NOVEL NEXT Chapter 79: Rogue
"Aaaannddddddd… post." Lucius muttered, tapping his screen with a flourish like he'd just performed some grand magic trick.
The picture vanished into the void of Stitch, and he leaned back against the soft lounge chair with a long sigh.
It was just past noon now, sunlight streaming lazily through the car window.
Vanessa was focused on the road, driving forward quietly, but there was a smile on her lips… Their time together had been great.
It had been a few days since he'd bothered to make a post on Twitch.
Not because he didn't want to, but because, well… surviving raids, training, and juggling women took time.
Still, he figured he owed the fans something, so he'd given them what they loved most — pictures.
Not just any pictures either.
It was him and Vanessa.
Some shots had her smiling softly at the camera, others had her completely caught off guard like when he'd shoved a skewer of grilled meat near her mouth and snapped the moment she blinked in surprise.
She was radiant in all of them, so much so that Lucius himself felt an odd wanting to keep them to himself however he still posted them.
And the instant the post went live, the view counter exploded.
First 1 view.
Then 1,000 views.
Then 100,000 views.
By the time three minutes ticked past, the little heart icon pulsed with over a million views.
Lucius stared at the screen flatly.
'Being a celebrity sure is tough.'
He scrolled lazily through the comments, rubbing at his chin with a mock-wise expression, as though stroking a beard he didn't have.
[@PeskyRat: You really deserve that break after the raiding yesterday (❤️133k likes)]
[@WingedBard: First time I've ever seen the Grimmaw Guild Master smile this much (❤️9.4k likes)]
[@InkRabbit: Finally! He's taking care of himself, guy needs the rest (❤️8.7k likes)]
[@MossyBench: Okay but when's the next stream? (❤️7.2k likes)]
[@CrystalFox: Bro out here flexing like it's nothing (❤️6.9k likes)]
[@DataSnail: I don't care what anyone says, this is wholesome (❤️5.4k likes)]
[@RiftWatcher: Did you check the trending post yet? You're literally everywhere again (❤️4.8k likes)]
Lucius groaned.
"A little check won't kill me," he muttered, thumb pressing against the Stitch home page.
The feed refreshed, and immediately the first thing on his 'For You Page' made his eyes narrow.
It was a grainy photo — him and Vanessa holding hands right outside the dungeon gate.
The lighting was terrible, the angle awkward, but someone had clearly gone through the trouble of filtering, sharpening, and re-filtering the image until it looked fake.
So fake, in fact, that it looked like an AI render.
'Fucking weirdos on the internet,' he thought, dragging a hand down his face.
The comment section wasn't much better.
[@StoneCrush: lol this ain't real, bro's AI-generated his love life (❤️22.1k likes)]
[@PetalBite: Vanessa would never hold his hand, clearly fake (❤️15.4k likes)][@GearSnout: You can tell this is AI, look at the lighting. Amateur work (❤️12.8k likes)]
[@SunkenLeaf: LMAO AI can't even get the hands right (❤️9.3k likes)]
[@OrbitalHive: This whole thing is a deepfake, wake up sheeple (❤️7.6k likes)]
[@NetSpecter: Nice try bot, Vanessa's smile doesn't look like AI (❤️6.2k likes)]
Lucius pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Some people really don't use their brains," he muttered, locking his phone and folding his arms behind his head.
It was real but what was the need of editing it to the point that it looked like it was generated???
"Are you planning to go to the academy?" Vanessa's voice broke the silence.
Lucius tilted his head toward her.
"Oh yeah. Eventually." He shrugged.
The academy still had plenty of opportunities for him to steal — from Elliot, from Raven, from whoever the hell thought they deserved screen time more than him.
Vanessa hummed softly. "I see…"
Lucius frowned slightly at her tone, but before he could ask, the car jerked violently.
His eyes darted out the window and widened.
A roaring wall of water was barreling down the street.
Cars were tossed aside like toys, storefronts shattered as waves smashed against them, and alarms blared overhead in warning.
"Fuck," Vanessa cursed, tightening her grip on the wheel. "It's a rogue."
Lucius's gaze hardened.
'What's with the unnecessary drama?' he thought, why did all this stuff always happen when he was outside?
Rogues.
Awakeners who had thrown away all legality, all restraint.
Unlike bounty hunters, they weren't sanctioned or tolerated.
They were criminals of the highest order, often using their powers to rob, destroy, or kill indiscriminately.
And each rogue carried a price on their head — a bounty determined by the scale of their abilities.
Judging by the size of this water surge, this one's bounty wasn't cheap.
Lucius stretched lazily, even as walls of infinity shimmered into being around their car, cutting the wave clean in half.
The water foamed and crashed against the invisible barrier before dispersing into harmless rivulets down the street.
'Hm. To summon this much water in an urban zone… I'd say whoever's behind this has a fair bounty waiting.'
Vanessa's grip tightened.
"A rogue like this can hurt a lot of people." Her crimson eyes narrowed as the alarms continued to blare. "How do your bones feel?"
Lucius cracked a grin. "Great. Let's do it."
The only reason he sounded enthusiastic wasn't justice or heroics.
No, it was the thought of all the things he could demand from the government afterward.
He was already crafting a mental list of outrageous requests.
"Let's ditch the car," Vanessa said firmly.
Lucius didn't hesitate.
He grabbed her hand, and in the next instant, the world folded in on itself.
They reappeared midair, high above the flood, the car vanishing from sight as the protective barriers dissolved.
Below, the surge swallowed the street whole, dragging vehicles into its depths with a crushing roar.
Vanessa scanned the chaos, jaw clenched. "Focus on the civilians. Get them out before more waves hit."
Lucius blinked at her words, deadpan.
'Since when did they turn me into an urban superhero?'