Ascension of the Dark Seraph-Chapter 286: Favored and Not

Normally, a 10,3% purity is nothing.

Even those with red-grade bloodlines typically possess over 20% bloodline purity, and some stronger ones even exceeded 60%. Compared to them, Orivelle's measly 10.3% should've meant nothing, but it was different for a Phoenix Bloodline, an X-grade bloodline.

On record, there were no Phoenix Hybrids who has above 10% purity.

Surely, there were one or two of them out there that exceeded that threshold, but that's exactly the point.

Any Phoenix Hybrid with above 10% purity must've been put off the record by the Hybrid Association, and Orivelle would be once she matured enough. Lucivar didn't know the exact reason, but surely, the answer was the obvious one.

'Perhaps, it's because Phoenix Hybrid with above 10% purity unlocked something,' He thought inside.

But then again, Lucivar already expected this.

As he was reading the biographies arranged by Angel, he marked Orivelle mentally, and when he saw her for the first time, he tried using the opportunity mirror from Loki, and it expectedly floated over to Orivelle.

Just from that alone, he knew Orivelle was someone special.

And now, that was confirmed.

"Huh, now I'm beginning to wonder if you lose to Garran—on purpose," Lucivar commented, faking a surprised face. "Anyway, I'll keep this secret between us. Don't worry. Come on, if you're done resting, let's get back to the others."

"Naturally," Orivelle nodded. "Just know if you tell people about this, you'll be in trouble."

"You can trust me. I'm not much of a talker myself." Lucivar replied in hubris.

Once she heard that, she leaped down from the floating stone.

She fired torrents of flames from her hand to land gracefully before heading back to the others.

On the other hand, Lucivar didn't follow.

He stood on the edge of the floating stone, looking down at the others who were still fighting with lava beasts here and there from a high vantage point. From above, he could see everyone, but his eyes stared at Orivelle's back only.

'Hmm, she's my ticket to winning, but how can I get her?' Lucivar thought inside.

Just as he thought of that, his eyes naturally settled on Arthur.

He was fighting alongside Mirel, oblivious to Lucivar staring at him from above.

Surely, Lucivar could use Arthur to his advantage.

'I can, but I feel uneasy. Arthur never showed much of his abilities.' He frowned.

Even though Arthur could be an excellent piece to lure Orivelle, there was still the fact that he had barely shown what kind of abilities he has. From the biography, he knew that Arthur was a Glass Elemental Hybrid, but he knew better than to trust that.

If Arthur were really a Glass Elemental, he wouldn't have hidden his abilities this badly.

Something is off about him, and Lucivar needed to pay closer attention.

Back down, Mirel clapped his hands and knocked back several lava slimes with a lightning shock.

Upon doing that, he quickly scanned his surroundings.

A breath of relief escaped his lips when he found there were no more lava beasts attacking him.

At least for now.

It was getting tiresome to push forward while these lava beasts kept on coming.

Orivelle thought that they could skip from one floating stone to another, hoping to avoid the lava sea, which hosts a lot of monsters. But now she found out that the floating stone wasn't any better, more monsters were waiting there.

Matter of fact, the beasts below were a lot, but not as strong as those waiting above.

Mirel panted slightly, inhaling and exhaling deeply to calm his nerves.

Then, his eyes caught sight of Lucivar above, walking to the edge of the floating stone with Orivelle.

'Orivelle…?' Mirel frowned, surprised to see him with her. 'He marked Arthur in his radar, I know that much. So, why is he getting close to Orivlle? I know his plan involves Arthur. Does he want to get close to her so he could get to Arthur?'

Earlier, before the second stage started, Mirel used the point he got from the first stage to mark Lucivar.

On top of that, he also managed to get close to someone who could access the participants' data.

And from that person, he learned Lucivar had marked Arthur.

Surely, whatever plans he had in mind involved Arthur.

It was the reason why he was fighting alongside Arthur right now, to anticipate Lucivar's moves.

'Now that those Shadow Clan champions were handled, are you finally going to make your move—on him?' Mirel thought as his eyes gradually narrowed. 'I can't let you do horrible things to him. I get it, I really do, Lucivar. To become powerful, we should be prepared to pay the price.'

Mirel gritted his teeth hard.

From Veloria City, he understood that Lucivar really meant it when he said he wanted to become strong.

And his actions showed that he was really serious.

But still, there must be another way, a path that would allow them to become strong without losing their morality, their humanity. 'There must be a line we shouldn't cross, to keep us grounded. Arthur and his team aren't bad people. We shouldn't hurt them.'

Even though he said those words in his mind, he was hoping that Lucivar would understand.

Or at least try to understand before it's too late.

Several floating rocks away from Mirel, Caldaros was fighting several lava worms.

Unlike the others, who were losing stamina rapidly, he was completely fine.

Caldaros grabbed the lava worm with his bare hands and infused his sun ether into it.

Roar!!

Visibly, the active lava that was powering the lava worm's body dimmed, losing its heat at a rapid pace.

