14 Blood Rain

As the group ascended the ladder from the underground cellar, they were met with an eerie sight.

The cabin's interior was dimly lit by the overcast sky, its pallid illumination mingling with the outside rain and distant thunder.

The presence of Lucas's skeletal and reanimated minions sent shivers down their spines, adding to the oppressive atmosphere.

The grotesque creatures stood silently, each holding a weapon, their hollow eyes casting eerie green flames around the room.

Lucas, hood lowered and rebar in hand exuded a reassuring presence.

He gestured toward his undead army and addressed the newly freed peoples, "As I mentioned, these are my servants. They won't harm anyone unless I command them to or unless they perceive a threat to me."

Ella, her eyes filled with curiosity, gazed at the skeletons and questioned, "Oppa, is it really true? Will they do anything you say?"

Seeing the excitement in her eyes, Lucas smiled and gently patted her head. "Yes, Ella, they will obey my every command. Let me show you." He turned his attention to the undead and ordered, "Kneel!"

In response to his command, all the undead in the cabin knelt before him and placed their weapons down.

Ella's face brightened at the sight, and she exclaimed, "They really do follow your commands, huh?" She reached out to touch one of the undead, her curiosity piqued.

Meanwhile, she noticed the prisoners in the other room, their limbs broken and blood staining the floor. She asked, "Are those the people who attacked us?"

Lucas, his voice taking on a colder tone, affirmed, "Yes, they are. Ella, you're not going to ask me to let them go, are you?"

Ella, with a gentle smile, lightly shook her head and replied, "No, I won't ask you to release them. I know my brother wouldn't harm others unless they had wronged him."

In the other room, the prisoners, writhing in pain from their injuries, began to plead for mercy.

Their voices echoed through the cabin, filled with desperation, as they cried out, "Please, let us go! We didn't want any of this. we're not the ones who wanted to do this. Please, let us go!"

Lucas took Ella's hand and led her to where the other people were gathered. He spoke to the group, "Rest here for a while. I'll deal with them first."

Turning to his sister, he added, "You stay here too. I'll be back."

As Lucas began to leave, Ella, with a worried expression on her face, inquired, "Where is Mom? Is she okay? I got hit in the head, and I lost consciousness. I don't know what happened after that. Where is she?"

Lucas, still facing away, didn't respond and remained silent. He said in a low voice, "I'll go deal with them first."

As he made his way toward the prisoners, Ella's concern for their mother was evident in her eyes, but she stayed where she was, trusting her brother to handle the situation.

In the room with the prisoners, Lucas was seething with anger.

He closed the door and grabbed the collar of one of the shouting prisoners, his right eye flickering with eerie green flames.

He questioned the man in a cold, threatening tone, "Now, tell me what you were saying. Are you trying to claim that you had no involvement in the attack on my mother and the others?"

The prisoner, fearful of Lucas and staring into his green-flamed eye, stammered, "I... I will tell you everything, but you have to promise that you'll let us go."

Lucas clenched the prisoner's collar and pulled him closer, their faces inches apart.

He responded, "Do you think you're in a position to negotiate here?"

But with a sly grin, he released his grip on the prisoner, causing him to fall to the ground. "But I might consider letting you go if you tell me everything."

The prisoner nodded vigorously, his voice trembling as he said, "I'll tell you everything. We were ordered by someone to go to places where we could find people and bring them back to Yancheng Prison."

Lucas, his curiosity piqued, continued to question the prisoner. "Who ordered you to do this, and why do they need so many people? Are they attempting to build something that requires a large workforce?"

The prisoner looked at Lucas, still trembling from fear, and replied, "I... I don't know why they want this many people or what they intend to do with them. The one who ordered us was 'Lee Bong Chul.'"

Lucas, with a furrowed brow, asked for more information. "What can you tell me about Lee Bong Chul? What kind of person is he?"

The prisoner hesitated for a moment, fearing that divulging too much information about Lee Bong Chul could have dire consequences for him.

But the menacing look in Lucas's eyes convinced him to speak.

"I don't know much, but after that announcement and blue screens, the prisoners broke out like crazy rhinos, and in all that chaos when they started fighting each other for control, he stepped up and defeated everyone,"

He continued. "As for how he looks, he's around 24 or 25, with black hair down to his shoulders and a tattoo of fangs on his left hand. He's not particularly muscular, and he calls himself 'Blood Phoenix.' "

Lucas nodded, his mind racing with thoughts about how to deal with this situation.

