Chapter 401: A Fallen Hero’s Despair

A Fallen Hero’s Despair

Lucas... I hope you’re still alive. It would be troublesome if Steffan finished you before I arrived.

Neither Lina nor Liza spoke.

Once again...

Only they heard Julian’s silent thoughts.

The familiar voice echoed clearly inside their minds.

Lina tightened her grip on the steering wheel ever so slightly.

Liza lowered her gaze.

Neither woman understood why this mysterious phenomenon kept happening.

Julian remained blissfully unaware.

After finding out Lucas’s whereabouts, Julian hurried to his hiding place with Lina Ashford and Liza Voss.

Time was no longer on their side.

There were six hours left before sunrise and the Obsidian Wing organization issued their final ultimatum.

The approaching dawn felt like an invisible countdown hanging over everyone’s heads.

Every passing minute mattered.

Before time ran out, Julian needed to resolve the matter with Lucas.

The car accelerated through the empty countryside.

Its headlights sliced through the darkness while the engine hummed steadily beneath them.

None of the three spoke again.

The relaxed conversation from earlier had disappeared, replaced by quiet determination.

...

In a pig farm somewhere in Valemont.

The isolated farm stood surrounded by open fields, hidden from the main roads by rows of aging trees. At this hour, almost every light had gone out.

Only a faint yellow lamp flickered above an old storage building.

The smell reached visitors long before the buildings came into view.

This pig farm wasn’t large, with only about twenty pigs.

The wooden fences had long since weathered with age.

Everything looked neglected.

These pigs were all kept in a single pen.

The pig manure piled up like a mountain could be smelled from several meters away.

The air itself felt heavy.

Moisture mixed with the overwhelming stench until every breath became unpleasant.

Flies buzzed continuously around the enclosure while pigs lazily wandered through the filthy ground without the slightest concern.

For pigs, this environment was just everyday life.

But for Lucas, living here was worse than death.

His once-pristine appearance had vanished completely.

His blond hair had become tangled and filthy.

Mud and dirt covered his face.

His expensive clothes had long since been ruined beyond recognition.

After Steffan crippled all his nervous system, he was tied up and thrown into the pigpen.

Every day, he lived with these pigs.

There was no dignity.

No privacy.

No hope.

Only endless humiliation.

But how could this be a place for a human to live?

The ground was cold and damp, and after the pigs relieved themselves, the pen was covered in manure.

The disgusting mixture soaked everything beneath him.

His body was smeared with pig manure, and even dung beetles would call him "big brother" for being more qualified to love dung.

The bitter irony alone was enough to crush an ordinary person’s spirit.

If he wanted to sleep comfortably, there was some dry straw in the corner of the pen.

But the problem was that the pigs also liked to sleep there.

The animals never cared that he was human.

To them, he was simply another body occupying their favorite sleeping place.

So when he slept, his "roommates" would press down on him and sleep together.

Their enormous weight made breathing difficult.

Sometimes he woke up unable to move because several pigs had decided he was a comfortable mattress.

With his proud nature, how could he endure such humiliation?

Every day felt like another stab at his pride.

Every sunrise reminded him that he was still alive.

Still trapped.

Still powerless.

So he tried to starve himself to death.

Death seemed kinder than another day inside this living nightmare.

But Steffan had arranged for someone to watch him.

Every day, they would come to feed him at regular intervals, ensuring he wouldn’t starve to death.

No matter how much he resisted, they forced enough food into him to keep him alive.

Not healthy.

Just alive.

This torturous and humiliating life seemed endless, leaving him without any hope.

His eyes had gradually lost their former arrogance.

Only emptiness remained.

This despair made him think it would have been better to die at the hands of that Julian kid.

Dying at the hands of an enemy would at most mean he lost and deserved it.

But being backstabbed by his own people was something he couldn’t accept.

Lucas slowly closed his eyes as bitterness welled up inside him.

For countless years, he had devoted everything he possessed to the organization. He had completed dangerous missions without hesitation, walked through blood and death, and sacrificed more than anyone would ever know. Loyalty had been his creed, and he had never once questioned the orders given to him.

Yet in the end...

One failure was all it took.

Everything he had built was discarded as though it had never existed.

His loyalty.

His achievements.

His countless victories.

None of them mattered anymore.

His fingers tightened weakly against the filthy straw beneath him as hatred slowly ignited in the depths of his heart.

He was unwilling!

The injustice burned hotter than the humiliation surrounding him.

If he could stand again, he would definitely seek revenge against Steffan and the organization.

He would burn everything he had to fight against the heavens!

Even if it cost him his life, he would drag those who betrayed him into the abyss.

His breathing gradually slowed as exhaustion overtook him.

The foul smell filling the pigpen had long since numbed his senses.

Several pigs lazily squeezed against him, treating him like another warm body rather than a human being. Under any other circumstances, such humiliation would have driven him insane, but after enduring it day after day, even disgust had become dull.

His eyelids slowly drooped.

As he was dozing off with a few pigs, he suddenly heard screams from outside.

The cries shattered the silence of the night.

The pigs stirred uneasily, letting out frightened squeals before retreating toward one corner of the enclosure.

Lucas’s eyes snapped open.

Every trace of sleep instantly disappeared.

Hearing the screams, Lucas’s eyes widened, and he became more alert.