The exchange had brought the branching experts up to speed. Liam wasn't just an alchemist. He was a poison master, and a dangerous one at that.
In isolation, Liam's trade wouldn't have meant much, not for forces as powerful as Sects. However, the military campaign was bound to culminate in a siege.
As Liam had told Uriah, the Dark Heaven Tribe's defensive capabilities were far from weak. Actually, they promised to be astounding with the union of inscriptions, formations, and alchemy. The foreigners had taken that into account, but adding poison worsened their predictions considerably.
It would have been different if Liam just had a few tricks up his sleeve, but that wasn't what the battle had shown.
The Sects outnumbered the Dark Heaven Tribe basically three to one, but a sweeping victory didn't look likely at all. A loss would definitely happen, and the Sects didn't want to pay such a price.
