Ascension of the Dark Seraph

It was the most painful moment Lucivar had experienced in his entire life.

As soon as his body dipped into gold, flesh, muscle, and sinew liquified, peeling from the bone.

He couldn't breathe, and his entire body was broken down into bits.

And rapidly, he lost all of his senses.

Gold is the flesh of the Gods, that's what Sutekh believed, and his body was now reformed accordingly.

First, it started from the bones.

He could feel the magical sensation, the liquid gold seeping into his bones.

Not gently, but forcefully.

It forced its way through like a flood, driving into cracks, widening them, creating micro-tears as it went.

His marrow was overwhelmed, filled by the relentless torrent, until his very skeleton began to change.

Visibly, his bones darkened, then brightened, turning gold.

Like metal heated in a forge, hardening to an absolute degree. Unbreakable. Eternal.

Once his skeleton was made anew, the liquid gold shifted.

One by one, his organs started to form again, starting with his brain—he felt it before he could even process it, the flood of golden liquid sculpting a newer, sharper version of his mind. It rebuilt his nervous system next in web-like patterns, refined, perfected.

Everything was rebuilt with one singular purpose—to exceed the limits of flesh.

To tear apart the ceiling of what a mortal body could exert.

By the time his heart began to beat again, the pain was indescribable.

However, beneath it all, there was something else—a creeping euphoria, addictive and terrifying.

His body felt sluggish and weak before, but now, it felt like it could break the entire world with a punch.

All around him, the gold sank lower and lower, until nothing remained of the once-filled pool.

Once his senses finally returned, he opened his eyes to emptiness.

Unlike earlier, the crucible was now dry with not even a trace of old—only he remained.

Lucivar gasped for air like a fish out of the water, still disoriented from the process.

He flexed his hands a few times, feeling raw power surging through his veins like fire had replaced his blood, burning him alive with strength, each breath stoking the flames within. Instinctively, he opened the Stone Physique Tablet to check his current strength.

Physical Assessment: Obelisk-tier (Low)

Just as Sha said earlier, his physique has now reached the Obelisk-tier.

Lucivar gazed skyward and leaped out of the crucible.

Nearby, Sha was still waiting for him to come out, and was pleased to see him.

"You look good."

"Push me again, and I'll step on you in the real world."

Sha chuckled in ridicule.

It was rare for her to have the opportunity to mess with Lucivar.

Her only chances came when Lucivar was in this realm—beyond it, she was powerless.

"Once you're outside, you should test out your new physique. I can guarantee you'll be surprised."

"I'm going to do it even if you didn't tell me to."

Lucivar had long been addicted to the sensation of growing stronger, but this… this is something else entirely. His body felt different—lighter, overflowing with power, yet unnervingly flexible. It was as if his consciousness had been placed into someone else's body.

Someone stronger, faster, and better.

"Also, try clenching your fist," Sha instructed eagerly.

Lucivar did as he was asked to do.

He clenched both fists, but nothing happened.

"And?"

"Clench it harder and focus, you'll see what I'm talking about."

Gradually, he poured more strength into his clenched fists—and gasped as a golden sheen spread across his skin. His flesh shifted, turning metallic, glowing with the luster of forged gold. It was very unnatural, and with a single glance, he knew his fists had become unbreakable.

"What is this?"

"Now, your physicality—has reached the level of Demi-Gods. And that's the basic ability a Demi-God would possess, Perfect Gold. It'll enhance your striking strength, but be careful, while the Perfect Gold is active, your other body parts will be slightly weaker."

Hearing this, Lucivar's eyes flickered with excitement.

A question popped into his mind.

"Can I upgrade this with Loki's power?"

"Sadly, no. Perfect Gold is not a spell, so Loki's power can't do anything to it. Besides, what could Loki possibly do to an already perfect ability? Don't insult the Perfect Gold."

Lucivar shrugged his shoulders and then nodded his head.

"I'm ready to leave now."

"Very well."

Swish!

Almost instantly, a cloud of sand swept Lucivar's entire form, sending him back to his real body.

Once he opened his eyes again, he was back on riding the emerald phoenix.

"This feels nice… A lot better than the car."

Nerissa lingered with her arms wrapped around the emerald phoenix's nape, looking at the passing blur of highway—and trees underneath. Living in Sunhold City for a few months—unconsciously made her miss nature.

And now, she has the full view of the entire world.

It was all thanks to Lucivar taking out this emerald phoenix from his pocket.

She didn't know how he got his hands on this beautiful creature, but she wasn't complaining.

Just then—as she was feeling sleepy from the gentle breeze, her eyes caught sight of a shadow, falling like a crashing plane. Initially, she thought that it was a bird that got scorched by the emerald phoenix's flames, as some did earlier, but soon she realized it wasn't a bird.

