Ascension of the Dark Seraph - Chapter 127

Chapter 127: Struggling Chapter 127: Struggling Lucivar viewed Nerissa with amazement marring his face.

It turns out the chubby timid girl that he barely put in his eyes wasn’t as weak as he thought.

From living with them and essentially becoming a family-Lucivar had seen the others battle, practically every single day before arriving at the academy.

He knew everyone’s strengths as well as weaknesses.

Bob was a tank, his physique is by far the strongest.

Or even Ravenna who was the most agile and quick almost like a cat.

But from his observations, Nerissa only has the regeneration capability to boast.

Since she took the role of a healer because of her bloodline, she could regenerate too.

Light scratches and mild wounds would regenerate in seconds.

She was ranked higher than Bakar only because she was faster, and against Mirel who was a lot faster than her-she lost.

It was the reason why she was ranked second, from the bottom excluding Lucivar.

However, the friendly tournament Tobias held could only assess combat aptitude.

It doesn’t assess anything else other than that.

Placed in a situation like this, Nerissa instantly shone brightly.

Shaking his head, Lucivar recovered from his daze and focused back on the battle.

Lucivar sprang into the air executing a powerful split kick that sent two Stone Orcs sprawling backward, their burly forms crashing to the ground with resounding thuds.

Following that, he turned his torso and cleaved his dagger at the third stone.

Splat!

But he came to surprise when his dagger only cut through a few centimeters deep.

‘Its skin is so hard!’ He pondered and lifted his gaze.

‘I should aim for parts that are thinner’ Growl!

As the Stone Orc was about to swing its club, Lucivar skipped and stabbed it in the neck.

His dagger stabbed through to the base.

Gripping the hilt tightly, he twisted the dagger and dragged it across the length.

Splash!

Blood gushed out-the Stone Orc’s neck was sliced open cleanly.

Lucivar turned to the other two Stone Orcs who were standing up after doing this, Nerissa’s ability was still active-making it a huge struggle to stand up.

It wouldn’t be hard for Lucivar to take them down in this state.

Suddenly, his eyes widened when a humongous force struck his side.

In the slowed cadence of the moment, his gaze turned to the other side to see the Stone Orc-its neck already sliced open, managed one final, desperate strike, before succumbing to its wounds, wanting to damage Lucivar as much as it could before falling.

‘This damn brute…’ He seethed inwardly, seeing the Stone Orc, casting one last smirk at him.

‘It is used to fighting!’ Bam!

A massive club struck him, a savage swing that sent Lucivar rolling roughly to the side.

Lucivar managed to stop the momentum and coughed a mouthful of blood.

One hit from the club and his entire body was hurting.

He reached for the source of the pain, his lower ribs-and grunted painfully.

Rising to his feet once again, he soon realized that he was beside Nerissa.

“Hello?

A bit of help here?” He uttered while keeping track of the approaching Stone Orcs.

Upon hearing this, Nerissa answered in between her singing, “I can’t,” She replied, it could be seen that once she spoke and let go of the note, the effect her ability had on the Stone Orcs, got a lot weaker.

“If I do anything, my ability will be canceled!

I need to keep singing!” “Outstanding…” Lucivar remarked sarcastically.

Counting the Stone Orcs around, there are at least fifteen of them approaching.

Under Nerissa’s ability, their ears were rattled and their minds were dizzy but they could still keep advancing.

Some could even sprint with their eyes bulging, ignoring the pain and going full berserk mode.

Lucivar then glanced over to the other side and saw Leandra was still occupied.

Her telekinetic ability was perfect to keep the Stone Orcs at bay-she could fight alone.

Having no other choice, Lucivar exhaled lightly, “Let’s do this…” Roar!!

Once he heard the first roar from the first Stone Orc who reached him, he sucked in as much air as possible and threw himself into the fray.

He parried the axe with his dagger and kicked the first Stone Orc away before two more Stone Orcs replaced it.

In the next second was a flurry of exchanges that splashed snow and dirt everywhere.

Lucivar protected Nerissa as Stone Orcs surged in from all directions.

His dagger danced with lethal precision, aiming for throats-and arteries, where the skin was thinner, each strike had a clear unerring intent-a testament to the martial discipline drilled in him during grueling training sessions with Ravenna, Mirel, and Bakar.

Despite the Stone Orcs’ attack and grab, his footwork was flawless.

None of them were able to reach him.

Of course, Nerissa’s ability was helping a lot but that doesn’t diminish his feat.

He weaved through the chaos to intercept every assault while keeping Nerissa behind him.

Stone Orcs pressed harder, their guttural growls echoing over the battlefield.

But Lucivar countered with equal ferocity, his mind was immersed in the battle, as he kicked to stagger one, stabbed to fell another, parried a heavy blow, and used Radiant Burst on the ones who got too close to Nerissa.

“Lucivar!

Lucivar!

Lucivar!” Nerissa called his name repeatedly.

A Stone Orc was about to strike her.

However, before she could get hit, Lucivar pulled her collar and moved to a better spot.

‘I can’t deal if four are attacking at the same time, I need to cover Nerissa’s back’ Dashing swiftly, he maneuvered the Stone Orcs-toward a massive boulder, using the terrain to shield Nerissa’s back and limit the angles of attack he needed to defend.

He could only do this thanks to Nerissa’s ability, which hindered their movements.

