Born in Blood

Chapter 369 Friend

Like Liam thought, the three were given orders to look for him.

Obviously, they were not the only ones.

There were thousands of Echorians in this party.

Approximately 5,000 people were here at the party.

Roughly half of those were Echorians.

Royals, teachers, students, servants and more.

Not all the Royals present were Zeniths.

But they still had a certain air of superiority.

And not all Zenith Royals had participated in the meeting with Usan.

One of those that stayed behind were Kalia Thyress, one of Liam's previous teachers.

Currently, she was conversing with Elder Jane, who looked just as stunning as every other Royal.

Both were snarky and passive-aggressive with their words.

Liam heaved a long, tense sigh.

The Royals weren't foolable anymore.

They knew Liam was hiding with the Temple of Shadow.

They must have thoroughly explored every country as well.

At least, those that Liam had access to during that particular time.

But they checked off the suspected regions one by one, and there was just one box unticked.

And that was Ilali.

Especially since the Seven Clans stopped talks with the Echorian Royals once the Temple was no longer shunned.

Which was a bright red flag.

Plus, once the requirements of the Eternal Sword's heir came to light, the red flags started to accumulate one after the other.

As Liam realized that the Royals were not going to give up on him, he made a grim epiphany.

Getting found out was inevitable!

He had a feeling it would come to this.

Sooner or later, Liam's name was going to come into the spotlight.

This basically made hiding redundant.

Sure, for the time being, it provided safe cover.

But it was even more unnerving when the enemy wasn't public with their decisions.

If Liam were to somehow be assassinated without his name being public, Echorians could simply say it wasn't them, and the allies of the Temple of Shadow wouldn't be able to retaliate.

Sure, the Temple of Shadow would try to fight them.

But what would a mere eighteen thousand do against a million or more?

There would be less consequences for the Echorians' actions.

But if the opposite was true…

Liam's enemies would think twice before inciting a war.

Not to mention, they'd have Alucard to worry about!

And quite frankly, Liam was starting to get frustrated.

Hiding like a little rat.

He felt like he'd been held back his entire life, and that only flamed his suppressed anger.

'Why are they so damn adamant about coming after me in the first place?' Liam cursed, but an answer came to him anyway.

'With so much manpower to spare, they could afford to tie up a loose end or two.'

Nonetheless, there was no use overthinking it.

The alliance was the most important aspect of this entire meeting.

Looking at the main floor again, Liam saw Nord head to the bathroom.

Rin, Nessa and the red-haired girl also went to the female's side of the lavatory.

An opportunity.

"You can begin now," Liam told Jargon with a serious voice, who responded with a quick nod.

Using his Jade, Jargon made a few commands at the acolytes behind the scenes.

An enthusiastic announcement was made on the main floor.

A dance was commencing.

The tune of music playing in the background changed to something upbeat and rapidly paced.

No one had heard such a tune before!

It was so fast, rough and made no sense!

…They loved it!

At the same time, the chandelier's crystalline rays of light dimmed to a dreamy, night-blue color.

By now, the acolytes of the temple and the academic students pretty much hit it off.

And with such a change of mood, they converged at the center of the floor and started dancing in pairs.

The grim, hardened colors of the temple and the posh, extravagant colors of the students had now mixed.

Liam left the monitoring room with Jargon, Ruth and Krel, then made his way down the main floor.

The first floor of the pyramid was huge.

Something to accommodate more than 5,000 people was in no way small.

From one wall to the other was a distance of 95 meters.

'They're definitely doing something in the bathrooms,' Liam thought.

He wasn't worried.

The bathrooms had absolutely nothing they could use.

Whatever it was, it didn't make a difference.

Liam leaned against a pillar and waited patiently.

The people around him were sparse.

Ruth, Jargon and Krel were nearby, pretending to drink, eat and laugh.

Not to mention, Elders were watching Liam constantly, ready to cut in if there was ever a need to.

Just then…

Nord appeared on Liam's side, looking at him incredulously.

Silence.

For the both of them, the thundering music went slightly muffled.

"What're you lookin' at, kid?" Liam snarled. "Go dance."

Nord's jaw just went slack, his eyes twitching with discomfort.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Nord looked towards those dancing in the center of the main floor.

Then, he leaned against the same pillar Liam was leaning on.

Although he looked calm on the outside, Liam could see his mental waves raging.

…Good.

"Y'know," Nord said quietly, a dark look on his face. "I can see people's true forms. Your disguise doesn't hinder my vision like it does the others."

Silence.

Liam remained quiet.

"Still quiet, eh?" Nord said with a slight scoff. "Wanna know what your true form is, then?"

Silence.

Liam was still quiet, like he didn't acknowledge Nord's existence.

The music still raged on.

People still danced.

"In you, I see a four-armed, black, multi-faced demon with four horns and a black heart. Only one person I know who's demeanor was as dark as yours."

Silence.

Liam didn't expect such a response… but Ashuras were not four-armed.

Liam chuckled contemptuously under his breath.

"There you are," Nord said with a hard smile. "You're a hard bastard to find."

Silence.

"Why the anger?" Liam asked sarcastically, a mocking smile on his face. "I thought we were friends, no?"

Nord grimaced, then scoffed.

"Be honest. You never thought of me as a friend."