to drop the current effect first."
Liam seemed to like talking about himself, like most narcissists did, which Rohan was silently thanking for. Knowing more about the man would allow him to come up with a better plan to counter him.
Liam’s gaze slid over to them.
"Which means I can’t put you two down without waking everyone else first."
He clicked his tongue.
"... A little inconvenient indeed."
Rohan’s face darkened. Liam spoke with so much confidence. Like every word or possibility he mentioned was sure to happen if he chose to act on it.
Liam spread his hands slightly, as though presenting the room to them.
"So I figured... I may as well let you watch."
Something in the way he spoke made Elane’s fingers twitch, just itching to summon her bow.
Rohan’s voice came out flat, but with curiosity contained beneath. Truth be told, he was very interested in Liam’s reasoning for doing all of this. To know what could possibly be so worth the sacrifice of over a hundred human lives, Awakened lives at that, did make him perk up a little.
Liam turned to the centre of the chamber where the platform stood, Elite Beast just barely hanging on to life by a thread on top of it.
Its body was swollen and cracked in places, as if its flesh and scales were being forced to contain something too big, too violent and... unfinished.
Huge jagged spikes jutted from its back and shoulders in uneven growths, some broken, some glowing, and you could just barely make out its chest rising and falling in shallow heaves.
Rohan’s face fell.
’Those huge spikes weren’t there before... Neither was it glowing.’ In the short few moments he’d taken his gaze off of the beast, it looked as if it were starting to undergo a transformation.
Now it really did look like you’d expect an Elite tier Spike Beast to look.
Liam’s eyes gleamed. "Good, it’s working!"
Rohan looked over at him, confused.
"A near-death Elite," Liam said softly. Rohan was unsure whether he was speaking to him or just to himself. "Balanced right on the threshold. Too weak to complete the next step, yet too strong to collapse if properly sustained."
He pulled out yet another heart from a now-dead Awakened, tossing it into his bag as he did so.
’What?!’ Rohan noticed something that made his skin crawl. The moment that unfortunate Awakened’s heart landed inside Liam’s bag, the Elite beast on the centre platform started to glow just a bit brighter.
He understood what was happening now. All of these people, these Awakened, really were there as sacrifices!
’No... No way.’
Liam smiled wider, recognising the understanding hit Rohan.
From the side, Elane’s voice came out hoarse.
"...You’re trying to evolve it."
Liam actually laughed. It was a short, delighted sound reaching deaf ears.
"Exactly, finally somebody understands!"