Ascension of the Dark Seraph

Initially, the family was oblivious as to who Lucivar was.

Other than the shock playing its part in dazing them, it was hard to take a look at Lucivar properly with the glowing veins and the emerald flames fluttering around him. Not to mention—despite not knowing who he was, the family could sense nothing but trouble coming from him.

He was emanating a wicked aura.

Regardless of who he was, someone who has to power to come back to life must not be a good person.

In fact, the family suspected that he was a Demon Hybrid.

But those thoughts were thwarted when two pairs of wings sprouted behind him.

Despite bearing a different color palette, the wings were reminiscent of an Angel's feathered wings.

"An Angel Hybrid…?" the eldest murmured in shock.

Even so, she was slightly relieved as the family should be fine now, as Angel Hybrids, though branded as pariahs across the continent, were inherently kind. In fact, it was precisely—because they were good that they were branded as pariahs by the Supreme House.

Seeing the bad things the Supreme House did to their people, Angel Hybrids simply couldn't stand it.

"Excuse me… are you a Hybrid from the Sunhold City?" the middle-aged woman asked.

Her smile was polite, the generic smile one used when speaking to someone important.

Realizing what she was doing, the middle-aged man crawled forward while also bearing the same exact smile. He rubbed his hands and looked at Lucivar, "If you are from Sunhold City—can you help us get there? In truth, this is our first time going there."

Behind, the eldest looks at her parents in confusion.

Confused as to what her parents were talking about.

Lucivar looked at these two for a good moment with a raised brow, inspecting them.

Just then, the brutal smirk returned.

"Ah, you want to go to Sunhold City?" He asked—also returning the smile. "Sure, I can guide you there."

"Really?! In that case, we'll be in your care."

"Hmm, hmm! We'll be in your care. "

"Mom?" the eldest tugged her mother's clothes. "Aren't we going to take shelter here until the sky cleared? Besides, I think there are better questions to ask of him, no? Like, how did he come back to life?"

Not even turning to the eldest, the middle-aged woman brushed her hand away.

Her gaze was still fixated on Lucivar.

"Shall we start to move, Sir? Since you have fire power, the rain shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"Of course. I can easily shield all of you from the rain."

"Great!"

Excited, the middle-aged woman and man climbed back to their feet and turned around to prepare the carriage and settle the horses that were still looking at Rex fearfully. Like seeing the Devil in the flesh, a being of extreme malice.

Lucivar followed behind the parents with a genuine smile.

Seeing this, the eldest also stood up—not forgetting to bring Rory and Mory with her.

Despite her confusion at the turn of events, she has no choice but to follow.

"You must think I'm an idiot, don't you?" Lucivar suddenly said, his voice chilling and threatening.

"I'm sor—?!"

Splash!

Blood splashed, drawing a beautiful arc in the air before painting the muddy ground crimson.

At that moment, the middle-aged woman and man widened their eyes when a burning sensation began to spread across their chests. Upon blinking, they both coughed a mouthful of blood before their gazes dropped to their chests, only to find a hand had penetrated through their bodies completely.

And within that hand, their still-beating heart settled.

"I was really hoping your family would turn out to be one of the decent ones—you know, so I could rake in some bad karma by taking you out. But the way you two schemed against me without a moment's hesitation…" Lucivar let out an impressed whistle. "That's some frighteningly synchronized thinking. I'm pleasantly impressed."

From behind, the eldest gasped in shock.

She watched in horror as both of her parents were killed brutally by having their hearts ripped out, and then, as soon as Lucivar pulled his hand out, their bodies disintegrated into sparkling energy, absorbed by the Greedy Grasp ability.

Once her parents disappeared without a trace, the eldest's legs crumpled inward.

Just the sight of her parents' deaths made her weak in the legs.

She fell to the ground in complete and utter fear.

Lucivar turned around and smiled, his hands still stained with her parents' blood, "Don't look at me like that. It would be unfair to the people I killed, who were actually innocent. Your parents wanted to take me back to the city and rat me out as an Angel Hybrid, and that's not okay."

Earlier, he was pleasantly surprised to find dark stands coming out of the parents.

It made their intention quite clear to Lucivar.

Despite their friendly bravado, they wanted nothing more than to rat Lucivar out and reap the rewards.

Greed is oftentimes much more evident than anger.

Grinning savagely, licking the blood on his hand as if it were sweet, Lucivar approached the remaining meal. His devilish eyes were fixated on the eldest, whose face was already pale and stiff—a spectacular sign of an innocent soul.

"Stop right there!" Rory bravely stood before the eldest, pointing at Lucivar fiercely.

Despite being nothing more than a teenager, he still stepped forward to protect his big sister.

