An Alpha's Forbidden Mate-Chapter 42: Mirage Of The Mountain 3

Chapter Forty Two

The air in the glass box did not just shimmer; it screamed.

Two oppressive atmospheres—one a suffocating, deep ocean blue, the other a violent, blood-soaked crimson—ground against each other. The stone floor beneath them groaned, hairline fractures spider-webbing outward as the opposing Ki crashed like tidal waves in a storm. For a moment, the world existed only in that volatile friction, a stalemate of raw power that made the dust particles suspended in the air vibrate until they disintegrated.

Then, the calm broke.

Liam moved. He didn’t run; he vanished from his standing position, reappearing as a blur of kinetic violence.

Clang!

Phillip barely raised his metal walking stick in time. The impact wasn’t a mere strike; it was a collision of freight trains. The force traveled down Phillip’s arms, rattling his skeleton, and hurled him backward. He slammed into the concrete wall with enough force to crater the masonry, a cloud of pulverized cement puffing out around him.

Phillip slid down the debris, coughing wetly. A thick line of crimson trailed from the corner of his mouth. He wiped it away with the back of a gloved hand, inspecting the smear of blood before looking up with a strained, jagged smile.

"Now... is that any way to greet your friend? Hmm?"

Phillip’s wrist flicked. The sound of a mechanism snapping open echoed—click. From the tip of his walking stick, a hidden blade shot forward, aiming for Liam’s throat. It was a dirty, desperate thrust intended to catch an emotional opponent off guard.

Liam didn’t flinch. He twisted his torso with fluid precision, the blade slicing harmlessly through the air inches from his neck. In the same motion, Liam stepped into Phillip’s guard, his knee driving upward like a piston.

Thud.

The knee buried itself in Phillip’s diaphragm. Air left Phillip’s lungs in a strangled gasp. He folded, dropping to his knees, his vision swimming with black spots.

"You are no friend of mine," Liam said, his voice terrifyingly even.

Phillip wheezed, clutching his stomach, struggling to find purchase on the slick floor. His mind raced, panic beginning to claw at the edges of his composure. Forget the girl. Forget the plan. If I don’t escape right now, he is going to butcher me.

He forced his head up, locking eyes with the man towering over him. "You should be thanking me," Phillip rasped, saliva and blood mixing on his chin. "You should be grateful."

Liam paused. The word seemed to hang in the air, alien and offensive. "Grateful?"

Liam’s boot lashed out, connecting with Phillip’s jaw. Phillip rolled with the hit, scrambling backward on hands and knees to create distance, his dignity abandoned in the dust.

"Yeah, grateful!" Phillip shouted, his voice cracking. He propped himself up against the ruined wall. "I made the tough choice! The choice you were too much of a coward to make!"

Liam laughed. It was a hollow, broken sound. He dragged a hand down his face, his fingers digging into his skin as if trying to keep his sanity from spilling out.

"A tough choice? You call this a choice?" Liam gestured wildly to the carnage around them. "How was any of this a choice? You infiltrated my home. You kidnapped my daughter. You drained her of her life blood—stripped her of her essence!"

Liam took a step forward, the killing intent rolling off him in waves. "Without that blood, her future as a Ki user is dead. She is a husk because of you. And you want gratitude?"

"Look at it from my point of view!" Phillip screamed back, desperation lending him a frantic strength. "If I hadn’t done it, my superiors would have intervened. They wouldn’t have just taken the blood.

The association would have slaughtered you, your wife, and your kid just to tie up loose ends!"

Phillip pointed a shaking finger at Liam. "I took matters into my own hands to control the damage. Your daughter is breathing. Your wife is breathing. You are standing here, alive. I saved your miserable family!" 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Liam stared at him. The rage in his eyes didn’t burn hot; it burned cold, absolute and freezing.

"You bloody bastard," Liam whispered. "Do you think I am a fool? If I hadn’t infiltrated this base tonight, you wouldn’t have stopped at ’some.’ You would have sucked every last drop from her veins until her heart stopped."

"But she’s alive, isn’t she?" Phillip countered.

"Yeah," Isaac said, raising his twin blades, the metal gleaming under the flickering hallway lights. "She is. But after today, you won’t be."

Isaac lunged.

"I intended to settle this peacefully," Phillip muttered, his eyes narrowing. "Guess not."

Space Domain: Expansion.

The air in the hallway suddenly convulsed.

It wasn’t the full, terrifying expanse Phillip was capable of at his peak, constrained now to a radius three times smaller than usual, but the density was horrifying. Gravity seemed to fold in on itself.

Liam froze mid-step. His boots cracked the floor tiles as an invisible, crushing weight slammed onto his shoulders. It felt as if the atmosphere itself had solidified into lead, pressing him down, locking his joints.

Phillip exhaled shakily, sweat beading on his forehead. His injury is severe. He can’t unleash his high-level movement skills under this pressure. It’s enough. It has to be enough to suppress a Level Five Ki user.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Liam," Phillip said, his confidence returning as he watched his opponent struggle against the invisible crushing force. He stood up, leaning heavily on his cane. "It seems today isn’t the day you take my life. In fact... I might just be opportuned to take yours."

Phillip laughed, the sound menacing and sharp, echoing off the steel walls.

Liam gritted his teeth, the veins in his neck bulging against the pressure. His knees shook, threatening to buckle, but he refused to go down.

"So this is the Domain I keep hearing about," Liam strained out, his voice tight. "Unique. Truly. But if you think gravity alone is enough to stop me... you must be kidding."

Isaac closed his eyes. He stopped fighting the pressure physically and began to channel his internal energy. His Ki flooded into the twin blades in his hands, causing them to hum with a high-pitched resonance that set teeth on edge. He shifted his stance, moving inches at a time against the crushing weight.

"Twin Blade Technique," Liam murmured. "Ki Waves."

He slashed.

Two thin, razor-sharp crescents of energy—one horizontal, one vertical—tore through the air in a perfect X shape.

Phillip’s eyes widened. He knew this technique. It wasn’t just a projectile; it was a vibrational assault. It didn’t matter if the blade physically cut you. If that X passed even remotely close to your body, the resonant frequency would shred your blood vessels from the inside out. It was a technique designed to bypass armor, scales, and skin. Instant death.

I can’t dodge that in this condition, Phillip realized, panic spiking. The vibration will liquefy my organs before the blade even touches me.

He had a split-second decision.

Contract.

Phillip withdrew his Space Domain instantly, recalling the expansive energy and compressing it into a dense, shimmering barrier directly in front of him.

The shield formed, rippling like a heat mirage.

But the cost was immediate. The sudden retraction of such massive energy violently jarred Phillip’s body. The wounds on his leg, barely held together by coagulated blood and will, burst open. Fresh blood sprayed across the floor.

"That can’t be good," Phillip whispered, looking down at his leg.

He didn’t have time to process the pain. The Ki Waves slammed into the spatial shield.

BOOM.

The explosion wasn’t fiery; it was concussive. The force of the impact didn’t break the shield, but it transferred all that kinetic energy directly into the caster. Phillip was lifted off his feet and hurled backward, soaring through the air, completely untethered.

Time seemed to slow.

Liam was already in the air.

So that was his plan, Phillip thought, his mind working with agonizing clarity as he floated helplessly in mid-air. He’s a genius... a monster.

Liam hadn’t used the Ki Waves to kill him directly. He knew Phillip’s personality—he knew Phillip would prioritize survival over suppression. Liam had baited him into shielding. By forcing Phillip to create a shield, Isaac made him drop the gravity domain. And because Phillip’s leg was injured, he couldn’t brace against the impact.

He made me vulnerable to the physics of the blast, Phillip realized. He sent me into the air where I have no footing, no leverage, and no way to dodge.

Liam hovered above him, defying gravity with sheer momentum, his blade raised high. His eyes were void of mercy.

"Goodbye, Phillip."

The blade descended, aimed to sever Phillip’s head from his shoulders.

WHAM!

A massive, rusted metal grate came spinning out of the darkness like a giant shuriken.

Liam’s instincts screamed. He aborted the execution, twisting his body mid-air and using his primary blade to parry the heavy metal object. The impact pushed him sideways, ruining his trajectory. He flipped, landing in a crouch ten feet away, his boots skidding on the ground.

Liam scanned the shadows instantly.

"The Witch," he spat. "So, you chose to come after me instead of saving the boy. I expected as much from you."

Zareth stepped out from the gloom. Her breathing was heavy, her clothes singed and torn. She looked rattled.

"Which boy?" Phillip asked, scrambling to his feet, clutching his cane. He looked between Liam and Zareth, confusion warring with the pain in his leg.

"Not now," Zareth said, her voice sharp and clipped. She didn’t look at Phillip. Her eyes were locked on Liam. "Let’s take him down first. Then we talk."

Liam straightened up, assessing the new dynamic. Two against one. Phillip is injured, but dangerous. The Witch is fresh enough to be a problem. The odds have shifted.

His eyes darted around the industrial corridor. Pipes. Steam. A large, rusted cylinder in the corner marked with hazard stripes.

A gas tank.

Liam’s lips curled into a cold, cruel smile.

"Of course she wouldn’t tell you," Liam said, his voice dropping to a conversational volume that carried perfectly in the silence. "She killed George."

The world stopped for Phillip.

"It’s a lie," Phillip said quickly, shaking his head. "Stop trying to cause confusion, Liam. It doesn’t work on me."

"Why don’t you ask her?"Liam challenged, tilting his head toward Zareth.

Phillip turned slowly. The desperation in his eyes was heartbreaking. He looked at the woman who had been his partner in this operation.

"Is it true?"

Zareth said nothing. She kept her hands raised, focused on Isaac, refusing to meet Phillip’s gaze.

"ANSWER ME!" Phillip roared, his voice tearing at his throat. "IS IT TRUE?"

Zareth flinched. She finally spared him a glance, her expression hard, devoid of apology. "If I hadn’t gotten here in time, you would have died, Phillip. It was a binary choice. Him or you. I chose you."

Phillip stood frozen. He didn’t scream. He didn’t attack. He just stood there, and for the first time in years, tears spilled from his eyes. They ran silently down his dusty cheeks. The boy. The innocent leverage. The one thing he had actually cared about in this wretched mission. Gone.

Liam didn’t wait for the mourning period.

In that brief moment of emotional shattering, Liam threw his blade. It spun through the air, a silver blur aiming straight for Zareth.

Zareth, hyper-alert, sidestepped. The blade whizzed past her ear, missing her by inches.

"Seemed you missed," Zareth taunted, raising her hands to cast a spell, relief flooding her that the lethal strategist had made such a basic error.

"I guess so," Liam said. He looked at Phillip, who was still staring at the floor, broken. "Now you know how it feels."

Liam turned and sprinted for the exit, disappearing around the corner with incredible speed.

Phillip trembled. A low, guttural sound began to rise from his chest. "How could you leave him...?" he whispered, the rage building like a volcano. "I asked you to protect him!"

"It seems you have it confused," Zareth snapped, her patience fraying. "Phillip, he poisoned the boy. There was only enough time to administer the antidote to one person or come help you. I chose the asset that mattered!"

Phillip gripped his cane until the metal groaned under his fingers. Liam... since you don’t appreciate my kindness... since you don’t appreciate my mercy... I will waste every single one of your family and friends. I will burn your world to ash.

"Do you smell that?" Zareth asked suddenly.

"What?" Phillip snapped, blinded by tears and fury.

"It smells like... gas."

Zareth spun around. She looked at the path the blade had taken. It hadn’t been a miss.

Embedded deep in the side of the industrial tank behind her was Liam’s blade. The metal had punctured the casing. A steady hiss filled the air. But it wasn’t just the leak.

Attached to the hilt of Liam’s blade was a small, crude detonator. A tiny light blinked on the handle.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Zareth’s blood ran cold. The image of Liam throwing the blade replayed in her mind—the angle, the trajectory. He hadn’t aimed for her. He had used her dodge to mask his true target.

"Get up, Phillip!" Zareth screamed, grabbing his collar and hauling him backward. "We have to go! NOW!"

From the dark entrance of the tunnel, far out of the blast radius, Liam’s voice echoed back to them, carrying the weight of a father’s vengeance.

"BURN IN HELL, PHILLIP!"