Chapter 105 — How to Win Over a 600-Year-Old Woman
The standoff didn't last long.
In this unfamiliar world, William had exactly one attitude:
No restraints.
No family here.
No attachments.
No consequences he cared about.
What was there to fear?
And in a supernatural world like this, his abilities probably weren't even top-tier.
So he used them freely.
The moment Selene held him at gunpoint—
William activated Metal Manipulation.
Her pistol wrenched itself out of her grip, as if an invisible hand had seized it.
The sudden loss of control stunned Selene.
In six centuries of existence, she had faced Lycans, elders, traitors—
but never a telekinetic ability user.
That instant of distraction was all William needed.
He seized her other wrist—
shifted his weight—
and in one fluid motion executed a counter-grapple, locking her arms and pulling her back tight against his chest.
She struggled.
"Let go of me!"
But then her eyes narrowed.
"…You're not human."
There was no vampire scent.
No Lycan trace.
She had assumed he was just a civilian caught in the crossfire.
She had been wrong.
William didn't answer.
Instead, he used Metal Manipulation again, guiding her pistol through the air into his hand.
He popped the magazine out and examined the rounds.
.45 ACP silver-tipped ammunition.
After registering the ammo type into his weapon procurement system, he reinserted the magazine and let the gun hover back toward her.
Then he looked down at her.
"Do you want to keep interrogating me…"
"…or do you want to catch the Lycan who just escaped?"
As he spoke, he casually reached out—
and pinched her cheek.
The touch made him pause.
Not because of her cold skin. He expected that.
But because Disease Transfer reacted.
A status response appeared.
Condition detected: Immortality — Chiropteran Subtype
William blinked.
So vampirism… is viral in nature?
That, he hadn't expected.
Selene's voice cut through his thoughts.
"Are you done touching me?"
Her tone was pure frost.
William released her immediately.
"Sorry. Got distracted."
But his eyes held a new interest now.
Not just attraction.
Research value.
William caught the floating pistol and handed it back to Selene.
Seeing that he was an ally, not an enemy, she didn't waste time questioning him. She took the gun and immediately sprinted in the direction the Lycan had fled.
William followed.
Then—
A roar tore through the tunnel.
William glanced back.
A massive, pitch-black Lycan—easily a meter taller than him—had one of Selene's comrades pinned, jaws tearing into him.
No saving him.
William shook his head and didn't stop.
He kept running after Selene.
Inside the dim subway tunnel, Selene seemed to have silently accepted his presence behind her.
She didn't slow down, only glanced back.
"Why are you following me?"
William thought for half a second, then lied smoothly.
"I've got a score to settle with those animals.
Ten years ago, they slaughtered my family. I've been hunting them ever since.
You're the first people I've seen doing the same.
By the way—your partner. Why did he turn to ash?
Did those things develop some new weapon?"
Selene stopped.
To move the heart of someone who had lived six centuries, who had killed without hesitation, who carried grief buried under stone—
you needed resonance.
William's fabricated vendetta did exactly that.
In Selene's understanding, her own family had been murdered by Lycans.
Shared hatred was a bridge.
She answered, guarded.
"I don't know. Maybe you're right. Some kind of new weapon."
She assumed he didn't know vampires existed, so she went along with his framing.
For all her killing, Selene still remembered she had once been human. She didn't want civilians dragged into the war.
William didn't expose the lie. He only needed her to accept him at her side.
First time going after a six-hundred-year-old woman or not—he was confident.
They moved on.
Soon, following the blood trail, they reached a manhole cover.
"He went down here," Selene said, crouching.
She wrenched it open and dropped in without hesitation.
About a two-meter drop.
Painful for a normal person.
Nothing for either of them.
William jumped down after her.
She watched him land smoothly.
Curiosity flickered.
"How did you do that?" she asked quietly.
"Do what?"
"That. Your movement. Humans don't move like you."
He didn't answer.
"What about you?" he countered.
She paused.
Six centuries as a vampire had made her forget what "normal" was.
The subject died there.
They advanced through the sewer tunnels.
Then Selene raised a hand.
Stop.
Ahead, in the darkness beyond the bend, the wounded Lycan had already scented them.
Vampire smell was strong compared to humans—but not like a Lycan's, especially in still underground air.
Selene couldn't track by scent.
But battle instinct screamed something was wrong.
She scanned the dark.
Then—
A UV round burst out of the shadows.
Metal Manipulation wasn't passive detection. William couldn't sense the gun beforehand.
But his reflexes were fast.
The instant the shot fired—
He stepped in front of Selene.
Took the hit.
Two goals:
Protect Selene.
Earn trust.
If she died, so did the reward.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Multiple rounds punched into his body.
"Fuck," William hissed.
Didn't kill him.
Still hurt like hell.
Selene reacted instantly, firing into the dark. Silver rounds tore through the tunnel.
A snarl.
A collapse.
The Lycan spasmed and went still.
Dead.
Then Selene looked at William.
Not at the blood.
Not at the wounds.
But at the bullets forcing themselves out of his flesh, clattering to the ground.
Her eyes locked onto his.
"You weren't afraid," she said quietly, "of turning to ash like my partner?"
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