The Anomaly Beyond The System

Chapter 174: But I think... you might be the reason.

Just before stepping through the portal...

While having a brief conversation with Valentina—

"Valentina... can I ask for something?"

Valentina’s eyes narrowed faintly.

"Didn’t I already tell you?" she replied in the same mildly annoyed tone.

"I’m not fulfilling all of your requests.

I’m not your genie, granting all of your wishes."

Despite the irritation in her voice, Lucian could tell she hadn’t rejected him outright.

"I am not asking for any skills or artifacts."

"You already took all the weapons. Can you be any more shameless?"

Ignoring the deadpan stare she directed at him, Lucian let out an awkward cough.

Confusion flickered across Vivienne’s face. She didn’t understand which weapons her mother was talking about, but the expression on Valentina’s face immediately piqued her curiosity.

And Lucian, noticing the irritation slowly rising on her face, decided not to drag it out any longer.

"I want Kanna."

His words came out without the slightest hesitation.

"""Huh?"""

Almost every woman’s voice echoed through the training grounds at once.

Silence followed.

Then, after a few seconds...

Lia’s expression darkened instantly.

Her fist clenched tightly as she slowly turned toward the mentioned maid.

Meanwhile, Kanna...

She didn’t react.

There wasn’t even the slightest flicker of emotion across her expressionless face.

It almost looked as though the conversation—and Lucian’s request in particular—weren’t even enough to make her react.

Selthia turned toward the black-haired maid and, seeing the absolute stillness in her body, she lightly poked Kanna’s shoulder.

But there was no response.

She remained completely frozen.

It wasn’t that she didn’t care enough to respond—

Rather, she genuinely had no idea how she was supposed to react in a situation like this.

"Hm..."

Valentina crossed her arms and rested her chin against her knuckles, deep in thought.

’...She’s really considering it.’

That was the exact same ridiculous thought that flashed through everyone’s mind.

Unbeknownst to all of them—

Or the thoughts racing through their heads—

Valentina silently observed Lucian for a few seconds before shifting her gaze toward the frozen maid.

Finally—

Valentina lowered her eyes toward the shadow beneath her feet, and after a few moments—

She lifted her gaze back toward him.

Lucian waited calmly.

Throughout that brief silence, he didn’t even try to justify his request, and neither did the redhead ask for a reason.

Otherwise, she would have already done so.

She knew her disciple wouldn’t ask for something meaningless, and there was also the fact that Lucian didn’t have much information about the current state of the world.

"Fine, take her."

The moment those words left her mouth, a smile instantly spread across his face, strangely causing Lia’s mood to worsen even further.

As for Kanna...

The emotionless maid couldn’t say a single word throughout the entire exchange, and neither did anyone ask for her opinion.

Without even being given the chance to object...

She had already been handed over to another person without uttering a single word herself.

***

Kanna felt her lips twitch ever so slightly in indignation as she remembered that.

But her gaze never left Lucian throughout this time.

After a brief moment, her eyes shifted past him toward what remained of his house—nothing more than shattered walls and broken concrete.

Then...

She looked back at him.

Lucian didn’t speak a single word, but the unusual seriousness in his eyes was already enough of a question for her.

After a few seconds of silence, Kanna finally opened her mouth and calmly, quietly began recounting exactly what had happened for the place to end up like... this.

According to her—

Shortly after Lucian had been taken to Bloodveil, something strange had begun happening.

For some unknown reason...

The monsters throughout the city had suddenly gone on a rampage, tearing buildings apart, while others burst up from beneath the ground, exploding through the streets.

The destruction spread through every district without slowing down, and if that wasn’t enough—

Several high-ranked dungeon portals had appeared nearby one after another.

And these new ones were far more dangerous than the ones before.

The entire district had long since been evacuated.

Now... there was almost zero chance of finding another living being who wasn’t a monster—except for them, of course.

Lucian’s brows twitched into a frown, and his expression darkened considerably.

"You mean... we’re currently standing within that same deadly area?"

Kanna gave a slow nod.

She had already explained everything that was needed, and she had no desire to continue talking anymore.

"And that woman sent us here."

Hearing those words from Lucian’s mouth, even the emotionless maid felt a surge of irritation.

’Tsk,’ she clicked her tongue inwardly.

’I brought that woman out too early.’

