His fingers tightened even more around her throat.

The woman let out a strangled gasp.

Her vision began to blur.

"You wished for monsters to eat me..." Desmond continued, leaning closer until his face was only inches away from hers. A cruel smile slowly spread across his lips. "So how about I make sure you never get to meet your child instead?"

The woman’s eyes widened with unspeakable terror.

"I could snap your neck right here..." he whispered menacingly. "Or maybe I’ll let you give birth even if it’s long before your time."

His grin widened into something utterly monstrous.

"And then..."

He paused deliberately, allowing every single person present to hear what came next.

"I’ll feed your baby to the monsters."

The horrifying words echoed through the room.

A wave of pure shock swept across everyone present.

Several people froze where they stood.

Others stared at Desmond in complete disbelief, unable to comprehend the sheer cruelty of what they had just heard.

The pregnant woman’s entire body trembled uncontrollably.

"Just let her go now, Desmond," Mr. Blare pleaded desperately, raising both hands in surrender. His voice trembled with fear and helplessness. "She only said those things because of what happened to her husband... the husband you killed. Please... just leave us alone. We won’t warn the young lady about anything anymore. We’ll stay out of your life completely. Just... let her go."

"Let her go, you beast!" one of the injured men suddenly roared.

Despite the pain from the punch Desmond had landed on him earlier, the man forced himself back onto his feet. Ignoring the agony shooting through his body, he grabbed a thick wooden stick lying nearby and charged straight at Desmond.

"You bastard!"

With every ounce of strength he had left, he swung the stick as hard as he could.

Thwack!

The stick crashed against the back of Desmond’s head.

The force of the impact echoed through the room.

The injured man widened his eyes expectantly.

He should’ve collapsed...

Instead...

Desmond remained standing perfectly still.

Not even a stagger.

Not even a flinch.

"...Fuck," the injured man muttered under his breath as cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

Desmond slowly tilted his head before turning around.

A mocking scoff escaped his lips.

"So..." he said quietly, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "You really do have a death wish after all."

Before anyone could react...

Desmond released the pregnant woman without warning.

She crashed onto the floor with a painful thud.

"Ouch!"

She cried out in agony as both hands instinctively grabbed her swollen stomach.

"It hurts..."

Before the injured man could even process what had happened...

Desmond had already closed the distance between them.

Something glinted in his hand.

A knife.

The man’s pupils shrank.

"W....Wait..."

Stab!

The blade sank deep into his stomach.

His body froze instantly.

His mouth fell open, but no sound came out for several seconds.

Blood slowly seeped through his clothes.

Desmond leaned close until his lips were only inches away from the man’s ear.

"In your next fucking life..." he whispered coldly, refusing to pull the knife out. "Don’t ever think of laying a hand on me again."

The injured man’s body trembled violently as unbearable pain spread through every inch of him.

Desmond twisted the knife ever so slightly.

The man screamed.

"Ahhh!!"

"It’s a shame," Desmond continued with a disappointed sigh, as though discussing something insignificant. "I won’t get the chance to watch monsters tear you apart... or feed pieces of your flesh to them."

A cruel smile spread across his face.

"But..."

He shrugged casually.

"I suppose this works just fine."

Meanwhile, the rest of the survivors had rushed toward the pregnant woman after seeing her collapse.

Panic erupted among the group.

No one had witnessed what Desmond had just done behind them.

Their entire attention was focused on the pregnant woman.

Only a few moments later...

Desmond finally yanked the knife out.

Blood sprayed onto the floor.

The injured man collapsed heavily onto the ground.

Thud!

Only then did everyone turn toward the sound.

Their eyes immediately landed on the rapidly expanding pool of blood beneath him.

Blood.

So much blood.

Mrs. Blare’s eyes widened in horror.

"N...No..."

Her voice cracked.

She rushed toward the fallen man with tears already streaming down her face.

"What did you do to him?!" she screamed, dropping to her knees beside him.

Her trembling hands pressed desperately against the wound, trying to stop the blood from flowing.

"My son..."

She shook him frantically.

"Stay with me! Do you hear me? Stay with me!"

The others stood frozen in complete shock.

Some covered their mouths.

Others stumbled backward in disbelief.

The room descended into absolute chaos.

Desmond merely looked at them with complete indifference.

"What a messy family," he murmured under his breath while casually running his fingers through his hair as though none of this concerned him.

"Anyway..." he continued with a dismissive shrug, "handle your own problems."

His cold eyes swept across every survivor present.

"And don’t ever mess with me again."

A dangerous smile appeared on his lips.

"Next time....you won’t be this lucky."