Chapter 408: Chapter 408 Irina

Liam walked alone down the quiet road with his hands in his pockets, his eyes lazily scrolling through the translucent system stats floating in front of him. It had become a habit, something he did when he had nothing else to do. The past few months had trained him to stop relying on the system the way he used to, and in a strange way it felt good. He didn’t feel chained to it anymore. It was like he finally had control over it instead of the other way around. He could ignore notifications for hours and not feel anxious. He could train without obsessively checking numbers. Tonight he opened it simply because he was bored, not because he needed it.

The city around him was empty. Completely empty. Not a single shop was open. The street lights flickered over silent roads, abandoned bus stops, and closed-off alleys. Liam walked casually through it all, feeling like he was wandering through a dead city.

He didn’t mind the silence. If anything, it helped him clear his head.

Then suddenly, every hair on his body stood straight.

The feeling came out of nowhere. No warning. Just pure instinct. His muscles tensed without him even thinking about it. He didn’t hear anything. He didn’t see anything. But something inside him screamed danger.

Liam stopped mid-step. His foot slid back on its own, dragging him one step away from where he had just been standing. His body twisted slightly, his weight shifting in that split-second.

A sharp whooshing sound cut through the air behind him.

A claw.

It slashed straight across the empty space where his back had been one second ago. If he hadn’t moved, it would have ripped straight through him. He blinked in slight surprise. He didn’t even sense it with his eyes or ears. His body had reacted before his brain could catch up.

He turned around.

What stood there was huge. A werewolf, towering over him like a monster out of a nightmare. Its shoulders were wide, its fur dark and bristling, its chest rising and falling with deep, heavy breaths. Its claws glinted under the streetlight. Its eyes burned with a strange hunger and something else—rage. Pure, unfiltered rage.

Liam just stared at it calmly. No shock. No fear. Not even tension in his stance. He simply lifted one eyebrow, almost annoyed rather than threatened.

The werewolf’s lips curled back, exposing its long teeth. It was obvious from its expression that it wasn’t here by accident. It was here to tear him apart. Liam couldn’t understand why. He had never fought a werewolf. Never attacked one. Never stepped into their business. He didn’t owe them anything and they didn’t owe him anything.

And yet here one was, going straight for his throat.

The beast growled and raised its long arm high above its head, aiming for Liam’s skull. It slashed down with full strength, claws cutting the air sharply.

Liam sighed.

“You started it first,” he muttered quietly, sounding disappointed more than anything.

He tilted his head just enough for the claws to miss. At the same moment, he swung his leg up in a clean, powerful kick toward the werewolf’s chin. Any normal creature that size would have struggled to react in time, but the werewolf wasn’t normal. Despite its size and weight, it moved with shocking speed. It twisted its head aside, dodging the kick cleanly.

Liam’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Good reflex,” he said under his breath.

The werewolf growled low in its throat, the sound vibrating through the empty street. It crouched low, then pushed off the ground with a burst of strength. It shot into the air in a clean arc, both claws raised. The way it moved told Liam everything—this wasn’t a warning attack. This wasn’t intimidation. This was a killing move.

It slashed downward in an X-shaped pattern, two crossing attacks at once. From left to right. From right to left. It covered every escape angle. And behind Liam was the wall of a closed restaurant. There was nowhere to dodge. No space. No time. No trick.

It was the kind of attack meant to carve someone open.

The werewolf must have thought it had him. Its claws came down fast, inches away from cutting deep into flesh.

But Liam didn’t move.

He didn’t try to dodge.

He didn’t try to block with his forearm or step aside.

He simply raised both of his hands.

And caught the incoming claws.

The impact stopped on his palms. The werewolf’s eyes widened instantly. Shock spread across its face. Liam held its wrists in place, fingers wrapped tightly around fur and bone. The beast couldn’t move forward. Couldn’t push harder. Couldn’t pull back. Liam held it as if it weighed nothing.

The werewolf froze completely. Its breath hitched. Its muscles tensed uselessly.

Liam looked up at it with a calm, unreadable expression.

The werewolf struggled against Liam’s grip, its muscles bulging under its thick fur, but Liam did not move an inch. He held the creature in place like he was holding a drunk friend who was trying to start a fight he could not finish. The beast’s claws trembled in his hands, trapped. Its breathing grew louder and deeper, its chest rising and falling with frustration and panic mixed together.

Liam tilted his leg slightly as his lips curled into a smug smile.

“Dodge this,” he said calmly.

There was no warning. No build up. He simply lifted his leg and drove his foot upward with a clean, brutal kick straight into the werewolf’s chin.

Bang!

The force shot through the werewolf’s whole body. Its head snapped up violently. Liam let go at the same moment and the beast flew backward like someone fired it from a cannon.

Crash!

Its body slammed into the wall behind it. The solid brick cracked instantly. The wall caved in with a loud shattering sound. Debris exploded into the street, dust rising in a thick fog around the collapsed section.

Thud!

The werewolf dropped out of the broken wall and hit the ground hard. It groaned as it tried to get up again. He pushed on one knee, but his body swayed. As soon as he managed to stand, his legs buckled and he fell backward, landing on his back again. His head shook weakly. His vision was blurred so badly he could not even focus on Liam’s shape anymore.

Liam walked toward him slowly. One step. Then another. The street was so silent that the sound of his shoes on the pavement echoed. He rolled his sleeves up calmly, his expression flat, almost bored.

The werewolf growled in a weak attempt to intimidate him, but it sounded more like a tired dog than a monster now.

“Enough.”

The voice cut through the air like a command. It was strong, sharp and feminine. Liam stopped rolling his sleeves and looked up instantly.

The moonlight outlined the shape of a woman standing on the edge of a tall building. He could not see her face yet, only her silhouette, but her posture was confident and relaxed, like she owned the entire night sky.

Whoosh!

She leapt down from the building with effortless strength. The air rushed around her as she dropped several stories with ease. She landed on the ground with a loud bang that sent a small shockwave through the street. Dust rose around her feet.

She dusted her hands lightly, then lifted her head and looked at Liam. For a moment she studied him quietly, taking in his posture, his stance, the calm way he stood after knocking a full grown werewolf through a wall.

Liam got a clear look at her now.

She was stunning in a dangerous way. Not the soft beauty of a model or the gentle beauty of a princess. Her body was sharp, sculpted, the kind of curves that looked like they were carved by an artist who wanted to ruin every man’s focus. Her waist was slim, her hips smooth and full, her breasts fitting her figure perfectly. Her long dark hair fell down her back in thick strands, moving with the night breeze as if the wind itself wanted to touch her.

Her face was the kind that made strangers stop breathing for a second. Sharp jawline, full lips, cold striking eyes that glowed faintly in the moonlight. Her expression carried a confidence that only someone powerful could wear naturally.

But none of this stunned Liam. He lived with Ann, Lilith, Vanessa, Lana, Kelly, Seo Yeon. He was surrounded by absurdly beautiful women every day. This one was gorgeous, yes, but beauty alone did not impress him anymore.

He tilted his head slightly, not threatened, not intimidated, just curious.

“I have never seen you before,” he said calmly.

The woman smiled, tilting her own head in a way that mirrored him. She took one step closer. Her heels clicked lightly on the pavement. Her eyes never left Liam.

“I have been hearing a lot about you,” she said. “Liam.”

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