"I see," he said as he sat beside the prisoner. "Now, I have one last question for you. Where is Lee Bong Chul's hideout, and how many of them are there? I need to find him."

The prisoner, now fully aware of the precarious position he was in, hesitated once more before finally revealing, "As I said, after that day of the announcement, they killed every single male guard while capturing the females and staying in Yancheng Prison. They call themselves 'Blood Chalice.' "

After the prisoner had shared this information, Lucas's mind raced with thoughts about how to deal with this situation.

Prisoner then saw the expression on Lucas's face and shouted, "Wait, you're not thinking of attacking them, are you? You shouldn't. Lee Bong Chul is a ruthless man, and they have over 400 people there with guns and all."

Lucas, in a cold voice devoid of expression, responded, "Don't worry, they'll all be with you in due time."

The prisoner at first didn't understand, but after a few seconds, he realized what Lucas meant and shouted, "Didn't you say you were going to let us go, You Fuc**r!"

Lucas, with a chilling smile, his eyes flickering with green flames, spoke to the prisoner as if he were the grim reaper himself.

"Aren't I letting you go, 'From This World'?"

Lucas then turned to his undead and gave the order, "Take them out. We're finishing this."

The prisoners were dragged out by Lucas's undead servants.

Standing outside, with the rain pouring down and the sound of thunder in the background, the dim moonlight occasionally peeking through the clouds, as Lucas spoke to the prisoner from whom he had gained valuable information.

"You know," Lucas began, his voice cool and sinister, "I think I will not even be able to let you go from this world."

He leaned closer to the prisoner's ear and whispered, "Because your soul will stay with me."

The prisoner's fear and shock were palpable as he looked toward Lucas, who continued, "You'll believe it when you see it."

With a wave of his hand, Lucas gestured to his undead minions to carry out his orders. 

The undead lizardmen lifted their swords, while the eight men lay on the wet ground, their curses filling the air. They shouted, "You demon! You will die someday!" and "Our boss will kill you!"

With another hand gesture, the undead lizardmen swiftly struck the prisoners' necks, decapitating them. 

Fountains of blood gushed from their severed necks, mingling with the rain and cascading down like macabre waterfalls.

Lucas gazed at the sky briefly and then lowered his head to observe the lifeless corpses. He muttered, "Soul."

A small, ethereal blue beam of light emerged from each of the lifeless bodies and flowed into Lucas.

The shocked prisoner, still covered in the blood of his comrades, asked, "What was that light? What did you do?"

Lucas, with a smile, explained, "Those were the 'Souls,' or more precisely, the souls of these people. I absorbed them after they were killed by my servants."

He leaned closer and placed his hand on the prisoner's head, saying, "You see, a few hours ago, while trying to gather a force to come here, I killed and leveled up, gaining a new skill."

Some time ago, after defeating the lizardmen...

Lucas, standing amidst the slain lizardmen, noticed a message from the system. An intrigued smile crossed his lips as he remarked, "Now, this is something truly interesting."

[Skill: Soul]

[Description: Soul is a supernatural ability that enables the user to absorb the souls of opponents killed by the user or their minions, transforming these souls into soul shards. These shards can be used for both defense and offense.

Soul Shield: The character can channel their Soul Shards to create a protective force shield. The shield can be strengthened or expanded by expending more Soul Shards, providing a formidable defense against attacks.

Soul Infusion: By infusing weapons or physical strikes with Soul Shards while attacking, the character can enhance their attacks, making them more potent and lethal.

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Soul shards 164/∞]

(again to present talk)

Lucas looked down at the prisoner, his eyes filled with an eerie green glow, and said, "And that's how I got the skill. I used it all while coming here, absorbing hundreds of shards, but they were really weak."

With a sense of finality, Lucas stood up and added, "Well, now you know, you can become one of these shards too."

The prisoner, still in shock and unable to comprehend the surreal turn of events, muttered, "Even after death... why did we attack the-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the undead lizardmen swiftly beheaded him, and Lucas absorbed his soul as well, adding more shard.