Chapter 76 Denotator
The words “I planted a bomb here” were still hanging in the cold basement air when Samuel Renard’s lips curled into a jagged, manic grin, the kind that spoke of a mind splintered long before tonight. His bruised hand trembled as he lifted something small, metallic, black, no bigger than a car key and for a moment Deborah swore the entire world seemed to shrink around that single object.
A detonator.
“Say goodbye, everyone! This is the ending of your lives,” Samuel rasped, voice cracking under the weight of his own madness. “You’re all coming with me to hell. You're all gonna die! You gonna pay for all of your debts! You are all gonna wish to beg for me, to not click the denotator. I am your Lord! Neg me first so that I will save your lives!”
Before anyone could react..... before Caelum could strike, before Knight could pull the trigger, before Lysander, exhausted and barely standing, could even flinch, Samuel pressed the button.
A sharp click echoed in the concrete room. A sound too soft, too small, too terrifying.
Deborah felt her breath collapse in her lungs. Thinking that this is the ending of her life. Their life as a Valmere. Her life without talking to luther.
Knight’s arm snapped forward as he shoved her behind him. Lucio cursed, grabbing Casper, Lysander...... braced himself against the beam. Caelum’s hand hovered over his gun, eyes narrowed, waiting for the inevitable. But..... nothing happened.
Not even the hum of a charge, not a spark, not a tremor.
Just silence so thick it pressed against their eardrums.
The timer is tickling.....One second. Two...........Thirty.
A full minute.
Samuel’s expression twitched, confusion rippling through his bruised features as he stared at the detonator in disbelief. Then irritation, then fury. His thumb hit the button again, once, twice..... over and over, frantic, almost childish.
Still nothing.
“Why isn’t it.......” he muttered, eyes darting wildly around the room, breath hitching in angry, disbelieving bursts. “No! No no no, it should’ve...... it should’ve gone off!”
Five minutes passed.
Five minutes of Samuel cursing under his breath, jerking against the cables, kicking at the air in a pathetic frenzy while the Valmere brothers stood tense, guns raised, waiting for any sign that the basement might explode beneath their feet.
Deborah’s heartbeat ranged from terrified to numb.
Then.... they hear a footsteps. Slow, measured and feels like it was unbothered.
A single set of footsteps approached from behind the rusted hallway door, steady enough to make every Valmere brother straighten, weapons re-aiming, muscles coiled and ready.
Knight stepped forward first, shielding Deborah again. Caelum shifted, instinctively blocking the path with his body. Even Lysander forced himself upright, jaw clenched despite the pain stabbing through his bruised ribs.
The footsteps grew louder, the air thickened.
And then.... the man who walked in didn’t belong in that place. Not in that chaos, not in the aftermath of hate and blood.
He walked in like he owned the shadows, like he had been waiting for them.
Luther.
His presence sliced through the tension like a blade, dark suit torn at the shoulder, knuckles scraped, hair disheveled but his eyes were sharp, unreadable, and dangerous in a way that made even Caelum’s breath hitch for a fraction of a second.
He didn’t look at the Valmere brothers. He didn’t look at Samuel. His eyes are locking into one person.
His gaze went straight to Deborah, a flicker of something.... relief, fear, and anger passing through him so quickly she wasn’t even sure she saw it.
Then he broke eye contact and spoke, voice low and final:
“The bomb is not gonna explode. I already disarmed it, dumbass. Your bomb is just a piece of cake though it is five bombs. Well, I must say I enjoyed disarmed it.”
Silence fell like a physical blow. Samuel froze, eyes widening with a sickening mix of terror and rage. “You.... you bastard Cain!!YOU RUINED EVERYTHING! You should also go in hell! You traitor!”
Luther didn’t even flinch as the tied man screamed. He simply stepped forward, shoulders squared, gaze colder than the concrete walls around them.
“Your plans were sloppy,” he said flatly. “Your wiring was outdated and old. And your detonator?” He lifted something from his pocket....a small, severed fuse line, then dropped it at Samuel’s feet. “Dead the moment I found it, Mr. Renard, tsk.”
Lucio’s jaw slackened. Knight slowly lowered his gun. Casper blinked in disbelief. Even Caelum.... carved from fury and tension moments before, faltered just a flash, but enough to see he hadn’t expected this outcome.
Lysander, bruised and exhausted, exhaled shakily. “You…you saved us, young cain?”
Luther didn’t look away from Samuel. “I prevented the death of everyone in this building not only you, though you are not important, I'm not that bad to leave all of you burned in this place,” Then his gaze shifted to the brothers. “But whether you consider that saving you is up to you.”
The Valmere boys exchanged uncertain looks.
Their family’s rival, the man they distrusted, challenged, clashed with...had just saved their lives… and their pride didn’t know what to do with that.
Deborah’s heart hammered. She also know what to do, what to say, how to react on that situation.
Luther still hadn’t looked away from her for more than a second.
Samuel strained desperately against the cables, screaming curses. “Coward! Traitor! You think you’ve won? YOU THINK THIS CHANGES ANYTHING?!”
Luther ignored him completely.
He finally turned fully toward the Valmere brothers, steps deliberate, expression unreadable.
Caelum stepped forward instinctively, blocking Deborah again, but Luther didn’t look offended. He didn’t even look bothered.
He simply stopped a few feet away, hands tucked loosely in his pockets, posture relaxed but sharp in a way that made the air crackle.
The tension grew thicker, heavier.... unspoken words coiling between them like smoke.
And then Luther’s voice, calm but edged with something darker cut through the room....
“I didn’t come here to save him. Now tell me, how do you want to handle what comes next?”