Cassandra lay on her bed with a blank expression. She stared at the ceiling as if she were attempting to pierce a hole through it. She had taken off her armor, preparing to sleep in light clothing. Yet, her mind kept wandering. She couldn’t relax at all. As usual, there was only one thing she thought about.

I wonder who he is fighting right now.

Liam hadn’t told her the specifics of what he was going to do, surely not to worry her, but she was certain that he was off doing something incredibly dangerous. Anxiety pooled in her chest as she forcibly took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm down. She tossed and turned on the bed, trying to sleep, but to no avail. Every time she closed her eyes, all that she saw was Liam’s apologetic expression as he parted from her. She never knew if he would return, not a single time when he went away. It was draining. If her relationship were with anyone else, she would have already broken up because of the mental toll alone. She had ended relationships before for much less. However, when it came to Liam… She didn’t want to. She didn’t want to give up on what they had, even though they were apart for much of the time.

Cassandra buried her face in her pillow. She could feel the need to cry rising but forcefully pushed it down. Just because she didn’t want to break up didn’t mean that she wasn’t tired of the current state of things. All she could do was worry about Liam while he fought in a faraway place. She felt like she was the wife of a soldier who was constantly deployed but returned home just often enough to keep the marriage going. She couldn’t help him at all.

No, that isn’t completely true, either.

She was helping humanity grow. It was what Liam wanted, but also what she wished for herself. The time she spent separated from Liam, even if unwillingly, helped her develop her own sense of self. She realized that she wanted to help humanity just as badly as he did. They were her species and the reason why she fought all this time. People didn’t deserve to go through the suffering that was the Convergence. Of course, there were evil and bad people everywhere, but she firmly believed that most humans were good. It was a belief formed after finding success in her interpersonal relationships and widening her perspective. Most of humanity was willing to fight in the army for the good of their kind, while conflicts were few and far between. It was ironic that the dystopian scenario of the Convergence had managed to create a utopian society. Cassandra’s thoughts took a different turn.

However, part of it is only possible because of Salazar’s control and Luweth’s actions.

While humanity was more united than ever, it would still be difficult to achieve its current state without those two. Salazar could forcefully manipulate the actions of almost half of the population, while Luweth kept him from doing anything negative with this ability. By keeping Salazar in check, Luweth allowed society to reap only the benefits of the man’s power. It was a delicate balance that needed to be maintained. Cassandra grunted and turned to lie on her other side. This wasn’t something she wanted to think about right now. She should be clearing her head, not finding more problems to deliberate on.

As usual, her thoughts circled back to Liam. She couldn’t forgive him, but she couldn’t hate him, either. It was a complex mixture of emotions that made her confused. How exactly did she feel? Cassandra looked at the ceiling once more with an empty gaze.

This pattern repeated itself for hours. She couldn’t get a wink of sleep.

…

Liam’s spear pierced at Typhon’s heart. The golden light stopped dead in its tracks once it touched his skin. The man gritted his teeth and used his strongest Skill. The Singularities slammed against the Minotaur’s body, but not a single wound appeared. The Elean Emperor maintained his eyes closed with a serene expression, but it was obvious that the creature’s focus wasn’t wavering for even a second. For as long as the Emperor remained concentrated, Liam wouldn’t be able to escape without teleporting or divert his attention.

“Fuck!”

With a roar, Liam teleported away. He entered the Endless Sea, looking at his hands like they had failed him.

I can’t damage him.

Even though his Imperial Armament was so powerful and he had half as many Supreme Techniques, he still wasn’t able to cause an injury at all. It was only then that Liam realized why he had managed to survive against Typhon for so long.

He’s a defensive Emperor.

Most of the creature’s Supreme Techniques revolved around increasing his defense. Typhon’s offensive power was never considered to be great to begin with, but he had almost killed Liam hundreds of thousands of times. Liam could only think of one reason as to why that was the case.

As expected, the implementation of my Laws knowledge has been too ineffective.

He needed to take full advantage of his Perception, but he would never manage to do so by keeping his inhuman feelings at bay. Not at the rate his Will was developing. However, he had already done virtually everything he could to increase its growth rate. All that the statistic needed was time, but it was the one thing that Liam sorely lacked.

There was no other way.

Liam cursed endlessly in his mind as he thought of all the relationships that he had built so far.

I won’t let myself lose them. No matter what happens, I’ll treasure my friends and love them with all my heart. I won’t change the way how I feel about Cassandra. It is an oath.

With trembling eyes and an indecisive mind, Liam accepted what he could not comprehend. The feelings flooded him. It was as if a dam had been broken. A system notification appeared in front of him.

[Perception is now in full effect.]

The Will that was being used to hold back these feelings moved, now without purpose. It joined the rest of Liam’s Will, hastening its growth and effectiveness. Liam stretched his body and entered the Convergence immediately. Even though he hadn’t recovered completely, it didn’t matter. He looked around.

I never knew things to be so… Simple.

The fabric of spacetime was mundane. He felt as if he would be able to replicate it without much training. The stars and galaxies were all incredibly simplistic by nature. It all felt foreign to him. It was as if he were staring at them from above. Liam’s eyes zeroed in on the sitting figure of Typhon. A spear was formed in his right hand. The space around him changed.

The Law insights clung to him without letting go. He only briefly looked at them, but they were similarly boring. It was disappointing. Only the Laws of Soul and Will were mildly interesting. Many human emotions made their way into his heart alongside other foreign ones. Boredom, disappointment, distaste, curiosity, as well as the alien, indescribable feelings. Liam thought he would get used to them as time passed. He focused his attention on his enemy. As his Law of Speed reached 100% completion, he moved.

The movement was instantaneous.

It couldn’t be described as “fast,” for there was no wind-up or window of time. The distance was crossed instantaneously, supported by the Laws of Force, Cutting, Piercing, and all the elemental Laws.

“Ugh!”

Typhon let out a grunt as the light spear pierced his skin. Liam stared at the opponent in front of him and felt…

Contempt.

He frowned slightly. It was an emotion he didn’t want to feel, but one that appeared naturally.

I’ll deal with this later.

He threw it to the back of his mind. All that mattered was the opponent in front of him. His Aura moved while supported by an amalgamation of Laws, digging into the wound and attempting to explode the Emperor’s body from within.

It was the first time Liam had damaged his opponent. The injury was incredibly light and regenerated in an instant, but during a window of time, it existed. That was enough for Liam. The Laws of Soul and Will moved. His Will merely desired to harm Typhon, while the Law of The Soul affected the enemy’s soul directly. Typhon’s eyes widened. He punched forward immediately. Space was torn apart, but Liam was no longer there. Outside of the Elean territory, Liam stared at his enemy with cold eyes. He pierced forward once more, reaching Typhon instantly. Another light injury was inflicted. Typhon’s soul grew weaker. It was the opening Liam was looking for.

Constellation. Event Horizon. Singularity. Align.

He used all four of his Supreme Techniques at the same time, merging them seamlessly in one swift movement. Singularity multiplied and hit the wound on Typhon’s body, coming out on the other side.

Liam had cleanly pierced the Minotaur. There was a hole where the enemy’s upper body used to be. Typhon regenerated as his voice rumbled.

“That’s impossible!”