Liam''s Perspective


    I swallowed the pills in rapid session, feeling each one dissolve and spread energy through my wounded body. Close to a hundred recovery pills disappeared down my throat, their effects immediate and powerful.


    Kendrick Langley''s eyes widened with each pill I consumed. His confident smirk vanished, reced by calcting fear.


    "Impossible," he whispered. "The toxicity alone should kill you."


    I wiped my mouth and stood up straighter. My wounds were still there, but the pain had dulled to a manageable throb. "I''m not at my peak, but I''m more than enough to deal with you."


    My body hummed with raw power. The pills weren''t a perfect solution—I''d pay for this shortcutter—but they''d bought me enough strength for what needed doing.


    Kendrick stepped back, hands weavingplex patterns in the air. "You''ve made a terrible mistakeing to this river, Knight."


    "Have I?" I nced around, taking in our surroundings more carefully.


    The riverbank wasn''t chosen randomly. The rushing water behind Kendrick flowed in an unusual pattern. I noticed subtle formation marks carved into stones beneath the surface.


    A voice called out from the tree line. "It''s a trap, Liam! The entire riverside is a killing formation!"


    I turned to see Eamon Greene emerge from the shadows. The merchant I''d helped in Havenwood now stood with a worried expression on his face.


    "Eamon?" I hadn''t expected to see him here.


    Kendrick''s face contorted with rage. "You treacherous snake! You were supposed to lure him here, not warn him!"


    "ns change," Eamon replied calmly,ing to stand beside me. "I serve a higher purpose now."


    I kept my eyes on Kendrick but spoke to Eamon. "You''re full of surprises."


    "More than you know," Eamon murmured. "The water formation draws power from the river''s murderous intent. Centuries of drownings have infused it with death energy."


    I nodded, sensing another presence lingering just beyond perception. Reginald Talbot was watching from somewhere nearby, waiting to see the oue. The old fox was too cautious to engage directly. <em ss="story-note-vis">If yоu''rе nоt оn М*VLЕМ*РYR, yоu''rе viеwing а соpy.</em>


    I cracked my knuckles. "Two traitors in one day. I''m feeling generous, Kendrick. I''ll make your death quick."


    "You arrogant fool!" Kendrick''s hand shed downward.


    The river erupted. Water surged upward in a massive wall, droplets hanging suspended in the air like deadly crystals. Each drop caught the moonlight, creating an eerie glow over the battlefield.


    I felt the mystical power building—centuries of umted murderous intent from countless deaths. The water itself wanted blood.


    Kendrick''s face twisted into a triumphant grin. "Die!"


    The water droplets shot forward like bullets, each carrying enough force to puncture flesh. Thousands of them streaked toward me from every direction.


    I didn''t move.


    "Shield yourself!" Eamon shouted in panic.


    The water missiles struck my body simultaneously. Each impact should have torn through muscle and bone.


    Instead, they sshed harmlessly against my skin.


    Kendrick''s jaw dropped. "What?"


    I smiled coldly. "Mystical attacks don''t work well on me. Didn''t your intelligence mention that?"


    His face paled. The revtion had clearly shaken him.


    "Please," he stammered, backing away. "I was forced to act against you. The Ashworths threatened my family—"


    "Save your breath," I cut him off. "I don''t care why you betrayed me. Only that you did."


    I stepped forward. Kendrick retreated, his back nearly touching the river.


    "Wait!" he pleaded. "I have information about Isabelle! About where they''re keeping her!"


    That made me pause. "Speak quickly."


    "If I tell you, will you spare me?"


    "No," I answered honestly. "But I might make it painless."


    Desperation filled his eyes. With a sudden movement, Kendrick mmed both palms into the river. "River Dragon Formation!"


    The water erupted again, but differently this time. It rose in spiraling columns, taking the shape of three massive dragons. Their watery bodies solidified as they absorbed the murderous intent concentrated in the river.


    "The water carries the essence of heaven and earth''s killing intent," Kendrick snarled. "Even your body can''t withstand that!"


    The first dragon lunged, jaws wide. I sidestepped and drove my fist into its liquid skull. My hand pierced through, disrupting the formation energy binding it together.


    The dragon copsed back into formless water.


    The second and third attacked simultaneously from different angles. I leapt upward, golden energy wrapping around my fists.


    "Absolute Beginning Sacred Fist!"


    My enhanced punch shattered the second dragon. As Inded, I spun and delivered a kick that bisected the third.


    Kendrick stared in disbelief as his ultimate attack dissolved before his eyes.


    "Impossible," he whispered. "No one has ever—"


    I didn''t let him finish. "Shrinking Ground Into An Inch."


    The space between uspressed instantly. One moment I stood twenty paces away; the next, I was directly before him, my fist already driving toward his chest.


    Kendrick managed to form a water armor at thest second. My fist crashed through it and into his ribcage. Bones shattered beneath my knuckles.


    He coughed blood, staggering backward into the river. The water rose around him, supporting his broken body.


    "You''ve lost," I said tly. "Tell me what you know about Isabelle, and I''ll end this quickly."


    Blood dribbled down his chin as heughed. "You think this is over? I''ve cultivated this river''s murderous intent for thirty years!"


    The water around him began to glow with an ominous light. His body sank deeper, merging with the current.


    "The living can be killed," he rasped, voice distorting as water filled his lungs. "But what about murderous intent itself?"


    The river churned violently. Kendrick''s body disappeared beneath the surface, but I could still hear his voice—now emanating from the water itself.


    "I sacrifice my physical form to be one with the river''s will!"


    The entire waterway began to pulse with red light. The murderous intent that had umted over centuries concentrated into a single point directly in front of me.


    Eamon shouted a warning and retreated to safer ground.


    From the glowing focal point, Kendrick''s essence forged a dagger of pure murderous intent—a weapon carried not by physical mass but by concentrated killing will.


    The dagger floated above the river''s surface, pointed directly at me.


    "Your dantian or your heart," Kendrick''s disembodied voice echoed. "Which will I destroy first?"


    The dagger shot forward with impossible speed, aiming straight for my core.