The Anomaly Beyond The System

Chapter 66: Or maybe… it is good luck?

Lucian walked downstairs calmly, each of his steps deliberate and controlled.

His grip around the bone dagger tightened slightly.

But his mind was going through a storm.

‘Hope they are safe,’ he thought.

The image of Lia’s frightened face and Seraphina’s trembling eyes lingered vividly in his mind.

He had left Lia and Seraphina like that, without giving them much explanation or time to understand what was truly happening.

Everything was happening far too fast.

The world had changed within hours.

Monsters had appeared.

People had died.

And now goblins had probably entered their house.

‘What shitty luck,’ he thought bitterly.

His lips pressed into a thin line as he descended another step.

But then he remembered something else.

His earlier plan… of sneaking out tonight.

‘Or maybe… it is good luck?’

His eyes flickered as the thought crossed his mind.

If monsters had already entered the house, then maybe he wouldn’t even need to sneak out at night.

The opportunity had come to him.

Right here, right now.

He shook off those thoughts quickly.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he could hear the sound of footsteps coming from the hallway.

The goblins probably.

They were in the living room.

Anyone looking at his face could see that there wasn’t a trace of fear or nervousness.

His expression remained calm.

Almost indifferent.

Or maybe there was fear somewhere inside him.

But that nervousness or fear wasn’t for himself.

He didn’t care much about his own life.

After all—

He had already died once.

The memory of that moment, that suffocating darkness from his previous life, lingered faintly in the corners of his mind.

Death didn’t scare him anymore.

But something else did.

His mother.

His sister.

He was more worried about their lives than his own.

If something happened to them…

If Lia died again—

He knew he wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Just thinking about her death in his previous life made his eyes darken as they turned lifeless for a moment.

A heavy silence filled his mind.

Then—

[Okay, negative thoughts, shoo shoo.]

Akasha’s voice echoed inside his head, feeling his thoughts turning darker.

Lucian blinked, surprised by her childish act.

Then, unconsciously, a small smile appeared on his face.

Even in moments like this, Akasha somehow managed to break the tension.

He silently entered the living room, stepping carefully until the entire room came into view.

The sight before him confirmed his suspicion.

‘Four… no five.’

He thought, silently counting the number of goblins inside the room.

There were five goblins, each in a different part of the room, rummaging through the items as if they were searching for prey.

‘But unfortunately, they are the prey here.’

Lucian’s smile slowly widened, something he didn’t even notice.

He flicked the dagger in his hand lightly.

The bone blade spun once between his fingers before settling back into his grip.

He took a step forward deliberately, making sure his shoe hit the floor loudly enough to attract their attention.

The sound echoed through the room.

All five goblins froze instantly.

Their heads snapped toward him.

Lucian didn’t know why he was doing something so reckless.

He could have attacked them silently, taking them down one by one.

But he really felt like doing it.

And so he did.

“Let’s fight, my fellow roommates.”

The moment the words left his mouth—

Lucian dashed forward.

His body moved faster than an ordinary human could react.

Lucian dashed at the nearest goblin, twisting the dagger in his hand.

The goblin barely had time to react.

Its eyes widened in shock as Lucian’s figure blurred toward it.

As soon as he was close enough, he stabbed his bone dagger straight into its skull.

Normally, he wouldn’t have done that.

The skull was one of the hardest parts of the body.

A bone striking bone.

It was a poor choice for stabbing.

But Lucian wasn’t worried about that.

With his enhanced strength, the dagger pierced through the goblin’s skull with brutal force.

The blade sank deep inside its head as a strange, viscous liquid, along with blood, spurted out of it.

The goblin’s body jerked violently before collapsing.

Lucian grimaced and instantly distanced himself.

“Yuck.”

His nose wrinkled in disgust.

The dagger was still embedded in the creature’s skull.

The mixture of brain fluid and goblin blood made the weapon look incredibly disgusting.

[You know that you have to keep some alive, right?] Aksaha’s deadpan voice rang inside his head again.

Lucian blinked.

“Ah, right. Of course, I remember. No need to worry.”

He let out a small nervous chuckle.

‘Shit, I almost forgot about that.’

The remaining goblins had already begun reacting.

One of them lunged at him with a sharp shriek.

Lucian immediately distanced himself from the attacking goblin.

The creature’s claws slashed through the air where his chest had been moments earlier.

Lucian tilted his body smoothly.

Then he raised one of his legs horizontally—

And kicked.

His foot slammed into the goblin’s chest with crushing force.

The impact sent the creature flying backwards.

It smashed violently into the wall.

CRACK.

A bone-cracking sound echoed through the room as the goblin’s body slumped against the wall before collapsing to the floor.

Lucian smiled in satisfaction.

‘Let’s repeat this.’

He moved to the others, slamming them into the walls and breaking their bones while trying his best not to kill them instantly.

He was strong, so he had to hold himself back slightly.

His movements were smoother than the first time he had fought.

He was deliberately avoiding lethal blows.

As he fought the monsters, he heard faint shouts from above, along with loud banging on the door.

His eyes flickered upward instinctively.

‘What is going on over there?’ He wondered briefly, but didn’t lose his focus.

He had already learned the consequences of losing focus during his fight with the hobgoblin.

That lesson had been painful enough.

His forearms still ached from that attack.

‘Are they arguing?’

