The Anomaly Beyond The System

Chapter 64: Chaos and death

Lucian, Lia, and Seraphina stood behind the window of his bedroom, staring down at the chaos unfolding beneath them.

As soon as Lucian had first heard the sound—something between a shriek and a gurgled cry—his body had reacted before his mind. He wanted to rush outside immediately, but he hadn’t.

Because if he ran outside, his mother and sister would follow.

And if they followed—

So, he had rather forced himself upstairs instead, to his bedroom. From there, he could get the clearest view.

It seemed neither Seraphina nor Lia could properly hear the faint sounds drifting from outside, and only Lucian was able to hear the faint, sharp screams.

His heightened perception was really showing its advantages.

All three of them stood shoulder to shoulder now, staring out the window.

Chaos.

That was the only word that fit what was going on before them.

Chaos—and death.

A man sprinted down the street, stumbling over himself in blind panic. His shoes slapped unevenly as he kept looking over his shoulder.

Behind him—

A goblin.

Small, green, and hunched. Its limbs were thin but sinewy, moving with horrifying agility. Its mouth stretched wide in something that resembled a grin, revealing rows of jagged teeth.

It was fast.

The man suddenly tripped, and that small moment was enough.

The goblin leapt forward and tackled him to the ground.

It tore his stomach with its sharp nails as it dug through his skin.

“Aaaah!!!”

The scream tore through the air, raw and animalistic.

Lucian’s fingers dug into the window’s frame.

A woman ran across the street, clutching her child tightly against her chest. Her hair was dishevelled, her face streaked with tears.

“Help! Somebody help!” she screamed.

Another goblin chased her.

Its laughter—high-pitched and manic—made Lia’s skin crawl.

Such scenes were happening everywhere.

People running.

Falling. Screaming.

And… dying.

Lia clutched Lucian’s shirt tightly, her fingers twisting the fabric so hard it wrinkled in her grip.

“W-What the fuck?!” Her voice broke as she suddenly covered her mouth.

Her entire body trembled violently.

Her face was drained of colour.

She didn’t last long.

She stumbled back, nearly tripping over herself as she rushed toward the bathroom.

Lucian barely registered her leaving.

His eyes were locked onto the street below.

The goblin that had tackled the man now stood over him, ripping into his open stomach with bare hands.

The man’s screams had stopped.

The woman—

The goblin chasing her lunged forward and grabbed her ankle.

She fell hard.

The child slipped from her grasp, tumbling onto the ground.

The mother screamed—not for herself.

For her child.

“Run! Run!”

The goblin’s blade flashed.

Then, silence.

The child’s scream pierced through everything as it cried loudly.

Lucian’s hand began to tremble.

His heart slammed violently as he felt the urge to run after it, but—

There was nothing to be done.

He could run over there and kill the monsters.

It wasn’t very difficult.

But what about his mother and sister?

What if something else attacked them when he wasn’t here?

He couldn’t take that risk, no matter how selfish that was.

Thankfully, someone grabbed the child and took it away, as the goblins fed on the dead woman’s body.

Lucian’s jaw tightened. His stomach twisted, but he didn’t look away.

He forced himself not to.

Seraphina’s skin had gone pale as she saw everything.

She covered her mouth with one hand. The other gripped the edge of the window frame tightly.

Even when Lucian had told them everything, even after he said that he had seen a goblin and even killed one. Even when he told them about the monsters, about the awakening. For a second, she felt that it was just a joke. A part of her had still clung to denial.

As absurd as the joke she thought was, the things happening before her were even more absurd.

How could someone witness humans—people just like them—being slaughtered like livestock and remain sane?

Her breathing grew uneven.

Her stomach churned.

But she didn’t cry, she didn’t scream, she didn’t collapse.

She just stood there, even when her legs felt weak, holding onto the window frame tightly.

Watching, enduring.

Because panic would help no one.

Because if she broke now—

What would happen to her son?

Lucian’s expression wasn’t exaggerated either.

There wasn’t a wide-eyed horror. No hysterical shaking.

Maybe Lia was the only one who showed so many emotions among the three of them.

But that didn’t mean he didn’t feel anything.

His face was tight with tension. His jaw was clenched tightly.

He did feel pity for the humans. He felt disgust at the monsters, and maybe even a hint of guilt for not trying to save them.

But—

Aside from his family, there was no one he cared about more deeply.

He didn’t have a hero complex.

He didn’t feel any grand responsibility to save strangers at the cost of the lives of his own loved ones.

But that didn’t mean he was heartless.

He wasn’t a monster… at least not yet.

Watching a child scream beside his mother’s corpse—

It carved deeply into him.

His mother, Seraphina, was similar to him.

