Chapter 80: That Sword Is Eating You

Alexandra placed her bag beside the table and stopped when she noticed the case. Liam had left it slightly open, with the emerald screwdriver resting against the pale lining inside. She leaned closer before he could close it, her eyes moving over the handle and the narrow tip. He had expected her to ask where it came from, but she simply reached for it as though somebody had finally remembered to bring another useful tool into the workshop.

“Can I use that?”

“Use the ones on the bench.”

“Why? Is it expensive?”

“Very.”

Alexandra looked at him, then at the equipment he had bought without asking what anything cost. Liam closed the case before she could become more interested and moved it beside his bag. A faint feeling of displeasure passed through the connection, making him pause with his hand still on the lid. Apparently, the screwdriver hadn’t liked being put away just as somebody wanted it. He opened the case again, and the feeling settled almost immediately.

You want to help her? Or do you just hate the box?

“Fine. But give it back when you’re done.”

Alexandra took it without another question and sat down to open a recorder. Liam stayed beside her, watching carefully as she fitted the tip against a screw. The tool remained still in her hand and worked like an ordinary screwdriver, although she stopped after the first few turns to examine the tip. It had fitted better than she expected. Liam felt a small, pleased response through their connection and had to turn away before she noticed him smiling at nothing.

“Where did you buy this?”

“It came with the equipment.”

“Ask them if they sell a smaller one.”

Let’s teach this one to behave before I start ordering its fucking relatives.

By noon, they had finished testing the recorders already assembled. Alexandra stayed to work on the remaining boards while Liam collected the screwdriver and stepped outside with his phone. He opened Daniel’s contact, considered what to say, then called. Finding Lin himself would mean following the Song family around or returning to the bank and hoping the man appeared. Neither sounded useful. Daniel had dealt with them before, and passing along a message was considerably simpler than asking for private information.

“Can you forward a message to someone with the Song family?”

“What sort of message, Mr. Carter?”

“Tell Lin Tian I want to settle our disagreement. He can contact me directly if he wants to talk.”

There was a pause before Daniel answered. Liam could almost imagine him sitting straighter behind his desk, wondering what sort of disagreement involved a client and a man who had arrived with so much security. He asked whether anything had happened at the bank. Liam told him it hadn’t and repeated that he only needed the message passed on. Daniel agreed, sounding less pleased than he had when arranging a fifty-million-dollar investment.

Lin called less than an hour later.

“What do you want?”

“You came looking for me last time. I thought we should finish the conversation.”

“We finished it.”

“Then you won’t mind telling me you’re done following me.”

Silence followed. Liam stood beside the Bentley with his keys resting against his palm, watching a delivery van reverse toward the workshop. He had expected an insult, but Lin seemed to be considering whether the call was a trap. That was fair enough. Liam was considering the same thing about any meeting they arranged. He wasn’t interested in repeating their fight, especially now that he knew how close the sword had come to opening his chest.

“Tomorrow,” Lin finally said. “Same place.”

“The warehouse?”

“You know another place where we can speak freely?”

Liam looked toward the workshop door. Alexandra was inside, probably wondering why he had left before helping clean the table. He wasn’t bringing Lin here, and he certainly wasn’t giving him Clara’s address. The old warehouse was already known to both of them. After a moment, he agreed to meet outside it in daylight, then ended the call and contacted the owner to arrange one more visit.

This time, Clara knew where he was going before he left.

“You cancelled that place because he found you there.”

“I know. That’s why I’m not showing him another one.”

“And you’re going alone?”

Liam looked up from his phone. Clara stood beside the kitchen island with her arms folded, waiting for an answer she had already decided she wouldn’t like. He could have told her that he had Reversal, the cape, and a new skill. None of those would make her forget the cut in his jacket. Instead, he put the phone down and explained what he wanted to examine, including the screwdriver’s reaction to the sword.

“I’m meeting him outside. If he starts again, I leave.”

Clara watched him for another moment, then picked up the Bentley’s spare key.

“Good. I’ll drive.”

Lin was already waiting when they arrived the following afternoon. He stood beside his car with both hands empty, looking less pleased when Clara got out on the other side of the Bentley. Liam told her to stay near the car and crossed the distance between them. The warehouse door remained closed behind Lin. With the afternoon sunlight falling across the yard, the place looked ordinary enough that Liam briefly wondered whether anyone passing would believe what had happened there.

“You brought your girlfriend?”

“She wanted to come.”

“This doesn’t concern her.”

“You grabbed me because you thought I was interested in your wife. Apparently, who I date concerns everyone.”

