Liam narrowed his eyes.
Five of them erged from the smoke and flas like demons rising from hell. They moved fast, impossibly fast, their forms little more than blurs under the flickering orange light. Their eyes glowed crimson, piercing through the burning forest like daggers. Their fangs were bared, expressions twisted with hunger and hatred.
Liam didn’t flinch. In fact, a grin spread across his face.
He stepped forward.
And just like that, the distance between him and the five vanished in a blink. A blur of his own, Liam surged forward, his muscles tense, blood thrumming with power. He was ready to et them head-on, his fists curled, his heart pounding with adrenaline and fury.
But before he could close the final few feet—he felt it.
A wave of scorching heat erupted behind him.
His instincts scread.
He dove to the side, rolling across the cracked ground just as a blazing fireball soared past him like a teor. The heat was intense, searing the edge of his coat as it whooshed by. In the blink of an eye, the fireball collided with the group of vampires.
BOOM!
The explosion was thunderous.
Fire engulfed the five instantly, consuming them in a swirling inferno. Their shrieks were high-pitched and animalistic as they were lifted off their feet, their bodies exploding in a violent burst of fla and ash. The force of the impact sent a shockwave through the ground.
Liam landed on one knee and turned his head sharply.
There she was.
Lana stood with her right arm still extended, the residual fire glowing like liquid sunlight around her fingers. Her stunning face was illuminated by the wild blaze of the burning trees surrounding them. Her green eyes shimred like molten eralds under the firelight, and her expression was a mix of focus and a hint of recklessness.
Behind her stood Ann, still gripping her red dress with both hands, holding the fabric up to keep it from catching fire. Her mouth was slightly open in awe as she stared at Lana’s hand—the sa hand that had just unleashed that fireball. The heat had tousled her long dark hair, but her focus was fully on Lana, as if seeing her for the first ti.
Liam stood up slowly, brushing ash from his sleeve.
"Are you trying to kill ?" he asked, shooting her a dry look.
Lana blinked, then let out a nervous chuckle as her fire faded. "I’m so sorry!"
He didn’t reply. He just shook his head and turned his focus forward again. He didn’t have ti to argue.
Because then he heard it.
The footsteps.
Hundreds of them.
Liam tilted his head slightly, his face hardening as he listened closely. They weren’t just ahead—they were everywhere. The sound was like a chorus of bones cracking and leaves crunching, growing louder by the second.
He scanned the road, his eyes narrowing. No ti to waste.
He quickly pulled out his phone.
Typing rapidly, he sent a ssage to Ella:
"Change of plans. Too hot here. Find any safe place to land. Send coordinates."
Then, without missing a beat, he turned and tossed the phone to Ann.
"Wait for her reply," he told her. "Tell as soon as she sends it."
Ann caught it clumsily with one hand but nodded.
Liam turned around again, his fingers cracking as he clenched them into fists.
They were here.
The forest seed to shudder as dark silhouettes spilled from the treeline. Vampires—more than a hundred of them—erged from the shadows. So crawled along the ground on all fours, others walked upright, snarling like wolves. Their eyes glowed in the dark, and the firelight glead off their sharp claws and bared teeth.
They didn’t speak.
They didn’t need to.
They wanted blood.
And strangely, Boris was nowhere to be seen.
Liam cracked his neck, the sound loud in the eerie silence that followed.
Then he charged.
The first vampire lunged at him—Liam kicked him square in the chest with such force that the creature flew backward like a missile, crashing into five others and knocking them all over like bowling pins.
But they weren’t down for long.
All six of them rolled, flipped, or pushed back to their feet instantly, hissing like animals.
Another one climbed onto the shoulders of a fellow vampire and launched himself high into the air, claws extended, aiming directly for Liam’s throat.
Liam didn’t flinch.
He bent one knee, pushed off with explosive force, and t the vampire mid-air.
Crack!
His fist connected with the vampire’s face like a hamr hitting stone. The impact echoed across the clearing. The vampire’s head caved in as Liam’s knuckles collided with it—then his entire body exploded into glowing ash before hitting the ground.
The burning remains scattered in the air, drifting like embers.
So of it landed on the others below, making them pause. They looked up at Liam now with sothing new in their eyes—not just rage. Caution. Wariness. As if they finally understood: this wasn’t a regular human.
This wasn’t prey.
This was a predator.
Liam landed like thunder, one fist to the ground, knees bent, his gaze rising slowly to et the crowd now hesitating before him.
No one moved for a few seconds.
Then a few hissed again, forming a semicircle around him.
Behind Liam, Lana was preparing another blast, her hands heating up again. Ann stood ready beside her, eyes fixed on the phone, waiting for Ella’s ssage.
The vampires began to fan out, trying to encircle Liam completely.
But he didn’t care.
They wanted to surround him?
Good.
He smiled.
They were making it easier to kill them all.
---
They surrounded him like predators, silent and calculating. A ring of snarling vampires closed in—pale skin, glowing eyes, claws twitching, lips curled in bloodlust. Liam stood in the center, unmoving. No fear. Just readiness.
