Ascension of the Dark Seraph

Now, with the defeat of the academy hunters, hope vanished as well.

Expecting the trio to come back in triumph, the targeted city was instead greeted by them being dragged up the city steps by their feet, bound helplessly with rope. All three of them, without exception, fell to the opposing party.

People panicked.

And it didn't take long before chaos ensued.

Many of them ran to the woods, but the Blood Priests were there to slaughter them.

Others who tried to go through the other entrance to the city were intercepted by a flaming figure.

She approached from a distance, levitating with grace and power—the flame saintess.

Underneath her, more wicked Blood Priests and Blood Nuns followed in formation.

Each donned a smile that stripped the people of the will to fight back.

As the people were praying and hoping for the safe return of the academy hunters, the opposing party had already isolated them from all sides. None of them realized that the city was already surrounded. There was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

It was a complete slaughter.

Swoosh!

Emerald flames burned from all across the city.

Morriva was cutting off any route to escape, burning the edges and creating a wall of fire.

One that even the Hybrids of the city couldn't go through.

Inside the city, the Blood Priests ransack the entire city without restraint.

Only one rule bound them during this slaughter, and that was not to kill children who didn't retaliate.

Anyone who retaliated could be killed, and those who were above the age of sixteen were massacred.

Lucivar passed this rule through Morriva.

It wouldn't be fair for them, for the blanks, to be killed before they could even make a choice.

On the city square, there was a group of ten people fighting back the Blood Priests.

One of them was an Acolyte-rank Hybrid, wearing the kind of clothes a mayor would wear.

"He had a large belly, yet moved with a surprising agility that belied his appearance."

Slash!

"Kaarghk!!"

Another screamed as his arm was severed from the cleaving arc of a blood sword.

Now, their numbers were reduced by one.

Even though the Blood Priests weren't particularly strong, their weapons were dangerous, capable of clashing with a steel sword and prevailing with relative ease. Facing them head-on was a losing battle, and the mayor knew it.

"Inside the city hall! Go, now!"

Almost instantly, the group clashed against the Blood Priests with more power to make way.

And the mayor was leading the charge.

Holding the humming scimitar in his hand, he bounced around with extreme speed and hacked any of the Blood Priests that got within his striking distance. One swing allowed him to push two Blood Priests at the same time.

But the number of Blood Priests was too much for him to handle.

Clang!

One spear penetrated through his defense and stabbed his back.

However, his skin was protected by a translucent mist.

Gritting his teeth, the mayor turned into smoke and reappeared beside the Blood Priest.

He managed to sneak in a slash, leaving behind a crimson trail across the Blood Priest's chest.

Seeing this, the other Blood Priests hesitated to attack him.

"Come on then! Attack me!"

He roared, taunting the Blood Priests to attack him despite panting heavily from exhaustion.

But it was at that moment did his body stiffened.

The mayor realized that he was now all alone; nobody stood beside him now except the Blood Priests.

A glance to the side stole his breath away.

His people lay sprawled across the ground, lifeless.

Distraught, the mayor tilted his head down, looking at the ground with trembling eyes as he gripped the scimitar in his hand tightly. All the Blood Priests around him laughed, ridiculing him for his desperate attempt that ended in a total failure.

It was amusing to watch him still trying when defeat was imminent.

Hearing their laughter was maddening.

The mayor covered his ears, trying to blot out the laughter, while his fingers pulled on his hair.

Clearly, his mind was on the verge of breaking.

However, instead of exploding, a soft chuckle escaped his lips.

He swept his eyes across the Blood Priests surrounding him like a lunatic.

"We did not do anything… We did not do anything—and you people attacked us? I'm also a servant of the Blood God—and yet you used His power to kill one of your own?! Do you not fear his wrath?! All of you would die a horrible death! God will make sure of it!"

Despite being surrounded, the mayor spat angrily.

He pointed at them as if what he was saying was the word of God.

Then, he looked down again.

"No… God's will flows through me. It's up to me to avenge you people."

Not even waiting for a single second, the mayor turned into smoke and went past the Blood Priests.

His aim was the city hall.

Some of the Blood Priests tried slashing him, but in his smoke form, he couldn't be harmed.

'I'm going to blow this entire city alongside all of you…'

Determinedly, the mayor pressed on toward the city hall, his mind fixated on the item that he had paid dearly for—an emergency safeguard, should this very day ever come. If the city was doomed to fall, he would make sure no one could profit from its ruin.

'A little bit more!'

His eyes widened as he reached out his hand.

Just one button and this entire city would be blown to hell, and nobody would be laughing.

But a few meters away from the city hall, a sudden pressure weighed down on him.

Stunned, the mayor was forced to abandon his smoke form.

Before he could realize what was happening, a hand yanked him by the neck and threw him hard.

Bam!

