Chapter 261: A befitting title for you

[Ding~!]

A sudden chime rang inside Lucian’s head as a screen popped before his eyes.

[You have earned the title: Beloved by the Unstable.]

Lucian blinked.

His lips parted slightly as he stared at the notification, but before he could say anything—

[Ding~!]

[You have gained a new trait: Walking Red Flag.]

Lucian’s expression became slightly strange as he read the description.

[Walking Red Flag]

– Greatly increases your attractiveness to individuals with questionable taste in men.

– Mentally unstable individuals—mainly women—are particularly susceptible to your charm.

– The more obvious your warning signs become, the more fascinating you may appear to certain... women.

"..."

Lucian’s lips pursed ever so slightly.

[A befitting title for you, I see.]

Akasha’s voice chimed in his mind, not even sounding too surprised, but rather amused by the sight of this title.

[Shouldn’t you’ve gotten this title way earlier?]

"..."

Lucian silently read the title and the trait... and after a moment, the corner of his lips unconsciously tilted upwards.

’It’s not... that bad.’

"Mr Lucian..."

Leonardo’s voice immediately broke his attention away from the screen, and the moment he turned toward him, the man was looking at him with a strange look.

It was as if he were wondering whether Lucian had actually saved the women or whether there was some other reason behind everything he had done.

Lucian tilted his head slightly.

"What?"

Leonardo hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"I wanted to speak a few words with you... especially about the ruckus you caused inside the Association Building."

Lucian’s expression barely changed.

"But we’ll talk about that sometime later."

Leonardo sighed lightly.

"My men will gather some information from here, so you are free to go for now, though they might ask a few questions before that.

Please do comply with them."

Saying that, he turned around and walked toward his car.

Just as he was about to go inside, he suddenly paused.

"Oh right!" Leonardo turned his head.

"Go to the Association tomorrow. You will be getting your share for helping us complete that unusual dungeon."

Lucian nodded, his eyes shining faintly as he heard about the reward.

That was what he cared about most, especially since he had done the most work inside the dungeon, so he expected a good amount of money or something else—even though he was definitely more interested in money.

Wroomm

The expensive-looking car, along with the medical vehicles, set off before disappearing past their view.

Leonardo had already given his word to keep the women safe, and despite not knowing him for long, Lucian had enough trust in the Director’s Assistant that he would keep that promise.

The two investigation staff, who were left behind, approached Lucian and Kanna, who silently standing beside each other.

Seeing them walking toward him, Lucian remained quiet for a moment.

Then...

He let out a faint sigh.

Slowly, he lifted his sunglasses.

And the moment the two men looked directly into his blood-red eyes—

...

"Sir... we’ll be wanting you to ans—"

The man suddenly stopped speaking. His eyes widened as he stared at the empty space in front of him.

There was nobody there.

He suddenly turned toward his partner, who looked just as surprised, if not more so.

"W-Where did they go?"

"I don’t..."

Their lips trembled as both of them looked around in confusion, even going inside the warehouse and then the storage area to search for them.

But... nothing.

There were only the remaining supplies and a few other items that weren’t worth mentioning.

And yet, there was no sign of the two individuals... as though they had simply vanished into thin air—right before their very eyes.

What they didn’t realise was that... over an hour had passed before Leonardo drove off... and during that entire period...

They had simply remained stuck under his charm.

***

Far away from the warehouse, which had already been emptied of most of its expensive items some time ago...

Inside an abandoned apartment near the warehouse...

"What a hassle to bring all of you here," Lucian muttered as he yawned slightly, feeling exhausted.

"..."

Kanna didn’t say anything.

Technically, she had been the one who had brought these people here using her shadows.

Meanwhile, the group of men was clustered together, their faces pale and bodies tense—still frightened by how they had been trapped within that darkness a while ago.

They nervously looked around the unfamiliar, worn-down walls.

"Anyways..."

Lucian glanced around the room for a short minute before finally shifting his attention toward them.

"I’ll only be needing a few of you alive, so..."

The moment those words reached their ears, everyone’s eyes widened in horror.

A few of them tried to open their mouths, but just a cold glance from Lucian immediately shut them up.

"How should we decide who to keep and who to kill?"

A chill ran down their spines as Lucian innocently tapped his chin, as though he were genuinely thinking about something as simple as furnishing the walls.

After a few seconds, Lucian’s eyes suddenly lit up as his gaze shifted toward the Boss, who was still kneeling on the floor, still desperately holding onto the place where his arm had been severed.

"Oi, big worm..."

The Boss instinctively lifted his head, his eyes exhausted as he barely held onto his consciousness.

"You’ll be selecting about 5 people who will die here, right now," Lucian said calmly.

Many of their bodies trembled, and a few shifted backwards, as if trying to escape as soon as possible.

Lucian noticed their movements.

"Of course, if you want to die, then escape by all means. The doors are already broken, and it’s nighttime, so I might not even be able to see you all properly."

He even put his hands in his pockets, waiting for anyone to make that decision.

And...

Someone did.

