Liam fired with reckless abandon, feeling liberated, as if shackles on his hands and very soul had been removed.

Ever since leaving the Pale Moon Sect, Liam had to hide his face, what he could do, and even his own name. It was a state of constant wariness that weighed on him more than he realized.

The fight against the assassins had failed to lift that weight. After all, despite going all-out, Liam had done so to preserve his cover. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Instead, the current battle featured a crucial difference. Liam would expose himself properly, at least when it came to his real skills.

Of course, there were nuances. The inheritance was a secluded area, and everyone in the team already knew Liam’s face.

However, the danger remained, and Liam had decided to accept it anyway, prioritizing his greed toward the inheritance’s potential rewards over the loose ends he might create.

It was a simple stance that made all the difference. Learning to navigate the intricacies of the cultivation world didn’t make them any more pleasant for Liam. Yet, it taught him when he could ignore them.

There would always be limits, but they were almost nonexistent now. Liam would just do everything in his power to get stronger.

And if some loose ends became problems, Liam would merely eradicate them.

There was something else, too, something that joined the liberating feeling as soon as Liam fired the first arrow. He sensed Lancelot’s gaze on him, and it was scorching.

That heat resonated with Liam’s spirit, enhancing his fundamental drive, his desire to live his life on his own terms, no matter the circumstances, of enforcing his values on the entire world.

The hot stare felt like a challenge, but not quite. It was an invitation to a conversation that defied words, which Lancelot started.

As soon as the time-defying chant ended, Lancelot lifted his arm, and flames escaped his palm, rising and twisting, merging and churning to create an uneven, unstable sphere.

Then, the sphere’s surface destabilized even further, unleashing rounds of fiery bullets that filled the hall with incessant booming noises.

The bullets were different from what Lancelot had unleashed in the valley. Each was a spell that crashed precisely on the automatons, be it their shields, weapons, or bodies.

Individually, the bullets weren’t enough to melt the white metal, but they never stopped flying. The sphere fired them without ever needing to reload, their reach covering the entire hall, showcasing precision that such a widespread spell shouldn’t have.

The impacts were also violent. The white metal might endure the heat, but the automatons stopped in their tracks, twisted, or were even pushed back when hit by the bullets, gradually falling prey to their melting properties.

One man was keeping at bay over twenty opponents meant to match his cultivation level. More than that, Lancelot was winning, but his gaze never left Liam.

Lancelot was introducing himself in the best way he knew to convey his true self and wanted Liam to do the same.

Certain practices were stupid, like mock battles or pleasantries. Liam had sort of learned them but still found them completely futile.

The dramatic introduction Liam felt Lancelot wanted from him should have fallen in that same category. Yet, passion was a contagious feeling, teaching Liam something new, something his life had always lacked.

Liam had friends, few, but they existed. However, they had all failed to provide something that should have been normal for any boy or young man. He never had harmless competitions, and most of that was his fault.

Even in Krosstoen village, Liam had lived alone, distant from the human world. The imprisonment in the Divine Cult had followed, and he had been way above his peers once he reached the Sect.

The few who had befriended Liam also operated in different fields. Adrian was no hunter. Lucy had wanted a friend. Melissa had her specific interests, and Joel had been a superior cultivator.

Instead, Lancelot was more similar to Liam than he knew. The two were even companions relatively at the same level, so Liam felt that unknown emotion rise through him, awakening his competitive spirit.

Now, the automatons were no living beings. Poison was virtually useless there unless Liam went for its corrosive properties, which was a waste, but the Black Bow was in his hands, and archery still was his greatest skill.

Liam’s left arm moved nonstop, repeating the same perfect, methodical action as he fired arrow after arrow, giving the rank 2 magical weapon free access to his Qi reserves.

In the past, Liam had been limited to little over ten fully powered rank 2 attacks, but his cultivation had improved by leaps and bounds since then.

The previous limit belonged to a single minor root, but Liam had fully developed ten now, with the eleventh almost complete. Moreover, the other eighty-nine hadn’t just remained still, meaning his Qi reserves were over ten times deeper.

That meant that Liam’s current capacity was over one hundred arrows, and he never missed.

Liam picked up the pace, taking down automaton after automaton. Meanwhile, Lancelot remained in his position, his sphere still firing its endless barrage of fire.

Nevertheless, Liam and Lancelot weren’t the only ones still fighting.

Isabel had long since reached Lancelot’s side, firing piercing water bullets at whatever opening she saw or any automaton that tried to target her Head Disciple.

Instead, Robert danced in the enemy’s backlines, his figure too swift for anything to touch him, perfectly navigating the chaos of fire and metal, occasionally accelerating to deliver devastating shockwaves through his punches, shoulders, elbows, and kicks.

With Liam’s deadly addition to the offensive, the number of automatons decreased sharply, a trend that accelerated with each living armor the team took down.

Still, Liam’s intervention also made the elevated area fair game, and a few crossbows shot at him during the overtaking of the hall.

Liam could easily dodge those white bolts without even resorting to the Lightning Step, except he ended up doing nothing at all.

Julian finally acted, snapping his sleeves at the two arrows flying at Liam. Tentacle-like strands of a blue cloth carrying intricate red symbols stretched from his arms and deflected the bolts, allowing Liam to continue firing uninterrupted.

In less than a minute, the number of automatons went down to zero, and roots grew from the hall’s center, creating a stand identical to the one on the elevated area, its basin containing a tome instead.