Chapter 72: The Taste of Another Life

[Brace yourself.]𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Akasha’s words barely reached his mind before his vision blurred.

The world in front of him twisted violently.

‘Shit…’

The curse barely formed in his mind before his eyes went blank.

The room vanished—along with everything else.

Everything shifted.

Suddenly—

He was somewhere else.

A damp, slightly rotten smell filled the air as cold stone walls surrounded it—him.

The gob—Lucian was inside a small cave, hunting alongside several of its goblin companions.

His vision was lower to the ground and slightly blurred.

Beside him stood other goblins.

They grunted and hissed in their own strange, guttural language.

A rough gurgling sound came from his mouth as he ran behind the small rat-like monster.

It was barely half their size, which made it far more difficult for them to fill their stomachs compared to the larger creatures.

Yet inside these narrow tunnels, it was one of the only sources of food they had.

These damp caves were all they knew.

He was hungry, just like all the others.

The rat, as annoying as it was, zigzagged through the cave, its movements quick, frantic, and desperate.

He felt angry, irritated by the rat’s quick, twitching movements.

It was faster than him.

Every time he lunged forward, the rat slipped away again, squealing as it scrambled across the cave floor.

He hissed loudly as he dashed toward it, his small body lunging forward in frustration.

The other goblins screeched as they chased it as well, their voices echoing through the cave tunnels.

After nearly an hour of hunting and fighting—biting and clawing alongside the others just to claim a share—he finally managed to eat.

His small, wiry green fingers pressed tightly against the dead rat’s body as he tore into it, chewing greedily, unwilling to let the others snatch it away.

Then—

The memory broke.

***

Seraphina’s eyes narrowed slightly, seeing Lucian not moving from his spot.

He had been kneeling before the goblin—or at least the empty space where it had been moments ago.

Half a minute had already passed, yet he hadn’t moved an inch.

She could only see his face from the side, making it difficult for her to understand anything properly.

She shifted slightly to look at his face more clearly, and the moment she did—her eyes widened instantly.

Lucian’s eyes had turned dull, blank, and lifeless.

There was no focus in them, as if his mind had just… left.

Her heart pounded loudly against her chest.

Lia noticed it too, even before Seraphina did.

Without thinking, she instantly rushed toward him, suddenly feeling uneasy, a strange fear creeping into her chest.

She dropped to her knees before him and grabbed his shoulders.

“Lucian?”

Lia shook him lightly, but he didn’t respond.

He didn’t even look at her, staring into empty air.

He didn’t even blink, as if he wasn’t even there.

“Lucian!”

Her voice grew louder as her heartbeat increased violently.

She shook his shoulders harder, but it didn’t do anything.

He just stayed still in his position, frozen as if he had turned into a statue.

Seraphina hurried over as well.

But just as she stepped closer—

Lucian’s hand moved.

The movement was fast.

Even Lia barely caught the movement.

His arm instantly swept up toward her.

His fingers were curled into claws, and his hand was just about to crash into Seraphina’s face.

Seraphina’s eyes widened, but before his hand could reach her, it stopped mid-strike.

Lucian’s body froze.

His eyes flickered slightly as he finally came to his senses and lowered his hand.

“Ha.. ha..”

Seraphina slightly took a step back, feeling a cold chill run down her spine at his previous movement.

For a brief moment…

She had truly thought he was going to kill her.

“Ugh!”

Lucian grabbed his head tightly, feeling a sharp headache.

His head felt like it was being hammered down from the inside.

Lia, seeing him like this, asked very clearly, her voice concerned and worried.

She slightly patted his shoulders.

“What happened?”

Lucian snapped her hands from his shoulder, startling her with the sudden motion.

Seraphina was shocked for a moment by his sudden reaction.

Just moments ago, she had felt like she was about to die.

Lucian’s hand had been so close to her face, and at the speed it was coming at her…

Her breathing quickened again just thinking about it.

But she forced herself to calm down and stepped closer to him again.

“Grr…”

A low growl came from Lucian’s mouth as he held his head tightly.

Lia trembled slightly at the sudden change in his behavior, but she didn’t move away.

His eyes were still slightly dull, like he wasn’t even fully there mentally.

Both of them stared at him silently, concern and worry clearly visible on their faces.

After a few seconds, Lucian’s eyes finally regained their clarity.

He blinked slowly before looking at both of them, who were staring at him anxiously.

“W-Whgere?” he asked in a slightly hoarse voice as he looked around the room.

The words that came out of his mouth felt foreign for a second, as if they didn’t quite belong to him.

His mind was still in the goblin’s memory, even though it was hazy.

For a brief moment, he could still smell the rot.

Still feel the hunger.

His mind was in shambles, like broken glass scattered across the floor. But seeing both of their worried faces staring at him anxiously, he tried to steady his breathing that was slightly uneven.

He gritted his teeth slightly and gave them a crooked, strained smile.

“I-I’m… fine.”

He said, trying to stand up as if nothing had happened, pushing himself off the ground.

