CHAPTER 349: CHAPTER 349 LIAM’S RAGE

Dickson didn’t waste time looking around as he stormed into the mansion. His eyes scanned the shadows only briefly before he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted.

"Kelly!"

"Vanessa!"

The sound of his voice echoed down the wide, dimly lit corridor, but no reply came. His heart thumped harder. He shouted again, louder this time.

"Kelly!"

"Vanessa!"

Still nothing.

Then his eyes caught something on the polished floor just ahead—a leg. A woman’s leg. His stomach flipped instantly. He sprinted across the room and dropped to his knees, relief and fear mixing when he saw Vanessa lying there. Her body was sprawled out carelessly, her cloth creased and faint scuff marks on her skin. Right beside her was Kelly, also on the ground, both of them unconscious.

"Shit, shit, shit..." Dickson muttered as he reached for Vanessa first.

He tapped her shoulder. No response. He hit it softly again, panic in his voice.

"Come on, Vanessa, wake the fuck up."

A faint groan slipped past her lips. Her eyelids fluttered weakly before she finally opened them, though her gaze was hazy and unfocused.

Dickson sat her up and quickly shook Kelly by the arm. She stirred a second later, groaning the same way, both women clutching their heads as if their skulls had been split open.

Kelly’s voice was raspy. "What... what happened?"

Vanessa pressed her hand against her temple, her breathing uneven. "My head... it’s ringing..."

Dickson frowned, frustration biting through his nerves. "How the hell should I know? I wasn’t the one in here with you two."

Vanessa shut her eyes, forcing herself to remember. Fragments flashed—Stormzy leaving, the old man inviting them in, the distorted silence in her comms. Then it came to her: the moment she tried to teleport out with Kelly after the old man confronted them. The shadows. They had swallowed them whole.

Her eyes snapped open. She pushed herself up to her feet so fast it startled both Dickson and Kelly.

"Where is he?" Her tone was sharp, urgent.

Dickson stood too, pointing outside. "Liam’s fighting him right now."

Vanessa froze, blinking twice, her brows furrowing. "...Liam?"

Kelly looked between them, confused. "What the fuck did we miss?"

Dickson’s tone turned cold, practical. "What you missed doesn’t matter. What matters is getting the hell out of here before it’s too late."

He reached down, tugging both women by the arms until they steadied themselves. None of them wasted time. The three bolted through the corridor, Vanessa still swaying slightly but finding her rhythm.

They burst out of the front door into the compound, and the first thing they saw froze them all mid-stride.

The old man was rising out of the crater Liam had slammed him into earlier. Dust and frost scattered from his body as his black shadow wings cracked apart, crumbling like broken glass. For a moment, it looked as though he would collapse, but then another set of wings erupted from his back—darker, sharper, more vicious than before.

The air turned heavy instantly.

But what drew Vanessa and Kelly’s eyes wasn’t just him.

It was the other figure, the one hovering high above in the sky. White, radiant wings stretched wide, glowing so bright they cut through the shadows, their tips edged with gold. His body pulsed with light, his presence dominating everything around.

Kelly gasped, her hand covering her mouth. "What the..."

Vanessa’s lips parted slightly, her voice quiet, disbelieving. "Is that... Liam?"

Dickson, still dragging them forward, gave a quick nod. "Yeah. That’s him."

Vanessa’s chest tightened. Her eyes sharpened as a memory hit her—her conversation with him, the hints, the way his powers had always felt different. She swallowed hard before whispering almost to herself.

"I was right... he is one of them."

Her head cleared. The ringing in her skull faded, her body syncing with her power again. Energy pulsed through her veins as if her system had rebooted.

She didn’t waste another second. Grabbing Kelly by the wrist with one hand and snatching Dickson by the back of his shirt with the other, she closed her eyes briefly and focused. The world bent.

"Hold on."

With a flash of purple energy veins crawling across her skin, the three of them blinked out of existence just as the ground shook from the old man’s next surge of power.

They reappeared outside the compound mid-run, Vanessa already pulling them forward before their feet even stabilized. Kelly stumbled at first, Dickson cursed loudly, but Vanessa didn’t stop.

They were out. For now.

The old man’s face twisted in fury. His black eyes locked on Liam, disbelief cutting through his rage. He couldn’t process the humiliation—he had been slammed to the earth like a worthless insect.

"You little wretch..." he hissed, black veins crawling down from his eyes. His wings snapped once, the shadows around him condensing with violent energy.

Then, with a single flap, he shot into the sky like a missile.

Liam was waiting. His wings spread wide, radiating blinding light, each beat pushing him higher into the air to meet the old man head-on.

BOOM!

The collision rattled the compound, the shockwave blasting debris across the field. Dickson, watching from the distance with Kelly and Vanessa, stumbled backward, nearly falling on his ass.

