Chapter 53: Sanctuary of Lies 2
From the moment Madam Vera's heel struck the marble floor, the entire hall seemed to inhale. The air thickened, heavy with the metallic tang of restrained killing intent. Shadows lengthened unnaturally along the towering pillars as if the ancient stones themselves recognized the gravity of her presence.
Liam felt it all, the subtle shift in pressure, the way ten platinum-rank auras locked onto him like iron shackles forged from pure malice. Yet he stood chained between two obsidian pillars, wrists raw against enchanted manacles, and smiled.
They think they've cornered a beast, he thought, the realization curling through him like warm honey. How charming.
"This woman's talent is vast," Liam murmured, his voice low but carrying effortlessly through the chamber. Not a flicker of fear touched his features. Around him, the platinum rankers watched with predatory fascination.
Logan, a broad-shouldered man whose eyes gleamed like polished gold, leaned forward. "Such flawless genius. His bones sing like those of a mythical beast. a multi-talent holder, no less." His gaze dissected Liam piece by piece, searching for cracks.
Humphrey the Endless Blade, perched atop her colossal sword as though it were a throne, she smiled with dangerous delight. "Not only does the boy possess an unnatural reservoir of talent, I sense two distinct aura points swirling within him. trapped in thick flesh refined in battle."
Farouk, the youngest among them, lounged with theatrical nonchalance, one hand draped lazily over his face.
"I am completely surrounded," Liam said aloud, almost conversationally, as if remarking on the weather. His blade, reduced to a simple metallic bracelet on his wrist, remained silent, Ankis withholding its counsel for now.
Liam's empty eyes drank in their scrutiny. He basked in it.
"Argh. Madam Vera," he drawled, voice laced with exquisite disdain, "did you drag me here simply to parade me as your newest trophy?"
Farouk laughed, sharp and cruel. "This fool doesn't understand the situation at all." With a flick of his wrist, he sent a dagger spinning through the air. It buried deep into Liam's shoulder with a wet thud.
Liam's face hardened, not from pain, but from the sheer disrespect. His wide, depthless eyes fixed on Farouk like twin abysses. Slowly, deliberately, he clenched his teeth around the hilt of the dagger and pulled it free. Blood poured down his chest in rivulets, yet the wound sealed before their eyes, flesh knitting with unnatural grace.
"I see you're not all boast," Liam said softly, his words like sweet poison wrapped in silk.
"Enough." Madam Vera descended from the central dais, her presence commanding silence. The hall's vastness seemed to shrink around her.
She addressed the assembled heads of the schools, her blade rising to point directly at Liam's serene face. The wind stirred by her movement brushed his hair back, revealing the calm, almost beatific smile that never left his lips.
"If it were up to me, he would have lost his life long ago," she declared. "He will only bring disaster." Her voice carried genuine worry, yet her eyes betrayed something deeper, ambition.
"But look at him. Does this one look like a man afraid of death?"
A woman shrouded in the dark corner of the hall hissed, her wicked eyes gleaming. "He will endanger the rest of us. Let us kill him now and blame the envoy."
Vera's laughter rang out, manic and sharp.
"Do you truly believe they are not already aware?" Her gaze returned to Liam. "There is another path. A way for us to grow stronger, to transcend this measly realm." She pointed at him with the reverence of a prophet unveiling scripture. "And it resides within his mind."
Whispers erupted like crackling flames.
Blades began sliding free of sheaths.
Vera's mood shifted. With a casual wave, every weapon in the hall warped away, vanishing into folds of space. "Have you forgotten, you fools? As know in the text the one who meets the Ancestor is to be declared the Holy Son."
Liam's expression flickered with perfectly timed surprise, though inside he was laughing. Holy Son. How deliciously convenient.
"Oh? Really? Me, the Holy Son?" He giggled within, the sound never reaching his lips. Outwardly, he snarled with convincing rage. "If that is so, why am I still chained like a dog?"
Vera stared at him, momentarily shocked by his audacity. Then she laughed too, a low, appreciative sound. "I am not finished questioning you. Tell me,why did the Ancestor appear to you?"
Liam met her eyes without flinching. He knew the game. Every word would be a blade wrapped in velvet. "Yes… he met me during my aura training," he said calmly, feeding them the first sweet lie.
Gasps rippled through the chamber. "He cultivated inside that place?" an elder muttered in disbelief. Even Vera's composure wavered; she, a Diamond rank, knew how suffocating the ancient grounds could be.
Liam continued, his voice smooth and earnest, laced with just enough awe to be believable. "There, I was restrained by him for the entirety of my stay. He… forcefully implanted the knowledge of the Demon Blades' history into my mind." Small, elegant embellishments.
Nothing too grand yet, just enough to paint him as the chosen vessel rather than a threat.
The hall watched him with fresh reverence.
A soft, golden light began to emanate from Liam's chained form, subtle yet undeniable, as though the very world affirmed his words.
Farouk's eyes widened with excitement. "Ha! It can't be. That fucker isn't lying."
Vera stepped closer. "Did he leave any other information? Any note?"
Liam shook his head slowly, immediately she seized him by the throat lifting him effortlessly of his feet, a flicker of calculated panic cross his features.
"Haaa… okay. This is all I can tell you." He drew a deep, theatrical breath. "Demon Devil Zoran is still alive."
The room froze.
Vera instantly sealed the hall with a barrier of crushing power. No sound would escape. No prying ears would listen.
Liam's voice dropped to a reverent whisper as he dangled in her grip. "During my time with the Ancestor, I could only sense his main consciousness for ten nights. After that… I spent the rest with a sub-soul."
He let the silence stretch, savoring their hunger. "Your ancestor has ascended. He is in a higher world."
A timid elder paled. "Do not speak of that place so casually."
Liam's smile deepened, enigmatic and unfathomable. "Do not fear. It will not reveal itself before me."
He laughed softly , the sound carrying an undercurrent of something ancient and bitter. "Demon Devil Zoran has given me the task of breaking the veil between this world and the next."
The words hung in the air like sacred scripture. A deep, viscous evil aura began to seep from Liam, far too potent for a mere Silver rank. It coiled around the platinum rankers like invisible serpents, testing, probing, promising.
They all turned to Vera, waiting.
But Liam already knew her answer. He could see it in the greedy light blooming behind her eyes. He had woven the lies so sweetly, so convincingly, that even the sharpest minds in the room were swallowing them whole.
And as the hall held its breath, Liam was utterly in control, for a moment he allowed his smile to widen by a fraction.