Ascension of the Dark Seraph-Chapter 349: The Savior (2)

Mirel’s voice trailed as he recalled that day with vivid clarity.

He was very scared that day.

Old Hendrick passed away in front of his eyes; he was blamed for his death, and now he was going to be turned into a power source for the entire city. But what scared him the most wasn’t those things—it was something else.

"In that dark room—before Master Tobias saved me, all I could think of was..." He paused, the words stuck in his throat as emotions swelled inside his chest. "All I could think of was the fact that I’m alone. The darkness and the look of cruelty those people gave to me... it doesn’t scare me. Knowing that I’m completely alone now does."

Bakar placed his hand on Mirel’s shoulder.

Each pat gave him strength, and also told him that he wasn’t alone anymore.

"Master Tobias was pressured by Delilah to hire me again. Coincidentally, they saw me being taken away by the guards, and decided to save me." Mirel continued, rubbing his eyes that were now watery from the surfacing emotions. "And from then on, I met you guys."

Leandra reached her hand to hold Mirel’s hand across the table.

She had heard of Mirel’s story before, but every single time, it never failed to break her heart.

In the past, she never let it show on her face.

But at this moment, she felt too emotional, especially with the suspicion around Master Tobias.

For a good minute, the three of them remained in silence.

Leandra then turned to Bakar.

"What about you?" Her voice was soft, softer than it had ever been. "How did you meet Master Tobias?"

Bakar’s expression froze.

He smiled a little, but it didn’t seem to reach his eyes.

"I..." Bakar was at a loss for words, but then his eyes sharpened. "It’s not something—I want to even remotely remember. Frankly, I haven’t gotten over it, even though it happened years ago. But it’s about time that I get over it."

Looking at Mirel and Leandra, he took in a deep breath.

If he couldn’t feel safe talking about it here, then he would be a hypocrite.

He talked about being a family to Leandra, telling her that she shouldn’t keep any secrets, so if he refused to speak about his past here, then that would only make him a hypocrite. Besides, nobody here would judge him.

"I’m... I’m a slave."

Bakar, upon gathering enough bravery to speak the truth, finally told them his past again.

At fourteen years old, his village was annihilated by a dungeon break where an overwhelming horde of iron goblins rampaged through the streets, slaughtering every last soul. He was the sole survivor, found amidst the carnage only after the academy hunters arrived too late to save anyone else.

His parents died.

His sisters died.

Not because they were trying to save him or anything, but because he locked himself in a room.

It was a stupid argument that he had with his sisters that made him do this.

Due to that, once the dungeon break occurred, he hid under his bed, wrapping himself in a blanket tightly until the noises died down. He walked out only to find his family’s deceased body, torn to pieces, littered on the floor, creating a grotesque tapestry.

Once the academy hunters rescued him, he was transported to a foster home.

A home for him to live with other war-torn survivors.

Before he could reach the supposed foster home, he was ambushed by bandits.

He was captured, used, and sold as a slave. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

One day, an old Hybrid who needed help with gardening purchased him and brought him to a humble home in a remote village, where he met another slave, Dinda. A girl around his age who had been there before Bakar came.

A girl who dreamed of freedom, living as a free person, and having a decent life.

Her dream was modest, idealistic, but she was extremely hopeful.

No matter the circumstances, those who do good will always be given a way to live a better life.

’I’ll keep planting dreams in the dark. Someday, I’m sure they’ll bloom in the sun.’

It was what she said to Bakar.

At first, he thought he’d finally have some peace in his life working for the old Hybrid.

His only concern was Dinda’s yelling, telling him to eat, exercise a little to be strong, and sleep.

But reality was always cruel for him.

Both of them were abused by the old Hybrid.

Dinda got the worst of it as the old Hybrid liked her screaming voice.

She was always riddled with bruises that seemed to never heal.

Despite everything, they survived for months by leaning on each other—until Master Tobias arrived.

In a normal night, Master Tobias approached Bakar when he was taking a break in the stable.

"Master Tobias approached you?" Leandra raised a brow.

"Yes," Bakar nodded, recalling that night in his memory. "He came to me willingly."

Master Tobias approached Bakar and told him that the people were talking about killing the old Hybrid as he had been stealing from the people, and even using his powers to take advantage of those who were in vulnerable positions to do things for him.

And the last straw was when the old Hybrid took advantage of a married woman.

Bakar knew that the old Hybrid was scum, but this extent was still a surprise.

Naturally, as his slaves, Bakar and Dinda would also be killed.

Master Tobias was telling him this to give Mirel time to run before the people came.

