Ascension of the Dark Seraph

Inside the folded paper was Bob's last writing.

Ravenna and Leandra found it weird.

"How did he have the time to write this when he's bound?"

"It doesn't make sense. Even his writing was a bit different from his normal writing."

Considering that Master Tobias had once bound Bob to the chair, and that the moment he broke free, a battle erupted, they couldn't imagine when Bob would have had the chance to sit down—and write this final message.

Almost instinctively, Leandra and Ravenna exchanged a look.

Both were thinking of the same message that Master Tobias left behind, pretending to be Bob.

But this time, the paper was folded two times, so it must not be Master Tobias—but Bob for real.

Even so, it still unsettled them.

"It's Bob's message, I bet," Lucivar interrupted from behind, his voice level and confident. "I'm sure Master Tobias allowed him to write one final letter for us since he won't be here for long. That birthday party was the last time we would ever get the chance to see him again, since after that, he was planning to escape, leaving us a confession note and killing Bakar in the process."

Hearing this, the others were stunned.

All of them were surprised for a second before their gazes tensed up.

Noticing their gazes, Lucivar cleared his throat, "Master Tobias confessed it to me."

Since that was the case, the others could somewhat believe that this was really Bob's writing.

Even though the writing was different, scribbly, they could attribute it to the nerves.

In it, Bob explained to them that he managed to find out about the gem that tied Master Tobias to the Primordials, which painted a clear picture that he was the one who orchestrated that night when Delilah died.

On top of that, he also found a mysterious book.

Compared to the fact that the gem blew up his cover, Master Tobias was angrier about the book.

But unfortunately, Bob couldn't read much.

All he could grasp was that the book is about an entity called the Blessed Oracle or the Dark Seraph.

As soon as Ravenna read that part, Leandra paused and turned to look at Lucivar.

"You're the Blessed Oracle…" She mumbled.

Both Ravenna and Nerissa looked at Leandra in surprise, and then to Lucivar.

"Should we find it?" Nerissa asked whisperingly. "You can know more about yourself."

"I think we should." Ravenna nodded.

Lucivar scratched the back of his head, seemingly uncertain whether he should go and find the book or not. Then, he remembered something and turned to Ravenna, "Don't we have somewhere to be? Should we search for the book later? It's probably still in the mansion, anyway."

"Are you seriously still thinking about doing that at this time?" Ravenna asked in aghast. "I think this is more important than that. We can go do what we intended to do next time. Don't act like there's no next time. As for the book, someone could've taken it an—"

"Alright, alright." Lucivar raised both hands in surrender. "We'll search for the book."

Throughout this, Leandra only watched silently.

Not out of jealousy, but something far more calculating, 'Why is he hesitating to find the book?'

Despite their initial banter, the four of them decided to pay a visit to Master Tobias' mansion.

Of course, before going there, the group needed to take care of the matters regarding Bob, and only then could they head to the mansion. And when they arrived at the place, the sky was already golden. It took longer for them to get here.

Leandra stepped out of the car and stretched, "Wow—I never knew dealing a beloved death would take so much time. There are a lot of things to handle, a lot of processes—and a lot of time wasted waiting until everything was cleared."

"It's a big city, so there are procedures…" Nerissa added as she came out.

"I hated the traffic the most," Ravenna also chimed in as she closed the car door. "Even with the special, privileged section for Hybrids, we still got stuck in traffic somehow. People already forgot about the big purple dungeon and returned to their normal activities, and it's killing us."

Ignoring their complaints, Lucivar waved his hand to the others, "Give me a minute."

"Hmm…"

Nodding their heads, the others headed for the entrance while Lucivar bent down to look at the driver.

Seeing what happened earlier, the driver was already sweating and shaking along the way.

Even his face was as pale as a ghost.

Gulping harshly, he turned to look at Lucivar and smiled sheepishly, "Please don't kill me…"

"Nothing you can do about that, man," Lucivar shrugged—his death was inevitable to erase any chances of Master Tobias being linked to them. "Don't run away either. If you do, I will not only come for you, but also for your family. I can find anyone inside the city. Don't test me."

Just from hearing that alone drained every strength inside the driver's body.

He pressed his forehead against the steering wheel, weeping and cursing his luck.

"Really? Crying? You really loved your family that much? Me?" Lucivar glanced over to the others, who were entering the mansion after a brief reluctance. "I could leave my family in a heartbeat if I want to. But don't compare yourself to me, though, my previous family is shit."

"No, it's not that…" the driver wailed.

Lucivar turned towards him again, raising an eyebrow.