But Lia immediately pushed him down again with surprising strength—or it was just him feeling weak after everything.

“First, tell us what happened just now?!”

She demanded in a loud voice. Her expression was furious right now; her brows were tightly furrowed.

Lucian always did whatever he wanted, acting on his own without explaining anything to them properly.

Yesterday, today.

Again and again, doing reckless things without giving them any details to lessen their worry.

It irritated her.

It worried her.

Lucian didn’t answer her for a second.

His gaze drifted slightly to the side as he tried to gather his thoughts.

Then—

“I’ll tell you later.”

He said simply, standing up again despite her protest.

“But—”

“Lia!”

He suddenly shouted, annoyed by her behavior.

Irritation slipped into his voice before he could stop it.

All three of their eyes widened.

Including Lucian’s.

He hadn’t intended to shout at her, but the sharp, pounding headache splitting through his skull, along with the emotions of the goblin still echoing faintly inside his mind, made it difficult to suppress everything completely.

Still—

He didn’t apologise.

Not now.

Now wasn’t the time to explain things.

“I’ll tell everything to both of you later,” he said in a low voice.

Lia was slightly startled by his sudden, angry shout, but when she saw him holding his head in clear pain, she didn’t argue again.

She didn’t mind his anger for now.

She just let it go.

Lucian closed his eyes and took a moment to breathe properly, trying to get rid of the disgusting memory he had just looked through.

The taste of raw rat flesh still lingered faintly in his mind.

He really had the urge to vomit right now.

If it wasn’t for his high Will, along with the skill [Thought Shield], he didn’t know what would have happened to him.

He might’ve completely lost control.

He might’ve even attacked both of them without realizing it.

After a few minutes, once his breathing steadied slightly, he looked toward the other goblin corpses lying around the room.

For a second, he just wanted to leave them here.

There was no real need to devour them right now. Not when his head already felt like it was about to split open.

If he triggered another memory fragment…

He might break. At the very least, his mind might.

Lucian briefly turned to both of the women.

Seeing the worry still lingering in their expressions, he clenched his jaw tightly.

“Fuck it.”

Slowly, he started walking toward the corpses again.

His steps were unsteady, shaky—like he had suddenly forgotten how to walk.

He knelt beside another goblin corpse, reaching toward it.

But just as he was about to devour it—

Seraphina placed her hand firmly on his shoulder.

“Don’t,” she muttered quietly.

That single word immediately made him pause.

“I don’t know what you are doing,” she continued softly.

“But don’t.”

Lucian didn’t look at her. His gaze remained fixed on the corpse lying before him.

“Just wait—”

Her fingers tightened slightly around his shoulder.

Her nails dug lightly into his skin, almost making him wince.

But she didn’t loosen her grip.

Instead, she tightened it further.

Her hand trembled slightly.

“Don’t.” Her words came colder than before, but beneath that firmness, there was unmistakable worry.

Lucian finally turned his head and looked at her.

He gritted his teeth slightly, clearly about to argue.

But before he could say anything—

[Just listen to her.] Akasha suddenly said inside his head.

Lucian’s eyes narrowed slightly, making Seraphina tense as she feared that he might not listen to her.

She didn’t understand what he had just done to the goblin’s corpse, but she had felt dread after seeing the dark power coming from his hands.

Even Lia had felt that same unease.

And whatever he had done to it, it had affected him in some way.

Even his behavior—it felt like he was someone else for barely a second.

Meanwhile, inside Lucian’s mind—

[You can devour them afterwards.] Akasha said.

‘You were the one who told me to devour them.’ His eyes narrowed even more, holding slight annoyance at her words.

‘And there is also a chance that the monsters might come here, attracted by the scent of blood. Isn’t that what you said?’

[I’m not denying it,] she replied, her tone slightly guilty.

[But if by chance you get another memory and faint from the overload, what do you think might happen to both of them? First, bring them to safety.]

Lucian went silent at that.

[Whatever you do, it’s your choice. I’m just giving you a warning before you do anything that you might regret for the rest of your life.]

She didn’t say anything after that.

“Dear, please…”

Seraphina said again, almost desperately, seeing that he wasn’t saying anything.

Lucian finally let out a loud sigh.

“Okay,” he muttered, as his shoulders slumped slightly.

He was exhausted.

The entire day had been exhausting.

And that disturbing memory had only made everything worse.

Seraphina sighed in relief, along with Lia, who stood beside her.

After a few seconds, he stood up again.

Both of them helped him, seeing him sway slightly as he stood.

Lucian didn’t mind, simply letting them guide him to the couch.

After sitting down, he leaned forward, holding his head with both hands, his elbows resting on his thighs.

Seraphina and Lia remained silent beside him.

Watching him quietly as he rubbed his temples slowly.

The headache wasn’t going away.

Not even a bit.

‘Show me my status window.’ Lucian muttered inwardly, suddenly feeling the ground shift beneath him as dizziness washed over him.

Next chapter will start from next month.

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