Lucian frowned slightly as he moved.

He grabbed another goblin’s arm and slammed it against the table before driving the dagger into its shoulder.

The creature shrieked in pain.

Lucian twisted the blade slightly.

His goal was clear.

His movements became even more precise.

He needed to immobilise them.

Break their fighting capability.

But keep them alive.

At least two of them.

So both Lia and Seraphina could kill them.

***

Both Lia and Seraphina flinched at the sudden loud sound, but Seraphina didn’t loosen her grip.

Her fingers remained tightly wrapped around Lia’s wrists, holding her in place with surprising strength despite the trembling that ran through her arms.

Lia struggled harder.

Her heart was already racing wildly, the chaotic noises from downstairs sending wave after wave of fear through her chest.

Her brother was down there.

Alone.

Facing those monsters.

And she was stuck here.

Trapped and helpless.

Something inside her finally snapped.

“Let me go, bitch!” she screamed, her voice cracking with desperation as she tried to yank her hands free.

The words left her mouth like shattered glass.

Seraphina’s eyes widened instantly as her fingers unconsciously loosened.

For a moment, she didn’t even react to Lia pulling away.

Had she heard it correctly?

Lia had cursed her.

The realisation hit her harder than she expected.

Even Seraphina didn’t understand why it hurt so much.

Over the past two years, after living with Lucian and Lia, she had grown fond of Lia as well.

Even though she was a bit reckless, had anger issues, and was somewhat crazy over her brother, she had never been disrespectful toward Seraphina.

So this came as a great shock.

But she recovered from it almost instantly.

This was not the time to dwell on hurt feelings.

Lia didn’t wait for her reaction.

As soon as her grip loosened, she snatched her hand away and ran to the door.

She grabbed the handle immediately.

But as she tried to open it—

It didn’t move.

She frowned in confusion and pulled harder.

Still nothing.

It was locked.

Locked from the outside.

“Brother!”

Her voice rose sharply as realisation struck her.

She slammed both hands against the door.

“Lucian!” She shouted his name, but her voice went unheard.

Lucian was already downstairs, and she could still hear the noises from below growing louder as the shrieks echoed through the house.

Her heart slammed painfully against her chest.

“Bastard! Fucking open the door!”

She kicked the door in frustration, but to no avail.

Finally, after a few frustrating tries, she stopped.

Her breathing grew uneven as she thought about what would happen to her brother.

Her nails dug into the door frame.

Behind her, Seraphina let out a quiet sigh.

She slowly stood up and walked over to her.

She didn’t say anything and simply grabbed Lia’s arm again, gently pulling her away from the door.

Despite Lia’s earlier struggle, she didn’t resist this time.

Seraphina guided her back toward the bed.

Lia absentmindedly sat down.

Her shoulders slumped.

As she sat on the bed, her hands clenched tightly in her lap.

The anger that had fueled her moments ago had burned out quickly.

After several long seconds, Lia suddenly turned her head toward Seraphina.

“How are you so calm?” she asked, but her voice rose slightly without her noticing.

There was frustration in her tone.

Confusion. And a hint of resentment.

She was furious at Lucian.

But more than that—

She was angry toward Seraphina.

Seraphina ran a hand slowly through her long black hair, pushing the strands away from her face.

For the first time since Lucian had left the room, her face became fully visible.

Lia froze the moment she saw it.

Seraphina’s eyes were red and watery, small, silent tears sliding down her cheeks, which she quickly wiped away with the sleeve of her dress.

But it was too late.

Lia had already seen them.

Her icy blue eyes stared at Lia—cold and sharp—making her flinch.

“I am not.”

Her hoarse voice trembled slightly as she spoke, like she was barely holding herself together.

Seraphina closed her eyes, inhaling and exhaling deeply, repeating the process again and again, trying to calm her mind.

Meanwhile, Lia sat there silently.

Something inside her shifted… as understanding finally dawned on her.

Until now, she had believed she was the only one panicking, the only one worried about the situation… about Lucian.

But now—

She realised how wrong that assumption had been.

Seraphina cared for him, too.

Maybe even more than her, as much as she didn’t want to admit that part.

But she cared for him.

She was someone who had endured years of abuse from her husband.

Years of suffering.

And she had endured it all for one reason.

For her son.

For Lucian.

Lia couldn’t even begin to imagine what she must be feeling right now.

And yet—

Despite all of that—

Seraphina was still silent.

She hadn’t screamed.

Hadn’t panicked.

Hadn’t lost control as Lia had.

And seeing that only made Lia feel even more guilty.

After nearly a minute of quiet breathing, Seraphina slowly opened her eyes again.

They were calm once more, composed like a snow field.

Lia almost felt jealous.

How could she stay so calm like that?

But she didn’t dwell on the thought.

Seraphina looked at her again.

This time, her gaze softened slightly.

“I apologise.”

“Sorry.”

Both of them spoke at the same time, startling themselves.

Lia spoke first.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I shouldn’t have cursed at you like that.”

In her anger, she hadn’t even realised what she had said, and only now did it sink in.

Guilt flickered through her.

Seraphina nodded silently.

“I apologise too,” she said softly.

“Maybe I was a bit harsh on you.”

“No,” Lia replied immediately.

“You weren’t.”

Her voice was firm this time.

“It was my fault.”

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