Ascension of the Dark Seraph

Master Tobias' breaths quickened.

Adrenaline was rushing through his veins, causing his arms to tremble and twitch.

He was forced to make a choice that he didn't want to make.

Breaking the game was his only viable choice so that he could free Vanessa and knock Lucivar out for real this time. Since Lucivar clawed his chest open, and even forgo his Divine Armaments, he was very weak right now.

It was the opportune moment—the only window Master Tobias could use to get out of this situation.

'I can't kill Lucivar, and I can't let Vanessa die either.'

Master Tobias' core shook as he tried to put more power into his blood sword, but no matter how much power he infused, the prison to roots didn't budge. It shocked him greatly, considering that he has a rank over Luciviar.

He is a Savant-rank Hybrid, while Lucivar was only a Chrysalis-rank Hybrid.

Even though this power came from the Gods, it had to manifest through something within their reality.

And to do that, the abilities required Lucivar's ether.

In terms of ether and power in this dimension, Master Tobias should have the upper hand—but reality showed him otherwise. His blood sword trembled—the sharp edge was not sharp and strong enough to slice through the bark.

"Kyaargh!" Vanessa's squeal echoed. "It's stabbing me!"

Master Tobias looked up and saw that the tip of the wooden sword was already entering Vanessa's chest.

Additionally, the tip injected dark attribute, corroding her flesh and skin slowly, painfully.

Vanessa's veins were turning black, she could not breathe properly, she could not form words properly, and she could not even think properly. The pain crippled her bodily function—and all that came out of her lips was a painful squeal as she stared at Master Tobias for help.

Realizing that he needed to make haste, Master Tobias gripped the sword tighter.

He wasn't going to give up, at least not yet.

He can still dish out more strength.

"Rraarggh!!"

A forceful grunt escaped his mouth as he tapped into his bloodline and Supernatural Ego, forcing them to exert more power than he ever had. He began to bleed from his nose, eyes, mouth, and ears, but this wasn't because he was in pain.

But because he was summoning his strength.

Unnaturally, the blood coiled around his arms, creating a branching vein outside of his skin.

And the branching vein kept going, reaching the blood sword and infusing it with more power.

It was another ability or spell.

Once the ability was completed, he pushed the blood sword harder, exerting everything he had.

A sucking sound resounded as the ether was inhaled into the blood sword—causing it to glow peculiarly against the backdrop of the dark forest. Muscles bulged as Master Tobias fixated his eyes on the stone-hard roots.

Krrk!

Surprisingly enough, the roots made crunching noises before the sword sliced through.

Master Tobias' eyes widened in shock.

It was surreal to see that he actually managed to slice through the roots, opening up a big enough space for him to get inside and reach Vanessa. Soon, the shock on his face shifted to a surge of relief and happiness.

A smile crept to his lips as his body moved on its own to enter.

He could stop this madness.

But the Devil likes to give hope to the helpless, so that he can crush it again.

As soon as Master Tobias lunged toward her, hand outstretched to seize Vanessa's wrists and stop the wooden blade from plunging into her chest deeper, the exhilaration that had surged through him only a heartbeat earlier collapsed into despair.

For his hand could only reach nothing but air.

Vanessa's scream cut short, sharpened into silence as her form blurred like some in the wind.

She split.

Two Vanessas flickered before him, phantom afterimages carved from energy and sound.

His momentum carried him forward into emptiness as the figure he'd aimed for vanished altogether.

Master Tobias stumbled, breath caught as his gaze darted left and right, desperately in search of her.

And then, his blood ran cold.

"No… I didn't look into his eyes." He muttered helplessly.

A dozen Vanessas now encircled him, their movements seamless, and their forms identical. They spun and shifted, surrounding him in a perfect ring of doppelgangers. When she screamed again as the sword plunged deeper, it was no longer one voice—it was twelve.

A piercing chorus that crashed over him like a tidal wave, deafening and merciless.

Master Tobias was forced to clamp his hands over his ears, looking down at the earth in horror.

Now, his composure that was thick and unshaken earlier was replaced by absolute despair.

His face contorted into one that was teetering on crying as the sound drilled into his skull, rattling his focus, drowning thoughts in raw terror—from the sheer fact that he couldn't do anything. He could not save Vanessa.

"Like I said, you have only two options." Lucivar's voice rang.

Even through the cacophony of painful screams, his voice was loud and clear for Master Tobias.

"Do you remember that I killed Cadaros?" He asked again, calm and slow despite the chaos. "Loki was kind of indebted to me since his avatar never once beat Sunna's avatar. So, I asked for his help. Now do you understand? You have no other choice."

Master Tobias' blood ran cold.

Just realizing that the illusion was devised by Loki himself was crippling.

