Ascension of the Dark Seraph - Chapter 49

Chapter 49: Hollowborns (1) Chapter 49: Hollowborns (1) Since they weren’t allowed to ask questions, the hunters leaped into the hole blindly.

As expected, the professor was not that cruel.

Even if there were Hybrids who did not have anything to lessen the impact of the fall-they wouldn’t get hurt because there was a springy net, waiting to catch them inside the hole.

It was not a test of skill but will instead.

It seemed that the professor was testing whether they could follow orders.

Lucivar was no exception, he leaped down from the rooftop.

But as opposed to having a net to save him like the others-he saw the net flickered multiple times, the ether that was creating it was dispersing.

Then, the net simply disappeared as if it was never there.

Not only Lucivar but the other who saw this were also sucked in a cold breath.

“Hey, the net disappeared!” “Shit, Lucivar!” Mirel quickly put down the guy and rushed over to help Lucivar.

He wanted to cushion the fall impact but he was a couple of steps too late.

Gritting his teeth in crisis-Lucivar flowed a strand of Loki’s energy into his arm and punched forward.

His punch created a gush of wind that visibly slowed him down in the nick of time.

It was only then did he landed, on one knee and his knuckles.

“Arggh…” Lucivar grunted, the pain from the impact assaulted his bones and nerves.

His knee and knuckles were throbbing.

Something definitely broke.

Had he not lessened his speed, he would’ve definitely splattered into meat paste.

In a breeze, Mirel arrived and knelt down beside him.

“Bro, you alright?” “Not so much, that was damn unfortunate…” As Lucivar said that, he looked over his shoulder and found the professor was looking at him.

Surely, the professor was the one who maintained the net.

It was too convenient that the net suddenly went out of control when it was Lucivar’s turn.

‘Did Professor Aeldric sent him to test me?

No, he already knew what I was capable of there was no need for him-to do this.

This is not a test, this is a murder attempt.

He hid his killing intent well from me’ Lucivar narrowed his gaze.

Averting his gaze away, Lucivar pursed his lips, ‘Thalia’s enemies, huh…’ Lucivar was brought to the side by Mirel as the net came back again, he was now healed by Nerissa who also came rushing to him in concern.

He needed to assure Nerissa that he was fine as she was already crying-such a soft heart.

But Nerissa’s power healed him, he was back to normal in a few minutes.

Soon, the others came to check on him.

Ravenna, Bob, Bakar, and Leandra came to see how he was doing.

“We could report the professor, you know, that was really not cool,” “You could’ve died” “I don’t think the academy really cares about that” Upon hearing their banter, Lucivar sighed, ‘Report the professor?

That wouldn’t work’ What happened earlier could be categorized as an accident.

The professor could act stupid or apologetic and that incident would be dismissed.

If he wanted to take down the professor, it needed to be more than that.

Just as the others were bantering, Lucivar’s back gradually straightened as well as his eyes, gradually widened as if he had realized something.

Nerissa, who was healing him, asked, “Is there something wrong?

Are you hurt anywhere else?” “We’re surrounded…” Lucivar muttered, ignoring her questions.

Since the surroundings were still pitch-black, it was hard to tell what was around them.

Lucivar, however, came to the realization that they were surrounded when dozens if not more dark trails could be seen, snaking from beyond the dark, ‘My angel constitution could only be triggered by killing intent directed towards me.

Is this not an inauguration but a trap set to kill me?’ Having the professor attempting to murder him, this thought instantly rushed into his mind.

But then he calmed himself and shook his head, ‘No, that’s not possible’ If Thalia’s enemy has that much power to actually set up a fake inauguration-to kill him then Thalia should’ve been dead by now so what surrounded him and the other hunters right now shouldn’t be people sent by Thalia’s enemy.

‘But what…?

What made them aim only me from this many people?’ Lucivar thought.

Just then, however, a voice caught the entire hunters’ attention.

“Comfortable?” Glancing upwards, the hunters saw the professor was right outside of the hole, looking down on them.

He then cracked a smile before he flicked his fingers, and instantly after he did that-the lights blazed to life, flooding the room with harsh, glaring brightness.

Lucivar and the other hunters blinked, their eyes adjusting to the sight before them.

Now they stood in a vast chamber.

But what drew their attention were the figures caged in the other rooms surrounding them.

Humans-no, things that once were human reached through the bars, mouths twisted into guttural growls, fingers gnarled.

Their eyes were milky white, with a tinge of blue, hollow-and lifeless.

Blue veins pulsed beneath their skin, glowing faintly with an eerie light.

Just one look is all it takes to recognize them as proselytes.

Unlike the regular proselytes that could mask-and blend themselves with the crowd-these proselytes were akin to zombies-more than humans.

All of them had lost the ability to think, not proselytes, but hollowborns.

Hollowborns were proselytes that were cut off from the portal they were linked to.

It happened when the teal coin was found and the dungeon was forcefully closed.

