Liam answered the man's attempt at blocking with a mocking smile. With a thought energy ran through his console, surging into his fist, giving it the power of [Brutal Strike].
This skill, often weak against powerful bosses in the game, had shown its might in real life before. When Liam and his opponent collided, the latter felt a strange suppressive force driven into his body, blocking its movements.
His eyes shot open in surprise, powerlessly watching a fist aiming for his face.
Just before it arrived, though, the void energy in the man's body revolved wildly, shattering the stun.
The man spat a mouthful of blood as he hastily retreated. Liam was surprised, but his extensive experience drove him forward to press his advantage.
He chased after the young man, swinging his fist fuelled by all kinds of skills. When his hand with the power of [Double Slash] slammed into the opponent's chest, an explosion of blinding light suddenly shook the surroundings.
"Ah!"
The void-corrupted man let out a pained shout as even the void was pushed back. The spectators stared at the sudden eruption in awe of Liam's skills.
Boom!
Suddenly the floor trembled. Liam glanced to the side finding Baker's opponent powerlessly embedded into the floor. The seasoned martial master had made use of the opportunity to gather his energy and strike his distracted opponent.
The brittle floor was broken and dust spread in all directions. Baker moved fast as lightning and appeared behind Liam's opponent. With a powerful blow against the back of the man's head he was directly slammed into the floor, his life and death unknown.
Liam inhaled sharply staring at Baker who appeared so ruthless at the moment.
"Are you ok?"
Master Baker eyed Liam strangely, forcing him to put away his thoughts.
"Don't worry. I'm fine, master."
"Good."
"Isn't there more you want to ask?"
"No need."
Baker shook his head, falling silent. He carefully controlled his energy to prevent the void from spreading further while looking towards the street.
Liam followed his eyes, only now realizing that it was strangely quiet outside. He couldn't see it, but the area was already blocked in all directions by the army.
In this uncertain situation, C's voice sounded in Liam's mind.
[Challenge 'Suppress the void-corrupted beings until reinforcements arrive.' accomplished.]
[Evaluation: Rank S!]
[Possible rewards:
A considerably strengthened body. Choose one item with a level requirement below level 50. Valuable Information Location of an ancient ruin matching your current abilities.
You have two chances to choose, Player Liam.]
Liam was surprised by the generous rewards. However, he had no time to care for C right now as he felt a vast aura approaching rapidly. The stars in the sky seemed to light up to welcome the newcomer, shining brilliantly in the red evening glow.
Some of the people present seemed to know something, their expressions turning serious as they turned towards the street.
Master Baker wore a complicated expression as he looked towards the sky. Suddenly the sound of something breaking through the air at high speed could be heard. A streak of light shot in their direction, coming to a stop above the dojo.
Liam looked up to find a valiant woman wearing the army's red uniform, adorned with multiple medals. The tight clothing showed her slim body, its proportions an image of power.
Her stern face was characterised by a slightly deformed jaw, which gave her an even more authoritative appearance. It was caused by an injury in her youth which wasn't treated fast enough.
The woman stood in the air surrounded by vast starlight energy, her long black hair billowing in the wind caused by her own power. She looked towards the floor with a frown on her face, focusing first on the void before turning towards Master Baker. Her voice was cold as she began to speak:
"Baker. I knew having you here would cause me trouble. But this?"
Master Baker smiled wryly as he answered:
"I also didn't expect this, Reilly."
"General. Reilly!"
General Reilly snorted seeing that Baker showed no signs of correcting himself. She turned her head away, about to address the soldiers gathering at the gate when her eyes suddenly narrowed.
Liam felt extremely unwell as Reilly fixed her gaze on him, interrogating him with a freezing tone:
"You! Who are you? An unknown starlight master on my planet?!"
"Hmpf. This is my disciple.", answered Master Baker instead of Liam.
"Are you trying to fool me? Since when do you have a starlight master for a disciple? Did..."
Suddenly General Reilly stopped, taking a closer look at Liam.
"What is this? The starlight energy comes from an external source. It almost seems to come from... your console?!"
Reilly showed a strong shock. She appeared in front of Liam all of a sudden, looking him up and down.
"Explain yourself!"
"My disciple doesn't need to explain anything!"
Master Baker stepped up to block Liam, staring fearlessly at the general. A tense atmosphere settled. Some of the spectators regretted coming here as the soldiers began blocking the gate.
Liam looked at Baker's back, feeling a surge of warmth. But he wasn't afraid as he put his hand on the master's shoulder.
"Thank you, master. But it's alright. There is nothing to hide."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course."
Reilly nodded as Baker took a step to the side, a hint of appreciation in her eyes as she looked at Liam.
"Tell me what happened, young man."
"Yes, general. It's like this. I just left the game when I suddenly heard a commotion from outside. I decided to take a look and saw Master Baker locked in combat. I also recognized this void energy from the game.
Despite my shock I thought about helping master. Just as I was contemplating what to do, a voice suddenly spoke in my mind. At first, I was surprised but then I remembered hearing about 'chosen ones' recently and calmed down, even feeling some honour.
I realized that it must be C talking to me. The voice told me that consoles can resist the void for a while. I decided to trust C and helped the master."
Baker and Reilly both fell silent, staring at Liam while processing what they had just heard. Suddenly the general abruptly turned towards the soldiers, commanding in a stern voice:
"Make sure that none of this gets out! Make everyone here sign an NDA! Clean this place up! And get me a car!"
"Yes, Ma'am!"
The soldiers didn't hesitate, perfectly following the general's orders. Meanwhile Reilly dragged Liam and Master Baker into a car, driving off.
During the drive the general asked Liam to confirm everything again, questioning sharply. She wanted to know how Liam knew about chosen ones and asked him in detail about C's words.
Liam found it quite tricky to answer the general without giving his special status away. He wanted to be perceived as a normal 'chosen one' and not stand out any more.
This would give him just the right amount of attention from the federation. At the same time, he didn't dare to be too conspicuous. Fate of Crunaboul involved the interests of too many organizations. If he revealed too much, he might be taken away by people betting that they could get control over the game through him.
Thus, the upcoming couple of hours were extremely stressful for Liam. He was brought to the investigation unit's building he had visited before where Reilly grilled him thoroughly.
He only managed to hold on because his story wasn't too far from the truth.
During that time General Reilly contacted the government, asking them to confirm Liam's words with other chosen ones. Fortunately, C was cooperative and confirmed that consoles could indeed block against the void.
From that moment on Reilly dropped her oppressive attitude and talked to Liam as an equal. She even settled some of Liam's doubts.
For example, how the government couldn't know about all of the consoles' functions. Apparently, this happened because the consoles' cores were fabricated in production lines unearthed from ancient ruins.
These production lines were completely self-contained, and their scientists hadn't managed to figure them out yet.
Liam was just about to question why they dared to give out consoles to the population without knowing their workings, but he held back, thinking the answer was obvious.
Considering the power consoles could grant to all of humanity, these security concerns played only a secondary role. Especially if other races also had access to consoles. Humanity wasn't alone in the universe after all.
Subsequently Liam chatted with the general for a while, getting along quite well. Reilly revealed that humanity had encountered void energy a few times. It was the biggest hinderance to their exploration as only starlight masters could resist the void.
The army had some weapons to disperse void energy, but it took a long while. For example, the dojo would need about six months to clean up.
Liam felt sympathetic for Master Baker when he heard this knowing that this was a heavy blow to the old man.