BXBX NOVEL Chapter 25: The End of Black Claw Gang
"You died because of your foolish obsession with this girl. You wanted her so badly that you let your guard down, and one of my enemies ambushed you." His tone grew more venomous with each word, the loss of his son still a raw wound.
But as his gaze lingered on Lucy, something shifted within him. The anger that had initially consumed him began to fade, replaced by a sickening lust. Voss\'s lips curled into a cruel smile, his eyes gleaming with a perverse glint. "But don\'t worry, my dear son," he whispered, his voice dripping with malice. "I\'ll fulfill your wish. I\'ll play with this girl, just like you wanted."
The room seemed to darken as Voss\'s thoughts turned more sinister. His once-hardened expression softened into something almost affectionate, though twisted by his depravity. At 35 years old, Voss was no stranger to indulging his basest desires, and the sight of the beautiful, defenseless girl before him stoked the flames of his perversion.
"Bring her to my tent," he ordered, his voice carrying a tone of cold command mixed with eager anticipation. The henchmen who had brought Lucy to him exchanged glances but quickly obeyed, lifting her limp form and carrying her through the dimly lit corridors.
As they entered Voss\'s personal quarters, the air grew thick with an unsettling stillness. The tent was cluttered with trophies of past conquests, a grim reminder of the man\'s ruthlessness. The henchmen laid Lucy on the rough-hewn bed, her chest rising and falling softly as she remained under the influence of the sleeping powder.
Voss followed them, his smirk widening with every step. He closed the tent flap behind him, sealing them in an intimate, suffocating darkness. He approached the bed with a deliberate slowness, savoring the moment. His breath hitched with anticipation as he leaned over Lucy, close enough to feel the warmth of her skin.
"Let\'s have some fun, shall we?" Voss whispered, his voice barely more than a breath against Lucy\'s ear. The words dripped with vile intent, his breath hot and reeking of alcohol as he leaned closer. A sick, twisted grin spread across his face, his eyes gleaming with a hunger that had nothing to do with food.
He reached out a hand, rough and calloused, tracing a slow path down Lucy\'s arm. "Such soft skin," he muttered to himself, his tone almost reverent. "It\'s a shame you got tangled up with my son... but I\'ll make good use of you." His voice held a sickening affection, as though he believed he was doing her a favor.
As Voss\'s hand reached her wrist, he felt a faint warmth under his touch, but he dismissed it, too engrossed in his own depraved thoughts. "You\'ll make a fine trophy," he continued, his lips curling in satisfaction as he imagined the horrors he would inflict.
But just as his fingers began to tighten around her wrist, Lucy\'s eyes snapped open, glowing an intense, unnatural red. The sight froze Voss in his tracks, his hand jerking back as though burned. "What the hell?" he shouted, stumbling backward, his heart hammering in his chest.
Lucy\'s gaze was no longer that of a helpless, unconscious girl but of something far more terrifying. Her eyes bore into Voss, cold and fiery all at once, as if the very core of a volcano was staring him down. The air around her began to hum with a dangerous energy, the temperature rising rapidly.
"What… What is this?" Voss stammered, his voice quivering as he tried to pull away. But it was too late.
The air around Lucy began to hum with a dangerous energy, a low, vibrating thrum that resonated deep within the ground. The temperature spiked, rising so quickly that the very air seemed to shimmer with heat. The ground beneath her began to crack and smoke, small fissures opening up as the earth itself seemed to tremble at her awakening.
Voss stumbled backward, fear overtaking his perverse intent. "No… this can\'t be… What are you?" he gasped, his eyes wide with terror as he looked at the girl who was no longer just a girl.
Lucy\'s expression remained unchanged, her fiery gaze locked on Voss as if he were nothing more than an insect about to be crushed. She said nothing, but the energy radiating from her was answer enough. The ground continued to split apart, the cracks glowing with an intense, molten light.
"Stay back! Stay away from me!" Voss screamed, but his voice was drowned out by the deafening roar that suddenly filled the tent. The sheer heat of Lucy\'s power caused the very rocks around them to explode, sending shards of molten stone flying in every direction.
Voss had no time to react. The explosion engulfed him in an instant, his screams cut short as his body was torn apart by the blast. The leader of the Black Claw gang, once feared in the backwater regions, was reduced to nothing more than ashes in the blink of an eye. His power, his ambitions, all obliterated in the fiery wrath of Lucy\'s awakened physique.
Outside, the rest of the Black Claw gang heard the explosion and were thrown into chaos. The ground shook violently beneath their feet, and the air was filled with the acrid scent of burning earth. "What\'s happening?" one of the gang members shouted, panic evident in his voice.
"Run! We have to get out of here!" another screamed, but it was already too late.
The volcanic energy that had been unleashed within the tent spread rapidly, the heat intensifying as it radiated outward. The very ground beneath the gang\'s encampment began to heave and crack, spewing molten rock and fire. One by one, the members of the Black Claw gang were caught in the blast, their bodies vaporized by the intense heat before they could even comprehend what was happening.
"Help! Someone—" The cries for help were cut off as another explosion tore through the camp, erasing the last remnants of the once-feared gang.
In the center of the destruction, Lucy remained, now fully fused with the divine mask. The mask worked tirelessly, drawing in the purest mana from the surrounding environment to stabilize her volatile condition. As the molten lava core within her settled, the energy around her began to calm, the ground ceasing its violent upheaval.
The intense heat dissipated, leaving behind nothing but scorched earth and the lingering smell of sulfur. The Black Claw gang had been wiped out in mere minutes, their existence erased without ever understanding the force that had annihilated them.
Lucy\'s breathing slowed, her eyes gradually returning to their normal color as the divine mask continued to replenish her energy. She was unconscious, unaware of the devastation she had wrought, her body slowly adjusting to the newfound power that now coursed through her veins.
In just ten minutes, the Black Claw had been destroyed, leaving nothing behind but a smoldering crater. The silence that followed was deafening, a stark contrast to the violent chaos that had erupted just moments before.
And in the center of it all, Lucy lay still, her fate now inexorably tied to the divine mask and the power that had awakened within her.