Chapter 94

Lucy White's gaze was as sharp as a blade, piercing straight into Ian Stone. His thin lips were pressed tightly together, his eyes flickering with uncertainty.

"Ding—" The sudden ring of a phone shattered the silence.

Ian answered the call, his voice low. "Stay put. Don’t go anywhere." Without waiting for her response, he hurried out.

The wooden door slammed shut. Lucy paced to the window—the guards outside remained motionless. Her fingers tapped lightly against the tabletop, lost in thought.

Half an hour later, the door creaked open again.

A man in white entered alongside a gaunt old man. Behind the mask, the stranger’s eyes—identical to Ian’s—studied her with amusement.

"Quite the bold one," the man chuckled.

Lucy’s pupils contracted. That face, that voice—it was unmistakably Ian. Yet the flippant glint in his eyes and his careless demeanor were nothing like the man she remembered.

The old man’s murky gaze suddenly sharpened. "Marvelous!"

He bared his yellowed teeth in a grin. "Girl, wouldn’t you like to be even more beautiful?"

Lucy scoffed. "I’m already devastating enough."

"How about learning blood magic, then?" The old man pressed. "Make those who betray you beg for mercy—"

"Pass," Lucy cut him off. "Your face is advertisement enough for its side effects."

The old man’s expression darkened.

The masked man crossed his legs, his lips curling beneath the disguise.

"Clever tongue," the old man hissed. "Pity..."

His cane struck the floor with a thud, and eerie chanting filled the air. From the cracks in the wooden planks, centipedes and venomous snakes slithered forth, their rustling sending chills down the spine.

Lucy didn’t flinch. Her fingers twitched.

"Attack!" the old man barked.

The swarm surged toward her. With a flick of her wrist, three talismans ignited midair, landing in a perfect circle around her.

"Crack—"

Flames roared to life, twisting the creatures into charred husks. The stench of burning chitin filled the room as the old man howled, staggering back. "My treasures!"

He lunged in a frenzy, only for Lucy to sidestep and kick him across the room.

In the same breath, she pivoted toward the masked man. Her fist shot out—swift, ruthless. He barely blocked in time.

Ten exchanges later, Lucy’s eyes narrowed. His fighting style was bizarre, completely unlike anything she’d seen before.

"Thud!"

A spinning kick forced him back. Lucy darted past the threshold into the night. "Now!"

Before the guards could react, she vanished into the shadows.

The old man scrambled after her, biting his finger to draw a bloody sigil in the air. "I’ll make you wish you were dead!"

Meanwhile—

"Crash!" The neighboring door burst open. Hank Cooper and Victor Stone led their team out—only to freeze at the sight before them.

A blood-red moon hung overhead as countless shadowy figures clawed their way up from the earth...