The trio’s bodies were ripped apart in an instant as his story poured into them. Unlike Arimiar, they couldn’t handle Liam’s status. While most of the soldiers had even higher stats than his, the weight of their existence was much lesser, making them particularly vulnerable to Singularity, even if Liam didn’t use his everything. Given how fast the technique also was, more often than not it caught the soldiers completely unprepared, resulting in their deaths. Naturally, the energy expenditure was as large as the Skill’s effects. Liam only used it when he faced many enemies at once, such as in this case, otherwise, it would be unsustainable. Expanding back into himself, Liam looked at the clawed beastman that had been approaching him from behind. The soldier had ground to a halt after witnessing the deaths of his comrades. Then, it turned around.

The sound of splashing water echoed. With a howl, the wolfman disappeared as well. Liam chased the beastman, proving himself to be only slightly faster than him.

‘Flow.’

His Aura extended beyond his body, wrapping itself around the legs of the running beastman, pulling him back and tripping him. The next second, Liam’s spear pierced his head.

Slowing down, the youth looked around. The chaotic nature of the battlefield was the same wherever one went, a stark contrast to the organized movements of the two armies. The storm of Aura surged, creating an eternal, omnipresent pressure throughout the battlegrounds. The coordinated attacks of the armies could only be described as titanic, in a realm that was currently out of reach for Liam.

‘I hope I get closer to that level once I level up.’

Thinking to himself, Liam belatedly realized that there were no attacks coming his way. During the chase, he’d moved away enough to throw off the enemy soldiers. He hurriedly sat down, recovering his Aura to the best of his ability. He had to take full advantage of this lull. Lifting the sand and ground around him with his Aura, he buried himself in it, hiding. Closing his eyes, he entered meditation. It was only an hour later that he emerged, his Aura reserves a bit higher.

‘I need to keep going.’

Skill Proficiency rose the fastest when in life-and-death battles, more specifically once the individual was near death. It was a system that incentivized deadly battles, as well as allowed a losing, dying fighter to ascend with greater strength in their last moments and turn the situation around. More accurately, it supported those fighters with the strength to keep on living. As such, in order to take full advantage of this mechanic, Liam needed to keep fighting while keeping himself only at the minimum physical level to survive.

‘In this state, I won’t die if I keep on fighting.’

After regenerating from so many grievous wounds, his confidence in his apparent immortality was growing. At the very least, he hadn’t yet met anything that could permanently harm him anymore. It was a type of power he never expected to have, given his early experiences of fighting in the Tutorial. Injuries that he would have tried his best to avoid then were now trivial things he could heal from in minutes. While he still didn’t know the limits of his regeneration, having his heart or brain destroyed no longer meant immediate death. Nonetheless, his growing awareness of his powers meant that he knew he wasn’t immortal. He would still perish if he suffered from serious injuries repeatedly. He couldn’t throw caution to the wind.

He started to repeat the process. Over and over, Liam fought. While unable to permanently wound him, the enemies’ attacks were piling up. His regeneration grew slower, while his Aura was depleted gradually. This made him realize and confirm his hypothesis about the limits of his regeneration. This made every battle a far more deadly one, where he had to try his hardest not to get hit even though he could regenerate from the damage.

Every muscle and bone in his body ached. His mouth was as dry as the desert he stood on and he sorely missed the ability to take deep breaths. His arms trembled every time he swung his spear, while every step taken consumed monumental energy. However, his reflexes grew sharper, his Skills more accurate. The synergy between Unbreakable Will and Dancing on the Death God’s Scythe was being shown in full force, allowing him to keep fighting on and on.

This scenario continued for two more days, to the point where the strategy started to spread, even among the hundred million enemies. The reason was simple; with the forcefield still up, any casualties among the enemies were usually due to their own mistake of trying to finish off an opponent outside its boundaries in close combat. It was a brash, unreasonable decision made possible by the war’s atmosphere. The fog of blood, the brightly shining Auras, and their ultimate defense made the soldiers feel safe and omnipotent, leading them to an error of judgement; to the mistaken notion that they could achieve great feats, killing the enemy outside the barrier and returning safely. Most of the soldiers, however, cautiously remained within the forcefield and Cinzolia’s walls. This meant that the number of soldiers that had rushed out and died could be considered to be negligible.

However, the number started to get higher. As Liam tried his damndest to bait out more of the soldiers who got wrapped up in the atmosphere, their number slowly but steadily increased. Of course, many attempted to finish him off at range, but many others, especially those who were more proficient in close combat, made the mistake of attempting to fight him in a melee. Simply put, the number of dead enemies, though small, was significant enough that stories started to spread throughout the four walls. Tales of a weakened, broken enemy soldier that could not be killed no matter how many came at him.

As such, the number of bold soldiers started to decrease. They began actively looking for Liam’s damaged, tired figure and focusing on him whenever he appeared. In the last 12 hours of the second day, he had been virtually unable to get a single kill, but he had already reached his goal. It had been enough.

[Your Constitution statistic has reached the value of 1500. It can no longer be increased due to your genetic limitations. To increase it further, heavy changes to your genetic makeup will be required.]

[A newborn Giant’s endurance rests within your body!]

[Your endurance, stamina, and durability have greatly increased.]

[Your Recovery statistic has reached the value of 1500. It can no longer be increased due to your genetic limitations. To increase it further, heavy changes to your genetic makeup will be required.]

[You have begun to touch the edge of immortality!]

[Your injuries have partially healed.]

[All your regenerative capabilities have been drastically increased.]

‘…Giants, huh.’

Far away from the battlefield, Liam trudged in the direction of the ship. The four days had ended and another Elite Squad would now take their place. The youth analyzed the alerts in his mind. Once again, the System notifications revealed more information about the enemies he would one day have to face. Just like when his Aura reached 1500, another race was mentioned as his stats increased. It reminded Liam of how long of a way to go he still had. He was weak and insignificant, but he was growing. He steeled his determination. It was time to level up.

As he thought of this, the sand around him erupted as twelve figures landed close to him. Their Auras washed over his figure, looking for signs of life-threatening injuries. Naturally, they couldn’t find any. Liam guessed that made his haggard, exhausted state more mysterious.

“How are you still alive? I thought we’d have lost you the moment we got tied down by those bastards from Luweth.”

One spoke to him, incredulity clear in his voice.

“I might be weak, but I have some cards up my sleeve. I won’t die so easily.”

Liam responded with a grin, thankful for the opportunity to show the Captain he wasn’t as worthless as the Squad believed him to be. It was a rather childish emotion, but he had been feeling increasingly uncomfortable with the way the members viewed him. Two’s lithe figure turned to him, asking him a question.

“How many did you kill?”

“190.”

Her head slightly recoiled in surprise. It was a much higher number compared to them, who had been stuck fighting a single enemy for the entire four days.

“Good job.”

She nodded at him. One looked down at the ground, before raising his head and speaking with a firm and serious voice.

“I apologize. You would have died if it weren’t for your own abilities. We should have protected you even at the cost of our lives, yet all of us hesitated to sacrifice ourselves for a human. That will never happen again. You are Zero. I hereby swear to protect you to the best of my ability.”

Liam shook his head as all of the Squad members lowered their heads. He didn’t feel like this warranted such a reaction. Was it truly that big of a deal to ignore the priority order? He thought it was natural. He was not a Drakkhan and had joined the Squad for only a few days, compared to the untold amount of time the others had been fighting together for. Since the predominant opinion among their species was to annihilate humanity, it wasn’t surprising for him at all that no one had come to his aid. He never expected their help from the start.