Born in Blood

Liam looked like a morbid killing machine.

The two Dusk Blades hanging over his shoulders made them look like serpentine fangs.

The Black Blade pressed against his spine made him look like an animal.

And the Breaker Blade of all looked incredibly menacing.

Liam's long black hair and black wrappings fit well with the transformation.

All in all, he felt pretty confident in clearing out the fourth Trial.

The first dragon gave Liam a quick growl.

Now, it was worried!

Liam wasn't the same as when he first smacked him away.

His aura was colder, more refined and sharp.

Like a blade.

"Fhooooo…"

Liam emptied his lungs.

Then, he crouched, empowering his body. 

Transfiguration acted quick and pulled all of his flesh to his legs, tripling them in size.

With the Triumvirate Body, Transfiguration wouldn't thicken or bulge his form.

But since Liam was adding so much flesh onto his lower body, it made his muscles protrude.

Everything above his hips looked anorexic.

But the first dragon was already prepared to slap him away and use all his abilities. 

It would no longer play with its food.

BANG!

Liam turned into a streak. 

Then came the dragon's instant swipe. 

At the same time, the dragon's throat started to rumble with flames.

It had never done this before!

But as Liam flew by, both a swiping claw and a lance of flames shot straight towards him.

WHOOOSH!

The claw whizzed by.

Liam was too fast.

And although it was a weird flex, there was no one that got smacked as hard as him by a dragon.

He knew exactly where the claw was heading for, and he countered by adjusting his speed by just a little.

However, the lance of flames was still blazing behind him.

The heat prickled his skinny skin.

A full blast of it would definitely shred Liam apart.

As Liam's flesh reverted back to normal, the Dusk Blades flung behind his shoulders as he ran.

It lurched at the lance of flames like a snake, and the two forces clashed just a few meters away from Liam.

One Dusk Blade alone was not enough to deal with the lance.

But there were two.

Both blades started to absorb the lance's fire, turning into just a cluster of harmless flames.

Like so, the first dragon was cleared away.

Then came the second.

Another giant fireball flew towards him as he ran across the zig-zag path.

For this, Liam used the Breaker Blade.

As the fireball got close enough to singe his skin, Liam launched himself upwards and swung the Breaker against it.

WHOOOSH!

In an instant, the fireball started to redirect itself!

Contrary to reality, the flames of a dragon weren't just gaseous.

They were also liquid.

The fire was a result of the glands in their throats. 

As soon as it met air, it combusted and exploded into flames.

Thus, instead of dissipating like air under the Breaker's wide edge, the fireball was redirected towards the dragon!

As such, Liam passed the second dragon's domain and entered the third.

Sun-like fire bullets shot at Liam with incredible speed.

Liam didn't use the Dusk Blades or the Breaker.

This required sharpness.

SHING!

The Black Blade flickered with an orange glimmer on its surface.

Right now, a thrill ran through its hot edge. 

One after the other, the flurry of fire bullets split in half, exploding behind Liam with loud booms.

The fake dimension was colored with bright shades of vermillion and orange.

Liam entered the fourth dragon's domain.

He used the Breaker Blade again.

Liam entered the fifth dragon's domain.

He used the Dusk Blades and the Black Blade.

Liam entered the sixth dragon's domain.

He used the Breaker and the Black Blade.

Now, it was perfectly clear what the test was all about.

Adaptation.

Mastery and patience.

And now, versatility.

Of course, it wasn't without its wounds.

Liam's blood was working twice as fast to heal up his burned and mangled skin.

A nasty clawmark ripped the flesh on his back, but his tentacles were still in one shape.

Liam passed the seventh, the eighth, the ninth dragons.

Liam's hair was burnt to a crisp.

If someone cut a pound of flesh from his body, they could eat it cooked!

Liam passed the tenth, the eleventh, the thirteenth dragon.

The further Liam went, the more dangerous the dragons were.

They followed no pattern and weaved all types of attacks into their offensive.

Likewise, Liam had to use the Dusk Blades, the odachi, and the Breaker in quick combos to pass through a domain.

At one point, Liam manually chose what wounds to regenerate.

He was losing too much blood. 

And unless it was crucial for him to heal a wound, he would leave it be.

Which was why he currently looked like a charred and desecrated cadaver.

But his effort paid off.

Liam passed through the fourteenth domain.

Now, he was against the meanest, baddest looking dragon from all the others.

The two jagged horns on the top of its streamlined head were far vicious-looking compared to the rest.

It was bigger, too. 13 meters tall. 6 meters wide.

Liam's Dusk Blades were blazing hot, surging with flames. Their demonic laughs resounded in Liam's mind.

The Black Blade was stained with blood. It was thrilled to a sadistic level, grinning like crazy even though it had no mouth.

The Breaker Blade was filled with darkness and maliciousness. It wanted to ravage something. Anything. 

"They've saved the best for last," Liam said to his swords with a smile.

They hummed with mixture of excitement, rage and urge to cut.

Liam ran forward, blurring.

30 kilometers away from the gate.

The fifteenth dragon roared as loud as it could.

Its roar was accompanied by surging flames, lances of fire and blazing bullets.

With fluid slashes, Liam cut through each and every one of them as he ran.

20 kilometers away from the gate.

SHING!

CLAAAANG!

RIIIP!

10 kilometers away from the gate.

SHING!

5 kilometers.

CLAANG!

1 kilometer.

The dragon's claw came from above at Liam, attempting to crush him like an ant.

All three of Liam's swords hummed with their own unique emotion.

With a bestial roar, Liam swung all three of his swords towards the claw. His Ashura strength clashing against a dragon's!

The Breaker sounded like metal hitting metal hitting metal.

Then, it exploded along with the Dusk Blades' flames.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

The claw was shredded apart!

Liam propelled himself through the gate.