Ascension of the Dark Seraph

Lucivar was mildly surprised when Renis suddenly emanated a dangerous air.

Normally, he looked tired and withdrawn, the picture of a lazy introvert—but that façade was gone.

Now, his silence cut like a blade, his slouched posture veiled a hidden strength, and his once-dull eyes gleamed with sharp calculation. It felt like Lucivar was facing another person—one who has immense experience in the way of fighting.

"Planning to end this in a duel is a mistake. I'll show you," Renis got into his fighting stance.

His short sword, dripping with dark energy, was right beside his face and pointed forward at Lucivar.

In the next second, he made the first move.

Clang!

Lucivar's dagger and Renis' short sword clashed, creating sparks that burst like a blooming flower.

And following that, the duo trade blow after blow.

Both of their movements were fast, a vortex of blurry motions, reaching—for each other's vital points before being parried in the nick of time. As seconds passed, their attack speed became faster, and their blows also became stronger.

Clang!

Renis swiped horizontally.

Raising his dagger in time, Lucivar blocked the attack but was knocked backward.

It was a chance for Renis to get the upper hand—to overwhelm Lucivar, who was knocked off balance, but he was caught off guard when a kick landed on his chin—knocking him off the ground. Before the impact sent him crashing to the ceiling, emerald chains caught him mid-air.

Lucivar pointed his hand at Renis, smirking mockingly as he cast the Radiant Burst spell.

A clump of ether could be seen condensing on Renis' chest.

Before it could explode, Renis' body turned into a phantom, intangible.

Boom!

He managed to avoid the Radiant Burst's impact and quickly tried to break free from the chains.

But Lucivar wasn't going to wait for him to break free.

Swish!

Activating the Triune Scarab ability, a mark appeared on Lucivar's forehead—before he surged forward in a sudden burst of speed, faster than Renis was anticipating. Several shadow hands tried to catch him, but he was simply too fast.

Lucivar sliced toward Renis' neck.

His blade grazed past, leaving a thin, bleeding cut across Renis' cheek.

Even though he was late, he was able to break the chains and tilted his body enough to avoid the attack.

Once he landed on the ground, he reached for his cheek and saw blood.

Realizing that Lucivar was actually aiming for the kill, Renis turned around—his face contorted.

It seemed he underestimated Lucivar a bit.

On the other hand, Lucivar was also frowning inside.

'No effect?' He thought, fixing his eyes on the cut on Renis' cheek. 'I covered my dagger with my dark attribute. It contained the power of curses. He should at least be feeling some type of way, but the cut didn't seem to do anything other than pissing him off.'

Lucivar was testing his attribute, but it didn't seem to work.

Or rather, it didn't work on Renis.

Despite feeling wary, he masked what he truly feels inside with a knowing smile, "Ah… So that's why. Now I understand why you are so confident. You've actually killed people, have you? Unlike your less experienced friends, you're used to this kind of thing."

It was blatantly clear that Renis was highly experienced.

Many participants signed the death clause, agreeing that they know there's a chance of dying—but not many of them were really ready to face death. After all, the possible death would mainly come from the monsters residing in the dungeon.

As long as they were careful, they would be fine.

But Renis, even though he almost got his neck sliced, didn't flinch.

Instead, he was pissed.

"Unfortunately for you," Lucivar's smile turned crooked. "So am I."

"Don't put me in with the likes of you," Renis replied hauntingly. "I'm far from showing my full power."

Swoosh!

Renis charged again, this time, quicker and stronger.

Both of them clashed again, but Lucivar was able to halt the momentum by stomping the ground.

"Wow~" Lucivar teased, as he matched Renis' strength to a stalemate. "You're this furious because of something so trivial like that? I'm surprised… Even that woman's death didn't seem to have any impact on you. Guess you're the selfish and arrogant type."

"Don't worry, I cared," Renis smirked. "Even now, I'm trying to do what she was asking me to do."

"Hmm…?" Lucivar tilted his head in confusion.

Just then, however, Renis used his free hand to grab onto his arm.

Splash!

"Hrggh!"

Lucivar coughed a mouthful of blood.

He could feel an excruciating burning coming from his abdomen.

As his eyes trailed down, he realized a hand pierced through his stomach from behind.

Confused, he glanced over his shoulder and saw a black wraith that had taken the form of the woman, the dead woman he had killed earlier. Seeing this phantom—Lucivar turned to Renis again, "I thought you were a Shadowling Hybrid, but you're a Revenant Hybrid instead…"

Lucivar assumed that Renis was a Shadowling Hybrid.

Not only was it stated that way in his biography, but he also could summon shadow hands.

But he was wrong.

Renis wasn't a Shadowling Hybrid, he's a Revenant Hybrid.

A Revenant Hybrid has a connection with the underworld, with death, no matter how small.

Lucivar now realized that it was the reason his dark attribute didn't work—curses can't affect those—who have a connection with death, or at least curses of his caliber. Other than that, it seemed Renis could also summon a vengeful phantom.

