Ascension of the Dark Seraph - Chapter 35

Chapter 35: Tip of Modernity Chapter 35: Tip of Modernity Lucivar now knew what he needed to do to gain his natural ether and grow stronger.

He only needs to align his intention before killing another person.

If he only defended himself from someone who wanted to kill him, he wouldn’t be rewarded.

On the other hand, if he set his intention to kill before killing another person then the rewards are all his.

Despite having the bloodline of an Angel, Lucivar was corrupted thus the only way for him to get stronger is through doing what pleases the statues inside of him.

Currently, he only knew two methods, killing intent and also trickery.

Killing intent should please whatever the egg statue was, his Supernatural Ego-while doing trickery, would please Loki.

Gaining the gold sphere provided him with the ether to progress to a higher realm while the green sphere expanded his ether reserve.

‘It also seemed to increase my mastery…’ Lucivar pondered inwardly.

In addition to expanding his reserve, the green sphere also seemed to increase his mastery.

He could feel controlling his ether was easier than before.

Of course, there might be a chance that he was only getting used to using ether but that was unlikely, as the increase in mastery, was too rapid.

Loki was known to be-a master of magic, maybe that was why the green sphere gave these benefits.

Focusing back on the sphere in hand, Lucivaar smiled.

Expecting to obtain only the gold sphere, Lucivar was surprised when the sphere he gained was not a gold sphere, or a green sphere, but a perfect mix of the two.

Half of it was green, and the other half was gold.

Since he intended to kill Darwin and manipulate him, this was his reward.

“Getting my hand on one of these really felt good,” Lucivar muttered.

“I might get addicted…” Putting the sphere away, he quickly sprinted away into the bushes.

On the other hand, Leandra has come back alongside Bob, Nerissa, Bakar, and Mirel.

All of them learned of the situation and instantly made their way to the scene, but the lack of sound of battle-troubled them.

It was either Darwin, who brought the battle away, or worse, he was killed already.

None of them expected Darwin to win against the Astral Snow Leopard.

It was too strong for even someone like Darwin to win alone.

Leandra, leading the group halted when she saw a figure, crawling on the ground in pain.

Upon seeing this, she quickened her pace, “Lucivar!” “What happened to you?!” She added in concern, seeing that he was worse than before.

Taking a couple of heavy gasps at the question-Lucivar looked at Leandra, and the others before he replied, “I tried to turn around to help Darwin but slipped-and hurt myself pretty badly so here I am but I suggest you continue, it has been silent for a moment now” Nodding in affirmation, Bob led the group and went past them quickly.

On the other hand, Leandra stayed behind.

Her eyes then landed on a wound on Lucivar’s wrist, “How did you get that?” Raising an eyebrow, Lucivar looked at where Leandra was directing before his eyes slightly widened at the sight-of bloodied claw marks.

It seemed Darwin, managed to scratch him, presumable when he stabbed his dagger earlier.

Keeping his composure, he replied, “The fight attracted other beasts, I met one earlier,” Upon hearing this, Leandra frowned a little.

It was clear that she was a little bit weirded out by this but she eventually nodded.

Lucivar and Leandra went back to the carriages, finding Tobias waiting for them alone there.

At the sight of them-Tobias instantly straightened his posture and put both of his hands, on his waist, looking at Lucivar with squinted eyes.

He was clearly pissed, his face remained the same but the air around him was different.

Slowly, Leandra helped Lucivar lean against the carriage as the two faced Tobias.

“Explain,” Tobias said with a cold tone.

Given this question, Lucivar stole a glance at Leandra and found her entire body trembling in fear, as she kept her gaze down to the ground.

Oddly enough, when it comes to Tobias-she was always extra like this.

Lucivar could only sigh lightly as it seemed it was up to him to explain.

“I noticed earlier that my relationship with Leandra was troubling everyone-so I brought her away for a bit to clear the air, between us,” Lucivar replied, the words flowing smoothly from his mouth.

“It’s not even five minutes, and we unluckily met the Astra Snow Leopard.

Darwin must’ve seen us and followed.

I’ll take full responsibility for this mistake…” Upon hearing this, Tobias looked over to Leandra, “Is that true?” “Y- Yes, master…” She replied meekly.

At her answer, Tobias could only massage his forehead, this was truly unlucky.

“Let’s hope Darwin is okay and we’ll start from there,” Tobias eventually said, pivoting away.

On the other hand, Lucivar stole a glance at Tobias and smiled inwardly.

He already thought of an excuse for this question and it seemed his excuse was working.

Just then, however, Lucivar’s eyes sparkled at the sight of a green orb emerging from Tobas’ chest and fell to the snowy ground with a light thud.

At the sight of this, he checked Leandra and Tobias to see if they also saw this flaming orb.

Seeing no reaction from them, he deduced that he was the only one who could see it.

‘Green, so it must be Loki’s doings,’ Lucivar pondered.

As Tobias and Leandra averted their attention to where the others’ direction, Lucivar silently went to the side and grabbed the orb.

Surprisingly, the orb suddenly glowed upon his touch, and shapeshifted into a small item.

Reaching for the item, Lucivar took it and found that it was a ring with an emerald gem.

