Ascension of the Dark Seraph-Chapter 260: Start of the Tournament

As the biggest tournament of the year for the academies across the Sunhold City and beyond, the South Hues Tournament was held at the biggest and most grand stadium the city possessed, the Celestia Prism, located quite close to the governor's abode.

Even the renowned Floating Blood Island, the wonder of Sunhold City, could be seen so close.

From a bird's eye view, the Celestia Prism was triangular, and it was massive.

Compared to the twenty-story office building nearby, its peak was at least two times or even three times still. Other than the foundational construct of the building, mainly the front—and back entrances as well as the bottom, everything was made of reinforced glass.

It added a tinge of simplicity and modernity, a stadium that boasted the future.

Not to mention, despite the shape of the stadium—it could easily host around 100,000 people.

And on the day of the tournament, even from a bleak morning, the entrances were already crowded.

People were already coming in—the sheer excitement and hype around the South Hues Tournament as the governor's grandson, Seth, was participating, is astonishing. His presence alone raised the bar—for all participants, ensuring the tournament would be nothing short of exhilarating.

"Come, quick! It's going to be too crowded if we're not inside before the sun is up!"

Couples gathered.

"Who are you betting on? I'm playing it safe and picking Orievelle at least reaching the third stage."

"Going to take a risky one, betting on the ghoul girl, Adriana Modred."

Friends gathered.

"Dad, can we have ice cream?"

"It's still too early, son—the store isn't open yet. We'll buy it later."

Families gathered.

Every demographic, without exception, came to see the tournament.

Outside, there was a mile-long traffic jam as people lined up to enter the stadium.

Meanwhile, on the side of the stadium, there was another entrance that was restricted.

Guarding in front of this entrance were two Hybrids in a formal suit-and-tie—standing still like statues, making sure nobody would try and get inside through here. Judging from the delicate aura around them, sizzling with a higher form of ether, it was clear that they were both Chrysalis-rank Hybrids.

For them to be mere guards showed how important this tournament was.

Then again, this tournament was also a showcase to the public that the future of Humanity is secured.

It made sense for it to be extremely important.

As these two were guarding idly, a person approached them from the side, a middle-aged man.

Before the man could even get close to the entrance, one of the Hybrids stepped into his way and raised a hand, stopping him, "This area is reserved only for the participants and other personnel of importance. Please, go back."

"I am here on behalf of the Blessed Hand Clan," the man smiled and showed his ID.

Hearing this, the Hybrid checked before turning to his companion.

"Even so, without the presence of the participant, we can't allow you to go through," the Hybrid refused.

None of the participants had arrived, and this man was suspiciously alone.

Letting him through would be a dubious decision.

"I'm sent here as a security liaison for the participant I am working with," The man explained calmly. "There was a recent incident, someone tried to sabotage us. I'm here to ensure there aren't any similar attempts orchestrated by our rivals. Please be understanding."

Despite the explanation, the Hybrid was still hesitant.

"If it's more assuring, one of you can come with me." The man added.

Eventually, the Hybrid nodded and guided the man inside, to the assigned room.

As soon as those two entered, the other Hybrid who stood guard outside noticed more people coming.

It seemed like many of the participants were experiencing the same kind of trouble.

Meanwhile, back in the Blessed Hand's headquarters.

Lucivar was already awake at four in the morning, and was now sitting inside another room.

He got off the phone, his phone, right when the door creaked open.

It was his breakfast.

Lucivar ate his breakfast calmly and did his due diligence for the upcoming tournament.

Mostly, he was reading the biographies once again, and also looking through several pictures on a tablet set up on the table near him. He was looking through pictures of the Celestia Prism—mainly the layout of the stadium and his assigned room.

He asked the attending secretary to send someone to take pictures earlier, after showering.

Surprisingly enough, the Blessed Hand Clan already has someone stationed there.

It was how Lucivar got his hands on these pictures earlier in the morning.

Then, the door was opened again, and this time, it was Angel.

She didn't go back after last night.

From the looks of it, she would be his personal assistant who would help him go through the tournament.

"Hey…" Angel greeted softly.

Lucivar didn't even raise his gaze from the tablet, only a simple nod to recognize her.

Rubbing her arms due to the coldness of her room earlier, she approached Lucivar and sat beside him.

"So," Hesitantly, she spoke up again. "How was it? Did you find the culprit?"

"No, it seemed whoever poisoned me was going to make their move during the tournament." Lucivar placed down his fork and clasped his hands together in front of his nose, he was anxious. "Someone also checked on me last night, a healer from the clan, and he said that I am really poisoned by something called Nulkiss."