He summoned the dead woman's phantom to attack Lucivar from behind.

And it worked.

Mercilessly, the phantom pushed her hand deeper, forcing a low grunt to escape Lucivar's lips.

"Like I told you," Renis whispered raspingly. "Fighting me is a grave mistake."

Instead of becoming anxious, Lucivar met Renis' gaze head-on, unflinching despite his situation.

Smirking, he spat blood at Renis' face before kicking his stomach.

Once he sent Renis stumbling away, Lucivar made a pistol with his left hand and pointed it at the eerie phantom, pointing at her chin. Not knowing how strong the phantom was or how strong the spell he's using0ùhe decided to infuse five God strands.

Bang!

A highly concentrated beam was fired from the tip of his index finger, blasting the phantom's head off.

"Huh… That's quite handy," Lucivar mused.

He was pleased with the Night Piercer ability that he got from the dead woman.

It felt as if he had a gun and could use it at any time.

On the other hand, Renis wiped the blood that got into his eyes before glaring at Lucivar.

Lucivar, instead of attacking him, smirked devilishly and went over to the woman's corpse.

Right in front of Renis' eyes, Lucivar did the unthinkable—he grabbed the corpse by the hair and kicked it deeper into the cave. Such a sight caught Renis off guard, and in the next second, rage mounted inside of him like an active volcano.

"YOU!"

Renis roared and charged blindly, unable to take such a disgusting act.

Upon seeing him charging like a raging bull, Lucivar shook his head—he was disappointed.

"Since you're a killer, you should've known better than to let rage take over," Lucivar said, raising his dagger now veiled in the power of the Fang of Ankh. With a casual flick, a crescent arc of bronze energy burst forth, slicing across Renis' stomach.

Renis' eyes bulged as blood forced its way into his throat and exploded from his mouth.

It was already fast, the crescent arc—but with Renis charging in, the impact landed even quicker.

Crash!

Lucivar watched as Renis got blasted out of the cave, rolling across the ground hard.

His new dagger, added with the Fang of Ankh power, as well as five God strands, created quite a strong crescent arc. Renis stood no chance of stopping it. Then, instead of going out, Lucivar looked down at his gaping stomach.

"Fucking hell, I really hate getting hurt. But I have no choice," He complained aloud.

Moving was a hassle with this wound—it was too painful.

Of course, Lucivar could use the crest to heal his wound instantaneously.

But he couldn't, at least not now—he has to finish what he was planning to do first.

Looking down at his reflection on the dagger, he mumbled, "Oval, Heart, both of you are up."

Meanwhile, outside, Renis quickly recovered and sprinted back toward the cave.

As soon as he was at the cave's mouth, however, he felt a chill crawling down his spine.

He sensed another aura inside, other than Lucivar, no, two auras.

ROAR!!!

Just then, a thunderous roar echoed from inside the cave, spooking Renis out of the way since he didn't remember there was any monster inside. As he hid to the side, clasping his bleeding stomach, he saw Lucivar limping out of the cave.

From behind, two humongous wolves appeared.

One slashed across Lucivar's back, carving a bloody arc through the air, while the other sank its fangs deep into his shoulder. For a brief moment, Lucivar writhed in pain as the beast thrashed its head, trying to tear him apart.

In sheer luck, the bite loosened, and Lucivar was thrown away, crashing several dozen meters away.

Renis' eyes glistened with malice when he saw this.

He must've missed the two wolves somewhere inside the cave, but that wasn't important.

What's important for him now is to finish Lucivar off.

Clutching his short sword tightly in his hand, Renis pushed through the pain, stabbing at his stomach, and sprinted toward the spot where Lucivar had been thrown. Before long, he spotted Lucivar, sprawled beneath the shadow of the big tree.

His chest heaved up and down, showing that he was still alive—but it wasn't for long.

Renis, recalling how all of his friends died because of Lucivar, approached with conviction.

No chance he would let Lucivar live.

Especially recalling how he disgustingly kicked the woman's corpse.

Someone who has no respect for the dead doesn't deserve to live.

Once he arrived, he squatted down and forced Lucivar to look at him.

"Make sure to apologize to them once you reach the other side," Renis whispered before he gripped the short sword with both hands and pointed it at Lucivar's heart. Steeling his resolve, he lifted it higher before delivering the final blow.

Just as the tip was about to pierce Lucivar's chest, something got in the way.

Renis was surprised when Lucivar, out of nowhere, opened his eyes and placed his hand on the way.

Naturally, the blade pierced through his hand, but it couldn't reach his heart.

Upon seeing this, Renis gritted his teeth and drove his blade down with all his weight, determined to end Lucivar then and there. But with the red scarab on Lucivar's forehead, he couldn't force the blade down with his raw strength.

Lucivar's hand didn't budge.

"You should've watched your step," Lucivar mumbled with a devious smirk.

Renis paused for a second, and when he looked down, he saw a glowing mark underneath him.

It was the Lethal Zone.