Ascension of the Dark Seraph

Mirel already suspected that the 'Lucivar' who was impaled was not the real one.

It was a gut feeling.

Regardless of the situation—no matter the danger or the odds, Lucivar would never fall that easily.

He was too cunning and powerful to die a gentle, meaningless death.

Not to mention, the blood of Gods coursed through his veins—surely, among them would show blatant favouritism, unwilling to let him die. Mirel knew that for Lucivar to really die, it would take someone like Caldaros to do it.

Another avatar.

Master Tobias, despite who he really was, is not an avatar.

No chance he'd be able to kill Lucivar, at least not this easily.

And Mirel was absolutely correct.

Lucivar emerged from what seemed to be a trap door leading to the mansion's basement.

He was completely fine, and he was dragging somebody.

Dragging Master Tobias.

"Am I tweaking?" Mirel muttered under his exhausted breath. "What am I seeing right now?"

Lucivar ignored his surprised look and approached with steady steps.

He then threw Master Tobias' other body, which Mirel instantly realized, as the clothes this one was wearing were different from what the real Master Tobias was wearing. Moreover, there was a symbol etched at the center of this body's forehead.

One that Master Tobias didn't have.

"Just what happened…?" Mirel asked, looking at Lucivar with a gaze that demanded the truth.

Seeing no reason to hide it from him, Lucivar explained what happened to him.

He told Mirel about Master Tobias' escape plan and how he managed to dismantle it with precision.

It was a close one.

Master Tobias almost succeeded in escaping him and also the family, but fortunately, Dracula's special ability contained divine energy, which Lucivar could sense. And due to that small misfortune, the perfect plan unraveled.

"So, it's over…?" Mirel turned to look at where Bakar's corpse was.

He clenched both of his hands hard.

Even though he knew tonight was going to be one hell of a night, nothing could prepare him for Master Tobias' real side—and losing Bakar. He was devastated. All the years he spent believing that the family was a real family turned out to be fake.

It was built on a stack of lies that Master Tobias concocted.

An illusion at best.

Not to mention, the years of manipulation were made entirely to awaken Lucivar.

Mirel didn't know what to feel about that.

'On one side, it wasn't his fault as he wasn't aware of what was happening like us,' Mirel thought with bitterness, clasping his face with his hand. 'But on the other side, had he never shown up—we might still be a whole family.'

Lucivar looked at Mirel in silence.

He didn't know what was inside Mirel's mind, but he could make a guess.

"No, it's not over. Master Tobias is still alive," Lucivar answered, interrupting Mirel's thoughts—as he looked up in surprise. "I already took the liberty to kill Vanessa, and that made me feel a lot better. As for Tobias, I don't feel like I'm the right person to be the one to kill him."

Hearing this, Mirel chuckled bitterly and turned away.

"What do you mean?" He asked incredulously. "You were manipulated the most."

"But I'm not qualified to represent the family," Lucivar answered without thinking.

Mirel snapped towards him again.

For some reason, he never expected Lucivar to stay something like this… something so compassionate.

"Tobias did what he did for me, but that doesn't change the fact that you and the others were manipulated the longest." Lucivar shrugged as he gestured with his hand, dissolving the 'Lucivar' that was impaled by blood lances. "And right now, you were the best person to represent the family. So, are you willing to end it?"

Lucivar glanced at him with a raised brow, asking whether he'd have the guts to end Master Tobias.

Nobody was more qualified and appropriate to do that aside from him right now.

Bakar died, Leandra was still unconscious, while the others weren't nearby.

It was only he and Lucivar here.

Mirel paused for a fleeting second; his pupils trembled as the thought of being the one to represent the family and kill Master Tobias never crossed his mind. If anything, he thought it would be Ravenna, but she wasn't here right now.

All of the older generations were not here.

Darwin was no more, Bob disappeared, and Ravenna was wounded.

Just from that alone, Lucivar was correct to say that he was the most fitting one right now.

"We can't stay here any longer. You have to make a decision—now." Lucivar glanced at the lightening sky, his expression grim. Dawn was moments away, and this place would be swarmed. "I was able to stall the Hybrid Association with my connections, but not for too long. They'll be here any second."

Clenching his jaw, Mirel forced a nod, "Bring him here. I'll do it."

Lucivar nodded and turned to look at where his real body was.

…

Back where the real Lucivar was, he raised his gaze from the black sword when Mirel made a decision.

He nodded his head and put his Divine Armaments away.

Not too far for him, still trying to crawl away, was Master Tobias.

Despite there was no hope for him to get a better ending, he refused to give up and persisted.

"It's over, Tobias." Lucivar stood up and approached him. "You're already about five minutes too late. She's with me now. There's no reality in which you can turn this around. Give up, and comply with my demands. That way, you'll die with dignity."

