Liam looked at his friends, waiting for them to recover from the shock. And it took a while.
He didn't rush them. He simply stood there, hands in his pockets, letting them work through it at their own pace. Ten minutes passed. Then fifteen. They still hadn't fully come back to themselves, and honestly, he understood. He'd have needed time too, probably, if their positions were reversed.
Matt was the first to find his voice, though it came out in pieces.
"Liam," he said. "How— how strong are you? Actually. I need like a number or something."
Before Liam could answer, Yanxia spoke up from where she was still perched against his side, entirely unbothered by the question, the diamond still clutched in her small fist.
"Papa is stronger than me," she said simply. "And I'm an Earth Immortal."
The group went quiet in a completely different way than before. Then, almost as one, they took a slow, cold breath.
