Table of Contents

Information
Table of Contents
Chapter 501 Breaking a rule
Chapter 502 The Dark Faction’s Plan
Chapter 503 The Planner Plans
Chapter 504 A New Look
Chapter 505 A Black Heart
Chapter 506 A step of Blood
Chapter 507 Inside The Room
Chapter 508 Let Me Use My Power!
Chapter 509 Let Him Use His Power!
Chapter 510 Power Unleashed
Chapter 511 Stop The Chalice
Chapter 512 A Divine Warrior
Chapter 513 Turmoil in the Lethal bite Clan
Chapter 514 A New Leader Is Decided
Chapter 515 Losing Everything
Chapter 516 A Reason To Attack (Part 1)
Chapter 517 A Reason To Attack (Part 2)
Chapter 518 I'm A Mad Man
Chapter 519 To The Middle Stage!
Chapter 520 Take My Life
Chapter 521 The Strongest In One Place
Chapter 522 1 Vs 100
Chapter 523 Taking Off The Head
Chapter 524 A Surprise power
Chapter 525 The Truth Of The Man Behind The Mask
Chapter 526 Raze Pushed To The Edge
Chapter 527 Five Minutes, To Win
Chapter 528 Nightmare Veil Formation (Part 1)
Chapter 529 Nightmare Veil Formation (Part 2)
Chapter 530 A Middle Stage Warrior
Chapter 531 A World Mess
Chapter 532 Spread Over The World
Chapter 533 The Hardest Quest
Chapter 534 The Wrong Words
Chapter 535 A Question Of Terror
Chapter 536 An Ass
Chapter 537 Zon Grain
Chapter 538 The Lux Sword
Chapter 539 A Powerful Weapon
Chapter 540 A Familiar Face
Chapter 541 A Stinging Dark Pain!
Chapter 542 We Are Like Family
Chapter 543 No Break
Chapter 544 Making Another Legend
Chapter 545 The Sun Warrior
Chapter 546 The World Event
Chapter 547 In The Wrong Faction
Chapter 548 An Awkward Conversation
Chapter 549 Important Words
Chapter 550 A Marriage?
Chapter 551 Prepare The Wedding
Chapter 552 Two Days
Chapter 553 Big Prep
Chapter 554 Raze's Past Secret?
Chapter 555 Hatred Of The Grand Magus
Chapter 556 Raze's Wife
Chapter 557 (Updated Correct ) Stranger Danger
Chapter 558 A Famous Name
Chapter 559 No Backbone Giving Up
Chapter 560 A Wife Who Will Never Give Up
Chapter 561 Learning About Dark Magic
Chapter 562 Even With a Loss Your Still The Same
Chapter 563 A Meeting With An Old Friend
Chapter 564 Healing The Truth
Chapter 565 Going Behind His Back
Chapter 566 Catching The Leader Of The Noble Guild
Chapter 567 The Last Breath
Chapter 568 Passing On A Gift
Chapter 569 A Family Meeting
Chapter 570 The Brother’s Are Trouble
Chapter 571 He Is My Son!
Chapter 572 Tell Them Who You Are
Chapter 573 Exchanging A Promise
Chapter 574 What Happens After Marriage?
Chapter 575 Sleep Together?
Chapter 576 This Is Your Land
Chapter 577 This Is My Town
Chapter 578 Everyone will be your Enemy
Chapter 579 Magic To Fix the World
Chapter 580 What will become of the Crimson Crane
Chapter 581 A Way To Get Everyone Back
Chapter 582 Better Enchanting
Chapter 583 Who’s in Charge Of The Crimson Crane?
Chapter 584 Behind Sealed Doors
Chapter 585 The Dark Guild's Outing!
Chapter 586 The Dark Magus is just an Alchemist
Chapter 587 The Behemoth Clan's Pillars
Chapter 588 Nothing Is A Coincidence
Chapter 589 Fighting A Pillar
Chapter 590 A Gift To Show The Whole World
Chapter 591 Protect Him No Matter what!
Chapter 592 The Man Who started It All
Chapter 593 Where Did Dark Magic Come From?
Chapter 594 Raze’s Attack Back!
Chapter 595 Defeat The Pillar
Chapter 596 You are my Experiment
Chapter 597 A New Creation
Chapter 598 Finally, I Get What I Want
Chapter 599 The Best Creation Of The Dark Magus
Chapter 600 The Legendary Tier's Power
Chapter 601 Getting Rid Of 1000
Chapter 602 What To Tell The World?
Chapter 603 A New Start
Chapter 604 Becoming A part of the Tournament
Chapter 605 The Necroshade Clan
Chapter 606 Now I Remember You
Chapter 607 You Shouldn't Have Done That
Chapter 608 Remember Me?
Chapter 609 You, pass on the message
Chapter 610 The Word Prepares
Chapter 611 The Demonic Clan Meets!
Chapter 612 The Demonic Five
Chapter 613 Enter The Light Faction
Chapter 614 The Coliseum
Chapter 615 Bet Everything on him
Chapter 616 Is He Staring At Us?
Chapter 617 The Light Faction Is Up
Chapter 618 The Dark Faction, the Strongest?
Chapter 619 Show Them Your Power
Chapter 620 A Show Off
Chapter 621 The Demonic Faction's Turn
Chapter 622 A Complete Mess
Chapter 623 An Alliance With The Enemy
Chapter 624 The Second Event
Chapter 625 The Tricky Maze
Chapter 626 Frozen Still
Chapter 627 Trapped In the Maze
Chapter 628 A Demon Strikes!
Chapter 629 Breaking The Walls
Chapter 630 This Does Not Belong To You
Chapter 631 Taking Away From The Light
Chapter 632 Standing No Chance
Chapter 633 1 Minute
Chapter 634 Precious Items
Chapter 635 The Demon Takes Part
Chapter 636 I Gave You A Warning
Chapter 637 Time For The Main Event
Chapter 638 Single Matches
Chapter 639 Ultimate Light Faction, Vs Demonic Faction
Chapter 640 The Noctis Clan’s Power
Chapter 641 Taking Out The Demon
Chapter 642 Safa The Genius (Part 1)
Chapter 643 Safa The Genius (Part 2)
Chapter 644 A Special Eye
Chapter 645 The Strongest Dark Faction Student
Chapter 646 The Copycat's Weakness
Chapter 647 Moving With The Plan
Chapter 648 The Issue With The System
Chapter 649 Ricktor's Secret
Chapter 650 Mada's Rage
Chapter 651 Adults Vs Students
Chapter 652 Causing Big Trouble
Chapter 653 Raze’s Inner Struggle
Chapter 654 Anything For My Brother
Chapter 655 A Strong Pain
Chapter 656 The Only Chance
Chapter 657 The Eyes Of A Beast
Chapter 658 Stop The Match!
Chapter 659 Meeting The Light Faction
Chapter 660 A Skim Of The Finger
Chapter 661 Follow The Rules, and Die
Chapter 662 The Sword Falls
Chapter 663 Raze’s Grand Plan
Chapter 664 The Strength Of The Dark Faction
Chapter 665 The Final Match
Chapter 666 I Lost
Chapter 667 Unleash From Inside
Chapter 668 The Demonic Faction Escape!
Chapter 669 The Dawnblade Clan acts (Part 1)
Chapter 670 The Dawnblade Clan acts (Part 2)
Chapter 671 Who is Behind all Of This?
Chapter 672 Start The Plan
Chapter 673 Protect The Dark Magus
Chapter 674 Raze’s Plan In Action
Chapter 675 Where Are We?
Chapter 676 Raze Vs The Dark Faction
Chapter 677 The Journey to the City
Chapter 678 Raze’s Confrontation
Chapter 679 Backup Has Arrived
Chapter 680 Everyone Charge
Chapter 681 Confusion In The Light Faction
Chapter 682 The Most Dangerous Man
Chapter 683 The Special Man
Chapter 684 The last Matchups
Chapter 685 The Biggest Mistake
Chapter 686 All Formations
Chapter 687 Protect Raze
Chapter 688 Who Am I Now?
Chapter 689 The Way In
Chapter 690 The Bonum Society
Chapter 691 Becoming A Monster
Chapter 692 A Transformation
Chapter 693 Coloured Hybrid
Chapter 694 The Red Hybrid
Chapter 695 Fighting Till No One Can Stand
Chapter 696 A Wife's Gift
Chapter 697 Stronger Ambition
Chapter 698 The Power Of A System
Chapter 699 Combine The System
Chapter 700 Distress Signal
Chapter 701 A Red Call
Chapter 702 Fellow Observers
Chapter 703 The Strength of the Top (Part 1)
Chapter 704 The Strength of the Top (Part 2)
Chapter 705 A New Generation
Chapter 706 Unexpected Warrior
Chapter 707 The Problem With Light Magic
Chapter 708 Hold On Tight
Chapter 709 The Hardened Warrior
Chapter 710 The Truth Of Otherworlders
Chapter 711 Qi Armour
Chapter 712 Keep Moving Forward
Chapter 713 A Big Change
Chapter 714 A Walk Through Darkness
Chapter 715 Raze And The Dark Faction Ways
Chapter 716 Flying Mage
Chapter 717 An Extra Hand
Chapter 718 A Real Monster
Chapter 719 A Stronger Attack
Chapter 720 Lasting 20 Seconds
Chapter 721 The Strongest Strike
Chapter 722 The Feeling Of A Monster
Chapter 723 New Dark Faction Ruler
Chapter 724 At The Start Of It All
Chapter 725 The Lost Legend
Chapter 726 Time Passes Differently
Chapter 727 Trapped Dimension
Chapter 728 The Legend Of The Dark Faction
Chapter 729 Into The Dark Void
Chapter 730 Factions Working Together
Chapter 731 The Red Hybrid's Terror
Chapter 732 Clan Head's Dead
Chapter 733 Murkel's Hatred (Part 1)
Chapter 734 Murkel's Hatred (Part 2)
Chapter 735 Humans are Beasts
Chapter 736 No longer Human
Chapter 737 The Noctis Clan's Fall
Chapter 738 The Ture Leader Is Back
Chapter 739 The Last Of Murkel
Chapter 740 Raze A Five Star Mage
Chapter 741 Your Not The Only One That's Special
Chapter 742 I Am The Dark Magus
Chapter 743 Pushing To The Next Limit
Chapter 744 The Power Of Dark Magic
Chapter 745 Breaking The Body and Mind
Chapter 746 5 Percent Chance Of Dying
Chapter 747 The Third Qi Pill's Drains
Chapter 748 Raze's Last Gamble
Chapter 749 A Good Or Bad Artifact
Chapter 750 The Chalice Activates
Chapter 751 Changing The Fight
Chapter 752 Only One Skill
Chapter 753 Murkel's Last Stand
Chapter 754 Don't Get In The Way
Chapter 755 I Only Trust Her
Chapter 756 Where do we go now?
Chapter 757 Journey To The Bonum Society
Chapter 758 The Bonum Hybrids
Chapter 759: Invaders Everywhere
Chapter 760: I Hate Mages!
Chapter 761: Two Enemies Meet
Chapter 762: They Finally Move
Chapter 763: Growing A Special Army
Chapter 764: The Grand Magus Weak?
Chapter 765: Who's Weak Now?
Chapter 766: A Change In The Dark Faction
Chapter 767: Let Me Test Your Strength
Chapter 768: The Power Of Another World
Chapter 769: The One Who Is Asleep
Chapter 770: Take Over The Dark Faction
Chapter 771: Wake Up Dark Mage
Chapter 772: A Breakout
Chapter 773: Break The Door
Chapter 774: A Walking Disaster
Chapter 775: Don't Touch The Kid
Chapter 776: I'm Keeping You Alive
Chapter 777: Destroy The Bonum Society
Chapter 778: What Is The Society?
Chapter 779: The Bonum Society Origin
Chapter 780: Alter and Bonum
Chapter 781: No Longer Here
Chapter 782 A Gift For The Dark Magus
Chapter 783 The New Dark Faction Leader
Chapter 784: The Guility Mage
Chapter 785: An Emergency Meeting
Chapter 786: Dark Guild Acts!
Chapter 787: The Real Scum Of The World
Chapter 788: The Glory Guild
Chapter 789 Breakthrough!
Chapter 790 The Third Leg
Chapter 791 Build A Dark Guild Army
Chapter 792: I'm Not A Good Person
Chapter 793: The Dark Spirit Arrives!
Chapter 794: One Mystery solved
Chapter 795: Creating The Army
Chapter 796 A Dark Secret
Chapter 797 A Wish to The People of Alterian
Chapter 798 Head To The Surface
Chapter 799: A Dark Faction Meeting
Chapter 800: Whole Clan Annihilated
Chapter 801: All The Same Person
Chapter 802: Not Part Of The Plan
Chapter 803: The Last Clan
Chapter 804: The Scent Of Blood
Chapter 805: The Correct Way To Use A Sword
Chapter 806: The Old Head Returns
Chapter 807: The Last Weed Pulled
Chapter 808: Gifting Ceremony
Chapter 809: The Day Has Come
Chapter 810: The Goal Of The Dark Faction
Chapter 811: You And Him Are The Same
Chapter 812: One Last Word
Chapter 813: Spreading The News
Chapter 814: Demonic News
Chapter 815: An Unruly Guest
Chapter 816: A New Relationship
Chapter 817: Warn The Dark Magus!
Chapter 818: Just Getting Stronger
Chapter 819: The Leader Of Red Fortis
Chapter 820: I Work Here!
Chapter 821: Beyond Strong
Chapter 822: A Warning From Alter
Chapter 823: Why Are They After You?
Chapter 824 The Real Dark Magus
Chapter 825: The Chef?
Chapter 826: You Are Strange People
Chapter 827: Don't Break The Rule!
Chapter 828: Unstoppable Chef
Chapter 829: A Good Man Can Change
Chapter 830: Alter's Aim
Chapter 831: The Real Raze's Body
Chapter 832: Double Trouble
Chapter 833: A Man's Promise
Chapter 834: Town Of Flendon
Chapter 835: Walking Into It
Chapter 836: An Entire Army
Chapter 837: The Dark Magus, Will Come!
Chapter 838: A New Item, The Crimson Crane
Chapter 839: Zon's Happiness
Chapter 840: A Gift Before You Leave
Chapter 841: Challenging A Monster
Chapter 842: Cheer For Him!
Chapter 843: The Deleter Scar
Chapter 844: Delete The Dark Faction
Chapter 845: Chaos Strikes The Academy
Chapter 846: Power Of Weapons (Fixed)
Chapter 847: We Need A Savior
Chapter 848 Dark Magus Vs Deleter
Chapter 849 What It Takes To Become A Deleter
Chapter 850: A Question For A Deleter
Chapter 851: Life Of A Deleter
Chapter 852: Anything To Win
Chapter 853: Noodle Shop Warrior
Chapter 854 Where are the Rest?
Chapter 855: Night Force Squad
Chapter 856: The Worst Curse
Chapter 857: Flendon Falls
Chapter 858: I Took Down The Behemoth Clan!
Chapter 859: Stronger Than Before
Chapter 860: White Hybrid
Chapter 861: A Broken Pillar
Chapter 862: Fighting Until The End
Chapter 863 A Special Headband
Chapter 864 A Legendary Artifact
Chapter 865: A Monkey Legend
Chapter 866 Trust Zon?
Chapter 867: In Zon We Trust
Chapter 868: The Whole Deleters
Chapter 869: The Unstoppable Force
Chapter 870: I Am A Deleter!
Chapter 871: The Strongest Unknown Clan
Chapter 872: Rainfall
Chapter 873: Strike Of Love
Chapter 874: 30 Minutes, is all that's left
Chapter 875: The Dark Magus's Shield
Chapter 876: Lightning Body
Chapter 877: 15 Minutes Left
Chapter 878: No Time Left
Chapter 879: A Selfish Decision
Chapter 880 5000 Arrows!
Chapter 881: True Power Of The Demonic Faction
Chapter 882: A Giant Mess
Chapter 883: This Town Is Mine
Chapter 884: How Strong is Raze?
Chapter 885: Sha Mo Vs the Dark Magus
Chapter 886: Strongest Descending Step
Chapter 887: You're The First One
Chapter 888 A Smaller Faster Body
Chapter 889 A Takeover From Within
Chapter 890 Get Out Of My Head!
Chapter 891: Dark Burst
Chapter 892: Dark Breakthrough
Chapter 893: A 9 Star Mage
Chapter 894: 9th Mage's Power
Chapter 895: How Do You Stop That?
Chapter 896: Freeze The Battlefield
Chapter 897: Caught in the Fire
Chapter 898 Two Miracles
Chapter 899 The Grand Magus Appear?
Chapter 900 This is Dark Magic
Chapter 901: The Fifth Round
Chapter 902: The End Of Pagna
Chapter 903: An Order For The Demonic Faction
Chapter 904 Alter Make A Move
Chapter 905: At All Costs
Chapter 906: A Sour Reunion
Chapter 907: He is not your Brother
Chapter 908: Not Just A world For Warriors
Chapter 909: A Slight Tingle
Chapter 910: The Army Move out!
Chapter 911: Raze's Power Spike
Chapter 912 An Open Heart
Chapter 913 All Of Raze's Past
Chapter 914 Raze's Past Jake Dove
Chapter 915 Will I Be In His Heart?
Chapter 916: Big Trouble Arriving
Chapter 917: Where Did Everyone Go?
Chapter 918: Give Us What We Want!
Chapter 919: Go Away!
Chapter 920 A Fleet Of Ships
Chapter 921: A Name That Shouldn't Be Said
Chapter 922: I'll Take Them All Out
Chapter 923: Breaking The Pact
Chapter 924: Pagna Changing
Chapter 925: The Last Visit
Chapter 926 Belil's Sacrifice (Part 1)
Chapter 927: Belil's Sacrifice (Part 2)
Chapter 928 A Gathering Of Powers
Chapter 929: Red Fortis Reunion
Chapter 930: Blood On Our Hands
Chapter 931: Eliminate Alter
Chapter 932: The Dark Dark Faction
Chapter 933: Save Me Dark Magus
Chapter 934: Let Me Ask You A Question
Chapter 935: No, Let Me Ask You A Question
Chapter 936: An Odd Feeling
Chapter 937: The Last Condition
Chapter 938: Dark Magus Vs Belil (Part 1)
Chapter 939: Raze vs Belil (Part 2)
Chapter 940: Raze vs Belil (Part 3)
Chapter 941: Raze vs Beili (Part 4)
Chapter 942: Raze vs Belil (Part 5)
Chapter 943: A strong Duo Set out!
Chapter 944 Punishment For Losing
Chapter 945 The Location Of The Golden Globe
Chapter 946 Get Rid Of Them All
Chapter 947 Last words
Chapter 948 An Unexpected Distraction
Chapter 949 An Early Fall
Chapter 950 Harvey's Last Clue
Chapter 951 Where are you Himmy?
Chapter 952 Everyone Here Will Die
Chapter 953: A Dangerous Place?
Chapter 954: The Rylon Religions Secret
Chapter 955: The Real Raze's Life
Chapter 956: Illegal Substances Here?
Chapter 957: A powerful Weapon
Chapter 958: Finding out the Truth of Everything
Chapter 959: A bloodbath
Chapter 960: Enter The Rylon Religion
Chapter 961: Praise The Sun God
Chapter 962: All Roads Lead to One Place
Chapter 963: The Sun God Revealed
Chapter 964: Visiting The Start
Chapter 965: Getting To The Bottom Of It
Chapter 966: Everyone Colides
Chapter 967: Her Borther's Dark Secret
Chapter 968: Pure Panic
Chapter 969: A Costly Mistake
Chapter 970: Losing all Power
Chapter 971: The Strength Of Light Magic
Chapter 972 The Smartist Girl
Chapter 973: A Transfer Of Power
Chapter 974: A Divine Power
Chapter 975: At The Top of Rylon
Chapter 976: Raze's Second Day
Chapter 977: A Whole New World
Chapter 978: Island Of Terror (Part 1)
Chapter 979: Island Of Terror (Part 2)
Chapter 980 West Beach Blood Bath
Chapter 981 East Beach Blood Bath
Chapter 982 Something Stronger Than Beasts
Chapter 983: The Strongest On The Island
Chapter 984: Not Alone
Chapter 985: I Can Kill You?
Chapter 986: Zon's Struggle
Chapter 987: Red's Struggle
Chapter 988: The Fortis' Armies Secret? (Part 1)
Chapter 989: The Fortis' Armies Secret? (Part 2)
Chapter 990: Raze okay?
Chapter 991: Raze is not the enemy!
Chapter 992: I Gave You A Warning
Chapter 993 A New Raze
Chapter 994: The King Of The Jungle (Part 1)
Chapter 995: King Of The Jungle (Part 2)
Chapter 996: 1 in 10 Chance
Chapter 997: Running On Water!
Chapter 998: Teaming With The Enemy
Chapter 999: Unbeatable Opponent
Chapter 1000: The White Haired Demon (Part 1)
Notes
Dark Magus Returns
JKSManga
9kafe.com
Raze Cromwell was one who had suffered his entire life. A cruel upbringing that had forced
his nature to turn sour. In order to survive, he did everything and anything he could,
eventually giving him the name Dark Magus. A title that was only given to the very best of
mages.
“Everything in this world was taken from me, So I shall take everything from the world.”
The five Supreme Magus had gathered to eliminate the great Raze, on his last legs, the Dark
Magus had one more trick up his sleeve. Activating a forbidden spell, he finds himself living
in another world, a world full of martial artists. A world where one could destroy mountain
tops with their fist, but Magic still exits in the new world, and he’s the only one that knows
about it.
****
Note: Raze Cromwell is a character who briefly appears in My vampire system. (For 2
Chapters) There is no need to read My vampire system. Since this story is based on Raze
before he became what he was in vampire system.
Table of Contents
 Chapter 501 Breaking a rule
 Chapter 502 The Dark Faction’s Plan
 Chapter 503 The Planner Plans
 Chapter 504 A New Look
 Chapter 505 A Black Heart
 Chapter 506 A step of Blood
 Chapter 507 Inside The Room
 Chapter 508 Let Me Use My Power!
 Chapter 509 Let Him Use His Power!
 Chapter 510 Power Unleashed
 Chapter 511 Stop The Chalice
 Chapter 512 A Divine Warrior
 Chapter 513 Turmoil in the Lethal bite Clan
 Chapter 514 A New Leader Is Decided
 Chapter 515 Losing Everything
 Chapter 516 A Reason To Attack (Part 1)
 Chapter 517 A Reason To Attack (Part 2)
 Chapter 518 I'm A Mad Man
 Chapter 519 To The Middle Stage!
 Chapter 520 Take My Life
 Chapter 521 The Strongest In One Place
 Chapter 522 1 Vs 100
 Chapter 523 Taking Off The Head
 Chapter 524 A Surprise power
 Chapter 525 The Truth Of The Man Behind The Mask
 Chapter 526 Raze Pushed To The Edge
 Chapter 527 Five Minutes, To Win
 Chapter 528 Nightmare Veil Formation (Part 1)
 Chapter 529 Nightmare Veil Formation (Part 2)
 Chapter 530 A Middle Stage Warrior
 Chapter 531 A World Mess
 Chapter 532 Spread Over The World
 Chapter 533 The Hardest Quest
 Chapter 534 The Wrong Words
 Chapter 535 A Question Of Terror
 Chapter 536 An Ass
 Chapter 537 Zon Grain
 Chapter 538 The Lux Sword
 Chapter 539 A Powerful Weapon
 Chapter 540 A Familiar Face
 Chapter 541 A Stinging Dark Pain!
 Chapter 542 We Are Like Family
 Chapter 543 No Break
 Chapter 544 Making Another Legend
 Chapter 545 The Sun Warrior
 Chapter 546 The World Event
 Chapter 547 In The Wrong Faction
 Chapter 548 An Awkward Conversation
 Chapter 549 Important Words
 Chapter 550 A Marriage?
 Chapter 551 Prepare The Wedding
 Chapter 552 Two Days
 Chapter 553 Big Prep
 Chapter 554 Raze's Past Secret?
 Chapter 555 Hatred Of The Grand Magus
 Chapter 556 Raze's Wife
 Chapter 557 (Updated Correct ) Stranger Danger
 Chapter 558 A Famous Name
 Chapter 559 No Backbone Giving Up
 Chapter 560 A Wife Who Will Never Give Up
 Chapter 561 Learning About Dark Magic
 Chapter 562 Even With a Loss Your Still The Same
 Chapter 563 A Meeting With An Old Friend
 Chapter 564 Healing The Truth
 Chapter 565 Going Behind His Back
 Chapter 566 Catching The Leader Of The Noble Guild
 Chapter 567 The Last Breath
 Chapter 568 Passing On A Gift
 Chapter 569 A Family Meeting
 Chapter 570 The Brother’s Are Trouble
 Chapter 571 He Is My Son!
 Chapter 572 Tell Them Who You Are
 Chapter 573 Exchanging A Promise
 Chapter 574 What Happens After Marriage?
 Chapter 575 Sleep Together?
 Chapter 576 This Is Your Land
 Chapter 577 This Is My Town
 Chapter 578 Everyone will be your Enemy
 Chapter 579 Magic To Fix the World
 Chapter 580 What will become of the Crimson Crane
 Chapter 581 A Way To Get Everyone Back
 Chapter 582 Better Enchanting
 Chapter 583 Who’s in Charge Of The Crimson Crane?
 Chapter 584 Behind Sealed Doors
 Chapter 585 The Dark Guild's Outing!
 Chapter 586 The Dark Magus is just an Alchemist
 Chapter 587 The Behemoth Clan's Pillars
 Chapter 588 Nothing Is A Coincidence
 Chapter 589 Fighting A Pillar
 Chapter 590 A Gift To Show The Whole World
 Chapter 591 Protect Him No Matter what!
 Chapter 592 The Man Who started It All
 Chapter 593 Where Did Dark Magic Come From?
 Chapter 594 Raze’s Attack Back!
 Chapter 595 Defeat The Pillar
 Chapter 596 You are my Experiment
 Chapter 597 A New Creation
 Chapter 598 Finally, I Get What I Want
 Chapter 599 The Best Creation Of The Dark Magus
 Chapter 600 The Legendary Tier's Power
 Chapter 601 Getting Rid Of 1000
 Chapter 602 What To Tell The World?
 Chapter 603 A New Start
 Chapter 604 Becoming A part of the Tournament
 Chapter 605 The Necroshade Clan
 Chapter 606 Now I Remember You
 Chapter 607 You Shouldn't Have Done That
 Chapter 608 Remember Me?
 Chapter 609 You, pass on the message
 Chapter 610 The Word Prepares
 Chapter 611 The Demonic Clan Meets!
 Chapter 612 The Demonic Five
 Chapter 613 Enter The Light Faction
 Chapter 614 The Coliseum
 Chapter 615 Bet Everything on him
 Chapter 616 Is He Staring At Us?
 Chapter 617 The Light Faction Is Up
 Chapter 618 The Dark Faction, the Strongest?
 Chapter 619 Show Them Your Power
 Chapter 620 A Show Off
 Chapter 621 The Demonic Faction's Turn
 Chapter 622 A Complete Mess
 Chapter 623 An Alliance With The Enemy
 Chapter 624 The Second Event
 Chapter 625 The Tricky Maze
 Chapter 626 Frozen Still
 Chapter 627 Trapped In the Maze
 Chapter 628 A Demon Strikes!
 Chapter 629 Breaking The Walls
 Chapter 630 This Does Not Belong To You
 Chapter 631 Taking Away From The Light
 Chapter 632 Standing No Chance
 Chapter 633 1 Minute
 Chapter 634 Precious Items
 Chapter 635 The Demon Takes Part
 Chapter 636 I Gave You A Warning
 Chapter 637 Time For The Main Event
 Chapter 638 Single Matches
 Chapter 639 Ultimate Light Faction, Vs Demonic Faction
 Chapter 640 The Noctis Clan’s Power
 Chapter 641 Taking Out The Demon
 Chapter 642 Safa The Genius (Part 1)
 Chapter 643 Safa The Genius (Part 2)
 Chapter 644 A Special Eye
 Chapter 645 The Strongest Dark Faction Student
 Chapter 646 The Copycat's Weakness
 Chapter 647 Moving With The Plan
 Chapter 648 The Issue With The System
 Chapter 649 Ricktor's Secret
 Chapter 650 Mada's Rage
 Chapter 651 Adults Vs Students
 Chapter 652 Causing Big Trouble
 Chapter 653 Raze’s Inner Struggle
 Chapter 654 Anything For My Brother
 Chapter 655 A Strong Pain
 Chapter 656 The Only Chance
 Chapter 657 The Eyes Of A Beast
 Chapter 658 Stop The Match!
 Chapter 659 Meeting The Light Faction
 Chapter 660 A Skim Of The Finger
 Chapter 661 Follow The Rules, and Die
 Chapter 662 The Sword Falls
 Chapter 663 Raze’s Grand Plan
 Chapter 664 The Strength Of The Dark Faction
 Chapter 665 The Final Match
 Chapter 666 I Lost
 Chapter 667 Unleash From Inside
 Chapter 668 The Demonic Faction Escape!
 Chapter 669 The Dawnblade Clan acts (Part 1)
 Chapter 670 The Dawnblade Clan acts (Part 2)
 Chapter 671 Who is Behind all Of This?
 Chapter 672 Start The Plan
 Chapter 673 Protect The Dark Magus
 Chapter 674 Raze’s Plan In Action
 Chapter 675 Where Are We?
 Chapter 676 Raze Vs The Dark Faction
 Chapter 677 The Journey to the City
 Chapter 678 Raze’s Confrontation
 Chapter 679 Backup Has Arrived
 Chapter 680 Everyone Charge
 Chapter 681 Confusion In The Light Faction
 Chapter 682 The Most Dangerous Man
 Chapter 683 The Special Man
 Chapter 684 The last Matchups
 Chapter 685 The Biggest Mistake
 Chapter 686 All Formations
 Chapter 687 Protect Raze
 Chapter 688 Who Am I Now?
 Chapter 689 The Way In
 Chapter 690 The Bonum Society
 Chapter 691 Becoming A Monster
 Chapter 692 A Transformation
 Chapter 693 Coloured Hybrid
 Chapter 694 The Red Hybrid
 Chapter 695 Fighting Till No One Can Stand
 Chapter 696 A Wife's Gift
 Chapter 697 Stronger Ambition
 Chapter 698 The Power Of A System
 Chapter 699 Combine The System
 Chapter 700 Distress Signal
 Chapter 701 A Red Call
 Chapter 702 Fellow Observers
 Chapter 703 The Strength of the Top (Part 1)
 Chapter 704 The Strength of the Top (Part 2)
 Chapter 705 A New Generation
 Chapter 706 Unexpected Warrior
 Chapter 707 The Problem With Light Magic
 Chapter 708 Hold On Tight
 Chapter 709 The Hardened Warrior
 Chapter 710 The Truth Of Otherworlders
 Chapter 711 Qi Armour
 Chapter 712 Keep Moving Forward
 Chapter 713 A Big Change
 Chapter 714 A Walk Through Darkness
 Chapter 715 Raze And The Dark Faction Ways
 Chapter 716 Flying Mage
 Chapter 717 An Extra Hand
 Chapter 718 A Real Monster
 Chapter 719 A Stronger Attack
 Chapter 720 Lasting 20 Seconds
 Chapter 721 The Strongest Strike
 Chapter 722 The Feeling Of A Monster
 Chapter 723 New Dark Faction Ruler
 Chapter 724 At The Start Of It All
 Chapter 725 The Lost Legend
 Chapter 726 Time Passes Differently
 Chapter 727 Trapped Dimension
 Chapter 728 The Legend Of The Dark Faction
 Chapter 729 Into The Dark Void
 Chapter 730 Factions Working Together
 Chapter 731 The Red Hybrid's Terror
 Chapter 732 Clan Head's Dead
 Chapter 733 Murkel's Hatred (Part 1)
 Chapter 734 Murkel's Hatred (Part 2)
 Chapter 735 Humans are Beasts
 Chapter 736 No longer Human
 Chapter 737 The Noctis Clan's Fall
 Chapter 738 The Ture Leader Is Back
 Chapter 739 The Last Of Murkel
 Chapter 740 Raze A Five Star Mage
 Chapter 741 Your Not The Only One That's Special
 Chapter 742 I Am The Dark Magus
 Chapter 743 Pushing To The Next Limit
 Chapter 744 The Power Of Dark Magic
 Chapter 745 Breaking The Body and Mind
 Chapter 746 5 Percent Chance Of Dying
 Chapter 747 The Third Qi Pill's Drains
 Chapter 748 Raze's Last Gamble
 Chapter 749 A Good Or Bad Artifact
 Chapter 750 The Chalice Activates
 Chapter 751 Changing The Fight
 Chapter 752 Only One Skill
 Chapter 753 Murkel's Last Stand
 Chapter 754 Don't Get In The Way
 Chapter 755 I Only Trust Her
 Chapter 756 Where do we go now?
 Chapter 757 Journey To The Bonum Society
 Chapter 758 The Bonum Hybrids
 Chapter 759: Invaders Everywhere
 Chapter 760: I Hate Mages!
 Chapter 761: Two Enemies Meet
 Chapter 762: They Finally Move
 Chapter 763: Growing A Special Army
 Chapter 764: The Grand Magus Weak?
 Chapter 765: Who's Weak Now?
 Chapter 766: A Change In The Dark Faction
 Chapter 767: Let Me Test Your Strength
 Chapter 768: The Power Of Another World
 Chapter 769: The One Who Is Asleep
 Chapter 770: Take Over The Dark Faction
 Chapter 771: Wake Up Dark Mage
 Chapter 772: A Breakout
 Chapter 773: Break The Door
 Chapter 774: A Walking Disaster
 Chapter 775: Don't Touch The Kid
 Chapter 776: I'm Keeping You Alive
 Chapter 777: Destroy The Bonum Society
 Chapter 778: What Is The Society?
 Chapter 779: The Bonum Society Origin
 Chapter 780: Alter and Bonum
 Chapter 781: No Longer Here
 Chapter 782 A Gift For The Dark Magus
 Chapter 783 The New Dark Faction Leader
 Chapter 784: The Guility Mage
 Chapter 785: An Emergency Meeting
 Chapter 786: Dark Guild Acts!
 Chapter 787: The Real Scum Of The World
 Chapter 788: The Glory Guild
 Chapter 789 Breakthrough!
 Chapter 790 The Third Leg
 Chapter 791 Build A Dark Guild Army
 Chapter 792: I'm Not A Good Person
 Chapter 793: The Dark Spirit Arrives!
 Chapter 794: One Mystery solved
 Chapter 795: Creating The Army
 Chapter 796 A Dark Secret
 Chapter 797 A Wish to The People of Alterian
 Chapter 798 Head To The Surface
 Chapter 799: A Dark Faction Meeting
 Chapter 800: Whole Clan Annihilated
 Chapter 801: All The Same Person
 Chapter 802: Not Part Of The Plan
 Chapter 803: The Last Clan
 Chapter 804: The Scent Of Blood
 Chapter 805: The Correct Way To Use A Sword
 Chapter 806: The Old Head Returns
 Chapter 807: The Last Weed Pulled
 Chapter 808: Gifting Ceremony
 Chapter 809: The Day Has Come
 Chapter 810: The Goal Of The Dark Faction
 Chapter 811: You And Him Are The Same
 Chapter 812: One Last Word
 Chapter 813: Spreading The News
 Chapter 814: Demonic News
 Chapter 815: An Unruly Guest
 Chapter 816: A New Relationship
 Chapter 817: Warn The Dark Magus!
 Chapter 818: Just Getting Stronger
 Chapter 819: The Leader Of Red Fortis
 Chapter 820: I Work Here!
 Chapter 821: Beyond Strong
 Chapter 822: A Warning From Alter
 Chapter 823: Why Are They After You?
 Chapter 824 The Real Dark Magus
 Chapter 825: The Chef?
 Chapter 826: You Are Strange People
 Chapter 827: Don't Break The Rule!
 Chapter 828: Unstoppable Chef
 Chapter 829: A Good Man Can Change
 Chapter 830: Alter's Aim
 Chapter 831: The Real Raze's Body
 Chapter 832: Double Trouble
 Chapter 833: A Man's Promise
 Chapter 834: Town Of Flendon
 Chapter 835: Walking Into It
 Chapter 836: An Entire Army
 Chapter 837: The Dark Magus, Will Come!
 Chapter 838: A New Item, The Crimson Crane
 Chapter 839: Zon's Happiness
 Chapter 840: A Gift Before You Leave
 Chapter 841: Challenging A Monster
 Chapter 842: Cheer For Him!
 Chapter 843: The Deleter Scar
 Chapter 844: Delete The Dark Faction
 Chapter 845: Chaos Strikes The Academy
 Chapter 846: Power Of Weapons (Fixed)
 Chapter 847: We Need A Savior
 Chapter 848 Dark Magus Vs Deleter
 Chapter 849 What It Takes To Become A Deleter
 Chapter 850: A Question For A Deleter
 Chapter 851: Life Of A Deleter
 Chapter 852: Anything To Win
 Chapter 853: Noodle Shop Warrior
 Chapter 854 Where are the Rest?
 Chapter 855: Night Force Squad
 Chapter 856: The Worst Curse
 Chapter 857: Flendon Falls
 Chapter 858: I Took Down The Behemoth Clan!
 Chapter 859: Stronger Than Before
 Chapter 860: White Hybrid
 Chapter 861: A Broken Pillar
 Chapter 862: Fighting Until The End
 Chapter 863 A Special Headband
 Chapter 864 A Legendary Artifact
 Chapter 865: A Monkey Legend
 Chapter 866 Trust Zon?
 Chapter 867: In Zon We Trust
 Chapter 868: The Whole Deleters
 Chapter 869: The Unstoppable Force
 Chapter 870: I Am A Deleter!
 Chapter 871: The Strongest Unknown Clan
 Chapter 872: Rainfall
 Chapter 873: Strike Of Love
 Chapter 874: 30 Minutes, is all that's left
 Chapter 875: The Dark Magus's Shield
 Chapter 876: Lightning Body
 Chapter 877: 15 Minutes Left
 Chapter 878: No Time Left
 Chapter 879: A Selfish Decision
 Chapter 880 5000 Arrows!
 Chapter 881: True Power Of The Demonic Faction
 Chapter 882: A Giant Mess
 Chapter 883: This Town Is Mine
 Chapter 884: How Strong is Raze?
 Chapter 885: Sha Mo Vs the Dark Magus
 Chapter 886: Strongest Descending Step
 Chapter 887: You're The First One
 Chapter 888 A Smaller Faster Body
 Chapter 889 A Takeover From Within
 Chapter 890 Get Out Of My Head!
 Chapter 891: Dark Burst
 Chapter 892: Dark Breakthrough
 Chapter 893: A 9 Star Mage
 Chapter 894: 9th Mage's Power
 Chapter 895: How Do You Stop That?
 Chapter 896: Freeze The Battlefield
 Chapter 897: Caught in the Fire
 Chapter 898 Two Miracles
 Chapter 899 The Grand Magus Appear?
 Chapter 900 This is Dark Magic
 Chapter 901: The Fifth Round
 Chapter 902: The End Of Pagna
 Chapter 903: An Order For The Demonic Faction
 Chapter 904 Alter Make A Move
 Chapter 905: At All Costs
 Chapter 906: A Sour Reunion
 Chapter 907: He is not your Brother
 Chapter 908: Not Just A world For Warriors
 Chapter 909: A Slight Tingle
 Chapter 910: The Army Move out!
 Chapter 911: Raze's Power Spike
 Chapter 912 An Open Heart
 Chapter 913 All Of Raze's Past
 Chapter 914 Raze's Past Jake Dove
 Chapter 915 Will I Be In His Heart?
 Chapter 916: Big Trouble Arriving
 Chapter 917: Where Did Everyone Go?
 Chapter 918: Give Us What We Want!
 Chapter 919: Go Away!
 Chapter 920 A Fleet Of Ships
 Chapter 921: A Name That Shouldn't Be Said
 Chapter 922: I'll Take Them All Out
 Chapter 923: Breaking The Pact
 Chapter 924: Pagna Changing
 Chapter 925: The Last Visit
 Chapter 926 Belil's Sacrifice (Part 1)
 Chapter 927: Belil's Sacrifice (Part 2)
 Chapter 928 A Gathering Of Powers
 Chapter 929: Red Fortis Reunion
 Chapter 930: Blood On Our Hands
 Chapter 931: Eliminate Alter
 Chapter 932: The Dark Dark Faction
 Chapter 933: Save Me Dark Magus
 Chapter 934: Let Me Ask You A Question
 Chapter 935: No, Let Me Ask You A Question
 Chapter 936: An Odd Feeling
 Chapter 937: The Last Condition
 Chapter 938: Dark Magus Vs Belil (Part 1)
 Chapter 939: Raze vs Belil (Part 2)
 Chapter 940: Raze vs Belil (Part 3)
 Chapter 941: Raze vs Beili (Part 4)
 Chapter 942: Raze vs Belil (Part 5)
 Chapter 943: A strong Duo Set out!
 Chapter 944 Punishment For Losing
 Chapter 945 The Location Of The Golden Globe
 Chapter 946 Get Rid Of Them All
 Chapter 947 Last words
 Chapter 948 An Unexpected Distraction
 Chapter 949 An Early Fall
 Chapter 950 Harvey's Last Clue
 Chapter 951 Where are you Himmy?
 Chapter 952 Everyone Here Will Die
 Chapter 953: A Dangerous Place?
 Chapter 954: The Rylon Religions Secret
 Chapter 955: The Real Raze's Life
 Chapter 956: Illegal Substances Here?
 Chapter 957: A powerful Weapon
 Chapter 958: Finding out the Truth of Everything
 Chapter 959: A bloodbath
 Chapter 960: Enter The Rylon Religion
 Chapter 961: Praise The Sun God
 Chapter 962: All Roads Lead to One Place
 Chapter 963: The Sun God Revealed
 Chapter 964: Visiting The Start
 Chapter 965: Getting To The Bottom Of It
 Chapter 966: Everyone Colides
 Chapter 967: Her Borther's Dark Secret
 Chapter 968: Pure Panic
 Chapter 969: A Costly Mistake
 Chapter 970: Losing all Power
 Chapter 971: The Strength Of Light Magic
 Chapter 972 The Smartist Girl
 Chapter 973: A Transfer Of Power
 Chapter 974: A Divine Power
 Chapter 975: At The Top of Rylon
 Chapter 976: Raze's Second Day
 Chapter 977: A Whole New World
 Chapter 978: Island Of Terror (Part 1)
 Chapter 979: Island Of Terror (Part 2)
 Chapter 980 West Beach Blood Bath
 Chapter 981 East Beach Blood Bath
 Chapter 982 Something Stronger Than Beasts
 Chapter 983: The Strongest On The Island
 Chapter 984: Not Alone
 Chapter 985: I Can Kill You?
 Chapter 986: Zon's Struggle
 Chapter 987: Red's Struggle
 Chapter 988: The Fortis' Armies Secret? (Part 1)
 Chapter 989: The Fortis' Armies Secret? (Part 2)
 Chapter 990: Raze okay?
 Chapter 991: Raze is not the enemy!
 Chapter 992: I Gave You A Warning
 Chapter 993 A New Raze
 Chapter 994: The King Of The Jungle (Part 1)
 Chapter 995: King Of The Jungle (Part 2)
 Chapter 996: 1 in 10 Chance
 Chapter 997: Running On Water!
 Chapter 998: Teaming With The Enemy
 Chapter 999: Unbeatable Opponent
 Chapter 1000: The White Haired Demon (Part 1)
Chapter 501 Breaking a rule
Chapter 501 Breaking a rule
The fight was still ongoing as Raze heard the voice, and he immediately needed to act. In
that moment, it was no longer about conserving his strength but instead about taking
action.
He used his Qi to quickly push himself back a sufficient distance away from Bargo. Seeing
this, Bargo blinked a couple of times.
He wasn't expecting such fast movement, so he was unable to properly discern what had
occurred, but when he looked at Raze, he was in for the biggest shock of all.
"What are you doing!" Bargo shouted out, his voice slightly shaky.
He could see that the person taking the assessment had their own sword held up against
their own neck, as if they were going to take their own life.
'Did I push this one too far!' Bargo thought. 'But to resort to this, does he have anxiety
about losing? Does he think he has failed the assessment and decided to go this far?'
Whatever the case, Bargo didn't want to lose a potential talent. So he needed to proceed
with caution.
"Just don't move closer!" Raze shouted out.
Knowing what the blooded woman had done before, he couldn't just take her words as
words. He needed to treat them as fact.
He knew she had the ability to kill outside of his body, which was why he had decided to
resort to this.
'Why did she act now? She hasn't done this before. Is it because of what I did with Shing?
Was that a mistake? Communicating with her, has the connection between the two of us
grown to the point that she is freely acting right now?' Raze thought.
In the end, it was the only option he could see to try and stop her from acting.
'I'm sure you can hear my thoughts, since the two of us are sharing the same space,' Raze
said inwardly. 'If you dare try and do something, then I will take my own life.'
'You wouldn't dare… I know you… you would never give up, not at your own blade,' the
woman replied.
It was quite true. Raze had done everything he could to get a second chance, and to ruin it
here, he would rather take his chances trying to eliminate everyone in the city than take his
own life.
'You can't act rashly!' Raze echoed in his own mind. 'If you kill this man in front of you, then
the whole city comes after us, the whole clan.
'There is a good chance that me and you won't be able to survive this. I am doing
everything for the sake of my survival, and you said that you would be doing the same, so
don't do stupid things!'
Raze was waiting for an answer, to hear her say it was okay, and while waiting for the
answer, the others that were on the field were getting a little impatient.
"What is this?" The head assessor from before said. "A damned no-name is threatening
their own life just to pass; this is ridiculous."
The head assessor started to walk forward, and fear could be seen in Raze's eyes. There
was one person there that knew this was true fear.
The head assessor suddenly felt the back of his shirt being grabbed, and before he knew it,
he was looking at the sky.
"Did you not hear him? He said to stay still!" Anna ordered as she slammed him to the
ground and pinned him down.
The hit was fairly strong to the point where the head assessor feared that his back might
have been broken.
Immediately, seeing that Anna had attacked the head assessor, the other clan members
came forward trying to surround her.
"Don't attack her; she is merely looking out for her comrade!" Bargo shouted. The others
instantly stopped, and at the same time, straight ahead, Raze had placed his sword down
with relief.
He had been given an answer, one that satisfied him enough to let down his guard.
Seeing this, it appeared as if Bargo was satisfied as well, to the point that he soon let out a
loud bellyful of laughter.
"What an interesting group of people, I must say!" Bargo claimed. "You all pass, and I
believe we should all get some rest."
"Let's not dwell on what happened, at least for now. Let's welcome our fellow members
into the Lethal Bite Clan and have them complete their duties."
Anna, hearing this, had let go of the head assessor, who was beyond annoyed, but the other
clan members also took a step back.
It was then that Raze noticed something: they seemed to be following the small pot-bellied
man's orders, rather than the rest.
'I should keep note of him; he seems to be more important... and I guess I'm on his good
side for now.'
"Come on, bring them into the barracks and let's get everyone ready! Welcome to the
Lethal Bite Clan." These were words Bargo never expected to say, but he could tell there
was distaste in the head assessor's mouth.
Hopefully, if things went well for Bargo, this would be in his favor. If he could dissuade
these talented individuals from joining the Lethal Bite Clan and instead joining his Moon
Shield Clan, it would be a big win for him.
---
Himmy and Charlotte wasted no time running an investigation. They had gone to the
border to make note of those that had entered and left.
According to the clan members, they checked all the supplies that came in and out due to it
being on the border of the Demonic Faction.
So they were sure that the person in question they were looking for, a young man by the
name of Barred Clarton, hadn't left.
It was one step forward; at least they knew the name of the person who was presumably
still alive, but they still didn't have any more leads other than that.
"The person who's still alive, it seems that they are a mage," Charlotte commented. "I
checked the list just to make sure."
"You're right, but why are you mentioning this to me now?" Himmy asked.
In his hand, Himmy was playing with the Alter communication device. He was hoping that
it would activate if they were within the area, narrowing down their search.
The issue was whether or not their targets knew they were from Alter as well or just
removed all items from him. There was also another option: the person was already dead.
"Well, if he's a mage and he knows he's in a serious situation, do you think he might try and
leave a clue behind to let others know where he is? He should know that Alter will be
investigating this," Charlotte explained.
"Are you suggesting that he would use magic, even though it's forbidden?" Himmy asked.
Charlotte couldn't help but smile. "You know hardly anyone follows that rule. It's more of a
guideline; just don't use a crazy amount of magic. I believe in this situation, whether Alter
deals with him or his kidnappers do, he would rather take a chance."
"Go ahead and do what you need to do to find him," Himmy answered. "Rules are meant to
be broken; otherwise, I would have never invited him onto the team."
Chapter 502 The Dark Faction’s Plan
Chapter 502 The Dark Faction's Plan
The news had been passed on from the Pagna Academy that Feebie, as well as Royo, were
dead. Not only had the head of the Clan, the one that was well-known throughout the land,
but also the one that would replace her if anything happened.
It was a bigger hit than most would realize, especially those not part of the Clan. That was
because Royo was the main power force.
He was the ace that the other clans didn't know too much about because he was considered
even stronger than Feebie.
It was more so due to her connections with the rest of the Elders within the clans that she
had obtained her position and her decision-making.
So how did it come to be that the great Lethal Bite Clan was now in this situation, Elder
Conner thought, shaking his head.
Elder Conner was an old man with a beard so long that it hit the table that he was sitting at.
He had been in the clan longer than most of those that were at the table.
Being a middle-stage warrior, he had lived a long life and was able to witness the growth of
strength to the current strength of the clan.
Never did he believe that something like this would occur.
"We have been trying to come up with a solution for weeks now, and yet we have still
selected no one to lead us!" One of the Elders spoke up, with anger in his voice.
Right after saying those words, several of the others started to speak up.
Looking around the room, there were many that thought they were deserving of the
position. Feebie's uncle Harbour, for one, who was minister of the Current city they were
in.
He had been in charge of running things in the city, making sure the clan grew and had a
good inflow of cash.
"If you wish to put yourself forward, I will tell you all again, you must have a plan of what
needs to be done with the clan!" One of the elders stated. "We can't just have anyone taking
over."
"Right now, our power has diminished, with the state that we are in, we can't just select a
new leader with no plan."
The Elders like Conner were too old to lead the Clan. They had reached the peak of their
strength. They wouldn't grow any stronger, which was why they wanted a brighter future,
helping guide the clan with their choices.
That's when Harbour stood up, and the rest went silent as they listened to what he had to
say.
"Due to the incident occurring in the academy, it is clear that the other clans are aware of
our situation. It is not something that we can hide and try to raise our strength in secret."
"I fear if we do not come up with a solution, that we might even be replaced. More than
anything you should know that Murkel from the Erupting Fist Clan is afraid that if the Dark
Faction shows their weakness, then the Demonic Faction will attack."
Some in the room broke out in a sweat as they imagined a visit from Murkel himself. It was
the last thing that they wanted.
There were times when the Erupting Fist Clan head had acted a bit rash.
"Which is why my suggestion is to take in a large number of talented wanderers. We are
close to the border of the Demonic Faction, because of that wanderers frequently pass
through our city to head over to the other side."
"Many of them are strong; we can't keep underestimating wanderers like we did in the
past. We only have to take a look at the Crimson Crane to see that example is true."
"We have enough funds to offer them a lucrative offer compared to what they would
regularly get. We shall become a large force with strong warriors."
Some were nodding in agreement at the table at Harbour's idea. He hadn't been left in
charge of the city for nothing. He was one that fixed multiple issues when things had
occurred.
They thought it was a good plan, and with him being the older brother of Feebie, he wasn't
exactly untalented when it came to fighting, it was just when he was compared to Feebie.
"Isn't there a big problem with that?" A slim man said, raising his hand. The man in
question was known as Niang; he was in charge as the Head of Clan Unification.
It was a fancy title, but what it meant was he was in charge of all the clans that were
directly owned by the Lethal Bite Clan.
Large clans often had sub-branches that were based in other cities. Ones that had claimed
loyalty to the larger clans or had a family connection as members left to start up their own
Pagna clans.
Still, due to these ties, they were linked to the Lethal Bite Clan who would monitor them. At
times, extremely talented individuals from these lesser clans would be scouted and sent to
join the Lethal Bite Clan.
Niang was good at his job, as he was known for having a sly tongue. Being able to quell
anger and rebellions within the families when times were looking tough.
No one knew how he really did it, but often he would do such things without a massive
amount of chaos or deaths.
At times, because of his skill, even when the clan had other problems that needed to be
dealt with, they would come to him.
Often even within the clan, many would be fighting for Niang's favor. Because they feared
that if they didn't gain his skills, they would be used against them.
However, there was one person Niang was never able to persuade or work with, and that
was Royo with his overwhelming strength.
For some reason, he seemed to be loyal to Feebie. And because of it, Niang's influence was
more feared on the lower levels, that was until now.
"I believe that you have already started implementing your plan across the city," Niang
claimed. "I have read the reports; they haven't been doing very well at all."
"Each day you have been running recruitment, but at most one or two warriors get added.
Yet none of them that have been added have made it into the main clan's power."
"My guess is you wanted results and then when you came to this meeting, we could see
how your planning is working out, but it doesn't seem to be the case."
At this point, it felt like Harbour needed to back down because it was true. Although there
were talented Wanderers like the Crimson Crane out there, none would join the Lethal Bite
Clan.
Especially since they had to work their way up. Harbour recognized himself that it would
be a difficult task, since their own members within the clan would be too stubborn to see
their strength and try to nurture them to the top.
If anything, the official members of the Lethal Bite Clan might even try to get rid of them if
they showed too much talent, but it was the only plan Harbour could come up with.
"Thank you for bringing this to light, Niang," Conner said. "However, Harbour has come up
with a solution. What we need now is to work on where solutions can be improved upon."
"We can't just shoot down every option; otherwise, we will be stuck in limbo like we are
now. I want solutions, not just for people to shoot down everything that is put on the table."
As if waiting for those words, Niang stood up with a large grin on his face.
"I do have a solution, one I think is the best one for the clan yet." Niang answered.
The displeased elders, as well as the high officials within the clan, were keen to listen once
again as they stopped their murmuring.
Maybe now they would see his genius in how he managed to solve several matters before.
"I didn't want to speak of this because before the Vice Head of the Moon Shield Clan was
here, but now that he is not present, I will speak freely."
"I suggest we make contact with one of the Divine Realm warriors."
Gasps were heard, and heads spun among each other once they heard this.
"If we summon a Divine being down to the clan to aid us, that will give us the strength that
we need and will put us back on equal footing with the others."
Chapter 503 The Planner Plans
Chapter 503 The Planner Plans
Niang's suggestion was causing great ruckus in the Lethal Bite Clan's headquarters. The
Elders were looking at each other, wondering if his suggestion was genuine. It was
something none of them had come up with before nor thought it was something even
possible.
"Someone, a Divine being, if we could make contact with them and really do that, then all
the clans would do such a thing; there is no reason for them to even listen to us in the first
place," one of the Elders complained.
He was a bit disappointed in the great Niang's plan after everything he had heard.
"Do you really think that I would come up with a solution that I was unable to complete?"
Niang replied. "I would not want to look like a fool; I would never speak up in front of
everyone."
"I have my ways; of course, I can contact those from the Divine realm, and I have a way they
can help us."
There was a whisper among them as they discussed the options. Even if this was viable in
some ways, it seemed dangerous. A Divine being coming down would have the strength of a
top-tier middle-stage warrior at best, due to the world restrictions.
It was still enough to eliminate the clan if they were to anger them, and just because they
might have once been from the Clan didn't mean they would be obliged to help.
They were more concerned about the affairs in the realm that they actually lived in.
"I know you might not be open to discussing your methods out in the open since this is
your plan, but please expand on a few of the queries we have," Conner said. "Why would a
Divine being even help us?"
"Right, this is the greatest difficulty, correct?" Niang replied. "Other clans have had
successful attempts at contacting the Divine realm, but why would they help us? Well, let's
just say I have a way that whoever comes down, they are able to utilize their full power
here."
"I'm sure this offer for them would be more than rewarding. Many of those in the Divine
realm would accept this deal. I hear that for some, it is a difficult life for them in the other
realm."
"However, if they had the full strength of their power in a place like this, then they would
easily be able to have free rein in this world. I'm sure they will feel indebted to us and help
us when the time comes; this will not only let us compete with the other factions but help
us in the overall conquest of the entire continent."
There were quite a few people in the room that had worked with Niang before, and they
took his words as truth. If he said that this was something he would do, then certainly it
was something that he could do.
However, there were risks in his plans, and it was the same with Harbour as well.
"We have two solutions on the table; both of them have their flaws at the moment. Harbour
needs to bring more proof that his recruitment is strengthening the clan.
"Meanwhile, Niang's plan is mostly theory. We need you to make sure that this is an option.
I would like to ask those in favor of Niang's plan to raise their hand, and those in favor of
Harbour's plan to raise theirs."
For most at the table, it wasn't whose plan they thought was better, but who they had
already made alliances with.
If they were to stick with a certain individual, what positions they would get in return
within the clan and the powers.
There were few that were impartial. At that point though, the sides were equally split.
"Very well, both of you, bring results of your plans to the table next week. We can't delay
any longer; after that, we will select the new leader of the Lethal Bite Clan and go ahead
with their idea," Conner announced.
——
With Charlotte using her magic, she was able to detect lingering pieces of magic through
the city. She continued to move through the districts as she could feel her magic growing
stronger in certain areas.
Until it had eventually led to a large manor. There was an iron gate in front, which blocked
them just outside of the front garden full of weeds.
Then on the other side of the garden, was the manor in question. Right now, they were
standing on the stone pavement and realized something.
"There's no one in this area of the city. It seems like it's run down or something," Charlotte
commented.
"I'm sure Anna would tell us the history, like this was the old part of the city before they
built the new part. Perhaps a part of the city before the clan took over. We are quite far
from the mountains as well, as far as we can be," Himmy commented. "So you're sure that
you can sense there magic being in there, right?"
"I'm positive. So what do you want to do? Should we head in and try to save the mage
ourselves?" Charlotte asked.
"No," Himmy replied. "We will do as the clan asked us to. We will report back to them,
saying that we have confirmed the member of Alter to be here.
"It's been a few days since he's disappeared, so an hour or so won't hurt; he will still be
here."
"But what if they kill him in that time? Shouldn't we focus on saving them now that we
know they're here?"
"This could be our only chance at finding out the truth of the whole matter," Himmy
explained. "For one, just because you can feel magic doesn't mean he is still alive."
"As for the second matter, if we find him, we won't confirm finding out who is behind this
whole thing. If we inform the Clan, I want to see how they react, and we can try to find out
why the clan was behind this whole matter."
Charlotte didn't like this part of Himmy, willing to sacrifice lives to complete the case. She
didn't agree with him but knew he wouldn't be convinced, and he was her leader.
Heading back to where they had come from, they had entered the main base of the Lethal
Bite Clan and informed the same man as before.
"I promise we will get our best people on it," the man said.
In response to this, Charlotte and Himmy decided to head to the manor before the Lethal
Bite Clan team would get there, to see just who it was that they would be sending.
At the barracks, the new recruits had joined and had been given their uniforms. They went
through a presentation of sorts that explained the duties of the clan, as well as the chain of
command of who they would follow.
Also, where they needed to be at each time, every day, for their orders. Right now, all of
them were getting changed into the Lethal Bite Clan uniform inside the barracks buildings.
Meanwhile, Bargo, as well as the head assessor Ivor, had just finished the paperwork when
he had received an odd call.
"Are you sure… you want us to do this?" Ivor replied. "No sir… we will get it done for you."
Hanging up the receiver, Niang turned to Bargo at his side.
"What's wrong?" Bargo asked.
"They just asked us to take the new recruits on a mission… telling us to rescue someone
trapped in the old Stone Estate. It's a bit odd, as we don't tend to get these types of
missions," Ivor explained.
Bargo stretched out his hands.
"I guess it was right to have a look at these barracks in the first place; it seems interesting
things are occurring."
"Yes, what is even odder is the fact that they want us to take the new recruits, the
wanderers of all things... but I guess if the two of us were to go with them, there would be
no problems," Ivor replied.
Just as he was about to get up, the receiver went off again. Picking it up, his tone of voice
was a lot more stern, and his body shot straight up.
"Sir Harbour, of course, I am happy to answer you," Ivor said.
"I have no doubt that you must have just received a request right now. I need you to do me
a favor; you have to make sure,no matter what, that you complete this mission with the
new recruits."
"Certainly, sir!" Ivor replied, and the call shortly hung up after that.
Strange things were occurring one after the other, and Ivor had no idea why.
"That was a call from the base?" Bargo asked.
"Yes, they wanted us to complete this mission no matter what, but if they wanted to, it
makes no sense that they are also forcing us to use those useless no-name recruits."
"Don't worry, those recruits are talented; you should know. Is your back feeling any
better?" Bargo winked.
Little did Ivor know, Niang, back at the main base, had received information about
everything.
"At first, I was a little startled to get a report that someone was looking for an individual,
and it led them to the Stone Estate," Niang commented. "But it does not matter. Harbour
will send in the new wanderers that have been recruited to complete the task.
"However, they will certainly fail, and all of them will be eliminated. He is just doing my job
for me. This is killing two birds with one stone."
"My task will be complete, and Harbour's wanderers will all be eliminated."
Chapter 504 A New Look
Chapter 504 A New Look
Ivor was nervous because this task seemed to have a lot of pressure on him from the
higher-ups. They were watching this case carefully.
The first call he had received was odd, and the second one was even stranger. Truth be told,
he was already walking on a tightrope.
Since they had been doing this recruitment, Ivor had been strict in his assessment, only
letting a few people pass. He had been asked to be more lenient, but he had just lost it when
he saw the no-names in front of him, disrespecting the name of the Lethal Bite Clan.
Currently, Ivor was outside, weapon strapped to his side. Next to him was Bargo, who was
standing in a relaxed manner, always smiling as the sun hit his face.
Then there were three new clan member guards in front of him. Two females and a single
male wearing the Lethal Bite Clan uniform.
These were those that had been selected as part of the guards the other day. Eventually, out
from the barracks, those whom he had been waiting for had walked out.
Two of the wanderers today that had passed the assessment walked towards the center,
after that, there was the one known as man.
His long hair was tied up, and with a change of clothes, he looked relatively nice, but his
sunken face from malnutrition was still visible.
Right behind him was none other than Anna. The clothes she was wearing now were more
revealing compared to the heavy garments she had on before.
However, there wasn't the same glow that Raze had seen initially when first meeting her.
Apparently, this was only active when she was using her powers, so she could cover herself
up and look like just any other person from Pagna relatively easily if she wanted.
The last person to exit out of the room was Raze, and there was quite a big noticeable
change when he had come out.
"Oh!" Ivor placed his hand under his chin and was analyzing the persons in front of him up
and down. "I have to say, you cleaned up quite well.
"No longer do you have that strange ridiculous outfit on you, and your hair, it suits you
more."
Raze didn't say anything as he went to line up with the others, but the Wanderers who had
seen him couldn't stop staring.
Now Raze was wearing the Pagna uniform instead of his protective Blazer; he still had his
regular sword by his side, but the biggest change was Raze's hair color.
It wasn't a particularly hard spell to make small changes. Creating a circle and stepping into
it and activating it with magic.
It had changed his hair color now to black. However, it wasn't a strong spell either. Meaning
if Raze himself used a mass amount of magic around him, or was hit with a large spell, it
would reveal his hair color anyway.
He would then need to cast the spell over and over to change it back to black. A magic spell
that had next to no use for combat. Simply changing his hair color wouldn't make it so no
one knew what his face looked like either.
However, in this situation, where the name the White Dragon had spread, he thought it was
best to change it for now.
"Alright everyone, we are a team of ten, and we have been tasked with an important
mission!" Ivor explained. "Apparently, a guest of sorts has been kidnapped, and they have
located them at the Stone estate."
"I know you have just recently joined, and this type of task might not be something you are
used to, which is why I will be joining you on this task."
"I will be observing as well," Bargo added.
A quick glance was given by Ivor for Bargo interrupting him. It was a pain to have someone
from another clan so close in this situation.
Raze, standing, was a little annoyed; after joining up, he thought maybe they would be
heading to the main base of the clan. There he could find out some information about these
deaths, but nothing had occurred.
"What is Himmy doing?" Raze asked.
"Don't worry, he has a clear head on him that focuses on the goal; he is a stubborn person."
Anna answered. "Let's just continue on as we are at the moment.
"If we make some big achievements, then maybe we can make it to the top," Anna replied.
Although Raze did want to get this whole thing over and done with, he was worried that
those at the top might potentially know him.
——
Himmy and Charlotte had quickly made it back to the Stone estate. They were waiting at
another abandoned building that was stationed opposite the manor.
From the look of things, the building used to be a type of drinking establishment. Pulling up
a couple of chairs, Himmy sat down and stared out of the broken window.
"Did you sense that they were still inside the building?" Himmy asked.
"I could still sense a trail of magic that is lingering from the building," Charlotte answered.
Reaching into his coat pocket, Himmy had pulled out the Alter device; he had pressed the
button one more time, but only Charlotte's had activated, and it didn't seem like it was
connecting with anything else.
"Let's turn these off for now. We don't know how much information these kidnappers
know; it would be best we don't out ourselves as those from Alter," Himmy suggested.
Charlotte did as she was asked, turning her device off, and now it was a waiting game. How
the Lethal Bite Clan would react to all of this was.
It was going to tell a lot to Himmy.
"You're trying harder than before on this case," Charlotte commented.
"Of course I am," Himmy replied. "Alter took us off this case thinking we were doing an
incompetent job. They then send in another Alter team, and look what happens to them."
"After that, they come asking us to reopen and investigate the case again. I'm going to
complete this task and show them what's what!"
Himmy got up from his seat, as he took a look out the window; he could see a group of
those in Pagna uniform, not just any uniform but the Lethal Bite Clan approaching the gate,
ten of them in total.
"Hey, isn't that… Anna and... I think that's Raze, he changed his hair color!" Charlotte
gasped. Quickly, she was trying to wonder which hair color she preferred on him, white or
black.
"Well, now we know, it's quite clear that the Lethal Bite Clan is trying to hide something,"
Himmy stated. "Anna and Raze should have just joined the clan.
"If that is the case, then why would they send them on a mission straight away? It's clear
that they don't care about the ones that have been sent."
"And if anything, they would more likely want to use people that they don't mind
disappearing."
That wasn't the only thing that was worrying Himmy; he was surprised to see the clan just
walk up to the front gate. Were they trying to announce to everyone that they were there?
Shortly after that, they had already jumped over the gate and were going inside the
building.
"Come on, let's follow them, and find out just what's in store inside."
Chapter 505 A Black Heart
Chapter 505 A Black Heart
Ivor had led the group to the suspected location. When coming to the area, there were
some questions by the Wanderers as they noticed the place looking run down.
"Before the Lethal Bite Clan had made this city their base of operations, there was another
clan that was here. A battle had occurred on the border, and the whole city was destroyed."
"What you are looking at now is what's left of the city. This is the old part. People aren't
really allowed to live or stay here, but those that are unable to find a place to live, or have
funds to pay for an inn, might come here from time to time."
For Raze, it sounded like the perfect place for people to escape to, or commit crimes if
needed. He would frequently try to visit and find places like this.
"We are here!" Ivor raised his hand, and the group had stopped just outside the front gate.
"Are you stating that this is the manor in front of us?" Anna asked. "If that is the case, then
shouldn't we have approached it from a more hidden angle?"
"Right now, we are standing in front of it. We have no idea how large the enemy is, their
strength, or anything about them, yet we are approaching them head-on."
It was a clear complaint from Anna, which infuriated Ivor even more. He already didn't like
the fact that he needed to do this and that she had passed.
"Yeah, shouldn't we do some scouting in this situation, maybe we could send someone
who's light on their feet in first to get an idea of the situation," one of the Wanderers said.
The Wanderers were already starting to formulate a plan as they talked and discussed
among each other. Although they had never done a task like this.
"Enough!" Ivor shouted as if there wasn't a care in the world who heard him. "This is why I
thought it was best I came on this task with you.
"All of you know nothing about the Lethal Bite Clan. We are one of the top clans in the Dark
Faction. We have great strength compared to the other clans."
"Just by mentioning you're a part of us, there will be those that will do your bidding just not
to anger you, and you want our clan to do something like scouting, trying to attack the
enemy from behind! How weak do you want to make us look!"
Frustrated would be too weak of a word to describe the look on Ivor's face, but Raze was
ignoring it because what he could sense now that he was this close, was magic.
Why in all places would there be magic lingering out from the building? Things weren't
looking good, and he feared that another situation similar to the Light Faction Elder might
occur.
"But they have someone kidnapped, do they not?" Anna asked. "It's possible that they could
use the hostage against us, making it difficult to fight."
"Not just that," Raze finally chimed in. "Aren't we the Dark Faction? I thought the Dark
Faction's principles were to do whatever it takes to complete the task."
"We are not the Light Faction; it doesn't matter if we stab them from behind or throw sand
in their eyes."
Listening to it all, Ivor just couldn't stop shaking his head before he finally answered.
"First, you're right; in the end, only the winner of this thing has say, but there are times as
one of the top clans that we have to show our power. Show how we're different from the
rest of the other factions that we don't need to resort to actions like those."
"As for the second point, whether the hostage dies or not does not matter. We are not here
to save them, but to teach those that have done this a lesson so something like this can
never happen again."
Ivor then jumped over the gate and asked for the rest to follow. The group was now making
their way down the cobbled path straight to the large front door.
Bargo had been listening to things and kept his mouth shut because in this situation, he
agreed with Ivor a lot. The clan wouldn't care about the hostage.
If the hostage was killed but so were all the kidnappers, he knew that they would claim it as
a successful mission as well.
Walking up to the large manor, Ivor was standing at the front proud and confident.
Thinking that anything that came at him he could defeat with the flick of his hand.
'I wonder what makes him so confident when he had just lost to Anna here?' Raze thought.
'Still, I should be careful if there is another mage.'
Reaching in, Raze then pressed his Alter scanner, turning it off. Not wanting any surprises if
they were to occur.
Anna seemed to have caught wind as well and had done the same. When they had reached
the large door, there wasn't even a stop in Ivor's footsteps as he continued forward and
pushed the door open.
It swung with ease, making a creaking sound into the main reception. Upon entering, two
large winding staircases could be seen heading up to the second floor.
Several doors on either side leading to different rooms, but most importantly, the inside of
the place was relatively dark.
With few lights hitting from the windows that were on the sides.
When Raze took a step onto the marble floor, he could feel something hitting him, almost
suffocating, tightening around his chest.
'Now, this is a new feeling,' Raze thought as he looked at his ring. His magic core, and his
specially crafted ring that now helped him to wield the strength of all of his elements, it was
reacting.
'The Dark Magic that reacts to death, this place reeks of it.'
Once everyone was inside, they took a quick look around, until Bargo turned to look at the
door.
"It appears that we have been followed," Bargo mentioned.
Chapter 506 A step of Blood
Chapter 506 A step of Blood
The uneasy feeling within Raze was growing stronger. The fact that he could sense magic
before even coming into the building was unsettling for him.
Now that he was in the building itself, the feeling of magic in the air grew even stronger.
'Is there a mage in here? Are they friend or foe? For most that I meet, I have to treat them
as foe. They could be one of the kidnappers for all I know.'
'But if they use magic, will I be able to best them just using my warrior skills.'
At the moment, the group was doing a simple inspection of the ground floor of the manor.
The warriors didn't spread out far from each other but would alert the others if they saw
anyone.
This was all on the order of Ivor, of course. So far, no one had found anything yet.
'Anna is a member of Alter, and she might be extremely strict about the use of magic in
certain situations. I also don't know her strength just yet. From what I've seen, she will be a
difficult one to deal with if I have to fight her.'
Out of all of these worries though, these weren't the ones that were giving him the biggest
problem. The large unsettling feeling was coming from his core.
It was running slightly wild with the ring on his finger pulsating. It felt like a pair of eyes
were hovering over his shoulder.
Whenever he would turn, there was no one there though. Yet it felt like someone was
always with him.
'This feels different from the blooded woman as well, but it could easily just be that her
strength has increased in this place, which is why I can sense her more, right?'
Raze thought, expecting some type of answer, but there wasn't an answer at all.
The other reason why he felt like it was unlikely to be the blooded woman was because the
eyes felt like they were looking at him from afar rather than close, like the woman felt at
times.
In the middle of all these thoughts, Raze heard words from Bargo that had startled him.
"It appears that we have been followed," Bargo said.
Everyone turned to see where he was looking, it was from the door they had entered from.
It had only slightly been left open, but they couldn't see anyone.
Then the door was pulled open, and two figures were standing there.
"You have good senses," a man with a large trench coat said, walking through the doors
with his hands up. "We mean you no harm."
Ivor quickly came over along with the rest and drew his weapon, pointing it toward the
two.
"How many of you are there in this place? Where is the hostage that you took!" Ivor
commanded.
Anna and Raze noticed the two straight away, as of course they were from Alter, Himmy
and Charlotte.
"Do they look like the kidnappers to you?" Anna commented. "These two came from the
door we entered from and don't even have any weapons on them. Besides, they don't even
look like martial artists."
"You never know, the Lethal Bite Clan is a clan that specializes in fist techniques in the first
place, and it could be the same!"
Himmy let out a big sigh hearing this.
"I don't even have Qi, so even if I was to hit you with full force, I bet I would be the one with
a broken hand. As for who we are, we are the ones that made the request to rescue our ally
that is stuck here in the first place."
Himmy's explanation was twofold. One, it was to tell those pointing their swords at him
why he was here, and it was to inform the others from Alter as to why they were here.
"It appears that a group of our friends we were searching for, one of them survived and was
linked back to this place. We made the report and the clan said they were sending some
people over to aid us… I didn't expect them to kill us."
The new members were quite embarrassed after hearing that, they were even holding their
weapons weakly after.
"Alright, say we believe you," Ivor states. "You guys need to stay at the back and report that
we've done a good job; the last thing we would want is the clients themselves getting
killed."
With the two intruders that were following them out of the way, Ivor was quick to continue
his search, and just as he was about to ask everyone about what they had found, Raze had
pointed at the top of the staircase.
"Up there… they're on the second floor," Raze answered.
"And how would you know that? Can you see through walls as well suddenly?" Ivor asked.
"Just… trust me on this one," Raze said.
Since the group hadn't found anything on the first floor anyway, Ivor went to travel up.
Raze stayed close to the group at the back; it looked like an excuse as they were focused on
protecting Himmy and Charlotte.
When they looked back at the others, they had smiled at each other while Himmy gave Raze
an awkward wink.
'I guess things are working out in the end, so the one that's been kidnapped is a person
from Alter… could that be the magic that I felt from before? That explains that, but what
about this huge lingering feeling.'
Since Raze was the one that told them to head upstairs, constantly Ivor was turning back to
look at him for direction.
Raze continued to point as they were now in a large hallway with a number of doors. As
they continued to go through, Raze had led them to another large double door.
When they reached it, all of the warriors, Ivor, and Bargo were on high alert. Because
seeping through the bottom of the door, they could see it, there was blood, and there was a
whole pool of it as well.
'What's happening on that side of the door!' Raze thought.
Chapter 507 Inside The Room
Chapter 507 Inside The Room
While going down the hallway, the group had discovered a few instances of blood. Most of
it was dry.
They weren't experts, so they had no clue how fresh the blood was, but now, having finally
followed where Raze was leading them, they had come across a double door.
Right underneath the double door, their feet were standing in blood. It was a large amount,
and the fact was the blood itself was still wet.
Everyone was alarmed, but focused at the same time. Being a warrior, being a wanderer, it
wasn't their first time they had experienced death or seen it.
The sight didn't make them sick to their stomach; it alarmed them for what they might see
inside. The group's weapons were drawn again as they readied themselves.
"Does this mean that Barred Clarton is already dead?" Charlotte asked. "Were we too late?"
"We don't know that yet, but we should be careful," Himmy replied.
Ivor didn't say anything, which was surprising. Instead, he looked back at everyone and
gave a single nod.
In response, the rest of the team nodded back as well, confirming that they were ready.
Right after, rather than silently going in, using a strong kick filled with Qi, Ivor knocked the
door, breaking it off its hinges.
He didn't care if there were people on the other side, and in some cases, he was hoping it
would hit someone.
Ivor burst into the room with his sword drawn, and the rest fluttered out into the room in a
semi-circle shape. Only Charlotte and Himmy had stayed behind the group as they had
entered the room.
"What is all of this!" Charlotte asked.
All of this in the room were shocked at the sight in front of them and the stench that had
immediately hit their noses.
Up against the walls in the corner of the room, there were bodies of the dead. They had
been slashed, torn up, and across their chest, an explosion from the inside appeared to have
occurred.
It was like their heart had exploded on their bodies. The bodies were piled up on the side,
and now they knew what the blood was.
However, that wasn't the only thing they could see. In the center of the room, there was a
man who appeared to be in his twenties. A strange mechanical device was attached across
his chest, round in shape that strapped around to his back.
His eyes—they were glowing slightly, and both Charlotte and Raze could see it; there was a
lingering of magic above him.
As for the strap that was connected around his chest, at the end, they could see a tube
linked to it, it was bending down and went into a chalice that was placed on the ground.
The chalice appeared to be made out of a type of dark rock. Crudely crafted, as if someone
had only used a dagger to try and get the same shape of the item.
As for the cup part at the top, that was still made out of glass, and slowly it appeared to be
filling with blood.
"You people… you are from… you're from the Lethal Bite Clan!" Ivor said.
When Ivor entered, he had planned to strike down those that had captured the prey, but
when entering, he was confused.
The young man sitting in the chair had to be the kidnapped victim, but then why were the
people in the room wearing the Lethal Bite Clan uniform?
What of all the dead bodies in the room? Just what was going on?
"I need an explanation now; we have been ordered by the Lethal Bite Clan to come and
rescue the individual!" Ivor asked.
"I don't think it's so smart to be asking questions!" Himmy shouted. "The man in the chair is
the one that we have been looking for; we need to get him out as soon as we can."
Inside the room, there were five men wearing the Lethal Bite Clan uniform. They looked at
the intruders that had entered, and one in particular just had one order to say.
"No one is allowed to see this, get rid of them all."
Immediately, one of the Lethal Bite Clan members had exploded with speed, and with a
dagger, he had shoved it right through one of the wanderer's necks.
It was too fast for the wanderer to react; his life had vanished just like that.
"What are you doing!" Ivor shouted.
Before he knew it, another one of the Lethal Bite Clan members had come towards him. The
dagger was thrust towards his throat in the same spot.
But a sword had reached out, and managed to hit the dagger in question before it had
finished off its target.
"Pay attention, Ivor!" Bargo shouted. He was the one that had deflected the sword, and with
Qi, he gave a strike back.
The attacker had jumped back with his dagger avoiding the hit, a little startled.
The others in the room all went to attack. In particular, one had gone after the newcomer
called Man.
Man tried to react to the strike but was too slow. When a fist came to hit him right in the
head, Anna had grabbed onto the fist, and then with a single hand lifted him in the air and
threw him up against the wall.
"Thank you," the man said.
"Don't thank me; just stay alive, all of these guys in this room are quite strong," Anna
replied.
Three of the Wanderers that were with the group had already perished, and slowly they
had backed up so they were still surrounding Himmy and Charlotte.
"The woman is right," Bargo said, as he looked at the opponents in front of them.
Their gaze was cold as they stared with weapons in their hands, as if this was an easy task
for them.
"This is surprising, why is a middle-stage warrior here?" One of the attackers said. "They
said those that might come to us would be easy targets for us."
Bargo didn't know what to do in this situation, even though he was a vice leader; these
people in the room, they were deadly.
Meanwhile, Raze, he hadn't made contact with any of the attackers yet; his mind was far too
focused on the chalice on the floor.
'The power coming from that thing, it's growing… what's going to happen when it's filled…'
Chapter 508 Let Me Use My Power!
Chapter 508 Let Me Use My Power!
The five Lethal Bite Clan members in the middle were certainly not low-stage warriors.
Bargo could tell that right from the start when he had blocked the attack.
Each of them had to be either peak initial-stage warriors or low-ranking middle-stage
warriors, but there was more to it than that.
They had this underlying strength that felt like they were also being boosted.
Immediately, they surrounded the group that had entered, with two of the warriors
jumping over the entire group and standing by the door.
"I feel like you have already realized that you are unable to win this fight, but having you
run away will also be very troublesome for us," one of the warriors said, throwing out a fist.
Quickly, Anna had moved in front of Himmy where the fist was targeted and grabbed onto
the wrist. The man was able to try and attack her with her dagger, but she hit it away with
her other arm, letting go.
From the other side, she could see that the other warrior was going for another slash
aiming for Charlotte.
At that point, Anna quickly moved over, putting her arms in harm's way. When the dagger
hit, it pierced through but only about a centimeter until it had hit something hard.
"You, are you even using Qi? Why is your body so hard?" The man questioned, as he could
see within parts of her clothing they were glowing red slightly.
Since she was at the back, Himmy and Charlotte were too slow to react to the talented
warriors, and it was true for the no-name man as well.
Situated at the front were Raze, Ivor, and Bargo. They were going up against the other three
remaining warriors.
They had already taken out the rest of the new members of the Lethal Bite Clan that had
come in, leaving only these alive.
Although Ivor was trying to strike at openings while Bargo was protecting them with his
skillful swordplay, it was proving rather difficult for him.
He was a third-stage warrior himself and was out of his depth in this situation. So for
Bargo, it felt like he was more so fighting two on one while trying to protect the other.
'These two are a handful, but I can deal with two of them at once. If any more come at me,
though, it will be a big struggle,' Bargo thought.
He didn't quite understand what was happening. He was sure that there were five
attackers, and if the other attackers were as strong as the one that he was facing, then they
should have dealt with the others by now.
Yet, Anna, the new recruit, was dealing with two from the back, and Raze was fighting with
one of them head-on as well.
With his sword by his side, he struck with great strength at the warrior. Each time he
blocked a hit, he could feel his form almost breaking as he was being overwhelmed.
Spinning through the air, he went to attack with a fist, but Raze quickly was able to move
away, and with his own hand, struck him in the stomach.
The warrior kneeled for a second, but recomposed himself before another attack struck
him.
'How is this person so strong and beating me? I'm sure I have more Qi than him, yet when
we strike, his Qi is breaking through mine.'
Raze was going up against a middle-stage warrior, and in most cases, the one that was able
to have a larger amount of Qi would win out of all strikes.
However, due to Raze's way of condensing his Qi, it was allowing him to perform strikes
that condensed in certain areas, giving just as much power in these areas.
'I already fought against the head of the Lethal Bite Clan. Struggling with a person like this
at this stage is something that is not acceptable,' Raze thought.
The main issue was though; Raze was still refraining from using his demonic techniques
and magic.
As things were starting to play out though, the man that was facing Raze had been hit too
many times in their bout, and he thought it was only a matter of time.
"Come join me with this one; he's troublesome!" One of the warriors called out.
One of the two that were fighting against Bargo had suddenly jumped and went to strike
Raze from the side. Caring for his life more than hiding his techniques, he used the
Descending Steps to quickly push away and push in, delivering another strong strike.
Raze's sword clashed with the dagger, and the sheer power had brought one to their knees,
but a strike from the side from the other attacker had appeared, and Raze needed to pull
away as he spun back.
'Fighting two of them at once… is more annoying than I thought, but I definitely improved
to the point I can now fight two low middle-stage warriors at once. Beating them is another
thing.'
What Raze's eyes were more concerned about though, was the cup; he could see it slowly
filling, and as it did, one of the points of the corner of the cup started to glow red.
He continued to keep an eye on it, while taking care of two of them, and that's when the
second point of the cup was starting to glow red. When all three points were glowing, Raze
feared whatever it was they were trying to do it would be activated.
With a strong sense of Qi, Raze used the Devil's formation, the waterfall strike, and hit one
of the attackers away.
"Himmy, do I have permission to go all out?" Raze asked.
The words that were shouted made no sense. Bargo and Ivor were fighting for their lives,
with everything they had and were struggling.
Why would Raze say something like this, and even more so, why would he ask permission
of the stranger that they had just met?
"Permission denied!" Himmy shouted. He had his hand fairly close to his side.
He was watching Anna fend off the two and was trying to think about what to do, but using
magic here, where a strong sense of magic was already present, Himmy felt like it was too
dangerous, and something that maybe even one of the Deleters would have to be sent to
clean up.
Charlotte hadn't used her powers either because of this reason.
Ivor, trying to ignore what he had just heard, went for a strike; now it was him and Bargo
against one, but his hand was hit away, and a large strike was delivered across his face
causing his knees to buckle, and he was sent wobbling to the floor.
'These people,' Ivor thought, holding onto his face. 'I didn't notice it before, but I'm pretty
sure I recognize them. They are some of the strongest and most talented members in the
Lethal Bite Clan. What are they doing here and why are they doing all of this?'
Bargo then managed to get a clean cut on his attacker's leg. A slash across it, causing him to
stay in pain.
"Now, I finish you!" Bargo went to stab forward, but before he knew it, his sword was hit to
the side with the dagger.
And another strike went for his neck, but he had managed to dodge it in time.
"What the…" Bargo looked around the room, and the situation had changed quite a bit. Now
Anna was going up against four.
Raze had three people fighting against him, and Bargo and Ivor were going up against
three.
Once again, Ivor recognized these people as well. All of them high-ranking within the Lethal
Bite Clan, most of them close connections with the one known as Niang.
"This is going to be a lot harder than I thought," Bargo said.
The warrior opposite him smiled.
"You think."
The warrior came forward, thrusting his dagger. Bargo blocked the strike, and he could see
another one coming from the corner of his eye. He continued swinging his sword, blocking
the second one, but a third strike came from the other side and pierced right through his
shoulder.
Bargo didn't flinch and instead kicked the man's knee, sending him shifting on the floor
back.
Still, blood was soaking down his right side now.
"If that young one is holding back… I hope he stops soon," Bargo mumbled to himself.
Chapter 509 Let Him Use His Power!
Chapter 509 Let Him Use His Power!
Anna was doing fairly well fighting against two of the warriors. With her solid body, she
didn't have to worry about getting hit with the dagger so much.
Her body was able to withstand the attacks without taking too much damage. Still, she
would avoid taking head-on strikes and fist attacks.
The techniques used by the clan's fists seemed to be stronger than the dagger. However,
more people had entered the room.
They stormed in, split up, aiding those that needed help, and now, it meant in front of her,
Anna was dealing with four instead of two.
The trouble was increasing, and so were the hits on her body. She had blocked two of the
daggers and then received a deep hit right in her stomach; her feet were lifted in the air for
a moment before she grabbed onto one of the heads of the attackers in front of her and
swung her head back.
Another attack came from the side, and in a desperate attempt to help her, the no-name
man threw his sword out.
When the sword hit, it had practically bounced off his back because the Qi being used by
the warrior was far superior.
However, it was enough distraction to allow Anna to back away slightly and wipe her
mouth. When looking at her hand, she could see a smudge of blood.
'It's been a long time since this has happened; their hits must have pretty strong Qi,' Anna
said to herself.
The attacks were relentless; they could feel that Anna was finally on the back foot, and they
didn't want to give up.
Anna pushed forward, knocking the strikes away and positioning her foot, but then another
came relatively close with a fist aimed right at her head.
That was until the warrior could feel something. He lifted his hands to cover himself, and
following a loud bang, was heard.
The man was then hit by Anna's fist, sending him sliding across the room and back into the
hallway.
"What was that before… that stung a bit," the warrior said, shaking his arms about. Looking
at the floor, he could see a small piece of metal.
Then, through the people they were targeting, one of them was holding a strange device in
his hand that was pointed at the others.
"Well, the gun didn't work, which was somewhat expected," Himmy said, pulling the stick
out of his mouth. "But using weapons like these won't disturb this world."
Right after saying those words, Himmy started to target another one of the warriors; he
fired away, giving openings for Anna to do her work, and it seemed to work, as she pulled
the head back of one of the warriors and smashed it right on his throat.
However, the bullets weren't doing a lot of damage as the Qi in those that were attacking
was strong enough to protect themselves from the bullets; it was just short bursts of pain
for the warriors.
Raze, now having to go up against three of the warriors, was struggling even more. He
swung his sword and would be able to hit them away with his strength and techniques, but
they would keep coming at him.
He was carefully stepping away and was trying to keep an eye on the chalice that was filling
up.
"Himmy, give me permission!" Raze shouted again.
Usually, Raze would just take things into his own hands, and he was thinking of doing that,
but he wanted to be on Alter's good side.
Going against them would cause a whole bunch of problems.
Right next to him, Bargo was now fighting against three; similarly to Anna, he could block
the attacks coming from two, but once in a while, he would get struck by a third.
Ivor had tried desperately to help, but he had been grabbed by the face and thrown right
into the ground.
Slowly, he was getting up, and could see there were now several more wounds on his body.
He had been stabbed in the leg, in both shoulders, on the arm, and more.
Yet still, Bargo was standing strong in the face of it all.
Bargo stayed in his position and blocked a punch head-on, holding onto a fist. He then
swung his sword, hitting another in the way.
When a third dagger strike came at him, he went forward, allowing it to stick in his arm as
he kicked the attacker in the stomach.
"Arghh!" Bargo shouted. "This was not what I expected when I signed up for this. I knew
there would be some fun, but not this much fun."
Ivor lying on the ground, his body beyond hurt for him to even do anything, he felt useless.
So far, all he had done was get in the way of the others.
"Sh*t!" Ivor was beyond frustrated. "What are you doing!"
Now, Ivor had turned to look at the man named Himmy, the one that Raze had been looking
at.
"I don't care what it is, but if it will help us win this fight, give him permission to use his
power, old man!" Ivor screamed at the top of his lungs.
It was a scream that came out of the will of pure survival, words that were said in hopes
that something could be done.
Right then and there, Raze could see it as well; the third gem on the chalice had lit up. More
blood had poured into the chalice. Still, nothing was happening just yet, but with no more
lights to light up, he was sure that something would happen soon.
Himmy, though, despite hearing what was being said and Raze's request, didn't say
anything.
Anna was blocking the hits from the three warriors, and carefully aiming, he went to pull
the trigger again. That was until he heard a clicking sound.
He reached into his inner pocket and released something.
"I'm out of bullets," Himmy said, frustrated.
Now, without Himmy helping out Anna, she was on the back foot again. He looked around
the room.
He could see Anna struggling, the man named Bargo barely holding on, with Ivor wounded
on the ground.
And Raze, although doing well, it wasn't enough to push back those that were attacking
him.
Himmy was looking at the situation and could see what was happening with the chalice. He
wasn't stupid; he had come up with the same conclusion as Raze had done.
Whatever it was that this group was trying to do, they were close to getting it done.
'Even if I allow them to use magic, will anything change? All of these warriors are incredibly
strong. It was no wonder the last Alter group got eliminated.'
'We're hanging on by a single thread right now.'
Himmy looked to Charlotte, who had been by his side the longest, and she had given a little
nod while raising her hands.
"If we're going to lose this anyway, then I might as well go using everything we have,"
Charlotte answered, as if she could read his mind.
"You're right," Himmy replied. "I'm quite a stubborn person when it comes to things, and in
the first place, I was never one for rules."
Raising his hand in the air, Himmy let in a large amount of air and yelled out the following
orders.
"All members of Alter, you have permission to use everything in your power!"
Chapter 510 Power Unleashed
Chapter 510 Power Unleashed
"All members of Alter, you have permission to use everything in your power!" Himmy
shouted.
Reluctant to give the order due to the situation they were in, Himmy was afraid that a
massive amount of magic in a singular place might cause more than just a portal break.
If that were to occur, the Deleters from Alter would be sent, and they would all have to face
the consequences. In the situation they were in though, it looked like all of them would lose
their lives.
So who was he to hold them back? Would he really allow his team members to die in this
situation without giving it their all?
"I don't know how the situation will change, but I don't want to leave this world with any
regret!' Himmy said to himself.
As soon as the word hit Raze's ears, he was ready. Two warriors were coming straight at
him, one of them from the side while the other was in front.
Raze placed his hand to the side of him, opening it up. Between his fingertips, sparks could
be seen forming. As for his other hand, he swung his sword from above.
Midswing, his sword was shrouded in magic and had suddenly changed from the regular
blade he would use to the Ghost blade.
Inputting his Demonic Qi, the sword started to light up with an orange glow. The sword
clashed on top of the sword, and the extra added power of the Ghost blade came into effect.
The blow caused the middle stage warrior to be sent back; he was bent at his knees as he
skidded through the floor by the immense power.
At the same time, with his other hand, Raze had unleashed a Lightning spell, hitting his
attacker right in the stomach.
The spell caused the man to flip due to the jolt in his body as he fell to the ground. Then,
lastly, right in front of him, he could see the third warrior.
'These are middle stage warriors; from a simple attack and a Lightning attack, they won't
be taken out just like that, but these hits have given me time!'
Raze stomped the ground with his foot, activating the third descending step, and then
continued until he pushed off with the second step.
From the second step, Raze was then ready.
'Charlotte is here, so I can't use Dark magic, but I can still use this technique just with my Qi
and add a little boost!'
Lightning started to form at the hilt as Raze had gone for a different magic to combine with
his Dark Edge Sword Arts.
He then thrust the sword forward toward the last warrior; a pulse of lightning appeared
from behind the sword.
It crashed and hit the two warriors who had gotten up from the first blows, trying to strike
Raze, stopping them again.
Then the thrusted blade pierced right through the warrior's heart. A large hole was in place
from where Raze had attacked.
The warrior's Qi was useless; the thrust was too fast for him to defend against. The middle
stage warrior had been dealt with in a single blow.
Pulling out his sword, Raze then turned to look at the other two that were attacking him.
"That's one dealt with; now I need to get rid of the other two."
The large attack of Qi along with magic had disrupted the room for the moment. The power
had continued through the warrior and had hit part of the wall, destroying it.
Such power had caused all of them to have a look at what was happening.
Ivor turned his head, with his mouth wide open, while Bargo was doing the same.
'I knew he was holding back and hiding his power, but to hide this much of it, he dealt with
three of them straight away… why did he wait until now to do such a thing!' Bargo thought.
'That damned no-name, who is he? He can't just be anyone!' Ivor thought.
After feeling the power and witnessing the attack that had just occurred, the rest of the
attackers in the room at that moment decided to change targets.
The most dangerous person in the room was clearly the young one. They had left their
positions, left those that they were going after, and all decided to go straight for Raze.
At that point, Raze lifted his hand into the air. A trail of blue lightning was going from his
shoulder all the way up to his fingertips.
"This reminds me a lot of when we went up against the Light Faction elder," Raze mumbled
to himself. "Back then, the Crimson Crane members, all of the middle stage warriors as well,
had no idea how to handle it, and I'm pretty sure these guys won't know either!"
Raze's hair started to fade color as magic powered through him. The tips of his hair faded
from black to white.
His hair floated in the air as the lightning continued to grow, and when they were close
enough, he slammed his hand onto the floor.
A mass amount of lightning currents went across the floor, hitting all of the warriors that
had come close to him.
They were shocked, frozen, and paralyzed in place, not a single one of them being left
untouched.
[Lightning attribute 29 >>> 32]
On top of the skill working out well for Raze, it appeared that due to his Lightning attribute
hitting so many people, it had increased in strength.
While stunned, Raze went forward and swung his sword, slicing one of the warriors' heads
right off, rolling on the floor.
'If there were no eyes watching, I would have absorbed their energy. So many middle stage
warriors, it might have been enough to finally kick me out of the initial stage, but there will
already be too many questions after they have seen what I've done.'
Standing from his position right there and then, Raze started to swing his sword, producing
the crimson slash from his blade.
Mixing in his Wind magic along with his Qi and Ghost blade, the attacks went out
everywhere, hitting all of the warriors across their chest, arms, and heads.
The Lightning magic was still under effect for them, and now without having to move from
his position, he had dealt with them all as they had dropped to the floor.
"It seems the kid must have grown quite a lot after the academy," Himmy commented. "You
know magic as well; why don't you do something like that?"
Charlotte said she had her hands ready to cast a spell to support Anna, but she was so taken
away by what she had seen that she had stopped.
Raze was only one star above her in terms of magic, so how was he able to cast spells so
well and use it with his Pagna skills? It was a sight she had never seen before.
No one in the room had seen it before.
"Wait, I know!" Ivor shouted as he looked at Raze's back with his white hair. "The
descending steps, that's a Demonic Faction technique, isn't he… isn't he… with his hair."
Looking at Bargo, he was waiting for an answer, and Bargo had figured it out as well.
"The talented young warrior, who uses Demonic Techniques but resides in the Dark
Faction, and with the trait of white hair, I think you're right, he has to be the White
Dragon," Bargo answered.
Chapter 511 Stop The Chalice
Chapter 511 Stop The Chalice
A single person had managed to defeat a room full of middle-stage warriors belonging to
one of the top clans in the Dark Faction.
If one were to tell them that they were an initial stage warrior themselves, then no one
would believe it, but those there knew that it was true.
Seeing how it was all done, Bargo and Ivor had assumed it could only be one person. Bargo
heard more direct tales from his own leader about what had occurred that day with the
White Dragon.
The tale that he had heard, how the person used the descending steps, it matched up with
the appearance, and it was the only thing he could think of.
"I never thought magic and Pagna skills could be so strong. I know there have been some
warriors in the past that have caused trouble using both." Himmy commented.
Himmy was limited to his knowledge that he had learned through Alter, and it was the
same for Charlotte. To both of them, they could only assume that Raze had a mana core.
And he was using that to supplement the Qi in his body to produce Pagna skills, so just like
others, they could only use Magic or Qi at once, but not both skills at the same time.
Yet Charlotte had seen magic being used at the hilt of the sword. She wasn't sure if any Qi
was used or not, since she wasn't a user of Qi herself.
"It looks like you managed to recruit a mighty member to our group this time." Anna
commented as she walked past. "The others might get jealous if they learn of his strength."
"Right, and if Alter learns of his strength, he might even be in charge of his own team in no
time. If only he held a better position in the Pagna world."
Himmy's comment was related to many captains' positions in the world of Pagna. There
were those that were skilled at completing missions from around the continent, like Himmy
and Marcus.
Then there were captains of teams that held high positions in the world of Pagna. These
could be leaders of merchants, mercenaries' guilds, and more.
Strength alone wasn't enough for Alter to consider one for a promotion; they had to prove
their worth, and with Raze's strength, if he was in a high position, they would no doubt give
him a higher position in the organization.
Little did they know he was already part of the infamous Clan the Crimson Crane, or the
fiance of Raya from the Netherall Clan.
Both of these positions would have already been high enough for him if they were to be
made aware of these matters.
Sheathing his sword, Raze knew there was something else that they needed to deal with
and sort, and that was the mage and the Chalice.
Just then, one of the clan members that were strong rolled over.
"You guys were too late." The man said with his last breath.
All three gems on the Chalice had been lit up for a while now, and the whole thing was
starting to glow.
'That Chalice, the time is activating! I'm worried what's to come because that Item looks
extremely similar to the Chalice that I have, and if it can do similar to what mine is capable
of, then we are all in trouble!'
Swinging his sword, Raze felt like he had no choice. He knew they wanted to save the Alter
member, but if there was a chance to stop what was happening by killing the one in front of
them, then it was worth it.
Swinging his sword, a Crimson slash was released from it. It flew through the air and was
heading right for the young man in the chair.
As the attack got closer, the young man opened his eyes, and he was glowing bright light of
faint blue. It was the same color as the Chalice.
The attack was stopped and completely disintegrated in front of him, and the Chalice was
lifted into the air as it started to vibrate.
The whole of the young mage's body started to shake more and more, and his body was
lighting up.
'This is too dangerous, a large amount of magic is being filled into this room!'
In order to protect himself, Raze switched from his uniform to the trusted Blazer that gave
him at least some level of protection.
Right then, the glow exploded from the man. A bright white light encased the whole room.
The wave of power had hit the others like Ivor and Bargo first.
They were swept off their feet and flew into the walls of the room.
The same happened with the others including Anna, Himmy, and Charlotte. The blue
energy had hit them all, and although not powerful when the light started to fade, every
single one of them was passed out on the spot, lying there on the floor.
Now in the center of the room, the young man, with parted black hair and green-colored
eyes, was standing.
The wounds that were on his body from being tied up, and possibly tortured, all seemed to
disappear, and the radiant energy that was coming off him was still shining bright.
Slowly the energy surrounding his body started to fade away more and more.
"I have descended, it seems like I was forced to descend, and I'm not even in a body of my
own," The man spoke. "At least they have forced me into the body of a young one.
"And my powers, it seems like they are slowly coming into this new body. Will I be able to
have the same type of power as I have up there?"
The man in the center looked around the room. He could see the bodies of the dead all over.
What they had done to get him to where he was.
While looking around the entire place, the man's gaze set on a single individual that was on
the ground. The individual was slowly lifting up his upper body, seemingly in pain.
"You're still awake?" The man said. "A large amount of my power was unleashed when I
descended. The power is too much for mere mortals to take, so how were you able to take
it?"
The man was walking, and he was walking towards none other than Raze himself.
Raze on the ground was staring at the being in front of him. Surrounding his body, it no
longer felt like mana; this more so felt like Qi.
If Raze's guess was right, his worst fears had just come true, and the Lethal Bite Clan had
successfully managed to summon a Divine being.
In this situation, what was Raze meant to do? He couldn't imagine himself beating the top
of the middle stage warriors, never mind a Divine being.
'There might be a chance though, he was speaking about not being at full power yet… is it
possible could I best him?'
"What was it that protected you from the Divine Qi?" The man continued as he walked
forward and then stopped looking straight ahead.
"Oh now I see, it wasn't your own Qi that protected you. That blooded woman, did she
escape down to here as well after losing that fight?"
Chapter 512 A Divine Warrior
Chapter 512 A Divine Warrior
There was one thing that Raze was certain of: the person in front of him right now was not
the mage from the Alter group.
If anything, he would be surprised if the one in front of him knew any magic at all. The
ultimate question was rolling in his head: was this a Divine being in front of him?
'It's quite clear the body has been taken over by someone, and that someone seems to
know the blooded woman is attached to me by its words.
'How does it know the blooded woman? Are these two from the same place? Is the blooded
woman actually someone from the Divine Realm as well, then?' Raze started to think.
"Haha, it seems you don't know much, and yet someone has tried to attach to you and has
failed," the man continued to laugh.
Everyone in the room was still passed out by the strange power that had entered. So the
only ones aware of the conversation that was happening right now were Raze and the
person in front of him.
"I can't help but feel sorry for you. As you can see here where I am currently, I have
complete control, although my full power isn't here yet. I wonder though, what exactly
happened in this room, and why I have been summoned," the man casually looked around
the room.
Right now, Raze felt like he had to be careful. One wrong word, saying something to upset
this person and he could lose his life, and for real this time. There would be no second
chance like he had experienced.
"Are you planning to take my life?" Raze said, not a shiver in his voice. Although he wanted
to live now, he had expected long ago that at any point and time there was a chance that he
could pass.
"We have successfully summoned you here, completed the task for you. Don't you think as
a reward letting us go free might be acceptable?"
It was a clear lie; Raze wasn't the one who summoned him, but how would the person in
front of him know any better? Since he was the only one that could speak, he could say
whatever it was that he wished.
"You are right, I do owe you for bringing me into this realm without much trouble. It's been
a very, very long time since I have visited the world of Pagna, I would like to explore and
see what has changed," the man said as he walked past Raze, saying nothing else.
The tense situation that Raze was in seemed to be over. For a moment, he thought about
maybe using his own chalice to summon a Divine Warrior to try and help him, but just
because one was summoned didn't mean they would listen to you.
That's when the sound of the footsteps had stopped, and the man turned around.
"I think we might be meeting again in the future, so I believe I should give you my name. It's
Mosak, and may you be kind enough to give me the name of my savior," Mosak asked.
Raze wasn't so sure if he should give him his real name or something else. At this point and
time, he had decided to somewhat not lie as he gave his answer.
"People know me as the White Dragon," Raze answered.
Almost immediately, Mosak's face turned red.
"I can't believe you were able to say those words with a straight face, but very well, White
Dragon, I look forward to meeting you again, that is if you're still alive," Mosak continued to
walk and left the room. As he did, the dense heavy feeling that covered the entire area was
being lifted. The energy wasn't like anything he felt before.
It wasn't like Mana, it wasn't like Qi. It was so suppressing that Raze thought he would be in
the same state as others if he wasn't being protected.
'Was it really the bloody woman that was protecting me, or is it that Blazer that I wore?'
Seeing the situation as it was, Raze changed back to his Lethal Bite Clan uniform, but he
kept the ghost blade by his side this time.
Eventually, since the person had left the room, everyone's eyes who were still alive started
to open. They could feel a great pain in their heads as they slowly got up to their feet.
"What happened?" Himmy asked. "Where is… where is he?"
Himmy was looking at the empty chair. He thought Raze might have killed him, but then
surely there should have been a body yet there was nothing.
"We were unsuccessful in stopping them," Raze answered. "It seems whatever it was that
they were planning it managed to work. The person from Alter, now is someone else
completely."
There were only a few words but Himmy and Charlotte were able to decipher what was
being said, but the same couldn't be said for Bargo and Ivor who were getting up as well.
"What were they trying to do with that person? What was it that they were successful
about?" Ivor asked. "You guys should tell me at least; it's my clan that is involved in this."
Seeing Ivor's hot temper, Bargo pulled him away.
"I don't think it's best you speak like that now," Bargo said. "We are not in the position to
say such things, and our lives could very well be in their hands."
Himmy knew what the normal thing to do in this situation was; it was to get rid of those
who had seen them act and use magic. It was clear now that Raze and Anna weren't part of
the Lethal Bite Clan.
"I have something else to inform you on as well," Raze stated. "I'll be honest, I'm not sure if
this matter is related to the deaths that were occurring or not. Or at least not directly
related.
"I believe that the Lethal Bite Clan must have found some use of those from Alter and got
rid of them all, leaving one of them alive to pull them into this situation.
"It might be pure coincidence that they were investigating something in this city when all of
it occurred to them."
"You're right about that," Himmy replied, with his finger on his chin. "So what you're saying
is, there is still more that needs to be done, we need to find more information, more
evidence to build a larger case profile."
"Right, but if what has occurred really has occurred I don't think it's a good idea for us to
poke the Lethal Bite Clan," Anna mentioned. "A person of great strength would be able to
eliminate all of us."
"I'm not too sure if that person will help the Lethal Bite Clan," Raze replied. "From the way
they were speaking, it didn't seem to be the case."
"Yes, but you can't say for certain, right?" Anna replied, looking directly at Raze. "You can't
say with a hundred percent certainty that person won't help them."
It almost seemed as if Anna was still hinting at something.
'Could she be trying to… no, that can't be right.'
Either way, Raze decided to say what was on his mind anyway.
"I guess since we are unsure, maybe there is still a use for these two, as they are members
of the Lethal Bite Clan."
Right now, Himmy knew what Raze was suggesting but was wondering what was on his
mind, because there was a certain look in Raze's eyes.
'The Lethal Bite Clan has been a pain for a long time. Their clan head and even now they
have put me in situations where I have been close to death. It's time to get rid of them
permanently, delivering a big blow to the Dark Faction,' Raze thought.
Chapter 513 Turmoil in the Lethal bite Clan
Chapter 513 Turmoil in the Lethal bite Clan
Niang was in his office in the west wing of the grand building. It was his safe hold in a way,
as he had managed to gather many of his supporters within the clan from the east wing.
There were multiple ways he had brought them over to his side, through favors, bribery,
and he had even resorted to blackmail. Niang was confident that there wasn't an area of the
clan where he didn't have his ears and eyes.
It was why he knew about the plan that Harbour, Feebie's brother had suggested with the
wanderers and why he had the hard numbers. Now all he had to do was wait.
"The tricky part in all of this is we don't know who is going to be summoned. I'm certain
that the plan will go well, but who will be drawn to the tool, the whole thing is a different
story. Either way, I have multiple ways to convince them if it comes to it." Niang was
smirking to himself.
A knock was heard from the outside, and after Niang allowed the other to enter, the door
was slid. A member of the Lethal Bite Clan gave a polite bow while also checking over his
shoulder before delivering the news.
"I'm sorry, sir, but it appears those at the stone estate have failed!"
Niang's mouth was left wide open. If he had something in it, it would have dropped onto the
table in front of him. Soon the shock had been replaced by anger.
"But how, how is this possible, was there something wrong with the item?" Niang asked.
"Speak properly and clearly, and don't spare a single detail unless you want your whole
family to be punished."
The man quickly got on his knees and bowed until his head touched the floor.
"I have confirmed the matter multiple times before coming here, sir. I'm not sure about the
item itself, as it's no longer there, but when one of our men went to check up on the
situation, he found all of the warriors involved dead!"
This time, Niang's eyes widened.
"Dead, so they were killed! Was it the guards? I know that Harbour had sent the new
recruits to deal with the situation, but it couldn't have been them. They were the strongest
middle-stage warriors the clan had to offer."
"They couldn't have been killed just by some random people that had been chosen through
an assessment. Maybe…"
A dreaded fear had taken over Niang. Perhaps if the item was missing, then maybe it was a
success, and as for the deaths of the others, it was due to the Divine warrior summoned.
If it was a cruel Divine warrior that didn't care for the world, perhaps it just killed those in
front of them and went on its own way.
However, what Niang didn't realize was that there was more left for him to say.
"It certainly seems that may be the case," the warrior continued to explain. "Bargo, and the
head of one of the barracks, Ivor, both have come back from the expedition. Although they
were unable to save the one that had been kidnapped, they are alive and well."
This had just thrown Niang's most likely theory out of the window. "That still makes no
sense, I know that Bargo is the Vice-head, but even he wouldn't have been able to go up
against them all. Could it be, could Harbour have possibly predicted what I had planned,
and had sent stronger men?"
It was troubling for Niang; the whole thing was because now he was in an unlikely position
to become the head of the Clan. Not only did he have no proof of being able to call a Divine
one down, Harbour had gathered evidence of his plan working since the mission was
somewhat a success.
"I guess that means it leaves me no choice." Niang placed both of his hands together in front
of him, hiding his facial expression and then raised his eyes just above. "It seems we have to
go to our backup plan. Drastic measures call for this."
"We should also look into Bargo and Ivor, maybe Bargo won't tell us much but Ivor
certainly will."
The man stood up from his position and gave a slight nod.
"Should I inform everyone to move onto the next plan?"
"This is an important matter, so I will do it myself." Niang said as he got out of his seat and
headed for the exit.
The main base of the Lethal Bite Clan was large, with multiple doors and areas where
different departments would work. What he needed to do before making his move was
make sure that everyone was aware.
Then when they arrived at the meeting table, the Elders that even supported Harbour
would have a hard time doing so.
'I don't know what trick you used to defeat my warriors, but I will use what you think is a
win completely against you and turn your whole world upside down. I will get the position
that I deserved.'
While the two of them were walking down one of the hallways, another warrior was also
walking down the hallway, in the same clothing as the other Lethal Bite Clan members.
As the man drew closer, Niang stopped in his steps along with his fellow clan member.
"Your face is not one I have seen before." Niang said. "I know all the servants and members
that visit the east wing. No clan member would just freely wander around these areas, state
your reason for being here."
The clan member on the other end didn't reply. Instead, his shoulders started to shake.
"Is… everything okay?" Niang's assistant asked.
"Is everything okay? No, it's not okay, it's not okay until you're dead!" The man shouted and
charged forward with a dagger in his hand.
A mass amount of Qi was launched as the man had pounced from his foot.
Niang's assistant had never thought such a thing would occur. One they were in the base,
and second this was a member of the Lethal Bite Clan.
No one would willingly betray the clan or target a higher member unless they had already
forfeited their life.
Judging by the person's skill, they were quite talented as well. The assistant was unable to
react as his shoulder was grabbed and he was pushed to the side.
Right then, the dagger had pierced right through Niang's heart. It was sharp. The man had
felt it go through his skin with relative ease as if there was no Qi resistance at all.
"I did it." The man said with a face full of tears. He pulled out the dagger from Niang's chest.
As he did, he stepped back and could see the blade full of blood.
He continued to move back and saw it dripping from Niang.
"Has that made you happy?" Niang asked. "Did you do this for some stupid reason such as
revenge? Trying to take out a clan member that has so much more important things to do in
this world!"
As Niang shouted, the wound on his chest, the skin started to heal up, and it was the same
with his heart. The dagger had reached his heart, but the insides of Niang were starting to
form back to what they once were as well.
"You mere mortal!" Niang said as he drew a small sword from his side and pointed it
toward the attacker. "You are dealing with a god. Did you ever think you could harm me?"
The sword lit up, bright white light of energy and shot out, hitting the man right through
the chest. A large hole appeared, and the man instantly fell to the floor dead.
Chapter 514 A New Leader Is Decided
Chapter 514 A New Leader Is Decided
A day had passed since the last meeting between the main members in the Lethal Bite Clan.
Usually, large meetings like so were infrequent within the clan, but due to the current
situation of having no leader, time was short for them.
A telling sign was the fact that Bargo from the Moon Shield Clan had been sent. Everyone
was gathering in the room, and the one in charge of the meeting was Elder Conner, who had
been part of the Lethal Bite Clan the longest.
He looked as he witnessed Niang sitting on one side. As he had entered, a couple of
ministers of the Clan as well as another Elder were seated relatively close to him. Conner
noticed the smile on his face.
'He seems quite confident. I assume that he has some evidence or he managed to
successfully summon one from the Divine realm. That is quite an impressive feat in itself,'
Conner thought.
Those in the Divine realm were able to come down to the Pagna world anyway. It was just
that their powers were limited. To them, at the lower realm, it felt stifling. To not be able to
use their full power, none of them wanted to stay in Pagna for long.
Equally, when Conner looked at the other side, he was expecting Harbour to come with a
disappointed look on his face, but instead, he had walked in rather confidently as well.
It was unexpected. If both parties had produced results, and the vote was a tie again,
Conner didn't know what to do, since it was worse for the clan the longer this went on.
The sides were fragmented, and even the regular clan members were starting to get into
scuffles as they were divided.
"Does anyone know where Bargo currently is?" Conner asked.
Each looked at each other with strange looks until Harbour eventually answered.
"Bargo did stay at one of the barracks; he said he would meet us here at the base though.
Has anyone seen him?" Harbour asked.
The question had no answers. Giving out a big sigh, Conner thought there was no need to
waste time. Hopefully, Bargo would no longer need a reason to stay here after they were
done today.
"Very well, we shall continue the meeting from where we left off last time. I expect
everyone here to listen well as they cast their vote. Harbour, since you are already
standing, please continue ahead with the results that you have produced."
Clearing his throat, Harbour was confident as he answered.
"Our careful curation of Wanderers as well as talented individuals in the city and around it
has been successful.
"We have made sure that our assessments are done in a fair way to curate the most
talented of warriors. Recently, a team of newly recruited individuals had been tasked with
a mission, a rescue of someone who was kidnapped within our walls."
"Although they were new to the clan, many of them sacrificed their lives as they fought
extremely hard against the enemy. In total, three survivors out of eight that were sent had
come back."
"This is just one instance of the future of what the Lethal Bite Clan can be and how it won't
disrupt the current flow of the clan."
Sitting back down in his seat, Harbour was confident in his results but more so, he was
confident in the lack of results that would appear on Niang's end.
Summoning a Divine warrior, even if successful, he imagined it would cause more problems
for them than good.
"I see, I see, well Niang, we all heard your theory from last time. I hope you have been able
to produce some results that you will be able to show us all?" Conner asked.
This time, Niang had stood up and gave a respectful bow to all of the elders in the room.
"I have not been able to deliver on my plan," Niang answered.
There were large smiles on Harbour and his group's side as this was great news for them
all.
"However, I believe that the situation of who should be leading the clan no longer needs to
be brought into question. For the one that you know as Harbour has committed treason."
The eyeballs of everyone at the table had expanded wide, nearly popping out of their heads,
and instantly Harbour stood up on his two feet.
"Lies, you are spouting nothing but lies!" Harbour shouted. "You should know that it is a
great offense to accuse someone of my status of such things, and it means immediate
expulsion from the clan."
"Exactly, this is why you should know that my words are not lies at all," Niang answered as
he looked to his side and nodded.
The man next to his side stood up and pulled out a scroll.
"Huyng Fai, Tonar Sen, Kilfele Don," the man read out several names one after the other,
and all of those in the room knew the names well.
That was because they were a force of strong middle-stage warriors that the Lethal Bite
Clan had been curating for a while now. It was the core of their strength.
"All of these individuals have been found dead inside the Stone Manor."
Great shock and gasps were heard around the room. What had just occurred seemed
impossible; how could so many great warriors from their clan perish just like that?
"Evidence has been gathered, and their bodies have been brought back from the manor. A
mission request had been brought to our attention from the special group known as Alter."
"At the time, Harbour had used his power to force his newly assembled members to take on
the mission. I was worried about the task and had ordered the warriors to follow them. The
task was handed to us by Alter after all, and as the previous clan heads have told us, we
should always treat those from Alter well."
"They reported back that along with the special group, Bargo, as well as Ivor the Barracks
leader, were sent along with them. Even though the report that Harbour had sent forward
didn't show these things at all."
Harbour clicked his tongue as he heard this. He had learned to forge this from Ivor when he
had come back and had told him to stay silent about it. Otherwise, it would diminish the
results he had produced.
But how did Niang know all of this as well?
"Not only that, but a call was recorded from Harbour that was delivered to Niang, that they
were to do anything that was possible to make this mission a success."
"I have received a report that they had successfully gotten rid of the kidnappers; their
bodies have also been brought back. However, the warriors had been found out.
"They had seen that it wasn't due to the Wanderers that this task was a success; it was due
to the Moon Shield Clan along with Bargo."
Loud gasps were further heard, and Harbour was worrying now; if the story went on, they
would all fall for Niang's words. Everything he was saying was just a story made up on the
spot, with some truths mixed in.
But these were the stories that were the most truthful.
"Where's the proof!" Harbour asked, with a tightened fist.
"Not just anyone could have defeated our clan's middle-stage warriors. The facts that I can
prove are that Bargo went along with your Wanderer team.
"Our middle-stage warriors are dead. It's simple to come up with a conclusion. In order to
get those on your side, you are working with the Moon Shield clan."
"Bargo had brought powerful warriors along with him on the mission to make sure it was
successful just as you ordered. And in doing so, completed the mission.
"This is treason!"
Conner sat down shaking his head; he could see that Harbour wanted to argue back, and he
was sure Niang had proof to back up what he had said so far.
But he also gathered what was just filling in the gaps and conjecture.
"As of right now, it seems that Bargo, who was sent from the Moon Shield clan, is missing.
This does make it seem rather guilty that he has suddenly disappeared, and you confirmed
to us that you knew he had arrived," Conner added.
"Whether you are guilty or not is another matter; what we need is to stay strong. We need a
leader that we can trust. With the information we have, this might not seem fair to you,
Harbour, but we should cast a vote!"
Conner had declared it; right there and then, a vote needed to be cast, and hands were
raised first for Harbour, and there were far fewer than last time. Some had even raised
their hand then placed it down after seeing that they had already lost.
Harbour was clenching his fists. How could those who were loyal to him be swayed by
conjecture? He had been working hard for the clan for a long time in his sister's place, and
just a few words to defame him led to this?
"Then it is quite clear that the next current head of the clan will be Niang. However, I will
also make it clear that for now, this is a temporary position. If more proof is provided from
Harbour's side, then we shall have another voting across us all," Conner stated.
However, Niang's devious smile still hadn't gone off his face.
'Did you think that was all I had? I make sure that no matter what, I always win against my
opponent, no matter who they are. It's time to take over the clan, and you shall learn that
you should have just given me this position in the first place!'
Chapter 515 Losing Everything
Chapter 515 Losing Everything
Niang knew the higher-ups of the Lethal Bite Clan were fickle. They had been in a fickle
state for a while, but Niang had given them hope in a couple of ways.
For one, the team of middle-stage warriors was curated by him and his supporters. It was
something he had up his sleeve for a while since he had been planning to take over the
group even when Feebie was in charge.
However, Feebie and Royo were too great forces that were even more powerful and
influential than his team of middle-stage warriors.
The influence was so great that there were still many that supported Harbour even after
the passing of the two. But that was because in the mind of the Lethal Bite Clan, whoever
was the leader, the team of middle-stage warriors would still belong to the Clan.
They still had some strength left in the clan, and now at a meeting of all sorts, that strength
of the clan had been taken away. A seed was planted in their minds that it had been taken
away by Harbour.
It didn't matter if they thought it was true or not; all they needed was the doubt. With that
in mind, now what could they latch onto? Hiring wanderers into the clan that had great
strength?
This was something that was quite sickening to the older generation of the clan. Something
that they didn't like in the first place.
It was okay with them as long as the true power was still held with those brought up by the
clan, but would that be the case now?
If that were to happen, they would rather increase the strength further and go ahead with
Niang's plan of trying to call a Divine warrior to them.
That was how stubborn the clan members were and how fickle their loyalty was as well.
The vote was cast, and Niang had gotten what he wanted, somewhat.
As long as Harbour still had some power, there was always the chance of bouncing back,
and now it was time for his final part of the plan to play out.
On the side where Harbour was, one of the ministers who had put his hand up to vote for
Harbour had raised his hand and stood up.
"I have something to say on this matter as well," the minister of one of the districts within
the city claimed. "I did not want to speak of this before, but I can confirm that Harbour did
indeed work with those from the Moon Shield clan. He had colluded with them. I have a
written order from him to allow them into the city discreetly."
Immediately, Harbour's eyes had gone red.
"Baronor! Why would you say such a thing? Why would you make up lies right now of all
things!" Harbour claimed.
"Let him speak!" Connor shouted and bashed the table. He too was furious because the
evidence and claims were stacking up against Harbour.
As someone who had been in the clan for the longest of times, the one thing he couldn't
stand was treacherous behavior.
"Yes sir, I have the documents to prove this fact as well. I didn't speak before because I was
afraid that Harbour would be elected. If he was the leader, then he would punish me for
speaking out against him. I was afraid for my own life!"
Right there and then, another one of Harbour's supporters stood up, raising their hand as
well, and when he opened his mouth, the sudden noise drowned out all around Harbour.
He didn't understand what was happening. Why would those that had just supported him
speak out against him? Why would they suddenly say all of these lies?
His head was swirling as he could see the vicious looks all around him. He was starting to
feel ill as his whole body was covered in sweat, and finally, after a lot of speaking, reports,
and a few hours had passed, a decision had been made.
"It has been decided," Connor stated. "That Harbour has been expelled from the Clan and
will no longer have any rank. He is demoted to a citizen of the city.
"At the same time, due to his efforts, the treason committed by him means that every
relation to Harbour will be culled. They are to be executed, but due to your family history,
we will offer them the chance to commit suicide!"
Harbour's head continued to twirl and spin, it did so more and more.
"My family… my wife… and child… you were to get rid of them as well?" Harbour then
looked up at Niang. "Getting the position from me wasn't enough for you… you had to take
everything away from me, didn't you, didn't you!"
Harbour climbed on top of the table and launched himself right at Niang, but before he
could make it across, many of the Elders as well as the rest of the clan had subdued him,
pinning him to the table.
———
Himmy, Charlotte, Anna, and Raze were all enjoying a drink at a local establishment. The
night sky was out, covering the city, and it had nearly been two whole days since the events
at the Stone Manor.
After completing the task, they had sent Ivor, the no-name man, as well as Bargo back to
the barracks to report and continue as they had been doing.
They were to be reported as dead. This would allow them to move freer in the city, and
they were hoping they would get an updated report on the matter from the others.
"I went to the barracks earlier, and it seems the place is full of warriors," Anna commented.
"That might explain why they didn't meet with us yesterday," Himmy said, taking in a big
gulp of his beer and wiping the foam away from his mouth.
"Do you think they've been captured then? What should we do then? Won't they be
tortured to speak, and what if they find out that we're alive as well?" Charlotte asked.
It was something for all of them to think about, but from what they had found out, it was
unlikely that they would meet up with the others for their meeting tonight.
While waiting patiently, the door to the inn was opened rather loudly as the door slammed
open. Standing right there was a man with ruffled clothing who was constantly hiccuping as
he had entered the room.
His face was a little red.
"Kick me out… kick me out… What do they mean, kick me out?" The man said as he
stumbled to the bar.
He had caught everyone's attention, and some of those around were whispering about him
because he was someone that they had recognized.
Who wouldn't recognize one of the top officials of the Lethal Bite Clan, Harbour?
As he stumbled his way, he had found himself at a seat right at the bar.
"Drink please!" Harbour asked.
"You're a mess, man," the barman replied. "But it's my policy to not turn away customers
until they're passed out, and then they get chucked on the sidewalk. As for you though,
Coin, give me some coin!"
Harbour started to search his pockets as his body continued to sway, and he was
hiccupping away, but he was unable to find anything.
"I promise, I'll pay you, just give me a drink," Harbour asked.
"Sorry, no coin, no drink, no matter who you are."
Among the people, the news had spread that Harbour was no longer a member of the clan.
He was a common citizen, so things such as disrespect didn't matter.
Although they would usually still be careful since he was a talented warrior, but in this
state, maybe a toddler could even push him over.
"Please," Harbour asked again, his voice cracking. "Please… I have to… I have to… I can't… I
need to forget." Tears were rolling down his face, part of his shirt was already soaked. He
had broken down a few times already before.
The barman was about to shout back at Harbour, until a person next to him appeared,
placing a couple of silver coins on the table.
"I'll pay for the rest of his drinks for the night."
Himmy was looking at the bar, and he was wondering when did Raze leave his seat and go
over, and why would he go over for a stranger.
At that point, Raze sat next to the man and took a drink, and the two of them drank away.
"Thank you, stranger… I… I need to forget… I just need to… heal the pain a little bit,"
Harbour answered. "I know it's stupid, but this is the only thing I can do."
As drinks went on, Raze didn't say much, but Harbour couldn't hold in his feelings as he
went into a trail of mumbles.
"Why… why did they have to kill them… why couldn't they have killed me… my wife… my
son… all of it!" Harbour started to break down.
Eventually, Harbour had ordered another drink, and when he did, he looked to his right and
the black-haired man sitting next to him.
"Why are you buying me drinks… Do you know who I am? Because right now, it's useless. I
don't have the power to help anyone," Harbour stated.
"Why did I buy you your drinks? I noticed when you came in," Raze answered. "The look in
your eyes, I know them well; you are a man that has lost everything, yet is in no power to
do anything about it."
"That look, the way you are acting now and feeling now, I know very well how you feel,"
Raze answered.
Hearing those words, Harbour let his forehead fall to the table, and the tears from his eyes
dropped to the floor.
"That damned clan is now in Niang's hand! I would rather have the whole Lethal Bite Clan
destroyed than be in the hands of that man! If there was one wish I could have granted,
with everyone who betrayed me, who didn't believe my words, I would want it all
destroyed to the ground!" Harbour claimed.
Raze thought back to the situation he was in. At the time, he had felt the same way. He
wished for someone to give out a hand and reach to him. Even if it was the stranger or the
devil himself.
However, it never happened, nothing happened no longer how long he waited, so he
needed to get up and do it himself.
"Very well," Raze said, thinking about the time he was in the same situation. Back then,
what were the words that he wanted to hear most? After that, he got up from his seat, and
said the words he wanted to hear, "I'll do it, Your wish will be granted."
Chapter 516 A Reason To Attack (Part 1)
Chapter 516 A Reason To Attack (Part 1)
When Raze got up from his seat and started to walk away, it was only then that Harbour
had somewhat realized what was being said.
"Grant my wish," he mumbled to himself, and then turned around to see the back of the
individual. He reached his hand and got to his feet. "Wait… what do you…?"
As soon as he got up to his feet, his whole world started to warp and spin. He could feel an
instant churn in his stomach, and as he took a step forward trying to move with the
spinning world, he had fallen onto the floor and passed out.
"Alright, that's it, to the streets with him!" The barman said, as if he was already expecting
it to happen.
Turning around, Raze walked over to the man, and the other members of the Alter group
had got up to head over to him.
Himmy looked to be talking to the barman, explaining that he would deal with it before
joining the rest of the group that had made a circle around the man on the ground.
"Do you know this guy or something?" Charlotte asked.
"No, I just thought he needed a drink to get his mind off things," Raze answered.
Anna was taking a deeper look at the side of his face that was visible, since the other half
was pressing into the ground, and she had some notes.
"Harbour Dines, he was practically the head of the city for the Lethal Bite Clan. Dealing with
Clan matters mostly when the Clan Head was away," Anna answered.
"Oh, so we managed to get our hands on quite an important figure then," Himmy raised an
eyebrow thinking they had gained a stroke of luck.
But those seated nearby had overheard them talking and worried about what might
happen to them had decided to speak up.
"It's not good news if you stay next to him, you know," the man said. "Harbour is not an
important figure anymore. I'm surprised you haven't heard; it's been spreading around
everywhere. Apparently, he betrayed the Clan, so they kicked him out and executed his
family."
"Well, allowed them to commit suicide," another added.
"Same difference," the man continued. "He is a target now of the entire Lethal Bite Clan. So
it would be best to stay away from him."
Hearing these words, it was at that moment that Himmy had picked him up off the ground
and placed him on his shoulder.
"Someone who has hate for the Clan that we're looking into, this will be of good use to us,"
Himmy patted Harbour on the back a few times and carried on walking.
The others in the Inn just shook their heads as they looked at the sight. Thinking that the
group of people must have thought they had nine lives to do such things.
Eventually, Himmy had brought Harbour back to the Inn that the group were staying at.
Since he was dragged behind Himmy's shoulder, the other guests as well as staff didn't
have a look at who was brought in.
Otherwise, they would have turned them away at the door. Once inside, they waited
patiently for Harbour to wake back up as they had a number of questions to ask.
"Don't you guys have a spell that can like cure him of the alcohol in his body?" Himmy
asked.
"There is one," Raze answered. "But I don't have Light Magic, so I'm unable to use it."
Because of that, all they could do was wait, and eventually, Harbour was coming to. He
lifted his hand to his head as it was still spinning slightly and pounding constantly.
"I think it would be best if you have a drink of water," Himmy said.
Looking to his side, Harbour took the drink and started to gulp it down, but after doing so,
he had a jolt.
"Wait a moment, who are you guys, you aren't from the Lethal Bite Clan, are you sent here
by Niang to kill me!" Harbour was backing up, his back hit the backboard of the bed and the
Qi was rising.
When looking at all of them though, he did remember one individual, the young man with
the black hair who bought his drink.
"You can relax, we are the group from Alter, and we were the ones that made a request to
save one of our own, but things seem to have gotten complicated," Himmy explained.
Harbour needed a few moments to get his head straight as he pressed his hand out. He
started to think; he remembered reading the report because he had sent the team out to do
such a job.
"I see… but if you are looking for information about what happened, I am afraid I can't help
you, I no longer have my position," Harbour said, his head sinking into his chest, and
memories of what had happened were surfacing again.
"We know, don't worry about that, which is why we wanted to speak to you," Anna added.
"We had tagged along with the mission. So we know what had happened.
"Three men should have returned known as Ivor, A no name, and Bargo. They were meant
to come back to report to us, but mission. So we know what had happened.
"Three men should have returned known as Ivor, A no name, nothing has occurred yet."
The Alter group were unaware that Harbour had lost his position due to the same mission
and what had happened in the group.
They thought they were separate matters, but Harbour did know, and he was wondering
what had occurred as well.
"You are waiting for a report… but all three of those that you are asking about, they are said
to be missing within the clan. It is said that they have run away, but my guess now is, most
likely Niang has captured them."
Judging from Harbour's words, Himmy had the same feeling, that these people were
captured for whatever reason.
The thing was, what did they do now? It wasn't as if these were people of Alter; it didn't
matter, and going into the base to try and find out more would be a risk.
"I have a question to ask," Raze said. "Are you aware of what your clan was trying to do,
summon a Divine warrior, and has a Divine warrior appeared at the clan?"
These words had shocked Harbour considerably. How did this group know so much? What
was going on? All of it was confusing.
"Wait… wait… I have a feeling that… our matters might be related, let me explain to you
what has been happening within the Lethal Bite Clan and what has happened to my
position."
Usually, Harbour wouldn't pour everything out to strangers, but he had never been in this
type of position before. He had already lost everything and had no one to talk to.
To explain himself of what had occurred or who to blame. The group listened to everything,
and they had quickly managed to put the pieces together.
How Niang was most likely behind the summoning of the Divine warrior, and how he had
used the opportunity of the death of the warriors to his advantage to take over the clan.
"As far as I'm aware though, Niang failed in trying to summon a Divine warrior," Harbour
answered.
This is what Raze was looking for, the only thing that had been troubling him, but now he
had nothing left to hold him back.
Chapter 517 A Reason To Attack (Part 2)
Chapter 517 A Reason To Attack (Part 2)
Raze certainly knew that the Divine warrior was successfully summoned. From his
conversation, though, he had suspected that he wasn't one to help the Lethal Bite Clan, and
now he had his suspicions confirmed.
There was no Divine warrior protecting them.
"I guess that solves that, there isn't much for us to do," Himmy said, sitting back down in his
seat.
"What do you mean, didn't your group say you were with the team at the time!" Harbour
shouted. "You can say that you saw no one from the Moon Shield Clan."
Himmy just laughed.
"Do you really think they will believe our word over those that are high up in your clan?
They will just suggest you told us to say such things."
"Our job is to run an investigation, and we have found out why the Alter group that
originally arrived here are dead, that's it. What did you expect us to do, to go into the Clan
and get revenge for you?"
Harbour clenched his fist; in some ways, he did think that, but what could these people in
front of him do? They weren't even warriors.
It wasn't as if they could take on the clan. The only thing they could do was try to back him
up with words and their words, but why would they believe them?
"Isn't there more to discover?" Charlotte asked. "I mean, the clan could be the reason
behind the other deaths in the other cities, but we still haven't discovered that yet."
For Charlotte, she felt a little guilty that the man in front of them had lost his whole life and
family due to their matters.
"Don't be so soft-hearted," Himmy replied. "We did what we needed to do to survive; those
men were only killed because we were trying to protect ourselves and one of our own!"
Himmy knew why Charlotte was saying these words; she had done this a few times on their
missions, and he had to reason with her.
Out of his anger though, he had let something slip that Harbour noticed.
"Wait, what are you saying, it was you, you were the ones? Were you the ones that defeated
the middle-stage warriors!" Harbour asked.
It sounded unbelievable, the group in front of him didn't seem anything special, and there
were so few of them. Only the top clans could do such a thing?
"We were," Anna answered before Himmy could even come up with an excuse for them.
"But it was only because the group of warriors had taken one of our Alter group to try and
summon this Divine warrior."
There was a lot of anger that was rising in Harbour, but it was diminishing as well. He
wanted to blame the group in front of him for everything that had happened.
For his family's death and his loss of position, but he soon realized that wasn't the case.
Niang had set everything up.
He was sure of it; if this didn't happen, then he had already prepared a number of ways for
him to receive the position of Head of the Clan.
Instead, he decided to think of things differently as he looked at the group in front of him.
"If you were able to take out the powerful Clan members, then can't you get rid of Niang, to
take out the Lethal Bite Clan!" The anger in Harbour was rising again.
The thought in his head, the last thing he could do in this world.
"Can you please grant me my wish; I'll give you whatever it is you want!"
Once again though, Himmy just let out a chuckle.
"I am sorry for your loss, and I mean that, but you are being deluded. What can you give us
in your position when you can't even afford a drink?"
"Eliminate a whole clan? We are not a Vendetta group, we are a group that helps deal with
missions that no one else can. This is not a mission we have been assigned nor is it one that
has any upside for us."
Clenching his fist, Harbour's knuckles had turned white, and he started to bite the bottom
of his lip trying to hold in his tears. Blood started to drip down onto his chin and onto his
sheets.
"Great, another thing I'm going to need to pay for," Himmy mumbled, looking at the blood.
"Can I ask you a question," Raze said in the middle of the silence and the sobs, when saying
these words he wasn't looking at Harbour though, he was looking at Himmy.
"We are allowed to act within our own means, outside of Alter, correct?" Raze asked.
"As long as it doesn't get in the way of our other missions and stay within the rules. You can
act as you wish in Pagna," Himmy answered.
"So… if I was to attack the Lethal Bite Clan, not as a part of Alter, would that be okay?"
Himmy for the first time in a while was left with his mouth open slightly. Attacking a whole
clan? As far as Himmy knew, no one in Alter was a part of the Lethal Bite Clan.
But had he ever heard someone in Alter say something as crazy as this, as attacking an
entire clan.
"I told this man that I would already grant his wish. If there is nothing stopping me, then I
will take out the clan. In the meantime, I will try and find out if they are really behind the
deaths," Raze answered.
There was only one thing that was somewhat holding Raze back, and that was the fact of
whether or not the Divine warrior was part of the Lethal Bite Clan.
Now that he had gotten his answer, taking out the clan would be helping him weaken the
Dark Faction.
"This is a big clan; there are countless numbers of middle-stage warriors. You could end up
getting killed," Himmy answered. "And if you fail, and someone sees you, you will be a
wanted person; this may cause Alter to be in a difficult position, and they might do
something about this."
"I'm not saying you can't, but you need to be aware of the risks."
Raze looked at his hand. A large number of middle-stage warriors. It was perfect for him; if
he used the extraction technique, then that could be just what he needed to finally reach
the middle stage that he had been stuck at for a while.
With his magic, he might just be strong enough to deal with the Academy Principal then.
"Very well then, I will help you achieve what you asked," Raze stated, looking Harbour in
the eye. "But I have to tell you, there will no longer be a Lethal Bite Clan for you to go back
to."
Wiping away his tears with the sleeve of his hand, Harbour was listening to every word
seriously. If someone before, while he was in the clan, said that they could eliminate the
Lethal Bite Clan, he would have called them a madman.
He couldn't call this person a madman right now because all of his hope was on this single
individual.
"I said this before, but right now, I would rather have the whole clan eliminated; they let
my whole family die after everything I did for them! The way it is now, I would rather there
be no clan!" Harbour shouted.
"Alright, let's get this done," Raze said as he walked towards the door. "And don't worry
there will be no one left alive to report this, so it won't bring us trouble."
Chapter 518 I'm A Mad Man
Chapter 518 I'm A Mad Man
Raze had gotten all the answers he needed, and he had even made the resolve to act before
all of this; now he was ready to get rid of one of the thorns in his side that had been
bothering him for a long time.
'Even after death, your whole clan has given me too many troubles, I need to pull the plant
out by its roots,' Raze thought to himself.
As his hand reached out to the door handle, Harbour, who was still coming around and
trying to figure things out, shouted out.
"Wait, are you heading there right now, in the morning while the sun is still out? What's
your plan, how are you going to take them out?" Harbour asked.
"That's for me to worry about." The door was then opened, and Harbour had immediately
got out of his bed, touching the side of his head.
"Then, I'm coming with you. If you're doing this whole thing just for my sake, then I should
at least come with you and do what I can," Harbour exclaimed.
It was naive of Harbour to think that Raze would do something solely for him. This man
was a stranger; if it weren't for the fact that it aligned with many of his goals, he wouldn't
be doing this at all.
"Fine, but you have no say in what I do or how I do it."
When Raze gave that answer, for a second, Charlotte looked at Himmy for a moment before
she had decided herself.
"Raze… I'll support you on this as well," Charlotte said. "You're going up against an entire
clan. Even if they're in a weakened state, it's going to be hard to do on your own."
"I know you're strong, but if I'm there, I still think I might be able to help you."
Charlotte, a mage who was older than Raze, for some reason, since meeting him, she had
been drawn to him and what he could do.
She wanted to see just how Raze exactly was going to pull this off. Right now, it was almost
as if she was about to witness a Grand Magus going into battle.
Mages would sell part of their soul to witness such a thing, and she had the same feeling
right now.
"Charlotte, how are you exactly meant to help him when you're not a warrior yourself?"
Himmy asked.
"Rules are meant to be broken, right? That's what you say at times," Charlotte answered.
Himmy let out a big sigh, feeling that his words were now being used against him. He took
out his weapon and placed it on the table.
"Look, I'm not like the rest of you. I have nothing special, so all I can do is investigate
matters and keep Alter from going after you guys if you cause a mess. I only have this
weapon, and I've got no bullets, so I'm practically useless."
"Just don't go dying on me."
Charlotte smiled in response, but then felt the presence of Anna coming up from behind
her.
"Are you joining up as well?" Himmy asked.
"If I had complete control of this task with no consequences, then from the beginning I
would have gone straight to the Lethal Bite Clan base and asked their leader for answers."
"These three, they all have a different goal on their mind. I will make sure we find out
whether or not the Clan is behind the other incidents."
For some reason, knowing that Anna was going with them as well settled Himmy's heart
slightly. He knew that she would save Charlotte if things got too bad.
"Alright then, I'm turning a blind eye to all of this. So you better get the job done, and if you
die, I'll go down to hell myself and kill you again for putting me in this position."
There were no more words to be said, and Raze had already left the room. Harbour
followed, and the other two had also decided to follow.
A small group of four was now heading to the Lethal Bite Clan.
'Raze, what makes you so confident that you can take on an entire clan yourself? I saw
some of your power… but are you even stronger than that? Just what happened to you?
Who are you? Is it possible that you are actually a Divine warrior yourself?'
'Perhaps the fact that you are a mage from Alterian was a lie in the first place, and the
deaths in your town were the same as what was happening here. Either way, Alter will
have an incredibly large interest in you after this.'
---
Walking through the stone city, Raze was just walking as if it was any other day, but he had
the large building in sight, above the grand staircase.
As they were getting closer and closer, Harbour, who was starting to sober up, was
continuously asking the same question.
"So what's the plan? How are we going to get into the base? Are we going to try to sneak in,
disguise ourselves as those from Alter asking for another mission, or are we going to try to
find out where Bargo and the other warriors are hidden?" Harbour asked.
Right now, the group was walking a straight path, and they could see the staircase in front
of them, along with two guards that stood by either end.
They were getting more and more worried that Raze was just going to walk in.
"Do you want me to tell you what I've learned about you Pagna warriors, especially those in
the higher clans?" Raze asked. "It's the fact that you are all arrogant and overestimate
yourselves."
"If we were to sneak in and attack the leader, once he started struggling, the whole clan
would come to save him."
"But if we attack from the front and get rid of you one by one, they'll think whoever
attacked from the front like so…" Stopping his speech there, Raze wiped his hand in front of
his face, and an iron mask appeared on him.
It was the same mask he had used when entering the dimension in the Demonic Faction to
hide his identity, an iron mask with his black hair. It was enough.
"They'll think I'm just a mad man," Raze answered.
Chapter 519 To The Middle Stage!
Chapter 519 To The Middle Stage!
"A madman?" Charlotte repeated, not too sure what Raze was getting at. In her missions,
she didn't deal with too many Pagna warriors in a confrontational way. She was more on
the support side, like when she had arrived at the same city when they had first met Raze.
Even the incident that followed after with the deaths of the warriors wasn't something she
was accustomed to.
"Hmm, a disguise. Should we have brought disguises as well?" Anna thought as she looked
at Raze.
They had now gotten too close to the staircase for the guards not to notice them; a group of
four walking was cause for concern to anybody.
In the meantime, Harbour hid behind the others, not wanting to show his face.
"Hey, don't come any closer, state your reason for—"
Before the man could even speak, Raze had dashed forward using one of the descending
steps and slashed his Ghost blade right through his throat, killing him in one hit.
He then moved to the other before they could react and stabbed them right through the
stomach, holding onto the back of their head and throwing the person to the ground behind
them.
Just like that, Raze had killed two of the guards, and he had started his fight against the
Lethal Bite Clan.
After dealing with the two of them, he started to make his way up the staircase, continuing
to head to the top.
"AHHH he just killed the Lethal Bite Clan guards!" one of the citizens that were in the
nearby square shouted.
"What is happening? Is someone attacking the Lethal Bite clan?"
"That's crazy, who would do such a thing, and in broad daylight!"
Raze continued to go up the stairs, and not knowing what else to do, the others had chosen
just to follow him, from behind.
Harbour, in particular, was looking at what Raze had done.
'The guards, they were just initial stage warriors. Even with my strength, I could have done
the same thing to them, but to do things with such conviction, with no worry and
hesitation?' Harbour thought. 'He almost has a stronger resolve than me, the person who
asked him to deal with the clan.'
'I have to ready myself; this is only the beginning and things will get a lot worse from here.'
The staircase was a long one, and due to the scene that Raze had caused from below, the
guards from the clan that were spread around the city had gotten word of what had
happened.
They had arrived at the scene, and could see the suspects moving up the stairs.
Immediately, they decided to run after them.
As one of them leapt up, Charlotte gathered both of her hands and thrust them forward.
The power of the wind pushed him in the center and caused the man to fall.
His body hit the stairs, and he was falling back down.
One of the warriors had dived forward thrusting the blade, but Anna had hit him by his
wrist so hard that he dropped the dagger onto the floor.
Right after that, she kicked the man in the chest. It was a powerful kick that sent the man
falling right down to the bottom of the stairs and crashing into the other guard members.
All of these people were easy for them to deal with because they were all initial stage
warriors.
As three more were running up, that's when Harbour had turned around to face them,
stretching out his hand, his fist covered in Qi, and he was unleashing it, revealing it behind
him.
For a moment, the men coming to attack had stopped as they were covered in sweat, and
realized who was in front of them.
"Today is the day the Lethal Bite Clan will fall," Harbour announced. "You guards, you only
do what you are told. A lot of you have no loyalty towards the clan."
"If you wish to live, then I suggest you turn around, otherwise you will have to face my fist."
Seeing who was in front of them and knowing full well what had occurred, they could only
imagine that this was revenge. Harbour was getting revenge on the clan for killing his
family and kicking him out of the clan.
"What do we do?" One of the guards asked. "We aren't strong enough to take him out!"
"But he's just a washed-up ex-member, he doesn't even have the strength to punish us
anymore! If we get rid of him, surely we will be promoted and rewarded with riches!"
One of the men was convinced by these words and thrust his sword. Harbour decided to
meet this head-on as he threw out a fist.
When his fist touched the sword, it started to shatter, breaking, and the fist continued
hitting the man right in the skull.
A crack was heard, and the man continued to tumble down the stairs; when he had fallen to
the very bottom, his body was unmoving.
He was dead.
"I have told you all my intentions… the Lethal Bite Clan will fall today, and anyone who still
claims to be a part of it… will perish," Harbour's words, his great strength, had convinced
the guards to back away.
No longer were they giving chase, and they were close to the top of the staircase.
Two guards had run out from the door well, and Raze had swung his sword, hitting their
swords, but the great strength of his Qi had pushed them off the sides, causing them to fall
as well.
Finally, they had reached the top platform, and they could see the building ahead of them. It
was far larger than they thought.
Almost like a castle with multiple winding rooms and different areas.
"Let's split up," Raze suggested. "You, look for Bargo and Ivor, as well as that no-name.
They might know more about this whole thing; we need them alive."
"I'm guessing you have a good idea where they might be, so guide them," Raze was
speaking to Harbour.
"Wait, you're going to go on your own, but I wanted to help you," Charlotte said.
"Splitting up and leading the people inside will help me," Raze answered. "When you're
done, just go to the place where you hear the most noise."
The others wanted to argue, but in the first place, this was Raze's idea to attack the way he
was attacking. It was clear he didn't want them with him.
The group nodded, and Harbour had a few words.
"Watch out if you meet Niang; he's a frail old man from the looks of things, but I have no
doubt he will have a few tricks up his sleeve.
"If you can, leave him alive so I can see him suffer myself," Harbour said.
"I can't promise," Raze answered.
With that, the three of them went off, trying to go around the side of the large building.
While Raze looked at the large door to the front entrance of the place and continued
walking forward.
'With them gone, I can fight with everything I have and use my Dark Magic, and I can
absorb as many people as I want… it's time to become a middle-stage warrior.'
Chapter 520 Take My Life
Chapter 520 Take My Life
There were several things that Raze kept note of while in the Pagna world, and one of them
was their lack of technology compared to other worlds. Rather than it being less advanced,
it almost felt like it was being limited on purpose.
There were communication devices, but they were limited to certain buildings or areas.
Which was why Raze knew another thing: by heading to the base and getting rid of anyone
who was there, they were unable to even be aware of what was going on. They lacked full
awareness, and he was going to use this to his advantage. His hand was placed on the large
thick doors in front of him.
Seeping out his Dark magic, it started to destroy everything it touched, including the lock
on the other side. Right after, he pushed the door open and he was led into the main
reception room.
"Huh, who are you?" One of the guards asked. A strong hit to the stomach caused the man
to bend over, and then lifting him by his head, Raze threw him into one of the other guards.
Soon after with his sword, he started to swing it widely all over the place.
The attacks didn't have the full strength of his Qi, but he was mostly using his wind magic
to supplement his attack. The attacks flying through the air had made rather bad cuts on
those next to him, making it hard for them to escape. While some of the attacks continued
on and had hit the walls, shaking the place. Grabbing onto one of the first men he had
injured, his body started to shrivel up, to the point where it was almost nothing but bones.
Letting go of the person, Raze could feel the energy being added to him.
"Even inside the base, most of them are 3rd stage warriors. Even absorbing the whole room
of guards isn't going to be enough," Raze thought.
In the middle of his thoughts, several doors from the left and right, the second floor burst
open, and more and more clan members were coming into the room. "I guess middle stage
warriors are still a rarity, even for a top clan, and most of them have already been hurt. I
guess I will just have to make do with what I can and see if the stronger ones come!"
Raze threw his hand out, and a spark of lightning had hit directly one of the warriors in
front of him. Due to the effect of his lightning affinity, it hit two more people next to him as
well, sending them on their backs. "Either way, getting to use my magic in a situation like
this will help me out."
Harbour was leading the way with the others; they had entered through a side door. Upon
entering, there were guards in this area as well. Even outside the door on the outer
platform. He was ready to deal with them, but before he could, Anna had shifted and taken
them out.
She had twisted their necks, snapping them on the spot, dealing with them silently. What
was odd for Harbour was the fact that he sensed no Qi at all when it was done.
"I could have taken them out, you know," Harbour said.
"Yes, but using your techniques would have caused quite a bit of commotion. In order to
complete our job with ease, it will be best we make as little noise as possible," Anna
answered.
Heading inside, Harbour had a good idea of where Bargo and the others would have been
kept. There was a temporary holding cell where clan members would be held before trial if
they were part of the clan. He hadn't visited the place because for one, he never expected
Bargo to be there in the first place, or for them to treat him the way they had done.
Second, one of his supporters was in charge of disciplining clan members and kept a record
of everyone who went in and out. If someone had come in, he would have been informed, or
at least he thought so. It turned out on the day they cast their vote to kick him out, Niang
had more people under his finger than he realized.
Heading inside the place, there were few guards; they had even seen some that were
running in a completely different direction heading towards something else. They assumed
that Raze was causing the chaos that he had promised. That was when they had finally
reached the red door.
"The red door that leads to the underground cellars is just up ahead. We have to be careful.
If these guards spot us, they will inform Niang straight away, or they might even kill those
that are held hostage," Harbour explained.
On the way there, Charlotte had picked up a sword from the ground and threw it forward.
When she had done so, the sword oddly went straight and wasn't dipping at all as it moved
through the air. The sword had pierced right through the side of one of the guard's throats
and continued to go forward, piercing the second one.
The sword had collected two men like it was some type of meat stick and eventually they
had fallen to the floor.
"What… was that?" Harbour blinked twice. It didn't seem like a Pagna technique. He had
been watching the orange-haired girl for a while, and she didn't seem to be using any Pagna
techniques he had seen. Then again, it was the same for both of the women he had been
traveling with.
When they got to the door, the door was locked by a mechanism on the other side. Harbour
was looking for some type of key that would be with the guards. However, Anna raised her
hand and pointed out her index finger. It started to change color, turning a bright red.
She pushed it forward, and it went through the door as if it was melting butter. She
continued and then shifted her hand upward, and a red line could be seen on the door.
Then with a small push, the door was open.
"Who… are you people?" Harbour had to ask since he had never seen such strange powers
before.
"You should know," Charlotte replied. "We are from Alter, and everything you see has to be
kept a secret, unless you want to die."
Harbour smiled as he started to descend down the stairs.
"If our task is completed and everyone is dealt with, then you can have my life," Harbour
answered.
Chapter 521 The Strongest In One Place
Chapter 521 The Strongest In One Place
At the end of his hand, Raze held onto the head of another warrior, his body shrinking in
front of him, until he had become nothing. Letting go, he dropped him onto the floor.
"That deals with all of them then," Raze said as he looked at the entire room.
There had to be around thirty or more who had come to attack him in the main reception.
His commotion had caused quite a bit of noise, and since he was in the clan's base, they had
a large number of members.
On the ground, every single warrior had been absorbed using his extraction technique. He
could feel their Qi being added to his, swirling around in his body.
'I used my Qi to fight more than my magic with these guys because the extraction
technique, when used, restores and adds to my own Qi,' Raze concluded. 'Using it allows me
to keep on fighting with next to no trouble at all, and I might need to save my mana because
I'm worried.'
Right now, Raze had decided rather than going left or right, he would head up one of the
two winding staircases that led to the second floor.
He walked past all of those he had defeated. 'Everyone I've fought against so far, not a
single one of them had posed any trouble. Were Feebie and the middle-class warriors at the
summoning ceremony the only strong ones in the clan? I refuse to believe that.'
Raze had reached the second floor, and there was a large hallway that led to the back of the
room. The hallway itself was decorated with a number of vases and paintings on the wall
with more doors to the left and right.
As he walked down, he didn't bother opening any of the doors; he just continued to head
forward.
'I refuse to believe that one of the top clans only has this much strength. They must be
somewhere, and my gut is telling me they're behind this door.'
Reaching the end of the hallway, Raze was now staring at a semi-oval large double white
door. The outside of the door itself had golden inlays. Out of all the doors he had seen in the
base so far, this one by far looked the most luxurious, which was why he was sure he had
hit a jackpot.
—— After Anna had successfully unlocked the red door to the underground cell, Harbour
rushed forward. For too long had the others done the work that he wished to do.
As he reached the bottom of the stairs, there were more members of the Lethal Bite Clan.
One he quickly shifted with a foot technique and then grabbed him by his chest.
He slammed him against the wall, knocking him out in an instant, and as for the other,
Harbour had quickly spun his body and hit one of the men's heads with the back of his fist.
It had caused the man's head to go flying, crashing into the bars, killing him almost
instantly.
Going back to the first person he had injured, he lifted his foot and stomped down, making
sure there would be no signs of life.
"These people, they are helping Niang. I have no mercy for them," Harbour said.
The holding cells were small, it was only one large cell room because they would only stay
here for a few days at most while waiting for trial, so it didn't take them long to find the
people they were looking for.
Anna went straight to one of the doors and lifted the metal bars, flinging them to the side.
All of them entered and could see three people sitting on the ground.
"Sir Harbour!" Ivor shouted out.
Bargo looked up at them, wincing in pain, with bandages covering his right side.
"There is no longer the need for you to call me sir. You have to explain what happened?"
Harbour asked.
"It was a trap!" Ivor shouted instantly. "We came here from the barracks to make the report
as we had been asked to directly. When we entered, we were told to wait in a room, and
then, Sir Niang had entered.
"He started to interrogate us, we reported everything as he did to you, and then he
imprisoned us here. Bargo tried to fight back, and this is the result."
"Are you saying Niang did this!" Harbour was a bit shocked.
The wound looked like a fairly bad one, but it wasn't just that. Bargo was from the Moon
Shield Clan, a clan that focused on defensive techniques.
From what he knew, Niang wasn't much of a fighter, he was just smart with his head, using
people around him, so how could he do such a thing in the first place.
"Wasn't there three of you?" Anna asked.
"That no-name… I don't know how, but he managed to escape before we even reached the
cells, so I have no clue where he went," Ivor answered.
"How did you get to us? You couldn't have possibly gone against the whole clan?" Bargo
asked as he was helped up to his feet.
They were well aware that they had most likely snuck in and needed to leave quickly.
"That's because of the young warrior named Raze. He is attacking them straight ahead and
is going for Niang; he has been causing quite the mess," Harbour answered.
Bargo thought as much, after remembering what he had done to those middle-stage
warriors beforehand. As to why they were here, he had no clue.
"Wait, did you say he was attacking them straight ahead… if he's after Niang, this could be
bad," Ivor commented. "Right now, the reason why there are so few guards is because
they're having the passing ceremony."
Everyone looked at each other as they had no idea what that was, all apart from Harbour.
"We need to hurry quickly and head to Raze now; he's in serious trouble!" Harbour said as
they rushed up the stairs.
"Wait, what is this passing Ceremony, why is it so dangerous?" Charlotte asked.
"The Ceremony's not dangerous; it's just the fact that the ceremony is taking place,"
Harbour answered. "It's the selection of a new clan head. They are officially making Niang
the clan head."
"Which means, right now, all of the Elders, the top members of the Lethal Bite Clan, have all
gathered in one place to congratulate Niang. The strongest people in the Lethal Bite Clan
will all be in one place."
—— At the same time, Raze had done the same as before and pushed the door open. In
front of him on the ground was a gold-clothed walkway. Bright light shot in from the glass
windows at the back, and on stage, he could see a few people standing.
However, inside the room, there were at least a hundred members standing on the left and
right side, all who had been looking at the stage.
As soon as they heard the door, though, they had turned around to see who had just rudely
interrupted such an important celebration.
"So this is where you all were," Raze said as he raised his sword in the air and held it with
both of his hands, turning his blade almost obsidian black.
Chapter 522 1 Vs 100
Chapter 522 1 Vs 100
As soon as Raze had opened the door, he could sense the gazes that were staring right back
at him. It was quite clear they saw him as an intruder, and in response to that, each one of
them was building up the Qi in their bodies, ready to strike.
Judging by the people he could see in the room and the strength that they all had, he was
sure that he was in the right place.
'Most of these guys in here are high stage initial warriors or at the middle stage. It looks
like I've come to the right place.'
Raze placed both hands on his Ghost blade above, and Dark magic started to encase the
sword, turning it obsidian black.
'While this group of people is distracted and unsure of what is going on, it's the best time to
attack!'
"Dark Edge Magic Sword Arts second formation, Eclipse Strike!" Raze swung his sword
down and activated his most powerful magic, his Dark magic.
The blow struck down on one half of the room. Some of the warriors tried to gather their Qi
to strike back; others tried to move out of the way, but the large attack was powerful. The
Qi, added with the magic, engulfed the entirety of one side of the room, even destroying the
walls behind it. The attack had continued on beyond the walls, and from the outside, people
were able to catch a glimpse of the attack in the air before it dissipated.
Raze placed the sword to his side and looked at the carnage he had caused. One half of the
grand room, the floor was completely destroyed, light was being let in now from the
destroyed walls. Most of all, though, a large chunk, at least one third of the warriors that
were in the room, were no longer present.
"Who is that man!" Niang shouted from the stage, looking down, as he heard the elders, the
minister, and the high officials by his side.
Just moments ago, he had received the title as Head of the Clan, and now he was officially
the head, but a stranger had come in and attacked on the first day.
"All members of the Lethal Bite Clan, eliminate him!" Niang ordered with every bone in his
body shaking in anger.
Raze readied himself as he watched the warriors come right at him; one of his hands was
starting to spark, while Qi was being gathered in the other, making the sword turn a bright
orange.
"It's good that attack didn't get rid of too many of you, because I need the rest of you!" Raze
dashed forward and cast a lightning spell at the men closest.
As it hit the center of their bodies, it shocked two to three by the side. Those coming from
another side, Raze swung his sword, performing the Crimson Slash, letting out a flurry of
attacks.
The warriors, being more decent than the ones that he had faced so far, were able to block
them with their skills and fight back against it.
However, that wasn't what Raze was aiming for in the first place.
The first group that had attacked them, he had placed his hand on their head and while
fending off the others with one hand, he was absorbing the Qi and the energies of the
others.
Seeing this, some of the warriors had leapt up and started to strike from above. Raze had
promptly let go of the drained warrior and jumped backward.
As he did, he had ventured over to the destroyed half of the room, and he felt his foot tap
one of the already perished warriors.
"It looks like I need some more help; let's just slow them down a bit."
"Ice Wall!" Raze cast with one of his hands, and as with the spell's name, a wall of ice had
appeared between the two.
Raze knew that the ice wouldn't hold them; they were strong enough to break through it,
but he needed to do something else.
Leaning down on the one that had perished, Raze's Dark magic surrounded his whole body.
"Recreate!"
The shrouded Dark magic started to form into a human shape, and just as Raze had
predicted, using their skills they had smashed the ice apart.
The moment they came through, the Dark magic warrior that had been made, had leapt
from his position, diving right into the rest of them.
The sword struck theirs, and it had blasted one of the warriors as if a Dark Pulse had been
used on it. However, the rest of the warriors stabbed, hit, and punched the Dark magic with
their Qi, easily dealing with it.
The Dark magic was being torn apart, and that's when Raze had made the order.
"Destroy!"
The Dark magic exploded into all directions everywhere, hurting multiple of the warriors
that were nearby, and while they were being hurt and trying to take cover, Raze still wasn't
letting up.
He got in close to one that had been injured on the leg, grabbed them by the head, and
slammed them into the floor. Immediately, he started to use the extraction technique.
"Don't worry; none of your lives will be going to waste; the years you dedicated to training
yourselves to getting stronger and stronger, all of that will go to me!" Raze exclaimed.
Niang, Conner, and more of the elders and high-ranking officials were stunned by what was
going on. Their warriors weren't even able to make a mark on this single individual.
They were using the Clan's technique that had been honed over centuries, yet this man was
using techniques they had never seen before, being able to cast lightning and ice powers.
"Who sent this man? Why is he attacking our clan?" Conner claimed.
"I don't think that matters right now!" Niang said. "If he gets rid of everyone in this room,
and nothing is done to him, then there won't be a clan left!"
-------
After leaving the cell, the group had headed from the side of the building they were in and
had now entered the reception.
They had stopped for a moment as they looked at all the defeated clan members that were
on the ground.
"What happened here? Is this all that newcomer's doing?" Ivor asked. "It can't be; how can
a single person take out so many from our clan?"
"Middle stage warriors are capable of taking out an army of initial stage warriors,
especially of this caliber," Bargo explained.
"Does that mean that man is a middle stage warrior?" Ivor asked.
Anna was trying to analyze the room, to try and find out which path Raze had taken, and
she had found the way as she pointed out the top of the stairs.
As they continued to follow Anna, Bargo was thinking about what Ivor had said because
that was the thing; he was sure Raze wasn't a middle stage warrior, but then how could
anyone explain what was happening.
"We have to hurry; although we have gone past a lot of clan people, the real troublesome
ones will be in…" Harbour's footsteps started to slow down.
He had seen the room up ahead; one of the doors was left open. He walked in with all the
others and could see the light shining from the broken wall down onto the iron mask.
While Raze stood there in the center, with nearly the entire Lethal Bite Clan defeated, the
only ones that were still standing were those on the stage.
"He's really going to do it… this man is going to take out the entire clan!" Harbour said to
himself.
Raze ignored those who had just entered and instead looked to the stage of warriors.
"No… still not enough, they weren't enough, I need the rest of you," Raze said as he pointed
his sword right toward Niang standing in the center.
Chapter 523 Taking Off The Head
Chapter 523 Taking Off The Head
Harbour, Anna, Charlotte, Ivor, and Bargo had all entered the ceremonial room. It was a
room created by the Lethal Bite Clan for celebrations and usually to honor those moving up
in rank.
Today was one of the biggest days in the Lethal Bite Clan's long history as they had come to
a decision as to who they wished to make their leader.
When they entered the room, it was nothing like the last time Harbour had seen it. How
could a room filled with so much death feel like a joyous occasion?
Most of the bodies were shriveled up beyond recognition. Parts of their limbs cut and torn,
injured.
Standing in the center of it all was none other than Raze.
"He did all of this?" Bargo commented, being surprised. He was wondering if this was
something even the Clan Head of the Moon Shield Clan would have been capable of.
Perhaps so, but in such a short time frame, was a different story entirely, and even more so
when looking at Raze. Apart from the blood on his clothing, there didn't appear to be a
scratch on him.
Standing on the stage in the room was Niang, the new Clan Head, a few of the Elders
including Connor, and several of the supporters that were deciding people in bringing
Niang to the position he had achieved.
However, as Raze was taking care of the clan members at a fast speed one after the other,
they were dumbfounded with not a single one of them jumping in, and before they knew it,
all the warriors in the room had fallen.
"No… still not enough, they weren't enough, I need the rest of you," Raze said as he pointed
his sword right toward Niang standing in the center.
"Who are you, who sent you to do this to our clan!" Niang shouted, his head still shaking
with anger. As he shouted at Raze though, he could see behind him the group of people that
had just arrived.
"Harbour?" Niang called out with a raised eyebrow. "And the others you brought with you…
it was you, you were the one that sent this man to attack us, is he from the Moon Shield
Clan, huh!"
Harbour couldn't believe it, even now, in the situation he was in, Niang was still keeping up
with the lies that he had made.
But, there couldn't have been a larger smile on his face right now.
"You are a fool, that has brought this upon yourself," Harbour claimed. "All of you standing
there, you all brought this upon yourself."
"You didn't believe a word I had to say and just trusted the twisted words of this vile man
that is now the head of the clan!"
"The Moon Shield Clan? Do you really think a member of the Moon Shield Clan can wield
this power? Someone that we didn't know about other than the clan leader?"
Those on the stage looked at the man below. Due to his mask, they couldn't see his face, but
one thing they could tell was based on his body shape, he didn't seem to be the Moon Shield
Clan leader.
But who else could it be, who could Harbour have connections with to be able to bring so
much chaos to the Lethal Bite Clan?
"Everything seems to just be a string of fate, as you can see, I rescued Bargo and Ivor, the
Vice Head of the Moon Shield Clan, and the Clan member in charge of the barracks that I
sent here.
"Do you care to explain why they were locked up in our cells!"
Connor's gaze was staring at Niang from the corner of his eyes. Originally, they had
believed that Bargo had run away.
It made him look guilty of his crimes, and Connor thought it might have been a plan set up
by the other Clans. Yet, why would Bargo be here now of all things.
"Do you have an answer?" Connor asked.
"An answer?" Niang replied as he moved closer to Connor. "Do you think this man down
there had the right, after bringing someone that took down our entire clan? He has brought
the clan to ruin."
"If he was the leader, look what would have happened."
"Are you really that clouded in your own judgment, living in your own world!" Harbour
shouted. "All of this has only happened because of what you have done."
"You went too far. You could have just kicked me out of the clan, but instead you even went
after my family. All of what is happening today is a result of your own actions!"
A thread of guilt was overflowing in Connor right now. When they had the meeting, the
evidence was stacking up against Harbour overwhelmingly. To the point even those that
supported him had crossed him.
When did it happen, when did he fail to notice that Niang had so much influence over the
clan? It had to be something that was brewing for a long time, even during the reign of
Feebie and Royo being at the top.
"I'm sorry for what has happened, Harbour, my negligence in the Clan matters has failed
the whole clan-"
In the middle of his speech, a dagger had appeared right through Connor's throat, out to the
back of his head covered in blood.
"Shut up!" Niang said as he pulled out the sword, and Connor fell to the floor. "Are you
saying that my reign that has only been so small is a failure?"
"I am at the helm of the Lethal Bite Clan that will make history. Our clan will be the biggest
it's ever been and will lead the Dark Faction to conquer all other factions and unite the
continents."
"I was able to unite the Lethal Bite Clan, by taking out all of those that were useless and not
loyal to the cause, and I will do the same with the rest of the Dark Faction. I will not have
someone tarnish the name of the new Lethal Bite Clan while I am at its head."
Harbour shook his head. It wasn't at the sight of the Lethal Bite Clan Connor losing his life.
Because Harbour wanted to take that from him as well.
In his mind, he blamed all of the Lethal Bite Clan for not looking into matters. He did
everything for the clan, gave his whole life to the clan, and they repaid him by killing his
family.
However, he shook his head at the reason for all of it happening, and Niang's goal in all of
this, it was truly saddening for him to hear.
"You're right, you will be remembered in the history of the Lethal Bite Clan as the one who
was at the head when the Lethal Bite Clan was no longer and fell to oblivion."
Harbour was screaming at the top of his lungs that his throat hurt, he was so saddened by
his words that tears were streaming down his face again.
"You said you will grant me my wish… so please, grant it for me, get rid of that man!"
Harbour demanded.
"Don't worry, I was already planning to," Raze answered. "He is the current head of the
Lethal Bite Clan, and as long as there is a head, the Clan will always exist."
Raze crouched down, holding the sword by his side, and his Qi started to pulsate right by
the hilt.
Chapter 524 A Surprise power
Chapter 524 A Surprise power
"What are you all doing?" Niang said as he flung his dagger by his side, causing the blood to
drop to the floor.
"These people in front of us have taken out most of the Lethal Bite Clan. If we don't deal
with them now, then the whole Clan will fall.
"Centuries of history will fade. He's been fighting non-stop; surely he's tired by now. Get
them!"
Those standing on stage were shocked that the Elder Connor had just been killed. The
oldest member of the clan.
The Clan had already lost so much, and they were struck by what Niang had done, but two
things drove them.
One, the fact that the Clan's whole existence was on the line, and the second thing was
Niang doing the same thing to them.
They rushed off the stage and quickly went down to the targets below, but they weren't just
going to let them attack Raze.
Bargo, although injured, drew his sword and deflected one of the swords. Anna charged
forward and grabbed two of them by the wrist, flinging them onto the floor.
Charlotte had even cast a heat spell along with a wind one, causing a vortex of flames to hit
one of the warriors in the stomach.
Enough powers and such had already been revealed. The case for hiding the powers was
dealt with. Lastly, Harbour had joined the fight, as he gathered his fist and dodged a blow,
pulling one of the Elders and hitting them right in the face.
Before they would fall down, he grabbed the Elder again.
"None of you had to go that far; you killed my family, and against one of your own! After
everything I did, you guys had no right to decide that!" Harbour shouted.
"Are you saying you wouldn't have done the same?" The elder replied. "If we had found the
same type of evidence of Niang, you wouldn't have ordered the same if he had a family."
It was the usual Pagna way. The offense of one person was a whole family's offense. Not
just that, but if one were to leave any survivors, then it was always a cause of retaliation.
You had to pull up the whole problem by its roots; otherwise, it would just grow back.
"You lost nothing, while I lost everything!" Harbour shouted, hitting him right in the
stomach.
Bargo and Harbour were now back to back, as there were more from the stage, and these
were quite skilled warriors unlike the rest that they had come across so far.
"We can handle these; everyone else seems to be holding their own as well. Apart from
Ivor," Bargo commented, as Ivor was busy hiding behind the orange-haired girl with
magical powers.
He was cheering her on and being a lookout for her, since her senses weren't as sharp, but
he wasn't directly getting involved in the fighting himself.
"Do you think that the new guy will be okay?" Harbour asked.
"The leader, he's a middle-stage warrior, and a low one if I'm correct. His strength should
be no less than those that had attacked us at the stone manor," Bargo answered. "If that is
all he needs to deal with, then that young one will be fine."
"I'm worried though, after everything he had seen us do, and everyone in here, Niang still
doesn't look afraid. He might be a weak middle-stage warrior, but I just feel like he has
something up his sleeve!" Harbour exclaimed.
Raze looked at Niang's devious smile, and with the sword by his side, he gripped the hilt
tight. His Qi was starting to gather and pulsate around the hilt of his weapon.
'If he's a middle-stage warrior, then using just the Dark Edge Sword Arts without the magic
should be enough!' Raze thought.
Shifting his feet forward, Raze used the descending step to leap right at his enemy. He had
made it from his position almost right up to where Niang was.
"The fourth Dark Edge Sword Arts!"
The Qi was gathered in the hilt of the weapon rather than the blade.
'Let's get this over with, in one hit!' Raze thought.
'The Void Pulse formation!'
Qi pulsated outward from the back of the weapon. The mass amount of power had hit some
of the attackers that were dealing with the rest of the group from behind, causing them to
fumble.
However, the power of the thrusting attack was dealt with from the front, as Raze's sword
had gone right through Niang's chest.
It had pierced right where his heart would be; the sword had broken through, and Niang's
face was one of pain.
"With this, the Lethal Bite Clan will fall, and one of the five pillars that hold up the Dark
Faction will start to crumble," Raze spoke.
Anna looked over as she twisted another attack and pushed their head into the ground
once again.
"Ah right, I forgot, I was meant to interrogate the leader to find out if he was part of the
deaths in the other cities as well… it looks like that won't be possible right now," Anna said
to herself.
Niang, his face one of pain, soon started to change though to one of smiles.
"You… want to take down the Dark Faction, what grand ambitions you have," Niang
managed to speak out.
"Take down," Raze replied to him. "No, that's not exactly right… It seems my enemy has a
large force, one that has its eyes everywhere. I don't want to take out the Dark Faction; I
want to control it and make it my own."
"Then it seems like our goals are the same, too bad you won't succeed." Niang had a smile
on his face, and with his hand, he had reached down quickly to his side.
Raze pulled out the sword from his chest quickly. Something wasn't right; he should have
been dead by now, but that wasn't the case.
If stabbing one through the heart wouldn't kill them, then he would just have to go for the
head.
As Raze went to strike though, Niang already had his sword in his hand. It was shining
brightly, a white glow to it, that hurt his eyes.
Before he knew it, from the tip of the blade, a large beam of energy fired out. It hit Raze
instantly, pushing him back, right down to the ground.
His hidden blazer had activated immediately, creating a force field around him; it was
blocking the beam of energy from the sword and had eventually stopped.
Niang held the glowing sword in his hand, radiating with power, and as for the wound on
his chest. Through the cut cloth, one could see it healing visibly to the eye.
It was as if the wound was never there in the first place.
"You thought you had killed me; did you think your sword, with your strength, could do
such a thing?" Niang started to laugh, holding onto the sword.
Harbour, seeing what had occurred, knew he was right, Niang was hiding something.
However, back in the center of the room, Raze was unhurt as well; he was looking to the
floor, holding onto his face.
"If it wasn't for the effects of the blazer, that would have been dangerous," Raze looked up,
his hand still holding onto his mask.
Half of it had been destroyed by the attack. Letting go and placing his hand by his side, his
mask fell onto the floor, revealing his entire face.
"You have a few hidden weapons I see, but you have no idea what I'm capable of," Raze
chuckled off his Pagna clothing, and magic covered his body as it was replaced, revealing
the finely crafted blazer that had saved him.
"Let's see who has more surprises," Raze smiled.
Chapter 525 The Truth Of The Man Behind The Mask
Chapter 525 The Truth Of The Man Behind The Mask
With Raze's mask having fallen, everyone could see what the attacker looked like. Of
course, those that had traveled with him had all seen his face before, but it was the first
time for Niang.
"All of this trouble is caused by you. I've never even seen your face before, and how can
someone so young cause so much trouble!" Niang screamed.
The wound healing on Niang's chest didn't go unnoticed by Raze. He had seen such things
happen before, and he had a few guesses in mind as to what it could be.
'An enchanted item, one at a high rank, or is it possible that this person knows Light magic.
From the look of the sword as well, it seems to be producing Light magic. It's quite the
strong sword as well, at least at the Mythical level… it's quite possible that the healing
effect and the attack are all coming from that sword, if I can just pry it away from his body.'
Niang pointed the sword at Raze again, and moments later another beam of energy shot out
directly towards him.
Swinging the sword down, Raze was able to stop it using his Qi and his Ghost blade. It was
strong enough to take the attack.
'I can't just rely on the enchantment of my blazer, enough attacks and it will soon run out.'
The sword was still pointed right at Raze, and soon several shots of white beam energy
came at Raze. Using his footwork, he started to run across the sides.
He had to swing his sword once in a while to stop the attacks, but Niang was quite smart.
He was attacking ahead of where Raze would be, almost predicting where his movements
were. Not just that but the attack beams could vary.
Niang was able to let out small short bursts allowing him to unleash more attacks. Raze
blocked a few, but some had hit him, and his Blazer had activated, blocking the hit.
Right after, Niang unleashed a longer beam of energy; Raze was unable to strike back and
held his sword in place.
It hit the side of the sword and his body was being pushed back. Raze was trying to push
with his Qi to move himself forward but it wasn't working.
While one hand blocked the sword, Raze with his other hand free, shot out a lightning bolt.
It scattered across heading right for Niang, but as if to protect him, the energy from the
sword shot out hitting the lightning and getting rid of it before it reached his body.
The beam attack had stopped pushing Raze back, but all the progress he had made in
getting closer to Niang was reset.
'That sword can even block magic attacks… but it didn't block the Dark Edge Sword Arts.
Can it not block Qi, and can only block magic? Then what if I do this instead!'
More beams of energy came Raze's way, and swinging his sword in the air, he was able to
block nearly all of the attacks.
The others who had been dealing with the elder monsters and more had successfully dealt
with them. They were easy to deal with after everything that happened, especially the
disruption from Raze's attack.
However, they were able to do one thing successfully, and that was to somewhat wear out
the attacking group. Now the rest of them were watching from the edge of the room.
They were staying out of the way as the light beams from the sword were shot out in all
different directions. They imagined if they were to try and join the fight, they would just get
in the way and lose their life fairly quickly.
As Raze got closer again, he was pushed back with a longer beam of energy attack. He
skidded across the floor while trying to force his way through.
'Raze… doesn't have enough Qi; that attack is stronger than the Qi he can build up. Even if
he is good at condensing his Qi, it's still not enough.' Bargo thought watching from the side.
'This is his limit, as he's only an initial stage warrior!'
Once again, rather than lightning, Raze tried ice this time, throwing it like a spear. It had
disrupted the light attack, stopping the beam of energy, but was stopped by the sword's
power.
Right after though, Raze didn't stop there; he continued to swing his sword using the
Crimson Slash and added the power of his Wind magic. He swung it in front of him again
and again as if he was trying to strike down a wall.
A flurry of attacks went through the air and had gone right at Niang.
Using his sword this time, it was as if he knew it wouldn't stop the attack, so he swung it.
The attacks the sword did it, it managed to stop them, but the sheer amount of attacks Raze
has swung it was impossible to stop them all.
Niang's body was getting cut up left and right. Large marks were made on his body, chunks
of flesh had been taken out, and blood was dripping from his wounds.
Eventually Niang swung the sword himself, and a large line of white energy had come out
from it. It headed straight for Raze who had to roll on the ground and move out of the way
of the attack.
Now he could see Niang standing there, with several wounds all over his body. However,
right in front of everyone's eyes, the wounds, they were closing up, his body was
regenerating in front of them, as if it had never happened.
"Can you keep up this fight forever! It's only a matter of time until you run out of energy!"
Niang exclaimed. "I wanted to deal with you the easy way, but you are becoming a problem
for me."
With the sword glowing by his side, Niang was finally moving from the stage and was
heading down to where Raze was.
'Everything I've tried so far hasn't worked, but I have by no means given it everything I
have. Out of all the magic in my possession, although Light magic is weak against Dark, my
Dark Attribute by far is stronger than any other attribute of magic I hold.'
Magic started to swirl around Raze's body, and as the intense amount of magic grew, the
color from his hair was starting to change again.
The black was fading, and the white was starting to show. Holding the sword with both of
his hands, Raze was ready to unleash another devastating attack.
Yet, by the side, seeing the new look of Raze, and the white hair that had appeared on his
body… there was a sudden realization that was setting into Harbour.
'White hair… the young appearance and how strong he is… he's the White Dragon, isn't he?'
Rather than words of admiration or astonishment like the others when they had discovered
Raze was the White Dragon.
Harbour felt something else instead, his fists were starting to tense as he began to think
things through. The words of his sister.
'That damned White Dragon is ruining everything for me.'
'There's a troublesome one that is running the balance at the academy…'
'It seems like too much trouble is occurring, I'm going to have to get rid of him myself..'
'Don't you think taking Royo is too far!'
'This White Dragon, I don't know why but at times when I look at him I get this feeling. I
need to have Royo by my side…'
Feebie had been talking to Harbour like she was obsessed with this person, the White
Dragon. The last words she had spoken to him were that she was going to deal with him,
and now she was dead.
'Could it be… the person that is helping me right now… is the one that killed my sister!'
Chapter 526 Raze Pushed To The Edge
Chapter 526 Raze Pushed To The Edge
Seeing the white hair on his helper, a string of memories came back to Harbour. All of them,
conversations he had with his sister, the last leader of the Lethal Bite Clan.
It was because of her death that a string of events had occurred—the selection of a new
leader and Niang clawing his way to the top.
"Is that man… is that man really the one that my sister had a grudge on?" Harbour thought.
"He fits everything she said, and how many people at a young age have a full head of white
hair? There can't be many out there."
"Am I now helping my sister's killer?"
Harbour knew straight away he should rephrase that word because it wasn't that he was
helping him; more so, he was getting help from his sister's killer.
"All of this started because he killed my sister… my family, the loss of the clan, all of the
chain of events," Harbour clenched his fist, his knuckles turning white again.
He was thinking that maybe he had it all wrong. That the one he should be angry at, and the
one that he should be going against was the White Dragon.
It was what his sister would have wanted. However, another image started to appear in his
head, and it was of his family… the last moments he had seen them before heading to the
clan.
Because he was unable to even see them in their last moments, not even having permission
to give them a proper goodbye, and all of that was because of one person.
"No, I have no idea what situation led the White Dragon to go against my sister. That
business is her business. He had no hand in going against my family; the only one that I
wish to see perish today is Niang, so I will continue to cheer on the young man!" Harbour
thought, confirming his resolution.
With Raze having fought so much in the fight so far, he was finding the strange healing
effects of Niang extremely annoying, so he decided to go for a bigger attack.
Lifting up his sword, he was ready to use the Eclipse Strike.
"I have plenty of Qi, and Charlotte is here, so I can't use my Dark magic, but I think this will
be enough!" Raze thought.
While the sword was lifted above his head, he decided to risk it. He placed his foot on the
ground and slammed it on the floor, using the first step of the descending steps.
Right after that, he continued to go through the motions of each of the steps one by one, the
Qi building up. At the same time, he was carefully using them, avoiding Niang's shots with
the beam.
"You're like an animal moving around like that; just stay still!" Niang shouted as he
constantly fired out several blasts.
A couple had managed to hit Raze, but his blazer had activated, protecting him from the
hits and beams of energy.
However, Niang, getting more frustrated, shot out a larger single line of energy from his
sword. It was coming out like a laser and now was chasing Raze.
"If he hits me with that...it's going to hurt even more, but I'm only on the 6th step; this will
just have to be enough!"
The beam of energy hit him, and at the same time, Raze swung his sword down, performing
the Eclipse Strike. A mass amount of Qi used on the Ghost blade managed to overwhelm the
attack that had come at him.
It consumed it and carried on going forward. The attack was so large that it had covered
the whole of Niang's body and continued forward, destroying the wall behind him.
It was a devastating attack that shook the entire place. When the attack disintegrated, they
could see the result. There was a large giant slash going through Niang's body.
It went from his waist to his shoulder. It looked like part of his body was going to fall to the
floor due to the large cut that had been made.
Yet there was no blood dripping on the floor; instead, the inside of his body, where the flesh
and organs could be seen, were stringing together.
Forming back up and pulling part of the dismembered body back in one place until Niang
was back in two again.
"I don't think that's something that Pagna warriors can usually do," Anna said. "Although I
could be wrong; I might need to update my data."
"No, you're right," Ivor commented. "That isn't something a Pagna warrior can do; what did
Niang do to his body?"
Although Raze had a lot of Qi, all of the Dark Edge formation attacks took up a lot of Qi to
use and magic. Which was why he was always reluctant to use them unless he was sure he
could finish off his opponent.
During this fight, the 4th formation, the Void Pulse, and the Eclipse Strike had both been
used, and both of these times he had failed.
If it was a fight against a more normal opponent, he would have killed Niang at least three
times, but this was no normal opponent for Raze.
"You… you…. although I can heal, it still hurts, you..." Niang shouted out.
With the sword still in his hands, he then grabbed it and did something no one expected. He
held it toward himself and stabbed it right through his stomach.
It went through his body, to the other end, and was lodged to the point that only the sword
guard and the hilt could be seen.
However, just like with all of the attacks, the wound had healed up, his skin was healing
over the sword, and the power was still glowing, to the point that Niang's own body was
now glowing as well.
He was shining a bright golden glow just like the sword.
"The Lethal Bite Clan, in the first place, are more known for its fist techniques rather than
its sword techniques, so let's see how you fare with this!"
Niang threw out his fist, and a beam of energy came out straight at Raze. He was too slow to
raise his sword in time; the attack was faster than the last.
Before it touched his skin, though, just like the times before, his barrier activated due to his
specially made blazer, but when the strike had hit, like glass, the barrier had shattered.
"It's protected me from too many hits; it needs time to restore its magical properties."
This didn't go unnoticed by Niang, and taking this opportunity, he started to punch the air
again and again with all the speed he could of an eighth stage warrior.
Raze lifted his sword trying to protect himself from the hits, but his body was being
pounded by the energy. It hit his leg, his stomach, his face, his head.
The beams of energy were hitting him every. It was as if he was directly being hit by the
fists himself right in front of him.
Blood spurted out from his mouth as several solid blows hit him in the stomach.
"He's going to lose this fight; we have to help him!" Charlotte said.
Another strong hit had hit his stomach, lifting Raze up on his feet, and blood gushed out of
his mouth onto the floor.
"Forget covering this crap anymore; I'm sick of getting hurt!" Raze said as magic
surrounded his arm. It was covered in black magic.
"Dark Push!" Out from his hand, a large wave of dark energy surged forth, pushing away
the Light magic attack.
It continued to propel forward through the air until it struck Niang. The attack left a
tingling sensation on his skin.
Startled, Niang's rhythm of attacks halted momentarily, but the sword's healing effect did
its job, and he no longer felt pain on his body.
Instead, he focused his attention back on Raze, who wiped his mouth. Still holding the
glowing sword in one hand, Raze's other hand was cloaked in darkness.
"What was that… he just used?" Harbour asked.
The others weren't so sure; they assumed it must be one of the many powers he had
displayed in the fight so far.
"If he could use something like that, then why didn't he do so from the beginning?" Ivor
questioned.
Charlotte was the only one who knew, her eyes glued to his hand.
"He's using… Dark Magic," she mumbled to herself.
Chapter 527 Five Minutes, To Win
Chapter 527 Five Minutes, To Win
During the fight, Charlotte had noticed a few things, but she thought that she must have
been imagining things or mis-seen them.
Now, there was no doubt in her mind about what she could see Raze using, and the last
spell he had just used; it was Dark magic.
To those who weren't from Alterian, it might not seem like a big deal, and it was just any
other type of magic being used, but Charlotte knew the truth.
"When I met Raze back then, he was just a 2-star mage, and now he's a 4-star mage. He
grew incredibly quick."
The thing was, Charlotte had seen Raze use Dark magic before. In their first meeting, and
Himmy had witnessed it as well.
She had seen him use the spell, Dark Pulse, but that was it. The spell was a simple one that
many, even those who didn't have the Dark Attribute, knew of.
Now, though, she had witnessed an incredibly powerful Dark Spell, a 4-star level spell.
'How could he even know such a spell? Sure, he could have increased his magic power and
still use a spell like Dark Pulse, but he knows more spells.'
'As far as I know, I haven't met another mage who knows how to use Dark magic, so how
could he have even learned such spells? Unless he came up with them himself.'
If that were the case, then Raze would be a genius. Spells were based on years and years of
research. Sometimes, spells would take generations to come up with as the knowledge was
passed down from one person to the next.
However, out of all the things she had seen, the fact that Dark magic was used, or a 4-star
spell was used, wasn't the most concerning thing.
It was the strength of the Dark magic itself. More mana meant bigger spells, but the real
strength of spells was how much affinity one had with that magic element.
For Dark magic to overcome what she could tell was Light magic that was coming from
Niang and the sword, the Dark magic had to be incredibly powerful.
'The reason why Dark magic is outlawed and banned in Alterian is because the way to
increase its affinity is by taking lives. For him to have gotten his affinity this high already…'
'He couldn't have been entering dimensions non-stop and killing beasts… he must have also
killed humans. Just how many lives could he have taken.'
The strength of the Dark magic was making the entirety of Charlotte's body shiver, and she
had no clue what to think of the situation anymore.
Before, it was a small matter that she wouldn't report to her superiors because she didn't
want to make a big deal out of the matter.
Through her interactions with Raze as well, he seemed rather nice, but who knew what his
true intentions or mannerisms were.
If she were to report this, just how would Alter react?
With Raze finally using his trademark Dark magic, he was more confident in the fight
ahead. Niang had recovered and threw out another fist technique, punching through the air.
At that point, Raze decided to match it, performing the two-step shift; he threw his own
hand out and performed a Dark Pulse.
Combining the two of them, he was using the move he had created: the Dark Strike. A beam
of energy came out of his fist, dark in color just like what Niang was doing.
The two energies met in the center and hit each other. As they did, the energies lingered in
the air for a few moments before they disintegrated into nothing.
The whole room was warping, and the power was passing through those who were
watching.
"I have no clue what these powers are, but I'm sure if we were hit by them, or were in the
middle, we would perish," Bargo claimed.
Once again, the flurry of punches had begun from Niang, and in response to this, Raze had
placed his sword into the ground in front of him and started to throw out his fists as well.
Each time, he was shooting out Dark Pulses to match the attacks that were sent by Niang.
The two powers were colliding with each other, destroying them.
When the two powers would collide, shockwaves would be sent out each time, but it didn't
bother the two of them as they continued to attack.
What Charlotte didn't realize was Raze's Dark magic, although strong, wasn't as strong as
she thought. The reason why Raze's Dark magic was able to go against the Light magic was
because of his Qi.
He was using his fist techniques with Qi, plus the added power of Dark magic, to make the
attack more powerful compared to what it would be.
If he was just using Dark Pulse, the Light magic would be too powerful, and he would be
losing out.
As the two continued to fight this way, it looked like there would be no winner, and it
would be more of the case of who was to run out of magic first out of the two.
'I can't keep this up; that sword is still giving him power even now. If I don't do something
else, then it will cause a large problem,' Raze thought.
Thinking about it, he needed to wonder what he could do to win this fight. His opponent
could heal, so how could he win the fight?
He no longer had the mana to cast the Dark Edge Sword Arts.
"I still have the mana pill; that will restore my mana for more time. It lasts five minutes
instead of one, but… the issue is even if my mana is restored, I need a way to win this fight."
As he was thinking things through, he could only come up with one answer. He thrust both
of his hands together at that point, using the last of the magic he had available.
"Dark Canon!" Raze cast.
A larger beam of energy erupted, and rather than face this by punching early, Niang
punched the dark energy straight on, destroying it.
"I'm surprised you still have so much energy, but you must be tired now," Niang claimed.
Looking at Raze, he could see that he had the sword picked up back from the ground, but
not only that. In his other hand, he had the dark-colored pill.
Taking it, he gulped it down, and soon he could feel the energy restoring inside the rest of
his body. His mana had returned… but it would only last for five minutes.
On top of that, mana used wouldn't be restored; it was just back to the way it was.
"Four formations," Raze said. "In total, I have learned 4 of the 8 Dark Edge Sword Arts
formations. When combined with Magic, these formations are even stronger."
Niang had no idea what the person in front of him was talking about, but he could feel a rise
in energy from him for some reason.
Instead of fighting up above, confident in his strength, Niang decided to step off the stage
and was ready to go for Raze.
"1st formation, Shadow Bind; the second formation, the Eclipse Strike, and the 4th
formation Void pulse. I haven't been in a fight where I could use this until now."
Raze lifted his sword up, just so it was under his eyes, and then glided his hand across the
sword. As his hand moved, Dark magic started to linger on the sword.
"The third formation, Nightmare Veil!"
Chapter 528 Nightmare Veil Formation (Part 1)
Chapter 528 Nightmare Veil Formation (Part 1)
The Dark Edge Sword Art skills were techniques that were produced by the Dark Faction
founder, who, just like Raze, was someone from another world.
These techniques were incredibly special since they had two ways to use them: the regular
way with just Qi, and an added way with magic.
Because of this, it was hard for Raze to perfect the skills. It had been a long time since he
had studied something and didn't quite understand how they worked.
Which was why he was only able to learn up to the 4th formation out of the eight
formations so far. However, during his fight against one of the dimension's bosses with
incredibly hard skin, he had used the 4th formation, the Void Pulse Technique. He had yet
to use the 3rd formation. There hadn't been a time when he could use it.
Niang had survived the 2nd and 4th strikes so they were useless, and the first formation
was just a bind; it didn't actually do any damage.
Which left him with no choice; he was now performing the 3rd formation.
"The third formation, Nightmare Veil!" Gliding his hand across the sword, Dark magic
encased the Ghost blade, this was until he reached the very tip.
Right after, Raze then swung the sword in a circular formation like that of a clock, and from
the sword itself, the Dark magic was fading into a mist, a dust.
That dust was covering the area in front of them, turning into a very thin fog. The colors in
front of everyone were now slightly darker, even with the light shining in from the
destroyed buildings.
"This is your big trick?" Niang said as he continued to move forward and waved his hand
through the mist. In doing so, it did nothing.
It had dispersed the particles slightly, but the faded color just seemed to come back after.
Seeing how it was fine, Niang decided to just go for it and charged straight at Raze.
In response, Raze swung his sword, and when he did, from the end heading straight for
Niang, was what looked like a giant lion.
It had appeared right at the end of his swing with its ferocious teeth. For a moment, Niang
was startled by what was in front of him, and he had decided to punch it with his fist
technique.
On impact, the lion was hit right in the face and exploded. As it did, remnants of Dark magic
touched Naing's body causing great pain to his skin.
His glowing body started to heal the wounds, but before he knew it, all sorts of different
creatures were starting to appear.
Lions, giant six-legged creatures, even humans without heads were appearing, coming
straight at him.
Niang had no choice but each time having to use his fist technique to punch them. They
were coming at a fast speed, and he needed to act.
In the middle of it all though, Raze had appeared right there. Right after Niang had punched
a giant spider creature, Raze came swinging his sword and had managed to cut him right on
his chest.
Niang was pushed back, as he moved away, his body still healing, but now the dark
creatures were still coming after him.
Those that were watching, they could see the creatures as well.
"I don't understand what is happening, I've never seen a sword technique like this before!"
Ivor commented. "A sword technique that can produce creatures… beasts from other
dimensions!"
Bargo was paying special attention, and he thought he had some of the technique figured
out. Great talents could create images out of their visual Qi when they struck.
Striking in a certain way with an image in their mind could make the strike more fierce, and
the Qi being used would then be visualized behind the strike.
Each time Raze struck his sword in a certain way, the mist in the air, along with his strike,
was allowing him to produce frightening creatures out of his visual Qi.
What he was confused about though, was how the visual Qi, even though being used so far
away, was still causing damage to Niang.
This was an answer that only Raze knew. It was because he was using magic as well. If he
was just using visual Qi, it would lack power in the Nightmare Veil.
These creatures would only have a lingering Qi effect. Still, the idea behind the technique
was to battle with the use of images.
It was in human nature to react to things they could see. It was hard for them to believe
what they were seeing wasn't real.
In this sense though, the creatures weren't just made with visual Qi but magic as well.
Giving them more bite when they were destroyed or when they would attack.
While using a psychological way of fighting, Raze was mixing in his own attacks.
"This is useless!" Niang said as the wound across his chest had completely healed. "These
creatures may hurt others, but they can't harm me!"
Three beasts came at him at once, and Niang punched one right into the other with his
Lethal Bite technique. They exploded part of the magic hitting their bodies, and coming
right through the veil of beasts was Raze himself.
He swung his sword down striking from above. Niang managed to avoid this slightly,
allowing for the sword to just go through his shoulder.
Rather than pulling out the sword, Raze had decided to do something else instead. He let go
of the hilt and placed both hands on the floor.
In that moment, Ice magic had activated and held onto Niang's legs tightly. From above,
more creatures had come to attack Niang that he hadn't dealt with yet.
Staying in place, he went to strike them all; in the meantime, Raze had pulled the sword out
of Niang and close to him, started to strike again and again, cutting the outside of his body
one after the other.
As Niang went to strike him, Raze lifted his sword up, cutting off his hands. At the end of
the day, even though Raze was an initial stage warrior and Niang was a middle stage
warrior.
Niang was a lower stage middle stage warrior, with a large lack of skill compared to others.
The only thing he had going for him was the special sword in his body.
"Keep harming me; you know it will mean nothing. Even if you destroy my head, I will come
back to life; even if you destroy my heart I will still come back!"
Niang's body was a wreck, his arms had been sliced off, and the Ice magic had continued to
rise until it had reached his waist.
Now he was frozen in place full of cuts and wounds healing, as well as the sword in his
stomach.
"If you try and touch that sword, it will explode and destroy you, but I will still live!" Niang
said with a smile.
The words, it was unsure whether he was telling the truth or not, but Raze didn't care.
"I didn't plan to just kill you anyway; from the beginning, all I wanted to do was to get close
to you because your power is going to become mine."
Raze said as he extended out his hand and grabbed the top of Niang's head.
'Let's see if the extraction technique will work with your healing powers.'
Chapter 529 Nightmare Veil Formation (Part 2)
Chapter 529 Nightmare Veil Formation (Part 2)
One of the main reasons Raze had attacked the Lethal Bite Clan in the first place was to
breakthrough, to become a middle stage warrior.
He had been struggling for a while now and had reached the peak of the initial stage. His
power was still growing, but he hadn't broken through to the middle stage.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he might have been the strongest 6th stage
warrior in the whole of Pagna, no, in the history of Pagna.
There were a few ways one could grow stronger and try to break through to the next stage,
but there was something that Raze had that made it easier for him compared to others.
That was the deadly extraction technique. So skilled at using the technique, Raze could
even use it in the middle of a fight to drain his enemies somewhat.
The more energy one had, the longer it would take to fully drain them. Which was why
most of the time, it wasn't something he would use in battle.
Yet in this battle, it might have been his key to victory and advancement.
Raze held Niang's head, and energy started to drain from him into his own dantian.
"Even if your body will heal, it takes some time for it to repair itself," Raze spoke. "There
were two things I needed to do this."
"First, I needed to get closer to you. With your newfound power, you were able to shoot
Light magic out. The worst type of magic that I could have gone up against."
"My magic powers were running low so you forced me to use a pill. However, still, I knew
you would run away the moment I got close to you, which was why the best option in all of
this was the Nightmare Veil."
"It left you open, allowed me to attack you, and damage you to the point where you were
unable to escape; a few seconds was all I needed to hold you in place."
As Raze was explaining, Niang noticed something. The power of the sword was trying to
heal him, but it wasn't working. The glow from his body was fading away, and his hands
that had been cut off weren't regenerating.
"Then I used my magic to keep you still, and now here we are. Right now I'm taking your
life energy; your body's not damaged. I wonder how the sword will react, or even more so,
whether or not the sword can keep up."
The glow from Niang's body had completely faded, and right after just like many of the
others that Raze had used the extraction technique on, his entire body was shriveling up.
His eyes were sinking in, his muscle structure was getting smaller, and then eventually, just
like with all of those if the extraction technique was used too much, his heart stopped
beating.
Letting go of his head, Raze waited for a moment, waiting for the sword to act up, to heal
the enemy in front of him once more.
After a few seconds though, nothing had occurred. 'Hmm, I still had two minutes of Mana
left… I wasted a precious pill on this one. The Nightmare Veil was more effective than I
thought.'
The ice that was holding up Niang melted, as Raze took away his power, and the body fell to
the ground. The sword was still stuck in his body.
It hadn't disappeared, and the strong radiant power could still be felt.
"It should be fine, right?" Raze said to himself.
Just in case, he cast Dark magic over his hand and held on to it, pulling out the handle. Now
that it was out of the body, Raze knew for sure Niang had died.
Slowly he started to place his Dark magic away and held the sword firmly in his hand with
no magic at all.
'A new sword to add to my collection; after losing the other swords, this will be good to
have.' Raze thought as he held the Ghost blade in one hand and the new Light sword in the
other.
'I don't know any dual sword techniques so it's pretty useless to me to use it that way.
Besides, having one hand free for magic is always handy.
'Regardless, I will be able to switch out what weapon to use depending on the situation I'm
in.'
While holding the sword, Raze was sure of it; the weapon was a special one. Either an
enchanted one or one that had been retrieved from another dimension.
It carried at least Mythical power. To see what it could do, Raze was ready to use his magic
on it. That was until he felt something rumbling in his stomach.
A great pain was burning up from his stomach and was rising to the top of his throat. It felt
like his insides were stabbing him.
As it climbed up his throat, he fell to his knees.
"What happened, is he hurt from the fight!" Ivor asked.
The others rushed to him, wondering if there was anything they could do. They had seen
him getting hit from the light a few times, and he was bleeding out blood from his mouth
before.
As they got close though, Raze opened his mouth and a wave of black blood spewed out
onto the floor. It spread out violently, splattering down.
Right after, Raze's entire body was covered in sweat, but not just any sweat, there were
black beads of sweat running from his body.
Then even worse was starting to come; from the corner of his eyes, rather than tears, a
black substance was coming out, including from his ears.
"This is… he's breaking through!" Bargo realized. "He's going to the next stage."
After Raze had absorbed the energy from Niang, it was enough. His dantian was pulsating
with power, until it could take it no more and had exploded from the inside.
The energy was taking a while to settle. Now his body was healing up the dantian to allow it
to become stronger than before, while also getting rid of more impurities from his body.
Making him become less like that of a regular human, and closer to that of a god. Reaching
the middle stage was one step from the Divine stage where power was unimaginable to
them.
Yet there was something that was worrying Bargo as he looked at Raze.
'How many impurities does he have in his body, for this much black blood to come out from
him.' Bargo thought. 'This makes sense when a person breaks through to the first stage, and
even as they go up.'
'As a person goes higher and higher in stages, though, a fewer amount of impurities come
out of one's body. Yet here, there's still so much. Just what type of body does this person
have?'
Regardless, as Raze's body was going through an extraordinary amount of pain, trying to
twist out whatever dirt it could from his body, he had a smile on his face.
'The middle stage, I'm finally going to have reached the middle stage, I will be a 7th stage
warrior, with this, my magic, and the new sword I have obtained..! I am getting closer to
having power that will help me deal with the Principal… and then… it's your turn, Grand
Magus!'
Chapter 530 A Middle Stage Warrior
Chapter 530 A Middle Stage Warrior
The black blood continued to pour out of Raze's body, creating a pool underneath him. If a
regular person had this much blood under them, one would think they would have bled out
by now, but Raze was still on the ground, allowing everything to flow out of him.
The others could only stare at what was happening as it took place. They continued to
watch in silence until he finally stood up from the ground. His footsteps only rippled
slightly in his own blood since part of it had dried up.
That was how long he had been going through the process, but when he stood up, Raze felt
a great strength in his stomach that flowed through his entire body. All of his senses were
heightened, including the smell in the room.
Clenching his fist, just like all of the other times before, he could put even more strength
into it, something that he wasn't even sure was possible.
'This is what it feels like to be a middle stage warrior?' Raze thought. 'This feeling of
strength, of being a new person in a new body. It's quite addicting, I can see why Pagna
warriors start to crave the growth and power of their body.'
'It's quite similar to how I felt every time I discovered something new in the world of magic.
I have to be careful that this sense of feeling and power isn't something I strive for other
than my revenge… I need power to complete my revenge; I am not getting my revenge to
gain power.'
Going down to the ground, Raze picked up the special sword off the ground. He had just
dropped it before going into his strange state. When picking it up, the blood fell back onto
the ground from the sword.
It didn't look natural, as if the sword was trying to clean itself.
'If it's an enchanted weapon with Light magic, then it will be difficult for me to see its
effects, but if it's just a magical weapon in the first place, I can see what this thing can do.'
Raze brushed his other hand against the sword, activating his magic, and as usual, he could
now see exactly what the new weapon could do.
[Mythical Grade Item]
[One-Handed Lux Sword]
Looking at the sword itself, it had the traits of weapons used in a kingdom. The sword
guard was fairly thicker compared to others. The blade itself had quite a wide width before
it went up towards the point at the end.
On top of that, the blade itself looked like it was double-edged. It had an olden historic
feeling with the craftsmanship that could be seen on it. With a single look, one could tell it
wasn't a sword that belonged to Pagna like that of the Ghost blade he had.
[While holding onto this weapon, it synergizes with the user's other healing capabilities
and items by 200 percent.]
[While holding onto this weapon, it synergizes with Light Magic-based powers, increasing
their effect by 200 percent.]
'The Blazer that I am wearing has healing capabilities and also has a defensive barrier; it's
been enchanted with Light magic. So if I use this weapon, they will increase in power as
well.'
[While holding the weapon, all Dark powers will be weakened.]
'There isn't a percentage amount, as with some things in magic, things aren't always
certain. But it's expected; this sword has such strong Light magical powers that it will affect
my powers. Of all things, it will affect my strongest magic power, Dark Magic.'
'It seems that the best way to still switch between weapons as I use them. Since using the
Ghost blade increases the output of my Demonic Qi and I can use Dark Magic skills to
perform the Dark Magic arts.'
However, it didn't stop there; there was one more special trait of the sword to be seen.
[Upon death, the user will be given a second chance.]
'A second chance, that is vague, and I wonder if it can be activated more than once after it's
been used. I'm already on my second chance… but I'm hoping the skill of this sword will
never have to take place.'
Thinking back to his fight with Niang, Raze was thinking a couple of things. The healing
powers were incredibly strong. It was either this second chance effect of the sword that
was constantly being activated by Niang.
Or that Niang already had incredible healing capabilities for another reason, and the sword
was boosting it. There was a third option Raze was considering as well.
That perhaps the sword had gotten weaker. During their fight, he had absorbed the energy
while the sword was inside of Niang, and some of that power he possibly might have taken
inside him.
'The Light magic attribute is something that will be incredibly difficult for me to obtain, and
even if I do obtain it, it will be even harder for me to raise its affinity due to me having a
Dark Core, but the effects of the Mythical sword are too much to not use; I shall keep it.'
Raze swung his hand, and the sword magically disappeared in front of the others' eyes.
Now they could see that he was finally done; the group began to move in closer.
They hesitated as they saw his dried black blood on the ground; the only one that didn't
care too much was Anna, as she went to look at the dead body of Niang on the ground.
"Ah, I messed up." Anna said, scratching her head. "I don't think there's a single person left
alive in the Lethal Bite Clan that can answer our query. We won't have a clue whether or
not they are behind this whole thing, of these deaths occurring around the whole city."
"Well, there is one way to know, if we have defeated them, then won't it mean the deaths
around the city will now stop?" Charlotte answered. "We can just stay away from Alter for a
while and say we're still investigating the matter."
Raze only cared about the mission in the first place because he wanted to go to Alter to
obtain more information. He felt like they would harbor something about the Grand Magus.
However, if that didn't work, at least he would be led to an area filled with powerful
weapons. What he didn't expect was to finally reach the middle stage and get a new
weapon for himself.
"Congratulations, by the way," Bargo said with a smile, holding onto his injured shoulder.
"It seems that you have successfully become a middle stage warrior, and based on your
performance, quite the strong one as well!"
Anna and Charlotte were pretty clueless when it came to these things; they knew that the
stages were a level of strength, but would never be able to fully understand the level of
accomplishment Raze had just achieved without being a warrior themselves.
"Thank you," Raze answered.
"About your mission, there might be some files in the base that you can look around for
that might give you your answer about what Niang was up to and what he was behind,"
Harbour answered, looking at the floor when he said this.
He was fairly quiet until he raised his head and looked Raze straight in the eye.
"I have a question to ask you… were you the one that killed my sister?"
Chapter 531 A World Mess
Chapter 531 A World Mess
There had been something heavy on Harbour's chest for a while. With the defeat of Niang,
he thought he would be happy. His family had gotten the vengeance that he had sought.
He was unable to do it through his own hands, but then again, he felt like if he had never
met Raze drinking that night in the first place, his vengeance would have never succeeded.
In part, he felt like the word was giving him some type of justice. Yet, the pain was still
there, and there was something nagging at him more than it ever did before.
Before approaching Raze, he kept repeating in his head that it was fine. There was no need
to know the truth; he had gotten what he wanted from this stranger and had nothing to
give him in return… and yet for some reason, the words had left his mouth before he
realized it.
"Were you the one that killed my sister?" Harbour asked.
For everyone that was there, the question came out of the blue. Charlotte and Anna knew
about where Raze was before, at the academy.
"His sister, who's his sister?" Charlotte couldn't help but whisper.
"According to the information I have, Harbour's sister was Feebie Dines, the leader of the
Lethal Bite Clan before all of this started," Anna answered.
Bargo, hearing this, had to think there was a reason Harbour had brought this up; he
wouldn't have just brought it up out of the blue.
That's when he himself realized, if this person was the White Dragon that they thought of,
shouldn't he have been at the academy? Why was he away, and why was he in this city
currently?
"Your sister is Feebie," Raze repeated. "I… was the person that killed your sister, but
everything I did was to protect myself."
When hearing the answer, Harbour felt a smile come up on his face.
"No wonder you are so strong; if you were able to best my sister, then of course it's only
right that you were the one that defeated Niang as well."
"She was always hot-headed, and I told her it was her worst trait. That was why I always
took over matters to do with the city."
"I wonder if the meeting between all of us is just fate, or someone from above pulling all the
strings of what we are doing. For some reason… your answer has brought me some peace."
Right after finishing his talk, Harbour went on both of his knees and placed his hands on
top of them before bowing his head down.
"You granted my wish when I was at my lowest point. There was only one thing I wanted
more than ever, and it felt like an impossible task, but it has been completed because of
you."
"Regardless of your reasons for doing so, you have done me a favor. As I said before, you
are free to do with me as you wish. My life is in your hands now, because it was a life that I
had already given up on."
Harbour raised his head, and then placed it on the ground three times after saying these
words.
The scene had reminded Raze a little of Simyon when he had promised loyalty to him as
well.
Hearing these words, Ivor and Bargo looked at each other, their eyes slightly wider, and
Ivor felt his palms sweating slightly.
While in the cell underground together, the two of them had talked about the situation and
meeting with the Alter group.
Bargo had suggested that after their job was done, it was quite possible that Alter would
deal with them. They had never seen such things, items, and powers before and never
heard of such tales.
If that was the case, then there had to be a reason why, and Bargo had come up with the
idea that they must have killed every single person that had known about them.
This was why Ivor was gulping right now.
"We need to decide what to do with these people; they have all witnessed too much," Anna
said, looking at the three Pagna warriors.
Bargo didn't even bother thinking about putting up a fight; Raze would be even stronger
than when he fought against Niang.
"Honestly, Himmy is meant to be in charge of these things, so I'm not really sure what to do.
We could bring them with us back to him… but I can tell you the most likely answer,"
Charlotte answered.
She was kind-hearted, too kind-hearted, Raze thought. Himmy would suggest for all of
them to be dead, and Raze could tell she would rather have them just escape.
"These people, they can be of use to us still," Raze answered. "I think if Alter was to
overlook their position and get rid of them, it might cause even bigger problems.
"For one, we have Bargo who is the Vice Head of the Moon Shield Clan, one of the top five
clans; having him as an insider can be valuable."
"Then we have Ivor, someone on the ground that can help with particular situations, and
lastly…" Raze looked down at Harbour.
"We have Harbour, the person in charge of the city, on the border of two large factions."
Harbour looked up at Raze and wondered what he was trying to suggest.
"My position… I no longer hold it," Harbour said.
"Why? Because the Lethal Bite Clan took that position away from you?" Raze replied. "Don't
you realize, that there is no longer any Lethal Bite Clan here.
"And, me as the person who took down the Lethal Bite Clan, is now stating that you will be
in charge as the head of this city."
Harbour felt like he no longer had a purpose in his life. With his family taken care of and his
revenge complete, there was nothing left for him to do.
He had promised that his life was Raze's, and if this is what he wanted him to do, then so be
it.
"If you wish for me to look after this city, in your stead then, I accept!" Harbour exclaimed
as he bowed down again to Raze.
"I think that won't be too much of a problem," Anna said as she was overhearing things.
"Himmy and Alter should be able to agree to all of this, and besides if there is no one in
charge of the city it will become chaos."
"The only person that I'm not too sure about is Ivor."
Ivor was nervously scratching his head. Even he wasn't sure and thought Raze trying to
save him was a stretch, but he just kept his mouth shut and was thankful.
"I can help with that," Bargo said. "We can state that the Moon Shield Clan has made it so
Harbour is still the head of the city. It looks like I should stay here a while until you get
things up and running again."
"Before we make matters official I have one thing to say to you," Raze said as he moved in
closer to Bargo. "If a time comes, where something like this occurs, and the Moon Shield
Clan might have to go against me… then it would be best you convince them to stay out of
it."
Raze was thinking of when he would go against the principal. Part of the barrier were the
five clans, with one taken down, if he could get one to no longer support the principal it
would make the task a lot easier.
"I will try my best, but I can't promise anything," Bargo answered. "Just like with Harbour, I
know you have done a big favor for me today. Who knows what would have happened to
my life if it wasn't for you."
"I wish to just rest for the remainder of my time on this planet."
With all decided, the team decided to search the rest of the building to see if there was
anything else they could find on the matters involving Niang.
However, all they did find were several burnt documents and ashes. It looked like it had
happened a day or two ago as well.
There was no evidence that they could use, and with that, they had returned to Himmy at
the Inn, to inform them of everything that had happened.
Charlotte, who passed on the story with Anna adding in details, did omit the type of magic
that he had used, and the powerful sword that was obtained as well.
Before coming to meet Himmy, Raze had asked Anna if she would keep quiet about the
sword, and her reply was, 'as long as she got what she needed from him.'
They didn't talk about it much before entering and telling the rest to Himmy.
They were sitting at a table, and Himmy was continuously rubbing his forehead.
"I can't believe… that you did all of that. I thought that you might have gone to just deal
with one person, but you're saying the whole clan was eliminated." Himmy then started to
rub his eyes even more as he started to think about things.
"Do you think… we will be punished by Alter?" Charlotte asked.
"How can they be punished by something if they don't know about it? For now, the world
will just know that Harbour had committed vengeance and eliminated his Clan."
"We took advantage of the situation and asked him to join the group, by helping his family
rest. I can make something up along those lines, so that should be fine. What I'm worried
about is the ripple that this will cause for the Dark Faction."
"What is going to happen now, and how are they going to protect this place?" Himmy asked.
Chapter 532 Spread Over The World
Chapter 532 Spread Over The World
After much thought and sleeping on it for the night, Himmy had something new to tell the
others. He had asked all of them to gather in his room to inform them of his decision.
"What happened yesterday is impossible to keep under wraps for long. I'm sure either
sooner or later, Alter will ask us to make some type of report." During his talk, Himmy was
constantly pulling the white stick out of his mouth.
Raze could tell that he seemed quite stressed out by this matter. In some way, seeing this,
Raze had gained some respect for his squad leader.
Too many times he had been in positions when he was younger and rising in Alterian that
he had seen superiors take out their stress on those below them, or pass on the workload
to them.
When praise was due, they would be happy to take all the credit, but if it was the opposite,
then quickly it would fall to those below him.
Not once, though, had Himmy seemed to tell the group off for what had occurred.
"Which is why I've decided it's best if I head back to Alter, and to do so alone. If I make a
report, there is no need for all of us to go, and if we all go, they'll question each one of us
and it will be harder to get our story straight. So I will be away for a while, and in the
meantime, you guys should stay in the city and try not to cause any trouble."
With those words said, he didn't even leave time for the others to ask any questions, and
Himmy had already headed straight for the door.
Before exiting, he turned around to look at the others.
"Charlotte, while I'm away, you're in charge of these two, I'm trusting you."
"Me!" Charlotte said, pointing to herself, but nothing else could be done as Himmy had
already left.
Charlotte then turned to look at the current two members. Anna was a well-known
troublemaker, so much to the point that Himmy would allow her to go on solo missions.
She was always successful in her missions but based on the reports she had given, there
was more trouble than they would have liked.
Then the latest member, Raze. He had the strength to take down a whole Clan by himself,
and Himmy wanted her to be in charge of them, how would this even be possible?
"Why don't we just head to the Lethal Bite Clan base. I'm sure Harbour and Bargo might
need our help with setting up a few things," Charlotte suggested. "Besides, I should tell
them what their role will be in Alter and how they should act.
"The do's and don'ts."
There was no reply from the others, which she took as a yes.
"Well, this is going to be fun," Charlotte sighed.
Keeping what happened under wraps was impossible, just as Himmy had suggested.
Multiple warriors had died, those warriors had families that were in the city.
Not only that, but there were the guards that were stationed around the city as well. It was
clear as day that the Clan that looked after the city was now no longer.
The people were in fear because they lived on the border; they were afraid that this
weakened state would allow for them to be attacked soon.
Which was why Bargo and Harbour were quick to make an announcement. The general
public was fine with Harbour being the head of the city.
He had been doing a good job so far, and not just that, they were afraid. People had learned
what happened to his family and now knew what happened to the Lethal Bite Clan, putting
two things together and his current position they thought he was the one responsible.
However, people knew he didn't have the direct power, so all sorts of rumors were swirling
about, and the most likely rumor was that the Moon Shield Clan had helped to get rid of the
Lethal Bite Clan.
Because of this, Harbour thought it would be best to just get rid of the clan name altogether.
The Lethal Bite Clan was no more.
Those that would be running the city would just be part of the city's government run by
him. This was for the best, until now.
One of the first groups to find out about the matter was the other major clans in the Dark
Faction, and once again an emergency meeting between the current leaders had been called
in the academy.
In the main building, sitting down in a dark hall full of wooden floors. The leaders were
sitting in their seats with some of their trusted men by their side.
The leaders were sitting opposite each other apart from Murkel, who sat facing to the door,
looking at the others to his left and right.
"What has occurred at the Lethal Bite Clan is somewhat what I predicted would happen,"
Murkel claimed, placing both of his hands together.
"You predicted that the Clan would fall?" Samantha asked with a raised eyebrow.
"When the head of a clan falls, there are always those that will fight to take charge of the
position. A civil fight was always expected which was why we had sent Bargo in the first
place.
"To make them aware that we were watching things. If they did anything, then we would
act. What I didn't expect was the whole clan to be taken down," Murkel said.
"Then I have to ask?" Crine, leader of the Flowing Force Clan interrupted. "Is the rumor
true, did The Moon Shield Clan really have a hand in taking out the Lethal Bite Clan, was
this your order Murkel?"
Murkel didn't have to answer that because Gavin interrupted straight away.
"It is not true. Bargo was present and currently they say they are dealing with the matter to
give confidence to the people, so hopefully the Demonic Faction won't attack."
The other clan leaders laughed. Who would have thought they would be in this position
with one of the top clans falling? They had quickly become a laughingstock.
The more important matter was the Demonic Faction and what their move would be now
that they knew strength at the border had been weakened.
"They won't attack," Murkel answered. "I am quite confident about that."
"There are two reasons as to why they won't attack. The martial arts tournament is right
around the corner. They are unaware of our Faction's full strength and due to how close it
is they will use the tournament to test matters."
"This is why the tournament is now more important than ever for us to show our strength.
As for the second matter, remember the Lethal Bite Clan was eliminated."
"One of the top clans of the Dark Faction had been eliminated, but who was it done by?"
Gavin was a bit slow, as he didn't quite understand what Murkel was getting at.
"What does it matter?"
"It does matter because the Light Faction and the Demonic Faction are well aware that this
wasn't done by them, but done by someone in the Dark Faction. Which means that they will
consider this as our strength.
"What I want to know is, who, or what Clan was strong enough to take out the whole clan,
even if it was in a weakened state, and I'm sure they're wondering the same thing."
Chapter 533 The Hardest Quest
Chapter 533 The Hardest Quest
The news had first hit the Dark Faction, but the next set of people to hear the news was
none other than the Demonic Faction, and eventually, the news would have traveled to the
Light Faction as well.
All of the factions had their ways of gathering information. They would often have
members in other factions working for them. For some people, coin was more important
than loyalty to the clan and people that brought them up.
On top of that, nearly every clan could utilize the wanderers that would pass through each
of the factions with ease. There was no loyalty when it came to them.
Then lastly, there were some clans, as well as information gatherers like that of Bubble,
whose sole purpose was finding out information.
One clan in the Demonic Faction in particular had found out about the news, the Neverfall
Clan, one of the most feared clans even in the Demonic Faction.
Belil Narfous, their leader, was having a meeting with his elders, and they were sitting in an
extremely heated room on the bottom floor. Most of the others were sweating apart from
him.
"Things are finally changing after so much time has passed," Belil said with a smile on his
face. "It appears that things are happening all the time."
"Do you think that the Lost Clan will react, aren't they in charge of the border closest to the
Dark Faction?" One of the Elders asked.
"They won't act," Belil said confidently. "Right now, most of the aggression on the Demonic
Faction is from the Light Faction not the Dark Faction.
"On top of that, I heard that the Lost Clan had its own troubles recently with a portal break.
Besides, you know how the Demonic Clans are like, we have to be careful of each other,
rather than the other factions.
"If the Lost Clan attacked and the Dark Faction put in a lot of effort, there is a chance that
one of us will just eat them up."
There was quite a large difference between the Demonic Faction compared to the other
factions and that was unity. The Dark Faction and Light Faction had managed to unite
together.
The Light Faction through a council of sorts where they would vote on matters. The Dark
Faction was through Murkel's overwhelming power compared to the others.
The Demonic Faction was different, there was no unity. Perhaps the only thing that was
unified about them was that they lived in the same area and had a disliking for the other
clans.
In a heartbeat, if one of the Demonic clans showed weakness they would be taken over, yet
at the same time, it was this worry that had kept them so strong.
"I'm not interested in that anyway, what I'm more interested in is setting a date!" Belil
turned and looked toward Rayna. "I need to know, when is the big day, when will you two
be getting married."
"Sir," One of the Elders asked. "Aren't there more important matters, like the upcoming
martial arts tournament."
"Nonsense, how can that be more important than one of my daughters getting married?"
Rayna's face was turning bright red, and she didn't really know how to answer. She hadn't
been in contact with Raze for a long time. The only way she knew how to get to him was
through the Crimson Crane, and even their activities were split.
The Crimson Crane were no longer in the Demonic Faction, and as usual, the wanderers
had gone off to do their own thing, splitting off into different areas.
"I will try my best to give you an answer soon, father… please just give me a bit of time,"
Rayna answered, with no idea how to get an answer.
Inside the stone city, where the Lethal Bite Clan once resided, things were starting to run
smoothly once again.
The image of a well-functioning city had to be kept up, and in a way to show strength the
one thing that they didn't close was the path from the Demonic Faction into the Dark
faction.
People were coming and going as they had been doing before.
In the city itself, there was also another group of people that were operating as normal.
In the singular large building that had a spire that raised higher than most of the city, the
Rylon Religion were busier than ever.
The people that had been living in the city were afraid slightly and had been coming in
looking for a new hope and a way of protection.
Standing at the center, in their bright yellow robes, were the Meisters were doing another
ceremony.
"May we all praise the sun!" the Meister said.
Those sitting in the long benches stood up and gave a little bow, repeating the word "Praise
the Sun." Before, heading back out the exit of the church.
However, there were a few people who hadn't left. They stayed standing and were looking
at the others that had remained standing.
They were a group of six of them. Some of them in armor, some in Pagna clothing but what
they all had in common was they were wanderers.
Not only that, but they were relatively well-known wanderers who each knew each other.
There was a reason for their gathering today, and the Meister in yellow standing gestured
for all of them to come forward.
As they moved, they turned their heads giving glances to one another and had eventually
stopped right in front of the Meister.
"What is the meaning in this, I thought this task was a solo task. You didn't state that we
would be working together," One of the wanderers asked.
"He's right, usually we would make our own team of people that we trust if you want us to
work together, and it says something else that you did this, it means you didn't trust us."
Reaching into the sleeve of the robe, the Meister then pulled out a pouch and threw it over
to the five in front of them.
As they opened up the pouch, inside they could see 3 gold coins.
"That is the downpayment for this quest I have given you, and it is only ten percent of the
fee if you are able to successfully complete the task," The Meister explained.
The amount of money they were being paid had shut them up. No matter what the task was
now, they would accept it.
However, the amount was extremely high, making them consider one thing, just how
dangerous was the mission?
"I won't keep this just yet," One of the females said. "Not until you tell us, just what this task
is. We answered your call."
The Meister had a big grin on their face.
"Even if you don't accept it, you can keep the coin. As a gesture of the Rylon Religion.
"The task can be seen as an easy or difficult one, but it is more one that needs to be done in
secret."
"You see, our society had given a certain individual belonging to the Lethal Bite Clan an
item. To be exact, it is a sword known as the Lux Sword."
"Your job is to retrieve it. As you know, the Lethal Bite Clan has fallen, so you must find out
who has it, and obtain it from them at all costs."
Retrieving an item from an individual, there were many ways to do that. The job seemed
too simple.
It was worrying for some, but the sheer amount of coin for what sounded like an easy task
had taken them over, including one individual.
"I'll do it," Elvlin answered, a well-known wanderer from the Crimson Crane.
Chapter 534 The Wrong Words
Chapter 534 The Wrong Words
Charlotte, along with the rest of her group, had arrived at the Lethal Bite Clan base at the
top of the large staircase. For now, Harbour was utilizing a number of wanderers along
with workers to renovate the place.
He wanted to get rid of anything that reminded him of the old Lethal Bite Clan, as it was no
more. At the same time, there were a number of repairs that needed to be done on the place
from before.
Thankfully, because Harbour no longer held any sentimental value over the belongings of
the clan, he was freely spending funds and selling the past clan's treasures. He was using
this to support the payment of other wanderers mainly since they were now protecting the
city and the clan base from attacks.
Heading to one of the rooms in the back on the first floor, Harbour was standing there
giving orders to a bunch of wanderers that were moving treasures that shined brightly
covered in gold and jewels, and that was when Charlotte and her group had approached
from behind.
"Are you really okay with getting rid of all of this?" Charlotte asked. "I know you no longer
wish to rebuild the clan, but these treasures are things that your family have gained over
time; it's part of your lineage."
"Part of the Clan that murdered my own family line, which I no longer have a continuation
of," Harbour replied. "Besides, most of these treasures never belonged to the clan in the
first place."
"The Lethal Bite Clan weren't some noble clan that had been raised making treasures of
their own with skilled craftsmanship. They were a clan that focused on fighting with their
fists and stole the treasures from other clans after subduing them," Harbour explained.
Charlotte knew it was quite a touchy subject so she decided to leave it at that, but now that
she was here, what else could she say and talk about. It seemed like Harbour was well
underway of doing things on his own, and even if she could help, what could she exactly
do?
She started to twiddle her thumbs wondering if they should just rest until Himmy returned;
she had already informed all of them individually about their Alter duties, and they
understood it well, but that was when Raze had spoken up noticing something.
"You seem to have something else on your mind, much more important than these
treasures, what is worrying you?" Raze asked.
Harbour looked at Raze once again; he had changed his hair back to black rather than the
standout white, which was probably a good thing. Most middle-stage warriors would be
known by the world in some way, at least in their faction, but the legend of the White
Dragon was a small one.
An achievement from a student at an academy, and nothing else had occurred since then.
Practically speaking, he was an unknown middle-stage warrior and it was best if he kept it
this way for as long as possible.
"You have good insight; it's almost as if you can read my mind," Harbour replied. "Right
now, Ivor is handling the guards and the barracks around the city. Making sure it's calm. In
a situation where a Clan is completely destroyed, some warriors see this as an opportunity
to attack."
"Whether that be other wanderers, or even smaller clans that surround the area. Then,
Bargo at the moment, is keeping an eye on the mountain tunnel between the Demonic
Faction and the Dark Faction."
"But do you really think the Demonic Faction will attack?" Raze replied. "The Demonic
Faction has no idea who took out the Lethal Bite Clan; one would at least have to assume
they had greater strength than the Lethal Bite Clan, I think they will be wary of an attack."
"When you speak like that, you really don't sound like a child," Harbour replied. "Talking
about these matters to one with such a young face is troubling, and how much strength you
have is troubling as well."
Charlotte and Anna thought the same; it made no sense other than the fact that he was a
genius, but with his upbringing and background, it still didn't quite fit with them.
"Regardless, we can never be so sure with the Demonic Faction, as the clans work
individually, and there might be individuals seeing this as an opportunity to attack. To
prove their worth to a faction or a clan. So we just need to be careful for now."
It was understood, and Raze started to think about it. While they were here would they
suffer an attack from the Demonic Faction? If that happened, what was he to do?
There was one thing that he was keen to try out, his new weapon, along with his new
middle-stage power. He hadn't even been able to train on the outside of the city at the
moment.
Perhaps now he was a middle stage warrior, he might be able to unlock more of the
techniques from the Dark Edge Sword Arts as well.
"Oh, if you head to the second floor, one of the rooms that was used by Niang as his sleeping
chamber, I managed to grab what I could from his strange research that he was doing."
"I placed everything there was in there. I took a look through it myself but there was
nothing I could really find, but thought that your group might want to have a look through
them as well," Harbour claimed.
Charlotte was happy because this gave them something to do, and with Anna on the case,
she would be able to sort through the files fairly quickly.
The group headed to the room, and the chamber was larger than they thought. The amount
of documents was large in size as well going from books to scrolls, and some of the items
were even damaged.
Either way, they had got to work as they began to go through the files. Raze and Charlotte
were looking at one side of the room as they eventually were looking through the same box
of documents together.
While reading scrolls, out of the corner of her eye, she continued to peek at Raze.
'I want to ask him about the Dark magic he learned, how did he know those Dark magic
spells, and how did he even increase to the 4-star level so quickly.
'Is there something that he knows? And, when I watched him fight, I'm not sure… but was
he able to use magic and his Pagna skills? That's the most mind-boggling thing.'
It was astonishing for Charlotte, as Raze seemed younger than her, for her to ask for help,
but because she wanted him to guide her she also didn't want to offend.
"Raze about what you did," Charlotte eventually spoke up without making eye contact
continuing to shift through the documents. "I wanted to ask… the Da… the Da… the Da…"
Images in Charlotte's head started to appear; she felt like magic was acting on her, and she
didn't know if it was her imagination or not. She remembered just how powerful Raze's
magic and attacks were when fighting against Niang.
"Yes.." Raze asked.
"Can you… can you teach me how to be a better mage!" Charlotte asked.
Chapter 535 A Question Of Terror
Chapter 535 A Question Of Terror
The words that had come out of Charlotte's mouth were the truth. After seeing what Raze
was able to do, it was clear he had more knowledge than her. Even when he was a two-star
mage, he had given her advice on how to combine her spells together, something that
wouldn't normally be typical of a lower-star mage.
However, before asking him to be a teacher, she wanted to learn his true nature. Was it like
people on Alterian said? All of those that practiced Dark magic were pure Evil, and there
was no hope of them returning back? Yet, she was unable to ask that question first through
fear.
"Teach you magic, your core is Wind-based magic correct?" Raze asked. "If that's the case
then I know a few things. My family was always quite skilled at Wind magic so I studied it a
lot growing up."
Right now, Raze was trying to establish a backstory for himself through conversation.
These were complete lies, but was standard for a mage who had entered the Central Mage
Academy, and one of good backgrounds that could explain quite a few things.
"That's great, I mean of course, we can't just practice out here, but from time to time, we
can talk and discuss spells and such, and if we have a mission that requires us to enter
another dimension, then I will respectfully take you as my teacher," Charlotte said giving a
bow.
It was then she realized just like Harbour, she felt like she was talking to a senior mage
rather than someone who was younger than herself.
The two continued to look through documents, and now Raze was the one that had glanced
at Charlotte.
'She still hasn't said a word or asked me about the Dark magic I used. I wonder why she's
trying to avoid the subject?' Raze wondered. 'If she keeps quiet that's good, but she would
never suspect me of being the Dark Magus, since the Dark Magus is an old man.'
"You two stop flirting and get over here," Anna said, holding onto a scroll that she had
opened up.
"We're not flirting!" Charlotte replied with a red face, but Raze himself didn't deny it as the
two of them walked over.
When looking at the scroll, Charlotte had noticed something instantly; on the scroll itself,
there was a drawing of a Chalice, and it was the same chalice that they had seen in the
stone manor.
"A drawing of the Chalice, I guess this is how they managed to find the item in the first
place or something," Charlotte commented.
"You were so focused on the drawing that you missed out the other main issue," Raze
answered as he moved closer to the scroll and took it from Anna's hands.
Raze then pointed toward the writing above and below the drawing of the Chalice.
"Ah… it's Alterian! It's Alterian writing!" Charlotte exclaimed. "That document is in Alterian
writing."
Both Charlotte and Raze started to read the descriptions and the words down. Anna had
called them over for this reason exactly.
As Raze pulled the bottom part of the scroll, he noticed that there was also a drawing of
something else, and it was something he had seen before as well.
It was the strange strapping that was wrapped around the mage in the chair, that was
feeding blood into the Chalice.
After reading everything that was on the scroll now, Raze and Charlotte had an idea of what
had occurred.
"I see now," Charlotte said. "These words are written as to what the Chalice is capable of
doing. Both of them being special items.
"It's instructions on how to use them. The second drawing informs them that they must use
the blood of one compatible for the Chalice to work."
"So all of those bodies that we saw in the room, were they those they tried to use the
Chalice on?" Anna asked.
"It seems so, it doesn't give specific details as to what makes a person special, but judging
by the fact that the Chalice had finally activated, it might be that they just needed a mage."
Raze thought that was quite the strange item. To summon a Pagna warrior from the Divine
realm one needed a mage's body.
Maybe all of the Chalices were like this, or perhaps that was just the requirement of the
equipment for just these two items.
Either way, he was finding more links between the world of Pagna and the world of
Alterian which was worrying him somewhat.
Pagna had a deep history, so for how long were these two worlds even connected? At least
over a hundred years, perhaps even longer.
While the two sides were living in their own worlds, they were greater powers at work.
"What I want to know is why the instructions are written in Alterian in the first place," Raze
stated. "That means it was someone from Alterian that did this. The fact that it's written on
this scroll, means that they intentionally were trying to inform the Pagna warriors of what
these items did."
"You are right, but it's written in Alterian," Anna replied. "So if this got into Niang's hands,
then how was he even able to decipher this to know what to do. Out of all of those in the
Lethal Bite Clan, there was no one from Alterian."
This was certainly the case, at least there was no one that Raze had managed to notice.
"This is important information and news, but it looks like we won't be able to go further
now that Niang is dead," Anna stated and looked at Raze when saying those words, as if it
was his mistake for killing the other without finding out more information.
"I will keep this for now, and inform Himmy when he returns, out of everything I searched
so far, there was nothing of interest that could help us," Anna claimed.
It seemed like that was it for the group, and they could spend the rest of the day as they
were, but instead, Anna then looked Raze in the eye.
"Since it's the day of answering questions for yourself, then I think now is a good time for
you to finally answer my question.
"You have seen someone of my kind before… is that correct?" Anna asked.
Chapter 536 An Ass
Chapter 536 An Ass
Ivor had been traveling around the city, heading from barracks to barracks. He had given
different people roles after assessing what they were able to do. At the same time, he was
the one who would tell them what they were meant to do in case there was trouble in the
city, the way Harbour wanted to deal with them.
It was safe to say that it was the hardest Ivor had ever worked, because there was a fear in
him.
Walking through the streets, he was heading to the next barracks location. Here there was
to be another assessment of new recruits with good pay to join, trying to get in the people
and wanderers just like the time before.
He was walking fairly fast-paced through the city, trying to get there quickly.
'I have to prove my worth to Harbour, and that way it will prove my worth to Alter as well!'
Ivor thought, quickening his steps even more. 'Otherwise, if they think I'm useless, then
they will just get rid of me!'
Ivor felt he was let off by the skin of his teeth. What value did he really have, and why of all
people, did the no-name White Dragon decide to spare him and try to convince the others
to keep him alive?
He didn't know the answer to that, but he didn't want to give them a reason for getting rid
of him.
Upon entering, Ivor could see some of the old Lethal Bite Clan members giving an
assessment to the wanderers coming in.
The barracks were set up similarly to the others with a training area section inside of it,
with a sand-like flooring. The applicants were about to go through the tests such as the Qi
stone assessment.
There were very few of the old Lethal Bite Clan members that were still present who had
been in the city at the time.
They weren't really official members, or those that had grown up with the clan but those
that had been selected to be guards.
They had their lives spared, and they didn't even know it, and now they were helping with
the recruitment process.
As Ivor went in, he could see the assessor standing on one side, and the applicants lined up.
The assessor was going through the list of names he had been given.
"What is this!" The assessor shouted. "We have no names taking part in the assessment. Do
they think that we are just letting anyone in because of what happened!"
"That's right," one of the ones waiting to be assessed said, looking at the no-name standing
next to him. "I'm starting to have second thoughts if they're letting people like this in, Even
if the pay is good, I still have part of my pride."
A lot of the applicants were complaining about the two no-names that had been allowed to
take the assessment and the assessor himself didn't seem to be pleased.
Seeing this, the assessor had already made his choice. "The no-names will not be taking
part in this assessment, that is an or-"
"Wait!" Ivor shouted as he continued to walk.
The assessor noticed Ivor since he had been granted a higher position now within the clan.
Seeing how everything was, it was bugging him slightly.
"You can't just go doing that on your own, every person deserves a fair chance," Ivor
explained. "If they are able to complete the tests, then just like everyone else, they are
allowed to join the clan."
"This is not the same Lethal Bite Clan, this is a new Clan entirely, so that pride that you
speak of should be thrown out."
Seeing Ivor talk, the applicants still didn't like the words that were being spoken. Some of
them had decided to even turn around and leave, no longer taking part in the assessment.
However, most of them seemed to stay as well.
"Sir, if you do this, it could lower the quality of those that will apply, not only that but the
other clans will disrespect us. Those with no name, have no morals. They have no history or
accomplishments that they can stick up for or be proud of. They are lifeless."
Ivor held up his hand stating that it was enough, and he didn't want to hear anymore.
"Right now, remember what I said, we are a clan that is starting from fresh. We also have
no history from today, so it's only right that we can also accept no-names," Ivor replied.
"And trust me, you will be surprised, there are some powerful no-names out there that can
change the whole landscape of clans with thousands of years of history."
"What does history and legacy matter if one cannot protect it," Ivor said as he replied and
was smiling at himself.
As for the people he had in mind, a few of them did appear.
'I don't understand these people, how can they grow up so ignorant of the world,' Ivor
thought to himself. Looking at the assessor had gotten him so angry, and he wondered what
type of person could even act like that.
With the assessor seeing more light and a bit disgruntled, he decided that it was best for
them to continue on the assessment anyway.
They turned to the warriors that had applied and they were ready to start. Since things
were going well here, Ivor was ready to leave.
"That was nicely said," one of the men looking at the floor claimed, and right after he pulled
out a sword and swung it right to Ivor's neck stopping him from moving any further.
At the same time, several of the other warriors had stabbed and killed those next to them in
single hits, and another had chucked the assessor's head to the ground so forcefully he had
been killed on the spot.
Just like that, the only one that was left alive was Ivor.
'These warriors, the way they took them out, they're really strong… Are they at least
middle-stage warriors? What are they trying to do?' Ivor screamed in his mind, but he
didn't dare shout out anything.
That was when one person with a glaive in their hand started to walk forward.
"Our sources tell us that you might know something, so can you please kindly tell us, where
is the Lux Sword?" Elvlin asked.
Chapter 537 Zon Grain
Chapter 537 Zon Grain
Raze was left a bit speechless by the sudden ask of the question. He had been wondering
for a while now when Anna would ask him what she needed to.
And he had wondered for a few reasons as to why Anna hadn't called him out for his lying
when he had met up with Himmy.
Out of all times, why did she think now was the perfect time?
"I can give you an answer to your question," Anna said, even though no one had spoken a
word. "To put it simply, we have finished with all our tasks.
"There is nothing left for us to focus on, and right now Himmy is currently not here."
This had answered one of Raze's questions. Anna was also wary of Himmy. If there was one
person that they needed to keep their secrets from, it felt like Himmy was the man.
Charlotte hadn't said anything to him, and neither had Anna, so Raze needed to make sure.
"So what you said before is true, you can tell when we're lying then," Raze said with his
hand on his chin, deep in thought.
"Wait, what!" Charlotte shouted. "You can tell when we're lying? I never knew this. I knew
you could do other things, but tell when we're lying..."
"I can tell more than that," Anna answered. "I can look at the finer details of a person, the
rise in body temperature, heart beat, and pick up on usual cues. Which is why I can tell that
you were flirting with Raze earlier."
Charlotte's face went red once again. "We weren't flirting, I think you need to check if your
head is alright or not!" Charlotte exclaimed as she grumpily started to put away all of the
documents they looked at back into their boxes.
This was something between the two of them, so she would make it appear as if she wasn't
interested even though her ears were tingling and listening.
Anna noticed this, but she didn't care as she went to look at Raze again.
"Now please state to me, what is it that you know about my kind, or what experience have
you had in the past," Anna asked.
"Before that, can you tell me why you don't wish for Himmy to know about this? This might
affect both of us, and affect me in a negative way, so I think I deserve to know," Raze
answered.
Anna was looking Raze up and down constantly, her eyelids weren't even closing as she
looked at Raze not wanting to miss a single part of the reaction.
"That is because I am part of Alter now," Anna answered. "Although we all have a degree of
freedom in the group, ultimately we are part of Alter."
"My search for those of my kind is a personal interest of mine and doesn't seem to be
anything that Alter is interested in. There is a chance that Alter may see that I care about
my own personal goals more than Alter, and I believe that will be bad."
"I am happy to speak about this with you and Charlotte because I can tell both of your
characters. Right now, you were honest when you asked this question, as for Charlotte, she
will never say something if there is a chance it will harm someone she likes."
"And it appears that she likes both me and you, so she won't tell a word of this to Himmy."
Even though Charlotte wasn't looking at the two directly, her ears were burning red as she
heard these words. She was meant to be the current leader of the two, and she was being
treated like this.
What Raze had learned from this was how he and Anna might have not been too different.
They had their own goals and were just part of Alter to achieve them.
What was worrying him slightly was how from the way Anna was speaking, she was afraid
of Alter, that's why she kept things a secret.
He had seen her strength, and he was sure he hadn't seen the full extent of it either.
"I promised that I would give you an answer, and it seems like you know what I want to
keep away from Himmy and Alter as well. So I will tell you," Raze answered. "However, the
answer I give you, it might not please you."
Anna nodded as she was ready to hear anything related to the matter. "I am a person you
can trust, at least in terms of keeping my mouth shut," Anna stated.
"I have met a person that is like you, like you assumed. It was while I was at the academy.
However, it was a coincidence meeting and even till this day I have no idea why he
appeared before me."
"Also, I am not sure if he is in Pagna or not. Because while I was at the academy, I had met
him in another Dimension, it was through a portal exploration."
Raze could see these words had disheartened Anna quite a bit. It was the first time he had
even seen a large change in her facial expression.
If Raze had seen him in another dimension then Anna's goal of finding one like her in Pagna
wasn't going to be the case.
"Can you at least explain to me, who the person you met is, the details of him?" Anna asked.
"The man had a robotic suit covering his entire body. It seemed to be made out of amethyst
material. Over his body there were several sources of red energy circles."
Each time Raze was saying more words, Anna's eyes were starting to light up more and
more. It was clear that she knew the person that he was describing.
"The man, he didn't tell me why he appeared in front of me, but mentioned his name, as
Zon Grain," Raze answered, remembering his name well due to the impression he had
made.
"Zon Grain," Anna replied, as a single tear from her left eye had dropped. "So he was alive."
Chapter 538 The Lux Sword
Chapter 538 The Lux Sword
At times Anna seemed robotic, and even the way she spoke and analyzed situations along
with being able to do a large multitude of different things made her seem more like a
machine than a human.
In Alterian, technology did exist, and it was more advanced than what they had on Pagna.
However, it wasn't highly developed due to the use of magic.
Most of the time, technology would work in line with magic, so there weren't ways for it to
be fully utilized on its own with other sources of energy.
The civilization's technological side was almost stumped because Alterians believed it was
more important to work on magic.
So Raze did know about machinery and technology which was why he was making the
comparison with Anna and the fact she was advanced in many ways.
Yet through their conversation, Raze was seeing more emotion from Anna, and it was the
first time he had heard a slip of the tongue from her.
"You thought he was dead?" Raze asked. There was something else that sparked his
interest about Zon when he found him.
Not just his strength or the world where he was from, but the fact that through their
conversation, it was almost as if Zon was expecting the two of them to meet again in the
future.
Anna lifted her head, and wiped away the single tear that came from the side of her face.
"I know you want information, if I give it to you, will you be able to tell me which dimension
you found him in? There is a chance he could have gotten out and come back to Pagna as
well," Anna said in an upbeat voice.
"The dimension no longer exists," Raze answered. "The dimension's boss was defeated, and
in fact, I only met Zon after that fact. However, I believe there is something he wanted from
me, so if you are able to tell me who he is, maybe there will be a way for us to find him."
Raze had no fear when speaking now. Knowing full well Anna could tell when he was lying
or not, he was now using it to his advantage.
"It doesn't matter anyway, the matters of our world and this world aren't closely linked like
that of Alterian. It's maybe why so few have come here," Anna stated.
"Our world is in the middle of a civil war between two sides. There are those like me that
are enhanced in multiple ways."
"I was part of a special unit, called the Red Fortis. We were an elite unit, small in number
tasked with eliminating the biggest threats on the other side."
"What would take entire armies to achieve, we would be able to do with a few, and the
leader of that unit was Zon Grain."
"He was the strongest of us all, a person that was making big changes to the war, but then it
was said that he was a traitor, he was a person that switched sides."
"Everyone in our unit believed that it was true, and that it was the case because he was no
longer seen. No one saw him, and assumed he either betrayed us or deserted us."
"When I came to this world, and learned of the possibilities, I thought that it was quite
possible that the same thing had happened to him, that had happened to me, and it seems it
was true."
"He didn't betray us, he just got sucked away... I have to find him and find out the truth of
the matter, and maybe together we can…"
The story was interesting to say the least, and Raze had no reason not to believe her, but he
couldn't help but think there had to be something more.
After all, Zon didn't seem like he was obsessed with going back, but something else, but
maybe that something else was for a way back.
For one to travel to different dimensions and worlds of their choosing. What was thought a
random occurrence on Alterian in discovering dimensions might not be random after all.
Especially, since those that were part of Idore's Noble Guild are able to come to dimension
when a boss would be defeated.
"All I can add to what I have already told you, is that when Zon met me, it was as if he
needed me for something. However, whatever it was he was looking for I was unable to
give it to him," Raze answered. "That's the most information I can give."
Anna started to walk up to Raze at that point and got extremely close, before she bowed
down her head until she was looking at the floor.
"Thank you so much... thank you, to know that one of my kind is here, and that it is the
great ally Zon, you have allowed me to know more than I ever expected," Anna said.
Charlotte had to blink a few times as she looked at this scene. She had never seen Anna bow
down to anyone. She had never acted this way toward Himmy or other members of Alter.
This was a first.
Then her eyes started to wander onto Raze and a soft smile was left on her face.
"Raze... you really are an amazing person. How is it every time you meet someone you can
cause this big change to happen," Charlotte softly spoke to herself.
The sweet moment was quickly ruined, as the door burst open. The door had broken off its
hinge as the man had entered at an alarming rate.
"Harbour!" Charlotte shouted, still startled from the sudden noise.
"I don't know what to do! Raze, I think you might be in trouble as well!" Harbour shouted.
"In the reception of the Lethal Bite Clan, there are intruders that have entered."
"They have Ivor held hostage, a sword pointed towards his neck. They are asking to speak
to someone, asking about some type of Lux Sword!"
The Lux Sword was the name of the newly acquired sword Raze had received from Niang.
Niang had never said its name, and Harbour didn't recognize the sword either.
"If someone knows the name of that sword, it means they must know the original owner as
well. I'm very interested in meeting this person," Raze thought. "If they want to know
where the sword is, maybe I should give it a test run."
Stretching out his hand, Raze made the Lux Sword appear. It shined, glowing in his hand as
he made his way to the reception.
Chapter 539 A Powerful Weapon
Chapter 539 A Powerful Weapon
The group was always prepared for an attack to occur at any moment. The city, in the eyes
of others, was now weak and a prime target for many.
"Who are they, and why did they come with Ivor?" Charlotte asked as she ran alongside the
others.
She felt a little bad because she could tell that Anna, Raze, and Harbour were all running at
a slower speed just so she could catch up. She wasn't a Pagna warrior after all, and Anna
was some type of enhanced superhuman in the first place.
"At first, I thought they were from the Demonic Faction, but I don't recognize any of them
as being from the Demonic Faction. I was a bit startled when I saw Ivor, and they asked for
something called the Lux Sword, but now, thinking back to it, I think they were some high-
profile wanderers," Harbour answered.
This gave Raze a bigger idea. He doubted it was the Demonic Faction as well. They didn't
act like this; they wouldn't sneak in and then take a hostage or come to the base.
They were here for one reason only, and that was the sword. The fact that they knew the
sword's real name meant Raze had a few questions for them.
Just up ahead, they could see the double doors that would lead down to the reception. Raze
still had the Lux Sword. The very thing they were looking for was in his possession.
"I do have a small favor to ask," Harbour said nervously. "We have already used a lot of our
finances to repair the base. If you could pay attention to try and not destroy the room, that
would do me well."
"I will try," Raze answered. "But I might not be able to control my strength."
Saying those words, there was an underlying smile. Raze, now a middle-stage warrior,
wanted to see what he could do. He pushed off the ground, and the floor tile beneath him
had cracked, but not just directly beneath his foot; around a meter in the opposite direction
from where he was running, the tiles on the floor had broken as he boosted off ahead.
Harbour looked at the ground and immediately wanted to cry, but noticed the amount of
destruction.
'His Qi is impressive to do that. Sure, many middle-stage warriors with a kick off their foot
can destroy the tile around them, but is his Qi still so condensed that it broke multiple... I
might as well say goodbye to that room now.'
After reaching the main reception room, Raze could see those below, and he wasted no
time as he jumped from his position in the air, heading straight down.
The room was filled with six wanderers and one with a sword held up against Ivor's neck.
They all were staring at the man that was coming down right in front of them.
"What the heck!" The wanderer known as Neon said, who was holding the sword up
against Ivor's neck. "Does this person not care that we have hostages!"
It didn't seem to be the case, as one of the wanderers, known as Axe with a giant axe,
gathered all the Qi he had, and swung it matching Raze's sword.
The two clashed in the air, and a shockwave was sent through the room. Right where Axe
was standing, the floor was tearing apart beneath his feet. Axe was turning as he struggled
to fight against the Qi, and that's when he noticed.
Right at the edge of his axe, there was a crack. It started small and then spread out,
shattering the axe into pieces. With that out of the way, Raze landed on the ground, then
shifted and delivered a punch right in his stomach, sending him flying back and crashing
into the wall.
"I'll do you all a favor because I'm feeling a bit nice today," Raze said, standing there as he
held the glowing sword by his side. "I won't use all my powers."
The wanderers who had just witnessed what had taken place were stunned, and in more
ways than one. They were all middle-staged warriors, maybe not the strongest, but to see
one of them get taken down so quickly and in a battle of pure strength against a warrior
that specialized in strength was something else.
As for Raze himself, he was serious when he said he wouldn't go all out. For one, he wasn't
using the Ghost blade, which would strengthen with his Demonic Qi. If anything, the Lux
Sword was only cold when Raze was being more defensive.
At the same time, he wanted to see how much his body had improved, which was why he
was going to just use his Qi for this fight, and not even the Dark Edge Sword Arts
techniques.
Right after, another wanderer swung out what looked like a black chain; it had wrapped
around Raze's free hand, and immediately she started to pull forward, doing so Raze stood
his ground, shifting his feet, and pulled back.
The wanderer was overwhelmed with the strength and was nearly dragged forward so
much so that she almost fell to the floor, but as she was falling, she threw out another chain
from her hand and was using this more like a whip.
Raze then smashed his sword right against the chain, hitting it straight to the floor,
destroying more of the ground.
"I knew it, I knew we should have waited to do renovations to the place!" Harbour
screamed. "If I thought there was going to be a fight, then why did I do something like
repairing this place first?"
Another wanderer had attacked Raze with his sword, but Raze was able to defend from the
strikes easily as he hit them away, using what he had learned from Bargo. While fighting,
Raze was noticing something.
'This is interesting, since they are middle-stage warriors like me as well, their speed is as
good as mine. The amount of Qi they can use is similar as well, but I've noticed my Qi is
more refined and condensed, allowing me to strike with more precision.'
'Leading to my attacks seeming more devastating compared to the others. At the same time,
their techniques compared to what I have learned, and those that I have fought are lacking,
to the point where this is a very easy fight. This is nothing like when I was struggling with
going up against more than one middle-stage warrior.'
Raze knocked the attack of one of the swordsmen to the side, and then pushed the warrior
into Axe, who had gotten back up and decided to strike with his fists. Raze at that point was
hit with one of the chains.
It came around like a whip hitting his side, and that's when the attack had just bounced off
his body. It had moved away with a strong force, not even leaving a mark on his body.
"What…what happened just there?" The woman with chains thought. She was hopeful as
they had finally managed to land a hit on the mysterious man, and then there wasn't even a
wrinkle on his blazer.
'I see, I could feel the energy of the sword reacting,' Raze realized. 'This is the boost of the
sword and the blazer working together, 200 percent extra protection from blunt and
magical attacks… against middle-stage warriors, right now with this sword in my hand, I
can't even get hurt.' Raze smiled.
He had received a very powerful item.
Chapter 540 A Familiar Face
Chapter 540 A Familiar Face
Harbour and the others had stayed on the second-floor staircase and were overlooking
what was happening below. Based on the panic on Harbour's face, they had initially
thought they would all have to get involved, but seeing how things were now, even with 6
middle-stage warriors, Raze was able to handle them all.
Not just that, he wasn't lying; he wasn't using the full extent of his powers. "Although he has
just reached the middle stage, his strength is that of an 8th stage warrior, a mid-eighth
stage warrior at least!" Harbour said, surprised.
"Your naming sense sucks," Charlotte complained. "Middle-stage warriors, rank what, 7th,
8th, and 9th, but between those stages, you basically have low, mid, and high, is that right?"
"Ergh, yeah, I guess we're just used to it. Right now, Raze, having just gotten into the 7th
stage, which is known as the middle stage for warriors, should be a low seventh-stage
warrior, but he's showing the strength of a mid-eighth stage warrior," Harbour explained,
which made them understand a bit more.
Since the first few scuffles against Raze weren't successful, now the middle-stage warriors
were cautious, and even Neon had let go of Ivor, allowing him to run to the side of the
room.
The hostage seemed useless to them since Raze showed no hesitation in his actions when
attacking.
"That must be the sword right!" Neon called out. "Now we understand why they were
willing to pay us so much for this mission. They knew how hard it was going to be."
"You never know," the woman wrapped the chains around her arms. "It might be that
sword that's giving him these strange protection powers. If we can get the sword off him, it
might be a lot easier."
There was another thing that the wanderers were wondering as well as they circled Raze,
ready to attack; there was one of them that hadn't attacked from the group just yet.
"Are you going to sit around, or are you actually going to join in the attack this time?" Neon
said, looking at Elvlin.
To the wanderers, Elvlin, being from the Crimson Crane, was the most infamous out of all of
them, and they assumed that she had the most strength as well. Yet, for some reason, even
though there were chances, she hadn't attacked.
"Right," Elvlin answered as she placed her glaive in front of her. She continued to look at
the young man in front of her. She had been looking at the attacker ever since he had
entered, and rather than looking at the weapon in his hand, she was looking at his face.
'Why does this person's face feel so familiar to me?' Elvlin thought. 'But no matter how
much I rack my brain, I can't think of who this could be. I wouldn't forget a strong middle-
stage warrior like this. This person's strength, it feels like I'm going up against Alba.'
Shaking her head, she tried to forget about this nagging feeling that was at the back of her
mind. Instead, she was focused on the sword.
'I can feel the strong energy from that sword, no doubt it's helping this person in the fight.
With the attack against Axe, it just shows how strong that sword is. If I manage to complete
this task and take the sword for myself, I might either be able to sell it for a better glaive, or
just use it instead of what I have now.'
'I won't have to wait or rely on that Dark Magus to make me a weapon.'
Holding her glaive once again, she was ready to attack this time.
At the same time, three people charged in: Axe, Neon, and one of the other swordsmen.
They weren't used to attacking together or in formations because they weren't from
regular clans like other warriors, but they knew attacking together would make it more
difficult for the other to defend.
"This fight is now going to be a lot harder than you think," Raze said as he looked directly at
one of the swordsmen.
Right as they lifted their sword performing a special technique, Raze could see the chain
coming out at the side, ready to hit him in his ribs. It was the same for the other attackers.
"Now that I know it's hard for you to hurt me, I can focus on attacking at full force!" Raze
swung his sword down in front of the swordsman and met his sword straight on.
It was the Devil's Waterfall strike formation. The strike was powerful, and as it hit the
sword ahead, Axe's fist, the chain, and another sword had all hit him at the same time.
Immediately, the effect of the blazer had activated, and the sword glowed up even more.
The power surged, and all of the attacks felt like they had just hit an insurmountable wall. It
wasn't strong enough to push them away, but it didn't matter.
Raze had struck without hesitation in front of him, breaking the man's sword, and then he
slashed his sword again right across his chest, splattering a diagonal line of blood.
Immediately, the others jumped back; this wasn't their fellow clan member, they were all in
this job for themselves. They wouldn't protect him but instead saw this as a chance.
"This worked earlier, so it might work now; instead of attacking, I'll wrap around the sword
instead!" The woman with the chains had successfully wrapped it around the sword.
And the others by the side saw this as a chance; they could attack once again. They were
ready to head in, but before they did, there was one that had moved faster and was already
there before the others.
When Raze turned around, he could see the large glaive right in his face; he didn't have
time to use a proper technique and instead just swung the sword to match the glaive.
The two clashed, and a massive amount of Qi started to ripple through the air, pushing the
others away slightly. This battle of Qi was slightly stronger compared to all the other
clashes before.
There was no telling who would win this clash of attacks.
From above, Anna was doing an analysis of the person who had just attacked. "That warrior
might be troublesome if Raze is still planning to hold back," Anna stated. "That is Elvlin
from the Crimson Crane, the biggest and considered the strongest Wanderer Clan there is."
"Yeah, I noticed as well," Harbour commented. "Should we go and help?"
"I don't think there will be a problem; it doesn't seem like any other members of the
Crimson Crane are currently present, he can still handle this himself."
While the strong clash was still hitting Raze, he was noticing something; the blazer, even
now, as the attack was hitting him, was taking some of the hit, drawing the power away
from the strike.
The Lux Sword along with the blazer were proving to be incredibly strong.
'My attack is weakening, that sword, I have to have it!' Elvlin thought, but still, there was
something about the person in front of her. Now they were so close, she was wondering
what it was that was bugging her.
With the two of them being close, she wasn't the only one that had a strange feeling while
looking at the person in front of her.
"Elvlin," Raze called out.
Hearing that name flicked a light switch in her head; now she knew where she had seen this
face before. 'He's… the Dark Magus.'
Chapter 541 A Stinging Dark Pain!
Chapter 541 A Stinging Dark Pain!
The nagging feeling that Elvlin had since she had seen their attacker had finally become
clear, but she was wondering if it was better if she never realized who this person was in
the first place.
After a direct clash with the young man, and him saying her name, she knew for sure, this
was the Dark Magus.
"Da-"
"Don't say my name," Raze instantly stopped her from doing so. There were people
watching and next to no one had put things together.
There were those in the room that knew him as Raze Cromwell, there were those that
thought he was the White Dragon, and he even had the name the Dark Magus. On top of
that, in the Demonic Faction, he was known as a real demon after taking out a large number
of the Behemoth Clan.
Not a single person had put together that all of these people were a single person, not yet
and he wanted to keep it that way for the time being.
"But Elvlin, I assume you have been tasked with a mission of sorts, if it's not one of the
Crimson Crane, then I suggest you tell everyone else to back away," Raze stated.
The other wanderers had yet to strike again. After seeing the clash with Elvlin and her
hesitation they waited.
They could tell from the power she was the strongest and they were also confident now,
that with her they could complete this mission, but if for whatever reason she decided to
turn away from it then she would fail.
'This is the Dark Magus, but how!' Elvlin thought in her head. She had remembered the last
time she had seen him fight. She was unable to witness much of what he had done when
going up against Feebie the Lethal Bite Clan leader but she had a good idea of his strength.
'He was an initial stage warrior, with strange powers, but he hasn't even used strange
powers during this fight. The Qi energy he is using now is that of a middle stage warrior. So
how did he manage to get so strong that he could do all of this?'
'He is definitely stronger than me now if we were to go head to head on our own. He might
be the youngest middle stage warrior out there as well… but there could be one
explanation for all of his strength at the moment.'
Elvlin's eyes were now glued onto the glowing sword that Raze had held. She could feel its
power and with the mission paying so much to each individual it had to do something.
Could the Dark Magus have gotten so strong in a short amount of time, or was the more
likely scenario that the sword was the reason for his strength, if that was the case.
"Hey, it looks like there's some history between you and this person!" Neon stated. "We
need to know, are you going to fight him or not. This guy is clearly too strong for us to take
him out on our own, but I think we have a good chance if you go into this thing
wholeheartedly."
The other wanderers agreed, but it was only if Elvlin was going to take part in the fight, if
not then they would back down.
Once again, her eyes were glued onto the sword.
'They're right, if we take him out here, I can get the Lux Sword for myself. The reward
doesn't matter too much from the church with the sword and going back to the clan, I can
have the other Crimson Crane members protect me.'
'This will help increase the clan's strength.'
"Raze if I remember correctly," Elvlin called out. "The sword in your hand, is the Lux Sword,
it's a sword that doesn't belong to you which is why we have been requested to take it back.
So if you don't mind, then can you give the sword to us."
Elvlin was hoping since the two of them were in the same clan, there was a chance that
maybe Raze would agree and just hand the sword over.
"The way you just spoke to me," Raze replied as he held out the sword and pointed it to
Elvlin. "I sense that If I don't decide to give you the sword, you're going to try force it out of
my hand?"
Elvlin's eyebrows furrowed as she held the glaive tighter. She had helped the Dark Magus a
few times already, even though they didn't know him that much.
She had practically risked her life for him on the orders of Alba, and this man didn't want to
do one little favor for her.
"Attack!" Elvlin ordered, as she rushed forward ahead of everyone else, and performed a
sweeping attack.
Raze swung his sword as well, matching it, stopping the large glaive from hitting him just
by his feet. He was pushing back and that's when he could see the others coming towards
him as well.
While blocking the attack from Elvlin, he could see several coming at him, and lifting up his
hand the edge of his fingertips started to spark.
"Do you think he needs help now?" Harbour asked.
"There's no need," Anna answered. "I've sensed a whole change in his demeanor, it seems
he's done taking it easy."
Right out from Raze's hand a bolt of blue lightning came out and hit Neon's body. It shocked
next to him touching Axe as well.
The only attack that managed to hit him then were the chains from the other Wanderers,
but it bounced off his blazer like all of the other attacks before.
'There it is, that strange power that he can use!' Elvlin thought. 'That's what I was worried
about, but If I can keep him busy, then they will be able to attack again. I know he has
strange powers so I can look out for it.'
Scraping the glaive across the floor, Elvlin then lifted and bashed her glaive from above,
Raze carefully blocked the attacks, but they didn't stop there and he was continuing to stop
the heavy attacks.
Even with his newfound middle stage, he was having some kind of trouble. After all, this
was one of the members of the Crimson Crane.
As the attacks continued though, Raze was getting more frustrated and he felt another
chain come towards him. Although he knew that his blazer would protect him he decided to
grab it.
As soon as he did, the chain started to freeze. Each lock was covered in ice and growing fast.
Elvlin was coming in again for another strike, and Qi energy started to wrap around the
sword, intertwining.
'First formation, Shadow Bind!' Dashing forward Raze, hit away the glaive, and continued to
swing. Visual Qi started to swirl around Elvlin until it completely covered her body. It
restrained around her and was holding her tight, even with her strength she was finding it
hard to break free.
'Oh that's very interesting, since the Shadow Bind skill uses Qi as well, the binding has
gotten stronger now I'm at the middle stage.'
However, his face wasn't one full of smiles, as he looked at the fellow Crimson Crane
member.
"One of the things I hate more than anything in this world.. is betrayal.. and you were going
to kill me for this sword."
Chapter 542 We Are Like Family
Chapter 542 We Are Like Family
The pain of being betrayed, Raze knew that well. One of his close colleagues, Ibarin, the
current head of the central Mage Academy, was one who had betrayed him.
Doing whatever they could to climb up, and in turn was a person that had ruined his life,
and for what, for something as simple as a position?
When coming to Pagna, Raze wished to trust no one. Those that did him well would end up
hurt, and those that he did end up trusting would just hurt him in return.
Having those close to him like Simyon and Safa, had started to make him think that he could
be less cautious around others, but right now, a member of his own clan that had helped
him several times, was ready to give all that up over an item.
As Raze walked closer to Elvlin, she could feel her heart beating, it was trying to pop out of
her throat. There was this strange aura around his body.
'His Qi, it's coming out of his body and covering me... and it's not just that, there's
something else as well, why is there such strong bloodlust coming from him.'
Elvlin couldn't help but gulp down her fear. She had forgotten that she was even being
restrained by the technique because she was trying to do everything she could to remain
less visible.
If she moved, at that moment it felt like she would be sliced immediately, but if she didn't
move her life would be done for immediately.
At this point though, the others had broken from the paralysis with the lightning attack and
had come right at Raze.
Seeing this, he swung his sword, doing a spin. As he did, the sword was shrouded in magic
and quickly switched to the Ghost blade.
A new sword was in its place. It started to light up as an immense amount of Qi was placed
in it.
'Crimson Slash!'
A large line of Qi energy along with Raze's wind magic exploded from his sword. It was
larger in size compared to before, and hit both Axe and Neon cutting right through them.
The attack continued hitting even the roof of the building they were in making a clean cut.
"AHHH!" Harbour placed both of his hands at the side of his head. The place was getting
even more ruined by the second, thankfully the cut was so cleanly made that the building
wasn't falling apart.
Still, it would be a further cost to his repairs.
After the slash was made by the sword, two bodies that were in the air, had split in half,
falling to the ground and sliding. No longer part of the land of the living.
Now that only left two more wanderers, the woman who used the chains and Elvlin herself.
However, the woman with chains had taken the attack as an opportunity.
She had yet to see the power of the Crimson Slash, nor did she know that her allies would
be down for the count, but being so close she had gone to stab Raze with a dagger.
Lifting up his arm, the dagger went right into his shoulder, pushing him until he had
eventually stopped.
Immediately Raze grabbed onto the woman's hand, and held it tightly.
"Did you think I didn't notice you? I could tell the effects of my blazer were already worn
out, especially now I'm not using the Lux Sword but I wanted to see something."
As Raze held onto her hand at a fast rate, she could feel her life perishing away. Her flesh
was fading away, and letting go she fell to the floor lifeless.
Watching, Harbour was thankful that was the way Raze had dealt with the attacker. There
were no hard feelings here for the warriors.
They took on the mission, and would easily kill those to get it, all just for coin. That was the
way the world was.
After absorbing the energy Raze was trying to feel the new Qi that had been added to him.
It felt like a drop in a large well.
'The effects of the extraction technique are even smaller now that I'm at the middle stage.
Although the extraction takes their Qi, it doesn't take the same equivalent to what they had.
This means I'm a long way off.'
Right after, Raze switched back to the Lux Sword and turned to look at Elvlin, the bindings
had already been undone from Raze's techniques but she hadn't dared move, nor had she
tried to attack Raze like the others.
That was when something interesting had occurred. The blazer was repairing itself as it lit
up slightly green in color and the wound underneath that had been made by the dagger,
that also had healed almost in an instant.
'This sword is handy in more ways' than one, and switching between them worked out
well.' Raze thought.
Finally though, he had to deal with one last person, a person he knew who had decided to
try and take his life for the weapon in his hand.
"Don't do it." Elvlin eventually said her lip quivering. "I realized my mistake, I shouldn't
have attacked you. I didn't attack you after because I knew what I did was wrong, I was just
taken away by the sword for a moment."
"For a moment?" Raze replied. "And that moment would have taken my life. If I was weaker
than all of you here, would you hesitate to take me out?"
"You know, there is a big issue with those that are unfaithful, that betray others. Once they
have made the mistake once, in the back of one's mind they have already broken that trust,
and it can never be mended."
"Each time I would be wondering, will they try to take my life again? What if someone
offered you more, or what if you ended up growing stronger than me? For these reasons I
can't forgive you."
Elvlin's words weren't convincing at all, she needed to either use her mouth or try to fight
out of this, but she doubted that she could run away, so instead she had one last thing she
could use.
"If you kill me, Alba won't forgive you, the entire Crimson Crane won't forgive you!" She
shouted, and a smile started to appear on her face, as confidence was rising in her.
Did she forget, she was in one of the most powerful Clans. This was something she could
use.
"Alba treats all of its members like family, if you kill me, She will hunt you down with the
others. And if you think she would treat someone like you on the same level as those that
have been with her from the beginning then you're wrong!"
This was it, this was the way Elvlin would get out of this. When she left she would need to
speak to Alba about the whole thing, but for now, she had secured her safety.
"Like family huh?" Raze said, and immediately he swung his sword as fast as he could right
through her neck. Her head rolled onto the floor until it eventually stopped.
"If that was the case, then why didn't you see it that way?" Raze said.
Chapter 543 No Break
Chapter 543 No Break
The others had been watching the entire time, leaving everything that was going on to
Raze. He had a handle on the matter, and these were intruders that were after his sword.
So they thought he had every right to handle the situation, and thankfully Raze was
stronger than those attacking him, so much so that if he wanted to, he could subdue every
single one of them.
One had to be incredibly skillful or more powerful than their opponent to be able to do
such a thing. Which was why, inside them, they were all a little shocked when they had
witnessed what Raze had just done.
Immediately, Harbour slapped his forehead as he shook his head.
"He took out… the Crimson Crane member, this can't be good." Harbour mumbled to
himself.
"Right." Anna replied, looking at the head on the ground, she was analyzing, making sure it
really was the Crimson Crane member and everything was telling her it was.
"The current state of the clan has enough trouble as it is. If the Crimson Crane tracks down
their member's last location, that will lead them to here and they will start to ask
questions." Anna explained.
"Won't this be really bad for Raze then as well!" Charlotte said, holding onto the rail,
gripping it tighter. "They might now be after him as well, giving us more enemies."
"That might not be the case." Anna said as she began to walk down the staircase. The rest
decided to follow now that all the intruders were dealt with.
"After all, no one knows who was responsible for this apart from us. So they might never
learn of who had done such a thing, but I think the clan will certainly chase after the
individual." Anna explained.
"Which is why I thought he would at least spare the Crimson Crane member to make it
easier on himself." Harbour added.
They had finally reached the bottom floor and were having a look at the rest of the
Wanderers that had been part of the attack.
There was nothing noticeable on them, apart from Charlotte and Harbour finding quite a
few pouches filled with gold coins.
Harbour took them and placed them right in his back pocket.
"It's because of you that this place was destroyed, so I only have some right to use these to
finance the repairs." Harbour said, looking at the dead.
"You need to stop doing this." Anna said as she approached Raze, who had oddly been
standing in the center.
He was still in the same place and position as he was when he had struck Elvlin, not moving
or saying a word yet.
"Doing what?" Raze lifted his head and looked over.
"Killing everyone that is involved, even I'm not that reckless because it could help us with
the mission or task." Anna explained. "If you had left one of them alive, we could have asked
them why they were after you, or more importantly, who had sent them to attack in the
first place."
"Now all we know is they are after the sword in your possession and most likely will keep
paying people to take it from you."
"And the Crimson Crane might be after you now as well." Harbour said. He was currently
looking over Ivor who was explaining the state of the barracks that he was in.
How the other applicants had all been killed and he was forced to guide them here.
Charlotte went to look at Raze who was still standing in the same place. He had his head
back down, staring into the ground, and she couldn't help but wonder, what was he
thinking.
'I killed a member of the Crimson Crane, I killed a member of the clan that I was in.' Raze
thought and had repeated in his head a few times.
'However, this person tried to target me, tried to take something from me, even though the
two of us were in the same clan, they were the ones that betrayed me. Who knows how far
they would go.'
'It's good I got rid of a problem while it's small. It makes me wonder though, now with this
happening, how will the Crimson Crane react.'
'If I was to meet them, I would admit to them what had occurred. I will tell them everything,
and from there they can decide how to act, whether to attack me, or continue on with our
relationship.'
'Either way, I will need to be ready in strength to go up against them. I was able to fight
against five middle stage warriors just now, and didn't use my full strength.'
'However, the Crimson Crane are far more talented than this bunch.'
A part of Raze wondered if he had made an enemy that he didn't need to make, but only
time would tell with that.
"I'm going to call some people to clear the area." Harbour mentioned. "I'll just say some
people attacked, but for now, I think we should be a little careful."
With that said, while the room was being cleared, Charlotte and Anna had gathered once
again in one of the reception rooms.
It was a library of sorts with seating areas and more all around them. Raze looked to be just
sitting down, lost in his mind.
While Anna was picking up books, flicking through them before placing them back then.
She was continually doing this with one book after the other.
"It is important to ask," Anna said as she picked up another book. "The fact that a member
of the Crimson Crane was dealt with, is this something that I should mention to Himmy, or
keep quiet about."
When asking this question it was directed to the current leader of the group, Charlotte.
"So many things have happened while he was away." Charlotte said, shaking her head and
covering her eyes. "I thought so much had already occurred."
"Honestly, let's just keep it between us and not make this a big deal. Like Harbour said, no
one knows about it, and no one knows that Raze has the special sword either."
"If Alter were to find out about the sword they would want to keep it for themselves as
well… so it's best we don't link these things to Alter."
"Which means Raze, while you are a member of Alter, it would be best if you hide that
sword. Otherwise, you might get other agents coming after you."
Raze understood that, and after learning of the effects of the Lux Sword, he certainly didn't
want to give it away.
Just as the group were resting and were calm once again, Raze could pick up the sound of
running. Just like before, bursting through the door, Harbour was there with his hands on
his knees, out of breath almost.
Some wouldn't believe he was a middle stage warrior himself with how often he was out of
breath when he came to see them, but that was just how desperate he was to deliver this
message.
"Everyone, it might be best you get out of here… it's the Demonic Faction, they're
attacking." Harbour said.
The group just couldn't get a break.
Chapter 544 Making Another Legend
Chapter 544 Making Another Legend
A large tunnel through a series of mountains was what separated the Dark Faction from the
Demonic Faction. It was the easiest route to get from one side to the other unless someone
wanted to travel through the rough terrain.
At the moment, in the Dark Faction at the end of one of those tunnels, a large-scale fight
was taking place.
The sound of clashing swords, techniques, and the smell of blood filled the air, as several
people were fighting with everything they had.
Bargo, the vice head of the Moon Shield Clan, was at the center of it all. Swinging his sword,
he deflected an attack from the enemy, and then stabbed him right through the chest.
With the sword through the body, Bargo charged forward with a roaring scream before he
punched the boy with a fist full of Qi, sending the body flying off his sword and crashing
into another group of attackers.
"This situation isn't good at all," Bargo said as he took a look around. They were few in
number defending the place.
They had a number of around twenty, while the enemy was at least fifty in number.
Not only that, but those who were defending were nearly all wanderers. Some of them had
even run off not wishing to risk their lives as soon as they saw the attack occur.
Others stayed, having taken the gold, they were honoring their duty. However, it didn't
matter so much.
Because they were a group of wanderers rather than a clan, it was difficult for them to
work together. While the Demonic Faction members attacking weren't really working
together, they were wild in their attacks and quite strong compared to the wanderers.
"I need to help them!" Bargo said, moving forward. As he took two steps, a curved blade
came right for his face.
Bargo lifted his sword in time, fending off the attack but waves of large Qi were occurring.
Bargo looked at his attacker, whose face was covered in scars and had white bandages
wrapped around his head.
Immediately from the single confrontation, he could tell this person was a cut above the
rest.
"Is it you, are you the one in charge of this attack? Which clan are you from, the Lost Clan,
the Behemoth Clan?" Bargo asked.
"Oh, a person who can stop my attack and isn't afraid to talk." The man said, licking his lips.
"You must be the person who made the Lethal Bite Clan fall. It seems there has been a lot of
civil distrust among your group lately.
"But you fool, if you think I was acting on behalf of any of those clans then you would be
dead wrong!"
The man pulled his large curved weapon away and charged forward, delivering a strong
diagonal slash. The ground tore up as Bargo was pushed against the ground.
"I am Slicer! The head of the Flesh Clan! And taking over and increasing the territory of the
Demonic Faction will put our name as a clan not to be messed with!" Slicer exclaimed.
This was one of the worries that Bargo had, which was why he had stayed to help Harbour
with matters. Although maybe the big clans that controlled the Demonic Faction were
smart enough not to act, the same couldn't be said for the smaller clans. Slicer was from a
smaller clan, a person trying to prove themselves. Seeing this as an easy opportunity.
They weren't thinking of the consequences or how the Dark Faction would react. Either
way, with the state they were in at the moment, it was quite likely that they would all
perish if this continued on.
---
After getting the news from Harbour, Raze and the others were already heading to the
location of where the trouble was coming from.
They had decided to take somewhat of an alternative route as they had entered a large
building with stained glass windows.
Raze remembered this place well since it was one of the first areas he had come to when he
had first entered the city.
"Wait, what are we going to do?" Charlotte asked, rushing in front of them. "We need to
think about this, remember we are part of Alter, we are not part of this clan or any faction."
"If we keep involving ourselves in this clan mess, we're going to make enemies of everyone.
The Dark Faction, the Demonic Faction, Crimson Crane, the wanderers."
"If too many people are on our back, Alter might just abandon us, or worse decide it's
better for them to try and get rid of us!"
Charlotte felt somewhat guilty because they were the cause of all the mess that had
occurred, but now they were getting in too deep, and Anna seemed like she was just going
with the flow.
She was the current leader while Himmy was away so she needed to think for the rest of
the group.
"She's right," Harbour said. "I didn't inform you guys of what was happening because I
expected you to help, it was so you could leave this city."
"I already told you before, I gave you my life, and you saved my life. You have already
granted my wish, saving this city that is already doomed is not part of my wish."
Harbour said, but he was frustrated. He knew if no one stopped these people, a lot of the
citizens that he looked after in the city would perish.
"You thought I was doing this for you?" Raze stated. "You have to understand, ultimately I
do things for my own purpose, if there is no benefit in it for me, or it puts me in a worse
situation, I would never act."
Right there and then, Raze started to draw something on the ground, Charlotte realized
what it was, it was a magic circle, but when reading it she had a raised eyebrow.
This wasn't magic cast for combat, this was simple magic that was used by merchants,
factories, and so on, why would Raze be doing something like this.
"You're right, I made a mistake before, now we don't know who is after the Lux Sword, but I
have a plan. With what I'm going to do, we can get those people who want the sword to
come after me, and stop the attack of the Demonic Faction."
Casting his magic, the magic circle underneath his feet started to light up. From the bottom,
a change started to occur to his blazer.
It changed in front of their eyes as it went from black with a white trim, turning into
different shades of yellow. The main focus of the color looked a lot like those from the
Rylon Religion.
After that, Raze lifted his hand and the iron mask was put on his face along with his black
hair, and he then extended out his hand and the Lux Sword was with him once again.
"I've realized being in this world of Pagna, that the warriors like to make legends. Legends
are what draws people, and as a tactic to make them stay away.
"So today, let's make a new legend, of the Sun warrior." Raze said, letting the Lux Sword
glow.
Chapter 545 The Sun Warrior
Chapter 545 The Sun Warrior
Looking at Raze, as he stepped out of the magic circle and walked forward through the
large empty building towards the battlefield on the other side, he looked like a completely
different person.
His hair was black, covered by an iron mask, and rather than his glowing Ghost blade he
held the special Lux Sword that was beaming with light.
Then there was his fancy blazer that stood out even more compared to before, standing
there in bright colors. It wasn't something that even many Pagna warriors would wear, but
rather those from the Rylon Religion, and that was precisely where Raze had gotten this
idea from.
"I have a feeling that Raze has already made up his mind," Anna said as she followed from
behind. "I think we're just going to get another show like last time."
The others were inclined to agree, and this was a good thing for Harbour. As soon as Raze
opened the door, a flying body came his way.
Immediately he moved to avoid the body, and it continued forward, hitting Anna. She had
managed to grab the injured man by the clothing around his chest.
He was already done for, so she threw him on the ground to the side and stepped forward,
witnessing the chaos at hand.
The fighting was rough, going on in front of the cave opening on the stone flooring. The
wanderers were being overwhelmed, almost backed up into a corner, and there was quite a
large number from the Demonic Faction present.
"Let's deal with this situation in a nice way," Raze thought as he slowly walked over to the
Wanderer and Demonic Faction clan members that were fighting closest.
Right in front of Raze, one of the wanderers was beyond tired, covered in cuts all over his
body. The Demonic Faction member shifted forward, trying to strike with his sword.
Right at that moment, Raze swung the Lux Sword down, hitting the sword into the ground.
He then quickly lifted the sword and bashed the man with the side rather than the sharp
edge, sending him flying back in the other direction.
Lifting his sword up again, Raze attacked the man next to him, putting more strength this
time, breaking his sword completely, and with a fist, Raze hit him from under his chin,
lifting the man in the air before dropping him back to the ground.
"Thank you…" the wanderer said to his strange savior, who he could only see a strange
mask on his face.
"Who are you!" one of the Demonic Faction clan members shouted, noticing that Raze had
taken two of them out.
He then rushed forward, grabbing one right by the face and slammed them into the ground.
Swinging his sword at the same time using the flat edge, he swatted two people away,
swatting them as if they were flies.
"That man, he has to be a middle-stage warrior, but what is with that uniform!" one of them
called out.
It wasn't only the fact that Raze was dealing with his opponents with ease and fairly
quickly; his weapon and outfit were attracting a lot of attention.
All of them had questions on their mind; was it possibly one of the other clan leaders,
maybe it was someone else.
Seeing all of this, they gathered that there was only one person that was with them that
could go against this new foe, and that was Slicer.
Stopping his relentless attacks, Slicer jumped back to reposition himself with the rest of his
clan members and turned to look at Raze, pointing his large curved blade at him.
"You have some skill, but you're wearing a ridiculous outfit! Who are you anyway!" Slicer
asked.
"Who am I?" Raze lifted the sword into the air, and placed both hands on the sword itself.
He had used this strike once before to take out a middle-stage warrior by surprise, and
since he had shown a lack of skills, many would be underestimating him.
As he held the sword, rather than encasing itself in his Dark magic, sparks started to cover
the whole sword.
'The Dark Edge Sword Arts works best with Dark Magic, but I have also learned how to
utilize the skills with some of my other magic. Lightning being the most adaptable, this will
be the start of another legend!'
Raze then swung his sword down, performing the second formation Eclipse Strike. A
massive amount of energy exploded out from his sword, covering the entire area in front of
them.
The range of the attack was too wide for them to avoid, and the attack was slightly blue in
color due to the lightning attack.
As it came out of his sword, it hit and consumed every member while the bulk of the strike
had gone right through Slicer.
The power of the strike had faded, and now the other wanderers could see the aftermath.
At the cave entrance there was a cut now on top of the hole, like a ravine.
As for Slicer, his body was on the floor along with most of the Demonic Faction clan
members, but his, in particular, compared to the rest of them, was sliced completely in half.
The others' skin was darkened, some of their bodies were still twitching from the leftover
magic, but there was one thing that was clear; they were no longer alive.
Not all of the Demonic Faction clan were caught up in the attack. Those that were fighting
against wanderers on the side were still alive, and the initial ones that Raze had hit, were
starting to get up from their injuries as well.
After seeing what had just occurred though, they had instantly stopped attacking, and were
looking to each other for guidance.
Their clan head, the strongest of them, had just been eliminated, and even more so, it had
been done in a single attack.
"Who am I?" Raze shouted in a booming voice. "I am the person who took out the Lethal
Bite Clan, and this territory now belongs to me."
"I have the power of this Lux Sword in my hand, I have the power to stop anyone from
attacking this territory. If more from the Demonic Faction come, they shall meet my wrath
again. I am the Sun Warrior!" Raze shouted.
In some circumstances, Raze would have found what he was saying ridiculous, but in this
situation, he knew what he was doing, and he had been following how those from Pagna
speak.
"The Sun Warrior, he took down the Lethal Bite clan!"
"Did you see his strength? It has to be true. Now it makes sense how it suddenly fell. Of
course, Harbour couldn't do something like that."
A slight pain was felt in Harbour's chest as he heard those words, but he knew they were
true.
"The Sun Warrior, we have the Sun Warrior in this city. If that's the case, it might be one
worth staying with."
The wanderers had a large smile on their face, meanwhile, the Demonic Faction clan
members were starting to head back.
For fear of their life, they were heading toward the cave exit. Seeing this, some of the
wanderers wanted to go after them.
"Stop!" Raze shouted after the wanderers. "Let them go, let them spread the name, so they
know what is in store for them if they were to try this again."
On that day, just as Raze had predicted, a new legend was spread that day, reaching all
areas of the continent of Pagna.
Chapter 546 The World Event
Chapter 546 The World Event
What Raze had predicted had become a reality. The news of the Dark Faction being
attacked had spread, but what had spread more was the person who had defended it, the
one that was known as the Sun Warrior.
The Light Faction Elders had learned of this, and they were quite relieved that the Demonic
Faction wasn't able to get an upper hand on them.
In their minds, they believed that the Demonic Faction, after having wiped out one of their
cities and successfully defending an attack, was getting a little too confident, and this had
put them in their place.
The Dawnblade clan was at the center of the discussion taking place, especially since they
had lost one of their Elders.
At the base of the clan, in a large oval building that let in light from above, the Elders were
sitting down cross-legged opposite each other, and in the center of the room was Beatrix
Highborn.
"We understand that you have been in seclusion after your loss to the Demonic Faction; it
appears your strength has risen quite a bit," the Elder complimented.
Beatrix gave a slight bend of the knee before answering. "I have taken what had occurred as
a lesson to continue to strive forward. I am confident that I would be able to best anyone
from my generation."
"Certainly," the Elder replied. "Dame, I believe, was part of the same generation, but you
had bested him and everyone else at the last martial arts tournament."
"It's because of your victory in the past that the Light Faction has been able to avoid
confrontation. If your student is to win again, then it will solidify our position. Because we
won the last martial arts tournament, it will take place in the Light Faction as well."
"Which is why I need you to continue your growth. You are the shining star of the
Dawnblade Clan. I'm sure you have heard of the news."
"The Dark Faction has the student known as the White Dragon we need to be wary of, and
now they have someone known as the Sun Warrior as well. It's quite possible that these
two will appear."
"Meanwhile, the Demonic Faction also has this rising Demon character, and the Dark Magus
himself is one to worry about."
"In terms of students, the Black Tiger is who we need to worry about from their end. We
will pass on any data we have before the tournament is to take place."
It was quite common during the time of the martial arts tournament for names to be spread
through the continent. It was a way to try and get fear to rise in others.
The tournament was where they would learn if they were true or not.
The Light Faction only had Beatrix at the moment, but they had their ways and secrets of
their own to win the tournament.
From the Light Faction, the top five from the academy would be selected along with
Beatrix's student from the Light Faction.
If things went their way, winning twice in a row while the enemy was in their territory was
the perfect time for them to get rid of the others.
---
What the world didn't know was that in the Demonic Faction a large change was taking
place that no one had any idea about.
The Splitting Fang Clan was a powerful clan in the Demonic Faction. They focused on new
techniques not seen before and were on the rise.
Many would have claimed that their power was no less than the other three large clans in
the Demonic Faction: the Neverfall clan, the Behemoth Clan, and the Lost Clan.
Their history was small, and they had to prove themselves in many ways, one of these ways
was through a talented student known as Mantis, or his more well-known title was the
Black Tiger.
He was the top student at the Pagna academy located in the Demonic Faction. The most
talented they had and was most likely to lead the Demonic Faction to victory, at least in
their minds.
The Splitting Fang Clan was built in the middle of a jungle at the edge of a cliffside. Outside
the entrance had a large carving of a tiger with teeth growing out of it.
It was a rural place, away from multiple cities and wasn't a city of its own. Because it was
an area that was dedicated just to growing stronger.
Yet, if someone was to turn up to the entrance today, they would notice a stark difference.
One of the large teeth had been destroyed.
Going further into the clan's base, the warriors were cut and beaten, lying on the floor. This
continued on to the inside, where the leaders, the head of the clan, and more, every single
one of them were defeated.
Mantis, the Black Tiger, was standing in the center of the Clan leader's room. The seat that
the clan head would sit on was broken, and he was knelt down by the side of it, wiping
blood from his face.
"I can't believe it, who in Pagna could take out the Splitting Fang Clan, with just three
people?" Mantis said as he wiped more blood from the side of his mouth.
The man's footsteps moved closer, but Mantis had already fought as hard as he could along
with the others; he no longer had the energy to fight back.
"We are from the Bonum Society, and we need you, young one, to be a lot stronger than you
are. At the state you are currently in, you are guaranteed to lose.
"You will become our greatest weapon."
---
Elsewhere in the Demonic Faction, the Neverfall Clan had also received news of what had
taken place in the Faction and were discussing a number of things.
"Sir, no one qualified for the tournament from ours this year, it might look bad on the clan,"
one of the Elders spoke.
Belil waved his hand as if it was no big deal. "That doesn't matter, if we really want to take
part, we can always challenge one of those selected before the time comes, and I'm more
interested in the events of the world."
Belil then looked at Rayna, one of the only family members of his that always turned up to
these meetings, but when she saw his smile, she knew what he was going to bring up,
because it was brought up every single time one of these meetings took place.
"Now don't give me that face," Belil said with a small pout. "In fact, what I wanted to do is
give you a congratulation gift on your marriage."
Rayna gulped because she already had received one of his wedding gifts, and it was the
destruction of part of the Light Faction. She was worried what another gift might be.
"I'm sure you have heard, recently a clan that went by the name the Flesh Clan had gone
and attacked the Dark Faction; they were dealt with as expected, but this meant that there
was a region in the Demonic Faction that was ungoverned.
"We, the Neverfall Clan, have taken over it, but I wish to give it to you. I want you and the
Dark Magus to start your own base there. It's not the best town, but I'm sure you two can
make something of it, especially if you make your own sub-clan under the Neverfall Clan."
This certainly was big news. Rayna getting territory in the Demonic Faction was cementing
the power of the clan even further.
"However, I have to say something, where is this husband of yours because my patience is
starting to get a little thin."
Chapter 547 In The Wrong Faction
Chapter 547 In The Wrong Faction
Himmy had done as he stated; he had returned to the large mushroom base of Alter that
was placed in the middle of a valley, between the three factions.
After returning, he did his usual filling in his reports and as expected, they wanted some
more direct information from him.
Which was why he needed to visit one of the Programmers to inform them of everything
that was going on.
Currently, Himmy was sitting in a dark floored room with single lights that were available
here and there. He was sitting at a large desk that was lit up in a light blue color opposite
one of the Programmers who had both of their fingertips touching.
"Based on all the information we have gathered, we have come to the conclusion that this
matter does not relate to the incidents that have occurred before this. However, we are
afraid as of this moment we have no way to progress further."
Himmy was quite relieved. He thought that they might get in trouble for interfering with
the natural world of Pagna a little too much.
At times it felt like Alter really cared for what they did, and others they would just toss
them aside.
"Then what is the next task for our squad?" Himmy asked.
The Programmer started to move his hands on the table, and files were moving left and
right until he eventually stopped.
"As of this moment, we think it's best if you just remain on standby with your team. We still
believe that this matter is quite an important one and could be related to an item that is at
least at the Legendary or God level."
"Right now, our agents are spread thin, but this is of such importance to us we might need
to call you at a moment's notice. If you wish to continue your duties as you have been
doing, that would be for the best."
Himmy noticed something about the Programmer's words; he had revealed the importance
of the mission to him? It made him wonder if these words were said on purpose, or just
because the Programmer was fairly new.
But now he had an idea why they had been on this task for so long. An item that had the
ability to kill at such a high level.
God-level items would certainly involve higher Alter members if it was to come to it. If
anything, the task being left to their lowly team was a bit of a red flag, but perhaps it was
just because they were to look into matters.
"Things are also getting a bit dangerous for me; can I request a bit more firepower for the
future? And more ammunition." Himmy asked.
Once again, the Programmer flicked his finger on the tables a few times, and part of the
table lit up green.
"Your request has been granted, please go ahead and collect them when you are free."
Himmy stood up from his seat with a smile on his mouth. Right now, his current task was as
close to a break as he could get.
When this happened, he often allowed his members to continue to do as they wished, and
would only contact them when needed.
He was sure the others would be happy with this as well.
---
Somewhere in the Dark Faction, a city existed right by a large river. There was a large
bridge that crossed two areas and it was flourishing with markets and trade.
The city had a great amount of wealth, and the wealthiest of individuals who lived in the
Dark Faction would often stay at this city.
It was one that belonged to the Moon Shield Clan. The clan had started in the city that was
given the name Moon city.
No one knew which came first, but everyone knew the name. Because once a month when
the moon shined brightest it lit up the river, making it a beautiful scene for all to see.
The Moon Shield Clan being one of the top clans also had control of many of the portals in
the area, one of the portals in question being a middle stage portal.
Something that the clan used frequently to improve their strength while also obtaining
higher-level crystals to increase the strength of their warriors.
Off to the side of the city, there was an area that was sectioned off. It was a coliseum of
sorts. Once an area frequently used by the Moon Shield Clan, and was once the area where
one of the martial arts tournaments was held.
But now, it was mostly barren apart from members of the clan that would stand guard
around the side of the coliseum and inside it.
They were covering the area because this was where the middle stage Dimension was
currently at.
Inside the dimension, today it was being used by a special guest.
Two members were stuck in a deep thick swamp where thick dark green liquid covered up
to their knees. A dark-skinned woman stood back to back with a man that held a large
shield.
They were careful until a splash in the water occurred. Standing into the water was a giant
serpent body that was winding.
On its face, it opened up spreading out like gills and oddly it had little arms on its serpent-
like body.
into the water was a giant serpent body that was winding.
On its face, it opened up spreading out like gills and oddly it had Alba, the leader of the
Crimson Crane, went to strike with her swords, but the beast was quick to move, avoiding
the attacks.
She tried to move her feet but it was difficult, and then the beast latched twisting around
her arm. It opened its face and went down to bite but before it could with her other blade
she stabbed it right into the mouth.
At the same time from behind, Tilon was bashing his shield against the same type of
serpent, only this one was a bit bigger in size. He hit it again and again but was finding it
difficult.
That was until he saw Alba up in the air above, who landed and sliced the beast from
behind.
"These middle stage dimensions are tough, and not just because the beasts are stronger,
but because the terrain is more difficult as well." Alba explained as she went ahead to get
the power stone.
"I heard that in some middle stage dimensions, even an initial stage warrior wouldn't be
able to set foot in such a place due to the terrain." Tilon replied. "Which reminds me, why
did we choose here? Wasn't there quite a big cost?"
"We chose this city because we can't just stay stagnant, we have to keep improving, and
besides, this clan is one that is based on shield techniques like yours. So I think it's a good
fit if you can learn something here."
"We might even be able to get materials from the clan if we hunt for them enough. Then the
Dark Magus can create you a special shield."
Tilon was looking forward to that. It had been decided that he was next on the list to
receive one of the Dark Magus's items.
As Tilon was busy extracting the power stone from the beast, he could see something
splash in the water. Another beast was coming straight for his face.
Right as it was about to bite down on his nose, it was grabbed by the neck, and with a
crunch blood splattered over his face.
"Rayna!" Alba said, turning around. She could see one of the Neverfall Clan's heirs holding
onto the beast's neck, but why was such an important person from the Demonic Faction in
the Dark Faction?
"I need your help, I need to find the Dark Magus as soon as possible, it's an emergency!"
Rayna claimed.
Chapter 548 An Awkward Conversation
Chapter 548 An Awkward Conversation
Alba was stunned for a moment as she looked at Rayna. She had to pinch herself on her arm
just to check if she was seeing things.
She had only met with Rayna a few months ago, and it was the first meeting between the
two. Honestly, she was surprised back then, and to constantly run into a person like this
was quite shocking.
"Wait, you know if you're found here, what will happen to you? The Dark Faction will be
after you, they could kidnap you and ask the Demonic Faction all sorts of demands," Alba
said, already looking over her shoulder.
"It's not anything to worry about," Rayna replied. "Besides, the Dark Faction are fools if
they think like that; they should know that the Demonic Faction clans don't care for
hostages no matter who they are."
"If we are captured by the enemy side, then that is just our fault and our situation to get out
of."
Alba let out a nervous chuckle. She had only been in the Dark Faction for a short while, but
she had already forgotten how crazy the Demonic Faction members were compared to the
other two factions.
"Anyway, what is the reason that you want to find the Dark Magus so bad?" Tilon asked as
he placed the shield on his back.
Tilon was getting a little nervous because he wanted the Dark Magus to make his shield
next. The last thing he wanted was for him to be swept off his feet somewhere before it was
his turn.
When the question was asked, Rayna could feel her face starting to warm up slightly. "It's
a... it's a personal and important matter!" Rayna claimed. "I did a lot to find out where your
members were. You were the only active Crimson Crane members, so do you mind telling
me where the Dark Magus is?"
Both Alba and Tilon looked at each other. With them having already made so many
enemies, Alba thought it was a good opportunity to start earning some favors as well.
"We actually don't know where he is, but we might be able to help you find him. If I were to
take a guess, he's most likely in the Dark Faction at the moment," Alba answered.
Tilon's shoulders shrugged down as he heard this, but Alba gave him a quick pat on the
back. "Don't worry, we'll turn in these powerstones for some rare materials to the Moon
Shield Clan."
"Then when we meet the Dark Magus, he can make your shield as we go to him."
Tilon's face lit up in an instant, and now oddly the three of them were traveling together.
---
In the city where the Lethal Bite Clan resided, there were no more problems from their
neighbors of the Demonic Faction. No more attacks occurred, and the city could now focus
on rebuilding itself.
If anything, the city was now better than before, due to the fact of a single person, the Sun
Warrior. There were those that were now moving into the city, wishing to join the new clan
that was being named the Sun Clan.
It was led by Harbour, but everyone thought the clan head was the mysterious sun warrior
that had appeared. Those that had yet to belong to a clan were hoping for a fresh start for
their students.
It was the same with wanderers that wished to have a backing of the clan. Now that the
Lethal Bite Clan was no longer part of the major clans in the Dark Faction, people were
hedging their bets that the new Sun Clan would be next.
Charlotte and the rest had stayed in the city watching over things and the buzz that could
be felt in the air.
"You don't even know what you've done, do you?" Charlotte said as she took a sip from her
drink. The three were sitting outside watching a queue to the barracks. They were trying to
join the newly made clan.
"I did what I thought was best at the time, and it will cause us no more trouble," Raze said,
sitting in his black and white blazer with his black hair.
The fact that he could just sit outside on a day like so, he knew that no one could recognize
him for who he was. In the world of Pagna, many people had black hair in the first place.
They had been in the city for over a week now, and they were all waiting for a particular
person, and that's when they all could feel something vibrating on them.
"Hey, did you miss me!" Himmy said, opening up his arms wide as if he was expecting a hug
from one of them but no one had even got up from their seat, or even acknowledged that he
was here.
"Some coworkers you are." Himmy folded his arms and took the white stick out from his
mouth. "Anyway, I have some good news for you all."
"As of right now, we are all jobless!" Himmy said with a large smile on his face.
Charlotte was so shocked she had dropped her cup letting it roll off the table but Raze
quickly caught it, placing it back on.
"Anyway, what is going on? This city is a lot more lively than when I last saw it." Himmy
asked.
Through conversation and a sit-down, Himmy had explained what he meant by them being
jobless; it was more of a break than being jobless. While at the same time, Charlotte
explained what had happened here while Himmy was away.
Still, she left out something very important, and that was the fact that Raze was the Sun
Warrior. She just mentioned that a warrior had saved them from an attack and was the
cause of all of this mess.
She looked at Raze to see if she would get some appreciation for this, but he seemed to
have no reaction at all.
"What this means for all of you is you are free to do as you wish. I know all of you have your
own things going on, so take a break, spread your wings, and when I need to come find you,
me and Charlotte will come just as we did before," Himmy answered.
A part of Raze was a bit disappointed. He was hoping that he would have been able to go to
Alter to receive a few items or knowledge about a few things.
Yet it seemed that right now, it wasn't the right time for that. Which made him think, what
should he do now?
After Himmy had said everything, it was time for the group to say their goodbyes. If the
others were wandering aimlessly he didn't want to be a part of that, so the group decided
to split up.
With that, Raze thought it was best for him to get supplies as he decided his next move to
another city.
'My strength, is it enough to take on the principal? If it's not, I could focus on increasing my
strength further and go for another one of the Dark Faction Clans, or I could enter a
dimension to get a crystal and try to increase my magic.'
As Raze continued to walk though, he noticed that there was someone by his side, who had
been following him.
"And what is it that you want?" Raze asked.
"Nothing, just to stay by your side," Anna explained. "I have no tasks so I can focus on
finding my own kind. You met with Zon once, so maybe if I stick with you, there is a chance
that I can meet with Zon again."
Raze hadn't been with Anna for long, but he knew one thing about her already, it was that
she was quite stubborn and it would be nearly impossible for him to get rid of her.
"I will be doing my own matters that might not fit in with Alter's, everything you see with
me, you are not to report," Raze immediately said.
"Of course, we are off the job and I would say the same for me," Anna replied.
With the two of them walking in the middle of the street, a particular trio had walked past
them, and one of them took a second look, and moved directly in front of Raze.
"Wait… is it you… is that you?"
When Raze looked at who was in front of him, his eyes were glued to the woman.
"Alba…"
Chapter 549 Important Words
Chapter 549 Important Words
Raze had no idea where he was to go next to advance his strength further than before, but
he was clear about one thing in his mind.
If there was one person that he didn't want to meet at the moment, it was Alba, the leader
of the Crimson Crane. Out of all the people that he could have run into, he wondered why
she was here right now, in front of him.
So much so, that when he said her name, he was stunned, and his eyes hadn't even noticed
that Rayna was standing right by her side as well.
"I knew it, I was right!" Alba said with a smile on her face. "It is you, you look quite different
compared to last time, you seem to have matured, or maybe it's just the dark hair, and
what's up with the hair anyway? I kind of liked your white hair."
Alba had her hand on her chin as she looked at Raze up and down, making sure not to get
too close, respecting his discomfort of being close to others.
As usual, she had this cheery, laid-back nature to her. If anything, Alba was perhaps the
only person Raze had met that he lowered his defenses around.
Even to the point where he was willing to shake her hand. That was why he didn't want to
meet her.
Raze had already made up his mind, after killing Elvlin, that he would inform Alba if he ever
ran into her. As Elvlin said, Alba treated her clan like family.
It was why they never chose to expand the clan larger than its current members. Everyone
they invited was strong and someone that they trusted to bring into their close members.
He was sure that if she found out what happened to Elvlin, Alba would do whatever she
could to find out what had happened to her.
Raze, having been in the same place before, knew how much of a torture that would be on
one's mind. Which was why he intended to tell her the truth of what happened.
What would occur after that, he would have to deal with, but he had already made up the
resolve to do this in his mind.
What he didn't expect was to see her right now, before even stepping foot outside of the
Lethal Bite Clan.
"How did you know where we were?" Anna asked.
The two women and Tilon were a bit surprised to see the person talking to them. They
didn't even know they were with Raze because they hadn't seen many people around the
Dark Magus, and were unsure who this person was.
Not only that, but usually before asking a question, a person would introduce themselves,
yet Anna hadn't done anything of the sort.
"Ah, it's nice to meet you, we are…"
"I know who you are," Anna interrupted Alba before she could finish speaking. "You are
Alba from the Crimson Crane, the leader of a popular wanderer clan, and as for you, you are
the daughter of Belil Narfous, the head of the Neverfall Clan."
Immediately, Rayna looked around to see if anyone had overheard; luckily, no one was
paying them attention. There weren't many who would know what she looked like, but
would know of her name, so she was quite taken aback by it all.
However, part of Alter members' training was to remember key figures in the world of
Pagna and how they affected things.
Back at the Alter base, there were files on certain individuals, descriptions of what they
looked like, and in some cases, even photos and data on each individual.
Anna could never forget a face, so she knew who these two were in an instant.
"Don't worry about them too much," Raze said. "These are people I know; they haven't just
approached us out of the blue. However, I would like to know as well, how did you know
we were here?"
A little worry crept into Raze's mind; if they could find them, then others who were after
them could find them as well.
Maybe he hadn't cleared his tracks as much as he thought he had.
"Actually, it was luck," Alba replied. "Rayna came to me because she had a request and she
wanted to find you… Ra… Raze."
Alba had quickly corrected herself because she was unsure what name the Dark Magus was
currently using and who knew about his other identity.
Judging by the quick shake of the head Raze had done when she had said Ra, she had
quickly changed the use of the name.
"I got in contact with all of the Crimson Crane members to see if they had heard or seen
anything. No one had a clue, but I was a little worried because Elvlin didn't reply, and the
last known location she was at was here."
"While trying to find out about her, we ran into you. It seems to be our lucky day." Alba
smiled.
The happy smile she had on her face was stabbing Raze slightly in the heart even more.
Because he was about to ruin her happy expression.
'It was just as I thought. She is worried about Elvlin, at least a little, but I doubt she ever
believed that Elvlin would be killed.'
For a moment, Raze stayed silent as he took in everything she had said. He was thinking in
his mind if he should still go through with his original plan.
He didn't have to do it here, and right now. What if he were to do it at another time?
Not just that, if Alba attacked him, could he best her right now? Maybe with the help of
Anna, it would be certain victory.
'Since when have I been worried about the consequences.' Raze smiled to himself and
tensed his fist. 'I already decided, this woman deserves to know the truth. That's the least
she deserves for helping me out.'
"Okay, okay," Anna stated. "I see that you have met him, but then why are you here right
now, what is your reason for wanting to meet Raze? Why would someone from the
Demonic Faction be here to meet someone who is from the Dark Faction."
"Anna!" Raze called out in a heavy tone; it was a warning to her. "We agreed."
Raze was referring to the conversation that they had not too long ago. How his affairs and
Alter affairs wouldn't collide.
If she wanted to stay with him, she needed to stay out of his business unless it involved
Zon.
"I'm sorry, I am just a bit worried, I can sense her pulse rising," Anna commented, while
looking at Rayna.
Still, Raze wasn't worried about Rayna; instead, he looked directly at Alba. He reassured
himself as he was ready to speak.
"Alba…" Raze called out. "I have something important that I need to tell you about, and I
promise everything I'm about to say is the truth of the matter, but it's fine if you don't
believe me."
Alba's ears started to perk up as she could see Raze's serious expression on his face.
"Raze!" Rayna immediately shouted, interrupting him. "I have something important to tell
you. We need to get married, now!"
Chapter 550 A Marriage?
Chapter 550 A Marriage?
Raze was just about to inform Alba of something that might ruin the relationship the two of
them had: the partnership between the Crimson Crane and the Dark Magus. They had been
of significant use and help to Raze since he had arrived at Pagna, but in the end, his morals,
which he wanted to uphold, took precedence over the importance of his relationship with
them.
That was until Rayna interrupted them and blurted out a few words. His mind had almost
gone blank.
"We need to get married, now!" Rayna shouted.
She couldn't find the right time to speak these words or how to phrase it, and after going
over multiple different ways she could say these words, she ended up just shouting it out.
Many who were walking the streets had overheard and turned to look.
"How sweet it is to be so young!"
"She is a brave one to shout that out at the top of her lungs; do you think it's a type of
disagreement that's going on between them?"
Hearing the words of the passersby was causing her face to turn a shade brighter than it
was before, and she eventually was too ashamed and looked to the ground.
"I can't believe someone of my status… it's so hard to say a few words," Rayna mumbled to
herself.
Alba was constantly turning her head because she couldn't believe it either.
"Wait a moment, this was the whole reason why you were looking for him, this is why you
were searching, because the two of you need to get married!" Alba had to ask just to make
sure, but judging by how Rayna was acting, it all seemed to be true.
Thinking about this matter a bit more, though, there was now another worry on Alba's
mind. The Dark Magus was a part of the Crimson Crane Clan.
If he was to marry Rayna, who was in the Neverfall Clan, then what would happen?
Wouldn't that cause them trouble? There was no way the Crimson Crane could contend
with the Neverfall Clan if they wanted to take the Dark Magus.
'As a leader, it looks like I might have to let him go,' Alba thought.
Raze, hearing about the marriage, started to remember what had occurred in the Demonic
Faction the last time. He knew that this wasn't pressure from Rayna, but from her father.
It had slipped his mind with everything else going on because it was the least important
thing that was on his list of things to do.
'It looks like the cat's out of the bag,' Raze looked at Anna. 'She must be incredibly confused
and wondering how I even know all these people and how it came to this.'
'I won't have to worry about her though; she is mostly concerned about finding Zon, and
she is sure to stay on my good side until that happens.'
Thinking about this, Raze felt like even though Anna from Alter was by his side, he could
just speak as if he wanted.
"But, I'm currently in the Crimson Crane," Raze said. "I have made a commitment to their
clan before any others. If the two of us were to get married, wouldn't it ruin that
relationship?"
Rayna lifted her head and shook it rather quickly.
"No, it wouldn't," Rayna answered. "If anything, it would strengthen our relationship. Some
clans grow in power through marriage and relations, and this would be the same."
"You could still be a part of the Crimson Crane no problem."
Although Rayna said this, Raze still wasn't so sure about that just yet.
"Besides, my father, he doesn't want me to carry the name of the Neverfall Clan; instead, he
has given us land as a wedding gift in the Demonic Faction. Here he wishes for the two of us
to create our own Clan, as a subdivision of the Neverfall Clan, so it wouldn't be a problem at
all," Rayna explained.
The idea of having land in the Demonic Faction was quite pleasing for Raze to hear. The
Demonic Faction was the place where Raze could run to when he had his troubles.
Having his own land and area to be protected was music to his ears, but making an entire
clan sounded like a lot of work as well and didn't sound as if he would have as much
freedom.
But he could also have Rayna do most of the duties related to that.
"That is interesting," Alba said with her hand on her chin. "It seems like the Neverfall Clan
can expand their influence in the Demonic Faction, ruffling fewer feathers this way.
"Especially if it's treated as a separate clan, but by being a subdivision, it also states that
whoever tries to mess with you will be messing with the Neverfall Clan as well."
"If this works, it might be the first time a successful subdivision clan exists in the Demonic
Faction. In the past, I have heard the other clans tried to do this, but they would be
eliminated before there was a chance."
"Which is why there's this status quo in the Demonic Faction," Alba explained.
It was certainly interesting, Raze thought, but those words meant that as soon as they were
married and occupied the area, there was a chance that they would be targeted as well.
'In this situation, is being targeted a bad thing though?' Raze thought. 'Isn't it a chance to
grow stronger as well?'
There was just one more question on Raze's mind before he spoke.
"Is there an easy way to come through between the Dark And Demonic Faction? I only just
got back to the Dark Faction after all," Raze explained.
"We have our ways," Rayna answered. "But the wedding ceremony is a big event. Most
likely all the Demonic Faction Clan heads will be invited.
"The after events of the ceremony will last a while, but then, the martial arts tournament
will have started. If you really want to head back to the Dark Faction, that will be your
easiest time, and once we're done, I don't think my father will bother us anymore," Rayna
answered and bowed down again. She felt like she was inconveniencing the Dark Magus.
Still, after giving it some thought, since Raze didn't know what his next step was going to
be, he had come up with an answer.
"Fine, I will head back to the Neverfall Clan with you. We can get married," Raze answered.
Rayna slowly lifted up her head; she couldn't believe it. Was it really going to happen? She
was already trying to come up with something to tell her father, but instead, she heard the
Dark Magus say yes.
'The past Dark Faction founder had a close relationship with the Neverfall Clan,' Raze
thought. 'It might be best if I were to have a close relationship with them as well.'
"I can't believe it," Alba smiled with her hands on her hips. "You are becoming quite the
influential character. At the rate you are going, it might be best if you were the leader of the
Crimson Crane, rather than me."
Hearing Alba speak of those matters made his mind snap to what he needed to say before.
"Actually, Alba, there is something I need to tell you," Raze stated.
Chapter 551 Prepare The Wedding
Chapter 551 Prepare The Wedding
Anna glanced hard at Raze and reached out to try and grab his arm. Before she could even
touch him though, he had pulled away.
The others watching had made note of this.
'It seems like the two of them aren't that close if she doesn't let her touch him,' Rayna
thought.
Seeing another woman by Raze's side traveling with him, several questions had come up in
her head. Thankfully though, they had all experienced Raze's distrust of touching others,
and it seemed like there was no exclusive favor with this particular individual.
"I just wanted to warn you that this might not be the best time or the best place to bring up
the matter that you are talking about," Anna suggested.
The group was on the side of a general walkway. The city was full of people as well. Who
knew how Alba would react to certain news.
Then again, it might be better to tell her out in the open because she would be less inclined
to act.
"Let's take a seat," Raze said, pointing to one of the shops where people could drink and eat
outside.
When getting to the table, Alba had gone to buy everyone a few drinks and had returned
and noticed that the seating arrangement was a little strange.
They were at a regular rectangular table, and often in cases, they would have two people
sitting on either side. Yet, Anna and Rayna were sitting on either side of Raze, to the point
where there was no more space for Alba to even squeeze in if she wanted to.
"Why am I being the one left out?" Alba took her seat on the other side. And felt a little bad
for Raze at this point, and was wondering if there was some type of contest going on
between the girls.
"I am to stay by Raze's side during this journey as I have promised him. I also do not know
the two of you well, which is why I have chosen to sit on this side," Anna explained.
"As for Rayna, she is now Raze's wife. It wouldn't make sense for the two of them to be
apart, which is why the seating arrangements are like so. It would be impossible to have a
conversation now with you joining us side by side; it is what it is."
Alba's eyebrow was twitching; she was finding it hard to converse with this Anna, and she
was receiving no respect considering who she was, which was something she wasn't used
to.
The truth was, Anna had picked these seats in case Alba decided to attack Raze after
revealing all of the information.
With Rayna as well being Raze's husband, she thought she could protect him.
"It's okay," Tilon said. "I'm a big guy anyway, so it's good that I have more space on this
side."
Alba, ignoring everything else, then looked at Raze, as she was waiting for him to speak. He
hadn't even taken a sip of the drink she had brought him.
"I will be blunt so we get to the point, but I wish for you to allow me to explain everything
as well," Raze stated.
Alba gave a nod in response.
"You said you were looking for Elvlin, and she was last in this city. That is correct, she was
in this city, and she's dead," Raze said.
"What!" Tilon stood up from his seat, but before he fully extended his legs, Alba placed her
hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down.
"Stay down!" Alba shouted.
It was a forceful push. The anger already in her body, she was holding in reacting because
she feared something else; how would Raze know of this fact.
"I know because I was the one that killed her," Raze said again.
Alba's facial expression didn't change; instead, she was just staring right into Raze's eyes,
not looking away for a moment.
While Tilon tried to stand up again from his anger, but could feel the pressure from Alba
still pushing him down at that moment.
"You dog!" Tilon shouted. "We helped you so much, all members of the Crimson Crane
including her, how could you do such a thing, and tell us straight to our face, what kind of
sick person are you!"
"If you are going to speak like this and not listen to what I have to say, then I will leave. And
we can continue with you just knowing that, and the two of us being enemies with each
other.
"I already told you to hear me out before you react."
Raze had both hands on the table ready to leave.
"Just shut your mouth right now Tilon," Alba said. "We need to hear him out like he said."
Placing his hands back down, Raze went on from there. He explained to Alba what had
occurred during their time here.
Even about taking on the Lethal Bite Clan. And lastly, how Elvlin with a bunch of other
wanderers had taken on a quest to steal a sword from him.
At the time, Raze had given them a chance to all go away from this. Yet Elvlin had still
decided to attack once recognizing him, wishing to take the sword.
Anna confirmed what Raze had said as truth, not sure how much that would help since she
was on Raze's side in the first place.
From there, it was silence. Tilon not daring to open up his mouth and thinking about all the
times Elvlin and him had spent together and Alba just staring at the table, her chin leaning
on her hands.
"Elvlin, she was such a fool. Why did she have to push for greed? Weren't we meant to
climb together in the first place?" Alba mumbled to herself.
She looked up at Raze at that point and was ready to say something, but Raze was the first
one to speak.
"Whatever had occurred, it doesn't change the fact that I killed one of your close
teammates. Nothing will ever change that."
"If you wish for us to become enemies or you want to get your vengeance for what
happened then so be it. I no longer have to be part of the Crimson Crane Clan.
"If you also want to get rid of the relationship we have through other means, then that is
fine as well," Raze was talking about the selling of the pills as the Dark Magus.
"I just wanted you to know the whole truth at least."
Alba let out a big sigh.
"It is a sad day indeed for the Crimson Crane, but I completely understand what had
occurred. No matter what, Elvlin will be treated as a respected member of the Crimson
Crane."
"We shall hold an appropriate funeral for her and inform the others… but I will not hold
you accountable for what had occurred."
"In a lot of ways, I blame myself. The Crimson Crane didn't see you as a full member of our
group. If they did, they wouldn't have dared to attack you for their gain."
"If you can continue to be in the Crimson Crane as you have done, with what has happened,
then I will be happy to continue our relationship."
Death, a common occurrence within the Pagna warriors, but just because it was common
didn't mean it didn't hurt.
More than anything though, it was important to keep a calm mind. Raze knew this, so many
times how he wished he could do things a certain way to get his revenge, but it would have
only made it worse.
"I would like to continue the relationship," Raze answered. "As well as a token, I see that
Tilon has been holding onto some items; if there is something that he needs made, then I
will be happy to do that as well."
The bridge between the two groups, part of it had been cut, and now he was trying to mend
it. The Crimson Crane had helped him a lot, and they could still help him more as time went
on.
"Tilon will give you all the items you need; we don't plan to return to the Demonic Faction
for now. So when the time is right, we will meet again and you can supply us with the new
shield at that time," Alba explained as she stood up.
Alba then turned around ready to part ways, but she still had one more thing to say.
"In the future, if something like this happens again, could you try not to kill them and leave
the punishment to me? If you do, I will be forever grateful," Alba asked.
Raze looked at her arm, and she could see it shaking. The relationship between the two
now would never be the same as it was before, but Raze had to live with that.
"I will try," Raze answered, and turned around.
He, Anna, and Rayna, would now head back to the Neverfall Clan, as there was a big event
that they needed to deal with.
Chapter 552 Two Days
Chapter 552 Two Days
The conversation had gone as well as Raze thought it could with Alba. There were some
details that she had asked during his explanation.
As to whether or not she had any last words, was there a body that they could still find, and
so on. What was left of her was given to Harbour, including the equipment.
Details of where she could find Harbour were also passed on as well. As for the large
rucksack filled with items, materials, and power stones given by Tilon, Raze had stored
them away in his Blazer.
When he had time, possibly when waiting for this whole wedding to start, he would do his
best to create them a great item to use.
He still needed to keep up his part of the deal, and he was a man of his word. Still, he knew
that there was some resentment there from Alba about what had been done.
"They say with time things heal, but there are some things that can just never be forgotten,"
Raze said.
"Huh, was there something you wanted?" Rayna asked.
The three of them were bouncing up and down as the cart went across the bumpy road.
They were currently inside a carriage belonging to a merchant.
They had already passed the tunnel from the Dark Faction back to the Demonic Faction.
Apparently, the Neverfall Clan had their hands in some merchant's pockets, allowing them
to be used as transport between places.
Not just that, but then the merchants had their hands in officials and warriors that were
stationed at certain areas allowing them to come through and leave as they pleased.
Not that it would have been a problem for Raze to leave the Dark Faction since he had
Harbour in his back pocket, who was now in charge of one entrance.
What this did make him wonder was whether or not Alter had a method like this as well.
He was still curious as to why, of all the places, was it most difficult for them to have people
inside the Demonic Faction.
"Just thinking of how this whole thing will turn out," Raze said, not even looking at Rayna.
At this point, she was feeling a little guilty over the whole situation. It was because the Dark
Magus had gotten involved with her, saved her, as well as a bunch of other things that he
now had to marry her.
If she had a bigger say in the Neverfall Clan, like her brothers, then maybe she could have
rejected the idea of marriage, and now this young man was being forced into it.
"I was wondering, how has my brother been, is he doing okay?" Rayna asked.
This had caught Raze's attention as he lifted his head.
"For now, I've lost contact with those in the Dark Faction. Your brother is strong and has
been a good guide to me, though," Raze answered. "If possible, it would be good to maybe
see him after this."
Raze needed to return to the academy; that was more of his ultimate goal, while gathering
strength enough to defeat the principal. Since he was now a middle stage warrior, when he
had time, he could learn possibly some more of the Dark Edge Sword Arts that he had yet to
touch.
Eventually, the bumpy ride was coming to an end and they had made it to the Neverfall
Clan base, or at least the outside of it where the large wall surrounded the place.
Rayna chucked the merchant some coin, and he quickly hurried back to wherever he had
come from.
Anna stood there looking up at the wall.
"I have to warn you, Raze," Anna said. "We from Alter are not meant to be in the Demonic
Faction unless asked, and it's not a place that many from the Dark Faction like to go to in
the first place.
"We shouldn't spend a lot of time here. If Himmy needs us for a task, and he can't find us, it
might cause some problems."
It was something to make note of, and thankfully Raze didn't expect to stay here for long.
Entering the place, Anna had next to no problems as a guest. She was just seen as a
Wanderer warrior. What was surprising, though, was that she was able to deal with the
heat with extremely great ease.
When going down lower and lower through the floors, Anna wasn't struggling at all; there
didn't even appear to be sweat on her face.
"I'm sorry, but only invited guests are able to head down lower," Rayna informed. "You can
wait for us on this floor. There should be some training rooms or seclusion rooms for you
to wait in.
"We'll come find you when we're done."
Anna didn't seem to have a problem as she walked across the giant chains and jumped off.
Right after that, Raze and Rayna continued down to the meeting room that was placed
below.
'The heat, it's not getting to me as much as the last time I was here. It's because I've
changed now, this is the feeling of being a middle stage warrior.'
Not only was it easier, but Raze could feel the sheer power of the heat coming from the
bottom. It felt similar to how he was cultivating, and part of it went inwards toward him.
When they reached the bottom floor, a large black steel door was in front of them. Rayna
gave it a heavy push with both of her hands.
They weren't entering the meeting room, but were entering the cultivation room of the
head of the clan. Intense heat filled the area, and a pathway led to an oval place where Belil
was sitting with his back facing toward Raze.
The last time he was here, Raze was made to fight with another, and that was how all of this
proposal business had occurred in the first place.
Rayna entered, and the door closed behind them. When walking forward and finally
entering the circle area, she went and sat down on her knees gesturing for Raze to do the
same.
"Clan Master Narfous, I have arrived with the Dark Magus! The one known as Raze and the
one you have been looking for," Rayna explained.
Belil stood up from where he was and turned around, looking at the two below. The upper
part of his muscular body on show, only with a pair of trousers on his legs.
"What's this? It hasn't been long since we last met, but I can feel it already, you managed to
become a middle stage warrior!" Belil said with a large grin.
Rayna looked at Raze with surprise. She wasn't paying attention and was unable to tell.
More so than that, she never would have imagined it.
"I am impressed!" Belil continued. "Maybe one day, you might even be able to fight against
me... and also your hair, you've changed it, it's black… I prefer it black, it suits you better."
"Thank you," Raze said, giving a small bow, not really knowing the formalities of what to
say or do.
Still, Belil just found it funny as he laughed.
"Now that you are here, we can get the grand event on the way. Your wedding will happen
in two days; it's a big event so we will borrow Repton city, and not only that I will make
sure that every Clan Head in the entire Demonic Faction is present!
"They must be for such a grand joyous day, unless they wish to upset me further."
Of all things, Raze never thought that he would be involved in something that would be
bringing the strongest in the Demonic Faction all to one place.
"Two days!" Belil said again. "Be ready."
Chapter 553 Big Prep
Chapter 553 Big Prep
Rayna still felt bad about everything that was occurring for Raze. It was the only way she
could think of saving him, and he was being dragged along through all of this, and all of it at
a young age.
Unlike her, who was one of the heirs to a great clan and had to follow rules, Raze wasn't. He
was a free individual not related to any clan.
Many people in Pagna wouldn't see it this way because to them, status, power, wealth,
getting stronger meant everything to them.
But to Rayna, at some points, she was quite jealous of the no-names, the wanderers that
could do as they wished. Even if they were looked down upon and pushed around.
If anything, she was sure she would be more like Raze, having great strength and being able
to protect herself. Still, because of everything that had occurred, now he was being placed
in the same position.
'I guess I should be thankful for one thing.' Rayna thought as she was sitting still in a seat
and several maids around her were working away.
She was currently in Repton city rather than the Neverfall clan, going through a trial
makeup session. Everything was being paid for by the Clan.
'The fact that father is letting me and Raze take care of our own land, if we are to start a
clan of our own, then it means we will also have more freedom.'
'And besides, if it was witb anyone, I'm thankful that it's him.'
As she started to think about Raze with his narrow-focused eyes, her cheeks started to
flush.
"Oh dear, if this happens on the wedding day, we're going to have to get more powder." The
woman said as she continued to pat down the cheek.
There was another reason that Rayna was in Repton, and it was all to do with the wedding.
She was to focus on and organize the events.
Her father had set up a planner for her, while he sorted out some other details, but she was
running the rest of the wedding.
She didn't dare get Raze involved. She couldn't stand if he had to force himself to do such
things, so she let him be at the Clan base.
'It means leaving him and that Anna girl that is traveling along with him, but I just hope the
two of them are alright… and she stays away.'
In the end, after a lot of huffing and puffing, Rayna decided to stand up from her seat.
"I think this looks perfect; I will be back in a couple of hours to sort things out. I think I
forgot something at home!"
Rayna had already left the room before her makeup artist and planner could even say
anything.
"Who does she think she's fooling? She hasn't stopped mumbling about another woman,"
The planner said, putting her hands on her hips. "Oh well, jealousy is a beautiful trait for
one to have, right."
"Yeah, but when you're marrying one of the strongest families in the Demonic Faction, you
have things to worry about. I wonder who's marrying the young lady."
This was the question on everyone's mind. News had already spread through the Demonic
Faction of what was about to occur.
It was a big moment, but from someone as prominent as the Neverfall Clan, they thought
that they would have known the person being married, the clan in question.
Marriage was a good way to expand relationships. They didn't expect the person to be from
one of the other main large clans, but even a middle-sized clan adding their strength or
having them in their pocket would be handy.
Yet, no one had a clue who the groom of the wedding would be. Everyone was trying to get
to the bottom of it, and that included Bubble, the infamous reporter.
Back at the Neverfall Clan base, Raze and Anna were around the middle floors of the
Neverfall Clan base. They were keeping an eye on the training rooms and had just been
watching things for the time being.
The other members knew Raze was a guest, but had no clue that he was the one that was
going to be marrying Rayna.
In the center of a circle, the Demonic Faction Clan members were practicing their clan's
techniques. They welcomed the guests to watch.
Currently sitting on a stone bench by the side of the room, Raze wasn't studying those in
front of him, but instead was looking at the book.
It was the Dark Edge Sword Arts. He would constantly read how the technique was to be
performed and then shut his eyes imagining himself using them.
After a while, though, his head was starting to hurt. He was fatiguing, and he rubbed his
eyes, closing the book, watching the training session in front of him.
"What's wrong, don't you understand what's written in the book?" Anna asked.
"I understand it well," Raze said. "However, understanding and performing are two
different things. Just because I understand the logic behind it doesn't mean I am able to
perform it."
"Isn't that just another way to say that you don't understand it?" Anna replied back.
Raze just shook his head. There were many fundamentals of the world that people
understood, at least the basic understandings of it.
Such as how our feet stayed planted on the floor despite the space being out there. They
understood what was hitting their face was the wind and the air.
They understand why we need to eat to survive, but did they understand why that was the
case? The techniques of the Dark Edge Sword Arts required a person to understand even
further.
At times it felt like he was skipping steps or the book was poorly explaining things.
'The next formation, the Phantom Edge Formation, is complicated.' Raze thought in his
mind.
"Are you afraid?" Anna asked. "That if I was to read the book and perform it in my first
attempt, I would be better than you?"
Raze was a little dumbfounded by Anna's revelation because all of the techniques required
Qi, and to perform it fully, they needed magic; it would be impossible for Anna to perform.
"I can see why you are looking at me like that," Anna said standing up, and she looked at the
students.
They were twisting their fist performing a special Qi strike created by the Neverfall Clan. A
sharp twist of the fist was needed at the end with an explosion of Qi.
The strike's strength and effectiveness could be heard by the slap at the end. Like the sound
of a loud whip.
Anna watched it a couple of times, and then bending her knees, she readied herself and
threw out her hand just like them and twisted it right at the end.
A loud bang responded in the room after, that was deafening to everyone, far louder than
any of them could hear.
"As long as I can understand something, or have seen something, I'm pretty sure I can
perform it," Anna said with a smug look on her face.
At that point, Raze was wondering if maybe letting her see the book wasn't such a bad idea.
"Hey!" one of the students called out. "Did you just use the Falling Fist technique, that
technique belongs to us. You might be a guest of our clan, but you can't just steal our
techniques like that!"
"How did you perform that, who taught you that, if you don't inform us or if you hide the
truth, it will be death for you and your friend!" The man called out.
"Death?" Raze said, standing up.
Chapter 554 Raze's Past Secret?
Chapter 554 Raze's Past Secret?
Although Raze had been in Pagna for a while, there was always something that surprised
him. It was how arrogant these people were about their techniques.
Most of it was due to the clans having a long history of trying to perfect their techniques.
Part of being in the clan was learning those special techniques so if those techniques and
skills got out to the world, then that clan could lose power.
'It makes me think of patents in our world.' Raze thought. 'Although I couldn't imagine how
that would work in Pagna? If there was a dispute, would they have to fight it out to see who
really invented the technique?'
Shaking his head, he needed to resolve the situation that was possibly about to get out of
hand. Anna was his partner after all, and it could easily end up reflecting on him as well.
"Calm down," Instructor Dil said, a middle-aged well-groomed man with a perfectly cut
beard that made his jaw even more chiseled, as he came over.
"But sir, I'm saying this for the sake of our clan. These outsiders could have stolen
technique books or anything. We have no idea why they are even here in the first place!"
The student complained.
Dil stroked his beard ever so gently, making sure he just touched the edge to not ruin his
beard.
"You are right, it's certainly strange that you were able to perform that technique with such
precision. You are clearly not a member of the clan after all, you will have to inform us how
you came across this technique or why do you know such a thing?" Dil asked.
Anna let out a small laugh.
"I wasn't taught this by anyone. I simply just did as you had been instructing the others. I
watched you and your students perform it, and then performed it of my own."
To demonstrate this, Anna performed the punch again, making the loud sound ring out.
Now that the other students had stopped practicing the punch, they could hear it clearer
than they could before.
"That's impossible," Dil said. "Otherwise, you would be some well-known genius that is
spread throughout the land. If what you say is true, then perform this."
Dil readied his fist and pulled his arm back over his shoulder with his elbow pointed out
toward Anna. He then swung with full force, performing a chopping strike.
The movements looked simple, but to produce great sound and place Qi into the attacks,
this was a deadly technique that could be used in fruitful situations.
'This is quite good to watch this.' Raze started to think. 'It might allow me to increase my
own arsenal of skills as well.'
The Dark Edge Sword Arts couldn't always be used and they weren't general techniques to
be used in a fight either.
Right after Dil demonstrated it, Anna got into the same position, and swinging her arm
down, the same snapping sound was heard echoing in the room. She had performed it
perfectly.
"This proves it!" Dil shouted and pointed. "You really have gotten your hands on our
techniques. You must have stolen them and been practicing them in secret, and now you
dare to show it to us in this place."
"If you won't admit to your mistakes, or tell us who told you all of these, then both of you
will just have to be placed in the cell, and suffer! Students take them away."
Anna's fingers were twitching. The students were approaching her, and she was ready to
grab onto their hands and take them out when possible.
That was until Raze moved to her side.
"Don't attack them," He whispered. "We can just stay in the cell until Rayna or someone
else comes and explains the situation. Things will be easier this way, and remember you're
not on an Alter mission."
At times, through his age, Raze realized that sometimes it was best to just go through the
path with the least amount of resistance.
He was sure the misunderstanding at some point would be cleared up.
The students came over and grabbed both of Anna's wrists, leading her. She could easily
break out but listened to Raze.
"I can walk myself, I have no reason to run away," Raze said as he lifted his hands before
they would touch him, and continued to walk along with the others.
A short while later, the two of them found themselves in a lower part of the Abyss of the
Neverfall Clan. They were behind solid iron bars and led down a hallway until the two of
them were placed behind even more solid iron bars.
There was only one cell, and there was no one else present in the cell. It was stationed in
the corner of a cave down a hallway that led them up a staircase leading them to the main
part of the Abyss.
There was where a guard stood as well.
An hour later after the events with Raze had occurred, Rayna had returned to the base. The
only reason she had done so was to find Raze in the first place.
The moment she got there, she started to ask around if anyone had seen them, and it
eventually led her to the round training room.
The others were continuing practicing their techniques time and time again, and she had
eventually approached Dil.
"Young Lady, we welcome you!" Dil said, bowing down and all of the other students
followed as well.
"Rise," Rayna said immediately looking around. "I heard that two guests of the Clan were
here not too long ago, have you seen them around?"
"Ah, those two?" Dil said with a smirk on his face. "It seems that we have caught a couple of
thieves, young miss. They have been stealing our clan's techniques, so we decided to place
them in the cellar for the time being."
Rayna was frozen for a moment.
"You… placed them in the cellar… you placed my guests in the cellar!" Rayna repeated and
raised her voice, then raised her hand and swung it right across Dil's face.
It crashed, causing Dil to spin in the air before he landed on the floor.
"Do you have any idea who you just imprisoned!" Rayna shouted.
————
Back in the cellar, Raze was sitting up against the rock, trying to get some rest before he
would study his Dark Edge Sword Arts again.
A cell wasn't bad, especially after he had spent several days underground for the
assessment before, this felt like child's work. Yet there was always something on the back
of his mind.
"I… need something else to wear," Raze mumbled. As he tugged on his Blazer.
"What's wrong?" Anna asked. "And don't tell me nothing is wrong, you know I can tell the
details in your facial expression.
"Ever since you were made aware of this wedding, you keep having the same look on your
face again and again," Anna asked.
"If I told you the truth, you wouldn't believe me," Raze replied.
"Did you forget who you were speaking to?"
"Good point," Raze said, letting out a sigh. "The wedding has brought up memories for me…
because before this, I was married once as well."
Anna looked carefully as she heard Raze's answers; she looked for every detail she could
and could tell. He wasn't lying at all, but how could that be?
How could someone so young have been married before?
At the same time, down the hallway, having just entered the place, yet to reach the cell,
Rayna was there.
'He was married before…'
Chapter 555 Hatred Of The Grand Magus
Chapter 555 Hatred Of The Grand Magus
Raze was sitting in the cell along with his newly found partner from Alter, Anna. She wasn't
like the others he had met from Alter.
If anything, she was more like him, someone from another world that had ended up in
Pagna, and had no choice but to enter Alter for freedom and information on finding those
that were like her.
Maybe this was the reason why Raze found it easier to be honest with her. Because she was
in the same situation in this foreign world to them both.
Thinking about these things, Raze continued to play with the lapel of his blazer.
"How can that be possible?" Anna asked. "You're so young. Is it because you were from a
noble family in Alterian? Did they force you into a marriage with another family?"
Anna was just pulling ideas from the air with what she knew, and there was something else
she had picked up. With her hyper-sensitive ears, even though Rayna was a skilled middle
stage warrior, she could hear her faint breathing not too far away from the cell.
Yet, Anna decided not to say a thing. She didn't know why, but the appearance of Rayna
annoyed her somewhat, so she thought it was best for her to hear this, and see how she
would react.
"Ha!" Raze laughed. "You said the same thing again, but you have no idea anything about
me. My blood isn't part of some royal lineage."
"I was born in the slums. I'm sure many different worlds, maybe even yours, had a
difference in status between the rich and poor, but Alterian was even worse than that of
Pagna."
"In that world, there were those that lived below, and those that lived above. We never
even got to see sunlight; the food we ate, the lives we lived, it was as if the two came from
different worlds."
Now Anna had realized, the words she had said before, why they might have angered Raze.
Now, seeing the seriousness of the matter, she wasn't in the mood to crack jokes, and
decided that she would just listen.
"You don't have to tell me," Anna said. "But if it can clear some of your pain, or something
you want to say, then I will listen and keep my secret the same as before, to never tell a
soul!"
She raised her voice when she said the last sentence, just so the one that was overhearing
would know as well. In her mind as well, she wasn't breaking her promise with Raze either.
Raze continued to flick the lapel on his blazer.
"If I wore this tomorrow, it wouldn't be right to wear it to the wedding, something that was
made by her," Raze said, staring into the air.
After a few moments, he clenched both of his fists that were hanging over his legs.
"You're right, sometimes it is good to speak of it, and I need to remind myself why I am
doing what I am doing. Once in a while I tell these stories to myself to help me remember…
as for telling someone else."
"I don't think I ever have done so. Still, I have to remember, I have to at least tell myself so I
never forget why I'm doing this."
The words from Raze felt so heavy to Anna, even though he had yet to tell his tale. It was
odd; it made her wonder how someone could have gone through so much so young.
"I don't know how much you know about our world, but where I am from, there are
magicians that have great strength, you can think of them like Divine Warriors.
"But there is also a status even above them, those that rule the lands and worlds, the
governments and practically are seen as heroes by everyone, we call them the Grand
Magus."
"And my goal, the reason why I am doing everything, is to get rid of every single one of the
Grand Magus, every single one of them that wronged me!" Raze gritted his teeth as he said
those words.
"These are the five people I hate most in this world, the people that others treasure so
much. There are some things that happened in my life that made my hatred grow for them."
"When I was younger, a mage used to visit me frequently, down below. I would be forced to
do services I didn't wish to do."
"I don't remember much about him, apart from his clothing having the marking of a golden
'I'. Later, when the Grand Magus were created, one of them was named Idore.
"A strong mage but mostly known for the items he could craft, and each one of them would
have the same marking of the golden 'I'."
"Still, although all of that happened, I managed to change my life; I became part of the
upper world and left the world below behind. I changed my life and had become a
professor at one of the top academies."
"It was then that there was an opportunity for me to become the next principal of the
Academy. I was placed with my friend, Ibarin."
"However, a raid was made in my office, and illegal substances were found. I was placed on
trial, and the person who I thought was my friend, testified against me."
"It was as clear as day that I was set up by him, but I had no proof. In the end, I lost my
position, and lost my job, while Ibarin became the principal, and not only that, due to his
further achievements, he had also become a Grand Magus."
Anna didn't want to say it, but things seemed to follow Raze around. Interactions on two
separate occasions and both of them becoming Grand Magus. His enemies happened to be
the strongest from his world.
There was something else as well; if he was a professor surely he would be an old man. Yet
once again, looking at his face, Anna could tell that no lies were being spoken.
"When I lost my job, I myself felt lost, but there was still one person by my side, one person
who had stayed with me the entire time no matter how hard things got."
"That is my wife. No matter how tough things got she stayed by my side through it all; she
supported me. I ask myself why, why was I so obsessed with finding proof that Ibarin had
framed me."
"If I just left that matter alone, then maybe things would have been okay…"
Raze lingered for a while, his head sunken in, but when he lifted his hand, just clenching his
fist, a crackling sound could be heard as his knuckles clicked.
"It was because of everything that happened with her, I had become what I am today."
"I was a fool, to think that there was kindness, and to put my trust in others. I would have
never imagined that all five of the Grand Magus were working together."
"Listen carefully, because I will tell you the reason for my hatred of all of the Grand Magus!"
Raze glimmered with his Dark magic lingering slightly out of him.
Chapter 556 Raze's Wife
Chapter 556 Raze's Wife
In Alterian, a string of events had occurred. One of the top professors at the Central Mage
Academy, the biggest academy and best in the world, had been fired.
Due to his achievements in the magic field as well as his many years of service, he wasn't
imprisoned and was only let go.
Around a month had passed since these events had occurred for Raze, and currently, with a
black hood over his head and a beard that had grown around two centimeters in length, he
was walking through the rain.
The neon lights reflected on the pools of water as Raze continued to walk. He could see
couples walking hand in hand enjoying their company.
Others buying gifts for loved ones, and some children just playing with magic spells they
had learned.
With his hood up, at least no one knew who he was. It was a way of life that he had to get
used to in the city.
Heading back to his apartment block, he had finally arrived home. On the 11th floor, he got
off and looked to his door to the right.
It was covered in crude words written all over them. Marked in a type of red paint.
Messages telling him to leave, to get out of the city, that he was sick, and that he should just
go ahead and kill himself.
Walking forward, Raze lifted his foot before planting it on the floor; he could see a magic
circle had been placed. With a twirl of his finger, he broke the magic circle.
'How could people go so far as to even plant something like that? If I didn't see it, or didn't
know how to disrupt the magic circle, that could have hurt.'
Placing his hand on the door, it eventually opened, and a faint glow of a magic circle could
be seen on the door. An enchantment that Raze had put himself, to stop people from getting
in.
Walking through the door, immediately a strong scent of food wafted into his nose. Yet,
Raze had next to no reaction as he walked through the living room and went to the kitchen.
Here he sat at his dining table, in his soaked clothes, and stayed sitting in place.
"You're coming home later and later every day," Sabrina said as she placed the food on the
table and walked behind Raze.
Placing both of her hands on his shoulders, the water moved out from the clothes and
gathered, floating to the sink and draining away.
She then sat opposite him and looked directly at him.
"Were you investigating again?" Sabrina asked.
Raze looked at his wife's eyes. They were golden-colored to him. Perhaps they were
actually a hazel brown and his affection for her made them glint a slight gold, but to him,
his wife was more precious than any type of gold.
She had light-colored brown hair that complemented the look in her eyes, and everything
about her was soft. Her voice calmed Raze down in an instant.
Her gestures, her mannerisms, everything just made him feel at ease, and now, he started
to feel bad as tears rolled down his cheeks.
"It's because of me that you have to live a life like this," Raze said, wiping his tears away.
"It's because of me… if you were with someone else, then you wouldn't have to go through
all of this."
"Raze," Sabrina said, grabbing both of his hands and pulling them forward. A soft glow
started to occur, giving Raze a tingling feeling.
This was the power of Light magic, a sensation that made anyone feel at ease.
"None of this is your fault. I know you didn't do what they said. I've known you for years. If
anything, now it's better than before because without you working so hard on your job, the
two of us can spend more time together."
"But, you've been going out all night, investigating. Trying to find out the real person
behind those illegal substances!"
Sabrina was right. After losing his job, the first few days Raze had spent it grieving. He had
lost his passion, his research, and the joy of teaching others magic that had saved him.
Most of all, he was betrayed by a dear friend. After the grief period was over, Raze instead
was overcome with anger.
What reason did Ibarin have to lie? It was clearly to gain the position of principal, but even
more so than that, the circumstances of the whole thing were suspicious. So much so that
Raze needed to get to the bottom of it.
Who was behind selling the illegal substances in the school? If he could gather evidence
then all of the pain that they had gone through would disappear.
"If I find out who did this, then we can go back to how things were. Right now, I can't even
go out on the street without my hood covering my face!" Raze shouted back. "Our home,
every day there are magic traps and writing all over the outside."
"Even today I found a magic circle; what if you got hurt, then what would happen? Not just
that, but you lost your job as well, all because of your relation to me!"
Not even Raze could have predicted that things would have turned out this badly for them.
After losing his position as Professor at the university, the principal promised to keep the
matters under wraps.
The old principal. It was a bad look on the Central Academy in the first place, so it was the
best option for both of them.
It was why an official trial in the Mage's court never occurred either. Yet, somehow news
had gotten around.
Reports were made that spread over the entirety of Alterian. It became a serious matter.
Many top officials, government powers, and mages sent their children to the academy.
Thinking that he was the one behind such disgusting acts, many wanted his head.
They wanted him to be executed for his crimes. After word had gotten out, his wife had lost
her job as a magic tailor.
Raze as well, no matter where he went to try and get a new job, everyone would reject him.
There wasn't a person in the whole of Alterian that didn't know what he looked like at the
moment.
Sabrina had said that with time these things would pass, that there would be a new piece of
news that they would find, but that never happened.
The reports continued, and the rumors were getting out of hand, exaggerated. People found
out where they lived and worse.
Raze knew the type of person the old principal was, at least he thought he knew what he
was like. He didn't think he would do this, which was why now he was obsessed with
finding out the truth instead.
Right now though, it was hard for him to trust anybody, apart from his wife.
At that point, Raze didn't touch any of his food as he stood up and looked at the door.
"I'm sorry everything is my fault, but I'm going to fix it."
As Raze went to rush out the door, Sabrina stood up and hugged him tightly from behind.
"No Raze… we are married, we're family which means we do this together. Your problems
are my problems as well. I'll help you with all of this."
It was hard for Raze to say no in the past; it was his number one weakness, and when his
wife would say something, it was even harder for him to say no.
How he wished so much that day, he would have just said 'No' to her.
Chapter 557 (Updated Correct ) Stranger Danger
Chapter 557 (Updated Correct Chapter) Stranger Danger
Thanks to a lot of persuasion from Sabrina, Raze had decided to rest up that day rather
than head outside for the night in an endless search.
She didn't know quite what Raze was doing, only that he was trying to find evidence of
what had happened at the academy.
She saw him set off for the day bright and early and waited a bit before doing her own task;
right after that, she decided to leave herself.
Closing the door behind her, she saw the paint on the door, and with a wave of her hand,
the paint started to disintegrate and fall away.
It was easier for her to clean, but no matter how much she cleaned the paint, it would only
return.
Quickly, though, she took the elevator downstairs and headed off into the bustling city
center. Unlike Raze, she could walk freely, without the staring eyes and the pointing.
After walking down the pavement, she entered a shop that had a sweet fragrance. It was a
magical tailor shop, where one would weave special materials and make the best
equipment for the mages in the land.
It was more than just enchanting; that these workers did, one also had to keep up with the
trends. This was and pretty much always had been Sabrina's job, but this wasn't her usual
workplace.
When walking to the front, there was an older gentleman behind the desk. When his eyes
met with Sabrina's, he quickly glanced away and looked to be in a bit of a panic.
Quickly, he moved from behind the counter and started to push Sabrina back out the door.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I can't conduct the interview today," the shop owner claimed.
"Wait, you don't have to push me," Sabrina replied. "I can just come back another day if
you're busy. I have a lot of experience, and I'm not in a big rush."
Although that was a lie. Raze's job paid well; he was a top professor, after all. So they had
money for the time being, but they also had a lot of expenses because of where they were.
On top of that, Sabrina didn't want to just rely on Raze; after all, they wanted to build a
future together. She wanted to get gray hairs and feed the pigeons by the greenery side by
side, without a worry.
Not work every day to death; so she needed to get a good job.
"It's not that, ma'am. If I had known who you were, then I would have never offered you a
job here in the first place. I'm sorry, but if customers knew I let you in here, then it would
fall back on me. Please understand!
"The world is sensitive today; one wrong thing, and there will be videos online telling
people to boycott my shop. Please don't do me any more harm!"
It was after those words she felt herself just being pushed back. She no longer resisted, and
in doing so, there was quite the heavy shove right out the door.
She continued to fall until she tripped and fell into a puddle of mucky water from the rain
last night.
Her clothes were a mess, and people just stared and looked, not even offering a helping
hand. Soon, though, she lifted herself off the ground and decided to sit on the pavement
edge, still not cleaning the mud off from her clothes.
"What do I do…this is harder than I thought. Nearly every job is going to do a search into
who I am," Sabrina said to herself. "How am I meant to help Raze as well?
"I thought I could get a job at this tailor because that's where they make the uniforms at the
Central Mage Academy. Maybe I could have learned a thing or two about what really
happens."
While sitting there covered in dirt, she soon could feel magic encasing her whole body.
Based on the magic, she could tell that it wasn't meant to harm her, but the muddy
substance from her clothes was being lifted out and flown away.
Right after that, she turned and could see a light orange-haired man, in a top hat and with a
cane in his hand. The cane had the head of the eagle on it.
"I hope you don't mind, I just hate to see such a beautiful lady just covered in mud," the
man said.
Sabrina stood up and bowed down to the man, thanking him.
"Thank you for the help, but I could have done it myself," Sabrina said as she moved her
finger, giving her clothes a glow of light magic. The bottom of her dress puffed-up fluff.
Now her dress looked better than new and was shining brightly.
"Oh, you are quite skilled in magic; you could have cleaned your dress yourself. I apologize;
it seems I was too rash. But forgive me, why were you covered in mud? Was it…some sort
of hobby?"
Sabrina's face went bright red, and immediately started to shake her hands.
"No, no, I just fell after coming out of that shop there; I was just a little shocked." Her smile
turned upside down as she looked into the pool of water again.
"You seem down, is it something I can help with?" the man asked.
"Not unless you can give me a job," Sabrina commented. It was an off comment; she didn't
actually mean it, but frustrated she was just speaking her mind.
"Actually, I just might be able to help you. I own quite a large company, you see, that has
several departments, and with your magical skills, I'm sure we can put them to good use!"
Sabrina's eyes lit up right at that moment. They were shining even brighter as her light
magic was activating.
"Thank you so much, thank you, thank you!" Sabrina continued to bow. "I'm happy to do
anything, even start from the bottom!"
"That's great, well shall we head off? I was heading to the office today; I guess you can start
your first day today," the man said.
"Thank you, good… err, sir, I'm sorry I don't even know your name," Sabrina asked.
"Ah, right, my name is Gizin," the man answered.
The name Gizin rang a bell in Sabrina's mind almost immediately; this was no ordinary
man.
Chapter 558 A Famous Name
Chapter 558 A Famous Name
While Sabrina was following the man in the top hat to the location, she was still having
trouble trying to remember why the name stuck out so much to her.
She was sure she had heard the name before, yet why would she know a name and not
what the man looked like? The reality of everything that had happened to them recently
was taking a toll on her, and it was making it harder for her to think.
She wasn't too worried though; after all, she was a talented mage. She herself knew that she
would do well in battle, often Raze had tried convincing her to be a professor of her own
since she had so much skill in the field of magic.
She was a 7-star mage, just off the pinnacle that a few at the very top achieved, but she
wished for a quiet life doing what she enjoyed, which was tailoring and design.
So following a stranger didn't seem too dangerous for her because she was in the top one
percent. There wouldn't be many that could best her in battle.
Finally, as they took a turn down a street, she could see it up ahead. A large glass building
that went almost as far as her eyesight could see in width.
It was at least thirty floors tall as well. The reflective glass didn't allow one to see what was
inside, but the name on the side of the building was clear.
[Green Magic Pharma]
The name had hit Sabrina instantly. She had seen the company name on many daily items
that could be sold in every convenience store or mega store.
"Wait, Gizin, the CEO of Green Magic Pharma, why didn't you tell me who you were, I can't
believe I'm in the presence of such a great man!" Sabrina bowed down again showing how
thankful she was.
This man wasn't an extremely powerful mage, he was a talented mage that had managed to
reach the 6th star, yet his name was known worldwide because of his company.
The company focused on medicine for mages. Potions that could be used to restore mana,
to help recovering addicts that had suffered from bad items of magical spells.
And even healing damaged magic cores and more. Due to their position and having so many
great items, they were said to be one of the most powerful companies in the world.
Which also made Gizin one of the most powerful people in the world as well. He knew all
the top officials, and often countries would fight over setting up his new businesses there
since it would increase the value of one's country.
"Where's the fun in that?" Gizin said. "Lucky my face isn't as well-known since I just run a
company. Sure there are those that will know me, but I'm not a celebrity like those 8-star
mages."
"Nonsense, what you do for Alterian is a lot more than what they could do, it would be an
honor to work for you… but is there going to be an interview process for the job?" Sabrina
asked.
She was nervous because this had already happened a few times just like with the tailor
shop before.
Sabrina's resume was good. She had a lot of experience and usually many would fight over
having a talented 6-star mage like her.
Yet when they searched up her name, due to her having Cromwell and the news reports
digging up information, they would find out about Raze as well, and that's when they had to
let her go no matter what.
Which was why she was nervous that the same would happen again.
"An interview, there will be no need for something like that," Gizin replied. "You already
proved yourself back there. You are a talented tailorist, while at the same time have strong
Light Magical powers."
"You are quite perfect for the new line I am looking to develop. I want to create enchanted
clothing that has healing effects."
"I believe this will help those greatly with chronic illnesses that can't be cured, and would
be preferred by people that don't wish to take medication every day. There is also research
that states it causes fewer side effects."
"If anything, I should thank my lucky stars that I ran into you today. So shall we head inside
and look at where your new office will be?" Gizin pointed forward.
With a smile on her face, Sabrina was happy to follow, as she was placed in her new role
with one of the top companies in the world.
——
In the meantime, Raze was currently in the busy city, but he was further on the outskirts
rather than in the center.
Here there was less wealth compared to the central part of the city, but still a lavish luxury
lifestyle compared to those that couldn't even afford to enter.
The reason he was here was because he had been tracking a certain individual for a while.
Raze was sitting in a shop having ordered a drink and was looking through the window.
Here he could see a man who was standing by an alleyway. People would come and go, but
after a while, some would stop.
There would be an exchange of sorts and after that nothing else.
This was one of the people he had tracked, Raze had asked those that were already
addicted to some of the illegal magic smoke that they were taking.
He then went from there to their local dealers, but he knew they wouldn't know enough, he
had to keep moving, further and further, and here he was.
'The people that are approaching him are the sellers, one of them goes to the school, but
they know nothing as well.'
Finally, after a while, the man was done, and now he was on the move again.
Raze continued to follow him, even this man in question that was passing on the product to
his sellers, he didn't have confidence would know enough.
He needed to go to the source, where were these products coming from. Otherwise, he
would find no relation.
'The students were just selling what they bought from here, I can bring them in, but then
they will just say I was the one that sold it to the students.
'Who knows how many people Ibarin has under his control.'
As Raze continued to follow him, he eventually saw him stop, and that's when he could see
it.
He looked at the area they were in, and could see a building. It looked like a regular
warehouse of sorts. Packages were coming in and out constantly.
There was nothing suspicious about it, but there were many that knew magic standing on
the outside like guards.
'They have mages standing outside a warehouse. Hiring protection is quite normal in case
these places get raided, but aren't they at the 4-star level? That's quite high for a place like
this, and what would a person selling the product have to do with a place like this.'
Raze wasn't a fighter, he was a researcher, who knew strong spells but didn't know how to
use them in combat well.
If he could, he would avoid forcing his way in, which was why he had done some research
on his phone until some records had come up.
'This building… it's owned by the Noble Guild… the Mage Guild that is run by Idore.'
Chapter 559 No Backbone Giving Up
Chapter 559 No Backbone Giving Up
Seeing the building in question belonging to Idore, it gave Raze a shiver through his whole
body. Images of a golden "I" on a cape flashed through his head.
He shook his head violently, trying to forget those images of his younger self.
'Idore now runs one of the biggest guilds in the world,' Raze thought to himself. 'His
influence in crafting has helped him gain a large influence in other countries, and he is
being seen as a peacemaker for giving everyone the same amount of access to his
enchantments.'
'The guild will own a few buildings here and there, but are they getting their supplies from
the Noble Guild then? Is he and Ibarin behind this together then?'
Raze thought about what he could do, seeing the situation, but the wall felt extremely high
to climb. It would be hard for him to sneak in, and if Idore was involved, how would he
even bring this case to light?
'I should just forget about everything,' Raze thought as he turned his head and headed back
home.
—— Upon coming home, Raze had walked in and sat by his table with a glass in hand. A
strong heavy smell burnt his nose from the alcohol as he lifted it and gulped it down.
He didn't savor the taste, nor even bothered himself by the slight burn. He was just
drinking away, to forget.
How long had passed, he had no idea, but Raze had stayed in the same seat until he saw the
door opening and Sabrina entering inside.
"Oh, you're here!" Sabrina said with a smile, that was until she saw the alcohol bottle on the
side and Raze sitting there with a blank smile.
She rushed over and took the bottle, placing it back in the top cupboard.
"You're doing this again; what happened, I thought we were over this. The fact that you're
finally here before me, what happened."
For some reason, even though Raze had already drunk half a large bottle of 50 percent
alcohol liquor, he was finding it hard to even feel anything.
His emotions were too strong, so instead, he decided to let it out.
"I found a link… the people that were selling the drugs at the school, they got their supply
from this random person, who seems to be getting his supply from a large building that
belongs to the Noble Guild," Raze answered.
Now Sabrina understood the problem. The Noble Guild was all the reports could talk about,
that was until Raze's incident occurred.
Not only that, but she had even heard stories of the Noble Guild trying to recruit Raze but
he had declined on the spot, saying he cared more about the research of magic than
creations.
"You could still do something you know," Sabrina said.
"What do you mean, how am I meant to do something against the Noble Guild, Idore is in
talks with the world government trying to set up some type of super system with them at
the moment.
"We're on the brink of world peace because of him. Even if I was to come up with
something, they would just shoot it down."
"But you don't have to condemn the Noble Guild, or take down Idore," Sabrina answered,
taking a seat next to Raze and holding onto his hands.
"You know, you're an important person as well. You're an 8-star mage, you are even better
than the top 1 percent out there. Just because you don't have the same ambition out there
as them you took a humble role as a professor.
"However, you are an 8-star mage with no backbone whatsoever. You can just head into the
factory, get enough evidence to at least clear your name, people will support you."
Raze took his hands away and just shook his head. Getting into the factory would possibly
mean hurting others, and he didn't want to do that.
He had hurt someone with his magic long ago and didn't want to do the same.
In order to steer the conversation away, Sabrina started to tell Raze about her day, and how
she had managed to get a new job of all things.
His face was uplifted as he listened to Sabrina talk about everything that happened. Seeing
her smile, seeing her glow, right now it was the only light he had in his life.
'It's fine… if things stay like this… it will be fine, as long as I have her,' Raze thought to
himself.
——
Six months had passed since Sabrina had gotten a job at Green Magic Pharma and she was
fitting in well. At first, she was a support for the team developing the magical gear, but after
a while she had become the head of the entire department.
She was even more talented for this line of work, compared to just being a tailor as she had
come up with a number of enchantments that could help make people's lives better.
She was fitting in and due to her position, at her meetings, she would still see Gizin once in
a while.
In terms of her position and him as her boss, there was nothing wrong. He paid her very
well, even giving her royalties for some of the designs she would make.
Gizin was also a good boss, treating his staff well and taking them out on trips, as well as
being understanding when things went wrong.
There wasn't a bad thing she could say about him or the job, but there was still one
problem that she had, and that was Raze.
Even though so much time had passed, things weren't getting easier for him. The attention
had gone off him, but still, there were those that would paint on the outside of the house.
On top of that, it was impossible for him to find a job, due to his history. Sabrina would have
asked Gizin but she was worried that she would lose her position as well.
With her wage she could allow for the two of them to survive, but she could tell he had lost
his purpose in life. He couldn't even freely enjoy going to the library or get his hands on the
most advanced places of magic because they were no longer accessible to him.
Each day she could see him breaking further and further and it was tearing her apart, she
just wished that there was something she could do.
"Alright everyone, good work today!" Sabrina said, clapping her hands.
She was in a design studio with her team with multiple drawings and different fabric
materials placed all over.
Her team, which consisted of about twenty-five people, turned to look at her, they bowed
down saying thank you, and left soon after.
Going to her computer she gave a sigh and was ready to sign off.
"Well, maybe my surprise gift I have for our anniversary will please him," Sabrina smirked.
"I just hope he hasn't found it, although he hasn't exactly been snooping around the house."
While looking at her screen and their orders, she noticed something that caught her eye. As
she clicked around a bit she finally got to the page she was looking for.
'We have the Noble Guild as some of our customers now as well. Some of our supplies they
get delivered are to that warehouse that Raze was talking about that time… Maybe… I'll be
able to find something if I head there under the guise of a delivery?'
Chapter 560 A Wife Who Will Never Give Up
Chapter 560 A Wife Who Will Never Give Up
Unlike before, Raze didn't go out every day in search of trying to get to the bottom of his
case. A lot of time had passed, and Ibarin's position as the Principal of the Academy just got
cemented more and more.
Raze had kept up with all of the news of the academy at least, and big changes were
happening to the academy and himself as mages were getting recognized more and more
for their power.
More focus was being placed at the academy. The reason why Raze didn't step out of the
doors was in case he would go mad trying to search for something again, he was afraid that
maybe he would act out, and use his magic to harm others for the sake of his goal.
Yet today was just one of those days, a report with Ibarin conducting an interview had
come on, and in order to clear his mind, he had decided to step into the outside world.
It was a sunny day, the skies were clear blue with few clouds in sight. For a moment, Raze
had to cover his eyes, he had been cooped up inside for such a long time that it startled him.
Beginning his walk down the street, he had his hood up over his head. With his hood down,
not as many people would recognize him anymore.
Since he hadn't been in the news or was an important figure in the TV scene for long
anyway, not many would remember what he looked like.
For him though, it had become a habit, and it was as if he was hiding from everything, a
protective wall to avoid all the problems.
As he walked down the street, he looked at people talking in the coffee shops, groups
huddled together glancing at him and whispering words to each other.
'Are they talking about me… did they recognize who I was… but it wasn't me, I didn't do it…
I didn't do it, I was set up!' Raze thought in his head.
The images of those talking around, they were turning dark, smiles on their faces as they
surrounded, pointing and laughing at him.
Quickly, Raze needed to quicken his pace as he got out of the busy city area, and went over
to a more quiet part of the city.
A local park built in the center of a building. It was gated, allowing him to go inside he could
see people playing with their pets, and sitting on the benches.
'It's still hard for me to go outside.' Raze thought as he took in a few deep breaths.
Another reason why he didn't go out as much was because of this. Raze couldn't hear the
others but his mind would go rampant with thoughts.
He assumed the worst, assumed what they would think about him, and what they were
talking about. Even if he was able to apply for a job, his heart would race and he could get
far too tensed up thinking about what they would think about.
Walking forward, Raze had found an empty bench and decided to take a seat. It lit up
slightly when he sat down and a cooling effect was emitted from the bench.
It was filled with magic, cooling him on the summer day. For a moment he felt a little at
peace, but it was only for these few moments.
"Hey, did you hear what happened today, they found a person practicing Dark Magic!"
"I did hear! They say two officers were killed, and they were 3-star mages as well!"
Not too far from where Raze was, he could see a group of teenagers talking to one another.
They were sitting in the grass discussing the latest news.
Since he could hear what they were talking about, he didn't get the same feeling as before,
but Raze didn't dare look their way, and just continued listening to their conversation.
"Yeah, I heard that the mage wasn't that strong, yet he managed to fend off a police squad,
is it because he was using Dark Magic?"
The conversation continued between the kids, and Raze was listening to it in and out.
He knew the answer because Dark Magic was taboo, not even talented mages knew of its
capabilities or how to handle it.
Essentially those who practiced Dark Magic had the upper hand because other mages didn't
know what the spells were capable of.
A lot of mage battles, one needed research into the magic and prior battles. Even himself
hadn't researched a lot into Dark Magic.
'I wonder if I was to go against a Dark Mage, what I would do to battle against one.' Raze
started to think, trying to keep his mind occupied off of things.
Although he was a pacifist when it came to using magic to battle, he still didn't let that stop
his imagination. Just like a kid after watching their favorite battle shows.
——
After looking into things the other day, Sabrina had made a call to her team, asking if she
could visit one of the warehouses they made deliveries to.
The warehouse in question belonged to Idore. It wasn't exactly her department but she was
in a high enough position to request going along with one of the teams.
They were visiting, hoping to talk about a trade of crafted items to be embedded into the
clothing to make them more powerful.
Things like buttons, markings, and so on. Right now, she was in the warehouse that was
busy moving a number of products and was heading out to the team.
"Sabrina, are you coming? I thought you were interested in the talks," one of the other team
heads asked.
"Ah, it's okay, I was more interested in the warehouse itself, you go ahead, and then I'll
leave when you guys leave as well," Sabrina claimed.
With that, Sabrina was now on her own in the warehouse. Here she could see by the doors
there were talented mages that were standing there.
High-level mages that didn't look like typical workers. Then there were regular workers
and magic workers helping with the movement of equipment.
'Well, if I was to take a guess at where somewhere like this would hide something, then it
would have to be….'
Looking around she could see one door that didn't lead to the outside, and two guards were
standing there.
Not a single person moved in and out.
While blending in by looking around with her head, she moved closer to the two guards
that were keeping an eye on her.
As she got close, she cast a spell, whipping her finger away. The Light Magic entered both of
their eyes and they soon started to feel sleepy, almost instantly.
'I'm a talented 7-star mage, my magic can get through most of the others as my mana
overwhelms them.'
Quickly with a little bit of Ice Magic she froze their feet and part of their back to make them
appear as if they were still standing guard.
Right after that, she placed her ear against the wall. She couldn't hear others on the other
side and gave it a slight push.
Entering through the door, she closed it behind her, and continued to look in the place.
It was a separate room filled with wooden crates. There were no markings on the crates as
for what the items were.
"Why would they separate these items from the others?" Sabrina thought.
Walking over, she went to the wooden crate and propped open the top, pushing the lid
slightly off, and she could soon see what was inside. She didn't even have to touch the
items.
She could tell, it was illegal magic inhaling items, and there were hundreds of them.
'Raze was right…' Sabrina thought. 'If I can just get the police to come here, and we can get
the people involved, this will clear him of all the crimes they accused him of.'
'We might not be able to link it to Ibarin, but we can at least clear his name.'
Not wanting to do more, she placed the lid back on, trying to make it appear as if she had
never been here. After all, she didn't want to be found out and then they clear the place
before they were even able to run an investigation.
Turning around though, she crashed right into someone.
"What.." Were the only words that came out of Sabrina's mouth.
"You are not meant to be in here," the voice said.
'How did I not sense him, I was using magic the whole time… and why is he here… why is
Idore himself in this Warehouse!' Sabrina thought.
Chapter 561 Learning About Dark Magic
Chapter 561 Learning About Dark Magic
Raze had stayed in the park for quite a while, listening to the conversation of the teenage
mages until they had eventually left, and now the night sky was out.
No one had come to sit next to him, maybe because of the aura he was giving off. One could
feel a disturbance in the air if they came close.
As for what Raze had been doing the entire time while he was there, he had his mind
occupied in deep thought. He was thinking about what the teenagers had spoken about and
was imagining himself going up against someone who knew Dark Magic.
'This is extremely difficult to imagine, I haven't met anyone that was able to use Dark Magic
before, so whatever I am imagining isn't a realistic way for me to counter. Because of the
variables that are involved.'
His mind was occupied with the teenagers' arguments, who were questioning what would
happen to Alterian if there was ever a high star Dark mage? If a lower star Dark Mage can
defeat higher star tiers than them, then wouldn't a Dark Mage be the strongest mage there
was in existence?
'If I really wanted to get to the bottom of this case then the best thing to do would be to do
some research into Dark Magic… but how would I even do that, and is that even allowed?'
'It's a taboo to learn Dark Magic, but to study about it surely that's a different matter.'
Raze thought about it some more. If he wanted to find out about Dark Magic, there wouldn't
be a lot he could do. There were the restricted books in the librarys held in the Central
Mage academy, but that was somewhere he couldn't go.
The other option would be to talk to those that had learned Dark Magic as well. Figure out
how they came across it. However, those people were quite scary to Raze. They had gone
off the deep end, desperate to learn it to cause damage to others.
Involving himself with them, he just imagined that there would be another article waiting
to be written about him if he was found out.
"I guess I should just forget about it. It's a stupid thing to think about in the first place.
There will never be an 8-star Dark Mage," Raze said as he stood up.
That was when he had truly noticed that the sky was now black. With what time it was, he
thought he should hurry home.
'It will be a first that she is back before me,' Raze thought. 'I don't want to worry her.'
Making his way back, Raze had arrived at their apartment room and he noticed something.
At the front door, there were a few painted words.
It was the same profanity that was written, aimed at him since the incident in red paint. He
had suspected that it was someone from the apartment since this continued, someone
wanting them to leave.
However, Sabrina had stood her ground, shouting back at them. They were all friendly with
them one day, and then turned on them the next. The reason why Raze noticed it, was
because he hadn't seen it in a long time.
'Usually, every time Sabrina comes back, she cleans it away with her magic. She thought I
didn't notice, but I'm quite sensitive to mana,' Raze thought.
Opening the door he didn't think much of it. As he walked inside, that was until he could see
that there were no shoes in the entrance. Taking his own off, he started to walk into the
apartment.
"Sabrina!" Raze shouted. "Sabrina, are you here!"
Raze looked in the kitchen, the living room, he even gave a small knock on the toilet door,
before opening it, yet there was no one.
"Well, she might be out with her friends after work, I'll just send her a message to see if
everything is okay." Raze did that and continued on his day,
Usually, by this time he would treat himself to a drink, but for once, with his mind full of
thoughts of Dark Magic, and Sabrina not being home at the usual time, he had decided to
leave it.
'She hasn't read my message.' Raze checked his phone and decided to give a call instead.
It was unusual, Sabrina would often reply back, or even let him know in advance if she had
something. When calling, the phone didn't even ring out. This was almost an impossibility.
The phones in Alterian ran on mana, as long as it was on a person they could always have it
working. Sure there was a chance that she might have lost it, but there were many other
things that were strange.
The day she lost her phone she had come home later than usual? And not even informed
him beforehand like she usually would do. It was already extremely late.
With this in mind, Raze had decided to write out a note. Just in case Sabrina came back
while he was out so she wouldn't worry like him, and he headed out the door in search of
her.
In his mind, Sabrina would be seen between their apartment and her work, it was a fifteen-
minute walk. Going through the area, Raze went into every shop he could see on the way,
he took a glance to see if there was anyone he could see.
"Is there something I could help you with, sir, a seat perhaps?"
"No, I'm just looking for someone," Raze answered. "You haven't seen a woman here have
you, light brown hair, usually wearing a light-colored jacket thing, the one with the wrap
that you can tighten the waist."
Raze was never good at fashion; he had no clue what the words were for the type of jackets,
not like his wife.
"There are a lot of people that come here, but I can't remember anyone like that."
After getting his answer, he continued going into every shop, asking the same question. At
times there would be those that matched their description, but they weren't the person he
was looking for.
Suddenly in the situation he was in, his anxiety wasn't hitting him. He was talking to others
which he hadn't done in years, and it was because there was something more important at
stake for him.
In one of the restaurants he had entered Raze was even sure someone had recognized him
and was whispering but he didn't care as he continued forward, but he had failed.
"Arghh, it hurts, it hurts!" a voice was heard.
It was from one of the local parks. A place where kids would ride magical devices.
Going over to the noise, Raze was ready to look anywhere right now, even the whole
country.
He was considering even flying up in the air and searching even though there were rules
about that. When he entered the park, he could see kids were gathered around one of the
kids.
They had had an accident on one of the rails, and their leg was twisted. When Raze pushed
through the crowd he heard a soft voice.
"Don't worry, this will heal up all good and well. There won't be any pain or scar."
When the woman was done, she stood up and turned around and now her face was directly
looking back at Raze.
"Sabrina, here you are, you're here!" he said as he quickly hugged her tightly. He then
pulled her away and was holding her,
"Is everything okay, are you alright?" Raze asked.
"I'm fine… but… I'm sorry." Sabrina said, touching her head. "Who are you?"
Chapter 562 Even With a Loss Your Still The Same
Chapter 562 Even With a Loss Your Still The Same
Raze was pacing back and forth in his kitchen, biting his thumbnail. He was continuously
just moving four steps ahead before doing a turn and moving the other way four steps
again.
"Is everything okay?" Sabrina asked with a golden smile on her face.
Looking at her, Raze couldn't help but scratch his head as he continued to pace back and
forth.
"Of course it's not okay, of course nothing's okay, you somehow lost your memory!" Raze
shouted. "And, I can't believe that you would just trust me like that, and come back to
someone's house that's practically a stranger, were you always like this?"
Not too long ago, Raze had been looking for Sabrina all around the city; he was unable to
find her when he happened across her in a local park, healing one of the hurt teenagers.
After that, it didn't take long, but Raze convinced her that he and she knew each other. He
mentioned her full name, and asked what she could remember. According to her, she was a
worker at a tailor shop.
The tailor shop in question Raze knew, it was the one that she worked at when the two of
them had met. When he had just become a teacher at the academy, and needed some
clothes.
However, she had no clue who Raze was, her memories were reverted back just before the
two of them met.
He promised that the two knew each other, bringing out his phone he had shown pictures
of the two of them together. After that, she had agreed to go home with him where he had
shown more proof.
Wedding photos, time spent together, letters that they had written to each other including
videos and more. It was enough to convince Sabrina but he felt like she was already
convinced.
"I trusted you from the beginning," Sabrina said, holding her hand next to her chest. "My
magic core, it reacted to yours, I don't think it would have for no reason, and it turns out
the two of us really did have a life together."
"But every time I look at all these things on the table, and see everything, it hurts my heart
that I can't remember what happened, I'm sorry."
"Don't say those words," Raze said, turning around. "You can't apologize to me, you can't. If
anything, I'm the one that should be saying those words."
Raze had fallen to his knees and he was grabbing on tight to the side of Sabrina's thighs. His
tears soaking into her dress. While in this position, Sabrina couldn't help but stroke the top
of Raze's head while using her Light magic, trying her best to comfort him.
After a quick sob Raze tried to compose himself, he got up off the ground and sat and
cleared the table of all the memorabilia between the two.
"What we need to figure out is how this happened to you," Raze said. "Everything had been
fine for a long time, so why now of all times?"
Sabrina placed her finger on the bottom of her lip as she started to think.
"Well, I will try to look at this from an outsider's point of view because right now I kind of
feel like an outsider, so forgive me if I speak or say things that might hurt you."
Just as always Sabrina was her gentle self.
"Has anything changed recently that would cause this in your lives?" Sabrina asked.
The most recent change between the two of them was Sabrina's new job.
"Your work, but that was six months ago, and you had no problems. You would often return
saying how good your work colleagues and boss were."
"This event did happen after I finished work, or at least during work, according to what I
know right?" Sabrina said. "So we have to keep it open as a possibility, but like you said,
why would someone want to do that to me, did the two of you… sorry, did the two of us
have any enemies? Those that would want to hurt us?"
What immediately sprung to Raze's mind was the constant magic circles that were left in
front of the door, and the painting on the walls. There were a lot of people that wished him
dead, and perhaps his wife because of it.
Many of the parents at the academy as well.
'What if they found out who Sabrina was, and tried to harm her because they couldn't get to
me…'
"It seems there are people you can think of," Sabrina answered.
"There are too many, to the point where it would be hard to pinpoint a single person,
especially if we don't know anyone at your work," Raze answered.
Sitting down the two of them thought about it some more, and that's when Sabrina came up
with an answer after letting out a big sigh.
"Well, if we can't think of who had done this, then there is one thing we can do, and
something that we would need to do either way," Sabrina said. "We should focus on getting
my memories back."
"If I recall, there is a Light spell that can heal up any lingering magic that has been used.
This has to be a spell or an enchanted item of sorts. So let's just get rid of the spell."
Thinking about it, Raze realized it was the perfect solution. The spell that would need to be
used, was a high-level Light magic spell, and Sabrina was a 7-star mage, one that
specialized in Light magic.
If there was one person that could get her memory back, it would be herself.
"But I don't know the spell to do that, and the spell that would need to be cast would be at a
high level," Raze answered.
"Unfortunately I don't know the spell either which is why I didn't want to mention it, but
the pictures that you showed me before, that's the uniform of a teacher right. Couldn't you
enter the academy and get the spell book that would contain that information?" She asked.
Thinking about it, that was possible. The central library would certainly have the spell
book. The thing was, Raze would never be allowed in the school after what had occurred.
Sneaking into the place would have been impossible for him as well. This was such an
important matter, that Raze felt like there was no choice.
"I suppose I can ask someone for a favor. There is someone that might be able to help me,"
Raze replied.
"Then I'll come with you!" Sabrina stood up.
"No… I don't want to cause you any more trouble, if you can, can you please just stay here,
keep the doors locked. I'll go first thing tomorrow, I should be able to catch him," Raze
answered.
That night, due to Sabrina and Raze's state, the two of them had slept in different rooms.
Sabrina had taken the spare room.
For Raze it was hard for him to sleep because he couldn't stop thinking about what he
needed to do and worrying about Sabrina.
'There's one more thing that keeps bothering me… Sabrina is a 7-star mage. Not just
anyone would be able to take her memory without her knowing or by force. She wouldn't
be tricked… so just who did this!'
Chapter 563 A Meeting With An Old Friend
Chapter 563 A Meeting With An Old Friend
The next day had arrived, and Raze was surprised to see that Sabrina had cooked some
food for the two of them. The place was a mess with cupboard doors left open and plates
mismanaged, but it went down to not being able to find something.
"It's strange, right?" Sabrina said as she placed her hair behind her ear, her cheeks blushing
slightly red. "I know that I was probably the one that organized everything, where the
plates go and the glasses, yet I still couldn't guess where I would put them."
Sabrina was right, she had organized everything, maybe some people didn't know
themselves as well as they thought.
Walking over, Raze sat down and ate the food in front of him. "You didn't have to do this, I
don't want you to force yourself into doing anything for my sake."
"Can you stop being stupid," Sabrina said. "You think I was doing this because I feel sorry
for you. I always do what I want and not what others tell me, and if you have really been
with me so long, then you would know that as well."
Raze had no argument against her; it was always hard for him to win a war of words with
Sabrina, which maybe was what made him fall for her in the first place.
Even when picking the type of clothes to wear at the tailor shop, Raze wanted to go for the
cheapest thing he could get. After learning about his profession, she had forced him to buy
what she thought suited him for the type of job he had.
After then, he practically made up multiple excuses to come in and see her in the tailor
shop every day. Sabrina had caught on to what he was trying to do, and she was the one
that bit the bullet and asked him out.
Getting up from his seat, he opened the door and looked back at her. "Remember what I
said, stay in here for the time being, we'll get your memories back."
Leaving the door, Raze had another thought in his mind. 'All this time, you have been the
one protecting me, shielding me, bringing me up. I was the type who didn't like to do things
that they didn't want to do. I'm sure you forced yourself to smile when you didn't feel like
it, just to cheer me up. It's time that I do things I don't want to do for your sake as well.'
—
Raze was taking the sky train; he had been on his phone sending messages back and forth
for a while. His hands were tense, his heart was racing.
[Next stop, Central Mage Academy]
It was just past the morning, so there weren't many on the sky train. As the students would
have gotten to the academy bright in the morning for their lessons.
When he got off the stop, the long wide pathway to the school gate was in front of him, and
a man in a long blazer that touched the floor, with round glasses on his face was standing in
front of him.
"Ibarin… you're here," Raze said as he walked forward but stopped, not getting too close
and just looking at him.
"It's good to see you… and see that you're well," Ibarin commented.
Raze was biting his tongue; there was so much he wanted to say and ask. Why did he lie
back in the courtroom, was it him that had set him up? Did the position mean so much to
him?
If he had just asked, told Raze that he truly wanted to be principal then he would have
happily given it to him, the person who he called friend.
"I think it's best if we talk inside, in your office," Raze asked.
"I can't do that, Raze, you know I can't," Ibarin said. "If the students see you, and the
parents get wind that I let you in the academy, then I could lose my position, I could lose
everything."
"Please," Raze asked, clenching both of his hands. "I don't even care what happened… I'm
asking as a favor, the two of us used to be work colleagues, I saw you as a friend. I'm not
asking for much, but I'm just asking for an hour in the academy at most, and I will be on my
way."
Ibarin didn't answer straight away as he was thinking about it, but eventually gave his
answer.
"I'm sorry, I can help you with other things, but I can't let you take a step in this academy,
you are banished from this place," Ibarin answered and turned around.
The moment he did, the air sliced right by the side of his face. His long dangling hair he
could see threads of it cut and falling to the floor.
"I have to go into the academy; there is something that I need. I was asking nicely for old
times' sake, but if you are refusing me, then I will fight!" Raze stated.
Ibarin turned around. "You want to fight… you, the pacifist Raze will fight?"
Lifting up his hands, Raze was already casting a large amount of his wind magic, and his
mana was spewing out of his body.
"Do you think you could win?" Raze asked. "Because, I have nothing to lose!"
The look in Raze's eyes, it was scaring Ibarin. Could he really win against Raze? During his
time at the academy, he lost out to him in every aspect. Raze's knowledge was undisputed
when it came to magic.
At that point, Ibarin realized as he could feel his hands trembling he was scared of Raze.
The whole time, although Raze was quiet, kept to himself and was a peaceful person, there
was this underlying fear.
Raze wasn't the type of person that aimed for power or fame. He didn't care even when he
had reached the 8th star. Something only few mages could reach, but what if that changed?
What if Raze was determined like others, what would happen then?
"Very well, you can come in, but bear in mind I will remember this, if anyone sees us, I will
say that you forced me."
Raze didn't care as the two of them went in. The more time the two spent with each other,
the more Raze feared he would lash out at Ibarin and perhaps start a real fight.
He wasn't here for a fight though, he was here for something else. After talking to Ibarin he
had informed him he wanted to go to the major library. The two had gone to Ibarin's office,
after he had handed him a set of magic keys.
This allowed him to open the door to the main library. "When I leave, I'll place the keys
back in your office, and you'll never know I was here."
"I hope I don't see you again," Ibarin said.
"The same for me," Raze mumbled to himself as the door closed.
Searching the library, it didn't take long for Raze to find what he was looking for. He had
worked at the central academy for a number of years, so he knew what he wanted and he
found the spell he needed in question.
'With this, Sabrina will be able to get her memory back, although I am worried about what
we might discover.'
With the book found Raze was ready to leave, but before he did, he passed a certain red
door in the central library.
'That's where all the prohibited books are kept. The Central Mage Academy is also a place
where history is kept, the good and the bad. In there, there would also be some books about
Dark Magic as well, right?'
Raze found himself drawn to the red door, right now he had the keys to go inside. Before he
wouldn't have dared to look the books behind the door unless he had a purpose.
Ever since he had heard those kids talking about Dark Magic, he had it on his mind for a
while.
Before he knew it the key was in the door and with a turn, the door flung open. A room
filled with all sorts of different books.
Heading inside, it didn't take long for him to find the books related to Dark Magic. There
weren't many, around five books or so, and some of them just looked like scribblings on a
scroll rather than anything official.
"These are just for research purposes, it's not like I'm actually going to learn Dark Magic,"
Raze thought as he took everything there.
Chapter 564 Healing The Truth
Chapter 564 Healing The Truth
After getting everything he needed, he held the pile of books and scrolls in his hand and
decided to head to the office. It would be a long time until Ibarin would find out he had
taken books from the prohibited section.
Hardly anyone checked the books in that place. Even when entering, it was only to place
another book there. With the Central Academy being the place it was, with many of the
most talented mages in the world gathering in one place and being lectured, there was a
high level of security.
The only reason Raze was able to get in was because he had met the principal himself,
Ibarin. With his talents, he could possibly sneak in, but it was far too risky.
And one had to remember that Raze was an 8-star mage. A number that could be counted
on both hands, which was why it might have been only something he could have done.
With the keys in hand, he headed to Ibarin's office, checked to see if he was in before
entering, and found no one present, which he was at least thankful for.
Ibarin purposely didn't turn up, perhaps because he didn't want to see Raze again, and the
feeling was mutual between the two. After placing his keys away, Raze continued to walk
around the rest of the Academy, and before he knew it, as if on autopilot, his legs had taken
him to his old classroom.
There wasn't a lecture going on in his old class specifically at the moment; it was
completely empty.
'Did my legs just guide me here out of habit? Now that it's recognized where we are, it's
taken a step in the same building?' Raze thought.
Wandering in, he looked to see if much had changed, but it was nearly all the same.
Everything down to the last detail. He hadn't been gone long, after all.
There were some differences though, the items he had on the desk were cleared. The
posters that would be placed on the walls, everything that had been set up in his way, had
been removed, leaving no trace of Raze, as if he was never here to begin with.
'Originally, I was so obsessed with finding out why Ibarin had done all of that. Why had he
taken away my perfect life, my joy of research, and teaching the students that same joy.
'I would go out every day searching for an answer. I was so fixated on trying to get my old
life back… I nearly lost Sabrina as well.'
Having taken a glance at the book, Raze was confident Sabrina would get her memories
back. So he would have her by his side again, but he had nearly lost her, the old her.
Whoever had removed her memories, they could have easily killed her afterward, and that
was something he didn't want to happen.
'Sabrina is the only person that has come into my life, after everything that happened in the
past, as long as she is okay, then everything will be fine.'
——
Getting back to the apartment, there was a sigh of relief that had overcome Raze. He was
worried that Ibarin might have ordered the local police or a guild to take care of him,
reporting the fact that he had come back to the academy, but there was no such thing that
had occurred.
Maybe because if that did happen, then there would be an even bigger case or report on the
Academy's hands and that would just fall back to Ibarin's incompetence.
Raze was already imagining the headlines, a single mage manages to force the principal to
his demands, enters academy. That would only look bad on him.
'Maybe I should have just done something like that.' Raze grinned to himself, but quickly
shook his head at such foolish thoughts.
Entering the apartment, he was happy to see that Sabrina was still there. She had a smile on
her face as she saw Raze.
"It looks like your mission was a success then!" Sabrina said.
"Yes." Raze answered as he placed the pile of books down and handed over the one that she
needed.
"It looks like you got more than what you needed." Sabrina said.
"Ah, these are just for my own research. Not being part of the academy anymore, it's the
first time I've been able to study something that's so in-depth." He stated.
Sabrina got to work opening the book. It would take some time understanding the ins and
outs of the spell. Especially a high star one. After that, she would actually have to draw up
the magic circle, and possibly get the items required for it.
According to Raze, it shouldn't be too much of a problem because Sabrina had a large
amount of wealth accumulated from her job to use.
"You know Raze, I just have to tell you, I'm looking forward to getting my memories back.
While you were away, I looked over the photos again, the future me… if that is the right
term… I guess not really, but anyway, she looked really happy, and I can't wait to
experience that again." Sabrina said as she stuck her head back into the books.
In the meantime, Raze had decided to pick up the few books that he could find that talked
about Dark Magic as well as the scrolls. Some of the books were passed down techniques,
talking about a few spells here and there.
One of the books was done by a past professor that leaned more into the side of
researching Dark Magic. It talked about the basis of having a Dark Core.
The reason why Dark Magic was outlawed, and many people knew this, it was the
requirement for one to get a Dark Core in the first place, or increase their affinity in getting
a Dark Core.
'This does make me wonder, even just learning a little bit of Dark Magic, seems to throw
mages off. According to the spells that I have seen as well, Dark Magic has a basis of
destruction.'
'It's almost a magic that is exclusively used for battling… and killing.'
Looking into it more, what also interested Raze was in the research, it was stated at times
that Dark Magic research could even be found in other dimensions.
In particular, there were talks of finding Cursed items that had a side effect when being
used on the user in some way, and the link to Dark Magic with that.
Looking up, he could see that Sabrina was already drawing the magic circle on the ground.
She was a quick learner and had already figured out what needed to be done.
"Wait, aren't any items required?" Raze asked.
"Not for this spell, I can just use my light magic. I'm not enchanting anything and my
powers should be sufficient, I have a lot of Mana after all. Anyway, all is done… I have to say
Raze, if there was one thing I was thankful for, it was meeting you all over again, and
getting to fall in love with you again, I can tell you are a kind-hearted man." Without giving
a chance for Sabrina to reply, she activated her magic and the circle started to light up.
It lit her own body, overcoming it with a bright glow that soon started to fade away along
with the magic circle, and Sabrina opened her eyes.
"Did it work… Can you remember me!" Raze said with excitement and worry.
"It worked." Sabrina answered as tears rolled down her cheek, but they were tears of
happiness between the two of them.
Quickly, Raze came forward and the two embraced in a tight hug. They held onto each other
for a while and slowly started to waddle as if they were doing a dance.
"I thought I might have lost you forever, I'm so happy that it managed to work." Raze said.
"I'm sorry for ignoring you that whole time, I'm sorry for you having to deal with someone
who just felt bad for himself. I was just being selfish and never thought about you."
"Raze… I know what you are like, I know no matter what, you will always look out for me."
Sabrina answered. "But there is something I have to tell you, I remember everything…
including what happened to me."
"And the one that got rid of my memories, it was the leader of the Noble Guild, Idore." She
answered.
Chapter 565 Going Behind His Back
Chapter 565 Going Behind His Back
Sabrina went ahead and recalled everything; she remembered every last detail now that
she had gotten her memory back. She was investigating the warehouse that belonged to the
Noble Guild and what she had discovered in all of those crates.
When she turned around, the last person she expected to see was Idore. He didn't say much
to her but placed a round item on top of her head. After that, she couldn't remember
anything, apart from waking up in the park and losing her memories.
"There were so many crates there! We've uncovered a bigger operation than we thought.
This isn't just simply selling illegal substances to kids, with how much supply was there,
they could be sending this all over Altieran!" Sabrina said.
"Just calm down for a moment," Raze said, gesturing for her to sit back down. The two of
them had been sitting as Raze heard everything she had to say.
"Alright, I know it's just... you see these things happening on TV all the time, I just never
thought I would be involved in it," Sabrina said.
Raze didn't like this at all. Everything made sense to him now, the strange feeling he had.
How could anyone catch Sabrina by surprise with her magic skills, the only answer was for
someone to be better skilled, and there were few who matched that criteria.
Now that it was clear it was Idore, another 8-star mage, it made sense, but right now, Raze
didn't want it to make sense, he didn't want it to be him.
"Was Ibarin and Idore working together then, or did Idore's product just happen to come
into contact with the school?" Raze started to wonder.
"It could be possible that this is his Guild's doing rather than his own," Sabrina clicked her
fingers afterwards. "That wouldn't make sense why he cleared my memory then. It's clear
he wanted to hide this fact. But still, it's hard to imagine, right?
"I mean, Idore is world-famous, head of the Noble Guild that has a boatload of money due to
his enchanted items, would they really need to sell illegal items as well to increase their
markup?
"I mean if this was found out, it would ruin his whole image of being a noble, and I just can't
see Idore doing that."
Images flashed in Raze's mind again, causing him to touch the side of his head as if he was
going through a migraine.
'That's not true at all, although many on the outside would see it that way, including you,
Sabrina, I know that he is capable of dark things, something like this would be child's play
compared to what he did in the past.'
In the end, Sabrina let out a big sigh. She knew it would be tough, if she went out there and
made a report, the police would do next to nothing.
They would laugh it off, thinking that it was just some delusional mage trying to get their
five minutes of fame.
"I just thought of something, I don't think if we reported this anything would happen, but
what if someone of equal influence reported this," Sabrina suggested.
Raze wasn't quite understanding what she meant.
"What if I talked to Gizin. He's also one of the most influential people in the world because
of his healing products.
"If he was to report this it would be taken as a serious matter. These problems are going on
with companies that he is dealing with. He will be more inclined to investigate the situation
so it doesn't fall on him.
"I know him well, he's done a lot for me and trusts me, so if I get to speak to him and
convince him I'm sure he'll help out," Sabrina said.
She was excited by her plan and development, but when looking at Raze he didn't seem to
share the same excitement, and instead wasn't even looking at her in the face.
"I think…we should just forget about this whole matter," Raze answered. "Let's not drag
ourselves into this when we don't have to.
"Right now, Idore thinks that you have lost your memory. He thinks that his operation is
safe, and while he thinks that we are safe as well from him doing anything to us."
"What!" Sabrina slammed her hands on the table. "Don't you have any backbone! He
removed my memories, if it was anyone else, then they might have been lost forever.
"He also might be the person behind ruining your life. We have to go after him, we have to
do this. Are you scared, that you might have to fight him, that he might attack us, you're an
8-
star mage as well you know!"
Sabrina was practically huffing and puffing at this point she was so vented up with
frustration.
"I am scared," Raze admitted as he turned and looked at her directly in the face. "I don't
care about what happened to me, I don't care
about it anymore. The one thing I'm scared about more than anything is losing you!"
Sabrina immediately sat in her seat after that and folded her arms.
"Ah crap, and now I feel bad, when you put it that way and say something so sweet…"
——
After much discussion, in the end, Sabrina had agreed. That the two of them would leave
the whole thing be, that they wouldn't go to Gizin or the police, and forget that this whole
thing had ever happened.
The next day, Sabrina was at work as usual. She had her hands on a giant square tablet
which doubled as an interactive screen.
Several designs were placed in front of her, along with information on enchantments and
what could be used and what was needed.
Higher-tier products needed her own involvement because it needed a high-star mage to
perform them. At times, even Gizin would be required, since he also was a light magic-
based mage.
It was said that those with Light Magic cores were kind-hearted people that was how they
got said cores when learning magic in the first place.
"Sabrina are you okay, you haven't touched the screen for even a second?" one of her work
colleagues said.
"Yeah sorry, I just got a lot on my mind," she replied back.
She was thinking about things, the anger inside her was building up. Because of Idore, Raze
had to go back to the academy and get the book.
He had to revisit the place that had tortured him for the last few months, and now, they
would be tortured again and again.
She knew Raze was a pushover, a person who needed to be forced to do things. She
couldn't believe that he had done something and knew how hard it would be for him.
'I'm sorry Raze but this is something I have to do, for my sake and yours, I don't want you
to keep living in guilt over me, I will make sure everything goes away.'
With those thoughts in her mind, she exited out of the room and ran up the stairs. She then
gave a knock at the main door, until she heard the words 'Come in.'
Letting herself in, she was now looking at Gizin.
"I have something to tell you, sir."
Chapter 566 Catching The Leader Of The Noble Guild
Chapter 566 Catching The Leader Of The Noble Guild
"I'm sorry," Sabrina said, bowing her head, which she had already done numerous times
throughout her talk. "I know this matter isn't really one that directly involves you, but just
thinking about the implications and how it could affect the whole of Alterian, I didn't know
who to turn to."
"This matter is too big for me to try and just turn to the police or turn to news stations,
because of who is involved in all of this."
Sabrina had gone ahead to explain the details of what had occurred a few days ago. She had
changed her story a bit. For one, she didn't want to involve Raze, so she had never
mentioned his name or the fact that this was originally connected to the Central Academy.
Instead, Sabrina explained that she had already found suspicious activities coming from the
facility that they worked with. A member of the Noble Guild was the one supplying the
products to a seller, and these were going into all sorts of places, including the Academy.
Of course, she as a person would have hated it if she was wrong, and there was a high
chance that this was just done by someone working in the factory or someone in the Noble
Guild who was looking to earn some money, so she investigated further and that's when
she was stopped by Idore herself.
Thankfully, she knew something was wrong, and had used a healing spell on herself
allowing her to regain her memories.
Sitting at his desk, Gizin had a look of deep concern on his face, his wrinkles in his forehead
deepening.
"No, you were right to come to me," Gizin said. "I know what you're thinking, and if what
you are saying is true, then this is something that could be spread even further. Perhaps
one of the biggest scandals in all of Alterian. To think that someone so important was
involved in the matter."
Gizin soon started to rumble in his desk drawer, scrambling away at the papers
underneath. Sabrina was unsure if he had found what he was looking for as he had pulled
nothing out, but instead just placed both of his hands on the table and looked directly at
her.
"Have you told anyone about this matter yet? You haven't gone to the police or anything
like that?" Gizin asked.
"No," Sabrina shook her head. "This is why I'm sorry, I didn't think they could do something
like that, but I know in your position, they might listen to you more."
"Yes, yes," Gizin nodded. "What I need to do myself before I go, is gather evidence. Since
we're doing business with the warehouse in question it shouldn't be hard. It's good that
you haven't told anyone."
"If you had, it's possible that the news could have spread to someone that Idore or the
Noble Guild knew. Right now, while he thinks your memory has been removed, it's best to
make our move."
Sabrina was happy to hear this, giving small nods moving the conversation along. What
Gizin said was similar to what Raze had said, which was giving her more confidence.
"Just continue as you have been doing for now," Gizin ordered. "Let me deal with the rest,
and I'll update you along the way."
Before leaving the room, Sabrina bowed one more time saying her thanks, and left with a
smile on her face. She had been having a fight in her own mind, whether or not she had
done the right thing by getting Gizin involved, and she didn't feel good about going behind
Raze's back, but she now felt like she had done the right thing.
"I know Raze would leave things as they were, he always did, that mage is the one that has
no backbone. As usual, I'm the one that needs to look after him, sometimes he's like a kid,
other times he's like a wise old man, but maybe that's why I like him," she smiled to herself.
The next few days things had been going as normal for Sabrina and Raze. She turned up at
her work and did as she usually would. Once in a while, she would make eye contact with
Gizin, and give him a small nod.
She was wondering if he had any more news but the fact that he didn't call her in for a
meeting meant that she wouldn't push it, and as for Raze, he was becoming more adjusted
to his current way of life.
He no longer went out on long crusades at night looking for the enemy, and he didn't stay
secluded in the apartment. He was going out more during the day.
While at home one day, though, Raze was looking at his calendar, and that's when he saw
that a specific day had been circled.
"I… almost forgot… that day I should do something, and get something."
——
One day at work, though, Sabrina had finally been called up into the office. She knew she
had no big meetings, so she could only guess that this was to do with her meeting.
Heading into the room, there was the deep look and wrinkled forehead that Sabrina had
seen last time.
"Is everything okay?" Sabrina asked.
"Ah, yes of course, of course!" Gizin answered with a smile. "I just wanted to update you on
the situation. I investigated the matter with a team of trusty employees and it looks like
what you have found is true."
"Right now, we're working with the police forces to obtain strong evidence to be used in
court, and to bring him down. This is like you imagined, and it goes far bigger than we
thought. However, I'm still worried about something."
"Still worried about something, worried about what?" Sabrina asked.
"I'm worried about you," Gizin replied. "As we're in the investigation stage, it's possible that
Idore might figure out that you were the one that reported all of this. Of course, I doubt he
has any idea, but just in case, I want no harm to come to you. I think for now it's best that
you stay at home for the next few days. Take time off work, while we wrap up everything,
just stay at home, understand?"
This was a normal reaction from Gizin, during her almost year now she had worked for the
company she had always seen him act this way. His nice manners, and his caring nature for
his employees.
It was the same person that had offered her this title in the first place. He had done a lot for
her, and she didn't want to bother him anymore.
"Understood," she answered.
Staying at home, Sabrina had come up with an excuse that some holiday was given to her
employees. She still hadn't dared tell Raze the truth of the matter, she wanted it to be a big
surprise for him when it was all over and done.
Maybe she could just turn on the TV one day and she could see the tears down his eyes, and
she could claim she was the one that had done it all and was behind it.
Regardless, the two of them could spend some good time together again at home. A couple
of days had passed by, and that's when something had occurred that had surprised her.
"I need to go out and collect something," Raze said. "I won't be out long, do you mind just
staying in for a bit?"
The phrase of words was a bit strange. Usually, Raze would ask Sabrina to come out with
him, but instead, it was almost he was insisting on her staying behind, because of this,
Sabrina, used to what had happened in the past, decided to give him some space.
"I didn't realize you were getting so sick of staying with me already," Sabrina folded her
arms and pouted.
Raze didn't say anything else but headed to the door and left. Sabrina's pout had changed
into a smile after that.
"That guy, he's not good at keeping secrets at all," Sabrina thought as she looked at the
calendar. "I guess he didn't forget."
——
Raze had gone to a few shops. After all, it was a special event for them. He had picked up
what he needed from each of them, placing them in a box after.
"I think she'll be happy with this, I don't want to keep her waiting," Raze said as he headed
back to the apartment room.
He wandered up the stairs, and eventually reached the outside of the room, his hands
holding onto the special box shaking slightly.
'I don't know why I'm so nervous,' Raze thought as he went ahead and pushed the door
open.
In doing so, as the door swung open, his eyes were locked onto the ground. His grip around
the box loosened and it dropped to the floor, crashing to the ground and dropping
everything within.
Staring at the ground, Raze watched as the red substance crawling like a dragon was
inching its way forward to him. The red substance being blood, and the person lying on the
ground next to it.
"Sabrina!" Raze shouted, but she wasn't alone, a man stood right by her side.
Chapter 567 The Last Breath
Chapter 567 The Last Breath
Raze's eyes immediately locked onto the sight of blood in the room—a sight he had never
expected to come home to. After all the troubles they had gone through, things were finally
looking up for the two of them. He had decided to leave the past behind, to focus on what
he had now, and enjoy his time with her. But now, she was lying on the floor, in a pool of
blood. Raze couldn't even discern where the wound was coming from; all he saw was her
lying motionless.
"Sabrina!" Raze screamed again, his gaze shifting to the man standing by her side. He was
just a dot in the corner of his eye, but his mind started to wonder looking at him.
How had he gotten into their house? How had another person managed to sneak up on her,
despite her being a high star mage? Was it Idore, had he found out she had gained her
meteorites back?
Observing the man, Raze noticed his strange black clothes, tight-fitting, paired with special
boots, and a black scarf wrapped around the top half of his face, concealing his lower
features.
The only things visible were his short black hair and his sharp, narrow eyes. Although only
a small part of him could be seen, the image was strikingly familiar to Raze because he was
a figure that appeared on TV a lot.
'That's Trubin, one of the most feared mages in the world!' Raze thought. 'Different mages
focus on different things through their life, some focusing on research like Raze. Others
focus on Enchanting like Idor, but Trubin was a battle mage.
'A mage who perfected his skills in fighting. He learned the deadliest types and forms of
magic. He was one of the most feared mages in the world, working for the strongest nation
in Alterian, part of their Military Force, and had racked up many achievements.
'So why, why is such a person in this room? Why does this person have blood on their
hands, the blood of my wife?'
Raze's anger could no longer be contained. He lifted his hand and swung it sharply, casting
wind magic through the air so sharp, so razor-thin that it wasn't visible to the human eye.
As it approached, Trubin swung his arm, hitting the wind magic and stopping it. Yet he soon
saw several more slashes coming through the air. Trubin had to act quickly as he continued
to deflect them, and then twirled both of his hands, casting a small vortex of wind magic of
his own.
Defending this, Raze started to twist his body around, and chased it in the wind. When the
two vortexes of wind from Trubin hit Raze, both of the attacks blocked each other out.
Slashes of wind were going off in different directions, yet none of it was damaging the room
around them, nor was sound escaping. Raze recognized this as well, another spell.
A spell that was to keep attacks restricted to one area, and to make sure there was no
sound so others would hear. All of this had to be set up by Trubin himself.
Trubin stopped his attack and had to think quickly about the situation, because he was
startled.
'This mage is not weak by any means!' Trubin thought. 'He's another 8-star mage, and just
like me, his specialty is wind magic. If the two of us were to fight, it would be tough…no, it's
most likely I would lose.
'I already used up a lot of magic setting up the spell on the apartment, and fighting against
her. I don't have the strength to take on another 8-star mage, this is something that was out
of my predictions. I wonder why, someone so great, with so much strength I have never
heard of before, but that is not something for me to worry about now, I have to get out of
here.'
For a moment, Trubin looked at Sabrina on the ground.
'My job here is done.'
Trubin formed two condensed blades out of wind and boosted himself from the ground,
diving right towards Raze. Seeing this, Raze instinctively moved out of the way and when
he turned to look out of the door, just like that, Trubin was gone.
Raze probably could go after him and would be able to find him, but he wasn't a mage that
had fought many battles; he had just studied theories on how to fight. More importantly, he
needed to know if Sabrina was okay.
"Sabrina!" Raze rushed over, not caring that he stepped in her blood, and lifted her off the
ground. He could see her hand was placed over her chest, her hands slightly glowing, and
her eyes weak but slightly alive.
"Raze…" Sabrina said weakly, her voice faint. "I saw the whole thing. You finally did it, you
finally showed some backbone and attacked him. You did good…you did good fighting
against someone as strong as him…"
"Don't talk, don't waste your energy, I'll get you to the hospital fast they can heal you, they
can make you better!" Raze shouted.
Sabrina weakly shook her head.
"No, Raze, you know, I'm the strongest Light Mage we know…
Those at the hospital can't heal me. The only reason why I'm still alive is because of my
magic. My heart…it's already beyond healing. Once my Mana runs out, then, that will be the
end of me."
The tears down Raze's face couldn't stop falling. They were dropping down onto Sabrina,
but she didn't flinch or care; she wanted to look at Raze for as long as possible from this
downward view.
"Why…why did he do this, why was he here?" Raze asked.
Perhaps Sabrina could have answered him, but what would that change, and she didn't
want him to go after him. She could tell her time was short, so instead, she wanted to use
her last few words to say something else.
"I'm sorry I'm leaving you...I'm sorry what worries me more than anything, is that right
now I'm worried how you'll be able to go on without me. I've been very selfish in my
actions."
Raze couldn't believe Sabrina could say such a thing, but his tears, his throat had welled up
too much to the point he couldn't even speak.
"There's something I've been making for you, I had it ready a while ago. I hid it in the
laundry room." She laughed. "I knew you would never find it in there, when was the last
time you ever did any of your own laundry?
"Head inside, look in the cupboard, and that is my gift to you. I worked hard on it, so you
better look after it, alright! With this, I can be happy that I can still help you in some way."
The glow from her hand started to fade away, the magic from her was disappearing. She
was holding onto these last moments, Raze was here for them, but there was nothing he
could do.
Being an 8-star mage in this situation, her magic core was already destroyed, her heart
pierced, there was no healing it.
"Raze," Sabrina said as the glow completely disappeared from her hands. "Enjoy the gift,
Happy anniversary."
Chapter 568 Passing On A Gift
Chapter 568 Passing On A Gift
In the prison, Anna had listened to every detail told by Raze. She could tell it was a story he
had recounted countless times, not missing a single detail of what had occurred. His vivid
description, while explaining, was proof that it actually happened, or at least he truly
believed it had. As for his current youthful state and presence in Pagna, it didn't seem like
the right time to inquire about that—nor did it seem crucial in the grand scheme of things.
The tale seemed to be at its end, as Raze continued to play with the lapel of his blazer
without saying more words. At this point, Anna thought she might just bend the bars and
escape, but then Raze continued.
"The final gift from my wife, what was in the laundry room," Raze said, "was this blazer that
I'm wearing right now. She had made it for our anniversary. It's a pretty big gift with the
host enchantment personally done by her, while the crafting was all done in her spare time
at work as well.
"It's the most important thing I have of hers."
It was the first time Anna could see this expression on Raze's face. It wasn't anger, but
sadness was creeping in. She didn't like this look; she preferred him when he was angry.
"So you said at the start you hated all these Grand Magus, right? From your story, I can
guess that Idore and Trubin became Grand Magus due to their positions. I understand your
hatred for them…and maybe Ibarin as well? The principal who cheated you out of your
position, but why hate the rest of them? Or is it just because they are all part of the same
pack?" Anna asked.
The saddened look on Raze's face quickly disappeared as he tensed, gripping the cloth on
his knees tighter.
"At the time of all that had happened, the Grand Magus didn't exist just yet. An idea was
brewing between countries' governments for a solution of peace, and this idea was put
forward by Idore."
"As for the idea, it was the birth of the Grand Magus. An elite group of people even above
the countries, all with the power to change what could occur. All of them had advanced
their magic to the 9-star level, the pinnacle of what was achievable for magic, there was no
one who could contest them anymore. Idore with his magical creations, Ibarin as the head
of the Central Academy."
"Trubin, a mage who had no second thoughts about killing and could silence anyone who
disagreed with them, and Gizin, the largest supplier of both legal and illegal magical
substances."
Anna's eyes widened when she heard that.
"You mean… he was involved in your wife's death!"
Raze nodded in response.
"I found out later that she had told him about everything behind my back. It had caused
Gizin to inform the others and act before anything happened. All of them were working
together to protect this magical throne that they had built."
"And believe it or not, that wasn't the end of my suffering I had with them. Enaxx, another
one of the Grand Magus, as well as more run-ins had occurred with them, but that is not
something that should be remembered for today…right now, I want to remember the good
memories."
The sadness and anger had turned into a smile on Raze's face as he stared at the ceiling.
"I will do anything to get revenge on these people, they don't deserve to live a happy life
from the top, with no fear that anyone can take them down. Right now, I'm on a path of
regaining my strength, and this new strength I have found in Pagna. I'll use it to beat them."
"This wedding I will go through, and Rayna is a nice woman. It's a shame that it appears she
is being forced into this marriage on her side, but because she is with me, if in the future
she does find someone she wishes to be with, at least I won't get in the way of her doing
that. The only thing is, it wouldn't be right for me to wear this."
There was silence in the cave-like prison cell once more, and eventually, Rayna realized
that she was in an awkward position having overheard everything. So, she lifted up her feet
and stomped them on the ground a few times, making it clear so that the others could hear
her.
Then continuing to walk down the hall, she appeared in front of the two of them with a key,
placing it in the cell and unlocking it.
"I apologize for what has happened to you both. My father hasn't informed the members of
who you are; he seems to want to keep it as a surprise for the big day."
"I'm so sorry that this has happened to both of you," Rayna said, giving a polite bow.
Both Anna and Raze dusted off their clothes as they stood up and headed out of the room.
"It's okay, it gave me time to think, I have been quite focused on one thing and one thing
only so all is well," Raze said.
Rayna was finding it hard to keep eye contact with Raze. For one, she had heard everything
that was said, including the comment of him calling her a nice person. She didn't
understand it, but the words at the end, of him allowing her to do what she wanted, were
causing her to just want to yearn for him more, yet it didn't feel right.
"Be prepared for tomorrow. The wedding will be in Repton city, I'll be getting ready in
Repton, while you will be leaving from the Neverfall Clan, so the two of us will meet there.
"Fixteen, since he knows you, will be helping you out with what you need to be doing, but
there is something else you need to be careful about as well, both of my brothers will be
escorting you as well."
Raze had heard about Rayna's brothers. Two figures that were extremely powerful in the
Neverfall Clan, and in a lot of ways from what he knew, acted more like their father, doing
as they wished because of their great power.
"I will," Raze answered.
——
The next day had arrived and Raze and Anna had stayed in one of the rooms closer to the
top of the Abyss. It was cooler there compared to the rest of the place. It wasn't just Raze
and Anna getting ready for the wedding though, as the whole base was making
preparations as well.
They would be coming to Repton with him, some entering the city, others standing by on
the outside. Since the whole Clan was getting ready, it felt a little like they were going to
war, rather than going to a wedding.
Entering the room, was Fixteen who managed a smile at Raze and had something in his
hand.
"What's this?" Raze asked.
"Special clothing that has been prepared by the young miss," Fixteen answered. "She
thought you would feel more comfortable wearing it."
Stretching out the clothing, Raze could see it was an elegant dark red colored cloth, closer
to brown. There were swirling patterns on the sleeves and around the waist winding up.
It looked great and suited the look of a Pagna warrior. Not only was there cloth, but there
was also a special mask for him to wear as well. Allowing him to keep his identity secret.
"This is needed since this will be a marriage between the Dark Magus and the Neverfall
Clan, your identity is to remain a secret."
Raze was happy seeing the items; Rayna was certainly thoughtful.
After changing into his clothes and placing the soft mask on his face that covered just the
upper part of his face and not his mouth, he was ready.
"I guess I'm getting married today."
Chapter 569 A Family Meeting
Chapter 569 A Family Meeting
Placing on what would be his wedding uniform and his small black mask that covered the
top half of his face, Raze was ready. His hair was still black, and looking at the reflection of
his face in a bucket of water, he was quite happy that his identity would still be somewhat
concealed.
"There are a few things I should tell you before we get moving," Fixteen said. "Firstly, Belil
will be standing on the platform that is in the center of the city. It has been purposely built
for this day in the market square.
"The area has been cleared so there will be those watching you from all over. However, you
don't have to worry, Belil himself will be on the stage, and both of his sons will also be
there to escort you.
"Even if anyone planned to attack, it would turn out to be an absolute failure, unless all the
other Demonic Clans had agreed to team up."
Raze had sat down and was in the middle of his cultivation. Rather than cultivating his
Demonic energy and Qi, he was using the dark essence technique trying to grow his magical
powers.
He had advanced quite a bit as a Pagna warrior, but his magical side was lacking somewhat.
So, in his spare time, he would do this, tending to avoid using the Demonic cultivation
technique for fear of what might happen.
"Why, do you think there will be an attack? Should I be prepared for that?" Raze asked.
"No, no of course not," Fixteen answered. "This is a joyous occasion, however, there is one
thing. On stage, the announcement will be made of who you are, that you are the Dark
Magus.
"Your name has spread in the Demonic Faction, a skilled Alchemist that sells items that can
greatly increase the power of a warrior. At the same time, some believe that the Dark
Magus is also the rising demon in the Demonic Faction, since the issues with the Behemoth
Clan and the Crimson Crane.
"Because of this, there might be some outrage from the other Demonic Clans, particularly
the Behemoth Clan. I don't think they will do something so crazy as to attack you with Belil
by your side but in the Demonic Faction, you never know. If that does happen, just stick
close to Belil."
Since Raze himself had become the Dark Magus in Alterian, he hadn't relied on others in a
long time, but he recognized Belil's powers and it was possible there would be many like
him today.
"Wouldn't it be better to just announce that Rayna was marrying a nobody? Why need to
mention that he is this Dark Magus person?" Anna asked.
She kept note of the name being mentioned as well. When this whole thing blew over, she
would have liked to know the full story. It would be best for both of their sakes to know
what can and can't be said to those at Alter.
"Because marriages need to mean something, especially when involving the heirs. It has
already come as a surprise that she isn't marrying someone from a large clan and someone
that isn't a clan head themselves.
"However, marrying the Dark Magus...might be too big of a step up. Some might think this is
too unfair and the power is too much in the Neverfall's hands. Which is why the idea is to
split and treat Raze and Rayna as a separate clan which will be announced today as well,
along with land for you to look after."
Nodding along, Raze understood that any world with a civilization had its strange politics
that they liked to play.
"There is something else I want to tell you," Fixteen added. "It's about the Heirs of the
Neverfall Clan, the two brothers that you are about to meet. Whatever you do, no matter
how much they annoy you, it's best to not offend them.
"The two of them have great power in the clan, to the point they are able to act like leaders
of the Clan themselves. They are in some cases just as strong as other Demonic Faction Clan
leaders, but they are ruthless in their actions as well.
"Belil puts his full trust in them. Whenever he needs something to get done, or someone
eliminated, these are the two that he would call on."
For now, though, the group were to wait, and eventually, at the entrance, the two in
question walked through confidently, their heavy boots hitting the ground.
Immediately the first foot that came into the room, a resounding amount of Qi flowed in. It
hit the entire cave like the heavy heat did on the lower level floors. Immediately, Fixteen
looked uncomfortable.
While Anna and Raze were just fine.
The first of the brothers to walk in front was tall, with a handsome face and a flute placed in
his waist. He was wearing dark grey clothing, and half of his head had been shaven while
the remaining hair was black in color and had been tied up flowing down to his waist.
This man was Han Narfous, the eldest son of Belil, the head of the clan.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet the one that my sister is going to marry."
Han had great manners as he stood there straight, tall, and upright, looking directly at Raze.
He wasn't ignoring him, but in some ways, it felt like he was analyzing him.
"After today we will be family, right!" A loud, energetic voice shouted out. Walking in from
behind him, was another figure that looked similar. The brother, Fing Narfous, the younger
brother of the two and slightly shorter.
In his hand, he carried a gourd that had a small red strap around the top. He came in
casually and took a swig of the drink, placing his arm around his brother, leaning up against
him.
"You know what would be nice? It would be good to decide a pecking order between us
brothers to see who's stronger, right? Let's see." Fing walked forward, pushing off his
brother, and took a closer look at Raze trying to evaluate him as well.
Meanwhile, Raze was looking at the two of them, trying to figure out, from the two of them,
which one was stronger, and which one he had to worry about more.
For now, it seemed like it would be the impulsive brother, Fing.
"Hey, what is this?" Fing asked, his facial expression changing and pointing at Raze.
Specifically, he was pointing at his mask. "We're going to be your brothers and you won't
even show us your face?"
"This was a request of the clan head for him to wear at the wedding," Fixteen interrupted,
worried things would get out of hand.
"Hey, do you have to speak for him? He can speak for himself, and are we even at the
wedding?" Fing asked. "If it was up to me, he needs to take this mask off!"
Fing moved from his position, and with a claw-like fist, struck right at Raze's face, but Raze
was able to grab him by the wrist in time, holding him right in front of his face.
"Oh, you caught that, and you didn't even use any Qi?" Fing noticed.
"You didn't use any either," Raze replied. "So I didn't think it was a real threat."
"Oh really," Fing said as the Qi started to explode out from his body, and he struck Raze
right in the stomach. It was harder and faster than he anticipated, flinging him into the air,
and causing him to crash into the rocks of the wall, shaking almost the entire building.
"What are you doing!" Fixteen shouted. "The clothes, he is an important part of this event."
"Calm down, if he was to die from that, then he would never have been joining our clan in
the first place. Besides, I didn't hit him too hard," Fing answered.
Getting up from the pile of rocks, Raze wiped the blood from his mouth.
'That was a strong, skillful hit, the Qi was condensed to the point where it injured me
internally. Even though I'm now a middle-stage warrior, that strike was still strong.'
However, Raze remembered the words spoken by Fixteen. This wasn't a fight, nor was it
the time to show one's strength.
Walking over, Raze didn't say much and stood in the same position.
"It's okay, I'm alright. I will be good for the wedding."
"Ha!" Fing laughed. "I hit you and that's your answer? Sorry, but I don't accept someone like
you. I don't like those that just do as they're told and don't fight back. Don't you have any
backbone?"
Fing lashed forward toward the mask, again, and just like last time, Raze caught him by the
wrist.
"Backbone...I guess she would have wanted me to show something."
Chapter 570 The Brother’s Are Trouble
Chapter 570 The Brother’s Are Trouble
For the second time, Raze had held onto Fing's hand, stopping his attack before it reached
his face. The first time Raze had simply grabbed onto the hand, because what he said was
true.
Due to there being no Qi, he believed there was no real intention behind the attack, and he
took Fixteen's words to heart, to not cause trouble, not on a big day like this.
Now though, Raze holding onto his arm for a second time, knew what would be coming if
he didn't do anything. A special person would always say he had no backbone, and after
losing her he had changed that day.
Making a fist with his hand, Raze gathered his Qi, and threw it out in a singular hit. He
didn't know any fist techniques, but he was skilled in using his Qi and was now a middle
stage warrior.
The blow had hit Fing right in the stomach, the flow of power and impact resounded in the
whole room, shaking parts of the rubble. Yet Fing, wasn't lifted off his feet, nor had he
moved from his position still letting his wrist be held.
"Argh, Shit!" Fing let out, lifting his head. "That freaking hurt, that really hurt. How the heck
did you do that?"
Fing was smiling, his words weren't really matching up with what he was saying, but he
really meant it. The blow delivered by Raze had pierced him, hitting him hard in one point
of his body.
You see, Fing's body was special, being reinforced with his Qi, even when fighting against
some middle stage warriors, he would feel next to no pain at all. Many of the Neverfall Clan
were like this, due to the intense heat that would require them to constantly use their Qi on
their body to survive.
They had some of the strongest bodies in the world of Pagna. Which was what left Fing to
wonder, why did the blow hurt so much? The answer, it was because Raze was incredibly
skilled at condensing his Qi to one point, after his troubles he had with his damaged throat
and breathing.
"Oh, I'm starting to like you, I'm really starting to like you! Let's see how you handle this!"
Fing quickly shifted his feet and hit Raze's hand away.
Raze was keeping an eye on Fing, ready to fight back, he went to stomp on his foot to keep
him still, but Fing lifted it up avoiding it and ducked his whole body then with both of his
hands, he had hit Raze in the stomach again sending him flying in the same direction as
before.
Right after it looked like Fing was ready to chase after him, but that was when Anna stood
in his way instead.
She could see the movements of his fist, and readied with her own movements, fancy
footwork, caused her to spin her body a couple of times, and as she did, she performed a
back fist, aiming to hit Fing perfectly on the side of his face.
However, this had failed, because Han had grabbed onto Anna's hand this time, and with a
forceful push, he moved her hand away.
'That woman, she came up with the perfect counter against Fing's attack.' Han thought, and
then he looked towards the area where Raze was.
Raze had appeared out from the rubble again, and this time drew the ghost blade that was
glowing with orange energy. Seeing this, Han believed that Raze wasn't much of a fist
fighter but more so a swordsman, and the confident look on his face, despite feeling Fing's
strength twice, Han could tell it still looked like he felt like he could win.
"Both of you are very interesting." Han said. "How could warriors that we didn't know
about before, be so strong and skilled. Are you really from the Demonic Faction? Or are you
some talented individuals that the other factions have been hiding."
"Don't be so foolish!" Fixteen said, interrupting the situation, he had enough of the fighting,
and was a little annoyed they were doing such things on such a day. "Are you saying that
Belil, the head of our Clan couldn't even tell if these people were spies. That he would allow
a member of his own family to marry someone from the other side."
"Fing, you should be able to tell through his attack, that the Qi he used was Demonic Qi."
Fing shrugged his shoulders, still a smile on his face.
"Yep, it was Demonic Qi alright, that's for sure. Anyway brother, I like the guy, I like the guy
a lot, he didn't seem to care who we were and still decided to fight us, even now it looks like
he's ready to fight us."
Han also nodded as if he was giving his approval as well.
"Seeing his face is not important, but what is important is the character you have. If you are
a part of the Neverfall Clan, we can't just have anyone join us, even if it is our father's or
sister's wish. Who knows when that man might be going senile."
In a lot of cases, other members of the clan spoke about the head like so, they would be
executed immediately. Even family members didn't get the privilege to talk about the
leader like so. It just went to show how valued these two's positions were in the clan.
This wasn't something Rayna, or Dame could get away with if it was them.
"You." Han said, directing his gaze in the direction of Anna. "Are you part of this man's clan,
are you in the same group?"
The conversation was slightly amiss, and a misunderstanding was occurring but that was
because both Han and Fing had no clue who Raze was. They didn't know he was the Dark
Magus because they never would attend the meetings set by the Clan Head and Elders.
They just knew what they needed to do today, to bring Rayna's husband to Repton, and
they were to protect him if anything occurred.
"We are part of the same group." Anna answered.
"I guess that means we will be welcoming a new sister into our ranks as well." Han
commented. "In the future I would love the chance to compare our abilities."
That chance was unlikely to come, because both Raze and Anna had other plans. Once this
wedding was done with, they would be off back to the Dark Faction, how or what they
would be doing there they hadn't thought that far once, Raze just wanted more allies and
shields to hide behind if things went wrong with Alter and more.
"You can put down your weapon." Fing said. "I won't pry into why you're wearing that
ridiculous mask. I'm just happy that the person joining us isn't a complete nobody that's all.
In this clan we do as we feel, and we have to have the power to back it up."
"I act as I want, and whatever happens is my responsibility to deal with not the Clan's. No
one is going to come save you if you get into a tough situation. So just because you will be a
part of our family don't expect us to come running to help you."
A tough environment no doubt, Raze thought. Now he understood perhaps why Dame
wanted to leave the place. Sure it was okay for clans to have these types of rules, but when
family was involved as well, it was likely that Dame and Rayna had grown up in the clan
with no love at all, and only the clan rules to follow.
"Alright enough chatter, now that it's all sorted, we need to head to Repton, we're going to
be late." Fixteen ordered.
Nodding along, Fixteen and Anna stood either side by Raze, while the two brothers walked
out in front. Exiting out of the Neverfall Clan, and heading for the city of Repton where the
big event would occur.
Chapter 571 He Is My Son!
Chapter 571 He Is My Son!
When leaving the Neverfall Clan, the entire area felt surreal. Because each time Raze would
enter the base, he would see a large number of members training on each of the different
floors.
This time, it was mostly a wasteland; there were a few token members that had been left
behind as well as elders of the clan on the lower floor, but compared to the loud noise of
training, the entire thing felt so empty to them.
Raze had exited from the place, and now with the entire group, they were rushing across
the wasteland heading to the city of Repton.
The two brothers were doing their job diligently, they didn't rush off in advance to where
everyone needed to be. Instead, they stayed at a pace that even Fixteen, who was an initial
stage warrior, could keep up with.
At the same time, Raze noticed with a keen eye the brothers were constantly leaking out
part of their Qi in their steps. He didn't know why at first, but from the look of things, it was
their way of checking if anything was amiss.
However, no troubles had occurred as they went toward the city, and finally, they could see
the outline of the structure in their sights. There were no walls stationed around it, but the
massive amount of building structures that could be seen always stood out, and if it was
night time, the amount of red lantern lights as well.
Still, the place looked incredibly different to how it usually would, because Raze could see a
large number of Pagna warriors standing just outside of it. Members wearing the Neverfall
Clan uniform were standing in front of them, conversing with each other.
Some standing up, some sitting down, but they each had their weapon on them. As if they
were ready to go into battle at any moment.
"Why are the clan members outside and not inside?" Raze asked. "Aren't they allowed in
the city?"
"A lot of them are already in the city," Han answered. "The important ones anyway. If you
haven't noticed, they aren't the only ones outside."
With his head, Han was pointing at the east and west entrances as well as a number of
other entrances. They could see that there were large groups of Pagna warriors standing
there as well, just like the Neverfall Clan, only they were wearing different uniforms
compared to the others.
"The city has been cleared for the big event. There are next to no people inside, just Pagna
warriors, but because of the influence of the Clan, and Belil's invites, nearly every clan in
the Demonic Faction is here," Fixteen answered. "Inside, there will be the important
members of the Demonic Faction all gathered to see your big day."
"While on the outside, there will be clan members ready to enter and strike if anything
happens. I told you before, the Demonic Faction is not like other ones. No one really knows
what is going to happen, so they have to be prepared for anything."
"There is a chance if your wedding goes wrong, or not how Belil intended it to, there will be
a large war right in this city. Right now, Repton has become a large meeting place, with
your wedding as an excuse."
Hearing those words, Raze was slightly worried that something might occur. Fixteen said to
put his trust in Belil and the brothers, but with the way things were occurring, he wasn't so
confident in doing that.
When they reached the group of Neverfall Clan members, those sitting down or conversing
had stood upright and got into formation. They quickly gave a bow to the two brothers
along with the others as well.
They continued to walk forward until they had entered through a large arching gate. There
was no wall, but the gate that arched over and was hollow with no doors signified when
one would enter the city.
"Whoo!"
Immediately as Raze entered the city, loud cheers and claps were heard. The whole place
was shaking. Walking through the streets, there were several people gathered in the
alleyways, as well as on the buildings on the left and right.
They were standing on the balconies, they were standing on the rooftops, all of them
cheering at the arrival of Raze. It was hard to believe that they were all Pagna warriors, all
gathered in one place.
"They're all cheering; I was expecting a few boos here and there," Raze mumbled.
"You think? Doing such a thing would make it clear that they are against the wedding, and
right now, they have no reason to be," Fixteen answered.
They knew from looking at Raze in his current costume that he was the person of honor
today. That and the fact that Han and Fing were by his side. There would only be one
person that was heavily protected today.
As Raze carried on walking down the streets, confetti was thrown through the air towards
him, people continued to cheer but murmurs could be heard coming through.
"Has anyone had a look, who is it that is getting with Rayna!"
"He's wearing a mask, I can't tell who he is, why would he wear a mask?"
"Maybe the Neverfall Clan are shy about who he is."
"Ha, I don't think they would be, but it is strange, they've managed to have next to no
rumors about who her husband is going to be."
"He must be quite the looker if he managed to get her, and he has to be strong to get Belil to
accept as well. I guess we will at least find out what clan he is in today."
As Raze continued to walk through the streets with the pathway cleared for him, he could
see the updated market square. The stage was built out of refined wood. A platform just for
their grand event.
It was covered in elegant red cloth for the occasion, and even had a red runway that split
and led up to the stage allowing a person to go from the left and right.
The market square was cordoned around the sides. With a crowd of people watching the
event as if they were in an arena waiting for a large spectacle, but just standing in front of
the stage, were the Clan Heads, of the most feared clans in the Demonic Faction.
The large mountainous man, known as Sha Mo was standing present with a club touching
the floor. At the same time, the leader of the Lost Clan, who was wrapped in black wraps
covering his entire body apart from his single eye, Lince was present. Then there was the
leader of the Splitting Fang Clan.
The oldest looking of the lot with a thick heavy grey beard that went around his entire
body. Oddly though, he was covered in bandages around his arms and legs and had a few
cuts on his face that looked to be healing.
This man was the leader Yunro, and it wasn't his normal look.
'I've met the strongest in the Dark Faction, and now today, I will meet the strongest in the
Demonic Faction,' Raze thought.
"My son!" Belil shouted in a loud voice. "You are finally here, why don't you come up and
introduce yourself to the world." Belil smiled.
Chapter 572 Tell Them Who You Are
Chapter 572 Tell Them Who You Are
'My son?' The word repeated in Raze's head the moment he had heard it. Because it wasn't
a word that he had heard much when he was young.
Growing up, he didn't even remember having a mother, and as for his father, it wasn't a
word that was used once. The relationship between the two was difficult to say the least.
Which was why there was a knee-jerk reaction from Raze the moment he had heard it. His
heart was undecided on whether or not it was a good feeling, because he truly didn't know.
Regardless, the eyes of the crowd weighed heavily on him. Staring and watching him as he
made his move.
"Don't worry, those guys are all bark and no bite," Fing said. "They aren't going to touch
you, let's go up on the stage."
Fing casually had his hands in his pockets standing by the side of Raze. Walking toward the
stage, he had a smirk on his face while looking at Sha Mo, the Clan Head of the Behemoth
Clan.
On the other side, Han had his hands held together behind him. He didn't even glance at
Lince from the Lost Clan.
Their reputation had taken a recent hit as they had allowed one of the clans through the
border onward to attack the Dark Faction.
It was a small hit in their reputation, as many understood that they had just suffered from a
portal break of all things.
The brothers were right though, none of them dared to act and just gave looks while Raze
walked past. Trying to figure out who this person was.
Anna, along with Fixteen who had been following the group for a while decided to head
away. More accurately, Fixteen had pulled Anna.
"We are not allowed to be on that stage with them, no matter how strong you are, it's best
you pull away and listen to me," Fixteen whispered.
Anna, having evaluated the brothers' strength and knowing full well who else was on that
stage, had decided to stand down.
Although she did things rashly, that was only because she was confident in her strength. In
this situation, she couldn't say the same, and if dead, she wouldn't be able to complete her
mission either.
Belil was standing straight and for once, he had a black soft cloth on that the Pagna
warriors would usually wear. Most of the time when Raze met with Belil, he would have no
top on at all.
Still, his muscular chest that looked as hard as diamonds was still on show. It seemed like
the clothing was purposely designed to show this.
"We have successfully brought the big man of the day," Han said, standing by Raze's side
looking out to the crowd, while Fing did the same on Raze's other side.
Now all of them were looking out into the crowd.
"I'm sure many of you are curious as to who is marrying my beloved daughter and only
daughter of the Neverfall Clan!" Belil shouted. His voice echoed so loudly with Qi that every
corner of the city was able to hear his voice clearly.
"I have had many requests over the years, and I have declined many because I only have
one daughter, and I don't want to give her up just to anyone.
"Which was why I was surprised myself, when she was the one that actually suggested the
marriage to me, which just goes to show you all how great of a person my son really is!"
These words had just made the crowd even more curious as to who the person could be.
Already the other clans were checking each other to see if anyone of significance was
missing, yet all of them were present.
The clan members kept thinking if it wasn't this person then it had to be this person. They
continued to go down the list until they no longer had anyone else that they could select.
"So, before the bride is to come out, then I will let him introduce himself to you all, go ahead
and speak, my son!" Belil shouted while looking at Raze.
A little perplexed, Raze looked at Belil and wondered what he meant by this. Did he want
him to make up an identity, tell him he was no one, or tell them the truth about who he
was?
He wasn't a mind reader. If he said something wrong, couldn't this affect the whole of the
Demonic Faction?
In the end, though, Raze realized through his short interactions, Belil was a man that meant
what he spoke. Whatever Raze introduced himself as, he would be fine with.
Taking a step forward, Raze walked to the edge of the platform. The two brothers were
only a step behind, keeping their duty to protect him.
'I had slowly been letting out the name through the continent. Hoping to gain their
attention, but I also hadn't been fully divulging as to who I am or announcing where I was.'
'Because I was afraid I wasn't strong enough to stop them. Now I have been able to gather a
large amount of strength and backing in this world through relations as well as wealth
through the sale of my items.'
'The sales have yet to expand even further, but I will be able to continue to grow. So I
should allow them to come at me, I will face them and using them I will continue to grow
my power.'
With these thoughts in his mind, Raze gathered his Qi in his throat and belly, as he spoke he
tried to imitate what Belil did. His voice would echo but not as loudly as Belil but still to the
extent that everyone in the market square could hear what he was saying.
"I am known as the Dark Magus!" Raze stated. "I am a member of the Crimson Crane. The
Dark Magus who is part of the Crimson Crane, and the Alchemist who has been selling
items throughout the Demonic Faction."
These were the only words Raze spoke. Everyone knew the Dark Magus was already part of
the Crimson Crane. This was part of his protection for a while.
They also knew the items which came from him, by now every clan had gotten their hands
on at least one pill, and knew just how effective they were.
Yet no one had an idea what the Dark Magus looked like and now they were setting eyes on
him for the first time, with his black mask, and black hair.
Now, the image of what they could see of him was being burned into them as they tried to
remember this important figure.
"The Dark Magus, I heard of him, how did the Neverfall Clan get their hands on him!"
"Didn't the Crimson Crane also leave the Demonic Faction. I heard they were scared of what
the Behemoth Clan were going to do to them because of what happened."
It wasn't just the public that had found this new information interesting. Among those in
the crowd, they weren't just clan members of the Demonic Faction, but groups that were
far larger operating without them knowing.
Members of the Bonum Society had appeared at the grand event, as well as a new group
from Alter.
"Make a note, we have found the one that is calling themselves the Dark Magus, and is using
his name. However, he looks nothing like the description that was given."
Chapter 573 Exchanging A Promise
Chapter 573 Exchanging A Promise
"With this wedding, if the Dark Magus joins the Neverfall Clan, won't that mean they will
now have access to all of the items he creates as well?"
"You're right, at any moment they could decide to take away the items that are being sold,
or keep the best ones for themselves."
"That shouldn't matter though, the Neverfall Clan is part of the Demonic Faction, and right
now the Demonic Faction has to worry more about the Light and the Dark Faction."
"They won't stop selling the pills, they will continue to distribute them to everyone."
"Ha, but then what about wealth? Won't this at least increase their standing in the entire
world? With a large amount of wealth, they could even start to make the kingdoms move at
their call. They might become a power that is unchecked."
"I think you're all forgetting another issue. Didn't you hear what the Dark Magus claimed
and what we know is true already? He is part of the Crimson Crane, not the Neverfall Clan.
"This relationship, we don't know how it will pan out for both of them in the first place. The
Crimson Crane is a Wanderer Clan… but they might not be anymore after today."
The crowd was busy talking among themselves about everything that had been announced,
and for sure the news would spread further than the Demonic Faction.
Who the newcomer was, and not only that but the possible influence he would bring to the
Demonic Faction.
The talks continued and continued, until the loud bashing of a gong was heard. The ringing
sounded out, hitting everyone in the area, causing their mouths to shut.
Their heads turned in the direction of the vibration as they heard the loud gong once more,
and their eyes were now glued to a single person that had entered the market square.
"Who… who… is that?" one of the crowd members asked, his head feeling a little
lightheaded because he wasn't sure if he was seeing straight or not.
No one in the crowd was. They were staring at a radiating captivating beauty. Her long
raven hair tumbled down her back in soft waves. It was a stark contrast to the pristine
white of her dress.
The gown itself was a masterpiece. Wispy white lace cascaded over a fitted silhouette,
which was accenting the elegant curve of her figure.
The back of her dress dragging along the floor was covered in a deep red. It trailed behind
her as she walked like a crimson flame.
On top of that, her makeup was flawless. A hint of roseate blush that went with the red of
the back of the dress, and then there was the soft smile that played on her lips.
This wasn't the Rayna that people knew, this wasn't the daughter of the Neverfall Clan that
they knew.
Walking, her beauty had stunned them all into silence. She continued confidently looking
straight up at Raze.
'I know your past… I know that you have felt true love before, and I'm not sure if I can
replace what was once in your heart, nor if what I feel is the same as what the two of you
had.'
'But for some reason, when hearing your tale about the woman you deeply cared for, I
wished that maybe, just for a moment, you would care for me in that same way.'
'So I decided to try my best, for just a moment, maybe I could sweep you away, and make
you feel that way for me.'
These were the thoughts going through Rayna's mind, as she reached the top of the
platform. She walked over to Raze and looked at him.
The two stood opposite each other, and while looking at his face she was trying to figure
out what it was that he was thinking, but had nothing.
There wasn't a single word that came out of Raze's mouth.
Belil was the one with the biggest grin on his face, and out from his hand he had two red
rings. He handed one to each of them.
"Once these two place each other's rings on one's hand, they will be together!" Belil
announced.
"I know a lot of you have your questions and concerns, but you should all know what I am
like by now. The Dark Magus here is a great person."
"As I said before, he is not a person that I chose, but is a person my daughter chose. You can
see by how much effort she put in today, how much she truly loves this person."
This was a first for Rayna, hearing her father talk about her in this way. She had hoped it
was his true feelings, and weren't things he was saying just for the sake of pleasing those
below that were watching.
"These two are their own people, the Dark Magus will not be a part of the Crimson Crane.
From today onwards their loyalty is not with the Neverfall clan, and this is true for both of
them."
"They must survive in this Demonic Faction, just like the rest of the clans must do! My last
gift to both of them is a piece of land the Neverfall Clan recently obtained."
"I hope everyone treats my word as fact from today!"
The clan members in the crowd were mumbling to each other. What Belil had said had
somewhat appeased them.
Yet they couldn't help but feel that the Neverfall Clan either way had gained control of a
strong ally, and now being married it would be hard to trust his word.
If someone had a problem with the Dark Magus and attacked them, then even just knowing
that there was a chance the Neverfall Clan would get involved would deter them.
Who would even dare to put Belil's word to the test? For now, they would just have to
believe him.
At the same time, Raze was happy with this. A small link to the Neverfall Clan was all he
wanted. Maybe one day he could ask about the relationship between the Dark Faction
founder and their Clan with this.
Right now though, Raze was in a happier mood than he would have thought. This day, he
thought it would bring up bad memories, but when in the prison he had remembered more
of the good times he had spent with Sabrina.
"Thank you," Raze said, staring right into Rayna's eyes.
"Thank you… for what?" Rayna turned away, her makeup hiding the redness of her cheeks
at this moment.
"For the outfit, you got it specially made for me, correct? Thank you for that," Raze said, as
he lifted up the ring.
"You know, where I'm from these rings are important, they're a promise to one another. I
don't make promises a lot, because I never intend to break a promise I do make."
"Does this count as a promise?" Rayna whispered. "Even if it's not real."
"A promise is a promise," Raze said as he placed the ring onto her hand, and she did the
same back.
"This is proof of the promise. Since I have made a promise with you, I will protect you,"
Raze said.
"Ha!" Rayna turned away. "You, who's weaker than me, I should be the one saying that to
you."
After the exchange of rings, there was loud applause all around. The ceremony was coming
to an end, and it was soon time to party for the rest of the group the whole night.
But cutting the applause short a loud booming voice interrupted them.
"Wait!!!" Sha Mo shouted. "You are the Dark Magus, you are the one that injured my people
and refused my offer back then!"
"Now that I know this, I can't just let you go. For what you did, I will forgive you, as long as
you give me a hand," Sha Mo said, gesturing to him with his other hand, intimating that he
should cut it off.
Chapter 574 What Happens After Marriage?
Chapter 574 What Happens After Marriage?
Sha Mo, the leader of the Behemoth Clan, and as their name suggested, they were an
incredibly large clan.
Not just large, but they were the biggest clan in terms of members compared to all of the
other clans in the Demonic Faction.
Usually, size didn't equal strength, but the Demonic Faction weren't exactly known for
having weak clan members, which made them one of the most frightening forces in all of
Pagna.
No one wished to start a fight with them, whether they thought they could win or lose, just
due to the sheer amount of members.
At the same time, Sha Mo himself seemed to get larger the more members he had. He
wasn't just tall but was thick like a sturdy immovable mountain.
He had come to the event out of respect for the Neverfall Clan. The Demonic Faction only
existed because all of the large clans were in a type of treaty to not attack each other, but
now with Belil making a move like so, Sha Mo was wondering what he was planning.
He had been listening to the event, wondering who his daughter had been married off to,
and when he had heard the name the Dark Magus, his blood started to boil.
Originally, Sha Mo had requested the Dark Magus to come and join his clan. To do whatever
was necessary and even use force.
He didn't care that Raze had belonged to the Crimson Crane; he was used to taking what he
wanted, and it was only one member.
With his large force, he could imagine supplementing them with powerful Qi pills; it would
make his army even more devastating.
Which was why he was so keen on having him. Yet, the Dark Magus had not only refused
the Behemoth Clan, he had even attacked and killed their members.
The Crimson Crane had defeated the Behemoth Clan in a battle. It wasn't an all-out war, but
it was still embarrassing.
Rather than wishing to have the Dark Magus on his side, from then on, Sha Mo had
promised to himself that it was better if he was to get rid of this person.
If he ever found out who the Dark Magus was, what he looked like and who to go after, he
would kill him where he stood, and now he could see him right now.
Yet, Sha Mo had been keeping his anger inside him; he had done so for a while, all because
of who was on the stage. Belil and even his two sons.
It was rare to see all three of them in one place, yet here they were.
"Did you hear me!" Sha Mo shouted. He had been holding in his anger for a while, but how
could he see the Dark Magus so happy, so joyous, after the disrespect he had given to him.
Raze didn't reply to the man, as he looked at Sha Mo. He was trying to eye him up, to see
whether he stood a chance in a fight.
The Qi was emitting from his body, and made the air feel incredibly heavy. Usually, it was
just due to the pressure of Qi, but Raze almost felt as if his body was physically being
pushed to the ground and he had to use his own strength to stand up.
"I won't ask for your head, even though I should due to what you have done, and how you
have been hiding like a rat!" Sha Mo shouted. "Which is why, a hand will do, that will quell
my anger, and I shall accept this marriage to go through."
Hearing these words, it was Rayna that was the one filled with anger, she took a step
forward ahead of Raze.
"You are threatening him, who is now part of my family!" Rayna said. "He refused your
proposal and now you are trying to force him to give his hand, to be disadvantaged in his
whole life."
"All I see is fear running in you, fear that his strength is too much for you to handle."
Usually, Rayna wouldn't dare to say such words, but she knew what was coming next.
Immediately, Sha Mo lifted his large club, and it was covered in Qi to the point that the club
had turned black. Pure condensed Qi covered the club and it was swung down right at the
stage.
Ready to destroy the whole thing and anyone who stood on it. When the club bashed down,
the Qi exploded up in the air and out in all different areas.
It sounded like a loud explosion that could be heard from the entire city. Yet, the club
hadn't hit the stage, instead, Han was standing there with one of his hands held out.
Ripples were continuously flowing through the air, right at where the club was. This was a
battle between two Qi's being used in different ways.
It was the first time Raze had seen such a thing, and he decided to keep a close eye.
'Even though I have reached the middle stage myself, these two are on a different level to
me. Was the other brother taking it easy on me, or is Han just that much more powerful?'
Raze thought.
The Qi from the attack and the blocking of Han started to affect those in the market square
that were standing close by.
They were falling to the floor, almost passing out.
"Enough!" Belil shouted in his loud bellowing voice.
In an instant, Han stopped his defense and jumped back on stage, while Sha Mo didn't
pursue attacking any further either.
"I understand the issues that you have raised, I respect you Sha Mo, the business that you
have with the Dark Magus, and the business you have with the Neverfall Clan, will be two
separate things as I stated before.
"The Dark Magus is not part of the Neverfall Clan, and my daughter will go off with the Dark
Magus claiming new territory."
"You are free to do as you wish, and act how you want then!"
Raze was starting to remember the brother's words, how everyone in the Neverfall Clan
had to act on their own, and based on what Belil was saying they might be right.
Protection from Belil, he couldn't count on it.
"Today though, is a joyous day and a celebration of my Clan and my family, so I will not
have you ruin it. If you wish to pursue this further, then I will get involved as well," Belil
stated, staring right into Sha Mo's eyes.
The two of them continued to stare into each other's eyes for a while, until Sha Mo let out a
large grunt, almost like a pig's snort, and walked back to his place with the other leaders.
"This is a joyous day, today we shall all celebrate the marriage of these two young ones
right here!"
Belil lifted his arms up and in response, the whole area cheered and the celebrations
started. The drink bottles were pulled out, food started to be served, and the whole city was
a lively place celebrating the big day.
Belil then came over and walked to his daughter and new son.
"Tomorrow, I will take you to the new town you will be in charge of. You two will be on
your own then, get stronger, and become a sword that I can use… or die and be forgotten."
"As for today, there is a room rented out in the Red Dragon Inn. You two will sleep the
night, and I hope to have some grandchildren!"
Chapter 575 Sleep Together?
Chapter 575 Sleep Together?
The celebration in the city was a big one. Clans from all over were celebrating and they
weren't shy about spending their coin.
The businesses run by the regular citizens were working hard on delivering choice food,
entertainment, and more. A wedding of this scale was only something that would happen
once in a lifetime.
On top of that, although Sha Mo didn't get what he wanted today, there was still a chance
that he could get something in the future.
A large jug of alcohol sat in front of him, lifting it up he gulped down almost a single
mouthful before wiping the foam away from his mouth and placing it on the table.
"I guess today is still a big day for the Behemoth Clan, everyone make sure you collect what
is needed after today's event!" Sha Mo ordered.
"Yes, sir!" The other clan members said, lifting their drinks in the air.
Repton City was the biggest city in the Demonic Faction, and the clan that was in charge of
it was the Behemoth Clan.
Because of that, they would be getting a cut from every establishment and its sales today,
which allowed Sha Mo's mood to calm down a little.
As the celebrations continued into the night, people started to venture into their own
sections of the city including Anna, who no longer could stay with Raze, for the time being,
but she was sure that she would catch up to him eventually, and what were the chances
that Zon would come and meet him during such a day.
With it all, Raze and Rayna had decided to retire into the large and well-established Red
Dragon Inn. A large tiered pond filled with special fountains led up to the grand staircase.
Standing by the entrance door were the two brothers. Playing guard duty was a job they
rarely did. There wasn't a price that could even make them do such a job, but it was a
request from their father so they complied.
Inside the Red Dragon Inn, and on the top floor, Raze and Rayna were the only two that
were in a room together.
Rayna was sitting on the edge of the bed, while Raze was drawing the curtains to have a bit
of privacy from the outside.
"They're quite loud still, my guess is they will continue till the morning, so it might be hard
to get some sleep." Raze moved from the window and onto the other edge of the bed.
"You know we don't have to do it." Rayna said, her face red and still looking away. "I know
in a traditional sense it's a requirement… but this is all just to help the both of us out. My
father won't be able to tell if we did or didn't."
Raze was silent for a while, and Rayna was afraid that her heart was beating so loud that he
could hear it. She took deep breaths trying to calm it down, but none of it was working.
"Thank you…" Raze answered.
It summed up Rayna's thoughts. That Raze didn't have any feelings for her, but that was
fine for her, it would be fine.
Still, she slipped off the wedding dress when heading to the bathroom and changed into
soft gold silk clothing.
Raze had gone after her and done the same. He then quickly went under the bed sheets and
closed his eyes.
Rayna proceeded to do the same, but her heart was still unable to settle.
"Is this your first time sleeping with a woman?" Rayna asked.
"No." Raze answered still with his eyes closed.
"Oh… no wonder you're not as nervous, it is the first time for me." Rayna answered as her
voice went quiet towards the end.
She had almost forgotten, right now Raze wasn't wearing the mask. So she was able to see
his youthful face.
She thought that he was like her, everything they were experiencing today was a first for
them. Yet that wasn't the case, Raze was an old soul, a soul that was even older than her.
Even if the two of them were to get together, to have true feelings for each other on Rayna's
end, it would be only her that was experiencing everything for the first time.
The lights were dark, and Rayna could feel that there was a large space between them.
Rather than lying on her back, she shuffled so she was on her side.
She was in a giant bed. Around 6 more people could fit in between her and Raze right now,
and perhaps even more.
Created for the various sizes of Pagna warriors like that of Sha Mo.
'The distance between us is so far, you don't even feel like being next to me, why do you
have to sleep on the edge of the bed?'
Since the day Rayna had been saved, she had been drawn to this person. Right now, Raze
didn't even have his black hair, instead it was white in color.
It was the same as when she first met him. Her heart started to beat again, and before she
knew it, she was shuffling over, inching her way moving closer, and closer to him.
Each time she got closer she could feel her heart pounding harder. It was even a little
painful for her. Taking a big gulp in she started to move again, and now that she was close,
in the darkness she could see something.
Raze's bottom lip, it was quivering, it was shaking. While sweat was running down the side
of his head.
It wasn't noticeable from afar because the rest of his body wasn't moving, he was frozen
still, like a heavy weight was on top of his chest.
"Get off… me." Was the small mumbles that Rayna could hear.
The quivering of his bottom lip started to shake even more, and the pillowcase had turned a
shade darker from the sweat.
'Is he having a nightmare, and a pretty terrible one as well… I should wake him up.'
Sitting up, and moving the quilt off from her body, she waited a few more moments before
doing so. Wondering if Raze would get out of this state himself.
Yet the quivering didn't stop, and the sweating continued.
"Raze… Raze.." Rayna called out a little louder. "Get up… you're having a nightmare!"
Saying these words, they had no reaction at all, so she just decided to do what was only
natural. With her hands she grabbed onto the side of his body and started to give him a
shake.
"Raze wake up, you're starting to scare me now!" Rayna said.
After a couple of pushes, Raze's arms latched onto Rayna's, before she knew it she was
forcefully pulled forward, but it wasn't the sweet romantic moment she had hoped for.
Instead, Raze's hand went right around her neck.
'Holy crap, his grip is strong, he's using a lot of force!'
Rayna immediately needed to use her own Qi in order to protect herself otherwise her
throat would have been crushed.
Before she knew it though, it wasn't the only thing she had to worry about.
The veins on Raze's arms were bulging, they were moving up and down his arm as if they
were alive, and at the same time, Rayna could feel her energy quickly fading away.
Chapter 576 This Is Your Land
Chapter 576 This Is Your Land
The higher stage a warrior was, the more they were in tune with the Qi in their body. In an
instant, Rayna could feel the Qi moving away from her.
It was draining out of her body and was going into the man in front of her. She was no fool,
being in the position she was in the Demonic Faction, she knew instantly what technique
this was.
'The extraction technique... but I've never heard of anyone being able to extract energy this
fast before!'
The grip was tight around her neck. It was clear even in his sleep Raze was using all of his
force. She tugged her head back but it was useless.
Still, there was one thing that she could do, but she was reluctant to try it.
'If I can't pull away, and he's not waking up in the middle of all of this, then I'm just going to
have to hit him!'
It was a last resort; she was a highly skilled middle-stage warrior. Attacking someone in
their sleep, who wasn't prepared for an attack, could easily kill someone.
Yet, as more of her energy was draining away, she felt like she had no choice. Lifting her fist
to the side of her head, she started to channel Qi into her fist. It was slightly harder than it
would usually be due to the extraction technique.
Then, looking at Raze's face, she looked slightly down toward his stomach.
'I'll hit him there!' She swung her fist out, aimed right down. 'I'll knock the air out of him!'
Before the fist could land, a strong force was felt hurtling right in the middle of Rayna's
chest. The great force had broken her out of Raze's grip and knocked her off the bed and
onto the floor.
Immediately, Rayna repositioned herself so her feet slid across the wooden floorboards,
and got into a fighting stance. She wasted no time, by activating her Qi as if she was ready
for battle.
"Who's here, who dared to attack me right now!" Rayna snarled, baring her teeth like a wild
animal.
However, looking around the room, she was unable to see anything with her naked eye, but
that didn't fool her because she could still feel a sinister energy in the air.
"I might not be able to see you, but I know you're here!" The sinister energy was coming
toward her. She could feel the tingling sensation on her entire body.
At that point she had no choice, gathering the Qi in her foot, she decided to slam it down
with all her force. The entire floorboards were ripped apart and crashed, including that
below the bed.
A large part of the room's floor had been damaged and the bed along with Raze and herself
all fell into it, landing on the floor below.
There was panic outside of the Inn, as people came rushing inside.
"Whoa… what happened here?" Fing asked, looking at all of the mess and destruction.
"Rayna, I didn't realize you would cause all this mess on your first night. What type of
freaks are you?"
Rayna's face was turning bright red, how could she possibly describe the situation when
she didn't know much of what had happened herself.
Still, she rushed over to where Raze was, and grabbing the blanket covered his real face so
no one could see, along with his hair.
"What's going on?" Raze asked, seeing mostly darkness.
"I'll explain it to you later."
The two of them had moved rooms and had moved into one with two separate beds. Rayna
had explained that Raze had a nightmare and had attempted to strangle her.
He seemed quite shocked at this, but she didn't mention further than that for now. Instead,
the two of them decided to go to sleep, because they both felt like they would have more to
worry about the next day.
When the morning sun rose, the two of them headed into the large main reception where a
dragon carved out of gold stood in the center.
There were several members of the Neverfall Clan in the reception as well, all standing up
firm. Then on the other side, they could see that Belil had entered with open arms.
"I heard you two caused quite a disturbance last night," Belil commented with a smile.
"That's good though, if you have that much power in the middle of the night, I can only
imagine the amount of power my grandson will have as well!"
The two looked at each other for a moment before continuing to follow Belil.
It was time for them to leave the city, as Belil was sending them off. He had a final gift for
the two of them, and Rayna was already fully aware of what that was.
Joining them in their walk were Anna and Fixteen, but there weren't many others. The two
brothers had already left, and so had many of the Pagna warriors.
While walking through the city, they were able to see some of the destruction caused.
There were some rowdy warriors, as well as those that had perhaps drunk a little too much
causing them to cause a bit of mayhem for the city.
At the same time, many of them were starting to leave as well as the regular citizens
starting to return now the grand day was over.
After leaving the city, there were carriages waiting outside for them. A private one was
reserved for Raze, Fixteen, Rayna, and Anna.
While Belil traveled separately in another carriage. Which gave some time for them to talk.
"I should tell you about what is about to happen," Fixteen spoke. His voice in a serious tone.
"Right now, we are heading to where the Flesh Clan was once located.
"You might have heard of them recently; they were the clan that had attacked the Dark
Faction but failed, and in that failure, they lost everything including their land.
"As for the clan that had taken it over, it was the Neverfall Clan."
"Belil plans to give this land and town to both of you as your gift. It will no longer be land
belonging to the Neverfall Clan, but land belonging to the Dark Magus."
"The Clan Head has asked me to join as your advisor in running the town and as your
advisor I want to make you aware of a few things."
"Belil is true to his word, he will treat you as an outsider, but owning land in the Demonic
Faction is something only some Pagna warriors could hope for. You have your foot in the
Faction and are becoming a larger part of it."
"You need to start making your place in Pagna so that you are in a better position to protect
your items and the rest of your business."
Hearing Fixteen out, Raze thought things were certainly working out for him. Land where
he could safely hide from the others in, a town to call his own.
Maybe if he could use the people, he could carry an army of his own. After all, those he was
going against had armies of their own, and the Dark Faction leader was unable to do
anything even with the entirety of the Dark Faction.
The carriage had come to a stop, and exiting out of it, they could hear Belil's voice instantly.
"The land of the Flesh Clan now belongs to you!" Belil said with open arms. "And with that, I
will take my leave, but be careful, the Flesh Clan owned a Dimension, there is a good chance
that it would be a good excuse for a certain someone to come attack you."
Chapter 577 This Is My Town
Chapter 577 This Is My Town
Getting out of the cart, Rayna, Anna, Fixteen, and Raze were all left on the edge of the town
to assess their new environment.
Belil had barely said a few words to them and they didn't even have time to take in what
they were looking at before he spoke.
"Enjoy my gift well, and when I need you I will come find you," Belil said, offering only
those few words before getting back in the carriage and swiftly leaving.
The carriage that had brought Raze and the others didn't linger either. The driver quickly
snapped the reins on his horses and continuously looked behind his back as he left in the
distance.
"This is interesting," Rayna said, trying to keep upbeat about the situation.
Anna bent down and dragged her fingers through the hard ground. "This place is not good,"
Anna stated.
"This place now belongs to you, and it's not a place that you can just abandon," Fixteen
hurriedly said, a little worried about the reaction because even Fixteen didn't think it
would be that bad.
"The ground, it's hard to grow any crops at all. The terrain, it's essentially a dry desert and
there doesn't seem to be anything in sight, nearly all of the land is flat around the area, and
it's in the middle of nowhere," Anna continued to elaborate.
"If this town was to get attacked, then there would be no cover due to how out in the open
they are."
The more Anna spoke, the more Fixteen was getting worried. Although Raze could do as he
wished, abandoning such a place would put him in the bad books of not just the Neverfall
Clan, but also the Demonic Faction as a whole.
"It's not that bad," Raze said, walking forward. He wasn't lying either. Compared to the
conditions in the lower world back on Alterian, this wasn't too bad. "Let's have a look at the
area first and see what we have to deal with."
The town of Flendon was originally built next to a rather large lake. At one point the town
was quite prosperous and was known for its beauty.
Many would come to the town just to visit the lake. However, for some reason, rain started
to never fall on the town of Flendon.
It no longer was a vibrant tourist city, and they struggled to even create any produce. The
people that lived there were those that were originally born in Flendon, and were too poor
to move.
They made do by working on passing carts, mostly manual labor for others. Once in a while,
the workforce would even have to leave on expeditions to help work when other cities
needed more help, then they would bring the income back to the town.
That was all they were good for as a workforce. At the same time, the other cities took
advantage of them, never giving them enough coin to save up and move out.
At the same time, since they were a labor-intensive workforce, they couldn't just leave their
families behind, although some of them did.
The town itself had several buildings mostly built in a crescent shape that was originally
once around the lake.
The buildings were primarily made of wood, but they were run down with destroyed roofs,
and such. They were tightly packed together with narrow alleys, but large walking paths.
At the edge of what used to be the lake, there was a house that was two stories taller than
the others, it was wide in size, and colored with a bright oak on the outside.
However, just like all of the other places, it was rundown. When arriving at the large
building, an old man wearing glasses, frail, was there to greet them with two others.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, DM!" The man said bowing down. He coughed a couple of times
as he lifted his head. "The Neverfall Clan has instructed us that you will be setting up a
warrior base in this town.
"It will be a pleasure to have you, I am Mayor Yarlston."
"What happened here?" Raze asked.
The mayor went on to explain how his duty was to report to the central government of the
kingdom that resided in the Demonic Faction.
He was part of the general populace, but due to his position, he worked quite closely
between the clan's warriors that would reside here and the people.
Unfortunately, when the Flesh Clan had moved out to attack the Dark Faction, the unruly
people who weren't Pagna warriors who had a bit more strength than others started to
cause a mess, and they were powerless to help them.
Raze did remember, stating that the general Kingdoms and Empires liked the Warrior
clan's because at times they would act as a type of force or army that could stop the general
public from getting into trouble as well.
Heading inside following Yarlston, they learned the state of the entire city. Yarlston stated
that there were a group of buildings that the clan had used but not an actual base.
Still, it would be a place for them to sleep. He also told them everything about the town and
how they would receive their income and the bright history of the place.
The group were in a meeting room, where a large map of the town had been pinned. It also
revealed the location of the Portal which was behind the town.
However, the good thing was there were no other clans behind them, apart from the
territory of the Light Faction but that was far in the distance.
Meaning if anyone was to attack them, at least it would be from the front.
"What did Belil exactly plan for the two of you to do in this town?" Anna asked. "From the
looks of things, he has sent you to a town with no prospects of growth."
"At the same time, the mayor has even stated, no wanderers venture to this area unless
they are lost or stranded. There are no longer any members left of the Flesh Clan here
either."
"For you two to establish a place in the Demonic Faction, it would be easier for the two of
you to venture and take over another clan."
Rayna didn't say anything back to Anna, as she usually would have done, but she had to
admit she was right. Why did her father give her this gift, and then separate the two of
them from the clan?
"Maybe that is an option," Fixteen said with his finger on his chin. "I have to admit, at some
point, Sha Mo will come and attack you. That's if he's not on his way here right now. With
everything here, maybe your father is trying to tell you when is a time to retreat and give
up as well."
Rayna was thinking about it for a while, that was until Raze was the one that had spoken
up.
"Fixteen, do you have some funds, the money from DM?" Raze asked.
Fixteen nodded.
"I do but some still needs to be collected, and we don't have an extremely large amount,
you haven't made anything in a while."
"First, use whatever we have to buy the people some food, and buy ingredients to make
more pills. People should never have to feel hungry if there is plenty of food to go around.
Use the money of the Dark Magus and let's turn this town around." Raze said with a smile
and a plan in his head.
Chapter 578 Everyone will be your Enemy
Chapter 578 Everyone will be your Enemy
Due to the selling of the special pills Raze had made, he was relatively wealthy, but most of
his funds were kept with Fixteen who would pass them on once in a while.
He had been the brains behind the operation. Using the Crimson Crane as well as a group of
those that he trusted to sell them to specific merchants, rather than directly.
He did this because he knew that the merchants would mark up the price, driving more
people to try to find the source material as well.
Because the demand outstripped the supply, he now had a list of customers he could
already sell to whenever he wished.
The hardest part was getting his hand on the Dark Magus to get him to even make the items
to begin with.
With the funds that they had, though, Fixteen listened to Raze and crates of food were being
delivered. They had gone to the next biggest city in order to buy supplies, and they had
arrived.
Mayor Yarlston was extremely pleased with this and asked his people in the town hall to go
to work, handing out the food.
There were queues waiting to grab what they could of the food. For the first time, many of
them were able to eat and still had food left for the future days.
The three of them headed outside and were now standing by the food. They were there just
in case any problems occurred and would deal with it themselves.
Many of the town's people knew that Rayna was from the Neverfall Clan; they had heard
who had arrived, so they didn't dare to try anything.
After all, these were regular citizens in the first place, not Pagna warriors.
"Do you know what you're doing?" Rayna asked.
The others looked at her, surprised she would ask such a question, then again, she was
technically Raze's wife so she should be able to speak to him as directly as she wanted.
"He's giving the people food, isn't this a good thing?" Anna replied. "He just arrived as the
new warriors entering this place, and now the people will see him in good favor."
Fixteen was the one that was shaking his head at that point. "If it was that easy to solve, do
you think these people would still be in this situation in the first place?" Fixteen replied. "I
actually agree with Rayna's line of thinking, I didn't stop you Raze, because I thought you
might have some type of plan, but I'm not sure you know how dangerous this is."
"Dangerous, how could this be dangerous?" Anna asked, looking at the weak people. She
imagined even if they were all to fight her at once, she could kill them all in an instant. It
wouldn't even take much effort.
To her, there was no danger at all.
"People are fickle, right now, they will be appreciative of what you have done, but there will
be those in the Town House that will think you are just showing off your wealth for one,"
Fixteen explained.
"Jealousy is a powerful thing," Rayna added.
"On top of that, say something happens, where you need these funds yourself, or you are
unable to supply these people with food and take it away from them."
"They will forget about all the good you did, and aim their anger toward you. You will be a
point of hatred for them. Someone easy to blame for their situation being bad."
"You know, people don't like to see others doing better than them and often want to drag
you down to their level. So unless you are planning to look after them like this forever, I
don't think it's a good idea."
Honestly, Raze hadn't thought that much about it. He was no leader of a city, nor a leader of
a corporation in his past life; he had no knowledge about this stuff.
To him, it wasn't going to be such a hard task, because he planned to reform the entire city
using his magic. It was what Alterians were able to do, reform things using the energy of
Mana, to create a sustainable place.
It would be harder for him to do since he was just one mage and it would be easier if he had
more elements along with being a higher star.
After setting up the basics, the people could get to work and be self-sufficient. This might be
a city in his name, but he had no intentions of staying in one place either, this was just a
safe place for him, and for now.
"I never planned to just give them everything. I just hate to see people hungry, and when I
have the means to change it, then I might as well make their lives a little better."
"If what happens happens, then let them be angry at me, I don't care about that. Things will
be easier for them that way." Raze answered.
While watching, Mayor Yarlston walked over and gave a bow, thanking Raze for everything
he had done. Even he had been sacrificing a lot of funds that were sent to the town in order
to provide some sort of relief for the people.
However, the Flesh Clan from before were taking too much of their funds using the basis of
protection. It was the first time a Mayor had a clan spend money on them, rather than they
providing the money.
"I wish to let the people know of your kindness and make them aware of what you have
done," Yarlston stated. "Which is why I wanted to ask, what clan are you from, what clan
has decided to reside in the city of Flendon?"
Rayna and Raze looked at each other. Belil had already stated that she wouldn't be part of
the clan anymore, so they couldn't use their name.
"You're part of the Crimson Crane, yes? So I guess this would be a base for the Crimson
Crane?" Rayna answered.
Raze had no problem with that; he had agreed to still stay in the Crimson Crane after all.
The issue was, could him just being a member really use their name like so?
"I think it might be best if we get in touch with them," Raze said. "Besides, we need some
people that can protect this place, and they have something that they want from me
anyway."
Thinking about this, Raze thought it also might be best if in the future he had created an
item where he could contact them easier.
A communication device like that Alter had, but better and worked at a far range. It would
be impossible for him to create an entire network, but he could link each individual device
using magic.
"You have a way to get in contact with them Rayna? You were with them before," Raze
asked.
"I do, I will let you know that you asked for them, and to come here as soon as possible."
---
Meanwhile, somewhere in the Dark Faction the Crimson Crane were walking through one
of the many cities, across the hard solid ground flooring.
They had moved here because one, they wanted to stay away from the Behemoth Clan after
causing some trouble for them.
The second, was to expand the sales of the Dark Magus's product now to the Dark Faction
as well.
What they were unaware of, was the large news and event that had unfolded. How the Dark
Magus had married into the Neverfall Clan.
"Hey, that's Alba right?" One of the warriors said, looking at her walk past.
"Yeah, it is, what are they doing here, isn't it confirmed that they are now part of the
Demonic Faction?"
Alba had overheard these words, and her heart started to flutter. What were these rumors
that were being spread? Were they no longer being considered wanderers?
If that was the case, then the situation for them, now being in the Dark Faction could turn
out very bad.
"Yeah, I heard that the Dark Magus was under their protection, and the guy married into
the Neverfall Clan. That means the Crimson Crane are now a group under the Neverfall
Clan."
While walking down with Froma by her side, they soon could see a group following them
from behind, and soon more warriors started to appear in front of them.
"This isn't good… this isn't good at all," Alba said to herself.
Chapter 579 Magic To Fix the World
Chapter 579 Magic To Fix the World
After the residents got their fill of food, they were more upbeat than usual. There were still
supplies that would keep them going for a short amount of time, but nothing permanent for
now.
However, things naturally already started to have a somewhat positive change in the city.
Repairs on some of the households, the large holes in the road that would get a cart stuck
once in a while, the people were starting to get to work.
They had more energy than before, and it allowed them to work on the serious problems
that would help out their family situation.
It was by no means perfect, there was still too much worry in the town's peoples' minds.
The one saving grace for Raze and his group was the town's population was low at that of
around three thousand people, otherwise, his funds would be used rather quickly.
At the moment, Raze was in one of the close-knit houses that the Flesh Clan once used to
use. It was a mess and full of trash all over the place, so he needed to do some cleaning.
With his magic, he swept out the rubbish with ease, and there was something else he did.
He tore down the walls between the five houses, to make it a larger singular house.
He then placed reinforced beams in certain areas to make sure that the floor didn't collapse
giving him a much larger area to work with compared to before.
'With the remainder of the funds, I've asked Fixteen to try and buy supplies to build up a
clan base. Eventually, we will need to get more people on our side, just like that of the old
Lethal Bite Clan.'
'It's a shame that I can't use my connections with Harbour to help me, but with him being in
the Dark Faction, it would be impossible.' Raze thought.
It would take some time to build such a place, so Raze would use this temporarily, and they
could use it for other things in the future as well.
He did think it was a shame there were some types of magic he had yet to gain affinity with,
such as Earth and Fire. Using these two, he could have built structures himself.
This was the other issue, in order to have the town thriving and growing with crops, one of
the main sources needed was water, and he had yet to gain affinity with Water either.
"Which means for now, there is only one thing I can rely on, and that is the crafting of these
pills." Raze said as he placed his hand on the ground.
Magic circles lit up all over the area, mass producing pills, one after the other.
After creating a large amount of pills, Raze was on his way to deliver them. He had asked
for the help of a few young men who seemed to have nothing to do.
They smiled, giving Raze a bow and helped him without question. Everyone around the
town already knew the man with black hair and the small mask was the Dark Magus, so
they were willing to help him.
Eventually, they had reached the townhouse, which was where Fixteen and the Mayor were
discussing a number of matters that needed to be dealt with one after the other.
Heading inside, the pills were placed in the corner of one of the rooms, while Raze and
Fixteen went to one side to talk about them.
Raze noticed that Fixteen was constantly shaking his head, there must have been countless
problems with the town.
Thankfully, in terms of politics, Fixteen was dealing with nearly all of it.
"You've made a lot this time… this is good." Fixteen said, looking at the items. "With the
sales, do you want me to help with supplies for the city?"
"Do the bare minimum." Raze ordered. "And store the rest, while handing some to me for
my journeys. Also, don't forget to treat yourself as well."
"I want the town's people themselves to be the ones that repair and fix this city. If they do
that, they will appreciate it more, and look after it. They will be less inclined to leave as
well."
"The main focus for now is to keep them from being hungry and make sure the population
doesn't lower. With these pills, you said you wanted to sell them in the Dark Faction and
the Light Faction, but will they sell? Especially since they know they're from the Demonic
Faction and now with our standing?" Raze asked.
"Of course, they will." Fixteen placed his hand across his chest with absolute confidence.
"The effects of the pills are too great, everyone else already knows that."
"The other factions can't afford not to buy them, otherwise it will be an advantage that the
Demonic Faction has over that of the other Factions, they wouldn't want to be left behind."
"Is there a chance that this will make the Demonic Faction hate us?" Raze asked.
The look on Fixteen's face was as if the answer was obvious. His lips and cheeks were
relaxed for a moment.
"You mean hate us more. Right now we have the Behemoth Clan on our back, everyone
wants a piece of you and they think you're being favored by the Neverfall Clan."
"One of the issues I was talking with the mayor about was the neighboring Clans. Some of
them are thinking of testing or taking over the city, since they know that there aren't
warriors here."
"Even with Rayna's strength, they believe they can do something. So, they're asking for
payment, but we don't even have any coins for that."
Raze thought about it for a while and eventually came up with an answer.
"If the Crimson Crane comes, it might solve the issue with the smaller clans. For now as a
complimentary gift, hand them some pills free of charge. Tell them as long as they stay
friendly they will continue to get the supplies."
"When the situation changes we'll pull back and start charging them. Right now, they're
bullying us, but we are in a weak state so we need to comply."
"Right." Fixteen said, surprised Raze had come up with quite a good answer. "There is still
one issue, the Behemoth Clan, are not just going to accept a payment of pills, they truly hate
you."
"Which is why we need to get ready." Raze answered.
Before leaving the town hall, Raze met up with Rayna. They had discussed the matters at
hand, and she had decided that she would be the one to travel to the following Clans.
If she made her presence known, they were less likely to try something. It also showed
importance due to the person sent.
It was also her way of helping in the situation, because she had no idea or plans of what to
do with the city.
In the meantime, Anna had also gone to the location of the portal that used to belong to the
Flesh Clan, she was scouting out the level of the portal as well as bringing out some
crystals.
Now that left Raze to work on his next project, which was the special shield for Tilon from
the Crimson Crane. As he had worked away, making a couple of failures with other
materials, an announcement had been made.
"The Crimson Crane, they have arrived!" Someone shouted from the other side of the door.
Chapter 580 What will become of the Crimson Crane
Chapter 580 What will become of the Crimson Crane
It had been a couple of days since they had been in the new town. Things were progressing
somewhat, and Raze was doing research on enchantments. Since he knew he was soon to
meet the Crimson Crane, he decided to go ahead with one of their requests and that was to
create a mighty shield for Tilon next.
The best way to get its ranking up was to use Dark Magic, but that would mean the item
would be cursed and the result of the item status unpredictable. Last time though, when
creating enchantments he had condensed his magic further to create a better effect.
Surely, there had to be a way where he could make his enchantments at the higher tier at a
more consistent level, other than just using higher magic enchantments and higher tier
spells.
'From what we know, three things are most important when enchanting: the power stone
being used, the equipment being enchanted, and the level of the enchantment itself. If I can
boost one of these aspects in some way, then I can increase the enchantment.
'There is one more thing though, somehow, Dark Magic seems to overcome these
restrictions, but the results are random from what I know, yet Dark Magic hasn't been
tested to an extremely large extent... if I can do some more testing.'
Since there wasn't a lot of funds left until more pills could be sold, Raze had purchased the
cheapest power stones, along with the cheapest shields possible.
With these, he would test a number of different ways using his Dark Magic to create higher
tier items. Hoping that he could find a pattern of creating higher tier items consistently.
So far Raze had created three shields, all of them cursed with his Dark Magic, but he had no
luck so far, and that's when the announcement had been made.
"The Crimson Crane are here, we have brought them to you, Sir Magus, as you have
requested." A man shouted through the door.
"Sir Magus?" Raze mumbled to himself. "That has a nice ring to it, better than those
'Supreme Magus', and 'Dark Magus' at times sounds too fearful."
Opening the door, Raze could immediately see Alba and Froma standing on the other side.
The two of them looked a little tired and worn out. Parts of their body were bandaged up
and they looked to be relatively tired.
Raze lifted his hand, and had two red pills.
"Take these; it will make you feel better, and come in," Raze suggested.
The two women didn't hesitate to take the pills. The door was closed behind them and they
could feel the effect of the pills working almost instantly.
They had long run out of the special supply that Raze would give to them.
"I assume that you managed to receive the message from Rayna then, about what has
happened and why I wanted to talk to you?" Raze said as he went back to his station.
He had several pieces of paper out on a table, and an ink pen. He was conducting
experiments so he needed to keep note of the results of the trials, as well as what he had
done before.
What was more successful so he could strive towards the right path. Alba and Froma had
also noticed the shields in the corner of the room, and an ominous feeling coming from
them.
"You arrived quicker than I expected," Raze said.
The two of them pulled up chairs that were placed randomly in the room and sat down. It
had been a while since they were able to just sit down.
"That's because we were already on our way to the Demonic Faction," Alba said. "From the
look of things, you have no idea what's been happening to us."
Raze took a closer look at the two's wounds.
"You were attacked."
"Yeah, because of you!" Froma waved an angry small fist. Her red cheeks were puffier than
usual. "You could have sent a message that you were going to announce to the whole
Demonic Faction that you were part of our Clan!"
"Ah right," Raze realized what trouble they would have been through now. The two of them
knew about the wedding because Alba was there when it was mentioned.
However, the fact that Raze would announce he was part of the Crimson Crane, he didn't
quite think how it would affect them. The whole of the Light and Dark Faction would now
consider the Crimson Crane proactively a part of the Demonic Faction.
"We have been fighting almost non-stop for the last two days, thankfully we didn't run into
anyone too strong," Alba explained. "When we reached the Lethal Bite Clan, what do they
call themselves now? Anyway, they helped us through the passage, and the Lost Clan were
very welcoming to us as well."
"We received the message from Rayna but that was when we were finally in the Demonic
Faction anyway, so we decided to head straight here."
While speaking, Raze could tell the annoyance in her words. He was starting to wonder if
Alba regretted the decision of teaming up with him since their group had just received
trouble after trouble and even a death of one of their members.
"Anyway, I guess we do need to talk because what does this mean for our clan?" Froma
asked.
"Right," Raze said. "It was the reason why I called you here because I wanted to discuss
things with you. Is it okay that the rest of the group isn't here?"
"A message has been sent out to everyone, they aren't as recognizable as me so they won't
have as much trouble," Alba answered. "I reckon the other members will trickle in slowly
here eventually."
This was good because Raze might need the whole of the Crimson Crane's help if they were
to defend against an attack from the Behemoth Clan, but this is what he wanted to discuss.
"I know you have treated me well, which is why I have been busy making the weapons that
you have requested, trying to create the best for your clan," Raze stated. "Regardless of
what you decide to do, I will make the weapons and equipment I promised you."
"However, the situation is what it is right now. I claimed I was a member of the Crimson
Crane because that was true. Also, this might sound like an excuse but I felt like I had no
choice."
"Belil wanted to make it clear that I wasn't part of the Neverfall Clan, I could tell he wanted
me to say I was the Dark Magus as well. Either way, people would have treated you the
same."
"In turn, because this town has been given to me and Rayna, and I am part of the Clan in my
mind it belongs to you as well, but if you want no part in it, then I will declare I'm no longer
part of the Crimson Crane, and the two of us will sort this out ourselves."
Froma looked at Alba, knowing she had a tough decision to make. Their leader had to be
thinking about it for a while. It was unusual for them to be pulled into so many things by
one person.
"You know, our group has been wanderers for a while, with no place to make our own,
trying to make a name for ourselves. Eventually, I had planned to cement our position, it
would have been impossible to have a place without joining one of the Factions, I just
hadn't made our mind up yet which Faction to join," Alba smiled.
"Since things have turned out this way anyway, we might as well start here, and get a head
start. The Crimson Crane will become part of the Demonic Faction."
Chapter 581 A Way To Get Everyone Back
Chapter 581 A Way To Get Everyone Back
Forma would usually be surprised by such a decision being made by the leader. All
members of the Crimson Crane followed her for different reasons, but just as mentioned
before, all of them felt like they were family members, and in a way, Alba was the leader of
the pack.
What she decided, they would follow, and they would help her toward whatever goal it was
that she had in her mind.
"I'm happy that you said that," Raze said with a soft smile. "It makes things less difficult for
me in the situation we are in. I'll get Fixteen to inform the Mayor that the town of Flendon
will now be looked after by the Crimson Crane."
The infamous name of the Crimson Crane, he hoped would bring a sense of trust in the
town and their commitment to such a place. It might even draw warriors toward them.
"Well, the others shouldn't be too saddened by this, we have traveled a lot for a long time,
so I guess we can finally settle," Forma said. "But we won't be a typical clan right?"
"Right," Alba nodded. "Unlike other clans with a history and an aim to improve their
standing and martial arts, we are a clan made up of wanderers that have kind of forced our
position."
"It just means that it is unlikely we will get people wishing to come to us to learn our
martial arts since what we can learn is all out there."
"It's not some type of Clan secret."
"That isn't inherently a bad thing," Raze added. "If people want to join the clan it will be for
different reasons and besides, I would want to differentiate between those in the clan and
the members of the town itself."
"I think your idea of keeping the clan members small and like a family, it should stay that
way. The Crimson Crane can be an elite Clan different from the others, while others will just
be guards of Flendon."
Judging from the large smile on Alba's face, she liked the proposal of this. The Clan wouldn't
be changing much, other than the fact that they had a place to call home.
But calling a place home would mean they were no longer welcome in the Light and Dark
Factions.
"Since this city belongs to you, its earnings will be split with the Crimson Crane as well. I
would like to reward the Mayor as well," Raze suggested.
There was no need for him to bring Fixteen, because Fixteen was running his own group of
Sellers with those he trusted and they were getting a big cut of the Qi pills that they were
selling.
"Money from this city?" Forma asked. "When we walked through… the city looked half
destroyed, what kind of money could you even get from this place? The most you could do
is train people and force them to be some type of mercenary."
"I plan to change all of that, you don't have to worry, I have my ways," Raze said, lifting his
hand.
Seeing the things Raze could do, Alba trusted him on that part, and it wasn't as if the
Crimson Crane had to worry about finances.
They could easily just travel to the areas close by.
"I heard the town also has a Dimension, so we could always use that to earn some income
by getting the crystals," Alba stated.
Hearing that, Raze thought of something else that he just might be able to do to increase the
income of the town more.
But for now, he would leave things as they were because his plan could cause more issues
than fix them and they still had the Behemoth Guild to look after.
"While you are here, it would be good if you could find anyone that is willing to fight to
protect such a place. Test them, and if you think they can do well, then hand them one of
those shields," Raze suggested.
Forma didn't like the fact that Raze was ordering Alba around. It felt so strange to her, but
she was inclined to listen.
Because she didn't have a better plan, and the land,the area, it belonged to Raze and Rayna.
It being part of the Crimson Crane as well, it felt like it was more so in name only.
"Before that I wanted to speak to you about something," Alba said. "We still haven't gotten
in contact with Cronker, who was looking after your friends back in the Dark Faction."
"Honestly, I thought you wouldn't have stayed here long, but now you have this town to
look after, what are you planning to do, how are you planning to go to the Dark Faction
now?"
It had been a while since he had thought about the others. He would be lying if he said he
wasn't worried about them.
He trusted them with Amir who was a member of the Bonum Society.
"Getting to the Dark Faction is not the issue, but dealing with those that we need to is.
There's not an easy way to get them out in the Dark Faction where there are enemies all
around us."
In response to this Alba let out a small hum, as if she wanted to say something. She didn't
for a while, collecting her thoughts, and then finally spoke.
"There might be a way you can save them. A way for you to help them without even setting
foot in the Dark Faction and bringing them back here to you," she said.
Raze lifted his eyebrow for a moment. He was about to get back to his work with the shields
but this was intriguing him.
There was such a way, all of the ways he could think of required magic. Perhaps he wasn't
thinking outside of the box enough.
"Look, we are now officially part of the Demonic Faction right?" Alba stated. "Which means,
we can also take part in the Martial Arts Tournament."
The Martial Arts Tournament was something that was mentioned multiple times at the
Pagna Academy, and was what allowed him to build up hatred towards the Dark Faction in
the first place.
"But I'm not a member of the Demonic Academy," Raze replied.
"You are young enough to be a member of the academy, but there's no need for you to join,
you just need to convince the Demonic Faction to send you as a participant.
"The event always takes place at the place where last year's winner was, and this time it
was in the Light Faction.
"They won't be able to send a large force into the Light Faction because it's not their
territory, so it's a perfect time for you to free those that you have been looking for."
"You might not get completely what you want, but at least you can know your allies are
safe."
The Martial Arts Tournament, with Raze being a Middle-stage warrior, should be easy for
him to win, but if he was going as part of the Demonic Faction,
It would also mean he would be up against his allies in the Dark Faction. Would it be
something he could pull off? While all the factions were carefully watching them.
Chapter 582 Better Enchanting
Chapter 582 Better Enchanting
The Martial Arts Tournament was something Raze had thought about, but there were many
things he would need to do to enter it in the first place.
For one, the use of strong magic would change his hair color back to the bright white it
once was, making his identity clear to the others.
Sure, they could change some of his facial features with masks and prosthetics for the day,
but he still believed his white hair would be a clear giveaway.
However, thinking about it, if he was just going up against other students in the
tournament, then it wouldn't be something he would have to worry about so much.
With his skills alone, he should have been able to best the others. It was how to get the
others out of there later, which would have to be planned on a day-to-day basis to see what
the situation was like.
Then there was the fact of becoming one of the selected students in the first place. Students
had already been selected from the Demonic Faction Academy to participate.
He would need to convince the Demonic Faction that he could take their place, and right
now, one of the deciding clans that would be involved in all of that, wasn't exactly friendly
with them either.
Thinking about this, Raze had continued to make shield after shield and had just finished
the fifteenth one, placing it on the side with all the others.
[Uncommon Cursed Shield]
[A small percentage of damage blocked by the shield will power the one holding the shield.]
[Curse: If the shield is destroyed, a small percentage of power will be taken away from the
user.]
'Using a level 1 power stone, with enchantment on this low-level equipment, most of what I
made were Uncommon Cursed Shields. These aren't horrendous because the cursed effect
isn't really strong.'
Looking through the bunch of shields he had created of different shapes and sizes, there
were also the Rare shields as well.
[Rare Cursed Shield]
[A small percentage of damage blocked by the shield will power the one holding the shield
and heal them.]
[Curse: If the shield is destroyed, a small percentage of the power will be taken away from
the user.]
What was interesting to Raze was that the curse was still the same even though the shield
ranking had increased along with its effect.
Still, he had no sealed items despite creating fifteen, and still through his methods of
testing, he had yet to come up with a way to push the Dark Magic to create even higher-tier
items.
'All the tests so far I have done have been lacking. I could still create the shield for Tilon
with what he has given me, but it might only reach the Unique level, and at the moment, I
would like it if the people that are by my side at least had Mythical level items and higher.'
It was something Raze had been thinking about for a while, but he had continued on his
research.
Just as Alba had said, the Crimson Crane members had trickled into the town one after the
other. A few of them looked roughed up, while others were completely fine.
As they entered, Alba would inform them of what had occurred and what was going on
right now. The members accepted the fact, the ones attacked even more so, realizing it
might be the only option for them.
When Reno had arrived in the city, he had dropped by, looking at Raze's work, and looking
at the notes he had made.
It was a weird mix of things, some of it was written in Pagna; others were scribbles and
symbols he didn't understand.
"I wanted to ask, is it possible to ask Fixteen to add a list of herbs to his order when he next
goes and buys some supplies?" Reno said.
Out of all the Crimson Crane members, Reno felt like it was easiest to talk to Raze, and this
went both ways for them.
"That should be fine. I'll let Fixteen know so you don't have to go through me," Raze replied.
"Do you mind doing me a favor as well?"
"Those shields over there, hand them over to Alba. She knows what she needs to do, but
just in case, she is to hand them to the people willing to fight and become guards of the
city."
"It will do them well in a tough situation and is better than what they are currently using."
Reno went over to the shields. There were far too many for him to pick up.
"Tilon is not going to be happy that others are getting items before him. He's jealous every
time he sees my tool as well. Which I thank you for as well, of course."
Raze let out a big sigh at that moment.
"It's not that I don't want to, it's taking time because I want to create a good weapon for
him. Unlike with Kizer's sword, or your Pestle, he only has one quality shield, and they are
hard to come by.
"I can't just trial and error it twenty times and hope for the best, we only have one shot."
Now, Reno knew what the strange notes were and why there were so many shields.
"I wish I could help you, like you, I am a researcher myself, but this isn't really in my field.
Speaking of though, isn't there anyone that can help you?"
"I know that you are different from others, but there were those that attacked us in that
dimension as well. Doesn't that mean there are those that will know about this stuff?"
"Of course, not saying that you're not an expert yourself, but at times it is good to have a
team look over things. I'm sure you know it can speed up the process when you notice
discrepancies or things that already don't work."
There was no one Raze could speak to, hardly anyone in Alterian looked over Dark Magic,
and for the few mages that came to Pagna, that would be unlikely as well, but Reno's
speaking did give Raze an idea.
'Wait a moment, although I gathered the books about Dark Magic from the central academy,
that's not the only place that keeps information about Dark Magic.'
'On top of that, it has been a long time. Who knows what research has been funded in
Alterian to go with weapon crafting.'
'It has been a long time since, and the meeting date is tomorrow as well. It might be best to
visit Alterian and find out what's going on.'
"I have another favor to ask of you," Raze said. "Tomorrow, make sure no matter what, no
one disturbs me and comes into this room."
"Not a single person, if they do, they will regret it, and I won't make any items for them
whatsoever. Tomorrow will be a very important day, and I don't know how long I will be,
so until I come out, no one should be allowed to come in."
Using the astral projection technique, it was time for Raze to head to Alterian as the Dark
Spirit.
Chapter 583 Who’s in Charge Of The Crimson Crane?
Chapter 583 Who's in Charge Of The Crimson Crane?
The next day arrived, and the message from Reno was sent out to everyone quite clearly
about what was going on.
A lot of people had questions, but most thought it was because Raze was working on an
item of sorts and didn't want his concentration to be broken in any way, shape, or form.
His threat was dead serious. After the members of the Crimson Crane were informed about
what was going on, they all decided to meet up in one of the inns.
In front of them, they had glasses that were just filled with water and nothing else.
"This place sucks!" Kizer said, lifting the glass and slamming it back on the table. "Can't
even get alcohol in this town."
"We did so much to build up our reputation and now we're practically at the bottom of the
food chain."
"Hey, don't complain," Tilon said with his arms folded. "At least you have got something out
of the Dark Magus…I'm still waiting, and I can feel it, it's close, soon I'm about to get a
mighty shield that will put everything to shame!"
The smirk was getting larger and larger on Tilon's face, thinking about it. These days, he
had been quite bipolar, because at times his patience had worn thin, to the point he would
regularly get into fights with the other members and it would become quite physical as
well.
"I can't believe it though, Elvlin… she's gone, and Raze was the one behind it," Lily said.
"How… are we just ignoring this fact and even in the city because of him, at this rate, it
doesn't even feel like you're the leader anymore, why are you following him so much!"
"Hey!" Reno called out. "We know who our leader is, and remember the Dark Magus is now
a part of our group like family. If this happened to any one of us, we would all do the same."
"But I wouldn't have killed a member of our family," Lily replied back.
Everyone felt like they were treading on eggshells, apart from Lily, who was speaking her
mind at this point. They looked at Alba, wondering if she would have a fierce reaction, but
instead, she was far calmer than they expected.
"I explained to you all what happened with Elvlin, I even managed to confirm it with the
Wanderers in the area as well. It seems she let greed affect her first."
"And I think you're missing a big part in all of this, Lily. I allow you to speak freely and say
as you wish when you're in front of me, but be careful when you're in front of Raze."
Lily scoffed and turned her head to the side. Why would she be careful of a member that
had just joined?
"You haven't met him recently, have you?" Reno asked. "For those who have, they would
understand Alba's words. Currently, he's already a middle stage warrior."
Several of those at the table, their eyes widened, learning of the fact. Someone was able to
become a middle-stage warrior so quickly, from the last time they had met Raze.
Not only that, but they knew he had great power already, combining his strange powers
with his Pagna skills, so just how strong was he now?
"There may come a point in time, where it's better for us to be on his good side than on his
bad side, and I think it's too late to back down from our relationship now… it will only do us
worse."
After finishing their conversation, they thought it was best that they got up. The Crimson
Crane were heading to the dried-out lake, where they were training the new guards of the
town.
There were around a hundred people that were willing to fight. The young men of the town
that had been looking after their families by taking physical jobs in other cities.
These were the ones that had been handed the shields that Raze had managed to create, of
course, there wasn't enough to go around to everyone just yet.
As for why the Crimson Crane members were there, it was to train them. They were
training them how to fight, as well as how to use Qi.
Not everyone could become talented in learning Qi, and not everyone could become a
Pagna warrior. However, many of those in the town didn't even have a chance to learn.
Maybe because the clan only selected the talented students or the ones with the most
money. Either way, now the clan was teaching them for free.
They wouldn't become members of the clan, but would become protectors of the town.
On the way there, they also walked past the new building that was being used by Raze, and
just outside, they could see a woman covered up in long tattered clothing walking towards
the door.
"Wait!" Alba shouted. "You're not allowed to go in there."
"Did you forget to tell everyone?" Froma asked.
"I told the Mayor as well as Rayna, and they said they informed everyone in the town. No
one would dare enter," Reno thought.
The woman looked at them, staring them blankly in the face for a moment, and then
proceeded to walk toward the door again.
"I said stop!" Alba shouted again. She could only imagine how angry Raze would be after his
stern warning. All of the Crimson Crane could only imagine.
When coming close to put her hands on the woman though, Alba was grabbed by the wrist
and soon she could see the sky.
She was heading toward the floor but managed to place her legs on the floor, saving herself
from being humiliated and thrown into the ground.
"Who are you? Why do you want to go in to see Raze so badly?" Alba asked, and was more
curious about this person's strength.
"Who am I?" Anna replied. "You don't need to know that, just know you are in the way, so
move."
The rest of the Crimson Crane members were quick to surround Anna, ready for a fight, but
they were all worried because it was right outside where Raze was working away.
Chapter 584 Behind Sealed Doors
Chapter 584 Behind Sealed Doors
"Wait!" Alba exclaimed, her voice cutting through the tense air.
The members of the Crimson Crane, a nomadic group known for their resilience and
cunning, were poised to defend their leader, Alba. Their loyalty was unwavering, especially
after the recent assault that had almost taken her down. Yet, at her command, they halted,
their weapons still drawn but their movements frozen.
"Don't you remember, the two of us met before?" Alba asked the woman standing opposite
her.
As the adversaries stood closer together, Alba's memory sharpened. She recalled the
woman's distinct temperament from a previous encounter. It was during a visit to the
Lethal Bite Clan with Rayna in an effort to locate Raze. This woman had been at Raze's side
then, and here she was again, seemingly aligned with him.
"Of course, I remember who you are and know who all of you are," Anna replied with a
cold, dismissive tone. "You are members of the Crimson Crane, a wandering group that is
infamous merely because you are wanderers. If you weren't wanderers and part of a
regular clan, then you wouldn't even be a name worth remembering."
"What did you say!" Lily exclaimed, her eyes narrowing and her grip tightening on her
spear. She was visibly agitated, her body tense and ready to strike at any moment.
Alba's query to the woman wasn't just about recognition; it was driven by curiosity and
concern about why she had been in Raze's company all this time. The underlying dynamics
of their relationship were unclear, and the recent confrontation had only deepened the
mystery, especially since Alba hadn't felt any Qi during the attack.
"You know that Raze is a member of the Crimson Crane, that he is part of our group," Alba
continued, her tone even but firm. "And you are with him all the time. It's curious to know
why you are with him?"
Anna's connection to Raze was deeper than Alba had known. Unbeknownst to Anna, Raze
was also known as the Dark Magus within the Crimson Crane, a fact that had eluded her
despite their association.
Anna struggled with the revelations about Raze. He was a man who seemed to lead
multiple lives, existing in different areas and factions, which now included being a part of
Alter, a mysterious and powerful organization.
"Raze is a colleague of mine. He told me to gather crystals from the portal, which I have
done, so I'm here to give them to him," Anna finally answered, providing a piece of the
puzzle yet leaving much unsaid.
Anna sensed the imminent threat from Lily and the rest of the group. Although she was
capable of defending herself against a few middle-stage warriors, facing the entire group
was a different challenge, and she chose to restrain her aggressive posture.
"Now it makes sense, she was in the other dimension!" Reno exclaimed, snapping his
fingers as a realization hit him. "That's why she didn't get the message."
The air was thick with tension and unsaid words. Alba and Anna locked eyes, each
searching for truth in the depths of the other's gaze.
"You know that's not what I meant. What's the relationship between you and Raze?" Alba
pressed further. "If we're working together, don't you think it should be something we both
know?"
Anna hesitated, caught off-guard by the direct question. Discussing her ties to Raze and
Alter was not something she was permitted to do, and the lack of a coordinated story
between her and Raze made her even more cautious.
The sudden arrival of Fixteen disrupted the standoff. Accompanied by Rayna, his presence
added a new layer to the dynamic. Fixteen looked from one face to another, sensing the
charged atmosphere.
"What are you all doing out here?" he inquired, his tone a mix of curiosity and admonition.
"You all should know that Raze told everyone not to disturb him, and I guess that includes
having large conversations just outside his door."
Rayna chimed in, her voice firm yet conciliatory. "All of you should do what you can to help
the city. For now, I have decided that I will stay on standby in front of the building, to make
sure no one enters or causes a disturbance."
With Rayna's words, the group felt a silent order. Being Raze's wife, her directives carried
weight, almost as if she spoke with the authority of a queen.
The group reluctantly began to disperse, their curiosity unsated and their concerns about
Anna and Raze's relationship lingering in the air. They glanced back at the door, each one
pondering the secrets it concealed behind its silent fa?ade.
-----
Inside, Raze had made a number of preparations. For one, he had been making better Mana
restoring pills out of higher-tier crystals.
The Dark Spirit form used up a lot of Mana, and he needed it if he was to go exploring
around in Alterian as well.
Last time, it was a close call with everything that happened, and Raze didn't want to go
through the pain again.
Still, he had also prepared one Cursed Mana restoring pill, just in case, and didn't even want
to place a second one in the formation.
The large headache that he had experienced was causing his hand to shake even while
putting the thing down, and in the end, he decided against it.
'It's okay, if my spirit form dissipates it should be fine. I'll let Alterian deal with the mystery
instead of having that effect on me again,' Raze thought.
'Besides, I don't plan on entering such dangerous places where I will get into a fight again.'
There were a lot of crystals, Qi pills, and magic circles drawn all over the place, and Raze
was pleased that he had knocked down the walls to create such a space.
'I've done this in the cave multiple times before, but now that I'm here I need to start
creating safe places in my own territory.' Raze took a deep breath as he sat cross-legged on
the floor.
'Let's start the meeting of the Dark Guild.'
The light lit up from underneath, and Raze was returning to Alterian.
Chapter 585 The Dark Guild's Outing!
Chapter 585 The Dark Guild's Outing!
Inside, Raze had made several preparations. He had been crafting better Mana-restoring
pills using higher-tier crystals because the Dark Spirit form consumed a lot of Mana, which
he needed for exploring around in Alterian.
Last time, it was a close call with everything that happened, and Raze didn't want to repeat
that painful experience.
He also prepared one Cursed Mana-restoring pill, just in case, but decided against placing a
second one in the formation due to the severe headache it caused him last time.
'It's okay if my spirit form dissipates; I'll let Alterian deal with the mystery instead of
experiencing that effect again,' Raze thought. 'Besides, I don't plan on entering such
dangerous places where I will get into a fight again.'
There were lots of crystals, Qi pills, and magic circles drawn all over the place. Raze was
pleased that he had knocked down the walls to create such a space.
'I've done this in the cave multiple times before, but now that I'm here, I need to start
creating safe places in my own territory,' Raze thought as he took a deep breath and sat
cross-legged on the floor.
'Let's start the meeting of the Dark Guild.'
The light lit up from underneath, signaling Raze's return to Alterian.
---
The set time and place for the Dark Guild meeting had arrived. Underground, in the familiar
ruined building surrounded by them, Raze was ready to enter. He had missed one of the
meetings due to everything he had been through. From what he had gathered, the Dark
Guild was working on their own things before he arrived as well, so he wasn't too worried.
Honestly, if he didn't meet with them, he could always go exploring himself.
Making the connection to the Dark energy, he soon found himself appearing in front of
them, in the center of the building.
He looked around and could see two familiar figures wearing robes that heavily covered
their faces. However, Raze already knew what one of the figures looked like—Kelly. He
could tell the difference between the two since she was slightly smaller than the other
member and had a slimmer figure.
When Raze's eyes, in his Dark Spirit form, set on her, he felt a tinge in his heart, a slight
twitch.
'It seems she decided to still turn up in this world after all. I can't force people but only
inform them of what they are getting themselves into,' Raze thought.
When looking at Kelly, he could see something on top of her shoulder moving about, and of
all things, it was a relatively fat cat.
"A cat?" Raze spoke.
"Welcome, Dark Spirit!" Harvey said in a cheerful voice, and bowed, moving his arm across
his chest. "It is good to see you after all this time, and I must say you are looking better than
you usually would."
The comment caught Raze off guard, but when he looked down at his own hands, he
realized that it really was the case.
The amount of energy that was contained in his body, the mana, was similar to what he had
in Pagna. At the same time, the mana leaking out of his body was significantly less
compared to before.
'If I wanted to, maybe even without pills, I could stay in this world for a whole week if I had
to,' Raze thought. 'This is because I finally reached the middle stage. I was right, the higher
the stage of the body, the better this technique is when going to the other world.'
'If I managed to reach the Divine level, would I practically be myself, would it be like
teleporting to Alterian? If that was the case, I wouldn't even have to worry about heading
back to Alterian with my real body; I would be able to get rid of them without it.'
"Yes… my power has been growing. I feel that soon, I might be able to help you all directly.
It's good to see that both of you are doing well and haven't been caught either," Raze said.
When he turned around to look at Kelly, his eyes kept lingering on the cat. He hadn't
noticed it at first, but now he did. The cat that was on her shoulder, it contained traces of
magic!
Raze lifted his hand and let out a small trace of black magic. Everyone remained still as they
could see a floating piece of dark mist floating through the air, and naturally, it had then
split into two.
Part of it went to Kelly, while the other half had gone to the cat.
"How can that cat know Dark Magic?" Raze asked. It wasn't really a question to the others,
but something he was asking himself.
"Oh, this!" Kelly said, startled, and stretched out her hand. The fat cat then jumped off and
went onto the floor.
While on the floor, it sat and looked up at Raze before lowering its head onto the floor. It
lifted its head up again and did this a further two times.
Raze couldn't believe it, but the cat was bowing to him. He had seen some crazy things in
other dimensions, in Pagna and Alterian, but not like this.
'Wait, there are lots of videos online of people training their animals to do crazy things. It
might be just like that article where someone trained their dog to do Nazi salutes,' Raze
thought.
"Since she can't speak for herself, I will add some context," Kelly cleared her throat, feeling
her face getting a little hot, embarrassed by the situation.
"This here is the newest member of the Dark Guild. Her name is Sophie… the reason why
she is in this state is because of a special book. She used it and managed to put herself in
this state."
"On top of that, she was also a user of Dark magic before."
Raze was quite perplexed by the whole thing, but if there was a special book that could
make him go into another body in another world, one that would put a person into that of a
cat, seemed even less far-fetched.
So, he decided to accept this fact quickly.
"So, is she still able to use magic?" Raze asked.
As if the order was given to the cat, with a paw, Sophie made a circle in the ground. As she
did, the Dark magic lingered on the floor, destroying the dirt particles like a type of acid,
disappearing from sight.
"Oh, and quite a strong Dark Mage as well," Raze noted.
Thinking about this and looking at the cat, he had a number of questions. For one, he
wanted to know where she had perhaps found the book, but communicating with an animal
would be difficult.
What he was also interested in, however, was learning what did they know about Dark
Magic. All of these people in the room, and animals had learned Dark Magic, a forbidden
magic one way or another.
They had to have gotten their hands on information from somewhere; it was unlikely that
they were just natural talent and knew how to use such a thing.
"I have a question for all of you," Raze said. "In terms of Star level, what are you at, and how
well-versed is your Dark magic?"
Kelly was first to answer.
"I'm a three-star mage, but my Dark magic skills aren't sufficient at all. I would say the level
of spells I could use are only at the first level."
The cat had drawn four lines on the floor, indicating her star level, after that, she then drew
another three lines beneath.
This was quite good, which just made Raze more interested in the cat. When turning
around, there was one more person to ask.
"I'm a five-star mage," Harvey answered. "And my Dark Magic is also at the fifth star level
as well."
This was not an answer Raze was expecting. Although he was known as the Dark Magus,
and he was a nine-star mage at the end of his life, he had only been able to get Dark Magic
spells around that of the sixth star.
This person was only a little less proficient in Dark Magic than him.
"How did you learn Dark Magic?" Raze asked. "I think it would be best if we act like other
guilds if we can combine our information about Dark Magic and share it together.
"It will allow current and new members to increase their Darkness power."
Harvey was nodding his head; it was an excellent idea, and his more selfish nature had
never thought of things like that.
"Then I believe I can help, due to my occupation I am always aware of those that might
have learned Dark Magic. That is how we found the cat Sophie and how we will continue to
search for new members.
"As for resources, as well due to my title, I should be able to get you plenty."
This was more than Raze was expecting. He was thinking that he would have to go
searching blindly, picking leads up on his own.
Yet, the Dark Guild was proving more useful, even though it still wasn't large in size.
"Very well, then let's head to where we need to be," Raze suggested.
This suggestion had caused Harvey's heart to beat frantically; his eyes were widening.
"You mean, this isn't just a task, you wish to come with me!" Harvey asked.
"I wish to see what is needed and what is not needed. I am also in a bit of a rush, so I would
rather come myself."
Harvey bowed down to the Dark Spirit; he was over the moon about this.
"The Dark Guild's first outing is here!" Harvey grinned.
Chapter 586 The Dark Magus is just an Alchemist
Chapter 586 The Dark Magus is just an Alchemist
In the town of Flendon, the large dried-out lake was sunken in more compared to the rest
of the town because it was once filled with a large mass of water.
Due to it being empty for so long, wind had blown dirt and what looked like a large crater
eventually started to fill up.
Now, there was a gradual decline from the edge of the town like a hill, that eventually
around a mile out curved back up again.
In the center of the lake, the area was mostly flat, and it had become the perfect area for a
group of two hundred people to start their training.
The Crimson Crane were out, teaching different groups with their weapons of choice.
"This is better than I thought," Alba said, observing the training that was taking place with
her arms folded.
Each member of the Crimson Crane had taken a group of different people under their wing
because each member specialized in a certain type of weapon.
Each group was just learning one weapon and specializing in it. This was more similar to
that of an Army rather than a Warrior Clan.
If it was to protect the city though, it would work out quite well.
"We had a lot of shields and I was worried since they were items created by the Dark
Magus that we would have a problem with people fighting over them, but doing things this
way has worked out better," Alba smiled.
The training between the troops continued, but after their individual training, they started
to form more group training and wanting to practice some sparring.
Those training with a blade or sword were to fight against those that had a shield and
sword. When the sparring occurred, something obvious was starting to occur.
Those that were using the shields were doing far better than those with swords. Their
strikes were stronger against the others' shields.
The hits were blocked yet the energy in the shield group just seemed to be slightly more, or
quite a bit above the attackers.
"What is going on?" Alba asked, scratching her head.
"Maybe I'm just a good teacher!" Tilon proudly puffed his chest out.
"What, so I'm a bad teacher?" Kizer replied since he was in charge of training the sword
users.
The two of them were intensely shouting out their pupils to try harder and do better, but
no matter what the shield barriers were beating out the swordsmen.
"I think it's something more than that," Reno said, observing by the side. "I think it's
because of the shields, the ones made by the Dark Magus. It's quite clear anything made by
him wouldn't be ordinary shields."
What Reno said made a lot of sense, but the shields, they were of low quality at least
compared to what the Crimson Crane was used to.
They could tell it was one of the cheapest shields that could be made. In order to test this
theory, the two groups swapped for a moment.
Kizer taught the new sword users, while Tilon taught the shield barers, then the two groups
clashed again.
They continued to fight with what they had, and despite the people changing, the shield
barers won again.
"Well that rules out that it's talent," Kizer said.
"Maybe shields are just better than swords," Tilon replied.
"Maybe, my sword should try and eat your face if you keep talking nonsense like that,"
Kizer drew his sword and the two of them looked like they were about to clash again.
"He sure is amazing huh," Alba said. "To think his items can have this much influence. If the
kingdoms and empires ever found out about him, they would do what they could to get
their hands on him."
"And he can do a lot more than that," a voice said from behind.
They could hear creaking noises and something being dragged from behind. Upon turning
they saw Fixteen with a large crate behind him.
He placed it in front of the others who had come over, and instantly they could see what
was inside.
"These are Qi pills and you might notice they all have the marking of DM on them," Fixteen
explained. "I didn't sell all our products. I thought we would need them as well. Especially
since we don't know what's going to happen anytime."
Alba had almost forgotten about the pills. Not only did Raze have great skill in creating
special items but also Qi pills as well.
His value was only going up, and the Crimson Crane had him on their side. The thing was,
just how much more could they hold on to him, or when would they no longer be of any
worth to him, what would happen then?
It was a break for the training soldiers, food was brought out to them, as well as an
explanation of the pills as they were handed out to each of them to keep by their side.
While sitting down eating, some of them started to become a little curious about things.
"These pills, are they made by the Dark Magus?" One soldier was holding up the pill to the
sunlight and could see the marking of DM.
"Oh, that's what the DM stands for, wait a second, weren't they on the shields as well? Does
that mean he was the one that made the shields?"
While walking around, Alba picked up the shield and could see the marking of DM on it.
"Oh see, he's started to mark the equipment he's making as well now."
This had caused quite the stir talk about the Dark Magus. They all knew about him since he
was the one paying for everything and had even fed them when he first arrived before the
rest of the Crimson Crane.
"Man, I guess the Dark Magus is a really amazing person then, right?"
"An amazing Alchemist, he can't really fight, that's why these guys are training us."
"He can't really fight, what are you talking about? I heard that he was the new demon that
was on the rise. He's not just an alchemist but a good fighter as well. Don't just say things
like they're fact."
"That goes both ways, no report confirmed he was this demon, he's just an Alchemist, I
could kick an Alchemist's ass… that's nothing special."
"Are you mad, Alchemists are still Pagna warriors, so he would be able to flatten you in a
heartbeat."
One of the soldiers casually put his hands behind his head.
"Nah, I would still kick his arse."
"Oh really," a voice said from far off. The group could see a woman coming closer towards
them from the direction of the town.
"You know, if the Dark Magus heard you saying these things, he would drain every inch of
your life away. Turning you into nothing but skin. So if you want to fight him, then go
ahead," Anna said.
She wasn't lying when she said these words, and for some reason, it felt like the soldiers
could tell as well, as they soon stopped talking about the Dark Magus.
"What are you doing here?" Alba asked.
"I'm just observing, seeing if I can learn a few things, that's all, don't mind me, and continue
on."
The two of them had gotten off on the wrong foot multiple times, and even now they were
staring into each other's eyes.
It was quickly interrupted by a panicked man holding onto a type of large horn, shouting
through it down below.
"Everyone, everyone… it's the Behemoth Clan, they're attacking!" The man shouted.
Chapter 587 The Behemoth Clan's Pillars
Chapter 587 The Behemoth Clan's Pillars
Everyone in the town knew that an attack was coming at one point or another. Thanks to
Bubble's news industry, he had spread reports about what had happened on the day of the
wedding.
How Sha Mo had called out the Dark Magus, making it clear to everyone that he was his
enemy and he would get rid of him.
The quotes from Belil were also said, and although Bubble did his best to interpret them in
the news report, everyone was more so guessing about his plan.
Was Belil really going to abandon a new member of his joint family along with his
daughter?
The Dark Magus was a famous Alchemist that could be useful to any of the big clans. Why
would the Neverfall Clan allow such a person to slip through their fingers?
Because of these types of thoughts, the citizens of the place were hoping that it wouldn't be
true, that a fight wouldn't happen on their grounds.
"Everyone quickly, move to the town hall if you don't want to get caught up in this mess!"
Yarlston shouted. "If there isn't enough space inside, make sure you stay indoors and keep
an eye on what's going on!"
"Wait, we should be okay, right? We're not Pagna warriors, we're citizens, we're protected
by the code! They won't attack us!" One of the citizens said in the middle of his running, as
if he had made a realization.
But his friend quickly pulled him.
"Are you an idiot? Sure, that code exists, but you need to use your common sense. Who are
we to the kingdom we are in right now? We are nothing to them."
"They would much rather have a clan like the Behemoth Clan in their good books. In the
middle of fighting between two clans, if some people die, they won't care about us or
declare war on the Pagna warriors. So, let's move so they can't do such a thing!"
A lot of the citizens were hoping that it wouldn't come to this for a few reasons. One, they
liked the Crimson Crane since they had arrived.
Although it had only been a short while, almost a week, they had never had the freedom to
not worry about food. To work on their town, and even speak to others without worrying
about what to eat the next day.
Their minds were finally cleared just for an instant of a big worry? No clan before had done
such a thing, and if the Behemoth Clan defeated the Dark Magus there was no telling what
would happen once they took over, maybe they would even be abandoned because the land
meant nothing apart from one portal location near to it that they were clinging onto.
After hearing word of what was happening, The Crimson Clan was quick on the move. They
had ordered the group of two hundred people that they had been training until now.
Asking them to follow, they were moving along through the town, heading to the direction
where Fixteen was going along with one of the lookouts.
"Are they coming from just the one direction?" Fixteen asked.
"Yes, sir, they are coming from the north. I checked all the other areas and with the other
lookouts, but they didn't see anything." The young man was nervous, his legs shaking as
they got closer to the edge of the city.
Fixteen noticed this and placed his hand on his shoulder.
"If they're coming from one direction, then we know where to go. You don't need to lead us,
head back."
The young man bowed down, thanking Fixteen with tears running down his face, and
quickly rushed off, running away.
"The reason why they're just coming from one direction is clear, because they aren't seeing
this as a war or a battle, this is light work for them," Fixteen said, annoyed.
The group wasn't running to the edge; the Pagna warriors could have gotten there with
ease, they were walking so the regular soldiers could keep up with them and so they didn't
waste energy.
At the front, Alba and Fixteen were side by side.
"How will they be? Is there any point even bringing them?" Fixteen whispered.
Alba quickened her pace, walking further ahead just so none of the others could hear the
two of them.
"They haven't had much training, about half of them can use Qi and are stage 1 warriors.
Their equipment helps them out a bit here and there and with the pills, they can do
something… but if you're expecting them to be the reason we win this war then you're
going to be greatly mistaken."
"The Behemoth Clan is large in size, but they are one of the top clans. Because they are the
largest in size, people think that they allow just anyone to join."
"But it's more so that being the biggest clan and having the reputation of one of the
strongest, many of the strongest are the ones attracted to them."
That begged the question just how many members would they be going up against.
Running through the streets that were now empty, they had come out of the end.
Where empty desert red land could be seen, the Crimson Crane members jumped from
where they were onto the top of a nearby two-story house and looked out in the distance.
They could see the dust moving off far, and over the horizon an enormous amount of
people.
"Is that… is that how many people they brought!" Lily shouted.
"From the looks of things, there have to be about one thousand people," Reno replied.
"One thousand, isn't that too much for us to go up against, with our army of two hundred
and us?" Tilon nervously said.
"Hey, numbers don't always win fights!" Alba shouted back at them, she was worried that
the army below could hear them squabbling.
Right now, the only people they could rely on were the Crimson Crane, so they couldn't
show that they felt this way.
"We need to look at what is in front of us, can you see, there is no sign of Sha Mo, he hasn't
even bothered to be involved in this attack," Alba claimed.
"Right," Fixteen nodded. "If he did get involved then it would be embarrassing for him. The
Dark Magus has spread his name mostly as an alchemist."
"Everyone should be aware of the situation in Flendon Town. If he had to get himself
involved, it would ruin his reputation."
There was more Fixteen wanted to say when he looked Alba in the eyes, but he didn't dare
say it.
Although Sha Mo hadn't arrived, among those in the army that was coming towards them,
there were two Elites from the Clan coming his way.
They were in line to take over the Clan if anything ever happened to Sha Mo, that was how
strong they were considered.
Strong middle-stage warriors, Yanin, and Polter. Two pillars that went beyond the
Behemoth Clan's large number were coming to attack them, which showed how much
business Sha Mo meant.
"This is why the Dark Magus called us back here, because he knew we needed to help
defend this place, so let's defend it!" Alba said, drawing her two swords from her back.
Chapter 588 Nothing Is A Coincidence
Chapter 588 Nothing Is A Coincidence
The large number of members from the Behemoth Clan were slowly making their way to
the city. They were walking as if it was just another mission for them.
A few of them were even just looking at each other, casually talking about their day. Others
were smiling as they saw the hopelessness in the eyes in front of them.
To them, they were part of the Behemoth Clan, one of the elite clans in the Demonic
Faction. A faction where only being the strongest mattered, and the strongest were the
ones that dictated what happened in their world.
And it was decided that the Dark Magus, along with anyone who tried to protect them, were
to be eliminated.
When the soldiers that had been rounded up by the Crimson Crane could now see the faces
of those that were coming to attack them.
One of them had dropped their sword and ran back toward the town hall.
"I can't do this, I'm sorry!" The man shouted.
Shortly after, a few more were doing the same and started to break away, running back.
"Hey, if we don't do something then everyone is going to run away!" Lily said. "If that
happens, we will have to fight all 1000 on our own, that's going to be impossible."
There was a limit to their Qi, and although they didn't expect their small army to help them
out in a large way, at least they could hold them off or distract them.
"Leave them be, they don't have to get involved in this, it's us that they want!" Fixteen
claimed.
"Where's that damned woman?" Anna said as she was looking at the situation. "She is part
of the problem, she should be here as well."
After saying those words, Anna was already heading off in the other direction. As for who
that woman was referring to, they could guess, because Rayna wasn't here, despite the fact
that everyone should have heard by now.
"Where's Raze?" Tilon asked.
"He's probably busy, he said for no one to disturb him, right? That's probably why Rayna
still isn't here either, she's probably protecting that door… I'm sure Raze would have felt
this, anyone could have."
Fixteen was talking about the mass amount of Qi that was coming out from the army in
front of them. So many warriors in one place, all of them using their large amount of Qi, it
was making them sick to their stomach before the fight had even started, and it was making
more and more of their small army below leave.
Their number of two hundred already dwindled to around 170 and the fight had yet to
begin.
However, on that rooftop, there was something happening to one person.
"Hey Kizer… are you… are you okay?" Froma asked.
Kizer's head was faced down, the large sword was being held in one of his hands, and his
whole body was shaking. Small noises were coming from his mouth, the rattling of his teeth
like that on a cold winter day.
"This power!" Kizer shouted, lifting his head, his eyes were glowing. "I can't take it
anymore!"
Right after that, Kizer ran to the edge of the building and jumped. He had done so with such
power that the end of the roof's building had caved in.
Now he was in the air, a single man was heading right for the front line of the Behemoth
Clan. He held the swords with both hands, and landing on the ground he slammed it right
on the floor.
The strike of his sword was like a giant wave, several of the Behemoth Clan members were
lifted into the air. While others had been taken out by the large Qi attack.
The entire ground shook from his single strike.
"What was that attack!" Tilon called out. "Was Kizer always that strong!"
"No," Reno answered. "It's not that."
Right after the initial attack, Kizer was seen swinging his sword, large Qi strikes were
coming out, knocking waves of people at a time.
He was the member with the strongest attack power of the group, and he was clearly
showing why that was.
"It's his weapon… Raze told me… the weapon, it gets stronger based on how many
opponents he's going up against, and this is the largest battle we've seen. The power
flowing through him must be too much for him to contain right now." Reno explained.
"Damn it!" Tilon said, stomping his foot. "It's the Dark Magus's equipment again." Tears
were almost flowing down his face. "If he had made my shield, I would have been able to
show something as well."
"Hurry, we can't leave Kizer alone down there, the Crimson Crane, we all must attack!" Alba
stated, as she rushed in, jumping down below.
The other members followed while Froma stayed back on the rooftop, drawing her bow
and firing out.
The Crimson Crane ran across on the ground, and then when they met with the Behemoth
Clan, they clashed right against them. Alba was swift with her sword strikes, taking out
those she could in a single strike.
Then blocking hits from all sides, and trying to be aware of the scene in front of them.
Tilon bashed others with his shield while also staying close to Lily so she could cover him
with her spear attacking.
Reno had joined the fight, infecting some, and then causing those to infect and spread
poison to other nearby users. They were falling to the ground one after the other.
"Archers get ready to attack!" Froma shouted. "They're large in number so you can't miss,
and even if you do, at least you'll provide some support.
"Right now the Behemoth Clan is attacking us, if we get through this, think of all the spoils,
the weapons on their body, we'll sell them and make this whole town prosper, and if we
repel the Behemoth Clan, no clan will dare mess with us!" Froma shouted.
These words had instilled a small dream of hope within the army, and although the
Crimson Crane were attacking them well.
Not all were focused on the Crimson Crane, and the other members of the Behemoth Clan,
charged ahead. They didn't care if they weren't real Pagna warriors or not.
Those that held up a sword, a shield, or weapon, were enemies that were getting in their
way in their eyes.
The Behemoth Clan clashed, punching against the hard shield. The attack was blocked and
one of the Shield bearers nearly fell to the floor.
As he skidded to the floor though he felt something strange. A great surge in power was
rising in him, it was far more than when he was training with the others.
When the attacker came again, the shield bearer remembered what to do and shoved his
shield forward, knocking the warrior back and sending his punch back.
"What the… isn't he a normal citizen, how did he just do that right now?" The Behemoth
Clan member thought.
Although a small percentage of power would be transferred to the user, this was
proportional to the attack being blocked, allowing the stage 1 warriors to achieve a small
breakthrough in that moment.
——
In the city, over where Raze was situated, Rayna was standing by the door. She was tapping
her foot away looking in the direction of where the fight was happening, not sure if what
she was doing was the right thing.
"Sha Mo wouldn't come himself… so the Crimson Crane, they should be able to handle it."
Rayna told herself.
"What are you doing?" Anna asked as she landed on the ground. "Get in there, and tell Raze
to get out there and fight, and you join in as well. This is your town, and the regular people
are fighting, so you should fight as well."
"No!" Rayna shouted back. "This, he told us to not let anyone inside no matter what. It was
a direct order, I'm sure he thought of this as well, that this would happen, we need to listen
to him."
Anna was getting angry, of course Raze thought this would happen but because of his order
he had no clue what was happening, he could be in some strange meditative state and
unaware of everything that was happening on the outside.
"If you don't get out of my way, I'll force you to get out of my way!" Anna said and her fists
were starting to glow slightly red.
It was strange, Rayna had never seen this before, and she could feel no rise in Qi.
Just as Anna went to go forward, she felt a large heaviness drop beneath her. She quickly
avoided the attack and turned around standing next to Rayna.
"That was good reaction from you."
The man who had just spoken was large in size, almost another Behemoth that looked like
they could be Sha Mo's brother.
Sturdy legs like tree trunks, the body of a mountain, and a large beard that covered most of
his bottom face. His face was a little on the chubby end compared to Sha Mo's but didn't
suit the rest of his body.
The moment Rayna set her eyes on this person, she knew exactly who it was. Her heart
started to flutter, she noticed this man.
One of the two pillars of the Behemoth Clan, Yanin the Eater.
"What are you doing here… for Sha Mo to send you here, and why have you come directly
here!" Rayna said.
She didn't want to give things away, but why wasn't he in the main part of the battle? The
building didn't stand out, and for someone to come just to this location.
"Hahaha!" Yanin laughed. "Did you think it was a coincidence we were attacking now, and
that I came here, I know exactly what is happening behind that door!"
Chapter 589 Fighting A Pillar
Chapter 589 Fighting A Pillar
As expected, the large-scale fight had been pushed back and had entered the town. The
ruined houses were getting destroyed as members were getting flung into a house.
The regular citizens were doing well, getting back up even after such a big blow, but they
were just regular citizens.
In one of the destroyed houses, a group had been chucked in. They were hurt, a few broken
ribs here and there and heavy cuts.
The Behemoth Clan was coming in, that's when Froma quickly dropped through a hole in
the roof, and quickly pulled out five arrows hitting the Behemoth Clan members and
sending them flying back.
"We from the Crimson Crane are still middle-stage warriors, even if you are large in size,
you can't take a single hit from those like us," Froma said proudly.
There was one worry though, the large numbers were a drain on their Qi.
"You guys, if you can't get up, remember to take the pills that we gave you, they will give
you the energy to fight on, let's do this!" Froma claimed.
In some ways, now that the large-scale fighting had been pushed into the town, it was
easier for the weaker members to use it to their advantage.
For one, the citizens that lived there knew the structure of the alleyways, the houses that
they were inside, and they could ambush and plan to attack in certain ways.
There were more places for cover, and in general just more places for them to hide as well,
making them last far longer than the Behemoth Clan had expected.
The good thing was, nearly all of the public citizens had retreated back, expecting the fight
to go on into the major parts of the city.
They could defend with no worry, still, the numbers were going down fast. Their two
hundred strong had already dwindled down to around 135 or so. Thankfully, spread across
the city they weren't able to see what was occurring.
"All of you have no respect for the lives of these citizens!" Reno said standing in a street,
and rushed forward hitting the back of the head of several of the Behemoth Clan members
before charging forward and hitting one with both hands in the center of the stomach.
A green visual Qi could be seen emitting from him. "So I shall have no respect for you."
All those that Reno had touched had blood oozing out of their mouths before they had then
dropped to the ground.
Rather than down on the ground, Fixteen had stayed up high on one of the rooftops. He
could see one of the members climbing up top from the edge, a large grin on his face.
He quickly charged toward Fixteen, who dodged the attack and pulled the blade out from
his side, he knocked the man's sword away and then struck him in the chest hitting him off
the rooftop and down onto the floor below.
"Since I've been sent here, I wonder if the Clan head even sees me as no longer part of the
Neverfall Clan," Fixteen sighed. "I promised that I would help Dame in any way possible.
"My loyalty is with that stupid young master, but I have no clue where he is or what he's
doing, so all I can do is stay here and try to help the Dark Magus.
Right then another warrior came, stronger than the last. Fixteen swung his sword and
when the two clashed they stayed in place, their Qi battling it out against each other.
Unlike the Crimson Crane members, he was only an initial stage warrior. There were bound
to be a few of them that could give Fixteen some trouble.
"Either way, it's clear that you see me as an enemy!" Fixteen shouted, as he swiped in a
green pill, in an instant the swing of his sword was slightly faster, and had delivered a large
cut across his opponent's chest.
"I have swiped more of these pills for myself compared to others, you have to look after
number one after all," Fixteen walked to the edge of the rooftop.
He was looking at the entire situation trying to get a feel for what was happening. They
were only on the edge of the town, and hadn't managed to push too far in.
Some had given chase to the citizens that were fighting, but the main bulk of the fight was
concentrating on the Crimson Crane members.
There was one area of concern that was more troubling than any of the other areas. Still out
in the field, Alba and Tilon had run into trouble and it was big trouble.
Alba had a large cut on top of her head, blood dripped down almost covering her eye, she
was huffing and panting.
While Tilon, who was by her side, was also taking deep breaths. Seemingly, nearly everyone
else around them now was ignoring them and were continuing on forward.
"I heard a lot about you, I guess you are as strong as they say you are," Alba said, wiping her
blood with her forearm.
Right at that moment, a large curved sword swung from the side. It was too fast to avoid so
she stuck both of her blades up and crashed into them directly.
The large wave of middle-stage Qi rippled in the air. At the same time, Tilon with his shield
had punched the edge of the blade that curved around almost piercing Alba's head.
How she had gotten hurt the first time.
"Don't worry, I've got you."
The large curved sword was pulled back, and the one holding onto it, Polter, couldn't help
but laugh at the situation.
Another one of the Pillars of the Behemoth Clan. Polter was just as tall as Yanin or Sha Mo.
However, his figure was a lot more slender.
He had long arms and legs and a square-shaped body. This matched his head that also
appeared to be somewhat rectangular.
With his long limbs that weren't very thick in size, he could move them fast and his strange
blade worked well, since the attack of the weapon would be twofold which had caught Alba
by surprise.
"And you are not as impressive as I thought!" Polter said. "It appears what is said about the
Crimson Crane is true. That you are only infamous for being a strong clan among
wanderers.
"However, when compared to that of the other factions, if you were a clan, your name
wouldn't even be mentioned!"
In the middle of his showboating and laughter, Alba had jumped up, both her blades
covered in her red visual Qi, and performed a large cross-shaped slash in the air.
As if he was reacting to it, Polter just swung his blade from above, hitting the two weapons
blocking them, and sending her way back on her feet sliding next to Tilon.
"This is going to be difficult, Alba!" Tilon said. "It took the entirety of the Crimson Crane to
take out one of the Elders of the Light Faction."
"This man in front of him is no weaker than him, and it looks like the other members aren't
going to be able to help us, so how are we going to win this fight with just the two of us!"
Tilon said, wishing right now that his shield would have been complete. Maybe then he
could have done something.
Chapter 590 A Gift To Show The Whole World
Chapter 590 A Gift To Show The Whole World
As the fighting was going on in the town, the people were unaware of something that was
taking place, even before the fighting was occurring.
Because even if the citizens or Pagna warriors noticed the phenomenon, they would have
just ignored it.
Far up in the sky, and somewhat slow going through the city, were two small plate-sized
objects. The surface of them were shiny while being a faint colored yellow like that of the
sunset.
The color blended in with the sky at times, and the movements of the two objects were fast.
These two objects had been in the sky of Flendon since the Dark Magus had arrived. They
had been traveling all over between the people and staying far away in the distance
observing everything.
The reason as to why so many of those of Pagna would ignore it, or even if they had seen it
would have no clue what it was, was due to them not being from the world of Pagna.
At least not something that was available to the public. Right now as the fighting was going
on, one of these shiny objects was observing the battle between Alba and one of the pillars,
and as for the other, it was based high up above, where the Dark Magus had been kept on
the inside.
These special devices were hovering around the town for a very specific reason because
they were showing everything to a person on the other end.
"This is amazing!" Bubble said, lifting his hands for joy, his golden silk sleeves rolled down
to his elbow as he lifted his hands.
Right now, Bubble was in his infamous special tower. As one of the best news informants
for all of the factions, he needed to get information of what was going to happen.
However, knowing that Sha Mo would make a move, Bubble also thought it was dangerous.
In front of him, he also had two large plate-sized objects that were at least thirty inches in
size and they were placed on two parts of his desk. From it, he was able to see everything
that was happening in Flendon.
"With these things I'll be able to gather information from all over, without having a need to
be there myself. This is great."
By Bubble's side, there were also two people that were wearing a strange metallic helmet.
Sitting in a seat. These two were the pilots of the objects that were floating in the sky.
"I didn't trust the package at first, but they must appreciate my donations or something!"
Bubble thought.
The items weren't creations of Bubble, and such technology was hard to come by in Pagna
unless it was brought from another dimension.
Yet one day, he had all of the items along with a set of instructions delivered to his door. He
was too afraid to try it himself and had others try it first.
After realizing its effects, he knew what to do with it instantly and had been going all over
Flendon waiting for the big opportunity and here it was.
"It's a shame that these devices can't be used to show others what is happening right now,
but all I can do is make a report as quickly as possible, with the images, I could also have an
artist team draw them out, and then copy it out so the whole world of Pagna knows what's
happening right now!" Bubble shouted with joy.
Deeper in the town where the fighting had yet to reach. There were two women who were
faced looking at one of the other pillars of the Behemoth Clan.
The large man known as Yanin. He had yet to make a move but had revealed important
information to them.
'What he just said, does that mean, he knows that Raze is inside, right now?' Rayna thought.
'But how is that possible, how could someone from the Behemoth Clan know?'
'And even if they did know he was inside, anyone would assume no matter what they were
doing, if there was a fight to take place on their doorstep that they would just leave their
room.'
'Why would they choose to attack now of all times? None of this is making sense… is there a
traitor in the group as well.'
Too many thoughts were running through her head, and Yanin wasn't just going to stand
there and let the two of them talk.
From his back, he held onto what was shaped like a giant hammer. It was large metallic in
size and had a blunt flat end, with the other end being pointed.
He lifted it up in the air, and when he did the visual Qi surrounding the area showed sparks
at the back of the hammer weapon.
He swung it down full force, aiming to crush Rayna right there and then.
"I need to avoid this, and attack back!" Rayna said, ready to move to the side.
In her vision though, she saw Anna get directly in front of the attack. With one of her hands,
she pushed it in front of her face, and took on the blow of the hammer with full force.
As the hammer collided with her, the ground beneath her cracked, but at the same time,
parts of her body were lighting up red. Her whole forearm was glowing, her feet were
glowing as she pushed back the attack.
"Are you just going to stare, or are you going to hit that big lump!" Anna shouted.
She had taken on a hit, a clean one from a middle-class warrior somehow, and she seemed
completely fine.
It wasn't the time for Rayna to be amazed though; she ran up, and had her spear ready. It
was what she specialized in within the Neverfall Clan.
Swirling it in a circle, a demonic visual Qi was lingering, and she then stabbed the spear
forward.
Matching that, Yanin kicked with his foot towards the spear, covering it with Qi the spear
was unable to pierce through and in a battle of Qi, Yanin won out moving and pushing his
foot further causing her to slip back.
Right after that, he lifted his hammer. Anna could feel parts of her quite injured from the
attack; it was stronger than she thought, yet she pushed forward to deliver a hit to Yanin.
However, Yanin ignored her, and lifted his hammer sideways swinging it.
Rayna had only just got her footing when she could see the large blunt end coming at her.
Lifting her two hands she covered herself with as much Qi as she could, and was whacked
full force into the air.
At the same time, Anna had delivered a punch right to the center of Yanin's stomach with a
large amount of pure force hitting him.
It caused Yanin to stumble but only take one step back. "That tickled," Yanin said with a big
smile.
Anna jumped back, she knew just from taking an attack and delivering an attack she was
unable to win this fight on her own, the man in front of her was too strong.
When looking at where Rayna was, Anna was surprised to see that the entire wall had been
destroyed, Rayna had been hit, and had destroyed the wall, right to where Raze was inside.
Chapter 591 Protect Him No Matter what!
Chapter 591 Protect Him No Matter what!
The Crimson Crane were continuing to fight. Due to the large amount of enemies in front of
them, they had no choice but to start using some of the Qi pills that had been given to them.
Part of their Qi was restored, and they could continue to fight for now, but how much
longer could they last?
Reno swung his arms against a spear, hitting it to the floor, and then grabbed one of the
warriors by the sleeve. He pulled him forward and chucked the body towards a wave of
people that were chasing after him.
Another had jumped up with a sword in hand, ready to cleave him in two until an arrow
had hit him in the head, killing him on the spot.
Looking up at the rooftop, he could see Froma had saved him, and she too had just taken
another Qi pill.
"The regular Qi pills are fine to take, but their effectiveness between time fades. To the
point where they'll stop working, we can't just keep fighting.
On top of that, the people that were fighting with us, they're going to wear out before us.
We still have the special Qi pills that can restore all our energy but only for a minute, and
that would have to be a last resort."
Reno then looked out into the distance, where a large amount of Qi could be felt. Ripples in
the air were seen, and huge strikes were being delivered.
"The only way we can turn this fight around is by defeating the pillars in this fight and
crushing their morale."
The solution was easy, but the task itself was hard.
Right now, Polter was swinging his blade wildly through the air, large streams of Qi could
be felt with every swing.
It took both Alba as she swung her sword towards the attacks and Tilon with his shield to
stop them. Alba would stop the bulk of the blade, while Tilon would stop the point from
hurting her even more.
The attacks were relentless, and the two felt like they were playing some type of game
where all they could do was block.
"Alba, are you okay?" Tilon shouted as he shoved his shield above them, using a special foot
technique to push up using the strength of his legs.
"Just think about yourself, don't worry about me!" Alba said as she jumped over the blade
attack this time. But when she landed in order to help Tilon, she quickly extended her
hands and dug her swords into the ground to somewhat stop its momentum.
Her hands felt extremely numb as it was hit, and the weapon was more damaged than it
was before.
"It's been fun looking at the two of you working together, but you haven't even noticed I
haven't even used one skill from our Behemoth Clan yet," Polter smiled.
Lifting his sword, his eyes then lingered onto Tilon. He readied his sword, and the visual Qi
was fading in the air, disrupting it like flames.
He dug his foot into the ground, and Polter spun his entire body, swinging his curved
sword. This time, rather than it going towards Alba, it went straight for Tilon.
Seeing this, he placed his shield into the ground, using both hands to shove it in, and then
held on tight with both hands, gathering all of his Qi, making his body as condensed as
possible.
The moment the sword clashed into the shield, Tilon was lifted into the air, and his shield
was broken into nothing but pieces.
"TILON!" Alba screamed.
Elsewhere in the city, Anna had just seen Rayna suffer a devastating blow from another one
of the Behemoth Clan's pillars.
When she turned to look at where she had exactly gone into, she could see now that Rayna
had crashed into the very building where Raze was.
"Now, it's time for you to go as well!" Yanin swung his hammer once again.
Rather than taking the blow head-on or looking for a chance to escape though, she had
decided to narrowly move back. It missed her only just; it almost looked like it had brushed
against Anna's clothing.
'I can calculate the trajectory of the attack and avoid it, but I know my punches also do
nothing to harm this man in front of me, so what is it exactly that I should do?'
Anna said to herself. Continuing to avoid her attacks, she knew exactly what to do, the
reason why she had come here in the first place.
She had jumped back and had entered the main room.
"Noo!!" Rayna shouted. "What are you doing coming in here, we need to get him away."
Anna wanted to shout back, saying how ridiculous that would be. Clearly, if there were
three of them, it would be better than two, and she doubted that Raze could say anything
when the attacker was in the same building as him.
Then she saw it, she saw what Rayna was looking at. Several drawings had been marked on
the floor, Qi pills in front of them.
Then, in the middle of the room, frozen as if not even a part of this world, not even knowing
what was happening in front of him was Raze.
He was sitting crossed-legged, his eyes closed as if he was in a type of zen state.
Anna could tell that the way he was now, it was more like that of someone who was
dreaming, but for so much noise to happen and not to wake up.
In the middle of all of this, a large chunk of the front wall was bashed, large chunks of the
wall broken hit towards the others.
Anna used what she could to hit the chunks of concrete away. Now coming through the
door was Yanin.
"Oh, just the person I have been looking for then. This is far easier than I thought, but It
wouldn't have been much of a match anyway; he's just an alchemist after all," Yanin
claimed as he lifted up his hammer, and it was now pointed towards Raze.
"No, I won't let you!" Rayna screamed at the top of her lungs, running forward. Her sword
was covered in all the might of her Qi.
She screamed as she lifted her sword and directly hit against the head. The floorboards
broke beneath her feet as she was pushing against the mass of power.
Yet she wasn't alone, because by her side, Anna with her hands was pushing as well, and
several creaking sounds were coming from her.
"Haha cute, but useless," Yanin exclaimed.
The end of his large hammer started to glow, and then controlling his Qi, like a pulse from
the tip of his weapon, the two of them were hurled and crashed into the ground in front of
them.
They were both badly hurt, unable to get up, but they were both also still breathing.
"If you're so desperate to die so quickly, then I'll get rid of you first!" Yanin lifted up the
hammer again and swung it down in the same spot.
"Eclipse Strike!" Words were heard in the middle of Yanin's swing.
He soon saw a sword coming from below, covered in Darkness. The sword clashed, and a
mass amount of Qi and darkness was surrounding the entire hammer, pushing it back.
Until Yanin lost out in power, his hammer was pushed up, and the strike continued upward,
hitting the roof and completely destroying it, letting the sunlight come in.
Yanin looked at what just happened, and could see one man in front of the two of them.
"You two did well, you made sure no one disturbed me."
Looking up from the ground, Rayna could see her saviour, as his hair turned from black,
turning to white due to the magical power that had just been used.
"Raze..!" She blurted out, with eyes full of tears.
Chapter 592 The Man Who started It All
Chapter 592 The Man Who started It All
Raze had used the special technique he had learned from the Dark Faction founder to allow
him to arrive in Alterian in Spirit form.
Due to his increased cultivation body strength, his spirit body was more and more real in
the other world while using this technique. Less mana leaked out while using it, and he had
more powers than he did before.
Still, there was always one worry that Raze had to be concerned about. Although it didn't
matter if the spirit was hurt, it could simply heal its body with more mana; this was not
true for the real body.
There was a reason why all the times before, Raze had continued to use the technique
while he was stuck in a cave. It was due to the safety of it all.
Using such a technique put him at a large disadvantage and in more ways than one. One of
them being that it took up mana.
Even if he went back to his original body, he would have less mana than before. On top of
that, his real body was defenseless while in this state.
He didn't worry about those things for now; instead, it was the first time he was traveling
with the other member of the Dark Guild, the person who was to have started this entire
project in the first place.
The two of them had exited from the land below and reached the surface, already splitting
up from Kelly and Sophie.
Right after that, he noticed Harvey tap the side of his finger, allowing him to change his
uniform. He was now in a magical blazer just like that of stylish mages would wear.
It was the first time Raze was seeing his face as well. Slightly rugged with short facial hair
all over, stubble as if a person couldn't be bothered to shave.
On top of that, the underneath of his eyes was slightly dark as well.
"Follow me for now. I'm pretty sure things will be able to go smoothly." Harvey
commented, existing out of the alleyway and going back to the main street.
It was daytime this time in Alterian, with flying vehicles above, large advertisements
playing nearly on every single building in sight.
It was always an odd feeling for him every time he came back here.
"If you are expecting trouble it will be best that you let me know. I can only provide so
much support in the current form I am in now," Raze said.
Raze was still wondering who this man exactly was, why so obsessed to the point of
creating the Dark Guild. How was he able to get information on other members that could
use Dark Magic as well?
"I'm happy that you came up with this plan," Harvey said as he continued to walk. "I had
always planned to do something like this myself, but only when we had a larger number of
members."
"You see, we have had other members of the guild before, but most of them come and go.
Me and that woman are the only two that have managed to survive so long."
"If I was to lend them some of what I have, I was afraid that it might fall into the wrong
hands."
"And with you, you know that it's absolutely safe," Raze asked.
"Yes," Harvey said as they had stopped just outside a police station.
Raze could read the sign clearly above. He was surprised why they were here of all places.
"This is where I work," Harvey said. "What better place to keep materials than to keep it in
plain sight."
Raze thought the same thing, which was why he had hid his stash at the academy. Harvey
was part of the police force, so they could seize items in their building.
They thought they were safely protected, unaware of who was working for them. This was
a good position to be in for a number of reasons, and now Raze knew how he was able to
learn Dark Magic as well.
"So do we need to sneak in? Any spells that you need me to cast?" Raze asked.
Harvey shook his head. "No worries, you are just a member that is helping me on a case. I
have access to everything in here; I'm the chief after all."
Harvey started to walk in, and Raze followed behind. Learning he was the chief though,
now he was even more curious as to why this person chose to idolize and follow the Dark
Magus.
With that, the two of them had headed on inside.
Kelly and Sophie had left together, and she had mixed feelings as she took the train back to
the academy. In some ways she was relieved that there was no need for her to go on a
dangerous mission.
While at the same time, she was a little upset that she wouldn't be heading off with the
Dark Spirit, going on their next adventure.
"Oh right…I forgot to tell him because he left in such a hurry," Kelly said to herself with her
hand held out. Sophie was licking it with her little pink tongue.
Even though she was actually a human, she had many cat traits as well.
"He told me to look into high-ranking mages that had disappeared a while ago. It seems like
there was someone that fits who he was looking for, a mage that went by the name Nafob
Alok… I'll tell him about it next time."
Just as Harvey had said, both Raze and him were easily able to walk through the office with
no problem at all.
There were many officers that paid their respects to Harvey. Some asked who Raze was,
but with a simple explanation, he was able to just walk in.
This was what a higher position allowed one to do. Seeing this, it made him wonder though,
how many people were under the Grand Magus.
If Harvey could do something like this, then the Grand Magus were able to do this almost
anywhere.
Eventually they had gone to the back, into a large storage room, where evidence was kept
for nearly every case they dealt with.
"Everything that you need is compiled in one area, courtesy to what you need. Although it's
easy in this station, there are many other stations that might hold even more items."
"I don't have the same weight, and it's not as easy, but I think we can work something out, I
just thought it was best to go to this place first."
Raze nodded, he was more than happy and surprised it was this easy to get what he was
looking for.
Heading down the row of shelves at the very back to the right, just as Harvey said, there
was everything to do with Dark Magic.
There were half-torn scrolls, ripped-out pages, images, and even books. Picking up the
books, Raze started to glance at them one by one.
He was trying to see if there was anything he could find that would be of use to the
situation he was in, and he had finally found it.
'Enchanting with Dark Magic… there are so many details in here… this is it, this is what I've
been looking for.'
Closing the book, Raze started to look at the details, and could see a name imprinted at the
bottom.
"Nafob Alok."
Chapter 593 Where Did Dark Magic Come From?
Chapter 593 Where Did Dark Magic Come From?
The single book had gained a lot of interest from Raze. He was flipping the pages back and
forth, looking at them in detail.
So engrossed in the book, he was taking in the information there and then. He thought that
he might have to figure out a solution of his own through the information of the book, but
that wasn't the case at all.
In the book itself, the solution was there, the answer he had been looking for. A way to
increase the strength of one's enchantments, not using the three known methods already,
and it was something that only Dark Magic could do.
Because he was so amazed by the research, Raze took a look at the name. Wondering if it
linked to any of the other books or knowledge about Dark Magic that he knew. However, he
was unable to recognize the name at all.
"It seems you found what you were looking for?" Harvey said as he came over, and placed
down a box of extra materials concerning Dark Magic.
These were materials that had yet to be sorted, and he was going through them himself
before bringing them to the Dark Spirit.
"Do you have anything else that was written by this person?" Raze asked, showing the
book. "Nafob Alok."
The book was worn, and even had a special type of wax put over it to preserve it. It was
hard to tell how old it was, but it looked similar to books Raze dealt with as a professor that
were hundreds of years old, maybe even longer.
"I can't say I have, but we have a database that logs all the items put in. I can get my team to
look through pictures and see if they spot anything with that name. It might help us save
some time as well."
"That way, we won't have to go to every station and raise suspicions and can go just to the
ones that have the same name. From the looks of things, the book is fairly old, the older the
text the more information there was on Dark Magic, at least that's what I found."
"There's a reason for that," Raze replied. "Back in the past, at a time of frequent war while
magic was still used, Dark Magic wasn't considered so much of a taboo."
"Practically everyone born who had become a mage would have to consider murder. Which
is why the Dark Magic techniques are so deadly as well. A peaceful era had arrived, and
shortly after there was the banning of all Dark Magic."
"At first, it was just the banning of further study and prohibiting anyone to learn the magic,
but during this time, the continents were still under control of a single emperor. The
emperor later decided to execute all those that knew Dark Magic."
"There was a culling and a burning of the text and most of the history that occurred during
that time, bringing us to the time today.
"Of course, we don't have emperors in this day and age, but at the moment we do have the
Grand Magus."
Using his special blazer, Raze had stored the book away; he had gotten his answer but
perhaps there would be more information.
With the rest of the texts on the side, he took them all away as well. New spells could come
in handy for him to use as time went on.
After taking away everything on the shelves, he decided to sort through the boxes as well.
"I have a question to ask you, that has been bugging me for a while… Dark Spirit," Harvey
added at the end, but the words were almost more of an afterthought than anything.
"It's quite clear that you were looking for something, you aren't just looking for these texts
to help advance our Dark Guild… why would you need all of this? If you are an acolyte of
the Dark Magus, don't you already know everything that is needed to know?" Harvey asked.
This question made Raze wonder, how many people knew the real truth of the Dark
Magus? In many Alterian eyes, was he just someone who had decided to go against the
mages, learning Dark Magic.
Was he a master of some kind wishing to bring back Dark Magic to the masses like that in
the past? Very few, if any, would find it hard to believe if he stated he was just an old man
by then, simply wishing to get his vengeance.
Someone who was a master of Wind Magic, who dabbled in Dark Magic to help him achieve
his goal. He was no grand master of Dark Magic, far from it, especially with his Wind Core.
But… perhaps in this life, he could become a master of Dark Magic.
"The Dark Magus might not be exactly who you think he is. He isn't some type of god; in
fact, I'm pretty sure he is more like most of you. Someone who was hurt by the world and
just wanted to find a way to hurt it back," Raze answered.
"Just like you, though, I plan to continue where the Dark Magus left off, The annihilation of
the Grand Magus, so I myself have to get stronger as well."
"I will study these texts, sort out what is useful information for the guild to have. Since I
can't be here for long, and won't always be here for the meetings, I will leave things to you."
Harvey's heart was pounding when he heard those words. The expansion of the Dark Guild,
a big change would be coming to Alterian; he could feel that they were at the tip of it.
They were close to letting themselves be known to the entire world.
"Sir!" A young police officer had barged into the room opening the door.
"What are you doing Sine!" Harvey shouted. "I told you not to disturb me."
"But… there is an important message, those from headquarters are here again, I think they
want an update on the situation from before!"
"Well, tell them I'll be with them in a second," Harvey replied back.
This wasn't a good situation, the people from headquarters wanted him to look into the
Dark Magus, most likely working on orders from one of the Grand Magus.
They would surely question a stranger being in the room with them. To stop anything going
wrong, the Dark Spirit would have to stay in the room while he sorted things out there.
The young officer looked down the hallway though. "Sir, they are here." He gulped.
Harvey went to look at his side, telling the Dark Spirit to get out of there, or at least hide,
but when he looked to his side, he was already gone.
Vanished into thin air, he had left as quickly as he had come.
Shortly after coming into the room, were the three officers from headquarters, coming into
the room.
Harvey was still looking around, trying to make sure the Dark Spirit wasn't there.
"Is there something I can help you with?" Harvey asked.
Raze could feel it, the people walking down the hall having an immense amount of magic
power. Worried that he would get caught and already having what he needed in his hands.
He decided to stop the astral projection. What he didn't expect when opening his eyes, was
to see a large enemy ready to swing his hammer down at both Anna and Rayna.
Chapter 594 Raze’s Attack Back!
Chapter 594 Raze's Attack Back!
Raze had managed to arrive just in the nick of time, and all of it was due to a string of
coincidences. He had to thank the police from headquarters for coming in when they had
done so; otherwise, he wouldn't have left his Spirit form so soon.
As soon as he opened his eyes, he immediately used one of the strongest skills in his
arsenal, the Eclipse Strike formation, not only just the Eclipse Strike formation but one
filled with Dark Magic.
When using this skill in the past, it obliterated everything in its path, and it was even how
he had managed to catch the Behemoth Clan middle stage warrior in the past when he was
just an initial stage warrior.
Yet having used the skill just now on an opponent, it merely made him stumble back with
his large weapon. He could tell from this alone that the opponent in front of him was a
strong one, and one that he needed to take seriously.
With his other hand, a blue pill appeared and Raze gulped it down, restoring part of his
mana energy rather than his Qi.
'I haven't used the cursed pill, I need to keep that for now, but I used quite a bit of mana
when using the Spirit form, and now, I'm in a fight like this,' Raze thought.
Readying his sword again, he looked straight ahead at the large figure in front of him.
"Ha, this is great, I never expected an alchemist like you to put up such a fight!" Yanin said
with the strange hammer weapon over his shoulder.
"I guess the rumors were true, the attacker with the Crimson Crane, it really was the Dark
Magus, you are the one that they are calling the new Demon of the Demonic Faction, I guess
you have some strength to back it up."
Right now Raze had his white hair showing, he had used a large amount of magic along
with his Qi attack, so appearances couldn't be kept up.
However, in the Demonic Faction, the name that had spread known as White Dragon had
quickly faded due to the constant flow of new news that was going around.
It was also a name that belonged to one in the Dark Faction not the Demonic Faction so no
one assumed such a person would be here.
"It's a shame, someone so young, you have a lot of potential to grow stronger, but it will all
be stopped here. You should have joined us when you had the chance!"
Winding his feet, Raze held the sword by his side, Dark Magic started to gather by the hilt,
as well as his massive amount of Qi.
Right after, Raze used the first descending step formation, and then the fourth kicking off
both feet and diving right ahead toward Yanin.
"Void Pulse Formation!"
The sword was thrust forward, and a large ripple of Dark Magic and Qi exploded from
behind the sword pushing it right into Yanin's chest piece.
The attack was so fast, so unexpected for Yanin; it had completely hit him in the stomach.
His legs lifted off his feet, Yanin felt the force lift him and carry him away.
Like a giant boulder, he flew out breaking more of the wall that was already mostly broken,
across the street and crashing straight through another building.
Rayna and Anna had gotten up on their feet, and Rayna was left with her mouth wide open.
'Raze… was able to do that… I knew he had become a middle stage warrior, due to his
strength, but to take out a fairly high middle stage warrior… to deliver that level of attack.
'How much stronger did he get, and what were those techniques? I've never seen such
techniques in the Light, Dark, or Demonic Faction.'
While walking back to the two girls, Raze switched to the Lux Sword. It increased healing
abilities and it also increased the recovery of his Qi and mana as well thanks to the
enchantment it gave to his blazer.
Standing by the two girls, he was hoping it would have some effect on them as well, even if
it was a little effect.
"Explain the situation to me, is it Sha Mo, has he come to attack?" Raze asked.
"It's the Behemoth Clan behind this, yes," Rayna explained. "But Sha Mo is not involved in
the attack himself."
"He has come with around a thousand men," Anna explained. "The Crimson Crane are
engaged with them along with 200 or so fighters, although that number has most likely
lowered significantly now."
"Those aren't what we have to worry about though, the man that you just went against, he
is one of the two pillars of the Behemoth Clan. They are the strongest in the Behemoth Clan,
second to Sha Mo himself."
The attack was something Raze had expected; he was just hoping there was more time. He
didn't know whether to be thankful that Sha Mo hadn't come himself or whether this was
considered a big attack due to the two pillars as well as the amount of warriors involved.
"Taking out a 1000 men, along with another one like him will be troublesome with the
amount of Qi we have, especially since he's not out yet," Raze said looking over at the
destroyed buildings.
A rumbling was being felt, and a powerful Qi was felt on every single one of them. It was
pushing them down, making them almost fall to the floor.
They could see Yanin, climbing out with pieces of wood, brick, and cement falling off his
body. He had the large hammer held in his hand; the flattened end was glowing.
The Qi was building up, and Raze could feel it. Wasting no time, the hammer was lifted in
the air, and was swung down to strike the floor.
Even though there was a distance of at least thirty meters between the two, it didn't seem
like Yanin cared.
Raze quickly placed one of his hands on the ground, and giant ice pillars were created from
the floor. Looking like the tip of an iceberg.
Six of them grew from the ground between the two.
The large attack from Yanin shook the ground, and the energy went across the floor. It
destroyed, ripping apart each of the large icebergs one by one.
They fell to the ground becoming nothing, and then Raze had no choice but to swing the
sword to try and stop the attack.
A massive amount of energy was activated, his blazer along with the effects of the Lux
Sword were at work, blocking the majority of the attack, but he still skidded across the
floor.
That was when Anna and Rayna got behind him, pushing each of his shoulders with Qi
trying to stop him from lifting off the ground.
It was a situation where Raze didn't mind getting touched.
Finally, he had stopped, and the mass amount of power could be felt going through Raze's
body. He could feel the taste of iron in his mouth, and the blazer healing him.
"This guy is a little tough… I need you two to do me a favor, we need to beat this guy, but
we have to keep him alive, we have to no matter what," Raze ordered.
Chapter 595 Defeat The Pillar
Chapter 595 Defeat The Pillar
Raze was thankful that he was wearing his specially designed blazer and had used the Lux
Sword because of it; his defenses were boosted, and the Qi from the strike that attacked
him internally was healing up as well.
If he had the Ghost Blade on him, perhaps the attack would have caused far greater
damage. Now he knew he was in a battle where he was going against a true middle stage
warrior.
Not those middle stage warriors that had just broken through, but one who had a massive
amount of experience in fighting and caused others to go into fear just by the presence of
his Qi.
Raze continued to hold the Lux Sword while looking at his opponent, who stood there
slightly confused. After unleashing his attack, he expected it to go straight towards Raze.
Yet it had hit large physical objects made out of ice. This went beyond the world that they
knew, creating something out of what was seemingly nothing. He had faced those with
strong visual Qi that could create images and condensed forms of attacks, but this was
entirely different.
In this brief moment, it gave time for Raze to think.
'This man, he managed to take two of my strongest Dark Edge Sword Art attacks straight
on, and he still is able to pull off an attack like that. These techniques use a lot of Qi and
mana… using the Lux Sword for a while will be best while I recover.'
Looking at the great person in front of him, that was when Raze started to get an inkling
that maybe this was the opportunity he had been looking for.
"Rayna, Anna, I need both of your help; we need to take out this guy, but we need to keep
him alive, no matter what."
Stunned looks appeared across both of their faces. The two of them, even with Raze's help,
were unsure if they could even beat Yanin, and then claim to keep him alive.
That was much harder to do, with a battle of life and death on the line and against such a
strong opponent… to beat someone until they were in submission.
The thing was, they didn't have much time to think about it, as they could see Yanin now
running right toward them. Even though he was large in size, his body was just as fast as
any Middle stage warrior and he bulldozed himself into the building.
His hammer was slammed down, and the whole building crumbled, falling to pieces. Raze
had lifted himself into the air with his wind magic and done the same with Rayna and Anna.
The two of them felt lighter and were being pulled by a force they didn't understand.
While in the air, and with Yanin's back turned, Raze swung his sword, using his wind magic.
"Crimson Slash!" Raze struck out a large red slash in the air that hit the corner of Yanin's
arm piece. The slash made a small cut with a splatter of blood but looked to not have done
much as he turned around, looking at Raze and the other two in the air.
"I think you have just revealed our location to the enemy, rather than succeeding in an
attack," Anna said.
Swinging his hands, Raze pushed both Rayna and Anna to the side, and they were falling to
the ground.
He could see Yanin gearing up, ready for another attack, as he bent his knees to jump up,
heading toward him.
Getting the Lux Sword ready once again, this time sparks lit up around the sword.
'I haven't just been sitting around doing nothing… before when I tried to combine magic
with certain techniques; it was quite difficult. I managed to produce the Crimson Strike, but
combining wind magic with the Devil's second formation.'
'The Dark Edge Sword Arts were made to work with Dark magic, but I also was able to use
Light magic as well. With all of this, I've started to get the gist of learning how to use magic
and Pagna Warrior techniques at the same time.'
'What I realized after getting the Lux Sword, which is based around Light magic, certain
weapons allow the use of magic to be combined with skills easier, and other than Light
magic, one of them is Lightning magic.'
The lightning around the sword grew in size, sparking all around him. Just as expected,
Yanin exploded with strength off his feet, jumping right at Raze who was staying above.
"Crimson Spark!" Raze shouted out as he swung the sword. A giant stream of Qi mixed with
lightning power came out from his weapon.
As the attack approached Yanin, he swung his hammer through it; the attack broke but
split, hitting every part of Yanin's body. He felt Qi flow through his body but with the nature
of lightning, giving him shocks all over his body.
With his wind magic, Raze moved himself to the side; Yanin continued to go up high due to
the momentum of his jump, but with his body electrified, he soon found himself falling out
of the sky.
Raze pushed himself with wind magic, getting to the ground before Yanin, and then, placed
his hand on the ground again. An ice pillar was being created, and he was breaking and
sharpening the edge into a giant spike.
It wasn't sharp enough, so he quickly swung his sword, cutting the ice even further to try to
sharpen it more, and Yanin was seen falling and tumbling to the floor.
'I've… used up a lot of mana,' Raze thought. 'I also realized when consuming the Qi pill, it
had a greater effect thanks to the combined use of the blazer and Lux Sword as well. It's
good to use both of these things passively, especially while I'm recovering.'
Raze was starting to feel a harmony of things as they were working together in healing him.
He was now standing in the middle of the street; he had witnessed Yanin crashing through
the ice pillar, but most of it was crushed by his weight, unsure of the impact it had.
Running out from the two sides were both Rayna and Anna.
"Can you please tell me if you're going to do something like that… my heart was beating so
fast!" Rayna exclaimed as she came forward.
Anna didn't say anything, but having magic used on her certainly did feel strange.
"I thought you said you wanted to just beat the guy, not kill him; what was with that Ice
pillar?" Rayna asked.
"Don't worry, I concluded from the attacks earlier, magic alone isn't going to be enough to
kill him," Raze said.
A rumbling in the distance could be felt again as they could feel a large mass amount of Qi
being used.
Both Rayna and Anna still had the thought when they could see this, did Raze still plan to
subdue him, but why? The only thing they could think of in their mind was that Raze was
going to use his extraction technique to absorb the strength of Yanin, making him stronger
than he was now.
If it was for that reason, then it would be worth it.
"Rayna, Anna, it's time now." Raze held out his hand, and the Lux sword started to change,
turning into that of the Ghost blade. "It's time for all of us to go on the attack; if either you
were holding anything back before, we need to use it all now, but just remember, keep him
alive!" Raze said.
Like a bulldozer, they could see the large Yanin rushing through the street, coming at all
three of them.
"Fine.. I'll help you out, but you owe me," Anna said as she took off the cloth she was
wearing on her body, revealing the true look of her body, glowing red with power.
Chapter 596 You are my Experiment
Chapter 596 You are my Experiment
Anna stood there without the cloth on her body, yet she wasn't completely bare. A strange,
tight-fitting material was on her body. It was shiny, making it appear as if it was made from
a type of metal. Yet it couldn't have been such a material due to how flexible it was on her
body. At the same time, it was a dark grey in color.
On the strange material that clung to her body there were lines and circles that were
glowing red in areas, such as the shoulder, her elbow, and her wrist. All of these areas were
now glowing bright red. The appearance reminded Raze of when he had first seen Zon, yet
it was also slightly different at the same time.
"I'll help out, but I don't think I'll be able to fight like this for long… I'm not like him," Anna
said.
Finishing her sentence, she rushed forward; a trail of red glow lingered in the air, and she
was moving even faster than that of Yanin from the Behemoth Clan.
She rushed forward and jumped, clenched her fist and threw it right at the head of the
hammer. The red glow on her body ignited furiously; she was like a bright star in front of
Yanin.
The great force had pushed Yanin back despite his Qi, causing him to stumble; the moment
she landed on the ground, she ignited again and went for his legs, hitting him constantly
each time.
Yanin had lifted his hammer, trying to take the force of the hits, his body swaying slightly
side to side from Anna's punches.
He then swung it on the floor, hitting the ground but managed to hit nothing but just
destroy rows of houses in one direction.
"Yanin!" Rayna shouted as she had gathered strength once again and used this distraction
to her advantage, throwing out her spear and hitting him right in the stomach.
His legs felt weak, and using this moment, Anna had come from above and slammed him
with two fists above his head, sending him buckling to the ground.
"You are not welcome in my town; you will be a warning to Sha Mo, that he should have
never underestimated us!"
Lifting up the spear, the top of it bashed onto the top of Yanin's head again, hitting it into
the ground.
This only further angered him, and the Qi around his body started to grow larger and
larger.
When Anna came back to attack and delivered a strong hit on his shoulder, he no longer
stumbled to the side. She quickly moved, trying to make another hit, but the red glow in her
armor was starting to fade.
While Anna's power was getting weaker, Yanin's power was growing stronger.
"A mere alchemist, the daughter of a declining clan, and a stranger, will not bring me
down!" Yanin yelled, standing on his feet; his strong Qi aura pushed Anna away, her energy
fading, and Rayna blocked herself while focusing to try not to get consumed by the rampant
Qi.
It was the most Qi she had felt in a battle. He had been fighting for a while, injured by all of
their attacks including the Dark Magus's, yet he still had this much Qi.
However, as Rayna looked at Yanin, she could feel an even more fierce buildup of Qi.
Looking on the floor, the dirt was moving away from her and toward Yanin, turning around,
a force had been building up far stronger than she could have imagined.
"Ten Descending Steps!" Raze had rushed forward after completing the build-up of the Ten
Descending Steps; the Qi had accumulated, and the two women had done enough to buy
him time to build up the steps.
It was the largest issue with the steps, how long they took to build up. At the same time,
Raze had the sword by his side, the Ghost Blade.
It was glowing fiercely bright, and looked several times larger due to the buildup of Qi, and
around the guard of the sword, Dark Magic was swirling around.
"Magic Void Pulse Formation!" Raze shouted, and dashed forward.
He moved like a beam of light. Bursting from his feet, the bursting of magic and Qi from
behind pushed him forward, and the sword had gone right through Yanin.
Raze was now past Yanin's body, and left behind him, there was a trail of blood on the
ground. Following the trail of blood on the floor, there now was an entire missing leg where
Yanin stood.
With only one leg, Yanin was in the middle of falling, and Raze wasn't done yet.
His sword started to wrap around, and moving in again, he swung the sword in a snake-like
shape.
"Shadow Bind Formation!"
Visual Qi along with magic restricted his body, holding him in place.
However, Raze was sweating, his chest felt like it was in incredible pain. He felt like he
would collapse at any moment and had to switch to the Light Lux Sword in his hand.
In the middle of switching, he fell to his knees.
'Not enough… not yet,' Raze thought.
Lifting his head though, he could see that Rayna had run up one of the buildings on the side,
she jumped in the air, and started to spin her spear in the air rapidly.
The Qi was flowing through her entire body, and she swung it down, hitting the end right
on top of Yanin's head.
A loud bang like explosion went off; wind from the attack blew several of the roofs nearby,
and at the same time, Yanin's body was swaying, until he fell to the ground.
Yanin, one of the pillars of the Behemoth Clan, had been defeated by three individuals the
world had yet to really know of.
At the same time, one of the small circling plates had seen everything. It had witnessed
everything that had been used including the non-Pagna techniques, as well as a person that
didn't even seem like they were from this world.
What was he to do now, how would he report this, how would anyone believe the words he
wrote down without having witnessed it himself?
He was stuck in a situation he never believed he would be, and now what was to be the
result of Yanin… why did Raze want him alive?
After allowing the sword to do a little bit of its work, Raze had to dig the sword into the
ground to help lift himself up.
He had pushed himself beyond what he had expected, even using the strongest moves. The
enemies were becoming more difficult to deal with, and perhaps if he didn't have the Lux
and Ghost swords, this fight would have been a loss.
Walking over, he looked at Anna, who had collapsed along with Rayna, both of them
somewhat lying on the floor with their upper bodies leaning up, looking at Yanin.
"You two did well; you helped me out more than you think," Raze said.
"You were the one that made our job harder by telling us to keep him alive, so now do what
you need to do," Anna said.
Thinking that he would absorb him, however, Raze instead pulled out a piece of chalk and
started to draw a magic circle underneath his body.
"This man will become the catalyst for my first experiment!" Raze said with a deep smile.
Chapter 597 A New Creation
Chapter 597 A New Creation
Raze had finished drawing the large magical circle under the body of Yanin. Both Rayna and
Anna were confused. They had assumed the reason he wanted to keep him alive was so he
could absorb him with the infamous extraction technique, yet now he was doing something
odd.
Due to the situation as well, Raze had stopped worrying about hiding his magic from the
others. The strength of the enemy was too much to worry about them, and his strength was
growing at a rate now where he felt like he could deal with the situation as it came.
The only issue was using magic, even creating magical items and the chance of a dimension
break happening. Yet Raze also predicted that it was nothing he had to worry about.
There were two reasons for this. The first was the fact that there was already a dimension
nearby the town. From the knowledge he had gathered, never had there been a case where
a dimension was at least 5 kilometers within each other. Perhaps because there was
already a dimension from another world opening to this one, it was unaffected. Then there
was a second reason why he was so confident.
During his battle against Yanin, he didn't hold back in using his magical powers, but now
there should have already been a situation where a portal would have opened if that was
the case.
After finishing drawing the magic circle around the large Yanin, Raze continued drawing
more circles and a larger one in the formation. It was a good thing they were doing this in
the street and that there was no one nearby due to the size of all the drawings he needed to
make.
In the bigger circle, there were two more circles that had been drawn with patterns on the
inside, one with Yanin's body inside it. Then Raze pulled out a power stone placing it in
another one of the smaller circles within the bigger circle.
Finally, Raze had also brought out a large black shield and placed it in one of the circles.
"That shield, I recognize it along with the high-level power stone as well!" Rayna thought.
"When we were in the Lethal Bite Clan's base, the Crimson Crane, that man with the shield,
Tilon, they had given him the materials and shield for him to work on."
Dreaded thoughts started to fill Rayna's mind, but it still seemed impossible. Raze was the
Dark Magus, an Alchemist that created Qi pills.
It was only recently she found out that he also created weapons and that was what the
Crimson Crane were after him for as well.
What was all the setup for? Was she about to witness how the Dark Magus created his
weapons and if so why was there a need for a life?
Getting to the edge of the magic circle, Raze placed the Lux Sword away, having recovered a
small amount of his mana, but it would be enough for what he needed to do.
Placing his hands on the floor, Dark Magic started to linger out, and the large magic circle lit
up. It started from the very edge.
When the edge lit up, the circles in the center started to light up as well around the items
placed on the floor, including Yanin.
'The book, in Alterian, it has given a way, a way for one to increase the enchantment of
magical items!' Raze thought.
'In a traditional sense, the power stone, the item itself, and the magic used, these are the
three limitations of the weapon one can produce.'
'Using Dark Magic transcends these limitations, but it comes at a cost of the item being
cursed, but in that book, there was another method.'
'A way to increase the enchantment rank of a weapon was to add another variable into the
mix, and that was, of a strong life force!'
This was the reason why Raze wanted to keep Yanin alive. A strong middle-stage warrior,
surely the Qi in his body would be enough to strengthen the weapon.
The reason he had never thought of such a method was because it was inhuman in a way.
His experiments were going through the knowledge of other magical attributes.
Having forgotten that the Dark Magic was based around death in the first place. However,
one needed to know a lot more than just the magic circle that was needed for such a thing,
or a strong life force.
There was also a specific technique that needed to be done in order to extract the life force
and use it in the weapon creation process.
As the magic circle lit up, Rayna and Anna noticed that Yanin's large body was starting to
shrivel up. The large size was getting small, the skin sagging while getting tighter as well.
"This, it looks just like the extraction technique!" Rayna said.
When Raze had read through the book he had thought the same, and that was when he
started to come up with a theory.
Why was there a relation between the Dark Magic founder and the Demonic Faction? How
did the two come to meet?
At the same time, why could Raze perform the extraction technique faster than any of the
other warriors or those from the Demonic Faction? How did the two come to meet?
At the same time, why could Raze perform the extraction the Demonic Faction?
Was it because he was talented in Pagna martial arts? That was unlikely; all of his skills in
martial arts came from his knowledge and control in magic. The similarities between them.
That was when it clicked to him, the extraction technique that was known to be a warrior
technique, what if it wasn't a warrior technique.
What if it was a magic technique instead? Taking one's life force and adding it to your own,
it sounded a lot like the Dark Magic Raze knew.
And now, there was an enchanting technique that also required one to take the power from
one person and add it to the item.
The answer was, the extraction technique was originally created by those that practiced
Dark Magic, and its main use was for this moment, to create powerful Enchanted Weapons.
Yanin's life was no more, and the crystal had disappeared, the large black shield was now
illuminating and pulsating with power.
"What… has he created?" Rayna said with her mouth wide open.
Chapter 598 Finally, I Get What I Want
Chapter 598 Finally, I Get What I Want
The shield was pulsating with power. The crystal was gone, and the life force of Yanin was
no longer. Everyone who was still fighting on the battlefield had no idea that one of the
pillars had been defeated and not only defeated but was used as an ingredient when
creating a weapon.
However, there was one of the small circle objects that was still observing everything, that
had witnessed everything. Bubble was in the safety of his own tower, covered in sweat.
'This whole situation, it's unexplainable to the people of Pagna. One of the pillars of the
Demonic Faction turned into a weapon. People will never believe this… and what about the
weapon itself? If a life force like Yanin was used in it, just how strong will it be?'
Looking at the shield itself and approaching it, Raze had a large smile on his face. He had
used some of his final bits of magic to reveal what effects and state the shield was in, and he
could safely say the whole thing was a success.
'This is a much better result,' Raze thought. 'I could have extracted the energy of Yanin and
added it to my own, but I know that a small percentage of power from warriors is actually
absorbed into my dantian.
'It takes a lot to increase each of the stages. Not only that, but great enchanted items can be
a sure way to win a fight.'
Raze was thinking about the Lux Sword along with the blazer. These two items alone had
increased his power several-fold, and there was one more reason for creating powerful
items.
'Items can be handed to anyone to increase one's power. It can fill the gap and the
difference between people's strength. With this, if I give it to those I can trust, then only
more power will grow.'
Grabbing onto the shield, Raze could feel in that moment he was quite weak. He had been
fighting a tough fight, had used the Qi pills and expanded next to all of his mana.
"This shield, is it for… the Crimson Crane?" Rayna asked.
"Yes, you remember the man, dressed in black, the bulky square-shaped man. This is for
him," Raze answered.
"We need to deliver it to him as soon as possible, right?" Anna said. "Right now, there is still
another one of the two Pillars that they are fighting against. I can tell that you no longer
have the strength to fight against him."
The thing was, it was the same for Rayna and Anna as well. The two of them had expanded
all of their energy as well.
"Deliver this to him," Raze said. "This should be enough to get them to victory, but we are
still in a war; there is more that we need to do."
Just as Raze said that, a group of Behemoth Clan warriors were running through the street
with weapons in hand.
They were yelling at the top of their lungs. When they came close, Rayna was able to
tighten her grip on her spear and swung it, whacking one in the face.
Anna charged forward and flipped them over her, sending them into the air and crashing
back down onto the ground.
"Right," Anna said. "There is more than just the Pillars to worry about… is there a solution
to this?"
"Let's head to the main battlefield and make sure they get their shield first," Raze
answered.
On the battlefield itself, the Crimson Crane had grouped up with the citizens that had been
willing to fight. They were fighting together in groups of around thirty against the
Behemoth Clan.
They found this was the best way for them to instruct who to go for, and the Crimson Crane
could just injure rather than defeat members themselves and leave the rest for the others
to pick off.
It was the best strategy they could come up with; however, it also meant that they were
unable to help Alba and Tilon.
Tilon had been hit into the air, his shield that he was using completely shattered. When
landing on the floor, he didn't get much time to rest either as Behemoth Clan members had
jumped on him.
With his large fists, he grabbed them by the head, smashing them into one another and
continued to fight, but how could he help Alba now?
Without him, surely she would be struggling, and he was right. Polter was wildly swinging
his arms, hitting Alba, with each hit and block, it almost felt like it was getting faster.
Polter was using Alba's great swordsmanship against her. Her blocking the attacks, his
sword felt like it was rebounding, and the momentum of the swing was building up until
Polter had reached an incredible speed.
Alba was already covered in cuts from head to toe, on the floor a trail of her own blood left
behind from the marks on her body.
Her arms were incredibly numb and heavy, ready to drop down at any moment, but the
second she dropped them, her body would be sliced in half.
"I can't… I can't hold on anymore!"
Through the crowd of people, Tilon could see Alba suffering from a bombardment of hits.
"I am the shield of the Crimson Crane, I need to help her, I need to!" Tilon pushed one of the
Behemoth Clan members to the floor, and right in front of him, Rayna had dropped down.
"If you're going to help her, then it's best you take this!" Rayna said.
A large black shield shaped like a giant V. On the outer edge, it was glowing oddly white, as
if there was a power source on the shield itself.
Then, on the outer marking of the shield itself largely engraved there was the marking of
DM.
"This is… is this it… is this finally it, is this the shield made by the Dark Magus!" Tilon said.
"Just take the shield already," Rayna threw it in the air, and Tilon grabbed it on the other
end. It was light, incredibly light to him.
"Save your leader, do it now!" Rayna shouted. "And make the Behemoth Clan regret they
ever came here!"
Chapter 599 The Best Creation Of The Dark Magus
Chapter 599 The Best Creation Of The Dark Magus
Listening to Rayna's words, Tilon needed to snap out of his daze. For a long time, he had
been longing for a great shield made by the Dark Magus.
Especially after seeing the great effects Reno and Kizer had with their weapons. If anything,
he was getting annoyed with them being rubbed in his face every day.
The anticipation was building in him, and now finally, he held the shield in his hands, but it
needed to be used almost instantly.
Tilon looked toward Alba. "Great Shield, right now I need your help more than anything!"
Firmly Tilon held onto the shield, and used one of his well-known defensive techniques. He
charged forward, driving his leg into the ground with it pointed in front of him.
The pointed edge of the bottom of the V-shaped shield ripped through the ground with
each step he took. The Behemoth Clan members, seeing this, went to strike the shield.
They used their techniques, the Qi in their bodies, and hit the shield from the edge, but it
did nothing. The shield felt just as light as if nothing was even attacking it from the other
side.
If anything, with each hit, it felt like Tilon was getting re-energized. All of the energy, all of
the injuries and aches and pains he had, they were getting better.
He had failed to notice it because he was on a one-track mind to come right to Alba's side.
A large swing from Polter was made, and at that moment, Alba felt like she couldn't lift her
hands. They had given up on her, all of her energy was spent.
When it was swung, she expected to no longer see life in her eyes, instead she had an
almighty large clang, in her right ear.
"Tilon!" Alba said, she was surprised but didn't even have the energy to really shout out his
name.
"I'm the shield of the Crimson Crane, so my duty is to protect you, at all costs," Tilon said
with a smile.
The hit had been completely blocked, but not just that, just like earlier despite the person
attacking it on the other end being a powerful middle stage warrior, Tilon didn't budge at
all.
It was almost as if the attack felt weightless.
"You again, you're back!" Polter noticed. He could tell he had a new shield but assumed it
was just something that had been picked up.
At that point, Polter started to swing his curved weapon constantly at Tilon this time just
like he had done Alba.
Since Alba looked like she couldn't move anyway, Tilon would have to stay where he was if
he wanted to protect her.
Yet each time the attack was blocked by the shield. Tilon was moving it left and right with
ease, and blocking each of the attacks.
His body wasn't swinging side to side, nor did Tilon have the appearance of discomfort on
his face as he blocked each hit, and unlike before when taking the hits, he realized the
strength that was building up within him.
'The shield it's still so light, it's as light as moving a piece of paper!' Tilon thought while
continuing to block every one of the attacks.
'Even when I get hit, the attacks aren't pushing me back, it's almost as if all the energy is
taken away by the shield, but is that possible, is it possible for such a thing to exist?'
'And people might call me crazy if I think like this, but with every hit that I'm blocking, my
energy is rising, in fact, my body feels like it's completely healed now, maybe I have even
more Qi flowing through me than before.'
Just like the other Cursed Shields that Raze had created, this shield had the same effect. It
was able to give energy to the user that was holding onto the shield.
Tilon didn't notice it before with the other attackers from the Behemoth Clan because he
was far too distracted.
Also, he was noticing it now because the strikes from Polter were far stronger than the
others, he could notice a significant increase to his strength.
As for another effect that was gained by the shield, it had a weightless effect.
When one was using the shield it would be weightless allowing a person to move just like
they could their own arm.
This was why Tilon was able to easily block the hits. Of course, this also meant that it still
relied on Tilon's speed.
If someone was faster than him, and didn't block an attack he would still get hurt, but Tilon
was used to lugging around a heavy shield all the time.
A shield user to protect all of the others, he was faster than people gave him credit for and
people were just realizing that now.
On top of that, the weightless effect of the shield was permanent. It meant even when being
attacked, taking hits, and so on it would always be weightless.
Large scale attacks would become nothing, the weight of one's hit, the force of one's Qi,
wouldn't be transferred to the user.
It was an odd thing to see because now Tilon was like that of a solid rock as he blocked
each hit and with his energy coming back he was moving it even faster and faster.
"Is this all you're going to do, is that it!" Polter shouted annoyed. He was a little fearful.
None of his attacks were getting through and he was starting to imagine just how strong
this person might have been. It was quite possible due to the fight he had a breakthrough.
Still, Polter was right, just defending and blocking was what could Tilon do, how could he
win a fight. His attacks wouldn't be strong enough to damage one of the pillars, Alba's
wasn't either.
"Tilon!" Rayna shouted after getting through and defeating a few more of the Behemoth
Clan members. "I have a message for you, from the Dark Magus, listen carefully because
right now, I'm going to tell you everything your shield can do."
"That item is more special than you realize!" Rayna shouted.
The item created by Raze this time, it wasn't at the Mythical level.
[Legendary Ranked Cursed Shield]
Chapter 600 The Legendary Tier's Power
Chapter 600 The Legendary Tier's Power
A message was being passed on from the Dark Magus Raze to Tilon through Rayna. Needing
to sort out another problem, Raze had left things in her hands, and he made sure to tell her
clearly what the shield could do.
For this shield was the greatest creation of the Dark Magus yet. There were three tiers of
items that Alter had considered worthy of their time and resources to gather and get.
At the lowest of the three, there was the Mythical Rank; these ranked items were such
things as the Earring and the Statue that Raze had created. Both of them were items that
needed to be unsealed.
This time though, Raze hadn't created a sealed item; with the use of a powerful enemy, he
had managed to create a Legendary ranked item, just underneath the God tier, and it had
the powers to go with it as well.
"Listen up, and listen well!" Rayna said, shouting as she continued to fight. She was weaker
than usual so she was struggling a bit but carried on swinging her spear as she explained
things.
"The first thing...
The first effects of the shield that she had explained to Tilon was what he had already
figured out himself. The weightlessness of the shield including the increased power one
would get for attacks that were blocked.
What was also explained though, like that of the Lux Sword, the power wouldn't just
restore one's Qi, but also heal the user using it as long as they continued to block the
attacks.
This was something that Tilon was unaware of, but then came the next set of explanations
about what the shield was able to do.
"Now that you understand this, I'll explain how the rest of the shield works for you!" Rayna
shouted.
She didn't mind if others heard because none of them would believe a word that was being
said, even Polter that was attacking didn't believe that all of this could be the work of one
item.
The only person that would believe it was the creator and the one using it right now.
"The basis of the shield is the energy that's stored in it from blocking attacks. Once the
energy has been given to you as much as possible, as attacks continue to hit, it will continue
to store more energy in the shield itself!"
Tilon had already gone beyond the point where he was getting effects from the shield but
was still blocking Polter's attacks.
If anything Tilon was confident and started to move forward while blocking attacks, aiming
to get him away from Alba.
"First, if the shield is slammed into the ground, a mass amount of energy will come out
equivalent to what is stored, this will block attacks the moment it touches the ground at a
far bigger range!"
Right now, knowing this was useless, there was no way for Tilon to use it, and the attack
range of the person in front of him was direct.
It would be handy if they needed to block a bigger attack or multiple attacks at once; it still
wasn't a way for Tilon to use it.
"While the shield is in its upright position, this is its storing mode, as it blocks attacks,
slamming it releases the energy.
"However, if you turn the shield with its pointed end facing upwards, then it will reflect
attacks used on it!"
Hearing this, Tilon didn't waste any time, knowing how strong the effects were he was
putting his trust in the Dark Magus.
Turning his shield around he blocked an attack, and right as Polter's curved blade touched
it, he felt his large hand immediately get flung back.
Not only did it get flung back but a mass amount of Qi had hurt him, he could feel pain on
his hand, on his fingertips.
'What that woman is telling him… is it true, was it really able to deflect… my attack!' Polter
started to think.
What if everything she was saying was true.
"No energy needs to be stored to use the shield this way!" Rayna continued; she wanted to
say something else, but she thought it was best to leave it till the end.
"Lastly, there is one more thing the shield is able to do. If the shield is thrown, all the
energy stored in it will be unleashed, and the edge of the shield will become as sharp as a
sword!
"No matter where the shield is thrown, it will always come back to its user!"
Tilon had placed the shield back in the upright position and blocked another hit from
Polter.
A shield being used as an attack weapon, he had thought of barging and shoving the shield
into opponent's faces before but throwing it was unheard of.
He was a bit uneasy; after all, throwing this great shield, it could also mean losing it.
'I need to believe in the Dark Magus, he wouldn't lie and say such a thing to me!' Tilon
thought as he took the shield and hurled it.
The edge of the shield was glowing pulsating with all the power that had gathered blocking
Polter's attacks.
Seeing the shield coming at him, Polter swung his curved blade right at the shield but the
pulsating edge had cut right through the sword.
It went through it with next to no resistance at all; as it went forward it sliced right through
Polter's neck, his head started to fall to the side.
Then, the shield changed direction and had come right toward where Tilon was standing.
The shield ripped through the man's chest and came right back to Tilon's hand soaked in
blood.
Alba, with one of her eyes left open, she saw it, she managed to see everything.
'Even if the whole Crimson Crane were to go up against Polter, we would have lost, but with
that one item, Tilon managed to defeat him completely on his own, and with ease.'
'How could such an item exist… right now, with that shield, it might be no exaggeration to
say he's the strongest member in the Crimson Crane.'
Then another idea came into her head, wouldn't it then be the creator of such a shield
would be the strongest, and where exactly was the Dark Magus?
Not only that, but Rayna had one more thing to tell Tilon.
"That shield… is also Cursed…"
Chapter 601 Getting Rid Of 1000
Chapter 601 Getting Rid Of 1000
When seeing Tilon use the shield, there was a churning feeling inside of Rayna. She had
mentioned all of the details that Raze had given him, telling him how to use the shield, yet
she perhaps hadn't mentioned one of the most important things.
Due to the situation, and the fight at hand, Rayna thought if they didn't use the shield, then
they might have lost this fight against Polter.
Raze could no longer fight, Alba was down for the count, and even if they all teamed up
with their limited strength, it was unlikely they could take on Polter.
So due to the situation, she had explained how to use the shield but didn't explain the
downside to the shield as well.
"There's one more thing I need to tell you." Rayna said as she rushed over; she looked at
Polter on the ground confirming his death.
The Behemoth Clan were hesitant to attack; now they had witnessed one of their strongest
members to fall, and the vigor that was still on Tilon's face.
Tilon's face was so joyous that he hadn't even heard the words that Rayna had spoken
before, claiming that the item was cursed.
He was over the moon of the new weapon that was in his hand.
"The last thing the Dark Magus wanted me to inform you of is the effects of using the shield;
there are two things that you need to note." Rayna continued. "The first, if the shield is ever
destroyed in battle, then it will kill the user."
The smile was frozen on Tilon's face just then. His head slowly turning to look at Rayna.
"This shield… if it's destroyed, I'll die, did you say?" Tilon asked again, to which Rayna
nodded.
The shield he had been using to stop every one of Polter's attacks; if any one of them had
destroyed it, he would have died.
He started to think; if he was aware of such a thing, would he have used it willingly to block
all the hits he had.
It was almost as if one was using their own heart in a battle, blocking each strike hoping
that it wouldn't break. Sure, the shield was strong but nothing was unbreakable.
"I… can't use this shield… if I know that, how will I be able to use this shield now!" Tilon
dreaded.
"I believe the shield is strong." Rayna quickly answered. "You saw how it blocked all of the
attacks before, so it will not be broken easily."
This didn't seem to inspire Tilon regardless of this fact. Knowing his life was on the line
with the shield, he would be reluctant to use it.
"There is one more thing as well; if the shield is not used in combat, it means that it will no
longer store any energy, if that happens, within 24 hours of non-use, the shield will destroy
itself."
The strong energy that Tilon could feel, it had disappeared almost straight from his body.
He felt light-headed and nearly fell to his knees, but his shield stuck in the ground and he
was now leaning on it.
"This thing… if I don't use it, it will just be gone… does that also mean, if it's destroyed this
way, I will die as well." Tilon looked at Rayna hoping she wouldn't move her head the way
she had done, yet she still nodded it up and down.
"Nooo!" Tilon screamed, falling to his knees. Wondering if having such an item was worth
it, and regardless he had no choice now, he had to take the shield.
Alba, who had overheard everything, made note of this. Many of the Dark Magus's items
were incredibly strong, but all of them had negative effects as well.
Still, it was often like this in life; the items were still too good to give up. Especially if it gave
Tilon such tremendous power like she had seen.
Now, it was Tilon's fate as he was stuck with the shield.
"Don't be so beat up." Alba said. "Even if you knew everything about the shield, tell me,
would you still not have accepted it? Think how much power it managed to grant you in the
end."
Thinking about it, the surge of power that Tilon had felt was amazing, and never in a
hundred years did he think he would have the strength to defeat Polter on his own like he
had done just today.
Weighing up the pros and cons, he looked at his shield. "I guess the two of us are connected
right now then."
"Kill him!" one of the Behemoth Clan members shouted. "You heard what they said, destroy
the shield and he loses his life, kill him."
The short stoppage of the fighting was starting to ramp up. Even with the pillar defeated,
the Behemoth Clan were still high in numbers while the others looked defeated.
"We need to regroup with the others and figure out what to do? We knew what the
Demonic Faction is like even with taking out their lead of command, they will keep
fighting." Alba ordered.
Tilon grabbed Alba, lifting her over his shoulder, and ran through the crowd of attackers
along with Rayna; he continued to use his shield to effortlessly block the attacks.
As they were running back to the edge of the town, they were starting to realize just how
many members were still remaining.
"How are we going to get rid of them all?" Tilon said, even with his new shield.
"We need to trust in Raze." Rayna answered; he said he would handle this, that's why he
isn't here.
When getting to the edge of the town, that's when they could see it, Raze was standing on
one of the rooftops, looking at the fighting happening in the town slightly behind him, and
the main bulk of the attacking force in front of him as well.
"To get rid of this many, there is only one thing I can do." Raze said as he pulled out a Qi pill,
this time it was the Cursed Qi pill.
Consuming it, he felt the energy restoring within him. It was coming back; when all the
energy came back to him.
Raze pulled out the Ghost blade. The Dark Magic that surrounded it was forming a mist-like
aura.
At that point, Raze then stabbed the sword into the rooftop, and the black mist started to
spread out in all directions around them.
A heavy mist was filling the entire battlefield, and soon parts of that mist started to form
up. From the Dark Magic, creatures were being made.
Other human figures holding onto swords in their hands were appearing in front of the
army.
"Third formation of the Dark Edge Magic Sword Arts, the Nightmare Veil Formation…"
It was the same formation he had used when fighting the Lethal Bite Clan, only this time it
was extended into a far bigger range.
It wasn't quite used in the same way, as swings of the sword would be the attacks of
ferocious beasts and more. There was a lot more magic used in this attack; all the magic
Raze could muster, it didn't matter though because this was how he was going to end the
fight.
Lifting up his sword, he pointed out. "Attack."
Chapter 602 What To Tell The World?
Chapter 602 What To Tell The World?
As soon as Raze said the word "Attack," the creatures made from his dark magic all started
to move. With no real form but fighting figures, the Behemoth Clan members were
confused about what to do.
Some tried to attack the strange presence, their weapons going through them. Others
attempted to ignore them but ended up getting hurt.
After these strange creatures would get hit by the sword, the Dark Magic within them
would practically explode, hurting several of them in the area.
Seeing this, the clan members were at a loss of what to do.
The army felt like they were fighting against ghosts, yet those entities could certainly do
them harm while they were unable to do anything else.
Seeing all of the creations, the Crimson Crane members were left there, amazed. It was the
first time they had seen one person doing so much in a grand battle.
"The powers the Dark Magus has been showing us, they seem to just keep growing day by
day," Reno claimed.
"I guess it wasn't just me that thought that then. He is far stronger than when we first met
him, and those strange powers he had like that of the Light Faction Elder… they're growing
as well," Kizer commented.
The real thought on the Crimson Crane's mind was just how could this even be possible.
Even the most talented individuals in the world of Pagna never showed this much growth.
"What are you all doing!" Alba shouted. "We know the effects of the pill he has just taken;
this is our chance now… this is our chance to strike back and send them away!"
The Crimson Crane members smiled as they heard this; it was time to give them payback
while they were distracted with what was going on.
They did what they could, hurting the Behemoth Clan members, and the few eighty or so
brave warriors from the city that were still alive even managed to catch Pagna warriors off
guard with their attacks.
Raze, who was on top of the rooftop, picked up his sword and swung it several times,
creating images of more deadly creatures appearing.
Mainly dark wolves would come off from his swing and hit certain areas, hurting multiple
of the men. With everything that was happening, something natural had occurred with
them all.
It was fear. With the pillars gone and the great attack from this individual they didn't
understand, the thought was creeping into their minds.
Over half of them had already been defeated, and if this continued, all of them could very
well die.
It was an uncommon feeling for those in the Demonic Faction, in the Behemoth Clan. But at
times, charging in knowing that one would die in war, with that resolve, was fine, because
they knew what they were expecting.
Now, they were experiencing the fear of the unknown, and bit by bit, more and more from
the Behemoth Clan started to retreat, until the full force was seen running away.
"The Behemoth Clan… they're no longer attacking, they're retreating!" One of the warriors
said, lifting his sword, blood marks on his clothes and a grave wound on the top of his head,
but he didn't care.
The people behind him had tears of joy as the sight unfolded in front of them.
"We did it, we defeated the Behemoth Clan, we did it!" They continued to cheer loudly.
"No, it wasn't just us, the Crimson Crane and the Dark Magus, it was because of them two
that we did it, that we protected everyone!"
Huge cheers that shook the entire town were heard, chanting the Crimson Crane and the
Dark Magus's names, echoing until the public and the town hall could hear what was going
on.
Coming out from their hiding spots, coming out from the town hall, in the distance, they
could see the smiles of the men that had fought hard.
---
There was also one person who had just witnessed everything, every fiber in his body was
shaking after all that he had seen in the battle.
"Quickly!" Bubble shouted. "Get me sheets of paper and plenty of ink; I have to write down
everything that I saw!"
Like a madman, Bubble started to write the events, every detail of what he had seen,
including the great shield, pills, magical powers, and more.
The issue was, the more he was writing it down, the more far-
fetched everything sounded. It was as if he was writing some type of fantasy novel,
exaggerating the truth.
The people, they would never believe the words that were written here, and they would
think of it as an exaggeration. It would hit his reputation as a valid news outlet.
Taking a deep breath, in the end, he had to make a decision, to report the matter in a way
that the people could take in, that the people could understand, and report on the facts of
what had occurred that day.
The Dark Magus can create not just Qi pills but items as well.
The people in Flendon took up arms, and thanks to the Qi pills and support of the Crimson
Crane, they managed to fight back against the Behemoth Clan.
An army of a thousand strong including the two pillars of the Behemoth Clan had invaded,
and it all failed because of a single individual.
It all failed because everyone had underestimated the strength of the Dark Magus.
The Behemoth Clan had not only lost a battle but had also lost two of the strongest
members of the Clan.
There was so much more that Bubble wanted to report, but the world wasn't ready for it
yet. As more people got information bit by bit, then Bubble could start informing everyone
of what was happening.
Even now, he was looking at the equipment that he was using.
"There is still a lot that this world knows nothing about… and I will reveal everything out
there to everyone," Bubble claimed. "Release the report!"
---
The news from Bubble's outlets reached every faction, every inch of the content, as people
spread the news of what had occurred.
There was infighting in the Demonic Faction, and out of that infighting, an incredibly strong
figure had appeared.
One of those that had read the report had the biggest smile on his face. In the depths of his
clan's base, Belil had a wide grin on his face.
"Haha, Sha Mo had sent more people than I thought he would… honestly, if I knew what
was going to happen, I would have sent one of my sons to protect them!" Belil claimed.
"Yet, despite that, his two pillars were killed, and we all know what will happen once the
pillars are destroyed, the whole thing will come crashing down with just a little push."
"Both Rayna and the Dark Magus have done splendidly. I should reward them for
everything that has occurred!" Laughter continued from Belil as he wondered just how
would Sha Mo react to all of this now.
What would become of the Behemoth Clan? Regardless, all of that would have to wait
because there was no more time left; the Martial Arts Tournament, where all three factions
would meet, had arrived.
Chapter 603 A New Start
Chapter 603 A New Start
After the battle with the Behemoth Clan was over, the town of Flendon was going through a
change. For one, they were more confident about themselves. Having survived against the
strongest in the Behemoth Clan, they no longer felt like their lives were threatened.
Now, they were filled with energy even more so than before when the place was in a sorry
state. On top of this, a lot of the town was destroyed due to the battle Raze had with one of
the pillars and the fighting that had occurred on the edge of the town.
Yet, it didn't bother them too much anyway. For one, the houses were already a mess in the
first place, and in a lot of cases, it was going to be easier to rebuild than repair.
With this newfound vigor, all they needed to get were supplies to work with and food. This
wasn't too much of an issue either.
Due to the report that had come in about the Crimson Crane besting the Behemoth Clan, a
lot of credit was put towards the Alchemist and his pills. Fixteen used this to his advantage
to prop up the prices even higher.
Using these funds, they could purchase more supplies than before, and if anything, their
finances might never have to be a worry at this rate. They would soon learn that although
the pills had a great effect, the battle wasn't down to the pills.
What had also occurred were requests. Fixteen had received a number of messages from
different clans asking for Raze to build them weapons as well. Some were paying quite a
high amount.
In this case, Fixteen honestly thought the clans were undervaluing the weapons' strength
with their offers. This might have been because they were unable to see the effects of the
weapons themselves; most clans just wanted to test to see if they were of good quality.
So Fixteen rejected them all, and Raze had stated that he wouldn't be making weapons for
them anyway. The weapons would be for his group and the Crimson Crane's trump card
against the other clans, while the pills would be what they would make for income.
Another phenomenon that had occurred was clans in the area, as well as the local
kingdoms, donating supplies to the town now as well.
Just now, Fixteen had returned to the Townhall that was getting an upgrade in materials
and size, and he had found several items stationed in the front, including timber and food
supplies.
"This is from the Rulga Kingdom, sir," one of the workers claimed.
"I see. We shall send them our thanks and tell the mayor to make a note of all of these gifts;
I want to know who's paying the most attention to us," Fixteen replied.
The gifts from the kingdoms and empires were them trying to gain favor with the Clan.
Knowing that a clan now had strength to go against the Behemoth Clan, who wouldn't want
them on their good side?
As for the gifts from other clans, when heading inside, Fixteen had opened up a recent large
crate; there were crafting materials as well as power stones inside, along with a little note.
"Good job in wearing the Behemoth Clan; someone had to put them in their place one day,"
the note read.
Most of the messages from the clans were along these lines. It appeared that many had a
dislike for the clan and were just sending thanks for winning a battle against them. Typical
response from those from the Demonic Clans.
Right now, the Crimson Crane was also spending time with the citizens themselves. There
was an inflow of new citizens as well as old ones that had left the town before, thinking it
was a safer place to be.
The Crimson Crane had also made sure to reward those that took part in the battle with
coin and some of the treasures that they were all receiving. This just encouraged more to
take up arms next time and wanderers like themselves to perhaps be hired in the future if
need be for protecting the place.
Rather than training though, most efforts were going into rebuilding the city, making it
more functional, sturdy, and easier to defend compared to before.
"Hey, I'm a little worried with all this work we're doing that Sha Mo is going to come and
just destroy everything again," Kizer said. "Isn't he going to be extremely pissed now that
this has happened?"
"Annoyed, yes," Reno replied as he applied some medical herbs and gave a red pill to one of
the citizens who had a little accident during repairs. "However, Sha Mo won't be able to
attack."
"Everyone in the Demonic Faction will now be concerned with one thing, and that's the
upcoming tournament."
"You're right," the citizen said, bowing to thank Reno. "A member of the Behemoth Clan is
even taking part, and no one dares to cause trouble within the faction while at any time we
could have a war with the other factions at hand."
"Wait, if a war happens now that we're part of the Demonic Faction, will we get dragged
into this as well?" Froma asked.
"Right, and if that does happen, then we need to be ready," Alba said. "We have seen what
the Dark Magus's weapons can do, Faction, will we get dragged into this as well?" Froma
asked.
"Right, and if that does happen, then we need to be ready," Alba but right now, we don't
even have supplies ourselves for him to create the best weapons for ourselves."
"Once we're done helping the citizens out, we should try to gather all the materials that are
needed to create a weapon for each of us. The upcoming tournament will be a good time as
the town will be at its safest."
The others agreed; Alba, Froma, and Lily were the three left that didn't have weapons from
the Dark Magus yet.
"Alba, didn't you say something about Raze taking part in the tournament?" Lily asked.
"And where even is he right now?"
The town of Flendon had one portal; it was one of the reasons the Flesh Clan had stayed in
such a place and one of the ways they still managed to survive. In that very dimension filled
with deep jungle and greenery, Raze was currently inside.
He stayed there, sitting on the ground. In front of him, the body of a large beast with small
limbs lay dead. In his hand, Raze had a crystal that was glowing; he was absorbing its
power into his magic core.
'I have managed to advance my Pagna body to the middle stage, but now, of all things, the
knowledge that I already knew my star level has been left behind. I need to increase my
star level, while also increasing the different attributes I have.'
'Hopefully, if I come across different beasts, I'll also be able to increase my attributes and
gain new affinities with different types of magic, such as earth and water. It will help the
town out well.'
