CHAPTER 316: CHAPTER 316 INFERNO

"Keep the pressure steady!"

"Back it up! We’re not getting through with this angle—"

"Move that damn hose!"

The street was chaos. Red and orange light flickered against the thick black smoke rising from the upper floors of the burning building. Firefighters shouted across radios and through masks, hauling heavy hoses and coordinating through deafening noise. The main truck sat parked at an angle, long pipe hoses uncoiled and thrumming with water pressure. Twin jets blasted against the inferno above, hammering the flames with everything they had.

"It’s not working, Chief!" one of the younger men shouted. "It’s not dying down!"

The fire chief adjusted the strap of his helmet and stepped forward, scanning the building. The fire was eating everything—glass cracked and popped under the heat, and metal support beams were glowing red. It had spread too fast, too violently.

"Shift to foam and aim for the upper floors! We’re buying time—"

"Chief!" another yelled. "Wind’s pushing the smoke toward the next building!"

"I know! Adjust angle thirty degrees! And keep that second hose running!"

Every firefighter was drenched in sweat and coated in soot, but they didn’t slow down. They hauled equipment, checked oxygen levels, shouted commands, and braced under the pressure of their mission. Three people were still unaccounted for inside. That meant they weren’t giving up.

Whoosh!

A sharp gust of air swept behind the chief. He turned instinctively, startled by the sound of something heavy landing beside him. His eyes narrowed as he spotted a young man, no older than twenty, holding a woman in his arms.

Liam.

The chief blinked. He looked at the scene, at the strange pair, and frowned hard.

Liam looked him in the eye. "What’s going on? How can I help?"

The chief scoffed like he’d just been asked if he wanted fries with a heart attack. "Unless you can fly up there and pull people out with your hands, get to safety," he snapped.

Liam didn’t respond. The words didn’t offend him. In fact, his opinion of the man actually went up. The chief hadn’t asked who he was or why he was here. He was too focused on getting people out alive.

Without a word, Liam walked past and gently set Lilith down on the hood of a parked car. It was already covered in ash. She groaned and tried to sit up.

"I can walk, you know," she muttered.

Liam didn’t even turn his head. "Stay here," he said, already walking away.

He returned to the chief, his tone calm and low. "How many people are still inside?"

The chief didn’t turn. "Three. Possibly four. One of them is the source. Someone started this fire and is still inside." Then he glanced back and narrowed his eyes. "Wait a second... You again?"

Liam kept walking, each step deliberate. His boots crunched over broken glass and bits of ash. He stopped just short of the firetruck.

The chief lifted a hand. "Back up—this isn’t—"

"I’m going up," Liam interrupted. "Stop the water."

The firefighters around them turned, some already mid-shout, others dropping equipment. But their voices cut off.

Liam bent his knees slightly, his head tilting up toward the burning building.

Then, like a spring, he launched.

BOOM.

He shot upward, flying through the smoke, leaving a gust of wind in his wake that blew dust and ash into everyone’s faces.

"What the hell?" one of the firefighters choked out.

Another dropped his hose. "Did... did he just jump?"

Lilith watched from her spot on the car, her eyes steady. For a second, her lips twitched like she was going to say something, but she didn’t.

The fire chief slowly pulled off his helmet. "Who... is this mysterious person?"

Nobody answered him.

He took a step forward, eyes still fixed on the building.

"Cut the water!" he suddenly barked.

The command was instant. The hoses were turned off. The flow cut. The jets that had been hammering the fire ceased, and steam poured off the soaked brick and glass.

Everyone just stood there, looking up at the hole Liam had entered.

The chief let out a breath. "Whatever he is... let’s hope he brings those people out alive."

——

Liam stood still as he scanned the scorched hallway around him. Fire danced across every inch of the corridor, licking the ceilings and walls. But this wasn’t just a normal fire. It shimmered strangely. Every flame had a faint green tint to it, glowing unnaturally, twisting with an oily sheen that distorted the air around it.