"Holy shit!!" he shouted, shielding his eyes from the flash of white and black clashing above.

In the sky, the old man moved with precision, his hands weaving as shadows spread into massive spears. He hurled them toward Liam like a storm of jagged missiles.

Liam’s wings pulsed with golden light, intercepting the spears as he folded one in front of him like a shield. Each impact exploded into bursts of black smoke, but Liam’s light cut through, dispersing them before they could touch his skin.

The old man snarled and stretched his wings wide. Shadows curved and twisted, forming a colossal claw that reached out to crush Liam.

Liam beat his wings hard, spinning midair as he dove down, narrowly slipping through the gaps of the claw. His speed was blinding, a streak of white light tearing across the sky. He shot upward again and slammed into the old man’s side with his shoulder.

BANG!

The old man coughed violently, spinning from the blow.

"Yesss! That’s what I’m talking about!" Dickson pumped his fist from below. "Beat his wrinkly old ass, Liam!"

Kelly glared at him. "Shut up, Dickson. Focus."

"I am focusing! On Liam absolutely murdering Grandpa Darkness!"

Back in the air, the old man tried to recover, spreading his shadows again—but Liam didn’t give him the chance. His wings spread wide, glowing brighter and brighter, and he whipped one forward.

SLASH!

The wing cut like a blade, slicing through the old man’s defenses and leaving a gash across his chest. Black blood sprayed out, sizzling as it hit the ground below.

The old man roared. "You think... you can defeat me?!"

He lunged forward, abandoning his shadows for pure force. His fist, hardened with unnatural strength, shot at Liam’s jaw.

Liam caught it with one hand, his grip like steel, and glared at him with eyes burning white. "You hurt her..." His voice was low, dangerous.

The old man twisted, bringing his other fist around, but Liam’s wing snapped forward, blocking the strike with a resounding CRACK that echoed like metal against stone.

Then Liam countered.

BAM!

His knee drove into the old man’s gut. The man choked, spit flying from his mouth, but Liam wasn’t finished. He twisted midair, slamming an elbow into the man’s back, sending him spiraling down.

The ground quaked when the old man slammed into it. Cracks spread across the compound floor, dust rising like smoke.

But Liam didn’t let him breathe. He dove after him, faster than sight, his wings leaving trails of golden light. The old man barely rolled aside as Liam slammed into the ground like a meteor, the explosion carving a crater deeper than the last.

From the sidelines, Dickson screamed again. "Oh my god! Liam is out of his damn mind!"

Kelly didn’t even respond this time. She was too busy watching, her face pale, eyes wide. Vanessa’s hands clenched into fists, silent but tense.

The old man launched back into the air, wings flapping violently. His body was battered, his chest dripping black blood, but his fury drove him. He lunged again at Liam, fists meeting fists in the air.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The sky lit up with their blows, each impact echoing like thunder. Liam’s strikes were savage, filled with unrestrained anger. Every hit landed with the force of a storm, his wings whipping and slashing between punches.

The old man tried to keep up, tried to weave shadows to defend himself, but every time the black tendrils formed, Liam’s light tore through them like paper.

"Enough!" the old man roared, his clawed hand slashing across Liam’s chest.

Liam staggered slightly from the impact, but the wound glowed instead of bleeding, sealing almost instantly with radiant energy. He grabbed the old man’s wrist, yanked him forward, and headbutted him.

CRACK!

The old man’s nose shattered, blood spraying across Liam’s cheek.

"Ohhhhhh!" Dickson hollered from below. "That’s a red card foul! Fucking beautiful!"

Liam’s rage boiled over. He unleashed a flurry of strikes—punches, wings, knees, everything. Each blow crushed deeper into the old man’s body until he was coughing blood nonstop, his wings faltering.

Finally, Liam caught him by the throat midair. His white wings spread out, glowing so bright it blinded everyone below. His grip tightened as his eyes blazed with hatred.

"You don’t deserve to live." His voice was ice, his anger sharp enough to cut through steel.

The old man clawed at Liam’s arm, choking, shadows desperately forming around him. Liam raised his other hand, light swirling around his palm like a blade ready to pierce straight through his chest.

But just before he could strike—

The old man’s body shuddered. The shadows wrapped tighter, not as a weapon, but as a shield. They folded around him like a cocoon.

"Coward!" Liam said, but it was too late.

The shadows swallowed the old man whole. In an instant, his body flickered and disappeared completely, dissolving into the black void and vanishing from sight.

Liam was left midair, panting, his chest heaving with fury. His wings still glowed with deadly power, but his target was gone.

Below, Dickson threw his arms up. "Oh come the fuck on! He just rage-quit the fight!"

Kelly shot him a death glare.

But Vanessa didn’t say anything. She just looked up at Liam, her heart pounding. She could feel his rage, his power, and she couldn’t deny it anymore—he wasn’t human.