The man whose arm Lucian had previously broken suddenly stood up.

Before any of his companions could stop him, he shoved them away and immediately sprinted toward the broken doorways.

"Ahh! No... I cannot! I cannot stay here with this psycho fucker!!"

He ran as fast as he could, holding onto his dislocated arm tightly.

He was almost there.

All he needed was to push the already parted door open and run.

Just a little further—

SPKLIC

A dark spike suddenly erupted from beneath the floor before piercing straight through his body, and without even understanding what... the man died.

"!!!"

Everyone’s eyes shook, their faces contorted with despair, and slowly, almost instinctively, they turned toward Lucian, who still stood there calmly, showing all his benevolent patience.

"Good job, Kanna."

The maid silently nodded in response.

"So... now that everyone has escaped..." his tone held an obvious mockingness in his voice.

"...let’s start."

Lucian walked toward the Boss, and without warning, he roughly pulled the man by his hair, yanking him directly in front of his group of thugs.

He brought his face toward them, while the Boss slowly looked at his group’s faces, everyone looking at him with desperate, afraid, and pleading eyes.

"Boss, please... pick anyone but me!"

"No! Please! I have a family! Please, choose someone else!"

"Boss, please... I’ll do anything. Anything! Just spare me!"

Most of them immediately started pleading, begging with desperation clear on their faces.

They knew if the Boss pointed at them... then their fate would be to die by this madman.

Lucian tilted his head toward the man who just spoke about having a family, but he didn’t really care even if he truly had one.

"Pick," Lucian said.

"Or you’ll be the first to die."

The Boss’s shoulders shook violently.

His eyes, clouded by exhaustion moments ago, suddenly regained their clarity.

"N-No, I-I’ll do it... I’ll do it..."

He swallowed hard, raising his hand... to begin choosing.

...

After a few minutes...

"N-No, Boss..."

"H-How could you do this to us?!"

"B-Boss, please! Pick someone else!"

The men who had been selected now begged toward the Boss, even lowering their heads, while a few of them looked with pleading eyes toward Lucian, desperately hoping he would change his mind.

But Lucian’s face immediately contorted into disgust as he saw that look.

He wasn’t interested in giving them some grand lecture about how the women they had kidnapped must have begged them in exactly the same way.

There was no point.

Even now, he hadn’t seen any remorse or guilt for what they had done to them, so he knew that was no point.

Instead, he simply ignored their ruckus.

Lucian threw the Boss forward, dusting his hands together before suddenly clapping them, drawing everyone’s attention.

The five selected men looked like their souls had been sucked from their bodies, while some were already in tears.

Kanna turned toward Lucian in confusion.

She didn’t understand why he needed all these men, and more importantly... why did he need this many?

There were still about fifteen men remaining, excluding the Boss and the five selected ones.

What could Lucian possibly need so many people for?

"I wanted to go to the dungeon alone with my mother," Lucian suddenly said, snapping Kanna out of her thoughts.

"But I recently found out that you need at least five members to enter a dungeon."

Kanna immediately understood what he was saying, as she had been the one who had told him about that requirement.

But if he needed five members... then why was he picking fifteen...?

"So... aside from these five—maybe six with this fellow, you are all useless to me."

"H-Huh?"

"W-Wait? W-What are you saying?"

"B-But e-earlier..."

The men’s faces immediately changed.

Kanna’s brows rose ever so slightly. Then, noticing the amusement in Lucian’s expression, she understood.

"What?" Lucian tilted his head, looking somewhat confused.

"Didn’t I say before? I’m picking five of you who will live.

A small smile appeared on his face.

"As for the others..."

The smile slowly widened. His crimson eyes began shining unnaturally in the darkness. The atmosphere inside the room suddenly changed.

And in the next instant—

His figure vanished.

"W-Wait,"

One of the men barely managed to turn his head.

"No! You lied to us!!"

Lucian appeared directly before him, and grabbed his head before—

Baam!

His face slammed into the floor, the impact so violent that his skull sank beneath the immense pressure.

"GHRKL—!!!!"

Blood splattered across the floor.

Without even sparing him another glance, Lucian released the man’s head and turned toward the others.

Their eyes widened in absolute horror.

They tried to move, to escape, to do anything.

But—

"I-I can’t m-move...!"

"W-What i-is t-this?!"

Their bodies suddenly froze as an invisible weight suddenly slammed onto them.

And in the next instant, another pressure fell, this time a much more intense, almost like the suffocating sensation of death had spread throughout the room.

Lucian looked at them calmly.

"What happened? Aren’t you going to run...?"

Lucian slowly rose from the floor, straightening his collar.

"Then..."

An eerie smile appeared on his face.

"Don’t mind me."

His body vanished.

And then—

"NOOO—!"

"AAAAAH—!"

"GHH—AAAGH!"

"PLEASE—DON’T!"

"I DON’T WANT TO DIE!"

"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!"

The cries of the remaining, unselected members resounded sharply throughout the abandoned area, loud enough to send a deadly chill through anyone who had the misfortune of being nearby.