Apocalypse: Rise of the SSS-Rank Sovereign

Chapter4: Bloodthirsty

Elena stared at Lucian’s outstretched hand. His fingers were perfectly steady, completely unbothered by the screams echoing through the city streets. Jet-black monster blood dripped slowly from the bent steel pipe in his right hand, but his eyes were entirely dark, intense, and mesmerizingly calm as he looked down at her.

"My… boss?" she whispered, her voice trembling as she tried to process the sheer gravity of what she had just witnessed.

Lucian didn't smile. He couldn't, the weight of Seraphina's betrayal still lingered like a cold blade in his chest. "Five seconds, Elena. Decide now. Run with the bleeding crowd and take your chances with a dying world, or stay by my side and survive. I will protect you, but I don't give second chances."

Hearing her name from a complete stranger sent a shiver down her spine, but the sheer, quiet authority in his voice left no room for doubt. She reached out and grasped his hand.

The moment their skin met, Lucian pulled her up with a firm, seamless motion, positioning her safely behind his shoulder.

"Stay close," he commanded softly, his eyes locking onto the center of the park lawn. "I've got you."

Before the purple rift could even pulse again, a frantic shout cut through the chaos from behind them.

"Get him! He's just one guy with a piece of scrap metal!"

It was Dominic’s lackeys. Seeing their leader groveling on the ground with a shattered knee, three of his heavily built gym-buddies—who had each awakened low-tier, F-Rank physical attributes—drew tactical knives and heavy iron wrenches from their gym bags. They didn't care about the apocalypse; they cared about revenge and reclaiming dominance over the terrified survivors.

"If we kill him, the girl and the park are ours!" a scarred thug named Marcus roared, lunging directly at Lucian's blind spot while his two partners circled around to grab Elena.

At that exact microsecond, the purple dimensional rift tore violently wide open. A foul, sulfurous stench exploded into the air as a massive, seven-foot-tall creature stepped out. It was a Level 3 Goblin Vanguard, its green skin covered in crude iron plating, wielding a massive, jagged cleaver that dragged against the concrete.

[Warning: Localized Field Boss 'Goblin Vanguard' has materialized!]

Lucian was caught in a lethal pincer attack: a bloodthirsty field boss in front of him, and three desperate, armed human traitors rushing his back. To any normal Level 1 Awakened, this was a guaranteed death sentence.

But Lucian’s eyes only flashed with a cold, terrifying amusement. Human scum. Always turning on their own kind the second the rules vanish.

"Lucian, look out!" Elena screamed. But instead of running away like a helpless victim, she grabbed a heavy, jagged piece of concrete from the shattered pavement, her knuckles turning white as she prepared to swing at the thugs.

Her refusal to abandon him made something thaw slightly in Lucian’s frozen heart. Yes, Elena. That is the spark that makes you a legend.

"Watch the beast," Lucian muttered to her, his body moving before the sentence could even finish.

He didn't fight like a novice. He pivoted on his heel, using the exact muscle memory of a warlord who had survived a thousand ambushes. As Marcus lunged with the knife, Lucian stepped inside the guard, grabbed the man's wrist, and twisted it until the bone snapped like a dry twig.

"Aaaagh!" Marcus shrieked, dropping the knife.

Without breaking his momentum, Lucian grabbed Marcus by the throat and hurled his heavy body directly into the path of the oncoming Goblin Vanguard.

The massive Goblin Vanguard didn't care about human life; it swung its giant cleaver downward with brutal, thoughtless force, cleaving Marcus completely in half. The horrific sight caused the other two thugs to freeze mid-stride, their faces draining of all color as they vomited from sheer terror.

"Now for the main event," Lucian growled, stepping over the remaining thugs and leaping directly toward the monster.

The Goblin Vanguard roared, swinging the blood-stained cleaver horizontally. Lucian raised his steel pipe to parry, but the sheer, raw physical strength of a Level 3 Field Boss was too much for a normal piece of construction scrap.

Clang! Shatter!

The steel pipe exploded into metallic shards.

Elena’s heart leaped into her throat. "Lucian!"

Without a weapon, Lucian was completely exposed. The Vanguard raised its cleaver for a fatal downward strike. But Lucian simply closed the distance, sliding underneath the massive beast's reach. He rammed his bare palm directly into the monster's fractured knee joint, utilizing his knowledge of monster anatomy to shatter its balance.

The giant stumbled. Lucian grabbed a sharp, jagged piece of his shattered steel pipe from the ground, leaped onto the monster's broad shoulders, and drove the metal stake straight down through the creature's eye socket and into its brain.

The Goblin Vanguard let out a deafening, gurgling shriek before its massive body crashed heavily to the earth, dissolving into a massive cloud of black, shimmering particles.