Last night, after making his move against Ciri, he was examined.

And as expected, he was poisoned by a poison called Nulkiss, or also known as the Truth Seeker.

Just as Angel predicted—it was a poison to find out about his bloodline.

Based on the healer, there was a good thing and a bad thing about this—the good thing was that it was not going to impair him in any way—and the poison would dissolve in a couple of days, while the bad thing was once it got into his blood, there was nothing the healer could do to get it out.

It has a lot of things to do with the fact that the poison is magical and it's not harmful.

Normally, the poison would last at most three days.

Since Lucivar's food back in the academy was poisoned, and he didn't eat his breakfast meal yesterday, thanks to Ravenna's warning, that made today the last day before the poison dissolved. So, whoever was behind this would make their move today, at the stadium.

Lucivar lost sleep because of that.

Possessing an Angel bloodline is not a good feeling, regardless of the perks it gave him.

Additionally, the fact that the poison was only meant to determine his bloodline was also a problem.

He couldn't track the culprit down since there was no killing intent involved.

"Nulkiss shifted my blood during its effect duration," Lucivar continued, rubbing his temple as this was going to be annoying to deal with. "And the way it worked was that when the Nul Leaf was placed near me, its venation pattern would shift depending on what the bloodline was."

"Then avoid people," Angel suggested. "Don't get too close to anyone, and only talk through me."

"I was already planning to do that," Lucivar answered, nudging his chin towards the tablet.

He was learning the layout precisely because of that.

"Oh, right," Angel took out a small name card from her pocket. "Here, it's from the advisor."

Accepting the name card, Lucivar turned it and found a sentence written there.

'Defeat and humiliate the Shadow Clan's champion'

Reading that sentence, Lucivar smirked and dissolved the name card with his dark attribute.

Just like the Trading Union, there was something the Blessed Hand Clan wanted from him.

Something that needs to be out of the book.

Lucivar wouldn't mind doing them this favor, especially when they were already quite generous.

Moments later.

Sitting on the backseat of the car, Lucivar looked out the window while Angel beside him was informing him about the rundown of the tournament. As expected, the tournament stretched for a couple of days— to be exact, three days.

"For the first day, it was going to be the opening ceremony, the formalities—and also the first stage," Angel said, reading the email she had gotten from the tournament's organizers. "There's going to be a lot of contact, so you must be careful. But since the participants are strip-searched, staying close to them would be the safest."

Lucivar nodded.

He was looking out the window, but he was listening attentively.

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"What am I supposed to do to keep the staff from getting close and talking to me?" Lucivar suddenly asked.

Angel paused for a second before she smiled.

"Leave that to me," She answered confidently. "I'm used to this—and formalities are my expertise. Let me do all the talking. If you want to help me help you go through this day smoothly, put on a mean face, that'll be a great help."

"I can do that," Lucivar nodded.

As long as he could go through today, his real bloodline wouldn't be exposed.

Going through the lane for Hybrids, Lucivar was able to avoid the traffic, and when he got there, he was amazed at the number of people lining up at the front and back entrances to enter the stadium. Looking out the window, he sucked in a cold breath.

"Wow…" He fixed his eyes on the crowd. "I've never seen this many people gathered before."

"Yeah… As always, the tournament attracted all eyes, but it's never been to this extent." Angel uttered. "My friend even said the ticket sold out instantly, even the VIP seats. Fortunately, there are some tickets sold physically here, so I'm guessing a lot of people camped outside the stadium for several days."

Upon hearing this, Lucivar turned to the other side and saw some tents beside the street.

People actually went to that length to see the tournament in person.

Not to mention, the tournament would also be broadcast—there were media crews everywhere, too.

Lucivar's car stopped right in front of the special entrance, and immediately, the crews crowded the car.

"Remember, mean face, and don't answer questions." Angel reminded. "Also, wear your sunglasses."

Grabbing the black sunglasses, he put them on and nodded his head.

Then, a Hybrid in a suit and tie opened the door for them.

Angel and Lucivar stepped out, and almost instantly, they were blinded by flashes of cameras.

Earlier, he was confused why Angel got him sunglasses, and turns out, this is why.

Being in the spotlight was unsettling, perhaps because many people would now know him, but Lucivar had no choice. It was either this or being exposed. He resented Professor Aeldric for forcing him to do this, but with the Caldaros situation—this was inevitable.

"Come, follow me closely." Angel said and walked towards the entrance.

Lucivar, slightly awkward from the attention, followed her from behind, sticking close to her.

It was now the first day of the tournament, and he was excited to see his plan panning out smoothly.