Ascension of the Dark Seraph-Chapter 307: Death of Virtue

Evil prevailed.

But the world was saved.

Countless people who should've been taken by death were saved.

How is that possible?

Ciri was old school, but she was certain that there were still things that were timeless.

A saying that couldn't be refuted—one being that doing good will produce good.

What comes around goes around.

The fragrance always stays in the hand that gives the rose.

All of those sayings aren't true.

Ciri now understood that those sayings are the propaganda from the strong, to keep them weak, as being good will never allow power to glance at them. Because in the world of the powerful—it was common sense to be extremely evil to obtain true power.

So that fortune favors them.

"Isn't there any other way?"

She mumbled desperately, the last flicker of her mindset to deny the truth.

Something so cold shouldn't be the truth.

Lucivar lowered his arms as his expression grew stoic, almost as cold as the question.

"Welcome to the death of virtue, to the real… world," He said icily, remembering how hard and painful it was for him to realize—this fact. "There is no choice, not if you want power. Until someone changed karma, there's only being in the dark and then being out."

His words carved through Ciri like a blade.

She felt a shiver rippling down her spine, as if the air around her hand turned to ice. The truth struck hard on her—she had been living in the light in her entire life, but the world was built in darkness. And now, she could never unsee it.

For the first time, she realized how little she understood the world.

And how much it could break her.

"Wow…" She looked down weakly—her entire body was shaking now. "I do not know how to process all of this. I can't even imagine what happened to you to realize this. If I could stand, I'd hug you, but I don't think I could."

Ciri smiled wryly.

She felt no strength in her legs, only numb coldness.

"You're going to change karma? So, you want to be a hero? To save others?"

"Be a hero…?"

A soft chuckle escaped Lucivar's lips as he found that word ridiculous.

But he understood where Ciri was coming from.

That being said, if he were told about this hours ago, he might be shaken up.

After all, he was doing all of this to fix karma, which would be a good thing for the world.

And that would make him a hero, in a way.

Lucivar looked down at the ground, reminiscing about the things that had happened to him up to this moment.

"For some time, I was thinking of fixing karma—but first, I had to exploit it, grow stronger from where I stood. Then, before I knew it, I killed my own family, killed another from my new family, killed and tortured innocents, lied, manipulated, and killed everyone who stood in my way. And now…"

He turned to look at Ciri.

A deeply manic light could be seen behind his gaze, evidently, one that made her shudder.

"I killed a Half-God," He added, a crooked smile blossoming on his face. "I ripped out his beating heart and watched his body curl around my feet. At that moment, when exhilaration coursed through me, I realized… I have a smile on my face. I quite like this feeling, it's like I was born to do this."

"Is that what a hero would feel?"

Upon hearing this, Ciri shook her head—she grew more afraid of Lucivar.

No shred of sanity behind his eyes, only malice.

"I guess not," She chuckled as she stood up on her feet. "Now, it's time for you to kill me."

Lucivar blinked when he heard this.

He did say that after the spectacle was finished, they'd talk about what comes after.

But for Ciri to suggest it first, it was quite surprising.

"Oh…? You're not going to beg for your life? You can still change your ways and be strong."

"No. Now that I knew the truth, I realized I'm not cut out for this world."

"People can change."

"Not everyone could be like you, especially not me. Is this against your plan? Do you have a plan for me in mind?"

Lucivar shrugged nonchalantly.

He has a plan for everything.

Since it came to this, he decided to admit it.

"I do have a plan for you. I was about to see whether Sunna's power inside you might prove useful. If it does, I'll turn you into a Vestal. Having an underling bearing even a fragment of Sunna's power, that would make for quite an interesting intimidation display."

"Please, I probably lost all of her power with Caldaros' death. Can you fulfil this last request of mine? I'm afraid of what the world would be like if you achieved what you wanted to achieve. After all, I am weirdly confident that you'd win."

"Of course. I'm kind, remember?"

Ciri chuckled and stood up straight, readying herself to die.

Slowly, she glanced skyward, watching the beautiful sky above.

It was very bright, the sun was shining, undeterred by what had happened moments ago.

"I can't believe in my final moment, I'd come to hate my nephew."

"Don't be too harsh on him. If this'd make it better, I'm at the Second Divine Elevation, one elevation above Caldaros, so I can use an ability of mine to amplify his bad tendency to get my point across to you faster."

That was the truth.

Every single time Caldaros was within range, Lucivar used his Heart of Mischief Nakshatras, precisely, the Moral Contagion ability from the Morality Constellation—that he unlocked after dealing with the Feradith Family.

He already tested it on Leandra, and he knew how it worked.

It was quite simple.

