Ascension of the Dark Seraph - Chapter 147

Chapter 147: Scarab of Set: Bronze Chapter 147: Scarab of Set: Bronze As Sha stated, the trial didn’t finish once he obtained the red scarab.

Lucivar was teleported elsewhere the moment he clutched the red scarab in his hand-and now, he was in a limited confined room with little to no light.

He could see properly-thanks to the crimson linings that were rooting on the walls.

His cheering died down as he inspected the place he was in.

“Where am I…?” Lucivar pondered aloud.

From his inspection, the chamber was no more than fifty paces across.

Its obsidian walls and floors were etched with faint crimson lines that pulsed like a heartbeat.

He turned in confusion, his gaze tracing the sharp angles of the space.

Once his eyes adjusted, the realization dawned upon him-a pyramid.

“Am I inside one of those twin pyramids-I saw earlier?” Lucivar’s breath hitched, he did not like the eerie stillness of the place.

Gazing above, the walls tapered to a precise apex, “Am I supposed to find a way out of here?” Lucivar was wondering exactly what he was supposed to do.

But then, the air buzzed with an eerie energy.

Following that buzz were the crimson lines along the wall changing color from red to bronze.

Naturally, a foreboding sensation dawned upon him, and his senses were proven to be right when a radiating glow came from above.

Another scarab-this one was glistening bronze in color.

Seeing this, Lucivar determined to instantly try and reach it.

He leaped with his arm stretched but then he collided with something.

Lucivar struck a hard surface and fell back down, he landed on the obsidian floor and gazed up-only to be met with a block that shielded the bronze scarab behind it.

He stood up, and inspected the block but then, it suddenly began descending.

It was small, only the size of the pyramid’s tip-but as it got closer, it got bigger.

Not to mention, it suddenly sped up upon reaching halfway.

Swoosh!

His face froze upon seeing this, “What in the wor-warrgh!!” Having no other space to avoid this black block-Lucivar raised his arm to somehow stop the block.

But the moment he felt the weight of the block, his eyes widened completely.

His arms instantly folded, and the block landed on his back.

“Kaahk!” Lucivar grunted, he was still wounded and the weight was crushing him.

Despite that, his willpower persevered-he kept his legs firm.

As this continued, he could feel and hear his bones cracking under the weight-he would not be able to hold on for long.

Forcing his eyes to open, he tried to look around and on the floor, he saw a timer.

It was an hourglass, the sand drizzling down at the bottom at a slow pace.

Surely, his only task was to hold this block until the timer ran out.

Although the task was extremely simple, it was nigh impossible to complete.

Lucivar could feel that the weight was akin to multiple busses stacked on top of each other, and to make matters worse, the hourglass-would finish around ten minutes.

Even then, the willpower inside of him kept him going.

But there was only so much his willpower could help.

Crack!

Not even at the minute mark, a sharp snapping sound echoed.

Hearing this, Lucivar’s eyes widened as he glanced down to his feet.

It was then he saw his shin legs snapped, he had no more support to keep going.

Bam!

“RAARGGHKK!!

FUCK YOU SUTEKH!” Lucivar was crushed under the massive weight of the block that pressed him down-driving him mercilessly onto the floor.

A pained scream escaped his lips, sharp and raw, as his body buckled beneath the relentless pressure.

His screams kept rising to a harrowing crescendo as his bones splintered one after another.

Soon came the final, grisly moment.

His body crumpled completely, reduced to a grotesque paste of blood and flesh.

A sickening end under the crushing slab.

Moments later, the block lifted itself back into place as if obeying some unseen command.

At the center of the chamber, red sand seeped from the floor and coalesced, reforming into Lucivar piece by piece.

He appeared whole, standing in shock-his body trembling violently-having not registered what had happened.

Sweat poured from his face, his breaths coming in ragged and sharp.

Glancing down, he saw that he was standing on a pile of blood along with his ground meat.

“D- Did I die…?” Lucivar sucked in a cold breath, his mind spinning from the shock.

His mind replayed the death he experienced seconds ago-a vivid, searing torment that had etched itself deep into his mind, leaving him shaken.

But the pain from being crushed swiftly snapped him from his trance.

Swoosh!

Once again, the block came crashing down and Lucivar was forced to confront it.

Biting his lower lip until it bleeds, he held on-his bulging eyes paranoid of his shin bones.

‘Keep it steady.

Adjust it properly and don’t make any shifting move-‘ Crack!

Splat!

Despite already being careful not to break his shin bones, Lucivar was crushed once again-dying once again.

He was revived like earlier and was forced into the same situation.

Instead of paying attention to his shin bones, this time, he scanned the place for another clue.

Just then, he realized that there was something behind him.

“I- It’s the red scarab!” Lucivar yelped in surprise.

As it turns out-the red scarab has been hovering behind him all this time.

Naturally, the red scarab must be the key to completing this test.

