ShadowBound: The Need For Power-Chapter 286: Biant Hue 1

After catching their breath, Liam and Charlotte moved forward, continuing down the dimly lit hallway in search of Biant.

"That was... quite something," Charlotte said, walking at his side. "Violent, deadly, and absolutely fantastic. Don't you think?"

Liam didn't look at her. "Yeah. Whatever."

Charlotte smirked at the expected reply but let the silence stretch for a moment. Then, her eyes flicked toward the dagger still in his hand.

"Do you really have to carry it like that?" she asked casually.

"Not really," Liam said without missing a beat. "But pulling it in and out of the dimensional pocket every time we run into something would be a hassle."

A smooth lie—one he'd practiced saying without blinking.

Because he knew Seraphina and Kaine were watching, he wasn't about to reveal the truth: that he didn't store his dagger but rather, he summoned it. Straight from his shadows.

Just like Kaine, Charlotte and Max had no idea of Liam's Dark magic. He had meant to tell them. Eventually. But the right time never came—and now was definitely not the time to tell Charlotte.

So, the uniform's "dimensional pocket" was the safest excuse.

Charlotte gave him a slow glance, clearly not convinced but not pushing either. "Hmm. So you're just gonna keep swinging it around like a hero in a stage play?"

"I was," Liam replied dryly, "until you mentioned it."

Without stopping, he reached behind his back and slid the dagger into the space between his belt and pants, letting it rest there—readily accessible, yet out of sight.

Charlotte's eyes followed the motion. She bit her lower lip, smirking. "Sexy."

Liam rolled his eyes but said nothing.

She chuckled to herself, thoroughly enjoying his usual stoicism.

They continued to walk in silence.

As they walked down the long hallway, Liam and Charlotte quickly noticed how unnaturally straight it was—no curves, no branches, just a direct path forward. The scent of blood, faint at first, grew thicker with every step they took.

Eventually, they reached the end of the corridor where a large, worn wooden door loomed in front of them, its surface scratched.

Charlotte stepped up to it, inhaling the air. "Yeah... this is the place. Strongest scent of blood I've picked up so far. Smells like a butcher's den behind this thing. Typical serial killer aesthetic."

Liam's eyes scanned the edges of the door, noting the subtle distortions of myst woven around the frame. "If Biant's behind there, I don't want to kick the door in and walk into a trap. We don't know how many are waiting on the other side, or what the setup is."

Charlotte smirked and stepped in front of him. "Relax. I've got this."

She pressed her palm against the surface of the door and took a slow breath. Her eyes slid shut, and a faint, golden aura shimmered around her head as she whispered a spell under her breath.

"Spatial Awareness: Echo Location."

For a few seconds, there was silence. Then, a gentle pulse of myst rippled through the wood and seeped into the room beyond. It was subtle—barely visible—but Liam could feel it. Like a sonar pulse drifting through space, bouncing off every surface, every shape, every living being.

Charlotte opened her eyes and stepped back. "Okay," she said casually. "It's a big room. Lots of furniture—probably meant to be a study. One large guy, definitely Biant, sitting behind a desk… playing with a knife. And yeah, pretty sure he's juggling a human eye."

Liam raised an eyebrow, unfazed.

"There are four others too," she continued. "Victims. Hung upside down like meat, unconscious but alive. Probably for dramatic effect. So… do we save them, or just go straight for Biant and call it a day?" Her tone was light, as if she were asking what they should eat for dinner.

Liam didn't answer right away. Instead, he tilted his head and studied her. "That spell you used… What was it exactly? It gave you that much detail?"

Charlotte smiled and crossed her arms, clearly pleased he asked. "It's simple, really. Echo Location taps into my enhanced hearing and myst senses. I send out a small pulse of myst, just enough to vibrate through the room. Every sound—even breathing, the twitch of a muscle, the ruffle of clothing—bounces back to me. I build the layout in my head based on the echoes."

She tapped her temple. "Even if they don't move, their body heat causes air disturbance. I can pick that up too."

Liam nodded, mildly impressed. "A walking sonar system with a jaguar's instincts. Useful."

Charlotte grinned. "I do more than look good in leather, babe."

"Yeah, but tell me something," Liam said with his usual deadpan expression. "Why didn't you use that spell before we ran into those masked guys?"

Charlotte gave a sheepish smile and scratched the back of her neck. "Ah… well, you see…" she chuckled. "I kind of wanted to see what you could do. I mean, you detected three people under an invisibility spell and killed them before I even got a chance to blink. So I figured, why ruin the fun?"

She gave him a playful wave of dismissal, like the whole thing was trivial.

Liam stared at her blankly. "Right. Because risking getting stabbed is so much fun." He reached behind his back and retrieved his dagger again. "Let's just finish this. You've got, what, less than an hour before the test ends?"

"Give or take," she replied with a wink. "So, what's the plan, boss?"

"Initially, we were told to gather information first," Liam said, voice low and steady.

Charlotte raised a brow. "Information? They didn't give us much to start with. No files, no known abilities, no patterns… It's like they dumped us in blind."

"Exactly," Liam muttered. "Which is why we ditch the intel part and go for the simpler option."

"Oh?" she said, a grin tugging at her lips. "And what would that be?"

Liam's foot slammed into the door with a loud crack, bursting it open.

Inside was a spacious, dimly lit room, lined with shelves of anatomical diagrams and dusty books. In the center sat a man behind a long table, hunched over under the faint glow of a desk lamp. He had dark green hair slicked back neatly, broad shoulders beneath a long black coat, and cold, beady eyes that flicked toward them lazily. In one gloved hand, he held a bloodied human eye. In the other, a delicate scalpel.

A large magnifying glass was mounted on the desk before him.

In the far corner of the room, the four victims Charlotte had sensed hung upside down, suspended by chains. Their bodies were covered in lacerations—some fresh, others older—and their faces were gaunt, malnourished.

The man sighed. "Was it necessary to kick the door in? It was unlocked, you know."

He set the eye down beside the scalpel with surgical care. "Why is it everyone sent to this manor insists on being so uncivilized?"

Liam ignored the complaint. "Are you Biant Hue?"

The man scoffed and leaned back in his chair. "What kind of amateurs are they sending these days? You show up without even confirming your target's identity first? Tsk."

He rose slowly, his movements precise and eerily graceful. "Yes, child. I am Biant Hue—renowned human analyst, philosopher of anatomy, and student of the body's truth."

Charlotte blinked. "Human analyst? Aren't you a serial killer?"

Biant let out a dry laugh as he began to remove his gloves, revealing pale, ink-stained hands. "Oh, is that what they're calling me now? How delightfully uninspired."

He took a step away from the table, voice rising with a touch of irritation. "They toss around such crude labels because they lack understanding. They scream 'monster' and 'madman,' yet they know nothing of the elegance hidden in muscle fibers, the beauty in the fragility of nerves, the language of pain."

Biant opened a drawer and pulled out another knife—longer, serrated, gleaming. "All I have ever done is study. Yet because I choose unconventional methods, I'm cast as some villain. It's disgraceful."

Charlotte tilted her head. "So you cut people open for research and expect applause?"

Biant gave a slow, deranged smile. "I don't expect it. But in time… the world will learn to appreciate my brilliance."

Liam's grip on his dagger tightened.

Charlotte rolled her neck with a faint crack. "Okay, yeah. No intel's worth listening to this psycho monologue."

Liam nodded. "Let's make this quick."