The Anomaly Beyond The System

Chapter 139: First Taste of Blood

“BROTHERRRR!!!!!!”

A sharp, loud scream echoed throughout the entire castle.

Seraphina stiffened slightly atop the bed.

Lucian’s crimson eyes glowed even more intensely beneath the dim orange lighting of the room. His breathing immediately grew heavier.

He suddenly felt a strange pull from deep within him, as if something invisible was calling him toward that voice.

Toward her.

“Lia…” he muttered under his breath, his voice hoarse and slightly trembling.

Kanna instantly noticed the change around him, the bloodlust intensifying around him sharply the moment Lia’s voice echoed through the castle.

Then he immediately turned toward Seraphina, seeing her still frozen atop the bed, her watery eyes slightly unfocused with confusion.

“Mom.”

Lucian’s rough voice snapped her attention toward him instantly, her misty, icy-blue eyes widening faintly.

“You stay here, I’ll come in a bit.”

Quickly saying that, Lucian immediately pushed himself up from the bedside, but as soon as he stood fully—

“Ugh…”

His body staggered slightly as he felt a violent dryness tearing through his throat—like an unbearable starvation—the same way a human feels a hollow pit inside their stomach while being too hungry.

But immediately forcing himself upright, he hurried toward the door, quickly pulling it open before stepping outside.

The moment he entered the corridor, his vision suddenly turned blood-red, and several faintly glowing red figures appeared throughout the castle within his sight.

But he barely noticed any of that.

The pull he was feeling intensified even further, without a moment of hesitation, Lucian shot through the corridor at terrifying speed… straight toward the source of the voice.

***

“WHERE IS MY BROTHER!!!”

Lia’s scream tore through her throat as she violently grabbed the woman standing before her by her shoulders, her body trembling with fury.

Heat distorted the surrounding air faintly around her, yet despite the raging girl clutching onto her, Vivienne merely stood there leisurely with a nonchalant expression—unbothered and almost amused.

Lia had been asking the same question repeatedly from the moment she woke up, and the only answer the redhead woman gave her was—

“I beat the shit out of him, so I don’t know.”

Vivienne lazily repeated once again, a mocking smile tugging at her lips as she watched Lia tremble even harder.

The temperature around Lia rose sharply. Flames ignited wildly along her arms, wrapping around her skin like wildfire, spreading onto Vivienne’s shoulders.

Vivienne merely raised a brow, barely reacting to the sudden flames. The fire could hardly harm her, and even if it somehow managed to, her regeneration would heal the damage within seconds.

“You are just like that bitch.”

She muttered while faintly shaking her head, then slowly drew her hand back, preparing to punch the furious brat standing before her.

But just as she was about to move—

Lia suddenly froze. Her head abruptly snapped to the side, as though something was calling out to her.

“Brother…?”

She muttered uncertainly, the fury in her eyes wavering as she sensed her brother’s presence in the distance, growing closer by the second.

Then, without another word, she immediately released Vivienne and dashed out of the room.

Vivienne was slightly confused by her sudden reaction, but then—

“You really had to play with her, huh?”

A voice suddenly came from right beside her, instantly causing Vivienne to freeze for the briefest moment. Then, immediately calming down, she turned her head and saw her mother standing beside her, quietly watching her daughter with an amused expression resting on her face.

“Mother, don’t scare me like that,” Vivienne muttered softly beneath her breath before answering.

“And I wasn’t playing with her. She was the one who attacked me first.”

Valentina merely raised a brow, as if asking her if she was kidding.

Her daughter was an S-Rank vampire. There was absolutely no way Lia could have grabbed her that aggressively unless Vivienne had intentionally allowed it.

Vivienne turned her head away slightly. Valentina inwardly shook her head, then calmly began walking toward the open door.

“Let’s see what that boy does now.”

Vivienne frowned slightly, clearly displeased by how interested her mother seemed in that newborn, but she followed after her anyway. Even she couldn’t deny feeling a small sense of anticipation herself.

Without another word, both of their bodies dissolved silently into white mist, then vanished from the corridor completely.

Meanwhile, Lia sprinted through the vast castle corridors at full speed, her footsteps echoing loudly against the polished marble floors as she desperately rushed forward. The elegant walls around her blurred past her vision.

