Chapter 25

"HOW COULD YOU" Valeri screamed, the sight of Hector impaled to the wall frightened him. The battle between Lucien and him lasted only a few minutes on end but the destruction both caused was enough to obliterate half the hall, leaving nothing but a void emptiness. Meanwhile, Hector was chasing through his dragon part and reverting back the sheer sight of it Was enough to make a person itch with pain. Cought up Blood, Lucien stared silently and then Turned himself to Valeri. I helped him. He would've died if we continued. "What do you mean? He's dying with that Thing sticking through him. And is everything he said true? Is that why you've been so Void with the emotions you show? Because you're afraid? What kind of man are you!? You're sick, deluded with the urge of blood, you've always been that way, selfish, doing things that make you feel good with your idiotic sense of Selflessness that fuels your hypocritical selfishness. the eerie feeling everyone gets from you is your sickening blood lust and need to be validated. Almost like you dont even exist. You disgust me."

A deep silence settled between them, the weight of Valeri's words hanging in the air like a noose. Lucien had heard it all before—accusations, disdain, the judgment of those who believed themselves righteous. But something about Valeri's voice, the sheer anger in it, made his chest tighten. It was always the same, wasn't it? People saw what they wanted to see. And yet, here Valeri was, staring at him like he was some unknowable beast, something monstrous beyond comprehension. Valeri's rant softened Lucien, it was the same words he'd heard all his life. He'd barely spent a year with Valeri and the words he'd heard were the same all over again from people he'd spent his life with. "Do you wish to know what happened?" Lucien asked, turning Away to stare at the convulsing Hector. Hector's body twitched against the wall, his breathing ragged as his transformation slowed. The bond between Faust and him was irreversible now. His very essence had been rewritten, his humanity forced to coexist with something ancient and overwhelming. Every muscle in his body fought against the changes, and yet, they consumed him all the same.

The scales were fading away but as if they were Retracting instead of actually going away. It was too late. They now existed as one and yet different entities all at once. "Do not worry about Hector, he will live. He can no longer die as he is." Lucien said, as he turned away once again to face Valeri.

Valeri's hands were clenched into fists, his nails digging into his palms hard enough to draw blood. He had spent so long believing in the strength of people, in the idea that righteousness and justice meant something. But now, staring at Lucien, he realized how hollow those ideals could be. Was there really any justice in a world where people like Lucien existed, where men like him could slaughter without remorse, convinced they were right?

"What does that eve-" Gale shouted, however a wail from Hector interrupted her, his face seemed Disfigured yet reforming to replicate a different form entirely, as if he possessed two faces at once. Gale's breath hitched as she watched Hector's face contort, his skin shifting unnaturally as if two different identities were fighting for control. It was horrifying. He wasn't just changing—he was unraveling, reforming, and breaking apart all at once. The sheer wrongness of it made her stomach churn, and for the first time in her life, she felt truly powerless.

Lucien walked past Valeri and stood infront of Gale who was sitting on the floor. "I will now tell you everything, sincerely."Lucien's gaze softened for just a moment, though whether it was regret or something else, no one could tell. He had no interest in justifying himself, nor did he expect anyone to understand. The things he had done weren't for redemption or revenge. They weren't even for love. They were simply what needed to be done.

The memories of Heloisa felt like ghosts clawing at the edges of his mind. He could still see her, still hear her voice, shaky, uncertain, and pleading. Even in her suffering, she had tried to protect others, had tried to shoulder the burden alone. But in the end, none of it had mattered. The world had swallowed her whole, just as it had swallowed so many before her.

