Seeing that Liam was not responding, the childish voice rang out again in annoyance. "You took something that belongs to me! Where is it?"
"What? You have some sort of space ring? Where is it? Where are you hiding it?"
"Where the heck is my fucking world seed?"
The blood effigy continued shouting and screaming at him, but Liam's concentration was entirely on something else.
As the invisible pair of eyes looked at Liam with cold, chilling murderous intent, he looked right back at them, and he finally realized what he was searching for and what he felt was familiar.
There, at the center of the blood effigy's head, was something small and shiny, something so feeble that one would definitely miss it if one did not pay any attention.
And that was… that was… a soul? This blood giant had a soul?
Liam suddenly felt like a lightning struck him as he jolted out of his almost-dead state, and his eyes sparkled with determination as he paid more attention to this anomaly.
It was a soul. He was not wrong. It was definitely a soul. It was very small, almost insignificant, just a small fragment, but it was a soul!
Liam gasped as he lunged forward and reached for that small soul fragment as if his life depended on it. No, his life really depended on it.
This fight and this opponent were definitely beyond him, but if he was going to die right here and now, there was something else that he could try.
A hail mary attempt.
He had another trump card that could injure the enemy just as it could injure him. But since he was going to die, did that really matter?
Gambling on the last bit of health and energy he had and his soul strength that was barely holding on, Liam reached for that small shiny soul fragment inside the blood effigy.
He was only doing it mentally, but at this point, his physical actions mirrored his mental actions. So he reached forwards and grabbed the thing like he was grabbing the last straw of his life.
Bingo! It worked!
He was able to hold it. He was able to feel it. It was as if he could do anything with it.
And as for the person behind the blood effigy… it was his turn to freeze. Suddenly, a rippling pain assaulted him, and he was forced to snap his connection with the blood effigy.
"What the hell?!" Elmis shouted as he stumbled back a few paces.
However, on the other side, Liam grinned even as blood leaked out of the corners of his mouth. He did not know why he was not able to notice this before.
Maybe his soul strength wasn't strong enough then, and this battle and his desperate attempts to remain alive made him just strong enough to detect this tiny fragment of soul?
He did not care why or how. He could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, and he was not going to let this go. This was his chance to turn this whole thing around.
The enemy was strong. He was powerful despite being a child. He was well-versed in blood magic and mental attacks. He was even able to fortify himself physically and cast magic beyond Liam's comprehension.
However, that was all different.
When it came to the soul, what was he really capable of doing? Who was the stronger one in this arena?
This was going to determine everything! Who the victor was and who the loser was!
Liam grunted as he used every last ounce of energy he had left inside him, clutched the small shiny soul fragment, and pulled it toward him with all of his strength.
He then did something which he had always tried his best not to do. He started ripping the soul apart.
Throughout his dozens and dozens of soul forging, he had only ever tried to hold a soul together, but this time he was doing the opposite.
That damned little soul fragment, the reason for all of his misery… he wanted to shred it, blast it, and send it to oblivion!
Coincidentally, before he could even do that, the blood effigy already started vibrating and becoming unstable. The moment the soul fragment was separated from the blood effigy, it was as if it had already lost its essence.
It was just a blood golem now and might as well be a useless clay doll.
The gigantic mass of crimson blood flopped onto the ground forming a sea of blood. There was blood everywhere, but both the blood summons and the blood effigy were no longer there.
Liam tiredly smiled. So he had won? Was everything over?
He looked at his hand and noticed that he still held the soul that thrummed wildly, wanting to free itself.
Should he still try to destroy this, or if he could somehow… he tried to force the soul fragment again, first testing its integrity.
And just as he did that…
In a distant land, somewhere far, far away, not even on the planet earth, a person shuddered in shock.
"Where is my brother?" A tall and handsome man sitting on a throne stood up abruptly, making the several demons standing around him shiver and tremble.
However, no one had any answer for him. They simply did not know and were not aware of anything.
"The young lord…" One of the demons started to answer when the handsome and arrogant man stopped him mid-way.
"Not now. Later. I first need to fix this. That idiot is in trouble again."
He did not bother explaining anything further and started drawing several runes in the air in front of him. A crimson essence leaked out of his finger as his moves rapidly drew something mysterious and complex.
And the minute he connected the first rune with the last rune, immediately the whole thing thrummed alive and started pulling massive swirls of energy toward it.
The entire courtroom watched this scene in shock and awe. Their lord manipulating the void was always a sight to see.
And at this exact same time…