"Mhm. Still hasn't returned. Perhaps… he's too engrossed," Anna lowered her gaze, avoiding Voss's unsettling scrutiny. Her voice was dry.
"Engrossed?" Voss let out a scoff, his gaze sticking to her like he was examining an object.
"Since he won't be back anytime soon, there's no need for us to wait around. After a day of inspections, I'm rather tired…"
His fingers moved to the jade clasp at his waist, unfastening it slowly. "Why don't you help me… relax?"
"W-what?" Anna's heart sank as she instinctively stepped back.
"Don't play dumb." Voss suddenly reached out, his grip like iron as he seized her wrist, halting her retreat. His tone turned casually obscene, leaving no room for refusal. "Cultivators are still human. You understand that sort of thing between a man and a woman, don't you?"
"My lord jests! If you require such services, the brothels in the city—" Anna tried to struggle, but her wrist didn't budge. The crushing strength of a Baron left her completely powerless.
"Kneel."
Two words, spoken lightly—yet carrying absolute authority.
Anna looked up in shock.
"Do I need to repeat myself? I said—kneel." Voss's gaze turned cold. The oppressive force of a Baron, mixed with chilling spiritual energy, descended like an invisible mountain.
At the same time, his grip tightened violently, yanking her downward.
A faint crack sounded as her knees slammed hard against the cold stone floor. Pain shot through her body.
She was forced to kneel, all color draining from her face.
Damn it… why am I still this powerless?!
Fragments of memory from twenty years ago surged up like venomous vines—her younger self kneeling among starving refugees, looking up at the Black Baron's gaze as if he were judging insects… all for a single bowl of thin porridge to survive, to preserve even a fading trace of her mother's warmth…
That same helpless despair—her fate entirely crushed in another's hand—pierced through twenty years of time, returning sharper and filthier than ever.
Whipping. Cultivation. Endurance…
And yet, in the end, she was still so easily forced to her knees—like livestock awaiting slaughter.
"Don't put on that lofty look," Voss said from above, his eyes filled with undisguised contempt as he loosened his belt. "A cripple with a ruined Blood Core, stuck at servant—compared to a prostitute, you're only a little 'cleaner' because of that cultivator skin. If not for that, you think I'd even bother with you? You should be grateful."
He paused, savoring her pale face, then added slowly—like sprinkling salt into an open wound:
"Oh, right. I almost forgot to tell you. That strike a year ago—the one that shattered your Blood Core… I did it on purpose."
Anna's head snapped up. Her pupils shrank as fear was instantly consumed by surging hatred, locking onto Voss's smug face.
"Yes. That look—that's it!" Voss grew excited, his breathing roughening.
He reached out, gripping her jaw harshly. His thumb forced her clenched teeth apart, exposing her vulnerable mouth. "Defiance, anger… and helplessness. It's intoxicating."
"What's the point of all your struggling? No background, no support—you were born to be stepped on. I only helped you see reality sooner, so you wouldn't waste time chasing dreams you were never meant to have."
Holding her jaw in place, his other hand pressed against the back of her neck, slowly forcing her head downward.
"Come. Serve me well. Maybe I'll take you as a concubine if I'm feeling generous."
Anna's blood surged to her head—then froze.
Humiliation. Rage. Hatred. And beneath it all, the deepest powerlessness—twisting together into a darkness that wanted to destroy everything.
Her hands trembled violently at her sides, knuckles turning white. Spiritual energy surged wildly through her newly restored yet fragile meridians—
Kill him. Kill him now. Even if it means dying together!
Just as she was about to detonate everything—
"Captain! We've found the black-market merchant!"
A clear, urgent shout rang out from the courtyard.
Voss froze mid-motion. His brows furrowed as the burning desire in his eyes was replaced by calculation. Viscount Goldrich's task clearly mattered more than this "snack" before him.
"Tch." He clicked his tongue in irritation, then shoved Anna aside as if discarding a toy.
He quickly straightened his clothes, fastening his belt with smooth indifference—as though nothing had happened.
"Keep him secured. I'll be there immediately," he ordered toward the courtyard without looking back, then strode off.
His footsteps faded quickly into the night.
"…Hah."
Within Anna's mind, Van Helsing let out a faint, rare breath.
Though it wasn't his concern, being forced to witness such a scene from a first-person perspective was hardly pleasant—even for him.
He had already begun calculating how to assist Anna in striking back at the critical moment.
But unlike his detached relief—
Anna remained where she had fallen, motionless.
Only her clenched fists—nails digging into her palms until they bled—trembled uncontrollably.
After what felt like an eternity, she slowly raised her head.
There were no tears on her face—only a hollow numbness.
Yet the fire in her eyes had not gone out. It had hardened—like molten iron cooled into something colder, deeper.
"…Kill him," she murmured hoarsely.
"Mm." Van Helsing responded simply.
"Kill him… tear him apart… crush him!" Her voice quickened, trembling spreading through her entire body. Beneath the numbness, destruction boiled like magma.
"Mm. And cut his manhood off while you're at it," Van Helsing added with a trace of cold humor.
"Not just him…" Anna's gaze shifted, as if piercing through walls—toward the outpost, toward the Bitter Sea Sect, toward everyone who had ever looked down on her, trampled her, treated her as nothing. "Everyone… everyone who has humiliated me… must die!"
The final words burst out as a hoarse cry. Tears, burning hot, finally fell from her reddened eyes—only to dry almost instantly, leaving behind cold traces.
"I'll help you."
Van Helsing's voice sounded again—calm, yet laced with a cruel satisfaction, as though a long-awaited climax had finally begun.
That's more like it.
In this game, I may not know who I am. I may not know where I am. But one thing is certain—
It's time to start killing.
Let the blood flow like a river.