As this continues, a shift in the air warned him.

Lucivar glanced over his shoulder, just in time to spot a massive club arcing down.

He yanked Nerissa out of harm’s way by the collar and used his dagger to block the club.

Bam!

A powerful surge of force traveled down from the point of impact-and as soon as it reached Lucivar, his internal organs churned, and he vomited another mouthful of blood.

He clenched down on his teeth and pointed his other hand forward.

Lucivar fired another Radiant Burst, propelling the Stone Orc away like a ragdoll.

Having the mastery increased, its power output and speed increased significantly.

But like a rabid animal, the Stone Orc clawed the ground to stop the momentum and leaped high into the air.

It grasped its club with both hands, intending to deliver a heavy strike, that Lucivar didn’t want to confront at all.

Seeing this, Lucivar retreated, pulling Nerissa away from him.

Boom!

As anticipated, the Stone Orc’s attack cracked the ground and splashed snow everywhere.

However, the two barely caught their breath when they were suddenly shadowed.

Glancing above, three Stone Orcs were descending with weapons raised high.

Each one of them leaped from a nearby tree and caught them off guard.

Lucivar’s heart clenched, there was no room to dodge-no time to react.

Blocking an attack from one Stone Orc alone already made him cough blood, blocking three at the same time would certainly crush him.

But then Nerissa’s song shifted, a piercing note that seemed to ripple through the air.

Her voice raised an octave, changing the effect of her ability.

In that moment, Lucivar’s eyes widened seeing the Stone Orcs above slowed unnaturally.

As if they were in water, their movements became much slower.

Seeing this, Lucivar smiled in excitement, “I love you, Nerissa!

You’re a lifesaver!” Upon saying that, Lucivar’s instincts kicked in.

He moved quickly and slashed the three Stone Orcs’ neck, killing the three perfectly.

Landing back on the ground, Lucivar swept his eyes around-and saw the remaining Stone Orcs, circling him, behind their eyes was hesitation.

It was clear they became more wary of Lucivar as he took down a lot.

Squinting his eyes, Lucivar frowned, ‘No…

they’re not hesitating’ Finding that the Stone Orcs were perfectly distributed around him, it was obvious that they were aiming to keep Lucivar and Nerissa here until the other Stone Orcs from the mountain peak arrived.

All of them were blocking any path for Lucivar and Nerissa to escape.

‘If I stay here and entertain them, there would be no end of them,’ Lucivar pondered, battling them here, would only unnecessarily tax his stamina.

His ether was running low-and he still had no God strands.

‘If only I could find their actual village…’ Just like his initial plan, he could take some hostages to keep the Stone Orcs at bay.

But then, his eyes widened recalling something.

‘Right!

I could use the opportunity!’ Lucivar thought and quickly summoned the mirrors.

He still has three essence bars left after buying two opportunities when confronting Thalia and her family, it was more than enough to purchase another opportunity to find the Stone Orc’s village.

Upon paying for the mirror, a green light shoots in a direction.

Lucivar saw this and smiled, the village didn’t seem to be too far from his position.

Suddenly, the melodious tone stopped.

“What happened?” Lucivar asked.

Nerissa breathed heavily, “I can’t keep it going, my ether is running low” Upon hearing this, Lucivar nodded in understanding.

Casting an ability with such a wide range must’ve required a lot of ether to maintain.

‘I should be able to cut my way through them,’ Lucivar thought, though a frown tugged at his face.

‘Still, this would go much smoother, and easier with more help.

Where are Ravenna and Mirel?

Surely, they’ve arrived to help by now” Glancing towards the mountain, Lucivar squinted when he saw something.

He saw two figures climbing the mountain from the side.

It was Mirel and Ravenna.

Both of them were climbing the mountain quickly.

Capitalizing on the moment of distraction with the Shaman, and Stone Orcs’ attention fixed on Lucivar and the others, they could sneak-to the mountain peak, and take the Teal Coin without needing to battle the Shaman.

From the looks of it, Lucivar wouldn’t have any help in this.

Just as he was contemplating, something suddenly grabbed ahold of his arms.

Lucivar looked down and saw hands made of stone grabbing his wrists with an iron grip.

It was then the proselyte suddenly leaped out from the ground with a nasty smile on his face.

He made eye contact with Lucivar as his smile stretched wider, “That’s not nice…” Bam!

Lucivar staggered back several steps, reeling from the proselyte’s brutal headbutt.

His forehead struck Lucivar’s nose like a battering ram.

Behind him, Nerissa stepped in swiftly, bracing him and halting his unsteady momentum.

As Lucivar skidded to a stop, he clutched his shattered, bloodied nose, the searing pain from the headbutt forced tears to well in his eyes.

He glared at the proselyte, now backed-by the Stone Orcs whose muscles rippled with anticipation.

Savage grins marred their faces, promising the brutal demise of both Lucivar and Nerissa.

“Get ready, we’re going to make a retreat to buy time,” Nerissa whispered.

Upon hearing this, Lucivar nodded, they would regroup with Leandra and retreat first.

Knowing exactly what they were thinking, the proselyte smirked.

“Don’t think we haven’t noticed those two monkeys, climbing sneakily,” He uttered-his smile laced with ridicule, and his voice filled with mockery.

“both of you would watch those two fall to their deaths…”