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nThroughout the past week, the group had passed by several more human ‘farms’, for lack of a better word.

nNessa wanted to save them. Liam denied her train of thought in an instant for obvious reasons.

nThey were invaders, and needed to keep their presence at a minimum. That caused a slight rift to form between one side of the group, with Gerald shamelessly siding with the petite noble.

nPretty soon, it was apparent their intrusion would be widespread.

nOne of the vampires overseeing a Feeding Ground had been killed, and the other was currently in their expedition party as a guide.

nTo lessen the effect, Liam had Niveh clean up the head farmer’s body before anyone noticed it.

nThe humans weren’t allowed to leave their village, but on rare occasions, some were brave enough to escape, only to find out the truth and have their fates sealed.

nMeanwhile, over the foggy mountain cliff, hisses, growls and shrieks mixed with thunder created a cacophony of morbid sounds.

nAround a vast square border, vampires – thousands in number – unclothed and violent, fought to the death, killing and dying in a chaotic dance of demise.

nTheir bulging eyeballs were pure white as they ravaged each other mindlessly in the most brutal of ways. Blood flew across the field like water, overflowing till shin height.

nLiam spotted some clawing each other’s necks off, others tearing off limbs and gnawing them, with few piercing another’s Nexus and absorbing their life force. It was relentless, and didn’t stop for a single second.

nLiam noticed a couple with intenser auras than the rest, which were probably the closest to evolving.

nGerald’s stomach couldn’t handle the scene. His stomach hurled and emptied its contents.

nNessa went ghastly pale and felt her knees weaken.

nEven Nord and Rin looked stunned, but Liam was somehow captivated by the sight.

nThankfully, no one caught that look in his bloodshot eye – muddied red from having the beast will inside his head for a prolonged period of time.

n‘So that’s why this entire place is dyed red.’

nLiam shifted his attention over to the horizon. Zooming in, he could make out a faint silhouette of a city through the thick silver mist, lit up by flashes of dim crimson lightning. ｏｖ𝚕．ｃｏ𝚖

nOn the mountain chain opposite to them, was a large border that followed the rocky landscape’s peaks and troughs.

nAtop one of the peaks, was an obsidian spire, twisting above the foggy clouds. Lightning struck it more than once, but it remained stubbornly standing.

nBelow that were eccentrically shaped buildings – arched obsidian stone interwoven with bony-white wood – precisely lining the sides.

n“That’s where Vxich is if you want to fulfill your death wish,” Niveh added casually.

nGerald hadn’t stopped vomiting, gaining him a look of pity from the vampire.

n“What’s the easiest way to pass through without being noticed?” Liam asked.

n“There really isn’t, since each of the Blooder’s goons hold a section of the border. It stretches out and connects to another Feeding Ground anyways, so you can’t go around.”

n“I could lead you all in, but even I haven’t explored the base fully,” Niveh said bitterly. “They have much more powerful abilities compared to mine, and I don’t even know the full extent of them.”

n…Unfortunate circumstances.

nLiam wasn’t discouraged, though. Niveh’s abilities could come in handy, and nothing could go wrong with a bit of pre-prepared planning.

nThey would execute in two weeks. Nord had surprisingly found a good place to place the base in, and the group went dormant.

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/

/

/

nLiam was just about to complete his daily cultivation for the day when he felt his core slightly tremble.

n‘Is it happening?’ he thought with an excited smile.

nThe liquid in his organ started to swirl and merge with itself. Amazingly, Liam felt pangs of extreme warmth and cold at the same time while the process took root.

nMoreover, his core walls, that he’d been expanding throughout the past year or so, began to shrink at a rapid rate.

nIn reality, the core walls wanted to collapse due to the transition to a different state, but Liam had to strenuously hold back the organ before it could do so.

nIn the span of a minute, Liam’s liquid ‘Ora’ started to converge into a single shard of dark red world essence.

nHe had finally entered the solid-stage!

nHis progress has been significantly bolstered by being near an ‘Ora’ Well, and through the many pills he had consumed.

nLiam instantly began absorbing ‘Ora’, smiling as both his natural abilities and prowess increased substantially.

nAfter another hour of cultivating, he didn’t wait to test out its effects.

nHe opened his palm. Darkness, more saturated in shade and fervid, swerved in between his fingers to form a sleek Umbral Needle.

nLiam nodded in approval as he saw how sharper and deadlier the spell looked – the tip was much sharper, and its form wasn’t as ethereal as before.

nBefore, his usage limit with the needles was roughly 7 or 8 times, but now, he could double that amount with ease, even factoring in other spells.

nLiam couldn’t help but smile again, but his gaze turned hard a moment later.

n‘What about my chaos?’

nSometimes, Liam would genuinely forget he was a dual-elementalist. Except now and again, his chaos would extend a helping hand during difficult circumstances.

nHe knew too little about its origins, why he had it, and why it was so damn dangerous… but answers didn’t come on a silver platter.

nSeeing that there wasn’t anyone around, Liam silently pulled out a minute strand of chaos from his core. His ability to manipulate the element had become much smoother with his advancement.

nLiam used the same amount he’d always done – a finger-nail sized amount.

nHe watched with keen eyes as the chaos exited his index.

nBrightening in shade wasn’t the only thing his chaos underwent – Liam could see that it was practically begging to burst. The dangerous and volatile nature had become… well, more chaotic.

nHe instantly regretted his decision to use the same amount, since within the next second, it—

nBOOM!

nThe explosion made everyone burst into his room thinking there was another attack, but didn’t find any signs of it.

nLiam coughed into his fist and spoke as though nothing happened.

n“Forging mistake.”

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