Ascension of the Dark Seraph - Chapter 280

Chapter 280: Impostor (1)
Lucivar made a run for it.

He broke into a sprint, veering away from the chaos of battle.

Since Renis and his comrades were aiming for him, not the others, he decided to do this—surely Renis and some of them would abandon the battle and chase after him. Of course, this wasn’t some heroic act to lure them away so that they wouldn’t hurt the others.

No—his purpose was entirely different.

It is to show Renis that he made the worst mistake of his life for doing this.

And to do that, Lucivar needed somewhere quiet and away from prying eyes and drones.

As expected, the nearest champion of the Shadow Clan chased after Lucivar.

Renis, who managed to stop the pushing momentum and recover—also saw Lucivar running away and quickly chased after him. From the higher-ups, he was instructed to humiliate and make sure the Blessed Hand Clan’s champion loses.

So, that is exactly what he was going to do.

On the other hand, Caldaros was balancing between checking the drones and his fight.

‘Damn it, you arrogant avatar!’ He cursed in frustration inside as he parried the incoming attacks thrown at him relentlessly. ‘I can’t use my sun power openly, you moron! All I can use is my Vampire side, so how the heck can I blot out the drones?!’

Just the meaningful look on Lucivar’s face tells everything that he needed to know.

He was going to do something bad, and Caldaros needed to make sure the drones didn’t fixate on him.

Or else, the three of them would be disqualified.

Parrying the blade that came down from above, Caldaros kicked the man away and glanced to the other side, at Orivelle. If he couldn’t do it alone, then he must ask for help. Orivelle is more than qualified to disturb the drones’ eyes.

Her fire should be enough for the opportune moment.

On the other side of the battlefield, Mirel was controlling the lava snakes that were coming out endlessly.

Since Orivelle’s focus got disturbed, the lava torrents came out again.

But in truth, as he fought the lava snakes, his mind was somewhere else.

‘Lucivar… Why did he suddenly run like that?’ He thought incredulously. ‘I need to help him.’

Just then, a frown crept to his face as he spotted Arthur breaking formation with Orivelle and the other woman, slipping away to chase after Lucivar. But from the way he moved—cautious, almost slinking, he didn’t look like he was chasing Lucivar to help.

If anything, it seemed Arthur was using the chaos to sneak off for his own purpose.

‘How many people are after Lucivar, really…?’ He thought inside.

As he thought of that, his eyes widened when he sensed two figures were already upon him.

At first, he assumed the ambush came from the lava snakes, taking advantage of his momentary lapse in focus—but he was wrong. Emerging from behind and below him were two shadow figures, not beasts that he assumed initially.

Both were champions of the Shadow Clan.

Giving no time for him to react, the two of them grabbed Mirel with their hands.

Since he was the King, being touched by two peons from the same kingdom—meant his flag would be transferred to them. It was then, the flag strapped on his back began to flicker, nearing the verge of being transferred to one of these two.

Fortunately, there were still two royal decrees.

One royal decree was spent on keeping the flag strapped onto Mirel.

Realizing that he almost lost the flag, Mirel’s eyes sparked with yellow lightning.

And in the next second, his entire body unleashed a shockwave of yellow lightning that pushed and also zapped the two figures. Both were sent rolling across the floor, experiencing a minor paralysis, before Mirel moved to the offensive.

Meanwhile, Lucivar was getting further and further away from the others.

His eyes scanned his surroundings—a couple of dead trees, mild fog, desolate land—searching for one suitable place that he could use to handle this situation. Beating them outright with his raw power is not an option for him.

Beyond the Blessed Hand Clan’s desire for him to humiliate the Shadow Clan, he had his own reasons.

He wasn’t about to give Caldaros more than he already had.

It’s better if Caldaros knew less about his true strength.

Revealing too much now would only complicate things in their inevitable clash during the third stage.

‘The Ashen Cavern, as the name suggests, hosts a lot of caves—due to its countless peaks. I am sure there should be a cave nearby that I could use,’ Lucivar thought inside, searching for a suitable place. ‘Ah, there should be one there.’

On the far left, Lucivar noticed another forest of dead trees.

As he reached the mouth of the dead forest, he stomped hard and leaned his body backward.

Suddenly, the shadow of a tree moved and shot towards him like a spike.

He was able to react in time—but the pointy tip of the spike still drew blood starting from his abdomen all the way to his chest. Had he been a second too late, that shadow spike would’ve penetrated through him completely.

Looking over his shoulders, he saw a man who was sprinting with all his might.

Upon seeing this, Lucivar didn’t initiate.

Instead, a scarab mark appeared on his forehead before he dashed into the dead forest.

His speed doubled, leaving the man in the dust.

