Ascension of the Dark Seraph

Mirel ground his teeth in anger, but the more he struggled, the more painful the blood wolves' bite became.

Unlike the blood lances that were sucking the blood relentlessly, making it extremely lethal if exposed for too long, the blood wolves were designed to be physically painful. It was frustrating—and demeaning since this made it clear how Master Tobias sees him.

In Master Tobias' eyes, his will was a lot easier to break.

Enough pain would deter him from doing anything drastic, as he was not used to it.

Lucivar deserved the blood lances due to his innate strength and unbreakable will, and Master Tobias decided that the only thing he could do to deter Lucivar was to force his body to shut down. It was exactly what the blood lances were made to do.

Tears of anger slid down Mirel's face, eyes red as he glared at Master Tobias hatefully.

He was frustrated.

Knowing what Master Tobias thinks couldn't miraculously have him overcome his situation.

His instincts stopped him from pulling too hard; the pain was too much for him.

"I swear on my life that I will kill you for what you did, Tobias!" Mirel roared thunderously, lightning sparked across his skin—as his power responded to his heightening emotion. Only now did he drop the honorifics and see Master Tobias for who he truly was. "I will dedicate every second of my life, no… WE will dedicate every second of our lives to hunt you down—even if you ran to the other side of the world!"

Mirel meant every word.

In his entire life, he had never made a promise that he meant with all his being.

"Out of everyone," Master Tobias uttered silently, wiping the blood smeared on his lips with his thumb before turning to look at Mirel. "You are the most harmless. Your promise meant nothing, Mirel. You're still trapped in the category of the weak. Don't make promises that'll get you killed."

Master Tobias turned around, nodding at Vanessa, gesturing for her to follow him.

Above all, it seemed what Lucivar said was true.

Somehow, Master Tobias cared about Vanessa; one could see it through his eyes.

Even though everything had been a shock to her—as the night escalated in ways she never anticipated, she forced a nod and followed Master Tobias. She had a hunch that Master Tobias was someone very capable, and she was correct.

Despite how cruel and cold he was, Vanessa couldn't help but look at him in a different light.

She wasn't on board with some of the things he did, but she couldn't deny that the feeling she had for him grew. Before, there was still doubt in her, but now, that doubt was gone. 'I thought I'd shed most of my feminine qualities, but I hadn't. If it's him, I could feel safe.'

For one last time, Master Tobias stopped and turned to face Mirel again.

"It's a shame," He said, looking at Mirel's pathetic visage with a side glance. "Had you looked at what's really happening around you in the last few months, had you really been determined to be stronger after that blue dungeon and follow Lucivar's steps, you could've done something right now."

Mire's eyes bulge.

He gritted his teeth so hard that he tasted iron.

Back then, after the blue dungeon, he really saw how determined Lucivar was to become stronger.

Nothing would deter him from growing.

In the blood city, Mirel could claim that the Gods within Lucivar lent their strength, helping him endure the agony of his plight. But after the blue dungeon, after Lucivar fought fearlessly against the crossers, he understood more clearly about his determination.

His grit to become as strong as he could as fast.

At that incident, there was no such aid from the Gods—it was all Lucivar's will.

And that left Mirel with no excuse.

In the Blood City, he could claim that the gods within him lent their strength, helping him endure the agony of his plight. But in the Blue Dungeon, there was no such aid—only his own will. And that left Mirel with no excuse.

Precisely because of that reason, Mirel separated to go to the woods.

He went to the summit to do what he had been avoiding all along.

Only through inflicting pain through his yellow lightning could he amass ether necessary to grow his power. He can't do it to others, to innocent people, so that day he decided to use the yellow lightning to hurt himself.

Inflicting pain on himself helped him break through to the Chrysalis rank.

He became stronger, but it wasn't enough.

Compared to Lucivar, who'd do anything, he still has restraints, and that was the problem.

Master Tobias had been watching all of them, and he was disappointed at Mirel's growth the most.

"Inflicting pain on others to become stronger, " Master Tobias muttered—shaking his head in complete disappointment at Mirel. "In theory, you could have become the strongest right under Lucivar—and Leandra, but conscience killed your potential. It's a shame, truly. You're a disappointment."

Upon casting one last disappointed look at Mirel, he and Vanessa walked away.

Nothing more to say, and there were no more things he needed to do here.

It was done.

"Come back here!"

Mirel roared, struggling but couldn't quite break free from his predicament.

"I'm not done yet! Tobias!! Raaagghh!!"

His voice turned hoarse from all the shouting, so much so that it began to hurt even to speak.

But Mirel couldn't help it; frustration and anger were burning too hot inside him.

