Chapter 179 - 179 – To Strike Fear With Knowledge
Everyone's hearts froze over as they faced Lirian's cold fury, despite his lack of cultivation, he was able to emit an other world presence that left even cultivators breathless.
Lirian's continence at that moment was incomparable to any thing they had ever felt in their lives and mixed with his blood stained body and his silver hair, that was dyed red from blood it made a stark image in all their minds.
It induced terror in them, and they unwillingly took several steps back, despite being able to see how death pale and weak Lirian look at that moment.
Hinata was completely over whelmed as she was the main focus of Lirian's ire and she could feel her pants get extremely wet, and a look of fear and shame took root on her face.
But at that moment she felt a strange force acting on her as if easing her tumultuous emotions of fear and ease, the feeling calmed her slightly and allowed her to be able to look at Lirian again without having her hairs stand on end.
"Huh, stop putting on airs I can tell that you're weak, it looks like you're having a hard time just standing straight," Hinata coldly snorted as she got back her courage.
As if her words held a special power even those around her seemed to have recovered from their fear slightly.
'So her boon grants her a type of false courage that allows her to resist my pressure, and at the same time she can share her boon to a degree with those she views as an ally,' Lirian quickly analysed the change.
'I need to stall for a bit of time, it's not Hinata's power that I need to fear, rather it's those zealots and the moment I finish of this group they will no longer keep hiding, but that to if I take to long they will strike anyway because they probably over heard my conversation with Anya, once Anya gets here even if they have fifty seventh-graders it will be impossible for them to win.' Lirian thought confidently.
Lirian took a quick step forward and pushed Edith behind him no longer allowing her to stand facing the crowd.
Lirian could tell that she was unwilling to stand back and be protected.
Edith was a very prideful girl after all, and she had absolutely no fear of death, as a candidate she would sooner tie the noose around her own neck, rather than beg for her life, after all in her philosophy of what it meant to be a leader, begging for one's life was only allowed if one genuinely felt regret for something they had done, and right now she was facing a envious snot nosed brat who deluded herself into thinking that she was the pride of the heaven.
What did she have to be regretful or sorry for, if not for the empress that girl would be a war orphan on Scavanour, if she was lucky she would have died as a baby, if she wasn't she would have probably been turned into a brothel whore to entertain the soldiers and disciples of the sect on that planet.
Yet she was granted a life of peace, with some of the best education in the universe handed down to her on a silver platter yet still she dared to have thoughts of killing the empresses son, such a person wasn't even worthy to clean her toilet let alone make her beg for her life.
Edith looked forward with her head held high, not even bothering to put them in her eyes, if they killed her than so be it, she wanted to stand by Lirian's side and it annoyed her to no end that he stood in front of her to act as her shield, but as she looked at him she couldn't stop her self from feeling moved by his actions.
Men would always promise woman the world but when it came time to prove themselves, it was rare that they wouldn't buckle under the pressure, but she could see that despite Lirian's current state he had no intention to let even the slightest of harm fall upon her.
Lirian carefully analysed the situation, and came up with his tactics to stall, "Is this all the trash that Telamon could find in the find in the school, honestly I'm unimpressed," he chuckled softly as he could tell that his words took Hinata by surprise.
"You…" Hinata's eyes flashed wide-open as Lirian pointed out that it was Telamon that put them up to this task, and from the tone of his voice it was clear that he wasn't guessing, he was certain of it.
"No need to look so surprised, as I told you before not even the plans of gods can evade my eyes let alone a couple of lowly mortals…" his voice held a disdainful air to it, as Lirian reached to that point he used the system to identify every person present and he slowly called out every last one of their names.
A list of over eighty names came rushing out of his mouth and with each name the faces of every person was filled with shock and they cried out in surprise because as he called out their names Lirian faced them directly and they could feel his focus fix on them.
Finally, Lirian called out Pollocks name and then turned to Hinata calling out her name, "Do any of you think that I didn't know you were Telamon's little spies that always watched me closely and reported my every movement to him," Lirian said with a disdainful sneer.
Their eyes were all trembling with shock, and they couldn't stop themselves from shaking, "You…you…you," they became incoherent and unable to think straight.
Hinata felt her chest tighten up and suddenly it felt like she was caught in a trap if Lirian knew all their names and could call them out so confidently, it told her of just how much Lirian recorded and planned, they were watching him but he was watching all them, but more than that, while they were all noticed by him, not one of them ever noticed that Lirian was suspicious of them.
"F-f-for how long did you know?" Hinata finally managed to form a coherent sentence to which Lirian coldly laughed.
"Did you not hear me when I said that it's impossible for anyone's plans against me to evade my eyes, is it not obvious that I knew from the moment you began to work against me," Lirian said as if all their attempts at secrecy were futile and as if to prove his point Lirian began to call out the names again and mention every time they reported something about him to Telamon.
His words were so detailed that everyone was half convinced that Lirian was present when they reported to Telamon, naturally Lirian was relying on the system that recorded everything and filled it away, for such unimportant matters Lirian wouldn't even pay any attention to it unless necessary.
In all his years of collecting fate particles, Lirian had used up most of it for spying on the actions of those that reported to Telamon and now it was finally coming in useful when he needed to stall for time.
"As for you Hinata the first time you began to plot against me was on the day we met, when you went to get your cultivation technique at the end of the first day of the academy," Lirian stated it in a knowing voice.
Despite seeing everyone's shocked expressions Hinata still doubted the accuracy of Lirian's words but at that moment she couldn't help but tremble, because if Lirian knew from that point in time, it meant that he was always one step ahead.
Standing behind Lirian even Edith couldn't help but look at him with widened eyes, the more she thought she knew how brilliant Lirian was, the more she found herself being surprise by the layers of his plans.
And the sheer length's that he'd go to understand his enemy, as she watched him, she felt that even her parents, the Lord of Eden and her mother the chief advisor would be unable to hold a candle next to Lirian's mind.
The more she thought of it the more she felt that in Lirian's eyes everyone must seem like children, attempting to play at the grown-ups table, and from the way he speaking about gods being unable to escape his eyes she couldn't stop herself feeling that Lirian would regard even her parents as children playing at the adults table.
It made her wonder more and more about who Lirian really was, she always knew how special he was, and from the things that he would say in his fury, she couldn't help but feel like he was some reincarnation of a god.
She wanted to laugh at the stupidity of her thoughts, but the more she thought about and joined it with his words and actions they more felt like it was somehow true or at least something close to the truth.
She thought of his eye's that looked so very old, and the pride that he carried himself with like he was an actual god, and also about how afraid he seemed to be about opening up about himself.
The more she thought about it the more she was convinced of her own crazy speculations.