‘For some reason, I couldn’t use the Triune Scarab or any of Sutekh’s abilities as long as Caldaros was around,’ Lucivar thought, reveling under the bask of power from the Triune Scarab ability. ‘But now, I can use it again.’

Glancing at the dagger in his hand, he also summoned the Fang of Sutekh to envelop the dagger.

Once a glistening steel, now the dagger was covered by a bronze layer, almost like a second skin for it.

It has been a mystery to him, but at least he could use it now.

Swish!

Lucivar coursed through the forest, keeping his speed fast enough not to be caught up, and slow enough for the man to not lose track of him. Then, he finally managed to find the cave, which was at the foothill, but this wasn’t enough.

Closing his eyes, he focused on his senses.

He ignored the sound of the gentle wind and focused on finding a strong concentration of energy.

And he found it.

Lucivar nodded and turned to look skyward, where a drone was locked onto him.

‘Okay,’ He nodded and stared ahead again. ‘Anytime now, Caldaros. I need you to create a distraction.’

Meanwhile, a few hundred meters away.

“Damn it!” The man who was chasing after Lucivar cursed under his breaths—as he came to a gradual stop, looking around the dead forest with an evident frown. “How did he suddenly become that fast? I lost him now. But more importantly, why is he running? Isn’t he supposed to be strong?”

He was confused as to what Lucivar was trying to achieve here.

“Should I wait for the others? Renis shouldn’t be that far behind,” The man thought aloud.

But that doesn’t seem to be appropriate.

After all, Lucivar ran like a scaredy cat the moment his group was ambushed, so it should be fine.

No need for him to wait around and be scared of a scaredy cat.

Nodding his head, the man continued onward, keeping his senses attuned to the surroundings.

Out of nowhere, a sudden surge of ether could be felt from a distance.

Glancing over his shoulder, he saw a torrent of pale red flames swirling upwards like a deadly vortex.

It was Orivelle’s power—that pale red fire is unique only to her.

That was how close whoever the thing behind him was.

For a brief moment, the man was troubled—concerned that the others were still being held back.

But that worry vanished instantly when he felt a presence right behind him.

Something—no, someone was standing so close he could feel its breath graze his skin.

That was how close whoever was behind him.

Naturally, not sensing anyone nearby, the man’s blood ran cold as his body froze stiff, almost as if he had been electrocuted. Gulping harshly, he tried to quickly unsheathe his sword and attack the person behind him, but the moment he did, everything went black.

Moments later, Renis arrived at the mouth of the dead forest.

He looked around—his eyes glistening with black ether.

“Both of them ran here,” He muttered, seeing the remnants of shadows from his comrade.

Before he stepped into the dead forest, he glanced to the side—and frowned when he sensed a powerful concentration of energy, crossers’ energy, “It’s a lot stronger than the crossers I met up until now, I think it’s around the second-star Chrysalis rank. I need to be careful not to wake it up.”

Despite being capable enough to handle such a monster, it wasn’t worth it.

No need to risk being wounded for nothing.

Keeping his guards up, Renis entered the dead forest in search of Lucivar.

Not so far behind him, two other figures could be seen approaching the dead forest.

More comrades from Renis’ side who managed to break free from the battle.

“From the shadow remnants, Leo and Renis should be ahead,” One of them muttered.

Coming from the same background, the new member of the Shadow Clan—they could track one another with uncanny ease. Yet before they could even set foot inside, their steps halted as a lone figure emerged from within the dead forest.

Seeing this, the two immediately went into their battle stance.

But a frown crept to their faces when they realized the figure was walking funny, unstable.

He stopped at the mouth of the forest and leaned against the tree.

Clearly, this man was writhing in pain as blood dripped from his hand that was holding his stomach.

It took a second for the two to realize that it was their comrade, Leo.

Almost instantly, the two of them quickly check on him.

“What happened?” One of them asked, catching Leo before he could fall. “Did that bastard do this?”

“Y-Yes…” Leo nodded, breathing weakly through his mouth.

“Where’s Renis?” The other asked, looking around in confusion. “He should also be inside.”

“I don’t know. I didn’t come across him inside,” Leo shook his head. “I managed to wound that bastard, so you guys have to finish it.”

Upon hearing this, the two exchanged a look before nodding firmly.

“Just tell us where you last saw him. We’ll take it from here.” One of them said.

“I’ll lead you there,” Leo said as he inhaled deeply. “Just protect me. He’s really hurt too, so we’ll be fine.”

Despite their hesitation, the two eventually nodded.

One was leading the way while the other was supporting Leo to walk.

However, oblivious to the two, once they stepped inside the dead forest again, Leo’s lips curled into an evident smirk. One that looked devilish and full of malice.