CHAPTER 315: CHAPTER 315 ONE VS THREE II

One of the floating blades shot toward her neck. Lilith bent low, spinning to the side. The blade sliced through the air, barely missing her throat, then curved mid-flight to return to the floating woman’s orbit.

Lilith rolled across the floor, her blade ready in one hand. The tall brute came in next, stomping forward with heavy, ground-shaking steps. He swung a massive fist at her. She ducked under it, stepped into his space, and drove her blade across his midsection. The blade scraped his stone-like skin, cutting a line through it, but it didn’t drop him.

He grunted and swung his other arm. She jumped back to avoid it.

That was when the clawed one leapt at her from the side.

Lilith saw him too late. His claws tore across her shoulder as she twisted. Blood sprayed as she staggered back, her heel dragging across broken glass. She gritted her teeth and focused.

Her left hand opened.

The air dropped in temperature.

Frost spread across the ground beneath her feet, trailing outward in a sharp circle. Shards of ice erupted from the tiles, jagged and deadly.

The clawed attacker lunged again.

Lilith pointed at him.

Ice exploded beneath his feet, impaling through his thigh. He screamed and dropped mid-air, his landing sloppy as his leg gave out. She sprinted at him, leapt, and drove her knee into his chest with brutal force. He crashed into a wall and coughed blood.

But she didn’t have time to finish him.

The woman’s blades came again.

Two at once.

Lilith spun. One blade grazed her side. The other clipped her thigh. She dropped low, ice forming along her arm, and she slapped the ground. A wall of ice erupted upward as a barrier.

The tall one burst through it.

Like it was nothing.

He roared, grabbed Lilith by the waist, and threw her. She slammed into the far wall, the breath knocked from her lungs. Her vision blurred for a second, but she pushed through it and rolled as one of the blades embedded in the wall where her head had just been.

She pushed to her feet.

Blood dripped from her mouth now. Her left arm hung low. Her side burned.

Still, she didn’t stop.

She turned toward the woman.

Lilith hurled a sharp spear of ice directly at her chest. The floating woman brought one blade up to deflect it—but it wasn’t a spear.

It was a distraction.

The real attack was beneath it.

Spikes erupted from the ground beneath the floating woman. One drove into her calf. She gasped and fell, staggering to one knee. Lilith charged.

She reached her in seconds, elbowed her in the face, grabbed the woman by the collar, and slammed her head into the floor.

But that was the last clean move she made.

The brute came from behind and grabbed her by the throat. Lilith choked as he lifted her off the floor. The floating woman was already recovering. One of her blades cut across Lilith’s thigh.

Lilith kicked wildly, ice forming at her feet, but her strength was dropping fast.

The clawed man, still limping, joined them again. Blood ran down his face from where she’d slammed him, but he was smiling now.

Lilith tried again .

Her hand burst with a final wave of frost, and she slammed it into the brute’s chest.

Ice surged across his torso.

But it didn’t stop him.

He roared, pulled her in, and headbutted her.

Her head snapped back, and her body went limp.

They dropped her to the floor, and she barely caught herself on her hands and knees.

Three of them stood over her now.

All bleeding.

But all smiling.

Lilith’s arms shook as she tried to stand again.

A faint sound echoed behind them.

The trio froze.

They turned slowly.

Liam was standing there.

To the average eye, he looked harmless—just a tall, young man, a faint smudge of dust still clinging to his shirt. No weapons. No armor. Just a calm expression and eyes that stared right through them.

But to these three assassins, it felt like something else had entered the room. Something that didn’t belong in this world. Something that made their enhanced instincts scream danger.

It wasn’t just his presence.

It was the pressure. Heavy. Suffocating.

Like a predator had just entered a room full of prey.

Lilith, who had been struggling to rise, dropped flat on the floor again. Her body had given up. Her muscles refused to move.

But her lips curled into a smile.

And then she laughed.

Low. Weak. Almost mocking.

The trio turned toward her, confused.

She stared at them with blood on her teeth and said, "You are fucked."

They turned back to Liam.

Too late.

He was already gone.

A blur moved between them.

The clawed one’s body suddenly lifted into the air, his ribs exploding inward as Liam’s fist drove straight through his torso from behind. Bones cracked and blood sprayed out of his mouth before his body even registered what had happened.

Liam didn’t stop. He yanked his hand out and spun.

The brute was already charging him with a roar, swinging a thick arm down toward his head.

Liam sidestepped, quick and effortless. The floor cracked where the arm hit. Dust shot into the air.

Liam ducked, pivoted, then slammed both fists into the brute’s stomach in rapid strikes. The sound was sickening. The man grunted and tried to swing again.

Liam stepped inside the reach, grabbed the brute’s wrist, and twisted.

Snap.

The entire arm dislocated. Liam pulled it around the man’s throat and kicked the back of his knee, dropping him. Then, in a burst of pure force, he pulled the broken arm backward and tore it free from the shoulder.