There was also another reason Raze was in here; flicking his hand, worn-out scrolls as well
as books were placed in front of him.
'I will also use this time to learn as much Dark Magic as I can. I will be ready for anything
that happens in this tournament, and I will make sure to bring back Safa and the others no
matter what; that is the decision I have made.'
Chapter 604 Becoming A part of the Tournament
Chapter 604 Becoming A part of the Tournament
It didn't take long for Raze to study the texts that he had received from Harvey in Alterian.
Most of them were low star level spells that didn't take much to grasp, at least for Raze,
who had a high level of knowledge.
Principles in the other attributes could be shared among others, and it wasn't as if Raze
was a complete beginner when it came to Dark Magic in the first place; there just wasn't a
large amount of resources.
Regardless, Raze was still able to learn a few new things that could be useful, and the time
he had spent in the dimension wouldn't go to waste either.
Placing all the texts away, Raze stood up, still surrounded by the greenery in the jungle.
'I guess it's time for me to leave. I have gained quite a lot staying in this dimension; it has
been helpful in my progress.
'It also has given me some time to figure a few things out as well. This break is just what I
needed.'
Raze hadn't just been studying texts but also thinking a lot about everything connected—
Alter, the Bonum Society, the Pagna warriors, Alterian, and all of it, including the Dark
Faction founder that had a deep connection to it all.
'Killing the beasts in this place slowly after some time doesn't seem to summon the
dimension boss, so I've been in here for a few days.'
'That Martial Arts Tournament that Alba kept talking about, it should be starting soon… I
should be ready.'
Thinking this, Raze was walking through the dense jungle, looking for the area he had
entered from to also exit from as well.
Many beasts in the jungle had seen him, large and small in size, and each one of them had
decided to scurry deeper into the jungle, avoiding him.
Nearly all of them had seen what he had done; they could feel the presence of death on him
and wouldn't dare get closer.
Eventually reaching the portal, Raze took a step forward and had left the dimension. In the
dimension itself, it was as if signs of life had begun again.
The beasts, the animals, and even the bugs all scurried out, doing as they usually would. It
was as if they were holding their breath, and a sigh of relief had overcome them.
If Raze was to take a guess, he would assume that he had been gone a week. It was hard to
tell when one was in other dimensions, different worlds that had different cycles.
Sometimes one would never even see the sun, or the complete opposite, and never see the
sky.
Regardless, when returning to the town, a complete transformation had taken place.
'Am I in the right place?' Raze asked himself.
Stood at the edge of the town, the buildings were made out of fresh timber with a nice coat
of paint on the outside.
The structures stood straight, and there was even cobblestone on the ground, flattened to
make it easier for carts to travel.
The city's layout was improved with a stable for horses, a docking station for carts, even
though it was practically empty right now.
The town looked better than even Repton, the place known as the capital city of the
Demonic Faction. This was because the world of Pagna had discovered new ways and
techniques to build.
There was next to no cost of labor as the townsfolk and the Crimson Crane had been
working on their own just to improve the place.
On top of that, a lot of materials had been given to them as gifts from the clans nearby and
far.
All of this transformation had occurred while Raze was away, and Pagna warriors could do
physical labor ten times as fast as a normal man and for ten times as long as well.
It was almost as if Raze had gone through a portal and was now in a new age, just like the
first time when he had come to Pagna.
The reason why he knew he was in the right place was because of the townsfolk. They
waved and said hello as they recognized him, and Raze himself recognized the river that
was still empty.
Not seeing anyone, he had decided to head to the town hall, assuming everyone would be
there, and he was in for another surprise.
The town hall was already a large building; it was now twice the size with a big clock in the
center telling the time of day.
'Did they spend everything?' Raze asked himself, already feeling quite tired. Perhaps as
soon as he was back, he would have to start making more pills just so they had some sort of
finances.
"I might need to have a word with Fixteen," Raze mumbled to himself as he walked through
the doors.
Thankfully, the inside wasn't as lavish as the outside, but he could tell they were in the
middle of decorations.
The thought that they might have just run out of money and were waiting for him wanted
Raze to turn around.
'I have no use for my funds anyway...I guess it's good that other people are going to get to
use it.'
Going through several of the rooms, Raze had finally arrived at a large meeting room with a
giant square table and several seats stationed around it.
Rayna, Fixteen, the mayor, and the entirety of the Crimson Crane were inside. Their heads
turned, and upon looking at Raze, they were all pleasantly surprised.
"You're finally back and just in time!" Alba said, gesturing him over.
"Just in time for what?" Raze asked, cautious that they were going to ask him for more pills.
"We're talking about the Martial Arts Tournament; it's in two days' time, that's when
everyone will be in the mood for the big day," Fixteen explained.
"We're assuming you still wanted to take part."
Raze gave a firm nod in response.
"I've been preparing myself for anything that could possibly happen; I even stopped by in
the city at the lake."
Fixteen was curious what Raze meant; why would he stop by the lake? Regardless, he felt
like his matter was more pressing.
"Right, so I don't think any of the Demonic Faction will have a problem with you taking part
in the tournament; you are the right age after all, and we have established ourselves as part
of the Demonic Faction now," Fixteen explained.
"However, the issue at hand is that all of the participants for the Demonic Faction have
already been selected. The only way we can participate is if one of the participants is
unable to turn up. Which was why I was considering challenging the participants to a duel."
Things like this also occurred in Alterian from time to time among students, and he had
heard of duels taking place.
"You know the Behemoth Clan have someone participating; you could go against them,"
Reno suggested.
"I don't think they would accept a duel and might just start a war just from us asking. If you
want to throw the whole Demonic Faction into chaos, then go ahead," Alba stated.
"Actually, we have someone who will be best for us, even if they try to resist: someone from
the Necroshade Clan."
Raze was scratching his head because he was sure he had heard that clan name from
somewhere before, but from where, and why would he know one of the Demonic Clan's
names?
Chapter 605 The Necroshade Clan
Chapter 605 The Necroshade Clan
No matter how hard Raze tried to think, he couldn't remember the name Necroshade or the
clan itself. Most likely, it was perhaps a name that he had just heard in passing.
"If I can't remember much about them, then it can't be too important, but it's still a clan at
the end of the day."
"So you've decided to go with the easiest option, that's a bit boring if you ask me," Kizer
commented.
"Easy option is chosen because we need to figure out what's best for Raze, the people, and
the entire clan," Fixteen added.
"Wait a second, are Rayna and Fixteen now part of the clan?" Lily asked, suddenly realizing.
"I mean, if Raze is part of the clan, and Rayna is now his wife, and these two were
abandoned by the Neverfall Clan, have they joined us?"
"We weren't abandoned," Fixteen quickly added. "And... for me, I wouldn't say we are part
of the clan. At the moment, we both have similar interests, and that is Raze."
"My loyalty is with Dame, the young master from the Neverfall Clan, who is working with
the Dark Magus."
"It's the same for me," Rayna added. "If the clan were to ask me to do something, then I
wouldn't comply. Unless it was to help out with Raze, but since we are all involved in this
town, our interests just cross paths."
There felt like there was a bit of tension between groups when that was said; even Anna
was standing on the side of Rayna.
It made Alba realize something in that moment as well. There were those that were
supporting the Dark Magus and Raze, and then the Crimson Crane; they weren't one large
group.
"Can we continue with this meeting then and explain why we are going after the
Necroshade Clan?" Fixteen said.
He took the silence as a yes and continued.
"Due to the infamy of the Crimson Crane Clan now having reached its peak, if we send a
challenge to nearly any one of the other clans, none of them are going to accept a duel; they
will simply just refuse."
"So the only option we have is to turn up to the Clan's base and demand a duel to take
place. If it doesn't work out, then we only have one choice."
Picking up a painting brush from the table, Fixteen clenched his hand, snapping the brush
and revealing its stringly fibers.
"Did you have to break the poor brush?" Lily asked. "We understood your point already."
She then let out a sigh.
As well as all of the other members, it felt like after just getting out of one war, they were
going into another. Raze also had just defeated those in the Lethal Bite Clan, and now they
wanted them to fight again.
"In conclusion, the Necroshade Clan is the weakest of all clans, so with our power, it should
be a walk in the park, and I suggested that we only bring a few members; otherwise, they
might think we are going to do that from the get-go."
With all that done, four people were selected to head to the Necroshade Clan, and they
were traveling by carriage. Inside the carriage itself were Raze, Rayna, and Anna sitting on
one side.
Fixteen actually wanted Anna to stay as she was extremely helpful in the building process;
she could analyze situations, structures, and had given them advice on how to craft better
materials.
Fixteen thought of her as a genius with a giant pool of knowledge, but she insisted that no
matter what, she needed to stay by Raze's side.
Then, opposite him, there was Alba, who had brought along Lily, one of the Crimson Crane
members who had been against them getting so heavily involved with the Dark Magus.
"I…" Raze spoke and then cleared his throat. "I'm starting to realize that… I'm the only guy
here."
"Right, you do seem to have some type of attraction to bring a lot of females to your side,"
Alba chuckled.
"I'm Raze's wife, it only makes sense, and I'm coming as a representative of the Demonic
Faction and the Town of Flendon."
"And I'm the leader of the Crimson Crane, so I had to come," Alba said as well.
As for the other two, they really didn't need to be there. Raze thought, judging from the
information he had gathered from Fixteen, if trouble did occur, he could perhaps take care
of the place himself. At least he believed he now had the strength to.
Approaching the town, it was more standard looking of the Demonic Faction Clans they had
been to.
It was a normal city built in a square formation with high walls to make it harder for
invaders to attack. The city had gates where people would enter and exit from, with the
gates down 90 percent of the time.
As for the outside walls, they could see standard guards hired from the city, and also many
Clan members that were standing clear on the outside in cloth rather than armor,
protecting the city.
When the carriage appeared, guards had first approached the carriage.
"We are here on Pagna warrior business; could you please inform the Necroshade Clan that
the Crimson Crane Clan has come to visit."
The guard blushed as he looked at Rayna's pretty face and quickly went to inform the men
that were part of the Necroshade Clan.
"Oh, so you're part of the Crimson Crane now when it's convenient for you?" Alba
commented as she got out of the carriage along with the rest of them.
Raze was starting to slap his forehead with his hand. There was constant bickering
between all of the women in the carriage on the way there, including Anna, who just
seemed to want to have an argument with everyone.
And it didn't stop now.
"I'm just speaking for simplicity's sake," Rayna added. "Let's not overcomplicate the
situation right now, shall we?"
Two guards dressed in dark purple garments came over. These were the members of the
Necroshade Clan.
"We have been informed to turn away anyone who comes to our doors! We are not
accepting any visitors due to our big journey that will be taking place tomorrow!" The man
spoke in a firm voice of confidence.
The Necroshade Clan were a rising clan within the Demonic Faction and had gained great
prestige with one of their members taking part in the martial arts tournament.
"Did you inform them who had come to visit?" Alba said, asking again. "I'm sure if we were
from the Neverfall Clan, Lost, or Behemoth Clan, your leaders would have come out here
rather than giving this type of response."
"It looks like your clan name has done us no favors in the end," Rayna stated.
"This is an important matter; can you at least inform your clan master that the leader of the
Crimson Crane has come here herself?" Alba said, placing her hand on her chest and was
even standing in a somewhat seductive pose, revealing more of the skin on her leg toward
her upper thigh.
The man stared at it for a moment but then shook his head.
"No matter who you are, we will not allow any warriors that aren't from the Necroshade
Clan to enter our doors, especially a filthy wander clan that hasn't been recognized by
many of the Demonic Clans," the man said once again.
Alba was furious at this point; she was used to the Wanderer clans being brushed aside,
after what they had done she thought things would be different.
That was when, though, Raze stepped forward past them.
"We can either do things the easy way, or you will force us to do things the hard way, and if
that means fighting against your entire clan, then so be it."
Raze stomped his foot using the first descending step, and a rush of Qi flooded the man,
causing him to fall onto the ground and covered in sweat.
Chapter 606 Now I Remember You
Chapter 606 Now I Remember You
The man was swept by the intense Qi that he felt, causing him to fall over. A simple guard of
the clan would be in the initial stage, and he had never felt such Qi before.
On top of that, Raze's Qi was incredibly condensed, making a person feel it far more than
they usually would. Before the Necroshade Clan member realized it, he was completely
covered in sweat.
"What are you doing!" Another member of the clan shouted, coming to his side.
There were a few more behind the gate that had rushed to the man's aid, a group
somewhat of a small squad.
At the same time, the guards, along with regular citizens that were coming in and out, were
looking at the commotion that was occurring.
"You come up to our clan, and then do something like that!" A man shouted. "Are you trying
to start a war on our territory?"
"I didn't touch the man," Raze replied. "I don't get involved in people's personal space like
that. I was just making it clear who was exactly here to see him."
Many of the guards didn't know who the Dark Magus was and only knew vague
descriptions of him. Raze wanted to keep it this way since the name was more important
than the figure.
Pagna was void of most technology, with a few strange odd bits here and there. Which Raze
assumed was mostly due to the otherworlders' interference such as communication lines
but only in certain buildings.
The large wedding event that had taken place in Repton; only the leaders and high-ranking
members were invited to witness the event.
All they could go off were descriptions, of black hair, and a youthful look. At the same time,
Raze had even worn a mask on the day to conceal himself.
Based on the latest report as well from Bubble, many clans still viewed the Dark Magus as
mostly an alchemist. They found it hard to believe that he had taken one of the pillars
down.
"Are you trying to bully us into action!" The man shouted as they helped the other off the
floor, his knees shaking.
"You are on our territory!" The man pulled out his sword and went to strike it at Raze.
Before he could get even close though, Alba had swung out her sword and swung it down.
The metal had been cut cleanly, leaving only half the sword.
While at the same time, there was a sharp point at the man's neck, the tip of a spear.
Looking down the end of the spear, Rayna was holding onto it.
Both of them had acted quickly to stop him from attacking Raze. Yet, even in this situation,
although the man didn't dare move, he still smiled at them.
The other man that had fallen to the ground was managing to get some of his strength back
and was deeply embarrassed by what had happened to him.
"Look at this!" The man said. "You can't even do things yourself, that you have to hide
behind two women to protect you, what type of man even are you!"
"What does that even mean?" Lily said. "All of us could slice his throat before he drew a
breath."
Lily didn't get involved. For one, she still didn't really care what happened to Raze, and she
knew the others could handle the situation.
"Are you stupid!" Alba shouted. "You have no idea; we are the ones that are protecting you,
you idiot!"
The commotion was starting to cause quite the stir among those watching, and people were
also starting to recognize Alba. Unlike Raze who had chosen black hair, something that 90
percent of the people in Pagna seemed to have.
Alba had dark slightly red-pigmented skin which was well known.
"Stop!" A loud voice shouted out.
Coming out from the gate, an old man walked out in the same dark purple clothing. His
garments were slightly more elegant with woven patterns compared to the others.
There were also twelve more members of the clan that had come out with him.
"At least we're getting somewhere; it looks as if someone important is finally coming out,"
Lily stated.
"I am Titus, one of the elders of the Necroshade Clan." The old man bowed. "We welcome
you for coming all this way; please let's head inside, where we can talk in our clan base."
The easy option of sorting out the matter would be not to fight, so drawing down their
weapons, the group decided to head inside.
The town was relatively small, around the same size as Flendon. However, the population
was far larger, perhaps housing around fifty thousand citizens in the place.
"I'll be honest; we are quite surprised to see the Crimson Crane at our doorstep so soon
after the events that you have been through," Titus commented.
"Right, so I'm sure you know we have come here with a reason for visiting you," Rayna said.
"Ah yes, I'm sure I can take a guess; is it to do with the Martial Arts Tournament?" Titus
replied.
Rayna was surprised that the old man knew, since they had sent no information
beforehand.
"It's not hard to guess. Our clan is not a big clan; we are one that is growing. We don't get
many visitors, but we had recently gotten a lot of attention due to one of our members
getting a position to take part in the Martial Arts Tournament.
"The fact that you have turned up here with a young gentleman of your own, I think most
people would take a guess at what you are trying to do, a new clan comes here, and now
they are trying to take our position away."
"You know, our clan doesn't have many achievements, and we finally have one, yet of
course there are always those that wish to take it away."
Titus turned to look at Raze; however, Raze didn't turn away and stared back at him in the
eye, until the old man continued looking forward.
Some might have felt bad for taking the clan's great achievement of getting something, but
at the end of it, there was more at stake.
The Dark Faction practically had his new allies hostage on the other side. This could be the
only chance to take them back, safely.
The Dark Faction Academy, which had taken the lives of multiple students, and the Dark
Faction that was connected to his goals, needed to stop.
If the clan thought it was painful to have this position taken away from them, then they
knew nothing about pain.
Entering the house base, it was a large single-floor building set up in a courthouse,
connecting with hallways to other buildings.
It was quite similar to how the Dark Faction Academy looked but on a smaller scale.
Heading through the doors, they were now walking through the courtyard to have a
meeting with the other members and the clan head for their request.
The fact they had gotten this far, things were looking hopeful.
While walking to the main building, Raze had turned his head to the right, where he could
see a young man in his twenties striding through the place, curious about the visitors; he
had looked at them.
Raze's eyes had met with the young man's, and that's when it had all hit Raze.
"Now I know why the name of the Necroshade Clan was so familiar."
Chapter 607 You Shouldn't Have Done That
Chapter 607 You Shouldn't Have Done That
It was only for a brief moment that Raze had caught a glimpse of the young man in passing.
The two had made eye contact, yet the young man had next to no reaction at all, other than
that of curiosity for why people were being brought into the clan, especially at such a big
time.
For Raze, though, it had jogged his memory as to where he had seen this person before,
why he had heard the name of the clan before as well.
'I never did get to pay him back. A lot happened back then. Unfortunately for him, I
remember the faces of everyone who has tried to wrong me.' Raze thought.
Entering the main building in the center, the group was brought to a large mostly empty
room with wooden flooring.
There were scuff marks on the floor, as well as weapons and ornaments that had been hung
on the wall. There was nothing that stuck out, and Raze could tell that they were more so
items on show rather than those of practical use.
"Please wait here while I get the Clan Elder. It won't be long, and I shall inform him of your
intention here," Titus said, giving a bow and sliding the door closed.
In the room itself, they weren't alone; there were clan members standing in every corner of
the room.
"So what do you think, will they accept our proposal?" Alba asked.
"More than likely, the fact that I am here and the Crimson Crane leader herself has come. I
think everything should be okay," Rayna added.
"Not if the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree," Raze commented, yet no one knew what
he meant by those words.
---
When Titus closed the door behind him, his expression from a smile had immediately
changed. He walked down the hallways with a heavy storm raging above his head.
Heading into another room, one that was darkly lit with only a few candles for light, Titus
bowed his head. The candles gave the image of two others, one old man and one woman
filled with grey hair.
"I'm sure by now you two have heard of the news of who has come to visit us," Titus said.
"We have," the woman, who went by Seran, answered. "Why when the opportunity for us to
prove ourselves has come upon us, must someone come and try to take it away!" Her words
almost had a hissing sound at the end of them.
"We must be cautious," the Clan Head Halan said. "These are the people that managed to
battle with the Behemoth Clan head-on and had taken out their pillars; they are by no
means weak. How many of them are there?"
"Three females and one male; he looks young, most likely the candidate that they wish to
bring forward. However, it is Rayna from the Neverfall Clan and Alba herself who has
come," Titus answered.
The three elders sat there in silence as they thought about the predicament they were in.
"They will most likely be here to propose a duel," Seran added. "Which means we have no
choice; no matter what, we have to do as we can to make sure that the participant will lose
the duel in question."
"And if that doesn't work?" Titus asked.
"I heard that the Crimson Crane only won due to the Dark Magus's pills that he had
supplied to an army of two hundred. Right now, with only four of them, it will be our only
chance to silence them," Halan answered.
The Clan knew what needed to be done, and just in case the first plan didn't work, they had
gathered all of the members to make them aware of what they needed to do.
Informing them of everything for the sake of the clan, after that, Titus, Seran, and Halan all
went down the hallway to greet their guests.
---
The group was patiently waiting in the room, to the point where Lily was getting extremely
frustrated.
"Does it really take this long just to go and get someone!"
Right on cue, the doors slid open, and the three elders had entered. They walked over and
sat down on the ground, gesturing for the others to do the same, and they soon followed.
"I am Halan, the head of the Necroshade Clan. We are a clan that has a long history but has
never been able to shine like that of the top Clans.
"Yet, we had been blessed this year with a talented individual who has been selected by the
academy to take part in the Martial Arts Tournament and to represent our clan."
"I can tell that you are here today to perhaps challenge our student for the position. I have
to ask, is it possible that you return and try next year? We are willing to give you a few gifts
for your journey."
On cue, members of the clan had entered, all of them holding ornaments and jewelry that
could sell for a decent amount of coin.
It went to show how much their reputation had increased now that they had bested the
Behemoth Clan.
"It seems that you are aware of our intentions," Rayna respectfully said. "Unfortunately, the
tournament is something important to us as well, and we too have our reasons for needing
to take part in it."
While Rayna was speaking, some of the servants started to place small tables in front of the
guests, and they soon brought out herbal tea for each one of them.
"I believe that a duel is also fair for both of us. We are not asking you to just give us your
position that has been earned, but for our young talented individual to have a chance to
take part. After all, what would be best for the Faction as a whole, is for those that are most
talented to take part, wouldn't you agree?"
Halan and the other Elders nodded; they had to agree. Maybe if they were in the Light
Faction, they would have considered what was fair, but the principle of the Demonic
Faction was that the strongest were the ones that had their say.
Disagreeing to the duel now that Rayna said this would be against the principles of those in
the Demonic Faction.
"Very well, you have made a request, and as you said, it is only fair. May the best student
win!" Halan said as he raised his tea and took a large sip from it.
He then placed the palm of his hand out, gesturing for the others to do the same. Out of
respect, Rayna, along with the others, held up their cup and was ready to drink it, that was
until Anna held onto Raze's arm around his wrist.
Raze's heart took a deep beat for a second, but noticed the touch was incredibly cold, and
for some reason unlike when others touched him, with Anna, it didn't get his heart
pumping the way it normally would.
"They've poisoned your drink." Anna leaned in and whispered.
Raze looked at the eyes of the Elders; he could tell they were waiting for him to gulp it
down.
"Is it only mine?" He whispered back.
"I've analyzed what's in the cup; yeah, it seems like it's only in yours," Anna said again.
However, what were they to do in this situation? Should Raze call them out for their
actions? Should he just say he didn't feel well and not accept the drink?
In the end, he did neither. As he looked all of the Elders directly in the eye, he gulped the
whole drink in one go, placing it on the table.
Chapter 608 Remember Me?
Chapter 608 Remember Me?
When taking the cup, Raze didn't let a single drop of it not go down his throat as he looked
at the elders from the back, even after learning what the contents inside were.
Anna was in disbelief. Was this man a child? Was he just trying to prove he could take the
poison because she said there was poison in the drink?
"What are you doing?" Anna asked. "That poison, it wasn't designed to kill, but it was a
poison that was designed to make your reaction time slower and your whole body groggy."
Raze was happy to know that what he had just consumed wasn't meant to kill him. It
actually made him think of the clan in a better light.
'I guess they are just trying to make it so their contestant wins the upcoming duel no
matter what.' Raze thought. 'That's fine. If it was poison to kill me, then that would be
another story.'
Right now, as the liquid was inside of Raze, he was using the Dark Magic to destroy all of its
contents. There wasn't a trace of what he drank left, so there was no way that it was going
to affect him.
Right now, the plan would work the same. Raze would win the duel, and after tomorrow, he
would head to the Light Faction.
Rayna could hear the sound of whispers. She didn't know what was going on, but could
continually see that Anna was leaning in and saying a few words.
'What is she saying to him that can't be spoken out loud?' Rayna thought. 'As his wife, I
should be the one sitting next to him, but as the representative of this clan, I'm stuck sitting
here next to Alba.'
Rayna and Alba were at the front, while the other three were lined up at the back.
"Very well!" Halan said with a smile. "We shall commence with the duel immediately. We
shall have it outside around the back; there is a beautiful flowing pond and an area that is
used for some of our personal guests to train."
"I hope you don't mind, but is it possible I invite other clan members to this event? I wish
for them to use this as a learning tool."
"This fight, whether win or loss, will benefit us greatly."
This was standard with a duel, although Alba thought they would want to dissuade from
doing this. She even felt bad; it was clear that Raze was going to win, and depending on
how he won, he could embarrass the entire clan.
"Very well, if you insist," Alba said.
The Crimson Crane and the rest of the group were led through one of the doors to head to
the outside area. It was beautiful like they claimed.
A large lake-like pond water feature surrounded the entire outside of the buildings. There
were several stones that were placed on the outside, placed in a way that fit in with the
entire scenery.
Clearly, a lot of thought had gone into the place. The area of fighting was small. The color of
the dirt was a hardened orange in one area.
There was grass all around apart from the one area, as if someone had been practicing the
same movements and never expanding too far out, or a path through the fields of grass that
had been trodden on again and again, only it was in one spot.
As they waited, clan members eventually came out and began to gather around the site.
There was something that Raze had noticed.
Although they had claimed this to be a good learning session, no teenage students or
children that were part of the clan were present.
As everyone came out, Raze's eyes had also caught the young man from earlier, and finally,
the three elders along with their contestant had arrived.
A teenage boy who looked to be around 18 years old, short hair that was spiked up. He had
a good strong build and a confident look about him, but Raze could tell he was at the initial
stage.
"Pritter, enter the stage; this is the young man that has asked for a duel," Halal ordered.
Pritter did as told, while the Elders continued to look at Raze's condition. They were trying
to see if the poison was having any effect.
It would be subtle until one had tried to fight, but it didn't help that they were nervous.
"Don't worry; remember, we always have plan B," Seran whispered. "Everyone is ready at a
moment's notice to go through with the plan; they know it's for the sake of the clan."
Pritter got into position, and so did Raze. It looked like the fight was about to start.
Everyone was a little tense for what was about to happen.
However, that's when Pritter noticed something. When he was looking at Raze, his eyes—
they were staring at someone else. When following his eyes, he could see that he was
looking at someone in the crowd.
"Hey, I'm your opponent; why aren't you looking at me?" Pritter asked.
Raze continued to look at the young man in the crowd at that point.
"Hey, stop looking at Fin!" Pritter shouted.
"Ah, right," Raze said. "So that was your name. Now I remember, Fin. Everything is coming
together, the clan, your name."
In the crowd, the young man named Fin was unsure what was happening. Why was this
man talking to him, why was he staring at him?
He had never seen him before, so why was he staring?
"I'm sorry, do we know each other?" Fin eventually asked.
At that point, Raze had decided to get into a fighting stance, as if he was about to take part,
but his eyes still stayed on Fin.
"Oh right, I forgot you probably don't remember me. The last time you saw me, I was
wearing an iron mask," Raze said.
Fin's stomach immediately sunk down below. His whole world was spinning at that
moment. He was so stunned that he had even forgotten to take in a breath.
There was a certain day in Fin's mind that would repeatedly play out for him. Again, again,
and again. One day, Fin had entered a portal in the Demonic Faction belonging to that of the
Behemoth Clan.
While inside, he had gathered a team and set his eyes on a certain place. However, a man in
an iron mask and his group refused to stand by and allow them to kill the beasts inside.
In order to get all of the rewards for himself, Fin and his group had attempted to kill the
others, but what he had witnessed that day instead was a massacre.
The ones they were attacking, one man in particular, had slaughtered everyone in his
group. Killed them heartlessly. Fortunately, he had managed to escape in the middle of the
chaos from a Dimensional Boss.
That day never escaped from Fin's memory, the man with the iron mask who had killed
them all. Fin would wake up thinking one day he would come for him, and that day would
be now.
"Alright, alright, let's start the match!" Halan ordered.
'No wait!' Fin shouted in his mind. 'If that is really this man, if Pritter loses this match, and
we all attempt to kill them all… he'll kill everyone, I have to stop the fight, I have to stop the
fight!!!'
Chapter 609 You, pass on the message
Chapter 609 You, pass on the message
"I do remember," were the soft words that came out of Fin's mouth. The nightmare that had
occurred daily in his head had become a reality; the person was in front of him.
Yet doubts started to creep into his mind. What if this wasn't him? Was the person that had
attacked them back then really so young?
Not just that, but maybe they were safe with their plan? If Fin was going to die anyway,
then the only way for him to protect himself from what was going to happen would be to
kill him now.
All of the strong members of the clan were present, including the leaders.
However, this thought almost quickly went out of his head as he made eye contact with
Raze, and for that moment, everything was almost a blur.
"Start!" Halan ordered.
Pritter charged toward Raze, having drawn his sword trying to get a jump on him. Raze had
yet to pull out his sword, leaving the Elders to believe that the poison had worked.
Effortlessly, Raze avoided the strike. He grabbed onto Pritter's head, and then with his
might, lifted his body and threw him onto the floor.
The back of his head crashed into the ground; a strike would kill an ordinary man.
Thankfully, the student was a Pagna warrior, and he would recover from this.
The crowd of onlookers were stunned into silence. For something like this to happen, there
had to be a large difference in strength.
Pritter was a fourth-stage warrior. How could this have happened? What they had just
witnessed was the difference between a middle-stage and an initial-stage warrior, as well
as a difference in experience and skill.
Seeing what had just happened, Seran looked at the Clan Head and gave a slight nod.
"We have no choice now."
Seran had charged in herself quickly with her sword, and at the same time, everyone else
did as well. Seeing this, the three women with Raze were ready to help, but he stopped
them from coming closer.
"I've got this," Raze said.
His hands were lighting up, and Dark Magic surrounded his entire body. The warriors were
getting closer, close enough to hear the words he said.
"The Flames of Darkness, Expand."
The Dark Magic that was swirling around his body pushed out in all different directions.
They were shaped like flames, unlike the Dark Magic that he had used before.
When pushed out, they had latched onto all of the onlookers' clothes, destroying them in an
instant, and quickly it started to spread across their whole body.
It was strange; the Warriors didn't feel any heat, yet the properties of the black flames were
spreading the same, and one thing was sure, they could feel pain as it went from their
clothes onto their skin.
It was affecting most of the warriors in the area; the ones it weren't affecting so much were
the elders who were on the low end of the middle stage, but as the dark flames were
extinguishing off their body, that was when the three women had made their move. Rayna
and Lily, using their spears, stabbed right through their hearts, and Anna pulled Halan's
face forward and with a fist crushed his entire skull until he was no more.
Many of the warriors were falling to the flames one by one, while at the same time, Raze
was using his sword to strike them down, those that had managed to survive or didn't get
hit by the Dark Magic as much.
'That was a new spell, a 4-star spell, and was quite effective for that situation. However, it
wasn't as powerful as a basic Dark Pulse which grows with the Dark Magic affinity and can
be used with martial arts.
'Something like this can't be used with martial arts to make it grow stronger, at least not
yet.'
Taking care of the members one by one, there were eventually two that were left alive. The
student that Raze had originally knocked out, the flames had expanded out beyond that of
the student directly in front of him.
Something Raze had purposely done, and there was one more, there was Fin, who had
quickly retreated backward to the point where he had fallen onto the ground and the
bodies in front of him, of those members that had charged forward, had been killed instead.
It was at that point that Raze started to walk towards him, even placing his sword away by
his side and looked directly at Fin.
"Do you remember me yet?" Raze asked.
Fin's face was soaked with tears; the whole clan was done for. Although not every member
of the clan had been eliminated, the Clan Head as well as its strongest members were all
gone.
There was next to no chance of the clan recovering, especially in the Demonic Faction
where the strong ruled.
"I remember, I remember!" Fin cried out. "But why, why did you have to do this?"
It was then that Raze said the same words he had said not too long ago.
"The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree."
"Now I understood what you meant before," Anna said as she came over. "Your clan can
only blame themselves for what happened."
"I have no clue what happened between the two of you, but it's clear that you know each
other, but there is one fact. All of you guys here had coordinated an attack; it was quite
clear that all of you had planned from the beginning to attack us as soon as the battle was
lost."
"The only person that didn't know about this plan was Pritter."
Anna assumed that's why he had been left alive compared to the rest, but she couldn't
really tell what Raze was thinking.
"All of you would have killed us without a second thought, so why are we doing this? We
are just doing what you would have done to us if you hadn't done this; then you would have
lived today."
Anna was right in her assessment; Raze was going to leave them alone, perhaps give a little
scare to Fin. Although he had tried to kill him in the past, he wasn't a current threat.
And looking at him right now, Raze thought the same way.
"You will be left as the messenger of the clan. You probably are the highest-ranking
member in the clan. You can inform the Demonic Faction Academy that Pritter is going to
pull out, and in its place, they will be sending a student that's a part of the Crimson Crane."
"You mean you're going to let me live?" Fin asked, his voice laced with disbelief. Was he
escaping death for the second time? Were there actually such things as gods looking over
him?
"You are the messenger, and keeping you alive will make sure that more don't try to do
what you did today. By keeping you alive, it will keep my hands clean."
Walking away, Fin didn't quite understand, but he later realized just like before, he lived
each day with fear, and it was even greater than before.
With that done, Raze had now become an official participant in the Martial Arts
Tournament, and tomorrow would be the day… the gathering of the three factions.
Chapter 610 The Word Prepares
Chapter 610 The Word Prepares
In the Dark Faction, at the Pagna academy, the five major clans were arriving. They were to
have a meeting based on what would happen tomorrow, to discuss the finer details.
A lot of back and forth was also required with the Light faction on who they could bring in
after all. There had to be a balance when it came to these events; for one, they had to allow
enough people for each faction to feel safe, while not allowing enough people for them to be
able to plan an attack. Although it had yet to happen, every faction knew that the best
opportunity for a faction to attack the others and get rid of powerful people at the top was
the Martial Arts tournament.
Inside the faction, Amir, the vice principal, had gathered the participants into one of the
private training rooms, where he had been helping all of them for the big day at hand.
Simon, Liam, and Safa were all seated on the ground, their facial features had aged. They
looked different from when they had entered the academy, and the story was even more
true if one was able to look at the glow in their eyes.
It was the same for Mada and Ricktor, two of the direct disciples of the five major clans,
that had decided to stay with their clans, but what was the plan going forward? What
would they do if Raze wasn't here?
As they were, they weren't strong enough to go against their own clans, for sending them to
their death.
On top of that, Cronker was also present, a man who had to hide in the shadows and could
never be present in the room when the actual principal was there, afraid that he would be
found out.
Along with him, three more of the second-year students who weren't taking part in the
tournament itself but were part of knowing full well of everything going on.
"All of you have been working hard for this day," Amir said, looking at each of them. "If this
was last year or the years before, I would have no doubt in my mind that any one of you
would be able to reach first place in this tournament.
"However, my information network tells me that this will be dangerous for all of you. Still, I
wanted to let you know that you have all managed to improve beyond regular means. I can
safely say that you are the cream of the crop, but your opponents will be doing anything
they can to win.
"As for you, Cronker, along with your fellow three disciples, I have made it so you are also
allowed to come to the event. They have allowed us to take as many students as we wish
since they aren't so threatening to the Light Faction."
Tinson, Joe, and Violet hadn't been taking part in the same training sessions as everyone
else; they had been focusing on stealth techniques passed on to them by Cronker from the
Crimson Crane.
Knowing their strength wasn't on the same level as the others, for them to still be helpful to
the group, they wished to do something, becoming skilled in assassination arts.
"As for those from the Dark Faction, myself, the principal, as well as two other leaders from
the Dark Faction will be coming with two others from each clan. There won't be a large
amount of us to protect you.
"And I shall warn you, my informants, with the information I have, this will not be a normal
Martial Arts tournament."
Amir wanted to continue, but he waited, allowing them to let everything sink in. They had
worked hard, worked non-stop, no distractions, they did everything they could just to get
stronger for this situation.
"If all works out, this might be our chance to get out of the academy, including me."
At the same time, the Light Faction was doing their best to hold the event. An arena was
being built just for the very event. Preparations had finished a while ago, but being the
perfectionists they were, they were getting every single detail they could correct.
Wanting the whole ceremony, their displays of strength, and making sure if there were any
problems, they knew how to deal with them.
The clan in question that was at the center of it all was the Dawnblade Clan. They were one
of the three major clans in the Light Faction and consisted of ten powerful Elders.
However, they now numbered 9 elders due to one of them perishing to the Crimson Crane.
One of the members, Beatrix Highborn, was the winner of the last martial arts tournament.
Because of that, the next tournament was to take place in the Light Faction and in the
Dawnblade clan's territory. It was more important to them compared to others due to the
string of their reputation taking a hit recently.
Beatrix had failed in an attack on the Demonic Faction, and the loss of an Elder. If they faced
more humiliation with this event, then the other clans were likely to put pressure on them,
telling them to step down.
Beatrix walked through a heavy door, a beam of light shining in on the dark blue tiles.
She walked as she could see another female with blonde hair, on her knees praying, looking
ahead toward the glass pane windows.
Hearing the footsteps behind her, she turned around to look at Beatrix in her white
clothing.
"Hannah, I was looking for you everywhere, this was the last place I expected you to be,"
Beatrix said.
"Why, am I not allowed to pray for good luck tomorrow?" Hannah asked, smiling back.
Beatrix was only around a head taller than Hannah, but she was still able to rub the top of
her head. The two of them had a special relationship in the clan; it felt like they were sisters
even though not related, but in truth, Hannah was Beatrix's direct disciple.
"We don't need to rely on luck; we create our own luck with hard work," Beatrix answered.
"Whether it works or not doesn't matter then, right?" Hannah replied. "If it doesn't work,
then no harm done, and if it does work, then maybe someone can help me."
"All there is up there are the Divine warriors, a place where we all strive to be. Maybe. They
will - bless you, and when we are up there, maybe we can pass on our blessings to others as
well."
The two of them smiled for a bit, until Beatrix pulled out a pendant. It was a light silver
chain and round in size; she placed it around her neck for her. Without gestation, Hannah
had accepted it.
"This is a gift from the Elders; they said they worked hard in getting it for you, and that it's
priceless. It would be good for you to wear it on the day," Beatrix said.
Lifting up the pendant, Hannah took a look at it; it was made with white gold, with a golden
center in the middle, in the shape of an 'I'.
"With this pendant, the Elders asked me to pass on another message. No matter what, you
must not lose," Beatrix said. "But for me, I will say, no matter what, you must not die."
At the same time, after letting the others take the words in, Amir spoke to them all.
"Tomorrow is the big day, and no matter what, you must do whatever you can to survive."
Chapter 611 The Demonic Clan Meets!
Chapter 611 The Demonic Clan Meets!
There was no real leader in the Demonic Faction, just the stronger and weaker clans that
everyone was aware of. However, there was a legacy.
The Demonic Faction, being the way they were, wasn't a faction per se, but due to the
growing strength of the Dark Faction and Light Faction, they needed to do something
otherwise risk getting wiped out.
The Neverfall Clan was well respected because it was their leader who had brought all the
major clans together to agree practically an alliance to go against the other Factions.
There was still no clear view of which clan was the strongest, but all of those that had been
invited by Belil were considered the strongest.
This consisted of the Neverfall Clan, with Belil at its head. The Behemoth Clan, the biggest
clan in the Demonic Faction, with their leader Sha Mo.
Then there was the Lost Clan, with the leader Lince, whose true appearance was quite a
mystery to most, due to parts of his body being wrapped around in black.
And finally, there was the Splitting Fang Clan, with the leader Yunro. Out of all the clans, the
Splitting Fang Clan was the newest in age, coming up with new techniques but still
following the philosophy of the Demonic Faction.
Because of this, these four clans were at the center of representing the Demonic Faction
and when situations occurred like the Martial Arts Tournament, they were the ones that
needed to make the decisions.
To each of these four clans, they were surprised when a letter had been delivered to them,
from the Necroshade Clan. When reading the details of the letter, some of them had smiles
on their faces.
Others threw the letter, not too bothered. While for a particular individual, his entire head
was shaking with rage.
Having returned to the town of Flendon, the sun was starting to set, and that's when from
the town hall, there was a visitor that had come in the middle of the night.
Entering into the town hall, Rayna had recognized him straight away.
"You're from the Neverfall Clan, right? Has my father sent you to deliver a message?" Rayna
asked.
"This is a message from the Neverfall clan, but it is not for you young miss, it is for the
Crimson Crane."
The Crimson Crane still hadn't quite established a preeminent residence in the town yet,
helping with the building. Instead, they had been staying in the grand town hall in several
spare rooms the place had.
It was as if Mayor Yarlston foresaw this would happen, and they needed places for guests
anyway. A place where they could treat them well without forcing them to one of the inns.
Alba came over to take the letter; she and the others had a good idea as to what this would
be.
Opening it up on the spot, she read the contents.
"Is it what we think it is?" Fixteen asked.
Alba nodded.
"It appears that our messenger managed to send his message; it's acknowledgment of our
candidate taking part in the tournament, and also a meeting place for tomorrow," Alba
explained.
Rayna let out a big sigh.
"I'm guessing there are further instructions as well."
"Right, from our side, along with the client, we are only allowed to send two people along
with us," Alba said.
Looking around the room, they wondered which two would accompany Raze, but coming
down the stairs having overheard everything, he had his own solution.
"That shouldn't matter too much," Raze said. "For what I have planned, instead I need to
tell you about something else that you need to be ready for."
The next day, the day of the first tournament, had arrived. Up bright and early, Raze had
headed to the border of the city where a carriage was waiting for them.
They were to travel to the meeting location where the other clans would be waiting for
them as well. By his side was none other than Anna.
"Are you disappointed that I am coming along?" Anna said. "I guess it doesn't really fit into
the rules since I'm not part of the Crimson Crane."
"I'm not disappointed. It just felt like the room had gotten incredibly heated over the
situation, that was all. I know we had a deal, I don't know when Zon might show up near me
again, or if he ever will."
"But there is a chance, and in return you don't explain to Alter a thing of what is happening
here."
Anna nodded as the two of them moved along, and the tall, slight, dark red-pigmented-
skinned woman was waiting by the carriage, but she wasn't alone, Rayna was also there as
well.
"Even though I won't be going with you, I wanted to see you off," Rayna said, her cheeks
turning slightly red again.
"I appreciate it," Raze mentioned. "If I could have brought three, I would have asked for you
to come along. You have helped me in more ways than you can imagine."
"I have come to enjoy seeing this city grow, so I will let you know, that after all is done with
the Martial Arts Tournament, I will be back."
Rayna wasn't expecting a response like that from Raze. In a lot of ways, it was the first time
she had heard him say so many words.
Regardless, she smiled and gave him a wave as he, Alba, and Anna had entered the carriage
on the way to the city of Repton.
Everyone felt a little more tense in the carriage. Raze imagined that neither of them thought
that they would ever be in a situation like this, and honestly neither did he.
'When I used that book, I didn't think I would be involved in so many affairs in another
world,' Raze thought.
Thinking about what he had been through to get to this point, the carriage was starting to
slow down as they approached one of the main entrances of the city of Repton.
Looking out through the window, Raze could see quite a few people had already gathered
as well.
Getting out of the carriage, an old gentleman, who had a beard that went down to his waist
and was white in color, approached them.
"I welcome the Crimson Crane to this meeting," the old man said with a bow. "I am Elder
Xank from the Neverfall Clan. I have been assigned to be the mediator in our affairs with
the other factions, and also will be in charge of your program and our journey of travel."
"Please let me introduce you to the other contestants that have arrived."
Standing out in the barren wasteland, they could see four other students in a mainly black
with a red trim uniform. They were not wearing the standard uniform of their clans, and
Raze had also been given a uniform to change into.
Which he promptly did inside of his carriage before coming out again to be introduced to
the others.
Along with the four students, just like with Raze who had Alba and Anna, each of them also
had two members of their clans by their side.
Before the introductions occurred, Alba had a quick question to ask.
"I heard that there would also be two heads of clans joining us on this trip, that have been
allowed by the Light Faction, do we know who they will be?" Alba asked.
"Ah yes," Xank said. "Lince from the Lost Clan will be joining us, and as for the other
individual, it will be Sha Mo, from the Behemoth Clan."
Chapter 612 The Demonic Five
Chapter 612 The Demonic Five
An instant sick feeling had entered the stomach of Alba after hearing that name. She was
sure that the other two felt the same as well, and because of it she couldn't help but ask a
question.
"Why has Sha Mo been selected for this, out of all the other options?" Alba said with a fake
smile.
She didn't want to offend too much, especially with members of the Behemoth Clan being
here; she had even looked over her shoulder to see if Sha Mo was around.
"I am happy to explain," Xank said with a gentle bow. "Firstly, I should explain why Lince
had taken the position. With the recent portal outbreak and allowing the Flesh Clan to go
past to attack the Dark Faction, Lince believes it's his responsibility to go over."
"It is a chance for him to prove himself while also mending any bad relations that had been
caused with the Dark Faction."
"Although we have heard that the old Lethal Bite Clan leader is no more, it is unlikely we
will meet him, since it was a request of Lince we decided to accept."
"As for Yunro, of the Splitting Fang clan, he seems to have incurred some injuries of some
sort. He stated that he wouldn't be in the best condition to protect those that he needed to
if it was the case."
"Because of that, it left us with two options, either Belil, or Sha Mo. In the end, Belil declined
the option of him going instantly, and when we told him that the only option was Sha Mo,
he still gave his okay."
The look on Alba's face had dropped when hearing the conversation. Did Belil really not
care about the Dark Magus or the Crimson Crane at all?
He should know based on their recent history, what danger it would be for them to go
along with the Clan head.
"I can guess what you are thinking, but because Belil has given his blessing, you do not have
to worry about Sha Mo, he knows where he stands with all of this."
Regardless of Xank's comments, Alba still wasn't happy with what had occurred. Things
just never seemed to be easy for them.
With that explanation over, Xank walked them over to introduce them to the rest of the
participants, holding out his hand as he called them one by one.
"First, I should introduce you to Kaylie from the Seeno Clan," Xank said. "She is from one of
the mountain clans; they have unorthodox skills that have impressed in the academy!"
Raze gave a slight nod to Seeno. She had small scratches over her face, and half of a wooden
mask with claw marks covering her face.
"Is this allowed?" Seeno asked. "I never saw this student at the academy…"
"Jake here is from the recently joined Crimson Crane; he has bested Pritter from the
Necroshade Clan in a duel to earn his position today," Xank explained. Jake was the fake
name that they had used, rather than Raze or the Dark Magus.
"He clearly has the strength to be part of your students and he is the same age as the rest of
you. His registration was pushed through by all four of the great clans."
Saying these words, none of the other students were going to argue with the fact. Especially
since he had beaten Pritter. They knew Pritter's strength well.
News of his defeat wasn't widespread because it was an action that no one had been
expecting and only half a day had passed.
"From the Lost Clan, we have Beret!" Xank said.
"Umm, nice to meet you...I'm from the Lost Clan," Beret answered in a quiet voice that was
hard to hear; he even moved his body facing away from Raze.
Yet for some reason, Raze felt like if he was to get closer he might strike. Maybe because
this person felt quite similar to Raze in a lot of ways.
Xank also seemed to get a strange feeling from this student so he didn't linger on him for
long and moved onto the next student.
"This here is Brack, from the Behemoth Clan."
When Raze went to look at the student, he had immediately turned his head away.
Although young like the others, his facial features made him look older due to the full thick
black beard he had under his chin.
Just like many of those that were strong and came from a Behemoth Clan, he was well-built
and taller than the other students, but his body was clearly mostly muscular.
"We perhaps should move on from that," Xank said as he went to move onto the final
student.
"Here is quite the infamous student, known as the strongest in the DemonicFaction Pagna
academy, and even claimed to be the strongest in many generations, you might know him
as the Black Tiger, Mantis."
Raze looked at Mantis, and he was standing there in the same way as he was the last time.
Although wearing the same cloth as before, the upper part of his uniform, half of it was
dragged off revealing a side of his body.
A large claw mark could be seen peeking out of his chest giving him his nickname.
Mantis was also a student that Raze had met before when he had come to Repton with the
others. He had returned to find that Mantis was close to finishing off Simyon that day and
the rest of his friends.
Raze had managed to gauge his power somewhat. He was immensely strong. Based on his
talent he had the potential to grow even further.
Whether or not he was at the same level as Raze, he found that hard to believe because
Raze had many outside factors helping him, but looking at the Black Tiger, his eyes had
strong confidence in them.
'From the looks of things, he doesn't seem to remember me. I guess facially during this time
I have changed a bit, and with my black hair, people aren't fully putting two and two
together.'
"With the introductions done, I have to remind you all, that these people by your side for
the most part of the tournament, are not your enemies, but they are your allies.
"You will need to work together! One of the reasons for our losses last year was because
our faction is not good at working together, unlike those from the Light Faction!" Xank said.
"That won't matter." A loud booming voice was heard from behind.
Just the voice alone had covered everyone in sweat. Even Raze could feel a deep tingling
sensation from behind him as he felt a shadow cast over him.
Turning around, he saw a large figure, big with hair covering both of his arms, and covering
most of his face.
Although Raze had never seen this person before, he knew immediately who he was.
'So this is Sha Mo, the leader of the Behemoth Clan that has been giving me so much
trouble.'
Sha Mo slowly tilted his head down to look at the contestants until his eyes started to linger
on Raze. On the day of his wedding ceremony, he was wearing a mask covering his face and
so far no one had recognized him.
"So you're the reason why my Pillars fell," Sha Mo said, with not even a slight raise of his
cheek. His eyes were filled with anger.
Chapter 613 Enter The Light Faction
Chapter 613 Enter The Light Faction
Sha Mo's eyes were focused on Raze; he wasn't turning away from him for a moment nor
was he bothering to look at the other contestants.
Even Xank, who said everything would be okay initially between them, gulped as he wasn't
so sure anymore.
'How was he able to figure out who I was?' Raze thought. 'So many people have seen me in
the mask and seen me in person but haven't been able to put two and two together.'
'Some might have had the thought, but would think they were crazy, so how did Sha Mo
manage to figure it out? Is the Qi lingering out of my body?'
Due to Raze being able to condense his Qi even further than that of warriors at the same
stage as him. This skill only increased when he had reached the middle stage.
He was so good at it, that even other middle stage warriors couldn't tell what stage he was
at because next to no Qi would leak out of his body.
This was also the case for those like Belil and Sha Mo. The two of them would often just
leak out a small fraction of it on purpose as a way to win a battle without lifting a finger at
times as well, or to exert pressure.
"I can't believe it, how could someone so small like you take out my two pillars… you
certainly must have some secrets about you," Sha Mo said.
Everyone could hear his loud and deep voice clearly. They could tell what he was
insinuating. Was the student that had been accepted on behalf of the Crimson Crane really
the Dark Magus?
"Just to make you aware, things like Qi pills won't be able to be used during the tournament
events, only in between the rounds that take place," Sha Mo explained.
"You're lucky that I wish to see your strength with my own eyes, and for this assessment, it
seems like you might be a big help."
Sha Mo could tell, he knew that Raze was a middle stage warrior, and knowing that, he was
confident that with him they would win this fight, and ultimately it was the reason why he
had decided to leave him be.
With his eyes finally off from Raze, there was one other person that had caught the
attention of Sha Mo.
"What's happened to you… you feel different, I've met you before as well," Sha Mo asked.
His eyes were looking at Mantis, the Black Tiger.
Yet even with Sha Mo asking him a question, he was able to stand there not nervous, while
the other contestants nearby were showing some signs of weakness.
"What a strange group of people we will have for the tournament this year," Sha Mo stated.
"Yes, and it's our duty, to make sure to protect them, and that they get out of the Light
Faction without a scratch on their body."
The voice came from the side, the slightly slender man, covered in black bandages around
his arms and the upper part of his face; this was Lince, leader of the Lost Clan.
On his back, he had several different shaped spears on his back that were fanned out like a
fan.
"Great you are here!" Xank said. "Now that everyone is present, we can head off."
The large group had a total of eight carriages that were heading to the Light Faction. The
Neverfall Clan, along with Xank, had two members present that were there for his
protection.
Then, in each of the carriages, there was the participating student, along with two members
of their clan in the carriages as well.
So in Raze's carriage, he had Alba and Anna, representing the Crimson Crane Clan. Finally,
there then was a separate carriage each for Sha Mo, and Lince who were traveling on their
own.
During the journey, those in Xank's clan, as well as the other carriages would take it in
turns to step outside and make sure the situation was fine.
They were running at the same speed as the horses and keeping up, making sure nothing
would get in their way.
Then finally, they had reached the border of the Light Faction. There were warriors waiting
for them and an inspection occurred.
The Light Faction checked how many people were present and matched it up with the list
of people that had been sent beforehand.
Right after that, they could continue on their way. While in the carriage, Anna, and Raze
were constantly looking outside because the Light Faction was vastly different from the
Dark Faction and the Demonic Faction.
"There's so much wildlife here, and followers with large fields," Raze commented. It wasn't
just that, but the people were living in larger houses, and they weren't cramped together.
Raze could even see strange machinery being used on the crops, machinery that felt as if it
was too advanced for Pagna, helping them with their lifestyles.
Stuff he hadn't seen in the other two factions.
"Ah right, it will be the first time both of you have come to the Light Faction, right?" Alba
asked. "The Light Faction is definitely the nicest out of the three places."
"The general citizens seem happy here, and they have a closer connection with the
kingdoms in this area. It seems the clans use a lot of their investments to help the town
people grow as well, rather than just thinking about themselves."
While hearing the story, Raze thought that there was a but in there somewhere. Why did
wanderers exist, if the Light Faction was such a nice place, then why didn't Alba and her
group decide to settle here?
"However, it just isn't a place for everyone, especially warriors that don't want to stick to
the strict rules and morals that the Light Faction uphold," Alba continued. "There was just
always a strange feeling when I came here, as if I was constantly being watched."
Raze knew what she meant because he felt the same way the moment he had entered the
Light Faction. While looking out the window, Raze had noticed large towns and cities in the
distance.
And then he could see it up ahead, built slightly away in a large field in its own area away
from the city, there was a giant coliseum, and arena that was made just for the martial arts
tournament.
"We're here," Raze said.
And, it wasn't just them that had arrived.
Chapter 614 The Coliseum
Chapter 614 The Coliseum
Originally, Raze was a little dispirited as he saw the carriages go past the large cities and
towns. After seeing some of the farming equipment the Light Faction used, he wanted to
see more that was displayed in the city.
After all, the last Light Faction place he had gone to was eliminated almost immediately
leaving only rubble behind.
There was something else that had bothered him about the Light Faction for the longest
time as well, and that was the fact that the Light Faction elder they fought against knew
how to use magic.
Not only that, but he had a reaction when Raze had mentioned that he was the Dark Magus,
as if he knew him from Alteian.
Regardless, the carriages were now approaching, heading through the large entrances, and
there were crowds that were surrounding the outside of the platform area, queuing up to
get inside.
Looking at the people, there were a mix of Pagna martial artists, regular citizens, and he
even was able to see some higher kingdom officials.
'Out of all the people here, not just those from the Factions will be present, but I'm sure
there will be people from the Bonum Society and Alter as well.'
'Alter didn't have a big presence in the Demonic Faction, probably because the Demonic
Clans never would use their services that they offered to others.'
'The more I learn about Belil and those like him, I can imagine if they used strange powers
he might just execute them, but Alter is meant to have a big presence in the Light and Dark
Faction, they will definitely be here.'
Which just meant Raze's restriction of magic was even higher than it was before.
The contestants as well as other factions were to enter through a separate entrance located
at the back.
Descending from their carriages, there were a large number of Light Faction warriors at the
entrance.
Even when they went inside into the large coliseum, there were Light Faction warriors at
every single turn and corner.
They were guided until they had entered a room that gave them a view of the arena. It was
almost a separate underground box on the lowest floors of the coliseum that looked out
onto the main field.
Inside the room, there were plenty of furniture and refreshments for the group to have as
well.
"This will be the resting room for the Demonic Faction. All of those that aren't taking part
should return here and remain here.'
"If we wish to leave, or need anything, please just give a knock on the door you have
entered from, and someone will come to help you."
"From here, you will all have a clear view of the fight that is happening."
"Stationed around I'm sure you will be able to see boxes just like yours, the Light Faction
and the Dark Faction will be present and away from you so you can have your peace," one
of the female Light Faction members explained.
The box they were in was quite large; at least fifty people could sleep here, not just stay to
watch the match.
When looking out at the other boxes where the other factions were, there was a strange
reflective glass on the outside.
They could see out, but others when looking in could just see a reflection.
'I'm guessing that the others are in there, and they have no clue that I'm here.'
"Question!" Anna said before the Light Faction member left the room. "Can I watch from the
stadium? I just prefer the higher view."
"Just you alone?" The Light Faction member was taken aback by the request and looked
around wondering if the others wanted to go with her.
From her knowledge, the only ones they needed to worry about were Sha Mo and Lince.
They had also told her to keep an eye on Alba possibly.
Yet, this person in front of her was neither of them, and the request seemed reasonable.
"Of course, but if you wish to leave the coliseum, then please remember to speak to one of
us," the woman said with a bright smile.
Just like that, Anna had left Alba and Raze on their own, in a room full of other Demonic
Faction members who all hated them.
"That girl, I thought she came here so she could stay by your side," Alba complained.
'Right, which is why I'm confused why she asked to leave, maybe she saw something… or
someone,' Raze thought.
From where they were, they could see the stage filling up. The whole area could fill up to
150,000 people. There were clearly those that had come from all over the Light Faction.
And not just the most powerful in the Light Faction would be present, but the Kingdoms,
the Empires, and more would all fill the seats.
They were now just waiting to be called out. While waiting to be called out, Raze was
looking at the other students.
Brack, Kaylie, and Beret were all warming up with their weapons. After a few swings, they
would even meditate.
Some even were getting tips from the other members that were in their clan.
The only ones that weren't doing such a thing were Mantis and Raze.
"Are you sure you're going to be able to perform in front of this many people?" Alba asked.
"People only get nervous if they care, and about the tournament itself, I don't care," Raze
answered.
"Do you want to spar with me? I could serve as a good warm-
up," Alba asked.
"It's okay," Raze answered, looking around the room. He still wasn't able to shake off the
feeling that a large amount of eyes were constantly looking at him since he had entered the
Faction area.
At the same time, Anna had done as she said she would; she had been given a ticket and
entered among the crowd of people pouring in.
With her eyes, she was looking everywhere until she had finally locked on to a group of
people. "That's Marcus Ford… the head of the Alter Clan, that handed Raze over to Harvey,
this isn't good."
Chapter 615 Bet Everything on him
Chapter 615 Bet Everything on him
It was the first time Anna had met up with Raze. She had a call from her captain Harvey
telling them they had an important mission.
They had traveled to the Lethal Bite Clan, and that was where Raze was handed over by
none other than Marcus Ford, a captain of another squad who had been in the Demonic
Faction for quite some time. Since he was here, he was more likely to recognize Raze or at
least recognize his skills.
On top of that, since she hadn't been given a call and hadn't seen Harvey, her squad wasn't
asked to be here, so if they were to see her, she knew there would be a lot of questions
asked.
'Out of all the groups, they had to send out this one…no that's not true. If it's Alter, there
will be more than just Marcus's group, there will be quite a few placed in this giant crowd.
'Thankfully, they're sitting on the opposite side, so they won't see me, but I have to be
careful that there could be others.'
When going to sit down in her seat, a flap of silk fabric, golden in color, wafted in front of
her face. And she soon saw a young man sitting down right next to her.
Next to him, another man was holding a drink and passing it on to the man wearing golden
silk clothing.
'Who is this flashy person?' Anna thought. Using her system, she started to do an analysis,
and she was surprised that she had gotten an answer. Because it meant that this person
that was now sitting next to her wasn't a nobody.
"Ah, it seems that your eyes have recognized me," the man said, touching his forehead and
getting into a posing position as if he was getting ready to be painted.
"I am the infamous Bubble!" the man claimed.
A strange name even for the world of Pagna, but it was part of Bubble's image to try and do
anything he could to stand out and get his name out there, and it had worked, with
everyone in all factions knowing of Bubble's news reports.
"So you are here to look at the event, I guess it would make sense, so you can report it to
those that are unable to see it," Anna replied.
"Correct, but what I also find interesting is this." Bubble pulled out a small piece of paper
that had several numbers on them.
Anna, looking at it, knew what it was because everyone had been given a sheet. They were
betting odds. The whole reason why the event hadn't started yet, the Light Faction with
how righteous they claimed to be.
They were allowing the participants to bet on who they thought would win. In their morals,
they saw nothing wrong with it, as it was all a form of entertainment.
On their part, they thought it was fine as long as the event was completely fair, and with the
Light Faction running the event, they felt like it was extremely fair.
"So, who do you think will win this time? The Light Faction seems to put a lot of hope into
them winning the group category and also this person named Hanna on winning the single
category," Bubble stated.
Looking at the list of names, Anna saw the name 'Jake' and she placed her finger on the
sheet.
"If I were you, I would pay attention to this person. If you put money on him, I'm sure you
will get more than you imagined," Anna answered.
Bubble thought it was interesting and before he decided anything, he wanted to see what
the participants looked like first.
After a few minutes, finally coming out from seemingly a square in the ground, a platform
was being raised.
On the platform, three individuals dressed in long white cloth covering their bodies and
wearing large white masks that were three times the size of their heads covering their
entire faces.
"We welcome everyone from far and wide who has come to today's Martial Arts
Tournament," a voice said.
It wasn't shouted but spoken calmly, and yet everyone could hear it due to the Qi that was
being used when spoken.
"The three clans of the Light Faction, the Aurora Clan, The Illumination Clan, and the
Dawnblade Clan, have been involved more than ever to make sure that this event is the
greatest that it has ever been in history."
"The events we have prepared will push the students of each academy to their limits.
Showing us the growth of each of our factions."
"This event continues, to also keep the peace between our free factions, that the Kingdoms,
and the empires are all thankful for."
"Before we go ahead and explain the details of what the event will be, I would now like to
introduce the contestants of all of the clans today!"
The front glass of the large booths that were placed on the ground floor was starting to lift.
Each of them had a Light Faction warrior leading the students, informing them to follow in
a straight line as they walked out onto the field.
The crowd started to cheer as loud as they could, even harming their vocal chords at the
event that only came around once a year.
It meant a lot to the factions but it was also a time of excitement for all.
Bubble when looking at the people that were entering, his eyes had opened wide.
'That's… I can't believe it… that's him, I know that's him because he's in the same disguise
as he was before, that's the Dark Magus!'
Looking at the sheet and seeing all of the participants of the Demonic Clans, Bubble had
figured out that the Dark Magus was the one that was known as Jake.
'How did this woman…' It then clicked in Bubble's head; he had seen her as well. She was
one of the people that were fighting against the Behemoth Clan.
At the same time, on the ground floor itself, as Raze walked out, it had been such a long
time, but when looking across he could see them all.
Those in the Dark Faction that he had been separated from. For some reason, when seeing
them without even thinking about what he was doing, a smile had appeared across his face.
Chapter 616 Is He Staring At Us?
Chapter 616 Is He Staring At Us?
Each group of academy students walked out without their leaders and allies by their side.
Only a single Light Faction member guided them to where they were to stand.
It was a big and frightening moment for many, in unknown territory, deep in the heart of
another faction they had never been to before, while strangers were watching their every
move.
Turning around, their support was quite a distance away. For years, they had been taught
that these people were their enemy, and for the first time, they were coming face to face
with them.
It was natural for the participants to start to look at each other, eyeing up their
competition, but that's when a certain individual realized that someone was staring their
way.
"Hey!" Liam nudged Simyon on the shoulder. "I have a feeling that some guy is looking at us
over there. Do you think it's another case of Ricktor?"
Ricktor turned his head slightly and smiled while looking at Simyon.
Simyon raised his hand to cover the sunlight hitting his eyes to try and get a better look.
They were all staring toward the center, after all.
"You're right, he's really staring at us. He hasn't even glanced at the Light Faction… and
have you noticed who's with them?"
Safa, Simyon, and Liam had all noticed someone else trailing at the back, and it was none
other than the Black Tiger.
A person who still struck fear into them all. Soon though, Simyon's attention turned back to
the man who was still staring at them and even smiling at them.
"I think it really might be a second Ricktor," Liam commented.
"Wait, that person, doesn't he look familiar?" Mada asked. Now they were getting closer,
and the details of one face were appearing.
At the back, Safa tapped the side of her head twice, activating her God Eyes.
As if realization had hit him, Liam raised his hand and pointed out.
"Wait, yeah, doesn't that look like—"
A hand quickly grabbed his mouth from behind. Liam could instantly smell that it was
scented and smelled like a type of fruit. This smell only came from one person.
"It is him," Safa said. "It looks like he has come here for some reason, and he's okay just like
us, but we should keep quiet about it. No one should know it's him."
Honestly, it was hard for them to tell even though they knew it was Raze. The facial
features had changed a bit since they had last seen him.
His body wasn't as frail; he was more filled out, and his hair was black. There was a sense of
maturity about him, like that of the Elders they would meet.
However, Safa had confirmed with her God Eyes the energy that was still around him. It
was hard for her, but she needed to gulp down her feelings; otherwise, people would
wonder why she was getting upset.
Arriving from all three areas, the participants lined up one by one in a triangle formation,
allowing each of them to look at each other.
And then, something strange appeared when one of the Light Faction members, wearing
the large masks, lifted their hands.
Out from the floor, large mirror-like displays appeared from the ground. They were large in
size, almost as big as a house.
They were rising in the air, floating without any device to hold them up, and then stayed in
place facing the direction of all three areas.
"The Light Faction has invested a lot in this event!" the announcer claimed. "We have
created new technologies which will allow more of us to enjoy what is happening directly
on the field."
Just then, six smaller mirror-like objects started to float through the air. As they did, they
swirled around the contestants' faces, and on the larger screens above, they revealed close-
ups of each of the participants.
The crowd gasped in shock at what they were witnessing. They could see large faces as if
they were really there.
They had never seen such technology before, apart from a few artifacts that might have
been found in other dimensions.
Bubble, who was in the crowd, was quite shocked by this.
'These are the same as the gift that I was handed as well… was it the Light Faction that
gifted me those? But then why would they, how would it benefit them,' Bubble thought.
"These are the brave participants that will be taking part in the events, and we will all be
able to witness what is happening as if we were really there!" the man shouted.
The crowd cheered louder than before. Many of them from the Light Faction were proud of
this achievement of technology that was at their fingertips first.
"I will announce the following rules to all those unaware of how the tournament works.
There are three types of events that will take place."
"First, a team event. In this case, all participants belonging to a faction must take part. The
events themselves can cover a number of things. Whether that's going against each other,
having a trial against something, or more."
"The second type of event is still a team event, but participants won't be taking part in their
teams. The event will require the team to select one person who they think is best from
their group to participate, earning points for their team."
"Lastly, we have the solo event. In this case, it is the main attraction of the event, to find out
who has raised the best student of all."
After saying those words, the crowd erupted into cheers once again as excitement filled the
area.
The way it was explained to Raze on the way here was that there were actually two awards
given out. One was an academy award, and the other was an individual award.
Based on the results of the academy award, the event would take place in that faction the
next year. While the individual award proved who one needed to look out for in the future.
However, in every event that had occurred so far, the academy that had won the academy
award also won the individual award. Because those individuals would be enough to tip the
favor in the group events.
"With all that said and done, the first event will begin immediately, and it will be an entire
team event!" the announcer announced.
"To start things off, will all participants apart from those from the Light Faction please
leave the area. As hosts of this event, it's only fair that we start things off!"
The excited cheers continued rumbling the whole place. Turning around and walking from
the students, the five Light Faction students stood firm, ready for what was going to take
part.
'The fact that they asked the other two of us to leave, does that mean the first event won't
require us going up against each other, then what will we be going up against,' Raze
thought.
When looking at the Light Faction members, though, his eyes had caught items they were
wearing. Necklaces, bracelets, headbands, and all of them had a golden 'I' marking on their
clothing.
'So it looks like this event isn't going to be the fair event I thought it was going to be.'
Chapter 617 The Light Faction Is Up
Chapter 617 The Light Faction Is Up
Returning to the area they were once in, Raze couldn't stop thinking about the items he had
seen. He knew there had to be a link between Alterian and the Light Faction, but for it to be
such a big one...
'It doesn't make any sense. I can't be the only person from Alterian that knows about the
markings of Idore. Those in Alter would be able to notice it as well. If that's the case, why
hasn't Alter done anything?'
'Or is it possible that Alter are the ones supporting them in the first place?'
"This is a joke," Brack said. "All of the events are set up by the Light Faction. Doesn't that
mean all of the participants would have been able to train for it and know what's coming
up? They clearly have an advantage."
"Now, now, young Brack," one of the Behemoth Clan elders that had come with the young
participant said. "This is simply the advantage of having won last year's competition.
"Besides, the fact that they have decided to go first is their way of playing fair, allowing all
of us to see what the first event will be.
"If there is one thing I can say about the Light Faction, it is that they try to be as fair as
possible."
Raze would have to disagree, knowing full well what items they had on their body. Similar
to a group of Grand Magus he knew, all of it was just for show in the end.
Rumbling could be felt from underground as the event was to get underway, and
immediately all of the students belonging to the Light Faction had gotten in a circle
formation.
All of them had pulled out their swords and pointed them toward the center.
A small outline could be seen in the ground as something was being raised up from
underneath. Large growls could be heard one after the other, and finally, coming into the
center of the stage, they could see what had risen up from the ground.
A large beast stood on its two large legs like a human. It was chained by its arms and legs
attached to the ground.
The chains were made of a special material, with an interlocking mechanism that twisted
with the movement of the beast.
The beast was especially ferocious, covered in thick armor on its shoulders and forearms
with only gaps left in between.
Everyone assumed it had to at least be a level five beast, and even the audience looked a
little frightened at what had appeared.
"Do not worry, people. Stationed are those from the strongest clans in the Light Faction.
They will stay around the edge. If the beast even comes close, they will be sure to protect
you! Not that it will be needed," the announcer stated.
The relief on the people's faces could be seen. With just a few words, a change in
atmosphere was seen, showing how much they trusted the Light Faction.
"Let the event begin!"
As soon as these words were said, the chains fell off the beast with a click. Immediately, it
charged forward toward the crowd, with the Light Faction members standing in its way.
Immediately, though, the circle formation was quick to act. Three of the Light Faction
students stood right in front of the beast having next to no fear.
They lifted up their swords in the air, and at the right time, they all jumped up and swung
down a strike full of Qi.
It hit the beast, causing it to stumble backward, but the hard armor on its body protected it
well.
At the same time, though, from behind, two of the warriors had jumped at the back and
stabbed their swords between the large pieces of armor, blood squirting out from its body.
They didn't follow up with more attacks but instead jumped back and continued staying in
the circle-like position.
"I suggest that you all pay attention to the Light Faction students," Lince, the leader of the
Lost Clan, said. "The Light Faction has always worked well together."
"Even though these members are not from the same clan, they are still able to work with
flawless teamwork to take down an enemy that they perhaps couldn't take down on their
own."
"Does that matter, though?" Beret asked, a student of the Lost Clan. "If they were to come
across five strong individuals from the Demonic Faction, wouldn't they still lose the fight?"
"You should know that it won't always be the case. There may be a time where you're
forced to face multiple members, and fighting more than one person at once is quite tricky.
There is strength in numbers, isn't that right, Sha Mo?"
Sha Mo just gave off a little grunt, knowing full well that Lince was poking fun at him for
having the largest clan in the Demonic Faction.
The fight against the beast was continuing, and they could tell that it was incredibly strong.
When blocking an attack, there needed to be three members from the Light Faction to
block.
However, after another strike hit the gaps in its legs, the beast had slowed down, and then
something amazing occurred that was mesmerizing for the crowd.
One by one, the Light Faction members were going in for the attack. They used their own
special techniques of their clan as they went and struck it one after the other.
The beast looked as if it could no longer fight back. One sword skill after the other was
being repeated, and it was speeding up.
As soon as one student was done with their attack, it was time for the next. This level of
coordination was even unseen compared to previous years.
Then finally, the student named Hanna jumped up in the air. Placing her hand over the
sword, it looked to be completely covered in white energy.
She spun herself and slashed right at the back of the beast's neck, a deep cut was made,
spurting blood towards her.
She swung her sword, hitting the blood away before she could get it on her clothes and
landed on the ground with the beast falling behind her.
With the beast dead, the crowd erupted into roars once again. The students elegantly
looked at the crowd and waved their hands with smiles on their faces.
"Come on, is that really impressive?" Beret said. "They just killed a beast. When I shove
their face into the ground, then they will see how lame that was."
"Hey!" Sha Mo interrupted. "If you talk like that, then you better be able to prove it when
it's your turn."
The Light Faction students had returned to the waiting area without a single one of them
getting injured. They made dealing with the powerful beast look easy.
Raze knew very well how hard it was to go up against a level 5 beast. What he had just
witnessed was the power of teamwork.
"Now that we have seen what the Light Faction can do, our next group of contestants will
be… the Dark Faction!"
Now, it was time for Raze to see just how much the others had grown with him away.
Chapter 618 The Dark Faction, the Strongest?
Chapter 618 The Dark Faction, the Strongest?
The Dark Faction students were walking out one after the other, and it was the expected
students that had been selected.
Ricktor, Mada, Simyon, Safa, and finally Liam. These five were considered the strongest in
the Dark Faction and were the ones participating in the event. Immediately as they came
out, most of the crowd had started to erupt into boo's. Another component of having the
event away from the other factions.
The floating plates moved into place, allowing an up close image with the special
machinery used by the Light Faction. Seeing them one by one, there were those that were
recognized and those that weren't questions arose from both the Demonic Faction camp
and the Light Faction camp.
"I recognize two of them, they're direct disciples of the larger clans," Lince said, stroking his
chin. He had moved forward and was standing next to Raze, who had gone up close to the
screen.
Sha Mo and the others didn't seem too interested in the event. They were more bothered
with stuffing their faces with the complimentary food given to them on the side.
Lince, Raze, and the other participants of the Demonic Faction were the only ones paying
attention.
"Yeah, the other three I don't recognize at all," Beret commented, the participant from the
Lost Clan that Lince led.
"Was our intel wrong? This year I thought there were five disciples all from the major clans
in the Dark Faction, yet I don't recognize three of them at all."
While in the town of Flendon, Raze was learning more about the Demonic Faction. The Lost
Clan in the Demonic Faction was quite special among those in the clan.
That was because they were a networking clan, having members in disguise in other
territories passing information to them.
Using this information, they had ways to tear other clans apart or bring them over to aid
them on their side.
Because of this, it was difficult to gauge the Lost Clan's strength.
Although clearly something like information wouldn't dissuade loyalty in the Behemoth or
the larger clans, for the sake of face or their own clans being ripped apart, it was quite
possible that the Lost Clan could bring many to their side to aid them.
It was interesting because Raze didn't think anyone in the Demonic Faction would care to
research the Dark Faction, but someone had to otherwise they would be far behind the
other factions.
"There are two reasons for this: either the Dark Faction is so confident in their members
they decided not to use the other three main disciples, or despite everything these three
are truly the strongest of the academy."
When entering the main arena, the students got into position, drawing out their weapons.
They were waiting patiently for the arena to rise just like last time.
There was some preparation needed between each group. Some might have thought this
was a tactic as the students' faces appeared slightly nervous.
Inside the Demonic Faction's area, Alba suddenly made a request.
"Is it possible if I can watch from the stage as well?" Alba asked, the Light Faction member.
"I don't see why not, but the seats are filled, so you might have to go in the second standing
section."
"That's fine," Alba said, turning to Raze. "You'll be alright here on your own, right?"
Raze nodded. He knew what Alba was up to, and he needed both Alba and Anna to do their
thing. He would be too busy with the tournament itself, so he had to rely on them to find
some way, some path into rescuing and bringing the others over.
"Don't worry, I will protect him from the big bad wolf," Lince said, not turning around.
Presumably, he was talking about Sha Mo.
With that, Alba exited and headed straight for the area. Reaching the second area, she could
see crowds of people standing, continuously making bets as time went on.
Mostly on the Light Faction after seeing their performance. While she walked through the
crowd, she eventually stopped and turned to face the arena.
"I'm glad to see you're alive," Alba said, as if speaking to no one and just looking out on the
field.
"I'm happy to see you're alive as well. It's been tough." A blonde swept-back hair figure
with a mask covering half of his face was standing right by Alba.
"It's good to have you next to me again, Cronker."
Cronker had been in the Dark Faction ever since they had split up, promising to look after
the Dark Faction students from the shadows.
There were too many times when he thought he would have been caught. He had managed
to come along on this trip thanks to Amir, but he was unable to be in the same booth as
them, so he was in the main crowd along with the others.
"A lot has changed in the Crimson Crane since you've been away, we have a lot to tell you,
but they are good things for the clan, we are stronger than we have ever been," Alba stated.
"Right, I have heard some of the news, of fending off the Behemoth Clan. I wish I was there
as well, to help you."
Alba wanted to talk about Elvlin as well, but she wasn't sure it was the right time. It was
news that had reached almost no one's ears, and it wasn't important enough to share now.
She decided to keep it in for now because she didn't know how Cronker would react,
especially if he knew who was responsible for it all.
"I haven't been doing nothing myself, there are three students from the academy that I have
taken under my wing," Cronker smiled. "They are talented."
"Oh, you took in disciples, have you trained them in the stealth arts like yourself then?"
Alba asked.
"That I have," Cronker answered. "They have absorbed everything, pushing themselves to
be of some use. They can gather information, skilled in assassination, and attack weak
points from the shadows when needed."
"It sounds like you've made yourself your own assassin group," Alba smiled.
"A group that is to be used by the Crimson Crane."
The group certainly would come in handy in the future, that was if they could get all of the
students safely out of the place.
Now instead, she was looking at Raze's friends, the ones he had come for.
"About them, will they do well in this task? Are they safe, or is it best to try and get them
out early?" Alba asked.
Cronker smiled as he could see the whole coliseum shaking. The floor underneath the arena
was rising once more, and the same beast that had appeared for the Light Faction was seen
coming out from under.
It was the same size as the last, chained like the last, and had heavy armor all the same. It
certainly was an advantage going second, seeing how the beast acted.
Which just went to show the Light Faction's fairness in the event.
"They are the most amazing students I have ever seen before. If it was up to me, I would put
all my coin on them winning this event," Cronker answered.
Chapter 619 Show Them Your Power
Chapter 619 Show Them Your Power
"So, what's the plan, boss?" Liam shouted out.
Just like the Light Faction, the Dark Faction students had gathered in a circular formation
around the beast that was rising around the center.
Seeing this, even more boos had come from the crowd.
"They're just going to copy the Light Faction!"
"Figures, that's what those dirty pigs at the Dark Faction would do."
"Hey, don't say that, that's not fair to the pigs, these guys are even lower than pigs."
"Even if they do copy, do they really think they'll be able to do the same thing as the Light
Faction? That would be impossible," Bubble said, observing the situation.
Anna felt the same way. What they had witnessed the Light Faction do, it had to be trained
for, and she doubted the other academies would train for such things.
"We've been ordered by the Principal," Safa said as she pulled out her spear. "To not worry
about how long it takes, but to show the others up and show them our strength!"
In the Dark Faction, people were also noticing that Safa, the female of the group, was taking
charge rather than Ricktor or Mada.
Not just that, but there was meaning behind the message. They knew that more points were
to be awarded for how quickly the beast would be dealt with.
This event was a time trial to see who could defeat the beast quickest. The Principal's order
was essentially to not worry about how long it takes, but to show them what we've got.
The chains had been unleashed from the beast, and it immediately screamed into the air in
anger. It then started to look around at who to go for.
That was until Simyon spread his legs out and put two fists by his side, and unleashed a
large amount of Qi flowing from his body.
The beast, recognizing this, quickly turned its head to Simyon and started to charge right at
him. It ran as fast as it could with its mighty size and force.
Yet Simyon stood there still. The Qi was still wild all over his body until the head of the
beast was approaching. Moving his hand out, the Qi that was fluctuating wildly around
Simyon's body condensed down, and he covered his head with both his arms in a cross
shape.
The beast's large body crashed into Simyon, and the contestants flinched as they expected
the young boy to go flying.
When they looked back down on the ground, instead they could see that Simyon had only
moved a meter or so back in the ground. He had completely taken the hit, and there wasn't
even a scratch on his body.
If anything, the beast's head had flung back and ricocheted as if it had hit a giant boulder.
"What's with the kid's body!" Bubble commented ecstatically. "That is a level five beast,
what took three Light Faction students, one boy was able to deflect the attack on his own!"
Simyon's body was now at the Unique grade; it was just as strong as a level five beast. Sure,
he could have avoided the hit or tried to attack, but this was his way of showing off his
skills.
"Now it's time for you two, go!" Safa ordered. She still hadn't moved from her spot, and she
felt like there was no reason for her to; she was watching everything from a bird's eye view
of what was to happen.
"Do you think we couldn't have figured that out ourselves?" Mada said as he was running
forward; his visual Qi was flowing, a trail of water was appearing behind him.
"You like to complain; I thought you would have been used to her by now," Ricktor said as
he ran forward with a sword in his hand as well, an erupting power exploding behind him
as well.
Both of them then jumped up in the air at the same time, Mada swinging his leg right at the
beast's head, and Ricktor swinging his sword.
Both of them attacked the beast at the same time with their massive amount of strength,
and the beast's entire body was lifted up into the air.
It was flying and about to come crashing into the side of the coliseum wall, that was until
the warriors standing on the edge had pushed back with their powerful Qi, causing the
large beast to move toward the center again and fall on the front of its body.
"Those two… they're incredibly powerful attacks," Lince said, clearly surprised. "What the
Light Faction did was impressive, but on an individual scale, they never showed power like
this."
"It's almost as if they're trying to tell us, at any point in time, just one of these students
would have been enough to deal with the beast on their own."
"And do you think we couldn't?" Mantis had spoken for the first time in a while, seemingly
annoyed by the comment.
What Lince had also noticed was that Raze was smiling at this fact. What could the reason
be? Maybe it was because they were strong opponents, or there was something else.
'These guys, all of them, have been training hard, incredibly hard, and I haven't even seen
everything they can do yet,' Raze thought.
At that moment, he almost felt like a proud father seeing those around him growing and
walking on their own two feet.
They were clearly going to grow into warriors that wouldn't need him protecting them.
The beast was getting up from the floor; it wasn't done yet, and due to none of the Dark
Faction members continuously attacking the beast, it also meant they were taking longer.
Each person was just waiting to show what they had, and now the crowd was quite excited
to see who was going to show their power next.
When the beast stood on its two feet, that's when a third person had come running up. A
boy with an eyepatch on his eye and red hair.
He jumped up into the air, coming from behind the beast's neck. Then with his hand, he
covered his sword.
Watching all of this, that was when people were starting to realize something.
"Wait a moment, doesn't this look familiar?"
"No, it can't be," some of them said, with their mouths left open, as they saw the next move.
With the sword shrouded in Qi, Liam then did a quick slash right behind the neck of the
beast. Blood splattered out aiming towards his face, but he swung the sword, hitting the
blood, before landing on the ground, and the beast falling to the floor, and to its death.
The crowd was stunned into silence at that moment. Because what they had just witnessed
was a moment of déjà vu.
Someone from the Dark Faction had eliminated the beast in the same way as that from the
Light Faction, but it wasn't just similar.
It was near enough to the same technique that Hannah had used… how was it even
possible? How could someone from the Dark Faction know such techniques?
In the entirety of the crowd, there was one person that knew the answer.
"He… I'm sure of it, he has the system, but why does he have the system? Is he part of the
Red Fortis? What is his relation to them?" Anna said.
Chapter 620 A Show Off
Chapter 620 A Show Off
The time of completion for this event was noted, and although the Dark Faction had
defeated the beast quickly, it was still slower than the Light Faction all working together.
However, it didn't matter. Even though the Dark Faction students knew this, there was a
smile on their faces when they walked back to the watching area where they had come
from.
In particular, though, there was a bit of outrage going on in the background. Many high-
ranking members of the Light Faction had witnessed this, and the three men in the large
white masks were all heads of their clan.
After making their announcements at the start of the event, they had returned to their own
separate viewing area, a place just above where their students were currently stationed,
and just the three of them were on their own, sitting in their seats.
On one of the large white masks with the image of a sun, there was Circle, the head of the
Illumination Clan.
"The moves that kid made just now, they weren't just simple imitations; it was the exact
same art," Circle said.
"Yes," the man next to him with a large mask on his face, with several indents like craters
on the moon, spoke up. This man was Kawak, the head of the Aurora Clan.
"And the skill that was used was from none other than the Dawnblade Clan. It seems that
trouble just keeps on following you. Do you care to explain this yourself?"
"You are accusing me?" a fierce voice replied, not even turning his head to look at the
others. On his large mask, there was a line down the center that looked like that of a blade.
This man was the head of the Dawnblade Clan, Ricar Highborn.
"Why would I even dare to teach the enemy? If anything, right now, I think both of you are
being foolish. It's quite obvious that the child down there has done that to cause
disturbances among each other."
"Rather than focusing on the enemy, we will be distracted by this foolishness."
"You cannot doubt, though, that child had not just copied but performed the same
movements," Circle added. "It is impossible for him to copy after just witnessing what had
occurred once. Someone had to have taught him that."
"It appears most likely that maybe not you, but there are spies in your group."
There was a thought among the three of them, though. By chance, what if the move wasn't
stolen and taught on?
What if the child really had just seen what had been performed in the last round and had
copied it on the spot? If that was the case, then it would mean the Dark Faction has a genius
among them.
Liam's ending performance had caused a large stir among the Light Faction that they had
mostly even forgotten about what the others had accomplished, which was incredibly
impressive.
The general public commented on Simyon's strong body and the fierce attacks produced by
Mada and Ricktor.
It was the focus of the Light Faction clans that were stuck on Liam.
In the middle of their walk back, Safa had come close to Liam, who was smiling ear to ear.
"Did you really have to go that far?" Safa asked. "You could have done a simple strike and
then let Ricktor or Mada deal with it. You're bringing too much attention on yourself too
early."
Everyone had learned of Liam's skills by now. They don't know why or how, but ever since
returning from the dimension, he was able to pick things up incredibly easily.
During training, there was one day where Amir had been giving him an incredibly tough
time, and he had performed techniques that Amir had used himself, among other things.
It was then that they had learned, Liam now had the power to practically replicate anything
he saw, as long as his body was capable of doing such a thing.
At times, what he would replicate also wouldn't be completely perfect, since some
components of the movement would be missing, but it was still an incredibly impressive
talent.
"Can you really blame me? Look at them, all of them were looking at me, and I saw how
they all reacted when that girl from before did that move," Liam said. "So I wanted to do
something better."
"If I can do the same thing as her, it shows it's not as impressive, right, and now they're all
looking at me."
Safa slapped the top of her forehead, realizing that Liam had no idea what would happen
now that he had used a move that was created by the Light Faction.
'Still, I wonder what happened. I knew he was good at copying, but to even copy moves that
require a different Qi basis, what happened to you, Liam, what secret are you keeping from
us?' Safa thought.
Up in the crowds, Anna was still stunned. She was intensely staring at every fiber of Liam as
she saw him walk away.
'Everything is telling me that he's not like us, but for him to do what he has done, and for
his age, if he is not from our world, then he has to have the system. I need to find any way I
can to get in contact with him,' Anna thought.
Eventually, the group had all returned to their own viewing area, and the first person they
could see in front of them was Murkel Dockthron, the Principal of the academy as well as
the leader of the Erupting Fist Clan.
Along with him, there was Crine from the Flowing Force Clan, since his son was one of the
major participants.
These were the two main members from the Dark Faction that had been selected. However,
just like with the other factions, each clan was also allowed to bring two members to
protect them.
Since Safa, Liam, and Simyon weren't from any prominent clans, instead of inviting
members from their own clans, others had been picked.
One of them in question was Bargo from the Moonshield Clan, who had just returned from
the Lethal Bite Clan, after everything that had occurred there.
"Although you did not beat the others in terms of time, you did exactly as I asked," Murkel
said. "Showing your strength this early on will strike fear in them."
"Especially you, kid, you did the best out there." Murkel was staring at Liam when these
words were spoken.
"I am excited for how the rest of this thing will proceed now. I think it's even great that the
young woman still hasn't shown her powers yet. They are sure to be troubled and being
worn down even now."
The feelings were mixed among the students. The tournament was a big deal for them, and
being praised always felt nice.
However, in their minds, they were more like prisoners being held and forced to fight for
Murkel, someone who they saw as an enemy and wished to break free from.
"Next up, we have the final Faction coming out to take the assessment!" The announcer
said.
Immediately, they turned their heads to look out.
"Now, we might find out just who we need to watch out for in this event, the Light Faction,
or the Demonic Faction!"
"The Demonic Faction!" The announcer shouted. It was their turn to take part in the
assessment.
Chapter 621 The Demonic Faction's Turn
Chapter 621 The Demonic Faction's Turn
Each of the Demonic Faction students walked out as the glass lifted up. They twisted and
turned their heads casually as they looked around them, and just like with the Dark Faction,
a loud amount of boos were being heard coming from the crowd.
Back at that moment, Brack turned to look at the crowd and lifted both his middle fingers at
them.
"All of you Light Faction bastards can suck my d*ck!" Brack said.
Some of the crowd started to throw items they could find on them down below, but they
were stopped by the Light Faction members that were guarding around the edge.
"That was a bit crude," Kaylie said.
"Oh yeah, well, do you want to suck my d*ck as well?" Brack asked.
Kaylie decided not to say anymore as she turned her head away. It wasn't going to be good
to get involved with him, and she had to be careful.
Brack was from the Behemoth Clan; she was from the Seeno Clan. There was too big of a
difference in status between the two of them.
Lince watched all of the students walking out, when another female, one of the high-
ranking members in the Seeno clan, stood by his side.
"Do you think our students are going to be okay?" She asked.
"If I have to be honest, it's going to be tough for them," Lince replied. "Our students aren't
known for working well together. Every year there is some type of incident at the academy.
"Some days I dream about the whole Demonic Faction academy burning and getting torn
down. I'll be honest, I'm surprised at how well the Dark Faction had done."
"As I analyzed the situation, I realized something; they had one person that was the gel in
their group. The female warrior."
"With her giving all of the orders, they didn't have to think about working together and just
trusted a single individual to do the thinking for them."
"Our team, it has nothing like that. The only reason the Demonic Faction works is because
of our rule: the strong makes the rules."
"The issue is with the students, they don't even know who the strong is among them, and
those that believe they're strong don't believe they need any help from others."
Just at the start of the event, things looked incredibly different compared to any of the
other groups. For one, Brack stood in the middle of the platform where the beast would rise
from.
Beret and Kaylie were standing close to each other, leaving a big space for the beast to go
to, and 'Jake' and Mantis were standing far off on their own.
In the crowd, there was another individual that was worried as well.
"Do you think the Demonic Faction will have a chance, now that you're part of the faction,
you should be rooting for them, right, or I should say we?" Cronker asked.
"Oh, did you not hear?" Alba replied. "One of the members down there is also a member of
the Crimson Crane; we are taking part in this as well."
Cronker placed his hand on his forehead, trying to squint and see further. He looked at the
giant screen, but there still wasn't anyone he could really recognize.
"He's changed a bit, he now has black hair, but the person taking part is DM," Alba
answered.
It took a moment for Cronker to realize what the initials of DM were.
"I guess if they have him, they will be okay, but I doubt that they will do as well as the Dark
or Light Faction," Cronker replied.
Alba had to admit the Dark Faction students were far more impressive than she thought
they would be, or anyone thought they would be.
However, there was one person she still didn't see that they could top.
"I know why you're thinking like that, because you haven't seen him in a while, but with
that man on their team, I feel like it's impossible for them to lose," Alba answered.
---
Raze stood there out on the field; he still had his Ghost blade by his side and didn't even
have it drawn, which was like many of the Demonic Faction.
He had noticed some of the others looking at him, so he wasn't sure if they were doing this
just because they saw that he hadn't drawn his weapon out either.
'There should be no reason for me to show my strength in this; they should be able to
handle it,' Raze thought.
With that thought in mind, the underground panel started to slide and open up. Brack
quickly jumped over the entire panel, casually waiting for the beast to rise.
Just like before, heavy growls were heard as they were all witnessing the beast come to the
top. Chained up just like before.
"Hey, are there any rules about hitting this thing before the chains come off?" Brack asked.
A heavy thud sound was heard behind him, and a dust cloud of sand came his way; the next
moment a giant claw had hit him by his side and sent him flying until he crashed into the
wall by the side.
"What is wrong with that kid!" Sha Mo shouted. It was almost embarrassing for him,
wondering if he really was what the strongest in the Behemoth Clan had to offer.
The beast's chains had fallen off, and turning around it was looking at who to target. It
looked straight at Mantis for a moment, it took a couple of steps forward and appeared to
be sniffing the air.
Right after, it seemingly ignored him and turned its head to Beret and Kaylie who were
both stood next to each other.
Kaylie pulled out a whip that she had in her hand; she held it by her side waiting for the
beast. It soon charged at them, each step shaking the ground slightly.
As it got closer, Kaylie then swung her whip out; at the same time, Beret had charged in
with a dagger in his hand.
The whip had collided, hitting him by his side, and sending him rolling on the ground.
"Sorry!" Kaylie said.
She had no clue that Beret was going to do that, and before she knew it, the beast was upon
her, and she had no choice but to dive and move out of the way.
Right now, everyone that was watching couldn't help but laugh; the entirety of the Demonic
Faction was a laughingstock.
Having hit away most of the people near it, that's when the beast turned and looked at one
of the students dressed in the black and red gear.
It was Raze. The beast opened its mouth wide, letting out a scream before it started to come
over and charged right at Raze.
'This beast… what is it doing,' Raze thought.
He continued to stay just standing there, the beast coming closer to him, but Raze didn't
want to act, so instead he conveyed his strong thoughts in his mind.
'Don't come near me… don't come near me, turn around now!' Raze screamed in his head.
Energy seeping out from his body, a dark mist of blood was surrounding Raze's entire body
that couldn't be seen by the eye.
Safa, who turned on her God Eyes, could see it; death was surrounding Raze entirely.
As the beast got within range, it slowed down its charge and started to settle down, and
eventually stopped around five meters away from Raze.
Everyone watching was left with the thought, why did the beast stop?
Chapter 622 A Complete Mess
Chapter 622 A Complete Mess
The same type of beast had been used in each of the events so far; all of them were at the
same level. And although they had seen some impressive things from the students so far
when dealing with them, it was the first time the crowd witnessed this.
The beast was running forward, charging towards a solo student. When it got closer, its
heavy footsteps started to calm down until it completely stopped.
Now looking at Raze, the beast tucked in its head slightly toward its chest, giving off the
appearance that it was almost bowing, or perhaps even begging the person in front of them.
Yet that didn't make any sense; how was that even possible? The crowd had quietened
down just like the beast as they looked at this scene.
Eventually, though, the beast lifted its head and started to look around.
"What the, why didn't that beast attack that student?"
"Aren't all beasts meant to be bloodthirsty? They kill humans on sight. This beast is from a
portal break, right?"
"The student probably just smells or something; some beasts have sensitive noses, right?"
"Do you think the Demonic Faction knew this and planted something on him?"
Soon, though, the crowd forgot about what they saw because the beast had set its eyes on
Beret and Kaylie again, who were standing next to each other.
It scraped its large feet across the floor and started to charge right at them.
"Alright, this time, don't jump forward; let me attack first!" Kaylie asked.
"No, if I hit him on the head, then you pull one of its legs. I think that would be better,"
Beret replied. "Trust me; I'm the fastest person on our team."
It didn't matter, though, because in the middle of the beast running toward them, Brack,
who had originally been hit and crashed into the wall on the side, had leapt up and landed
right on top of the beast's head.
Now hanging onto the beast, he lifted his sword and continued to stab the beast in the back
of the neck.
"How dare you do something like that, die, die, die!" He repeatedly shouted as he continued
to stab the beast.
Both Beret and Kaylie saw this as their chance as they ran in closer to attack the beast with
their techniques.
Eventually, Kaylie had pulled the beast by its leg, and luckily, Beret had attacked the other
leg at the same time, causing the beast to fall on its back.
Brack flipped himself in the air, and on the way down with his sword, he stabbed it right
through the beast's face, causing blood to splatter up, and the enemy was eventually
defeated.
Finally, the first event was completed, as all three factions had managed to accomplish the
task, but there was no question about it; it was clear who had taken the longest and who
would be considered being in last place for the event.
The Demonic Faction almost took three times as long as the others.
Covered in blood, Brack was walking back to the viewing area and had passed both Mantis
and 'Jake'.
"Great job, you two, thanks for helping us out there, rather than just standing around with
your hand on your dick," Brack said.
"I thought you claimed to be the strongest and best; wouldn't the strongest and the best be
able to do something like this on their own?" Mantis commented back.
While Raze had said nothing and just walked back along with the others.
"The first event has been completed!" the announcer shouted. "With that, I can tell you the
official results: in first place, the Light Faction has received 5 points; in second place, the
Dark Faction has received 3 points.
"And lastly, the Dark Faction has received 1 point for completing the task but coming in last
place."
With the results of the first event declared, it was time for a break for the crowd, to gather
some food and allow the students to rest up before the next event.
More food was delivered as well as a number of Qi pills for them to use for recovering their
energy.
At the same time, the betting odds were updated, and it wasn't looking particularly good
for the Demonic Faction with everything that had occurred.
In the crowd itself, Alba and Cronker were evaluating the situation.
"Do you still think the same way?" Cronker asked. "That they can win with just him."
"Of course," Alba replied, her voice not as confident as the first time. "I mean, he's just got
handicapped with his teammates having lost a few brain cells here and there."
"Well, people with a keen eye would have noticed a few things here and there," Cronker
said. "Although the Demonic Faction's students were a mess and would have done better if
they were on their own, they had practically passed the assessment with only three people.
"It's hard to say whether the Light Faction or even the Dark Faction would be able to do
that. Sure, Simyon's body is incredibly strong, but does he have the strength to defeat the
beast on his own?"
"In their own crazy way, the Demonic Faction has shown some of their strength, and then
there was that."
Some of the crowd had talked about what they had seen with the beast cowering, but it
wasn't a big deal for many of them.
They thought of it just as something strange that had occurred, and would much rather talk
about the impressive feats of the Dark Faction and the Light Faction.
So they had seemingly forgotten about the Demonic Faction, other than them just becoming
a laughing stock, and the same thoughts were being spread in the Light Faction room.
"All of you did a great job," Beatrix said, looking at the five students. "Your hard work has
paid off; from what we've seen, there should be nothing for you to worry about until we
reach the individual stages."
The five members nodded, but Hanna didn't look too pleased.
"What's wrong? Is it because of that student from the Dark Faction?" Beatrix asked.
Hannah nodded. "How was he able to copy me? It took me years to perfect something like
that."
"Nothing can beat the real thing," Beatrix said as she bent down to eye level with her
student. "But if you are to go up against him again, then it's best to use your techniques
only when you need to. If he can really copy anything he can see just once, well, then only
show them once, right?"
At the same time, there was much discussion in the Dark Faction as well. Most of the adults
were talking about the Light Faction and what to do with them.
"It appears that the Light Faction is the only ones we need to worry about for these events
then," Gavin commented.
"Really? Do you think so?" Murkel replied. "What's your evaluation, Amir?"
"My evaluation," Amir was surprised to be asked this. "It's still too early to tell. Safa has yet
to show her skills to the people, and no one has really been pushed. Although the Demonic
Faction performed horribly, it doesn't mean much at this stage, especially when we haven't
seen two of them act yet."
"Right," Murkel replied. "And I'm sure you felt it as well; one of them is making my stomach
churn slightly."
Chapter 623 An Alliance With The Enemy
Chapter 623 An Alliance With The Enemy
The Demonic Faction students had reluctantly returned to their viewing area. They were
embarrassed, to say the least. They knew they had performed poorly, and to come in last
place, they were essentially the laughing stock of the whole continent.
The Demonic Faction was one that was feared by all; both the Dark Faction and Light
Faction had always hesitated to attack them because they didn't have confidence in beating
them.
So how could they come out with a result like this? Entering, Brack looked at Sha Mo for a
moment and turned his head away.
"I promise I'll do better. Right now, I don't deserve to be representing the Behemoth clan,"
Brack stated.
In the same vein, both Beret and Mantis had gone to their leaders and clan members to talk
about what had occurred and try to figure out a way to improve it.
It was only Raze who was left with no one, since Alba and Anna had both left him here
alone.
Sitting down in one of the comfy armchairs, Raze looked out of the glass, or at least he tried
to. A large figure had blocked his way, casting a giant shadow over him.
"Why did you do nothing?" Sha Mo asked. "If you had acted, we could have gotten the
fastest time."
Sha Mo knew Raze's true strength, so it wasn't an off comment to make.
"Does the tournament really matter to the Demonic Faction? Didn't the Neverfall clan
already successfully stop an attack from the Light Faction? They know our strength; even if
we lose this whole thing, it would be fine, right? There's no need to draw attention to
myself," Raze answered honestly.
The tournament itself was not his concern; finding a way out of here was, and the most
likely best time to do that and get the Dark Faction away was right at the end of the event.
"You know some of the meaning behind this event, I assume," Lince said as he took the seat
next to Raze and looked out into the main stage of the arena.
Sha Mo had decided to leave things at that and walked off, heading to the food section to
stuff his mouth even more.
"I was told that it's a way to show the current and future strength of each of the factions.
Which is why I stated it shouldn't matter too much," Raze added.
"Right, so you know that much, but you need to be aware of the entire situation of Pagna,"
Lince explained as he waved his finger in the air, drawing a circle.
"You have three factions that are fighting against each other, all of them wary of each other.
Yet not one of them ready to act out. If the Dark Faction attacked the Light Faction believing
they were stronger, then their worry is, in the middle of the fight, that we would attack
them, eliminating them and becoming the winner."
"This is the same situation since all of our lands border on one another. Each group can be
attacked by another at any point in time."
"So even if one group is stronger than the other, they aren't confident to defeat two groups.
However, there is a way to eliminate a faction and limit this risk. Do you know what way
this is?"
Raze thought about it for a while, considering the possibilities of what one could do, and he
came up with an answer.
"An alliance; two of the factions could agree not to attack each other and go for one of the
others."
"Exactly," Lince replied. "Maybe you're smarter than I gave you credit for. You should also
understand why we in the Demonic Faction are in the most vulnerable state when it comes
to this.
"The Light Faction's principles focus on honor. If they were to make an alliance, they would
keep their word. At the same time, the Dark Faction's principle is to do whatever it can to
win."
"While for the Demonic Faction—"
"They would never work with anyone to eliminate the enemy," Raze answered.
Not just that, but Raze was starting to think maybe this was the reason as well why Alter
didn't exist in the Demonic Faction. It was too different compared to the others. The scary
thought was, with Alter in different positions in both the Light Faction and the Dark
Faction, it very well could be something that was capable of being pulled off.
"Exactly, and here lies the problem. There's a reason despite this option being available to
them that they have never done such a thing. And do you know why it is?"
This was something Raze was curious about because he didn't have an answer for it. Until,
he figured out the question that was asked at the beginning of all of this: why was the
tournament so important to them?
"Because even if they were to team up together, they wouldn't have the strength to defeat
the Demonic Faction," Raze answered.
Lince relaxed back in his seat even further with a big smile on his face.
Lince relaxed back in his seat even further with a big smile on "See, you knew the answer
all along; you just needed to have a few prompts. There is another factor involved in all of
this as well."
"That is the fact that in the Demonic Faction, we have one of the strongest empires that use
our services quite a bit."
"They wouldn't be too pleased if we were eliminated, but the same thing could be said for
the kingdoms across the other lands. Getting rid of us would start a war among the regular
people as well. Although we don't tend to get involved with them, they are large in number
and technology is advancing with them."
"They could be a bigger threat in the future. Either way, if we fail horribly at this
tournament, it might start to spark the idea, among the people, as well as among the
factions, that for one, we are weak enough to take over, and for the Empire that is under us,
that we are too weak to protect them."
"If the empire in our land strikes a deal with one of the other factions as well, it will be over
for the Demonic Faction."
It was quite a bit for Raze to think about, but at the end of the day, what did he care about
whether or not the Demonic Faction was eliminated? He just wanted to know the Neverfall
clan's relation to the Dark Faction founder. Besides all of that, if there was a chance, Raze
might very well eliminate the principal, not giving them a chance to even team up with
anyone in the first place.
"For the next event, can we please have each group select two participants!" The announcer
stated. "As a hint for the next event, it will be best if you pick your fastest participants!"
Two participants were to take part in the event, with only a single hint. There was time for
each of the groups to discuss among themselves as they picked who was to take part.
Following the past tournaments, it didn't matter if the same person for each team was
picked again and again, so they didn't need to worry about that.
"If I can make a suggestion," Lince said. "Can we have Beret from the Lost Clan take part…
and I think Jake from the Crimson Crane will do."
Chapter 624 The Second Event
Chapter 624 The Second Event
Raze was surprised. Out of all the contestants and students they had, why was he selected?
Due to him being a middle stage warrior rather than an initial stage warrior, his speed
would be faster than most. So, it wasn't a bad choice to pick, if a person had all of this
knowledge in the first place. But Lince didn't know that the student called 'Jake' from the
Crimson Crane was the Dark Magus.
'I shouldn't put it past him that he would be able to tell that I'm a middle stage warrior as
well. These Demonic Clan leaders are quite a bit stronger compared to that of the Dark
Faction, if we eliminate Murkel in the matter,' Raze thought.
"Beret is quite fast; our clan focuses on foot techniques, unlike the other clans, to evade
getting caught," Lince explained. "Do any of the other students have an objection?"
Kaylie shook her head along with the members of the Seeno Clan, not that they would
disagree with someone from the Lost Clan in the first place.
Brack wouldn't mind taking part, but based on the type of event it was, it didn't interest
him, and as for Mantis, he only said a few things.
"As long as they win, I have no problem. Just don't make me regret not taking part in every
single one of these events," Mantis commented.
Still, based on the results of the last event, why had Raze been selected?
"Why me?" Raze had to ask. This wasn't going along with his plan of going unnoticed, and
despite Lince's lesson on the Factions, Raze still thought it was better for him to lay low.
Lince gestured with a finger as he stood up from his seat, telling him to come over, away
from the ears of the others.
When they were in the corner of the room, Lince started to speak.
"I have a favor to ask you," Lince whispered. "I have had a bad feeling since we stepped into
the Light Faction, and in the past, there have also been a number of deaths that have
occurred.
"This time, it feels like due to our weakness in the first event, we will be targeted. I wasn't
lying when I said that I believe Beret is the best for this task, but I fear for his life."
"Usually, the Demonic Faction Clans don't care about the life of the weak, even if they are
their own blood… but I can't help my feelings."
Not every student was a direct descendant of the clan heads that were taking part. From
the look of things, it seemed like none of them were, but that wasn't the case for the Lost
Clan.
"I have asked you to join this because I feel you are different from the others, and this may
be a gamble on my part. I don't care if you win or lose this event."
"The only thing I ask is that you protect Beret at all costs while out there."
They didn't even know the full details of the event, and people died every day. Raze had
killed those that had family and friends as well.
Beret was also a person who he knew next to nothing about. So, there was no reason for
him to say yes; for all he knew, it could have been a trick.
Which is why Raze said nothing. The glass door opened, and Beret and Raze walked out
onto the field.
While walking out, Raze looked in the direction of the Light Faction; he saw one female and
a male walk out. It wasn't the woman that had caught his attention from before. Both of
these had thin rapier swords by their side.
"Those two are from the Illumination Clan," Beret commented. "They use light weapons
and focus on speed-based attacks, but their attacks aren't the strongest because of that."
The two contestants were Charlotte and Harmon. What Raze was curious about was the
bracelets that they were wearing, which had a golden 'I' on them.
"The Illumination Clan is considered the weakest of the Light Faction clans; this should be
easy for us," Beret commented.
As someone from the Lost Clan, he had gathered a lot of information.
"The weakest, so what is the standing of the Light Factions at the moment?" Raze asked.
"Similar to the Demonic Faction, there are three Clans in the Light Faction with great
power. The Illumination Clan is at the bottom; then you have the Dawnblade Clan, which
contains Beatrix and her student Hannah who performed the finale strike on the beast in
the last round."
"There is one more student from the Illumination Clan, but lastly, the Aurora Clan is
considered the strongest and has one student taking part, Ulyn; that's who I would look out
for."
In his mind, Raze was a little conflicted; the Light Faction seemed to have connections with
Mages, so he had great interest in them as a way for him to head back to Alter.
But his original task was taking care of the Dark Faction, who also had links to the world
but more so, the people he had met in this world.
When looking at the Dark Faction, he saw the two students that had been selected for this
task; it was Ricktor and Mada.
'At least, if I run into these two, I won't have to feel bad about hurting them.'
"I can tell what that guy's thinking already," Mada said as he walked out. "He thinks it's
going to be fine if he hits us."
"That might not come into play either way," Ricktor replied. "Firstly, if we run into him, we
can't just let him win; that would be disrespectful to him, and we need to know if he has the
strength to help us."
"Otherwise, we're on our own, and besides, this event isn't an outright test of strength;
otherwise, they wouldn't have given us that hint about selecting the fastest."
The announcer, who was now nowhere to be seen, but they could all clearly hear the sound
of his voice, was ready to talk.
"Now that all of the participants are on the stage, I will be explaining the following rules.
There will be a number of Charging Rats that will enter the stage."
"A beast that is known for its rapid speed, the time limit will be thirty minutes. Within that
time, the team with the most power stones will win! The rules are simple, right?"
"However, things won't be as easy as it seems."
The announcer clicked his fingers, and the entire stage started to rumble. Right in front of
them, walls were being built up one after the other.
The crowd, seeing this, were amazed at what was happening with oo's and ah's as they saw
the walls, and they had also come right in between each of the individuals.
The walls then started to move and come toward the contestants, forcing them to move
positions if they didn't want to be hit.
They continued until the stage was finally done.
"Behold, in this assessment, each member will have to also chase the beasts through a
maze! And who knows who you will run into, friends, allies, enemies, or the crystals
themselves; we wish everyone good luck!"
Chapter 625 The Tricky Maze
Chapter 625 The Tricky Maze
The entire transformation of the area had only taken a few moments, and it all felt so
strange. Not only were they seeing strange walls appear in front of them, disappear, and
move about, but they also felt the very ground underneath their feet moving as well. They
were being jumbled all over the area, to the point no one knew their position anymore.
They had no clue where they were, and when it eventually stopped, the walls were so high
up, and the space so narrow between them that they could no longer see the crowd or
anything around them. It was a first for the martial arts tournament; they had never seen
anything like this before. It was clear that the Light Faction was pulling out all of the stops.
"Do you think the Light Faction are trying to show us how great their power is?" Gavin from
the Moonshield Clan asked.
"It's hard to just outright say," Murkel replied. "The way they built this thing, and the
strange small mirrors that are floating about, it feels like an artifact from another
dimension, and a strong one at that."
"Usually, the factions tend to keep these things quiet, so we don't know their strength.
Could you imagine what this item could do in the middle of warfare?"
This was Gavin's and every other member of the Dark Faction's worry. Changing the state
of the field in the middle of a war, that was a powerful item.
And then the mirrors on top of that, being able to sneak in behind enemy lines and show
what others were capable of. Thinking about it more and more, Murkel felt like he had
made the right decision, to make the students go through what they had done. Otherwise,
he had no doubt in his mind the Light Faction would have acted.
---
Beret found himself in the middle of two grey walls, with only two options: to turn around
or go directly in front of him where he could see an option to turn left and right.
'I planned to win this one all by myself anyway; that Jake seemed useless from the first
event anyway.'
Right then, part of the floor had opened up, and right in front of Beret, he could see a small
Charging Rat. It was bigger than a rat, more like the size of a small dog but looked just like a
rat apart from its beady, fully colored red eyes.
It turned around, and the moment it saw Beret, it made a run for it straight ahead.
"Haha, this is just my luck!" Beret shouted as he charged forward. He pushed off his feet
which appeared weightless and was following the rat quickly. The mirror camera was
closely following him from behind.
"It looks like the first person to run into one of the Charging Rats is from the Demonic
Faction; can they make up for their last place position in the last event!" The announcer
exclaimed.
Beret continued to catch up with the rat, and slowly he was making progress. At the turns,
he was faster; he was so focused on the rat that he didn't even know how many turns he
had taken, that was until he could see a dead end right up ahead.
"I've got you now!" Beret thought.
The rat continued to run toward the wall though, and when it reached the wall, it dug one
foot after the other and started to run up the wall.
"Don't think that's going to stop me!" Beret then jumped from side to side of the wall,
raising himself up.
He started to think why didn't he do this before; there was no need for him to go through
the maze. At that point, he had seen the rat climb over and head back down.
Just as he was about to reach the top, right in front of his eyes, a wall slab appeared. A
ceiling covering the top of the wall stayed in place, and he had crashed his head right
against it, causing him to fall back down onto the ground.
"Oh so close!" The announcer said. "Unfortunately, this maze is designed to make it easier
for the beasts and harder for the contestants."
"If contestants try to scale the walls, they will be stopped; if they try to destroy the walls,
they will be rebuilt! However, the beasts are able to scale the walls freely with no trouble at
all."
The crowd was enjoying the event more than they realized, and it was because of a few
reasons. Due to the multiple screens in front of them, they could witness a top-down view,
seeing when students were getting close to one another.
At the same time, they were able to witness the other students taking part in the event
from anywhere they were sitting as the screens changed view based on what was the most
action-packed for them.
And the crowd had witnessed something that made them break out in a large cheer
because they had just seen the students Charlotte and Harmon meet up with each other.
"It looks like we were quite lucky, right," Charlotte said with a smile as she lifted up her
hand, and the bracelet around her wrist was glowing.
"Right," Harmon replied, his hand was down, but his bracelet was glowing as well. "With
the two of us, this whole thing should be easy, no matter who we run into."
Elsewhere in the maze, Mada had been split up from Ricktor; he had seen one of the rats
and had attempted to chase it, but it was too fast for him to catch up with.
"I thought the maze would be to our advantage, but it's harder with it," Mada commented.
"In the real world, we can use large range skills or set up traps.
"Is this event designed so we work with our partner? With two of us, I guess one person
can trap, and the other can get ahead."
"I guess I should go looking for Ricktor and hope I don't run into anyone."
Mada started to run through the maze, just choosing random paths; there was no reasoning
in his head, but he wasn't outright sprinting either to conserve his energy.
He continued to run but eventually slowed down his pace as he took a turn until he stopped
staying still.
"Oh look at this, it looks like there is another meeting between two contestants, and this
time, it's from the Dark Faction and the Demonic Faction."
Right in front of Mada's eyes, he knew who was in front of him straight away, and it was
none other than Raze.
Standing there, he saw Raze just walking by; he continued to walk forward, step by step.
"Stop… don't get any closer, or I'll attack! I'm just looking for the rats!" Mada shouted.
The memories of Raze were flooding back into Mada's mind. Of what had happened during
his time in the Dark Academy.
The amount of time he felt like his life was on edge, and the feeling right now, it was even
thicker than before. Mada had once tried to kill Raze at night, and it had ended up with him
in terrors.
As Raze got closer, Mada just stood there; he did nothing, and eventually, Raze walked right
past him as if he didn't even exist.
The crowd watching everything was left with confusion; for the second time in this event,
no action was taken by the enemy.
Chapter 626 Frozen Still
Chapter 626 Frozen Still
Mada stood in the same place, staring straight ahead, and could hear the sound of footsteps
continue. He heard them until he could no longer hear them, as the distance between him
and Raze had grown.
The sound of the footsteps was quickly followed by a loud set of boos from the crowd. They
were heard from all over, and all of the other participants in the other areas had no clue
what had occurred.
"What the heck, I thought we were going to see a fight between the Demonic and Dark
students, what happened there, he just stood there, as if he had wet himself."
"Why did he just stand there, wouldn't it make sense for them to take out the competition?
If he injured him or beat him, then it would be one less person to worry about and more
crystals for them to gather."
"Yeah, and that was the guy in the Demonic Faction that had done nothing as well. What
was that reaction? I thought that student from the Dark Faction was one of the strongest
after we saw what he had done, so why was he so scared?"
Most people were disappointed that they weren't going to see a battle between two
talented students, but the question had brought up a few to think about what had
happened earlier as well.
"Isn't it the same… isn't that the same thing that happened with the beast as well? The
beast was charging toward that student, and then stopped when he got close and now it
happened again."
"What are you saying, he can just stare his opponents into not fighting him?"
"Wait, but he's right, maybe it isn't so much of a coincidence as we think it is. Why is no one
willing to fight that person?"
An air of mystery was appearing over the contestant known as Jake, but the crowd didn't
follow him too much, because with him just walking through the maze, they didn't expect
much from him.
Mada lifted his hand in front of him, and he could see it was slightly shaking.
'After all the training I did, I still can't face him properly. Ricktor told me to fight him no
matter what, otherwise, it would look suspicious, but my body, it wouldn't even listen to
me.'
'What is that kid… what is the difference between me and him?'
With this thought in his head, Mada had to forget about the incident at hand, and before he
knew it, he was running in the opposite direction away from where Raze had gone, looking
for more of the Charging Rats.
In the crowd itself, a particular group.
"What do you think of that student, what trick did he pull?" Marcus Ford asked. One of the
groups that were currently present that had been told to arrive from Alter.
"What I saw was like a beast knowing what they were heading into, they could feel the
danger," Tanya answered. "In the wild, those that stand their ground or make themselves
look bigger could scare other animals away."
"He had to be doing something like that."
"I would guess the same," Barlan, the mage of the group, added. "When coming to this
world, I have had the exact same thing happen. A beast came towards me but when
realizing my magic, or even moments before, it was as if the beast could sense it."
"Oh, so then do you think he's like you?" Marcus asked.
"Like me… as far as I know, there are no mages in the Demonic Faction, at least not like the
others, if there was, I'm sure we would have gotten the order to confront them."
At that moment, Marcus lifted his hand in the air and made a type of gesture.
"Keep on the task; we need to see if we spot anyone. We can ignore the students for now.
Although I am interested in this whole thing."
---
The special mirrors were constantly moving around the maze, there was one that was
always at a Bird's Eye view, and others that were following each of the contestants so there
would never be part of the action missed.
At the same time, although the crowd was making noises when something would happen
once in a while, the announcer was careful to say a few things that would stir up the fight
further, and the enthusiasm in the students rather than give them too much information.
For instance, when the two members of the Light Faction clan members had met up, the
announcer didn't state anything, as it would be too much information he deemed.
However, there was something that had occurred, and it was a first in this event.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it looks like we have the first in the group to obtain a power stone,
and is leading this event!"
The mirror had switched to showing, Ricktor holding onto the dead body of the Charged
Rat. He had the crystal in his hand as well. As for the rest of the scene around him it was a
complete mess.
The walls were partly destroyed, the ground as well. It was quite clear that a lot of effort
had occurred in order to catch the Charged Rat and it had worked.
"These things aren't difficult to beat, but one has to conserve their energy as well in case
they run into the other contestants," Ricktor said as he threw the dead rabbit behind him.
Then he could see part of the walls that had been destroyed, in front of his eyes, it was all
returning back to normal. The wall was morphing the broken parts as well as the floors.
'The wall, it solid in the first place, and it's being healed rather quickly. A lot of effort would
be used to break down a wall, and what's the point if you don't know what's on the other
side.'
"They've thought this event through quite a bit… I'm hoping Mada will be useful and
capture some of these things as well."
---
Beret was searching hard after losing the Charged Rat. He was on his way to find another
and prove himself in this commotion. His Clan Head had selected him for this, and in order
to not make him regret his decision he wanted to be the reason for them winning.
As luck would have it, when Beret turned a corner, he had witnessed another Charged Rat.
"You're not getting away this time!" Beret charged off and had a bigger kickstart in his set
compared to the last time.
He was catching up with the Charged Rat fast and saw it take the next corner, as he chased
after it, he knew as long as the next turn was a decently long hallway he would be able to
get it.
Turning the corner, Beret had his eyes locked into the Charged Rat, and he saw from above,
it being pierced by a sharp metal pointy object going right through its body.
"Would you look at that!" A male wearing white-colored clothing lifted up the dead Charged
Rat at the end of his rapier. "The Charged Rat just came running right at us, how lucky are
we."
Looking in front of him, Beret could see two of the Light Faction students. He clicked his
tongue, annoyed that they had managed to find each other in this situation.
"Whatever, if you guys have to resort to methods and take others' prey then go ahead, I can
find plenty," Beret said as he turned around.
"Wait, where do you think you're going… Do you really think you can leave?" The Light
Faction student asked. "You know, there's another way that's easy to win this entire event,
right… if we were to take out all of the other participants."
Chapter 627 Trapped In the Maze
Chapter 627 Trapped In the Maze
The two Light Faction students taking part were Charlotte and Harmon. Both of them were
rapier weapon users that focused on a set of swift and fast movements, which was one of
the reasons why they had been selected for this event.
Out of all the groups, the crowd had witnessed the two of them meeting with each other
first. Now, they had a larger advantage if they found Charging Rats, or if they ran into
anyone else, and they had already made the decision as to what to do if they encountered
others.
"Hey, are you really going to waste your time fighting me?" Beret asked, not daring to turn
his back, worried that they would lunge at him. Sure, he was faster than most and had a
number of techniques to avoid getting hit. But when someone burst with a large amount of
Qi and lunged, they would catch up with someone who was just running. In order to avoid
the hit, he needed to see what was coming at him.
However, there was still a chance with his legs he could outrun them, but would running
away really be how someone from the Demonic Faction would fight in this?
Right now, Beret didn't like his chances against two students that he assumed would be on
the same level.
'I'm not cocky like the others… although I do think if I were to fight these two I would still
be able to win, what state would I be in after? If I take these two out then that just gives the
Dark Faction a chance to win this, and I don't have much confidence in my teammate
either,' Beret thought.
In the end, rather than running away, he thought he could use his mouth to convince them
to go their separate ways.
"With the two of you, you should be catching these Charging Rats. Sure, you were lucky this
time, but you should know these things are fast and you'll need the two of you. If you waste
time fighting me, then that will just mean the Dark Faction is going to win this thing. So let's
just go our separate ways."
There was an uneasy smile that Beret could see on the two faces. It was quite clear that
they weren't taking his words seriously.
"With the two of us, we will be able to deal with you quickly and with minor injuries, and
then we will just continue going on to the others. Right now, the Dark Faction collecting
crystals only goes in our favor, the more crystals they collect, then that's just more for us to
take from them in the end," Charlotte said.
Beret spread his legs and had his hand by the dagger that was by his side, ready to fight or
defend himself.
"Two against one, I thought the Light Faction was all about fairness, wouldn't a one-on-one
fight be fair?"
"Yes, if this was a duel," Harmon commented. "But the rules have been set out for this
event, and we are doing everything within the rules, so there is nothing unfair about this."
It was quite clear at that point that his words weren't going to work. He drew out his
dagger in front of his face, and then jumped, kicking off the wall, but he had moved
backward.
Immediately he turned around and started to run through the maze, getting a head start
jump on the others.
"What the heck, is this the frightening Demonic Faction? They call themselves that because
they are meant to be demons, and yet he runs away in this situation!"
The crowd was jesting, laughing at the student's decision. They were hoping that they were
about to see a fight.
In the Demonic Faction's base, Sha Mo grunted.
"Your pupil is bringing shame on the entire Demonic Faction! He should have fought the
two head-on, and even if he died, taken the two with him!" Sha Mo claimed.
"The Demonic Faction just needs to prove that we are the strongest, that we have strength,"
Lince answered. "Our clan's work, because of our legs and foot techniques, has managed to
stop trouble for the Demonic Faction. In your eyes, we might be the shame of the Demonic
Faction, but we see our position as a necessity."
The two Light Faction students were finding it hard to keep up with Beret as he was indeed
fast, but eventually, the maze didn't work out well for Beret, because once he had taken a
turn, up ahead, there was a dead end, and only a wall ahead. When turning around, he could
see the two students fitting into the narrow hallway, blocking any way for him to exit.
"Do you really think that I'm going to be so easy to defeat!" Beret shouted.
Immediately, Charlotte dashed forward with her rapier and condensed her Qi to a single
point, swirling her feet. Beret managed to avoid the attack and moved forward.
His footwork was impressive indeed, but in that very same spot that he had avoided the
attack, Harmon had thrusted his rapier as well. Lifting up his dagger, Beret blocked the
attack, but the Qi was powerful, sending him back.
Right after, Charlotte and Harmon continued a number of attacks. Beret avoided them
using the space behind him, while blocking attacks as he could, but he could feel his hands
getting numb.
'Their teamwork is amazing; they're working in sync to the point where I can't even find an
opening.'
Just like when the Light Faction was fighting against the beast, the two of them were
speeding up in their attacks as well. Beret was a moment too late, and he had been stabbed
with the rapier. It only went an inch into his body before he moved, but blood was drawn.
'These hallways, it's like they were set up for them as well. I can't use my footwork
effectively because there's nowhere to move, and nowhere for me to run.'
Beret continued, getting pierced in his stomach, his chest, on his arms. It was getting harder
and harder for him to lift up his hands due to the pain, and yet still, they were thrusting
their weapons faster than before.
Finally, as Beret continued to lose blood, he felt his back hit up against the wall. One of the
rapiers stabbed him in the shoulder, going right through until it hit the wall on the other
side.
In his eyes, he could see a glowing bracelet on their wrists. He paid it no attention and
instead was wondering if these were his final moments.
'Crap, after I trained so hard… I just wanted to show I could do something. Everything was
against me in this situation. The arena, meeting these two students instead of one!'
'I wasn't able to do anything on my own… this isn't fair… this isn't fair… why was it me…
why was it me, that had to meet these two… and why did I have to have such a useless
partner?' These were Beret's final words of regret.
Harmon, with his rapier, went to thrust his sword right at the head of Beret. The tip was
covered in Qi. As it was thrust forward, at the same time, the side of the wall broke and
exploded, dust kicking up in the air, and the rocks from the wall hitting both of them.
Both Charlotte and Harmon quickly pulled back slightly in the hallway, coughing up the
dust. They looked in front of them, and they could see a figure step out through the side of
the wall, which had completely been broken.
"I sensed something disgusting was being used in this area, and it looks like I was right."
In the Demonic Faction viewing area, Lince had a smile on his face as he saw who had
appeared on the special mirror screen.
"So, he did listen to my request after all."
Chapter 628 A Demon Strikes!
Chapter 628 A Demon Strikes!
After a confrontation with Raze, Mada wanted to do everything he could to forget about
what had happened. He was annoyed with himself, embarrassed, and even ashamed.
Although he no longer cared about proving himself for the sake of the clan, and the Flowing
Force Clan head was watching, he still had his own pride, the pride of a warrior. To be
ready to fight, to go against the enemy with everything you had learned, yet he was unable
to even do that.
He took that anger and vented it forward, chasing after one of the Charging Rats he had
found.
'If I can't catch up to it, then I just need to do something to slow it down!' Mada charged
forward and did a three-move motion.
He was using the force of one attack and one formation to flow into the other, and with
each movement, he picked up the speed.
After three swift movements, it was the end of the technique he was using, and he still
wasn't going to catch up to the rat.
At the last moment, Mada slammed his foot on the ground, his visual Qi made it look like a
whirlpool had been created underneath his feet, and the Rat was getting sucked in.
With this, he stabbed it with his sword, finishing it off, and quickly lifted it, obtaining the
power stone, adding another point to his team.
"It looks like someone has upset you," a voice said from behind.
Turning his head, Mada could see that it was Ricktor. Meeting up with his teammate, he
should have been overjoyed, and at least thankful that it wasn't one of the others, but
instead, he had a sour look on his face.
"From the looks of things, you managed to meet someone before you met me," Ricktor then
looked Mada up and down. "Yet there isn't a scratch on you. If I were to take a guess, then it
was him."
"Why are you asking questions that you already know the answer to," Mada said as he
continued walking forward, looking for more of the Charged Rats; it was the least he could
do in this useless tournament.
"Can't you hear that?" Ricktor asked.
Mada stopped for a moment, wondering what he meant. As he listened, he could hear it; the
crowd wasn't cheering, they were quiet then usual, yet filled with chatter among them.
"It looks like someone might just be stealing the show right now. So we should use this time
to get more power stones for ourselves," Ricktor said, staring up in the sky, in an unknown
direction, wondering just what was occurring right now.
---
Ricktor was right; the crowd was cheering loudly just a moment ago as the two Light
Faction students were ready to take down one of the Demonic Faction students.
Yet seemingly out of nowhere, one of the Demonic Faction students had arrived to the
others' safety, and through the side of one of the walls of all things.
His interruption had caused a stir among the people.
"Hey, it's that guy again, that student from the Demonic Faction... the one where strange
things keep on happening."
"Wait, you mean he's actually going to do something now, even though he's done nothing so
far."
"Who knows, maybe the other two will just cower away like all the other opponents. It's
quite interesting wondering what's going to happen."
"Cower away! You're talking about the Light Faction that protects our towns and cities
from beasts and Pagna warriors like them; they would never cower away!"
"You're right. Anyway, this is the student that has done nothing so far, so him arriving, he's
probably going to do nothing. This won't change a thing; we will just witness the death of
two warriors instead."
Although most in the crowd weren't worried, the same couldn't be said in the higher
viewing area, where the Light Faction heads were viewing the whole situation.
"He destroyed the entire wall; did he really use that much strength on something so
useless?" Cicle asked.
"He had to have used quite the strong attack to break the wall, and our mirrors were
focused on other situations we couldn't even tell that he was there," Ricar, head of the
Dawnblade Clan, commented.
"Both of you are missing the main issue," Kawak from the Aurora Clan said. "The wall has
been broken, but it's meant to quickly be rebuilt after. Somehow, his moves, or his Qi, it's
disrupting the wall that is meant to be rebuilt."
"This student might give us more trouble than we think."
There had been incidents on the stage already of students trying to attack the wall. In fact,
that was the first thing Ricktor had done.
With a fist, he had broken a hole through the wall, but shortly after, it had managed to heal
itself. He figured it wasn't worth the effort of destroying a wall unless one knew what was
on the other side.
The Charging Rats they were chasing didn't have the strength to break a wall, and the
amount of Qi required to tackle the wall quickly, it wouldn't be worth it.
Yet one person had broken through a wall, and Beret was staring at his back.
"You're here; how did you find me?" Beret asked.
"Find you?" Raze took a glance behind him; he could see he was covered in blood, having
been poked and prodded all over different parts of his body.
The only area that hadn't been hit too badly were his legs.
"I didn't find you; I found them," Raze said, pointing his Ghost blade at the two.
They couldn't help but laugh at the man in front of them.
"What is it, just because another one of you has turned up, you think it's fair now, it's all
over. It's quite clear, whatever trick you used on that beast, it's not working on us."
The two warriors, they were unable to feel anything. If anything, they were feeling even
stronger than before, as the items around their wrists started to glow.
Raze's eyes were focused on the two items.
'I could sense the magic in the air. It was faint, and those in the crowd wouldn't be able to
tell even if they were from Alter, but those are definitely magical items, and they were
using them right now.'
'They were using them in a tournament that was meant to be about the Pagna warriors
displaying their skills; just what even is this entire tournament.'
"I don't like it, I don't like the two of you, you're not being fair," Raze said with his head
held down.
Both Charlotte and Harmon felt like they had enough; with their weapons by their side,
both of them went in to charge forward.
In response to this, Raze grabbed his sword and placed both hands above his head.
'If you hadn't used those magical items, I would have never even bothered joining in this
fight… but I don't like that his items are here to cause another death of someone that wasn't
meant to die!'
As Raze held the sword, it started to be shrouded in his Qi, shrouded in darkness until it
had completely turned black.
"If I'm going to have to fight, then I might as well show everyone what I can do!" Raze said
as he swung his sword down.
"2nd Formation, Eclipse Strike!"
Chapter 629 Breaking The Walls
Chapter 629 Breaking The Walls
The sword was completely encased in darkness, shrouded from the bottom to the top.
There was a heavy feeling surging through the entirety of Raze's body.
Beret, who was sitting behind him, as soon as he could feel his Qi come out from his body
and to the sword, his body was having a natural reaction; it was shaking.
'This is Demonic Qi, I can tell, I can feel it, but I've never felt it so pure, so condensed in one
spot before.'
Beret didn't pay attention to the new participant called Jake. A young warrior from a new
clan, out of nowhere, the Lost Clan were unable to gather any information about him, so he
was assumed to be a nobody.
His actions, his words, everything he had done, Beret was sure that he was a nobody, until
right now… the feeling.
Raze swung the sword down, and the dark energy completely left his sword.
"Eclipse Strike!"
The power and Qi from the technique were unleashed in front of him. It ripped the ground
apart and the walls to the side as the Qi wildly covered all of the area in front of him.
The two Light Faction students were unable to stop their charge in; they had nowhere to
turn, nowhere to run, and no matter what, they would be hit by the attack.
The demonic Qi covered their entire bodies, and they were swept up from their feet.
The mirrors had to quickly move out of the way, and now from above, they could see the
large attack spreading out, destroying everything in its path.
Destroying the outer walls and continuing on for several meters, getting rid of everything.
That's when the attack finally stopped.
The crowd was left speechless, the warriors that were watching from their rooms were left
stunned, and there wasn't a single sound.
Raze was standing around the center of the maze with Beret behind him, but now in front
of them was a completely different view.
One-third of the maze in front of them, all of the walls had been completely destroyed; they
could see the open area of the arena in sight.
"What was that!" Cicle shouted, banging his hand on the chair, breaking part of it onto the
floor. "How could a student from the Demonic Faction be capable of such a thing, how can a
person have such power!"
"This is… this is impossible!"
The Dark Faction were having similar reactions inside. However, none of the elders spoke
out loud; they were still stunned and observing the power.
"I told you," Safa said, giving a nudge to Liam and Simyon that were watching by their side.
"We don't have to worry about anything. If my guess is right… he was even holding back
just then."
"He was… holding back?" Simyon asked.
To which Liam nodded; he could tell through his system that Raze was restraining himself
from trying to commit an attack too strong.
"A demon, a real demon, the Demonic Faction have been able to raise a real demon! What
are we going to do!"
"Hey, there are plenty of people in the Light Faction and Clans that can do things like that;
stop panicking just because of one student, and we haven't even seen everyone's full
strength yet!"
"He's right; this must be your first time seeing a warrior so strong or something."
In the Demonic Faction itself, Lince couldn't help but start clapping on the spot.
"Bravo, Bravo, that young student did great! With that display, I doubt the Light Faction or
Dark Faction will think that we are easy to deal with anymore," Lince commented.
Sha Mo gave another grunt.
"That brat should have just done that on the first event; I knew he had power, there's no
need to hide it from these fools!"
In the arena itself, Raze was quite surprised with the level of destruction that had been
caused. For one, he had tried his best to limit his body to that of the top of an initial stage
warrior. If he used middle stage level Qi, he was worried that it might cause problems for
the tournament.
However, his condensed level of Qi, along with the technique itself, was powerful. Even
though he hadn't used magic, it had caused such destruction.
Through the fallen walls, Mada and Ricktor were now able to see Raze as well. They stared
and looked at him, and looked at a few of the dead Charged Rats on the floor from the
attack.
"I think it might have been a good thing that you didn't run into him," Ricktor said. "Take
back what I said; avoid fighting him at all costs."
When Ricktor finished these words, the walls in front of him were starting to form up from
the bottom once again.
At the same time, the two Light Faction students were getting up off the floor. They had
been hurt, but the sword slash didn't directly hit them. Only the wave of Qi did. Their entire
bodies were sore; when lifting up their upper body, they could see the destruction of the
attack.
The two of them had been split apart and pushed to either side, and now they could see the
wall raising up between them.
For both Charlotte and Harmon, they felt a sigh of relief that the maze was being rebuilt
because they never wanted to see that man again.
They could feel their bodies shaking, and just before the walls finished forming, the eyes of
the Demonic Faction student looking at both of them.
"You can move, right?" Raze asked.
The walls had finished forming, and they were back to what they were before, apart from
the wall to Raze's side; it was reforming but slower compared to the rest.
The reason why was obvious to Raze; he had used Dark Magic when attacking the wall; its
properties to destroy were interfering with what was being used to reform the wall.
"I can still move; we can work together and find the Charged Rats," Beret said.
"No," Raze answered swiftly. "You focus on finding the Charged Rats; find as much as you
can, remember the spots you saw them in and go after them. I have something else I need
to do."
With those words, Raze walked forward; he walked down the hallway until he reached the
end, then took a few steps to the right and stopped.
"It was around about here."
Beret, not wanting to be useless and feeling compelled to answer Raze like he would any
clan head, ran off searching, and the last thing he saw was Raze putting his hand on the wall
and closing his eyes.
'These walls, the way they formed, and the way my Dark Magic interacted with it before, it
has to be because it's using some type of magic, and if these walls are made of magic, then
there is something I can do.'
While Raze's palm was placed on the wall, his veins were enlarging and starting to bulge;
energy from the wall was being passed onto Raze as he was using the extraction technique.
Once the energy had gone away, Raze then gently pushed part of the wall, and it exploded
into nothing but dust.
It was an incredibly strange sight to see the wall just exploding like dust, especially seeing
no movement or skill being used.
Those in the arena were confused; they had no clue how it was even possible. As Raze went
to the next part of the wall, he did the same thing, and just like before, it had exploded into
dust.
"Is he using… is it the extraction technique!" Sha Mo shouted. "Who taught him such a
thing? Isn't he an outsider to the Faction?"
"His energy, his techniques, a lot of them feel like Demonic energy, and now with this
technique, I don't think it's right to call him an outsider," Lince replied.
The scary thing was, as Raze was placing his hand on part of the wall and making it turn
into nothing but dust, he was getting faster at it.
He touched the wall, and a second later it would turn to dust; he walked forward and
continued moving, one wall falling after the other, he was clearly moving straight for
something.
He continued, and then, when he placed his hand on one wall and it turned to dust, on the
other side, a white uniform could be seen, with the magical bracelet around his wrist.
"I found you," Raze said.
Chapter 630 This Does Not Belong To You
Chapter 630 This Does Not Belong To You
When Harmon from the Light Faction saw the walls go up, there was relief that had left his
entire body. After suffering from the large attack, his whole body was tense and sore. He
needed some time to recover before he could do anything.
'He hit us quite far away, and the maze is impossible to figure out in the short time this
event goes on for,' Harmon thought. 'So it's best that I locate Charlotte, and the two of us
team up again.
'Right now, we only have two crystals between us; I'm sure the Dark Faction will have
more.'
Finally getting up off his feet, Harmon could feel a great pain shooting down his entire leg.
He used his hand to lean up against the wall. He was more injured than he thought from the
last attack.
However, that's when he noticed something; he could hear a strange sound, a knocking that
was getting slightly louder.
He ignored it at first because the sound was shallow, and between each knock, there was a
lot of time. But the sound of the knocks was getting louder and quicker.
He pressed his hand on his chest.
'For a second, I thought it might have been my heartbeat. I should just focus on finding
Charlotte.'
Twisting his bracelet, he could see it light up and move in the air toward a location. Just as
he was about to move, though, he could hear the crowd shouting behind him.
"Move! Run! Get out of there, he's coming!"
"Just run!"
The crowd was screaming at the top of their lungs, but Harmon had no idea what for. Run
from who, and what?
A loud thud was heard from his side, and part of the wall had collapsed into nothing but
dust.
"I found you," the Demonic Faction student said.
---
Seeing the walls of the event being destroyed one by one like so, in a strange manner, there
was slight panic in the Light Faction Clan Head area.
"How is he able to do such a thing? That should be impossible for Pagna warriors!" Ricar
said.
At that point, Kawak stood up and turned around.
"Carry on watching the match; there isn't much time left, but I need to look into things."
After finishing his words, in a flash of light, he had disappeared from the room.
A short while later, and Kawak was now in a deep dark room. Due to the darkness, it was
hard to tell how big the room was.
There was only a single ray of light, a large round ball, that had a glowing ring placed
around it, and there were four men that were stationed around the large ball.
"Are you aware of what is happening right now, what is happening above?" Kawak asked.
"We have access to the mirrors as well," one of the men in white replied. "We are aware,
and I'm sure you are looking for answers."
One of the men quickly left the large ball and went on his knees in front of Kawak as he
went to give an explanation.
"It appears that the student is using the special extraction technique that was created by
the Demonic Faction."
"All of that was done by that crude technique?" Kawak replied.
"Yes, we knew this was a possibility, due to the structure of what the walls were made from
and the Artifact. However, for someone to take down walls so fast, they must have a great
grasp on the extraction technique, better than some clan heads even."
Kawak had gotten the information he needed. He was quite satisfied with the answer
because he feared that it was possible that it was something else, and with that, he had
turned around to view the rest of the event.
---
Standing there looking at Harmon was Raze.
Harmon's body completely froze up. No matter how hard he tried to move, he couldn't, and
it wasn't because of the injuries on his body.
Immediately, Raze grabbed him by his neck and slammed him onto the wall. There was no
resistance from Harmon, and even if he tried, he was sure that it would amount to nothing.
Raze didn't say anything and instead looked down at the bracelet that was still around his
arm. Placing his sword away, Raze made sure that his grip was tighter around Harmon's
neck.
He then grabbed onto the round circle bracelet and tried to move it down, but Harmon's
hand was far too big to simply take it off, and there appeared to be no mechanism to take
the bracelet off.
"What are you doing?" Harmon asked; there was almost a slight panic in his voice. Why, in
this situation, would someone go for the bracelet?
Raze continued to tug at the bracelet, trying to take it off in some way, and Harmon's
heartbeat was going faster by the second.
"You… do you have any idea what's going to happen to you… you shouldn't mess with
things you don't understand!" Harmon shouted.
At that point, Raze stopped trying to carefully pull the hard bracelet down. Instead, he held
onto the ring firmly and then pulled down, forcing the bracelet off. It had cut part of
Harmon's skin off while breaking a couple of fingers as well to allow the bracelet to come
through.
"ARGHHH!!" Harmon screamed.
"Judging by your reaction, you knew what this did as well," Raze said. "I thought the Light
Faction was all about honor; what you did back there and using things like this, for what?"
"You could have ruined another student's life back there, all for your selfish gains. I think
you are the one that needs to be taught a lesson."
Raze's veins on his hand started to bulge again, and the energy was being drained directly
out of the student. Raze was careful though; after absorbing all of that which was in his
dantian, he quickly let go of Harmon, not taking any of his life.
Right after that, he held up the bracelet, and could feel it pulling in a particular direction.
Turning around, Raze went where the bracelet was pulling and placed his hand on the wall.
"What did you… what did you do to me?" Harmon screamed, knowing he could no longer
sense the Qi in his body.
He was completely drained; his senses had lowered. He had no clue what all of this was.
"I was always told the world of Pagna is a place where warriors can die at any moment, and
even students at this event lose their lives; be thankful that you haven't lost yours."
With those words spoken, the wall turned to dust, and Raze started to walk through. He
was now doing the same as he did before.
Each time he placed his hand on the wall, part of it would turn to dust, and he stepped
through, heading in one direction in particular.
The crowd could see exactly where he was heading to, as if he had x-ray vision; he was now
heading straight for Charlotte.
"RUN! Get out of there; he'll get you too!"
The screams from the crowd grew; they felt like they were about to watch a mass murderer
reach his next victim as he got closer and closer yet none of them could do anything.
Then, when Raze broke through another wall, he could see Charlotte in his sight.
"No!" Charlotte said, her heart pounding out of her chest.
Raze took a step forward, and the sound of a loud alarm had gone off. The timer of the
event; it was over.
As Raze reached out, he felt four blades pointed right at his neck, and several warriors from
above.
"This event is over; you are not permitted to move any further!"
The Light Faction that were on the edge of the arena had all come down at once and now
had Raze surrounded.
Chapter 631 Taking Away From The Light
Chapter 631 Taking Away From The Light
Naturally, after obtaining one of the bracelets, Raze wanted to get the second for
inspection. He wanted to see if they matched up or possibly question the students about
who they got the items from.
However, the mirrors were constantly following him, listening to what he said, and at the
same time, he doubted that students at the low level would know much of anything.
However, when he had finally reached Charlotte, the loud alarm had gone off, and in an
instant, the Light Faction warriors had all come around him.
One pointed a sword towards his throat, two to his side, one behind his back, and there
were a few warriors that were standing on top of the maze wall staring down at him as
well.
'These guys were quick. I noticed them coming, but I decided to leave things be. They didn't
have any killing intent in their Qi; they were just here to stop me… I guess there are some
things that they deemed as fair as well since they came as soon as the event was over
rather than during the event, but that might just be because they're being watched by
everyone,' Raze thought.
"It's okay, like you said, the event is over. I won't do anything else; I will head back to the
viewing area," Raze said.
Yet, the Light Faction warriors didn't say anything. Instead, the maze started to sink back
into the ground and was returning to normal.
All of the participants now could see what was happening; they could see Raze surrounded
by the blades pointed at his neck.
Meanwhile, other Light Faction members came to the members and started to gather the
crystals they had gathered, including picking up Harmon from the ground and starting to
escort Charlotte away.
"They should kill him!" Cicle shouted from the viewing booth. "That man is a danger. It's
clear his power is not that of a typical student. He must be a Clan Head under some type of
disguise."
"We should get rid of him now before he causes more mess."
"Are you trying to declare an all-out war right now?" Ricar replied. "If we attack the
Demonic Faction, the others will get involved, and there's no telling that the Dark Faction
will just sit by and do nothing. That isn't a smart move."
"It will also show that we're afraid of his power. Besides, it's not the way the Light Faction
operates."
After the two Light Faction warriors returned along with the others, the adult warriors
finally dropped their swords, allowing Raze to head back as well.
'That was a close one; I thought I might have had to have gone all out. I even saw Alba and
Anna getting ready in the crowd; it's good to know that they're ready to act at any point in
time.'
'It's also good to know that they didn't ask me about the bracelet I took; not that they
would be able to find it on me anyway,' Raze smiled.
When returning, the adults from the Demonic Faction were all smiling at him. Raze thought
for what he had done, what he had shown, maybe the faction would be annoyed at him for
almost starting a fight, but instead, they seemed pleased.
"That is what you should have done from the beginning!" Sha Mo stated; even he had a big
smile on his face. "That is someone who truly is acting like a Demonic warrior!"
Lince had also approached Raze, giving him a small bow stating his thanks; he couldn't do
more than that because of his position. It would seem strange to thank someone so young.
"I'm happy to know we have one more useful person for the single matchups at least,"
Mantis commented, leaning up against the wall with his arms folded.
"I was worried I would have to take them all out myself."
Although Raze showed his power right there and then, there was no need for him to show it
in the individual matches either, and that was even if they got to that stage.
"Anyway, I wanted to ask," Mantis said, looking at Lince. "Through your information
gathering, I thought the student we most needed to worry about was this White Dragon
person."
"But I haven't seen them… at least not anyone I know."
Lince placed his hand on his chin and started to rub it a few times.
"The only thing I can guess is that it's one of the three from before; maybe it's the girl that
we didn't see act. We should look out for them in the next events, and try to find out
anything we can before the individual matches."
Raze moved away from the two that were having the conversation. He found it strange
when they were talking about the White Dragon, and they would never get to see the White
Dragon because the White Dragon they were talking about was with them.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are here to announce the results of our second event!" The
announcer claimed. "After recounting all of the power stones, we have the results."
"In first place, it's the Dark Faction. For this event, they will be awarded with five points,
giving them a total of 8 points currently!"
"In second place, we have the Demonic Faction!"
The room was quite surprised to hear the result. They didn't care about the actual points,
but more so their appearance in this event.
Beret was then seen rubbing his head as Raze looked at him knowing full well that he
wasn't the one that had gathered the points.
"I did as you asked; I ran and collected as many power stones as I could. It was the only
thing I could do after you helped me out," Beret replied, his cheeks turning a little red.
"In last place, we have the Light Faction, only earning them a single point!"
"Which means, as we currently stand, the Dark Faction is in the lead with 8 points, followed
by the Light Faction with a total of 6 points and the Demonic Faction with 4 total points!"
The crowd clapped out of respect, but they weren't loud cheers; it was quite clear who they
were supporting.
"We will now take a long break before the next assessment; please come back for the next
event!" the announcer claimed.
As soon as Harmon was brought in, he himself had asked to be checked by a physician.
After the results of his check, the elders as well as many others were told to come in as they
had heard the news.
Eventually, even the Clan Head from the booth above had entered the room. He could see
Harmon lying down with tears running down his face.
"What's the result," Cicle, head of the Illumination clan asked.
"It appears… that his dantian has been damaged; there is not a trace of Qi, nor can he
cultivate Qi into it… in the state he is in now, he will never be a Pagna warrior again."
Cicle's whole body was shaking, and rather than taking out his anger in the room, he turned
around heading back out into the hallway.
'That damned Demonic Faction student, who is he, what does he think he's done to my clan!
I will do everything I can; I will find out everything about him and eliminate him before this
tournament ends!'
Chapter 632 Standing No Chance
Chapter 632 Standing No Chance
The Martial Arts Tournament was currently going through a break after two events had
taken place. Despite the Light Faction in second place and not the front runner, the general
public was still filled with excitement.
Many of those watching the events didn't know the true meaning behind the Martial Arts
Tournament. They thought it was just a competition between the three factions as a type of
peace. In some ways, they were right; they just had no idea how that peace was formed
between them through the tournament.
In their eyes, sure, they supported the Light Faction, but if any of the other factions won,
then it would also mean them no harm. They would rather have something more exciting to
view, and just based on the two events alone, there was a lot of excitement.
During the break, there were those that remained in the stands, just relaxing or chatting
with each other, but most of them were currently empty as they headed to different places
within and outside the coliseum.
In the giant coliseum halls, there was a number of stalls that were set up, selling food,
taking personal bets, selling equipment, and more.
There were even some Light Faction Clans that were trying to recruit the general public
into Pagna warriors or to use their services. Either as bodyguards during transport or a
number of other things. These stalls continued to the outside of the area as well.
At the same time, crowds of people had gathered outside. Those unable to get into the
event wanted to know what had occurred, and news was spreading of what had happened
so far.
"Wait, so the Dark Faction is in the lead… is it because of the White Dragon we heard
rumors about?"
"I don't think so. I'm not even sure if the White Dragon is taking part in this event. If they
are, there isn't really anyone that stands out… they all kind of stand out, maybe that
redhead a little more than others, but wouldn't his name be Red Dragon rather than White
Dragon then?"
"Wait, you're saying there's a demon in the Demonic Faction. I heard the reports about
someone like that, but then why is the Demonic Faction in last place?"
"It's hard to explain. You would have had to have been there to see it. Trust me; maybe the
Demonic Faction will lose all of these group events and come in last place. But when the
individual events occur, I'm sure they're going to win."
"Oh, speaking of that, what are the prizes? Aren't there prizes that are presented by the
Faction hosting the event, for the group and Individual scores, what are they this year?"
"Actually, they haven't been revealed yet… that must mean the prizes suck and aren't worth
fighting over."
At the same time, each faction in their watching booths had meals delivered to each of the
members. Anything they requested would be provided for them in the meantime.
Not only that, but there was one more thing that no one had expected to occur.
"I hope you are all enjoying your meals," the Light Faction members said, standing by the
door as they looked at all of the Demonic Faction members. "For the event, we have a
special visitor that will be visiting all of the factions; we hope that you will cooperate with
us."
Coming in through the door was a man with light brown hair and golden silk clothing. He
stood out as soon as he walked through the door.
"Oh… he's here. I'm surprised they are working with him," Lince said. "The infamous
reporter, Bubble."
Standing right in front of all the Demonic Faction members staring at him, Bubble couldn't
help but gulp. He was out of his comfort zone.
Very rarely did he report things first hand, but this was an opportunity he couldn't miss.
There was a reason why the Light Faction had invited him, wanting him to report about the
events to everyone who couldn't see them.
However, Bubble wasn't alone either because standing there, he had one of the floating
mirrors that had been used in the arena by his side.
When Raze went to take a look out the glass window, he could see that everything was
being recorded right now.
All of the other factions, they were watching and looking at the screen as well, as Bubble
was in the room.
'I guess this is to stop us from doing anything to harm the reporter. Bubble, I've read some
of the reports from him as well… He's been quite helpful in spreading my name,' Raze
thought.
Of course, Bubble was trying to avoid eye contact with everyone, but he was constantly
looking at Raze now and again.
He had seen what he had done against Sha Mo's army that had attacked, things that were
unbelievable to the eye. And even in the event so far, he had done even more amazing
things.
Without a doubt, Bubble wanted to talk to him most.
"I will be conducting an interview of how you feel about the event so far and talking about
the rest of the event, so I hope you all can work with me well," Bubble said, bowing his
head.
He was a lot more wary of Pagna warriors ever since all of his guards had been taken down
and two men had forced their way into his office.
"I'll first like to speak to the Clan Heads that have arrived here today." Bubble looked up at
the large Sha Mo who just stared right back at him.
There wasn't a single chance that he was going to get him to speak, but instead decided to
go to Lince.
"We have the Lost Clan here today. Based on my knowledge, you are information gatherers
for the Demonic Faction, so out of the groups today and from what you have seen, which
group do you think will give you the most trouble?" Bubble asked.
"The Dark Faction seems to have multiple good candidates this year, and we have yet to see
the White Dragon."
"If it comes to group work or events that aren't related to just fighting, I believe the Light
Faction will give us more trouble."
The citizens watching from the screen were impressed with the answers. Many of them
saw the Demonic Faction as brutes who didn't care about anything but strength and
climbing to the top, but to give such reasonable answers was surprising.
After Bubble asked Lince a few more questions about the events, and then decided to speak
to the students taking part themselves.
Talking to some, they had given very short answers; Lince was the only person that seemed
willing to speak to him.
Bubble had even come across Mantis, the Black Tiger.
"We have yet to see the Black Tiger's skills in this event, the top student, do you think we
will be able to witness something soon?" Bubble asked.
"I don't care for the group events, but when the single fighting event starts, then people will
see," Mantis answered.
It didn't look like he was going to say any more, and that's when Bubble had gone to Raze.
The person he had seen, and the one Bubble had the greatest idea of his real strength.
"And what about you? A lot of people after seeing your actions during the last event can't
wait to see you at the person vs. person event!" Bubble asked.
Raze looked at Bubble and answered with only one sentence.
"I have no plans to enter the person versus person event. I will step aside to give the others
a chance to fight."
However, Bubble saw this as a chance.
"Did everyone hear that? This means that if you were to enter the event, then no one else
would stand a chance?"
Chapter 633 1 Minute
Chapter 633 1 Minute
The words spoken by Bubble were heard by the crowd; his voice was projected even louder
to the outside of the arena and to the other factions.
Right there and then, Bubble turned around and was already heading for the exit.
'That man,' Raze thought as he looked at Bubble's back. 'He twisted my words, he is quite
good at getting people riled up. I guess he's good at his job; he might be someone I can use
in the future.'
The crowd was angry with the Demonic Faction, especially with the contestant 'Jake.'
Thinking he was big-headed and ahead of himself.
They already had a dislike for the Faction in the first place, and now they had more reason
to put their hatred on them all.
After visiting the Demonic Faction, Bubble went on to the Dark Faction; he had done the
same as before, asking a series of questions.
Including who they thought was the biggest threat. Murkel had mentioned that he believed
it was the Light Faction but also stated that he was quite interested in the student 'Jake'
after seeing what he had done.
Yet Bubble was there to push things, to ask the questions on everyone's mind, and he had
first approached Mada out of the students.
"During the last event, we had seen you confronted with the student known as Jake from
the Demonic Faction. Was there a reason the two of you didn't fight?
"Could you sense that something was going to happen, just like what happened to the Light
Faction?"
Mada's entire body was shaking after hearing the question asked. Everyone was watching.
"Based on the event, there was no reason to fight him. I knew he was strong, but I am as
well. It would have been a long, draining fight, and then we wouldn't have gotten the
position we did in the event."
The answer was more than Bubble was expecting. It was impressive and was sure to clear
some of the doubt that those in the arena had of Mada's strength.
This was because the answer given to him was Safa's answer for him.
After seeing Bubble interviewing the Demonic Faction, Safa quickly spoke to Mada,
knowing what type of question that would be asked.
'I might have made myself look like a fool if it wasn't for her,' Mada thought.
Bubble continued talking to all of the others, asking about their strengths and who they
thought would be their toughest opponents.
No one spoke highly of the Demonic Faction, but there was one more question on Bubble's
mind before he left.
"This year, we have been hearing of a figure from the Dark Faction Academy, someone who
went by the name White Dragon.
"I assume that the White Dragon is one of the students here. Do you believe they are the
strongest, and what do you think, do you think they could beat the Demon?"
The demon was the new nickname that Bubble had given to 'Jake.'
The adults that were in the room were unsure of how to answer this because the White
Dragon's name who was spread was no longer present.
"I think it would be an exciting match," Safa answered. "I'm sure we have yet to see this
demon's full powers or how he fights, and it's the same for the White Dragon, so if they
were both to fight, I think they would be even."
Bubble had finished his questioning and had a smile on his face; he was pretty sure now
that the woman who had yet to show her powers, she was the White Dragon.
Yet he had no idea how wrong he was or why Safa had said the words she had said.
---
Finally, after interviewing the Dark Faction, it was time for Bubble to head over to the Light
Faction. What was strange was when he had entered the place, the atmosphere was a lot
darker than the other areas.
The students were standing by the side, up straight and proud, but there were no smiles in
the air or excitement.
"Forgive us," an elder of one of the clans stated. "We have just received news that Harmon
has been harmed beyond the point where he will recover, so he will no longer be taking
part in the upcoming events."
"So if you could avoid asking questions to do with Harmon, that would be for the best."
Bubble nodded in agreement and went ahead to ask the same questions as he did the
others. They too had mentioned that they saw the Dark Faction as a greater threat, not
really acknowledging the Demonic Faction at all.
Seeing this, he quickly moved onto individual questions and had approached Ulyn, who was
the highest-ranking student in the Light Faction Academy, under the Aurora Clan.
"We have information that you are the strongest student in your academy. Out of everyone,
is there anyone that you think will give you trouble?" Bubble asked.
"The most trouble, in the Person vs. Person event, even students who are in the same Clan
may go up against each other, and in the same Faction, if I was to say out of everyone, then I
would say that Hannah, from the Dawnblade Clan and disciple of Beatrix, would be the one
to give me the most trouble." Ulyn answered.
Hannah turned her head away when she heard the praise from her fellow teammates.
These words were quite bold and strong, Bubble thought.
To state that the only person that would give them trouble was another member of the
Light Faction of all people.
"You sound pretty confident about that. Then what if I was to ask you this?" Bubble said.
"What do you think if you were to go up against the Demon? He stated he wasn't going to
take part. Is that why you didn't consider him?"
A short smile appeared on Ulyn's face as he directly looked into the mirror that was
broadcasting everything.
"If I was to go up against him, the match wouldn't even last 1 minute," Ulyn answered.
The crowd cheered, shaking the whole arena once those words were mentioned.
In the Demonic Faction, there were some grunts that were heard from the adults, not liking
that one bit. They turned to 'Jake,' hoping there would be a reaction from him, but there
was almost nothing.
"It's a shame," Lince sighed. "It seems you truly are against the idea of joining the individual
stage of the tournament."
"Although I don't think the results matter too much. I think it would be a good show if we
were able to turn the entire situation around."
"I imagine if you actually tried, and you took the group stages and the individual stage
seriously, we would have the chance to turn everything around."
"People love a good underdog story," Lince said.
He was hoping that his words would convince Raze to take part in the tournament more
seriously, but it was hard to tell what he was thinking from just looking at him.
Finally, the large mirrors that were displaying everything as Bubble went around, it
appeared he had one more room to go to.
It was the room that was placed just above the Light Faction showing area, and here was
where the three Clan Heads of the Light Faction were staying.
"I have also been invited to enter this private room, as I believe there is something they
want to show everyone." Bubble said to the mirror.
He found it slightly strange talking to a mirror, but hearing his own voice being projected,
he got quite used to it relatively fast.
"Ah yes, please come forward," Kawak said, gesturing with his hand and moving to the side.
"What I have here are the two prizes that are up for grabs in the Individual and Group
stages."
Immediately, Raze's eyes were glued to what was on screen; he felt his heartbeat thump
louder than before. His whole body had tensed up.
'What is that doing here!'
Now, Raze had a reason to fight.
Chapter 634 Precious Items
Chapter 634 Precious Items
The two rewards were placed on podiums in the room, both of them encased in glass on
display. The mirror was circling around the items, showing them off in all their glory.
"These items may look plain and simple, but I guarantee you that they are both rare
artifacts that have been gathered from other dimensions," Kawak explained as he moved
forward, toward one of the items.
"This strange piece of clothing that you see here, smart and straight, colored in a brilliant
white and gold pattern, when worn, has a healing effect."
"Injuries, cuts, marks, and even internally when hurt, will be healed at a certain rate, all for
just wearing a piece of clothing."
The crowd started to chatter among themselves; they had heard of such items existing, but
in the form of clothing that anyone could wear? They were sure that it was a precious item.
Then, next to that item, there was a silver brooch, shaped in the shape of an X, with two
finely crafted roses at the end of the heads, very small and detailed.
"This item here can be attached and worn with the clothing from before or anywhere on
your body, and it will restore a certain amount of one's Qi while fighting!" Kawak
mentioned.
Once again, the crowd was impressed, and they were pleased that the Light Faction was
being selfless in the rewards they were giving.
Clearly, these precious items could end up in the hands of the enemy, yet they were being
given away.
"Pft, it's all just an act," Mantis complained. "If they were really that special, then they
wouldn't be giving them away."
"What I'm worried about is if they have items like these to give away, there's a chance that
their students could be wearing similar things as well," Lince said. "That is if they truly
work."
Raze didn't say a word; instead, he just stood there, staring up at the two items. His eyes
widened, his eyes drying out, he didn't even blink.
For a moment, it was as if he had lost all bodily functions.
'Those items, they were both made by Sabrina… what are they doing here,' Raze thought.
He could tell instantly when looking at them. He saw the designs Sabrina would do at her
work, and both the brooch as well as the blazer were both designs of hers.
Raze hadn't seen them on any of the mages that had come and gone; he hadn't seen them
on members of Alter or on the Noble Guild that had attacked.
He was grateful that his enemies weren't using the items she had created; they were meant
for healing people, not battling in the first place. But now he saw them.
'These belong to Sabrina… I can't let others have them... I need to look after them, I need to
get my hands on them.'
It was explained that one of the prizes would be given to those that did best in the group
stages, and the other in the individual stages though.
Which left Raze to wonder, how could he get those items? Even if he was planning to escape
with the others stealing them in front of everyone, well, that seemed like an impossibility.
'The only way to get those items is to win this thing.'
The break was over; the group, after seeing the rewards, the crowd was excited to see
more, and it was still the team stages that were going forward.
The next event had been called a singles event participating on behalf of the team. They had
called for an opponent of strength to be selected.
In this event, one person had to carry a heavy stone back and forth between lines several
times, and the person who carried it the furthest distance in total would win.
Of course, just like with the other events, the students were also allowed to attack each
other. But with three people, it was hard; did one attack a student and leave one alone?
In the end, Brack was selected from the Behemoth Clan, and he was up against Simyon from
the Dark Faction, while finally, Ulyn was selected from the Light Faction.
It appeared that there was no contest as to who the winner was, with Ulyn dominating the
match. Although Simyon was strong, he was a bit slow, coming in last place, and Brack
second.
Putting the Demonic Faction in last place with a total of 7 points, the Dark Faction with 9
points, and the Light Faction in the lead with 11 points.
The next event required a team of two, and Kaylie and Mantis had been selected as the
rules stated teamwork would be needed.
The event was a set of puzzles; one person would have to solve the puzzles blindfolded
while the other had to instruct them.
Mantis was blindfolded and just stood there doing nothing, despite Kaylie's desperate plea.
Lince was shaking his head; if he knew what event it would be, he would have never
selected Mantis.
He knew he was the type of person that was only interested in fighting, and there was no
such fighting in this task.
In the end, they had come in last place.
For the Dark Faction, Surprisingly, Liam and Safa had worked together, not showing much
of their strength since it was an event that required little of it, and managed to come in first
place.
Safa was clear with her explanation and was quick to solve the puzzles, and Liam had even
resorted to a bit of cheating from time to time, as his system allowed him to see through the
fabric to help him.
The Light Faction did well with Hannah and her teammate working together, but they were
unable to keep up with the Dark Faction.
It was an impressive feat that showed there was more than just a talent in strength, but
these two groups had a talent in mind as well.
The current points stood as follows:
Demonic Faction: 8 points
Dark Faction: 14 points
Light Faction: 15 points
"The next event is the last group event," Lince said. "It looks like no matter what, even if we
come in first place in the next event, it will be impossible for us to win."
"You said yourself, winning didn't matter anyway; it's all about the Single fights, the rest is
just useless," Mantis claimed.
With that, Lince had made the decision, no matter what the next event was, to not put
Mantis in. There had to be some level of pride, even if they couldn't win, to actually want to
win.
"The last group event will require three people from each group to take part! And the event
itself is a mystery, so please go ahead."
Lince was making the decisions so far, and looking at the group of people deciding not to
pick Mantis, he had made his decision.
'If we want to win the single fighting events, it will be best to keep him on standby and
conserve his energy,' Lince thought.
"Kaylie, Beret, and Brack, you three will take part in the final event," Lince decided.
"Excuse me, Can I take part in the next event?" Raze asked, for the first time.
Chapter 635 The Demon Takes Part
Chapter 635 The Demon Takes Part
Lince had placed Raze in the first group event because he had no clear information on the
certain individual. He knew he was quite strong, and he wasn't lying when he said he
wished for him to protect Beret, who was from the same Lost Clan as him.
He never expected the results that had occurred, and for Raze to be as strong as he was.
With this new information, Lince thought it would be best to have Raze take part in full
force.
He didn't exactly like the words of the cocky students that had spoken up about the
Demonic Faction. It was time for them to show their strength.
And then, suddenly, the student 'Jake' had offered to take part by himself.
"Are you sure?" Lince asked. "Even if we win this event, there is no way for us to get the
prize."
It was the only thing Lince could think of as to why the student would volunteer himself.
Maybe the child was bad at math and needed a helping hand.
"I wish to take part in this event," Raze asked again politely.
"I will drop out then," Beret asked; he still felt like he owed Raze for the last event, for
saving his life. So he would do anything to allow him to do as he wished.
"Very well, if it's your decision, then go out there and do something special again!" Lince
said, wondering what he would see this time.
Lince wasn't the only one that was excited to see 'Jake' walk out onto the arena; as soon as
the crowd saw him, the gossip had started.
"It's the Demon, he's finally out, I was wondering when he was going to take part."
"Why would they send him out now though, the Demonic Faction will be placed last even if
they win this, it's useless."
"Hey still, don't you think something crazy is going to happen, it always seems to be the
case, and besides, we haven't seen him against the others yet."
Out on the field from the Light Faction, was Hannah from the Dawnblade clan, student of
Beatrix, Ripper from the Illumination Clan, along with Charlotte, who had stopped in the
middle of the field.
"Keep moving," Hannah said. "I know how you might feel, after seeing him again, and what
happened last time, but once participants have been chosen, there's no turning back."
"If anything, take all your feelings, everything you have and put them into this contest, fight
for Harmon."
Although Hannah said words that might have convinced most, Charlotte's heart was
sinking deep down, and she could feel herself starting to sweat just from looking at Raze.
On the other side from the Dark Faction, a trio that had worked well together had arrived,
Simyon, Liam, and finally Safa.
Both Simyon and Liam had shown impressive feats, and Safa had been a strong leader for
the Dark Faction so far.
Most of the Dark Faction's success could be attributed to her. The three of them glanced in
the direction of Raze and then quickly turned away to look at others.
'Them three, they're trying too hard to avoid eye contact,' Raze inwardly smiled.
"So what's the plan with this thing this time, miss," Liam said, looking at Safa.
"Honestly, I'm not too sure," Safa replied back. "I don't know why he chose to come out... it
might be best to stay cautious; we'll try and follow his lead, and we don't even know the
rules of this event yet."
The three participants from each side didn't get too close to the center, standing away from
each other. Then in the middle of the platform, a relatively large concrete ball slightly
bigger than a basketball popped up in the center.
It was the same heavy balls that were used in one of the events before.
"The final event is called King of the Hill!" the announcer stated.
"All teams will compete to hold the ball off the ground. The total time for this event is thirty
minutes. The amount of time one team has held the ball for, in total, will count toward the
results."
The instructions were simple, and Safa was already thinking of a number of strategies. One
person could hold the ball while two protected them.
However, that would mean two people would have to go up against six. Another method
was to get the ball and throw it to each teammate as others got close.
There was also the brute force method of beating everyone and then getting the ball for
oneself, or protecting the ball, and lifting it when it was safe.
The issue was with all her strategies she had no clue what to do because of Raze.
"The match starts now!" the announcer shouted.
The Dark Faction was frozen still; Safa had given them hand signals to stay behind; the first
team to lose in the whole thing was the Light Faction.
"Charlotte, go for the stone in the middle and hold onto it for as long as you can!" Hannah
ordered.
She was naturally taking charge as the strongest from her group. On top of that, she could
tell that Charlotte wasn't going to be much help fighting, due to her fear of a certain
individual that was on the arena floor.
In her mind, if they held it at the beginning for the longest amount of time, then the other
two teams would have to fight for the remaining time.
She then saw Raze head forward and pulling out her sword she clashed with his. The two
swords were filled with Qi, and Hannah felt her sword slightly bounce when they hit.
She tried to strike quickly, and Raze blocked the hits. While the two were engaged in battle,
she saw Kaylie fighting with Ripper, leaving Brack to go for the prize.
'What is going on, I thought the Dark Faction would stop him,' Hannah thought.
Heading right for Hannah, Brack delivered a kick right to her stomach, sending her away,
and then grabbed onto the rock himself.
It was now in his possession. Seeing this, Hannah backed away from Raze and regrouped
with Ripper to try and help and get Charlotte; they needed a new plan, now it was in
possession of the Demonic Faction.
When Raze and Kaylie went over to the center, they were cautious of the Dark Faction, but
when Raze approached, he looked at Brack.
"Hand over the rock," Raze said.
"What, you want this… are you trying to just get out of fighting?" Brack asked.
"Hand over the rock," Raze asked again.
Brack was a bit hesitant; sure, this was a team effort, but he had gotten the rock, he was the
king. However, he realized holding the rock was the position most likely to get hurt.
Either the best choice was the strongest individual holding the rock or the strongest
individual protecting it, and since he didn't want to fight with Raze, he handed the rock
over.
When Raze held the rock, he did so with one hand, showing his great strength and the
sword in his hand. He then slowly started to walk over to the Dark Faction.
All three members were unsure about what to do.
"What do we do?" Liam whispered.
"Wait!" Safa shouted in a whisper back.
When Raze approached, he then threw the rock over to Simyon, who had caught it in the
air.
"The rock belongs to the Dark Faction," Raze said, turning back around. "And anyone who
tries to take it, I will fight them."
Chapter 636 I Gave You A Warning
Chapter 636 I Gave You A Warning
Brack had handed the stone over to Raze, believing it was in safe hands, and the next
moment he saw it in the air, leaving his fellow teammate's hands.
"Oh... look at that," Brack said, speaking his thoughts out loud, and then saw it land straight
into the Dark Faction's student's hands.
"The rock belongs to the Dark Faction," Raze said, turning back around. "And anyone who
tries to take it, I will fight them."
Both of Raze's teammates were stunned; they had no clue what to do, and for a moment, it
was the same for everyone at the arena.
Safa, Liam, and Simyon, who was just holding onto the rock, didn't know how to react. The
Light Faction stood by the side, having regrouped, and didn't know whether to go forward,
and during this whole time, time was ticking.
"What is that Demon doing? Is he just trying to confuse us all?"
"Hey, I told you, man, I told you! When that student goes out onto the field, something
interesting or crazy is always going to happen, but I have to admit, even I didn't expect
this."
It was Raze's teammates more than anything that were confused, especially Brack, who
was the first to speak up and move toward Raze.
"What are you doing? I got that rock, and I handed it to you because I trusted you, and now
you're handing it to the enemy, are you working with the Dark Faction or something!"
Brack shouted.
When he was around five meters away from Raze, he lifted his sword, pointing the end
toward him.
"I told you I will protect anyone that comes close to this rock," Raze said.
Brack hesitated for a moment, not moving in, but his frustration had reached its pinnacle.
"F*ck it," Brack said as he charged forward with his Qi technique and drew his sword.
Raze was already next to him by his side and had avoided the strike by leaning, then with
the palm of his hand pushed Brack away with powerful Qi that lifted his body in the air.
Brack floated for a few moments before landing firmly on the ground several meters away.
"You traitor!" Brack shouted as he charged forward again.
He swung his sword, each strike easily missing Raze. Now there was a clear difference
being shown in the skills between the two.
Raze wasn't holding back in this aspect because he wanted to deter the others from
attacking; he then did a simple two-step technique and shoved Brack away with his hands,
moving him several meters in the air again.
Kaylie had caught him this time, but he quickly shook her off.
"Hey, if you want to do something, then help me get that stone, rather than just standing
around!" Brack shouted.
It was a strange sight to see, only one person moving forward and then getting pushed back
each time.
However, Hannah saw this as an advantage; while they had the numbers and there was
insight, they had to make a move.
"Everyone, aim for the stone!" Hannah ordered, and they all started to charge forward.
With Brack's words, Kaylie moved forward as well, thinking it was what the Demonic
Faction would want her to do.
Now it was up to Safa to make a decision.
'Raze, why are you openly protecting us right now? Is it because you want to make it clear
that you're our ally? Is this part of your plan? But I can't make sense of it.'
Shaking her head, though, she could see all of them running toward Raze, and she had
firmed up to make her decision.
"Everyone, we will work together with that student, fight by his side!" Safa shouted.
Immediately, Liam and Safa went by Raze's side, all in front of Simyon.
"Simyon, get back to the edge of the arena, so we only have to protect you from one area!"
Safa ordered.
As the group moved back, they now had to continue to defend.
Brack was the fastest, and this time, Raze used his sword to block and attack, and pushed
back with his Qi, causing him to flip in the air and fall across the ground.
He then saw all of the rest coming toward him, and in that moment, he lifted up his foot and
slammed it on the ground. The large amount of condensed Qi had come out like a wave,
hitting all of the students, giving them second thoughts about coming and slowing them
down.
"That was the first step of the descending steps!" Lince shouted from his viewing area.
"Yes, and it's incredibly powerful. I think he has given up hiding himself," Sha Mo
commented.
"Hiding himself?" Mantis raised an eyebrow when he heard that.
"Yes, hiding the fact that he's actually a middle-stage warrior," Sha Mo answered.
Mantis's demeanor changed as his folded arms fell down to his side, and the look of
everyone in that room had changed.
In the history of Pagna, in the history of all of the academies, had there ever been a student
that was able to reach the middle stage?
The fact that the Qi was so powerful on the first descending step, stopping the others was
proof of that. However, there was one person it was unable to stop that continued to dash
forward after Raze.
Not being flustered, it was Hannah. Her sword was pointed forward, and Qi was
surrounding her body. Her Qi made it seem like her entire body was a sword that cut
through the wave of Qi that came out, and she was heading right for Raze.
Yet in the middle of her movements, a sword swung to her side; she had to raise her hand
and swung it out, clashing.
She skidded on the floor before seeing it was a red-haired student with an eyepatch.
"What the, why did the sword make that noise?" Liam said as he swung the sword about in
the air, checking if it was broken in some way. "Is your body like Simyon's, is it broken or
something?"
Hannah looked at the man in front of her; it was the one that had copied her exact
movements just like before; for her, this was her target, and just again, she had been
stopped.
"Look, I don't know why this mysterious stranger that I have never met before is protecting
us, but I'm going to use it to my advantage," Liam said.
Both Simyon and Safa were thinking the same thing; it would be better if Liam just shut up;
he wasn't a good liar.
"Alright, change of targets," Hannah ordered. "Get rid of the ones at the side, and then get
rid of him."
Hearing this, although Brack and Kaylie weren't following her orders, they had looked to
Safa by his side, and he could see them and the other Light Faction members looking to
target her, while Hannah was dealing with Liam.
At the same time, all of them charged forward and were coming from the side to go after
Safa. Moving his feet, Raze swirled around in front of them and held the sword with both of
his hands in the air; the sword started to shroud itself in darkness.
"NOOOOO!" Charlotte screamed at the top of her lungs seeing this move before.
"I gave you all a warning, yet you did not listen," Raze said.
Chapter 637 Time For The Main Event
Chapter 637 Time For The Main Event
Sha Mo and Lince stuttered forward the moment they saw Raze's hands lift into the air.
They had seen him do this move before; everyone had, so they knew what was coming next.
"Lince, if that kid kills my clan members, I won't be able to hold back!" Sha Mo said, tensing
his fist as if he was ready to jump out and attack Raze himself at that moment.
"He won't do that… I'm sure," Lince said, but his face wasn't so sure. Sweat was running
down his forehead. All he could think about was how Raze had saved Beret, but what if that
was for his own goals, rather than because of his niceness? Just maybe he really would kill
the Demonic Faction members.
When they all came close, Raze swung his sword down, but he did so at an angle.
"Eclipse Strike!"
The large attack swung in a line, and because it came at an angle, the others were able to
see it and jump back. The attack was fast, though, and had crashed into the ground.
It was tearing it apart, lifting part of the flooring up, and large parts of the arena floor came
out flying toward the students.
Using their own weapons and Qi, they were able to block it, and finally, the attack dwindled
down.
Those watching from the arena could see the damage that had been caused. A good chunk
of the flooring was gone, with a large cut that went at least a meter deep.
However, one thing was clear, and that was that none of the students were hurt. The attack
that they had experienced, they all knew what it was.
Hannah went to look at the deep cut in the floor. "It was a warning to us… that if we try to
attack… that he'll finish us."
Hannah heard the sound of her teammate collapsing on the floor. She quickly went over to
Charlotte, who was on her knees, to check if there were any wounds on her, but there was
nothing at all.
Her whole body was shaking, as if her soul had left her body in that moment.
'Going up against all of them, and with one person down and protecting the stone, it looks
like even if I was to go all out and defeat that student… we would still lose.'
No one said anything, but it was as if everything had been decided. The Light Faction didn't
go further or closer to Raze and stood there.
At the same time, the Demonic Faction didn't go closer either. The time was just running
down, with Simyon holding onto the rock.
At times the crowd would speak, wondering what would happen. Maybe a fight would
come up, maybe Brack would get too frustrated and try to attack on his own again.
Yet none of that happened, and the crowd didn't react in a negative way. They didn't shout
out boos or words of discomfort for what happened because they all knew that none of
them would have attempted to do it if they were in their shoes.
And then, the timer had eventually run out.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the final event is over, and it perhaps went in a way that no one was
expecting! It's time to announce the results!" The announcer claimed.
"In first place, we have the Dark Faction, in second place, the Light Faction, and lastly, we
have the Demonic Faction!"
"Wait, what!" Brack shouted. "You're saying I held it for even shorter time than that puny
girl."
"It's okay, it wouldn't have made a difference anyway; there was probably just a few
seconds in it," Kaylie commented.
"With that, the final results for the group stage are in! In last and third place is the Demonic
Faction with a total of 9 points, then we have the Light Faction with a total of 18 points.
"And we have the winner of the group stage, the Dark Faction with a total of 19 points!"
After the winner was announced, the crowd gave their claps and a round of applause. They
weren't cheering as many wanted the Light Faction to win.
They thought for sure they would have won, but no one had expected the turn of events
that had occurred, and in a way, for some reason, the Demonic Faction member had given
the win to the Dark Faction.
Before everyone went back to their viewing station, Raze had a few words to say.
"Look after the reward, and don't lose it no matter what," Raze said.
It was clear this was directed at Safa as she was the only one close enough to hear.
While walking back, Raze thought back to his intentions. The Demonic Faction had no way
to win the prize, so the only way to get his hands on it was to let the Dark Faction win.
The prize would be given to the students, and in turn, it would make its way back to him. If
it ended up in the hands of the Dark Faction, it didn't matter anyway.
Because he planned to get rid of them at some point regardless, so it would eventually be
his.
Safa heading back to the Dark Faction, she now had somewhat of an idea why Raze had
done the actions he had done.
Whether the Dark Faction members would understand or have an explanation, she wasn't
too sure.
When Raze arrived back with the others, Brack kicked a chair so fiercely it flew into the
wall and broke into pieces.
"What the F*ck went on out there!" Brack shouted. "Are you going to explain yourself and
explain what you did to us all!"
Now that Brack had Sha Mo with him, as well as the rest of the Demonic Faction, he was a
bit more confident in confronting Raze.
"I have an explanation," Raze said calmly to them all. "No matter the result of the last event,
we would have lost anyway.
"For one, if I was to ask you, if you would rather have the Light Faction win or the Dark
Faction win, which would you choose?"
No one answered, but they knew that they felt slightly worse toward the Light Faction
compared to the Dark Faction.
They were pleased that the same group didn't win twice in a row.
"As for the second reason, through my actions, it looked like I had helped the Dark Faction.
After what you said, I thought about it," Raze said, looking at Lince.
"With this, the Light Faction will be confused; they might even think that we are working
with the Dark Faction, giving them less reason to form an alliance."
The fact that no one argued back on what Raze said meant he gave a fair explanation, and
even Lince was impressed that he had managed to think that far ahead.
But, only someone that was so confident that they could decide the winner or loser of the
event could do something like that.
Lince wondered if this would be the start of a rise of a new powerful clan in the Demonic
Faction.
"None of that matters anyway," Mantis said. "Because now that the group event is over, it's
the singles fighting event, and you ain't pulling any of that sh*t on me. If the two of us fight,
I'll rip you to shreds."
Raze didn't reply and went to sit down in his seat, but in his mind, he thought one thing.
'There's no way I'm letting anyone else win this event!'
Chapter 638 Single Matches
Chapter 638 Single Matches
Now that the group stage of the tournament had ended, it was time for the individual stage.
Contestants would go up against each other in one vs one matches.
It didn't matter if one was from the same clan; they would continue to fight until there was
an ultimate winner.
On the arena itself, there would also be two Middle stage warriors that would intervene if
they ever felt like things would get too dangerous, or one side was overwhelming the other.
They didn't want any deaths to happen, but from time to time, when fighting with large
amounts of Qi and more, it tended to happen.
However, Middle stage warriors were on another stage compared to the Initial stage
students, so 90 percent of the time they could stop things before it went too far.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, we will announce the matchups of today's single events,
feast your eyes on this!"
The large mirror that was transmitting the images to everyone so far in the air had
changed, and it showed the names of each of the contestants.
It was another impressive piece of technology for those in Pagna, but because they had
already seen things beyond what they could imagine today, this didn't seem too big of a
deal.
Ripper Vs Ricktor.
Beret Vs Mada.
Kaylie Vs Safa.
Mantis Vs Charlotte.
Simyon Vs Brack.
Hannah Vs Liam.
Jake Vs Ulyn.
Already seeing the names, there was much talk among the crowd; there were quite a few
fights that they were looking forward to.
For one, they were interested in the student Safa from the Dark Faction. In all of the events,
she had yet to use her skill or power, and now it would finally be revealed on the stage.
Then, they were interested in Liam against Hannah. Although Hannah wasn't considered
the strongest member of the Light Faction students, she was the disciple of Beatrix, last
year's winner.
So she was an incredibly strong member of the Dawnblade Clan, and they had seen Liam
conflict with her a few times by copying her skills.
Then there was Mantis, the Black Tiger and known as the strongest from the Demonic
Faction; they had yet to see what he was capable of as well.
Finally, though, there was one match that everyone wouldn't have been too interested in
before but now would have their eyes peeled on every second.
That was 'Jake' Vs Ulyn. The man who had been given a nickname for his actions so far and
showing his devastating power.
Some thought that he might even be considered the strongest, and the Demonic Faction had
just been keeping him a secret from what they had seen so far.
Why they were excited, though, was because Ulyn was from the Aurora Clan, from the
strongest Clan in the Light Faction and was considered the strongest out of the Light
Faction students.
A matchup this big, straight away, they couldn't wait to see what the outcome would have
been. Especially after hearing the talk of Ulyn claiming that he would be able to beat Raze
with ease even after seeing what he could do.
Just like many of the other expected strong contenders in the event so far, no one had seen
truly what Ulyn could do.
"Hey, so do we need to talk about this?" Simyon asked.
"Talk about what?" Liam asked. "About a strategy on how to win your fight. You know
there's no point in that; we could even be fighting against each other, and if that happens, I
won't be holding back."
Simyon's eyebrow started to twitch; it had been a while since the two of them had fought
each other.
"Right, right, I haven't given you a good beating in a while."
As sparks started to fly between their heads, Safa came between the two of them.
"Cool it, both of you, if you want to do well, then go ahead, but you need to not get injured
and conserve some of your strength at least," Safa replied. "I can heal you guys and restore
some of your energy but not all, and we have no clue about how this whole thing is going to
go."
Safa then looked toward Amir's back who had been standing by the side of Murkel for the
entire time.
He had told them to be careful at the tournament; when she heard those words, she
expected that something would happen.
That was before they even knew Raze was here; she doubted Amir even knew Raze was
going to be here, which meant something else was going to happen.
'The Bonum Society that Amir is part of, they could be planning to make a move in all of
this, and who knows what they are trying to do, and I still have no clue what Raze is going
to do as well.'
For a while, Safa had been looking into the crowd, and there were just too many people
making strange movements. She had managed to catch sight of Alba from the Crimson
Crane.
She had seen figures standing still not cheering in all of the chaos, and even others with
their hoods up. It was too hard to tell what everyone's goal was, or if they were here to just
spectate on the future.
However, the biggest variable of all was Raze and how he would play a part in all of this.
Because she was sure whatever plans each group made, none of them were expecting to
have someone as dangerous as Raze here because they had no clue about his danger either.
Reaching down underneath her sleeve, Safa rubbed the statue she had as well. It was still
their safety net if they needed it.
"I'm going to step out and get a closer look," Amir said, looking at Murkel. "There are
enough people here to protect the students if need be."
"And I'm sure the Light Faction won't be doing anything; you can handle matters, right."
Murkel didn't say anything, but his silence was pretty much taken as a yes.
Right then, they saw Amir turn, look toward the Light Faction member in their room and
then head out of the door.
More likely than not, Safa felt like something was going to happen, and it was soon.
Just above the Light Faction viewing area, the three Light Faction Clan Heads were sitting
back in their seats looking at the matchups for the fights.
"I'm going to go ahead and assume that these matchups weren't randomized?" Ricar said.
"It doesn't exactly seem fair, does it."
"Fairness!" Cicle laughed. "Either way, the strongest in this single event will become the
winner; it doesn't matter who they are matched up against, it's not as if the fights have an
issue."
"Is that why you had set it up, for Ulyn to go against the student named Jake?" Kawak asked.
Cicle paused for a second, clearly showing his guilt in the whole matter.
"It's better that we get rid of that man as soon as possible," Cicle said. "If he fights with
more of the contestants, it will be more dangerous; we already lost Harmon."
"Harmon is still alive, don't talk about him as if he is dead,"
Ricar added.
"He is a member of my clan; I think it will be best you keep to your opinions to yourself
about him," Cicle replied. "Regardless, Ulyn is the strongest student from the Light Faction."
"And Kawak, didn't you say he is possibly the strongest student that we have ever had in
the academy before, so there is no way he can lose, correct."
Kawak didn't reply instantly, as he thought back to a few conversations he had with him,
and an image of him handing something over to Kawak.
"In this tournament, there is no chance that he loses, even to that Demon over there. Ulyn
will be the Light that shines brightest in the Light Faction; I'm sure of that. After today, no
one will speak of the Demon's name anymore."
"It seems like it's finally time," Lince commented. "Mantis, so far you haven't exactly done
anything for the Demonic Faction in all of this."
"You are meant to be the pillar of the Demonic Faction, so it's time that you showed your
strength."
Mantis was leaning up against the wall, still with most of his chest bare to the outside.
"You don't have to worry about me; I will win this tournament no matter what. I can
already tell from everyone I have seen so far, I am the strongest here."
Lince would have thought it was just the confidence of a young student speaking, but he
could tell through his words he truly did believe that, and there was something else as well.
Lince could tell both him and Sha Mo could feel it. Something was different about Mantis;
there was a reason, just like how the beast didn't attack Raze in the first event, it didn't
even try to go for Mantis.
"With all announcements made, we will now announce the first matchup!" the announcer
stated, and two names appeared on the screen.
"Jake, vs Ulyn!"
Chapter 639 Ultimate Light Faction, Vs Demonic Faction
Chapter 639 Ultimate Light Faction, Vs Demonic Faction
With the first match of the event having been decided, there was major excitement in the
air. There were practically fighting words between these two contestants, so there was
some buildup in history.
Right now, even though it was only students that they were witnessing, they felt like they
were seeing a big match between that of the Demonic Faction and the Light Faction, that
could very well be emulating what would happen in the future.
For one, Ulyn was the strongest student in the Light Faction, so there was a lot riding on his
shoulders, whereas 'Jake' wasn't even considered the strongest from the Demonic Faction;
there was a lot riding on Ulyn's shoulders.
This was felt the moment he left the Light Faction viewing area, as he felt cheers so loud it
shook the ground beneath his feet. He looked to the crowd and lifted his hand in response
to them.
'I can't disappoint all of these people. I have worked hard every day, pushed myself to the
bone every day for this moment. I climbed to the top of the Light Faction academy with
honor.'
'Besting my skills and defeating everyone in my path with no underhand tricks, because I
will be the one that is to sit at the top of all of this one day.'
There were strong emotions stirring through Ulyn, and he then went to grab a hard solid
object that was beneath the cloth that he was wearing. The solid imprint could be seen
slightly as he held onto it for a few moments, bringing back memories in his head.
Before the event had even started, Ulyn had been asked to meet with Kawak, the Clan Head
of the Aurora Clan. It was an expected visit.
Him being part of the Aurora Clan, and having a relation to the Clan Head, he had been
asked for a visit. The Clan Head Kawak and Ulyn were in the main room of the Aurora Clan.
A room filled so bright with white, that it was hard to see details of anything else inside the
room, or even find an exit. It was a space that felt unreal in the world of Pagna.
Ulyn on the floor, kneeling to greet his Clan Head.
"The upcoming event is very important for not just the Light Faction, but also the Aurora
Clan," Kawak stated. "You have done well, to rise to the top in the academy, besting even
Beatrix's student."
"Thank you, sir," Ulyn replied.
"Last year, the Dawnblade Clan seemed to get ahead of us… they have been troublesome for
us in a number of ways, that you will understand in the future as you rise in the clan. You
have done well to not ask questions and follow our code."
"Which is why I wish to present you a gift."
Kawak moved over across the white space, almost floating in the air. He then handed over a
strange-looking circular medallion. When Ulyn took it, he could still tell it wasn't an
ordinary item, as he felt power similar to that of Qi coming from the object.
"Thank you," Ulyn replied. "Is this an artifact from another dimension?"
"It is indeed. This artifact attaches to the user's body and will benefit you greatly in your
Pagna journey; you must wear it for the tournament," Kawak stated.
Ulyn felt his heart almost skip a beat at that moment. "I thank you for this gift truly, and to
hand me such a great artifact, but… isn't the Martial Arts Tournament, a place to show our
hard work and skill? To show the clan's techniques and what we have been doing at the
academy the entire time."
"Of course, to someone of your age, they would think of the Martial ArtsTournament as
such a thing, and the general public believes it as well. The fact that you think of it like that
means we have done our job," Kawak answered.
"But if only I have an artifact, wouldn't that be unfair?" Ulyn asked.
"The Demonic Faction that will do anything to increase its power, and the Dark Faction that
will do anything to win, both of these factions have an advantage because of their way of
thinking, so isn't it only fair for us to use something."
"I understand it's hard for you to think this way, with the rules of our clan and the way our
students have been brought up, so I shall give you peace of mind. If you wish to use your
own power to win this tournament then so be it."
"That item will only activate if you are in trouble, so if you are strong enough, then the
artifact will never activate, and this is an order, not a discussion."
Ulyn had taken his place in the center of the stage thinking of all of that. If he was to use the
item and win, and the people in the crowd knew what he had done, what would they think?
If the item was discovered as well, his fellow Light Faction members at the academy, would
they think that he had achieved this position due to the artifact he had on him, rather than
his hard work? He couldn't give all of that up.
Raze stood opposite him, but just like he said in his interview, Ulyn wasn't really focused on
him. To him, the Demonic Faction student was just a stone in the way of his path.
He drew his sword and held it lightly in his hand in front of him. 'So far, there are three that
I have to worry about. After defeating this Jake, I will defeat the Black Tiger, the red-headed
eye patch boy, and Hannah. With them out of the picture, I will rise and best Beatrix to
become the new beacon of light the Light Faction needs.
'I will train the Light Faction to become strong and not need to use things like artifacts to
win their fights!' Ulyn thought.
Standing opposite, the student held his sword by his side, with a single hand.
"And now, for the first match an exciting match will prevail, who will win, nobody knows!"
The announcer shouted, and a loud sounding horn resounded in the entire arena signaling
it was the start of the battle.
Immediately, Ulyn moved forward toward Raze, shortening the distance between the two.
'I will defeat him swiftly, showing the power of everything I trained for.'
When coming closer, he noticed something, a buildup of Qi in the sword, but it wasn't
around the sword, it wasn't all gathered towards the hilt. As he moved closer, the buildup
of Qi was immense, and Ulyn had a bad feeling.
Just as Ulyn got close enough, that was when Raze made his move.
"The Fourth Formation, Void Pulse Formation!" Raze thrust his sword forward, and his Qi
exploded in ripples behind the sword.
When the sword was thrust forward, pulses of Qi were sent back behind him, and it had hit
Ulyn right in the center of his chest. The powerful attack had cracked the artifact
underneath the chest area and sent Ulyn flying through the air.
His body was sent back too fast for any of the middle stage warriors to act, and he had
crashed into the arena wall, falling to the ground, and passing out.
Just like that, the match was over.
Chapter 640 The Noctis Clan’s Power
Chapter 640 The Noctis Clan's Power
A part of the arena wall had been damaged. Rocks had fallen from the concrete wall and
had landed on the ground, but the arena was built well.
Leaving the crowd, who were further back compared to the thick wall, still safely in the
stands. However, no one in the Light Faction had expected such a thing to happen.
When the dust started to settle, they could see Ulyn lying there on the floor unmoving. His
body was covered in dirt, and immediately the middle-stage warrior closest from the
border went to check on Ulyn's condition.
'His body was thrown too fast into the wall,' the middle-staged warrior thought as he
cleared the pieces of stone from the young student.
'No, it's my fault. I thought that if an attack was to occur, I would have noticed it in time,
and then would have reacted, stopping him from being hit into the wall, but I just never
expected this to happen.'
He wasn't the only middle-stage warrior that felt this way either. The two on the field next
to the battle, that were meant to intervene if they sensed any type of attack that would
defeat or harm the other, hadn't reacted.
A battle between two powerful students and the strongest in the Light Faction. They were
confident Ulyn would win, and even at the chance that he wouldn't win.
At least the fighting would go on for a while, a push and pull not knowing who would win.
So how was it that a sudden attack from another student couldn't be sensed by anyone, and
now Ulyn was in this condition.
"He is fine!" The middle-stage warrior shouted. "But, Ulyn is unable to continue the battle."
Immediately, there were whispers among the crowd. It fell almost silent. Because they
couldn't comprehend what had happened.
Out of all things they had seen so far, this was the biggest shock.
"My money," one of the crowd members finally said. "I bet so much on Ulyn winning. They
said he was the strongest student the academy ever had. What the heck happened!"
"The Demonic Faction, they must have cheated. Is that person really a student from the
Faction?"
Soon the stunned crowd could only think of one thing, that the fight that had occurred, it
was unfair. That the Demonic Faction had to have done something.
It was the only way to explain everything that had happened so far.
Raze looked at the student off in the distance, and a strange golden broken object was seen
partly on the floor.
'Me cheating, yet the Light Faction has given their students magical items to use during this
tournament. I haven't even been using my magic in any of these fights.'
'I sensed the item almost immediately. Right now, with the protection of the crowd, the
Demonic Faction Elders, and the Dark Faction, it might be my only way to get rid of items
like that.'
'And I needed to win this fight. Who knows how much trouble that item would have given
me if it was able to activate. I'm sorry I had to beat you in such a way.'
Since the match had been declared over, Raze turned around and started to head back to
his viewing station, and he was met with a storm of boos on his way back.
'It's fine, I don't mind being the villain in all of this, I will gladly take that role,' Raze thought
to himself.
Even more so, it made him wonder, so many members in the Light Faction had magical
items. It was more frequent than that in the Dark Faction.
He was sure of it, the Light Faction had to have a closer connection to either Alter or
Alterian.
"How did this happen!" Cicle shouted standing in his seat. "How was the best student of the
Light Faction defeated in a single move? I thought you said you were incredibly confident,
that he wouldn't lose no matter what, Kawak!"
"We are quickly becoming a laughing stock in this whole mess. Now that Ulyn has lost to
him, there is no one on our side that is able to beat him!"
Underneath the mask, although they couldn't see Kawak's expression, they could feel the
large amount of his Light Qi that was expanding out from his body.
It was making the hair stand on the other two leaders' arms. They took a step away due to
how uncomfortable it made them feel.
"Now two of our students have been taken out," Ricar added. "I have to agree with Cicle,
that student is big trouble for us all."
"I don't know what the Demonic Faction has done, maybe they inserted a demon into his
soul, or have performed some forbidden technique to the point that he will die after today."
"Whatever the case, we can't just let this go."
The issue was that this had occurred at the grand tournament. They couldn't do anything
now in front of everyone, not unless the Light Faction were the ones to start a war.
Were they confident that they could beat the others, not when they didn't know the full
strength of both of the other factions.
If anything, this proved that the Demonic Faction, one of the clans hardest to infiltrate and
get information of, still had strength that was unknown to them.
"You're right, he is a real danger to the Light Faction… we will not let him leave the Light
Faction alive, no matter what," Kawak answered.
In the Dark Faction viewing area, many of the adults from the other clans were also
shocked. They were nervous after seeing someone so powerful from the Demonic Faction
perform such a feat.
Did they have the strength to counter something like this? Was the Demonic Faction the
strongest out of the three clans?
"Don't worry too much, didn't we successfully defend against a recent attack from the
Demonic Faction, the Sun Warrior was the one that defended it, we also have rising talents
in our territory rising every day."
"You're right, and we have those like the White Dragon as well."
The students that had all seen Raze defeat Ulyn in one move all thought the same thing,
they absolutely didn't want to fight Raze even if it was for pretend.
"He didn't even go easy on the guy, do you think your body could withstand an attack like
that?" Liam asked.
"I thought it could before… I'm not sure… and what about you, would you be killed before
you were even able to copy his attack?" Simyon replied back.
Causing Liam to gulp, and he placed his hands down by his balls, holding onto them, pretty
sure he was going to lose.
In front of them, Murkel stood there with two of the Clan leaders, Gavin Rocksbored, head
of the Moon Shield Clan, and Crine Runn, head of the Flowing Force Clan.
"Did both of you notice the move that was used just then?" Murkel asked.
"I didn't think about it before," Gavin stated. "But I'm sure, that move that was just used, it
was a technique from the Noctis Clan."
"Right," Murkel replied. "And how would a student in the Demonic Faction know the
technique of the Noctis Clan, from the founder of the Dark Faction."
Chapter 641 Taking Out The Demon
Chapter 641 Taking Out The Demon
With the first fight ending in such a way, honestly, no one felt like the next set of fights
could be so exciting. If anything, they had no clue who would even be in the final or who the
winner of the single event would be in the end.
It was clear in the betting circles that things had changed as many more were now betting
on 'Jake' to win the event altogether, regardless of the matches that had to go on.
The next event was the student known as Ripper, who was also part of the Light Faction,
going up against Ricktor.
"The Light Faction really has to win this fight, right? Otherwise, won't they seem to be the
weakest out of all factions," a member in the crowd said.
"I mean, they did well in the team event, right? Like they managed to get second only just
losing out to the Dark Faction."
"Yeah, but that was because the demon wasn't taking part."
A resounding gulp was heard among many in the crowd as they turned their heads to look
in the direction of the Demonic Faction viewing area.
They could already imagine it, what if the Demon had taken part in every single one of the
team events. He probably could have dealt with the beast in the first event on his own
quicker than the teamwork from the Light Faction.
If the Light Faction were to come in a position even lower than that of the Dark Faction,
then in the eyes of many, they would be considered the weakest now.
It was amazing how a single person could change the flow of the matches so much.
As Ripper entered the field, Raze from a distance noticed a round earring he had, and the
small golden I marking that was placed on it.
Every single contestant so far had been using items made from Idore, the Grand Magus.
The effects of the items like that of the bracelets he had gotten were subtle. For instance,
the bracelet was designed to increase one's attack speed the more strikes a person made.
It wasn't by a large amount but in a match where students were equally skilled, it allowed
them an edge.
'But... out of everyone I don't think I need to worry about him.'
Ricktor and Ripper had both taken their positions, and Ricktor lifted his sword up to his
face, and a smile could be seen on the other end.
When the fight started, the earring that Ripper was wearing glowed slightly and he charged
forward. Ripper was fast, and had confidently struck a strike head-on.
However, Ricktor hardly moved or performed any skill of any type, instead, he just blocked
with his sword directly in front of his face.
A great struggle could then be seen on Ripper's face. He was pushing forward with all of his
Qi, yet he couldn't pull the sword away, nor could he push it forward.
"What is this, are you cheating, why can't I move my sword away!" Ripper asked.
"Cheating, I guess you don't know much about our Dark Qi, every type of Qi has a slightly
different trait and use. Which is why Qi is suited for different techniques," Ricktor
explained.
"As for Dark Qi, it draws one in, if condensed down to a level, it's hard for one to pull away
if the Qi is overwhelmingly condensed to a single point."
Ricktor started to push his sword, and suddenly Ripper was on the back foot. He could see
the sword move from next to Ricktor and being pushed until it was in the center and finally
it was moving to the point where the back of the blade was touching Ripper's own face.
"You won't be able to pull away, and soon you will be killed by your own sword, don't you
think that's quite sexy," Ricktor smiled.
A chill ran down the entire of Ripper's spine, and Simyon who was watching felt his whole
body shiver as well, feeling somewhat bad for the Light Faction student.
The sword up against Ripper's face was being pushed back more and more until blood was
being drawn from the top of his forehead.
Right at that point, the middle-stage warriors came forward and held onto both swords
with their bare hands.
"Stop…" the middle-stage warrior said, it was clear he didn't want to intervene and was
disappointed that he had to.
"This match is over, the winner is Ricktor."
The audience and the other factions hadn't seen Ricktor do much apart from what had
occurred in the first assessment, but in a way, just like Raze, he had overwhelmed his
opponent with ease.
Showing the clear difference between the two, but Raze had no doubt. Ricktor was after all,
one of the people that had given him the most trouble he had since coming to this world,
and he was one of the fastest in terms of growth.
Even quicker than Raze somewhat. He wouldn't be surprised with the performance that he
had seen if Ricktor had also now become a middle-stage warrior.
The scene that they had just witnessed certainly felt that way.
After the match was over, the next took place between Beret and Mada. For once the Light
Faction and the crowd felt at ease not seeing one of their own losing time after time.
"You're the one that was shaking in his boots when you met Jake I heard," Beret said.
"And you're the one that had holes poked in him by the useless Light Faction," Mada replied
back.
Beret laughed.
"I guess we'll see who is the king of losers."
"I'm not a loser!" Mada shouted.
The fight this time was more of what people had expected, not one person overwhelming
the other. Both used their techniques and skills well.
Beret was able to move around using his special foot techniques of movement.
At the same time, Mada used kicking techniques mainly for his attacks, but eventually
Mada's attacks were what won him the match.
His kicks, Beret couldn't tell which direction they were coming from as visual Qi of water
was flowing everywhere around him, and a strong kick to the head had taken him to the
ground.
Mada lifted his leg up about to finish the fight, but the middle-
stage warriors had called the fight stating it would come to the end.
After that though, another Light Faction warrior took to the stage, and it was Mantis against
Charlotte.
As soon as the fight started, Mantis walked over, but as he did he noticed something.
Charlotte, she hadn't even lifted her weapon in front of her.
Mantis looked at her in the eyes, he had seen this look before.
"This woman is shaking and she doesn't want to fight!" Mantis said to the middle-stage
warrior by his side.
The middle-stage warriors checked on Charlotte's condition, she was cold to the touch.
Perhaps if she wasn't going up against someone from the Demonic Faction she would have
been okay.
But as she took to the stage, her mind was just filled with the moment where she had
almost been confronted by Raze, and fearful that it could happen again, she couldn't lift her
sword.
Now the Light Faction only had one hope, and that was Hannah.
However, the next fight was to take place, which was Safa against Kaylie from the Demonic
Faction.
A fight that the crowd was interested in, believing that she was the most likely person to be
the White Dragon and might now be the only person who could take out the demon.
Chapter 642 Safa The Genius (Part 1)
Chapter 642 Safa The Genius (Part 1)
Kaylie was a little nervous, even from the start of the event. Originally, she felt intimidated
by all the big-name students that were around her. All of them had come from big clans in
the Demonic Faction.
Yet she had worked hard to earn her place. Her hard work had eventually paid off, beating
even those in the Neverfall Clan who were able to have Qi pills, herbs, and more to advance
their Pagna warrior stages.
Yet, from her humble Clan, she had managed to surpass it all. She was a talent the Clan was
hoping for, a talent of 1 in every ten thousand.
Yet, as she witnessed others fight before her, and witnessed everything going on, she
realized that there were just more talented people out there, especially in the Dark Faction.
She wondered what they had been through for all of them to have become so powerful.
It wasn't as if life in a Demonic Faction was easy by any means. Was it just that her
opponents worked even harder than her... it was hard to believe.
Finally, though, her name had been called up, and she went to take her one-handed sword.
It was lighter than regular swords, and it flexed a little on impact. It was the special type of
swordsmanship her clan practiced with.
The sword was flexible, and then snapped into place and hardened when the end of the
skill was used. Just before she stood out there, she gave out a sigh and turned to look at
'Jake'.
"So, big shot," she said with a nervous smile. "Do you have any advice for me on how to win
this match? I could do with a bit of teamwork help."
She was never close to the students at the academy, so she felt that she and Jake were the
same, since he was never a student at the academy. Maybe that's why she had managed to
ask him this question, a ray of hope, that was until she heard the answer.
"If I were to go up against her, even I might lose, so don't take a loss as too much of a big
deal," Raze answered.
The others who heard Raze speak wondered if this person from the Crimson Crane knew
much about the student. As part of the wanderer clan, maybe he had even come across her
for him to say such a thing.
Perhaps, this really was the White Dragon from the Dark Faction. As she headed out, Kaylie
prepared herself. She took a deep breath and looked directly at her opponent; there was
great confidence in her eyes.
'This girl is just like me, she has done well in the team events directing everyone, but she
never did anything herself. Everything will be fine.'
"The match begins!"
At the same time, both of the students went forward. As they did, Kaylie was ready to strike
with her sword, but suddenly Safa had stopped, and she took her spear and stabbed it
directly into the ground.
It had pierced the flooring and cracked, but the Qi channels broke the ground until it had
broken right underneath Kaylie's foot. Her sword swung, but it hit the air, completely
missed, while the side of Safa's spear hit her directly across the face. It was a clean hit, but
Kaylie managed to back away in time.
Safa held her spear firmly and took a slow breath once again, channeling Qi from the
outside into her.
'The principal will expect results; we will all have to do somewhat well in this tournament.
We don't need to win it, and we don't know when Amir is going to act, but just in case, we
have to be on the principal's good side, so I will have to win this match,' Safa said as she
dived forward and started to strike again and again.
Each time she threw her spear out, Kaylie could only defend. The crowd was getting excited
as they saw a clash with swords and spear going on, but it was only the true masters who
were watching that could tell something truly impressive was going on at this moment.
"It looks like this might be a loss for us," Lince commented.
"Really, apart from the attack at the beginning, I would say that the two of them are evenly
matched," Beret commented.
"Then you're a fool," Sha Mo said, but didn't expand any further on that.
"You know, it would be nice if you could use this situation as a teaching tool for the
students as well," Lince added, and then went on to explain.
Safa continued to use her spear, hitting Kaylie side by side. Whenever it looked like Kaylie
was about to get trapped and be done for, she just managed to break out of the situation,
and this pattern seemed to continue.
"Can you see her breath while she's striking? You should pay attention," Lince claimed.
Even Mantis seemed to focus and perk up when watching, and finally, he had figured it out.
"Is she cultivating Qi in the middle of a fight!" Mantis said.
"Precisely," Lince answered. "Could you imagine? One of the major differences between a
Pagna warrior and a regular citizen is the ability to cultivate. There are some humans that
are never able to cultivate in their life, never being able to build a dantian and achieve the
first stage."
"It is something that requires an immense amount of focus and concentration. So much that
nearly all warriors need to do such a thing sitting down in favorable conditions."
"So could you imagine someone, so unfazed by the fight in front of them, being able to act,
defend, and attack, and still being able to cultivate in the middle of the match? That is a
talent that has never been seen before."
"But, even if she can, what does that mean?" Beret asked.
"It means in the middle of this fight, she is replenishing the Qi she is using in her strikes,
and at the same time, she is constantly growing. If she can do this in the middle of the fight,
she must be able to constantly cultivate wherever she goes, allowing her to grow stronger
by doing nothing, with each passing second," Lince explained.
Now, everyone understood just how impressive Safa was in this moment, but for Raze, he
would have even taken it a step further.
'If Ricktor from the Erupting Fist Clan is a talent that is only found in 1 in 100,000 people,
then Safa is a talent that is only found in 1 in a million. She had managed to progress
quicker than I ever expected.'
'Not just in Pagna skills, in learning, in adapting to the situation. She is a quick figure, and a
sponge that can almost absorb anything. Even in her skills with Light Magic, she would be
considered a genius. Combining all of those things, it wouldn't be an understatement that
she could become just as strong as the Grand Magus.'
Kaylie was now running out of Qi, while her opponent Safa stood there not striking any less
sharply than she had been doing the entire fight.
Chapter 643 Safa The Genius (Part 2)
Chapter 643 Safa The Genius (Part 2)
Kaylie continued to block the attacks as best as she could, moving her arms from side to
side she could feel them getting numb each time.
'I know it, I've lost my chance… if I wanted to do something, then I should have dived in at
the beginning and used my Qi to attack, but now I barely have enough Qi to defend!' Kaylie
started to think.
Meanwhile, her opponent was like that of a well-oiled machine, constantly attacking bit by
bit, and then, the strength in Kaylie's arms had almost completely weakened. She was slow
in raising her sword to block an attack, and the spear hit her in the head once again.
It then quickly swirled around and hit her from the other side. Kaylie went to brace herself
for a third attack, but the third attack never came, and instead, Safa just pulled back her
spear to her side.
Kaylie wondered for a moment, why didn't the attacks continue, and then she noticed
something.
'With those two attacks at any point in time, she could have used the sharp spear end… but
she didn't. The middle stage warriors watching, they haven't been intervening even though
I could have suffered from death.
'Probably an order from their Light Faction superiors, a death of a Demonic Faction Student
isn't a big deal to them. The only reason why I'm alive is that this student doesn't wish to
kill me.'
Knowing this thought in her mind, she had come to a decision and placed her sword down
by her side.
"I have lost this match, I no longer have the Qi to continue this fight, I forfeit," Kaylie said.
For a moment, Kaylie thought she would feel shame, but the moment the match was
announced as over, there was a large amount of cheers coming from the crowd as well as a
round of applause.
The crowd had truly enjoyed watching the two women fight, showing their skills and
techniques, and the passion that Kaylie showed in not giving up. It was great entertainment
for them, and the crowd didn't want Kaylie to feel disheartened by the result.
The two contestants gave each other a bow and started to head right back.
'I didn't use any of my magic… I have improved a lot,' Safa thought to herself. 'Amir was a
good teacher to us all. Raze, you can see it right, with our strength now, all of us, we can
help you, we won't keep you down like we did before… you haven't even begun to see the
true strength we have yet.' Safa smiled to herself as she made her way back.
Of the first round of the singles event, there were two matches left, and the next matchup
had been announced, it was Simyon, against Brack.
"Brack!" Sha Mo said in a loud booming voice that stopped his student before he exited
from the viewing area.
"If you don't win this match, and lose at the first hurdle, then don't even bother coming
back to the Behemoth Clan."
Raze thought the words were quite cruel to say to someone just before a fight. Maybe that
was their way of encouragement as he had seen, but he couldn't help who he was going up
against.
The two participants had entered the stage, and Simyon was confident. He had no weapons
on his body and only had his earring and special gloves, both of them gifts made by Raze.
"You Dark Faction suckers have been having quite the win streak, but I guess it's my turn to
ruin it for you all," Brack said. "Because this is a fight that I can't lose!"
Brack dashed forward, and he swung his sword from the top. A large amount of visual Qi
surrounded his sword in a deep dark red aura. Simyon stayed in his position and lifted his
hand, blocking it with just his forearm.
The sword crashed, and the sound of metal clashing against metal was heard.
"Your sword won't make a scratch on my body!" Simyon shouted.
Brack, shouting in anger, swung his sword again and again, using all the Qi he could. Unlike
Kaylie in the last fight, it was quite clear that Brack wasn't holding back and was putting all
his effort into attacking.
Each time, Simyon would just use his hands to block the sword strikes coming his way.
'He really has improved,' Raze thought. 'Not only has the level of his entire body increased,
but he's using his Qi to strengthen his body even further, then skillfully following the
strikes of the sword and blocking the attacks with his hands. The sword won't get through.'
Brack didn't give up, striking with an attack as powerful as his last, but Simyon wasn't just
going to block all day. As he protected himself from the next hit, his feet shifted forward
fast, and a heavy blow whacked Brack right in the face.
Immediately blood was drawn, the hit was as if he had been whacked by a heavy blunt
metal object. Yet Brack swung the sword again, taking the hit straight on.
Yet, Simyon blocked the hit again and struck in his stomach. It was a strange sight to see
because it was almost as if Simyon's attacks were having no effect.
Because no matter how Brack would get hit, he could still swing his sword, hitting Simyon
or attacking him in some way.
Simyon blocked the attack again and struck him in the stomach, blocked, hit him in his arm,
attacked him again and again, to the point where Simyon hadn't blocked an attack and the
sword had stuck his neck.
But his special body was able to protect him from receiving any wounds, all because of the
special item that Raze had given him.
Now, Brack was covered in blood, his face was swollen, part of his arms were broken.
"I have to win this fight… I have to… otherwise, I'll get kicked out of the Behemoth Clan…
and then what, what is my family meant to do! I have to win this!" Brack said as he charged
forward.
This time, Simyon didn't even have to block, as he stepped to the side and a fist was planted
in his face, sending him back and his body crashing to the floor.
The middle stage warriors had seen enough.
"The fight is over, Simyon is the winner."
"No!" Brack shouted, getting to his feet, his face was almost unrecognizable with his nose
bent to the side and covered in blood. "I can still fight… I can still."
When Brack went to walk, he had nearly fallen over. The middle stage warrior stood
between the two and just shook his head at him.
With nothing else he could do, all Brack could do was head back to the Demonic Faction
location. Walking over, his footsteps were heavy, he had swayed side to side.
Brack didn't even hear the cheers of encouragement the crowd gave him, for continuing to
fight even though he clearly was the weaker man, because he just feared what was going to
happen when he returned.
The moment he set foot inside, Sha Mo was the first to speak to him before anything.
"Did you think my words were those of lies?" Sha Mo asked. "You, and anyone who has a
blood relation to you, are no longer a part of the Behemoth Clan."
At that moment, it was almost as if those words were what had broken Brack. It caused his
legs to give in, he fell to the floor, and more blood had poured from his mouth.
His upper body was heavy.
"My… family… I'm the only warrior from my family… what are they… meant to do."
As Brack's upper body felt too heavy for him, he saw it leaning forward and his face
dropping to the ground, just before someone had caught him, and it was a person Brack
would have never expected.
"Ja… Jake." Brack said.
"If you need somewhere, then the Crimson Crane are always looking for talented people
like you," Raze said.
Chapter 644 A Special Eye
Chapter 644 A Special Eye
The specially made mirrors were really impressive, displaying everything on the screen.
Not only did they show everything for the viewers to see, but depending on how close they
were, they were able to hear what was being said as well.
This was part of the reason why many had support for Brack. They could feel his pain as he
was fighting; they could tell that he had something important.
Yet, that still didn't change the outcome; it just made them aware of his reason for fighting.
Out of everyone there, Raze had also heard everything as well.
When looking at Brack, talking about the protection of his family, it had reminded him of
someone. While watching him desperately fight, with his face disfigured and full of blood,
one name came to mind.
'Jake…' Raze thought.
Images flashed in Raze's head, of a particular person who had been by his side, similar to
that of Sabrina, and an image flashed back to when he had received a book from Charlotte
as well, with the name Jake Dove written on it.
'I never had a loving family growing up, I had no idea what that felt like, but I have been
loved, and know what it's like to fight for those you care about.'
Raze looked at his hands, and for a moment he saw them both covered in blood. When he
looked on the ground, an image of Sabrina. When he blinked, it changed to a man covered
in a thick deep green blazer, his eyes weak and looking back at him.
Then when looking at the fight, the situation, it was causing a wave of feelings to come over
Raze. At first, Brack seemed just like those in the Behemoth Clan, only caring about power.
However, it was clear there was a reason why Brack needed that power. When Brack
returned and heard the news from Sha Mo, it was all the reaction he needed.
Him no longer being in the clan felt like it was the end for him, and more importantly, the
end for his family.
In that moment, Raze had reached out his hand, catching him before he fell, and decided to
be his lifeline.
'If there was someone back then that could have done this for you as well… maybe you
wouldn't have had to go through everything you had.' Raze thought.
"If you need somewhere, then the Crimson Crane are always looking for talented people
like you," Raze said.
The words had just left his mouth, words that he wished he could have perhaps said to
someone he had called his friend, Jake, in the past. A way to protect him, a place for him to
be in.
At that moment, Brack looked up, and for a moment, there was hope in his eyes when he
looked at Raze. Maybe his family wouldn't be doomed.
He had heard of the great feat the Crimson Crane were able to produce against the
Behemoth Clan. They were in no way small by any means.
If they could protect themselves from the Behemoth Clan, then being part of them would
protect him and his family from anyone.
However, there was one person that would get in his way. The floor around Sha Mo's feet
was dark red. His visual Qi was seeping out of the ground and creeping his way to Raze.
Before it got within a meter of him, Raze had unleashed his Qi as well out of his body,
creating a type of barrier stopping it from getting any closer to him.
The warriors in the room, not just the students, were feeling pretty sick, and that included
the Light Faction warrior that was looking after them.
'Is there some type of infighting within the Demonic Faction?' The Light Faction warrior
thought. 'Although that is expected due to their nature. It's what makes them so strong at
the same time, but what's so hard to believe is how the participating student is standing up
to one of the Clan Heads.'
Raze looked up directly at Sha Mo's eyes. This was the person that had tried to kill him
twice, just because he simply hadn't gotten his way.
It was safe to say that Raze didn't like this person he saw in front of him. He hated people
who forced people into positions after telling them no.
"What do you think you're doing, I have just kicked someone out of my clan, and then you
reach out your hand like some type of savior, and in front of me no less." Sha Mo asked.
"Am I not allowed to do so? As you said, he is no longer part of your clan, he and I are free
to do as we wish." Raze replied.
"And yet you chose to do it right now, you are playing a foolish game, kid, that could very
well get you killed!" As Sha Mo finished his sentence, his Qi power raised and pushed past
the barrier Raze had made with his own Qi.
It moved closer to him, but ultimately stopped as a sword was placed down into the
ground.
"Do not be foolish, Sha Mo," Lince said, as he held onto the sword calmly. "We are not in the
Demonic Faction territory; if you want to act, then do so when we get back, but now is not
the right time, and not right now."
"And you, 'Jake.' Do you even have the authority in the first place to do such a thing? Don't
give other people false hope if you can't do things yourself; your leader isn't currently
here." Lince explained.
Although Alba was with them, she was sitting in the stands. However, Raze was sure Alba
would listen to him, now that they were in charge of Flendon town; they did need all the
strength they could get.
Still, it was a matter to be resolved for later; for now, Raze had done as he wanted to.
Brack could now firmly stand, having regained some of his energy, and he said a few words
as he went to sit down in one of the seats.
"Thanks," Brack said, not looking Raze in the face, and softly.
Sha Mo and Raze exchanged glances for a few moments before Raze decided to move to the
other side.
Right after, Lince lifted up his sword and got in a central position that was somewhat
between the two.
'The leader of the Lost Clan, his power seems strong, and not lesser than that of Sha Mo.'
Raze thought. 'He also runs the intelligence unit… from what I have seen, Lince seems to be
the person who can be reasoned with the most and one of the most valuable positions in
the Demonic Faction.'
"The last match of the first round will now begin! A matchup that many have been waiting
for, Liam, against our very own, Hannah!" The announcer mentioned.
Hannah and Liam took to the center of the stage; for the Light Faction, there was a lot
riding on this fight since Hannah was the only contestant that was left from the Light
Faction.
'Finally, I've been using this system non-stop!' Liam thought. 'Now, it's time for the world to
look at me!'
In the crowd itself, Anna was paying very close attention to the student named Liam.
'I have to confirm in this fight whether he has the system or not. If he does, I need to do
everything in my power to get that one-eyed to speak.'
Chapter 645 The Strongest Dark Faction Student
Chapter 645 The Strongest Dark Faction Student
Hannah and Liam prepared themselves, and for Hannah, not only did this mean a lot to her
as the last contestant from the Light Faction, but also because of who she was going up
against.
'I had trained for years to perfect the Moonlight strike, and then, he goes and copies it just
like that. It has to just be an imitation; I will go ahead and show you the real thing!' Hannah
thought, taking out her sword.
"Begin!" The announcer shouted.
Immediately, Hannah lifted her hand and gathered her Light Qi. Right after, she started to
move her hand along her sword, and the Qi looked to be transferring from her hand onto
the sword.
Now, the sword was glowing brightly. Wasting no time, she dashed forward and swung her
sword. When swinging it, she struck against the sword in front of her, and the two of them
clashed in the center.
Yet her eyes had widened when she saw the sword in front of her, because she could see
that it too was shrouded in light. Now next to it, she was able to see clearly; it was almost
an exact replica of her skill.
No, she couldn't tell any difference at all.
"What, did you think it was a fake or something? I knew you would use this skill, so now
you know it's real, what are you going to do!" Liam asked.
Hannah had to disregard her shock; she had to disregard her anger because she needed to
focus on winning this fight.
Right then, she swung the blade again, with her sword still glowing from the Moonlight
skill. However, Liam was blocking every strike.
It was strange because Hannah was sure she was faster, and yet Liam was still able to block
each strike because his body was slightly moving before she did.
'The system is telling me her movements before she makes them; it can read the flexation
in her muscles, and it's working well!' Liam thought. 'But I'm not going to win the fight like
this… nor are people going to remember me as much with performances like Raze out
there, so let's try something.'
Hannah's skill had finally faded as the sword returned to its regular color. Right after, Liam
was now on the offensive, as he thrust his sword forward.
Hannah was able to react in time, blocking the strike, but the thrusts with the sword were
consistent, aiming for spots on her body.
It was hard for her to move, as she had to move her sword from side to side of the strikes
which were tiring her out.
While in the midst of it all, she had no idea what was going on, but the crowd was starting
to realize something.
"The skill that's being used, doesn't it look really familiar?"
"Right, I feel like I've seen it before."
"That's because you have seen it before," one man said, shaking in anger. "That kid, he's
using the techniques from the Illumination Clan; he's using the same moves that Charlotte
and Harmon had used!"
Now, the crowd had witnessed him using not just one Light Faction technique but two of
them, and from two different clans entirely.
It took a while, but Hannah had eventually realized it as well.
'So now he's using more Light Faction techniques, how is that possible? Just how shameless
is this man? If he wants to show the Dark Faction is the strongest, then use techniques from
the Dark Faction!'
Hannah swung her sword, blocking a strike from the bottom, and then swung it to the top.
It hit the sword, making it heavy, and caused Liam to stumble to the side.
'Those in the Light Faction know the Light Faction's weakness the best as well!' Hannah
said, having used the Half-Moon block technique.
With Liam having tumbled, she dived forward with a thrust of her own, but using the
Dawnblade clan's techniques her Qi was covering a point and was splitting at the side
through the air.
When it struck, the sword hit the ground, breaking several of the rocks and causing a small
fissure in the floor. Seeing this though, it was quite clear that she had missed her target.
Now, Liam had gathered quite a distance between the two of them having avoided the
strike.
"That guy, he copied my footwork!" Beret angrily said from the Demonic Faction viewing
area.
"So it's not just Light Faction skills, he can even copy Demonic Faction skills as well. Is there
such a person that can exist?" Lince thought, watching it. "There has to be a limit; surely he
can't just copy anything he has seen before."
Lince was now thinking along these lines since he knew no one in his clan had taught such
techniques, and there was a clear pattern; the student named Liam was only using
techniques he had seen in the tournament so far.
'So what if he can copy movements that he's seen before, that doesn't mean anything; he is
still someone that I must overcome!' Hannah thought as she turned around and charged
forward.
She swung her blade again, this time aiming for Liam's leg. The leg she aimed for had
disappeared from her sight, and instead, she was left seeing a pool of liquid instead.
A foot was risen and hit her at the side of her head, smacking her across the floor. She
bounced once before getting up and rubbing the side of her face.
"I know that move," Hannah said. "I saw the student from the Dark Faction use that, the one
named Mada."
Hannah was right; the technique that Liam had just used was a kicking technique from the
Flowing Force Clan.
"You can copy techniques from your own clan as well, so I'm guessing that means fighting
against you is like fighting against every single person in the Dark Faction."
When the crowd heard Hannah say such a thing, they realized that it might be true. Right in
front of them was a student that had the Dark Faction, the Light Faction, and Demonic
Faction techniques with him.
The thing was, the Dark Faction was his own Factionso he would know all of the best
moves produced by them.
"If that's the case, then I'm guessing you are the one that has to be the person that they call
the White Dragon, the strongest student in the Dark Faction!" Hannah claimed with her
sword pointed out toward Liam.
Liam couldn't help but laugh. "If you really think that was the case, don't you think they
would have called me something like a red dragon!"
Hannah then swung her sword to the side. "It doesn't matter, because beating you, if I beat
you, then it means it will be the same, it will be like beating all of those in the Dark Faction,
and I will beat you!"
After finishing her words, Hannah started to run straight forward across the arena. She had
hardly been hurt from the attack, pulling back her head at the right time.
Hannah was extremely skillful but not in the flashy ways like the others were. She was a
person who knew the basics very well, but she had no idea what she was up against.
As Hannah moved straight forward, Liam then placed both of his hands on the hilt of his
sword and lifted it above his head.
The pose jolted everyone that was looking because it was a pose they had seen before.
'Is this now, the Demon's move he's copying!'
Chapter 646 The Copycat's Weakness
Chapter 646 The Copycat's Weakness
Hannah had charged forward straight ahead, receiving a good kick from Liam. She had
realized something. Although the person in front of her was performing the same
techniques as those that had been seen, there was a certain edge to them all that was
missing.
'It might be the fact that some of the moves require a different type of Qi involved, and the
person in front of me is using Dark Qi… at least that's what I thought originally until I saw
him use a move by those in the Dark faction!' Hannah figured.
'This boy's Qi, his body composition, and more, are weaker than the others; he's not as
strong as his counterparts.'
Hannah's guess was right on. After all, unlike all of the others, Liam was the lowest stage
warrior out of the Dark Faction group, still being a stage five warrior.
Which was an impressive feat, but even with the system enhancing his body and optimizing
the skills he should use, it couldn't increase his Qi.
Nor could it change the type of Qi used for each of the techniques. Still, it didn't matter
because he still was amazing even without these things.
And he was going to prove it, as he lifted both of his hands in the air. The position others
had seen him in gave them all a twinkle.
They had seen the sight twice now, and each time, it had caused great destruction to the
place. It was part of the reason why The Demon's name was given to him, but now it looked
as if there was a person that could actually copy the Demon's skills. If that was the case,
they might very well be witnessing the most strongest Pagna warrior to exist.
"Second formation!" Liam mumbled under his breath, unable to contain his smile. "Eclipse
Strike!"
Liam swung the sword down, and at the same time, Hannah jumped to the side. She used all
the Qi in her left leg to try and avoid the attack as much as possible.
She had jumped to the side, disregarding everything, but she didn't get her footing when
landing and had rolled on the ground before getting up.
She then quickly raised her sword to block out any of the lingering power of the attack.
'I too have prepared for this. I'm not just going to be going against you because I plan to win
this thing; I thought about how to deal with this as well!'
However, her lingering thoughts soon disappeared because no attack had hit her. When she
looked at where Liam was standing, the sword had been swung down, but there was
nothing.
The flooring was in perfect condition, there wasn't a large amount of Qi that had flown out
of the sword, and now when she thought about it, she hadn't even seen the sword covered
in the Demonic energy she had witnessed before.
At the same time, as Liam had swung the sword down, for the first time, he could see
several messages appearing in his view.
[Error, Error]
[You do not have all the requirements in order to produce this skill]
'What are you saying? I thought you said you had analyzed the movements and Qi used in
the skill; you said I could use it.'
[It seems there are components to the skill that even I, the system, cannot recognize. The
skill has failed due to that fact.]
Liam couldn't believe it. He had seen moves performed by the teachers and was still able to
copy their techniques.
Although it would just be performed at a subpar level, only what his body could keep up
with, but now it was stating that it couldn't copy what Raze had done?
'What exactly was that move?'
[Warning, an attack is coming from your side.]
[Recommended: Two-step shift, followed by a quick strike.]
While Liam was in shock for his skill not working, Hannah had charged forward, her sword
glowing once again, and vertically slashed at his side.
Thanks to the system and following its suggestions, he had used the two-step shift to move
to the side, and then quickly struck at Hannah, who had blocked the hit.
"It looks like you can't copy everything you see, huh? I guess the Demon is someone that
has us all beat," Hannah said.
"Yeah," Liam replied. "That Demon is certainly special, very special!"
Liam then skimmed the sword across Hannah's and let go of the weapon himself. She
quickly saw Liam jumping to her side and was wondering what had happened when she
saw him right in the air.
There was nothing in his hand, when suddenly another blade was drawn out from Liam,
and he had struck from above.
Letting go of the weapon again, Liam now had another one in his hand.
It was a strange sight for the crowd to see, and they were confused by what was happening.
Liam was striking with two hands on a blade, letting go, and then grabbing the other
weapon and swinging it against Hannah.
He was striking with all of his force each time, and grabbing the sword, he was using a
number of techniques.
What they couldn't understand was how Liam was able to keep the sword lingering in the
air for so long. While at the same time, perfectly catching them in place for his next sword
strike to be in place.
'That Demon is so amazing that he created amazing items like this, that allow me to fight
stronger opponents than me, like you!' Liam thought as he struck from above again.
The powerful hit had caused Hannah's foot to slip. It looked like she was about to be hit, but
quickly used the half moon to block the strike and backed up, making sure that Liam
couldn't follow up with any more strikes.
'My hands are completely numb; that was like being surrounded by multiple Pagna
warriors attacking me at once. If I was in there for longer I would have badly got hurt.'
'What even was that, strikes with full force using different techniques, my mind is breaking
apart just trying to think of ways to block it each time.'
Liam now held both of the swords in his hands. He was using the items that had been given
to him by Raze, combining the use of the juggling arts, along with his system powers.
Although his system could give him suggestions and optimal routes, it struggled when
trying to include the powers of the magical earrings he wore that allowed him to attract
and repel the two swords he had.
It wasn't a technique, and the system couldn't comprehend the use of magic like it could the
Pagna warrior techniques.
So Liam had to use his own way to combine his magical items, his Pagna warrior
capabilities, and his system together to come up with this attack.
A flurry of techniques coming at a person from all sides, if Liam was a stronger warrior,
then Hannah would already be down for the count.
"Alright," Hannah said, standing up and placing her sword down by her side. "I think I have
all your tricks figured out. I've evaluated for long enough; it's time for me to win this fight."
Anna watching the fight, she was sure of one thing now, that the kid really was using the
System. However, after analyzing the fight herself, she was now sure of one thing.
'That one-eyed boy is going to lose.'
Chapter 647 Moving With The Plan
Chapter 647 Moving With The Plan
It was clear from everyone that had been watching the fight so far that Hannah was on the
back foot. They didn't blame her for struggling with the many different techniques that
were being used.
If anything, they were surprised how she had lasted so long. The one saving grace in the
match so far was that she hadn't received any serious injuries.
She had a few cuts on her clothing and a mark on the side of her face, but that was all, and
now with a new determined type of look on her face, she was ready.
'Come on,' Liam thought, holding swords in both of his hands. 'I'll take you out in my
tornado of skills once again. I'm not strong like the others, so this is my way of winning!'
Liam was ready for anything that was to come at him, and he saw Hannah running forward
once again; she placed her hand over the sword, and it started to glow with power.
Charging in, she then started to randomly swing her blade in the air; it was a skill or
technique, it was unclear, but she wasn't even close.
Right as she got close, she then hopped from side to side.
"Three Moonlight Hops!" On the third jump, her Qi exploded until she had hit Liam and sent
him skidding across the floor.
Liam was able to block with both of his swords at the right time, but he was still affected by
the impact. Right after, he could see visual Qi, a tornado as Hannah spun her body.
She then struck a heavy blow from the side again. This time Liam was unable to take the
full brunt despite blocking the hit and fell to the floor.
He kicked himself quickly, getting up though, until he saw Hannah spinning her single
blade.
"Full Moon Strike!" her sword moved in a full circle motion and had caught the edge of
Liam's weapons and had forced them to leave his hands.
He tried to retract them with his magic, but the Full Moon Strike hit the weapons away
again, and right after, she went to use another technique.
"Piercing Light!" Hannah said as the sword was thrust towards Liam's neck. The sword
continued forward until a clang noise was heard.
It wasn't from Liam's swords as they weren't in his hands; instead, it was from the middle-
stage warrior that was standing on the side.
They had interfered with the fight, and had blocked the strike, meaning a winner had been
decided.
"YEAHHH!"
The crowd erupted into cheers, as for the first time, someone from the Light Faction had
actually won one of the single events.
Not only that, but they remembered Hannah's words. This was an incredibly skillful person
from the Dark Faction that knew all of their techniques.
Yet Hannah wasn't just able to stop them all; she was also able to best the person in the
end. It was most likely this was the White Dragon and the strongest in the Dark Faction.
Seeing this gave them a boost in confidence, and the cheers continued again and again.
"You might be wondering how you lost," Hannah said as she placed her sword away and
looked at Liam on the ground.
"I figured, you are so talented that you can copy anything you can see. At the same time,
you have the skills to even access what are the best skills to use in certain situations."
"But you can only do that with things that you have seen. Our Dawnblade Clan has been
around for a very long time, and I know a number of skills."
"Even skills that are considered low level, I know how to use and optimize them to the best
level. Instead of assessing the situation and letting you have time to progress everything, I
used them non-stop, confident in my skills being better than yours and beating you."
There was a large sour taste in Liam's mouth. After all of the training, after all of the perks
of the system he had, he still had ended up losing, while the others had bested him.
However, Safa, watching, thought he had done extremely well; it was just the opponent he
went up against this time, was cool-headed and extremely skilled.
There wouldn't be any in the world that would be able to deal with the situation as she had
done.
Regardless, it was the end of the result, which meant Liam and Hannah would have to go
their separate ways and head back to their viewing stations.
Anna, having watched everything above, had her own thoughts about the whole thing. She
had confirmed that the young boy was using the system.
'The boy lost in the end, but he wasn't killed. Which means if the two of them were ever to
come face to face again, the boy wouldn't lose the fight again.'
'For that is the nature of the system. It's unfortunate that the girl does not know that, and
that she will never be able to best the boy again.'
Having seen enough from the outside view, Anna decided it was best for her to head back
inside, to where Raze was.
She had some things she wanted to ask him, answers that she needed to know now.
The announcer had stated that there would be a short break again until the next event. The
arena needed to be repaired among other things, but before that, they also had made an
announcement for the next set of single matches.
Simyon Vs Mantis
When Simyon saw his own name and who he was up against, his stomach started to hurt a
bit from the last time the two had met each other.
It was quite obvious he would remember him, and what if a person mentioned that he had
been in the Demonic Faction, what trouble would that occur?
He just had to hope that Mantis wouldn't have mentioned such a thing, considering he
hadn't mentioned anything so far.
Safa Vs Hannah.
The fight after that was between two talented individuals who had outshined themselves
on the last stage. Some thought it would come down to who had the better strategy against
the other.
Then finally, there was only one more bout to announce. Due to there being seven people in
this event, one of the fights had to be a three-way.
Mada Vs Ricktor Vs Jake.
There were some turns of the heads about this matchup because for one there were two
individuals from the Dark Faction.
However, some thought this might be the only way to make such a fight fair because that
was just how much of a threat the one known as the Demon would be.
Out in the crowd itself in one of the standing areas, Amir had come out, after leaving the
Dark Faction area, and had looked at the screen with the display in names.
"It makes me wonder with this happening, what those kids will do," Amir said as if he was
speaking to himself.
Soon though, a hooded man came over and stood by his side.
"I have no idea what he is thinking," the hooded man said. "But the fact that you are here
means you want me to make my move soon, correct?"
Chapter 648 The Issue With The System
Chapter 648 The Issue With The System
The matches had been made, and during the break period, it was the time when most
people would make their bets on who they think would win.
Throughout the event, multiple times their views had changed, and it was getting harder
for them to predict things.
Many had assumed that no matter who the Demon went up against, he would win, but now
the event was pitting the Demon against two of the Dark Faction students.
No doubt in their mind would the two of them work together to fight against the common
enemy. The Dark Faction students had also all proved how strong they were in the events
so far.
They were almost a level above all of the participants they had seen apart from the Demon.
So now, it was giving people some doubt that the Dark Faction could pull a win out of this
one.
"The people still have no idea," Bubble smiled to himself. "I have made a small fortune
today with my bets due to my insider information.
"If people knew that a middle-stage warrior was going up against two initial stage warriors,
no matter how strong they were, then 90 percent of them would select the middle-stage
warrior; that is how much of a difference there is between the two stages.
"Not just that, but the real identity of the one named Jake…Thinking about it, if it gets found
out, I might have to plan my escape route in case anything too bad occurs."
Looking to his left and right, he was also wondering where the woman had gone who was
by his side. He had been listening in to her conversation, and she also seemed to be quite
knowledgeable.
He noticed her strange reactions as she was keeping an eye on Liam instead. He wanted to
ask her some questions, but it was a little too late.
The person Bubble was thinking of was Anna. She had seen enough up close with her own
eyes, so she had decided to head back to the Demonic Faction viewing area.
She didn't bother to greet anyone in the room as she walked and eventually went to Raze's
side. She did stop for a brief moment as she looked at Brack, who was sitting in one of the
seats heavily injured; there was even a Light Faction Physician that was providing
treatment.
When approaching Raze, Anna wiggled her index finger toward him, as the two of them
went toward the corner.
Sha Mo and Lince noticed this, but they decided to ignore matters, at least while there were
the Light Faction members inside.
"The boy with the eye patch that was fighting just before, do you know him?" Anna asked.
"And remember I can tell if you're lying or not. I saw how you looked at those from the
Dark Faction before. I also know from Himmy that you were originally stationed at the
Dark Faction academy."
Raze knew that Anna could tell when he was lying or not, and he didn't plan to lie to her.
The issue was, why was she interested in Liam of all people?
"I do know him; he is someone I was closer to when I was in the academy. Is there
something wrong?" Raze asked.
"Yes, there is…do you know, that boy must have been in contact with Zon as well, or at least
someone from the Red Fortis army," Anna claimed. "In the match, all of the skills that he
had used, they were uses of the system.
"The system that is only granted to Red Fortis members."
For a moment, Raze was going to deny that Liam had met with Zon; he was a Pagna warrior
of all things. But when he thought about it more, it was a possibility.
When Raze had met with Zon, it was in another dimension, and in that dimension, Liam
was present as well.
Liam didn't say he had ever met such a person before, but perhaps Zon had done something
to him. It would also explain the level of skills he could now copy.
"I don't know if he has this system thing or not. Liam has never mentioned it, nor has he
ever mentioned his meeting with Zon.
"But it is a possibility, the dimension I was in when I met Zon, Liam was present as well."
This wasn't the answer that Anna was hoping for, and it annoyed her even more because
she could tell that Raze was telling the truth.
"If you plan on rescuing that boy, and bringing him to the Demonic Faction, then I will do
everything I can to help you, I need that boy alive, and I need him to answer questions,"
Anna said, turning her head toward the door, as she could see another entering.
"What is this, are you all here to give your dear student some support?" Lince said as he
gave a small respective bow to Alba, who had just entered the room.
"You know that we used to be wanderers, the Light Faction has some people that I wished
to speak to, and yes of course, I want to congratulate 'Jake' and support him in the next
fight," Alba answered walking over.
Coming over, now all three of them were in the corner of the room, far away from hearing
distance of the others.
"I wanted to make a report. Cronker has been keeping an eye on activity going on in the
arena. Several groups of people have started to move.
"He doesn't know who they are, but there are strange movements ever since the Single
matches started to begin. He is ready and on board whenever you need him," Alba
informed.
Raze looked into the crowd; he could see they were starting to return to their seats,
meaning that the next event was about to start.
"If that's the case, then I'll need you to do me that favor that we talked about before coming
here," Raze said. "Make sure everything is ready."
Alba said nothing else and just walked away; Raze already knew her answer.
"Leaving so soon," Lince commented.
"I have given my words of comfort, and besides, I don't feel too comfy with your prying
eyes looking at me," Alba winked.
"You should take it as a compliment that I am unable to keep my eyes off you," Lince said.
"Yes, then you should also take it as a compliment if I remove the eyes from your body."
"What the!" Beret jumped from his seat, but Lince placed his hand on his chest and shook
his head.
"This is just a friendly conversation between leaders; there is no need for you to act out,"
Lince said.
Before leaving, Alba kissed the palm of her hand and closed her door. Lince then looked to
the other member of the Lost Clan that was present and gave a slight nod to him.
"Beret, It might be best that you let the physician see you as well. Who knows what's about
to happen," Lince stated.
Right on cue, as everyone had comfortably gotten to their seats, an announcement was
made.
"The first match of the second round will now commence; will, Mada, Ricktor, and Jake
please make their way to the stage!"
Chapter 649 Ricktor's Secret
Chapter 649 Ricktor's Secret
When Liam had lost his fight, he wasn't seriously injured in the bout. He had some sore
muscles and was tired, but the system that was a part of his body quickly healed that.
It was almost as if he was no longer human. There was already a difference between Pagna
warriors and regular humans in the first place, but Liam was now even further apart from
that.
Despite all of this and everything he had, he still ended up losing his match again. Once
again, he was unable to achieve what he wished.
'The memory of Raze that day, when he took on the main disciples, it's still in my head, and
everything he said that day… I wanted to make a scene like that today, but instead, I just
ended up embarrassing myself.'
Liam started to kick the ground; he was so embarrassed, he was too confident in winning,
and now he had to face the music.
The moment he stepped into the Dark Faction viewing area, the sound of laughter was
heard coming from one person in particular.
"What happened, did you lose your balls in the middle of the match, is that why you lost!"
Simyon said. "Oh wait, maybe it's because your opponent had no balls to begin with, which
means your balls must be more useless."
Liam was shaking in anger, but all he could do right now was take in everything that was
being said to him because it was all true.
"I swear… I swear you have no idea who I just went up against!" Liam replied back. "It's
clear that she's the strongest in this entire tournament, that's why I lost."
"If you went up against her, and anyone else, everyone would lose. If she wins this
tournament then it will just prove my point."
"And if she gets eliminated by Safa the next round, then is it confirmed you're the weakest
out of all of us?" Simyon asked back.
To which Safa elbowed Simyon in his stomach. When she did, though, Simyon hardly jolted
and it was Safa's elbow that was a little red.
"I need to remember your body isn't like what it used to be, but you should be quiet about
that," Safa said.
The good thing was that all of the students were able to freely talk amongst each other
away from the adults. They weren't really concerned despite what they did about them
escaping or not.
Perhaps it was because Murkel was in the same room as them, and escape seemed
impossible with him keeping watch.
"I know, I know, I was just poking fun. You think if I had lost my match and he won his, he
wouldn't be doing the same. He would be going on about how I have no balls, so I needed to
give him some of his own stuff while I can."
"I'm serious though," Liam said. "Maybe I made some mistakes and stuff in the fight, but I'm
not lying, she's strong. Safa, I would watch out for her when you go up against her, I'm sure
that she's got more to show."
"It doesn't matter," Safa answered. "We have all already shown enough. Now the Dark
Faction students are seen as a strong force, you can see by Murkel's face that he's already
satisfied.
"If I lose the next fight, and come out with next to no injuries that will be for the best for
everyone."
Liam was still thinking about the match he had, he was sure if the two of them were to fight
again, that he wouldn't come out as the loser.
The sound of two pairs of footsteps were heard from behind as they had been listening to
the conversation.
"So what is it that you want us to do?" Ricktor asked. "You have taken the role as leader of
this small group for a while now and we will be going up against him next."
Safa looked at the screen, seeing the two of them would be going up against Raze.
"Just don't get seriously injured, but don't make it look like you're just going to forfeit that
wouldn't make sense," Safa said. "We don't want to draw suspicion."
"The easiest way to make something look realistic is by fighting for real. I'm sure the judges
that are on stage will stop the fight before it gets serious," Ricktor answered.
Safa could see the look in Ricktor's eyes. He wanted to go full force against Raze for what
had happened last time. There wasn't hatred or revenge; it was more so to test oneself.
However, when looking at Mada, there was silence. He was clearly deep in thought. Safa
had no telling what would happen to the two of them.
"Remember, even if the physicians can't do something, I might be able to, so if you want to
go all out, then be my guest," Safa said.
After seeing everything Raze could do, she was sure that he would be able to best the two
of them with ease anyway.
He was most likely to use one of his special moves right off the bat to end the fight early.
Safa didn't know why, but she had figured the items that the Dark Faction had obtained,
Raze wanted them.
It had to be the same with the other item for the singles match; that was why he was taking
part.
Safa had held and come close to the item, and she could tell it was a magical item. So they
had to be special for Raze to go after them.
"The first match of the second round will now commence; will Mada, Ricktor, and Jake
please make their way to the stage!"
Ricktor started to move, but as he did, he looked at Mada who was behind him, who was
still.
"Come on, this might be the last time we fight," Ricktor claimed.
"Doesn't that mean, you think we've already lost as well?" Mada replied.
"I'm just stating the facts, I don't fight if I think I'm going to lose," Ricktor said. "That is a
principle that I truly stand by, which is why I need to go out there and get my answer."
After pausing for a few more moments, Mada eventually decided to walk with Ricktor. They
went past the Flowing Force Clan head, as well as the other adults who had given some
words of encouragement to the two.
"Go show them the Dark Faction is best!"
"If you beat the Demon, then there will be nothing for us to worry about!"
"The Dark Faction will be considered the strongest, winning the group and individual stage!
It will be a first in our history!"
The two continued walking, and just as they exited out from the glass, Ricktor heard the
voice from one man in particular.
"Ricktor."
Ricktor stopped and turned around, looking at his father, looking at the principal.
"You have worked extremely hard, in this fight, I expect you to use all of your strength, you
know what I mean by this right?" Murkel asked.
"You mean I haven't so far?" Ricktor smiled.
"You think I couldn't tell that you had reached the Middle stage. Go out there and win,"
Murkel ordered.
Chapter 650 Mada's Rage
Chapter 650 Mada's Rage
Raze walked onto the stage and up ahead he could see both Mada and Ricktor enter
together. He saw them walking side by side, not splitting apart.
'This is a three-way competition, but I guess it's expected that the two of them would team
up together. Although I don't know how they are going to fight. I assume they have already
come to the realization that I am me,' Raze thought.
He remembered how the two of them had half-heartedly sworn their loyalty to help him
when they were faced with the underground troubles.
Raze had provided them food that allowed them to continue living, and in turn, they sought
revenge against their own clans and to help Raze.
The thing was, Raze knew that in desperate times people were willing to say anything. Very
few actually kept their word.
At the end of the day, the two students in front of him, both of them were direct disciples of
the main clans that made up the Dark Faction.
'I can't lose this fight, and going up against two of them might be tough, but if they are
thinking of conceding, I shouldn't hurt them too badly,' Raze thought as he brought out the
ghost blade.
"The last person left standing will be declared the winner, so let's fight!" The announcer
shouted.
Raze didn't charge in like he did before, nor did he hold the sword above his head. The
audience were expecting something spectacular from just like what had happened before,
finishing a battle in record time.
However, there was a reason for him not moving, because Mada had raised his hand.
"I forfeit from this fight," Mada declared.
Ricktor glanced at him when he heard these words, but Mada didn't even bother to look at
him and just walked back.
"Wait, the other guy just forfeited, before even trying to fight!"
"That was the guy that didn't fight last time as well, he must be scared."
"Yeah but with two of them, they would have a better chance fighting against the Demon.
Now that he's left he's just abandoned his teammate!"
"Hey, I want my money back, I betted on them two, and now they do this, now the fight is
just a regular one on one, of course the Demon is going to win."
"But if you think about it, at least he's made the fight fair now. If it was the Light Faction,
that's something I would expect from someone like them."
As Mada walked back to count himself out of the fight, the glass lifted up.
"What was that, boy!" Crine, the head of the Flowing Force Clan and Mada's father shouted.
"You have done nothing every time you go up against that man, and then you abandon your
allies!"
"I abandoned him!" Mada said as he looked up at his father into his eyes. But the Qi from
him was seeping in and pushing him down; he felt as if his heartbeat was slowing just
looking at the man.
He wanted to tell him, what the clans did was far worse in the underground assessment.
Students eating each other and deaths treated like nothing.
All of the clans had abandoned them, and if Mada hadn't survived that back then, then
would his father even care about him.
His father had never cared about him and had always stared, looking at Gunther. There was
so much Mada wanted to say, but he didn't.
Because doing so could very well mean death.
"There's no reason for me to fight him, there's no reason for me to get hurt, I'm sorry I
disappointed you," Mada eventually said and continued to walk.
"You're just as useless as your mother, both of you are worse than bugs."
All of the blood had immediately rushed to Mada's head at that moment. The buildup of
everything he had wanted to say for so long.
"You f*cking piece of scum!" Mada shouted. "Someone so disgusting like you, doesn't even
deserve to mention her! If anyone should die in this world, it should be you!"
Instantly an intense Qi filled the entire room. The adults felt sick to their stomachs almost
falling. The Light Faction warrior in the room tried to head to the door, but even moving his
own feet was trouble.
'He said it,' Safa thought as she had fallen to her knees along with the others in the room.
'There are words that should never be spoken to those that are more powerful than you,
words that should never be spoken to one's clan head.'
'Right then, Mada just wished for the clan head's death… it will be impossible for Mada to
get out of this alive now, why… why did he do it?'
In Mada's mind, there was a buildup of frustration that he had his whole life. During this
tournament, he felt inequity and started to think.
Was there really any part of his life that he had enjoyed? Everything he had done was for
the clan, to please his father, and yet there was nothing in return.
The risk, the fear for his life, the disappointment, not once had Everything he had done was
for the clan, to please his father, and yet there was nothing in return.
The risk, the fear for his life, the disappointment, not once had he done something he had
done, until today, and the root cause of it was this man.
Mada felt as if he had already died once in the underground assessment, so if his life was to
be taken again it didn't matter, at least he got to curse the old man.
"You foolish child!" Crine swung his arm, and his Qi went out like a large wave. Even though
Crine was at least a couple of meters from Mada, it had hit him, lifting him off his feet and
forcing him to crash into the wall.
The blow crushed part of the wall, and blood spilled out of Mada's mouth, but the attack
didn't stop there. The visual Qi like a wave seemed to linger in the air, holding Mada up, and
now it was suffocating him.
"All those who wish me death, haven't lived to tell the tale," Crine stated. "You are only
alive because of me; you should be thankful that you are even in this world. I created you,
so you must do what you are told, but someone as weak as you is useless."
Simyon, Liam, and Safa were all on the ground because of the immense amount of Qi. The
only ones that were unaffected were Murkel and Gavin.
They wanted to help, and maybe using their own Qi they could force their way toward
Crine but then what. Could they take out three Main Clan leaders, as well as other high-
ranking clan members in the room?
It was impossible, so all they could do now was watch what was going on.
The veins on Mada's neck were bulging, as he couldn't breathe. He could feel his head
screaming to try to take in some air, but nothing was working.
Mada looked at his final moments staring at Crine, Murkel, and Gavin who had all turned
around to see the chaos, only to notice something in the background.
'What's… that.'
A loud crash resounded in the room from behind him, glass shattered onto the back of
Gavin and Murkel. Seeing the shards that had fallen onto the floor, they could think it could
have only come from one place.
Crine turning around to look at this disturbance in the room, saw a man standing on the
edge of the arena.
"Sorry, it looks like my attack missed," Raze said.
Chapter 651 Adults Vs Students
Chapter 651 Adults Vs Students
With Mada exiting the field, now it was just Ricktor and Raze on the arena floor. Seeing the
Dark Faction students perform so far, some believed that it would still be an interesting
fight.
If anything, they might be able to see the Demon perform another spectacular move they
hadn't seen before.
"Let's get this started!" Ricktor said with a smile on his face. With one hand, he gathered Qi
and seemingly pulled the air forward.
The image of an explosion erupted, and he was propelled forward at a shocking speed. With
his sword, he swung it down, and Raze swung his up.
The two of them clashed, and Qi channeled out from the attacks, sending a shockwave out.
The dust was kicked up on the floor, and even the Middle stage warriors by the edge of the
arena had their hands out.
They had forced some of the Qi out of their bodies in order for the crowd not to feel uneasy.
At that moment, though, the ones that were most shocked by what had just happened were
the Middle stage warriors that were on the field itself.
'Such a large amount of Qi... are these two really Initial stage warriors, if they're not, then
how are we going to stop this fight!' The Light Faction Warrior thought.
Both of the swords were pushing against each other, and Raze and Ricktor were looking
into each other's eyes. Both of them were thinking back to the first clash they had.
'Back then, he was a higher stage warrior than me, but I was able to use magic to help me
win the battle. In front of everyone here, I won't be able to use magic, and it looks like this
time... we're at the same stage.'
"I feel like you have figured it out," Ricktor said.
A battle of Qi was continuing with it pulsating from either side of the individual. It was
something that hadn't happened in any of the matches before, causing the audience to
stand up on their feet.
Unlike Ulyn, who had gone flying, Ricktor was holding his ground.
"What, the fact that you're a Middle stage warrior as well. You must have been working
hard, I guess you have a goal," Raze asked.
"Correct, when your goal is several times stronger than you, it causes you to grow quicker."
Raze knew that very well because the Grand Magus's powers would be beyond his at the
moment. There was always this fear for Raze, what if he were to run into them right now?
Would he be able to best them? This fear, this drive is what forced him to grow stronger
every day without wasting a single second.
Ricktor then lifted his hand in the air again. The Qi was gathering, and it looked almost as if
he was going to pull the air to propel him further again.
However, Raze had yet to use any techniques at all; he had simply blocked an attack and
was just using his Qi to stop himself.
"Give me your best shot, I need to see what I can take, so I know if I can go against him,"
Ricktor claimed.
Seeing what was about to come, Raze thought about his next move until he could sense
something. His eyes widened, and he wasn't the only one.
Ricktor lowered his hand, lowering the output of his own Qi. He then pulled his sword away
and started to swing it at Raze.
To which Raze was blocking each strike. They clashed carefully, displaying their skills,
hitting one another while looking.
Once in a while, they would clash in the center like they had done before.
"You can feel it right, there's a large amount of Qi coming from the Dark Faction viewing
area," Raze said.
"I can... it's so incredibly large that it's seeping through, even to here. Something must be
happening," Ricktor replied.
At that moment, the image of Safa had appeared in his mind. In doing so, he struck slightly
harder with his sword when clashing against Ricktor's.
The condensed Qi was pushing Ricktor's sword, but he wasn't really fighting back because
Ricktor had a plan as well.
As he blocked each attack, he was carefully taking a step back. Both of them were on the
same wavelength.
From the crowd's perspective, they could see the Demon pushing back Ricktor more and
more until they were right up by the viewing mirror.
'The Qi is incredibly strong here, is it Murkel, has he found out something? I need to see.'
At that point, Raze placed the sword by his side and spread out his legs behind him. Ricktor
had seen this move before.
The Qi was being condensed into the hilt of the blade, and Raze wasn't looking at Ricktor;
he was only looking right past him.
Ricktor leaped to the side, and right after Raze unleashed his strike.
"Dark Edge Sword Art's Fourth Formation, Void Pulse!"
The Qi exploded behind the sword and shifted him forward touching the glass. The attack
pinpointed to one area, and the hard casing viewing area that was meant to not be
destroyed had shattered in that moment.
Once again, everything had happened so quickly that the Middle stage warriors were
unable to act.
"He just broke the Dark Faction viewing area!"
"Is this a declaration of war of the Dark Faction?"
"Come on, it was an accident he was trying to get the other warrior with his move, but the
other one predicted it because we've seen it before."
"You might be right, but what does this mean, will the match be suspended with the
viewing area being broken like that?"
After Raze had delivered his attack though, he then stood right by the opening, looking at
everyone in the room; he didn't turn to look at Ricktor nor did Ricktor attack him.
"Sorry, it looks like my attack missed," Raze said.
Safa, Simyon, and Liam couldn't believe it. They were too focused on what was happening
in the room; they had no idea what was happening with the match outside.
When they needed help, when they were in a desperate situation, Raze had somehow still
managed to come through, and now fearlessly he was staring at three of the Dark Faction
leaders, including Murkel.
The immense amount of Qi was still coming off from Crine, and Mada was being held up on
the wall by the visual Qi.
Now Raze knew where it was coming from but had no clue what had caused it all.
As he stood there though, the viewing cameras came in over Raze's shoulder, and now
everyone could see the situation in the Dark Faction viewing area.
Mada, blood leaving his mouth, covering the bottom of his clothes, and one of the faction
heads dealing with him.
They could only guess it was because of him giving up the fight.
Now seeing the Demon standing there, they wondered what he was going to do, what was
the Light Faction going to do that was hosting the event either.
"You sure know how to make an entrance," Murkel said. "But don't you think you're getting
ahead of yourself, standing in front of us like that."
Raze looked at Murkel and then looked right past him, ignoring him.
"This is a fight for students, don't you think adults should stay out of this mess? Unless you
want to take his place," Raze asked.
Chapter 652 Causing Big Trouble
Chapter 652 Causing Big Trouble
The confident words from the Demon were unheard of from the crowd. Everyone,
including the citizens, knew the strength of the clan heads and those at the top of the
pecking order.
The regular citizens always lived in fear that they might disrespect a simple Pagan warrior
and lose their life over it. Many, if they knew a Clan head was coming to visit, would just
stay indoors for fear of angering a certain individual.
Those that were Pagan warriors knew this even more so, and for those that were lower
ranking, the Clan heads were treated like royalty. No one would dare go up against them.
Yet here was a single person who showed no fear at all, and he was starting to live up to his
nickname, the Demon, but even more so, they supported what he said.
Cheers erupted in the stadium, shaking the whole place.
"Yeah, can you believe it, a clan head has to threaten a student of all things. That wasn't
what this tournament was made for in the first place."
"And how could a person attack their own student? We all know why he didn't want to go
up against him, maybe the Clan head is afraid that the Demon will beat him instead!"
"Ha, could you believe it, if a Clan head took part in this tournament and lost against a
student."
The loud words reverberated, being echoed throughout the arena and filling the ears of
Crine himself. His aura had moved away from Mada, dropping him to the floor.
Once again, everyone in the room felt like they could breathe, they could move freely and
were able to stand again.
"You're being extremely stupid, kid, setting up a threat against someone like me," Crine
said as he walked forward, while Raze still stood on the edge looking in.
"You should know, we don't take part in these things because there is a large difference
between me and you. Right now, you might think that you are as high as the sky in the high,
but you should know that Heaven exists above that sky."
"Heaven?" Raze asked. "For those that punish students like you, the only place you are
deserving of is below my feet!"
Loud cheers erupted again as the mirrors displayed everything. For a moment, it didn't feel
like they were watching a fight, but an intense drama that was going on in the Pagan
warrior world.
"Those words, it looks like you want me to grant you your wish!" Crine said. He placed his
foot onto the floor, and his Qi had swollen the ground. Even though it was solid, it rippled
as if he had stepped into a puddle.
Lifting his foot up, water flowed through the air. The visual Qi made it so the water felt like
it was really there in front of them. It was clearly an extremely high-level skill that was
being used, and Raze knew it as well.
'Without the Lux sword, and the Blazer, or my magic, stopping something like this might be
extremely difficult to do, but with him attacking me like this right now, I will have the
upper hand,' Raze thought, a small smirk appearing on the corner of his face, but he quickly
tried to hide it, straightening his face instantly.
The attack swung through the air, and the light-colored water had turned solid dark blue
and was glowing with intensity. Crine was still incredibly far away, but he knew his attack
would hit.
As the kick reached its ending point, a hand reached out and grabbed the tip of Crine's foot.
Immediately, a spark of Dark energy flashed, and in an instant, all of the water faded.
It looked as if all of the visual Qi was absorbed or destroyed in that moment. As for the
person who was holding onto Crine's foot, it was none other than Murkel.
'He stopped an attack of one of the other main clan heads with a single hand like that. Even
with Magic, that's not something I'm capable of doing. Is the difference between the two of
us still this high? Was I still underestimating him?'
That was when Raze remembered the title he had been given in the Dark Faction, the one
closest to reaching the Divine Stage. Although the other factions didn't really know each
other's strength, so it was hard to say if Belil or those like Sha Mo were close to reaching
the Divine stage.
The name wouldn't have been given to him for no reason.
However, the Light Faction Clan heads that were watching everything with the large mask
on their faces were also surprised by everything that was happening.
"What should we do? Should we stop the match, fix the glass, and start over again?"
"More important matters are at hand. How do we quell the anger of both of these groups?
They could be battling out with each other at any second."
"The fact that a Dark Faction Clan head has tried to attack another student during a
tournament that we are in charge of, if we do nothing, then there will never be an end to all
of this."
"Maybe it's best if we do stay out of this. The tension between the two of them will be good.
Originally, we were going to try and strike a deal with the Dark Faction. If we formed an
alliance, then an attack from two sides would make it incredibly hard for the Demonic
Faction to act.
"But with the strength the Demonic Clan showed today, that might not be the best idea. A
war between these two, if we can create a big reason for these two to fight, it might just
work out, so I say we do nothing."
Murkel had blocked the attack and then threw Crine's foot back on the floor quite
aggressively. It was quite clear he was upset by what had occurred.
"The Demon, as they call you, don't you have someone else to deal with. I have stopped the
trouble on my side; now you must do what you need to do," Murkel stated.
Before Raze could even reply, he had sensed someone was coming from his side, and he
could see that Ricktor was running at him. Ricktor was running at him even before the
warning that was given by Murkel.
Lifting up his sword, Raze deflected the attack but was pushed back against the ground. It
was a powerful blow made by Ricktor, a serious one.
Now Raze looked to be on the back foot as he defended strike after strike, and eventually,
the two of them met in the center; Raze was pushed to the middle.
'Good job, Ricktor,' Safa thought. 'I have no clue what would have happened if the two
stayed, and the Light Faction didn't seem to be doing anything yet either. Right now, no one
has a plan on how we should get out.'
Ricktor then jumped back and gave Raze some space; right after that, Raze charged in for
the first time in the match. He then used the fourth descending step, kicking him forward,
and swung his sword down.
It was filled with Qi; the sword lit up, but it wasn't any of the Dark Edge Formations that he
knew; it was a simple swing, and that's when Ricktor had gone flying in the other direction.
He took a tumble; his body bounced off the ground a few times until he crashed into
another part of the wall, only partly breaking it. He then fell to the floor and lay there,
waiting until he heard the news.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it seems the Demon has done it again; give it up for Jake, as he is the
winner!"
After seeing what Jake had done, the crowd was very pleased as they continued to cheer,
and one corner even started to chant the word Demon.
As the winner was declared for the fight, Raze looked at his weapon. 'That attack I put a
normal amount of Qi in it; he shouldn't have gone that far… I'm sure of it, this was an act by
Ricktor.
'He kicked off the ground to make the attack seem more powerful and bounced himself,
then crashed his body into the wall. To make it look believable. I thought there was a
chance he wanted to do it at the beginning, but it seemed like he wanted a fight.'
Raze wasn't wrong in his thought as at the start Ricktor truly did want a full-on fight with
Raze, but after seeing what he had done, how he was still able to help Mada even though he
was on the field, and how he had the guts to threaten a Clan head to their face, he knew
they needed him.
'We will need you in top strength, if you're going to try and get us out of here by taking
them down,' Ricktor thought. 'So I will allow you to be in top strength.'
Getting up, both of them headed back to the viewing area, feeling unrestricted by the result
of the event.
"We will now be moving onto the next fight, the shining star of the Light faction Hannah,
against the backbone of the Dark Faction team, Safa!"
Chapter 653 Raze’s Inner Struggle
Chapter 653 Raze’s Inner Struggle
Raze had returned to the Demonic Faction viewing area, and he could see the smiles on the
faces of the Demonic Faction; they were quite sadistic. Some of them were chuckling to
themselves, and a few had even given Raze a thumbs up for what he had done.
"The two of us may not see eye to eye, and I hate his guts, but he is truly someone that
belongs to the Demonic Faction in nature," Sha Mo said to himself, making sure not to say it
too loud so others would hear.
The reaction in the room was because of the threat Raze had made directly to the Dark
Faction, smashing right through the viewing area.
"You should have taken it a step further and used a skill to hit one of them; now that would
have been impressive," Mantis said.
"You sure talk a lot about threats, but there is a difference between you two," Beret said.
"That guy doesn't say things that he's going to do, he just does them."
Mantis could see the eyes of many in the room, including the other students; it was almost
as if they had admiration for this person. A look he had seen the others have towards him
when he was declared top student and given the nickname the Black Tiger.
"You'll all see at the end of this, his fame increasing is good for me, because when I best
him, it will only increase my legend, as the legend who took down the legend," Mantis
answered, but next to no one was listening to him.
Raze took a seat in his normal place, and he could see Alba had returned back to the room.
She had given him a slight nod, confirming something between the two.
It went ignored as Lince came to sit next to Raze once again.
"I thought we might have had to jump and come in and try to save you back there," Lince
said. "If you were to battle against a Clan Head, or he was to accept your challenge, do you
really think you could have won? Would you have really gone up against him?"
"I would have," Raze answered instantly. "Right now, while being surrounded by so many
Middle stage warriors and the other factions, it's the safest time to fight someone at a
strength greater than yours.
"If I lose, I'm confident you or the Light Faction would stop things, or the Dark Faction
themselves wouldn't go as far as killing me. As for whether I think I could win or not, I
think it's possible against him, but I'm not sure about the other."
Lince had gathered who he meant by the other, because he had caught the attention of all
the high-ranking Demonic Faction members. The move by the Flowing Force Clan Leader
was extremely powerful, and it had been stopped by one hand.
What was interesting to note was Anna, who was in the room, had been reading Raze while
he had given his answer; she could tell everything he said was true, even the fact that he
could beat the other Clan Head.
She could see that had also riled up some feathers among those in the Demonic Faction.
'That young boy, he is not afraid to make anyone his enemy; what Beret said about him is
true, he just acts, and it's hard to tell if everything is one whole calculated plan or not,' Anna
thought, but she was sure it was the latter based on the meeting they had just before they
were to take part in the tournament.
"Will the two participating in the tournament please come to the stage!" The announcer
shouted.
There was a short break between the last fight and the current one, mainly due to repairs
that were taking place in the Dark Faction viewing area. Some also believed that the
organizers, the Light Faction clans that were in charge, were deciding what to do with the
Dark Faction, and in the end, they had done nothing after the repairs were done.
There was no time for complaints from the crowd, and they knew that their complaints
wouldn't amount to much; instead, they were just going to focus on the fight right up in
front of them.
Seeing Safa walk out, Raze placed his hand on his face and changed his seating position as
he looked at her.
'His heartbeat rose, and he's looking more anxious. He felt this way when he saw members
of the Dark Faction; it's clear he knows all of those participating,' Anna thought. 'But this
person, it's different for him.'
'If I remember the reports correctly, she was his sister, and someone who was made a field
agent for Alter. For someone who he cares for so much, I wonder why he's trying to hide it.'
Anna, through her very own system, was seeing a side of Raze that no one could see. This
side was what had caused Raze to act in the first place. When he could feel the immense
amount of Qi coming from the room, he instantly felt like he needed to do something in case
she was in trouble.
Memories of Sabrina were coming back to him, and of Jake, and he didn't want it to happen
a third time, not while he was there and he could do something. Then after seeing Mada
held up like so, he had made the decision.
'I still wasn't so sure about whether I could rescue them or not from the Dark Faction; if
there was a chance, I was going to take it, but leaving them in the hands of the Dark Faction,
there's too much risk, I will get them out of that situation.'
Raze could see at times, the Middle stage warriors on stage were too slow to act, and that
was unacceptable. If something was to happen right in front of Raze during this match and
he could stop it, he would do so, risking everything.
Placing his hand on his chest, Raze had a few words. 'I'm not sure if it's even this old soul in
me that wishes for me to protect her anymore… it might just be me.'
In the Light Faction viewing area, Beatrix had watched her student leave the stands. She
could feel the immense amount of weight that was on her shoulder as the only Light
Faction contestant left.
It wasn't meant to be this way; sure, she wanted her student to do well, but Ulyn was
always the favorite.
'There are only two ways for you to win this event: during it, to overcome large obstacles
now and grow, or to accept the help of the Clan Heads.'
Beatrix thought about moments ago what had just happened before Hannah had entered
the stage. The two of them gave each other eye contact for a few moments, and then she
reached under her clothing and pulled out the necklace from over her head.
She handed it back to Beatrix, the gift that had been given to her before this tournament
had started.
"Using this, it would be cheating, wouldn't it."
"What!?" Beatrix replied with a nervous look on her face.
"I thought you didn't know, but I guess that answers it. I had an inkling of what these items
would do, that everyone in the Light Faction would hold, but it wouldn't be fair to rely on
that power. I wish to win this battle with my own strength, and in doing so, become the
strongest in the Light Faction."
"My opponent will take me on fair and square, so I have to do the same," Hannah said,
heading out.
The two of them had met in the middle of the stage, Safa with her spear, and Hannah
holding her sword in front of her.
"There's a rumor you know, that the person I bested before might not actually be the White
Dragon, and that it might be you. I hope I get to see that," Hannah said.
Chapter 654 Anything For My Brother
Chapter 654 Anything For My Brother
Every time Safa heard the name the White Dragon, a smile appeared on her face, one that
she was unable to hide from the others. This just made people think even more that she
might be the secret weapon that the Dark Faction was holding.
However, the reason for her smile was simple.
'All of this talk of the White Dragon, and yet no one realizes that he is on the other side, that
he is the one that you have given the name the Demon as well. How long has the Raze from
Pagna been here, and how many legends has he passed down in this place.'
'It just makes me smile to see so many people talking about him. I know he's not my
brother, but while in that body, and the actions he takes looking after me, it feels as if he is
another brother I now have in this life.'
Not replying to the taunts by Hannah, she held her spear, and the match had begun.
Hannah had started right off the gate; she charged forward, jumping from side to side using
a special Dawnblade clan technique. One of the same foot techniques she had used against
Liam, which she had kept in reserve until later.
When close, she had swiped her hand over the sword, making it glow as she had done many
times before. When they were a few meters apart, Safa lifted up her spear and dug it into
the ground.
A large crack appeared, going through the ground, and perfectly, Hannah's foot had gotten
caught right inside. Before she knew it, another spear attack came toward her, but Hannah
performed the half-moon block and hit the spear away.
Hannah expected another strike to occur, so she changed her Qi in her foot and pulled it
out, backing away.
"Right, you're from the Dark Faction, doing anything you can to win, so you are happy to
use tricks like these rather than fight me head-on," Hannah claimed.
"Tricks?" Safa replied. "Everything on the battlefield is fair game. I'm not using anything
else other than what I have on me."
Hannah came in again, and this time leapt up to avoid any strange attacks on the ground
and swung her blade, performing more techniques of the Light Faction.
With her spear firmly planted on the ground, Safa made sure to firmly plant her feet on the
ground, and with the Qi channeled in the spear, she hit the sword strikes away.
Hannah's movements were elegant, a light trail could be followed behind the sword in the
air, attacking Safa from as many angles as possible.
At the same time, Safa swung her spear hard, hitting each of the strikes away. The two of
them stayed in the center, battling weapon against weapon.
The crowd was getting excited as they cheered for both sides, and it appeared as Safa had
gained a large number of followers after the past events, although most of them were male.
"You notice it, right?" Gavin, head of the Moon Shield Clan, stated.
"Of course I do, you might be a master of defense, but it doesn't mean you are the only one
that can see certain things," Murkel replied back. "At any rate, it appears that she will lose…
which is a shame."
Liam and Simyon were listening in on the Clan Heads' conversation; they were wondering
why they would say such a thing when the fight was so early on.
"You two should notice, right?" Ricktor said. "This entire time, even her first strike, all of
them have been in a defensive manner. The attacks from Hannah are swift and fast but not
a single attack from Safa has been focused on striking."
"Is this part of her strategy?" Simyon asked. "To wear out her opponent and then strike
when the other is tired."
"What, you think everyone fights like you?" Liam asked.
"It might be, but she won't win like this; very few could do something like what you are
describing. Because there are very important things that occur in a fight," Ricktor
explained. "When one is attacking, they get in a rhythm of sorts. A buildup of momentum
that allows them to use their techniques with less effort."
"Think about it, when you are using your techniques on a giant rock one after the other,
you are less inclined to get tired. However, when fighting against an opponent, everything
becomes much more difficult. Right now, Safa is just a rock to the other side."
They both understood Ricktor's explanation. The thing was, more than anyone, both Liam
and Simyon knew Safa's real strength and knew that she would know this and wouldn't do
such a thing.
They could only think of a reason as to why she would do this.
"It's a shame; if Safa actually fought with everything she had, it would be a good match and
she would have a good chance at winning," Liam said. "Maybe something will happen that
will spur her on to try in this fight."
"She won't," Simyon replied instantly. "If what we're thinking is right, then you should
know she will lose this match. She told us that we aren't to use a lot of energy, that we need
to be ready for anything and that includes herself."
"She will never be dragged into a fight with Hannah properly, because the answer is simple,
she cares about her brother too much, and wouldn't do something to trouble him or get in
his way."
Large strikes were taking place on the battlefield from Hannah, and the Qi buildup was
increasing from one to the other. For a moment, then, Safa blocked a large attack and made
her hands look weak.
To this point, everyone was just seeing a relentless attack in the center, and one
relentlessly blocking. That was when Safa let go of the spear, dropping it to the ground.
When Hannah came in for another strike, the middle stage warriors came and stopped the
attack with their swords.
"The winner has been decided; Hannah will go on through to the final round of the singles
event!"
Tears of joy appeared in the crowd; they couldn't believe it. From losing nearly all of the
Light Faction participants, to now being able to enter the finale. Now they could hold their
heads up high, regardless of who won.
There was a Demonic Faction member and a Light Faction member, and now there was
only one more match left that would determine the final one that would enter the final
match of the singles stage.
On the other side, Raze breathed a sigh of relief, his muscles released, and he went to a
more natural sitting position compared to before. He was happy that he didn't need to do
anything; it would allow for his plan to work more.
Because if he had to enter during the match with Safa, there really was no plan on his mind.
"And so, here is the final fight," Amir claimed in the crowd. "You must keep a close eye on
this. That boy might be strong enough to release it out of Mantis, and if that is the case, that
is when we will strike."
Chapter 655 A Strong Pain
Chapter 655 A Strong Pain
The next fight was about to start, and Simyon was getting ready. Just before he headed out,
there were words of encouragement going on from his side.
"Remember, if you lose this match, basically it means you're at the same level as me," Liam
claimed. "Because the person I lost to got in the final, which means she's better than you for
getting that far, and I had lost to one of the best."
"What are you on about?" Simyon replied. "It doesn't work like that; in this tournament, I
will have already achieved a higher position than you, no matter what."
Sparks, as usual, were flying between the two, and then Safa, who had just lost, had come in
the middle. When she had returned from her loss, Murkel didn't seem to care much.
To the public, it was a good matchup, and no one felt less of seeing her skills. The only thing
was, they didn't think that Safa was the White Dragon, and had assumed Liam, who she had
bested in the first match, was most likely the person in question.
"Remember what we discussed," Safa said. "We shouldn't push ourselves so far in these
matches. We might need all your abilities and powers."
Simyon didn't nod and instead turned his head around. He felt like it was disingenuous of
him to give her an answer. Because when the glass door lifted, he looked straight ahead at
Mantis coming out from his side.
He had a large scar across his chest, perhaps a scar made from him battling against a beast.
He wore his clothing strangely, with half of it off and tied around his waist showing some of
his muscles and more.
'I'm sorry, but when I look at this person, I remember when we met him in the Demonic
Faction territory. How he had taken us all out, and I was unable to protect you, I was unable
to protect anyone. Back then, Raze was the one that helped us… but he won't always be
there to help us… I need to do something today, I can't just let him win.'
Heading out, Simyon looked at Mantis. They stared into each other's eyes, and eventually,
he spoke out.
"Do you remember me?" Simyon asked.
"Do I remember you?" Mantis replied as he drew his hand out, covering both of his hands
around his fingers; there was strange black casing. The ends were extremely sharp and
pointed and it only covered the fingers, nothing else.
It was the same on both hands, a strange weapon that was sharply used in fighting, if
anything, it appeared as if it was something custom.
"Remember you? Why would I remember someone that was so weak; of course, I don't
remember you," Mantis said.
Simyon didn't know if he was lying or trying to make him angry on purpose, but it worked,
and as Simyon took a fighting stance with his hands, the power of the ring was surging
through his body, added along with his Qi.
"Alright… then I'll make sure you remember me this time," Simyon claimed.
"Fight, begin!" The announcer shouted.
As soon as the fight began, unlike the matches before, Mantis didn't charge in, and neither
did Simyon. Instead, Mantis was slowly walking towards his opponent, and Simyon was
doing the same from his end.
"It's time for me to show everyone here what I can do, as everyone has been waiting for
this!" Mantis claimed.
When he came close, Mantis lifted his hand in the air. The area was extremely dense around
where he lifted his hand, and Simyon didn't keep his eyes off the strike.
"Brace yourself, let's see you protect yourself from this!" Mantis exclaimed as he threw the
claw into the air.
Simyon lifted his forearm, stopping the attack, and the clawed hand hit his skin. Sparks
went off as if two swords were folding against each other. Pushing through, Mantis dragged
his hand, and the claw fingers hit the floor.
A large claw mark was seen through the air, continuing forward, heading straight for
Simyon.
'I didn't protect the rest of my body with Qi; I can only rely on my body!' Simyon thought.
As the Qi energy from the claw mark continued, it hit Simyon's hard body and pushed him
back. His feet skidded across the room until he had just about reached the edge of the
arena. He hadn't crashed into the side of the arena wall, but it was extremely close.
A slight smell of iron had entered Simyon's nose, and he could see dots of red blood on the
floor.
'My chest, it was cut, but the attacks, they weren't that deep, and it doesn't hurt that much…
I can tell he put a lot of strength into that attack. Which means I can win this!' Simyon
thought to himself.
Immediately, he started to run along the ground and headed right toward Mantis with no
fear; he was confident now in his body.
As the two came close, Mantis exploded and leapt, swinging his claws from the side. Simyon
blocked the attacks with his arm and then went to strike the hit in the air. It was filled with
Qi and would have been a solid hit, but it crashed into nothing but the air.
Mantis was quick and nimble and was already attacking from the side. He swung his arms
multiple times, and Simyon was able to gather his Qi on his side. Sparks went off his body
as if the whole thing was made of metal and hadn't pierced the skin. Quickly, Simyon went
to attack, hitting the air again, and even kicking the air, but not a single thing was hitting.
'Crap, I need to figure out a way; I need to figure out how to hit him somehow, no matter
how many attacks I block, I can't win this if I don't hit him!' Simyon thought.
At the Dark Faction area, as they were watching everything, Safa was deeply concerned.
"He wants to win this fight, why didn't he listen to me?"
"Hey, I don't blame him," Liam said. "If I was in his shoes, I would have done the same thing.
Don't you remember what happened? We should let him get his revenge."
The worry for Safa was that Simon might not be able to. There was something about
Mantis, there had to be a reason why he was considered the strongest.
Since the small attacks from Mantis weren't working, he had flipped in the air backwards
landing on the ground, then when running forward he dragged his claws through the floor.
They were cutting it as if it were made from butter, and then he swung it up.
Simyon blocked the attack, but the sharp claws ripped through his skin, drawing blood
once again.
"This battle is already ended; I will tear you apart bit by bit!" Mantis exclaimed.
His attacks, they were like that of a wild animal; he was quick, nimble, and attacking from
all sides. The students that were watching were wondering how they would deal with such
a thing, and they were finding it hard to come up with an answer, and that was if they could
come up with one.
As Mantis was moving throughout, he flipped back again, ready to draw up another large
attack breaking through Simyon's defense , that was until he felt something in his chest. An
extreme pain that jolted his whole body.
Simyon, for a breath moment as he managed to catch a break, looked ahead. He opened his
arms that were bloody, but none of the wounds were extremely deep. Simyon wasn't tired
either.
He just needed to use his head to figure out how to win this battle, but looking at his
opponent, he wondered why he wasn't moving, and then he saw that Mantis had placed his
hand on the floor, and he was sweating.
'Is he tired, is his constant attacks and his stamina the answer to all of this, then maybe I
can do something.'
Mantis placed his hand around his chest, and he could feel a thud going through his body.
With each thud, his entire body was hurting more and more. He looked up ahead, and his
eyesight was starting to blur.
'It will go away right, it will go away just like it did before.'
Mantis started to think back, back to when he was at the clan, back to everything that had
happened. His memories were fuzzy in his head, and now his head was starting to hurt in
pain as well.
Shaking it, it was slowly starting to go away. However, it wasn't the first time that Mantis
had experienced pain like this, and now it seemed like it wasn't going to be the last either.
'Back then, when that happened… What did those guys do… why am I in pain whenever I
push myself, My heart… it's hurting again… what did those people… do to me.' Mantis
thought.
From the arena, there were quite a few keeping an extremely close eye on the match.
Chapter 656 The Only Chance
Chapter 656 The Only Chance
The two kept fighting, and when Mantis came in, something strange happened. Simyon saw
it as his opportunity and started to strike at Mantis non-stop. Mantis felt something from
his back.
Getting back up from his position, Mantis could feel the pain going away from his body. His
muscles started to relax, his headache was disappearing, and he could see the opponent in
front of him clearly again.
'Why did I feel that pain, why did my chest hurt, is it when I get excited during a fight, or
when I use too much Qi?' Mantis thought to himself. 'I had to give more power than I
thought I would; this person's body is incredibly strong. I wonder what he went through or
what art he did to go through something like this… but that's not my concern, my concern
is I just need to take you down.'
Mantis ran with his fingertips dragging through the floor again. This time when he lifted his
hand, part of the floor came up from underneath. Parts of the concrete shattered, all going
toward Simyon.
He stayed focused and standing as pieces of the flooring hit him and broke apart, and with
focus, he could see Mantis straight ahead. He went for it, throwing his powerful fist.
At the same time, Mantis was able to lift both of his hands to block the attack. A loud
clanging noise was heard, as usual, as if metal was going against metal, but with it, a
shockwave, a pulse almost, was seen in the air, and Mantis was sent back.
He flew back in the air for a few moments, with his feet landing firmly on the ground. He
hadn't been pushed back a great distance like Simyon had been when attacked, but it was
clearly still surprising for even Mantis.
'This person's hits are heavy; if I get hit by it, I won't come out of this fight with no damage
at all,' Mantis thought.
The issue was, to win this fight, he would have to head straight into danger.
The distraction technique didn't work for Mantis, so the only thing he could do was go on
the attack again. In doing so, the fast movements and strikes from all sides had continued.
Mantis struck strangely with each blow and quickly moved from one side to the other.
Simyon was doing well blocking them, but his body was being pushed on the floor from
side to side, and he looked helpless, as if it was only a matter of time until he would be
ripped to shreds or bleed out.
As Mantis continued attacking from side to side, he eventually grit his teeth, biting down as
hard as he could.
'Not again, it's come back again… is it really because I'm trying too hard in this fight, is this
just happening to me because I'm weak.'
Mantis pushed through as he attacked from side to side moving, but Simyon was noticing
something this time as he kept an eye out.
'Something's wrong; the attacks aren't as strong or sharp as before. Is this my chance that I
was looking for? Not yet, now is not the right time.'
Simyon continued to swing his arms using his strong body and reinforcing himself with Qi,
blocking each of the hits.
Then Mantis could feel it, the pain was shooting from his chest all over his body, it had
frozen up, and so did the attack that was mid-air.
Breaking from a blocking stance, as if waiting for this moment the entire time, Simyon had
wound up his fist back, condensed the Qi in his strike, and swung it, hitting Mantis right in
the stomach from below, delivering a strong uppercut, lifting his feet in the air.
A small shockwave was seen through the body due to the impact, and blood had even come
partly out from Mantis's mouth.
Before Mantis could go further in the air, Simyon knew something was up because his
opponent still wasn't reacting.
'I was right, he must have some type of stamina issue; he tried too hard to finish me off, and
his body is getting blowback. This is my chance; I can't let this opportunity go away.'
Jumping from the ground, Simyon grabbed Mantis's hand and then smashed him onto the
floor. It was a hard hit, breaking part of the floor. Immediately after, while still holding onto
his opponent's hand, Simyon stepped right on top of Mantis's chest.
Mantis had managed to grab Simyon's legs just in time, but part of the impact was felt, and
more of the flooring broke with the heavy hit.
'He can still move; I need to take him out before he can recover!' Simyon tensed his fist and
went to throw it at Mantis's head, but changed direction at the last moment and blasted it
right into his stomach.
A large amount of air was thrown out of his body, and veins could be seen on Mantis's neck;
a hand was over his face, ready to block the attack, but Mantis had made the wrong call.
Simyon lifted his hand again and started to gather his Qi.
'Maybe I won't be able to beat him before he recovers, but I can still win this fight if I get
the Warriors to intervene and bring it to a stop.'
Simyon was right with his thought because both of the middle-
stage warriors that were on the arena floor looked at each other. They were wondering if
enough damage had been taken to warrant a stop.
Was the student's life in danger, and was the other person able to make a comeback? As
another hit blasted into Mantis's stomach, they nearly moved before they remembered the
words of the clan heads.
That they were to intervene only at the last moment, and if a death was to occur, it
wouldn't be their fault at all.
Simyon continued to hit Mantis more frequently with less power as he was getting
desperate.
'Why won't they stop the fight, and why are Mantis's eyes still burning with fire!'
While Simyon was continuing to hit Mantis, the pain from his chest was starting to spread.
He could feel it concentrated on the shoulder blades on his back, and something
underneath his skin was beginning to move, trying to break out.
Chapter 657 The Eyes Of A Beast
657 The Eyes Of A Beast
Mantis didn't understand the incredible pain he was feeling on the back of his body.
Something felt like it was trying to crawl from inside his body, to the outside. Yet, it was
almost as if he didn't have much time to worry about these things.
Because there was an onslaught of Qi-filled fists that came down on him. Simyon readied
his fist again and slammed it right into Mantis's ribs; he heard a cracking sound and could
feel part of the bone fracture or break.
"You don't remember me, you don't remember what happened last time, I guess you'll
remember me after today!" Simyon said as he went to punch again, and broke another
couple of ribs with his fist.
The fight had become extremely one-sided, and all they could see was a Dark Faction
student hammering down on a Demonic student. Many in the crowd were wondering the
same thing: why wasn't the fight being stopped?
"Our top student is producing this kind of result!" Sha Mo complained. "For someone who
talked a lot, he isn't showing a lot with his fists…maybe I was wrong about the feeling I
had."
Raze wondered the same thing. Everyone could somewhat feel it; there was something
about Mantis that was different, an underlying strength that had even caused the beasts to
not even bother to attack him.
If anything, Raze was a little worried for Simyon. 'He was the first person that openly talked
to me, and much like Safa…the two have been by my side since the start of my entry into
Pagna. Even though Simyon had seen me do certain things, he had kept his mouth shut. He
is young as well, not like me; he is someone that deserves to continue living in this world…I
guess that's where my worry is coming from.'
When Simyon went to deliver another large strike toward Mantis's ribs, he felt something
strange. He had punched in the same place, and in doing so, the cracking sound was heard,
but Simyon could feel the full impact, of part of the rib bone breaking…just like he had done
before.
'Am I imagining things,' Simyon thought; he had somewhat stopped his onslaught of
punches because there was great confusion in his mind. 'That rib, I thought I had broken it
with my last hit, yet I could feel that I hit it and broke it again, but it's the exact same spot,
did his body heal from this, how could that even happen.'
Just to make sure, Simyon continued to punch the same spot, dealing more damage, and
each time, Simyon could feel the bone breaking, and when he kept a close eye, he could see
the muscles and body of Mantis acting strangely.
With the next hit, Simyon had even caused part of the bone to pierce part of the skin, but
visible to the human eye, and in real-time, he could see the bone going back into his body,
his skin healing up, and it returning back to its perfect condition.
'What is this, how can he heal so fast, is this magic…or is it something else,' Simyon's heart
was beating faster, a deeper worry was taking over him.
Winding up his fist again, he went for a punch and rather towards the stomach, or feinting
the attack toward the head, he actually went for the head this time, and Mantis was ready
for him; he grabbed onto Simyon's fist and held it tight.
Simyon yanked his hand away, or at least tried to. 'I can't…I can't pull my fist away, he's
gripping onto it so tight.'
In that moment, Simyon finally had let go of Mantis with his other hand. The one that had
held him the entire time, to make sure he didn't get away. When pulling away though, he
saw it; Mantis' eyes alive and well, they had narrowed like a beast's and were looking
straight at Simyon.
'Those eyes…I remember them, I remember seeing them before. The same eyes that took
out my town, and my sister!' Simyon thought.
A surge of power was going through him. Perhaps before, as soon as he saw something that
reminded him of such beasts he would have run or pulled away, but instead he saw
something in front of him that he believed he could take out.
He went to punch with both of his fists; they were aiming for the head, but Simyon's fists
didn't reach Mantis's head. Instead, they were just short and weren't moving any further.
A stinging pain could be felt in his abdomen, and looking down, both of Mantis's hands with
his sharp black fingernail equipment had dug into him. They lifted him in the air slightly,
stopping him from reaching.
"You, are just in my way!" Mantis said, as he stood up on his feet still with Simyon's arms
tacked to his arms; he had jumped off his legs and then pulled one of his hands out, and
swung it upward delivering a large claw strike across Simyon.
When the attack hit, Simyon's body detached from the claws, and bounced off the floor
several times until he had crashed into the side wall.
The dust was filling the area; they could see Mantis standing in the crater that was created
from the punches of Simyon. Suddenly the match had turned around at the click of the
finger, and they wondered how it was possible.
However, when the dust settled on the other side, they could see Simyon standing there. He
had cuts on his arms and across his body, but he still looked strong as he stood there.
"This body was made to take a beating, because it's the only thing I can do!" Simyon
claimed. "This body was made to get rid of the monsters, to take the hits of all those that
suffered, if I can't take a beating from a human then what about those beasts, so I will take
all your hits and I will do the same now!" Simyon shouted.
Simyon looked up from his position, and placed both hands by his side. The crowd cheered
him on; they were impressed by his determination, the words he had spoken.
A lot of them had lost those they cared about, to beasts as well, so they resonated with his
words, the reason why he wished to become a Pagna warrior, and they were impressed
with his ability to stand in this moment.
"Bring it on!" Simyon claimed.
When looking ahead though, Mantis wasn't in sight; he had already moved and was right by
his side. Seeing this, Simyon had just enough time to get both of his hands to block the
attack coming.
As it hit him, he was hit across the arena, bouncing on the floor and crashing into the side of
the wall. Yet, he was quickly back on his feet.
"Again, again!" Simyon shouted. "I will take as many hits as it needs, I'll take all the hits to
get rid of someone like you!"
When Simyon looked across the field at his opponent, who was breathing slowly, he was in
a slightly more crouched position. There looked to be no form at all to his fighting, and his
hands by his side.
All Simyon could see in front of him wasn't a participant, but instead it was a wild beast.
Just like those that killed his family.
"I won't run away again, even if I die here, I will get rid of you!" Simyon claimed.
Chapter 658 Stop The Match!
Chapter 658 Stop The Match!
Simyon had a strong stance; his body was holding out, and he failed to fall. If he fell, then
that would mean he would let the monster that was in front of him win. As he stood there,
he was looking at Mantis ahead who was walking slowly toward him, and just like before,
he had disappeared from sight.
'Is he going to come from the left, the right..' Simyon looked up at the shadow cast, and it
was from above.
Lifting both of his hands, he could feel the claws ripping through his skin, and his feet
sinking into the ground. Right after, a large kick was delivered to his side.
Mantis was striking again and again, faster than he was before and the hits seemed to be
more powerful. Unlike before, Simyon was unable to follow the hits and block it with his
hands; instead, he was just tilting his body up.
Lifting his shoulders and spreading the Qi through his body. Until, Mantis delivered a
powerful attack that broke through his defense, causing his whole body to be chucked into
the air and for him to bounce around the arena floor.
When he stood up, his entire clothes were covered in blood, part of the flooring where he
would bounce had blood as well, yet he was still able to stand.
"He has to stop, we need him to stop the fight!" Safa shouted from inside the viewing area.
She no longer cared if the leaders heard her or not.
"Stop, but he is putting on a strong performance," Murkel answered. "All of the Dark
students have put on an extremely good performance, and imagine when it's revealed that
the ones that were able to do it, were mostly a bunch of no names. All of the clans will fear
us for what we have achieved."
Right now, Murkel along with the other adults in the room didn't care. They didn't care for
Simyon's safety; of course, they didn't because he was just a no name. A tool for the
academy to use, with no family to upset or to back him.
'Amir isn't here…he is the only one that we might have been able to speak to…so what do
we do.' Safa's eyes were watering up.
Even with the extent of Simyon's wounds, if he came back, then at least she could heal him
with her light magic, but if he went too far, if he was too hurt, even she would be unable to
do something.
With each powerful hit from Mantis, the crowd cheering in excitement, but something
strange was starting to occur. As they saw Simyon continue to stand up, continue to fight
and not fall, with his skin ripped in several places, the cheers were lessening each time he
was hit.
"Isn't this going too far?"
"Yeah, what is with the Light faction, they're not stopping the fight. They didn't stop it
before, and now they're not stopping it again."
"Maybe that's the reason, think now the student Mantis is winning, if they had intervened
too early, then the one being beaten now would have been declared as the winner."
"But…this is no longer exciting, instead it looks as if we're watching a torture session."
The fight was still going on now, and it had been a non-stop hit session for the last ten
minutes from Mantis, and the crowd had appeared silent as they almost couldn't take it
anymore watching the student get beat.
These were those that had witnessed death, witnessed the cruelty of the Pagna warriors,
yet seeing it go on for so long was even more cruel in their eyes.
"It appears that the student won't be strong enough," Amir said. "He did well so I was
hoping he would be."
Amir then looked at the hooded man, and could see his fist shaking, his body twitching.
"I know you want to go in there, but you can't, not yet…I also don't want this child to die,
but many have died and many more will if we don't succeed."
With each hit Simyon took, Raze felt like he was taking them himself. Remembering the
conversations he had, the conversations the two of them had together.
'You should look after your family; you never know when you're going to lose them.'
"Simyon is a good person," Raze mumbled to himself, as he walked forward toward the
glass.
Seeing this though, Lince stood in his way, stopping him.
"What do you think you're doing, are you going to go out there right now? What reason
would you have to do such a thing?" Lince asked.
"You have achieved great power, right?" Raze asked as he looked at Lince directly in the
eye.
Lince didn't expect this line of questioning, but this student had gained his interest more
than once.
"One could say that, I am one of the top clans in the Demonic Faction," Lince answered.
"You gain that power for a sense of freedom. To help those you wish to help, to have a
power to control and do what you want to do. Right now, I don't like what I am seeing, I
wish to stop what is going on. I don't like what I'm seeing, and I have the power to change
it."
"But what is it that you don't like that you are seeing?" Lince asked. "You are not an
individual, your actions affect the whole of the Demonic Faction, it affects all those around
you.
"If my guess is right, what you want to do, won't help the Demonic Faction, which is why
I'm asking, not what you're about to do, but why you are doing this."
Raze knew what Lince was getting at, why did he want to help out the Dark Faction student
when they were part of the Demonic Faction. To them, it made no sense to act this strongly.
Not in the world of Pagna where warriors would kill each other.
Raze then turned his attention away from Lince and looked at the Light Faction member
that was in the room.
"What is going on with this event right now?" Raze asked. "Why haven't the Light Faction
stopped this match? They had stopped the others before it got this far, so why haven't they
stopped this one?
"Are they trying to make the Demonic Clan into killers, to make the Demonic Clan look
crazier than they actually are? If this match isn't stopped, then I will stop it, before it goes
too far!" Raze answered with the Qi exploding from his body.
He could tell looking in the arena that Simyon didn't have much time.
Jumping from his position, Raze was face to face with the Light faction adult in the room.
The look in Raze's eyes had caused his heart to beat faster.
'How could a student have such intense eyes. His Qi, it's suffocating him. Who is this
person…no one warned me about him, no one told me to look out for a monster like him…I
have to tell them, I have to tell the clan leaders.'
Raze then stretched out his hand quickly and wrapped it right around the Light Faction
member's neck.
"Take me to the organizers of this event, and stop this match!"
Chapter 659 Meeting The Light Faction
Chapter 659 Meeting The Light Faction
The Light Faction observers that were placed in each of the viewing rooms were middle-
stage warriors. They were from different clans, some not from the big three clans in the
Light Faction, but they were still middle-stage warriors.
They had managed to make an accomplishment that many people wouldn't be able to
make. They took their job in the tournament seriously, for the sake of the Light Faction.
They were to gauge each faction's reactions, listen in on their conversations, and report
back all for the sake of the Light Faction and the people in it.
Which was why Silp, who was currently in the Demon faction viewing area, was wondering
why, right now he was feeling frightened by the person in front of him.
"I…I can't just take you to where the organizers of the event are," Slip replied. "They are
clan heads that even members of their own clans struggle to get an audience with.
"If you wish to meet them, then I need to send a message and then wait for a reply, that
won't stop the fight in time!"
Raze knew that was true. He glanced on the outside and he could see Simyon still standing.
Qi was rising from his body, and he was covering himself from hits. Something strange did
occur though, once in a while Mantis would stop, and then stretch out his back.
It would have been a perfect opportunity for Simyon to attack, but Simyon still standing
was an achievement in itself; asking him to do more would be more than a miracle.
"That's great then, I'll just go with the person who is to send the message, or better yet, you
can take me with you," Raze claimed.
Slip had no idea why he was feeling this way, was it the tone of voice, was it the look in his
eyes. Or the fact that he had witnessed what this person had done to the other students,
thinking in his head, that maybe this person would do the same to him.
'I have trained for years, I have already gone through the Pagna academy and I'm scared of
this student, it's impossible.' For a moment, Slip looked at the other Pagna warriors that
were in the room.
Weren't any of the adults going to stop him, the other clan heads would know that what he
was about to do could start a war between the two factions. Instead though, Slip could see
smiles on their faces.
It was as if they were happy by everything that was happening, that they were enjoying this
moment.
'I forgot, that this is the demonic Faction I'm dealing with, I hope they will understand.'
"Please, follow me." Slip reluctantly said and went to exit out of the room. Raze followed
behind and almost immediately the pressure that he was giving off had disappeared.
What Raze was doing, was projecting his Dark Magic from his core outward toward Slip.
The Dark Magic core's strength was based on death and increased with death as well.
Letting the magic linger out of him, at a level where others were unable to see. Or would
think nothing of it was what was occurring.
For those who had never experienced magic in their life, and to experience Dark Magic for
the first time. It made everyone remember that death was a real possibility for them.
Once senses would slightly dull, their heart beat would slow, and slowly they would realize
that with death they would become nothing, striking a deep fear into them.
The two of them were now walking through the halls, but it didn't take long for Raze to
walk ahead.
"We are in a rush, so just tell me where to go," Raze ordered.
Not able to do anything, Slip just nodded and walked ahead.
"So do you think the boy will cause too much trouble that it will be a struggle to get out of
here?" Lince asked.
"You must know the reason why I would let him leave in the first place, and I know there
are no eyes on us either," Sha Mo answered.
Lince looked at Beret and they nodded. To which Beret started to quickly move around the
room. It wasn't just him, but all of those in the Demonic Faction including the other
students were now looking around the room.
It was as if they were trying to find someone or something in the room.
"We have to prepare for the worst. Every year, one of the factions plans to do something,
and who knows maybe this year it could be us," Lince said with a smile.
"I'm telling you now, if that kid starts a fire that he can't put out, I'm not going to save him, I
have my reasons," Sha Mo answered.
The two of them were openly talking like so, as if Alba and Anna weren't in the room, but
they were both present for the whole thing, and it was angering the two of them greatly
that they were having conversations as if they were invisible.
'Someone needs to take these Demonic Faction clans down a peg or two.' Alba thought.
'Raze, I hope we don't have to go through with your plan, because it feels like everyone is
trying to do something at this event.'
Both Raze and Slip continued to walk through the halls, and on the way there, they had
passed through several other Light Faction members. Due to Slip's position, many of them
listened to him and stood down.
They had reached the staircase and were on a private second floor. It was a floor that
participants or members of the crowd weren't allowed on. It was the floor where the booth
for the Light Faction Clan leaders were present.
When Slip walked down, before they had even reached the doors, in the hallway itself,
there were two members of the Aura clan standing at the side.
"What are you doing here, there has been no notice sent about having visitors arrive," the
light faction member said and looked directly at Raze.
They had stayed at their post the entire time, they had no clue who Raze was, nor what he
had done, but it was clear he wasn't someone from the Light Faction either.
"This is a student that is currently taking part in the Tournament. He has requested a
meeting with the current organizers of this event, It appeared to be an urgent matter so I
have brought him directly here," Slip stated and knelt on the floor.
"You were the one that brought him here, someone from a different faction!" The other
warrior said.
The two of them had moved away from the side of the walls, and now were standing,
looking down at Slip.
"You know, that is against protocol. We have rules for a reason, they are to be followed, if
not, then you are no better than the wild animals of that in the Demonic and Dark Faction.
"Rules are followed to uphold the justice that brings everyone together and our utopia, and
those that break the rules, you know what the result is."
Everything Raze was witnessing right now, it felt slightly odd to him. Out of all of the
factions, and their morals what he had heard of the Light Faction it sounded the most ideal.
Strict rules, protecting the weak, doing things that always seemed to be fair, but right now
it was the first time he was hearing, of what happened to those that didn't follow the rules.
Had what Slip done, was it wrong. He was simply caring for his life, he was doing something
because he was threatened but rather than place the blame on him they were placing the
blame on one of their own warriors.
In the Light Faction world, what happened to those that were unable to do anything but
were forced to steal break to feed their starving family. Because they didn't follow the
rules, and simply fought for their survival would they be executed as well.
This was something Raze had to deal with. The world wasn't always black and white. There
were shades of Grey in between, there were circumstances that a person couldn't avoid,
and in a world where people needed to work with each other in order to build the whole
society around them, things could happen that were out of your control.
According to the Light Faction rules, he would have been killed many times already.
For a moment, Raze thought that maybe, these were just rules and the consequences
weren't so dire. That was until he saw the warrior reach for the sword by his side.
"You have failed to follow the position, so you shall be removed immediately!"
Slip squinted his eyes, knowing what was coming next. 'Is this what death feels like? It's far
more painless than I thought. it's not the same feeling as I felt from before.
'I guess if this was death, then there was nothing I really needed to worry about.'
Slowly though, Slip opened his eyes, and he could see the student, standing in front of him.
His hand stretched out, holding onto the sword, having stopped it in its path.
"I have requested a meeting, and I plan to go see the clan heads," Raze stated. "And I have a
question for you, your post is to protect and make sure the Clan heads go about their day
uninterrupted.
"So if I get rid of you, will that mean you have also failed to follow your position?"
Chapter 660 A Skim Of The Finger
Chapter 660 A Skim Of The Finger
The state of Simyon's body out in the arena was a fraction of its former self. Cuts had
developed all throughout his clothes apart from the gloves that he wore. Blood had soaked
his uniform, part of it drying up.
Now as he stood there, one couldn't even tell if his eyes were open or not, as the skin
around them had swollen up. Yet despite all of this, he was still standing, and even Mantis's
clawed hands, the equipment that was made of metal, the edges had gone blunt with a
couple of them breaking.
"Hey maybe they're not stopping this fight, because they know that there is still a chance
for him to win."
"Are you crazy, is that something that's actually possible?" Another of the crowd asked.
"How can one win without fighting back?"
"Well look at him, he has a solid body, right, and even Mantis's equipment is breaking, he
also once in a while stops because he's hurt."
"Maybe the other person will get too tired and the fight will be declared a draw."
"And then what, does it really look like at the end of this, that the other person is going to
be able to fight."
While Simyon stood there, slowly he lifted both of his arms up from his side, he placed his
arms tucking them in toward his stomach, and his chin in toward his chest.
'This is just like back then, when I needed to stay awake no matter what, I'll do the same, I'll
stay awake, and then something will happen, a chance will occur, I will protect everyone
this time!'
There was one person in the Dark Faction that was unable to take what was happening
more than any of the others. Safa had already broken down in the room, she was on her
knees which were sore from having fallen over onto them, and she had a face full of tears.
"Please just call off the fight, if you were to ask of such a thing they would listen, they would
have to if the Dark Faction pulls out of this!" Safa asked again.
She didn't care anymore about it, she just wanted to help Simyon. She remembered back
when they were at the special temple for Orphans, how much Simyon had looked out for
her.
The two of them had a bit of a connection. He would read books to her even when she had
no voice, the two would often talk about Raze together, knowing how sweet he truly was.
Out of everyone, Simyon was probably now the second most important person to her. A
person she never wanted to lose.
"You want to stop the fight when everything is going perfectly?" Murkel asked. "Look at
this, a no name is standing his ground against the strongest student in the Demonic
Academy. Every second he stands, the more value he is adding onto our academy and the
entirety of our clan, why would I stop something like this."
Wiping away her tears with the sleeve of her hands, Safa didn't know what else to do. If
Murkel wasn't going to stop the fight, then it was just something she would have to do
herself.
Picking herself up she pushed the weight down on her thigh and stood up. Liam was by her
side trying to catch her if she fell. Then he saw her walking forward, walking toward the
glass door.
'Is she planning to…I can tell, she's planning to go out there, but with no contestant will the
glass even open.'
Safa continued to walk through her teary eyes, and eventually reached the glass door. She
placed her hand on top of it, and it didn't go unnoticed by Murkel.
"What are you doing, are you trying to interfere, even though I already told you, that it
wasn't a good choice." Murkel asked.
"If you won't act, then I just have to act myself," Safa said as she went to push the door.
"Move!" Liam shouted as he pulled Safa by her sleeve, at the same time, a fist went out from
Murkel trying to hit Safa.
Due to Liam pulling Safa just in time, the fist looked to have missed her. At least that's what
they thought.
When Liam pulled Safa he could see her holding onto her face.
"Are you okay, did you get hit?" Liam asked.
Liam had noticed the small movements that Murkle had made. His system was telling him,
was noticing that everything he did, meant that he was about to attack. He moved even
before Murkel had swung his arm, and was in the middle of pulling Safa away when Murkle
moved his hand.
Showing how fast he was. Liam thought the two of them were safe from the hit but judging
by Safa it might have not been the case. He could see, blood dripping onto the ground.
"Safa."
Liam pulled her hands away, and could see that Murkel had managed to catch her nose, it
was broken, blood gushing out from it crooked to the side. The finger had only brushed,
maybe not even touched Safa and this was the result.
"I have been more than lenient on your entire group because Amir stated that we would
need you for this tournament." Murkel explained. "All of you have already completed your
roles in this, yet you continue to make the situation worse than what it is."
Liam couldn't stop the messages pinging from his system. As it read the facial reaction and
the intensity around Murkel, he started to pull Safa away bit by bit, holding onto her
shoulders.
Knowing full well at any moment, they needed to do whatever it was to get out of there. He
turned his head to look at the situation around, no one would dare to help him, and where
even was Amir who had been gone for so long.
Simyon was also under him, so wouldn't he want to help him.
"Both of you, have already done everything needed in this tournament. There are no more
fights for you to have, so I can kill you right here and now."
Chapter 661 Follow The Rules, and Die
Chapter 661 Follow The Rules, and Die
On the second floor of the arena where the great Pagna Martial Arts tournament was taking
place, there was one of the participants that had left the viewing area and had headed
straight for the organizers of the event.
To where the three clan heads that were on top of the Light Faction. No one knew what was
going on, unaware of the troubles behind the scenes.
Having requested a meeting with the three Light Faction heads to stop the match, Slip, a
member of the Light Faction had reluctantly taken the student known as 'Jake' to be seen.
This was against the rules, the order that the Light Faction had, and as a consequence, they
had decided to eliminate the one that had broken the rules.
When Slip closed his eyes thinking that his life had come to an end because of this moment,
he had opened them to see the very student that had forced him into this situation
protecting him.
'A student from the Demonic Faction just saved me… why would he stop the strike, wait
how was he even able to stop that attack just now.'
"What words spoken from a student of all things." The attacker and guard said. "What you
had said, are threatening words while being on the soil of the Light faction, so that gives us
every chance, to eliminate yo-"
The guard had stopped mid-sentence because the wind had already been kicked out of him.
In the middle of his conversation Raze lifted his foot and kicked him right in the stomach.
"You, how dare you!" The other guard said drawing his sword and swinging it across.
Raze carefully deflected the hit using the techniques he had learnt from the Moon Shield
Clan, and made sure to condense his Qi, causing the other sword to bounce off.
Raze took a step back, as the Warrior swung his sword a couple more times throwing a
strike or two, but they did nothing as they just flung through the air.
Placing his hand over his fellow colleague he lifted him up.
"Are you okay?"
"It was a cheap shot, as expected of the demonic Clan, you have no honor." The man said as
he reaffirmed his position, the two of them looked at the student in front of them, now
wary.
"Is he really a student participating in this tournament, because based on your skill you
seem more like an assassin that is here to take out our Clan heads!" The guard pointed the
tip of his sword toward Raze.
Now, Slip who had guided Raze here stood on his feet, but made sure to stay behind Raze.
The Dark Magus was still undecided himself with what to do, which was why he hadn't
gone forward to strike or kill the two in front of him.
'Going against the three Light Faction leaders isn't a wise thing to do.' Raze thought. 'I know
I wouldn't have the strength to take them on, but through speaking to them, I had two goals
in mind, stopping this entire match, and finding out just what connection they had with the
magical items that have been used.'
Raze knew killing the guards wouldn't exactly put the Light Faction in the mood to talk. At
the same time, both of the guards were quite strong, to beat them at the same time, most
likely he would need to use magic.
"If you were to head into that room you would be dead in an instant." One of the guards
said. "However you won't get into that room, because this is our duty and this is our role."
"Your duty and role… I have simply requested a meeting, I did not wish to see blood, I just
wish to speak to those on the other side of that room." Raze said again.
He could feel the two emitting Qi from their bodies, and in response Raze started to do the
same. He wanted the two of them to think carefully, if he could at least match one of their
Qi, then perhaps it would be a warning to them, that in this fight they could possibly die.
However, it didn't seem to work, as the two jumped right at him. Raze swung his sword at
the first one hitting it away, but the middle stage warriors were quick to pull back the
sword and strike again.
For a moment with Raze's other hand he thought about pushing the other back with wind
magic, or a Dark pulse, but instead he kicked off the ground using his Qi.
'Fighting without magic, and so close this is going to be a hard fight…but I don't want to
give them any clues.'
Instead of using his magic, and trying to delude the others from fighting. Raze decided to let
out all of his Qi, even larger than before, and forced it out in front of him.
Slip who was by his side, had an idea of what Raze was doing.
'He…was a middle stage warrior after all. It was no wonder that none of the other students
stood a chance in the event. I can guess what he's trying to do, judging by his actions and
the skills I've seen before, he doesn't want to help, he is just trying to save his friend.'
Tightening his fist, Slip then stood upright by Raze's side.
"This student is only here to request a meeting with the organizers, there are no other
intentions I guarantee that, which is why I came here. I performed my duty by looking after
the guests as I was told.
"One of my other duties was to protect the guests from any trouble that was to occur, if you
plan to go down this road, then I will also stand by his side."
Slip drew out his sword. Just moments before he was ready for them to take his life,
because he had believed he had done wrong, but Slip realized in those moments he wanted
to live, and his wish was granted.
On top of that, he was a middle stage warrior, with his help he could at least do something
to help this student.
Now that Slip had joined the other side, the two guards were looking at each other, and
were starting to have second thoughts. Fighting against the student at full force would be
too much, but now having another warrior made their jobs a lot harder.
"You wouldn't dare." The guard stated.
"You can test my commitment if you want, but you have to remember, the person by my
side, saved me, and the person on the opposite side tried to kill me. My honor tells me who
to save, and don't you think two against one is also dishonorable?"
With the mass amount of Qi coming from not too far away from the hallway, the three clan
heads that were sitting in their seat and observing the match so far, could feel what was
happening behind them.
"Do you think someone is trying to attack us, and assist of some sort?"
"Do you really think that would happen, sending anyone strong enough to kill us would
have dealt with the two guards in an instant. While the three of us are together it is not a
good time for them to attack."
"That's for sure, this fight has gone on for an incredibly long time as well, when is one of
them going to fall dead."
While continuing to observe the match, the energy behind them had grown, to the point
that it had become a concern.
"I think it might be best, I go check it out, just in case." Ricar Highborn answered the head
of the Dawnblade Clan.
Chapter 662 The Sword Falls
Chapter 662 The Sword Falls
Ricar, the current clan head and one of the Elders of the Dawnblade Clan, was part of one of
the ten powerful Elders that allowed the Dawnblade Clan to be at the top, practically ruling
the Light Faction.
However, their power had lowered in recent times, gaining a small boost when Beatrix won
the last Martial Arts tournament, but then weakened again with the loss of one of the
Elders to the Crimson Crane.
They were now in a state where they needed to prove themselves, which was why Ricar
had volunteered himself to leave. Not only that, but he didn't like staying around the other
two for long.
'They have been trying to allow the Dawnblade Clan to fall from the top for so long. Using
anything they can, but I won't allow them to,' Ricar thought as he headed to the door, ready
to see what was happening on the other side.
On the outside, the match was still going on. It was one of the longest matches that had
occurred. The crowd was almost silent, only whispers heard among each other. For a while
now, they had no longer been enjoying the event.
Amir stood there looking at Simyon.
"That boy has always had a strong conviction, he was always the one that lasted the longest
in our training. His body as well is well-refined like a legendary sword that only grows
stronger. Although in many ways his growth is the slowest among all of the others.
"He has the potential to become one of the strongest, which is why I don't want him to lose
his life here, just give up, boy."
Amir glanced at the hooded person next to him. For a while now, both of his fists had been
shaking.
"I know you want to get in there, but believe me, you aren't the only one. There are many
that wish to jump in the arena right now, yet not a single one of them has done," Amir
commented. Although he did find it weird.
Judging by the others' personality, he was sure some people would try something at this
stage, so what was going on. Amir thought about heading back to the Dark Faction viewing
area, but for now, it was important he at least saw the outcome of this match.
Amir was greatly unaware of the events that were occurring in the arena itself where the
others couldn't see. Murkel had pushed Safa and Liam into a corner. His Qi was starting to
leak out from his body, and the moment it touched the two of them, it would be over.
Killing his own wouldn't be considered too much of an issue; it would just raise questions.
In the first place, Murkel wasn't a man who worried about what others thought about him.
Then, at the same time, Ricar was ready to push the door open; he had his hand placed on
the handle when he heard the crowd erupt into a loud cheer behind him.
Ricar turned around, and so did Murkel, both of them honing in their Qi and going to the
viewing areas to see what had occurred.
That's when they all could see that a single bloody boy lay there on the ground. The fight
still hadn't been stopped by the middle-stage warriors. It was just simple that the boy who
had been withstanding everything so far could no longer continue.
"Please…don't get up, don't get up," Safa cried out.
The glass area was soon lifted from both the Demonic and Dark Faction viewing areas,
telling contents to head back. Safa immediately ran out ahead of the others with Liam
behind her.
Murkel saw this, but he did nothing, letting them head out onto the field to see their friend.
"Ladies and gentlemen, a tough fight was put on by the Dark Faction! I know any of you
may be wondering why the Light Faction arrivals haven't intervened in this match, and we
have an answer," the announcer stated.
"Due to how strong these students are, and their will, as we get closer to the final of the
single events. As you saw in the match itself, it would not be fair for us to intervene. This is
a time for students to unlock their hidden potential and at any time the outcome of the
match could be reversed."
The explanation was one that the general public could understand and fitted the events
that had occurred because at one point, it looked as if Simyon was going to win the event.
Regardless, the people naturally cheered for joy when the match was over for two reasons:
to congratulate the winner, and they were glad the fight was over.
Hearing the cheers, Raze quickly turned around. He knew something had to have occurred
with the match. As he jumped away, he swung his sword behind him, and Slip, who was
with him, was turning his head back and forth after he went running with Raze.
"I have to do my duty, and that's to stay with the Demonic Faction viewing area!" Slip
shouted out. "Remember, you two have to guard this place as well, so no following us!"
With that, Raze had quickly returned back to the Demonic Faction viewing room to see
what was occurring and taking place outside, and that's when he could see Safa down next
to him.
'She's using her magic…out in the open, this isn't going to be good, but I can understand
why,' Raze thought.
Instantly, Safa was using her Light magic to heal what parts of Simyon she could. He was
still breathing, but who knew if he could survive what he had been through.
As she used her light magic, there were those in the crowd, those that were part of Alter,
noticing what had taken place. They couldn't quite believe their eyes.
"One of the Pagan students using magic, and so young as well, just who is that person."
After using what she could, she placed her hands down to her side, and Liam picked up
Simyon, placing him over his shoulder.
"He's going to be okay, you've done enough Safa, I can promise you, you don't have to do
anymore," Liam stated. He knew because his system had stated that Simyon's vitals had
returned to normal.
There was no more need for concern; Light magic was something that was truly powerful.
When they finally returned to the Dark Faction room, the Light Faction warrior checked on
him and had physicians come in as well to have a look.
After it was confirmed that Simyon was fine, there was a sigh of relief, including from
himself and the middle-stage warriors out in the field, the ones that had gotten involved in
stopping the match.
At the same time, Mantis had returned. His focus seemed strange; he didn't look at anyone
in the room, and no one said a word to him, as they felt like it would do nothing.
Just like that, Mantis went and leaned up against the wall like he had done for the entirety
of the tournament so far, as if nothing had happened at all.
"With all the single match phases currently finished, we now have our final contestants for
the finale, Hannah from the Light Faction, and Jake and Mantis, from the Demonic Faction!"
In the crowd, Amir walked over right to the edge as he looked in the distance.
"As expected he wasn't enough to break it out of him, but in the next match, I'm sure, we
will all need to be ready."
Chapter 663 Raze’s Grand Plan
Chapter 663 Raze’s Grand Plan
A physician from the Light Faction had been called, and Liam was looking over their every
move. They had brought out a makeshift table and set it out in the room. Now they were
checking over his wounds, placing a type of ointment on the cuts, while also feeding him
internal herbs that were meant to progress the healing. The reason why Liam decided to
stay by his side was to check every ingredient that was being used.
To put it simply, he didn't trust them. After what they had done out there, not stopping the
fight, he wouldn't be surprised if the Light Faction was now to poison Simyon and kill him,
even though it wasn't their usual methods.
'Everything they've used so far, the system states that none of them are poisoned and
should actually help him recover. Most of the work though was done by Safa,' Liam thought,
looking over to where she was.
Safa was sitting on one of the single seats. She was slouched, her face slightly pale, her
breathing slightly heavy. She was trying to meditate, to gather her energy back.
'After telling all of us to take it easy just in case Raze needs our help, she goes and does that
and pushes herself too much, but it's most likely thanks to her that Simyon is still alive.'
Once in a while, Liam would also take a look over his shoulder. Murkel and the other Dark
Faction leaders didn't seem to be concerned by what state Simyon was in. It was already
announced to the crowd that the student was doing fine.
Yet, Liam knew just moments before the match ended, Murkel was serious about taking
them out. Which put them in a dangerous situation.
'Right now, the only thing that is keeping everyone alive is the fact that this tournament is
still going on. After it's done and we head back to the academy, we're as good as dead, if
Raze has no plan, we need to start coming up with one.'
[Signs of activity are being detected]
Liam quickly looked at Simyon and even the physician who was spooked causing him to
take a step back.
Right after, eyes were fluttering and open wide, and immediately Simyon lifted his upper
body.
"I can still fight, I can still fight!" Simyon declared.
Looking around though, he quickly realized that he wasn't out in the arena fighting
anymore. Even looking down, he could see the wounds on his body, and how sore he felt,
and eventually his eyes laid on Safa.
She had a large smile on her face, and tears rolling down her cheeks. She looked exhausted
though, too exhausted to stand up.
"What happened, did I lose the fight, why is she like that?" Simyon asked.
"It might be best that you rest," the physician claimed. "Your body was extremely injured
during the fight; I didn't think you would be awake for a few more days. For you to be up
right now is a miracle in itself."
It didn't take long for Simyon to guess what had happened, and Liam to come by his side
and gently push his chest so he laid back down on the makeshift table.
"I'll let you know about everything," Liam said. "Just play it cool for now."
With the physician's job done, he bowed down and said he would be back to check up in an
hour or so to see how Simyon was doing, but predicted that he would be alright based on
the way he was now.
After everyone had left, Liam started to talk to Simyon without looking at him.
"I know you're not actually asleep. So I'll give you the details, you held out well, for an
incredibly long time. In the end, Mantis bested you and you lost the fight.
"Safa was worried because of all the wounds on your body. So she did what she could to
help you. I'm pretty sure it's because of her… it's the only reason you're alive. However, you
did a good job in that fight if you ask me.
"Because of it, in order to give everyone a fair chance, there's a long break at the moment,
to allow Mantis to be at full strength before he takes part in the final singles match.
"So just get some rest, and don't cause any more trouble, so Safa can recover as well, okay."
Liam could see Simyon clenching his hand, and took that as his answer.
Mantis had been leaning up against the wall, and once in a while, a deep breath could be
heard coming out from him. Lince was keeping an eye on not just him but Raze as well.
He feared that now there might be a rift between the two of them. Especially since Raze
was already planning to stop the fight due to him finding the whole situation unjust.
He also realized that Raze was the type of person to do as he wished. Which was what had
caused the disagreement between him and Sha Mo in the first place as well.
'They said Simyon was okay, and for now, all I can do is take their word for it,' Raze
thought. 'The main thing I need to continue with is to win this tournament… and not just
that but make sure there is a way to get rid of those three that will cause problems.
'I will get my hands on those items first. Before doing anything else,' Raze thought.
Eventually though, Mantis had decided to stop leaning against the wall and headed towards
the door.
"Is there anything I can help you with?" Slip asked.
"I feel trapped in this room. It will be a long time until the last fight takes part right. You're
waiting on a physician to see if I'm better or not? If you want me to get better, then let me
just leave this room. I'll be back in an hour when the physician arrives," Mantis stated.
The leaders seemed to not be bothered about what Mantis did. They weren't the clan head
of his clan after all, and it wasn't how the Demonic Faction operated in the first place.
Besides, they had done what needed to be done in the tournament, now they were just
going to enjoy the state of the match.
With that, Mantis had left the room, and Raze had decided to head to the back of the room
and closed his eyes, as he began to cultivate. To grow stronger with every moment he had,
knowing very well what could come next.
Now Anna and Alba were left standing next to each other and they both turned their heads
at the same time to check on Raze. Noticing this, they both turned them back quickly as
well.
"You seem to be a person good with numbers," Alba said. "You know what Raze's plan is in
all of this, what percentage do you think you have it working out."
Anna didn't reply instantly. There was a long gap before she said anything, making Alba
think that maybe she was being ignored on purpose.
"It's extremely hard to say because there are a lot of variables in all of this. We don't know
what the plans are of those that are moving in the crowd," Anna replied. "The thing is, Raze
is extremely smart to come up with the plan that he has done.
"He plans to remove as many variables as he can, in order to make it so the current plan has
the highest chance it does of being achieved."
"You might be right if you're just talking about the plan itself," Alba replied. "I've seen what
he can do, I have no doubt he will be able to pull that off, but then it's after. The hardest
parts come after the plan is implemented. There's still a lot that he, and us need to do and
I'm not sure if he's thought about the after-effects even if everything works out."
Right now, Anna simply didn't have enough information to figure out everything, all she
knew was she needed Raze, and the student named Liam alive. She needed to get answers
for herself.
Mantis was walking through the halls, and for once, he had desisted to put on his Pagna
clothing properly and even pulled up part of his shirt to cover his face.
While he was walking out through the walls and such, he didn't want to be noticed by the
crowd.
'I don't know what happened to me back there, I was in control, but at the same time, it felt
like I wasn't in control, and why was my back hurting so much,' Mantis thought as he went
and grabbed his throbbing head.
He was remembering what had happened at the clan base, everyone getting beat including
his own clan head, and how weak he felt when going up against them, but after that his
memories they seemed to go to a blank.
'Did they do something to me back then… what was it, and why would they do such a
thing?' Mantis thought.
While touching his throbbing head, Mantis felt a strong presence go past him, and a
whisper that was directed straight toward him.
"If you had gone any further, then I would have killed you, you're lucky you're still alive, so
go out there and do what you need to do."
Mantis had heard those words and turned to look at who it was, but could only see a
hooded figure walk past him.
'Who was that… and who the heck would be threatening me in a place like this,' Mantis
thought, as he decided to shake it off. No matter what, he would be the winner of this event.
Chapter 664 The Strength Of The Dark Faction
Chapter 664 The Strength Of The Dark Faction
After hearing the mysterious voice speak to him, Mantis didn't know why, but his heart
thudded once again. The great pain that he felt during his match with Simyon had returned
and this time he wasn't even in a fight.
Quickly, he had no choice but to lean up against the wall with his shoulder.
'The pain, why is it back? Is it because of that person's threat?'
The pain once again shot through his back. Trying to bear the pain within, he lifted his hand
and started to cover his face. As his hand slid down his face, one of his eyes had narrowed
and was glowing slightly yellow.
It was something that Mantis himself was unaware of. Regardless, he pushed through and
started to take a step forward.
With each step away from where the hooded man went, Mantis was starting to feel slightly
better and continued forward.
'If I'm like this, or don't find out the reason my body is doing this, I might just lose this
fight.'
Shaking his head violently, the look of both of his eyes had returned to normal.
'As if that would happen.'
——
In the Dark Faction viewing area, the atmosphere was a lot more relaxed, at least between
the Clan heads and the other adults in the room.
Murkel, rather than standing, was now sitting in his seat, with the two Clan heads beside
him. Gavin Rocksbored, leader of the Moon Shield Clan.
Then there was also Crine Runn, leader of the Flowing Force Clan. These were the main
powers that had been brought by the Dark Faction.
On top of that, there were quite a few more. For one, there was a female named Susan, who
had a blue wave tattoo that could be seen flowing to the tip of her neck.
Originally, Gunther had been asked due to his relation with one of the contestants, Mada,
and to Crine himself, but he had declined.
Gunther had never really been interested in the Academy's affairs so Murkel thought this
was fine. Instead, Susan, who had also fought for the seat of the Flowing Force Clan at one
point, was selected.
She had great strength to challenge for the seat, and after losing out, she had promised to
stay in the shadows so not many knew about her powers, and it was why the Light Clan
was fine with her coming along.
Ricktor, who had been staying at the back, was keeping an eye on everyone.
"What are you doing?" Mada asked. "You keep looking at all the adults."
"I'm just eyeing up those that we might have to break free from," Ricktor replied.
Mada desperately looked around, scared that they had been caught. They were already
treading on thin ice. He wondered if Ricktor had a death wish.
"Haven't you realized it already, the other three already have. Once this tournament is over,
we'll be lucky if we can even make it back to the main Academy alive."
Mada gulped in response. Was it really the case? He shook his head. He hadn't forgotten
what they had done in the assessment; that certainly would be the case.
"I'm looking out for the ones we need to worry about, you were the one that told me about
Susan. On top of her, we also have to be careful of Bargo; he is the Vice head of the Moon
Shield Clan and is incredibly skillful in his defense even though he uses a sword.
"I also recently heard that he had helped fend off an attack from the Demonic Faction with
little help from the remnants of the Lethal Bite Clan; he is certainly someone to look out
for."
After that, though, there was more as well. There was one person that worried Ricktor
nearly as much as Murkel himself.
"Don't turn around, but there is an old man at the back of this room."
The moment Ricktor said that, Mada went to turn around before he felt something hard
stomp on his foot.
"The old man is the oldest member of the Erupting Fist Clan, my clan along with my
father's. He is the one that trains the elite units in our clan.
"The people in the masks that day. He is one that no one has ever seen, and it's stated that
those that have seen his face never live to see another day. Arkon the melter."
"Then how do you know what he looks like?" Mada asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Only the direct descendants and bloodline of my clan have met him. If he goes out on tasks
sent by Murkel, he is usually wearing his mask, and the fact that he isn't worries me.
"He could very well be the person that will end up eliminating us."
What was frightening was now that Mada was looking around the room, he noticed that
those weren't even the ones he had to worry about.
There were certain rules as to who each faction could bring. They weren't allowed to bring
their very strongest in case they had planned anything.
Such as the assassination of the other clan heads. Yet the Dark Faction had clearly brought
in either those that weren't well known or the strongest after them.
Out of the four more Adult clan members that had been brought, from the Tulip Clan,
another of the five major clans in the Dark Faction, the powerful twin female warriors, Lin
and Lulu were selected.
They stood there in their tight-f
itting dress that had a split running down the leg, both of them with a fan that covered their
mouths open at all times.
It was impossible to tell the two apart. Unlike the other members, these two were well-
known in the Tulip Clan.
Along with Sherry, the head of the clan, the three of them were said to dominate the clan
that was filled with powerful men that had subdued their women in their clan.
There was once a rule in the Tulip Clan that the woman were to be servants and maids
only. They were forbidden to learn martial arts.
Secretly, the three of them had done whatever they could to learn martial arts. Selling their
bodies to other clan members.
Deceiving others, promising to do them favors and help others rise. In the end, all of this
had just caused the three of them to rise, and in turn, the three females had taken over the
Tulip Clan.
Ever since, the Tulip Clan had been dominated by the strongest female warriors in the Dark
faction. Many females looked up to the clan and aspired to join them as well, growing their
strength and numbers.
It was hard to say if these two were any weaker than the clan leader herself.
Then there were the final two adults in the room, Wendart, although not part of the five
major clans, he was a respected teacher at the Academy itself.
He had managed to reach being the top red headband teacher, and then progressed further
into the higher ranks of the Academy.
He was the Clan head of the Zan Su Clan. Many students requested to join the Zan Su Clan,
at least those that were unable to join the Major clans; they all thought it was the next best
place.
Some even with offers from the Major clans decided to join Zan Su, due to his simple
explanation when talking.
Finally, there was one more person.
"The last person… the last person… who is that, do you know him?"
When looking at the man, he didn't stand out much. His skin was quite pale, almost a gray
color. He had no hair, he was bald with a strict straight face.
He wore simple clothing and hadn't said a word during all of the events and hadn't even
reacted. It was to the point where Mada didn't even know he was in the room until he
started to look at every single person that was inside.
"No, I do not, and that is why that person worries me as well," Ricktor said. "Do you really
think Murkel would bring someone that was of no significance.
"Not a clan head, not someone from the academy, not anyone that people have heard of. It's
quite possible that Murkel has several trump cards in all of this, and the real question is
why."
With all the people to worry about, even if Raze had some type of plan, how was he meant
to deal with all of them in the middle of all of this?
"He is a man of miracles," Ricktor said to himself. "Now it's time to see him produce
another one."
The Dark Faction had nothing to worry about because they hadn't made it to the final event
yet; each of the students was nervous as they watched the Demonic Faction area open up,
along with the Light Faction.
"Walking out to the arena for the final time this evening, we have our fellow contestants,
give it up for Jake! Mantis and Hannah.
"And may the strongest Pagna warrior win!"
Chapter 665 The Final Match
Chapter 665 The Final Match
The final match had been announced, and walking onto the stage were the three
participants. On the ground floor itself, three circles had been drawn, spread an equal
distance away from each other.
Each person got into one of the circles, and then they waited as they stared at the
opponents in front of them.
"Who do you think's going to win?"
"I mean, it has to be someone from the Demonic Faction, right? They have two participants;
they might team up and go against the one person from the Light Faction."
"The Demonic Clans aren't like that, though. You saw how bad their teamwork was. Their
principles are based on just who is the strongest. Working together to take out Hannah, it
wouldn't prove any of that. If it was the Dark Faction, then maybe."
"Still, even if that is the case, I just think out of all of them, that the Demon has the edge; he
managed to take out all of his opponents so quickly."
"Don't rule out the others yet; you never know. Maybe the Demon was just lucky with the
level of openents he has gotten so far. He could just be lucky with this whole thing."
"I guess we'll just have to find out."
There was a minute left as the audience continued to make their bets. The highest odds
went to the Demon winning, in second Mantis, and finally, Hannah was placed last.
Even though Hannah was from the Light Faction and they were part of the Light Faction.
The fact that the Demon Jake had beaten the strongest Light Faction student, most gave her
no chance.
Concentrating, Hannah could hear the chatter from behind.
'I will ignore it all, I will do my best to perform and do the same as Beatrix taking down
everyone with the hard work and the skills of the Dawnblade Clan.' Hannah told herself as
she took a deep breath.
The three of them were staring at each other; would they all enter and clash in the middle?
Would one student aim to go after the other? There was a number of large possibilities.
"Let The fight, begin!"
The circles surrounding the three of the students' feet disappeared, signaling it was the
start of the fight.
In this type of situation, the best thing Hannah thought for her to do was just observe, so
she drew her sword and waited for one of the two to come at her.
That's when she felt like the least likely outcome had occurred.
"Why is he doing that?"
Mantis had moved the fastest from his position, going in on the attack, but rather than
going toward Hannah, instead, he had gone right for the student Jake.
"If I want to prove that I'm the strongest, then it means I have to go against the strongest!"
When Mantis was close, his feet shifted from his position, and there was a slight afterimage.
He had quickly appeared right in front of Raze, striking from his side.
Raze had blocked the hit, pushing back with his Qi, and sparks were flying through the air.
Both of them were pushing against each other.
'I should have expected something like this to happen.' Raze thought. 'The Demonic Faction
only care about being the strongest, and he would be the same!'
At that point, Raze decided to pour more of his Qi into his sword, pushing back both of the
claws. However, soon after, Mantis was also pushing back and had moved both of Raze's
hands back.
'What is this, the amount of Qi he's using hasn't increased. This almost feels like it's his own
physical power, but how is it possible.'
Raze surged his Qi, condensing it to one spot, and swung his sword, breaking the clawed
hands, and pushing them to the side.
Almost immediately, Mantis was swinging his arms trying to attack Raze. Each attack was
carefully blocked, from his side, from above, and each time Raze took a step back.
All of the blows were powerful, with shockwaves of wind hitting out and exploding through
the air. The crowd could hear the heavy hits being produced.
They sounded stronger than the hits that had been used when fighting against Simyon.
'I'm right, these hits, I can feel that they don't have the Qi. He's not at the middle stage like
Ricktor was, yet, he's able to produce such strong hits.'
For now, Raze was blocking each of them; he was trying to look for an opening, but it was
hard to do with the constant attacks.
Raze had stomped his foot on the ground, producing the first step of the descending steps.
The large amount of Qi would shift forward and disrupt an opponent's movement.
Yet, it didn't work on Mantis, as he was in the air, swinging another strike right on Raze's
head. Thankfully, Raze was able to deflect most of the attack and moved to the side to get
behind him.
"Your quite the annoying one to deal with." Raze thought.
Watching everything was Hannah. One of her strengths was observing her opponents and
then coming up with a plan to counter such measures.
Going against two people, she knew this was going to be harder for her, and she would have
to keep an eye out for two people instead of one.
With the outcome that had occurred, though, she was getting ample opportunity to look at
both of them. However, this had caused some comments that had come from the crowd.
"Hey, maybe Hannah can win this way."
"Your right, if she just stays back and let's those two fight, surely they'll hurt and injure
each other, then she can swoop in and win the fight."
"She's lucky this happened, honestly, it's the only way that she could have won."
Hearing these things, she knew that it appeared that way, and what they said, it certainly
was true. The best thing to do was just to stay back and then come up with the perfect
chance to strike.
'Winning like that, though, I would be ashamed of myself!' Hannah readied her sword and
charged forward, running across the field.
She could see Raze continuously blocking the attacks of Mantis. Then when coming in close,
she covered her blade in the glowing energy.
Pushing off from her leg, she struck from above, swinging her sword down, and it had
clashed at the top. Raze's sword, Hannah's sword, and both of Mantis's hands had clashed
together.
Right at that moment, she realized how much power was being used in the strikes, and she
had to grit her teeth.
'These two have been going at it for a while now, and they've been using this much
strength, how is that possible!'
Mantis was the one who then poured more power into his strike, pushing both of the
weapons away. When he went to attack Raze again, he felt a kick in his chest sending him
back, and skidding across the floor.
"Thanks for the opening," Raze said, looking at Hannah, who had also continued to swing
her sword against him, but when their two swords clashed, she felt her entire sword fling
back nearly out of her hand.
"You're skilled, perhaps the most skilled person here, but unfortunately for you, I have to
win this match!" Raze placed his sword toward the side and looked at both Mantis and
Hannah.
"I'll get rid of both of you in this hit!" The entire of his sword started to encase in his black
Qi.
Chapter 666 I Lost
Chapter 666 I Lost
By now, the crowd knew what was coming when they saw The Demon place two hands
onto the sword. They had seen the strike enough, and unlike before, this was from the real
person.
The entire sword was encased in darkness. Widening his stance, Raze threw out the sword,
but rather in a Vertical strike, he had done so horizontally.
"Horizontal Eclipse strike, the second formation!" Raze called out.
A large strike of Dark Qi had ripped through the arena along with the swing of the sword,
cutting the air. The attack went out from the sword and was heading straight for the two of
them.
A single strike aimed at getting rid of both of the opponents in one go.
Hannah could see the strike coming right at her. Her sword was still glowing with Qi, but
she was unsure if this was something that she could even block.
Lifting the sword, she started the sequence for her Moon Block technique, as she swung the
sword in a spiral and focused.
In the middle of performing her technique, she saw from the side Mantis jumping straight
into the attack. He had landed in front of her, with both of his claws and swung at the strike.
The entire attack pushed him back and looked to have consumed his body to the point
where he couldn't be seen, and then the attack had reached her and her blade as well.
The full moon block technique was clashing against the attack until it encased all of her
body and pushed her right back as well.
The attack faded as it continued forward. The middle stage warriors that were on the
ground had jumped up to the edge of the wall before they knew it, not wanting to get hit by
the attack themselves.
When looking at the ground, both Mantis and Hannah could be seen. There were no severe
wounds on their bodies, but the fact that they were lying on the ground made it clear that
they had been hit and were hurt from the large wave attack.
It was then that Hannah opened her eyes, her body sore, and she started to get up off the
ground.
"Is that it? Is that the end of the fight? Did the demon get rid of them with his one strike?"
"That attack, every time I see it, it gives me the chills. It's seriously powerful. Is he not some
clan head or something that's fighting the students instead?"
"Even if Hannah and Mantis get up from this, I think the fight is already decided. I mean
look at the Demon; he hasn't even broken a sweat."
While the crowd was already sure of the demon's victory, in the Organizer's viewing area,
one of the leaders had a deep scorn on his face as he witnessed what had occurred.
"Did you not give her the item?" Kawak asked.
"I had passed it onto Beatrix," Ricar replied. "She shouldn't have been that hurt from the
attack, and it looked like nothing had activated. It appears that Beatrix has some explaining
to do.
"I shall go inform someone to go get her."
"Without the item, I would say it appears the winner has been decided as well," Cicle
reluctantly said.
----
The first of the two to get up was Hannah. She could feel her entire body was sore as if she
had been hit by an eternal Qi strike.
However, she remembered, in the last moments of the attack, Mantis had jumped in front of
her first. He had taken the brunt of the attack, leaving the residue of the attack to hit her.
It might be only for that reason that she had survived. Still, she needed to look in front of
her at the one that was still standing.
"If I take him out, then I can win this. I still haven't done everything I can do yet," Hannah
said to herself. "After such a large-scale attack like that, it will be a while before he can
make another one, which means, this is my chance!"
Hannah bore the pain in her body, all the aches that were against her moving, and started
to charge forward.
"Get out of my way!" A voice was heard from her right, and she could see Mantis in the air
jumping toward her.
"Half-moon block!" she lifted her sword and just barely was able to hit the strike away.
When Mantis fell to the ground, he paused for a moment.
'I thought he was done for taking the hit head-on, and then he suddenly leapt at me like
that?' Hannah was steadying her breathing, trying not to get too startled.
'Wait, but why isn't he moving now? Is it because he's hurt? He took the brunt of the attack,
so if that's the case, he should be in a worse position than me.'
The moment Hannah saw that, she saw Mantis look up, and immediately he lunged at her.
He swung one of his hands, and Hannah was able to just block in time, but the large impacts
that were going against Raze just moments ago now had hit her.
She felt nearly her whole body flying through the air, her feet lifted off the ground. Before
she had even hit the floor, Mantis had hit her from the other side as well.
What was amazing was the fact that Hannah, even when flung into the air, was still able to
swing her sword to block the strike.
'These are how heavy his hits are, this whole time, this is what that guy was blocking. Who
is he? Who is this Demon that came out of nowhere, and who is this person in front of me,
with such fierce eyes!'
A straight attack had come right at her; she managed to lift her sword in front and strike
down toward the claws, but Mantis's attacks were far stronger.
Flung away, and skidding across the floor until she had almost hit the wall, just stopping a
few centimeters from doing so.
'I'm outmatched in this, both of these in this fight, both of them are far stronger than me.
I'm not even deserving of this position.'
While thinking of these words, she could see Mantis still charging toward her, and as for the
Demon, he was stood to the side.
Raze was fine with letting the two fight it out, and then him deal with the last one. It made
things easier for him that way, and he needed to conserve his energy anyway.
Hannah continued to look at Mantis coming her way, with his wild eyes.
'What am I doing? Why am I thinking this way? I promised, I said that I would become the
top of the top, so I can't think this way!'
Moving her hand over her sword, it started to shine brightly. Carefully she spread her legs
further apart and waited for Mantis.
When he was close enough, she leapt forward and swung her sword down. She felt it clash
against Mantis's hands, and it was heavy, but she didn't stop there.
Moving from her position, she swung her blade again using more and more of the
Dawnblade techniques, one after the other.
Now, Mantis was the one that was being hit from all sides, and all he could do was lift his
hands to protect himself.
And then, a breakthrough had occurred, a sweep of the sword had knocked the hands away,
and not holding back, with the tip of her sword, she pushed it aiming right for Mantis's
chest.
The sword had pierced through, but stopped just an
inch inward, as the Middle-stage warriors had interfered, holding the sword before it went
in any further.
"Hu…hu…" Hannah was huffing and panting for using one technique after the other, but
seeing her sword piercing her opponent and the fact that the middle stage warriors were
now involved it meant one thing.
That Mantis had been disqualified, he had been taken out of the fight.
Up in the stands, the hooded man and Amir were still standing next to each other.
"What now, it appears your plan has failed," the hooded man said.
"You think, there are more than one way for one to awaken," Amir replied. "I believe, this is
one of the catalysts that is needed."
"Ladies and gentlemen, Mantis has been taken out and is no longer able to receive the title
of the strongest!" The announcer shouted.
At the same time, Mantis with his head down, his hands lifted and grabbed onto the blade.
"I…lost."
Chapter 667 Unleash From Inside
Chapter 667 Unleash From Inside
With what had happened during the last match, some believed the Light Faction was
playing favorites with the contestant Mantis. During his match with Simyon, many thought
that the Light Faction warriors on the ground should have intervened sooner, giving the
win to Simyon.
Yet they had let the battle continue on. In the end, it was hard to say they had made the
wrong decision considering that Mantis had clearly won the fight. After hearing that the
Light Faction would allow fights to continue on further than they would have, to see who
the real strongest student was, some thought that they wouldn't get involved so soon.
Yet they were wrong; their intervention in the match meant that now, since they held onto
the sword belonging to Hannah, Mantis was out of the match. Some thought that maybe it
was now their favoritism toward the Light Faction.
Coming in this early, maybe this was how they were going to make it so the Light Faction
would be the overall winner in this event. After all, they had already lost the team event to
the Dark Faction.
Others knew that would only be rumors; the sword had already pierced right through
Mantis's muscles, and it had been stopped just short of reaching his heart thanks to them.
The words of the result rang through Mantis's mind again and again.
"I…lost?" Mantis mumbled, slowly lifting his hand and grabbing onto the blade.
"That's impossible; I am going to be the winner of this event."
Gripping onto the sword with his bare hand, it shattered in front of everyone.
Mantis lifted his head up, and both of the Middle-stage warriors could now see his fiery
eyes. They were narrowed and had changed to a yellow hue. They felt like they were
staring into the eyes of the beast.
"Stand dow-!"
A flash went right in front of Hannah's eyes. She didn't get to hear the last of the Middle-
stage warrior's sentence. When turning her head, she could see that the middle-stage
warrior's head was missing.
"Get out of here!" The other middle-stage warrior shouted as he went and pushed back
Hannah with his other hand, fiercely pushing her with Qi as if hitting her.
Hannah was lifted up her feet and through the air. Landing on the ground, she had bounced
a few times and rolled until she had ended up just shy of where Raze was standing.
When she looked in the direction she was in just moments ago, she could see the middle-
stage warrior who had helped her, with a fist that had pierced right through his stomach,
and a bloody hand along with it.
A middle-stage warrior's body, even if not specially trained like Simyon's, was still far
stronger than that of a regular human or an initial stage warrior. The stages were separated
for a reason.
With added Qi, one could fortify their bodies several times, and Mantis had now killed two
of them just like that.
Mantis pulled his hand out, and the middle-stage warrior fell to the floor. The two that were
there to protect the students were no longer alive.
There were still several middle-stage warriors on the edge of the stage to protect the
crowd, but they were at a loss for what to do. This had never happened before in the
history of the martial arts tournament.
"What is going on?" Hannah asked.
"A surge in strength, but not a surge in Qi, so then what is this?"
Hannah could hear Raze commenting on the situation; he still sounded calm despite what
had just occurred, but she also made note of what he said. If this wasn't Qi, then what was
it?
"ARGHHH!"
An almighty scream escaped from Mantis' mouth; it sounded like thunder had exploded in
the center of the arena and reverberated out to those in the crowd. Many had to cover their
ears due to the loud, screeching scream.
Hannah had to do the same since she was even closer, but moments later, and she could no
longer hear the screams. Looking into the crowd, she could see that the student 'Jake' was
completely fine.
He wasn't being affected by the screech, and that's when she noticed she could hear no
sound at all.
'Is this because of him.'
As soon as Mantis had closed his mouth, the sound had returned to her ears instantly. She
felt like she had escaped from whatever sound barrier she was in.
She didn't have time to worry about why this was happening though because there were
much bigger problems right in front of them.
Mantis was curled up into a ball, surrounded by the two dead on the ground; he fell to the
floor on his knees, and with both of his hands, he was hugging himself as if trying to reach
his back.
Mantis could feel his skin bulging from underneath; his sense of smell was growing as he
could tell where the dead were without using his eyes, where the others were on the
ground itself, and those in the crowd.
Then, a large tearing sound was heard, along with snaps and pops. Breaking out from the
right of his back shoulder, piercing through his skin, another part was growing from his
body.
All of those in the arena could see it; it looked like a large bat wing, with several holes in the
flaps of its wing had grown from Mantis.
"I can't believe it," Kawak said from the organizer's viewing area.
The three of them had stood up from their seats and had moved closer to the glass to try
and see directly what was happening. They then saw from the other side, erupting through
Mantis's shoulder was the same; another wing of the same size had grown out.
Finally, Mantis stood up from the ground; his yellow eyes were glowing, and his large wings
flapped, blowing part of the dust in front of them a couple of times.
In the Dark Faction viewing area, the students had moved closer to the glass as well.
"That's, is that what I think it is?" Liam asked, even though his system had already
confirmed his thoughts.
"Yeah, I think this might be what Amir warned us about. About how things weren't going to
be normal during this event, but I doubt Raze had any clue that this was going to happen,"
Safa replied. She had somewhat managed to recover from using all of her energy from
earlier.
And she was far too worried about her brother to just sit down and watch what was going
to happen.
"What have the Demonic Faction done!" Cicle asked. "They have brought, of all things, that
to the tournament. Was this their plan all along, to use this to get rid of us?"
"That may very well be the case. I never thought in this tournament, we would see a Hybrid
here. Whatever the case or reason, we must eliminate it immediately, and we must
eliminate those in the Demonic Faction for doing such a thing!"
Amir in the middle of the crowd, had a big smile on his face.
"The Bonum Society will do whatever it needs to protect this world."
Chapter 668 The Demonic Faction Escape!
Chapter 668 The Demonic Faction Escape!
Although no one would believe it if they were told, but the most shocked about Mantis's
transformation and the fact that he was a Hybrid would have been none other than those in
the Demonic Faction themselves.
They were stunned as they saw the giant wings come out from his back, and even before
that when the middle stage warriors were killed.
Sha Mo had moved to the front of the glass and was standing by Lince's side. When they
saw the situation, for a brief moment, they felt slight dread.
"You're the smart one of the Faction," Sha Mo said. "The fact that this has happened with us
being here isn't good for us, is it?"
"You're right," Lince replied. "They will no doubt think that we had something to do with
this. I wonder what has happened to the kid. We need to know if the —— Clan has anything
to do with this as well."
Hybrids were crazy beasts, and it wasn't the Demonic Clan's way to find power in such
ways. Although the Demonic Clan cared about power above all, many felt like it had to be
one's own power.
Leaving some of the clans to not even rely on equipment or artifacts from other
dimensions. Even going as far as not using Qi pills.
After saying those words, Lince turned around. He could see the worry on the rest of the
Demonic Faction's face, including the other students. Doing such a thing in the middle of
Light Faction territory.
Even with who they were, it would be suicidal to do such a thing. Rather than caring about
the tournament itself or the consequences of what was to occur after this, they needed to
worry about getting to the Demonic Faction in any way possible.
'If we can get back, then we will be fine.'
Lince moved over and quickly appeared right by Slip's side. The Light Faction warrior who
had been watching over them.
"You work for the Light Faction; they should have told you a protocol for what is to happen
if anyone was to make any drastic moves like this. You need to tell us now, what is going to
happen so we can be prepared!" Lince asked.
Slip was nervous; he felt like he would faint at any moment. Why of all positions did he
have to have been assigned to the Demonic Faction where the most trouble was occurring?
However, judging by the reactions of those in the room, Slip knew that they also had no
clue about what was happening right now.
"In the arena right now, all of the top Clans of the Light Faction are present. They are
stationed in certain areas to move quickly. Leaders of some of the top clans.
"But I'm sure because of the situation, and because of the Behemoth Clan and the Lost Clan
leader being here, that even the organizers themselves will come here. It was designed so if
we caught on to a plan from a faction that there was no way for your escape."
Lince's eyebrows furrowed, but it was as he had expected. Out of all the clans, the Light
Faction would, of course, be the most prepared.
"Everyone, ready yourselves for anything," Lince shouted.
Right after finishing, a large explosion came from the wall and the doors. Rubble exploded
out, causing dust to enter the room.
Slip, along with Lince, had moved back away from the wall along with all the others and
had backed up until their backs were against the class. When the dust started to settle, they
could see around thirty Light Faction warriors standing there.
All of them middle-stage warriors, with mass amounts of Qi.
'All of them, it's just like Slip said; they're all Clan heads that are extremely skilled and
powerful. They may not be the top three clans of the Light Faction, but they are still not
someone we can just brush aside!' Lince thought.
Walking through the center, there were then two more with large white masks on their
faces. Two of the organizers, Kawak, the head of the Aura Clan, and Cicle, the head of the —-
Clan, were there as well.
"I didn't think you would be so stupid to do such a thing while in our territory, and then
you just had to go and do it," Kawak said.
"Don't you think you should gather some evidence before accusing us?" Lince said. "We had
no idea as well, and besides, the matter in the ring hasn't been dealt with."
"Oh, but it will," Kawak answered.
When the organizers had witnessed what had occurred on the arena floor, they had to act
quickly. Hybrids were extremely powerful, and the student in question was talented as
well.
Depending on the beast that had fused with the student, the power in front of them could
be an extremely powerful middle-
stage warrior. The fact that they were able to kill two of the Light Faction middle-stage
warriors so quickly was proof of strength.
However, they also needed to deal with the Demonic Faction before they got more
involved. It was clear that the tournament was over; it wasn't important if a winner was
declared or not.
After this event, things would change between the three factions.
"You two head for the Demonic Faction," Ricar, head of the Dawnblade Clan, stated.
"Hannah belongs to the Dawnblade Clan, and I will protect her."
The other two had no problem with that and agreed. Before the crowd dispersed, it was
important for them to get involved and deal with the situation. The glass viewing area
opened, and Ricar jumped down, while the other two had headed off.
When landing, Ricar could hear the sound of the mechanical glass opening up behind him.
The organizers' viewing area was stationed right above the Light Faction's.
Turning around, he could see who had come out.
"Beatrix, there is no need for you to come out," Ricar claimed.
"No need? Do you really think so? We have no idea of the strength of this Hybrid," Beatrix
answered as the glass started to close behind her; she was the only one that had come out.
"Are you saying that I am not strong enough to take this thing on? Besides, you have
already caused trouble; it's hard to trust you," Ricar said.
"Trust me because of what I did… I only followed the wishes of my disciple, who is her own
person, and that's why I'm here now because I'm going to protect my disciple no matter the
cost."
If one thing Ricar was sure of, it was the conviction that Beatrix had for her own disciple. So
he didn't say anything else. Both of them drawing out their blades, walked through the
arena, looking at the Hybrid beast in front of them.
Now coming from one side was the two of them. From the other side, there was Raze and
Hannah, and in the center was Mantis.
As they stepped closer, they readied their blades until jumping down from the crowd, a
hooded man landed in between Mantis and the two of them.
"I'm sorry, even though I don't want to admit it, he's with us," the hooded man claimed.
Chapter 669 The Dawnblade Clan acts (Part 1)
Chapter 669 The Dawnblade Clan acts (Part 1)
The crowd had mixed feelings about what was going on. Some of them felt a bit unsettled
by the hybrid and the chaos that was taking place.
All bets were off, and clearly the martial tournament had ended. There was a slight fear that
something could happen to them if there were bigger plans than this.
Maybe an entire invasion was set to occur from the Demonic faction if this was truly a
planned attack. Others felt a little more at ease.
The tournament wasn't taking place on any of the borders, and there was good reason as to
why this had happened, for reasons like this one.
Bubble, the infamous reporter who spread news far and wide to every continent's corner,
also had mixed feelings.
'What is happening here could change all of Pagna. I'm excited to witness it with my own
eyes, but I fear that bigger things might occur,' Bubble thought as he gauged a reaction from
those in front.
"Hey, is it really safe to be here? I know we have the middle stage warriors protecting us at
the front, but that student just took out two of them like that," one of the crowd members
who was closest to the edge said with concern.
"We should be fine, right? Aren't Pagna warriors not meant to get involved in regular
citizens? Otherwise, it will start giant chaos. There are a lot of non-warrior people here, so
we shouldn't be attacked."
"Do you think that a Hybrid will really care about that? Aren't they part beast to begin
with? They can just blame it on that."
The others agreed with the man's thoughts. Even more so, they started to think of things
they saw brushed under the rug daily.
The times were Pagan warriors abused their powers and even when reported to the
government officials and kingdoms, how they sat there and did nothing in response.
"You're right. If this has happened, why aren't they clearing out the crowd and letting us
go? If anything, they've blocked out the main exits in the arena, and it's making me kind of
nervous."
"It's because it would be embarrassing for the Light Faction," Bubble answered.
Even though the group of men talking weren't speaking to him, he couldn't help but get
involved after overhearing them.
"Right now, the strongest members of the Light faction are in this place. If they let everyone
go, it would mean they were scared or worried. It would show a sign of weakness for the
Light Faction.
"They need to prove to everyone that from a simple attack like this, in their territory, that
they can easily protect the place... I'm sure right now, there might be other things going on,
and I need to move as well."
Turning around from his seat, his flashy silk clothing sparkled in the others' eyes. They had
never seen such extravagant clothing before, and they knew this person was someone, even
just by the way he spoke.
Maybe they would have asked who this person was if it wasn't such a dire matter because
when turning their heads, they were wondering just what was going to happen on the
arena floor and whether or not they were really safe.
In the Dark Faction viewing area, Murkel along with the others in the room were having a
field day at what was happening.
"I never thought that the Demonic Faction would be so brazen to do such a thing!" Murkel
smiled. "At this rate, it looks like we will have to do nothing; the Light Faction will eliminate
all of the Demonic Faction that are here."
"You are correct, and I doubt that the Light Faction will come out of this without any major
injuries," Gavin stated. "The Demonic Faction might retaliate even further and go in for a
full attack, giving us all the opportunity to do as we wish."
"There is one thing that you have to consider: if the Demonic Faction has done this, they
had to have a good reason. They also have to be confident in some type of plan they have,"
Crine added. "For us, the best option is to just let things play out and take all the rewards
together."
There was a reason for the Dark Faction's pleasure in all of this. In truth, Murkel was
worried that the Dark Faction's strength had weakened considerably.
It was why he had tried so hard to improve the students' strength, to still appear the
strongest out of the three, or at least not the weakest.
A spark in the Dark Faction had been lost, especially after losing the Lethal Bite Clan and
the constant infighting within the Dark Faction that was occurring.
Until that was quelled, they were unable to make a move.
Out on the arena, Ricar and Beatrix were walking side by side, ready to deal with the
Hybrid Mantis before he got any ideas of attacking the students out on the field.
Since it was someone from the Demonic Faction, Beatrix also had a fear that the one known
as Demon was also in on this and would be ready to attack Hannah at any point in time,
which was why she had to come out and help.
As they were ready to attack Mantis head-on though, from the crowd jumping right past the
middle stage warriors, was a hooded man landing in between them.
The middle stage warriors were busy thinking of protecting the crowd, that they never
even thought someone would jump right into the fire that was there in front of them.
"As expected," Ricar said. "It seems that the demonic faction has more surprises than we
thought. Otherwise, they wouldn't be so confident in getting involved."
"Hey," the hooded man shouted, turning his head slightly toward Mantis, who seemed to be
struggling and fighting with his new body.
"You want to learn how to control that thing and how to go back to normal?"
"Grah!" Mantis had turned his head to look at the hooded man.
"Then, take out that old man, and we'll help you and your clan."
It was almost as if Mantis had lost his mind, unable to communicate properly. Yet for some
reason, after the hooded man had said those words, Mantis had leapt up from his position.
He jumped up high in the air and flapped his wings, which suddenly moved him two times
faster, and was right in front of Ricar, striking with his clawed hands.
Ricar protected himself, lifting up his sword which was covered in his Light Qi, and he was
being pushed back. His feet being dragged through the dirt.
"Such strength, it's no wonder you were able to take out those other Middle stage warriors
so easily, but I am no ordinary middle stage warrior." The light around Ricar's sword
started to light up further and further until it encased the entire body of Ricar and was now
touching Mantis.
When it hit his skin, a sizzling sound was heard, and smoke started to appear from his
fingers; quickly Mantis had jumped back.
The top layer of his skin had burned off, but the moment he had exited out of the range of
Ricar's Qi, his fingers started to heal.
"A special trait of the hybrids, it's not going to be easy to beat him," the hooded man said as
he had jumped in front of Beatrix before she could join in the fight and swung his fist.
It had clashed against her sword, but the great power had pushed her back.
"Why are you getting in our way!" Beatrix shouted as she charged forward, not looking at
her opponent instead looking at the Demon who was still standing by Hannah, wondering
just what he was planning to do and his involvement in all of this.
Chapter 670 The Dawnblade Clan acts (Part 2)
Chapter 670 The Dawnblade Clan acts (Part 2)
After being hit by the middle stage warrior, Hannah was frozen on the ground, her upper
body lifted up to look at the fighting that was going on, but she had yet to move.
There was one simple reason because right next to her, she was practically underneath the
Demon's foot. Seeing the state of Mantis, she felt like her life was hanging by a thread.
Yet, for some reason, when she turned to look up at Raze, he was just looking ahead at the
fight that was taking place, unmoving.
'Just what is he thinking right now? Why hasn't he done anything? Why hasn't he said
anything? Just what is he planning?'
Due to the fights that were taking place, they had pretty much ignored the Raze and
Hannah that were on the ground away from the fight.
Mantis, in his new form, was charging in at speeds that were unseen in the event so far. He
was already fast on his legs but with the flap of his wings, it would push him forward
breaking through and exploding.
When the wings flapped, it sounded like a small thunder strike in the arena, and before
they knew it, he was clashing against Ricar.
Each time though, Ricar would block the attack, and not only that but unlike the first time
when the attack was unexpected, he was hardly pushed back; the large amount of Qi was
matching in blocking the hit.
"It's the wings that are giving you that immense speed, so I will clip them off for you!" Ricar
shouted.
Once again, the wings of Mantis flapped and he shot forward, however, his claws didn't
clash into anything; instead, Ricar had timed it perfectly and in quick succession, he swung
his sword in the air at one of the wings.
Several deep cuts were made in the wing itself, and as a retreat, they were flapped pushing
in the opposite direction.
The strong power and wind had hit Ricar in the face, causing him to cover his eyes, and
with a damaged wing, Mantis had oddly shifted slightly to the side rather than backward
and had fallen on the floor.
He quickly got up though, and straight away, the wing on his body could be seen healing
and was back to normal.
"This is why Hybrids are so difficult to deal with. It's unfortunate; with so many people
around, I can't just take you out in a single hit," Ricar said to himself, as he decided to go
forward in the attack.
"I will just have to display how the Dawnblade Clan's techniques can be used in any type of
situation."
While on one side of the area, Ricar was battling against Mantis, on the other side, Beatrix
was now fighting against the mysterious hooded warrior.
The two of them had several clashes and the exchanges were impressive. Beatrix wasn't
holding back; she was swinging her sword with a large amount of Qi.
Lingering Light was being seen in the air as she continued to swing the sword, striking at
the hooded man.
Equally, the hooded man was blocking the hits with his own arms, and then right after, he
would strike himself.
It was a constant exchange that was continuing back and forth between the two, without
one winning out against the other.
"What is going on? Is there really someone that is equal in strength to Beatrix!"
"I mean, there are plenty in the Light Faction that are stronger than Beatrix, but she was
last year's tournament winner; there won't be many that could match up to her skill."
It wasn't just that, but currently Beatrix was rumored to have the same strength of the ten
elders of the Dawnblade clan.
With one of the Elders having been defeated, there were rumors that she would be joining
the group. Ever since her loss in the Demonic Faction, she had been pushing herself further.
Yet because of her young age, she hadn't gained the Elder title. Now her powerful skills
were being shown, and those that stepped foot in the Pagna warrior world could tell just
how skillful she was right now.
Which was why they were confused; how could someone match her, and for them to do so
with their bare hands.
"You idiotic Demonic Clan, do you really think you would succeed coming in the middle of
this tournament!" Beatrix shouted as she swung her sword across.
The lingering light was seen in the air, but the hooded man was able to avoid the attack by
leaning back. He then shifted his foot, kicking hers, sending her back slightly.
With his flexibility and abdomen strength, he lifted his body and delivered a punch right to
her chest, sending her slightly back.
However, shaking it off, Beatrix was back, as she jumped side to side, using impressive
footwork, then her sword lit up and pulsated right in front of the hooded man's eyes.
The flash of light was bright like a person was staring directly into the sun.
Right after, he could sense that she was by his side, and the hooded man had to quickly lift
his arm to stop the attack.
The sword clashed against what sounded like metal and was pushed to the side.
"I thought the Light faction didn't have sneaky tricks like that!" The hooded man said.
"When going against opponents that are sneakily trying to take out our students, then we
use whatever we can to get rid of scum!"
Beatrix's attacks started again, and the swordsmanship that was being produced was like
that of watching a beautiful dance.
The light left lingering in the air from the visual Qi was creating beautiful patterns, and they
could see from it, the hooded man appeared as if he was being pushed back.
The strikes from Beatrix, they were picking up speed, the lingering light that flowed behind
her, it was moving toward her sword. Not only were her attacks getting faster but they
were getting more powerful as well.
"I'll get rid of you, and then get rid of all the Demonic Faction and the Dark Faction to make
this world a better place!" Beatrix shouted.
Her entire sword lit up, glowing brightly, and then she thrust her sword forward. She could
see that the hooded man had jumped back and she went forward to chase him down.
It was then, with both of his fists, the man threw them out, but they weren't aimed at the
sword; instead, they were aimed at Beatrix.
Out from his fists, Qi blasts had appeared and hit Beatrix in the shoulder, sending her
tumbling back and onto the ground.
Quickly, Beatrix rolled on the floor and had gotten back up, but she was startled by what
had occurred.
"What was that? What trick did you use!" Beatrix shouted.
Oddly, she started to remember something similar happening once in the past. At the same
time, she had this odd feeling throughout the fight.
From the large attack, when the hooded man had jumped back to avoid the strike, his hood
had fallen, revealing his face to all.
"I thought I could beat you this time without relying on these things, but I guess I have to,"
the hooded man
claimed.
In the Dark Faction viewing area, Simyon felt tears roll down his cheeks, and his mouth was
left wide open along with the others.
"I thought…he was dead."
Chapter 671 Who is Behind all Of This?
Chapter 671 Who is Behind all Of This?
The hooded man, who was able to go toe to toe with Beatrix, his hood had finally fallen
down revealing his face to all.
To many that were present, he was a face that they all recognized because he was a
somewhat big figure in the world of Pagna.
Right now, they were looking at Dame Narfous. The son of Belil Narfous, the clan head of
the Never Fall clan, one of the most powerful clans in the Demonic Faction.
It was hard to say that this had come as a big surprise to the group, after all, they had all
assumed that the ones that had planned this attack was none other than the Demonic
faction in the first place, so to see another member here wasn't a complete surprise, but it
was for others.
Tears had come to Simyon's eyes, while Safa and Liam were ecstatic to see the Dame still
there. The last time they had seen him, he had fought against Murkel to help them.
He had fought and taken a direct blow falling off the cliff. They were sure that Dame had
lost his life, in protecting them all.
Simyon had been thinking about Dame constantly, who had been his mentor in helping him
grow, wondering if he could have done anything that day to save him, and now seeing him
alive was a large sense of relief.
"So he did manage to survive after all…that's great," Simyon said.
"It's good, but why did he come here, and why did he intervene with the fight to help
Mantis?" Safa asked.
They knew that Dame was originally part of the Demonic Faction, but when working with
Raze he had recently decided to abandon his clan.
So why would he help someone like Mantis, something was going on, and it was something
that they didn't understand.
Regardless, others like Murkel had their own thoughts.
"That young man is still alive," Murkel said. "It seems he really was a spy for the Demonic
Faction back then. I should have made sure to get rid of him. I will just have to allow the
pleasure of letting the Light Faction take care of him instead."
Now in the arena, Beatrix was getting a good look at Dame, who wasn't wearing the special
mask that changed his face. It had been destroyed in the fight with Murkle, showing how
strong his attacks were.
Thankfully, the special Gauntlets that he had made from Raze were still working as
intended.
"It's you, you are getting involved again, why is it that you are always standing in my way!"
Beatrix shouted, charging forward with her sword again.
Now, Dame was jumping back and swinging his fist in the air. A Qi blast would leave and
crash into Beatrix, she needed to swing her sword to fight against the Qi since the attack
wasn't weak by any means.
Right after, Dame was behind his own attack, and had punched right in her side. He then
went to hit her head but the attack was blocked quickly, and another strike was swung
down before Dame caught it with his gauntlets and fired off another Qi blast with his fist
hitting her in the stomach again.
A bit of blood was seen trickling down the side of her mouth.
"I beat you last time, and now I'm even stronger than I was before, you don't have any
chance," Dame suggested, thinking back to their last fight.
He could tell that Beatrix had improved quite a bit since the last time they had met, but it
was the same for him as well.
Beatrix came back rushing with a half swing over her head. It clashed against Dame's
blocking the attack with both hands.
When the sword had hit, an explosion of light dust appeared in the air.
The crowd had never seen such beautiful visual Qi being produced before.
"Gather!" Beatrix said.
The dust of light energy had gathered in her sword, as she pulled it away she went to thrust
the sword toward Dame's center once more.
He had pulled back and swung both of his fists once again, throwing out a Qi blast. Before it
hit Beatrix this time, there was almost a barrier of Qi that had caused the attack to go to the
side.
The powerful strike had then hit Dame right in the stomach, and sent him skidding back.
His hand covered his wound and looking at the palm of his hand he could see quite a large
amount of blood.
"This is nothing to worry about," Dame said to himself.
"Yes, go on Beatrix!" Hannah said, giving out a slight cheer as the strike had landed.
"Dame…he is also someone who has helped me greatly, if his life is at risk, then I at least
owe him some help," Raze said to himself.
This didn't go unheard by Hannah, and now she was worried. When Mantis was getting hit,
the student known as Jake didn't join in, so why was he planning to help this person.
Yet, Raze still didn't move because he felt like there was more.
'This can't be the extent of their plan, all variables must be considered first before I need to
move.'
Not just that but elsewhere there was one more person that wasn't finding it easy going
against the Dawnblade Clan.
Ricar was fighting against the transformed Mantis who was exceptionally fast and had a
high healing rate, but Ricar had gotten into somewhat of a groove.
Each time he clashed against Mantis with his sword, his Qi would pulsate. An orb-like
structure would appear around the sword, damaging more than just the area it struck.
Mantis would back away, but now Ricar was the one on the attack. He was tracking Mantis
down, hitting him with his pulsating sword.
It flung Mantis against the arena wall. Then when Mantis slightly jumped up in the air, it
didn't take long for Ricar to be over him and swung his sword hitting the entire of Mantis's
body sending him to the ground.
A skilled warrior was playing with a beast, that was all it looked like. While Ricar was in the
air, he started to spin his body and then held his sword up.
It was clear he was gathering his Qi for a final strike to finish the injured Mantis on the
ground.
'For one that heals incredibly fast, I just need to get rid of you in one strike!'
Kicking the air as if there was a platform, Ricar rushed toward the ground with his sword. It
was shining down like a shooting star ready to pierce through Mantis's head.
A large amount of Qi exploded in the center as the sword dropped down, blowing the dust
everywhere and causing the audience members to turn away.
When the audience looked back, they
could see that the sword had failed to pierce Mantis, instead, it had only pierced the
ground. Cracking the foundation deeper underneath.
Instead, Mantis's body had been moved and now there was another person stood in their
place.
"I thought I would have to get involved, it's a shame things couldn't be so easy."
There was an older man with dark hair stood in the center, and there were those that
recognized him.
"You, aren't you from the Amir the vice principal of the Dark Faction Academy, what are
you doing, what is the meaning of this!" Ricar asked.
Chapter 672 Start The Plan
Chapter 672 Start The Plan
While multiple things were going on in the Arena floor, things were taking place where the
audience was unable to see, specifically in the Demonic Faction viewing area.
Both Alba and Anna were still present in the room; they had decided to back up and stand
behind the other Demonic Faction members.
"Isn't this a bit cowardly?" Anna asked.
"I don't think in this situation, these people will really be looking out for us newcomers,"
Alba replied. "So I think it's okay we stay back, and we should let them do the talking."
More specifically, there was one individual that was trying to calm the situation down.
Although everyone had their weapons drawn and their Qi was ready to be activated at any
moment, standing in front of all of them with Sha Mo slightly behind him was Lince.
He was thankful that although there were so many powerful Light Faction members here,
they hadn't just jumped at the opportunity as soon as they attacked.
"You have to believe us; we are just as surprised as you are about this situation," Lince
stated. "The student Mantis does not belong to any of the clans that are currently present."
"That is convenient," Kawak replied. "And don't you think that since you are joining this
competition as the Demonic Faction, that the consequences of one person's actions reflect
all that of the Demonic Faction."
Lince could tell that he wasn't going to win this with a war of words. Not against the Light
Faction that were more quick-witted compared to others.
Maybe with other hotheaded people like that of the Dark and Demonic, so he had to try
something else.
"Regardless, do you think you want to fight against us in this case? It will be hard to take us
out, you should know that, and the consequences of what will happen after.
"Starting a battle over one student, it will also mean that the Dark Faction will have the
upper hand in all of this."
Lince could see that the two Light Faction Heads were thinking about it. It was perhaps the
reason they hadn't attacked in the first place. They would rather bring them in if possible
and deal with them in a better manner.
But that would only work if the Demonic Faction really wasn't planning anything.
"Come on, think about it, we are not in a good situation here, even us from the Demonic
Faction would be smarter than to attack, you know. We would have done it after the
tournament ended when you had your guard down.
"Or we would have tried to attack you secretly, rather than causing chaos out in the open."
Kawak knew that Lince had a point, which was why he was hesitant in all of this; if this was
the plan of someone else, then maybe they wanted the Demonic Clan and Light Faction to
fight each other.
He didn't want to play into their hands, but there was also another thought.
"Plans don't always go to plan; this might have been something unexpected for you, and
now you just need to improvise. If you truly say what you say, then you must stay in the
Light Faction until this matter is sorted," Kawak ordered.
Lince looked to his right at Sha Mo. He could hear that his breathing was getting heavier
and deeper. It wasn't something Sha Mo would agree to; to be held captive, that wasn't
something someone at their level complied to; they would rather die.
It was at that moment that they could all hear something happening in the crowd. As they
turned their heads to glance at what was happening, that's when they could see the hooded
man now being unmasked.
"That's Dame…what is he.." Slowly Lince turned his head around and had an uneasy smile.
His black cloth was covering his mouth, but his eyes, one could tell it was a nervous smile.
"Would you believe me, If I told you, that we also have no idea why he is here, I mean we
don't even get on very well with the Neverfall Clan, they have always done their own thing
in the first place," Lince explained.
Without a doubt, those in the Light Faction would know who Dame was. At least someone
would, and now that there was another that had gotten involved, it was looking more and
more like the Demonic Faction had planned this whole thing.
"There might have been room for negotiation before," Kawak mentioned. "But now that we
have seen this, we have no choice but to keep you here until the investigation is over, and if
you decide to disagree, then we will just have to force you."
At the back, both Anna and Alba were deciding what to do. They didn't really want to fight,
but more so, they were concerned about Raze.
They were taking a look through the glass to see if there was any type of signal from him
aiming to come his way.
"With everything that's happened, it's pretty hard for him to stick to the plan," Anna stated.
"Yeah, and when a plan doesn't work, it's time to improvise; we just have no idea how good
his improvising skills are," Alba said.
They needed to think fast regardless, but were pretty aligned with what they were going to
do the moment the Light Faction had decided to act.
That was until Amir himself had gotten involved. The crowd's reaction to this had caused
everyone to turn to look at what was happening, and know they were all deeply confused.
"Now you have to believe me, right?" Lince said. "I mean, that guy isn't even from the
Demonic Faction; I told you we have nothing to do with this."
Kawak started to blink; he tensed his hand around his sword.
"No wonder you were so confident in attacking, who would have thought, that the Demonic
Faction and the Dark Faction has formed an alliance. Kill them!" Kawak ordered.
Lince wanted to slap the top of his forehead. It certainly wasn't the case, but there was no
amount of convincing that could work.
As soon as the two sides went to clash against each other, the sound of smashing glass was
heard. Lince glanced at where the noise had come from, and he could see, the Crimson
Crane leader and their partner had broken the viewing glass, and now were running out
into the arena field.
Both of them were running towards Raze and nodded at him.
"They aren't even going to try to fight?" One of the Demonic Faction shouted. "I knew the
Crimson crane should have never been accepted into the Demonic Clan."
"No…they did that…they were ready, but why?" Lince thought as he looked at their backs.
Everything was moving along; there was great confusion among all sides, even those in
Alter that were in the crowd were unsure how to act, but in the chaos, there was one
person smiling, Raze.
"It appears that I am in need of changing my plans," Raze said, as he finally took a step away
from Hannah. He then knelt down on the ground and placed both of his hands on the floor.
"All of the pieces have revealed themselves, and now it's time to show my hand!" Magic
started to swirl around Raze, and slowly from the tip of his hair, it started to change from
black to white, as a large amount of magic was starting to be used.
Chapter 673 Protect The Dark Magus
Chapter 673 Protect The Dark Magus
Hannah had been keeping an eye on the student Jake for a while now. She thought he had
been acting strange; his eyes were constantly moving around, looking at everything that
was happening.
Yet strangely, it felt like there wasn't a hint of fear. In this situation, with a Hybris, with the
Light Faction clan elders, and something now going on with the Demonic Faction area, why
wasn't this person scared? What was he thinking in his mind? She was almost entranced by
this person's actions, or lack of actions, and that's why when he finally made a move, she
made sure to see every detail.
Moving away, almost to the center of the arena, Raze had knelt down with both hands
touching the floor. His hair started to wiggle as if each strand was alive.
But this was just an effect of the magic that was swirling around him. The area underneath
his feet started to light up, and a sphere of magic was blowing out.
These actions had caused all eyes to quickly focus on him. Those watching from the arena
were entranced as well.
"Is that visual Qi that's being used right now…it looks so mystical, it's a range of different
colors."
"I've never seen visual Qi like that, and why is it spreading out so far?"
Then they started to notice, the tip of Raze's hair was changing, the dark black hair was
soon fading back to white.
At the same time, his appearance was becoming slightly sharper compared to before. Then
finally his whole head of hair had turned white, still floating about in the magic he had
created.
"My word!" Gavin said quickly moving forward until his face was almost touching the glass.
"Isn't that…isn't that the White Dragon!"
Murkel hadn't explained the situation to the others, or what he had projected had occurred
in the assessments that day with the disappearance of Lisa from the Lethal Bite Clan.
He had assumed Amir had mostly dealt with the situation, but now seeing Amir out on the
arena field as well, along with Dame, he had an inkling of what was going on.
On top of that, the other Dark Faction members hadn't even bothered to learn the no-
name's name, but remembered the legend he had passed the short time he was there, the
name of the White Dragon.
The loud words that had come out were heard by the Light Faction warrior that was in the
room.
'The White Dragon, but isn't that the student that was known to be excelling at the Dark
Academy, but that's the student at the Demonic Academy, just what is going on at the
moment.' The Light Faction warrior didn't even know what to report, either way, he
thought this was big news and decided to leave the area immediately.
The Dark Faction didn't look like they would be doing anything anyway.
"So he was alive as well," Murkel said. "How did that child manage to hide his appearance,
is it some type of artifact? And just what is he planning on doing."
Simyon, Safa, Liam, Ricktor, and Mada. All of them needed to be ready for what was taking
place, and even Bargo who was there had a deep frown on his face.
'I…what do I do if he asks me for help now of all things,' Bargo thought with a gulp.
Due to the situation that had occurred at the Lethal Bite Clan, Bargo had decided to help
Raze any way he could, but in this situation just what was he planning on doing.
Out on the arena, Anna and Alba leapt to Raze's side, sliding across the ground. Alba drew
her two weapons, while Anna placed both of her fists in front of her ready to fight anyone
who came close.
The magic was continuing to swirl around Raze, even sparks were starting to appear right
above him. The same sparks that would appear when a portal break occurred.
In the crowd, Marcus, the leader of one of the squads in Alter along with the rest of his
squad, had their eyes peeled wide open.
"Hey isn't that Raze from Himmy's squad, and that's Anna as well!" Tanya said.
"Were they sent on some mission here or something, that can't be right?" Shing stated.
"And how is he a student, and what is he doing breaking the rule of Alter right now."
"If he's breaking the rule, does that mean we need to act…I'm sure the others are thinking
the same thing, but I'm not sure what to do," Marcus said.
He could feel his communicator vibrating at that moment, but he wondered whether or not
he should bother even touching it in this situation.
That was when he looked to Barlan, the mage of his squad who had talked to Raze quite a
bit during their journey. It was expected considering the two of them were mages.
"That formation underneath him…I recognize it!" Barlan said. "He's using magic to draw
out the magic circle underneath him and then creating connection lines, but what is his
purpose it can't be.."
"The look on your face, I'm not liking it," Marcus said. "Just what is that mage planning on
doing."
"It's a spell, a large-scale spell that nearly every mage studies about, but he's managed to
decipher and change it slightly…to make it his own," Barlan answered.
"Just tell me what the spell does!" Marcus shouted.
At that point, he couldn't take the vibrating anymore and pulled out his communicator
pressing the button on it.
"This is a message from Alter, all of those in the arena, speak to the Light Faction and tell
them, at whatever cost, they are to stop that man in the center!" The message played.
It was a message that Marcus didn't understand, not for them to stop the student in the
middle but those in the Light Faction.
Ricar, at this point who had been focused on Amir and Mantis, had a bad feeling of what
was happening.
'If those two are protecting him, it has to be for a reason.'
Before even he had acted, the Light Faction warriors that were standing on the edge of the
wall and were protecting the crowd until this moment, had jumped down and all went to
the center toward Raze.
Anna, and Alba were ready to act, to take down whoever they could.
As one of the Light stage warriors was running though, a person had appeared right
behind, and with their Dagger, they had slit one of the warrior's throats.
Alba went forward to clash with another warrior striking them a few times and it was the
same for Anna.
In the middle of their fights and clashes though, they could see others appearing, and with
their daggers, they attacked the back of the Light Faction warriors, stabbing them in their
vitals or cutting their Achilles.
It gave both Alba and Anna an opening allowing them to finish off their opponent just like
that.
Suddenly, now standing around Raze, was Cronker, along with three of the Dark Faction's
students, Tinson, Joe, and Violet.
"We have your back Raze!" Tinson said. "You saved us in that cave that day, and now we
finally are able to return the favor just a bit, even if you nearly killed me that day!"
"Did you really have to mention that," Joe said.
Cronker, one of the members of the Crimson Crane that had been with the Dark Faction
group, and his specially trained assassins had revealed themselves to protect Raze.
"Thank you," Raze said with a smile as his magic had connected. On the arena ground,
certain parts were lighting up with the rest of the arena. "Because of you, the first part of
the plan is complete!"
Raze said as all the magic swirling around went straight into the ground, and the spell was
activated.
Chapter 674 Raze’s Plan In Action
Chapter 674 Raze's Plan In Action
Safa, and the rest of the Dark Faction students, were watching what Raze was doing with a
careful eye. They were standing behind where the adults were watching through the glass.
All of them were starting to wonder if this was the time for them. What Raze was doing
right now, did it mean that today was the day, the day that they would need to act?
They had to follow his lead, and knowing what had happened so far, they also knew that
this was their only chance. Murkel was ready to get rid of every single one of them.
When they could see the Light Faction warriors on the move, all of them had worry, that
was until they could see Cronker arriving with the other students.
They too had been training hard and quickly used their skills to seemingly appear out of
the shadows from the crowd.
It was the perfect moment for them. All of the warriors that were stood on the wall of the
arena, jumping down they could jump down too without getting caught or hurt.
It was the perfect chance for them to strike from behind when the others didn't expect it.
'Yes!' Safa thought in her head. 'Cronker is there to protect them as well. With all of them,
Raze can do what he needs to do.'
Yet, the big question was still on everyone's mind, what was it that Raze was even trying to
do, to accomplish in this moment? Was his plan so big that he was willing to use magic in
front of all of these people?
From the Demonic Faction area, they too were looking at what was going on, and they
noticed that Cronker, as well as the other three that stood by his side, they were wearing
the Dark Faction's clothing.
They were clearly part of the Dark Faction, so why were they protecting a Demonic
Student?
"This entire situation is starting to hurt my head," Lince said. "Now Even I have to think, did
we team up with the Dark Faction, and did no one tell us?"
The confusion was stopping the Light Faction from attacking, and it was starting to turn
into a situation where it was better for an act now and ask questions later type of thing.
However, that was when right where they were standing, the ground underneath them
started to light up.
All of them could feel a small tingling sensation in their feet. The area of where the Light
Faction viewing area, the area underneath their feet was also starting to light up.
Then finally, the area in the crowd, right underneath their feet, everything started to light
up as well.
Quickly shifting where he was, Raze had turned to face the Dark Faction viewing area, and
at that moment he only had a few words to say.
"Spell complete!"
The entire area lit up in a bright light. Every person had their vision obscured and needed
to close their eyes. They did just that as the bright light consumed them, it was only for a
few seconds and then it disappeared.
The bright light from the arena had disappeared, and the sound that was being heard had
turned almost into a silence.
Beatrix and Ricar, both of them had stopped fighting, and their heads lifted in the air,
looking at the crowd, the stands.
"What…have you done, you demon, what did you do!" Ricar shouted so loud his voice
vibrated.
Beatrix just weakly held her sword by her side when looking at everything.
"Where did they go, everyone, they're all gone!" Beatrix shouted out.
Alba and Anna had a satisfied look on their faces and gave out a big sigh of relief.
"It looks like the first part of his plan worked right?" Alba said.
The two females gave each other a deep smile as they looked at the state of the place.
After activating his spell, the entire crowd of people had disappeared. There wasn't a single
person left in the crowd itself, all of them had gone after the flash of bright light.
However, it wasn't just them either. In the Light Faction viewing area, all of those that were
present had disappeared.
Then there was also the Demonic Faction viewing area. Sha Mo, Lince, and the Light Faction
heads that were present, all of them were gone as well.
This had been part of Raze's big plan. A lot of preparations were needed to cast a spell so
large. In particular, a large amount of high-level crystals.
If they couldn't gather high-level crystals, then Raze would have to try his luck at
combining them and making higher-tier powerstones.
It seemed like a waste to use so many high-tier powerstones, but Alba as well as Cronker
had been spreading them throughout the arena.
Since Raze wasn't a 9-star mage, or even an 8-star mage, he couldn't use such a large-scale
spell on his own, he needed an external source of power.
He needed to get it into the arena without raising suspicion, and the others had done just
that for him.
Then, he needed to create the spell that was required to do what needed to be done. Using
his magic, he would draw the circle on the spot as best he could.
Things didn't quite go to plan, under all of the chaos that had been made, which had caused
Raze to improvise in the middle of his match.
If he could, he would have done this away from the eyes of the others, maybe just before
the award ceremony or when the results were added.
However, he decided that this was the best time for him to act because in doing all of this
he had a very particular goal.
"That was the same boy as before. It seems I may have underestimated his actions and his
involvement in everything," Amir said to himself.
"I told you, didn't I?" Dame said. "He is a person that is going to change the world of Pagna.
If you want to complete your goal, then it's best you get him on your side."
"Right," Amir nodded, "But what exactly was his goal in all of this?"
"How did he do it...how," Beatrix said still at a loss, and it was the same for Hannah.
"Everyone in this place, they've all disappeared," Hannah said from the floor.
She noticed that the only ones that were left were those that were in the Arena. Leaving
only Ricar, Beatrix, and herself as those from the Light Faction.
With them three, if they were to go up against everyone it would be a straight-up loss, even
with Ricar, and it seemed like he knew that as well.
"No," Raze said as he got up, he looked a little shaky.
'I used too much magic,' Raze thought as he went to touch his chest. He could feel the spiral
of magic that would surrounded his core, his heart, they were weaker. 'That spell took
more out of me than I thought..but.'
"Not everyone is gone," Raze said as he looked ahead at the Dark Faction viewing area, the
only place that had been unaffected by the spell that had been used.
"This is the start of the plan, to eliminate, and take over the Dark Faction!" Raze declared.
Chapter 675 Where Are We?
Chapter 675 Where Are We?
The Light Faction was a vast land, slightly bigger than the other two continents. It also
boasted a larger population compared to the others, along with a grand empire that looked
after the majority of its citizens not involved in warrior matters.
This was mainly due to the Light Faction continent having near-perfect conditions for
growth. The lands always had a spring-like feeling all year round. With rotations of sunlight
and plenty of water, green grass and flowers flourished.
There were mountainous areas, but even they looked fascinating with their narrow bases
leading up to the distant peaks.
The land only worsened when bordering the Demonic Faction, which was filled with snow,
and the Dark Faction, which suffered from more natural disasters such as heavy storms and
tornadoes.
In the vast Light Faction continent, there was a peaceful village that was self-sustaining.
They built their own crops on their farms, with fields of flowers stretching for miles.
When a lone farmer stopped to do his work for a moment, he looked out at the large field of
flowers, which always brought a bright smile to his face.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead, and as his arm moved, his eyeballs nearly jumped
out of his head.
"Wha, wha, what!" The farmer immediately ran to inform the village elder.
As he ran through the city in a panic, he continued to point at the flower field.
"People, warriors, so many people, they dropped from the sky or something, there are so
many people!" The farmer kept shouting in hysterics.
Some thought he was crazy, but when they looked at the flower field themselves, they could
see it. Tens of thousands of people had suddenly appeared in the flower field.
Those in the flower field were pinching themselves, some were touching their own bodies,
and others were asking questions to each other.
"Hey, I'm not in a dream, right? I was at the martial arts tournament, we were there
together. Why are we in a field of flowers? Are we dead?"
It wasn't unusual to have that thought; many thought they might have passed away from
the attack, especially since the last thing they saw was the bright shining light.
"We are alive, I know this village, it's Sunrun Village, my cousin lives here," another said.
"Wait, that's miles away, it would take a few hours to walk to the martial arts tournament.
How did we get sent here? That's impossible for any Pagna warrior."
That was when a few of them clicked their fingers.
"It has to be the Demon."
"The Demon."
"Didn't you see what he did? He was doing something, and the others were trying to stop
him. It must be the Demon that sent us here, out of the tournament."
"But why would the Demon do something like that, and is that even possible? Couldn't only
someone with the power of a god do that?"
People from the village started to gather at the flower field, deeply confused about what to
do.
Thankfully, the Light Faction warriors who were part of the organization team reassured
everyone not to worry and to stay where they were while they did a head count on
everyone.
Several more Light Faction warriors had joined them from a distance away, and these were
the ones who were in the Light Faction viewing area.
They were trying to take control of the situation but were also looking elsewhere.
"If we were brought here, then shouldn't Kawak and Cicle be over there somewhere?"
The thought of the Light Faction warrior was right. A little away from the flower fields, in
part of a farmland that had been hoed but had yet to show any signs of growth, Kawak,
Cicle, and the strong thirty or so Light Faction clan heads were present.
They were almost in the same position as all of them had their weapons pointed toward the
Demonic Faction members.
Lince had his hands held up to show he meant no harm, but he couldn't help but look
around like all of the others.
"What just happened? Did they just send us deeper into the Light Faction?" Sha Mo asked.
For once, even he was worried; they had to be extremely far out now from the Demonic
Faction and the safety of their own people.
"Not they, you saw it as well, right? The one that did this, it was that Demon, the one from
the Crimson Crane group. They seemed to know what was going on; that's why they rushed
over to protect him," Lince explained.
Kawak was carefully listening to Lince's words and was trying to get a handle on the
situation. Everything was moving just a little too crazy for him.
"Cicle and the others, make sure none of these guys escape; I need to gather some
information," Kawak declared, and the rest agreed.
While walking around, Kawak did his best to get a handle on things. He learned from the
villagers where they currently were.
He thought there was no reason for them to be sent to this place. If the Demon student was
the one who had done this, then why would he send them further into the Light Faction
rather than somewhere into the Demonic Faction?
As Kawak continued to observe the situation, he heard big news, but none of it made sense
to him. Finally, he decided to remove the large mask he had been wearing on his head.
Underneath, a man with long parted gray-silver hair was seen covering both parts of his
shoulders. He had a small amount of gray stubble on his face.
He was a man who looked to be in about his fifties but still had a strong, powerful aura
around him. This was Kawak, leader of the Aurora clan, the strongest clan in the Light
Faction.
'I can gather what has happened, but none of this makes any sense to me. Why did they do
that?' Kawak thought.
While Lince and the other Demonic members patiently stood surrounded, there were a few
words exchanged by the two groups.
It was hard for the Demonic Faction to keep their mouths shut with the enemy right in
front of them. A short while later, they were told to move to gather with the rest of the
citizens that were in sight.
Now they had met up with everyone, Lince had an idea in his mind.
"Have you noticed it as well?" Lince asked his student Beret who was next to him.
"Noticed what?" Beret asked.
"That, of all the people here, those in the arena are currently not present, and not just that,
but the Dark Faction is nowhere to be seen. If I were to take a guess, the Demon must have
been working with some people, and their target the whole time was the Dark Faction.
"We were just sent away so they could have fun by themselves."
Beret thought that was impossible, even with the strength they saw from the Demon to
take out the entire Dark Faction.
As he thought about it more, it made sense though because it might be the only chance to
get the Dark Faction when they were at their weakest.
At that point in time, while Kawak was also having the same theory, he could feel
something vibrating. He pulled out a white communicator from underneath his cloth, with
the golden letter 'I'.
Chapter 676 Raze Vs The Dark Faction
Chapter 676 Raze Vs The Dark Faction
Kawak had wandered off away from the rest of the group, while everyone else was waiting
for his orders on what exactly to do with the large crowd of people.
Most had taken carriages or paid joint fares to get to the tournament; some had even left
their funds as they had bet on contestants. It was a worrying matter for the local people
more than ever.
Eventually, Kawak returned and first went to the Light Faction warriors who were looking
after the crowd of people.
"The people will have whatever is owed to them given back. We shall take them to the
biggest nearby city, and from there, we will pay for their costs to head back home," Kawak
announced.
"Are you sure, sir? Are we not heading back to the arena?"
"That is something that we can deal with later," Kawak replied. "The tournament is over;
for now, what is important is getting everyone back to where they need to be. We will sort
out everything.
"After that, we will call a meeting in the grand hall with all of the Clan heads. We must
hurry."
After giving those orders, the Light Faction warriors were busy gathering information from
the people.
Meanwhile, Kawak went over and pulled Cicle to the side to have a separate conversation
with him, giving brief eye contact with the people from the Demonic Faction.
"We will let the Demonic Faction go back to their land. I want you to escort them with the
clan leaders to make sure they don't do anything," Kawak ordered.
"Are you sure that's the best thing to do?" Cicle answered. "We have them in our territory.
They have nowhere to even run; we could get rid of a big part of the Demonic Faction."
"Right now, it might be best to use them. They seem genuinely shocked by this whole thing
as well. In the meantime, we have to be prepared for what will happen, so fighting against
them will not be a smart move."
"And what about Ricar?" Cicle asked. "Are we not going back to help him? If he loses his life,
I doubt the ten elders of the Dawnblade Clan will be pleased."
"Nine," Kawak corrected him. "And sometimes sacrifices are needed. If he is strong enough,
then he will live."
---
The arena stands were now completely empty, void of people since everyone had been
transported, or at least nearly everyone.
Right now, in the stands themselves, hiding behind one of the walls, was none other than
the infamous news spreader, Bubble.
He was sitting right up against one of the stand walls, hiding from sight. He slowly peeked
his head above, allowing his eyes to get a look at the situation.
'I can't believe it. I went out to try and get more information to see if something else was
going on. With my snooping, they kicked me out of the arena!' Bubble thought.
'When I heard the whole place nearly fall silent, I rushed in to find next to no one, but there
are still people here. Is this fate? Has fate brought me to witness all of this?'
Now peaking, Bubble could see Raze with his white hair, the true form of the student that
he also knew as the Dark Magus, the one who had gone against the Behemoth Clan, one of
the strongest clans in the Demonic Faction, and now it appeared as if he had done
something even crazier.
'Why am I always seeing things that I can't report on? People will think I've gone mad…
although maybe not this time, since they all would have experienced it.'
Looking down on the ground, Bubble could see Amir standing next to Mantis, who was
lying on the ground. His wings were spread out on the floor, and he appeared to still be
breathing but wasn't moving, most likely too hurt from the fight with Ricar. Then there was
Dame. Those three were clearly working together.
When looking elsewhere, there was Hannah and Ricar standing next to each other. The
fighting had practically stopped with the shock of everything going on.
Then finally, there was Raze with the Crimson Crane, Alba, Anna, Cronker, and the three
students. This was what made up the people currently on the arena floor. There was also
Hannah, but she hadn't moved very far.
"So, that was your goal in all of this," Amir said to himself as he looked at the Light Faction
members.
"I believe this is your best chance to just go and leave this place. I have had a change of
plan; in times like this, it might be best to improvise. You don't want to go against us, do
you?"
Ricar was observing the situation. He could tell, with his small interaction with Amir, how
strong he was. Being in the middle of this, was there any purpose for them?
"Not until we get back Hannah!" Beatrix claimed.
"I don't think you're in the situation to be making demands," Dame answered.
"It's okay," Raze spoke. "There's no need for her; you can go."
Raze was quite aware that Hannah hadn't been moving because of him, and not having the
Light Faction attack them from behind and owe them a favor would be nice with the mess
they were to get involved in.
"I hope that with this, you will stay to your principles and not attack us or get involved in
all of this," Raze said.
Hannah moved and quickly ran over to Beatrix who embraced her with a hug. The three of
them soon moved back and then jumped to the stands. They didn't head away, though.
No Ricar thought with everything that might happen today, it was too important to just run
away; he needed to see what was going to take place.
That was when the glass door had finally opened up, and the entirety of the Dark Faction
was seen walking out, with Murkel at the front, and the students at the very back.
"I see that you have done this with some type of purpose in mind," Murkel said.
Amir was looking at all of the people behind the Dark Faction. They were some of the
strongest in the entire of the Dark Faction.
Although this was easier than attacking them in the academy, it was only marginally better.
"I suppose you have been working with this student for a long time, planning behind my
back. I wonder why you have decided to betray the Dark Faction," Murkel asked.
"You think I'm betraying the Dark Faction. You don't understand, and you never would.
What I am doing is trying to help the whole of Pagna, and I have decided that this person is
very important," Amir answered. "You wouldn't believe me if I said we weren't working
together, and him coming here was a coincidence.
"In fact, you weren't even a target of mine. At least not yet. But if it comes to helping him
out, someone who I believe will be a key to our society, then I will help."
Murkle then looked directly at Raze who had Anna, Cronker, and others standing by his
side. His legs looked a little weak.
"So I heard what you said boy, that you wish to get rid of the Dark Faction and take it over.
That was your whole plan. You are far too young to say anything like that... right now you
can barely even stand, you have no idea what you're up against."
Murkel started to unleash his dark Qi, it shrouded behind him around his shoulders so
dense, dark, and heavy.
That was when Raze pulled out a Qi pill, and placed it in his mouth, biting down, cracking
the pill, and swallowing it whole.
"Far too young," Raze smiled. "I have no idea what I'm up against; I could say the exact
same to you!"
Chapter 677 The Journey to the City
Chapter 677 The Journey to the City
The Light Faction warriors who were part of the organization had managed to gather all
the necessary details, and now it was time for them to march off to the closest city, rather
than returning to the arena.
Cicle, one of the organizers along with the thirty top clan heads, had already headed off to
escort the Demonic Faction. They didn't want them to stay in the Light Faction for much
longer as it was making them uneasy and consuming a large part of their resources.
Carriages had already arrived for them, hurrying along across the land. Inside the carriage
with all the other participating students was Kaylie, along with Lince, while the other adults
had gone with the others.
"You don't think the Light Faction will try to do something, do you? Is that why you decided
to come with us?" Beret asked.
"I doubt it. It seems like they were genuine in sending us back. They don't want a fight
because they seem confused by all of this; perhaps they expect that we might handle the
situation ourselves," Lince answered.
"And the situation, is that to do with Mantis and Jake?" Brack asked as he stared out of the
carriage window at the scenery, his wounds having improved from his match.
However, he was slightly concerned. After all, Sha Mo had kicked him out of the Behemoth
Clan, and the person who had accepted him in was Jake; he was meant to be part of the
Crimson Crane as part of his protection.
"We'll have to let things be," Lince said. "If you're asking what will happen to them when
they come back, then I wouldn't worry too much. Jake is linked to the Crimson Crane, and
the Crimson Crane is linked to the Neverfall Clan through the marriage with Rayna.
"After they performed well against the Behemoth Clan, there aren't many clans that will go
against them for these two reasons. However, with Mantis as well and everything, I doubt
even Belil will let them just come back with open arms without any questions being
answered.
"Sha Mo will spread the news and try to brand the Crimson Crane as traitors, until they
manage to explain these things. In the end, we can't help them, and they brought this upon
themselves. If you're worried, I'll look after you until the time comes."
Brack thought about it for a while until he eventually shook his head.
"No, once we're back in the Demonic Faction, if you can just take me to the Crimson Crane
base, that will be fine. Whatever happens after is fine."
Lince smiled; he was surprised one person had made quite the impression, not just on the
students but the adults as well. Lince couldn't help but be extremely curious about this
person.
"I was wondering, did you see what happened before we teleported away? I know we were
all busy with the Light Faction, but I saw it—his hair color changed to white," Kaylie
mentioned.
"I did see that... I'm aware of special masks that can be created to hide one's appearance;
our clan is quite skilled at that ourselves," Lince answered. "But that change, it wasn't a
mask, nor did it seem like a special type of hair dye."
"White hair is quite unusual for someone his age," Beret commented. "Unless it's to do with
one of the special arts he's learned."
"Remember, nothing is making sense at the moment; we have all just been transported
across the Light Faction continent in an instant," Lince replied. "But, you're right; there
aren't many students with white hair. It makes you think—if he was part of the Dark
Faction academy, someone as skilled and strong as him might be given the nickname White
Dragon."
Everyone in the carriage turned to look at Lince; they had paused, frozen in place. Because
of his words, they all could imagine it as the truth. No one from the Dark Faction could be
considered the White Dragon or fit that description. However, the mysterious student
'Jake,' who had appeared out of nowhere, could.
Not only that, but it would make sense why he had gotten so upset.
"I'm just making connections that are loosely connected!" Lince chuckled. "None of you
have to take what I say seriously. Come on, I can't even imagine the set of circumstances for
all of that to happen in the first place."
---
Traveling with the large crowd of people from the tournament to the nearest city was
Marcus and his special Alter squad. All of them were practically walking across the vast
land because there weren't enough carriages to accommodate everyone, at least not until
they reached the city. The Light Faction warriors were positioned at the front and back of
the group, pushing people along at their own pace.
Of course, if people wished to go their own way instead of to the city, they could do so; they
just needed to report to one of the Light Faction members first to make a record of it.
"Did you receive any new orders?" Tanya asked.
"Nope," Marcus replied. "Other than to just head back to our usual position. I saw some
other people move, so I wouldn't worry about it much. And to be honest, I wouldn't worry
too much; it's not our problem to deal with."
Although Marcus said those words, when looking at Barlan, he could see he had a lot on his
mind. So he walked over and gave him a big old slap on the back. A slight cracking noise
was heard.
"OWW!" Barlan shouted. "Why did you hit me so hard?"
"You looked troubled, so for a moment, I wanted to snap you out of it," Marcus answered.
"Besides, I didn't realize they made you Algersians so weak. I know you don't rely on
physical strength, but it wouldn't do you any harm to put some muscle on your body at
some point. Anyway, what have you got on your mind? Is it that mage?"
Barlan couldn't lie as he gave a nod.
"I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious. Alters pay close attention to otherworlders, but
in particular, they pay close attention to you Alterians. I thought it might be because the
leader is an Alterian himself, but it seems more to do with your magic causing trouble in
this world.
"It's clear as day; back there, he used a lot of magic, and I doubt all of that was an order
from Alter."
"You're right. The spell he used and how he was able to pull it off—it was amazing. That
wasn't the talent of a 4-star mage, but clearly, the magic he used wasn't beyond it. Someone
able to do such things would be considered a genius," Barlan said.
He started to think back to the links and what he had seen Raze do before when he had
tricked Marcus and the others. It wasn't the first time Raze was able to pull off such things.
"I think I might have underestimated him as a mage, and in a lot of ways." Barlan didn't say
one more thing; he was deeply wondering; someone that skilled had to have had their
name spread throughout Alterian, and someone so young would be known by everyone, yet
he had never heard of him, so who was he?
"Should I tell you what I'm worried about in all of this? That mage is part of Himmy's group.
Whatever happens, Himmy will now have to suffer the repercussions from what that mage
had done. I liked the guy…but I'm quite sure that I might not be able to see him again."
Chapter 678 Raze’s Confrontation
Chapter 678 Raze's Confrontation
Raze stood there as he took the Qi pill. As the pill broke down and his body started to
absorb its contents, he could feel the rings that made up his magic core spinning around his
heart with vibrancy.
His power was returning, and he soon stood as strong as his usual self right in front of
Murkel, despite the amount of Qi Murkel was letting out, Raze was unaffected.
"You seem to have gone through a lot; you finally managed to reach the middle stage and
you have a number of tricks up your sleeve," Murkel said. "But I think it's far-fetched to say
that I have underestimated you."
Swirling around Raze's arms in that moment was the same magic as before; it looked like
large currents of wind. He hadn't even drawn out his sword yet.
On top of that, the pill that he had consumed was the Cursed Qi pill; it restored all of his
mana, but it would only last a minute, after which he would be completely drained and
back to the same state as before.
The only ones present who knew what Raze was thinking were Anna and Alba, who moved
in front of him.
"It looks like we should go ahead and join the brigade," Amir said as he jumped from his
position and landed in front of Raze, and it didn't take much longer for Dame to do the
same.
The four of them had formed a type of wall right in front of Raze, which caused Murkel to
let out a loud laugh.
"Hahah, look at this," Murkel said as he looked at Crine and Gavin, leaders of the Moon
Shield and Flowing Force clans.
"You say that I am underestimating you, and then you decide to hide behind this pile of
trash. I have no idea what you see in that child Amir, but I will make sure you know you
chose the wrong side."
Murkel started to walk forward; with each step, a condensed form of his Dark Qi would
leave a lingering footprint that would last a few seconds on the ground.
Murkel moving forward, all of the others who were with him, the members of the Dark
Faction, were unmoving and calm.
"We are a bit outnumbered, and those people seem quite strong," Dame commented. "With
just us, are we going to be okay?"
"Let's just deal with the one in front of us first!" Amir said.
He could see Murkel coming close; he lifted his hand. Like a black hole, his Dark Qi
surrounded his fist completely. It was swirling around the air and then condensing down to
his fist.
"Unlike you, I don't need to hide behind anyone else!" Murkel then jumped forward with
the fist aimed right at Raze.
Up Anna's arms, red energy could be seen activating as she moved forward. Alba drew both
of her swords covered in a slight red glow and swung them down.
At the same time, both Dame and Amir came forward with the full strength of their Qi; they
all struck at Murkel.
When they went to attack, they could all feel their movements, their attacks being drawn
into the area of where Murkel's fist was.
The large amount of Qi erupted in the air, causing physical cracks to be seen. Immediately,
all of those on Raze's side could also feel a heavy weight on their legs, a great force pushing
them down.
All of their attacks had landed on Murkel's fist, yet not a single one of them seemed to
damage him or push it back.
"Ah, impressive; you managed to stop my attack," Murkel said with a smile. "But look at
you, it took every single one of you just to stop a single attack of mine. Now who was
underestimating whom."
The Qi from Murkel's fist started to spread out. Visually, it was like a black shadow that was
reaching out, trying to grab them all.
"Break away!" Amir shouted.
That's exactly what all of them did, pushing themselves back and forming a line back to
where Raze was.
"He is considered the person closest to the Divine Stage for a reason," Amir explained. "He
has the strongest form of condensed Dark Qi. His attacks will suck you in, and linger around
them long enough, and the weight will push you down like an extreme gravitational force.
"A straight-up battle with raw power or Qi against him is useless."
"Thanks for the explanation," Alba said. "So do you have any ideas of how to beat him?"
Amir looked at the people behind Murkel, all incredibly strong members of the Dark
Faction. He knew who had come along.
"With them behind him… none… which is why I'm betting on him," Amir said.
Up in the stands, Hannah, Beatrix, and Ricar were watching the confrontation going on
between the two sides. Just seeing Murkel's power gave them a shudder.
He knew instantly, in that one exchange, that his power wasn't strong enough to best this
man, and while he was in the Dark Faction, it would be incredibly hard to ever best or beat
them.
"Should we help them? It looks like they're going to struggle," Hannah claimed. The student
Jake had promised her safety, so in a way, she felt like they were on their side.
"We aren't on the Demonic Faction's or the Dark Faction's side. Besides, the Dark Faction
hasn't even threatened us in any way," Ricar stated. "There is no need for us to help either
of them."
Ricar's original goal was to eliminate Mantis. He had been flung by the shockwave of Qi
toward one of the edges of the arena; he was still lying on the floor in a type of resting state.
It was tempting for Ricar to finish him off, but it all depended on the victors of this entire
thing. Right now, based on just the single interaction, he didn't think the Demonic Faction
stood a chance of winning.
Beatrix was having a hard look at Dame from the Demonic Faction, the white-haired boy
with him as well. She remembered meeting both of them, but then was looking at Cronker,
the students with him, and Amir as well who were helping out.
"I have a feeling with all of this, that it might not be as simple as Demonic Faction against
the Dark Faction though; something is going on."
In the Dark Faction group itself, Safa had her hand on the statue Stoney, wondering when to
use it or not.
Ricktor noticed this.
"Not yet, we don't make a move yet, not until we know what's going to happen. Look at
Raze; he's still confident; clearly, he has something planned."
Raze started to swing his arms in an odd fashion, and in doing so, lines that were glowing
were appearing underneath his feet.
The lines were matching up; his Magic was being condensed into certain areas until it had
formed a circle with several runes and symbols inside.
He continued, and he was making something just like it, yet no one knew, and finally, he
pulled out several Power Stones and threw them all around him.
"You should use your head a bit more," Raze shouted to Murkel. "If I had the power to
suddenly make everyone in this place disappear, don't you think I could do the opposite?"
The Power Stones started to vibrate and lift in the air with sparks coming from above.
"I'll say it again; you have no idea who you're dealing with!"
Chapter 679 Backup Has Arrived
Chapter 679 Backup Has Arrived
After Raze had spoken the same phrase again while directly looking at Murkel, the area
underneath his feet lit up. Just like what had happened moments before, now a bright
beacon of light appeared under his feet.
The major difference was, rather than the light shining on the entire arena, it only
illuminated where Raze currently stood--a beam of energy that covered him completely.
'What is this, why is he so confident?' Murkel thought. 'His words that he spoke, could it
be... is he really going to?'
When the beacon of light started to fade, Murkel got his answer. Now, where Raze once
stood, a large number of people completely surrounded him.
"The Crimson Crane has arrived!" Kizer said as he drew his large sword. "We've been
waiting for your call and wondering when this was going to happen!"
Both the Dark Faction and Light Faction members still viewing from the audience couldn't
believe it. Raze was true to his word; just as he had made everyone disappear, he had made
certain people appear.
Now the entirety of the Crimson Crane was by Raze's side, and it wasn't just them.
"Rayna!" Dame called out.
Rayna glanced ahead to see her younger brother, of all things.
"You... you're here. You have a lot of explaining to do. I thought the least you could do was
be at my wedding!" Rayna said.
"Ah yeah, I heard about that," Dame said, scratching his head, but he had to pay attention to
the situation that was evolving.
This was Raze's plan from the beginning, what he had made Anna and Alba aware of before
they had come to the tournament. He never expected it to turn out this way, but it had.
Raze had studied the special Alterian spell placed in the cave, a way to open a teleportation
area to a specific point in Pagna.
It took him a while, but all he needed was some motivation and a reason to break it down.
After figuring it out, he had set up a teleportation spot in the town of Flendon. It would be a
one-time thing, but as long as all the members of the Crimson Crane stood in the magic
circle.
When the spell activated, he would transport them from one place to another, just like he
had done in making the rest disappear.
Only, he didn't really know where he had transported everyone else, but that didn't matter.
Amir was smiling as he saw the members that had come for backup.
"So you did have a plan after all, as expected," Amir stated.
"A plan? A plan!" Murkel said with his arms spread wide open. "The Crimson Crane may be
infamous due to their status as wanderers, but they are nothing compared to the people
that I have gathered here."
In the middle of his talk, Murkel turned his head as he noticed something from his side.
Cronker had the dagger across his face and had moved at a fast speed.
He had launched towards Murkel, his dagger coated in Qi, ready to finish off the head.
However, Murkel didn't activate his Qi, nor did he make a fist; instead, he turned his head
back to look at Raze and the others.
Cronker went and slashed his dagger aiming right for Murkel's neck, when a small black
needle-looking object had appeared.
Murkel looked at the person holding onto the needle and he could see what looked like a
frail old man that was mostly bones, but a deathly smile was on his face.
Cronker looked at his other hand and could see another needle-like object, as long as a
sword but incredibly thin.
With the Qi coating it, it was making the object harder. The old man then went to thrust the
needle, but Cronker had skidded back just in time, deflecting it with his dagger.
When he skidded across the floor and eventually stopped, a slight stinging pain could be
felt on his cheek, a small amount of blood had been drawn.
"This guy… is incredibly fast," Cronker said, as his three students appeared by his side.
"Damn it!" Ricktor clicked his tongue, who was off by the side. "That's Arkon, the old man
who leads the special forces in the Erupting Fist clan."
"The person who you said whoever sees his face has never lived to tell the tale," Mada
added.
"Correct, with all these members of the Dark Faction, I'm not sure the Crimson Crane
arriving will be enough," Ricktor said with a concerned look.
He still wasn't sure if this was the right time or not. Ricktor still hadn't seen enough that
convinced him that Raze was the right person to back.
Although the others might be done for, for Ricktor himself, even though he detested his
father, a chance for revenge would always come as long as one is alive, and there was a
chance that his father would spare him.
Amir had the same thought and looked at Raze, wondering if this was enough after seeing
Cronker get stopped.
"I can tell you're worried," Raze said. "You saw them when they helped against Lisa from
the Lethal Bite Clan. They have helped me time and time again when I've been in a tough
pinch.
"It seems that I have come to rely on them a lot more than I would have liked."
"And that is why I'm worried," Amir replied back. "It took nearly all of them just to take out
one of the Dark Faction leaders."
Raze smiled as he went to sit down. He had used a lot of magic again. The distance was
important in the spell, and he had transported the Crimson Crane quite a far distance.
What he needed to do now was try to gain as much magic and Qi through cultivating as
quickly as possible. He couldn't risk taking another pill after what had happened last time.
It would only work for a limited time, and fainting in a situation like this would practically
be death.
"They are a lot stronger than back then… do you think I would be so calm to cultivate at a
time like this if I didn't trust them?" Raze said as he closed his eyes. "And besides, we're not
alone."
Once again, annoyed by everything, Murkel lifted his fist in the air. His visual Qi created
what looked like a black hole around it, then condensed into his fist.
He charged forward, aiming towards the entire group.
"What now, are all of you going to get involved to block my hit this time?!" Murkel asked
with a smug smile on his face.
"No, there's no need!" Tilion said, as he pulled out his Legendary ranked shield, with the
proud marking of DM.
He charged forward ahead of everyone else, and with his weight behind the shield, he
blocked the punch head-on.
The punch hitting the shield had shaken the stadium, but only for a moment. The ripples of
Qi that would be seen in the air, they weren't present.
Murkel could see the shield and it looked just fine.
"What, is that shield?" Murkel asked.
"It's an item made by the Dark Magus and can't be destroyed by someone like you," Tilion
answered.
Chapter 680 Everyone Charge
Chapter 680 Everyone Charge
Murkel, a man who had been given the title closest to reaching the Divine Realm. It was a
title that he was both proud of and one that ground on his teeth.
He had almost succeeded, almost reached the pinnacle of a Pagna warrior to finally ascend
to the world above.
Yet, the title seemed to tell him he wasn't good enough. This led to a deeper belief in Murkel
—why wasn't he good enough?
Was it because of his surroundings? Were those around him not strong enough to push
him, or was it something else?
He thought he might find his answer in taking over the continent of Pagna. If he had been
given this title, then he had to live up to it.
By taking control of Pagna, he might find his answer as to why he wasn't able to ascend
above.
However, in battle right now, believing he was the strongest, his punch filled with Qi was
stopped by a simple shield.
Murkel expected his fist to go right through the shield. One could power equipment with
their Qi, but he truly believed there was no one with stronger Qi than him.
Just like before, it took four great middle-stage warriors to block his attack. So how was one
able to stop his attack, and a person whose name hadn't even spread through the land, only
his group?
"What is that shield?" Murkel asked.
"It's an item made by the Dark Magus, and it can't be destroyed by someone like you,"
Tilion answered.
"The Dark Magus," Murkel repeated.
The name was one Murkel had heard before. It was a name that had passed mostly through
the Demonic Continent.
An alchemist who could produce special Qi pills. Recently, Murkel was even aware of some
of the product reaching the Dark Faction.
All of his sources confirmed it was the real thing, and the person was indeed a talented
alchemist. But now the man in front of him claimed that the reason his attack was stopped
was because of a shield created by this individual.
'I wasn't aware that the Dark Magus also made physical items. Word hasn't quite reached
my ears about that. But if it is the case, why does this person have such an item?' Murkel
thought.
He pulled back his fist and jumped back, trying to get a better gauge of the entire situation.
It seemed that the Crimson Crane was being cautious as well, not quite attacking from the
get-go.
'Right, there was that rumor that the Dark Magus was part of the Crimson Crane, but it
didn't make sense. Why would an alchemist that could be accepted anywhere join a
wanderer group of all things?' Murkel thought.
Something had been grinding on him the entire time about the whole situation that was
playing out.
He somewhat understood why Raze might wish to go against him, but not why he wanted
the Dark Faction for himself.
Then, the deeper question was, why was the Crimson Crane helping him out? Why was
everyone willingly defending him? On top of that, why did a student of all people also know
the Noctis clan skills?
'He was at the academy; he wouldn't have time… and his strange powers, there's something
about that person, and there's a good chance that the White Dragon is also the Dark Magus.'
As Murkel looked deeper at Raze, who was sitting down cultivating, he sensed a large
amount of Qi from above.
Lifting his hand, he blocked a devastating kick, which caused the ground beneath his feet to
be destroyed.
However, that wasn't the end of the attack. Following up the kick, a large clawed hand came
crashing down as well.
Murkel decided to avoid this one. The clawed hand had grown in size and smashed into the
floor, breaking the ground where Murkel had stood.
"Oh, you avoided that one?" Amir said with a smile. "I thought you said you could take all of
us on by yourself."
Murkel looked Amir up and down with his eyes, seeing that both of his arms had changed.
They were covered in a dark scaly-like substance.
One of the arms was constantly moving, breaking down into tentacles and forming into
different shapes, eventually turning into a large axe.
"I didn't know that I had a monster right by my side the entire time," Murkel said. "If I did, I
would have never agreed to work with you."
"Me, a monster? I think you need to look in a mirror!" Amir kicked off his feet. Now in his
hybrid form, he was much faster compared to before.
His transformed axe hand swung out from the side, aiming to cut Murkel straight in half.
But the moment he kicked off, everyone by Murkel's side acted.
Lin, Lulu, Arkon, Suzan, Wendart, Crine, and the bald mystery man all jumped to attack
Amir. They were covering his view, and through it, he could see the smile on Murkel's face.
"You were on my side; you should know the strength of all these people. They are nothing
to laugh at," Murkel stated.
Once again, though, before they reached Amir, Tilion came forward with the legendary
shield in his hand.
Right as they got close, he lifted the shield and slammed it into the floor. The shield lit up,
and as they got close, a mass amount of energy exploded from the shield in a large radius.
It hit all of those diving forward and pushed them back until they had fallen and were on
their backsides.
It was unexpected. They hadn't expected such sheer power to come out of the shield, and
with them moving forward, they were defenseless, causing every single one of them to fall.
Tilion lifted the shield out of the ground and back onto his shoulder.
'The stored punch from Murkel was in the shield, and each one of them just got a taste of it.
I love this thing. Oh, Raze, I could kiss you right now,' Tilion smiled to himself.
The attackers were startled. They had no clue what had just occurred with such an item,
and seeing this had caused a chain reaction.
"Now!" Ricktor shouted. "Now is our time to act!"
Seeing all of the opponents on the floor, the five students activated their Qi and each
decided to pick one: Ricktor, Mada, Simyon, Liam, and even Safa, as they all got into
position and charged forward.
"Don't let the students fight on their own!" Alba shouted. "All of the Crimson Crane, charge
forward as well!"
The situation had completely changed. Ricktor had seen enough. He had witnessed enough
from the Crimson Crane and Raze to put his trust in them.
It was a gamble, but it was a shot worth taking.
'Raze, don't make me regret my decision,' Ricktor thought.
Those on the floor were able to quickly comprehend the situation. The Qi being active
towards them was as clear as day, and there was no going back from this.
Hannah, Ricar, and Beatrix, as well as Bubble above, were watching everything unfold. The
fact that the Dark Faction students were now going against the Dark Faction themselves.
"What are we watching right now?" Hannah asked.
"I have no idea," Beatrix answered.
Chapter 681 Confusion In The Light Faction
Chapter 681 Confusion In The Light Faction
There was a large amount of confusion among those from the Light Faction. They
understood that a traitor or two among factions was expected when spies had to delve
deep into other territories.
They had to truly become part of the clan and faction to fulfill their roles. Oftentimes, this
would lead to some spies changing sides, but that hardly ever worked out. Most Pagna
warriors, once knowing someone had turned on them once, felt like it could happen again
at the snap of a finger, and they wouldn't last long.
What was strange here was not only were there the odd few higher-ups changing sides, but
every single one of the students who had participated in the tournament looked to be
turning on the Dark Faction leaders.
"It seems the Dark Faction has been having troubles of their own and has been keeping it
quite a secret," Ricar stated. "Can't you tell, based on the reaction of the adults? It was
almost as if they were expecting this."
Ricar was spot on with his guess. Murkel knew from the first attempt at escape that the
students were no longer loyal. The only reason they were doing his bidding was through
fear.
The issue was, the fear that ran through them wasn't strong enough. The look in their eyes
told him that at any chance they had, they would try to take it, and it seemed as if this
chance had come along.
Amir came forward again, a strike from the front. Murkel jumped back, avoiding the
strange beast-like hand. Right as he jumped back, though, he felt a strong force disrupting
his Qi from his side.
Lifting up his arm, loud bangs and powerful blasts of Qi were felt hitting him, one after the
other. Taking a peek through his guard, he could see that it was Dame.
"You should have confirmed it with your own eyes and checked if I was really dead. You're
going to regret it!" Dame claimed, as he continued to move and swing his fists through the
air, keeping a distance.
It was the most important thing to do, especially considering what Amir had told him about
his Qi.
As he was continuously getting hit, Murkel was able to block it with his guard just moving it
about. As he moved both of his arms to the side, he heard something scraping against the
ground, and when he turned around, he could see a large red X of Qi coming his way.
Quickly Murkel moved one of his hands to the two blades striking at him and grabbed onto
the blades, stopping them before they could completely swing.
"I can see it in your eyes, not even your words, you show no respect, so I will show you
respect today!" Alba shouted as she pushed forward with her Qi, but with a twist of his
hand, the Dark Qi encased the entirety of Alba's, almost making it disappear.
Then with a slight push, she was forced off her feet and flew through the air until she
crashed into the arena wall.
"Do you think just the three of you are enough?" Murkel said. "You will need everyone."
"It's okay," Amir said. "I just don't want you involved in their fight."
Amir, Dame, and Alba, who had just gotten out of the wall, a little marked up but not fully
hurt, were now going up against Murkel. Although they might have needed more power to
take on the principal and practically leader of the Dark Faction, the others were needed
elsewhere.
---
For a while, Cronker had been observing the situation, keeping an eye on Murkel. In the
corner of his eye, he was looking for the perfect situation to strike, but it just didn't appear
to be happening because every time he would move forward, Akron would be in his way.
The frail old man Akron would have both of his hands behind his back, the black needles
piercing on the side. What was more frightening was the devastating smile that would
appear.
Right as Cronker moved forward, the old man would then swing the needle, cutting the
edge of his face.
Getting frustrated, Cronker tried to step in just one step too far. Akron noticed this.
"A mistake, in the world of Pagna, one can't make mistakes!" Akron said as he followed up.
When he moved forward, though, a few daggers came from both sides. With quick, swift
movements of both of his hands, he was able to deflect many of them onto the floor.
Then a third little one appeared in front of him, Tilson, one of the Dark students. He didn't
have time to aim his strike because Tilson knew, despite all of the training they had gone
through, there was too much of a difference between them and a middle-stage warrior.
Even if the three of them were to team up, this was no ordinary middle-stage warrior. As
Tilson used everything he knew and learned all the drills in his head, he dashed forward
and swung his dagger.
He could feel it connecting but noticed that it had only ripped part of the clothing and didn't
touch the skin. Even taken by surprise, and with all three of them, they weren't able to put a
scratch on him.
"You three are extremely talented. I didn't know there were such students in the academy,"
Akron said. "If I could, I would take you all in as part of the Erupting Fist Clan's special
forces. You would learn a lot more with me than the fool of a teacher in front of you who
makes mistakes.
"And now you will learn the mistake you made as well." Akron lifted one of the needles, and
when covered with his Qi, it started to stretch out. It didn't leave his hands, he hadn't
thrown it, but it extended at an incredibly fast speed as if it was thrown and was aiming
right for Tilson.
"Tilson!" Violet shouted.
An arrow came through, hitting the tip of the needle and stopping it for a moment. The
needle was stronger than the arrow, pushing through it, but it had given the three students
of Cronker a chance to fall back to his side.
Retracting the black needle, Akron looked at who had just intervened.
"Don't you think you just made a mistake right now?" Forma claimed, already pulling back
another arrow. "You just revealed something to us that we didn't know before, a trump
card of sorts."
Akron still had a confident smile on his face.
"A mistake? The ones who make the most mistakes in this battle will be the losers in the
end, and I make no mistakes."
Forma hopped over to Cronker's side to make sure he knew she was supporting him as
well in all of this.
"We don't have special weapons created by the Dark Magus, but we are part of the Crimson
Crane, and with us and your little gang there, we can at least take out this guy, right?"
Forma claimed.
---
As all of this was happening, a trigger moment had occurred, and that was the actions of
Tilion slamming his shield onto the floor. Doing so allowed him to unleash the stored-up Qi
by Murkel, which had pushed all of the others onto the ground.
Akron and Murkel were quick to get up, as if they weren't affected at all, and continued
their fight. In the meantime, the rest of the students, along with the Crimson Crane
members, acted.
They acted on the order of Alba and charged forward. The students did the same, thinking
that this was going to be their only chance. They were no longer holding back. As they went
forward, those on the ground didn't just sit around, though.
They quickly got up off the floor and set their eyes on a target to attack. Two people in
particular, the twins from the Tulip Clan, Lin and Lulu, had jumped forward, holding their
fans close to them and charging against one student.
"That kid with the one eye is annoying me. Get him!" Lin shouted.
"Wait a second, why me?" Liam replied as he knew he was their target and stopped
charging forward. Instead, he looked at the two of them, trying to figure out a way to get
out of this.
Fighting maybe one of them, he could come up with something, but two would be nearly
impossible. Looking at them, they were running across from each other, from side to side,
while coming at him.
The system was analyzing and had finally come up with an answer.
[Using the half-moon block will block one of the strikes]
[It's impossible to block both of the strikes]
[There are currently no skills in the system that will allow you to avoid the situation]
'Hey, hey, hey, what are you talking about? Are you abandoning me right now at the most
important part!'
Whether the system was right or not, Liam didn't know, but he trusted it as he just focused
on one. It was the only thing he could do. His sword lit up, and he swung it in a half-
crescent strike in the air.
It clashed against the fan and caused it to hit upward, and from his right side, he could hear
a similar sound.
He turned to look and noticed a linger of light in the air, coming off from a sword, coming
from a woman of all things.
"Was that the half-moon block as well?" Liam asked.
Immediately, the person known as Anna turned to him.
"You better tell me who gave you that system, and if you lie, I'll kill you myself."
Liam gulped. He thought that this woman was his ally. Wasn't she by Raze's side, and now
she was threatening to kill him?
'But that move from before…and the system…how does she know?'
Chapter 682 The Most Dangerous Man
Chapter 682 The Most Dangerous Man
When Alba had given the notice to the entirety of the Crimson Crane to charge forward,
there was one person who was slightly frozen in place, wondering what to do, and that was
Tilion.
In his hands, he held the legendary shield. It was such a powerful item that now he felt like
his involvement could completely change the situation, depending on who he helped.
'Shouldn't I help with the fight against Murkel?' Tilion looked back.
The two sides had practically separated in the giant arena, and it was clear that Murkel was
the strongest of them all, but there were already three people going against him.
More than likely, his help would be needed elsewhere. As he ran over, he went to help some
of the children with the shield by his side until he heard heavy footsteps coming from his
right side.
Immediately, there was someone right there, and it was on the side where he wasn't
carrying his shield. All Tilion could do was brace himself as he saw a large black object bash
into his shoulder.
It was a large amount of Qi that pushed him through the ground. His feet were digging part
of the flooring off, and eventually, he tripped, falling over, rolling a couple of times, and
getting up off the floor.
He quickly put the shield in front of him, ready to block another attack, but the attack didn't
come. When Tilion took a peek at the side of his shield, he could see another warrior with a
round shield covering the side of his right arm.
"No matter what, I knew I had to go against you!" Gavin claimed, as he punched his round
shield a couple of times.
"I am from the Moonshield Clan, a clan that boasts the strongest defensive techniques in all
forms and with all weapons.
"Of course, in terms of defense, the shield only focuses on that, and it is the weapon that I
specialized in and rose to the top.
"Your shield is incredibly impressive, but I can tell that the person who is holding the shield
is not. It would be more deserving in better hands," Gavin said as he continued to bash his
shield.
Each time, it would ring out, and ripples of his Qi could be seen through the air. Such
powerful Qi would cause initial stage warriors to feel weak.
However, Tilion was not an initial stage warrior.
"I know who you are. You have made a name for yourself, just like I have as well. Having
grown through away techniques, I earned my position in the Crimson Crane and helped
them grow, and that was before I had this shield!" Tilion shouted back.
He then started to charge forward with the shield in front of him, and when he got close, he
used a special foot technique that pushed it forward with the V-shaped shield in front.
Gavin moved his shield in a circular motion with lingering Qi, almost creating an image of a
moon itself, and then pushed forward, hitting the shield at the same time.
The power exploded out, and then equally, it looked to have exploded back in as the special
effect of the shield activated, taking the energy in.
"Don't blame your loss just because you don't have a good item like me!" Tilion said behind
his shield. He could feel part of its power rising in him, and he was ready to attack when he
skimmed the shield to his side.
"Bargo, now!" Gavin shouted.
Hearing the words and the name called out, Tilion realized something--that there was one
more person near him.
He had thought that maybe Gavin had wanted a fair fight. To go head-to-head with him in
shield techniques to see which was superior.
Then he forgot what faction he was from. It was the Dark Faction, the group that did
anything they could to win.
He could see a man with a sword by his side charging forward. He had come at him with his
blade ready to pierce his bare side.
Tilion had done quite well, predicting the movements of Gavin, so he moved his shield in
that direction to block the attack, but it had left his side open.
'I'll just take the hit and keep storing energy in the shield, and when it's enough, I'll slice off
this guy's head!' Tilion thought.
He prepared himself to take the sword going through his body. He could tell the attacker
was a skilled, powerful warrior as well.
Not as strong as the clan head in front of him, but certainly strong enough to do a lot of
damage.
That was when something strange occurred, for Tilion never felt any pain, and that was
because the sword never pierced him.
Instead, it looked like Bargo had almost stumbled, missing his attack completely. When
falling, it felt like Tilion was seeing everything in slow motion.
Bargo, the man who was attacking, regained his footing after having missed his attack, and
then the sword turned, going right through Gavin's stomach, piercing his side.
"Arghh!" Gavin shouted, and jumped back, blood soaking through his clothing. "What is the
meaning of this? We've known each other for years, Bargo. Why would you betray me?
Were you always working with the Demonic Clan? Just what is going on?"
Tilion was too stunned to act. The enemy was fighting each other, and he had never even
seen Bargo before. Why was all of this happening?
"You work with Raze, right?" Bargo said, with his back facing toward him. "I owe that kid a
lot, and I promised that when the time came, I would help him out for what he has done.
"Sure, the Moonshield Clan has been good to me, but I rose to my position due to my own
skills and power. Nothing was ever given to me by the clan.
"If anything, the clan owes me for being so strong and being a part of their group," Bargo
smiled. "Regardless, with this, the big debt I owe that kid will be gone, and if he's fighting,
I'm sure he will win. After seeing him that day, I believe in miracles as well."
Although Bargo and Tilion had never spoken to each other before this moment, he
understood him well, especially the last line about miracles. Because Tilion was holding
onto a miracle that was made by the Dark Magus.
An unexpected pair had teamed up to go against one of the clan heads of the Dark Faction.
"Both of you are useless! You will understand today why I was made clan head of one of the
top five clans, and not someone like you, Bargo, who never pushed themselves!" Gavin
lifted up the round shield and his arm and punched into it, vibrating through the entire
area.
The large amount of power was felt by all who were continuing their fights with their
opponents.
---
When Safa had charged into the Dark Faction members on the ground, Simyon made sure
to stay close to her.
He was still hurt from his severe wounds, but he was patched up quite well thanks to Safa.
He needed to protect her.
At the same time, Safa, although she had managed to regain quite a bit of her Mana and Qi,
was still feeling weak from using all of her power.
Which was why she had decided to go for the slowest person to react to the large shield
strike from Tilion.
'The bald-headed wall of muscle. He's just laying there on the ground...he has to be the
weakest of the group. If we get rid of him first, then we can lower the numbers of the rest of
them.'
Seeing the reaction speed of the bald-headed man, Safa felt like she had made the right
choice. All of the others had gotten up, all apart from him.
Just as Safa had reached him, he had just lifted his upper body off the ground. Seeing this,
she shifted forward with her Qi in her legs.
Her movement was all in one motion. She then allowed her Qi to travel from her legs right
to the tip of the spear, and she thrusted it forward, towards the man's chest.
"Success!" Safa said as she could see her spear hitting the chest, with no hand getting in the
way, with no one getting in the way of her strike.
However, the spear was only touching the outer skin of the man, and it hadn't gone any
further inside. She quickly pulled it away, and in doing so, she noticed that there wasn't a
mark on him.
'Am I…really that weak? Did I not recover as much as I thought I did?' Safa thought. 'No, I
know how much Qi I put into that strike. That should have at least done some damage,
maybe not strike his heart, but get through his Qi.'
That's when she noticed the second strange thing about her strike. It didn't feel like it had
hit any type of Qi at all.
The strike itself, there was no resistance all the way. The Qi looked to be having no effect on
the man at all. It hit his skin and was doing nothing.
While Murkel was fighting with the others, he glanced back, noticing who Safa was fighting
against.
"Raze, I know you care for the other no-names, you are close to them, right!" Murkel
shouted, avoiding strikes from the three.
"Are you really just going to stay in your position while your sister fights that monster? The
monster that is unaffected by Qi?" Murkel asked with a devious smile.
In this whole thing, the bald-headed man was his second trump card for if things went
wrong in the event.
Chapter 683 The Special Man
Chapter 683 The Special Man
Murkel's ambition was a great one, and he knew that the task of taking over the entire
continent would not be easy.
Although he was sure that he was the strongest warrior in all of Pagna, despite not testing
the limits of those in the Light Faction and Demonic Faction, he still knew that he couldn't
go up against their entire forces on his own.
For one, the Light Faction had the Ten Elders, while the Demonic Faction had the Neverfall
Clan, with Belil and his two sons.
Individually, Murkel could best them, but if he were to fight them at full force, he thought it
would be the Dark Faction's loss.
In his mind, the Dark Faction was getting weaker, and he couldn't rely on just the strength
of the five major clans anymore. Especially after the fall of Feebie and the entire Lethal Bite
Clan.
This was just proof of his thoughts. In his research, he didn't leave a stone unturned when it
came to those in the Dark Continent.
Every rumor of someone powerful or something that could be of use to the clan he
explored. Nearly all of them turned out to be useless.
At times, Murkel would even discover hidden-away clans, but after dealing with them
personally, he knew they weren't worth his time.
From time to time, he would leave the academy, and this was the reason for doing so. Part
of the reason he had even joined the academy was for the knowledge of its library, and it
was the one place where multiple clans from far and wide would meet.
The easiest way for him to gather information. Then, that was when he heard of one rumor.
How a transport clan was saved by these muscular men in an attack.
They showed next to no skills, but their bodies were crafted as if they had been doing
martial arts from a young age. The reports stated, the attackers' skills seemed to have no
effect.
Murkel had gone to the area in search of this group of people and located up a mountain in
a deep forest, right next to a waterfall that would send water downstream, was an entire
town.
The group of people were broken away from civilization, not part of any clan or group.
What Murkel expected to see was people working out nonstop.
People training night and day, but there was none of that, and somehow the women and
men had perfectly carved muscles.
Their genetic makeup had made them this way. They hadn't communicated with the
outside, only leaving their bloodline within those of the village.
Through further research, Murkel discovered more. Their bodies didn't just have perfectly
carved muscles but they were naturally strong as well.
Each one of them was born as strong as a middle-stage warrior. Murkel almost felt like he
was looking at a race of completely different humans.
Then the final thing was discovered about them. Their bodies were unable to cultivate Qi,
but that was because all of the Qi that would touch them would enter their body and
disperse.
All strikes that hit their skin, their bodies would completely absorb the Qi and break it
down into nothing. They didn't absorb the direct power; it didn't make them stronger, but
it didn't work against them either.
Murkel felt like he had found the perfect anti-Pagna warrior weapon out in the middle of
nowhere on his continent.
Convincing the strongest warrior of the village in his ways, he had brought him by his side.
Murkel had challenged one to a fight which they weren't against.
Even Murkel's Qi, when being used, had done the same thing. Absorbed just like the special
shield Raze had created, but rather than taking it in, breaking it down into nothing.
However, Murkel could still use Qi on his own body to speed up his attacks, and being a
high-ranking middle-stage warrior, his body was also special.
Using his skills and techniques, Murkel had bested the strongest fighter, and they started to
have a great interest in him, just like he did them.
If things worked out, he would have an army of these people who were unaffected by Qi.
'A new race of people, being brought to the world of Pagna,' Murkel thought as he smiled
and continued to taunt Raze.
Safa was starting to realize that this was true. She swung her spear, trying to cut across the
man's chest, but his chiseled muscles weren't being cut by the spear, and the Qi in the
attack was doing nothing as it slammed against his body.
Simyon appeared by her side, while Safa was continuing to strike, and with a two-step shift
and a heavy fist, he hit the man in the side.
This warranted some type of reaction, as he bent his body slightly, but Simyon could tell
that the strike which should have lifted him off his feet didn't seem to work.
"Are you like me… you have a strong body," the bald-headed man said, and grabbed Simyon
right by the head.
Simyon tried to lift his hands and pull his arm away, but he was unable to.
"What is with this grip strength… is he really using no Qi… it's like I'm fighting against a
monster or a hybrid," Simyon said as he was lifted off the ground.
With his other hand free, the bald-headed man started to feel Simyon's body all over,
touching his chest, his legs, his arms, and shoulders.
"You have a really good body," the bald-headed man stated.
"Oh come on, what is with people like this always touching me!" Simyon shouted again and
placed his hand on the bald-
headed man gripping around his forearm.
Raze was still sitting down, cultivating as much as he could. He was doing so at a fast rate,
first he was using the Dark Arts cultivating technique to restore his mana.
After that, he would switch to the Demonic cultivating technique to restore his Qi. All was
going well for him, and he was listening to what was said.
"Me, worried?" Raze said with a smirk, his eyes still closed. "You said Qi doesn't work
against them. I guess that really would be a problem. That is if they were normal Pagna
warriors."
Murkel could hear Raze's ramblings but didn't take them as much of anything. They were
just students. Murkel had been keeping an eye on them.
They weren't the ones that were giving him trouble, it was mainly Amir and whatever plans
he had.
That was when sparks started to slightly appear right by Simyon's glove, then eventually
the whole arm lit up. The shock was sent through the bald-headed man's body, and he
immediately let go, dropping Simyon onto the ground.
"What nature power you have, it hurts!" the bald-headed man stated.
"I see, your body truly is against Qi… but the power in these gloves I have, they have
nothing to do with Qi," Simyon said. "And, I'm not the only one."
The bald-headed man was so focused and so confident in his ability to not be hurt by these
students, he hadn't noticed Safa behind him.
She swung her spear, with the tip of her spear lit up, in a white light. It looked similar to the
Qi that the Light Faction used.
The spear cut across the back of the man, and the skin was cut, blood splattering on the
floor.
"If your body is powerful against Qi, then I'll just have to use something else," Safa claimed.
Chapter 684 The last Matchups
Chapter 684 The last Matchups
The Crimson Crane had followed the order to charge, and the bulk of them ran in without a
second thought. This included Reno, Kizer, and Lily.
Both Reno and Kizer had obtained items made by the Dark Magus. Reno was able to
progress his poison powers to another level, becoming a stronger middle-stage warrior.
At the same time, his poison Qi had grown far stronger. When fighting middle-stage
warriors at the same level as him, even if not being hit directly, slowly they would be worn
down.
A drawn-out battle was not one anyone would want against Reno.
Then, with Kizer's weapon, the Crimson Crane member had the strongest attack; he carried
the large orange-colored greatsword.
A sword which grew in power depending on how many people were in the area.
Unfortunately, this wasn't an all-out war, or a large-scale battle like when they had gone
against the Behemoth Clan, so its effects were diminished, but it was still incredibly strong
in other ways. He just had to keep in mind the curse attached to the weapon.
Then there was Lily, whose main weapon was a spear. She hadn't had any gifts given by
Raze, the Dark Magus, and was patiently waiting for her turn, like a few of the others.
These three charged in and looked at the opponents on the ground. Many of them had
quickly gotten into battles, but out of a large bulk of them, there were two that concerned
Reno.
"Can you feel it?" Reno asked. Staring into the group of Dark Pagna warriors.
"Yeah!" Kizer replied as he continued to charge forward and looked straight ahead. "There
are two really strong ones here, and if Tilon is dealing with that one, then we need to deal
with this one!"
Kizer jumped in the air, both of his hands on the handle, holding the large sword behind his
back, and flung it forward, ready to smash it down on the woman in front of him.
As the sword came down, though, the woman quickly moved to the side, and the sword,
with all of its power, looked like it was ready to strike the floor. Part of it was breaking
before the sword had even made contact.
Before it even did, though, the woman had lifted her leg, and visual Qi of flowing water
appeared. It went through the air and hit Kizer right on the side of his head, sending him
flying to the side.
Immediately, Lily came rushing forward, but the woman then kicked the ground, sweeping
it. The visual Qi suddenly made Lily feel as if her feet were unstable. When she went to
thrust her spear, it was off target.
To her surprise, the woman had grabbed the spear and went to pull Lily forward, ready to
throw a punch right at her head.
That was until her fist was blocked by Reno. He had grabbed it, and his poisonous Qi was
seeping onto the surface of her skin.
She didn't hesitate, as a large amount of Qi came out from her body. Both Lily and Reno felt
spits of light rain on their faces, and they soon saw both of their bodies crashing into one
another.
As they banged heads, Lily quickly stomped her foot on the ground, unleashing her own Qi,
and then stabbed her spear into the floor, breaking a large part of the flooring in front of
them.
It allowed for space between the three of them and the woman they had decided to take on.
"That woman, she's so strong," Lily said. "It looks like your instinct was right. If we want to
help out those students, we need to make sure she doesn't join the fight."
"Who even is she?" Kizer said.
"That doesn't matter. It would be an embarrassment if we weren't able to beat her, even
with two items made by the Dark Magus," Reno said as he readied himself. "And although
there were two obviously showing off their power… I'm worried that there might be those
among their group hiding theirs."
The woman they were going against was called Suzan. She was a member of the Flowing
Force Clan and was one of the strongest members of the clan.
She had fought with Crine for his position and ultimately lost. After her loss, she had
secluded herself, trying to grow stronger.
She had agreed after her loss that she would do whatever it was Crine asked of her. That
was why she was at the event and why she was unknown among them all.
A person who was strong enough to be a clan head of one of the five major clans.
---
Elsewhere in the arena, Rayna, who had also appeared to help Raze out, was now facing a
middle-aged man called Wendart.
"What is this, Rayna? You are only a little older than the children that I teach. You must
have only reached the middle stage not too long ago, no?" Wendart asked as he pulled out
his thin long sword and circled the area.
"You shouldn't talk to me on a first-name basis. I know that I am quite well known, but that
gives you no right, especially when I have no clue what your name is," Rayna replied.
When learning of the plan that Raze had come up with, she, of course, asked to join, and
with Raze knowing he would need all the help he could get to go up against the Dark
Faction, he didn't deny her coming either.
She knew that things would turn out this way as well, with her fighting on her own. She
wasn't a true member of the Crimson Crane, so she had to accept that they would be doing
their own thing.
"Me? I am Wendart, the head teacher at the Dark Pagna Academy," Wendart replied. "My
skills are not lacking, especially for someone like you. You should go home."
Wendart charged in and thrusted his sword while Rayna pulled the spear from her back
and swung it, hitting the sword to the side. Explosive Qi bonded between the two of them.
"I'll have you know that right now I'm married, and I'm fighting for my husband!" Rayna
declared.
---
With all of the Dark Faction warriors held up, there was only one left and not engaged in
combat: Crine, the head of the Flowing Force Clan.
All he could do as he looked at the person standing in front of him was shake his head.
"I'm surprised you can even stand in front of me right now," Crine said. "After you almost
lost your life before, do you really want to lose it again? Do you really think you can do this
alone?"
Crine started to walk toward Mada. With each step, ripples were seen on the ground. Mada
took a fighting stance and a big gulp along with it.
'It's finally happening, I'm finally going to fight against my father… but there's no way I can
win… there's just no way.'
With each step, the ripples in the ground were growing even larger. Seeing this, thick beads
of sweat were running down Mada's face, and before he knew it, Crine was right there in
front of him.
"As easy as that, you are just a child after all." Crine reached out his hand, going toward
Mada's head. Until a sword swung in between the two.
A powerful strike like erupting flames caused Crine to pull back for just a moment.
"Nearly chopped off your arm there, that would have been fun," Ricktor claimed.
Mada was surprised to see Ricktor. He was sure that he would have gone off to fight his
father, that was his wish after all, and this was his chance to do it.
So why was Ricktor here?
"It looks like both of us have severe father issues. It seems it's not just limited to women,"
Ricktor smiled. "Let's deal with your daddy issues first, and after that, we can deal with
mine."
"I've grown attached to having you around, so I wouldn't want you to go missing," Ricktor
claimed.
With that, all members of the Dark Faction were engaged in deep battle, against a mixed
group of people. Some of the most powerful members were battling against each other.
The Light Faction was witnessing all, and in their minds, they could only think one thing:
Who was going to be the first to fall?
Chapter 685 The Biggest Mistake
Chapter 685 The Biggest Mistake
Cronker specialized in assassination techniques, focusing on taking out an opponent
quickly and silently. He had been with the Crimson Crane group the longest and was by
Alba's side before anyone else in the group.
There were rumors that the Crimson Crane had managed to grow larger because of him.
The hardest jobs requested of wanderers were assassinations. This was because it would
either involve them angering one of the other factions or the kingdoms and empires across
the land.
If a person completed such a job, no one was to know who had actually done it. This was
why it was simply rumors that Cronker was part of the mass growth of the Crimson Crane.
But then begged the question: Nearly every faction and even clans had groups of people
specializing in assassinations or spying techniques, so why did the Crimson Crane have
such a person? Maybe the rumors were true after all.
Right now, Cronker was dealing with an opponent he couldn't outright beat or sneak up on.
Whatever he had tried didn't work, so he looked to his side, at the three students he had
trained, and also at Froma, his fellow ally.
"I know you don't usually work with others and like working on your own, but it looks like
you could do with some help," Froma said. "I think it's best you take it."
After finishing those words, she shot out arrows fast and powered with Qi. They were
perfectly aimed at Akron, who looked unfazed as they came at him. He carefully stepped
forward from side to side.
It looked like he was taking a peaceful stroll through the arena, but each time he would
completely avoid the arrows no matter what happened.
"Will you keep him still!" Froma shouted.
"Fine," Cronker said as he lifted up his black covering from his mouth to just slightly over
his nose and dashed forward.
The arrows had stopped attacking, and Cronker went from being directly in front of Akron
to suddenly disappearing. Quickly, Akron lifted up one of his sword-like needles and
stopped a dagger from reaching him.
He then swung both of his needles several times. Cronker, who had attacked from the side,
was ducking and weaving each of the attacks, perfectly keeping attention on both of the
needles this time.
Froma was carefully aiming an arrow pulled back, and then let go. The arrow went faster
than the others before it. In the middle of attacking Cronker, Akron turned his needle
weapon to the side and sliced the arrow completely in half.
Seeing this, she couldn't help but click her tongue.
'This is hardly better than when he was just moving toward him. He needs to be on the
back foot. He's so much in control of the fight that he can even block an arrow like that. Just
Cronker alone isn't going to be enough.'
She then looked down and could see the students were tense.
'Based on what I saw, these little ones weren't so bad. Cronker isn't going to hurt them, and
he's going to get hurt at this rate. He's not made for long drawn-out fights.'
"You three, when you think there's a chance, just like I did just then, you need to help your
teacher, and then I'll strike. I don't want to rely on you guys like that… but I think we're
going to have to," Froma asked.
The students didn't need to be told twice. They were tense because they wanted to help
Cronker but feared that the fight was at too high a level and they would just end up getting
in his way. Now that they had been given the okay, they were ready.
"Just like we trained," Tilson said, and the other two nodded.
They moved out in separate directions like a blur. Their footsteps were silent; their Qi
could be felt by Froma, but she was a skilled middle-stage warrior trained to see these
things.
"I'm counting on you little ones," Froma said.
Cronker was putting up a good fight. After dodging several hits, he was getting used to the
rhythm and was now throwing in strikes of his own. However, each of them was still easily
blocked by Akron.
It was the most skilled fighter he had been up against. With Cronker's specialty being
assassination, he was naturally quite strong at the start of the fight. Sharp Qi, with fast
attack speed.
Cronker still hadn't reached the stage where his attacks were slowing down or weakening,
but Akron was still blocking everything and had the same smile on his face.
Cronker then took a swipe with his dagger at Akron toward his neck, and Akron took a firm
step back.
Immediately, three of the students appeared from all sides. They had been waiting for this
chance, and it appeared it was time for them to do their work. Froma was ready, expecting
Akron to block the attack, which would leave the perfect opening.
That was until Cronker could see a smile on Akron's face.
"I never make mistakes!"
The three students stopped short of reaching Akron, as they felt large stinging pain in their
abdomens. When Tilson, Joe, and Violet looked, they could see a strange thin black
substance had gone through their stomachs and had pierced the floor.
It wasn't just them, but it was Cronker as well. When they looked at their opponent, they
could see the black needle he had, it had branched out like spikes, sharp thin needle-like
structures had come from the base of the blade and had gone through all of them, including
Cronker's stomach as well.
"You were the one that thought I had shown you all that my sword had to offer," Akron
said. "But you should have gotten the hint when I told you that I don't make mistakes."
Cronker looked at the students that had been pierced by the sword, blood starting to swirl
out of their mouths. It was clear these weren't any normal weapons.
He started to wonder, why hadn't Froma fired her arrow? What was she doing? But with
the second needle, he saw Akron's arm stretched out, it went across the arena and had
pierced the arrow, then hitting the bow, it looked as if it had deflected slightly, but just like
the other needle, it had spread out branching like a sea urchin.
Several of the spikes had pierced Froma in different areas, stabbing right through her body
and piercing her to the floor, making it impossible for her to move. She was still alive, but
she felt like she couldn't even use her hands.
"You bastard!" Cronker shouted and moved forward, allowing the needle to go further into
him, but he did not care.
"The first mistake you made." Akron retracted the needle that had pierced Froma. When
the needles exited out of her body, she fell to the floor. "You relied on students to do work
that should be done by adults. I guess that's what happens when you follow a student that
has gotten you into all of this mess."
Akron glanced at Raze when making that comment. He then lifted his hand with the other
needle and pointed it toward Joe.
"When people make mistakes, they need to be punished so they don't do it again."
Cronker knew what Akron was intending to do. With this, he pushed forward through all of
the pain, and allowed the needle to go deeper into his body, he ran to the side, allowing the
needle to cut part of his body, and dived forward with his dagger.
Reaching out, his dagger moved right in front of the extending needle, stopping it before it
hit Joe. At the same time, though, Cronker suddenly felt as if he was falling.
His dagger was dropping onto the floor and so was the rest of his view, until he finally felt
his chest hitting the floor.
Cronker had his legs sliced off. Akron had already taken out the other needle from the other
students. They had fallen to the ground, and Cronker had done so, but it was because the
other needle had been used to completely slice his legs off.
"You need to learn, how are you meant to protect those you care about if you don't protect
yourself first? You could have kept fighting against me if you didn't try to protect these, and
now I will teach you that protecting these students was a stupid endeavor in the first
place."
Both of the black needles were in Akron's hands, and once again he looked to Joe, who was
on the floor. While on the floor, Joe looked toward his teacher, looking into Cronker's eyes.
"I'm sorry, I just wanted to do something," Joe said, his mouth red.
"No… I was the one that started to like you guys, and I should have protected what I liked...
I didn't know the Dark Faction were so cruel!!" Cronker shouted.
Violet and Tilson were looking at the situation. The needle had done something strange to
them. They had only been pierced in one area, yet for some reason, they were unable to
move. It was almost as if the needle also had a poisonous numbing effect that worked on
them.
It showed how amazing it was that Cronker was still able to move despite all of that.
Akron placed his needle right above Joe's head, ready to extend it out. Having it over Joe's
head, a strange shadow-like wolf jumped from the side and almost went to bite his hand.
Quickly, Akron sliced through the shadow, and it disintegrated, but the lingering part of the
dark shadow from the beast fell onto Akron's skin, hurting him.
"I think you are the one that has made a mistake," a voice said.
Looking up, Akron could see a man standing and walking over to him with his sword
covered in a shadowy mist.
"The mistake of touching these students," Raze said.
Chapter 686 All Formations
Chapter 686 All Formations
In order to regain his Qi and mana as quickly as possible, Raze needed extreme
concentration while performing his cultivation meditation techniques. It was the quickest
way to draw energy from the places around him.
He wasn't a genius like Safa, who could cultivate just by simply standing and breathing. The
return of his energy was depleted after using a cursed Qi pill to restore his mana and
producing a second spell to bring the Crimson Crane here. If he wanted to fight, he needed
to regain his energy.
Still, it was impossible for Raze not to be distracted by what was going on outside. In the
middle of his focus, he would listen in and take a peek at how the others were doing in the
fight.
'The Dark Faction has brought stronger members than I thought. I didn't even know there
were strong members outside of the main five clan heads. It seems that there was more
power in the Dark Faction than expected.'
Raze was done with filling his magic core, and in response, he closed his eyes and started
the life and death cycle to restore his Qi. He slightly changed his sitting position, from his
hands' gestures together raising up, to lowering down.
Through magic, Raze had learned the effectiveness of trigger words. By linking certain
words and phrases to spells, one's mind could create the magic circle needed to produce
the spell.
So, similar to his trigger words, he was cementing certain actions to switch between
cultivating methods so it wouldn't take him long to get into the routine again. He knew by
switching his hand gestures that his body naturally went into taking demonic energy rather
than dark energy for his magic core.
As he was cultivating, there was a slight worry in Raze.
'Is the blooded woman going to come again? By using this technique, I'm not in the
Demonic Faction or Dark Faction, and right now I don't really have a choice. If anything, it
might be handy for her to come down.'
Ignoring the risks, Raze went ahead and was gathering his demonic energy back. After a
while, Raze couldn't help but once again take a peek at the situation, and he noticed
someone who wasn't doing well.
'Cronker and the students, who even is that they're going up against!' Raze thought.
'I've gathered a lot of Qi and mana back. I can fight and help out, but I was cultivating so I
could go against Murkel.'
Looking at the situation, Raze could see that Alba, Dame, and Amir seemed to at least be
holding Murkel back. Murkel was finding it tricky dealing with Amir's transformed state,
almost being careful with it.
On top of that, there looked to be a lot that Amir knew about Murkel, making it easier for
him to fight against, and the news and techniques had been passed to Dame as well, who
was holding his own.
'If I don't do something, then all of them will die, and I was the one that involved them!'
Stopping his cultivation, Raze stood firm. He knew he wouldn't be able to reach in time, so
he activated one of the formations of the Dark Edge Sword Arts.
'The third formation, Nightmare Veil formation, magic.' Raze's Dark magic was being added
to his Dark Edge formations for the first time. It was something he had kept hidden during
the tournament, only using the Dark Edge formations themselves.
His sword was lingering with a dark mist that spread out. Then he swung his sword, and an
image of a beast appeared—a wolf created by his Dark magic, moving and attempting to
bite onto Arkon's arm.
When Arkon turned to look in the direction of where the wolf had come from, that's where
he could see Raze.
"You speak too much, your first mistake!" Arkon said as he attempted to charge forward
against the student.
From Arkon's assessment, he had gathered that the most dangerous person out on this
arena floor right now was this man. He assumed he was resting but had been called out
from his rest due to the worry of his colleagues.
This was why Arkon found it so easy to deal with the other factions. They just didn't have it
in them to do whatever it took to win.
When Arkon came close, Raze swung his sword multiple times. A large scene appeared
from his sword—a large bear- like creature among other things were all heading toward
Arkon.
Arkon had no clue what this technique was, but he was unfazed as he went to cut them all
down. The beasts almost felt like they had a type of physical body as he swung his needles
to go through them. Each time he broke them apart, the lingering Dark magic would hit
him, and he learned it was something to avoid.
Then appearing right in front of him was a large bear made from the magic. Arkon had no
choice as he felt like just slicing through this magic beast would just harm him more. He
lifted up his two needle weapons, and they started to expand out, spikes in all directions
ripping through parts of the shadow.
It had hit the magical beast so much that it had practically become nothing, and there was
next to no damage done to Arkon as well. That was until he saw, now having defeated the
bear made of Dark magic, he could see Raze on the other side, with both hands holding onto
the hilt of his sword.
"I've seen this before. Although this was effective on the students you faced, do you really
think it's going to be effective on me!" Arkon claimed, as both of his needles were covered
in a dark red energy.
"This is not the same as what you saw. The second formation, Dark Magic Sword Eclipse
Strike!" Raze called out. The magic was swirling around the sword itself, even though it was
already covered and condensed into an obsidian black.
Arkon's two needle-like weapons, which were held up, stopped the sword, but his Qi didn't
even last a moment as it was engulfed by the attack. The whole of Arkon's body looked to
be covered by the Eclipse Strike.
The attack had covered part of the entire arena, engulfing the entire area. Then finally, the
attack had stopped. Arkon had been pushed back partly by the attack.
His upper clothes had been obliterated, leaving only his skin to be on show, and even that
was covered in strange markings that almost looked like burns.
Yet he was still smiling.
"You are strong… that was a lot stronger than I thought… you are seriously dangerous,"
Arkon said, still with his weapon in his hands.
Raze wasn't done though. Taking the sword down, he charged forward.
"I don't have time to talk, old man, I just need to get rid of you all."
"Dark Edge Sword Arts Fourth Formation, Magic Void Pulse!" Raze rushed across the area,
along with his sword. A large pulse of magic mixed with Qi propelled him forward, and a
wave was sent out behind him.
The sword went right through Arkon's head, aimed perfectly. He could do nothing to stop
the attack.
"That's one of you down," Raze said as he pulled the sword out and Arkon fell to the floor.
Chapter 687 Protect Raze
Chapter 687 Protect Raze
The fourth formation, the second formation, and the third formation. All of them had been
used against a single opponent. The legendary Dark Edge Sword Arts were used by the
Noctis Clan and only by the founder of the Dark Faction.
However, there was one more detail added to this all, and that was the fact that they had
magic added to them—Dark magic, the most destructive magic there was, produced by a
mage with a dark core.
Seeing how strong his opponent was, Raze had wasted no time using all of his skills. And
doing so in succession like that, he was confident he could strike down his enemy in one hit,
which he had achieved.
"Just what type of power is that? That power is immense, and he used it in succession. He
must have been hiding his strength during the tournament!" Beatrix said.
She looked at the ground where the sword had hit. The entire flooring was torn up by the
second formation strike. Then there was beyond where the pulse attack had been made.
The wall, the stands, and the arena—part of it had folded in, the concrete it was made out of
had been obliterated, and rocks were piling on top of rocks. It was hard to imagine anyone
would have been able to survive such an attack.
"You're right, there is no doubt about it. No wonder he was confident in starting this battle
against the Dark Faction," Ricar commented. "But I think you'll see, he's worn himself out."
Ricar was right, because almost immediately Raze had stumbled, falling onto one knee. He
grabbed his chest, and then moved his hand to hover over his stomach.
'I used up all my mana that I had gathered, and all of the Qi already. I nearly pushed myself
to the point where I nearly passed out,' Raze thought to himself.
'I have no choice, right now… I have to.' Forcing his legs to move, he changed position from
being down on his knees to a sitting position. He crossed his legs and closed his eyes,
letting out a few deep breaths.
Then he gathered both of his hands upright and started to use the Dark Faction's
cultivation technique, restoring the mana back in his heart again. Right now it was the only
thing he could do.
'I don't know if Cronker is okay, or the rest of the children, but this is all I can do for them
for now. I can't fight against Murkel or the others; they will have to be left on their own,'
Raze thought.
Murkel, of course, noticed what Raze had done. He had seen it all and sensed the great
power within.
"I should have known, that child was hiding more," Murkel said as he leaned back and then
punched Dame's hand down, so a blast hit the floor. He then delivered a strong fist right to
his chest, sending him back.
As Alba came close, Murkel lifted his arm in the air, and the dark Qi started to gather. He
moved it forward, almost touching Alba's swords. Rather than connecting, though, he then
pulled back, and Alba felt her sword pulling like a magnetic force, sending her off balance.
With her body off balance, he then grabbed her by the hair behind and pulled her head
back, slamming his knee right into her back. Before he could do more, though, Amir
charged forward with a kick to the chest, sending him back, and then a swing of his large
axe beast hand.
It continued to hit nothing but air.
"That kid, you know he is most likely from the Noctis Clan. Is that why you sided with him?"
Murkel asked. "It seems that might be the reason you are so confident in him, but things
won't work out for him, just like it didn't work out for the Dark Faction before!"
When Amir went to strike with his axe beast hand again, he felt it being dragged upward.
Murkel had gathered and condensed his dark Qi and then lifted it in the air. In doing so, his
visual Qi lingered but still had the same effects as before, dragging his arm upward.
Murkel then charged forward, running past the outstretched beast arm. Only he wasn't
aware that as it forcefully retracted back to normal, the axe beast arm was now coming
toward him.
Sensing it, Murkel jumped and did a backflip in the air, avoiding the axe hitting him
completely and landing back on the ground.
"You are one of the most extremely talented individuals I have ever come across, Murkel,"
Amir stated. "One of the few people who has been able to use the full properties of dark Qi,
something only a handful of people have managed to achieve.
"It means the world felt like you were destined for great things."
Murkel smiled at this comment.
"It seems we both can agree on that. That's why you stood in my shadow and had to force
your body to change to this, to even do something against me," Murkel said.
Amir shook his head.
"If only your ambition wasn't so short-sighted. While you are busy trying to take over
Pagna yourself, you're unaware that there might not even be a Pagna in the end!"
Amir jumped up, and as he did, both of his arms changed into axes. He swung them from
both sides, stretching them out, one from the left and one from the right.
Quickly, Murkel kicked himself from his position and grabbed the wrist of Amir, stopping
his attack. He could see that Alba and Dame had gotten up and were striking from either
side.
Pushing away with a strong force, Murkel then slammed his foot into the ground, surging Qi
through the floor and breaking the ground up, creating barriers in their path.
A perfectly controlled amount of Qi, with plenty of fighting experience. This was the type of
opponent they were going against.
Both Dame and Alba continued their attack through the concrete that had risen, breaking
through it and turning it to rubble, but now on the other side, they could no longer see
Murkel.
"He's going after Raze, stop him!" Amir shouted.
With his arms stretched out, he was the furthest away, and it would take him the longest to
get to Murkel, and Murkel was faster than him.
"The one that needs to be dealt with and will get in my way is him. The past needs to be
completely gotten rid of in order for the future to progress!" Murkel stated.
"That student is a fragment of the past that cannot exist!"
The Noctis Clan was continuously in his head. Ever since he had seen Raze use the skills, he
felt like he was someone to deal with. He just wasn't aware of how dangerous of a threat he
was, nor how much alive he was.
He could see now that Raze was defenseless. It was an easy target for him to take out and a
way to lower their morale.
"The man who killed Arkon will die!"
Murkel continued forward until he felt something pull on his leg. Looking down, he could
see a white substance that was wrapped completely around his foot.
As he looked at the substance, he followed it with his eyes and could see that it was coming
straight from Dame's mouth, which was open wide and had two curved large teeth growing
from the side of his mouth.
"You…You were a hybrid as well?" Murkel asked.
Chapter 688 Who Am I Now?
Chapter 688 Who Am I Now?
For a while now, the students that had been fighting for the Dark Faction remembered
what had occurred in the past. About their escape in trying to get out of the academy. They
were left with no choice after everything that had happened.
One of the main clan leaders had been killed, and the Dark Faction, on the order of the
principal, was treating all of the students like lab rats. If the rats didn't act the way they
wanted, then they would get rid of them.
With this fear in mind, and already being put through a lot, they attempted to escape. They
had the help of many along the way, but in the end, they were caught by none other than
Murkel himself.
The students knew they were no match to take on Murkel. At the time, they hadn't even
gone through intense training with Amir, and Ricktor hadn't even reached the middle stage.
It was hopeless. Among the students, there was one person who didn't belong, and who had
been with them, and that was Dame. Seeing how the situation was occurring, he had
decided to do his best.
To help the others, he felt part of this fault was his mess. This whirlwind of an adventure he
had decided to take on because of his situation at home. He felt like he could amount to
more, but in his situation with his brothers and sister, and working under his father, he
couldn't amount to much.
At most, he could just please his father, and then from there take over his father's legacy,
and that was while fighting for the position with his brothers. Instead, he wanted to do
things his own way, and he had found that through Raze.
The Dark Magus was able to sell incredible Qi pills as well as craft items that could change
the outcome of things. Dame had experienced that himself when he had bested Beatrix, a
feat that no one thought he would accomplish.
Change was finally happening, and it was because of Raze. As Dame started to hang around
those around Raze, he started to get the same feeling from the others as he did from Raze.
These individuals that had managed to gather around the same person. Each one of them
was incredibly special and he could tell they would amount to great things.
Maybe that was the reason why he had decided to stand up and fight against Murkel that
day. At times there would be many that would call him selfish. A person that only cared for
himself and never cared for the Neverfall Clan or his father's legacy.
In a way, that was quite true, Dame didn't care, but he cared extremely about those he had
decided to care about. Fixteen, along with his other close friends, knew this, and they knew
when it came to those close to him, he was extremely selfless.
When Murkel had thrown a devastating attack, he didn't hesitate to jump in front of Simyon
to stop the attack. His body was hurt, his eyes were in the middle of closing, and the last
thing Dame could remember was opening his eyes and just seeing the mist, and the very
edge of one of the cliffs in the distance.
"I hope… they will make it through all of this somehow," Dame weakly said as he continued
to drop through the mist, and soon a loud bang was heard with his body as it crashed on
the floor.
His whole vision went black, and Dame was quite confident that he wouldn't be able to
open his eyes again, but he learned that he was wrong.
His eyes slowly started to flutter open and the view of mist appeared all around him. He
wasn't quite sure if his image was blurry or it was just the effect of the mist itself. He tried
to move anything but his head, which seemed like an impossibility.
'Even if I could move, I don't think I would want to see the condition of my body right now.
Taking the hit straight on, and after that falling from that height with virtually no Qi
protection.
'I had used it all up just trying to block the damage of that strike as much as possible. Much
use that was, and now it might be my downfall.'
Dame wondered, maybe if he had used less Qi to block the strike and he had landed down
here, then he could at least force his body to move. Which was an impossibility right now.
When he thought about it more, he realized that there was another situation that was a
possibility as well, that if he hadn't used so much Qi to protect himself, he would be dead.
Either way, it was useless to think about the what-ifs because he was in the current
situation he was in now.
'Those kids, I wonder how they're doing as well. They looked scared, as if they lost all hope.
I thought that maybe I could stall him at least for a minute or so, so they could get away. I
guess I was really stupid.'
Dame wanted to lift his hand to cover his face, as he felt his eyes well up, and something
wet rolled across the side of his cheek.
As he lay there on his back, unmoving, unsure about how many bones were broken, or if he
would die of hunger, he started to think of all of his life he had been through.
One of the weak links of the Neverfall Clan, his brothers, always being superior to him,
talking down to him, and the whole clan comparing him to the rest.
Why wasn't he able to do the things they could when he was their age? How he was a
failure of the Neverfall Clan. It was a place he never felt like he belonged to in the first place.
Which was why he had gathered people around him that didn't care about that. It was why,
in secret away from the eyes of any clan member, he practiced as much as he could. He
researched as much as he could trying to better himself.
It was only a few times that Fixteen would catch him doing such things.
'If I did care more, if I did push myself harder, would things be different now?' Dame
started to wonder as he could feel a deep pang in his stomach, which was followed by a
growl that echoed in the misty space.
He started reflecting on everything, including all of the fights he could have had. Soon the
mist that he could see in his vision started to look like shapes of people. Warriors fighting
against each other using their own set of special techniques.
He wasn't sure if the mist was actually moving or his mind playing tricks on him. He soon
figured it was most likely the latter, as his stomach made an even louder growl than before
and the mist figures broke up.
"Wow, it looks like someone is hungry," a voice said through the mist.
Turning his head slightly, he could see the mist moving and breaking apart and a figure
starting to appear.
"It looks like Amir was right. He said you looked strong and would still be alive," the man's
voice said. "Anyway, I guess I should help you if you're going to be part of us."
"Part of us?" Dame replied as the man walked closer. Dame realized he had never seen this
person in his life before. A young man with short facial hair and clothing that looked like
that of a regular citizen with basic cloth.
"Yeah, the Bonum Society," the man claimed.
Chapter 689 The Way In
Chapter 689 The Way In
The man stood there observing Dame for a while, placing his hand on his chin while looking
him up and down. Once in a while, he made questionable faces that made Dame feel worse
about his condition, and not wanting to know about it as well.
In order to distract himself and the man in question, he started to ask his own questions.
"From the way you're speaking with me, someone sent you. Was it that Vice Principal? I
think he said something about being in that particular group as well," Dame said.
He remembered the conversations vaguely, but so much information was loosely spoken
about here and there, Dame never even had much time to find out the finer details about
things.
"You're right," the man said as he reached into a pouch that was strapped around his waist.
It was brown in color, made out of leather, and fairly worn. It didn't take him long to pull
out a few round-looking Qi pills.
"The Vice Principal you are talking about is part of the Bonum Society as well. He seems to
have taken a liking to you and told me to come here, saying that you might be alive. He said
it was a fifty-fifty chance, but I would say more like ninety-ten, with a ninety percent
chance that you would be dead, judging by things."
The man then knelt down and placed the Qi pill into Dame's mouth. Dame wasn't going to
deny the pill, even though he didn't know who this stranger was. He could tell, if the
stranger was going to poison him, at least it would be a quicker death.
Without the pill, he would most likely die as well. So out of death, death, and a chance of
survival, he was going to take the latter. After consuming the pill, he realized it was just an
ordinary Qi pill.
Energy had restored to his dantian, and he could start using it to power his cells in his
body, speeding up the natural healing process, but it wasn't as good as the Dark Magus's
pills. Perhaps Dame had now gotten too used to them.
"You're a lucky man, you've broken a lot of bones, torn some ligaments as well, but the
fractures, like those on your ribs, haven't pierced any of your internal organs. You don't
have a lot of internal bleeding, at least not that which is too dangerous. Which is why,
despite you being here for so long, you're still alive," the man explained.
Although Dame could feel his body more now, and it was healing, he didn't think just a Qi
pill was going to cut it. Not unless he wanted to take several months to heal.
"The Bonum Society you are talking about, what do you mean I'm going to be a part of it?
What even are you guys, and what are you trying to do?" Dame asked.
The man wagged his finger in the air.
"Think about it this way, the fact that you don't really know about our society means that
we're doing a good job. If I was to tell you everything, well, that's how I would lose my job."
It was clear by the conversation that the man wouldn't say much, either because of his duty
or other reasons, so Dame wouldn't pry into it much, at least not now as this person was
trying to save him.
While Dame was lying on the ground using his Qi to restore his body, the man popped
another Qi pill into his mouth, having the same effect as before. After that, he started to
wrap certain bandages around Dame's body.
In the position Dame was in, he couldn't see much, but he kept hearing a strange spitting
noise each time before his body would be bandaged.
'He can't be spitting on the bandages each time he's wrapping them up, right?' Dame
thought. 'I… I'll just have to imagine it's something else… why couldn't a beauty come and
save me instead of this man… not that I am ungrateful, but it appears I haven't had much
luck these days.'
Dame was thinking back to the effect of the gauntlets, which was why he hadn't had much,
or if any, time to play at all.
After the bandages had proactively been wrapped up in nearly every part of Dame's body
where he could feel something, the pain was diminishing. The areas that had been wrapped
were heating up, but they felt good; they felt better, and it was then that he could start to
move his entire body.
Lifting himself up, he slowly stood in the mist area. His body didn't seem to be too badly
damaged. He still found it hard to stand, but going from thinking he might never move
again to this was short of a miracle in his eyes.
"What did you do to these bandages?" Dame asked.
"Hey hey hey," the man quickly said, pointing to the bandages. "Don't take those things off.
You were badly hurt, so they need to be left on for a while. You can at least move for now
though."
Dame was still amazed he hadn't heard of such physicians doing things, and this wasn't like
the Qi pills or the strange magic that Raze would use. This felt different from all of that.
"Your name," Dame said. "I would like to at least thank the person who helped me by your
name."
"My name?" The man pointed at himself. "I'm called Chip, so you can say thank you, Chip."
"Thank you, Chip," Dame said wholeheartedly but was unable to bow properly due to his
position. When he raised his head, he looked up at the cliff. Still wondering what had gone
on, and just how long had he been on the floor for.
"What are you doing, are you going to follow?" Chip said, having moved only slightly ahead
into the mist, but he could still be seen.
"Follow you?" Dame asked.
"Yeah, or do you really want to stay out here and just wait for something to happen, or for
them to jump down and finish the job?" Chip replied.
Dame knew he was right, so he picked up his feet and started to follow.
"So where are we going?" Dame asked. "Where do you plan on taking me?"
"I told you when we first met, didn't I?" Chip replied. "We're heading to the Bonum Society
to make you one of us."
Chapter 690 The Bonum Society
Chapter 690 The Bonum Society
Dame continued to follow Chip to wherever he was being taken. For one, he didn't even
know where the mist led. He had been down here with the Dark Magus, and not even the
Dark Magus was sure about the strange mist of the place.
On his own, he would have no idea where to go, as he couldn't even see the cliffside of
where he had come from. Even if he reached the cliff, he would then have to enter the
academy once again and try to survive somehow.
Although he was able to walk, Dame felt like it would be a while before he could fight. Just
because he could fight, it wasn't a guarantee that he would win either.
'I have no intention of joining this Bonum Society. I want to build up what I have with the
Dark Magus. I don't even know what this group's goal is, but I need to use them to survive.
It's not like I can head back to the Demonic Faction either.'
They continued to walk for about thirty minutes, and Dame was trying to keep track of
Chip's movements. Once in a while, Chip would stay still and look left and right.
It was questionable if Chip actually knew his way through the mist or not, but he did
manage to find him.
"Amir… you said he was part of this society of yours, right?" Dame asked. "So he isn't
working with Murkel and will help the children."
"Honestly, that depends," Chip answered as he took a sudden right turn through the mist.
"Amir is a person that is focused on the task of the Bonum Society. Because of who he is, he
is quite dedicated. If he thinks they can help, he will protect them."
"If you want an answer on how they're doing, I can give you an update soon."
Right then, Chip took two more steps and a hollow clanging noise was heard underneath
his feet. He stopped and then slammed his foot into the floor, making the same noise as
before.
Reaching down, he fiddled with a few things as he brushed the dirt away, and then, opening
up the large square-shaped trap door, a ladder was revealed that looked to go deep into the
ground, very deep, to the point where the bottom couldn't be seen.
"Don't be scared, we just have to keep going down and you'll be fine," Chip said.
"I'm not scared of this. Do you know what clan I was part of?" Dame asked. "The Neverfall
Clan was far scarier than this."
It felt like they had been climbing down the long ladder for as long as they had been moving
through the mist.
What Dame was noticing was, during this entire time, the bandages were still healing him.
He could feel his body loosening up, and perhaps he would be in better condition quicker
than he thought.
Which might make him change plans slightly. After going down for a while, sounds could be
heard from underneath, the sounds of people, metal clanging, and more.
Eventually, the two of them reached the floor and Dame could see that they were in a large
lit-up tunnel. The tunnel itself seemed to be carved out of metal.
When looking behind, the tunnel went on further than he could see. There was no end, and
then on the other side, there was a big round object made of metal, which was where all the
noise was coming from.
Chip went out in front, and with both hands on a round object, he started to twist it several
times one way, and several times another.
Screeching sounds were heard, and it didn't look like an easy task.
"I wish you could help, but you don't really know the pattern yet," Chip said as he
continued to struggle.
While Chip continued to twist the round object, Dame went up to the larger piece of metal
that appeared to be some type of door.
He knocked his hand against it. "This is amazing, it seems incredibly thick, I'm not sure that
even I could break through this if I tried to," Dame commented. "How did you come up with
such material in the first place to build something like this?"
"This place didn't just get built overnight. It took a lot of work and from a lot of people, and
I'm glad you said you couldn't break through this. That means it's doing its job. Since this is
designed to keep people like you out."
A loud click was heard and steam exited out from the side of the giant metallic round door.
It pushed itself forward and then started to open inward, allowing the two of them to enter.
When the door opened, Chip stepped forward and Dame followed. It felt like he had
entered a completely different world, and he was starting to understand that there was a
lot about Pagna he had no idea about before. In his eyes was a whole new place. Just like
the tunnels, the rest of the structure past the door was made of the same type of material,
but it had opened up into a large space.
A space that was the size of a small town on the land above. As he followed Chip around,
Dame was looking at hundreds of people moving around, heading from one area to the
next.
Just from listening in, he could tell that there were those making reports. Some were
heading to a canteen to eat food. While he observed groups of people getting a breakdown
of what was to be done next.
It felt like he was inside a large clan, but a clan that was the size of a village with everyone
extremely focused.
The large round metallic door was heard closing behind them and sealing them, and that
was when Dame knew he would be part of this place, at least for a little while.
"It's impressive, right? Everyone who comes here for the first time has the same feeling as
you, don't worry," Chip said. "You have a role in this as well and somewhere important to
go."
Moving through the place, Dame continued to look at others. Some looking like Pagna
warriors, others looking like regular citizens, and a large variety of ages of people as well.
Going through a set of more tunnels and doors, they reached a place that was filled with
Pagna warriors. Dame could sense their powerful Qi, and when he looked ahead, he could
tell why.
Deep underground, in such a place, there was a portal right in front of their eyes.
"How did all of this exist... underneath the academy, it's been here the entire time?" Dame
asked.
"It's been here a long time," Chip answered. "Who do you think created the mist in the first
place? Makes things harder to see."
Chip moved forward and gestured for Dame to follow him as the two of them went closer to
look at the portal.
"There is a lot that you will need to learn about the Bonum Society, a lot that we need to tell
you, all of this is at the request of Amir. He has agreed to be your mentor, which is very
lucky, honestly.
"As for your first task." Chip turned around, and quickly moved, and with both hands, he
pushed Dame.
The unexpected push moved him, and he fell right through the portal.
"Your first task is to come back alive."
Chapter 691 Becoming A Monster
Chapter 691 Becoming A Monster
After successfully pushing Dame into the portal, Chip folded his arms and looked at the
portal with a smile on his face. Some of the others in the room couldn't help but look at
each other.
"How could anyone have that look on their face after sending someone to that place?" one
of the guards whispered.
"Chip didn't even bother to explain anything either. It appears as if that guy just came here.
Is he going to be alright?"
"He should be fine. He had strong Qi for his age... but you never know what's going to
happen in that place."
After waiting for quite a long time, Chip went to the edge of the room and relaxed in a chair.
Once in a while, he would leave the room, return with some snacks, and even a book. He
read the book and glanced up at the portal occasionally. That was until a gray-haired, well-
built man entered.
"Chip, I was looking for you everywhere. Are you still here?"
"Fanum, you know why I'm here. I need to be ready for when the new one gets out, and as
you might guess, he hasn't come out yet," Chip replied.
Fanum's eyes widened as soon as he heard the news.
"He still hasn't come out? Doesn't that mean he's most likely dead? From the report, I read
that he was in pretty bad condition. You didn't let him rest before throwing him in there."
"You know that won't change anything. That place is different from other dimensions, so it
won't matter," Chip said. "I just need to be ready. When he comes out, I can patch him up
again, no worries."
Fanum started to shake his head and let out a sigh.
"I guess if Amir is the one giving you orders, I can't complain. Things always seem to work
out when it comes to him. Either way, I need you right now. One of our own is badly hurt."
"If someone comes through, then one of the guards will come and call you. We'll be in the
west section," Fanum said to the guards.
After some time had passed, Chip eventually returned.
"There's been no reaction from the portal?" Chip asked.
"None, sir. I believe this is the longest someone has spent in that dimension. That is if he's
still alive," the guard replied.
"Don't look at me like that," Chip said, returning to his seat. "It's not my fault if he couldn't
make it through. It just means he wasn't meant to."
Just as Chip sat down, the strange glowing substance of the portal started to ripple, and
coming right through it was a hand covered in blood.
Thick cuts and wounds could be seen, flesh torn apart to the point where bone was on
display.
Right after the hand, the rest of the body appeared, and it was in the same sorry state. The
body was filled with deep cuts and blood; it was a surprise that a person like this was even
moving.
However, what was strangest was the pulsating black substance attached to half of the
body—Dame's body. It was moving, wiggling about, with no form or structure, but it looked
alive. It didn't take long until Dame completely collapsed on the floor.
Immediately, Chip jumped from his seat and picked up the bandages from the floor. His face
started to transform as he shouted to the guards.
"Bring the others! This is one of the worst cases I've seen. Quick!" Chip shouted.
Immediately, he got to work wrapping the bandages around every cut he could see on
Dame's body, and shortly after, a group of people entered.
When they looked at the body in front of them, along with the strange black substance, they
stopped to look at the situation, forgetting what they were meant to do.
"Are you just going to gawk at him all day or hurry? We will have to start the procedure
right now and right here. I don't think he'll survive if we try to move him to the medical
room. If he dies, we'll have a huge problem on our hands."
The group of people quickly got to work, attending to the injured Dame.
"The state of him... did he happen to come across a Dimension boss in there? I've never
seen such a large amount of the black substance. It's the only thing that would explain it."
"We can ask him about it when he lives and survives!" Chip shouted back.
The event that day was quite significant for the Bonum Society. The news traveled fast to
all of their members, and there was a great amount of excitement.
Dame had managed to get through it all right, and with what had happened to him, he had
no choice but to stay with the Bonum Society, as he had learned about his new body.
The changes that would happen, and how to control himself. He dived deeper into the
Bonum Society and learned that Chip was part of a specialist medical team.
As for his special bandages, they were covered with his spit, which had a healing factor due
to his hybrid form. But most of his time was spent with Fanum learning to control his own
Hybrid form.
A lot of what had happened to Dame in that portal was lost. What the dimension was like,
what beast he had encountered, and what had happened to him.
All he knew now was that he was like the other major members of the Bonum Society—a
hybrid—and one that was learning to control himself.
Not all members of the Bonum Society were hybrids, but it was the edge they had over the
world.
Yet, despite all the time Dame had spent there, he still had no clue what the goal of the
Bonum Society was, or what they were trying to do, that was until a particular visitor
arrived.
The canteen was pretty empty that day, and Dame was enjoying a meal on his own. He was
distant from the others; it was in his nature not to trust people, even in his own clan. It felt
even more that way in a place that had turned him like this.
Coming across, someone sat right across from him.
"I knew you would survive and amount to great things. It looks like it's all going well for
you," Amir said with a smile.
Immediately, there was a quick question on Dame's mind. Not the surprise of seeing Amir,
but something else he wanted answered.
"How are the others?" Dame asked.
"You are a better person than I thought. They are doing well; you can calm your worries, at
least for now," Amir said. "This won't last forever. I assume, at best, it will last until the
Martial Arts Tournament.
"After that, their lives are as good as gone unless we are able to do something about it. I
heard your training has been going well. We need to put it to the test."
"We are going to pay a visit to the Splitting Fang Clan, and you are going to be the one to
take out their Clan Head."
The words, the information being thrown at Dame, were partly too much. The Splitting
Fang Clan was a strong clan in the Demonic Faction, and to best the Clan Head—that was
absurd.
"It's part of your training, and on the way, I'll tell you everything about the Bonum Society."
Chapter 692 A Transformation
Chapter 692 A Transformation
After learning everything he knew, Dame had come to a decision: he would help out Amir
and the Bonum Society for now. There were too many reasons to work for them. However,
he wasn't so sure about their goal; the whole thing sounded too unbelievable for Dame to
comprehend or fully understand.
He had seen and even experienced some crazy things while being part of the Bonum
Society, but it just wasn't enough for him to align himself. However, helping the others in
the tournament was something that Dame wanted to do, so he had come along as asked.
Mixed in the crowd, there were more members of the Bonum Society. There were steps to
the plan, with Amir and Dame taking charge. However, with how things played out right
now, there were only the two of them from the Bonum Society. Amir didn't look fazed, and
Dame just had to follow the lead of what the other was doing.
Seeing how the Dark Magus was here, though, Dame did feel a little more confident in the
situation.
'It's just us two, so things are different. You can pull something off here, but you can't do it
alone. You summoned the Crimson Crane because you needed their help, and I'm just going
to give you a bit more help than you needed.'
Dame took a glance at Mantis, who was on the floor. Someone who had been through the
same thing as him quite recently. It was part of his mission to have another Hybrid directly
in the event. The target in the first place was never the Dark Faction; it was the Light
Faction, but it didn't matter. Right now, he was here to protect Raze.
Spitting out from Dame's mouth was a hard white string-like substance that wrapped
around Murkel's leg. Murkel tried to move forward, but the physical power of Dame was far
beyond what he thought. Dame went ahead and grabbed part of the substance that came
from his mouth and then yanked it hard. In doing so, Murkel was lifted off his feet.
Dame then started to swing the substance in the air and went to slam Murkel on the
ground. Just before Murkel hit the ground, with his Qi sharpened around his hand, he cut
the substance just before hitting the floor and flipped himself.
"All of you are just a bunch of monsters," Murkel said. "The world of Pagna is done for if
there are those that are mixed with the blood of beasts able to roam around."
"Judging by the things you have done, I would say you're much more of a monster!" Alba
said, striking several times.
Murkel avoided the strikes and went to counter, but before his fist hit, the strange white
substance shot out from Dame's mouth and wrapped around his arms again. Dame then
pulled it and cut his own substance from his mouth, throwing it onto the floor. It stuck like
glue, holding Murkel in place.
"I still have another hand," Murkel claimed.
Yet, he would have to use that hand quickly, as Amir was to his right, ready to chop him
down from above. Since this strike seemed unavoidable this time, Murkel had no choice but
to lift his hand and grab the beast axe hand that came slicing down. His knees bent down,
and the force was huge even for Murkel. The ground beneath his feet was breaking from
the sheer weight of the attack.
However, he had pinched perfectly onto the axe and had stopped it from cutting any part of
his hand.
"You certainly are living up to your name, three powerful middle-stage warriors, and I'm
even a Hybrid at that, but we still aren't able to best you."
Since both of Murkel's hands were tied up and he could see Alba readying for another
strike, he swung his leg out, delivering a kick, not to hit anyone, but instead the momentum
spun his body, and a wave of Qi brushed, hitting the others and pushing them back.
For a moment, as both Alba and Amir felt their bodies being hit by the Dark Qi, they felt all
of their bodies becoming heavy. It was a major problem in the fight so far. It was hard to go
up close against someone who was stronger in combat, faster, had better techniques, and
whose Qi affected the feeling of others.
So all they could rely on were attacks from afar. It was then that Murkel charged forward
and went straight for Alba.
"If I can't get the one I want, then I need to just get rid of the annoying ones, one by one
then, and I'll start with the weakest first!"
Murkel sped up, and his fist was ready to crash right into Alba. Right before he reached her,
though, Amir came down from above and swung his leg down to meet Murkel's fist. Murkel
pulled back, allowing the foot to drop, missing him completely, and grabbed onto it. Then,
with his other fist, he hit Amir right in the face.
The face disfigured, looking slightly warped as the strong Dark Qi was used, and Amir's
body crashed into the ground.
"You weren't the only one observing this entire time. I was aiming for you from the
beginning. Out of the three of you here, I have determined you are the most troublesome
one."
"My right-hand man who betrayed me, now you will experience the death you were
courting," Murkel said, lifting his foot.
On the ground, Murkel could see a smile on Amir's face. He had been badly hurt from the
single punch. Even with the fast healing factor, with an attack this close, it would be the end
of his life. There wasn't anything for him to be smiling about.
"Let me tell you something, you are very wrong about something. I am not the one you have
to worry most about... that one from the Demonic Faction is," Amir said.
A shadow could be seen at the corner of Murkel's eye, he could see something approaching
him from behind, and based on the shadow it didn't exactly look human.
Chapter 693 Coloured Hybrid
Chapter 693 Coloured Hybrid
Murkel looked at the shadow he could see by his side on the floor. He could tell someone
was incredibly close, but by the shadow alone, it was impossible to say if what was
approaching him was human. The words of Amir struck him deeply, and immediately
Murkel spun around. He did so with his fist spinning along with him, and a string of visual
Dark Qi lingered in the air.
Two arms were raised, and the hit had been stopped and blocked. Murkel was slightly
surprised that his attack could be stopped, but the fact that it took two arms to block his
single attack meant he still had an arm free to finish off the person who dared to creep up
behind him.
When he threw a second fist, though, Murkel saw another two hands grabbing on and
stopping them. He paused as he looked at what was in front of him because it didn't quite
make any sense at all. Looking into the person's face, there were features of the young
warrior named Dame. His forehead and his eyes, they were the same, but the mouth was
that of a creature.
His mouth was opened wide and detached with two strange claw-like substances. This was
where the string-like substance, similar to that of a spider, would come out from. Murkel
had already seen this before when the young warrior had transformed, but now there was
even more that had changed about the man. For one, the amount of limbs the person had.
Coming out from his back, there seemed to be six extra limbs in total, three arms on either
side, and with the two regular hands, that meant there were now eight arms right in front
of him.
Many didn't have much experience fighting against Hybrids, and it was the same for
Murkel. He didn't even know this was possible. Both of his arms that had been stopped had
been stopped by the extra limbs, and before he knew it, two fists with the special gauntlets
struck Murkel right in the chest, pushing him back.
Immediately, Dame continued to charge forward. First, he threw two fists before even
reaching the man; the Qi blasts were there and were blocked by Murkel, who was still
recovering. Just before Murkel could even attack, white substance wrapped around one of
his arms, and two of the limbs from Dame ended up pulling the arm away, forcing it to
avoid a strike.
His other limbs were concentrated on blocking, allowing for a pounding to proceed from
above by the several arms. They were bashing into Murkel's head left and right. When
Murkel tried to break free or move away, the string substance would come out from
Dame's mouth and wrap around Murkel, pulling him back. Before he could break free,
another flurry of punches was delivered by Dame.
'The extra strength that a Hybrid brings, the skills and Qi of the Demonic Faction, and also
the special items made by the Dark Magus, along with the extra powers from my new form.
With all of these things, I will beat you and start my own legacy!' Dame thought as he
continued to fight.
Thinking back, before he had been turned into a Hybrid, he could never imagine doing such
things. His test was to go against one of the Clan Heads in the Demonic Faction. Using all of
his strength, just like he was using now, he was able to defeat a person who would have
taken him perhaps a century to beat, yet he had succeeded back then and learned the true
power that Hybrids had.
"Now I will do the same!" Dame wrapped around the waist of Murkel and pulled him
forward up in the air. He had all of his arms ready and started to punch Murkel one hit after
the other.
Alba had gone to Amir's side to help him. She felt at fault for him taking quite a hit in the
first place.
"Don't worry too much about me," Amir said. "I will heal fairly quickly, just be ready to help
him when you can."
Seeing the situation, she wasn't sure she could, though.
Those watching in the Light Faction were shocked by the turnaround. They were sure in
their minds that the Dark Faction had the upper hand. It was practically a war with the
strongest of the Dark Faction against a bunch of students and people they had never seen
or who had yet to build up their legacy.
Now it felt like they were watching several legacies in the making, a new era that would
occur in the world of Pagna.
"I don't understand, are Hybrids really that strong?" Hannah asked.
"I'm not sure about Hybrids in general," Beatrix replied. "But the fact that he has extra
limbs while fighting will be a huge advantage. In our Pagna martial arts, there are only so
many points of attack we have."
"Now there are many points of attack that Dame can choose from. It would be like going
against four warriors at once, all as skilled as the last, and from what I know about Hybrids,
their physical strength is nothing to laugh at."
"There is more to that," Ricar added. "Firstly, although their physical strength is strong, it is
just that, physical strength and not one's Qi. If you watch closely, he can only channel Qi
from his real limbs rather than those extended limbs, but the strength of the Hybrid is
helping him out."
"The Light Faction has done some studying into Hybrids, and we have learned that there
are two types."
"There are those that people are more aware of, those that seem to be combined with the
body of a beast. They look as if their bodies have melded with a beast itself. Then there are
those that we have seen today. They can look like a regular human yet are able to
transform their bodies and bring out their inner beast from them."
"As for the latter, we have also been able to do further research into these things. The latter
Hybrids, when they transform, seem to have different colors on their body. You see the
black substance that forms up the outside of his body. Depending on these colors, the
difficulty of the hybrid or strength is increased."
"White-colored Hybrids seems to be the weakest, forming its body of strange substances. I
don't know if you saw, but on Mantis, when parts of his body were forming, a strange white
color had appeared."
"Black substance seems to be rare, and as we can tell today, quite strong. Although we have
no idea why there are differences in strength between these since we don't know how
these Hybrids are created."
"And is there another color?" Beatrix asked. "You were speaking as if there was."
"There is a red-colored Hybrid," Ricar answered. "Which has only been seen in the world of
Pagna once."
Chapter 694 The Red Hybrid
Chapter 694 The Red Hybrid
The fight was continuing from all over, and thanks to Dame fighting off against Murkel, it
meant that Raze was able to focus on regaining his strength just like he did before. He was
unaware of just how well Dame was now doing against the Dark Faction leader. Out of all of
the fights going on though, the Light Faction couldn't keep their eyes off the Hybrid and
Murkel.
"I've heard of Hybrids before, but this is the first time I've heard of them being ranked into
different colors," Hannah explained, her brow furrowing in thought.
"As I said, think back to the transformation," Ricar continued. "Most people focus on the
features they are seeing, but a strange liquid forms as part of these odd bodies, and that
liquid is extremely important to pay attention to."
"But if what you said is true about there being a red-colored Hybrid, and you know about it
as well, Clan Head, then that means there had to be one at some point... so why is this fact
not known throughout all of Pagna?" Beatrix asked, her voice filled with curiosity.
Ricar continued to watch the situation unfold. The history of Pagna was recorded in books
and passed down by word of mouth, but historical records were only recently kept, and
due to the divide in factions, events were recorded differently depending on who wrote
them and their biases.
"You all know about Hybrids and how dangerous they are. The whole of Pagna knows this
because there was a significant incident that put Hybrids on the map of Pagna in the first
place," Ricar said, his voice grave.
Beatrix nodded, understanding what her Clan Head was referring to. "The incident that
created the alliance in the first place, are you talking about that?" she asked.
Ricar nodded again. "As you know, when the three factions were created, they were in
constant conflict with each other. Now, we are in a state where we constantly check each
other's strength and even have things like the Martial Arts Tournament. But these things
didn't exist before."
"There was one event that occurred that caused the three factions to stop fighting and unite
against a common threat. A portal break happened in the Dark Faction's land, and out of it,
a Hybrid appeared."
Hannah had learned this history of Pagna, but the alliance between the factions and the
Hybrid event were taught as two separate incidents. She listened carefully, eager to gain
knowledge that only an Elder could provide.
"The Hybrid that appeared was so devastating that those from the Dark, Light, and
Demonic Factions had to be called upon to eliminate such an opponent. That being was a
red-colored Hybrid."
"It took the strongest from the three factions to fight against it, and in the end, we are not
even sure if the thing was defeated. After that, people became much more cautious and
aware of Hybrids coming through portals."
"As for the three factions, they all received a significant blow from what happened and
were in no state to continue fighting. That was when the alliance was formed."
"However, the group most affected by this event was the Dark Faction. A change occurred
within the Dark Faction, and the strongest group, the Noctis Clan, was replaced by the
Erupting Fist Clan, led by Murkel."
"He proved his strength many times when the Demonic and Light Factions tested him, and
slowly, he revived his name as the strongest warrior in all of Pagna, the closest to reaching
and becoming a Divine being."
Beatrix was quite shocked to hear the further details. She knew the damage the Hybrid had
done, but it seemed the three factions hadn't dealt with it as a simple matter.
"Are you saying the red-colored Hybrid was able to best those from all the factions? Does
that mean that the red-colored Hybrid was as strong as the Divine beings?" Beatrix asked,
her voice tinged with disbelief.
Once again, Ricar nodded. "You should know that beasts aren't limited to the rules of
Pagna. This seems to be the case for Hybrids as well. The beasts in the first place have great
power in other dimensions, and you know that Divine beings can still use their full power
in these dimensions, just not in Pagna itself."
"And you're saying that thing is still alive, right? They didn't kill it back then!" Hannah
asked, her eyes wide with fear. "That it could still come back any day."
"That I'm not sure about. We aren't confident it was killed that day. Most likely, it might just
be heavily injured, healing and biding its time to return. Regardless, it hasn't disrupted
things as they are, and most have forgotten about it, a thought that just goes to the back of
the mind."
"The reason I wanted to tell you all of this is to truly understand how dangerous Hybrids
are, and why it's not surprising that Dame is now able to even go against Murkel. It feels as
if I'm seeing a repeat of the past."
They certainly felt that way and were thankful now that the Dame they were looking at
only had a strange black substance and scales surrounding his beast and transformed parts.
Yet, it was quite clear he felt much stronger than Amir. Even among the colors of the
Hybrids, they were sure to have differences in their strength. That was when a thought
clicked in Beatrix's mind.
"You said that it was a Hybrid that came and attacked, not a beast. Doesn't that mean it was
linked to a person, linked to a warrior of the past? I'm assuming the strength of the beast
has to be linked to the warrior in some way, right? So who was the warrior?" Beatrix asked,
her curiosity piqued.
"I don't know much about why certain colors appear on the Hybrids; that might be
information that only those below know about. I don't know if an individual needs to be
strong or not, but you are right."
"A very skillful warrior had become a Hybrid, a warrior from the Dark Faction."
Chapter 695 Fighting Till No One Can Stand
Chapter 695 Fighting Till No One Can Stand
Despite everything that was going on with Murkel, the other fights were still taking place,
and they were too intense for the fighters to pay attention to anything else.
The Crimson Crane members couldn't help but worry about Alba, knowing fully well that
she was up against one of the most difficult opponents.
In particular, Kizer, Lilly, and Reno were engaged in a fierce battle with Suzan, who was
using no weapons. Kizer swung his large sword, and Suzan met it with a strong kick in the
air. She continued using more force, and the flowing water Qi pushed the sword down even
though she didn't continue with her foot. Then, with her leg still in the air, she kicked the
spear thrust forward by Lilly. The kick was forceful, and again the visual Qi continued on.
Even though the leg still wasn't making contact, the Qi from the kick continued pushing the
weapon out of the way.
This was unexpected for Reno, who had dived in with both of his hands glowing green. He
went to deliver a blow with the palm of his hand, but Suzan quickly hopped off her leg and
jumped, lifting it up in the air and kicking it down.
Reno's hands were swung to the floor, and before he knew it, a big kick was delivered into
his stomach. Shortly after, she kicked both Kizer on the shoulder and Lilly in the stomach,
sending all three of them skidding across the ground.
Although the hits weren't completely devastating since they had large amounts of Qi as
well, they were still clearly outmatched and outskilled in this situation.
"This is ridiculous!" Kizer shouted. "There are three of us, and just one of her! We should be
the quickest of the group to deal with the situation and then get rid of her!"
As Kizer finished saying his words out of frustration, Lilly charged forward. Her spear was
powered with her Qi.
When getting close, she thrust it forward at an incredible speed. Each attack seemed to
come off faster than the one before it.
"Lilly's really going all out right now; we have to back her up," Kizer said, holding his
sword.
"Wait, we have to come up with a plan. While Lilly has her on the back foot, we need to
figure out a way to do this!" Reno said.
Kizer listened and decided to take a step back for a second. He knew everything they were
doing so far wasn't working, and they couldn't just keep doing the same thing.
On top of that, there was the caveat with his weapon. Each time he used a technique, he
wouldn't be able to use it again. So it felt like as the fight went on, he would be getting
weaker and weaker.
In the middle of the flurry produced by Lilly, Suzan was avoiding all of the attacks. When
she saw gaps, she would shift her feet and deliver a kick to the face.
Lilly pushed through this, seemingly unfazed, and continued to push forward. However,
this was clearly not working. Once in a while, she would get kicked in the face again and
again.
Suzan was finding gaps and more openings compared to before. The amount of hits
delivered on Lilly's face now made it quite swollen. Her lip was busted up, and blood was
trickling down, but she still continued.
"Hey, have you used that head of yours to make a plan yet? Because I'm starting to get
really angry," Kizer said, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the sword even harder
than before.
He continued to watch carefully, observing how Suzan moved, how she thought, but even
more so, he was observing the splatter of blood coming from Lilly's disfigured face.
The kicks continued, and finally, it was to the point that Lilly's hands felt weak. She slightly
let go of the grip on her spear, and she wavered for a moment, nearly dipping out of
consciousness.
Seeing this, Suzan bent her knee slightly and swung her leg out like a whip. A trail of water
followed and crashed right into the side of Lilly's head.
Blood splattered out from her mouth, and Lilly's body moved in the direction of the kick
until her face fell to the floor.
"I'll do something," Lilly said as her consciousness was fading. "I'll help, even without a
weapon of my own…" her voice trailed off.
"That's it, I'm going in!" Kizer shouted.
Reno couldn't formulate a plan quickly enough. From observing, he thought he could see an
opening, but instead, he saw nothing. He did come up with one idea, one that he thought
could work.
"Alright, just keep her busy and make sure she can't use her hands and legs!" Reno shouted
as he came forward.
"That's your big plan? That's what you came up with?" Kizer shouted as he geared up a
technique. He placed the sword by his side, and then in a flash, he struck his sword through
the air.
Visually, it looked as if the sky was actually cut and split, but it hit nothing, as Suzan had
avoided it by bending below the slash. She was quite flexible and nimble.
In the first place, Kizer's goal was just to get her away from Lilly. Then right after, he
continued trying to attack Suzan on the back foot.
"Let's do this!" Kizer said as he swung his sword, using technique after technique.
Everything almost looked like a repeat of what had occurred with Lilly and Suzan. She was
avoiding all of the attacks, but she was unable to find an opening.
Although Kizer was slow, when he used his techniques, the strikes were powerful and fast.
It was taking everything out of her just to follow the attacks.
'This man is using technique after technique, and each of them is powerful. If I get hit by
one of these, I'll be done for! How is he able to strike from one attack to the other so soon?'
In the middle of these thoughts, she felt something clamp onto her back. Reno had jumped,
latched on, and wrapped his arms around her neck, as well as his legs under her waist.
"What is this!" Suzan shouted. "This isn't even a Pagna technique. This is an
embarrassment!"
Kizer still didn't have a clue what Reno was trying to do or his plan, but he decided that he
would continue swinging his sword and stop her from using her arms and legs to fight, or
at least to get Reno off.
Even with someone on her back, she was just as nimble as before, avoiding attacks bit by
bit. Then that was when she could finally see Kizer slowing down.
Jumping in the air, she then kicked Kizer in the face, making it swollen. Kizer went to move
his sword, but it felt extremely heavy.
"I'm not good for this stuff. I'm much more of a heavy hitter than this!"
Now that Kizer was tired, there were a lot more hits for Suzan to take advantage of. She
kicked the back of his leg, lowering him down, and then went to kick Kizer's head, but that's
when her attack completely missed.
"What the…" Suzan's vision was slightly blurry, and she had no idea why. Not just that, but
nearly all of her senses were dulling, and the control of her body was starting to fade.
"It's you, isn't it? You, who's on my back, the poison Qi user. You're putting it directly into
my bloodstream, no wonder!" Suzan shouted.
Kizer, hearing this, was getting a second wind. Now he knew Reno's plan. His poison was
strong, but against a talented and high-level Qi user, simple attacks weren't going to affect
her much.
So he directly needed to make contact with her and focus on just pouring his poisonous Qi
into her.
When Kizer went to attack, she hit him clearly in the stomach.
"You're a big, slow-moving target. I can get to you even without having to see!" Suzan
claimed. "As for you on my back, it's time to suffocate!"
The Qi activated all over her body, and she was burning like a lamp. As the Qi surrounded
her, it surrounded a particular area and focused on just Reno's head.
Now he felt like he was trapped underwater. His sound was dulled, and even more so, he
was unable to breathe.
"Let's just see how long you can hold out, you, the big guy, or me!" Suzan claimed.
She continued to hit Kizer, kicking him from side to side, hitting his face. Kizer wasn't even
picking up his sword anymore and was just being knocked around like a rag doll.
As he was hit, he finally fell down to one knee.
"Reno, I can't even force myself to use any more skills. I've used them all up, so beat this
woman."
Suzan now could only see a large blur in front of her. She knew who her targets were, but
she was seriously being affected by what was in her bloodstream right now.
'This was a lot more annoying than I thought. I wonder if he went up against these three, if
he would have the same amount of trouble.' Suzan thought to herself as she felt a great
weight let go from her back.
Finally, Reno couldn't take it anymore, and when he fell to the floor, he could finally
breathe as the Qi was no longer suffocating him.
"Figures, I'm the one standing in the end. Now let's get this poison out of my—" Suzan
stopped mid-sentence as she saw a pointed spear going right through her chest.
"I bet you didn't see that one, b*tch. I told them I would do something even without one of
his weapons." Lilly said, as she let go of the spear and fell to the floor again.
Chapter 696 A Wife's Gift
Chapter 696 A Wife's Gift
While Lily lay on the floor, she was drifting in and out of consciousness. She had been badly
hurt, taking more blows to the head than she should have done during her fight. She knew
she needed to pull back, that her strength was waning in the fight, but she continued on
regardless. She had an idea of what Reno was doing, why he and Kizer didn't come forward,
so she wanted to help at least a little.
It was these thoughts that had kept her going and continuing to thrust the spear even after
exhaustion. As the only one without a weapon made by the Dark Magus, she felt like the
weak point in the entire group. She had to admit that, so she wanted to at least do
something for them, rather than just get in their way or to be someone they needed to
worry about.
The thing was, she had lasted even shorter than she thought she would against Suzan,
ultimately making her feel like she had done nothing.
'I need to do something... I need to... something... anything.'
It started slowly; all she needed to do was get herself up from the ground, and she did bit
by bit. After that, she needed to find her target.
However, she couldn't strike because she saw that Reno was on Suzan's back.
When he finally fell, that was her chance, her opportunity, and she decided to take it.
Gathering the last of her strength, she thrust the spear perfectly through Suzan's heart.
One of the strongest members to ever exist in the Flowing Force Clan was defeated just like
that. Due to the poison running through her body, Suzan's senses weren't even aware of
Lily's presence, and Lily didn't have much of a presence, walking around half-dead.
"I did it..." Lily smiled as she fell back to the ground.
---
Rayna was going against the man known as Wendart. He was a skilled swordsman who had
reached the top of the academy, becoming one of the best teachers among the students.
Rayna herself was using a spear, employing the special techniques of the Neverfall Clan.
The two had been clashing quite evenly, exchanging blows with neither side gaining the
upper hand.
Once again, Wendart deflected the spear and went to strike at Rayna's face, but she
managed to use her leg to kick the sword right by Wendart's hand and thrust forward, with
Wendart jumping back in time to reposition himself.
"Using your foot? I thought you were a spearman?" Wendart asked. "I guess I should expect
someone from the Demonic Clan to use such methods."
"Every clan is different with how they use their arts, and the clan I am from, the Neverfall
Clan, was never a clan that specialized in spear techniques in the first place, so I have to
come up with a few things on my own."
After finishing these words, Rayna went in for a strike again. Wendart struck his sword
with equal force, and the power of Qi clashing rippled through the air.
"You are skilled, you are strong, but you are rushing for some reason. What is it? Are you
worried about them?" Wendart asked, keeping track of where her eyes went.
They lingered toward Raze. There wasn't anyone around him, but due to all the fights going
on, at any point and time, someone could come next to him.
On top of that, she was sure that the Qi vibrating through the air due to all the fights would
be disturbing Raze quite a bit.
"Oh, so it's him. But let me tell you, rushing your fight is a bad idea, not when you're going
against someone like me. I am the clan head of one of the top clans just outside the major
five clans in the Dark Faction!"
Wendart skimmed his sword, pushing forward against the spear, and with a burst of Qi, he
then rushed and struck toward Rayna's head.
She managed to pull back, but the tip of the sword made a cut across her cheek. Jumping
back several times, she placed her hand on her cheek, feeling the small amount of blood.
She slowly placed her index finger on the wound and smeared it across her cheek.
"One of the strongest clans outside of the top five, and that's something you're proud of?"
Rayna asked.
She carefully steadied herself and let out a deep breath. She then focused her gaze and
looked at her opponent again.
Right after, she charged in once more, but this time, things were different. Her Qi surged
through her body with each step, all of it steady and contained at a low level.
It wasn't rash and wild, swinging out, and Wendart could feel this.
"I am from the Neverfall Clan!" Rayna claimed as she went in and struck from above.
Wendart blocked the attack, but as soon as the spear and his sword collided, a burst of
powerful Qi made the attack feel that much heavier.
Right after, he could see her following up with another attack.
"I'm from one of the top clans in the Demonic Faction, and let me tell you, inside our clan,
there are plenty of people stronger than you!"
Rayna then jumped up in the air and spun her body. Rather than using the spear to thrust,
she was using it more like a staff.
With the spin and added power, the attack was faster than Wendart could react, and the
side of the spear slammed into his ribs.
He could immediately tell that they were broken. As his body was about to be flung to the
side, Rayna quickly pulled the spear back and thrust it forward, piercing Wendart's thigh.
The spear continued on until it stuck into the ground, and Rayna completely let go of the
spear.
Now she was just using her fists and delivered a heavy punch right to the side of his face,
knocking out a few of his teeth in the process.
"If I couldn't beat someone like you, who's not even in the top five, then I don't deserve to
be part of the Neverfall Clan. Because there are people far stronger than you everywhere."
Rayna pulled Wendart's head and then punched him directly in the face again, knocking
him out completely.
She pulled her spear out of his leg, and shortly after, she started to drag the body of
Wendart along the floor. He was still alive but badly hurt and still unconscious.
The fight was clearly over between the two of them, and the Light Faction Clan watching it
knew it as well.
"The fights have been rough on both sides... mostly," Ricar commented after seeing what
Rayna had just done.
"Yeah, both sides have taken heavy blows. Although we could consider some groups
winners and losers, it looks like regardless of the outcome of the fight, they are no longer
able to fight anyway," Beatrix added.
"What does that mean, though? Doesn't that mean one side is still beating the other?"
Hannah asked.
"This isn't like the martial arts tournament, where whoever wins can safely go home and
claim to be the victor," Ricar added. "In this situation, whoever is left standing will decide
to finish off the others.
"Which means the fate of everyone who is fighting is in the hands of the final few. They will
decide the ending outcome of the fight."
This was why Ricar thought what Raze was doing was relatively smart. Everyone was
weakening as they continued to fight, and all he had to do was play clean-up, just like he
had done against Arkon.
If he did this, there would be a chance that they could beat all of the Dark Faction. The real
question was, then, for them as observers, what was it that they would do?
---
Rayna continued to drag the body of Wendart across. At one point, he regained
consciousness and could feel his legs being dragged, but Rayna quickly dealt with that by
hitting him at the back of the neck again.
Eventually, she reached where she wanted to be and was now directly in front of Raze. She
then threw the body right down in front of him.
"I know you're busy cultivating energy right now, but I thought I would help you out a bit,"
Rayna said.
Those words caused Raze to open his eyes and see Wendart right in front of him.
"Use him," Rayna said as she knelt down and lifted Wendart's bloody face. "Use the
extraction technique on him and restore the Qi that you need.
"If that's not enough, then use some of my energy. I can take it. In the meantime, I'll protect
you from anything that comes your way," Rayna said as she stood up and turned around.
Raze looked at the warrior in front of him. A strong warrior indeed, and if the extraction
technique was used, he certainly would regain his energy.
'Maybe I'll be back in this fight sooner than I thought.'
Chapter 697 Stronger Ambition
Chapter 697 Stronger Ambition
Raze opened his eyes from his cultivation, focusing on restoring both his magic and his Qi.
He had been switching between the two, channeling them equally. He had a reason for
doing this. In his current state, he wasn't better than those they were fighting against using
just his magic alone or just his Pagan warrior powers. The only way he could reach their
level was by combining the two, rather than focusing on one art. So even if he could only
fight for a shorter amount of time, he would take this over just focusing on one. Now, right
in front of him, there was a chance to speed up his progress.
He looked up at Rayna, who had already turned around, hiding her slightly red, flushed
cheeks. Having people to help him wasn't something he was used to.
'It took a lot for me to go through with this plan in the first place, to trust that the Crimson
Crane would come by my side and fight.
'I'm not their leader, like Alba was, and even though she is trying to use me...was it worth
going against the Dark Faction for?'
Out of everyone, at least Raze could understand the Crimson Crane. What he couldn't
understand was Rayna's actions.
'She has no reason to help me; she had no reason to be here other than to commit to the
fake marriage. Yet she came here to fight and now has given me a gift like this. She's a good
woman, but one who would be better off with someone else.'
Regardless, Raze placed both of his hands on Wendart, who was on the ground in front of
him, and started the extraction technique.
The veins on his hands were showing, and the energy was flowing through him. It had been
a long time since he had used the extraction technique on someone and wasn't in such a
rush.
When in the middle of battle, he used it as a way to continue fighting, so there was a lot of
waste when he absorbed the energy of those he took.
Now, he closed his eyes and could focus it, going through the pores of his fingertips and
heading straight and directly into his Dantian.
He was taking every last bit of life force and wasn't letting any of it go to waste.
As Wendart could feel his energy being drained away from him, he opened his eyes and
stared directly into the white-haired young man.
"You have no idea what you are doing, or who you're up against," Wendart managed to
speak, but he was too hurt, and the energy being drained from him was too much to do
anything to Raze to try and stop what was happening.
Wendart continued to look into Raze's eyes, which didn't flinch in taking his life.
"The one who will win this is the one whose ambition is stronger. You and your friends are
fighting to survive, but Murkel has a far greater ambition that drives him—to rule all of
Pagna and reach the Divine Realm... you won't be able to beat him with your petty
ambition."
When Raze looked down, he could see Wendart's skin and muscle structure start to shrivel
up. This is when he knew a person's lifespan was at an end.
Using the extraction technique for a short while would simply take the Qi in one's Dantian;
it was only when going past this stage once emptied that it would take a person's life force.
Which was why taking part of Rayna's would be fine as well.
Still, after hearing these words, just for a moment, Raze slowed down the extraction
technique and looked directly at Wendart.
"You have no idea what my goals are. You have no idea what I would do to achieve them,"
Raze stated. "Murkel simply wants to rule Pagna and get to the Divine Realm.
"For my goal, I won't stop at anything—the Light Faction, the Demonic Faction, the Dark
Faction. If all of them are in the path, blocking me from getting my revenge, then I will take
out each one of them.
"If my enemies run and hide in that Divine Realm, then I will bring the Divine Realm to my
feet and crush every single one of them. This world of Pagna is simply in my way!"
The extraction technique was in full force, absorbing more of Wendart, taking the very last
bit of his life. While listening to all the words spoken by Raze, Wendart looked directly into
his eyes and could see an ambition that went beyond the Dark Faction leader.
"Maybe...I was wrong after all." These were the last words spoken by Wendart.
Rayna, who was standing close to the two of them to protect Raze from anything that
would come at him, had heard everything.
'Raze, you are holding a large amount of anger. I could feel it through your words. At your
age, just what happened to you? This is no normal anger that would appear just from a
simple revenge that would occur if one's family died.
'Although those are strong feelings, these are stronger, and it almost feels like it's a buildup
of resentment over several years.'
By absorbing Wendart, although it didn't cause Raze's Qi to expand and make him any
stronger or closer to increasing his stage, it did refill his Qi completely, so there was no
need for him to use Rayna's Qi.
"Do you need me?" Rayna asked.
"If you could continue protecting me, that will be for the best," Raze said as he went to
change his position to now concentrating on the Dark Faction's cultivation technique.
Now he would need to absorb the Dark Magic into his core. As he was doing this, the
lingering dark mist appeared from Wendart's body.
It was a mist that was only visible to mages with a Dark Core, as one of the requirements to
increase one's affinity with Dark Magic was causing the death of others.
The special trait of the cursed ring that Raze had created was going to work, now combined
with the special single ring that he had obtained.
The magic was fading in and had entered his ring and went straight to his Mana core. At
that point, Raze could feel his mana core pulsate, along with his heart.
A burst of magic had gone through him. He could feel it spreading and swirling around.
'Is this what I think it is?' Raze thought.
Closing his eyes, he had to focus on it one more time, and when he felt the rings that would
equate to stars forming and swirling around his heart, he could feel it.
'It is. Right now, my heart—no, my mana core—is forming another star. I'm going from a 4-
star mage and turning into a 5-star mage. Going to another star, might take a little longer
and more Dark Magic, as Raze didn't quite expect this, and he could feel it was on the cusp
of breaking through but he needed to do this.
'This might be exactly what I need to have the strength to defeat the others.'
"I might take a bit longer, but I promise you that I will defeat the Dark Faction!" Raze
claimed, giving his order as he focused on himself.
Chapter 698 The Power Of A System
Chapter 698 The Power Of A System
Lin and Lulu were two Pagna warriors who were indistinguishable from each other; it was
clear they were twins, and each of them were as strong as the other. This wasn't good news
for the opponents they would be going against.
Anna had picked up a sword from one of the dead on the ground and was now using it to
fend off against one of the Pagna warriors. She was using mainly techniques from the Light
Faction.
"Half Moon Block, Saber Strike, the Crescent Falls!" Anna said to herself with each move.
Her attacker was using a metal fan as her weapon, swinging it fast and fiercely. Lulu would
open and close the fan, opening it up when using it more defensively to block attacks and
closing it to use it more like a sword.
The two were continuously clashing, and from the look on Lulu's face, Anna could tell she
was getting annoyed.
"What's wrong?" Anna replied back. "Is everything you're doing not working? Well, that's a
shame, right?"
Another strike came forward, and with a half-moon block, Anna swung and hit the fan
again. Once in a while, she would attack, but Lulu could tell that something felt off about the
attacks, almost as if they weren't fully committed.
She blocked another strike and then heard a scream coming from her side.
"That kid is useless," Anna said. "He is not deserving of the system. Why would it be handed
to someone like him?"
While Anna was going up against Lulu, Liam was going up against Lin. Unlike Anna, who
was able to block strikes and have an even fight, the same couldn't be said for Liam. He was
using the skills recommended by the system, but it wasn't enough in their fight. As he
blocked certain attacks, the Qi from Lin's strikes would overpower Liam.
In the end, his arm had been knocked away, along with one of his swords skidding across
the ground. Right then, he went to block another strike of his own accord but was too slow,
and the metal fan had struck right into his thigh.
Quickly, Lin pulled the fan out and then spread it, flicking the blood onto the floor.
"You might have done well against the Light Faction student, but that's all they are—
students. I can tell you're still in the initial stage. No matter what moves you can copy, you
won't be able to beat me with just that alone." Lin charged forward; she wanted to finish
the fight quickly.
Seeing this, Liam reached out his hand and used the special effect to draw both of his
weapons in. It reached his hand, but it was too slow. Lin had already moved her fan, aiming
to strike and bash his head in.
Just before it reached, a sword was thrown and struck the fan. It was a fierce throw that
caused Lin's entire arm to jerk back and miss the target completely.
When Liam looked at who had thrown the sword, he could see Anna had allowed the fan to
cut through her arm. It had stopped around an inch in, having cut through her clothing, and
blood was dripping down her forearm. While in her other hand, there was no longer a
sword.
"I need answers from you, so stop messing around and losing your fight. You only have one
person to deal with," Anna shouted.
After saying those words, a red light could be seen underneath her clothing. She quickly
pushed through the metal fan and then started to strike at Lulu.
She delivered powerful punches at fast speeds, yet there were no Qi strikes, only the sound
of heavy fists hitting the fan each time a strike was blocked.
After saying those words, a red light could be seen underneath her clothing. She quickly
pushed through the metal fan and then started to strike at Lulu.
She delivered powerful punches at fast speeds, yet there were no Qi strikes, only the sound
of heavy fists hitting the fan each time a strike was blocked.
Lulu eventually became frustrated and went to strike with her fan again, but in the middle
of her strike as her arm was raised up, Anna was already on the inside. She hit her wrist,
avoiding the fan completely, and with another fist, struck her straight in the stomach.
A heavy hit caused Lulu to be knocked off her feet and skid across the ground.
"The system, although clever, is still ultimately directed by you," Anna said. "It's something
that is constantly learning. If you're going up against an opponent you have never faced
before, then do what you can to learn everything your opponent can do. Learn their skill set
and moves, and then the system can adjust to fight back even better than before."
"You are a warrior with Qi and the system, and it seems you're just using your Qi to fight,
and not the powers of the system."
Liam was wondering what she meant by that. It was clear this woman was the same as him,
but the power of the system with no Qi? If Anna was using no Qi, how did she just send a
middle-stage warrior flying like that?
Thankfully, Lin, who was going up against Liam, was worried about her sister and jumped
to her side. Although the attack was a clean hit, it wasn't that bad.
"She's telling the truth," Lulu said as she took a deep breath. "There was no Qi in that strike,
which is why my internals are fine. This is like fighting against a human beast with strong
powers. I don't know how she's so strong with no Qi."
Anna moved over toward Liam at this point as well.
"You should know right; a lot of your body, it's no longer human," Anna explained. "Just
look at your leg."
The wound on Liam's leg had healed; it wasn't going to affect him like before, and it was the
same as Anna's arm—it had healed completely as well.
The healing speed was almost just as fast as the Hybrids, only they weren't hybrids;
something else was going on in their bodies.
"The main components of your body still exist," Anna continued to explain. "However, you
and I are completely different."
"I am not from this world; therefore, I am not able to use Qi. Yet you, young man, are a
person from the world of Pagna with the system.
"I don't know the effect that Qi will have on the nanobots in your body, but if it can
strengthen me like this—"
Anna rolled up her arm and showed the red glow that was appearing on part of her body. It
ran down several parts of her arm.
Seeing the glow, Liam remembered the man who was with him; he also had all these
strange glowing points on him. Although he was also wearing a strange robotic flexible type
of suit unlike Anna.
"Maybe with your Qi, you have the potential to grow even stronger than me... but I predict
that is far in the future."
Now that the two twins were okay, both of them looked ready to attack, and although Liam
was interested in learning more, it hadn't helped him.
"Stronger in the future is not stronger now. Even if I analyze all of their movements, I'm
just not strong enough to block their Qi," Liam said.
"I didn't want to do this, but we'll just have to work together." Anna placed her hand on
Liam's shoulder, and that's when he could see a message appear.
[A fellow System user would like to connect]
[Do you accept?]
Chapter 699 Combine The System
Chapter 699 Combine The System
The system had acted strangely with Liam in many ways. He still hadn't gotten the hang of
a voice being in his head, and at times it truly felt as if he was having a conversation with
another person.
He had asked about how things worked, and in general, as he went through life as a
warrior, the system would in turn explain things back to him.
Yet this was the first time such a message had come up, and he had no idea what to do or
what it meant.
"Connect, what does connecting do?" Liam asked out loud.
Right then, Lulu and Lin were both charging toward them, and despite the hit from Anna,
they were both still in relatively strong condition.
"These guys, they're about as strong as the pillars from the Behemoth Clan. It took a lot to
go up against them as well. This is going to be hard," Anna said to herself as she looked at
Liam. "Just connect already. Do you want to die?"
Lin then jumped in the air, and for a moment, Lulu stopped. Right after, she kicked Lin's
foot, allowing her to boost off and come toward the two like a rocket.
Immediately, Anna pulled Liam back and placed both of her hands forward. The red glow
underneath her skin shined brightly as she shoved her hands forward, creating a small
beam of energy.
The beam of energy hit the fan dead on, and the energy was now rippling against the fan.
The powers seemed somewhat equal.
'I don't like using my energy this way. It's a powerful way to create external energy that can
be on the same level as these warriors, but it also drains energy from me the quickest.'
"Did you forget about me?" Lulu said, as she lifted her knee and slammed it into Anna's
stomach. The hit was hard and heavy, but Anna was relatively heavy, so she hardly moved.
It didn't matter though, as it gave an opportunity for both of the sisters to strike. One
attacked from above with her hands, and Anna would block the strike, allowing the other to
use her metallic fan to strike Anna.
The metallic fan was hitting and cutting around a centimeter deep into Anna's skin. Marks
were being made and blood was being drawn, but the skin was also seen healing at the
same time.
"This person is tough!" Lin claimed. "We need to do more if we want to crush them."
Liam was watching the whole thing. Now that the two of them were focused on Anna, she
was unable to keep up.
[If your fellow system user keeps going like this, there is a 90 percent chance she will lose.]
'But won't your nano machines just keep on healing her, and she will eventually find an
opening, right?'
[After gathering data on the martial arts, the martial arts that these two Pagna warriors use
are superior to most of the techniques that you have seen.]
[The martial arts can also not be copied on a one-to-one basis due to the user's condition.
At the moment, the system cannot come up with a way to win.]
"But you said that there's only a 90 percent chance of losing, right? That means there is
something that can be done?" Liam asked.
[The system can only base situations on what the system knows. There are factors that can
be added that can change the fight.]
[Whether it's a weakness of the attackers or a strength of the two of you.]
For a moment, Liam thought about running away. He was useless in the fight anyway. If he
had helped the others, maybe someone else could come and help Anna. That would be
much better for her.
Yet for some reason, Anna was doing a lot to help him out, and she was the only one that
knew the strange secret about himself.
Although he wasn't sure it would help, he at least wanted to do something.
"System, Connect."
A slight tingle was felt in Liam's brain at that point, and it was the same for Anna.
'Took you long enough,' she thought as she blocked a hit and then forced the fan to go into
her shoulder, avoiding a fatal blow from the other.
[System is initializing. Information is being shared by the two system users. Formulating
best use of plan.]
It was right then and there that Liam could see it. He had thrown his sword at full strength.
It went through the air, and Lin had avoided the strike.
As she had done at the perfect time, Anna struck her, hitting her right across her face. Lulu
came forward with the metal fan, and that was when Anna managed to grab the sword that
had been thrown and blocked the attack.
Lulu was amazed. She didn't understand. How could she predict everything that was about
to happen? How did she utilize the weapon that was thrown by the other person?
None of it made sense. Then, throwing the sword up in the air, Anna started to strike at
Lulu, and before she knew it, she felt a sword strike right against her back with two swords.
Liam had successfully delivered a cut right across her back.
"You!" Lulu turned around.
However, Liam ignored her and continued to run forward, going for Lin, while Anna then
delivered a heavy punch right to Lulu's face.
While Liam went to block a strike, his arms still swung out of the way as Lin had
overpowered him, but it was all the time Anna needed. She pulled him by his clothes back
just in time, then went forward and shot out a beam of energy from her hand, hitting Lin in
the stomach.
"What is this?" Liam asked, amazed by how the situation was turning around.
"This is what the system can do, and what you can do with multiple system users," Anna
explained.
Connecting the systems allowed the two of them to share information in multiple ways. The
system could process what both users could see, and what both users could do.
It could come up with situations to utilize both of them rather than individuals, and now
without having ever worked together, both of them could work perfectly.
This was one of the things from the Red Fortis army, one of the most difficult armies to deal
with on planet Tronzo, where Anna was from.
A special unit of system users that could work together. In war, on the battlefield, or as a
special unit of individuals, connecting more system users made them an unstoppable force.
There were few things that could take them down, especially if their leader Zon was
present. The strongest of the Red Fortis Army.
Right now, the only link Anna had to him and to getting back to Tronzo was Liam, so she
would do anything she could to protect him.
After the two twins had been hit a couple of times, trying to attack, they had a frustrated
look on their faces, at least at first.
The two of them had gathered again, and a large smirk appeared on their faces.
"We are one of the reasons as to why the Tulip Clan rose to its position, and now we will
show you how we got rid of every man that existed in our clan!" Lin and Lulu both said at
the exact same time
Chapter 700 Distress Signal
Chapter 700 Distress Signal
With the system connected, Liam felt confident in his and his partner's abilities. After all,
they now had a veteran on their side to help them win this battle. The only issue was that
Liam didn't fully understand who they were up against.
Even among the Dark Faction and the group of people Murkel had brought with him today,
many didn't know much about each other or the strength they held.
The only one who had some idea was Murkel himself. He hadn't directly fought with
everyone under him. At times, one could evaluate who would win without a fight.
There were other times when some would still test the waters, and Murkel would have to
show his strength.
In Murkel's mind, he had brought everyone for a reason, and the twins from the Tulip Clan
were no different. He wasn't worried about them for a very particular reason.
Both Lin and Lulu then held hands, and something strange was occurring, something that
the system couldn't quite see.
Right after, Lin swung her sister Lulu, and as they let go, Lulu picked up immense speed,
traveling right toward Anna, the metal fan pointed out.
Quickly, Anna lifted her hand, and Liam came in to help, but he was too slow to do anything.
Anna was no longer using the sword she had picked up because she was focusing on the
strength that her system and machine-like body would give her.
She lifted her hand again, ready to blast the attack ahead. Energy beamed out from her
hand, but when it hit the metal fan, the powerful surge of Qi completely deflected it.
The fan continued forward and pierced right through Anna's hand from one side to the
other, almost as if there was no resistance at all.
Immediately, Lulu pulled out the fan and then swung it at Anna's hand that was going for a
strike. It was completely knocked out of the way.
Anna quickly tried to fire two blasts out of her hand, but faster than before, Lulu knocked
them away, and the blasts ended up hitting the ground.
She burst forward, opened up the fan, and swung it, cutting up part of Anna's body bit by
bit. Anna was on the defensive, and she wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer.
'How? How can this be?' Anna thought. 'We weren't that much different in strength, but
suddenly she's gotten a whole lot stronger.'
While Lulu was fighting against Anna, Lin decided to get in the way of Liam. The two were
fighting against each other.
"I need to help, so get out of my way!" Liam threw his weapons up in the air and charged
forward using fist techniques.
Right after using fist techniques, with the juggling arts, he grabbed both of his swords and
managed to deal a heavy blow.
All of the attacks were blocked, but the attacks seemed to strain Lin as she stopped them.
'What's going on?' Liam thought. 'Am I fighting a lot better now that the system is
connected? Did it give me some type of boost in strength?'
[Negative, it appears your opponent has gotten weaker.]
Liam was about to retort back to the system, thinking it was making fun of him, but when
he blocked a strike with a single hand from Lin, he realized that it was true.
There would be no way he could block a strike from a middle-stage warrior.
"What did you do?" Liam couldn't help but ask, and he could see a large smirk appear just
behind the fan as it was lowered in view.
"What, you don't like the fact that the two of us are fighting on equal grounds? Would you
rather fight me like we were fighting before?" Lin asked.
She continued to strike, and the two of them seemed to be even as they blocked and
countered each other's strikes. Yet Lin didn't appear nervous at all.
Once in a while, loud crashing bangs and slight grunts of pain could be heard from behind,
and it wasn't coming from the other sister.
The two sisters were certainly unique, having special constitutions with both of them being
twins.
Both were middle-stage warriors around the middle level. They were skilled and strong,
but what made them deadly was something special to them that only they could do.
Temporarily, one could lend the other their Qi. It would make one of the sisters weaker
while growing the other in strength, making them have the power of a high middle-stage
warrior.
They had passed on just enough Qi to keep Liam busy while Lulu dealt with the more
troublesome one.
"Enough playing games, it's time to end it!" Lulu said as she spun her body and swung her
fan out. A large wave of power hit Anna, and then a force greater than she felt before hit her
like a house.
She was lifted off her feet. The blow felt like it was crushing her internals, and she was
pushed back, crashing right into the arena wall.
She fell on the ground, blood spilling from her mouth, and was unable to move. It would
take a long time for her body to recover from this.
Yet, she still managed to move her head as she looked at the young boy.
"He's dead," Anna said. "And now my only lead to Zon will be gone."
Liam looked at Lin, who still had the strange smirk on her face, and when she backed away,
now right in front of him was Lulu.
He went to strike forward, but Lulu knocked his hand. It felt like a small tap. With just that
alone, a cracking noise was heard, and now his arm appeared to be bent out in a different
way.
Right after, she lifted her leg and slammed it on top of his shoulder, popping it out and
sending Liam to the floor.
"You two needed to get off your high horse. We are the Dark Faction. We didn't get to this
position by losing to the likes of you," Lulu said as she readied her fan and started to pour
Qi into it.
At the same time though, a ringing pain was starting to be felt at the back of Liam's neck.
[Distress Signal has been sent.]
Chapter 701 A Red Call
Chapter 701 A Red Call
Anna had been struck extremely hard by the fan that Lulu had used. She knew there were
strong people among Pagna warriors, and being strong herself, she was used to relying on
her body. However, it was the first time she had been dealt a hit like that. The Qi had
completely gone through her, affecting not only her body but also the nano machines inside
her.
'It's a good thing that I'm still alive,' Anna thought. 'As long as I'm alive, the nano machines
will continue to be pumped through my body. They will need to repair themselves first, and
after that, I'll be back up again.'
Lifting her head up, her chin propped on the hard ground, she looked ahead. Even though
she would eventually be fine, there was a certain person who wouldn't be. She could see
Lulu, who had delivered the devastating blow to her, was now upon Liam. If she had barely
survived an attack from Lulu, she was sure Liam would not be able to survive at all.
'That kid,' Anna thought, coughing up blood. 'After I said all that about his body being
special and him having these machines in his body, I thought he was going to do
something.'
Anna could see her blood moving slightly as if it were alive. It was a sign her body was
trying to do something.
'I guess the opponent this time was too high of a level for him to do something. If I couldn't
do something, why would I rely on such a child? I guess I just thought if Zon was the one to
give him the system, there would be a reason… Why did you do such a thing, Zon? I don't
understand.'
Her body wouldn't heal fast enough to save the student, and now her only link to Zon
would disappear. She could see Lulu holding her fan in her hand and gathering a large
amount of energy, while Liam was on the floor with his arm broken to the side.
As she continued to look ahead, she noticed something appearing above Liam's head.
'What is that?'
A red circle was being drawn in the sky just above. Both Lin and Lulu were too distracted
by the student in front of them, and neither of them could sense any Qi to be aware. When
the red circle was finished being drawn, a mystic blend of warping colors appeared in the
center, and right after, a person dropped from above.
Covered in a strange black suit of armor with red energy beaming through different parts
of his body and a sword in his hand, the man had practically dropped out of the sky.
Effortlessly, as he landed, he swung his sword.
The sword was swung, and the man landed on the floor, the sword now covered in blood.
On the ground, there was an arm with a fan beside it.
"ARGHH!" Lulu screamed as she saw her arm was severed off. It was a clean cut. She didn't
understand. She had a large amount of Qi flowing through her body. Even a sword covered
in sharp condensed Qi would have trouble cutting through her like that. Immediately, she
and Lin jumped back, looking at the man.
"Who are you?" Lulu shouted.
Liam looked up at the person who had come through. He had seen him before, and in
response, the man looked down at the student.
"You seem to get yourself in a lot of trouble; it truly follows you everywhere," the man said.
"I thought after I gave you the system, it would be a while until I was called again, yet here I
am."
Zon then started to look around, assessing the situation, the fights taking place, and the
white-haired mage in a meditative state.
"I guess it was a good thing I came this time," Zon said to himself, and finally, his eyes met
with Anna, who was far off in the distance.
The two of them locked eyes for a moment, and the man blinked hard a few times. He then
rubbed his eyes to make sure he was actually seeing what was in front of him. When he
continued to look at the woman, he could see both of her eyes watering up.
Anna was welling up. She was choking and wanted to run over, but her body wouldn't let
her. She knew exactly who this man was.
'Zon… where have you been?' she said to herself.
"Who are you?" Lulu shouted again, demanding an answer.
Seeing the situation and with her arm torn off, the two sisters thought there was only one
thing they could do to turn the situation around.
"Lulu, you're injured. Give me your power, give me all of it. I have a feeling this man is
dangerous," Lin ordered.
Lulu agreed, and as they touched hands, the energy between them started to transfer. This
time, though, rather than leaving just enough energy for one of them, Lulu completely
collapsed to the ground, giving all her power to Lin.
The power was intense. When activating her Qi, the air rippled around her, and part of the
arena floor was destroyed.
"It doesn't matter who you are, but you will regret taking us on. It doesn't matter who gets
in our way; we will take you out just like we have everyone else," Lin shouted.
The man raised his sword, and the center of it started to glow red as well.
Lin charged forward, running with Qi dragging through the air, distorting the entire area.
The man waited patiently, and then when she was close, his whole body lit up red.
Everything was activated in his body.
Liam then saw it for a second time. Just like that, in a flash, the man disappeared and
reappeared on the other side, and Lin's body continued forward and fell to the floor with
her head detached and rolling across the ground.
"You could never defeat him," Anna said to herself. "Because he is Zon, leader of the Red
Fortis Army."
Chapter 702 Fellow Observers
Chapter 702 Fellow Observers
When Liam felt the pain on the back of his neck, memories flashed in his head. He
remembered feeling something similar when he thought his life was on the line. The only
difference was that he was in another dimension at the time, and that's when Zon had come
to save him and implemented the system into him.
The two of them didn't talk much; they didn't say a lot to each other at all, so Liam didn't
really know much about him. However, when he felt the pain in his neck again, he could
guess what was happening, and this time, with the system, he had been given a hint with
the distress signal that had been sent.
He didn't count on it, but when he saw the back of Zon and the arm that had fallen onto the
floor, he was sure it was the same person as before.
'Last time he took out that strong Lethal Bite Clan member, and this time he's done the
same to the Tulip Clan member as well. Who is this person, and how are they so strong?'
Liam started to think. 'I'm guessing that this guy and that woman from before, both of them
are from the same place, but if we all have the same thing, if we all have this system, then
why is he so much stronger than us?'
A powerful middle-stage warrior had been killed in a simple and easy fashion. It was such a
shocking feat that Lulu, who had just lost her sister, had fallen to her knees.
"How can someone like this exist?" Lulu asked, tears rolling down both of her cheeks. She
had no will to fight anymore. Nor did she have the energy after passing it all on to her fallen
sister. With all the Qi she had given her, she should have been in the high levels of a middle-
stage warrior. Possibly even a low-level stage 9, which would still be the peak of the middle
stage. And yet she had been killed just like that.
Zon, with the sword still held in his hand, began to walk forward, and he eventually
stopped just short of Lulu, who was on the ground. She looked up and stared Zon in the
face. She made a note of his strange appearance, one that didn't look like a Pagna warrior.
With everything she had seen, she had come to a conclusion that only made sense to her.
"Are you from the Divine Realm?" she asked.
Zon lifted his sword and placed it by her neck.
"The limits of your world are not placed on someone like me. Those rules don't apply.
Unfortunately, if I was to let you live, you would do everything in your power to come back
and get revenge. I've seen it happen time and time again and been used as the tool for other
people's vengeance. I will end the cycle here."
Effortlessly, Zon moved the blade, and it went right through, causing one more head to fall
to the ground.
With that, a person who wasn't even involved in the fight to begin with had caused it to
end. Turning around, Zon then went up to Liam, who was on the floor. With a single hand,
he lifted him and placed him over his shoulder.
"You got hit pretty badly. I can tell because your arm hasn't healed; it will be a while before
it's back to normal," Zon explained. "Thanks for saving me… again," Liam said as if he were
embarrassed. "I had an idea that this would happen. Business seemed to revolve around
you, and I feel like the fact that there is a lot of danger around you means I made the right
call."
Jumping from his position, Zon had gone up high in the air and landed right in front of
Anna. She was still on the floor, badly hurt. Just like with Liam, Zon placed his sword away
by his side, then went and picked her up as well and placed her over his shoulder.
"I didn't expect to see you here of all places," Zon said.
"Same for you… I'm finding it hard to believe. You have a lot of explaining to do," Anna said.
"I imagine it's the same for you as well."
Zon was then looking around the arena, deciding where to go, and Liam was taking a peek
at the others that were still fighting as well.
"Are you going to help them… my friends?" Liam asked.
"No," Zon replied, and jumped up in the air again, holding onto the two of them.
Eventually, they landed, but this time, rather than on the arena ground, they were in the
arena stands, and they weren't just anywhere—they were around ten meters away from
the Light Faction who were also watching everything unfold.
Hannah and Beatrix were a bit taken aback. They had no idea of the strength of this person,
and now he had just landed right in front of them.
After looking at them for a few moments and placing both Anna and Liam down in the
stands, they eased their guard a little when he looked away.
"I think this is quite an interesting spot for us. The two of you need time to heal; you were
hurt really badly. Anyone down there could take you out of this fight in an instant. So we
will just observe for now," Zon answered.
"There's no need for you to protect us," Anna said. "We can look after ourselves. I think you
should help them."
"Help who exactly?" Zon replied. "I am not a person fighting for one side or the other. I am
just someone who has more uses for one side compared to the other. I don't even know the
current situation or why it is the way it is. I got involved because of him. Besides, this place
is too dangerous even for me, so if things go wrong, we need to back out."
Anna remembered multiple times when Zon would say those words. When they appeared,
their entire group in the past was in for an extremely tough fight. Always when those
words were spoken, it meant bad news, but it made her question who Zon saw that made
him think this way.
Chapter 703 The Strength of the Top (Part 1)
703 The Strength of the Top (Part 1)
There were still a few fights taking place in the arena. The Light Faction continued to keep
their eyes on them all, not knowing what was going to occur.
In the fights that had already taken place, unexpected things had occurred that the Light
Faction could have never guessed.
Unexpected variables had occurred: hybrid beasts, people appearing out of portals, and
there was Raze himself who had also interrupted one of the fights.
What seemed like a clear win for one side kept changing, and now they had to assume that
the same could happen again.
There were four fights still going on. Tilon and Bargo were going up against the Moon
Shield Clan head, Gavin.
Then there was Simyon and Safa, who were going against the mysterious warrior that
wasn't affected by Qi.
On top of that, both Mada and Ricktor were fighting against the leader of the Flowing Force
Clan, Crine.
All of the matchups would be extremely tough, especially for the young students who had
next to no experience.
Lastly, there was the fight bringing the most attention, and that was the fight involving
Murkel.
Both Alba and Amir were somewhat taking a back seat. They were jumping all over the
place, trying to push back or attack Murkel from behind when they got the chance.
The reason they had to do this was because of the fierce battle taking place between a
transformed Dame and Murkel.
The fight was intense, with Dame chasing Murkel all over the arena. There were constant
punches coming from Dame with his multiple limbs.
He had landed quite a few successful hits, especially with the webbing from his mouth tying
up Murkel's hands from time to time.
Dame was also using the special trait of his gauntlets, as he would hit Murkel from a
distance, but that appeared to do the least amount of damage.
"You are relying on your body too much, rather than using skill!" Murkel said as he swung
his hand in a large circular motion.
In doing so, his Dark Qi had gathered and almost left what looked like a small dark hole in
the air.
When Dame went to punch, even with his limbs that were above, he felt all of them being
dragged into the direction of the Dark Qi, rather than his target, Murkel.
Opening his mouth, he spat out the webbing, but Murkel spun his body, avoiding the attack,
and then with his fist, hit Dame right in the stomach.
As he was pushed and skidding across the floor, Murkel was sticking to him like glue. He
grabbed one of his many arms and then chucked him up in the air.
Murkel was ready to jump and deliver a stronger hit to try and finish the annoying Hybrid
in his eyes, but before he did, both Alba and Amir came from both sides towards him.
With both of his arms, he blocked the attack from both them, grabbing on to their blades.
"You two managed to recover, but all you're doing is delaying. You have no plan to defeat
me," Murkel said as he pulled both of them and jumped back.
Dame had landed back on the ground and charged forward towards Murkel again to start
their exchange with each other once more.
Both Amir and Alba were looking at each other. It was safe to say they both felt a bit useless
in this situation.
"What should we do?" Alba asked. "Do you have some sort of plan for this?"
"You mean you noticed it as well?" Amir said. "It seems that no matter what, Dame won't be
able to win this fight.
"He had the element of surprise at first with his Hybrid form, but Murkel is now getting
used to it. He's able to get his timing down to draw his larger limbs... and although he has
been hurt a lot, for some reason it seems he isn't as badly damaged as I thought."
Alba couldn't agree more. Amir and Alba were both feeling the aches and pains of their
bodies from the fight. They were even losing out on their Qi, Amir less so due to his own
Hybrid body.
"Which means, at this rate, aren't we going to lose this fight?" Alba questioned.
That was when Amir looked around them. He was betting on all of the others. Out of all of
these fights, someone had to be able to help them.
Then there was Raze as well; if they could at least hold out for him.
Off to the side, Ricktor had been keeping an eye on the fight going on between his father
and Dame. It was a place where he wanted to be, but based on everything he had seen so
far, he thought he had made the right decision.
'I thought it was my fate to go up against him. I trained hard to best him, but I can tell that if
I was to go up against him like that, there wouldn't be much I could do in that situation.'
Ricktor then took a step back along with Mada.
'Besides, there is something else we need to worry about, because the opponent in front of
us is also incredibly strong.'
Crine, the leader of the Flowing Force Clan, was letting his Qi flow out of him. As he had
done so, the ground seemed to be turning into water. It reached far to the point where both
Ricktor and Mada were now both standing in the water.
The mind was playing tricks. They knew it was visual Qi, but it looked like water, and with a
single step, it would ripple out.
The scary part was, because it was Qi, both he and Mada could feel the strong power it had.
'This person is the leader of the second strongest clan in the Dark Faction, and us two have
to do something about him,' Ricktor thought.
The issue was, his partner by his side, Mada, was hardly able to stand now that he was face
to face with his father.
Chapter 704 The Strength of the Top (Part 2)
704 The Strength of the Top (Part 2)
Ricktor would be lying if he said he was optimistic about the fight that was about to take
place. After stepping into the water and the range of Crine's visual Qi, he felt even less so.
The fact of the matter was, Ricktor knew they would have to fight to get out of the situation
sooner or later. It was why he had been training so hard. He just wished it wasn't against
the opponent in front of them and hoped for something else as well.
Mada, who was by his side, a fellow student and a main disciple of the five major clans, had
fallen to his knees. His whole body was shaking, and it was visibly seen in his arms.
"I'm sorry," Mada said as he looked at Ricktor. "I don't know what's happened. I don't
understand. My body, it's not listening to me."
Mada was unsure if it was an effect of the visual Qi or just an effect of what had occurred
before in the Dark Faction viewing room. He thought he had overcome this, but due to
feeling the Qi directly produced by Crine, he was now in the current situation he was in.
"I just hope if it looks like I'm about to die, you can come and help me," Ricktor said,
drawing his sword.
He walked through the flowing water and then stood directly in front of Mada.
"What a foolish mistake," Crine commented.
Crine started to walk forward, and so did Ricktor. When they were both around five meters
away from each other, Ricktor took a step to the side and began circling, and it looked like
Crine did the same.
"You are calmer than I expected. I thought you would be rushing off trying to attack me, but
it looks like you're looking for a chance," Crine commented and suddenly stopped.
"Well, here's your chance." Crine opened up both of his arms. "I promise you, you won't get
a better chance than now, in the first attack, so give it your best shot."
Crine's words felt like bait. Ricktor knew this, but this was how clan heads acted. They were
overconfident about how they treated others, and in Crine's eyes, Ricktor was nothing but a
student.
"Very well." Ricktor gathered his Qi in his hand and charged forward. With each step,
explosive power could be seen like a rushing volcano.
Part of the visual water Qi was also reacting as steam was coming from his steps. Then he
charged forward with his sword thrusted. It was powerful, and Ricktor did as Crine
suggested; he used his most powerful strike. Erupting Strike, and thrust his sword forward.
Crine still had his arms by his side, but as the strike inched closer, the water from the floor
erupted like a wall. It stood in front of the two of them and went to stop the strike. For a
moment, Ricktor's strike had been stopped, but with his Qi, it had pushed through the
waves.
"Interesting, you have grown, but it's not enough." The wall of water started to swirl
around, and on the other side of the wall, it had wound around Crine's fist. He then reached
out and pushed against the sword.
The visual Qi of the water wrapped around the sword, then hit Ricktor directly, pushing
him back and extinguishing his entire Qi. Ricktor was seen skidding across the floor.
"You have no idea who you are going up against, or what a person like me or Murkel can do,
do you? Right now, you are in my domain. A fight between just us two, there is no chance of
you winning," Crine stated.
Crine still hadn't moved from his position, but he was moving his hands, and as he was
doing so, Ricktor noticed what was occurring next to him.
The water that he stood in, the water that surrounded him, started to rise up just as Crine
raised his fist. Then, when Crine swung it in the air, the water moved and went straight for
Ricktor.
He had no choice but to raise his sword and deflect the attack. It was extremely powerful
and heavy, and Ricktor quickly rolled through the water. As he got up, another piece of
condensed water rose and went to strike him from the front.
'The water is extremely heavy, and I can feel the Qi still surging through it. Isn't this similar
to a form of projectile Qi that only the Divine realm users can use?' Ricktor thought to
himself.
As he thought about it more, he came up with another conclusion though. It was just how
far and spread out his visual Qi was. Only the area around where they were had the water
spread on the floor, and since it was all Qi that extended out from Crine's body, he was able
to use it freely.
That was why the water was so heavy in its strikes as well. Because it was all pure Qi rather
than water itself. What was even trickier was how the strikes from the water flowed like
water as well, and Ricktor was about to learn that the hard way.
The water raised as if a snake had been created and went forward to strike at him. Just like
he had been doing before, he was ready to deflect the strike with his sword. As he swung it,
the strike missed because the water swirled and changed direction, going under his arm
and striking him right in the stomach.
It was a clean hit that sent Ricktor to his knees, but he quickly got up from the ground
again.
"Right, I almost forgot," Crine said. "I saw your performance before. You are now a middle-
stage warrior like me. But I'm here to show you that within the middle stages, there are
huge differences between the two of us.
"Even though you are a direct disciple, you have not been through the same things as us.
You are not the same as us!"
Chapter 705 A New Generation
705 A New Generation
Ricktor was beginning to understand the gap between him and Crine, a clan leader of one of
the top five clans. Becoming a middle-stage warrior had closed the gap, but only by a
fraction of the difference between them.
'Both Murkel and Crine's control over their Qi, it's as if their visual Qi has actually become a
part of their power to be used, rather than just focusing on certain moves and techniques.
Both of them have focused on the powers their Qi can bring them.
'Murkel with learning the deep properties of the Dark Qi and using it to attract attacks like
some type of gravity, and then Crine with his use of his visual water Qi. Neither of these is
something that I will be able to learn and apply in this fight, so how am I supposed to win
this?'
Not only was he trying to come up with a way to win, but he was still in the middle of the
fight with Crine. He was looking at the steps on the floor and he could see areas bubbling.
As the water moved, he reacted at the same time, swinging his sword, crashing through the
water before it raised from the ground. Another pillar of spiraling water had come out to
hit him, but he swung his sword right through the center, blocking that as well.
'If I keep moving, then it will be hard for him to hit me, and then I might find an
opportunity!' Ricktor thought as he started to run in circles. He didn't get far until a wave of
water exploded right in front of him.
He had stopped in time, stepping back, but from the side, another large spiral of water had
come out. He blocked it with his sword but wasn't able to strike through the water this
time.
As he was hit, his legs were being dragged through the water, and they had created a type
of wave with the water splitting in two halves by his feet. When the water rose in the air, it
looked calm until it stopped as if frozen.
Ricktor noticed it as the attack stopped pushing him back, and he was surrounded by water
on either side. He looked ahead at Crine.
"You were never once worried about me, were you?" Ricktor said as he saw the water
creeping in.
"Not one bit," Crine said as he closed his hands as if he was clapping them, and the water
followed.
It gushed in on Ricktor from both sides, hardening and spiraling in multiple places. It was
like several fists coming out right at Ricktor. He blocked around two of them, but he was
pounded strongly by the water exploding on his body as it hit.
With each pound, he protected himself with as much Qi as possible, and eventually, the
attacks stopped. Ricktor stood there looking strong until he let out a small cough, and blood
slipped out from his mouth.
He quickly wiped it away with his sleeve and looked at the red mark left behind.
"What a disappointing sight, seeing my own blood."
Mada was still off to the side, watching everything while on his knees. He hadn't even
realized, due to the fight between Ricktor and Crine, that the water spread across the
ground no longer reached him. The edge of the water could be seen around a meter ahead.
He couldn't feel the Qi directly, yet his body was still not able to move.
'So it wasn't because of the Qi… it had to be my own body, it just got like that when I felt it…
what is wrong with me?'
'Back then, Ricktor had been training so hard every day, and he had finally reached the
middle stage, an achievement that not everyone could make, especially at his age. He was
so determined to go up against his father, that was what pushed him, and I thought I was
the same.'
'Yet now he's the one helping me, he's the one fighting my father, and I'm here doing
nothing.' Mada tensed his fist so tight the white of his knuckles could be seen and the veins
running up his neck.
His fist quickly unclenched as he started to think of the reality of the situation.
'But what can I do? Even Ricktor, who had managed to reach the middle stage, was unable
to do anything against my father. I wasn't able to reach the middle stage like Ricktor, so
even if I joined this fight, it would be useless,' Mada thought.
Ricktor, seeing Crine up ahead still in his relaxed state, could tell that even though one
might think something like this took up a lot of Qi, it wasn't. Which was why he was still
relaxed.
'If anything, he's just swinging his Qi around, he's not even attacking physically. If this is
just how painful his visual Qi is, I wonder what his direct attacks are going to be like. I
guess he was right when he said I should have put everything into that first attack.'
Ricktor started to gather Qi in his foot and was twisting it in the water. Using his own
Erupting Fist Clan's powers, he could see that the water evaporated around the area
slightly, but the water was still spewing around him.
'Visual Qi is certainly a very interesting thing that I haven't been able to fully grasp.'
"If you're just going to stand there, then I guess I will have to finish you off. I will then help
Murkel get rid of all the others as well." Crine lifted both of his hands and several pillars of
water were raised around Ricktor.
There looked to be at least twelve of them, and at the very end, they started to bend inward
and were looking down at Ricktor like snake heads from above that had locked onto their
prey.
Seeing this, Ricktor reacted as he bent down, lowering his stance, and he placed the sword
around his side.
11:30
Mada couldn't believe the situation he was in. He was surrounded by devastating amounts
of Qi, and he felt like there was no way he could survive, yet he could see that Ricktor was
still trying to fight.
The water all came down toward Ricktor at the same time, and he exploded from his feet.
He spun his body, and his sword stayed by his side, slashing all areas of the water Qi.
Exploding strength occurred, cutting the water and causing it to fall back to the ground.
Only a few bits of the visual water had hit the top of Ricktor's head before he landed back
on the ground again.
"Very good, but I can tell that took a lot out of you," Crine said as water raised from the
floor again and was coming right for Ricktor as he had dropped his guard just after
finishing his attack.
The water was going through the air and then started to slow down, and stopped falling
back to the floor. The water attacks had disappeared, yet the water Qi on the floor and
around was still there.
"It took you long enough to finally make a move," Ricktor said as he saw the ripples in the
water and could see Mada approaching him.
"I can't do much," Mada said as he was intensely concentrating while walking, similar to as
if he was cultivating. "But the two of us come from the same clan, so if there is something he
can do, I should at least be able to do something on similar grounds, right?"
Mada was imitating his father's visual Qi and was doing it in a way to at least suppress his
father's attacks. He couldn't spread his Qi as far and wide and huge, perhaps couldn't cause
attacks to appear like his father could around his opponent.
What he could do was at least use his Qi of the Flowing Force Clan to suppress the visual
water Qi around them from being activated.
This is what he was currently doing, creating his own area of small visual Qi, which was
stopping his father's work that was so spread out.
"I don't know how long I'll be able to stop him for, and if he uses his attacks, I'll stop them
again, so you just need to concentrate on taking my father out," Mada stated.
"You mean you don't want to be the one to do it? I guess this will count as both our
handiwork since we couldn't do it alone," Ricktor replied back.
"Hey, save your strength, because after we're done with him, we still have to get rid of your
father as well," Mada replied.
"Ha!" A loud chuckle came from Crine. "This is all you can do, my useless son has joined the
fight, and now he thinks things have suddenly changed. Just how naive you are. Soon you
will be back on the floor. I brought you into this world, and now I'm going to take you out of
it!"
"No," Mada said as he readied himself. "Both of us won't fall here. We are a new generation.
Everyone on this arena floor is here to get rid of the old and make a change!"
Ricktor looked at Mada. He could tell that he had gained some confidence. He didn't know
where from, but it was good to have. There was one thing that always bothered him: Mada
had no clue how special he was.
He didn't realize that what he had just done, as an initial stage warrior, in using visual Qi
that way, was an amazing feat.
"Let's do this!"
Chapter 706 Unexpected Warrior
706 Unexpected Warrior
Looking at the two students, the main disciples in front of him, it was almost as if Crine
didn't believe what he was seeing. He lifted his hands again, aiming to raise the visual water
Qi and take them both out from either side.
Quickly though, Mada acted as he could see the location of where the Qi was trying to lift
up. Moving his own set of hands, he was controlling the water flow and moving about in the
air as if he was practicing some type of martial technique to stop it from rising.
"I guess it wasn't a fluke that you managed to achieve that for the first time, but it won't
matter too much," Crine said, as he lifted his hands again. This time, around two meters out
from where the two were standing, the water had risen in the air.
The spirals of water then went forward, and because it was out of range from where Mada
could control his own visual Qi, he couldn't stop it from rising. It didn't matter though.
Mada quickly pushed himself forward and dragged his foot across the ground. In doing so, a
wave of water flowed behind his leg as he lifted it and kicked both of the spirals, exploding
the water on the spot.
"I might not be at the middle stage, but do you really think I'm just going to lose out to your
visual Qi? I'm a main disciple as well. Don't underestimate me!" Mada screamed.
The leg kick wasn't just to stop the attack; it was twofold as Mada had produced his own
wave of water. It was a means of distraction, and Ricktor had jumped up above, swinging
his sword down right above.
Just like before, Ricktor had gathered plenty of his Qi in the strike, and the heat coming
from the sword could be seen through the air as it distorted behind him.
He swung it, and Crine lifted up his arm. As he did, water wrapped around his arm, and the
sword and his arm clashed. Large amounts of Qi dispersed out, and the water was still
constantly moving in circles around Crine's arm.
"I thought that only my son was an idiot, but it looks like you are as well," Crine commented
as he raised his other hand in the air. Just like that, water started to spiral around it as well.
"Did you really think that I could only use my visual Qi, that I was trying to make this a
long-distance fight, that I can't fight straight ahead!" Throwing his other fist, it went
straight into Ricktor's stomach.
A ripple of water shot out in a circle in the area, exploding to the side. Mada had jumped
and managed to catch Ricktor, but the powerful force still continued to hit both of them,
moving them back.
"While you're holding on to him, you might have forgotten about something," Crine said.
Mada felt his back smash against something heavy, but it wasn't a wall. He could hear the
sound of rushing water, and taking a peek back, a large wave had occurred.
Then from right underneath their feet, a rush of water hit them both. Mada let go of Ricktor,
and a powerful jet stream of water flipped both of their bodies in the air until eventually
both of them fell straight to the ground, landing on the floor.
They hadn't even landed in a puddle of water but only on the hard floor.
"You are skillful to have learned such a thing so fast," Crine said as he continued to walk
forward. "But I knew that a simple thing would break your concentration, making it so you
would forget certain things. You couldn't handle protecting your friend and controlling
your visual Qi at the same time. You just don't have enough experience."
Mada lifted his head up from the ground, and so did Ricktor. The two of them had been hurt
by the jet of water underneath their feet more than they thought. Because it wasn't just
water, it was visual Qi that had entered their bodies, hurting the inside as well as the
outside.
"Do you have any other plans?" Mada asked, as he could see Ricktor was propping himself
up from the floor.
He had also been directly hit, but as a middle-stage warrior, Ricktor was able to withstand
more punishment. However, he had also been fighting longer than Mada had, who was
getting up from the floor slightly after him.
"Remember when we were in that underground assessment?" Ricktor said, fully standing
up and firmly holding onto his sword. "At the time, we were all in the same position. Our
lives were on the line every day. The only thing we could do was evolve quicker than ever,
gain more strength during the situation, and that's the only solution here: to grow stronger
in a short amount of time to overcome the situation we are in."
Mada clicked his tongue. It was easier said than done, and to put it simply, Ricktor didn't
have any plan at all.
"You might think I had no plan, but he did. He seems to do it every single time," Ricktor
said. "Think back to the first time we fought him. We were nowhere near as strong as we
are now. The us now could have beaten the Raze in the past, yet Raze has also continued to
grow."
Crine, hearing everything, started to laugh.
"I admit, it would be quite a spectacle to see how you two would have grown. Many would
call you the great future of the Dark Faction. When we were your age, we definitely weren't
as strong as you are now. Perhaps someday, you all could have surprised us, but that was if
you stuck to the rules and didn't get ahead of yourselves."
"There is a time and place for everything, and your time isn't now!" Crine jumped from his
position, a large wave of water splitting from his feet. He lifted his leg up and was ready to
strike down on the two of them, finishing them in a single blow.
The radius of the attack that Crine was planning meant it didn't matter if they ran, as his leg
swung down through. He saw a large heavy figure walking through the water and getting
right in the way.
He was in the middle of his attack, so there was no way to stop, and Crine just swung his leg
down. The water that was on the ground practically vanished from the force of the attack,
pushing it far off until it completely disappeared.
"What is this? Who stopped my attack?" Crine thought as he pulled his leg away and landed
on the ground, and then he could see that it wasn't someone but something.
Ricktor, looking at who had come to their aid, was also surprised.
"Stoney… why is he… he is always with her, so then what happened to Safa?"
Chapter 707 The Problem With Light Magic
Chapter 707 The Problem With Light Magic
Simyon and Safa faced a challenge with the mysterious stranger in front of them. He wasn't
well known in the Dark Faction, and even though they had been part of the academy, they
had never seen this person before.
Yet during their fight, it didn't take them long to figure out that Qi wasn't the answer. Using
Qi in their attacks, both Safa and Simyon felt as if it was being absorbed when it touched the
man's body.
There was no impact, and the general feeling of the energy that came out when they
attacked disappeared as if it was absorbed inside his body, nowhere to be seen.
Safa quickly figured this out, so when she got the chance, instead of encasing her spear in
Qi, she covered the tip in her Light Magic. It shortened the tip, making it look like a
technique produced by someone from the Light Faction.
She swung it down and ripped through the bald man's skin on his back, creating a large cut
that drew blood but wasn't too deep.
'It worked, it looks like the properties of magic still work against him!' Safa cheered in her
mind.
However, with the attack not being that strong, the man quickly turned around and swung
his arm out. Even though the man himself couldn't produce Qi, he was clearly used to
fighting. The fist came out fast, and Simyon was there to block it with his body.
He raised both hands as it whacked right into him.
"Arghh, that hurt!" Simyon said, standing his ground, and Safa quickly moved back with
him. With each step, Simyon felt like his body was in pain. He had hardly recovered from
the match in the stadium and couldn't really use Qi to reinforce his body, making him take a
powerful hit head-on.
The bald-headed man was now trying to peek over his back, checking on the wound that
had been made. Even he seemed quite surprised by it.
"So we know our items and your spear can hurt him now, but he's still a strong fighter. He
doesn't have Qi but can move just as fast as those in the middle stage," Simyon commented.
"Yes, we should have expected at least someone that Murkel would bring would be at the
middle stage," Safa explained. "But there's still a problem."
Safa soon saw the bald-headed muscular man running toward them, and she saw Simyon
moving in front, ready to be a shield. She didn't want him to be a shield and ran in front
with her spear.
Using her spear, she shoved it forward and encased the tip with magic once again. It was
perfect as she aimed for the head, but the bald-headed man moved his hand in front of his
face. The spear went through his palm and broke through the other end but soon stopped
as the man tightened his muscles, making it hard for Safa to push it forward.
She tried to place her Qi into her body to give her more strength to move the spear, but it
wasn't working.
'Is it because the spear is inside his body? Now I can't even use Qi to strengthen myself?'
Safa thought.
"You not lucky, you real," the bald-headed man said. Then, with the spear still in his hand,
he grabbed the pole with his other hand and lifted it in the air.
Safa was lifted along with it and quickly slammed into the ground.
"Safa!" Simyon shouted as he jumped up and grabbed the spear, pulling it back out. He then
hurled it toward Safa, but now the bald-headed man was right where he was and delivered
a punch to Simyon's shoulder, lifting him in the air. Before he could react, Simyon was
kicked in the stomach, sending him tumbling across the ground.
Simyon quickly got up off the floor and rushed to Safa, who hadn't been hit too far from
him. He picked up the spear he had thrown on the ground earlier.
"Are you okay?" Simyon asked.
Safa was placing her hand against her side rib. She had broken one of them in the attack,
but she was now healing it with her power. When she looked at Simyon, she was sure he
was hurting more than her, just that he was used to it by now.
"Although magic does work in hurting him, there is one crucial problem," Safa explained. "I
didn't learn to use magic to fight; I learned to use it in a healing way."
Right now, she was more improvising than anything in how to use her magic in battle.
"Then what about that?" Simyon pointed to the statue that hung around her waist, attached
by a piece of string. "It might be time we use it."
The statue now would be incredibly strong because the blood it was linked to had grown in
strength, especially with Ricktor and Dame both reaching the middle-stage warrior. The
statue would be a high-level middle-stage warrior as well. It might even have the strength
to fight against Murkel. It was their ace up their sleeve. However, its strange powers relied
on Qi.
If there was one opponent they couldn't rely on using, it was the statue. That's when she
started to evaluate the area around them as well, and she noticed the trouble the two other
main disciples were in.
She quickly pulled off the statue, snapping it from her waist, and wasted no time pouring
her light magic into it. When the light magic entered, she dropped it to the ground, and it
started to grow in size.
The bald-headed man was fascinated by what he was seeing and cautious, not daring to
step forward. Eventually, the stone warrior had grown into a full-size human holding onto a
sword.
"Stoney, go help out Ricktor and Mada. Beat whoever is hurting them and come back!" Safa
ordered.
Stoney quickly jumped from his position, heading off.
"I'm sorry, Simyon, but the two of us are going to have to handle this one ourselves. We
said we would help Raze, right? So let's help him and at least beat one of these guys!" Safa
declared.
Chapter 708 Hold On Tight
Chapter 708 Hold On Tight
Simyon was left in shock after seeing Safa use their special card for someone else rather
than themselves. Even though the man in front of them was able to absorb Qi, someone as
strong as the statue surely could have done something that would allow them to win the
battle.
With the way both he and Safa were, Simyon was sure it would be a loss for them to go up
against this person, but her words were strong, and she sounded confident. It wasn't a
completely lost cause.
"Alright, alright, I will be your shield, Safa. Go ahead and take this guy out!" Simyon said,
punching both of his gloves together.
He could see Safa had poured her Light Magic into the tip of the spear again. If they knew
one thing, it was that they could hurt the bald-headed man.
"Let me take the lead. I can use these gloves to try and hold him still, and then you finish
him off," Simyon claimed.
He ran off ahead before Safa could even say something, but she had to admit that it might
be the best plan they had.
As the two charged forward, they could see the bald-headed man punching his fist into the
palm of his other hand. He was welcoming the challenge. As soon as Simyon was close, he
jumped up in the air and wound his fist up.
"I'm going to take that smug look off your face!" Simyon's punch landed heavily across the
bald-headed man's face, swinging his head to the side, but the corners of the man's eyes
and mouth were smiling.
He then grabbed onto Simyon.
"You are the one with the hard body. Let's see whose body is harder!" The man claimed as
he jumped and swung Simyon's entire body into the floor, cracking the area.
Simyon was hurt as his body was slammed to the floor. His old wounds caused a deep pain
that went through to his very bones, but he didn't care; he needed this chance. With both of
his hands, he grabbed onto one of the arms of the bald-headed man.
"First… I'm going to shock you!" Simyon shouted, and the whole body of the man
electrified. Simyon could tell it was working as the man's body shook slightly, but even
though it was jolting, the man was still able to move, and he was clenching his fist, ready to
give Simyon a pounding.
Just before he threw his fist, the man felt something stab into the back of his arm, right
above his elbow. A stinging pain and a solid hit. When he looked to see what had happened,
he saw that Safa had already pulled the spear out.
'A surprise attack to the head isn't going to take this man out. He has good instincts,' Safa
thought. 'So while Simyon has him distracted, I will injure him as much as possible, and
then we'll take him out!'
Safa also noticed something else as well. Even with her Light Magic coating the spear, she
could only stab the bald-headed man so deep. The longer it made contact with his body, the
quicker it took the Qi from her, which was the basis of a lot of her strength.
So she needed to pull it out. Her attacks wouldn't be deep enough to hurt vitals.
The lightning coming off Simyon's glove continued, but the bald-headed man was getting
used to it and was able to move easier. He also ignored the stabbing pain and then picked
Simyon's body up and swung him, trying to use Simyon to hit Safa.
'Since the lightning isn't going to work, then I'll just have to freeze him!' Using the power of
the other glove, as Simyon continued to hold onto the bald-headed man and refused to let
go, ice slowly spread in the particular area.
This, of course, didn't go unnoticed by the bald-headed man.
"You have strange powers, not just a strong body. You need to let go," the bald-headed man
said.
Safa went to shove her spear forward but saw that the bald-headed man had lifted Simyon
to block her attack. He was still quick and aware.
The main issue with the glove, particularly the Ice Magic glove, was the amount of time
needed to hold onto the object to make the ice spread. At some point, it would spread
through the whole body, but it was slow.
At least a few minutes would be needed for it to cover the whole arm at this rate.
'There's no way to make this faster. I'm just going to have to hold on.'
The bald-headed man jumped back and then swung his arm into the floor. Each time
Simyon's body hit the ground, the floor cracked, and debris flew everywhere.
To make sure he held on, Simyon wrapped his legs around the man's arm as well, holding
on tightly. This allowed the man to continue swinging his arm into the ground more and
more.
The swings were wild and chaotic, and each time Simyon crashed into the arena floor, the
vibrations could be felt throughout the place.
When the bald-headed man saw that Safa was close and aiming for him, he jumped, moving
from his position, and with the momentum of the jump, he slammed Simyon further into
the ground.
"Your body is strong, so strong. How long will you last?" the man excitedly said as he
slammed Simyon into the floor again. The grip by Simyon was loosening.
The moment he fell to the floor, Safa dashed forward, thrusting her spear. The man jumped
away, breaking the distance between them.
Safa quickly slid on the floor, not caring for her knees, and went by Simyon's side.
"No, Simyon, Simyon, you're in this state again!" She immediately dropped the spear and
held both hands over Simyon. She began using her Light Magic along with her restore spell
to help him in any way she could.
"It's going to be okay," Safa said as she continued to use the spell. "It's going to be okay,
Simyon. I know how strong you are. I knew that this might happen. It was a risk, but it was
the only way I could see us winning," Safa claimed as tears rolled down her face.
Simyon didn't understand. He could hear her, but what did she mean? Was this the plan she
had? As Simyon's body healed in certain places, the special Mythical Ring around his ear lit
up, and a big change was felt in Simyon's body.
"I'm not the one that's going to win us this fight. It was always going to be you!" Safa
exclaimed.
Chapter 709 The Hardened Warrior
Chapter 709 The Hardened Warrior
Simyon's body was going through a bigger change than he expected. Due to the special item
handed to him by Raze, his training was always harder compared to others.
Not only did he need to focus on increasing his Qi and stage level along with techniques, but
he also needed to increase the strength of his body due to the special item, his body was
different compared to other Pagna warriors.
Not only would it increase in strength as a person went through the stages, but his body
would also be super refined and strengthened like a weapon. Dame told him the secret to
making his body stronger was to break it down each time more and more.
Doing this, he would heal stronger than he did before. It was hardly noticeable for Simyon,
these small improvements in strength, but he knew it would work because the most
noticeable changes were when his body was upgraded to the next rank. Yet each time, it
was harder and harder to reach the rank after that.
The ranking strength of the special metal body that Simyon had followed that of the
weapons. Before the tournament, his body was at the Elite grade, and now a change was
happening to him.
As Safa healed him, she could see the ring lighting up and a strange shine going from
Simyon's body from top to bottom. It was a glare that ran down, giving his body a reflective
effect like that of a weapon.
When it finally finished going through the whole body, something strange occurred—the
same shining effect went again, but in the other direction.
'This is it. Simyon told me about the special item given to him by Raze,' Safa thought. 'He
was so badly hurt by Mantis, I was sure as long as his body was able to recover, he would
be upgraded to the next grade. So his body now at least has to be at the Unique level. With
that, we will have a chance to win this thing.'
Simyon's fingers started to move, and he quickly lifted his body. As he did, he could see the
bald-headed man charging ahead, and he also could tell that Safa was feeling a bit faint.
With one hand, he then pushed her away.
"I see, for the second time you have used up all your power to heal me. I'm meant to be
your shield, and I need to do my job."
Simyon stood there and lifted his arm up. The fist from the bald-headed man landed across
his arm. It was a powerful physical blow, but the man felt something in that moment.
The bones in his knuckles—he could feel them breaking down.
"Your body is harder now?"
The man knew his hand had been broken but acted as if he felt no pain at all. Seeing this,
the man was hesitant to attack again, and Simyon took this as an opportunity.
Using the hard-trained martial arts, Simyon made a solid stance, winding his feet and
throwing out his fist, twisting it. He didn't punch straight ahead but instead dug his fist
straight into the ribs of the bald-headed man. Once again, a cracking noise could be heard,
and Simyon could feel the bone shattering with his knuckles.
The bald-headed man continued to smile, though, and threw out his unbroken hand, hitting
Simyon right on the head. Once again, as the man's knuckles hit Simyon, he could feel them
shattering and breaking down.
"I've never met a body as strong as this. What is happening!" The man then lifted his leg
and kicked Simyon in the stomach. Yet, when the heavy blow landed, Simyon didn't move
from his position.
Instead, Simyon lunged forward and grabbed onto the man's arm once again, just like
before, and the Ice glove started to activate.
"You do this again? You already know it doesn't work!" the man shouted, using his strength
to lift Simyon in the air. It was harder than before; Simyon's weight was different, but the
man's strength was still abnormal, allowing him to lift Simyon up.
The man then slammed Simyon into the floor and lifted him up once more, slamming him
into the floor on the other side. Just like before, the man was constantly slamming Simyon
into the floor with only a few seconds in between.
With Simyon holding on, the man's arm was starting to freeze up. It was growing in size
more and more.
"So you're holding out more this time!" the man said as he started to pick up more speed,
hitting Simyon again and again.
That was until the ice had reached his neck. The man then stopped for a moment to look at
Simyon, who was holding onto his arm, and could see his facial expression. It was unfazed;
he wasn't showing a fraction of pain and just stared right into his eyes.
"You better hurry up, or your whole body will soon be frozen," Simyon said.
The man knew it was true because the ice had encased the whole of his shoulder, and he
had lost feeling in his arm. He could no longer feel Simyon even holding on. For the first
time in the fight, the smile dropped from his face because Simyon had let go, and he could
see his fist lifting in the air and crashing down on the ice-covered arm.
The outside shattered, with parts of the inside completely breaking off and falling to the
ground, mostly in one solid piece but having broken off from the man.
In a fit of anger, seeing what had just happened to him, the man continued to swing his one
good arm with his fist, hitting Simyon on every part of his body, concentrating on his head.
Yet the attacks looked as if they were just bouncing off him or having no effect at all.
The man was feeling a taste of his own medicine. He was feeling the despair that other
warriors felt when they fought against him and found out that their Qi attacks wouldn't
work.
Safa, who was watching the whole thing from the side, was surprised at the outcome, at
how much Simyon was now dominating the fight compared to before.
'Although this man wasn't a Pagna warrior, he still had the strength of a middle-stage
warrior, plus the added fact of Qi not working against him. Just with one grade, the
difference shouldn't be this high, especially since Simyon isn't able to use Qi at a high level.'
In her train of thoughts, she had figured out the answer herself. It was because Simyon
hadn't just gone up by one grade. He had gone up by two grades.
He had gone from having an Elite Grade Metal body to having a Mythical Grade Metal body,
surpassing the Unique stage. The damage from Mantis, combined with that inflicted by the
bald-headed man, had accumulated.
When Safa used everything she had to heal Simyon, she had refined him to the point where
he had come out as something truly special, and even though he was still an initial-stage
warrior, middle stages would find it hard to damage his body.
Which was why, right now, the punches from the man were having no effect on Simyon at
all.
Seeing the panic on his face, Simyon charged forward with his fist again, but before it could
hit the man, he lifted his foot, kicking the bottom of Simyon's fist. It only moved it slightly
but made it so his attack didn't hit cleanly.
'I was worried that this would happen,' Simyon thought. 'Although my body is incredibly
strong, increasing the density of my attacks and my weight, there is one thing it hasn't
improved, and that's the speed of my attacks or the speed of my techniques.'
'The bald-headed man was careless before, confident in his own body, which was why I was
able to hit him and latch onto his body. Now that he's careful, it's going to be a lot harder to
hit him and finish him off.'
Simyon threw out his fists, chasing after the man, but they were missing completely. Sparks
flew out from his glove, but they were just hitting and bouncing off the floor.
'I can't hit him. What's the point of being the shield if I can't take him out!' Simyon thought.
"Close your eyes!" A loud voice came out, but it was a voice that Simyon was familiar with
and trusted completely. He didn't hesitate as he heard the words and closed his eyes.
Simyon didn't see, but a spear had landed in the ground in front of him, and the tip was lit
up. Safa had her hands next to her, already placing her Light Magic in the spear.
The bald-headed man was curious about the spear. It hadn't hit him, so he wasn't worried.
That was until the end of the spear lit up so bright, a flash of light opened up in front of
them.
"Open your eyes, and take him out!" Safa shouted.
Simyon was already charging forward and opened his eyes to find a startled man in front of
him. Using all of his pent-up Qi, he moved his fist as fast as he could and hit the man right
on the face. The blow was heavy, causing a dent in his forehead and sending him to the
floor.
Simyon landed on top of him, then continued to swing his fists at the man's head, blood
splattering his knuckles as he continued to swing them again and again, until Safa
eventually came up from behind and pulled him away.
"That's enough, Simyon… he's… already dead."
Another fight was over for the group, and Murkel was running out of people on his side, yet
for some reason, he was unfazed by all of this.
Chapter 710 The Truth Of Otherworlders
Chapter 710 The Truth Of Otherworlders
Bubble had the top of his head peeking up from the edge of the arena. There had been a
couple of moments where he had to quickly move out of the way for fear he might be struck
down by a few stray strikes, but he had managed to never quite get hit.
Sometimes his predictions were completely wrong, and he had changed position for no
reason. What was amazing was that no one had spotted him yet, but he imagined in an area
like this with so many strong warriors, he wasn't appearing on their radar because he was
just like a bug.
'I don't mind being a bug right now,' Bubble thought as he continued to peek. 'It's good, I
am going to be the public's eyes. I have to report all of this… but whenever I see such
things, how am I meant to even report them in the first place!'
Bubble already remembered some of the backlash from his reports about the Dark Magus
and the Crimson Crane going against the Behemoth Clan.
The comments had suggested he had been taking liberties with his explanations, some
saying that he might not be as reliable as before.
Bubble soon shook his head.
'With the way things are going, the world will soon have to learn the wonders of what has
occurred tonight. These people in front of me are going to be the ones that will bring a big
change in the world of Pagna, I know it, and that's what I'm going to report on.'
Bubble had been making a mental note of all the special figures from the Dark Faction. He
had to keep his Qi focused around his ears to try and overhear what everyone was saying.
There were a lot that had caught his attention, particularly the large muscular man who
was able to negate the effects of Qi. The world would surely be interested in these figures
and learn that there were naturally people different from them in the world.
He also wondered how the other clans might use this information. What had come as a big
surprise to him was how the two students were able to overwhelm the large man, and now
his body was lying on the floor lifeless.
"I didn't expect the two of them to be able to do it, but somehow between them, they
managed it," Bubble mumbled to himself. "That wasn't what I thought was going to happen.
The children sure didn't have strong Qi to begin with, but the man in question surely had
the strength of a middle stage.
"Unless one had far superior martial arts techniques or physical strength comparable to the
Hybrids, I was sure they were going to lose the match. So how did they manage to win?"
Simyon, who was on the ground, was in a state of shock himself, looking at his fists after
being dragged away by Safa. His knuckles were covered in blood.
"He's dead… the man, he's really not moving," Simyon said.
"You know what being in the world of Pagna is like," Safa added. "It was either us or him.
He wouldn't have let us survive. Don't beat yourself up about it; think of what someone like
Raze would have had to do."
Safa's words did bring comfort to Simyon, but he remembered what was running through
his mind when he had rained out on the man. In his head, he had to imagine his enemy as a
beast.
It was the only way for Simyon to fight against humans without holding back. He imagined
going against the beast that had taken his sister's life, which is why he hadn't stopped
fighting.
"Come on, the two of us need rest," Safa said. Even now, as she breathed, she continued to
gather Qi. "The good thing is we've managed to help Raze with this."
"You sure?" Simyon replied. "If anything, I think it would have been very easy for Raze to
deal with this person, but maybe all of the others would have struggled."
As they were talking, Simyon soon fell to the floor, his body shaking. Safa felt weak herself.
The two of them had just gotten out of a big fight. The adrenaline, the Qi in their bodies—it
was out of control in their final moments, and it had practically all been used up.
"I think in the end, everything that's going to take place and happen is going to be down to
him," Safa claimed.
The Light Faction warriors watching up in the stands had also found the outcome of fight
after fight surprising.
"I'm confused. Each time I think the Dark Faction has the upper hand, the others manage to
pull it off," Hannah commented, quite amazed in a way. She didn't say it out loud, but she
was almost cheering for the other side during the fight. Perhaps it was because they were
the underdogs or students like herself that she felt this way.
"The others, as you called them, rather than the Demonic Faction, which I think is a more
appropriate term," Beatrix said. "They want it more. You can tell through this fight. While
the Dark Faction believe in their strength and think they are just fighting against some
rebellious students."
"The others are fighting for their lives, and it feels as if they're fighting for much more than
that."
"Yes, I agree," Ricar said. "Which means that they will be very troublesome in the future."
"I hope that means you're not planning on taking out whoever is left standing," a voice from
the side said.
As Ricar turned his head, he could see it was one of the others who had joined them,
particularly the man in the strange black tight-fitting one-piece suit. The most dangerous of
the bunch was the man who spoke, Zon.
A few moments ago, Ricar had noticed that the man had disappeared. He wondered where
he had rushed off to, and now he knew because Ricar could see in his hands he was holding
onto a man in fabulous silk clothing—the infamous news reporter Bubble.
"I mean no harm, I mean no harm, I'm just a reporter!" Bubble shouted. "I just spread the
news of what I see. I just had to see everything here. Trust me, I'm not a fighter, and I'm not
on either side."
Bubble, who had thought he had gone unseen like a bug, had someone pull his shirt up and
drag him out, bringing him to the others.
"I know who you are, and I'm just here because I want you to make sure you report
everything just as you see it, just as things work out today," Zon claimed. "Also, I want to
tell these guys a thing or two.
"Although I have decided not to join the fight, I will do everything in my power to stop the
three of you if you do decide to join. I always wanted to go up against the Light Faction,"
Zon claimed.
Anna, hearing Zon speak, was just more and more curious about him. He knew about the
factions, he knew about Bubble. How long had he been in Pagna? Had he been here even
longer than her?
Just what was he doing here? She wanted to know what was happening in Pagna, what was
the link between Otherworlders, this place of martial arts, the other realm, and more.
Even with the great system, she couldn't make sense of it all, but maybe Zon, their great
captain who was always thinking ahead and didn't act unless he knew things with
certainty, would know it all.
Chapter 711 Qi Armour

