Ascension of the Dark Seraph - Chapter 279

Chapter 279: Ambushed
Once the two groups crossed the first checkpoint, the terrain changed dramatically.

Now, the volcanic ground was a lot more active.

Boom!

Lucivar’s pupils dilated as he quickly rolled to the side in the nick of time before the ground underneath him spat out a torrent of glowing lava. One touch, and his flesh would melt. Fortunately, his reflexes were quick enough to react.

Glancing to the side, he also saw the others experiencing the same thing.

In a random but deliberate interval, the lava shot skyward right underneath the others.

Clearly, there was some sort of trigger that incited the lava like this, but there was no time to think.

Along the way, there were only a few kingdoms that got hurt from fighting or the lava.

Most of them were already far ahead, perhaps even at the second checkpoint already, and they were left behind due to taking the longer route through the forest. But then again, Orivelle was adamant that this was the best move.

Lucivar and the others weren’t going to argue, she clearly knew what she was doing.

Despite the terrain being hostile, they continued to sprint onward.

All of them are Chrysalis-rank Hybrids, so they could handle the terrain, and they were also very fast.

Fixing their eyes on the next checkpoint, it didn’t take long for them to reach the halfway mark, even overtaking some of the kingdoms they encountered along the way. Noticing that they were working together, none of the kingdoms dared to attack them.

Capable of only gritting their teeth as they watched Lucivar and the others went ahead of them.

However, things changed once they were near the second checkpoint.

Boom!

Another lava shot skyward.

Lucivar was able to maneuver over it easily, already expecting this as he saw the ground turn red way before he stepped on it. As he walked past it, however, his eyes widened when he heard a hissing sound coming from the side.

He turned and was shocked when he was greeted by an open maw of an animal.

It’s a lava snake monster that came out of the lava torrent.

‘Shit! How did I not sense it?!’ He exclaimed inside.

Just as the snake was about to clamp down on his neck, a hand yanked him back by his collar.

Mirel managed to react fast enough to pull Lucivar out of the way and landed a powerful uppercut that summoned vicious lightning. Upon impact, the lava snake got electrocuted before a mini lightning blast sent it away.

“Is your focus not entirely here? How could you get caught off guard by that?” He asked incredulously.

Lucivar chuckled, “Does it feel that good to save me?”

He didn’t answer Mirel’s question.

Frankly, Mirel was right, his focus wasn’t entirely present at the moment.

‘He’s about to make his move, so of course I’m not entirely focused.’ He thought sharply inside.

Almost in sync, Lucivar—and Mirel placed their backs against each other when four more lava torrents suddenly emerged and surrounded them. Lucivar got into his fighting stance and raised his dagger, his eyes darting left and right in alert.

Seems like the dungeon would be more and more dangerous as they progressed further.

Hiss!!

In an instant, more lava snakes emerged and attacked them.

All of them attacked at the same time, forcing Lucivar and Mirel on the defense.

Lucivar flipped his dagger into a reverse grip—before hacking them one by one, covering Mirel’s back as he did the same thing. Both of them moved like a single unit, know—which one they should handle, and which one they would leave for the other to handle.

Considering how strong these lava snakes are, at the five-star Acolyte rank and some even reaching the first-star Chrysalis rank, one hit from them wasn’t enough to kill them. Despite coating their weapons with ether, the lava snakes’ scales are quite thick.

Even then, none of these lava snakes are a match for them.

But the problem was the fact that there was no end to them.

Upon killing one, another lava torrent exploded, separating the two, and another lava snake emerged.

It was an exercise of utility.

Naturally, it was the same for the others.

Caldaros was attacked from all sides, but paired with the woman from Orivelle’s group, he was able to defend himself well without a problem. But amidst the battle, he kept glancing at Lucivar. His intention was clear from his sharp gaze, but with the heat of the battle, nobody noticed it.

Just then, a sudden forceful heat enveloped the entire area.

Everyone snapped their heads toward the direction of the heat and found that it came from Orivelle.

Enraged by the endless lava snakes that were barring their way, stalling them from reaching the second checkpoint, Orivelle channeled her ether and tapped into her phoenix bloodline. Her staff was devoured in flames, hotter than lava, as she began to levitate.

Her hair flared and fluttered, turning into pale red flames—the absolute fire of a phoenix.

Several lava snakes tried to attack her, but all of them were blocked by the heat barrier protecting her.

Changing tactics, the lava snake coiled around her heat barrier and squeezed hard.

As opposed to shattering the heat barrier, their scales visibly melted.

Orivelle ignored them all, focusing solely on her staff as it surged with ether. Then, as if the ground had suddenly turned magnetic, she dropped with force, slamming the staff into the earth hard. The impact cracked the ground, forming a shallow crater as she shouted, “Fire Persona!”

Kaboom!

