The first hurdle was the jailer. He was stronger and faster than Liam. Even with the surprise effect, Liam could at most land one good hit, so he had to make it count.
That was the second hurdle. Without a weapon, Liam didn't really have ways to kill the jailer in one hit, or at least before he realized that he had to use his real strength.
Actually, one way did exist. Liam lacked claws but had teeth. If animals could use them to hunt their prey, so could he.
There came the third hurdle. Liam was confident in his teeth but needed a suitable target. With a knife, he would have had multiple options, but his weapon of choice's limits only left him with one viable option.
Somehow, Liam had to get to the jailer's neck, which was easier said than done. Teeth didn't have the same reach as blades or even arms. They didn't even come close, so Liam had to create a situation where that bite was possible.
A single surprise effect wouldn't have been enough, but it could work as a trap. Next, Liam could launch an attack that would force the jailer into a specific counterattack.
Finally, after achieving the intended stance, Liam could catch the jailer by surprise again, this time delivering his planned killing blow.
And everything had gone exactly as Liam had predicted.
If the jailer were an animal, Liam's memories described his behavior, habits, and proclivities.
The man often opted for overpowering Liam through raw strength, and that time was no exception. Since Liam had clung to him, slamming him to the floor was the best and easiest response.
After that, it had only been a matter of enduring the pain while continuing to cling to the jailor, and the warm liquid that spread in Liam's mouth confirmed his success.
The jailor screamed in pain, but Liam only bit down harder. His prey was someone with unclear capabilities and limits, so he couldn't leave anything to chance.
The copious amount of blood falling into and over Liam's mouth confirmed that his teeth had dug deep. Still, he wouldn't stop until that man exhaled his last breath, no matter what broke in the meantime.
Liam clung both arms to the jailer's neck now, using both to hide most of his head. He even wrapped his legs around the man's torso, securing his grip to him as much as possible.
Panic arose, buying Liam precious seconds. The jailer grabbed Liam's sides to push him away and stand up in the process, which was a bad move.
While the jailer could overpower Liam, the latter's stance could somewhat close that gap. Moreover, the more the man tried to push himself away, the deeper Liam's teeth dug into his neck, adding his strength to the bite.
It wasn't only a matter of panic, either. The jailer's battle experience went against those types of attacks. He could fight humans, but nothing had prepared him for that feral assault.
Nevertheless, a cultivator remained a cultivator. According to Liam's calculations and the amount of spilled blood, the jailer should have started losing strength, but he responded with even more power.
The jailer quickly gave up on pushing Liam away and straightened his back, lifting him in the process. Liam knew what was coming, so he closed his eyes and focused the entirety of himself on enduring the following blow.
Something cracked. Liam's mind spun, depriving him of most of his sensations for almost a second. The jailer had slammed him down, adding his weight to the blow, threatening to make him faint on the spot.
Yet, Liam didn't faint. The very resilience the Divine Cult had forced him to develop kept him awake and made him recover quickly, only for pain to flood his mind.
Liam's back hurt as it had never hurt before, but his arms and legs were still wrapped around the jailer. Even his teeth had remained in his flesh. Actually, they had torn more of that during the impact.
Everything hurt when Liam put more strength into his limbs, but, luckily, nothing seemed broken. The cracking he had heard earlier had come from the stone floor. His back told him as much.
However, the jailer grunted and straightened his back again, and Liam's hair stood on end. His animalistic sixth sense cried in fear, telling him that something deadly was coming.
Now, Liam had always trusted his sixth sense, and it didn't take him much convincing that time. The previous blow had already threatened to kill him, and his instincts told him that his back would end like the stone floor if he had to endure a second, seemingly stronger, attack.
So, Liam moved alongside the jailer. As the latter straightened himself, Liam released his grip, placing his hands and feet on the man's shoulders and torso, pushing himself away with all the strength he could muster.
Of course, Liam's teeth were still in the jailer's neck, and his flesh finally gave in. Liam's bite closed, tearing away a good chunk of the man, before the accumulated momentum flung him away.
Liam flew, spinning backward, performing a back handspring that put him to his feet in no time. Meanwhile, the jailer was still on his knees, but his hand had pressed on the injury on his neck, trying to suppress the blood loss.
'No!' Liam cried in his mind, darting forward.
The jailor raised his free arm, wanting to use it as a shield, but Liam had the initiative now. He performed one of the fighting stances the Divine Cult had carved into him, slamming his palm on the man's forearm, only for his other hand to go for his face.
Two fingers expanded in the jailor's vision. Liam wanted to blind him, but he reacted promptly, letting go of his bleeding neck to deflect that attack.
Liam's fingers missed, but his kick didn't. As soon as the jailer blocked his attack, he slammed his foot on his torso, pushing him down and away.
The jailer's back hit the floor, but he still tried to bring his left hand to his neck in the meantime. However, another kick landed on his wrist, preventing him from pressing on the injury.
Liam was already turning after the kick, launching a descending punch at the jailer's face, but the latter rolled away, making his knuckles hit the floor.
Still, Liam didn't give the jailer time to stand up. As soon as the man got to his knees, Liam was upon him, his palm already lunging at his face.
The jailer crossed his arms before his face, blocking the blow, only to see a kick rising toward his chin. He promptly lowered his limbs, only for two fingers to aim for his eyes again.
Liam's assault was inexorable. The jailer couldn't turn that battle around through ordinary methods, so he opted for something outside that.
The jailer lowered his head, making Liam's fingers hit his forehead, piercing his skin but stopping at his skull.
Liam was about to scratch his fingers down to inflict as much damage as possible, but his sixth sense suddenly rang again. Also, a strange, ominous wind started blowing on his face, prompting an instinctive retreat.
That went against everything Liam had planned and was trying to achieve. Still, his animal side reacted before he could consider the action, only allowing him to stop after he put a few meters from the jailer.
Meanwhile, the jailer stood up, forsaking the bleeding injury on his neck. The cloth before his face fell, exposing his sharp features and raging expression while he mustered a fighting stance.
Everything looked deceptively slow in Liam's eyes. The jailer half-turned, slightly bent his knees, and withdrew his right arm while stretching the other forward.
Moreover, something seemed to have enveloped the jailer. He appeared slightly brighter in Liam's eyes, as if glowing with an aura that filled him with pure terror.
"Look what you made me do, little beast," The jailer said, his voice hoarse, weak, but no less chilling. "Why don't you try to run?"
And Liam's instincts agreed with that challenge. He felt the physical need to run away, but those words clicked with something inside him.
After hiding during the Bloodline Screening, Liam had vowed never to be a coward again. It was an oath carved into his very heart, fueled by a regret at the foundation of his desire for revenge.
The fight was far from fair, but the jailer had never been in a worse state. Except for the butchers from the Screening, no one else had made Liam suffer so much. Actually, the hooded man took the crown when it came to direct pain.
If Liam decided to run away even now, he felt as if he would never find a reason to fight ever again, so he took a stand.
The jailer's loathsome chuckle resounded in the hall as Liam adjusted his battle stance, mimicking his opponent's. Liam lacked the ominous aura, but he knew what that attack entailed and decided to face it with his inferior copy.
"You stupid beast," The jailer smirked, the ominous aura around him surging, only to dwindle and disappear in the next second.
And, right in front of Liam's cold, resolute eyes, the jailer collapsed to the floor.