Ascension of the Dark Seraph - Chapter 145

Chapter 145: Scarab of Set: Red (1) Chapter 145: Scarab of Set: Red (1) Once Lucivar was a step out of the restaurant, the surroundings changed.

Before his mind could process the change, his boy reacted first-an abrupt wave of hot and arid wind swept over him, prickling his skin.

Blinking in confusion-a deep frown crossed his face as he took in his surroundings, finally grasping that the entire hotel had transformed.

It wasn’t warm and comfortable anymore, now it was scorching hot and dry.

A reddish haze blurred Lucivar’s vision no matter where he looked.

Outside, the snow was replaced by reddish sand that reached around ankle height.

Such a stark change was definitely the work of a celestial being.

Just from this sight alone, he could instantly tell what was happening.

“Sutekh…” Lucivar muttered whisperingly.

Realizing that this must be a trial Sutekh has prepared for him, Lucivar exhaled lightly.

He’s mentally preparing himself to face, what is about to come, remembering that Loki’s trial wasn’t exactly a walk in the park.

Also, he began activating his Supernatural Ego, channeling ether in case the need for it arises.

But his frown deepened when he sensed no ether inside of him, “Where’s my ether?” Attempting to summon his ether multiple times, Lucivar couldn’t.

It was as if he was never a Hybrid in the first place.

Even though he could still feel his Supernatural Ego and could interact with it, there was no ether to be used.

Not even the God strands were accessible to him.

In this place-he could only use his physique.

‘Sutekh’s divine blood enhances my physique, this is to be expected,’ Lucivar pondered.

Thud!

Whipping his head around, Lucivar’s gaze locked onto Nerissa.

She was still there beside him, as were the hotel staff.

But all of them-had collapsed to their knees, weirdly still.

Dropping to his knees-he grasped her shoulders and shook her gently in an attempt to gain any reaction, “Nerissa, can you hear me?

Hey, say something!” But even then, there was no answer-Nerissa was unresponsive.

Not to mention, her body was very cold and rigid.

Gently, Lucivar pulled her face toward him by the chin and gasped at the sight.

Nerissa’s skin color has turned ashen as if she has already died and her body preserved.

It made him worry that Sutekh killed her but that shouldn’t be the case.

Checking the other people, they were also in the same boat.

Everyone around Lucivar had fallen into the same ashen and unresponsive state as Nerissa.

‘If it’s any similar to Loki’s trial then the trial should be an introduction to an ability that will be bestowed to me-and there should be an objective,’ Lucivar pondered-his eyes darted right and left to find any clue.

Just then, his hope was answered-a shining thing appeared out of nowhere above him.

Its brilliance casts fleeting patterns on the walls.

A steady, rhythmic buzzing filled the air-and the way it moved was fluid, almost alive.

Once Lucivar’s eyes adjusted to the light, the thing revealed itself to be a creature, a lustrous beetle-its wings glowing red faintly as it hovered with an almost ethereal grace.

Then out of nowhere, the beetle shifted.

Its delicate wings folded inward, encasing its form in a hardened, metallic shell.

Lucivar saw it happening in an instant-the beetle turned into a radiant scarab.

Even its surface which seemed alive now turned into polished steel that caught the light.

Before Lucivar could react-the scarab quivered with raw energy-pulsing faintly.

It shot upward in a blue, piercing through the ceiling, like a phantom, leaving Lucivar alone once more-the hum of its flight still resonating faintly in the air.

Seeing this, Lucivar nodded as that’s certainly his clue.

He needed to follow the red scarab.

“Is it going to the top of the building?

I should hurry” Lucivarr thought aloud.

But once he was about to take a step, he stumbled a little-something was holding his foot.

Glancing to his behind, his eyes widened when he saw Nerissa was the one who was holding his foot but she was not the Nerissa Lucivar knew.

Some parts of her face were decayed and both of her eyes were now black with only its iris crimson.

As if that wasn’t shocking enough, magical strings of linen began wrapping her body.

Nerissa turned from a cute princess into a horrifying mummy.

Graah!

“What the heck?!” Lucivar exclaimed and he instinctively shoved Nerissa with his foot.

However, in doing that, he was the one that was pushed instead.

Nerissa’s body felt like a solid rock-and she didn’t move at all from that shove.

Smirking, Nerissa grabbed Lucivar’s entire leg, and flung him to the other side, sending him crashing onto the receptionist table.

A grunt escaped Lucivar’s mouth.

He gritted his teeth, intending to stand back up but was stunned when the staff beside him also turned.

Spooked, Lucivar crawled backward, away from the other mummies.

Even then there was no way to run as his back stumbled across another mummy.

Crash!

Lucivar struggled to his feet-but a mummy’s claw slashed across his face-the force hurling him over the receptionist’s desk.

He hit the ground hard, rolling before quickly springing back up-his senses sharp as his eyes darted around to assess his surroundings.

Once he recovered from the impact, his eyes widened.

Everyone turned into mummies.

