Ascension of the Dark Seraph-Chapter 264: Dark Threat

Finding no sign of the woman he was looking for, Lucivar focused ahead.

Across him, standing with their arms crossed, were two ninjas in all-black outfits, and strapped with leather armor. Not a trace of their facial features could be seen, only their eyes that flickered with anger when they heard how dismissive Lucivar was.

It was clear that he was looking down on them.

"I'm sorry, but the rules only dictate a duel," One of the ninjas, the first ninja, stepped forward.

He unsheathed his weapons, two short swords that gleamed with sharpness.

"Fine, I'll take you on one by one." Lucivar shrugged and cracked his neck.

At least, on the bright side, this would give him a proper warm-up before the real battle starts.

"Hmm?" The first ninja tilted his head in question. "Are you not going to draw your weapon?"

"I think you overestimated yourself too much," Lucivar chuckled and grinned condescendingly. "I don't think I'd need a weapon to fight someone at your level. So, please, spare me this small talk and attack. You wasted too much of my time already."

Hearing this, the first ninja gritted his teeth in anger, "In that case, don't blame me for not pulling back!"

Swoosh!

Not wasting a single second, the first ninja charged with two short swords in hand.

Glowing ether coated both short swords and also enhanced his body.

Before stepping out into the arena earlier—Lucivar was thinking what kind of persona he would use in front of such a massive crowd. Loki and Gandr wanted him to pretend to be weak, and only display his true power when it's absolutely needed.

Doing that would help him take care of the other participants more easily.

Catching them off guard would be his ticket to victory.

'But I'm not only Loki's Avatar…' Lucivar smirked.

As the first ninja reached his third step, Lucivar's body blurred.

Bam!

"Kuahhk!"

In that moment, before the first ninja could even react, Lucivar's fist drilled into his stomach, forcing his body to arc backward. His eyes bulged and blood splashed out of his mouth, seeping from his mask, but Lucivar didn't show mercy.

Pushing his fist harder, he sent the first ninja flying and crashed onto the barrier like a ragdoll.

Roar!

Almost instantly, the crowd cheered louder.

"Who the fuck is that guy?"

"I don't know, but he's damn strong! I'm sure he came from a lower-ranking faction."

"Shit, had I known that, I would've bet on him!"

Lucivar stood upright again, still looking at the first ninja who was unbound from the arena because of his punch. Then, he walked back to his original position—and looked at the second ninja, "Come, I will make it fast."

Upon hearing this, the second ninja gulped harshly.

As he charged to attack, Lucivar closed the distance again and hoisted him off the ground by the neck.

Naturally, the second ninja flailed, desperately trying to break free, but Lucivar's hand was made of steel that wouldn't budge no matter how hard he hit or pushed it. Instead of ending the fight—Lucivar turned to the other side, to the other arenas.

Standing firmly here, arenas to the right were Caldaros.

As the first ninja lunged at him, a sudden beam of sunlight erupted from beneath.

It launched the first ninja skyward, and without pause, Caldaros seized the first ninja's leg midair and, with a single, brutal motion, slammed him into the ground. Such a force knocked the first ninja out cold on impact.

But as he turned, his eyes landed on Lucivar, who was already choking the second ninja with one hand.

A mocking smile played on his lips as their eyes met.

Gritting his teeth, Caldaros turned to the second ninja, "Continue the second round, attack me!"

On the other hand, Lucivar tossed the second ninja and kicked him right on the head, infusing one God strand into that kick, which hurled the second ninja away and knocked him out. Considering that these two ninjas were only Acolyte-rank Hybrids, they were no match for Lucivar.

One Chrysalis-rank Hybrid could take out a hundred Acolyte-rank Hybrids.

However, in Lucivar's case, the number was higher.

One hundred is too low, that would be understating the real height of his power.

Just as he finished with the second ninja, he called the two bronze spheres and stored them inside him.

Then, he turned to the last one, the third ninja.

"Come on, you're up," Lucivar said, curling a finger to call the third ninja to the arena.

Upon seeing this, the third ninja, who was certainly at the Chrysalis rank, frowned—he could tell that Lucivar was incredibly strong. Not to mention, his attribute ether was still hidden, the third ninja didn't really know what to expect.

Sighing lightly, he walked forward and tapped the arena with his hand.

"Hmm?" Lucivar raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

"Lucivar of the Bloodhaven Academy passed!" A man, who seemed to be a judge behind him, declared.

For a second there, Lucivar was stunned.

But then—he grinned, glancing at the third ninja who surrendered, "Smart man."

On the other hand, the Bloodhaven Academy's students, along with Nerissa and Ravenna, cheered loudly from the VIP seats, feeling a tinge of pride as they saw how the third ninja forfeited the match against Lucivar.

Lucivar's feats reflected the Bloodhaven Academy, so this came naturally.

"I guess that's so like Lucivar," Ravenna shrugged with a chuckle. "He scares the third ninja to forfeit."

