Ascension of the Dark Seraph
Chapter 358: Are you not surprised?

Chapter 358: Are you not surprised?

Lucivar and Nerissa arrived back home.

Both wasted no time finding Leandra.

She wasn’t in her own room or Lucivar’s room, so they decided to check Ravenna’s room.

As soon as Lucivar twisted the doorknob and stepped into the room, chaos met him like a wall. He was greeted by a wrecking scene—furniture tilted, papers scattered like fallen leaves, pillows and bedroom nuances littered the floor; it was a wreck.

Blood hung thick in the air, metallic and unmistakable.

Dark stains streaked across the walls, smeared in frantic patterns, and dyed the bedsheets.

Something must’ve happened here to leave behind such an aftermath.

Lucivar turned and saw Ravenna on the bed, sleeping soundly with her stomach wrapped in bandages.

Beside her, Leandra sat, burying her face on the bed—also seemingly asleep.

Since Lucivar and Nerissa rushed back home after Leandra contacted them, they arrived quickly, taking only a few hours from Morriva’s place and back to Sunhold City. Right now, the clock struck nine, but Leandra was still asleep.

It was clear that she had one hell of a night.

“Master…”

Lucivar turned to the other side and noticed Sabrina by the chair.

Knowing that he was coming back, she was already awake, or perhaps didn’t sleep at all.

Sabrina approached him and Nerissa and helplessly glanced at the bed.

Even though tonight was quite bad, her focus was on Lucivar.

“How was your training, master?”

“Productive and hectic. But not as hectic as what happened last night, it seemed.”

Hearing this, Sabrina offered a wry smile.

As he said, last night was incredibly hectic as the problems kept getting worse.

“Fill me in on what happened last night.”

“Yes, master.”

Just like that, Sabrina told Lucivar about what happened, starting from how she found Ravenna in such a bad condition, bringing her back to the room where Leandra was waiting, and also the incident that befell Professor Clara.

Sabrina explained as clearly as possible, leaving no details, no matter how minute, in her explanation.

“I brought Professor Clara back to her quarters. She asked me to bring her back so this wouldn’t get the academy’s attention,” Sabrina continued, then turned to the sleeping Leandra. “Once I came back, she had already passed out like this. It’s mentally exhausting for her, I’m sure, especially with all the clues that she gained.”

Lucivar and Nerissa listened attentively to her explanation.

All of them were now sitting on the corner, away from Leandra and Ravenna so as not to disturb them.

For a good minute, Lucivar sat in silence—his index finger tapping against the armrest.

Then, he leaned forward, eyes fixed on Sabrina.

“Let me get this straight. Ravenna was wounded—after going to Master Tobias’ mansion. You called for Professor Clara when the bite mark on her looked like the work of a bat. Professor Clara confirmed that it was a Vampire Hybrid, a powerful one at that. She got infected by a spell when she tried to locate this Vampire Hybrid, but managed to say that she had sensed this Vampire Hybrid’s scent after Leandra’s mission.”

“Yes, that’s pretty much what happened last night.”

“Hmm…”

Nerissa looked at Lucivar; her face was drained of all color.

As much as she wanted to deny the suspect, she couldn’t, as chances are, it was Master Tobias.

Even so, she still doesn’t want to believe it.

“Master Tobias can’t possibly create the bat who could even harm Ravenna… He’s not that strong.”

“I’ve seen multiple odd bats during my time in the Bastion of Blades, watching me.”

Lucivar recalled some instances where he felt like being watched by bats.

And since Master Tobias could somehow know how they perform within the time period, he was most likely watching them through the bats. But still, Nerissa wasn’t entirely wrong. He shouldn’t be able to create the bat that harmed Ravenna, a Chrysalis-rank Hybrid with an incredibly powerful bloodline.

“Still,” Nerissa bit her lower lip. “We don’t even know if he’s a Vampire Hybrid.”

“His mansion is very close to the governor’s. Not anybody could have that mansion.” Lucivar said.

His voice remained level throughout.

Instead of insisting with force to make Nerissa see the truth, he overwhelmed her with facts.

Nerissa looked down at her fidgeting hands, and several tears trickled down to her lap.

It was pathetic of her to make justifications for Master Tobias, and she even knew that already.

Doing that was a lot easier than accepting reality.

“Are you… fine with this?” Nerissa looked up. “Are you not… surprised?”

Considering that Master Tobias saved them at their lowest and helped them stand on their own should warrant a reaction from Lucivar, no matter how cold his heart had become. Master Tobias was the very anchor of the family, and to find out he has bad intentions towards them should be devastating.

However, she couldn’t see that devastation on Lucivar’s face.

His expression remained the same, composed, neutral, as if it were merely a mild inconvenience.