She hadn’t even noticed that her clothes had been changed. She didn’t notice the luxurious surroundings either.

Because right now, her entire focus remained locked onto Lucian’s presence, feeling him getting closer and closer.

Then suddenly—

Just as she was about to turn to another corridor, something flickered beside her, a figure appearing almost instantly right next to her.

“Huh—?”

Her vision blurred faintly, and before she could even react

Bang—!

Her body was lightly slammed against the wall, one hand shielding the back of her head while the other wrapped around her waist, protecting her from the impact.

For a brief moment, Lia looked completely bewildered. Then irritation instantly surfaced as she became aware of someone else’s hand on her body—of someone standing so close to her.

But the moment she raised her head to glare at the bastard who had just touched her, Lia’s eyes abruptly widened.

Short black hair. A few loose strands falling over his forehead. The same face she had spent years looking at.

Only now, it appeared slightly sharper, more refined.

And the familiar dark eyes she knew so well had turned crimson red—like two glowing pools of blood beneath the dim corridor lights.

“…Brother?”

Lia muttered almost uncertainly, momentarily confused, as though she was trying to confirm what she already knew instantly.

No.

She was absolutely certain it was him without a doubt, but… he looked slightly different now.

And more importantly, had he just attacked her?

“Lia…”

Lucian’s hoarse, trembling voice sent a strange shiver down her spine.

“W-What happened to you…?” she couldn’t help but ask, seeing the way he was breathing heavily and unevenly, almost as though he was barely holding himself together.

At that moment, she forgot about the strange place she was in, about the redhead’s words, and even about how they had nearly died beneath the body of that enormous worm earlier.

Her eyes remained fixed solely on Lucian—on the way he held her tightly.

On his trembling fingers pressing against the back of her head, and on the way his heavy breathing brushed against her face from only inches away.

Everything about him felt dangerous now, yet strangely familiar at the same time.

“Lia…”

Lucian lowered his head closer, his crimson eyes glowing faintly.

“I can’t… I can’t hold back anymore.”

Lia’s eyes widened in complete bewilderment as she saw him bringing his face closer.

Her face instantly flushed red, the color standing out vividly against her pale skin.

“W-Wha—”

The words barely escaped properly before Lucian suddenly pulled her even closer against him, startling her completely.

Her body shivered faintly as she felt his fingers tightening around her waist.

Then immediately, Lucian lowered his face toward her neck.

His lips parted slightly, and the canines inside his mouth lengthened, turning sharp.

Then—

Pierce—!

“Aahh~~!”

A sharp gasp escaped Lia’s lips as she felt his sharp fangs piercing into her pale skin.

But along with pain, what immediately followed was a mind-numbing pleasure, dissolving the scream in her throat into a broken moan.

Her mind blanked out for a brief moment as heat furiously rushed through her body.

Meanwhile, Lucian felt the taste of blood touch his tongue, and instantly, every remaining thread of restraint inside him snapped.

The blood was warm, sweet… unlike anything he had ever tasted before. The bloodlust consuming him surged violently the moment he swallowed, the hunger intensifying so sharply that he unconsciously sank his fangs slightly deeper.

His eyes grew hungrier.

His hand, holding the back of Lia’s head gradually slid lower until his fingers wrapped the back of her neck instead. His arm around her waist tightened further, leaving no space between them.

“Aahhhnn~~!”

Lia’s trembling voice rang directly into his ears, her body shaking in his arms.

Then suddenly, her golden eyes shifted, turning crimson red. And as she felt the blood leaving her body, the thirst that had previously settled surged back again.

Her previously limp hands suddenly moved, one gripping tightly onto Lucian’s back while the other clutched against his shoulder.

Then almost instinctively, Lia tilted her head closer toward his neck—and bit down.

Lucian groaned faintly as he felt her fangs pierce into his skin, yet even then, he didn’t pull away from her neck.

Instead, he tightened the embrace further, holding her closer, tighter.

Both of them remained pressed against the corridor wall, completely consumed by the violent hunger overtaking their minds.

Meanwhile, a short distance away, Valentina and Vivienne silently stood watching the entire scene unfold, both wearing different expressions on their faces.

300 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter.

Yeah, I know I increased the number of Power Stones but I’ll run out of ideas if I rushed myself too much, so bear with this lazy author.