Once the heat was completely gone, Caldaros opened his maw, exposing his long canine fangs, and sank them into the lava worm. His teeth pierced through flesh and reached its bloodstream, sucking in blood like a vacuum.

In a few seconds, the lava worm deflated as its blood was sucked dry.

Caldaros pulled away and smacked his lips, finding solace in the taste of blood.

Above being Sunna's Avatar, he's a Vampire Hybrid, and devouring blood replenishes his stamina.

It was the reason why he hadn't gassed out like the others by now.

Raising his gaze, he saw Lucivar staring at Arthur with lethal intent.

Nobody could see the darkness he was oozing, the malice that he was brewing inside his mind.

Only Caldaros could see it—Sunna opened his eyes to the truth.

Naturally, he was inclined to strike Lucivar down right then and there, damn the consequences, so long as it meant keeping Ciri safe from the Devil's lethal grasp. It would all be worth it. But just as he moved, a sudden flash of blinding light seared his vision, forcing his eyes shut in pain.

"Rggh…!"

Caldaros grunted, annoyed and also angry.

A voice rang inside his head.

[Do I need to remind you again? Stick to the plan.]

Despite what he wanted to do, he couldn't do it—not when Sunna herself forbade him to do it.

Caldaros gritted his teeth hard, swallowing back his frustration as his mind replayed the incident earlier.

…

Inside his designated resting room, before the second stage started.

"Look, we made an agreement to settle it in the third stage. If I make a move right now, to catch him by surprise, I can handle him easily!" Caldaros roared, arguing at the pristine bird of light in front of him, Aurel. "I'm certainly stronger, and I can kill him instantly if I catch him by surprise!"

"No," Aurel shook her head. "That would be playing in his game, and you'll lose."

"What…?" Caldaros exhaled exasperatedly. "Tell me the reason."

He couldn't understand why Aurel was dissuading him from using underhanded tactics.

Planning an attack during the second stage would've undoubtedly caught Lucivar off guard since it was not a part of their deal, and in that fleeting moment of surprise, Caldaros could've ended him for good as easily as snapped a chicken's neck.

But Aurel stood in his way, forbidding him from doing that without an explanation.

He wanted to know why, what was the reason?

"Do you really think you're the only one, out of all your predecessors—whoever thought of doing that to Loki's avatar?" Aurel asked sharply, her gaze was now cold—and calculated. "Many have tried, but every single time, the plan failed, and we almost lost. Loki is weaker than us, but I'm starting to see that you don't really know what that means."

"Please," Caldaros sat down on the bed. "Enlighten me."

"Comparing Gods with one another isn't that simple. It's not as easy as an Acolyte-rank Hybrid would lose to a Chrysalis-rank Hybrid," Aurel explained, knowing that Caldaros would be even more stubborn if his mind was not satiated with reasons. "To put it simply—our Goddess is in the versatile group. She can win against those who rely heavily on magical prowess. Loki, for instance. But that doesn't mean Loki has no chance."

"Loki is a master of manipulation on a cosmic scale, and his avatar inherited a portion of that mastery. If you play in his game, planning—and underhanded tactics, you will be crushed, that's his real grand magic, Manipulation Luck." She continued while paying close attention to Caldaros' expression. "Stick with where he's weak at. Head-on confrontation. And make sure you don't fall for his ploy, that's our plan."

Upon hearing this, Caldaros looked down.

He wanted to get this done as soon as possible.

Recalling how Lucivar dared to threaten him with Ciri was agonizing.

Lucivar must die, or else Ciri would be in trouble.

But it seemed he couldn't rush it.

"Listen to me, or our Goddess can retract her power from you," Aurel continued, her words laced with blatant threats. "Remember—we gave you life. As far as things go, we own you. If you have a problem with it, then say it, and we'll lift your avatar status."

Despite his reluctance, he has no choice but to accept it.

If he lost the avatar status, he would be in trouble, and then Ciri would get into trouble.

All he needed to do was obey and serve.

"Remember, our task didn't end at Lucivar," Aurel continued as her body slowly vanishes. "We're sent here by the Architects to investigate the turmoil in fate and chaos that originated from this space. I doubt Loki is the only one causing this, so we have to be ready."

…

Caldaros stared at Lucivar for a good moment, hate filling up his heart.

No matter how much he wanted to rip Lucivar to shreds, he couldn't.

An avatar's job is to serve and obey.

Meanwhile, Lucivar leaped down from the floating stone and landed with a loud crash.

Then, Gandr appeared on his shoulder.

"Do it right now, you can use a lot of elements here to get Orivelle." He said impatiently.

Upon hearing this, Lucivar scoffed, "Shut up and watch me. You wanted your first win against Sunna, right? Then let me do my thing. If you can't shut up, I can still turn around and skip your vendetta, and move onto Sutekh."

Hiss!

Gandr hissed in annoyance before disappearing once again.

Seeing this, Lucivar chuckled, "Right, you need me. So keep watching, it's going to get real good soon."