novelraw Chapter 441 Two Vs All
Chapter 441 Two Vs All
The masked man straightened slowly after Liam spoke, dust still drifting in the air from Sergei’s crash landing. He adjusted the cuff of his sleeve like he was about to begin a polite conversation instead of a fight.
Then he looked directly at Liam and asked, calm and curious.
"Who are you?"
The question echoed faintly through the tunnel.
Liam did not answer.
He did not give his name. He did not give a speech. He simply lifted his arm and rolled up his sleeve with slow, deliberate movements. The fabric slid over muscle, exposing his forearm as if he were preparing for nothing more than a casual spar.
The masked man chuckled under the black cover on his face.
He could not see Liam’s expression clearly in the dim light but one thing was obvious. The boy standing in front of him had no fear. No tension in his shoulders. No nervous shifting of weight.
Just calm.
Cocky calm.
That amused him.
Without another word he vanished.
Again, not a blur, not a dash.
Just gone.
The air rippled faintly where he had stood and then he reappeared directly in front of Liam, so close their shoulders nearly brushed. The sudden displacement stirred Liam’s hair slightly from the pressure.
This time there was no distance between them.
This was a declaration.
The masked man lifted his arm and drove his fist toward Liam’s face with terrifying speed. It cut through the air cleanly, silent and precise. There was no wasted movement, no telegraphing.
From the outside it looked like Liam reacted too late.
His hand rose slower.
Too slow.
A sneer formed under the mask.
Zero knew his own speed. He knew how fast that fist was moving. Even Sergei had not been able to track it properly. There was no way this arrogant stranger would block it.
But just as his knuckles came within centimeters of Liam’s nose, something shifted.
Liam’s hand accelerated.
It was subtle but violent, like a second burst of speed layered on top of the first movement.
Bam.
His fingers closed around Zero’s fist mid strike.
The impact cracked loudly through the tunnel but Liam’s body did not move an inch. Not backward. Not sideways. His boots stayed planted exactly where they were.
To everyone watching, it looked unreal.
He had caught the punch like it weighed nothing.
Zero’s arm tensed as he tried to push forward but the grip around his wrist felt like iron. There was no give. No tremor. Just solid, unshakable strength.
For the first time since the fight started, the masked man’s posture stiffened.
Liam tilted his head slightly to the side and studied him with open fascination, almost like he had just discovered an interesting toy.
Then without warning.
Boom.
Liam’s other fist shot forward.
It did not look flashy. It did not glow. It did not scream through the air.
It simply connected.
Crack.
The sound was sharp and ugly.
The exact spot where Liam’s knuckles sank into Zero’s chest caved inward violently. The reinforced fabric tore. Something beneath it shattered.
Zero’s body lifted off the ground instantly as if struck by a moving truck. He flew backward through the air, limbs loose, mask still fixed on his face as his body hurtled across the platform.
He smashed into the opposite railway wall with explosive force.
Concrete burst outward.
The wall fractured and collapsed inward as Zero’s body punched straight through it and disappeared into the darkness beyond.
The tunnel trembled.
Chunks of debris rained down across the tracks.
Silence followed.
A heavy, stunned silence.
Sergei and Mikhail stood frozen, their earlier arrogance gone. Their eyes were wide, locked on Liam’s back.
He had not even braced himself.
He had not shifted his feet.
He had not transformed.
He simply walked forward now, calm and unbothered, as if he had just swatted away a minor inconvenience.
He did not glance at Sergei. He did not acknowledge Mikhail.
He moved toward the remaining group of cloaked figures who had been holding the meeting.
The air around them felt tighter now.
The man who had spoken earlier, the calm voice that had dismissed the wolf war, stood slightly behind the others. He had not moved during the exchange. He had not panicked.
But Liam could sense it clearly.
No threat.
There was weight in the room, yes, but not from him.
Which meant this man was not the powerhouse here.
He was a coordinator.
A mouthpiece.
Liam’s lips curved slightly.
If he could grab that one, if he could drag him out of here alive, then things would become much simpler. Information flowed easiest through fear and pain.
He took another step forward.
The cloaked vampires shifted uneasily.
And just as he was about to move again, a presence appeared beside him.
Silent.
Fast.
Covered in darkness.
Liam’s eyes flicked sideways.
Irina stood next to him, her entire body wrapped in a deep cloak he had not seen before. The fabric swallowed the light around her. Even her scent was muted, barely noticeable beneath the cold air of the tunnel.
He had not realized she carried something like that.
She smiled faintly under the hood.
"I can’t let you have all the fun."
Her voice was different.
Lower.
Colder.
Even her aura felt sharper now, coiled and predatory in a way that made the surrounding vampires tense instinctively.
If not for the faint trace of her perfume, Liam might not have recognized her at all.
And there they stood side by side, facing the remnants of the meeting, the dust still drifting from the shattered wall behind them.
Irina did not look at him when she spoke.
"I will take the ones on the left. You go right."
Her voice was steady, almost casual, as if they were dividing work at a construction site instead of preparing to tear through a room full of vampires and exogens.
Liam nodded once.
That was all the agreement they needed.
Then they moved.
Not together.
Not synchronized.
Just instinct.
Irina vanished first, her cloak folding into the air like it had swallowed her whole. A ripple of darkness rushed toward the left side of the platform where three cloaked vampires and two broad shouldered exogens had already stepped forward.