Right now, she genuinely regretted not leaving Selthia trapped and tortured for a few more hours, especially while she was crying inside her shadow.

Lucian ran a hand over his hair, traces of frustration flickering across his face.

But then...

A sudden thought surfaced in his mind.

"In the first place, how did all of this happen?" he muttered quietly, asking the question more to himself than to them.

Everything had begun...

Right after he and his family had left this place.

Which meant that if he had remained here for only a few more days...

There would’ve been absolutely no chance of surviving if they hadn’t managed to escape in time.

Though it was difficult to say for certain, since Valentina might’ve sent help for Lia... or maybe not.

Who knew what went on inside that redhead’s head?

Either way—

They would’ve remained trapped inside this ruined city, surrounded by monsters powerful enough to tear his previous self apart without the slightest effort.

Lucian fell into deep thought, trying again and again to find a reason.

Even in his previous life...

He inwardly shook his head.

’No use thinking about that. I’m already past the point where I died.’

Yes. Lucian had already crossed the point in time when he had died so pathetically in his previous life.

Which meant there was no reason to keep dwelling on it.

Still... he couldn’t think of a single explanation.

Finally, he lifted his gaze toward Kanna.

"Do you know why this could’ve happened?" he asked, since that was one of the main reasons he had brought her here in the first place.

As for the other...

He simply wanted a maid of his own—as shameless as that reason might be.

If Valentina ever found out that was one of the reasons he had taken Kanna, she might’ve truly thrown him back to Earth all by himself.

Kanna, who had been silently watching his thoughtful expression the entire time, pressed her lips together almost imperceptibly.

For a brief second, she hesitated.

Even she wasn’t entirely certain of her own conclusion, but...

"Young Master Lucian, this is only my opinion..."

Her quiet voice broke the silence as she lowered her head into a respectful bow.

"And I deeply apologise if I am wrong."

Her fingers slowly tightened around her folded hands.

"But I think... you might be the reason."

Both Lucian and Seraphina blinked.

"What?"

Lucian muttered in confusion.

Seraphina’s eyes narrowed slightly, but just as she was about to question Kanna—

The maid continued.

"Do you remember what happened after Lady Amelia drank your blood?"

"I..."

Lucian tried to answer, but after a brief moment of thought...

"I don’t."

His brows furrowed as he tried to recall what had truly happened.

’First... Lia was there, naked... then she suddenly attacked me.

She tried to kill me... or rather, she wasn’t in her right mind at the time.

After that... she drank my blood.

Then...’

His thoughts suddenly stopped.

The memory beyond that point turned completely blank.

In the next instant—

His body involuntarily staggered a step backward.

Cold sweat instantly broke out across his skin as an overwhelming sense of dread gripped his heart.

"Lucian!"

Seraphina’s worried voice abruptly pulled him back.

"Huh?"

Lucian blinked twice before looking toward his mother.

Then...

Toward Kanna.

"What happened?" Seraphina immediately grabbed his arm, her brows tightly knitted together.

"I’m... fine."

His answer did little to reassure her, but after watching him for another few seconds, she slowly lowered her hand. Even so, her eyes never left him, continuing to carefully observe him.

Meanwhile, Kanna...

’He doesn’t remember.’

She reached that conclusion almost immediately after seeing his confused reaction, though his sudden loss of composure still surprised her.

But...

That also meant he had no recollection of that form.

That...

That same eerie, dark figure that was enough to make her tremble faintly even now, sending a shiver down her spine with nothing more than the memory of it.

The reason she believed the monster rampage had begun was because of him...

Was because she had experienced it firsthand.

The instant she had seen that dark, terrifying figure...

A violent instinct had surged from deep within her.

An instinctive, overwhelming urge to kill it... Or perhaps Lucian in particular—to eliminate him before something even worse could happen.

Even with her extraordinary self-control, suppressing that impulse had been unimaginably difficult.

And if someone like her, who possessed complete control over her emotions, had struggled that much—

Then what about the monsters?

It was almost certain they had been drawn to him.

Because of him.

Though... it seemed Lucian himself wasn’t aware of that.

As the memory of that dark figure resurfaced, Kanna’s fingers tightened while her emotionless black eyes quietly observed his every action, his every movement as he reassured his mother.

’Should I have killed him back then...?’

The question surfaced in her mind once again.

Because unlike before...

She no longer felt particularly inclined to do it.