Chapter 253: Just kill me…

As soon as the lights flickered on, every woman inside the basement instinctively squeezed their eyes shut.

Their faces contorted in pain, and a few let out startled yelps as the sudden brightness struck their eyes—as though they hadn’t seen light for hours.

Their voices echoed faintly through the basement before, slowly... very slowly, they began to open their eyes.

And the moment their vision adjusted, they noticed three figures standing at the entrance.

"Is this what you were talking about...?"

Lucian’s cold voice resounded through the room, sending an instinctive shiver through everyone who heard it.

Especially... the man kneeling on the floor.

The Boss looked up at Lucian, his face pale as he struggled to swallow the lump in his throat.

"Are these the goods you were trying to offer...?"

Lucian repeated himself, the pressure weighing on the Boss increasing almost unconsciously.

The large man swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

He wanted to say something, but as he felt the danger gradually increasing, he finally gave a trembling nod.

Seeing this, Lucian’s expression turned completely emotionless. He turned away from the man, dismissing him before walking forward.

But the moment he took the first step—

"No..."

"P-Please... spare us."

A few trembling cries escaped from the women in tattered clothes.

Some were tied with ropes, while others were restrained by metal chains, locked away in different parts of the basement.

Their faces were filled with fear as they realised that the man was walking towards them.

They instinctively shrank backwards, pulling their knees closer to their bodies or trying to cover themselves with whatever remained of their clothes.

Others stared at him with wide, frightened eyes, their bodies trembling as though they were expecting something terrible to happen.

Meanwhile...

"..."

"..."

A few women stared at him blankly, carrying no signs of will in their eyes—as though they had long since died internally.

The only emotions remaining on their faces were... despair...

And resignation.

They didn’t even try to speak, knowing that nothing—no words, pleas, or cries—would make any difference.

Knowing that nothing would matter anyway.

Lucian briefly paused, noticing the fear and emptiness reflected in everyone’s eyes, as well as the despair shared across their faces.

He stopped for a moment before continuing.

It wasn’t exactly difficult to understand what had happened to these women.

They had been kidnapped, and... they had been taken advantage of.

Their expressions, the state of their bodies, and their clothing made it painfully obvious.

Some had bruises; many of their clothes were completely torn... revealing their naked bodies, while many of them even looked malnourished.

Some had skinny, unhealthily pale features, as if they hadn’t been fed for weeks... perhaps months...?

And, most importantly... the disgusting smell was all it took for Lucian to understand everything.

His fingers curled slightly, but he then internally shook his head, continuing towards them before kneeling in front of one of the women.

For a brief second, his gaze lingered on her body, but the moment he realised what he was doing, his expression darkened.

’These instincts are getting kind of irritating...’

Due to his vampire nature, he was becoming far too conscious of certain things... and it was making him feel angry with himself.

[Well, that was obvious.]

Akasha suddenly chimed in.

[You are still a virgin, and have not yet gotten a taste of worldly desires.]

’...Worldly desires...? Just what language are you speaking?’

He was confused by her words, though at the same time, he couldn’t help but notice how indifferent she seemed to be towards the scene unfolding before him.

[You don’t know...? According to certain people, it looks like you are what they call uncultured.]

’...’

He wasn’t understanding anything.

Shoving her words aside, he took a deep breath before shifting his focus to the woman kneeling before him.

Her hands and legs were bound by metallic shackles, tightly restricting her movements.

Though, judging from her gaze, she didn’t even seem to be trying to free herself anymore.

Lucian’s brows furrowed slightly as he noticed this, but then his eyes shifted towards the red, bruised marks beneath the chains—clear signs of a previous struggle.

"..."

The woman didn’t say anything, her gaze lifeless as she looked at the man slowly lowering himself towards her.

Even though he looked different from the previous ones... that didn’t make her feel anything, since looks could be quite deceiving.

The man slowly lowered himself until his head was at the same level as hers, and after a few disgusting seconds of staring at her...

He raised his hand, and before she could understand what was happening—

A dagger suddenly materialised before her eyes, appearing as if it had been dropped out of nowhere.

But instead of being surprised...

"Heh..."

A dry, hollow chuckle escaped her lips.

She lowered her head, a faint trace of self-deprecation appearing on her face.

"Finally got tired of us...?" she muttered.

But then... her expression changed slightly, and a faint sense of relief appeared in her eyes.

"Just kill me..."

She slowly closed her eyes, waiting for the man to finally end her life.

But then—

"Who said anything about killing...?"

Her eyes slowly opened, and her brows furrowed as she tried to understand what he meant.

And at that moment, she felt a sudden vibration running through the chains around her wrists.

Clink

The sound of metal being sliced resounded as the dagger easily cut through the iron chains—which wasn’t particularly surprising, considering it was a B-Rank dagger.

The woman’s expression turned even more confused as she slowly raised her head, only to notice the man’s face so close to hers.

Without saying anything, Lucian reached forward and grabbed her hand, causing the woman to suddenly flinch at the touch.

Her body stiffened, and she instinctively tried to pull away.

"Calm down... I’m not going to hurt you..." Lucian muttered calmly, his voice soft.