711 Qi Armour
Ricktor still didn't know why the statue was now in front of them and was helping them
out, but he did know who the statue belonged to.
After the statue had successfully blocked the attack from Crine on the first hit, Crine wasted
no time lifting his hand and swirling water around his fist. As he went to punch the statue
to the side, the statue itself swung its sword down in an explosive manner and met the
attack head-on. Qi shockwaves were sent pulsating out.
"This thing, it's clearly not human," Crine commented. "And just now, it used the Erupting
Fist Clan sword technique but at a high middle-stage Qi warrior level. No wonder you guys
were so confident!"
The statue started to strike forward using more of the Erupting Fist Clan techniques. Crine,
taking the matter warily, was blocking each of the attacks. Water was flowing up from
beneath his feet as he blocked them and took opportunities to strike the warrior where he
could.
When an opening was seen toward its stomach, the statue reacted with another fist
technique combined with a half-step footwork, hitting the fist straight ahead. After the two
fists collided, Crine felt the edge of his knuckles hurt slightly.
"The blocked attack-some of the Qi came through. That technique wasn't the Erupting Fist...
that felt more like a demonic technique. Just what is this statue? It knows so many
techniques and has such strength. No wonder you students were confident in fighting us."
Ricktor and Mada had yet to move in on the fight; they had already been hurt by Crine. On
top of that, Ricktor was trying to figure out why the statue was helping them, but thinking
back to who the statue belonged to, he thought it would be fine.
'It's her. Out of all of those idiots, she is the only one who knows what she's doing. So if
she's given us this statue, then we need to use it as a gift, Ricktor thought, clenching his
sword tighter.
He looked toward Mada, and he nodded as well. Even though the statue was here, they
didn't want to leave it to fight alone; this was their own personal business they needed to
deal with.
Crine, now fully aware of the extent of the statue's powers and its Qi level, began to change
his approach. The water that had far reached out and surrounded where Mada and Ricktor
were standing was moving back, all of it moving back toward Crine.
Lifting both of his hands up, water started to spiral around them, then the water encased
both of Crine's legs until it solidified. Now covering Crine's legs, it looked like he was
wearing strange blue-colored armor.
It was strange to see on a Pagna warrior unless they were wearing some type of artifact
that gave them more power. It was even stranger to see visual Qi being condensed down to
look like this. In fact, some didn't even know it was possible.
"Can visual Qi do this?" Mada asked.
"You're saying you never saw your father do this before?" Ricktor said.
Right after, Crine charged forward. As he moved his feet, it looked like he was kicking off
pools
of water. Then with his fist with the swirling water, he bashed right into the statue, which
blocked with its sword.
A spiral of water continued to form and pushed the statue further back, but the statue was
incredibly strong, swinging its sword and disregarding its Qi. This statue had the strength
of many strong individuals now.
Both Crine and the statue charged forward, each with powerful Qi in their steps. The Qi was
being sent out to those standing next to them, and in terms of level of Qi, this was the fight
with the most fierce and highest amount so far.
As the sword clashed with Crine's kick, the large amounts of Qi waved out, filtering into the
other battles that were going on elsewhere, causing them to turn their heads at what was
happening,
They were surprised to see Crine in this particular form. Only the other Dark Faction Clan
heads knew about it, and the last time it was used was to cement his position in his fight
against Suzan for the clan head position.
This meant he was going all out now, and they were even more surprised by the opponent
he was going up against.
"That statuc, isn't that the same one as before, the one that I destroyed, yet it's still like this,
and it seems as if it's even stronger, Murkel thought. "I shouldn't have to worry, though.
Crine will deal with it!
The clash between the statue and Crine continued with each of them giving their full-
strength swings. Neither one seemed to be backing down. Hit after hit, block after block,
without a single one faltering.
"I guess this means that he was going easy on us this entire time," Ricktor commented. "It's
typical. I mean, he would have beaten us before he even used this form, but it sucks
knowing this, right?"
Mada didn't say anything and instead was just looking at the fight ahead.
"Are you waiting for a chance to jump in?" Ricktor asked. "I'm happy to know that you have
gotten over your fear, but jumping in the middle of that could get us both killed."
"The statue... it's strong, but it's just a statue at the end of the day. Can't you see what's
happening to it?" Mada said.
As they looked closely, they could both see small parts of rubble falling off the statue as the
waves of Qi hit it. If the statue broke, then who around them could go up against Crine?
"Right, I guess this whole thing has been crazy, and going in the middle of all of that doesn't
seem so crazy anymore." Ricktor smiled. "Well then, this is your fight, so the least you
should do is lead the way. Let's kill your father because we need to get mine next, and since
I helped you, you need to help me."
Chapter 712 Keep Moving Forward