His eyes narrowed.

This wasn’t a gas leak. This wasn’t an accident. Someone in the building had taken a serum.

He didn’t have time to waste.

The hallway stretched endlessly in both directions. Doors lined the walls, some already partially caved in, others still intact. Thick smoke curled around his boots. He couldn’t afford to check them one by one. Not with the whole structure on the edge of collapse.

He took a step forward, then stopped at the center of the corridor.

Liam raised his voice. "Anybody!!!"

It echoed down the hallway, past the roaring of the fire, but there was no response. Just the crackling of burning wood and the groaning of warped metal.

He cupped his hands and shouted again, louder this time. "Anybody! If you can hear me, make a sound! Say something! Hit something!"

Nothing.

He clenched his jaw. He listened again, standing completely still. For a moment, it was all fire and noise, and then—

Clank.

He froze.

Another clank. Very faint. Almost missed it.

He turned his head to the left. The sound was coming from further down the hallway, from one of the rooms in the middle. The metal-on-metal sound was being repeated, rhythmically, with the same pattern. It wasn’t random.

Liam moved.

The fire parted as he dashed through it, his speed cutting a gust of air that forced flames to flare backward. Smoke trailed behind him as he stopped outside the room.

He raised a leg and slammed it into the door.

Boom.

The entire door blew in, ripped off its hinges and hurled into the room like it was made of paper. Black smoke and heat poured out, but Liam walked in without hesitation.

Inside, the air was thick, suffocating. But through it, he saw them.

A woman crouched against the far wall. Her hair was soaked and plastered to her face. Her clothes were half-burnt, one sleeve completely gone, scorch marks over her shoulder and thigh. In one hand she held a bent metal pipe. She had been using it to bang on a vertical support beam.

Next to her, clutched tightly against her chest, was a little girl wrapped in a wet towel. She was trembling, eyes wide, holding on to her mother with all her strength.

The woman looked up as Liam entered. Her eyes widened in shock and relief.

She immediately stood up with her daughter in her arms and stumbled forward. Her voice cracked.

"Please—please take her. Please! I don’t care what happens to me. Just take her. Just get her out of here!"

Liam walked forward, calm and focused.

He looked at the woman directly. "No."

She stopped, confused. Her face collapsed into despair. "What? What do you mean no? Please—please just take her. She’s only six—"

"I’m not leaving you," Liam cut in. His voice was low but firm. "You’re carrying your daughter yourself. I’m getting both of you out."

Tears filled the woman’s eyes. She looked down at the little girl, who was now clinging to her more tightly than ever. The girl had tiny burns on her legs, her towel blackened with soot. The woman didn’t even speak. She just nodded, pressing her lips together as she tried not to cry.

Liam stepped forward and placed a hand on the woman’s back, then looked toward the door. "Stay close behind me. Do exactly what I say."

The woman nodded again.

He turned and stepped out into the hallway. The fire was still roaring, but it pulled away from him now, reacting as if it feared his presence. He raised his hand and waved the air. The heat around him dropped slightly as if something in him was suppressing it.

Behind him, the mother followed, clutching her daughter to her chest. She couldn’t see clearly through the smoke, but Liam was moving ahead like he had done this a thousand times.

He cleared a straight path through the fire. The green flames hissed and recoiled where he stepped. The metal walls groaned as another part of the floor cracked behind them.

They moved fast, Liam leading without hesitation.

At one point, part of the ceiling gave way and crashed in front of them, fire exploding into the hallway. The woman screamed.

But Liam was already grabbing a nearby door, ripping it off the frame, and slamming it down on top of the burning debris. He walked right over it like it was solid ground and held out a hand to the woman.

She didn’t even hesitate. She took it.

They crossed, the heat blasting against their sides. The girl whimpered into her mother’s chest, but she didn’t scream. They pushed forward, step by step.