Hearing this, Master Tobias pressed his forehead against the ground.

He wasn't stopping because if he did, the emotions would catch up to him.

No chance he's going to let that happen, especially when he was right in front of Lucivar.

Lucivar flipped Master Tobias' body with his foot.

"How did she die…?" He asked with a weak but firm voice.

"She died—an ordinary death," Lucivar shrugged his shoulders. "With my hands around her neck. She was still hoping you'd come until the very last moment, though."

Just hearing that alone made Master Tobias grit his teeth, but there was no use in getting angry.

He was already defeated.

But despite his reluctance, a tear slipped past his mental defenses and trickled down his face.

"Really?" Lucivar tilted his head. "A tear?"

"I've always been selfish and corrupt," Master Tobias suddenly said, ignoring Lucivar's condescending remark. "The reason I chose to groom you was because I was hoping that I could make you hate me and lead you to destroy the Valerius Supreme House."

It was a confession, and Lucivar was caught in surprise.

Even though he didn't want to know the reason, it was given to him forcefully and out of nowhere.

"I took the bloodline of a Seer Hybrid and searched for a perfect candidate. It was how I found out about the Blessed Oracle… How I found out about you. I've always been bad, even before I became shunned by the house. And now, the only time I wanted to do good, this happened."

Master Tobias stared at the sky, smiling in self-ridicule.

He made a mistake, and now someone else has to pay dearly for it.

"You're talking to the wrong person," Lucivar intervened. "I don't care about anyone but myself."

Upon saying that, he paused, meeting Master Tobias' gaze.

"But I don't mind listening to you, as long as you tell me how you found out about the Blessed Oracle. I want to know."

"There's a book in my mansion. I can only open a few pages—the rest is locked through a blood lock. I'm guessing you're the only one who could read the rest of the book."

Hearing this, Lucivar's eyes glimmered with anticipation.

He was curious as to how there was anything about the Blessed Oracle when he wasn't even the Blessed Oracle a few months ago. As far as he knows, the Gods wanted him because the Blessed Oracle is new and extremely useful to them.

So, it doesn't make sense if there was already a book about him out there.

But then again, he dealt with Gods—manipulating the law of the universe is nothing for them.

"Do you need me to tell you where it is?"

"No, I can find it myself."

"…"

A heavy silence hung over them.

Master Tobias stared at Lucivar for a good moment before he spoke again, "You know, one day, you're going to make a mistake like I did. You will want to do good, and Karma would take care of you exactly as it takes care of me."

"If you survived, you'd probably turn on a new leaf—and do good for the rest of your lives. It's because you started off as bad, and you're sick of it." Lucivar suddenly said, then, his lips curled—into a cruel smile. "As for me, I started good, and I'm sick of it. Until the end of my life, I will not go back to how I once was."

Lucivar stepped closer.

It was time to finish Master Tobias off.

"As for the Valerius Supreme House, don't worry, I'm going to destroy it." Lucivar assured confidently. "Perhaps not for you, but I will destroy it either way, and that's good for you. One of your family is the avatar of an enemy God."

Upon hearing this, Master Tobias paused before he burst out laughing.

He seemed genuinely happy.

"I see, that's new for me, and that explains a lot." Master Tobias coughed blood a couple of times, but the smile never faltered from his face. "His name should be Narga. That's probably the avatar—you're talking about."

Lucivar raised his foot and hovered it above Master Tobias' face.

His intention was clear.

"As a token of goodwill for telling me all this before your death, I'll place you where Vanessa was right now. It's going to be a painful eternity for you and her, but at least… you'll have each other."

"One more thing..."

"Hmm?"

"I'm sorry about Delilah. Like you said, she didn't deserve it."

Lucivar's face turned grim for a second before he brought down his foot with strength.

He didn't want to hear more.

Master Tobias' face burst open like a watermelon, splattering blood everywhere.

His immortal soul should be going to the new body that was with Mirel right now.

Before he went back, Lucivar used the Greedy Grasp ability to erase all the traces of battle in the area.

'I apologize, but you would not find out anything about this.' He thought inside, smiling inwardly as the Hybrid Association would be in a world of confusion once they arrived. 'You'll eventually know it was us, but at that time, it'll be too late.'

Once the entire area was cleaned of blood and gore, Lucivar nodded and dashed away.

Back in the mansion, as he decided, Mirel killed Master Tobias for good.

He acted on behalf of the family—and stabbed his lightning hand into Master Tobias' chest, and through the heart. In the last moment, Master Tobias didn't apologize for what he did. All he said was that despite the circumstances, there were times when he really enjoyed being with them.

It wasn't all fake.

And as he said that, he exhaled his last breath, dying in Mirel's arms.