Ascension of the Dark Seraph

For some reason, despite the sun being out, the villa seemed darker.

It was almost as if the building was exuding an aura—that turned colors bleak, sucking the vibrance out of them. Not to the point of turning black and white, but enough to make them feel uneasy, which the two suppressed.

Both needed to enter and see what was happening since Mirel was still inside.

Skipping the main door entirely, as that would make them too obvious, the two decided to flank the villa and slipped in from the opposite side—where the glass walls opened the interior to a sweeping view of the lake.

Peeking inside, there was still no movement.

Either Mirel was still lagging behind on time, caught up somewhere nearby, or he was inside one of the rooms. Exchanging a look once again, the two decided on the move even without saying a single word, as if their minds were linked.

But then again, with their lives on the line, it's not surprising.

Ravenna looked around and leaped onto the roof; her footsteps as light as a feather.

She waited right above while Leandra came out of hiding, becoming the lure.

"Mirel? I'm back!" She called; her voice loud enough for Mirel to hear if he's inside one of the rooms. "I found nothing on my side, fortunately, so we should be in the clear. What about you? Where are you anyway?"

No answer.

Leandra's eyes hummed with ether as this was not a good sign.

"Did Ravenna come back already?" She asked again, continuing with the act.

It was clear that she was hoping that Mirel was only too focused on checking the villa to hear.

Just as Leandra looked up at Ravenna, giving her the signal that they should barge and sweep the villa to search for Mirel, she stopped when she heard the sound of footsteps. It came from the room on the second floor.

Soon, the door swung open as Mirel stepped out, "Oh, you're back? A bit early, don't you think?"

"Really? I'm still not used to seeing my phone for a time." Leandra let out a breath.

She was unconsciously holding her breath while waiting for Mirel to answer.

Clearly, she was extremely nervous, but not anymore.

Realizing that Mirel was still inside and fine, Ravenna somersaulted back—and landed right before the front door. She tidied up her clothes and knocked on the door, acting as if she had only arrived, "Mirel, open up! It's me!"

Mirel came downstairs to open the front door while Leandra slid the glass door open and entered.

"What were you doing? Didn't you hear me?" She asked, looking around.

Among the three of them, Mirel was the most untrustworthy due to his frequent contact with Lucivar in the last couple of days, and Leandra realized her error for letting Mirel stay behind. She was now wary that the villa had been compromised.

'But then again, even if I let Ravenna stay or I stayed, I'm still going to worry.'

Leandra shook her head helplessly.

It doesn't matter whether Mirel stayed in the villa or he was the one going out to check; either way, he would still make her worry. Mirel went back to the living room with Ravenna, "I'm doing what I was supposed to be doing, what else? I went around first, and then swept the villa last so that I wouldn't be late."

"And?" Leandra raised a brow. "Did you find anything?"

"No; there's nothing wrong with the villa or around the area." He shook his head.

Mirel turned to Ravenna, asking whether she had found anything with a look, but she shook her head.

It was completely safe; nothing was wrong.

Just then, Ravenna noticed something on Mirel's arm—a lightning mark on the bottom of his wrist.

"Since when did you get that?" She pointed at the mark.

Mirel paused for a second, and then looked down at the mark, "Oh, it's from the snippet, of course. It's a spell that allowed me to summon a lightning weapon. I got this recently. Pretty cool, right? Now, I'm never going to be caught without a weapon ever again."

"I haven't seen it before you depart for the birthday party. How new is it?"

"Am I being interrogated? Why does that matter?"

"I'm only asking; the fact that you became this defensive made you more suspicious, no?"

"Don't talk to me like that. I'm already enduring a lot."

"So, you're the only one who endures here? Did you forget that we felt the exact same as you?"

Before the argument could escalate, Leandra stepped between them.

"Alright, alright, no need to create unnecessary friction," She intervened, easing up the tension between them from the built-up stress of the moment. "Since it seemed like Lucivar was underestimating us, we should take advantage of it. Let's leave, and leave one of our phones here for him to contact."

"He should be here any moment now," Leandra went over to gather her things again.

Ravenna also did the same.

Likewise, Mirel was also going to do the same until he felt something vibrate in his pocket.

Realizing that it came from his pocket, his heart skipped a beat.

Almost on cue, beads of sweat began to appear across his forehead as his pupils trembled. He swallowed harshly and looked at the other two, completely oblivious to his turmoil, still preparing to leave as they had planned.

Slowly, he reached for his pocket with trembling hands.

'No… Is it already done?' He thought, tears welling up in his eyes as he took out his phone.

As soon as the screen lit up and he read the notification at the very top, his expression turned grim.

