The Anomaly Beyond The System

Chapter 131: One sided fight with Vivienne(3)

“Haa… Haa… Haaa…”

Lucian’s heavy, laboured breathing echoed throughout the plain garden as he shakily pushed himself upward once again.

Blood dropped from his mouth onto the stone below him.

His half-lidded crimson eyes slowly lifted toward Vivienne standing several meters away.

A few burns charred over his skin, along with a few wounds riddled across his body that were already healing at a terrifying pace.

The burnt skin restored itself along with everything else as his body regenerated almost greedily beneath the moonlight.

[Ding!~]

A soft chime suddenly rang inside his head.

Lucian’s brows furrowed faintly as a translucent screen materialized before his eyes.

[You have learned the skill: Mist Form.]

[Mist Form]

– Converts parts of the body into mist—

“Shut up.”

Lucian muttered abruptly, forcefully shoving the screen aside.

[Fine, fine… I’ll let you continue taking your beatings for now.]

He barely heard Akasha’s words, purely focusing his gaze on Vivienne.

Yet even after a few seconds had passed, she didn’t move.

Lucian’s eyes narrowed slightly. A visible frown had formed across her face.

“How did you learn it…” she mumbled quietly to herself.

Lucian clearly heard her, making his eyes narrow further.

But then, seeing her standing still, as if lost in her thoughts—

He suddenly pushed himself forward, his feet exploding against the ground as he rushed toward her, refusing to waste another second.

But Vivienne merely shook her head faintly before locking her golden eyes onto him again.

And seeing him actually trying to attack her, a smile gradually spread across her face.

“You won’t ever be able to hit me if you’re this slow.”

The next instant, she vanished from her spot.

“Cough…!”

A violent gasp escaped Lucian’s lungs as Vivienne’s fist slammed directly into his chest, hurling him backward like a broken doll.

His body rolled wildly across the ground before smashing into the castle wall behind him.

The stone fractured instantly, and before he could recover, Vivienne was already standing right before him.

Again and again, she appeared in front of him, slamming him into walls, throwing him into the air, or driving him into the ground hard enough to crack the stone beneath him.

He had completely become a ragdoll in Vivienne’s hands, something she was casually playing with.

Yet every single time he fell, he forced himself back up—shaky, bloodied, and barely able to stand—only to rush toward her again, trying to fight back and failing miserably every single time.

Forget landing an attack; he could barely even touch her.

The wounds across his body continued healing at an absurd speed, and Vivienne’s eyes narrowed more and more the longer she watched.

Her curiosity slowly deepened.

And every so often—

Her fingers would transform into monstrous claws once again before thrusting directly toward his vital organs, and each time—

She only stopped once she was absolutely certain he was on the verge of dying.

The frown on Vivienne’s face deepened as she tried to determine whether what she had seen earlier was real—whether he had truly used the Mist form, or if it had merely been a mistake.

But after nearly ten minutes had passed—

Lucian lay on the ground, bloodied and ragged, gasping for breath beneath the night sky.

Vivienne stood directly above him, her crimson hair swaying with heat waves surrounding her body.

Then, her right hand transformed again, her nails extending unnaturally from her fingers.

Her golden eyes held an analytical gleam.

Lucian couldn’t even move his body, staring upward silently as she thrust her claws directly toward his chest.

But right before her nails touched his skin—

The area suddenly dissolved, turning a small section of his chest into mist as her claws passed harmlessly through it.

Vivienne’s eyes brightened and widened before she immediately pulled her hand back.

And right before her eyes, the mist shifted once more, reforming into solid flesh and leaving behind his pale, bloodied chest.

The expression on her face visibly faltered when she saw his crimson eyes locked directly onto hers, carrying a predatory glint within them.

Faint sparks of fire began flickering around his body, and the temperature surrounding him gradually rose even further.

Vivienne’s expression sharpened. Because she wasn’t even using her affinity.

She hadn’t used it for a while and had only been using her physical strength, nothing more.

If she had actually used her flames seriously, then Lucian would’ve already been reduced to ashes.

“I’ll have to applaud your wits. It has been more than ten minutes… and yet you haven’t screamed once.”

There had been plenty of groans and muffled sounds escaping him after the brutal impacts, but she didn’t count those.

She was a good person, you know?

She wouldn’t cheat like that. She definitely wasn’t that petty.

“You would’ve won the bet if you had just kept it at 10 minutes.”

Her smile returned, this time sharper, more dangerous.

