Chapter 251: I feel... nothing...?

Everyone instinctively pressed their lips together, afraid of letting out even the faintest sound.

The muffled cries of the man with the broken arm were also suddenly cut off as the others hurriedly stuffed a cloth into his mouth, desperate to prevent him from making any noise that might attract their attention.

They were scared—really, really scared of doing anything that might cause their deaths, and after witnessing Lucian’s actions—how he had casually sliced Glenn’s hand off—none of them could blame themselves for feeling that way.

There was no way that man was human, not after seeing those sharp, unnaturally long claws extending from his arm.

Their attention briefly shifted towards the woman, who was wearing a black maid’s dress. Her posture was graceful, and her expression completely stony, with not even the slightest trace of emotion on her face.

Meanwhile—

"NGHAAAA—GHK!"

Glenn’s scream echoed throughout the entire hall, drowning out every thought of speaking or doing anything.

Lucian looked down at the severed hand in his grasp.

His fingers squeezed tightly around it, the sound of bones cracking reaching his ears as blood poured between his fingers.

His chest heaved slightly with anger... anger that had ever so slightly begun to fade.

His fingers twitched violently as he squeezed the severed hand even further, and without giving it much thought, flames suddenly burst from his palm.

Fwoosh!

The entire severed hand was engulfed in flames, and after watching it for a few seconds, Lucian violently threw the burning hand away.

It landed several metres away, with flames dancing over it.

And just like that... Lucian returned his attention to the man writhing on the ground.

"A-Ah... N-Noo...! B-Bo—"

Glenn’s broken face twisted as he desperately tried to turn towards the only person who might be able to save him.

Their Boss.

The only man here who might be strong enough to stand against this monster.

"B–Garg—Boss... sa-save... cough cough!!"

But despite his cries... the Boss didn’t even move, remaining seated on his sofa, his body stiff, as though—

"Did you know...?"

Glenn’s body shivered as he heard the familiar voice, and the moment he turned his head, his entire body trembled violently as he saw Lucian lowering himself right before him.

Those crimson eyes stared directly into his own.

"I haven’t really killed anyone yet..."

Lucian’s voice became slightly calmer, even though anyone listening could still feel the rage burning beneath his words.

For a moment, Glenn didn’t understand what he was saying. His ears were buzzing from exhaustion and blood loss, and he was barely holding himself together, relying solely on the lingering adrenaline to keep himself conscious.

Lucian raised his arm.

His fingers twitched violently, shifting and elongating unnaturally before transforming into sharp, dark claws.

Glenn’s eyes widened.

He tried to move, tried to crawl, but his battered body refused to obey him.

And with one swift movement—

"So become the first human I kill."

Before Glenn could even comprehend those words—

"GKKAAAAHHH—!!!"

A bloodcurdling scream erupted from Glenn’s throat as Lucian’s claws pierced straight into his chest.

His body jerked violently as they drove deeper, moving straight inside before emerging from the other side.

Blood immediately began flooding through his clothes, drenching them in crimson as his expression twisted into pure horror.

He tried to open his mouth, to speak, to beg...

But before he could—

His eyes slowly began to lose their light, and his body, which had been thrashing just moments ago, gradually stopped moving.

And eventually...

Everything went still.

"..."

Lucian blankly stared at the man’s dead expression, at those lifeless eyes and that look of horror that was still frozen on his face.

He had killed him... actually killed a human.

Yes, he had previously killed countless monsters... but this was different.

They were conscious, more conscious than the others he had killed before, and now...

Now he had just ended that life.

For a moment, he felt his pulse quicken.

But...

"I feel... nothing...?"

The words escaped his mouth in a quiet, confused mutter.

Lucian stared at the body once more, and yet... he didn’t feel anything.

No guilt. No remorse. Nothing inside his mind trying to rationalise or scream about morality...

Nothing.

He blinked slowly.

Then, taking a small breath, he pulled his claws out of the man’s chest before his fingers shifted back into their original shape, returning to a normal human hand.

Blood dripped from his fingertips, and his entire hand was soaked in it.

Though, with just a little command, the blood began coagulating in one spot before slowly being absorbed into his hand.

Silence...

Now... an actual silence had fallen over the entire room.

Everyone held their breath, their eyes shifting between their companion’s lifeless body and the man who had just killed him.

Lucian slowly stood up, his expression unchanged.

Just confusion... and perhaps a little disappointment.

Disappointment at not feeling anything, as though he had expected some great reaction from himself after taking another person’s life.

Kanna quietly looked into his eyes. Inwardly, she felt slightly satisfied, seeing that he wasn’t getting mentally wrecked over such a simple kill... though it was a bit unusual for a human—or at least, an ex-human.

Previously, she had already assumed that Lucian had killed many people before—judging solely by the intensity of his killing intent—so she was a little surprised to hear him say this was his first time killing a human.

Lucian turned towards the others.

And slowly... a small smile appeared on his face.

"What are you doing?"

The men looked at each other in confusion.

What was he talking about?

But then, they noticed that Lucian’s attention seemed to be directed slightly behind them.

Instinctively, their gazes followed his, only to see—

Their Boss, who was now standing tall.

His towering figure rose over everyone else in the room, standing at over two metres with a broad, muscular build that made him look even more intimidating.

