Ascension of the Dark Seraph

"Lucivar… He's already gone."

Mirel forced out a broken smile; tears streaming down his face like flowing rivers.

He looked at the two remaining family members of his helplessly.

Both of them had been too focused on thinking the worst that could happen that they couldn't even see what was really happening right under their nose. It was saddening. And truthfully, Mirel was extremely disappointed in them.

Even though both were spending more time with Lucivar than he was, they were the oblivious ones.

"Wh-What are you talking about, Mirel?" Ravenna stammered as she lowered her hands, eyes focusing as if she wanted to see through what was inside Mirel's mind. "Lucivar is going to be here any moment. What do you mean he's gone?"

"He's… gone," Mirel looked at her profoundly, and showed the notification on his phone. "Sabrina had already confirmed it. Lucivar had gone through what he had planned, and now, he's gone. So, please, stop acting like this. I'm… tired."

Ravenna gritted her teeth angrily, "Speak clearly! What do you mean he's gone?!"

Unable to sustain his weight anymore, Mirel slumped to the ground.

He held his head and stared at the floor in complete devastation.

"Both of you were tight about one thing: Lucivar was planning something. And you were right that he was planning to kill someone, but he wasn't planning to kill us," Mirel raised his exhausted eyes to look at the two. "He's dead. Lucivar is dead."

Deg!

Ravenna's heart skipped a beat when she heard this.

Among everything that she thought Mirel would say, she wasn't expecting this at all.

Slowly—Mirel scooted back and leaned against the wall, "Lucivar was betrayed by his own family, and was sacrificed for the Ashbourne House before he met us. And from that moment, a goal surfaced in his mind that he wanted to become stronger and live. But when Master Tobias revealed that everything that had happened to him was orchestrated, he was devastated."

"He hid it well… He hid it fucking well. But inside, he was devastated, and he didn't know what to do." Mirel smiled weakly, almost self-pitying. "So, he said to me that he didn't want to live in a lie anymore. Looking at us reminded him that his life had been a lie, and death became more tempting than life."

"You-You meant to tell me, Lucivar… He…" Ravenna's windpipe tightened. "He killed himself?"

Mirel nodded gravely; his mind was clouded with the fog of death.

Almost instantly, Ravenna dropped her weapon.

Her entire body from head to toe trembled as she stiffly shook her head, refusing to believe this.

But everything that happened in the last few days began to make sense even more.

"Is that… why he's acting differently?"

"Yes."

"And going out to handle our affairs?"

"He's been handling our affairs before he died, and made arrangements for us all so that nothing would trouble us again. And also… he had been frivolously hunting the remaining avatars. It doesn't matter if he won or lost since the avatars would leave the world once his presence disappeared."

"And… Nerissa?"

That question came out of Ravenna's lips in a soft whisper.

Even though she could already guess what had happened to her, she still wanted to hear it clearly.

Upon hearing the question, Mirel covered his face with his hand and sobbed harder.

It took a moment for him to collect himself and rub his face.

"As… As a Vestal of Lucivar, her fate is inseparably bound to him and to the God tied to them both, no matter what. There's no breaking that bond—no matter what they might attempt. If Lucivar falls… she falls with him." Mirel's voice faltered, the weight of the truth pressing—on his chest. "By now… she's no longer with us."

Even as the words left his lips, the realization struck him with a force that left him breathless.

It shocked him that he could even give voice to such a truth under these circumstances.

Almost instantly, Ravenna turned to Leandra and grabbed her by the shoulders.

Now, tears ran freely down her face as she stared at Leandra with sheer denial, "Leandra, this can't be real, right? We've talked about this for days and were sure that he's planning to kill us. This… This must be one of his tricks, right?!"

Ravenna shook her body, but she didn't respond.

She only looked down at the ground.

Seeing her reaction, Ravenna bit her lower lip hard enough for it to bleed as her eyes burned with anger and frustration, "You convinced me that he's trying to kill us! Convince me right now!! Tell me that this is some sort of elaborate plan!!"

But Leandra remained silent, staring at the floor like a statue.

Ravenna slid down to the floor weakly, crying profusely as she refused to believe that this was real.

"Tell me that this is not real, please…" She sobbed, clutching Leandra's hands tightly. "I can't…"

Just remembering how Lucivar asked for them to spend one last time alone made her heart ache like it never had. His oddly cheerful demeanor was nothing more than his attempt to connect with them one last time before he departed.

Even Nerissa… Ravenna couldn't breathe at the thought of Nerissa.

