Chapter 105: Eruption from below

“Who gave you the right to touch my Lia?” He muttered in a hollow tone.

His eyes—they were completely lifeless, emotionless, like the amount of anger he was feeling right now was too much to be contained.

He moved again, this time even faster than before.

He shot from his spot and closed in the distance, appearing before the previous goblin he had kicked earlier.

Before the goblin could even begin to recover—

The bat came down, striking the metal into its skull with extreme pressure.

The impact caved into its face, the ground slightly cracking beneath it.

Its body trembled violently for a brief moment before going completely still.

Lucian’s head snapped toward the last remaining creature rushing in Lia’s direction, a desperate, hungry expression twisting across its ugly face.

Lia’s gaze was completely over Lucian as everything else blurred around her—she watched her brother kill the monsters so cruelly, so decisively, through her hazy vision.

Her hands pressed against the ground beneath her, holding herself from falling under the weight of exhaustion.

Before the goblin could reach her, Lucian was already there.

Swinging the weapon again, the metallic surface bashed through the goblin’s face with brutal force.

Its expression changed for a split second, twisting into a dreading fear, before… it had already died.

A loud, crunching sound echoed as its neck gave way, loosening as it bent unnaturally, its skull nearly separating from its body.

Not that it mattered.

It was already dead.

The goblin was launched into the air, its body completely lifeless and swaying into the air before crashing down, revealing the completely disfigured, horrifying sight of its unrecognisable face, or what was left of it.

The bat—now having a small dent and streaked with dark green blood—vanished from his hands.

The fight was over.

Just like that.

Lia couldn’t even believe her eyes.

She had struggled so much against them, and it hadn’t even taken more than a minute for her brother to kill them.

But for some reason, it didn’t feel that surprising as she had thought.

In her mind, her brother was strong—that much she’d already known.

And now, she had seen it with her very own eyes.

Lucian dropped to his knees in front of Lia with a thud.

He raised both his hands slowly, his trembling fingers carefully reaching her face, gently cupping her cheeks with a softness that didn’t match the violence he had just displayed moments ago.

His heart pounded against his chest in panic.

There were so many injuries on her, her clothes, her hands, all stained in dark red and a few patches of dark green.

And the worst part was that she looked like she was barely holding herself together.

A small smile appeared on Lia’s face—a weak, faint smile of relief, as if everything would be fine now.

Her eyes closed slowly, her body tilting toward him as exhaustion finally took hold of her.

Just as she was about to collapse completely, Lucian caught her immediately, wrapping his arms gently before she could fall.

“Lia—”

The words he was about to say cut off abruptly.

His expression stilled.

Instantly, he adjusted his hold and gently picked her up, lifting her into a princess carry with ease despite his own injuries that hadn’t yet healed.

His movements carried a sense of urgency, his instincts flaring as though something was about to happen.

Something bad.

Lia’s lashes slowly fluttered open, her dim eyes looking at her brother’s face from within his arms.

His jaw was tight, his brows furrowed, and a tense expression lingered on his face as he constantly turned his head from side to side, scanning his surroundings as if searching for something hidden nearby.

“You are awake…” Lucian sighed quietly in relief after noticing that she was awake.

Lia blinked weakly before slowly nodding.

Her body was feeling numb, heavy, yet at the same time burning with sharp, intense pain that pulsed from every injury she had received.

But strangely, she didn’t feel afraid anymore.

Not even after everything that had just happened.

As if… there was nothing to be afraid of.

No—

The reason was obvious.

The reason was right before her eyes.

Her heart fluttered for a moment despite her current situation, and a soft warmth bloomed inside her chest simply from being held by him.

But the happiness didn’t last long.

Lucian’s head suddenly lowered.

“Fuck!”

His eyes widened instantly in alarm.

Without wasting another second, he dashed forward with an unnatural speed.

Lia didn’t understand what was happening before—

BOOM!!!

A deafening explosion-like sound erupted behind them.

The ground below them shook violently.

Lucian jumped high into the air immediately, holding Lia tightly against him, firmly supporting her while his eyes snapped downward.

The ground was beginning to split apart, thin cracks spreading across the road.𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

But that wasn’t the main problem.

While in the air, Lucian turned his head back.

The moment he did—

His eyes widened again.

The ground behind him had burst open with a loud thunderous rumble, splitting apart.

And from it—

Something emerged.

A large, disgusting creature burst out from beneath it, forcing its way through the earth as the ground tore apart violently, rubble and debris exploding around it.

Lucian landed on top of a nearby car, his posture lowering faintly.

The vehicle groaned loudly under the force of the impact as a massive dent formed across its roof.

The windows shattered instantly, glass exploding outward.

The car alarms rang out loudly into the streets, their frantic noise bending into the chaos around them.

The road was no longer intact, and the ground continued splitting apart.

Lucian’s head lifted again.

His leg muscles strained hard beneath them.

Then—

He leaped explosively once more and landed on another vehicle.

A large boulder came crashing down onto the exact spot where he had been standing just a second earlier.

The loud crashing sound jolted Lia, who woke once again under the impact, having briefly fainted the moment he had first jumped.

“W–what…”

The voice came out weakly from her lips.

Her eyes trembled as her body jerked within Lucian’s arms the moment he leaped once more, creating even more distance while continuing to run away from whatever was behind them.

Lucian barely noticed her waking, his focus fixed both ahead and behind at the same time.

His breathing was slightly tense as he dashed forward as fast as he could, glancing over his shoulder again and again.

Lia blinked slowly again.

A faint frown formed on her face.

‘What is happening?’ The question came to her, making her confused, since Lucian looked like he was running from something.

Slowly, despite the pain screaming through her body, she lifted herself slightly over his shoulder, her weak hand clutching faintly onto his hoodie.

The moment her eyes landed on the sight before her—

Her breath hitched, and her body froze instinctively.