Ascension of the Dark Seraph

Upon hearing Lucivar's voice, the eldest turned before her grasp on Rory and Mory tightened.

Sliding down from the cliff was Lucivar, but he was not alone.

Both of his hands were clenched around the skulls of two figures—clad in pitch-black attire, their garb marking them unmistakably as assassins or spies. Strapped to their waists were firearms, which made it obvious that they came from an independent city, or rather, Sunhold City.

Not to mention, these two were clearly Hybrids.

As Lucivar dragged them nonchalantly, the two were wailing as the grip was crushing their skulls.

Desperately, the two used their attribute to burn Lucivar's hands, but it did nothing to him.

Even as his hands burned with hell flames, Lucivar didn't seem to be bothered.

As Lucivar dragged them along with a casual, almost bored gait, the two wailed in agony—their skulls groaned under the merciless pressure of Lucivar's grip. So much so that their eyes rolled back, and the pain was unbelievable.

In their desperation, they unleashed their attributes, igniting flames that licked at his hands.

But it was a futile attempt to force Lucivar to release them, as it did nothing.

Lucivar remained utterly unfazed.

His expression betrayed no pain, no struggle—only the excited smile at the sight of Angel.

"Sir Lucivar, aren't you pushing me too much?"

Angel stopped at the shallow slope, leaning against the wall to catch her breath.

Even though she was no longer a secretary as of today, she still wore clothes—that made her look like one. A skin-tight skirt, along with stockings, covered her long legs, and coupled with her pristine white shirt, she was basically wearing the standard of what a secretary would wear.

On one hand, she was holding an umbrella, which clearly showed she had walked to reach here.

"I don't think sneaking out of the city and walking all the way here is necessary," She complained.

"For someone who begged to come along," Lucivar remarked teasingly—tightening his very grip. With effortless force, he crushed the man's skull in his left hand like a watermelon, silencing him before a whimper could escape. He cast the mangled body aside as if it were nothing more than refuse. "You certainly had a lot to complain about."

Lucivar walked past the eldest and the brothers and stood before Angel.

Even so, Angel kept on breathing heavily.

She was exhausted.

"Still," She pouted, lips curving in protest. "Did you forget that I'm just a normal person? Asking me to walk at least ten miles is cruel, don't you think? At the very least, you could've let me ride something. A taxi, or even a carriage. Ugh… my legs feel like they're about to fall off…"

Pah!

Angel yelped when Lucivar landed a crisp slap onto her butt.

"Stop complaining, or I'll leave you here," He threatened with a playful tone.

"Who's complaining?" Angel smiled sheepishly, hugging his arm. "I'm only venting."

"Isn't that the same thing?" Lucivar raised a brow.

"Ermm…" Angel cleared her throat and averted her focus elsewhere. She looked behind Lucivar and found the eldest and her brothers, but she paid them no heed as there was something she was more curious about. "Anyway, is that where you're buried?"

She walked past Lucivar and headed to the graves.

Changing the topic seemed to be appropriate lest Lucivar change his mind and leave her here.

Just being here alone required tremendous effort, and she wasn't going to waste it.

"Wow…" Angel bent forward to look into the grave. "You really were buried here. I can't believe this is really happening. I have my doubts when you said you can come back from the dead, but you really can. Since when do you have that ability?"

Lucivar stood by her and also looked down at the grave where he had lain not too long ago.

"I devoured this girl, I forgot her name, back in the South Hues Tournament. She's a Phoenix Hybrid, and her purity was also very high."

"Orivelle? Didn't she die? Wait… you killed her in front of that many eyes?"

"Something like that. In any case, I was planning to use it during my battle with Caldaros, but I didn't expect he could nullify that ability. I haven't gotten the chance to use it until now. This is my first time using it."

Hearing this, Angel combed her hair behind her ear and smiled helplessly.

Nobody would've expected that Lucivar, publicly known as a Harpy Hybrid, and was an Angel Hybrid in secret, has the ability to resurrect like this. It was no wonder that his family, or rather, former family, was fooled so easily.

From behind, the eldest watched these two in utter horror.

Both of them were talking freely despite the fact that the other person that Lucivar was still holding had been whimpering and groaning all this time. He was in anguish as his skull was cracking, but there was no chance of escaping.

He was already out of ether, drained by Lucivar's touch.

'That man is at least a Chrysalis-rank Hybrid,' the eldest thought, her eyes narrowing. 'I've gotten the chance to meet a Chrysalis-rank Hybrid before, and they were said to possess the ability to use attribute. No matter where these Hybrids go—they will be respected, and yet… this respected Hybrid is helpless in front of him…?'