"Kahrhk!!"

Ruthlessly, the mayor was slammed against the city hall's wall, cracking it badly, and slumped to the ground. He coughed a mouthful of blood, prostrating on the ground as the impact knocked the air from his lungs and cleared his mind.

For a second, he forgot what he was doing.

Blinking, he lifted his head up to look at the man standing in front of him.

Unlike the Blood Priests, this man seemed ordinary, but the faint smile on his face and the confidence he was oozing proved otherwise. Remembering what he was trying to do, the mayor ran for the door frantically, ignoring Lucivar altogether.

And, surprisingly enough, he reached the door and managed to get inside.

Lucivar watched the man with mild amusement.

Judging from the concentrated ether around the city hall, he knew there was something inside.

Something that might be troublesome for him and the others.

So, despite letting the mayor into the city hall, he has no intentions of letting him have his way.

Gracefully, Lucivar pointed his hand at the two-story-tall city hall.

Swoosh!

Right before the two-story city hall, ether began to gather, first as a shimmer in the air, then as a swirling vortex of golden energy. It pulsed and spun, drawing in light, wind, and sound toward its heart, all under the Blood Priests' gazes.

All of them watched the spectacle unfold with reverence.

The sheer density of the ether warped the atmosphere, pulling the air inward with a deepening suction that howled through the square. Windows across the front of the city hall trembled, rattled, then cracked, and then finally, a cascade of shattering glass that sprayed inward like knives of warning.

Inside, the mayor could feel the impending doom.

He sprinted up the stairwell, lungs heaving, panic driving every step.

Doom pressed against his spine, hot and crawling.

A sensation that told him for certain that he wouldn't see the next minute.

Brak!

He burst into his office and dove for the drawer he had locked so many times with trembling hands, the one that held his last safeguard. But as his fingers grasped the handle and yanked it open, his heart fell, sank as it was a little too late.

Outside, Lucivar stood still amid the storm of ether, his eyes glowing with a cold finality.

"Radiant Burst…"

Kaboom!!

A thunderous roar cracked through the air, shaking the bones of the city.

An explosion consumed the city hall in an instant, obliterating walls, foundation, and stone.

Just a few seconds ago, there was a city hall right in front of him.

But now, there was nothing.

Once the dust settled, there was nothing left but twisted rubble and scorched earth.

Not even the mayor's body was found.

Lucivar looked at this with his mouth agape.

He was shocked.

On one hand, he expected the Radiant Burst to shatter the entire city hall, but to do it so thoroughly like this was beyond his expectations. "I know that my mastery was increased, but this…? Well, the Radiant Burst did reach its limit."

Converting Morriva into a Vestal was the right thing to do.

Just earlier, Lucivar checked his arcane points and saw that the number had gone up drastically.

Massacring the entire city might not be manipulation, and it wouldn't provide him with Loki's Divine Blood. Even if there were a green sphere, it would be abysmal at best, a lot smaller than the bronze sphere that would be yielded from this, for instance.

But he forgot one crucial thing.

In this moment, the Blood Priests and Blood Nunes, or everyone under Morriva, were manipulated.

Each of them had been carefully conditioned to believe a lie that their powers, once revered as blessings from the Blood God, were in truth granted by another, himself, whom the people now worshipped, to the fullest extent.

Slaughtering the people in this city wasn't a meaningless endeavor.

For them, this was a crusade.

Their first rebellion to the Blood God, who was an impostor of the true God.

Morriva had molded them into ideal followers of Lucivar, their every kill recorded and honored by Loki himself. With each offering, Lucivar's arcane points swelled until his mastery over his abilities reached a level that was nothing short of terrifying.

Naturally, this might upset the Blood God.

But Lucivar doubted that the Blood God was any stronger than the Gods inside of him.

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-> Greedy Grasp (Immortal) — Low -> Mid

-> Radiant Burst (High Mortal) — Mid -> (Immortal) — High

-> Major Morphing (High Mortal) — Low -> Mid

-> Soul Warden (High Mortal) — Low -> Mid

-> The Fool's Trick (Low Mortal) — Low -> Perfect

-> Triune Scarab (High Mortal) — Mid

-> Protection of the Fragmented Desert (Low Mortal) — Perfect

-> Night Piercer (High Mortal) — Perfect

-------

Smiling inwardly, Lucivar stretched his arms and turned, intending to check on the trio.

He stopped mid-turn when he saw a bunch of kids across the street to his right.

All of them were survivors, led by an older boy who seemed to be around fifteen years old.

Lucivar smiled at them and abruptly turned toward the children, his eyes flashing.

"Raahh!!"

He made dramatic waves with his hand, gesturing for them to flee.

It was so abrupt, so charged with unspoken urgency, that the children stumbled back in fear.

All of them yelped and scattered, fear tangling in their fleeting steps.