It was forged from gleaming steel that twisted and coiled like the roots of ancient, enchanted staffs.

Each strand of metal seemed alive, and at the center, where the roots converged sat a radiant green gem, its surface smooth and flawless.

Feeling a strange pull towards the ring, Lucivar wore it on his index finger.

Almost instantly, Lucivar’s eyes rolled back as a torrent of information seeped into his brain.

He was convulsing slightly for a couple of seconds before he recovered.

Upon recovering, he looked at the ring with a newfound light as he now knew what the ring was capable of.

The ring was called the Gleipnir’s Echo-and it has a myriad of abilities, the more he feeds it but for now-the ring increases his ether reserve-and grants two abilities called Snare and Green Shroud.

Snare is a mind attack, allowing him to bind a target with illusion chains, slowing them down.

Green Shroud, on the other hand, is a concealment ability.

As long as his use of ether didn’t exceed the threshold, nobody would deduce how strong he was-at least, until he wanted to show it, ‘Not only did I gain the sphere, but I could also gain an item like this…?’ Soon a smile crept to his face, ‘No matter how I think about this, I’m not normal, am I?’ About ten minutes later.

Just as Lucivar, Tobias, and Leandra were waiting while protecting the carriages, the others emerged from the bushes.

Bob was leading the ground, and their expressions were all grim, a natural reaction to their findings.

Despite their rigorous search, they were only able to recover a piece of Darwin’s clothes.

It was bloodied, showcasing that Darwin was most likely to be dead.

Not even his corpses were left behind.

After losing Delilah, the group now lost another member, their strongest nonetheless.

Tobias didn’t show any reaction, and asked the others if they were okay-before going back into his carriage-to resume their journey.

Even though the loss of Darwin was a big deal for them, the forest is dangerous still and they have to keep moving.

Of course, the others blamed Lucivar for what happened.

But even then, Mirel and Leandra were able to help him, attributing this tragedy to bad luck.

Despite both of their efforts, the air around them remained choking.

Lucivar-deciding that he would be understanding, decided to leave the carriage and walked the rest of the way, as well as keeping an eye, on the carriages.

He walked a couple of paces behind the back-most carriage, in the cold.

It was tiring to do this but Lucivar didn’t mind.

All of them mainly blamed Lucivar out of their impulses not because of a strong reason.

None of them could really point at Lucivar as there were no traces pointing at him.

Lucivar knew that this was temporary, his plan to take out Darwin was quite flawless.

Other than Leandra-none of them would suspect him for orchestrating this and in Leandra’s condition-she wasn’t in any way able to trace it back to him, ‘Since when did I become good at this?

Must be a side effect of my corrupted bloodline and having Loki inside of me’ Even though he was in this situation, he was not complaining at all.

Taking out the colorful sphere from his pocket, he began to eagerly absorb it.

…

Some time later.

Lucivar panted slightly, the exhaustion of days on foot weighing on him.

But even then, he kept his distance from the others.

He gave them space to mourn without his presence inciting unwanted emotions from them.

Darwin’s death hit them hard, almost as deeply as Delilah’s loss had.

Everyone was gloomy still, save for Bob, who remained stoic as the new leader.

As the carriages rounded a mountain bend-the sound of splashing water reached Lucivar’s ears, a welcome relief, from the oppressive silence.

The air here was different, fresher-way more rejuvenating compared to the biting cold of the snowy forest they had left behind.

Continuing ahead, a stunning lake appeared, its surface sparkling like a thousand diamonds.

Added by the sunlight, it became a sight to behold.

Beyond it, a massive city loomed, dwarfing the towns Lucivar had seen in his entire life.

Naturally, this was no ordinary city.

“It looked more like a fortress than a city,” Lucivar muttered silently.

A colossal dome encased the entire city-protecting it from the searing sun and any airborne threats.

Lucivar marveled at its size-it had to house millions.

This was Sunhold City, the sole destination of the group.

Excitement bubbled with him, his exhaustion momentarily forgotten.

He gazed ahead at the sprawling metropolis like a child in a candy shop.

Then-his attention was drawn downward, as he stepped onto a smooth-dark grey surface, an asphalt road.

The texture underfoot was foreign, Lucivar had never seen a road this good.

It was only then that the carriages halted.

Curious, Lucivar approached Tobias’ carriage.

But his breath was stuck in his throat as he realized they had reached a junction.

Whoosh!

Before him, strange vehicles sped by, not powered by horses or other animals, but only metal-cars and motorcycles, some open-roofed with lavishly dressed drivers whose hair whipped in the wind.

Such a sight was surreal.

Lucivar felt out of place as their carriages were nothing compared to the fast machines.

Of course, there were a few other carriages on the road-but they were pulled by powerful beasts that were even stronger than the Astral Snow Leopard.

Moreover-they were vastly outnumbered by the roaring cars and motorcycles.

Lucivar’s eyes widened further as he noticed lights lining the road on both sides.

He ran to the nearest one and looked up at how tall it was.

Even though they were off right now, he knew these must be the modern torches exclusive to the grandest of cities, street lights.

Reaching his hand, he touched the tip-of modernity before a smile crept to his face, “So this is a free city, the Sunhold City…”