Ascension of the Dark Seraph - Chapter 276

Chapter 276: Accidental Encounter
Lucivar and the others headed for the first checkpoint.

No kingdoms were nearby.

Nobody got picked up by the radar—they were in the clear.

On top of that, there doesn’t seem to be any crossers around the area, which was a good thing for them.

Miles and miles away ahead, there was a torrent of red light that pierced the clouds.

It was the checkpoint, their destination.

“I think we should scout the area,” Lucivar suddenly proposed, realizing that they were sprinting on an open space, which was obviously bad—and would expose them to an unexpected ambush. “Why don’t we scout the area? Find another place that is more covered before regrouping.”

“Hmm, we probably should,” Mirel nodded as he scanned his gaze around.

Being out in the open like this is indeed a disadvantage.

“I don’t mind,” Caldaros nodded, but his eyes trailed to Mirel. “But if we split, he’d be alone.”

Mirel’s face twitched when he heard this.

Clearly, Caldaros was underestimating him, thinking that he needed a babysitter.

“I’m fine,” He clicked his tongue in displeasure. “I’ll keep going ahead while you two scout the sides.”

“Ten minutes,” Lucivar nodded. “We’ll regroup after ten minutes.”

Once the group came to a united decision, Lucivar sprouted his glossy emerald wings and flew to the west side. Caldaros also summoned his wings, brilliant golden—and flew to the east side. Both of them zoomed into the distance, disappearing in only a moment.

“Show off,” Mirel rolled his eyes.

He was the only one who doesn’t have wings, and he was envious.

Meanwhile, Lucivar surfed through the sky.

His eyes were scanning the area underneath him, mostly composed of an open space with a few dead trees and boulders scattered around. Occasionally, he glanced to his left, checking the spherical drone that was following him from behind, even matching his flight speed.

‘Let me try something…’ He thought inside.

Charging his wings with ether, Lucivar dove down and picked up his speed.

It was obvious that he was attempting to lose the drone with raw speed, but he couldn’t.

Lucivar swerved as he increased his speed, banking hard left and right through gaps of dead trees and even utilized the faint fog to his advantage—but the drone still remained at a fixed distance away from him throughout.

Not too far to lose him and not too close to get in his way.

“Tch!” He clicked his tongue in annoyance. “I guess I really need Caldaros’ help with this.”

Looking at the radar, he noticed that he was getting closer to another dot.

Realizing this, he quickly descended and retracted his wings, deciding to walk to approach the dot.

Glancing back at the drone, he saw it was still lingering above.

Unlike earlier, when the drone was actually really close to him—the distance spread when he was on the ground. It was clearly not programmed to go to the ground level, considering that a fight between the participants could break out at any time.

“Hmm…” Lucivar’s eyes squinted before an idea flickered in his mind.

But he’d try it out later.

Ahead of him, there was a small hill with a forest of dead trees at its foot.

Checking the radar again, he was sure now that the marked participant was inside the forest.

Nodding his head, he suppressed his aura, keeping it tightly inside him before he sprinted.

Some crossers were roaming the forest, mostly Acolyte-rank beasts that were too weak to be a threat to him. Despite that, his brows arched down into a frown. Instead of being relieved, he was troubled, “It wouldn’t be convincing, but here goes nothing.”

Once he had firm his decision to go for it, he stepped into the forest.

Inside the forest.

Another kingdom could be seen traversing through it, keeping a tight triangle formation.

Leading the charge was Orivelle, and behind was Arthur and another woman with claws for fingernails.

“Hah! We’re lucky to start from this side,” Arthur commented with an amused chuckle, loving the cover this forest provided for them. “This forest is very long. Maybe we would be able to reach the very first checkpoint without meeting another kingdom.”

“Quiet yourself,” Orivelle hushed. “We can still be attacked by the peons, so we must be careful.”

Just as she said that, the group came to an abrupt stop.

From the treetops came a volley of hoots and guttural trills, their loud cadence oddly ceremonial, like a savage salute echoing through the wild. Orivelle’s eyes squinted—and she realized multiple trees to her left had burning leaves.

Suspicious, she channeled her fire of rebirth attribute onto the tip of her intricate staff.

Almost instantly, the gem at the staff’s head burned with pale red fire and fired a torrent at the trees.

Kaboom!

Upon impact, the torrent exploded.

Oddly enough, the fire from the burning trees was dying rapidly because of the explosion.

It was then, dozens of burning monkeys emerged.

From the blaze-choked canopy above, they poured like a swarm of hellspawn—dozens of fire-marked simians, muscle-bound and wrapped in smoke, with eyes like molten gold. Each one leapt from branch to branch, forming a ring of living flame atop the scorched ridgeline.

United in motion, their obsidian claws clicked against bark as they glared down with fierce intelligence.

No chatter. No screech.

Just silence and the relentless stare like predators giving their prey one final moment of realization.

Seeing this, Orivelle and the others weren’t worried.