Lucivasr looked at the cute teen boy and raised a brow in amusement.

He watched as Rory stood defiantly, protecting his big sister as if his tiny hands could do anything to an adult, much less to Lucivar. Even so, he halted his steps, "Since my… resurrection, I had already transcended the bounds of constraints. I vowed to do whatever I want—and to whoever I want. No more holding back. So, I'm warning you… boy. Step aside. Don't test me."

"If you take another step, I'll take you down!" Rory roared, still defiant in the presence of a Demi-God.

Seeing this, Lucivar's eyes burned with malice.

He already gave Rory a warning, so everything that happened after is not his fault.

"Rory, stop!"

Realizing that Lucivar was really going to kill Rory, the eldest exclaimed, telling Rory to stop.

Hearing this, Rory was about to argue, but the eldest gave him a look.

It was her big sister look, forcing Rory to lower his fists.

Sneering, Lucivar walked and bumped Rory aside, knocking him to the ground.

He then ignored the teenager's curses and squatted in front of the eldest, pinching her chin with two of his fingers. As he did this, he ignored Mory, who was shuddering beside her, "Odd… For someone who watched their parents died—before their very eyes, you don't seem to be grieving. The same goes for these two."

"Are they even your parents?" He added, curious as to why this is the case.

In shame, the eldest averted her gaze, but Lucivar's fingers on her chin forced her face to face forward.

"No… they're only our guardian."

"As I expected. I was expecting to see more tears—what a bummer."

Lucivar stood up again and walked to the side, checking the graves he had been in earlier.

All the while, the eldest looked at him warily, 'Is he really an Angel Hybrid? He killed someone without a second thought, even if that someone wanted to kill him. Not to mention, he doesn't act like an Angel Hybrid. What is he?'

Feeling the dread shrouding her heart, the eldest swallowed harshly.

'But one thing is for sure: he's dangerous and unpredictable. I can feel it… One wrong move and we're dead.' She clenched her fists tightly, looking around in search of something or someone to help. At the very least, she wanted Rory and Mory to survive. 'But what can I do?'

"You know, I was buried here by my so-called family."

Lucivar's voice rang.

He was talking to the eldest without turning to look at her.

Additionally, his voice seemed loud despite the downpour, almost like the world was highlighting him.

"Not like that… I deliberately made them think—that I'm dead. The idea suddenly hits me, thanks to my master, who also thought of leaving us. Keeping them around will only bite me on the back—so I decided to ditch them. Killing them is the sure-fire way to get rid of them, but I'm not that heartless. Besides, it's liturgical to keep them alive as a sign that I've shed my sheep's skin."

"What do you think? Am I right to keep them alive?"

Lucivar pivoted around again, looking at the eldest, who was now embracing Rory and Mory.

Shocked by this sudden question, the eldest was stunned for a second.

But she quickly recovered, knowing that it's best to go with his flow and not to instigate him even more.

"I… I think it's the right thing to do."

"Really? Why is that?"

"Umm… I mean, your master must've thought the same thing by leaving instead of killing."

Hearing this, Lucivar stared at the eldest in silence for a good couple of seconds.

'What's with this silence? Did I say something wrong?' The eldest sweated profusely as she pulled her brothers closer out of fear.

But then, Lucivar smiled and laughed, "Right? I also think this is the right move, too. It's going to be more painful for them if I don't kill them either, so that's more bad karma—for me. But still… to bury someone like me in such a damn small and ordinary grave, are they insulting me?"

As Lucivar returned to check the grave, the eldest exhaled in relief.

She thought she and her brothers were going to die there.

'Good, I need to keep this up. Just agree with him and don't make him angry,' the eldest looked to the carriage, recalling something that she had left there due to rushing to shelter from the rain. 'I'll appease him. Hopefully, he'll let us go. If not, then I'll have no choice but to call in for help.'

"If you think you're going to get out of this, then you're sorely mistaken."

Deg!

Slowly, the eldest looked at Lucivar as her heart pounded inside her chest.

She looked at Lucivar as if he were a monster, as she couldn't believe he could read her mind that easily.

"And don't even bother taking the thing you have on your carriage," Lucivar added, grasping a handful of dirt in marvel. He wanted to pat himself on the back for absorbing this ability. "I can sense its energy even from here. If you reach for it, you and your brothers will die."

Seeing no other way out of this, the eldest's shoulders slumped.

"What do you want?" She asked with a helpless tone.

Lucivar glanced over his shoulder and smirked, "I sensed something from you, and you're not leaving until I find out what it was. So, why don't you cough it out so we can both be freed from this situation? I don't know if you knew, but I'm rather in a good mood, and being here is the last thing I wanted."