Any emotion that Lucivar was feeling—It would bleed to the target along with his evil tendency.

Thus, throughout the tournament, Caldaros was acting more frantic and ruthless than normal.

He had it inside of him, but the Moral Contagion amplified it.

Lucivar was using that to make Caldaros do bad things in front of Ciri, which was the reason Caldaros ditched the woman from Orivelle's team when she asked for help. The normal Caldaros would help, but he didn't because of the Moral Contagion.

"I see, you really thought it all out." Ciri smiled.

Nodding his head, Lucivar cloaked his hand with ether and a God strand.

"Close your eyes."

"No. Do it like this. I want the light to be the last thing I see before the dark."

"Okay."

Slash!

Initially, Lucivar wanted to decapitate Ciri, but he changed his mind and stabbed her heart instead.

For someone who now knew the truth of the world, she deserved a swift and dignified death.

She died instantly once her heart burst.

Lucivar used the heat from what little ether he had to close the gaping wound on her chest, allowing no blood to seep through, and caught her before she fell to the ground. He gently placed her down, keeping everything about her pristine and clean.

"I should bury her somewhere," He exhaled roughly. "Maybe later, I'm tired."

Just then, a figure entered the park.

It was Leandra. frёewebnoѵēl.com

As soon as she laid her eyes on Lucivar, she immediately walked over to him.

Her steps were wide and strong, almost stomping.

Lucivar glanced at her and stood up again.

"Good work, Leandra. I knew you're the only one who understands m-"

Pah!

His eyes snapped wide as a searing slap cracked across his face, leaving heat and shock in its wake.

Before he could recover, Leandra shoved him back hard.

But he was ready, so he wasn't pushed that far.

"What's wrong with you?!" She shrieked—tears streaming down her face. "I delved into your world, trying to understand your perspective, but I thought you were only doing it to others! Anyone whom you did not know at all or who stood in your way!"

Biting her lower lip, she shoved Lucivar again, this time harder and more desperately.

"Why did you let Nerissa do that?" She asked angrily. "Why did you let her die?!"

Upon hearing this, Lucivar tried to calm Leandra down.

He caught her hands.

She struggled fiercely, trying to break free and hit him.

But he held on, and slowly, she grew weaker as grief crippled her strength.

Soon, her body became weak as she fell into Lucivar's embrace, pounding on his chest weakly.

"You could've done something..." she sobbed, her voice breaking. "It should've been you—better you than her."

"Calm down, I'm not going to let her die," Lucivar answered.

Leandra pulled back and looked at him in confusion.

It was already done—Nerissa had already died, so she didn't understand what he meant by that.

"Come on, Leandra, you're smarter than this," He chuckled lightly. "Didn't you watch anything earlier? Did you not hear what Caldaros said to me? He and I… We're avatars, which means we're Half-Gods. Just trust me on this."

Almost instantly, Leandra sucked in a cold breath.

She was too distraught to see Nerissa sacrificing herself, so she forgot about that.

Caldaros basically spilled the tea.

He flaunted the name Loki as if it were nothing, so everyone around probably heard.

Before she could say more, another figure entered the park.

Mirel.

Unlike Leandra, who was in tears, his face was red from rage, certainly angry about Nerissa's death.

Once he saw Lucivar, he bent his knees to dash.

Yellow lightning swirled around him violently, clearly intending to attack.

"Mirel, wait!" Leandra turned around and raised her hands. "It's not what you think! Nerissa is no-"

"I don't care!" He roared as his aura exploded.

Out of nowhere, an emerald cane shaped like a coiling serpent tapped Mirel on the back—and instantly, Mirel's power unraveled, collapsing him to the ground unconscious. It happened so fast. Mirel appeared, turned furious, and fell unconscious in under a few seconds.

Leandra blinked.

She hadn't sensed anyone behind him, but the cane's sudden appearance made one thing clear.

Someone was there.

Clank!

A dull sound resounded as the staff tapped on the ground.

Soon, he appeared.

An old man, dignified and upright—holding the cane in one hand while his other hand was behind him, hidden from sight. He walked in with calm steps. Other than the eerie emerald glowing eyes, nothing about him screamed abnormal or danger.

However, Leandra's body locked in place automatically.

Her breath stilled.

It was an instinctive response from her body, as if she saw death right in front of her.

The old man looked normal.

Too normal.

But something was wrong—deeply, impossibly wrong.

And as his eyes briefly met hers, she knew—this was no ordinary man.

Something ancient had just stepped into the world.

"Huh, I wasn't expecting you to appear like this, in your actual mortal body," Lucivar, standing on the side, tilted his head and smiled. He knew this old man. "Loki…"