Liam went the other way.
No dramatic charge.
He walked.
The vampires on the right hesitated for half a second, unsure if that calm approach meant arrogance or hidden threat. One of the exogens, a tall man with metallic veins running faintly across his neck, snarled and rushed him.
The ground cracked under the exogen’s step.
He swung first, a heavy hook aimed straight for Liam’s temple.
Liam leaned slightly and let it pass close enough to brush his hair. He drove his elbow into the man’s ribs in the same motion.
The sound that came out of the exogen was not a scream but a burst of air forced out violently. Liam followed with a short punch to the sternum.
The reinforced bones held for a second.
Then they gave.
The exogen flew backward and crashed into two vampires behind him, knocking them off their feet.
On the other side, the air had already turned cold.
Irina reappeared behind one of the cloaked vampires, her hand slicing across his back. Her fingers were not claws but they might as well have been. The fabric split. Flesh opened. Dark blood sprayed across the concrete.
One of the exogens on her side reacted fast. He slammed both fists into the ground and a shockwave burst outward, cracking the platform and forcing her back a step.
She smiled under the hood.
Good.
Finally.
The exogen lunged at her with frightening speed, muscles bulging unnaturally as he threw a series of punches that tore through the air. Irina twisted between them, her cloak flowing like smoke. One fist grazed her shoulder and the impact alone shattered a column behind her.
She caught his wrist on the next strike.
Her fingers tightened.
The air around her darkened.
The exogen’s arm began to freeze from the point of contact, frost crawling along his skin. He roared and tried to pull away but she stepped in close and drove her knee into his stomach. The ice spread faster now, locking his movement.
Then she twisted.
The arm snapped at the elbow.
He screamed.
Back on the right, Liam had stopped walking.
Now he was fighting.
Two vampires rushed him together, fangs exposed, eyes glowing faintly red. They were fast, coordinated. One aimed low while the other went for his throat.
Liam jumped.
Not high.
Just enough.
He placed his foot on the shoulder of the lower attacker and pushed off, flipping over them. As he landed behind, he grabbed the higher one by the collar and slammed his face into the concrete.
Once.
Twice.
The skull cracked on the third hit.
The other vampire spun around and slashed at Liam’s back. His claws tore through fabric but stopped against skin that felt like reinforced steel.
Liam turned slowly.
The vampire froze.
Too late.
Liam’s hand shot forward and wrapped around his jaw. He squeezed.
Bone collapsed inward under his grip.
He tossed the limp body aside and looked up just in time to see another exogen charging from the tunnel entrance. This one was different. Taller. Heavier. His skin shimmered faintly like layered stone.
Interesting.
The exogen did not waste time. He barreled straight into Liam with enough force to bend a train carriage. They smashed through a broken pillar and rolled across the platform in a cloud of dust.
The exogen tried to pin him, forearm pressing down on Liam’s throat.
Liam grabbed the man’s wrist and pushed.
Veins stood out along his arm as he forced the weight back inch by inch.
The exogen growled and headbutted him.
The impact rang through the tunnel but Liam barely reacted. He shifted his hips, reversed the position, and slammed his fist down into the exogen’s face.
Once.
Twice.
Stone like skin began to crack.
The third punch shattered it completely.
Across the platform, Irina had finished freezing the broken armed exogen. She kicked him hard and his body shattered against the wall in a spray of ice and blood.
Two vampires flanked her immediately, one wielding a curved blade.
She ducked under the blade and drove her palm into his chest. Ice burst outward from the point of impact, encasing his torso instantly. The other vampire leaped onto her back and sank his fangs into her shoulder.
For a second nothing happened.
Then the vampire’s body stiffened.
Frost crept from his mouth down his throat. His eyes widened in panic before his entire head froze solid.
Irina reached back and snapped it off like brittle glass.
Liam rose from the rubble on his side and stepped forward again.
More figures were emerging now from deeper within the tunnel. These were not the hesitant ones from before. These moved with purpose.
Three exogens.
Four vampires.
The air thickened with killing intent.
Irina stepped closer to Liam without looking at him.
"You see it too," she murmured.
He did.
The real fighters had been waiting.
The new exogens spread out, their bodies shifting subtly. One’s arms elongated unnaturally. Another’s spine cracked as blades pushed through his back. The third exhaled slowly and steam rolled out of his mouth.
Vampires circled behind them, eyes locked in.
Liam flexed his fingers.
Irina lowered her hood slightly, revealing the faint curve of her smile.
Then the platform exploded into motion.
The long armed exogen struck first, limbs whipping through the air like steel cables. Liam weaved between the strikes, each one carving deep trenches into the concrete behind him. He grabbed one extended arm and pulled.
The exogen came flying toward him.
But another slammed into Liam from the side, shoulder first, sending him skidding across the ground.
Irina was already engaged, ice colliding with flashing blades as she spun between two vampires while the steam breathing exogen charged her head on.
The heat met frost.
A violent burst of vapor filled the tunnel.
Concrete shattered.
Metal screamed.
Growls mixed with the sharp crack of breaking bone.
Liam wiped blood from the corner of his mouth and smiled faintly as the long armed exogen lunged at him again, faster this time, more desperate.
Good.
Now it was getting interesting.
And the fight was only just beginning.