Her lips trembled faintly beneath her hand.

She felt the scene revolting. Inhuman, but—

Aside from Lucian’s life, she didn’t have many thoughts about others’ lives.

Both of them felt many emotions.

Rage. Disgust. Anger. Dread. Fear.

Some for others, and some for themselves.

But they just suppressed all these emotions.

Like mother, like son. Both were too alike.

Lucian finally tore his gaze away from the street and glanced sideways at Seraphina, and was genuinely surprised to see his mother’s lack of reaction.

“Mother… how are you fine?” Lucian asked quietly.

He didn’t mean it as an accusation. The question came out vague, almost confused… and slightly curious.

But Seraphina understood exactly what he meant.

She closed her eyes for a brief second and broke eye contact with the horror happening below.

There was a faint tremor passing through her lashes.

“I’m not.” She said, not elaborating further.

Lucian didn’t press further.

His eyes lowered slightly, only to see Seraphina’s hands clutching her cloth’s fabric tightly, like she was holding something back.

Lucian sighed.

He stepped closer without saying anything and gently wrapped his arms around her.

Seraphina finally opened her eyes.

Her eyes widened slightly, surprised by his action.

“You don’t have to suppress everything.” He said softly, a faint smile tugging at his lips as he lifted his hand to stroke her head.

Seraphina didn’t say anything.

She just looked up at him, since he was taller than her.

Her son—who once clung to her leg when thunder struck—was now the one holding her steady while the world burned outside their window.

She didn’t speak immediately.

Her eyes locked with his.

“What about you, then?”

Lucian’s smile cracked.

His expression faltered, but he didn’t say anything.

He didn’t admit it.

Seraphina sighed softly, resting her head against his chest.

His heartbeat was fast.

Too fast.

‘He’s my son, and I’m the one getting consoled.’ She thought bitterly, as well as mildly amused.

After a few seconds, she straightened, pulling away slightly.

“So, what are we going to do now?” She asked, her voice steady once again.

Lucian blinked in disbelief.

Most people, after witnessing something so grotesque, wouldn’t be thinking about plans.

They’d be crying, panicking, or calling their relatives.

Yet here she was—already thinking ahead.

Even Seraphina herself didn’t know how she was so calm about all of this.

Maybe it was because she had already gone through so many things that she had become numb to these sorts of things.

Lucian, knowing that, didn’t comment on it.

He rather answered her previous question.

“I need both of you to awaken,” he said seriously.

“Only then will we decide what to do next.”

Seraphina frowned.

“You mean…?”

Lucian nodded.

“Yes. You’ll have to kill a monster.”

The word kill hung heavily in the room.

Seraphina’s frown deepened.

Her eyes drifted back toward the window, toward the blood staining what had once been a clean, ordinary street.

“That’s impossible,” she couldn’t help but mutter,

People were abandoning each other.

Doors were slamming shut.

And cars were crashing into sidewalks as drivers fled blindly.

“There’s no way we can kill those things.”

Even the word ‘kill’ felt weird and unfamiliar on her tongue.

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Lucian said quickly, though his own heart tightened at the idea of them facing those creatures.

He turned to look outside again.

‘No one tried killing them,’ he realised.

For some reason, he felt a hint of disappointment stir within him.

The people only ran from it as it killed their fellow beings. They only screamed, only hid, but no one tried to fight them, to kill them.

Well, one man did, but he died as he charged recklessly with a bat, hoping he could reach the goblin.

But still—

He had tried.

Even if it was difficult, it should’ve been possible.

Looking at the goblin’s speed and their strength, Lucian concluded that they were just F-rank monsters.

But it wasn’t entirely their fault either.

For sheltered humans who had only ever seen the act of killing on television and in fiction, their reaction was expected.

But that didn’t mean the apocalypse would slow down just for them to adapt.

They would have to adapt to it whether they wanted to or not.

After a few seconds, Lia entered the room.

Her face was a bit pale, her eyes slightly red.

“Fucking hell,” she cursed hoarsely.

Lucian immediately walked over to her.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice softer than before.

She gave him a half-hearted smile.

“Yeah. Just… yeah.”

But her hand was still shaking faintly.

She moved toward the window instinctively, as though drawn by morbid curiosity.

But before she could see the bloodied chaos below—

Lucian abruptly pulled the curtains shut.

“Don’t.” He said in a firm tone.

He didn’t want to break her mind just by what was going on outside.

“But—”

Lia wanted to retort, but seeing both of their serious faces, she swallowed her protest.

“…Fine,” she muttered, stepping back.

Rather, they all sat on the bed and decided on what to do now.

Please add the novel into your Library and give me golden tickets if you like it, and want to see the new uploaded chapters.

Thank you for reading.