Ascension of the Dark Seraph-Chapter 292: Focused on the Priority

Mirel sucked in a cold breath.

He stared at Lucivar going further away, the distance between them growing with each breath.

When Lucivar disappeared behind the tentacle arms and lava bursts—his eyes trailed down to his hands, and then to the ground. For a moment there, what Lucivar said to him kept playing on repeat inside his troubled mind.

Even though he disagrees, the way Lucivar said it, with conviction, makes it almost like the factual truth.

But it wasn't the truth; Mirel didn't want to believe it.

It must only be a biased view from a traumatic, tortured man, who gains no warmth from being weak.

Regardless, the undeniable truth remained unflinching—Lucivar showed that he was a lot stronger than the current Mirel, and that alone emphasized his point even more. Despite his atrocities, he gained what he wanted.

Power.

'Is that really the truth…? No, it can't be. But he's strong, and I'm weak.'

Mirel clenched his hands hard, enduring the pain with gritted teeth.

On the other hand, far ahead, Garran was already a few steps away from reaching her target.

Orivelle, who was focusing on sprinting forward to reach the third checkpoint, felt a chilling coldness blowing against her nape. As she glanced over her shoulder—for the first time, her eyes widened when the second last figure she wanted to see was right behind her.

Swish!

Her pupils dilated when she saw Garran leaping straight at her.

Instinctively, Orivelle planted the bottom of her staff into the ground and pushed herself to the side.

Crash!

Garran slammed her massive battle axe at where Orivelle was a second earlier—cracking the ground as if it was nothing. Charged with relentless ether, a second impact happened as the ether coursed through the axe from the hilt, and fired a shockwave when it reached the axe-head, expanding the crater.

Just from this alone, Orivelle knew that she would be in trouble if she got hit by that kind of attack.

Pulling out the battle axe, Garran hung it over her shoulder and turned to the side.

"Did you think you're safe?" She asked tauntingly, a battle-maniac smile blooming on her lips. "I told you last year, as long as I'm in any contest you're participating in—you will always lose. Even your boyfriend wouldn't be able to stop me."

"Tch!" Orivelle clicked her tongue. "Why not postpone this fight until the later stages?"

Since the next stage is a battle royale, that stage would be suitable for a fight.

"Why not get rid of you now if I could?" Garran returned the question, her eyes flashing with arrogance and strength. "It's true that the next stage would be a lot better for a fight, but the leading champion of the Vanguard Institute failing in the second stage, now that… that'll ruin you for good."

Crack!

As soon as she said that, Garran made her move again.

She exploded with speed, eating the distance between them with three steps.

For the second time, but with even more power than before, Garran swung her battle axe.

Orivelle leaped backward, barely able to dodge the axe with the tip almost cutting her stomach open.

Upon landing, she immediately charged her rebirth flame attribute into her staff and unleashed a torrent of fire at Garran—her weapon roaring like a flamethrower. Her eyes blazed with fierce determination, she knew bringing her down would demand everything she had.

As her fuel ran out, and the flames stopped, Orivelle waited for the flames to wane.

But when it did, she saw Garran bathing inside the flames.

Orivelle's flames could do nothing more than a few blisters to Garran's skin, which was surprising.

Last year, she was able to deal more damage than that.

Garran has gotten a lot stronger.

'How can she get that much stronger from a mere year of training?' Orivelle thought with a frown, as a bead of cold sweat—drizzled down the side of her face. She watched the brown energy sizzling from Garran's body like vapor. 'She has gotten better at using her strength attribute, I can't pierce her with my flames anymore.'

Realizing that she was not a match, Orivelle turned and created mini explosions from her hands.

She was able to dash ahead from that, continuing to the third checkpoint.

But Orivelle's eyes widened when she noticed a shadow was already right beside her.

Bam!!

A kick landed right on her stomach, gouging out blood from her mouth—and forced her body to curve inwardly. She was sent rolling across the ground, and the second she recovered, she saw Garran falling down from above, her fist slick with condensed ether.

Gritting her teeth, she pointed both hands forward and summoned her flames again.

"Endless Flame!" She cast her spell.

Swoosh!

Mid-track, Garran's fist was halted by the torrent of flames Orivelle unleashed from her hands.

Instead of being hurt from the burn, Garran cheekily looked at her fist that was being bathed in flames, as if she was watching something interesting. Then, she cast a spell of her own—that made her fist even stronger than before, "Gaia's Fist…"

Krrk!

Before Orivelle's very eyes, Garran's fist began to turn into a rock.

Judging from the amount of ether infused into her fist, the spell must be at least a Gold-grade spell!

But what was more surprising was her mastery.

Garran's entire arm turned into earthy rock upon casting the spell.

Crack!

"Hargghk!"

Relentlessly, Garran's fist drilled into Orivelle's stomach—the impact cracking the ground underneath her body. Due to the size difference between them, with Garran's hand nearly engulfing Orivelle's torso, the already devastating impact was amplified.