Not only that but he also spotted dozens, perhaps hundreds, of dark energy trails snaking through every corner of the hotel.

It was not confined to this floor-everyone in the entire building had been transformed into mummies.

“Tch!

I see now what you’re doing” Lucivar clicked his tongue in displeasure.

Surely, he needed to follow the red scarab while these mummies tried to stop him.

Glancing over to the stairs about twenty meters from him with multiple mummies along the way, Lucivar nodded and prepared himself to sprint, “I don’t think these mummies are fast, there shouldn’t be a problem for me unless it gets crowded upstairs” Despite not having access to his ether, his physique alone was of an Acolyte rank.

He should be fast enough to eel his way through.

Nodding, Lucivar made a run for it.

Just as he expected, the mummies along the way couldn’t grab ahold onto him as he was too fast for them.

He passed the four mummies barring his way easily-and neared the stairs in a few seconds.

However, as he was about to ascend-he sensed something coming at him from the side.

Lucivar had only the time to turn his head before an attack struck him.

Brak!

Out of nowhere, Nerissa tackled him from the side and slammed him onto the wall.

Such a brunt force forced the air out of Lucivar’s lungs.

Even though Lucivar was able to put his elbow on her neck and hold her claw that was going for his face with his other hand-the slam against the wall hurt him.

But more importantly, he couldn’t break free, ‘So strong!

In terms of strength, I can’t compete!

Not without my ether!’ Graah!

Nerissa opened her maw, trying to bite Lucivar on the neck.

Pinned on the wall, Lucivar gritted his teeth and panicked when he saw the other mummies were closing in.

Other than Nerissa, the others were quite slow-moving at a walking pace, but that was enough if Lucivar couldn’t break free in the next ten seconds.

Knowing that overpowering with strength is out of his hands, he needs to be creative.

Lucivar tried kneeing her liver multiple times but that did nothing.

It doesn’t seem Nerissa felt pain anymore.

Just then-Lucivar’s eyes flashed as he got an idea.

Instead of resisting her push, he decided to go along with it.

Lowering his elbow from her neck, Nerissa lunged her maw forward but Lucivar managed to dodge it in time, and grabbed her by the nape.

He pinned Nerissa’s head between his hand, and also his shoulder.

Once that was successful, he sprouted his wing and tripped Nerissa.

She fell to the ground facing the ceiling.

Giving no time for her to react, Lucviar quickly stepped on her thigh and grabbed her foot.

And with a brutal yank, he snapped her knee-a loud cracking sound resounded.

Since the other mummies were slow while Nerissa was fast, Lucivar needed to cripple her so that she wouldn’t be a problem anymore.

Naturally, Nerissa tried to grab him but Lucivar was able to get on the stairs and went to the second floor.

Upon ascending, more mummies came down.

Lucivar didn’t confront them head-on, these mummies were physically stronger than him.

Instead, he resorted to tripping them and also knocking them off balance.

He avoided their hands at all costs because if he was grabbed-making them let go would be very hard.

Slowly but surely-Lucivar ascended the stairs.

But mid-way, on the landing, there was a window to his side.

Finding that the mummies were all immobilized, Lucivar looked out.

Outside, Kallinan City which was supposed to be a bustling market city had turned barren.

Desolate desert span, as far as the eyes can see, there was not a single building-other than the hotel he was in right now.

In the far distance, Lucivar saw two massive pyramids made of black and red blocks.

Squinting his eyes, Lucivar saw something in the space between the two pyramids.

Lucivar couldn’t see clearly as it was very far but he reckoned that it was Sutekh.

Averting his gaze away, he looked up and saw more mummies descending down the stairs.

Making haste, Lucivar coursed through them with ease-he punched a mummy on its jaw, knocking it off balance, tripped another when it was about to step, and even lifted one up and threw it down.

No need to kill these mummies, it would only tire him.

Knowing how they move, he could beat them easily.

As long as there were no other mummies like Nerissa, he should be fine.

Reaching the second floor, Lucivar looked around the ceiling.

“I think the hotel has six floors, I hope that scarab didn’t go to the rooftop,” He mused.

Lucivar hoped that the scarab went to a certain floor, not the rooftop but then, he saw the scarab hovering on the ceiling-not too far from him.

He was about to sprint and grab that thing but it suddenly went through the ceiling again.

“Oh, come on!” Lucivar cursed, he now needed to go to the third floor.

His room was on the third floor so he knew the layout-there was a chance he could catch the scarab there.

Going through more mummies again, growling and snarling while exuding the scent of death, Lucivar reached the third floor.

Not wasting a single second, he sprinted in search of the scarab.

But as he made a turn, he stopped mid-track.

“Fuck…” Lucivar muttered as his heart dropped to his stomach.

Standing in the hall were two familiar figures-Leandra and Ravenna who were both covered in linen while holding their weapons.

Both of them were in their rooms and if Nerissa got into the mix then these two would also be the same.

“I forgot about them…”