All proselytes that were cut off became like this, mindless monsters.

Lucivar’s eyes darted to each one, but his face didn’t betray him as he remained composed.

On the other hand, around him, the hunters recoiled in horror.

“In a dungeon, anything could happen, it can’t be predicted.

This is your first lesson, it’s good to get used to unpredictability, early,” the professor said, smiling.

“you have only one way-to escape.

An infiltrator is standing amongst you and only by finding that infiltrator-and getting the key to the exit could you escape from that room” As soon as the hunters heard that, they exchanged a look at one another.

Most of them were strangers up to this point, it would be hard to find the infiltrator.

Clang!

Just then, the hunters snapped their heads to the source of the metallic sound.

All of them paled, even more, when they saw the bars locking the hollowborns were bending.

It wouldn’t take long before these hollowborns would break free.

Lucivar was included, he glanced around and found all hollowborns were looking at him.

Naturally, it was clear who they would kill first if they broke loose.

‘Shit!

I’m fucked if they’re out!’ Lucivar exclaimed inwardly.

Proselytes or even hollowborns could become stronger from absorbing vitality-of others by killing them.

Stronger Hybrids, would provide more vitality, and that includes the bloodline of the Hybrids themselves.

Lucivar’s bloodline is definitely the strongest one here.

His blood was mixed with divine blood, and he became the most tempting out of everyone.

If the hollowborns broke out, he would be aimed first.

Roar!

Excited by the Hybrids that came into their den, the metal bars bent harder, overwhelmed by the hollowborns’ primal urge.

Some of them even got their heads through the gap-with their salivating mouth open wide.

One of the hunters tried leaping out through the hole in the ceiling but was blocked.

A barrier blocked him.

“Professor!

Let us out of here!” “We give up!

We can’t possibly find the infiltrator in such a small timeframe!” “Let us go!

Help!” Chaos ensued-the new hunters began breaking down in emotions from the threat of death.

Lucivar was the same, but he didn’t let his emotions get to him.

‘If these hollowborns got out-I could use these people as shields to buy time.

But I could tell the professor is going to sabotage me in some way using his power,’ He thought calculatingly-sweeping his gaze through the chamber.

‘Wait, no…

the infiltrator!’ In this pressuring moment, Lucivar’s mind was clear and he came to a realization.

‘Maybe the professor is working for Thalia’s enemy but I doubt everyone is,’ He nodded.

Naturally, there should be a reason why Thalia and Elira enrolled in this academy, and since Lucivar knew that the twins had a powerful enemy, this academy must be a neutral or even their favored ground.

A place where their enemy couldn’t easily reach.

From that alone, Lucivar knew there was a high chance the infiltrator was not aiming for him.

His only hope was to find the infiltrator but that was too hard to do.

‘Luring the infiltrator out, however…

it’s much easier,’ Lucivar smirked, tapping Mirel’s back.

“Can you make a distraction?” “We’re all going to die!!” Not even answering Lucivar, Mirel shouted in panic, heightening the already-present chaos.

Seeing the hunters become even more frantic, Lucivar nodded.

He then went over to Leandra, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her away.

“Where are we going?” “I need to borrow you for a second” Separating from the crowd that was gathered at the center, as far away as possible from the reaching hollowborns-Lucivar, and Leandra went closer to them instead.

Close enough that the hollowborn’s hand in front of them was almost touching them.

“Don’t get scratched by them or you’ll get the Crossers Blue!” Leandra warned, pulling her and Lucivar back.

“We need to do this quick before they break out, don’t fight me this once”  “Tell me what you are trying to do first” “No time, trust me in this one, or else we’re going to be in trouble” Biting her lower lip in reluctance, Leandra decided to trust Lucivar and followed him.

Both of them went close again to the reaching hollowborn.

“Make sure nobody is watching us” Upon hearing this, Leandra turned to look around-and suddenly felt a stinging sensation coming from her hand.

She checked her hand and found her ether was being pulled-and absorbed by Lucivar.

He took a huge chunk of her ether, causing her to feel weak all of a sudden.

‘Since when did he have this ability?

I didn’t know he had one’ Ignoring the confused look Leandra was giving him, Lucivar focused on the hollowborn in front of him and grabbed its wrist forcefully.

It fought back-trying to grab Lucivar’s hand instead but the grip stood firm.

Concentrating, Lucivar used the strands from Loki’s power.

As opposed to channeling to empower him, he decided to channel it into the hollowborn.

‘I know the strands from my Greedy Grasp can empower, heal, and even boost my abilities-but, what if I gave them to someone else?’ Lucivar mused, smiling from anticipation.

‘There’s only one way to find out!’ Swoosh!

Just then, a single snake of green light coursed through his arm and into the hollowborn.

In the next second, the hollowborn suddenly stiffened.

Soon, it metamorphosed into something unholier, and the transformation was rapid.

Leandra looked at it in horror, ‘W- What did Lucivar do to it…?’