'How strong is he? And he can devour people? Who in the world is he?' She swallowed harshly.

Every fiber of her being was telling her that Lucivar was dangerous.

And at that moment, Lucivar cast a nonchalant glance at her—smirking at her knowingly.

Instinctively, the eldest pulled Rory and Mory closer—she was covering their eyes so that they would not have to see this disturbing, gory sight—but she didn't realize that it would help her avoid them seeing her terrified like this.

'I made the right call…' the eldest looked down, body shaking uncontrollably.

Just from that glance alone, she knew that if she had run away like Rory suggested, Lucivar would not hesitate to kill her and her brothers. 'I don't know who he is, but for now, I should be grateful that he's not killing us. Let's not do anything that might change his mind.'

"So, how did the plan go?" Angel asked curiously.

Since Lucivar was here, everything should go smoothly, but she still wanted to ask.

"Except for a few hiccups, it went as planned. Thanks to your work, I don't need to do much either. All I need is to act the part as a man who was handling his affairs, and all of them bought it," Lucivar shrugged, chuckling a little. "None of them suspected a thing."

Angel was the one helping him from the shadows.

She was the one who identified and found the remaining people associated with Vanessa's birthday party, the arrangements for the vacation, and also the surveillance to make sure—that Leandra, Ravenna, and also Mirel wouldn't find out what he was plotting.

Despite not being a Hybrid, Angel had consistently proved herself to be extremely useful.

Because of that very reason, he decided to bring her along.

Of course, there's a condition.

Once they settled in a new city far away from Sunhold City, she would still need to work on expanding her connections, which would mean she still had to work for others. And she didn't mind—as long as he promised to stay in close contact.

It was a deal that Lucivar didn't mind.

Maybe because Loki's blood was prevalent inside him, but he was drawn to cunning people.

Someone like Angel, who has no power, relies heavily on that, which was good.

"I pity your family," Angel shook her head. "Do you need to make them suffer like that, though?"

Hearing this, Lucivar stared at Angel for a good moment.

His expression remained straight throughout this moment before he tilted his head.

"Of course," He answered nonchalantly.

Even the way Lucivar gazed at Angel made her feel like he was confused as to why she asked something like that when the answer should be obvious. "I'm the Blessed Oracle, the avatar of five evil Gods. Of course, I need to make it as painful as it could be. I get stronger from this kind of thing.

"Oh… I knew Hybrids had a different way to amass ether." Angel nodded awkwardly.

"Besides," Lucivar shrugged, recounting each one of the family in his mind. "Based on their personality, I need to at least do this much to make them leave me alone for good. Especially Leandra, she will never stop unless she truly believes that I'm dead."

Master Tobias gave him this idea, and it worked wonderfully as long as the execution was flawless.

"And what about the Ending Needle?"

"It's a fake one. I got the real book and copied its format to make a fake craft. I referenced the Ending Needle from one of the crafts written in the book, but anything else is false. A weapon that is specifically made to kill me doesn't exist."

"So, what now? Should we go meet up with Morriva and Zibbo?"

"Well, that's the original plan, but…" Lucivar turned towards the eldest and her brothers.

A devious smile crossed his face.

Such a smile made the eldest hug Rory and Mory tighter as that smile could only mean anything but good. She bit her lower lip—and finally spoke up, "Do anything you want with me. Kill me. Use me. I don't care—as long as you promise you will not harm them. Just promise me that, and I will obey your words without question."

"Such an obedient woman, I'm pleased." Lucivar rubbed his chin in amusement.

On the other hand, Angel glared at her as if she were a rival.

"But there's merit to listening to me, other than in exchange—for your brothers' safety," Lucivar walked over with deliberate slowness. "Someone in the Supreme House wanted your blood, and I so happen to want to kill him. If he dies, you're free. Isn't that great?"

"Then what do you want me to do?" the eldest asked.

"We're going to play distraction—so make sure to show the best performance of your life," Lucivar said, grin splitting his face as he hoisted the man by the head like a child. He leaned in close, voice low and cold. "Tell me where that woman was to be escorted, or I'll make sure you get a very good look at Hell."

Peering into Lucivar's eyes, the man was horrified to see boundless wicked power in them.

Like his two eyes were the very gate to Hell itself.

And the smile he was wearing alone stretched so wide that it made him look like a monster, causing him to pee in her pants as he immediately nodded his head repeatedly. He wanted to answer, but his tongue was stiff, and he couldn't utter a single word.

However, this was good enough for an answer for Lucivar.

"Good… Let's go, then. Let's hunt an avatar's head."