"Ahhhhhhhhh"

The brute screamed, staggering.

Liam drove his elbow into the back of his skull. The man’s head bounced off the floor and went still.

Two down.

Blades whistled through the air.

The floating woman’s expression twisted as she unleashed her blades again—three at once, cutting through the air toward Liam from different angles.

He didn’t flinch.

He moved.

His body ducked and turned, sliding past the blades with fluid precision. One blade grazed his shoulder. The second passed by his ear. The third he caught mid-spin.

The moment his hand closed around it, it shattered into pieces.

She tried to float backward. Too late.

He was already in front of her.

She tried to scream.

He grabbed her by the face and lifted her off the ground.

Then he slammed her head into the metal beam to the right.

Once.

Twice.

Crack.

The third time, her skull split open. The light in her black eyes vanished.

He let her drop.

Silence.

Three bodies lay around him, broken and bloodied.

Liam stood tall, chest rising and falling slowly. He didn’t look at the corpses. His gaze moved to Lilith.

She was still on the floor, watching him.

He walked toward her.

Step by step.

No words spoken.

Just the soft crunch of blood and glass beneath his boots.

But none of it fazed him. His focus was on the woman at his feet.

Lilith.

He knelt beside her, one hand reaching out.

Carefully, he wiped the blood from the corner of her lip with his thumb. His touch was gentle, a stark contrast to the raw brutality he’d just unleashed. Lilith’s breathing was shallow, but her eyes hadn’t lost their sharpness.

"How did you know I was in trouble?" she asked quietly.

Liam didn’t answer right away. His hand hovered for a second before falling to his side. He looked at her face, then away.

"I didn’t," he finally said, shaking his head. "I just came to get you to move you somewhere safe."

Lilith blinked slowly, her brow furrowing. "Somewhere safe?" she echoed.

He nodded.

"The Crimson Hand has made their move," he said. "They’ve started distributing the serum. Looks like a lot of their investors already took it."

Lilith’s eyes narrowed. The haze of pain in her face gave way to a sharper, colder look.

"That’s bad," she murmured, mostly to herself. "How many casualties?"

Liam looked away again. He exhaled.

"I don’t know. But I’ve seen more than ten dead with my own eyes. And hundreds injured. That’s just in the parts of the city I passed through."

Lilith didn’t reply immediately. Her jaw tightened. She pushed herself slightly upright on one elbow, hissing as the movement worsened the pain in her ribs.

Her tone dropped low. "It’s started then. The whole thing. It’s not just chaos—it’s war."

Liam didn’t respond. He just stood there, silent, watching her as the city burned outside the shattered windows of the penthouse.

Lilith leaned her head back against the wall. Her voice was weaker now, but steady.

"Then go. Save who you can," she said, waving him off with what little strength she had left. "I’ll slow you down."

Liam didn’t move.

She looked at him again.

"Liam. Go."

He didn’t speak.

Then his expression changed.

A small shift. His jaw clenched tighter. His eyes dropped from hers to the floor, as if weighing something heavy, before he finally made a decision.

Without a word, he bent down and gently slid one arm under her legs and the other around her back.

Lilith’s eyes widened. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I told you," Liam said. "I came to get you."

He stood up with her in his arms, her head resting against his shoulder whether she liked it or not. She wasn’t light, but to him she may as well have been weightless.

"If I’m going out to save people," he said, walking steadily toward the edge of the penthouse, "you’re coming with me."

Lilith’s voice sharpened. "Liam, put me down."

He ignored her.

"Don’t be ridiculous," she snapped, wincing as her ribs flared in pain. "I’m in no condition to fight. I’ll just be a liability."

"Don’t fight," he replied. "Just stay alive."

She gritted her teeth. "Liam—"

"I’m not leaving you here," he said firmly, cutting her off. "Crimson Hand sent three elite operatives after you. You think they won’t send more?"

She had no answer.

He reached the edge

The wind whipped through the shattered glass and open sky. Smoke was rising from several districts in the distance. Sirens echoed from every direction, a city unraveling beneath them.

Lilith turned her face into his shoulder and muttered, "I hate being carried."

Liam grinned slightly. "Too bad."

He stepped onto the edge.

"Wait—Liam—"

His wings burst from his back, glowing faintly in the evening light. The wind caught them instantly.

Then he jumped.

Lilith’s breath caught in her throat as they soared off the ledge.

The city dropped away beneath them. Flames lit up streets like veins of fire, smoke trailing into the air like black fingers clawing at the sky. From this height, it looked like hell had opened its gates below.

Liam flew fast and low, maneuvering through the skyline with ease. Lilith didn’t speak for a while. Her body was still in pain, but it was warm now. And safe. And something else she wouldn’t admit, even to herself—relieved.

She finally spoke, quieter this time.

"You’re insane."

Liam chuckled under his breath. "You say that like it’s news."

She sighed against him, eyes drifting toward the skyline. For a moment, she just let herself rest.