“But…”

Lucian felt his body instinctively shiver as a monstrous pressure suddenly descended upon him, crushing him beneath it as though his body were sinking into the ground.

His ragged breathing nearly halted under the weight of it, as if all the air in his lungs had been forcibly ripped away.

“You just had to increase the time to 30 minutes.”

The world blurred violently before Lucian found himself smashed into a massive stone pillar, faint cracks instantly spreading across it as his body partially sank into the stone from the sheer force.

“Kghaaa…!”

Blood exploded from his mouth, some of it bubbling between his lips as he desperately gasped for air.

His ribs shattered completely, as though they had been broken into a thousand pieces.

Then suddenly—

His eyes snapped wider open as another sharp pain immediately followed, burning through his throat.

Vivienne stood before him with a slightly darkened expression, her hand tightly wrapped around his neck.

The heat surrounding her palm intensified rapidly, flesh burning beneath her grip.

Smoke escaped from around her fingers while the skin around his throat charred black.

Lucian’s teeth ground violently against each other, hard enough for them to crack against his gums and draw blood.

But strangely, alongside the intense pain, something else surfaced.

An unbearable hunger spread through his body with such intensity that, for brief moments, it almost overshadowed the pain itself.

His crimson eyes suddenly began glowing brighter—darker, more intense.

Under the night sky, they almost resembled two bloody moons staring directly at Vivienne.

Her brows furrowed slightly.

“R–Remove—kgh..!”

Lucian choked as she tightened her grip even further, increasing the heat while waiting for him to break.

For him to scream.

To cry.

To plead for his life.

But instead—

“G-Get your… hand off!”

A loud, hoarse shout tore from Lucian’s bloodied lips. The fury within it burned hotter than the flames around him.

Vivienne’s lips curled mockingly.

But then, something changed.

Lucian’s eyes glowed brighter again.

And simultaneously… Vivienne’s fingers slowly loosened around his throat.

Her golden eyes flickered, abruptly shifting into blood red.

The sharp clarity within them dulled faintly.

The moment her fingers loosened from around his neck, Lucian wasted no time. He raised his leg and slammed it directly into her stomach.

But the impact only made her stagger back slightly before she dropped onto the ground.

Lucian didn’t think about her lack of reaction. The moment he was released, he collapsed forward onto his knees.

His fingers dug into the ground beneath him as the burnt, grotesque flesh around his neck began to regenerate, fresh skin rapidly forming over the damage until his breathing became slightly easier.

He heavily gasped for air, his crimson eyes glowing intensely as he stared at the ground beneath him.

“Agh…!”

A pained groan escaped his lips as he felt his throat tighten once again.

His vision blurred slightly, while his entire being churned with an unstable, almost uncontrollable hunger.

“Ha… Ha…”

Slowly, his gaze lifted upward.

Vivienne sat right before him, utterly motionless, her expression strangely blank.

Lucian’s thoughts felt muddled, and without even realizing it, he slowly began crawling closer toward her.

His eyes remained fixed on her pale skin—almost bloodless, yet unbearably tempting to him.

And in the next instant, his vision shifted. Everything before him turned red.

Lucian’s pupils trembled faintly as his gaze focused directly through Vivienne’s body, seeing the blood flowing through her veins, the slow rhythmic beating of her heart.

The sound echoed directly within his mind, making his thoughts even more chaotic.

The hunger intensified violently.

Lucian gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stop moving as another pained groan escaped his lips.

Just then—

The faint light that had vanished from Vivienne’s eyes returned, and her awareness snapped back as her irises shifted to their original golden hue.

For a brief second, she looked confused, but the moment her gaze landed on Lucian—

Her eyes widened suddenly as she saw his crimson eyes turning toward her, glinting dangerously beneath the night sky.

‘He… used Charm?’

The thought surfaced uncertainly in her mind, almost ridiculous to even consider—especially from someone as pathetically weak as him.

“Aaghhh—!”

Her attention immediately snapped toward him, only to see him clutching his throat tightly while trembling faintly.

Vivienne narrowed her eyes before instantly closing the distance between them.

“What did you do just now…?” she asked sharply.

She wanted answers. Right now.

But just then—

Lucian suddenly lunged toward her, grabbing both of her shoulders and faintly stunning her for a split second.

But the moment she saw his glowing eyes and the way he was gritting his teeth so hard, as though desperately holding himself back from something—

Understanding dawned on her.

“Bloodlust,” she muttered quietly to herself.

With a soft sigh, she moved once more.

And the next thing Lucian knew, his vision darkened completely as a hand struck against his neck.