One punch and Orivelle was already in trouble.

A contest of physique was her weak point, which made Garran her natural counter.

"Announce that you'll quit, and I'll spare you from the second punch," Garran said—generous enough to offer Orivelle a choice. "Both of your teammates already lost anyway, one died, and the other was pitifully disqualified. You won't survive the second stage."

"I'll not disgrace the Vanguard Institute by quitting!" Orivelle refuted defiantly.

Even though her teeth were already coated with her own lifeblood, she wasn't going to give up.

Instead of being annoyed, Garran smiled in delight—this is what she wanted.

She wanted Orivelle to be defiant, so she could continue this beatdown.

But as she pulled her arm for another punch, her eyes widened when a hand grabbed her entire face.

Swoosh!

A winged Hybrid tackled Garran with speed, allowing Orivelle a moment to breath.

Spitting out blood to the side, Orivelle looked ahead and realized that it was Lucivar.

Earlier, he saw a black streak blitzing past her vision, behind Garran.

It was easy to tell that it was Lucivar, but she felt crushed when she realized that Lucivar ran past them.

He wasn't going to help.

But she was wrong.

Lucivar wasn't abandoning Orivelle, he was circling around to intercept Garran with a well-timed tackle instead, forcing her off the path to the third checkpoint. All Orivelle had to do was to continue forward, while Lucivar kept Garran at bay.

Once she crossed the checkpoint, Garran wouldn't be able to lay a finger on her.

At the checkpoints, no fighting was allowed—a safe zone to rest.

Crash!

Ruthlessly, Lucivar dragged Garran by the head, pulling her away from Orivelle.

Enraged by his audacity, Garran pulled up her knees and kicked Lucivar with both feet right on his abs, pushing him off her. Then, she sprang back up expertl, and immediately attacked Lucivar. She didn't care how Lucivar was able to recover that quickly from her initial attack.

Like a raging bull, Garran swung her battle axe madly.

Each strike was swung with power, capable of killing a Chrysalis-rank Hybrid. freёweɓnovel.com

But even then, Lucivar, with his small dagger, was able to parry and dodge her attacks.

Lucivar might come across as someone strong with his abilities, but he was quite skilled in combat, too.

Even as Garran changed tactics and aimed at his feet, the weak point of any Hybrids who didn't train in martial arts and close-quarter combat, Lucivar was still able to stand his ground. His footwork wasn't perfect, but it was enough to keep him afloat.

Such a show of skill was quite surprising for Garran.

However, what seized her attention the most was another thing entirely.

'What is he doing...? Is his mind elsewhere?' Garran frowned, confusion tightening his expression.

Despite clearly being mid-battle with her, parrying and dodging her attacks, Lucivar's eyes glanced to his side several times already. His mind was certainly somewhere else, on Orivelle from the looks of it, who was now walking her way to the third checkpoint.

Be it concern or something else, Garran couldn't have this.

"Don't underestimate me!!"

Swoosh!

From the ground, Lucivar noticed vines coming out and caught his hands.

He was bound in place, unable to dodge anymore.

Like a savage beast, Garran dragged her battle axe in a circular motion and leaped.

Her battle axe was now overhead, and the muscles in her arms flexed in preparation to make a swing.

Even when Lucivar was in a tight spot like this, he glanced at Orivelle's direction again, checking where she was. However, the moment a lava slime, bigger than the normal latched onto Orivelle, the air around Lucivar suddenly changed.

Crash!

As the battle axe came crashing down, Garran frowned.

She smiled as she could feel the battle axe didn't hit the ground, which meant it struck Lucivar.

'I put a lot more effort into that swing. He wouldn't die—but he's surely going to be crippled,' Garran thought with a sadistic smile, reveling at Lucivar's demise. 'The rules emphasized that no participants could murder another, but crippling another? That's not against the rules.'

Garran pulled her battle axe, but she frowned when he couldn't.

"Is it stuck in him?" She thought aloud.

Just then, as the dust was blown by the wind, Garran sucked in a cold breath when Lucivar caught the battle axe with his bare hands. He didn't even use his dagger to block it, but use his free hand to catch it instead.

"H-How…?" Garran gulped harshly, but recovered quickly. "You're hiding your strength?"

"Yeah, something like that," Lucivar shrugged. "I need an alibi, and now, I don't need you anymore."

Following that, Lucivar knocked the battle axe to the side and clenched his free hand into a fist.

Garran watched as a devastating amount of ether gathered into that fist, swirling like a tornado, and also infused with two attributes, black—and white. Before she could react, the fist drove into her muscular abs, causing both muscle and flesh to curve inward.

From the looks of it, the fist nearly blew out of Garran's spine.

"Huaakhh!"

Lucivar raised an eyebrow as he watched Garran hurled away.

'Huh… I didn't mean to hit that hard. But anyway, time to get my safety net.'

Naturally, his eyes landed on Orivelle, who was pinned down by the lava slime already.