712 Keep Moving Forward

The statue and Crine continued their large-scale battle, with large amounts of Qi flowing
out from their attacks. Both were bashing their limbs and weapons against each other one
after another, and several ripples followed each strike.
Neither of them had slowed down yet, and it didn't appear as if they would. However, Crine
was noticing something.
"You are just a statue in the end; it looks like you're crumbling away!" Crine commented.
With his next punch, the force of his visual water Qi created a ripple extending out in front
rather than behind him.
The attack caused Crine's hands to fling back slightly as the power from the statue was
slightly stronger, but he could see that as the visual Qi hit the statue, more of it was
crumbling away. "Now I know what to do! Crine switched his attack patterns, swinging his
leg out and bashing against the statue's arm. The ripples of Qi energy were being sent to the
statue.
Because the statue's Qi was far stronger, the impact made it look as if the statue was
winning out. Crine was even being pushed back slightly from his position.
"It's now or never; it seems your father is brighter in the head than you," Ricktor stated.
"Shut up, and let's just do this," Mada replied.
Both Mada and Ricktor were charging forward from behind the statue, using it as a way to
block themselves from Crine's view.
"I don't know if you can hear me, but take the chance when you see one," Ricktor said, his
words directed at the back of the statue, gently brushing its back with his hand.
Stoney struck from above, slamming his foot down with all its weight and Qi behind the
strike. Since Crine had switched the way he used Qi and this was a bigger attack than usual,
he needed to lift both of his hands and slam his foot on the ground to block the strike.
The stone sword bashed right into both of his forearms, and the struggle could be seen on
his face.
'I have to remember to be careful; this statue is a warrior at the same level as myself. Even
though I have figured out a way to win, I can't get too ahead of myself!
While blocking the attack, Crine saw from the corner of his eyes two individuals charging
toward him.
Mada was the first to act. He was going through steps that were swirling him around, and
his visual Qi was activating around cach of his steps, building up. In many ways, it looked
similar to the Descending Steps where Qi would build up after each other.
Then, when he was close, Mada jumped up in the air and spun his leg. Crine knew that if he
tried to stop the attack or block it, the statue would act. Yet, the statue was still pushing
down with its strength.
Just as Crine looked like he was about to move, Ricktor came in quicker than Mada, not
using fancy footwork but exploding his way across, and then kicked just the back of Crine's
leg slightly, causing his head to turn.
"Damn son of Murkel!" Crine shouted.
"You should pay attention; I'm just a distraction," Ricktor replied.
Right then, a heavy foot bashed right into Crine's chest, delivered by Mada. A strike of
water from behind seemed to be going into his foot and passing into Crine.
A gush of blood came out of Crine's mouth, but it also pushed him away from the statue.
"That kick... was stronger than I thought it would be,' Crine said, looking up.
As he saw Mada going through the air, following up the kick with another strike to the
head, Crine grabbed the foot before it reached him, stopping and absorbing the attack.
"You're still just a lesser version of me," Crine said before he felt another great attack on
the back of his leg, delivered by Ricktor once again with the sword.
Right after being hit, Crine lifted his foot, and the armor surrounding his leg turned back
into water. It gave it a greater distance than Ricktor thought, and even though he was
deploying a short attack and retreat tactic, it didn't work this time.
The elbowing water hit him on the chin harder than the previous strike, sending him into
the air. A wave of water continued, engulfing him until he eventually fell to the floor,
looking lifeless. "One has been dealt with; now to deal with you, son," Crine said.
"When I came forward, I never expected to be the one to finish you. I just wanted to see
your face when you were done for," Mada finally spoke to his father right in front of him,
and with full confidence.
It was something Crine had never heard spoken from his son. It no longer felt like he was
talking to a student but to a fellow rival. Right after that, a strong stinging pain was felt
right in the center of his stomach.
When Crine looked down, he could see the stone spear had impaled him. It wasn't a strike
from behind but instead a strike from the front. How was Crine so blind not to see the
statue attack?
While he held onto Mada's foot, it wasn't as if the attack had blocked his view or anything
like that, but it was almost as if he had just forgotten about the statue and everything
around them for a moment, just looking at his son.
"You have grown up quickly," Crine said, blood still flowing out of his mouth. "This is a
lesson for you: before I go, you should always move forward."
Crine, holding onto Mada's foot, swung it to the side and moved forward through the spear.
He then grabbed Mada's head before he fell and continued to move forward until he
reached the
statue.
With his one covered leg with the visual Qi armor, he swung it up, hitting the statue straight
through its groin. Just like with the attack on Ricktor, the armored visual Qi turned to
water, striking straight through the statue, turning it completely to rubble that just fell onto
the floor. At the same time, the stone spear that was in Crine's stomach crumbled away.
"Sometimes the best solutions can be found by going forward. Although you have beaten
me, without this will to keep going forward, you might never be able to defeat him... I
wasn't able to defeat him."
The grip around Mada's face weakened, and Crine was seen falling on his back, splashing in
the water, Immediately, Mada also fell onto his knees and looked at his father lying on the
floor, his eyes open just looking at the sky, but oddly, there was a smile on his face.
Mada looked at the smile with all sorts of thoughts going through his head, but that's when
he could feel someone walking by his side.
"Ricktor, where are you going? You're too hurt!" Mada called out.
"Didn't you hear your father's last words?" Ricktor replied. "We need to keep going
forward. So now that we've dealt with one, we still need to take out my father as well.
!
Chapter 713 A Big Change