The ground was scorched from Lana’s earlier fireball, and the orange glow of the flas nearby lit the scene in an infernal light. Smoke curled into the sky. The scent of blood, ash, and burning bark hung thick in the air.
Then it began.
The first wave ca like a stampede—ten vampires rushing all at once, leaping over one another, claws extended like blades.
Liam moved.
He ducked under the first slash, pivoted, and drove his fist into the vampire’s gut. His arm plunged through flesh and bone with ease, ripping out the creature’s spine. The vampire scread as he turned to fire from the inside, collapsing into a pile of embers and bone dust.
Another ca from the side—Liam spun, grabbed the attacker’s arm, and used his montum to hurl him into the air. While the vampire was airborne, Lana raised both hands and launched twin fireballs.
The blast turned him into a firework of fla mid-scream. His body ignited before he hit the ground.
Another lunged at Liam’s back.
"LIAM! YOUR BACK!!!" Ann scread.
Liam twisted just in ti, catching the creature’s wrist. The vampire’s claws were inches from his face when Liam yanked forward, slamming his forehead into the vampire’s skull. The crack was loud—the vampire’s head caved in, then the body went up in flas and crumbled away.
Three more ca at once.
Liam leapt into the air, flipping, landing behind them. Before they could turn, he gripped two by the head and slamd them together. Skulls shattered. Fire erupted. The third tried to claw him—Liam ducked and drove his elbow into the creature’s throat, then tore its head clean off. Fire blood around him like hell had opened.
From behind the burning bushes, Lana raised her hand again.
A wave of fire surged across the battlefield like a tidal wave.
It consud ten, maybe fifteen vampires in an instant. Their screams echoed into the night. They tried to flee, but Lana kept the heat tight and focused, boxing them in. She gritted her teeth as she swept her arms like a conductor, the fire responding as if alive. The vampires writhed, shrieked, and disintegrated into blazing ash.
Ann watched in stunned silence. Lana... she wasn’t just beautiful—she was terrifying.
Liam was already in motion again, leaping off a tree trunk and landing in the middle of another cluster of enemies.
A vampire clawed at him and left a red line across his cheek.
Liam’s head snapped toward him. His grin was savage.
"Nice try."
He grabbed the vampire by the jaw and shoved his fingers into its mouth. The vampire scread—and Liam ripped the jaw clean off before caving in its chest with a brutal kick.
Another claw raked across Liam’s back. He staggered for a mont. Two more slashed his arms. Blood dripped down his sleeves.
Ann’s breath caught in her throat. "He’s getting hit..."
But Liam didn’t stop. He embraced the pain. Every hit only fueled his rage.
He punched one in the heart so hard it burst through the back of the vampire’s ribcage. Fire and ash. He swung another by the leg, spinning like a hamr thrower, and crushed five more into the ground.
A vampire dove at him from a tree branch.
"LIAM—UP!!!" Lana yelled.
Liam looked up and jumped, grabbing the vampire midair and slamming it headfirst into the trunk. The tree cracked from the impact. The vampire didn’t just burn—it exploded.
Another ca. This one managed to bite his arm—just for a second.
Liam roared, grabbing the vampire’s head with both hands and pulling until the neck snapped. His own blood dripped down, but he didn’t even flinch. He was in a frenzy now.
Lana turned and lit an entire patch of the forest again.
More screams. More explosions of fla. The vampires tried to retreat into the shadows, but there was nowhere left to hide. Liam was a demon among demons. His fists were coated in ash and blood. His shirt was torn, wounds oozing—but he didn’t stop.
He grabbed one vampire’s arm, ripped it off, and used it to beat another into the ground. The sound of bones breaking filled the air.
A group of five tried to flank him from behind.
Ann noticed.
"Behind you again!!"
Liam turned just as they closed in. He exhaled, raised his hand, and used his new skill—
[Feather Shards]
This one didn’t need him removing his wings to use.
A burst of sharp, glowing feathers erupted from his palm and cut through the group like blades.
All five turned to dust mid-scream.
Lana flung another arc of fire, taking down seven more.
The sll of burning flesh was everywhere. The road was littered with glowing piles of ash, still smoldering. Flas licked the sides of the trees, casting monstrous shadows. And in the middle of it all, Liam stood, his chest heaving, skin cut and bloodied, but his expression was calm. Focused. Unstoppable.
"How many...?" Ann whispered, clutching the phone.
Lana looked around, eyes wide. "I think they’re almost all gone."
The last ten tried to flee.
Liam wasn’t having it.
He ran like a blur, slamming into them with such force the road cracked beneath him. He tore, ripped, crushed. One by one, they scread and burned. The last one tried to beg.
Liam didn’t listen.
He crushed the vampire’s skull with one foot. Fire blood around the remains.
Silence fell.
Ash floated in the air like snowflakes. The only sounds were the crackling of fire and Liam’s heavy breathing. Smoke coiled into the sky. He stood there, surrounded by a battlefield of glowing ash piles—one hundred vampires, utterly annihilated.
Ann finally blinked, her voice breaking the silence.
"Liam!!"
He turned.
"She sent it! Ella just sent the coordinates!!"
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