Chapter 140: Count Liam snaps
The ground got behind a large house. They all stood and watched to see if any infected would run in.
"It seems they noticed that we were trying to know the truth," Riker said.
"The whole truth is out now, I guess," Ezra replied. She looked at Ren. "So what do we do now, Master? Kill every one of them?"
"We can do that," Lia replied. "Imagine an entire town vanishing just like that. It would pull the entire attention of the kingdom. That’s something that we don’t want to happen when we are around here. We can’t get the blame pinned on us," she explained.
While they were speaking, Silas and Ren smelt something. Both of them looked in the same direction at the same time.
"Someone is here," Silas said.
"Yeah, there are infected all around us," Riker replied.
"No, this is different," Ren spoke. He looked at the specific direction. "Will you come out, or will we have to drag you out somehow?"
"Sigh, seems I cannot hide from the eyes of a dragon," the archer said as he walked out from the corner. He looked right at Ren and then smiled.
"Oh, it’s you, the elf," Ren said. The moment those words left his mouth, the archer froze. He looked at Ren in utter disbelief.
"Ho... how did you know that I was an elf?" he asked.
"Your smell," Ren replied.
’Well, that’s not true. I used Appraisal on him and I was able to get that he was an elf. But then again, his smell was actually much different from humans.’
The archer gritted his teeth. He had done a lot all his life to ensure that he protected that secret and ensured no one found out, and now he was looking at someone that easily found out.
"If you are thinking of doing something to me, I suggest that you toss those thoughts aside, or you will die a very painful death." Ren made his warning clear.
"I’m guessing that the count set you up to this. Where is he?" Ren asked.
The archer moved his hand to his chest and pointed at a metal pin with a crystal top. "He is watching through this."
"So he has seen everything," Ren muttered and then looked up. He flapped his wings and shot out of the town. His eyes scanned around the forest in high detail until he spotted the carriage tucked away.
"There you are." He shot down and landed beside the carriage.
Liam noticed that Ren had come to see him, so he stepped out of the carriage along with the butler, the dual wielder, and the mage.
"I should have known you would not leave that simple," Ren said.
"I find it pretty unsettling that you would not hand this information to the kingdom and rather try to handle it yourself, you being a monster that has nothing to gain from this." The count said. He looked at Ren with sharp eyes.
"I have my personal reasons for it. Also, if you and your kingdom are incapable of discovering what is happening by itself, then I don’t think you need the information at all," Ren made it clear.
Liam clenched his jaw. He drew a deep breath.
"You’ll leave here, and you’ll leave this issue behind and forget about it. We will take everything up from here."
’Is this dude trying to push me off? Sadly, I can’t do that, not when I have a lot to gain from uncovering this entire thing. The system promised me some good rewards, and so I’ll make sure I carry it till the end.’
"Uhm, no. Never try to tell me what to do again." Ren said, his eyes flashed. "If you do that, you’ll not live to see the next moment."
Ren turned around after that and headed back toward the town, only to feel a hand pressed against his shoulder to stop him. He turned his head and looked at the count.
"I’ll have to stop you there," Liam said. A magical pattern formed on the back of his hand, and from his palm came a very powerful explosion.
Boom!
The blast was massive, flames erupting everywhere, the flames rushing all around and the ground getting burned to a crisp.
When the blast was done, Liam expected to see Aren burnt, but Aren stood there, his entire body covered in scaly armour that took the brunt.
Ren proceeded to use his elbow, driving it right into the stomach of Liam. The force hurled him back right into the carriage. He broke through it. The horses were immediately startled. They immediately rushed away and left the scene.
Liam got up from the rubble. He looked at Ren with a burning hate in his eyes.
"Count Liam, stand down. I have no interest in fighting you," Ren said.
Liam disregarded that and came in with both hands already crackling. The engraving on his palms sparked with a restless energy that built with every step, the flames climbing his arms in short, sharp bursts before he even swung.
He swung.
The first explosion hit Ren’s block, and the force of it rolled through his entire arm, his feet scraping backward across the ground, the sound of the impact cracking through the air like something had snapped.
Liam was already swinging the second before Ren finished absorbing the first.
The explosion that came off it was bigger, the flames feeding into the impact and discharging all at once. Ren blocked the second attack as well.
Liam turned and used his foot instead, driving a kick into Ren’s chest, the explosion pushing him back at full force.
The blast hurled him back, and he went through a tree, the trunk snapping clean. When he hit the ground and rolled back to his feet, there was a genuine look of surprise on his face.
Ren stood across from him, a smile on his face like he had not been hurled back a moment ago.
Neither of them moved.