Lin’s jaw tightened. Liam stopped several steps away, leaving enough distance to move if the man reached for him. The pale case was inside his storage, but he could feel the screwdriver’s attention becoming sharper through their connection. It hadn’t reacted like that in the car. Liam glanced at Lin’s empty hands, then at his jacket, wondering whether the weapon had to be visible for the tool to notice it.

“I haven’t contacted your wife. I haven’t asked anyone to introduce me to her. Whatever you thought was happening, you were wrong.”

“Then why did you ask to meet?”

“Because I want to make sure you understand that.”

Lin looked past him toward Clara. She was leaning against the Bentley, watching them with neither a smile nor any attempt to pretend she wasn’t listening. After a few seconds, Lin returned his attention to Liam. He still looked angry, but the anger had lost some of the confidence behind it. Liam wasn’t giving him an argument about the Song family or trying to impress anyone standing nearby.

“Stay out of my affairs.”

“Gladly. Keep them away from mine.”

Liam could have left it there. Lin had moved half a step toward his car, and neither of them had drawn anything. Then the screwdriver pressed against his awareness again, the unpleasant feeling strong enough to interrupt his next thought. Liam looked toward Lin’s right hand. A thin dark mark showed beneath his cuff, disappearing when he adjusted his sleeve.

“Did your sword do that?”

Lin stopped.

“What?”

“Your wrist.”

For the first time since Liam arrived, Lin looked uncertain. His eyes dropped toward the cuff before returning to Liam’s face. It lasted barely a second, but Liam noticed. So did the screwdriver, which sent another uncomfortable pulse through their connection. He didn’t summon it. Having an emerald weapon appear between them would ruin the small amount of progress they had made.

“Show me the sword.”

“You think I’m stupid?”

“I think something’s wrong with it.”

Lin stared at him, then gave a short laugh without any amusement. Darkness gathered beside his hand, and the sword appeared with its point angled toward the ground. Liam immediately took a step back. Even knowing it was coming, seeing a weapon appear like that made his shoulders tighten. He kept the cape ready and focused on the blade before Lin could mistake his silence for fear.

[God Tier Material Analysis Activated.]

[Object: Ancient Cursed Black Sword.]

[Structural Condition: Damaged. Internal fractures detected.]

[Detected Property: Foreign spiritual presence.]

[Detected Connection: Drawing energy from the wielder.]

[Further analysis requires closer examination.]

Liam read the last two lines again. The blade looked intact from where he stood, its edge catching almost none of the sunlight. Yet the information remained beside it, identifying damage he couldn’t see and a connection that apparently hadn’t stopped drawing from Lin. He remembered the man pressing his ribs after Reversal hit him. An injured owner feeding a damaged weapon sounded like a very bad combination.

That isn’t a sword you carry. That’s another mouth you’re feeding.

“Put it away.”

“You asked to see it.”

“And I’ve seen enough for now.”

Lin didn’t move. Liam glanced toward Clara, who had straightened beside the Bentley, then returned his attention to the sword. A fresh line appeared beneath the first set of information while he watched.

[Observed: Energy transfer continuing while the weapon is inactive.]

“Does the mark spread after you use it?”

Lin’s grip changed.

“Who told you about that?”

“Nobody. Answer me.”

The silence was enough. Liam looked at the dark line beneath the cuff again, then at Lin’s face. He hadn’t expected the man to admit anything, but the reaction had already given him more than another argument would. He kept his voice level, resisting the urge to move closer for a better reading. The system had said closer examination, not that he should put his face within reach of the fucking blade.

“That sword is eating you.”

Lin’s expression hardened immediately.

“Watch your mouth.”

“It’s drawing energy even while you’re standing here. You’re not using a technique. You’re barely moving.”

For several seconds, Lin said nothing. Then he lifted his sleeve with his free hand. The dark mark ran farther than Liam had thought, following the inside of his wrist before disappearing beneath the fabric. It wasn’t an ordinary bruise. Thin branches spread from the main line, and while Liam watched, one of them slowly darkened.

The screwdriver gave a sudden, sharp response.

Lin felt something too. His fingers tightened around the hilt, and the sword shifted in his hand.

Neither man had moved it.

[Analysis Updated.]

[Foreign spiritual presence responding to observation.]

[Source of curse: Unconfirmed.]

Liam took another step back, bringing the cape around his shoulders. Lin looked at the blade, then raised his head slowly. The anger was still there, but it was no longer aimed entirely at Liam.

“What did you just do?”

“Nothing.”

The sword turned slightly against Lin’s grip.

This time, its edge faced Liam.