Looking at Master Tobias and Vanessa leaving the premises like a perfect couple, he spat blood.

"Lucivar!!" He called with force, angered that Lucivar had been knocked out from the loss of blood. "Wake up! Are you going to let him get away with this?! You have the bloodline of the Gods, do something! Don't let him get away! Kill him! KILL HIM!!"

Mirel was going crazy.

He was all alone now in this area.

Lucivar and Leandra passed out from loss of blood, Bakar died with his corpse cradled in Leandra's embrace, and other than them were the mangled corpses of the guests, who had been victims of bad timing from earlier.

Now, it was completely silent.

Only the occasional creaking and clanking of stones and wood from the destroyed mansion rang.

Blitz!

Mirel tried to break free, but it was futile; he had already run out of ether.

His yellow lightning was as meager as a spark.

All he could do was watch as Master Tobias and Vanessa walked away, their hands entwined.

It didn't take long before the two disappeared into the distance.

"We can't stay," He gritted his teeth, looking to the other side of the street that was now open to view with all the buildings around them destroyed. "We're out in the open—and the people from the Hybrid Association are going to arrive soon."

If they stayed behind until the Hybrid Association came, they would be taken in without a doubt.

Might not be sentenced instantly, but would soon.

Looking down at the blood wolf head biting him, Mirel gritted his blood-coated teeth.

"I need to focus on one wolf head at a time," He mumbled, but then—he recalled the bitter fact that he has no more ether to spare. At that moment, his face grew ashen as he was forced into a situation where he needed to overcome or die. "I have no other choice…"

Sparks of yellow lightning sizzled across his skin as he knew exactly what to do.

It was only a matter of whether he had the guts to do it or not.

Meanwhile, a few miles from where Mirel was currently.

A few black sedans—and armored cars lined in a straight line were zooming through the street, the sirens on the roofs were wailing, alerting anyone on the street that an emergency was occurring. Only one clear faction could commence such a lineup, the Hybrid Association.

Upon getting a report of destruction in sector four, the association immediately made its move.

From the report, the incident was quite catastrophic.

Almost instantly, the association thought of a dungeon break, which they were on high alert about ever since the sudden appearance of the purple dungeon in the sky—that was fortunately resolved by itself. So, it became apparent that this could only be the work of Hybrids.

Several high-ranking Hybrids, specifically, perhaps Demon Hybrids gone rogue.

It wasn't an uncommon occurrence.

Due to the pressing situation, the Hybrid Association had mobilized ten factions.

Each one sent a five-star Chrysalis rank Hybrid, some even higher than that, as the leader.

Even though it was unlikely that the situation would match the dispatched forces, it was still better than underestimating the situation, especially when the ether radar indicated the work of Savant-rank powers exerted from that area.

Leading the entire convoy was Officer Mikaela, a respectable officer from the Hybrid Association.

She wasn't from the city, only visiting, and decided to lead this operation.

A Savant-rank Shadow Warlock Hybrid.

Considering that it might as well be a bad one, she didn't mind lending her strength to the city.

Besides, she also visited to help the city anyway.

"The stench of death hangs heavy," she murmured, cupping her chin as her gaze drifted out the window. "There's a darkness out there, so dense even my senses can't pierce it. We'd best move quickly… before it swallows more than it already has."

Hearing this, the driver stepped on the gas harder.

Mikaela is known to have a strong premonition of bad things, and it was 80% correct most of the time.

Her words alone could be trusted.

But at the same time, something unexpected happens.

Boom!

A loud explosion rang from the east side, and a mushroom-shaped fire flared skyward.

Seeing this, the driver immediately hit the brakes, stopping the entire convoy—as he turned to look at where the commotion was coming from. It came from another place than the reported incident, which could either mean the problem had now spread, or another problem entirely.

"What is going on tonight?" He clicked his tongue in displeasure.

People could be seen running away frantically from where the explosion came from.

It was total chaos.

Snapping from his daze, the driver reached out his hand and clicked on the touch-screen display.

He connected them to their safe communication line to ask what was happening.

But it seemed others already did it before him as the operator was already in the middle of explaining.

"It's a new report, said to be a terrorist group raiding the Light Bright Hotel. They took hostage more than two hundred people and two high-profile figures. The director had informed that all units are to separate and handle the two incidents at once."

"The director handed over the details to Officer Mikaela."

Naturally, the driver turned to look at Mikaela.

But before Mikaela could speak, the operator spoke again.

"I've gotten new news from the agents in the area. We've identified the terrorist group's identity. It's the Lincoln Gang. I repeat. It's the Lincoln Gang. Be advised and handle the situation carefully."