Knowing this, Bakar went inside to inform Dinda, but he was already too late.

People came knocking at the door, surrounded the house, and brought weapons with them.

Since the old Hybrid was only an Acolyte-rank Hybrid, he stood no chance against eighty armed men, and he knew it. He tried to find a way to escape, but the people had already broken in and set upon him, while Bakar and Dinda slipped away through the back door in a desperate bid to escape.

But there was no place to escape.

"I saw Master Tobias in the distance, screaming at me to run away. He has a sword piercing through his stomach, and held back by two men, but he still screamed at me to run." Bakar whispered with emotion. "I remember holding Dinda’s hand tightly... fighting the people who tried to catch us. I grabbed a sickle and fought, swinging wildly in an attempt to survive. In my mind, I know the two of us can survive. As long as we have each other."

A tear slid down Bakar’s face.

He looked down at the table, his vision turning into a mess of blur.

Both hands clenched hard as if he was still in the moment, still clutching Dinda’s hand.

Inhaling deeply, Bakar pointed to his behind, gesturing where Dinda was supposed to be.

"I heard her talking to me. Her voice was shaking, but I heard her." More tears slid down his cheek as the memory still hurts him until now. "She said to devote myself to whoever warned me about this. She said to keep eating well, train well, sleep we-"

Bakar’s voice broke as he sobbed profusely.

His eyes burned red as the feeling from that night surged back, and his shoulders trembled violently.

Despite trying his best, he could no longer hold back his sobs.

Grief clawed its way out as Mirel patted on shoulder, giving support as much as he could.

"I-I was fighting," Bakar choked out, voice still trembling. I didn’t know... I wasn’t aware of what was happening. The last thing she said to me was, ’When you become a Hybrid, live your life the way you want to.’" He paused, gathering what little strength he had left. "And when it’s over... when everyone around me was dead, I looked back, and she was gone."

His voice broke at the end, heavy with the weight of guilt and the hollow ache of loss.

"I did not realize it at the time, but when Master Tobias stopped me, I realized... I was awakening my dormant bloodline," Bakar smiled wryly, helplessly. "Dinda saw me awakening, and that’s why she said what she said. She knew in the end that I could survive, but she couldn’t."

Bakar cried softly, not wanting to draw attention.

On the side, Mirel hugged him, helping him calm down.

Leandra looked down, recalling her own story of meeting with Master Tobias.

And in that moment, she realized something.

’Yes, it must’ve all been a misunderstanding,’ She nodded to herself, resolute. ’Master Tobias is a good man—he can’t help but assist those in need. It’s in his nature. Bob’s disappearance must’ve been his way of sparing us the pain of a proper farewell. He’s been given a new task... and we’re simply waiting for ours.’

Leandra became much better.

Reminded of Mirel’s and Bakar’s story also reminded Leandra of how good Master Tobias was.

’He’s an angel who came at the right moment and the right time. Ravenna is too paranoid,’ She nodded to herself, attaining a different view of the situation. ’She must have spent too much time with Lucivar, and it made her act like that.’

Just then, Leandra’s brows dipped into a frown.

’Spending too much time with Lucivar...? No, I rarely saw her with him,’ Leandra then recalled the last few months and really thought about it. ’I’ve rarely seen them, but I basically also never seen them together. Did they meet up regularly behind us? Behind me...?’

She already had a hunch about this.

But now that she recalled the last months, she became even more certain that something was going on.

Something is going on between them that neither of them knew about.

As she contemplated that, Mirel and Bakar suddenly froze.

Both of their eyes were locked onto something, something behind Leandra.

Still thinking about Lucivar and Ravenna, she failed to notice the shift in their expressions—until Mirel gently tugged her hand. She blinked, snapping out of her thoughts, and looked up to find their faces frozen in unmistakable shock.

It was almost as if they were looking at a ghost.

Frankly, their faces right now were comical.

"What? What’s wrong?" She straightened her back, worried.

Bakar pointed behind her, "Isn’t that Master Tobias...?"

Hearing this, Leandra’s face fell as her heart began to instantly pound inside her chest.

"Eh...?"

"Look, that’s Master Tobias!"

Even though earlier was a refresh to what kind of person Master Tobias was, the thought of him being here made her extremely nervous. Not because she was afraid that Master Tobias would turn out to be a bad person, but because Ravenna was investigating him.

And he might’ve found out about it already.

Leandra looked over her shoulder, and her breath was caught in her throat.

It was really Master Tobias, smiling and waving at them in the distance.

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