"What do you mean it's not that?"

"I'm not crying because I love my family too much that I'm scared of losing them."

"Then why are you crying?"

"I'm crying because I don't have a family."

"…"

Lucivar was flabbergasted at what he heard.

On the other hand, the driver kept weeping against the steering wheel, "I can run away right now if I wanted to, since I don't have a family, but hearing you instantly threaten to kill my family made me feel like shit. I'm betting that threat would work on anyone, right? But it didn't work on me! Fuck!"

At this moment, Lucivar didn't know what to feel.

He didn't know whether he should feel worried or what right now.

But he did pity the driver, as that's sad.

"Tell you what, man," Lucivar opened his mouth again. "I'm not going to kill you. Just don't be stupid and snitch about anything that you saw today."

"Thanks, man. I'm not snitching. I'm going to try and find a girlfriend after this…" He whimpered gratefully.

Lucivar tapped on the car and headed inside.

Since Bob's letter gave no hint as to the book's exact location, or even how it looked, the four decided to split up to scour every inch of the mansion and its grounds. Leandra took the first floor as it was the most likely place the book was hidden, Lucivar the upper floor, while Nerissa and Ravenna spread their search to the estate outside.

Despite being tired from the day, mentally and physically, they were determined to find the book.

For hours, they tore through the place—rifling drawers, prying open cabinets, shifting heavy furniture aside, peering beneath carpets and beds, pushing through the undergrowth, and going into every single outbuilding outside.

In fact, they even went so far as to tap at the walls and floors, half-expecting a hidden trap door.

No maids and butler remained inside the mansion.

It was either that they ran when they knew what had happened, or Master Tobias had already dealt with them.

However, recalling the maid who met with Mirel, it was more likely the latter.

Along the way, Nerissa and Ravenna even found the remnants that tied Master Tobias to everything he did behind the family. Chains rusted with blood, odd symbols—and engravings on the ground, even cages with blood monsters inside of them.

Just seeing the spectacle was akin to a slap to their faces.

Almost like the place was mocking them for not realizing it sooner.

But Ravenna and Nerissa were hopeful, taking these findings as a good sign.

If the book was tied to Lucivar, then it had to be somewhere inside the mansion—they were close.

Leandra was also in the same condition.

"Come on, where is it…?" She mumbled, placing both hands against her hip as she scanned the room, Master Tobias' office room which was already a trainwreck. The layout was already a mess, and the books were scattered on the table. "If it's about Lucivar, then the book should be special. It should contain a vast amount of energy."

She combed her hair back, frustrated, "But there's nothing like that here…"

Almost exactly as she said that, her eyes caught a gleam.

It came from under the carpet.

Seeing this, Leandra immediately went for the carpet and flipped the entire thing over, expecting to find a book there, but all she found was a single piece of paper. Her shoulders slumped, but she still picked up the paper anyway.

Blitz!

"Ouch!"

Leandra whimpered when the paper stung her.

She nearly cursed, but stopped short as the realization struck— the paper had stung her. That alone confirmed its significance. Wrapping her hand in ether, she seized the piece of paper and realized that it was only half a page.

From the way the bottom part was shaped, someone must've torn it.

Perhaps Master Tobias did it; there's no telling.

But Leandra read it anyway and found that this page was talking about materials to make something.

It spoke of how the Root of Ages must be cut out of the World Tree perfectly, how the Alloy of Eternal Rage should be melted in the Tapasya Fire, a Feather of Ruin that was suspended in the descent of the fallen grace from heaven, the Gem of Noxmar that must be contained in a special box to not stain its purity, and the Eye of Infinite hidden inside in the Infertility Sandstrom.

Each material was completely out of Leandra's comprehension.

She wasn't familiar with any of them.

And the more she read through the entire page, the more confused she became.

Soon, her gaze was fixed on the drawing on the right side of the paragraph.

It looked like a big steel needle that was the size of her index finger, sizzling with smoke.

Below the drawing of this needle, she saw more writing, but smaller.

"The First Fusion of the Oracle Paradox: the Ending Needle. A successful craft is marked with a sizzle of ash-colored smoke and emanates the scent of dried sage. The Blessed Oracle, no matter where he was, will always know exactly where it was at all times." Leandra read out loud, eyes glued on the words as if they were a sacred text. "It has the power to—really? It stopped there?"

Leandra exhaled exasperatedly, wanting to throw something in frustration, but held back.

It took great effort for her to swallow her frustration, but she succeeded.

"Sigh… In any case, this is a bad sign."