Her body unleashed a wave of pale red flames that expanded rapidly like a ring.

Lucivar and the others wanted to dodge the pale red flames, but surprisingly, the flames didn’t hit them.

It separated upon nearing them before continuing to expand.

Not to mention, the lava torrents that spat out lava snakes were all evaporated—the pale red flames, like a blanket, covered the entire ground and blocked the active lava underneath. One move and Orivelle was able to take care of the dungeon’s obstacle.

“Such a delicate ether control,” Mirel praised. “No wonder she represented the Vanguard Institute.”

Beside him, Lucivar smirked inwardly.

‘I don’t know exactly, but this… this should indicate clearly enough that her bloodline purity should be really high, right?’ He thought, pleased that he didn’t make the wrong choice of getting closer to her. ‘I should be able to get what I want from her.’

Just then, Lucivar frowned when the shadow behind Orivelle wobbled slightly.

He thought that he was imagining it, but her shadow moved unnaturally for the second time.

Swish!

“Huh?”

Orivelle turned her head and was stunned when she saw a figure covered in a black outfit behind her.

He leaped out of her shadow, surprising not only her but also the others.

Before she could react, a searing pain shot through her calves—a clean, precise slash that aimed at her motoric muscles, marking the figure’s handiwork. With a swift motion, he had sliced into her leg with the short sword in his hand, then delivered a kick to her back, sending her stumbling forward.

She even lost her grip on her staff.

Almost instantly, the blanket of pale flames that covered the ground disappeared.

Her spell was cancelled, and the lava torrents emerged once again—each creating a booming sound.

Clearly, they were under attack by another kingdom.

Since these people dared to attack Lucivar’s group, they must also be extremely strong and confident.

Mirel glanced at his own shadow, expecting a figure to come out of it too.

But instead, a figure appeared from a dark spot on the ground in front of him and landed a devastating gut punch that forced his body to arc backward. Giving no time to rest, a knee struck against his nose, propelling him off the ground before another slash sent him crashing away.

Lucivar looked at the figure standing across him and tilted his head.

“Let me guess,” He said, faking contemplation. “You must be… Renis. Are you here for me?”

Upon hearing this, Renis didn’t respond and immediately went into his battle stance.

He anchored his body strongly, with the black short sword in his hand pointed forward.

At the slightest twitch of Lucivar’s muscle, Renis sprang into action, swinging his short sword sharply in a horizontal arc. A crescent of black ether tore through the air like a bullet, dark and crackling with the power to cut someone in half.

Lucivar saw it coming and knew he had more than enough time to react.

But as he was about to move, several hands of shadow emerged from his own shadow.

Each seized his limbs and body, holding him in place.

As the crescent of black approached, a smirk crept to his face as he opened his hand.

Swoosh!

Rapidly, the crescent of black began to lose power, becoming thinner and thinner until it completely evaporated. Now that his Greedy Grasp ability has reached the Immortal Mastery, it is able to absorb incoming ether projectiles like this.

However, Renis had anticipated that Lucivar would effortlessly counter the initial strike.

After all, he’s done some research and knows that Lucivar isn’t a pushover.

That’s why, right behind the sweeping arc of black ether, he was already closing the distance fast.

By the time Lucivar dealt with the projectile, Renis was upon him, short sword in hand, crackling with ether, aimed straight for the kill. Grunting forcefully, he made a vertical uppercut with the short sword, blasting a wave of dark ether.

Lucivar tried to dodge, but with the shadow hands gripping him tightly, there was not much room for him to move. The blade struck true, slicing across his arm, and the impact of the slash struck his right wind like a slicing wind.

Surprisingly enough, the wing was cleanly severed, yet his arm wasn’t.

Only a thin, bloodied line could be seen on his arm—a superficial wound at best.

Upon seeing this, Renis’ eyes widened in shock.

‘His physique… How is it this strong?!’ He thought inside in alert.

Not even a three-star Chrysalis rank Hybrid could avoid having their arm severed from a blow from him, but it barely did anything to Lucivar. Smirking, Luciivar raised his fist, charged with God strands he got from absorbing the arc earlier.

“My turn…” Lucivar whispered and threw a normal, basic punch.

Seeing this, Renis raised his arms to block, but his eyes bulged in utter shock in the next second.

BAM!

Renis was thrown away like a ragdoll—the punch hurt him even though he blocked it.

Once Lucivar got rid of Renis for a moment, he checked the others and found them in a battle against four other participants. From the looks of it, they were ambushed by two kingdoms, not one, and clearly, the attackers were from the Shadow Clan.

Amidst the battle, Lucivar locked eyes with Caldaros.

A meaningful smile crept to his face as he turned and sprinted away from the battle.

Caldaros, on the other hand, clicked his tongue in displeasure and looked up at the drones.

‘Damn it.’ He cursed.