But the woman didn’t seem to cooperate.

If anything, she flinched even more, so without wasting any more time, Lucian firmly took hold of her wrist and lowered his gaze towards the cuffs.

He could easily melt them or simply cut them with his dagger, but—

"Oi, fucker!"

His voice suddenly echoed throughout the basement as he turned towards the Boss, who was standing tensely a short distance away, still clutching his severed arm.

"If you have the keys to these, then give them to me now!"

The Boss’s shoulders flinched.

He quickly moved towards Lucian, not daring to argue, and handed over the keys.

"No... No... you...!"

A woman’s scream suddenly came from the side as she looked at the bulky man, her body beginning to tremble violently as she remembered him—remembered who he was.

Lucian ignored her words.

He quickly took the keys and examined the numbers engraved on the cuffs. Then, looking at the matching numbers on the keys, he began unlocking them.

The woman stared at her now-free hands.

For a moment, she didn’t move.

She simply looked at them, as though she couldn’t believe what had happened.

Then, slowly, she raised her head once again, but the man had already walked away.

After freeing the first woman, Lucian began working his way through the remaining captives, unlocking their shackles and untying the ropes one by one.

Kanna also gave him a helping hand, subtly interested in what he was about to do with them.

...

"Eleven... kidnapped women..."

Lucian muttered coldly as his eyes swept across the women sitting on the basement floor. Some were curled up with their knees pulled close, sobbing quietly, while a few others sat blankly, their eyes completely lifeless.

"Raped... by your men..."

Lucian’s eyes shifted towards the Boss, and immediately—

"Akg—!"

The man’s knees buckled as an instinctive shudder ran through his entire body. His breath caught in his throat, and his face twisted with terror, as though death itself had suddenly appeared before him.

’He’s gotten better at controlling his killing intent.’ Kanna mused inwardly, noticing how the others weren’t feeling anything despite being nearby.

"Am I right...?"

Lucian walked over before pressing the sole of his shoe against the man’s forehead, applying only slight pressure.

"Answer... AM. I. RIGHT...?"

The Boss’s expression contorted with dread and pain as he felt his skull throbbing beneath the pressure.

"Y-Y-Yes—Y... yes..."

Lucian stared down at him for a few moments.

Then—

BAM!

He slammed his shoe into the man’s face, sending him tumbling across the floor like a piece of worthless garbage.

He really felt disgusted. Just looking at the man made him feel sick, but he calmed himself down.

He had no intention of killing him right now.

’He’s still useful... for now.’

"..."

Kanna stood silently beside him, her expression as flat as ever.

Shaking his head, Lucian turned towards the women before walking over to them.

And the moment they noticed his approach—

Everyone immediately flinched, their expressions shifting into the same fear he had seen a few minutes ago.

Even after he had freed them from their shackles and given them something to cover themselves with, they still looked at him as though he might suddenly turn against them.

Lucian’s eyes swept across all of them, and after a moment, he noticed something that made him sigh once again.

"What are you trying to do right now...?"

His eyes shifted towards one particular woman.

She was sitting among the others, holding a sharp piece of iron she had found who knew where, its tip pressed against her neck. Both her hands trembled around it, and her eyes were tightly shut.

But the moment she heard Lucian’s tired voice, her body suddenly trembled.

She slowly opened her eyes, only to find him kneeling directly in front of her, his expression neutral as he looked at her—though there was neither pity nor anger in his gaze.

It was flat... and somewhat annoyed.

"I..."

Her parched lips quivered.

"I-I d-d-don’t want to live anymore..."

Her voice shook violently as tears spilled down her cheeks, her face crumbling into helplessness.

The women sitting nearby looked at her. Some lowered their heads, while others stared at her with painfully familiar expressions—understanding what she was going through.

Lucian narrowed his eyes.

"So because of what happened to you... you think killing yourself would be better...?"

"Y-You... don’t know... what we went th—through..."

Her gaze shifted past Lucian, towards the Boss—who still clutched his severed hand while keeping his head lowered, too terrified to look at them.

Or rather... at him.

"Th..."

She felt like saying something, but the moment she tried to...

She couldn’t.

She didn’t even want to think about it.

"And... and d-d-don’t talk like you understand us?! Don’t talk like you kn—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

Lucian rolled his eyes slightly, cutting her off.

"I don’t know what you’re going through. I don’t know what you’re feeling, and I don’t know anything about you... I’ve heard that type of dialogue multiple times; no need to repeat that."

Of course, Lucian didn’t truly understand what was going through her mind. And though he knew what she had gone through might have been among the most disgusting and humiliating experiences a person could endure... the thought of her killing herself irritated him.

"P-P-please... just let me... die..."

Lucian closed his eyes for a brief moment, thinking about something, and the moment he opened them... his expression had once again turned neutral.

Without saying a word, he reached forward and took the iron rod from the woman’s trembling hands.

The woman, with her frail, weak arms, could do nothing but look at him, feeling lost and confused...

But then—

Lucian suddenly brought out a dagger from his inventory, and before she could understand what he was doing, he took hold of her hand and placed the cold blade in her palm.

"Here... now kill yourself."

His words abruptly echoed inside the woman’s ears.