Ascension of the Dark Seraph - Chapter 243

Chapter 243: The Anvil of Sutekh
Initially, Lucivar was fuming.

How could he be punished for a simple mistake? Besides, isn’t he basically almost a God too?

A God cursing another God should be fitting.

But those arrogant thoughts were wiped clean by the punishment, the Falcon Champion’s fists beat the pride, anger, and willpower out of Lucivar’s system. Now—he became more docile. Many would surely think that cursing a God was stupid of him.

It was especially true when he didn’t have the power to defy someone like Sutekh.

Perhaps he was in need of a beating.

Seeing his genuine remorse, Sutekh’s eyes sparkled as the sand underneath Lucivar healed him again.

His broken body was fixed back to normal as if the wounds had never been there.

Lucivar sat up and kept his gaze down.

In front of a God, he needed to show the proper respect.

He must serve Sutekh to his dying breath and be grateful, even though he overpaid with pain.

‘Nah, fuck that.’

Almost instantly, the docile and meek air around him vanished, replaced by a savage one as Lucivar ran forward with killing intent flashing in his eyes. He summoned his wings, two radiant deep green wings, and charged at Sutekh with power.

“Do you think punishing me would teach me something?!” He roared, laughing maniacally.

Perhaps the pain has broken something inside of him, but his eyes now contained madness.

Being violently beaten hurts, it was so painful that he could cry.

But he didn’t.

Swoosh!

Lucivar reached Sutekh’s face with his arm cocked back, “If anything, that only made me angrier!”

As he was about to swing, more red sand shot from the ground and caught him mid-air.

His arm was caught and he was suspended in the air, unable to break free.

Seeing Lucivar’s attempt in deceiving him—with fake genuineness, Sutekh cracked a small smile but said nothing, not a single word. All he did was stare at Lucivar with his bottomless, divine eyes that seemed to stare right into Lucivar’s soul.

But his gaze didn’t scare Lucivar.

“What?!” Lucivar barked, his smile still dripped with killing intent. “Are you going to punish me again? For hurting your little, fragile Ego—who can’t handle being cursed?! Do you think you’d be able to do this to me and expect me to fall in line?! Try me you jackal bastard!”

Instead of answering with words, Sutekh increased the red sand’s temperature to a scorching degree.

Visibly, Lucivar’s skin was bubbling and shrinking.

However, that only made Lucivar more feral.

“What can you possibly do to me?” Lucivar mocked further, smiling through gritted teeth—as the pain made him scream inside. But gradually, the pain lessened. Not because Sutekh showed a sliver of mercy but because of another thing entirely. “In case you fucking forgot, I’m the Blessed Oracle. I have more Gods inside my veins. I don’t need you!”

“You should be thankful that I’m picking to get the divine merit from you!” He spat fiercely.

Such a display of arrogance secretly made Sutekh smile inside.

It was the kind of arrogance that someone like Lucivar should have, but still, this is getting troublesome.

As Lucivar raged, his body sizzled with a deep green aura that made his bearing heavier.

So much that even the red sand was slowly collapsing.

Exactly as Lucivar said, there were other Gods inside of him—Sutekh wasn’t the only one.

Splash!

Out of nowhere, a snake was formed from the red sand below—it slithered upward with lightning-fast speed and struck Lucivar hard. For a couple of seconds there, Lucivar felt the dry particles scrape hard against his skin, and then move into his insides.

Despite appearing agonizing, the process was anything but.

Instead, it was an intoxicating surge of vitality—overwhelming, yet exhilarating.

Then, once it ended, his anger disappeared as if it had never been there.

“Neat trick.” Lucivar mumbled and looked up at Sutekh.

Clearly, Sutekh was also able to wash him from his emotions—it was quite an annoying ability.

“The punishment isn’t only for show.” Sutekh finally spoke, his voice was deep and astral, almost as if the entire realm was the one talking. “It’s to punish you and also the prepare you. Feel it, I’ve placed a seed to help in your training.”

Upon hearing this, Lucivar looked down at his body.

He closed his eyes to probe his inside, and as Sutekh said, there was a pulsating seed at his core.

It provided him with physical energy that allowed him to endure the punishment earlier.

“So, is this your divine merit?” Lucivar asked.

“No,” Sutekh shook his head and gazed beyond Lucivar, to his behind. “Sha will walk you through it.”

Glancing over his shoulder, Lucivar found a portal waiting for him.

Sha materialized, her face was now serious with reverence, respectful in the presence of Sutekh, who watching her with probing eyes. “Come,” She said, walking past Lucivar and heading for the portal. “I’ll show you the way.”

Not even needing to be called the second time, Lucivar followed Sha and entered the portal.

As the duo emerged on the other side, another barren desert, Lucivar couldn’t help but ask.

“Does this training go to improve more of my body parts on the Stone Tablet of Physique?”

