Kapitel 17: Chapter 17: Total Annihilation
Liam's words immediately threw off the enemy's composure.
What... What kind of talk was that? Why did it sound so crude? The atmosphere, which was supposed to be tense and full of killing intent, suddenly felt much less serious.
But no matter how nonsensical Liam's attitude seemed, his strength was undeniable. Everyone had seen it with their own eyes. No one dared to underestimate him anymore. The ice sculptures and the two corpses lying on the ground were a stark reminder that the person standing before them was not someone to be trifled with.
The man in the white robe seemed to realize that Liam was not easy to deal with and began to soften his tone a bit.
"Young man, don't be too rash. If you are willing to turn back, the Lord will forgive all your sins. Your ignorance and foolishness come from not knowing the truth. If you knew the power of the Lord, you would regret what you've done today."
Liam had no intention of engaging with him. In his view, there was no point in talking to someone who had been brainwashed by a cult. Their way of thinking was completely different from that of normal people. This was something Liam found similar to the world he had been in before his transmigration.
His eyes slowly scanned each of the enemy's faces, counting their numbers.
One, two, three... a total of eleven black-robed figures and one white-robed figure.
Liam responded while breathing evenly, recovering the energy and strength he had used earlier.
"Faith, huh? Back where I come from, we have that kind of thing too. Many people worship various so-called 'Lords.'"
"Oh?" The white-robed man was stunned for a moment, then his voice filled with joy, as if he had found a kindred spirit. He quickly asked, "Really? Which great one do you serve? If you're like us, why are you causing trouble for us?"
Liam slowly raised his head, as if reminiscing about something, and after a long pause, he spoke again.
"Which one? Well, that's hard to say. There are so many of them, and they manage different areas."
"Some control the rain, some oversee exams, some help people find partners, and some ensure safe childbirth. There's a god for everything you can think of."
"In general, people worship and pray to them when the time comes, seeking their blessings and protection."
As Liam spoke, the white-robed man seemed to be in ecstasy, as if he had found paradise. He murmured to himself, "Yes, the Lord is all-powerful, the Lord is all-encompassing. We should serve with all our hearts..."
But then Liam's voice broke through his bizarre fantasy once more.
"But there's a difference where I come from."
"If someone prays for love and gets accepted by the goddess, they are grateful to the gods. But if they are rejected, they start cursing immediately."
"If someone prays for good exam results and passes, they go to the temple to pay their respects and donate money. But if they fail, they curse that god's ancestors."
"And those who pray for rain? One day, they set up an altar and worship the Dragon King, and the next day, if it doesn't rain, they might tear down the temple and toss the statue of the Dragon King into the river!"
"So, our faith is more about 'functionality' and 'equal exchange.' If you're useful, sure, we'll burn incense and pray to you. But if you're not, we'll find another god to worship!"
Liam's long-winded explanation left the white-robed man dumbfounded. For a moment, he felt his worldview crumbling. He stared at Liam with wide eyes, as if his eyeballs were about to pop out.
"You... you, how can you be so disrespectful?! You...!"
Cough... cough!
He was so enraged that he couldn't speak, his violent coughing echoing in the air. He even coughed up blood. It was as if Liam's words had nearly killed him out of sheer frustration.
"Kid, you won't get away with this today!"
The white-robed man spat out a few mouthfuls of blood and realized that Liam had been mocking him all along. His eyes turned blood-red, filled with murderous intent.
Liam, having rested enough, extended both hands forward, releasing a torrent of frigid energy from his body. The cold surged forward like a flowing glacier, rushing toward the enemy.
"Get away? In your dreams!" Liam roared, unleashing his full power without reservation.
...
Blades clashed, and a battle of blue-white and blood-red colors raged in the empty street.
The fight was intense, but it didn't last long.
Soon, everything returned to silence, so quiet it was as if nothing had happened there at all.
"Huff, huff, huff..."
Liam's heavy breathing echoed in the still night, like an old, broken fan. His frost armor was full of cracks, many parts shattered, and it glowed faintly with a corrosive red light. His body was marred with wounds, though they were all sealed with makeshift ice patches, preventing any blood from flowing.
His disheveled hair, mixed with traces of blood, clung to his forehead.
But at this moment, his right hand was gripping the throat of the white-robed man, holding him like a vice, rendering him immobile.
If one were to zoom out...
Around him, in this small square, stood eleven lifelike ice sculptures, each in a different posture.
And in the center was the most intricate one of all—a grotesque, frozen tumor.
Liam's first battle in this new world: 1 versus 12. It ended in a flawless victory after just six minutes.
Cough... cough...
The white-robed man, his throat in Liam's grasp, stared at the young man before him with bulging, fish-like eyes.
"How... how is this possible? The power of such an ability... You're so young! How can you possibly have the strength of the Fourth Realm?!"
"Ugh!" Liam spat out a mouthful of bloody spit, then lifted the white-robed man by the throat.
"Who are you people? And what is this tumor?"
"Tumor?!" The white-robed man's eyes bulged as he sputtered, "How dare you speak so disrespectfully of the Divine Fetus! You...!"
In the next second, ice encased his feet and began creeping up his legs.
"You'd better not waste my time. Answer my questions before you're completely frozen."
The white-robed man was shocked, exclaiming, "You... you don't even know who we are? Then why did you interfere with us?"
Liam ignored him and accelerated the spread of the ice.
As the cold seeped into his lower body, the white-robed man finally felt the looming threat of death and panicked.
"I'll talk, I'll talk! Just don't kill me!"
Over the next few minutes, Liam listened carefully to every word the white-robed man said, his brow furrowing deeper with each sentence.
These were things Liam had never heard of before, but from the way the white-robed man spoke, it seemed like Liam was supposed to know all this.
They were part of some kind of religious organization, calling themselves the "Servants of the Lord." They were servants of some "Lord."
As for the tumor, it was the "Divine Fetus," and the reason for the sacrifices was to enable a "Divine Descent."
The white-robed man spouted a lot of jargon, and Liam only grasped the gist of it.
"Any more questions? Please, don't kill me!" The white-robed man was now encased in ice up to his neck, still desperately pleading for his life, interrupting Liam's thoughts.
Liam glanced down at the man and said coldly, "I'll answer one question for you. Why did I interfere? Because I've always believed that human traffickers deserve to die, and I intend to uphold that belief."
"Yes, yes, I deserve to die!" The white-robed man sobbed, completely broken by the creeping frost.
"And one last question."
"Ask! Just ask already!" The white-robed man shrieked, the ice now reaching his face.
"If I had lost today, would you have spared me?"
Liam didn't wait for an answer.
The ice surged upward, and the white-robed man became the final ice sculpture.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein