Chapter 118: She isn’t yours in the first place

Lucian’s lifeless eyes stared blankly upward at the morning sky, empty and still, without even the slightest trace of life remaining within them.

The ruined streets around him remained silent aside from the distant crackling of fading flames.

And above his unmoving body—Lia continued feeding from his neck, like someone who had been starving for years.

Her lips were still tightly pressed against the wound she had created while she desperately drank every drop of blood she could.

Soft gulping sounds echoed faintly, blood slowly staining her pale lips a deeper crimson.

[I told you to choose between one of them…]

Akasha’s voice quietly resounded in his ears, though Lucian could no longer hear her.

[Well…] her tone slightly softened.

[That’s why I love you.]

A light chuckle followed, her voice gentle yet eerie at the same time.

[Don’t die just yet.]

The instant those words left her—

BADUMP—!

Lucian’s dead body suddenly twitched violently.

A sudden heavy heartbeat thudded against his unmoving chest.

His chest rose and fell before slowly starting to move again.𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

His eyes snapped open instantly, revealing his dark black eyes.

The darkness inside his irises twisted, swirling until finally—

His eyes turned completely blood-red.

A bright crimson colour that glowed beneath the morning sunlight.

His skin, which had slightly shrivelled as if all the blood had been drained from his body, slowly began filling out once more.

The severe burns covering his flesh gradually began healing, the charred skin reconstructing itself piece by piece.

The deep wounds scattered all over his body slowly stitched themselves back together.

Muscles regenerated, the torn flesh closed, and even the sharp gashes—some hidden beneath his clothes—all of them disappeared steadily.

But his eyes—

They remained completely blank, too blank—as though he wasn’t even there, wasn’t even moving himself.

His upper body lifted upright, the movement stiff and unnatural, as if being levitated by some supernatural force.

Then quietly—

He pulled Lia closer into his embrace, so gently it was as if he were holding the most precious being in the world.

Lia instinctively snuggled further against him.

Her crimson eyes widened abruptly.

The hunger in her suddenly increased as she felt something different in his blood.

Her eyes turned hazy, and she bit harder into his neck, sucking more deeply without any restraint.

Lucian’s blank crimson eyes slowly lowered toward her.

And for a brief moment, a small smile crept onto his face, looking deeply unnatural against his dead expression.

Then slowly, the smile widened further, revealing his sharp white teeth.

[Oh…!]

Akasha’s voice echoed again, this time sounding truly surprised, as if she had witnessed something interesting.

And something she hadn’t really expected.

She hadn’t ever thought that he would have done this to himself before dying.

[Consider me surprised.]

She let out another low chuckle afterwards.

Lucian’s expression stilled for a moment before his strange smile slowly disappeared, his expression turning blank once again.

Then suddenly—

Dark tendrils began seeping out from his body, from his chest, his neck, his arms, his fingers.

The blackness spread rapidly across his skin like living shadows, crawling over him and engulfing him entirely.

The surrounding air immediately became heavier, more oppressive.

Meanwhile, Lia’s glowing crimson eyes slowly began changing.

The bright blood-red colour gradually faded as her eyelids blinked heavily.

Her lips parted from his neck.

Blood covered her mouth completely, dark crimson liquid slowly dripping from her lips down along her pale chin.

Her eyes fluttered weakly before they closed completely.

The strength left her arms as they fell limply to her sides, and she quietly collapsed unconscious against him.

Her breathing softened, slow and steady, as she drifted to sleep with a satisfied expression.

And before her unconscious body—

The thing holding her no longer resembled Lucian.

A dark, eerie figure sat silently amidst the ruined streets, its body distorted, like a living darkness given shape.

Two void-like arms wrapped around Lia protectively while holding her motionless against itself.

Nothing in its body could be figured out, as if it weren’t fully humanoid anymore.

It looked like something that wasn’t supposed to exist.

And within the darkness covering its face—

Two blood-red orbs glowed faintly where its eyes should’ve been.

And below it lay a large mouth stretched in a smile, distorting across its face.

Filled with rows of sharp white teeth.

Suddenly—

The being slowly lifted its head upward.

Its glowing crimson eyes stared toward the empty sky above, gazing into nothingness.

The heavy silence around the ruined city deepened further.

After several seconds had passed, it lowered its head once again, staring at Lia’s unconscious naked figure resting within its embrace.