“I think you got this,” Arthur said, turning to look at Orivelle with encouragement.

Before Orivelle could respond, the leader of the fire monkeys hooted, sending a signal to attack.

Almost instantly, Orivelle planted her staff in front of her before her eyes glowed with ember—a wave of fire charged around her, and when the fire monkeys were about to reach them, it expanded outward like a violent shockwave, turning all of the monkeys to ash.

Roar!

Despite being made from fire, all of them were scorched and killed.

Only their ashes remained behind before the wind blew them away.

“Nice, as expected of our fire chicken.” Arthur placed his arm over Orivelle’s shoulder playfully.

Annoyed, Orivelle grabbed his arm and twisted it to the point of almost breaking.

“Who are you calling fire chicken?” She asked sharply.

“Joking, can’t you take a jo-Ahh!” Arthur yelped when Orivelle twisted his hand more. “Okay! Okay!”

“I’m sorry!” He apologized.

It was only then do Orivelle let go of his arm with a rough exhale.

“Your fault that those monkeys woke up,” She barked as she grabbed her staff again. “Can you shut up the rest of the way? Don’t make me regret making a team with you.”

“Man, you’re no fun. No wonder no man wanted to get close to yo-,” Arthur stopped himself.

He saw how Orivelle was glaring at him again and knew he’ll be beaten up if he finished that sentence.

Instead of finishing the sentence, he only made a zipping gesture on his lips and gave a thumbs up.

Just then, the woman who was checking the radar asked, “Are you sure about our route, senior sister? It would take longer for us to reach the checkpoints if we stick to this forest since it curves, not a straight line. We might not be able to catch up to the others and lose here.”

“All we need to focus on is not to confront the other kingdoms,” Orivelle answered and gazed to the other side, where a sky-high barrier could be seen. “Look, the racing ground is limited by that barrier, and it’s getting closer to us as we get further away from the starting line, which means the barrier is most likely cone-shaped.”

“As we get closer to the finish line, the smaller our room to move would be, which means more fighting with the other kingdoms. Instead of abiding with that inevitable occurrence, we should slow down and let them fight it out.” She continued, elaborating her reasoning clearly.

“That’s a smart idea!” Arthur commented. “We wouldn’t need to sweat if we do that.”

“Come, let’s move ag-”

Boom!

Before Orivelle could finish her sentence, she heard a loud explosion nearby.

Not stopping at that, more explosions resounded loudly.

Her head snapped towards the direction of the explosion, sensing a spike in ether level in the air.

“Someone is fighting nearby,” She mumbled with an evident frown.

“Peons…” Arthur added. “I don’t see anything on the radar, so they must be peons.”

Just then, their eyes widened when they saw a shadow heading straight at them with incredible speed.

Orivelle, Arthur, and the woman raised their weapons in preparation for a fight.

But the shadow blasted past them, leaving behind a gushing wind.

From behind, the sound of tree trunks breaking resounded, followed by crashing sounds from multiple trees toppling over hard. Orivelle and the others turned their heads and saw a man sprawled on the ground with wounds across his body.

Someone struck him so hard that about six trees were destroyed before he finally came to a halt.

Suddenly, the man sits up and spits blood to the side.

Realizing that there was another kingdom, the man paused for a second before his eyes flickered with surprise, “Oh, I know you,” He said, pointing at the group. “Vanguard Institute, right? It’s a surprise to stumble on you guys here.”

Upon hearing this, Arthur blinked before he turned hostile.

“I know you,” He barked, holding his sword with both hands. “You’re that smug guy, Lucivar!”

“Smug?” Lucivar chuckled. “It’s not smug when I’m really stronger than you.”

Snapping out of her trance, Orivelle stepped forward, “Said the person who was thrown like a doll.”

“He caught me off guard, that’s all. He won’t dare fight against me head-on,” Lucivar shrugged, acting normal and composed. “But then again, I’m surprised to see you here, Orivelle. I thought you wouldn’t be hiding in the forest like this, considering how strong you are.”

“Is that so…” Orivelle pointed her staff at Lucivar. “So, are you here to try me?”

Lucivar smiled playfully when he heard this.

His smile made Arthur and the woman tense up, fearing that this would end with a fight.

But then, Lucivar raised both of his hands, “I’m not, I’m a bit of your fan, so I wouldn’t dare fight you.”

“Eh…?” Orivelle blinked, and then her mind clicked. “Eh?! You’re a fan?”

“Of course,” Lucivar replied, as if it wasn’t a big deal. “Most Phoenix Hybrids barely manifest a single characteristic—but you… Your hair, it’s taken on the very hue of rebirth flame, hasn’t it? Now that I’ve seen it up close, I have to say—it’s truly beautiful.”

Upon hearing this, Orivelle blushed a bit.

However, that blush didn’t last long as she quickly recovered.

“Stop the compliment,” She said, squinting her eyes. “You want something from me, I can tell.”

Lucivar smiled inside, ‘Oh, compliments don’t work? She’s quite sharp.’