Ascension of the Dark Seraph

Ravenna blinked and averted her attention from the crystal.

She was so caught up in it that she lost focus for a moment.

"Go talk to him right now," She urged, nudging Leandra forward with her elbow. "It can't be me. I am too close to him—I am sure you know that already. And that's exactly why it won't work if it's me. He can read me far better than he can read you."

Leandra looked at her helplessly, "What should I even say to him?"

It was too tense.

Due to what happened that night, the atmosphere between them was very tense.

Even earlier, Leandra unconsciously held her breath when Lucivar got close to her.

"Just find out what he's up to. I'm sure you can manage that since you've been paying close attention. He's certainly hiding something, and I have a feeling if we fail to crack it, something bad is going to happen." Ravenna held Leandra's shoulder firmly before she walked away.

Instead of going upstairs, she went around the building, searching for an empty spot, maybe.

'I don't know if you're being serious or not,' Leandra smiled acutely. 'It looked to me that you're too eager to use that crystal.'

Despite wanting to meet with Lucivar tomorrow when she got another day of rest, the curiosity and also the tension in the air made her uneasy. Leandra decided to talk with him and see how it goes. Perhaps, like Ravenna said, she can find out more.

Leandra went upstairs and paused before Lucivar's room.

She steadied her breath and eased her nerves for a few seconds before eventually knocking on the door.

No answer.

Confused, she turned the doorknob and pushed the door open, only to find Lucivar was not inside.

"Where is he?"

Just then, a flash of Nerissa's face crossed her mind.

"She excused herself as soon as Lucivar gave her the signal. Is he with her right now?"

Leandra turned the other way and headed for Nerissa's room, which was not that far from where she was right now. As she made a turn to the corridor, she quickly hid around the corner. She peeked once again and saw Lucivar coming out of Nerissa's room.

It was exactly as she predicted.

Almost instinctively, she suppressed her ether and watched Lucivar in silence.

Lucivar turned around to look at Nerissa again, who was seeing him out of the door, and gently tapped her shoulder, almost as if he was consoling her. Not to mention, the beaming radiance that Nerissa had earlier was nowhere to be seen.

She was now gloomy and outright sad.

Clearly, the eccentric behavior of her earlier was nothing more than an act.

'Ravenna was right.'

Noticing Lucivar heading downstairs instead of back to his room—Leandra spun on her heel and bolted for the emergency staircase. She raced down to the ground floor, slipped outside the entrance—and hastily straightened her appearance before lifting her gaze to the night sky.

A minute later, a voice greeted her from behind.

"What are you doing still out here?"

Lucivar walked from behind and stood beside her, hands in his pockets.

"Just getting some fresh air," Leandra shrugged nonchalantly, and then glanced at him. "What about you?"

"Ho… I thought you were stalking me," Lucivar cackled and walked on ahead, leaving behind Leandra, who was slightly stunned but tried to remain composed. "Come on, I also wanted to get some fresh air. I think the garden would be perfect."

It was exactly what Leandra wanted.

Some alone time with Lucivar so she could probe him.

'Did he realize me earlier? If he did, then he must also want to talk to me. And if he didn't, then it's still unsettling since everything is going too smoothly,' Leandra clicked her tongue. 'My goodness… dealing with Lucivar is a headache.'

Both of them headed for the garden, but there was a space between them.

Lucivar was walking ahead, and Leandra was two steps back.

"How are you right now? Is the pain still there?"

"Yes. But it's not something unbearable, thanks to you for giving me the flowers."

"Considering I caused it… I don't deserve any gratitude."

"…"

Splash!

As soon as she said that, the memory of him stabbing the black sword into her flashed in her mind.

Even though Leandra didn't want to admit it, that moment really scared her.

Not only because Lucivar looked menacing that night, but also because of the situation.

It scared her that he still does it when he promised not to.

Of course, she knew he wasn't on his right mind that night, but still.

"I did promise to protect you and the others, and I failed. Bakar died. For that, I'm sorry." Lucivar said, not even turning to look at Leandra. It was almost as if he were ashamed. "The Gods—were influencing me, and I have little to no control over what my body does. But I won't use it as an excuse."

"You're acting weird…" Leandra muttered, her gaze narrowing. "You're not usually like this."

"How do I usually act in your view?"

"It's hard to explain, but I'm quite sure you will never apologize. In fact, I don't like it. Don't apologize to me. In my eyes, you're someone unapologizing for his actions, no matter how horrible. So don't ever apologize to me again."

Hearing this, Lucivar cackled as he entered the garden.

