Ascension of the Dark Seraph

Lucivar was stunned.

He couldn't avert his eyes from Morriva, who was standing near the altar elegantly.

It has only been a few months, but Morriva, she… changed.

Nerissa's eyes narrowed.

She immediately put her guard up at the sight of this saintess and turned to Lucivar in disbelief.

"So… you put aside time to come all the way here, to a remote village, only to meet this vixen?"

"Vixen? Where did you learn that word?"

"It's beside the point!"

Nerissa growled and glared at Morriva with serious intensity.

A few months ago, when Lucivar first met with Morriva, when she was still Catherine, she was bound in chains and was black and blue because of her husband. Her body was malnourished, leaving her with only skin and bones.

But now, she was opulent.

It was clear that she gained some weight, a lot of weight, and all the right places, too.

Her ceremonial white and emerald robe was full.

Not that the robe itself was designed to be seductive, in fact, it was supposed to be loose—but her body made it look naughty. Her skin was covered, but the sheer, almost translucent white fabric that clung to her skin left little to the imagination. It highlighted the swell of her breasts, the graceful dip of her waist, and the tempting curves of her thighs.

Lucivar blinked and immediately focused on sensing her aura.

'It's not the Minor Morphin ability I gave her? Where did she suddenly get the thought to do this?'

A frown crept on his face.

Knowing that this could be someone else's influence.

'Another husband? It could be.'

Lucivar called for Gandr silently without anyone noticing.

A hiss came as Gandr appeared on his shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

"Are Vestal loyal to me? Or can they be corrupted?"

"If there's an influence of another God, then they can be corrupted. But this time, I doubt it."

Gandr doubted that another avatar had gotten to Morriva.

But Lucivar didn't care.

As long as there's a chance that it might happen, he'll take it as an absolute certainty.

"Sir Lucivar…"

Morriva's voice echoed inside the hall as she slowly walked away from the altar and approached them.

Her white heels clacked against the cobblestone floor, adding a theatrical sense to the way she descends down from the altar, like the saintess of Humanity coming down to greet the hero. Stopping a few paces away, her sharp, emerald eyes flicked to the guards at the entrance.

Nodding their heads, the guards bowed to her and closed the door with a loud, thudding sound.

As soon as the door was closed and the three of them were left behind, Morriva went down on one knee.

"Sir Lucivar, may I relish in your visit?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm asking whether your visit was driven by pleasure… or by disappointment."

"Pleasure…"

Lucivar approached her with steady steps and stopped right in front of her.

He looked down and reached for her chin, guiding her to look up at him.

"But now, I'm not so sure. The way you phrase your question made me think you did something wrong."

"I see…"

"Do you?"

It was light, but Lucivar noticed it—her body was slightly trembling.

She was trying to remain composed and straightforward, but the pressure from being questioned by the entity whom she claimed to be her new God was a lot heavier than she anticipated. Even right now, as she stared into Lucivar's eyes, she felt small and weak.

Anyone in the village would be surprised to see her trembling like this.

Normally, she was the one who instilled fear into others.

But right now, she was acting like a scared fox, sweating and trembling.

Lucivar's eyes narrowed.

"Who exactly made you change like this, Morriva? Or have you assumed a new name already?"

"I'm sorry…?"

For a second there, Morriva blinked in confusion.

"Look at you. Who made you change so drastically like this? Did someone approach you?"

"Ah, I think you misunderstood this…"

"Are you denying it? Then what's your reason for this transformation? If you lie, I will know."

"It's because of you, Sir Lucivar."

"Eh?"

Lucivar paused for a moment, caught off guard by the answer.

But he quickly recovered, thinking that it might be a tactic from Morriva's part to lower his suspicion.

Roughly, he gripped her chin and bent down a little.

"Don't lie to me…"

"I'm-I'm not!"

Heat rushed to her cheeks—she wanted to turn away, but Lucivar's firm hand on her chin made it quite impossible. Her breath faltered, lashes trembling, shame and panic twisted in her chest. Fingertips dug into her thighs, but it didn't help her be composed.

Lucivar's stare and closeness left her caught between shrinking back and unable to speak.

But she eventually managed to force out the words, albeit meekly.

"I heard you telling your friend that I'm just skin and bones—not attractive enough for you…"

"Huh?"

Frankly, Lucivar didn't remember himself saying that at all.

However, thinking back, he might've said that to Leandra since she was jealous back then.

It came out of him naturally.

At the time, he probably only wanted to get Leandra off of him quickly.

He didn't expect what he said to change Morriva completely.

"I started eating and exercising a lot after you left because of that. It's not because of someone else…"

Lucivar looked at her, truly looked at her, and found that she was telling the truth.

Unless she's a great actress, which she wasn't, this was really the truth.