She had despised Nerissa throughout their brief travels, convinced that Nerissa had resigned herself to Lucivar entirely and had accepted their deaths. But now the truth struck her: Nerissa hadn't accepted their deaths at all.

No, she clung to them just to steal a little more time in their company before her end.

In truth, Nerissa wasn't as rotten as she thought, but the complete opposite.

"How did I ever think she would do such a thing?" Ravenna pulled her hair with both hands—her mind was a wreck—as she could not believe that she would suspect Nerissa of such a cruel thing. "What has gotten into me? How did I think like this?!"

On the other hand, Leandra finally broke down.

She was too stunned to speak or react earlier—but now that the realization had dawned on her fully, tears finally dropped to the floor. Leandra's vision was blurry as she stared at the floor, fists clenched; she couldn't believe that this was the real plan Lucivar had.

In the chamber of her mind, that night when she talked with Lucivar kept playing on repeat.

Even his words rang endlessly as if they were a device to torture her.

"Truth is, I'm not doing so well."

Leandra's pupils trembled, and her entire being shook fiercely.

"I've been living in a lie, and that's…"

She recalled that moment so vividly that she was going insane.

"Not something I can swallow easily."

Just as that sentence echoed, Leandra recalled how Lucivar looked over his shoulder and smiled.

One of the most genuine smiles he had ever made.

"If I seemed different to you… That's probably why. But talking to you has been a great help. You don't have to worry, I think I can manage this."

"HAAARHH!!!"

Leandra crumpled to her knees

Leandra's scream tore through the air, raw and piercing, as she collapsed to her knees.

Her palms clamped over her ears so hard her nails dug into her scalp, as if she could claw the words that kept repeating in her mind out—as if she could muffle the truth hammering against her skull. But there was no silencing it.

His voice wasn't merely in her ears; it was in her mind, in her heart, echoing with merciless clarity.

'What am I doing?' Leandra thought—amidst her scream. 'This isn't me… This isn't me, this isn't me, this isn't me!! I'm not this kind of person. What happened to me? Didn't I say that I want to be more compassionate to him? Why did I doubt him? Why did I think he'd kill us?'

The realization crashed down on her like a tidal wave.

Every wary glance she'd cast at him, every whispered vow to make him pay, every venomous thought she had nurtured—each one now curdled into poison in her gut. She had suspected him of plotting the family's end, even cursed his name in secret, all while he had been quietly putting their affairs in order, preparing them for a future he wouldn't be a part of.

He had been walking toward death with measured steps, and instead of stopping him, she had been sharpening a knife to stab him in the back.

Just the thought of that made her scream even more.

Even as her voice turned hoarse and her throat stung with pain, she kept screaming.

A sick, twisting disgust rose in her throat—bitter and unforgiving.

She could taste the shame on her tongue, could feel the weight of her own betrayal pressing against her ribs until she could hardly breathe. No matter how hard she tried to calm herself, it wouldn't stop. She couldn't stop her thoughts splintering beneath the onslaught of self-loathing.

And all she could do—the only thing left was to scream.

Scream to drown out the voices in her head.

As if screaming enough could rewrite what she had done.

Coaxing Ravenna, demeaning Nerissa, and loathing Lucivar were all sins she now must carry until the end of time, as there will be no forgiveness for her. The people who could give her the forgiveness she needs are already dead.

Only five minutes later did Leandra run out of her voice.

She could only press her forehead against the floor, still desperately covering her ears.

Mirel wiped his tears and summoned the strength to stand up, to approach Leandra and Ravenna, to say that it was okay, as there's nothing left for them other than to accept their situation. But as he was about to stand, Ravenna abruptly climbed to her feet.

"No, until I see a body… I'm not going to believe this!" She rasped, wiping away tears.

No matter what, until she saw a body, she wouldn't believe that Lucivar and Nerissa were gone.

Roughly, she approached Mirel and snatched the phone from his hand.

Opening it, she found Sabrina's contact and hit call.

Soon, the line connected, and Sabrina's voice rang in her ears.

[Hello?]

"Where is he right now?! You're lying, right?!"

Realizing that it was Ravenna, a sigh escaped Sabrina's mouth.

[Leandra knows the place where he would be. And a message from him, please bury him beside Delilah's grave.]

Not even waiting a single second, Ravenna ended the call and grabbed Leandra by her collar, lifting her up. "Come on, you and I are going to find Lucivar. He must still be alive. It's not like him to do this. He must still be alive!"

Just as Ravenna was about to head to the front door, she stopped when Mirel stood in her way.

"What are you doing? Get out of the way!"

"Like I said… Lucivar told me what his plan was, and that's for a reason. I can't let you leave, Ravenna, at least not now."