However, he was crushed once again before he could even try to do something.

Lucivar died three times in no more than three minutes.

Even though he knew the trial of Sutekh would be hard and the fact that Sutekh was a God, he didn’t expect it to be this extreme.

His mind wavered every time he experienced death- the looming death was getting him.

Not to mention, the remains of his ‘previous’ self didn’t fade-it only littered the ground.

On top of physical exercise, Sutekh also brutally tested his mental.

It was true that he had proven himself but this was different.

Dying was supposed to be a one-in-a-lifetime event, everyone would experience it once.

But Lucivar had experienced it three times already.

“Krrggh…!”  Forcing his mind to recover quickly, fearing the excruciating pain from death by crushing, he looked at the red scarab-and willed it towards him.

But no matter how much he tried to call for it, the red scarab didn’t budge, it kept floating motionlessly.

Gritting his teeth, Lucivar looked down to the ground again.

‘Other than mentally testing me, these remains must be here for a reason’ He thought.

Deciding to try, Lucivar willed the red scarab to go to the blood.

As expected, once he commanded that-the red scarab finally moved.

It began absorbing the blood as well as the remains steadily, Lucivar waited impatiently as his shins were already cracking again.

But then, the red scarab shimmered and once it did, he wasted no time and willed it towards him, to give him power.

Swoosh!

Using blood as fuel, the red scarab shot towards Lucivar and slammed onto his forehead.

Lucivar’s head was yanked back but in the next second, he felt a warm sensation.

It came from his forehead and spread throughout his entire body.

Once his head returned to its original position, one could see the red scarab embedded into his forehead, like a third eye.

And with the energy it provided, Lucivar felt stronger, he could even push the block a little.

‘Strength…’ Lucivar pondered sharply.

‘the red scarab gave me strength’ Knowing that Sutekh was all about physical prowess as His divine blood enhanced Lucivar’s muscles, the first ability must revolve around that.

Earlier, the mummies he battled, excelled in strength-easily overpowering him with raw strength.

So from that alone, he could assume that the red scarab enhanced his raw strength.

Gritting his teeth, Lucivar began pushing the block overhead.

Under the influence of the red scarab, the crushing weight became lighter than it was.

Lucivar stretched his arms fully, and held the block above him, he was panting hard as he did this-but he was glad that he was not going to be crushed-anymore, “If red is strength then this, brown must be endurance or resilience.

Once I get through this-the next trial should be way easier to complete” Now that he knew the ability, he reckoned he could do better in the next trial.

Four minutes into the hold, Lucivar frowned when his arms began trembling.

It was unclear whether the weight was getting heavier or his arms were getting tired.

Just then, however, in the fifth minute, the red scarab’s glow disappeared.

Lucivar could feel his strength being zapped away, and holding the block became a struggle with each passing second.

He even needed to resort to using his wing to persevere-and as he did this, he kept stealing glances at the hourglass.

But it was no use, there were a quarter more sand to go.

Splat!

As if three times weren’t enough, Lucivar died once again, making this the fourth.

Once he was revived, he bore the weight again like Atlas.

Instead of figuring out, how to pass this trial, Lucivar began laughing instead, he laughed out loud as if dying was the funniest thing in the world.

His fourth death was not the reason-for his laugh.

His reason for laughing was because he realized what he needed to do.

From what happened earlier, he realized that-in order to pass this trial-he needed to die a couple more times so that the red scarab had enough fuel.

It was constructed from the very start that he would experience death multiple times here.

Lucivar was quite sure Sutekh was having a laugh on the other side, seeing him struggling.

Once he vented all of his frustrations, his laughter stopped.

Inhaling a deep breath, Lucivar let go of the block and got crushed under it.

He let the block kill him multiple times, every time he died-his soul was sucked from him.

Splash!

Sixth.

Crack!

Seventh.

Splat!!

Eighth.

Ninth.  Tenth.

Again and again, Lucivar allowed the block to crush him until his remains, a mix of blood and limbs were already covering the entire floor.

Once the supply was finished, Lucivar, returned to bearing the block once again.

Minutes passed as sweat and blood drizzled down his body.

On the side, the sand in the hourglass kept flowing down slowly.

It was so silent inside the chamber that the sound the hourglass made could be heard.

Eventually, the last grain slipped down from the hole and the timer ended.

Lucivar was once again teleported, this time he was teleported outside but he had no time to check.

He instantly fell to his knees, panting heavily as Sutekh didn’t even bother healing him of his fatigue from passing a trial.

He remained gasping for air for minutes before he recovered enough to lift his gaze.

Once he gazed ahead, a smile crept to his face.

“Nice to meet you, Sutekh…” Lucivar mumbled tiredly.

“Have a great time watching me?” CREATORS’ THOUGHTS Mrboogey13 I forgot to set the timer to publish the chapter, forgive me!