Ascension of the Dark Seraph - Chapter 95

Chapter 95: I Won’t Wear It Again Chapter 95: I Won’t Wear It Again Leandra looked into the church and found two figures sitting beside each other inside.

She recognized one of them as Lucivar, and he was sitting on the unbroken pew while his head leaned to the shoulder of a woman.

He was slumped there, and once Leandra came closer, the woman turned towards her.

‘Who is she?’ Leandra frowned.

‘Is she the nun from earlier?’ Due to the red lines that stretched down from below her eyes-Leandra could not recognize her instantly.

As she was about to ask what had happened, Morriva raised a finger and put it at the center of her lips, gesturing for Leandra not to be loud.

Gently, she helped Lucivar to lie on the pew before she walked over to Leandra.

She pulled Leandra outside.

“Sir Lucivar is exhausted and wounded, I hope you would let him rest” “Something changed about you…” Instead of answering, Leandra changed the topic and squinted.

Even though she couldn’t quite put her finger on what changed about Morriva, other than her appearance, she could tell the change.

Must be the air, around her, she didn’t seem to be the same person Leandra had met earlier.

Stunned for a moment, Morriva showed a wry, confused smile.

But she decided to show the red crystal embedded at the center of her chest.

“What is that?” “A Prime Fire Gem, the pastor made a deal with the Crossers for this and I took it from him” “Hmm, so that fire, it’s your doing?” Leandra pointed at the fire surrounding and burning the proselyte.

Since Mirel was keeping guard on the citizens of the city lest the portal break or other unseen threats raided the city-there should be another person who was keeping this proselyte at bay.

Moreover, Mirel has lightning power, not fire.

Making a meek nod toward Leandra, Morriva murmured, “Sir Lucivar instructed me” Upon hearing this, Leandra turned around and placed both hands on her waist.

A lot happened during this mission and in truth, her mind wasn’t able to digest everything.

“Can you keep the flames going?

I assume it’s energy taxing” “No, I can’t d-…

I mean I can for a little bit longer” There was a pause in Morriva’s answer, and that caught Leandra’s attention.

But she didn’t put it in mind, Morriva must’ve been in shock if she saw this proselyte.

“Keep the fire going as long as you can but go back to the others, I’ll handle this” “I understand, then…

I’ll take my leave” Morriva turned around and headed back to the others, she was compliant.

“Can I ask you a question?” She suddenly stopped and turned.

“May I kindly ask what kind of relationship you have with Sir Lucivar?” Leandra didn’t expect to be asked this-but her face clearly showed that she was displeased by Morriva’s sudden interest, “Me and him are quite close, family close.

Just know-whatever he did and said to you, it was all a lie” Upon hearing this, Morriva smiled.

A smile blossomed on her face when she heard the answer before she continued on her way.

Once she was a distance away, however-she took a look back one last time to see Leandra sitting at the stairs to the church-clasping her face with both of her hands.

Smirking lightly, Morriva continued and left the area.

Moments later.

Leandra was inside the church, sitting on the broken altar.

It had been an hour and her complicated gaze was fixed on Lucivar throughout that time.

“Sleeping while being looked at is not pleasant, you know.

Stop looking at me like that” Out of nowhere, Lucivar commented, his eyes still remained closed peacefully.

Leandra was taken aback but she soon frowned.

She had been contemplating for the last hour forming what she wanted to say to Lucivar the moment he woke up but when she heard his voice-her thoughts were scattered.

She forgot what she wanted to say to him.

All Leandra could do was open her mouth but there were no words that came out.

Before she could say anything she wanted, Lucviar already got up.

He rubbed his eyes and stretched.

Having to battle the doppelganger, and sustaining serious wounds, all over, he was very low on both ether-and blood.

Anticipating Morriva’s transformation made him excited but once that excitement died down, he instantly passed out.

Glancing at Leandra, he sighed and stood up.

“Have the other teams come back?” “No…” “It’s almost a day, don’t tell me they all died inside?” “If that’s the case, the Crossers would be pouring out of the portal by now” “Right…

then that shouldn’t be the case” Despite trying to keep composed, Lucivar couldn’t deny the awkwardness between them.

And from the looks of it, this awkwardness would not disappear until Leandra communicated what she wanted to say.

But even then-Lucivar found it a hassle to answer her questions, it would be better if she didn’t know more.

Nevertheless, he still needs to address this.

“Can you forget what you saw last night?” “Do you believe me if I say yes?” “No, but it’s better that you forget it.

Less trouble for the both of us” “I know you’re the one who attacked Bakar, you impersonate the doppelganger.

And I know you used Mirel as bait to catch the doppelganger off guard.” Leandra stated the facts-she paid attention and knew everything.

But that wasn’t the end, “Also, the proselyte outside, it’s also your doing.

It’s the exact same thing you did last time during the inauguration.

Is this how you really are?

Manipulating-the people around you for your own benefit?” “And?” Lucivar raised an eyebrow questioningly.

“I don’t see the problem” Furious, Leandra abruptly stood up, “You don’t see?

They are people, not tools!

Just a month ago, you were that innocent guy saved by Master Tobias.

How could you change so fast?

W- What happened to you?

What made you end up like this?” Lucivar stood motionless, listening to what she had to say.

As a couple of seconds passed, he eventually lifted his cold, calculating gaze.

“I attacked Bakar to make him, and Nerissa alert of me.