713 A Big Change

Ricktor's body was extremely hurt, more than he would let on. He kept repeating certain
words in his head: that he was still okay, that he would be fine, that he could still fight.
He was pushing his body, trying not to focus on the pain left over from his fight with Crine.
His Qi was weak, but he imagined it fierce and strong like a dragon, Looking ahead, he could
see Dame and the others fighting against Murkel, fighting against his father.
In the end, though, when he took another step forward, he felt his knee give in, and he
staggered to the ground slightly. I le managed to put all of his weight on the knee to avoid
falling completely flat on the floor.
"Ricktor, I already told you, you're too beat up," Mada said as he went down, nearly falling
over himself. He had been hit by Crine, and now the fight for him was over. All of the energy
he had built up was escaping his body.
The strong will and flame inside him were no longer there, but he realized in all of this,
there was one person who had stood by his side. Someone that he might even be able to call
a friend.
"If you head in there right now, you might just be killed by a stray attack. Do you really
want that to be the end of your legacy?" Mada asked.
Ricktor smiled as he looked up. He could feel the pressure of Qi coming from his father; it
was weighing down on him even now.
I'm trying even harder than when I fought against that damn no-name. I wonder when it all
started, it's been years now... Since I saw you look at me with caring eyes! Ricktor started to
wonder.
He thought back to when the Erupting Fist Clan wasn't one of the top five major clans.
When Ricktor was still a child, around the age of five, he had a love of martial arts.
His father Murkel had taught him wholeheartedly, training with him every day. They would
talk about how he was talented and how Ricktor would be the one to progress the Erupting
Fist Clan into a great clan for the Dark Faction.
The three factions had already been formed for a while, and peace had come across the
land due to the martial arts events that would happen yearly, and the top clans of each
faction were starting to take their place.
The Noctis Clan had already disappeared from the Dark Faction, starting an increase in new
clans and powers within the Dark Faction. Yet, the Erupting Fist Clan was not in such a
place.
There had been rumors of Murkel's great strength already, having bested clans bigger than
them in duels. Yet his father never let it get to his head. Murkel, a talented and strong
individual in the Dark Faction, was just that.
Some even claimed he was unambitious because Murkel never went after other clans nor
tried to cement a place in the Dark Faction. That was until he did.
It was as if he was a man hiding his intentions in the shadows for a long time, and it
changed when he achieved a position in the academy. He was nothing but an instructor, but
from there he rose quicker than anyone else.
In the academy, there were those that wished to start trouble with Murkel, thinking that
the
rumors of such a clan head were just that, rumors, but he managed to best them all.
In turn, he was offered higher positions, and when he reached a senior position in the
Pagna Academy, he strived to become principal and made everyone aware.
The entire clan had changed, focusing completely on power, and within half a year Murkel
had become principal of the Dark Faction Academy. With it, he had also become the
figurehead of the Five Great Clans.
There were rumors about what had happened, how the four other clan heads had met up,
and all challenged Murkel at the same time. It was the only thing they could believe because
there was next to no objection from the other clans, the ones that had been at the peak for
an incredibly long time.
"That's right, it has to be around then when you joined the academy, Ricktor thought. 'After
that, you never even trained with me once. You would ask for reports, but it never seemed
to be in a caring manner, only to see how strong one of your pawns was!
'Your eyes were completely cold, and you no longer cared for me. You just cared for the
power that I would give you."
Ricktor, being the son of Murkel, knew that his ambitions had grown even stronger, to take
over the entirety of the Pagna continent. To get rid of the Light Faction and the Demonic
Faction. For him, it seemed this was out of nowhere. His father had never spoken such
words. In the past, he only cared for the Erupting Fist Clan, not the whole faction.
'What was it, father? What was it in the academy that changed you so much? Did you find
something out? Or was it true, were you really hiding your ambition for such a long time
and just found the right time to strike?'
Murkel had lived many years as a high-level middle-stage warrior. Ile was over a hundred
years old but had the body of a middle-aged man. He had experienced and seen a lot of
changes in the Pagna world.
Yet, he still chose to have a son. The woman who bore Ricktor had died at birth, the one he
would call his mother. His father would tell him stories when he was young, but those
stories were lost; he was too young to know what was said.
When he got old enough to remember, his father never spoke about her, and Ricktor could
never bring it up.
Who knows what has been going through that mind of yours, but you decided to keep me
alive, and I still remember those fond memories. All I want to ask is if all those things were
fake!
Thinking this, Ricktor pushed himself up off the ground.
I'm going to get my answer today, no matter what.'
65
Chapter 714 A Walk Through Darkness

>
714 A Walk Through Darkness
Nearly all of the fights were coming to an end, and the Light Faction had seen quite a series
of twists and turns along the way. They had witnessed things they never expected, one
after another.
"I never would have thought that the Dark Faction would suffer defeat after defeat. This
will completely change the Pagna world as we know it," Beatrix claimed.
"You are correct, but that is only if there is a big change from the last fight," Ricar added.
"Remember what I said: nearly no one in a state to fight, so it will come down to the last
person standing. And the man known as the strongest, along with the greatest shield in the
Dark Faction, are still standing!"
Ricar's words were firm, making the others believe there was still something that could
happen, something that could change the tide. There was certainly one fight that was going
in the Dark Faction's favor.
"You seem to not be too used to your body" Murkel exclaimed as he kicked just above
Dame's head.
Dame had leaned back out of reflex along with the rest of his body and all of his arms. As
the kick missed, Murkel's foot left a line of black smoke in the air. Right after dodging, Dame
went to attack, but his fists were drawn upwards.
Right after, Murkel delivered a powerful fist right into Dame's stomach, a blow that
resounded through the arena. It was a hit that didn't send Dame flying, and there was a
reason for that. The edges of Murkel's knuckles were covered in the same dark, condensed
version of his Qi. Rather than focusing on hitting an opponent away, it attracted the person
to his fist when hit, allowing all the power to go through the person with nearly no energy
wasted in sending them
away.
Blood splattered out of Dame's transformed mouth. It looked like he was about to stumble
until both Alba and Amir came down in the middle. She was swinging both of her swords
one after the other, not giving Murkel a second to recover. Even Murkel needed to be
careful of his senses as he dodged each of the attacks.
"Who would have thought, during this fight you've gotten quicker, and your attacks are
showing less hesitation, less thought. You have improved in this fight alone. I think you
would come out far stronger from this fight, that is if you survived this!"
Murkel went to strike at Alba, throwing a fist that went perfectly between her swords.
When the fist came toward her, it was grabbed by Amir, his arm transformed into strange
tentacles wrapping around it and holding it in place.
Right after, Alba continued pressing forward, not pulling back and striking right across
Murkel's chest. The sword drew blood, splattering it on the ground.
"You're not as untouchable as you think. You underestimated the three of us far too much.
We are fighting together, not apart," Alba exclaimed.
Murkel, intensifying his Qi in his fist, forced Amir to let go. Knowing the dangers of the Qi,
Amir jumped back to create more space between himself and the others.
Dame had recovered from the attack, his body healing fast from the wounds. He also
realized his mistake at that moment.
'He's right; he knows that I'm not in tune with this body completely. I haven't been able to
use it for too long. When I dodged the attack, I dodged with my whole body, rather than
using some of my arms to block or dodging and blocking at the same time.
'What's the point of having these extra limbs if I don't know how to use them properly,
Dame thought.
Murkel looked at the wound across his chest. It had cut through his clothing. He had been
hurt a few times in this fight, especially by Dame, and couldn't help but smile as he saw the
three
coming towards him.
Then there was a slight spark of Qi coming from his side. Without moving his head, Murkel
lifted his hand and grabbed onto the edge of the sword.
"That hot-headed fool," Amir thought as soon as he saw this, wanting to lunge in, but he
knew it wouldn't help.
"I bet you thought my sword would never reach you, right?" Ricktor claimed. Murkel held
onto the sword, and then with a push of a single finger, managed to force Ricktor to
stumble back and fall on the ground. Ricktor quickly recovered, pointing his sword toward
him. When looking beyond him, he could see Crine on the floor, clearly having passed.
"Even that fool managed to pass, and it was you two that managed to beat him?" Murkel
asked, as if it was hard for him to believe.
The 'you two' referred to Mada and Ricktor, who were now standing side by side. They had
clearly gone through a lot, yet both of them were still willing to fight.
"We bested one of your right-hand men in the Dark Faction. We toppled the very strongest
in the Dark Faction, Ricktor claimed. "Look around, nearly every person you trusted has
fallen to a bunch of no-names and strangers that barely anyone in the world of Pagna knew
about."
"Father, your plan will not work. Without this army of yours, how are you going to best and
conquer the entirety of Pagna?" Ricktor asked.
Murkel looked around. He glanced at what was occurring on the battlefield once in a while.
It was hard for him not to with all the surges of Qi all over the place. This was the first time
he was
taking a proper look and could truly see how much had fallen.
Instead of dismay, though, a large grin appeared on his face.
"If they fell at this stage, then it just means they were not meant to come with me to the
Divine realm. As for myself, how can I reach the Divine realm if I'm not able to get through
this?" Murkel lifted his hand in the air, and it was only for a slight moment. Amir didn't
have a good feeling about it, but before he could warn and tell everyone, it was too late.
Murkel slammed his fist onto the floor, sending out a pulse of Qi. It was a ripple from the
floor, but as that ripple passed through, it covered the entire arena in dark black Qi.
It went through every person's body that was on the ground, reaching the very edge, and
turned the entire arena floor black.
In an instant, everyone could feel a heavy weight pushing down on them, too heavy for
them to even stand. Amir, Dame, Alba, Mada, and Ricktor were all on their knees.
Those who had been resting from their own fights, too injured to help, could feel the
immense
pressure pushing down on their bodies. They could only glance at what was happening and
couldn't believe that everything was coming from one man.
The only ones unaffected were those outside the arena, including Gavin, Garbo, and Tilon,
who had somehow managed to take their fight to one of the stand areas and were still
fighting right
now.
"I can't move... and this is just from his Qi?" Alba said, turning her head to Amir, wondering
why he hadn't warned her.
"I had no idea this man had this much power, Amir said. "If I did, I would have never
jumped in
the ring against him."
Ricar was truly witnessing the power of one of the strongest warriors in Pagna right now.
"He's finally living up to his name. As I thought, the only fight that mattered in the first
place was against him. This is a lost cause for all of the others," Ricar commented. Murkel
laughed as he stood there, seeing that not a single person was able to resist his power.
"All of you thought this was a test for you, to prove your power, but you were wrong"
Murkel said. "This was a test for them, to prove if they were worthy of coming with me, and
it seems they have all failed. I'm glad they went through this because now I know not to
waste my time
with them.
"Now all of you shall watch as I take you out, one by one," Murkel said. "Who to deal with
first? Maybe you, Ricktor?" Murkel asked.
Ricktor wasn't even on his knees; his chest had collapsed, lying on the floor. He could only
move
his head as he looked at his father.
Murkel started to move forward, the only person moving upon the darkness toward
Ricktor,
until he stopped. "How..." Murkel said, his expression turning sour. "How are you fine?"
Ricktor was wondering what his father was looking at. He wanted to turn his head to see
what
had got him so worked up, but there was no need. Because the person was soon seen
walking through the darkness as if it was any other flooring and had headed right past him,
stopping.
"R...Raze...?" Ricktor called out.
"How are you able to stand in all of this darkness?" Murkel shouted out.
"It seems that my darkness is a bit stronger than yours, that's all," Raze replied with his
sword
drawn out by his side.
"After everything you have seen, do you really think you can best me, the strongest warrior
in all
of Pagna?" Murkel claimed.
After what he had just done, there were few who would disagree with the title now.
Especially
Ricar who had witnessed this.
Raze smirked back.
"Well, it's a good thing that I'm not a Pagna warrior, so that doesn't apply to me."
!
Swipe left to continue >
Chapter 715 Raze And The Dark Faction Ways
Chapter 715 Raze And The Dark Faction Ways
Raze had originally used all of his mana to teleport the entire crowd from the arena and
then further bring the Crimson Crane as well as his other allies to his side. While they
fought against the Dark Faction, he had been building up both his Qi and mana. After all, he
had used his Qi more than he thought during the fights he participated in.
Regardless, he had managed to regain quite a bit of energy earlier on, and because he saw
what was happening, he decided to intervene. Using the Dark Edge Magic Sword Arts, he
combined magic and Qi into his attacks, making sure to take out one of the most
troublesome individuals in the Dark Faction. Raze had taken out Arkon with his strong
attacks, using his element of surprise and superior powers, but t came at a cost. Ile needed
to rebuild his Qi and mana all over again.
He switched between the Demonic cultivation techniques to fill up his Qi and the Dark
Faction cultivation technique to fill up his Dark magic core and mana. Thankfully, due to
Rayna's help. she had given him someone he could use to restore his Qi far quicker; now all
he had to do was control his mana.
Yet, in the middle of it all, while Raze was recovering his mana, he sensed something he was
on the verge of reaching the next star level, and if he became a five-star mage, he would
significantly increase his strength. Because of this, he had been taking longer as he focused
on drawing more mana from the world, increasing it as his magic core grew larger.
While he was in the middle of this, Murkel exploded his fist into the ground, sending out his
Dark visual Qi all over the arena floor. With it covering the ground, there wasn't a single
person left unaffected, including Rayna. She had fallen onto her knees; she hadn't been
secretly injured nor worn herself out too much in the fight, yet was still affected by
Murkel's power.
"This amount of strength... it's quite possible he might be as strong as Father, Rayna
thought. 'If that's the case, is there anyone here who can beat him?"
She quickly used her strength to turn her head and look behind her. She saw Raze still
sitting in a meditative state, yet around him, the dark substance wasn't touching his skin.
There was a centimeter or so where it wasn't touching him. Anyone else from far away
wouldn't be able to tell, but with her so close, she could.
'Why isn't it affecting him? Is Raze somehow pushing it back with his Qi, or is it something
else?" Regardless, right now, if Raze wasn't ready, she didn't want to distract him, but at the
same time, she didn't know what choice they had. As she looked around, not a single other
person seemed capable of moving.
"Raze..." Rayna found herself mumbling. She hated that he was always there to help her, but
now she couldn't help him.
The moment she said those words, she felt a cool breeze almost come from behind her,
followed by a shiver that ran up her entire body. When the shiver ran through her, she
noticed that the weight she felt from Murkel's Qi had completely disappeared.
Turning her head once again, she saw it: Raze was standing. His eyes were open, and unlike
the others, he was able to stand perfectly fine.
Raze was assessing the situation. 'All these young ones, they have done well, and I can tell
they worked hard to protect me Raze thought. "This strange Qi, it's coming from the
principal. I've covered the bottom of my feet in Dark Magic, which is pushing the Qi away so
I'm not affected by it, but this isn't something I can just use on the others; I need to do my
part as well.
Raze then walked toward Murkel, and that's when he passed Ricktor and now the two of
them were face to face, having exchanged a few words with each other.
"You have too much confidence in yourself, and it's time to take it down a peg!" Murkel
shouted as he charged forward at immense speed.
Just like with Crine, when moving forward, the dark energy from the ground seemed to rise
up and wrap around his fist. Raze could already feel part of his body being drawn towards
him. Murkel was incredibly fast, just like before, and he was heading in a straight path with
no one getting in his way.
"Ice Break," Raze said, lifting his hand.
From both sides of where Murkel was, two giant icebergs appeared from the ground.
Murkel continued forward; he had no choice as they crashed and hit his body, but his
strong Qi allowed him to break through.
When Murkel broke through, Raze had used one of the Descending Steps, pushing him
forward with the special Ghost blade in his hands.
"Crimson Slash!" Raze called out.
Using his fast Wind magic with Qi, the attack struck right through the floor. It pierced
through the Dark Qi like a raft in a river and came straight for Murkel. It was too fast for
him to completely dodge, but Murkel, with both of his hands, slammed them together on
the invisible force. His Dark Qi could be seen going against something until it eventually
stopped, along with Raze's attack.
"You can produce ice with your arts and can produce a large number of skills and
techniques I've never seen. I see this isn't going to just be a basic fight, but I am not your
basic warrior either," Murkel said.
"Don't worry," Raze stated. "That was just a warm-up. I have plenty more up my sleeve. I
didn't want you to claim that this fight was unfair."
Raze had a number of different elements of magic he could use and had yet to utilize his
Dark Magic. Now that he was a five-star mage, he had unlocked a whole heap of new spells.
The thing was, there was something in Raze's mind telling him to play this fight out like he
was fighting against another mage rather than going all out against an unknown opponent
whose skill set he didn't know.
What he wanted to do was stir up the battlefield in a way that would baffle and shock
Murkel. That's when he thought of the perfect thing.
At the same time, Tilon was battling in the upper stands. He was finding it hard to focus on
his own fight and had been bashed in the face by Gavin, causing his nose to bleed and him
to stumble backwards.
"You have such a strong shield and yet it's useless in your hands. That man on the ground
isn't the only dangerous one here; I'm a Clan Head as well!" Gavin claimed.
Tilan wined the blood off his nose and was still seemingly staring at what was hannening
below Then he heard the heavy footsteps coming at him.
"Pay attention!" Garbo shouted.
This time, Tilon shoved the shield forward, and when Gavin's shield bashed against his, the
shield lit up, reflecting the power and pushing Gavin back until he had broken several of the
scats.
Gavin knew this pain well; it was how he had ended up in the stands in the first place, but
he was still resilient and plenty strong.
'I need to get down there and help out Raze. With this legendary shield, I'm sure we could
beat Murkel with ease, but how do I get down there without stepping in his Dark Qi? The
moment I do, I'll be sent to the ground as well. The shield won't be able to block such a
thing."
In the middle of his thoughts, he could see Raze starting to act and felt there might be an
opportunity on the horizon.
Raze lifted his hand, and rising right above it was a strange swirling black substance.
Everyone was stunned because they felt like they had seen this before. It looked almost
identical to the visual Qi that Murkel had created, swirling above him in the air.
"What is this, some type of imitation? Is this meant to worry me?" Murkel said.
"You think this is an imitation?" Raze asked. "You should know that this is nothing like
yours, so what it can do is completely different."
Raze then threw his hand across the ground in a similar fashion to Murkel, and right from
Raze's palm, the Dark magic he had created pulsed out. When pulsing across the floor, a
ripple of Dark magic got rid of all the Dark Qi in its path. As it hit the ground where the
others were, they felt a slight searing pain like a burn; however, now that there was no
longer any Dark visual Qi, they were free. All of them could now stand.
"What was the Dark Faction's principle again? Do anything to win?" Raze asked. "I think I
learned well from you, after all."
Chapter 716 Flying Mage
Chapter 716 Flying Mage
When Raze used his Dark Magic to surround his fect, it was clear that this allowed him to
move freely. The properties of Dark Magic were to destroy, and in some cases, it could also
be used as a healing tool. When Raze first encountered Dame and his group, he had used his
Dark Magic to obliterate parts of the infection, giving him the idea for his current situation.
It would hurt his allies, but he could get rid of all the visual Qi that was weighing them
down and holding them in place, which is exactly what he had done. Using his Dark Magic,
he sent a ripple through the arena, destroying the visual Qi.
Now, once again, everyone was able to move: Dame, Amir, Alba, Safa, Rayna, Ricktor, and
Mada. All of them were fine again. Cronker and the more injured members of the Crimson
Crane had managed to shuffle their bodies to the edge of the arena, knowing they couldn't
really help anymore.
'Murkel could just activate his visual Qi again, and they would be in the same situation.
Doing something like I just did would use up quite a bit of mana, maybe even more than
Murkel's Qi, but unlike the Light Faction clder, this one seems to know nothing about
magic, and I'll use that to my advantage, Raze thought.
The Light Faction, watching everything from above, was stunned by the situation.
"The tide, with one person showing up, it has completely changed just like that!" Ricar said,
grasping the edge of the stand wall. "Now Murkel will have to go up against everyone, and
although they may not be in their best condition, who knows what that young white-haired
man can do."
Beatrix didn't like the situation at all. She still remembered her first encounter with the
white-haired man. She was sure it was the same person from back then. He was a man who
didn't seem as strong as he was now, yet was also a person who practically felt like he
wasn't a Pagna warrior at all and could stop her attack back then. Now he had turned into
this, a person who was going up against the Dark Faction.
"I should have killed him when I had the chance," Beatrix said.
On the ground floor of the arena, Alba saw the situation changing and unfolding. She lifted
one of her swords into the air.
"There is only one enemy left in front of us, there is only one person that stands here. We
take him out, then we win this thing. It is just one man!" Alba exclaimed. "Attack!"
Alba was clearly taking charge, and it didn't take long for the others to follow her.
Seeing this, Raze quickly put his sword away. The Pagna clothing started to disintegrate,
revealing his specially made blazer. He walked forward with both of his hands by his side.
"It's been a long time since I've done something like this, but I will play a supporting role
with my magic. Raze's body started to rise up as wind magic currents were felt below his
feet. He was flying and now in the air.
"Arghh!" Tilon shouted. "I need to go help them. How can everyone be fighting without me
while I'm dealing with this?"
Tilon held up his shield again, blocking an attack from Gavin, who was using his round-
shaped shield as an extension of his arm. He went to throw a fist with the shield pointed
outward. Only this time, there was no clanging noise.
"Do you think I'm stupid? Do you think I would just hit the shield again and again?" Gavin
claimed as he stopped just shy of the shield. He then kicked Tilon at the side of his leg, a
powerful blow that jerked Tilon's knee for a moment.
Before he knew it, he saw Gavin up in the air.
"This man, I thought he was all about defense, but he's a pretty good fighter as well!
While Tilon looked in the air, he saw another person leaping up from the side, jumping to
attack with his sword. Gavin noticed it as well and spun his body to use his shield to knock
the sword away before landing safely on the ground.
Bargo was the man who had attacked with his sword, someone else from the Moon Shield
Clan who had been aiding Tilon along his way.
"Unlike the first time, I don't think surprise attacks are going to work as well anymore,"
Bargo said. "Gavin hasn't been hit since, and even with the reflective power of your shield,
he has just been knocked away and was able to block most of the attack."
It wasn't just that, but Bargo knew something else as well, a special technique that was
passed down from Clan Head to Clan Head, and he knew Gavin still had yet to use it in the
fight for whatever reason. Once he started to use the special technique, the fight would
become much more difficult.
"He's not even hitting the shield, so I can't reflect, I can't store energy, or use it in an
offensive way. What am I meant to do if he won't hit the shield?" Tilon claimed.
Gavin was charging forward again, and in his anger, Tilon threw the shield. This surprised
Gavin, who lifted his own to block the attack. The shield did nothing but started to move
through the air and returned right to Tilon's hand. With that, he felt the shield had gained a
slight bit of energy that could be used.
"That worked?" Tilon said, confused. From what he knew he needed to block attacks to
store energy, but he was sure that he could feel, although energy small that some of it had
been added to the shield.
He started to wonder if there was a way he could use it like this. That was until a light
switch flicked in Bargo.
"Wait, you just need the shield to be hit to store energy of some kind? When Gavin blocks,
he's always using some form of Qi. If it just needs Qi and someone to hit it, then I'll hit the
shield!" Bargo said.
Chapter 717 An Extra Hand
Chapter 717 An Extra Hand
Tilon was a little dumbfounded, but a smile soon appeared on his face as he came to the
realization.
"You're right! Why didn't I think of that? Attack me, hurry!" Tilion shouted.
Bargo wasted no time and began readying his Qi, pouring it into his sword, but he stopped
for a
moment.
"Are you sure this is okay? What if I destroy your shield by accident? You won't blame me
for it, right?" Bargo asked.
"Just hit the shield! It won't break with your attacks!" Tilon shouted.
Although Tilon didn't mean to insult Bargo, Bargo certainly took it that way and felt his
strength was being questioned. Determined not to disappoint, he flipped his sword so the
tip was facing away from him.
"The Falling Meteor!" Bargo called out, a slash from below. This was one of the strongest
defensive and offensive techniques in the Moon Shield Clan's arsenal.
The strike hit the shield loud and powerful, and Tilon could feel the energy increasing
"I can't believe it, the shield didn't budge at all, and that was my strongest attack. Is this the
strength of him... no, it has to be the shield itself," Bargo commented.
"Hey, why does it have to be the shield itself!" Tilon shouted back.
'The more energy in the shield, the more energy is passed onto me. I'm even stronger than
before! Tilon thought as he saw Gavin up in the air, having jumped with the shield in view.
Confident, Tilon then jumped up as well toward the strike. Gavin threw out a punch using
the hand holding his shield, and just like before, he pulled back, stopping just short.
However, Tilon, expecting this and with his added strength, could see what was going to
happen. Ile barged the shield further forward and slammed it into Gavin's fist. Energy could
be felt drawing into the shield once again.
"Even if you're not planning on hitting it, I can still get some energy this way."
"Yes, but you're leaving yourself wide open!" Gavin shouted as he threw his leg from above
and hit the top of Tilon's head, sending him to the ground.
Tilon crashed among the scats, destroying even the concrete underneath, but made sure to
hold the shield in front of him. It was his saving grace and what was stopping Gavin from
following up with more hits.
"Even if you block his attacks and get energy into that shield, he can still hit you," Bargo
said next to him, gathering strength in his sword once again. "I guess you haven't figured
out the strength of his shield."
Tilon wondered what the old man who was helping him was mumbling about. As he got up,
Bargo helped by hitting Tilon's shield again, storing a great amount of energy in it.
"Listen well, each time Gavin strikes his shield, a resounding effect is heard. As it rings out
and hits your body, it freezes you for a fraction of a second," Bargo explained. "Even if you
gain more energy and become faster, that fraction of a second is all it takes for him to still
attack you, so you need to be care-'
Out from the right side, a shield slammed right into Bargo's face, sending him tumbling and
crashing into the distance. The concrete from the stands had broken so much that Bargo
could no longer even be seen.
"OLD MAN!!!" Tilon shouted.
"What is an old fool like that doing, telling the secrets of this artifact? He has betrayed his
clan, left us, so he deserves even worse than death. That was the only reason why I left him
alone for so long, but then he ran his tongue just like that! Gavin claimed as he turned his
head to look at Tilon.
"You're holding onto that shield tightly. I can't wait to pry it from your dead hands!" Gavin
then hit the shield with one of his hands, and a ringing higher-pitched than one's ears could
hear went out.
Gavin now went toward Tilon, and jumped in the air again to power his punch even further.
When Tilon tried to move his shield in the way, it felt sluggish, as if everything had stopped.
Just a centimeter too late, Gavin's fist pounded right into Tilon's face.
Tilon went to shove his shield forward when he felt his body slightly freeze for a moment
again. He hadn't noticed it much before, but now that he was being extra sensitive after
Bargo's words, he could truly feel that it was at work.
Another fist pounded into his chest, this time it was the fist with the shield. When it
slammed into him, a heavy blow was felt in his entire chest, almost as if the bones were
trying to cave into the rest of his organs.
"That hurts, that really hurts! Tilon thought.
Lifting his hand up, the tip of the shield then bashed into the bottom of Gavin's face. The
edge cut into his chin and lifted him up. At the same time, Tilon decided to swing the shield
toward Gavin's arm.
Gavin looked at it as if it was no worry, thinking a small hit would be fine, yet he was
unaware of what Tilon had done. Activating one more of the traits of the shield, Tilon
allowed the power to sharpen the edge, making it like a sword filled with powerful Qi
energy.
As it moved through the side, it cut cleanly through Gavin's arm, forcing the arm holding
the shield to be detached from his body, but the tip of the shield was still stuck in Tilon as
well. When Gavin kicked away, Tilion now had an arm with a shield attached to his chin.
Using his other hand, he pulled it out, and could still see the fist clenched holding onto the
shield. Then he looked at Gavin who was with one less arm, stunned to the point where he
was no longer moving,
"It looks like you're out of options. Tilon said with a smile. "And I'm now one arm up on
you"
Chapter 718 A Real Monster

>
718 A Real Monster
Gavin, a leader of one of the top five clans, was frozen in place. It was a reaction he had only
experienced once in his life before, and he thought he would never experience it again. Yet
here he was standing, blood from his open wound dripping onto the floor.
"How could this have happened? My body is reinforced with the strongest Qi. The shield
even hardens my body further... yet out of all things, my arm was removed with such ease."
The hard part for Gavin wasn't the fact that his arm had been removed but how easily it
was done, and with a shield of all things. All of these thoughts were going through his head,
and that was why he was stunned.
Tilon wasted no time as he pried open Gavin's fingers, and now, in one hand, he held the
large V-shaped legendary shield, and in the other, the round shield.
Oddly, Gavin started to walk forward, no longer using his Qi. It was as if he had already
given up in the fight. When he came close to reaching Tilon, he fell to the floor on his knees.
"I have lost this match. You were the one that was greater in the end," Gavin stated. "With
the way I am now, I will no longer be able to run the Moon Shield Clan!"
Tilon looked at his opponent, wondering if this was real. He was expecting the clan head to
fight to the death, but without his shield, would he really amount to nothing? In the middle
of his thoughts, rumbling could be heard from behind, and coming out from the rubble of
the stands was Bargo.
He had markings and bruises on his face, but he was walking quite fine as he brushed the
dirt from his clothes and came over to the other two.
"I thought you were dead, Tilon commented.
"While I was in the darkness, I honestly thought the same, but I see that you managed to
pull a win. That shield is stronger than I thought," Bargo commented.
Tilon was getting a little annoyed that everyone was giving credit to the shield, but in a
way, the shield was linked to him now. If only the others knew if the shield was destroyed,
he would also lose his life.
"Ilere, you take it," Tilon said as he threw the round-shaped shield over to Bargo, who
caught it with his other hand. "This guy says he no longer wants to be the clan head. With
that, I guess you being the vice head will now become the head of the clan. The shield is
passed down to the head of the clan, so I think you are more rightfully deserving of the
shield. Besides, I couldn't exactly use two shields in the first place."
many times in
Bargo caught the shield gracefully and looked at it for a moment. He had seen the hands of
Gavin, who was still on the floor on his knees in front of him. Everything seemed so bizarre
to him.
Bargo, not being from the direct bloodline and a distant relative to the Moon Shield Clan,
never even dared to think of taking over such a place or having the shield. So much that he
had never studied shield arts.
'I wonder if I was to combine shield arts with the sword. I could have great defense skills
using a sword and shield. It could be useful, Bargo thought, an old man who had given up
trying to ascend through the stages, now having treasures fall into his lap due to taking
sides with a
particular person.
"I believe that it is in the best hands if you are to lead the future of the clan. I accept that,"
Gavin said, bowing his head down. "As the old clan leader to the new clan leader, I wish for
you to take
my life"
Both Bargo and Tilon looked at each other with concern. They didn't understand. Not many
people wanted to die in the world of Pagna. Sure, they were ready to give up their life,
knowing it was dangerous being a Pagna warrior, but part of the reason people became
warriors was to ascend their bodies-to live longer lives, and once reaching the Divine stage,
to be on the cusp of immortality.
"I see you're confused. I can no longer progress in the stage I am now. I have lived a long
life already, and with me gone, you leading a new generation can push it further. If you will
not end my life, then you will only bring me the shame of having to end it myself," Gavin
explained. Bargo understood. In a lot of ways, it would be torture for Gavin to see other
warriors and the clan progressing while he was unable to do anything anymore.
"I understand," Bargo said as he drew his sword.
Tilon, in a way, wanted to stop him. Gavin had clearly given up fighting, but it wasn't his
business to stop or get involved in; it was up to the two of them.
"Is there anything you wish to say or any wishes you want me to pass on to the rest of the
clan?"
Bargo asked.
Gavin then looked up and looked at not just Bargo but also into the eyes of Tilon as well.
Eventually, he turned his head to look at the arena below.
"There is. With the strength I have seen today, including the power of the two of you, I hope
that all of you will have the power to stop that monster down there," Gavin said.
Tilon paid close attention. When saying the word "monster," he was focusing on none other
than
Murkel.
"I wish that you can do what the four of us had failed to do on that day. I wish you good
luck! After saying those words, Gavin moved forward, allowing the sword to pierce through
his
throat, ending his own life.
Leaving them all with a deep message and the big question: just what was going on in the
Dark
Faction?
Swipe left to continue >
Chapter 719 A Stronger Attack

719 A Stronger Attack

Alba was leading the charge against Murkel, and all of those that could fight were going off
ahead. As she ran forward, she swung her sword down and Murkel had completely evaded
it. Next, three fists coming from Dame appeared, aiming to hit the side of Murkel. He
managed to lift his leg and strike them down. A sword was thrown against his back by
Ricktor but as it hit his body, it hardly did anything to pierce it, and he had just let it go.
Ilowever, it was a small distraction and one person had come incredibly close to where
Murkel was; Raze was right in front of him. Raze made it look like he was going to strike
him with the sword, but purposely missed and hit the ground.
The moment he did, sparks ignited from his sword, and ran from the floor hitting the
entirety of Murkel's body. It had stopped him for a moment, and Amir had arrived with his
giant axe hand, hitting him right at the top of Murkel's head.
It had sent Murkel flying as his Qi managed to protect him from getting cut, but not the
direct impact.
Murkel then crashed into the wall, but Raze didn't stop his attack there. He lifted his sword
off the ground and while doing so the sword had disappeared from the magic. He had
raised himself in the air, and from above he started to move both of his hands, firing off in
the direction of Murkel.
"Dark Pulse, Dark Pulse, Dark Pulse!"
Several beams of Dark magic shot out of Raze's hands right where Murkel was, but Raze
could see they were having next to no effect.
Murkel had managed to condense his Qi to a higher level than it was when he had spread it
out from his body, and as he hit the Dark Pulse, the Qi was stronger than the magic,
destroying it with each hit.
Amir came forward again trying to create a distraction, swinging his large beast hand from
the side. Yet Murkel was able to block a Dark Pulse with one hand and grabbed the beast
axe, throwing it to the floor.
When Dame came for a surprise hit, Murkel hit him right in the stomach, sending him flying
away, Murkel then spun his body and was ready to strike Alba who was next with her two
swords.
As he was getting ready to hit her, an ice pillar raised from the ground just beneath
Murkel's foot and sent him off balance, causing his punch to miss. Then Alba's swords
struck him cleanly, hitting his body and lightly scratching him.
Raze then came from behind once again, with his sword covered in lightning. He swung it
down and it missed Murkel.
'He's fast, faster than me... even with me reaching the middle stage, he is a top middle stage
warrior after all! Raze thought.
However, his sword ignited with lightning magic, it sparked and a spark went off from the
side zapping Murkel's body, scorching part of his body and his skin.
I'll just have to follow up with a faster attack! Raze thought, as he used his Ice magic again,
lifting two pillars thick in size one in front and one behind Murkel.
Raze quickly placed his sword by his side and started to gather his Qi.
"Dark Pulse, fourth formation!"
The magic and Qi exploded from the hilt of the sword and Raze accelerated forward with
his sword ready to pierce right through Murkel. However, Raze's sword looked to have
overextended.
In his position, he could see nothing in front of him and his attack had continued going
forward, destroying part of the arena, yet there was no one in front of him.
'I wasn't fast enough, he managed to dodge that? Raze thought, turning his head.
As he did, he could see Murkel with his Dark black fists ready to jump on Raze. There were
others close and ready to attack him, but they would be too slow.
Murkel had decided he could take a few hits if he was to get rid of the Dark Magus
individual, the most troublesome out of the group.
Raze couldn't do anything in this situation, he had to take the hit. With his Blazer and his
own Qi, he was confident it wouldn't finish him off.
'I'll use some of my wind magic as well to push him back as much as possible!' Coming in
right between the two of them though, was a large man in black armor carrying a very
special shield. Ile calmly stood in front of the Dark Magus and confidently held his shield.
The fist exploded, hitting the shield, and at the same time, it started to light up.
"Rebound time." Tilon said with a smile.
When the shield lit up, it blasted a large amount of energy right back at Murkel, sending
him flying away. Unfortunately, the others that were behind him had also been hit.
All of them went flying off in different directions and tumbled against the ground.
"Ah crap." Tilon said. "They can't be mad at me though, right? I mean, I need to protect the
Dark Magus."
Raze was pleased with the result and even looked at the shield that Tilon was holding; it
was still in perfect condition.
"Damn it!" Alba said as she lifted herself up, her body more sore than it was before. She had
taken a lot of hits in the fight, and most of them Qi hits, damaging the inside of her body.
Her grip was weakening on her weapons, but she was thankful to see Tilon. She just
wondered why he didn't store the energy instead, and blocked the attack rather than using
the rebound and wondered if it was on purpose.
Raze observing the situation also noticed though, that Murkel wasn't very hurt by the
attacks before, made by the others or the magic that hit him.
"I'm going to need to ask you all for a favor again." Raze said in a booming voice. "Keep the
man busy for 20 seconds, and then get out of the way"
!
Chapter 720 Lasting 20 Seconds

720 Lasting 20 Seconds

It was a hard task and a tall order for the attacking group, to go up against Murkel. They
had been injured and been fighting for a while now, before with Amir, Dame and Alba they
had managed to do something.
However, the Murkel they were fighting against now, and the Murkel they were fighting
against before, it was a different picture.
"We fight!" Tilon said, seeing the hesitation on the others' faces. "20 seconds, that's all he
asked for so we fight!"
Tilon led the charge, not being as hurt as the others in the group and feeling slightly guilty
for reflecting the attack from before. With the shield though he was confident as well.
"I've got your back!" Alba called out as she walked slightly behind him.
Dame with his gauntlet hands started to throw them through the air and was aiming strikes
at Murkel. He swirled his hands in the air, and the Qi attacks had just entered there instead.
"We don't have the entirety of the Crimson Clan, Reno, Froma and a few others are still far
too hurt, but we need to just make do with what we have!" Alba said as she sped up, a red
stream of Qi flowing behind her, and slid across the floor.
"I'm going to believe in you Raze, you said to hold him off for 20 seconds, I'm going to
believe you're going to be able to end the fight then, so I will burn every bit of my Qi."
Alba continued to just skid across the floor and the visual red Qi behind her was getting
stronger and stronger and she was picking up speed. Until, like a burning arrow, she went
right through where Murkel was.
The floor behind Murkel was completely destroyed, the tiles torn apart seeing the harder
concrete underneath it, and Alba had stopped sliding just shy of the arena wall behind him.
She stood there with her swords crossed, and coughed, blood slightly dripping out of her
mouth.
"I've done what I can, that guy is a little too strong... it seems he still managed to block that
and hit me back." Alba then turned around and placed her swords away.
Although she had been hit, and had exhausted her Qi, she was still able to stand. She knew
she was practically out of the fight, but she had reserved just enough energy to see the
outcome of the whole thing.
Taking such a big part in it all, she wanted to see Murkel fall. Just as it looked like she was
about to trip, Rayna had caught her.
"And why aren't you taking part in this?" Alba said.
"Because, I have a feeling that Raze might exhaust himself in all of this, all of you guys are,
and there needs to be one of us that will carry you all back." Rayna answered.
Charging ahead Tilon was now there, and Murkel had learned not to hit the shield twice
now, Instead, he went to kick Tilon on the side.
Tilon quickly raised his shield as he kept it close and tight to him, but there was no impact,
Murkel was able to safely pull his leg back. The moment he did, he could see six arms going
ahead ready to punch him.
Quickly, Murkel circled an area with his black Qi, the attacks were drawn away, and he then
grabbed the center of Dame's shirt, and threw him to the other side of him where Amir was.
Before completely throwing him, Murkel had then delivered a kick right in Dame's stomach,
and sent him flying back right into Amir's axe-like arm. The axe had pierced the back of
Dame causing him to bleed and both of them to topple in front of each other.
"Your shield, it's extremely annoying!" Murkel punched it twice, two short bursts that hit
the shield, and Tilon noticed something odd. The energy that was felt obtained from the
shield was incredibly weak.
Murkel continued to punch and kick the shield, and Tilon was able to keep up with the
attack. In his hands, the shield was weightless after all.
'Come on guys, while I'm blocking these attacks, someone has to do something!' 'Tilon
thought. He was getting worried why the shield wasn't storing as much energy as before.
That's when Tilon thought about it, was there even anyone left that could help to fight?
Bargo had been extremely hurt by Gavin, so he had stayed up in the stands, only he had
jumped down. Everyone else was seemingly out for the count, there were the students, but
they were looking at the distance too weak to do anything as well.
In this panic, Tilon activated the sharp edge and swung his shield sideways to try to hit
Murkel, but it didn't land at all, as Murkel had moved with ease and now had come in close
next to Tilon. "I'll break that shield from your hands!" Murkel stated as he lifted his hand
and slammed it down. Just as Murkel said, a cracking noise was heard as Tilon's arm had
snapped.
Murkel was going for another hit, before Qi blasts had hit him in the side of the face. Tilon
was still holding onto the shield tightly, and even with a broken arm forced himself to pull
it back.
Murkel got out of the way, and could see the hits had come from Dame, who was no longer
in his transformed Hybrid state. They had all pushed themselves too far. Even Amir,
although standing on his legs, he too could no longer transform.
In truth, they were already at the end of their fight a long time ago, and they had only
pushed themselves that bit further because it was an order from Raze. They all thought that
if they just got through this, then it would all be for the sake of victory.
"This is useless, and the end." Murkel claimed, that was until he could see the ground was
shaking, and he could feel it, a build-up of Qi, like a strong powerful volcano ready to erupt,
coming from one individual in particular.
"What... are you doing?" Murkel asked, looking in Raze's direction.
!
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Voter
Chapter 721 The Strongest Strike

>
721 The Strongest Strike
The whole arena was shaking, the loose rubble in the stands was tumbling, falling further
down, while the dust on the floor was vibrating. Every single person could feel the arena
shaking.
Even those who had passed out from their fight, such as Cornker and Reno. The shaking
and the power they could feel had caused them to open their eyes and all of them looked in
one direction in particular.
The source of all the power could be felt coming from one area, and there was only a single
person standing there.
Raze's feet were spread slightly apart from each other, and his entire body was glowing in a
deep dark orange color. It had surrounded his body, mainly coming from his Ghost blade.
The Ghost blade would usually only slightly light up when Qi was infused into the weapon,
Demonic Qi in particular. Right now one wouldn't even be able to tell that he was even
holding onto a sword, as it was a blur covered completely in energy.
The strong energy that was radiating from the sword was what had covered the entirety of
Raze's body as well.
"Everyone, get away from him!" Raze said, gritting through his teeth. It looked as if even he
was struggling with the power that had been obtained in his body. Yet the words spoken
were projected in all directions due to the Qi.
As for why there was such a buildup of Qi, the answer was because in those 20 seconds,
Raze had been preparing his strongest move. He had been performing the Ten Descending
Steps.
He performed each of the steps one after the other, each time from one step to the other the
buildup of Qi would pile on top of each other. The Ten Descending Steps were something
that Raze had learned to full completion.
A move that was considered a basic principle in the Demonic Faction. Many knew how to
perform some of the steps, but few knew how to perform all of the steps in succession.
However, there was a claim, something that Dame had said a long time ago. If a person was
able to learn all ten of the descending steps, performing them one after the other, then they
would be able to rule the entirety of Pagna.
"I can't believe it... did he really learn all ten steps? But he's just a beginner middle stage
warrior, and only recently. I only gave him that book a while ago, how has he learned
something in a year that would take others hundreds of years!" Dame thought.
The answer wasn't what one would expect, Raze wasn't a genius, at least not in terms of a
Pagna warrior. But he was one of the most hardworking researchers of magic there was out
there. When comparing the complexity of Magic compared to Pagna techniques, one was
far harder than the other, and the control of his Mana, could help him with his control of Qi,
allowing him to learn all Ten Descending Steps.
Nine steps had been completed and Raze now held his sword up in the air. From his wrist,
Dark magic was now swirling and intertwining with the Demonic Qi. The technique he was
using right now was the Dark Edge Sword Art's Eclipse Strike, yet not even his Dark Magic
could cover the sword.
Bending his body slightly, it looked as if Raze was ready to pounce like a wild animal, and it
was then that the tenth step was unleashed. Raze continued to run forward, his feet looked
as if they weren't directly touching the floor because there was a river of Qi between him
and the ground.
When he was close, Raze then swung his sword down, and leapt from his position spinning
his entire body. The Eclipse Strike's power striking down, with his magic, and Raze swirling
his entire body with all Ten Descending Steps and buildup of Qi, it just looked like two
beams of energy spiralling around each other, large in size heading in one direction.
Everyone had long moved from where Murkel was, and perhaps Murkel didn't even think
that such an attack would be possible. He stood there as if struck in awe, and the large
beams of energy had hit his body completely.
Both spirals of Demonic Qi and Dark Magic went through his body, the energy so strong
that the others couldn't see much, until Raze had appeared on the other side, falling to one
knee. Sweat was running down his face and he was hyperventilating. Breathing in fast and
slow. While the others just looked at Murkel. Ilis body had several large holes in it, to the
point where a person could see through, and a large slash had been cut through Murkel's
body, from his shoulder, down to his waist, nearly falling off.
Half of Murkel's body was leaning to the side, as if it was almost falling off, only being held
up by a few pieces of bone.
"It's... over." Alba said with relief. 'If an attack like that didn't get him... then who knows
what it would have taken to take that monster out."
There was relief all around for the match was over. If Raze couldn't do it, then who would
have
to take up the mantle, all of their lives would be lost.
"Look!" Tilon shouted, his finger shaking as he had it pointed toward Murkel.
When the others looked at who he was pointing at, they could see Murkel's eye, moving.
Even though half of his head had been ripped off, one of his eyes was blinking.
Soon the leaning part of his body started to raise up, pulling itself so it was straight, and
then, parts of his body were regrowing back, all of the wounds that had been made, they
looked as if
they were healing.
Bargo who was standing in the stands, as he saw this sight could only think back to one
thing.
"A true monster, a true monster!" Bargo looked at Gavin who had now perished, and the
words he had spoken to him and Tilon. "What is Murkel, and just what had happened on
that day, when the five great clans from the Dark Faction met up."
!
10%
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Chapter 722 The Feeling Of A Monster

722 The Feeling Of A Monster

Murkel had been badly injured by the attack from Raze. It was after all his strongest attack,
now a five-star mage, he had unlocked more mana than before. He had used Dark Magic
which was the strongest form of magic he had and was based on destruction, combined
with the Ten Descending Steps and his Demonic Qi as a beginner middle stage warrior, his
attack was devastating.
Even with Murkel's supreme Qi, bringing him close to the pinnacle of the Divine realm, he
was unable to stop such a devastating attack, and the state of his body had showed that.
Wounds that were too big to be healed by any physician, a body that was practically sliced
in half hanging by a thread. It would be impossible for anyone to recover from such a state.
Even the best Light Magic healers couldn't heal something like this, and yet everyone was
seeing it with their eyes. The blood around Murkel, it was attaching to different parts of his
body. It looked like a thick stringy substance that was forming in between one side to the
other.
It pulled the body together, and the red blood would then start to grow and change, until it
had fully formed full parts of Murkel's body, and the result was now, right in front of them,
apart. from the cloth of Murkel's clothes that had been ripped and destroyed in the fight,
was a perfectly fine Murkel.
"I knew there had to be something else, his confidence was still there, I noticed the smile on
his face, even when I had the buildup of Qi." Raze said to himself as he turned around.
"Ilis disgusting look reminds me of the Grand Magus."
Murkel's body looked oddly stiff as it had come back together, and with a few blinks, it was
as if his brain had reconnected with his body. He looked at everyone who was looking at
him in complete fear.
Up at the stands, there was one Elder of the Light faction in particular, Ricar, whose hands
couldn't stop shaking.
"I know this is quite a feat that is beyond warriors' capabilities, but something tells me that
you are hung up on something else." Beatrix asked.
A skilled warrior like Ricar, didn't usually show panic despite the situation, and it almost
felt like she could hear his heart beating out of his chest.
"I'm sure to all of you, what it looked like was blood that was used to form the body... and
there aren't many that will have been around to see what it was like back then... but I
assure you, what just joined up that man's body, was not blood." Ricar claimed.
Dame had been badly hurt that he could no longer transform his body, as he moved out of
the way for Raze's attack, he had ended up near another fellow member of his group,
Mantis, who had stayed on the ground for nearly all of the fight.
However, something odd was happening, Dame's body was hurting. It felt like his own
blood was trying to crawl out of his body, and when he looked to the side of him, he could
see Mantis was rolling around in pain as well.
"You can feel something is going on as well? Just what is happening, and what is he?" Dame
asked.
It wasn't just the two of them though, although Amir was standing still, there was a deep
look of concern on his face.
"This can't be." He said to himself. "Surely, we should have known, or had records of this at
least, and all the years I've been by him, I never managed to notice?"
It wasn't just those from the Bonum Society that felt like there was a large change. One
person in particular could tell something wasn't right.
"What's going on!" Ricktor said as he held onto his arm. His legs were still shaking. Not just
from Murkel's power but from the power that was unleashed from Raze not too long ago.
"You... who are you!" Ricktor continued to shout. "I can tell now, I couldn't quite tell before,
there was still a look in your eye from before, but now it's different, it's all gone. You, you're
not my father are you!"
Everyone knew Ricktor's relationship to Murkel. They could guess that the two of them
wouldn't have the closest relationship. Not many Clan Heads did due to the commitments
and the care of the clan over their own family.
However, that wasn't true. The memories that Ricktor remembered when he was younger,
his father had cared for him, stronger than anyone he had ever felt. Slowly though it had
changed bit by bit.
At times, Ricktor thought that he could see aspects of his old father shine through, but now
it. felt like he couldn't see it at all, and after seeing what had just happened to his body, no
longer did Ricktor feel like the man that looked like his father was his father, it was just
someone in the same skin as him.
Raze wasn't following up with another attack, if his Ten Descending Steps were unable to
finish off Murkel, then small attacks would be useless. What he needed to do now was to
recover his own energy as quickly as possible.
Coming over, scooting by his side, almost shuffling, Safa had eventually reached him. She
held out her hand and started to use her Light Magic on Raze.
"You have recovered quite quickly to use that." Raze said.
"I can cultivate just by breathing, it's become second nature to me so I recover faster than
others, but it looks like you need to restore your mana and Qi as quickly as possible,
otherwise I'm afraid we'll all be dead." Safa answered.
Murkel then looked at Ricktor up and down, until a creepy smirk appeared on his face. I lis
mouth almost looked over-stretched as the corners were reaching up, almost touching his
eyes. "You are right, you are not my son, and I am not your father, and I will get rid of all of
the Factions on Pagna!" Murkel said, his right eye turning completely red.
!
Candaro
Send Dift
Chapter 723 New Dark Faction Ruler

>
723 New Dark Faction Ruler
Memories had flashed into Murkel's head of a meeting that had occurred a while ago, a
change that had happened within the Dark Faction that no one was aware of.
By this point, Murkel had gained strength and notoriety. He had challenged a number of the
Clan I leads across the Dark Faction and had bested them all. All apart from the top four
clans that currently led the Dark Faction.
Some thought the Dark Faction was weakening after the loss of the Noctis Clan, and there
were rumors that the Light Faction was planning an attack to eliminate them.
It was an extremely tense time for those in the Dark Faction, and of all things, the Erupting
Fist Clan being led by this genius warrior had asked for a meeting between all four of them.
Out on a mountain top, there was a stone temple right at the top. It was abandoned and not
a single person had visited it or maintained it. It was the perfect place for a meeting to take
place so that no one was to learn of what had occurred.
Patiently, the four leaders of the top clans in the Dark Faction were waiting. Crine, leader of
the Flowing Force Clan, Sabrina, leader of the Tulip Clan, Feebie, Leader of the Lethal Bite
Clan, and Gavin, leader of the Moon Shield Clan.
They were standing waiting side by side, as they had all been called there by one person in
particular. As they looked toward the stone path that led to a large staircase, they could see
a middle-aged man, calmly walking up the staircase in his black clothing with his hands
behind his back.
The wind was blowing, but when he stepped on the stone pathway it felt like it had
completely stopped as not a single strand of his hair was blowing in the wind, this was
Murkel, the current leader of the Erupting Fist Clan.
"What was such an important matter that you decided to gather all of us?" Crine asked.
"Are you trying to act like you run the Dark Faction already, that is something that is run by
us, not you, and we are the ones that need to accept you as one of us in the first place!"
None of the current Dark Faction leaders present had been defeated by Murkel. So they
were unsure of his strength, they knew he was strong, but felt like rumors might have been
exaggerated.
After all, all of those he had beaten so far were those that they could have beaten
themselves as well.
"Since the Noctis Clan disappeared from the Dark Faction, things have been difficult for us,
but that might be due to your own actions don't you think?" Murkel said. "I have heard that
your clans have been hunting every last member, every last trace of the Noctis Clan and
their skills. "I can see why, all of you are afraid that their clan's skills are superior, that
someone will come, rise up and claim this throne that the four of you share over the Dark
Faction!" There were annoyed faces all around, some even unleashing the Qi from their
body. It was a fact that was known throughout the clans and the Dark Faction, but no one
dared question the doing of the current heads of the Dark Faction, they were the only
people that were somewhat protecting them as well after all.
"Just let us know why you are here." Samantha asked, placing her fan over her face. "In your
letter you mentioned was something about making you principal of the Academy. Although
your achievements I would say justify you being placed there, it is a position that claims a
lot of power for the future of the faction."
"Correct" Feebie added. "It would make a lot more sense for one of our vice heads to take
the
position of principal, even if it is just as a figurehead."
"And that is why I have called you all here today!" Murkel smiled. "The Dark Faction needs
more than just a principal, we need someone to take charge of the entire faction, just like in
the past with the Noctis Clan. My claim is to not just be the principal but the one leading the
Dark Faction.
"We cannot continue on like the Demonic Faction, we are not like them, and our faction is
not rule followers or democratic like that of the Light Faction, so this is the only way. I will
best you all one by one in a fight." Murkel said. "To prove I have the right to lead the
Faction!"
The challenge was so straightforward that they took it, believing that they couldn't lose.
Because there was something Murkel had mentioned taking them on one by one, and he
would do so one after the other.
A big fight between such Clan Ileads would drain them of their energy, so what made him
so confident? Feebie was the first to step up, and everyone was stunned when Murkel had
unleashed his superior Dark Qi and won the fight.
He then continued to do the same, besting Samantha after, then Gavin, and lastly he had
bested Crine as well. Murkel had easily proved himself, that he was the strongest in the
entire Dark Faction.
He was starting to be deserving of his title as the one closest to the Divine being.
Yet all of them present couldn't be accepting of this fact, that there was one person that
would take over their throne. They had done a lot as leaders to get their position, things
that they
weren't proud of.
Secrets that only they knew to eliminate the Noctis Clan. They couldn't have someone come
in and take it all away from them like this. That's when all of them agreed to attack Murkel
at once. They wouldn't fight him one by one, but fight him again. The only thing was the
result was not what they had expected, as Murkel had beaten all four of them, and with
ease.
There was a single mark on his body, but one of his eyes was completely glowing red, and a
strange red substance was seen retracting from the back of his body inside him. "You...
you're a hybrid..." Crine said.
!
%i
Chapter 724 At The Start Of It All

724 At The Start Of It All

Some of the Dark Faction leaders didn't really know what happened that day, while others
had more vivid memories that would be kept with them for as long as they could
remember.
The devastating power that Murkel, the leader of the Erupting Fist Clan, and also Principal
and head of the Dark Faction possessed. There were no complaints from any of the
members, it was impossible for them to complain unless they were willing to give their life
up for it.
So on that fateful day, at the abandoned temple, each of them bowed down on their knees
and pledged loyalty to him. There were those that had done so with different things in
mind.
Gavin had done it out of fear for his life, Crine had done it believing that a new wave was
now going to lead the Dark Faction, that they would come out on top of everyone after such
time had passed.
The others would have felt this way as well, but they had mixed feelings because of who
Murkel was, he wasn't exactly like them, he was a hybrid, which meant he was partly non-
human as well.
"I have to ask!" Feebie said, as she lifted her head, "Now that we have sworn loyalty to you
and to help you be part of this change in the world. When did this happen? Has the
Erupting Pist Clan always been like this... have you always been like this?"
Everyone knew what Feebie was referring to, and some thought that she might have lost
her life for just asking, but Murkel remained calm.
"My story has been an interesting one, and it's only right that I share it with you all."
Murkel answered.
The first interesting part of Murkel's story was the fact that it started hundreds of years
ago. The faction, with the current setup of clans, only existed in the last two hundred years
or so, but the clans themselves existed far longer than that.
Before it was just clans of Pagna warriors claiming to be the strongest here and there, and
it was only later that the famous Noctis Clan had come around and formed the Dark
Faction, the last of the three factions to form.
They wondered though, why was Murkel starting his story from here, why from a time
when even the current heads themselves didn't exist?
Murkel started his story at the Erupting Fist Clan base. A base that was located deep in a
forest, in a large field stone area that had been crafted from an old fishing village that was
located near a river.
They weren't the biggest clan back then, but then again, the scope of where things were
with other clans was almost non-existent.
That's when he added, and Murkel himself was there, a young student at around the age of
25 years old. Back then, the Erupting Fist Clan wasn't very big, and due to his talents, he
had pretty much already been selected as the next head of the Clan despite his young age,
but it just went to show how talented he was.
In the world of Pagna though, Murkel had quickly learned that his talent didn't mean much.
One
day, Murkel was training the next set of students. The Pagna academy hadn't existed and
clans just trained students themselves.
There had yet to be the faction that had come into place. However, there were a few things
that had spread in the continent of Pagna. One of them were tales of portals that were
opening up.
Some claimed on the other side of the portals were other worlds, other dimensions. They
had been appearing for years and were simply rumors but gradually they were turning into
full-fledged stories.
Some stated that beasts had appeared out of them, while others said that if one went
through these portals they could obtain great treasures that increased one's strength.
As for another rumor, it was of a wanderer that was going from clan to clan, facing the best
of the best that were currently present, and that day as Murkel was training the students,
they had a visitor enter from outside.
Murkel remembered the visitor well as he came through the door, a man that looked to be
in his fifties, maybe even older. He had a well-built body, but it was his clothing that stood
out.
It wasn't a simple cloth like they had in Pagna, instead, he was wearing a robe that fluttered
down cleanly on his body, and went over his head. Pulling it down, his long black straight
hair was revealed, untied, unusual for a warrior.
"I hear there is a talented individual from the Erupting Fist Clan, I have come here to face
the strongest." The man stated.
The current Elder wasn't present, nor was the Clan Head. They had gone for a meeting with
the nice outlying clans, but if Murkel was honest with himself, he would consider himself
stronger than the others.
Even though he was at the starting stages of a middle stage warrior, unheard of for
someone his age, he believed his skills and quick thinking would allow him to beat even
those higher staged than him.
One of the few rarities and exceptions in the world. A person who truly understood how
Dark Qi worked.
"Stranger, what clan do you come from, to be able to so brazenly barge in and challenge our
clan like this?" Murkel asked.
"Clan... I guess I have no clan." The man answered. "I am just a wanderer who is going from
place to place."
When hearing this, Murkel had a good idea that this man was perhaps the wanderer that
people were talking about. The wanderer that was besting clan heads. What was surprising
was that the stories they heard, at times the wanderer would lose challenges, but he would
come back rather quickly and when he did, he would beat them, and move on from there.
Continually improving his craft.
"I am willing to fight you, but I want to know something." Murkel said as he told the
students to clear the way and step to the side of the room. "What is your goal in all of this?"
The mysterious man drew his sword out.
"Goal... I guess for now I just want to explore this world, and see what it has to offer. I have
decided to try and create my own art, you see I'm quite a competitive person, so I am trying
to
create the best type of martial art there is out there, one that can't be beaten.
"Interesting" Murkel replied. "And what is the name of your art?"
"The Dark Edge Sword Arts" The mysterious man replied.
!
Chapter 725 The Lost Legend

725 The Lost Legend

The Dark Edge Sword Arts, it was an art that Murkel had never heard of before. Part of his
training was learning the arts of the clans in the nearby arca, and this wasn't one that he
was familiar with.
Regardless, he had decided to take on the challenge and the two of them went head to head
against each other. As the fight continued, Murkel had gone up against the Dark Edge
Sword Arts for the first time, and he had come out of the match with a loss.
At first, the mysterious man had used a number of different wanderer techniques, but when
going up against the Dark Edge Sword Arts he had never seen before, the techniques were
odd and didn't feel like anything he had gone up against. On top of that, they were
extremely powerful, all of these things had ended up with Murkel's defeat.
The mysterious man's sword was pressed up against Murkel's neck, but the man soon put
the sword away, and offered a hand, lifting Murkel up off the ground.
"You are probably one of the most talented people I have faced so far... for your age that is."
The man said.
"Does that mean you have fought many before? It's hard to test my skills as I am only able
to go up against those that are in my clan. Murkel replied.
"Yes, I'm being honest and I'm not just saying that. The continent of Pagna is vast, and the
history of arts that have been improved upon from years and years is extremely
impressive." The man went on to ramble, talking about some of the groups he went against
and the arts they used, which he liked.
"Your art, it doesn't feel like it's based on anything, not even on any of the wanderer
techniques. It almost feels as if Qi is not meant to be the basis of the power." Murkel
commented.
A large smile appeared on the man's face.
"I knew you were special, you are the first person to realize this. You are right, that's
because, this sword art, although I have made it for Pagna warriors, I haven't created these
techniques with Qi in mind.
The reply didn't make sense to Murkel. If Qi wasn't the basis for the energy to be used then
what was? Qi was the only thing that he knew. On top of that, the techniques were already
powerful enough, with just Qi on its own.
"You said before that you are competitive, that is why you are creating these arts, but are
they for yourself? If only you know the arts, then when you die, no one will know that your
art is the strongest." Murkel replied.
It was standard for Pagna warriors to try and claim their arts were the best, and would use
them to continue to grow until they reached the divine realm.
"You're right, that's why I need to perfect these techniques. Once they are perfected, I will
pass them on, but only after I know they are strong enough to face everyone here. The man
replied.
"Only then? From the sound of things, you wish to pass it on so everyone has the same
strength, what's the reason for that?" Murkel asked. "Shouldn't you keep this knowledge
within your own clan? Otherwise, it will just make everyone the same."
"Even though you teach all of your clan the same techniques, not everyone is the same." the
man replied. "And besides, there are already those that have techniques stronger than all of
those in Pagna, including those in the Divine realm. If those from the Divine realm could
have their strength down here in Pagna, then even the strongest would lose, correct?"
"So, before ascending, one needs to be the strongest here, to have the chance against the
strongest up there."
"I don't think that's something we should worry about." Murkel replied. "After all, they are
up there, and even in the other realm, one can continue to grow their strength."
"Do you think that they will always be up there? And what if there are other threats? You
should know, we are not the only ones in this world. The man stated.
Murkel thought about it a bit more, and now seeing the strong wanderer, another rumor
had entered his head, it was about the dimensions.
"Are you talking about the dimensions, you think that is something that Pagna should
worry about, are they even real?" Murkel asked.
"They are certainly real, and the rumors about them are correct. They are able to connect
the world of Pagna to these other worlds, and I will tell you something else. In these other
worlds, there are not just beasts, but people as well."
"In these places, the restrictions of the Divine realm are not present either, and if the world
of Pagna can be connected, then it means other worlds can be connected to the same place
as well."
To Murkel, hearing all of this, he just thought it was the ramblings of an older man. It was
quite common for strong warriors to be a bit crazy in the head. Sometimes their radical
thoughts weren't so radical when breakthroughs would occur in the warrior world.
"You have impressed me a lot, so I have a message for you and one that you should take
seriously." The man said. "One of these portals, these dimensions could appear any time,
even in such a place like this, in your lovely town."
"At the moment, the portals that are opening are unstable, so more than likely a portal
break will occur. If a dimension portal does appear, you have two options. You must warn
everyone, and tell them to run."
"If this does happen, then there is no doubt a lot of lives will be saved, but some will still
end up perishing, not believing your warning"
"Then there is a second option, grow strong, strong enough to enter the portal, and fight. If
you do that, you can protect everyone that you care about in this town. It's a journey that
you don't have to do on your own, and if there are more of you, you can convince them,
then you will be able to save many"
Without letting Murkel reply, the man had left, and it was only later that the world would
learn that the mysterious man would go on to become the founder of the Dark Faction, and
of the Legendary Noctis Clan.
However, Murkel himself wouldn't learn of this fact at all, due to strange circumstances, as
the world had other plans for him.
!
Chapter 726 Time Passes Differently

726 Time Passes Differently

After the man had left, Murkel had told the students to remember what they had seen, and
that they should learn from their losses. A loss wasn't a shameful thing, and they should
evaluate what worked or why they lost in order to improve.
At the same time though, Murkel also asked the students to keep what they had seen a
secret. The wandering warrior didn't seem like the type of person who would spread that
he was
victorious.
Especially against someone who had only made a small name for himself. Yet at the same
time, Murkel didn't want new students to be dissuaded from joining the clan.
When the elders and the Clan Head returned, he didn't speak to them about his loss with
the wanderer. They seemed to be worked up about their own problems.
"Times are hard, Murkel" An old man said as he sat slumping in his chair.
Murkel had come over and poured some hot tea, then poured it in his own cup before
sitting down opposite him.
"How did the meeting with the other clans go?" Murkel asked.
"Not well, as you know, factions toward the east of Pagna are collectively teaming up. Clans
in that area have always had the same sort of values and have designated themselves as the
Light Faction. It's a mighty force that many clans in Pagna are worrying about.
"On top of that, one of the largest empires has their backing as well. No doubt they have
made some sort of deal to give them some of the land that they had conquered. The
reasonable thing to do would be to make a type of faction that would oppose them"
Murkel took a big sip of his cup, still thinking about what the mysterious wanderer had
said. What his ideals were, and what he had planned to do.
"I'm guessing it was hard to convince the other clans to suddenly team up like that. At least
not without fighting and creating some type of pecking order." Murkel answered.
"Precisely, and that will only make us weak. Thankfully, there are some stronger clans out
there that are wedged between us and this Light Faction, those that practice the Demonic
techniques, so there is some time that can be bought at least."
Big changes were happening in the Pagna world. The line between warriors and regular
citizens was becoming less apparent with each day. With more clans working with
kingdoms and empires.
At the same time, factions were being made that had never occurred before, and lastly
strange things were occurring, and even rumors of powerful warriors appearing from clans
using powerful artifacts that could do a number of things.
Murkel was somewhat pleased that he would be living in an era where big changes were
occurring and maybe he would be a part of it.
For once, Murkel had decided to do some training outside with the students. The students
were learning quickly and growing stronger thanks to some changes that Murkel had made
to the Erupting Fist Clan's techniques.
Ile was adjusting them and the Clan Head willingly allowed him to. As long as the base of
the arts remained the same, he didn't mind. Especially since he wished for Murkel to take
over it one day.
He had proof of that, the clan medallion, with a peacock with burning feathers carved in it.
It was always placed under his clothing and was a symbol that he was the next successor of
the Erupting Fist Clan.
He fiddled with it from time to time under his chest. And would still think about the day he
had lost the fight to the wanderer. He had heard news about him, and some of his
accomplishments, defeating others from top clans.
One day, he wished he would come back, and when he did he wanted to fight and go against
him again. In the middle of his thoughts, as the students shouted out their chants, and
grunts while performing hits, he could see out in the field, just by the river where countless
workers would do their fishing, there were a few sparks in the air.
'What is that, lightning, but it's not coming from the sky!'
The sparks got larger and larger until they started to hit each other, eventually forming a
full circle, and a strange mystic mix of colors started to form in the center. He had heard of
this description before.
One of the men closest to the strange floating object was a fisherman, he moved in closer,
until right out from the dimension portal, an object the size of a hand with a sharp point
came through and stabbed the fisherman through the chest.
Blood was soaked on the tip, before it moved and pulled the fisherman in right toward the
portal.
The men and women nearby started to scream at the top of their lungs, as they ran away.
More strange objects, tentacles, and sharp limbs started to come through the dimensional
portal.
It looked as if their limbs were slightly too big to fit through, as they were stuck all of them
trying to push through the dimension, but bit by bit, more was coming through.
"This has to be one of those dimensions!" Murkel thought instantly as he heard the stories.
Soon he knew that horde of beasts would break out of the portal, and would attack the
entire town, killing people left and right.
Powerful beasts that could even best talented Pagna warriors.
"Sir, what do we do!" The students asked.
Murkel looked at his young students' faces, some of them scared, others cowering into their
knees. Then he looked at a mother carrying her baby and running off.
Seeing all of this, reminded him of the words of the warrior, the two options one had. They
could either evacuate, run away, and let people die, or head into the portal, going right in,
and stopping the rampage from taking place.
"Tell the Clan Head and the other warriors that I'll be heading into the portal, we need to
get rid of whatever is on the other side!" Murkel exclaimed. "I'll be waiting for them on the
other side!"
Murkel ran forward, and when he got close to the portal, he lifted his fist, and the Dark Qi
started to surround it. Jumping in the air he leapt towards the portal with no fear, and
slammed it right into the body of a beast that had just peeked through the portal, right after
he had entered, his body disappearing.
When entering the portal, Murkel had no idea what to do, but he was brave and did it for
the sake of helping out the others. Little did he know that he would be in the portal for a
hundred
years
。
Chapter 727 Trapped Dimension
727 Trapped Dimension
Charging forward wishing to protect the people of the town, and his fellow clan mates,
Murkel had pushed through with a heavy fist right into the center of a beast's body.
He could feel his fist plunge into the solid body, cracking through its skin and a strange
green substance filling his hand, but he didn't stop there and allowed his body to continue
forward, until he had entered the portal.
It was just how the rumors described, the moment that Murkel had gone into the other
side, he was in a completely different world. He pulled his fist out from the beast and could
see a giant spider-like creature on its back.
As for where he was, it wasn't the quiet fishing village he came to know. Instead, there were
giant trees above, thick plant leaves all around, and in the distance several mountains, filled
with different terrain.
He could see a snowy mountain right next to what looked like a volcano, and on top of
another mountain lightning was striking right at the very peak. This world made no sense
to him, and a wave of heat followed by cold hit him.
The only thing he could really use to protect himself was his Qi. Other than the terrain
though he had other things to worry about. Right on the other side in this new world, he
could see deadly beasts staring at him.
Some were hiding in the distance waiting for their chance, others were more vicious,
standing right at the entrance of the portal. Murkel hadn't even turned around to look if the
portal was still behind him, he couldn't if he lost concentration for a moment it would be
the end of his life.
"I chose this as my answer, I will protect the others!" Murkel shouted as he charged in
again.
A spike shot past him, he moved out of the way, and it skimmed his face. Leaping up, he
used the head of another beast as he kicked off, and slammed his fist right into the giant
flying wasp creature in the air.
Murkel spent a long time fighting, and the dimension and the beasts within it were tougher
than he thought. He was able to stand his ground, and fighting, he had ended up deeper in
the dimension.
Soon he needed to recover, to find a place to rest, and after that he needed to find food. His
life inside the dimension continued like this, fighting against the beasts, eating and
surviving.
He had quickly learned the vast and large number of beasts that existed in the dimension.
Some were incredibly strong, too strong for him to even beat. At times he barely survived
death.
However, his time in the dimension allowed him to grow. His Qi had gotten stronger, and
he was starting to learn the properties of the Dark Qi and its cultivation technique. As this
went on, he even managed to ascend through to another stage, growing and growing.
None of it was easy, by any means, but there was one thing, when Murkel was resting, that
went through his mind, he believed would get him through all of it.
'The others, they'll come and get me out of this place, they will help. We are a clan, and they
will protect me.'
Murkel remembered the wanderer stating that if they could do this together, with others in
the dimension they had a greater chance of surviving. Now Murkel understood why, but as
days went past he couldn't help but wonder, why no one had come.
——-
On the day the portal break had appeared in the Erupting Fist Clan's village, the students
had done as Murkel had told them, and they had quickly run to the main clan base to
inform the Elders, the adults, and everyone of what had occurred.
They didn't waste time and nearly no one in the clan hesitated to come out. The adults, the
fellow members that were his age, even the students that were too young along with the
Elders.
Nearly the entire clan had moved, and it wasn't because of his position as the next clan
head, but it was because they all truly wanted to help Murkel out. They all had a pleasant
experience with him, seen his kindness, and now it was a chance that they could repay it
back.
However, when the current Clan Head had exited along with a trail of warriors behind his
back, when they had arrived at the river they could see next to nothing.
On the ground, there were a couple of dead villagers with holes in their bodies, but not an
awful lot of deaths. As the clan head did some further investigating, he noticed slight green
blood on the ground but it had cleanly been cut off on the floor, like a line had been drawn
through it.
"I promise it was right here, we saw it right here, right, right!" One of the students called
out, and the other students agreed.
The other adults were wondering if the students were just playing a game with them, but
with the dead bodies it was hard for them to tell.
"No, I believe you, don't worry about that, but what does this mean for our Murkel… will we
ever get to see him again?" The Clan Head stated.
The portal was a temporary break. It hadn't quite fully broken into the world, and Murkel
was completely unaware of that. Perhaps his intervention had caused it, so the portal had
receded.
Maybe if he had done nothing the portal would have broken, or it would have just zapped
away like many others. The facts were, though, that Murkel had gone through and there
was no portal for the others to enter either.
During this time, while Murkel was away, big changes were happening without him. One of
the big changes that had occurred was the arrival of the Noctis Clan, and the creation of the
Dark Faction.
When Murkel would return, after spending a hundred years, he would return to a
completely foreign place to him, and he himself would be completely different as well.
Chapter 728 The Legend Of The Dark Faction
728 The Legend Of The Dark Faction
The creation of the Dark Faction was a big deal in the world of Pagna. Before the official
creation of the Dark Faction, the clans were more so separated by the type of Qi that they
learned.
This was more due to which area one was born in, how they were raised or techniques. It
was common for clans in the same area to learn the same cultivation technique. However,
the reason it was a big deal was all because of the Light Faction.
With the emergence of the Light Faction, the people and clans lived in fear, wondering not
if, but when they attacked, who would be attacked first and which would be annihilated.
Some thought an attack would be what the clans needed to join up, and unlike those clans
that focused on Demonic techniques, the Dark Clans were considered weaker.
However, even the Demonic Clans had to worry about the Dark Clans being eliminated. It
would allow for the Light Faction to attack from all areas and angles. With the largest
empire backing them, there were other ways they could attack as well.
The more governments, empires, and kingdoms they controlled, the more of the real world
of Pagna they did as well. Supplies of food, clothing, and the means of warriors' living could
be stopped.
There were other ways for one to fight than just their fists. Which was why the Dark Clans
uniting under the Dark Faction had come as a complete surprise, and it was all because of a
single person.
The Noctis Clan had quickly gained a name for itself with its new techniques. They showed
that they were worthy of leading the Dark Faction, and on top of that, one of the stronger
Demonic Clans, the Neverfall Clan, in an attack against the Dark Faction, was repelled.
This was an achievement that made the Light Faction take notice of the Dark Faction. They
knew how powerful the Neverfall Clan was, so everything needed to be reevaluated for the
situation.
However, as time went on, things were in a stalemate of sorts, a stalemate of power with
each of the clans just aiming to grow stronger and stronger. For some reason, the Noctis
Clan never instigated an attack.
They were never on the offensive, and this was the case for years and years, even though
many considered that the Dark Faction was perhaps the strongest in this time frame.
Under the rule of Bofan Klikola and the Noctis Clan. However, a faction was made up of
several clans, and so in order to give power, there were the clans that had stood out and
managed to make a name for themselves.
Bofan knew their power firsthand, as he had dealt with them all. With him ruling the Dark
Faction, he continued this, as he would fight any up-and-coming warrior if they asked.
In turn, the Lethal Bite Clan, the Moon Shield Clan, Tulip Clan, and the Flowing Force Clan
had been selected under the Noctis Clan, and these were the five clans that had become the
main clans of the Dark Faction.
This was the strongest point for the Dark Faction, and then one day, out of nowhere, Bofan
disappeared.
He was nowhere to be seen, no one had heard or knew where he had gone. There was a
large search for him throughout the Dark Faction, but even members of the Noctis Clan had
no idea where he was.
The search continued, and they asked for absolute silence from those that did know about
Bofan's disappearance. The other four major clans had even hired a look-alike to play and
appear once in a while.
They needed to, because if he was gone, they were afraid. Afraid that the Dark Faction
would crumble, and the others would attack knowing their weakness.
A meeting had occurred, this time in a small town, each of the main clan members were
wearing robes to disguise who they were, and they had selected the middle of nowhere to
try and make sure they weren't followed or anyone of importance would hear their
discussion.
"It's been slightly over a year now and Bofan hasn't returned, we have to presume that he's
dead at this point."
"That's impossible, even if one of the other clans had killed him, then why is no one
claiming glory. The Light Faction would have announced such a thing and attacked. Yet
they have done absolutely nothing."
"Regardless, the facts are that Bofan hasn't appeared and we have to assume he won't
appear again. Besides, those in his clan are getting restless, they're getting desperate in
their search for him… I'm worried that this might get out."
There was silence between all of those at the meeting. They knew what would happen if
others found out about Bofan's disappearance.
"Then, isn't there only one thing we can do? We have to get rid of the Noctis Clan. They are
the only ones that will know that the lookalike is a fake. Besides that, with Bofan gone
doesn't that mean this is a chance for us."
"You're right, but that's only if the Noctis Clan doesn't exist, that will be killing two birds
with one stone."
In the Noctis Clan, Bofan wasn't the only one that was strong. Each of the individual
members was strong, especially at the higher level since they knew the Dark Edge Sword
Arts.
Which was why a clever scheme had to take place between all of the major clans. The
elimination of the Noctis Clan. Getting rid of warriors one by one, warriors of their own
kind.
In a way, some thought that this might cause Bofan to appear and if he did this would also
be a win for them as well. But it didn't.
The Noctis Clan was getting eliminated left and right. Some of the clans were searching for
the technique books but were unable to find details about the arts.
Finally, as the Noctis Clan had crumbled just to a few remaining forces, a base was raided in
the disguise of assassins from another clan. With the base taken over, the Dark Faction
clans thought they would at least be able to find artifacts, books, or notes on just how the
Dark Edge Sword Arts came about.
Yet for some reason, there was nothing. There was nothing written, nothing recorded
either. Every single trace had disappeared as if someone knew it was coming.
The leaders had no choice, in their hearts they were glad at least the Noctis Clan's arts had
disappeared along with them. So it meant no one could go up against them now.
While there was a stalemate due to fear, they could build up their strength for the fights up
ahead.
The clans had gathered coming to a meeting once more, happy about their accomplishment.
"Mention of the Noctis Clan is being spread as a taboo among the clans, and it has started in
the academy as well. I'm sure, in another century there will be no one left alive to
remember this."
"No one but us." Another answered. "I plan to continue to progress myself as a warrior, and
in turn, I plan to live a very long life, I'm not sure about you though."
"Do we have an idea of our enemies' strength? It seems that news has spread about the
Noctis Clan being eliminated."
"That was impossible to keep on the down low, there are spies everywhere. The good thing
is, we can use this case as a reason for attacking as well."
"But we are not strong enough to fight!"
"We have to appear to be strong enough. Bofan's name is still mighty, they might think he's
in hiding or waiting for the right time. If we show confidence things will work out. We will
do anything to win."
The Dark Faction had done just that, and without Bofan, by no means were they weak.
Several clashes with the Light Faction and Demonic Faction had occurred. Although Bofan
didn't turn up, the Dark Faction had long spent a mighty time together.
They were more unified than before and weren't the same bunch of separate clans from
hundreds of years ago. They had grown in strength. But only the small clans had clashed,
and the mighty leaders of the larger clans hadn't gotten involved.
That was when it would be a true test for the leaders. Or at least, that's what they thought.
A skirmish was occurring, and two of the Dark Faction Clan heads were out on the
battlefield. They were fighting against the Light Faction, and against the Dawnblade Clan,
the strongest Clan there was out there.
It was a tough fight which was why the leaders had to come out themselves.
"The Light Faction, with their straight-headedness, they're too predictable." The Dark
Faction leader chuckled.
"Yeah, which is why I don't like it. If they fight, they fight because they feel like they can
win, there has to be something else."
As the male Dark Faction leader stared into the battlefield of groups of ten or so warriors
fighting at the same time. He could see something above, a spark, and moments later, a
dimension had opened.
Coming right out of it, was what appeared to be a human landing right in the center of the
bloody battlefield.
"Where am I?" Murkel asked.
Chapter 729 Into The Dark Void
729 Into The Dark Void
A large battle was commencing between the Light Faction and the Dark Faction. It was one
of the bigger fights that was occurring between the two.
The Light Faction was trying to test the limit of the Dark Faction, and trying to see if the
claims were true, that Bofan had gone missing.
There was always the chance that the Dark Faction was also trying to spread
misinformation, forcing an attack, and forcing them into a disfavorable position.
Little did they know, there were also members of the Neverfall Clan present as well.
Distancing themselves on top of a hill, they had somewhat set up a camp as they watched
everything that was occurring.
"Do you think Bofan is really gone?" a Demonic Clan member asked.
A young man in his thirties stood there with his top wrapped around his waist, revealing
his muscular structure and dark facial hair on his body. This was a young Clan Head, Belil,
of the Neverfall Clan.
"Many people think because Bofan and I fought that we are sworn enemies, but things are
not black and white." Belil answered. "If you knew the things I knew. There was something
up within his Dark Faction, things he didn't like."
"It was almost as if he knew something was going to happen. I don't know if Bofan is alive
or not, I just know something has happened, and if something happened to him, then
whoever managed to take him out had to be incredibly strong."
In the middle of their conversation, that was when he saw it, a portal appearing on the
battlefield, and a man falling down onto the ground.
"That clothing, isn't that from one of the clans in the Dark Faction… is this a portal break?"
Belil thought, but something odd had occurred.
The portal that had opened up and allowed the man to fall into the middle of the battlefield
had quickly closed up behind him as well.
"We should pay attention, and be ready for anything." Belil ordered.
——
On the ground itself, Murkel had landed in the middle of the battlefield, but he was
unaware of the people around him.
Instead, he was looking at the ground, sensing the smell of the air around him.
"I made it out, I finally made it out?" Murkel asked. His emotions were overwhelming him.
His eyes were tearing up.
He had lost track of time, and thought that he would always be in the other dimension. He
was sure many years had passed, he just had no idea how many.
What he was surprised most about, was after such a long time, he could instantly
remember the specific scent that Pagna had carried.
Spending so much time in another dimension, he had also learned that there were specific
smells to certain places.
'But how?' Murkel started to think, and as he looked at his hand, his vision was blurring. It
looked like part of his skin, which was ripped, was reforming.
'I was in the fight with that beast… that powerful beast, it had finally caught up with me, I
thought, and I lost so much blood. I was just using whatever it was I had, so what happened
in there?'
'How am I still alive.'
After these final thoughts, a ringing pain appeared in Murkel's head. Instantly, he had lost
his vision at that moment, and the area surrounding him had turned into darkness.
He was standing in an empty space of darkness where he could see nothing around him, or
at least he thought that was the case.
When he looked up, there was a rectangular-shaped image. It was showing a hand lying
there in the grass. The next moment, the image had changed, it was moving like several
pictures stuck together.
That's when Murkel realized.
'Those hands, that grass, that was where I was before… why am I… what is happening?'
Murkel was deeply confused as he continued to look at the image. He could see several
warriors had surrounded him. They were shouting at him, asking what clan he was from.
Murkel recognized the clothing of those from some of the other clans. Still wearing the
same uniform.
They recognized his uniform as well, but not who he was, so they continued to shout,
asking him. That's when Murkel himself tried to shout back, answer.
"I'm from the Erupting Fist Clan, is there anyone I can speak to!" Murkel shouted.
However, his shout was only heard in the dark, empty space. It didn't resound on the other
side, leaving him more confused.
Murkel continued to shout, but it appeared the others were unable to hear him.
That was when he instead could hear something else.
"Ha, ha, hahaha!" A loud echoing voice was bouncing off the dark room and could be heard
ringing through Murkel's head.
"So this is what it feels like… to be like this."
The voice continued to echo in the dark room, and not just that, the same voice that Murkel
could hear, the warriors on the outside were able to hear as well.
Suddenly, the view had changed again, and Murkel was so stunned by what he could see he
fell on his back in the dark space.
A Dark Faction member that was asking questions had blood trailing out of his mouth, and
when looking at his throat, his own hand had dug through it.
"You're not as tough as this one, I guess that means there are no strong ones here?" the
outside Murkel asked.
Murkel didn't understand, why was he able to see what his body was doing, who was it that
was controlling his body?
After the outside Murkel had pulled his hand away from the warrior's throat, an entire
group of Dark Faction warriors had come forward.
Seeing this, the outside Murkel lifted his hand, and a strange red substance came out from
the side of his skin wrapping around his arm.
A hard jade-like substance had covered his entire arm, and turned into a single sharp
crystal-like sword.
A swing through the air had sliced through, and the warriors continued running until their
bodies had been split in half and they fell to the floor on the spot.
'That red crystal!' Murkel recognized it, and now he had a good idea what had happened.
'That beast, is it controlling my body right now?'
Chapter 730 Factions Working Together
Chapter 730 Factions Working Together
Murkel was witnessing a slaughter as he saw his own body being controlled by the last
beast he had fought in his mind.
He was sure it was the same beast, as he remembered very well. The clear glass-like
structures the large beast had.
What looked like a see-through ruby yet felt like they were indestructible at the time. The
same structures were forming on his body.
Yet he didn't understand how it was happening. The structures weren't just forming on his
body but out of his body as well.
They were being flung hard and fast. As a warrior would reinforce their weapon with Qi to
block it, the red crystal that was flung would break through the sword and pierce through
the warrior's skin.
What was interesting to note that Murkel was unable to see that not only was the beast that
was controlling his body going up against the Dark Faction, it was also fighting against the
Light Faction warriors as well.
For a moment, both sides saw that there was a true threat, a bigger enemy in front of them.
So they decided to forget about everything else and focus on the battle.
As the fight continued, it was only a matter of time until the current Dark Faction heads
that were there decided to join the fight as well.
"You, you are wearing the clothing of one of the Dark Clans yet you are attacking your own!
Judging from your appearance I can guess what you are." The leader stated as he charged
forward and clashed his sword against the red crystal arm that had been created.
The beast quickly forced with strength and pushed back the leader as well.
"Ah, a strong one, but you are not as fun to play with as the host right here." The fake
Murkel smiled.
"You think I don't know what you are… there have been others like you before, and they
were struck down as well!" the clan head said as they jumped up in the air and gathered the
might of their Qi.
Murkel watching all of this knew it was a lost cause. He knew the real strength of the beast.
It was far more powerful than any clan head that the Dark Faction currently had.
In his mind, there was perhaps only one person that could beat the beast, the wanderer he
had met all those years ago.
If the wanderer had continued to grow stronger, then maybe he would be enough to defeat
the beast that had taken over his body.
As for the current leaders, they really did know who Murkel was or at least they had an
idea. Being the Clan Heads, they received information before others.
There had been a few Hybrids before from other dimensions. It's just these mixes of
humans and beasts were unknown to the general public as there hadn't been much of them.
As the clan head swung his sword, the beast's arm started to glow, along with its eyes, it
swung its crystallized hand which snapped through the sword.
Then it was ready to strike again. Its other hand had transformed into a large crystal, this
time glowing with power.
"That strange power is nothing compared to mine." The beast claimed as it took a swing.
It was ready to cut the warrior's head off until falling from the sky, was a man with two red
glowing fists. He spun his body and propelled forward like a meteorite landing right on the
beast's hand.
The floor underneath, crushed and a crater was forming, The earth was splitting in several
areas as the attack had landed and parts of the ground were flung up in the air.
"Now you are more like what I was expecting, I didn't think the strongest had traveled to
my world!" the beast claimed.
The man that had interrupted and got in the middle of the fighting, was none other than
Belil, who had been watching from afar this entire time.
In truth, he thought he had seen an opportunity to cut the beast's head off right there and
then, he was surprised he had failed.
"Fall back." Belil said as he broke off his attack. "Even with all of us, we won't be enough to
defeat the beast. The Light Faction, the Demonic Clans and the Dark Faction will have to
gather their strongest to defeat this thing."
Everyone there recognized who had just entered the field. After seeing how strong his
attack was, they had an idea of the beast's strength.
Belil had just produced an attack far greater than anything they could have produced, so
they did well to listen to him.
"I will hold him off for as long as I can… but what happens after that, I'm not too sure." Belil
said.
The Light Faction and the Dark Faction wasted no time, as they left the scene leaving Belil
in place.
It wasn't long after that the news had spread to the Light Faction and the Dark Faction of
what had occurred, and soon, more news had occurred.
The beast was now in a nearby town in the Dark Faction. The clan in charge of the town
was doing its best fighting against the Hybrid, but they were unable to last a long time.
With this news, they now knew of two things. That the beast was traveling from area to
area, destroying and killing everything in its path.
At the same time, they knew Belil from the Neverfall Clan was unable to defeat the beast.
News later had arrived stating that Belil was still alive.
However, just the fact that Belil had failed, went to show how strong the threat that was
facing them all was.
Originally, the Light Faction had planned to let the beast and person continue to rampage in
the Dark Faction.
It was doing their job for them after all. That was until one of the border towns of the Light
Faction was attacked.
A rumor started to occur as well, that the red Hybrid was the one that had taken out Bofan,
the founder and that was why he hadn't been seen.
Fear was being struck through the continent of Pagna.
It was then, with the help of Belil spearheading the group, that the strongest warriors from
the three sides met, all with the common goal.
Chapter 731 The Red Hybrid's Terror
Chapter 731 The Red Hybrid's Terror
The threat had been named the red Hybrid. This was because information had started to
spread around Pagna of other hybrids that had appeared in the past.
The stories were conflicting, to say the least, about those that had come out of portal
breaks, looking part monster, part human, as if a beast had attached themselves to the
body.
These individuals were incredibly strong, at times having the skills of martial artists while
using a mixed form of Qi and the physical prowess of beasts.
As for the conflicting reports about the Hybrids, this was down to some experiences that
had occurred.
There were talks of some people coming out of these portals completely fine.
They didn't look like regular humans but were trying to communicate with those that they
knew in the towns.
However, the situation would always end up bad. There were those that were scared, that
would try to go against those that didn't feel like they were human and the result would be
death.
Regardless of the past events that had occurred, everyone feared the red Hybrid.
There was no pattern to its attacks; it just traveled from area to area, getting rid of anything
that would appear in its path.
It had taken out most of the Dark Faction, a couple of Light Faction bases and clans, and a
singular Demonic Clan.
It was the last straw for all three factions, and for the first time ever, an alliance between
the three strongest in each faction had come together all to eliminate a single individual.
The citizens and the warriors of Pagna were amazed at the commitment it took to bring
these three together.
It gave them hope that maybe at one point the continent of Pagna could be united. It
certainly seemed the case when there was a greater enemy at play.
For once, information was being shared between all of the factions. They were being spread
through a line of information Clans in each of the factions.
And the news had finally come in.
A village located deep within a wooded area, a clan that focused on strengthening one's
body.
The area was built using the materials around them. They had built a wall made out of
wood, as well as several lookout posts that were located high up in the trees.
There were platforms with archers that would be on the lookout.
As a member scanned the ground, they could hear the crunching of leaves.
The warrior on top of his post focused his eyes.
"He matches the description; it has to be him!"
The warrior quickly turned to the ground, picking up a special bow and arrow and fired it
off.
The arrow went in the direction of the village of the town and had hit a wooden pillar
around 400 meters away.
In the village, another clan member had climbed to the top, grabbing the arrow.
"It's the red Hybrid, he's here, quickly!" The warrior shouted down.
The Clan in charge was a Dark Faction clan, and messengers quickly ran in all sorts of
different directions.
While pigeon carriers with messages were sent out.
As for the man that had sent the message, he had turned around to pick up another bow,
one for warding off against the enemy and attackers, but as he turned around, he could see
red eyes looking straight at him.
"I hope that your message will bring strong people to where I am."
A long string of red crystal had risen from a single finger of the red Hybrid and had pierced
through the bottom of the warrior's chin.
The warrior, moments before his life had ended, knew very well from the look in his eyes,
that the hybrid knew he was there the entire time.
He had let him send out the message on purpose.
"I hope… you die." The warrior managed to squirm out with the last bit of his life.
From where he was, the red Hybrid had jumped up in the air.
In the center of the village, past the wooden walls that had been built out of the large
trunks of trees, the Hybrid had landed right in the center, breaking the ground slightly
beneath his feet.
The regular citizens, the warriors that were on the inside, and even the town guards that
weren't part of any of the clans turned to look at the person who was in the center.
"I'm sorry but I can't help myself." The red Hybrid said as it moved its hand over its face.
Its shoulders were shaking, moving up and down as small bouts of laughter could be heard.
"The beast inside of me is telling me that all of you are a danger to me, and you must all be
taken out, before you take me out!"
The Hybrid stretched out its hands, and out from its back, out from its hands, and several
other parts of its body, strings of red came out, forming and hardening into the hard crystal.
From the center of the village, it looked like a spider web of red crystal had pierced through
several of their bodies.
It killed them on the spot. Several of the screams that were being shouted at the top of their
lungs had halted in an instant.
The horror of the red Hybrid was real, and the rumors they all heard were true.
They were living it in real-time. The warriors, some had managed to try and block the red
crystal, but it just broke through their swords deflecting the hit.
The red crystal substance had gone through other parts of their body not hitting their
vitals, but it felt like no one could get close to the red Hybrid.
"Even if we manage to break free out of this red web, we'll just get struck down again… the
terror of the red Hybrid will continue…"
The warriors, the people, everyone was disheartened until they could hear the rumbling of
the floor.
Several blurs went past each individual and large cracking sounds were heard. The red
crystal was breaking right in front of their eyes.
This was happening from all sorts of different directions.
"They're here!" The people shouted, the clan members as well.
As the red crystal fell to the floor, the Hybrid looked around with a smile on his face.
"So you couldn't beat me last time, so you have brought some of your friends?" The Hybrid
said as he looked on at a set of familiar eyes, looking toward the young Belil.
"I'm considered quite young in this vast world, I haven't had time to grow my strength to
defeat you." Belil answered. "I'm sure you are a beast that has lived a great long life."
"So I have just decided to bring a few others that have lived long lives, all with the hopes of
getting stronger, that is what you wished for after all, isn't it?"
Three of the top Light Faction Clan Heads were present. Four of the Dark Faction Clan
Heads had arrived.
At the same time, four of the big Demonic Clan leaders had arrived as well.
All of them had entered the scene; they were ready to move in an instant.
Some might have thought this was too much, too many great strengths had gathered in one
place, just for one individual.
The only people that said that though, were the ones that had never seen the red Hybrid in
person.
Perhaps, because all of those that had met the red Hybrid, apart from Belil himself, had all
perished.
At the moment, after breaking through the red crystal from the Hybrid, none of the Clan
Heads dared to get close.
They noticed that it was a great struggle trying to get their techniques, their fists through
the substance.
They had to use more Qi than they would have liked, and not just that, they wondered what
if this red crystal-like power could be concentrated.
Perhaps it was stronger as the crystal densed up. So they all waited for an opportunity,
waited for one of the others to make the first strike.
"You are making me jealous!" The red Hybrid shouted out. "It's a shame, I wish I would
have attached to one of you. Oh, I would have loved to have seen what the result would
have been.
"Unfortunately, I'm stuck with this warrior instead."
Murkel, who was nothing but an observer in the dark space in his mind, had witnessed all
of the things that had happened.
All of the things the red Hybrid had done. He had watched the red Hybrid cause devastation
for months.
The clans and factions weren't quick in acting together, in becoming one.
So Murkel had to watch as his body was forced to take out so many people.
The one saving grace was that the Hybrid beast hadn't gone to his own clan.
Even though there was likely no one left alive that he knew from there.
'It's okay, all of you, kill this beast!' Murkel shouted from the top of his lungs.
Belil outside raised his fist.
"I just want to make something clear, none of these guys are my friends." After finishing his
sentence, he charged forward right toward the red Hybrid.
Chapter 732 Clan Head's Dead
Chapter 732 Clan Head's Dead
The battle that day took place between the alliance of the factions and the red Hybrid.
It was one that would have gone down in the history books if there were several survivors
to tell the tale.
The aftermath of the battle was beyond devastating. Every single citizen, soldier, guard, and
Pagna warrior had died due to the fighting that went on.
On top of those, several of the Clan Heads had been defeated as well.
Of the four that had come from the Demonic Clans, two had been killed.
From the Light Faction, one of the Clan Heads had lost their lives, and then the Faction that
had been dealt the biggest blow of them all was the Dark Faction.
They had lost three of their Clan Heads; only a single person had ended up surviving it all.
The fight was nearing its end; for miles out the trees had been destroyed, the grass
uprooted, and now it just looked like a barren wasteland to all.
Belil was on one of his legs, blood soaked his skin, and was dripping out of his mouth.
His body was full of cuts. He was huffing and panting and looking ahead at the red Hybrid.
"How many times, how many times do we have to tear you up, rip you apart, and bring you
down until you die!" Belil shouted.
He looked at the dead around him; Belil knew the fight was coming to an end.
The red Hybrid was trying to heal its wounds that were on its body, a large cut that was
wrapped around the side of his stomach to his back.
The strange red substance that would form and allow him to heal, it had come to an end.
They were moving but were unable to attach themselves to his skin to heal the wound.
For a long time now, the red Hybrid was also unable to crystallize its body in the fight.
Yet they had still been fighting for a few days after the crystallization had stopped, just
showing how strong the red Hybrid was.
"Look at how many, look at how many." The red Hybrid weakly said, pointing at the dead
on the ground.
It was then that Belil had calmed his breathing, he got up from his knee, pushing off the
ground and letting out a breath of hot air and Qi.
He then got back into a fighting position, and so did the remaining Clan Heads that were
still alive.
The red Hybrid looked at his hand; his vision was blurring, even the people in front of him
were blurring. He clicked his tongue as he looked at this sight.
"I'll remember you all." The red Hybrid claimed. "You fools who spouted your clan names,
your factions, I will remember every single one of you."
"I don't care how long it takes, or if I have to go after the generations after you. I will make
sure that your bloodlines no longer exist."
"All of you should have tried a little bit harder."
The warriors were a little confused; why was the Hybrid talking so confidently?
If anything, the warriors were sure they were going to win now. That was when Belil
realized something.
He quickly kicked off his feet. He didn't like how the Hybrid was acting. The words he spoke
could only mean one thing.
"He's trying to run away!" Belil shouted.
The other warriors soon caught on, but it was a little too late.
The Hybrid, with its own blood, drew a circle in the air. It lingered, staying in place, and
started to glow, crystallizing like it had done before.
After the red crystallization started to glow, becoming a meld of different colors.
Seeing this, all of the warriors had the same thought. This looked a lot like another
dimension.
Before Belil could reach him, the Hybrid stepped into the dimension while facing the
others, walking backward with a devilish smile.
"Remember what I said." Those were the last words that the others had heard from the
Hybrid.
It was a devastating day for the alliance. So much had been lost, and they had no clue
whether or not the Hybrid would return.
Such a strong force appearing out of thin air, they had to continue living, believing that one
day, that force could come back just like that.
And so, with what had occurred, the three factions had decided to continue their alliance.
They couldn't completely work together or join under one banner, but in its place, the
Martial Arts Tournament was born.
This was where the three factions would regularly meet up and friendly exchange fists and
swords.
The idea was to keep growing stronger, just in case another large threat would appear
again.
As time went on, though, people forgot about what had occurred or the reasoning behind
the alliance and Martial Arts Tournament.
The reason was replaced, and larger cracks could be seen in the relationships between the
three.
On top of it all, the Dark Faction's strength was still vastly weaker than the others due to
the events of the Hybrid.
The strong leaders were unable to fully pass on their skills to those in their clans, leaving
them a little more behind compared to others.
As for what had occurred to the Hybrid, there was a reason why it hadn't returned.
When the Hybrid stepped through the portal, it had returned back to the place, to the world
where it had come from.
Its vision was blurring even more, and it fell to its knees.
'Those so-called Pagna warriors really hurt me. In all my years, in all the life I've lived, I
have never been hurt so much.'
'Why did they fight back so hard? What reason do they have! Do they really want to
eliminate me and eliminate everything we have… damn them… damn them!'
The blurred vision continued with a large pain in the head, and the Hybrid passed out,
falling on the floor.
A few moments later and the body was getting up. Immediately looking at his hands, and
touching his face, he had come to a realization.
"My body… it's back, I got my body back!" Murkel was overjoyed, but now, how did he get
back to Pagna?
Chapter 733 Murkel's Hatred (Part 1)
Chapter 733 Murkel's Hatred (Part 1)
The feeling of familiarity was strange for Murkel. It wasn't because he was back in the
world of Pagna, but because he was back in the dimension filled with deadly beasts in every
corner.
He had only regained control of his real body for a few seconds in Pagna before it had been
taken over by the beast and he had been shoved into the back of its mind.
However, now that Murkel was back in his body, he was also back with a body filled with
injuries. The pain was soaring through his body; just moving a small part sent shockwaves
through the inside of his body.
He knew, though, that staying in such a place, staying still, was a dangerous idea. Walking
slowly, placing one foot after the other, Murkel could hear the sounds of beasts up in the
trees. He could feel their presence following him, but the moment he looked at them, they
would quickly scurry away. Eventually, Murkel found himself at the base of a cave right by
a large cliffside.
It was a place where he would often hide, away from beasts before, but there was just one
issue with the place.
"RAGHHH!"
Right at the cave entrance, it didn't take long for an almighty, orange-furred bear with large
fangs that twisted upward nearly towards its back to come out.
It was a type of beast that Murkel had fought many times during his time here and during
his rest. It was strong, but one he was confident in beating if he was in good condition.
"Please just don't bother me now; I don't have time… I need to rest," Murkel thought.
His Dark Qi was lingering out of his body, but it could only form so much and so far. With
Murkel now in control of the body, his control over his own Qi and the condensation of the
Qi was better than the Hybrid's.
However, the Hybrid was far stronger in many ways than this, and although it wasn't able
to utilize the Qi in Murkel's body the same way as him, it was still able to utilize it.
The beast looked into Murkel's eyes for a moment, and then it quickly turned its head away,
its back, and headed inside the cave.
"What the… that's a first," Murkel thought.
The beast had walked away, and Murkel was thinking about doing the same. If the beast
was inside, it wasn't exactly a safe place for him to be anymore.
One thing Murkel did learn, though, was to never turn his back on a beast.
Beasts were strange creatures; for one, they were territorial, so anyone, including other
beasts that weren't the same kind as them that entered, was considered a threat.
The strangest thing about them, though, was their alluredness toward the portals that
would open up—their wish to escape from their world, and when they enter the world of
Pagna, to eliminate humans.
Murkel could feel some of the Hybrid's feelings when he was in this space. Humans—they
scared the beasts, which caused them to lash out and attack any human on sight.
While thinking about what to do, the beast's head could be seen coming back out from the
cave. For a moment, Murkel wondered if it had changed its mind and he would be in the
fight for his life after all.
That was until the beast opened its mouth and out from it, a bunch of power stones, from
dead beasts, had fallen onto the ground—all of different levels and various grades.
"What is this?"
The beast didn't do anything but just turned around and went heading back inside again.
Something was drawing Murkel's body toward the power stones that had been left on the
ground. He moved forward and forward until he had grabbed onto one of the crystals.
Before he knew it, a crystal was being placed in his mouth, and he had bit down, crunching
it.
Power stones were unable to be consumed raw. If done so, and not having been turned into
a Qi pill, there was a good chance it could harm the warrior's body, even leading to death.
Yet Murkel knew he would be okay; he just had a feeling. As he consumed all of the crystals,
over fifty of them, he could feel his body regaining its strength and starting to heal.
It was healing at a rate that was unheard of for a warrior, a rate he was unable to heal at
before. This was more so the healing of the Hybrid, and not him.
Having regained his strength, Murkel had decided to head into the cave. If the beast tried to
attack him, he now was confident he could best it in a fight.
Yet for some reason, he thought the beast wouldn't attempt to do anything, and that's when
he realized since he had entered the dimension again, none of the beasts had acted at all.
Entering deep into the cave, he could see the beast open one eye and then quickly close it
when it saw who it was.
"So you completely trust me now, or is it that you trust what's inside me?" Murkel thought.
Sitting down in the cave, he needed to gather his thoughts because he was still at a loss for
everything that had happened. The fact that he wasn't even in control of his own body for a
large amount of time, and now he was back here.
"The Hybrid that was talking to me, the beast I fought from this dimension—it seemed to
be the leader of some kind. It attached to my body, and I became a Hybrid.
"But that beast had completely taken over my mind and body. So where is it now? The fact
that my body feels this way, and I was able to eat those power stones. I'm sure it means
that I'm still a Hybrid, but right now, my mind is in charge.
"Was it the fight with all the Clan Heads? Is that what subdued the Hybrid? There was a
good chance that right now it was just in a slumber."
"Whatever the reason, I need to figure out two things: how to stop the Hybrid if it tries to
come back... and how to get out of this place," Murkel thought.
Gripping his fist, Murkel felt such strength. He was a new person, far stronger than before,
and if he was let out into the world of Pagna like this, no doubt he would be considered the
strongest in all of Pagna and the closest to reaching the Divine realm.
Little did he know, just like before, he would be trapped for a very long time in the
dimension, with the world of Pagna changing once more. Unknown to him, there were
several large forces with their own intent doing what they could behind the scenes.
And an event would occur that would even bring Murkel to hate the world of Pagna and the
warriors within.
Chapter 734 Murkel's Hatred (Part 2)
Chapter 734 Murkel's Hatred (Part 2)
Life in the dimension the second time turned out to be completely different compared to
the first. There were incredibly large differences now compared to before.
For one, none of the beasts saw him as a threat; it was either that or they saw him as too
much of a threat to even try to attack him.
Still, what this meant was he was living in the dimension without having to fight against
beasts every day or fear for his life being taken.
At times, there was the odd scuffle here or there, but it seemed to be over small reasons,
and Murkel would only have to give a small hit or two before the beast would stop and be
on its way.
During his time in the dimension, he had also become quite close with the beast that lived
in the cave, the giant orange bear whom he had decided to name Ginger.
The cave had become a shared living space between the two of them. Ginger would often go
out hunting on his own, bringing back smaller animals that didn't have crystals inside their
body.
These were the beasts' source of food, and it was Murkel's as well. At times Murkel would
also return the favor, and the two of them had gotten close.
Very close to the point where Murkel would even ride on top of the bear, and the two of
them would go out hunting together. In the strange world of beasts, it truly felt like the
beasts around had become their family.
At times, Murkel thought he had gone mad, and who wouldn't if they were surrounded by
only beasts and no one to talk to. There was one thing that he kept an eye on, and that was
a voice in his mind.
He was waiting for something, for someone to try and take over eventually. He was sure
several years had passed and there was still no voice.
Yet, everything he could now do with his body was beyond that of just a Pagna warrior. His
body, the reaction of the beasts themselves, it had to be all because the Hybrid was still
with him, and he continued to live in this fear.
In the end, fifty years had passed in the dimension of Murkel living this life. He didn't look
like he had aged that much due to his high status as a middle-stage warrior.
There was still no sign and no way for him to get out of the world, and he soon felt like he
would have to come up with other things.
As he was in the cave one day, he noticed Ginger in a lot of pain, and a few hours later, and a
baby Ginger around the size of Murkel himself had popped out of him.
Or now she, he had to correct himself.
"I thought you were male, but I guess Ginger is a name that can be used for both, right?"
Murkel said as he stroked Ginger's fur to calm her down.
The cave felt a bit smaller with Ginger and Baby Ginger. Murkel looked after the child while
Ginger would go out hunting for food. This repeated until Ginger had grown slightly larger
and had grown fur.
This time Ginger had nudged her child, and the two of them stood up.
"I see, you need to teach him how to hunt, right? So you don't want me to come along. He
needs to learn how to hunt on his own so he doesn't have to rely on us. I get it, don't worry,
just go on ahead."
Murkel wasn't sure, but he felt like they could understand him, and at times he could
understand them. It certainly seemed that way.
As the two left the cave, Murkel had gotten into a meditative state and started to cultivate.
"The beast was able to open a portal. All things stem from energy, and we as warriors are
even able to transcend to other realms due to the great power within. Which means there
has to be a way for us to create portals ourselves, right?"
"But is Qi the answer, or is it something else?" Murkel was truly stuck on this point.
He only had Qi and the beast crystals to work with. While he was thinking of ways on how
to use this, he soon heard heavy footsteps through the thick jungle up ahead.
Breaking through the jungle, he could see a six-legged elephant come crashing through and
falling right on the ground in front of the cave.
Immediately, Murkel jumped to check on the beast's condition. It had wounds all over,
strikes, and large cuts on its body. It didn't take long until the elephant's heart had stopped
beating.
"These wounds… they weren't done by claws, and the attack at the side, the impact looks
more like a fist. This was done by humans. Humans are here!" Murkel said.
He quickly jumped to his feet and rushed in the direction the beast came from. He moved
fast, kicking off the trees and navigating through the jungle faster than any beast could.
Then he started to kick his way up high so he could get a better view. Finally, he could hear
the sound of talking up ahead.
"That thing was incredibly strong."
"Right, that at least has to be a Level Five power stone though. It looks like we managed to
hit the jackpot in this dimension."
The voices heard continued, and Murkel eventually stepped out on a large branch and
looked below. Several trees had broken down in the area, collapsing on top of itself.
He was right; he could see a group of warriors, around ten of them. They were in Pagna
clothing, holding weapons, and some seemed quite skilled and strong judging by their Qi.
However, Murkel's eyes soon focused on the ground to what they had surrounded, lying on
its side.
A large orange-furred beast, covered in blood, while its child lay on the ground relatively
close to it, using its large bear-like claws it had held onto its child, bringing it close.
It was clear it had done everything it could in order to protect its child.
Both of the beasts were recognizable to Murkel.
"For the entire time I have been here, all you did was bring me comfort and joy. You were
the one that helped me when I was close to death… you were the only family I had in this
place." Murkel's entire body was shaking.
"And… they killed you for what, for crystals!" Murkel shouted as his Qi had broken the
branch he was standing on, and he had fallen right onto the ground.
Chapter 735 Humans are Beasts
Chapter 735 Humans are Beasts
The warriors on the outside thought they had hit the jackpot when a portal had appeared
near their clan base. Their clan was located in the Dark Faction and wasn't very large. It
was known as the Purple Berry Clan.
While the clan had history, it wasn't significant enough to be written down in books.
However, they believed their luck had changed.
The world of Pagna had learned about dimensions and portals opening up. Now was a time
when clans would grow stronger and larger and could benefit from having a dimension
open near them.
Before informing anyone about this new discovery, the initial clan had sent ten of their
strongest warriors to scout the dimension. They had no idea what level of beasts lay inside.
Upon entering, the warriors, including a couple of high initial stage warriors, thought they
were in luck. They fought against the beasts and managed to defeat them as a group,
acquiring powerful crystals that could be sold for a small fortune or boost their cultivation
to the middle stage.
Since nearly all of the warriors who entered were high-ranking initial stage warriors
working together, they could defeat beasts they would never have been able to handle
alone.
After defeating a few beasts, a real challenge appeared. They came across a large orange
bear—and not just one, but two.
"Looks like we hit the jackpot with this one. Let's go; this could be the difference for our
clan. Maybe we'll even be the ones to save the Dark Faction!" one of the leaders cheered,
and they all charged forward.
However, the bear was far stronger than they had imagined. Its claws could match several
of the warriors at once in strength, throwing them away and crashing their bodies into the
large trees behind them.
It was no simple beast like the others they had encountered in the dimension so far. As they
were cautious in attacking, they realized that the beast wasn't charging forward or
attacking them.
This gave them time to think.
"What do we do? The beast is too strong for us, but it's also not charging at us. Should we
give up and hunt somewhere else?" one of the warriors asked.
They all looked to the leader in charge of the expedition. It wasn't the Clan Head but the
most promising member of the clan, a rising star named Roku.
"Wait, don't leave just yet," Roku said, holding up his hand. "There's a reason it's not
attacking. Can't you see? Every step it takes, every movement, it moves to protect the
younger one."
"It's quite clear; it's a mother protecting her child."
"But what difference does that make?" another warrior asked.
"A lot of difference. There are ten of us, and we are coordinated in our attacks," Roku
answered. "If we know it's protecting its child, then we know how the beast is going to act.
As long as we attack the right target…"
The other warriors started to understand what Roku was saying, and they put the plan into
motion.
The warriors coordinated their attacks against the child bear. While the child bear was
strong for a beast, it was no match against these well-coordinated warriors.
The mother bear, Ginger, realized this and would move to cover the child with most of her
body while delivering a swipe. This was the perfect time for Roku and the others to strike.
They managed to come from behind and deliver powerful attacks, damaging and ripping
through the bear's skin, causing it to bleed. Yet Ginger still stood strong, determined to
protect her child.
The battle went on for a while, with Roku using the same technique repeatedly. The marks
on Ginger's body grew larger, and eventually, Ginger collapsed, her claws wrapped around
her child's body, trying to shield it.
"We did it. We finally did it. That has to be at least a level five power crystal!" one of the
warriors claimed.
The group quickly began harvesting the crystal. As they got close, they realized something.
The child bear roared and tried to snap at one of them.
"What do we do with that?" one of the warriors asked.
"What do you mean? It's a beast, right? There's a crystal in its body, so take it out," Roku
ordered.
In the quickest fashion, five of the warriors went in from different directions, piercing
through its body with their swords. It didn't last long and fell into the arms of its mother.
From above, it would appear as a perfect picture, with the mother holding on, trying to
protect her child.
There was clearly no sympathy from any of the warriors, as to them, it was just another
beast. The creatures they could harvest energy from to better their own lives, much like
animals grown for food but harvested for their power.
The crystal had already been harvested from Ginger's body, and now they were making
their way to the child. That's when they heard a branch snap and leaves rustling on the
floor.
Turning to see who was there, they saw a man wearing next to no clothes. The clothes he
had on when he arrived had long since deteriorated, leaving only a small patch covering his
groin area and partly on his legs like a pair of shorts. The one item he had on him was a
medallion hanging around his neck.
"Get away from that body," Murkel stated.
"There was someone here before us? How is that possible!" Roku exclaimed.
The others quickly continued with their work, ignoring the man who had just entered,
planning to leave it to Roku to deal with.
"State who you are and what clan you're from," Roku said, pointing at the intruder, who
had suddenly vanished from his sight.
Before he knew it, Roku saw the tip of his finger falling to the floor. His hand had been
sliced cleanly off, but by whom he didn't understand until he heard screams behind him.
Turning around, he saw an entire fist thrust through the stomach of his allies from the
strange man in question.
"I said, get away from the body!" Murkel exclaimed.
Chapter 736 No longer Human
Chapter 736 No longer Human
The next few moments for Roku felt like he was in a living nightmare. He watched his men
get taken out one by one, each with ease. The warriors struck back, but he saw a fist break
through swords, smash through the faces of his colleagues, and kill them on the spot.
No one was able to put up a fight even for a moment. a warrior of this level was someone
that should have been known in the outside of Pagna.
Yet the description of such a man didn't match anything in Roku's head.
The swipe of this mysterious man was sharper than any sword, slicing through limbs and
dismembering heads.
All Roku could do was murmur to himself, his bottom lip quivering. His legs shaking.
"Stop it… stop it… why, why are you attacking us!" Roku eventually shouted.
That was when he witnessed the last of his squad perish, leaving only him alive. The
attacker turned his head to look at him, blood splattered across his face, his hands covered
in it, and some on his upper body.
This man looked nothing like a human and was even more frightening than any beast Roku
had ever seen before.
The Qi that was coming off his body was making him feel sick to his stomach.
"Please, I'm sorry," Roku said, falling to his knees. "I had no idea a master from another clan
had already entered this dimension. If we had known, we would have never entered such a
place."
Hearing those words somewhat snapped Murkel out of his rage. He was filled with anger as
he saw the dead beasts on the floor—beasts that had cared for him, that had practically
become family.
"You entered through a dimension. Is the portal you speak of still open?" Murkel asked.
Roku was paralyzed with fear, unable to think straight. After all, how could a warrior who
had entered through a portal not know where they were right now?
Regardless, he pointed with a shaking hand behind him. "Around 5 kilometers in that
direction. Two trees cross each other like an X. That's where we entered from."
Murkel was ready to run off and head to where the exit was. Finally, after all this time, he
could leave, and this time it would be with a sound mind. He took one step forward, and a
strong force struck Roku's face.
When Roku turned around, he could no longer see the strange warrior. Somehow, he had
managed to survive it all.
"I'm alive… I'm alive, the master didn't kill me. I have no idea why, but he didn't kill me!"
Roku was ecstatic, jumping for joy.
That was until he heard a deep growl. When he looked around through the jungle, he saw
several eyes staring at him. Looking up at the treetops, a number of beasts were starting to
gather.
Unlike before, Roku had no one to help him, and the beasts were attracted by the smell of
blood.
"Damn it, damn it, that master left me here to die!" Roku screamed at the top of his lungs.
He charged forward, swinging his sword wildly, but it wasn't long before he was pecked,
pulled, and torn apart by several of the monsters. There wasn't even a part of him left that
could be used to be buried.
---
Murkel ran through the jungle like a madman, and just ahead he could see the large X-
shaped trees. He finally leaped onto both feet, skidding across the leaves and floor, and saw
the portal lingering ahead of him.
As he approached it, he couldn't quite believe it and hesitated for a moment before
reaching out to touch it. He saw his hand covered in blood.
'What did I just do? I completely killed those warriors,' Murkel said to himself. 'I haven't
made any contact with humans in so long, and the first time I do, I end up killing them.'
The images of what he had done replayed in his mind. Despite being a Pagna warrior,
Murkel had never killed anyone. However, his body had. The images of how the beasts had
dealt with the clan members were similar to what he had just done.
'I felt pity for the beasts that helped me and felt nothing for those warriors. I thought there
were no changes in me, that I hadn't changed at all. But what if I have changed? Just
because I can't hear the voice doesn't mean the beast inside me isn't influencing my
choices.'
Another thought ran through Murkel's head. At any point in time, the beast could take over
his body like before. It was most likely just lying dormant in him, and then the world of
Pagna, including his clan, would no longer be safe.
'Yet I'm worried about a clan that never sent anyone to come after me, a clan that had
abandoned me?'
Thinking this way, Murkel wanted to be a little selfish. He had originally entered the portal
with hopes of protecting the people from the village. Yet they did nothing. The people who
had protected him were the beasts, and warriors had come to kill them.
So why should he care about the people of Pagna when they didn't care about him? With
this thought in mind, he stepped through the portal and ended up back in the world of
Pagna.
As he emerged, he recognized his surroundings—the hilltops, the large grass, and the
flowing river.
"This isn't where the Erupting Fist Clan is based, but it's close—maybe around thirty miles
or so. I guess it would make sense for the portal to open up here… and this time, I feel fine.
There's no voice in my head; the body is still mine.
"My first stop will be back to the Erupting Fist Clan to get answers as to why no one had
come after me," Murkel thought as he kicked off the ground with his new, powerful body.
Soon, he would become the legend of the one closest to reaching the Divine Realm—the
strongest in Pagna.
Chapter 737 The Noctis Clan's Fall
Chapter 737 The Noctis Clan's Fall
Murkel's first destination was the Erupting Fist Clan, the place where he had grown up for
25 years—the place that taught him morals and raised him after he was taken in as an
orphan.
Originally, he felt extremely indebted to the clan, even being given the position of the next
Clan Head despite not being part of the original bloodline that started the clan.
This is why he thought they were great people. This is why he believed they would have
come and helped him stop the beasts from the portals. So, he wanted answers to his
questions.
'Before, when I was seeing through the eyes of the hybrid, or really my own eyes, I could
see that the world of Pagna had changed. They even talked about a Dark Faction that didn't
exist during my time, and the people in charge were unfamiliar to me.'
'That means a lot of time must have passed while I was in the dimension, and now having
entered it a second time, even more time must have passed as well. There's a chance that
no one from back then is still alive.'
'Maybe if the clan was prosperous and the students I taught became middle-stage students,
they would still be at the Erupting Fist Clan.'
In the back of Murkel's mind, there was another thought. Although some clans lasted
hundreds of years, many would fall and no longer exist. With the clan gone, where would he
go next, and what would his plan be?
There was no need to worry about that for now; he just needed to get there first. As he
traveled the short path, he noticed many changes along the way.
There was a string of villages along the river that had been created, which were never there
before. These villages were more populated than before and had a large amount of crops.
He could even see clan symbols on the clothing of those outside and on clan buildings as
well.
Out of curiosity, Murkel decided to stop in. It was quite a shock at first, especially since he
had no clothes on himself, but pulling out a beast crystal and handing it over quickly
resolved that as they got him well-dressed.
'It would have been inappropriate to go without clothes to meet my old clan anyway.'
Exiting from the tailor, he continued his journey through the town, and that's when he
noticed a statue in the center.
"What does this plaque say at the bottom? 'To the founder of the Dark Faction, Bofan
Kilikola.'" Murkel read out.
It was a name he didn't recognize, and when he looked up at the statue, he saw it was a
man in strange robe-like clothing, with a hood covering his head.
The statue didn't reveal what his eyes looked like, only his mouth, but there were notable
items crafted around his belt.
'The shape, the figure, isn't this the wanderer that I fought all those years ago!' Murkel
thought.
It was hard to tell since the statue was just that—a representation of a man without much
detail in the face. However, if there was one person who could form the Dark Faction in his
mind, this would be the person.
'I need to do some more research; there should be a library of sorts somewhere,' Murkel
thought as he continued to look around, trying to find out answers to everything that had
happened while he was away.'
Information was obtainable, but more than anything, Murkel was able to find out what had
occurred through speaking to others. He first talked to the general public, getting
somewhat of an idea.
He couldn't quite get the full answers he was looking for, so he decided to head to the clan
that was based in the current village.
The clan base was a small dojo, with short walls on the outside and a single entrance
leading to an open courtyard that led to the room itself.
The warriors quickly approached him, asking who he was.
"Do you have an appointment set up with the clan?" one of the guards asked.
"I do not, but I wish to speak. I am from the Erupting Fist Clan," Murkel said, placing his fist
into the palm of his hand and giving a respectful bow. Courtesy and other manners were
coming back to him—things he hadn't used for a long time.
One of the guards went inside, and a few moments later, he returned with one of the elders
from his clan.
'They didn't question me about the Erupting Fist Clan, so it seems that they at least still
exist in some way,' Murkel thought.
When the elder set eyes on Murkel, a bead of sweat ran down the side of his face. He
quickly quickened his steps to meet Murkel sooner and gave a slight bow.
"I never expected a sudden visit. Is there some type of issue going on?" the elder asked.
Murkel was a little confused by the elder's reaction. "There is no issue. I just wish to ask a
few questions. You can relax."
"Ah." The elder seemed to calm down and was no longer worried. "Then we can head
inside. Please escort the master inside."
One of the guards went ahead to escort Murkel toward the building while the other guard
stood next to the elder.
"Was he someone important, sir? Should we have been more cautious? Who is he?" the
guard asked.
"I have no idea," the elder replied.
The response caused the guard to scratch the top of his head, wondering if it was time for
the old man to retire from his days as a Pagna warrior.
"Can't you feel it, though?" the elder said. "That man is incredibly strong, and you know in
the world of Pagna, we have to be careful when masters like that come to visit us."
Upon entering, the elder was happy to answer the questions Murkel had, however odd they
may be. Since Murkel was asking about various things, he eventually got the answers he
sought.
Bofan was the man who had formed the Dark Faction, and he did so with the creation of the
Noctis Clan. Learning of the skills and names, Murkel was sure that they were the same
person.
However, he learned that the Dark Faction leader Bofan had gone missing, and no one
knew the real reason why. At the same time, the three factions had decided to communicate
more with each other, ushering in an era of peace, and the yearly martial arts tournament
was established around fifty years ago.
From what Murkel knew, the three clans didn't seem close back then. According to the
elder, the Dark Faction wasn't in a good situation. With Bofan gone for so long and Noctis
Clan members essentially nonexistent, the Dark Faction was weakening, and the three
factions were skirmishing more and more each day.
"And what about the hybrid that appeared fifty years ago?"
The elder raised an eyebrow. "Did that happen fifty years ago as well? I suppose it was
around that time, yes."
Now Murkel had a good idea of how long he had been away. "Thank you. I think it's about
time I return to the clan. Thank you for your answers. And, I wouldn't worry about the Dark
Faction for much longer; big changes will be coming."
Murkel said as he headed for the Erupting Fist Clan.
Chapter 738 The Ture Leader Is Back
Chapter 738 The Ture Leader Is Back
Finally, After a few detours, Murkel had arrived. The first place that came to mind the
moment he returned to the world of Pagna was the small fishing village he had known. Just
like with nearly everything, the village had transformed into quite the town.
The area had been developed with multiple houses and streets where people were trading,
resembling a market. The small stream of river now had a large bridge built over it,
seemingly connecting another living area on the other side.
Large nets were being used to pull up crawfish from the bottom, which were quickly carted
away. Everything operated like a perfectly functioning system.
'The town looks more developed compared to the others, even the guild building. I can see
it's taller compared to the residential buildings and far bigger than I remembered,' Murkel
thought.
The state of the current Erupting Fist Clan was somewhat the same as before. It was
considered a medium-sized clan. It had a long history and continued to exist until today,
which was how it managed to grow.
However, it was never able to achieve the same level of strength compared to the larger
and more powerful clans.
Wasting no time, just like before, Murkel headed to the clan base. It was a three-tiered
building with a broad base, similar to most of the warrior buildings in Pagna.
Upon arrival, Murkel knew he would have to do some explaining at the gate.
"Please gather the current clan head at my request," Murkel stated. "Inform them that an
old member of the Erupting Fist Clan has returned."
The guards looked at Murkel as if he were mad, making such a request without saying
anything else.
"Go play your games with someone else," the guard waved his hand dismissively.
In an instant, Murkel activated his Dark Condensed Qi. It lingered out of his body, spreading
across the ground and making the guards feel instantly sick.
It was clear that this Qi, and the power of its darkness, was not something an ordinary
person could produce. Both guards stepped back in fear, but as they tried to jump away,
they fell to the ground, trapped by the gravity of the Qi.
Murkel then took a step forward, continuing into the Erupting Fist Clan.
'All the time I spent away from this place, all the time I spent on my own, in the other
dimension, I cultivated with the Dark Qi method, and it grew stronger.'
'This cultivation, the manifestation of my Qi, is everything I went through—those years of
loneliness, everything I lost, and the friends I lost along the way.'
It didn't take long for Murkel to continue walking forward before he saw a small army of
Pagna warriors rushing out. He also saw several men in strange masks covering their faces,
and an old man running behind them.
Around thirty men had rushed out of the building, immediately surrounding Murkel but
keeping their distance, as they could feel his Qi.
Finally, the oldest member emerged with a cane in hand, staying back among the others.
The cane had the symbol of the Erupting Fist Clan on it.
"Great warrior!" The man with the cane said in a loud, booming voice. "Please, state the
reason for your visit and why you threaten us with your Qi. Are you perhaps someone who
has descended from the Divine Realm? Is there a reason for your visit?"
Given Murkel's displayed strength and unfamiliar face, they could only assume he was
someone from the Divine Realm who had come down.
Murkel looked at the faces around him, unable to recognize any of them. The questions he
wanted to ask—why they hadn't followed him, why no one came to seek him out back then
—couldn't be answered, as none of them existed anymore. So what was he to do now?
Murkel placed a hand on his chest, feeling pain at the realization that he might not get the
answers he sought. He felt something solid underneath.
"I came here… no, I have returned," Murkel declared.
The others didn't understand what this strange man meant, but then Murkel reached into
his clothing and pulled out the old medallion. It shone brightly into the elder's eyes, causing
him to fall to his knees.
"The true Clan Head… has returned."
Hearing those words caused Murkel to withdraw his Qi. He didn't expect the medallion to
have such an effect. When he was around, there was only one of its kind, and it was proof of
one's succession to the Erupting Fist Clan.
During his time away, he wouldn't blame them if they had made another medallion and
selected someone else as the successor. With so much time having passed, he wondered if
anyone would even know what the medallion represented. Nevertheless, he decided to give
it a shot.
"It seems we both have a lot of questions and explanations to do," Murkel said.
Things weren't as Murkel had expected upon returning. Everyone in the clan was courteous
to him, respectful, and treated him like a true leader.
Through talking with them, he learned that the story of the medallion had been passed
from one head to the next, and there were tales spoken about Murkel and his bravery—
mainly from the students he had taught who had risen and grown strong. He also learned
what had happened that day with the portal, how it had closed up when he went through.
This wasn't out of the realm of possibility. When Murkel stepped back into the world of
Pagna, he had also witnessed the portal behind him close for some reason.
What he did learn was that the last clan head was also a student of his, who had only
passed away around a month ago. If he had managed to return a little earlier, he could have
learned more.
The members of the Erupting Fist Clan gave him the option to take charge of the clan or
not. Murkel decided to accept the position, and there were no arguments, as they all could
feel his strength that day.
He took up the role that the clan heads before him had wished for him to assume, and that
was exactly what he did.
A darkness that had been covering his heart from before was slightly dissipating now that
he had returned to the clan. As he led them, Murkel was able to best the leaders in friendly
battles nearby. He even met someone he cared for deeply.
He cared for her so much that a child was on the way, and that child was soon to be born,
named Ricktor. Everything was going well.
"I have a family, a clan, and friends who respect me… but the Dark Faction as a whole is still
struggling. We, as a faction, must grow. I should try to find out what happened to Bofan and
those who are trying to suppress the Noctis Clan. They couldn't have just disappeared like
that."
It was during the search for the Noctis Clan that Murkel found out what the current leaders
of the factions were doing. How they were the ones responsible for getting rid of the Noctis
Clan, and it was quite obvious why. To stay on the top of the Dark Faction. It wasn't right,
and Murkel wanted to stop it, but he had his own family to worry about now, and there was
something else, Murkel found strange about himself, when he heard of portals, or the
beasts that came from them he found it difficult to kill them. Something had changed in
him, and he was worried.
Chapter 739 The Last Of Murkel
Chapter 739 The Last Of Murkel
Murkel remained the Clan Head of the Erupting Fist Clan and now had his son, Ricktor, to
look after. He found joy in his family and clan life. From time to time, he would even teach
Ricktor himself. Murkel had a talent for teaching, which was why he was originally an
instructor for the future stars of the Erupting Fist Clan. He would praise Ricktor when he
did well, not just because he was his son, but because Ricktor was extremely talented.
However, watching his son, despite his skill, Murkel couldn't shake a thought from the back
of his mind:
'Is my son like me? Is Ricktor like me? I'm no longer completely human. I can tell that from
my emotions, how fast my body heals, and how strong it is. I haven't been able to utilize the
hybrid beast power in me, but I know it's there even if it's not in my mind. There's a chance
that my son's talent is not just because of me but because of what I am.'
This thought caused Murkel to view his son in a different light. It was hard to shake the
feeling, as two sides within him seemed to conflict. He decided to distract himself with
other matters, particularly concerning the Noctis Clan. His search included traveling to
other clans and factions to gather information about the Noctis Clan's last known
whereabouts.
During his journeys, Murkel encountered more skirmishes and fights than he had
anticipated. Some people clearly knew something, and Murkel had to apply pressure to get
answers from them. Others attacked him simply because he was digging too deep.
The grand search for any living members of the Noctis Clan, the arts that existed, or what
had happened to them spanned years. From time to time, Murkel would stop by the
Erupting Fist Clan to check on his family. Yet, the connection and time spent with Ricktor
became less frequent. Murkel wasn't sure why.
He wasn't sure if it was fear that he had changed his son or if he simply cared less. It felt
that way, and the emotions in his head told his heart that he should be saddened, yet he
was not.
During his search for the Noctis Clan, Murkel also made a name for himself. As he traveled,
many Clan Heads and powerful members challenged him. He defeated them with ease.
Since Murkel didn't kill the Clan Heads he had beaten, only defeating them, many started to
become loyal or at least supportive of the Erupting Fist Clan.
They felt this was the new wave the Dark Faction needed, and the Erupting Fist Clan grew
stronger with more supplies and resources.
Murkel didn't keep his knowledge a secret. He was able to pass down the Erupting Fist
Clan's techniques, and they became as good as those of any top clan.
With enough information gathered about the Noctis Clan, Murkel concluded that they had
been wiped out. The four clans responsible were the ones Bofan himself had selected as the
heads of the Dark Faction.
It seemed as if he had been betrayed, and if he wasn't, then his descendants had certainly
betrayed the Noctis Clan, eradicating every trace of them.
With this information in hand and after many years of travel, Murkel returned to the
Erupting Fist Clan and took his seat as Clan Head. He rubbed his forehead with his hand.
"You have returned from your long journey, but it seems you are more troubled than
before," Arkon, head of the special forces within the Erupting Fist Clan, said. An elder who
had served the last two Clan Heads.
"I have always offered to help, as you have done much for the clan and the lives of everyone
within. Even if that wasn't your intended goal. Whatever is troubling you, I'm sure we can
help."
Murkel wondered what help a powerful clan could offer now that the Noctis Clan was gone.
There was no way to revive it, and it wasn't as if Murkel could embark on a journey to
assist Bofan, who was most likely dead.
His goal seemed to have come to an end, and he wasn't even sure it had been a goal to begin
with. Bofan was someone he had been chasing, someone from his era who left a great
legacy. Murkel had hoped finding him would provide some answers.
"There is no need for you to hold back," Arkon spoke again. "Whatever your desire, we will
help." Arkon placed his head onto the wooden floor.
"My desire?" Murkel repeated, looking at his fist.
He hardly had time to think before he spoke. "I wish to get rid of the Light Faction, the
Demonic Faction, and the Dark Faction. Everything will be under my control, and they will
pay for what they have done."
Murkel was somewhat shocked by his own words, yet he knew the feelings inside him were
true. He harbored hatred for the Dark Faction for what they had done, but why would he
hate the other factions, other than to protect those he cared about?
It was then he realized that he hadn't resisted the feeling or the desire of what he said.
Lifting his hand into view again, he closed his fist, and a red solid crystal formed at the top
of his hand.
"When did it happen?" Murkel asked himself.
The voice of the Hybrid was lost, possibly forever, but in turn, Murkel had lost himself. The
reason the Hybrid's voice could no longer be heard was that his and the Hybrid's voices
were now the same.
The desires and feelings were shared, and as each day passed, humans began to look like
mere insects to him, including his own son.
"Very well, sir. As I said, we will help you with whatever it is you desire!" Arkon stated.
This marked the beginning of how Murkel became the principal of the Dark Faction
Academy and eventually the head of the Dark Faction, leading them to where they were
today, fighting against Raze in the Martial Arts Tournament.
Chapter 740 Raze A Five Star Mage
Chapter 740 Raze A Five Star Mage
Ricar, along with Beatrix and Hannah, saw everything. They had their eyes fixed on Murkel
as his body managed to heal itself from the devastating attack that Raze was able to pull off.
When seeing him heal, with a keen eye, Ricar was sure of it; he had seen the red gooey
substance. A substance that was used on hybrids, there was no doubt in his mind that this
person was a red hybrid.
"Only one has ever appeared in existence before, and now it has appeared again," Ricar
mumbled to himself.
"What should we do?" Beatrix asked. "Should we go in and help them? After what you said
about the dangers of the red hybrid, doesn't that mean once again all of the factions are
going to have to come together to defeat that thing?"
Ricar was at a loss. He was wondering if the safest thing for them to do right now was to
run away or help out in some way.
"I'm not so sure that we can be of any help, and the rest of the Light Faction wouldn't be
able to come. I think it would be best if the two of you at least ran away," Ricar explained.
Both Hannah and Beatrix were surprised. Why would the elder tell them to run away and
for him to stay behind? The world of Pagna warriors was not like that of regular citizens,
where one would save the youngest first.
In the world of Pagna, the strongest was to survive. If the strongest survived, the chance of
the clan still being able to exist and prosper was much more likely. The worth of the
weaker in the clan was just that—they were worth less.
"I know what you are thinking, but I wish to see this event with my own eyes, as I believe
it's an event that will change the world," Ricar explained.
Hearing this, Beatrix had also made up her mind.
"If it's that big of an event, then I will have to stay as well."
"Don't say anything," Hannah interrupted Beatrix before she could say anything else. "I go
where you go. It's decided, and you can't stop me. If the both of you are being stubborn,
then it's the same for me."
On the ground floor itself, no one wished to move in further. They were already worn out
from heavy fighting in the first place and were surprised to see that Murkel was in perfect
condition.
"What's wrong? Was this not what any of you were expecting?" Murkel replied. "Did you
really think it was so easy to take on someone who has the title, as the closest to the Divine
realm? All of you need to do better!"
Murkel started to laugh, and Ricktor felt sick to his stomach. He knew he was no longer
looking at his father, but what could they do? As they watched Murkel laughing on the spot,
sure of his victory, a lightning strike hit his body, lighting him up.
When looking at the stream of lightning, they could see that it was coming out of both of
Raze's hands, flowing out of his fingertips.
"Do you think I've run out of options? I have plenty of ways to hurt you!" Raze claimed.
While the tail of lightning was coming out of his fingertips, he was continuing to walk
forward toward Murkel. The lightning soon stopped out of his hands, but the shock
continued to linger for slightly longer.
Then in both of Raze's hands were two swords—the ghost blade and another. He started to
swing them both in succession, one after the other, along with his wind magic, sending out
multiple strikes.
They hit Murkel's hard body, causing cuts that drew blood but also appeared to somewhat
bounce off him and go toward the cursed part of the arena behind him.
Everyone was in awe as they watched the Dark Magus wielding this strange power of his.
They clearly weren't Pagna techniques.
"In situations like this, I need to improvise!" Raze exclaimed as he got rid of both of his
swords and gathered wind magic surrounding his feet and the palm of one of his hands. A
whirlwind had gathered behind him.
Meanwhile, Dark magic had swirled around his right arm, moving toward his palm.
The wounds on Murkel had healed, and the lightning no longer seemed to have an effect.
"You think attacks like that will hurt me? I can tell, none of you have any weight. None of
you have any idea what I have been through to get to where I am right now!" Murkel
exclaimed.
"I can say the exact same to you." Raze then flicked off his feet, pushing himself with his Qi,
and sprung out of the tornado of magic from behind. It was a powerful spell that pushed
the others back just from the power alone, even though they weren't close.
It was a high-level Wind magic spell.
'My specialty in the past before Dark magic was Wind magic after all, and I learned a thing
or two about combination magic!'
As Raze was pushed forward, he thrust his fist as if he was punching the air, and a ring of
Dark Pulse fired out. It was pinpoint sharp like a laser, the propelling wind mixed with the
sharpness of the wind, Qi, and destructive power of his Dark magic.
At that point, a laser shot right through Murkel's chest. The Dark magic had gone right
through him, breaking a complete hole in the arena.
Murkel looked down and could see the hole in his chest. Even he was quite shocked.
However, Raze wasn't done there.
He placed both his hands on the floor, and two ice rocks had formed. He then moved them
together, slamming them together, encasing Murkel in the middle of it all.
Raze then stood up, looking ahead. He had used up a lot of magic and a lot of spells, but he
still had a lot of fight in him.
"This is the power of a five-star mage," Raze claimed. "You might feel like you climbed
through hell and back, but for me, this is my second time doing it."
Chapter 741 Your Not The Only One That's Special
Chapter 741 Your Not The Only One That's Special
The onlookers in the area were stunned by what they had seen. A large display of magical
abilities. Two powerful people were fighting. Perhaps they should have been somewhat
afraid of what they had seen; instead, they took in the beauty of magic that day.
The Crimson Crane, along with many others, had seen magic before. They had nearly all
gone up against mages and fought against them, so they had an idea of what one with
magical powers could do.
However, it was the first time they had witnessed it on such a large scale. The number of
spells that had been used, including the large variety of spells as well.
Seeing Raze fight like this, they were getting an inkling of the power he had. Just before, he
had used devastating Pagna skills and now had used large-scale magic as well.
"I knew I was right about him," Alba said. "He is the one that's going to change the entirety
of the Crimson Crane, and the whole world is going to know about it."
Many seeing Raze thought the same thing, but Ricar, who was watching from above, was
deeply concerned.
"From the look on their faces, they're satisfied by that performance, but that won't be
enough to take out the red Hybrid!" Ricar claimed.
The others didn't notice it, but Raze did. In the large iceberg that had been created,
something was happening. Raze quickly placed both of his hands on the floor.
"Uplifting wind!" Magic swirled out of his palms and spread out to the arena. The next
moment, everyone felt themselves being lifted up from the ground.
They were pushed up from the floor and could see the arena floor several meters below.
"Did Raze just use his magic on us?" Simyon asked.
"Just trust him, he wouldn't have done this for no reason!" Safa called out, still floating in
the air.
It was Amir who noticed the cracks that were forming in the giant iceberg.
"No, you fool!" Amir shouted. "Focus on the fight, don't focus on us!"
The ice had broken apart, and strange hardened red crystal could be seen cracking right
through it. From all sides, right through the ice, the red crystal had expanded out like a
large spider web going across the arena.
"Great push!" Raze called out, and wind swirled in a particular direction, grabbing all of
those in the air. It then pushed them off until the group of people ended up crashing into
the stands.
Some of them had ended up in awkward positions, with their heads touching seats, bodies
entangled with each other.
"Could have moved us a bit softer," Tilon said.
As the group started to get up, they quickly realized why Raze had done what he had done.
Looking down at the arena floor itself, it was covered in the strange red crystallization.
It really did look like a giant spider web that had managed to wiggle itself into the walls of
the arena, stuck in place, piercing through it.
"We would have all been killed on the spot if Raze didn't do that," Alba exclaimed.
"But look!" Rayna called out. "Because of us, because we were in the way, look what's
happened!"
She pointed down to the ground, and she could see Raze himself had been pierced in
several places by the red crystal. Some of the crystal that had aimed for his head and heart
had broken because he had managed to summon his Dark magic in time to protect himself,
but blood was still dripping from the crystal that had pierced his thighs and other areas.
'That attack broke through the barrier of the Blazer… The Blazer did its best to block it, but
it's not so good against physical attacks like this,' Raze thought.
Amir had already predicted that this was going to happen when he saw Raze make the first
move.
"I thought he was someone that didn't care about others, a person that was determined to
accomplish his goal, so why did he go out of his way? Now that he's injured, his chances of
winning this fight have greatly lessened," Amir said.
Dame stood up next to him, wincing as his body was in great pain, and checked to his side
that Mantis had even been taken out of the arena.
"I don't understand that guy too much myself sometimes, but as you said, I don't think he's
the type of person who would put himself in a worse position. If he saved us, then he did it
for one of two reasons: because he wanted us out of his way so he could focus on the fight
or because even with helping us out, he's still confident he can win this fight!" Dame asked.
Amir could feel the confidence Dame had in his fellow partner, but none of them knew the
exact strength of the red Hybrid. The fact was, Raze had managed to pierce a hole right
through his heart, and somehow he was still alive.
"Haha!" Murkel laughed, both of his hands open wide. He started to retract the red crystal
spread in the arena back to his body, leaving what was in Raze inside of him. As for the hole
that was in his chest, it was no longer visible, only a mark on his clothing.
"It took all three factions' strongest to try and take me out, and they still weren't able to
finish the job," Murkel said. "Do you really think a single warrior like you can face me?"
Moving his hands, Raze started to gather the Dark magic around himself, in particular, the
pierced parts of his body with the red crystal. It disintegrated the crystal, eventually
smashing it and causing shards to fall to the floor.
Still, from the wounds on his body, blood was falling onto the floor.
"Didn't you hear me before?" Raze said. "I'm not a warrior, so stop putting those standards
on me."
"Ah yes, those strange powers of yours. It might be you're not a being from Pagna after all,
maybe from a dimension where civilization still exists, maybe even a lost one, the sole
survivor," Murkel said.
"Close enough," Raze replied as he stood up strong. Placing his hand out to the side, the
Ghost blade appeared in one hand. Then, when Raze went and placed his other hand to the
side, a large white glowing sword appeared, shining with power. The Lux Sword had
appeared.
As he held it in his hand, the effect of the Lux Sword and Blazer got to work, and the
wounds on his body were visibly starting to heal.
"You're not the only one that can do some bullshit type of healing," Raze claimed, holding
up the Lux Sword.
Chapter 742 I Am The Dark Magus
Chapter 742 I Am The Dark Magus
At one end of the arena, the sword was shining brightly and beaming with power. It was
clear that it wasn't just an ordinary sword but a special one.
"Is that something he created himself?" Alba wondered. She had seen him use it before
when the Behemoth Clan had struck, but it was the first time she was paying attention and
seeing such strong healing powers.
"I always wondered when he created such special powerful weapons, why he had handed
them out to the other members, and he still hadn't created something for himself. But I
guess he does have special weapons of his own after all."
At times, Raze was even conflicted, especially when he had created the legendary shield.
However, the cursed effect was too high-risk for it to be something he wanted to utilize,
and most of the weapons he created for others weren't suitable for his fighting style in the
first place.
As for the Lux Sword, it wasn't even his creation but something he had received before, and
a particular person was excited the moment he saw the sword.
"Right, he took that from the Lethal Bite Clan leader," Bargo said. "I forgot he even had that
thing. That leader was almost impossible to kill because of that sword. With that in Raze's
hand, this fight might actually turn around."
The Lux Sword was meant to be held with a single hand. With his strength, he could have
held even a large sword in a single hand anyway.
But the Ghost blade and the Lux Sword could both be held in a single hand, though Raze
preferred to have one hand free to cast his magic.
Now he held both swords by his side in his hand.
"Is that mage a dual swordsman?" Zon asked.
"Not that I've ever seen," Liam replied. Maybe if Raze had something like the system, he
could copy Alba's skills and be quite useful, but what could Raze do with both swords in his
hands?
Raze stood there as he looked at Murkel and waited for him to make the first move. With
the Lux Sword in his hand, his Dark magic was weakened, but he still had many uses of
other types of magic.
"Alright, I'll take the bait. Let's see what your sword can do!" Murkel raised his hand, and
the entirety of it crystallized in a red transparent-like crystal. When it covered his hand, it
looked more like that of a giant sword.
Right after, Murkel started to run forward, and putting his hand out, several large shards of
red crystal shot toward him.
Seeing this, Raze charged forward as well. He didn't falter as he swung the Ghost blade
along with his Wind magic, sending strikes towards the red crystal. As it hit the red crystal,
it didn't do much other than deflect its path slightly.
The red crystal came towards him, and before it touched him, his special barrier activated.
A ball appeared around Raze, hitting the crystals and causing them to fall to the floor.
"Very interesting, that didn't happen before!" Murkel said as he swung his weapon right at
Raze, who lifted his sword and blocked the attack straight ahead with the Lux Sword.
Immediately, as the two of them made contact, Raze could feel his feet and his whole body
under great strain.
"You took my hit straight on, what did you forget about the properties of my Qi?" Murkel
smiled.
The barrier had activated and was seen slightly around the Lux Sword, but the red crystal
then grew from the red crystal sword itself. It spidered out, and several smaller lines of red
crystal were going to pierce Raze.
It broke through the barrier and stabbed right through his Blazer, piercing his skin.
Yet Raze didn't falter as he had the Ghost blade ready by his side.
"The Fourth Formation, Void Pulse Formation!" Lightning was gathering at the back of the
sword as Raze thrust it forward.
Seeing this just in time, Murkel, with his other hand, created dark energy, and his visual Qi
lingered to the side. The Void Pulse attack was then dragged right toward the dark energy,
completely missing Murkel.
However, Raze had somewhat expected that, which was why he had used the lightning
magic. The strike lingered to his side and went to hit Murkel.
As the blue sparks went toward him, red substance crystallized on the outside of his body.
The lightning just bounced off it, and Murkel was unaffected as he delivered a punch right
to Raze's stomach.
As he did, the red crystal from the fist pierced through his stomach, ripping the clothing
and sending Raze flying off in the distance. Raze had a bad wound, but the Lux Sword was
doing its job as it was trying to heal him.
Using his Wind magic, he stopped himself from being flung too far from the fight, and he
could see Murkel coming at him again.
Raze swung his sword out in succession as he went ahead and used another of the Dark
Edge Sword Arts.
'Third Formation, Nightmare Veil Formation.'
Each time Raze swung his sword, beasts came out, illusions that would have been created
with Dark magic, but it was significantly in a weakened state.
As the beasts came out, from Murkel's body, the red crystal just sprouted out in every
direction, destroying them. The Dark magic that was used flickered on Murkel but seemed
like it did nothing at all.
Murkel was still charging ahead, and Raze had no choice but to swing his sword again.
"Shadow Bind Formation!"
The Dark magic swirled around his sword and went out, winding around Murkel's body,
restricting him to where he was. Rather than taking this chance to attack while Murkel was
restricted, Raze quickly broke the distance between the two of them.
The Shadow Bind Formation had ended, and Murkel just turned to Raze at that point. "That
sword, it may be healing you, but it's nothing special other than that. You are nothing
special. You are relying on skills written by a man that has long been gone from this world."
"Not only that, you can't even fully utilize all of his skills! When I saw you use the Noctis
Clan's techniques, I had to admit, I thought about keeping you alive, but right now all I see
is a poor imitation of Bofan. You will never be him!" Murkel exclaimed, stretching out both
of his arms, and now his right and left were crystallized.
While his Dark magic was lingering behind his back, floating in the air like a flame. "I am
not trying to be like him!" Raze said, as he placed away the Lux Sword and started to gather
his Dark magic around his arm once more. "I am the Dark Magus!"
Chapter 743 Pushing To The Next Limit
Chapter 743 Pushing To The Next Limit
Raze had already used a lot of mana, and Qi in his fight against Murkel. He was pushing
himself, even taking Qi pills and mana pills during the fight. Only small amounts rather than
the cursed pills. It was painful for him to move, as he was forcing his body to go beyond
what it could. Using the Ten Descending Steps in succession took a lot of Qi, and took a toll
on his body. Honestly it was somewhat what Raze was relying on to finish the fight and yet
it hadn't done so. Thankfully with the Lux Sword and the blazer, he was in a better
condition. It was helping his body heal from the down side of already having used a Cursed
Qi pill and now using regular pills to supplement his mana and Qi.
Regardless of it all, he was now in the current situation, where the fight was still continuing
on, and he was unable to finish off the opponent in front of him. "The Dark Magus, Ha!"
Murkel laughed. "You are saying that, like your name means something, you will never be
like Bofan!"
To the Light Faction that was listening, as well as the others around, they found it strange
for Murkel to mention the Dark Faction's founder's name. The way he was speaking, it was
as if he directly knew Bofan, but judging by the time frame it should have been impossible,
yet no one knew Murkel's past. Raze was taking in what Murkel was saying though. 'Bofan
Klikola, the founder of the Dark Faction, but that wasn't all he was. It's more than likely, he
was a man that found himself in the same situation as me. A mage from Alterian that was
sent to the world of Pagna.'
'Spending some time here, he had founded his own faction and also made his own clan. In
particular I had found his clan's martial arts, and with it Alterian writing, teaching one the
true way to use the Dark Edge Sword Arts Formations, with magic.'
'So far whenever I've been in a pickle, it's these arts that have managed to save me. Their
powerful techniques that I've used. His years of research have clearly been displayed and
he is someone that I have to look up to just based on his achievements with the arts alone.'
'Past the four formations, I haven't even been able to learn the ones more advanced than
that.' Judging from what Murkel was saying, he could tell that as well. The other four
formations were much more complicated to use.
'Regardless, what Murkel is saying is right. I'm just using his findings, I never spent the time
trying to learn my own Pagna arts, making my own martial art. I also never tried to
combine magic and the arts in the same way as the Dark Edge Sword Arts did.'
'I was just taking everything I found, as if I was rushing toward my goal.'
Raze hadn't been in the world of Pagna for long, not by anyone's standards, but in his rush
to get stronger quicker, he had also made enemies far quicker than he imagined. He had to
keep pushing himself in the world just to survive each day. That was when the book fell
into his lap. It felt like when he opened a book, and went to the back and found the answers
right there in front of him. Rather than working out what needed to be done, or learning
about the calculations, instead he went to the back of the book, to easily get what was
needed to be done. 'I wasn't usually the type of person to take shortcuts, I usually try to
analyse every situation, doing what I can to get out of it.' Raze told himself. 'And now,
because of my impatience, I am paying for it dearly.' In a lot of cases, Raze started to think,
there were perhaps multiple ways that he could have avoided this clash with Murkel. Sure
with his goal, the two of them might have clashed some day, but if it was later, then the
situation they were in now might have not occurred.
'I let the anger get the better of me when we were in that assessment. I decided to get close
to people when there was no need to, and in order to make their lives better, and to take
them away from the trouble in front of them, now I'm risking my whole life, and risking my
whole goal with it.'
Looking into the stands, he stared at Safa, Simyon, Liam, and went on to look at Dame,
Rayna, and the rest of the Crimson Crane, all the people that had helped him get to where
he was today. All of the people that he should have forgotten about. Even now, Raze was
sure he could do something if he wanted to get out of this situation. There were many times
when Raze had to run from the Grand Magus, and live to fight another day. Yet right now,
that wasn't what he wanted to do.
Raze covered both of his hands in the dark purple magic, and when the magic encased his
swords, they both disappeared and only Raze hands were by his side now. "I am the Dark
Magus!" Raze exclaimed, pulling out his arm, and with it, another Cursed pill had appeared
in his hand. Alba and the others had a bad feeling about what they were seeing. They
remembered the last time he had used more than one Cursed pill in a row. It had caused
devastating effects and he was out for around a week. There was a good chance that he
might never wake up again. Raze knew this as well and regardless he placed the pill into his
mouth, and the energy started to surround his entire body, surging it with great power
once again. 'I will fight the way I fought before.' Raze thought. Raze's eyes started to glow
slightly purple as he looked directly at Murkel. "I am not Bofan, and I will show you how I
got my name!"
Chapter 744 The Power Of Dark Magic
Chapter 744 The Power Of Dark Magic
In the fight so far, Raze had used all of the Dark Edge Sword Arts he knew, and they didn't
work. He also used a number of large magic spells, and that didn't work either, and even
used a combination of both spells and his Qi, and that didn't work.
Throughout the fight, he was trying to think of the best way to fight him. Taking another
Cursed Qi pill for a minute would restore either his mana or Qi.
'When taking the pill, just like I've learned to cultivate the demonic energy to restore my Qi
and the Dark cultivation to restore my mana, I can do the same when taking the pill and
choose to restore either one. In this case, I've decided to restore my mana!'
Dark energy was flowing around Raze's body.
'I became the Dark Magus because of my prowess in Dark magic, along with Wind magic.
It's what I know best, so it's time that I fight like I used to!' Raze thought to himself.
Raze took a few steps forward as if he was running and then leapt up in the air. He stayed
in place as he used his Wind magic to keep him up and swung out his hands, firing off Dark
Pulses from his hands right toward Murkel.
Crystallizing his arms, Murkel was able to increase the surface area so it looked more like a
shield, and the Dark energy was just hitting the red crystal, bouncing off it.
Raze quickly moved his position, changing from side to side, and continued to fire off Dark
Pulses from all angles while in the air. Specifically, Raze was able to get shots off from
angles and positions that were hard to block, but Murkel was talented.
As he looked at the beams of Dark energy being shot through the air coming his way, he
would move his hand through the air, hitting them perfectly. He was jumping, avoiding
some, allowing them to hit the floor while hitting away others, and spinning his body to
attack each one of them.
"You think just because you're up there I can't get you!" Murkel said as he jumped back,
avoiding two beams, and threw out his hand. The red crystal extended outward coming
right toward Raze.
Seeing this, Raze shoved both of his hands forward, shooting out a consistent dark beam of
energy, hitting the red crystallization. For the first time, the red crystallization had been
stopped.
It was pushing it back in the air. The Dark magic power and the red crystallization trying to
form, but then out from the sides, the red crystal was forming more places in the air, just
like when it was coming out like a spider web, and several single strands of the red crystal
were now coming out at Raze.
"That's fine," Raze said, as he continued to let out Dark energy from one hand and with the
other he formed a ball of wind. It was spinning, forming a ball of wind, and then it expanded
out until it covered Raze like a large shield of wind.
Slowly, Raze twiddled his finger, and tendrils of Dark magic were forming into the ball of
wind and surrounding Raze until there was a large black ball in the air.
As the crystal went forward from all angles, it was breaking when trying to enter and attack
Raze. The strong wind currents that were constantly spinning were filled with Dark magic,
making them stronger, and a strong form of defense had been made.
After breaking it all, Raze then moved forward, and the ball of wind behind him was slowly
following. As he flew in the air toward Murkel, the wind of Dark energy was hovering
behind him.
"It's hard when you're fighting against someone whose capabilities you don't know," Raze
claimed. "But the situation is the same for both of us."
Raze landed just shy of where Murkel was standing, and the wave of Dark magic mixed
with wind soon wrapped right around Murkel.
The wind, along with the Dark magic, was constantly spinning around Murkel's entire body.
It was hitting him from every side, hitting the crystallized segments as well as the flesh
parts of his body, ripping his skin up.
Now Raze was close, and he didn't stop there. He held out both of his hands, and Dark
magic was lingering from his fingertips into the tornado of attack. The tornado of Dark
magic was getting larger and bigger in size.
"Do you think this is enough to stop me?"
Through the dark tornado of power, Raze could see a red figure. It was bright, still being
able to be seen just slightly through the tornado of darkness. It didn't just cover one part of
the body, but seemingly covered the entire part of the body.
Raze couldn't quite make it out but could see it was trying to come forward, still being hit
by the magic.
"I never for a moment thought that would be enough to finish you." Raze lifted both of his
hands, a large ball of Dark energy was being created, and it was being condensed down as
more Dark energy was flowing out of his body.
The ball was vibrating as if it was struggling to contain its power and seemingly looking
like it could explode at any second.
"Negative, Dark Bomb." Raze said as he threw both of them out, the size of his fist.
The balls went right into the tornado, and just like an explosion, exploded. The Wind magic
broke out, sending Dark magic flying in all directions, and the two bombs had expanded,
creating darkness.
It expanded out at first, but with Raze there, he lifted his hands and pushed the Dark magic
back to where the target was, completely covering the area where Murkel once stood.
'As a five-star mage, this is the strongest Dark magic I know. I can't access the spells I had
as a nine-star mage, but it's stronger than when I was a Dark mage at five-star before
because now I have a Dark core! Things are different this time, and I will get rid of the
Grand Magus!'
Chapter 745 Breaking The Body and Mind
Chapter 745 Breaking The Body and Mind
Raze's darkness had been condensed down, exploding in an area and then pushing it down
further to a single spot. Right now, the power of the Dark magic would be purely tearing
apart Murkel.
Unlike the tornado of Dark magic from before, this was pure Dark magic, which basis for
working was destruction. This was one of the strongest spells Raze knew, the Negative
Dark Bomb. The attack acted twice in the expansion and then the condensing form.
However, at the back of his mind, as he saw this, Raze was worried about one thing. He
continued to condense down the attack, and finally, he was no longer able to handle the
pressure.
His shaking hands expanded out, and so did the Dark energy, breaking into the air and
dispersing into a large number of particles.
'I've used up a lot of mana again,' Raze said to himself, slightly looking at the ground, his
vision starting to blur. Using the Cursed Qi pills in a row was already having an effect on
him, and it felt worse than the last time he had used it.
His body wasn't building up a resistance to it; it was the opposite. Each time he forced
himself to use these Qi pills, the after effects were getting worse.
'It reminds me of one of the textbooks I read about Dark magic; you can never get away
from a curse.'
The ultimate downside of creating items with Dark magic. Raze still had mana left; he still
had time left, but would it be enough?
As his vision started to come back, and he looked ahead, he could see something standing in
front of him—a red figure with large beast-like eyes as big as fists.
Out of its back were several red crystals spiraling out like that of a hedgehog. This
continued on the back of his arms and the back of his legs, as well as showing slightly on
other parts of his body.
This was Murkel, but not the Murkel that the others knew. It was a different kind of Murkel;
it looked more like a monster than a man, apart from the fact that it stood there on two
legs.
"You ripped off this human flesh of mine to reveal what was underneath," Murkel said, his
voice deeper than before, with an odd echo. It sounded as if two people were talking at the
same time but with a slight delay.
In one of Murkel's hands, there was a portal of his Dark Qi. It looked like a miniature black
hole that was continuously swirling around, and it got smaller and smaller until Murkel had
crushed it in his hand.
"Your powers are extremely powerful, strong enough to even destroy my red crystals. This
is a first since I faced them back then," Murkel said. "I should apologize; this is not the same
as the powers Bofan used. I can see this is your own power."
"Your powers are extremely powerful, strong enough to even destroy my red crystals. This
is a first since I faced them back then," Murkel said. "I should apologize; this is not the same
as the powers Bofan used. I can see this is your own power."
"Unfortunately for you, my power is still able to draw yours away, and from the looks of
things, you're on your last legs."
Murkel had used and condensed his Dark Qi. In doing that, he had drawn most of the Dark
magic to one point, to the Dark Qi that was swirling in his hand. While this was happening,
Murkel was constantly reinforcing his hand with his red crystallization.
At worst, Murkel believed he would lose a hand, but what felt like a final attack from Raze,
he would survive and become the victor. Besides, if he lost a hand, he could always have it
return.
"What is that?" Dame asked from the stand. "His skin, it's red; it looks like a beast but in the
shape of a body."
"You should know that as a hybrid, your body has different states of transformations that it
can achieve. You can just use a small transformation or allow your whole body to change."
"The latter usually being more powerful, but in turn, you give up far more control," Amir
explained, looking at Mantis as a prime example.
At the Bonum Society, they would learn to control and work together with the inner beast
inside them. The final result was consolidating into one; there were no longer two minds
but having one mind as superior over the other.
When Amir looked at Murkel, he had no idea who had won out. Was the beast's mind
mainly in control, changing Murkel's view completely, or was it the other way around? So
much time had passed.
Seeing the new state of Murkel, Raze lifted his hands up, then stomped the floor, shifting
forward, and threw out two Dark Pulses. They went out fast and powerful, infused with his
Qi.
Murkel, at this point, just stood there and allowed the attacks to hit him. As the Dark Pulse
landed on his skin, the magic hit his body and dispersed into nothing but energy particles.
It only slightly jolted Murkel's new body.
"This is something that the others didn't quite see," Murkel claimed. "You see, back then it
was just the Hybrid that was fighting. It wasn't me as I am now," Murkel said, lifting his
hand.
"This body has the strength of the Hybrid but can reinforce itself with Qi, giving my body a
more solid foundation, allowing my strikes to be far stronger, and allowing me to use the
properties of the Dark Qi." Murkel lifted up his foot and stomped it on the ground.
The entire area beneath his foot cracked, and the large cracks continued forward, reaching
the very edge of the arena and where Raze was standing as well. The whole arena was
shaking, and the others had to brace themselves not to fall over.
"That's… so much power," Rayna said. "Is… Raze going to be okay?"
It was then that Raze realized, as his vision was starting to blur again, that the Cursed pill's
energy was starting to fade. He looked up at the face of his sister Safa in particular.
"No… don't do it!" she screamed as if she could read his mind.
Forming in Raze's hand was another Dark Qi pill.
"At this rate, I have no choice. I just have to keep taking these things until I get rid of you.
Heck, if I have to take these things for the rest of my life until I get rid of you and the Grand
Magus, then so be it."
"Because if I don't take you down here, then I'm dead anyway," Raze said as he took a third
cursed Qi pill all on the same day.
Chapter 746 5 Percent Chance Of Dying
Chapter 746 5 Percent Chance Of Dying
The pain that Raze had gone through before, the fact that when he had taken a few of the
Cursed pills in a row, he wasn't sure if he would ever wake up again, was something he
thought he would never go through again.
He had somewhat even set a hard rule for himself not to do so, yet here he was, having
taken a third Qi pill in a short amount of time. Using up his mana the first time to send the
other factions away.
Then using a Qi pill to bring the Crimson Crane to his aid, using another Qi pill once again
after using all of the Dark Edge Sword Arts against Murkel. Now having used up his Qi,
using his strongest forms of magic, he had no choice but to use it for a third time.
"You should know the definition of an idiot," Murkel said with a smile that curved heavily
upward, almost just touching the corner of his eyes. "You are trying to do the same thing
again and again, expecting a different result."
From just taking the third pill, although Raze could feel his mana coming back to him, he
could feel a great strain being placed on his magic core that was surrounding his heart.
With each thump, a shock was being sent through his body. This wasn't the same as last
time. His whole body was tensing up with each pulsation, but he had to hold it in, so he
couldn't even reply to Murkel.
Regardless, he didn't think it was useless. Each time Raze was fighting against Murkel, he
had allowed him to reveal more and more of his powers, and he was pretty sure Murkel
was now at his peak.
This was the peak of his strength, so if he could just finish him off here, everything would
be fine.
———
In the stands, most of the Crimson Crane members knew what Raze had just taken. They
remembered when he had used such a pill fighting against Feebie from the main clan.
"What's with that look on your face, why did that woman scream at him!" Rayna asked Alba
who was by her side.
"The last time Raze took so many pills like that, he didn't wake up for a week or so. We
honestly thought he wasn't going to wake up, and he's taken three of those pills," Alba
explained. "The Qi pills made by the Dark Magus have been circulating for a while, and
information has been passed to not take more than one within 24 hours.
"In cases where people have taken more than one in that time, it has resulted in death."
"And you said he's just taken three of those things!" Rayna shouted.
Of course, Alba felt like Raze being the Dark Magus himself knew about the side effects of
the pills greater than anyone, and he possibly knew how to counter their effects more than
others.
Which was why he could take several pills, but she wasn't so sure.
"Raze is out there right now, risking his life for all of us, and all of us are just in the stands
standing here. He could die. I have to go help him!" Rayna said, as she was ready to be on
the move.
She wasn't as hurt as the others that had been fighting; she was perhaps in the best
condition, and as a middle-stage warrior, she had to be able to do something. She had
jumped down from where she was in the stands and went to kick off one of the seats.
The moment she did, she saw a figure, dressed in a strange skin-tight black suit, with
glowing red energy moving through it. The man seemingly appeared out of nowhere and
grabbed Rayna's hand, pulling her down to the stands and off to the side.
"What are you doing, who even are you!" Rayna shouted.
She went to charge in again, trying to throw a fist, but the strange man had quickly blocked
the fist.
"I am someone that is trying to save your life," Zon answered as he threw the fist away.
Alba was trying to figure out where Zon had come from. In the stands, they all were now
relatively close, considering half of the arena had already completely been destroyed.
When Raze had lifted everyone, he chucked everyone in the same general direction as well.
So although everyone might be in different areas of the same stands, they were all
relatively close.
Regardless, Alba, a middle-stage warrior, still was unable to sense someone coming in so
fast.
"You're just going to have to trust me on this one," Zon explained. "But I have evaluated
that even if you went in right now and helped, you would die in less than ten seconds, a fifty
percent chance of dying in five seconds, and that's only because the man you know as Raze
would choose to help you."
Hearing these words immediately caused Rayna's blood to boil. How could a person she
had never met before make such an evaluation?
"If you don't believe me, then you must believe in Raze," Zon continued. "If he believed that
any of you would have been a help, he would have never cleared you from the arena floor
in the first place."
"It is because of all of you that he has been able to get this far, but that is as far as you can
push him. For his sake, it's best you don't get involved. I assume that he has some feelings
for you all; otherwise, he would have never pushed you out in the first place."
The others that were standing in the stands had heard those words as well. It was hard for
them to imagine, the Dark Magus, the man who hardly spoke to them, who only did things
for his personal gain, with a focus on gaining strength, having feelings for them?
It didn't seem to be true, but his actions always spoke otherwise. On top of this, hearing this
from Zon only made them want to jump in more to help him, no matter how little it would
be.
"If you want further information, the chances of Raze winning this fight from what I have
seen are less than five percent," Zon explained. "However, the look on his face, his
expression is not one that thinks he is going to lose, and judging by his own expression, he
believes he has a fifty percent chance of winning this battle."
Chapter 747 The Third Qi Pill's Drains
Chapter 747 The Third Qi Pill's Drains
With each beat of his heart, an electric pulse of pain was sent through Raze's entire body,
but he beared it as he looked straight ahead at Murkel. With another Qi pill, he had the
chance to use extremely powerful moves once again.
With one hand, he gathered a tornado of wind, and with the other, his Qi was gathering in
circles around his wrist. Not just one circle of Dark magic had gathered around his wrist
but two.
Shifting his feet forward, Raze let out the tornado of wind behind him, which propelled him
forward, hitting the ground and lifting him slightly into the air.
"Dark Ring!" Raze swung his fist out, and two of the pulses left his hand. It was just as fast
as the Dark Pulse move but rather than a single line, the Dark magic extended into two
rings.
Murkel looked to move, but Raze was moving his hands with them. One of the Dark Rings
then wrapped around Murkel's leg, and the other wrapped around his fist.
"Shackle!"
The Dark magic rings that surrounded Murkel's body grew smaller in size, shrinking down
until they were skin-tight around his body.
At first, Murkel was ready to get rid of them, but they seemingly had no effect on his skin,
doing next to no damage.
Raze, as soon as he had landed, had two tornado balls of wind covering his hands, and fired
them off behind him, sending him right in the direction of Murkel.
'Heading to Alterian and going to the police force, there were a couple of skills that I
managed to learn thanks to Harvey, Dark magic skills that even I didn't know existed.'
The wind propelled Raze forward, and he was right on Murkel. His eyes glowed purple.
"Dark Rings, activate!"
The rings that surrounded Murkel exploded at that point, and with a heavy fist, Raze
delivered a blow through the dark explosion, wrapping all of his power into one point,
driving his fist right into Murkel's stomach.
'A hit, I can tell I hit something solid!' Raze thought and could even see a beam of magic
pass right through Murkel, but as the Dark magic started to disperse from the rings,
Murkel's strange large jagged white eyes were staring him right in the face.
"That tickles," Murkel said, as he shoved a red crystallized hand right into Raze's shoulder.
It started to push him into the air, and was dragging him away as it was extending further
and further.
The red crystal in his shoulder was breaking into multiple parts again, and Raze knew it
was only a matter of time until it would pierce into the vitals of his body.
Raze, with the Dark magic on his hand, held on tight to the red crystal.
"Dark Pulse." A beam of energy from his hand hit the crystal but seemingly looked to be
doing nothing.
"Dark Pulse, Dark Pulse, Dark Pulse!" The move was repeated again and again until
eventually. "Dark Pulse."
The red crystal broke off, and Raze was able to push himself to the side with his Wind
magic. The several red crystals were piercing the arena wall and chasing after Raze.
Raze was only a few steps ahead as the red crystal, moving as if it was alive, constantly
tried to stab Raze, hitting the wall again and again.
Murkel was still standing in the center, seemingly relaxed about the whole thing.
"It's okay, I can still fight, I can still fight!" Raze said as he gathered Dark magic and
condensed it down into the palm of his hand.
"Negative Dark Bomb!" Raze said, as he threw it out, and it landed perfectly right where
Murkel was.
When coming toward him, Murkel pierced it with a crystal that extended out from his back.
Upon piercing the black ball, it expanded and covered the entirety of Murkel's body, making
him disappear from sight.
"Negative Dark Bomb!" Raze called out again as he threw another of the attacks. He could
see that the red crystal that was chasing him had stopped, so he did the same as he reached
out his hand.
Controlling the Dark magic, the explosion of the Negative Dark Bomb was the important
part; otherwise, the energy would disperse outward. The idea was to keep the energy
condensed into a single space, allowing for the ultimate amount of damage.
Just like before, Raze was condensing the Dark magic in place. Only a large black ball could
be seen in the center of the arena. As he was doing this, though, he could soon see a red-
skinned arm pass through, then a leg, a chest, and the rest of Murkel's body, walking
through the Dark magic, without being harmed at all.
His expression showed that he was completely unfazed.
"You really are the definition of an idiot, using those same moves against me. None of them
worked, so why would they work again now that I am like this, in this form?" Murkel said.
"I can tell you've already used up everything you had. That was a last-ditch effort. Perhaps
you thought my current form wasn't my strongest and you could chip away at it, but it
didn't work."
Raze could tell his mana was extremely low. He had used a large amount of Wind magic and
the strongest Dark magic spells he knew. Due to the effect of taking the third pill, with his
body in so much pain, it was incredibly hard for him to even use Pagna skills or Qi in this
state.
It was only a matter of time until Raze would run out of mana, and taking another pill in
this situation would be useless if he couldn't get past this.
'I'm not the nine-star mage I was. If I was, this whole fight would be a different story.'
Seeing the state that Raze was in, they all could tell he was running out of power, and there
were no more moves that he could play that would work against Murkel.
Up in the arena, though, something strange was occurring.
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Anna asked.
"Correct, for some reason, the look on Raze's face, it's still the same as before. He hasn't
used his fifty-fifty chance yet," Zon claimed.
Overhearing the others, that was when it had hit Alba on the head.
'Don't tell me he's planning on doing that…. if he is, then maybe, it might just work out.'
Chapter 748 Raze's Last Gamble
Chapter 748 Raze's Last Gamble
With next to no mana left for any big moves, Raze didn't have many options left on how to
continue the fight, and that was if he could continue it at all.
However, those with the systems were able to read the facial expressions of Raze, and they
could see despite him being at a clear disadvantage, he still was confident at least about
something.
'What is it?' Zon thought. 'What is it that you are still hiding that you think can change the
outcome of this entire fight?'
Murkel was extremely confident. So far, the only person that seemed to have enough
strength to take him on, the mysterious student in front of him, seemed to be out of
options, which meant he had won this fight.
"You were a good test, young one. I thought that I might have needed people with me to go
against the other factions, but your strength has given me confidence that I can take on the
rest of the factions," Murkel claimed.
Beatrix looked over to Ricar when he said those words. She was wondering if he was going
to step in. Although what this Raze person had shown was impressive, it was hard to say if
it was any less than what Ricar could perform or do.
However, that was also the issue. Maybe she would put the two of them at a similar level,
and they saw the results of that already. They needed someone much stronger than that.
"We can't get involved," Ricar replied. "The moment this fight is over, the moment that
young student's life is taken away, we need to leave this place. We will gather all of the
Light Faction and inform them of what has happened, and prepare a full-on assault."
"Will we be able to run away?" Hannah asked.
It was hard to tell with the personality they had seen with Murkel so far. Whether he was
someone that would hunt and chase down every single person who was in the area, who
had witnessed what had occurred, or if he was so confident in his strength that someday he
was going to take over all of the Light Factions that he didn't mind survivors getting away.
"Look around us," Ricar commented. "The faces of those are all allies of this individual
named Raze. As soon as his life is lost, it appears that they are ready to jump in and attempt
to take this person down, no matter what."
Hannah looked around and knew he was right. Those from the Demonic Faction, those that
were hybrids, the students in the Dark Faction, and the Crimson Crane that summoned.
She started to wonder what this person below had done for all of them, to get them all
willing to sacrifice their lives like that, for just one person.
Back at the arena, Raze lifted up his hands, and a Dark Pulse came shooting out from one
palm. It hit Murkel in the shoulder, disintegrating and barely even moving his body slightly.
She started to wonder what this person below had done for all of them, to get them all
willing to sacrifice their lives like that, for just one person.
Back at the arena, Raze lifted up his hands, and a Dark Pulse came shooting out from one
palm. It hit Murkel in the shoulder, disintegrating and barely even moving his body slightly.
"What was the point of even doing that?" Murkel asked as he started to step forward.
Walking forward, another Dark Pulse went off, hitting the top of his forehead cleanly, but
once again, it dispersed, not doing anything to his body.
"I've got good aim," Raze said. "If that attack was stronger, you would be dead by now."
Raze had a large smile on his face; he was almost laughing.
"I guess this is the reaction of some," Murkel said, continuing to walk calmly forward
toward Raze. "The reaction of those who know that their life is going to be at a loss."
Raze smirked at the comment, but it wasn't for reasons that some might think. Those
words, he remembered saying to others once, being in a similar position. Naturally, with his
infamy as the Dark Magus, many were after his life.
Some working for the Grand Magus, others looking for fame, and those just wishing for
money or revenge. Because his path was a brutal one, those that perhaps shouldn't have
gotten hurt, had been hurt along the way.
"I was just getting some frustration out of me," Raze answered. "I have to admit it's really
annoying that I was unable to beat you, even though I used up everything I had."
"What a talented individual," Murkel said, his face starting to change. The red skin was
folding away, and it was almost as if his real human face was breaking through the skin.
"You were incredibly skilled, to even show an ounce of talent that Bofan could achieve, and
on top of that what you were able to do now, and at the academy at your age. Finally, to
admit when you have lost. I am saddened that I have to be the one that has to stunt your
growth. If I was you, I would be frustrated as well, never knowing what I could have
become."
Raze then lifted his head up, looking directly at Murkel, the pain running through his body
was starting to come to an end, the effects of the cursed Qi pill were coming to an end.
"I think you have it wrong," Raze replied. "Firstly, I am not a child, secondly, I'm not upset
because of that. I'm upset because losing to you means that I'm not ready to face them, and
I'm a little impatient when it comes to these things."
"Them?" Murkel said, confused. Because from this person's words it was almost as if he
was saying that there were those that were even stronger than him that this young student
was after, or maybe even stronger, but that would be impossible.
"Your words are those of a person that is truly delusional," Murkel said.
"Right, you find it hard to imagine that in this world there is anyone greater than you, but
that's not the case at all, and I will show you," Raze said as he placed both of his hands
together and his Dark magic was forming again. "I am a person that doesn't usually take
risks, but it doesn't mean I never take risks."
"After all, I am who I am today because of the risks I took, and right now, I will take another
risk."
As Raze pulled his hands away, in one hand he held what looked like a large cup; it was a
chalice.
In the arena, Alba had a smile on her face.
"It's as I thought, if it works, this whole fight can be turned around."
Chapter 749 A Good Or Bad Artifact
Chapter 749 A Good Or Bad Artifact
Right now, what had appeared in Raze's hands was a chalice. It didn't look special, mostly
made of a dull silver-like color, and the outside seemed incredibly worn as if it had been
buried deep underground, but everyone knew Raze had to have brought it out for a reason.
"That's it!" Zon said, his eyes lighting up. "That's what he's been relying on this time. Just
what is that?"
His system could tell, as the expression had changed on Raze's face, that this was the hope
he had, the item that made him believe he had a fifty-fifty chance of winning this entire
battle.
Out of all of those there, it was Alba that knew the truth.
'That time we entered the portal, we saw Raze defeat the dimension boss and head
underground. In the ruins, there were three treasures that he had selected from. One was a
strange ring that he had kept for himself.'
'The next was a rare material that was used to make the new and improved ghost blade
that Raze was currently using in the fight, then there was this, the final item, the chalice.'
At the time, when the items were discovered, they were with a warrior named Graft. A
wanderer that specialized in helping groups navigate through different dimensions. He had
seen these types of chalices before and knew what they could do.
From what she had learned about it, it was able to summon someone from the Divine
Realm. It would only be temporary, but it would allow them to come down, and not just
that, but there was a chance since the item only temporarily brought them down, that they
would have their full power for the duration of their stay.
"It has to be a special type of artifact gathered from another dimension," Ricar claimed.
"A special artifact, like the ones that are kept by the Clan Heads?" Beatrix asked.
"Correct," Ricar replied. "You should know that a large number of artifacts are gathered
from these dimensions. Many times, there are past civilizations that seemed to have existed
in these worlds. There we find items that are beyond our understanding that grant great
power."
"Most of the items gathered by warriors of lesser clans are sold to the kingdoms and
empires. They pay an extremely high price for them, as it increases their power and
protection against us warriors as well. It also improves the relationship between the two
sides."
"But that isn't the case for all clans, and that's especially true of the Light Faction."
Out of all the factions out there, the Light Faction had the largest amount of artifacts at their
disposal. It was why so many clans and factions were against attacking the Light Faction
because it was unknown just how much strength they had.
Out of all the factions out there, the Light Faction had the largest amount of artifacts at their
disposal. It was why so many clans and factions were against attacking the Light Faction
because it was unknown just how much strength they had.
Even in the tournament today, a number of artifacts had been displayed and used,
projecting the fight on display, as well as the great power of the shifting land from beneath.
Ricar, thinking about all of this, started to look around and saw an opening in the stands
that would lead to the inside of the arena, and started to move toward it.
"Where are you going? I said where you go, we go together," Beatrix said.
"Fine," Ricar said. "But I'm letting you know, I'm not running away from this match. I intend
to, against my will, help everyone here."
Beatrix and Hannah joined up with Ricar as they were on the move. Anna, noticing this,
took a glance at what they were doing and decided to keep an eye on them, but she also
needed to keep an eye on the match that was going on ahead as well.
When Ricar had entered through the opening, he was in the large tunnels where stalls with
no people standing by them were seen. Dropped food and rubbish on the ground from all
the people that had suddenly disappeared.
"In this battle, we need to start thinking ahead," Ricar explained as they found the staircase
and started to descend. "There has to be a reason why the young man hadn't used that
chalice of his. Why he hadn't used it from the beginning of this match?"
"Couldn't it be that it's just a one-use type artifact?" Hannah asked.
"That may be the case and the most likely answer, but we have to think of all the
possibilities," Ricar explained. "It could be that the item may very well bring danger, or
there is only a small chance that the artifact he has will help us win this fight."
"But seeing the artifact made me think, the artifact below the arena, it should still be
present and still be active. If we use it, we can help defeat the Hybrid, or worst case, we can
use it to try and trap the Hybrid in some way while we are all able to escape.
"I'm sure of it, if that young man, Raze, manages to survive this fight, then with everyone
we will be able to best the red Hybrid. A coalition between the three factions will have to
come again, we have to for such a large threat."
Back on the surface, as Raze held onto the chalice in the middle of the mostly destroyed
arena with flooring sticking out and crushed in places, he was looking straight at Murkel.
Murkel had the same thoughts as the Light Faction Elder: this was an artifact, but there had
to be a reason why Raze hadn't pulled it out so far, and they were both right.
There were two reasons why Raze hadn't used such an item. First, was because Raze truly
thought that there was a chance he could win the fight against Murkel.
In his head, it was a test for him, and going up against the Grand Magus. As for why he
hadn't used it straight away was because there was an extremely large risk.
The chalice was said to summon someone from the Divine Realm but not who it would
summon. At least in the Lethal Bite Clan when they were summoning someone they had an
idea, trying to summon someone from their clan, but Raze knew no one in the Divine
Realm.
So who would come down, and if they did, what reason did they even have to help Raze?
There was a very high chance that the person who was summoned could be even more
dangerous than Murkel, and could end up killing them all, but he had no choice.
With one hand lifted above the chalice, Raze had cut himself with his own Wind magic, and
his blood started to fall into the chalice.
Chapter 750 The Chalice Activates
Chapter 750 The Chalice Activates
The artifact that Raze was using this time wasn't exactly a magical item, so it wasn't easy
for him to see the effects of the chalice or know how to really use it. As a researcher in the
magic field, he had his ways, as mages had to learn about enchantments before they could
ask them to reveal their information to themselves.
That though was a process that would take some time, and Raze had been focusing on
much larger things. Truthfully, he never thought he would be using the chalice so early on,
due to the chance of what would appear.
Only when he felt he was strong enough to take on someone from the Divine Realm and
reach the Divine stages did he think he would use such a thing, so he never fully went into
detail about learning how to activate the chalice.
However, he did remember the details that had occurred in the Lethal Bite Clan, and how a
mage from back then was used as well.
"Mages' blood is different from regular blood; even that is infused with our mana, because
our core surrounds our heart, and it affects the blood that runs through our veins," Raze
said as he watched his blood dripping into the chalice until finally it had reached an
indented line in the chalice itself.
The whole chalice started to light up, glowing in a yellow energy. No longer could the metal
of the chalice be seen because it was shining so bright. Raze held it steady with both hands
on either side; he could feel a large amount of energy from it, but he wasn't going to let it
go.
'What is going on, what even is that artifact?' Murkel thought. The energy was felt through
his own body, and he had a gut feeling that whatever was to come would be dangerous.
Hardening the whole of his body, he started to charge toward Raze.
Before he could reach him, right out of the chalice the energy beamed up, it shot up to the
sky. It was shining incredibly bright and had ripped through the clouds above. When it had
hit a certain point, all of the energy was condensing into a circle which was growing larger
and larger in the sky.
It somewhat looked like the dimensional portals the others went in.
'This is it, this is opening up the dimension between the realm the Divine beings are in, and
the world of Pagna. Whatever comes through next, we have to deal with it,' Raze thought.
Everything felt like it was in slow motion in Raze's mind because he could see Murkel
chasing after him, he had extended out his hand, and the crystal was enlarging, aiming right
for the chalice.
Looking at the sky, Raze just wanted it to hurry up, he just wanted whatever being that was
going to come, to come through, and when looking up that's when something odd had
occurred. The portal above was reversing.
It started to close up, and completely sealed, then the beam of energy came shooting back
down. It looked like it was aiming right back for the chalice. However, it didn't hit the
chalice; as it continued coming down it hit Raze's entire body.
The energy burst out from Raze, going in every direction. When it hit Murkel, it caused
great pain in his body which had caused him to stop. For a moment his red crystallized
hand retracted and he fell to his knees as he winced in pain.
The beam of energy had surrounded Raze and now his entire body was lighting up with the
energy instead.
"What happened, did something go wrong?" Simyon asked. "Did his plan not work?"
Everyone watching thought the same thing, they were unsure, and little did they know,
Raze had no idea himself what was happening.
As the energy continued to hit him, he could feel a massive amount of Qi building up from
within. It was daunting, and it was clouding his mind. His vision was going in and out.
Seconds felt like minutes to him as well.
Although Raze had no clue what was happening to him, the others that were watching had
a picture of what was going on because they could see changes happening to Raze's body.
For one, his white hair was extending in length, it was growing.
It continued to grow until it reached halfway down his back. On top of that, his eyes, blood
was starting to pour down them, running down his cheek, but when they reached the
bottom, they didn't fall off or drop to the ground.
Raze's fingernails then started to grow in length, turning longer than they did before, and
finally, the last change that was occurring to him, was his bright white hair, it was changing,
as it was becoming a dark soaked red from the top to the very tips that were shining even
brighter, as bright as blood.
Raze's thoughts were that the chalice was meant to summon a being for a short moment,
but then he remembered, the chalice from the Lethal Bite Clan had done the same, it hadn't
summoned a Divine being, one had taken over the body, it had used it as a host.
It was then that Raze's mind was no longer in his body.
The pain that Murkel felt was no longer there, but when he looked up at Raze, looked up at
the student that was once there, whatever he was looking at now, a different feeling took
over Murkel.
The crystals on his back, the crystals all across his body, even the back of his arms, all of
them were shaking, clashing against each other making a small chime. It sounded as if
Murkel's very own body was scared of what he could see in front of him.
"What's happened to Raze? Is he okay… why did the item change him, and there's blood
coming out of his eyes, he can't be okay, right? No one can be okay after blood comes out of
your eyes!" Simyon erratically said.
Safa had tapped the side of her head, activating her god eyes, and she could see it, the
energy surrounding Raze soaking in dark red color.
"That's… that's… that's not Raze," Safa said, her bottom lip trembling… "That's the woman
in blood!"
Chapter 751 Changing The Fight
Chapter 751 Changing The Fight
The Light Faction members had made it to just under the arena. It was harder for them to
navigate through the place than they thought. Due to a lot of the fighting, many of the
structures had been destroyed underneath.
Rubble had to be removed to even make their way to the main room. When finally making
it, they could see the artifact in the middle.
Ricar walked over and placed both of his hands by the side of the artifact.
"I'm going to have to try and do some small tests to get the hang of this thing. I haven't
really used it before," Ricar explained.
While Hannah was looking around, she could see a bunch of rubble that would lead up to
the surface. She quickly climbed up it and took a peek through the cracks and could see the
arena from where she was.
Surprisingly, through the crack, she had a pretty good view of what was happening. For
one, when turning her head, she could see the man known as Murkel, the Red Hybrid, with
parts of his skin crystallized and other parts red.
Then, when she turned to look at what she expected to be a student, it was almost as if a
completely different person was standing there.
"Who, who's he? I don't remember seeing him… but he's wearing the same strange blazer
as the person from before. Wait, they kind of look the same but different?" Hannah
explained to the others.
"What happened in the short time we were down here?"
Beatrix was looking around in the dark hollow room for another pile of rocks that she could
climb up to head to the surface. When touching one of the walls, she saw the edge of it light
up, and now appearing in front of her were two screens.
These looked exactly like the large displays that showed the fighting to the rest of the
public of what was occurring in the tournament. As for the angle of the two screens, they
were appearing from somewhere in the stands.
"Ah, these show the display from those other artifacts. Now that there are no users
controlling them, they must have just fallen," Beatrix said.
"I see, and the displays inside must be how the team down here was also able to change the
landscape of the arena. They needed to know what was going on out there as well," Ricar
commented. "But Hannah is right. That student doesn't appear to be the same person as he
was before."
———
Everyone in the crowd was looking at Raze, they could see the drastic changes that had
occurred. It was twice now, once when he had black hair changing to white, and now his
white hair changing to long red.
Some who didn't understand what was happening were wondering if this was his true
appearance or not.
"The chalice, what did it do?" Alba said to herself. "I thought it was meant to summon
someone from the Divine Realm, not be used like this… and why do I have this strange
feeling, as if I'm somewhat familiar with what I can see in front of me?"
It wasn't a familiar feeling in a good way either. She was reminded of the shivers she got at
one point when she had tried to help Raze, when he was fighting against the mages.
When she came close, an invisible force pushed her away. But none of it made sense, the
chalice was meant to summon a Divine being, back then Raze had used no such thing, and
why did she feel something similar right now.
"What do you mean, Safa? I don't understand, is that Raze down there?" Simyon asked.
"It's hard to explain," Safa replied. "There's always been this thing, this thing that has been
following Raze around, following him all the time. Sometimes, the feeling is stronger,
sometimes weaker, but right now, when I look at Raze, I can see that thing now is no longer
around him, and instead, it feels like it is him."
Simyon was incredibly worried, for more reasons than one, and in particular, if something
had taken over Raze, then would the real Raze come back at some point.
——
On the ground, Raze was looking at his own body, staring at his long nails, at his skin. He
swung his hand through the air, dragging the wind with it.
When Murkel saw this on the ground and stood up, he too had a familiar feeling.
"I know that feeling, I know that look before, I experienced it, we experienced it before,"
Murkel said. "You, just what are you, who am I speaking to now that has taken over his
body?"
Murkel remembered the sight well. When the Hybrid took control of his own body, its
actions then were the same actions as he was seeing now, and with the appearance change,
it was quite obvious what had occurred.
"Even in this state, I am limited by what I can do," Raze finally spoke. "It's been a long time
since I stepped into the world of Pagna. It smells a lot different, there's no iron in the air,
the smell of rotting stench has mostly disappeared."
"I didn't think I would ever come back here, but I had no choice."
Murkel believed he had it figured out. Remembering the energy from the chalice reaching
high up in the sky, and then coming down and the change of appearance in the foreign
body, with everything the person was saying, he was pretty sure this person was from the
Divine Realm, and that was why the student was so confident when facing him.
"What faction are you from, what clan are you from?" Murkel asked. "Maybe there is
something that the both of us can do together. After all, I will be the leader of Pagna soon."
Raze, no, the blooded woman, looked at her own hand.
"I'm not used to it looking like this." It was then that her skin was turning a darker red than
even that of Murkel's body. It was only her hand, but it was soaking it until the very tips of
her fingers.
"What clan I'm from, what faction… none of these things existed when I was here, and you
made a mistake. This body is not to be harmed, and since you are a threat to this body, I'm
going to have to kill you now."
Chapter 752 Only One Skill
Chapter 752 Only One Skill
Murkel's own body was conflicted. After seeing the person in front of him appear, the
crystals on his back had constantly vibrated. It was odd because he had no clue what the
reason for this was.
Originally he thought it was perhaps because of the sheer power of the Divine one, but it
wasn't the strength. In fact, the Qi, although feeling different, still felt like it was slightly the
same.
"You should have never tried harming this body!" The blooded woman claimed and started
to swirl both of her hands around in a circular motion. As they flowed through the air, a
darkened red color followed her palms and lingered.
The Qi that was being felt somewhat reminded all of those present of the Demonic Qi. That
was the closest the current Qi that they could feel resembled, but it was clearly different.
A level of Qi that was unknown to them, a Qi that was perhaps incredibly condensed, it
almost felt different. However, as the body of Raze continued to move his hands, the
lingering Qi dispersed and broke.
"What… this body can't even handle something like that? Is there really that much
difference between a Middle-stage and Divine-stage warrior? It's been so long that I can't
even remember myself." The woman said.
"Fine, then let's try this instead." Pulling her leg back, a great amount of power started to
gather in the foot. It was exploding like a flame but once again dispersed into nothing,
breaking into particles of energy.
The woman continued to try to gather Qi, and the sinister heavy feeling upon everyone in
the area could be felt for a few moments, and then each time it would disappear as if it was
never even there.
"I can't even use any of my skills, what is this!" The woman said, surprised. Since she had
taken over Raze's body, it had even gone through some changes to suit the new host.
The body was stronger than it would have been before, so she thought she could at least do
something, yet nothing was working.
Seeing this, Murkel felt like he was unable to just sit still and be scared, and he acted by
charging forward. He built up an incredible amount of speed, placing a large amount of Qi
in each of his footsteps, then when he was close, he leaped through the air.
He placed both of his hands to the side, and they both began to crystallize along with the
crystals on his back shooting out like a large hedgehog. On top of that, a large amount of Qi
started to linger from his back again.
"I am the closest one to reaching the Divine Realm, and after getting rid of you today, I will
be proof of that."
"Fine." The woman said as she looked at Murkel. "It seems that at least this one works."
The woman readied her arm, and the red color that had encased her skin looked to detach
from her body and was floating in the air, close to her arm.
"Demonic Fist!" She called out, and she disappeared right from her position, already right
next to Murkel.
Murkel had no time to react, having not moved his hands yet, and when the woman threw
out her fist, the floating Qi blood that had appeared all went to one point in her fist.
It hit right in the center of Murkel's body, and the blood floating came right to the fist. Right
after it made impact on Murkel's stomach, it spread out, hitting his arms, part of his face,
and more.
The sound of Murkel's crystals on his body shattering was heard, and in the next moment,
he was sent flying to the other side of the arena.
While midair, Murkel spun himself and grew crystals from his feet, digging them into the
ground to stop him from going further, and the broken crystals on his body started to heal
up again.
"I see, you can at least throw a punch." Murkel said, and right in front of his eyes, he could
see the red hair in front of him and the large grin on Raze's body's face.
"This looks to be the only skill I can use, and it's the most basic of basics, so you're lucky I
can't finish you in one strike!" A fist landed from above, the blood gathering at the fist and
exploding out when it made contact on top of Murkel's head.
The crystals that were dug into the ground shattered, as well as those on Murkel's back as
he was sent into the floor. For a moment, it felt like the piece of land that made up the arena
floor had completely cracked in half, bending upward.
Oddly though, the arena floor started to shift back into position, and Murkel was seen on
the ground.
He had quickly gotten back up, his eyes looking crazed as ever as the crystals on his body
were regrowing.
"You think I didn't suffer hits like these before? This is nothing!" Murkel exclaimed.
"I know." The woman said, as she threw out the fist again, delivering the same strike. From
the outside, the others could see the blood ripple like Qi contracting to the fist and then
exploding out every time the attack landed.
With each hit, shards of red crystal scattered across the floor.
The woman this time held onto Murkel's hand, stopping his body from flying away. The red
crystal was growing back on his body and looked to be aiming for Raze's body.
Yet another hit had landed directly on Murkel's stomach, shattering the crystals and
causing them to fall onto the floor again.
"I know, this is annoying for me as well, only able to use one technique against you. This is
making it take a lot longer than I expected."
Another fist landed on top of Murkel's head, causing him to sink into the flooring, which
was pushing him oddly back up.
Now, the woman was looking right at Murkel on the floor.
"Did you say the closest to the Divine Realm? This is what's left on Pagna? You have no idea
what the world above is like. I guess it's because of people like you that most who end up
there either end up dead or trying to do whatever they can to get back to the world of
Pagna."
Chapter 753 Murkel's Last Stand
753 Murkel's Last Stand
The blooded woman who had taken over Raze's body was still using only one technique,
constantly lifting her arm and slamming her fist into Murkel. There was just enough time
between each hit for Murkel's body to slightly recover.
As the powerful hit landed on Murkel, the crystals on his body would break but start to
reform, to the point where Murkel believed that this person was doing this on purpose.
"He's playing with him," Liam spoke with his mouth wide open. "Just moments ago, there
was nothing that Raze could do, and now things have completely changed. This is making
no sense; that item changed the outcome of the battle far too much."
"You still haven't managed to properly utilize the system, have you?" Zon asked. "If you
enhanced your hearing, you would be able to tell just what the conversation between these
two has been. The person there is no longer the Raze you knew, and after they're done with
the red Hybrid, it will be our turn to deal with that."
The blooded woman lifted her hand again, ready to deal another blow, and that's when
Murkel took a chance. He grunted and tensed his entire body, forcing the crystals to grow
out of his body quickly and form a type of shield.
As the fist hit the red crystal first rather than his body, this gave him a moment to break
away.
'This fight is a lost cause right now, I can see that. I just need a moment, a single moment,
and I can get out of this situation!' Murkel started to think.
Yet, he was finding it incredibly hard to find that moment, as he was unable to even see
where the long-haired man was. It clearly wasn't in his sight. The vibrations of crystals
were acting up on his right side, and deciding to listen to them, he formed hard crystals
over his body on one side, forming what looked like a giant shield.
The same technique, the same fist, had landed, breaking the crystal apart. A shockwave
from the attack was sent through Murkel's body, but he wasn't as badly hurt as he usually
would have been, and even he was surprised by this.
"You're getting stronger," the woman said as she appeared in front of Murkel and grabbed
his head. "You should listen to your body's instincts a lot more, listen to the beast inside of
you."
She then threw the fist again, pounding it right into Murkel's face. The power had broken
away whatever the red substance was that was covering his face and tore away his white
eyes, and now his true face could be seen underneath.
"There always has to be a limit to something, and I just guessed that your regeneration
limit was going to be finished before my strength started to wane."
Murkel looked up and did the same strike as before, extending the crystals from his body
and aiming them all in the direction of the one holding him. It caused the woman to let go
and for him to break free.
Murkel slipped to the ground as he jumped back.
'Will I have time to catch my breath, will there be an opening, or do I just risk it…' Murkel
started to think, the issue was that he didn't have much time to think.
"I'll just have to risk it all!" Murkel shouted to himself. The crystal on his back enlarged and
both of his hands were covered in red crystals again. It was slightly larger than the times
before but didn't look too different from what they had seen before.
"What did you say before? That only an idiot tries the same thing again and again and
expects a different result?"
———
Everyone's eyes had practically been glued to the fight ahead. They had to prepare for what
was to come next after all, and the actions they needed to take. This was why none of them
were aware of what was happening below the arena.
The three warriors from the Light Faction had been watching everything. Since they had
the displays showing everything below, Hannah was no longer right up at the surface and
instead had come down near Beatrix to watch the ongoing fight.
Both of them were stunned by how strong this particular individual was, but Ricar was too
busy trying to use the artifact. He had gotten the hang of using it slightly, restoring parts of
the arena floor.
Surprisingly, using the artifact was easier than he imagined. Just placing his hand on the
device, he could see a picture, an image of a map in his mind. It was the area where the
artifact's power would work.
What he also noticed was it drained his Qi when using it. So the area size seemed to be
determined by how strong his Qi was. It now made sense why several warriors were
located below to make changes.
The tricky part was carefully changing the structure, and so far, Ricar had been doing it
throughout the fight. First, he had just changed areas out of sight from the others, places
where no one was paying attention.
However, he had to make drastic changes as this continued. During the fight, it felt like the
flooring was going to collapse, and the three of them would be trapped at any moment.
So he was repairing the flooring, changing the structure during the fight to help protect
them. Although the bloody woman did notice this, she had decided to ignore it due to the
fight that was going on and didn't believe it would really be a problem for them either way.
"What are you going to do?" Beatrix said. "It looks like the red Hybrid will lose this fight."
"Yes." Ricar replied. "But did you not hear their conversation? If my guess is right, the other
person is now a Divine being, which could be an even bigger problem for us all. Right now, I
have to think of what is best for the Light Faction, and what's best is to get rid of them
both!"
Chapter 754 Don't Get In The Way
754 Don't Get In The Way
Murkel's body had crystallized on the outside, making him appear almost twice as big as
before. Everyone could tell this was somewhat of a last-stand skill used by him, and that it
was something that not even he had much hope in.
The blooded woman was just walking over to him, the strange blood-like Qi around her fist
expanding and retracting in size. It looked like someone who was already bored with the
new toy in front of them.
Murkel knew at any moment, she could propel herself forward and strike him. It was just a
matter of when.
"It's a shame that even your own family doesn't love you anymore," the woman said,
looking at Ricktor in the stands. This proved she had always been an observer of what was
happening while being beside Raze's body.
"You won't be missed." She charged forward as she had done before, heading straight.
Murkel, seeing this, kicked off straight ahead. As he focused, one of his eyes began to twitch,
and a great pain entered his head.
At that moment, something strange happened—a wall appeared right in front of Raze's
body. Then it shifted, almost pushing the body forward and ahead. The fist collided with the
wall, and as the blood Qi expanded out, Murkel's red crystal attack stabbed through Raze's
chest.
The blooded woman looked down and saw the red crystal piercing her body, blood
dripping down.
"This crystal of yours is quite sharp. I never expected you would still have some tricks," the
woman said.
Murkel didn't understand what had just happened, but it ended up being a blessing for him.
That was until he saw a fist aiming right for his face, bashing into him, destroying the
crystal on his body, and sending him flying through the air.
As he flew back, several walls from the floor lifted up. Murkel crashed through a few of
them until his back finally crashed into one, and he landed on the floor. Surrounding him
completely, several walls appeared until a cube-like object formed on the field.
"What is going on in this fight?" Dame asked.
"The arena, it's moving like before. Someone must have gotten to the artifact!" Amir called
out.
It wasn't just a surprise that someone had gotten to the artifact but also that they would
harm the one helping them out in this situation. The only thing Amir could think of was the
Light Faction that currently wasn't present.
——
"What did you do!" Hannah called out. She was too shocked by what had occurred to
remember to speak with manners when talking to an elder.
She had been watching the fight constantly and many times since the red Hybrid appeared,
she was worried for her life, that was until this individual came who was facing him.
Naturally, she was rooting for the one protecting her, forgetting about the full situation.
Being younger, the core beliefs and placing the faction above their own interests had yet to
be drilled into her.
Even Beatrix had to admit though, even though she was in the Light Faction, this was
something that she would have a hard time acting on. Her mind was conflicted wondering if
she needed to pledge more loyalty to the Light Faction, if something was wrong with her, or
if she was doing wrong. It might have been the first time she had questioned the Light
Faction herself.
"I had no choice. Both of these are a big threat to us, and the only one that can do
considerable harm to the new student's body is the red Hybrid. In this situation, the red
Hybrid is injured enough to now be defeated, and here we can also defeat the Divine being.
This is killing two birds with one stone!" Ricar explained.
"The others are worn out and hurt. They will use this chance to kill the red Hybrid, and
then we will take out the Divine warrior! If the Divine warrior is left alive, then so many
will die in the Light Faction!"
sRicar was looking at the screen. He was sure of it; the other warriors would have the same
thought as him. They could see on their faces that they were also concerned about the one
who had taken over this new body. It was the natural thought of Pagna warriors, with their
mind always focused on survival.
However, Ricar was soon stunned by what he had seen.
"No, no, what are you doing!"
Somewhat like Ricar was expecting, the warriors that had been standing still so far in the
fight, those that were watching, had indeed made a move. Those from the Crimson Crane
that could still move, Amir, and Dame both had jumped in, followed by Liam and Anna,
Rayna, Simyon, and Safa, as well as Ricktor and Mada. All of them were using what little
strength they had and entered the arena.
Yet not one of them went to the closed cube-shaped box where the red Hybrid would be.
Instead, they had all rushed to Raze, even though he no longer looked the same.
They could clearly see the wound on his chest and his hand holding onto it.
"Raze!" They all called out.
The woman in Raze's body, as she looked at all of them, her vision was blurring.
'Look at all of these fools, you seem to have gathered many people that somehow care
about you… and I thought you were like me, alone in this world.'
"Stop!" she eventually shouted. "I'm fine. Don't take this chance away, get him before it's
too late. There was something strange, a reason why I didn't stop attacking him. He's
planning something, hurry!" the woman shouted.
The others turned around as soon as they heard this, realizing that Raze was right. They
had been rash, and quickly turning around, Rayna, out of everyone, was the first to arrive.
She slammed her fist into the wall, breaking it apart.
Everyone was ready to rush in to get rid of Murkel, and that's when they could see inside
the dark cube-shaped wall.
"He's… he's gone."
Chapter 755 I Only Trust Her
755 I Only Trust Her
Everyone had seen Murkel get trapped in the strange cube-like structure made from the
hardened arena walls. It wasn't ordinary concrete; it was a special material carved from the
strongest pieces by the greatest craftsmen, making it as sturdy as possible.
They knew Pagna warriors could break such a thing if the fighting got out of hand or a large
amount of Qi was used, but they had the artifact that could always just reuse and rebuild
the material. However, if Murkel had escaped, there should have been some sign of
destruction. Either breaking one of the walls or breaking the material below his feet, yet
other than the wall that Rayna had broken, everything else looked perfectly fine.
"Where is he? Where is he!" Rayna shouted. "He couldn't have gotten away!"
She then proceeded to slam a fist full of Qi into the walls next to her, shattering the entire
structure, but Murkel was nowhere to be seen.
The blooded woman who had taken over Raze's body looked ahead and couldn't help but
smile.
"I knew he had to be hiding something. The whole fight felt like he was planning something;
that's why I didn't let him rest." The woman moved her hand over her chest and winced
slightly.
"But then, where did he go?" Liam asked.
From the stands, one individual who had yet to jump in made a move and landed right in
the center of the rubble where Murkel had disappeared. Zon then stared deeply at the floor
before kneeling down and brushing his finger against what just looked like dust on the
rocks.
"Lingering elements of spark substance have been left behind," Zon claimed. "I should have
predicted that there would be others who could do this, especially hybrids."
Zon then stood up to face the others, who were looking at him expectantly.
"Are you sure you would all trust an answer from someone you just met?" Zon asked but
continued anyway. "Murkel escaped through a portal."
"A portal appeared here, and only for a short while and disappeared!" Alba said, her words
making it seem like an impossibility. She soon realized, though, things that used to seem
impossible weren't so impossible.
After all, she and the other members of the Crimson Crane had arrived through a portal
themselves. It was just that Raze could display a large amount of magic, and what Murkel
had done so far didn't seem like magic.
"It's because he created the portal himself," Zon explained. "It's something I have
discovered that some hybrids can do. To link to the dimension where the hybrids originally
came from."
The others didn't notice it, but Dame did, that after Zon had finished his sentence, he had
stared in the direction of Amir.
"Did you know this?" Dame whispered.
"I knew there was a chance, but I need to remind you that I didn't even know Murkel was a
hybrid. With Murkel gone, there is nothing else I can do. What we need to figure out is who
is controlling the artifact that caused this mess with Raze in the first place."
Hearing the ending of Amir's sentence, the others couldn't agree more.
——
Underground, the person who had caused the mess in the first place could hear the
discussion happening above.
"What now, Ricar!" Beatrix asked. "Your plan failed. You let the red Hybrid escape. Do you
plan to still go above and get rid of this Divine being?"
Ricar thought his plan had worked perfectly. The Divine being was badly hurt. The others
should have gotten rid of Murkel and then the Divine being. Ricar didn't feel like he was at
fault; it was the others. Why hadn't they taken out Murkel first? Why did they care for the
body of the student, which had already been taken over?
"We won't be able to do anything," Ricar said. "Although those above are in a weakened
state, there is one with them that seems fairly strong."
The one Ricar was referring to was Zon, who was in prime condition. He believed when the
others went to attack, they would have thought Murkel, using the last of his strength, would
have been hurt further, or at least attacked the Divine being. Right now, neither was
happening.
"We have no choice. We have to escape with our lives and tell the Light Faction what has
happened. We will go from there." Ricar placed both of his hands on the artifact, and the
ground underneath started to change, not the ground above. Rubble was being cleared, and
the large room had changed, revealing a large tunnel.
"We run, and when we get to the other side, we destroy it. We have no time." Ricar then
picked up the artifact and held it in his hand, taking it with him.
After Ricar went, Beatrix and Hannah were right behind him, and the two of them gave
each other a look, no longer sure about what they were doing.
——
Back on the surface, now knowing that Murkel had already escaped and there wasn't
anything they could do about it, the attention was turned to Raze. No one had quite gotten
close to Raze's body yet. It was then that Simyon tried to move closer.
"No!" the woman shouted. "No one gets close. The only one that can get close is her."
The hand with the long fingernail was pointing at Safa.
"Listen well, girl, you and I both have the same strong interest." The woman said. "We both
want to do whatever it takes to keep this body alive."
"Right now, I'm the only thing keeping this body alive, but that chalice he used, its effects
are starting to fade, so I will disappear."
As the woman was talking, the hair started to shrink, the nails were changing back to the
way they were, and the sinister feeling that could be felt around the entire arena was
disappearing.
"I have to leave everything up to you." The woman said, lifting her hand, and Dark magic
appeared. Soon the Lux Sword was summoned, but a weak grip caused it to drop out of her
hand and fall onto the floor.
Chapter 756 Where do we go now?
Chapter 756 Where do we go now?
The hair continued to shorten around Raze, reverting to its original length. The color also
began to disappear, turning back to white, and all the other features, including the blood
that had clung to Raze's cheeks, disintegrated as if they were made of energy.
For a brief moment, Raze's mind was no longer taking a back seat. He was at the forefront,
back in control of his body. The entire time he had witnessed what was happening, he felt
like he might have been able to fight against the blooded woman who had taken over.
However, he had allowed her to take control, thinking it was the best way to avoid
interference, yet foolishly, he still ended up in this state.
While in control of his body, Raze could see Safa and a few others, including Rayna, running
toward him.
He looked at the Lux Sword on the floor as his vision started to fade.
"At least you listened to my last suggestion. Safa, I will have to leave my body to you,
because this damned woman didn't look after it."
"If it wasn't for me, you and all your friends would have been killed by the Hybrid," the
blooded woman said, and those were the last words Raze heard before completely passing
out.
When they reached him, Safa held Raze's head, lifting it off the floor, and immediately
started to use the restoration skill.
"Safa, be careful. I know we want to look after and protect Raze, but don't drain yourself
completely!" Simyon warned, knowing full well Safa had already pushed herself several
times.
"I can't!" Safa shouted back, her hands already glowing. "He's not only suffering from the
effects of those pills but the wound on his chest as well."
Safa still had her special god eyes activated and could sense the energy around him was
incredibly weak.
Bargo from the Moon Shield Clan picked up the Lux Sword from the ground.
"I think he needs you to use this." Bargo said. "This sword has strong healing properties. I
imagine at his last moments he summoned it, and when he mentioned you, there was a
reason for it."
In her haste, Safa hadn't realized it, but she could now see there was a large amount of
energy coming from the sword, and it felt similar to her own Light energy. Bargo didn't
know this; he just knew its effects because of the person who had used the weapon before
Raze.
Rayna, coming by Raze's other side, touched his hand, closed her eyes, and started to focus.
"You don't have to worry about me. I'm passing on my energy to him as well. We both need
to do whatever we can to keep him alive," Rayna stated.
Safa didn't know much about this woman in front of her, but she knew one thing from the
look in her eyes and the actions she had taken: she cared for Raze, and that was enough for
her.
After grabbing the Lux Sword, Safa felt a burst of energy from her entire body, mainly
around her heart. The sword's glow grew in size and retracted as if the sword itself was
breathing. She could feel it; her Light magic powers were far stronger, and even her own
fatigue was starting to fade away. Now she was more confident as she poured more of her
magic into Raze.
"You're going to be okay, you're going to be okay," Safa said to herself.
While everyone who could help was already giving aid to Raze, Anna was thinking of
something else. She was wondering when Raze woke up if it would be him or the person
controlling him.
"Do you think we'll be fine when he wakes up?" Anna asked, looking to her right, but soon
noticed that Zon had completely disappeared from her side. "Where did he go?"
This time Zon hadn't escaped too far off; he intended to stay. Now that he had seen Raze's
strength, he was sure this person could help him. Right now, he was underground, where
the artifact once was. Zon looked ahead and could see a large amount of rubble blocking a
path, a path that wasn't linked with the rest of the architecture of the underground place.
"I can tell that it was made in haste and destroyed recently. The Light Faction members
from before must have caused all of this. Judging by how long ago they left, I could catch up
to them if they took a straight path, but they could be in any village or town and they know
the Light Faction better than anyone. That isn't the best choice right now."
Seeing this, Zon climbed on top of a bunch of rubble that reached a crack in the ceiling that
led to the arena floor. He then extended his hand out and simply pushed part of the arena
flooring up. Jumping up, Zon soon returned to the arena floor and could see everyone still
gathering around Raze.
Zon walked over and stopped just shy of where Raze was with Rayna and Safa, not wanting
to appear threatening to them.
"We need to hurry and get out of this place," Zon said. "The Light Faction could be here at
any moment. More than likely, wherever Raze sent them, they would have sent a team to
reach us as soon as possible. On top of that, the Light Faction members who were here have
run off as well."
"Move, while Raze is like this?" Simyon asked.
"He'll be fine," Anna said. Her system was already showing signs that Raze's condition was
nomalizing. His body no longer tensing up in pain, like it was moment's ago, and his
breathing calming down. "And we can move as one group, but the real question is where."
Where did the group belong now after this? Where could they go? No one had a suggestion
until one person spoke up.
"I can take you all somewhere, and somewhere that will be safe for Raze as well," Amir said.
"I will take you all to the Bonum Society."
Chapter 757 Journey To The Bonum Society
Chapter 757 Journey To The Bonum Society
---
"The Bonum Society, what even is that?" Rayna asked, having overheard the name. She
knew Amir was the Vice Principal of the Dark Faction Academy, and under normal
circumstances, she wouldn't have trusted him. However, seeing how much he had fought
against Murkel, and with Dame standing right by his side, she was more inclined to trust
him. Being a Pagna warrior, she was unaware of the other things happening in the world.
For instance, she didn't know that otherworlders existed in this world or about the groups
from Alter and the Bonum Society. She had questions about Raze's origins and what she
had seen Anna do, but not much had been explained.
"You're from the Bonum Society!" Anna exclaimed, raising her hand, red energy flowing
into her palm, ready to attack at a moment's notice.
Amir stood still with her palm pointed at him. "The fact that you know that name, and
considering you are an Otherworlder, I'll guess you are part of Alter? In your mind, that
makes us enemies, correct?"
"Many in Alter have been killed by the Bonum Society. There's a good chance you will do
the same to all of us once you take us to your base," Anna explained.
"And many in the Bonum Society have died at the hands of those in Alter as well," Amir
replied. "However, the man you travel with, Raze, is also part of Alter, correct? Today, he
broke many rules, using large amounts of magic among other things. I'm sure if Alter gets
their hands on him, they might very well get rid of him after today."
Thinking about it more, Anna realized Amir might be right. In the crowd that had witnessed
everything, many would have been from Alter. They would figure out that Raze had used
magic. At that point, Raze only had two options: accept the punishment from Alter or
become their enemy.
"You should be able to tell that the man is not lying," Zon said. "Right now, the best thing we
can do is follow him. It's the only safe place for all of us, especially with Raze in this state."
Anna lowered her hand. She had initially agreed to be part of Alter because it was her best
chance to meet someone like her, a way back to the Red Fortis Army. Out of all the people
she had met, she was now with Zon, their leader. If anything, there was no longer a reason
for her to be part of Alter or follow their rules.
With the destination set, Rayna picked up Raze and carried him on her back. Safa stayed
close to them, matching their pace so she could continuously heal him. Meanwhile, Dame
picked up Mantis, and the large group of people from various factions, clans, and alliances
began heading toward the Dark Faction, where the Bonum Society was located.
While traveling through the land, Amir seemed to know a path that avoided the villages and
towns within the Light Faction. It was expected since they had gotten involved in an attack
during the arena event, so they had to have a way to escape.
With the destination set, Rayna picked up Raze and carried him on her back. Safa stayed
close to them, matching their pace so she could continuously heal him. Meanwhile, Dame
picked up Mantis, and the large group of people from various factions, clans, and alliances
began heading toward the Dark Faction, where the Bonum Society was located.
While traveling through the land, Amir seemed to know a path that avoided the villages and
towns within the Light Faction. It was expected since they had gotten involved in an attack
during the arena event, so they had to have a way to escape.
"I wonder… what's going to happen now?" Froma asked. "I mean with us and the Dark
Faction. With everything that occurred, will we be able to head back to the Demonic
Faction, or will they all have a grudge against Raze now?"
"Regarding the Demonic Faction, I can help with that," Rayna said. "With our links to the
Neverfall Clan, as long as my father agrees, we can get it so no one will touch us. But that's
not 100 percent. It depends on how the others react, which is why I'd rather Raze be in a
safer place for now."
"Right," Alba said. "The other issue is how the Dark and Light Factions will react to all of
this. Right now, Murkel is just missing, but the Dark Faction has lost a lot of power in that
fight. Maybe Murkel will be gone for a long time; he might not come back at all. Which will
leave the Dark Faction in a complete mess. However, it will take a while for everyone to
learn of all the news and react to everything that occurred… we should be alright as long as
panic doesn't occur."
Little did the group know, there was a single individual who had witnessed everything and
had been left behind. In a carriage back towards the Demonic Faction, Bubble, the infamous
reporter, had his head down to the ground and his hands on his head. As he lifted his face,
there was an ecstatic smile glowing from it.
"There's so much to report on, so much that the world needs to know happened! Where do
I begin? How many headlines do I keep running, and how many copies are going to be sold
of all this?" Bubble said.
His news and what had occurred during the Martial Arts Tournament this year would have
a significant effect on the entire world of Pagna, changing the status quo as everyone knew
it.
—
The group continued walking and finally entered the border of the Dark Faction. There was
a small sigh of relief as this occurred. They hadn't been chased down, and even in the Dark
Faction, there was now next to no one who would cause them trouble.
A lot of them wondered if the Dark Faction would even exist once the news of their
strongest warriors being defeated got around. There were just too many variables for them
all to worry about. Breaking out of a tunnel which appeared to be a secret entrance that
only the Bonum Society knew, they had finally exited out into a forest filled with lifeless
trees. Now that they were here, one person had a pending concern.
"I do have one question to ask," Anna said as they descended into a forest with thick trees
with next to no leaves above them. "The Bonum Society, how do you know they will just
accept us all here?"
Amir turned around with half a smirk on his face. "That's easy because I'm the leader of the
Bonum Society."
Chapter 758 The Bonum Hybrids
Chapter 758 The Bonum Hybrids
The reveal of Amir being the leader of the Bonum Society hadn't come as a surprise to most
traveling. After all, the Bonum Society was even less known than Alter. Alter had its place in
the factions, acting as mercenaries for hire with various jobs, but the same couldn't be said
for the Bonum Society, which had remained completely hidden.
Yet, there were two people who were completely surprised by this, and they stopped
moving.
"You never told me this," Dame said. "So all those people at the base, they're all under you?
You're the one in charge? You're the one that did everything to me?"
"Look, if I had told you everything from the beginning, you would have held a grudge
against me. But now that we have managed to save your friends and succeed, I'm sure you
have little to no hatred, right?" Amir asked, a slight quiver in his voice. He remembered
how angry Dame had gotten after being pulled out of the portal and how much angrier he
was after going through his training as a Hybrid.
When Amir looked at the others, he noticed another was surprised as well. "Not what you
expected?" Amir asked.
"Not at all," Anna replied. "If you are the leader of the Bonum Society, then Alter never had
anything to worry about."
"And yet they did worry about us, right?" Amir replied with a smirk and continued walking
onward while explaining the Bonum Society a bit more.
"The Bonum Society has existed for a long time now, nearly as long as the factions
themselves. So the strength of the group has come and gone. However, the important part
of any organization or faction when fighting is to hide your strength from the enemy.
"By showing our members attacking here and there, disrupting some of their plans, Alter
never had a true idea of the strength of our society. We might just be as big as them or even
bigger. So it goes without saying not to mention this, and if you do, you guys will be the first
guess as to who leaked such information."
Eventually, Dame started to recognize the path they were on. Up on the mountaintop, the
academy and the path to it could be seen, where a long drawn-out bridge would lead to the
academy itself.
However, that wasn't where they were heading. Another path through the surrounding
land would allow one to enter through a tunnel. As they continued onward, they entered a
thick, dark mist.
"It would be best if everyone held onto the person in front of them, at least for a while. If
you get separated, you may never find your way back," Amir said. "And besides, we have
been through a lot together, so holding onto each other should be fine, right?"
"Why does he have to say it like that?" Froma whispered to Reno.
"So this group of yours," Alba asked, "is everyone in it a Hybrid? Is that the aim of your
group, to make everyone a Hybrid?"
"Haha!" Amir burst out laughing. "What a crazy goal that would be. Let me tell you, not
everyone is successful in becoming a Hybrid. It doesn't always work out, and there are only
certain portals with certain beasts that can even attach to the mind in the first place. That
would be a near-impossible thing to do."
"Yet, you have done it. You even turned Mantis into one as well," Alba continued pressing.
"You are right. You see, some Hybrids still have a strong connection to the dimension they
came from, and if strong enough, they can open the portal back to the dimension where
they came from. Some can do this with their own power; others need a bit more help. After
all, on the other side, when a portal breaks, it's the same thing. It's the beasts that cause the
portal break, just sometimes with help from the other side."
"Is that how Murkel managed to escape as well?" Reno asked.
"That is my leading guess, which is even more worrying. So far, it seems he has focused on
his own strength, but remember what I said. The dimensions where one can become a
Hybrid are special. If Murkel can open them, with no help at all, he could soon turn many
into Hybrid beasts if he chooses so. Maybe even raising his own army. But it's hard to say if
he could do that or how easy it is for him to open and close portals."
"At the Bonum Society, we also have access to these portals, and at times we use them to
turn members who are willing to help our cause into Hybrids. But I need to make this clear,
we do not become Hybrids because we want to. We become Hybrids because we have to."
"What you said before is true. Our strength is weak against Alter. So, to level the playing
field, becoming Hybrids is the only thing we can do. It allows us options. Alter has a large
number of artifacts, while we have Hybrids, and each Hybrid is quite special. Even this mist
that surrounds and hides our base, that is all because of a particular Hybrid."
While Amir was talking, his foot landed on something hollow, the sound of one walking on
metal. He moved his feet a few times, and a trap door was revealed underneath. Bending
down, he lifted the top up.
"It looks like we are here. We'll try and be as welcoming as we can to you all," Amir said.
"Wait," Alba asked before following in. "About what you said before, you explained about
Hybrids and going against Alter, but if your goal isn't to turn everyone into Hybrids, then
what is the goal of the Bonum Society? What are you trying to do?"
This was the question on everyone's mind. It was clear it was no small operation, especially
for a group to go on for so long.
"I will explain to you all when Raze wakes up because I believe he will need to hear this as
well, and I feel like the answer will be important to him too."
Chapter 759: Invaders Everywhere
Chapter 759: Invaders Everywhere

Trapped, with four walls rising in front of him blocking his view of the sunlight outside,
Murkel was in complete darkness. But rather than feeling despair for the situation, he was
pleased.
'My chance, my chance has finally come!' Murkel quickly broke off a crystal from his back,
sliced part of his forearm drawing blood, then placed the crystal on his blood and started to
draw a circle in the air.
The red crystal lit up, and red lingering energy was seen. Once the glowing energies
connected, a circle had opened up, and Murkel stepped through the portal.
'I wish I could see the look on your faces when you all realized the mistake you made giving
me the chance to escape, but it doesn't matter because I will be back.'
Murkel stepped through the portal, and on the other side, he had entered another
dimension. It wasn't a new dimension but one that was familiar to him. Right now he found
himself in the middle of a jungle.
For a moment he turned back and saw the portal closing, and when he looked forward
again, he could feel his energy draining from him. He had only taken a few steps until he
finally fell to his knees.
'That fight took so much energy from me. I never imagined that there would be someone
with that type of artifact to summon a Divine being on me, and that couldn't have been any
normal Divine being. I know my strength. That damned child named Raze, he lucked out!'
Murkel had weakly grabbed a fist and went to hit the ground.
Usually, his fist would at least break the flooring or dirt, but it was as weak as a human's hit
currently.
Lifting his hand from the ground, Murkel started to touch the side of his head.
'During the fight... at one point or another, I also heard another voice. I haven't heard a
voice in so long. I thought that our minds had already merged, so why did I hear someone
during that fight?'
While Murkel was on the ground, weak and thinking of this, there was movement up in the
large trees above. Quick movement from one area to the next. Loud, heavy footsteps could
be heard in the distance, and large giant leaves were moving up and down.
This was a dimension full of beasts, beasts that Murkel had been fighting for an incredibly
long time, and now he had returned again, after so many years.
'In this state... I don't think I could beat any of them,' Murkel said, taking a deep breath. 'The
voice that I heard, it's you, the beast inside me, right? Well, you should do something if you
want us both to live.'
Despite trying to talk to whatever had reached out to him back then, there was no voice this
time, and Murkel's vision went blurry as he eventually fell to the ground, completely
passing
out.
There was a final thought that ran through Murkel's mind, that when his eyes closed he
wouldn't be able to open them again, but not in ways one would think. When his eyes
opened, and he looked around, he could see he was back in the cave entrance again.
At the front of the entrance, where the light shined in, there was a large number of beasts
that were staring at him. There was also a large leaf with a number of fruits and insects, as
well as beast crystals of all things.
Murkel went to pick up the beast crystal and started to absorb it.
"You guys stopped fighting, right? These crystals that I'm absorbing, they're from the dead,
not those that you killed."
Sounds resounded in the cave itself as well outside.
"All right, then I will take this tribute," Murkel said, absorbing the crystals.
He didn't know how long he had been out for, how long he had been asleep, but he could
tell that his body had been treated in odd ways using the special traits of the beast bodies
that were here.
He didn't have a large amount of thirst, so they had to have fed him water during this time
as well. The beasts in the dimension had all helped out Murkel.
"I'm sorry," Murkel said. "I failed to help you all. I know we all don't have a lot of time. This
dimension is dying... and I need to find a new place for all of you. I promise that I will get
stronger and help all of you."
Murkel never thought he was going to be killed by the beasts in the current dimension,
because to him, all of them were like him, and they were part of what he would call his new
family.
This wasn't the first time Murkel had returned to the dimension. When he had gone back to
Pagna, there were many times when he felt more lonely than ever, and having figured out a
way to get back to the dimension, he had done so.
It was odd for him, how unhostile the beasts were to him, and how each time he came back,
the dimension felt more like home to him. But it wasn't the dimension or the style of the
dimension itself, it was the beasts inside it.
When he had returned back with all the injuries from the fighting, the reason he believed
he might not wake up had nothing to do with the beasts around him. He feared that he was
more injured than he thought during the fight.
The other thing was that he might have woken up in the back of his mind, having the beast
taken over again.
Over the next few weeks, Murkel had stayed in the dimension and focused on his recovery.
The injuriez this time would take a lot longer to heal. He continually used the crystals that
the beasts would give him and spent as much time as he could with all the beasts as well.
Traveling through the dense jungle, Murkel was riding on what appeared to be a strange
large giant hippo with four eyes. Two large eyes on the front and two smaller ones at the
side.
It was around five times bigger than that of a regular hippo. As they went through the
jungle, Murkel would pick some of the giant fruits and then throw them down to monkey-
like beasts that would collect them and take them away.
Everything worked like clockwork, as if they had been doing it for years, and had all done it
without communication.
'My body is back at around 70 percent of what it was before. From the fight, I can tell that
I'm able to get stronger than before. I wonder if at 100 percent, I will be able to rank up to
the Divine realm. If that's the case, then I will be able to stay here and use all my powers,
but I won't be able to go back to Pagna.
'I'm also curious. I still was unable to hear the voice of the beast. There is a chance that our
merging hasn't a hundred percent occurred. When it does, that might even boost my power
as well. There are still a large number of possibilities, and if I want my revenge, it might be
best to increase my beast powers rather than my Qi powers.
'Getting to the Divine Rank will get in my way, and besides, I need to look after all of these,'
Murkel said as he rubbed the grey skin of the giant hippo.
He then looked up at the sky and could see there were no clouds. Instead, the world was
twirling. It appeared as a giant vortex in the air, and everything was being pulled up to one
point.
Murkel, with a piece of fruit in his hand, chucked it up in the air forcefully. It went through
extremely fast, nearly reaching the clouds, and then, when it was meant to fall back down, it
didn't. It stayed in the air, slowly moving upward, moving toward the vortex in the air.
'I have no clue how much time I have, but all I know is there is only one person that has
gotten in my way. If I get rid of him, then everything will be fine!' Murkel thought.
'I underestimated him, a no-name student who had suddenly come to the school using
these strange powers. So many things didn't make sense, including the skills of Bofan that
he
knew.'
'If I can, it will be best if I don't kill him straight away. I would like to know what his
relationship with Bofan would be. Still, I don't want to change my stance or position. It
looks like I will have to say goodbye to the academy and the Dark Faction for a while.'
Murkel thought, continuing to look up at the sky, and that's when he could see something
strange
occurring.
In the sky above, several portals had suddenly opened up. Not just one, but around fifteen
of
them, and moments later, several people came out from the portals. Most of them wearing
strange robes, white in color, with others wearing blazers that reminded him of what the
student was wearing.
"People... it's never good news when people find the dimension, but they don't look like
Pagna warriors, and are they floating?"
It wasn't Murkel's imagination. These people were floating down, and fairly large in
number
as well. The other thing that stood out about them all was the golden "I" on top of their
hoods or on their clothing.
"I don't like visitors. I'll get rid of them all," Murkel said.
Chapter 760: I Hate Mages!
Chapter 760: I Hate Mages!

The mages slowly descended onto the dimension's new land in groups, each one being led
by a squad leader who was a higher star mage and also wore a blazer rather than a robe
like the rest of them.
The appearance of them floating down as if they had control of flight was caused by one in
the group who had advanced wind powers, allowing them to land on the ground softly.
As standard with each procedure, each group was separated from each other within a
kilometer. This was so they could explore the area easily and quickly, and if there was any
trouble such as a powerful beast, the teams could come over and help each other quicker
with support.
The mages had made a formation, surrounding themselves in a circle as they moved
through the dense jungle. The squad leader was placed in the middle.
"Check out the area first, you know that's the first thing you need to do," the squad leader
ordered.
One of the mages wearing a hood with the clear display of the golden 'I' on the peak knelt
down and pressed both of his hands on the ground. A pulse came out, and the flow of dirt
was seen moving outward.
"10 o'clock, large beast has been located, 1.2 tons!" the mage shouted.
Immediately, three of the mages made their move. One of them threw out a special circular
device right into the heavy greenery. A slight noise was made, followed by a bestial scream.
"NAGRUU!" Charging out from the leaves was a beast on all fours with large horns that bent
sideways and across the edge of its body, the outside of them appearing razor-sharp.
"Attack!" the squad leader shouted.
A number of mages used their spells, shouting out mainly fire-like attacks. The fireballs
were shot out seemingly at random but all started to head toward the beast. That's when
the fireballs could be seen curling toward the beast and landing right on its neck.
All of the attacks were landing in the same place, hitting the beast constantly, and it was
right where the circular device the first mage had thrown had landed.
Eventually, the beast's wound on its neck was too large, and it fell on the floor before it
could even fight back, no longer moving.
The mage quickly jumped over to the beast's position and pulled the circular device out
from its neck.
"These new magical items for hunting are great. Get one of these stuck on someone, and all
the spells will be directed to its location," the mage said. "It's the first time I've seen it in
action."
"Yes," the squad leader said, coming forward. "It's handy in a place like this where we
mainly have mages that use the fire element. Otherwise, stray attacks could burn this whole
forest down."
After saying those words, the mage placed two fingers toward the side of his head to
deliver a report to the commander who was leading the charge, who was on the ground in a
safe area with two other mages.
"Commander Jefferson, you have a smile on your face. I assume you have good news?" one
of the mages asked.
Jefferson also had his fingers pressed against the side of his head, as he was receiving all of
the news coming in from the squad leaders.
"For some reason, there is a large number of beasts in this dimension. We seem to have hit
quite the jackpot this time," Jefferson claimed.
However, his smile had quickly disappeared.
"What's wrong, sir?"
"I can't get in contact with unit six. For some reason, I can't connect to him. It's been broken
off," Jefferson said. "There are only two reasons it could be broken off: either he broke the
link off himself."
"Or he's dead," the other mage answered, to which Jefferson nodded.
"Unit three and unit four, you are the closest to unit six's location. Can you check on their
location and report back?" Jefferson asked.
They both replied and were on it immediately. Calmly, Jefferson waited. With how many
beasts were in the dimension, there was also a good chance that there was a strong beast
that could defeat the mages as well. Losses were expected with tasks like this at times.
After around fifteen minutes had passed, Jefferson had expected some type of update but
had no contact. So he tried to connect with them, and once again, there was no connection.
Immediately, Jefferson stood up.
"Get all units to head to where squad six was based," Jefferson ordered. "And we will head
there ourselves as well."
The mage to Jefferson's right lifted his hands up, and all three of them started to float as
they headed to the area. They rose above the jungle and could see the other squads moving
to the location as well.
"Let's not head right into the center. If it's a large beast, then we could get hit straight
away," Jefferson ordered. So they lowered themselves and started to travel through the
jungle. Up ahead, they could hear a stream of water running.
By a small stream that went off a mountain, that was where Unit 6 had gone to. Landing on
the ground, Jefferson was on the move, and he had even started to form a strange shield on
the palm of his hands with his magic, condensing on the outside. They surrounded his
hands as he walked forward.
"Argh!" A man was heard shouting, but there were no large footsteps. Hearing the sound of
one of the mages hurt and in distress, the three ran forward, out of the jungle and by the
bed of the stream of water on the ground with small rocks.
Instantly, Jefferson stopped as he looked at the sight in front of him. The ground was
surrounded with the dead mages of each group that had come forward. Blood on the
ground, and right in front of them, there was a man being held up, with a red crystal
through the bottom of his chin right to the top of his head.
Attached to the red crystal was a man, his ragged clothes covered in blood. The man turned
his head to look at the three that had just arrived.
"All of you, you use the same powers as that student. That really grinds me the wrong way,"
Murkel said. "I guess I have some questions to ask, but in my anger at seeing these men kill
these beasts, I got rid of far too many."
"I have learned one thing from these people: you're called Mages. I'm guessing he was one
as well. So are you going to answer my questions, Mage?"
Chapter 761: Two Enemies Meet
Chapter 761: Two Enemies Meet

Commander Jefferson was a four-star mage, while the squad leaders were three-star
mages. Three-star was already quite the accomplishment in Alterian, putting one above
most of the mages in the world.
Past that, the higher numbers were just a rarity, but when your world had a large
population, even a low percentage meant a high number of talented mages.
Still, there was something that set the group apart from the rest. The regular mages that
were on the expedition were only two-star, but with the help of the enchanted weapons
created by Idore, one of the Grand Magus and the greatest enchanter in the whole of
Alterian, it boosted the strength of the mages considerably.
That was how they were able to hunt in a dimension such as the one they were in.
Now though, Jefferson could see several of the squads having been killed. Not just the
regular mages but the squad leaders as well.
He stared ahead at the person that was responsible for it all.
'We were warned about this, that there might be others in the dimensions, but it was a
rarity that it would occur,' Jefferson thought. 'All of my men, they were wearing enchanted
robes as well, how were they unable to take him out?'
Seeing how his men were dealt with, Jefferson decided to act from afar. He placed his hand
to the side of his head and orders were sent out.
The two mages that were with him placed their hands on the ground and trails of ice
started to appear heading right for Murkel's legs.
It froze the bottom of his feet, but looking down, he couldn't help but laugh.
"What is this?" Murkel said, lifting his feet and walking forward with ease. When he looked
up, he could feel a great heat on the surface of his skin.
A giant fireball had come out, crashing into his entire body.
Jefferson, seeing this, had a smile on his face until he could see a figure walk right through.
"Your attacks are not on the same level as his. Was he someone special among all of you?"
Murkel asked.
Kicking off his feet, a large amount of Qi exploded. A mage still with their hands on the
ground had created a giant ice wall.
Right through the center, a red crystal broke through the ice wall, reaching the other side
and going right through the mage's head.
The red crystal returned and the ice wall broke into energy after the mage's death.
Two strange purple objects were flying from Jefferson's hands. They were balls of energy
that were curving, but before they reached Murkel's body, the red crystal would grow on
his side, and hitting him, it appeared as if it did nothing.
Kicking off his feet again, Murkel then grabbed the other mage by the back of his head and
with his hand, slowly placed it up to his face.
"You mages all have strange different powers, but nothing compared to what he used. His
hurt a lot more than this. Why was he different from you?" Murkel asked as he placed his
hand closer to the mage's mouth.
A small red crystal was starting to grow until it snapped forward and went through the
mage's head, ending his life.
Breaking through whatever barrier had been made from the robes they wore, it was as if
they had no barrier at all.
Murkel then turned his head to look at Jefferson.
"Your power is different from theirs, some type of purple barrier," Murkel said.
As he walked forward, Jefferson was firing off beam after beam of energy toward him.
Purple balls were bouncing off him as they hit his body, seemingly doing nothing.
"I don't think I even had to use my beast form, but you see I'm trying to improve myself,
and one of those improvements I need is to get better at fighting against those like him,"
Murkel said. "So tell me."
Murkel kicked off his feet, and the mage lifted both of his hands creating a large barrier, but
with a slash of his hand filled with Qi, the barrier broke, shattering.
Murkel then grabbed onto his hair and pulled his head back.
"The power that hurt me, it was dark in color, but I'm sure of it, he could do the same things
as you. He was a mage as well. Why aren't any of you using that Dark power?" Murkel
asked.
"Dark power," Jefferson repeated with his head pulled back. He felt like his life was already
over; he knew it.
"That must be Dark Magic, but that's impossible. Dark Magic is outlawed in Alterian. No one
knows it, at least not at a high level!" Jefferson answered.
"Outlawed? Do you idiots think people would care about that in the pursuit of gaining
strength?"
"Why are you people coming to Pagna? Why is he there? Why are you here right now?"
Murkel asked.
"To... to..." Jefferson lifted his hand and placed it at the side of his head. "To get what's left of
this place before it's gone," the commander answered.
Right then, Murkel could feel the man's life fade from his eyes.
'Did he kill himself?' Murkel thought as he dropped the body to the ground. Then he noticed
something high above.
A few mages were floating up to the sky and had opened up a portal. As they went through,
the portal closed behind them.
"I didn't get the answers that I was looking for," Murkel said, disappointed, and continued
to look through those he had killed.
He was hoping that one of them was left alive. Not everyone would be confident enough to
take their own life.
Even the most loyal, it was hard to do such a task.
'Some of them escaped, but if they can open portals freely, it means they might be back.'
Murkel was right with his thoughts.
In Jefferson's last moments, he had lifted his hand to send a message for the mages to head
back to Alterian and report what had happened, and to ask for more help.
Murkel was going to have a lot more than just Pagna to worry about.
Chapter 762: They Finally Move
Chapter 762: They Finally Move

In the world of Alterian, Idore and his Noble Guild had many bases around the cities in
various countries around the world.
There was even a building for the Grand Magus where all five would meet up.
It was a building to be used as they wished, built with funds donated by various countries.
It was also a place where leaders would gather with the Grand Magus as mediators in the
whole thing.
A city named Ion City was the city where the main base of the Noble Guild was located, and
there were a number of buildings owned by the guild located in the city.
There was a crafting shop, where items would be brought in and new enchantments tested
again and again until a product was made that could be sold to the general public.
Then there was the guild base itself, more like a miniature academy taking up a vast
amount of land in the city.
High walls stationed on the outside, a magic barrier seemingly always on, and a place
where the mages of the guild could continue to do their research into their spells and more,
gaining more strength day by day.
Even with this, there were two more large buildings in the city that were well known for
being owned by the Noble Guild.
In the center was a grand skyscraper with a golden "I" on the outside of the building.
With all of the Grand Magus and their guilds, they had become more ingrained into society
and had become more of a business.
TV appearances, TV shows, movies, merchandise, and more were all sold under the Grand
Magus branding.
There were multiple teams for these top guilds like that of the Noble Guild, and on each
floor of the skyscraper, a team existed for multiple avenues, and it was where it was stated
Idore himself would spend most of his time.
Then finally, there was the last building. It wasn't directly in the city itself; it was built on
the outskirts of the city, not really close to anything else.
It used to be an old airport that was decommissioned and Idore had bought it. Changes had
been made to the inside, making it more hollow and getting rid of all the glass.
When people drove past, they could see nothing, and it was the same for anything flying
above.
Which was why people could only guess what was there, and their best guess was a
warehouse used to store the items they were making.
Currently, at the abandoned warehouse, there was a large number of guild members inside.
Members of the Noble Guild, nearly all wearing special uniforms that were only given to
certain members. Specially enchanted robes with the golden letter "I" on top of their heads.
Large groups were in areas writing a number of circles down. Large displays with different
magical formations were seen on the screen, some of them in red, others in green.
This was Idore's special facility, for trying to find dimensions to hunt in. All for the sake of
searching for crystals as well as special artifacts.
Teams were working day and night, using magic to try and open portals to other
dimensions. In the facility, some dimensions had already been discovered. Teams were sent
out to deal with beasts and bring back items.
Other dimensions had no beasts at all, but there was a high chance to find artifacts to bring
back.
At times, some artifacts' powers could even be replicated, so they were sent to another
team to try and create a similar enchantment to their items with them.
The current facility was the core of the Noble Guild and Idore's strength, and the only
people that were able to step into the facility were the most trusted in the guild.
They were to never speak of what happened in the portals to the rest of the members, and
the mages were practically off the grid and weren't exactly part of the guild.
However, all of them were compensated for their work very generously.
In one area of the facility, down an airport aisle where several numbers would be used for
gates where the airplanes would appear, at gate 77, a portal had opened up.
The mages turned as it was unexpected.
"Didn't they just head in a while ago? It's too early for them to come back."
"Right."
The two mages said.
Out from the portal, two mages came diving in and slid across the ground. They quickly
turned their heads to look at the portal, and when they saw it closing up, there was relief on
their faces.
"Why have only two of you returned? Where are the rest? Where is Commander Jefferson?"
the mage asked.
"Commander Jefferson, Commander Jefferson, that's right! I need to report something fast!"
the mage said as he grabbed onto the other's robe.
The urgent news was delivered extremely quickly as it was an uncommon thing to happen.
The news continued until it reached the place known as Golden Tower, where Idore was
currently at.
At the very top floor, he was sitting on his sofa, glass panes staring out at the view of the
city.
"That's two times now, where the mages have discovered others in the dimensions. At
times we have found strays that they have managed to deal with, but for someone to take
out an
entire team..."
"Is it the same as last time, the same group of people they met last time? It's quite possible."
Idore was twiddling his fingers, playing with a golden coin in his hand.
"This situation, it would be good to put a pin in it while we can. I can't have several
commanders losing their lives."
Idore then pulled out a small circular device from his pocket and placed it on the table.
It started to vibrate, and eventually, a hologram appeared in front of him. A handsome,
middle-aged man, with next to no imperfections on his face.
It was one of the most well-known Grand Magus, the poster boy of the mages, Enaxx.
"Something has come up, and I have an important job for you, something that only us, the
Grand Magus, can deal with."
Chapter 763: Growing A Special Army
Chapter 763: Growing A Special Army

After the attack, Murkel started to make some changes in his dimension. At first, he took
the bodies of the dead and began to open them up. With his red crystallized body parts, it
was easy to slice and dice the mages.
In doing so, he didn't find out much, apart from them looking to be the same as regular
citizens on Pagna. Their bodies had the same type of organs. The only thing that looked
slightly different was the heart.
All of them appeared to be slightly darkened compared to a real heart, which Murkel had
seen before.
At the end of the day, Murkel was no physician, and there were no real tools at his disposal,
so the only conclusion he could come to was that these mages were the same as humans
visually. On top of that, he found a device on the first mage he had attacked and took it from
them. The device itself was what had allowed him to understand what the other mages
were saying in the first place. Then there were the robes on their dead bodies as well.
Using a small amount of Qi, he could see a barrier reacting.
Keeping the robes, Murkel stored them in his cave while leaving the rest of the bodies to be
fed to his family of beasts.
While sitting down in the cave and cultivating his Qi, Murkel was thinking, planning his
next set of moves. The dimension he was in was dying, and now it was being invaded as
well.
He still had business on Pagna to deal with; if anything, this pushed him further to act
quicker than he had expected.
At that moment, a large number of beasts returned, bringing their fair share of crystals as
they usually would. Murkel picked it up and then shook his head.
"You, eat it. I need you beasts strong," Murkel said.
One of the beasts with a large trunk took the crystal, pulled it toward him, then placed it in
its mouth and crunched down on the crystal.
"All of you, don't bother bringing me these crystals anymore. The dead that pass on take
their crystals and continue to grow stronger. We are going to need everyone's strength if
we want to stop these attacks."
There was a large number of crystals from the dead beasts when the mages had come to
attack, but Murkel hadn't taken them either. Still thinking about what to do with the
situation, he finally came up with his answer.
The beasts came forward, taking the crystals and consuming them one by one, and Murkel
was keeping track of those that were starting to grow stronger.
"An army of humans failed me, so I will try for an army of beasts instead. All of you get
strong."
Days passed with Murkel trying to concentrate on his cultivation. At the same time, he
stayed in his beast form a lot more than he did his regular form.
In his mind, there was still a gap that his beast side and the human side hadn't synced up
with each other.
If they fully synced, then he would gain strength. Perhaps he had been subconsciously
suppressing his beast side, and now he was trying to openly accept it.
As time went on, Murkel could see his plan taking effect. A few of the beasts had been
practicing consuming the crystals.
In doing so, they had become incredibly strong, reaching high levels. He was sure if Pagna
warriors knew about these beasts, they would be hunting for their power stones all over.
When looking at them and back at the robes that were still in the cave, Murkel started to
think. 'That group of people, they managed to gather quite a large number of hybrids.
Having a human beast that can use Qi certainly does make them stronger.'
'That Dame also gave me quite some trouble as well. Before, I never brought any humans to
this dimension to create hybrids because there was a good chance that the human's mind
would be the more dominant one in the beasts, but with the way the beasts are now, would
it be the same?' Murkel started to think.
Perhaps if high-stage warriors weren't selected, non-high-skilled ones, the beast's mind
would be dominant, and they would still decide to listen to Murkel.
With this in mind, Murkel decided to do a little test. He walked over and through the dense
jungle. He still remembered, after all of the years, the spot where he had entered from.
'Depending on where one is in the dimension and opens up a portal, it appears that where
they will appear on the other side changes as well.
'There were a few clans in the Dark Faction near the Erupting Fist. They weren't large, big
well-known clans, so this should work.'
The same place where the first warriors had entered the dimension. For now, Murkel had
changed his form to make himself appear more human. He had grabbed a makeshift blade
made of stone and cut his arm with blood.
Right after, he placed this on one of the red crystals and started to draw a circle in the air.
The energy started to linger, and when it joined up, a portal opened up.
Murkel then placed the red crystal from his body onto the ground and waited. He waited
directly in front of it until people started to appear through it.
"I can't believe we managed to hit the jackpot, finding a portal in all places. We're going to
make it big!"
"Our clan will finally be able to rise."
Without a moment's hesitation, Murkel grabbed one of the warriors' heads and flung him
behind him.
One of the beasts high up in the trees grabbed hold of him, running off.
Murkel then grabbed another and flung his arm to the side. With each person coming into
the portal, Murkel was flinging and throwing them to the strong beasts behind him.
"The Dark Faction failed me, so I'm making my own army this time," Murkel stated.
Chapter 764: The Grand Magus Weak?
Chapter 764: The Grand Magus Weak?

"To everyone out there in the studio today, do we have a special interview for you. I'm sure
most of Alterian is tuned in right now because we have a personal interview with one of the
Grand Magus, Enaxx!" the presenter announced, ecstatic while looking into the camera.
The female presenter, well known for hosting talk shows with different types of people,
went by the name of Ashley and had been doing such things for a long time.
The setup of the studio was fairly simple. She was seated in a singular chair behind a desk
of sorts, while the person she would be interviewing would be seated on a sofa.
At times, special guests would be asked to do a performance of sorts on a stage further to
the right of the set.
Sometimes musicians would sing their favorite albums, or comedians would perform their
latest stand-up routine. This time, though, there was an interview with Enaxx.
Enaxx had his facial hair perfectly groomed for the occasion. He had gotten a fresh haircut,
was wearing a stylish light blue suit, and looked confident while being there.
As his name was announced, the studio crowd cheered for him. He waved and smiled with
his white pearly teeth as he went ahead to take a seat on the couch.
"First, I want to thank Enaxx for taking the time out of his busy schedule to come to talk to
us today," Ashley said. "As you know, all of the Grand Magus are important people for the
entirety of Alterian."
"Enaxx is perhaps the most well known in a way, doing multiple public appearances, which
brings me to my first question. Why is it that we can always get a hold of you and not the
others? Is it because you're simply not as busy as them?" Ashley asked.
Enaxx smiled, and the crowd let out some laughter, mostly directed by a person waving
some magic around, instructing the others to laugh.
"The Grand Magus are individuals that have a lot to offer in this world. They have their
roles outside of being the Grand Magus, whereas for me, my role is being the face of the
Grand Magus," Enaxx explained.
"If there are speeches to be made, information to be shared, I am the one that delivers it to
the world. I think the reason might be my pretty face if you ask me," Enaxx replied.
The last comment again got a few chuckles, which Ashley seemed to notice something. 'Did
the laughs seem to catch a small nerve?' Ashley thought. 'Maybe this could be a big thing. If
I could get Enaxx to break down or explode while live, the viewership would go viral,'
Ashley thought.
Still, she went along with the script for now.
"Well, as one of the Grand Magus, it means you must be extremely strong as well. There's
been something going on online recently about magic with special traits. Are you able to
explain such a thing?"
"Of course," Enaxx said. "You see, magic can be split up into three different variations, if you
will. There is pure mana form."
Enaxx displayed his hand, and white energy surrounded it, glowing slightly yellow.
"Anyone who is a mage can use magic this way. It's just the gathering of mana, but even this
can be used in attacks."
"The second way is through magic circles. The circles themselves and the runes and
symbols we use are instructions. Think of it like the coding used to make software. As for
the source of power, it's our mana."
"Some circles require different types of magic, and some don't, and that will bring us to the
third formation, and that is elemental magic."
"This is important to mages because it's the basis of when we create a core. For many
mages, they try to gain affinity into these elements, giving us greater strength and allowing
us to unlock more power in the magic circles we create."
"These three variations are what all mages are capable of, but when you talk about traits,
these are types of magic that others are able to produce outside of that, which still require
the basis of mana to use."
"For example, a summoner might be able to create creatures with his magic, or a person
might be able to turn themselves invisible. It's a unique trait that has come across them
when learning magic."
"So is it a bit like a breakthrough?" Ashley asked.
"Not quite. A breakthrough is the expansion of one's core. It's a powerful technique and has
many downsides. Although that creates unique magic to each individual that is still based
on what affinity the magic core is with, and it's something that anyone can learn how to do,
at least in theory, as many will never ever learn how to break through."
"Whereas a trait is unique to those mages. Our research into special traits is a little limited.
Some believe that it's a combination of several elements."
"Others believe it was just how one was born. What is interesting is some traits can be
replicated through enchanted items or magic circles."
"For example, one user may have the trait to use their magic to make them invisible, but we
have devices that can do the same, and we can place someone in a magic circle, activate the
spell, and turn one invisible as well. So although in the past, magical traits used to be
impressive, with research and enchanted items, it's not so much, unless one has a truly
unique trait," Enaxx explained.
Ashley nodded her head quite a few times during the conversation, listening intently. Enaxx
sure seemed knowledgeable.
"And what about the Grand Magus then? Are they strong because of special traits, or do any
of them have any special traits?" Ashley asked.
"Now, I can't just go on ahead revealing other people's secrets, can I? Especially when
they're not here," Enaxx replied.
"Then I have another question that pops up frequently," Ashley said. "Is it true that you are
the weakest of all the Grand Magus?"
Enaxx's eyebrow twitched, and the bottom of his eyelid started to beat.
Chapter 765: Who's Weak Now?
Chapter 765: Who's Weak Now?

This wasn't the first time Ashley had done something like this, pushing a guest on her show.
She had done this a few times and got guests to reveal things they would have never done
otherwise.
It was part of how she had become famous. However, there were times when she would
also just conduct an interview normally.
It was an instinct of hers to somewhat read a person, and she had read that for some
reason, Enaxx didn't like talking about a few things. She had caught on, asking the current
question. "Is it true that you are the weakest of all the Grand Magus?"
This wasn't a baseless question either; it was one that had circulated online more than
once.
Polls would come out asking which of the Grand Magus one thought was the strongest.
Sometimes the answers would change, but most of the time, Enaxx would end up at the
bottom.
This was all because of Enaxx's role among the Grand Magus as the face of the Grand
Magus, but there was another nickname that circulated, calling him the lap dog.
"Who knows," Enaxx said, shrugging his shoulders and passing it off as a stupid question.
"The Grand Magus wouldn't be able to tell unless they fought against each other, but I will
tell you a few things.
"All of the Grand Magus are 9-star mages, mages considered to have the same might as
countries, and there is a reason why we are even above 9-star mages."
Ashley could hear it in the tone of Enaxx's voice for her to back down. She was wondering
whether to push forward more; it felt like she was on the cusp of breaking Enaxx.
Yet a little voice in her also was telling her to back down because right now she was being
threatened.
"Right, as expected, the Grand Magus are at the pinnacle of a mage's power, people that
everyone looks up to!" Ashley said. "Which is why you were going to do a performance for
us today, right?"
"Right." Enaxx answered as he got up from his seat and headed off to the side where a stage
was being prepared next to him.
Enaxx then went on to perform his magic as he produced spell after spell. First, he had
gathered just normal mana in its yellow form. He swirled it around different parts of his
body perfectly and then pushed it out from his body.
The magic moved away and went in all directions outward, moving across all items as if it
was passing through them.
It continued out towards the crowd and just stopped short in front of their faces, not
harming a single person, including the presenter.
"During this demonstration, it would be best that no one moves. Otherwise, there is a high
chance of getting hurt," Enaxx claimed.
The audience was unsure if he was serious or not, and just in case, they decided to follow
his orders.
Next, Enaxx did the same thing but with wind magic, performing it the same way and
pushing it outward just before the attack would reach the audience's faces.
Then ice magic, then lightning, and Enaxx proceeded to go through every type of magic
affinity.
Showing that he had extreme skill in all of the affinities, something that nearly every mage
would wish for.
When he was going through fire, Ashley feared that it was directly going to hit her, but the
fire magic stopped just short as well.
Enaxx had a smile on his face as he looked back at the presenter and walked over.
"As you can see, I have complete control over every inch of my power. That is something
that the higher star mages have as they grow with strength. If someone else had tried to do
what I just did, well, everyone in here would be dead," Enaxx said, coming back to his seat.
Ashley continued the interview as normal and went on to talk about further developments
and upcoming projects Enaxx had. After that, the interview was over.
Enaxx's assistant had come to whisk him away for the next big meeting and appearance he
had. After all, he was an extremely busy person.
Ashley had quickly rushed to her dressing room, where her assistant had followed in, and
her makeup artist was there to help.
When sitting in her chair, the makeup artist went to adjust as she usually would.
"Ashley, you're sweating buckets out there. Did the flames really get to you?" she asked.
"It's not the flames; it was the look in his eyes. I thought he was really going to kill me,"
Ashley said. "I might have pushed it a little too far this time. Annie, can you do me a favor?
We have a mutual colleague working on the Wonder Drink commercial."
"That's where Enaxx is meant to be next. Can you just check that he's arrived there?"
"Sure," Annie said with a smile.
Ashley's assistant got straight onto the call, and she knew the reason why. If she knew
Enaxx was at the shoot, which was on the other side of the city, then he wouldn't be near
them, giving Ashley some peace of mind.
There were times when Ashley had angered a guest and pushed it a little too far, causing
her to up the security around her, hiring a strong guild for protection.
However, who would she hire to protect her from a Grand Magus? The only thing she could
count on was that a Grand Magus wouldn't want to ruin their image.
"All is clear. You don't have to worry. They said he arrived and is now going through
shoots,"
Annie said.
Ashley turned back and let out a big sigh.
"That's a relief, right?" a voice said.
Ashley quickly turned around and heard a small explosion go off. Blood had splattered on
her face along with some human flesh parts. When she opened her eyes, Annie's head
appeared to have completely exploded.
It wasn't just hers, though. Her makeup artist fell to the floor, no longer with a head on her
body.
"You... you're here... but you should be at the photo shoot!" Ashley exclaimed.
"Ah, but I am there. Your assistant just confirmed it," Enaxx said. "Which means that even
with you gone, I won't even be a suspect because everyone knows that I'm not here and I'm
there."
"You can't do this. Why would you do this?" Ashley said. "She's not even a mage. I thought
the Grand Magus was meant to protect us."
"Oh, but how am I meant to protect you when I'm just so weak?" Enaxx claimed.
"I was right..." Ashley whispered to herself. There was anger behind the questions she
asked. Deep down, there was an inferiority complex to the others.
"You are incredibly strong," Ashley said. "The strongest of the Grand Magus. I was just
saying that stupid stuff for views, that's all."
"Well, now you're just exaggerating. Anyone could see that," Enaxx claimed. "Today is a
very annoying day because right after I deal with you, I need to go and deal with something
else."
"I was already annoyed by him ordering me around, and then you just had to do what you
needed to do," Enaxx said.
He placed his hand on the tearful Ashley, and her head started to expand, exploding on the
spot.
"At least I can get my anger out in that dimension, whoever's in there," Enaxx said as he left
the room filled with blood and three dead.
Now off to enter another dimension where he would go on to meet Murkel.
Chapter 766: A Change In The Dark Faction
Chapter 766: A Change In The Dark Faction

After a long fight with the Dark Faction and their strongest representatives, the odd group
of mismatched warriors from different clans and factions found themselves at the Bonum
Society base.
A location that was in the Dark Faction itself, at the base of the academy, deep
underground.
It was a large facility and a bigger operation than many thought. The Crimson Crane
members were staring at the place in awe.
"I wonder how long it takes to build something underground like this," Reno exclaimed as
he hit the side of the wall and could feel it was made out of pure metal.
"The construction required us to make it stable as well."
"The base was made before I became leader," Amir replied. "We don't even have the tools
now, so we can only think of two things: either it was done with an artifact of some sort, or
they had some help."
The group continued to follow Amir through the wide halls, and they could see the various
members around them.
Some had Pagna clothing and were part of clans that were recognizable, while others
looked like regular citizens, merchants, and more.
"The people here, they are all warriors because they practice arts to defend themselves, but
in order to gather information and operate, we need to take on various roles," Amir
explained. "Not only that, but in regular lives and work, we need a way to bring in funds as
well.
"Thankfully, everyone is happy to donate to the cause of the Bonum Society because they
all believe in the end goal."
That's when Simyon nudged Dame with his shoulder hitting his arm.
"Hey," Simyon whispered. "What is their goal in all of this? I know Amir told us he would
tell us when Raze is awake, but surely you must have some idea."
"I... have no clue either," Dame replied. "I just agreed to help them because they said they
would be at the Martial Arts Tournament where you guys were."
After saying those words, Liam, Safa, and Simyon turned to look at Dame. They didn't
expect him to say that, and it caused his cheeks to flush a little red.
"What sack of potato-eating spuds have you brought in? Look at these pathetic bunch of
losers," a man said, approaching the group.
The man was bald with several scars across mainly the top of his head. He had a sleeveless
shirt on, and on his back, a pair of axes.
One thing they could tell about this person was that he was oozing with confidence.
"Olag, what a great way to treat our guests," Amir said.
"Guests, guests that no one knows about. You could be held hostage and bring the enemy
right to us!" Olag said, and then took a peek at some of the group. "Well, maybe not, with
them being half dead and all."
"They are people who will help the Bonum Society and our cause."
"No, we're not," Anna said. "We came here because you said it would be a safe place to help
him." Anna pointed at Raze, who was currently being carried by Rayna.
"No one said by us coming down here we would be joining your organization."
Amir turned around and knew this would be difficult, having to deal with the Bonum
Society and the others as well.
"Do you think I want a bunch of nobodies joining us?" Olag shouted. "What do you think,
we're that desperate that we would have a bunch of kids that need to help us out?"
"Wait a moment," Amir said, pressing his hand against Olag's chest, who appeared as if he
was ready to scrap at any moment.
"These aren't just a bunch of students or misfits like you might think. It's because of all of
these that we have a chance to progress and become something bigger now."
"These guys, they took out the strongest in the Dark Faction."
"Ha, that's the best joke I've heard all year, you old fart!" Olag said, but when looking at
Amir's face being so straight, it appeared as if he wasn't joking at all.
"How, how could these kids beat the strongest? I'm guessing you had a hand in it as well,
and what about Murkel? You're telling me these guys beat him, so which one was it? Huh."
Amir nodded.
"I'm not lying. If you want, when they're recovered, you can test them yourself, but for now,
they need a place to rest. And as for Murkel..."
Amir then pointed behind him, directly at Raze, who was being carried on Rayna's back.
"He's the one that managed to defeat Murkel."
Looking at his face, Olag thought it was even more lies. It was a child, maybe a young adult
at best.
"Are you making lies just to help these people out?" Olag asked.
"If you want, I could cut you down right now!" Anna exclaimed, and the rest this time were
inclined to agree.
"This is what I wanted to talk about with all of you," Amir said. "I'm not asking you to
become a part of the Bonum Society, but with what has happened, we have a large
opportunity."
"The most powerful in the Dark Faction have been defeated. Right now, there are still clans
up there that have no idea what is happening.
"Someone needs to unite the Dark Faction. We have our people everywhere, gathering
constant information."
"If we can, once you guys have regained your strength back, along with us, I think we can
take over the entirety of the Dark Faction in one swoop."
Simyon, Liam, Mada, and Ricktor in particular couldn't believe what was being said. Taking
over an entire faction, it would have been an impossibility, but they were in the position to
do
such things.
"What's in it for us though, by helping you take over the Dark Faction, when we aren't even
sure if we should be helping you?" Alba asked.
"Because it will help him," Amir said. "If all goes well, I want to do it all before Raze even
wakes up, and when he does, I want to make Raze the leader of the Dark Faction."
Chapter 767: Let Me Test Your Strength
Chapter 767: Let Me Test Your Strength

Raze's allies, or the Dark Magus's allies as Amir would refer to them to the rest of the
Bonum Society, were settling in the Bonum Society's base. There was oddly a lot of empty
space in the facility.
As the group explored, they realized that much of the base had never been used before.
Part of the facility was covered in dust and had a slightly musty smell to it. It was a sign that
the Bonum Society used to have better days, being a much larger organization than they
were
now.
One of the rooms behind a metallic door had enough space to house everyone. There were
plenty of beds that would be divided by curtains for necessary privacy, but other than beds
and a few toilets for them to use, there wasn't much else in the room.
As the group waited for what was to come, they had a visitor from a hybrid named Chip.
Dame assured them that he was fine and helpful to have. A special hybrid whose saliva had
a healing factor.
This was used on all the members, allowing them to be as good as new. It wasn't just them;
when Safa had healed up, she also helped out the other members. Raze was now asleep on
a bed, and even with Safa or the hybrid, nothing they did seemed to wake him up.
"So what are we going to do now?" Cronker asked. "Are we really going to go after the
remaining clans in the Dark Faction? I want to help Raze... he saved my life after all."
"He didn't just save your life," Rayna corrected him. "He saved all our lives."
"I think she's right about that," Dame said. "We saw the state and strength that Murkel had;
no one had any idea what he was planning."
"To us, meeting up with Raze was a random occurrence, and I speak for myself as well as
others, that we probably teamed up with him because we wanted to use him in certain
ways."
Dame originally approached him because of his special power and the special creations he
could make, and it was the same with the Crimson Crane.
"Through helping out each other, we were able to stop Murkel, who would have ended up
killing all the students at the Dark Academy and waging a bloody war with the rest of
Pagna."
"A replacement is needed for the head of the Dark Faction, but it's hard to do such a thing
without knowing if it will help people that may become enemies with us in the future,"
Reno added his piece of information as well.
It was odd, but everyone had come together and figured out one thing. They all wanted to
help out Raze, and the only reason they weren't so forward about this idea was that it could
damage him as well.
"Can I ask something?" Alba said, looking at Safa. "What does Raze want... Why did he go up
against the Dark Faction? Why is he even fighting in this strange world?"
"His items are selling like crazy on the market. If things continued and he laid low, he could
have made a fortune and lived a big life. Why is he doing all of this?"
Although they all wanted to help Raze, this was where the real issue came up: help him
with what?
"I...I..." Safa was stumped because she realized she didn't really know.
"We were never told," Simyon answered. "But from what I know, he's obsessed with
gaining strength and moving forward. The academy was just something in his way, and
Murkel was in charge of it."
"There is a bit more that we know, but it's not our place to say."
Anna could already guess what Simyon wanted to say, the fact that he was from another
world, but nearly everyone could guess that already.
"I will tell you all one thing, if it makes it easier to make a decision," Anna said. "I... we can
tell when someone is lying." Anna placed her hand across so it was covering Zon as well.
"And from what we could tell, Amir hasn't been lying. He really does want to make Raze the
leader of the Dark Faction."
There were so many complications to doing something that seemed simple. For one, Raze's
connection to Rayna, and the fact that they owned a piece of land in the Demonic Faction.
What issues this would eventually cause.
It was up to them to decide, and that was when the first person spoke up.
"I'll do it," Liam said. "We were all useless back then; we barely were able to help when we
had to go against the other clan members and Murkel's allies."
"I thought we had gotten stronger to help, but we still seem weak. If we can help take over
the Dark Faction and it puts Raze in a better position, then it has to mean something."
"I agree," Ricktor said, coming forward. "Besides, I'm the rightful heir to the Erupting Fist
Clan anyway, so it's only right that I show them everything I have, right?" Ricktor said,
slapping Mada on the back.
It seemed like everyone was in agreement that they would work with the Bonum Society to
take over the Dark Faction, all so when Raze woke up, he had a cushy position as leader of
the Dark Faction.
A knock was heard at the door, and seconds later, the bald-headed man known as Olag
entered, and behind him, there were a few other members that had filtered into the room.
"And here I was, half expecting you guys to be having one massive orgy, but sad times it is,
sad times," Olag said.
Safa looked at Rayna, and both of them couldn't help but sigh in disgust at Olag's crude
mouth.
"Now, Amir said if you guys agree to this whole thing, we need to set out in groups and do
this quick and fast. Our time limit is when that kid wakes up, so it will be a nice surprise for
him," Olag stated.
"However, I don't want my people risking their lives going out with a bunch of weak
warriors, so I want to put your skills to the test and see if you're strong enough."
Olag then walked over to one of the people that were standing with the group.
"For instance, what in the f*ck is this twat doing standing like this for?" Olag said, looking at
Zon. "Let's see what you got."
"Me?" Zon said. "I don't think that's a good idea."
Chapter 768: The Power Of Another World
Chapter 768: The Power Of Another World

When Olag looked around the room, he didn't have anyone particular in mind when
deciding to test the group.
The only reason he had picked Zon was because he felt like he looked the most ridiculous in
his strange black skin-tight suit that he was wearing.
There were a lot of strange people that came and went in the Bonum Society. Olag saw a lot
of them, but it was the first time he had seen someone stand out so much.
"Are you trying to ask if you think I'm sure?" Olag said, looking at Zon. "Do you think we're
weak just because we're down here? There's a reason why we've lasted for as long as we
have and why we are still here surviving."
Zon then looked at Olag again.
"I was just asking if you were sure because I don't really see myself as part of this group.
For now, I'm just an observer in the whole situation. Just like you, I am also waiting for the
boy to wake up, so do you really want to test me?"
Olag's head looked like it wanted to explode. He could feel his blood pressure rising and the
scars on the top of his head thickening.
"Come with me, you're first!" Olag said as he stormed out of the room.
The others were just a bit stunned until Olag had made his way back into the room.
"Follow me then, you bunch of morons!" Olag shouted.
The Bonum Society members had escorted the group to a training room. It was round in
size and quite large, the metal was thicker compared to other areas, but it still had its fair
share of wear and tear.
One could see that based on the few dents that were in the place. Even when they had
entered, there were Bonum Society members training.
Some of them were just using regular Pagna skills, while others were busy using their
hybrid forms to go against one another.
"I just can't get used to that," Kizer said.
"What, the hybrid thing just being around us? Yeah, it's the same for me," Little Froma
added.
"Alright everyone, either piss off or move to the side, unless you want to get caught up in
the mess!" Olag shouted.
The other members quickly recognized the voice and moved to the side. If there was one
thing they were sure about, it was that Olag had some sway around the base.
Some of them were wondering where Amir was since he was a lot less forceful when it
came to these matters.
"Alright, all of you miserable muppets," Olag said, turning around to them. "We're going to
be testing your strength in here, fighting against our members, and first up is this arsehole."
Olag pointed at Zon.
"So the rest of you clear off to the side while I deal with him."
The others looked at each other before proceeding to move back to where they were. Many
of them were curious about Zon because, for one, they had no idea who he was.
They just knew that he was there, appearing in the arena at one point. They hadn't
witnessed where he had come from or what he had done either.
They had no idea of his strength, but could tell two things: Anna and Liam were sticking
closer to him like glue.
In fact, Liam was moving side to side, hanging around Safa and Simyon and then back to the
others, currently with Safa and Simyon.
"I should start to gather my strength," Safa said. "Just in case he gets seriously hurt in this
fight."
"Don't worry," Liam said. "That guy, even if he got hurt, he can heal himself. And honestly, I
don't even think he's going to get a scratch on him."
"Are you sure about that?" Dame asked. "That guy, he's second here to Amir. I think he
might even be stronger than me."
"Yeah," Liam replied with next to no hesitation. "I'm really sure. That guy... he's a complete
monster."
The entire group was curious about Zon to see his power, and even Dame thought that it
was highly likely that Liam was just overestimating him.
"Since you decided to be so cocky, I've decided that I'm going to be the one to deal with you
myself," Olag said as he moved back, getting into position on the other side of the arena.
Zon stood there, and he almost looked lost, staring at the ceiling, wondering what had even
happened to get him into this position.
"If you wish to test my powers, you would need everyone in this room to go against me,"
Zon claimed. "Maybe if he was awake, you would be able to witness something, so this is
pointless."
"Kek, how confident can this guy be," Cronker said with his arms folded. His three disciples
were there standing next to him as well.
"He's not just being overconfident," Anna said. "He can really take on a whole army by
himself. If anything, he might be downplaying his strengths."
Olag was getting ready on his end as he began to flex his muscles.
"Alright, let's do this!"
As Olag looked in front of him, Zon was right in front of his eyes.
"You asked for this."
Zon's hand had turned into a red energy beam. The others could only see a light as it went
right through Olag's right arm. Then, in Zon's left hand, another energy beam appeared,
slicing through Olag's left arm.
Zon waited for a moment, and that's when both the arms could be seen sliding off from
Olag's body onto the ground.
Right after, Zon then grabbed Olag by the head, and opening up the palm of his hand, a red
beam came out, blasting him in the stomach and sending him flying away until his body
crashed into the metal wall.
Everyone, including all those from the Bonum Society that were watching, were left
speechless.
"If he was that strong," Alba said, "then why didn't he help us against Murkel?"
"That's what I want to know as well," Anna said.
Chapter 769: The One Who Is Asleep
Chapter 769: The One Who Is Asleep

The Dark Magus's allies, as they were referred to, were interested to see what this Zon
character had. They somewhat already knew Anna's strength, and if she was following his
orders like he was some type of leader, they expected him to be strong.
What they didn't expect was for him to be so strong. Although they didn't see much in
terms of Zon fighting against Olag, they had seen enough to have an idea of his strength.
Even though there was no Qi emitted, his movements were just as fast as Murkel and Raze
when the two of them were on the field.
And Raze had been using magic to boost his speed as well. Then there was his raw pure
strength along with the blast.
"Who is that man?" Dame questioned. "I know how strong Olag is; even if that was a
surprise attack, he should have been ready!"
"Don't you think we have other things to worry about?" Froma asked. "Someone who they
think is on our side just killed one of the top leaders!"
The Bonum Society members present were acting fast. They turned to look at Zon, their
bodies changing and transforming, ready to attack Zon at a moment's notice.
Now Raze's group needed to decide whether or not they would be helping him in this
situation. It was hard for them, as they didn't even know who this person was.
"NOBODY TOUCH HIM!" a loud voice shouted.
Metal was clanking and screeching as Olag pulled his own body out. Strange black liquid
was seen covering his body, covering where his arms were, and then, when the liquid
disappeared, Olag's body was as good as new, minus the clothes that he had been wearing.
"These are our guests, and I was the one that asked him to fight. All of you fools acting like
that are making me look like an idiot. Did you really think I would die from something like
that?" Olag claimed.
Despite what had happened to him, Olag walked across the arena floor until he was back
within striking distance from Zon. He was just slightly shorter than him and looked up to
the
man.
"That was pretty brave of you to do something like that in a base where next to no one is
your friend. I can respect that," Olag said with a smile. "However, if it was anyone but me,
they would have ended up splattered on that wall with two of their arms missing, which I'm
not too happy about myself."
Zon looked at Olag for a while, examining every little facial expression he had.
"I knew about your powers. I was confident that my attacks wouldn't kill you, which was
why I performed adequately enough for you, so I wouldn't have to waste my time further.
As stated before, if you wish for me to use my full strength, then the only way is to wake up
the one that's asleep."
Olag gave a puff and then waved his arm, signaling for Zon to go back to the others. The one
who was asleep rung in his head. It was clear Zon thought a lot about a certain individual.
"Alright, I think I've had enough personally for the day. Fanum, come here!" Olag shouted.
Another member of the Bonum Society stepped forward, walking into the center, and then
Olag looked to all of those lined up in front of him and pointed to one person in particular.
"You, you look a bit sheepish, why don't you come forward and show what you got?" As for
the person whom Olag had pointed toward, it was Simyon.
"Me... is he saying I look the weakest out of everyone?" Simyon placed his hand on his
forehead and was just shaking it. "Damn it, I can see the grin on that damned ball-loving
guy's face already."
Turning his head to take a peek at Liam, he could already see a smile.
"Alright," Simyon said, coming forward. "There's no reason to test us. Let's say I am the
weakest out of all these guys here, but I guarantee you one thing, I will not fall to any hit."
"Ah, then Fanum here will be perfect for you," Olag said as he walked off and Fanum's body
started to change. His muscles were bulging, and he was growing bigger in size, while his
skin was turning a dark blue. His size was now three times that of a regular human, and it
looked like a pure mass of muscle.
"He said you won't fall, right? So show me," Olag said.
Fanum cocked up his fist and threw it out right towards Simyon. Many of those wanted to
flinch in the arena, but at that point, Simyon stood firm, he gathered his Qi and hardened
his body as the ring around his ear activated.
The moment the hybrid Fanum's fist made contact, hitting the forehead of Simyon, a
cracking noise could be heard. The strength of the hit was strong, and that was the downfall
of Fanum. His bones were seen ripping through his arm as the shockwave had been sent
back to him. "ARGHH!" Fanum said as he grabbed onto his arm.
"What in the world is going on with these people? I picked him because he looked like a
student," Olag said to himself. "Why are they all so strong?"
"As I said, there's no need to test us. We've been through a lot, and we've risked our lives
more than once, so to risk it again is nothing!" Simyon declared.
He looked at Ricktor and Mada, who activated their Qi. He was surprised to see that one
was a Middle-stage warrior of all things. The others looked confident, being students, and
showed no hesitation or fear.
There were then the students that were by Cronker, who quickly displayed their fast
footwork and arts of assassination they had learned.
"I hope that we don't have to take part in this display," Alba said. "Being part of the Crimson
Crane and all."
"And I would think you would know who I am as well," Rayna added.
Seeing all these people confident, Olag wasn't wondering how these people were so strong
or how they gathered, but why they had all gathered around a single individual.
'The student who's asleep, just who is he, and how strong is he for them to all rally behind
him?' Olag thought.
Chapter 770: Take Over The Dark Faction
Chapter 770: Take Over The Dark Faction

After the two displays of strength and a bit of confident showmanship from the rest of the
group, Olag decided there was no reason to test any more of them. If a random person who
looked like a freak in his eyes and a puny student were this strong, then there was no need
to see the rest.
He was disappointed, though a grin remained on his face throughout the day. A change was
coming, he could feel it, and the Bonum Society would be at the start of it-something they
had been trying to achieve for years was finally coming true.
Several members of the Bonum Society had come out, and they had been formed into
different squads of ten. They had used the training room to gather as it was the largest
room they had.
Then Dark Magus's allies were also split among the groups. Finally, Amir came out, looking
at everyone set up nicely.
"I knew it would be easy for you to win Olag over. I thought it was better that you guys just
got it over and done with, and in the meantime, I have been doing something else." Amir
was holding a bunch of scrolls underneath his arm.
He started to call over members from each of the groups that had lined up and handed
them a scroll each. Eventually, all of them were taken away.
"I have been compiling all of the information of our society's network. Everything that we
have to do with the Dark Faction and their clans over the years!" Amir announced. "What I
have handed out is the target that each of your groups must head to."
"As I said before, we are going to do this quick and fast. The Dark Faction will be taken
over, each clan under the control of us all at once. They won't see it coming, and they won't
have time to communicate with others to form a plan."
"The Dark Faction is already in disarray after what has occurred with Murkel and those he
brought, so we need to take advantage of it."
Simyon looked at the scroll handed to his group. They were to head to the Moon Shield
Clan, with him in his group being Bargo, the vice leader of the Moon Shield Clan.
Admittedly, he was a bit confused as to why he was heading to this clan and working with
Bargo rather than with Safa and Liam, who had been with him for a long time.
"I will tell you the reasoning behind my choices," Amir said. "In all of these clans, there are
several things that we can gain. Firstly is their knowledge. These clans have been part of
the Dark Faction for a long time and have perfected their techniques."
"Learning their information, their powers, getting your hands on what they have, I believe
will be able to help you all progress on your journey. On top of that, many of the clans have
ancient artifacts."
"Some they have gathered from other dimensions, others that have been handed down
from generation to generation. Now is not the time for them to be just hung up as
ornaments or for the power to be kept within the clan for fear that it might disappear one
day."
"I want you to take over the clans and, in turn, take these artifacts for yourselves. The
information we have on these artifacts, from my research, I have lined them up to suit your
needs to help you grow even stronger."
"Once we have control of it all, we won't stop there. We will freely use the resources they
have gathered and share them amongst each other."
"I don't plan to continue to make the clans stronger or to help out the Bonum Society, but
instead, I have decided to bet everything on you."
"The Bonum Society has existed for many years, and we have failed at our task. Yet you
have all grown so fast and so strong, and I think you all need to continue on that trajectory.
I will be putting all the resources into making all of you the core strength of the Dark
Faction!"
Some of the Bonum Society members looked at each other. They didn't know this was what
Amir was planning. They had no idea. They knew they were to help the strangers that had
come, but they thought this was a bit much.
However, Olag stood there in support of Amir, and as long as those two seemed to be on
board with the idea, the Bonum Society believed this would be best for them all.
"I want you all to understand, with what has happened out there, there is now a high
chance of two things. The Light Faction coming and attacking, and Alter coming to get rid of
us all."
"In that case, we need to make the faction as strong as possible, and I am betting on these
people who managed to get rid of the old Dark Faction. If they can do that, then surely they
can protect us from the Light Faction and Alter."
The Bonum Society members started to cheer and bowed their heads to those part of
Raze's group. It was strange, many of them felt like they had just gained a small army to use
at their disposal.
Some of them were worried about the clans they would have to face alone, such as Mada.
Even though two of the Flowing Force Clan's strongest had been defeated, there were still
many strong members, such as his brother, and he was unsure what the result would be.
"All of you head off. If my guess is right, then in a week's time, Raze will be awake. Have the
Dark Faction ready for him," Amir announced.
Everyone had set off to the corners of the Dark Faction, and soon five days had gone past.
Two people were placed in the same room, waiting for them to wake up.
They were sitting side by side, and soon one had opened their eyes. Lifting up their body off
the table.
"Where am I?" Mantis said, touching his face, and when he looked to his side, he could see
Raze there.
Chapter 771: Wake Up Dark Mage
Chapter 771: Wake Up Dark Mage

The Bonum Society was a safe place. No one other than its members knew about its
whereabouts, and they managed to keep it hidden from the Dark Faction as well as Alter for
many years.
It was why they were so confident in leaving both Mantis and Raze alone in the same room.
After all, the entire group were part of Raze's allies. They would send people to check on
the two regularly to see if they were awake or not.
The issue was, with no signs of either waking, the Bonum Society members were slacking,
doing fewer checks and even just peeping their heads through the door to see if there were
any signs of new life.
That was when Mantis had finally woken up, his eyes wide open, and placed both hands at
the side of his head. His heart was racing.
"What... what happened? My body, I turned into... I was a beast," Mantis said to himself.
"The Martial Arts Tournament, it was going on, and then... then... then what happened?"
Mantis was unable to recall any memories past the match he had. What was the outcome of
it, and who was the winner? Most importantly, why was he even in the place where he was
currently?
"I don't recognize anything. I'm not back at the Clan. Did the Light Faction capture me, or
was it the Dark Faction?" Looking to his right, there was a curtain hanging. He could see a
light source above, allowing him to see a figure lying on a table next to him.
Pulling it back, he was surprised to see what his eyes were looking at.
"That's... that's... Raze, from the Crimson Crane. He was in the tournament with me. Why is
he passed out as well, and on the table... was he the one that brought me here?"
Mantis could make no sense of what had occurred, he could make no sense of how things
came to be the way they were, but as he thought about it more, why would the person who
had taken him captive also take Raze along with him?
"We're both from the Demonic Faction. I doubt he has anything to do with it," Mantis
thought as he got down from his table and started to walk closer to Raze. As he looked at
him, he remembered everything he saw Raze do at the tournament.
"He's so strong... I was the highest-ranking student at the academy, and then he came out of
nowhere." Mantis started to look at Raze's throat, seeing what a vulnerable state he
currently was in just lying there.
"If he didn't exist, then I would still be the number one ranking student," Mantis thought as
he moved in closer, his hands drawing closer to Raze.
As they did, he could feel something-a tingle going all over his body. It was as if they were
passing through a force field, the hairs on his forearms were starting to stand up.
The further he pushed his hands forward, the more he had this strange feeling hanging
over him. He felt like there was a knife being pressed up against his throat.
"Hey!" Mantis said as he grabbed onto Raze's arm. "Wake up, wake up, something is going
on here."
Mantis proceeded to shake Raze's arm and then felt slight movement. Immediately as he
did, he pulled away, no longer touching Raze. Slowly, he could see the body start to move,
and then Raze's eyes opened up.
Raze stayed there lying on the table, staring at the ceiling for a moment. He looked at its
metallic shape, the material quite strange; he had rarely seen it in the world of Pagna.
"Am I back in Alterian? Did I die again?" Raze said as he lifted his body.
"Die again?" He heard a voice repeat to his side.
Turning his head, Raze looked at the student, seeing his bare chest with a claw mark
scratched right across it.
"I mean, it feels like I've been brought back to life," Raze replied.
He recognized the student-the one known as Mantis, who had the nickname of the Black
Tiger. An extremely talented student, Raze thought, especially when it came to Pagna-like
skills.
Before, he was extremely confident and cocky, but when Raze looked at him now, it didn't
feel that way. The truth was, Mantis, until a moment ago, still felt like his throat was ready
to be cut at any moment. Only when Raze woke up had that feeling gone. Still shocked by it,
he hadn't had time to get his demeanor back.
"Where are we?" Raze asked as he got off the table. His head was a little sore, and he still
felt slightly light-headed. He wobbled for a moment and then placed his hand on the back of
the table to keep himself standing.
Raze himself started to think about what had occurred. He remembered the last moments,
of the Divine being taking over his body, facing off against Murkel, and finally looking at
Safa with hopes that she would use the Lux Sword on him to help him recover.
"I guess I didn't pass, but I would have thought we would have either been placed
somewhere
in the Demonic Faction or the Dark Faction," Raze said.
"There is also a chance that we were caught. This whole place is made of a type of iron,"
Mantis said.
The two of them walked out from their rooms and could see the vast size of the location
they were in. The iron used was incredibly thick, either designed to keep people in or keep
people
out.
"If I were to take a guess, we must have been captured by the Light Faction," Mantis
claimed.
In Raze's mind, that was most likely. Everyone was severely injured, and it took them a long
time to deal with Murkel. With the number of artifacts they had, it was the most likely.
"Well, if we're captured, I guess we have no choice but to break out of this place."
Chapter 772: A Breakout
Chapter 772: A Breakout

Mantis would have never expected this: that he would be working side by side with Raze in
trying to break out of a facility they were captured in by the Light Faction. He could see
Raze doing something as he placed both of his hands on the ground.
"I just had a thought," Mantis said. "Why did they just capture us and not the others, and
what's even happened to the others?"
Raze had already thought about this, considering a large number of different things. He was
hoping they had all managed to escape, leaving behind the two people that weren't able to
fend for themselves.
As for a reason why they might still be alive, both Mantis and Raze had shown
extraordinary abilities. Mantis with his body being partly a beast and a Hybrid, and then
there was Raze and his magic.
'My magic and Qi, it's all returned even if my head still isn't a hundred percent in the right
place,' Raze thought. 'But the Light Faction, taking me to their center, if this is their facility,
then it might be a chance to learn something.'
After a short while, Raze lifted his hands off the ground.
"I can't sense any other magic," Raze said, not even bothering to hide his words anymore in
front of Mantis. "Which means that Safa isn't here."
"Safa?" Mantis replied back, somewhat remembering that was the name of one of the
contestants.
"It also means I can rule out that it was Alter that captured us," Raze continued.
"Alter?" Mantis repeated again, hearing phrases he didn't understand.
"What I do know, though, is there are a lot of people out there, and I'm telling you now, I
don't mind you coming with me, but I'm not going to look after you," Raze stated.
"Ha, like I needed any help from you," Mantis replied as he watched Raze heading to the
solid metal door.
Raze placed one hand on the metal door, and it started to freeze over. After that, he
gathered Qi in his fist and threw out a punch. As it hit the door, it smashed it into pieces
that went flying into the hallway.
"How are you even able to do these things?" Mantis said out loud when he wanted to say it
in his head, and it was the same as the next line that came out of his mouth. "It's not fair."
"You're right," Raze said, stepping into the hallway. "If it will give you some peace, it's
because I'm from another world."
Mantis didn't know what to do apart from just laugh at the situation. Raze started to make
his way through the tunnels, hoping that he would eventually come across something that
would be of use to him.
As they continued to rush through, they could see a person up ahead, walking through.
Before Raze could even act, he saw something come right past him. Mantis had leapt
through the air at great speed and grabbed onto the other person's face, slamming it onto
the floor, knocking the man out or possibly even killing him.
"We're both breaking out of this place, and immediately I might need your help, so I can't
just leave it all to you," Mantis said.
Raze nodded. He appreciated someone like this. Someone that didn't just come along for
the free ride. Even if they felt like they were weaker, they still tried to help in their own
way.
The two of them continued to run, and Mantis couldn't help but look at his own hand and
think about what had just occurred.
'I was only meaning to run, but then my whole body leapt across the room, and the power I
could feel. I didn't even put much Qi into my attacks. My whole body, it feels like it's
changed, like it's evolved,' Mantis thought.
Up ahead, just before they turned a corner, Raze placed both hands on the ground, and an
ice trail appeared, freezing the man completely around the corner, and the two of them
continued to move.
"Hey, aren't you going to finish them off?" Mantis asked.
"It will only slow us down. I plan to cause a big mess in this place anyway. Usually, if there
is something to hide in the facility, then it's the place with the most people. So we need to
save our strength for that. Come on, let's go," Raze said as he continued through the
hallways, unknown to him, heading for the training center.
Where there were large groups of hybrids practicing.
While in the hallways, other members of the Bonum Society were just making their way
when they spotted the man passed out on the floor. The member quickly rushed over,
turning him around to see his face bloody and broken from being slammed onto the floor.
"What is this? Who would just attack someone like this?" the member said, calling Fanum
over.
"I just got a report that another one of our men was attacked as well," Fanum said. "It looks
like someone's infiltrated the base. We need to inform everyone immediately of what's
happening."
The Bonum Society members were now on high alert, sure that an intruder had come into
their base, and the information had eventually got passed to Olag, who was playing cards
with a bunch of other members in one of the break rooms.
"For f*ck's sake, why does this crap always have to happen when it's just me here?" Olag
said, standing up and starting to bark orders at the others.
"I can't believe this type of stuff always seems to happen when Amir has to be away," Olag
thought to himself.
He started to look at the information and listen to the new reports that were coming in on a
little square device by his side. It had a little tuner used, and the voices of the others would
come in to him.
"Hey, what's this?" Olag said with a smile. "From the sounds of it, they're heading right for
the training room. Let's give these guys a nice little surprise, yeah. Everyone, let's go!"
Chapter 773: Break The Door
Chapter 773: Break The Door

Olag had grabbed the senior members of the Bonum Society, and they were currently
running through the grand hallways of the facility. The facility was extremely large, but
thankfully with most of them being Pagna warriors and Hybrid beasts, their physical
abilities meant that they could travel quite the distance.
"Olag, why are we going this way? Isn't it quicker to go through the west entrance? We
were right there," one of the members asked.
"Because we don't know how large or what number of attackers there even are," Olag
replied. "We're going to come up from behind and trap them so they have nowhere to run
when they realize just how much of a mistake they've made."
"There are around fifty members training in there right now, all of them prime and strong
members of the society. Not everyone went with those others--they needed a backup plan
and people to protect this place. They will be able to hold them until we arrive. The only
thing I'm worried about is if they finish them off before we arrive." Olag started to laugh,
and so did the rest of the group. That laughter quickly stopped, though, as Olag froze in
place.
He had stopped running, and so did the others behind him. He looked at one of the side
walls -the walls that were made of solid and thick steel, at least three meters thick. He
raised his hand and touched the edge of the metal.
"How is something like this possible?" one of the members asked.
"I have no idea, but we better hurry," Olag replied as he looked at the large hole that had
been carved out from the metal. It went deep and far. The walls had been used as a shortcut
to head to the training room, and the metal was completely destroyed.
Raze was continuing to follow the trail-the trail of where the most people in the facility
were. He could only sense movement from far out with his Wind magic; he was unable to
know the layout or anything else in the facility.
Instead of going through the large number of corridors and trying to get key passes to head
through some of the doors, he decided to make his own shortcut to get to the place.
With his sword, he was ready as he went ahead and used the fourth formation: Void Pulse
Formation. With a little magic and his Qi, Raze thrust his sword forward, and it pierced
through the thick steel walls.
The attack was large enough to create a big opening for them to get through, but it only got
them from one hallway into another.
"We need to move quickly. Although this place is solid and that didn't make too much noise,
you never know what security systems they have here," Raze said as he continued to push
forward.
The one saving grace for the two of them was that despite how large the facility was, there
seemed to be a lack of people in the place, which was making it harder for them to be
discovered. The size of the facility was only making Raze more intrigued as he felt
something had to be there.
As the two carried on moving, they came to another steel wall, and once again, Raze lifted
his sword, gathering the Dark Magic and the Qi in the hilt of the sword and thrusting it
forward.
The attack tore through the metal, piercing deep and right through it. Raze felt something-
after his fight, he thought his body would be worn, would be broken down, but instead, it
felt slightly stronger than before.
The fact that he could produce two Void Pulses and still feel fine was quite the sign. As they
passed through the destroyed part of the walls, Mantis couldn't help but look at the steel.
He went ahead to grab it, hardening his Qi around his hand so it didn't get cut.
He grabbed part of the broken edge and then tensed his hand. It started shaking, and
finally, the steel crunched up into a ball, and he ripped it off from the wall.
"This stuff is really sturdy, and it's so thick, and with his attack, he was able to break
through it like that?' Mantis thought.
He was gaining an idea of just how strong the person he was with currently was. No longer
could he even look at Raze as a rival, but he started to think something else as well.
Just before they reached the other side of the wall in the hallway, Raze was getting ready to
break through it again.
"Wait!" Mantis said. "Do you mind if I give this one a try?"
Raze looked through the holes and hallways they had made. It didn't look like anyone was
following them, so he stood to the side.
Mantis figured this was Raze's way of saying to give it a go.
Mantis took a few steps back, further into the width of the hallway, then bent down,
crouching like a tiger. He got ready and ran up, his Qi gathering in his hand. He continued
forward and then flung his hand out with all of his speed, bashing it into the wall.
A loud echo and a thud were heard, shaking the floor they were on, and quite a dent had
been made. The rest of Mantis's body then crashed into the wall, and he fell onto the
ground.
"Sh*t!" Mantis said as he held onto his shoulder and looked at the wall. It was dented, but
he hadn't managed to break through it completely.
In all honesty, Raze was quite impressed with what had been done already, especially for a
student-it was clear he had gotten stronger.
"Let me try again... I think I nearly got it," Mantis said as he jumped back to where he was
and got into the same position as before.
Raze didn't say anything and continued to watch as Mantis ran across the room, kicking the
floor, and then leapt through the air.
"I'm going to destroy this f*cking wall!" Mantis exclaimed, and as he gathered Qi, dug in
deep, drawing more power, a black substance gathered around his entire arm. A wing came
out from his back, only from one shoulder, and propelled him forward.
His fist crushed right through the steel wall, breaking through it until he had reached the
other end, landing on his feet.
Mantis was staring at the floor, unaware of what had happened.
"I did it!" Mantis said with a smile and looked up, only to find himself in a room,
surrounded by fifty or so people staring at him.
"You did, and now it looks like we might need that strength of yours even more so," Raze
said as he came through. The two of them had reached the training area.
Chapter 774: A Walking Disaster
Chapter 774: A Walking Disaster

For a moment, Mantis was ecstatic. He was so pleased with himself, that he had managed to
break through the thick steel wall. The wall that he would have just deemed impossible for
him to break through.
After seeing Raze do it again and again though, he just had to give it a try. He knew his new
body was stronger, and he had an idea from watching how Raze used his Void Pulse. He
gathered the Qi in the back of his hand, and twisted his fist to put all of the Qi in one point,
exploding out.
The results weren't what he had expected, but he tried it again, putting more Qi to the back
of his hand, and unknowingly to himself, focusing so hard on those points, had caused his
back to partly transform, as well as his hand and with the extra power of his Hybrid form,
he smashed right through the thick steel, and in turn arrived on the other side, where there
were countless people staring and looking at who had just entered.
When looking up, Mantis could see the crowd of people looking at him, and he could feel
their Qi. These weren't amateurs; they were strong warriors.
"There are only two of them attacking; they must have gotten here by mistake!" One of the
warriors shouted.
"Focus on the shirtless one!" A man pointed at Mantis. "He just broke through the steel, we
need to get rid of him first."
Seeing as there were only two, and what Mantis had just done, the Bonum Society members
were quick to act as they charged forward towards them.
"Do your best to deal with them, I need to observe a bit more," Raze said, as he realized that
there was next to nothing in this room, and wondered why it existed in the first place.
One of the warriors who were running toward the group stretched out their arm, and a
sword skimmed Mantis's face. He was surprised but reacted in time and grabbed the man
by the wrist.
He then pulled his arm in the air, and Mantis slammed his fist into his stomach, sending him
away.
Several warriors quickly came toward Mantis, who had no choice but to dodge and block a
few hits, but there were so many attackers that he couldn't help but get hit in the stomach.
As he punched another one away, he was left wide open, and a sword strike came right by
his neck. Before the man could get any closer, though, a palm strike was delivered into his
stomach, but it wasn't from Mantis's hand; it was from another.
The man was sent flying and tumbling, bouncing off the floor several times in the other
direction.
"You might need a little help; there seem to be quite a lot of them," Raze had to admit, as he
pulled out his sword.
He swung it, striking against another, just with his Qi, he was winning out and as he
attacked a sword it would bounce back, some warriors even let go of their grip. Another
started to change into what looked like a wolf-like beast.
Before it could fully change though, Raze got out his hand, and fired away.
"Dark Pulse!" The beam went out from his hand, hitting the beast man in the leg,
immobilizing him and sending him to the floor.
While Raze struck the ground with his foot to stop the others with his Qi as much as
possible.
'Not only are there so many of them, but all of them seem to be quite resistant as well. Even
if I strike them with my sword, some of their wounds are healing. If I hit them with my Qi,
they're getting back up as well.' Raze noticed. 'Are they all beast-like beings, like Murkel?'
At the same time, although Mantis was suffering from a lot of hits, he was giving a lot back.
His wild fighting style made it hard for them to pin him down. Even as they used their
beast- like skills, Mantis was able to strike with his hand.
His fingers were hardened more than before and his Qi sharpened, making them like claws,
allowing him to cut through any substance that was trying to pin him down. Still, there was
just an odd feeling that he had been through this before, or almost as if the place was quite
familiar to him.
Yet the feeling of familiarity wasn't making him feel as if he was at home, instead, it was
making him feel a bit of a deeper hatred.
The next person he kicked, he kicked with such vigor their body flipped several times in the
air before landing.
"There's something I don't like about this place, and there's definitely something I don't
like about you," Mantis said.
Crouching down, Mantis then jumped from person to person, striking each of them, and
grabbing onto a sword with his bare hand. He did so with such brute force that the sword
snapped before he punched the man on the head, sending him to the ground.
Because of how vicious Mantis was being, a lot more of the Bonum Society members were
paying attention to him, rather than that of Raze. Allowing for Raze, to take a more calm
approach to those that he was facing.
If anything, Raze was somewhat practicing against his opponents, as he was trying to
predict and see where their strikes were coming from even if they were a Hybrid.
Raze was also trying to gauge just how much energy he would need to try and beat these
people down, and make sure they didn't get up again. After constantly running out of mana
and Qi, he didn't want to be in that situation again.
He was sure in a facility like this there would be more he would have to face, and it was the
same for the rest of the Light Faction he would have to go against.
It was then, through the same hole that Mantis had made, that Olag and his group had
entered.
"Just what in the heck is going on!" Olag said.
Chapter 775: Don't Touch The Kid
Chapter 775: Don't Touch The Kid

Olag and his group were able to follow the trail of the intruders fairly easily. They could see
the destruction they had left behind, and were going through the large holes created in the
walls one by one.
Eventually, they were led to the last hole in the wall, and they all knew what was coming
ahead of them.
"I hope those guys weren't too rough on them; I wanted to get a beat down on these brave
idiots myself!" Olag thought.
When he stepped through the final hole in the wall into the training room, the sight wasn't
what he had expected, and that was true in more ways than one.
He was carefully looking at the situation. For one, he saw the man in a strange blazer
avoiding the strikes from three of the warriors. He was skillfully moving from side to side,
and when an attack from a beast claw was about to hit his head, he had knocked it away
with his sword. What had really caught his eye was the other young man, who was
knocking away warriors coming at him. When large hybrids that had transformed were
using their powerful limbs, the young man was still able to block the strike and hit the
person far away.
So many men had already been knocked down and hurt, at least twelve of them. This was
one of the surprises, as for the other, it was who the two people they were fighting against.
"These guys, they aren't intruders," Olag said. "That's the two that were brought in, they
were both passed out. What happened for them to act like this waking up?"
As Olag watched more and more, he was keeping an eye on Mantis of all people and was
truly impressed by his power and skill.
'They said that the leader of the group, and the one that brought them together, was the
person that was put to sleep. The way they were all coddling over the guy with white hair, I
thought they were talking about him, but now I can see I made a big mistake.
'The strong one they were talking about must have been him!' Olag thought.
"You guys, deal with the one with white hair," Olag ordered. "Make sure to keep him alive,
as for this one, I'll deal with him."
Olag then charged forward, and continued to run, he saw Mantis ready to strike one of his
men and before he reached Olag grabbed right onto his fist. It was the first punch that had
been stopped, and one that had been stopped so easily.
"Huh, where did you come from, baldie!" Mantis said, as he lifted his leg, ready to deliver a
powerful kick to his side.
Olag continued to hold onto Mantis's fist, and that's when his fists lit up, giving off a large
explosion. It blew Mantis back, sending him rolling on the ground. More of his clothing was
burnt off, and parts of his chest were hurt, but the white substance started to appear on his
chest, and his wounds were beginning to heal up.
"That hurt quite a bit, was that a Qi explosion?" Mantis thought.
Qi was energy in the body, but Qi was always used to reinforce or used to go out of one's
body in a controlled manner. However, everyone knew if one wasn't careful with the way
they used Qi, it could do more harm to the body than good.
One of these things was Qi exploding in one's body, and it almost felt like his opponent had
done that on purpose.
As the smoke started to clear, Olag was seen walking over, the white substance was
covering his entire arm from his elbow, it appeared as if it was growing back in place.
"So, you're a Hybrid as well, it's no wonder you are so strong, and a White-colored one like
me of all things. Well, you should know that I'm the strongest White-colored Hybrid alive. "I
was going to bring you alive, but I didn't realize you were such a feisty one. Now that I
know you're a White hybrid, at least I know you won't die as easily!" Olag claimed as he ran
in again.
When Olag charged forward, he threw out several punches. He was fast, just as fast as
Mantis, who managed to block all the hits, but when Mantis went to deliver an attack of his
own, sending a kick out, his leg was carefully grabbed again, and Olag's hand could be seen
lighting up.
"F*ck!" Mantis could be heard shouting before the explosion went off again, and sent him
skidding across the floor.
However, Mantis was quick on his feet and this time when he recovered, he had gotten
down on all fours into a crouching position.
"I'm the Black Tiger, I'm not just anybody, and I'm not going to fall here!" Mantis exclaimed
as he started to run forward and jumped from side to side, picking up an immense amount
of speed.
If he was able to do the same as what he had done before. If he could burst a hole right
through this man like he had done with the wall, then the person in his way would be done
for.
With a mighty leap, he jumped in, remembering the feeling, out from his back a large wing
appeared and sent him propelling forward, and Mantis threw out his claw-like fist,
breaking right through Olag's stomach. Mantis could see his hand on the other side, and the
body had reached all the way up to his shoulder.
"How's that!" Mantis asked with a smile.
When he went to look up above him though, instead, he could see the smile of Olag.
"It's going to take a lot more than that to kill me, and now, I have you right where I want
you," Olag said with his hand inching towards Mantis's face.
Raze, even with the new enemies that were on him, had continuously been watching
Mantis, and seeing what was about to happen, he felt like he had no choice.
He lifted his hand up, and Dark magic started to swirl around his hand, and then condensed
inward.
"Dark Push," Raze said, and out from his hand, the Dark energy pulsed out in a wave. It hit
all of the warriors that were near him, picking them off their feet and pushing them out,
causing them to all fall to the floor.
The sound of multiple people grunting in pain and falling to the floor had caught Olag's
attention. As he looked at the other person, he could see all of his fallen allies.
"How did he..."
"I kinda like that kid," Raze said. "So it looks like I can't play around anymore, and I'm going
to have to get rid of you all."
Chapter 776: I'm Keeping You Alive
Chapter 776: I'm Keeping You Alive

As the vice leader of the Bonum Society, Olag had been in numerous situations. Not only
was he strong, but he had a lot of experience dealing with matters and had been put in
plenty of situations where he needed to make quick, snap decisions. When he entered the
training room, he thought a few things. Sure, the young man with a scar across his chest
was strong, but he could take him on. Even when he was going up against Raze's allies, he
was only doing so to see if they were strong enough to trust with the rest of the Bonum
Society members.
In truth, he thought that he might be able to go up against the man known as Zon a bit
more, and bring out what he wanted from him, but decided it was pointless in the end.
Instead, this young person seemed a lot more fun to deal with. Olag was ready to bring out
of this young person what everyone saw in him, including that of Amir. While fighting,
although Olag was having a lot of fun, there was a thought that crept into the back of his
mind constantly.
'Was this person really strong enough to go up against Murkel, the Dark Faction leader, and
the one in charge of the academy?'
This was the main thought that was going through Olag's head as Mantis' fist had
penetrated his stomach. The person in front of him was strong but too naive. There was
still a chance for him to show more, which was why Olag was ready to push him further.
That was until he heard the sound of several of his men groaning, and several thuds as if
something heavy had hit the floor.
When looking up, Olag could see the man in the blazer, standing there and all of his men on
the floor. Not only were the stronger individuals of the Bonum Society on the floor, but
Olag's personal party, the ones he would go out with, were also defeated.
There were around ten or so others that had fallen on the floor as well.
"They all were defeated?" Olag said. "But that's impossible."
Olag was strong, and Amir was also strong, but so were many members of the Bonum
Society. The feat that this person had just accomplished wasn't something that the two of
them could do, at least not so quickly and effortlessly. When looking at the white-haired
man, there wasn't a single mark on him, and that's when a thought crossed his mind.
'Did I get the wrong one? Is the person that's right next to me right now... not the one they
were talking about?'
Looking up, Olag could then see the white-haired warrior walking towards him calmly with
his sword by his side.
"I would advise you to get away from that young man," Raze said as he lifted his sword and
then swung it down. A red slash appeared through the air and came out at an incredible
speed.
Olag had no choice but to pull himself away from Mantis and move to the side. No longer
was he even focused on Mantis, but instead on his own heart rate that was beating
incredibly fast.
Looking at the attack that had just missed him, Olag could see a large indent that had been
made across the floor and had even cut part of the wall.
'That attack was so fast, and he attacked from so far away as well,' Olag thought. 'He cut
through the steel with it. I might be going crazy, but it didn't feel like he used much Qi
either.' The panic was starting to set in, but behind that panic, there was a creepy hidden
smile. This was more like it, this was more along the lines of what he expected someone to
be like, a person that was able to beat Murkel, a person that was to be the head of the Dark
Faction.
'I want to test him a bit more. I've only seen a single attack and I didn't even see what he
did to the others. The good thing is, it appears as if they're still alive, but I want to see it, I
want to see what else he can do before I clear up this misunderstanding!' Olag thought.
It was then that Raze started to swing his sword again and again, performing the Crimson
Slash multiple times. Olag quickly needed to move out of the way to avoid the attacks. He
could see that each attack was just as dangerous as the last, tearing and ripping through the
metal in the area.
The other warriors that had come with him weren't safe either, as all of them were moving
away from the attacks that were tearing up the place.
'Just how long can he keep this up for!' Olag thought, but strangely he started to notice
something. Now the attacks weren't close to hitting him, and it was the same for the others
that were behind him.
Then suddenly, the red Crimson Slashes had stopped. Olag looked at where he was
standing. The others that were running behind him were out of breath, and as for the ones
that were on the floor, they were the ones part of his group, part of those that had attacked
Raze.
It was then that Olag realized a little too late that every one of them was on one side of the
room, while the white-haired student was now next to his ally.
Darkness started to come out from Raze's arm, and was beginning to surround the sword.
It covered it from top to bottom, until the entire sword was covered black, an eclipsed
sword. "You... you missed us on purpose, you planned all of this, to put us all in one place!"
Olag asked.
"I know... I was the one that told you all to get away from him..." Raze said as he raised his
sword above his head. "But that was the only thing that was keeping you guys alive."
Chapter 777: Destroy The Bonum Society
Chapter 777: Destroy The Bonum Society

Olag was starting to think about the grave mistake he might have just made. Coming in and
assuming he was the great hope that Amir had in his mind, strong enough to defeat Murkel.
As for the second thought, it was after realizing who it might be. For a second, Olag had in
the back of his mind that he wanted to test this person. After seeing a few moves he made,
he wanted to see more until he felt like everyone was trapped in a corner.
For him to fail to see the plan in the attack beforehand, to get them into the position they
were in, there was only one way someone could do that, and it was if they were
overwhelmingly powerful compared to their opponents.
The strange dark floating substance around the white-haired man's arm was sending chills
running down Olag's spine. It wasn't his human senses that were reacting either; it felt like
the beast part of him.
Everyone in the room, as they could feel the build-up of energy gathering in the sword,
could feel that the beast side of their body wanted them to run away, but there was
nowhere for them to run.
"I know I was the one that told you all to get away from him..." Raze said as he raised his
sword above his head. "But that was the only thing that was keeping you guys alive."
"Wait!" Olag shouted out with one hand out, standing confidently slightly in front of the
others. If it was a large-scale attack, then he would stop it with his body, and then at least
some of the others would survive, and with his healing rate, there was a high chance he
would as well.
"Dark Edge Sword Arts, Eclipse Strike!" Raze called out and swung his sword down. The
whole room shook the moment the energy was released, and a large aura of darkness, like a
giant wave, was coming toward them.
The fleeting words left Olag's mouth. "We're on your side," Olag said as he looked up at the
attack ready to consume them.
The wave of energy struck the area where all of the Bonum Society members were. From
Mantis and Raze's point of view, the only thing they could see was Raze's large attack
covering half of the arena.
The energy continued to flow out and then started to dwindle. A large chunk of the metal
flooring had disappeared as if part of it had been ripped from the ground, other areas
slightly melted and solidified.
The large walls that covered the training area were nowhere to be seen, and instead, a
hallway could be seen. The main thing was, there wasn't a single person in sight; everyone
had gone.
"What is going on?" Raze said.
"Huh, what do you mean, what is going on?" Mantis said, standing up. "You just killed all of
them. With that much attention, there have to be more of them. Come on, let's go."
"No," Raze said as he looked to his side.
When Mantis turned his head, he was confused as well because he could see Olag and the
rest of the Bonum Society members all alive, standing just to the side where they were on
the edge of where the attack hit.
Not only were Raze and Mantis shocked by this, though, Olag and the rest of the group were
as well. They were touching their bodies, seeing if any limbs had gone missing, and some
were even pinching themselves.
While others were pointing at the wreckage that Raze had just done with his attack.
"It was my mistake... he would have killed us all... you saved us," Olag said as he looked to
his side, and a man with red hair and an eye patch was present.
"I'm just wondering what you guys did for him to hurt you that much. I'm guessing with
your mouth it's quite deserving though, right?" Liam said as he hit the frightened Olag's
back.
Now with Olag and his group, there was one more person who was standing by their side,
and it was Liam of all people.
"Where did you come from? I didn't see you," Raze asked. "And who are these people? Why
are you with them?"
"Did you just wake up or something? Did no one explain to you what's going on right now?"
Liam asked. "I think I can kinda guess what happened then. It's a good thing this worked."
Liam bent down and picked up a circular device off the floor. It was around the same size as
a plate. It had strange engravings and a small beaded gem in the middle. After picking it up
off the floor, he stuck it on his back.
The plate seemed magnetized as it attached to the rest of his body.
"It's a special artifact I got; it saved these guys. There's a lot that's happened, Raze, but you
don't have to worry about these guys."
"I know the bald-headed big mouth might need a hitting once in a while, but they're helping
us out."
Raze was still quite visibly confused, and so was Mantis, but Raze no longer lifted his
sword, placing it away, and he could see that none of the others no longer had the intention
to attack them.
"Wait, so that's Raze, the one that was sleeping, the one we were meant to be protecting?"
one of the men asked.
"I guess we weren't under attack then, but then why did he attack us?"
"They're from the Bonum Society," Liam answered. "You remember Amir, right? He
brought you and the rest of us here after the fight with Murkel. They've been helping us
quite a bit while you've been asleep, and there are big changes that happened as well, but
I'll let all of them tell you that." Liam nodded in another direction.
When Raze turned his head, he could see the others coming through the regular entrance of
the training hall: the Crimson Crane, Rayna, Simyon, Safa, and both Anna and Zon. There
was a strange air of confidence around them all.
"Raze, you're awake!" they all shouted.
Chapter 778: What Is The Society?
Chapter 778: What Is The Society?

Out of the group, Safa, Rayna, and Alba were all running forward first. It was something a
bit comical for the others who were watching, as the three women caught themselves,
stared at each other, and soon their run turned into a slow walk.
"What a guy, huh?" Kizer said, hitting the shoulder of Tilon. "How did he get it so the leader
is fawning over him like that? I've been with the leader how many years now, and she's
never run after one of us like that."
"I'm sure it's just relief more than anything," Reno replied. "After what happened last time,
it's a surprise that he is awake after all."
Safa and the other two quickly reached Raze first, and they all remembered that he didn't
particularly like being touched, so they stayed a meter distance away, giving caring smiles
while looking at him.
"Oh, the Lux Sword!" Safa said and pulled it from behind her. "You probably want it back,
right? I looked after it and used it to help heal myself."
Before Safa could even fully pull it out of its sheath, Raze lifted his hand and shook his head.
"You keep it. That sword has compatibility with Light magic, so it's more suited for you
than me. I know you focus on spear techniques, so I'm sure Alba might have someone that
can reconstruct the Lux Sword into a spear for you. It will be a great help for you," Raze
said.
Before, Raze would have kept everything to himself, especially something as valuable as the
Lux Sword, but during his journeys, he realized something: he was stuck with these guys.
No matter where he would go, they would follow, and considering his life had been saved
twice now by them, the Lux Sword would be much better in the hands of a healer like Safa.
With her skills, it was the perfect combination.
For Safa herself, she was very pleased. In fact, on her latest outing, the Lux Sword had
become very handy for her, and it would have been something hard to give up.
While the other two said their sweet words to Raze, mostly checking that he was okay and
not feeling lightheaded like before, the others arrived as well.
"Of course he's alright," Ricktor said. "Can't you see the state the arena is in?"
The others had an awkward look. They had only left for a short time, and all of this had
occurred while they were away.
"Yeah, what exactly happened here? Did you go..." Mada decided to take a step back before
he finished his sentence. "Crazy... Did that thing come back inside you?"
Mada, having tried to kill Raze behind his back, had experienced the bloody woman
firsthand, even though he didn't realize it, so he had a built-in fear when Raze's body had
changed at the time.
"What is going on? Why are all these guys here, and why are you all together?" Mantis said,
sounding defensive.
Although many of them might have been Raze's allies, not a lot of them were Mantis's, and
the Dark Faction was considered the enemy.
"Are you really working for both the Dark Faction and the Demonic Faction?" Mantis asked
as The turned to Raze.
"We just fought against the Dark Faction with our lives, how can he be... forget it," Simyon
said. "I guess you didn't see much because you were knocked out the entire time."
It was true, which was why out of everyone that was there, Mantis would be the most
confused.
"We woke up, and I've never been to this place before, with people I had never seen. I had
assumed that we had been captured," Raze explained. "So I was trying to break out of the
place."
The others felt a little guilty for the hurt Bonum Society members. After all, if one of them
had stayed by Raze's side, then maybe he wouldn't have been so shocked about their
situation.
"Mantis does have a point, though. Where are we then, and what happened to everyone?"
Raze asked. "What have you been doing to gather such artifacts?"
The others all had this cheeky smile on their faces. They were gloating as if they couldn't
wait to talk about what had occurred.
"There you are finally!" Olag's loud voice could be heard. "All of us nearly went up to the
sky, I thought I would never see you again until another thirty years."
Another had entered the room, and it was none other than the Vice Principal, Amir. "Thirty
years, is that how long you think I have left?" Amir replied back. "And for you, I don't think
you would be going above, but instead, I think you would be going down below."
Amir was inspecting the scene, looking at the entire place. He was deeply shaking his head,
and when his eyes met with Mantis, something clicked in his head.
"Ahhh, the pain!" Mantis said, holding his side. "Why do I recognize you, and this place,
what the heck is this?"
"I'm sorry for my lateness, and sorry for not being there when you woke up," Amir said,
looking at Raze. "I was in the middle of gathering the others, and we were doing a bit of
testing above, making sure everything would be ready for when you woke up."
"For when I wake up?" Raze replied.
"Yes, to answer your question, right now, you are in the base of the Bonum Society. I, as its
leader, had brought you and your allies here to help protect you from the Light Faction and
anyone else that might be chasing you." There was a small glance from Amir toward Anna
and Zon, who both hadn't left yet.
So they had no way of contacting Alter.
"As promised, I will now proceed to tell you everything. All of you deserve to know the true
reason for the existence of the Bonum Society, and then it is up to you to decide what you
wish to do next. So all, follow me."
Chapter 779: The Bonum Society Origin
Chapter 779: The Bonum Society Origin

The Bonum Society was in complete disarray. Several of the steel walls that had withstood
the test of time since the society's inception had been destroyed. On top of that, the training
room was practically unusable.
Thankfully, half of the facility that remained untouched could still be used for operations.
Either way, it wasn't too much of a big deal to the group, and Amir made sure everyone
knew that.
Currently, one of the large open, unused rooms was being used for a meeting. Inside, it had
the remnants of a classroom-a large chalkboard at the back and several seats for those in
attendance.
In the time since Amir had run the place, it had never been used as a classroom, which was
why it hadn't been used until today.
Raze, along with everyone else, was seated in their respective chairs, while Amir and Olag
stood on either side of the chalkboard, each with a piece of chalk in their hand.
"To understand the goal of the Bonum Society, we first need to explain things that some of
you might already know, while others may only have a basic understanding," Amir began as
he drew a round object representing a planet and wrote the word "Pagna" underneath it.
"I'm sure you all know that Pagna is the world we currently live in, and with the opening of
other dimensions, we have learned that there are other worlds and other planets."
"However, these dimensions that open up on Pagna only link to dimensions with
civilizations that have long been lost. There is no sign of life on them other than that of
beasts," Amir continued to explain.
The others nodded in agreement, listening carefully.
"However, this isn't exactly true. There are dimensions out there, dimensions that open up
temporarily, allowing civilizations to sneak into Pagna, and these people are known as
Otherworlders."
"So, people from other worlds, huh? What a unique name," Liam joked. "So I'm guessing
Anna and Zon-these two are from another world, right? That's why they can do different
things."
"Correct, and I'm sure you might know there are other Otherworlders out there," Amir said,
placing his hand on his chin.
"In fact, let's go from this. I'm sure you've all heard of the organization called Alter, right?"
Amir asked.
Mantis was the one who answered. "That strange group that does favors for the clans. If
they have a problem that can't be solved, then they'll solve it. But Belil made it so none of
those guys could ever step foot in the Demonic Faction."
"Really?" Raze replied, turning to Mantis, who was behind him. It was the first he'd heard of
this; he just knew there weren't many in Alter.
"Yeah... I think there was a falling out a long time ago, and Belil ended up killing a bunch of
them. If he ever found out they were in the place, he would kill them," Rayna added. "I don't
know much of the details because it happened a long time ago in the Demonic Faction."
"Right, but I'm sure as Raze and Anna will tell you, since both of them are members of Alter
themselves, that it's all a front," Amir explained. "That's how they want to be viewed by the
several clans out there, but there's a reason for them doing this. Anna, would you like to
explain what Alter actually is to the rest of them, or at least what they tell you?"
Anna already knew what Amir was insinuating, that even the goal of what Alter told them
was false as well. It wasn't as if she never thought that was the case, but she still couldn't
shake the feeling that just because the Bonum Society was another group fighting against
them didn't mean they were good either.
Regardless, she gave out a sigh and went on to explain. "Alter is a group for Otherworlders.
There are three main goals of Alter. One, to find other Otherworlders and bring them
together. Two, to stop the use of Otherworlders' power in Pagna. And third, to gather
powerful artifacts and stop them from being used."
"Gather powerful artifacts? How long has this group existed?" Alba asked.
"A very long time," Anna answered. "At the moment, Alter has a number of powerful
artifacts that could eliminate entire clans if a normal citizen got their hands on them. So
they're sealed away at the Alter base."
"So are all Otherworlders just part of this big group then?" Reno asked. "They come
together and gather items. Is Zon a part of them as well?"
"No," Zon replied. "Alter does not know of my existence. There are many Otherworlders out
there who are in hiding. I'm sure Raze was the same when he first came to Pagna. With his
skills, he perhaps could have avoided them as well. If I were to take a guess, he joined them
on purpose."
Everyone's eyes turned to Raze. It was expected that he, too, was an Otherworlder.
"Because I thought I could use those items myself," Raze stated. "Anyway, it's not
important. From your words before, you make it sound like that's not Alter's real goal. One
thing I do know is they told me that you are the enemy."
Olag couldn't help but let out a loud laugh when he heard that.
"Oh, I feel sorry for those that have been sucked in at Alter," Olag stated. "The truth is, we
don't know what is up with those guys at Alter-why they are gathering so many
Otherworlders and so many artifacts-but we can take a good guess that it's not good, and
that's because they have made us the enemy."
"I mean, of course they have," Anna stated. "You are after strong artifacts yourself, are you
not?"
"No," Amir replied. "In fact, let me ask you another question. Everyone who isn't from
Pagna, raise your hand."
Raze lifted up his arm, as did Zon, as did Anna. This was the expected result until they
looked right in front of them and saw Amir and Olag raising their hands as well.
Chapter 780: Alter and Bonum
Chapter 780: Alter and Bonum

The look on everyone's faces was completely stunned, including Anna, Zon, and Raze,
whose hands gradually lowered back onto the table. Never would Raze have guessed that
Amir, the Vice Principal, wasn't a Pagna native.
"How is that possible? And is it just you two, or the entire Bonum Society?" Raze asked.
"Now we're getting somewhere," Amir said with a smile as he drew another planet with
lines indicating it was far off in the distance. "The Bonum Society originated from a world
known as Bonum, so no surprise there in terms of creativity for our group."
"The current members are all descendants of those who originally came to Pagna, and that
includes us."
"So you guys were born in Pagna?" Ricktor asked.
"Yes, and so were our fathers, but our origins trace back to another world, and we've
always been part of a collective group that has supported each other-a society that we
created," Amir explained.
"However, as stated, our community has always remained tightly knit, and there are stories
that have been passed down about our origins. These stories are important to know
because they might explain why the Bonum Society and Alter are at odds with each other,"
Amir said.
"From what we know, the world of Bonum was a place where humans and beasts lived side
by side. These beasts were unlike the ones you find in other dimensions that attack humans
on sight."
"In fact, even before coming to Pagna, there were a large number of Hybrids who had
willingly formed bonds with beasts to become a new type of creature. Our world was one
that was free from much trouble, which allowed us to focus on advancements, particularly
in studying beast crystals and the crystals that formed the beasts in the first place."
"However, despite our world's long existence, it was soon predicted that it was on the brink
of destruction. The great minds of Bonum predicted that the world we lived on only had a
few more years at best."
"We aren't sure of the details of what occurred, but we suspect that whatever destroyed
other civilizations in other dimensions was the same thing that was about to affect ours.
And like those other civilizations, we also had a powerful artifact, an artifact that Alter
would consider a God-tier artifact."
"An artifact known as the Golden Globe."
This wasn't the first time Raze had heard of the artifact. It had also been mentioned by the
Dark Faction founder.
"The Golden Globe is a powerful artifact that can open a permanent rift between worlds,
and there seem to be no restrictions on where it can go. Escaping our world's imminent
destruction, our ancestors used the Golden Globe and ended up in the world of Pagna."
Anna, Zon, and Raze's eyes lit up at that moment. An item that could permanently open
portals to another world was exactly what Raze and the others were looking for. It was
quite possible that this item could be a way for them to return to their own worlds.
It was no wonder that Alter would be after this item as well, as it would help many within
their group.
"Of course, our ancestors were kind people, and although our numbers were smaller
compared to those in Pagna, we were much larger than we are now. They decided to live
like the Pagna people while also protecting the Golden Globe."
"And so, the Bonum Society was created, as well as this base. People lived above while the
base itself was originally constructed to store the Golden Globe and prevent others from
getting their hands on it. After all, who knew if we might need it again, and it was
something that belonged to our world in the first place. So it should be rightfully kept in
our possession."
It was an unbelievable story, but given what they knew about Otherworlders, they had to
consider it possible, especially knowing how powerful artifacts could be.
"However, as time went on, we learned that we weren't the only ones in the world of Pagna
who were not from it. There were others, and that's when another group was formed-the
group known as Alter," Amir continued.
"Rifts continued to open up in the world of Pagna."
"Is that because of the power of the Golden Globe?" Safa asked. "Did it cause some type of
disturbance?"
"Right, right, that's what most people would think," Olag said. "But I very much doubt it. It
feels like it's something else, like someone else is trying to open these portals, but that's
just my guess, so don't look into it too much."
The others weren't too sure, based on just hearing the story.
"We have never found out why, but we aren't sure that we were the first to come here
either. There were rifts that brought people in from another world temporarily and then
permanent rifts that linked to other dimensions," Amir continued.
"Alter explored many of these rifts, but there was a difference between our two groups.
Those in Alter still had a home to return to; they still had a world to go back to, while we
knew ours
was gone.
"With them exploring these other dimensions, they found powerful artifacts-artifacts that
should never have been in the world of Pagna to begin with. Since it wasn't their world,
they decided to seal away extremely powerful artifacts so they couldn't harm the world of
Pagna, where they didn't belong."
"It was noble of them, right? Just like the Bonum Society. In fact, our two groups were very
much aware of each other.
"That was until our relationship started to sour, and that was when Alter learned of the
Golden Globe's existence in the first place. A group that seals away powerful items couldn't
just let us keep the artifact under our protection," Amir said. "As for their fear of the item's
use, it was something we were never aware of, and something that could change the entire
world of Pagna."
Chapter 781: No Longer Here

Listening to the stories, Raze's mind naturally tried to piece everything together. The origin
of it all, the mess of his being here he knew all too well how powerful artifacts from other
worlds could be.
For one, the book that had taught him his resurrection technique had brought him here, to
this body, and to this world. He still didn't quite fit in like the others. What intrigued him,
though, was the fact that there were those from Alterian who were here.
Raze still remembered vividly how, as soon as a dimension boss had been defeated, it only
seemed like a short while before mages from Idore's guild appeared. He imagined they had
to play a role in this somehow.
The strangest thing of all was that these stories spanned years, with deep histories
intertwined.
"For one, as I expect all of you are thinking here as well, the Golden Globe could be used to
open a portal back to their home," Amir explained. "This was one of the reasons Alter
wanted it."
"They could help those who were lost, and it wasn't like we were going to use it to head
back home. Honestly, we were willing to cooperate, but only on the condition that we
remained the keepers of the Golden Globe. After all, it originally belonged to our world, and
we had done a good job of keeping it safe."
"Yet those slime rats just wanted it for themselves, didn't they?" Olag commented. "Going
on about how they were the keepers of artifacts and that it should be in their hands."
Anna had to admit, from the meetings she had attended and speaking to Harvey, Alter did
seem to carry that attitude, as if they knew better than everyone else.
"And of course, this caused a big fallout between our two groups," Amir continued. "The
thing was, Alter made a point as to why they wanted to look after it and why it couldn't fall
into the hands of others, especially Pagna warriors."
With the piece of chalk, Amir then drew another circle around the world of Pagna.
"You see, Pagna is a strange world that affects its inhabitants more than any other. I'm sure
you all know that if a warrior manages to exceed the middle stage and reach the Divine
stage, they ascend to a higher realm."
"The realm itself seems to be part of the same world but on another plane, almost as if it's
not in the same world at all. It's hard for us to imagine since we've never been to the Divine
realm, but I have to tell you, this is mostly theory based on years of the Bonum Society
exploring the powers of the Golden Globe."
"It is stated that with the Golden Globe, our ancestors could not only travel to different
worlds but also enter these different planes, including that of the Divine realm.
"Now I'm sure you all know, Divine warriors are unable to enter the world of Pagna unless
they are willing to limit their power. Our best guess as to why this is, is most likely due to
an artifact on Pagna itself."
"An artifact belonging to Pagna? But I've never heard of such a thing!" Alba said.
"That's because we might not even know what it is. Worlds are living beings as well, and
it's possible that the world of Pagna has created an artifact that stops Divine warriors from
using their full power here. Perhaps even as a self-defense mechanism of some sort."
"Regardless, here are some important points to remember. One, Divine warriors, when
entering other dimensions that share a space with Pagna, are able to use their powers
freely; the limitation is only set on the planet of Pagna itself."
"This limit also seems to only apply to Pagna warriors; otherwise, why is it that hybrid
beasts such as Murkel, and powerful beings like Raze and Zon, are able to enter and still use
much of their power?"
The others thought about it for a while, wondering where the conversation was leading.
That was until Zon spoke up.
"Because we entered through a portal from our world. The limitations aren't set on us," Zon
said. "Maybe if we were born on Pagna and tried to grow our powers, then the same
limitation would be set on us."
"They are," Amir answered. "A Bonum Society member who was born on Pagna became a
Divine being, and he was forced to ascend. This is why we have a theory that the portals
opening up are a way for someone to try to reach the world of Pagna.
"But even if a Divine warrior enters a dimension and then comes into the world of Pagna,
their powers are still limited. Our guess is what you just said: it's because the portal wasn't
directly linked to the Divine realm.
"Well, do you know what item is able to link to the Divine Realm? The Golden Globe. If any
clan were to get their hands on the Golden Globe, they could summon Divine warriors to
Pagna who could use the full extent of their power.
"Of course, the Bonum Society didn't want this to happen either, and in the end, it became a
matter of distrust between the two. Who knows if Alter is trying to use this for some other
gain or is working with one of the clans. Unfortunately, this suspicion goes both ways for us
as well."
Listening to everything, the pieces slowly started making sense to Raze, but another
thought entered his mind—what about him? Was his power truly not limited? After all, his
original body, which he was using right now, was from Pagna.
Was it because of the way he arrived that perhaps his magic powers weren't limited, but his
Pagna powers would be? It was something he was unsure about.
"Then, the Golden Globe, where is it?" Safa asked.
Both Amir and Olag looked at each other.
"We no longer have it," Olag said. "It was... stolen a long time ago, and we're currently
looking for it."
"Stolen!" Simyon said. "By who?"
Raze knew the answer.
"By the Dark Faction... more specifically, the Dark Faction founder."
Chapter 782 A Gift For The Dark Magus
Chapter 782 A Gift For The Dark Magus
Raze's response had stunned most of those in the Dark Faction, including Mada and
Ricktor, whose understanding of things was being challenged. The long history they had
learned from their clans and the world as they knew it seemed to be falling apart in their
eyes.
Meanwhile, Amir and Olag both had their mouths open wide in shock. It was clear that they
were taken aback by Raze's answer, and their reactions alone told everyone there that Raze
was right.
"You know, I am not one to believe in fate," Amir said. "But as I got to know you more and
more, and the fact that you know the Noctis Clan's original techniques, I believed that you
would know more about this."
Raze didn't say much else because he didn't know how much they knew—whether they
were aware of what he had discovered, such as the fact that the Dark Faction founder,
Bofan Kilikola, was just like him, a mage from Alterian.
"You are correct; our item, the Golden Globe, was stolen from us by Bofan, the Dark Faction
founder."
"We are still unclear about his goals in stealing such an item because, from what we know,
Bofan never used it, or at least not in a way that affected Pagna entirely."
"Hey, what are you doing still giving them all a lecture?" Olag said, slamming his hand on
the chalkboard. "Don't you think we deserve some answers? How did this man know that
Bofan stole something that should have been beyond his lifetime?"
"What are you doing talking to Raze like that?" Rayna said, baring her teeth. "You know
very well that he doesn't need to answer you. You are the ones telling us everything."
"And if he wanted to, he could get rid of all of you here, and we would happily help."
Olag, recalling what Raze had done in the training room, decided to pull back a bit. The
classroom they were in was a fraction of the size of that room.
Thinking about it, Raze did want to give them an answer, but he wasn't sure if it was the
right thing to do.
He had listened to Bofan's log that had been left in the hands of the Neverfall Clan. The log
talked about the item.
Also, from the information he knew, Bofan was on the run. Raze never got a clear answer,
but the reason why was obvious.
They were after Bofan—maybe both the Bonum Society and Alter—trying to get their
hands on the item.
Right now, Raze was listening to things from the Bonum point of view. There was a chance
Bofan had found out that someone in Bonum wanted to use the Golden Globe for something
else.
Similarly, if he visited Alter, they could just spin the same tale but make it out that the
Bonum Society were the bad guys.
One of the God-tier artifacts they had kept was stolen, and now they were looking to
retrieve it.
The important thing was that Bofan most likely hid the item, and if he had the power, the
Globe was either in Pagna or now in Alterian.
'The Globe itself doesn't even matter too much to me other than using it to get back to
Alterian. If it's in Alterian, then it's out of my hands, but I could ask Harvey and the others
to try and find it,' Raze thought.
That's when something clicked in his mind. In the Dark Faction, there was a librarian who
claimed they knew more about Bofan.
He could tell him more about the Dark Faction Founder.
Maybe then Raze would have a better understanding of why the Dark Faction Founder had
done what he had done.
"It was an educated guess," Raze answered. "The Golden Globe was here in the Dark
Faction, so that leaves the other factions."
"It couldn't have been Alter, and from the way you said things, it didn't seem like any of the
clans had used such an item."
"I learned a bit about the Dark Faction Founder and learned he had gone missing rather
than having died or lost a fight, so it was the most likely guess."
There was silence for a moment, as if everyone was waiting to see if Amir and Olag were
willing to accept that as an answer.
"I see," Amir replied. "At the end of the day, the fact is the Golden Globe was lost at the
hands of the Dark Faction."
"Alter believes that we still have the item and has been going against us."
"Wait!" Safa said, raising her hand as if she were in school. "Is that why you became Vice
Principal of the Dark Faction Academy? Because you believe that the Golden Globe is still
somewhere here in the Dark Faction?"
"Oh, I like her," Olag said, rubbing his hands together. "You are smarter than the rest of
these sods. We have been planning to take down the Dark Faction and turn over every
single rock! But Murkel and his allies have always been in the way."
"What was the plan then?" Anna asked. "What was the plan you had when you went ahead
and disturbed the tournament like this, using this guy?" She pointed at Mantis.
"The plan was to create an opportunity. Things weren't looking good; the Dark Faction and
the Light Faction were planning to form an alliance to get rid of the Demonic Faction."
"We needed a way to break the ties and pull their focus elsewhere. Mantis was going to be
revealed as a spy working for the Dark Faction."
"While my involvement, as well as a few others, would indicate the Dark Faction was
planning an attack."
"We needed to weaken the Dark Faction, and we happened to succeed. Regardless, all is
well now for us, and things will be much easier thanks to all your help."
Amir then started to wipe away the chalk from the board and drew the academy, writing
the words "Dark Faction" below it.
"After all, there is now a new Dark Faction leader, so we won't have to worry about that
anymore."
Amir wrote the words right underneath the drawing of the academy and the words: **Dark
Faction - Raze Cromwell**.
Chapter 783 The New Dark Faction Leader
Chapter 783 The New Dark Faction Leader
Having once been a professor himself, Raze had gone through numerous lectures and
different teaching styles, understanding the subtleties of what was being written on the
chalkboard. It was laid out as clear as day, insinuating that he, Raze Cromwell, would now
be the leader of the Dark Faction.
"Leader of the Dark Faction... I can't say that I never considered the possibility. When I took
out Murkel, there was always the plan for someone else to rise to the top," Raze thought.
Everyone sitting around Raze was eagerly awaiting his response. They were staring at him,
looking for any sign of emotion, a change in facial expression—anything. But none could
decipher what was on his mind or why he wasn't surprised by this proposal.
"Does it make sense?" Raze asked. "You want me to be the Dark Faction leader? With
Murkel out of the way and you being Vice Principal, wouldn't it be best for you to take over
instead? It would help your society further your goals."
"Even if I could force my way to become Principal and leader of the Dark Faction, someone
like me, who they classify as a no-name, would have many who disagree with me being at
the top."
"I can see your concern," Amir replied with a smile. "What you're saying is true. Even if I
were to become the Principal or head of the Dark Faction, it would require the acceptance
of all the clans."
"Convincing them that I am right for the role would be very difficult, but I can't say the
same for you."
It was then that Safa raised her hand first. "I accept Raze becoming the new leader of the
Dark Faction."
Next, it was Simyon's turn as he raised his hand as well. "On behalf of the Moon Shield Clan,
I also accept Raze becoming the next leader of the Dark Faction."
Soon, Raze saw a wave of arms being lifted into the air.
"On behalf of the Erupting Fist Clan, I accept Raze being the leader of the Dark Faction,"
Ricktor added.
Everyone in the room had accepted Raze as the next principal of the Dark Faction Academy
and leader of the Dark Faction.
"I'm sure you're a bit confused, but Raze, all the people who have a chance to go against you
are in this room," Amir explained.
"While you were asleep, we were busy," Liam said. "We had to scour nearly all of the Dark
Faction and find out who was in charge. Do you know how many people are willing to listen
to someone a quarter their age?"
"My body just aches thinking about it."
"Hey, some of us had it a lot harder, alright?" Simyon chimed in. "The whole clan wanted to
test if my body could really break a weapon. Do you know how many strikes I had to take
on top of my head?"
Safa couldn't stop shaking her head as she watched the two of them arguing.
"Raze, what they mean is, while you were asleep, everyone in this room told the clans that
you would be the new leader."
"If they had a problem with it, they were to fight us, and you can expect that many chose to.
In turn, we were successful with the help of the Bonum Society. Now we have control of the
clans. We're like phantom clan heads if you want to think of it that way. Our say is the say
of the entire clan, and there will be no one to get in your way."
Raze had to admit it was a pleasant surprise, and hearing what they had all gone through
for his sake brought a smile to his face.
It was rare for everyone to see him smile. They felt as if they were being swept off their
feet. Many had never seen such a thing from him before.
"You did all that while I was asleep? Why did you put yourself in danger, put yourself
through that trouble? It makes no sense, just to make me the leader of the Dark Faction,"
Raze asked.
"Raze, it's what we wanted to do, especially after you saved us all in that arena from
Murkel. For many of us, you have broken the invisible chains that tied us down."
Hearing those words from Safa, and being aware of everyone's actions, for the first time in
a long time, Raze felt like these people with him were ones he wanted to protect.
"Sh*t," Raze mumbled. "That's not what I wanted... it wasn't part of the plan."
"What did you say?" Safa asked.
Raze somewhat ignored Safa and looked at Anna.
"If they find out I'm now the leader of the Dark Faction, will Alter have a problem with it?"
Raze asked.
Anna shrugged her shoulders. "If you truly are the leader and the one controlling the Dark
Faction, if anything, it is they who will need to be in your good books. You will be ruling
one-third of Pagna, and not just in the shadows."
That was both good and scary at the same time. The plan of sneaking into Alter to get his
hands on their artifacts had somewhat gone out the window now.
However, going at it from another angle, from the Dark Faction's position, was interesting
as well, and now Raze knew of something that could get him back to Alterian.
"And Rayna, what would your father think of this, if the Dark Magus were in control of the
Dark Faction?" Raze asked.
Rayna let out a laugh. "If his son-in-law were the leader of an entire faction, he would have
a field day about this. He might even go ahead and destroy another Light Faction base for
us."
Everyone's eyeballs were about to pop out of their heads. They looked at Rayna and
couldn't tell if she was joking or not.
"Regardless, you don't have to worry about that. I'll deal with him."
With that answer, all of Raze's worries seemed to be coming to an end.
"I have no more excuses for not taking up this role," Raze said. "But before we go above,
there is one thing I need to do."
Before becoming leader of the Dark Faction, he needed to set things in motion there.
Raze then stood up from his seat. "I need to head to Alterian and talk to the Dark Guild."
Chapter 784: The Guility Mage
Chapter 784: The Guility Mage

In the world of Alterian, panic had erupted in a particular studio. The special police force
had arrived, and special barriers were placed around the dressing room. These barriers
allowed only police personnel with certain specially enchanted badges to pass through.
It was easier this way as the place didn't always need to be on guard, and there was no
need to tape off every scene. Today, the staff was in disarray and panic. Standing just
outside one of the dressing rooms, Chief Officer Harvey looked down to his right, at the
main studio.
Several staff members were panicking and already typing away on their mobile devices.
Talking amongst each other. A few had tried to take a peak and approached the barrier as it
was the first time seeing such a thing, but it was doing their job not letting anyone further
in. "Of all places for this to happen, huh?" John said as he opened up a strange-looking
device that almost looked like a stick with a blue tip at the end. John placed it in his mouth
and sucked on the top end, and the whole stick lit up for a moment.
Inside his body, he felt a refreshing burst of mana coursing through, allowing him to calm
down for a moment.
"Hey, don't look at me like that," John said, taking the device out of his mouth. "You know
this was produced by Gizin's company; it's all perfectly legal."
"It's not that which is annoying me," Harvey replied. "It's your stinking breath. Besides,
relying on that stuff will only make you weaker. What are you going to do when we need to
chase these guys down? Pop your little wand out and have a puff before trying to blast
them away?"
"Pathetic."
"We all can't be like you, Harvey, a natural talent, a five-star mage. Anyway, look at them-
all of them are messaging away. We're meant to keep this under wraps, but I guess it's
impossible in a public studio."
Right then, the door opened up, and a couple of officers emerged in white robes, one
female, the other male.
"We're done recording everything in the room," the officer stated. "So you two can have a
look. We'll send this off to headquarters and see if there's a match or if any suspects pop
up."
As they moved aside, John and Harvey walked into the room. As he entered, Harvey
couldn't help but make a remark.
"It'll be useless anyway."
"Don't be like that," John said, who was going to say more but stopped as the sight of the
room was worse than he had imagined.
He quickly raised his hand to his mouth, and his hand started to glow, clearing the air
around him, allowing him to breathe.
"This entire place is a complete mess-mangled corpses that looked to have been played
with," John said.
Although John was having a hard time, Harvey wasn't. He had gotten close to several bodies
in the room.
He walked with little care and even knelt down next to the dead, taking a closer look at
them. He even reached out his hand and started jabbing the body.
"Is this how you became the chief? Not because of your powers but because of your
stomach —to take crap like this. And what's a bunch of poking around going to do anyway?
It's quite clear what happened to her. Such a shame."
The body that John was looking at, in particular, was the presenter Ashley-a well-known
figure, and the biggest issue is that she died in the studio itself.
The problem was news got out fairly quickly after that, and rumors were already
circulating online.
It was then that John received a call and started to walk away as he answered.
"Yes, sir... yes... Harvey and I are here and on it..."
While John was taking the call, Harvey decided to do his own probing.
'It was clearly done by magic, but from what I know, Ashley was a four-star mage. She rose
to fame not just because she impressed people, but she was quite skilled herself.'
'Not only was she killed, but everyone in the room-her assistant and the makeup artist-so
there are no witnesses, and no one saw anyone enter or leave the studio.'
'Is it invisibility? There was nothing on the cameras either. No, I have a suspicion those
tapes were altered.'
'Invisibility wouldn't require that, which means someone was here.'
In the middle of his thoughts, John ended the call and sighed.
"I know you're not going to like this, Harvey, but it's orders from the higher-ups. Because of
all the rumors being spread, they want a report and statement by the end of today," John
said. "I've already got the boys interviewing staff and getting statements from everyone."
Harvey stood up and smiled as he looked at John.
"A statement? Why, so we can make sure it's not him?" Harvey asked.
"What are you getting at?" John asked.
"You know what I'm getting at. The rumors are getting out of hand. It's not like something
like this hasn't happened before."
"The rules are to not make a report on any information we have. The more information we
release, the harder it is to catch the actual suspect because they can just tell us details that
have already been revealed."
"Right, but my hands are tied, both of ours are, if you say what you want to say, we could
get in trouble, and if someone hears it, we could both be targeted by all sorts!"
"Bullshit!" Harvey said, pointing his finger and jabbing John in the chest.
It was starting to make John sweat a bit. Although John didn't directly work under Harvey
and his team, the few times he had, he had seen Harvey explode and was well aware of his
nature. The issue was, because of John's calm nature, many times they would send him out
to work with Harvey.
"They only want us to make a report stating that he's not guilty because everyone online is
already suspecting the obvious," Harvey said. "That this was done by the F***ing Grand
Magus. It was done by Enaxx."
Chapter 785: An Emergency Meeting
Chapter 785: An Emergency Meeting

"What are you doing?" John shouted, coming forward and placing his finger on Harvey's
lips. He quickly turned to look at the door to see if anyone else had entered.
"Are you trying to get us both killed? You know you can't just say stuff like that. The Glory
Guild has people everywhere.
"Heck, I'm not sure if you know it, but I heard that a Glory supporter just attacked someone
online for accusing Enaxx of this crime."
"Tracked them down just from an online post and everything. You don't even know if
they're in the current force or not."
Harvey knew this as well, of course. There had been many rumors of the wrongdoings of
the Grand Magus.
Harvey, now investigating such matters, could see that as quickly as they would appear,
they would disappear just as fast.
The general public still saw them as holy beings that could do no wrong, but some people
knew better. However, they also knew there was nothing they could say or do.
Harvey quickly pushed Jonh away.
"And what if it is him?" Harvey said. "Is it really right that someone like that can just go
around doing things like this and not receive any punishment for it?"
Once again, John turned his head, so paranoid that he even went to the door, placing both
hands on it and casting a spell.
Finally, he felt a little better compared to before.
"This case is as clear as day. People are accusing Enaxx because they saw the petty look on
his face during that interview. It's a coincidence that an hour later, she's found dead in the
same studio. Even a blind, naked mole rat could put two and two together," Harvey
claimed.
John then let out a big sigh.
"I understand why you think that, but let's just set aside all our personal feelings for a
moment."
"First, the team reviewed the footage, and you were right; it had been altered, but the
original footage has been found.
"Someone was seen phasing through the wall at the time of Ashley's death."
"Phasing? That's five-star magic," Harvey stated. "The more you're speaking, the more I'm
thinking it's him. This might be our big chance to finally get one of them out in the open."
John wanted to say something but bit his lip as he continued to explain.
"Right, but the thing is, we've confirmed that at the same time, Enaxx was doing an advert
shoot at a location that would take at least three hours to travel to."
"Even if he had unlocked teleportation magic or something, we have him on camera there
as well. It's impossible for him to have been in two places at once."
"Bullshit!" was the automatic response that came out of Harvey's mouth. "Then that just
means the video has to be double-altered, or it's a red herring to make us look elsewhere."
"We had everyone check it over, Harvey. If you want to take a look yourself, be my guest,
but you'll come to the same result, trust me," John said, placing his hand on Harvey's
shoulder.
"I'm not the biggest fan of the Grand Magus either, but the world operates in a time of
peace because of them."
"They have a lot of fans, and there are really loyal people to their cause, almost like a cult,
so you have to be careful about what you say. You don't know who you could be talking to."
Harvey found that ironic because John also had no idea who Harvey was either.
"I know you want to catch Enaxx, but even if he got caught, I don't think he would be
brought in. Either way, this is not the person responsible, and we need to put out a
statement."
Looking behind him at the scene one more time, Harvey clenched his fist.
"No, something's up. I need to find out how that bastard did this. Write the report yourself
and say whatever the higher-ups want to hear. I'm taking a few days' holiday; I've got stuff
to deal with," Harvey said, leaving the room.
Kelly was taking the sky train back to her living area as she usually would. Her classes had
come to an end, and she sighed.
When it finally stopped at her spot, she jumped down, using her Wind magic to gently land,
and then entered her apartment building.
Reaching the 7th floor, she entered her room, and a black cat greeted her, flying over and
landing in her hands.
"Oh, you've been able to use more and more of your magic, even in cat form," Kelly said.
The cat gave a meow back. Kelly started to scratch its head, which Sophie seemed to enjoy.
It felt a little strange knowing she was doing this to a real human, but since it was satisfying
for both the cat and herself, she continued.
As she stopped, Kelly immediately went to the bed to lie down.
"I guess in my free time, I need to continue studying Dark Magic, right? I mean, we need to
figure out how to turn you back into a human as well. You can't just stay as a cat forever,"
Kelly said.
"Meow," Sophie replied, closing her eyes. Soon, Dark Magic started to surround her,
including the paws of her feet. She was lifted into the air, and when the cat opened its eyes,
they showed darkness.
As the Dark Magic stopped, Sophie landed, falling right back onto the bed.
"You're quite the good student when it comes to Dark Magic. Maybe you'll figure it out
before me, but either way, I'm sure the Dark Magus will help you."
Just then, Kelly received a text. She noticed when she went to reach into her pocket, it
wasn't from her regular phone, and knowing the date, it wasn't time for that just yet.
[An emergency meeting is declared. Prepare for this one; we're going to the Glory Guild.]
'The Glory Guild... it looks like my weekend might not be so peaceful anymore.'
Chapter 786: Dark Guild Acts!
Chapter 786: Dark Guild Acts!

Traveling with Sophie on her shoulder, Kelly was taking her usual path to the world below.
The path involved a series of twists and turns, and even her entering a few convenience
stores to buy a few items.
These were instructions set by Harvey. He had told her to do this just in case anyone was
following her and had even given her pointers to track if anyone was tailing her or not.
Some might think it was overcautious, but they were living in a world of Alterian where if
one was caught knowing Dark Magic, they were to be executed on the spot.
Not just the person, but nearly everyone related to them as well. It was the one saving
grace for Kelly and many others who delved into Dark Magic that they had no one to begin
with.
"You didn't see anyone, did you?" Kelly asked as she pulled out a large brick from the wall
and saw the black hooded uniform.
"Mewow, meow," Sophie said as she continued to use her sharp eyes, scanning the area.
After changing her clothing, it was time to head below, early and not on the usual day she
would have done so.
As she descended the long ladder, she couldn't help but start thinking about what this
meeting would ultimately be about.
The mention of the Glory Guild had her worried. Since joining the Dark Guild, and even
before it was named that, they had never done large-scale attacks on any Guild.
It had always been about finding other members and trying to work together, but the force
of the Dark Guild was never enough.
Now they had a cat and a Dark Spirit that only arrived half the time when he said he would.
Not much had changed, and certainly not enough to go against a big Guild like the Glory
Guild. The Glory Guild was a guild that operated directly under Enaxx, one of the Grand
Magus. It was fairly new compared to the other guilds under the Grand Magus.
For one, it only existed after the Grand Magus's creation. Everyone had a group apart from
Enaxx, so he formed his own Guild.
Strong mages flocked to it because it was an honor and privilege to be part of a guild
created by one of the Grand Magus.
The Glory Guild focused on doing righteous deeds. They saw themselves as the police force
for the other guilds.
If there were disputes between mages, if there were problems the police force couldn't get
to in time, the Glory Guild would be there first.
It was a guild that also purely operated on donations, and it had plenty to keep operating,
especially with their large numbers.
Regardless of new or old, because of these things, there were several types of mages in the
guild. Strong mages wanted to prove themselves by being under one of the best.
Others were mages that were righteous and believed they were doing the right thing.
'But it's all just a big PR stunt, just like everything Enaxx does. He's the figurehead for the
Grand Magus, so what better way to make them look better in the public eye than to have a
guild that does things for glory?' It made Kelly sick every time she thought about what had
happened to her family.
Still, regardless of her hatred, it was not the type of guild to mess with-not at the small
stage they were at, and with how few people they had, it was practically a suicide mission.
Maybe before, she would have been willing to do anything for the sake of the Dark Guild,
and she still was willing to do a lot, but the words of the Dark Spirit lingered in her mind.
Arriving at the usual place, the torn-down building, she looked ahead and saw that Harvey
was there early this time, practically pacing back and forth.
"You made it; any quicker and I would have thought this was an emergency," Harvey said.
"Sorry, I was doing what you taught me, to stay out of sight," Kelly replied, not wishing to
get snarky with the person in front of her.
Although Kelly was considered talented for her age, there was one thing she was always
very clear about, and that was this person was stronger than her.
"The cat can do magic now?" Harvey asked.
"Yes, I don't know what star level, but she seems capable of producing high-level spells.
However, due to her size, the mana core is small, so she can't do a lot of spells."
Harvey nodded as he heard this.
"That might come in handy in more ways than one. In some cases, she might be the perfect
disguise. You, Sophie, correct? It seems you might play a key part in all of this," Harvey
claimed.
"Wait, was your message before serious? Are you really thinking of going up against the
Glory Guild?" Kelly asked.
The response from Harvey was to pull out his phone, and as he did, it was an article-an
article about the death of a famous TV host named Ashley.
"I'm sure you've heard the rumors that the most likely suspect is Enaxx, and I believe it as
well. The issue is, I have no clue how he was able to do it," Harvey answered.
"Our task is to get as much information on the Grand Magus as possible, in order to help
that Dark Spirit. I believe there's something up with Enaxx."
"And the answer will lie in his guild. Now, we can't just go for any low-hanging member.
This information will only be kept secret with some of his higher-ups."
Going through his phone, Harvey then pulled up another file.
A man with a square-looking face and a clean-cut brown beard. Not only did it have his
image and information about his involvement with Glory Guild, but it also had his star
ranking-a
6-star mage.
"All of us in the Dark Guild will work to take this man down, and we need him alive. I will
do whatever it takes to get my answer," Harvey exclaimed.
Chapter 787: The Real Scum Of The World
Chapter 787: The Real Scum Of The World

The hardest part about going up against one of the commanders of the Glory Guild would
be the fact that they spent most of their time in the guild base, which meant they would be
surrounded by a high number of people at all times.
Currently, outside, both Kelly and Harvey were sitting at a convenience store eating
together. She was in casual clothing for the weekend, while Harvey was still wearing a
hoodie covering his head.
"I understand that we can't go around in our robes telling everyone who we are, but don't
you think wearing a hoodie like that makes you look a bit too old? You look like one of
those fake undercover cops," Kelly commented.
"Although I'm not famous or a movie star, it would be dangerous for me if I were spotted or
recognized, and it could jeopardize our position," Harvey explained. "If you get caught, you
could drop out of school and be on the run."
"But at the moment, most of the Dark Guild and its operations work because I'm still in my
position."
There was less ambiguity between the two now. They both knew each other's real jobs,
positions, and could guess each other's ages. The only thing they didn't know, or ever spoke
about, was why the other had started to learn Dark Magic.
What deep reason had forced them to learn such a thing? And it was something they didn't
want to talk about regardless.
"Right, I'm just helping you out, telling you not to follow someone like that in the future."
"Let's focus on the task," Harvey said as he pulled out a tablet. It was one of the devices that
belonged to the office, so it allowed him to log into the server and gather whatever
information he needed.
"The man's name we're after is Bronk Scornell. A commander in the Glory Guild and
someone who's been there since its inception. He originally joined the Glory Guild wanting
to be a part of something big. He's a strong mage, but he has his dark side, as do all these
sick f*cks," Harvey said.
Harvey scrolled down, and further information was revealed. Kelly was quite surprised
that someone in the guild had a criminal record and that it wasn't made public, or at least
there was no public outcry about it.
"Bronk was quite well known and was the leader of his own guild. He had a falling out with
his wife, or I should say a lot more than that. He was caught having sex with one of his
guildmates. Apparently, Bronk had set up the guild just to have it as one giant orgy."
"His wife found out and was going to go to the press to ruin her husband, who had been
doing it behind her back under the guise of sex work for years. In the end, he blew her
brains out with his magic."
"Of course, he used the funds of the entire guild to cover up the mess, but the guild had to
be disbanded. Although it was never made public, the guilds were aware of this, and no one
accepted him until the Glory Guild came along."
"I'm guessing Bronk was just too good of a talent for Enaxx to pass up."
"So you think he'll know more about Enaxx because he was there from the beginning?"
Kelly asked.
"That's one reason, but the other is because scum follows scum, and they feel more
comfortable with their own kind. Most likely, Enaxx knows all about this, and I'm hoping
he's shared some things with Bronk as well. Neither of them would rat each other out."
As the two were talking, a black cat jumped up and landed on the table.
"Sophie, you're back. So you managed to find out where he lives or at least a place where he
stays that isn't so crowded?" Kelly asked.
Kelly then opened up a notepad and placed a pen down. Sophie started to focus, and with
her magic, the pen was lifted up, and she began to write down all types of details.
"This is good, this is great. With you just being a cat, you can follow anyone, and no one will
think anything different!" Harvey said excitedly. "You have a lot of uses. Maybe the most
dangerous places like guilds and such would still be bad-they'll kill anything, and I've seen
my fair share of psychopaths targeting cats. It's always the cats first for some reason, but
still, it's going to make our jobs a lot easier."
Harvey looked at the address and then picked up the phone.
"I'm going to make sure the area's cleared, just in case things get messy. I can hold off a
police force coming for a while, but we need to deal with this quickly, so is everyone
ready?" Kelly nodded, and Sophie gave a small meow.
Bronk had cheerfully come home. He lived in a cul-de-sac neighborhood that was away
from the high-rise apartments and shops. He couldn't stand being in the city center because
he felt there were just too many eyes on him.
Coming back, he had parked his car just in front of his house. Opening the door, he then
held out his hand, and a lady took it as he pulled her up.
"I didn't realize you were such a gentleman. You need to be careful; otherwise, I might start
to think you're trying to keep me forever."
Bronk and the female headed toward the door, and even on the way there, the two of them
couldn't keep their hands off each other. Bronk kept swiping his hand around her tight-
fitting red dress, sliding his fingers between certain creases.
Pushing the door open, the two of them rushed inside. As they walked into the main living
room, Bronk paused.
"Who are you?" Bronk said.
"My, my, my, what's the matter? You didn't want to show the new girl how much of a scum
you are?" Harvey said, sitting down in a chair right in the center of the living room.
"Bronk, what is the meaning of this? What is all of this?" the woman asked as she looked
around the room.
Holograms appeared, showing photos of Bronk with various women and also the women
who had been killed, all under his thumb.
"Now, we can either do this the simple way, or we can make things complicated. I have
something I need to know, and if you don't give me an answer, the whole world will find
out the scum you are," Harvey said with a smile.
Chapter 788: The Glory Guild
Chapter 788: The Glory Guild

With the Glory Guild being a large guild, there were many candidates that fit the criteria
that Harvey was looking for. To be honest, Bronk wasn't even the only one who had
committed
despicable acts.
Many powerful mages who had abused their powers had gone to the Glory Guild. It was
almost as if the place was some sort of image change for them. With it, Harvey had done
some digging, and the most information could be found on Bronk.
For one, it turned out that Bronk was still committing a large number of crimes, and the
department was just covering it up. Honestly, it was above the position Harvey was in, but
the more he found, he wouldn't have been so surprised if there was a whole division within
the police to just cover up the acts of the Grand Magus and their guilds.
Still, cover-ups needed to be recorded, so all of the information could still be accessed.
'This is it,' Harvey thought as he looked at Bronk. 'This mage is even a higher star level than
me. Dark magic always has the element of surprise, but in situations like this, it's best to
use one's head to fight.'
'I've read your file-you built up so much of your reputation. Every time an incident
occurred, you would go to the police to deal with it, to cover it up. That's how much you
cared about your reputation.'
'Of course, if I release this information, the police will be able to trace it back to me, so I
don't plan on doing that, but all I need from you is to comply,' Harvey thought.
Bronk looked at the situation, staring at Harvey. He was trying to see if he recognized the
man in the seat, but there was a hood and a face mask covering most of his features, making
it impossible to tell.
"Did I hurt someone close to you, a sister... or maybe a lover? Is that why you're doing this?"
Bronk asked.
"What are you saying? Are you saying all these images, these videos, the reports are they all
real?" The woman next to him asked as she started to grab Bronk's arm. "Answer me!"
Immediately, Bronk snapped out his hand and grabbed her, holding the woman around her
neck. It started to freeze over, and then, clenching his hand, the ice broke, and the head fell
to the floor with part of the neck frozen.
"You decided to blackmail the wrong person," Bronk said. "Everything is fine, as long as
there are no witnesses, and that included her."
Bronk lifted both of his hands, and a stream of misty ice magic came out of them.
Immediately, from the seat, it was Harvey who needed to react fast. He pushed back with
his feet, falling backward and landing on the floor. As the stream of mist hit the chair, it
completely froze over.
"This was somewhat expected!" Harvey said as he got up and crossed his arms. "But I guess
this is just how it was meant to be!"
Crossing his arms, out from behind the door, dark tentacle-like structures came out and
wrapped around Bronk's wrists and ankles. Immediately, he could feel a burning sensation
on his skin.
"This magic... it's Dark magic. I should have known, it was my job to get rid of scum like
you!" Bronk shouted.
"Look who's talking!" Harvey shifted his hand forward, and a spike of magic came out from
his palm, reaching out to hit Bronk in the chest. As it came toward him, Bronk opened his
mouth, and fire came out, hitting the Dark magic and pushing it away.
"Even though Dark magic is based on destruction, he's still a six-star mage after all, but he
has no clue what Dark magic can do," Harvey said.
Using strong Ice magic, Bronk was able to create space by turning the air into ice between
the Dark magic that was wrapped around him. He expanded it out, breaking the Dark
magic.
When he turned around, though, he could see a large tentacle hit his body and shift him to
the side. Bronk's entire body was seen crashing through the wall and breaking part of it.
As Bronk looked up, he could see a strange shadowy figure come from the hallway, and
then it moved over to Harvey's back, covering him.
"That... that's not Dark magic, is it? I've never heard of Dark magic being able to do
something like that," Bronk said.
"You're right. I knew you would be a tough one, so I went all out from the beginning. This is
my breakthrough. Unfortunately, my magic core is Earth magic, and my breakthrough is a
puppet made out of the earth itself, but mixing it with my Dark magic made it extremely
interesting," Harvey said.
Lifting his hands, the puppet behind him lifted its hands as well, and it was as if two figures
were both gathering Dark magic around their palms. Bronk, seeing this, knew he needed to
move, but when he tried, his hands were stuck to the floor.
"What the..." They were iced down, but his ice abilities shouldn't have had that effect.
That's when he could see a young woman with one of her hands on the floor, having used
Ice Magic. Being so used to the cold, Bronk hadn't even noticed it since his mana core was
ice- based.
Not only that, though, he could see that in her other hand, she had also been gathering Ice
magic.
"Dark Cannon!" Harvey shouted out, and he and his Dark Puppet both threw out beams of
Dark Magic.
Meanwhile, Kelly did the same, throwing out the magic from the palm of her hand. The
whole area was being destroyed. The floor was disintegrating into nothing, even the wall
behind, as the Dark magic, concentrated in one place, exploded into different areas.
Eventually, both Harvey and Kelly stopped.
"I thought... we weren't meant to kill him. He's still alive, right?" Kelly asked.
That was when she could feel a chill enter the whole room. When she looked at the
furniture and the walls around her, frost was gathering on every single item.
"Both of you are using Dark magic. What is this? Is something going on that we, the Glory
Guild, don't know about?" Bronk said. "I guess I have no choice but to go all out.
Breakthrough!"
The light in the area where Bronk was started to shine, and the whole area dropped by at
least ten degrees in an instant. A massive amount of magic exploded out, shifting Harvey
and Kelly back around a meter.
"I knew he wouldn't die from that!" Harvey said with a smile.
Chapter 789 Breakthrough!
789 Breakthrough!
When a breakthrough is used, a tremendous amount of mana is released by the mage. It
activates all of the magic circles surrounding one's heart. The power manifests depending
on what type of person one is.
Not everyone's breakthrough is the same, but some can be similar. The mass amount of
energy released will be based on what type of affinity the magic circle has. In this case,
Bronk's was Ice magic, which was why the whole room had gotten chillier, and everything
was now covered in frost.
'A six-star mage doing a breakthrough—I was hoping he didn't know how to do that,' Kelly
thought. 'I think this is going to be a lot harder than Harvey thought.'
As the magic started to settle, Kelly could see Bronk standing there, different from before.
His whole body was covered in ice. It almost looked like armor, a knight in light blue,
covered from head to toe, apart from his eyes.
"Ice armor? That's a pretty lame breakthrough if you ask me!" Harvey jumped to the side,
and he controlled his puppet to do the same. Then, from both sides, they both fired beams
of dark energy.
It hit Bronk's body cleanly, but the magic just disintegrated into nothing. Then, when Bronk
lifted his hand, a sword began to form. Bronk lifted the ice sword above his head and swung
it down through the air.
The attack let out a large trail of ice on the floor. Harvey tried to move away, but his feet
had frozen.
"Damn it, the file didn't say anything about him being a magic swordsman."
"You Dark Mages will be executed by the Glory Guild!" Bronk shouted as he charged
forward. The Dark Puppet moved, swinging its arms like tentacles through the air.
Bronk was swift as he swung his sword, freezing the tentacles and getting rid of part of the
puppet bit by bit.
Quickly, Kelly moved over, and with her hands heated up with Fire magic, she placed them
on Harvey's leg.
"This might hurt a little," Kelly said.
"Do you think I have time for that!" Harvey stated. As soon as his feet were back to normal,
he charged forward, encasing his hand with Earth magic.
The Dark Puppet practically leaped onto Bronk, and as it was stabbed in the center, its body
was turning to ice.
Harvey jumped forward and bashed Bronk from the side with the heavy fist, shifting his
feet but not breaking the ice. Instead, it was Harvey's arm that was now covered in ice.
Thankfully, it was just the part he had covered in Earth magic.
"Everything that touches this armor will be frozen," Bronk said. Even the ground beneath
his feet where he stepped was frozen with Ice magic.
"You know Fire magic, right? Just use whatever you've got, use everything, or we won't live
through this!" Harvey shouted.
His puppet was on the verge of destruction, but with it so close to Bronk, he knew what to
do. He controlled it to dive onto Bronk one more time.
While Kelly, staying far back, started to fire fireball after fireball.
'I can't break through, I don't know how, I never learned how to, but I can do this.'
With one hand, Kelly started to use Fire magic, and with the other, she used wind, making a
devastating combo that blasted out a tunnel of flames toward Bronk. For a moment, he
couldn't do anything as the puppet was using its body, bashing it against Bronk, not caring
if it was frozen or not.
Harvey looked like he had lost his mind as he was just forming giant rocks and throwing
them in Bronk's direction.
"Keep firing those flames, young one! Don't let up, just keep going!" Harvey ordered.
But then, the puppet was destroyed, and Harvey felt a great pain around his chest. He fell to
his knees. The distraction had caused Kelly to run to his side, checking if he was okay.
"Are you alright?" Kelly asked.
"My puppet," Harvey said, knowing full well it had been destroyed, but even then, he
wouldn't have had the energy to control it anymore either.
"Of course, he's not alright," Bronk answered, stepping through the flames. His ice armor
was still on his body, but it appeared to be falling off, disappearing into the wind.
"A breakthrough uses an incredibly large amount of mana; it practically breaks the magic
circle. Time is needed for it to be mended again. He used his breakthrough for far too long,
which means currently he can't use any magic, and I doubt your three-star spells will do
any harm to me."
Bronk no longer had the armor on his body, but he still had the ice sword in his hand. He
was ready to strike but noticed the smile on Harvey's face.
"Aren't you in the same position as us then?" Harvey asked. "After all, you are using your
breakthrough as well. Did you force your armor away so you could linger onto your power
just a little longer? Because that's going to work against you."
Kelly fired a fireball out of the palm of her hand. It was the only thing she could do—a quick
magic attack while her opponent didn't expect anything.
Bronk lifted the sword and sliced the fireball in half, making it disappear into nothing but
particles of frost falling to the floor.
"Even now, his power… it's a lot stronger than mine," Kelly thought.
It was over. Their first mission as the Dark Guild had come to an end. They had failed. She
started to think, when the Dark Spirit would return, would he be upset that they were
gone?
Surprised that they had been foolish enough to do something like this? Would it be too
much to hope to see him appear now?
"Meoooow!"
"Was that a cat?" Bronk turned around and saw a cat flying right at his stomach, its paws
covered in Dark magic. The moment it touched Bronk's skin, it pulsated, and a shockwave
of magic was sent out, sending Bronk flying through the air and crashing into the kitchen.
Harvey turned his head to see Bronk unmoving, blood dripping down from his head, and
then he turned back to the cat.
"Let's hope he's still alive."
Chapter 790 The Third Leg
790 The Third Leg
Kelly had to blink a few times as she watched Sophie casually sitting there in the center of
the room, licking her paw. It was at times like this that she found it hard to believe the cat
was human, but then again, what kind of cat could produce such a strong magical spell?
'I don't know those spells, and I'm not sure Harvey knows them either, and he has a lot of
knowledge on Dark magic,' Kelly thought. 'Could it be that Sophie's knowledge of Dark
Magic is even greater than Harvey's?'
'It's too bad that even with her Wind magic, she can only pick up a pen for a limited amount
of time. Otherwise, there are so many questions I want to ask her.'
Harvey had a smile on his face as he stood up, still looking exhausted from the fight. "It
looks like the plan worked well, right?" Harvey said, reaching out his hand, and Sophie gave
him a paw, slapping it as if to give a high five.
"Wait, you planned this? As in, you knew she was going to come?" Kelly asked. "I thought
you said she was doing something important, so she couldn't be here."
"Yes, she was doing something important—she was sitting by and waiting for the perfect
moment to attack," Harvey answered. "I was pretty sure that Bronk had a breakthrough, so
we needed to push him into using it. After that, it was just buying time, then Sophie could
deal the unexpected final attack. Even if Bronk saw a cat from the corner of his eye, he
would never expect it to know magic."
Kelly had to admit that it was a good plan, and she would have never thought of using
Sophie this way, but she was more upset about something else.
"Why didn't you tell me about the plan? Am I not part of the Dark Guild as well, or do you
really see me as so useless?" Kelly asked.
Harvey walked over to Bronk, who was still lying in the destroyed kitchen. He reached out
his hand, and Sophie didn't hesitate to jump up and go on his shoulder.
All of it was annoying Kelly quite a bit. She was the one who had found Sophie, she was also
the one currently looking after her and feeding her, yet the two of them didn't need to say
anything, and they knew each other's actions and even made secret plans behind her back.
"If he moves, then give him a small zap for me," Harvey said, to which Sophie replied with a
meow.
"It's not that," Harvey said as he used his hand to open Bronk's eyelids and then started to
check his pulse. "I wanted you to try your hardest, and I was worried you wouldn't pull
through. If you knew that we were relying on Sophie here, then maybe you wouldn't have
fought like your life was on the line or waited for the right moment."
"We both needed to push ourselves to the limit, and there was more risk in telling you the
actual plan."
Harvey breathed a sigh of relief when he could feel a pulse, and then with his hand, he
waved Kelly over, but she refused to move.
"Look, I know you're special, very special for the Dark Guild," Harvey stated. "Think about
it, how many members, how many people have we been through, tried to recruit, and all of
them are no longer here, yet you are here. You were here near the beginning, and you're
still here now, which means you're definitely special if you've survived this long."
"If it wasn't for my job, I don't think I would have survived so long either, so there's that."
The compliment had stopped Kelly's pouting for now, and so she decided to come over.
"You don't have to worry so much. This lump won't be able to use magic, even if he wakes
up, and with how he's been thrown around, his body's going to be extremely sore," Harvey
explained. "Do you still have some mana left?"
"Yeah, a bit," Kelly answered, and it was then that she could see Bronk's eyes were starting
to flutter open. They were closing and opening again, and his body was slowly moving.
"I saw you use some flames earlier. Sophie, use Dark Pulse right on his leg like a laser—cut
it off—and then I need you to sear it with your flames so he doesn't bleed to death," Harvey
ordered.
"What the… are you crazy?" Kelly said.
Before she could even argue her case, Sophie had already acted, as dark beams came out
from her eyes like a laser and went right through the leg. This had woken Bronk right up as
he screamed in pain.
As the leg was sliced off, blood was pouring out.
"You need to be quicker, otherwise he's going to bleed to death," Harvey said.
With no choice, squinting, Kelly started to use her Fire magic and began to sear the leg. She
continued to burn it, and the man screamed in pain, passing out and waking up a few times
on the spot again and again.
Finally, it looked like the bleeding had stopped.
"Oi!" Harvey said as he slapped Bronk right across the face. "Don't pass out, don't die on
me, I need you—I need you awake so you can't pass out." Harvey continued to slap Bronk
across the face a few times, and his eyes finally opened again.
Soon, he could see him looking at his leg.
"My leg… my leg, I can't move my leg."
"It's because you don't have a f*cking leg!" Harvey stated, and looked at Kelly, as if the guy
was an idiot. "Did you lose brain cells when you got knocked back? Look, you need to start
talking fast. With no leg, you can use your ice powers to still be a half-decent mage."
"But if you don't answer, it will be your next leg, then your arms, and then we're going to go
for the third, shortest leg of the lot," Harvey said, pointing right at Bronk's groin area.
Chapter 791 Build A Dark Guild Army
791 Build A Dark Guild Army
"I'm awake, I'm awake, I'm listening!" Bronk shouted after hearing a number of threats. The
leaked photos, videos of all the atrocities he had committed didn't get his attention, but the
threat of losing his third leg certainly did.
The large threat was looming over his head, and to this man, it was more important than
never being able to perform magic again.
"If I knew you cared so much, I would have just gone straight to this in the first place,"
Harvey tutted, clicking his teeth. "Just tell me, what do you want me to do? Do you want me
to make a post admitting to my crimes? You want me to head to the police station and
confess? I'll do it!"
All of those things were useless promises, and Harvey knew it. A post would be deleted,
saying that his account was hacked. The police would cover it up once again. One day it
would be nice for Harvey to follow the trail to see who was covering up this stuff, but after
today's fight, they knew it was pointless.
They were only a three-member group, and just getting rid of one Glory Guild bastard who
could easily be replaced was not going to amount to much.
"I want you to tell me about Enaxx," Harvey asked as he grabbed Bronk's hair and lifted his
face up. He could see Bronk's eyes widen as soon as he heard the name. "Yeah, that's right,
your little boss of the Glory Guild.
"I know he ain't so glorious like the rest of you. In fact, it's clear as day that he was the one
who murdered Ashley, and I want to know how he did it."
Bronk opened his mouth for a second, as if he was going to speak, but then quickly closed it
again.
"Kelly, burn it," Harvey said, looking at his groin again.
"No, no, pl—please. You don't understand; I really don't know much," Bronk claimed while
sobbing.
It was hard to imagine—a six-star mage would put you in the top 5 percent of mages in the
world. They had this superiority complex, believing they were better than most and could
get away with doing what they wanted. This traveled even more up to the Grand Magus—
that was Harvey's theory anyway.
It was a sight to see, something no one could imagine, such a highly regarded man breaking
down like this.
"Then just tell us what you do know. You must know something, being with him when he
started all of this. Anything unusual, anything that was said that just felt a little strange?"
Harvey asked, "Anything!" Harvey shouted.
Kelly could see that he was getting frustrated, and it was understandable—they had all just
risked their lives for this. To capture this man. Even if they did succeed, there was a chance
that their identities and everything about the guild could be exposed. They needed
something for all the effort they had given.
"Look, the reason I hesitated is not because I don't want to give him up. I can tell you guys
are serious—you'll kill me, he'll kill me. At least after telling you something, I would have
the chance to run away, and it's not like you're actually going to go up against the Grand
Magus—that would be impossible," Bronk explained.
This was a normal thought for someone to have—the Grand Magus were just considered
that highly as beings, and in many cases, they were right. If the three of them could barely
beat a six-star commander, what hope did they have of not just defeating a nine-star mage,
but a Grand Magus at that?
"The problem is you want to figure out how he managed to kill Ashley, and the answer is I
don't know. Sometimes it's almost like the man can be in two places at once. I have to look
over my shoulder, and I have phantom images in my head that he's there."
"Recently he went off somewhere, so I've had time to finally relax and have peace of mind,
and then this happens—f*ck my life," Bronk groaned in pain.
"Look, what I know is, it has something to do with a special trait he has. Something that is
unique to Enaxx, that only he can do. I've heard others talking about it before. His trait is so
skillful and strong, that they said, even when he was an eight-star mage, he would have
been able to take out a nine-star mage."
Both Kelly and Harvey's heartbeats thumped a little louder. Enaxx was a tough opponent as
it was, but hearing about this trait made him sound impossible to beat. If he was that strong
as an eight-star mage, then how much stronger was he now that he was a nine-star mage?
"I promise you, that's all that I know, that's everything."
Harvey then stood up and looked at Sophie on his shoulder.
"We can't have any witnesses for the sake of the Dark Guild."
The cat on Harvey's shoulder turned its head to look at Bronk. Its eyes lit up, and a beam of
energy expanded out, going right through Bronk's head, making his whole body lifeless.
Kelly didn't complain, she didn't say anything about how they shouldn't kill him. She knew
what the man had done, and knew if he was left alive, there was a chance that it could come
back to bite them.
Quickly, the three of them needed to escape the area. They left through the back and
continued to move. Harvey was taking the lead and even pulled out his phone, typing to
someone. Then, when they were about five neighborhoods away in a different area, on the
street, he could finally let up.
"That was really close," Kelly said. "We can't do things like that, and that trick of yours with
Sophie might not always work."
Sophie soon moved, jumping over to where Kelly was. At first, Kelly didn't seem too happy
until Sophie started to rub its furry cheek against Kelly's.
"I know, trust me, that won't happen again. We need an army for the Dark Guild, and I plan
on creating it—you leave that to me."
Chapter 792: I'm Not A Good Person
Chapter 792: I'm Not A Good Person

Lying flat on her bed in her studio apartment, Kelly was staring at the wall. She wasn't in
her school uniform even though it was a weekday, and the bed sheets had formed a shape
around her due to how long she had been stuck there.
"I can't get it out of my mind, even when I look at the wall," Kelly said. "I've seen people die
before, I've seen sights like that, but this was the first time I was so involved in something. I
saw everything, and the image of him losing his life right in front of me is constantly there."
"Meow." Sophie opened her mouth and walked past, brushing her tail on Kelly's face, trying
to cheer her up, but it was useless and had been for the last four days now.
Due to the events that had occurred, Kelly had called in sick at the academy. She claimed
she had come down with a serious case of the flu, something that could get her off for more
than one day.
The academy, being who they were, had even offered to send someone with Light magic to
come and help, but Kelly stated that she wanted to naturally fight it off to make her body
stronger, which was an expected excuse.
The academy didn't try to get involved with politics in that matter. Some people were for
and against the idea, so the academy just let students do as they wished.
However, the reason for calling in sick wasn't because she was sick, of course, and neither
was it because she couldn't get the image of the day out of her head. It was because of what
had happened that day.
Before leaving, Harvey had told Kelly to take a couple of days off school. The reason was to
see if going after Bronk would have any effect on them. An investigation would be run on
Bronk's death, and Harvey would be able to look at the files even if he wasn't an
investigator on the project.
He could see if they had any idea or any suspects at all. Constantly checking her phone,
Kelly was expecting to see something, and when she went to look at it again, she continued
to scroll through articles.
"It's been four days and still nothing-this is crazy," Kelly said. "I understand we were
careful so no one saw us, but they haven't even reported on his death. Didn't he have any
family and friends that cared about him? Even on his social media, no one knows he's...
gone."
She was sure it was safe for her to head back to the academy. She could have done so after
the second day according to Harvey, but she just didn't want to. The academy, all of it, felt
so small with all the problems Alterian had, and more were being discovered each day.
If it wasn't for the fact that the Dark Spirit found use for her being in the academy, then she
would have dropped out already.
Picking up her second phone, she went ahead and checked the messages.
"Today is the day, right? It will be happening in the evening, and he hasn't even sent a
message. Nothing to reassure me everything is okay, or even a hello to check up on me."
Thinking about it more, a shiver ran through the entirety of Kelly's body. It was the look
that Harvey gave once in a while, and how he was doing everything with ease, making snap
decisions and judgments.
At times, it was exactly how she thought the real Dark Magus would act, or at least how
people viewed the Dark Magus to act, but for her, the Dark Magus was more of an anti-
hero- the real Dark Magus anyway.
"That man scares me," Kelly said, and then turned her head to Sophie, who was reading a
book at the desk. "And you, that day you just went ahead and listened to everything he said.
You didn't hesitate either. Why did you do that?"
Sophie stopped reading the book for a moment, then with her magic, lifted up a pen by the
side. This was an enchanted pen that, when the top was clicked, would leave lingering
words in the air for a few moments when waved about.
One could practically write in the air and use it as their canvas.
"Harvey is not a good person," the words read out that were drawn.
"I know that," Kelly answered as she propped herself up and sat on the edge of the bed.
"None of us are completely good. I can't say I'm a good person-look what I did. Regardless
of how bad someone is or what they have done, it takes a certain type of person willing to
commit murder."
The pen started to move in the air again. "You are a good person..." Then the pen continued
to move. "Sophie is a bad person."
Right then, before Sophie could expand on that, the pen dropped to the floor. She had run
out of magic and could no longer communicate more. Things seemed to be getting better
day by day, but it was at a snail's pace.
"You're a bad person?" Kelly said. "When you look this cute, it's hard to imagine!"
Kelly came over, hugged Sophie, and started to stretch the cat's little chubby cheeks and
patted its belly a few times. While doing this, though, in the back of her mind, she did have a
thought—what was Sophie's past, what was Harvey's past?
Sophie did everything she was told with no hesitation, as if she had done it before or was
willing to do such a thing. Sophie even said she was a bad person. If Kelly met up with
Sophie in real life, read about what she had done to others, would she think the same thing?
What if someone who learned Dark magic was just like Bronk, with a bad past and history?
What were they to do then, just accept them because they know how to use Dark magic?
All of these thoughts had lingered in the back of her mind for a long time-it was the first
time they were coming to the front. Suddenly, as Kelly was playing with Sophie, both of
them felt a weird energy.
All of the hairs on Sophie's body looked to be standing up, and when turning their head to
look at the center of the room, they could see a black, dark ball expanding.
"That's what happens when the Dark Spirit arrives-he's arriving now, right here!"
Chapter 793: The Dark Spirit Arrives!
Chapter 793: The Dark Spirit Arrives!

Kelly and Sophie couldn't stop staring at the condensed level of Dark Magic that was
appearing in front of them. She had seen it a number of times before, but it had always been
at the same place during the meeting, which wasn't due for a few more hours.
So it made her wonder, why here of all places, and why now? Quickly, she started to scan
the
room.
'My underwear is all over the place, and it's a mess-I need to clean up everything as quickly
as possible!' Kelly thought as she dashed around the room and started to use magic with
her other hand.
"There isn't enough time!" Kelly thought, lifting both hands and using a large amount of
magic. In the middle of conjuring her spells, she could see the figure in front of her taking a
somewhat solid form-it was the Dark Spirit, it had returned.
"What's wrong? Is there a fight going on?" Raze asked as he looked at the state of the room.
In Kelly's haste, forcing herself to use her magic, she had made the room even more of a
mess, and now things were all over the place.
"It was your magic!" Kelly lied. "When you appeared, it let out a small burst of magic that
ruined the place."
Raze looked around, wondering if that was the case, but he was conscious of when he
moved through and didn't feel a pulse or anything. If anything, the astral projection
technique was a condensing of his powers into another form here.
As she saw the Dark Spirit acting a certain way, Kelly shook her head and got down on her
knee with her fist to the floor. Sophie the cat had jumped off the table and had done a
similar striking pose as best as a cat could.
"I greet the great Dark Spirit. What brings you to my... dorm of all places? Is there
something wrong?" Kelly asked. "Are we not meeting at the usual place today?"
The last thing Kelly wanted was a Dark Guild meeting in her small apartment. Although
technically nearly all the members were present, save for one.
Raze looked at his body; it was the same as last time. He could feel the leakage of magic at
the same pace or close to it. The last time, he had reached a middle-stage warrior, and he
was still a 7-stage warrior.
Although, due to his superior condensing of Qi, he was even able to go against those with
higher Qi, as well as his Qi control, which allowed him to perform techniques that weren't
possible for many.
However, his star level had increased, and he was now a 5-star mage, so the amount of
mana he could hold was larger, making it so he could use more magic while in his current
form and stay here longer.
Out of the fight, though, Raze noticed more than anything he had gained a lot of Dark
Essence from the death of the powerful, increasing the power of his Dark magic even more.
Raze looked at Kelly for a few moments. She felt like he was staring into her soul, but he
really had other thoughts on his mind.
'When using the astral projection technique, I need a hook to sync into, and that was Dark
magic. There were more than one connection-I could have ended up at Harvey's place, but
I'm here instead, which is fine. I needed to speak to her anyway.'
Just when Raze was about to open his mouth and talk to Kelly, his focus shifted onto the
black cat.
"You have magic now? I can feel the mana core coming from you and moving in the air, and
your affinity is quite high." Raze was wondering why he felt a familiarity with the cat, and
then it clicked.
"You have a Dark core as well. I'm assuming it's because you recreated your magic core
when going into a body and this time created a Dark magic one. It's no wonder I can feel
your magic."
It was then that Raze realized Sophie should be able to tell the same from him and that
Dark magic core users would be able to recognize one another. Maybe Sophie couldn't tell
now because it wasn't his real body.
Kelly, seeing the Dark Spirit interact with the cat, didn't know why, but she found it
extremely frustrating, and it was putting her on edge. Eventually, after giving the cat a soft
pet on the head, Raze stood up and looked back at Kelly.
"I'm actually glad I am with you right now," Raze said.
"You are?" Kelly felt her cheeks heating up and went to look away. "There is something I
wanted to ask you to look into the mages that disappeared more when you get the chance."
"There might be some professors at the academy that know something. You might even
have to talk to Ibarin if you have to. I doubt he will do anything to you, but if there is any
pushback, just back off. I don't want you to get hurt."
It was then that Raze started to notice something else. Kelly's knees were bandaged up, and
even her arms had some bruises on them. They didn't look too fresh but were serious
wounds.
"Is everything okay? Did something happen at the academy?" Raze asked.
"It wasn't the academy," Kelly replied, wondering if she should say anything. After all, the
whole thing was Harvey's idea, and she had no reason to question what he had planned.
At the end of the day, though, this was all for the sake of the Dark Magus and the Dark
Spirit. They were the creators of the Dark Guild.
"This was from something quite recent," Kelly awkwardly said, as she went on to tell him
everything.
How Enaxx was being suspected of murder, and they wanted to get to the bottom of it.
Going to the Glory Guild and everything Harvey had done in the end, including the
information they
had.
After hearing everything, Raze shook his head.
"I'm surprised you did that. I can see you thinking this was a chance, and Harvey is keeping
an eye on the Grand Magus as I asked, but there was no need for you to go through that."
"What do you mean?" Kelly asked.
"Because I already know that Enaxx has a special trait, and I know what it is," Raze
answered.
Chapter 794: One Mystery solved
Chapter 794: One Mystery solved

The Dark Magus, Raze Cromwell, was an old man when he perished-he was 76 years old,
and his body was already deteriorating quicker than most.
There were perhaps countless reasons for this.
For the last ten of his years, he had spent them as the Dark Magus. Perhaps during that
time, he had put his body through too much with the countless experiments, especially
those revolving around Dark Magic.
Another reason could have been the countless fights he had with the Grand Magus.
The Magus title, in the first place, was only referred to those at the very top. The Dark
Magus had gotten his name because, in a way, even the public had to admit that he was
worthy of standing side by side with them, only he was on the other side.
The side of evil, or the bad, compared to the Grand Magus.
"Anyway, let's get ready to head to the meeting place, and remember what I asked you
before. "I want you to do research on the mages that went missing as much as possible."
Regardless, it was clear he had the same strength as them because the Dark Magus had
been in countless battles against them.
And there was one person whom Raze had fought against more than any of the other
mages, and that was Enaxx.
There was a deep grudge that was held between the two, but Raze's hatred for the Grand
Magus was almost equal among all of them, with the exception of one individual.
So it wasn't as if Raze was constantly going after Enaxx. It was just due to his position in the
Grand Magus of being the most open, he was the easiest to target.
"I know you have your suspicions," Raze said as he looked at Kelly. "About who I really am,
and let's just say you are correct."
"Then you will understand."
Kelly was rapidly blinking-she knew the Dark Spirit was hinting around the idea, but the
theory Kelly had was that the Dark Spirit, although not looking like the Dark Magus that she
knew, was the Dark Magus.
"You mean, it's you, it's really you!" Kelly said.
"I stated if, and as you can tell, things are different," Raze replied.
"But you're growing your power, right? Compared to the first time when you appeared in
front of us, you were able to gather more energy."
"After I met with Sophie and saw the state she was in, I realized that you could be in any
state. In fact, it wouldn't be far-fetched to say that you could even be in any body!"
Raze had a feeling that this girl was quite clever. Even in the academy, she was the type of
student that Raze would have taken a careful eye over and would have loved to see what
she would grow into.
Right now, he could tell that Kelly was extremely excited about her theory more likely
being true.
"I fought with the Grand Magus countless times, and I fought with Enaxx the most. I had
pushed him to the point where he used this special trait of his."
"And I'm telling you now, with his trait, if he was the strongest mage in terms of his powers,
his special trait would easily make him the strongest in the world."
"But in terms of magic, he greatly lacks behind the others."
Hearing these words, now the Dark Spirit was no longer denying being the Dark Magus.
Kelly was curious about what had come for him to be this way, why he had lied to them
about being the Dark Spirit instead of just saying he was the Dark Magus.
But she also believed that if he needed to, he would tell her, and he had already informed
her in a roundabout way.
"Still, I don't know his full power. I pushed him far enough for him to use his special trait,
but never got him to reveal his breakthrough. Perhaps it was too big of a risk, like what
happened to Bronk."
"And whenever the two of us would fight, he could always rely on the fact that one of the
others would soon come."
Although the Dark Magus might have earned the title to stand toe to toe with the Grand
Magus, he could never fight multiple of them at once.
If he got back to Alterian, Raze had to come up with a plan to try and take them out one at a
time.
It was also because of his many fights that Raze knew, with his current strength, he
wouldn't be able to go up against Enaxx even now.
With his magic and Pagna skills, he would be able to survive, but beating the other person
was another thing altogether.
"So then, what is Enaxx's trait? Do you think he used it to kill the reporter? Harvey seems to
think so," Kelly asked.
"That... sure, I'll tell you," Raze said, as he went on to explain Enaxx's trait in detail to Kelly,
and Sophie was there listening.
Raze thought there was no harm. These people had done more for him than he thought.
They were acting for him at the risk of their lives, just like some initiates he knew in Pagna
as well.
A task that he once was forced to do on his own, in this strange set of circumstances, he had
found those who were helping him, so giving them some information would be fine.
"I can't believe it," Kelly said with her mouth wide open. "I didn't know such a thing was
possible... if he can do that, then the number of spells, the... I can see why you said he had
the potential to be the strongest in the world now."
"Nafob Alok, his name was also on some of the files that had Dark Magic on them that me
and Harvey found.
"And see if there's any link to Bofan Kilikola."
Kelly nodded along, but she stopped for a moment as she realized something.
"I think I might have found your link already. It might be a coincidence, but I'm sure that
the two people you're looking into are the same person.
"Bofan backwards is Nafob."
It was the confirmation that Raze was looking for-that the Dark Faction founder was
someone from Alterian, and now that he knew both names he went by, he was sure he
would find this man, and with it, the location of the Golden Globe.
Chapter 795: Creating The Army
Chapter 795: Creating The Army

Harvey was currently on a work shift after returning. He had been buried deep in
paperwork since being assigned the Ashley Case. To his dislike, a statement had already
been released, stating it was impossible for Enaxx to commit the crime.
That the rumors about him are false. Since he is a high figure looked up to, there are always
those trying to take him down. The news report even showed live footage of Enaxx at
another shoot at the time of death.
What's more, the footage of a person cloaked in a robe was seen entering Ashley's room at
the time of her death.
All of this just made it seem like the footage of the person sneaking in was meant to be
found, and it was all annoying Harvey the more he looked at the work. The thing was, he
knew there was nothing he could do.
When the higher-ups had asked for a statement, he already knew this was going to happen,
which was why he had passed the task to his partner who was at the scene. The issue now
was, the higher-ups were asking him to come up with a suspect.
'There's only one fucking person guilty,' Harvey thought, tapping his pen against his table.
He looked out the glass at his fellow workers and was glad he was in his own separate
cubicle, otherwise they would have been able to feel the intense rage in the room.
'Now they've come here and given me a list of suspects. Those that have written a few bad
things about Ashley online, another guest on her show, and fellow colleagues as well as a
boyfriend.'
'They want me to pin it on one of these, come up with some fake evidence and close the
case.'
The thing was, knowing who it was, Harvey didn't want to do it all. Yet the calls didn't stop.
In order to distract himself from the situation, Harvey closed the file on Ashley and instead
another case had appeared.
"The Death of A Glory Guild Commander," Harvey said to himself as he looked at the report.
It was an internal report on the police file, no information had been released about what
had occurred, and finding that strange, Harvey looked into it. The good news was, it
appeared they had no clue who had done such a thing.
Even more so, they didn't really know why. The only thing they could guess was either it
was a hire kill, by one of his victims, or revenge personally. Yet, out of all the victims that
Bronk dealt with, it was unlikely they could do anything.
They weren't strong enough or more skilled than a 6-star mage, and similarly, they didn't
have the funds to hire someone that would have been able to take care of a 6-star mage,
which was why they were stumped.
There was one interesting thing the file did have though, and that was the investigation
that was run.
"Experts believe that there have been traces of Dark Magic used, the case has now been
passed onto the Cerebus Team."
The Cerebus Team was one he had seen a few times, and he noticed that these were the
ones that dealt with the guilds belonging to the Guild of the Grand Magus and the Grand
Magus itself.
Not just that, but if a report or case was moved to the Cerebus Team, then Harvey had no
access to any information whatsoever, even at his level.
'There is a Cerebus Guild, and when I looked into it they were linked to one of the Grand
Magus as well.'
'They were mostly funded by Gizin, who seemed to be testing out some enhancing products
from them. In some cases, they are practically a guild under Gizin's control.'
'It could just be the names are similar or there really is a link to this.
'All of the Grand Magus have powerful guilds under their control. Idore with his Noble
Guild, the strongest and top Guild in the world.
'Then the link with Gizin and the Cerebus Guild. You then have Ibarin and the Mage
Academy. Although they aren't a guild.'
'From my knowledge the whole board of the academy is under his thumb. They would be
out of a job and lose their prestige if they didn't follow him.'
'So there are some of the most powerful mages in there. On top of that, the students,
although they might not be loyal to the academy itself, they would do anything to get on his
good side. He's a hard variable with how strong his force is.'
'Then there is Enaxx and his Glory Guild, someone who seems to take in anyone no matter
what their criminal background, all for the sake of having a powerful guild.'
'The reason why the Glory Guild doesn't compete with the Noble Guild is because of Idore
and his enchanted items leaving them for his very best. Allowing them to be more than just
strong mages.'
'Then if we're looking at strong mages we would have to look at him.'
Minimizing his screen once again, on his desktop there was an image of one of the Grand
Magus, with a scarf wrapped around his neck, and strange green eyes that drew people in.
The green eyes of death. "Trubin, who is rumored to be the strongest mage there is out
there. A Grand Magus that is only used in the most extreme of cases."
"It was because of him, and the show of his power that the whole world was able to accept
the Grand Magus as a force in the first place."
"He's the only one that doesn't have a guild."
While thinking about all of this, Harvey's watch started to beep, he could see the time, it
was 5:00 PM, it was time for him to clock out of his work for the day.
'The meeting is in two hours, so I have time to drop by... thinking of all of these Grand
Magus and their guilds, I need to get rid of one of them, and soon... the one that's annoying
me the most right now is Enaxx.'
'But to take out the Glory Guild we'll need an army, and it's a good thing I'm creating one.'
Harvey said as he stood up and left the office.
Chapter 796 A Dark Secret
796 A Dark Secret
After finishing work, Harvey didn't head home, nor did he head to the underground world
where the others were for his meeting. Instead, he made a stop in a different place.
He found himself walking through a rougher area of the city. It was nothing like the world
below. Instead, this was a place filled with guilds that took on all sorts of jobs.
Not all guilds were good, and not all guilds were public. If one wanted their hands on illegal
enchanted items, medical-grade items, or other things, they needed a place.
No matter how good the world seemed to be, as long as there was a demand for something,
someone out there would supply it, and this was true in Alterian as well.
The streets were littered with rubbish and filled with potholes. Even the sidewalk hadn't
been repaired for what looked like years. However, there were certain entertainment
establishments that looked more upmarket.
For one, there were some thriving restaurants in the area—after all, everyone had to eat.
There were also nice gambling establishments with fancy lights on the outside and
holographic displays.
Standing outside these doors were mages hired from other guilds to stop the rowdiest of
customers.
Harvey continued to walk in the open until it looked like someone was about to bump into
him. Lifting his hand, he used magic to push the person forcefully, sending them into the air
and landing on the ground.
"What did you do that for? You just used magic on me for no reason!" the man shouted.
"You chose the wrong target today. I'm telling you now, leave and turn around. That
enchanted knife in your pocket isn't going to do anything against me," Harvey said.
The man stood up from the ground.
"You can't just attack people with magic like that—you know you can get in some serious
trouble."
Harvey continued walking forward, and toward the man, who then pulled out a glowing
green blade. He sliced, trying to attack Harvey, but instead, Harvey avoided the hit and then
grabbed his hand. With the knife, he forcefully pushed, with the help of Wind magic, making
the man stab himself in the stomach.
Letting go, Harvey walked past the man who had stabbed himself with his own blade and
fell to his knees.
"Don't bother calling the police—they don't show up in this area. I should know," Harvey
said, leaving without knowing whether the man would live or die. There was a part of him
that thought about going back, not to check if the man was okay, but whether to bring him
with him or not.
Finally, after walking down one of the most dangerous streets in the city, Harvey stopped
outside an old, abandoned restaurant. It had been boarded up, and only three letters were
left in odd places: A, S, S.
Harvey was sure someone had stolen the other letters on purpose to spell the
establishment, but he didn't mind—it was always easy for him to spot because all he had to
do was look for "Ass."
As for the establishment itself, it had been shut down when several murders took place. A
guild war had erupted in the restaurant itself. Several mages were killed as well as civilians.
Not even the people who lived in the area wanted to eat there anymore, so it had no choice
but to shut down and try to find another buyer. It was hard, and no one was looking to buy
it until someone eventually rented it out but kept it as it was, not fixing it, and keeping the
signage on the outside as well as the boarding.
Going around the side of the building, there was a thick steel door in place. Placing his hand
on it, a barrier could be seen. It was a magical one, so the door was reinforced with magic to
stop even mages from coming in here.
A high-level one as well that would have cost quite the penny unless someone had access to
some confiscated items that might have gone missing. Placing a special key, the door
opened, and Harvey entered the establishment.
Entering the restaurant, Harvey was in the main area—it was still destroyed from the fight.
Tables were broken, flooring destroyed, and more. Moving on from there, Harvey went into
the kitchen and then started to head down the stairs into the cellar.
As he continued to walk, the sounds of moans, cries, and more were heard echoing into the
place, and finally, Harvey reached the bottom. A cellar that was used to store drinks and
other such items for the restaurant had completely been converted.
Now there were a large number of cells with iron bars blocking the way. These, too, were
enchanted by magic, making it nearly impossible for people to escape.
"Please let us out!" a person cried as they grabbed onto the bars.
The room itself had around ten cells, each that could fit around five people. Most of them
were full, but there were a couple that still had some space in them.
"Have you done as I asked?" Harvey said, looking at the man.
"How can we? How can we do what you ask?" the man shouted. "If we learn what you gave
us, if we learn that, then we're as good as dead."
That's when Harvey started to clap.
"Right, right, so you're starting to get the picture, right? I've told you all several times: if
you can learn the Dark magic spells I've given you, then you will be free to be let out.
However, of course, if you learn Dark Magic, everyone knows the rules above."
Harvey then lifted his hand toward the man, and out of the palm of his hand, a Dark Pulse
shot right through the man's head, killing him on the spot and causing him to fall.
A series of screams from the others were heard, while some of the people inside the cells
covered the others' mouths to stop the screams.
"If you learn Dark Mlmagic, then you will be chased by the mages forever, which means
those of you who have learned Dark magic will only have one place that can protect you all
—the Dark Guild!"
"So all of you, get to learning Dark magic, and help the guild grow! I've got a meeting to go
to now. I hope to see some progress when I get back."
Chapter 797 A Wish to The People of Alterian
797 A Wish to The People of Alterian
---
In the world of the Underground, Harvey had already arrived at the usual spot. He stood
there, staring at the place where the Dark Spirit had first appeared. When he heard the
sound of approaching footsteps, he quickly recognized who it was and ran over, dropping
to one knee in front of the Dark Spirit, bowing his head.
"I greet the great Dark Spirit. I had been waiting for your return, but it seems you've
already appeared. I apologize for not being there when you needed me," Harvey said,
glancing up at Kelly, wondering why the Dark Spirit was walking with her.
"You can stand. I have heard of what you did and your great deeds. I am thankful that you
are continuing the pursuit of the Grand Magus and keeping track of their activities. Their
crimes never cease to amaze me, and as time goes on, it seems they are becoming more
brazen in their acts," Raze stated.
"I agree," Harvey said, standing up. "The more things go on, if they don't get punished, then
things will soon be out of hand. The Grand Magus must be stopped."
Kelly felt a strange discomfort listening to the conversation. It was always odd for her to
see Harvey act this way. When directing others, he was in charge, but as soon as the Dark
Spirit arrived, he became an obsessed, loyal servant.
"May I also say, sir, each time you return, I can feel your powers increasing at a rapid rate. I
wish you the fastest recovery."
Raze found the last sentence a little strange, and he figured that perhaps Harvey had caught
on to the truth as well.
"I guess it's time I reveal the truth to you all," Raze said, as he stood in the center of the spot
where he usually stood. Meanwhile, the other three members were spread apart, all staring
at Raze.
"The truth is that I am not a Dark Spirit created by the Dark Magus. I am a reincarnation of
the Dark Magus himself," Raze said. Although it technically wasn't true, it was the easiest
way to explain his situation.
"In one of the dimensions, I obtained a rare artifact. I knew the Grand Magus were on my
tail. When all five of them arrived to deal with me, I used the artifact as a last resort. I then
reincarnated into something similar to what you see right now."
Harvey listened intently, but the sound of his heartbeat was intensifying. Like Kelly, he had
guessed that the Dark Spirit was the Dark Magus, but now it had been confirmed. To think
he was talking to the Dark Magus right now—he could fall over at any moment.
"This is still a projection of myself, and part of my power. Right now, my real body is in
hiding, trying to regain my power to what it used to be, so I can fight against the Grand
Magus again. But I assure you, I am the real Dark Magus," Raze claimed.
Harvey quickly got down on one knee once again after the speech had finished, and this
time Kelly did the same along with Sophie.
"I knew the news was fake when they reported your death. The fact that the Grand Magus
had burned everything and there was no body to be found in the report—I figured you
would return one day, and here you appeared in the circle we created. I believe it is fate for
all of us to come together on that day!" Harvey stated.
Raze was quite surprised; there was no doubt like the first time when he had arrived, and
they were questioning who he was. Things were much easier now, and perhaps it had
something to do with the quick regain of his power and the knowledge he had shared so
far.
"There is a reason why I have revealed this to all of you," Raze continued. "I wish for the
Dark Guild to push forward. Continue to expand and grow, finding new members and
bringing them in."
"You can spread the name of the Dark Guild using that of the Dark Magus to try to find new
recruits, and try to find those who harbor a deep hatred toward the Grand Magus."
"I'm sure there are plenty more who have been hurt by them and their guilds, hiding in the
shadows, wishing that someone would act. I want you to go out there and tell them that
they will need to act, and they shouldn't worry, for the Dark Magus Returns!"
Harvey stood up and looked at Raze with admiration, and so did the rest. Things were
moving along; they felt hope for a day when they wouldn't have to meet underground like
they were doing now. Things certainly seemed like they would change.
"In the meantime, I will continue to grow my power and forces, but to go up against the
several guilds and the people who run them, we need a stronger force. In the meantime, I
want all of you to dig up information about an item known as the Golden Globe."
"There is a chance that there is information about the item spread somewhere in Alterian.
If we find the Golden Globe, then I can return with full power to take the others down."
Harvey's heart skipped a beat as he imagined seeing the Dark Magus fighting in front of
him. Then he imagined him by his side, using his magic to help, while ordering an army of
those who knew Dark Magic, all for the sake of helping the Dark Magus!
"Our meeting times will be the same, but I don't know when I will return, as I will be very
busy." Raze started to break off the astral projection technique, and his body began to fade.
"I wish for people to say 'The Dark Magus has Returned' on my next visit. Now, it's time for
the Dark Magus to claim the leadership of the Dark Faction," Raze said with a smile.
---
Chapter 798 Head To The Surface
798 Head To The Surface
The Bonum Society members were running around the base, a bit confused about what
exactly was going on. Not too long ago, many thought they were being attacked. There was
destruction all over the place, and injured members walking around proved it. What was
strange though, was that none of it was getting repaired.
They were told what had occurred was a misunderstanding, and now, lastly, they were
informed that they should get ready to move out. Perhaps they would no longer have to use
the underground base.
Amir had decided that the base had served its purpose, originally built away from the eyes
of others to protect the god-tier item, the Golden Globe. Now, above and with control of the
entire Dark Faction, they could move around with more ease and set up communication
above.
Things would be easier if there was less hiding for them to do. While the Bonum Society
members were getting ready, there was still one more thing they needed to wait for, that
they were all waiting for.
Raze's allies had headed down to the canteen, a large food hall with rectangular tables that
could seat around twenty or so people. They would take their wooden trays and grab
pieces of food.
Due to the impending move, there was plenty of food to go around, and that meant the
warriors were free to dig in as they wished.
Although, the higher stage warriors didn't need as much food as they already consumed a
lot of energy from cultivating. They could survive an extremely long time without food or
water.
Still, it didn't mean it wasn't a pastime that many of them enjoyed.
"So, what are we doing now? We're just waiting for Raze, right, and then we're going to
head to the academy?" Liam asked.
"That's why I was out before," Amir answered. "I've made preparations above. When Raze
enters the academy, along with all your help, it will be easy for him to take the position, and
we'll make it clear that Murkel is no longer."
"So, what is Raze exactly doing now? He holed himself up in that room and said no one was
to enter, no matter what," Froma asked. "Doesn't anyone think it's weird that he's been in
that room for hours, and we're all just accepting it and waiting?"
"He's actually done this before," Alba said.
"Right, in Flendon," Anna added. "He was holed up in that room, and then we had to fight
off the Behemoth Clan. Even with all the fighting happening outside, he didn't leave that
room once.
08:36
"Maybe this is the secret to his strength building, a cultivation technique only he knows."
That didn't surprise anyone. Although a lot of Raze's powers with magic could be explained,
what couldn't be explained was how skilled and strong he was in terms of using Pagna
skills.
"There's another question that has been on my mind as well," Rayna said as she finished
her food, surprisingly before anyone else. "We have been accepting of the people here, and
we can somewhat understand everyone's relationship to Raze."
"Amir is part of the Bonum Society, which saw Raze as an otherorlder that could change the
flow of the Academy. Ricktor and Mada were also saved by Raze while at the academy."
"Safa and Liam were both part of the orphanage where Raze was. We then have all of the
Crimson Crane, who he met first, asking for help. That was when they went up against the
Light Faction Elder and saved me."
"I am, of course, his wife now as well. Then we have the three Dark Faction members
working with Cronker from the Crimson Crane; they are in debt to Raze because of the
tough assessment they went through."
"Mantis seems to have been forced into the situation because of the Bonum Society. It will
be tough for him to head back to his clan now. We also have Dame, who started the
business of the Dark Magus, selling his special pills on the market."
"Finally, we have Anna, a member of this group called Alter, which Raze was also recruited
to be a part of, including Simyon and Liam. Due to a situation, Raze was caught using
magic."
"So, all of that is cleared up, and we know how everyone came to gather around Raze—all
but you," Rayna said, staring at Zon. "You seem to be from the same world as Anna but also
have an interest in Raze, to the point you haven't left yet. Why are you here, and where did
you even come from in the arena?"
Everyone was curious about the mysterious warrior whose strength they didn't even know
much about.
"My answer is not as complex as you might think," Zon said. "There are two reasons, just
like the others: I am an otherworlder trying to find my way back home."
"There was something the Bonum Society didn't mention in their briefing, and it's the fact
that mages—those from Alterian's power—seem to have the ability to open portals. At
times, when a mass amount of magic is used, portals end up opening."
"In fact, the way I open up portals is quite similar, although we can save that for another
time. However, the reason I need Raze is more than just to find a way home; there was a
reason why I picked him and not just anyone from Alterian."
"Besides, I wanted to get a powerful mage before they were tainted by Alter or the Bonum
Society, and he seems perfect, making his own path. Even if we never get the Golden Globe,
I believe someday Raze will be able to travel freely."
"Besides, someone has to be strong enough to make these artifacts—even the Golden Globe
at one point—and the weapons he has made, particularly from the Crimson Crane, have
been immensely powerful. That's why I'm with Raze."
Everyone was stunned to silence, and then the door slid open.
"I'm ready; let's go to the surface," Raze said.
Chapter 799: A Dark Faction Meeting
Chapter 799: A Dark Faction Meeting

Since the Dark Faction used to be comprised of just clans, there wasn't really a base of
operations for all the Dark Clans to gather. At the same time, there wasn't even an official
leader of the faction itself.
What those who lived on the Dark Faction's continent did know was which were the top
five clans that had far more power over the others and who they chose as their leader.
The system was believed to be set up in such a way that the five top clans could always
have one of them representing the top, always in control.
With Murkel taking the position of principal of the academy, the meeting place for the five
main clans, as well as all the clan's merchants and kingdoms that operated within the
territory, would often be at the academy.
Today was another day when all from far and wide had gathered at the academy. The
students were told to stay in their respective dorms for the day, while the courtyard had
been cleared.
In the courtyard itself, there were around a hundred important figures from across the
territory. Some of them were standing with several heads next to them.
Others were sitting down in seats they had brought with them, along with tables allowing
their servants to do their bidding.
It wasn't just Pagna martial artists, but also the top merchants and representatives from
the kingdoms.
"Why have so many people been asked to gather in the courtyard?"
"I heard a big announcement was to take place today; it was an emergency meeting."
"Did you also see the report? That could be the reason for all of this happening. So much
stuff occurred at the Martial Arts Tournament."
"Right, and the results of what happened are unclear. We've been asking for word from the
top clans, from the Erupting Fist Clan maybe since the report came out, but we've heard
nothing."
Due to a certain individual present during the whole affair, a report had come out.
The report didn't put the blame on a single individual or name anyone for what had
occurred, but explained that a powerful artifact had been used to clear everyone out of the
area.
It was the only way things could be explained to the people that understood, and with so
many having experienced what happened firsthand, they had to believe it.
Going on, it was stated that a few people were left behind, including most of the Dark
Faction. Two groups had battled it out. In the report, Bubble did, however, use the name of
the Dark Magus.
A man who was currently known to the world as being from the Demonic Faction.
The report claimed that he and his allies defeated most of the Dark Faction warriors that
were there, and the state of Murkel was unknown.
There were some things that were kept quiet in the report. For one, the fact that Murkel
was a Hybrid.
Bubble didn't know how that would affect the state of the people, and although his job was
to report, he knew that his information had strong power.
Which was why, on top of that, he made it clear to mention that the Demonic Faction
leaders were also teleported out, and that it was only the Dark Magus who took part in it
all.
The issue was, this was just one such report. There weren't several reports, and unlike
everyone disappearing from the arena, no one had seen what had occurred.
For a single person and a few allies to get rid of the strongest in the Dark Faction, it
sounded like a fantasy.
The fact that they hadn't been attacked by the Demonic Faction or the Light Faction yet
made it seem even more untrue.
An exaggeration to get more sales was most of their thoughts. However, the people started
to worry when there was no news spread by the Dark Faction.
None of the clans were responding to the reports, and no one had seen Murkel. It was
because of this that when Amir sent the message far and wide to everyone using the
members of the Bonum Society and more, everyone came to gather, because they needed to
know the future of the territory they were in.
Looking around though, those in the courtyard started to notice something.
"Are those people from the Flowing Force Clan?" One asked.
"Yeah, but where's the Clan Head and the Vice Clan Head?"
"Not just that, look at them; they seem almost exhausted, tired, and hurt, don't you think?"
Those that had arrived, none of them were the top warriors of the Flowing Force Clan-at
least not the names everyone knew of.
When thinking about more details, they remembered the head of the Flowing Force Clan, as
well as Samantha, an incredibly strong individual for the Flowing Force Clan, had both gone
to the Martial Arts Tournament.
The fact that they weren't here caused fright.
"But why are the others injured? At the Martial Arts Tournament, I thought they were only
allowed to bring a few with them. So why are the others injured as well?"
It certainly had the others talking, and that's when they could see something else strange-it
wasn't just the Flowing Force Clan that was like this.
All five of the main clans that had arrived had injured members. Gavin Rocksbored, the
head of the Moon Shield Clan, was nowhere to be seen either-another one who had gone to
the Martial Arts Tournament.
With what had happened to the Lethal Bite Clan, everyone felt like they were already
witnessing the demise of the five big clans in the Dark Faction.
Now though, even the people from within the clans were hurt.
Several raised eyebrows were occurring, but the main bulk of the confusion was when they
saw the state of the Erupting Fist Clan.
There was no Murkel, only an elder with quite a few injured warriors in particular, but that
wasn't the worry.
"Why are they down here with us... just who called this meeting then?"
Chapter 800: Whole Clan Annihilated
Chapter 800: Whole Clan Annihilated

Just like all the other top clans in the Dark Faction, those that had arrived from the Erupting
Fist Clan were also covered in wounds and didn't look to be in the best shape.
When looking around further, they could see it wasn't just the top clans, though. They could
also see the lower Pagna warrior clans.
Those that were powerful, not quite considered the top five, but still had considerable
strength.
They too had been greatly injured. One of the merchants, named Boom, was sitting in his
sedan chair, pleasantly eating grapes over his large belly, but he stopped as he realized
what was happening around him.
Then he saw the Ferocious Beetle Clan appear by his side, the leader badly hurt, with a
bandage around his head.
He was a middle-stage warrior and one of the strongest clan leaders outside of the top five
in the faction.
"Herbee, can you explain what's happening?" Boom asked. "Was there some type of war or
battle that occurred that I wasn't aware of?"
Herbee, the leader of the Ferocious Beetle Clan, looked over his shoulder, surveying all the
other clans.
"You could say that... you could say that in a week, there was a war going on in the Dark
Faction that no one else had a clue about." Herbee then touched the wound on his head.
"All of them were so strong. Some of them were Hybrids, others... I don't even know how to
describe it... and before we knew it, it was happening to every single significant clan in the
Dark Faction."
"What do you mean? How could there be so many fights, a war right under our noses, and
the public was unaware of it?" Boom asked.
Herbee shuddered to think of the scale of the invasion. He had been attacked by what
looked like a sweet, innocent girl.
The whole clan went up against her, but she used a strange sword that ignited her power.
Any scratch made on her body, any mark or damage of significance, all of it disappeared.
Not only that, but the girl they fought never seemed to tire. There was an endless amount of
Qi building up more and more.
"If such a war happened, then why are you all still alive?" Boom asked.
"That's what I don't understand either. They essentially claimed to take over the clan. They
told us to listen to what they wanted, or they would attack again."
"They took the clan's artifacts, they're in control of the clans, but they've allowed us to
continue operating as we have before."
"Then I got a message from them, saying to come here. I wouldn't have dared to deny it,
which is why I'm here now."
There was more to Herbee's story. Originally, after the girl had let him live, he tried to
contact the other clans, to warn them or to plan an attack against the invaders.
Little did he know, the forces were spread wide. They had more than just one powerful
warrior, and all the clans were being taken out.
Some of the clans he contacted had already gone through what he had and refused to even
try going against the enemy attacking them.
It was well-coordinated, and there were even those from within the clans fighting against
them.
"Then who did all of this? Was it the Light Faction, the Demonic Faction, or maybe even the
Dark Magus?"
A lot of people in the courtyard were starting to think the same things. They were noticing
the same things and having the same conversation that Herbee and Boom were having
right now. After learning that the Dark Magus was responsible for attacking the Dark
Faction, they had to assume it was him.
"No one claimed to be the Dark Magus; we never saw such a person," Herbee stated. "I
asked the other clans; we even had a meeting before coming here."
"All the attackers were different, and some of them... we recognized... they were from the
Dark Faction."
"You recognized the attackers? Then you should know who called this meeting, right? Who
was it? Who was it?" Boom asked.
There was silence from Herbee. How could he say who the attackers were? He couldn't say
it out loud, or they might think he was mad.
It was impossible to say that it was them.
"Hey, look, more people are here. Who invited them?" one of the merchants said, pointing
his finger at the group.
As for the group of people that had entered the courtyard, it was the students of the Dark
Faction, followed by the Crimson Crane and more.
All of Raze's built-up allies had arrived, causing more confusion. Some recognized the
Crimson Crane, making them think their suspicions were correct, that it had to be the Dark
Magus.
However, why were there students-students they had seen during the Dark Faction's own
event that had played out?
"This is an important meeting; we can't have students here," the merchant continued.
That was until one of the clan heads pulled out a sword and pressed it right up against the
man's neck.
"You shut up, you keep your mouth shut right now! And don't say another damn word." The
man was frightened. What would cause the clan member to act like this?
Amir then jumped out to the forefront of the group and continued to walk, leading the
others behind him.
Eventually, they got to the platform at the front, and those who traveled with him spread
out to look at all the others. The representatives from the kingdoms, the merchants were
looking at each other, wondering why the Crimson Crane, members from the Demonic
Faction and others were all standing on the platform that was meant for the principal to
make announcements, and why Amir was by their side.
However, none of the Clans said anything.
"You wanted an answer, right?" Herbee said. "As for who attacked us, well, your answer is
all
of them on the platform right now.
"How could I say it... that our whole clan was annihilated... by a student?" Herbee said,
looking right at Safa.
Chapter 801: All The Same Person
Chapter 801: All The Same Person

As the students, members of the Crimson Crane, those from the Demonic Faction, and even
unfamiliar faces stood on the platform, there were murmurs among the crowd below.
Those who had never seen these people or only recognized them by name and appearance
started to question what was happening.
However, slowly, like a ripple spreading out, those who had been hurt, those who had been
defeated by the people above, began to spread the word.
These were the ones the clans had gone up against. These were the reasons why they were
in the sorry state they had arrived in.
The secret battle that had occurred within the Dark Faction, one that not a single person
had been aware of.
"Wait, the fact that Murkel isn't up there... did he really perish? And is it the same for the
Moon Shield and Flowing Force Clans? Did both of their Clan Heads perish as well?"
What was confusing was that the main disciples of both those clans were on the platform,
and those from within the clans had talked about facing them.
When Ricktor and Mada arrived, the clan wasn't going down without a fight. Ricktor had to
prove himself, and he was able to.
Being a middle-stage warrior and seeing such power in front of his eyes, something had
occurred. He fought better than any of the remaining members of his clan.
After a few had been defeated, the rest of the clan submitted. They were fully aware of
those who had perished from within.
For Mada, it was more difficult to make his clan accept him. Thankfully, his brother Gunther
had also arrived.
Although he didn't like it, side by side, the two of them fought against those in the clan who
rejected their positions. Eventually winning out, Gunther wanted no part in the clan, and
with Mada now at the helm, he got his wish.
The others were sent to clans that Amir believed held items that would help them progress
their powers-either techniques or artifacts that had been passed down.
The goal was threefold: to get control of the clans in their hands, to gather resources such
as coins and martial arts techniques, and lastly, to secure any artifacts they had-all for this
day.
As the murmurs continued, Amir believed it was time, and he stepped forward, clearing his
throat.
Seeing Amir move forward, the whole courtyard went silent, as they were eager to hear his
every word.
"I, as well as the clans around you, sent invitations to every important person in the Dark
Faction!" Amir shouted, projecting his voice with Qi so everyone could hear him clearly.
"Today is a very important day for the Dark Faction, for the clans, the kingdoms, and the
merchants within the faction. You all are essential to the territory's success, which is why
we have invited you to this important day."
Some of those listening felt proud of Amir's words, while others just wanted him to get on
with it and tell them what happened to Murkel.
"As you all know, there has been a report passed around after the martial arts tournament."
"It claimed a disturbance. I can assure you, that part of the report is true. Gavin, Crine, and
Murkel are no longer with us."
"All of these people are no longer part of the Dark Faction. You can interpret my words as
you will, but they will not be coming back, and if they do, they will no longer be part of the
New Dark Faction."
The murmurs among the crowd grew louder. Some were interested in what was meant by
this New Dark Faction.
Others were scared, thinking that with the clan heads defeated, they were now the most
vulnerable to an attack by the Light Faction or the Demonic Faction.
Some of them thought it was time to sell whatever they could and try to move to other
continents.
"However, in a strange turn of events, those responsible will be part of the New Dark
Faction."
"The people here have already visited the strongest clans in all of the Dark Faction to
demonstrate their power."
"They are no weaker than the old; in fact, they are even stronger than before. The Dark
Faction, Murkel, and his warriors did not fall to the Light or Demonic Faction; they fell to
these people here."
"Ha, how can that be true?" one of the merchants said with his arms folded. The instant he
said those words, he felt several heavy eyes, like daggers, pinning him down.
All of the warriors were staring at him, and the heavy weight of their gaze could be felt
weighing him down. In an instant, he knew it was true.
"Murkel did cruel things for the progression of his own sake and not that of the faction."
"He forced all of you to send your strongest pupils to the academy, to force them into a
battle of survival of the fittest just to make strong warriors for himself."
"Yet, what he never suspected was that the strongest warrior of them all would be the one
to defeat him."
The talking among them continued, with more and more of them believing the reports
were true-that the Dark Magus had claimed victory. But the Dark Magus... he was from the
Demonic Faction.
Amir knew very well that this would be the sentiment. So he had an important
announcement to make.
"I wish for you all to turn and welcome the new leader of the Dark Faction," Amir said,
pointing ahead.
When they turned around, they saw a single person walking toward the stage. As he
walked, his young body stood out, but his appearance even more so.
Wearing his blazer instead of a uniform, he looked a bit different, but the white hair was a
trait that many of them remembered from that day.
"The one known as the Dark Magus, but not only that, the person known as the White
Dragon of the Dark Faction, is our new leader!" Amir announced.
Chapter 802: Not Part Of The Plan
Chapter 802: Not Part Of The Plan

The White Dragon was a name familiar to nearly everyone in the Dark Continent for several
reasons.
For one, it marked the start of an upset at the academy, a battle between unknowns against
the main disciples. A turnaround that should never have occurred, yet it did.
Due to the student's white hair, they gave him a powerful nickname that spread widely, not
just through the Dark Faction territory but throughout all of Pagna.
The whole point of giving such names was to create legends, and the person who decided to
spread the name was Murkel.
They were the ones who wanted the White Dragon to be known, so everyone present was
aware of the White Dragon but was struck with confusion.
"Did Amir just say the Dark Magus and the White Dragon? Does that mean he's stating that
both of these people are the same?"
"But the Dark Magus is in the Demonic Continent; he's married to the Neverfall Clan's
Daughter..." Slowly, a group of them turned their heads, and some recognized Rayna as
well. Things were falling into place, but how everything came to be still seemed impossible.
How could such a person be in two places at once? Not only that, it still didn't make any
sense. Raze Cromwell, a student at the academy, was just that—a student-not too long ago.
Sure, his feats against the main disciple were impressive, but how could one have the
strength to take out Murkel?
The man had a legend of his own-the legend of the strongest in all of Pagna, the closest to
reaching the Divine Realm.
"There was an assessment among the Dark Academy students; I'm sure many of you are
aware since we obtained your permission," Amir continued.
"In the assessment, there was one student who managed to escape. During his escape, he
met the Crimson Crane in the Demonic Faction."
"That was where he continued to grow in strength and found reliable people by his side to
help him."
"But the White Dragon, as well as the one known as the Dark Magus, swore to come back.
For there were those he couldn't leave behind."
Amir then went ahead and tapped the shoulders of Safa and Simyon, pushing them
forward.
Liam, although his shoulder wasn't pushed, decided to step ahead as well, his cheeks a little
rosy.
"He gained a massive amount of strength, and during the tournament, he competed as an
undercover student of the Demonic Faction.
"He was the one who used a powerful artifact to send everyone away so he could face
Murkel face to face!"
Amir had cleared the details with Raze beforehand, deciding what would be said and what
wouldn't be.
Raze didn't mind anymore. With the power of the Dark Faction in his hands, he was ready
to let everyone know that he was the Dark Magus.
And for those who thought there was a link between the names, he was ready for them to
come after him.
On top of that, Amir emphasized that this was important. People loved a good story, and it
was a good story of how Raze rose up to take control of the Dark Faction.
The thing was, it wasn't far from the truth either, and the easiest stories to convince or tell
people were the ones that had truth in them.
Raze continued to walk down, his face kept straight. It was a strange feeling, walking with
all the people staring at him.
'How can the Grand Magus like this feeling?' Raze thought. 'People that you don't even
know, parading you, gawking at you. I will never understand them.'
The only reason Raze agreed to this was because of Amir, wishing to make his entrance as
big and grand as possible.
Finally, Raze managed to reach the end of the platform. Everyone else stepped back,
allowing him to stand at the front.
"It is your turn to speak as the new leader of the Dark Faction," Amir said, stepping back as
well.
"I did not want this position," were the first words from Raze's mouth. "But due to the
situation, I was forced to take it."
"There are those out there who threaten our lives. The Light Faction, although they speak
of righteousness, the first time we turn our backs, they will be ready to strike."
"The Demonic Faction always wishes to prove that they are the strongest. We are just a
pebble in their way."
"I was born in the Dark Faction. This was my whole world, and I found people who helped
me through it."
"Murkel was another person who wished to harm what I built up, so I grew stronger to
protect
it."
"I grew stronger so no one can take the things I care about, the things that are important to
me."
"I will never be weak enough to let anyone take anything from me."
"And I have a warning to everyone out there, no matter where they are from or what planet
they are from."
"If they dare try to take something from me, then I will pay back every last thing tenfold!"
Raze said with anger in his voice.
It was so vicious that even his allies were surprised by the strength in his words.
"Now that the Dark Faction is under me, it is mine as well, so anyone who dares to touch it,
I will make sure they regret every last bit of it."
The words weren't what one would expect from a student, of all things, and all of them
could feel the anger.
In Pagna, the world of warriors, it was a tough place for them all. Nearly all of them had lost
something, so they could relate to it.
"I understand that it's strange having me in this position and accepting me. So I have a
proposal for you."
"Anyone who believes I shouldn't be leader is free to challenge me for the position of the
Dark Faction Leader, and I will face them alone," Raze declared.
Amir turned around to look at the others, because this wasn't part of the plan.
Chapter 803: The Last Clan
Chapter 803: The Last Clan

Amir had carefully gone through everything with Raze. With everything set, all Raze had to
do was ask the clans if they were willing to accept him as the next leader.
Due to the conditions set by everyone beforehand, they would get all the clans present to
vote, all except for one which they hadn't touched. Regardless, it would have been too many
to just ignore. With all the warrior clans accepting, the merchants, the kingdoms, and
everyone else in between wouldn't have been able to do anything.
It should have been simple, so why was Raze doing this now, of all times?
Raze looked down at the ground, at all the people. He could see their unaccepting looks.
It wasn't the same as when they all looked at Murkel, or how people looked at the Grand
Magus in their position, and there had to be a reason why.
The answer was respect. Those who rose to a position or proved their worth had the
respect of others, and with respect, there was less chance of people trying to topple you.
However, when people are chosen because of nepotism, or when they believe someone
isn't worthy of their place or would be better for the people, there will always be those
trying to topple you.
After all, humans are selfish beings, and they need to see a reason why this will benefit
them. "I have someone who will challenge you!" a merchant said, raising his hand.
The merchant was dressed in fine, soft silk, an array of different colors. By his side, he had a
small squad of guards, all wearing specially crafted armor.
Armor designed to be light while offering the most protection.
"They are Wanderer warriors, but they have also always been my guards," the merchant
said. "I have sent them to do business in the Demonic Faction and Light Faction, and these
Wanderers have stopped all sorts from attacking them."
"As a merchant, I have heard of your amazing products. My request is that during this fight,
you not use any of the Dark Magus materials."
"After all, whatever can be made can be replicated, so if you used such items to best Murkel,
then at some point there will be those who can match the same strength you produce. And
then what?"
Raze agreed and jumped down from his position onto the courtyard. He pulled out the
ghost blade from his side as well.
The warriors and those naturally watching decided to step off to the side, giving a natural
area for them to fight.
The merchant then selected one of his guards, a middle-aged man with a glaive, who
walked out and spun it in the air before hitting the ground and cracking the floor beneath.
The clans watching were quite impressed by what they could see. The Qi emitting from the
glaive was clearly that of a middle-stage warrior.
The two of them were now around five meters away from each other.
"Brace yourself," Raze said.
"What?" the warrior said with a confused look. It was then that he saw Raze striking from
below, swinging his sword from the ground upward, even though the two of them weren't
close to each other.
Before the man knew it, he suddenly saw everyone below him growing smaller. His feet
had been lifted off the ground, and he was in the air.
"I'm flying..." the man said.
Raze then appeared right in front of him and swung his sword down, hitting the glaive. The
man shot to the floor, crashing and breaking the floor beneath, sending out a shockwave of
dust to the others.
Raze then slowly landed on the ground and placed his sword away as the fight was clearly
over.
The crowd watching was stunned into silence, and even the Crimson Crane members were
quite surprised.
"Hey, that guy was a middle-stage warrior, right? And he managed to beat him so quickly?"
Kizer asked.
"Yeah, it makes no sense. I know Raze went up against Murkel, but even in his attack, he
had used all the Descending Steps," Froma said. "On top of that, he used techniques. Here,
he just swung his sword around."
What the others were more surprised about was how Raze had managed to chuck his
opponent into the air without his sword even touching the other person.
"Did you see that?"
"Yeah, he swung his sword, and then the guy was lifted into the air. I could see the current,
or was it visual Qi? I'm not really sure."
Something had happened to Raze's body in the fight-he could feel it-a change that had
occurred from when he woke up.
And he could feel it slightly when he was in Alterian as well. The fact that magic wasn't
leaking out from him as much meant he was no longer a stage 7 warrior, but through the
fight, he was now a stage 8 warrior.
Still not at the same level as Murkel or Belil, but they were even high-stage nine warriors.
Now, his Qi stage was more comparable to Alba's.
In the fight just now as well, Raze truly didn't hold back, as he had also used magic during
his
fight.
"Is there anyone else who wishes to test my skill or doesn't agree with me having this
position?" Raze asked.
After seeing how easily he had beaten a middle-stage warrior, there were quite a few who
were now more accepting.
"What a load of crap!" another person said, walking forward. This man looked more like a
knight, with his body filled with silver armor.
He wasn't a Pagna warrior but someone from one of the kingdoms.
"Obviously, you and the merchant set up this whole thing so you could look really good.
How could someone fall so easily?" the knight said as he continued to walk toward Raze,
and just when he was close enough...
Raze threw his fist right into the knight's stomach, breaking through the iron armor. The
impact caused spit and vomit to fall out of his mouth.
Raze moved his hand, and the knight fell to the floor right there and then.
"Is there anyone else who thinks this is fake?" Raze asked.
Chapter 804: The Scent Of Blood
Chapter 804: The Scent Of Blood

The kingdoms and empires only hired Pagna warriors to help with certain issues that
arose, but there had always been an agreement to keep matters separate between them.
To keep regular people out of the world of Pagna warriors. This, in a way, gave freedom to
both tiers of citizens.
Those who accepted themselves as Pagna warriors could face each other and follow the
rules of the warrior. Being a warrior meant understanding the risks, and those not wishing
to get involved could stay separate.
It wasn't as if regular people didn't have things to worry about, and kingdoms, empires, and
such continued to fight against each other anyway.
One aspect that the kingdoms were building on was knights. Knights who wore specially
crafted armor on their bodies, designed to be impenetrable to a sword.
In many ways, some thought it might be a secret weapon against the Pagna warriors if a
fight ever did break out between the two groups.
However, they had witnessed Raze, with his bare hands, tear through the armor with ease.
His condensed Qi allowed him to focus on breaking it, and then he held back his strength
before hitting the knight in the stomach, causing him to fall to the floor.
Because if he hadn't held back, his entire arm would have ripped through the knight.
"Is there anyone else who wishes to challenge me?" Raze said. "I will continue to fight, day
and night, until every single person here accepts me."
These were the words of someone who truly believed they were much stronger than
everyone there.
If one were to fight several people, they would usually tire, as would their Qi, but Raze was
willing to go up against all the Clan Heads present if he had to.
With just those two fights, though, he had convinced the merchants, he had convinced the
kingdoms.
Even the clans, although they thought they might be able to take on Raze, the Dark Magus,
or the one known as the White Dragon, had accepted him because of the people behind
him-all but one clan.
"I'll challenge you," a female voice said.
The group of people turned to see who had spoken up, and of all people, it was Samantha
Wisheart, the leader of the Tulip Clan, one of the five major clans in the Dark Faction.
She walked forward in a blue icy dress with a split down her long, slender legs. She held a
fan to her face as she continued down, eventually stepping out onto the floor.
"In the past, all five of the clans accepted Murkel because he bested us all on his own. Even
together, we couldn't defeat him.
"We needed someone like him to lead the Dark Faction. If anyone weaker than him takes
the helm, the Dark Faction will fall."
Gavin Rocksbored from the MoonShield Clan had fallen at the Martial Arts Tournament.
Feebie Dines from the Lethal Bite Clan had fallen due to Raze and the Crimson Crane.
Crine Runn, leader of the Flowing Force Clan, had also fallen at the Martial Arts
Tournament. And Murkel was nowhere to be seen, with the strongest in the Erupting Fist
Clan perishing. There was only one clan left of the major five, and its leader, Samantha, was
still present.
There was an interesting tale well-known in the Tulip Clan, of how three women had
conquered it, getting rid of all the men in the clan.
With their power alone, they had taken out the Clan Heads and become one of the major
forces in the Dark Faction.
It was the one clan present that looked to have no one injured, and that was on Amir's
orders. Looking to her right, Safa turned to Amir.
"Why didn't you let us go after the Tulip Clan? It was the only clan you told us to stay away
from.
"At the Martial Arts Tournament, Lin and Lulu were defeated, and they were part of the trio
that took over the Tulip Clan in the past."
Amir looked at Samantha for a moment, then finally decided to give an answer.
"I thought she would be more useful," Amir said. "Originally, with all the clans complying, I
thought we wouldn't have this situation on our hands."
"If anything, because Murkel forced himself into the position he was in, I believed they
might even be accepting of Raze taking his place."
"I understand it's hard for anyone to accept a student, though. However, I would have liked
when Raze took over the Dark Faction, that there would still be some tools to use.
"In the fights so far, Raze has been able to control his strength to defeat his opponents, but
against another main member of the Dark Faction, I don't think that's possible."
"Aren't you underestimating him?" Dame said. "Raze already took out Murkel, who had
bested all of these. He would be able to take out most of the Clan Heads if he were to go up
against them on his own."
"It's no doubt that he is the strongest among all of us here. Well, there might be one." Dame
was looking at Zon when he said those words. Zon's limits hadn't been tested, and the way
he defeated his opponents was more convincing than Raze's.
"You might be right about that, but remember, Raze only beat Murkel because of the special
Chalice artifact he used."
"It was the Divine being that took over his body, which in the end was able to best Murkel."
"Even Raze's strongest moves in magic weren't able to defeat him," Amir answered.
"Besides, there's another thing you're forgetting. Lulu and Lin, who Murkel brought with
him, were considered to have the strength of Clan Heads.
"Yes, it's true that the three of them took over the Tulip Clan, but did you ever wonder why
Samantha was selected as the leader and not them?"
At that moment, as Raze stared, looking at Samantha, a scent had wafted into his nose, a
smell he was familiar with, a strong sense of iron, and that's when a voice had entered his
mind along with it.
'I can smell the scent of blood on her... let me... take over and deal with her for you... you can
rest.' A familiar voice in his mind spoke.
Chapter 805: The Correct Way To Use A Sword
Chapter 805: The Correct Way To Use A Sword

When Raze heard the voice, he felt a stronger sense of familiarity compared to before. He
instantly knew it was the voice of the bloody woman, the one he had seen ever since he
learned to use the Life and Death cultivation technique.
It was clear now that something was lingering around him. Safa could see its presence
when using her special god eyes, and Raze had felt it too; it even acted on his behalf at
times. Sometimes, it had been his saviour without him even knowing it.
Yet, its true goal, or its reason for sticking around with him, was still unknown to him.
When using the Chalice, it was meant to summon a Divine being. The chalice was always
meant to summon someone from above temporarily. It was why it was so much of a gamble
for Raze to use such an item. Because it could have been anyone that came from that realm.
but instead, Raze realized that the bloody woman had been summoned and was using his
body.
He had thought about it-since using the Chalice, he could feel the presence of the bloody
woman more than before, but she hadn't said anything or tried to appear. Raze was still in
control of his body.
One thing was clear: whatever was attached to him was most likely a Divine being, which
was why the Chalice worked. The world of the Divine was interesting to him, but it wasn't
something he cared about or felt it was his business to deal with.
Raze looked ahead at his opponent, Samantha, one of the main Clan Heads of the Dark
Faction.
'You helped me fight Murkel when it was my only option,' Raze thought, lifting his hand to
his face. 'But do you really think so little of me? Do you think I'm too weak to go against
someone like this?'
Samantha fanned out her fan, placing it in front of her face, then dashed forward and began
to swing it widely. Currents in the air appeared, but they weren't just regular currents.
In response, Raze swung his sword, clashing against the currents, which were as strong as
strikes from a real sword.
'This is interesting Qi; it's almost like Wind magic is being used,' Raze thought.
However, it was clear that Samantha was shocked by the outcome. She had somewhat
believed that everything so far was a strange trick. After all, she had seen the warrior in
front of her and his strength.
It was impossible for someone to achieve in months what would take years. So she fully
used the strength of her Qi in her strikes, but Raze was blocking them with ease.
"Let's see you handle this!" Samantha closed her fan and hurled it, spinning through the air.
Her Qi created a beautiful pink display in a circle.
An odd sound came from the fan, screeching and hurting those nearby. Raze, seeing this,
raised his sword and struck it with his Demonic Qi.
This time, Raze was being pushed back. He tried to go against the fan, but even with his
enhanced Qi and its concentration, he was being pushed back.
"His condensed Qi can only take him so far," Bargo, the Vice Leader of the Moon Shield Clan,
said.
"What are you saying? He's going to lose this?" Simyon asked. "Raze defeated much tougher
opponents than this. Just because he can't block a hit or loses in a battle of Qi doesn't mean
he's going to lose."
Bargo started to laugh.
"You have to remember, we're both on the same side here. I'm not against Raze, and trust
me, I've seen what he can do. Like you said, fighting against the Clan Head isn't no trouble,
but he certainly wouldn't be struggling this much."
"I think he's just testing how far he can go with his condensed Qi. You have to remember,
he has yet to show a single technique."
But it wasn't just a single technique. Raze had reluctantly used his magic in the fight as well.
What Bargo declared was right.
Then, Raze used the strength in his arm to deflect the hit to the side while quickly moving
out of place. The fan retracted and returned to Samantha's hand.
"It seems you are nothing special. This is just the start; if you can't deal with this, you're not
fit to be a leader. How can a no-name with no clan skills or techniques possibly be the head
of the Dark Faction?" Samantha declared.
The others on stage were annoyed by this. Samantha had seen nothing he had done, none of
his accomplishments or progress. If anyone had witnessed what Raze had done so far, they
wouldn't have dared to say such things.
"With no skills, right? I guess I am always borrowing skills from this world and just
repeating them, not making use of my own," Raze replied. "I do want to change that
myself."
"But you know, there are techniques that the old Dark Faction leader created. I've managed
to use a few of them in fights so far."
Dame, Rayna, and Amir knew what techniques he meant the Noctis Clan techniques, which
had been incredibly powerful. During the Martial Arts Tournament, a single move had
changed the outcome of the fight.
"Yet recently, I realized something while using them-that I had been using the techniques
wrong this entire time," Raze declared as he held up his sword.
Samantha, tired of listening, swung her fan several times, creating more air currents. Raze
blocked each of them again, swinging his sword to deflect the hits.
"Are the two moves you did before the only things you can do? If that's the strongest you
have, then this match is over. I'm going to prove to you and that woman that I will never
need her help again, and even if she were to face me, I would bring her down myself."
"Let me show you the correct way to use the Dark Edge Sword Arts!" Raze said.
Chapter 806: The Old Head Returns
Chapter 806: The Old Head Returns
The Dark Edge Sword Arts was one of the things in Raze's arsenal that made him extremely
powerful. It was the technique that allowed him to use both his magic and Qi in a special
way.
Using one of the techniques while combining it with the Descending Steps was currently his
strongest method.
This was where he had been going wrong with using them initially.
Raze's Qi started to wrap around the Ghost Blade. The special sword reacted to his Qi. As it
wrapped around, Raze dashed forward.
Before Raze could do anything, Samantha threw her fan again, aiming to hit the sword.
Rather than hitting it directly, Raze quickly moved to the side, pushing himself away with a
little help from his Wind magic.
'Not so obvious in front of all these people, but just enough to ease me into it.'
Right after, Raze dashed in again, using the fourth Descending Step, explosive in power.
The fan had returned to Samantha's hand, and she was ready to strike at Raze when she
could see the sword.
"That technique, I'm familiar with it. Did you think I wouldn't know what it was?"
Samantha said.
Raze's sword clashed with Samantha's fan in the air, but the Qi around the sword was still
wrapping around and moving as if it were alive.
"You have no idea about the Dark Faction's history, do you? You think just because you
know how to use the Noctis Clan's techniques that you can win this fight?" Samantha asked.
"We killed so many of them; we hunted every single one down. We've fought against these
techniques numerous times."
The bystanders listening to this were shocked. They knew the Noctis Clan was the one
created by the founder of the Dark Faction.
The founder who had disappeared. After that, the clan itself was being eliminated.
Members who appeared were dying.
No one had suspected foul play, and now, right in the open, they were learning that fact
from Samantha.
"You know, I've lived long enough to know what those actions represent!" Raze said as he
pushed further, enhancing his Qi even more.
Samantha didn't realize that Raze had become a stage 8 warrior, with Qi equivalent to the
Clan Heads.
So he could now maintain the current position for a while.
"It's the actions of someone who's scared," Raze claimed.
"Scared? Ha! Lived long enough? You're nothing but a child!" Samantha lifted her fan and
was ready to strike again, but before it could hit, Raze moved his hand, pushing it away
with his Wind magic.
Then with his sword, he swung it, wrapping it in a way that made it feel like it was going
around her body.
"The first formation, Shadow Bind," Raze said.
After the sword left her body, strange Qi could be seen wrapped around Samantha, making
it harder for her to move.
Those who still remembered the Noctis Clan from the past could see it was an exact replica
of the move that had been used.
Right after, Raze didn't stop as he lifted his sword above his head, and with it, the Qi that
had gathered around his sword quickly encased the weapon.
"The second formation, Eclipse Strike!" Raze swung the sword down, and a large strike
came right toward Samantha.
Due to her being restricted by the first formation's attack, she was finding it difficult to
break free. Just before the attack hit, she amplified her Qi and managed to somewhat break
out.
She lifted her fan in the air and swung it down using all the power she could. The attack
pushed her far back, destroying the flooring around her and leaving her arms heavily hurt.
'I'm not using magic in these attacks, but she's still able to block it. She is a Clan Head, after
all, and this proves that,' Raze thought.
However, the Qi energy from the Eclipse Strike, which had broken out, was lingering in the
air at that point.
"The third formation, Nightmare Veil Formation."
A heavy mist covered Raze's sword and the areas surrounding Samantha. As Raze swung
his sword through the mist and out of his weapon, solid objects that looked like creatures
began to appear.
Since it was still Qi, Samantha had no choice but to try and strike back. She swung her fan
rapidly as she struck at all those that came close to her.
She started to remember the fight from the Tulip Clan—the number of people she had to
cut down to get out of the situation she was in.
While the images of the beasts from the Nightmare Veil Formation were being destroyed,
the Qi was all coming back to the bottom of Raze's weapon.
'The movements, the techniques of the Dark Edge Sword Arts. Each one of them was so
individually strong I always thought of them as separate attacks to be enhanced with other
things.
'But I could feel it, something was missing, and in the books, there was a hint in how the
techniques formed, how they were meant to be used.'
'Just like the Descending Steps, there is a reason why the formations are numbered—
because they're meant to be performed one after the other.'
'Using the Qi that lingers from the attack makes it less of a burden on the user. Shadow
Bind keeps the user still, the Eclipse Strike delivers a powerful attack from the front.'
'The dispersal of the Qi is then used to create nightmares for the user. If someone could
survive all eight forms of the formation, they had to be a complete monster.'
Right now, Raze was ready to use the fourth.
"The fourth formation, Void Pulse Formation!" He dashed forward, and Samantha felt it—
her body was too hurt, she had slowed down considerably from everything that had
occurred.
And only just now had she finished attacking the beasts. When she finally turned, she could
see a sword had completely gone through her stomach.
"Maybe it's time we get rid of the old generation and start a new one," Raze said. "You can
rest."
Standing in the crowd of people, there was one person who was starstruck to the point of
being brought to tears.
The old man, the librarian Jiyo.
"Those aren't replicas of the Noctis Clan, that's how the techniques are meant to be used. I
feel like the old Faction Head has returned!"
Chapter 807: The Last Weed Pulled
Chapter 807: The Last Weed Pulled
---
The sword had pierced right through Samantha's stomach. There was no way she could
heal from a wound like that. When he pulled the sword out, her lifeless body fell to the
ground.
The others in the Tulip Clan had anger on their faces and wanted to rush forward before
one of the Elders stopped them.
"If Samantha couldn't stop him, what do you think the rest of you can do?" the Elder said.
"Right now, everyone here is accepting him as the new leader, so for our clan to go against
him would mean going up against the entire faction and becoming outcasts."
The clan, which was mostly comprised of women, was upset. It was hard for them to hold
back their feelings, and one of them couldn't help but speak up.
"But did he have to kill her? He could have just beaten her. Even when Murkel became the
head of the Dark Faction, he didn't get rid of the other clan heads!" the woman cried out.
"It's not his fault," the Elder said. "At any point, Samantha could have given up the fight."
"He had long displayed that he had the skills and the right to that seat. Yet she was the one
who couldn't accept him."
"I believe with what he has shown, he has more right to that seat than anyone."
The younger clan members and those who weren't familiar with the Pagna ways didn't
understand, but the discussion among the older members was stirred up, and it was
because the Noctis Clan techniques had been used.
"Did you hear what the Clan Leader said? She admitted to killing the Noctis Clan members."
"I always thought there was something strange about what happened. I mean, the Noctis
Clan was quite strong, but they had split up looking for the Clan Head."
"Who else but the strongest clans in the Dark Faction could do anything to them?"
"So does that mean he's a descendant of the Noctis Clan, the only survivor who has come
back? Maybe that seat was made for him all along."
If one wasn't strong enough, they could argue they weren't fit for the seat of the Dark
Faction leader.
But Raze had proved his strength. Still, some would argue that he was an outsider who
even used Demonic Qi rather than Dark Qi. At least Murkel used Dark Qi and was from one
of the Dark Faction Clans.
Now, though, Raze had a reason to be clear of that by showing the Noctis Clan techniques—
the techniques of the Dark Faction founder. There was no one who could deny his position.
Currently, Raze was still standing in the same position as before. Blood was pouring out of
Samantha's body, and not a single person went forward.
They were all wondering just what the student was doing. Well, they even wondered if
"student" would be the right term for him now.
In all honesty, though, Raze was just looking at Samantha and reflecting on the fight that
had just taken place.
'I've used the formations in succession before, but not like that,' Raze thought. 'Using four
formations in a row like that before would completely deplete my Qi, but that was because I
always used the formations as individual strikes.'
'I only recently learned of reusing the Qi from each of the strikes to use less Qi. However,
there is still an issue with this as well. It seems that Qi can only be used if starting from the
first formation.'
'So if I'm in need of using one of the techniques, it will still use a large amount of Qi, and a
lot of times, the Shadow Bind formation, the first formation, doesn't even work on my
opponent.'
Thinking about it more, Raze knew he had a huge reliance on the Noctis Clan skills and
needed to try and develop his own skills, but he couldn't do that without a better
understanding of mixing martial arts and magic together.
He wanted to create complete techniques like the Noctis Clan had.
He felt like the best way to do that was to continue to learn the rest of the Noctis Clan
techniques inside and out.
The remaining four had been the hardest for him to figure out.
'Out of the Noctis Clan's techniques I have yet to learn, there is the fifth formation.'
'The Phantom Edge Formation. For this one, it seems the trouble I have is with my speed.
Even though my Warrior stage has increased, it's still not something I can pull off.'
'Due to it being a single technique, there has to be some way to learn to increase my speed
for a short term to use this technique.'
'Then there is the sixth formation, the Dusk Wing Formation. What I don't understand
about this formation is the fact that it's meant to work without using magic. Since there is
always a non-magic version and a magic version.'
'Maybe if one could use projectile Qi properly, but they state that's only something a Divine
being can do. Is there a reason for that? Or could I just speak to a Divine being?'
Suddenly, Raze was starting to remember that there was a Divine being that had been
summoned somewhere on Pagna.
'The seventh formation, the Abyssal Chant. This formation—I don't even know where to
begin with it… It makes me wish that there were still members of the Noctis Clan alive
somewhere.'
'Then finally, there is the last formation, the Eternal Night Formation. The power to use this
technique, it sounds like I would have to have a deeper understanding of the Qi itself.'
'Somewhat like Murkel had and how he was able to unlock the traits of Dark Qi. I wonder if
it's something I can do with Demonic Qi, and if it can even be used.'
After looking back at all of the techniques, there was something that played on his mind—
someone so strong, able to create and use these, how did they go missing? Who was it that
was able to even take them out?
"If there are no more contenders, that means everyone is accepting our new leader here!"
Amir shouted from the stage. "Everyone, welcome the new Dark Faction leader!"
"We shall proceed with the gifting ceremony!"
"Gifting ceremony?" Raze said.
Chapter 808: Gifting Ceremony
Chapter 808 Gifting Ceremony
---
Amir didn't want the Dark Faction to be the same as before, where an alliance of clans with
the strongest on top controlled everything.
No, for the Bonum Society to achieve what they needed and to freely pursue the Golden
Globe, they needed absolute control.
With everything that had occurred, including the fact that an outsider clan, which they
believed was the descendant of the Noctis Clan, was taking charge, it felt almost like a new
king had been elected, and that was the perfect time to be showered with gifts.
Amir had asked Ricktor, a member of the Erupting Fist Clan, to lead Raze back onto the
stage, where there was suddenly a seat.
Raze hadn't even noticed when it had been placed there. Ricktor gestured for Raze to sit
down, which he obliged, even though he was finding the whole situation extremely weird.
'Just what are these people up to, and what did he mean by a gifting ceremony?'
"Since there is no longer anyone who disagrees with the fact that Raze Cromwell, the Dark
Magus and White Dragon, is the leader of the Dark Faction, we will now conduct a
ceremony."
"All of you, in an hour's time, may come back one by one and greet the new leader."
Hearing these words, Raze could see it on the faces of those below. Some of them were
gulping, frightened, and they didn't hesitate to leave the courtyard, rushing off.
"Hey, will this be okay, just letting them all go like that? What if they come back with armies
or something to try and take over?" Safa asked.
"I doubt that would happen," Anna said. "Raze showed enough strength, and so did all of
you. Right now, it's the opposite. The reason they are so nervous is that they want to do
their best to get on Raze's good side."
Time was insignificant to many Pagna warriors. After all, even reaching the high levels of
the initial stage meant they could live past the age of 100.
The only question was whether their life as a Pagna warrior would mean they would get to
live that long.
The wait for everyone to return felt relatively short as the members were able to stand
there cultivating, and growing the power their dantian could hold—a second was never
wasted by any of them.
"So what am I meant to do with these gifts they bring back?" Raze asked, following along
with why Amir had said what he did.
"What do you mean? They're gifts for you," Amir replied. "You are free to use them
however you like. I'm sure you'll find some of them quite useful."
Raze then turned to look at the others, and when he opened his mouth, Alba already
stopped him.
"There's no need to share them with us," Alba said. "Those gifts are for the Dark Faction
leader. This is one of the privileges for you, and you need to use them to get stronger.
"Besides, we already got our fair share of items when we raided these clans in the first
place."
"Yeah, if anything, we got first pick," Liam said, with some of the others giving him stares.
They didn't want Raze to think he was getting the second pick of items.
But from many of the clans, that would be the case.
Eventually, the clans started to return one by one, along with the merchants and those who
ruled the various kingdoms.
Coming back, they hadn't done so empty-handed. There were those coming with items
wrapped in cloth, some in the back of carriages, and others in crates.
After all of them had returned, Amir gestured for them to come up to the stage one by one,
handing over a gift.
The first item gifted to Raze was from one of the biggest kingdoms that ruled over the Dark
Faction.
The man didn't seem to have much but a piece of paper. He went down on one knee and
handed it over to Raze.
"That's the king's seal," Amir said.
Breaking it, Raze went ahead to read the details.
"Yes, we give permission for the Dark Faction leader to use the portals that cover our land
any way they see fit."
"The agreements we already have with the other clans have been extended to you, and
even more so, you will be given priority over all."
For a first gift, this was a lot better than Raze thought. Accessing the portals to other
dimensions meant he would have a chance to gain valuable strong crystals, not just for him,
but for his allies as well.
As the man left the stage, the gifts continued, ranging from special artifacts that looked
quite fancy but, when Raze tested them with his magic, weren't too special or were more
lacking than his newly crafted Ghost Blade.
Some items he had gained were great treasures that could be sold for a large sum, which
would help him fund a number of places.
Then there were things that started to catch his eye. One was a high-graded sword that
gleamed in a blue color. It had feathers attached to the bottom of it and was incredibly light.
It had the name the Falcon Blade. Right now, it couldn't do much, but Raze could already
imagine its power as he would be able to enchant it.
He had broken many of his older enchanted weapons that were unable to handle his power,
so this certainly would come in handy.
Another set of items that excited him were the large number of different techniques he was
able to examine.
In his fights, more than anything, Raze was lacking foot techniques, and he had gained a
large number to choose from.
'With these techniques, I want to try and combine some of them with magic, to do the same
as what he was able to do.'
It was then when another merchant arrived, displaying something to Raze that made his
eyes glow.
He saw it in the merchant's hand, and immediately he could feel his heart pounding.
"Yes, this is it! This is exactly the type of thing I needed!" Raze said.
It was the first item that made him speak out loud.
Chapter 809: The Day Has Come
Chapter 809 The Day Has Come
As the gift entered Raze's hand, he couldn't help but continually stare at it. Images went
through his head, wondering what change it would bring for him. It was as clear as the
crystal itself that the item had brought him great delight.
"It appears you greatly like my gift," said the merchant, who had long blonde hair dangling
over his dark red attire. He was a respectful man, with the presence more of a noble than a
merchant.
There was always a respectful smile on his face, and an even bigger smile after he saw Raze
liked his gift. Some of the others that had yet to give their gifts were whispering to others
near their side.
Raze then held up the power stone into the sunlight, seeing its slightly brown tint,
reflecting in his eye. For a moment, he wanted to just swirl his magic around the item.
'This item, it's a powerstone, a high-grade one as well, at least a grade five, maybe even
grade six. I remember even the reward from the Crimson Crane was a grade five
powerstone.'
'The amount the merchant needed to spend on this… he clearly wishes to gain my favor. It
also means he has enough funds to hire a group strong enough to obtain a level six power
stone in the first place.'
However, regardless of the grade of the powerstone, that wasn't what excited Raze; it was
because of the type of power stone. It was one with an Earth Affinity.
One of the affinities Raze had yet to learn. After absorbing the crystal, he was sure he would
unlock the Earth Affinity, opening him up to new types of magic, including enchantments
and combination magic he could now use.
"What's your name?" Raze asked.
"Herbert," the man answered. "I'm from a city called Delkern, located in the northwest of
the continent."
From what Raze could remember, it was part of the Dark Faction area, bordering the Light
Faction. It might explain the highly thought-out gift, but Raze didn't care if it was to use
him; he had received the most valuable item so far.
"I will remember your name and what you've done. If you need to call for me, I will listen,"
Raze said.
"I hope when that time comes, you are a person of your word. I look forward to seeing the
new future of the Dark Faction," Herbert claimed.
Herbert bowed and left the stage, allowing others to come up.
"He sure is taking on this leader role quickly and well, right?" Liam whispered to Safa. "I
think your brother might have a fetish, you know, one of those where he wields power over
people."
Safa angrily turned to Liam with a frown. Although she now knew the current Raze wasn't
the same Raze she knew from the past, her real brother, she still felt extremely connected
to the current Raze and didn't like how Liam was talking about him, even if it was a joke.
Besides, she didn't think what Liam said was the case anyway. Raze wasn't getting used to
it, but more so felt like he was doing what was necessary. In this situation, he was quite
mature for his age.
The gifts continued coming, piling up to the side. Many clans and people wanted Raze's
favor now that he was Dark Faction leader, but there was nothing major to note other than
a few swords he believed he could enchant.
He planned to do the same as before, enchanting each of them with a different affinity.
Other than the techniques and crystal, that was all Raze had obtained.
After all, most of the precious artifacts from the top clans had already been taken by others.
What did occur was after Raze's eyes lit up from receiving the powerstone, many others
offered powerstones as well, but they paled in comparison. They weren't as high in stage
level, nor were they of a new affinity he could learn.
Regardless, absorbing some of the crystals would still increase his magic powers in
different affinities. It was the better choice since they wouldn't have much effect on his
cultivation now.
At the same time, Raze didn't plan to flood the market with new enchanted items just yet.
Standing in the back, though, members of the Crimson Crane's eyes lit up. With all the
gifted materials and more, Raze could finally finish creating the items for those who had yet
to receive one.
They wouldn't have to use their own crystals or resources either because there were now
plenty for Raze to use.
Even Alba, who had been putting all the other members ahead of her, had to admit she was
looking forward to receiving a new item. She had felt weak in the last fight, and even after
attacking the Dark Faction's clans, the artifact she had obtained was nothing compared to
Tilon's Shield.
"All of you are dismissed for today. We shall inform everyone of their duties and the new
processes of the Dark Faction when the time comes. A new change is coming, and everyone
will be playing their part!" Amir announced.
Many started leaving with conflicted feelings. They had been worried before about the fate
of the Dark Faction, and after the meeting, some were less worried now that someone had
taken Murkel's place. But just what would having the Dark Magus as leader bring to the
Dark Faction, and how would the other factions react?
Just as everyone was getting ready to leave, Raze stood up and looked directly at one
individual—an old man with a hunched back, using a cane to keep himself from falling over.
A man Raze had seen before.
"Jiyo, I need you to stay behind. I hope you still remember your promise," Raze said.
Jiyo smiled as he looked at Raze. He still remembered the young student arriving at the
library that day.
"Yes, I said I would tell you everything if you became the principal of the academy. I never
thought this day would come," Jiyo replied.
Chapter 810: The Goal Of The Dark Faction
Chapter 810: The Goal Of The Dark Faction

When Jiyo had been asked to stay behind, there was a smile on his face, a satisfied look.
Many of the guests were somewhat curious about what business the new Dark Faction
leader might have with him, as many didn't even know his position.
"Why would he ask to meet with him? Is he from one of the top clans?" one of the men
asked, walking away.
"No, I think he's someone who works at the academy. Since Murkel was the Head of the
Academy and the Faction, now, the Dark Magus is probably going to take his place as well."
After learning that it was just another teacher, or more accurately, the librarian in charge of
the academy's techniques, they decided it wouldn't be an important matter.
For Amir, though, he was even more curious about why Raze would single out a person that
even he didn't speak to much during his time at the academy.
"Jiyo... I don't even remember ever having him on my radar. The Bonum Society doesn't
have much information about him either," Amir thought.
He wanted to go forward, to try and walk side by side with Raze as he approached Jiyo.
Maybe pretend that they needed to talk about matters related to the Academy, and what
Raze's next move was, but that was when Raze turned to look at the others.
"Make sure the academy is running as usual, and gather information on the Dark Faction
for me," Raze ordered. "I'll meet up with you all later; there's something I need to do."
It was the first time Raze seemed interested in getting involved in the entire academy, and
even Amir could tell it was an excuse to get the others away. In the end, Amir felt like he
had already pushed Raze enough to help them, and he would try to gather information
later.
"I knew you would seek me out," Jiyo said as he saw Raze approaching his side and turned
around, already moving through the courtyard. "I already have an idea of what you're
about to ask. I think the best place is somewhere this old man can rest his bones."
Raze could see it as he noticed the large spiraling tower-they were heading to the library.
The two of them entered the first floor, passing rows and rows of books, until eventually,
they reached a desk at the back. The old man went around from the side and gestured for
Raze to continue following him.
Eventually, the old man was pressing his hand against the brick wall, brushing it in a
particular trajectory. What was strange was that Raze could tell that as the old man
brushed his hand against the wall, he was also using Qi.
Eventually, the wall started to light up with energy and then began to move.
'A secret room, it's a bit like the one I created for myself. I wonder what's in there,' Raze
thought.
When Raze turned to look inside, it wasn't what he was expecting to see. There weren't
items, scrolls, or anything that seemed important or powerful inside. The only thing he
could see was what looked like a torn-down throne in the room.
It was crumbled like everything else in the room.
"You already know that the Dark Faction was founded by Bofan. Not only was he the
founder of the Dark Faction, but he was also the founder of the Noctis Clan. Right here in
this room was where the Noctis Clan used to be," Jiyo explained.
Now Raze might have understood why they had come to this room in particular but didn't
quite understand why it was hidden away.
"Although he started the Clan, he didn't start the academy. The state of this room was
created this way because of Murkel."
That was a name Raze was surprised to hear again, at least in this context.
"In fact, you're not the first person who came asking questions about Bofan; Murkel did as
well. He seemed more like he was obsessed with Bofan, and when he knew part of the
academy had such a place, he sealed it off, and no one was allowed to enter, apart from the
Principal themselves.
"Which is why I said those words to you," Jiyo continued with a smile. "I've been watching
you, Raze, not as closely as I should have, but I knew something was going on when you
showed an interest in Bofan, and it wasn't the regular interest one has in an old leader."
"In some ways, it felt similar to the interest Murkel displayed, yet somehow quite different.
I thought this day might have come many years in the future, yet here it is, just a few
months after our conversation."
"Right," Raze said as he thought back to that time. "Actually, the fact that you had this
information, and my interest in Bofan in the first place, is what made me take over the
academy."
"You could say that everything I've done was truly for this moment right now. I wish to
learn everything you can and everything you know about Bofan," Raze requested. It was
respectful but at the same time fierce.
Jiyo felt that if he lied or held anything back, this student in front of him would get rid of
him on the spot, making him even more interesting in the old man's eyes.
It was then that the old man walked up to the fallen throne and stood by its side.
"I told Murkel everything, and I shall do the same for you now that you are in his position.
Unfortunately, telling him everything didn't amount to much. His interest in the Dark
Faction's founder was for other personal reasons."
"Which is why I hope telling you everything will allow something to bear fruit, and my
hunch is that it will."
"The questions that need to be asked, which no one seems to do, are why the Dark Faction
was even created in the first place, and why it came from a new clan that appeared out of
nowhere with no history. What was Bofan trying to do in the first place?"
Chapter 811: You And Him Are The Same
Chapter 811: You And Him Are The Same

Originally, Raze had been following the Dark Faction's footsteps because he had learned
that Bofan was someone like him- an individual who had come from the world of Alterian.
Not only was Bofan someone important who had left a significant imprint on the world of
Pagna, but Raze also believed that he might have found a way to return to Alterian. When
Raze saw the markings in the cave, he knew that Bofan wasn't just any mage but a special
one.
He was the only person Raze thought might know a way back. The group Alter was another,
which was why he had joined them. Rather than putting all his eggs in one basket, he had
spread his chances of finding a way back.
Thanks to the Bonum Society, Raze had discovered that the item known as the Golden
Globe would allow him to return to Alterian, and the last person to have the Golden Globe
was Bofan.
Finding out more about Bofan would hopefully lead him to the location of the Golden Globe
and reveal what Bofan was planning to do with it.
"Firstly, I want you to know that my family has been in the Noctis Clan for a few
generations. My great-grandfather was hired as a caretaker to look after the original clan
building that once stood in this place," Jiyo explained. "Our family then went on to produce
archives of the Clan itself and of Bofan."
"We never realized how important it would be, and as time went on and Bofan
disappeared, the information that was passed down from family member to family member
started to feel more important."
Jiyo began to pace slowly back and forth in the room as he continued to explain Bofan's
tale, or at least the words that had been passed down through his family.
"You see, according to my great-grandfather, Bofan always felt like an outsider. He was a
person who had a fascination for nearly everything he saw and was especially intrigued by
Pagna warriors and their arts."
"He didn't seem to know much about the clans but was just a person who happened to be
born in the Dark Faction."
Raze could already make corrections to the story being told, but he would listen on and fit
the pieces together in his own mind.
"Bofan was a traveler, a wanderer, and he became a strong warrior who would go from clan
to clan, challenging the strongest warriors. He would use techniques he had learned, or
new techniques, and made quite a name for himself."
"A person that strong and free eventually had many who wished to follow him and adopt
his style, and naturally, a group formed around him. My great-grandfather was also one of
these people."
"Although he wasn't a warrior, he was there to carry their items and such, but he didn't
care. According to his journal, Bofan was a man who had saved him, and he owed a great
deal to him."
"The people who started to form around him were those from the Dark Faction, and they
naturally became the Noctis Clan. I'm sure you, as a Pagna warrior, can imagine what
happened next."
"A strong clan appearing out of nowhere meant that many wished to challenge them, and
because it was formed in the Dark Continent, it caught the eyes of the Light Faction and the
Demonic Faction."
"The strong wished to challenge him, and sometimes to get to him, they would target those
close to him. In the end, forming the Dark Faction became a necessity to protect the Clan
and the others."
"With the Noctis Clan at the top and its founders in charge, the other clans couldn't touch
those who had grown close to the Noctis Clan."
"Bofan loved the world. He never had a bias against other clans. He was accepting of no-
names and wanderers like himself, as well as those from other factions."
"A fight didn't always have to be to the death in his eyes, and he often said it was because
he loved these people. But there was something that always bothered him, and it was the
portal breaks occurring in the world of Pagna."
"It was almost an obsession for him, and when talking to my relatives, it seemed to be the
start of the Noctis Clan as well. Although some think it was for protection, my grandfather
believed the creation of the Clan was for the sake of these portals. That was how obsessed
Bofan was with them."
Raze could understand why. If there was no such thing as Alter, or the information he had
beforehand, his only lead to return to Alterian would be the portals. Eventually, Bofan
would have figured out that using magic was a way to open these portals into the world of
Pagna as well.
"In the end, whatever the reason, it led to the start of the Dark Faction, which can mostly be
seen as a good thing. When I informed Murkel of all this and the type of person Bofan was,
he was almost upset."
"Upset?" Raze replied, even though he had to admit he was hoping there was more to
everything he had learned. The creation of the Dark Faction seemed to be just a means for
Bofan to try and find a way back.
"Well, it seems Murkel wanted Bofan to have a greater purpose, but his reasons for doing
what he did were simple. He was fascinated by martial arts, so he fought against those
strong and well-versed in it, eventually creating his own style."
"Yet, he had no desire to become a Divine warrior. At the end of the day, it was almost as if
Murkel wanted their goals to be the same and was quickly upset when he realized they
weren't."
"Which is why I wanted to explain to you about Bofan, and see how you feel now. Before I
continue, do you feel the same way currently, or are you looking for something, just as
Bofan was a long time ago?" Jiyo asked.
Chapter 812: One Last Word
Chapter 812: One Last Word

"What do I think? Why I'm looking into him is what you might be asking me as well?" Raze
replied, looking at Jiyo. "In a way, it's the same as Murkel. I'm following Bofan's footsteps
because I believe he's a man like me."
"Let me just say that the reasons for both of our actions are the same. Unfortunately, just
like Murkel, I didn't quite get what I was looking for from this conversation."
Despite Raze's answer, the smile and upbeat look on Jiyo's face didn't disappear.
"I believe the two of you are still on a similar path, and you've already strayed from Murkel.
For one, Murkel never learned the Noctis Clan skills."
"He didn't seem to care that the other faction leaders were getting rid of everything related
to the Noctis Clan, yet you've somehow managed to learn the lost skills. It makes me
imagine you have more information than you're letting on.
"Unfortunately, there's no more I can tell you unless there's anything else you'd like to
ask?" Jiyo said.
Disappointment was the first thing that came to Raze's mind. Coming here had just taught
him more about Bofan's character, but he didn't care about another man's goals. Bofan was
just a means to get to his own.
Although Jiyo seemed to see some light in Raze, in Raze's mind, he was closer to Murkel
than he thought. Just doing what needed to be done for his own selfish ends.
"There's nothing else?" Raze asked. "No great troubles that occurred in Bofan's life?
Nothing he ever discovered about the dimensions he was looking into? Or talk of a
powerful artifact he needed to get his hands on?"
It still made no sense to Raze why Bofan stole the Golden Globe in the first place. If he knew
the reason, it might help him figure out where it had been hidden.
"Those answers... there was a time in our history when it's explained that Bofan became
more cautious of those around him. However, everything else remained the same. There is
one thing I heard when I was a child, but I don't think it would amount to much."
Raze nodded along, knowing that even something small could be important at this point.
"Bofan lived a long life as he had reached the middle stage. My father speaks of a time when
he was a kid, around 7 years old. He had snuck around the clan building and overheard him
talking."
"As he ventured inside, he saw a strange round object in front of Bofan. It was slightly shiny
and unlike anything he had seen before."
The object that Jiyo described sounded much like what Raze had found in the Demonic
Continent's treasury.
"He never got to meet him apart from this, as Bofan had gone missing shortly after. He
states that Bofan looked at him, walked over, rubbed his head, and said these words: 'I can't
let this world be destroyed.' Then he looked up. 'This is the only way to save both worlds.""
It was the end of the conversation between Jiyo and Raze. Surprisingly, Jiyo didn't ask much
more, and neither did Raze. He just mentioned that if there was any time the new leader
wanted to speak to him, he would be happy to help and learn more about Bofan himself. He
wished Raze luck but left him pondering with a large thought in his mind.
Raze had been pacing around the library, not really paying attention to what he was doing
as he pulled out books once in a while. Eventually, he got a large sheet of paper, dipped a
brush in ink, and began writing everything he knew down.
He didn't even realize that he was writing everything down in Alterian, but eventually
leaned his head back and had a better view of the whole picture.
"I think I understand what happened," Raze said to himself. "If we take what we've learned
about Bofan's character into account, I can somewhat make sense of the events."
"Bofan ended up in the world of Pagna unexpectedly. He was researching the portals as a
way to return back. However, just like his great mind in researching magic, he became
fascinated with Pagna martial arts as well."
"Along the way, he made friends, a group of people he cared about. But there's one thing we
still have to consider. Just like me now, there would still be others constantly coming to
Pagna, and those who were there before."
"Even if Bofan enjoyed his life in Pagna and didn't wish to return, he would've wanted to
find out the root cause of the portals."
"From what Amir told us about the Bonum Society, we know that Alter wanted the Golden
Globe desperately. Maybe Bofan already knew about the Golden Globe but was no longer
looking for a way to return to Alterian."
"But he was still trying to figure out why people were coming over. If Alter's goal is what
the Bonum Society thinks it is, then it could be that Bofan took it upon himself to hide the
Golden Globe."
"To make sure Alter didn't get their hands on it, or other clans didn't use it to cause the
Divine beings to enter Pagna. But then the last line, about wishing to save both worlds."
"We can guess that it means Bofan wished to keep Pagna and Alterian safe. In his mind, the
way to do that was to hide the Golden Globe. He must have found out something that I don't
know the answer to yet."
Raze then stood up and smirked at the piece of paper.
"Don't worry, Bofan. I'm not trying to find the Golden Globe to upset the balance in these
worlds. I'm just going to find it so I can kill the Grand Magus, so you have nothing to worry
about."
"As for the person most likely to know about the Golden Globe, well, that would have to be
where I found your recorded device and the Noctis Clan's techniques: The Neverfall Clan in
the Demonic Faction."
Chapter 813: Spreading The News
Chapter 813: Spreading The News

Inside the Demonic Faction, a city that contained the wealthiest of individuals stood strong.
In the city itself there was a great tower with a golden pillar at the top, there was an
individual who was ecstatic about everything that had happened so far.
"Sold out, sold out!" Bubble said, jumping for joy. His body was sweating from the exciting
news he had been receiving non-stop, not just today but for weeks on end.
This was because Bubble was the sole reporter of the events that had occurred at the
Martial Arts Tournament. There were others who reported on the events, but it became
clear that one individual had more details than the others.
Bubble was already known for his infamous news gathering, especially after the conflict
with the Behemoth Clan and the Dark Magus. But what stood out was the fact that Bubble
was still publishing articles about the event.
He was drip-feeding the world of Pagna with the events that had occurred after the Martial
Arts Tournament, and they couldn't help but eat it up.
It was leaving the world in confusion. Dark Faction students turning on their own, the Dark
Faction leaders going against not only these students but also one of the contestants for the
Demonic Faction.
It was as if someone was trying to write up the wildest things they could imagine.
Regardless, it was the details of the fights between the students and the mention of another
group, the Crimson Crane, that caught their eye.
Since Bubble had omitted many details, the public and clans could only make up their
reasoning for what had occurred, and that was the issue-everyone was pinpointing it to
something else.
Perhaps a secret plot from the Light Faction to get rid of the Dark Faction. Maybe the Dark
Faction was making themselves look weak, or was it the Demonic Faction finally taking
action?
'It's a good thing I was able to get out of the Light Faction. Maybe because of my distraught
look, they didn't even know who I was and just guided me back to the Demonic Faction,'
Bubble thought, remembering the details.
His clothes were badly torn, and his body was weak just from being in the presence of so
much fighting that had occurred again and again.
Now, Bubble was walking back and forth, thinking about what else to write about. He still
had many more things to tell the world.
'Do I write about the fact that Murkel was a Hybrid, and it was red in color? I did some
research myself about that... the issue is it could stir the clans up. Someone might break in,
demanding more information, and I don't want that to happen again,' Bubble thought.
Since the last break-in had occurred, he had upped the security. He had the funds to hire
talented Middle Stage warriors. However, after seeing those who fought in the Martial Arts
Tournament, he wasn't sure they would be able to do much.
This was why he felt the need to be more careful compared to before. He still hadn't figured
out who had broken in last time, asking for information on the Dark Magus, or who had
sent him the special artifacts. After seeing them used in the Light Faction, he was also
careful not to get on their bad side.
It was because of these reasons he had been careful about reporting what he had seen on
that day.
'Maybe I could talk about the Hybrids I saw; there were a couple of them, or the fact that a
Demonic Faction Student was also a Hybrid. It would increase sales in the Demonic Faction
territory... it might also cause others to look into the Splitting Fang Clan. But there was also
the Vice Principal and one of the direct descendants of the Neverfall Clan who were all
Hybrids as well.
'If I'm going to release information about the Hybrids, I need to mention all of them.' At that
moment, Bubble could see his entire tower crumbling in a single strike. He gulped down his
saliva and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
'Being in the Demonic Faction, it's best not to anger them. I'll leave it for when our sales
completely tank. We're still doing good, and besides, with the way things are going, there
will always be news around the corner.'
Right on cue, Bubble's trusted partner bashed through the double doors. He hit the side so
hard with his shoulder that he ended up tumbling to the ground and nearly fell at Bubble's
feet.
"Cookie?" Bubble asked, looking down, at the scruffy haired man. He had next to no meat
on his bones, but had been with Bubble for the longest time. He was also quick on his feet.
Back in the day, the two of them would be on the field getting the reports of information
themselves first hand.
"What happened? Are we under attack again? If so, we can use my special escape room.
Quick." Bubble said, turning to his book shelf.
"No, it's not that, sir," Cookie said, getting up from the ground, holding his sore shoulder,
and handing several papers to Bubble.
Bubble took the papers, going through them, and as he continued to read, his eyes started
to widen. He went through the papers again to make sure he hadn't misread them.
"Are you sure about everything in here, that this is factual?" Bubble asked.
"Yes, sir!" Cookie answered. "We checked it with our sources and external sources.
Everything in the report is true."
Bubble then held up the reports, placing his hand over his mouth, but the smile could still
be seen underneath-it couldn't be contained.
"I can't believe it! The White Dragon is the same person. They're all the same person: the
Demon, the exceptional student at the Martial Arts Tournament, and the Dark Magus-all of
them are the same person."
"And now, this person is leader of the Dark Faction!!! This takes instant priority, and as
people find out this information, I can't wait to see their reactions!"
In just a few hours, the news spread across the entire Pagna continent.
Chapter 814: Demonic News
Chapter 814: Demonic News

On several streets of Pagna, the citizens and clan members were just going about their day.
They were walking through the streets, looking at various market stalls, ready to select the
food they would be eating that day.
While others were dragging their feet across the floor, ready to start work, repeating the
routine all over again.
That was when, streaking through the center of the town, came a luxurious red and gold
carriage. It came sliding across, landing in the center of the street just by a fountain that
hadn't even been turned on yet for the day.
Out of the back of the open carriage, a man could be seen coming out, holding a large stack
of papers tied up by his side, and the rest of the carriage was presumably filled with even
more.
"Golden News has an urgent paper out!" the man shouted at the top of his voice. "Urgent
paper with important information regarding the Dark Faction is out!"
Although the man was shouting excitedly, there wasn't exactly a rush of people to head
over to the carriage to learn about what was happening. Golden News, owned by Bubble,
had been delivering interesting articles day after day.
The people enjoyed them, but they were also starting to realize what was happening-they
were being filtered information, and there would always be those who bought the articles
first.
Eventually, throughout the day, from their friends or just word on the street, they would
learn what had happened. Still, there were a few who walked up to the carriage to buy the
latest news.
Those with more coin than others decided to pick up the paper. They were loyal customers,
after all.
"Let's have a look at this thing. Just how much can this news agency milk one event?" a
disgruntled old man said, opening the paper. "The paper already came out this morning, so
to have it as emergency news, if they're just trying to milk me, this will be the last paper I'll
buy!"
The man skimmed through the report, and his reaction and demeanor changed. This
continued with all the others reading the report as well.
"I can't believe it, there's a new Dark Faction leader!"
"Wait, it was him from the Martial Arts Tournament; is it a student, or just someone
disguised as a student?"
"The White Dragon is the same person!"
All of the shocked bystanders reading the report caused a flood of people needing to read
the report firsthand, and this was repeated all over the towns, cities, and areas of Pagna.
The news had undoubtedly spread to the great leaders of the powerful clans, including that
of the Neverfall Clan. Deep in the Abyss of the Clan's base, another meeting was occurring.
"What is it with you?" Belil asked the room filled with the old elders of the clan. "Every time
something comes up, no matter what it is, you decide to call a meeting. How am I meant to
focus on myself if I keep getting distracted like this?"
Belil's fist was on the table, pulsating with energy. The elders looked at it, worried that it
would explode and lash out at them at any moment, but they kept their composure.
"Belil, this isn't anything small, though. This is something that will affect the Pagna
continent, and especially our position!" the elder stated. "There is a new leader of the Dark
Faction, and not only that, it's the Dark Magus."
"The person that you recently wedded to your daughter, and one of the contestants at the
Martial Arts Tournament!"
For a lot of people, the Neverfall Clan was at the center of it all, and the leading theory was
that they were the ones behind everything.
"I wish I could claim credit for everything they are saying out there," Belil said with a smile.
"But what had occurred was even crazier than I thought. I can't believe that student sent
everyone away and was also the Dark Magus, who is married to my daughter."
"Now I wish I could have come to the tournament myself." Belil laughed, as he imagined the
greater chaos that would occur if he were there.
"Right, but who knows what the Dark Magus was planning," one of the elders said. "The fact
that they didn't warn us, and now they're the leader of the Dark Faction, it could mean very
dangerous things for us."
"Either the Demonic Faction will see us as allies of the Dark Faction, or the Neverfall Clan
now has an ally in the Dark Faction."
Belil then waved his hand.
"You're saying the same thing, making it sound like it's different. What does it matter?"
"Because it does matter. What I'm asking you right now is, how do you view the Dark
Magus and the Dark Faction? Are they enemies of ours that we will have to deal with, or
will you help him and go against the entirety of the Demonic Faction?"
All of the elders there had selected Belil as the head of the clan. There were no questions
asked. They would listen to his orders and stay. At times, there were those who felt like
Belil had made wrong decisions, but somehow everything Belil did turned into a positive
outcome for the entire clan.
It was as if his instincts were always telling him the right thing to do.
"The Dark Magus is my son!" Belil answered. "And that will not change. He has done
nothing wrong to us, so there is no reason to deal with him. The fact that he has taken over
the entire Dark Faction is the greatest achievement a father like me could ever ask for!"
Belil was almost pounding his chest, he was so proud. He was even prouder of his daughter
for finding such a man and wrapping him around her finger.
"I thought that would be the case," the elder and a few others sighed. "I'm sure you must
know it already; the news has reached the Behemoth Clan, and it looks like they're going to
act."
Chapter 815: An Unruly Guest
Chapter 815: An Unruly Guest

The Light Faction was unable to settle down for a moment due to the events that had
occurred in the Martial Arts Tournament. For one, they had to ensure the safety of
everyone in the crowd and those involved.
They were trying to mend relationships with the empire stationed within the Light Faction
territory, as well as others spread across the continent.
After all, some merchants were based in areas such as the Demonic Faction and had a
monopoly on certain materials used to make weapons. Since the Light Faction was the one
hosting the Martial Arts Tournament this time, with everything that had occurred, they had
no choice but to apologize.
All plans of what they wished to do after the Martial Arts Tournament were placed on
pause, which was why they hadn't made any moves apart from those regarding the
tournament.
As further news started to come out, it was decided that an expedited meeting was to take
place.
Inside the Light Faction territory, not near any of the cities, towns, or villages, there was a
large building with an oval shape. It was made of a special mesh on the top, crossing over
and making it seem like it was naturally built by nature, like a bird's nest.
The building also seemed to be floating, making it look like a giant boat with the oval object
in the center. In there, a meeting was occurring between the highest-ranking members of
the Light Faction.
The largest clans were present, as well as all of the Elders from the Dawnblade Clan and
many more. The inside of the building was almost like a miniature arena.
There were stands with large chairs that all pointed inward toward the center flooring.
Although the space of the flooring itself was relatively small, around 15 meters in length
and width.
As all of the important figures of the Light Faction were present, sitting around the outside,
in the center, three individuals stood, spaced slightly apart from each other. They were
quite recognizable figures in all of Pagna.
"Is this really necessary?" Ricar asked as he lifted his hands, and chains could be seen
interlocking around his wrists, with beams of energy between them. Trying to break such a
thing would just cause the person to lose both of their hands.
Although someone of Ricar's caliber, being the head elder of the Dawnblade Clan, might be
able to break free without injuring himself.
"We already told you everything that happened, and I'm sure you have been able to
somewhat confirm the details yourself thanks to the reports that have been coming from
the Golden News," Ricar continued, thankful there was another witness.
Otherwise, it might sound like he was shaking things up regarding what had happened that
day. On top of that, he had informed them of even more than what was reported, making
everything slightly more believable.
"It's just a formality," Kawak said. "It was requested by all of the Light Faction, and don't
worry, I believe everything you have said. After all, you even decided to return, but that
seems to be part of the major problem."
"Exactly!" Another Clan Head, Haris, who had a large frame for his shoulders, which was
not the usual look for Light Faction warriors, whose techniques focused on elegance and
swift
movements.
"The issue is, on the day, all of us were transported out, and the only three that managed to
stay at the arena were you three-Ricar, Beatrix, and Hannah. All three of you are part of the
Dawnblade Clan, and you think it was a coincidence that only you three weren't
transported?" There was quite the disturbance within the Light Faction for various reasons.
So any planned attack on the Dark Faction or Demonic Faction after what had occurred was
thrown out the window due to the issue that occurred.
"Shut your mouth!" one of the ten Elders of the Dawnblade Clan shouted. "Your Mirror Clan
has been crushing outer clans for every move we make. You're just trying to pin the blame
on us to be part of the Upper Order!"
"We already figured out the reason those three weren't transported with the rest of us was
because of the positioning of everyone! Ricar did everything he could, and so did the
others!"
"Did he, though?" Haris asked, arms folded and eyebrows raised. "The three of them should
have died there, after knowing that the Red Hybrid had returned, and now we don't even
know the status of the Red Hybrid."
The shouting match continued between multiple clans, and in the end, Kawak had to raise
his hand to make the others stop.
"We can't dwell on these matters if we wish to move forward, as the current situation is
dire for us all," Kawak stated. "This event has been somewhat of a loss for us, as it wasn't
what was planned."
"We have lost one of our powerful artifacts in all of this..."
When this was mentioned, for a brief moment, Beatrix looked at Ricar. There was
something that Ricar had never told them, and it was about the artifact used to change the
terrain of the
arena.
She knew that Ricar had taken it with him, yet he hadn't told the others that he had it in his
possession. As a member of the Dawnblade Clan herself, she had decided to keep her mouth
shut, and so did Hannah.
"On top of that, there is now a possible figure that has arisen in all of this, the new leader of
the Dark Faction, the Dark Magus, who might be even stronger than the Red Hybrid of the
past."
"We know an artifact was used for him to gain this power, and if he is truly that strong,
then it is something we need to worry about."
The Light Faction members nodded in agreement.
"I don't think you have to worry about that," a voice said as a person was heard walking
through the tunnel leading to the floor where Ricar and the others were. "If the artifact was
a multi-use tool, then they would have never waited till the end to use it."
"That power he obtained is temporary," a man said as he walked onto the floor.
"What are you doing here?" Kawak asked.
Chapter 816: A New Relationship
Chapter 816: A New Relationship

The strange man who had entered was not wearing traditional Pagna clothing. He had
come in with a walking stick, standing there, holding the top of the stick with both hands.
He wore a bright blazer made up of blue, gold, and white colors, and also had a pocket
watch hanging from the pocket of his blazer down to his trousers.
His bright hair was slightly between blonde and white. It was hard to pinpoint a colour but
it had a strange strength to it, not appearing weak. Along with the rest of his clothing, this
all made him stand out quite a bit different from Pagna warriors. On top of that, the man
had not entered alone. By his side, there were two figures in robes.
They were black-colored, with a red hood at the top. The bottom of the robe was heavily
tattered, but neither of their facial expressions could be seen due to the square iron-like
mask covering their faces.
Immediately when Kawak saw these three, particularly the man in the center, there was a
large frown on his face, but even though he recognized this figure, there were many in the
Light Faction who did not.
They turned, looking at each other.
"Wasn't the Mirror Clan stationed outside this time as security? How did they manage to
get in?"
"Were they invited? I don't think so, and I don't recognize their clan's uniform at all. I'm not
sure they're part of the Light Faction."
"Hey!" Haris shouted, and immediately jumped down from his position and landed on the
ground. "What did you do to my men outside? Three like you would never be able to get
through them.
"Not unless you played some type of dirty trick! Tell me, now!" Haris had drawn his single-
handed sword, which was relatively large in size and would almost be a greatsword in
others' hands.
Instead of acknowledging the man in front of him, the blonde-haired man stared up and
looked directly at Kawak with a smile. He then pulled out a handkerchief.
"I just realized that I missed a spot," the man said as he wiped a speck of red from his
hands, while the handkerchief was soaked red.
"Impossible, impossible!" Haris shouted as he charged forward. His sword was shining
bright along with his feet, and he kicked off from his position.
He ran right past Ricar and the others, swinging his sword from above, ready to strike
down. In the middle of his strike, one of the robed men at the side reached out his hand.
In front of everyone's eyes, the first swift strike coming from above appeared to slow down.
It was moving through the air, along with the rest of the energy around him, all moving at
an incredibly slow speed as if in slow motion, while everyone could see things clearly.
"Deleters, delete him for me," the blonde-haired man ordered.
The other robed figure on the other side of the man then crouched down, preparing his
hand. Lightning started to form around his fist, taking the shape of a vicious tiger.
Right after, large sparks appeared from his feet, and the robed figure exploded forward.
With his fist, he punched directly into Haris' chest. When it hit, the lightning branched out
and condensed, allowing the Deleter's hand to easily go through his body.
There was nothing Haris could do, as he seemed to be stuck in slow motion. No matter how
hard he tried to swing or move his sword to block the strike, nothing worked.
Even in his final moments, as life escaped from him, it seemed like time moved slowly.
"Two on one... that's not very fair," were Haris' last words.
The Light Faction members, seeing one of their clan heads taken out in front of them, were
beyond furious. Many of them were ready to enter the arena floor immediately to strike,
despite what they had just seen.
"STOP!" Kawak ordered as he slammed his fist on his chair. A resounding echo spread along
with his Qi, hitting everyone, making them aware he was serious about his order.
"I don't want to lose important members of our faction. We can't fall apart just because
they are here... for those of you who are unaware, the person in front of you is Heino, the
leader of the group you all know as Alter," Kawak explained.
Currently present in the Light Faction, nearly everyone knew of the group Alter, but
knowing the other things they did or who the leader was, was a privilege only a few knew,
and that included Ricar and Kawak.
'So those were the infamous Deleters I heard about,' Ricar thought. 'It seems they are just
as strong as stated. If there is ever a large issue that Alter wishes to get involved in, they
send one of their Deleters to deal with the situation.'
'How many times have we had to cover up for them,' Ricar thought.
"Thank you for the introduction," Heino smiled. "It's so nice to meet you all. Those in the
Light Faction have used my services multiple times."
"And Kawak, you didn't think I would just leave things be and not come back for payment
for everything I gave you, after all, they were just being borrowed, right?"
Kawak didn't say anything; it was almost as if he couldn't to this man in front of him. Even
though there were only two next to him, and the entire clan heads of the Light Faction,
Kawak didn't try to anger the person in front of him.
"We can deal with that," Kawak eventually said. "Why don't you tell us why you have
decided to appear right now in front of us all?"
Heino then lifted up his cane a few inches off the ground and slammed it down. The floor lit
up beneath his feet.
"There is a problem that has occurred, a common enemy that we both have," Heino
explained. "I think it's time to make our temporary relationship a permanent one."
Chapter 817: Warn The Dark Magus!
Chapter 817: Warn The Dark Magus!

The Dark Faction had been under the rule of its new leader, the Dark Magus, for around a
month or so now, and things weren't quite what others expected. Historically, when new
leaders rose, they would often make significant changes to show their ambition and prove
they were right for the role.
Either the leader would go on a voyage into the other factions and plan an attack to show
their strength, or maybe there would be disruption in the Dark Faction over who was the
leader, but none of that had occurred.
If anything, things felt the same, but it was an issue for most of the clans, not just in the
Dark Faction but in all the other factions as well. It felt like the calm before the storm-that
just one thing needed to occur, and that would be the catalyst to start it all.
The Crimson Crane and the rest of the allies with Raze had settled into the academy. It was
their resting place. There were plenty of empty rooms now compared to before for them to
stay in the academy, but they didn't just lounge around.
The Crimson Crane members were skilled in martial arts before, so from time to time, they
would give special lessons to the students. The clan members were fine with this, knowing
the strength of the Crimson Crane, a group of wanderers small in number but able to
defend against the Behemoth Clan.
As for the others, they were somewhat off doing their own thing. Liam was hanging around
with Zon and Anna more and stayed in the outer areas of the academy, where there were
restaurants, shops, and a few housing areas just before one would enter the main academy
but after the bridge.
Then there was also Amir, who essentially was running the academy as the principal,
handling small matters concerning the Faction itself. Any questions that came up, at the
moment, the Dark Magus was much more a figurehead, used as a deterrent.
While others were committed to their own training within the academy, they had several
sections in the vast academy that allowed them to train on their own. Personal homes with
large courtyards where they could freely use their skills.
After all, after facing the Dark Faction clans, they had obtained artifacts that were powerful
but needed to learn how to use them in a valuable fight. It would take some time for them
to increase their strength.
Currently, some of the Crimson Crane members, after finishing their teaching, had gathered
in the library area. It was their usual spot as they came to converse. They were laughing
and joking about what had occurred with their students these days.
"I can't believe you guys have such good classes," Forma said. "There's hardly anyone that
even uses bow techniques, and everyone wants to learn their clan ways or prove that their
clan is the best. How do you even deal with it?"
The small warrior slumped her body across the table as she continued to sulk.
"Cronker, you're so lucky you found such loyal students to help you out. You have your own
group of assassins."
"I wouldn't call it luck," Cronker said with his arms folded. "Alba has asked me to try and
increase those under me...which means we might be put to use. You should know the most
dangerous profession in any clan or group is an assassin. They have to be prepared to die
for the cause.
"I have only survived this long because I have been in a group like the Crimson Crane for so
long."
There was a silent moment among them all as well, thinking about their situation. The
Crimson Crane members knew that Alba always had strong ambition. She wanted to be
above the great clans of the Factions.
Someday, she wanted them to act and grow, and now they were doing it in a strange way.
"I just want to know when we're going to get our weapons!" Lily complained. "I haven't
even seen Raze this entire time. Have you guys?"
"I spoke to him from time to time," Reno answered. "I can assure you, he has been trying to
create weapons for all of you, but he wishes to create the very best. For you to have
something at the same level as what Tilion obtained.
"He is trying every day, but it seems like there is slight luck involved when creating these
weapons, and he has been greatly unsuccessful in creating weapons for you all, but they
will come."
Lily, Forma, Cronker, and Alba. All of them couldn't wait to see what weapons they would
have, giving them a chance to be just as helpful as the others who had already received
everything they needed.
"It appears that he has also been extremely busy during the day as well."
"Right," Keizer said. "He did invite me once, and that room was a complete mess. He seems
to train more than any other Pagna warrior I know, but it was clear he was testing
something.
"I know one thing for sure: that man is chasing demons. He's fighting demons in his sleep
and every moment he's awake."
Liver was holding onto his shoulder, remembering the ringing pain from when he had been
called in by Raze for a moment. He had just been used as a practice doll for new techniques.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he came in one day and asked for all of us to fight him at once." It
was getting harder and harder for them, day by day, to comprehend the strength that Raze
had obtained now, but it also left them quite excited.
On the outside of the academy walls, a large tall man had entered wearing a long trench
coat dragging along the floor. He stood there as he looked up at the academy wall.
"I need to warn him," Harvey said as he looked up, his hand pressed inside his trench coat.
He patted himself a few times as if searching for it. "Right, no smokes." He then slowly lifted
his hand out, covered in a red liquid, soaked in blood. "Before time runs out."
Chapter 818: Just Getting Stronger
Chapter 818: Just Getting Stronger

Inside the main building of the Dark Faction Academy, there were several rooms and places
that were off-limits to the regular students.
One of these places included a Zen Garden. It was an area curated for the teachers to spend
time and cultivate in.
There were a number of well-architected plants, floorways with white stones, and the
sound of running water in the garden itself.
In one area of the Zen Garden, there was a large tree that blossomed with pink flowers. It
was an unusual sight since spring had already ended, and they were moving into a wintery
season.
Yet the plants were blooming brightly, showing all sorts of colors.
"This is really strange," Alba said, looking at all the plants and running her fingers across
one as she could smell a strong, sweet fragrance coming out.
"Even in spring, if I tried to have plants show this much color, it would be something that's
impossible for me."
As she followed the plants more and more, she saw the large tree blooming pink, and
sitting directly underneath it was Safa, cross-legged.
"Are you the reason for all of this?" Alba asked.
Safa, opening her eyes and seeing the Crimson Crane leader, stood up and gave a polite
bow.
"They seem to react to my special power," Safa replied, referring to her light magic. "Plants
are quite sensitive things. When Raze walks in here, they seem to cower away; some of
them even seem to die.
"I've been getting better at keeping them alive, but I guess it's just proof that his strength is
far stronger than mine."
Alba somewhat understood what Safa was saying. She had seen what Safa could do, her
restoring powers, and had seen the destruction Raze was capable of.
She was quite surprised to see it had an effect on the environment. Regardless, she reached
behind her, pulling out a cloth-wrapped item and then threw it out.
Safa caught the long object, and her eyes lit up.
"Is this..."
"It is."
Unwrapping the item, a long white spear was revealed with golden engravings running
along the pole all the way to the tip's edge.
The edge of the blade was glowing white with energy.
"It took a lot of effort, but I'm sure it was worth it. The Lux sword has now been turned into
a Lux spear, so it should suit you quite a bit."
Safa never thought that Raze would allow her to have such a powerful weapon. There were
many who had seen its effects, and she was sure that he would want to keep it for himself.
For a brief period, she had borrowed it when going up against the Dark Faction clans. In her
hands, she found out that the Lux sword was even more spectacular.
It boosted her light magic powers, and in turn, the powers of the sword increased as well. It
was because of the sword she was able to match up to those she never thought she would
be able to.
However, there was one thing-Safa had focused on spear techniques above everything else.
It was her weapon of choice and what she was most comfortable with.
Now everything was coming together. She had a powerful weapon that suited her magical
abilities and went with her Pagna techniques as well.
"It was harder to get it due to our usual guy being in the Demonic Faction, and we don't
exactly know how well they would treat us.
"It cost me an arm and a leg as well, but I think it's worth it for our little sweetheart."
Although Alba said this, Raze had actually given her more than enough from the gifts he
had received since taking over the Dark Faction; she was just doing a little playful teasing.
'I should be careful with all these items and how much that guy dotes on his sister-there's a
chance she could become even stronger than me,' Alba thought, looking at the spear again
and wondering if that was already the case. Just holding its power and seeing the garden
like this, this person was beyond special, including the skills she had displayed in the
martial arts tournament.
'Well, I'm sure all this work I'm doing for Raze will pay off as well. At some point, I'll be
getting something from him, and I hope it's as good as Talion's item.'
Alba had only taken a few steps forward, and in doing so, Cronker appeared right in front of
the two of them.
"There is an emergency message from the teachers. It appears that someone from Alter has
appeared."
"From Alter?" Alba said. "Then what has Amir said? Why are you reporting to me?"
"Amir is already aware. In fact, he was the one who told me to get you," Cronker replied.
"Me? What good would I do?" Alba asked.
"It's not you, ma'am. The one he asked for is Safa," Cronker stated. "It appears that Amir
knows who this Alter is and believes that Raze and his friends might know as well.
"However, it seems like the man is in critical condition and is unable to speak. The Hybrid's
special power is being used, but it's still not enough."
"Help someone from Alter? But aren't they one of the groups that might be after us? What
are they even doing here in the first place?"
Alba realized that was the issue- they didn't know. Why would an injured man, near death,
come to this place of all places?
Raze was a member of Alter, and they should very well know by now that he was the leader
of the Dark Faction, yet not a single member had come asking about him.
He thought he might be able to play the game with Alter for a little longer-they didn't know
he was working with Bonum Society, after all-yet there had been silence.
"Take me to them," Safa said.
Going through the academy, it didn't take long until she saw a large man in a trench coat
being laid out on a table.
"Harvey..." Safa said, recognizing the person who had introduced them to Alter.
With a weak smile Harvey turned to look at Safa on the Table and manged to mutter out a
few
words.
"We're all f*cked."
Chapter 819: The Leader Of Red Fortis
Chapter 819: The Leader Of Red Fortis

The Dark Faction Academy wasn't just a single area or place. The actual size of the land
where the Dark Faction Academy was situated was fairly large. It was on its own separate
piece of land that looked broken off, almost as if someone had made it that way on purpose.
The journey to the academy was up a large mountain, and then, when finally reaching what
looked like the only flat piece of land, if one continued to follow the path, they would find a
bridge made out of land.
Connecting from one side all the way to the land where the academy was, surrounded by a
type of large mist-like area. It was quite the drop if one were to fall. However, even after
crossing into the main area, one wasn't in the academy immediately.
The land surrounded by the mist was large enough to be the size of any other city in the
Dark Faction territory, and it was treated as such.
There were several living areas outside of the academy, stalls, and the area had its own
ecosystem of regular citizens who would also live near the academy. According to Amir,
Raze had found out that this had built up even more so after Murkle had become principal,
as a number of merchants among others would constantly visit.
There were even a few talented forgers in the academy area itself who made armor and
weapons, as well as clothes for the students, among other stalls with everything one
needed to live and enjoy everyday life.
Currently, walking through the built-up city-like area was Zon, who was looking at
everything with a keen eye. He had walked past a few blacksmiths and forgeries, looking at
their weapons.
"The system states that these weapons are 10 percent more efficient than the ones around
the corner. This person is quite skilled. I should make a note of this person and pass the
information on to Raze... when I meet him," Zon said to himself and even let out a bit of a
sigh.
'It's a shame that I still haven't found the time to speak to Raze about my issues, but it also
appears that he will have bigger things to settle. Right now, I don't even know if my matter
is urgent or not, nor do I know the full status of the Red Fortis Army.'
Zon continued to walk. He was covered in the normal Pagna cloth that was thin and light
over his body. Otherwise, he would have had a large number of stares and heads turning
his way due to the strange black suit that was tight-fitting to his body.
No one in the Crimson Crane or those in the academy had seen Zon ever take the suit off; it
was almost as if it was part of his body.
While continuing his walk, a message appeared in his view from his system, the same
system that was being used by Anna and Liam.
"It appears that this body needs some refueling." Zon turned his head and looked at a large
red-roofed restaurant. It was two floors with a balcony on the outside. On the second floor,
a large number of people were enjoying the food, and it was the same for the inside as well.
The restaurant was the biggest of its kind-a noodle shop located fairly close to the entrance
after the bridge. It was successful because of its positioning. For Zon, it was just the closest
place for him at the moment to enter.
As he entered, he was greeted and sat down, ready to eat. He proceeded to look at the menu
and placed his order, and it didn't take long for him to receive a serving of noodles in a
chicken broth.
Using the chopsticks by his side, he quickly ate the noodles, leaving most of the broth
behind. Seeing that he was done, an employee came over.
"Is there anything else I can get for you, sir?"
"No, that will be enough," Zon answered, as he reached into his pocket and handed over 4
bronze coins.
The worker looked at the coins in his hand and counted them again before giving off a fake
smile.
"Umm, sir, the rest of the payment?" the worker asked.
"The rest of the payment?" Zon replied. "All the noodle shops for this portion size cost three
coins. Due to your prime location, I expect you to charge more, so I have handed you 4
bronze coins instead of 3."
"Sir, that's not how our establishment works. Our food costs six bronze coins; it's not based
on how much you feel it's worth, and besides, we make the best noodles in the Academy
area."
It was then that Zon scoffed and let out a laugh.
"Your noodles are by far not the best-they were slightly undercooked for one, needing
around ten more seconds to be boiled. On top of that, the seasoning was inadequate as
well." "It seems like the only reason this place is so popular is due to its location, but a price
is a price," Zon said.
Just as Zon reached in to pay for his noodles, he could feel a heavy presence staring at him.
A man was walking over who was just as wide as he was tall, dressed in white cloth that
had a number of stains covering it. His hair was tied up in a knot going along his back,
covered in a type of netting.
"What did you say about my restaurant's food?"
"Sir Rane!" the worker said, turning around and bowing down.
"For someone who was talking bad about our noodles, you seem to have eaten all of that
slop," Rane, the head chef and owner of the restaurant, stated.
"I was only stating the truth. I could perform the perfect time to cook noodles and the
adequate seasoning that would suit most people's taste. It is... what I do," Zon replied.
Zon could tell that his words were filling Rane with more rage than before, but that was just
how he was he was the type of person who told the truth.
"You really think you can do better? Then prove it in the kitchen-don't just say things if you
can't back them up," Rane claimed.
Evaluating the situation, Zon figured it would be more trouble for him if he didn't get this
over and done with. If he left right now or just paid an amount, the man's character was the
type to chase him around.
So he decided to head to the kitchen. This caught the attention of many of the workers, who
could see part of the kitchen from where they were.
Rane stood by the side with his arms folded while one of the chefs stood aside, allowing
Zon to go ahead and work. They all carefully watched as he prepared everything from
scratch. The flour, along with other ingredients, was quickly and perfectly measured, then it
was kneaded in the air, spinning it and slinging it into thin pieces. Right after, Zon got to
cutting the added ingredients that would be placed with the noodles, quickly and precisely.
Each piece of vegetables and herbs cut was nearly exactly the same size. He continued to do
this, splicing the noodles inside, and then everything came together as the bowl of noodles
had been crafted, steaming hot, for Rane and the other chefs to see.
Just watching everything, all of the chefs wanted to taste the noodles that were created-
ones that seemed to be made with a perfect eye for every single detail.
It was then that Rane didn't say anything else as he went to the noodles and brought a
small spoon and chopsticks. He brought it to his mouth, taking it in, and taking some of the
broth, and he could feel the flavors hitting his mouth, satisfying every single craving he had.
"How is something like this even possible..." Rane said as he turned to look at Zon.
It was a look none of the others had seen on Rane before. They knew he had high
standards, and there were multiple times where he criticized the other cooks for the
smallest of details.
Not once had he made such a face when tasting their food.
"It can't be that great, can it," another cook said as he walked over and tasted from the
same bowl as Rane did. Just after the first sip, his mouth remained sealed shut, wishing to
experience every single flavor there was, savoring it in his mouth, thinking that he would
never taste such a thing again.
"I knew it!" Rane said. "I knew it, you thought you could trick me, right? This was a test that
you gave yourself to impress me, well, I must say it worked." Rane patted his belly a few
times. "That's it, you're hired as our head chef!"
"I'm what?" Zon asked, wondering just what he had gotten himself into-one of the strongest
warriors ever to exist, and leader of the infamous Red Fortis Army.
Chapter 820: I Work Here!
Chapter 820: I Work Here!

Over the month of the new Dark Faction going through its reconstruction, one special thing
was occurring at the academy. A noodle shop had undergone rebranding, now calling itself
"Perfect Noodles."
It had become one of the most popular places to eat in the entire outer academy area, and it
seemed that word was spreading outside of the academy as well.
At times, there would be visitors to the academy, claiming that they wished to discuss or
meet with certain individuals, but the truth was, they were there to taste what they had
heard were some of the best noodles that the world of Pagna had to offer.
This was all because there was a new head chef at the place, and it was all thanks to the one
known as Zon.
Currently, inside the establishment, in the back kitchen, Zon was taking a step back,
overlooking the line of cooks. He was carefully observing with his hands folded and pointed
to one of the bowls.
"Add a pinch of salt and a sprinkle of MSG," Zon ordered, then pointed to another person
who was taking a metal basket filled with noodles out of water. "Not yet-two seconds
more... now!"
On his every command, the cooks followed Zon's instructions, all for the sake of making the
perfect noodles.
At the end of the line, with a small spoon, there was Rane, personally tasting every single
dish. Although his face didn't look satisfied, he allowed them to go out.
'No matter how much direction he gives them, I still haven't been able to experience the
same taste as that day,' Rane thought, and then looked out through the small gap at the
customers raving about the food.
As they took a sip of the broth and then slurped down the noodles, there was a satisfied
delight on their faces.
'I think of it as a curse. While they are all happy tasting these imitations of the perfect
noodles, for me, only one can satisfy that taste.'
There was no doubt that the restaurant had gotten substantially busier since the
rebranding and the hiring of the new head chef, but Rane was wondering what the
difference was between Zon and the others-why couldn't they recreate the perfect noodles
again?
As for Zon, who had been swept up in all of this, he was thinking along the same lines as he
looked at the cooks.
'Although they can't produce the perfect ratios of ingredients that I used, with my direction
they are able to get pretty close. But there is something else that is missing with them, and
it's the perfect mixture,' Zon thought, as he lifted his hand to his face and looked through
the gaps in his fingers.
Then he openly said,
"What am I even doing here? I've gotten too caught up in all of this!"
The same words came out of Zon's mouth nearly every day, but with nothing else for him to
do, he found himself almost drawn to the shop. His leadership skills, ingrained from his
time in the Red Fortis Army, were being put to use.
He, too, wanted to create a restaurant with the most skilled workers and make it so every
one of them could create the perfect noodles. His obsession, which made him who he was
today and the leader of the Red Fortis Army, had now been hammered into this shop of all
things.
"A one-hour wait? Come on!" a man shouted so loudly that nearly everyone in the shop
could hear him.
They could see a group of five standing by the door, all of them menacing-looking men
carrying large clubs by their side. They were ready to enter the restaurant when they
received a small raffle-like ticket.
A system designed to fairly allow everyone who was there to be served on a first-come,
first- served basis, and just now, this group of people had been told an estimated wait time.
"Are you saying all of these guys are here waiting?" the man in front said, giving them a
stare and allowing some of the Qi from his body to be released. "Look, we're Pagna
warriors, we're busy people that need to get to training."
"We are part of the Dark Faction and part of the people that even protect this place. So how
can you put us warriors in the same queue as the other regular citizens?"
Some of those who were waiting started to notice the bald-headed man in front. His name
was Skyler. A talented warrior who had graduated from the academy two years ago.
He was a rising star in the Wu Club Clan, a clan that wasn't one of the top five but was fairly
active in the Dark Faction. Unlike many of the others who were at the restaurant, they had
actually come to greet the new leader, the Dark Magus.
Rather than having an elder who represented the clan, Skyler wanted to see things for
himself, and if possible, even get a chance to fight the new Dark Magus.
'I heard the new leader was a student... if his strength is really that to match up with
Murkel, then I want to test it firsthand, and if he sees my strength, then we can get our clan
up to new heights!' Skyler thought.
But before a fight, one needed to fill their belly with energy, and seeing such a busy place
had caught their eyes and led them to this situation.
A worker quickly came rushing over, bowing his head to the warriors.
"I'm sorry, sir, but it is our restaurant policy to treat everyone on a first-come, first-served
basis," the worker stated. "This restaurant is popular with many Pagna warriors, and if we
implemented what you stated, then the regular citizens wouldn't be able to enjoy our food."
"There are many establishments in the city that cater to serving just Pagna warriors." One
of the men behind Skyler walked right past the worker and headed inside. "And this isn't
one of the places that don't appreciate what us warriors do. When there is a war, we are the
first in line to protect the Dark Faction; we are the ones that risk our lives fighting!" the
warrior said, and the rest of them nodded.
Skyler walked past into the restaurant as well, looking at the workers and the faces of the
people.
"But aren't we safe from Pagna business?" one of the customers whispered to the others. "I
mean, warriors are meant to deal with themselves, so even if there was a war, we wouldn't
be
affected, right?"
"You know nothing!" one of the men said, pulling out his club and bashing it on top of the
table, knocking the noodles onto the floor and splitting it in half.
"What do you think you're doing!" the customer said, standing up. "You're a warrior and
aren't meant to get involved in this stuff."
"And you should know that no kingdom would get involved if a nobody like you were killed
on the spot," the warrior replied.
"Hey," Skyler said as he walked over to his fellow colleague, a little nervous. "Don't you
think you're going a little too far?"
It was then that the other warriors started to gather their clubs and bashed the tables next
to them, emitting a large amount of Qi, each of them letting out their frustration on the
customers. Some of the cooks, seeing what was happening to their restaurant, as well as
servers, wanted to go stop the madness.
They were ready to go ahead when another more level-headed person next to them
reached out their hand to stop them, knowing full well that they could do nothing against
warriors-
they were just regular people.
That was until one person stood up.
"What the f*ck do you guys think you're doing!" A loud bellowing voice came from the
corner of the restaurant, and Rane was seen walking over with his heavy footsteps. Rane
was an ordinary person and was not a Pagna warrior, but he still had a heavy presence that
they were
all aware of in the shop.
"Can you use your ears, or are those things on the side of your head just for decoration!"
Rane shouted. "My shop, my policy, and if you don't like it, you can go somewhere else."
"And now, like a spoiled child, because you guys didn't get your way, you start destroying
my stuff! You think just because you're part of the Wu Club Clan, you can just do what you
want!"
Rane recognized them, as did others sitting in the room, yet despite all of that, Zon was
impressed—even knowing the warriors in front of him were fairly strong, he was still
standing up to them.
The man who had broken the table earlier grabbed his club hard.
"I'm tired of it, tired of it-all the way since we got here, there has been a huge disrespect!"
the man shouted.
On their journey, there were a number of warrior bandits as well as other issues they had
dealt
with, including their items being stolen from them in the middle of the night. Due to a lack
of food, they were hungrier than they were letting on, and all of that hunger was coming
out as
anger.
"I see, the reason you disrespect us is because you have no idea what we can do with a
simple swing!" the man shouted as he swung his club.
"No, wait!" Skyler shouted, but it was too late to stop his friend.
Rane never thought a warrior would take a swing at him, and seeing how fast it was, it was
something he couldn't avoid. Being an ordinary person, the club hitting him would have
splattered his head open like a watermelon.
That was until the club had been stopped at the last second.
"Who are you?" the warrior asked.
"I'm just someone who works here," Zon replied. "And he's my boss."
Chapter 821: Beyond Strong
Chapter 821: Beyond Strong

The warrior from the Wu Club Clan looked at the man, who was dressed in a cook's outfit-
mainly a white sheet of cloth with a number of stains on it--but Zon's outfit had something
a little different: the Head Chef bandana that was tied around his head, white in color as
well.
"Head Chef Zon!" one of the cooks shouted. "What are you doing? Get back here!"
"You can't go up against them," another shouted. "They're warriors! We need to make a
formal complaint to the Academy."
In a normal case, one could make a complaint to the mayor, who would work with the
citizens, and that was how citizens could lodge a complaint, but the academy was a special
case since it wasn't a normal city and was one of the pieces of territory actually owned by
the Factions rather than the kingdoms.
"But... was he supposed to just let Rane get hit like that? I wanted to go forward myself, but
I was too scared," another worker said.
Some of them were relieved when they saw Zon catch the club, but the real question was,
what was going to happen now? Now, Zon and Rane were both most likely to get hurt.
"A mere chef is holding my club? You should get your dirty hands off it!" The man pulled
the club away from Zon and was ready to swing it again as he lifted it in the air above his
head.
The moment Rane saw this, he squinted and panicked.
'No, he's the only one who can create the perfect recipe-no matter what, he has to survive!'
However, the swing was too fast for Rane to do anything. When the club was swung down,
a large amount of wind and Qi hit the floor, and Zon was standing to the side.
"What the-"The man then continued to swing his club through the air, but Zon was moving
casually, avoiding each of the swings. One after the other, the warrior was failing to hit his
target.
Then, Zon's back hit the edge of a table. The warrior lunged at him, and Zon once again
lifted his hand, grabbing the club and stopping it in its tracks.
'He stopped my attack again... and he avoided them all before. I didn't think about it... but
now that I am, how is that even possible for a normal person?'
Right then, grasped in Zon's hand, he tensed up, squeezing the end of the club, and the
metal scrunched up like a ball of paper. Zon then pulled it forward and punched the man in
the face lightning fast, hitting him squarely and sending him to the floor.
Zon stood there next to the fallen warrior, while the cooks, the customers inside the
restaurant, and Rane were all trying to process what had just occurred.
"The boss does not wish to see his restaurant destroyed," Zon said. "And you all need a
lesson so that this never happens again."
Seeing how their fellow clan member had been hit to the floor, the others started rushing in
one after the other, all aiming for Zon, the head chef.
"We have to help him, otherwise he's going to get killed!" the other chefs said. They wanted
to move, but their bodies were shaking. Even against a regular Pagna warrior, they would
be unable to do anything, and these were quite skilled ones.
The first person threw their club from above, swinging it down, using all the Qi they had. In
response, Zon simply avoided the strike and then burst forward until he reached the man's
chest, giving him a forceful push, hitting one person into another.
He quickly moved to the side, as if he could see an attack coming, and then threw out
another fist, hitting the man on the side of the head, right on the temple. The attack was
powerful, causing the person's body to spin.
The chefs, even Rane, didn't understand what was going on. A person so good at cooking
was also good at fighting, avoiding each hit, and knocking out his opponents with a single
strike.
'Crap, the others went too far!' Skyler thought. 'But I can't let my entire clan get humiliated
like this, all from one person.'
It was then that Skyler started to rush in from side to side, dragging his club along the floor.
The floorboards were being ripped out from the ground as he moved through the
restaurant.
He then looked ahead, ready to attack his opponent. He saw the head chef attacking
another with a single hit right on the face, blood spewing from their nose as they fell to the
floor.
Then suddenly, the man disappeared from his view, and before he knew it, Skyler was no
longer able to move. He looked to his arm and saw a hand pushing down on his wrist.
While another hand was gripping his head firmly.
'I didn't even see him move... he must be a high-level middle-stage warrior, but how could
there be such a person, and I've never heard of them before? And he's a chef of all things.
Am I dreaming right now?'
The one thing that Skyler was sure of was that his life was in the hands of this person, and it
wouldn't be clever of him to make any rash moves.
"Your stupid attack ruined the restaurant even further. Didn't you hear what I said before?
You will pay for the damage you have done to this place. I left you alone because you had
yet to do any damage," Zon claimed.
Zon continued to hold Skyler back and then started to look at his facial expression as he
noticed something.
"You push as hard as you can."
"Huh?" Skyler said, confused by the order.
"Push the club in your hand as hard as you can use what you've got."
Not quite understanding the situation but fully under this man's control, Skyler decided to
push the club, but it didn't move a single inch, showing the clear superior strength between
the two.
It was then that Zon turned to Rane, who was still in disbelief at everything that was
happening.
"You are looking for more people who can create the perfect noodles for this shop, right?"
Rane slowly nodded, wondering why at a time like this Zon was asking about noodles.
"Then allow me to hire the perfect team. You, come work in this noodle shop," Zon asked.
Inside the academy, there was a large, empty hall with special hardened walls. It was made
from a tree located in another dimension. The tree had portions that made it one of the
strongest materials known in the Pagna world, at least for durability.
Unfortunately, its durability made it hard to be made into any type of weapon, and it
seemed to reject Qi, which was one of the reasons why it was so durable. So it wasn't so
good for Pagna
warriors to use.
Instead, parts of the trees were used to build structures where dangerous portals currently
resided, just in case there was a portal break, and in one room, it was Murkel's personal
training room.
The inside parts of the walls and floors had already been scuffed in certain areas, most
likely due to Murkel's own training, and in the room, there were two people present.
Standing by the side, there was Dame, watching the center with his arms folded, and in the
center of the room was Raze.
"You think you got the hang of it this time?" Dame asked.
"Definitely," Raze answered. "Thanks to your help."
In becoming the Dark Faction leader, Raze had obtained a number of different techniques
from clans all over the continent, and he had picked those best suited for him and best
suited
for his fighting style.
More importantly, Raze wanted to try and combine some of these techniques with his
magic
to make them more powerful than ever. Picking Dame along with him, a person he could
trust,
he wanted him to guide him.
After all, Raze's knowledge of Pagna techniques was quite limited.
It was then that Raze started to lift his hands, as he gathered the Qi in his body and
gathered his magic. In the reflection of Dame's eyes, everything could be seen.
A loud, powerful force and several bangs were heard all over the place. It only lasted
around thirty seconds or so, and then it came to a stop as Raze was there on the floor.
He was kneeling on one knee, and behind him was mass destruction-the specially made
floorboards had been ripped up, and the state of the room looked as if it could never be
repaired again.
As for Raze's feet, his shoes were no longer there, and a large amount of his skin had been
ripped off; they were bleeding.
"You have become really strong, Raze... too strong," Dame said, just wondering how anyone
would be able to deal with him now.
"Raze!" Amir called out, entering the room. He was going to speak, but the state of the room
shocked him. He had almost forgotten what he was about to say but then continued to
speak. "There is someone who wishes to speak to you, a man named Himmy."
Chapter 822: A Warning From Alter
Chapter 822: A Warning From Alter

A medical bay was located in the academy to treat students as well as other warriors.
From time to time there would be many that experienced some trouble, either students
going too far with each other or teachers hurting themselves in battle.
At times the cause of the teachers wounds would be by the students as well.
Currently, inside lying on one of the physician tables a certain special individual, a man that
was part of the group Alter, was receiving healing treatment.
First a Pagna physician had used their skills, giving a number of herbs and forcing needles
into the skin.
This had brought some energy back to Himmy and colour to his face but the wound on his
body was still healing.
After seeing this, a special Hybrid was called. Using a substance from the beast part of their
body they had spat a strange gooey substance on the wound.
This had managed to stop the bleeding but the person still was in no state to speak and
judging from the sweat running all over their body there was a good chance that they still
wouldn't make it and that's when Safa had finally been called.
She placed both of her hands over the wound, and started to activate her Light magic. Her
hands started to glow slightly and then she could feel a connection on her back, where the
spear currently was placed.
'I don't know why you came here of all places, maybe you're here to speak to Raze or try to
take him out, but we won't know with the state you're in.'
The wound was severe and Himmy had already lost a lot of blood. With Safa having healed
a number of people now she had an idea about wounds.
In fact she had even decided to study a few anatomy books as well as work side by side
with a few physicians.
Learning the state of the body and how it worked allowed her to direct her healing powers
to the right place. Rather than just using her Light magic on an area and hoping it would
work, she could pinpoint her magic to heal certain parts.
'The new Lux Spear, even with it on my back I can feel its power but it almost feels as if it's
too powerful 1. I'm worried if I use its full power it might do more harm than good, I should
limit it for now.'
It didn't take long for not only the wound to look as if it was nonexistent as it was reverting
back to the way it was, but Himmy looked almost back to normal.
"Get Raze, hurry!" Safa ordered.
Not only was Raze called to the room but Liam, Dame, Simyon as well as Amir were present
as well.
Since some of them were part of Alter and involved in this whole matter.
When entering, Himmy was sitting up on the table, not moving from his position.
"I hope you know I'm here not as a threat?" Himmy said. "Not that I could do anything
against all of you here. You know I never thought when I met you, you would be in a
position like this. I guess you're quite the otherworlder to cause a situation like this."
Raze stayed in front of the others and looked at the blood stained overcoat Himmy wore.
"Who did that to you, was it Alter? I'm guessing they didn't just send you to speak to me, or
to take me down." Raze asked.
Safa and Simyon turned confused, why would Alter attack one of their own, especially
Himmy who wasn't part of their group at all.
"Man, at a time like this I could really, really do with a smoke. This world has something
like it, but it's just not the same, I want that feeling deep inside you know, even if it's
proven to kill me." Himmy said, gesturing in the air and breathing out.
"Anyway, you're right Alter did this to me, and it was after they found out about you."
Himmy explained. "You see, they are wondering why someone like me had you under my
command yet knew nothing about you."
"At first when news of you appearing at the Martial Arts Tournament spread, there seemed
to be no issue on the matter." Himmy explained.
"Right." Amir added. "If Alter was able to have someone like Raze part of their group it
would only increase their influence, I thought they would have wanted to talk to him."
"Right, that would have been the case." Himmy answered.
"They would have reached out with some terms and maybe Raze would have gotten a high
position. That's what I thought as well, but then Alter suddenly locked me up"
"They captured me and Charlotte together and started to question and ask what we know
about the Dark Magus."
This had caught the attention of Raze and it confirmed one of his thoughts. There were
those in Alter that knew about him.
If anything they wanted to know even more about the Dark Magus, and the only people that
would go so far when hearing the name of the Dark Magus would be the Grand Magus.
"It didn't seem like they believed us that you were just a two star mage and one that was
using Pagna warrior skills." Himmy explained.
"No matter what we said they pushed us and started to torture us with thier magic.
Whoever you are, you really seem to be on their radar."
"In the end, Charlotte was able to use her magic skills to break the two of us out." "Escaping
from Alter is near an impossible task but Charlotte, she's a clever one especially with her
magic. The two of us split up and created a diversion, that's when I was shot on the way
out."
"With Alter chasing after me, where the fuck could I even go. I couldn't go to any city,
there's too many of them, so I thought why not head to the place, the reason why I was shot
in the first place, maybe if I died I could at least get some peace knowing why I was shot."
"Where's Charlotte now?" Raze asked.
Safa made note of all the questions Raze could ask, he had asked about this Charlotte
person in of everyone.
"I have no idea, we split up, but as I said she's a clever one, I think she would have survived
somewhere out there. Anyway, thanks for saving me you guys, you all seem to have Pagna
powers and magic which is strange to me but it doesn't matter."
There were so many questions on Raze's mind now that Himmy was here even the odd
comment he had just made.
He remembered trying to teach Safa magic, and when creating the core, what had occured.
If she had learned anything but Light magic then she would have been dead by now. "Since
Alter is now after you, I presume it will be easier to get information from your lips. It would
be quite handy after all to know what the enemy is doing and the state they are in." Amir
asked interested in his own gain.
"Ha, even though I was a squad captain they didn't tell me much, there's a number of ranks
above me. If I was so important I wouldn't have been in this state to begin with." Himmy
said. "But sure I'll work with you guys, but I want my own answers as well from him, why is
Alter
after you so much.'
It wasn't just Himmy that was interested, everyone there was curious as well. Because
Himmy
didn't say Raze, he didn't say the Dark Faction leader.
It stated that they were interested in the Dark Magus.
'That was a name he spread himself, did he do this on purpose to get Alter's attention?'
Dame thought. 'I thought it was just something he chose to try and be a bit catchy and sell
his
products.'
"Before that, there is something I need to warn you guys about." Himmy said. "Consider this
as a gift to prove I'm cooperating with you."
"An Alter squad will be coming here. They will be here to gather information. After they get
what they want then they will do one of two things."
"They will head back to Alter and report back, or they will choose to go further with their
goal, maybe try and capture the Dark Magus."
"With your new found strength I think that's unlikely, but whatever you do, don't get rid of
them, don't let them know you know about them, if you attack them, then we're all going to
be fucked, Alter will send a Deleter."
"A Deleter, what's that?" Safa asked.
"You haven't been in Alter long enough to know the ins and outs, but the Deleters are the
ones sent out to solve all their problems. They have the power to eliminate entire clans if
need be." "Whatever you do, for everyone's sake, don't attack the Alter group."
Chapter 823: Why Are They After You?
Chapter 823: Why Are They After You?

Although Himmy's wounds had been restored, the rest had decided to give him some time
to rest before they further questioned him. Giving him food among other things so he could
be back in complete shape.
At the same time though, Amir had ordered one of the Bonum Society members to keep
guard at the door. Many of the core members had risen and spread throughout the faction
including that of the academy.
Although Himmy was part of Alter, he wasn't from a world with specific powers and only
had a strange weapon known as a gun. Still, Amir wouldn't take any chances
underestimating him. "He should be alright in there, right?" Amir asked.
Raze and the others had left the room, and had headed to a tea room stationed around the
Zen garden where Safa would regularly come. It had a sliding door that opened out to the
garden which was currently open.
Most of the group were sat at the tables including Raze, while Dame and Amir were both
standing by other entrances. With their backs against the wall, both of them were keeping
their senses sharp about them.
It was clear they were uneasy about the whole situation.
"You placed a guard that you trust to look over him," Raze commented. "He should be fine,
unless Alter is already in the academy itself and is targeting him. As for himself, I doubt that
he will try to escape, but if he does then, there is a chance he could find a way out."
"He said to me once that he was a detective, and he seems to be a smart person."
"Right Alter, that group that has been brought up a few times in the past," Dame said. "An
organisation of otherworlders and I'm guessing that he's one as well, but what he said
about these Deleters that the group have, do you think it's true."
"That the organization has such strong people that they could wipe out entire clans? I
mean, wouldn't we on Pagna, the clans know about it at least. The Demonic Faction
certainly don't know about those capable."
"Did you guys know about us and our strength?" Amir asked. "Alter has been gathering
items, powerful items from other dimensions for years. They have done so with the goal of
protecting Pagna, and many of them have joined them thinking this is the case."
"Because of that, they haven't exactly been using these items freely, if they did it would go
against their goals and people within the organization would question them. But if they
hand these items to a few powerful people all under the guise of their goals, then I can see
it."
Raze then decided to add his own thoughts to the conversation as well. "Not just items,
there will be powerful individuals like myself kept under wraps in their organization as
well. I think it would be wise if we were to follow what Himmy said.
"We need to keep an eye on Alter entering the Faction, if we find out who they are, then it's
best we keep it low. Maybe we can be the ones to start to feed them the information that we
want them to know."
The others agreed and thought it sounded reasonable, including that of Amir, but with
everything going on, and with all of those in the room, it was then that Amir decided it was
time for him to ask a question that he had been wondering about for a while now.
"Raze... I want to know something, I know why Alter are against the Bonum Society, why
they would want to control the Dark Faction, but from his words from before, it sounded
like they were after you... and I don't mean the Dark Faction leader, they were after the one
with the name Dark Magus... is there a reason for that, or something that we should know."
Although Safa and Simyon wanted to tell Amir off for asking such a direct question, the two
of them also wanted to know the truth of what was going on. They wanted to know who
was the Dark Magus and even more about Raze.
Raze looked at the table for a while, with his index finger he was drawing a circle on the
table, thinking about what to say, and then he lifted his head up.
"You have all been kept in the dark long enough, I know the reasons for you doing what you
need to do, and we are all working to help each other out, so I guess I should tell you a bit
about myself then, but I can only guess why they might be after me."
"As you all know, I am an otherworlder, from the world Alterian, and in that world I was
known as the Dark Magus," Raze stated. "In that world I had made quite a name for myself,
and I also made quite a few enemies."
"It seems that the head of Alter is also a member of Alterian, I can only guess he may know
someone from Alterian that knows me, or has a grudge against me. The name Dark Magus
would only be known in our world. Which is why I have come to such a conclusion."
"Wow." Liam immediately said. "So someone has that deep of a grudge for you that it's even
transcending worlds."
"No, it might not be that they have a grudge for me, it's the fact that I have a grudge against
them, and they are afraid that I will do anything I can to get it done."
For an instant, everyone in the room could feel what gave Raze the drive that he had, to
always push forward to get stronger, and if his enemy was part of this strong organization
like Alter, then they somewhat understood why he needed to continue to grow and had
done the things he had done so far.
"So then, what did you do for them to go after you like that, or what did they do to you?"
Liam asked.
"I'm sure it wasn't Raze," Simyon said. "I mean, we already know that Alter are secretly the
bad guys thanks to Amir. They must have just done whatever they do now, and annoyed
Raze, he's just getting involved in all of this just like he did with the mess at the Pagna
academy." There was a pause when Simyon said that, and then turned to look at Raze.
"Right?"
"I said before, due to all of your help and continuing to stay by my side I will tell you what I
can, and it's up to you to decide." Raze said. "If you were to mention the name Dark Magus
to anyone from Alterian, they would instantly know who I was."
"If my name was mentioned, then fear would strike all of those that heard it, wondering if I
would be around the corner. The name I obtained was because I used Dark magic, a magic
that is banned in my world."
"It was a power that I learned, to get rid of those that did me harm, those known as the
Grand Magus. I believe they are also involved in all of this mess in Pagna, but I just haven't
connected the dots."
"I continued using the name the Dark Magus here in Pagna, hoping that it would ignite
something and it seems it has. So a link has appeared between the Grand Magus and Alter.
Since they are after me, I guess I need to do whatever I can to stop them as well."
"What did the Grand Magus do to you?" Safa asked.
Raze opened his mouth about to answer but then he stopped. "It appears I'm not ready to
relive those moments myself. Maybe when my anger has been quenched slightly I can tell
you the full details. But I can tell you all one thing, the man in front of you is not a good
person... we are on the same side. None of you have wronged me, so there is no worry
though." Liam started to think of the times he saw Raze have a hint of anger. He was
starting to imagine what he might have done in Alterian, but didn't dare to casually ask
further.
"So for now, we should follow Himmy's warning," Amir said. "I will ask the society to be on
the lookout for any people that don't fit in."
"What is there to worry anyway, I'm sure the Deleters' powers will have been exaggerated,"
Liam commented, waving his hand.
"Right, but you have to know that even the past Dark Faction leader was worried about
Alter," Raze added. "Anyway, whatever we do, let's not attack Alter."
At that moment, entering into the academy area was a group that had never been at the
academy before. They were wearing the regular Pagna clothing, thin and soft on the skin,
but the way they were observing the place, it was quite clear they were outsiders.
"So we need to gather as much information as we can right, about this Dark Magus
person?"
One of them asked.
"Right, and I think I know the perfect place," one said, pointing to the sign. "They say that
information passes regularly through these types of places, but what a strange name for a
place... the Perfect Noodles shop."
Chapter 824 The Real Dark Magus
Chapter 824 The Real Dark Magus
In the Light faction, inside one of the many inns in the city, a group sat around a table,
having just finished a meal.
There was an odd atmosphere as they drank their drinks, not a single person had said a
word even during the meal. While the rest of the place was lively and filled with rowdy
customers.
Marcus, the head of the group, lifted his large glass of beer and finished it with a big gulp,
wiping away the foam from his mouth. Ile stared at the hanging heads that were in front of
him.
"I think I might be starting to prefer Pagna's beer to what I have back home, although
maybe I'm just forgetting the taste, Marcus said. "It has been a long time since then, it
would be nice to ask him as well, what he thought."
However, his comment didn't get a reply, which bothered him as he looked at the faces of
his special squad from Alter. A squad that had been together for over a year now.
"Come on, speak up. What's going on? You've all been sulking for a while now" Marcus
asked. "If anyone should be upset, it's me!"
"A person I've considered a friend has been turned into a criminal.
"I have something to ask!" Tanya said, slamming a shot glass onto the table. She had been
drinking hard liquor and, along with Marcus, was one of the few who could stomach it."
"Why didn't you take the job? It would've been a big score for our squad. Instead, now
we're running investigations, and that's not even the main task of our squad, Tanya asked.
"You really wanted him to take the job?" Shing replied. "When we're involved in something
even Alter doesn't know about? There's a big chance we'd end up in the same situation as
Himmy and his group If that happened."
Marcus let out a big sigh, knowing full well his squad was divided by the decision he had
made.
As squad leader, he had been assigned a task for him and his group by one of the
Programmers in Alter.
They were selected because of the large variation in their group. The task was to head to
the Dark Faction and investigate everything they could about the Dark Faction leader, the
Dark Magus. There was also an extra note to find out more about how the name "Dark
Magus' came to be given to that particular individual.
The thing was, Marcus and his group had been present at the Martial Arts Tournament.
They had seen Raze, a person they had worked with briefly when transporting him from
the Demonic Faction to Himmy for a handover.
That task was done off the books, not an official order from the Programmers. It was
something Marcus had done for fellow people from the same world.
So Marcus knew that the person at the event, the Dark Magus, and the member from Alter
were all the same person.
He had a good idea why Himmy was now wanted and could play out everything in his head.
Given all the connections, he had decided to decline the job, no matter how well Alter
would have treated them afterward or even if their positions were raised.
"Alter is a large group, and they've already sent in Kelp's team for the job anyway. I think,
with what might happen, it suits them more, Marcus added.
"Kelp's team?" the young warrior asked. 'Aren't they a bit extreme with their methods?"
"Right" Marcus answered. "Like us, rather than being an investigation team, they're more of
a team used to completing tasks with their own hands, which makes me nervous!
"And if anything, the reason I declined this job is because of him. So, if you want to know
why, he can tell you what he told me."
Marcus pointed toward Barlan, the mage of the group.
Not just any mage, but Barlan had been part of the Glory Guild in Alterian before joining
Pagna and becoming a member of Alter.
The other members of the squad turned to Barlan, waiting for his answer.
"Come on, spit it out!" Tanya said. "What's so bad about this job? We didn't have to take out
the kid... we just needed to learn more about him."
Before Barlan spoke, he took a big gulp.
"None of you understand," Barlan said. "Because none of you are from Alterian. If you were,
no one would take this job."
"I don't know if it's a coincidence or not, but judging by how Alter is acting, they're being
cautious too. If that kid we met is really the Dark Magus from Alterian, then we should stay
as far away from him and his group as possible!
"What the heck?" Tanya said, downing another shot without flinching. "You're making him
sound like the boogeyman. Sure, the kid was strong enough to go up against all of us, but
we were going easy on him. And the way you're shaking right now, it's almost like he's
some type of god.:
"The Dark Magus is a nine-star mage who can use Dark Magic," Barlan blurted out in fear.
"The skills he used back then... now it's starting to make sense to me!
"That kind of power is enough to take out an entire faction by himself, and the fact he
managed to take over the Dark Faction is proof of that!
"If we want to live, we should all stay as far away as possible from the Dark Magus and
anything related to him!
The teasing from Tanya stopped, and no one else wanted to say more. They could see
Barlan wasn't joking and was clearly startled.
However, there was more to it. When Barlan had met Raze and saw him saving all those
people of Pagna, his actions didn't match the image of the Dark Magus Barlan had in his
head.
"But it might not be him," Barlan said. "Something doesn't make sense. The Dark Magus
from Alterian is an old man... but the one we met was just a kid. None of this makes sense!"
Chapter 825: The Chef?
Chapter 825: The Chef?

"What am I doing right now?" were the words that had come out of Skyler's mouth as he
was carefully stretching out a large piece of dough.
He was doing so carefully while also using his Qi, trying to infuse it into his techniques.
"Add slightly more Qi when you compound the dough up, and refine your control when you
stretch it out," Zon ordered.
"Yes, Chef!" Skyler shouted as he continued with his work.
Skyler was imagining how he had gotten into this situation. Instead of wearing the
respectable Clan clothes of the Wu Club Clan, he was wearing a chef's outfit.
Instead of his Qi being used to train and ascend into a mighty warrior that the heavens
would be proud of, he was here making noodles of all things.
Tears wanted to flow from Skyler's eyes, but knowing fully who was watching him, Skyler
continued to work.
"I can't believe it," Rane said, standing next to Zon. "You're not just a good cook and a good
fighter, but it looks like you have an eye for selecting talent as well.
"The noodles that Skyler makes are close to yours."
"Right, but we still don't have the capacity to fully deal with all of the orders we make," Zon
replied. "Ideally, I'd like the original staff to focus on prep work, and the final details to be
done by those like Skyler."
When Zon saw Skyler's body, he knew he had a body and Qi perfect for crafting noodles. In
fact, that was what was missing.
The power he had with his nano machine body could be replaced by Pagna warriors. But
what warriors would curb their ambition to be the strongest and join a noodle shop?
This was why it didn't seem like a viable option for Zon, that was until he met Skyler during
the attack, and came up with the perfect solution. Now, here the two of them were.
With Skyler on the team, Zon was closer to getting his perfect team together to create the
perfect noodles.
The Perfect Noodles shop was just as busy as it usually would be, with long queues outside
the door and others waiting to come in.
Finally, a man named Kelp, with green flat hair, had been called along with his group of
four. In total, the five of them sat at a table and were quick to make their order.
"Are you sure this is the right place?" one of the men asked.
"I'm sure. Information passes through and is even secretly shared in these types of
restaurants, and with how busy it is, I'm sure we'll find something of use. We just need to
make some friends," Kelp said.
Kelp and his group were part of Alter, sent to gather information. There was a reason they
had been sent, and it was because they were a special group composed of Pagna warriors.
There were no Otherworlders in their group, but they knew of the existence of
Otherworlders. Each of them were strong middle-stage warriors as well, usually working as
Wanderers. However, they would make sure to hide their strength in their jobs from time
to time.
Due to the squad being selected to go off on missions in different areas, it wasn't beneficial
for them to catch the eye of a high-ranking clan and be recruited.
"Anyway, the rest of you follow my lead," Kelp said.
After tasting the delicious noodles, Kelp went on to offer free drinks to those at the nearby
tables, all to be paid by him.
He stated that they were celebrating a successful mission, and the others kindly accepted
the free drinks.
The guests would ask questions about where they were from and how they found
themselves there, and Kelp and the others would reply back.
After a few joyous conversations, it was time for Kelp to start going on with the task at
hand.
"We ventured over here because we had a job nearby, and we were wondering, do you
know what the Dark Magus is like?" Kelp asked.
"The Dark Magus?" the man looked at him with a raised eyebrow, his face a little hot and
red from the drink.
"Oh, you mean the Dark Faction leader. Things have been... mostly the same."
"Yeah!" another one shouted. "We can't really form an opinion of him because we don't
even see him. Things are the same."
"I'm just happy there's a strong leader at the top. It seems to have stopped the Light Faction
and the Demonic Faction from doing anything."
Kelp was unhappy with the answers he got, but he continued to persist, asking in
roundabout ways about anything to do with the Dark Magus.
In the end, though, it seemed like the people knew nothing. If anything, what they had
learned was that to them, the new leader of the Dark Faction just appeared out of thin air.
Since their lives hadn't been affected much, they didn't bother to look into matters.
In the restaurant, there were also a few Pagna warriors present. Most likely teachers from
the academy or related to the students inside.
So Kelp went on to question them as well. During the questioning, just like before, there
wasn't much to add.
However, there were other things they found out, like how all of the clans were attacked
just before the Dark Magus became the leader of the Faction.
"Really!" Kelp said with his eyes lit up. "Yeah, but it wasn't by the Dark Faction leader
himself. It seemed to be others around him, you know, like those from the Crimson Crane."
"Are they strong enough to take out entire clans in the Dark Faction?" Kelp replied.
"Who knows," the man shrugged. "I wasn't there, but there's someone you can ask. I believe
one of the clans that had been attacked was the Wu Club Clan."
"Right, and we have a member of that clan here!" another customer said.
"Where?" Kelp asked, ecstatic to follow up with more questions, and then they saw the
customers pointing at a chef behind the counter of all places.
Chapter 826: You Are Strange People
Chapter 826: You Are Strange People

Kelp stared at the chef in question, watching his every move. Right now, he was filling the
dough, stretching it out, and performing a type of routine in front of one of the tables.
It was a way to enhance their experience, and the way he stretched out the dough and spun
it in the air, it was as if he had been doing it for years, perfecting his craftsmanship.
'That man was someone who used to be a Pagna warrior?' Kelp thought. 'Why would a
Pagna warrior be a chef, and from the look of things, that person has been a chef for years
with how skilled he is.'
With Kelp and his group being pagna warriors themselves, they knew the pride of being a
warrior, which was why they couldn't understand someone who would give up such a
thing.
Looking back at the customers that were speaking, Kelp wanted to ask if they were sure
they had the right person, but they were already gone.
"What should we do, sir?" One of the Alter members asked. "Do you want to try and
question the chef?"
Kelp waved his hand.
"They have to be mistaken. That can't be one of the warriors. There are plenty of warriors
at these tables from the Dark Faction. Let's try to get friendly with them, buy them a few
drinks, and find out what happened."
Kelp and his group were quick to enact their plan, and it had worked. With a few drinks
down the others' bellies, their lips had become somewhat looser.
And Kelp was getting answers to his questions, but they weren't what he had expected. He
learned of the warriors, how young they were, and the power they wielded.
As well as warriors they had never seen before helping them fight. Some wielded special
weapons in their attacks as well.
Things weren't making sense-how such people could get such strength and the weapons
that they had used.
On top of that, the interesting fact Kelp learned was about the items taken from them.
Artifacts left within the clans for so long.
It was burying a deep hatred among some of the clans with the newcomers, but there was
nothing they could do.
Eventually, after going around the entire restaurant, Kelp and his group returned to their
seats and ordered more drinks. They needed to in order to stay in the restaurant a little
while longer.
"What do we do now? Although we found out some information, and maybe what this Dark
Magus ordered others to do, I don't think this is what Alter was after," one of the guys said.
"You're right, we can't go empty-handed. We will have to dig deeper, maybe head to some
of the clans, and head to the academy if need be," Kelp replied.
"Isn't that risky? And how can we be sure they'll answer any questions we have anyway?"
Kelp reached into his pocket and pulled out a rounded meat-like stick. It looked somewhat
like a chopstick, but it was thicker and more rounded on both ends.
"This is a little gift from one of the programmers. It's the first time they've given me such an
artifact. Hold this in front of a person's eyes, ask them anything, and they will have to tell
the truth." Kelp then passed it to one of his allies, Ponz, who had been in his group for the
longest
time.
"This really works?" Ponz asked, looking at it.
"Try it out here if you want," Kelp said.
It was then that Ponz held up the device and went to hold it in front of one of the fellow
members in the group, but Kelp reached out and grabbed his wrist, shaking his head.
"Not on us," Kelp stated. "Have you not heard from the other squads?"
The other members shook their heads and leaned in closer, knowing full well this would be
something others shouldn't hear.
"Some of the items in Alter are powerful, and they practically have no downside, but a lot of
the items given to groups like us sometimes seem to have drawbacks."
"Now, Alter would never give out something that would harm our squads, after all, no one
would use such items and there would be a lot of trust lost in Alter. But they don't fully
explain the effects it can have on others."
"What do you mean?" Ponz asked.
"Let me give you an example. That item certainly does what they told me it will allow us to
ask any question and get the truth-but there could be side effects on the person used."
"Maybe they lose their memory of the last two years. Perhaps a year of their life would be
taken, or maybe even they can never speak again."
"These are the types of things that have been spoken about from the other squads."
"And they don't tell us this?" another member shouted.
While the member who was moments away from having the artifact used on him was
staring ahead at Ponz, thinking what could have happened if Kelp hadn't explained in time.
"At some point, they have to test some of these items' effects. Some might not be so
obvious, and as I said, none of them harm us, so it's not to worry. Anyway, we should
probably find out what side effects it has before we start entering clans with this thing,"
Kelp said, gesturing for Ponz to get to work with the item.
Understanding the assignment, Ponz went to the closest table they had been friendly with
for a while now.
He offered to buy them a drink, and then, under the guise of a magic trick, Ponz pulled out
the special device and held it right in front of the man.
He then lifted his hand, ready to press his thumb on the top, to activate the artifact, pushing
down.
Until a hand reached out and grabbed him by his wrist.
"What are you exactly doing with that?"
Ponz looked at the man that grabbed his hand and noticed the white clothing-it was the
chef, the one they had been told about.
"You guys have been acting strange ever since you got in here," Skyler said.
Chapter 827: Don't Break The Rule!
Chapter 827: Don't Break The Rule!

In the Perfect Noodle shop, the chefs behind their cooking counters, as well as the
customers that would regularly come, had all stopped what they were doing for a moment.
They looked at the scene playing out with Skyler, and had large smiles on their faces.
Kelp and the other warriors noticed the strange looks the others were giving as well.
'Seriously, what is up with this restaurant?' Kelp thought.
Little did they know that what Skyler had just done was something he had recently been
doing on the regular, and everyone was waiting to see what would happen next.
"Are we taking bets on this one?" one of the chefs asked.
"I'll say five minutes, these guys look a bit stronger than the last lot," another added.
"Well, you know it takes longer because of Zon's and Rane's rules, right? That nothing in
the shop can get destroyed."
The reason they were looking with anticipation and smiles was because of what Skyler had
done since he had joined.
No one quite knew the exact reason why, but since Skyler had come to work for them, he
had butted heads with a large number of guests.
It happened from time to time, between waiters and the chefs themselves. Even Rane got a
bit too emotional in the past when someone would criticize his cooking.
In this case though, maybe it was the build-up of the situation. The fact that Skyler was
working as a chef instead of practicing his martial arts.
Or maybe it was the type of people as well. The word that Skyler from the Wu Club Clan
was working as a chef had gotten around to those who knew Skyler.
Those who had lost fights to him in the past had come to see if this was true for themselves,
visiting the restaurant, and proceeded to mock him.
Skyler didn't hold back and proved he was still a skillful warrior, dealing with all those that
annoyed and mocked him.
However, Zon and Rane had rules if he was to fight so much in the restaurant-not to
destroy the restaurant, and not to allow any other customers to be harmed.
Right now, in their eyes, this was just another one of those moments.
"What are you doing? You guys have been bothering the customers all night, asking them
strange questions!" Skyler said. "I let it go since you were buying a lot of stuff, but then you
bring this strange object out, there's a whole line of customers waiting to get in! Just eat
your food and leave!"
Skyler was in a bad mood. He was frustrated because Zon had told him to correct his form
multiple times when stretching out the dough.
He thought he had been doing it perfectly, but Skyler was told again and again to use his Qi
for cooking of all things.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing!" Ponz said. "We're paying customers! You can't just
ask us to leave, and no one else seems to be bothered by this except you."
"Besides, don't you know who I am? I'm a Pagna warrior. You shouldn't lay your hands so
lightly on a Pagna warrior."
The words were irritating Skyler quite a bit, and the chefs behind started to laugh out loud
because they had heard similar words before, and it was when Skyler and his group had
first come to the restaurant as well.
"Pagna warriors mean nothing here, you mean nothing, so get out!" Skyler said, tensing his
hand around Ponz's wrist.
The humiliation had reached its peak for Ponz. A dirty chef had used his hands on him, a
carefully trained warrior, and there wasn't an ounce of respect.
With his other hand, he went to strike at the chef.
In that instant, Skyler let go of Ponz's hand, then swirled, knocking the strike away in the
air.
Ponz was slightly surprised by this-he was a middle-stage warrior and had used Qi in his
strike, yet it had been blocked. But with his frustration reaching a new high, he continued
to throw fists.
Again and again, Skyler blocked the punches from hitting his body, effortlessly knocking
the hands away.
The way he was moving, it was almost the same movements he made when pulling the
dough. The onlookers, seeing this, almost felt like it was a performance, and some even
started to clap and cheer.
Right then, Skyler knocked the hands away, then swirled around the back, hitting Ponz on
the back of the head with a large amount of force.
It knocked him out, sending his body to the floor, but Skyler caught the man by the back of
his shirt before slowly letting him lie on the floor.
Immediately, Kelp and the rest of the group got up to surround the chef.
"I guess I should have taken that other man's words seriously. You are a Pagna warrior and
a pretty strong one. Maybe you're just the person we were looking for," Kelp said.
"Right, scum like you would of course gang up on a single person like me," Skyler said as he
rolled his sleeves up to his elbows, ready for a fight.
One of the warriors charged forward and gave a large kick to the center. Skyler lifted both
of his forearms, blocking the attack.
Right after, another strike came toward his head, but he was smoothly able to avoid the hit.
Three warriors of great skill were attacking him at once, but Skyler was able to avoid them
each time.
'I might be imagining things, but have I gotten better?... but how?... all I've been doing for
almost two weeks now is making noodles!' Skyler thought.
With that thought in his head, there was one fist, incredibly fast compared to the others,
aimed right at his face, thrown by Kelp.
The fist solidly hit his head, lifting Skyler off his feet and sending him back, crashing into
one of the tables, breaking it apart.
The customers nearby rushed to their feet and moved away, slightly startled by what had
just
happened.
"You should have known when to quit," Kelp said.
Skyler, rubbing his forehead that was slightly sore, could feel the presence of someone else
standing by his side.
"It's... the same for you," Skyler mumbled.
Now Kelp and his group could see another man in chef's clothes standing right next to
Skyler.
"You've broken the rule," Zon said. "You destroyed the restaurant's property."
Chapter 828: Unstoppable Chef

The grin on Rane's face was the largest of all those in the restaurant currently. His large
forearms rested on top of his belly as he looked ahead.
"I can't believe that Zon is getting involved himself," Rane said. "Maybe we'll see the same
level of skills he displayed that day."
"Shouldn't we still be worried, Rane?" one of the cooks asked. "After all, there are multiple
warriors, and it looks like they were able to get the better of Skyler as well."
Although many felt that way, it was because they knew nothing about the Pagna warrior
world, and it was the same for Rane. He was just trusting his gut.
Without realizing it, he had recruited a very, very special person.
"You cooks have all gone mad to stand up and fight against us! I doubt any clan is going to
stand up for harming a bunch of cooks!" Kelp shouted.
As he did, the others by his side all rushed in toward where Zon was.
"Your Qi control has gotten a lot better," Zon commented.
Skyler realized that these comments were aimed at him.
"If you keep at it, your noodles will be close to perfection. It's a shame, unlike with your
group, with these, I don't see anyone who is talented."
The first man came to strike, and it missed, going right past Zon's face. Just moments after
the strike was thrown, a large cracking sound was heard.
The arm that was used to strike-the bone in the forearm-had been snapped, broken apart.
Right after, Zon grabbed the man by the face and threw him to the side as another
opponent came to strike.
This time, there were two striking at the same time. Stepping ahead, Zon spun his body.
Skyler, watching, was focused-so focused that he was trying to see every detail. It felt like
he was watching the movement in slow motion.
'How is it possible? How is he able to move the right way to avoid the two hits?'
One attacker was throwing a punch, the other a kick, and Zon had managed to move and
bend his body in such a way that both attacks missed him.
If Zon hadn't stepped forward, or tried to block or avoid the attack in any other way, it
seemed like the attack would have struck his body.
This type of calculation, this type of foresight, it was impossible for a human-at least one at
the middle stage.
Zon, after avoiding their attacks and going past them, grabbed the back of their clothing
and pulled their bodies, smashing them into each other.
Right after their bodies collided, he threw them to the floor. Lifting up his foot, he then
stomped down, crushing the bones in both of their legs.
They wouldn't be getting up anytime soon, even as Pagna warriors who could use Qi to
speed up their healing.
Seeing how swiftly and easily Zon had dealt with three warriors, there was now only Kelp
left. "Skyler was right to intervene," Zon said as he held the strange metallic object in his
hand. "This item would have done harm. I can tell from the look on your face."
"If he hadn't stepped in, then I would have myself. I was able to listen in on your
conversation from the beginning, and it has been bugging me."
"Who sent you here?" Zon asked.
Kelp had one hand reaching inside his shirt, pressing onto something multiple times.
It was the only thing he could do in this situation.
'How the heck? Who is this person? How did he defeat multiple middle-stage warriors with
ease! And he's just a chef, and I've never even seen this person.'
'Something is going on in this Dark Faction. None of it is making sense. I'm not even sure if
this person used any Qi!' Kelp thought.
His mind was running wild, and although he had activated a particular device hidden
within his shirt, it wouldn't help him in the situation he was in now.
"We'll pay for all the damage we did in the restaurant and more. I apologize, we'll leave
right away!" Kelp said.
When he finished his sentence, Zon had already gone right across the room and delivered a
kick.
A loud crack resounded through Kelp's body. He couldn't feel the pain, but the sound was
echoing in his mind as he saw himself fall to the floor.
As he did, he turned to look at what happened and saw his legs mangled.
Zon then went into Kelp's shirt and pulled out the strange device. It was like a rectangular
disk, with a button in the center.
At the same time, there was another device, white in color, with a small marking of a golden
"I."
"If you had said that from the beginning and didn't act strangely, I might have believed
you," Zon said as he held both items in his hand.
"What is this? What did you do?" Zon asked.
In Zon's world, there were many technological advancements. At first, he thought it might
have been some type of makeshift bomb device to be used in an emergency situation.
But it had done no such thing. On the flat circular device, he could tell that it was sending
out some transmission, but there was no message.
If he were to guess, it was a device to signal someone in case of an emergency.
The question was, what would happen now? And that's what Zon wanted to find out.
"Tell me!" Zon said again, looking down at Kelp.
Just as he said those words, seemingly appearing out of nowhere into the room, was a
student wearing a red headband.
The red headband no longer signified those belonging to the academy, but instead, those
part of the special assassination force being created by Cronker from the Crimson Crane.
The person who had arrived was Tinson, one of the first three of Cronker's students.
"I'm here to deliver a message!" Tinson said. "We are to be on the lookout for anyone
suspicious. If you find them, you are to keep an eye on them, but whatever you do, don't
interact with or attack them!"
When Tinson lifted his head and looked at the chaos around, he realized that it might have
been a little too late.
Chapter 829: A Good Man Can Change

At first, Rane was quite excited to see the magnificent Zon in action again. Although he
wasn't a particular fan of fighting, every time Zon did something, he was amazed.
And although he was amazed this time, he never expected Zon to go so far. With the
condition the warriors were in, he felt like there was no choice but to quickly close up the
shop.
He wanted to stop rumors from spreading, and even though there were many witnesses
who could claim it was the fault of the others most of the time, this case didn't seem so
much like that.
Especially since this group of warriors had been going around buying food and drinks for
everyone.
They were all quickly cleared out of the restaurant, and Rane even told most of the workers
to go home for the day.
The only ones left in the restaurant were Kelp and his injured group, Zon, Skyler, and
Tinson, the person with the red headband that had appeared.
Right now, Rane was clearing up the broken table and getting a mop ready to clean up
some of the blood that had been spilled.
'I expected him to lash out, but he overpowered them with ease. He broke their bones, and
none of them even stood a chance,' Rane thought. 'Just what type of monster did I hire for
this place?'
Skyler had similar thoughts, but they were in the opposite direction.
'This man, he must be some type of hidden master. A person who's lived a long life and
decided to go into hiding by working at a noodle shop of all places!' Skyler thought as he
searched one of the injured warriors.
Moving his clothing and digging deep into their pockets.
'When I fought earlier, my techniques were more refined. Making noodles-it must be some
type of secret technique or something!' Skyler thought, and eventually pulled out a small
round device with a button and a golden eye.
It wasn't just Skyler; soon after, Tinson had also pulled out the same device from one of the
others.
Eventually, five of the same devices were placed on the table, each of them discovered on
the others' bodies.
Kelp had one as well, but he also had the flattened round item on him, which Zon was still
holding.
"So what exactly are all of these things?" Skyler asked. "I've never seen them before. Why
would a bunch of warriors have them?"
Tinson, who had been ordered to deliver the message to Zon, didn't know much himself-
just to say what he had already said. But it looked like he was a step too late.
So he wanted to get the full details before he would head back to inform Cronker, who
would go on to tell the rest.
'I just hope this isn't as bad as I think it is. I don't want to see an angry Raze again,' Tinson
thought back to when he was in the underground assessment and how he managed to
survive without Raze taking his head, like many others had been taken at the time.
His life was turning around and looking up, and then this situation had to occur for him.
"These devices mean these people are all from Alter," Zon answered. "Only their members
carry these. It allows them to confirm that there are others just like them."
"Alter? That group of weirdo shaman-type people?" Skyler commented.
It was Tinson who was surprised. Being closer to Cronker, he and the rest of the Crimson
Crane had learned more about the world of Pagna.
The real group of Alter and Otherworlders, the Bonum Society, and more.
"It seems like whoever ordered you to deliver this message knew these people were
coming," Zon said. "But I don't know why they wouldn't want me to deal with them and
leave them alone instead."
Skyler wasn't really following, but just nodded and decided to keep helping Rane, though
he continued to watch what Zon was doing-the man who had become his biggest
admiration. Zon flipped the flat device in his hand, while in the other he held the long
metallic stick.
He then went over to Kelp, who was tied up in a chair. His legs were bandaged, though it
wouldn't do much.
"I'm going to ask you what does this device do?" Zon asked. "Why did you press it when you
felt like you were in danger?"
Kelp looked at Zon with weak eyes and glanced at the rest of his people.
"Are you going to kill me if I don't tell the truth? Do you think a Pagna warrior is afraid of
death?" Kelp replied. "Have you even killed anyone before? You shouldn't say words so
lightly."
Zon placed both of his hands on Kelp's shoulders and pushed into them deeply, digging his
fingers inside.
"I consider myself a good person, always doing things for the sake of an entire country so
people can live better lives," Zon said. "The thing is, doing such a thing, there were my fair
share of people I needed to get rid of."
"As you might expect from a good person, taking a life isn't easy. After doing so, there are
endless sleepless nights, images appearing in your mind, and voices in your head."
"But I'm going to tell you something that only a person like me would know-it gets easier,
and it doesn't matter who the person is."
"In the end, everything becomes a blur. They just become a bunch of numbers-tasks that
you need to do. It doesn't matter about the age or the type of person in front of you."
"Because all of those feelings of guilt that you had the first time, they get shoved deeper and
deeper."
"Getting rid of you wouldn't weigh on my conscience at all, and besides..." Zon then pulled
out the special metallic pen-like object.
"I heard what you said before-with this device, I can find out the truth, right?"
"Wait!" Kelp shouted before Zon even tried to use the device. "They gave it to me. They said
if the mission was to fail or I felt like I was in danger, I was to push the button."
"In doing so, it would send a message out... the place is deemed too dangerous for other
squads to enter."
"And what does that mean?" Zon said, getting his face closer to Kelp.
Kelp then gulped down his saliva.
"When no squads can complete a mission, it means that Alter has no choice. They will
send... a
Deleter here."
Chapter 830: Alter's Aim
Chapter 830: Alter's Aim

Thanks to Cronker, the message was delivered to all of those that were there supporting
Raze and his group, including members of the Bonum Society.
They were to look for anyone acting strange or investigating strange areas. They were then
to report back while keeping an eye on those individuals as well.
After the message was sent out, Raze decided to return to where Himmy was, and he had
done so along with Anna.
Since the two of them were part of the original squad along with Himmy, he thought it was
best for them both to come.
On top of that, he knew that Anna also had the skill to detect if a person was lying.
There was one thing that Raze was sure of, having spent quite a bit of time with Anna. She
had next to no care about Alter at all.
She was only here to stay close to Zon, who was sticking with Raze and his group for the
time being.
She had found the person she was looking for, the person she served, so she had long ago
cut her ties with Alter.
"This is a reunion that I didn't expect," Himmy said as he sat up on the bed he was lying on.
"You can continue lying down, although I'm pretty sure you're all nicely healed up," Raze
commented.
"It's okay. I think the matters we will be talking about deserve to happen face-to-face,"
Himmy said as he got off the bedside and headed to a table in the room.
Shortly after, both Anna and Raze sat down as well.
"I told you a lot about Alter already, so I think in the world of fairness, I'd like to know more
about you, Raze," Himmy said. "I want to know, what is it, or why is it, that Alter seems to
be after you?"
"I've met a lot of mages during my time, a lot of Otherworlders, but this is the first time
there's been such a drastic reaction."
"I've told the others a bit, but I guess I should explain from a point of view that maybe a
detective would understand."
"I'm sure you have wanted criminals in your world. I heard that the one in charge of Alter is
a mage, so he's most likely from Alterian as well."
"The name I use, the Dark Magus, is the most wanted person in Alterian."
Himmy, hearing the news, had some reaction as his eyes widened and he leaned back in his
seat, but it was clear what Raze was saying-that he was this person in question.
Of course, Anna, who was by Raze's side, could tell everything he was saying was true as
well. "You don't seem too surprised?" Raze asked.
"What, you wanted a different reaction?" Himmy said, raising an eyebrow. "You want me to
pull out some handcuffs and take you to Alter, the people who just tried to kill me?"
"Trust me, during my time as a detective, I had some pretty wild cases. Even the force itself
was often corrupt. Just to finish cases, or to pass numbers to the higher-ups, they would pin
it on the most obvious person rather than the real culprit."
"Maybe kids see things as black and white, but the world really isn't like that. Things can be
seen as simple: no matter what, killing is bad."
"Even if the person has done a terrible thing, taking a life is bad, and there are those goody
two-shoes that could never ever take a life, no matter what circumstances they were in."
"They see even a life for a life as wrong and believe there are other ways, but sometimes
there just isn't another way. The need to kill one person to save many has come up in
history throughout the world many times."
Himmy then went on to do his normal gesture, pulling his fingers close to his lips and
letting out a big huff of air.
"So, you're a badass mage that went against the system. I can see why they're scared of
you... so are you going after them-going after Alter?" Himmy asked.
Raze nodded in response.
"Alter isn't the one going after me, but now that I'm sure there's a link between them and
the Grand Magus, I will be going after them as well."
"No wonder they want to get to you first. I mean, you already took over the Dark Faction,
something Alter has failed to do for a long time," Himmy said.
"I'm no fool. I need to look into who my employers are, and I could see the goals of those
Programmers from a mile away."
"I'll give you the details you want. I'll tell you where Alter's base is, what items they have,
their numbers, their power, and everything, but I don't know what they're really after in
the end."
"What I do know is that, with Alter and the movement of the squads, for a long time they've
been trying to spread their power so they could control one of the three factions."
"They were unable to infiltrate the Demonic Faction-it was a lost cause from the beginning.
They seem to have some type of instinct to those that aren't one of their own."
"Although they have some power in the Dark Faction, they were unable to progress
extremely far."
Raze could guess why. Bofan was here originally, perhaps slowing them down, and the
Bonum Society base was in the Dark Faction as well.
Lastly, there was Murkel and the fact that he was a Red Hybrid. From the outside, maybe
the Dark Faction looked like the easiest to control, but it was quite difficult.
Raze was only able to do so by working together with others and using a bit of help to get
rid of Murkel. If he hadn't had the chalice back then, even Raze would have failed in taking
over the Dark Faction.
"Right now, the faction that Alter has the most control over is the Light Faction. Fighting
against Alter means you will be going up against them as well."
"And just with the Dark Faction, I don't think it will be enough."
Chapter 831: The Real Raze's Body
Chapter 831: The Real Raze's Body

The fact that the Light Faction and Alter were closely linked didn't come as a huge surprise
to Raze.
One of his first instances of running into a mage figure was fighting against one of the
Elders of the Dawnblade Clan.
The fact that he could use magic, and seemed to somewhat know the name of the Dark
Magus, always made Raze believe there were a few links.
"You know, the Dark Faction and Demonic Faction, the clans don't know the real power of
Alter."
"Even those that work for Alter, like me, have friends they've made in Pagna, and different
areas they call home."
"Because of how Alter was built up, it's hard for them to act on their own. So what do they
need to do? They need to use someone else to do their bidding and support them as much
as they can. If they can't do it with the Dark Faction, they'll do it with the Light Faction."
Raze could already see it. Alter had gathered artifacts from all different dimensions and all
over Pagna, with the goal of making the world a safer place.
Now they had such power-if they gave it all to the Light Faction, they would quickly become
a powerful force.
However, if they did so, stating they were just trying to help the Light Faction, it would
have been a lot harder for them to do, or get people from Alter to help them.
"Alter already has a large number of their people in high positions, even some as Clan
Heads in the Light Faction, so it's not hard for them to do," Himmy continued. "Of course,
Alter didn't tell me this stuff."
"I ran my own investigation from time to time, rather than just blindly following their
programmers like the others."
"You mentioned these programmers before," Raze said. "And this Deleter-what are they?
What is the system of Alter in the first place?"
Himmy went on to tell Raze the layout of the Alter base, where it was located, its secret
location, and how everything worked in the place.
"The Deleters, along with the items and the Light Faction, are all a dangerous combination
to deal with," Himmy continued. "If I were you, I would choose to target one of them."
"Maybe the Light Faction is your best bet, but since you are one of these factions, remember
you'll always have other things to worry about."
"Unrest from within your own faction, unity among your people, and the Demonic Faction
as well. I wouldn't exactly love to be in your position."
It was the golden information Raze needed, though. Knowing where the base was and what
items he could use for himself gave him more options than before for what he could
possibly do. The issue was if Alter had found some way to bring people over."
At the moment, did Raze have the strength to go up against the Grand Magus? He was close,
but he was unsure, and it would depend on whether they were on their own or not.
"I am curious about something, another question of mine," Himmy said. "I've watched you
for a while. Are you able to use Qi and Mana at the same time?"
"I am," Raze answered, wondering why Himmy was asking the question, and remembered
what had happened to Safa when she had learned magic.
"Is it a problem... with Pagna warriors?" Raze asked.
Himmy nodded.
"It is... but I might have to reevaluate the information I know. As far as we are aware, Pagna
warriors are unable to learn magic."
"If one has a Qi core, then when trying to create a Mana heart, the Qi will act to protect it
and destroy the Mana core around the heart, killing the person on the spot."
"If a person learns magic first, although they have a Dantian, they can't use Qi, but they can
fill up the Dantian with Mana, allowing them to use Pagna martial arts."
"In a lot of cases, mages that learn Pagna martial arts are even stronger because they
almost have an unlimited amount of Qi."
Raze remembered back to the fight with the Elder and how tough it was. He had yet to meet
another individual like that.
"But because of this, Pagna arts and magic can't be used at the same time. So Pagna
warriors can't learn magic, but mages can learn arts but can't use them at the same time.
Yet you were capable of both at the same time-just how is it possible?"
Raze thought about an answer for a while. This was information he was missing himself.
Now he understood what had happened to Safa.
The only reason she had survived was because she had used Light magic, but what about
himself?
In this situation, it should have been the same for Raze, and then he figured out the answer.
"I had no Qi," Raze answered. "And this body is not one from Alterian, but one from Pagna."
Now, Himmy was even more confused than before.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean what I said," Raze answered. "This is something I haven't told the others, but you
have answered me truthfully and given me a lot of information."
"I used a special artifact back in Alterian. I'm not an Otherworlder like all of you. Instead,
the artifact forced me into this body, which is from Alterian."
"I see," Himmy said. "So you entered a body that had no Dantian or Qi. With your
knowledge
from being a mage, you made a Mana heart and later created your Qi core.
"That's how you were able to do both. It seems you are quite lucky in that aspect."
"What do you mean?" Raze asked.
"Having a body that has no such Dantian or Qi core. Even though there are those that aren't
warriors, every person originally from Pagna still has some Qi in their body."
"Otherwise, Alter would have just grabbed infants from Pagna and raised them, learning
magic and Pagna skills to create monsters like you."
"Somehow, your body had no Dantian. Most that are like that end up dying at a young age,
or there's another possibility-it was forcibly removed or broken from your body."
Raze started to think back to how weak the body was that he was in. How hard it was for
him
to even create a core, and when reaching the first stage, the amount of blood that came out
of
him.
It was then that Himmy pulled out a small-looking stick device.
"I don't have anything you can use this in right now, but you might come across one
someday. This here is all of the information I have on the investigation I was running."
"Do you remember how we met? I was looking into all of the deaths that occurred. If you
find out what's on it, it might make more sense to you."
"Maybe you'll find out if the real body that you're in was related to those events. My gut is
telling me your original body's owner has something to do with it, and maybe why there
were
those after your life."
Chapter 832: Double Trouble
Chapter 832: Double Trouble

Raze took the small device. It looked like something from Alterian, so he was quite familiar
with it. It was something that needed to be inputted into a technological device, beyond the
means of what they had in Pagna.
If he went to the Alter base, they might have something he could use, or maybe Amir would
have something that could help as well.
The thing was, as Raze held it in his hand, he thought back to when he first arrived in
Pagna. He had almost forgotten how he joined Alter in the first place, or the reason for him
being in such a place.
'Right, the random deaths that were occurring. That was what brought me to the Lethal
Bite Clan. In the end, that matter seemed to be something else, but there were a lot of
similarities. It was how I met Anna as well.
'But I almost forgot that there were those after my life, and Safa's as well, and I never
figured out the reason behind it.'
Raze was sitting there, looking at the device in his hand. Himmy hadn't found anything, but
maybe if he had a look at what was on it himself, he would find something.
After all, there were times, like with the messages left behind by the old Dark Faction
founder, that Raze understood when others hadn't.
'When finding out about the groups, I originally thought the Bonum Society was behind it,
but it seems they are unrelated to the matter, and Amir didn't know me or Safa.'
'There's a chance it could be Alter. They're a large enough organization to have those doing
things that not even the higher-ups know, but it would make no sense to put Himmy on the
case then.'
There was a chance the information Himmy found could unlock what the bloody woman
was that traveled with him. Or how she came to be attached to the body, and just what the
original Raze's body was trying to do.
"Thank you for all of this. I'm guessing this means you will no longer be part of Alter?" Raze
asked.
"After they locked me up and tried to kill me, of course not," Himmy said. "Only a fool
would go back to them. I've traveled around the continent long enough, and I know how to
keep my head down."
"You can stay here if you want," Raze said. "I can't offer ultimate protection over you all the
time, and I don't know who is part of Alter and who is not, but it should be quite a safe
place."
Himmy was thinking about it for a while, twiddling his fingers, and ready to give an answer
until the door burst open, and a female with a red headband entered.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, Raze!" Violet said.
Another one of the ex-students that were now part of Cronker and his special assassination
group.
"I have received word that a group from Alter was discovered in the outer area of the
academy, near the Perfect Noodle shop," Violet informed.
"Perfect Noodle shop?" Raze repeated, trying to think if he had even seen such a place.
"Wait, they're here already?" Himmy said, surprised. "That was faster than I expected, but
maybe we can buy some time, try to delay them, give them some false information, and lead
them elsewhere."
Violet started to rapidly blink, as she hadn't quite finished her report.
"Unfortunately, that won't be possible," Violet said. "You see, there has been a
confrontation in the noodle shop involving the group from Alter."
"They were able to confirm they were from Alter due to the devices they held." Violet then
reached into her inner pocket and pulled out the strange flattened device. Immediately
upon seeing this, Himmy stood up from his seat.
"That's an emergency signaler... and it's already been activated."
Violet didn't say more, as it seemed Himmy already knew the dire situation they were in.
"What does that mean?" Raze asked.
"This is what I was worried about," Himmy said. "It was best not to engage with the Alter
team and try to find a way to delay them while figuring out another plan of attack."
"That has sent a signal stating that there is nothing the Alter squads sent here can do.
They've been found out, and the mission is compromised. Leaving Alter with no choice but
to send a Deleter here."
"I don't know how long you have, but soon they'll be here, and they will do as their name
states-they will delete the entire academy from existence as if it was never here in the first
place."
Although Himmy was startled, Raze was not. Even after hearing how devastating these
Deleters could be for a while now-their strength-it sounded like the Divine warriors or like
how the Grand Magus were described in Alterian.
Rather than wiping out clans, though, the Grand Magus were said to have the power to
eliminate entire countries.
"If you want my advice, it's to take everyone you care about and get away from here,"
Himmy said. "It's too much of a risk at this growing stage."
"It's okay," Raze said, standing up. "You said before that it was impossible to take on Alter,
these Deleters, and the Light Faction at the same time. So this is a perfect situation for us."
"This is a chance for us to take on one of these Deleters completely on our own. In my eyes,
if Alter is foolish enough to send just one person to take us out, then they're making a big
mistake. Let's take this chance and turn it into an opportunity."
Himmy knew he could no longer say more, and who knew-maybe Raze could pull it off with
the rest of his powerful group.
That was when, right by Violet's side, another student named Joe appeared, sweat running
through his entire body.
"I have an urgent message that has been delivered by Rayna concerning the Demonic
Faction!" Joe shouted. "It seems the Behemoth Clan has decided to attack the town of
Flendon!"
Chapter 833: A Man's Promise
Chapter 833: A Man's Promise

A meeting was taking place between those now in charge of the Dark Faction, and the
person who had called it was one of the most unlikely individuals.
It was Rayna Narfous, from the Neverfall Clan, and also the Dark Magus's current wife.
Although the marriage was just to ensure Belil was off Raze's back in a number of ways, it
certainly had its fair share of advantages.
One of them being the gift of a town for them to look after in the Demonic Faction, a place
called Flendon Town.
It was known throughout the entire Demonic Faction to belong to both Rayna and Raze,
and the last time it was attacked, it had been protected by them along with the Crimson
Crane.
Now, a meeting had been called as the town was once again under attack.
Inside the academy, a room set up for the leaders was being used. There were grand chairs
set opposite each other in the room with a single chair at the head of the area like a table.
Since no one really cared for formalities and didn't even have official positions, they all just
sat where they liked, while Rayna sat at the head of the table.
"Shouldn't that be where Raze sits?" Liam whispered as he took his seat.
"I don't really think he cares about that stuff," Simyon replied. "Let's just get on with
whatever is going on."
"I called you all because I just got word that the Behemoth Clan is making moves and
they're sending a large force to Flendon Town," Rayna explained.
"The Behemoth Clan, again!" Alba said. "Did they not learn their lesson from last time?"
"Apparently not. Sha Mo has been angry about the whole situation in the Demonic Faction
for some time. He has a hatred for the Dark Magus for multiple reasons."
"My guess is the only reason he hasn't attacked is the worry of retaliation from the
Neverfall Clan."
"However, my father has never stated that he would get involved if a place was attacked.
On top of that, we aren't currently there. On top of that, this time it seems Sha Mo is making
a move himself."
After already dealing with a powerful foe in Murkel and those close to him, facing another
from the Demonic Faction made the others uncertain.
It was always hard to tell the main clans' true strength, and the Demonic Clans even harder,
but it was assumed they were stronger than the other clans. They just lacked men due to
how crazy the Demonic Clans seemed compared to other clans.
That was apart from the Behemoth Clan, which was the largest clan in the Demonic Faction.
"And what does that have to do with us?" Anna asked. "Right now, Raze is the leader of the
Dark Faction. If Sha Mo has a problem with Raze, then he can go against the Dark Faction."
"Although Flendon isn't in the Dark Faction, it is owned by the Dark Magus," Reno said,
speaking up. "It's quite clear the only reason they're attacking is because it belongs to the
Dark Magus, and they're trying to get a reaction out of Raze."
"Not only that, what about all the people!" Froma said. "Even if Raze isn't there, those
people took part in the fight against the Behemoth Clan last time."
"I'm sure Sha Mo isn't going to go easy on any of them. They will lose their lives because of
what we did. We have to help them."
Raze was listening to everyone's opinions, but it wasn't just Anna. Even Amir spoke up,
thinking it was best for Raze to just stay in the Dark Faction rather than face another large
enemy so soon.
"But Flendon was a gift from my father. If we lose it, we could be in his bad books as well!"
Rayna pleaded.
While the others were arguing, Raze still didn't say anything, and that was when the
outsider decided to speak up as well.
"This isn't as easy as you all think," Himmy said. "There's another issue, which has come at
the worst possible time."
All heads turned to Himmy, the person who had come in injured. He had been standing by
Raze's side the whole time, so no one had asked why he was involved in the meeting.
"A group from Alter arrived not too long ago. They've sent a message, and at any point in
time, a powerful enemy from Alter could be sent here."
"The Behemoth Clan is no small clan, but leave here and there's a chance you lose
everything here as well."
This was the true predicament Raze was in-not whether to go or not, but where to go in
this situation.
"So what are we going to do, Raze? Speak up, man! Say something, brother!" Liam started
shouting.
"Shut up!" Safa said. "Just because it takes you two seconds to make an irrational decision
doesn't mean everyone else should. Taking time to think things over is what a sensible
person would do."
While everyone was arguing, Himmy walked over to Anna and asked for something. After
taking it from her, he wandered over to Raze.
"Do you remember what I gave you when you became an official member?" Himmy asked.
Seeing what was in Himmy's hand, Raze pulled out the same device-it was the small round
white object that proved one was a member of Alter.
"If you hand it to me, I can buy some time. You see, these things are also used as tracking
devices," Himmy explained.
"Wait, and you're only telling him now?" Safa said.
"I assumed you wanted to keep it to give you a better idea of who to trust, but the situation
has changed now," Himmy said. "I will take all of these and move away. They will think we
are on the move together and go after me first."
"Will you be okay?" Raze asked.
"I got away from the entire group of Alter. Avoiding one person shouldn't be too difficult,"
Himmy answered.
"And why would you do this, for me, for us?" Raze asked, still suspicious. He had many
people offer a helping hand in the past, only for it to turn out to be false and for their own
gain.
"I do have one favor to ask," Himmy said. "If you find Charlotte, do what you can to protect
her... she is a good person, too good for this world, and she seems to have taken a liking to
you."
Himmy then snatched the device out of Raze's hand and immediately headed toward the
door.
"It's a promise between men. I know you'll keep it."
Chapter 834: Town Of Flendon
Chapter 834: Town Of Flendon

The town of Flendon, located in the Demonic Faction, had received quite the boom after
defeating the Behemoth Clan in a small scuffle.
After the fight, the town received a large number of gifts, supporting the place, thinking it
would become another big player in the Demonic Faction.
With it, an influx of citizens had come to join the place as well, and Mayor Yarlston used the
influx of funds to hire more mercenary wanderers to help protect the city from smaller
clans that might target such a place.
Although the Crimson Crane's base was meant to be located at Flendon, due to the small
size and the way Alba ran her clan, they didn't hire new recruits.
This meant there wasn't necessarily a clan to protect the place like other areas.
There was one person in particular who had joined the clan for a while now and was
standing guard on one of the major outside walls.
With his black hair and dark eyes, he was observing the situation.
"Please just let me leave!" a woman screamed in front of the gate. "We already talked about
this and sorted everything out."
A man was grabbing a woman by the wrist, trying to drag her back.
"I already told you it was an accident, and it wouldn't have happened if you were at home
all the time!" the man replied.
"An accident? So your little wee-wee just slipped in by accident?" the woman screamed
again. "And I worked because you were fired. We needed the money."
The woman jerked her arm, pulling it out from the man's grasp, and continued moving
toward the city. She grabbed a piece of rope that was tugging along all her belongings piled
in boxes.
She only managed to move a couple of steps before the man grabbed the back of her head.
"You're not going anywhere!" the man declared as he pulled her to the ground. "I don't care
what a piece of paper says. You're mine-you promised to stay with me, you filthy damned
b*tch!"
The man continued to pull the woman by the back of her head.
"Hey!" a voice shouted out.
The man turned around and saw a fist coming right toward him. It hit him square in the
face, and he felt his two front teeth bend in and snap out of his mouth as his whole body
was flung backward.
"Brack, what are you doing?" one of the other guards shouted, running over. "This is a civil
matter, we're not supposed to get involved with these things. And besides, she's not even a
citizen of Flendon; we don't get paid for this!"
"What, and you expect me to just let that a**hole do as he wishes?" Brack said, wiping his
fist as if disgusted to even have the man's blood on it.
"Besides, she was coming here to become a resident, right?"
The woman quickly nodded as she bowed, saying thank you.
Meanwhile, Brack went ahead and grabbed the piece of rope.
"Just see it as helping our future citizens," Brack said as he flung the rope, aiming to slide
the large crates of boxes on the sled beyond the gate.
Instead, the sled with all the boxes slid and then crashed on the ground, breaking right in
front of the gate.
Brack froze as he looked at all the items, an awkward smile on his face.
"I'll get them all packed for you," Brack said as he rushed to put everything back in its place.
While packing for the woman, the other guards just continued to shake their heads at
Brack. Most of the new hires had gate duty rather than city duty like those originally from
Flendon. It was just an easy job for them to earn some coin, so they didn't get too involved,
but Brack was different-constantly getting involved-and this wasn't the first time he had
done something like this.
The thing was, for those who knew him, they would have known that this was completely
strange for his character, or how he used to be.
'What am I even still doing here? Raze, the Dark Magus, the Crimson Crane-none of them
are even here. Was he even serious when he said he would let me join him?'
Brack was one of the students who took part in the martial arts tournament and was also
part of the Behemoth Clan.
Due to his disappointing performance, Sha Mo had decided to abandon him, stating that he
wasn't fit to be part of the clan.
At the time, Raze was the one who decided to look after him and allowed him to join the
clan. The issue was, Raze had teleported everyone away, including Brack. There was
nowhere for Brack to return to.
He couldn't go back to the Behemoth Clan, so he had no choice but to go to the town of
Flendon, where Raze, the Dark Magus, was supposed to be.
He had been here for over a month now, and there was no sign of him returning at all. Yet,
Brack stayed with no other choice.
Needing to make some coin somehow, and being a Pagna warrior, he decided to be a guard
for the city.
After putting all the woman's stuff away, he offered to help her push it again, but she kindly
declined with a sweet smile.
Brack didn't insist, knowing that he might use a little too much of his strength again and
just make it even harder for the poor woman.
"Brack, you need to take this job a little more casually, you know," the guard said. "Just let
people be you're not a hero that can go stopping all the disputes in the world. And you're
young-you should leave that stuff to the adults."
"Adults?" Brack said. "But the Dark Magus is young as well, and look how much he's done."
"He's one of a kind, one of a kind! Don't try following in his footsteps. Just relax and accept
the coin."
Just as the man said that, a horse was seen steaming through the fields, running their way.
There was a man on top.
"Halt!" the guard shouted.
"Wait, that's one of our own horses, don't you recognize the banner on the horse?"
The horse continued to run forward, and as it got closer, they could see there certainly was
a man on the horse, but it was just his body-as he was dead.
Several swords had pierced inside of him, and he had been sent on his way toward the
town. "I know this..." Brack said. "...This is the Behemoth Clan."
Chapter 835: Walking Into It
Chapter 835: Walking Into It

Just like that, as quickly as Himmy had come to visit the academy, he had left. There was
part of Raze that wanted to stop him, tell him that there was no need for him to go, but
Himmy was an adult capable of making his own decisions. It was clear he had already made
up his mind.
Everything that Himmy could have done and told Raze, the information was already in his
hands.
"I guess that's that issue solved, but what about the town of Flendon? What are we going to
do?" Liam asked.
It was then that Anna stood up from her seat and decided to rush out of the room, heading
toward the door.
"For now, everyone just stay on standby, but get ready and prepare for a fight if there
needs to be one. We'll use Cronker to deliver messages," Raze ordered, and the rest nodded
as they went off to do their own thing again.
For Raze, he waited for everyone to leave the room and then looked at Rayna, who was the
only person still inside.
She had been biting her thumbnail and pacing back and forth.
Eventually, Raze walked up to her, and she seemed to not even notice he was there as she
continued to walk back and forth.
Until Raze took a deep breath and made the decision to reach out and grab her hand,
stopping her in the process.
"Raze, you're still here?" Rayna said.
"I am indeed still here, and so are you," Raze replied. "You seem to have a lot on your mind.
I can only guess it's the attack on Flendon."
"I feel bad," Rayna said. "All of those people getting involved because of me. Most of them
that helped out weren't even Pagna warriors."
"Some might think I'm worried about what my father will think, but it's not that. Those
people, they were nice to us, Raze. Even when they found out we were taking them over,
they didn't treat us any differently, and many of them didn't even know who I was."
Although Rayna was well-known in the world of Pagna warriors, regular citizens wouldn't
know what she looked like, and despite it all, they had been very welcoming.
Raze had to admit that as well, which was something he wasn't used to either.
"The worst thing about it is I can't do anything on my own. I can't fight the Behemoth Clan.
Even when we went up against one of their pillars, I barely managed to survive, but going
up against Sha Mo himself? I have to admit, I'm scared. Do you not get scared, Raze?"
Raze thought about his own mix of emotions, and he had an answer for Rayna.
"Of course I get scared. I'm worried each time I fight, each time there's a chance that those
fighting by my side could be lost."
"I let all of these emotions in every second, each day, and that's how I'm able to fight.
Rayna, you've helped me out a lot, and I'll help protect Flendon with everything I have."
"In return, can you get me a meeting with your father after this?" Raze asked.
Raze was sure of it, that the answer to where the Golden Globe was, what happened to the
Dark Faction leader, was at the Neverfall Clan base, and maybe Belil knew something.
"If we successfully defend Flendon, and even defeat Sha Mo, then I'm sure of it. Our father
will be the one that wants to meet us."
Himmy was walking at a relatively quick pace and was already out of the academy's main
walls and into the outer area. He had a big grin on his face as he continued to walk.
'Those guys might actually give Alter a run for their money,' Himmy thought. 'The wound I
received, I thought I was a goner for sure. I felt three bullets hit and tear my insides. Any
longer, and I would have died.'
'But that girl, I don't think I've seen healing abilities quite like that before. Even among the
mages, she was able to save my life that Alter took.'
'None of them realize it, but I'm already in debt to them for saving my life. So if I can at least
do something to give the middle finger to Alter, I may as well.'
Himmy could see the bridge that marked the official exit from the academy area up ahead,
when of all people, Anna appeared directly in front of him.
"What do you think you're doing, doing something so stupid like that!" Anna said, pointing
at his chest.
"What do you mean, something stupid?" Himmy replied. "You know I was telling the truth.
With this, they'll come after me, and it will buy all of you some time."
Anna was digging her finger deep into Himmy's chest, and it was hurting him a bit.
"You know what's going to happen. You know," Anna said, her eyes starting to water.
"I'm a squad leader, and I have been for a long time, looking after all of you. I got us out of
trouble a number of times, and look at me I'm right here in front of you, and I'll be right
here in front of you again."
With those words, Himmy grabbed Anna's hand and placed it down by her side. He
continued to walk past while Anna stood there in place, her head down.
A few hours later, Himmy was in another town in the Dark Faction. It was a town situated
in part of a mountain with a river flowing down the end.
He had rented a room with a balcony that allowed for a nice view of the river and the rest
of
the landscape.
He looked out, then let out a big sigh.
"They sent you, Scar?" Himmy said.
"They did," a voice said from behind. "I knew this was a trick, and if anyone was behind it, it
would be you. Maybe you should have stuck with your squad-not that it would make a
difference anyway."
"Did you think because we're both from the same world, I might let you off or something?"
Scar said.
"Nah, the moment you became a Deleter, I knew you were a lost cause. Anyway, I would be
careful, Scar... this is going to be your hardest job yet."
"Thanks for the warning, but I won't need it."
Chapter 836: An Entire Army
Chapter 836: An Entire Army

Having been in the Behemoth Clan himself, Brack knew the methods of the clan. He had
gone on quite a few expeditions with the teams, and this would often be their tactic when
fighting against other clans or in a scuffle.
They would send one of the opponent's dead back to them. Usually, to strike even more
fear, it would be someone of high caliber or importance. In this case, Brack just knew it was
one of the wanderer guards stationed farther out.
Placed in the towers up ahead, which were built after they experienced the first attack,
Brack feared the Behemoth Clan was already incredibly close.
"Head to Yarlston, tell him the Behemoth Clan is coming, quick!" Brack said, grabbing his
fellow guard's shirt.
"Wait, how do you know it was the Behemoth Clan's doing? It could have been anyone, or
even bandits, who knows!" the guard replied.
"If it isn't them, then I'll take responsibility. Just report to him now!" Brack said.
The guard, more scared of Brack than what was coming, quickly rushed off to inform the
mayor, while Brack quickly started to jump up the side of the wall. He hung with his arms,
then pulled himself up, landing on top of the wall.
The others who were already there were startled, but once they saw who it was, they
calmed down.
The man on horseback had been brought in, but the people were still far too calm about all
of this.
Looking into the distance, Brack continued to stare out, and that's when he could see it-just
over a sanded hill, rows of people walking over. The sand was kicking up, with some on
horseback.
While others were walking, among the thousands of people, there was a large, round giant
figure that was giving off an extreme presence.
The man next to Brack pulled out a telescope to look in the distance. His bottom lip
quivered as he managed to catch a glimpse of who was there. As he continued to look, the
glass at the end of the telescope shattered, startling the man, causing him to drop it onto
the ground.
"What was that? How did the telescope break?" one of the other guards asked.
The man, still startled by what he saw, could only think of one person. He didn't understand
it himself, but he gave an answer.
"The Behemoth Clan, they're here, and not just them. Sha Mo has arrived-sha Mo himself
has arrived!" the man shouted.
Like a field of ants coming toward them, the guards soon realized the reality in front of
them. The last time, thousands had been sent to attack the city, and now even more than
before. There had to be at least twenty thousand people coming at them.
They certainly kept their reputation as one of the biggest clans out there, and Sha Mo,
walking with two more pillars of his Behemoth Clan, was coming right at them.
The bells were ringing throughout the city, and panic was setting in as everyone heard the
news. Wealthy individuals, merchants, and those with little attachment to the town were
packing their things.
Many didn't even bother packing and did whatever they could to get out. There was a mass
exodus of people, and it wasn't just the citizens either.
Yarlston, who had received the news, was in the town hall. He had a map of the city in front
of him, with several blocks representing the forces all heading toward the town of Flendon.
"Sir, we've reported the news through the channel that Rayna has given us... but we're
unsure what's going to happen," one of the aides by Yarlston's side informed.
"We've been living quite good lives thanks to them. No one has died from hunger since they
came to look after us. If anything, we've been living luxuriously. I guess this is our fault for
taking advantage of the situation," Yarlston said.
"Stop that!" Andy replied. "How can you blame us for just wanting to live our lives a bit?
That's not our fault. It's the fault of these damned clans that think just because they have
powerful warriors, they can do whatever they want."
"If the Crimson Crane and the Dark Magus aren't here, then they shouldn't be attacking this
place anyway."
Yarlston nodded but knew that none of the kingdoms in the Demonic Empire would do
anything if they were to disappear. Partly because they only cared about the town because
of the Dark Magus, who wasn't even there.
"I have more news to report," the aide said. "It seems many of the wanderers and
mercenaries we hired have fled as well."
"Damn crooks!" Andy shouted-a young man wearing armor over his body, and a shield on
his back. It was one of the shields crafted by the Dark Magus. "They take our money, saying
they'll protect the place, but when the time comes for them to do anything, they just flee."
Yarlston was looking at the map. From all the reports, the only people who stayed were the
ones unable to leave-the large group of youngsters that had defended the town from the
last attack from the Behemoth Clan.
The citizens who had lived here all their lives, and a few who had no means of leaving the
place. The issue was, even the people left behind, numbered less than the force that was
coming to attack them.
"Maybe we can try to talk to them?" Yarlston said. "If we tell them the Crimson Crane and
the Dark Magus isn't here, they will have no reason to attack."
"Talk? I don't think they brought every member of the Behemoth Clan just to talk.
According to the front gate, they already killed one of us and sent him to the front," Andy
said. "The whole world knows where the Dark Magus currently is. With the stories of Sha
Mo, we all know how this will end."
Yarlston was conflicted about what to do, and that's when the door burst open, and they
could see a young man with messy black hair enter.
"I... have a plan," Brack said, huffing and panting. "But all my plan can do is delay them. I
don't know the Dark Magus that well, which is why I'm asking you guys... how likely do you
think the Dark Magus will turn up and help us?"
Brack had come here, wishing to meet the Dark Magus, but it had never matured into
anything. He had only had brief interactions with the person during the Martial Arts
Tournament.
Not just that, he had to think about how any sane person would react in this situation. With
the Dark Magus running the Dark Faction, what reason would he have to come to a small
town and fight Sha Mo? No one in their right mind would.
But he decided to speak to the people who had decided to stay-they had to have stayed for
a
reason.
It was then that Andy decided to answer that question, thinking back to the first time when
the town of Flendon's walls were defended. He remembered fighting side by side with the
Crimson Crane and what the Dark Magus had crafted for them all.
He banged his shield and gave an answer to the young warrior.
"I'm sure... they will come."
Chapter 837: The Dark Magus, Will Come!
Chapter 837: The Dark Magus, Will Come!

A plan to defeat the Behemoth Clan would seem impossible. Unless they could round up
every single one of the Demonic Clans, which was an impossible task in itself due to how
the
Demonic Clans operated.
Not even payment could sway the Demonic Clans to their side, or unless they had support
from one of the larger clans like the Neverfall Clan, but even that didn't seem to be possible
in the situation they were in.
There was no reason for two of the large clans to take a big hit fighting against each other,
and not for a small place like the town of Flendon. While the Dark Magus wasn't in trouble
or Rayna, no one expected the Neverfall Clan to make a move.
Which meant, everyone who had already learned of the attack on Flendon felt like it could
only go one way, and this was the same for Brack as well.
The Mayor had left his town hall and gathered at the Northern gate, where the large army
of the Behemoth Clan could be seen. There was no point staying in the hall making battle
plans -the Behemoth Clan wasn't one for tactics, attacking from different sides.
Due to their large force and strength and how small Flendon was, they were just attacking
from the front.
"I can't believe it," Andy said, standing on the wall, seeing the large force moving toward
them. He estimated that it would take around fifteen more minutes until they all arrived at
the front gate. "Did they not learn their lesson last time? We aren't so easy to take over!"
Andy bashed his shield with an almighty roar. He expected a few others to do the same, but
when he turned around to look at the army Yarlston managed to rally up, they all looked
heavily nervous.
In total, they managed to get 2,000 people. Most who had survived the battle from the time
before, and those brave enough to fight for the city again. A thousand stood on top of the
wall, while the other thousand stood below, the gates currently open, allowing them to see
the army coming toward them.
"Last time, we had the Crimson Crane with us," another said.
"And the Dark Magus-it was them that managed to take out two of the pillars. Now we have
to deal with two more pillars and Sha Mo himself. How is that possible?"
Even though most by the wall had managed to build up their resolve to protect the city,
they were quickly losing it, especially in the face of the large enemy coming toward them.
Twenty thousand strong Pagna warriors, against two thousand mostly ordinary people,
who had trained somewhat and could be called Pagna warriors, but it wasn't their day-to-
day, nor did they have a clan to train them.
Among them all, on the wall, there was a man who had most of his face wrapped up. A man
no one would have guessed was there.
'I thought an interesting result might come from this. I could tell from my clan's
information gathering that the Behemoth Clan was making a move, so I went to the town of
Flendon ahead of time.'
'I thought the Dark Magus might have already made some moves or had something in place
in case this happened,' Lince thought, leader of the Lost Clan, one of the three major clans
in the Demonic Faction.
'After seeing what he pulled off at the Martial Arts Tournament, I thought he was someone
who would think ahead in these situations. Unless he's far more distracted with other
things.'
'With how things are, I can't see any way for those in Flendon to get out of this.'
Lince was trying to figure out his way out of the situation. With his skills, he could easily
escape from the area, but doing so in the middle of a fight might cause some suspicion, so if
he was going to leave, he wondered if now was the best decision.
Just as Lince was ready to turn away, he heard the voice of a certain someone.
"Do you all believe in the Dark Magus?" Brack said, facing toward the enemy.
"I heard stories from a number of you guards about him. How last time he managed to pull
off
a miracle, and they managed to help and protect you."
"Do you believe he can do the same again?" Brack asked.
The guards looked at each other, thinking this person was a madman. Why was he even
talking about the Dark Magus when the Dark Magus wasn't even here? This time and the
time before were different.
"I'm not asking any of that. Do you believe if the Dark Magus were here, you could pull off
another miracle!" Brack shouted again.
To this, Andy had a big smile on his face.
"I believe it."
It was then that a certain individual was seen coming up to the top of the wall, pulling along
a crate—of all people, it was Fixteen, a member of the Neverfall Clan and close friend to
Dame, who had stayed in the town of Flendon.
"It was quite hard getting my hands on these, but I managed to buy a lot of them back from
our customers." Fixteen then dug his hand into the crate and tossed out a bunch of pills.
Those on the ground caught them and looked at the round Qi pills, seeing the markings of
DM on them.
"Those are the pills of the Dark Magus, created by him. I'm sure you all know their effects.
This whole thing is simpler than you guys think," Fixteen said. "So their numbers are larger
than ours-that just means each of you needs to fight ten of them. That's all. I'm sure you can
all count to ten. That's all you need to do."
It was a strange pep talk, Yarlston and Andy thought. Since the number seemed
intimidating, but oddly, the others started to count to ten. They had the image in their
heads of taking out one person at a time, going through them, and coming out victorious in
the end.
"They're here," Brack said. "All of you, stay back for now!" Brack bent his knees and then
jumped out from his position onto the sand.
He skidded ahead, at least fifty meters from where the wall was, while the army was twenty
meters away from him.
Lince, seeing this, was quite baffled by the student's actions.
'You've sure changed a lot since the Martial Arts Tournament. Did the student-no, the Dark
Magus-have this much effect on you?'
'It seems that not only the people of this town believe in him, but you believe in him as
well,' Lince thought.
Rather than turning around, Lince decided it might be best for him to stay and at least see
the outcome of everything that was going to take place.
"SHA MO!!!" Brack screamed at the top of his lungs, pouring his Qi into his vocals. "We don't
have to get the whole town involved in this mess... Fight me in a duel!"
The whole army of twenty thousand warriors came to a stop. All of it was done without a
single word, because Sha Mo's Qi could be felt by them all.
Just a slight change, and the army knew what to do.
Seeing Sha Mo walk out, Brack needed to be ready. This was the only card he could play, the
only thing he could think of to buy some time, and he knew it wouldn't be much time.
'Don't let these people down... Dark Magus.'
Chapter 838: A New Item, The Crimson Crane
Chapter 838: A New Item, The Crimson Crane

Raze had made up his mind. He was going to go to the town of Flendon to face Sha Mo and
his Behemoth Clan. Having met him in the Martial Arts Tournament, he could guess the
man's personality.
There was a deep grudge he had with Raze, and the fact that now he held the title of leader
of the Dark Faction, it was just even more reason for Sha Mo to go after him.
Sha Mo was a very petty man, and Raze had managed to catch his eyes in a number of ways.
The fact that the town of Flendon was attacked without Raze even being there just went
ahead and showed it.
This wouldn't stop until Sha Mo was dealt with. There were other reasons for Raze going as
well, some of them to do with the feelings of others around him, others were for his
personal gain.
Raze was walking around the main academy building, heading from room to room. Since he
had decided to head off, he was asking everyone if they wished to come.
He wouldn't force them into a fight that he had decided on. He could guess most of their
answers, as everyone was practically saying they were willing to go.
While walking down the hallway, Raze looked at his hand.
'If I defeat Sha Mo, and absorb him with the Demonic Extraction technique, that should
definitely increase my stage level. With that, I'm sure I'll be able to perform more of the
Dark Edge Sword Arts.' Raze thought. 'If that happens, then, I'll be ready, I'll be ready to
face the Grand Magus.'
Strength wise, Raze was sure he could faze the Grand Magus, at least on their own one by
one, but he knew there would still be a number of issues still in Pagna to deal with.
In the first place, he needed to find the Golden Globe to even get to Alterian.
Raze had then entered the library, and could see that most of the Crimson Crane were
already gathered and had their weapons on them.
"Have you made your mind up then, on what you're planning to do?" Reno asked.
"Yeah, I'm heading to Flendon, and I plan to take on Sha Mo and get rid of him once and for
all." Raze said. "I haven't had time to create your weapons yet, the only one that's ready is
Forma's."
"MINES READY!" Forma jumped up and down, her whole face turning bright red. She
couldn't believe it. Raze hadn't given the Crimson Crane any type of order for when the
others would get special weapons.
He was just making them as he had the materials ready. Even then it took several tries
before something would be created that satisfied him.
Out of all of them, only Forma's weapon was ready.
"If you head to my crafting room. I'm sure you will be able to pick up the right one.
"If you can, bring all of the failures with you as well."
Forma nodded with excitement as she went ahead and already ran past Raze. Looking for a
new weapon.
The others who had yet to get weapons were a little envious of Forma. Lily, was waiting on
a new spear, there was Cronker who was hoping for some new daggers, and lastly there
was Alba herself.
"So where do you want us?" Alba asked.
"Come to the meeting room from before, and I will explain to you all what we're going to
do, but I came to tell you in person, you guys don't have to come, the decision is up to you."
The other members looked at Alba, the answer was obvious to them as well.
"We all enjoyed our time in Flendon, and before even coming here, we were already
content with making it our home. We got on with a lot of people and made a few friends.
We'll be there and wait for you as soon as Forma comes back."
Raze had now visited everyone that was inside of the academy. Now there was just one
more place he needed to go to and have a talk with.
Outside of the main academy, outside of the courtyard walls. Raze had entered the outer
city. He had switched to a robe to cover himself rather than wearing his Blazer which stood
out quite a bit.
If others saw the Dark Magus out in the open with his white hair, he was sure that it would
cause quite the fuss, and finally he had made it to a certain location.
He looked up at the sign board.
"So Zon decided to relax here of all places, the Perfect Noodle's shop... just what is he
doing?" Raze said.
Forma had rushed and barged straight into Raze's research room. The moment she had
entered a waft of air had touched her body and inhaled into her insides.
She felt sick, and her entire body was covered in goosebumps as she shivered. "What is this
place, and why does it feel even darker than outside, is it my eyes?" Forma rubbed them,
but still the room was Darker than any of the other rooms for some reason. Trying to
ignore her body's natural reaction, she ventured inside and could see piles of discarded
weapons. Daggers, Spears, and Dual swords.
It was clear they were items for the other members of the Crimson Crane. Heading toward
them, Forma looked at the dual swords up close.
"These are the failures he's talking about... I knew there was something wrong in the head
with that guy." Forma said. "No one in their right mind would consider these failures. Alba
would be over the moon with swords like these."
She reached out to touch them, but before her fingertips touched the dual swords she had
stopped.
'Ah, I remember what Tilon said about his shield, I wouldn't want something like that to
happen to me.' Forma said with a happy smile and started to swing her arms.
She then could see a large pile of bows, and not just bows but arrows in the corner of the
room, and just like the other equipment she couldn't believe they were called failures. "Just
how much would one of these things sell for! And they all are just here lying around. I guess
Raze wants to give them to the people of Flendon, and they won't even know that what
they have is so precious in their hands."
As she looked at the pile of bows though, something was calling to her from behind.
Turning around, Forma looked at the table, where there was a large piece of cloth.
The indented parts made it clear that it was covering up a bow.
"This is it right, this is the weapon that I was looking for, it's right here!"
Placing her hand on the edge of the cloth, she couldn't help but drag the cloth right off the
weapon, and her eyes were sparkling with delight.
"This is it, I can feel it, I can feel its power. This is the item that the Dark Magus made for
me!"
Not being able to help herself, she had gone ahead and grabbed the specially crafted bow. It
was mainly dark red in color, with strange swirls all around.
There looked to be no pattern to the bow itself, other than the odd swirls but Forma could
feel its power. The moment she grabbed it though, the red swirls on the bow started to
wrap around, and started to grab right onto her arm.
"What the... ARGHHH!!!!!!!!!" The next moment Forma let out an almighty scream.
Chapter 839: Zon's Happiness
Chapter 839: Zon's Happiness

After making sure they had everything they needed, the Crimson Crane had moved from
the library into the main meeting room in the academy.
Upon entering, they could see that most of the others had already arrived. Anna was
present, along with Liam and Safa.
Ricktor had come along with Mada, and Rayna was still there as well, among the others that
had decided to come on the trip.
The only person from the core group not present was Amir. It was a given that he would
stay with the rest of the Bonum Society members looking after the Academy.
Someone needed to stay behind. On top of that, Zon was also absent because Raze was
somewhere out there trying to find him.
"I'm a bit more confident now," Kizer said, slinging his large sword on his back. "Last time
we defended the town, we had a lot fewer people than this, and everyone here is quite
strong."
"Right, but last time Sha Mo wasn't involved," Reno reminded them. "It will be a tough fight
either way, so we can't let our guard down."
Simyon, Safa, and Liam were all nervous, but with their new weapons and tools from taking
over the other Dark Faction clans, they were the strongest they had ever been.
In the current room were the strongest of the Dark Faction, and Sha Mo wouldn't expect a
full battle against that.
"I'm just looking forward to finally heading back to my clan," Mantis said. "I've been here
too long, and your faces annoy me."
No one even bothered to comment on what Mantis said. He had been like that ever since he
arrived, almost sticking around because he had no other choice.
The door opened again, and part of them expected to see Raze entering, but instead, it was
the small female Forma.
"I brought it with me... man, this stuff is kind of heavy," Forma said as she dragged the large
crate and lugged it into the center.
Tilon took a peek inside and could see that it was filled with weapons, each one marked
with the symbol of the Dark Magus.
He remembered how much the shields created by the Dark Magus had helped them all last
time, and these items seemed of even better quality.
"Wait, didn't you go to get the weapon Raze made for you?" Alba asked, peeking behind
Forma's back. "Where is it, where's the bow?"
"It's... It's..." Forma looked around, her big round eyes filling with tears. "It's inside me!"
Forma fell to her knees and started to wail, letting out a loud cry, leaving everyone
confused as to what she meant by the bow being inside her.
Inside the Perfect Noodles shop, for once, Zon wasn't behind the counter working. Instead,
he was sitting at a table, and across from him was a hooded man.
"Hey, what's Zon doing?" Stanley asked. "I didn't know that guy had friends."
"He talks to people... sometimes," Rane said. "From time to time, a woman comes to visit
him. They talk for a bit, but it's the first time I've seen this hooded man.
"Either way, he must be important to Zon. He stopped what he was doing and even asked
me to clear a table for them. Zon never asks me for that, not even when the woman visits."
At the table, in the hooded robe, of course, was Raze himself.
"So, I've told you everything. It's up to you if you want to come or not," Raze said, waiting
for Zon's response.
Although the two hadn't had much time to talk about who they were or what their goals
were, Raze knew one thing about Zon for sure: he was incredibly strong.
So strong, Raze wasn't even sure he could beat him in a fight at his current level.
"I will stay in the Dark Faction," Zon said. "You have your things to deal with, and I have
mine. Right now, I've found some peace in this shop.
"Don't get me wrong, though. You're still important to me."
Zon placed his hand on the table and opened it up. A small square device could be seen. It
then started to move, as small legs sprung out, resembling an ant. It walked over until it
reached Raze.
"I have two of these," Zon explained. "And only two. One of them I injected into your
friend's neck. It's not the system he uses."
Raze had no idea what Zon was talking about since he hadn't really discussed with Liam
how he was able to grow stronger or gather strength-not that Raze particularly cared.
"This little creature allows me to know where someone is at any point in time. I have
appeared by your friend's side before."
"This is the second device, so when needed, I'll appear by your side. There's no need to
implant it inside your body. Attach it to a piece of your clothing, and remember where it is.
"If you need help, apply extreme pressure. If you do that, as long as I can, I'll appear." Raze
didn't know what to say. Giving him such a thing-it was handy to have. Although he didn't
plan to rely on others, it was a good tool.
"I originally planned to give that to Anna, but since I gave it to you, it means you need to
look after her in my place," Zon explained.
Raze nodded as he picked up the device and placed it on the left side of his chest. If
someone attacked his heart, he thought that would be enough pressure-and enough reason
to call Zon
over.
With the conversation over, Raze stood up.
"Good luck on your task, and next time, I hope you can enjoy a nice bowl of noodles," Zon
said.
"I'll be back soon."
With that Raze headed back to the academy and he was ready to head into battle once
again. Fight after fight, it would have worn his whole body down, but he could feel it, he
was close, close to getting to where he needed to be, to the Grand Magus.
Chapter 840: A Gift Before You Leave
Chapter 840: A Gift Before You Leave

Froma was in the middle of a crying fit in the meeting hall, and none of the Crimson Crane
members were able to get much out of her about what she meant. They had even analyzed
the other equipment that had been brought, but nothing happened when they held it.
In the end, Froma wiped away her tears and was able to speak again, but she still was in no
mood to discuss what had happened with the others.
'It's okay,' Froma said to herself. 'There was a note left on the table, so I know what's
happening, but it still feels weird. That strange Dark Magus, why didn't he put the note on
top of the cloth?'
Froma thought back and had to admit it might have been her fault. After taking off the cloth,
revealing the weapon, she had completely ignored the note on the table and went straight
to grab the bow.
Now she was stuck with the bow, similar to how Tilon was stuck with the shield. The rest of
the group was waiting until finally, Raze pushed open the double doors.
"It seems like everyone is here. Thank you for coming on this journey with me," Raze said
as he pulled out a piece of chalk and started drawing on the floor. He was drawing a magic
circle, a large one that would encase them all.
It was similar to what he had done during the Martial Arts Tournament, but that had taken
a lot of energy and magic. To avoid completely wearing himself out, Raze was drawing the
magic circle this time.
'I see, Zon hasn't come on this one. It's expected of him,' Anna thought. 'He always went off
on solo missions by himself. The only time he went along with us was when he had to.'
'But I can't believe what he told me, his goal... it's not to head back? I guess he still hasn't
talked to Raze about it,' Anna thought.
As Raze was drawing the magic circle, he decided it was time to explain to everyone how
things were going to be, because it wasn't as straightforward as last time.
"When we were in Flendon, I transported you all from one position to another. So I drew
two magic circles, but the magic circle in Flendon is no longer there," Raze said.
"Unfortunately, I haven't been back to Flendon since, so I haven't figured out how to
pinpoint coordinates there, nor have I set up another magic circle there," Raze explained.
"I'm guessing you're telling us this because it means you'll be sending us somewhere else?"
Ricktor asked.
"Correct. There is one place I used to travel to frequently, where I know the coordinates: a
cave just outside the city of Repton," Raze answered.
"That's still quite far from Flendon," Rayna said. "We might not reach Flendon in time
before the Behemoth Clan gets there."
"Be realistic," Mantis added. "The city of Flendon is already under attack. We're going to be
the cleanup crew."
Rayna's fists were shaking, and Raze knew why from their previous talk. She was unlike
other Pagna warriors and actually cared about the lives of the regular citizens.
"Should I stop by the Clan base?" Dame asked. "It's on the way; I could ask Father for help."
"Father won't do anything," Rayna snapped. "I was given away and am no longer part of the
clan, and you abandoned it. If we step foot back there and ask for help, how do you think
he'd react?"
The two of them stopped after that suggestion.
"We won't know the state of Flendon until we get there. There should be no other thoughts
in one's head," Raze said. "The reason I'm telling you this is to not waste any time. Some of
us in this group are faster than others."
"When you get to the Demonic Faction, I want you to head to Flendon as quickly as
possible." The others nodded, and Raze finished drawing the circle.
"You guys will go first, and then I'll need to draw another circle after. I'll be right behind
you."
With that said, Raze gathered the magic in the palm of his hands and placed them on the
floor. The magic circle began to light up, and a bright light surrounded everyone and
everything inside it.
The light grew larger and larger until it consumed them, and when the flash of light
disappeared, so did the rest of the group.
Standing up, Raze took a blue Qi pill. It wasn't the cursed pill; the regular Qi pill would be
enough to restore his mana so he could fight before taking a cursed Qi pill.
'I used a lot of mana sending them off, but I think it's better having them there rather than
just myself,' Raze thought.
Taking the chalk, he started to draw his own circle on the raised platform he was on. At the
same time, he was cultivating, trying to do what Safa was able to do to get his energy back.
He was focused, trying to enter a flow-like state where he could draw and cultivate at the
same time. Then his concentration was broken.
"I expected there to be more people here," a voice said. "I guess the new Dark Faction
leader doesn't need people around him."
The voice wasn't one Raze recognized. He had just finished drawing the magic circle as
well. If he wanted to, he could activate the circle now, sending him to where the others
were.
Instead, Raze decided to lift his head, and the moment he did, his eyes widened, and he
clenched his teeth hard as he stood upright.
"Ah, it seems you recognize what I have in my hand right here," the stranger said as he
moved his right hand, holding the round object steady. "You know what this is, right?"
The object being held by the stranger's hand was being held by its hair. The round object
could be seen clearly, and Raze's heart was thumping even louder.
"Poor Himmy," the man said, shaking his head.
Chapter 841: Challenging A Monster
Chapter 841: Challenging A Monster

The flash of light blinded the entire group that was surrounded by the magic circle. They all
felt a tingling sensation through their bodies as they could see nothing in front of them. As
the light began to fade, suddenly new scenery appeared around them.
They were now in a dimly lit cave and were quite cramped inside.
"That felt strange, really strange," Mada said.
"Did it? I thought it felt kind of nice," Ricktor answered.
Mada just gave him an uncomfortable look, wondering how anyone could like that feeling.
Then again, he remembered Ricktor was always strange compared to the rest.
"It always amazes me, honestly," Kizer said. "How a human can do something like this?
How can the things in our body just move us around like that?"
"I guess that's why they call it magic," Lily replied.
"Enough talking, you guys!" Alba said. "Remember what Raze said, we need to head to the
town of Flendon straight away."
The group moved to the exit and away from the spot where they had entered, but upon
looking behind them, they were a little worried. Raze should only be a few moments,
maybe minutes, behind them.
"I can stay behind," Cronker said. "I'm the fastest, so I'll be able to catch up as soon as he
arrives to give you peace of mind."
"No," Rayna said. "Because you are the fastest, you should head to Flendon first. You could
save a large number of lives. I want to wait for Raze too... but waiting will do nothing."
"I'll stay," Dame replied. "I'm pretty fast on my feet as well. The rest of you go, it'll be fine.
I'm just as fast as Raze, so don't be surprised if the two of us get to Flendon before you.
Now, no questions-just scram."
Rayna didn't say anything else, and neither did Safa or Alba. They all left at that instant,
heading to the town of Flendon.
While Dame waited in the cave, he began tapping his foot impatiently on the floor. The taps
grew louder and louder.
"Raze, you should be here by now. Has something happened to you?" Dame said to himself.
"But that's impossible, right? We were all there with you in the room. Nothing could have
happened to you."
"But then why aren't you here? It's not like I can just head back to the academy and help
you out... come on, Raze... come on."
Dame felt useless, unable to help Raze, but the fact that several minutes had already passed
and there was still no sign of him weighed heavily on his mind. Several times now, Dame
had seen Raze push himself too far.
Even when he did, he would move from one task to the next. If he had pushed himself again
in a troubling situation and arrived here, he might need Dame's help to get him to Flendon,
depending on his condition.
If he had to, Dame would even force him not to go if there was any risk of Raze losing his
life.
At the town of Flendon, the guards standing at the north gate were doing everything in
their power not to turn and run. They hadn't realized that some at the back had already
done just that.
In front of them, they could see the true might of the Behemoth Clan. All its members were
about a hundred meters away from them, and if the full force were to charge at once, they
couldn't even imagine being able to defend against such an attack.
The only reason some of them stayed and held their ground was because a young warrior
had jumped out in front of them and screamed at the top of his lungs, challenging the
others to a duel.
"Come on!" Brack shouted. "The Behemoth Clan is one of the three major clans in the
Demonic Faction. Right now, everyone knows you'd win a battle with the numbers you
have. The people behind us aren't even warriors from a clan."
"Isn't it embarrassing to use your numbers to take over a town? Why don't you prove that
you're one of the three major clans not just because of your size but because of your
strength as well?"
Brack was shaking inside, his entire body betraying his fear, and he couldn't believe the
words coming out of his mouth.
Sha Mo's large size and frame came to the forefront as he looked at Brack.
"What words to be spoken by someone who literally abandoned our clan," Sha Mo stated.
"So this is where you ran off to in the end, and now you challenge us when you couldn't
even hack it in the Behemoth Clan! Ha!"
The single loud laugh, filled with Qi, forced Brack's feet to skid slightly across the sand, and
it was just from the sound of his voice.
On the wall itself, Fixteen, Yarlston, and Lince, who were watching everything, couldn't
believe what was happening.
"If he turned around and ran right now, I don't think anyone would blame him," Fixteen
said, and the other two nearby thought the same.
"That doesn't change anything!" Brack said. "My words are still true. The Dark Magus and
the Crimson Crane aren't here. So why bring such a large number of people? You're using
all your power to wipe out an ant!"
"Maybe the Behemoth Clan has no strong warriors, which is why you won't accept my
duel!" Brack shouted again.
Sha Mo was quite surprised. No one would dare speak to him in such a way in the
Behemoth Clan, certainly not a student. And now, because a person was on the other side,
they felt free to talk like that.
"Very well," Sha Mo said, but that's when another figure with long black hair tied in a
ponytail jumped out in front.
The person was tall but not large like Sha Mo, who looked like a descendant of a giant.
"I am Umonke, one of the pillars of the Behemoth Clan. It would be an insult if the Clan
Head accepted this duel. You said there is no one strong in the Behemoth Clan, so I will take
you on." Umonke turned and bowed to Sha Mo, jumping into position and landing around
ten meters away from Brack.
Chapter 842: Cheer For Him!
Chapter 842: Cheer For Him!

Brack wasn't going to argue about facing Umonke rather than Sha Mo. It wasn't because
Umonke was weak by any means, but there still wasn't a part of Brack that felt he could
best Umonke in battle.
For one, Brack was an initial-stage warrior at his peak, while Umonke was a middle-stage
warrior and quite a strong one at that. Even if it wasn't someone from the Behemoth Clan, it
was still a giant uphill battle for Brack.
Still, there was one thought going through his mind: at least he would last longer against
Umonke than he would against Sha Mo.
Umonke pulled out a long curved sword from his back. He swung it in the air a few times as
if he was warming up. Each swing sliced the air, and a piercing high-pitched sound could be
heard coming from the weapon.
While Brack held out his own sword, it was regular, nothing special. In the first place, he
focused more on martial arts-based techniques but had a sword to help him in certain
situations.
"In normal circumstances, the two of us would have never met in battle," Umonke said.
"Unfortunately for you, since you are no longer part of the clan, it means that now, killing
you is an option as well."
Umonke charged forward, wasting no time, and the Behemoth Clan, seeing this, chuckled
and cheered for their fellow teammate. No one did the same for Brack, especially
considering he was a traitor, and the people of Flendon were more afraid of what was going
to happen to their lives.
Brack reacted to the attacker charging right at him. He strengthened his stance and threw
out his sword at the right time.
'I haven't just been sitting around doing nothing this entire time!'
A strange feeling had overcome Brack in that moment. He couldn't feel his sword hit
anything, but he was sure of it-he saw with his own eyes his sword make contact with
Umonke. Yet, what he saw didn't feel like reality.
Because his sword had just gone right through Umonke's. Now that Brack was on the other
side, looking at his own weapon, he saw half of it falling to the floor. It had been completely
cut through, and Brack didn't even feel any resistance.
'I poured all of my Qi into reinforcing the sword, so how did it break so easily?'
Brack turned around, and the moment he did, he saw Umonke right upon him.
"For having the guts to go up against me, I don't think you deserve death, so take this
punishment instead." Umonke slammed his fist deep into Brack's stomach, lifting him in the
air. Then, with a jump, Umonke slammed the back of his heel into Brack's back.
Excruciating pain coursed through Brack's entire body, and before he knew it, he had
crashed into the ground. A large amount of sand and dust spread out. Brack was coughing
up specks of blood, and he didn't look like he was in any condition to fight.
"You spoke badly about the Behemoth Clan, and what for? To protect this town?" Umonke
said. "Well, with your own eyes, you can witness its downfall."
The sight of Brack losing in front of them had only caused the fear among the guards of
Flendon to grow. Some of them had never gone up against Pagna warriors before. To
witness superhuman feats right in front of them-fast movement, extreme strength, and
jumping power-was something none of them could ever imagine beating. Of course, not all
Pagna warriors were obviously strong compared to regular citizens.
They had witnessed one of the Pillars fighting, but the people didn't really understand or
know that.
Lince couldn't help but feel slightly bad for the sight he was seeing.
'I know you meant well, young one, but you might have just crushed the will of everyone
here to fight. From the beginning, the difference between the two of you was too large.'
As Lince finished his thought, though, he started to slow down as he saw something he
didn't expect, and everyone else was looking at it too.
Brack was standing up. He stood on his feet again, no sword in hand, blood dripping from
his mouth onto his clothing.
"I would have expected the Pillars... the Pillars," Brack said. "To take me out, but look, I'm
still standing. I guess you're not as strong as I thought you were!"
Brack charged forward again and went to deliver a kick while Umonke wasn't looking.
Umonke stepped to the side, avoiding the kick, and then grabbed the back of Brack's head,
slamming it into the floor.
Brack's eyes rolled to the back of his head, his nose cracked, and for the second time, he
seemed to be dealt with.
With that, Umonke was ready to walk back to the Behemoth group, ready to start the
charge, until he heard the sound of his own men gasping, and others as well.
"He's up again! He's standing up again."
Brack was standing, wobbling on his feet for a few moments, but he soon took a fighting
stance. His mouth was moving, but no words came out.
"How is he still standing?" Fixteen said. "Why is he still standing? It's all pointless."
"It's not," Andy said. "He believed the Dark Magus, the Crimson Crane, would be here to
save us... we have to believe it! Come on!" Andy screamed the last words at the top of his
lungs.
He continued to cheer, and in doing so, the others on the wall started to cheer as well. Soon,
those on the ground began to cheer for Brack. Initially, when he stepped up to fight, not a
single person was cheering for him.
Now, after seeing clearly that Brack had no way of winning the fight, they were cheering for
him. They didn't understand it themselves, but seeing Brack trying so hard for them, it was
the least they could do.
"Fine, I didn't want to do this," Umonke said. "But let's see if they can cheer when I cut off
your head!"
Umonke charged forward, his sword swinging right for Brack's head. Just before it reached
him, a loud clang was heard, and a person appeared right by Brack's side.
"Who are you?" Umonke said, surprised to see his sword stopped.
"I guess I really was the first one here," Cronker said worriedly. "There's a lot more of you
than I thought."
Chapter 843: The Deleter Scar
Chapter 843: The Deleter Scar

Everything was set up in Raze's mind. He would deal with the trouble that was taking place
in the Demonic Faction, in turn gaining strength, and afterward, he would have a meeting
with Belil from the Neverfall Clan.
Before then, he would head back to the Dark Faction, the academy, to see if everything was
okay, because there would always be this worry in the back of his mind that Alter had sent
one of these so-called Deleters to the scene.
For one, Raze didn't think Alter would act so fast. If they truly felt he was the real Dark
Magus and a person who could rise to the top of the Dark Faction, they would play the slow
game and try to get him in one swoop.
That was unless they truly believed in the strength of these Deleters. As for the second
reason, it was because Raze believed in Himmy, believed that he would do as he said and
buy time.
Right now, Raze was in the meeting room, standing there. His fist was clenched, his jaw was
tight, and he hadn't blinked as he looked at the round object that was held in the strange
man's hand-the intruder.
It wasn't just any object; it was a head, and it was the head of Himmy, having been
dissected from his body, now being held in the intruder's hand.
'Himmy,' Raze thought. 'He was one of the first Otherworlders I met. One of the few people
I met that seemed to have half a brain cell in this world. We didn't get to talk much, and it
was hard to say he was even a friend.'
'But in the end, he risked his life to help me when he didn't have to. When he left this place
at that time, he probably knew this would be the result. Things could have been different.'
"Himmy's death is on your hands," the man said. "You know, my orders weren't to get rid of
him. They had sent one of those squads to get him. With his skills, they probably never
would have caught him. He could have gone and lived his life somewhere in Pagna in a
relaxing village. I never understood the guy. He was a hard worker but never wanted to rise
up in the organization."
"Do you know anyone like that? I don't." The man continued to yap and then threw
Himmy's head in the air. It bounced and rolled across the floor until it hit the platform
where Raze was standing.
"The people that sent you-I assume you're talking about Alter?" Raze asked. Although he
was filled with anger, it was clear it was a trick to get him to act first. Right now, Raze
needed to figure out who this person was.
For one, were they a mage? A Pagna warrior that used martial arts? Did they use
specialized weapons like those from Himmy's world? Or did they have some sort of powers,
maybe someone like Zon?
On top of that, there were a large number of items that Alter could have handed him to use,
and information was the key to this entire battle.
"Ha, I guess you're not as foolish as I thought, or Himmy told you a lot before he decided to
do his little trick," the intruder said with a smile. "I wonder how much he told you, for you
see, I am a Deleter, the man known as Scar... well, maybe known isn't the right word,
because not many know my name. After all, as a Deleter, and even before becoming one, I
always completed my missions."
Raze's guess was spot on. Right now, though, Raze was trying to decide what to do. The
best way to test him—with magic or Pagna skills-to try and get him to reveal his power.
That's when he noticed something else.
'The door is still shut?' Raze thought. 'If the door is still shut, how did he manage to get
inside? No wonder I was unable to sense him, and he appeared out of nowhere.'
Raze was growing more concerned, and so he decided to give it a go. Black magic
surrounded his arm, and quickly, a new light sword appeared, made with his wind
enchantment. It was light and silent.
Moving his hand down, filled with Qi and wind magic, Raze struck using the Crimson Slash.
It was faster and sharper than the Crimson Slashes he had performed in the past, cutting a
straight line down the room.
The floorboards had a deep cut in them, and so did the wall at the other end, but it hadn't
hit its target-there was no blood.
"That was a fast attack, a really fast attack," the voice said from his side.
Turning his head, Raze could see, slightly to his left, that Scar was standing there
completely fine.
"If we had met when I was younger, I would have stood no chance. That strike was nearly
as fast as a bullet! Maybe a little slower," Scar stated.
"Didn't you come here to get rid of me?" Raze said, holding the sword in his hand. "If I were
you, I would be much more scared. After all, there is a reason why Alter, your bosses, want
to get rid of me."
Lightning magic started to expel from Raze's legs as he prepared to attack with his next
move. He couldn't see where Scar had moved to. It didn't look like Scar had moved at all-his
whole body seemed to disappear and reappear-so Raze just needed to be even faster.
"I think you've got something wrong there, something really wrong," Scar said with a smile.
"They would never send a Deleter like me just to get rid of one person. I've been ordered to
get rid of this entire place!"
Before Raze could even swing his sword, Scar had disappeared.
Raze looked around, trying to find him, but he couldn't see or feel anyone's presence inside
the room.
'I have... a bad feeling about this.'
Chapter 844: Delete The Dark Faction
Chapter 844: Delete The Dark Faction

The academy in the Dark Faction had been operating the same way it had done in the past.
Students were taking part in monthly assessments, allowing them to improve their skills
and share their knowledge.
After the Dark Magus's display of power over a month ago, the sign-ups to the academy had
actually increased compared to before, and there was a larger stream of students entering
the academy after they learned from others that things were a bit easier.
The assessments were less about life and death, and the teachers' focus had shifted to the
honor of the Dark Faction and fostering a competitive drive to be the best, without the need
for survival assessments that were live-or-die.
Right now, in the Red Headband group, a teacher was on stage set up outside in the
courtyard in front of the red headband building.
"Although many of you take pride in learning your own clan's skills and wish to prove that
they are the best or advance them, it is important to learn a wide variety of skills," the
teacher explained.
"A lot of Pagna warriors know many base techniques that your clan's skills might have been
built upon. The more skills you know, the more you will understand other clans' techniques
and ways to counter them. If there truly was just a single skill that could beat everything
out there, then everyone would just learn that."
"But different skills and techniques are used in different assessments. So today, I want you
to analyze your opponent's skills," the teacher explained. "Do you all understand?"
The students nodded, even though they didn't seem too pleased with the lesson for the day.
It sounded quite boring to them. In the middle of their nods, though, they noticed
something.
"Who's that?" one of the students asked, pointing at the stage.
The teacher turned to look at the individual and noticed a person they had never seen
before. He looked like an ordinary man.
"The students don't seem to be too interested in your lesson here," the man said.
"Who are you? No one is allowed to be in the academy without permission," the teacher
said.
"I think we should give them a new lesson for today. Let's see how long they can survive."
"What are you-"
*Bang*
A loud echoing sound was heard throughout the entire courtyard. It was a sound the
students weren't used to, and when they looked at where it had come from, it was a small
object held in the stranger's hand.
What was worse was the fact that the teacher had fallen over, with a small hole in his head.
He collapsed to the ground, and blood was pooling on the stage.
"He killed him, he killed the teacher!"
"Someone quickly, we have to go and inform the other teachers! We're under attack!"
The students were in a panic, and as one turned to exit the courtyard, the loud bang was
heard again. A small object could be seen going right through the back of the student's
head, causing them to fall to the floor, their body lifeless, just like the teacher.
"My mission is to delete everyone in this academy! So don't worry, none of you will be left
out," Scar said, as he pulled out two handguns and aimed them into the crowd. Soon, the
resounding bangs started to go off, one after another, into the many students.
Screams were heard as the students started to break off, going in different directions,
trying to escape from what was happening.
Not everyone was running away, though. Being the Pagna warriors that they were, and
seeing only one enemy in front of them, some went for the target.
"If we can get rid of him, then this will stop!"
The students boosted themselves with Qi, jumping through the air. Scar was quick to react
and shot a couple of the students coming at him. He hit one in the chest and another by the
side.
Still, there were too many students coming at him, allowing one to come over to the right
side of him. The student thrust his sword forward, but realized he had hit nothing but air.
"Where did he go?" the student shouted, before another bang was heard and his vision
went black as he collapsed on the stage.
The others looked up and could see the man was suddenly on the roof of the Red Headband
building, and the loud bangs just didn't stop.
Some had tried to scale the side of the building by jumping up and running up the pillars. It
was an easy task for Pagna warriors, but with Scar having the high ground, he could see
them from all angles, and he fired away with ease.
"Come on, this is the first time I've been asked to take out a big target. The others had their
fair share done already. I thought this would be harder!"
The students on the ground floor were losing hope that they could take out the figure, and
so they started to run toward the exit. Some of them had exited from the Red Headband
onto the main courtyard.
In doing so, they were running either to the closest headband group or to the main
academy to get some help. Some didn't know where they were going, they were just
running.
This didn't go unnoticed by Scar, and seeing it he had a large defeated sigh.
"The job was to leave no survivors, and I always complete my job perfectly." The gun in
Scar's hand disappeared, and instead, a green round object could be seen in its place.
Pulling a pin from the top, he threw the green round object onto the ground right by the
exit, where a large number of people were running from, and moments later, after
bouncing, it exploded. Pieces of shrapnel lodged into multiple students trying to get out.
"Time to cause more of a mess," Scar said, as his whole body disappeared from the rooftop,
heading to another location.
Chapter 845: Chaos Strikes The Academy
Chapter 845: Chaos Strikes The Academy

The normal setup of the headband students in the academy was present, with the Yellow
Headband students and the Blue Headband students' areas breaking off from the main
courtyard.
They were also conducting their lessons outside in the main courtyard, following a similar
lesson when they heard explosions in the distance.
"What is going on?" the students asked.
"Probably just one of the students doing a bit too much," the teacher of the Yellow
Headbands said. "The other teachers nearby can handle the problem."
There were three Yellow Headband teachers giving the students tips and overseeing them.
They were spread out among the courtyard. As they were going through their lessons, the
doors burst wide open, and they could see a few Red Headband students charging in, falling
to the floor.
Some of their clothes were covered in blood.
"Close the damned door behind us, quickly, don't let him in!" the Red Headband student
shouted.
The other two were quick to get on their feet and closed the door behind them. As they
were shutting it, they could see students running toward them, but they still closed it shut
anyway and decided to stay by the door.
Soon, loud bangs were heard on the door.
"No, please let us in, let us in!" the students screamed.
Not only did they scream, but they were soon using their Qi to try and attack the door, but
equally, the students on the other side who were holding the door were using Qi to push it
back as well.
"What is going on?" one of the teachers asked. "How dare you not open the door to your
fellow students? What do you think you're doing?"
"You don't understand!" one of the Red Headband students said. "There's an intruder. He
killed Teacher Ren! He's killing all the students. He has this item that's throwing small
metal balls, killing everyone. We can't let him in! Otherwise, everyone will die!"
The teacher could see that the student had clearly gone through something. There was
blood on his clothes, and another had a wound on his body. It didn't appear to be from a
sword, yet they were so frightened that they were ignoring the pain.
"If there really is someone attacking the academy students, then even more reason why we
have to let them in. We can't just let students stay out there. Move aside, both of you, or I'll
deal with you myself."
The students gulped and listened to their teacher's words. The moment they moved aside,
the doors swung open, and a group of students, about five or so, ran in.
The doors were shut behind them, and just like the students from before, they quickly shut
the door and held it closed.
"Where is the rest of your class? Where are the rest of them?" the teacher asked.
"I'm not sure. We all ran in different directions. Some weren't even able to escape," one of
the female students explained. "I saw some running to the main academy and to the Blue
Headband students... ahh, there was so much blood, so much blood."
The teacher was trying to grasp what was going on and what the best course of action
would be. If there was a large-scale attack, he should have seen multiple people, but from
the sound of things, there was only a single person.
"I'll head to the main academy and inform Principal Amir. He will deal with the situation.
The rest of you stay put, and let the teachers do all the worrying."
Just as he was about to head to the gate door, clapping noises could be heard. The teacher
turned around and saw a strange man.
Immediately, the Red Headband students fell to their knees in shock.
"It's him... it's him... get away from him!" the female student screamed.
The teacher was still unable to comprehend what was happening and was getting ready to
act when a loud bang was heard, and no longer could his mind process anything as he fell to
the floor.
"Another one deleted from the world of Pagna," Scar said. "You know, he was a good
teacher. Maybe if I had someone like him, I wouldn't have ended up the way I am."
Scar disappeared from where he was, and with the students looking around, they could see
he was now right next to one of the other teachers in the courtyard. A bang noise went off,
and Scar disappeared again.
"Behind you, sir!" a student shouted, but it was too late.
The same bang noise was heard, and now none of the teachers were left alive. Just like that,
moving around each area, there was a person who was able to take out a large number of
them.
The loud sound of bangs continued, and even more students were startled than before. A
repeat of what had occurred at the Red Headband area was now happening at the Yellow
Headband area, and soon the same thing would happen at the Blue Headband area.
As students scattered across the main large courtyard, some of them still bleeding, they
headed into the main building. However, the majority of them, after seeing their teachers
fail to protect them, felt it was useless.
No one could defeat this person who was using tools, possibly artifacts, that they had never
seen before, so they decided to exit out of the main academy area.
"The wall is just up ahead. We can hide out in the main town!" one of the students shouted.
"He won't be able to find all of us, and we can just escape."
There were around fifty or so students running toward the main exit. It looked to be a
hundred meters up ahead. Usually, a distance they could cover in less than ten seconds, but
it felt so long to them, and before they knew it, the strange man had appeared in front of
them once
more.
"There are too many of you to deal with just handguns. Let's switch to something a bit
faster," Scar said, as the handguns disappeared from his hands, and now he was holding
two larger weapons, known as Uzis. "I might be able to go home before dinner at this rate."
Chapter 846: Power Of Weapons (Fixed)
Chapter 846: Power Of Weapons (Fixed)

The students were so close to exiting the academy, they had run using all of their strength,
believing that past the walls was safety. That was when they saw the intruder appearing
like a guard blocking their way.
Immediately, the students stopped. None of them had thoughts of trying to best this person,
to try and take him on after seeing so many fail, seeing so many dead. Some were unable to
move, while others had turned away.
New items appeared in the intruder's hands; they were bigger than what he had been using
so far, and the wicked smile remained present on his face.
Scar had lifted his hands and pulled the trigger, holding on. Rather than the constant single
bangs the students had heard, they instead heard a continuous noise in the air, followed by
the screams of their fellow students.
No longer was Scar just using a basic handgun; he was using weapons far more devastating.
Weapons made from his world, created with one purpose in mind: to kill.
The students that fled and turned their backs felt sharp pain enter their bodies, causing
them to fall to the ground. When they looked down, they could see blood coming from their
wounds.
Others tried their best to avoid what they could. They had done so somewhat successfully
so far, but the path of the bullets was too fast for them, hitting their legs first, slowing their
movement, and then hitting the rest of their bodies.
One of the females, who was frozen stiff and had fallen to her knees, had both of her hands
covering her ears.
"Please stop... stop... what is going on? Why is this happening to us? We don't even have a
chance to fight back!"
It was then that the constant sound stopped. When she looked ahead, she could see that the
flashes coming from the intruder's weapons had stopped as well, and then a small object
dropped onto the ground, rectangular in shape.
Seeing this, the female student had a number of thoughts going through her head.
"Those devices shoot small metal objects out at a fast rate, but the metal objects have to
come from somewhere. Is he having to replenish his supply?"
At that moment, more students that had survived the initial attack had run out from their
respective color headband buildings. They ventured onto the main courtyard, hoping to
exit, when they saw that there was a person blocking their path.
"That's the guy, right? But he's stopped right now. Is he tired or something?"
"That must be it. To throw those projectiles so fast, he must be using an immense amount
of Qi. Maybe this is our chance."
Some were wary about it, but there were a couple of others who thought that this might be
their only chance, so they decided to run ahead as fast as they could.
"We need to get rid of him, for everyone that died today!" the students claimed.
The female student who was on the ground could hear a clicking noise enter the intruder's
weapons. Although she didn't know exactly how these weapons worked, she had a bad
feeling. "No! Get away, everyone get away!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Scar pointed his guns right at the group of students coming toward him, but rather than
shooting right at them, he aimed for the girl instead.
"We have a smart one among them. So you can go first." Scar pulled the trigger, and a
stream of bullets came down.
At the same time, though, the female student saw someone come right in front of her,
crashing into the ground. A large rumbling had occurred, and a piece of the floor had
broken up, lifting off from the ground.
The bullets being used had hit the wall, as the flooring was being used as a type of shield.
The students from behind, seeing this, gathered behind the large wall.
"Stay behind this, keep cover, while I deal with him."
"Yes, Vice-Principal Amir!" the students said with hope in their eyes. One of the strongest in
the academy had arrived to help them. Although the other teachers had failed before, Vice-
Principal Amir was different.
His strength was on par with the top five Dark Faction Clan leaders.
Amir quickly ran around the wall he had created from the ground and started to dash in the
position where Scar was last seen. He could see the intruder up ahead, his weapons pointed
toward him again.
Scar pulled the trigger, and a rain of bullets came out, all aiming toward Amir. Seeing how
fast they were, Amir once again kicked the ground, breaking it and lifting it up vertically.
Right after that, he proceeded with a punch, breaking the wall and flinging pieces of rock
right toward Scar.
They were flung across and continued until they crashed into the wall.
"Where did he go?"
"I thought the difficulty would rise a bit eventually."
The voice was from behind, and Amir quickly turned to see Scar at least twenty meters
away, in a completely different direction than before.
"Is he the Deleter that was sent by Alter?" Amir thought. "I didn't see him move, his body
just disappeared. It's most likely a powerful item given to him by Alter. With these weapons
from other worlds, it's a dangerous combination."
Amir was looking at the ground at the number of students who had already perished. It
wasn't just students, either; there were teachers.
When the students covered in blood reached him, Amir immediately went to assess the
mess, but this wasn't what he was expecting at all.
"Everything has been a bit too easy so far." Scar moved his hands, and the Uzi weapons
disappeared. In their place, his handguns reappeared. "I'm just a better shot with these; I
prefer them."
Scar said as he pointed them at Amir and started to shoot directly at him. This time, rather
than breaking the flooring, Amir stretched out his arm. It started to change black, growing
larger in size, and covered his entire face.
As the bullets hit his hard skin, they fell onto the floor.
"If you really are a Deleter, then now is not the time to worry about hiding my powers,"
Amir said as he used his Hybrid form from the start.
"With Raze and the others having already left, I'm the only one who can protect this
academy!"
Chapter 847: We Need A Savior
Chapter 847: We Need A Savior

Amir had revealed his powers in the Martial Arts Tournament, and it was before Raze had
teleported everyone away. Meaning there were those that were high up who were able to
witness the power of the Hybrids.
However, this news was only slightly reported by the golden reports released by Bubble,
and due to so much that happened, it was something that had been overlooked by many.
The students knew Amir from before and were unaware of the fact that he was one of the
Hybrids that day who were part of the attack.
Now the students were witnessing firsthand the large beast-like arm that was on their
principal.
"He's a Hybrid, but aren't they really dangerous and just like beasts in human skin?" one of
the students said, peeking around the side of the wall.
"Right, I heard they eat humans in their sleep to continue their power."
"Are you guys idiots!" Johanna said. She was the female who had been keeping an eye on
the Deleter's weapons and had somewhat figured it out. "Amir saved us, and you guys are
now talking about him as if he's a monster."
"Who cares about that? The real monster is the one that's killing all of us students. Right
now, Amir is just someone who is protecting us."
These were Amir's thoughts. He didn't care if the students saw his real self; he needed to
use at least this much power if he was to get rid of the enemy in front of him.
Amir kicked off from his position, with his large hand in front of him, and headed toward
Scar. Seeing this, Scar, with both of his pistols, in response, tried to shoot at Amir where he
could.
The bullets, first aimed at his head, were blocked once again by the Hybrid's arms. Then
Scar tried to aim elsewhere, where his arm wasn't present. He aimed for the feet, shooting
at them.
However, Amir was able to avoid them, jumping side to side at the right time. When the
bullets would aim for another section of his body, Amir was able to move his hand swiftly
in the way as well.
"The speed of his weapon is incredibly fast," Amir noticed. "It's no wonder the students
were unable to avoid it, but I am not an ordinary warrior!"
Amir had reached his opponent fairly quickly, and with his large hand, went and struck,
swinging it, but just like many of the other students had experienced, it hit nothing but air.
"You are fast, very fast, so let's see how you deal with this," Scar asked, now appearing
behind Amir.
Once again with his guns, he fired at Amir, who was able to block the shots, but the moment
Scar fired, he moved in an instant to another location. Amir moved, trying to block the
attacks, and that's when a bullet hit his shoulder.
Amir continued to move his head, shifting his position and arm to block, but the bullets
were now coming from all sorts of directions. The students, who were watching everything,
could see the intruder disappearing and reappearing in different places.
"That man, I don't think he has super speed; I think he can teleport or something!" one of
the students said.
"I think you might be right; it's the only explanation."
The bullets that hit Amir's body, though, wouldn't go right through him. His body was
strong, reinforced with Qi, as well as being part Hybrid. They would cause him to bleed but
wouldn't penetrate too deep and would eventually fall out of his body onto the floor.
"These small bullets don't seem to be enough for you. I'm going to have to use something
bigger," Scar said.
Reaching out his hand, a small glow appeared around both of his weapons, and soon what
had appeared in Scar's hands had changed. It was a singular object that needed both of
Scar's hands to hold. It looked like a long hollow tube with a strange oblong object at the
end.
In Scar's world, he was now holding onto what was known as an RPG.
Amir could sense, though, that switching weapons would take some time, so once again,
this time with his beast-like hand, Amir grabbed part of the floor and lifted it up. Moving
from side to side, Amir continued to lift parts of the walls up in a circle.
He continued to move around, and as he was running in a circle, he would destroy parts of
the wall, sending rocks flying toward Scar in the center.
"You already tried this technique, it didn't work, remember?" Scar said.
He moved position again, to outside where the circle of walls was, but he was having
trouble seeing where Amir was. That was until a large hand grabbed onto Scar, holding him
in place. Looking at the black arm, it had come from above.
"I caught you!" Amir claimed.
"It doesn't matter, because I'm someone who can't be caught!" Scar said.
Even though he was held by Amir, caught in his clawed-like hands, suddenly Amir could
feel nothing, and now Scar was in the air, carefully aiming his RPG right at Amir. It fired
away, and an object was heading right toward him.
It continued going forward, and Amir was able to retract his black arm in time. As the
object touched his skin, a huge explosion went off in the air, and the students could see
Amir being sent off in the other direction, crashing on the ground.
His body was covered in wounds, and his black beast arm, part of its skin had been ripped,
and flesh could be seen underneath. Still, Amir was weakly standing up.
"This Deleter has a number of tricks up his sleeve. To say he has the strength to wipe out
entire clans... I should have known he was capable of a number of things." When Amir
looked up though, he was shocked to see what was happening next.
The new weapon that Scar had just used on Amir was now pointed at the wall, where the
rest of the students currently were.
"What type of principal would one be to just leave their students unprotected," Scar said.
"And we all know openings appear when one thinks about others and not themselves!"
Scar pulled the trigger, and the large projectile launched itself toward the wall. The
students wanted to move, but it seemed like it would be too late. The object continued to fly
through the air until it stopped, about three meters away from the wall; it had stopped in
mid-air.
"So this... is where you had run off to... and what the F*** have you done?" Raze asked as he
floated down from above.
Chapter 848 Dark Magus Vs Deleter
848 Dark Magus Vs Deleter
Using his Wind magic, Raze had rushed over as quickly as he could. From above, he could
see everything that was happening, and just in time, he was able to further use his Wind
magic to hold the rocket-propelled grenade in place.
He floated down, wearing his special blazer, hand held out, and landed on the ground.
The students noticed the white hair immediately, and it was the first time they had seen
him out in person.
"That's the leader of the Dark Faction; he really came out!" the student claimed.
"It's true as well. He looks to be around the same age as us. How did someone so young
become the leader?"
"And why… didn't he come out sooner?" another said, gripping their fist in anger as tears
rolled down their face. "If he was out here, if he had come out straight away, he could have
protected more people."
Although some of the students were complaining, some were still worried. After seeing the
strange power that the intruder had, they couldn't imagine anyone matching up to him.
Even Amir, who was a powerful Hybrid, seemed to have lost against this man.
Now Raze, even if he was the Dark Faction leader, they had never seen his immense skills in
person.
"But how is he holding that weapon in place?" Johanna thought, knowing this wasn't
something that Qi could do.
Lifting both of his hands, the grenade started to move and was shifted back, heading in the
direction of where Scar was. It landed right by his feet and exploded. The students felt
some of the wind blow in their faces along with some heat.
Dust covered their eyes, but they didn't expect to see a successful result. Because once
again, the man had moved out of sight. When the dust cleared, there was no body on the
ground, and instead, Scar appeared slightly to the side.
"So the main target finally makes their way here, and look how many have died in the
process," Scar commented. "But don't worry, I wouldn't feel so bad about it, because the
whole city, every person that lives on this piece of land will end up disappearing."
Scar paused speaking there, as if he was waiting for some type of reaction from Raze, but
there had yet to be one. Instead, it was Amir who had jumped by his side.
"You have to be careful with this one, it seems he has the power to teleport. I don't know if
it's a power from his world or an artifact of some kind," Amir commented.
Raze had been thinking about it. The way Scar talked about Himmy, it was as if the two
knew each other, and the weapons being used were quite similar as well. Raze couldn't
sense any magic being used, and he knew of no such spell that could instantly transport a
person constantly like Scar was doing now.
Leading him to believe what he was using was an artifact.
"What are you even doing here, Raze?" Amir asked. "I thought you would have been in the
Demonic Faction already."
"I would have, but this person appeared in front of me with Himmy's head," Raze answered.
Raze had quickly exited the room looking for the intruder but couldn't find him anywhere.
He searched the academy and then exited from above. It was only a short time, maybe
fifteen minutes at most.
Yet this amount of carnage had been caused in that short amount of time. Raze was starting
to understand the dangers of the Deleter.
"Stay next to the students," Raze ordered. "Protect them as much as you can; otherwise, I
can't focus on this fight as much."
Appearing in one of Raze's hands was a sword, while in the other, swirling around it, dark
magic was starting to appear.
Raze then swung his sword, and a crimson red slash went out from it, aiming right toward
Scar. His body disappeared, and the moment he landed on the floor and Raze was able to
spot him, he fired out a dark pulse in his direction.
However, Scar had moved again, and this time, the moment he appeared, he shot with his
handguns, firing several bullets. They were aimed perfectly, but rather than dodging them
or using his magic, Raze fired another dark pulse right at Scar.
The beam of energy looked close to hitting Scar, but just moments before, he disappeared
on the spot and reappeared again.
Scar looked at his bullets, and when they got within a certain range of Raze, a barrier
appeared, stopping the bullets and causing them to fall to the floor. The special trait of his
blazer had stopped the bullets.
Raze was counting on his blazer being strong enough to stop the bullets and, in turn, land
an attack, but it seemed like it just didn't quite work out.
"Mages are really annoying to fight," Scar complained.
"Right," Raze said. "You should know, being a member of Alter yourself. The weapons you
are using now, at one point in time, also existed in Alterian."
"The world focused on creating these weapons, that was until five-star mages and above
came into existence. Those weapons practically became useless. Bombs could be stopped
with magic formations and crystals creating powerful barriers."
"Spells could be made to redirect the weapons back at the person. Because of this, the
countries of our world focused on creating better mages rather than better weapons of
mass destruction, but you come from a world where magic doesn't exist!"
What Raze said was true, although he didn't know much about these weapons due to it
being beyond his time. Since his world had become a true world filled mostly with magic,
the gun Himmy had first shown him was foreign to him.
"You think that's meant to scare me into not fighting you?" Scar said. "Trust me, I have
defeated plenty of mages in the past. You have no idea, no idea what it took for me to
become a Deleter, or what that prestige even means!"
Chapter 849 What It Takes To Become A Deleter
849 What It Takes To Become A Deleter
The creation of the Deleters was something that the Alter organization saw as a must. It
was something that everyone believed was needed to proceed with their goal. For one, to
protect the world that they currently resided in, Pagna.
It wasn't their world, and they were visitors, so they wished to put away artifacts powerful
enough to affect the world of Pagna. It was a just cause that allowed them to save many
lives.
However, the organization would also know, there would be many that disagreed with that,
and even in Alter, there would be those that might change sides, or decide that the goal
they strived towards was no longer just.
Because of all of this, the Deleters had been created. They, at times, needed to stop
powerful artifacts that had already gotten into the hands of those in Pagna. Perhaps
powerful clans that had them.
Or stop even Otherworlders who had their hands on such items. If an Otherworlder had
these items, it would mean they too would be incredibly powerful. So in turn, the Deleters,
the strongest forces in Pagna, were created.
It was their way of somewhat fighting fire with fire.
However, giving Otherworlders such power, they also needed to be careful, which was why
the Deleters' selection process was grueling and wasn't something that just anyone could
go through.
There were rumors within Alter as to what the process was, and only those that tried to
become one knew the truth. Scar, being one of these Deleters, knew the truth of what he
had to go through.
At the large mushroom base known as Alter, Scar was in the canteen area gathering his
food as he did every day. He had grabbed his metal tray and allowed for the slop to be
served.
Right after, he looked around before deciding to take a seat at a table where two individuals
were already sitting down. One man wearing a beret on his head, and another wearing a
long trench coat.
Scar sat down with the others and began digging into his food.
"I heard there was a bit of a problem on your last mission," Marcus said. "At least that's
what Himmy told me."
"Yeah, just go ahead and throw me under the bus," Himmy replied. "I just had to do some
investigation to see if anyone saw anything, but don't worry, it was no big deal."
Scar took another slop of food before swinging his head back and letting out a big sigh.
"Those from Alterian are quite annoying. The damn mage was using his powers left, right,
and center. I followed the procedures and told him everything about Alter."
"I guess there was really no choice; I heard he even attacked a few civilians as well," Marcus
said.
"Not all people that come to Pagna are good people. They'll take advantage of their
powers."
"It was a hard one, but I managed to finally take him out in the end," Scar replied.
"Hey, you did better than I would," Marcus replied. "Even though we're all from the same
world, I know I wouldn't like to have to fight these mages. I guess it's why when there's a
troublesome one, they ask you and your group to take them out; you seem to have a knack
for it."
"I never liked it though, taking out someone who might just be scared," Himmy stated. "It
just doesn't sit right with me. Besides, don't you have a family in Pagna? You should be
more careful. You can reject these types of jobs, you know, or let your squad deal with it
rather than you personally."
"That's why I have to do this," Scar replied. "Because I have a family. The whole point of
doing what we do is to protect the people of Pagna. More and more Otherworlders and
artifacts are appearing every day. I have to look out for my family."
The group continued to eat and chat. They weren't part of the same squads in Alter, but
because they were from the same world, they got on and went on reminiscing about the
past.
That was until Scar revealed something. "I didn't have a good life back there. Unlike you
guys, I never want to go back."
"Well, I can see why you say that now you have a family and all," Himmy said.
But Scar shook his head. "It's not that. Back in my world, unlike you two, I wasn't a
detective, I wasn't in the army. I wasn't serving the world or my country. If anything,
everyone said I was a bum. I had no job."
"They called me a leech for feeding off the government's system just to survive. But I tried. I
applied for jobs every day, every second, but everyone would give me this judging look.
Then, as time went on, and I went unemployed longer, things just got harder."
"People asked why so much time had passed without work. As I got older and time went on,
it was harder, and even more people called me a leech. I couldn't meet my friends; I
couldn't meet my family because each time they would ask me the question. 'Has Scar
found a job yet? What's Scar up to?' While all of them would be talking about the things
they did, the accomplishments they made. They liked having me there because at least the
one person working at a fast food restaurant could feel better about themselves because
they were above me."
The other two stayed quiet for a while. It wasn't the first time that Scar had talked like this.
He had gone on about how much he hated life in his own world.
It was then that Himmy gave him a little slap on the back. "Well, no one is saying you have
to leave Pagna. You have a job, and you're good at it here, and you have a family. So forgive
us if we talk about home from time to time; not all of us have fitted in so well to Pagna like
you."
It was then that Scar smiled, and both Himmy and Marcus were ready to continue eating
when Scar revealed something to them.
"I've decided, I'm going to take the trial to become a Deleter," Scar revealed, causing Marcus
and Himmy to instantly stop eating.
Chapter 850: A Question For A Deleter
Chapter 850: A Question For A Deleter

Both Himmy and Marcus had been part of Alter for a long time, slightly longer than Scar
had. So they fully knew about the Deleters, which was why they had stopped eating their
meal at that point.
"What, do you guys think I can't make it?" Scar asked, seeing the reaction as clear as day.
"It's not that," Himmy replied. "You should know what Deleters are required to do. They
look for a certain type of person, and it's not something I could stomach. You're living a
good life right now, right? Why can't you just continue as it is?"
"What, so you're saying that I shouldn't try to achieve more?" Scar asked. "I've completed
mission after mission. I'm already a squad captain, I don't want to be behind a desk like
those programmers. I want to feel like I'm actually making an impact."
"So isn't being a Deleter a big step upward? It's the pride of the Alter organization and
needed for the organization to work in the first place."
Himmy looked at Marcus again; both of them were trying to be careful with their words so
they didn't upset Scar. They could tell that he had gotten more involved and persuaded into
Alter compared to the others.
There were people like this, and if anything, Alter liked having people like this.
"Look, I'm just saying a Deleter will be away even more from your family. You take that
role, and you might lose your life in Alter," Himmy continued.
The rest of the meal went on rather silently, and despite the words of Marcus and Himmy,
Scar had decided to make his choice and had put in his application forward, applying for
the Deleter role.
Not everyone who applied would even get to the assessment stage. There were a number of
traits that Alter seemed to look at. A track record of where one was from, their specialties,
and
so on.
No one really knew what it was that stood out to those that selected the role, but either
way, Scar was selected to come forward.
That day, during the regular lunch break where Himmy, Scar, and Marcus would meet up,
there was one person absent at the table.
"Did Scar get sent out on another mission already, or did he head back home?" Himmy
asked. Marcus seemed unbothered as he went to take another drink, but then he paused.
"Wait, I heard something. Today is the day of their assessing for a new Deleter. You don't
think he..."
"He definitely did," Himmy said.
Scar was quite amazed that he had been selected as one of the Deleters, and currently, he
was sitting in a chair in a hallway just outside one of the large rooms. Along with him, he
could see many others that had applied to be Deleters as well, going through the same
process.
They were squad leaders who had accomplished quite a bit. There was no pattern, though,
to those selected. Some of them seemed quite new to the organization, which caused Scar
to raise an eyebrow.
Otherwise, he could understand as they had managed to track down some of the most
sought- after artifacts that Alter held to date, and others had a bad reputation in Alter. So
much so that they were close to being kicked out.
It was hard for Scar to pinpoint what was the quality they had chosen when getting Alter
members to this stage of the selection.
'Himmy and Marcus tried to dissuade me from this, but they don't understand. I wasn't the
same as them. Everything that I have now is because I'm in Alter. I am achieving great
things and making a big impact in the world of Panga.'
'Becoming a Deleter will mean I'm an even higher essential part of the organization. I can
see that even they look down on me slightly because of what I was back in our world. I was
a nobody, unlike them, but here, once I'm a Deleter, things will change.'
"Participant, Scar Harley, you may enter," a man said, standing by the door.
As Scar approached, the man opened the door, and Scar walked into the room. The heavy
door was sealed shut behind him, and not a word of what was said inside could be heard
outside. While inside, Scar was marveling at the large room, its strange blue metallic
architecture that swept the area. Then, in front of him, there were two individuals, both of
whom Scar recognized, and immediately he bowed down his head.
"It is an honor to meet you, Sir Heino!" Scar carefully bowed.
Heino, the leader, and the person who was currently in charge of the Alter organization.
Standing by his side, there was another person of great importance. Lifting his head up
again, Scar then bowed down to the person beside him.
"It is an honor to meet you as well, Deleter Garlock."
There were few Deleters in Alter, so those that had been in the organization long enough
would somewhat know of them. There were also those that no one presumably knew
about, but Garlock was different, for he was always by the side of Heino, and he was the
only Deleter that was a mage and from Alterian.
"Thank you, in this assessment we are going to ask you a series of questions. At any point,
you can refuse to answer, and if you wish to no longer continue your application as a
Deleter, you may leave. Do you understand?" Heino asked.
Scar didn't know why, but just by Heino speaking, he was intimidated. Even though the
man looked even younger than he was. Taking a gulp, he gave a reply.
"Yes, sir."
"Excellent, then we shall begin," Heino said as he went on to ask his series of questions.
Scar answered every one of them, and he did so honestly, the way he thought. The
questions seemed odd at times, but either way, he gave his answers. He thought whatever it
was that had attracted him to them in his application, then he would need to show that side
to them.
"Alright, final question," Heino said. "Deleters must put Alter first above all. In doing so, it
proves they truly believe in the cause of Alter. If I was to ask you to eliminate every person
you know or have a connection with in order to become a Deleter... well, what's your
answer to that?"
Chapter 851: Life Of A Deleter
Chapter 851: Life Of A Deleter

Scar had to blink a few times and settle his heart, wondering if he had heard the question
right. Although all of the questions up to this point were strange, this question, which
seemed to be the last of the lot, seemed the strangest.
'Are they trying to test my commitment to the cause, to see how far I'm willing to go to be a
Deleter?' Scar thought. 'How do they want me to answer this? If I answer yes right off the
bat, will they think I'm some sort of psychopath?
'Is the correct answer to say no in this position?'
Rather than thinking about how strange the question was, though, Scar was just thinking
about the right way to answer to get the role, and wasn't directly thinking about the
scenario they had given him.
"Don't worry, there is no need to answer now," Heino said. "You have three days to give an
answer and think about it. We look forward to hearing your answer."
It looked like they were ready to call in the next participant, and seeing this, Scar lifted his
hand.
"No, it's fine. I have my answer," Scar said. "The most important thing is keeping Pagna safe
as a whole. To do that, there are times where people are needed to do the dirty tasks of the
world and what is necessary."
"My answer is, I would do anything for the honorable role of a Deleter."
Both Heino and the Deleter looked at each other at that moment, and there was a smile on
Heino's face.
"Excellent, you have passed, and we will move you forward to the next trial. You will work
with us for the next six months, and depending on the results, you might very well be the
next Deleter," Heino claimed.
Ecstatic, Scar continuously bowed down in front of the two.
"Thank you, thank you so much. I won't let you down."
"I hope you don't," Heino said as he waved Scar off to leave the place, and he did just that,
quickly leaving.
"His thoughts were certainly interesting," Garlon said.
"Yes, with that last question, not for a moment was he thinking about the task, just
everything to become a Deleter. He was quite perfect, but the real test will come after."
As the two of them were busy talking, the door had opened once more, and the next
participant had come in. Once again, they asked them a series of questions, and eventually,
they had gotten to the last question.
Just like with Scar, the same question was asked:
"Deleters must put Alter first above all. In doing so, it proves they truly believe in the cause
of Alter. If I was to ask you to eliminate every person you know or have a connection with
in order to become a Deleter... well, what's your answer to that?"
The man being questioned was taken aback, and then finally gave his answer.
"I'm sorry, if that is the case, then I would like to withdraw from the assessment for
becoming a Deleter. I could never imagine myself doing such a thing."
"That is fine," Heino said. "That is your choice, as we stated at the beginning."
The man was ready to leave when he could feel an immense amount of pressure building
up in his head. It was growing and growing until his entire face had turned tomato red. The
next moment it exploded on the spot, and the contestant fell to the floor.
"That one did not meet the right qualities to be a Deleter. I don't know why those like him
bother to apply."
Having passed the next stage, the next part of the selection process was a physical
assessment. They were given a simulation of how they would deal with particular
situations and how they would fight just as they were.
This was the part Scar was worried about because, unlike those from other worlds, he only
had a few weapons. Still, he did what he could with the weapons he had; that was how he
always worked.
Thankfully, out on the field, he had done quite well. Heino was observing the way Scar
fought in these simulations and what he did.
Noticing he was versatile with his weapon choice, he was clever with his planning, and he
knew how to overcome his disadvantageous situation when going against a Pagna warrior,
someone from Alterian or elsewhere.
It wasn't just Scar that had passed, though; a couple of others had also passed the
assessment.
"Scar doesn't have the power of a Deleter," Heino said as he was watching videos of the
results along with Garlon. "But he has all the perfect qualities of one. I think I have the
perfect artifact for him that could push him up to the Deleter level.
"If he passes, he might not be the strongest Deleter in terms of power, but he will definitely
be worthy of having the name, maybe more so than any other Deleter."
Scar went on from one trial to the next, and he had been given his first task. Not yet as a
Deleter, but on his way to becoming one. As he had received the instructions, his heart
sunk.
Three months had passed, and Himmy and Marcus were finally returning to the main base
to get their new set of instructions. They had gone to grab some food and gathered at the
canteen table once again.
Eventually, the conversation had shifted.
"Did you see the report on Scar?" Marcus asked.
"It said his family was killed by bandits, and that Scar had been given the task himself to
deal with the situation," Himmy answered, but didn't elaborate further.
"Don't you think that's sh*t?" Marcus said. "I thought you would feel more down for the
guy. You were the one that kept telling him how good his life was in Pagna."
Himmy didn't say his thoughts out loud to Marcus, as someone who looked into matters
deeper than the surface.
It was then that Marcus saw Scar grabbing his food and walking over to them. He didn't sit
at their table, though, and instead just had a few passing words.
"Himmy, it seems like I no longer have anything holding me back from becoming a Deleter
now. I'm sure you read the report," Scar said.
He didn't give Himmy a chance to reply and just continued walking. Later that day, Himmy
and Marcus found out that Scar had officially become a Deleter.
Chapter 852: Anything To Win
Chapter 852: Anything To Win

When Scar had become a Deleter, a rift had opened up between him, Marcus, and Himmy.
The three of them, who used to talk often due to the connection of all being from the same
world, had drifted apart.
Marcus, when going to Alter in passing, would try to approach him a few times, but Scar
would always state that he was a Deleter, and that the two of them shouldn't chat.
Otherwise, who knew what could happen one day? Maybe he would have to get rid of him.
Marcus never took it to heart, but he could tell that ever since Scar had changed into a
Deleter, it had affected Himmy. He hadn't talked to him since, nor could he really face him.
Himmy had never told Marcus the reason why, and eventually, it had led to the situation
where Himmy, who was on the run trying to aid Raze, had met with Scar once again.
"Nah, the moment you became a Deleter, I knew you were a lost cause. Anyway, I would be
careful, Scar... this is going to be your hardest job yet," Himmy said, staring out of his
balcony
room.
"Thanks for the warning, but I won't need it," Scar replied, as he pulled out a gun and
placed it right at the back of Himmy's head.
Himmy had closed his eyes, waiting for the final moment to come, but he heard no sound,
no click or anything.
"What is wrong with you!" Scar said. "Why even now do you feel like you're above me? You
always think you're two steps ahead. You knew this would happen, like you can read me. I
hate it!"
Himmy turned around, and flickers of the old, insecure Scar could be seen coming through.
"I know what happened to your family," Himmy said. "And I'm not talking about the fake
report that Alter pulled. I told you not to become a Deleter, but you didn't listen. The fact
that you're a Deleter now, and have done what you've done, means that it's a simple task to
kill a colleague like me," Himmy replied.
Scar started to think back. Becoming a Deleter was a hard task, the first assignment he had
been given. It was one of the hardest things he had to do, but from then on, the assignments
got easier and easier.
Each time he would return to Alter, he had been given their gratitude. He could see the map
the Programmers had planned out and how he played a massive role in the bigger picture.
He could see that he mattered.
After the assignments, there were even more things that a Deleter needed to do. Things
that Scar couldn't even remember much himself. No matter how hard he tried, there was
almost a gap in his memory from finishing his training and becoming a Deleter. Everything
in between -he was sure of it-since there was a month gap in his mind.
Yet he never asked, he never questioned it. He had gotten the role he always wanted.
"You know what? The winner is the one that's alive," Scar said. "So f*ck you."
In his hand, the gun had disappeared, and in its place, a large machete had appeared. He
swung it, digging right into Himmy's neck. It had stopped, with Scar not having the full
strength to pull it across.
At that moment, Himmy was staring right at Scar. The eyes that still showed no fear, even
in these moments, drove Scar mad as he pulled the machete out and swung it again and
again toward Himmy's neck until it finally came off.
For some reason, all of these memories had swarmed Scar in an instant as he was facing the
Dark Magus in front of him.
"I have been through a lot! I have gone through a large number of hardships and thrown
everything away to reach this point!" Scar shouted, as he continued to fire away.
This time, rather than using his barrier, Raze pulled out his light sword and swung it. As he
did, he hit the bullets, deflecting them away. The barrier was helpful, but it needed time to
recover, and if too much damage was taken, it would eventually go away.
So for easy shots like this, it was best for him to just use his sword.
"The position I am in is because of everything I sacrificed. You think you can beat someone
like this!" Scar then teleported above and started to fire again.
Raze, staying in position and remaining calm, swung his sword again in the direction where
they were coming from, deflecting them once more. He did the same over and over as Scar
teleported around the place.
Raze could feel it, though-Scar wasn't trying to hit him with these shots; they were more
like bullets fired out of frustration.
"You sacrificed everything to get to where you are?" Raze asked. "Which means, you made
the choices that got you into your position!"
Raze swung his sword using the Crimson Slash. Long red lines, mixed with Qi and wind
magic, were created. Scar was now on the defensive as he teleported away to avoid the
attacks.
Raze continued to throw out Crimson Slashes at Scar, trying to hit him. Each time, Raze felt
like he was getting closer, as there were only a number of places where Scar could go
because Scar was already on the attack, trying to look for openings.
Eventually, Raze stopped, though.
'This is taking too long. I have ways of dealing with him, but... I also need to head to the
Demonic Faction,' Raze thought.
"There's a big difference between me and you," Raze said. "You chose to sacrifice
everything to reach where you are. For me, I had everything taken away, leaving me no
choice but to get to where I am."
"In this world, I know nothing is fair." Raze lifted one of his hands and pounded onto his
chest. He had input quite a bit of Qi as well.
This action seemed quite strange to Scar, and he seemingly ignored it. Until moments later,
he could see something red in the air opening up next to the Dark Magus.
"I don't care what's fair or not, I just need to get rid of you as quickly as possible," Raze said,
as the portal next to him opened, and a foot was seen stepping out.
Chapter 853: Noodle Shop Warrior
Chapter 853: Noodle Shop Warrior

Outside the Perfect Noodle Shop, around the back in the alleyway, Skyler, the worker, was
taking a break sitting on the staircase. He looked at his wrinkly hands.
"Man, they put me on dishwashing duty. I thought things couldn't get worse, but it just
seems to be getting worse." Skyler started to rub the top of his head, once again wondering
how he had gotten into this situation.
Having been forced to work and make noodles, he didn't realize how much he was enjoying
it now that he was on dishwashing duty, and the only reason he had been put there was for
causing a mess in the restaurant.
Skyler didn't think it was his fault, since the last visitors that had arrived seemingly wanted
to cause trouble in the first place, but this was his punishment given to him by Boss Rane.
"Last time, though, my Qi control was better than it's ever been." Skyler condensed the Qi
into his fist. "And it wasn't just a coincidence. Making those noodles using my Qi, I thought
it was useless. I only did it because Zon asked me, but ever since, I've gotten better."
"Maybe making noodles was the secret to his strength all along. Or maybe, I'm just going
crazy working in this noodle shop."
Either way, there was one thing that Skyler had to admit, and that was that Zon was
incredibly strong. Quite possibly one of the strongest warriors in existence.
'And I thought I could go up against the Dark Magus when I can't even beat someone who
works in a noodle shop. I need to get stronger.' Skyler made a fist and pumped it in the air,
but as he dragged it down, he could see something.
A person in the alleyway, looking panicked. They had some blood on their clothes, but it
didn't look like they had any wounds on them. They were rushing forward but stumbling.
"Hey, take it easy," Skyler said. "What's happened? Is something going on?"
Skyler rushed to the man fairly quickly as he looked like a normal citizen, and when he got
up close, he seemed to be right-the man was no Pagna warrior.
"It's horrible," the man said. "The students, some of them managed to rush out of the gate.
They were barely able to move, covered in blood and wounds. They had practically crawled
out, begging and asking for help."
"One of the gardeners that work just outside of the gate went to check, and they said all
they could see, all they could see..." Soon after, the man threw up before he could finish his
sentence, right there on the floor.
Images had entered his mind, of the child he saw, the child that had died in front of him,
covered in wounds.
"So many of the students have been hurt. They asked us to get help, to help save the
others," the man eventually finished.
Skyler couldn't quite believe it. The academy, of all places, had been attacked.
"How did that even happen? How could someone attack the academy without going
through the main city? There's only one entrance, and to hurt so many students, what
about the teachers, what about those inside? Isn't the Dark Magus meant to be there as
well?"
The man shook his head.
"We couldn't get much, but the sight that some of them saw-it's almost as if a whole army
had managed to cause a rampage on the inside."
Although it was just the work of one man, Skyler took it seriously. He could feel something
strange in the air. He could even hear there was a rumble among the people, most likely
from the news that had been passed around.
'If there's one person that will be strong enough to stop this, then I know who,' Skyler
thought.
"I'll get someone to get some help, and if they don't help, I'll go there myself," Skyler said.
When Skyler had gone back into the restaurant, he could sense the atmosphere was heavy.
Next to no one was eating their food; there was a worried look on many faces as the general
public were talking amongst each other.
"What do you think it is? Do you think it's the Light Faction making an attack?"
"It's hard to say, maybe it's some members of the Dark Faction that are rebelling, but why
do this now after so long, and what about the Dark Magus? Where is he? Why isn't he
sorting this out? He should be protecting the academy, right?"
With it being a restaurant and one of the most popular ones at that, the news had certainly
traveled fast.
It was then that Skyler had decided to head over to Zon and could see that he was already
talking to Rane.
"You should go," Rane said. "I don't know how, but you're clearly one of the strongest
people I've ever met. You should use your skills and power to help people. Not just make
noodles."
"I agree," Skyler said. "We should head to the academy together, and as quickly as possible."
Zon looked at Skyler and Rane. He had a bad feeling about what had happened and felt a
large amount of guilt, believing that it was somewhat his fault for attacking the men that
had invaded from before.
He also knew that right now the academy was practically defenseless, and that whoever
was attacking, it could spill into the main city.
It was then that Zon felt something in his body, and the system screen appeared in front of
him.
"It appears that the situation might be more dire than I thought. I am needed somewhere,"
Zon stated. "Skyler, grab as many warriors and physicians as you can and head to the
academy, try to save as many people as possible."
"I promised someone that I would help when I was called, and I have been called, but I also
promise I will try to be back as quickly as possible," Zon claimed.
Right now, Zon believed Raze was in the Demonic Faction. If that was the case, he would
help Raze with what was needed and then come back, but an image had appeared in Zon's
head. Of everyone in the noodle shop who he had worked with, all of them, no longer being
alive when he returned.
"It wouldn't be the first time, but I am a man of duty," Zon said to himself. Right then and
there, he started to draw a circle in the air with his finger, and he was soon on the move.
When the circle was complete, Zon stepped through and disappeared, leaving the rest of
the workers behind.
"What are you doing? You heard him, go and gather and get some help!" Rane shouted at
Skyler.
Zon was annoyed, extremely annoyed, and was holding back his anger. That someone had
dared to attack the academy while trouble was being stirred up somewhere else. Which
was why when he appeared right by Raze's side, the last place he expected to be was in the
academy itself.
Stepping through, Zon looked at the person ahead, and the dead bodies that were on the
ground.
"Is this the person, the one who's caused all this trouble?" Zon asked, as energy was already
flowing through his body.
Chapter 854 Where are the Rest?
Chapter 854 Where are the Rest?
At the town of Flendon, the people guarding the town had been going through a whirlwind
of emotions. Seeing the entire Behemoth Army, one of the great clans in the Demonic
Faction, they all feared that their life was doomed.
Even standing out on the wall, they knew very well they had little chance of surviving, that
was until one brave warrior, who was only a Wanderer hire, had gone out to challenge the
Behemoth Clan.
The warrior named Brack, instead of going against Sha Mo himself, faced one of the pillars
sent out, Umonke. The fight was in favor of only one, as the person known as one of the
pillars of the Behemoth Clan had devastated Brack in the fight.
Regardless, Brack would not fall. He stood up again and again despite clearly fighting a
losing battle, which had caused the town of Flendon to cheer for him in honor of his
bravery.
Frustrated, Umonke felt like his only choice was to behead Brack, making it so Flendon
would lose their morale. As he swung his sword cleanly at Brack's head, a dagger had
appeared, stopping it with a forceful amount of Qi.
"Who are you?" Umonke asked.
"I guess I was the first one here, and there's a lot more of you than I thought! Cronker said
as he scraped his dagger across the slicing blade and then swirled his body to try striking
again.
Umonke, though quick on his feet, managed to jump back a couple of times and avoid the
hits completely.
The pillars were some of the strongest middle-stage warriors in the Demonic Faction.
While the Crimson Crane were well-known, they weren't the strongest. In the past, it would
have taken perhaps all of the Crimson Crane members just to fight one of the pillars.
The only difference was they had the items of the Dark Magus with them now; however,
Cronker was not one of the fortunate ones.
"Interesting" Lince said, standing from the wall. "That man is incredibly fast and quick on
his feet. Even with his lack of Qi, he has great foot techniques."
With Lince and the Lost Clan being informants for the Demonic Faction and specializing in
footwork techniques, Cronker had caught his eye. Yet no one quite knew who he was, and it
was the same for those who were standing on the wall.
"Why are there strong warriors fighting for us?" one asked.
"I'm not sure... should we go and charge in now? Maybe we can head out and bring Brack
back?" another asked.
During the last battle with the Behemoth Clan, Cronker hadn't taken part due to his duty in
protecting the children. It was the first time the others had seen him.
"It doesn't matter who you are" Umonke said. "You stand in our way, so you will pay with
your life! Umonke moved forward, and his sword sliced through the air, making a piercing
sound. Cronker managed to move to the side, but the sword had skimmed his cheek,
making it bleed.
Ile noticed that this attack was far greater and filled with condensed Qi compared to the
last.
I'm guessing he was holding back his power when trying to cut that kid's head off... if I
block that with my dagger, it will just slice right through it.!
"Night Force!" Cronker shouted out.
Brack was weak on his legs, he could barely see. His unconscious will was the only thing
that had kept him going. As he wavered, just before he fell to the ground, three members
with red headbands wrapped around their heads appeared, dressed in black everywhere
else.
The Night Force was the special group that Cronker had been training up, consisting of
Tilson, Joe, and Violet. They all quickly grabbed onto Brack. Like Cronker, they had focused
nearly all their training on foot techniques.
Although they certainly would be no match if they were to face a middle-stage warrior,
perhaps they could match their speed if it came to using their legs.
"Take him out of here. I saved his life, so I would like to not see his blood split, Cronker
ordered. The three nodded and were ready to move, but Umonke wasn't going to let them
go so easily. "You think I will let you do that while I'm on the field?"
By the time Umonke finished his sentence, though, the three had already rushed over to the
other side. They were far quicker than he imagined.
Using all of his anger, Umonke started to swing his weapon rapidly in the air. In response,
Cronker was moving swiftly, dodging each one of them by jumping in the sand from side to
side, avoiding the attacks.
Neither one looked like they were letting up, with their attacks or with Cronker avoiding
them. The Behemoth Clan were quite enjoying the unexpected spectacle.
"This is not good," Lince said.
"What do you mean?" Andy replied, overhearing one of the guards. Everyone else was
cheering for this newcomer fighting for them. "Isn't this fine? The two of them seem to be
equal?"
"I guess it would seem that way to most, but that certainly isn't the case, Lince replied. "The
blond-haired man is constantly using techniques to achieve his feats to dodge. He
specializes in footwork, but because of this, he's using up a larger amount of Qi."
"While his opponent is making him use these techniques just by swinging his sword.
Eventually, time will run out, and when that happens, that Umonke fellow will win!"
Hearing these words, it made Andy and the rest of them a bit nervous. If the stranger was
able to win the battle out of the gate and take down one of the pillars, it would be a huge
momentum shift, maybe even causing some of the Behemoth members to doubt their
actions in attacking in the first place.
"You don't have to worry about that," a voice said.
The men turned to look at who was speaking but were unable to see someone, until they
looked down and could see a short woman with her hair tied up in pigtails.
"Get out of there!" the woman shouted with her hands by her mouth and filled with Qi.
Hearing that, Cronker knew the signal and backed off. He turned his back and started
running
toward the gate. As he went through, he looked up.
"It took the rest of you long enough" Cronker said.
Jumping up onto one of the bricks on the wall, others could see who it was and recognized
her, one of the Crimson Crane members.
"It's time for me to test out my new weapon on these guys," Froma said with a rosy red
cheek smile.
Chapter 855: Night Force Squad
Chapter 855: Night Force Squad

Although Cronker and his Night Force Squad were certainly the fastest with their foot
techniques, it wasn't as if the rest of the Crimson Crane were slow, so they weren't far
behind.
In fact, they had seen Cronker going up against Umonke as they were drawing closer to the
town of Flendon, and Alba decided they needed a plan.
"Sha Mo's forces are a lot larger than I thought; this is going to be a hard one," Alba said.
"Because of the last fight, Sha Mo should only have two pillars left. Those are the
troublesome ones that need to be taken out," Rayna said. "I'm not saying the rest of them
will be easy by any means, but those, including Sha Mo, are the ones that we need to focus
on."
"Then let's split up into two groups," Alba replied. "Me and the rest of the Crimson Crane
will head to the town of Flendon. We've fought by the side of a lot of them before. The rest
of you, cause a disruption when you see the right time."
Rayna agreed and nodded, and as she split off, the others went ahead, following her,
including Anna.
As for Alba and her group, they had decided to take a slightly longer route in entering the
town and had gone in through another one of the gates. Due to the concentration of forces
led by Sha Mo, it was quite easy. Mayor Yarlston and Andy hadn't even ordered anyone to
stand guard at those gates.
Heading inside, it only took a short while for the Crimson Crane to meet up with the rest of
those that were willing to fight.
Heading right to the front of the group that was on the ground, Tilon had appeared with his
legendary shield. He lifted it up and caught the attention of those that had fought with him
before.
"Stay quiet. We don't want to give things away just yet," Tilon said. "Just know that we are
by your side, ready to fight again."
There were many that still had the shields made by the Dark Magus from last time.
It was then, though, that Reno and Kizer had come to the side, pulling out a large crate.
"Inside are weapons made by the Dark Magus himself," Kizer said. "They are the best of the
best. Last time, we managed to turn this fight around thanks to his weapons, and he has
come back to help again."
Kizer reached in and started to hand out the weapons inside to the others, while Reno
secretly passed weapons up to the top of the wall from behind.
It was then, in the army of around two thousand that were there to protect Flendon, that
they had turned into small groups. Lilly, a spear user from the Crimson Crane, was taking
charge of those with spear-like weapons.
Alba was in charge of the swordsmen along with Kizer. Tilon had his hand on those with
shields. While finally, Froma had made it to the top, where all the ranged bowmen were
concentrated.
They now all had new weapons in their hands, but even before that, Froma went to look at
Alba at the bottom.
"Trust me, Alba, let me lead this fight, and let me deal the first attack."
Alba had trust in her members, and even more trust in the items created by Dark Magus.
She gave her the thumbs up.
'Raze must have created quite the weapon again this time, to give her that much
confidence,' Alba thought.
It was then that Froma had gotten on the wall and, with everyone ready, shouted to inform
Cronker to get back, and Cronker quickly ran back to the wall.
"Who is that... is that who I think it is?" one of the people from far off said.
"It is," Fixteen shouted. "Everyone, the Crimson Crane have arrived, they have come to help
you. In the past, they warded off the Behemoth Clan, and here they are again to do the
same!"
The crowd of people, hearing Fixteen's words and meeting the members of the Crimson
Crane themselves, shouted with powerful vigor.
"ARGHHHH!" they all yelled with might.
The Behemoth Clan were taken aback; the small town, the small group of people were able
to make such noise in front of their forces.
In response to this, it was Sha Mo who raised his fist in the air.
"The duel has ended with the involvement of the Crimson Crane! There is no reason for us
to hold back anymore! Since the Crimson Crane is here, there is a high chance the Dark
Magus, leader of the Dark Faction, is inside as well."
"From today, the Town of Flendon is considered traitors working for the Dark Faction!
Charge forward and eliminate them!"
The large sound of rumbling was felt by all of those in Flendon. Even those held up in their
houses could feel the ground beneath their feet shake.
As the army of twenty thousand strong were on the move, the wall in front of them was
coming closer as the people charged forward.
"I guess it's time for me to act," Froma said. "Now is the perfect time."
She gathered her hands, and then out from her fingertips, a red flowing substance
appeared. From those watching, it looked as if Froma's own blood had come out from her.
For Froma, it felt like her actual blood was coming out of her, flowing into the bow in front.
"I need to help them out as much as possible. This isn't going to be the best for first-time
use, but I'll just have to go for it. A thousand arrows!"
She pulled the blood string, and a giant substance of energy swooped into the sky. It flowed
and intertwined as if it was alive, and the rest of the bow had disappeared from Froma's
hand with the attack.
The Behemoth Clan members looked up, charging forward, ignoring what was above. There
were only a few that stared up and eventually stopped their charge.
"What is that?" one of the men said, and before he knew it, a red arrow pierced right
through his head, killing him in one go.
Arrows started to fall on the front line, hitting each of them, causing the men to fall. Those
watching didn't understand; they swung their swords, but as they did, the arrows moved,
hitting those in vital spots.
There were a few who began to fear the arrows so much they used their devastating Qi
techniques, the strongest they knew, and eventually got rid of some of the arrows.
But it was too late, as of the thousand arrows that had fallen from the sky, they had killed
over seven hundred of them.
The arrows that had successfully pierced and killed their enemies suddenly melted back
into the red substance and once again started to form together.
Seeing this, all of the Behemoth Clan had stopped their advance.
'This is what I wasn't looking forward to,' Froma said. 'The curse of using this power.' Tears
were running down Froma's face, and her whole body was shaking.
All she wanted to do at that moment was run away and wished she had never picked up the
bow made by the Dark Magus.
Chapter 856: The Worst Curse
Chapter 856: The Worst Curse

The people from the Town of Flendon, as well as the Behemoth Clan warriors, had certainly
just witnessed what felt like a Divine warrior's feat.
Although there were warriors that could take out a large number through various
techniques such as Belil, and those on his level, they had yet to hear of someone whose
main weapon of choice was a bow and arrow do the same, and in such a way as well.
It didn't feel as if there was a great force of Qi used, and the deaths had come about in an
effortless and odd way, making them feel as if they were being punished or helped by a
Divine warrior.
From a single shot of Froma's bow, a thousand arrows had rained on the ground below.
They weren't even regular arrow shots, but ones that felt like they had a life to them as they
wiggled and moved.
With that single shot, over 700 of the great 20,000 force had disappeared.
After the strange attack had killed many on the battlefield, something strange was
occurring. The arrows that had pierced the men started to melt into a liquid; the liquid
started to gather, and as it did, it went up into the air as a ball of mass.
Seeing this, that was when Froma's heart started to thump.
'I read that note, I knew what was coming,' she thought. 'There is no running away from
this. I helped them all out as much as I could.'
Froma turned around, and the large substance that was in the air started to come towards
her. Seeing this, those that were on the wall started to move away.
Seeing what it had just done to the others, they feared that now it was going to do the same
to them.
Froma lifted her hands up as tears flowed out of her eyes.
"I'm sorry, I don't think I'll be able to help anymore in this fight."
Alba nodded; she understood as Froma had warned her, and understood after learning that
the weapons that the Dark Magus created with great power came with great drawbacks.
Although Alba never did learn what Froma's was.
The red substance in the air went inside her body. It was all drained back in, and in an
instant, excruciating pain had hit her all at once.
She felt like she had been stabbed right through the head with an arrow. Not just in her
head, but several other parts of her body, including that of her heart.
It wasn't just a single pain that lasted, though, for it repeatedly felt like she was being
stabbed in the head over and over, as well as her heart and other parts of her body.
The agonizing torture had begun, hitting her; her body felt in shock as the pain
overwhelmed her. She wasn't even able to move as she just fell to the floor.
This was part of the weapon's curse. When picking up the note, Froma had learned that
there were many ways the weapon could be used.
The weapon itself could be used in a number of different ways; she even could have used it
as a single arrow, and fought how she usually would have fought.
However, she was afraid that the curse would be too much for her. The weapon's curse was
that she was to feel the pain that the weapon inflicted onto the others.
She would experience what death was like if she was to fight her opponents and do so over
and over again.
Knowing this, she was afraid that after firing one arrow and experiencing death once, she
might be afraid to fire it again and again.
This was where one of the arrow's abilities had come in. She had the power to draw out as
many arrows as she wanted in one go.
If it didn't hit her opponent, then there was no drawback, since it was only the pain that
was inflicted that would go back to her.
Still, because she knew of this, she decided to use a large number of arrows. If it was the
only attack she would do in the fight, then she wanted to at least make it last.
In this situation, she had used the arrows the best she could but didn't wish to call a
number out larger than a thousand for fear that maybe even her mind couldn't take it, and
she too would fall to death.
As she experienced all of the pain, her eyes closed, and she fell to the ground. No one
expected her to get up anytime soon.
"Don't let her chance go to waste!" Andy shouted. "We have to use this chance while they're
startled and not yet at the wall. Everyone, fire!"
Those on the wall had already been given bows and arrows. Failures that had been made
while the Dark Magus was aiming for the perfect creation.
Some of them were cursed items as well. Others just enhanced weapons. Regardless, the
people didn't care as they fired away.
Little effort was needed on their part as the weapons fired arrows that exploded on impact.
Some of them, as they hit their target, electrified the Behemoth Clan members.
The Behemoth Clan members were rattled. What was meant to be an easy task-taking over
a simple town of non-Pagna warriors-was already proving difficult at the first hurdle.
Regardless of the curse that was affecting them, or the pain that they felt, the guards on the
wall continued to pull their bows and fire the arrows as they could see they were extremely
effective; they already felt like they had a chance.
Sha Mo, seeing all of this, had a large vein starting to bulge at the side of his head.
"What are you all doing!" Sha Mo shouted, stomping his foot on the ground. His Qi lifted
around fifty warriors who were directly in front of him into the air until they were head
height, and then they fell back onto the floor.
"I told you all to charge, so why are you still standing around? If I see anyone retreat,
anyone moving backward, then I will make sure to kill you myself!" Sha Mo ordered.
With no hesitation, the large army started to move towards Flendon, once again.
Chapter 857: Flendon Falls
Chapter 857: Flendon Falls

With the fear of Sha Mo behind the Behemoth Clan, they were back to charging in full force.
They ran over the dead that had accumulated without even checking on the ones that might
have been injured or still alive.
This was because Sha Mo wanted results; they all knew that, and they weren't going to
disappoint. This was also a chance for them, getting on his good side, rising in the clan, and
unlocking more techniques.
The arrows continued to rain down on them, hitting their target, but at the end of the day,
these were skilled Pagna warriors. Many of them were able to avoid the arrows or perform
techniques that would equal the power that was being used.
"Alright everyone!" Alba shouted. "Prepare your positions, Tilon!"
Immediately, Tilon had jumped from his shield bearers and had come over to Alba's side.
She had drawn both of her dual weapons, which were glowing red.
Then took one step swinging both of her weapons using the full extent of her Qi, bashing it
right into the shield.
"Now, go for it!" Alba said.
Tilon charged forward. He burst with a large amount of speed. Just then, he was ready to
reach the first line of those attacking, and when he arrived, he slammed his shield into the
ground.
"Barrier burst!" Tilon shouted, planting his shield in the ground.
At that moment, a giant force field had appeared across the field. It had hit those running at
full force, and they had somewhat crashed into it.
Since the charge of the shield was fairly low, it didn't push them back too far, but it was
another unexpected occurrence for the warriors.
'The shield can hold energy from anything that attacks it; it doesn't just have to be
enemies!' Tilon smiled. 'It's time to show why the Crimson Crane work so well despite
having so few members.'
Due to the strange shield having pushed them, some of the warriors thought there was still
a shield in front of them. That's when Lily, with her spear users along with Kizer, had both
arrived.
Kizer swung his sword, and a large beam of energy went out, flinging around twenty men in
the air, sending them back.
Lily wasn't so far behind as she had come forward with her spear users, just running in to
stab the enemy. Many of the men were untrained, but there was one thing they were able to
do.
That was put their hope in the Crimson Crane. Right now, they were following their orders
blindly, and in doing so, they were able to have quite a bit of success.
"Don't forget about the rest of us," Reno said as he avoided a sword strike and grabbed a
warrior, placing his palm over their mouth.
A moment later, and the complexion of their skin started to change.
"It's down to you," Reno claimed.
Cronker came running out, sprinting, and grabbed hold of the body. He then ran forward,
directly into the center of the army.
Using his foot techniques, he was avoiding them, and when he reached a good distance
inside, he placed the body on the ground and got out of there as soon as possible.
The dead body on the ground exploded, and gasses started to come out from the body. This
was all thanks to Reno's special poison arts.
Now those next to the body were starting to feel weak. Their eyesight blurry.
Concentrating on this side, Alba and another group of swordsmen rushed in. Alba swiftly
struck only the vitals as she slashed a neck.
Moving to the other, she stabbed a person in the heart, before pulling both of her blades out
and kicking another across the battleground.
Off on the other side, Kizer, with his special Dark Magus weapon, swung his sword over his
head, causing another large attack that wiped out around a hundred people in a single
swing.
The effect of the weapon grew stronger with the amount of people, and this was the most
amount of people that Kizer had ever gone up against before.
Lince, who was amongst those shooting arrows, couldn't believe it. He was sure of it before,
that the town of Flendon had no hope of winning, yet he was seeing a crazy amount of
destruction happening and coordination.
'I am ashamed to call myself an information gatherer,' Lince thought. 'What I am seeing
now, their powers are beyond what I expected.'
'Even in a large-scale battle, even though they are a small clan, they operate better than a
large clan would. Their strength is much higher than I thought, and the weapons they are
using.'
'Is all of this because of the influence of the Dark Magus?'
Although what Lince was seeing on the battlefield was short of a miracle, still with
everything happening, he was sure the fight still wouldn't go to the town of Flendon.
Eventually, their Qi would dwindle among the large numbers, and there was also Sha Mo,
and the two Pillars left in the fight.
As soon as they got involved, the formation and the ones the guards believed in would all
crumble in a moment.
'It is still a valiant effort,' Lince thought.
Sha Mo, taking a back step, was observing the whole battlefield. He could feel it, little flames
that were erupting in several different places.
Flames that needed to be extinguished, or they would burn the whole field, they might even
end up reaching him.
'Which ones though, which ones need to be extinguished first?' Sha Mo thought.
"Kilper, go take out the man with the giant orange sword. He is doing the most damage to
our front line," Sha Mo said.
Kilper, another tall warrior by normal standards but not as long-bodied as Umonke or as
large as Sha Mo, wielded a strange weapon.
Which held two large giant swords stuck together by a chain in the center.
"As for you, Umonke, deal with their leader, that will take some morale down. As for myself,
I will go for that one with the shield. If I destroy that thing with my own hands, we will
witness the entire wall of this town fall at the same time," Sha Mo exclaimed.
Chapter 858: I Took Down The Behemoth Clan!
Chapter 858: I Took Down The Behemoth Clan!

Umonke and Kilper, receiving the order from their leader, quickly decided to move. They
navigated through the battlefield fairly easily. Arrows were constantly fired toward them
due to their large size, but they only had to move their heads slightly or step to the side,
allowing the attacks to miss them completely.
At one point, Kilper shifted slightly, allowing a part of his large weapon to deflect an arrow.
It fiercely hit the metal part, then ricocheted off and landed right in the head of another
Behemoth Clan member.
"Crap," Kilper said. "I'm not used to fighting with everyone by our side."
Although the Behemoth Clan was the largest and held the most territory in the Demonic
Faction, it was the first time they had utilized such a large force like this.
Regardless, Kilper didn't want to kill his own men, and that frustrated him quite a bit.
'I was meant to go for the one with the big sword,' Kilper observed as he saw another large
thrust and members of the clan being flung into the air, crashing into the larger army.
It was quite clear that Kizer was doing the most damage to the army, but second to him,
those on the wall firing arrows were taking down those who weren't paying attention.
At that moment, another arrow was flying through the air, aiming right for Kilper. Raising
his hand, he caught it. He could feel the energy residing in the arrow, and it wasn't Qi
energy, but using his own power, he was able to stop it from inching closer.
'Weapons that allow regular humans to have a chance against Pagna warriors who have
trained for years are certainly dangerous,' Kilper thought. 'Let's go ahead and deal with the
archers first.'
Qi flowed from his dantian into his hand and eventually surrounded the arrow. Leaning
back slightly, with his arm over his shoulder, he then launched the arrow back through the
air.
A large current formed around the arrow, pushing back the Behemoth Clan warriors who
were close to Kilper.
The arrow was fiercely heading straight for the upper wall where the archers were
stationed. Fixteen could feel the large amount of Qi energy the arrow carried.
'If that hits the wall, it will break it in a single blow. The archers may be strong because of
the weapons they are using, but they can't defend themselves from an attack like that.'
Fixteen pulled out his sword by his side and stood on top of the wall. He burst off, kicking
from the wall, and headed straight for the arrow.
While in the air, he spun his body several times and pierced his sword right at the arrow.
However, the strength of the arrow was too much, and the Qi overwhelmed him, flinging
his entire body onto the hard floor.
It just went to show how much Qi had been used.
'I might have underestimated the Pillars' strength. With the Crimson Crane so busy, will we
be able to handle them as well?' Fixteen thought.
Andy could see the arrow still hurtling towards them at full speed.
"Brace yourselves!" Andy shouted to them.
That's when he felt another person stand on the wall. Andy noticed from behind, it was the
same person who had spoken about the fight between Cronker and one of the pillars.
Just before the arrow came forward, the man standing on the wall swung his arms, and
black chains shot out from underneath his garments. They wrapped around the arrow, and
pulling it, the arrow flung to the ground off to the side, in an area where there were next to
no people.
When the arrow hit the ground, the flooring was destroyed as it still had much of its power
left.
The person who had deflected the arrow was none other than Lince, the leader of the Lost
Clan, another one of the main three clans in the Demonic Faction.
'Crap,' Lince thought. 'I said I wouldn't get involved, but I wanted to see more of how this
fight would play out, and if that arrow had hit, it would have been harder for me to observe
from a safe position where I wouldn't get caught.'
Lince quickly dropped back down and went to blend in with the others.
"Thanks for that," Andy said. "I don't know who you are, but since you helped us, I won't be
complaining much."
Lince stayed quiet, as he still had no intentions of fully helping them.
"Hmm, the person on the wall who deflected that must have had strong Qi," Kilper noticed.
"Maybe the town of Flendon has a hidden secret after all. It could also be that was the Dark
Magus."
"If that's the case, then I will stick to my goal after all," Kilper said as he made a turn and
instead of heading straight for the wall, he was now on his way to where Kizer currently
was.
As he made his way there, Kilper suddenly felt the air shift to his right. He twisted his head,
and the large weapon he was carrying on his back swung out, the chain flinging one part of
the metal sword.
As it swung out, it clashed right against another sword.
Turning to look at who it was, Kilper was surprised to see such a young individual.
"Someone your age has the power of a middle-stage warrior?" Kilper said.
"I'm not just anybody though," Ricktor answered. "And by the way, I'm not alone!"
Lifting his hand, Kilper had to react fast as his forearm arrived just in time to block a large
kick. The image of a waterfall appeared, and it rushed right into his arm.
"Another young one?" Kilper thought. "How are there such strong warriors, and I have
never heard of you? Are you part of the Crimson Crane?"
"Crimson Crane?" Mada said as he poured more strength into his kick. "We're part of the
Dark Faction!"
With both hands being used to block the attack, it was then a third person appeared down
the center. With a gust of wind, they kicked off the ground.
Kilper saw, oddly, a large pair of wings just before he felt an intense blow right to his
stomach. A powerful strike, like being hit by a cannonball, sent him skidding across the
floor.
"Speak for yourself," Mantis said, with beast wings coming off from his back. "I'm from the
Splitting Fang Clan, I'm from the Demonic Faction, and everyone's going to know-the Black
Tiger is the one who took down the Behemoth Clan!"
Chapter 859: Stronger Than Before
Chapter 859: Stronger Than Before

Before the Crimson Crane joined forces to help the town of Flendon, they had met up with
Rayna and the others. In the end, the two groups decided to split up as they entered the
battle. With the large number of enemies from the Behemoth Clan, both Rayna and Alba
knew that this battle wouldn't be won by stalling for time. They needed to take out key
members and force the Behemoth Clan to lose their will to fight, making them believe that
defeat was inevitable.
The Crimson Crane had clashed with the main army, demonstrating extraordinary skills
and powers, while the 2,000-strong guards showed remarkable courage and resilience. The
Behemoth Clan now knew this wasn't going to be a simple or easy fight. Still, there was
something the warriors on the field feared more. They would rather risk death than upset
their own clan, knowing the consequences of disappointing the Behemoth Clan and its
ruthless hierarchy.
"Are we joining the fight?" Simyon asked.
"We need to disrupt the power of the Behemoth Clan as much as possible," Rayna replied.
The group was currently positioned a little away from the main fight, hiding behind a large
protruding rock and staying in its shadow.
"What we need to do is target as many middle-stage warriors in the Clan as possible. Sense
those with strong Qi. If we take them out, it will make things easier for the Crimson Crane,"
Rayna explained. "To maximize our impact, it's best we split up, but we also don't want to
spend too long fighting just one warrior. Doing so will attract the attention of Sha Mo and
his Pillars. So let's divide into groups."
It didn't take much deliberation-people grouped up with those they felt most comfortable
with. Safa, Simyon, and Liam stuck together. They knew each other well from the academy,
having trained together extensively, especially with Amir, and they had grown even closer
since then. They worked well together, and with their newfound strength, they could take
on lower-ranking middle-stage warriors, especially as a trio.
Ricktor and Mada teamed up, leaving Anna and Mantis as the last pair.
"I'll go with Anna. The two of us have fought side by side before. Mantis, you go with
Ricktor and Mada. That way, we have two groups of three, giving us a better chance to
support each other," Rayna ordered.
"I'm not part of the Neverfall Clan, nor am I part of the Crimson Crane. Who are you to
order me around?" Mantis retorted. "Don't you remember? I'm the Black Tiger, the
strongest student in the Demonic Faction!"
"Then let's have a little contest to see who can take out more," Ricktor challenged. "Mada
and I were also top students in the Dark Faction. Of course, we can all forget about Raze for
a moment, but let's see who really is the best."
Ricktor drew his sword, and on his other hand, he wore a strange white glove. Mantis could
feel the intense Qi emanating from Ricktor, and it seemed the contest between the two was
on.
With the arguments practically over, it was time for the group to move out, and that's
exactly what they did. The Behemoth Clan was vast, too vast to easily identify who was a
member and who wasn't, which made it easier for all the groups to blend in.
Eventually, they split off from each other, and once inside the large throng of people, they
had to bide their time, waiting for the right moment.
"Over there," Safa pointed. "That one's a middle-stage warrior. Simyon, get in front of him.
Liam, block the view so others can't see. I'll take him out in one strike."
They were going to play dirty, striking from behind without warning. It wasn't an
honorable way to fight, but none of them enjoyed what they were doing-it was all for the
sake of victory.
Simyon got in front of one of the warriors and stomped on the man's foot. He activated the
special trait of his earring, heavily concentrating his Qi into his feet. This made it feel as
though his body was made of solid metal, keeping the warrior in place.
At the same time, from behind, Safa thrust her spear, piercing the man right through the
chest.
As this was happening, Liam struck two more individuals, slashing their throats. Using his
system, he identified who had noticed and swiftly took them down before the situation
could escalate. As they fell to the ground, Liam picked up a fallen arrow and placed it in
their chests. "Damn it, this town of Flendon-they killed Barry!" Liam shouted, causing the
other warriors to momentarily glance over before ignoring what had occurred and
continuing to fight.
It wasn't just Safa's group employing these tactics; Ricktor and his group were doing the
same. After defeating a few middle-stage warriors, they had drawn the attention of several
others around them, turning their skirmish into an all-out brawl.
That was when Ricktor noticed someone who stood out more than the others: a large man
wielding a strange three-part weapon on his back.
"Hey, why don't we up the stakes a bit? Let's see who can take out that one over there!"
Ricktor said as he was already making his way toward Kilper.
This was how Ricktor, Mada, and Mantis found themselves facing one of the Pillars of the
Behemoth Clan.
Meanwhile, as Rayna and Anna fought side by side, they noticed the movements of another
person.
"That man there!" Anna pointed at a figure towering above the crowd. "He's going after the
Crimson Crane. We have to stop him!"
"I'm right behind you!" Rayna said, rushing through the crowd. She eventually leapt into
the air, thrusting her spear forward.
Before she could make contact, the man turned around, blocking her attack with his sword.
"What's this... aren't you Belil's daughter from the Neverfall Clan?" Umonke asked, another
Pillar of the Behemoth Clan.
"If you're attacking this place, did you not expect to see me? This land belongs to my
family!" Rayna declared as she landed on the ground, her spear skimming through the air.
Anna quickly appeared by her side, her body already glowing red as she activated her
strange powers.
"Even if you are from the Neverfall Clan, your name carries no fear, unlike your brothers
and father," Umonke said, whipping his sword through the air.
"Right, right, I've heard that too many times," Rayna said. "But things are different this
time." She struck the heels of her shoes together, and a golden ring began to light up on
them.
Rayna had been involved in the attack on the Dark Faction Clans and hadn't come out
empty- handed. She had taken the top artifacts belonging to the strongest clans in the Dark
Faction, and she was ready to use them here and now.
Chapter 860: White Hybrid
Chapter 860: White Hybrid

Mantis had delivered a powerful punch right in the center of the man known as one of the
pillars of the Behemoth Clan, Kilper.
After delivering the hit, Mantis looked at his fist, still feeling the power surging in it.
'That was perfect!' Mantis thought. 'After watching Raze break those walls, I've been trying
to perfect this punch in that base day after day, and now I just landed it perfectly!'
While joyous in the punch, his wings on his back started to flap.
"Someone's happy for a situation where the enemy is still standing," Mada claimed.
"My attack was the only one that hit, so I don't want any crap from either of you, and that
guy's as big as at least ten buffalos," Mantis claimed.
During Mantis's time at the Dark Faction, he hadn't just been lamenting over his situation.
He had been trying to perfect the punch he had delivered, condensing his Qi to one point.
He had done well, but for a long time, something was still missing.
His punch seemed weaker than the hit back then, and he realized what it was. When his
desire was extremely strong, he unleashed part of his hybrid form.
His hybrid form gave him extra physical power, and with his Qi, he was able to deliver one
of the strongest punches he had ever done before.
However, he was unable to control his hybrid form, something that he didn't even ask for.
In the end, Mantis gave in and asked Amir for help, help in controlling his Hybrid form, and
now he was able to use his hybrid form at will.
But in return for this power, he was now a Hybrid. He was willingly using his beast form.
Even though he didn't want to admit it, it was because he was ashamed that he was using
this beast form for power that he had yet to go back to his clan.
How else, though, was he meant to catch up to all of the people that were around him? Even
the two by his side, who were students of the same age as him, were complete monsters in
strength.
Kilper, regaining his footing, stretched out his three-part weapon. One of the largest parts
of the metallic weapon dug into the top of his back.
After that, the chains hung around the back of his arms, and now he held two giant swords
in his hands.
"I didn't realize there were more people to be wary of in the town of Flendon. I will fight
with all my might!"
Kilper slammed both of his swords into the ground, and a large amount of Qi surged inside.
Right where the three were standing, Qi exploded in their position. So powerful it lifted
them off the floor.
"What is this feeling?" Mada complained.
Still in the air, the large amount of Qi was grilling their bodies. It was wrapped around their
whole skin and was crippling them to the point they were unable to move or even use their
own Qi to get out of the situation.
Kilper had lifted his swords out of the ground, but the Qi was still affecting the others.
"Oh, there's one that can still somewhat move. Is it because he isn't completely human?"
Kilper noticed.
White substance was coming out from Mantis's body and covering him; soon it appeared as
if his body was wriggling out of the area, breaking down and reforming.
With one hand, Kilper swung the blade over his head by the chain and then swung it down.
The blade bashed right in the center of Mantis's body, and Mantis was slammed into the
floor. The large attack caused the warriors next to them to stumble due to the power of the
attack. "That doesn't look so good," Ricktor commented, still in the strange field of Qi.
"Not good, I'd be surprised if he's not dead!" Mada added.
"Don't worry, the two of you will shortly join him!" Kilper said, swinging the sword above
his head again, then swung it down, this time aiming for Mada.
As the sword swung down, Kilper felt something off. Before the sword hit the ground, he
pulled it back to his hand.
Looking on the floor, there was no person there. Mada was nowhere to be seen, and as
Kilper turned his head to look at Ricktor, who was in the air being held by Kilper's Qi, he
saw a figure flying and grabbing Ricktor out of the area of Qi and pulling him to the ground.
Mantis stood there transformed, a strange white skull covered half of his face and arms. He
looked more and more like a monster compared to before.
Yet in both of his hands, he had Ricktor in one and Mada in the other.
"I thought you were dead?" Mada asked.
"That's a strange way to say thank you," Mantis spoke, his voice deeper and part of it
lingering.
Somewhat sounding like an animal trying to speak.
Mantis, although able to control his hybrid form, had no clue what was happening to his
body.
When upraised and lifted into the air by Kilper's Qi, his own body was reacting. The strange
white substance was reacting and covering his body. The substance that would come out
when one transformed.
When attacked by Kilper's sword, the white substance gathered above his head and
protected him from being cut in half by the sword.
When on the ground, the Qi had stopped, but the white substance was still covering his
body.
During this time, he remembered some words of Amir.
"There are so far three known colors of hybrid transformations: White, Black, and Red. I
and Dame both have Black transformation, you have White," Amir stated.
"Right, the weakest of the three colors, right? So, the beast that attached to me was weak,"
Mantis complained.
"Weak? Maybe in the eyes of many, or simply if we just look in terms of power, but there is
a difference between these colors."
"Black are more physical transformations; in some cases, body parts can have some
capabilities as well. Red, well, we don't have enough examples for that, and then White-
some have healing capabilities, some have the ability to create large fogs. As for you, what
can you do?"
Mantis still didn't understand, but it didn't matter right now; he was alive, and he was
stronger than ever.
"We can't just let you do all the work," Ricktor said. "It's time the two of us pulled our
weight."
Ricktor looked at his hand with the white glove, and Mada looked down at the boots
covering
his feet.
Both of the artifacts started to activate.
Chapter 861: A Broken Pillar
Chapter 861: A Broken Pillar

Kilper didn't care about what had happened, nor did he care about understanding why the
Hybrid was able to survive his attack. His thinking was quite simple.
"If you were able to take one hit and survive, then I'll just have to hit you again and again."
Kilper placed both of his swords, stabbing them into the ground.
Knowing fully what to expect, the three on the ground split up, heading in different
directions. When looking behind them, that's when they could see the wave of Qi in the
places just where they had stood in the air.
It was the purest form of Qi they had seen, shooting up like a tunnel.
"Did he really think that we would be such idiots, that we would fall for the same thing
twice?" Mada suggested.
The large vortex of Qi didn't stop there; it was now on the move like a tornado, following
their movements.
"Well, if we're going to waste our energy running, then we might as well run to you, right?"
Ricktor said, as he sped up, starting to jump side to side, and he was the first of the three to
reach Kilper.
He swung his sword from above, and his visual Qi made it look like a volcano had erupted
as he swung it down. Staying in his position, Kilper swung his own sword upward, meeting
Ricktor's, but there was a clear difference in power.
Ricktor's sword, with almost the rest of his body, was flung upward. His body was moving
towards the vortex of Qi until Mantis came and flew behind him, grabbing him once again.
"Nice save," Ricktor said. "But sorry, I'm just going to have to borrow you as a foothold for a
second."
Ricktor lifted his legs and kicked off Mantis's body, propelling himself toward Kilper again.
At the same time, Mada had managed to reach the other side of Kilper.
Kilper wasn't expecting Ricktor to recover so quickly, and he needed to deal with the two of
them at once.
Grabbing onto both swords, he was ready to swing them when he felt an intense heat
toward the left side of his face.
Ricktor's glove had turned white and was now red hot. While in the air, Ricktor was making
a circular motion with his hand, and large flames were circling out from it.
'This glove was an artifact left in the Erupting Fist Clan. It had been passed down in the clan
for an incredibly long time, but it seems like my father never bothered to even use it.
Perhaps it would have interfered with his beast form or techniques anyway.'
With the artifact, Ricktor had learned how it worked. The more Qi placed into the glove, the
stronger the flames one was able to produce, even allowing for the temperature to rise.
Still, it wasn't an unlimited energy source since it would use one's Qi. However, what
Ricktor liked about it was that the stronger he got along with his Qi, the stronger the flames
would be that he could produce.
As he twirled them in a circular fashion, he then placed his hand over his sword, turning it
iron-hot red. The flames even lingered on top of the sword for a while.
"Let's make this attack feel like a real Lava Shot!" Ricktor shouted as he thrust his sword
forward. His Qi gathered all of the spiraling flames that had lingered in the air, as well as
those around the sword, and all of it pushed at the same time, as it hit Kilper's sword used
to defend the strike.
The flames carried up Kilper's arm, and it looked like the entire thing had caught fire as it
burned right in front of them. The attack caused Kilper to move his feet slightly as he
couldn't bear the fire on him.
"What are these flames? They aren't ordinary!" Kilper winced in pain.
Just using his Qi to protect him or with a wave of his arm, ordinary flames would have
disappeared, but these hadn't. That was because they ran on Qi; until the Qi's energy
diminished, the flames wouldn't either.
From the attack, Ricktor had clearly used a lot of energy, and he noticed something else.
As Kilper moved his feet, the Qi tunnels that were chasing the three of them disappeared as
well.
'Was he supplying Qi constantly to those tunnels through his feet? Is that why he hadn't
moved from his position as well?' Ricktor thought.
Regardless, his practice with the artifact and his skills had shown results, but he had no
doubt that it wouldn't be enough to kill one of the pillars.
'I leave the rest up to you guys,' Ricktor said, as he landed on the ground and dropped to
one knee.
Kilper was so distracted by the flames, he didn't even have time to look at what had
happened on the other side. With a quick glance, he threw his sword down, hoping to get
rid of at least one of these annoying flies.
Looking at his sword, though, there was nothing there, and instead, there was just a large
pool of water.
Continuing to look at the water, nothing happened until, right by his foot, another pool of
water had been created, and bursting out drenched in his clothes was Mada with his dark
blue-colored boots with a sharp tip on the end.
He spun his body, and the water from below rose. "Flowing Force Rampage!" Mada's heel
dug right into Kilper's leg, causing his foot to be completely swept up. The impact hit one
point, and flowing water pushed his leg even further.
Until Kilper had seemingly slipped. On one side, his arm was covered in fire; on the other,
his leg was drenched in water.
"I hope you didn't forget about me!" Mantis said, as he gathered his strength into his fist
again. In the middle of Kilper falling, Mantis dashed forward, placing all his strength into
his fist. Once again, the star grew white substance covering his hand until it formed into a
giant spear. It was his entire hand.
Flowing with all of his Qi, Mantis flew right through the soft flesh of Kilper's head, getting
rid of it completely from his shoulders, causing one of the pillars to fall straight to the
ground. Mantis soon landed, and the Behemoth Clan members nearby looked in disbelief. A
bunch of students, a bunch of people they had never seen before, the three of them had
managed to take out one of the pillars of the Behemoth Clan.
"I told you all, the Black Tiger is going to be the one to take down the Behemoth Clan
today!" Mantis shouted in the air.
"Let him have his moment," Ricktor smiled as he walked over to Mada, because they were
right in the middle of the land of warriors, and having used up all their strength, it wasn't
going to be easy to get out of the situation they were in.
"Win or lose, we have to accept with a fight on this scale, that there will be losses." Ricktor
whispered to himself.
Chapter 862: Fighting Until The End
Chapter 862: Fighting Until The End
The Pillars were given their name because that was exactly what they were to the
Behemoth Clan. They were the members that allowed the whole clan to be declared one of
the three major clans in the Demonic Faction for a reason.
The sheer size as the biggest clan, maybe having more members than the other two major
clans combined, was just an added threat to the clan's power. The real threat of the clan
and the reason why it was able to be considered a major clan was because of the Pillars and
Sha Mo himself.
Two had been taken out in the last attack against Flendon. Knowing failure wasn't an
option this time, not only did Sha Mo not send two more of his Pillars, but he had also come
himself. The main targets: the Crimson Crane and the Dark Magus.
In reality, Sha Mo even expected that he would have to face some of the Dark Faction if
Raze had managed to get them truly under his thumb. He was ready for an all-out war. It
was just him, and neither he nor the Behemoth Clan members themselves were ready for
several strong unknown warriors that could reach the same feats as them.
It was because three of the top students in all of Pagna had worked together that they were
able to take out Kilper.
Mada looked at Kilper's body without its head lying there on the ground, still in disbelief at
what they had managed to achieve. They had been through a lot. He then looked down at
his dark blue shoes that were pointed with a hard tip on the end.
'It was thanks to these that I was able to be somewhat useful in this fight. Who would have
thought that such an artifact would have been at the Flowing Force Clan's base?'
Mada started to think back to when the Bonum Society had given the order to attack and
take over the clans. Mada had gone to his own clan. With no leader or even someone to
replace him, they were at a loss of what to do.
Going against his clan, forcing them to agree to making the Dark Magus leader through the
power of his own strength. It would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous about it. Although
his clan might have lost prominent people, unlike Mada, he hadn't reached the middle
stage, and there were still middle stage warriors in the clan itself.
In the end, it was his brother Gunther who had helped him out in the situation. With his
brother's blessing, the clan had agreed to Mada's demands, and in the end, he had even
been handed down the clan's artifact.
Mada wasn't expecting much. If the items were so strong and great, then why wouldn't the
past leaders have used them? Unless it was just because they wished to save face and not
rely on items. He could certainly see many of the elders in his clan being that way.
That was when he had come across a pair of peculiar boots, the boots that he was wearing
now, and the power they held was certainly interesting.
Using its power was quite difficult, though, and he had been practicing its use for the next
time he had to fight. The boots themselves, just like the glove Ricktor used, activated with
Qi. However, rather than creating an element, in Mada's item's case, it changed what it
touched.
The ground beneath his feet would change to water. When Kilper had attacked, Mada had
activated the boots, creating a large enough puddle of water for him to avoid the attack. On
top of that, he continued to use the effects of the boots to create a tunnel until he was right
by Kilper's feet.
Continuing to use its power, a pool of water was created on the surface, and he exploded
from the water, delivering a devastating kick. An added bonus was the boots were made of
a special metal that was used to craft the best of weapons, so it could take a heavy hit and
wouldn't lose in a battle against a sword.
On top of that, Mada realized when using his visual Qi to create the flow of water, it would
drag the water he created, giving him more power than he used to have before.
According to his brother, the boots were actually a tool for leaders to use in order to help
them make their visual Qi more powerful. Thinking about it, he remembered his father's
visual Qi power, how effective it was covering a large distance of the floor with his Qi.
Allowing him to use it to block attacks and attack his opponents within a certain area.
Perhaps there were other uses of the weapon that he still hadn't gotten used to.
"Hey!" Mantis called out. "Can you stop daydreaming and help us out? It's kinda a rough
situation here!"
Mantis clawed at the attacker in front of him, sending him in the air, and quickly returned
his hands by his side as he blocked two swords from striking him with his arms. Right after,
a spiked ball mace smashed into his stomach.
It wasn't the strongest of attacks, but the points did pierce his skin, and blood was drawn.
The mace was thrown again, but it was sliced in half by Ricktor, and equally, the man who
had thrown the mace was sliced in half after.
The three were fighting right in the center of their situation, and even though they had
gotten rid of one of the Pillars, it didn't seem the fighting had stopped, and just then,
Mantis's hybrid form was starting to wither away.
The skull that covered his face and arms had turned into nothing but soft dust, and the
wings on his back were starting to disappear. Everyone was exhausted from their fight.
"Didn't you say you were going to take out the whole of the Behemoth Clan? What are you
doing losing your powers now!" Mada said, kicking one in the face and quickly avoiding
another strike to his face and kicking the man on the chin. "When will this end?"
"It will end when Sha Mo himself is taken out," Ricktor claimed. "I'm starting to wonder,
where is Raze? If he hasn't arrived by now, something must have happened, which means
we might be on our own with this one."
Chapter 863 A Special Headband
Chapter 863 A Special Headband
The intense fight with the people of Flendon was still continuing on, and it was inevitable
that there were some losses among those fighting for the town of Flendon.
Once in a while, a skilled warrior would get through their formations and be able to attack
and flank from the side while members of the Crimson Crane were busy fighting.
Still, even though this was the case, although the fight had been going on for a short while
now, the losses on the town of Flendon's side might have been around fifty or so at most.
Seeing how many were still present and still fighting was giving them the will to keep
going.
Alba had retreated back with her group of swordsmen and was constantly running around
to parts of the front line and attacking. She then could see a large group of warriors that
were piled up fighting against Tilon and the Shield Bearers.
'While the momentum is in our favor and things are going well, we can keep fighting!' Alba
thought.
She came rushing in with the group not too far behind her. The Behemoth Clan members
had noticed and changed their target, but as Alba was spotted, she increased her speed and
then swiped her two swords in a large X position, taking out a large majority of them in a
single attack.
After that, she jumped, spinning her body to the side, her sword slicing right through one of
the members, and then slamming it onto the ground, she used the power to propel herself
into the air.
She spun, knocking and slicing those that had jumped above, trying to get to the members
in the back, and upon landing, she crashed, emitting her Qi out and making the others
unstable.
The guards followed, getting rid of those that Alba had managed to bypass and hurt, or
those that were now unstable on their footing.
'Still, I have to remember they're not Pagna warriors. Although the losses are small now, at
some point they will get tired, and that's when large losses will start to come from our side.'
She looked up at the wall, and the archers were already beyond fatigued, having pulled
their bows nonstop. Their arms were incredibly heavy, and parts of the skin had already
torn from their fingers.
"Everyone, remember the pills; they will recover your energy. Those with slightly blue-
colored pills, take them now. Those with dark-colored blue pills, take them only when you
can no longer open your eyes!" Fixteen shouted.
The pills in question he was talking about were the Dark Magus pills that he had handed
out.
Alba, seeing this, knew those fighting on the ground had some pills as well. It would give
them a second wind, but would it be enough to intimidate the Behemoth Clan?
No, that wouldn't happen unless the key members were taken out.
"Rayna, I hope you can get the job done quickly, because right now, there seems to be no
sight of Raze at all. What happened? He wouldn't have just abandoned us… would he?" Alba
thought, as slight doubts were entering her mind.
After all, it wasn't as if she had known Raze for years like some of the other members in the
Crimson Crane. Either way, they were in the middle of it now, and she wouldn't abandon
the people that were fighting by her side.
---
Out on the field, due to Anna's keen eye, both she and Rayna had gone out and intercepted a
strong foe. Right in front of them was another one of the Behemoth Clan Pillars, Umonke.
The two of them were cautious, and others had stepped away from Umonke, allowing him
to fight freely as they continued to charge.
They knew too well how sharp his sword was, and if they got hit by a stray swing, their
bodies would be sliced apart.
"I saw this one fighting with Cronker before. We have to be careful; he's quite the strong
one!" Rayna claimed as both her boots started to light up, and right by the heel, a solid
glowing ring could be seen.
Rayna charged forward and jumped in the air while thrusting her spear out. At the same
time, Umonke swung his sword, and the two clashed.
When they hit, Umonke felt something off occurring. The spear was swung slightly to the
side, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Right after, Rayna landed on the ground and started to thrust her spear forward. Seeing her
in place, Umonke again went to strike several times, and Rayna was hitting them back.
Out of the two of them, it was clear that Umonke had more strength, and Rayna looked like
she could barely block the attacks.
It was then that Umonke jumped back, and Rayna stayed focused, keeping her eyes on him.
"Does the Neverfall Clan have some new tricks I'm not aware of? You were a fool to step on
this battlefield. Maybe you thought the name of your father would put me off, but we knew
the consequences fully before making this decision!"
Umonke jumped from his position and spun his entire body. Right when he reached Rayna,
he swung his blade again, crashing into the side of Rayna's spear.
She had blocked the attack, and the immense amount of Qi had hit her. She even screamed
in pain, but she was still standing there, still in the same spot.
"What… is going on?" Umonke asked.
The answer lay in the special artifact that Rayna managed to get her hands on. One of the
clans had a pair of metallic boots that others didn't think much of, and when she had heard
its effect, truthfully, she didn't think much of them either.
They allowed anyone who was wearing them the ability to not be knocked back. Whoever
was wearing them would firmly stay planted in place.
During a fight, Rayna was learning how much she could use that to her advantage. Even
when struck with stronger blows, her body wouldn't get flung back. When fighting in the
air, she couldn't get struck out of it.
Sure, she could still get cut, but this made it so she now had more of an even playing field
when fighting someone who was stronger than her.
One just had to be brave enough to stay in the heat, and she was certainly more than brave.
"It seems you are doing well. I guess it's time for me to get involved as well." Anna said as
she pulled out a golden headband. It went right around, and then at the front, the two ends
didn't touch and instead had the image of feathers on them.
"I've worked out what we need to do to win this match!" Anna claimed.
Chapter 864 A Legendary Artifact
Chapter 864 A Legendary Artifact
With the use of the new artifacts, all of those that were fighting had seen a big
improvement from before. Even the Crimson Crane members were wearing items that
helped in one way or another.
Some had pendants that allowed them to restore part of their stamina. Others had items
that gave them some sort of sixth sense when an attack appeared from behind, and so on.
In the hands of the smaller clans in the Dark Faction, they seemed quite useless. What did it
matter if a high-ranking initial stage warrior was to use such items?
If they were attacked by something too fast for them to react to, what did it matter if they
could sense it was coming? But in the hands of these warriors, they were using it to the
fullest, and it was the same for Rayna.
Since Rayna's special boots were in effect, she was constantly swinging her spear to block
attacks from hitting her. However, it was clear that Umonke was a superior opponent,
making it so that all she could do was block.
Her arms were starting to feel numb, her body getting hurt by the constant power of Qi
passing through her.
'I can bear it though, I can bear this, can't I!' Rayna thought to herself as she continued to
hear the constant bangs in her head. 'The Neverfall Clan's training is all about putting
yourself through conditions that are unbearable.'
She started to think about the intense heat in the Neverfall Clan base. How hard it was on
her body as she went deeper into the lower levels.
How much pain she was in back then, but she didn't die from it, and she came out from it
stronger. It was the same here.
'I have to be able to hold him off, I have to be able to at least do something. I need to be able
to do something for him!' Rayna thought as she picked up the pace and was matching her
spear to the constant sword hits.
Still, while there was a large struggle on her face, Umonke looked to be at ease.
'If I can't do something, then how the heck am I allowed to say... that I… that I… that I love
him!' Rayna then went and, for the first time, thrust her spear in an attack.
Umonke skimmed the spear away and, in turn, went to attack. Quickly, he took advantage
of the mistake, and his sword was swinging down, ready to hit her right on her neck.
"I win," Umonke said with a smile, until his sword had swung through nothing but the air. A
loud bang was heard, and his entire position had shifted a foot away.
The sword touched the ground, and Rayna was still standing by the side, but she hadn't
done anything. Looking to his side, he could see another odd woman, the palm of her hand
glowing red.
"Was it you?" Umonke asked.
"Congratulations, you figured out the obvious." Anna said with a smile.
Seeing Rayna in trouble, she had come in and attacked using a large amount of her energy.
A strong palm blast was used and had pushed Umonke to the side.
Anna was a little disappointed with the result, though, as she was hoping that the man in
question would at least be somewhat hurt. Yet he seemed incredibly fine.
"Where were you this whole time?" Rayna said. "I said we should work as a team so we
could take this guy out faster."
14:31
"Right, but I work best when I have information. When I have information, I can come up
with a way to beat this guy using the quickest means possible."
Rayna wasn't so sure if Anna was telling the truth or not, but based on their last fight,
which was also against a Pillar, she wasn't the type to back down.
"Please, continue." Anna said as she jumped back again, going on the outside of the fight.
"Continue…" Before she knew it, Rayna was back again, fighting against Umonke. After
blocking the first hit, the pain was traveling through her entire body once more.
She gritted her teeth, trying to continue with blocking the hits, and noticed something:
Umonke's hits weren't as sharp as they were before.
'What is going on? Did he get hurt by Anna from before? It doesn't look like it, so why do his
attacks just not quite have the edge!'
It was a risky move, but it was then that Rayna decided to thrust her spear again. Her attack
was blocked and swept away, but this time, no counterattack came forward.
Instead, Anna was right there by his side; she mimicked a punch, but nothing came out.
Instead, stepping back and allowing Rayna to take over.
"The psychology of one's mind is an interesting thing," Anna said. "After being hit once, and
a fairly strong strike at that, he's cautious that there might be an attack at any time. I don't
even have to actually hit him, and he's already feeling the pressure of fighting two skilled
warriors at once."
This way of fighting, this way of thinking was something Rayna had never heard of before,
but she could tell Anna was right. Umonke's mind almost seemed distracted.
Not only that, but Anna knew the perfect time when to come in, either delivering feint
attacks, and then, that's when she would mix a real one in there and punched Umonke right
across the face, but quickly scurried away.
Umonke readjusted his mouth and jumped back, no longer putting pressure on Rayna.
"This is quite annoying… and you seem to know quite a bit about fighting." Umonke
commented.
This was because of Anna's perfect timing, but that was all due to the system she was using.
"Right, the perfect timing like now?" Anna said.
A large striking pain could be felt right through Umonke's side. Turning around, he could
see a warrior with a bloody sword, not just any warrior but one from the Behemoth Clan.
"What… have you just done?" Umonke said as he placed his hand on the wound.
Rayna, looking at the Behemoth Clan warrior, noticed on his head was a strange golden
headband, one that Anna had brought with her.
'Just… what is that golden headband?' Rayna thought.
Chapter 865: A Monkey Legend
Chapter 865: A Monkey Legend

The warrior who had just stabbed Umonke was clearly from the Behemoth Clan. Rayna
could tell he was quite an established warrior, one that was at least at the middle stage
level of Qi, although on the lower side.
There was no one other than those that Rayna was already aware of among their allies, so
why would a member suddenly betray one of their own, and one of the Pillars at that?
The man's hands were shaking, part of his sword covered in blood while his lips were
quivering.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." he continued to mumble to himself. "I had to do it... I had to." With
one hand, the man reached up to the golden headband on his head.
'That's the artifact, the one that Anna brought with her... is that the reason he did that?'
Nearly everyone in the group had managed to receive some type of artifact, but many of
Raze's allies were brought together under him. They didn't all have a close connection with
each other, and this was true of Rayna and Anna as well, so they didn't have any idea of
what the artifacts the others had could do.
"It looks like my plan was quite the success!" Anna said with a smile on her face. "Although
it's quite unfortunate the wound isn't so deep. With his attention focused on the two of us, I
thought a deeper wound would have at least been made."
In many ways, it just went to show how strong Umonke's Qi was; even in an unexpected
situation, the Qi flowing through his body was able to stop the sword from a middle stage
warrior from going right through him.
"Hey, let's try and protect that one a bit," Anna said as she charged forward again.
Umonke was ready to strike down the man for the betrayal but was unable to due to the
worry of the two on his back.
This time, both Anna and Rayna charged in together.
Rayna swung her spear above, which was blocked, and at the same time, Anna delivered
another powerful palm strike filled with energy to Umonke's center, pushing him back.
As he slid backward, a slash was made across his back by the same man with the headband.
The wound was shallow, though, only causing a large scratch.
"You have to try harder than that, otherwise!" Under her breath, Anna started to chant
some words.
Rayna didn't recognize the language that was being used, and when spoken, it was in a
monotone, deep voice.
Once more, the headband on the man's head started to glow. As it did, the man felt extreme
pain and pressure; the band was tightening, and he felt like it was going to pop at any
second.
"Alright!" the man shouted, charging in to strike again, this time with more commitment
and more Qi.
Rayna and Anna moved in at the same time as well, even with Anna pulling the man out of
the way from a slash that would have sliced him in half.
The coordination from Anna, as well as being attacked from three angles, was extremely
frustrating for Umonke.
It was a strange feeling for him. He knew he was stronger than the others, but due to him
not being able to knock Rayna away, she was lasting longer than she would ordinarily have.
On top of that, instructions from the strange woman with red palm strikes were perfectly
timed, almost as if his mind was being read.
Anna was smiling at the situation unfolding.
"I can't believe they had no idea what these items could do, and they were using it to
decorate a statue of all things."
In one of the clans Anna was sent to, she had found the artifact-the headband-along with a
scroll that was hung behind it.
Her system allowed her to know that these items weren't from the world of Pagna, but
came from another dimension.
She tried to get information from the said dimension, but there wasn't much from the clan
itself. Still, the clan had control of the portal where the items were found. Venturing inside,
she was able to come across information about how the headband had once been used on a
fierce being to restrict its power.
Learning this, she knew she had something special on her hands. The main problem was
getting the headband on its target, which was why she had selected a middle stage warrior
distracted and focused on the fight with the town of Flendon.
If it was another clan, this would have been a risky move. Many were so loyal to their clans
that they would willingly give up their lives rather than attack a prominent figure in their
own clan.
However, Anna could see that since the clan was so large, there was next to no loyalty.
Many had joined it just for the prestige that came with being part of one of the major clans.
And they were fighting right now because of fear of what would happen to them. The
warriors in the Behemoth Clan cared more about their own lives.
"We need to finish this!" Anna said. "Now that our assistant is fighting at full force, we can
pin him down, but I don't have the strength to beat him."
Rayna was huffing and panting; her muscles were aching, and at any second, she felt like
she would drop the spear on the floor.
"The one that needs to finish him off is you. Come on, do it for the sake of love," Anna said.
In an instant, Rayna's face went red.
"What do you mean?"
"Can't you tell? Raze isn't here, which means something happened to him. If that's the case,
look at the battlefield."
Rayna quickly observed what was happening, but she couldn't see anything out of the
ordinary; things were somewhat in a stalemate, the same as before.
That's when she realized that was part of the issue.
"Who's fighting Sha Mo?" she asked.
In the center of the battlefield, three people stood there looking at the giant mass known as
Sha Mo.
They stood side by side, quaking inside.
"Is it just me, or can't you help but think we kinda got the short straw?" Liam commented,
with Simyon and Safa by his side.
Chapter 866 Trust Zon?
Chapter 866 Trust Zon?
In the Dark Faction Academy, panic had taken over the outer area. Those who lived near
the academy walls had decided to move back, some even leaving their homes. They moved
further toward the outer areas of the city, and some who lived on the edge, hearing rumors
of what was happening, were already leaving, rushing along the great bridge.
However, there was one individual running through the city, heading toward the academy,
entering any place he could. Turning right, Skyler rushed into a local tailor shop. He could
see several people sitting at the back, some hiding behind the machinery in the room.
In one corner of the room, a person dressed like a student lay covered in blood. Cloth was
draped over his eyes, his body unmoving, and Skyler couldn't sense an ounce of Qi coming
from him.
"Is there anyone here who is a physician or has at least been an assistant before?" Skyler
asked.
A woman slowly raised her hand, and an older man standing by the child on the ground
also stood up.
"I am a physician. Unfortunately, I couldn't save this young one's life. Is there someone else
in the city who needs help?" the old man asked.
Skyler clenched his fist at this moment. "Not the city itself, the academy," Skyler answered.
"The injured students have all come from the academy, but there are bound to be those still
inside who are still breathing and need help!"
The woman who had raised her hand quickly pulled it down, and the man looked away,
sweat running down the side of his face.
"What's wrong? Didn't you just say you were willing to help? Let's go!" Skyler said, turning
to the door, but he noticed there were no footsteps following him. He turned back around.
"I am sorry, but to tell us to go to the academy… From what we've heard from the students
and even the teachers, other powerful Pagna warriors have been dealt with. If we head
inside, our lives might be taken as well."
"That's even more reason why we have to go!" Skyler shouted. Zon had given him this task
before he left, and Skyler knew how important it was.
Zon relied on him, likely because he was in an intense fight and wouldn't be able to help the
people. This was an important task.
"Look, I'm a skilled warrior. If we head in there, I promise to protect you. And besides, I
know it—someone is dealing with the intruder right now! Someone strong enough to get
rid of him!"
"Really?" One of the women asked with bright eyes. "Who is it?"
Skyler took a step back. What was he meant to answer? The head chef of the perfect noodle
shop? People would think he had gone mad.
So he could only come up with one answer.
"The Dark Magus. The Dark Magus is dealing with them. I was asked to gather as many of
those that can help, so we need to head to the academy as quickly as possible and gather as
many that can assist."
The others didn't know the Dark Magus well, as Raze had stayed somewhat hidden since he
had taken over. But the simple fact that he was now the leader of the Dark Faction gave
them hope.
"All right… let's go," the woman said.
Skyler, with a smile on his face, left with the two. On the way to the academy, they visited
several places, trying to gather as many people as possible.
'Using the Dark Magus's name like I just did might get me in serious trouble, but I don't
care! I have no loyalty to the Dark Magus; all my loyalty is to Zon! I will do as he says so he
can kick whoever this sick f*ck is!' Skyler thought as he continued to run.
——
In the large courtyard that connected all of the academy buildings, the students were
hidden behind pieces of flooring that had been lifted and wedged into the ground. Amir was
present, hiding with a large number of the students, around twenty or so of them.
Meanwhile, out in the courtyard itself, stood Raze, the Dark Magus, and a mysterious
person who had just appeared in white garments filled with cooking stains on the front.
"What the… isn't that a chef's uniform? What is a chef doing on the battlefield?"
"It's quite obvious that's not an ordinary chef; he just came out of a portal!" another student
commented.
Lifting his hand out, red energy condensed from the palm of Zon's hand until a thin red
sword, appearing to be made from the same strange red substance, was formed in his grip.
"So you decide to make this a two against one?" Scar said. "You have no shame, do you?"
Scar started to fire bullets from his handguns. He didn't stop firing, one after the other, until
both magazines were empty.
As the bullets came at Zon, he moved his arm, which appeared as nothing more than a blur.
It was a supernatural speed, knocking all of the bullets away.
Raze looked at the bullets and could see they had been carefully deflected to the ground.
Some of them were partially melted, and all fell to the side.
"What are you still doing here?" Zon asked. "You called me for help, to deal with this one,
right? Isn't there somewhere you need to be? Somewhere you're needed a lot more than
right here?"
"This person, they're strong," Raze said. He had still yet to use the full extent of his abilities
and had also figured out a way that he might be able to catch Scar.
He had summoned Zon so they could deal with the Deleter quickly, allowing him to head to
the Demonic Faction.
"Do you not trust me? I thought the fact that you called me here meant that you trusted me
to deal with something like this. If you don't trust me, then there is no need to call me
again," Zon exclaimed.
Hearing Zon's confident words and seeing his actions from before, Raze felt like he had no
choice in the matter.
"Very well, then I will leave this to you!" Raze said as he rushed off, heading back into the
main academy building.
Chapter 867: In Zon We Trust
Chapter 867: In Zon We Trust

Raze rushed from the courtyard and headed to the main building, thinking of the words
spoken by Zon. He had asked him to put his trust in him. Raze started to remember the last
time someone had said those words to him in Alterian-one of the few people he could call
his friend—and believing in those words had ultimately led to his friend's demise.
There were many times Raze thought back, wondering what if his friend had never gotten
involved in his mess, what if he hadn't believed in him and stayed away; maybe there
would still be one person left in his life.
This was why it was so hard for Raze to leave Zon. Yet he had ultimately decided to trust
those words again.
'I underestimated the Deleter, and I let my anger take over me,' Raze thought. 'Seeing
Himmy's head, I wanted to get some payback for him. But the Deleter was slimier than I
expected and caused more trouble than I thought... still, I need to head to the Demonic
Faction.
'If I'm honest with myself, even if Zon and the whole academy were to disappear, if it was
for the sake of saving them, then I would at least be content with my decision. But if I
stayed back to help Zon, and they were to perish, I would hate myself even more than I do
now.'
This was why, ultimately, Raze was able to make the decision to leave Zon. And besides
that, from what little Raze saw, even if Zon couldn't beat him, he would put up one hell of a
fight.
"Do you really think you can rush off in front of me?" Scar said. "Did you forget everything I
can do?"
Scar had teleported from his position, now appearing right in front of Raze, in front of the
academy.
However, now being in front of Raze, Scar saw that Raze held two swords in his hands, both
covered in a type of lightning.
"You should get out of my way!" Raze shouted as he swung both swords horizontally,
around a meter apart.
A large current of lightning surged across, one nearly touching the floor, the other around
head height. Since Raze was one step ahead of Scar, he wasn't even able to get a shot off
before he teleported again, this time appearing behind Raze.
"You're an idiot!" Scar said, lifting his handguns.
"Is he?" A voice said from his right.
Scar quickly turned to his right and activated his teleporter again, moving away.
When he reappeared at a safe distance, his gun had fallen into two halves. He had been
struck by the strange red sword, and if he had been slower in teleporting, his body would
have split in half.
'How did he do that?' Scar thought, looking at Zon.
He had seen the distance between Raze and him, and even when teleporting twice, he had
made sure he was in the center. Yet somehow, Zon had either gotten to him fast enough or
had predicted where he was going.
Ultimately, Scar had no choice but to watch Raze run back into the main academy and put
his full attention on Zon.
"There goes my target. Why can't things be easy?" Scar shouted. "Oh well, I guess he will
just have to learn his lesson for running away, because I still have my second target-this
entire city and academy!" Scar started to laugh hysterically.
"The entire city?" Zon asked, looking at him. "Does that include non-Pagna warriors as
well?"
"Do you not understand Pagnian?" Scar said. "Every single life in this city. The Dark Magus
will learn the mistake he made."
Zon firmly gripped the energy blade in his hand.
"Including those at the Perfect Noodle Shop?" Zon asked.
"What the... a Noodle Shop? Do you have a screw loose or something? You must be messing
with me. Because of that, especially those from the damned noodle shops-all the noodle
shops!" Scar shouted as he switched from his handguns back to the two Uzis.
Pulling the trigger, bullets came flying out one after another.
Zon, in response, held his sword in front of him, moving it in place each time, clanging
against the bullets. He took a step forward, and as he did, he continued to move his sword,
stopping every single bullet aimed at him.
'This guy... he's not even using a force field like the last one. It's almost like he can actually
see every single one of these bullets. What's with this person?'
Slowly, Zon was getting closer and closer to Scar, and Scar could feel something thumping
in his chest slightly harder-a panic was setting in.
Scar teleported to a different angle, and the weapon changed in his hand. Holding it with
both hands, he now had the RPG ready.
"Try and block this!" The RPG was launched and aimed right at Zon.
Putting his sword away, Zon reached out his hand, and on impact, a large explosion
occurred, but only for a moment.
All of the smoke and all of the fumes from the RPG looked as if they were being sucked in. It
shrank in size, all flowing into the palm of Zon's hand until it had completely disappeared.
Scar's eyebrow started to twitch.
'He blocked the bullets rather than absorb them, so this will deal with him!'
Scar began to teleport himself into the air. He was at a high distance of around 5 meters,
but he teleported himself again, moving another five meters up.
Scar continued this, moving further and further into the sky until the weapon in his hands
changed again. He stared down the scope of the weapon, looking at the long barrel reaching
out. What he held was one of the most powerful bolt-action rifles from his world, and he
was an exceptionally good shot.
Getting everything lined up perfectly, he held his breath for a moment and pulled the
trigger.
A loud bang echoed across the entire city, as if lightning had struck, but no one could see
any
lightning.
When Scar looked at Zon through his scope, he expected to see a fallen man. Instead, what
he saw caused his heart to thump louder.
Zon, with two of his fingers, held the long bullet between his index finger and thumb. He
had perfectly caught it.
"You should have left the noodle shop out of it," Zon said.
Chapter 868: The Whole Deleters
Chapter 868: The Whole Deleters

For a moment, Scar was allowing his body to freely flow through the air. He had already
switched out his sniper rifle, but right now in his hands, there was nothing.
As he let the wind drag onto his body, he was thinking of the situation he was in.
'In all my time since I have been in Pagna, I've never met such a person,' Scar thought. 'To
catch a sniper bullet with just their fingers. Even the top Pagna warriors would struggle
with that.'
'A mage would have to cast some pretty big fancy spell to get rid of it, but the man in front
of me hasn't even moved. Just what is this person?'
Scar started to think back to all of the missions he had been given even before he had
become a Deleter, trying to think if there was ever anyone he had come across like this.
No one had come to mind, at least not on his missions, but he did remember seeing one
person.
At one point, Henio had called a meeting between the Deleters. All five of them had
gathered in a single room in front of the head of Alter.
The strongest forces that Alter had were gathered in one room. The room was similar to
the one Scar had his assessment in; it was vast in size but mostly empty.
Apart from what looked like a giant clock's mechanism in the back, a swinging pendulum
going side to side.
Out of those in the room, Scar recognized Garlock from his assessment. The longest-serving
Deleter and also the first to obtain the title and the role.
As for the others, he might have caught their faces now and again, but he didn't know them
by name. Other than Garlock, most of the Deleters were secretive.
It seemed to come with the job.
"Since we have recently had a new member join the team, I would like you all to introduce
yourselves. Although it is rare for more than one Deleter to be called on a task, there is no
doubt in my mind that there may come a situation where all of you will need to work
together, so please go ahead."
The first person to step forward was a man with round glasses and curly hair that stuck up
on his head. There was the image of the person being somewhat of a mad scientist type.
If anything, out of all of them, Scar felt like they were the least intimidating.
"My name is Kush, I am from Alterian, but unlike these, I'm not a mage. I'm a researcher,
but rather than looking into the field of magic, I used to look into beast crystals and other
dimensions," Kush said as he went back.
Although Kush didn't look intimidating, Scar was sure that he was strong. After all, all
Deleters needed a certain level of power to become one.
The next to step up was the large mage Garlock, with his neatly swept-back hair and round
shoulders. He didn't exactly give off the image of a mage, but he was certainly one.
"The First Deleter of Alter, I was close to also being one of the founding members of Alter
along with Henio. If any of you have any issues with your mission or think they will bring
you trouble, then feel free to come to me," Garlock said.
"We can do that?" Scar whispered.
"Garlock is quite accommodating when it comes to these things," the only female Deleter in
the room said, standing next to him. "There come times when others are more suited for
certain missions.
"The Programmers don't really know how to utilize the Deleters well. They only know
what's best to get the goal sorted. So sometimes it's best for us to decide amongst each
other who will be best for big missions."
In the middle of the two talking to one another, another of the individuals walked forward.
Their footsteps were heavy as if their boots weighed a ton each.
The man had dark pupils, and his black hair was swept back, reaching his neck. Out of all
those there, it was this man that looked the most menacing.
"I am known as Red. I am from the world of Tronzo," Red declared.
"Tronzo? I've never heard of an otherworlder from there," Scar said.
"It's not a surprise," Red replied, hearing Scar despite them being a distance away and him
only speaking a whisper. "There is only one in the squads that I know of that is from the
same world as me."
"And they aren't even aware that I am here either. I am a member of the Red Fortis Army.
"As a newcomer, I have a piece of advice for you. If you ever come across another one from
Tronzo, it would be best if you let me handle the task."
Scar was a bit taken aback by the sudden request.
"Is it because you are from the same world, that you wish to know about them?" Scar said,
as that was quite understandable.
However, Red laughed as he walked back to his position.
"It's not that. I read your file; I know your skill set and how you fight. If you were ever to
meet someone from Tronzo, especially someone from the Red Fortis Army, you would have
a difficult time facing them."
"I'm not saying you're weak, it's just not a good match-up."
Scar smiled back at Red, but he was clenching his jaw on the inside. He felt offended.
'It must be because I'm the new Deleter he thinks so little of me. Of course, he has no idea
what I've done or what I'm capable of. No one would think someone from my world could
take on mages either, and before I was even given artifacts from this world, I was able to
deal with
them.'
'This guy is just too big-headed, thinking about those from his world.'
Finally, it was time for the last Deleter to walk forward. Judging by the thin piece of flowy
cloth she was wearing, Scar could already guess that she was a Pagna warrior.
There were quite a few in the group of Alter, but he found it surprising that there would be
a Deleter that was one. After all, Deleters were those with the power to eliminate entire
clans, even those at the very top.
So if she was a Pagna warrior, shouldn't she have been a well-known one?
"My name is Shay!" the woman said, placing her fist into the palm of her hand and giving a
bow to the others. "I am a Pagna warrior, and the last remaining person from the Noctis
Clan."
Chapter 869: The Unstoppable Force
Chapter 869: The Unstoppable Force

When the woman revealed what clan she was from, Scar had raised an eyebrow. Thinking
back to his previous thoughts, a Deleter was meant to be powerful, and yet this woman had
claimed she was from a clan he had never even heard of before.
On top of that, she said she was the last member of a clan he had never heard of, which
meant right now she was most likely a wanderer.
It would be a different thing if she had said she was from the Crimson Crane, a more
reputable wandering clan.
When Shay had returned to her position, she glanced at the uneasy look on Scar's face.
"Although you are not from Pagna, I thought my clan would have warranted a better
reaction than that," Shay said. "You should do some research, it might help you when you
get into tricky situations in the future."
"I mean, didn't you have a wife from Pagna?"
Shay noticed the clenching of Scar's fist.
"If you want, I'm happy to prove to you why I was selected as a Deleter."
After everything that Scar had been through to reach one of the most respected positions in
Alter, he thought he would be treated better than this.
But he knew he was the new member of the group, and he would just have to prove
himself.
After the initial first meeting, Scar had gone on to complete every mission given to him
perfectly, and he was ruthless in the methods he used.
After learning what he had done, the others no longer teased him anymore.
In the Dark Faction Academy, Scar was floating through the air, and these thoughts had
resurfaced in his mind at this moment.
Then he could see the courtyard and the person in question he was going up against.
'Right, he gives off a similar feeling to that man. Now I know why he annoys me so much,'
Scar thought.
Before reaching the ground, Scar had green and metallic grenades appear in his hands, and
he quickly started to drop them to the ground.
As soon as one dropped from his hand, more would appear, and he continued to drop them
from above.
They landed right where Zon was, some of them exploding and shooting out shrapnel in
multiple directions.
Others exploded into flames as incendiaries were being used. Others were letting out
strong fumes.
So many objects were dropped from above that none of the students could even see Zon
anymore.
Eventually, before reaching the ground, Scar had teleported himself so he wouldn't crash
into the floor and now was looking at the mess in front of him.
Eventually, though, heavy footsteps could be heard, and stepping out of the smoke, Zon had
appeared unscathed.
However, his chef's clothing that he wore had completely burnt off, revealing a black tight
skin suit.
It was a strange thing to see in the world of Pagna, as it didn't look like any current material
they had.
On top of that, there were strange red circles on the suit glowing with energy. Strange lines
ran down the suit, glowing with energy.
Amir, looking with a keen eye from the side, could see there was next to no gap between
the suit on Zon's body and his skin. It seamlessly went from his neck to the natural skin on
his face.
'That doesn't look like clothing or armor, is that part of his skin?'
Right on the fine edges of his neck, small parts could be seen flicking between his natural
skin color and the black of his suit, as if the suit itself was alive.
"He did warn me about meeting someone like you," Scar mumbled to himself.
"You must be someone from that Red Fortis Army."
Zon's eyes had widened at that point. Although at times Zon's words were spoken as if they
would be with anger, Zon always spoke in a calm voice, even when talking about his noodle
shop.
It was the first time that a genuine reaction on his face could be seen through the fight.
"That name, how do you know that name? Who told you that!"
Zon was aware of Anna's existence, that there was someone from his world who was part
of Alter, but she was the only one he knew of.
When speaking to Anna, she had claimed she had never met anyone else from the same
world as them, on her journeys or in the organization of Alter.
On top of that, the only ones that should know the name of the Red Fortis Army weren't
even those from their world.
As it was a secret organization within the army itself. Only those that were told or those
part of the army would know about it.
"Haha, why would I tell you anything when I'm about to blow your brains out!" Scar
claimed.
"I am a Deleter, and I have never failed my task."
"I'll show them that he was wrong!"
Handguns didn't work, sniper rifles didn't work, RPGs didn't work, and even grenades and
chemical warfare didn't work.
Right now, he expected Zon to be on the floor, his eyes in pain, or struggling to breathe, but
none of that was working.
Little did Scar know the system had already warned Zon of everything, and the machines
inside his body had gotten rid of any substance that would try to do harm to his body.
'There are plenty more things that I can try, and I always complete my missions!' Scar now
had switched weapons in his hands again, and this time he had an assault rifle.
The shots were fast and more powerful than a handgun. Making sure that it was perfectly
placed, he started to fire away.
The bullets came out fiercely, hitting Zon's body. As they hit the black part of his suit, it
rippled, changing slightly silver in color, and the bullets dropped to the floor.
The black suit extended past Zon's neck and went over his entire head. The bullets
continued to hit Zon, having no effect at all; they just continued to ripple off his body as
they hit him
again and again.
Then lifting his hand up with his thumb and index finger, he caught a bullet and instantly
swung his arm out.
It happened so fast, bullets were even still hitting Zon, that Scar had no idea until he felt his
leg jolt, and he fell to the floor on one knee.
"Arghh!" Scar screamed, and looking at his leg, he could see a bullet wound.
'Did he just throw that... and it moved even faster than a gun could fire!'
"I'm going to do everything in my power to learn where you heard that name," Zon said as
he moved forward, an unstoppable force.
Chapter 870: I Am A Deleter!
Chapter 870: I Am A Deleter!

Scar was trying to think back to the last time he had struggled so much to deal with a single
person. Before he had become a Deleter, there were some tough calls.
Ever since he had been given the special artifact, he hadn't even been hit once. Even when
he first had the artifact and was learning how to properly use everything.
'Bullets don't hurt this guy, grenades don't hurt this person... every person I've come across
has been hurt one way or another... he can't be different, he can't!' Scar thought.
Teleporting again, Scar had switched to his handguns, but this time, they contained a
special magazine inside. On impact, these bullets would explode, packing a punch of power.
Moving, Scar fired the bullets, and just as he expected, when Zon went to catch the bullet, it
exploded right in his face, causing a ripple effect.
Now Scar was constantly teleporting around, changing direction at every moment he could,
firing these special explosive bullets.
They were hitting Zon from all sorts of different directions, and when the black suit rippled
just enough, human flesh looked like it could be seen underneath.
Quickly, Scar switched one of his handguns from the explosive rounds to one that fired out
regular bullets. Flowing through the air, it had successfully hit Zon's skin.
It pierced right through, entering his body, and it was the first time he had delivered a shot.
"It looks like now the two of us are even," Scar said with a smile.
"Right, it looks like it," Zon replied back, as the black suit started to repair itself, moving
back into place. But before it did, right out from his skin, the bullet appeared to be pushed
out of his body and dropped to the floor.
"What the heck are you, are you even human?" Scar screamed as he teleported close to
where Zon was, nearly at striking range, and in both hands, he had two large shotguns.
He fired away, and heavy bangs went off, but Zon had caught both of the weapons by their
barrels and lifted them above his head.
"Trust me, you don't want to go up against me at close range," Zon claimed.
Letting go of the shotguns, Scar had teleported again, now with a large dagger in his hand,
and struck at Zon. The attack hit his suit but seemed to do nothing.
Zon quickly turned around to slash him with his energy sword that had reappeared from
his palm, but Scar had reappeared in another spot right next to him, slashing his suit with
his dagger again.
Constantly, Scar was doing this, teleporting close range and slicing at every part of Zon that
he could see.
'If bullets won't work, then I just need to do it the old-fashioned way until I slice right at his
neck, let's see him heal from that!'
Although everyone hated Scar's guts that were watching the match and wished for him to
be dead, they had to admit, what he was doing was short of amazing.
Even if he had an artifact that allowed him to teleport, to use it in such a way, and to have
the bravery to go close to his opponent and strike him constantly, had to take guts,
calculation, and a natural instinct.
Unfortunately for him, he was fighting with someone who went beyond just the instinct of a
person. When Scar had reappeared and went to slash his dagger once again.
A fist had already crashed into his arm, not just one arm, but both of his arms. In that
instant, the bones inside were fractured; he could see his arms bending in directions they
were never meant to bend.
'I... have to get away... I'm going to fail the mission at this rate... I'll die!' were the thoughts
running right through Scar's head.
Before he knew it, he could only see a red beam of energy in front of his face, and a strong
ripping sensation was felt around the entirety of his body.
From the outside, it looked like flames had condensed the entirety of Scar's body, and he
wasn't even aware of this himself.
His body too hurt, too damaged, had dropped to the floor, and a loud clanging sound was
heard falling to the side. It was a small metal object with a red gem, around the size of a
cockroach.
Then right above, where Scar could see the sky, the view was quickly blocked out by Zon's
face.
"The fight is clearly over, so are you going to give me the information that I want?"
On the floor, Scar's whole skin looked fried; his mouth was left in perfect condition as if to
allow him to speak and nothing else. The artifact he had on him had fallen somewhere, but
he was unable to even move part of his body.
"You think... I would tell you because I'm like this? I'm a f*cking Deleter. I delete everything,
getting rid of anything that will hold me back!" Scar said with spit coming out of his mouth
and hitting his own skin, causing more pain on his body.
"The last thing I do would be to tell you the information you want. In this life, everything
you get is earned! Everything I know, everything in my head was earned! That's how I
became a Deleter, so screw you! I will never tell you a single thing!"
"Very well," Zon said as he knelt down and placed his palm on the head of Scar. A small
energy blade had come out, and immediately Scar's life had come to a complete end just
like that.
The thing was, Zon could tell if Scar was lying or not, and he could tell what he said was not
a lie. He would never give the information that Zon wanted, so there was no need to waste
any time.
Looking to the right of the floor, that's when Zon picked up what looked like a brooch that
went on the front of one's clothing.
'Is this the Artifact that he had used... having this for myself, it might come in handy,' Zon
thought.
As Zon stood there holding the item in his hand, he could hear footsteps in the distance, and
then running into the main courtyard, Skyler, with a group of people, had arrived at the
academy.
Chapter 871: The Strongest Unknown Clan
Chapter 871: The Strongest Unknown Clan

Doing the task that had been ordered by Zon, Skyler had gotten to work. He had gone into
every open shop looking for those that would help. Even if they weren't physicians or
assistants, those who were willing had been brought along.
There were even a few Pagna wanderers that had just come for a visit who were willing to
help. Knowing the severity of the situation, the brave warriors decided that they needed to
do what they could to try and get the students out of the academy.
Heading right through the large open front door, they finally entered the courtyard. Skyler,
with around thirty helpers, had entered, and they had immediately stopped.
Skyler looked up ahead where he caught eyes with Zon in the distance; as for everyone else,
they were looking at the mess of the courtyard.
Blood was smeared across the ground, and some students were clearly crawling for the exit
but hadn't made it. There were so many young people that had been killed.
"Come on, we have to work quickly!" the old man physician said. "We have to focus on
those that can be saved first. After that, we can figure out what to do with the others. In this
situation, it's important-every second counts!"
The helpers agreed and quickly rushed off in different directions, trying to find which
students they could help. It didn't take them long to discover that there was an even
greater mess inside the academy buildings.
The unfortunate problem that the physicians were finding was that there were so few that
could be helped. Each person they did find was a celebration.
Bandages were used, and herbs were delivered. The warriors were clearing out the Red
Headband building, which had the fewest number of students, and were using it as a place
of treatment.
All the students that were being treated were being held up in one place. As things were
working out, that was when Skyler looked at Zon.
He rushed forward.
"Zon, is everything alright? Is the enemy still here? Is there something we need to look out
for, or that I should warn the others?"
In the middle of Skyler's run, Zon, who was standing out on the courtyard, had suddenly
disappeared. He just vanished right in front of his eyes.
Skyler's footsteps had stopped for a moment.
"Where did he go?" Skyler mumbled to himself.
"The person responsible for all of this has been dealt with," Zon said.
Skyler turned around, and Zon was right behind him. It was strange; he knew Zon could do
impressive things and was an incredibly strong fighter, but to move like that, to move so
fast...
No, it didn't seem like Zon had moved at all in Skyler's eyes, almost as if he had instantly
appeared behind him.
"The device seems easy enough to use; it could benefit me greatly," Zon said to himself. "He
was dealt with, so it's over, this horror is over?" Skyler said as he looked at the entire
situation, wondering just who or what could have done all of this-more importantly, why.
"How did this even happen? Wasn't the Dark Magus meant to be at the academy? Why did
it get like this?" Skyler asked, angry.
In some ways, he looked up to the Dark Magus. That was why he had come to the academy,
to challenge him. A new leader, a new start. Yet, he wasn't even able to protect the students
of all people in the academy, and in the end, Zon was the one that had to protect them.
"The Dark Magus was here; this was an enemy that no one was able to handle properly,"
Zon said. "He is not the one to be blamed. After I arrived, he has gone on an important task."
"The ones that you should be blaming and directing your anger towards are those that sent
these people in the first place. Besides..."
Zon stopped himself from going further. He didn't want to tell Skyler that those they had
fought in the shop that day, it was because of their actions that the Deleter was sent from
Alter, and the deaths were partly their fault.
Skyler was still filled with anger, with the sight in front of him. He had already been
through the academy, and he couldn't even imagine what it would be like if a situation like
this had occurred while he was at the academy.
"Sir, mister, we would like to say thank you!"
"Yes, sir, thank you so much for getting rid of that guy!"
Skyler turned around to look at the voices, and that's when he could see around twenty to
thirty students who had rushed over that were perfectly fine.
The students were the ones that had been hiding behind the flooring, which they were
using for cover. Those that were with Amir, who had headed back into the academy to call
on more help from the other teachers for the entire situation at hand.
"Yeah, I thought we were all goners... I thought nothing could stop him and those strange
powers and everything."
Some of the students were teary-eyed, some felt exhausted as the adrenaline that was
running through their bodies was starting to disappear.
"How were you able to beat that guy? What Clan are you from?"
"Yeah, tell us what clan you're from. I'm sure our parents would be appreciative and would
love to hand you some gifts!"
The students were also wondering for themselves. They did wish to get stronger, and
seeing what Zon had done, maybe there was a chance to help them grow so they wouldn't
be in the same fearful situation as they were in this time.
The question that had been asked, Skyler was curious about it as well, so he leaned in,
hoping to find out an answer.
'Maybe I'll learn the secret to his strength!'
"What Clan?" Zon repeated. "I'm not from any clan; I'm a chef at the Perfect Noodle shop."
The expression on everyone's face dropped. What did Zon even mean by saying he was a
chef?
In the Demonic Faction, in a particular cave, sparks ignited, and appearing in the area from
the ground, Raze had finally made it.
As he stood up in the cave, he placed his hand on his chest.
'My mana heart... it's reacting... and my ring as well...'
Raze remembered the moments before teleporting to the Demonic Faction. Due to all the
deaths that had occurred from the students, even though he wasn't responsible for them,
for some reason, the strange Dark Magic energy had all formed, and with it, it had entered
into Raze's mana heart.
His Dark Magic had grown, and it was still pulsating through his body.
"I have to go to Flendon!"
Chapter 872: Rainfall
Chapter 872: Rainfall

Out of all the continents, the Demonic Faction's territory was one that was prone to many
different types of extreme weather. At times, they would suffer from blaring heat, freezing
winters; on other occasions, there would be a month filled with thunderstorms without a
single break in the day.
Some thought that this might have been how the clans in the Demonic Faction even got
their name. Because anyone who had lived there long enough had to be demonic.
Sure, now that the structure of their buildings was better, and the fact that they had ways
to still grow and transport crops and food, things were fine.
But that was only due to the people who had originally stayed on the land that was
considered uninhabitable in the first place.
Regardless of all this, the Demonic Faction was having a nice spell of weather. It allowed
the citizens to enjoy their time and venture through the different towns and cities more-
that was until this day.
In the city of Repton, the largest city in the Demonic Faction, the people were out on the
busy streets as always, going about their day, buying what they needed.
Things were relaxed in the Demonic Faction, that was until one felt a drop of rain on their
nose.
When staring at the sky, several droplets could be seen, and the rain at that moment
started to pour down.
"It's raining! Quickly, get the tents up!"
The merchants were quite quick to act, as they protected their goods, and even the shops
would pull over large pieces of cloth that would cover most of the sides of the streets,
allowing people to still enjoy their time outside.
Some people, especially the warriors, didn't care for the rain, just letting it drop on their
bodies. Due to their enhanced selves, the rain didn't affect their immune systems.
Hardly any even came down with diseases despite the amount of people they would
interact with, and compared to their training, a bit of rain was nothing.
The rain didn't just cover the city of Repton; it was currently over nearly the entire
territory of the Demonic Faction, which included the town of Flendon.
In the city of Repton, a few warriors were walking through one of the streets, allowing the
rain to fall on their heads. Their clothes were getting soaked.
"Is it going to be like last time? Is it going to rain for two weeks straight?"
"Please, I hope not, otherwise my depression is going to kick in. I need some vitamin D from
the sun."
"What are you talking about? You stay inside either way. Even if it was sunny, you'd still be
inside."
"Hey, you don't understand. Even if I am inside, if it's raining outside, it affects my mood,
but if it's sunny, it just cheers me up, you know?"
"You're crazy."
"Hey, guys," one of the young warriors said, holding his hand out. "I think the rain just
stopped."
"What? That's impossible. The rain never stops that quickly; it only started five minutes
ago." When the group looked around them, that's when they noticed something even
stranger. They could see the rain falling, the drops causing ripples in the small pools of
water.
It was only where they were standing that the rain had stopped. In this amazement, they
hadn't even noticed the person approaching them with almost glowing white hair.
"I need to know the quickest way to the town of Flendon," the man asked.
"Flendon? I don't think it's a good idea. I heard there are rumors any day now that the
Behemoth clan is going to attack."
"I think they might be in the middle of it already," another replied. "I haven't seen the usual
Behemoth Clan members around here."
"Anyway, it's not a good idea to head there, man."
"Please, I don't have time," the white-haired man said, staring right into the eyes of one of
the men in the center. For some reason, the man felt like everything was sinking; he was
being suffocated, and it was getting harder to breathe.
"The quickest way is to head out of the west gate, and there should be a path that would
lead you there, but you can just ignore the general path...and try to go as straight as you can
to get there," the warrior answered.
His friends started to wonder why he had told him. No one would go there after learning
that the Behemoth Clan was attacking such a place.
But they hadn't felt the same suffocating feeling he had, and when they turned to look back
at the man, they could see he was no longer there.
"Where the heck did he go?"
They all looked around at the market stalls nearby, in the shops, but the man was nowhere
to be seen. He had just disappeared in front of them.
That was when the one who answered the white-haired man's questions held out his hand
again, and he could see the rain drops falling once more.
"Hey, did you notice? The rain has started again."
The others noticed it too, as it hit their clothes, but a passerby who was walking by
overheard the group speaking.
"What are you on about? The rain never stopped."
The strange experience the group had, they didn't understand, but one had a thought: just
maybe the rain had stopped due to the individual with the bright white hair.
Raze had already exited the city of Repton from the west gate. He continued to move
through the rain, but not a single drop was landing on him.
As he moved at quick speeds using his Qi, he grabbed onto his chest, continuing to move
forward.
'What is this pain in my chest? Is it all of the Dark essence that was absorbed? Is it possible
that my mana heart is going on to the next star?'
The magic was swirling out of Raze, the mana in the air swirling so violently that he was
unable to control it. His Dark Magic was practically destroying the rain in the area, not
allowing a single drop to get on him.
"But not now, this is not a good time. No matter what, I need to get to the fight as fast as
possible!"
Chapter 873: Strike Of Love
Chapter 873: Strike Of Love

The raindrops were coming down heavily, and it was filling the battlefield in front of the
town of Flendon. The hard ground was becoming muddy, making everything more
exhausting for those fighting.
Lifting one's feet and even just dragging one's body became harder. They had been
constantly fighting, and the added weight to their clothes was just making it harder.
At least, this was the case for those that weren't typically Pagna warriors.
The guards that had fought with the Crimson Crane last time had some form of Qi inside
them, but they were still amateurs compared to those they were going against.
Dealing with the rain was quite easy for them, but for the guards and the town's people,
they were finding it difficult.
One man swung his sword, his body weight causing him to lunge forward, and then he
slipped on the ground, landing in the mud.
When the man looked up, he could see a warrior with a sword in his hands ready to end his
life. The sword was swung down, but a loud clang was heard.
Right after, the man that had just swung the sword was seen flying through the air.
"We can't keep fighting in this rain!" Tilon shouted. "Everyone, we need to retreat!"
The others from the Crimson Crane could hear Tilon's loud voice, and he wasn't the only
one that had come to the same conclusion.
All members that were leading a squad had decided to move back. They couldn't continue
going in deeper anymore. So slowly, they started to back away as best as they could, until
they reformed back in front of the gate.
When Alba had returned with her squad, along with the others, she could see their
numbers had lessened by a bigger margin this time-around 1400 of them were still present,
and two hundred of them were on the walls firing arrows away.
Alba looked out to the battlefield. There were too many people in front of them, so she
couldn't even catch wind of where Rayna and the others were, so she could only believe in
them.
"Alright, now's the time!" Alba said, raising one of her swords in the air. "If you feel
exhausted and have reached your limit, take the pills given to you by the Dark Magus, we
will continue to hold out!"
The Crimson Crane members had the Cursed pills, but they were just taking the regular
pills for now, restoring their Qi. Staying in one spot and gathered together, they could last
longer this way.
However, it was harder for them to move about and strike. Using this decision to guard in
front of the gate meant that they had no choice but to rely on those that were deep within
the enemy territory.
"We have a huge target to hit. We have to keep giving support!" Andy shouted from the
walls. "Continue to fire deep into enemy territory, ignore the front line for now, I don't
want us hitting our own men!"
While the intense battle was taking place, moving closer and closer to the walls of Flendon,
inside, Rayna and Anna were still fighting against Umonke.
Thanks to Anna's planning, she was able to get them in a favorable position. They had one
member of the Behemoth Clan, a middle-stage warrior, under their control, and they were
using the special golden headband artifact.
They were slowly wearing Umonke down, but the one that needed to deal the biggest and
lasting strike in Anna's plan was Rayna.
"You have the strongest attack of us all, so you need to finish this!" Anna said as she
charged forward.
Umonke held onto his sword tightly, and right when he saw Anna coming in, he swung it
sharply through the air. Anna managed to sidestep just at the right moment.
'She moved before I even swung down. Even though I'm faster than her, it's almost as if she
can see my moves!' Umonke thought.
Umonke could hear a sword striking at his neck desperately, and he lifted his sword to
block it. Just as he did, though, he lost sight of Anna, no longer seeing her in front of him.
"Just focus everything you can on attacking!" Anna shouted.
Several blasts released from her hands, hitting Umonke on the back and pushing him
forward. He wished to turn around, but just as he was about to, he could see Rayna was
already in front of him.
Three people attacking Umonke-already hurt and being pushed forward. His mind was
unclear, uncertain of what the best course of action would be.
"ARGHH! You should have never attacked Flendon! You should have learned your lesson
the first time!" Rayna screamed as she thrust the spear right through Umonke's chest.
The sword was upon her, close to her neck, lightly touching her skin.
Anna peeked her head from behind Umonke's body and could see the blood dripping from
his mouth, and eventually, his body fell to the side.
Another one of the Behemoth Clan's pillars had fallen.
"It's done..." Rayna said, breathing a sigh of relief, opening her mouth to let the rain hit her
tongue. "We finally did it."
"Yeah... but his sword was faster than my calculations," Anna said, as the system was
wrong. The sword moving at Umonke's speed shouldn't have touched Rayna, yet she had a
small cut on the surface of her neck.
'The system can only calculate based on what it sees and make predictions, but it's not
perfect. Umonke must have drawn out more power at the last moment. It's best to keep this
to myself. I only got Rayna involved in the plan because the system stated it was sure to
work.' It was the first time for Anna that the system had failed her in such a way.
Right after seeing that Umonke, the pillar, had fallen, the man with the golden headband
ran forward, facing Anna.
"I did as you asked, now can you please take this headband off—" the man's sentence was
cut short as Anna swiped her hand, cutting his neck.
The man fell to the floor, and right after, the headband expanded, allowing her to pick it up.
"I know they're the enemy, but he did help us out in the fight," Rayna said as she came over.
Although they had defeated one of the pillars, they were still deep in the Behemoth Clan's
army.
"If he had the chance, he would have killed us in a heartbeat for his fake glory and
achievements that this clan has," Anna replied. "Besides, the only way to take off this
headband is to kill the person wearing it.
"At least, that's the only way I know of, and I have a feeling that we might need to use this
headband more."
Chapter 874: 30 Minutes, is all that's left
Chapter 874: 30 Minutes, is all that's left

Having defeated one of the pillars had only given Anna and Rayna a brief moment to rest.
Having seen what occurred, the Behemoth Clan members were hesitant to go forward.
After all, none of them, even with their overwhelming numbers, would have dared to go
against Umonke, so if they wouldn't go against him, why would they face those that
managed to best him?
However, it only took a few to start their chain of attack, deciding they had confidence in
their numbers and convincing themselves that the two must be tired.
It only made sense, after two titans finished fighting each other, the other had to be tired,
and they were quite right in their thoughts.
"I thought you guys would understand the error of your ways!" Rayna said as she thrust
her spear and twisted it in the air.
The twist of her spear was filled with Qi, and several of those that had attacked her were
warped with the hit. At least five individuals were dragged into the air and then flung to the
side, crashing into other members that were attacking.
"Can you go ahead and try to figure out the current situation?" Rayna asked.
However, Anna was in her own mess. She moved back, allowing two swords to strike each
other, then when a third person tried to whack her from behind, she spun and pushed the
man into the other three.
'I'm in energy-saving mode at the moment, trying to mostly create situations where they
hurt each other... I could do with some power stones... otherwise, I might start holding the
others back,' Anna thought.
With the number of people she was fighting, even Anna couldn't figure out what to do in
the current situation.
Her ears, though, managed to pick up several groans. With how deep they were fighting
against the Behemoth Clan, there shouldn't be any sounds of fighting, especially since the
Crimson Crane with the guards had retreated closer to the wall.
"ARGHH!" a man shouted as he was flung through the air with a broken sword.
Looking in the direction where the man had come from, she could see three young men had
appeared.
"I'm telling you this is the quickest way!" Mantis claimed.
"How can that be when I can literally see the wall to the right of us!" Mada complained.
"I have to admit, there does seem to be fewer people here," Ricktor said.
It was then that the three stopped their bickering as they noticed the two women in front of
them.
"Now it might make sense why there's less people here," Ricktor said, looking at the dead
bodies on the ground. "And it appears that they've been quite successful."
The Behemoth Clan members didn't stop, and they continued to attack. Mantis, Mada, and
Ricktor fought their way until they eventually managed to regroup with Anna and Rayna.
"It appears the two of you have managed to take out another Pillar," Ricktor said as he
swung his hand in the air, creating flames, and then swung his sword on the ground.
The floor lit on fire, and it quickly spread to the clothing of those fighting and coming
toward them.
"The other one?" Rayna replied. "Based on those words, you guys managed to defeat a
Pillar as well."
"Of course we did!" Mantis said. "And it was mainly because of me, the Black Tiger! Spread
the word, the Black Tiger has taken down the Behemoth Clan!"
While Rayna continued to fight, she was thinking about the three of them. When she was
their age, would she have been able to do such a feat as defeating one of the Pillars?
They were going against those with much greater experience and a far longer life to live
and grow stronger. In all honesty, she had thought the students would fail and would be
best at just delaying them as long as possible.
It was the same with the Pillar they had gone against as well. She half expected them to be
pushed back until reaching the wall, and then the Crimson Crane would have to deal with
them as they had been weakened.
Yet everyone had accomplished more than she had expected.
'Is this because of the Dark Magus? Is this the effect of him coming here to Pagna? It really
feels like one person is changing the status of the world so much.'
"So, both of the Pillars have been defeated, but it looks like it hasn't changed the situation
much," Mada said.
"Right, the Behemoth Clan are still pushing forward," Anna replied. "But with this, it will
stop them from being able to push right to the wall."
"There won't be any left that can take on the Crimson Crane, so the only thing they can do is
tire them out with their sheer numbers."
"And will that work?" Rayna asked. "Will the Crimson Crane eventually tire out?"
Anna looked at just those who were there. Everyone was already exhausted. How much
longer could they fight for-thirty minutes maybe, at best?
With the heavy rain, strategy had already changed. But how was this information valuable
to them, who were doing their best?
In the end, though, Anna felt like she needed to inform the others of the reality of the
situation.
"30 minutes—that's how long I think everyone will last. After that, the Behemoth Clan will
reach the walls, and everyone will be too exhausted to fight."
"30 minutes? Then that means we only have one choice, right?" Ricktor said, looking at
Rayna. "The only thing that will make this army retreat is taking down Sha Mo before they
reach the wall."
Everyone was in agreement, but with how hard it was for them to take down a Pillar, they
weren't so hopeful about taking on Sha Mo.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, three individuals were standing right before the monstrous
Sha Mo, who was staring them down.
"I can't believe the times have changed," Sha Mo claimed. "The fact that three children of all
things would even try to stand in front of me!"
"Everyone!" Safa shouted. "Don't hold back, don't lose focus! We can't give any less than
200 percent!"
Chapter 875: The Dark Magus's Shield
Chapter 875: The Dark Magus's Shield

The battlefield stayed clear of the area where Sha Mo stood. Because no one wanted to get
caught up in his fight. His Qi, his attack power, it was all too much for them.
It was a risk to even try to help Sha Mo due to how reckless his Qi was.
"The disrespect kids have in this generation is unfathomable!" Sha Mo lifted his leg, and the
motion almost looked like he was about to perform the first descending step.
As it slammed on the floor, the Qi shook the entire ground at least five kilometers out in
every direction from where he was.
The Behemoth Clan members were stumbling, trying to get back on their feet, and for Safa,
Simyon, and Liam, they were affected worse by it, falling to the floor, using their hands just
to keep themselves up.
"This is just his Qi; his damned Qi feels like it could take out the whole of the Behemoth
Clan!" Liam said as he struggled to push himself up. "It's no wonder none of them retreated,
and they all looked so scared of him."
As the group looked up, though, before they could even stand, they saw a large fist coming
towards them. Although Sha Mo was a big person, he was still human. The name "giant"
was just because of his larger-than-average size, but he was nothing compared to the
beasts and monsters that others might face in the dimension.
Yet something strange had occurred as they all looked at Sha Mo's hand. The Qi
surrounding his fist started to form an image. They weren't sure if it was an illusion or just
his visual Qi. But the fist of a giant appeared to be heading their way, ready to sweep all
three of them.
'I have to, I have to protect them. I'm the shield of this group!' The first to get up on his feet
was Simyon, and he sprinted ahead of the other two.
The power of the Cursed earring was activated, and Simyon braced himself as he got into
position. At that point, the giant fist was seen slamming right into Simyon.
The large wave of Qi extended past Simyon and even hit some of the warriors still pushing
forward, heading to the wall of Flendon.
They toppled, falling on top of each other, and in some cases, their weapons had impaled
those they fell on. It was so abrupt and a powerful force for them.
Yet Simyon was standing there, clearly having taken Sha Mo's fist.
"Kuk!" Simyon coughed as he felt everything in his body, including his insides, and blood
dripped out of his mouth onto his body.
"Pull him out, the Qi, it's going to suffocate him!" Safa shouted.
However, the reason the Qi hadn't reached them was because Simyon had taken it all, the
full extent of the hit. Those that glanced at Sha Mo's fist were surprised at what had
occurred.
Sha Mo's strength and techniques were so powerful that when used against even low-stage
middle warriors, a hit would splatter their bodies as if they were truly hit by that of a giant.
Limbs and organs would be removed, and their whole body ripped apart.
"Haha!" Simyon said with a cheeky smile. "For a leader of a Demonic Clan, your fists are
quite light."
Right now, Simyon's body was that of the Mythical Level. His body had the construct more
of a weapon than that of a warrior. Using his Qi, he could strengthen it just like one could a
weapon.
This was why, even though he wasn't a skilled warrior, his body was incredibly strong and
sturdy and next to unbreakable, but it was quite clear he had taken some damage from the
hit as well.
"You should be proud that it will take two hits to finish you off!" Sha Mo shouted as his
other fist swung, and just like the last, it appeared as if a giant fist was coming right at him.
"Great Flash!" Safa shouted as she lifted up her spear. The point shined so bright, and light
flashed out, blinding nearly everyone that was there.
Sha Mo was unable to see for a moment, but that didn't stop him from swinging his fist, as
moments later, he heard the cries of many.
When the light finally faded, Sha Mo was able to see in front of him a whole line of men
eliminated, and that was by his own fist. At least two hundred had to have been killed by
the power of his punch alone.
He scoffed in disgust.
"Where are those brats? They think they can win this fight with poor tricks."
Turning his head, he was quite surprised to see they had moved quite a distance away. Not
only that, but the student he had hit was looking a lot better, standing perfectly fine as if he
hadn't been hurt at all.
Although Sha Mo was large, he was by no means slow. He had great power, speed, and
more, because he was a high-stage middle warrior.
The punch shouldn't have been able to be avoided even if he was blinded at the last
moment. "Please don't make it so close next time," Liam said as he wielded two of his dual
swords. They looked different from before, curved and slightly jagged, while closer to the
sword guard, there was a large circular green glowing hole on the end.
Safa placed her hand on Simyon, having mostly healed him. With the Lux Spear in her
possession, she was able to heal him relatively well.
"His Qi stumbled us, but just like I said before, we have to do this, we have to fight, and
prove that we will no longer get in Raze's way!"
"Right," Simyon said as he banged his fists together, and around his neck, strange beads
started to glow in an array of different colors.
Simyon thought back to when Amir had given them the task to take out the various Clans in
the Dark Faction.
"All of you should take note. I have given you certain clans because of the information we
have gathered. I have evaluated all of your strengths, especially you three.
"I have been with you for quite some time, so I have chosen based on your skills the best
artifacts that can be used to enhance your powers!" Amir claimed.
The right of Simyon's glove started to electrify, the enchanted item that Raze had made for
him. He then slowly placed it on the beads around his neck, and before he knew it, his
entire body was lighting up with blue lightning all over.
"We are the ones that took over the Dark Faction. Raze is now the leader of the Dark
Faction, and I am the shield that will be there to protect him!"
Chapter 876: Lightning Body
Chapter 876: Lightning Body

The entirety of Simyon's body was glowing light blue, small sparks of energy coming off it.
Even Liam had to admit that Simyon looked somewhat cool right now.
As if a god had descended upon Pagna to protect them. The energy and power surging
through him were impressive.
"You think some fancy tricks are going to fool me!" Sha Mo shouted as a giant fist was
launched toward the group.
In the middle of a swing by Sha Mo, Simyon had jumped from his position and zapped right
to the fist. His body crashed into it and held it in place.
The fist was still moving forward, which showed the sheer power Sha Mo had, but Simyon
was faring a lot better compared to before.
"Come on, we have to keep moving as well. Simyon's just slowing down the fists so we can
act," Safa ordered.
As she quickly swooped around, running to the side, Sha Mo saw this and moved quickly,
pulling his fist back, this time heading for Safa.
Before it reached her, though, Simyon was right there in front of her. His body blocked the
punch. Sha Mo went to kick, and Simyon zapped his body to the position again.
Sha Mo quickly used foot techniques, sidestepping around Simyon, and reached where
Liam was now. Sha Mo had both hands held together and went to hammer them down.
Just then, Liam felt himself being pushed back, and instead, in his place, Simyon had zapped
to the location, holding up both fists above.
Simyon's knees were bent, he was gritting his teeth, and it felt like the whole world was
being pushed onto his shoulders. As he opened his mouth and continued to bear the grunt,
blood could be seen slightly dripping from his mouth.
Safa tried to move around Sha Mo, who was seemingly ignoring Simyon, and she was
gesturing for Liam to do the same.
'We have to focus. With Simyon in his new body state, we have to believe that he can block
any attacks coming our way, and just go for it!' Safa thought.
'Simyon told me a bit about his new abilities. The beads around his neck seem to link up
with all his other items. They were discovered inside some type of sword that could absorb
the properties of elements and change the sword.'
'It didn't do much for Pagna warriors, but Simyon's body is more like that of a sword than a
warrior. His earring can also take in special traits of magic, it seems.'
'With his thunder glove, he can store the energy in the beads. It changes the state, and with
his earring, it seems to have affected his entire body.'
'It makes me think that Amir might have quite a good understanding of artifact magic and
other things as well. However, Simyon's body is still as strong as it is.'
'His lightning body is increasing his speed, giving him stronger attack power, but he still
can't overwhelm Sha Mo. So with every hit he blocks, he's getting hurt!'
'I'll trust in you, Simyon!' Safa thought as she charged in, kicking off her feet.
The end of her spear was lighting up until the whole head was bright. Her magic and Qi
condensed to one point, and she thrust it forward.
At the same time, Sha Mo went to throw a punch from above, but zapping around, Simyon
was there taking the hit. Safa pushed the spearhead, hitting right into the center of Sha Mo's
stomach.
At the same time, Liam was able to know Safa's movements thanks to the system, and he
was now in the air, holding the sword, ready to strike from above.
As Liam swung his sword down, Sha Mo moved his head to the side, and the sword crashed
onto his shoulder. Powerful Qi was stopping the attack, and it was the same with the spear
as well.
Safa was pushing, and even with the strength of the powerful spear, it was unable to pierce
the stomach of Sha Mo.
"You are all fools!" Sha Mo said, spinning his body. A leg was raised to kick Liam in the air,
while a fist was ready to hit Safa.
At that moment, Simyon used all his speed to zap himself through the air, blocking the
punch and taking the brunt of the pain for Safa.
Right after he had taken the hit, he quickly moved to where the leg was to hit Liam.
Simyon, taking the full brunt of the kick and just having been punched, had his whole body
shot to the ground and bounced across the floor.
Liam placed his sword, digging it into the ground, and quickly rushed off while Safa had
pulled back as well.
'Simyon, he's too hurt! We've only managed to survive this long because of him.'
Safa, although in a different position and far away, then thrust her spear forward again, and
a beam of light hit Simyon on the ground.
In almost an instant, Simyon could feel the soreness in his body starting to disappear. The
pain was going, and the energy was coming back to him.
He got off the ground, and it didn't take long for him to feel as good as new again.
Simyon looked at himself, still in his lightning body state, and looked over at where Safa
was. When the two made eye contact, Safa gave a nod.
'I've increased my Light magic powers exponentially, focusing on them rather than my Qi,'
Safa thought. 'With the Lux Spear, this has become one of my strongest traits.'
'If your body breaks down, I'll keep healing you. I'll fix you again and again, so you can
continue being the shield of this entire group.'
"If he's the shield, and you're the one fixing everything, then I guess it's time for the sword
to do something!" Liam said as he swung his fingers in the green ring of his blade.
As he did this, the sword started to split apart. Something had broken off from it and began
to float in the air.
This continuously happened until there were now eight of the same swords floating right
above Liam's head. Not only that, but then Safa noticed, all across the battlefield on the
ground, the same sword had been stuck on the floor, all in different locations.
"You two weren't the only ones that were getting stronger," Liam said.
Chapter 877: 15 Minutes Left
Chapter 877: 15 Minutes Left

Since the fight had started with Sha Mo, Liam had been preparing in advance. He had
learned a lot from fighting alongside Anna.
The system was great at gathering information and coming up with the best solution to
fight, the best techniques to use against the enemy when countering.
But it could only make do with what it had. The system would be unaware of certain
variables, and at times it was the user that needed to act.
Which was why throughout the fight, he had been carefully placing swords into the ground.
When they first met Sha Mo, when running around, and even when Simyon was taking the
full brunt of the attacks.
However, if one were to look at Liam, he only possessed two swords in his hands. He
neither had a place to store extra items or objects like that of Raze.
This was all because of the special artifact that he had managed to obtain, and they were
the new weapons in his hands.
When going from Clan to Clan, the one Liam had been to, he had come across these strange
weapons.
He had fought against the leader of the clan at the time, who had used them, so Liam was
already aware of what they could do.
The Dark Faction Clan leader had used them along with his Qi as throwing items. The
blades could clone themselves with a touch of the center of the ring.
In doing so, it would take a part of the user's Qi each time.
With Liam's system, he was able to avoid the extra blades and even deflect quite a few with
his various martial arts.
When he obtained the weapons created by the artifact, he was quite disappointed.
The weapons were sturdy and certainly better than what one could normally buy. A top
blacksmith could perhaps make the same quality of weapons, but the weapons themselves
didn't give the user any extra power.
What was the use of a weapon that could clone itself? Other than using it the same way his
opponent had done?
If anything, it would take up Liam's Qi. Relying on the system would be the best way, and
even with the weapons, the system had known no better what to do with them.
In the end, though, it was his allies, his friends Safa and Simyon, that caused him to push
himself into thinking further ahead.
They had come back often, talking about how much of a genius Amir was. He had figured
everything out with the artifacts they had obtained.
It was quite possible that Amir was wrong about an artifact being useful for Liam, but
nonetheless, he continued to try and find a way, and it had come to him.
Out on the field, Liam had eight blades hovering over his back, spread out like the face of a
clock.
In his hands, the weapons were still present along with those on the floor.
"You have strong Qi, but you avoided my attack from earlier, so my guess is you can't keep
your Qi everywhere over your body to protect yourself. Well, prepare yourself for my
attack that can't be avoided!" As Liam finished his monologue, he pointed one of the blades
in his hand forward.
Right at that moment, the swords that were floating on his back all went toward Sha Mo. It
wasn't just them, though. The swords on the ground moved, all heading toward Sha Mo
from every direction, and they had done so at an incredibly fast speed.
There were so many swords in the air, it truly was a strike that couldn't be blocked.
'This is my answer, this is what I came up with, this is what you wanted from me, right
Amir?' Liam thought.
Just like with Simyon, there was more that Liam was able to do. He had his special earrings
allowing him to retract and repel objects.
The thing was, he only had two earrings, which meant he could only retract and repel the
two swords in his hands.
Through his hardships, though, he had figured out that when cloning the weapon, the
earrings treated the weapon as the same weapon.
This gave him much more versatility in the use of his powers. One sword placed by Sha
Mo's feet, and as for the rest, he could attract the swords to that position, making it so they
all went and struck him at the same time.
He had even figured out some special uses while fighting, allowing the swords to slightly
repel above him and stay in the air.
While fighting with his two swords, he could even attract one to where he struck, giving
him another place to attack.
With an enemy like Sha Mo, though, Liam felt like it was best to stay as far away as possible
from him.
'Thanks to the system as well, I was able to calculate every position. From here, there's
nowhere for you to escape.'
All the swords touched Sha Mo's body, including the bare skin on his face. They stayed
there only for a moment before falling right to the floor, doing no damage at all.
Liam stood there with his sword pointed at Sha Mo.
"Well, that's it, we're screwed!" Liam said. "If my sword can't pierce him and your spear
can't, then how are we meant to beat this giant meatball?"
"We have to find a way!" Simyon said. Although he was doubtful, Sha Mo's Qi was just too
strong for them to face.
"What, with you just constantly blocking his attacks? Maybe his fist will eventually get sore,
and he can bleed to death from his knuckles!"
"Liam, you're not helping the situation!" Safa shouted, which finally got him to shut up.
However, she too felt the frustration. They had all trained incredibly hard; they had gone
through a lot. Even now, they were able to best Clan Heads.
None of them were weak by any means, it was just that the jump in the level of opponent
for them this time was too much.
"Well, maybe with all of us, we can wear him down enough so something gets through,"
Ricktor said, walking forward.
Safa, looking to her left, could see Ricktor, Mada, and Mantis. When she turned to her right,
Rayna and Anna were there as well.
"15 minutes," Anna said. "We have to beat him in 15 minutes."
Chapter 878: No Time Left
Chapter 878: No Time Left

"You kids have taken a lot on your shoulders," Rayna said. "Even though this isn't your fight
to begin with."
When speaking those words, Rayna was speaking with anger. She hated it, hated that she
had to rely on those around her. This was her town, given to her by her father. She needed
to protect it, and everyone was getting dragged into this fight.
"This is our fight," Safa said. "Don't think too much about it. We are here to help Raze, and
Raze has decided to protect this place."
"Speaking of Raze, where is that guy? Shouldn't he have just been right behind us? He's
nowhere to be seen," Mada said, turning his head left and right, but there was no one in
sight.
"What is this?" Sha Mo said, his voice booming loud. He looked at all of those in front of
him, and he recognized quite a few of them.
Rayna, a member of the Neverfall Clan, a large number of students that had appeared
during the Martial Arts Tournament. There were those who were even by the Dark Magus's
side when taking part in the tournament, which Sha Mo somewhat expected.
Seeing Mantis as well, great confusion was filling sha Mo's mind.
"I knew there was something going on, a worm has managed to enter our Demonic Faction
and is trying to break us. I'm sure today will go down in history as the day that we, the
Behemoth Clan, stopped this traitorous act!" Sha Mo exclaimed, punching his chest with
one hand.
Powerful Qi surged out, hitting everyone like a strong gust of wind. Safa, Simyon, and Liam
had felt this Qi a few times before. For the others, it was the first.
"You three were fighting against this guy?" Mada commented. "I'm surprised you lasted so
long."
"If you want, I think we could give you a rematch when we're back at the academy," Liam
commented. "Even without Raze, I think things would turn out a bit differently this time."
Mada scoffed at this remark but never kept his eyes off Sha Mo for a moment. None of them
did. They felt like they were trapped in a cage with a large rampant beast that would
consume them the second they broke their concentration.
"Do you think we'll be easy?" Mantis claimed. "I can see the look-you're so proud, claiming
your clan is hot crap. Well, your pillars have already fallen to us, and today, you will fall as
well! The Behemoth Clan will fall today to the Black Tiger!"
The moment Mantis said that, a large wave of Qi and a giant fist came out fast, ready to hit
Mantis.
However, zapping right in front of the fist was Simyon once again with his lightning body.
His feet dug into the ground as he attempted to push the fist back, but all he could do was
slow it down.
"Well, are you guys going to do something or what? Attack him!" Simyon yelled, every cell
in his body in pain.
Everyone quickly moved from their position and launched a full-scale attack on Sha Mo.
Sha Mo brought his fists back as he saw Ricktor with a sword filled with flames coming at
him.
Sha Mo waved his hand, and Qi moving through the air swept the flames away and even
slowed Ricktor's descent.
Right after that, Sha Mo stomped his foot on the ground, and it temporarily seized the
attacks of the others as they felt the Qi running through their bodies.
There was only one person that could still move, which was Rayna, who dived forward with
her spear. She thrust it forward, but Sha Mo managed to catch it.
"I don't think holding onto that spear is a good idea!" Mada said as he jumped out from a
position behind Sha Mo and swung his leg, kicking him right in the side of the head.
The strength of the attack-a visible impact-could be seen as a ripple of air exploded on the
other side of Sha Mo's head.
Still holding onto Rayna's spear, Sha Mo tried to lift her and move it, but he noticed she was
unable to move, so instead, he just spun his body, slamming the back of his fist into Mada.
His body crashed onto the floor. His ribs felt like they had shattered with the single attack
as he bounced and coughed out blood.
"I need to heal them! I need to heal those that are getting hurt!" Safa remained behind, then
pointed her spear toward Mada on the ground, and the healing had started.
Thankfully, Sha Mo was busy facing the others that were able to move now-Mantis
attacking in his beast mode, and Anna and Liam working together, connecting the system
like before to attack Sha Mo.
Hits were getting in like the attack Mada made on Sha Mo, but they were unsure whether or
not it was doing any damage.
"Keep fighting! We have to keep fighting!" Safa said.
While the fighting was continuing, Sha Mo was hitting the members one by one. Simyon
was stopping the more vital attacks, but in turn, right after, he would need to be healed.
As the others were hit, Safa would continue to heal them. She could just shoot a beam of
light magic through her spear as long as she thrust it in the general direction.
It was because of her that everyone was still able to fight, that everyone was still able to
keep going. If she wasn't there, then all of those fighting would have already been dealt
with.
However, it wasn't as if her own magic and mana were limitless. She was huffing and
puffing, running in the back, avoiding the eye of Sha Mo, and healing those as she could.
"Safa!" Simyon said as he zapped to her and managed to catch her before she fell. "You can't
just keep healing everybody."
"But... they're still fighting. Everyone's still fighting," Safa claimed.
"Useless, useless, useless!" Sha Mo claimed as he smiled and stopped trying to hit the
others for a moment. Instead, he looked off into the distance, and his grin had only gotten
larger.
Anna, looking at the direction Sha Mo was looking, could tell why the grin on his face was
so
large.
"The fifteen minutes are up."
Chapter 879: A Selfish Decision
Chapter 879: A Selfish Decision

According to the calculations Anna had made with her system, it would take thirty minutes
until the Behemoth Clan reached the town of Flendon's wall.
Even with the Crimson Crane and the guards pushing themselves to the limit with their
weapons, along with the pills used, they had already lasted far longer than any of them
expected.
Although the guards might still not have fallen, nor had the Crimson Crane, Anna could only
imagine how exhausted they were, and she was right.
At the wall of the town of Flendon, Anna's prediction was coming true. The Crimson Crane
had decided to take the brunt of the force.
They had gathered, making a turtle-like formation in front of the guards. They were already
weak, some of them even dropping their weapons in battle.
They had fought hard enough, and the Crimson Crane was doing what they could to keep
on fighting.
"Arghh!" Tilon shouted, as he blocked a sword strike, and then, with his feet, he pushed
forward. His technique allowed him to rush, and he pushed back around twenty or so
members.
"Tilon's like the only one with strength still!" Lily said. The skin around her hand had
already been ripped off from fighting nonstop with the spear.
"It's the shield," Reno said. "He gets the energy from those attacking, but the problem now
is, there's next to no one to stop him from being attacked from behind!"
Members of the Behemoth Clan had jumped from behind, trying to get to Tilon, but Kizer,
with his large sword, swung from above, cutting right through a blade and another
Behemoth Clan member.
"Stop doing stupid things!" Kizer shouted. "We need to stay together, just focus on
blocking!"
Kizer and Tilon returned back to the others, but that's when they could see things were
useless.
"We can't reach them anymore," Cronker said. "I can't get them back from the wall."
They could see that the Behemoth Clan, with the lack of arrows firing, were just running up
the wall itself. Cronker and his team of fighters had been taking care of those scaling the
wall, but they were unable to move.
The muscles in their legs wouldn't allow it anymore.
"Keep going, we are winning this fight!" Andy said as he swung his sword and clashed with
one of the warriors who jumped up from the wall.
He was pushed back and fell into a group of guards. Andy was not a professional Pagna
warrior, only someone who was recruited in the last fight.
Even with special weapons, there wasn't much that he could do.
As for the people, there was next to no surge of energy in front of them. The strength of the
2000 had lost around six hundred so far in the fight and had taken out over six thousand of
the enemy.
It was an incredible achievement, something that would seem impossible with their
numbers when fighting against warriors.
But it still wasn't enough. The enemy still had ten thousand strong, and now next to all of
them were scaling the wall.
The warrior charged forward again, and in doing so, he lifted his sword, ready to strike
Andy down. Mid-swing, the sword was stopped as sticky white substance had surrounded
it.
Right after, a fist had come out, hitting the man in the stomach and sending him flying back
from the wall.
"Argh, what is that!" one of the guards called out.
What they were witnessing was some type of creature of sorts, one with a large number of
arms and a strange spider-like mouth.
"Is that... Dame? What is he doing here?" Alba asked. "Does that mean... is he here?" Dame
had quickly started to swing his arms, using the power of his special gauntlets. Qi blasts
were leaving his hands, hitting the warriors off the wall, constantly sending them flying
back. Dame then jumped up to the wall, and with his mouth, started to shout out the
substance, wrapping the enemies' hands, tying them up to their swords.
From where Dame was, he continued to fling his fists as he made sure no one else was able
to scale the wall.
'I waited and waited, I hoped I could bring you to Flendon as quickly as possible, but I don't
know what happened. I couldn't just leave these guys,' Dame thought. 'I had to help them.'
Fixteen, who was also fighting on the top of the wall, looked at Dame with admiration. Even
though he was a hybrid, he didn't care about that for a second.
He was just amazed that, for the first time, he saw Dame acting out, protecting people and
fighting.
However, even with the addition of Dame, there would be warriors that would still come
through and fight. It was at that moment that he could hear a groan coming from his side.
He quickly rushed over to the small-framed girl.
"Froma, Froma, you're awake."
Froma opened her eyes slowly. She still felt strange, like a shiver was inside her entire
body. What stood out to her, though, were the constant screams that she could hear.
The sound of fighting continued.
"Froma... I don't want to ask you this, but we're in a dire situation... with your weapon, with
the Dark Magus weapon, can you do what you did before? You can do it, right? You can hold
them back just for a while more?" Fixteen asked.
"No!" Froma screamed instantly and pushed Fixteen off from on top of her.
"That pain, those feelings, that emotion," Froma said as she grabbed herself. "I never want
to go through that again, never, never!"
She grabbed her head, her eyes widened, and she nearly fell to her knees at that moment.
She didn't even want to think of the recent pain she had gone through.
As she looked on the floor, though, droplets of blood could be seen. Several drops of blood
could be seen on the wall, right at the front, and they were continuing to drop.
As she looked at what was happening, she could see it. She could see the archers—the
regular guards—had next to no skin left on their fingertips as they had been pulling the
bows
nonstop.
Some of them had been hit and their bodies were hanging on the wall. Yet despite this,
despite the fear and tears in their eyes, they continued to pull the string and fire arrows
down. "I'm... going home... I'm going to see my baby again!" one of the men shouted.
Hearing this, it was when Froma made her decision.
"How can I, a Pagna warrior, be scared of death... and not even real death, just the
experience
of it, when all of these guys are going through it?"
It was then that Froma quickly jumped on top of the wall, and out from her body, the red
liquid had formed into the bow once more.
She could see a large amount coming toward them.
'I passed out last time... and it's most likely I'll pass out again... if that's the case, then I at
least need to make a big dent in them.'
"Legendary Blood Bow!" Froma called out. "Five thousand arrows!"
Chapter 880 5000 Arrows!
Chapter 880 5000 Arrows!
Froma was sure that not a single person had an idea of what she had been through. Even if
she explained it, it wouldn't have been enough. Even those that had experienced a near-
death and managed to come back, they only knew a fraction of what she had gone through.
With the amount that had died on the battlefield, the effect of the cursed weapon had taken
a heavy mental toll on her. Froma wasn't sure she would ever be the same again, and she
wasn't sure if she could even force herself to fire the bow again.
Yet, here she was using the bow once more. Her entire hands were shaking as it was drawn
from her body, and the words she had spoken, five thousand.
'I just have to let go… I just have to let go!' Froma could feel the energy building up, but if
she didn't let go and pull on the string, the large ball of energy wouldn't flow into the air.
"ARGHH!" A man screamed in pain as a sword was launched from the other side. It had dug
right into his head, killing him on the spot.
"Sully!" Another screamed as they rushed over. They went to check on the individual, but it
was quite clear that the life had already disappeared from his eyes.
"The longer I take into pulling this bow, the more people will die! At least I know I won't die
from it, no matter what I experience!" Froma said as she pulled the bow.
A large amount of energy formed, flying into the air, and the condensed red circle started to
grow in size.
Those on the battlefield had seen this displayed once before. They knew what was to come
next. Some of them instantly decided to turn around, running in the other direction, hoping
that the arrows wouldn't reach them.
While others braced themselves, readying their skills to fight back against the attack.
Right out of the giant red energy ball, arrows started to fall—thousands of them descended
at once. For the first time since the Behemoth Clan had started their conquest, they felt true
fear. They were shaking.
Some went to strike the arrows that came at them using their techniques, but just like
before, the arrows seemed somewhat alive, sensing what had occurred and swiveled out of
the way like a snake.
They pierced right through the warriors regardless of what Qi they used to protect
themselves.
Some others were successful in hitting the arrows, waiting for the perfect time, trying not
to panic themselves. With their skills and Qi, if they were calm enough, they could eliminate
the arrow on the spot.
However, there was a bigger issue this time: there were far more arrows than before.
Blocking one arrow in a panic took all of their Qi and concentration, and they forgot about
the others that would pierce their vitals from behind.
Then there were those that were successful, who had techniques focused on blocking
attacks. Some of the stronger warriors were able to help block the attacks from the others.
"Where are the Pillars? If we get to them, maybe they can produce a large-scale attack to
block the arrows!" one of the warriors said as he ran back through the crowd of Behemoth
Clan members.
A red arrow was chasing him, and he was fighting all the temptation in the world not to
look back and see how close the arrow was.
"Face the arrow, that's the best chance you've got. The Pillars are dead."
"The Pillars are what?" The man slowed down slightly due to the news, and upon hearing it,
the arrow pierced right through his chest.
The arrows had killed many in the front row of the Behemoth Clan and a few in the back.
The confusion among the large numbers had also caused a strange pushback as some
looked to be retreating.
As for those that managed to do so, Alba, Cronker, and his Red Headband assassination
group were cleaning up the field nicely.
"Head back, regroup, don't push too far forward!" Alba ordered, raising her sword, and the
rest of the members did just that.
Looking up at the wall, she could see Froma standing there, her whole body shaking.
'You are a brave, brave woman, Froma… as the youngest member of the Crimson Crane,
you've taken on a lot. The town of Flendon owes you a lot.'
All of the arrows had fallen, and in turn, the damage was done. Now the energy needed to
return back to Froma. She had jumped down from the wall, and she could see all of the
energy coming back to her.
"Can you look after my body for me… make sure I don't get too skinny when I wake up,
alright?" Froma asked Fixteen.
He quickly got up and embraced her with a big hug. He could feel what was coming and
remembered the reaction she had last time. The energy went right to Froma, and in an
instant, she could feel everything at once.
A deafening scream came from her lungs, but it only lasted a second. She had passed out,
but even in Fixteen's arms, her entire body was convulsing, moving everywhere because of
the pain.
---
On the battlefield, Sha Mo had been fighting non-stop against Rayna and her group. He
wasn't struggling at all, but things were frustrating for him because of a certain individual,
Safa.
Just as he decided he was about to do something about this, that was when he saw the
carnage coming from the wall, and the arrows falling, killing a large number of his Clan
members.
'The Behemoth Clan has already taken a far bigger hit than I ever thought!' Sha Mo said as
his Qi rose all over his body.
"There is clearly someone over there that can cause a lot of trouble. I'll deal with it myself!"
Sha Mo was a few kilometers out from the wall, but it didn't matter. He lifted his foot up
and slammed it onto the ground. His Qi was injected precisely into the fissures on the floor,
and it had cut out a perfect piece of the flooring.
Using the power of his Qi, the giant large piece of land had broken from the floor and rose
into the air. Sha Mo then caught it with both of his hands, holding the giant piece over his
head.
"I just have to take down the wall myself!" Sha Mo shouted, as he hurled the large piece of
land through the air. It was heading straight for the town of Flendon and was large enough
to crush the wall in one go.
Chapter 881: True Power Of The Demonic Faction
Chapter 881: True Power Of The Demonic Faction

Out on the battlefield in front of the town of Flendon, a large piece of the ground had been
broken off by none other than Sha Mo.
The presence of his Qi could be felt deep underground, causing Rayna and the others to
quickly jump out from the area.
They soon saw Sha Mo lifting the giant piece of land that was human-sized in thickness
with just his Qi alone, then placed it above his head.
"He's not going to throw that thing at us, is he?" Liam asked.
Anna looked at the wall and saw it still hadn't fallen. Even though her system had predicted
the Behemoth Clan would have been swarming the wall by now, something had changed.
Which meant an unknown variable had caused this situation. Although Sha Mo didn't have
a system like Anna, she was sure he too had an inherent feeling that something was amiss.
"He's going to throw it at the wall!" Anna shouted.
It was a little too late. Sha Mo hurled the large piece through the air, and he had done so,
adding the power of his Qi.
A large current could be seen as the piece flew through the air, and it was on course.
"Everyone retreat, get out of here!" Andy ordered.
Fixteen carried the fallen Froma and jumped off the wall. Once on the ground, he turned to
see the guards struggling.
They weren't Pagna warriors; they couldn't just jump or quickly move to get out of the
situation.
'I can't help you,' Fixteen said in his head, but then he noticed another figure jumping out.
Dame had used the wall as footing and blasted himself forward. He was still in his hybrid
form.
Before even meeting with the large piece of land in the air, he swung his arms, firing off his
Qi blasts.
As they hit the land, they did nothing to slow it down. It almost looked like the Qi blasts
simply bounced off it.
Next came Dame's body itself. With all of his fists, he lunged at the large piece of land as
hard as he could, pouring every ounce of Qi into his attacks.
The land was still pushing him back, and in return, he delivered a flurry of punches. Each
punch had extreme might, chipping away at the land.
Every human cell and beast cell in Dame's body was erupting as he continued to punch.
'No one ever expected much of me!' Dame thought.
'Not my father, not my brothers, not anyone in the clan! It was because of you, Raze, that
day, that I was able to see the surprised look on my father's face!'
'They all thought I was lazy and had no ambition, but I always wanted to build my own
legacy! Rather than take over theirs!'
'I can tell, I'm not the main person that will go down in history! But Raze, the Dark Magus,
whatever title it is that you use, I will be part of that legacy. My name will be written in the
books by your side!'
Large cracks had appeared in the giant piece of land, and they had reached the end. Dame's
fists had broken the large piece of land into several smaller pieces.
He could see these smaller pieces going past him, and quickly, he shot out large pieces of
web from his mouth.
As he tied up the rocks with the webbing, he then grabbed onto them with his hands. He
pulled as hard as he could, throwing them back at the Behemoth Clan Army in front of him.
He had done that with a few of the pieces, but that was all he could do.
A few of the large chunks were still able to get past him and crashed into the wall.
Some of the pieces even went over the wall, crashing into buildings and tearing them apart,
including the flooring.
As for Dame, he had spent all of his energy. His body was returning to its normal state, and
he was falling to the ground.
His eyes were open, but all his energy was spent. He didn't think he could even stand
anymore.
Just before he hit the ground, he felt his body jerk as it was caught mid-fall.
"I agreed that I wouldn't get involved in this war, so I did not stop the attack," a voice said.
"However, someone like you deserves to see this till the end."
Dame tried to look at who had caught him, somewhat recognizing the voice. But when he
saw him, there were pieces of cloth covering his face, only showing part of his eyes.
"Are you..."
"Don't say my name," Lince, leader of the Lost Clan, said. "It's better if you don't."
Fixteen was surprised that Dame had been able to take out such a large piece of land
thrown by one of the strongest in the Demonic Faction.
Anyone who saw this feat would now know that he was a contender, an important person
for the future of the Demonic Faction.
Still, Lince looked at the destruction that had been caused. The wall-several parts of it had
been destroyed.
People were injured, stuck under the rubble, and some of the homes had been destroyed
equally.
On top of that, on the other side of the broken wall, the large enemy force could still be
seen. "Advance! Take them out now and burn this entire annoying town to the ground!"
one of the Behemoth Clan members shouted.
"Too many people have died over this stupid town!"
The wave of the Behemoth Clan, still around 8000 people, was rushing toward the town
again.
"We were lucky that Dame came back and blocked most of that attack," Alba said as she
readied her weapons for another round.
"But if Sha Mo were to do something like that again... no one else has the energy left to stop
him!"
"We can't, we can't let him do that again!" Rayna said. "Everyone, if there's anything you
have that can beat him, we need it now!"
Sha Mo started to laugh, and with each laugh, the Qi around his body rose more and more.
First, the flooring around a meter from him started to shatter. His laughter grew louder,
and the floor around two meters around him shattered, breaking apart.
It continued to extend further and further.
Everyone there could tell at that moment.
"I thought because his men were dying, he was giving it his all against us, but it looks like
he was playing with us all along," Safa said.
Only now were they starting to witness the true power of one of the strongest in the
Demonic
Faction.
Chapter 882: A Giant Mess
Chapter 882: A Giant Mess

Nearly every person on the battlefield could feel Sha Mo's Qi. That included those in the
town of Flendon.
Even the non-warriors, the citizens that lived in the town who had never gone against or
maybe even seen Pagna warriors fighting, could tell something was strange.
They held onto each other's rooms and were praying for some type of miracle, knowing full
well what situation they were in.
Those that had to stay in Flendon had no choice but to rely on those that were outside.
On the field itself, those next to Sha Mo could feel it the most. The only one who had felt Qi
close to this before was a particular individual.
'This is close to my father's power... which I've only seen once before!' Rayna thought. 'It's
no wonder that my father never did anything, even though he was so annoying and pushy
in the past.'
It wasn't that Rayna thought her father was weaker than Sha Mo, but seeing his strength
and the large mass of members, it certainly would have done a lot of damage to the
Neverfall Clan. Especially if all of the Pillars were present like they were in the past.
"Don't you think you've already lost too much, Sha Mo?" Rayna shouted at the top of her
lungs.
The Qi that was exploding out of Sha Mo's body had stopped around ten meters from his
body. It was still affecting the ground, breaking apart the smaller pieces of dirt.
The rainfall that was constantly dropping was breaking apart when it got within the area.
It was quite clear to Rayna that they weren't able to win this fight, so maybe she could talk
her way out of it.
"Listen, Sha Mo, it's clear that we never stood a chance, but you should know that this town
was given to me!" Rayna shouted. "We had to protect it, along with its people."
"You know as well as I do, when you brought everyone here, that you weren't going to
return without something to show your achievements."
"You've shown the strength of your clan, we will admit defeat, but there's no need to go
further! Doing what you have done, you will get your response from the Dark Magus, but
he's not here right now!"
Sha Mo didn't extend his Qi further. Although he wasn't speaking, Rayna felt like her words
were being heard because of this.
"Think about it, you've lost all of your Pillars and over half of your Clan! The people in there
are desperate, if you lose more it will be hard for the Behemoth Clan to recover."
"I'm close with my father. I can talk to him. I can persuade him to help you."
"Help me... help us?" Sha Mo said, and his Qi extended out further.
Rayna had to be careful; she was walking on eggshells that were ready to explode at any
moment.
"Everyone knows you deserve your position as one of the three major clans in the Demonic
Faction, but you have to know the other powers as well."
"I'm sure the Lost Clan and the Neverfall Clan are waiting for an opportunity to strike. If
they see weakness in your clan, they will attack."
"That's the Demonic Faction's way, but if I speak to my father, there can be a truce, and he
can stop the Lost Clan, or any of those other worms from rising and trying to take your
position!"
Anna, when listening to Rayna speak, knew she was speaking lies, particularly when talking
about her father.
The Demonic Faction's way wouldn't intervene with what was happening. Her father
wouldn't agree to such a thing, why would he just because his daughter asked?
If anything, she would be lucky not to get punished for losing the town of Flendon to Sha
Mo. "Who do you think you're talking to? How dare you disrespect me by saying such a
thing? Do you think I'm scared of those two!" Sha Mo shouted and lifted both of his hands.
In an instant, his Qi spread out further, and it encased Rayna and all of her allies. They felt
the heavy Qi slam them into the ground.
Just like the floor itself, their bodies felt like they were being ripped apart. They were
unable to move, and even if they tried to use part of their Qi, it was being suppressed.
"It feels like a thousand needles are attacking us!" Liam shouted.
He was surprised to see that even Simyon was being affected by the Qi, even with his body,
which proved that the Qi was attacking them from the inside rather than the outside.
Suddenly, though, the feeling stopped. When they looked up, they could see a visual
representation of the Qi returning to where it had come from.
It had condensed into Sha Mo's body. Everyone was slowly getting up from the ground, the
rain falling on them once again, hitting them hard.
Yet they couldn't focus on that. Instead, they were looking at Sha Mo himself, and as they
stared at him, a shadow was starting to cast over them, and slowly they lifted their heads.
"Did... he just become a giant?" Liam said.
They weren't sure if it was a visual Qi trick or what, but now Sha Mo was at least 12 meters
tall in the air, with the same thickness as before.
"That's got to be fake... right?" Liam said.
A giant sweep of Sha Mo's hand didn't even hit them, but just like before, they all felt a
strange pain in their bodies as the Qi hit them, and they all skidded and fell back onto the
ground.
Slowly, they started to get up off the ground, but they were all in no condition to fight.
'My boots... they didn't even work either.' Rayna thought. 'We can't fight against this... we
can't fight against that.'
Rayna thought as she wiped the water dripping from her hair. It was then that she noticed
something as she looked up.
"Did it stop raining?"
Chapter 883: This Town Is Mine
Chapter 883: This Town Is Mine

Being in the rain for so long, Rayna's head was soaked. Her black hair was extremely heavy
on her head at the moment because she had used up nearly all of her energy.
It wasn't just her, but all of those around her were in the same state. When they had come
to the aid of Safa and the others, they were already spent.
Not only had they taken on the Pillars of the Behemoth Clan, but on the way here, they had
to fight a large number of Behemoth Clan members.
Right after that, they had faced Sha Mo himself. Being inflicted by his attack, the strange Qi
that surrounded his entire body and the swing of his arm, had taken everything out of
them.
It had taken every last bit of energy, and they no longer had the will to fight. Wiping her
head in that moment was when Rayna had noticed.
'Did it stop raining?'
She looked at where Sha Mo was, and there was no rainfall. When she looked around, it was
the same, but that was what was strange.
The sound of rain could still be heard in the distance. Looking further out to where the wall
was, where the other members of the Behemoth Clan were, she could still see rain.
"It's not raining, why isn't it raining?" Rayna said.
"Have you gone mad?" Liam said, holding onto his stomach, using everything just to stay on
his feet. "Why are you talking about the rain, does it even matter?"
"No, but look, she's right. For some reason, it's just not raining here. Is this Sha Mo's doing?"
Simyon asked.
When looking at Sha Mo, though, in his large giant form, he was looking into the crowd of
men, and in the direction he was looking, the rain had stopped there as well.
"Arghh!!" Loud screams were heard coming from the distance, one after the other.
They continued, and it caused the rest of the group to turn their heads in the same
direction, wondering what was going on.
As they looked off in the direction of the sounds, there was a wall-to-wall group of people,
but it was only for a moment. A person had come flying out from the center. The other
warriors had moved away, making a clear line.
Then a Pagna warrior lay there on the ground, with a hole right in his chest.
As Sha Mo looked down the clear path that had opened up and the area where there was
currently no rainfall, he could see a white-haired man, wearing a particular blazer on his
body.
"The Dark Magus," Sha Mo said under his breath.
Raze carefully walked down the path, one step at a time. As he walked, one of the Behemoth
Clan members came straight at him, trying to strike with their sword.
Raze blocked the attack, hitting the hand away, and then punched the man in the stomach,
sending him flying.
He continued forward, moving toward where Sha Mo stood.
Another came to attack with a spear. Raze spun his body, avoiding the attack again, and
lifting his foot, he slammed it right on top of the spear.
It had broken the pointed end, and with his hand, he thrust it forward, shooting out a Dark
Pulse. When it hit the warrior, the magic went right through his stomach, killing him on the
spot.
As Raze made his way to Sha Mo, this constantly happened-those trying to attack him by
surprise, and Raze dealt with each of them with ease.
Now, he was finally here, in the area where the others were, and where Sha Mo was
present. "It's Raze... he's finally here!" Rayna said.
"I wonder what it was that had taken him so long," Anna commented.
"I don't think he would have arrived late on purpose, a serious matter must have occurred,"
Ricktor said.
As for Safa, she didn't say anything. With her magic, she decided to activate her special God
Eyes. In doing so, she could see a heavy shroud of darkness covering Raze.
She had seen this before, but the dark energy surrounding Raze was purer than before. It
was almost impossible to even see Raze's figure itself.
What was even stranger was looking at the swirling energy that was moving in the air. The
dark energy that usually only stayed around Raze was spread out.
Using God Eyes strained Safa, so she quickly stopped, and as she did, she noticed that
where the rain had stopped, it was the dark energy that she could sense, which was spread
around all over the area.
'What's happening to Raze right now? What happened to him? There has to be a reason
why he's so late as well.'
Raze, standing there, could feel his magic going wild. Even when he had used the Dark
Pulse back there, he had been trying to get it under control.
However, he had no time to wonder what was happening to his Magic Heart. The fighting
had gone too far. Looking around, he was relieved, relieved to see that everyone was fine.
His head then turned to the large, practically giant, Sha Mo that was right in front of his
eyes. "You look quite different compared to the last time we met," Raze stated.
Sha Mo looked at Raze-the Dark Magus. The face was similar, but his hair-it was black the
last time he saw it during the Martial Arts Tournament.
He knew this person gave him a tingling feeling, and Sha Mo knew this day would come. "I'll
be honest, I never expected to see you," Sha Mo said. "I thought that you might react or hide
behind your new Dark Faction that you managed to obtain."
"It's quite amazing how you got here so fast, but what do you plan to do? Just because you
managed to take down the Dark Faction, you don't think you can stop me, do you?"
Raze lifted his hand. Dark magic swirled around, and the Ghost Blade appeared in one
hand. As he stretched out another, a light, thin sword with a green-colored hilt appeared in
the
other.
"I don't care about these fake titles, the Demonic Faction, the Dark Faction. All I know is you
attacked Flendon, and this town belongs to me.
"I won't let anyone take anything away from me anymore!"
Chapter 884: How Strong is Raze?
Chapter 884: How Strong is Raze?

Raze and Sha Mo appeared to be having a type of stare-down with each other. Although
Raze had drawn his weapons, he hadn't moved.
It was the same for Sha Mo, who was standing there, looking at the small white-haired
student.
'This is the person who took over the Dark Faction. I would be a fool to completely
underestimate him,' Sha Mo thought. 'That might be why so many failed before and why the
first attack by the Clan had failed as well.'
'Besides that, he seems to have strange powers. It doesn't seem to be like artifacts, and the
powers vary greatly.'
While Sha Mo was standing there along with Raze, one person in particular couldn't hold in
their curiosity any longer.
"Raze, what happened, man? Why did it take you so long to get here? What was the hold-
up?" Liam shouted.
"There were problems at the academy," Raze answered. "A Deleter appeared."
Everyone's hearts sank the moment they heard that. Due to Himmy appearing at the
academy before they had left, they had learned about the power of a Deleter.
If the Deleter's strength really was as described, it was no wonder Raze was late.
"Is he hurt?" Rayna asked Anna, as she was aware that she had some abnormal analysis-
type skills.
"He doesn't appear to be, but it's hard to tell. Who knows if he's using some strange type of
pills to cover up his pain or magic," Anna answered.
Being part of Alter, she was more aware of the Deleter's powers. It would be near
impossible that Raze had come out unscathed or at least without using a lot of his energy.
Still, she had one hope or thought, and that was Zon was in the academy city, and if it was
him, he could deal with the situation.
"What about the academy? Is that alright?" Mada asked.
"I think it's important I deal with the situation in front of me," Raze said as he shuffled his
feet.
"We need to head back to the wall and the town. They will need our help anyway," Anna
said as she went to turn, but her lack of energy made her nearly fall straight to the floor.
It was the same for the others as well-they could hardly move. The area a kilometer out in
every direction from Sha Mo had remained clear.
No one had come close during the fight, and they had remained at their distance away.
The others were around 50 meters away from the edge of where the Behemoth Clan was.
Some of them were still pushing forward, others watching the outcome.
It almost appeared like a giant arena had been made for the two of them.
"You don't have to worry about the wall. There's someone strong enough there protecting
it," Raze answered.
At the wall itself, although the force of the Behemoth Clan had been pushed back by the
arrows, after a few moments of seeing no more arrows fall, the clan members were starting
to become a little braver and had charged forward.
Especially now, seeing that part of the wall had fallen. It was quite clear whoever had shot
those arrows was unable to shoot them consecutively.
The Crimson Crane were gearing up-they looked to be the only ones that could somewhat
still stand, but they weren't so sure they could fight.
As the people charged forward, a large object landed from the air, heavy on its feet.
For a brief moment, the Behemoth Clan members rushing forward stopped as they could
see the figure raising its hand.
It had its palm out, clearly indicating for them to stop.
"Is that a moving statue, or is it just someone that's painted over themselves to look like
stone?" a Behemoth Clan member said.
"Don't be stupid, there's no such thing as a moving statue. How can one be alive? It must be
some type of illusion art. Just be careful and keep going forward."
Seeing the statue in front of them was a relief for the Crimson Crane, though, as they had
seen its powers before.
As the warriors charged forward, it held a stone sword in its hand, placed it near its side,
and then let out an almighty slash.
A large force of Qi ended up hitting hundreds of men and had sliced them apart, pushing
some of them back.
After performing a single attack, the stone warrior placed its palm out again, indicating for
them to stop and even shook its head.
"That stone statue was the one that was even able to go up against Murkel for a bit. It has
the same strength as a high middle-stage warrior! With it, we can recover our energy for a
bit," Alba said.
The statue had been placed in Safa's possession for a long time, but Raze had borrowed the
statue from her.
There were a few tests that he wished to perform on the statue to try and see if he could
replace those who had droplets of blood, increasing its strength even further.
He hadn't yet found a complete way, so he hadn't handed the statue back. Arriving at the
situation, Raze had quickly ordered Stoney to not let anyone pass the wall, and it was now
doing its job.
The Behemoth Clan, thinking it was only a statue, would quickly learn they were going up
against an extremely powerful warrior, one that wasn't human, and one that didn't tire
either.
Back at the academy, with Skyler and the help of the volunteers, they had managed to help
as many students as possible.
They were only getting a fuller grasp of the situation as they went from area to area.
It was unbelievable that so much trouble had been caused by one person.
Walking from area to area, Amir and Zon were together.
"That individual has a temperature that has reached 40 degrees Celsius. He needs to be
treated," Zon quickly pointed out and continued.
"I wanted to ask you, do you think Raze is strong enough to take out a Clan Head of the
Demonic Faction?" Zon asked.
"I have been training with him for a while," Amir answered and paused. "The power he
displayed against Murkel-it seems it was not his power. Because of that, I would imagine
it's a tall ask."
"You see, there is one clear fact: the Demonic Faction has the most powerful leaders. It's
only because of their poor management skills and the fact they are less united with far
fewer people that they have never managed to take control of the whole of Pagna."
"But if we were to look at the major powers of the Demonic Faction alone, they are far
stronger than the others."
"If he somehow manages to use that power he used against Murkel again, he will win. But I
can tell, even if he had the chance, he is extremely reluctant."
"The way you talk, it makes it sounds like he can use that power again." Zon asked
There was an air of silence.
Chapter 885: Sha Mo Vs the Dark Magus
Chapter 885: Sha Mo Vs the Dark Magus

Out on the field, Raze gripped the hilt of his blades, holding onto both of them firmly. Sha
Mo stayed in position, looking at the Dark Magus.
The two of them were done talking. A lot of heat had led to the disagreement between the
two -Sha Mo believing his clan had been disrespected from the beginning by a young fool.
While Raze, with the aim of getting stronger, wished to protect what was his. But in the
back of his mind, he had another thought.
'If I take him down and use the extraction technique, then I will certainly reach the next
stage! And then I can push forward, get rid of Alter, and finally take down all of the Grand
Magus!' Raze thought.
Raze exploded from his feet, running around the edge of the arena, and the first thing he
did was swing his light sword incredibly fast at the large size.
'Crimson Slash!' Several red slashes of attacks came out toward Sha Mo. Lifting up his large
giant forearm, the attacks seemingly did nothing as they hit him.
"It's the same!" Liam complained. "Just like when all of us attacked. Sha Mo's Qi is so
powerful-Is this guy a monster?"
Raze had to admit, his fast slash attack, mixed with Magic and Qi, having no effect at all, was
a first, but he had somewhat expected it as well.
After blocking the attacks, Sha Mo moved. His large body seemingly disappeared and was
right in front of Raze.
Sha Mo had thrown out a fist from above, and it looked like it would land regardless of
what Raze did. Pivoting his foot on the ground though, Raze had activated something.
"Pillar Rise!" Raze stated.
At that moment, right from the floor, a giant piece of the ground had risen and hit the back
of Sha Mo's giant thigh. The pillar continued to grow and had practically thrown Sha Mo off
balance.
His fist was hitting nothing but the air, and with the Ghost blade in Raze's hand, he was
ready. Dark magic and Demonic Qi swirled behind the sword as he pushed forward and
thrusted his hand, massive amounts of magic exploding from behind the weapon.
"Void Pulse Formation!"
The sword crashed right into Sha Mo's shoulder, and it pierced through his skin slightly.
Equally, it looked like the power of the attack continued as a ripple was seen through the
air on the other side of Sha Mo's shoulder.
"So it looks like the giant can bleed," Ricktor said.
"Did you see what he did before that though? He shifted the whole ground and raised it up
to throw Sha Mo off balance. When could he control the ground like that?" Mada asked.
During the gifting ceremony for becoming the head of the Dark Faction, Raze had received
various power stones, and one of them was an earth-based power stone. It allowed Raze
the chance to now use Earth magic.
Thankfully, there were also other Earth power stones that had been given to Raze, allowing
him to increase his affinity with it. On top of that, Raze also knew the method of how to
increase one's affinity with Earth magic as well.
It was a strange one, one of the strangest of all the different elements, but one needed to
increase their knowledge of materials linked to the ground itself.
The earth, the flora that one stood on, after all, was made up of multiple different
substances. So one needed to know the breakdown-how plants grew from it and more.
They even needed to learn about different minerals and rocks that could be found.
However, there was a key difference as well between knowing and learning.
Just as someone who could copy a formula and receive the right answer, if they didn't
understand the formula itself, it wouldn't be true knowledge.
Raze had thought back to the masters of those who knew Earth Magic, and it always
amazed him-their dedication and discipline.
In the past, on Alterian, Earth magic was actually considered one of the weakest forms of
magic because of the way one needed to increase its affinity.
However, when the portals to other dimensions opened up, those that practiced and had
Earth cores grew extremely powerful. It seemed discoveries of new and different types of
objects related to Earth increased their power as well.
Discovering rocks and the ground itself on these different planets.
Raze had explored a lot of Pagna, and being a researcher of magic himself, he understood
magic more than even talented individuals.
His understanding of things was great, which meant his affinity with Earth magic was great
as well.
Using Wind magic, Raze quickly flew up in the air. He saw Sha Mo fall to the ground due to
the pillar hitting him, as well as the Void Pulse attack.
The wind-enchanted sword disappeared from his hand, and with it out, the ground started
to shift again, creating giant earth-like cuffs around Sha Mo's hands and legs, pinning him to
the floor.
A sword appeared in another of Raze's hands once again, and this time, it was light blue in
color, the metal on the blade looked like a slight frost had already appeared on it.
Raze swung the sword while in the air, and it looked as if he was using the Crimson Slash.
As the attacks flew through the air, they didn't move as fast as when using the Wind
enchanted sword.
However, when they landed around the large cuffs, the areas that were hit started to cover
themselves with ice.
Raze continued to swing his sword until all of the cuffs were covered in ice.
After he was done, he quickly changed the blade in his hand again. This one was large and
jagged, black in color.
This sword, unlike the others, wasn't enchanted, and there was a reason for that.
While floating in the air, Raze lifted both swords above his head.
'The Ghost blade grows with power as Demonic Qi is used, and although magic can be used
with it, its magic power isn't enhanced.'
'As for the other sword, using Qi doesn't enhance it at all, but one of the gifts from the
kingdoms, it seemed this sword goes quite well with magic!'
At that moment, Dark magic started to creep out of Raze's hand and swirled above both of
the
weapons.
The others watching had seen this before. They knew what was coming as they witnessed
both
of the swords covered in black.
"He's... using that... with both swords!" Mantis said.
As the others prepared to move out of the way.
"The Dark Edge Sword Art, Second Formation!" Raze shouted out as the energy had
reached
its peak.
'I've been preparing everything I can to get rid of them, so you stepping stone-get out of my
way!' Raze swung both of his swords down as he screamed. "Dual Eclipse Strike!"
Chapter 886: Strongest Descending Step
Chapter 886: Strongest Descending Step
Raze was unable to progress further with his Dark Edge Sword Arts, unable to learn the 5th
to the 8th forms in the book. There was something lacking, and Raze most likely felt it was
his Pagna Qi.
He needed to be a higher-level warrior, or either increase his magic power and pool to
make up for his lack of Qi, and then maybe he could somehow perform the final steps.
However, as Raze grew stronger, it became harder for him to advance further. He was a
five-star mage, and the best power stones that could help him progress were nearly
impossible to come by unless he ventured into higher-level portals and fought against a
Dimension boss.
He was now a middle-stage warrior, so extracting Qi from regular middle-stage warriors
didn't give him the shortcut it once did. Cultivating like everyone else would take too long.
The dangers of Pagna were increasing, and he would be long dead if he relied solely on
conventional methods.
Knowing that his enemies would grow stronger, he needed to find ways to increase his
power.
First, using the gifts given to him, he had enchanted each blade with different types of
magic, making them more powerful and granting special traits.
He didn't just create powerful weapons for others but had crafted things he could use as
well.
Second, he had done what he could with the existing Dark Edge Sword Arts he had learned,
such as using the Eclipse Strike with both of his weapons, doubling the output of power.
"Dual Eclipse Strike!"
Two large strikes of magic and Qi left both of Raze's blades. Giant lines of strikes covered
the sky in temporary darkness, consuming everything in their path.
They continued and struck Sha Mo right on his body, pushing him deep into the ground.
The attack completely engulfed Sha Mo, and no one could see what was happening.
To avoid getting caught in the attack, Rayna and the others, with the little strength they
had, ran as quickly as possible. A few moments later, they turned around to look at what
had taken place.
"That attack was what he used at the Martial Arts Tournament," Mantis said.
"And it was twice as large this time," Rayna replied.
Now, where Sha Mo once stood, there was a giant crater, incredibly deep, as if a meteor had
crashed.
Raze was seen falling to the ground, and due to the curvature of the crater, they couldn't
see him or Sha Mo anymore.
Quickly, they ran up to the edge of the large crater, and they were all stunned by what they
saw.
Sha Mo was still in the crater, and of all things, he was standing.
"Hahaha! You are certainly strong!" Sha Mo said, waving his arm.
The shirt he had been wearing was completely torn off, revealing his large, muscular upper
body. There were two marks across his chest—deep bruises, but the skin hadn't torn, and
there was no blood. Other than the bruising, Sha Mo seemed perfectly fine.
"That's it? That's all that attack did?" Liam said. "I know Raze is incredibly strong, but how
is he meant to go up against that giant monster?"
"Don't worry," Rayna said. "Can't you tell? Even after using that strike, Raze isn't done yet.
He has more... he can give more."
The strikes had used up a large amount of Raze's energy, but thankfully, unlike his previous
battles, he hadn't had to exert too much power to reach his opponent.
Although he had used some energy against the Deleter, it was nothing compared to his full
capacity, so Raze could still fight on.
'Those attacks didn't finish him... which means I need to produce even stronger attacks.'
Thinking this, Raze quickly twisted both of his feet. At that moment, giant pillars formed
around Sha Mo, locking his movements in place.
They came up across his arms, in front of his legs, and beneath his feet until he was
completely immobilized by the pillars made from the ground. The only part visible was his
head.
'I know attacking his body won't do much... I need to perform the strongest attack I can
muster!'
Raze thought as he lifted his foot. The first descending step was used, and Qi erupted
around the area. Raze then moved onto the second step.
"The descending steps, huh? It's impressive that you know them and can perform them so
well, but let me show you," Sha Mo said, breaking through the pillars of earth with a single
movement.
The pillars shattered and crumbled, falling to the ground. The others saw Sha Mo lifting his
knee into the air, and then he said something no one had expected.
"The first descending step!"
Sha Mo slammed his foot on the ground, and the cracks in the crater deepened even
further.
The whole area shook, and even those observing from above felt as if they had been slightly
lifted into the air.
The powerful movement filled the entire crater, interrupting Raze's descending steps. As
he looked up, he saw Sha Mo jumping into the air.
"The fourth step!"
Sha Mo's giant size and his fist were already upon Raze. Raze placed both swords in front of
him to block the attack, but the powerful punch exploded.
As it hit, Raze felt his special blazer activate to protect him, but it was useless as he was
flung into the curved edge of the crater.
When he crashed into the wall, it almost looked as if another crater had appeared. Raze was
stuck in the wall of the ground, his arms spread apart, and blood dripped from his mouth.
'My body... even surrounded by Qi and the blazer, a single hit from him causes this much
damage!' Raze thought as he coughed, blood falling to the ground.
He quickly pulled himself out, falling to one knee.
'This reminds me of the power I saw when Belil destroyed that village... I'm now facing
those like them... like them.'
"Now do you understand how useless it is to go up against me!" Sha Mo claimed, his Qi
surrounding his body, visually destroying the ground beneath him even further.
It was then that Raze lifted his head, and a smile could be seen through his bloody teeth.
"This is perfect. I need to be pushed to this point," Raze said, as blue sparks appeared from
beneath his foot, sparking high into the air. It looked like lightning was emitting from his
feet.
Chapter 887: You're The First One
Chapter 887: You're The First One

Lightning was emitting from outside of Raze's boots and running up his legs, reaching
around his waist.
In some ways, it looked like how Dark magic would appear when Raze gathered his power
outside of his arms and channeled it to his sword.
As he knelt on the ground, the lightning struck higher, reaching the top of his head.
"I've seen him use lightning powers before but not like that. It almost looks the same as my
lightning body," Simyon commented.
It was the same for the others, but it was to be expected for Raze to show them something
new they hadn't seen before.
When Raze stood up, he stretched out one hand to the side, and a thin, sharp, slightly
curved sword appeared.
It was a simple sword; there was nothing fancy about the weapon. On closer inspection, the
sharp-edged blade looked almost like a pure line of glowing blue color.
Raze then brought the sword in front of him and placed both hands on the hilt.
'With my magic power being weakened, I have had to do a lot to learn how to fight in this
world.'
'The Dark Edge Sword Arts were a saving grace for me, but it still didn't feel natural-it
wasn't a creation that I made on my own.'
'I pushed away from completely learning Pagna arts because of my stubbornness to magic
rather than accepting it. This is the result of my acceptance and dedicating myself to the
arts.'
The lightning around Raze's feet zapped from the ground. It hit the floor, and Raze was
seen almost disappearing from where he was. He soon reappeared in a different direction,
and it looked and sounded as if lightning had struck the ground in that particular area.
After reappearing, Raze's body disappeared again until he was right next to Sha Mo. The
sword was struck across Sha Mo's body.
Even though Sha Mo was giant in size, he managed to move, leaving a deep cut on his
shoulder and drawing blood.
When Sha Mo turned, though, he was unable to see where Raze was. Once again, he could
see what appeared to be a large lightning strike.
The floor beneath where the strike could be seen was destroyed and broken, but Raze had
only flashed in front of Sha Mo's side for a moment.
Once again, Raze appeared, and this time, the sword struck, hitting right across Sha Mo's
neck.
Right after, Raze reappeared but was a great distance away from Sha Mo, holding the sword
by his side.
Sha Mo went to hold his neck, and when looking at the palm of his hand, he could see that
blood had been drawn.
A look of disgust appeared on his face.
"Is that the Revel Clan's footwork?" a voice said.
Rayna and the others turned their heads to see a mysterious man standing by their side. He
was wearing the clothing of the Flendon guards but had a mask covering his face.
'I didn't even notice him next to us?' Rayna thought. 'This man is clearly extremely
dangerous... The fact that he hasn't attacked us means he's not after us.'
"Who are you?" Liam shouted, but Safa pulled on his shirt before more words could come
from his mouth.
Everyone else realized the situation, not wanting to anger the powerful stranger who had
appeared.
"The techniques he uses, I believe it's an assassination art from a clan in the Dark Faction."
"The footwork is designed to give one double the speed in a single movement, and holding
both hands onto a weapon kills them in a single blow."
"However, the strange lightning powers he's using are allowing him to achieve incredible
speed, adding randomness to the pattern, making it hard to see where he's going."
The stranger in question was Lince, leader of the Lost Clan, and as a gatherer of
information, he knew a lot about what was happening.
Although Lince didn't say more, there was something else he was impressed by. With the
added power of Raze's special power and weapon, how sturdy Sha Mo's body was, only
getting a few scratches here and there.
"So this is what you were hiding?" Sha Mo said. On his body, although the wounds were still
visible, blood was no longer being drawn from them.
The Qi inside his body, which helped with cell regeneration, was working fast, keeping him
from losing more blood.
"After getting hit so hard, did you damage your head? If the best you can do is make
scratches
on my body, then this isn't even a fight worth having!" Sha Mo claimed.
This was also the thought of Lince, who was watching from above.
Raze carefully took in a deep breath, letting the blazer continue to heal his body.
Exhaling, he allowed the lightning to explode from his feet once more.
From the numerous things that Raze had managed to obtain when becoming the Dark
Faction leader, a large number of the gifts were techniques.
Techniques from numerous clans. Just like the approach he used to take in learning his
magic, he applied the same to the techniques he was using.
He went through each technique carefully, observing the faults and pros with each one. Of
course, there was no perfect technique, but what he was looking for were techniques that
would work well with his magical abilities.
'The main issue found with the Revel footwork was the large amount of Qi it took to deliver
a strike.'
'The movement was meant to flow Qi from the feet into the sword to perform a one-move
kill technique.'
'If it failed, many assassins would end up losing their own lives. This was the norm for most
assassin techniques.'
'But I never planned to lose my life-not yet, not with this second chance I've been given.'
"You're the first one," Raze said. "The first one I used this technique on, so I needed to try it
out first."
"I needed to try it before I used it properly."
Chapter 888 A Smaller Faster Body
Chapter 888 A Smaller Faster Body
There were a few reasons why Raze had chosen the Lightning element to support the
technique he was currently using. One of them was that the Lightning attribute was
perhaps the fastest casting magic, second only to Wind magic.
It was more explosive, but because of that, it was harder to control. There were added
benefits to using Lightning magic though, such as its range, allowing it to hit those around
the attack.
In this case, Raze wanted its explosive power and speed, and using it along with a small
amount of his Qi meant that he could use the technique many, many times.
Raze held the sword with both hands once again, and a loud bang was heard. Raze had
disappeared from Sha Mo's sight.
He heard the sound of thunder and turned his head, only seeing part of Raze, and before he
knew it, Raze was upon him once again. This time the sword struck up his forearm, leaving
a large cut.
Sha Mo went to swing his fist at where Raze was, but he quickly disappeared. However, the
others could see that the strike of lightning had occurred directly behind Sha Mo.
Raze, lifting the sword above his head, struck down, delivering a larger cut right across his
back. He disappeared again and constantly moved at all angles around Sha Mo.
"How… is he able to move so much and use that technique over and over?" Rayna said in
amazement.
The swordsmanship and technique she saw were enough to rival the footwork used in the
Lost Clan from the Demonic Faction.
Lince, who was watching, was amazed as well, but didn't speak much about it. He could tell
the special trait was the strange lightning power being used.
Sha Mo, standing in the center, looked lost as he wildly swung his arms, trying to hit Raze.
With each hit, large amounts of Qi would be sent out, and the pressure from the punch
would hit the sides of the crater they were in.
It would shake the ground where the others were watching from. Sha Mo was still very
much a giant, and a single hit could possibly end Raze.
"Have you noticed something?" Anna asked.
"Yeah, Raze is kicking Sha Mo's arse!" Liam cheered.
"Are you not using your system?" Anna asked.
Liam continued to watch. The system was always active, but he couldn't see anything
strange—that was until Liam noticed one bit of information that was changing.
'I can see what Anna is seeing, but does that matter? Isn't it because he's getting weaker?'
As Liam continued to watch the fight and saw Sha Mo miss more and more, he realized, as
did Anna, that it wasn't the case at all.
"How is he getting faster as well?"
"What do you mean?" Simyon asked, turning to Liam.
"Sha Mo… he's moving faster. I know it's not enough to catch Raze, but he keeps moving
faster. And the strange thing is, Sha Mo's size—it's getting smaller as well!" Liam claimed.
Now that Liam mentioned it, although Sha Mo was still large, they could see him getting
smaller and smaller.
If he was just reverting to his old size, it wouldn't mean much. The large explosion of Qi was
due to Sha Mo growing in size.
From what they were seeing though, although Sha Mo was getting smaller, his power
remained the same.
Raze was aware of this as well, but he was counting on one more thing to work. The
number of cuts all over Sha Mo's body made it look like he had been placed in a blender.
It was then that Raze struck across his chest with the sword, and the edge started to spark.
All of the cuts on Sha Mo's body began to light up slightly, and Sha Mo's entire body became
electrified.
Blue lightning was coming off his body, and his muscles appeared to be twitching, no longer
listening to him.
"All of the attacks—the buildup of the power from that weapon he has in his hand—he's
paralyzed! Now's his chance!" Lince exclaimed.
It was true, and quickly, Raze had changed the weapon in his hand back to the Ghost blade
as he got into position. The paralysis was only a temporary thing, giving him a few seconds,
but it would be enough time.
The Qi and Dark magic formed around the hilt of his sword, and Raze lunged forward.
"Void Pulse Formation!"
The edge of the sword hit Sha Mo right in the center, and a gathering of Qi occurred. It
looked like the sword was trying to pierce through some type of Qi barrier, eventually
breaking through, and Sha Mo's body was flung to the other side.
This time, it was Sha Mo's body that went flying and crashing into the side of the wall,
kicking up dust all over.
Raze was breathing deeply in and out. He was tired; the fast footwork had messed up his
breathing, so he could only use it for so long. He had used up a considerable amount of
Mana and Qi performing those strikes.
Still, Raze had a feeling this wouldn't be the end of Sha Mo.
"Argh!" Raze felt a sharp shooting pain around his heart and placed his hand over it.
'My Mana core… it's acting up again. Is it really trying to go to the next star right now? It's
not like I can just take a break from this fight and upgrade my Mana core!'
What was more worrying was that it was causing Raze's magic to flicker as he felt his Mana
moving toward his Mana core rather than where he needed it.
"Ha, ha, ha!" Sha Mo's loud voice was heard, and when the dust settled, his body looked
different—extremely different from before.
He was no longer a literal giant, nor the giant that everyone was familiar with. Nearly all of
his body mass had gone away.
His body was thin in the center of his stomach, his waist small. While still around seven feet
tall, his limbs remained quite large.
It was the smallest anyone had seen Sha Mo before, yet the cuts were still prevalent, and
blood was pouring from his mouth.
"It's been a long time since I've needed to do this, and a long time since I've spilled blood
like this," Sha Mo claimed.
Raze continued to rub his hand over his chest. It was quite possible that right now, he was
at his weakest while Sha Mo was at his strongest.
'He's strong… he's really strong,' a familiar voice sounded in his head. 'If you want to win
this fight, you're going to have to use me…' the Bloody Woman said.
Chapter 889 A Takeover From Within
Chapter 889 A Takeover From Within
The voice of the bloody woman rang true in Raze's head. It wasn't the first time it had
appeared either, and if anything, it had appeared more often.
Ever since Raze had used the special Chalice to try and call a Divine being, he thought he
might have gotten rid of the bloody woman. She hadn't appeared in a long time, nor did he
hear her voice.
If anything, it felt like her presence had somewhat disappeared. There was silence, but
when Raze had attempted to try his new techniques along with Amir in the academy, the
voice had reappeared and was talking to him more frequently.
Raze had tried to ask it questions as to who she was, why she had chosen him, and whether
or not she was a Divine being, but whenever he asked these questions, he would just hear
the sound of laughter in his head.
The only thing the bloody woman wanted to talk about was letting her take over his body—
just accepting more of her and drawing out some of her power.
Of course, Raze wasn't going to let such a thing happen, but one day when he had been
training with Amir, and Raze had pushed himself to the point where he was almost
completely spent of energy.
He felt something—his hand moving on its own. It was movement as if it wasn't his own.
Stranger things were occurring as his senses were changing, the smell of iron was hitting
his nose, and he could feel the flow of blood rushing through his veins.
Keeping his will and focusing, he could use his hand again, but he felt like he had almost
lost himself.
'You think I'm going to lose this fight, you think I would lose to him before I lost to them?
Don't even think about asking such a stupid question!' Raze said.
With one hand, he held the Ghost blade, and with the other, he was gathering Dark magic
around his palm, but as it flowed out of his hand, it seemed to reverse back in.
'My Dark magic—it really is all flowing to my mana heart. This is not a good situation,' Raze
thought as he looked at the new Sha Mo's body in front of him.
Instead of using his Dark magic, Raze had switched to wind swirling around his arm, and
that seemed to activate somewhat fine.
Sha Mo, on the other side, in his smaller body form, had gotten into a real fighting stance.
Bending his knees slightly, he placed one hand in front of the other.
"This will be your grave!" Sha Mo exclaimed as he swung one fist right in front of the other.
Raze quickly moved to the side as he felt a giant shockwave of explosion go off behind him.
He pushed himself off the ground, creating a tornado of air, and swung the Ghost blade,
firing off a shot of the Crimson Slash.
Sha Mo, staying in his position, swung his arms, and before the attacks even hit him, they
seemed to be destroyed by some strange force.
Raze had landed quite close to where Sha Mo was and went in to attack him directly with
the sword.
At that point, Sha Mo crossed his arms, and in doing so, a force was felt slamming right
through Raze, left and right. It hit him strongly, shaking his entire body.
His legs skidded across the floor, and as he coughed, specks of blood came out from his
mouth. A strange pain and heaviness could still be felt throughout his entire body.
'What was that? I wasn't within range of his attack,' Raze thought. 'It's almost like a Qi blast,
but projectile Qi was said to only be possible from Divine beings or special items. I can tell
he has no such items on him.'
Ricktor and Mada, who were watching the fight, had a strange sense of familiarity as they
saw this.
Raze couldn't stop to rest, though. Just as his legs stopped skidding across the floor, he
could see Sha Mo in the air, still around twenty or so meters away from him, spinning his
body.
"Dark Pu—" The Dark magic still didn't surround Raze's hand, and he was unable to fire it
away.
Switching to wind, he pushed his body to the side, and just as Sha Mo landed on the ground,
a large crash occurred by his side.
When Raze looked at the floor, it looked as if a giant pillar had been smashed onto the
ground itself. The floor was dented beyond where Raze was, and it led all the way up to Sha
Mo himself.
'It's not like projectile Qi. Projectile Qi can detach Qi from his body. He's just extending it
out from his body and able to fight as if he has giant weapons in his hands.'
This was why Ricktor and Mada had a familiar feeling when seeing this. What Sha Mo was
doing was quite similar to what one of the Pillars they had fought against could do as well.
The issue was, because it was Qi, it was incredibly difficult to see.
"What's on your mind?" Sha Mo said as he landed next to Raze and stomped on the ground.
Suddenly, Raze was lifted up off his feet.
Before he knew it, a strike from above landed on him, crushing him onto the ground. More
pain was felt, as it didn't feel like ordinary Qi was being used.
With every hit, Raze's cells seemed to be affected, and he felt like his body was slowing
down and listening to him less.
When Raze got up from the floor, he could see Sha Mo. Before Sha Mo reached him, Raze
activated lightning around his feet and quickly disappeared from the situation.
He had gathered distance from Sha Mo, but there was clearly one person who was far more
hurt from everything that was happening.
'Not only can he do this strange stuff with his Qi, but he's also faster and more agile as well.
He's definitely stronger than Murkel, but I'm not sure about the Red Hybrid.'
"It's fine," the bloody woman said. "Continue fighting. The more you lose control of your
body, the more I can take over."
Chapter 890 Get Out Of My Head!
Chapter 890 Get Out Of My Head!
Raze's Dark magic was being fickle with its uses, and it was his most powerful type of magic
when it came to destruction. His body was reacting strangely to the Qi that was being used
by Sha Mo, and finally, there was the annoying voice playing in his head that just wouldn't
stop.
All of this was occurring while Raze was fighting Sha Mo at his strongest. The world was
against him, but he couldn't stop here.
"I already told you, I'm not giving you my body, so shut up, and let me focus!" Raze shouted
as he thrust his sword.
This time, the back of his weapon only had Qi being used rather than magic and Qi. He was
performing the Void Pulse, but there was something else that was odd as well—Raze was
using this technique quite far away.
'Void Pulse, Wind Tunnel!'
When Raze thrust his weapon forward, he shot out the Wind magic from the edge of his
blade. The attack wouldn't be as strong as Void Pulse hitting a person, but the explosive
power of the technique combined with his wind attack would create a single stream of
wind blasting in the other's direction.
It hit Sha Mo, who raised both hands and was swirling around the force. It skidded him
across the floor for a few moments, but that was all before the attack had completely
disappeared.
'I told you this one was strong,' the bloody woman laughed. 'You should have just let me
deal with him. I dealt with all your problems just like I did with Murkel.'
Sha Mo smiled as he stood there.
"Did you think just because I controlled the biggest clan in the Demonic Faction that I was
weak? People follow power… that's why there are so many behind me."
Sha Mo kicked off from his position, and Raze readied his sword, but as Sha Mo came
toward him, Raze felt something wrapping around his waist.
He couldn't see it, but having felt it before and carefully looking at Sha Mo's hand, he could
see it was Qi.
In Sha Mo's hands right now, one had to envision two large snakes that were completely
under his control, and now one of them had Raze tied up.
As Sha Mo pulled with one hand, Raze was lifted off his feet.
Raze composed himself and readied his sword in front of him, but it was knocked away by
Sha Mo's hand. Then Sha Mo delivered a large headbutt, knocking Raze's head back.
Qi transferred into the attack, affecting his whole body once again. Combined with the
added power of being pulled, it almost looked as if Raze's eyes were going to roll to the
back of his head.
When his head snapped back, the attack had caused his mind to go blank for a second.
Raze's hair started to grow out, and a change began.
"No!" Raze shouted. "I'm the one that will complete my revenge!"
Lifting his hand, an earth pillar rose between the two of them, and Sha Mo let go, breaking
them apart.
Blood was dripping from Raze's nose, and it was even coming out of his ears due to the
attack. He was quite lightheaded, but the changes had reverted, and he was back to himself.
Yet it didn't matter because Sha Mo was already upon him. A fist was delivered, hitting
Raze right in the stomach, causing a bunch of spit to flow from his mouth as he was lifted
into the air.
Before he could move any further, Sha Mo grabbed Raze by the back, then pushed his body
down and kneed him in the stomach again. This time the hit was more violent, causing
blood to splatter out of Raze's mouth.
"It appears as if you've suddenly slowed down. It looks like you've grown weaker," Sha Mo
claimed.
Sha Mo was ready to attack again but quickly pulled back, and in the next moment, the
entirety of Raze's body electrified, striking the rocks beneath him.
"I might not have known what your powers were in the beginning, but did you really think I
wouldn't notice a pattern or predict what you were going to do?" Sha Mo said with a smile
and charged right in.
He threw a fist out but didn't even touch Raze, yet great pain could be felt in Raze's body.
Sha Mo quickly moved to the side, constantly throwing punches while moving rapidly.
It was a replica of what Raze had been doing a moment ago, only these were fists filled with
Qi, and Raze was getting badly hurt. Each blow was pushing through, and it felt like the
insides of his body were being destroyed.
Powerful hits pummeled him from all sides, and Raze's body was clearly heavily injured.
His clothing was beginning to soak with blood, but the changes that had occurred moments
ago weren't happening anymore.
"Hey, if we don't do something, isn't Raze going to die?" Liam asked.
Simyon wanted to move, he wanted to go down there and stop it, but his hardened body
wasn't activating—nothing seemed to be working.
Just then, for a brief moment, Sha Mo's attacks stopped. He was seen looking at Raze's
pummeled body, and lifting his hand up, Sha Mo shoved it onto the ground.
From above Raze, it felt like an invisible weight had just crushed him, pinning him down to
the floor. It was constantly pressing on his body, and all of his cells were vibrating as if on
fire.
Raze let go of his Ghost blade. He was no longer holding it and could barely lift his head as
he looked at Sha Mo.
"I thought the person who managed to take over the Dark Faction would've been stronger
than this. It seems the only people I needed to worry about were the others in the Demonic
Faction."
Sha Mo claimed, still holding one hand hovering, pouring Qi down on Raze and pinning him
in place. Then, with his other hand, a blaze seemed to ignite on his entire fist. It was the
first time Sha Mo's Qi had become visible.
"Let's end this!" Sha Mo said as he stepped forward, lifting Raze with one hand and
wrapping his Qi around him, keeping him in place.
With Raze directly in front of him, Sha Mo threw his fist as hard as he could, and directly in
the path of his fist, an individual appeared.
Sha Mo didn't slow down, though, as the fist continued forward, piercing right through the
person's stomach. The remaining power hit Raze, causing him to fly and tumble to the
ground.
'What was that… someone came in the way and stopped the punch… who was it… who was
it…?' Raze quickly spun his body and looked up, clutching his stomach in pain.
There he could see it, a person with their head turned, their eyes filled with tears, and a
large hole right through their stomach.
"Ra—Ra—" Blood filled the person's mouth, making it almost impossible for them to speak.
Sha Mo had already pulled his hand back, and as the person fell to the floor, they only had
one more word to say.
"Brother…"
Chapter 891: Dark Burst
Chapter 891: Dark Burst

Standing on the outside of the crater where Raze and Sha Mo were fighting, several of
Raze's closest allies were watching everything take place.
They were beyond exhausted, and just standing was taking up a lot of their strength. They
had constantly been fighting up to this point and had all received their fair share of Qi from
Sha Mo.
Which was why, when they saw the situation that Raze was in, the pain he was going
through as he fought Sha Mo, and the damage his body had taken, they all wanted to help.
They wanted to do something, but they couldn't.
Their bodies were beyond exhausted. At most, maybe they could slide down the crater
along the side and manage to not even get close.
After all, with each hit, Sha Mo's Qi was expanding outward as well.
However, this wasn't true for one individual. There was one person who, even in the
middle of fighting, with every breath they took, continued to cultivate their powers.
On top of that, they held a great weapon that allowed their body to heal as time went by at
an incredible speed.
Not only that, but this person, even if they weren't injured, would have done everything
they could to move, which was why Safa had moved.
She jumped down, sliding across the crater, and with her feet, she kicked off as hard as she
could. She needed to get to Raze as fast as possible.
"SAFA!" Simyon yelled. "What are you doing, come back... even if we go down there, there's
nothing we can do!"
Simyon tried to force his body to move, but he eventually fell to the ground, and all he could
do was watch Safa move faster than he had ever seen, rushing to the center.
All eyes were focused on what had happened, and without any hesitation, before Sha Mo
even threw his fist, Safa had leapt in the middle of the two fighting.
The powerful fist was thrown by Sha Mo, and unlike Raze, who had the protection of the
Blazer and mid-stage Qi protecting him from Sha Mo's strikes, Safa had none of that.
The powerful fist had ripped a hole right through the center of her stomach. Parts of her
guts had already been torn out and were on the floor at that point.
Raze, who had been knocked away by the second-hand power of the punch, looked up and
could see the face of the person who had practically saved his life.
"Safa..." Raze said.
Safa turned back, her face filled with tears, but of all things, there was one thing Raze
noticed -after she said her last words, she was smiling.
"Brother..." Safa quietly said, her face satisfied that she had at least seen Raze was still alive
and well.
Raze didn't blink, he continued to stare at the spot where Safa lay on the floor. He was
waiting for her body to move. He was waiting to wake up from this nightmare.
"Why... why... why are you here... why did you..."
Raze couldn't get his thoughts straight. His mind was rampaging, filled with pain, and his
heart was beating aggressively.
As Raze looked at Safa, the images and memories returned to him. Of the day he had gone
back to the apartment, and on the ground, he had seen her there, just like Sabrina.
"It happened again... it happened again. Everyone who gets close to me, anyone I start to
care about for just a second, they get taken away from me!"
Raze still hadn't blinked. His hands were clenched to the point his fingernails dug into his
palms, and blood was dripping down.
"ARGHHH!" Raze let out an almighty scream as he banged his head on the floor.
"WHYYY!!!" Raze shouted again.
Sha Mo looked at the woman on the floor, the student.
"She was quite reckless, jumping into the middle of that while being so weak. What a fool.
What did she think she was doing?"
"She just wasted her life for no reason. There's only one person that needs to die, and that's
you. I bet she thought she was helpful, but she just delayed your death in the end."
Sha Mo then walked over and looked at Safa's lifeless eyes on the floor.
"This body is in the way, and it needs to be removed," Sha Mo stated as he lifted up his leg.
"DON'T!" Raze screamed with his hand out. "DON'T TOUCH HER!"
In an instant, Dark magic came swirling out of Raze's body. It spread out and traveled all
over Raze, a large amount of it. It looked like dark sprites were floating in the air around
Raze.
Until so much Dark magic had been unleashed that it covered where Raze was like a dark
ball. The immense power and the chills that Sha Mo felt caused him to stop for a moment
and look in Raze's direction.
'This power.... this isn't Qi... I've never felt something like this... what have you done, Dark
Magus?'
The dark ball of energy that surrounded Raze was shaking, and then it exploded outward. A
dark mist spread through the entire area. It continued exploding out from the crater,
covering Rayna and the others.
As it touched their bodies, they only felt a slight burning sensation, but their view was
obstructed.
It didn't take long for the dark energy to disappear into the air and for the others to look
back
down.
"What's that... what's happened to him?" Rayna asked.
Raze could feel it, the mass amount of anger, the dark energy that had been swirling around
him, and the feeling around his chest and mana coursing through his entire body.
He was the first mage in history to activate a breakthrough coming from a mage with a
Dark Core, but what was the meaning of this?
Why would his breakthrough be this, of all things?
"What has happened to you?" Sha Mo asked. "Why have you turned into... an old man?"
Chapter 892: Dark Breakthrough
Chapter 892: Dark Breakthrough

When the strange Dark Mist passed through the others, an odd feeling was felt. It wasn't
pain, nor was it like the Qi that came from Sha Mo.
Instead, for a moment, they felt empty inside, as if all their senses had disappeared for a
fraction of a second. Everything had dulled-their sense of smell, their hearing, and more. It
was a strange feeling because the one sense that still existed was their sense of sight. Yet
the feeling of everything being gone from them--it was almost like they had died in that
moment.
When the Dark energy went past them, they looked down at the crater and could see where
Raze stood. Part of the ground beneath his feet had been destroyed.
The ground looked as if a sphere had perfectly carved out the floor from underneath him,
but the surprising thing itself was Raze.
"What happened to him?" Rayna asked.
"I... don't understand either, he looks like an old man," Liam said. "And not just looks like-
it's almost as if he's turned into an old man. Is that really Raze, or did something happen
again like last time?"
Anna was using the system to analyze the features on Raze's face, and something strange
was happening. Her system itself had come up with an error.
[Unable to Determine if they are the same individuals.]
[Similarities and differences have occurred]
[Here is a list of the following]
Judging by the information, Raze's posture, stance, and some of his internal features
remained the same, but his skin and facial features-they weren't the same person according
to the system.
One thing the system was sure about was that all of the clothes that this old man was
wearing were exactly the same.
'Maybe this is like last time when the Divine being took over, but why does he look different
this time?'
The reason for the confusion was because the blazer Raze wore was the same, and the
familiar white hair, although slightly longer, was still there.
Still, one couldn't just suddenly age, and why would it happen to Raze in the middle of a
match?
The truth was that even Raze himself was shocked by this.
"What has happened to you?" Sha Mo asked. "Why have you turned into... an old man?"
"An old man?" Raze repeated, as he looked at his hands. They were wrinkled, severely, the
veins on the top of his hands stuck out.
He could feel it in just his breathing and the normal aches and pains one got as they grew
older. However, there was something else flowing through him.
He lifted his hand and placed it against his chest.
'Right now, I can tell my mana heart has gone through a breakthrough. The mana has
exploded all over my body, but when I look at my mana heart... why is it... can it be?'
It was then that Raze lifted his hand and weaved it in the air. In doing so, a pool of water
was created, floating.
Sha Mo was cautious and didn't go in for the attack just yet.
'This person managed to beat Murkel somehow. The strength I've witnessed so far
wouldn't have been enough to beat him. Is it because of this old figure? I can't let my guard
down.'
When Raze used his magic to create the water, he had done so for one reason only. Now he
was able to see his face in the reflection.
Both of his hands slowly lifted as he touched the wrinkles on his face.
'It can't be... it can't be... this face... this face,' Raze thought, his whole body shaking.
'This is the face of Raze Cromwell, the real Raze Cromwell from Alterian. The face that
everyone knows as the Dark Magus.'
So many theories were going through Raze's mind because he didn't understand it. How
could something like a breakthrough of one's Mana Core cause such a thing?
Breakthroughs were usually based on one's Mana Core and would be related to that. If one
had a wind-based Mana Core, maybe their casting speed would double for a short time.
Or they would be able to form some type of weapon that aided their magical powers, but
something like this had never happened before.
Even if Raze was the first person to ever have a breakthrough using a Dark Core, a result
like this had never occurred.
'Every breakthrough is unique to the user... is it because of me, the real soul occupying this
body?
'Dark magic affinity is closely linked with death... it's quite possible that something like this
could have happened.'
Right after, Raze waved his hand again, and the pool of water disappeared. He started to
wave his hand a few times, and the water reappeared, only to disappear again.
Then he lifted his right hand and clicked his fingers, and a small flame, like that of a lighter,
appeared. He flicked it into the air, and it landed on his other hand.
Sparks started to appear, surrounding both of Raze's arms, swirling around them, and then
they suddenly stopped. Everything around Raze had stopped.
He just stood there, looked up at Sha Mo, and started to smile.
"You seem to have a big grin on your face, for someone who was getting beat so badly that
they seem to have aged," Sha Mo exclaimed, getting back into a fighting stance, one hand in
front of the other and his legs spread out.
Raze looked off to the side, where Safa's body lay, and with a finger, she was lifted into the
air. She continued to rise until she was brought to the side of the others up above. When
placed on the ground, the wind could be seen blowing the dust to the side.
"The person you fought before was Raze Cromwell of Pagna," Raze answered. "But the
person you will be fighting right now is Raze Cromwell from Alterian. I will show you the
power of a nine-star mage."
In this older form, Raze was back to his strength before he had come to Pagna.
Chapter 893: A 9 Star Mage
Chapter 893: A 9 Star Mage

With Raze's breakthrough, although he was back to his old appearance, he wasn't quite
sure what benefits it had brought him.
When looking at his Mana heart, he wasn't sure if he could believe it, but he could feel it-
nine different star points could be located surrounding his heart.
Although it was more accurate to say these were artificial stars, because with every
breakthrough, it was a temporary form, and once the surge in power ended, for a period of
time, Raze wouldn't be able to use any magic at all.
Now that he was a nine-star mage, he began to wonder if everything had reverted back to
how it was when he was on Alterian.
The fancy display of magic wasn't to show Sha Mo what he could do; it was for Raze's own
benefit. He had realized that he now had affinities with elements he hadn't before.
"If you are just going to mess around, then I will come for you!" Sha Mo shouted, spreading
his arms apart. "In the world of warriors, old age is a sign that you are at your end!"
These words spoken by Sha Mo were true, as advancing to each stage would bring a longer
lifespan.
Sha Mo could be close to two hundred, yet he didn't look a day over forty.
The hope was to reach the Divine stage before the end of one's life, but if one aged, it meant
they had been unsuccessful in advancing as a warrior and had pretty much reached the
peak of what they could achieve.
With his arms by his side, Sha Mo lifted them both and swung them down. The two large
invisible Qi snakes were soon to land on Raze.
Raze gave two simple flicks of his fingers, and two large pillars of earth ascended.
It appeared as though two small mountains had risen. As Sha Mo's attack landed, the
mounds of earth crumbled as if cut, and the giant pieces were seen falling.
They only flew a meter or so before they were blown away, scattering around Raze in the
large crater.
"I'll just have to attack you closer!" Sha Mo claimed, hurling himself forward.
Raze extended his hand, and a tunnel of wind pressure shot forward, hitting Sha Mo square
in the stomach.
It pushed against Sha Mo, and even with the might of his Qi, it appeared he was unable to
move.
"You should have just left this business between me and you," Raze said as he brought his
other hand close. "Burn."
Flames from one hand joined the tunnel of wind. The wind ignited quickly, and a giant
whirlwind of fire was created.
It surrounded Sha Mo completely. Those watching weren't even able to see Sha Mo's body,
but from where they stood, they could feel the intense heat.
The swirling flames continued around Sha Mo, and inside the tunnel of fire, fireballs
appeared, striking Sha Mo's body.
They didn't burn through his skin, but with each hit, Sha Mo could feel the Qi protecting his
body was withering away.
'If I stay in here any longer, the flames will eventually eat away at my body!' Sha Mo
thought. Gathering both his hands together, Sha Mo drew Qi from his body into his hands
and struck forward. When the Qi drained from his body, the flames attached to his skin, and
the burning sensation could be felt through all of his nerves.
The burst of Qi created an opening, and Sha Mo leapt through. Some of his skin appeared
slightly burnt, but he knew he needed to escape the tornado of fire.
'Now I just need to-'
Before Sha Mo could take another step, he felt a stinging pain through his leg, and right
after, a jolt shot through his entire body.
Looking down at his leg, he saw a strange blue object glowing, piercing through and
pinning him to the ground.
When Sha Mo looked at Raze, he saw several more of these objects coming straight for him.
'I can't move my body-it feels just like before, every one of my cells is in shock.' Several of
these strange jagged blue objects pierced through Sha Mo's leg, arms, and even abdomen.
The shocking pain throughout his body intensified, and he felt like he was no longer in
control of his body, no matter how much Qi he used.
For Raze, blue sparks twirled around his fingers slightly.
"There are many ways I could deal with you now," Raze said. "The power of water added
with the pressure of wind is strong enough to cut diamonds and would be strong enough to
go through your neck with ease."
"I could create a giant ball of fire to burn you into ashes. But you see, both of those methods
would have been too painless," Raze said.
Raze lifted both his hands in the air, and magic started to surge out from his body.
Those watching felt a sickening sensation come over them once more.
"You see, I want you to scream, to shout so loud in pain that everyone will know what
happens when they try to deal with the Dark Magus."
"My name will be feared here just as much as it is in Alterian, and maybe then none of you
fools will try to take anything away from me again!"
In the air, there were small black balls floating-not just one, not just ten or a hundred-there
were thousands of them, each the size of a marble.
It looked like black raindrops had frozen over the crater.
Everyone, having seen what Raze had just done, had almost forgotten that he was going
against a top warrior in Pagna.
The fight they were witnessing was more like what they imagined it would be if a Divine
warrior with full powers stepped onto the land of Pagna.
"I can't believe it," Lince said. "He's toying with Sha Mo... he's powerful enough to treat him
like this."
"Right now, I can't think of a single person more powerful than him..."
Chapter 894: 9th Mage's Power
Chapter 894: 9th Mage's Power

The number of small black balls floating about in the air was like a scene out of a fantasy
world for those from Pagna. They had heard of Pagna warriors controlling Qi in strange
ways because they could produce projectile Qi out of their bodies.
But something like this? Magic was already confusing to them because, in their eyes, it was
creating something out of nothing, as they couldn't understand Mana.
However, even if they could somewhat compare Mana to another energy source like Qi, for
a single person to create something like this, to be in control of something like this—it was
a power that only gods should be capable of wielding.
"If all of this Dark Magic entered your body at once, it would mean certain death for you,"
Raze stated. "But, I've already told you, that's not what I want."
Sha Mo was still trying to move, and he could see that the first strange blue spear-like
object that had pierced through his leg was starting to disappear.
With it, the effects of its power lessened slightly. Just as he tried to focus his Qi to that point,
another stinging pain shot through his leg, and the same object was placed in the same
position once again.
Raze's finger flickered.
"I'm not done," Raze said. "Don't you even dare think of moving. I thought you were an old
soul; you should know that patience is a virtue that grows with you as you get older."
Moving his other hand, one of the small black balls floated forward toward Sha Mo. Seeing
it coming, he wanted to try to reach out and grab it, to slap it away with his Qi, but with all
the strange attacks Raze had done to him, and the physical lightning bolts created by his
magic, Sha Mo was unable to move.
He watched as the small black ball entered through his skin. A searing pain, different from a
burning sensation, but of complete annihilation, surged through him.
However, as the ball went in, the pain somewhat disappeared.
"What, do you think that's it?" Raze asked.
As Sha Mo continued to breathe, he was starting to struggle. Each breath he took felt
shorter and shorter, and he tried to inhale harder, but it wasn't working.
"Dark Magic, out of all forms of magic, is the most destructive. Right now, I have created a
small hole in your lung. Slowly, blood is starting to fill in, and you're struggling to breathe.
This is similar to drowning."
"You know they say one of the worst ways to die is by drowning, but again, this is not
enough!"
The taste of iron filled Sha Mo's mouth, and although he was still partially taking in oxygen,
he was trying as hard as he could to conserve himself.
Pagna warriors could hold their breath for a long time compared to regular humans.
However, Sha Mo would soon learn that it would have been best if that had been the end of
it.
Raze waved his hand again, and the black balls moved through the air. This time there were
hundreds of them. When they reached Sha Mo's body, they lingered, touching the surface of
his skin.
They covered it completely, to the point where the real Sha Mo was no longer visible.
Eventually, the small black balls started to disappear.
And in their place, Sha Mo could be seen, but it was hard to tell it was even him. All of the
clothing on his body, all of the skin-it was gone.
On clear display was the muscular flesh that held the human body together. The senses of
Sha Mo's body were on overdrive as the pieces underneath his skin were exposed to the
open air.
"I said from the beginning, it would have been simple to have all this darkness finish you in
one go... but then, you wouldn't learn your lesson, none of you would learn your lesson!"
Raze said, anger in his voice.
"Now that your skin has been ripped off, let's see how you deal with the flames once again!"
Raze said as he flicked his hand, and a tornado of flames surrounded Sha Mo.
The flames spun around his body, and the heat intensified. With no skin and all his nerves
exposed, the pain caused Sha Mo to scream at the top of his lungs.
Due to the howl that had been made earlier, though, blood filled Sha Mo's mouth. The pain
was so excruciating that Sha Mo was on the verge of passing out. He, a middle-stage
warrior who had put himself through the most strenuous situations to grow stronger, was
now barely hanging on.
Standing on the crater's edge, Simyon's fist was shaking.
"That look in his eyes... I saw it before-it was the same look at the orphanage. I haven't seen
it in a long time, but it looks like it's back."
Simyon touched his other arm, trying to stop it from shaking, but there was no denying the
fear he felt in the current situation.
Seeing that look on Raze's face, he thought the Raze he knew had disappeared, at least from
his memory.
"What are you saying, are you telling us to stop him?" Liam asked. "Sha Mo deserves this
after everything he did. He killed Safa, and he would have killed us and all of those in the
town of Flendon, and for what? What good reason did he have? As Raze said, this is the only
way to stop people from going after us."
The loud scream from Sha Mo erupted as the tornado of flames condensed around him,
completely enveloping his body. The flames latched on and started to burn him.
Right now, Sha Mo was experiencing the agony of being burned alive while also drowning-
something that seemed impossible, but it was more intense than what one would normally
endure.
With a sweeping motion of his hand, Raze sucked the flames away, and the thin, charred
body of Sha Mo collapsed to the ground.
"You can't die yet..." Raze said as he started to walk over. "Your life force still needs to be
used for one thing. I'm going to use you to grow even stronger than I am now!"
Chapter 895: How Do You Stop That?
Chapter 895: How Do You Stop That?