Students were greeting them here and there, but eventually, they settled on a bench near the abandoned fountain. It was quite deep inside the garden, and most students won't be coming to this part too often, preferring to be near the entrance where the garden was tidy and well-kept.

Lucivar looked skyward and closed his eyes, inhaling the fresh night air deeply.

On the other hand, Leandra was still standing, watching him closely.

"What did Master Tobias say before he died?"

"I prefer not to talk about it."

Silence enveloped them again.

Eventually, Lucivar sighed, "He was sorry for killing Delilah. He was sorry, can you believe it?"

Hearing this, Leandra's brows dropped into a frown.

'Is that pain I hear in his voice?' She thought dubiously, but in case it was real, she decided to sit down beside him and hold his hand. "Everyone thinks that you're going to be fine. Well, because you're… you. But it must've been hard for you, too. How do you feel?"

"Like shit. But after he died, it felt like salvation, though." Lucivar shrugged.

Leandra's eyes sparkled.

'After he died…? Is it not he who killed Master Tobias? In that case, does that mean Mirel really did?'

Just from his choice of words alone, Leandra suspected that it was really Mirel.

Somehow, Lucivar gave Mirel the kill.

As long as the reasoning was selfish—like wanting to see how devastated Mirel would be if he was the one who delivered the final blow to Master Tobias—Leandra felt like there was no cause for suspicion. But if he had yielded the kill for a noble reason, it meant he was plotting something deeper.

Lucivar will never do anything good for others.

His belief was that karma only rewarded those who are bad, so he wouldn't do anything good.

Unfortunately, Leandra couldn't determine which one was which as she passed out cold.

"What about Vanessa?"

"What about her? She's dead, of course."

Leandra leaned back on the bench, slumping on it as she too looked up to the starry night sky.

It was beautiful, and such a sight has a soul-cleansing effect on anyone who gazed at it profoundly.

For a good ten minutes, the two of them stayed silent and only breathed.

Even though the silence was thick, it wasn't an uncomfortable one; rather, it was a calming one.

Leandra, in particular, felt incredibly lucky that she was still alive and breathing after what she had gone through recently. Bob and Bakar made a mistake, and both of them died. So, the fact that she was still alive was incredible when she made more than one mistake.

And on the other side, she doesn't feel like she was deserving of this.

Just then, she opened her eyes as she recalled something.

She turned, tracing the side of Lucivar's face from the side with a thought in mind.

'Gone through a lot, huh…' Leandra mused, her hand instinctively reaching toward Lucivar's face. 'He has endured perhaps even more than I have. No, certainly more. He's someone prideful… I know how desperately he wanted to change, ever since that day he killed that guard.'

Her fingers crept in, almost touched Lucivar's face.

Lucivar had his eyes closed, so he hadn't realized her staring and almost touching his face.

'I wonder… how does he feel, knowing that everything he's done until now was nothing more than the product of Master Tobias' manipulations? None of it was truly his choice. It wasn't his will. Despite his look, he must be seething inside. Angry. Frustrated. Yet hides it all behind his mask of calmness.'

Leandra stopped her hand before she could touch his face.

She faced forward again and opened her mouth.

"What's next for us?"

"What's next?"

"Yes, what's next? Master Tobias is gone. We're enrolling in this academy because of Master Tobias, and since he doesn't have our best interests in mind and is not with us anymore, what's next? We're not bound to be here."

Upon hearing this, Lucivar nodded his head lightly.

He agreed with what she said.

Other than that, they were also too strong for the Bloodhaven Academy.

Compared to the first-year, second-year, and even third-year students, they were far stronger than them.

"You seem to have something in mind," Lucivar said, eyeing her eager expression.

Leandra smiled faintly and nodded, "I was thinking that we could go out of the city and settle on a less-crowded place. Maybe we can make our own settlement. Since the enemy avatars are looming over us, we should go around and hunt for dungeons to accelerate our growth."

"Enemy avatars?" Lucivar raised a brow teasingly. "Since when were they your enemy?"

"Do I need to repeat it all the time?" Leandra folded her arms, annoyed. "We're still a family, even if Master Tobias made this family for his own goals. And since those avatars are your enemies, then they are also my enemies."

Hearing this, Lucivar chuckled in hubris.

She seemed to be adamant about that, and in a way, it was rather cute.

"What do you think?" Leandra leaned closer to him. "You can work on Zibbo, that woman you turned, and Nerissa as their Vestals. Outside of the city, there's no need for you to be worried about anything. You'll be free."

Then, Leandra took a long pause.

One that prompted Lucivar to look at her curiously, as it seemed she wanted to say something important.

"And perhaps, soon, me, Ravenna, and Mirel could also be your Vestal…"