I didn’t use Mirel, I used Mirel and you since I branded you both with my Soul Warden spell, and I did that because that was the only thing I could do to catch that thing off guard and end it” Lucivar answered.

He didn’t stutter one bit, the words flowed out of his mouth naturally.

Almost as if he has already thought of the answer to everything.

“For the proselyte outside-I did it because that thing was the nun’s husband once.

I feared she would help the proselyte so I showed her that her husband is already a monster, there’s no trace of him left” He continued.

Of course, the last part was a lie.

But with how smooth it flowed out and how it made sense, it was believable.

Nobody saw what happened in the church except for Lucivar and that was an advantage.

“Manipulations?” Lucivar chuckled.

“Maybe…

but at least I kept all of your safety in mind” “What about these innocent people?” Leandra pointed at the corpses inside the church-the people that Lucivar used to lure the proselytes.

“You didn’t keep their safety in mind, none of them agreed to this” Upon hearing this, Lucivar paused and decided to leave.

But his hand was held once again by Leandra.

“Both of us could get strong together without the need for this.

Just tell me what happened to you that made you like this, I promise I will help you change,” Leandra said-her intention was pure, but nothing is pure in Lucivar’s mind.

Everyone in this world has a fixed bias to themselves, helping others is purely superficial.

A benefit is always present behind every kind gesture.

Lucivar’s expression darkened-anger bubbled inside of him as Leandra reminded him of his past.

She even offered to change him back-to what he once was, a victim of karma, and he found this repulsive.

Slowly, he turned towards Leandra, his eyes laced with incredible coldness.

It made Leandra step back in unease.

His gaze seemed to be the last layer before he exploded.

“I owe my life to Tobias and I owe being kind to Delilah.

Because of that, no matter how badly I want to become stronger, I wouldn’t sacrifice you, or the others but,” Lucivar pivoted, facing Leandra imposingly.

“Coax me to change again and I’ll bury you like him” “I’ve shed the skin of my past, and I won’t wear it again,” He said and left with wide steps.

Unlike before, Leandra didn’t chase him again.

She stood in front of the church at a loss for words, not expecting Lucivar to react like that.

Even then, a thought came to her mind, “Him…?

Who’s him?” Once the sun reached its highest point, the assault and defender team came out.

All of them were riddled with wounds-and some were even gravely wounded, being carried by another.

Upon stepping outside of the dungeon, they basked in the pleasant sunlight, but were surprised to see the church half destroyed.

Leandra approached them, she was the one who was nearby.

“Is it done?” She asked, facing Ruby.

Ruby nodded and took out a brilliant deep blue-green coin from her pocket.

It was the Teal Coin that could close the portal instantly.

“Fortunately, the dungeon was only filled with skeletons.

There’s a lot of them-hundreds or even thousands that’s why we took a long time inside,” Fixing her gaze at Leandra it was her turn to ask, “What about your side?” Knowing that the proselytes were even harder to deal with, the condition must be bad.

Heck, it wouldn’t be surprising if the proselytes were still roaming around.

“As expected, the proselyte is as strong as an Acolyte rank Hybrid,” Leandra replied, pointing behind her at the big burning proselyte.

“Two of ours died, unfortunately, but we managed to take the proselytes down.

Also, we found the people, and they are safe” Upon hearing this, Ruby and the other hunters gasped.

Casualties, are normal for academy hunters-but to think that three new hunters could take down two Acolyte-rank proselytes is quite unbelievable.

Then again, when they recalled the existence of Lucivar among them, it became believable.

Not beating around the bush, Leandra turned towards a bulging bag carried by a hunter.

“So, what about the haul from the dungeon?” She asked.

Anticipating that Ruby was going to give a bad offer-Leandra continued, “Sixty, twenty, and twenty, that’s how we’re going to split it.

Sixty for my team, and twenty for yours, will that be a problem?” Naturally, the other hunters were displeased by this.

Even though Leandra’s team dealt with the proselyte, they also had their share of trouble.

But when one of them was about to speak up, Ruby raised her hand.

“Not a problem, we’ll split it like that,” She nodded.

Finding that Ruby was cooperative, Leandra nodded before she turned to leave.

Since the other teams were now out, it was time to kill the last proselyte.

It was in misery and she would be ending it.

Once Leandra was away, the other academy hunters instantly complained to Ruby.

“Why are we splitting it to them that one-sidedly?” “That’s unfair!

The skeletons are weak but it didn’t mean we didn’t put our lives on the line!” “Just what in the heck are you thinking?!” Ruby sighed, she already expected this but she had a good reason to do that.

“Call it instinct,” She said, gazing at Leandra’s back-in the distance.

“I could feel that if we refused Leandra would’ve done something to us.

Something must have happened, she was ready to kill” “No way, there’re dozens of us.

We outnumbered her, she wouldn’t do that!” Another barked.

But this made Ruby gaze at that person sharpy.

“We chose to tackle the dungeon-because we’re not confident to deal with the proselytes,” She said, her voice laced with seriousness.

“On the other hand, Lucivar’s group doesn’t even look worried.

Now, they even killed the proselytes.

Do you really think we could win?” Upon hearing this, the other academy hunters were silenced.

None of them could refute that fact.

“Academy hunters would be punished if they attacked each other but if there’s nobody to tell the story, the academy can’t punish them,” Ruby muttered-a shiver running down her spine.

“Just trust me on this, our lives are more valuable than some power crystals…”