The silence in the hall was like a sheet of ice ready to shatter. In the midst of the jagged crystal debris, Lucien Vornhart stood tall, letting the crimson-black aura lick at his heels like tongues of hellfire. His gaze fell upon the maid in the blue dress, who lay paralyzed by an invisible terror.
Lucien moved. His footsteps were slow, yet every thud on the marble sounded like a death sentence. He crouched beside the woman. With a movement that almost looked tender, Lucien touched her hand. His small, pale fingers traced her skin, starting from the palm, moving past the racing pulse, and stopping at the elbow.
"You see..." Lucien whispered. His voice was soft, but its coldness could freeze the very marrow of one's bones. "It's not that I'm heartless..."
He looked up, meeting the maid's wide, trembling eyes—pupils vibrating with primitive fear.
"I'm simply..." Lucien suddenly gripped her wrist with a strength impossible for his age. His face leaned in, a smirk exposing his teeth. "...repaying tears with tears!"
SRAAAKKKK!
Without warning, Lucien wrenched the arm with a single, brutal, magic-fueled yank. The sound of tearing muscle and a dislocating shoulder joint echoed through the hall, followed by a sickening squelch.
"Ah.. ARRGHHHHH!!!!"
The maid's scream pierced the ceiling before dissolving into a strangled, choking wail. Blood erupted from her shoulder—now nothing but a gaping hole of raw meat. The thick crimson fluid gushed out, flooding the marble floor and soaking the lavish gowns of the other servants.
Lucien didn't blink. He stood up, clutching the severed arm in his right hand. Blood dripped from the lifeless fingertips, yet Lucien only smiled in satisfaction. There was a glint of madness in his eyes; the remnants of Osric's Earthly sanity had been swallowed by the tide of Lucien's agonizing trauma.
"Remarkable... so much blood," Lucien said flatly. He stared at the red pool beneath his feet with genuine wonder, as if studying an interesting natural phenomenon.
He tossed the severed limb aside like a piece of rotting trash. Then, with a gesture utterly devoid of civility, he leaned down, scooped a handful of warm blood from the floor, and slapped it directly onto the face of the maid in the red dress, slamming her head against the marble.
"AHAHAHA!! BRILLIANT!"
Lucien laughed hysterically. His voice rang through the blood-spattered hall—a laugh that had no business coming from a child. Morality was dead. Inside him, only one drive remained: total annihilation for those who had destroyed him.
At that moment, the grand doors of the hall were kicked open. A group of mansion soldiers, hearing the massive commotion from outside, stormed in with swords drawn.
"Stop right there!" the captain of the guards roared.
However, only two steps into the room, the atmosphere inside the hall suddenly shifted, becoming as heavy as lead. The soldiers' knees shook violently. The mental pressure radiated by Lucien hit them like a physical blow. One by one, these grown men in silver armor fell to their knees where they stood. Their weapons clattered as they dropped onto the floor.
"N-no!" one of the soldiers groaned, clutching his chest which felt as if it were being crushed.
Their eyes were drawn to the center of the hall. There, amidst the horrific red mire, five women in luxurious gowns lay sprawled in a pathetic state. And above them all stood a five-year-old boy, wearing a twisted smile directed at them.
"My, my... besides the freeloading maids, it seems there are also sham soldiers in this mansion," Lucien said mockingly.
"W-who are you?! Why are you doing this?!" the lead soldier asked with a fractured voice. His breath came in gasps; he felt as though he were staring into a black hole ready to swallow him whole.
"Heheh, you don't even recognize me as your Master? The more I look at it, the more remarkable the people working in this mansion truly are..." Lucien stepped forward, causing the soldiers to flinch in silence.
"Master..?" they muttered. Their minds raced. Could the infant they had ignored all this time have turned into this monster?
"My name is Lucien Vornhart. Anyone who hears this name must kneel without exception!"
BOOM!
The crimson-black aura exploded from Lucien's body, this time with a tangible physical manifestation. The pressure in the hall doubled, creating new cracks in the walls. In various corners of the room, black ice crystals began to manifest, freezing the blood and the air, creeping outward until they reached the mansion gates. Meanwhile, the space around Lucien seemed to burn; black flames flickered in the air, scorching the marble floor until it turned pitch black.
In the midst of this heart-crushing tension, the sound of footsteps was heard. Slow. Measured. Calm.
The footsteps were unaffected by Lucien's magical pressure. As the figure stepped into the hall, every sound—the maids' cries, the roar of the black flames, the vibration of the walls—suddenly went silent.
The figure was a man with black hair, dressed in a butler's uniform that was pristine and flawless. He wore elegant thin-rimmed glasses, framing a handsome face that was cold yet composed. He showed not a shred of fear.
"What is happening here?" his voice was low, yet filled with an authority capable of silencing anyone's aura in the room.
All eyes turned toward him. Even Lucien, who was consumed by madness, shifted his red gaze.
"That..." the man muttered as his eyes locked onto Lucien's. He paused for a moment, observing the blazing crimson-black aura. "The Devil's Gate, I see..."
He exhaled a long sigh, as if what was happening was merely a tiresome administrative matter. He stepped forward, passing the pools of blood and the kneeling soldiers, approaching Lucien who was beginning to lose his balance under the weight of his own power.
"Young Master..." the man said in an incredibly polite tone. He reached out and touched Lucien's shoulder gently.
Instantly, the exploding aura was sucked back into Lucien's body. The black flames vanished, and the pressure crushing the room disappeared in a flash. Lucien was stunned; his consciousness slowly returned before his eyes grew heavy and his body slumped weakly.
The butler caught Lucien with agility, carrying him in a bridal style as if the boy were a most precious treasure. He then looked down at the maidservants still gasping in the pool of blood. Four of them had lost consciousness, leaving only the maid in the white dress awake, though shaking uncontrollably.
"Tell me, why has the Young Master lost control?" the man asked in a cold tone more lethal than Lucien's previous rage.
"I-it... w-we only...." the maid stammered, her face drenched in tears and blood. She couldn't finish her sentence; her soul was too shattered to construct a lie.
"Hah... Leave them here," the man said, turning his back. "Escort me to the Young Master's chamber."
"Y-yes..." With legs that were weak and nearly paralyzed, the maid in the white dress tried to stand. She walked with a limp, leading the man toward the stairs that led to the dark, damp basement.
However, right in front of the basement door, the butler's steps halted. His calm face suddenly hardened.
"Did I not tell you to escort me to the Young Master's chamber? Why are you leading me to the basement?" he asked, his voice beginning to carry a threat.
"I-it... the Young Master's chamber is indeed down there..." the maid answered in a trembling, squeaky voice.
The man's face turned a deep red. His eyes flashed with fury behind his thin glasses.
"What?!" he roared. His voice thundered through the silent corridor. His hand clenched into a fist; he almost threw a blow if he weren't already carrying the soundly sleeping Lucien.
He took a deep breath, trying to dampen a rage capable of bringing this mansion down. "In that case, take me to the most spacious and magnificent chamber in this mansion," he ordered with absolute authority.
The maid's face grew even paler, horror gripping her tighter than before. "B-but..."
"But what?!" he barked again, his patience spent.
"T-that chamber... is occupied by Julia..." the girl answered in a voice that was almost inaudible.
"Who is that?"
"She... the Head Maid of this mansion..." the girl bowed, her body trembling violently as she imagined Julia's reaction, yet she was far more afraid of the man standing before her.