Loki's power materializing through Lucivar was already bad enough; the mask was capable of taking hold of his mind and showing his illusion while ignoring his mental resilience. It was an absolute effect that no mortal could endure.

No way out of it.

In fact, to deal with it, one should not be under its influence from the start.

But now, he was dealing with Loki's direct power.

Even though Master Tobias didn't want to admit it, it seemed Lucivar was telling the truth.

He must make a decision. He must choose.

It was made as clearly as possible, but even then, Master Tobias forced himself to find the real Vanessa.

He searched for a flaw, a hesitation, anything to betray the truth.

But there was none.

Every figure moved in perfect unison, each scream equally sharp, each illusion mirroring her essence with flawless precision. Not a single telltale sign showed him which one was the real Vanessa. But then again, how could there be a flaw when Loki himself was the one behind this illusion?

And in that moment, as the cacophony battered him from all sides, Tobias felt it—the bitter realization that the thrill of triumph he'd savored only seconds before had been nothing but a lie. He was being played.

Lucivar was repaying what he did tenfold.

"You should've left."

Master Tobias turned to look at Lucivar.

Seeing this face that was riddled with panic, despair, and frustration curled Lucivar's lips.

No sign of the usual, composed Master Tobias anymore.

"The 'vacation' you were mentioning was supposed to be our farewell, right?" Lucivar stated, knowing full well what Master Tobias was trying to do now that he knew the truth. "The family is going against you, and there's no more room for you here, so you decided to leave. That vacation you promised is no more than a farewell. How are you going to do it, I wonder? Leave a letter confessing what you did?"

Hearing this, Master Tobias gripped the hilt of the blood sword tighter.

He was making a choice inside.

Lucivar tilted his head, still curious about what the real plan was.

"Regardless of how you do it, you were planning to leave us. What changed? What made you stay?"

Since Master Tobias was already aware of what they were planning to do, that they were going to come to Vanessa's birthday party, he should have had plenty of time to leave. If he wanted to, he could disappear, leave the city without anyone realizing.

It was the logical move as he knew Lucivar was going to awaken his potential.

But Master Tobias stayed behind.

"Kyaaarghh!!"

Lucivar blinked when Vanessa screamed louder—the dark attribute was already burning her pain nerves completely, throwing her into a world of agony, while the top of the wooden sword was already grazing her beating heart.

It wouldn't take long before death reached her.

For a second there, Lucivar's eyes widened blankly, looking at Vanessa in realization.

His lips curled into a knowing smile.

"Ah…" He moaned. "Come on, Tobias. You fed me Delilah, make me get attached to her—knowing full well that having someone loved is a weakness. Had you wanted to kill me, you could, because Delilah is in your hands. But you… You let yourself get caught in the same trap you set on me?"

Lucivar found the situation hilarious.

Seems like Vanessa was the reason he stayed.

Maybe the two of them would leave after the birthday party, but because of that choice, this happened.

"I was planning to kill Bakar—and left you a confession note. I reckoned it would be good enough to push you over the edge, but Vanessa wanted me to say my goodbye to you before confessing." Master Tobias said, his grim face tilted down. Then, he raised his gaze to look at Lucivar directly in his eyes. "And now… here we are."

In between her screams, Vanessa apologized.

Apologized that she messed up Master Tobias' flawless plan, allowing Lucivar to exploit him.

She was at fault, and she knew it.

But then again, Master Tobias thought he could swindle his way out of the confrontation.

After all, the family still wanted to trust him even though the clues were pointing at him.

That failed miserably when Lucivar realized what he had done before he could even say it and came upstairs.

Noting that Master Tobias was making direct eye contact, the grin on Lucivar's face widened.

Then, he slowly raised his hands to the side.

"Here we are indeed…" Lucivar exposed himself further by spreading his arms. "Now, the only thing stopping you from completing your plan is Vanessa. I've killed Delilah in me, and I came out stronger. Now, it's your turn."

"No," Master Tobias shook his head. "I created you, and now… I can end you, too."

Swish!

Master Tobias surged forward, blood sword clenched in a white-knuckled grip.

Its crimson edge gleaming with lethal promise.

The world seemed to narrow to a single point—Lucivar's exposed heart.

Wind tore past him, howling in his ears, but he felt only the pounding of his pulse, the weight of the moment pressing upon him. This was it—the end, the culmination of every step that had led him here. It was regretful, but had to be done.

His gaze never wavered, cold and resolute as he closed the final distance.

With a precise motion that looked gentle, Master Tobias drove the blade forward.

The blood sword pierces through the air, silences the chaos, and brings everything to its inevitable, painful conclusion as it stabbed through Lucivar's heart.

Splash!