Kate's trembling hand had been a warning.
Even while bleeding out on the sofa, barely able to breathe, she had still tried to alert them to the danger lurking in the shadows.
And she had been right.
"Lucien!"
Carl's voice shook as the reality of what had just happened finally caught up to him.
John lay motionless on the floor, blood pooling beneath him. Kate was barely conscious, her throat slashed and body riddled with wounds. The room itself reeked of iron and death.
For a brief moment, Carl froze.
Lucien's calm voice cut through the chaos.
"Check on Kate and John. I'll deal with her."
The steady tone snapped Carl back to his senses.
"Right."
He rushed toward the victims, kneeling beside John first.
The moment his fingers reached John's neck, his expression darkened.
The pulse was faint.
Too faint.
His pupils were dilated, chest barely rising.
The man was hanging by a thread.
Carl's jaw clenched as he shifted toward Kate.
Her injuries were horrifying.
Her throat had been cut deep enough to silence her, but not enough to kill her instantly.
The rest of her body bore multiple stab wounds—arms, abdomen, shoulders.
Painful.
Cruel.
Deliberate.
This hadn't been a murder attempt.
It had been torture.
Carl's eyes reddened with fury.
That monster had done this simply to keep Kate from calling for help.
A cold rage settled inside him.
On the other side of the room, Lucien walked slowly toward Lina.
She lay crumpled against the wall where his kick had thrown her.
Her body twitched weakly.
Blood seeped from the corner of her lips.
Her spine was shattered.
The impact had destroyed more than just bone—her internal organs were failing.
She tried to push herself up, but her body no longer obeyed.
All she could do was writhe helplessly on the floor.
Her eyes, filled with pain and disbelief, locked onto Lucien.
She still couldn't understand it.
The curse.
The hallucinogenic trap.
The life-draining ritual.
Everything had been perfect.
Lucien should have been dead.
Yet here he stood, completely unharmed.
Worse—
He had destroyed her in a single move.
Lucien stopped in front of her, looking down with cold, unreadable eyes.
"Can't understand it?"
His voice was calm.
Almost mocking.
"You really thought your little tricks were enough to fool me?"
Lina's pupils trembled.
A faint smile touched Lucien's lips, but there was no warmth in it.
"Tell me something."
His gaze sharpened.
"Did you truly believe that nun and that lawyer were helping you?"
The words struck like knives.
Lina's expression changed.
Lucien saw it immediately.
So he was right.
A faint sneer formed on his face.
"You fool."
His voice dropped lower.
"You were never their ally."
"You were their pawn."
The words echoed through the blood-soaked living room.
Carl heard every single one.
So did Kate.
Lucien crouched slightly, meeting Lina's hate-filled eyes.
"They promised you a cure, didn't they?"
He spoke each word slowly.
"They told you the ritual in this villa would absorb life force and restore your body."
A pause.
Then his smile turned cruel.
"But the truth?"
His eyes gleamed coldly.
"That ritual was meant to kill everyone."
Silence.
Lina's body suddenly convulsed.
Her eyes widened.
Shock.
Rage.
Hatred.
For the first time, true understanding dawned on her face.
She had been used.
Discarded.
Betrayed.
The realization drove her into madness.
Suddenly—
The entire villa began to tremble.
Carl looked up in horror.
"What the hell—?!"
A crimson light erupted from beneath the floorboards.
It spread like flowing blood, swallowing the entire room in an eerie red glow.
The air thickened.
A suffocating, malevolent force filled every corner of the house.
Lucien's expression remained unchanged.
He understood immediately.
Lina had activated the final stage.
If she was dying—
Then everyone would die with her.
A mutual destruction trap.
Carl instinctively moved closer to Kate, shielding her.
"Lucien!"
But Lucien only let out a cold laugh.
"A desperate final struggle."
His eyes flashed.
Then his voice rang out with power.
A chant.
Ancient.
Steady.
Absolute.
"The heavens and earth return to purity.
All filth shall disperse.
Evil shall vanish.
Let the Dao endure."
The incantation flowed from his lips with astonishing speed.
Each word carried a force that seemed to shake the air itself.
The crimson light in the room violently surged.
The evil energy condensed, resisting the power descending from above.
For a split second, the two forces collided.
Then—
The ritual shattered.
A burst of invisible force exploded outward.
Furniture overturned.
Glass cracked.
Candles extinguished.
The blood-red glow vanished as if it had never existed.
Silence.
Complete silence.
The villa stopped trembling.
The ritual was broken.
Lina stared upward in disbelief.
Her eyes, once filled with malice, now held only despair.
Lucien stood above her like an executioner.
"Don't worry," he said quietly.
His voice was colder than the night outside.
"The two who used you won't be far behind."
He looked down at her without the slightest mercy.
"You can die in peace."
Those were the last words she heard.
Her eyes slowly dimmed.
Then her body went still.
Carl swallowed hard.
Even after everything, the scene still left him shaken.
"…It's over?"
Lucien straightened.
"Yes."
"The one who cast the ritual is dead."
"The curse is broken."
"It's over."
Carl finally let out the breath he had been holding.
But beside him, Kate suddenly stirred.
Her eyes widened with panic.
She had heard it.
The nun.
The mastermind.
Her children.
Terror filled her gaze.
She struggled weakly, trying to rise.
Carl quickly held her gently.
"Don't move."
His voice was urgent but reassuring.
"Lucien will handle it."
He looked at her seriously.
"You saw what he can do."
"Your children will be safe."
Kate's desperate eyes shifted toward Lucien.
For a moment, the room fell silent.
Then Lucien gave a slight nod.
That was enough.
The fear in her eyes eased just a little.
Her body relaxed.
Slowly, she closed her eyes.
Far away, in a dim underground chamber, a woman suddenly frowned.
"…Something's wrong."
A man's voice echoed from the darkness.
"What happened, darling?"
"The ritual in the villa activated."
Her expression darkened.
"But it was interrupted."
The man let out a dismissive chuckle.
"So the bait failed."
His tone was casual.
"As long as the police are distracted, that dwarf has served her purpose."
Candles flickered to life one by one.
Their pale light revealed the horrifying room.
Animal skulls.
Human teeth.
Hair.
Nails.
Rotting remnants of dark rituals.
At the center stood a massive mirror.
And reflected within it—
Two terrified children.
Bound hand and foot.
Mouths gagged.
Eyes wet with tears.
Huddled together in fear.
Waiting.
Unaware that Lucien was already coming.