Lucivar was hopeful.

He still has a lot of parts in the second layer that he hasn’t unlocked yet.

Out of most, he wanted to unlock blood vessels the most—as that’d increase his overall physical limit.

“No,” Sha shook her head. “The Stone Tablet of Physique is separate from this training. In this, you’re going to increase your raw physique without enhancements. Once you are done, you should be as strong as when you activated the Triune Scarab ability without activating it.”

Despite not being able to explore the second layer further, Lucivar was still excited for this.

If Sha really meant what she said, then his physical prowess might be doubled or even tripled after this.

Scanning the area, Lucivar placed his hands on his hips, “So, what is this training? I don’t see anything.”

Sha stepped forward, her paws sinking into the red sand with each step.

By the time she took her third step, the air around her trembled, rippling with unseen force. And then, the once-serene landscape began to shift, its tranquility unravelling. Lucivar felt the ground quiver under him before a massive crater split open ahead, the red sand cascading into its unfathomable depths.

For a moment there, Lucivar watched with wide eyes as several structures surfaced.

It was a structure that was divided into three distinct sections separated by a doorless gate—a ring of towering onyx pillars, a sprawling labyrinth, and the endless expanse of dunes stretching beyond. Right before Lucivar could react, Sha spoke, her tone crisp and professional.

“Just like your Triune Scarab ability, this will refine your three core physical aspects—Strength, agility, and stamina.” She took a step back, her form already beginning to turn into sand. “Make it through to the other side and find me there. Good luck.”

And with that, she vanished.

Lucivar has a lot of questions, but Sha has no intention of answering.

“Guess I’ll have to learn the hard way…” He thought aloud and began his training.

…

Time flowed differently in Sutekh’s realm.

Initially, Lucivar thought that he’d probably go through the training for a couple of months, but he was too naïve to think that. Not that he was too naïve to expect to finish the training in several months, he was too naïve to think that he could tell how many days had passed.

He couldn’t keep track of time, the scorching red sun hovered in the sky endlessly.

There was no night in this realm, and it was always hot.

Regardless, Lucivar went on with his supposed divine merit.

For the first section, it focuses on training his strength.

Understanding what he needed to do was easy enough, the items there gave him a clear picture.

Lucivar needed to drag the colossal stone pillars, ten in total, one by one, completing laps around the vast area, a space nearly the size of Bloodhaven Academy. Only when the pillar began to glow could he return it to their designated positions, across their original positions.

Each pillar was heavier than the previous, giving Lucivar a fixed path of strength progression.

Of course, this training wasn’t all sunshine.

Anytime the hourglass ran out—before Lucivar could activate the pillar he was pulling by the shoulder and lodged it in its designated place, the pillar would become ten times heavier and crush him under its weight.

He’d die every time that happened and be resurrected at the start, clawing his way from the sand.

Naturally, this made it very time-consuming to complete.

Going on feeling, Lucivar should be stuck at the first section for at least six months.

On the second section, he began his agility training.

Lucivar was thrown into the ever-shifting labyrinth which hosted multiple traps, ambushes from all kinds of desert animals, and even the shifting structure that could crush him in the process. His goal in this section was written at the entrance, to learn and adapt to the flow of Chaos itself.

Clearly, completing the second section took a lot longer than completing the first section.

It must be at least three years before he can come out and step into the third section.

Along the second section, he develops hatred for scorpions.

For multiple times already, Lucivar died from being stung by scorpions without knowing it.

Had it not for these scorpions, he should be done with the second section under a year.

Finally, he reached the third section.

Stepping out of the labyrinth with a weak body and exhausted mind, Lucivar faced the vast desert ahead, where countless dunes rippled across the horizon. This time, no direction was needed. As Sha had said, he simply had to keep moving forward—walking until he found her waiting for him.

Keeping the theme from the previous two sections, the third section wasn’t that simple.

He was chased by a group consisting of hundreds of mummies that were moving at a fixed pace.

None of them was faster than a slow walk, but that began to feel really fast the further Lucivar walked.

Like always, there will be no strength without pain, so he endured this training.

…

Meanwhile, in the real world, it was still the same night.

“Where did these thugs come from? And what are their intentions for attacking the night market?”

Leandra wiped her forehead from sweat—and looked around at the corpses of the thugs she killed.

She was unsure what these thugs were thinking, but she was quite sure that this was Lucivar’s doing.

“Lucivar…!”

Speaking of Lucivar, Leandra recalled that she hadn’t seen him anywhere.

Nerissa and Bakar were still fighting, Bob was dealing with the only Chrysalis-rank Hybrid from the thugs’ side, while Ravenna and Mirel were also missing, but she reckoned those two were on the other side of the night market.

Remembering Lucivar, Leandra scoured the night market in search of him.

Until finally, she came across a pale figure lying on the ground peacefully.

“L- Lucivar…?”