Chapter 564: Bite

Caspar wasn’t sure he could believe his ears, and he wasn’t alone. Liam’s statement also took Rachel aback, but she had a far easier time accepting it.

Liam could make funny, perplexed faces at times, but he was no clueless child. What Rachel had witnessed in their first, terrifying interaction told her as much.

That man had some quirkiness in him, but he was a beast, one who saw the world as prey. He wouldn’t make moves unless they served a greater purpose, and there was something else, something Rachel had kept from her parents.

’Do Tribes have leafing experts?’ Rachel recalled that absurd question, one that suggested an even more absurd truth.

Liam had spoken as if nothing in the branching stage could concern him, and Rachel felt inclined to believe him. She had lived her whole life among greatness after all, so she had developed an eye for it.

Part of Rachel also wished to be right for reasons she hadn’t shared with Liam yet. For now, she would observe him, trusting him, but waiting for reality to confirm her hunch.

Which was why Rachel flashed a fearless grin when Caspar’s wide eyes went on her, seeking confirmation about that insulting request. It might be her first time playing that part with someone outside her parents, but the role felt like a perfect fit.

"You think you can bring an outsider into my Tribe ..." Caspar said, seething in anger, the rocky surfaces all around the spring shaking. "I don’t care how you whore yourself out-"

"Can we avoid this?" Liam requested. "We’ve already decided to kill each other anyway."

Honestly, Liam would have already struck if it weren’t for two reasons.

The first obviously involved Liam’s newfound destructive power. He couldn’t fight in valuable areas. He would just poison and render useless anything worth plundering.

As for the second reason, it was quite reckless, a truly arrogant step above what the battle cages had been, but the best approach Liam could think of, the one that had always worked for him.

Liam even found an unlikely ally there.

"I suggest you don’t keep Big Brother waiting," Rachel announced. "If he runs out of patience, no matter the outcome, the Red Sandstorm Tribe will have to relocate."

Caspar had to swallow his anger. Whatever the insult or predicament, he was acting as his Tribe’s guardian. Protecting it was his priority, even if just by moving the bickering elsewhere.

There was no need for flying items. Caspar’s figure seemed to teleport directly onto the slopes before reappearing higher up, climbing at unbelievable speed.

Liam obviously saw the entire process. He had been able to for a while, and he could even explain it now. It wasn’t just about raw speed. Without the world’s shackles, each action of a branching expert could achieve more.

The fan and silver spear rose, too, and Liam felt forced to meet Rachel’s gaze since it was on him, immediately regretting it. Rachel merely winked happily before refocusing on climbing.

Liam was too focused on his reckless strategy for the gears in his brain to switch, only allowing a warning once he reached the rocky formation’s vast, jagged apex.

"Rachel," Liam called.

"Little Sister will keep her distance," Rachel immediately reassured, but partially missed the mark. ℯℯ𝘭.

"Whatever happens," Liam explained. "Don’t try to interfere."

Generally, such a request didn’t need to be voiced. It was a battle between branching experts after all.

However, Rachel was a special case, and her parents were still nearby. Also, it played into the absurd question Liam had asked on their first encounter.

Somehow, Liam could conceive rooting experts joining battles at that level.

Rachel truly wanted to flash a sensual smile at Liam, but he only had eyes for Caspar, so she rose high in the sky, and the surprising details immediately arrived.

Liam had landed on the jagged, rocky surface, fan hovering above him and greatsword on his shoulder. He grabbed the former, his eyes darting between his weapons, before both disappeared.

At that point, Caspar had pretty much reached his limit. Liam had not only requested a fight in such an insulting manner while the Tribe was being assaulted. He had also stored his weapons, as if planning to hold back.

"Who do you even think-?" Caspar began to cry, but thundering noises interrupted his question.

Vast chunks of ground exploded in multiple spots, small but thick dark clouds rising among the debris.

Caspar’s eyes snapped wide, danger materializing in front of him faster than he expected, forcing him to resort to trump cards right away.

An odd blurriness pervaded Caspar’s body. His whole figure paled, albeit nothing physical was unfolding. The opposite, actually.

Liam’s clawed fingers pierced Caspar’s head, but no blood spurted. He didn’t touch flesh at all. Caspar had become incorporeal somehow, even avoiding the black Qi Liam’s hand released.

It was a curious evasive technique, but it had to be quite expensive in terms of Qi. Negating attacks in such a manner couldn’t come cheap, and the drawback was that Caspar was still there.

So, Liam’s hand closed into a fist as he brought it down, slamming it on the ground, causing a catastrophic reaction.

Even without the greatsword, Liam’s physical strength was off the charts, and the Metal Hand’s conditioning had strengthened his knuckles.

The rocks shattered, debris flying in every direction, alongside apocalyptic shockwaves. A new crevice opened, stretching a hundred meters, with that massive chunk nearly splitting and causing a landslide.

Caspar had remained intangible even during the follow-up blow, but his figure regained color afterward. Midway through his return to physical form, he managed to step back, but Liam had the chance to deliver an attack that would catch him defenseless.

And yet, Liam merely straightened, watching Caspar regain a material form completely and hurry back, retreating dozens of meters in a single step.

If it hadn’t been already obvious earlier, the current exchange set the matter in stone. Liam wasn’t taking the battle seriously, and he made it even clearer.

"Can you use the things crawling beneath us, too?" Liam questioned, pointing at the crevice under him and the many tiny tunnels it had revealed.

Rage overrode any sense of pride. Caspar immediately released a harmless wave of Qi that carried a strange, almost inaudible sound, causing a chain reaction in the underground crawling that had followed the two up there.

Everything shook. The crevice widened under the earthquake until the jagged surface exploded into countless spots, centipedes of different sizes jumping out.

The leaps had a specific target. Tens of magical beasts converged on Liam. Even more filled his surroundings, but he didn’t move, instead spreading his arms and letting them bite him.