Chapter 28 : The Crimson Ascension
Dirga stilled.
He could feel them.
Three more Lucians — stepping from the shadows like wraiths pulled from a nightmare.
Three presences crept from the darkness like wraiths born of ash and blood. They weren’t like the others. These weren’t the hollow clones Dirga had fought through. These were something real. The weight of their presence pressed against his skin like wet iron, suffocating.
A single voice broke the silence — smooth, venom-laced.
"Impressive, Mr. CEO," one of them drawled, stepping forward. "Your records told the story of a nobody. A ghost child. Lottery luck. No lineage, no training. A man chosen by chance... or maybe by mistake."
He tilted his head, eyes gleaming with malice.
"And yet here you stand, painted in the blood of my kin. It makes me wonder—who did you make a pact with? Not one of the numbered, surely. Something... rarer? An Ace? A King?"
Dirga didn’t reply.
He didn’t need to.
Lucian’s lips curled into something that barely resembled a human smile. It stretched too far. Split. Shivered.