Chapter 696 Voss

The young man immediately took a step backward.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

His hands rose instinctively in surrender, his eyes widening as he looked between Liam and Irina.

"I have nothing to do with the death of people in this town."

His voice was hurried.

"I swear it."

Irina didn’t lower her hand.

The ice around her fingers continued forming, slowly spreading along her knuckles as her cold gaze remained fixed on him. She took another step forward.

The young man swallowed nervously.

"I swear, miss, I have nothing to do with the death of the people here. I’ve defended this town with my life ever since I put on this cloak."

Irina’s expression didn’t change.

"Defended it?"

Her voice carried disbelief.

The young man nodded rapidly.

"Yes."

Liam remained behind her.

He said nothing.

His eyes were fixed on the stranger.

Every movement.

Every hesitation.

Every change in expression.

Liam wasn’t relying only on ordinary observation. His Aether Sense was quietly examining the man’s presence, searching for killing intent, abnormal energy fluctuations, hidden hostility, or anything else that might indicate deception.

There was fear.

Plenty of it.

There was also exhaustion.

But Liam couldn’t detect the kind of murderous intent he would expect from someone who had deliberately caused the deaths of hundreds of people.

More importantly, Liam already knew something Irina didn’t fully understand.

Yesterday, when the strange entities had appeared above the village, Liam had clearly seen the cold figure fighting the fiery one.

The fire entity had been trying to attack the village.

The cold one had been trying to stop it.

And now he had found a human wearing a cloak that radiated an unnatural cold.

The connection was obvious.

Whoever this young man was, he had been the one protecting Elaris.

That didn’t mean Liam trusted him.

It simply meant there was more to the story.

Irina clearly wasn’t interested in giving him the benefit of the doubt.

"If you had nothing to do with the death of the people in this town," she said, taking another slow step forward, "then why did you follow us earlier?"

The young man’s lips parted.

He hesitated.

Irina’s eyes narrowed.

"Why did you follow us the moment we left Elder Eldric’s house?"

The young man opened his mouth.

No answer came.

That was enough for Irina.

Whoosh!

She moved.

The young man barely had time to react before Irina appeared directly in front of him.

An ice dagger formed in her hand.

Its blade rested against his neck.

The tip pierced his skin just enough to draw blood.

A thin red line appeared beneath the cold blade.

The young man’s entire body froze.

He stared at Irina in terror.

One wrong movement.

One sudden gesture.

One attempt to escape.

She would stab him.

There was no doubt in his mind.

Irina’s eyes were cold enough to make the temperature around them feel even lower.

"Answer me."

The young man’s breathing became shallow.

"I..."

The ice dagger pressed slightly closer.

"I-I wanted to know if I could trust you!"

"Huh?"

Irina’s brows furrowed.

For the first time, confusion replaced some of the anger on her face.

"What?"

The young man swallowed.

"I wanted to know if I could trust you."

His voice was quieter now.

"I wasn’t following you because I wanted to hurt you."

Irina stared at him.

The situation had suddenly become more complicated.

She clearly hadn’t expected that answer.

Before she could question him further, Liam stepped forward.

He calmly placed his hand over Irina’s wrist.

"Irina."

She glanced toward him.

"Move back."

She looked at him for a moment.

Then at the terrified young man.

Finally, she lowered the dagger.

The ice shattered into tiny pieces and disappeared onto the ground.

The young man released a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

Liam reached toward the clothes lying nearby and picked them up.

He tossed them toward him.

"Get dressed."

The clothes flew through the air.

The young man caught them awkwardly against his chest.

"Thank you."

He immediately began putting them on.

His hands were shaking.

Liam watched him quietly.

The difference between the two men was almost comical.

The young man was visibly nervous, constantly glancing between Liam and Irina as though he expected either one of them to suddenly attack.

Liam, meanwhile, simply walked past him.

He found a flat rock near the wall and sat down.

He rested one arm on his knee and looked toward the young man.

"Calm down."

The young man froze halfway through putting on his shirt.

Liam continued.

"We aren’t going to hurt you."

Irina turned toward Liam.

She clearly disagreed with that statement.

Not because she intended to attack him immediately, but because she didn’t understand why Liam was being so relaxed around someone they had spent days trying to identify.

Her eyes moved from Liam to the stranger.

Then back to Liam.

She remained standing.

Liam noticed.

"You can relax too."

Irina gave him a flat look.

"I’m relaxed."

Liam almost laughed.

"You have ice forming on your fingers."

She looked down.

A thin layer of frost still covered her fingertips.

She shook her hand slightly.

The frost disappeared.

"I was making a point."

"I noticed."

The young man looked between them.

For the first time, he seemed slightly confused.

He had probably expected Liam to be just as aggressive as Irina.

Instead, Liam was sitting comfortably on a rock as though they were having an ordinary conversation.

The young man finished dressing himself.

He adjusted his clothes and stood awkwardly.

Liam looked at him.

"What’s your name?"

The young man hesitated.

His eyes flickered toward the cloak.

Then toward Liam.

"My name is Voss."

Liam nodded slowly.

"Voss."

He repeated the name as though testing it.

"Alright, Voss."

Liam leaned forward slightly.

"Explain something to me."

Voss remained silent.

"Why did you follow us the moment we walked out of Elder Eldric’s house?"

Voss’s expression became guarded.

Liam continued.

"Because from where I’m standing, it looks like Elder Eldric sent you to come after us."

"No!"

The response came instantly.

So quickly that even Irina raised an eyebrow.

Voss’s face changed.

The fear that had been present since the moment they entered the cave was suddenly replaced by something much stronger.

Anger.

Hatred.

His eyes hardened.

"I would never work for that bastard!"

Silence filled the cave.

Liam stared at him.

Voss’s chest rose and fell heavily.

His hands had clenched into fists.

There was no hesitation in his voice.

No uncertainty.

No attempt to hide his disgust.

He genuinely hated Eldric.

Liam’s lips slowly curled upward.

"Oh."

His eyes narrowed with interest.

"Interesting."

Voss looked at him.

Liam leaned back against the stone behind him, his expression becoming thoughtful.

A few minutes ago, everything had seemed relatively straightforward.

They had found the mysterious cloaked figure.

They had discovered that he had been following them.

They had found him living inside the mountain.

They had assumed he might have been connected to Eldric.

But now Voss had reacted to Eldric’s name with genuine hatred.

Not fear.

Not nervousness.

Hatred.

That changed things.

Liam glanced toward the blue cloak lying nearby.

Then toward Voss.