Lucivar let go of her chin and scratched the back of his head, with one hand placed against his waist, realizing that he had been taking things out of proportion. Then again, there are three more avatars out in the loose.

Still, he couldn't believe that he was worried when in reality, it wasn't a big deal.

Shaking his head, he turned to Nerissa.

"Nerissa, meet Morriva. She's my first Vestal. I met her during a mission with Leandra and Mirel."

"First Vestal? You have others?"

"Yes, I have three Vestals. The other one's in the city—a gangster named Zibbo. But each of you carries the power of a different God. You have Tamtu's power, and Morriva holds Loki's."

Morriva stood up again and made eye contact with Nerissa.

For a second, there was only silence.

On the side, Lucivar frowned when he noticed the two of them were staring at each other intently.

'Hmm? What's this? Why is the atmosphere suddenly growing tense?'

Lucivar took a step back.

He didn't know the reason, but it felt right to step away from them.

As expected, in the blink of an eye, both of them made their moves.

With a subtle wave of her hand, water materialized around Nerissa, swirling into a sphere with a hiss of displaced air. The sphere pulsed once, filled with ether, then burst forth in a surging torrent—the liquid shimmering with an acidic sheen as it tore through the space between them.

At the same moment, emerald light flared on the other side.

Morriva ignited her primordial gem embedded in her chest, pulsing like a heartbeat.

Lines of glowing emerald traced down from beneath her eyes to her chin—marking her as a wielder of the Hereditary of Grand Magic constitution. Emerald flames erupted from her palms, licking the air like a hungry beast before she unleashed them in a roaring stream.

She was akin to a living flamethrower aimed to meet the water torrent head-on.

Pssh!

Acid and emerald fire clashed with a deafening hiss—the air warped from the collision.

Lucivar watched the clash with amusement.

He also wanted to know which of them was stronger.

Nerissa is a Dominion Vestal, a rank higher than Morriva, who was an Ascendant Vestal.

On top of that, she's also a Hybrid with a powerful named bloodline.

However, Morriva wasn't a pushover either.

She'd been a Vestal for longer, and after what she did to the villagers, it was clear she was on a roll with her manipulation. It was the source of power as a Vestal of Loki. And with Loki's power behind her, it wouldn't be surprising if her emerald flames burned stronger than ever.

Not to mention, she has been a Vestal longer.

Meaning, more mastery over her power.

Kaboom!

As soon as the explosion happened, the entire cathedral shook.

And from the impact, the winner was already clear.

Nerissa was pushed back two steps while Morriva stood firm on her ground, unmoving.

Lucivar clapped his hands, acknowledging Morriva as the victor.

It wasn't that surprising.

Even from far away, Lucivar knew how hard Morriva worked, and this was simply her pay-off.

"Incredible, Morriva. I made the right choice for investing in you."

"Your words are too kind… I don't feel like I deserve it."

Though she said that, she was smiling from ear to ear, pleased that she could impress Lucivar.

Noticing that Nerissa's face was dark, Lucivar immediately stepped in.

"Now, now, it's not the time for this. She's a Vestal longer than you, Nerissa, this is normal," Lucivar assured, keeping her anger in check. Then, he turned to Morriva, "Tell me about what you did. I'm quite interested in what you've been doing while I'm away."

…

Surely enough, Morriva has been busy.

In Veloria City, after Lucivar and his team left, with the pastor dead, someone had to take the lead.

Initially, Morriva was going to allow someone else to take over while she guided the city from behind the scenes, but she changed her mind. She decided to assume command and shape the people into devoted worshippers with her as their Saintess.

The God she promoted was supposed to be Loki, but she changed her mind.

As opposed to Loki, she promoted Lucivar as an actual God in the flesh.

She flaunted her new powers, telling the people how Lucivar purified her into something better.

An Angel… His Angel.

Hybrids had powers beyond reason, but they don't know anyone who could gift powers to someone born without power like Morriva. And thus, the Ordained Mirror Cult was founded, devoted to Lucivar and focused on seeing the truth, that evil is the new way of the world.

Both the Blood Priests and Blood Nunes are the main fighting force of the cult.

Morriva commanded the people to abandon their homes and turn into a moving group instead.

Her aim was to raze other villages through manipulation and sacrifice them to Lucivar.

It explains why Lucivar gained a lot of essence bars and also Loki's Divine Blood.

At this point, three villages had already sacrificed in his name.

Thousands were killed—their blood drained and their bodies burned in emerald flames.

Lucivar fell for Morriva more and more as she talked.

But then, he remembered something.

"Right, you acted like you did something wrong earlier. What is it? Are you having some trouble?"

"Yes, actually…"

"Fill me in. I should reward you for your hard work, right?"