His expression had now changed, replaced the previously dreaded look with... quiet confidence, along with a clear intent.

And the reason for that change was...

The handgun in his hand.

A Desert Eagle... its barrel pointed straight at Lucian.

"Raise your hands... or I’ll shoot."

His heavy voice resounded across the room.

Lucian tilted his head, faintly amused.

Though inwardly, he still didn’t quite understand how he had just now almost forgotten about killing the man so easily and moved on to something else.

Not that he particularly cared. If anything, this might be for the better.

At least he didn’t seem to have any moral obligations holding him back.

Seeing that Lucian wasn’t reacting to his threat, the Boss narrowed his eyes.

"Don’t even try to act tough, you monster. You might be strong and fast... but dodging a gunshot is impossible."

That was the reason he had remained seated on his sofa for so long.

While everyone was scared out of their wits, he had been quietly trying to remove the handgun hidden inside the sofa without attracting anyone’s attention.

Despite his words...

Lucian seemed completely unbothered. His crimson eyes gleamed with amusement as he deliberately took a step forward.

Step

"Die then."

The Boss muttered, his index finger pressing onto the trigger.

But before he could—

The black-haired maid suddenly appeared before him, immediately grabbing his arm and bringing out a dagger from her shadows before—

Slice!

She cleanly sliced his hand off up to the elbow, along with the handgun, before pulling the severed part away with her, her body blurring as she moved.

In the next instant, she was standing in the exact same spot she had been before.

And all of this had happened... in just a second.

"Huh...?"

The Boss muttered in confusion, hearing no sound of a gunshot.

He tried pressing the trigger again... but the second his eyes landed on his hand—

His pupils dilated violently.

"Whaa..."

His words barely escaped his mouth, and his eyes immediately flickered towards Lucian, only to see the man raising his brows in surprise as well.

The Boss barely understood anything.

But slowly...

The realisation finally began to settle in.

Along with that realisation... the initial numbness soon gave way to—

"AAAHAAAAAHHH—!! NO! NO! FUUUCCCKKAAAHH—!!!!!"

The pain hit him, accompanied by the horror of having his arm sliced off.

The Boss’s screams continued to echo throughout the hall, his massive body trembling as he desperately clutched the severed stump.

"Kanna...?"

Lucian looked at her in surprise before walking towards her, noticing the blood dripping from the severed hand.

Kanna casually threw it away as though it were nothing more than a piece of rubbish before quietly turning towards him.

Lucian himself was somewhat surprised by her actions.

Not because of her brutality... but because he had barely been able to follow her movements before realising she had already sliced the man’s hand off.

He had only caught a faint blur of her body moving.

Meanwhile, to the others, she hadn’t even moved from her spot.

Or at least, that was what they would have believed, if not for the sight of the Boss’s severed arm lying in her hands just moments ago.

"F—!"

Someone barely let out a sound before the man beside him immediately covered his mouth, barely struggling to hold back the urge to piss himself from sheer dread.

And yet... none of them had the guts to open their mouths. Even though a few wanted to cry or run away, they couldn’t bring themselves to do so, terrified of the consequences of even the slightest mistake.

Of course... not everyone was that smart.

Gary—the same man who had previously tried to attack Selene—stood a few metres away from them, his legs trembling as he witnessed the death of his companion and heard the screams of his Boss still echoing throughout the room.

And finally... he reached his limit.

"I... I h-have to run..." he whispered to himself.

His feet slowly dragged him backwards as he took a few uncertain steps before quickly turning around.

He hurried away from the horrifying scene as quickly as his trembling legs would allow.

But then—

Shk—!

Something sharp suddenly pierced through the back of his neck, passing entirely through... and before he could understand—

Gary’s vision blurred as a strange, gargled cough escaped his throat, along with something warm flooding his mouth.

His feet came to a sudden stop.

Then—

Thud

He fell face-first onto the ground.

Motionless... not breathing...

...Dead.

Lucian turned towards the man’s corpse, then slowly shifted his gaze back towards Kanna, who once again looked at him with the same expressionless face.

"...Why did you kill him?" he asked quietly.

And in response...

"He spoke and tried to escape..." Kanna answered in a flat tone.

"So I killed him as you ordered, Master Lucian."

"..."

Lucian looked at her blankly.

For a moment, he didn’t know what to say.

"I wanted to torture him a bit before that..."

"...Oh."

Kanna’s brows furrowed slightly, and she looked at the man’s body again, though she could see that he was already dead by now.

"I’m sorry, Mas—"

Before she could finish speaking, Lucian suddenly reached forward and abruptly cupped her face.

Kanna’s expression went blank for a second.

"Ughh... just why are you so dutiful and take everything so literally...?"

Her body stiffened ever so slightly as she looked up at him, feeling the warmth of his hand against her cheek... and unlike before...

She somehow... liked it...?

Even her mother hadn’t done something like this to her... at least, not to the extent she could remember.

"I know that’s what makes you adorable... but start thinking too, my dear emotionless doll."

"..."

Kanna looked at him strangely.

She didn’t understand why he was suddenly speaking with so much affection in his voice.

Meanwhile...

The others didn’t know what to make of them... though they were even more frightened after seeing another one of them dead, with their Boss still screaming in pain.