For a few seconds, Leandra and Ravenna didn't realize what Mirel was doing.

Even Leandra—she was too focused on thinking about their next moves.

'Six miles east through the woods should put us on the main street. From there, we can ask a passerby heading out of Sunhold City. If that drags on, we can hijack a car and push for the slave city,' Leandra decided, tucking her clothes into her bag. 'I remember that woman… Morriva. Nerissa told me she's also another Vestal, and Lucivar has her posted near Sumhold City. We can't cross her path, or Lucivar will be able to find us.'

Once she finished packing what little she had, she turned and saw that Ravenna was also finished.

But as she stood and turned, she tilted her head in confusion.

Mirel was still standing where he was a moment ago, and he wasn't ready to leave.

"Mirel?" She called, frowning. "What are you doing? Come on. Lucivar will be here any moment now."

"He won't be here." He answered in an instant.

Ravenna frowned, sensing that he was acting weird—she immediately activated her Predator Oculus ability again, ready to fight if the need arose. "What do you mean, Mirel? I know you're hiding a secret; it's best for you to tell us right now."

"Stop it, Ravenna," Leandra intervened and looked at Mirel again. "Can we talk about this while we're moving? If we meet with him and clash against him face-to-face, we'll have no chance. So, save what you're saying for later, Mirel. We have no time."

"I already told you, Lucivar won't be coming," Mirel whispered—as he raised his gaze, tears could be seen drizzling down his face. "Hey, Leandra, isn't it enough? Can we stop whatever we're doing? It's obvious that you're wrong."

Hearing this, Leandra approached gently.

"Look," She said—hands up in a surrendering gesture. "Let's not throw a tantrum right now. Like we planned, even if Lucivar isn't trying to kill us, we'd still leave for the time being to be sure. We already talked about this."

"Are you still on this stupid shit?!" Mirel roared, more tears streaming down endlessly.

He stared at Leandra as if he couldn't believe the woman standing before her was really her.

"I've played along with your damn little theory, and thought that once we got here, you'd realized that we've been in the wrong," Mirel cackled like a madman, tears kept coming out without his permission. "Did you find anything suspicious? Did you find a trace of Lucivar's scheme? NO! And you still think Lucivar is going to kill us?"

Mirel laughed mockingly, looking at Leandra and Ravenna as if they were a joke.

"I thought both of you were the ones closest to him the most. I thought I was the one who was against Lucivar's way, but how come you didn't get it?!" His voice rose, filled with disappointment and anger. "Don't you understand? Lucivar had never planned to kill us. He probably wanted to, but he didn't."

Blitz!

In an instant, the mark on his wrist sparked with lightning.

Yellow currents could be seen blitzing across the surface of his skin as a lightning sword formed.

A powerful sword made entirely of ether, infused with the power of his bloodline.

Seeing this, Leandra and Ravenna leaped back instinctively, surprised that he suddenly used his new ability like this. "Mirel, calm down!" Leandra roared in a panic. "We can talk about this—alright?! We don't need to go this far!"

"Get ready to fight, Leandra," Ravenna urged, getting into her fighting stance. "Lucivar corrupted him."

Upon hearing this, Mirel grabbed his face and laughed loudly.

His laughter was so unhinged, so unrestrained, that his body bent backward in a fit of madness.

Then, in an abrupt manner, his laughter stopped.

"Lucivar corrupted me…?" He asked, lowering his gaze again to meet their eyes. "Look me in the eyes and tell me, am I corrupted by Lucivar, or am I disappointed in the two of you? Bob is dead. Bakar is dead. And our own father is dead. And you… You, what? Suddenly lose trust in Lucivar? What happens with being a family?!!"

BLITZ!!

Crash!

A crackling shockwave of lightning exploded from Mirel's body as his roar split the air—shattering the glass door and every window behind them. They had never seen him enraged before; this was their first glimpse.

Mirel was usually the one appeasing the argument, but now, he was on the opposite side.

"Lucivar, as bad as he was, never actively hunted us or hurt us. Because of Delilah, he has always been mindful of us, and this…" He gestured to Leandra and Ravenna, and even himself. "This is what he gets for doing that?!"

"Just what are you talking about?!" Leandra roared, protecting herself with a telekinetic bubble. "If you know something, then talk to us! No reason for you to resort to violence! If we're wrong about Lucivar, then we can accept it! We'll even apologise to Lucivar!"

As she said that, Ravenna also suppressed her pride and nodded, "I can apologise too."

"It's too late," Mirel retracted his power as the room fell into silence. "Lucivar… He's already gone."