"Lucivar…?" Her eyes widened completely when her mind clicked. "Lucivar?!"

She glanced over her shoulder and couldn't find him.

As opposed to a bird, it was Lucivar who was falling from great height.

"What is he doing?"

A Chrysalis-rank Hybrid has the power to manipulate their bloodline's attribute, so none of them would die from a fall, no matter the height. But a raw fall where their bodies crashed directly against the earth from this height would still be able to kill them.

But considering that Lucivar has wings, she wasn't too concerned.

Maybe he was only playing around, stretching his body after sitting for hours.

But those thoughts wavered when Lucivar didn't summon his wings even when he was near crashing.

Nerissa instantly summoned her water attribute, shaping it into a tentacle and hurled it toward Lucivar in an attempt to catch him—but it was no use. Her control was still crude, her mastery lacking since it wasn't that long since she broke through into the Chrysalis rank.

Since she couldn't get off the bed for some time, she focused on her Supernatural Ego.

Resources aren't scarce for her, too since several factions could help.

All because of Lucivar's triumph, of course.

Not to mention, the chaos from the purple dungeon incident filled her reserve.

She managed to step into the Chrysalis rank because of those factors.

But that's still not enough.

Crash!

Nerissa's heart skipped a beat when Lucivar crashed onto the ground with a thunderous crack, forcing birds to migrate out of fear. She swallowed harshly and immediately tapped on the emerald phoenix's nape repeatedly, "Go down… Go down!"

Realizing what happened, the emerald phoenix turned and dived down.

It hovered over the spot where Lucivar had landed, while Nerissa scanned the dust with growing worry.

"Lucivar!!"

She screamed, but there was no answer.

Just as she was about to leap down and check, a sizzling golden aura emerged.

Lucivar came to view, standing at the center of a crater.

He doesn't seem to be hurt whatsoever, or at least, he seemed to be fine.

A fall from that height and landed on his feet should've shattered every bone in his body, but that didn't happen. He was still standing upright, unharmed, casually inspecting himself front and back with clear and genuine curiosity plastered on his face.

"Lucivar, what is wrong with you? Are you trying to stop my heart on purpose?"

Nerissa shouted once she deduced that he was fine.

A hint of anger in her tone.

Lucivar waved his hand dismissively as if what he did was not a big deal.

"Relax… I'm hard to kill."

"Still, give me a heads-up, will you?"

"I'm going to test something. I'll be quick!"

Paying her worry no mind, Lucivar turned to face the nearest tree.

He wanted to see how strong he had really become.

Expertly, Lucivar suppressed his ether, blocking it from flowing into his fist.

He wanted to test his raw strength, relying on his physique alone—the strength of a Demi-God.

Sha made a great deal about it, and now he wanted to see if it lived up to the claim.

Lucivar went into his fighting stance and placed his fist against the tree trunk, and with a deep inhale, he pulled back his arm and drove it forward again with force. He expected the tree to break in half, but he was in for a surprise.

Crack!

Boom!

Instead of merely cracking it in half, his fist obliterated the tree into splinters—tearing it from the roots and hurling it like debris in a storm. The force from his punch didn't stop there. It surged forward in a straight line, carving through the forest, shattering at least twenty trees along its path—before slamming into a distant boulder formation nearly four hundred meters away.

It left behind deep fractures spiderwebbing across its surface, and then exploded it.

At the sight of the destruction, Lucivar was speechless.

He was expecting to be a lot stronger, but his raw strength being this much is unbelievable.

"What happens if I add my ether or even a God strand into the mix…?"

Just the thought of that made him shiver in excitement.

Perhaps if he'd faced Caldaros in this state, the battle would've ended with a single punch.

Lucivar gazed at the forest ahead.

It was alive with the raw, breathtaking beauty of mother nature.

Doing more destruction than this might be too much.

"I should test my strength somewhere more fitting than a forest teeming with life," Lucivar mumbled, but then a devilish smirk curled his lips. "Who cares? Fuck mother nature. If she has feelings, she should be honored that I chose her for this!"

Pulling nothing back, Lucivar immediately activated his ether, attribute, and also God strands.

And in a frenzy, he made another punch.

Kaboom!!

…

Moments later.

Lucivar and Nerissa arrived in a small village.

A crowd was already gathered there, and a bonfire of emerald flames was maintained to welcome them.

As the emerald phoenix landed, Lucivar looked around and found that all of the people here looked at him weirdly. Some of them cried when they saw him, while some began to kneel and pray. It was quite a bizarre sight.

He came to this village because Morriva's aura was here.

Everyone made way for him, leading him and Nerissa to a massive church.

Guards pushed open the church's entrance, revealing a vast grand hall, and at the far end, a lone figure stood waiting.

Lucivar looked at this woman and frowned.

"Morriva…? Is that really you?"