Lucas stood frozen in the wrecked kitchen.
His breathing had become shallow.
A crimson droplet slid from the edge of the counter…
…and struck the tiled floor.
…Drip.
The sound echoed through the silent apartment like a hammer against his heart.
“…Mum?”
His voice was barely more than a whisper.
No answer.
Only silence.
Lucas slowly backed away from the kitchen.
His eyes swept across the room.
Every cupboard stood open.
Drawers had been ripped from their hinges.
Broken plates and shattered glass littered the floor.
The refrigerator door hung open, its light casting an eerie glow across the room.
Nothing had been stolen.
Nothing looked like a robbery.
It looked…
Like a battle.
His heartbeat quickened.
“No…”
“…No…”
His gaze drifted toward the staircase.
Darkness waited above.
Then—
Creeeak…
A floorboard groaned.
Lucas’s head snapped upward.
Someone…
Or something..
Was still on the second floor.
His body screamed at him to run.
Every instinct urged him to leave.
To call the Saint Hunters.
To wait for help.
But another voice drowned out every warning.
Mum.
He clenched his fists.
“I’m coming…”
Without another thought, Lucas rushed toward the stairs.
Each step echoed heavily beneath his feet.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
The deeper he climbed…
The colder the air became.
A strange metallic smell filled his nose.
His stomach tightened.
Blood.
By the time he reached the landing, the hallway was almost unrecognizable.
The wallpaper had been torn away in long strips.
Deep claw marks scarred the walls.
Several doors had been ripped completely from their hinges.
The family portraits that once decorated the corridor lay shattered across the floor.
Lucas stepped carefully through the debris.
“…Mum?”
Still…
Nothing.
Then he saw it. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
A trail of blood.
It began near the hallway entrance…
…and stretched toward the master bedroom.
His entire body went numb.
“No…”
His voice cracked.
“…Please…”
His legs felt heavier with every step.
The blood trail grew thicker.
Fresh.
Still glistening beneath the dim ceiling light.
His breathing became ragged.
“…Please…”
“…Please don’t…”
He reached the bedroom door.
It stood half open.
The wood around the frame had splintered outward, as though something unimaginably powerful had burst through it.
Lucas slowly reached for the handle.
His trembling fingers barely touched the cold metal.
The door drifted open by itself.
Creeeeeeak…
Moonlight poured through a massive hole in the far wall.
The bedroom had been reduced to ruins.
The bed lay overturned.
The wardrobe had been split clean in half.
Broken furniture was scattered everywhere.
The curtains fluttered gently in the evening wind.
And standing before the shattered opening…
…was a lone figure.
A man dressed in a long black coat.
His back faced Lucas.
One hand loosely gripped something.
Something limp.
Something…
Human.
Lucas’s pupils contracted.
“…Mum…?”
As though hearing him…
The stranger slowly loosened his grip.
The body slipped from his hand.
For one endless moment…
It remained suspended in the moonlight.
Then—
It fell through the shattered opening.
Disappearing into the darkness below.
Lucas’s heart stopped.
Everything inside him shattered.
“…MUM!!”
His scream echoed through the ruined apartment.
The man didn’t react.
He simply stood there.
Silent.
Watching the night beyond the broken wall.
Something inside Lucas snapped.
Every ounce of fear vanished.
Every thought disappeared.
Only rage remained.
“What did you do…?”
His voice trembled violently.
He charged.
Not because he thought he could win.
Not because he had a plan.
Because he was a son.
Because the only thing standing before him…
…was the man he believed had stolen the most precious person in his life.
Lucas’s fist shot forward with everything he had.
The same fist that had broken concrete.
The same fist that had sent an upperclassman flying.
The stranger moved.
Effortlessly.
His hand rose with almost lazy elegance.
Grab.
Lucas’s punch stopped dead.
His fist never reached its target.
His eyes widened.
The grip around his hand felt inhuman.
Not strong.
Absolute.
It was like trying to punch a mountain.
For the first time…
The man slowly turned his head.
His face remained hidden beneath the shadow of his hood.
But Lucas could feel it.
Those eyes.
Watching him.
Studying him.
Judging him.
Then…
The stranger spoke.
His voice was calm.
Cold.
Almost disappointed.
“…You should have stayed unconscious.”
Lucas’s blood froze.
Before he could react—
The stranger’s leg moved.
Not fast.
Not dramatic.
Just one casual step.
Then—
BOOOOOOM!!
The kick landed squarely against Lucas’s abdomen.
The world exploded.
Lucas’s body tore through the bedroom wall like a cannonball.
Concrete.
Bricks.
Wood.
Everything shattered around him.
He smashed through the hallway…
Then through another wall…
Before crashing into the far end of the apartment with enough force to shake the entire building.
The sound echoed like thunder.
Dust swallowed everything.
Silence followed.
For several long seconds…
Nothing moved.
Only drifting debris remained suspended in the pale moonlight.