Lucien knew who did it, as often times he'd recieve pictures from him once he'd finished with his strange fantasies of her. It was a man whom she'd helped once on a train, he was drunk and getting beat up by a bunch of men. Heloisa in her kindness pleaded for him. And led him to his house where he assaulted her. In tears, she pushed it off as a drunk incident. Initially the man, scared that Heloisa knowing where he lived would come to attack him and Place lawsuits against him, he went into hiding moving to another country. In that time, she moved on, graduated and Met Lucien. The assault happened in her very first year of school. But then he suddenly comes back after 5 years abroad and notices there isn't any charge against him. Curious and excited he finds Heloisa and discovers she's the sister to his former boy thing, Hector. Hector when he was younger was Bullied by him, so mychbso that He'd attempted to take his life 5 times, one time, nearly succeeding and the other times, he was saved by Heloisa. After the 3rd attempt which was the one which almost took his life, Hector's parents gave up on him and Heloisa nurtured him. The gap between his final attempt and Heloisa getting Assaulted was By 6 months. The Assaulter/ abuser then reached out to Heloisa. After finding out about Everything. He noticed how his family was a major shareholder in Luciens company and threatened her with death threats to her brother. Scared and unwilling to have her brother go through the suicide trips he'd gone through before, Decided she'd follow his whims. On their first night, it was gentle, soft and meek. He'd drugged her and made her Say things like how she hated Lucien and How she preferred this Abuser more. Unbeknownst to her, he was Recording. After they were Done, he led her out the back door and said he'd contact her when he needs her again. The next day Lucien got the video from an anonymous email, the abusers face covered but Heloisas face open. But Lucien wasn't Livid. In her Confessions he'd noticed she'd say Something at the end of every sentence that sounded like an expression as a guise. But Lucien knew what it was. She'd apologised emafter each sentence. Every single one, which meant she knew He was recording. Lucien Asked Heloisa to Come meet him and after tons of persuasion she agreed but instead wanted to meet in a public place. Although a public figure, Lucien was hesitant but decided he would. After meeting, Lucien asked her who he was and asked her if she needed protection against him. Lucien tried to assure her that it didn't matter what would happen he'd always protect her but the dilemma made her lose her mind. All she wanted to do was run, but Hector's previous feats of suicide was him not wanting to have to run away from anybody. And she knew what this guy was capable of, if she ran he'd know. Even this date, he'd known about and texted her cryptic messages which taunted her. Weary, she Got up And screamed and Lucien, telling him to leave her alone and saying how she's tired of his abuse and Cheating. Lucien knew what she was doing and Asked her not to go down that route but she Said if he ever reaches out to her again, she'd report him as an abuser. However he didn't try to follow her. Because he too was afraid of the repercussions. He'd felt so guilty at the relief he'd felt when she got up and left because he too did not want to face this group. On her way back home, she was dazed. Her phone kept buzzing at the abuser reaching out to her but she was so out of it she, she didn't even notice the car heading towards her, jolting away, she'd fallen and bruised herself. And then the true nightmare began when the text that popped up on her phone was from her abuser saying "I hope that Woke you up." She'd known at that moment there'd never be an escape for her. Accepting her fate, she kept on meeting the strange man, until that moment she'd laid unconscious. What happened then was, Lucien began preying in their affairs again, and he didn't like that. So he told her to put a restraining order on Lucien but she didn't. And instead went to Lucien to break down. And he didn't like that, so he threatens her, Saying he'd take Gale off her scholarships and Saying Hector would kill himself because of her. Begging, and begging, he got irritated and Disgusted by her and kicked her head onto a glass table, which made her pass out. He called his security to carry her out. Which led onto the point where she Filed a Restraining order on Lucien, and eventually Dying in the hospital. Hector livid, Calls Lucien out saying he'd kill him. Going to the man's house everyday and even leading The media there. But the media was confused. That house was like a haunted house. Although lit up. There were no records of anyone that lived there. And when they attempted to dig into it, the Government shut them down. Hector was Left alone. After his 15th day on recklessly threatening and banging on the gates, He is beaten up by a bunch of men, with his middle finger on both hands cut off and the nails on all his fingers removed. And as they're leaving they tell him, "Lucien sends his regards." Meanwhile on Luciens end, he lost his mind, stepped down as Ceo, after all allegations pointed at him as Heloisas abuser and went into hiding due to public outrage. He was arrested a few times but without any concrete evidence directly connecting him to the abuse, Lucien was acquitted. This didn't change the publics thoughts on him and he cut himself off from the real world. Going back to his family after years of being disowned. Reluctant to accept him, they eventually do and his first activity back was wiping out Everyone and anyone connected to Heloisas death, from the abusers family, to the guards who worked within that time, way back to the first abuse, and then finally the abuser. Killing him so slowly and painfully it toom Lucien 7 days before he finally succumbed to his injuries. But Lucien was uneasy. After everything he found out Hector died from starvation after losing himself to his anger, going mental and roaming the streets as a beggar. Gale was sent abroad as Heloisas final wish and never came back. So why was Hector standing infront of him?

The walls of the ruined hall groaned under the weight of destruction, the aftermath of the battle a reflection of the chaos within each of them. Smoke still lingered in the air, mixing with the scent of blood and scorched stone. But despite the devastation, the true war had only just begun.Lucien turned his head slightly, his expression unreadable. He had long since stopped believing in fate, yet somehow, the universe always seemed to conspire against him. Hector should have been dead. Gale should have been gone. The past should have remained buried. And yet, here they all were, tangled in a web of consequences that none of them could escape.Valeri's breathing was uneven, his chest rising and falling as he processed everything. Every answer Lucien gave only birthed more questions, more uncertainty. And yet, there was one thing he could no longer deny, none of them had ever truly known Lucien. Not really. The man before him wasn't just ruthless. He wasn't just cold. He was something else entirely. Something far worse.