A few minutes passed afterwards, but the being didn’t move.

Its blood-red eyes remained fixed entirely upon her face.

The air felt oppressive as a long silence lingered.

Its eyes—the glowing crimson orbs flickered faintly.

And slowly, the dark being lowered its head closer toward Lia.

The sharp rows of white teeth stretching across its abnormally large mouth slowly widened further, almost splitting across its eerie shadow-covered face.

Then gradually—

Its mouth began opening, its sharp teeth parting apart as darkness stirred deep inside its maw.

But suddenly—

[Hey…!]

Akasha’s voice violently tore through the silence inside his head.

The dark figure immediately stilled.

[Don’t you dare try anything. She isn’t yours in the first place.]

Her voice completely changed, turning cold and sharp.

The swirling darkness surrounding the creature suddenly trembled faintly.

Its massive grin slowly stopped distorting further.

The crimson glow within its eyes flickered once before dimming away.

The being remained motionless for several seconds

A faint nod came from the dark figure.

Then gradually—

The black tendrils swirling endlessly around its body began retreating inward.

Its horrifying smile slowly faded, the crimson glow within its eyes dimming along with it, until only a faceless humanoid silhouette remained sitting there in silence.

Then slowly, the darkness receded completely, revealing Lucian once again.

His crimson eyes remained open for a brief second.

Then quietly, they closed before his body collapsed forward onto Lia’s unconscious form.

Neither of them moved afterwards.

Both lay motionless together beside the enormous corpse of the Giant Maw Worm.

The ruined city around them remained eerily silent, and occasionally, gusts of wind swept across the destroyed streets, scattering dust through the air.

Some shattered pieces of concrete slowly slid downward from the collapsed buildings nearby, producing faint, crumbling sounds in between.

After about ten minutes passed, when suddenly—

The air near Lucian and Lia faintly trembled.

A strange distortion formed beside their unconscious bodies, before the space warped, twisting and rippling.

Gradually, a shimmering portal began forming.

Several seconds later—

A pale hand emerged through the portal, and two women stepped out from the distortion.

Both of them were wearing maid clothes woven from black and white fabric.

Their appearances sharply contrasted within the ruined environment around them.

“What the heck happened over here?”

The woman with the grey hair asked immediately, her eyes widening as she looked around in wonder.

Taking in the collapsed buildings, the shattered roads and the cracked earth beneath her.

And the enormous corpse of the Giant Maw Worm lying amidst it all.

The other woman silently glanced toward her companion.

Unlike the grey haired maid, her expression remained completely emotionless.

Her long black hair swayed slightly behind her as her attention gradually shifted toward two unconscious figures lying near the worm’s corpse.

Toward Lucian and Lia.

Slowly, she walked toward them with silent footsteps.

When she finally stopped before them, her emotionless eyes quietly settled upon Lucian, simply staring at him for a long moment.

For a brief moment, a sharp glint appeared in her gaze.

“Is she the girl?”

The grey-haired woman’s voice came from beside her as she stepped closer.

The black-haired maid gave a small nod.

“So he’s the human?”

The grey haired woman tilted her head slightly as she looked at Lucian’s unconscious face for a second longer.

“Isn’t he too handsome to be a human?” she couldn’t help but ask unconsciously.

But feeling a sharp stare from beside her, instantly, she awkwardly turned her head away.

Clearing her throat, she immediately changed the subject.

“Did the Young Miss kill this disgusting-looking worm?”

The black-haired woman’s deadpan eyes bore into her for a few seconds longer before answering.

“Yes,” she said flatly.

Shifting her head toward Lia and Lucian once again, she stepped forward and knelt beside them.

She checked both of their pulses, seeing if both of them were fine.

This entire time, her gaze kept flickering over Lucian with a cautious expression.

As if she had seen something about him that the grey-haired woman hadn’t.

‘Human…’ the word silently came to her head.

‘Didn’t look like one.’

But after thinking for a few seconds, she lightly shook her head and moved forward, carefully lifting Lucian into her arms.

Despite the disgusting slimy texture layering parts of his torn clothes, and despite the faint rotten smell lingering around his body after being inside the worm’s stomach—

Her expression didn’t change even slightly.

There was no flicker in her stone-like expression.

“Selthia,” she quietly called out.

The grey-haired woman—Selthia looked at her in confusion.

“What?” she asked softly.

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