"Seeing how he handled the first and second ninja, I don't blame him." Nerissa added.

Unlike the first and second ninja, who were mandatory to fight the participant, the third ninja didn't, so it was a good choice to forfeit the match instead of getting hurt in the process. No need to fight when it's only going to get him hurt.

Leandra also clapped her hands on the side, enjoying Lucivar's performance.

As a member of Tobias' family, she also felt proud.

But she knew that Lucivar was planning something, as always, and that involved killing Caldaros.

She overheard Ravenna telling Bob about this.

'Lucivar's motivation has always been about power, he made it obvious from the start. That motivation was enhanced with Delilah's death,' Leandra thought before scanning the place. 'A lot of people here, I don't think he would dare do something here. Whatever he was planning to do, he's going to do it in a place where nobody could see.'

'If I had to guess, he'd kill Caldaros after the tournament…' She thought with a frown.

No matter what Lucivar was planning, Leandra had to witness it.

Only then would she be able to understand him fully.

Just then, however, Leandra felt a sudden chill that tensed her body and forced her eyes to widen.

'What is this?' She thought inside. 'This energy, it feels familiar…'

Blinking her eyes, she turned left and right, searching for the source of this familiar energy, and settled on someone—on the corner of the VIP section. From the looks of it, this person was a woman, and she was wearing a jacket with its hood pulled up.

It was hard to see her face from the angle, but the energy she emanated was clear.

'Her energy… She's the one who attacked Lucivar back in the night market,' Leandra frowned.

Meanwhile, back to the tournament.

As Lucivar walked down the arena, another judge declared loudly.

"Caldaros of the Bloodhaven Academy, passed!"

Just as expected, Caldaros also beat the third ninja and passed the first stage.

However, he needed to fight the third ninja, unlike Lucivar, who was able to pass the stage for free.

"Pathetic," Lucivar said when he crossed Caldaros as he headed back to the main hall. "You're about a minute later finishing your match. What's wrong? Are you getting cold feet about going harder with that woman watching? What was her name again? Is it Ciri?"

"Don't say her name with your foul mouth," Caldaros barked.

Lucivar chuckled, "So, does that mean she was watching? Somewhere among the crowd?"

"Spare me the petty tricks," Caldaros scoffed. "You're fishing for information, but I'm not that careless. My lineage of avatars has crushed your God's avatars for generations—I know what you can do. Like how you can tell when someone's lying. So save your breath, I'm not giving you anything."

"As expected of Sunna's avatar," Lucivar laughed humorously.

Soon, the two stopped in the backstage area, waiting for the other participants in their batch to finish.

No more eyes were fixed on them, covered by concrete.

Then, Lucivar turned to Caldaros.

"You know—our hatred didn't come from us. It came from the Gods supporting us. A hatred that was forced upon us," He said in melancholy. "Before all of this, I didn't know you, and you didn't know me. How is it fair that we're trying to kill each other right now?"

"Killing evil doesn't need fairness," Caldaros replied sternly. "As long as you die, goodness is served."

Upon hearing this, Lucivar smiled devilishly inside.

'Ah… He doesn't need to be groomed, he's already perfect!' He thought inside.

Initially, he wanted to slowly alter the concept of good and evil in Caldaros' mind, but there doesn't seem to be a need for it. Caldaros was already viewing the act of killing Evil God's avatars to be some sort of righteous act, and that's exactly what Lucivar needed.

So there was no need for him to groom Caldaros, he only needed to push him a little.

To make the hatred fully his own.

"For me, that's not the case. But since you attacked Nerissa, trying to get me from someone else, it has become personal to me now…" Lucivar said, taking a step forward and meeting Caldaros's gaze. "My hate for you is pure, and I can't wait to kill you."

"Hmph! Save it for the third stage," Caldaros sneered. "That stage will be your death."

Lucivar didn't stop there.

"Killing you wouldn't be as satisfying as what I'm going to do after it, though." He said, turning away.

Caldaros' eyes sharpened, "After? There will be no after. For you, what comes after is darkness."

"But if there is an after for me…" Lucivar glanced over his shoulder and smirked with an excitement that bordered on maniacal. "I will… trot along with your severed head in my hand, and hand it over to your beloved Ciri. I wonder what kind of delightful face she's going to make once she realizes you're dead."

At the thought of it, Caldaros ground his teeth in anger.

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But Lucivar didn't care.

He rubbed his chin, feigning contemplation, then spoke with a slow, venomous cadence.

"Then perhaps… I'll start with everyone she holds dear, make them kiss the dirt, one by one, and see how long she keeps that fire in her eyes for the Goddess. And after, when she's utterly broken, which I think she would at that point—I'll drag her into the deepest, vilest corners of the world."

Lucivar's gaze turned to Caldaros, sharp and gleaming with sadistic glee.

"I will drop her into the den of adult places where wicked men—and women have the most appetite for someone like her." Lucivar smiled, a cruel and cold smile. "Oh, yes… that would be a fitting darkness indeed."