Ascension of the Dark Seraph
Chapter 356: A Powerful Spell

Chapter 356: A Powerful Spell

Not all Vampire Hybrids are a part of the Valerius Supreme House.

But every powerful Vampire Hybrid is certainly a part of the Valerius Supreme House.

Even though those who have the bloodline of a Vampire are considered to be a higher citizen, the chosen one, not everyone was fortunate. The Valerius Supreme House could only host so many Hybrids; there is only a limited number of spots.

And those who aren’t a part of the supreme house have a hard time.

Upon awakening, Vampire Hybrids developed a thirst for blood.

It wasn’t once in a while either; the thirst visited them frequently.

Finding blood without harming others is hard.

Money is the main problem, as the only way to access blood legally is through a Blood Bank.

Becoming a Hunter is also another method, but there’s only so much Crossers’ blood that isn’t toxic to Hybrids. Even if the Vampire Hybrid is lucky enough to have a faction that deals with favorable dungeons, the demand for blood only increases as they adapt to their powers.

It would come at some point that their thirst is too high for their budget.

Due to that, poor Vampire Hybrids, especially those who have low bloodline purity, needed to resort to drinking their family members’ blood to supplement their shortage. But not all were lucky enough to have such a caring family.

Most are left alone, suffering from their thirst day in and day out.

Some died of starvation, but most of the desperate ones resorted to criminal acts.

Attempting to control Ravenna’s blood was one of the methods used by law enforcement to find out whether they were dealing with another Vampire or not. A resistance to manipulating her blood meant she was already affected by another Vampire Hybrid.

Unconsciously, Vampire Hybrids liked to mark their prey so that others would know.

It was a habitual code for rogue Vampire Hybrids that they couldn’t quite stop.

Clara knew that, as she is a Vampire Hybrid herself, and an educated one at that, too.

As soon as she heard the situation from Leandra, she immediately thought that it was a rogue one.

In the case of another Vampire Hybrid decided to continue even when another marked the target, the stronger one out of the two would persist. If the thief Vampire Hybrid is stronger, then the feeding process would go smoothly.

And if the thief was well-trained in their Blood Attribute, they could even locate the original one.

However, when the original Vampire Hybrid is stronger, the thief would suffer a backlash.

Since it was a matter of Leandra, an academy hunter, she didn’t hesitate to try feeding on Ravenna’s blood. ‘At most, the original vampire would be at the Chrysalis rank. I can track them down. It shouldn’t be a problem.’

Clara underestimated the original Vampire Hybrid.

“The Vampire Hybrid is stronger than me!”

“…what?”

Leandra and Sabrina looked at Clara, writhing on the floor in shock.

“If the perpetrator is stronger than Professor Clara…” Sabrina mused, her voice barely a whisper.

Hearing this, Leandra swallowed hard, “A Paragon-rank Hybrid…?”

It was their first time dealing with a Paragon-rank Hybrid.

Not even the professors are above the Chrysalis rank; only the principal is at the Paragon rank.

But even then, none of them had really seen a Paragon-rank Hybrid in action.

So, the fact that they were now dealing with one was chilling.

Almost out of instinct—and perhaps the reputation of being Lucivar’s personal maid on her shoulders, Sabrina rushed to help Clara, who was spitting acid blood from her mouth, “Professor, do you need me to get you something? Is there any way I can help?”

“No… I didn’t drink much.” Clara assured, still bent down on the floor.

On the other hand, Leandra watched everything that happened and connected the dots.

‘A stronger Vampire Hybrid… Caldaros is a Vampire Hybrid. There’s a chance Lucivar’s new enemy is a Vampire Hybrid, and could also be above the Chrysalis rank.’ Leandra felt slightly elated inside as the chances of this not being Master Tobias’ doing increased. ‘Someone must’ve wanted to make us go against each other.’

She clenched her fists, smiling, ‘Yes, that must be the case. Master Tobias can explain this.’

“Wait a minute,”

Clara looked at Ravenna’s bite mark once again, which was now oozing with a reddish stain.

It was the remnant of power from the original Vampire Hybrid.

Her forehead creased in contemplation as she stared at the reddish aura with familiarity.

“I think I’ve smelled this power before,” She stated with certainty.

“You’ve smelled it before?” Leandra looked at her in confusion. “How? When?”

Considering that Clara has nothing to do with them, and would continue to do so—had it not been for Leandra calling her to check, it was odd for her to know anything about the perpetrator. But then again, with her power, her senses are far more sensitive than theirs.

Perhaps she sensed this energy recently.

For a good half a minute, Clara stared at the floor, trying to recall where she sensed this Blood Attribute.

Even though most Vampire Hybrids awaken the Blood Attribute upon breaking through to the Chrysalis rank, the attribute still varies from one individual to another, not power-wise, but much like a person’s scent.

Each one is uniquely distinct.

And for some reason, the scent of the Blood Attribute from the perpetrator was familiar to her.