“Master Tobias is doing well. He found me—and had been benefitting from my success,” Lucivar said with a neutral tone, as if he was stating common sense. “A big chunk of my winning from the tournament went straight to him, and I also helped all of you get stronger, which aligned with what he wanted. I’ve learned that a luck like that can only be possessed by someone evil.”

“So, no… I’m not surprised.” He shrugged. “I’ve always known he was hiding something.”

“…”

Even though Lucivar was expecting Master Tobias to be evil, he wasn’t expecting it to this extent.

He didn’t expect Master Tobias to do something to Bob.

‘Bob is most likely dead. It’s a shame since he’s the second strongest after me, but he must be dead. No other explanation since he hasn’t contacted us by now. But why? Why would Master Tobias choose to kill him? What’s his endgame? Could it be that his bloodline feeds on others… that he grows stronger by devouring people? Is that why he pushed us so hard to grow—to ripen us for the slaughter?’

Lucivar’s first thought went that way.

However, he wasn’t really sure.

‘If that was the case, he would’ve killed me first, not Bob. I’m the strongest, and if he watched over us, he’d know by now that I have Gods inside me.’ Lucivar leaned back, trying to understand Master Tobias’ motive. ‘Or did Bob find out something he shouldn’t?’

“So, what are we going to do now?” Nerissa spoke again, uncertain. “Our vacation is approaching. We should handle this before that.”

Since the most likely culprit was Master Tobias, they needed to act quickly.

Lucivar nodded in agreement.

“What’s next?” He exhaled roughly through his nose. “Isn’t it obvious? We find proof that he’s the one who did something to Bob. I don’t mind getting rid of him right now, even without any proof—but I’m sure none of you want that.”

“Mirel and Bakar already headed for the mansion,” Sabrina interjected. “Both of them are going to find out about Master Tobias’ schedule.”

“Great,” Lucivar nodded. “I’ll go and make preparations.”

Moments later.

Since it would be too obvious for them to be the ones who spied on Master Tobias, no matter how much they tried to be discreet, Lucivar fell back on someone whom he could rely on in times like these.

He wrote a message on a piece of paper and slid it into Elira’s room.

Right now, Elira and Thalia were in class, so he couldn’t meet with them.

Then, he called for Angel, who came hurriedly as if being late for one minute would cost her life.

Both of them met in a nearby café to talk.

Lucivar asked her whether she had any contact that could potentially spy on Master Tobias and find out more about his background. And as expected of a high-caliber secretary, who knows the secretaries of all powerful people in the city, she could handle it quite easily.

All she asked in return was something he could easily provide.

“In return, can I have more of your time?” Angel asked, trying to remain calm—but failed miserably as she couldn’t maintain eye contact with Lucivar long enough. “I know you probably have a lot of women, and I’m not going to police your relationships. I just want you to remember me—if only for a moment.”

Hearing this, Lucivar smiled assuringly.

He reached for her hand and held it gently, acting the part to keep her on the hook.

“I thought of you from time to time already, even if you didn’t ask for it.”

“Is-Is that so… Like what?”

“I don’t think it’s appropriate to talk about it in a public place like this.”

Angel lowered her head, hiding her burning face.

“Okay. I’ll handle it.”

“Good. I’ll be going now. I still need to do some things.”

Once Lucivar secured Angel’s help, he walked out of the café and immediately stopped a taxi.

His mind was fixated on something he needed to do.

…

Later that night.

Lucivar wanted to head back to the academy to check on Ravenna again, to see if Elira had already called a healer he specifically asked to treat Leandra back to full health. But instead of heading back, he decided to make a trip to Master Tobias’ mansion.

He wanted to see if Mirel and Bakar were still there.

If he’s lucky, he might even be able to find some clues about Bob around the mansion.

Since the mansion was secluded and far removed from everything else, any abnormalities nearby could reasonably be linked to Master Tobias. Lucivar was counting on him to slip up—though he didn’t hold out much hope.

‘If Master Tobias could hide his bad intentions this far, then he’s meticulous.’

Upon reaching the street leading to the mansion, Lucivar got out of the taxi.

He continued by foot, tracing the empty street.

Arriving at the destination, he found that the mansion was exactly the same as it was when he arrived in the city. Nothing changed. And the lights were still on, at least in a couple of rooms, and through his senses, he could feel Mirel and Bakar were still inside.

Both of their auras were still strong, so they should be fine.

No chance that Master Tobias would prey on them when he had already had Bob recently.

Lucivar went to the trees and looked around the mansion.

Just then, his ears picked up the sound of an engine.

He looked in the direction from which he came and saw a car coming.

It was a nice car, long and glistening black in color, one that no regular person could ever hope to afford.

Lucivar watched from behind a tree, curiosity piqued by the unexpected visitor arriving at Master Tobias’s estate so late at night. The car rolled to a stop in front of the gate, but instead of honking, the backseat window slowly slid down.

“You there, care to explain why you’re sneaking around on someone else’s property?”

“Shit…”