Clara was almost certain that she’d sensed it before.

Just then, her eyes lit up.

Leandra and Sabrina unconsciously leaned toward her, anticipating her answer.

Knowing when she smelled this Blood Attribute would help them a lot.

A Vampire Hybrid, one that is stronger than Clara, which should indicate around the Paragon rank, and now the timeline of when this perpetrator visited the academy. If Clara could provide the last piece for them, finding the perpetrator would be easy.

“I remember! I was working late and sensed a rise in ether activity, so I came down to check. And then, I found the security guar-”

Deg!

Clara stopped mid-sentence as her heart pounded hard inside her chest.

From her eyes, thin rivulets of blood began to trickle, drawing sharp, straight crimson lines that carved a path down both cheeks, reaching her chin like ceremonial markings etched in pain. She stared at both Leandra and Sabrina with clear shock behind her eyes.

Her body jerked once, then twice, before a sudden burst of blood erupted from her mouth.

“Kahkk!”

It splattered against the floor with a sickening splatter.

Under the two’s gazes, the veins along Clara’s neck pulsed violently, bulging beneath her skin as they darkened to a pitch black, threading up toward her jaw like roots spreading rot. And clearly, this effect wasn’t her intention.

A work of another power that Leandra, Sabrina, or even Clara herself couldn’t sense.

She opened her mouth, perhaps to scream, perhaps to speak, but whatever words she had died halfway through. A choking gasp came out of her mouth as her body crumpled, collapsing to the ground like a marionette with its strings severed—eyes frozen in shock, lips still parted mid-sentence.

“Professor!”

Both Leandra and Sabrina yelled at the same time as they rushed to her side.

They dropped to their knees and quickly helped Clara to sit up, but her body was as weak as the dead.

“It’s the same as Ravenna…” Sabrina focused on the blackened veins.

Hearing this, Leandra bit her lower lip as she quickly peeled off Clara’s black cardigan and tore through her clothes, urgency replacing caution. And there, beneath the fabric and pale skin, she saw it. More of the exact same inky-black veins as the ones on Ravenna.

It coiled like cursed veins, and the corruption was spreading across Clara’s chest rapidly.

However, the two of them noticed a difference.

Unlike Ravenna, whose affliction festered from the bite mark, Clara’s centered around her heart.

It was the same disease. The same curse.

And it was already too deep.

“W-What should we do?”

“I don’t know…”

Both of them were confused about what to do right now, but then their eyes noticed a red vapor.

Looking back at Clara, they saw her eyes glowing bright crimson.

Refusing to go down without a fight, Clara activated her powerful Blood Attribute to fight back the dark and fierce effect that her body was experiencing. She blinked her eyes once and inhaled deeply through her mouth before coughing a couple of times.

“Professor, are you okay? What should we do?” Leandra quickly asked.

Clara clutched her heart as her eyes turned bloodshot.

Every blood vessel within them ruptured, drowning the whites in a violent crimson tide.

“I… I sensed it after yo-”

More blood exploded out of her mouth, now drenching her entire clothes.

She could feel the pain heightening inside, almost as if it was trying to stop her from doing something.

“Don’t speak anymore, professor. You-You can rest first,”

Leandra intervened.

But Clara shook her head, feeling that she needed to say the words she had in mind.

“It’s a Diamond-class spell—may-maybe even higher,” She gasped, panting heavily through her blood-filled mouth. “This… This Vampire Hybrid is silencing me. I can still talk, but every time I try to speak about the perpetrator, the pain surges. I wanted to tell you… But it’s hard. I think the spell got to me when I tried sucking the blood.”

“Okay… Okay,” Leandra fretted. “Rest for a bit, then try again.”

Clara nodded and leaned her head on the wall.

She closed her eyes, regulating her ether to try and fight back the spell she was inflicted with.

From the start, she underestimated the Vampire Hybrid who did this.

Had she known the perpetrator was someone strong, she wouldn’t even try to taste Ravenna’s blood for exactly this reason. Blood is the conduit of Vampire Hybrids, and through blood, Vampire Hybrids could achieve many things.

Such as inflicting others with a spell.

As a minute passed, Clara realized that the pain wouldn’t fade.

It was futile to wait any longer.

Summoning her entire willpower, she opened her eyes and grabbed Leandra’s hand.

“After your missio-raarghk!!”

Just as she said those words, Clara immediately grunted in pain as she slammed her head back onto the wall, clutching her heart. The spell completely overwhelms her, but she doesn’t care, as at least she said what she needed to say.

As Sabrina tended to Clara, Leandra looked ahead blankly.

Her gaze didn’t waver even as Clara slid down to the floor.

‘After my mission…? Veloria City or the Blue Dungeon…?’

Leandra contemplated, but then snapped out of her daze and looked out of the window.

Her eyes locked onto something outside, hanging by a tree branch.

‘The perpetrator is making sure Clara can’t help us.’ She pondered, eyes narrowing. “Are we being watched right now…?’