Blinded by the anger that filled Raze, seeing another precious person taken away from him,
he had almost forgotten the reason why he had decided to fight Sha Mo in the first place.
The reason he had decided to defend the town of Flendon. Too many things had happened,
especially with the Deleter attacking them in the middle of everything.
The reason was to defeat Sha Mo and extract his Qi using the Demonic Extraction
technique. By doing this, Raze was sure he would reach the next stage in the middle stage.
Then he would be only one stage under those like Sha Mo and Belil, and combined with his
magic power, there was a good chance he would be able to best anyone in Pagna.
Thankfully, because Raze was focused on inflicting as much pain on Sha Mo as possible, Sha
Mo was still alive, barely.
He was lying on the floor, blood pouring from his mouth, his body jerking occasionally.
How much longer he had to live was anyone's guess.
But it was quite clear that in the condition he was in, there was no chance for him to speak.
There was nothing left for him to say.
Raze approached Sha Mo's body, walking over slowly. Then, without even bending down,
he lifted Sha Mo by raising his hand.
"This body of mine is exactly like my old body. It doesn't seem to have the same effects as
its Pagna self," Raze said. "So as an old man, I'm not exactly agile enough to bend down and
pick you up, but thankfully, my magic is strong enough to lift your body."
Reaching out with his old hand, the extraction technique started to work. The only sounds
that came out of Sha Mo's mouth were as the energy drained from his body, slowly being
added to Raze's.
Eventually, Sha Mo's body was just shriveled up, darkened, and dropped to the ground. One
of the greatest in the Demonic Faction was now unrecognizable to all.
"Some might think I should thank you," Raze said as he looked at the body. "Because of you,
I have accomplished what no mage has before me. For a researcher like me, these
achievements are what I live for... at least what I used to live for."
"It's because of you that I managed to unlock this, but at what cost? If I could, I certainly
would rather have them back alive."
Those watching didn't fully know what to think. The great enemy they were facing, that
they had so much trouble with, had ended.
It was hard for them to believe that such a foe was taken out. Maybe they would have
understood it more if it was with techniques, with punches and kicks.
But equally, it was with powers they didn't understand, and just like that, the threat was
gone.
Raze, on the ground, clenched his fist a few times. Ever since he had used his breakthrough,
he was unable to feel the Qi inside his dantian.
All he could feel was Mana all over his body. So he wasn't quite sure if the extraction
technique had worked, if it had allowed him to reach the next stage.
He also wasn't quite sure of the side effects after performing the breakthrough. Usually, one
wouldn't be able to use their Mana for a while, but what about Qi?
Could Raze continue to fight with his Qi? If that was the case, as long as he figured out how
to regularly break through, it would be a big bonus to him.
'Still, fighting with just my Pagna techniques is lacking in strength. The combination of
magic and Qi is second to the form I currently have now.'
"I wonder what he's thinking," Ricktor said with a smile.
"He just defeated a Demonic Faction leader!" Mantis said. "His name will go down in
legends."
"That's if his name hasn't already. His name was being spread well before this, and he has
made the first large impact in the world of Pagna as the leader of the Dark Faction."
"Does this mean it's over?" Mada asked. "With Sha Mo defeated... the fight, it should have
stopped, right?"
When they looked around, though, only a few had stopped. When the fighting had gotten
intense, many had moved away.
The pressure of the Qi hitting them was affecting them too much. Maybe some of the others
would have moved away as well if they could.
This meant that there were few onlookers of the fight, and none of those watching would
have ever believed that Sha Mo could be defeated in the first place, yet it happened.
Because of this, though, very few people were even aware of Sha Mo's defeat, and the attack
on the town of Flendon had continued.
The statue was doing its best to protect, but the Behemoth Clan had started to spread out
even wider, making the line of attack stretch out so it wasn't so concentrated on one part of
the wall.
This allowed a few warriors to get in, making it incredibly difficult for those inside to fight
them off.
"It's not over," Mada said. "Even though we took out the Pillars, even though we took out
Sha Mo, the Behemoth Clan still exists!"
They weren't the only ones that thought this. Raze stood in the center, lifting his old body.
They saw him rising up in the air, and as he spread his hands out, in an instant, all of the
rainfall stopped, floating in the air.
Those busy fighting didn't realize it, and right after, Raze flew over to the wall of the town
of Flendon.
"They all need to be stopped," Raze said to himself.
When he finally reached the wall, he turned around to face the Behemoth Clan Army that
was approaching.
"He still has that look on his face," Simyon said. "This isn't going to be good. He's going to
kill everyone here!"
"Alright, you might be onto something. Maybe he does need to be stopped," Liam said.
Chapter 896: Freeze The Battlefield
Chapter 896: Freeze The Battlefield

An instant display of pure power was being witnessed by many. For one, right in front of
the Behemoth Clan's eyes, they could see a man floating above the wall.
Flight without special weapons was not possible for Pagna warriors, so just seeing this was
already breaking their beliefs.
It was when they looked up at the individual that they realized the rain had stopped.
Seeing both the floating man and the fact that the rain had stopped couldn't have been a
coincidence.
"What is going on? Strange things keep happening in this fight, I'm telling you!"
"You're right-moving statues, strange arrows falling from the sky!"
"I'm starting to wonder if we might have angered the wrong person."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, is this all the Dark Magus's doing? Shouldn't we, the Behemoth Clan, have already
taken out a small town like Flendon? Yet we're struggling so much-how do you explain
that?"
"I've also been wondering about something else. Where is Sha Mo? Where are the Pillars?
Surely, with how much we're struggling, they would have helped us by now."
"It seems he got caught up in some type of fight."
"And there's someone strong enough to fight him for this long? This is what I'm saying-
something is up, and I don't like it."
While in the air, Raze extended his arms out, and a mist extended from his body, reaching
out.
As it touched the raindrops, they started to harden, turning into small drops of ice, similar
to hail.
The ice remained still in the air. After that, Raze twisted his hand, and the shape of the hail
changed slightly.
The drops sharpened at the end, looking like bullets.
Looking below, there were still those fighting, and some of the warriors had gotten into the
town.
One had bashed open the door to one of the nearby shops, and an almighty scream was
heard from inside.
Immediately, images in Raze's head appeared of Sabrina on the floor in a bloody mess.
Other images flooded his mind, of more who had lost their lives in front of him.
He wiggled his index finger, and one of the small ice drops moved. It reached the back of
the warrior's head and pierced right through his skull.
Instantly, the warrior fell to the floor, his life lost.
The woman inside the building wore a look of confusion on her face as her attacker
suddenly collapsed.
"First, I get rid of the troublesome ones," Raze said.
Some of the frozen ice in the air began to move, piercing the warriors on the wall and those
who had made it into Flendon.
Behemoth Clan members were seen falling to the ground, one after the other.
Some of the warriors, seeing their nearby allies fall, started to be on guard.
"It's the raindrops!" one of the warriors said, flinging their sword, filled with Qi, at the right
time, stopping the ice. But the ones who could do so were few.
There were still plenty of frozen raindrops in the air, but instead, Raze lifted his hand, and
the entirety of one of his arms started to spark up. Forming in his hand was a blue
thunderbolt, the same one he had used against Sha Mo.
He hurled it at one of the survivors, and it pierced right through the warrior's heart.
The shock went through his entire body, and unlike Sha Mo, the warrior's life had already
ended, his body only being held up by the shock of the bolt freezing and hardening his
muscles.
Unlike the ice rainfall, the warrior wasn't able to see this attack coming in his direction. Not
only that, but right now, in Raze's hand, another lightning bolt had already appeared. "You
made your decision the moment you entered the city-your actions are as clear as day."
Another lightning bolt struck, killing another warrior. Loud bangs and flashes of light were
seen all over the place.
The Behemoth Clan members still out on the field, those who had yet to enter and go past
the wall, still didn't know what they were witnessing.
It wasn't just them. Andy and the rest of the guards were in awe.
"Who is this person who has come to save us? They're striking down all our enemies!"
"I think that's Raze," Fixteen answered. "I think that's the Dark Magus."
Andy wasn't too sure, and neither were the rest of the guards, because this wasn't the
young man they had seen before.
This was an old man. It was quite clear that the level of power this individual held was on a
different scale.
"It has to be him, right?" Alba asked, worn out with a few cuts on her arms. "No one else I
know can do that and has a reason to fight for this town. But why does he look like that, and
why does he have that look in his eyes?"
Raze had swiftly dealt with all of those in the town of Flendon, and then he turned his
attention to the large army.
Swinging his hands down, the rainfall resumed as before, only now, it was small drops of
ice.
Seeing what had occurred, the warriors braced themselves while others started to focus
their attacks on the sky.
A large amount of Qi and skills were hurled above, and as a result, not a single one of them
died.
After the ice fell, the rainfall became heavy, falling on the ground at a fast pace, so much so
that water was up to their ankles.
"We stopped his attack!" the clan members shouted. "We can do this-keep pushing!"
But when they tried to move, their legs wouldn't budge. They tried to pull them a few times
until they looked at the ground and saw that the liquid had frozen.
"Now that you are all still, it's a lot easier to deal with you," Raze claimed.
Included in those stuck in the ice were Simyon and the rest of the group.
Chapter 897: Caught in the Fire
Chapter 897: Caught in the Fire

Seeing the way Raze was and the way he had been acting, the others wished to stop him,
and there were a number of reasons for them doing so.
Some of them had sensed a strange look in Raze's eyes, believing he had gone somewhat
overboard. While others thought that Raze's power had to be close to its end.
He had already been fighting Sha Mo for quite a long time before all of this had happened.
Any moment now, they imagined he would collapse like he did before.
They couldn't believe that drawing so much power wouldn't have any type of drawback.
The main issue was, all of them still felt incredibly weak. Still, they pushed themselves
beyond what they could, Simyon even carrying Safa on his back.
He stayed behind everyone else because he didn't want them to see her wound, while the
others marched forward, going through the crowd of people.
They hadn't made it very far; they could still see Raze in the distance, and when he used his
powers, they too had been caught in it, their feet frozen and them in the same position.
"Yeah, my balls, he's getting weak!" Liam said. "This guy just froze the entire battlefield just
like that."
"Do you think he might have forgotten about us?" Mada said. He had activated the power of
his boots, but they were the worst thing to use in this situation.
Instantly, his power was freezing up. It went to show that this power of magic was far
greater than the artifacts they used.
"What do you mean, forgotten about us?" Mantis said. "Are you saying we're going to get
killed with the rest of these people?"
"Well, if he wanted to, he could have just electrified the water and killed us all in one go,"
Anna added. "But it appears that he has avoided that option for a reason."
"Yeah, because he wants to torture all these people, just like he did Sha Mo. You guys said
that before-he's lost his mind!"
"He wouldn't do that," Rayna added. "You also saw what he just did-he carefully picked out
and eliminated only those from the Behemoth Clan. He didn't hurt anyone from the town of
Flendon."
When Rayna spoke, Anna could tell there was slight worry in her voice. Although Raze was
able to distinguish people, was it only because there was a clear line?
Among these eight thousand people, was it quite possible that they were just a number to
Raze?
While in the air, Raze had created two large fireballs in his hands and hurled them toward
the large group of people.
The fireballs crashed into the warriors and engulfed them completely, and even when
crashing, parts of the flames broke out and went onto others.
Part of their clothing caught on fire, and the rest of them burned.
"Why is it burning my skin? I'm using my Qi... but it's still burning, it's still burning! AHHH!"
the man screamed, unable to move his feet.
Due to the intense heat, some of the warriors could move slightly again, and this time, they
were turning away from the town of Flendon.
"The pain you are all feeling is only slightly what I have experienced. At least you will die
with only physical pain. I will have to be satisfied with this, as I am unable to make you
suffer even more!"
The large fireballs continued to be hurled at the front line, exploding and killing many in
one go. Screams were heard, and from the back, the other members were seeing the large
explosions of fire in front of them.
They stayed there in fear as they watched, waiting for the fireballs to come after them next.
'This is my power. I don't need any help. I can get my revenge!' Raze thought. 'Really?' A
voice was heard speaking in his head once more-the Bloody woman. 'You say you were so
powerful, so powerful that you were able to defeat that man on your own.'
'Is that really the case? If you were so strong, then why couldn't you save her? Why weren't
you able to save that girl?'
The vein on the side of Raze's head was seen protruding more, and he stopped flying,
heading down to the ground. As he walked forward, those who hadn't been struck by the
flames, Raze flicked his hand, and a wind slash appeared, slicing at their throats or tearing
their bodies in half.
Raze continued to walk forward, throwing a fireball in another direction and then
continuing to use Wind magic to finish off the others.
"You know, if you had just used my power when I let you, she would have lived!" the
Bloody woman shouted.
"ARGHH!" Raze shouted as he spun, and fire spit out from both of his hands in a circle,
burning everything in sight.
The Blazer was protecting him, and he could cast Wind magic to blow the heat away from
hitting him.
As the flames started to die down, Raze could still see there were more, still trapped in the
distance.
He had only gone through around a quarter of the army.
"Right, right, but keep telling yourself you're strong. Just admit it-you're weak. That's why
you lost her, and that's why you lost Safa as well!"
The thoughts continued to fill Raze's head. Images flashed of his memories of the past,
everything he had gone through. Everything the Grand Magus had put him through.
The words of the Bloody woman seemed true in that moment. These people-why did they
have to attack? Why did they have to get involved?
If they had just left him alone, if they had just left those he cared about alone, they would all
be fine.
Fireballs were thrown out in every direction in a fit of rage, and it was at that point that
Raze didn't even realize that he had thrown one heading directly toward Rayna and the
others.
"F**k my balls," Liam said as a small miniature sun was heading right toward their group.
Chapter 898 Two Miracles
Chapter 898 Two Miracles
Among Rayna and her group, which were trapped in the ice, there was one individual that
could break out, and forcing his Qi into the ice, he already had. Someone who wasn't quite
part of their group but had been observing the fight between Sha Mo and the Dark Magus,
Raze.
As the fireball was coming toward the group, shot by Raze himself, Lince had several quick
thoughts running through his head.
'If I cover my body in Qi, most likely the fireball won't affect me too much,' Lince thought. 'I
practically still have all my strength, but as for the rest, fighting Sha Mo has depleted most
of their strength and Qi. They won't be able to escape and will be burnt just like the others.'
It was a decision Lince had to make because he knew he had the power to stop the fireball.
To at least create a strike to slice it so they all came out unharmed, but what was his
relation to these people?
They weren't part of his clan, they were merely allies of the Dark Magus, and after seeing
what the Dark Magus was capable of, Lince hadn't made up his mind yet if it was good to
try and work with him or against him.
'I also said that I wouldn't get involved in this fight between the two sides, but with Sha Mo
defeated, it's quite clear that a winner has already been decided. This is just the aftermath
of a battle.
'My involvement would only save lives.'
It was then that Lince made a decision. He reached behind his back, ready to pull out his
weapon, but just as he did, he felt two strong forces of Qi moving from the side. They were
incredibly strong and aimed right for the fireball.
Rayna was at the front of the group and would be the first to be hit. She went to reach for
her weapon, even though she realized it would be useless, and that's when two tall men
stepped in front of her.
One pulled out a flute and blew into it hard. As he did, the fire seemed to split and flick to
their sides. Some of the flames from the fireball, after being split, looked to jump and were
ready to still hit the group.
But the other man jumped and opened his gourd, and in doing so, the flames looked to
enter the gourd completely, disappearing.
The attack had been completely stopped, and it had been done with techniques or artifacts
they hadn't seen before.
"I'm… I'm alive!" Liam claimed. "Or, am I actually dead? Maybe this is what death is like—
no pain."
Anna slapped Liam on the back of the head, resulting in a slight grunt from him. She could
move now because the heat getting close to them had melted the ice, which went to show
how strong the flames from the fireball were.
"Since you felt that, now you know you're not dead. But what I want to know is, who are
those two?" Anna asked.
That was what most of those were wondering. In the middle of this Behemoth Clan, the
only allies they had were those from the town of Flendon and the Crimson Crane, but these
two were neither.
However, there were those that did recognize the two of them—Lince and Rayna.
Rayna quickly bowed her head to the two in front of her, clearly as a sign of respect.
"I welcome both of you, my brothers!" Rayna said.
"Brothers!" Mada said. "Rayna is part of the Neverfall Clan. Does that mean these two are
those infamous brothers?"
"You're right," Mantis claimed. "The two swords of the Neverfall Clan. Belil himself never
lifts a finger, but it's because of these two that the Neverfall Clan has such a large
reputation."
"If they're here, does that mean they've been sent for support?" Ricktor asked.
"I'm not sure. The Demonic Clan doesn't really work that way. Rayna was married off to
Raze, and this is her town. So they're treated like a separate clan. If the Neverfall Clan was
going to get involved, they would have done so from the beginning."
This was why Rayna was on guard and extremely cautious, because she couldn't believe
Belil, her father, would send her brothers.
"First, thank you both for stopping that attack," Rayna continued. "May I please know the
reason you are here?"
"Well?" Fing, the shorter of the two brothers with the gourd, said, looking at the taller
brother. "We were actually given orders by Father, so don't think this is something we
chose to do."
Rayna looked at Han to explain.
"What Fing says is correct. We were ordered to protect you in this war if anything was to
happen. We took those orders to heart, watched your fights, and everything that took place,
and only got involved now that it seemed like your life was in danger."
Rayna was somewhat in disbelief. This was not the father she knew. It was breaking
everything she knew about the man, which didn't seem like much to begin with.
"Honestly, we didn't think we were going to have to get involved at all," Fing said. "We were
told not to help anyone else, not the Dark Magus or anyone. We assumed Sha Mo would
have taken over this place, gotten rid of everyone. Then we would have just stopped them
from taking you out."
Rayna was still in disbelief, but she knew her brothers wouldn't lie about this situation, and
the fact that they hadn't bothered to even help Dame, who had been at the wall, showed the
order was only to protect her.
Besides, her brothers, other than Dame, would never even bother to do such a thing.
In the middle of their conversation, several of the Behemoth Clan members could be seen
retreating and running back. They had decided to give up on the fight, and with no Sha Mo
to stop them, it appeared to be over.
Right at the very back of the large wasteland, though, the ground started to rumble, and
appearing from the very edge, a large wall surrounded the place, further than their eyes
could see.
The Behemoth Clan members had been blocked from their escape, and the person
responsible was walking their way.
When Rayna looked through the crowd of people, she saw the old Raze's gaze, and she
could almost see no life behind his eyes. It scared her, and for some reason, seeing him look
like this was bringing pain to her heart.
It was then that Rayna decided to do something she never thought she would do in her
lifetime.
"I have a favor to ask… can you stop him for me? Can you stop Raze—the Dark Magus?"
Rayna asked.
Chapter 899 The Grand Magus Appear?
Chapter 899 The Grand Magus Appear?
Maybe to regular family members, asking one's siblings for a favor wasn't a big deal.
In fact, Rayna had even seen it occur among the regular citizens during the first attack on
Flendon.
Those willing to take up arms for their family, brothers willingly sacrificing their lives for
their little or even big sisters.
However, for Rayna, it was different. The Neverfall Clan, sticking true to the Demonic Clan
ways, didn't care for blood ties—everything was about power.
Han and Fing were both second to Belil in terms of power. So Rayna asking them for a favor
was like asking a boss in a large company to do something on their behalf.
It was an awkward feeling for Rayna, and in the world of warriors, where she was related
by blood, asking was an embarrassment for her.
Yet, she was willing to swallow her pride in this moment to ask for this favor.
Although Pagna warriors were often cruel and could take out entire clans with a flick of
their wrist, just like her father had done with one of the Light Faction, Rayna didn't want
this for Raze.
Right now, Raze was just consumed by anger, and it was quite clear why—because he cared
for Safa and for the people of Flendon.
These feelings were what made Raze different from her father and the rest of those at the
top of the food chain in the world of Pagna.
She felt like Raze was on the cusp of a change, and he was close to tipping over to the other
side.
The Behemoth Clan was clearly retreating. Now that they no longer had Sha Mo or the
pillars, the members would be fine.
For a long time, the Behemoth Clan members had bullied their way with their size in the
Demonic Clan, so the other clans, the towns, and the local people wouldn't be nice to them
after this.
Maybe Rayna did have a bit of her father's blood in her because she didn't actually care
about the Behemoth Clan members themselves; she just cared about what Raze might
become.
After making the request to her brothers, she continued to bow her head.
"Are we even sure that's your husband out there?" Fing scratched the back of his head and
opened up his gourd. He started to drink away.
The others watching raised their eyebrows, as they were sure they saw flames being
consumed by the item. Yet where did they go? And just what was Fing drinking from it?
"I mean, he's an old man right now, and he has a lot of power."
"Stop teasing her," Han said as he barged into Fing's shoulder. "We were watching and
witnessed him change into what he is now. We don't know why he is the way he is.
"But one thing is clear—he was able to take down Sha Mo. Fighting him would be quite the
test of our powers."
Rayna soon raised her head. Her lips opened and closed as she struggled to speak. It
seemed her brothers were already accepting the request, but she realized that she needed
to make one more thing clear to them.
"Please!" Rayna said. "Can you bring him back alive? I just want you to stop him from doing
this.
"I will do whatever you want. I will pull out from the Neverfall Clan, serve you, and do any
dirty work that is requested. Please just accept my request," Rayna asked.
The two of them turned around and could see Raze in the distance, still taking care of the
Behemoth members that had turned their backs.
"I will do whatever you want. I will pull out from the Neverfall Clan, serve you, and do any
dirty work that is requested. Please just accept my request," Rayna asked.
The two of them turned around and could see Raze in the distance, still taking care of the
Behemoth members that had turned their backs.
"When an enemy is incredibly strong, it's a hard task to do," Han said. "And honestly, from
what I saw, it might be even hard for us to beat him."
Regardless of Han's words, the two of them walked forward, and Rayna had hope that her
brothers had accepted her request.
It was twice in one day that she had been surprised by her family's actions—first her
father, and now her brothers.
"Will they be alright?" Mada asked.
"I guess since you guys are from the Dark Faction, you don't know much about them,"
Mantis said. "Right now, it will be like Raze is going up against two Sha Mos."
"Yeah, and we saw how easily he dealt with him," Liam added.
Which had put everyone in silence for a moment.
---
Raze was continuing out on the field, mostly fighting those with his wind magic. One of the
warriors had bravely decided to charge at him with his sword.
With the movements of his fingers in the air, a wind strike had cut through the sword,
making it fall in half.
That was the least of the warrior's worries, as he had a large cut on his stomach.
"That's it, that's it!" the bloody woman shouted in Raze's head. With each kill, it was almost
as if she was getting more excited herself. "It's because of all of these that the people you
care about were taken from you, all of them!"
Names repeated over in Raze's head—Sabrina, Jake, Safa—on top of that, the names of each
of the Grand Magus and what they had done, and what Raze had been put through in his
life.
His body was acting on autopilot, just attacking those that came close or in sight.
Even when he attacked, at times he saw the images of the Grand Magus on their faces.
Then when he looked down at the ground, at those who had fallen, he saw the faces of
those he had lost.
"Ahh!" Raze screamed, feeling the Dark magic surrounding him.
"Hey, will you calm it down? I mean, it's kinda cool and all as a brother of ours that you
were able to do all of this, but ya know," Fing said, with the gourd open.
Then Han had his flute held in one of his hands.
"Our sister—or should I say your wife—has requested that you put a stop to this. This is
the only time we're going to speak to you. If you choose to fight, then we can't be held
accountable for what happens next."
Raze turned to look at the two warriors, and he could feel immense power coming from the
two of them.
"Idore! Trubin!!!" Raze yelled at the top of his lungs as he saw two of the Grand Magus right
in front of him.
Chapter 900 This is Dark Magic
Chapter 900 This is Dark Magic
The two brothers from the Demonic Faction were infamous. This was because they always
got the task done. Of course, they hadn't always been strong middle-stage warriors.
This was because Belil, the head of the Neverfall Clan, was careful in his selection of tasks.
He always picked something that seemed out of reach for the brothers, but not quite
impossible.
At least not in the eyes of Belil. Many of the tasks given to the two would have been
impossible for many warriors, but it was because the brothers had completed every single
mission successfully that they had become infamous.
This was to the point that even when there was a big issue from the larger clans and the
Neverfall Clan, the two brothers would be sent in Belil's place, and if a fight would occur, he
trusted them to deal with the situation.
They were the face of the Neverfall Clan, and when dealing with tasks, they would do
whatever was necessary. The other clans and citizens could only guess what they had done
to achieve their accomplishments.
In order to overcome the impossible, they must have done some underhanded tactics, but
was that really the case? If they were from the Dark Faction, perhaps, but the Demonic
Faction was all about strength—they had to overcome everything with their own power
because that was the Demonic Faction's way.
"Idore! Trubin!" Raze screamed at the top of his lungs. His mind was so far gone at this
point that he was seeing what his anger allowed him to see.
Whether it was due to the influence of the Bloody woman or due to Raze's Dark magic
going rampant while he was in his breakthrough form, he didn't know, but immediately
both of his hands faced the two brothers.
"It looks like he wants a fight!" Fing said, holding onto his gourd. "It appears that we might
get to decide the pecking order of who's best out of all of us after all!"
Out from the palm of Raze's hands, large jet streams of flames went toward the two
brothers. Quickly, slightly flipping his body in the air, Fing pulled out the gourd and landed
on the ground.
He was on one knee and held the gourd in front of him. Han looked unfazed as he stayed
behind his brother, trusting him in his actions.
When the flames were ready to hit them, they started to be sucked into the gourd. The
flames were intense, and Fing could feel his fingers burning.
He had to move his Qi over to his hands to protect them from the flames. In the end, though,
all of the flames were consumed.
When Raze stopped his magic attack, he could see the two of them were fine.
Fing then lifted the gourd, and liquid started to fall as he consumed it. The gourd looked as
if it was limitless as liquid continued to fall.
Eventually, he stopped himself and wiped the water from his mouth.
"How much energy was even in that attack?" Fing said, and then kicked off from his
position. The ground broke beneath his feet as he came toward Raze.
"I should have expected that fire wouldn't work against you," Raze said as his arms started
to electrify.
When Fing was right next to where Raze was, several sparks came off from Raze's body. It
wasn't like the single lightning strike attack that he would throw.
This was a constant form of electricity that was hitting Fing. Fing had both of his arms
crossed, and he had his arms in a cross shape. Strangely, the attack was pushing his body
back.
'Damn it… what is with this power? I can't even move my arms.'
Han didn't seem to be getting hurt by the lightning—it appeared to be something that was
meant to just stop him from attacking, and with the other hand, Raze had gathered Dark
magic.
Moments later, a large Dark Pulse shot out from Raze's hand, aiming to hit Fing directly.
Before the attack even reached him, a swift high note was heard, and a strong force hit the
Dark magic away.
When Raze turned his head, he could see Han playing a strange flute in his mouth.
"The one-man army. Possibly the strongest mage in existence when it comes to one-on-one
battles," Raze mumbled under his breath. "I still haven't figured out your power, and you
appear to be using a strange tool."
Han continued to hold the flute in his hand and blew into the device. Each time a note was
played, a strange attack was lashed out toward Raze.
When it went to hit him, though, a strong force of wind that surrounded Raze appeared for
a moment. It looked like a type of barrier that had stopped the attack.
'What is that? I shouldn't pay it too much attention. Right now, I need to keep attacking!'
Han thought.
He continued to blow into his flute, and each time, Qi attacks were aimed at Raze. The wind
barrier was seen activating, stopping the attacks.
"Stopping a foolish item like that is quite simple," Raze said as he stretched out his hand
and opened it.
In doing so, the lightning attack had stopped hurting Fing, allowing him to be back in the
fight again, and a large gust of wind passed the two of them.
Han tried to continue blowing into his flute, yet no noise was being made. With no noise, it
appeared as if no attack was coming out from his weapon.
'What has he done? Is he controlling the air in this space now?' Han thought. 'This
opponent not only has strong powers but powers that we don't understand. This whole
thing we are having to learn as we fight… it's going to be incredibly difficult.'
"There was always one thing that I had the upper hand with you guys on, and that is…"
Raze stretched out both of his hands, and two forms of large masses of Dark magic around
one meter in diameter appeared in both of Raze's hands. "That's Dark magic."
Chapter 901: The Fifth Round
Chapter 901: The Fifth Round

Han's specialty was his compression of Qi. Due to him being a middle-stage warrior, he had
a large pool of Qi, but even more so, he was able to compress it extremely far down to allow
it to explode at a point, making it appear stronger.
It was a technique that he had learned to survive, to complete the tasks set by his father.
A technique formed from having to complete impossible missions. It was because of this
that Han could often defeat those considered the same rank as him.
Even if there were those that had better techniques, he would often come out as the
winner. When Han received the special item from one of his battles-the flute-his strength
had increased exponentially. He could input his pure condensed Qi into the flute, creating
sound. The sound would act as a wave and was quite close to what people would consider
projectile Qi. Through the sounds, Han was able to attack his opponents.
By doing this, he would often catch his opponents by surprise. He could even attend a
crowd and get rid of his opponents, but he had never expected a wind barrier around his
opponent that was stronger than his condensed Qi.
On top of that, he never expected his special artifact, which he was so used to, to become
useless. No sound could be produced, oddly in the area, and the air was moving strangely.
The issue was, Han didn't have enough time to worry about his flute not working, because
these large giant balls of Dark energy in front of him looked frightening.
'This Dark energy he used before-that was what he used to damage Sha Mo's body, but he
had created several small balls. Now this...'
Flinging his hands forward, the two large balls of Darkness came hurling toward them.
"I'll take care of this one, brother!" Fing said as he rushed forward, somersaulting his body
in the air. When landing, he had the gourd ready and a smile on his face.
'I can't wait to see what this energy tastes like,' Fing licked his lips.
When the two balls approached, they suddenly expanded in size, growing at least five times
larger than before. Everything they touched immediately disintegrated, including the floor
below.
The attack had even hit the end of Fing's gourd and had pushed him back again.
"What is this...why isn't it absorbing it? This has never happened before."
It was making no sense, and Han had a bad feeling about what he could see. With his flute
being useless, he placed it to the side and started to spin his body in the air several times.
As he did this, Qi started to surround his body and linger in the air. It continued, and
eventually, as Han spun his body one more time, all of the lingering Qi had gathered in his
fist.
He then slammed it on the giant ball of black energy and had gotten rid of it-or more
precisely, had pushed it away.
As it went off in the distance, it expanded in size again and exploded, creating a crater in
the floor. Han turned his head to look at the other black ball of energy that he dodged, and
it was the same.
'These black balls of energy are pure destruction. The energy that makes this up is strange.
There has to be a reason why Fing's gourd was unable to absorb this energy. It's quite
likely if that ball hit us and we were unable to push it away, both of us would disappear.'
"We have to be careful!" Han said to his cautious brother, but when he went to look at him,
he could see that Fing was blindly staring into the air.
When Han looked up, his face didn't know what expression to pull. Dark shadows had been
cast above them. In the sky, there were several Dark balls of magic, all the size of balloons.
There had to be hundreds of them. It wasn't on the scale of what was used against Sha Mo;
however, these Dark balls of magic were far larger.
When Han turned his head, he could see the Dark Balls of magic were behind him as well. In
that moment, all of the Dark balls of magic came toward both of them.
They crashed into their bodies, moving them to the same position, to the point where the
two brothers were touching skin. The giant balls, as they condensed around the two,
started to expand and explode in Dark magic.
There was a brief moment after the explosion where both Han and Fing could be seen.
Their clothes were torn, and they were clearly affected and weakened by the attack.
"Second round," Raze claimed.
More of the balls in the air started to move, and they crushed both Fing and Han, pushing
them onto the floor. They kept their Qi surrounding their bodies, doing whatever they
could to not get severely hurt by the energy.
They were pushed to the floor, and the Dark balls of magic expanded, exploding again. This
time, both Han and Fing hadn't even gotten up off the floor, yet Raze hadn't stopped.
"Third round."
Those watching from the sidelines couldn't believe their eyes.
"Han and Fing...the two of them weren't even able to really show their powers or why they
are feared in the Demonic Faction!" Mantis said. "Just how strong is Raze right now?"
"I think the real question we need to ask is how do we stop him, because once he's done
with them, he'll be after us."
Rayna thought the same thing, and right now her brothers seemed to be in trouble. Maybe...
maybe she could reach out to him in that moment.
"Fifth round!" Raze said, lifting his hand, ready to swing it down.
"STOP! Raze, stop it!" a voice shouted out.
When Raze looked up, his eyes were in disbelief. He wondered if they had worsened with
age, or maybe he was imagining things, but he could see Safa standing, and he was sure it
was her
voice as well.
"Safa..." A loud thump was felt pounding in Raze's heart. Immediately, the giant wall
blocking the way fell to the ground, as well as all of the Dark magic, and at that moment,
Raze collapsed onto the hard floor, his body still.
Chapter 902: The End Of Pagna
Chapter 902: The End Of Pagna
Like a flick of a switch, everyone had witnessed the all-powerful Dark Magus, who had been
dominating everything in his path, suddenly fall to the ground.
It was a strange sight to see, and no one quite knew how to react. It was as if a large natural
disaster had suddenly stopped—the ground shaking, the tornado coming to an end. There
was a slight fear that it could start up again at any second, or perhaps a moment of relief
that everything was finally over.
It wasn't just the Behemoth Clan members who were left alive who felt relieved, but also
those behind the wall of Flendon.
"It's over," Alba said, watching in the distance. "Raze must have been using his power,
pushing himself to the point where it completely stopped."
Of course, Alba and the rest of the Crimson Crane didn't really have a full picture of what
was going on or what had happened. They had no idea about Safa's demise or what had
caused Raze to end up in such a state.
"Safa!" Simyon called out as he rushed over to give her his shoulder. He had been holding
onto her the entire time, but in the midst of the fighting, the power had forced Simyon to let
go of her. He had been looking for her body while Raze was fighting the two brothers, but it
was nowhere to be found. So right now, he couldn't understand—how was it that Safa was
standing?
Even if she had strong Light magic and the special Lux Spear's capabilities, there had been a
giant wound on her stomach.
When Simyon went to look at her stomach, he could see there was no wound at all. Instead,
he just saw her smooth, pale skin and belly button.
His face went a little red from staring so hard.
"You can look away, you know," Safa said.
"Sorry, I just… What happened? How are you alive? I'm just so happy you're still here,"
Simyon said.
"I'm not really sure myself. I have a feeling it has something to do with the special Lux
Spear. It feels like part of it helped me," she answered. "But I'm not sure if it can do that
again. Regardless, we need to check on Raze!"
Safa hadn't fully witnessed what Raze had done or what he had been capable of. There was
no memory at all for her after she had been attacked by Sha Mo—it was as if she had truly
died in those moments. Yet she knew in an instant that the old man who had been fighting
was Raze, not the brother she used to know.
She realized something must have happened, so she had shouted at the top of her lungs to
show she was okay. Now that she had seen Raze collapse like that, she felt somewhat
responsible. His body had been holding onto that form of power—all because of her.
As for Raze, who was lying flat on the field, he was quite far from the wall of Flendon. He
had pushed himself outward, getting into the middle of the large army. When the large
earth wall had fallen, many of the warriors had fled, running back to their homes or who
knew where.
However, there were still some who were relatively close to Raze. They had been saved
from the fight with the two brothers, but their eyes were filled with anger as they looked at
their fallen friends and allies.
"He's passed out. He must have used all his power. This is it—we can get him!" One warrior
drew his sword, and several others followed. They no longer had a desire to attack Flendon,
but if they could kill the Dark Magus after everything he had put them through, they would
be satisfied.
Several men charged toward Raze, but before they could reach him, a high-pitched sound
echoed. Their vision went black as their bodies were sliced in half and fell to the floor.
Han could be seen holding his flute up to his mouth. His clothes were badly damaged, and
there were several markings on his body.
On the other side, flipping through the air and landing in front of another group was Fing.
The warriors stopped in their tracks, but it was too late. A twist of Fing's hand sent a
strange Qi through the air, making the warriors feel like their bodies were being crushed.
With a single punch, their limbs were torn from their bodies and flung across the
battlefield.
"That was satisfying after taking such a beating," Fing said.
"What's going on?!" one of the warriors shouted. "Weren't they just fighting that man a
while ago? Why are they protecting him? It makes no sense."
Fing wiped the blood from his hand and looked at the remaining warriors.
"You think we'd let you just take him out while he's worn out like that?" Fing said. "We
would never let you touch this man. That fight was to decide the pecking order between us,
and it's quite clear—he is now Brother Number One!"
Rayna was surprised to hear those words from her brother, and she could see that Han was
nodding in agreement, clearly acknowledging it as well.
"These guys are crazy! Come on, let's get out of here!" one of the Behemoth Clan members
yelled. With that, the remaining members turned and fled the battlefield.
Andy and the other guards saw this and erupted into cheers.
"The war is over!" Andy shouted. "The town of Flendon and the Dark Magus have defeated
the Behemoth Clan!"
More cheers erupted, and the citizens who had been hiding in their homes started to come
out. They were wondering if their ears were playing tricks on them. Could it really be over?
Out on the field, Rayna and the others slowly walked over to where Raze lay. His
appearance had reverted to his younger self.
"Raze…" Rayna said, falling to her knees and stroking the back of his head, running her
fingers through his hair. It was something she had never been able to do. Sometimes she
just wanted to give him a hug—he always looked like he needed it.
"What happened to you?" Rayna said, her voice full of tears. "What happened to you that
made you like this?"
Right now, Raze was trapped in deep dreams about his past—a past filled with pain and
suffering that didn't end with Sabrina. There was more to Raze's story, more pain that
couldn't be forgotten.
Standing far back, Lince watched everything unfold.
"This is the catalyst that's going to change everything. First the Dark Faction is thrown into
chaos, and now the Demonic Faction... The Light Faction will be making its move. And from
what I know, it might not be enough. But I guess you knew that too, Belil, which is why you
sent your two sons here. It can't be a coincidence."
"The end of Pagna is near..."
Chapter 903: An Order For The Demonic Faction
Chapter 903: An Order For The Demonic Faction

Exhaustion had reached its peak for those that had fought in the battle against the
Behemoth Clan. Many of the guards that had taken up arms fighting had dropped to the
floor.
They lay there, looking at the sky. It was hard for them to believe that they had managed to
survive once again, and that they were able to live another day.
During the fight, they reflected, thinking back to how many times they had said their last
words in their heads, repeated the phrase, yet they had managed to live.
Others were thinking about those that weren't so fortunate, but promised that they would
spread their names in the Town of Flendon, so others would never forget the sacrifice they
had made.
Another amazing thing that had occurred, was that while the guards lay there in place, they
heard movement. It wasn't coming from out on the field but instead was coming from the
town of Flendon first.
"Make sure all of these people have plenty to eat and drink first!" a woman shouted. "After
that, make a note of all of those injured."
"The theater has said that they will house them. If the theater fills up, move them to the
inn!"
Groups of people, including that of children, had rushed out from the town to care for those
that had taken part in the fight. They were carrying drinks, and buckets of food, feeding all
of the hard workers.
Some of them were even family members of those that had fought. They had grabbed their
loved ones.
While others searched for those that had perished in the fight.
Rayna and the rest of them were walking back through the entrance of Flendon, seeing
everything that was taking place. She was carrying Raze on her back.
No one had dared to even approach her or ask if they could help. After crying in front of
Raze and stroking his hair, she had just picked him up.
As they continued, eventually Alba and the other Crimson Crane members had arrived.
"It looks like you managed to do a good job out there," Alba said with her hands held by her
hips. She was trying to look energetic, even though she could pass out at any moment. "You
did your part, and it looks like you all came out of it alive."
Rayna turned her head to look at Safa for a moment.
"I guess it did turn out that way. You did a good job too. I'm going to take Raze to the Town
Hall. I think it might be good for all of us if we meet up there when he wakes up, and see
what to do next with all of this."
The others agreed, but who knew when Raze was going to wake up or recover from this
fight. With that said, Cronker was sent to the Town Hall, and when the time was right, he
would go and inform the rest.
"Crimson Crane, let's all go and rest up. You all did well! Let's get a big meal as well," Alba
said.
They all cheered and agreed in response, but when looking around, Alba noticed
something. "Where's Froma?" she asked.
"I saw one of the men take her into one of the nearby houses in the middle of the fight. It
seems he's treating her wounds," Reno answered.
"Oh?" Alba replied with a raised eyebrow. For some reason, Alba could hear a particular
type of music playing in her head. "Well, as long as she's okay, let's leave her be."
When Rayna and the others had reached the Town Hall, they felt like there was something
strange, almost as if they had forgotten about something.
Constantly, Liam was mumbling numbers under his breath as he spoke.
"What's wrong man, are you trying to learn maths right now of all times?" Simyon said.
"No, it's not that," Liam said. "I literally could do any calculation you could come up with.
I'm beyond smarter than you."
"And with all that smartness, that was the best thing you could say," Simyon replied.
"Anyway, what I'm counting is the number of people here. I'm counting everyone and
looking at everyone and it seems like everyone's here, yet at the same time, someone is
missing, and I can't remember who."
"You're right, one person left us," Anna said. "It was the guy that had randomly appeared,
with the cloth covering his face."
"Oh right, there was that guy, who even was he?" Simyon asked. "I mean he was dressed
like one of the guards, but none of the other guards even made it that deep into the fight."
"Does it even matter?" Mantis said. "Let's eat, I'm starving."
Anna was deeply curious about the person as well, but she was more curious about what
was currently happening at the Dark Faction, where Zon was still at.
The person in question that the others had forgotten about, had taken off their disguise and
now a man with long, flowing black hair was sitting in one of the many inns.
Since he was dressed as a guard, free food was given to him. He felt a bit guilty eating the
food meant for those that had fought to protect the city, when he hadn't done so.
'I guess... I did stop Sha Mo's big rock, so I can take some of this food,' Lince thought as he
continued to eat.
Eventually, another person sat down opposite him. A young man who was dressed as a
regular street merchant with plain clothing.
"You called, sir," the man whispered.
"Right," Lince said, picking up the giant pork chop and taking a large bite. After chewing it
down, he placed it back down on his plate.
"I have some orders for you. Make sure every member of the Behemoth Clan is eliminated.
Moving forward, we can't have anyone trying to oppose us, or go against us, no matter how
small the risk."
"Inform those in the Light Faction that they are to pull out of there immediately. As for the
Elders, tell them that I will be paying a visit to Belil. It seems he is aware of a lot more than
we originally thought," Lince ordered.
Chapter 904 Alter Make A Move
Chapter 904 Alter Make A Move
Once again, news was spreading throughout the world of Pagna. Lately, it seemed like a
common occurrence.
So much was happening in Pagna that the citizens were starting to get worried, as well as
the warriors themselves.
Big changes were occurring, which wasn't good for the kingdoms and empires that relied
on the clans for balance.
They, too, were keeping a careful eye. This time, though, the news wasn't broken by anyone
special—it was word of mouth instead.
In one of the smaller cities in the Demonic Faction, a warrior was walking down the main
street.
He spotted a shop that sold clay pots. Walking forward, the warrior swept his hand, moving
the cloth from the entrance, and entered.
"I'm here for Clay," the warrior said.
An old gentleman behind the counter pointed to an open door.
The warrior quickly entered and could see a table with a man sitting opposite.
The warrior looked over his shoulder and out through the door to the shop's entrance.
Right after, he returned and pulled up a seat, sitting down.
"You need to be clear with all the details," the man said, bringing out a scroll of paper, a
feather, and some ink.
"The Behemoth Clan was defeated," the warrior said, his hands shaking as he thought back
to the battlefield.
He was remembering everything and recounted it to the man opposite him, from the start
of the battle with the fallen arrows to the strength of the Crimson Crane members.
All the details were being jotted down.
"It seems there were others fighting as well. I didn't see it firsthand, but all of the pillars
had been defeated. It wasn't the Crimson Crane—they were too busy defending."
"As for Sha Mo himself..."
The man writing down the details paused, waiting for a response.
"Go on... who was it that defeated Sha Mo? How did they do such a thing?" the man asked.
"I'm not sure, no one has the details, but I'm sure it was the old man with white hair—the
Dark Magus. He used all sorts of powers that didn't feel like they were from this world. It
was almost as if he was a Divine being!"
The warrior continued to recount what was said—thunder striking from the air, giant walls
created, and a field of ice freezing everyone.
The man marking down the details thought it was a clear exaggeration, and the warrior
would make a great storyteller.
Regardless, he wrote it down as the man explained, as that was what he was tasked to do.
But he placed the tip of the feather against his mouth.
"An old man with white hair? Are you sure? The reports state that the Dark Magus is a
young man with white hair," the man asked.
"I'm sure of it," the warrior said, standing up. "I have done my part. The Behemoth Clan is
clearly no more after today, and I don't wish to disappear as an informant. This is the last
report I give to you, Clay," the warrior said and made a swift exit toward the door.
When the warrior reentered the shop, he noticed that the old man behind the counter was
missing.
The warrior didn't like the feeling he had as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and
he drew his sword.
"I'm warning you, I am a warrior of the prestigious Behemoth Clan. I know how to fight!"
the warrior claimed.
The warrior moved slowly across the room, still unable to see anyone. He started to panic
and decided to bolt for the exit, but a person appeared right in front of him, followed by a
sharp pain in his stomach.
The warrior looked down and saw a blade had impaled him.
"The Behemoth Clan is no longer prestigious. Its name and all its members will be erased
from history on this day." The man pulled out the blade and swiped it, slashing across the
warrior's neck, killing him on the spot.
Quickly, the man moved to the entrance of the other room but saw that no one was present.
"It looks like I was a little behind."
The occurrence in the shop was happening all over the Demonic Faction.
The lingering members who survived the battle against the town of Flendon were falling
fairly quickly.
Although regular citizens had no idea who was behind it, it wasn't the same for the clans in
the Demonic Faction.
There was only one clan capable of such a thing, and it was the Lost Clan.
Despite the Lost Clan's efforts, reports had left the Demonic Faction, traveling far and wide
until they reached the Light Faction as well.
"Not even Sha Mo, the biggest clan in the Demonic Faction, can stop him!"
"Does this mean the Demonic Faction is severely weakened at this point? Maybe the Light
Faction will act. It's a chance, right?"
"A war has practically broken out between the Dark Faction and the Light Faction, so it
means the Dark Faction is weakened at the moment."
"But also, isn't this Dark Magus kind of scary as well? He took over the Dark Faction and
bested one of the top clans in the Demonic Faction. Can the Light Faction take him down?
Who even is this Dark Magus?"
Walking through the streets, a light-haired man with round glasses and a fancy blazer was
making his way.
By his side, a man dressed in finely layered cloth with swords at his side, his red hair
standing out, walked next to him.
"We haven't read the full report yet, but it appears that the Dark Magus was able to best the
Behemoth Clan," Heino said, looking ahead at a large church-like building.
It was the Aurora Clan's main base of operations.
"You know what that means then, right?" Red said. "That the person who killed Scar... it
wasn't the Dark Magus. There has to be someone else strong by his side."
"Hmm... Come on, we should get the reports from the Aurora Clan, and we need to discuss
another, more important matter that has come up."
News had been received by Alter—news so important that they had to even set aside the
Dark Magus for now.
Chapter 905: At All Costs
Chapter 905: At All Costs

Aurora City was home to the Aurora Clan, currently the biggest clan in all of the Light
Faction. Unlike the other factions, where there was no clear unity and either ran by strong
individuals or by a single person, the Light Faction was different. The clans gathered and
often voted for which clans would represent the Light Faction. The lower clans in the Light
Faction would all have thoughts to select the major clans.
The major clans themselves had votes worth more when selecting who they believed
should be the head, and the current head was the Aurora Clan.
Followed by the Illumination Clan, and finally the Dawnblade Clan, which, in the eyes of
some, had fallen from its high position, as it had the longest standing at the top of the Light
Faction but slowly was being pushed down, further and further.
The city was mostly made out of grey stone that carved the walls and paved the flooring.
They didn't cover the entirety of the green space, keeping a perfect balance in the city.
The structures in the city itself were well made, and maintenance was kept up on all of the
buildings. Unlike cities in other factions, there seemed to be a standard of quality in every
single area.
This could also be seen with the people walking through the streets. There were no holes in
their clothing, and no one sat on the streets begging for food or looked malnourished.
Some say this was the reason why the Aurora Clan had risen to the top-because Aurora City
had become the happiest place to live in the Light Faction. With the Aurora Clan at the top,
everyone in the Light Faction hoped for the same result.
Centered in one area of the city was a large church, an architectural marvel for the people.
Crafted by Pagna warriors with their very own hands.
It was an impressive sight, with the very top of one of the spires visible from the entire city.
Currently, a meeting was taking place inside. A room where seats were arranged in a circle,
tiered on top of each other, and the main three clans of the Light Faction had gathered.
Kawak was stationed on a pillar slightly elevated above the others, giving him a clear view
of all those around.
As he watched those entering the room, his eyes made contact with Henio and the
mysterious person he had brought with him.
The two of them gave each other a nod. Since Henio's last visit, Alter and the Light Faction
had agreed to improve their bonds and work closely together.
Henio himself didn't have to attend these meetings, but he had come for a few reasons.
"A first-hand report has come in from one of our members who were directly in the
Behemoth Clan. The informant has stated that everything said is as seen," Kawak said,
clearing his throat.
Already many in the Light Faction had heard the news of the Behemoth Clan's fall. What
was surprising was how it had even occurred.
The current leader of the Dark Faction should have been at the Dark Faction Academy,
according to their reports. So how did one get to the Town of Flendon, and how did they
protect themselves from such a large group like the Behemoth Clan?
"These are the accounts of what occurred on the battlefield..."
Kawak read them aloud, and everyone listened carefully with varied reactions. Some of the
Light Faction members were in disbelief, wondering what type of artifacts had been used.
While others thought it had to be exaggerations, but if they were exaggerations, how did
they beat the Behemoth Clan? The only answer they had was the one in front of them.
They had all also witnessed what the Dark Magus was capable of, having teleported them
away during the Martial Arts Tournament.
"I believe there is some confusion among the reports, so we also had sketches made of the
people described as the Dark Magus that we know of, and the one that appeared on the
field."
Walking into the center, two large scrolls were revealed, one depicting a young man, the
other an old, frail man.
When looking at the two individuals, it was quite obvious to them that these weren't the
same people.
"So was it the Dark Magus that actually got rid of the Behemoth Clan? That looks like a
different person."
"There's a chance that it was a mistake in the report, but Kawak said this is confirmed by
more than one eyewitness."
"Then I guess, for the time being, we have to believe that there is a second individual
among those in the Dark Magus' circle who is strong enough."
Henio also took note of the sketches that had been drawn and leaned in to whisper to Red
by his side.
"You've analyzed the drawings, right? If you were to create a replica, would it be possible?"
Henio asked.
"Yes, I'll do that when we're back at the base."
"Good. I think the others will be interested to know what the Dark Magus of Pagna looks
like -the person who has tried to use his name."
The meeting continued with deliberation and plans of action. They debated whether to go
against the Dark Faction, ask for an official report, and pretend as if there was still no bad
blood between the groups.
There seemed to be next to no result, and in the middle of all their talking, Red stood up
from his seat and leapt down to the center.
"What is he...?"
Red moved over to one of the guards on the ground floor in the inner circle and pulled the
guard's head down. In that moment, a red energy beam shot out from the palm of his hand,
going right through the warrior's head.
Red then threw him onto the ground. His body lay still, and for a moment, everyone was
stunned into silence.
"Well, I guess this is as good a time as any for me to talk," Henio said as he jumped into the
center.
From the last visit, many recognized who he was, but it was clear by the looks on their faces
that they wanted answers to what had just happened.
"The man on the ground was a spy. For whom, unfortunately, we don't know, but I thought
it best to get rid of him before I talk about important matters."
"What do you mean important matters? Do you think what you have to say is more
important than what we have to say?" a man yelled.
Kawak quickly raised his hand, getting the warrior to stop.
"You see, there is something very important that has appeared, and we have to get it at all
costs. An item known as the Golden Globe."
"Until recently, we had no idea about its location, but it has been discovered-or should I say
soon to be discovered. Regardless... this is something that we can't do much about
ourselves, so we'll need your help."
"We must get the Golden Globe... at all costs."
Chapter 906: A Sour Reunion
Chapter 906: A Sour Reunion

Fortunately, there wasn't much destruction that had occurred in the town of Flendon. It
was only a few houses and buildings on one side of the wall that were impacted.
The locals were using their own resources to already help each other and their community.
They wouldn't dare want the guards to work, or the people of Flendon that had stayed to
have this come out of their pockets.
Especially when they had the resources to do such things. They had plenty of gifts given to
them when the town of Flendon had been put under the Dark Magus's control.
The truth was, now that the news of Flendon defeating the Behemoth Clan had spread
again, there was a phenomenal amount of visitors.
The clans nearby came bearing gifts, the local merchants and many more would visit. All of
them had done so with the intention of meeting the Dark Magus.
Yet, not a single one of them was given an audience with the Dark Magus. Regardless, they
hoped their gifts would allow them to be remembered in his head as good people.
With many in the Demonic Faction rising to the top, the others gave gifts more so out of
fear, for fear that something would happen to them.
In the town hall that was stationed at the back near the south gate, this was where Raze
was currently located. When the town hall had been rebuilt and upgraded, a special area
had been created for guests.
This was to accommodate not just those in the city, but perhaps those who had traveled far.
Rather than pay for an inn, the town hall would accommodate them to their needs.
Located on the second floor, in a fairly large room, where half of it looked like a library of
sorts, Raze was laid out on the bed, tucked under his sheets.
His eyes peacefully closed.
A knock was heard at the door, and that's when Rayna, who was sitting by his bedside in a
chair, closed her book.
"Come in," Rayna said.
When the door opened, Alba entered the room. She quickly closed it behind her and started
to walk toward where Raze was.
"Man, the people, they don't just stop coming. If they can't see Raze, then they at least want
to see you, and I don't know what to tell them?" Alba said, rubbing the back of her neck.
"I said to just inform them that he is currently back at the Dark Faction. It will take a while
for them to travel there and find out if it's the truth or not," Rayna replied.
Alba walked closer and continued toward the bed, and just as she was about to step further
forward, two men came and stood in her path.
"You know the rules," Fing said. "No one is allowed to get within arm's reach of the top
brother here."
Alba pulled a face, thinking this was ridiculous. It was the same thing that had occurred last
time she had come to visit, and it wasn't just one brother.
Although Han didn't say anything, he was also standing guard beside Raze's bed.
"I'm the leader of the Crimson Crane, and Raze is part of it. If anything, I'm above him in
terms of rank, and I can't even see him. I've also known him a lot longer than the two of
you!" Alba complained.
The two of them shook their heads.
"Do you really think that's the case? Raze, the Dark Magus, has become even bigger than the
Crimson Crane."
"When he married Rayna and joined the Neverfall Clan, he became a part of our family,
which is already a higher status than some wanderer clan."
"You have to remember you're talking about the head of the Dark Faction as well. You're a
fool if you think he's still part of your Crimson Crane group."
Fing's words stung Alba's heart somewhat. They were true, and it was hard to say he was
part of the Crimson Crane when lately they had been relying on him to make weapons in
order to increase their strength.
They had also all been caught up in Raze's troubles and pulled along. Still, it felt ridiculous.
She was closer to Raze than just some type of contract they had going on, right?
Alba then looked at Rayna, hoping that she could reason with her brothers. Instead, she just
saw her mouth the words "sorry."
There was a reason why neither of them could say anything. Because the two brothers
were ridiculously strong, to the point where Alba couldn't even force her way through.
Right now, Raze was certainly in safe hands, and it was unlikely anyone would be able to
get to him.
So despite everything, she decided to stay standing away from him.
"He's still sleeping, no sign of waking up yet?" Alba asked.
"No, but he seems stable," Rayna answered. "We had some physicians see him, and they say
there are no problems, so I think he'll wake up soon."
"It's still all so hard to believe that he did all that, and that old man from before, that it was
really him," Alba said.
When she remembered the image of the old man, she remembered something else as well.
The look in his eyes.
"Hey Rayna... when Raze had transformed or turned old, whatever you call it, did you notice
something that felt a bit different about him? I mean his ey-"
Just as Alba was about to finish her question, another knock was heard at the door. The
only people that knew Raze was staying here were those that were considered close to him.
When the door opened, the person standing there paused for a moment.
"I was told Raze was in here, but I didn't realize who else would be here," Dame said.
Rayna's heart was starting to race at that moment. Currently, all of the children of Belil
were in the same room. This hadn't occurred in a very long time.
And there was a good reason why it hadn't either.
Chapter 907: He is not your Brother
Chapter 907: He is not your Brother

In an instant, Alba could feel the extremely tense atmosphere in the air, and it had occurred
the moment Dame had entered the room.
'I almost forgot that all of these are from the same clan, and not even just the same clan-
they're from the same blood!' Alba thought.
It was quite common in the larger and more famous clans for sibling rivalry to occur.
Often the descendants would be the ones to take over the clan, but when there were many
descendants, it became an intense competition among them.
It was quite normal for families to even facilitate competition between each other, and
oftentimes it would incur death.
Yet, it wasn't a problem for the father and mother, for they had many descendants to
choose from, and their favorites would be the strongest ones.
In the Demonic Faction clans, that was even more true. It was part of the reason Alba had
become a wanderer, making her own clan.
One with rules far away from all of that.
"We have been ordered by father to be here," Fing claimed, drinking from his gourd. "We
have a right to be here, but you don't. Why don't you run away and flee, it's what you do
best, right?"
Dame tensed his fist as he moved closer to where Raze was.
"I have no right? You know nothing about the relationship between me and Raze. You knew
nothing about him until you met him today."
"Just because you bore witness to his power, now suddenly you are willing to call him
brother?"
"Someone strong like him is much more worthy of being called a brother than a slacker like
you."
Fing's response had visibly angered Dame, whose lips raised, revealing his clenched teeth.
"Stop it. I don't want to be involved in a useless fight," Han said. "And you, Dame, should be
more honest with yourself. If you didn't know about the Dark Magus's power, then you too
wouldn't have stayed by his side."
Dame's anger subsided slightly as a feeling of guilt entered the pit of his stomach.
It was true. Dame saw great use in the Dark Magus, and that's why he originally
approached him, but it wasn't like that anymore.
Whenever Dame thought back to the times he had spent with Raze, he couldn't help but
smile. Even when their lives were in danger, a bond had been growing within him from
everything they had done together.
And Dame realized that most when he had joined the Martial Arts Tournament with the
aim of helping the others.
Although Dame had the goal of impressing his family and father through his own legacy, he
wanted to be part of this legacy.
"None of you have earned any right," Dame said, "to call him or me your brother. The things
you did growing up."
"I had already told both of you that I didn't care for the Neverfall Clan anymore, yet both of
you took every chance you could to shove me down."
"Throwing me into the pit of a descending spiral, forcing me to even hurt those who got
close to me so no one could get close. Luckily, I still found some people I cared for."
"Whereas you two, you just found each other because you're as sick as the other."
Rayna was holding in her pain and sorrow. She remembered the number of times she had
seen Dame crying, lost and alone.
Although she hadn't taken part in any of the abuse, she hadn't comforted or helped Dame
either.
"Those were just childish things," Han said. "I can't believe you're still a child holding onto
things that happened when we were kids."
"If anything, you should be thanking us. Everything we did to you was to prepare you for
the world out there."
"Right!" Fing said, nodding. "Being a descendant, there is a lot expected of you, but we could
see you were soft."
"The moment you trained with others or went to the academy, they would have eaten you
alive, and you would have never been able to progress."
"Sure, you're nothing like us two, but without us, you wouldn't have even survived and
would've taken your own life!"
"Just childish play. I deserved all that for what, because I was the youngest child?" Dame
said, his mind incredibly conflicted.
He couldn't believe the reason his brothers were giving for having done such things.
"So, even injuring my dantian before entering the academy-that was all for my sake?" Dame
shouted.
Rayna almost gasped. She wasn't even aware of this happening. When Dame entered the
academy, he wouldn't have been a child anymore.
Not only that, but Dame's performance was subpar to what was expected, at least from
what Belil had expected.
In turn, large punishments were received from their father, and after that, the relationship
looked like it would never be fixed.
When Rayna looked back on it, she realized that was when Dame had started to change
drastically.
No longer caring at all for his training, frequently visiting brothels, and essentially being
known as the failure within the family.
It was then that Rayna realized the hardships had never stopped from her brothers and
could have very well stunted Dame's growth.
"If you had overcome that, you'd be stronger than you are today," Han commented.
At that moment, a smile appeared on Dame's face, and tears rolled down the sides of his
cheeks.
"Thank you, thank you. I'm glad now I understand-you two were never my brothers... and
you don't deserve to call Raze your brother!"
Dame transformed, his face changing and his arms breaking out from his back. Shooting out
from his mouth, the strange webbing wrapped around Han and his flute.
"STOP IT!" Rayna screamed.
She didn't want to see this, especially something happening to Dame, and her being unable
to
stop it.
Sure, Dame had grown leaps and bounds due to his Hybrid form, but to take on both of his
brothers was an impossible task.
The Qi in the room had risen, and the webbing had broken from Han's hand.
"Wrong move, you're not a child anymore. And you're no longer part of the clan. These
actions are courting death," Han claimed.
He raised his flute to his mouth and blew down, but when he did, no sound was made. A
familiar feeling overcame Han, sending shivers down his spine.
"Don't touch him... don't touch my friend."
Chapter 908: Not Just A world For Warriors
Chapter 908: Not Just A world For Warriors

The repairs to the town of Flendon were done fairly quickly, partly due to some help sent
by the other Demonic Faction Clans nearby.
All of the warriors and guards who could utilize Qi were worn out from the fighting.
Originally, Yarlston wanted to use some of the town's funds to repair it.
They had quite a few funds left over from the constant gifts they had received before. War
was usually expensive, but with how few people had taken up arms, it wasn't too costly on
their side.
The thing was, nothing needed to be used. The other clans, wishing to get close to the Dark
Magus, had repaired the place for free.
"Things are looking up!" Andy said, with bandages wrapped around his shoulder and waist.
He had suffered a few scratches here and there when the warriors scaled the wall.
Still, his willpower was strong, and seeing the wall back in working condition put a giant
smile on his face.
"You know, I still haven't seen that short girl from the Crimson Crane anywhere!" Andy
placed his hand just above his eyebrow, blocking the light above as he quickly turned his
head, but there was no luck.
"It was because of her that so many of us survived. She pushed back a large number of
them, and she did it twice. Whatever it was that she used, she fainted twice, and it didn't
exactly look normal."
"Maybe I should ask one of the other members and prepare some sort of gift for her." Just
as Andy was getting ready to walk, through the entrance of the gate, down the path, he
could see something in the distance that caught his eye.
It was a fairly large fancy carriage, adorned with assorted gems on the side of its door.
There was even a golden frame that wrapped around the carriage. The horses pulling it
looked to be in spectacular condition with great muscle.
No normal person could acquire such horses, and he imagined the equipment covering
their faces could fetch quite a penny as well.
Seeing this sight, though, Andy sighed as he walked forward.
"Should we turn them away, sir?" one of the guards asked.
"If we do without explaining something, they might kick up a fuss. I'll deal with it," Andy
said as he walked out and eventually put out his hand, signaling the horses to stop.
"What, are we in the city already? Are we at the townhouse?" a muffled voice could be
heard coming from inside the carriage.
"No, sir, there is a guard outside!" the carriage rider out front shouted.
"This is the head guard of the town of Flendon. Please state your business as to why you are
here!" Andy shouted.
Moments later, the door was seen opening. A man stepped down onto the ground with his
curled-up shoes that had a small bow on the end.
The man walking out was covered in several layers of clothing and had a rounded red hat
to his side. The man also had a plump belly and a long winding mustache.
It was quite clear that this person wasn't a Pagna warrior. Andy couldn't imagine anyone
fighting in those things.
"I have come on behalf of King Doclet!" the man stated. "We are here to see the one named
the Dark Magus and to congratulate him on his success in defending the town of Flendon."
Andy recognized the name and was surprised to hear it. King Doclet was the ruler of one of
the two kingdoms that governed the Demonic Faction.
The Dark Faction had several kingdoms and independent forces. The Demonic Faction had
two kingdoms, while the Light Faction had an empire.
All of these forces were the local governments that governed the land outside that of the
Pagna warriors.
The thing was, the people of Flendon didn't really have a good view of King Doclet.
Although he technically owned the land the town was on.
It was almost as if they had always been forgotten about, apart from when it came to taxes.
The town was in a poor state, barely able to feed itself, yet taxes were still insisted upon,
and what did they get in return? Next to nothing.
When the Demonic Faction abused the town even more, pushing them away from any type
of self-help, the kingdom or king didn't even bother to contact the clans to try to sort out
something.
They had been so distanced from the king that the people had forgotten about him until
today.
"Unfortunately, at the moment, the Dark Magus is not accepting any visitors," Andy said. "If
you wish to leave him a gift, we will place it in a storage room and pass on the message. If
the Dark Magus decides to meet you, that's up to him." Andy picked his nose and then flung
it on the floor.
The man was clearly disgusted by the barbarian's actions, and when looking to the side, he
could see extremely extravagant gifts piled up as if they were nothing.
'These fools, I bet they don't even know the value of those items on the side. People from
this town, Pagna warriors-all of them are just so barbaric.'
'But I know that his majesty will soon clear up all of this trash... we just need to bide our
time.' Marcel thought.
He cleared his throat and tried to speak again.
"I'm afraid this isn't a matter the Dark Magus can avoid. You should know all this land
belongs to his majesty. We are not like the other visitors you have. It would be in his, and
this town's, best interest to meet with us. Otherwise, you might regret it."
Andy couldn't believe it. It was quite clear that the man in front of him was threatening
him. After what they had been through, and after facing off with the Behemoth Clan, what
did the Doclet Kingdom think it could do?
If the treaty wasn't there between Pagna warriors and the regular citizens, did they really
think they could best the world of Pagna?
Perhaps Andy had thought that way before, but now, being involved in fights with Pagna
warriors, he certainly didn't think that way anymore, especially with the Dark Magus.
"The longer you keep me waiting, the worse this will be for you."
Just as Andy was going to reply, a person appeared by his side with a red headband. It was
none other than Joe from the special assassin force.
"Really, he's awake... he's awake!" Andy said as he turned around.
Andy ran back toward the city without even turning to look at Marcel, whose veins were
now
popping out of his head.
'The disrespect has gone too far... Dark Magus, today you could have made a strong ally, but
instead, I'm sure you have made a large enemy.'
Andy didn't care about any of that, for the Dark Magus was now awake.
Chapter 909: A Slight Tingle
Chapter 909: A Slight Tingle

The Dark Assassin force, led by Cronker, was busy in the town of Flendon. They were
moving as fast as they could around the city to deliver the news.
The Dark Magus had woken up. They were informing the key members in town who would
care, and Cronker had sweat running down his face.
He quickly burst into one of the restaurants, the door swinging open. When the guests
turned to look at the door, they could see no one there.
"Kizer!" Cronker shouted, placing both hands on the table.
Kizer erupted into a fit of coughing as the large piece of meat he was eating got stuck in his
throat.
"The Dark Magus is awake! We are to meet at the town hall immediately!" Cronker said.
"Did you really have to jump out like that? Can I at least finish my food? Since he's woken
up now, it's not like he's just going to disappear or anything." Kizer, lifting his fork, looked
at a large piece of meat and went to stab it, but suddenly, the plate had disappeared and his
fork hit the wooden table.
"You don't understand! Alba rushed out immediately and told me to inform everyone as
soon as possible. That's why I'm going everywhere trying to tell everyone. Something must
be happening," Cronker said.
Kizer could tell from the look on Cronker's face that he was serious, but was it really a big
deal? What could have happened in the short time since he woke up?
"Alright, alright, I'll go. As for Froma, I haven't seen her, but someone said that guy... what
was his name, Fixteen, has been looking after her in one of the houses out front. If you find
him, he should know where she is," Kizer answered.
As quick as that, Cronker had left the restaurant, leaving Kizer on his own.
"Did he have to take the food?" Kizer grumbled. "He's going to owe me ten steaks after
this."
Everyone who was a guard at the wall knew who Froma was. She was quite recognizable
with her small size and rosy cheeks.
It wasn't just her appearance though; everyone felt like they owed a bit of their life to her.
She was part of the reason for them being alive, which was why when Fixteen had asked
one of the guards if they could use their house next to the wall, they had given it without
hesitation. They said they could live at their parents' house for a while and to take as long
as they needed. Fixteen had entered one of the small homes, about fifty square meters in
size, carrying a crate filled with specific ingredients.
"Reno said all of these should help... I just hope I can do a good job," Fixteen said.
"ARGHHH, ARGHH!"
The sound of loud screams could be heard coming from the other room. Immediately,
Fixteen rushed inside.
He could see Froma on the bed, holding her shoulders, clawing at them. The sheets were
covered in blood, and she continued to scream into the air.
"Make it stop, make it stop! I don't want to remember, I don't want to remember, please!"
Fixteen rushed over and grabbed her, holding her hands to stop her from hurting herself.
"I'm here, I'm here, don't worry... look, this world is real, look, you can feel this," Fixteen
said as he pulled her hand away and started to draw circles in her palm.
She started to calm down slightly, sniffling away, but still looked in agony.
Eventually, when she was calm enough, Fixteen tried to pull away, but Froma quickly
pulled his hand slightly.
"I'm not going anywhere, I just need to reach for the medicine," Fixteen explained. He
grabbed a bowl on the side, stretching out his hand, and eventually brought it over.
He helped her drink the strange-colored liquid inside, and she closed her eyes, leaning her
body up against the wall for a moment.
'The poor woman, the weapon must have taken a large toll on her body... When she fell, I
didn't think twice about catching her.'
'I brought her in here while she was still passed out, and now... I'm doing this,' Fixteen
thought.
Every couple of hours or so, the screams would continue from Froma, and she still hadn't
left the house.
Right now, Fixteen was the only one who could really help her.
"Thank you for doing all of this for me," Froma said. "I know we're not close, but I
appreciate it... You're a really good man."
"It's not a problem, but don't you want the Crimson Crane to try and help you?" Fixteen
asked.
"I can't, I can't drag them down with my problems. Besides, it's not like I can get rid of this.
I'm not even using the bow, and I'm still like this right now... I'm sure I'll be better in a few
days."
As she said those words, though, the tremors and thoughts returned to her mind. She
pulled tightly onto Fixteen's clothes.
He quickly started to draw circles in the palm of her hand again.
"No, it's filling my head again. I need something stronger, a stronger feeling," Froma said,
starting to pull at Fixteen's shirt, even ripping part of it.
"Hey... I don't think this is..."
Fixteen was pulled until his face was next to hers. He could feel the heat from her breath,
and her red cheeks were turning brighter by the moment.
"I'm sorry, but you're kind enough to forgive me, right?" Froma said as she pulled Fixteen in
and pressed her lips against his.
She continued, as the sensation coursed through her body, trying to forget those thoughts
and needing to feel something real.
At that point, Froma's body was weak, Fixteen knew this. It wouldn't have taken much for
him to push her away, and that was because there was one main thought that was running
through
his head.
'This feels kinda... nice.'
"Froma!" Cronker shouted, breaking through the front door and immediately turning into
the bedroom. "There's an... emergency..."
Chapter 910: The Army Move out!
Chapter 910: The Army Move out!

Marcel stood there, upright with perfect form, watching as the leader of the guards he was
talking to ran off in the other direction.
He couldn't hold in his anger; he wanted to burst out shouting. Never had a situation like
this occurred before.
'Where are the lavish gifts, the commendation food, the royal treatment I get when I visit
other towns and cities?' Marcel thought.
Being a messenger for the king was one of the most luxurious jobs one could have. It was
even a position that Pagna warriors had to respect.
At times, Marcel even enjoyed ordering around those arrogant warriors, knowing full well
that they were unable to say anything directly to him or harm him.
Maybe kingdoms and empires looked the other way when the general public was hurt, but
for a man of such high status, that wasn't the case.
However, no matter how much he wanted to shout and scream, there was now no one to
shout and scream at.
"This is ridiculous. Fine, if no one will escort me, then I will just head there myself," Marcel
said as he walked forward, clicking his fingers.
He ordered the driver with the carriage to follow him.
Marcel had only managed a few steps before the guards at the wall came forward, drawing
two spears across each other and blocking his path.
"What is the meaning of this?" Marcel shouted. "Surely you two buffoons heard my
conversation earlier. I am a messenger for King Doclet, here to meet the Dark Magus, so
why do you stand in my way?"
"Due to the recent attacks that have occurred, no one is allowed to enter without
permission from the head guard or higher personnel. The head guard did not give you
permission," one of the men said.
"We have very good ears, sir, and we specifically heard him deny your visit to the Dark
Magus."
Marcel was beyond stunned. Sure, at times people would deny a meeting or make an
excuse, but to be denied at the gate as well?
Was this not the land of King Doclet? If he wasn't allowed here, then none of these people
were allowed.
Just then, a farmer in rags walked past with a stick and two large baskets filled with tea
leaves. The guards quickly pulled up their spears and let him through.
When Marcel tried to follow, the guards swung the spears down once again, almost hitting
his face.
"I see, I see now. This whole town of Flendon has become quite rebellious. We will see how
that works out for all of you," Marcel claimed as he turned away.
He got in his carriage and was on his way to the city of Done, home to King Doclet.
It had taken a few hours for Marcel to travel, and with his anger having reached its peak, he
had taken no breaks.
The Kingdom of Doclet was a grand place, with a large courtyard and green-colored
slanting roofs.
The palace was tiered, with the king's palace located at the top. Immediately, Marcel had
been granted an audience with the king.
He was in his main office, a large space where the doors opened at the back, leading to a
garden that allowed flowing light inside.
"I see, so that's how they treated us. It's quite clear that Pagna warriors have gotten far too
confident due to how long the alliance has lasted," King Doclet said as he turned around,
rubbing his large beard a few times.
King Doclet was a fairly large man with a grey beard. He was in his sixties and had been in
charge of the kingdom for the last ten years.
Just like the lives of high-ranking clan warriors, life in a kingdom wasn't easy either, with
several people battling for the throne.
Yet, in the end, King Doclet had managed to reach the top thanks to his expertise. "From
what you've said, it's quite clear that the town of Flendon has rebelled against the Doclet
Kingdom. We must quell rebellions before they turn into something bigger, don't you
agree?"
Doclet was smiling, and so was Marcel. Both of them couldn't help but laugh in joy.
"I think it's time we show them what we can do. After the battle with the Behemoth Clan, I
imagine most of the warriors are weak, but even then, there wouldn't be much they could
do against this!" Doclet clicked his fingers.
Immediately, a man came in from the other side of the door, holding a long object covered
in a cloth. The man knelt on the floor and pulled the cloth away, revealing a long metallic
object underneath, with a wooden frame at the bottom and a few other instruments beside
it.
"What is this, sir?" Marcel asked, his eyes shining.
Doclet nodded at the man to demonstrate. The man began to gather the equipment, wiping
a cloth down the center of the metal object with what looked like a type of brush.
Afterward, he poured something into the top of the contraption that looked like dust, and
finally inserted a metallic ball. The whole process took around ninety seconds or so. Right
after, he pointed the large metallic object, and with a bang, a metallic round ball flew into
the air, tearing through one of the metallic pieces of armor that was hung up. "It...
penetrated the metallic armor... what is this marvel of a device?" Marcel asked. "That is our
miniature cannon that we have created. Not only have our ships received great investment
in technology, but we've created something that can turn every person into a great form of
power!"
"With this, the warriors will be shaking in their boots. We will go to take the Dark Magus in,
and if he doesn't comply, he will witness a massacre with our new advanced equipment!"
King Doclet proudly said with his chest out. Then, swinging his hand, he gave the order. It
was the order that Marcel had been waiting for his majesty to give out for a long time.
"Order the army to move out! Our first conquest will be the town of Flendon."
Chapter 911: Raze's Power Spike
Chapter 911: Raze's Power Spike

Fing and Han had faced numerous challenges in their time working for their father in the
Demonic Faction. They had to work hard because they were sure that one day they would
be the ones to end up in charge of the Neverfall Clan.
It wasn't just them who thought it, but the other clans and those within their clan as well.
They believed what Belil did was quite clever because he was building up the legacy for the
next generation.
With all their accomplishments, there wasn't much that Fing and Han could say they were
afraid of, but their eyes had opened slightly.
They never thought that a family member of theirs, introduced to them through marriage,
would be able to best them. In doing so, at least for now, they decided to give this person
great respect.
Because that was what the Demonic FactClan did-they respected great strength, especially
one they didn't understand.
When Han and Fing had reached the boiling point of their conversation with their brother,
and he reached for his flute, as he tried to blow into his weapon, he felt a chill surround his
entire body.
'It's not working... it's not working again! It's just like last time... can it be?'
It wasn't just a chill because his flute wasn't working. An energy, different from Qi, felt like
it was surrounding his body from behind, creeping into him, suffocating him and making it
hard to breathe.
"Don't touch him... don't touch my friend."
The words spoken were quiet, but the chill Han felt sank into his heart deeper when he
heard those words. He was even afraid to turn his head around, but he eventually did, and
his eyes locked onto the Dark Magus lying there in bed.
His hand was held out, and there was a deep scowl on his face.
"Raze... Raze, you're awake!" Alba said, thankful that he was up now. There was a slight
worry in her head though--what if the situation got worse?
"I have to tell the others, I have to tell them to come here as quickly as possible!" Alba said
as she practically ran out of the room, back where she had come from, and immediately
informed Cronker and the others to get there as fast as they could.
With so many people, it was unlikely something would happen, right?
"Listen to Raze," Rayna said, standing up. "Raze doesn't want you guys to fight. You said
you were protecting him, right? How can you protect him if you fight so close to him!"
Immediately hearing that, both Fing and Han placed their weapons away. It was the same
for Dame, who was no longer in his Hybrid form, but he was looking at Raze, his mouth
slightly ajar.
"Friend... did you just say friend?" Dame whispered to himself.
He didn't speak too loudly, but when Dame thought about it, those were the words he
needed. Words to make clear that his relationship with Raze had cemented and had
become something bigger than they originally thought.
He had been with Raze for a long time as well, and it wasn't as if Dame had many people he
could call friends either. He was sure of it-it might have been the first time he had ever
heard Raze say those words.
Honestly, in that moment, Dame didn't even care for the hurt he had received from his
brothers in the room. Hearing Raze say those words, willing to go against his two brothers
for him, meant everything.
'I wouldn't hate it... if I had to follow this man for the rest of my life,' Dame thought with a
smile.
"Raze, you're finally awake. Is everything okay? How do you feel?" Rayna asked. She went
to reach out for his hand but then stopped herself, remembering he didn't like to be
touched.
While he was asleep, she had managed to sneak in a few touches here and there, which she
wasn't able to do anymore.
"Am I fine?" Raze said, now no longer feeling the Qi in the room. He could tell things had
settled down, giving him a moment to think. First, he touched his mana heart.
Closing his eyes, he focused.
'Everything seems to be working as normal. Nothing is damaged... No, it's not just working
as normal-I can see another star circling it... I'm now a 6th star mage!' Raze was inwardly
smiling, but he didn't want to show it on his face.
Because he was starting to remember what had happened to get there-the breakthrough
that had occurred, the powers he used.
It wasn't as if he was a mindless beast. He had been controlling himself, his old body and its
powers, and he remembered everything.
The only thoughts that were slightly muddled, like a fog over his mind, were what had
occurred toward the end.
'But I did it, I managed to make a breakthrough, and with it, I increased my star level and
the magic along with it... but how did I even do it? Is it something that I'm even able to
replicate? If not, then it's as useless as having that Bloody woman around.'
'If I do figure it out, I need to know if I can use it properly, or if with every use, I'll end up
like this. There's a good chance I was like this because I pushed myself too far.'
Concentrating further, there was one more thing he wanted to check on himself, and that
was his dantian. As he looked deep into his Qi...
He could feel it as his energy flowed through his fingertips. His senses were sharpened, and
his body felt anew. It was hard to say he was even human now, with how slow his heart
was beating and how his body was functioning.
The world of magic may have made no sense to others, but to him, the world of Pagna
warriors was also an amazing thing.
'I'm now a 9th stage warrior. I've just reached this stage, but I'm on the same level as Sha
Mo and Belil. I still have a ways to go to catch up to them with my Qi... but there should now
be no one in Pagna who can take me on.'
As Raze thought this, the door swung open, and several people pushed through the
crowded area, some falling on top of each other.
Eventually, walking past them, was one girl with a bright smile.
"Safa..." Raze called out. "You're alive... but how?"
"Not because of you." A voice rang in Raze's head followed by an echoey laughter.
Chapter 912 An Open Heart
Chapter 912 An Open Heart
For a long time, a large number of emotions had been suppressed in Raze. Ever since he
had fully taken on the name Dark Magus, his emotions were numb, with nothing left but
mainly anger on his mind.
Almost daily, he would replay in his head what had happened, so he wouldn't forget the
revenge he needed to complete. He had to numb his other emotions because it was the only
way he could allow his Dark Magic to grow, and in turn, its growth gave him more power to
face his enemies.
There were things the old Raze had never imagined himself doing. Things that he wouldn't
have been proud of, but in Alterian, in order to progress, he had to continue that way,
suppressing his other emotions.
He had brought this with him when he entered Pagna. Only caring about his goal to get
stronger—or at least he thought he did—as the first one to pry his heart open slightly was
Safa.
An action of a sister that wasn't even his own family. As time went on, there were more and
more that were weaving its way into his heart, yet he wished to shut them out. Why?
Because he never wanted to go through those emotions again. If he let someone into his
heart, and he lost them again, what would the result be?
Could he go through that pain once more, the same pain he had gone through before?
Maybe this was why he was unwilling to let others in his heart again, and before he realized
it, he already had.
Seeing Safa standing by the door, he felt a sense of relief. All of his tensed-up muscles
relaxed, and a flood of strange and overwhelming feelings entered him.
"I'm happy, Raze," Safa said as she wiped the tears away from her face but continued to
sniffle away. "I'm so happy that I get to see you again."
Safa started to walk forward, and naturally, the others stood aside.
She came closer and closer, and not even the two brothers got in the way of Safa as she
approached the edge of the bed. When she was close enough, she leapt in, holding him tight,
and continued to sob out loud.
"WAHHH!" Safa said, as she continued to hold Raze tight.
Everyone watching who knew Raze was a bit stunned. At first, they were even worried
about what would happen, but nothing did happen. Instead, Raze embraced the hug and
even lifted his hands back and pulled her in.
"It's okay… I'll protect you," Raze said. "I'll make sure you're okay. I won't go missing
because I will do everything in my power to make sure you're okay."
When Raze said those words, he wasn't just directing them at Safa, it was a promise made
to himself, and one that was made to the annoying Bloody woman that wouldn't get out of
his head.
In his heart now, he had opened a space for Safa. Accepting this fact, he could even embrace
her, but also, accepting this fact, he knew he had to accept his duty to protect her.
He hadn't done well to protect those he cared about in his old life, but this was a fresh start,
and Safa was part of this body's family and, in a way, felt like she was part of Raze's.
"I guess this might be the closest thing I'll have to a granddaughter," Raze mumbled under
his breath, which was picked up by Anna and Liam. They thought it was a strange comment
for him to make, oddly strange, especially after seeing his form from before.
"How did you manage to survive?" Raze said as he pulled away. Although he had allowed
her in, the hug was getting a little much for him.
Safa pulled away and wiped her tears again.
"I'm not sure, honestly. I was hoping that maybe you would have the answer to that."
Reaching behind her, Safa pulled the Lux Spear out and held it on its side. "But I think it
might have something to do with this."
Raze's eyes widened as he reached out and grabbed hold of the spear.
'Right, I almost forgot about that, one of the conditions of the sword. Upon death, the user
will be given a second chance.'
Knowing that it really was the spear that had managed to save Safa, it didn't make him feel
any better. In a way, it proved that the Bloody woman was right, and Raze had failed to
protect her.
The second-chance effect of the weapon had been activated, but now it would never be
activated again.
"From here on out," Raze said as he pulled his hand away, "there will be no second chances.
The spear won't be able to save you again, so don't go and do something stupid like that…
or I'll have to lock you away, and put you somewhere you will never be able to get hurt
again."
Although Raze's words might have been meant to come off as sweet, the others weren't so
sure they were. It was almost going a step too far, but Raze had said everything with a smile
on his face.
Sniffling away, the tears started to fade from Safa. She had confirmed that her spear was
the one that saved her, and there wouldn't be a second chance.
She needed to get stronger, but the main reason wasn't to save herself. As she looked at
Raze on the bed, images kept appearing in her head of the old man she had seen.
It wasn't that the old man scared her or his image, it was the eyes she saw at the time.
Although she hadn't been conscious for that long, she never wanted to see such darkness in
those eyes again.
"Raze, I want to ask you a favor. You told us some of your story before, and about yourself…
but can you tell us everything… what exactly happened to you, in Alterian?" Safa asked.
Chapter 913 All Of Raze's Past
Chapter 913 All Of Raze's Past
This question that had been proposed to Raze had been asked more than once, and each
time Raze had somewhat avoided it from the others.
The last time he spoke about his past, he mentioned his name, Dark Magus. He informed
them of his infamous reputation in Alterian and how the enemies he wished to face were
the Grand Magus, and how they might be linked to Alter and Pagna.
However, when he was pushed to go further, when Safa had asked him last time, "What did
the Grand Magus do to you?" he was unable to answer.
Raze was unable to relive all of those moments. He could only remember the anger. Telling
the story to himself, telling it out loud and explaining all the details… it seemed like an
impossible task.
"Raze, please," Safa said. She had avoided being intrusive to Raze, but after what had
happened, she had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"I don't want to lose you…" Safa said, staring firmly into Raze's eyes.
To be honest, all those watching were silently cheering her on. It had gone on too long. It
had been too long for them to not understand Raze's goal.
Sure, they knew he was after the Grand Magus, but what drove him to the darkness they
could all feel on the battlefield?
"I don't want to say goodbye to another brother," Safa claimed.
It was then that the serious expression on Raze's face disappeared, and it turned into a soft
smile.
"Fine, you win," Raze said. "I will tell you the story of how my life was ruined by each of the
five Grand Magus. How they took everything that I cared about in the world."
"My childhood, my work, my life's ambition, my colleagues, my dear loving wife…"
When Raze said those words, instinctively, Rayna's hands raised to her chest, but it was
something she wanted to hear about as well.
"And the only other person who had supported me after I had lost everything, how they
had even taken that, my dear friend Jake," Raze said.
---
King Doclet and his large army were quick to move. New items were provided to his troops,
and those with the new advanced weapons were named infantrymen.
Most of them were currently moving in large groups in big carriages being pulled along by
horses. In front of them, there was a row of men on horses, ready to be the first line of
attack.
The army must have numbered around fifty thousand or so men and women. If there was
one thing the kingdoms and empires clearly had on their side over that of the Pagna
warriors, it was people.
Although there were a large number of clans, and a large number of warriors, in the grand
scheme of things, it was nothing compared to the general population.
"Look at all of this!" Marcel said with a large smile, his hands spread wide. "I can't wait to
see the look on that filthy town's face once we bring them all in! They will marvel at our
state-of-the-art army."
"Yes, exactly!" King Doclet said by his side. The two of them were riding on top of horses,
centered in the middle of the large army.
Behind them, something else was being dragged along by people and animals: giant
wooden ships. These ships were placed on rollers, large wooden logs allowing for them to
be pulled easier on the ground.
They were also greased up with animal fat as well.
"This is going to be the first act of the kingdoms, and it's important that we play a big
tribute to our advanced technology!" King Doclet said with a gleaming face. "That was why
I didn't bring too large an army with us; otherwise, they would claim that we had just won
this thing with numbers."
Marcel nodded along, still thinking about the special weapon that had been produced. He
couldn't imagine anyone stopping it.
"We shouldn't underestimate the enemy," General Re said, wearing his red and white coat,
with a metallic shoulder piece. He had one of the new long metal barrel-like weapons on his
back.
"Your majesty, I think it would be best if we can end this fight by just bringing the Dark
Magus in. Perhaps we can even use him to our advantage."
"Ha!" Marcel laughed, pointing a finger at the general. "Use him? What use would we have
for those savages? Even those warriors fight with their bare hands! There is no need to use
people like them."
"Did you not hear the reports?" General Re asked, raising an eyebrow. "My men gathered
information on the battle with the Behemoth Clan."
"They say rain fell and froze the entire battlefield, large walls appeared from the ground,
and thunder struck at their toes at a single whim!"
"Invisible strikes cut the necks of people from left and right, not knowing where they came
from, and even the power of the sun was harnessed by this man, the one we are going over
to face... the Dark Magus."
When saying his name, and recalling everything Re had heard about this man, he almost
startled himself into fear.
"Haha!" Marcel started to laugh, and soon after, the king joined in with him.
"General Re, look around you. Look at our ships that have never lost in battle or even been
taken over by pirates. Look at the weapons we have that have never been seen before in
the world of Pagna."
"These are real things you can see in front of you," King Doclet said. "Those words you
spoke of—no warriors, not even those who train their fists every day, could accomplish
those things."
"It's quite clear that the city and the Dark Magus himself have spread those rumors about
him. You should know it's a common tactic to do this to strike fear into one's army."
"The only thing is, if they were lying, then they should have come up with a better lie. The
Dark Magus is clearly a scam!"
Up ahead, it wasn't much further until they would reach the town of Flendon.
Chapter 914 Raze's Past Jake Dove
Chapter 914 Raze's Past Jake Dove
Finally, the others would learn Raze's story—not just his story, but that behind the Dark
Magus.
They knew already, regardless of what would be said, that they would support Raze. They
had made that decision multiple times throughout their journey.
He had saved all of their lives—from the orphanage, to the academy in the underground
dungeon, to even at the Martial Arts Tournament when Murkel was willing to take all of
their lives.
Maybe all of these things really were just stepping stones for Raze, but to them, it was part
of their journey and life, and they wouldn't know what to do without him.
They weren't part of the Dark Faction or the Demonic Faction; they were part of the Dark
Magus Faction.
"For my story, I will start at the beginning of my life in the world of Alterian, from when I
was a child." Just as Raze had started his story, Han had a strange reaction.
His head quickly turned to the side, the tip of his earlobe twitching.
"I'm sorry, brother Raze," Han said. "Although I am interested in your tale of how you
gathered such strength, it seems the two of us must go."
"Huh!" Fing said. "Both of us?"
Han was already heading to the door, and it felt like Fing had no choice but to follow. Those
in the room just wanted them to hurry up and leave.
"I can't believe they would even say something like that," Alba complained. "This isn't the
story of how Raze got stronger... it's the story of where his anger comes from…" Alba
mumbled the last part to herself.
Now that everyone was ready, Raze continued his tale to them all. Just like he said, he
started from the beginning, and he made sure not to leave a detail out.
He talked about how, as a child, a mage would frequently visit him, and how magic became
the savior of his life.
From there, he researched magic, became a professor, grew older, and enjoyed his time.
Then, he explained how someone he thought was his friend had betrayed him for the
principal position.
At each point in the story, the others wanted to talk to Raze, to stop and comfort him. But
they didn't know how.
Some of them had lived hard lives, but Raze's story made theirs seem like nothing. The
other issue was that the tales of sadness continued on.
After losing his job and losing himself, there was one person who had stayed by his side—
his wife, Sabrina.
She had done everything to help him, and without her, he would have perished even
sooner.
Then came the moment when Raze had witnessed her death, his pillar of support taken
away from him.
What was important to note so far were the names of the Grand Magus that had been
mentioned throughout the story.
The saddest part was that beyond his wife's death, there was more. He talked about the
only friend he had made after, a man named Jake Dove, and how he had been taken from
him too.
Moving on to the last part of his tale, he explained what linked all of the Grand Magus
together, and how he had vowed to do whatever he could to get rid of them all.
The story of Jake was one that Raze didn't want to remember until he had at least gotten
his revenge on that specific person.
When Raze finally finished his tale, everyone was left speechless. A few of the women were
tearing up, and even Liam was wailing the most.
Still, no one said anything. How could they when they thought back to each of the horrors
that occurred in his life?
While everyone was silent, Raze moved the sheet off himself. He noticed the blazer he was
wearing.
"A gift from her, one she wasn't even able to give me herself," Raze commented, taking a
deep breath as he sniffed the edge.
Due to the blazer's magical properties, it didn't need to be cleaned. It allowed him to self-
heal, and the blazer itself would repair.
She had truly put everything she could into the blazer, and then Raze started to flicker Dark
Magic around his hands. It quickly disappeared, and in its place, a book appeared in his
hands.
He rubbed his finger against the indented bottom, in gold, that read the words 'Jake Dove.'
'I was never able to get a memento from you. I was too caught up in my revenge, and I
never thought I'd be brought to another world like this.
'Yet somehow, in this world, I have obtained something that belonged to you.' Raze thought
back to who had given him the book.
Of all people, Charlotte had handed it to him, thinking it was just a simple book of spells
that would help him develop his magic, not knowing its true value to Raze.
'Himmy asked me to help her. It was his parting gift for helping me… I made that promise,
and I should keep it.' Raze thought.
"What is this!" the Bloody woman said in his head. "Didn't you say you were the Dark
Magus filled with hatred, ready to carve the world with blood? What happened to you?
Have you turned into the Light Magus?"
Raze laughed at the taunts from the Bloody woman. They hardly affected him anymore.
'Opening up my heart, I've decided there are those I care about. It's no use lying to myself
anymore.'
'But don't get me wrong—if the path to the Grand Magus is a bloody one, then so be it. And
regardless of how these people see me in this room, I will do whatever it takes for them.'
Raze quickly put the book away. With his story complete, he knew he had to move on.
With his current strength and his breakthrough, he was now capable of taking out the
Grand Magus.
At that moment, the door swung open, and to everyone's surprise, Han and Fing had
returned.
"I'm sorry, but we have a message to deliver," Han said. "The head of the Neverfall Clan
wishes to meet you."
This was what Raze had been waiting for. He wanted to meet Belil as well, and ask him
about the location of the Golden Globe.
Chapter 915 Will I Be In His Heart?
Chapter 915 Will I Be In His Heart?
It was quite shocking for the group to learn that the head of the Neverfall Clan was calling
for Raze. It wasn't completely unexpected, after all, they had just successfully bested Sha
Mo and the Behemoth Clan.
The news was sure to have spread around the entire continent of Pagna by now.
What they didn't expect was to meet Raze so soon, and a number of thoughts were going
through their heads.
What was it that Belil wanted? Did he now want to fight Raze as well? But then why send
the brothers to his aid, and why so casually invite him?
The thing was, Raze didn't look too shocked by this either.
"Can you just give me a few moments?" Raze asked.
The two brothers nodded.
"As long as we arrive by today, I think it will be okay. Take as much time as you need," Han
said as he left the room, and Fing followed as well.
Without a doubt, the two of them would be keeping a close eye on the building to see if
Raze was just going to disappear.
"Actually, I meant all of you, if you don't mind," Raze said.
"Oh, right, sure. We can give you space, Raze. We'll wait for you downstairs, in the main
hall," Safa said.
"I'm sure you need to decide what to do with us and the Dark Faction before you leave,"
Anna said, looking a little restless, tapping her foot.
Raze could already imagine why. She knew something was up and was perhaps worried
about what would happen to Zon.
When everyone had left the room, Raze sat there and stared at the ceiling.
---
The others that had all been brought to the Demon Faction by Raze gathered in the main
hall. It was a large meeting room with several seats.
Everyone was somewhat walking around casually, waiting for what was to happen next.
As Cronker walked around the room, he soon saw Fixteen and Froma. The two quickly
looked at each other, their faces burning bright red, and both walked in the opposite
direction.
A loud thud followed, as Fixteen bumped into a wall right in front of him and began to rub it
in pain.
"I didn't see anything!" Cronker shouted slightly louder than intended and turned around.
Those on the other side of the room even heard him and looked at the situation.
"I wonder what that was about?" Liam said, looking at both Simyon and Safa sitting next to
each other.
"Still, I can't believe everything that happened to Raze... and that he's really an old man!"
Liam claimed.
"You know, I can relate a little bit," Simyon said. "I also had something taken away from
me... but for him, for everything to be taken away like that…"
"It was almost as if he didn't get a second chance at all, no chance to even live a moment of
happiness."
"No," Safa said. "That's where you're wrong. I too... lost my family and my brother, but
we're able to move forward because of him. So we just need to do the same for him."
"You might be right about that, but this whole magic thing is quite interesting, right?" Liam
said. "I mean, the old Raze was back for a moment as an old man, and now he's young
again."
"That's nearly every Pagna warrior's dream, and it can only be achieved by those in the
Divine Realm. I know Raze's story was sad and all that, but if Raze is here in Pagna, it makes
me wonder—will we ever get the chance to go to Alterian?"
On one side of the room, distancing themselves from the others, Rayna was leaning against
a wall, her arms folded, continuing to look at the floor.
"You're quiet, which is your usual mode, but I haven't seen that look on your face since we
were kids."
When Rayna looked up, she was surprised to see that it was Dame speaking to her.
"What look? There's a look on my face right now?"
"I hate to spoil it, but you've had that look for a long time," Dame answered. "When we
were young, when something happened to me, when my brothers did something that upset
me, or I was punished by one of the elders or father…"
"I'd see this look—the same look you have now. It feels like you want to do something, you
want to say something, but you can't. And since I'm not the one in the hot seat right now,
my guess is this has something to do with Raze."
Dame was spot on with his guess, and Rayna's feelings did feel quite similar to how they
did back then.
"It's just after hearing everything Raze went through in his world... I don't know what to do.
I don't know my place," Rayna said, her voice cracking slightly.
"I want to be there for him, I want to be someone that can help and support him... but at the
same time, after hearing about his wife, about everything Sabrina did for him... I never want
to replace that."
"Yet for some reason, I start having selfish thoughts too. Would there ever even be a place
for me in his heart?" she asked, on the verge of tears.
At that point, Dame didn't know what to do to comfort her. There was no gesture he could
make, so he said what he could.
"Maybe I don't feel it the same way you do, but there was a slight thought in the back of my
mind, and you know what? Today I heard him call me 'friend,' a word I never thought I'd
hear from his mouth."
"It seems the Raze we first knew is changing, and even the one he spoke of from Alterian.
Although we are helping him with what needs to be done, maybe we need to think of Raze
as two different people."
"The Raze from Alterian, and the Raze from Pagna."
The double doors swung open, and they were expecting it to be Raze, but instead, it was
Mayor Yarlston and Andy together.
"Where is the Dark Magus?" Andy asked. "It seems we have a problem."
Chapter 916: Big Trouble Arriving
Chapter 916: Big Trouble Arriving

Andy and Yarlston had arrived at the town hall the moment they had gotten the news that
Raze, the Dark Magus, was awake. Originally, they wanted to head into the room and thank
him for saving the people, for saving the town of Flendon once again.
However, when the two of them saw all of the others rush upstairs, they had decided it was
not their place. It was important to give Raze time with the people that were close to him.
So they stayed downstairs, until a message had occurred. Heading outside, they went to get
a bigger idea of the problem that was approaching.
After learning of the news that was at hand for them, they had quickly rushed back. They
had no choice. They needed to inform the Dark Magus because they would need his help,
which was why both of them had burst back through the room asking for Raze.
The others that were waiting were quite shocked, and eventually, Alba had approached the
group.
"What's going on, why are you calling for Raze?" Alba asked, glancing above her.
"It's a big deal," Yarlston said. "Right now, there is an army heading our way. We haven't
told the people yet to avoid causing panic, and after the fighting that's happened before, I
don't really know what to say to them."
"The people, they might not be able to handle another war. From the banners that they
were carrying off in the distance, it looked like it was the Doclet Kingdom," Andy said.
The name of the kingdom had caught Rayna's attention.
"Why would they be bringing an army here? They own the land here, but they should have
brought some type of messenger to talk with us, the Neverfall Clan.
"They should know this place is under our protection!" Rayna said, annoyed.
Andy started to sweat, recalling that there was indeed a messenger that had come from the
Kingdom of Doclet.
But could his small actions have caused them to call their whole army? It didn't make sense.
For a kingdom to act this way, they were likely just looking for an excuse to attack, and
found the right one.
Rayna then walked forward, thinking about how long Raze might need on his own. One
thing was clear though-he deserved as much time to himself as he needed.
"Don't inform Raze of this," Rayna ordered. "We will deal with this situation."
"Rayna!" Dame called out. "You should know of the long-standing agreement between
Pagna warriors and citizens. If you get involved too heavily, it could blow up in the
warriors' faces and will make it so all of the clans are against us.
"I know you want to help Raze, but let's treat this situation with caution."
An incident between the citizens and warriors on this large of a scale hadn't occurred in
many years, and there was a worry on everyone's mind that this might be the cause of one.
The Demonic Faction was comprised of two kingdoms and two royal families. Although this
was the case, the two kingdoms weren't at war, and trade was even opened up between
them and the cities in their territories.
The other kingdom was known as the Karab Kingdom, located on the south side of the
Demonic Faction that was quite hot in weather compared to other areas. The surrounding
areas were covered mostly in sand, yet there were still beautiful oases and rivers that ran
through certain areas.
Making the cities still full of energy and life. In the Karab Kingdom, in one of the palaces, the
king, Empon, was sitting on his throne.
The triangular-shaped window behind him was letting the sun blaze into the room, but he
was chilled as he had several servants by his side blowing large leaves to fan him.
"It is strange to have a messenger come asking for me directly from the Doclet Kingdom.
Please speak," Empon said as he took a bite of an apple.
"Yes, your majesty!" the man said, pulling out a large scroll. "The message is from King
Doclet himself. He has decided to travel with an army of fifty thousand men to the town of
Flendon."
"His aim is to take down the city and the warriors within it. He wishes for you to witness
the might of the Doclet Kingdom, and join him in a feast in the town of Flendon after the
battle."
The man ended the message with a proud smile on his face, only to witness King Empon
drop his apple onto the floor with his mouth wide open.
He then quickly stood up from his seat.
"Is King Doclet a fool?!"
The messenger was angered by the words from the king of another kingdom but had to
keep his cool.
"Sir... why do you say this?" the man asked.
"I thought the King was smarter than this! It's his own land, yet he hasn't even heard the
stories of the person who is in the town of Flendon right now."
"Who are you talking about?" the messenger asked.
"I'm talking about the Dark Magus!" Empon claimed. "We gathered several people from all
over who had interactions or heard stories of the Dark Magus, including those from the
town of Flendon themselves."
"They say the powers that the Dark Magus possesses are far beyond what we thought
possible, and how he is able to perform miracles."
The messenger had also heard these tales, but thought that King Empon was the fool for
believing such things. Was it even possible that a single man could do such things?
"I can see the look on your face-you don't believe such things, but believe me. It's quite
clear from all the information we have gathered that the Dark Magus is no ordinary man."
"Maybe if you were to attack another clan you would be saved by the agreement and more,
but this man... if you anger him, then I fear that you will all fear his wrath, and there will no
longer be a Kingdom of Doclet."
For a moment, the messenger started to think. What if they had made a mistake, and he
needed to hurry back.
Chapter 917: Where Did Everyone Go?
Chapter 917: Where Did Everyone Go?

Following both Andy and Yarlston, the group had ended up back at a familiar place, a place
they didn't think they would be gathering at so soon again.
They were at the north wall, which had just finished being repaired. Much of the scaffolding
was still left on the buildings, and they hadn't yet taken it down because it was so soon.
"Hey, is everything okay, Mayor?" one of the men shouted, shirtless. He was one of the
guards who had fought in the battle against the Behemoth Clan.
He was still covered in bandages and had been working on the wall.
"Everything is okay, we're just observing something!" the mayor shouted back. He didn't
know what to say. He didn't want to lie to them, but at the same time, if he told them the
truth, how devastated would the whole town be?
The thing was, they would eventually learn the truth; how could they not? The large group
following the two quickly went up to one of the towers located on the wall.
It was an open-top tower, where two guards were on lookout, placing their eyes through a
strange device, looking outward into the open field.
"Whoa, look at them," Liam said. "Both of them are shaking."
The two men who were supposed to be on the lookout were kneeling on the floor,
shivering. Only when Andy came close did one of them manage to stand up and point in
another direction.
"If this is their reaction to what's going on out there, then I understand why they're
reluctant to tell the entire town," Safa said.
Alba peered through the telescope and saw it: a giant army making its way through the
hardened desert, kicking up dirt from the ground.
Even in her, a jolt was felt. Memories resurfaced of when they had seen the Behemoth
Clan's large army of twenty thousand, and now there was an even larger one heading their
way.
Looking out, the others took turns gazing at the large force coming toward them.
"This has to be the first case, right? In a large number of years," Ricktor said. "I don't even
know if anyone is still alive in Pagna who has witnessed an attack from regular people on
Pagna warriors."
"We still aren't sure if this is an attack on us," Dame said. "We don't know their reason for
coming here."
"You think they brought a large army to chat?" Kizer replied. Although he couldn't see them
with his own eyes, and only through the telescope, his sword was already reacting to the
large number of people.
"It's quite clear they want something and are planning to take it by force," Reno
commented. "The timing is too good as well. They must think that Raze and the rest of us
are weak."
The thing was, Pagna warriors recovered relatively fast. They were ready to fight, but there
were a few things holding them back.
Just how strong were the kingdoms? They had to have relative strength to the Pagna
warriors; otherwise, why would the alliance have been made in the first place?
"Regardless, what are we meant to do?" Dame asked. "If we can't fight them..."
"What happens if we do fight them, if we break that rule?" Simyon asked.
"No one knows for sure," Dame replied. "It's just a rule that we've honored for a long time,
but there are rumors. When the rules were set in Pagna by the strongest warriors, they had
risen above to the Divine Realm."
"Even if the strength of warriors has increased beyond that of regular citizens, if the rule is
broken, some of those Divine warriors who set up the rule long ago will come down and
unleash their wrath on the people."
Simyon gulped. Whenever a Divine one was mentioned, it was a frightening thought, even if
their powers were limited in the world of Pagna.
There was one Divine warrior who was still out there in the land of Pagna somewhere,
though the others were unaware of this.
Anna knew, and she was keeping it to herself. So far, it didn't seem like the Divine warrior
had caused any trouble, but it was a force that could disrupt things on the land.
"If Raze defeated Sha Mo, then he should be able to go up against someone from the Divine
Realm, at least in Pagna as well," Anna said.
"No," Rayna replied. "I already said I don't want Raze involved, and besides, we don't know
the status or issues in the Divine Realm."
"I'm sure some of them are heads of big clans in the other factions. They might still hold
influence in the clans. If Raze were to take the blame or attack the citizens, there's a good
chance he could become the enemy of every clan and a large enemy of the Divine warriors
above... he already has too much on his plate."
The world of warriors was delicate; each action could cause large ripples, and they had no
idea how far those ripples would reach.
"Something's happening," Mantis said.
Several of the others came over and looked through the telescope, and that's when they
noticed the army was splitting into two large halves.
Moving to the side, it looked like part of the army was heading for the large lake attached to
the town.
"I guess we have no choice. We need to head out there before they reach us," Rayna said.
"Let's go see what they want."
At the same time, Raze had finally gotten off his bed and proceeded to stretch. The book
was placed away, and he felt back to his old self again, his Pagna self.
"I have to say, it's good to be in this body, though. I really did revert back to my ways with
the breakthrough."
Opening the door, Raze was ready, having made his decision on what to do next and with
the others, but when he entered the main reception of the town hall, he was left confused.
"Where is everyone?"
Chapter 918: Give Us What We Want!
Chapter 918: Give Us What We Want!

Looking around the town hall, Raze noticed that the place was quite empty, with not a
single one of those who had traveled with him in sight.
As he looked more, he noticed something else-it wasn't just them. Where was the mayor?
Where were the staff? It seemed like they had all disappeared.
'This isn't right. I know I told them to leave me alone, but isn't this a bit of an overreaction?'
Raze thought. 'Was I too harsh on the younglings?'
Recently, Raze had been doing more reflection on his actions. It almost felt like he had been
in a trance up until this point. Regardless, he needed to push on.
'If they aren't here, I should look for them. This is stranger than I'd like,' Raze thought.
Eventually, Raze decided to exit the town hall. He opened the wide doors, half-expecting to
see them outside, but he could only see the general public walking around, along with two
others right in front of him.
"Brother Raze, you're up. Are you ready to head to the Neverfall Clan?" Fing asked.
Raze turned his head left and right.
"I was looking for Rayna and the others. Have you seen them?"
"They headed to the wall, but we weren't really sure why," Han answered.
Hearing that, Raze guessed he knew where to go next and started to walk ahead. As he
walked, he noticed a few footsteps trailing behind him.
"I don't need bodyguards," Raze said, turning around.
"Yes, of course," Han replied. "But our father has asked us to escort you... not that we think
you would flee or need help, but we just need to keep an eye on where you are. Please,
ignore us and go ahead."
Raze hadn't fully made up his opinion on the two brothers, and that was mainly because he
didn't know his full opinion on Belil and the whole Neverfall Clan yet.
What was their whole role in all of this? One thing was clear: he didn't like how they had
acted against Dame, but right now, while they weren't his enemies, there was no reason for
him to make an enemy of them.
'I do wonder, am I strong enough to take them on? My magic went up a star, and my
Cultivation increased by a stage. I did best them with my breakthrough, but it's hard to
know if I could beat them now.'
Although Raze had achieved these two growths in power, he had yet to test it, and the town
of Flendon wasn't exactly the best place to do so.
"Hey, that's him, right?"
"Yeah, he's the Dark Magus. I heard he came and helped us again, to stop the Behemoth
Clan!"
"I can't believe it's really him."
As Raze continued to walk through the streets, he was drawing a lot of attention from the
locals. At first, he heard them just saying words of praise and pointing at him.
Eventually, members of the town came up to him and thanked him directly.
Although they didn't see what Raze had done, due to hiding in their homes, they knew it
was because of him that they were safe.
Then, members of the public started to come bearing gifts-either bread from their bakeries
or free clothing from their stalls.
Children even offered pieces of candy to him as he walked by, before running off.
'This is a strange experience... it might be a first for me,' Raze thought.
In Alterian, Raze had done plenty as the Dark Magus. He had even stopped high-level crime,
corrupt guilds, and more.
It was never his intention to do these things, but it was a byproduct of his goal against the
Grand Magus.
However, these "good deeds" he had completed as the Dark Magus were covered up and
shown in the news outlets as moments of terror by the Dark Magus.
It was simply the Dark Magus going on a rampage, destroying guilds. As for the problems
that had originally been caused, they were all blamed on him.
He had quickly become the public enemy of all of Alterian.
Now, he was hearing the Dark Magus spoken about positively, and people were directly
thanking him for what he had done.
'A byproduct of my own selfish desires again,' Raze thought. 'I only saved this town and
fought against Sha Mo because I believed that if I absorbed him, I could grow even
stronger.' 'If it had been just a regular clan attacking the town of Flendon, I'm not sure I
would have acted,' Raze thought to himself.
Continuing to walk, there was a slight smile on his face. Due to all of the interruptions, he
had yet to reach the wall, and that's when he heard an outcry from the public.
"There's something happening at the lake!"
"What do you mean?"
"There's some type of army! A fleet of ships has entered the lake. There are at least a
hundred ships with a large number of people!"
"Is it the Behemoth Clan again? Did they come back?"
"No, I don't think it's the Behemoth Clan. I saw another flag!"
Immediately hearing this, Raze strayed from his path and decided to head to the lake
instead of the wall. He quickly moved, running, and the two brothers followed him.
With Raze's speed, it didn't take long for him to reach the lake area, where there were few
houses. A barrier and walkway had yet to be built, so there was still an issue with flooding.
Yet a group had naturally formed as they pointed, and a large fleet of ships could be seen in
the water.
On one of the slightly larger ships, General Re from the Doclet Kingdom stood at the
forefront. Using a special large tube-like device on the edge, he sent out his message.
"We, the Kingdom of Doclet, rightful owners of the land where the town of Flendon is
located, have a message for you all!" Re shouted. "We are here to capture the rebellion, the
Dark Magus!"
Chapter 919: Go Away!
Chapter 919: Go Away!

The loud words traveled across the vast lake and were heard by everyone on the shore.
Soon, more people had come over, realizing something was happening as word spread
through the
town.
"Did they just say the Dark Magus is rebelling? Against what?"
"How can they call him a rebel when he just saved everyone from the Behemoth Clan?"
"They said they're from the Doclet Kingdom, right? Are they not happy with what the Dark
Magus did or something?"
"None of this is making any sense. The Doclet Kingdom has never cared for this town, and
now they come here suddenly?"
"Not just that, they've brought an entire army to go against the Dark Magus. Isn't he with
the Crimson Crane and the Neverfall Clan? Are the kingdoms planning to go against the
Pagna warriors? Why are they breaking the pact?"
The people were riled up and worried, and they noticed that the Dark Magus was by the
edge of the lake as well, looking out at the ships.
"I repeat, people of Flendon, the Dark Magus has rebelled against the Kingdom of Doclet!
We are to bring him in by force if necessary!" General Re said again.
The people weren't happy about this at all, and before Raze could even decide what to do
next, the crowd started to shout insults and attempt to throw rocks at the giant ships, even
though they would never reach the ships.
"Screw you! What has the Kingdom ever done for us?"
"You can't take our savior away, he's done nothing wrong!" the people continued to shout
again and again.
Raze had been out for a day or so, but he hadn't been gone for long. It made him wonder
what was really happening.
"Do you know anything about this?" Raze asked. "The Neverfall Clan gifted this place, so I
thought it was under their control.
"Other than the other large clans, I thought we had nothing to worry about."
"That would be the case," Han answered, perplexed by the situation himself. "But you see,
the people there-the large force-they aren't Pagna warriors.
"For hundreds of years, non-Pagna warriors and citizens have stayed apart. So I have no
idea why they are coming for you now."
"Because everyone else hates Pagna warriors," Fing claimed. "It's clear-they're scared of
the unknown and our power. The pact is the only thing keeping us from fighting.'
"So they want to get a jump start. After the Demonic Faction had a big battle with each
other, and with Raze being the newcomer, they saw him as an easy target. I guess as the
more powerful ones, we need to be more careful."
Han nodded to this suggestion.
"Fing is right. Even for us, we wouldn't get involved with an entire kingdom. It's too risky. It
wouldn't be a good idea for any Pagna warrior to get involved in this. If anything, it might
even be best just to run away."
While the group was in the middle of their conversation, General Re was also speaking with
his men on the ship.
"Sir, all the cannons have been loaded. They're able to hit the shoreline at this distance,"
one of the men said.
"King Doclet already gave his orders. We found out in the reports that several of the
ordinary citizens in the town had taken up arms to fight alongside the Dark Magus and the
warriors. He has claimed that the whole town is rebellious."
"And we are to make an example of this town to all those in the future who underestimated
us," General Re said.
"But sir, why did you make an announcement if we were ordered to destroy the town
anyway?" the man asked.
"I hoped that some people, knowing our reason for being here, would flee, but instead,
they've acted like this and are defying us in the face of a giant fleet of ships with state-of-
the-art cannons!" General Re claimed.
"Even if the rumors are true, there won't be any warriors who can take on a group like this.
Do as I say-fire a warning shot on the shore."
"Yes, sir!"
One of the cannons was ready, already in position. Lighting it up, a loud bang occurred, and
a giant black ball was sent hurling toward the shoreline.
There were hundreds of people on the shore, and even this warning shot made it clear that
they would be hurt in the blast.
"AHHH!" the people screamed as they started to run, while others just braced themselves.
Raze quickly moved, stepping in front of them all, and stretched out his hand. As the ball
was about to hit him, it seemingly slowed down, and Raze caught it with a single hand.
"What happened?" General Re asked. "Was it a dud?"
One of the men pulled out his telescope and saw a young man with white hair, holding the
black ball with a single hand.
The crowd, seeing the Dark Magus catch the ball, cheered in amazement.
"WHOOO, YEAH!" they screamed.
'That was fairly easy. I slowed it down with my wind magic, and even at that velocity, I
would have been able to just grab the ball with my Qi,' Raze thought.
'But if I hadn't stopped it, several people would have been hurt.'
Raze looked up at the fleet of ships, all of them with cannons ready to fire onto the shore.
"What are you thinking of doing?" Han asked. "I told you already, it's not a good idea,
brother. It's a pact that hasn't been broken for generations. Pagna warriors should never
get involved in civilian matters. They're two different worlds!"
Remembering the promise to himself, Raze wouldn't let anyone be taken away from him
again. He smiled at Han.
"It's a good thing I'm not from this world, right?" Raze said, charging Qi into his hand, and
hurled the ball through the air at lightning speed.
The cannonball crashed into the center of one of the ships, tearing it in half, and slowly, it
was seen sinking into the lake.
"I'll just have to get rid of them all," Raze said.
Chapter 920 A Fleet Of Ships
Chapter 920 A Fleet Of Ships

The crowd on the shore watched as the large ship sank to the bottom of the lake. It was an
unusual sight for them for a few reasons.
For one, battles between kingdoms over territories and such were not something they
would usually see unless the fighting had reached the city.
The pact with the warriors had somewhat protected people twofold, as the constant wars
that would happen between different kingdoms and empires had pretty much come to a
stop as well.
If anything, it always seemed like the kingdoms and the Empire in the Light Faction were
trying their best to get on the good side of the Pagna warriors.
These large, monstrous ships that could fire cannons, destroying houses, seemed
unstoppable, a feat of human intelligence, yet they had been destroyed just like that—and
by their own attack.
"Yeah!" A single man from the crowd cheered at the top of his lungs, saliva dripping from
the bottom of his mouth. "With the Dark Magus, no one can mess with us, bitch!"
The crowd on the shore continued to shout, even louder than before, and the insults and
words were heard by the other ships.
On the ships themselves, General Re was in shock.
"What just happened? What attacked us? Does the town of Flendon have some type of
technology that we're not aware of yet?" General Re asked.
"We're not sure, but the Dark Magus seems to be on the shore. He might be the one behind
it!" one of the other men shouted.
"Since they've attacked back, we have no choice. Fire a barrage on the shore! We'll get rid of
every single one of them!" General Re ordered.
The men on all the ships had a spark lit in their bellies. They quickly moved, loading the
cannons and aiming them perfectly. Then, on each ship, as a hand signal was waved down,
several explosive sounds went off one after the other.
Now, not just one large mass of a black ball was coming towards them, but several were
seen in the air.
The people who saw this grew slightly worried as they went silent until they saw the Dark
Magus float up into the air. The Ghost blade was ready in his hand, placed to his side.
Dark magic swirled around Raze's body, coming out fiercely and wrapping around his
entire form until it surrounded the sword and condensed it until it was completely black in
color.
"Eclipse Strike!" Raze shouted, swinging his sword vertically.
With Raze's new added Qi power, his increased strength in magic, and his Dark magic's
affinity increasing by an incredible amount, the released attack looked as if another sea of
darkness had appeared. It spread across all the cannonballs, covering them completely.
The strike continued to travel, disappearing just short of the fleet of ships in the distance.
As the attack dissipated into nothing but energy, no cannonballs were seen any longer.
General Re, seeing Raze floating in the air, having performed such a strike, trembled with
disbelief.
"It can't be, right? Can it? Were the rumors about him true?"
Raze quickly moved at that moment, and as he flew across the water, part of the lake could
be seen splitting slightly apart.
When Raze got close to one of the ships, he swung his sword down.
"Crimson Slash!"
A large red line of Qi and Wind magic was unleashed, cutting the large ship directly in half.
It began to sink in the middle as the crew members were thrown into the sea.
Immediately after, Raze rose up, and a mass of Dark magic, a black ball, formed in his hand.
He hurled it towards another ship. As it reached its target, the black ball of magic expanded
out.
Everything it touched disappeared, including some of the people on board.
There was too much panic, and the people were unable to strike Raze as he moved too fast.
With sword strikes and Dark magic, he was destroying the fleet of ships with ease.
Then, Raze flew up, his hand pointed at the ship General Re was on.
"What… have we done… we've all made a grave mistake," General Re muttered as he saw
nothing but darkness. It was the last thing he saw.
Back on the shore, the people of Flendon were witnessing the power themselves. While the
brothers stood there, watching in awe.
"Are you going to stop him?" Fing asked.
As they watched, they saw ship after ship sink. In a panic, some of the ships fired their
cannons, but they hit nothing, and some had even hit each other.
It was quite clear that the fleet was hopeless in this situation.
"I think it might be a little too late for that," Han replied. "I'm sure, though, Father will like
him. He's just like Father in a lot of ways."
——
Out in the dried, hardened wasteland, Alba and the others had rushed out from the town.
They had done so with the intention of meeting the large army heading their way. They
wanted to meet them before they reached the town.
It didn't take long, and they could finally see the large group up ahead, around 40,000
troops, as a large chunk of them had broken off, heading in a different direction.
The group stopped around a hundred meters away, and the king stopped with his men as
well.
"Okay, remember everyone, we're here to just talk to them," Rayna said. "We need to do
whatever we can to convince them not to attack and to head back. Whatever we do, we
can't get into a fight with them!" Rayna said, and the others nodded in agreement.
——
Back at the lake, the fighting had come to an end. The large crowd that feared what was
going to happen to them, were silent, as there was no longer anything for them to shout
about.
Fing and Han watched as Raze flew back towards the shore. Behind him, the entire fleet of
ships sent by the Doclet Kingdom had been destroyed.
Chapter 921: A Name That Shouldn't Be Said
Chapter 921: A Name That Shouldn't Be Said

Alba was traveling with a rather large group. She had everyone with her, the Crimson
Crane, along with Rayna and the others. It had become quite natural for them to travel
together now, and having fought side by side, even more so.
For a lot of them, it was a foreign land and town, with their link being Raze.
Rayna would actually be the one to lead the negotiations and conversations, as she was the
main head and representative of Flendon after all.
When they were about ten meters away from the king's army, Alba commented.
"We'll stay here and wait. If they make a move, we can help from this distance," Alba said.
"Although these kingdom guys know of us, they don't really know what we're all capable of
individually."
The group nodded in agreement, and Rayna was seen walking ahead on her own.
For a moment, Alba turned her head to look at Froma. The moment the two made eye
contact, Froma cowered behind Fixteen, who had also come along with them.
'It's not fair to rely on her like we did in the fight against the Behemoth Clan,' Alba thought.
'She's already been through a lot. Besides, as Rayna said, we can't start a fight... if we do...
it's going to be big trouble.'
Eventually, Rayna reached five meters away from the king, and he raised his hand,
signaling her to stop.
"I am Rayna, the Dark Magus's wife, and the warrior put in charge of the town of Flendon,"
Rayna stated. "Is there a reason for such a visit of this nature?"
Rayna made sure to point out the army behind her. Although she had no intention of
getting into a fight, she didn't know if the king felt the same way, so she had to be confident
in the situation.
By King Doclet's side, Marcel moved slightly forward to deliver his message.
"The town of Flendon has always belonged to the Doclet Kingdom," Marcel claimed. "We
are here to take back what is rightfully ours."
"However, when we originally asked to meet with the Dark Magus to talk about this matter,
he refused to visit us. It's quite clear... that beating the Behemoth Clan has gone to his head,
and he plans to rebel against the Doclet Kingdom!"
"We order that the Dark Magus be brought to us now, and if you refuse, we will attack!"
It was clear to Rayna that everything being said was just an excuse. From those words,
their intentions were obvious-they were looking for a fight.
"You are willing to break the pact? This can cause a large ripple effect throughout the
entirety of Pagna!" Rayna said. "If you wish to speak, you can speak to us now."
"The only person we will speak to is the Dark Magus. Where even is he?" Marcel asked,
looking around for an individual with white hair, but he was unable to spot anyone.
"If the Dark Magus doesn't come out in five minutes, we will attack and force him to our
feet."
Frustrated by everything that had happened, Rayna headed back to the others, hoping they
might have some ideas on how to de-escalate the situation.
"What's wrong?" Alba asked.
"They refuse to budge or even talk," Rayna replied. "They say they only want to speak to
the Dark Magus, and no one else. I have a feeling they're prepared to fight."
"Even if Raze were here, do you really think he could de-escalate the situation?" Simyon
asked.
They all thought for a moment. So far, Raze's answer when their backs were against the
wall had been to fight.
"Maybe?" Safa said. "You heard him in the room. He's changed. He doesn't want us to get
hurt, so he wouldn't do something that would harm us, right?"
Many of the adults shook their heads at poor Safa. Humans couldn't just change at the snap
of a finger, and even if they could...
"So what is the plan, then?" Mantis asked. "Is someone going to go back and get Raze, and if
he comes..."
"Even if he comes, it looks like they will try to take him by force, and I can guess they'll
attack anyway," Ricktor added.
"Right, right. If it comes to it, do we need to fight?" Reno asked.
"I say we fight, but we don't kill," Alba replied. "If we show them our power with just us
here, and stop their advance, it could convince them that they've made a mistake, and it
wouldn't be breaking the pact."
To everyone, that certainly sounded like the only way. They had barely recovered from the
last fight, but it was better this way. More and more, they thought it was best that Raze
hadn't
come.
"I've analyzed their weapons-they don't have a lot of firepower," Anna added. "We should
be able to deal with them even with their large numbers."
Now that they had decided what to do next, Rayna returned to the king and his messenger,
trying to give it one last chance to prevent their group from being dragged into another
conflict.
She talked and talked, but the king and Marcel shook their heads at every plea she made.
She could even see a smile underneath as she turned her head.
'I have to calm down for the sake of all of Pagna,' Rayna thought, regrouping with the
others. "One minute until it's time!" Marcel called out.
The group had to mentally prepare. Fighting while trying not to harm anyone was harder
than just fighting them, but they all knew what was at stake.
"All right, it looks like time's up. The Dark Magus has not arrived, so it's clear you've made
your decision!" Marcel exclaimed.
The army was getting ready to charge forward, but then the ground shook as dirt and dust
were kicked up, and a figure fell from the sky, landing right in front of them.
As the dust settled, white hair became visible, and slowly, the rest of his body was revealed.
"The Dark Magus is a name that shouldn't be said so lightly," Raze said.
Chapter 922: I'll Take Them All Out
Chapter 922: I'll Take Them All Out

Just like that, as the Doclet Army was ready to move forward, Raze appeared from the air
swiftly and landed in the center of the mess, calm as ever.
Originally, Rayna didn't want Raze to come at all, fearing that the situation would worsen
with him there. However, since it looked like they were about to fight anyway, perhaps the
person in question could calm matters down.
'We don't quite know what will happen if someone from Pagna breaks the pact. If the
Divine warriors will descend from the sky, if something later will happen, or what, but it
would be best to avoid all of that.'
As Raze walked forward towards the king, an even greater worry appeared in Rayna's
mind.
'Does Raze even know about the consequences of breaking the pact? He is originally from
the world of Alterian...'
The king and Marcel, sitting on their high horses, were looking down at Raze. The
descriptions of the man known as Dark Magus matched.
They had heard he was a young warrior with white hair, exuding a fearless aura. The
rumors about him seemed never-ending.
Looking at him now, the king was sure the rumors were exaggerated.
'What even is this?' King Doclet curled his lip. 'This person is just a child, and he confidently
enters the middle of this. He has no idea about the ace we have up our sleeve.'
"This here is the King of the Doclet Kingdom!" Marcel claimed, pointing to the man at his
side. "You dared to make him wait and even stated that we could not call for the Dark
Magus —that is your name, is it not?"
Raze stopped, about two meters away from them, and stared at both the king and the army,
evaluating their strength.
Now that he was this close, he could feel that these people, none of them, had Qi. They were
not warriors like the others.
"The Dark Magus is not just a name," Raze answered. "It is a title that has been given to me,
and as I said, a title that shouldn't be spoken lightly."
"You are as rude as the men at your gate!" Marcel exclaimed. "You act confident now
because you have no idea of our strength."
"I bet you're acting like this because you bested the Behemoth Clan. Yet you haven't even
faced the smallest part of our might."
Hearing these words, the king couldn't stop grinning, having held it in for a while.
"As my messenger says, it's quite clear about your rebellious nature. We have already
confirmed that many in the town of Flendon helped you in the fight against the Behemoth
Clan.
"They've been persuaded to join your ranks. So, I declare that you, as well as the entire
town of Flendon, are rebellious to the Doclet Kingdom!" The king lifted his hand in a cheer.
"Right now, a large fleet of ships is approaching the town of Flendon."
"With you and your warriors here, it looks like there's no one to protect the town, and you
will experience the might of the Doclet Kingdom! Ha, ha, ha!" The king let out a loud
bellowing laugh.
Right after, Marcel joined him as well.
"So that's why the army split up back then," Safa said. "Is the entire town in trouble now?"
The group was disheartened to learn this, and the king and the messenger continued to
laugh. "Scruffy beard, and a scar on the top of his forehead. What name were those people
shouting again? Was it General Re? Yes, I think that's right. That was his name."
The laughter stopped from the king and Marcel, and they looked at Raze. The name General
Re, although known by some aware of the affairs of the Doclet Kingdom, was described
perfectly by Raze.
"What did you do?" King Doclet asked.
"I apologize. As you said, I was a bit late," Raze answered. "The reason was because a fleet
of ships approached my lake. A man named General Re commanded a fleet of ships."
"They attacked, so I did what was the only appropriate response-I got rid of the threat. I got
rid of them all."
"That's impossible!" Marcel shouted and looked to one of the men in the front row.
He pulled out a telescope and looked toward the town. There was some smoke rising from
the lake, but no appearance of ships. It looked as if there weren't any at all.
"King Doclet, move back!" Marcel ordered.
The king and Marcel on their horses hurried back into the large army's forces, standing
behind a few lines of men. Raze jumped and pushed himself back with wind, reaching the
others. "Raze... did you really destroy the fleet of ships from before?" Rayna asked,
overhearing the
conversation.
"I did, as I said before, I won't lose anyone again. I won't act like I did before."
Raze then prepared his fist, gathering Qi before calling out a name.
"Tilon! Shield up!"
Almost on instinct, hearing Raze's words, Tilon turned around and raised his shield. Before
he knew it, he saw Raze's fist being thrown into the air, colliding right against the shield.
Powerful energy was drawn into the shield at that moment.
"Everyone, ready your weapons!" King Doclet ordered.
The infantry at the front prepared their weapons and aimed them at the group.
"Fire!" Doclet ordered.
A clear line of bullets was shot out, heading toward the group.
Now, Tilon understood why Raze had done what was needed, and he slammed his shield on
the ground. A large force appeared, and as the bullets hit the force field, they fell to the
ground, harming no one.
"Kizer!" Raze called out. "I'm going to need to borrow your sword!"
Stretching out his hand, Kizer felt a powerful gust of wind push the sword from his grip.
Letting go, it flew over to Raze's hand.
It was a special weapon he had created for Kizer, one that grew stronger with the number
of people it faced and prevented the user from using the same skill more than once as a
drawback. But that didn't matter to Raze.
"I'm going to kill every single one of those who tried to take our lives!" Raze said, walking
forward with the large sword in hand.
Chapter 923: Breaking The Pact
Chapter 923: Breaking The Pact

They had seen Raze act as he liked before, but to see him act like this, even in the face of a
situation that everyone believed was tricky, they didn't understand it.
Raze wasn't even asking the others for their thoughts or support like Rayna had done. He
was just acting, using Tilon's shield to defend everyone, and now holding Kizer's sword,
which he had crafted, in his hand.
"Wait, Raze!" Rayna shouted. "We can't fight with them, they're not warriors!"
"It's useless," Anna said. "Those words he spoke before, when he talked about the fleet of
ships-they were true. Even if Raze doesn't act now, he has already dealt a large blow to the
Doclet kingdom."
"Based on the conversations you've had with the king so far, do you think he's the kind of
person that's just going to let this go?"
The others watched as they saw Raze walk ahead of them. They were unsure whether they
should go and help him or not, to be part of the mess that he was about to cause.
Because they were sure of one thing: Raze didn't need any help and would be just fine
taking on the kingdom on his own.
"How can this be?" King Doclet said. "Those weapons are the most advanced technology in
all of Pagna! Yet they have weapons that can block them-just what is that shield?"
"I've heard of special artifacts that these warriors carry!" Marcel explained. "But I've never
heard of an artifact so strong... I thought some of these things were just rumors!"
Hearing the word rumor, a dreaded thought crossed the king's mind. What if what he had
heard about the war against the Behemoth Clan-what if they weren't just rumors?
Thinking this, he saw the Dark Magus jump in the air, the large sword in his hand. He
landed on the ground and swung the sword from above, and a large explosion of Qi hit the
army straight ahead.
Thousands of men were launched into the air, flying back, left and right. Those who were
hit at the front- their bodies dismembered-not knowing what had hit them.
"I will not lose anyone, so I will not give those who try to take what I care about a second
chance!" Raze swung his sword sideways this time.
The large amount of Qi caused the front row of the citizens' weapons to break as they were
pushed back, and even more were flung into the air.
A mass panic was occurring among the army as they suffered huge losses in mere seconds,
and it was all just because of one man.
They weren't warriors with the bodies of super mortals-these were just mere mortals who
realized there was no hope. If their new weapons didn't work, it was likely nothing would,
and they decided to turn back.
"King Doclet, we must retreat!" Marcel exclaimed. "We have to go back and think of
something else. Now that the warrior has attacked us, maybe we can rally the other
kingdoms to go against the Dark Magus."
No one had approached Raze, and because of that, people were running away from him,
leaving space in front of him. The king couldn't take his eyes off the Dark Magus.
"You were proud of these weapons your army had, but you have no idea how small your
world is." Raze lifted one hand, and Dark magic surrounded it for a moment before a
weapon appeared in his hand.
It was rather small but looked like a complex device made out of metal with a barrel at the
end. It was something the king had never seen before.
"A gift from someone I should have protected," Raze said as he pulled the trigger. A bullet
flew out, piercing right through the king's head, leaving a perfectly round hole. The king
slid off his horse and fell to the ground.
The king of the Doclet kingdom had fallen.
"Retreat, retreat everyone!" Marcel shouted. "We shall live to fight another day!"
After finishing his sentence, a dark energy beam shot right through Marcel's head, causing
him to fall to the ground as well.
Raze then flew into the air with the sword in his hand and cast Wind magic around his
throat as he made a clear announcement.
"I will make sure that none of you ever think about attacking Flendon Town again!"
Kizer's sword started to turn obsidian black, and it was one of Raze's largest attacks,
casting a massive amount of Qi and Dark magic.
He flew to the ground and swung his sword over his head, performing the Eclipse Strike. A
field of darkness spread out, consuming those it could reach from the Doclet Army.
A few thousand from the army, who hadn't looked back and had started running long ago,
managed to survive, but they would never think of taking on Flendon Town, or the Dark
Magus, ever again.
A monster-just one monster-had taken down the entirety of the Doclet kingdom.
Rayna, Alba, and the others stood there, looking at Raze on the battlefield. It was different
from when he fought the Behemoth Clan, and there wasn't even a chance for them to step
in with everything he had done.
Oddly, Raze started to lift his hand, and they were unsure of what was happening. Safa
activated her god eyes at that moment, and she could see it-darkness, Dark magic was
gathering into Raze's body from all those who were dead.
"Well, it looks like the problem with the Doclet kingdom is solved, right?" Liam said.
"There's no one attacking us anymore. Maybe we can get out of this one on a technicality."
"Technically, he's not a Pagna warrior, right?" Liam said.
"Who was it that talked about Raze opening up his heart?" Anna asked. "Because we might
have been let into his heart, but now... it seems that no one who isn't in his heart is safe.
This is their fate... he might have even become more cruel."
Safa felt the same, and she thought that Raze almost losing her might have been the reason
for all of this.
Chapter 924: Pagna Changing
Chapter 924: Pagna Changing

The king, the messenger, and one of the army's top generals-all of them had fallen in the
battle to try and take over the town of Flendon.
It was the first time in a long while that a kingdom had tried to attack a Pagna warrior clan.
It was hard to call it a real clan, though, because the only clan present in the town was the
Crimson Crane.
Yet, what the world knew was the two leaders were the Dark Magus and Rayna. Regardless,
the first attack that had broken the pact resulted in a complete failure on the citizens' side.
The repercussions of what had occurred were unknown, apart from the fact that the Doclet
Kingdom had fallen.
Raze handed back the sword he had borrowed from Kizer and continued to walk back to
the town of Flendon. As he did, the rest quickly followed him, starting to run by his side.
"Raze..." Rayna began, but paused. She wasn't sure what to say. Should she thank him for
helping them, for defending the town from a great attack, or try to warn him about what
he'd done?
"What... are you going to do now?" Simyon eventually asked.
"With them, nothing. You can send a message to Mayor Yarlston that they can come to
collect their dead. We won't intervene," Raze answered. "After defeating one of the top
Demonic Faction Clans and fending off an attack from the city, I doubt we'll be attacked
again."
"There is a chance, though, right?" Ricktor said. "The pact was broken. Maybe Divine beings
from another realm will come down. Maybe this will lead to some kind of meeting between
the warrior clans and the rest."
"It's not my issue," Raze replied. "I'm not a Pagna warrior; I'm not from this world. I'm just
doing what I want to do, and I have more important things to worry about."
"Right now, no Divine beings have dropped from the sky, and no one is attacking us at the
moment. So I don't think we have anything to worry about."
It was hard for the group to argue with that. Everything certainly seemed settled, though it
felt like there might be more to come.
However, Raze had already heard these worries from the two brothers of the Neverfall
Clan, yet he was sensing something strange was occurring, and he couldn't quite put his
finger on it.
'Before, a high level of magic would cause a rupture; I would see openings of portals. Yet I
broke through during the fight with the Behemoth Clan, and nothing happened. I used
massive amounts of magic, and still, nothing happened.'
'It feels like the entire world of Pagna is changing-even beyond what the warriors knew.'
Originally, Raze had planned to go to Belil sooner or later anyway, because he was certain
that Belil was the one most likely to know where the Golden Globe was.
Eventually, the entire group returned from the battlefield and entered the town again. As
they walked through the streets, members of the public cheered and shouted with joy.
They were mainly shouting the Dark Magus's name and chanting words of thanks for him
protecting them. Rayna and the others felt a little awkward because it almost felt like they
were being praised as well.
Even though they had done next to nothing, they continued to follow Raze, wondering what
he was going to do next until they saw him enter the town hall.
He had returned, and Andy and Yarlston were there, already waiting for him.
"What happened? Did the army retreat?" Andy asked.
"Yes," Raze said as he took out a piece of chalk and started to draw on the floor of one of the
main reception rooms.
"Then what about the Doclet kingdom? Do we have to worry about them? I heard someone
even spotted the king," Yarlston asked.
"We don't have to worry about them; the king is dead," Raze answered as he continued
drawing on the floor.
"What a relief," Yarlston sighed, until his eyes almost popped out of his head. "Wait-
DEAD?"
"He's not lying," Alba said. "We saw it with our own eyes. It's true; you don't have to worry
about them or an army coming to attack. I think the town of Flendon might be at peace for a
while."
It was hard for them to believe, but they had already heard the news of what Raze had done
at the lake. Knowing that, they wondered if it was really far-fetched.
It was then that Raze finished drawing the circle on the floor.
"Everyone, I've made my decision," Raze announced. "I will be sending you all back to the
Dark Faction for now. The town of Flendon is safe.
"Once I'm done with my meeting with the Neverfall Clan, I will return. When you get back,
help the people as much as needed... they need it."
They weren't sure what Raze meant, but before they could ask, he was already speaking to
Anna.
"I need you to do me a favor as well," Raze requested. "Can you look for Charlotte for me?
Bring her to the Dark Faction and make sure she's safe."
Safa wanted to say more; she wanted to ask if she could stay with Raze or come with him,
but before anyone could speak, Raze had already placed his hands together.
He used his magic, activating the circle. As he saw the light cover their entire bodies, he
threw a small statue to Safa, who caught it.
"That's yours, not mine," Raze said.
The last thing Safa saw was the smile on Raze's face as the others teleported and returned
to the main room of the Academy.
The wooden floors, the slanted roof-it was a familiar place to them, but they were still
unsure about what Raze had said to them and why he had said it.
It didn't take long, though, until Zon suddenly appeared right in front of the group. "You've
returned. My system detected two other users here," Zon explained. "Where's Raze?"
"He isn't with us. He said he would come later," Anna replied.
"That's not good—I have something to tell him... I know where the Golden Globe is."
Chapter 925: The Last Visit
Chapter 925: The Last Visit

Quickly, as Rayna, Alba, and the others explored the academy, they learned of the tragedies
that had occurred while they were away.
How many students had been slaughtered and the cause of it all. It was hard for them to
believe, but there was something visible that allowed them to comprehend the large scale
of the devastation.
In the main academy building, a place usually reserved for teachers, several large halls had
been converted into medical bays.
Even now, students were being treated, and Safa, with her Light magic and spear on her
back, was using her powers as best as she could.
Her efforts were working wonders on many of the severe wounds that couldn't be healed
otherwise.
The others were trying their best to help in their own ways. Most of the Crimson Crane,
including Alba, were attending to several of the bodies.
In the main courtyard, hundreds of dead bodies lay covered in white cloth. Special flowers
and other offerings were being placed by each of the bodies.
The idea was to have a mass funeral service for the students, and they were helping with all
of this.
"This is just sickening, isn't it?" Cronker said as he placed a bouquet of flowers in a clay pot
in front of one of the students covered in cloth. "I don't even think Pagna clans could be this
cruel."
"Right, and all of this was caused by Alter? What were they even thinking? Were they trying
to wipe the Dark Faction off the map?" Tilion asked.
"It's as he said—they must truly want to get rid of the Dark Magus," Reno replied. "You
heard his story; he knows too much about their corrupt ways."
"Right? But if Alter and Alterian are linked, how are they connected to Pagna?" Alba
wondered. "Was this really necessary? It feels like Raze's business with the Grand Magus
and this Dark Magus is becoming an issue for all of Pagna."
Elsewhere in the academy, in a single room, Anna was sitting in a chair. She looked at a
round object placed on the table before her.
"I told you, I really did tell you that if you did this, you'd end up this way," Anna said out
loud. "Zon's headed off to look for Raze, trying to reach him, and now Raze wants me to find
Charlotte."
"My guess is it's because of what happened to you, right, Himmy?" Anna said as she
clenched her trousers tightly. "I didn't want you to go so soon... why does everyone have to
be such a fool."
Back in the town of Flendon, with everything finally done, Raze was ready to leave. There
had been a few interruptions, but it was quite clear there wouldn't be any more.
He had come out of the situation a lot stronger, though, increasing his star level, his Pagna
stage, and now even unlocking hints of being able to use his breakthrough-like power.
In some ways, he was thankful the Doclet Kingdom had attacked, as it gave him a sense of
just how much stronger he had become.
He had a good understanding of his Qi, as well as his magical powers. His Dark magic in
particular had increased substantially due to all the fighting.
"You ready to go finally?" Han asked.
"Yeah, I don't think Father expected us to take this long, but it's not like we could've
dragged you away from everything that was happening," Fing said.
"Let's go," Raze replied.
All three of them stepped outside the front gate. They were getting ready to sprint to the
Neverfall Clan base until they heard a loud, bellowing cry from behind.
"WAIIIIIT!" a voice screamed at the top of its lungs.
Turning their heads, they saw a warrior hurrying toward them, wearing a strange black
vest of armor. When the warrior reached them, he skidded across the ground, huffing and
panting, trying to catch his breath.
"I finally get to meet you... do you remember me?" Brack asked.
Looking closely at the young man's face, something clicked in Raze's memory.
"From the Martial Arts Tournament, you were the student from the Behemoth Clan, right?"
Raze asked.
"Right... you protected me back then. I had nowhere to go, so I ended up in this town,"
Brack explained. "I was... I was..."
Brack had been exhausted, having pushed himself far beyond his limits in attempting to
stop the Behemoth Clan's advance.
Eventually, he woke up and overheard the guards talking about what had happened with
the Behemoth Clan and the Doclet Kingdom.
It was unbelievable to Brack to hear that Sha Mo, the Mountain-the unstoppable force-had
been defeated. It just wasn't possible.
However, what concerned him even more was that the Dark Magus, the person he had been
longing to meet, was here in this city.
Upon meeting head guard Andy, he was informed they were getting ready to leave, and he
had managed to catch them just in time.
"I've wanted to ask this since I met you... but please." Brack fell to his knees and placed his
head on the ground. "Take me as your disciple... please! I'll follow you anywhere, do
whatever I can to aid you on your journey."
"What is going on?" Fing said. "We don't have time for this."
"He's right, we must hurry. You should ask about joining the Crimson Crane or one of the
other clans before asking Raze," Han stated as he turned around. However, Raze didn't turn
with him.
"Okay," Raze said.
The answer surprised the two brothers, who let out a slight gasp, and it even surprised
Brack, who lifted his head with a raised eyebrow.
"You will?" Brack replied. "I mean, thank you! Thank you for taking me in as your disciple!"
The brothers didn't understand why Raze had agreed, but he had his reasons, and with
that, Brack was now tagging along with Raze as he headed to the Neverfall Clan.
'I will finally get my answers as to just what the Dark Faction founder was doing here in the
first place... and how to get out of Pagna!'
Chapter 926 Belil's Sacrifice (Part 1)
Chapter 926 Belil's Sacrifice (Part 1)

The world of Pagna was still settling with the news that the Behemoth Clan had been
beaten. This was significant because it was one of the three major clans that had been
wiped out, and much of the talk was due to the one responsible.
The newcomer, given the name Dark Magus, who had taken over the Dark Faction, had also
shifted the status of the Demonic Faction.
Although it had taken some time, it was still sooner than many thought, and now the
citizens were wondering just what was going to happen next.
Because of this news, even the further news of the Doclet Kingdom being defeated hadn't
spread out. The army that had returned to the major city, and the higher-ups and officials,
had silenced every mouth they could.
It would be a disaster if the people and the world were to learn of this—a disaster for the
kingdom itself. Still, during this time, things had still been moving.
For one, the leader of the Lost Clan, Lince, had witnessed everything that had occurred with
the Behemoth Clan, and it was because of this he had decided to pay a visit to none other
than Belil himself.
At the large base, which looked like an inverted mountain, Lince had jumped over the wall
and landed softly on the ground, making next to no sound at all.
Lince continued to walk through the clan base as if it was his own home until someone
called out to him.
"Wait, you're not a member of the Neverfall Clan?" one of the guards shouted out.
Lince turned around, surprised that the guard had noticed him.
"Oh, they have a middle-stage warrior on the first floor? Things have changed since the last
time I was here."
"If you are a guest, you must register first. We will give you a plank stating what floor you
can go to, and we need to know the reason why you're here in the first place," the guard
asked.
"Oh right, I'm still in the guard uniform," Lince realized, as he spun his body. In doing so,
visual Qi surrounded his body like a small tornado.
It completely disappeared from the others' sight, and when the small gust of wind had
disappeared, a man standing there, wearing all black, heavily wrapped clothing was
present.
What was most notable was that the man also wore a black mask covering his face and a
wrap that went around his head, trailing down until it touched the ground.
There was only one person who dressed this way.
"Lince from the Lost Clan!" the warrior said. He was surprised but didn't bow his head.
"That's even more reason for you to register; just because you are one of the big figures in
the Demonic Faction, you think you can just walk in here. We would have known if
someone like you was visiting."
"Charming respect as always," Lince replied.
It was expected, though; Lince was technically in enemy territory since the Demonic
Factions weren't so aligned like the others.
On top of that, this was an impromptu meeting by Lince.
"Well, if I were to go down there anyway, do you think anyone could stop me?"
The guard didn't say anything as he tried to think about what to say.
"That's my invitation then!" Lince replied as he ran forward, and right when he reached the
ledge, he leapt down and jumped toward the center, beginning his fall.
The air hit his body as he continued to fall, and he could see each of the floors passing by
him, going from one area to the next. At the same time, he could feel the intense heat
growing.
Just like before, just as he was about to reach the ground, Lince started spinning his body in
several directions, and when he landed, it was ever so softly. One wouldn't even be able to
hear him land.
Now on the bottom floor, Lince turned his head and could see a large double-door frame
wide open.
"Come in!" a voice called out.
"You noticed me?" Lince said as he walked toward the door. "And here I thought I had
gotten better."
"I opened the door the moment I heard you arrive from above."
When Lince walked past the door, he could see down a tunnel lined with candles, to the end
in a circle-like area, where the one and only Belil, leader of the Neverfall Clan, sat.
Belil had his shirt off, his bulging muscles showing on his back, and next to no sweat was
dripping off his body. When Lince walked further, a drip fell from his forehead onto the
ground.
He paused for a moment, looking at the mark made on the floor.
"I'm disappointed in myself. I really thought I had improved after all this time, but I guess I
still can't best someone like you," Lince said.
Belil then turned around. He was sitting casually on the floor in a pair of white trousers,
one knee raised up, the other leg out. He looked relaxed and had a large smile on his face as
he looked at Lince.
"Maybe if I was wearing a ridiculous outfit like yours, I would be sweating as well," Belil
joked.
Lifting his hand, Lince then pulled down the mask covering his face, revealing several cuts
that went across his lip, going down to the bottom of his jaw.
They continued slightly onto his neck but not as far as his Adam's apple.
"As I remember, it's disrespectful to talk to you without showing my face, so I should show
some respect," Lince claimed.
Belil waved his hand casually.
"That's true for most of my visitors, but you know you are an exception. After all, you're the
only one who knows my secret, and you have kept it well."
"Which one?" Lince laughed as he sat down on the floor opposite Belil. He noticed the floor
was even hotter than the room itself.
"Are you talking about the fact that you're a Divine warrior in Pagna?" Lince asked.
Chapter 927: Belil's Sacrifice (Part 2)
Chapter 927: Belil's Sacrifice (Part 2)

Belil was a powerful figure in the entire Demonic Faction, and in a lot of cases, he was
considered the most unpredictable. Whatever came his way, his rule was always to inflict
punishment twofold back on anyone who crossed him.
The thing was, it wasn't always him carrying out the punishment. Being a high-level, mid-
stage warrior meant he had lived a long life—or at least that's what everyone believed
about Belil.
Including his own children. There was one person who knew the truth, and that was the
one currently sitting opposite him.
"Although I know the truth, I never knew the reason why," Lince said. "You've been in
Pagna for a long time already, yet you've reached the Divine Stage.
"You've achieved immortality, and you could even go to the realm above. I know you well;
you're someone who cares about strength."
"Here, your strength is limited. It might even be the reason why you stay down here all the
time, unable to feel anything by going outside. And why you send your family to handle
most matters."
"Because everything has become a bore."
When a mid-stage warrior reached the Divine Stage, it meant a few things. First, they
achieved immortality. The worry of old age getting to them disappeared completely.
It was partly why the name was given-because they could now live forever, as long as they
weren't killed by something.
Another fact was that they could enter another realm. A world that was considered the
same as Pagna that only other Divine warriors could enter.
Thirdly, if a Divine warrior was in Pagna, then their strength would be limited to that of a
mid-stage warrior, and further progress into the Divine Stage was impossible.
Most who ever reached the Divine Stage were warriors driven to become stronger. They
had what few in the world had, and because of that, they tried to grow even stronger in the
Divine Realm.
Yet here Belil was, still in the world of Pagna after all this time.
"I have my reasons for doing things my own way," Belil answered. The look on his face
wasn't as friendly anymore; the smile had almost disappeared.
"Just tell me why you're here," Belil asked.
"I'm sure you've heard the news about the Dark Magus and his defeat of the Behemoth
Clan. I noticed you sent both of your eldest there. I'm surprised you've chosen to protect
someone."
"I wanted to know why you've done that and if it's related to what's going to happen in a
couple of days," Lince asked.
The smile had quickly returned to Belil's face.
"Right, the day is coming. You know something about it? I'm not surprised with your
information network."
"The end of Pagna?" Lince replied. "It's something I've heard many in Alterian talk about,
specifically the Alter who work in the Light Faction."
"I understand why everyone has an interest in this but don't fully know what's happening.
Why would someone like the Dark Magus be involved in all of this?"
"Is it related to the strange powers he used? Is it related to his real identity? There are a lot
of things that I'm confused about, or where this person even came from to begin with."
Belil let out a loud bellow of laughter that caused all of the candles to ignite further in
strength.
"So, you were there yourself. You're quite the tricky one. Let me ask for a favor: can you tell
me what happened, can you tell me everything that occurred?" Belil asked.
It was then that Lince told the tale of everything he had witnessed-the grand powers Raze
used, how his friends had aided him in battle, and the turn of the tide when Raze had
suddenly aged into an old man.
Additionally, Lince went into detail on how Raze had bested his two elder sons. He decided
to take extra time explaining how helpless they had been in the fight.
After finishing everything, Belil continued to let out a belly of laughter once again. "He's
more than I expected, after all," Belil said. "Honestly, I thought the day would never come,
and the fact that he's fallen right into my lap... I guess the world has a strange way of
making things work."
After saying those words, Lince noticed that Belil looked at the ground. He was staring off,
clearly deep in thought, yet not expressing it aloud.
This was something Lince had hardly seen on a person's face. Was this just how those who
had reached the Divine Realm felt? Is this why many stayed in the Divine Realm?
Or at least stayed there, as long as there was no way to completely use their powers?
"I owe you a few favors now," Belil claimed. "And thank you for telling me such an
interesting tale. In return, I will tell you everything about the so-called end of Pagna."
"As well as what I exactly plan to do with the Dark Magus," Belil said.
This was what Lince was waiting for. The information he had gathered from his own clan
felt like all of the pieces, but he didn't have any idea of the picture of the puzzle, so he was
unable to put things together or know if they were right or not.
He wasn't so sure Belil knew, but now after hearing him say those words, he was confident
about it.
Belil spoke, and Lince listened respectfully to every single one of his words. He wanted to
stop; he wanted to shout and ask if Belil was crazy for his plans, even for someone like him.
Yet, because of the decisions he was planning to make, it would have been rude for him to
even say such a thing.
"In the future, I wish for you to help him as much as possible," Belil claimed. "But it is your
own life. I made my choice in the end; all of the power I cultivated, this is just the tip of all
of that, all for the sake of saving Pagna."
Chapter 928 A Gathering Of Powers
Chapter 928 A Gathering Of Powers

In the Light Faction, the landmass and terrain were different from the other lands. Whereas
the Dark Faction and Demonic Faction had areas where life and crops seemed to struggle to
flourish, the Light Faction had greenery as far as the eyes could see with flourishing flowers
and more.
It was because of this, that the living situation in the Light Faction was different compared
to other areas. They weren't condensed in the major cities, and there were many villagers
spread across the land.
Areas with smaller populations yet still had a good standard of life. One of these smaller
villages was located quite far up north in the land, and was based by the sea.
The general public were quite curious as they walked down the streets and looked out at
the sand, to see several large camps, and people dressed in white cloth.
"There are a lot of warriors here today. There isn't a clan located in Baracu, is there?" one
of the young women asked, carrying a basket of flowers by her side.
"No, but we were made aware that they were coming," a young man replied. "The men
were asked to gather more food from the nearby city. Because quite a few people would be
staying here. I don't know why though, maybe they're going to venture out into the sea."
The young woman laughed. "From here, you know no one does that; there must be another
reason."
When thinking about it though, they couldn't think of anything for warriors to gather for.
They weren't close to the Empire, they weren't close to the other two factions, the only
place they were close to was the sea.
So what else could be the reason for them gathering?
On the beach itself several tents had been set up, with sleeping areas prepared, storage, and
more. The Light Faction warriors had brought their own supplies and were sharing
amongst each other.
But if one was to have a closer inspection, they would notice that the tents were somewhat
divided, and markings could be seen on them, markings of three clans.
The three clans that were present were the three highest-ranking clans in the Light Faction:
the Aurora Clan and the Illumination Clan.
The leaders of the clan weren't present in such a place, but a group of ten warriors,
including a high middle-stage warrior, was selected from each clan. That was apart from
one clan, the Dawnblade Clan, the last clan.
In one of the larger tents, Ricar was sitting at his seat, his fingers intertwined, and standing
in front of him were four elder men with clothing that was dragging across the floor and
mostly covering their faces.
"Is there really any need for this?" a soft voice asked. She was one of the Elders of the
Dawnblade clan, known as Impress.
"She's right," Lyon replied. "Why are five of the elders out on this expedition, while the
other clans have only sent… them."
"There are a couple of strong ones among them," Lukas replied, his arms folded. "But
nothing compared to us Elders; you should explain yourself."
"You should all know the situation we are in," Ricar replied. "In the eyes of the Light
Faction, we have failed several important tasks. To Kawak, leader of the Aurora clan, this is
important."
"Important to him?" Beatrix asked. "Or, is it important to those from Alter?"
The others nodded in agreement. The entire reason why they, including the other clans,
were lined up on the beach, was because of the request made by Heino, leader of Alter.
He had talked to Kawak, saying that he needed their help, and it was something that only
they could do.
"The fact that all of us are present means we can't fail this task, and that we must succeed.
Otherwise, it's an embarrassment for all of us," Ricar replied. "As for you, Beatrix, you have
been given an honorary Elder Role."
"It's your first time in this case, and although you now have the same status as us, you are
still to follow our orders."
Beatrix nodded as she understood. A lot had changed for her since the Martial Arts
Tournament.
"And what should we do with him?" Lyon asked. "The one that Alter sent to aid us?"
"Him?" Ricar replied. "For now, it's best if we ignore him. He doesn't seem like the type of
person that is in need of our help or would be accepting of it."
Standing out on the edge of the sand, allowing for the sea to just touch the edge of his feet, a
man with spiky red hair stared out into the distance.
Where large dark clouds could be seen and constant thunder strikes were heard coming
down one after the other.
"With this, I might be able to see you all again, right Zon?" Red said with a large smile.
Red lifted his hand up, and out from his forearm, a small light lit up.
"Have you noticed any changes yet?" a voice spoke through the device on his arm, the voice
of Heino.
"No changes at the moment, but it isn't time yet, right? And I haven't seen anyone else
coming here either," Red reported. "Do you expect that there will be interferences?"
"I have my concerns," Heino replied. "There might be others that come out of curiosity or
that have information themselves, but I'm not too worried."
"The Elders sent with you, I've heard they have great strength. If you run into anything
dangerous, they will be able to help you, and besides, you know some of them are with us,
right? Did you look at the list?" Heino asked.
"I know, I know, I won't harm anyone. I'm a Deleter, I get the job done, so you don't have to
worry about me," Red replied.
"I would have said the same thing about Scar, and look where he ended up," Heino replied.
"Don't worry, I'll get the Golden Globe, and if I run into the Dark Magus, I'll get him as well.
Besides, he won't be able to do what he did against the Behemoth Clan." Red started to
laugh, and the call ended there.
Chapter 929: Red Fortis Reunion
Chapter 929: Red Fortis Reunion

Zon, leaving the Dark Faction, was traveling fast across the land. Since Raze hadn't used his
distress signal, he wasn't able to open up a portal to reach his side.
Right now, Zon couldn't just risk waiting for that to happen, so he was traveling across the
continent. However, he was moving at quite a fast speed, because of two reasons.
Due to the unique structure of his body, he didn't tire, and he could move even faster than
most warriors. However, his body would run out of energy, and when running out of
energy he would need to replenish that.
On top of that, he was using the new item he had obtained, allowing him to teleport certain
distances in a flash as well. Using both of these things, he was making great progress and
was already in the Demonic Faction.
When he had reached the Demonic Faction, he realized something and stopped in the
middle of an open, deserted wasteland.
"I've run out of crystals... and for what's to come, I might need a large variety of crystals. My
energy is already low because of the fight that I had with that Deleter, and everything else I
had been doing after."
"I rushed so much that I didn't think properly."
Zon tapped the side of his head, remembering some things from the past. Because he was
eager to complete missions with his squad, he had completely disregarded other things that
had put him and the Red Fortis army in trouble.
"If Raze is heading to the Neverfall Clan, there has to be a reason for it. The chances of him
learning the truth on his own are quite high. Over 90 percent."
"If I were to guess, then there is a good chance that the two of us will be able to meet there.
It might be best to avoid going to the Neverfall Clan."
There were multiple worries in Zon's mind. One of them being that he might be a step
behind the others' movements. Right now he was quite far from where he wanted to be, he
had to travel as north as possible in the Demonic Faction.
On top of that, in the past when in the Demonic Faction, it was the most frequent place
where The would get into scuffles here and there.
"I have no choice, the best course of action is to head north. If Raze doesn't come, then I will
just have to sort out everything myself."
"I'll find a portal around here, and quickly gather some beast crystals. After that, I'm
coming for you... I never realized you ended up here after all, Red." Zon thought.
His body quickly disappeared from sight at that moment.
Raze, the two brothers Fing and Han, as well as Brack were all traveling from the town of
Flendon to the Neverfall Clan base.
They were moving slightly slower than they would have because Brack was unable to fully
keep up with them.
"I still don't understand why you brought someone like him along," Fing scoffed.
"You should let him do what he wants," Han replied. "I'm sure the Dark Magus has his own
reasons for such things."
Although Han himself, no matter how much he thought about it, couldn't understand why
he was bringing Brack along with him, why he had said yes.
If Raze had brought one of the other stronger warriors, then he could understand.
For Brack though, even though it was hard, he was pushing himself.
"I just have to think of this like training!" Brack thought. "It's because of Raze now that I've
managed to survive so many times. I need to become a better, stronger warrior!"
As they continued to travel, Raze had surprisingly started to talk to Brack.
"Since you were one of the major disciples of the Behemoth Clan, did you ever learn Sha
Mo's unusual Qi techniques?" Raze asked.
"Are you talking about him being able to change size?" Brack asked. "That was something
unique to him, but the other stuff he could do. Controlling his Qi and forcing it down like a
snake of sorts, that's the Behemoth Clan's specialty."
"So do you know it?" Raze asked, getting to the point.
"I know the theory of it, and can do it on a small scale, but not to the major extent that Sha
Mo could," Brack answered.
"Right... well that should be enough then," Raze said.
His conversation cut short as they saw the Neverfall Clan right ahead.
All of them easily jumped over the wall, and upon entering, the members that were on the
top floor bowed down to the two brothers.
The thing was, they didn't even lift their heads as they bowed down; they continued to look
at the floor, not raising it until they walked past.
"Usually you would need a pass of sorts, but you're with us, and we basically have the same
authority as the head of the clan or the elders here, so you don't have to worry too much,"
Fing said.
Eventually, they walked up to the edge, and Brack looked down into the center. It was his
first time being in the Neverfall Clan base, and he couldn't even see the bottom.
More so, he could feel an intense heat coming from the bottom.
"Our base is unique," Fing explained. "The lower levels are only for middle-stage warriors.
If someone like you went so far down, then they wouldn't be able to even move about."
Raze, looking at the clan base, was doing so with open eyes. He felt like something had to be
here. This was where the message from the Dark Faction founder was found.
This was where the Dark Edge Sword Arts were found as well. The relation between the
Demonic Faction and the mage from Alterian that had come to the world of Pagna.
All of that was here, and there had to be a reason. Raze was ready to face Belil.
"Hey, if you want, I can help you out." Fing said.
"What do you mean?" Brack asked, turning around.
"Help you get a closer look." Fing then pushed Brack in the chest. His whole body lifted into
the air, and Brack was in the center, falling into the deep pit.
Chapter 930: Blood On Our Hands
Chapter 930: Blood On Our Hands

Returning to the Dark Faction, for once the group thought they might be able to relax a
little. They had, after all, been thrown from one situation to the next, one after the other.
The Academy was somewhat a safe haven for a few reasons. One, it wasn't part of a clan
and wasn't centered on the border of any of the other factions' territory.
Because of this, there was no reason other than to get to the Dark Magus for someone to
attack it. On top of that, the Academy itself was filled with students.
Most of them wouldn't be in the middle stage, and mostly other warriors would ignore
them completely.
Which was why none of them would have ever imagined the situation they had actually
returned to in the end. It was devastating, and it was cruel at the same time.
In one of the smaller libraries and reading rooms, Safa, Simyon, and Liam were taking a
break. There was tea on the table with snacks, but they had remained untouched as all
three of them were slouched in their seats.
"It just doesn't end," Liam said. "Do you know what I've been doing? I had to go out and
send messages to the other clans, to the other families, and tell them what happened to
their children."
"The look on their faces. Some would just stare at me, not saying anything. Others would
break out into a devastating scream... and you know what the worst reaction was of them
all?"
"The ones that did nothing. The ones that didn't care and didn't even bother to reply or
turn up to the funeral. Everything is making me feel so sick."
For once, Simyon didn't say anything, but just rubbed his friend's back. He could tell he was
truly distraught by all of this. All of them were; too many deaths at once, too close to them,
too close to the same age as them.
They had been on one end before, but this time, as part of the heads of the Dark Faction,
they felt responsible.
"Maybe if some of us stayed back, we could have..."
"You can't think like that," Safa replied. "If we stayed back, then the same thing could have
happened to the people of Flendon. It was just bad timing with everything, and who knows,
it might have been the best result in all of this."
Simyon clenched his fist. He had improved by leaps and bounds. He was a middle-stage
warrior with an incredibly tough body now.
He was even able to take several hits from Sha Mo. There wouldn't be many out there who
could take him on. He wanted to protect people, protect people who would be in a bad
situation like his sister.
Yet, even with how strong he was, how much of a shield he had become, he still had things
taken away from him.
"What about you, Safa? How are you holding up? You must have been using your magic a
lot, right?" Simyon asked.
"It's exhausting but bearable. The Lux Spear increases my magic, and due to the cultivating
technique I learned to be used at all times, I can switch it to gathering mana, which allows
me to restore mana even now."
"So I'm always replenishing my body with mana, and the spear helps it build up quicker."
Safa practically could use her magic constantly at the moment with no consequences, it was
just the amount in one go. If she used a large amount, it would take time to recover.
She wanted to ask Raze if there was anything she could do to increase her star level as well,
but there just wasn't the right time for that either.
'If only there was someone else from Alterian? I don't want to bother Raze all the time with
all of these things,' Safa thought.
"It's sorted now, so you don't have to worry. Everyone that can be seen has been seen
already. So I can rest a bit, just like the rest of you guys."
There was silence for a moment between all three of them until Liam spoke out.
"But it's not over, right? Like, I don't even understand. Even if they are enemies of Raze,
they went after the students. We were students just a year ago."
"If we were there, we would have been killed, and we wouldn't have even known the
reason why," Liam said. "Honestly, I don't know what this goal of theirs is to eliminate
Raze, but it can't be good if they're willing to go this far."
A knock was heard by the door, and a moment later, it opened, and Ricktor was seen
coming through the door. Simyon made eye contact for a few moments before he turned his
head away.
It was still awkward to look at each other, and whenever Simyon did make eye contact,
Ricktor would give a wink his way and even lick his lips at times.
"Sorry to bother you while you're resting, but Rayna has called for all of us to enter the
main hall."
The three entered the main hall and realized it wasn't just them but everyone. Mantis,
Mada, the rest of the Crimson Crane as well.
There was even Amir present, standing next to Rayna.
"I wanted to thank you all for helping out with the situation that unfolded at the Academy,"
Amir said. "Honestly, it's a devastating event, and I wish for it never to happen again."
The others nodded their heads, and that's when Rayna took out her spear and stabbed it
into the ground, holding the very top.
"We can't just keep waiting for Raze to do his own thing while we support him," Rayna said.
"Them attacking the Dark Faction, attacking the students-it's a step too far."
"This goes beyond Raze. What has happened is beyond cruel, and I want to punish all of
those that did this, the people behind this. At the same time, we can't let Raze take on all
the hatred himself."
"We can't let him be the only person to get his hands dirty. Which is why I'm proposing we
get rid of every single member of Alter in the Dark Faction!" Rayna said, twisting her spear
into the ground and splitting the wood, her eyes fierce.
Chapter 931: Eliminate Alter
Chapter 931: Eliminate Alter

Through Rayna's words, they could feel the anger coming off from her in that moment.
They resonated with it more because, for the last couple of days, they had been working
nonstop. They had been dealing with the outcome of the attack on hand.
"I'm angry as well," Alba spoke up. "But what are you suggesting exactly? You need to make
it clear. You're talking about getting our hands dirty and bloody; isn't that what we've been
doing against the Behemoth Clan and more?"
"The ones behind attacking us weren't the Behemoth Clan. The people behind this were the
group known as Alter!" Rayna said. "The Behemoth Clan, at least they attacked with
reason."
"Even if we had lost the war with the Behemoth Clan, they wouldn't have killed every
person inside. What has happened here is not something that is done by people who can be
considered the same. Even for us Pagna warriors, who are content with killing, it's too far,"
Rayna claimed.
Many in the room resonated with what Rayna was saying. At least when the students had
died from the harsh training situations, it was for a purpose, but what purpose did this
have?
"Right now in the Dark Faction, there are many clans spread all over that use Alter for their
benefits. I'm saying we use this chance to get rid of every single person from Alter."
"We call on their services and trap them, making sure that not a single one of those scum is
even on the same land as us."
"We have been on the defensive the whole time, always just trying to protect ourselves in
these situations, and it's time we help Raze by being on the offensive."
"We need to stop things like this from happening again. I know you all felt it as well, when
you saw Raze... how dark his eyes were, how dark his heart was..."
"I'm afraid if Raze needs to resort to something like this, he will push himself in doing so,
and if he does, he will never be the same again. The Raze we know will be lost."
"Which is why I'm willing to bear some of the blood on my hands as well... but I can't do it
alone... I can't."
Rayna paused and looked at the faces of each individual. It was hard to tell how everyone
was feeling. It was almost as if they wanted to agree with her, yet there was something
stopping them.
"What about the innocent ones in Alter?" Safa said. "I don't want Raze to go back to what he
was, and I don't want something like this to happen."
"Maybe you're right and we do need to go on the attack, but there are those in Alter that
don't even know what's happening, just following the orders of the ones from above. Are
they really to blame?" Safa asked.
Rayna then looked to her side, as she had someone else who could explain the situation a
little better, and that's when Amir stood forward.
"You are right; among those in Alter, there will be many innocent ones, but Alter is not a
giant organization," Amir explained. "They're an organization with power, but there is a
reason why they need to make use of the other factions."
"In the end, there are only so many otherworlders that come to Pagna. The amount that
they had killed in the Academy might even exceed the total members of those from Alter."
"The reality is, if we are hesitant, then something like this can happen again. We can't try
and pick and choose who is innocent or who is not. Otherwise, it will just cause more
meaningless deaths of others."
"Do you know how the attack on the Academy even started in the first place?" Amir asked.
Safa shook her head.
"It was a team from Alter; they had come to do some scouting work, unaware of the real
task at hand, believing they were here to protect the world of Pagna."
"It's nearly impossible to change their views, to tell someone that they are the ones on the
wrong side. It's hard for anyone to believe, especially just through words."
"And it was because of that innocent team from Alter that a Deleter was sent here, and the
result was as follows."
"If we want to stop this, we need to end them."
It was then that Rayna stepped forward.
"At some point, we might be in another big battle like we had against the Behemoth Clan; it
might even be on a larger scale."
"We can't keep turning our backs, thinking about who we can trust. While they are here,
innocent or not, following the orders of Alter, they could disrupt everything... if you want to
help Raze, if you want to help the Dark Faction and even the warriors, this is something we
have to do... and let me tell you something, Safa."
"If we don't do this, then Raze will be the one that has to do it."
Safa placed her head down on the ground, filled with thoughts. Warriors cared about life
less compared to others. It was the life of a warrior, but Safa never wanted to become a
warrior.
Things had just naturally become this way. In the end, though, as if Rayna knew the right
words to say, she agreed with everything. It was unfair to have Raze go through everything
again.
"I agree... I'll do it," Alba called out first.
"Well, you know if the boss is doing it, the rest of us are involved, right?" Kizer said.
Soon more and more in the room agreed, even Liam as he remembered the faces of the
parents, and then there was even Simyon, with the last person being Safa herself.
She took a deep breath and then looked up.
"I'll... do it as well."
Rayna nodded to all of them. She knew it wasn't going to be easy, but they were going to act
straight away. They were going to be as cruel as the Dark Magus in the stories of Alterian,
in order to stop something like this happening again.
"Alright, then I order everyone: the elimination of Alter starts now!" Rayna said, slamming
her spear on the floor, and that was the signal to the start of a massacre.
Chapter 932: The Dark Dark Faction
Chapter 932: The Dark Dark Faction

The Dark Faction was on the move, and in various ways. For one, Cronker had expanded his
Dark Assassin force, the Dark Hand.
He had been training up a number of students, on top of Joe, Violet, and Tinson. There were
also members of the Bonum Society, proficient at using foot techniques, who had joined,
and now the squad was ten members strong.
The Dark Hand, as well as several of the Bonum Society members, had spread messages to
all the clans to set the plan in motion.
Letters had been received by all clans, from those high up in the mountains to those in the
trenches of swamps and caves.
Not a single clan didn't receive a notice, and it was word from the Dark Faction Academy,
telling them to comply. They had all seen what had occurred that day, the day the Dark
Magus took over the Academy.
How the major clans were useless, and all other clans had already suffered defeat from
mysterious groups of people and organizations.
True to their word, they had continued allowing the clans to operate as they wished, not
getting involved, as long as they did as they were told. And now that time had come.
However, it wasn't as if the clans receiving the letters were unwilling to comply. If
anything, they were more eager to work together with the Academy.
The letters contained details of the plan and the reason for such actions-to rid the scum
that attacked the Academy, causing a great loss of many children.
One of the Dark Faction's clans, the Black Marble Clan, was located among the
mountaintops. Due to their secluded location, they weren't large in size but had loyal
followers who would become members of the clan.
The clan was quite unique as it was almost completely separated from regular citizens, only
heading down to the village at the mountain's base to trade once in a while.
Walking up a long grand staircase to reach the top was a group of three people. They were
wearing regular Pagna clothing, with two of them carrying large backpacks.
"Man, why did we get stuck with this job? This thing is torture!" one of the men said,
pouring sweat and pushing off his thigh to go up another step.
"Apparently things have been pretty busy. I was talking to Stacy, and she got called out too,
so we were actually the closest Alter squad to this clan," the other replied, who was
struggling less because he was a Pagna warrior.
"Don't you have a spell to make this stuff lighter or something?" the man complained.
"If I did, then I would've used it on myself." The third person was also covered in sweat,
making their way up the stairs.
"Why do we even have to do this anyway? Can't we refuse a job that's so far away?"
"You know the deal: Alter has to make income somehow, and we need to spread our name
as trustworthy people while gathering information. So let's just suck it up and keep moving
forward."
Eventually, the Alter squad reached the top. They were treated well by the warriors, given
food and drinks, and finally brought into the main clan base.
Soon after, they were invited to the main room where the clan elders were gathered. It was
a large hall with wooden flooring and a raised platform where three elders sat in their
chairs. "It's a pleasure to meet you three," one of the elders said.
"Same to you." One of the men bowed. "I've heard that the request you asked about is to do
wi-"
In the middle of his speech, three red arrows shot out, going straight through the Alter
members' heads. They fell to the floor and died in mere moments.
The elders had nervous sweat forming on the sides of their faces. When they turned to look,
they saw a fairly short woman with dark bags under her eyes, standing by the sliding door.
"Heh... heh... heh!" Froma chuckled. "Is it just me, or is it becoming easier... to deal with
these things?" She dragged her fingers across her face.
Seeing Froma look like a madwoman and how she quickly dealt with three members of
Alter, including a Pagna warrior, the elders were sure they were on the right side.
"On to the next one, I guess," Froma said, slouched as she went to walk off.
This occurrence wasn't just happening at one clan base. Every clan base in the Dark Faction
was calling on the help of Alter members, who were then being assassinated and taken care
of.
As for the force known as the Dark Hand, they had gathered information from Anna, as well
as all the clans. Descriptions of every person they had seen working for Alter.
After cross-referencing these descriptions, they would go out and take down the members
of Alter one by one.
In one location, in a bar at night, drinks were flowing, and many were having a joyous
evening.
Suddenly, the door swung open, and Anna was seen entering. She scanned the room with
her eyes, then moved to a table.
Upon reaching the table, she grabbed the back of one man's head and slammed it down into
his bowl. She then picked the man up by his head again and hurled him toward another,
crashing him down.
A third person tried to strike, but Anna avoided it, holding the man's arm, then striking by
the elbow with her other hand, breaking it in one hit.
"It's okay!" Anna shouted. "I'm here on orders of the Dark Magus."
She then turned to the man who was screaming in pain.
"You know, I never did like Alter too much, but there was one man I was quite fond of, and
now he's gone, and it was you guys who did it."
"But you see, there's one person he cared about, so I'm going to ask you guys... right, you're
a retriever team? So what's your lead on a mage called Charlotte?" Anna shouted.
In a day, the existence of Alter would be no more in the Dark Faction, and Alter themselves
were too busy, with their focus on something else to even react.
Chapter 933: Save Me Dark Magus
Chapter 933: Save Me Dark Magus

The moment Raze arrived at the Neverfall Clan base, his mind was going wild, thinking
about what the relationship between the clan and the Dark Faction founder could be.
Warriors were a strange group of people to Raze, with values quite different from those in
Pagna, and for Belil, he was an even stranger person.
While thinking these things, he was unaware of what was about to happen. Looking ahead
in a daydream, he saw it-he saw one of the brothers, Fing, push Brack over the edge.
A normal warrior wouldn't survive a fall from such a height, but this wasn't just a cliffside;
this was the Abyssal Mountain, where extremely high temperatures were felt toward the
bottom.
"Ha, ha, ha! Did you see his face?" Fing said, pointing toward the hole.
Right after, he felt a large gust of wind blowing his hair, and he saw a man with white hair
jump right into the abyss.
Raze was falling down, but he could see Brack ahead of him. As he was falling deeper, his
body was avoiding the large chains that hung from the hole in the base, allowing people to
go from one area to the next.
"I need to get closer!" Raze activated the magic around his hands, propelling himself
forward, pushing him further down, but he could see that they would reach the bottom at
any moment.
Swinging both of his hands, just as Brack's back was about to hit the floor, a cushion of
wind hit him, breaking his fall, but he still crashed onto the ground, and blood gushed out of
his mouth from the impact.
Raze landed right after, swiftly, and stood there, looking at Brack.
'The strange heat energy stopped my magic from working properly,' Raze thought. He also
noticed that compared to the last time he was here, his body was handling the heat better.
He didn't need to use his ice magic to cool his body. Although he was sure part of that was
because of the blazer he was wearing.
Raze quickly went to Brack, who was thankfully breathing. He seemed in an okay state
since he was a warrior, but it was the intense heat that was worrying him.
Causing him to have next to no energy and even draining his Qi energy away, which would
help him recover somewhat faster. Quickly pulling out a piece of chalk, Raze started to
draw a magic circle on the ground.
At the same time, he fed Brack one of his pills and continued with his work. When he was
done, misty air could be seen coming from Raze's hands, and when he placed them on the
floor, the magic circle on the ground lit up.
The area covered the entirety of Brack's body, and the look on his face was one of instant
relief as the heat was escaping him, now feeling as though he had a shield covering him.
Raze wasn't quite sure it was enough, so he decided to take his blazer off and placed it on
top of Brack's body like a blanket. He knew its healing properties would help somewhat.
As for himself, he still had some basic cloth underneath a sleeveless shirt, so his hard-
crafted muscles were on display. A body he never had before, even at the same age when he
was in Alterian.
'Why did they even do that? What reason could they have, even if you aren't both from the
same clan?' Raze thought.
The words of Rayna started to come back into his head, the warning to be careful of her
brothers. They weren't like her and Dame; both of them were cruel.
"Holy crap, he managed to survive. I guess that's no doubt thanks to our brother, huh?"
Fing commented.
Standing up, Raze then turned around to see Fing and Han present.
"Why did you do that?" Raze asked.
"Because if he fell and survived, he'd get stronger. Can't you feel the energy seeping into
him? He'll be a middle-stage warrior after this," Fing said. "He'll be thankful."
However, Raze knew if he had done nothing, if he hadn't helped Brack, then he would have
fallen to his death. Were these two any different from Sha Mo, who also wished to get rid of
Brack?
Why was Brack always the one on the short end of the stick?
"He could have died," Raze said.
"And then that would have been his fate," Han added. "The strong survive, the weak die. He
is just another warrior." Fing felt like it would be entertaining to see what would happen,
which is why he acted.
"Is there a problem with this?"
Out of the two, Raze thought that Fing was the wild one and Han the sensible one, but he
realized now, after talking to the two of them for a while, they were both crazy.
"So the strong make the rules. So if I just decided to kill you now... you'd have no problem
with that?" Raze asked.
"The weak die, that's all, the strong make the rules in this world and this is the law of the
Demonic Faction."
Raze started to laugh. Is that why his friend died then? Is that why his wife had perished?
Just because they were weak? Just because people were weak, did they deserve to die...
even if they brought no harm, only care, into this world?
Raze's heart was beating intensely, but he was distracted as he heard doors swing wide
open, and a heat wave seemed to come out, hitting him on his face from the side.
The man in question, with long straight combed-over hair flowing down his back, was Belil.
He walked out of the room and was now on the floor with the others, observing the
situation. "He should be fine," Belil said. "He will live, and the energy here will allow him to
reach the middle stage. Keep your anger inside you."
"Besides, you might need your energy; after all, the two of us need to talk, Mage." Belil said.
Chapter 934: Let Me Ask You A Question
Chapter 934: Let Me Ask You A Question

At first, Raze was a little stunned as he saw Belil emerge from his independent training
room. At least that's what Raze thought Belil used it for; he wasn't quite sure.
The reason for him feeling this way, he didn't understand it. He had faced Sha Mo, someone
from the Demonic Faction who was considered on the same level.
Although the power of Qi was fierce, Raze had handled it well, fighting it off with his own
body. The last time Raze had met with Belil, he had felt this as well.
A slight tingle all over his body, like a small electric shock on the inside. Yet he thought that
was due to the difference in Qi, so why was he feeling it now once again?
But all of those thoughts disappeared with one word that had come out of Belil's mouth.
"Besides, you might need your energy; after all, the two of us need to talk, Mage," Belil said.
'Mage' continued to ring in Raze's head because of who had said the word.
'Everyone knows about the Dark Magus now, due to all the reports and me spreading out
my name, but the word 'mage' is unknown to Pagna warriors.
'Those in Alter might know it, as well as some people in Bonum Society, so why does Belil
know it... why does he know this word 'mage', and why does he know I am one as well?'
If Raze was on guard before, he was extra careful now, thinking that at any point, he might
have to fight for his life.
His guess was right: there was a link between Belil and the Dark Faction founder, but
whose side was who on? Raze didn't even know if he was on the Dark Faction's side-he was
just following in his footsteps at the moment, wishing for an item that he left behind.
"What, did I startle you?" Belil asked, standing by the door and already turning around.
Before Raze knew it, he was moving his feet, but something was still on his mind. He turned
his head, thinking about his blazer; he didn't want to leave it with the two troublemakers.
"Don't worry, you two aren't to touch him. If you do, I will deal with you myself," Belil said.
Raze didn't know whether to say thanks or not, as he was more concerned about his blazer,
but thought Belil's threat would be enough to stop the two from doing anything at all.
"This will be a private matter," Belil said, turning around, and when he stretched out his
hand, the door swung closed.
It appeared like Wind magic, but that would have been impossible. So the only thing Raze
could think it was, was Qi.
Yet how could one use Qi like that? Raze had recently gone against Sha Mo, but the Qi was
just invisible and connected to him.
This didn't seem to act the same way.
Too many questions were appearing in Raze's mind, even more than the last time he had
visited. It felt like he was finally going to get some answers.
Raze was walking down the narrow hallway. The heat was intensifying, yet he didn't use
his magic to cool himself down like he had before.
He wanted to hold on; he could feel the heat affecting his body, almost breaking down the
energy inside and replacing it with new energy.
Eventually, Belil sat down cross-legged, facing the door in the circle, then in one area, Raze
saw an area circling, almost like wind again.
"Take a seat; let's talk face-to-face about these matters. I'm sure there are a lot of questions
you want to ask."
Willingly, Raze walked over and sat down in the circle. It was slightly cooler; whatever was
being used was pushing the extreme heat away.
"First, I want to talk about the positives. You have grown incredibly strong since we last
met, in such a short amount of time. You are indeed an impressive person, and I am happy
that Rayna happened to pick you."
"It's almost as if strings are being pulled all just to please me!" Belil said with a large smile.
"Should we go and destroy another Light Faction base? Maybe this time, you can have some
part as well."
Belil continued to laugh, and Raze didn't know if he was serious or not. Some people
thought the Dark Magus was crazy, yet it was clear they hadn't met Belil, Raze thought.
"Your Qi has improved so much, and you even managed to defeat the Behemoth Clan. He
has been a pain for so long, but I never dealt with him. Do you know why?"
"Because going to battle with him would mean the loss of many of your men?" Raze replied,
unsure if that was the right answer.
It felt strange for Raze; it was quite likely that these two were closer in age than Belil
thought, but from Belil's actions, it was almost as if he were talking to his own child.
"No, not at all. I've always been quite confident I could beat that man with ease. I believe he
might only have half a brain. I mean, he didn't even fully plan out his attack on Flendon and
acted on pure emotion. Which is why I like you, because you seem to be a person with a
head on his shoulders, at least for now," Belil replied.
"The reason I never got rid of him was because he was the biggest deterrent to other
factions attacking us. He was a useful tool to use with the large size of his clan."
"The Demonic Faction has always been smaller in the number of warriors compared to the
other factions, so his numbers boosted the power of the faction as a whole quite a bit... but I
think the timing was right more than anything. We won't have to worry about the other
factions, especially with you controlling the Dark Faction!"
Belil continued once again in a loud bellow of laughter, and when he stopped, he
straightened his face as he asked his next question.
"So let me ask you, how much of the Dark Edge Sword Arts have you learned?"
Chapter 935: No, Let Me Ask You A Question
Chapter 935: No, Let Me Ask You A Question

It was the second time that Raze had been surprised by the words coming out of Belil's
mouth. The thing was, he hadn't even had time to confront him about the first thing that
had surprised him, because Belil was leading the conversation, and at this point, Raze felt
like
enough was enough.
"You knew I was a mage before I came in here, so it's clear you know something," Raze
replied. "But to also know about the Dark Edge Sword Arts? Just how much do you know...
what is your goal in all of this, and what are you even doing... should I be worried?"
Belil folded his arms. Even though Raze was speaking more sternly, the smile on Belil's face
hadn't disappeared for a moment.
"You're right, you're right. You see, I'm just sensitive to one's body. I can feel the cells inside
you reacting, the goosebumps in your body, so I wanted to see how you would react... and
besides, it's not as if the two of us talked much last time," Belil said.
"But first, do you mind answering my question?" Belil asked again.
Raze thought about how to answer for a bit until he finally gave one.
"I have fully mastered four of the formations. However, with how I am now, I'm sure I could
perform the fifth formation as well."
Immediately, Raze could see Belil shaking his head in disappointment.
"That means you aren't as strong as him. I'm surprised, with you having beaten Sha Mo, I
thought you would have known at least up to the seventh formation," Belil said, and then
unfolded his arms and shook his head.
"Enough of that, I should explain. I know about the formations because I was one of the two
people who created the formations in the first place."
Something clicked in Raze's head. Why hadn't he thought of this before? There were two
versions of the book-one that could work just on Qi.
Creating arts sometimes took several generations of knowledge, and just like Raze, Bofan
was originally from Alterian.
"I heard descriptions of the powers you used, especially from the Martial Arts Tournament;
there was no doubt that was you. I had hints that you knew how to use magic as well, and
that was pretty much confirmed when you pulled your stunt at the tournament."
"Of course, the Dark Edge Sword Arts manual is missing, as well as another item of mine,
and I'm guessing that's because of you?"
Raze did indeed take two items from the Neverfall Clan base. Although he saw it as
borrowing because Dame, a member of the Neverfall Clan, was with him at the time.
The good thing was, with how casually Belil was bringing it up, he didn't seem to be
annoyed.
"How much do you know about Alterian, about Bofan? About the portals and what's
happening here, and even about Alter?" Raze asked.
His voice was rising slightly; he wanted answers.
"Relax, we have time," Belil waved his hand. "Let me tell you, I know only what Bofan told
me, because the two of us were close."
"I know Bofan came from another world, and he traveled across the Dark Faction continent,
challenging various people. He didn't just do that in the Dark Faction but also traveled to
the Demonic Faction as well."
"We first met in a duel, and I beat him relatively easily, of course, but he kept challenging
me and kept losing. It was clear he was stubborn and hiding something, and eventually,
that caused him to use magic.
"And guess what?" Belil said with a smile.
Raze was about to answer, but Belil answered for him.
"I still beat him!" Belil said, going into another fit of laughter.
"The two of us became close. I, as a warrior, liked a challenge and was curious about where
he had come from. At the time, the only relationship we had with each other was through
our
fighting."
"And I guess that's why, in the end, it felt like I was the only person he could trust... but
that's not completely the truth either."
Belil then looked up at the sky.
"The Divine Realm... it's a place filled with annoyance-humans who believe themselves
gods. Do you know why I know all of this?" Belil asked again.
This time, Raze didn't bother answering, knowing Belil would just cut him off with the
answer.
"Because I'm actually a Divine being. I have already reached the Divine stage." Belil held out
his hand, and Qi started to condense. Strange, small glowing balls of light were coming out
from his hand, forming a floating sphere.
It almost looked like magic, but it was quite clear that the energy being used was
completely different.
"I left the Neverfall Clan for a short while. When someone reaches the Divine stage, one has
no choice; it's almost like a light blinds you, pulling you into that other world."
"And getting down here isn't as easy as people think either. In the end, I crashed down,
having lost a fight above. My body was badly hurt, and I was on the brink of death."
"As for the person who saved me, it was none other than Bofan. I owed that man a debt-the
debt of my life. I learned that even though I reached the Divine stage, it also meant I was
not yet ready for it."
"And Bofan gave me a second chance to get my revenge on those above... at least that's
what it was initially. It was also because of Bofan that I found the meaning of caring and
love down
here on Pagna."
"Learning about his world changed everything for me. You might not believe it, but I am
quite the family man now, even though I wasn't before."
"A man who didn't care about what clan one was from, what faction or upbringing you had,
yet truly cared about people. I yearned for a relationship like that."
"I had failed with my first two sons. I learned too late, but thanks to Bofan, I tried to grow
that bond with the other two, and they are very dear to me."
Words he never expected to hear. There were too many words Raze never expected to
hear. Now, though, he understood why Belil had sent his first two sons to protect Rayna.
As for Dame, who knows what Belil was doing in the shadows to support him as well. But
he had only mentioned failing with the first two, so he had to have cared for Dame as well.
"Because of everything Bofan taught me, I decided that I would do whatever to help him. To
continue to grow the strength of the Neverfall Clan and the Demonic Faction as a force he
could use."
"Even when he created the Dark Faction and became its leader, we would frequently meet
up, and he would always speak as if someday... he would disappear."
Belil then stood up on his feet.
"There is a lot more to tell you about Bofan, the end of Pagna, and the Golden Globe, but
before I tell you any more of that... I want the two of us to fight... and I want you to win... just
like Bofan did, on that day."
Chapter 936: An Odd Feeling
Chapter 936: An Odd Feeling

It would be a lie if Raze never thought that fighting Belil was a possibility, and he had
envisioned it both ways.
Either Belil was actually an enemy, unaligned with his goals, and he would have to fight for
his life, or he would want to test his capabilities.
Despite hearing that Belil was a changed man from his old days, Raze couldn't see it. A
family man? This was a man who still loved to fight and battle.
Maybe he had just changed his priorities compared to before, but it was still within him.
The last time, Belil had even asked him to fight one of his middle-stage warriors to test his
abilities, but now it was to fight Belil himself.
'When I imagined fighting him, I imagined how to survive and escape. The strength I saw
that day when he took out the Light Faction Clan might be something I could match with
the Eclipse Strike currently.'
'But Belil had done it effortlessly.'
There was another thing Raze had only realized through speaking to him-that Belil was
actually a Divine warrior. So he could have very well been hiding his power, even if it was
limited.
"I understand you want to test my powers, maybe even compare me to Bofan, who you
knew from before. I'm guessing you won't tell me anymore, and there's a reason for this.
But you already know that I don't know all of the Dark Edge Sword Arts, so I'm likely
weaker than him."
It was something Raze had to admit, especially since even he was weaker than himself as a
nine-star mage.
He just had more versatility, but Bofan would have been the same; he was clearly a nine-
star mage as well and had studied in Pagna for a very long time.
"If you wish to test my strength, how about I go against one of your sons outside?" Raze
suggested.
He had been wanting to give them a bit of payback for their recklessness for a while now.
"Haha, and what would be the point in that? I already heard that you humiliated the two of
them with ease. I want to see the full extent of your power!" Belil then stood up from his
position.
"You have no choice; you have to fight me, and saying no is not an option. Otherwise, I will
have to punish my son-in-law for stealing from the family. I don't want to see my daughter
crying."
Raze stood up. If this was how it was going to be, then this was how it would be.
Although some might think Belil was crazy or rough around the edges, he was honest if
nothing else.
And Raze would much rather deal with him than a large number of mages out there.
"Come on, this isn't a good place to fight. Follow me." Belil said as he walked toward the
door and swung his arms, making it open wide.
As they exited, they saw Brack standing there, carefully holding the blazer in his hands,
amazed by what was happening.
Just as Belil said, he had reached the middle stage. He could still barely move due to the
intense heat and felt like he had no energy, but he mustered up a smile.
Once again, just by following the Dark Magus, he was growing by leaps and bounds.
As Raze walked forward, Brack's shaky arms held out the blazer to him.
"Thanks for looking after it," Raze said.
"Thank you for giving it to me. I can tell it's very special."
"It is... if these two had touched it, I would have sent them ten feet deeper into the ground,"
Raze answered. It sounded like a joke, but to Raze, it wasn't.
Raze proceeded to put on the blazer as he might very well need it.
"He can come with us," Belil said. "It's always good to have a witness to future stories that
will be told. As for the two of you, make sure you look after the base."
"There are times when both your natures are needed, but I also wish both of you were a
little more like your brother and sister."
"If all four of you come together, the Neverfall Clan will reach new heights and make
history."
The two brothers started to jump up, using the chains while Raze helped Brack with his
magic. Seeing this, Belil quickly jumped, lifted Brack with one arm, and continued to leap
upward. Brack's face turned red, unsure if it was from the heat or something else.
'Right now, I'm in the arms of the Neverfall Clan's leader... just what is going on? I... I...'
Before Brack regained his bearings, all three of them were outside the Neverfall Clan base.
They were still relatively close, but now, without someone slowing them down, they
ascended much easier.
Still holding onto Brack, Belil looked up at the sky, just above where the Neverfall Clan base
was.
"A fallen mountain, a strike from a demon... I guess you really could call it a demon." They
were words he mumbled to himself before he continued.
"The location of our fight is a bit far; I don't want others to get caught up in our mess or
know what we're doing. There's a nosy one in the Demonic Faction."
"Um, are you going to put me down?" Brack had finally gotten the courage to ask.
"You will just slow us down, so no."
Belil rushed off, and Raze followed, his heart pounding as he was about to face what could
be the hardest fight of his life.
"While on our way, I'll tell you a little more about Bofan," Belil stated.
Back in the Neverfall Clan base, both Han and Fing were moving up the Abyssal base. They
were moving slowly, and both were rather silent-even Fing, for a change.
"Was that strange?" Han asked.
"Yeah, Father has never spoken to us for that long unless it's about training us... something
is strange. What is he planning?" Fing replied.
Chapter 937: The Last Condition
Chapter 937: The Last Condition

It was quite clear that in the current situation, Belil wasn't an enemy to Raze. If anything, he
was more of a means to get his way.
From what Raze could gather, Bofan was close to Belil, and there was a reason why so
many things had been left with him. Since Bofan was no longer on Pagna, Belil was now
following his wishes and continuing what he left off.
The question was, why was Raze needed? Was there a specific reason, or did Belil just
believe that there was someone up for the job?
That was perhaps what Belil wanted to find out through this fight-to use him in some way.
'I'm fine with being used, I'm fine with all of that, as long as I get what is needed and can
head to Alterian. I'm fine with all this.'
Now knowing what Belil's stance pretty much was, Raze decided to ask a question he had
been holding back.
"Those words you mumbled before, do they mean anything? I saw you looking up at the
sky," Raze asked.
"Ah, right, I said I'd tell you a bit more about Bofan, but I guess I can explain what I was
thinking back then," Belil replied. "You know, there are several rumors about how the
Abyssal base was created where the Neverfall Clan stands?"
"I also thought some of those rumors were true, that was until I reached the Divine stage
and was pulled up there. The truth of the matter is..."
"Two of the strongest Divine beings were having a battle. The power was so strong that it
couldn't be contained, and an attack lingered down, creating such a large hole in the
ground."
"The intense heat, and the energy you can feel flowing through your body-that is the energy
of their attack, still strong after who knows how many years."
"This is what I learned when I went to the Divine Realm."
To cause that much power, it was quite extraordinary. Raze didn't look too much into the
Divine Realm because he had no such intentions, and there was no such thing on Alterian.
As long as he kept his Qi stage at the maximum capable at the middle stage, he would be
fine increasing his magic. Still, the power of the Divine beings seemed even stronger than
the Grand Magus.
They weren't an enemy of Raze's, so he would ignore them.
"The world of Pagna is being protected by something amazing; if there wasn't a realm that
divided us, maybe the whole planet would have been destroyed. It's almost as if it was
purposely created," Belil continued.
"I told you, Bofan's beauty and obsession with Pagna transferred to me. He cared about this
land a lot, and in turn, it made me care about things I hadn't before."
"Maybe it was the fact that I was beaten within an inch of my life; going to the Divine Realm
can humble you quite a bit."
"Regardless, we spent a lot of time together, but toward his end, he started speaking of
strange things. He constantly talked about not wanting Pagna to disappear."
"And he kept talking about what would happen when he disappeared. Every time we met,
he would frequently bring this up in conversation."
"It made me wonder, what was he afraid of? Although I said Bofan would constantly lose to
me, I guarantee he was perhaps the second strongest person in all of Pagna."
"And then, just like that, he was gone."
"That's it?" Raze replied, surprised. Not even Belil knew what happened. Worry set in that
maybe Belil didn't know as much as he had hoped.
"When he left, he left several things behind, explaining all of his thoughts, all of his worries.
The last place he visited was the Neverfall Clan."
"Finally, I understood everything he talked about. Maybe some would think I was tricked,
but I don't believe that to be the case."
"Now I feel obligated to follow in his footsteps and continue from where he left off, to try
and save Pagna."
"He guessed that someone at some point would come along and be in the same situation as
him. But in truth, it was a race against time, and it would be unlikely that anyone would -
come."
"He made a gamble, and now I need to see if his gamble paid off."
Raze could tell that was the end of his tales about Bofan. Everything else would be revealed
after the talks. Finally, they had reached their destination.
They were in the middle of an open dry desert. The ground was hard, but due to the shapes
of rocks, it almost looked like a fighting arena.
Giant slabs of ground were lifted up, arched at an angle, surrounding an area that was
about a mile in size.
Belil quickly balanced Brack on top of one of these large slabs that stuck out of the ground,
and then continued into the center along with Raze.
"This is my old battleground. I haven't used it since he disappeared," Belil claimed. "I think
this is an appropriate place for the two of us, don't you think?"
Now on closer inspection, Raze realized why it looked like an arena; it was purposely done
with Earth magic. It had just been so long that part of the slabs had eroded away. Images
filled his head as he imagined a mighty mage going up against a warrior. Some of the areas
were darkened, and there were even hard brown stains in other areas.
"The time has come, Raze, the great Dark Magus!" Belil claimed. "You have a good strong
title, I like that. In our fight, use everything you have-magic, Qi, weapons, traps... do
everything in your power."
"Because this isn't just a fight to test your strength. If you lose this fight, then I will never
tell you about the Golden Globe you are desperately looking for... and I am a man of my
word!" Belil said as both of his hands were covered in glowing orange energy.
It was slightly transparent, and his knuckles could still be seen. Belil then bunched them
both together, and a shockwave blew out from his position, pushing everything in the area
and knocking all of the dust away.
Raze's feet even skidded on the ground despite him trying to hold his place.
"I... have to win this fight?"
Chapter 938: Dark Magus Vs Belil (Part 1)
Chapter 938: Dark Magus Vs Belil (Part 1)

Fingertips were holding onto the edge of a rocky slab. Eventually, Brack had pulled himself
up and stood on the edge of the strange makeshift arena he was on.
"That was a close one; that Qi energy almost blew me away to the floor. If I weren't a
middle- stage warrior, maybe I would have been blown all the way back to the Neverfall
Clan base," Brack said, wiping the sweat off from his head.
"That punch from before... I can't even imagine how strong Belil really is! I thought maybe
Raze would have a chance. After all, he's the Dark Magus who took on Sha Mo!"
"Weren't Sha Mo and Belil meant to be of equal strength? It doesn't seem like that, and I
can't really follow what they were saying before, either."
Brack started to scratch his head, as he couldn't believe he was about to bear witness to the
fight that was going to take place.
No one but him knew that the Dark Magus and Belil were fighting against each other, and
only he had the privilege of watching everything.
"I won't take my eyes off this... I won't, just like Belil said. I might be the one who will have
to record this down in history!"
Belil, after pounding his fists, had a large smile on his face, then, reaching out with his hand,
he taunted Raze, pulling his fingers toward himself, telling Raze to come at him.
"You're not the only one who has strong Qi!" Raze said as he summoned another sword in
his hand, which was the wind-enchanted sword.
He swung them both, and red crimson slashes came out toward Belil. With swings of his
arm, they shattered, not cutting his skin.
Raze continued to swing his sword, as the attacks hit Belil more and more.
"Come on, this is noth-" he began, in the middle of his sentence.
That was when he could see an even bigger red crimson slash come at him. At the perfect
time, Belil clapped both of his hands, hitting it and making it disappear, breaking down into
nothing.
"I see... your Qi is impressive; it's heavily condensed, so it feels stronger than the stage you
are at... that's actually something most need to do once they reach the higher stages and
start to plateau!" Belil claimed. "It's quite impressive, considering how long you have been
at the middle stage, how far you have come."
"And to top it off, you used magic in that attack." Belil raised his eyebrows. "Are you
surprised that I could tell?"
Raze had already rushed forward, performing three of the descending steps in succession,
one after the other, and took a swing at Belil from the side.
Belil raised his hand, blocking the attack, and just looked at Raze, who quickly bounced
back. As he moved backward, he fired off a Dark Pulse from his hand.
The beam of Dark energy shot forward. Once again, though, like everything before, Belil
swung his fist, and the Dark energy on impact was destroyed, just exploding away.
'My Dark magic affinity has already increased so much, yet it still failed to even put a
scratch on him. Is he coating his body in Qi?'
The fight so far had reminiscences of his match with Sha Mo. He, too, had a strong body that
seemed unable to be scratched. However, Raze was stronger than that now, with more
Magic and more Qi, yet this was still the major difference between the two of them.
"I'll just have to wear him down," Raze said as he put both swords away and pointed both
of his hands toward Belil.
Out of them, a constant dark beam of magic came out, hitting Belil's body. It pushed against
his bare chest, seemingly doing no damage, and eventually, Belil moved his hand in front of
the attack, stopping it from hitting his body.
Belil then shoved his hand forward. In doing so, in front of Raze's eyes, both of the beams of
Dark energy were destroyed as they were being pushed back.
Raze quickly stopped the attack and moved out of the way. Just behind where Raze had
been moments ago, the attack hit the giant slabs of earth that surrounded their fighting
area, creating two large holes in them.
"Come on! Is this all you have?" Belil said. "I haven't attacked yet because I don't even feel
any danger coming from you. Are you really the person who defeated Sha Mo and my two
sons?"
The truth was, the Raze who had defeated all three of them was the old Dark Magus, the
nine- star mage. The current Raze wasn't stronger than that... but he had to win this fight,
and right now, all he was being was a disappointment for Belil.
'I didn't have time to figure out how to do a Dark Core breakthrough. So, the powers I
displayed before, it's impossible for me to display them now.'
"Then I will just have to go with it!" Once again, both swords were seen in Raze's hands. If
Belil was just going to stand there, then he had time on his hands.
He performed the first descending step, all the way up to the sixth, when he was up in the
air. With both swords raised above his head, they were condensed in Dark magic.
"Dark Edge Sword Arts, Second Formation: Duel Eclipse Strike!" Raze threw both of his
swords, and the entire area was covered in Dark magic as they left his hands.
They hit the floor and caused the whole place to shake. Belil was nowhere to be seen, and
Brack, watching, had to hold on tight again.
Eventually, the power of the attack was fading into particles, and when it did, Belil was seen
standing there, his body completely fine just like it was before.
"Now that's more like it, but you made a foolish mistake," Belil said as he lifted his hand in
the air. Soon, orange energy flowed out of his body and started to condense around his
whole arm, including his fist.
"Didn't I tell you already? I was the one who helped make those techniques in the first
place! Neverfall, Eclipse Strike!" Belil shouted, swinging his arm out.
Chapter 939: Raze vs Belil (Part 2)
Chapter 939: Raze vs Belil (Part 2)

The moment Raze saw Belil lift his hand in the air, he had a strange feeling. A massive
amount of energy could be felt coming out from Belil's body.
It was a little different from Raze's own Dark Edge Sword Arts, but there was definitely a
sense of familiarity, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up.
It made him think for a moment; maybe this was how others felt when they saw his attack.
'I need to move!' Raze spun his body with wind and tried to cast Wind magic to force his
propulsion down. Right at that moment, Belil swung his fist in the air.
Coming out from his hand and arm was orange energy that shot out, covering a wide area.
It was large in size, covering nearly all the area that could be seen.
The attack went further forward, reaching and piercing the skies, splitting the clouds apart.
Raze had touched the floor, and when he looked up, he could still see the energy of the
attack going past him, until the orange glow on his face had disappeared from the reflection
of the attack.
His eyes then laid on Belil in front of him, who looked at his own fist.
"Do you really think the Dark Edge Sword Arts, which was created by me and Bofan, could
be used against me? Not only that, but those techniques were created long ago... if anything,
I know the perfect way to counter them, and let me tell you now"
"Although I don't know how to use magic, I know how to use all of the formations, as they
are formations belonging to me in the first place."
Honestly, before Raze had used the attack, he had an inkling that this would happen, but he
had to try it. After all, he was now a Dark Mage with high affinity.
His attacks might be stronger than Bofan's, and he had special weapons in his hands along
with learning how to perform a dual strike with the technique.
In some ways, Raze believed he had made it his own, but his attack was useless, and now
seeing it from one of the creators, his was perhaps half as effective.
"Come on, do it. I know you want to test if the Dark Edge Sword Arts really work against me
or not. I'm sure they have helped you throughout your journey, so this is a first for you!"
Belil claimed.
"Very well, then let's test it!" Raze said as he charged forward.
There had to be something, something he could do, something he could use to get through.
In the meantime, he would at least try his own way of the Dark Edge Sword Arts.
As Raze came close, Dark magic started to surround both of his swords. With his increased
Qi and mana, he was able to use the first formation, the Shadow Bind Formation, with both
of his weapons.
'Was Bofan able to do this?' Raze swung both swords wrapped in Dark magic, and they
swirled and intertwined within Belil's body, wrapping around him.
Then, right after, Raze even changed weapons and swung an attack, hitting his feet. Ice
started to freeze over at the bottom, reinforcing the position Belil was in.
"Now, time for... What?" When Raze went to try and swing his blade, he noticed his legs and
arms were wrapped in strange orange energy, and the power was seeping into him.
It was draining him as it touched him. When Raze looked up, Belil had already broken out,
and both his arms were wrapped around like a snake in strange orange Qi.
"I bet you didn't even see me use my skill, right? There's no point in binding if someone can
see it coming. They will just avoid it and attack you back!"
In a desperate situation, Raze managed to cast Dark magic over his body, exploding it out
like particles. It disrupted the bindings around him, and he quickly moved back.
Dark energy came out like a mist from his sword as the Nightmare Veil Formation was
created. With swings of his sword, the dark mist in the area formed the appearance of
beasts coming at him.
"Now, this is something that I have always hated. This is not something I can particularly
do, and it suits more of your mage's tricky type, but there's a simple way to deal with this."
The dark mist started to swirl, forming into a tiger beast that leapt right at Belil.
Calm as ever, Belil looked up, opened his mouth, and let out a single loud scream.
"AH!" The scream echoed with power, and just like when he had pounded his two fists
together, a wave of Qi rippled from his body.
It pushed and destroyed all of the dark energy in the air, moving it away, and the
Nightmare Veil Formation was gone just like that-it was practically useless.
"Even if that touched me, it wouldn't have hurt my body," Belil claimed.
"Right, right, but this might!" Belil looked to his side and saw Raze's feet sparkling with a
type of lightning.
At the same time, Dark magic and Qi had gathered at the back of his sword. Raze exploded
forward, lightning shooting off his foot, giving him immense speed.
At the same time, the Void Pulse Formation was used. Ripping through the air, with a
current of lightning, Dark magic, and Qi behind him, Raze's sword thrust forward, aiming
for Belil's chest.
The sword almost touched his skin, but Belil blocked the attack with his palm. The very tip
of Raze's sword pushed against the palm of his hand.
"Well, would you look at that, you managed to make a cut," Belil stated. Blood dripped
down his palm and fell onto the floor.
It was as Belil said, during the whole fight, with everything that Raze had done, including
using his magic, there wasn't a single wound on him.
"I guess it means it's finally my turn to go on the attack," Belil stated.
Chapter 940: Raze vs Belil (Part 3)
Chapter 940: Raze vs Belil (Part 3)

Raze knew that he couldn't rely on the Dark Edge Sword Arts. It was the perfect set of arts
for the situations he was in—an art that combined magic and Qi together. It was something
that had a lot of effort put into it and would be better than anything he could come up with
on the go.
So he decided to try and enhance it in other ways. One of those ways was to combine his
Lightning magic along with a foot technique, allowing him to have superior speed and
power when attacking.
He then combined it with the most powerful piercing technique the Dark Edge Sword Arts
had, the Void Pulse Formation.
In a way, it was his most powerful attack that focused on a single point, with the main goal
of breaking through any defense, and it had succeeded, but looking at the small drop of
blood in front of him, it had only succeeded at the smallest level.
'Murkel held the title as the one closest to reaching the Divine realm, and Sha Mo was said
to have equal power to Belil, but I can tell all of that was false. Now that I have met the real
thing, it's quite obvious that this is the very peak of the middle stage!'
If Raze thought about it a bit more, he would realize it was even beyond that. Since Belil
was actually a Divine Stage warrior, he had spent years still trying to grow his strength in
some way, not something a typical warrior would do after reaching his level.
"I guess it means it's finally my turn to go on the attack," Belil stated.
A large smile appeared on Belil's face, and seeing this, Raze decided to quickly go on the
defensive. He used his lightning footwork to move away.
Right after, the swords had changed in his hands once again, one with lightning attribute,
the other with ice. His feet lit up, sparking, and quickly disappearing, Raze reappeared by
Belil's side.
He swung both swords, slashing as hard as he could against Belil's body. Right after hitting,
he would move with his footwork again, disappearing and reappearing in another location.
The sword strikes weren't piercing Belil's skin, but that wasn't what Raze was aiming for in
the first place. The constant attacks from the swords had been aimed at Belil's legs.
He was hoping for one of two things to occur: either for the static from the lightning-
enchanted sword to paralyze Belil's entire body, or for the latter, which occurred. Belil's
legs began to freeze from the constant attacks. Quickly, Raze placed both hands on the
floor, and walls lifted up around Belil's sides and back.
Right after that, Raze started to gather his Dark magic, condensing it into balls, and
throwing them in the air. They were slightly bigger than a fist, and as he threw them above
him, they lingered for a while.
He had made around twenty in total, and then, moving both of his hands, he cast large
tornado-like wind spells. The black balls gathered with the magic of the wind, and then
they were all pushed right toward Belil.
The condensed balls hit his body, and Raze didn't let up, as he started to combine Dark
magic with his tornado-like wind, creating a tunnel of darkness from his hands and
wrapping around Belil's entire body.
'With the way I am now, I also don't have every affinity unlocked like I did when I had my
breakthrough. It would have been nice to have fire and water elements to help me in this
fight, but I'll have to do what I can!'
Raze was trying to recreate some of his spells that he could perform but on a smaller scale
than when he was a nine-star mage, with his Dark magic as the core of the attack.
With the constant attack hitting Belil, some marks could be seen on his body, but it didn't
appear as if they had broken through his skin.
Then, with his hand, Belil grabbed onto the tunnel of Dark magic. He did so as if the wind or
Dark magic had some type of physical form.
Raze had never seen a mage or a Pagna warrior do something like this before. Then, Belil
lifted the entire attack like it was some giant snake's head and then bashed it into the
ground.
No matter what Raze tried to do, the attack from his hands was now just going into the
ground, so he quickly decided to cancel his spell.
In Belil's hand, he had grabbed and ripped off part of the magic attack, and now it appeared
as if a ball of darkness was in his hands, and he hurled it right at Raze.
Quickly, Raze made several earth walls, raising them up, but the ball of darkness went right
through the walls. Holding both of his hands out, Raze used several Dark Pulses, hitting the
ball, and as they hit, the ball eventually got smaller and smaller.
Then, at the last moment, Raze was able to pull out his Ghost blade and slice at the dark ball
of energy, destroying it completely.
'That was close... I was nearly taken out by my own attack,' Raze thought. 'With him
throwing it, he had added his Qi into the attack as well. It made it a lot stronger and fiercer
than my attack.'
Belil's words started to ring in his head. Belil still hadn't gone on the offensive, but surely
now he would... So just what was Raze to do? Now, he was hoping he would have at least
injured him.
"You said you can perform up to the Fourth Formation perfectly, right? Then let me show
you something special!" Belil said, lifting both of his hands in the air, orange energy coming
out from his body, covering his shoulders and going all the way to his fingertips.
When he moved his hands down to his side from the air, several arms of energy appeared
to linger, making him look like he had multiple arms hovering around his body, made of
pure Qi
energy.
"The Fifth Formation! The Neverfall Clan's Phantom Formation!" Belil exclaimed.
Chapter 941: Raze vs Beili (Part 4)
Chapter 941: Raze vs Beili (Part 4)

Although Raze perhaps should have been afraid and worried for what was about to come,
part of him was a little excited. He had been practicing the Fifth Formation for some time.
He was nearly there, and although he could somewhat perform it himself, it seemed
imperfect, and now he might go on to learn the crucial points needed to perform such a
move.
When Belil lifted his hands in the air and placed them by his side, after images made of his
orange Qi appeared, signaling the start of the formation.
"Ready?" Belil said, and in an instant, he had kicked off from his feet. So much Qi extended
out from his leg that large chunks of the hard flooring split apart, looking like even more
giant slabs coming up from the floor.
Rushing toward him, Raze feared for the worst that was about to come his way.
"I'll slow him down!" Raze blew a tornado of wind from his palm and added frost with his
other hand. Whatever went in its path would be condensed with ice.
However, this time, without even needing to throw a fist, the explosive power of Belil
allowed him to crash right through the wind and ice, having no effect on him at all, and
Raze saw a fist coming right at him.
Switching to his Ghost blade, Raze swung the blade to match the fist, condensing as much
Qi as he could to stop the attack.
'I'm not as weak as you think I am!' Sparks of lightning came from his elbow, allowing for
superior speed, and the blade struck right on the knuckle.
Still, Raze knew this wasn't enough; he needed to pull the blade away. As someone who
knew the Fifth Formation, he understood this was only the start of the attack.
As the fist struck, several fists of energy appeared from all corners of where Raze was. He
tried to move the blade away, to use his magic to push the attack away, yet it was
impossible.
The orange fists appeared from every direction. They were slighty translucent, like fists
from a ghost. When they moved forward and hit Raze's body, it was quite clear they were
not fist's of a ghost.
The powerful strike erupted, striking Raze's body and pounding him from all sides and
directions.. The Qi energy hurt him not just on the outside but on the inside as well.
He was sure he could feel some of his bones fracturing, and he couldn't hold it in anymore
as he coughed out blood from his mouth, part of it landing on Belil's face.
"Did you think I would just attack once?" Belil said, already throwing his fist up from
underneath again.
In desperation, Raze, close to falling to the floor, placed his hand on the ground. He shifted
the earth, moving Belil back, and used his lightning footwork to rush away.
When he had reached a reasonable distance from Belil, he let out another large cough,
splattering blood onto the ground.
"Kek!" Raze was breathing heavily, his eyes twitching, his body still in pain.
'All of this just from one of his techniques hitting me... I'm still alive, but if that second hit
had struck, there's a good chance I might have died.'
Raze thought back to the technique Belil had just used. Although Belil had called it the
Neverfall Phantom Formation...
The Dark Edge Sword Arts called it the Phantom Edge Formation. When Raze used it, the
sword took on a translucent effect, appearing more like a ghostly blade.
As it moved in the air, faint, spectral images of the sword would appear as well. It had the
capability, in a single strike, to perform multiple strikes that could attack from various
angles simultaneously.
The strikes that came from the spectral images rather than the sword itself were weaker,
which was why Raze had put his all into blocking the attack, but he was already so hurt.
"Come on... what did I say?" Belil shouted as he walked forward again, this time casually
strolling toward Raze. "You have to win this fight, or you get nothing. You won't achieve
what it is you want."
"Why are you even doing all of this?" Belil asked. "There are plenty of mages who are part
of that Alter group, who come over here every day."
"They decide to just live their normal lives. Some are interested in the Pagna world, but
they're not like you. Why did you pick up the Dark Edge Sword Arts? Why did you push
yourself to reach this high position?"
"I can tell; I can see from the look in your eyes that there's something you want! If you don't
beat me now, then all of that will go away!"
The pain Raze felt all over his body started to fade. Instead, it was being replaced with
emotions of anger.
'He's right... if I lose this fight, then all of those years, everything I continually went through,
will have been for nothing.'
Raze took a deep breath, and his feet ignited with lightning powers once more. He charged
forward, exploding from his position, and appeared right in front of Belil.
In one hand, he held a large, condensed ball of Dark magic, while his Ghost blade was
covered in darkness. Raze pushed one hand forward, swinging the other.
"That's not it!" Belil shouted as he slammed down with his fist, hitting Raze right on top of
both shoulders. A loud cracking sound echoed just before Raze's entire body was thrown to
the ground.
Cracks appeared all across the battlefield, and Brack, watching from a distance, was nearly
thrown off his slab once again.
With one hand, Belil lifted Raze, his limp body hanging in the air.
"You are not the person who defeated Sha Mo. You are not the person who defeated
Murkel! This is not enough."
As Raze weakly opened one eye, looking at Belil, a deep thought filled his mind.
'He... really is going to kill me.'
Chapter 942: Raze vs Belil (Part 5)
Chapter 942: Raze vs Belil (Part 5)

Brack watched from above as he could see a weakened Raze being held up with one hand.
Although he hadn't seen Raze fight against Sha Mo himself, it was clear from the power and
techniques he displayed that he was incredibly powerful.
Yet, after everything, the fight had turned out extremely one-sided, and now it almost
looked like Raze had nothing left.
"Is this it?" Belil shouted as he shook him with one hand. "Is this it!" Belil shouted again, his
voice erupting with Qi.
Moving his hand, Raze then grabbed onto Belil with both hands. As he did, his veins started
to bulge, and through the simple touch, energy began coming back into Raze.
Immediately, Belil pulled his arm away, and Raze dropped to the floor, landing crouched.
"The Demonic Extraction technique... and it was absorbing energy at such a fast rate... I
guess you still have something, but it's useless!" Belil said.
While crouched, Raze summoned two swords in his hands, one enchanted with lightning,
the other his Ghost blade, and he swung them both at Belil.
Moving to the side quickly with his foot technique, Belil avoided them both, then lifted his
hand and delivered a slap across Raze's arm. It was so forceful that it caused Raze's body to
spin out of control.
Right as Raze regained his footing, another hand came right at his face, and the palm struck
him cleanly, swinging his head to the side.
The taste of iron filled his mouth, and blood soon followed, falling onto the floor.
"Come on, what is this? Use everything-you took my energy, right? So you must have
something!" Belil shouted.
Raze lifted his sword, but only half of it was encased in black energy as he attempted to
swing it down. Before he could fully swing the weapon, Belil moved forward, grabbing
Raze's wrist and lifting it.
Once again, with his free hand, Belil slapped Raze, this time across his ribs. The searing
pain shot through his body, and a shockwave could even be seen extending out the other
side.
"I'm not even bothering to use any techniques now; this is getting ridiculous!"
With Raze's eyes half-open, he continued to swing his swords, either pouring Qi energy or
mana into them. He wasn't fully aware of what he was doing, and in the middle of the fight,
all he could hear were Belil's words ringing in his ears.
Each time Belil said something, it caused Raze to tighten his grip around the weapon and
swing, drawing even more energy than he thought he had.
Energy he didn't think he had left-willpower he didn't think he had-seemed to appear from
within him. On top of that, thoughts started to fill his head as well.
'I only defeated Murkel because of the Bloody Woman. Right now, she's nowhere to be
seen, her words aren't in my head... Is this because of what I said last time, how I could do
things on my own?'
'If I die, don't you die as well?'
Despite thinking these things, there was still no voice in his head. All he could do was
muster a slight smirk as he took another swing, but it was stopped, and Belil responded
with another strike to his face.
He could feel nearly all the muscles in his body completely swollen.
'The breakthrough... it was because I regained my old powers that I was able to defeat Sha
Mo. Without that and without the Bloody Woman taking over my body... there's no chance I
can win this fight.'
In Raze's view, he saw blood leaving his mouth again. He was surprised he could still bleed,
surprised he was still standing-just what was keeping him up on his feet in the first place?
'Pathetic, this whole thing is pathetic. Did I win all my fights before just because I was
lucky? Now that the luck hasn't fallen my way, I've finally lost this fight... I've finally lost my
life.'
Summoning up even more energy from within, Raze charged forward, kicking off the floor.
He moved his hand over his sword, covering the lightning enchantment and growing it
even larger.
Swinging it sideways, the lightning on the sword extended and lashed out like a whip.
In response, Belil threw his fist right through the lightning, destroying it, and then charged
toward Raze again.
Coming right at him, Raze didn't even use his magic to put his weapons away. Instead, he
placed his hands together and shot a large beam of black energy.
It hit Belil's body and pushed him back slightly, but only for a moment. It continued to hit
Belil as he walked forward. All it seemed to do was slow him down, and eventually, the
magic from Raze's hands ceased.
"I've... run out of mana?" Raze thought.
In this situation, if his head wasn't filled with strange thoughts, maybe he would have used
a cursed Qi pill to keep fighting just a bit longer.
Or maybe his mind was sound, and it was telling him that even if he used it, it would be
useless in the end.
Regardless, at that moment, he thought one thing.
"If I can't use my mana, then I'll just use my Qi!" Raze took one step forward, and
immediately, his entire body fell to the ground, landing flat on his face.
"What... is this...? I can't even move my body."
Belil, not even drawing out his own Qi, simply walked toward Raze, who was staring at him
from the corner of his eye.
"You've used every ounce of energy in your body; you have exhausted all your Qi. This is
your body's way of saving you. If you drew out anything else, it would use your life force,
and you would end up with nothing." With his foot, Belil kicked Raze, pushing him onto his
back.
His face, his body-everything was a complete mess. Belil knelt down by his side and placed
his hand right on Raze's chest.
"It looks like you have failed this test," Belil said, as the veins on his hand started to bulge.
Immediately, Raze recognized the feeling-it was the extraction technique... his life was
about to be taken away.
Chapter 943: A strong Duo Set out!
Chapter 943: A strong Duo Set out!

The Lost Clan, a pivotal Clan in the Demonic Faction, was at the center of information
gathering. Due to their position, no clan wished to get on their bad side.
At the same time, they were good at keeping information as well, such as the total numbers
of the clan and the strength of each of the members.
People were unaware of the lengths they had gone to in the past and currently, even the
fact that Lince, the leader of the Lost Clan, had ordered the elimination of the Behemoth
Clan members.
Because of this, it wasn't often that the leader of the clan would be at the base or in a
singular city. Orders would be sent through various different members, which others
weren't able to get their hands on.
Lately, though, Lince had been away from the base longer than usual, and even now he was
busy riding in a carriage. His black hair was sticking out from a headband that he would
wear slightly slanted.
He still had the black mask that would cover the bottom part of his face. At times, people
had even mistakenly called him Kakashi, whoever that was.
As the carriage bumped up and down through the dry desert, he couldn't help but think
about a particular individual in his mind whom he had recently visited.
'Belil, are you going through with what you said right now?' Lince thought. 'I still can't
believe everything you told me about. If I were in your shoes, I don't think I could do it... but
what am I talking about? Even now I'm moving because of you. I guess you infected me
somehow with all of this.'
Eventually, the carriage came to a stop, and Lince exited the vehicle. He threw a few silver
coins to the driver as he looked at the sight in front of him.
He could smell the salt in the air and hear the waves crashing back and forth.
"I can't even remember the last time I visited this place," Lince said as he looked at the
giant ships docked on the wooden platform.
Lince had traveled as far north in the Demonic Faction, bringing him to such a place. It
wasn't a city where many people lived, and that was due to the large number of criminals
who would live in such an area.
There were a large number of pirates in the city itself, and there was no clan that protected
the place. So it was either pirates and warriors against one another, or just those who were
running away from something, being chased.
On the front, there were plenty of inns and drinking areas, where a fight would occur.
Lince walked through the city, and as he walked on the stone flooring, he saw men running,
being chased past him.
He saw a group of children who had even used knives and other tools to gang up on a single
individual.
Lince soon stopped in the middle of the street as well, and a man came hurtling from the
side and went right past him. Looking to his left, he could see a broken door and another
large man moving forward.
"At some point, it would be good if the Demonic Faction could deal with this town, but now
is not the right time."
Eventually, Lince reached the harbor. Just walking along the many ships, he could sense the
high-level warriors guarding each of the ships.
It was the only way they could deter other thieves from trying to take what was theirs.
"I guess I should start asking," Lince said as he headed toward one of the ships.
Immediately, one of the warrior guards moved towards him.
"Hold up, what are you- "
In the middle of the warrior's sentence, Lince had disappeared, and he was already on the
ship itself among the other crew members.
"Are you the captain?" Lince asked.
"Aye." A man with several missing teeth said, with a black bandana on top of his head. The
man was quite startled, suddenly seeing Lince standing on the edge of his ship.
"There's somewhere I need you to go. In two days' time, I need you to head north. I can give
you directions, and don't worry, I won't be asking you to do this for free." Lince then pulled
out a pouch and threw it over.
The captain lifted his hand and caught the pouch. When he opened it up, it was filled with a
few golden coins. It wasn't money anyone could get their hands on.
Even though they weren't meant to head north, this was sure to persuade them.
"I'll tell you the same as the other guy," the captain said. "There ain't nothing north, and I'll
take you as far as the sea will let me. I ain't dying for any amount of gold."
"The other guy?" Lince asked.
When looking at the crew, that's when he noticed something odd. Although the warrior
guard looked fine, all of the crew on the ship were badly hurt.
They had wounds, some were bandaged up, even carrying a sling over their arm. It wasn't
just that, but part of the ship in certain areas looked to be partially destroyed as well.
'Did I go on the wrong ship?' Lince thought, but then another thought crossed his mind as
to what could have possibly happened.
"Wait... this person, did they ask you to go to the same place?" Lince asked.
"Aye, and I'd appreciate it if you both didn't fight aboard the ship; otherwise, the whole
thing will sink even before we leave this place," the captain said.
At that moment, the door to the captain's area opened. A man wearing pagna clothing and a
strange black suit underneath had come out.
Immediately, the man looked at Lince, who was onboard the ship, and the two locked eyes
with each other. At the same time, they both asked the exact same question.
"Who are you?" Lince and Zon asked.
Chapter 944 Punishment For Losing
Chapter 944 Punishment For Losing

Seeing Belil's hand reach toward him, Raze had an idea of what was coming next—the
extraction technique. In the first place, it was a technique that had come from the Demonic
Faction.
Those at higher stages, considered prodigies, could use it at a great speed. It wasn't
practically useful in a fight, but after defeating an opponent, it could help one increase in
strength dramatically.
When Belil's hand pressed on Raze's chest, he could see the veins on Belil's hands start to
bulge, and something from within began to be lifted.
'I've lost the fight… I have no more mana, I can't even lift a finger. I can forget about taking
any type of Qi pills to give me another chance, but that would all be useless anyway.'
In truth, Raze could only think of two things that might have been helpful in the current
situation: for his body to be so close to death that he would perform a breakthrough.
As for the second thing, it was for the Bloody Woman to come and protect him.
'I… can't do it… I'm so angry. I'm so angry at myself!' Raze thought. The only thing he could
muster up were his thoughts. 'I didn't even get to take one of them out yet—not a single
one of them for everything they did!'
'I was so close, I was so close to having the strength to face them. If I were to meet them
again, I would have gotten rid of them all, and now here is where I have to pass.'
In his last moments, memories started to appear—of Sabrina and Jake, the people he cared
about still in Alterian. But then, strangely, other images started to appear in his mind.
Harvey from the police station, and Kelly, the student who had helped him as well. Finally,
all those in Pagna appeared in his mind.
Coming up one after the other, their faces, their smiles, and the start of this whole journey
filled his mind.
'I never really did have a moment to enjoy the now with them. I wonder why I'm thinking
so much about them now?' Raze thought.
"Good," Belil said. "I can tell you really have nothing left in you. You drew out every little bit
of power you had, and you still couldn't beat me. Which means you've become a complete
failure.
"Bofan was wrong, as I expected he would be."
The veins continued to bulge on Belil's hands, and Raze was wondering, why wasn't his
body changing? The fighting feeling from within him had gone, and instead, the new feeling
was somewhat…nice?
The feeling now, it was the same as when he would use the extraction technique.
"It can't be?" Raze said. "Are you… giving me my energy?"
As time went on, Raze grew more certain—energy was being fed into him, and it could only
be coming from one person. Yet this made no sense.
If Belil left Raze alone, he would eventually recover, and the fight was lost long ago. There
was no need for Belil to go this far, so why was he doing it now?
"As I said, you didn't win, which means you aren't strong enough. Bofan's gamble was that
at some point, someone would come to this world in a similar situation as him."
"Who knows what would have occurred, but he hoped that maybe, just like him, they would
fall in love with the world of Pagna."
"If that did happen, and they found out the truth, then maybe they'd try to protect it.
However, he was wrong. Someone did come along, but they weren't strong enough."
"Bofan's plan failed!"
'Protect Pagna?' Raze thought.
He didn't want to protect Pagna. Maybe there were some people he cared about, but he just
wanted to get back to Alterian. Somehow, his goal had simply aligned with Bofan's.
"Bofan was an optimist. Someone coming along just like him? A skilled mage like him, a
powerful warrior like him, and someone as smart as him able to do all of that? And within a
certain time, it would be impossible."
"Even if someone did, why would they fight for Pagna? I don't know your reason, but you
seem to be going up against Alter, and that's good enough for me."
"Anyway, I had an inkling that Bofan's plan would fail. So I decided from that day on, when
he disappeared, to make his wish a reality. I decided that I would become his backup."
"Right now, what I'm doing with you is the backup plan because you failed to best me."
Raze was slowly coming to a realization from all the words that had been spoken before.
But would someone really do such a thing? Would someone do that for him when they
hardly knew him?
"It seems you figured it out. I'm going to give you all of my energy," Belil explained. "This is
different from the extraction technique where you just take a portion of my power."
"I'm giving you everything I have. Your Qi will become just as strong as mine, you will have
the strength to take out anyone who gets in your way, and you will still have your magic
powers!"
"You will become the person that Bofan wanted in this world. My energy is vast, so I
needed you to use every last bit of energy in your body, to use everything you had so I
could place mine inside you instead."
"It's still going to hurt because it's going to force your body through things it's not ready for
yet, but it's the only way."
After hearing everything, Raze only had one question as he learned this.
"Is it the same consequence as the extraction technique? You doing this… will you lose your
life?" Raze asked.
There was a moment of silence from Belil, it made Raze wonder what was he
contemplating, this wasn't an answer but then he finally spoke.
"Just shut up and let me do the speaking. While I explain everything and what's going to
happen in the next two days." Belil said.
Chapter 945 The Location Of The Golden Globe
Chapter 945 The Location Of The Golden Globe

Although Raze had already said some words out of shock, it was very painful for him to
speak. So he thought it was better this way, for him to just listen to what Belil wanted to
say.
It seemed like he would get his information anyway, regardless of him losing; he just didn't
know what the outcome of this whole thing would be.
Currently, he could feel the energy not just flowing into his dantain but his whole body. Due
to it being Demonic energy like his own, it didn't feel foreign either.
Instead, his whole body was starting to feel revitalized. Still, the energy was spreading
through his body quicker than it could react. Nothing was being repaired by the Qi that was
entering, and he was still unable to move.
"I've already spoken about how Bofan truly did fall in love with the world of Pagna, and he
passed that on to me as well, including my love for my children," Belil explained.
"However, there was a huge difference between me and Bofan—a line that I could never
cross and a line that I never understood. Bofan had love for two worlds. He had love for
Pagna and still had love for Alterian as well."
"He never wished for anything to happen to either of them, and maybe it was because of
these conflicted feelings that he had no choice but to delay what might become inevitable
anyway."
"I knew and learned about Alterian from Bofan. He would talk about the world of magic
often, the people there, and the amazing things the mages had managed to accomplish."
"And eventually, Bofan learned that there were others like him who came to this world. On
top of that, there were portals that opened to other dimensions."
"During his travels, Bofan also spent a good deal of time investigating these portals and
dimensions that would open up, and in the end, he made a discovery."
"Those from Alterian—the mages—are trying to find a way to come over to Pagna."
This was somewhat shocking to Raze but not completely. The portals reacted when strong
magic was used, and Raze had seen the mages enter dimensions after the dimension bosses
were defeated and cleared.
He, too, had thought this might be the reason for everything happening, and the fact that
Bofan found that out as well only confirmed his thoughts.
What he didn't know was why. He understood Alter and those in Alter from Alterian
wanting to go back, but why would mages want to come to Pagna?
"I know what you want to ask, but I never did find out the reason, and I'm not sure if Bofan
did either. However, he constantly talked about what would occur.
"If Alterian figured out a way to get to Pagna, he feared they would destroy everything. A
large-scale war would take place between Pagna and Alterian."
"For him, who loved both worlds, it was the last thing he wanted to happen. How was he
meant to even pick sides if this did happen?"
A war—Raze could see that happening in a heartbeat. The way of living for the two worlds
was extremely different, and with their contrasting concepts and cultures, it would be hard
for them to understand each other.
Raze was also pretty sure that whoever was behind this already knew Pagna was full of
humans yet were still trying to come over.
"The thing is, they never did find a way to come over until a particular item was
discovered," Belil claimed.
In Raze's head, he said the name of the item.
"The Golden Globe. An item that would allow one to open a portal to anywhere they
desired. An item that had belonged to the Bonum Society."
"With more members of Alter forming on the other side, Bofan came to the conclusion that
there was a good chance they were being controlled by those in Alterian in the first place."
"Their power was growing, and Bofan wasn't sure it could be protected by the Bonum
Society. So he stole the item. But where could he go with it?"
"What could he do with it? In the end, he made a choice. In Pagna, there are two large
continents of land. One is the current land we're on, where all three of the factions reside."
"Then up north is a large island, a place abandoned and filled with strong and powerful
beasts. Whether it's from a portal break or not, no one really knew."
"But it was the perfect place for Bofan to hide the item. Still, placing it on the island wasn't
enough. So he came to me and gathered a bunch of high-tier crystals to cast a powerful
spell on the island."
"Now, whirlpools appear near the base, thunder and lava spew from the island, making it
impossible for anyone to reach. But you see, that spell isn't going to last forever; that spell
runs out in two days' time."
Now Raze understood what the gamble was that Bofan had made, why Belil claimed that he
had simply just delayed things rather than facing the situation.
Why they had practically run out of time. But things still didn't quite make sense. Why
didn't Belil just gather the Neverfall Clan in two days' time and get the item for himself?
Why did he wait for him? Why did he resort to all of this? And why right now was he
passing his power onto Raze?
"I've reached a peak in my power," Belil said, as if he could hear Raze's questions. "I can't
grow stronger because I've already reached the Divine realm."
"If I wished to grow stronger, I wouldn't be able to live in Pagna. From what Bofan said, I
am also not strong enough to help save it."
"But for someone like you, who is exactly like Bofan, you can grow your strength due to
your magic. It's something that only you can do."
"But if you went to that island without any help at all, you would simply die. On the island,
there were two spells cast. One, which ends in two days' time; the other won't end for
another 100 years."
"A method to stop mages from getting their hands on the item if the first spell failed. On the
island, the thing you call magic… won't work."
Chapter 946 Get Rid Of Them All
Chapter 946 Get Rid Of Them All

The location of the Golden Globe was on an island where magic wouldn't work? It sounded
extremely strange, especially for the world of Pagna, where magic didn't originally exist.
Mana still existed in the world, and using one's magic core, someone could still control it.
But when Raze thought about it more, he remembered instances of this taking place.
He recalled some small discoveries of artifacts that absorbed magic, stopping all attacks. At
times, there were spells that could dispel mana as well.
Both of these things he knew of, though, were on a small scale. If they existed on a small
scale, it meant that in some way, somehow, it would be possible to replicate it on a large
scale as well.
He imagined either an artifact already with a large amount of power being used, or perhaps
boosting it with crystals and a magic circle, the effects could be extended for a large period.
The thing was, it seemed useless; there was no practicality around it. Why would a mage
ever want to create such a thing?
Even in Alterian, only a mage could create such a thing, but the moment they did, it would
cause that person to lose their own power as well.
A mage would have to be heavily persuaded in Alterian to even consider such a thing, and
he doubted any mage at a high caliber, around the nine-star level, would cover a large area
with it.
But he learned that Bofan had his reasons. Doing this, he would stop mages from getting
their hands on the Golden Globe at all costs.
"What makes you powerful is your combination of magic and Qi. That's how you've been
able to best your opponents," Belil explained. "Even when you went up against me, the
great power was from both."
"Yet you were still unable to beat me. If you went to the island in search of the item in your
current state, you would have been killed in an instant. Maybe not even by others, but
perhaps by the beasts as well."
Belil's words were true. Could he have defeated someone like Murkel with no magic? Could
he have defeated someone like Sha Mo with no magic?
To both of those, the answer was no, and for many fights he had before, the answer was
always no. With just his Qi, he was a pretty average warrior.
"Enchanted weapons, do they work as well?" Raze eventually asked.
"No… the only thing you'll be able to rely on is your techniques and your Qi," Belil
answered again. "I'm pretty sure you know it's most likely that others are aware of where
the Golden Globe is."
"I imagine either Alter or Bonum, who wish to get their hands back on the Golden Globe,
know about it. However, the issue is the same for them; they won't be able to use their
magic or great items as well."
"They have been forming relationships in the shadows, and from everything gathered so
far, my guess is they will reach out to the Light Faction."
Raze had to agree with this theory as well. After all, the first time he met an elder from one
of the larger clans in the Light Faction, he, too, had used magic.
Not only that, he appeared to know Raze's name as well. The name of the Dark Magus.
There was fear in his eyes when the name had been spoken.
It was clear that the relationship between Alter and the Light Faction wasn't just a small
relationship but a fairly big one.
There was one thing, though: on the island where one of the spells would come to an end in
two days' time, at least they would both be on an even playing field.
Everyone present would be on equal footing.
'Alter will have some of the strongest warriors from the Light Faction going there. I can't
get the others involved. They have grown much stronger and can help me, but it's too
dangerous for them.'
'It will be best for them to stay in the Dark Faction. After this, I should head to the island as
soon as possible.'
"Now you should understand why I decided to give you my power. With it, none of them
will be any match for you. You already had your strength, and now mine will be added to
yours."
"This is not like the extraction technique. I'm willingly giving you my energy… but because
of this, there is a catch."
"It's good that you managed to reach the highest stage possible in the middle stage realm.
Otherwise, this whole thing would have been impossible."
"I have to admit you were more capable than I thought, but still, my energy is too much for
your body."
"When all my energy enters your body, it will need to reconstruct your body to use it
better. It will be a painful ride, but once you get through it, I can guarantee you will be the
strongest in all of Pagna when it comes to Qi!"
Hearing this, Raze wondered if he would even be pushed to the Divine stage. What would
happen then? Would he be cast into the other realm forcefully without being able to do
anything?
"You will be able to be as strong as I was today… and don't worry about reaching the Divine
realm. There is something else you will need to reach that as well, but that is a place I hope
you never have to visit in your lifetime."
"Anyway, I predict that all of this will take three days for your body to recover and
reconstruct itself. In three days, you will be able to move."
"Which means you will be slightly behind the others; they will have a head start searching
for the Golden Globe. I know Bofan, though. He won't make it easy for them."
"So when you arrive on that island, show them my strength, show them your strength, and
get rid of every last one of them!" Belil exclaimed.
Chapter 947 Last words
947 Last words
Raze could feel the energy flowing through him from Belil. He had already taken in a lot of
energy; his dantian had felt full for a while now, and it was spreading everywhere else in
his body.
His dantian almost felt overstretched, forcing it to expand, and it was painful, like a
stomachache. He was sure that this wouldn't just be it.
There was more pain to come, judging by how his body would reconstruct itself, according
to Belil's words. It wasn't normal for a body to contain this much power without going
through real experiences and growth on its own.
His body was being forced to go through these experiences, and it might have been where
the excess energy was going.
Thankfully, with Raze's energy filling, the wounds on his body from before were now
healing, and his Blazer, as always, was doing its trick, taking care of his body nicely.
Now, since Raze could speak freely without much pain, he had questions for Belil—things
he had to ask after everything was being done for him.
"Belil, I still don't understand why you're doing this for me. It makes no sense," Raze said. "I
am not the person you or Bofan think I am."
"I don't care about Pagna, and I don't even care about Alterian. The only reason I did all of
this was for my own selfish revenge. The only reason I want the Golden Globe is so I can go
back to Alterian and kill those who ruined my life!"
Raze spoke with strong conviction and passion because he was afraid of something—afraid
of the outcome of all that was taking place.
A weight was being placed on his shoulders without him even asking for it.
"You could have gone to the island yourself. You said it: you're the strongest warrior; you
could have dealt with them all and stopped them."
"Even if you give me your power, I won't be able to use it like you. It won't be the same…
and I could have grown stronger later!"
Although Raze had the energy to talk, there was still a strange force on his stomach, almost
an attack of sorts from Belil, keeping him pinned down and preventing him from moving
freely.
Belil laughed, as usual, at Raze's words.
"I told you, I am following his will, and you are the closest person to it all."
"Raze, Dark Magus, Demon, White Dragon, and my son—I want you to listen to my next
words carefully. Right now, what I'm giving you is something that everyone wishes for."
"Hundreds of years of cultivation obtained just like that, in less than an hour. The life of
immortality is considered a boring one, but the truth is, I found myself changing even after
a few hundred years!" Belil laughed again.
"I want you to look after my daughter and my son Dame. I tried to raise them correctly in
this world, but they're a bit too soft."
"I do care about my other two sons, but I've already seen instances where they've done
wrong. If they were to fall by your hand, then I would accept that, but maybe, if you could
steer them in the right direction, like what happened to me, then that would be good. Think
about it as well."
"All of them run the clan, and they will soon all look up to you. Which means the Neverfall
Clan and its legacy are practically in your hands now."
Inwardly, Raze was shaking his head. The way the words were being spoken, the way they
were trailing, he knew where it was going. Where all of this was going, he wanted to tell
Belil to stop, to stop right now.
The thing was, he knew how stubborn old fools were, being one himself, and in particular,
Belil as well; he had already made his decision in all of this.
If he interrupted him, he would be the arsehole in all of this.
"I listened to what you said—you don't care about the world of Pagna, but I hope that at
some point, you will. With my power, I'm sure you'll have a long life, so there's a chance
you might change your mind. I've heard things have already been changing for you
slightly." Belil laughed.
"Lastly, it doesn't matter that you don't know my techniques; you have the Dark Edge
Sword Arts. Now, with my Qi, you should be able to perform all eight techniques."
"You will be practically unstoppable in Pagna, but Raze, I don't know how strong your
enemies are."
"Maybe they're as strong as those who wish to harm Pagna. They might even be stronger,
based on how crazily you have been seeking strength."
"So I have one last request: get stronger, get far stronger than Bofan or I ever did!" Belil let
out a loud belly laugh.
His Qi was immense with each laugh, and the strength could still be felt around Raze's
chest, until the pressure was gone from his stomach.
Slowly, Raze moved his hand and placed it by his side. His body felt frozen, but eventually,
he lifted himself up and looked at Belil.
His eyes were wide open, and he still had a large grin on his face, one that was permanently
there. Now that he looked deeply into the smile, he realised, it was the same smile that he
would always see on Belil's face, a smile that was intimidating when they first met, but now
it looked extremely friendly.
Finally, someone who had been watching for a while now descended. Brack moved in
cautiously, assessing the situation as he saw Raze just looking ahead.
"Is everything okay? I thought you might have been a goner there," Brack commented.
When he got closer, he could see that Raze was just staring ahead at Belil, and only then did
he realize that Belil hadn't moved the entire time.
"What happened?" Brack asked, afraid to even wave his hand in front of Belil's face.
"He's… dead," Raze said.
Right after saying those words, a striking pain shot through Raze's body.
Chapter 948 An Unexpected Distraction
948 An Unexpected Distraction
Looking at Belil's body, Raze realized that his worst fears had come true. A man who had
achieved so much in the world of Pagna, who still had many followers, had given his life to
him?
It was hard for Raze to understand. There weren't many people he had gotten close to in
years, and even in Pagna, if there were those he had been close with, he would never have
suspected Belil to give his life—perhaps not even those he truly trusted.
He still didn't fully understand; he couldn't empathize with the feelings that Belil had, and
right now, all he had was a deep regret, feeling unworthy of the gift inside him.
In the middle of his spiraling thoughts, the transformation had begun. Every part of his
body felt like it was being stretched out. His muscles twitched, the fibers expanding, tearing
apart, and being rebuilt.
This wasn't happening over a long period of rest and recovery; it was happening
continuously within Raze's body to the point that he could only scream for a few moments
before collapsing to the ground in pain, his body frozen.
"What is happening now?" Brack exclaimed, lifting both hands to his head. "First, the leader
of the Neverfall Clan is just here dead, and now the Dark Magus is on the floor… why did
you guys bring me along for this? Wouldn't a physician have been better?"
Brack hurried to Raze, lying on the ground. There was nothing he could do about Belil, but
maybe there was something he could do about Raze, and after all, he owed Raze for saving
him last time.
As Brack got close, he reached to touch Raze's hand, feeling his body tense like a rock, not
only that but the sheer amount of Qi energy coming off just from touching his skin.
Brack felt like his entire body would be overwhelmed in a moment.
"Tell me what to do! Tell me what I have to do!" Brack asked.
Belil had warned that this would happen. He did not seem like a man who would lie, so if
Raze went by what he said, this would last a little over two days.
The sun was already setting, and it was getting dark. When this day ended, there would
only be one more day that the spell on the island would stay active, and on the third day,
Raze would finally be able to move.
'The others will have a head start on the island, and right now, I'm the only one who knows
about it. Do I tell Brack to inform the others, to head to the island? But if I do that, there's a
chance they could all get hurt as well.'
'I can't do that. I'll have to trust that Bofan has hidden the Golden Globe well and that it
won't be an easy task to retrieve. It's the only thing I can do!' Raze thought.
Eventually, he decided on something else—something that would keep the others busy and
prevent them from looking for him. Magic swirled around his hand, and soon, something
the size of a thumb, black in color, appeared in his palm.
"Take… this," Raze said rigidly.
Brack looked at it and took the small device. He had no idea what it was; he'd never seen
anything like it before.
"Hand it to the one named Anna… say it's from Himmy… Don't worry about me… I'll be
okay… keep everything here… secret… secret," Raze reiterated the last word firmly.
How was Brack supposed to keep such big news a secret? They were in the middle of
nowhere, and he honestly didn't know how to deal with this for now.
"Fine, I'll do as you say!" Brack concluded. "I'll give this to Anna—say it was from Himmy.
But once I've done that, I'm coming back here to check on you again."
"I'll… be… fine!" Raze answered.
"You better be," Brack said nervously, glancing at Belil once more before rushing off. Seeing
Brack run, Raze felt he had made the right decision.
The special device Himmy had given was meant to hold information about Raze's past.
Anna, being close with Himmy, would know what the device was.
If she got an order from Raze, as a way to help him, they would try to look into this, steering
them far away from the troubles that would soon unfold on the island.
——
Brack sprinted back to the town of Flendon, but once he arrived, he realized he had to go
even further. He needed to reach the Dark Faction, which was a somewhat long journey.
He might not even get there until early morning the next day. The only good thing was that
with his speed now as a middle-stage warrior, he was covering much more ground than he
would have before.
Brack had underestimated his speed; it was close to midnight when he finally arrived at the
Dark Faction academy. His legs didn't stop moving, worried that Raze might be in trouble.
In some ways, Brack thought what he held in his hands might be the answer to helping
Raze. After entering the academy, Brack asked around, looking for Anna, but no one
seemed to know where she was.
He even approached Amir, who said she was out. Wandering the academy, Brack eventually
made his way to the library, where he spotted three students he recognized from before,
sitting quietly.
They looked a bit bruised and battered, likely from the special missions they had been
undertaking recently.
"I need… to meet Anna, as soon as possible," Brack asked, huffing and panting.
"Anna? I think she's the only one who didn't come back. Everyone else said they were done
with that… business," Simyon answered. "Wait, who are you?"
"It's not important," Brack said. "Raze gave me this, and he asked me to find Anna. Can you
contact her somehow?"
Safa and Simyon turned to Liam, who was closest to her, thinking he might know how to
reach her.
"I don't have any idea where she is! How am I supposed to know something like that?" Liam
said, standing up. "Just because we share the same system doesn't mean I'd know where
she went."
Curious, Liam approached the strange device in the man's hand and took it for a moment.
Brack didn't think it would be a big deal since he didn't think Liam would just run off with
it.
"Huh, what's this?" Liam said. "The system is saying I can access this thing?"
Chapter 949 An Early Fall
949 An Early Fall
In a small harbor town where several ships docked, ready to set sail around the vast
continent, two powerful people had met.
No one quite knew the strength of these two individuals as their faces weren't widely
known, and one's face couldn't even be seen.
Yet they both held strength in their hands that could change the continent of Pagna forever,
and both had boarded a ship.
They looked at each other for a moment until Lince eventually jumped down.
"It's quite obvious that you forced your way onto this ship?" Lince asked. "One can tell by
their injuries, but might I ask where you wish to head, and let's not waste time—you might
as well tell me why."
Lince, leader of one of the strongest Demonic Faction Clans, was on board the ship because
of what a particular man had told him.
Only a couple of days ago, he had paid a visit to Belil. Lince knew the truth; he knew who
Belil was but didn't know his plan until two days ago.
He had learned of the sacrifice Belil was going to make and why—for the sake of all of
Pagna—and with that information, Lince was free to do as he wanted.
In the end, he decided to set sail to the special island. He still wasn't sure if Belil's story was
true, but even if there was a chance, he felt he needed to.
To avoid the attention of others, he was moving on his own, but now he had met someone
else, who had forced their way on just like him. There weren't many that would do that,
especially here where the ships were mostly run by pirates, some were even warriors,
making him guess they were doing the same thing.
'I have to be careful. This person doesn't look like a typical warrior, not from one of the
larger clans. There's a chance he could be from Alter? Or that Bonum Society—both are not
very good options for me. It might be best to get rid of him now.'
Lince's hand was moving towards his back, but he noticed that the stranger was keeping an
eye on him.
"I promise you, you don't want to fight against me," Zon replied. "If we're both heading to
the same location, then it shouldn't be a problem as long as we don't get in each other's
way, right?" Zon asked.
"I'm afraid that's not the case, and the fact that you're speaking so confidently to me is
annoying," Lince's tone had changed, and Qi started to swirl and surround his body.
The system Zon was using indicated the fight wasn't going to be easy, but Zon now had a
new item, and right then, he used it.
He disappeared and reappeared right behind Lince, his hand moving lightning fast as he
grabbed Lince's wrist before he could reach for his dagger.
"There's a reason I'm confident. What do you have against me heading to the island? Is
there something you're looking for as well?"
Lince was stunned; he was keeping a clear eye on the strange man, waiting for him to move,
but saw nothing. Not only that, but his strength was high enough to grab Lince by the wrist.
Even with his regular strength, he was unable to move unless he forced a high amount of
Qi.
It was best if the two didn't fight.
"I'm from the Demonic Faction, the Lost Clan," Lince answered. "I'm there to stop someone
from getting something."
Zon could tell he wasn't lying.
"So you're not from Alter?" Zon asked.
"If you're asking that, I guess you're not from Alter either?" Lince replied.
Zon let go, knowing this man wasn't the enemy, but he was still curious why he wanted to
go to the island. They both were.
"I'm here to look for someone and something as well, and I'm helping the Dark Magus out,"
Zon finally answered.
"Oh?" Lince raised an eyebrow. "Maybe the two of us should talk after all, then. I have a
feeling it might be important that we get to know each other."
Through conversation, they both made their positions clear. They were practically there for
the same reason, and Lince claimed he was somewhat a supporter of Raze.
He was helping him in a way, but not directly. The conversation flowed easily without Lince
having to explain much, as Zon could confirm whether Lince was lying.
Since they both knew what was possibly ahead, they agreed to travel together. The next
day arrived, and Zon looked out at the island, noticing a change in the distant clouds.
"We need to set sail!" Zon shouted. "It's changing… it looks like we'll be able to reach the
island in a few hours."
"What?" Lince said. "But Belil said it wouldn't be until tomorrow?"
"If the island has been like this for many years, then there's a chance his guess could have
been wrong. It's surprising he was only off by a day or two."
Lince felt a little nervous about Belil's plan if that was the case, and it was a good thing he
had come along. He just had to hope the new friend by his side was strong enough to face
what was to come.
In the Light Faction, there was movement on the beach as they readied to board their large
ships, heading to the island.
They weren't the only ones who noticed.
"Red!" Heino called. "The mission is the most important above all else. Do your job well."
Red smiled as he joined the other warriors and started boarding the ship.
In the Light Faction, in the same city, one man stood out, looking at the island from afar.
"Oh, it looks like something's happening. Strong energy. I guess I should go and see what's
happening. After all, since I came down from above, things have been a bit boring," Mosak
said.
Remembering when he first appeared in that room, summoned into this foreign mage's
body—a divine warrior unrestricted by the world's rules.
Chapter 950 Harvey's Last Clue
Chapter 950 Harvey's Last Clue

Brack had heard what Liam said, but he didn't fully understand. What did he mean by
reading something so small? How could anyone read something like that?
Whatever it was, it was clearly important if Raze had asked him to pass it to this Anna
person as well.
"Can you do me a favor?" Brack said, fidgeting with his fingers and shuffling his feet. "It
looks like you guys have figured something out, which is good. My guess is that maybe he
wanted Anna to have this because she'd understand it better than us."
"You seem close to her too, so if you see her, hand this over. It's important. I really need to
get back."
Brack turned, ready to leave, but he hesitated, wondering if he'd done the right thing or not.
In the back of his mind, he was extremely worried.
"Wait, you said Raze gave this to you, right?" Safa asked. "Is everything okay? You look a bit
worried."
"Everything's fine!" Brack answered nervously. "He's just having a meeting with a very
alive Neverfall Clan leader. They're doing some secret stuff, so Raze will be back soon. Since
he's going to be away for a while, he really wanted Anna to have that."
With that explanation, Brack didn't even give the others a chance to respond. He left in a
hurry, his mind still troubled. Already, one leader of the Demonic Faction had perished, and
if Raze were to disappear as well, the state of Pagna would spiral into chaos—if it wasn't
already heading that way.
With Brack gone, the three left in the room were stunned.
"Okay, he was definitely hiding something, right?" Simyon asked, raising an eyebrow. "Or is
he just always like that?"
"I guess none of us even know him that well. And why was he with Raze in the first place?"
Safa said, inching closer to Liam.
As she got closer, the vibrant scent of her hair wafted toward Liam, making his face flush a
bit. Noticing this, Simyon clenched his fists.
"I've never seen anything like this before. Why would Raze have something like this with
him?" Safa asked.
"Isn't the real question why Liam could access it and read it, when the rest of us couldn't?"
Simyon asked. "Maybe it's because you two are the same?"
"Oh, right, because of that system thing," Liam replied. "Makes sense. No wonder he gave it
to Anna. But what could he trust Anna with that he wouldn't trust us?"
"Maybe he still sees us as kids," Simyon said, sitting back and shrugging. "It's annoying, but
you have to remember that Raze is actually an old man. You know, like one of those people
on the street that look like raisins but are nowhere near as tasty."
"Anna's older than us, so it makes sense he'd trust her more. Just because he looks the same
age as us doesn't mean he'll actually trust us like that."
"So… should I read it then or what?" Liam asked.
"I mean, if Raze wanted Anna to see it, wouldn't it be rude to do something like that?" Safa
said.
"Too late," Liam said, as he activated the system to access the information on the small
thumbnail-sized device.
As his system decoded it, information started flooding into Liam's mind.
"What is it?" Safa asked. "What can you see? Or did it not work?"
"No, I can see it," Liam said, tapping the side of his head, trying to organize his thoughts.
"The information includes detailed reports on several different cases."
"I'm using the system to figure out a theme. It looks like it's about a large number of deaths
in several cities and towns."
Safa's heart pounded a bit faster. Was this the reason Raze wanted Anna to look into it?
Could it somehow relate to what happened to her and her real brother back then?
"There's even a case… on you and Raze," Liam said, hesitating as he wondered if he was
prying into things he wasn't meant to see.
"It's okay," Safa said, glancing at Liam uneasily. "Simyon already knows about what
happened. That was when Raze… well, when he was no longer Raze."
"When my brother left me. My mother and father were killed, and I had to hide. In the end,
the two of us were the only ones to survive. Or maybe… it was just me."
Hearing this and seeing that the others couldn't know what he was seeing, Liam's curiosity
got the better of him, and he continued looking over the information.
He began to think carefully, trying to understand the link between the cases. He wasn't
going to read everything and attempt to piece it all together alone.
His mind wasn't too sharp for that kind of detective work—or at least, he believed his old
mind wasn't capable of it. As he thought this, the system began to process the data, working
it out for him.
It provided valuable information, and in the end, it even gave him insight into the
connection between the cases.
"Hey, Safa, I'm guessing you never really found out why all that happened, right?" Liam
asked.
Safa nodded. "There were even people chasing us after that, still trying to kill us," she
replied. "But it doesn't happen anymore. Maybe it's because we're part of the academy
now; it's well-protected."
"Well, I think I might have found a link," Liam said, his voice lowering as he tried to process
the gravity of it. "This information—it's from Himmy, that Alter guy you met."
"With this system, I can see the common links, and I think it's something he missed. It's
small, but something happened with each of these cases—a common occurrence."
"There are two things: first, every one of these cases occurred within five miles of a church
belonging to the Rylon religion. On top of that, eyewitnesses claim that even if there wasn't
a church in the town or city, they saw people from the Rylon religion entering the area,"
Liam explained.
Safa's eyes widened in shock, and Simyon stood up as well.
"This is something we need to investigate," Simyon said firmly. "Something you need to
confront, Safa. Your past, and your real brother's past. We need to uncover just how he was
involved in all of this."
Safa swallowed hard, her mind racing as she thought about the connection between her
family's past and the religious group that seemed to linger around these tragedies. This
revelation only deepened the mystery, making her question the extent of her brother's
involvement.
"We should start looking into this," Liam added. "If there's a link between the deaths and
the Rylon religion, there could be more people involved as well?" Safa took a deep breath.
"You're right. This could explain why Raze wanted Anna to see it. If she could help make
sense of it all…"
---
Chapter 951 Where are you Himmy?
Chapter 951 Where are you Himmy?

In the Dark Faction, in one of the medium-sized villages, a short young woman was walking
down the open streets. There were market stalls on either side, and the smell from the
meat being cooked in the open wafted into her nose.
She placed her hand on her stomach to suppress the sound. 'Shut up, alright? I only have a
few bronze coins left!' Charlotte slapped her stomach, but it didn't do much to ease the
pain.
It was strange, since escaping from Alter along with Himmy, she had been going from place
to place. She had no idea where would be safe.
After all, Alter was an incredibly large organization, with secret members everywhere, even
members she wouldn't know about.
All she could hope for was to lay low until Himmy figured something out. Every time she
turned a corner or looked up, she hoped she would see Himmy, telling her it was finally
over.
At first, things weren't too bad for her. The hunger she could ignore, as she was too afraid
of people catching up to her. But then the painful pangs set in.
It was strange, though, because after that, the hunger disappeared completely. She had
gotten used to it, but it seemed to be a dreaded cycle, and now the pain had come back
again.
'I need these coins to stay at an inn somewhere. I've been moving too much and haven't
even recovered my energy. At some point, my spell is going to wear off, and with no energy,
how am I going to keep up my appearance?'
Her bright, vibrant orange hair made her stand out even in the world of Pagna, which was
why she had cast a spell to make it black.
She was sure it was because of this spell that Alter hadn't quite found her just yet.
"Hey, are you going to buy something or not?" the large woman shouted from behind the
counter.
In the middle of her thoughts, her feet had taken her to the stall, where skewers hung out
on display. She could see the fat dripping off them onto the ground, and reluctantly, she
handed over her last few coins.
It didn't take long for her to gulp down the food, and she regretted it instantly, wishing she
had savored the taste a bit more. Eventually, her feet started to hurt, and she found herself
at an inn that served drinks and food.
Since she didn't have enough to stay the night anymore, the only thing she could afford was
a drink using her very last few coins.
The inn wasn't busy, as it was the middle of the day. Most people were out working, which
was better for Charlotte as she sat in the corner and twisted the large glass several times.
"I better savor this and make it last as long as I can. Otherwise, I'll have to go outside in the
cold again."
Charlotte was starting to lament what she should do now, where she should go, and who
she could even trust in the situation she was in.
She was sure that Alter would now target Raze and the rest of his friends, so it wasn't safe
for her to go there.
But how was she going to make money or find a place to stay without using her magic?
How would she feed herself?
At this rate, she might even starve to death before Alter caught up to her.
For a moment, she thought about breaking the taboo. Maybe using her magic for other
means—to steal or gather information.
She was no longer part of Alter, so what did it matter? She started small by expanding the
Wind magic around her, allowing her to hear more from her surroundings.
Then she could hear two tables around her, with a group having an odd conversation.
"I think it's best we get out of this place."
"What do you mean? Did you receive an order?"
"No, but it doesn't matter if we're going to lose our lives. Didn't you hear? The Clans are
calling all sorts of Alter groups for various tasks, and then they're never seen again."
"What? You think the Dark Faction is targeting Alter all of a sudden? No way, that's crazy."
"It's true. No one can even get in contact with the base to confirm it. I'm telling you,
something or someone is after us. Don't accept any requests, and let's just head out of the
Dark Faction."
"Should we go to the Alter base or just leave it? And what about our missions?"
"Some are just refusing requests and delaying missions, but who knows when we could get
caught up in all of this? If we head back now while Alter is saying nothing, they can't blame
us for it."
Hearing this news, Charlotte didn't know how to feel. Should she be happy that her
pursuers were being killed off, and that maybe she would be safe?
That they had bigger problems to worry about? Or should she be worried that her former
colleagues were being killed, and that there was now a chance another group was after her
life as well?
"Ahh, I can't even think straight!" Charlotte groaned, slamming her head on the table. "I
wish Himmy were here." She started to sob, but realized that maybe crying in this situation
wasn't a good idea, especially when she was still partly dehydrated.
But she kept thinking of Himmy and how he would look after her, guide her, and tell her
what the right thing to do was. She just needed someone like that right now because she
was completely lost.
It almost felt like when she first arrived in Pagna, all alone and different from everyone
else. Only now, people were after her life.
"You seem to be having quite a lot on your mind," a soft voice said.
Charlotte looked up and saw a man wearing yellow clothing, a bright smile on his face.
"We at the Rylon religion help anyone who is in need, so please tell us if there is anything I
can do to help ease your troubles," the man smiled.
Chapter 952 Everyone Here Will Die
Chapter 952 Everyone Here Will Die

A large number of hopeless thoughts swirled around in Charlotte's head. As the days went
on, her situation worsened, and she felt increasingly hopeless.
She wanted someone to lean on, someone to pull her out of the situation she was in. Maybe
that was why she had taken the offer given to her.
Right now, she was walking through the streets side by side with a stranger she had met
only thirty minutes ago. She thought she might have gone crazy.
Who knew if this man was someone from Alter in disguise? But she was too tired to care. If
this man really was from Alter, then so be it—that was just her fate. She couldn't continue
the way she was anymore.
Through their walk, she learned a little about the man. His name was Carl, and he called
himself a Meister, a member of the Rylon Religion who worked at the church.
Carl had stated that it was his duty to help people like her, those who appeared lost and
without focus, with no way out of their situation—perhaps even people who had run away.
Carl didn't ask Charlotte to explain her story, which made her trust him more, and on top of
that, he had even bought her a nice meal at the inn where they had met.
A combination of these things led her to eventually leave with him.
"The church will give you shelter, a place to stay, and food to eat. We do have certain
programs to help people get back on their feet, but we can't just freely give individuals
money," Carl explained.
"After all, many of those on the streets end up in particular situations due to some part of
their own actions in a way. So before letting them back out, we wish for them to have the
skills to survive in the world."
"How is the Rylon Religion able to do all this?" Charlotte asked. "Are they expecting me to
join the religion? Because I don't want to take advantage of you, but I have my own beliefs."
Carl looked at Charlotte with a bright smile, the same hopeful smile she had first seen as
she was losing hope.
"Our churches help many people, and we have many donors, including those we've helped
in the past. There is no obligation for you to stay, and there is no expectation for you to join
us either. Feel free to decide after you see the place," Carl continued.
Charlotte didn't want to feel like she was taking advantage of the man, but she thought it
was a safe and good hiding place for now.
She thought back to all of her missions and couldn't remember Alter ever looking into the
Rylon Religion or involving them in anything. Which was why she believed it was the
perfect place to hide from Alter as well. There would be nothing that troubled them, and
there would be no Alter members there.
Charlotte was in a medium-sized town. It wasn't a city, and therefore the church wasn't
that large either. It was, however, located a bit away from the main town center.
There were a few fields and hills one would have to pass, but the town was still visible from
the church-like building. The outside was built with gray stones, and there was a spire on
top.
She also noticed many glass-pane windows along the walls. What also caught her attention
were the many people outside wearing the same yellow clothing.
They seemed to be cleaning the area or doing fieldwork, and there were even adults
walking in and out of the entrance.
"Don't worry, these are mostly followers of the religion that come here. As I said, we get
quite a lot of different individuals, so we understand others' situations," Carl explained.
"The sleeping areas are private from the rest."
Following Carl, he gave her a small tour. There was the main prayer room with benches
lined up, as well as ornaments displayed on the walls.
On the back wall, there was a large sun painted, with strange streams of heat coming off it,
touching the ground and other areas.
The same workers outside, dressed in orange clothing, could be seen inside as well.
After passing the main room, Charlotte saw them walk past the kitchen and several other
areas, including a staircase leading both above and below the building.
After showing her a place where she could wash herself and grab clean tunics and shorts,
he then took her to the sleeping area for guests.
Carl opened the door, and the room wasn't empty by any means. There were already four
individuals lying on their beds.
One was a frail-looking woman, who was even rubbing the sides of her arms.
Then there was a teenage boy with a bandage wrapped around one of his eyes. There was
also a small child, a boy, who looked to be around six years old.
Finally, there was another man, who didn't appear frail but had an unshaved, messy beard.
He wasn't paying attention, just staring out the window.
"This is the only sleeping area we have for guests, but I assure you, everyone is fine.
Sunder, the teenage boy, has been here the longest, so if you need anything, you can ask
him for help."
The boy with the bandage waved at Charlotte and gave her a small smile.
After that, Carl excused himself, saying he was busy. If she needed anything, she could
speak to Sunder for the time being, and he closed the door.
'Well… it's not perfect, but it's better than being on the run and sleeping on the streets,'
Charlotte thought.
Walking over, Charlotte was getting ready to introduce herself, as she didn't know how
long she would be here with these people.
Just as she was about to say hello to the young boy, the woman rubbing her shoulders
spoke.
"Leave… leave this place… otherwise, you'll die… just like everyone else. We're all going to
die."
Chapter 953: A Dangerous Place?
Chapter 953: A Dangerous Place?

"We're all going to die?" Charlotte said, grabbing her own shoulders as a shiver went
through her body, urging her to turn back.
She had to get out of here; it couldn't be a coincidence, not when her life was already on the
line.
"Wait, sister!" the little boy said, sucking his thumb. "It's okay... the woman is... the woman
is... her brain, not 100 percent?"
The little boy turned to Sunder, who had jumped out of bed and patted the kid on the head.
"He means that Tithiny there has gone through a lot. She has good and bad spells, and right
now she's going through a bad one. She has her own story as to how she ended up here,"
Sunder said. "As do I," he added, pointing to his own eye.
"My name is Harper," the little boy said, pointing proudly to his chest.
Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief, and being able to talk to the others settled her down a
little. Bending down to Harper's eye level, she smiled.
"It's nice to meet you, I'm Charlotte."
Sunder introduced himself and then went on to introduce the other two in the room. The
man in the back wasn't much of a talker; his name was Byon.
Byon gave a brief wave before staring back out the window, and Sunder advised it was best
to try speaking with Tithiny later, as it wasn't a good time right now.
Eventually, Charlotte started talking with little Harper and Sunder, picking a bed next to the
two of them. They talked about the church and how long they had been there.
Harper was just a kid who had lost his parents, an orphan wandering the streets until the
church took him in. Currently, the religion was trying to find someone willing to adopt him,
as they didn't have an orphanage in town, and it wasn't the kind of place one was meant to
stay long-term.
"Wait, why can't they just look after Harper until he's older? I mean, they say they take
people in all the time," Charlotte asked.
"That's because of the program they have. Actually, people come in and out of this place
weekly," Sunder explained. "I'm meant to leave in two days myself.
"The religion doesn't give us money, but they give us food, a place to eat and stay. But if a
person's been here a month, they hand them enough coin to last another month outside
and tell us to be on our way.
"They say that we can come back, but only after a month. I think it's something to make us
less reliant on this place. I'm a bit scared and nervous at the same time."
Charlotte found it strange. After all, what could a little boy like Harper do, and Sunder was
just a teenager? They were practically kicking them out after taking them in.
It didn't make complete sense to her, but at least they were helping in some ways rather
than ignoring everything outside.
The more prominent thought on her mind was that she only had a month or so here.
Maybe, in that time, she could gather strength and things would change.
As the day went on, Sunder and Harper took Charlotte to the canteen where food was
served. They ate together, and Sunder even gave some of his food to Charlotte.
It wasn't enough to fill her, so she felt a bit embarrassed, but Sunder insisted he was full.
"Sister, take mine!" Harper said, handing over half of his bun. "Harper's small, small
stomach already filled with food. You need to eat!"
When she looked down at her wrists, she realized how thin she had become, and maybe
that was why they were giving her extra food.
This feeling was nice compared to the things she saw as an agent of Alter and the harshness
of Pagna. The religion and this place had a comforting vibe, and she could see why people
wanted to give back in the future.
Finally feeling she was in a safe environment, when night fell, she went to sleep almost
instantly. She was more worn out than ever, and even the sound of rain hitting the window
wasn't enough to wake her up.
Harper, however, was having trouble falling asleep. Rubbing his eyes, the little boy got up
and jumped down from his bed.
He quietly moved across the room, opened the door, and headed to the bathroom. After
finishing, he aimed to just head back to bed and try to get more sleep.
"Charlotte was so happy today when I gave her food... maybe I should get some more!"
Harper thought.
He turned around and decided to head to the kitchen. He spotted a basket of bread left out,
but it was out of his reach.
So he pulled a chair over and started to climb, eventually grabbing a few pieces of bread.
With a smile on his face, he walked out of the kitchen, ready to head back to the room again.
When he entered the hall a second time, he heard something strange.
"Is it from outside?" Harper thought.
He followed the strange muffled noises, and when he got closer, he realized they were
coming from the staircase-the one that led downstairs.
"Harper doesn't like this... it's too scary... I want to go back now!" Harper whispered as he
turned, only to bump into a soft piece of cloth.
"Harper!" Carl said with a smile. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be asleep?"
Harper felt embarrassed, realizing he had taken food from the kitchen when he wasn't
supposed to.
Seeing this, Carl began to tut.
"You know, Harper, it's not good to take things that aren't yours. Bad people need to be
punished."
Carl lifted his leg and forcefully kicked Harper straight in the stomach.
Harper's legs lifted off the ground, and the bread he was holding scattered across the floor.
Harper could only see the smile on Carl's face as he fell into darkness, his pieces of bread
left scattered on the floor.
Chapter 954: The Rylon Religions Secret
Chapter 954: The Rylon Religions Secret

The beaming sun through the curtains landed on Charlotte's face, warming it slightly. She
lifted her hand, scratching her cheek, with her leg out from the sheets, and slowly opened
her eyes.
Her body felt more tired than when she went to sleep, which just went to show how much
her body needed to catch up on, how rough it had been for her.
"Hey!" Sunder called out. "You're finally awake, don't worry much, we were all like that
when we first came here, it just goes to show that you're like the rest of us, which makes us
feel more comfortable."
Looking in the room, Charlotte realized that all of the others had left, apart from Sunder,
the teenage boy. He then turned around and when he looked at Charlotte he rubbed his
eyes a few times.
"Am I seeing things, but has your hair changed colour? Is it orange now? It's brightening up
the whole room!" Sunder said.
Charlotte quickly grabbed her hair, and even pulled out a single strand, seeing the orange
colour.
"Oh no!" she thought, as she quickly cast her magic, and right in front of Sunder's eyes, he
saw her hair change from orange to black.
"What the... what the... are you a Wi-!"
Charlotte leapt from her bed and jumped right on top of Sunder. The two wrestled for a bit
until eventually Charlotte was on top of Sunder, having pinned him down, and having her
hands covering his mouth.
"I'm not a witch, but you said it yourself, right? We all have our things, our secrets that
we're running from... and I like it here, I like all of you guys, so please don't say anything
about this, okay?" Charlotte pleaded, her eyes were watering.
All of the tension had practically left Sunder's voice, as he realized even if this woman could
change her hair colour, she was still just like them after all, so raising his hand he gave a
thumbs up, and slowly Charlotte lifted her hands from his mouth.
"I won't ask you about what I just saw," Sunder said. "But I'm finding it hard to breathe, can
you get off me."
Embarrassed, Charlotte quickly stood up and folded her arms. Trying to change the subject,
she brought up something else.
"Where is everyone, where did they go?" Charlotte asked.
"It's pretty late, it's 10 am, I thought you might want to have breakfast together. After all,
tomorrow, I'm not going to be here anymore."
That was right, Charlotte remembered Sunder saying that he would have been here a
month, and that was when the Church claimed it was time for them to go.
The two headed to get some breakfast, and after eating they continued in the limited areas,
but that's when Charlotte noticed something: there was one person she hadn't seen.
"Where's little Harper?" Charlotte asked, already wondering if she could squeeze his cute
little cheeks. She was too shy on the first day since they hardly knew each other, but Harper
was such a sweet boy she was sure that he wouldn't mind.
"Oh, I asked Carl about that; he said that they found someone to adopt Harper, so he's no
longer here," Sunder replied.
Charlotte looked around; currently the two of them had wandered outside, and were just
walking on the gravel pathways outside the church. But there were still staff walking to and
from the main town covered in orange clothing.
"Wait, when would that have happened?" Charlotte asked. "He was sleeping with us in the
middle of the night; did they find someone this morning then?"
"I guess, I didn't actually get to see him, but it's good he's with a family now anyway; we
should be happy for him," Sunder replied.
"But adoption is no easy thing, someone would just come in the morning and take him, and
on top of that, weren't you and Harper close? Wouldn't he even come to say goodbye to us?
I understand not me, but what about the others?" Charlotte asked.
"We weren't close," Sunder replied. "You have to remember I've been here the longest;
Harper was here for an even shorter time. It would be hard to develop that big of a bond,
and he's a kid, so they see shiny things and run toward them."
"So I'm not that bothered about it. I can tell why you're worried though, with me going
tomorrow, and Harper gone. You're going to be left with the other two, but don't worry I'm
sure there will be more at some point." Sunder smiled.
Charlotte gave a smile back but the moment she looked away she couldn't get the thought
out of her head that it was so strange, but maybe Sunder was the one that was right. Maybe
her life and being part of Alter had made her just overly suspicious of everything. For the
rest of the day she was unable to keep her guard up, and when she had met with Carl in the
church and asked him about Harper, he had given the same answer as Sunder had.
Charlotte tried to dive deeper, asking if she was able to meet him and go to see him, but the
Rylon religion claimed that they didn't hand out information like that, as they had to do
right by the people that wished to adopt him.
She understood, but still everything felt so strange to her. With that hint of suspicion,
everything started to look suspicious to her after.
Which led her to head into the town where she had first been approached by Carl.
Returning here, she was on guard once again, but thankfully Sunder had decided to come
with her as
well.
"It's been a while since I've been here," Sunder said.
"You mean you don't leave the church ever? It's not against the rules, so why not?"
Charlotte asked.
"Because I have no money, there's no reason for me to head out; what can we buy, what can
we get? It's just useless at that point, and I'm mostly focused on recovery as well," Sunder
said, tensing his bicep and showing relatively well developed.
In the end, Charlotte had decided to go around, and she had a specific question in mind.
Something that was bugging her. Something so generous, why hadn't she heard about it
before?
Being part of Alter, they had a vast amount of knowledge at their hands, so she continued to
ask, and each person they approached said the same thing.
It was then that even Sunder started to get nervous.
"Why do you keep asking people if they know about the Rylon religion and their program?"
Sunder asked with a shaky voice.
It was then that Charlotte saw an old man, a beggar on the corner; she knelt down and
asked the same thing.
"Hey, we don't have any money, but we do know that the church just out of town, the Rylon
religion, can give you food, shelter, and coin. Did you know about this?"
The old beggar wafted his hand.
"I have heard of it."
It was the first person who had answered this way.
"But when I went there, they turned me away, saying that it wasn't something that they did.
They gave me some water, but that was it. I went back a second time, but they refused to
even
give me water."
"For someone like me, it's too far a journey to go just for water."
Sunder, hearing the answer, and hearing all the answers from before, was starting to shake
slightly. Even he felt something was up.
Chapter 955: The Real Raze's Life
Chapter 955: The Real Raze's Life

Both Sunder and Charlotte continued to walk through the village. They didn't continue
their line of questioning, and eventually when they had reached an open area where kids
were playing, chasing wooden wheels and spinning tops on the floor, Sunder couldn't take
it anymore.
"Wait, what's going on? Can you explain to me why you were asking all of the questions
before?" Sunder asked.
"I told you, I thought it was strange that Harper would just go like that. Do you know I
asked the others in the room, and not a single one of them saw him in the morning; just
how early did these adoption people come and get him this morning?" Charlotte asked.
"There was a man that told me, if things don't make sense then start asking questions."
"And if they still don't make sense then ask even more questions. If things start to get more
confusing, then it means something is being hidden."
The words of a person that was quite close to her, it had stung her heart. She had followed
him for a long time, and now it was time for her to take over.
"I asked the same question to all of those people out there, because I thought it was strange.
People know orphanages exist, people know food houses exist in bigger areas. So such a
place, or a thing like the Rylon religion is doing, shouldn't more people know about it?"
"Yet not a single person in this village, town, whatever it is, has heard about their goodness.
Heck, you heard that beggar, they had even refused to bring him in. So let me ask you
another question, were you approached by Carl himself?" Charlotte asked.
Sunder paused for a moment. He was almost afraid to answer the question even though he
had no idea where it was coming from.
"No," Sunder answered. "But, I did get approached by another member of the Rylon
religion."
"Then let me ask again, what about everyone else? Did they find out about this, or were
they approached by members from the religion?"
Sunder's eyes widened, but he quickly shook his head and swung his arm out.
"That doesn't matter. I mean it makes sense that they are just picking people that they want
to help out, those that really need it like me or you?"
"That makes sense, but you arrived at the church and there were others before you, yet
everyone you met the same way?" Charlotte said. "And if those people got out, then where
are they right now? Didn't they all come from this town? Wouldn't they have spread the
word of what the group was doing?"
"Did anyone ever return to that place?" It was then that Charlotte started to choke up, as
she started to think of the worst. "Will we ever see Harper again?"
At that point, Sunder could no longer deny it. Something was strange and he had felt it for a
while now. He fell to his knees, and started to sob into his forearm. Eventually he looked up
at Charlotte.
"Charlotte... tomorrow is the day, it's the day I'm meant to leave, what does that mean,
what's going to happen to me?"
There was part of Sunder thinking that they should run now. They didn't have to go back to
the church but then what would they do? Who would he rely on? In his head, he felt like if
something went wrong he could always go back, but what was he to do now.
"I'm going to help you, and if we can, we're going to help Harper. You saw what I did today,
right." Charlotte then swirled her finger in the direction of one of the spinning tops on the
ground.
Wind picked up and started to cause the spinning top to move faster. Controlling the wind,
she controlled the direction making it zig and zag across the floor.
The kids in amazement started to cheer as they chased the spinning top, and eventually she
had spread her fingers out putting it to a stop and the spinning top stopping completely.
"I have powers, and I can use them to help you, so don't worry, we can do this."
The two of them returned to the church, and tried to pretend that everything was the same.
It was all normal, and they spent the rest of the day there as normal. Charlotte conserved
her strength, knowing full well what she might have to do.
Then finally the next day had arrived. Sunder had all of his things packed in a leather
backpack handed to him by the church. Carl was in the room, and had handed over a pouch
filled with coins.
"Everything in there will allow you to survive on your own. The Rylon Religion wishes for
everyone to be self-reliant, but if you do struggle and the month is over, there will always
be a place back for you." Carl tapped Sunder on the shoulder, and then asked everyone to
see him off.
Everyone gave him a hug, even Tiffany whose head was back to normal for a moment, and
just before Sunder left the room, he gave a nod to Charlotte.
In the vast land of the Dark Faction, three individuals were riding in a carriage heading to a
particular town. It had been a while since it was just them three traveling together.
"Hey, so Liam, you got to pick up your weight, you know Raze won't be here to save us if
we're in trouble again," Simyon said.
"What do you mean, I was the one that read that thing, without me we would have known
nothing. What's good having a lightning rock teleporting all over the place!" Liam said.
Eventually, as they traveled, Simyon had asked Safa a question, one that he was curious
about for a while now.
"What was Raze like, the real Raze I mean, your brother," Simyon asked.
Safa smiled as she started to reminisce.
"He was kind-hearted but troublesome at the same time. He wanted what was best for
everyone and tried to help in his own ways, but he was young. I remember one time, he got
into an argument with our mum and dad."
"There wasn't enough food for us. In the end, he decided to run away from home for a
while. When I think about it, I think he did that for us, because he knew that four mouths
was too much to feed, and I could eat more. That's the type of person he was."
"Ran away from home, as a teenager?" Liam said. "I mean, he did a good thing and all, but
how did he even manage to survive himself with no food?"
"That is the question... I don't know. Now that I think about it, it was after he came back,
things were slightly strange."
Chapter 956: Illegal Substances Here?
Chapter 956: Illegal Substances Here?

It was time for Sunder to leave the Church, the Rylon religion. He saw Carl step to the side
allowing him to walk out of the place. He had already said his goodbyes to everyone, yet
now several thoughts were filling his head.
His legs weren't moving because he was worried; why hadn't anyone returned to the
Church after leaving? Why did no one know about the Church's good deeds and what about
that old man?
The thing was, that wasn't the worst of what they had found out. Through investigating a
little more before leaving the city, there had been a case where someone missing had
returned to their family, and the entire family had lost their lives.
'If I leave this place, will I lose my life?' Sunder thought.
"What's wrong," Carl said, placing his hand on Sunder's back. All the times before, the smile
on Carl's face and his touch felt warm, yet for the first time it felt cold, very, very cold.
"I'll take him to the front, I think he's just going to miss this place," Charlotte said as she
grabbed Sunder's hand and led him to the front.
Several of the church members followed so they couldn't say much, but Charlotte gave a
nod in Sunder's direction. He gulped and finally he moved forward, walking away from the
church and heading down toward the town.
He continued following the path, until he could no longer see the church as he was walking
slightly uphill. The village was quite a distance away, maybe three kilometers of walking.
It felt like a short walk yesterday but now it felt so far.
'I don't even have a family to go to, so will they even wait for me to head back, for me to
even enjoy a few days before they arrive?'
It was then when looking up on the path, Sunder could see someone dressed in all black in
front of him. It was a robe that even covered his face, something that thieves in Pagna
would often wear.
Never before, while walking this path, or while the others walked, had they heard of such a
thing happening. Yet he tried to ignore it and continue to move forward. Closer and closer,
his heart felt like it was ready to jump out of his throat.
Until he was about to cross paths with the man, and then he continued past him, and the
man dressed in black had continued past him.
Immediately after, the man turned around, a string of wire in his hands, and immediately
Sunder had turned around with a knife in his hands. He swung it, hitting the wire in the
center. The strong wire didn't break, but he had stopped it from wrapping around his neck.
"What's this... this is the first time someone has resisted, at least someone so young!" the
man said, with a crazed look in his eye.
The thing was, Sunder knew he wouldn't win in a battle of strength, so he eventually let go
of the knife and decided to make a run for it.
He ran ahead and continued to run, until traveling right in front of him were two men in
yellow-colored robes.
"Sir Klein and Sir Gold! Both of you looked after me, why are you doing this, why!" Sunder
shouted.
Knowing how fast they had moved, it was quite clear that they were Pagna warriors, or at
least people that knew how to use Qi. Sunder had no chance against these two, and he had
no more weapons.
He fell to his knees feeling hopeless at that moment.
"I didn't want to believe it, I didn't want to believe it... I thought you really cared about us."
The two men in yellow robes were moving forward and the man dressed in black was
moving from behind.
"Why would you do this, did you do the same to Harper?" Sunder asked.
"Harper... it wasn't his time," Sir Klein answered. "But he saw too much. We truly were
looking for a family to adopt him; if they did, it would have sped up our process."
It was then that Sunder rubbed his tears.
"Thank you for answering, because I don't care what happens to you anymore, I hope you
and the rest of the Rylon religion burn!" Sunder shouted.
The man dressed in black felt a large gust of wind hit him in the stomach, forcing him to the
floor. Right after, two tunnels of flames came out hitting both of the men dressed in yellow.
The twisting flames hit their bodies and using their Qi, they had to deflect the flames,
forcing them onto the ground. Part of their clothing and arms were burnt.
And now, appearing by Sunder's side, was Charlotte.
"I told you they were up to no good. But out of respect for you, I decided to do it your way.
You found out the truth, I'll do everything I can to protect you."
The original men dived in again, and Charlotte quickly pointed out her hands and small
fireballs fired out from them. The yellow men used their Qi to hit the flames, but it burnt
the skin on their knuckles and embers hit the rest of their bodies.
Not just that, but the fireballs coming out from Charlotte were continuous, aiming at all
three of them. Eventually, the man dressed in black had cleanly been hit, and his clothes lit
up in
fire.
The fire started to grow and the man began to scream in pain.
The two members in yellow looked at each other at that moment.
"A mage."
"A strong mage at that. If we capture her, won't that help us out greatly?"
"Right, right, no one would know, even if she is part of Alter."
Charlotte was shocked by the words she was hearing and wondering just what was going
on with the whole religion.
At that point, both of the men pulled out a small orange glowing large pill. It was the same
length as a finger, and glowing bright with a yellow-like glow to it.
Immediately the two men took the pills and consumed them on the spot.
"What did they just take!" Sunder asked, worried at how confident the two were.
"That's... I've seen those before... in Alterian, they were considered illegal substances... why
do they have them, and they're meant for mages, not warriors."
Chapter 957: A powerful Weapon
Chapter 957: A powerful Weapon

A particular place had been selected by the trio of travelers, a small city that was located on
the border between the Demonic Faction and the Dark Faction. The reason for picking this
place was quite simple.
One, it was quite close and was an area that they would have to pass through if they wanted
to head to the Dark Faction anyway. As for the second reason, it was all because of Liam's
information gathering.
According to him, one of the places where the strange deaths had occurred was this
particular city, a place where the Lethal Bite Clan once was and still was. According to the
report, Raze had also been a part of the mission here.
Which made them wonder if anything was found. There were many instances where the
three of them were away from Raze, and they didn't really know what he had been up to,
other than the reports that would come from the Golden News once in a while.
When they entered the town, it didn't take long for them to ask for a meeting with the
current mayor and head of the Lethal Bite Clan, Harbour, who was also Lisa's brother, the
previous head of the Lethal Bite Clan.
Due to their positions in the academy, and the fateful day when Raze had taken his position
on the stage, Safa and the others' presence had become well known throughout the
academy.
They had entered the old Lethal Bite Clan base that was positioned on top of a giant
staircase, and made their way into one of the meeting rooms where Harbour was sitting
behind a rectangular table.
He wasn't the only one present, as there were three more individuals there.
"You're Bargo, from the Moon Shield Clan, right?" Liam asked as his system was the one
that actually notified him. He also was a person that had turned sides and helped them face
the rest of the Dark Faction.
"I am indeed. I frequently visit this city, and when I heard that you were coming, I felt like I
had no choice but to greet you as well," Bargo said.
Their heads then turned to the third person in the room, as they were unsure about who
this individual was.
"I'm Graft," the man introduced himself. "I'm from Alter... or at least I would like to say I
was from Alter."
Safa and the others were on guard immediately. It wasn't so long ago that they had been
tasked with getting rid of all of those from Alter in the Dark Faction, so they wondered if
this was a setup of some kind.
With two clan leaders in the room as well, it wouldn't be an easy task if there were more of
them.
"Calm down, Raze knows both of these individuals," Harbour explained. "Besides, Graft had
helped Raze quite a bit in the past, and his squad are good friends with Himmy and his
group. They are ready to give whatever information is needed."
"Which is why I have given them a safe place to rest. I'm sure Raze will be grateful, and you
are free to report to him about this matter whenever you wish."
Harbour also would have received the order about eliminating the Alter clans, and Graft
and his squad would have been placed in a tricky situation. They didn't have much choice
to pick sides and they had eventually picked the current side.
"Actually, it might be good that he is here as well," Safa stated. "We wanted to ask you,
according to our information, Himmy and his squad were tasked with a special
investigation in this town. To locate an unknown group of deaths that had appeared here,
do you know what happened?"
Bargo and Harbour looked at each other; they knew the full extent of the entire report well,
and Bargo was there in person to see it all.
"Right, I remember reading those files," Graft replied. "I believe what had happened was
another Alter group was investigating and ended up being killed as well. Himmy and his
group were chosen to investigate just in case it was related to their case."
"Ah, so that's what brought them here," Harbour added. "Things are making some sense. I'll
give you what information I know but I don't know if it will help you much. One of the
elders within the Lethal Bite Clan was conducting particular experiments."
"They were sacrificing people to summon something, and in the end it appeared as if the
summoning had succeeded. I don't quite know what or who, or what happened, but Raze
seemed to deal with it."
Safa was a bit disappointed by the answer. The first place they had arrived, had they
already hit a dead end? Was it actually unrelated to all of the other cases after all?
"However, I did look into things a bit more. You see, it turns out that the elder of the Lethal
Bite Clan had a particular weapon with him. A powerful weapon that would allow him to
heal. It was a glowing sword with this beaming energy."
"The man was almost unkillable, but Raze dealt with him again."
"Smoking balls," Liam said. "How many things did Raze go through, and doesn't that
weapon sound like Safa's weapon as well, the one she has?"
"That weapon, I learned, actually belonged to a group that was here—the Rylon Religion,
the church. They had ordered several Wanderers to get the weapon back from Raze, but he
had dealt with them swiftly as well."
"After I had learned of this, I asked all of the members to leave this town. I couldn't find out
what their link was with the elder of the Lethal Bite Clan, but the Rylon religion is a large
organization covering the entirety of the Dark Faction, so getting them to leave was the
best thing I could do," Harbour explained.
Although the case at first seemed unrelated, once again, the same link that Liam had found
had appeared-the group known as the Rylon religion. Safa eventually pulled the spear out
from her back that was wrapped in cloth, and revealed it.
The eyes of Harbour and Bargo were glued as they saw it.
"It has the same glow," Bargo said. "The energy coming off it even feels the same."
"What was the name of the sword that Raze used?" Safa asked.
"I believe he called it the Lux Sword," Harbour answered.
Safa was sure of it now, the weapon that Raze had received was the weapon she was using
in
her hands right now. It was an incredibly powerful weapon.
"So it's the same weapon then," Liam said, and the others had overheard him. "But that
weapon is mega powerful, I understand if a clan or Alter had something like this, but how
did a religion have something like this in their hands, and why?"
Chapter 958: Finding out the Truth of Everything
Chapter 958: Finding out the Truth of Everything

The trio had listened to Raze's story in a bit more detail from Harbour and the others. They
learned of his great feat of even repelling one of the Demonic Faction Clans that had
attacked the place.
Which in turn had later been the reason why the town of Flendon was left abandoned in the
first place. It was interesting for all of them to hear what Raze had done, and just like their
experience of him, sometimes he sounded like a hero, while other times he sounded like a
villain, it just depended which side one was on.
After that, they had obtained information on where the closest Rylon Church was. In a
nearby medium-sized town, that wasn't too far.
"You won't need to worry about the clan there," Bargo said. "They will listen to you before
they listen to the Church even if they are a big organization. It's just the clans never want to
deal with that stuff and sometimes they seem a bit crazy."
"Also, there's the rules of civilians and warriors not meant to get involved with each other."
The three of them looked at each other nervously, knowing full well that Raze had taken
out an entire kingdom. It was surprising that there was still no fallout from all of that.
Was it just a rumor about Divine beings descending from the sky for doing such a thing, and
the kingdom itself had kept it under wraps, which was understandable.
With that information, the three of them were off, and due to how close the town was, they
had decided to walk on foot rather than take a carriage.
Currently, they were walking through a forest talking about what was ahead.
"Safa, I was wondering if there is a reason you think Raze wanted to give that device to
Anna, and not want the rest of us to get involved, because I feel like things might start to get
troublesome," Liam asked.
"I'm not sure," Safa replied. "We know Raze has bigger issues to deal with, and for me, I feel
like this is more a personal matter to begin with. It might be linked with why Raze had gone
into the body of my brother."
"And, I want to find out the truth of what my brother was involved in himself. Maybe Raze
asked Anna to do this, because he too wants to find out what is bothering him."
Safa was thinking about the strange aura she felt surrounding Raze back then. At one point
it had even protected her, but why, what was it? How was it even linked to all of this, and
the people that at one point had been after her and Raze's life.
"Oh oh oh look at what we have here!" A man had dropped right in front of their path. A
man with next to no clothes covering his chest with a big sword being held over his
shoulder, and he wasn't alone either.
Behind him there was a group of at least six people, and looking left and right, they could
tell there were several in the trees as well.
"Come on!" Simyon said. "Bandits... really... I thought we were done with this."
"Three practically children are traveling on their own with no escort whatsoever," the head
bandit said. "And it looks like you guys have some fancy equipment and some fat pouches
with you."
"Should we just chop off his balls?" Liam asked, looking at the others.
"What so you can keep them as a trophy? Seriously man, I think you should see a therapist
about your balls obsession, is it because you don't have any yourself?"
Safa sighed as the usual spat between Simyon and Liam had started again. This was the
problem with traveling with the usual three.
"Are you seriously ignoring me now, a bunch of kids, I guess you have no idea how cruel
this world can be!" The head bandit said, swinging his sword from the side, ready to strike
all of them.
Until a metal clang sound was heard. The bandit had to blink twice as he didn't understand
what was happening at all. He could see that one of the dark-skinned children had just
lifted his hand and it was blocking the sword completely.
"You really tried to kill us," Simyon said as he reached towards the beads on his neck.
Lightning from his glove started to emit, and then from the beads it linked to his earrings
and his whole body was lighting up with blue lightning.
Simyon quickly moved from his position and pounded the head bandit right in the stomach.
While he was in the middle of flying through the air, Simyon quickly went to all of the
others and hit them with his fist.
Simple attacks caused bones to break, and the shock from his body caused them to fly far
into the distance.
Simyon had dealt with the large group quickly, and when he turned around, he could see
that Liam had also dealt with those that were in the trees.
His swords were floating above his back, and grabbing one he threw it at the tree hitting a
person right in the chest and causing them to fall onto the floor.
"That's the last of them," Liam said.
"Right, I didn't think we would have to deal with things like that anymore, but I guess we
don't have a name for ourselves like that of the Dark Magus," Simyon said.
"Ohh good point!" Liam said. "Why don't we come up with some nicknames to spread our
name."
Safa walked past the bandits, and looked behind Liam and Simyon, seeing what they had
just done. Maybe they didn't realize it, but they were incredibly strong.
The bandits were Pagna warriors, and they had dealt with them just like that with no
trouble at all. With them always trying to catch up to Raze all the time, they felt like they
were weak but it wasn't the case at all.
She had to remind herself that it was all of them that were stalling Sha Mo for as long as
possible. However, Safa herself had done nothing just then.
Her powers with the spear and Light magic allowed her to heal the others from afar. She
was fine with this because she thought she could still help Raze this way, using the power
to help
him.
But seeing how Liam and Simyon had just performed, maybe she could use Light magic
more offensively.
'The spear that I got was from the Rylon Religion. If they have items like this, then maybe
there's a chance that they have more things that I can use as well.'
Looking straight ahead, as they exited the forest and stood atop a hill, they could see the
town below, and a church located in the city. She was ready to find out the answers about
her real brother, how Raze came to this world, the death of her family, and all about the
bloody woman that followed them.
Chapter 959: A bloodbath
Chapter 959: A bloodbath

Entering the town on their own, the two guys couldn't stop turning their heads and using
their coin to buy snacks, ornaments, and more. It had been a long time since they were able
to just do this.
To just enter a town, or a city and enjoy it for what it was. Even though they knew they
were here for a reason. As for the second thing, it was the first time they had money
available as well.
It seemed like not just Simyon but even Liam had lived a life that was filled with poverty,
especially the way they were spending coin.
"Can you guys cool it a little?" Safa asked. "We don't even have a place where we can put all
of this stuff."
"Don't worry, I paid a carriage man to look after our excess items and we can use him to
head back as well. I don't think it's a problem," Liam said.
"Yes, but you guys are using the money that Raze got, it's not really our money. He gets
allowances from the clans, and he also makes a lot of money from selling his creations.
You've seen how much he works doing those things in his spare time," Safa said.
For a moment both Liam and Simyon felt guilty, and after giving their items away, they
quickly followed Safa again, and turned their heads more straight onto the task.
"So what are we going to do, are we just going to head into the Rylon Religion and try to do
some detective work?" Liam asked.
"Or maybe we can wear disguises, or pretend that we want to become members. Sneak
around and find out what they're up to!" Simyon suggested.
"No, that would take too long," Safa replied. "First, I think it's best we pay a visit to the local
clan."
The three were standing in front of a large red door surrounded by a wall, and two guards
stood out front. It was the local clan of the area, the Force Clan.
"We are here from the Dark Faction Academy," Safa claimed. "We would like to have a
meeting with your leader. Please let him know we are here."
The two guards looked at each other, and smiled, they then looked up and down what
practically looked like three children in front of them.
"Yeah, and erghh I'm best friends with the Dark Magus, go home kids," the guard said, and
the two of them chuckled.
"Seriously?" Simyon asked. "Is this going to happen every time?"
"This is why I told you, we need a name for ourselves man. Something that everyone can
hear!"
"AHH!" The two boys heard screams of pain as they were discussing, and they could see
that Safa was holding the spear in her hand. She had whacked one in the leg breaking it,
and the other in the face, and slammed his body against the wall causing him to fall to the
ground. Right after, she wasted no time as she walked in.
The air around Safa had changed since she had entered the town, and the two needed to
quickly follow her lead.
They entered the small courtyard that was filled with trees and plants, and the building in
front of them with many members turning their heads to look at what was taking place.
One of the guards outside who had been hit in the face, shook his head before shouting.
"Intruders... we have intruders attacking us, hurry!" The man shouted at the top of his
lungs. Quickly, many of the warriors that were on the inside had rushed and had placed a
formation around them. They drew their weapons ready to fight.
"Maybe we just need to look at this as training, and it reminds me of the time when we had
to raid all those other clans," Liam added.
Due to the commotion, it was clear that the head of the clan moved from inside the
building. He pushed the sliding door to the side and walked out onto his banister looking at
the situation.
He squinted his eyes as he looked at the three in the centre.
"You fools what are you all doing, put your weapons down!" The Clan Head said.
Hearing the Clan Head shout like so, the other warriors immediately put their weapons
down. The elder then rushed out, and when in front of them, he placed his knees on the
ground. "Please forgive my clan members, your appearance is not known to many," the
man said. "Please forgive me!" In that moment raising his own hands the Clan Head started
to slap himself, at the side of his face hitting his cheeks.
He hit them so hard blood was appearing from his mouth. The others watching had no clue
what was going on, and then Safa eventually grabbed the Elder's hand, and with her other
hand glowing she treated his cheek with her Light magic.
"You don't have to do this, it was us who came here unannounced," Safa said.
The elder remembered well, the Force Clan was also affected by the great attacks that had
occurred, and he did well to remember every single person that stood next to the Dark
Magus. Not only was he afraid of these three individuals but also the Dark Magus himself.
Seeing how their elder was reacting the two guards at the front couldn't help but gulp at
the scene, wondering what they had done.
"Please tell me, what is the reason you have come to visit us today, is there anything we can
do to help?" The elder asked.
The healing on the cheek had come to an end, and Safa leaned back up.
"I came here to inform you that we will be investigating the Rylon Religion. I thought it was
only right that we would inform the local clan here of what we are going to do."
"I want to tell you, that whatever happens, to not get involved, and to keep all of the public
away as much as possible."
Safa turned away without hearing an answer, and the other two followed her.
Hearing those words there was only one thought that was going through the elder's mind.
"It's going to be a bloodbath," the elder mumbled.
Chapter 960: Enter The Rylon Religion
Chapter 960: Enter The Rylon Religion

Safa had exited from the clan base and was already making her way back through the
town's street, and she had one place on her mind, the church spire that could be seen up in
the sky.
She was quick in her stride, and Simyon with Liam weren't too far behind.
"Hey, are you a little worried about her?" Liam whispered. "I mean, she seems to be a bit
different. Like she has too much emotion involved in all of this. I've never seen her act like
this, although it's not that I'm saying I don't like this side of her."
It was usually then when Simyon would disagree with Liam, to tell him he was talking
crazy, or he was thinking with other round objects in his body, but he had to admit, even he
was worried.
"Safa," Simyon said as he caught up and was walking by her side. "What was the point of
doing that to the clan? I thought we might be using them, and we're heading to the church
now, so are we going to sneak in, or what? I need to know, we need to know so we can
help." Safa continued to walk forward as she went on to talk.
"According to the report, just like my hometown, deaths of several families have occurred. I
don't know if the clan is involved or not, but they should be well aware of what is
happening."
"There is a good chance that the clan might have set up some type of deal with the religion
to turn the other way. I don't want things to become harder for us. Our visit just then was
to tell them not to get in our way."
Safa could feel that this whole thing was linked, and she was getting upset, as images would
return to her mind of her having to hide that day when her family died, when everything
was taken away from her.
When she had no power, but now she had the power to fight back, to go after these people,
and she wasn't going to hold back.
The current Rylon religion was located in the city. Taking a turn around the corner, they
could see several people coming in and out. They just looked like ordinary citizens and
weren't even Pagna warriors.
At least not from what they could sense. Simyon wanted to stay back and observe a bit
more, but that was when Safa walked forward.
"With the system, you can tell right, you can tell if someone is lying?" Safa asked.
"Right... I can tell," Liam said.
"Good, then come on, let's head inside."
All three walked up to the large double doors that were already swung open. There was a
man standing on the outside wearing a yellow robe, and he saw the three quickly walk past.
"Wait, I haven't seen you three before, if you are not part of the Rylon Religion, you need to
register first before entering!" the man shouted.
Liam turned around with a smile.
"It's not a good idea to get in our way, so I'm going to help you for now." Grabbing the open
wooden door, Liam then swung it, and the door crashed into the member that was trying to
chase them.
It made a slight bang, which caused those inside the church to turn around and have a look
at just what was going on.
After entering through the double doors, they were immediately in the main hall, where
there were several benches for those to sit at, at the back a stand, and an image of a large
sun with various beams coming off it in different directions.
On the stage, there was another man in yellow clothing.
Safa wasted no time, as she continued to walk down the middle of the aisle between the
two sets of benches. Some of the guests were already leaving, worried for what was to
happen.
Eventually, Safa stopped in the middle.
'I can feel a tingling sensation from the Lux Spear. What is it reacting to?' she thought, the
energy inside this place?
"Recently there have been a number of missing people, deaths, as well as family deaths and
more that have occurred in this town," Safa said, with no care for the people around them.
"I've come here to ask you if you are anyway involved in these deaths!"
After asking her question, out from the halls and the pillars on the side, several more men
and women wearing orange robes had come out from the sides.
"What atrocities are you speaking of, we would do no such thing, you are scaring the
people, get out of here!" the man on stage shouted.
Safa then looked at Liam, who had only one word.
"Lie."
"It looks like we're in the right place after all then," Simyon said, as his eyes were darting
around. For some reason, he didn't think these church members were just regular
members who didn't know how to fight.
Safa then tapped the side of her head in that moment, activating her god eyes. She could see
it - a flow of magic that was appearing from each one of them. It was small but it was on
their clothes as well as the rest of their bodies.
When she looked around, she could see a concentrated mass of it under the church as well,
in the underground floor. She knew where she needed to go next. When looking up though,
she noticed something else: on every single one of the church members, underneath their
robe, they had a finger-sized tube hidden.
It was glowing with energy, and it was the same type of energy that she used, light magic
was condensed inside.
The church members were asking all of those inside to get out quickly, and when the last of
the public were out, they closed both of the doors.
"This is the first time in a long time we have had someone so brazen enter our doors!" the
man said as he reached in for the finger-sized vial, and so did the rest of the members.
Chapter 961: Praise The Sun God
Chapter 961: Praise The Sun God

All of those that were wearing yellow had the small vials in their hands. They then placed
them to their mouths and ripped apart the top with their teeth. Right after, they gulped
down the contents inside.
"I have a feeling that those things aren't so good, so let's try and stop them!" Liam said as he
cloned his sword, and then hurled it in the air right toward one of the men in yellow.
With Liam's Qi strength and also the nano robots in his body, the sword went through the
air fast and was able to pierce and deal with next to no one.
When the sword got close to the man, his eyes glowed white, and expanding out of his body
was great energy. It exploded and hit the sword causing it to flip and fall to the floor.
"What was that?" Liam asked.
Safa already had the answer.
"It's magic, they're using magic!"
The mages from all different directions lifted up their palms. Their eyes started to glow and
beams of energy were shot out toward the trio. Quickly all three of them split apart, as they
went to dodge the attacks.
Liam swung his sword hitting one of the large beams of energy and needed to use his Qi to
push back against an attack, while another started to come his way. He had to quickly roll
out of the way of the other incoming beam and due to them coming from so many different
directions, he had no idea where to roll or how to even get close to one of the warriors.
"These beams, I have a feeling they're going to hurt quite a bit if they hit me!" Liam shouted.
There was one person though that wasn't so much afraid of getting hit. He had activated his
lightning body, ready to zap himself around the room to deal with each of them. When the
beam of energy hit him though, the lightning aura around him started to disappear.
A burning sensation could be felt on the outside of his skin. However, he wasn't badly hurt.
"What are these guys then, are they mages or what?" Simyon shouted, frustrated he
decided to bear the burning sensation, and just ran toward one of the men.
One of the men was quite surprised and focused his constant beam on Simyon. Several of
those close started to do the same, and pushed back Simyon's body with the beams.
His advance had eventually stopped and Simyon was screaming as he tried to push
forward. "ARGHHH!!"
As for Safa, she was observing everything, while avoiding the beams as well, and eventually
she took out her spear. She spun it in her hands as a beam of energy came from the front.
When it hit the spear, the energy coated around it.
It almost looked like the spear itself had absorbed the energy, and she could feel even
greater power in her.
'It is the same type of magic, it's Light magic, and the Lux Spear can do some impressive
things, I wonder if it can do something similar back!'
Stopping the spin of her spear she then thrusted it forward and Light magic appeared out of
the tip. She often used this power to heal others but now she was using it as a force.
It hit one of the robed men and lifted them off their feet until their body crashed into the
wall causing them to pass out.
The other robed men had no clue what was happening and started to focus their attacks on
Safa, but spinning her spear she was able to block them and redirected the energy blasts
toward them.
This finally gave Liam a chance to use his swords in his throwing manner as well. Even
attracting them to a fallen point from before.
Eventually, Simyon had pushed through and grabbed one right by the waist and ran into
the wall with another, and then, there was only one left in the room.
Safa leapt from her position and reached the stage, she stabbed the spear right in the man's
shoulder and pinned him upright against the wall.
"What is going on here right now? What is the Rylon religion doing!" Safa asked. "Why is it
that you guys can use magic? What's going down in the underground basement."
The old man who had been stabbed in the shoulder, he just smiled and laughed, his eyes
shined bright, and Safa could see it, his own magic from within him, it was burning him up
inside, it was taking his own life.
"Our sacrifice is for the Sun God!" were the man's last words, before his life had ended.
"I thought I would get more answers," Safa said as she pulled out her spear, but wondering
what had happened to the man, she tapped the side of her head and activated her god eyes
once more.
She could see trails of magic not just coming from the man, but coming from every single
one of the members that they had taken out. The trails of magic were leading down, to the
same area she had seen before, they were going down to the basement.
"Come on, let's see what's going on!" Safa said, as she rushed ahead, and the two boys
followed.
"Good work there, strong body man!" Liam chuckled. "I saw you managed to at least take
one out."
"If Safa didn't do all of the work, then you would have taken none out," Simyon shouted
back. Safa eventually led them to the staircase and they had quickly gone down the stairs. A
foul stench wafted into their faces, a smell that they were familiar with before. Going
underground, it was a familiar feeling to their past experience as well.
When they eventually reached the bottom, Safa raised her hand and Light magic was cast
allowing them to see the whole scene.
"Just what were they... doing?" Simyon asked.
The underground basement was filled with bodies. Bodies had been piled up in the corner.
Blood was splattered across the floor, as if they had been sacrificed. Then oddly there was a
chair centered around the back.
If it was the first time the group had seen something like this, they would have struggled
but, it wasn't the first time for them, but it still came as a shock.
As Safa moved forward, she went to the chair placed in the centre. There was a man sitting
in the chair tied up, his life had already been taken from him, but she noticed something on
the
ground.
"I've seen these before, in the books that Raze lent me. It's a magic circle." Safa said.
"What does it do?" Simyon asked. "What were they doing here with all of this?"
"I have no idea. Liam, can you make note of this magic circle every single detail? There's
one person that will know what this magic circle will do."
"Raze right, maybe he can shed some light on what was happening." Liam said. "I'll make
note of it, I'll be able to draw it perfectly again. But what are we going to do now, go back to
the clan, head back to the academy and see if Raze is there."
"No." Safa answered. "It's clear the Rylon religion is up to something, that's obvious. I think
we might be able to find more answers at the other churches. I want to head to my
hometown, the closest church to my hometown. I'm sure we'll find answers then."
Just as they were leaving the place, Liam noticed something in the dark.
It was scratched out on one of the walls.
"Praise the Sun God, praise the Grand Magus...?"
Chapter 962: All Roads Lead to One Place
Chapter 962: All Roads Lead to One Place

Anna had left the Dark Faction Academy for a while now, with one task on her mind, and
that was to find Charlotte. It was the request of Raze, and more importantly, it was
something she knew Himmy would have wanted as well.
Although part of Alter, like her, she had abandoned it and was on the run. When Rayna had
given the order to get rid of all of those belonging to Alter, Anna had also eliminated said
members. Charlotte was in the Dark Faction-that was the most likely probability.
From those she had interrogated so far, some were on her trail, following her from town to
town, but she always managed to give them the slip now or then.
Right now, Anna was walking through the streets of a rather small town, the last location
someone from Alter had seen her.
'Charlotte did well to avoid them. I guess Himmy had taught her well, and with her magic
she could give them the slip rather easily,' Anna thought. 'But things have gotten incredibly
hard now. With all of the deaths of Alter members, I doubt there are any left in the Dark
Faction.'
'Either they're dead, or have already pulled out of the area, so there's no one I can really
interrogate anymore.'
Anna was slightly worried as well. The sad part about all of this was Charlotte was
probably still living in fear, afraid that at any point and time someone from the
organization would be out to get her, even though it was perfectly safe.
Eventually, Anna looked at one of the buildings and then jumped up from her position,
using part of the housing as footing, and landed on the flat roof. She looked out over the
town to see what there was close by.
"I have to think of all of this logically. With how much time she's been on the run, she would
have run out of money. So she had to survive somehow?" Anna started to calculate, and
with help from her system she could figure a lot of these things out.
She observed the mostly red rooftops of the houses, and even saw a small clan.
'If I remember correctly, the clan here is known as the Red Brigade, but would the warriors
know anything? They would have gotten the order to take out those from Alter as well,
right?'
It was the only lead she had, and so she decided to venture out to the local clan base. Upon
arriving, there wasn't much problem with Anna going in through the doors.
The guards had told her to wait a few moments as they ventured and got one of the elders
from the inside. After, they had invited Anna inside and were willing to answer any
questions she had.
"So you say that you were ordered to come here by the Dark Magus?" the elder asked.
"Not quite. I'm looking into something, but it could be related to the order you received
recently," Anna explained. "I'm looking for a woman with orange hair. She's quite short and
appears to have passed through this town."
"If you don't know anything, I was hoping that there might be others that do know
something -the members of Alter."
The man stroked his beard and shuddered slightly as he heard the name.
"I'm afraid Alter members haven't visited this town for quite a while. I believe it was since
that incident, where a man wearing long clothing had entered. Come to think of it, I believe
that woman also had bright orange hair that was with him at the time?"
Anna blinked a few times. An orange-haired duo with a large man-that sounded exactly like
Himmy and Charlotte, but how was that possible? She had seen Himmy's head.
"But that was months ago, and it seems like you are looking for someone who was here
more recently. Since then, no people from Alter have answered our call," the elder
explained.
Anna somewhat sulked as she realized that it must have just been a mission that Himmy
and Charlotte were on in the past, a mission that had been done without her. With nothing
else, all she could do was guess what Charlotte would do, and try to follow her movements.
"Thank you for your time," Anna said, standing up and giving a bow, getting ready to leave.
The old man suggested he escort her out, feeling bad about what happened. As they walked
through the open area toward the gate, Anna thought about asking the old man what had
happened back then, to have Himmy and Charlotte here, but there was a commotion at the
gate.
"Please, I need someone to help me! I just need you guys to listen to me!" a voice pleaded.
"Just relax, young one. The elder is currently in a meeting. We will inform him of your
problems, but you just have to wait," the guard replied.
"We can't wait! If we wait any longer, who knows what will happen to her. Please, I can't do
anything by myself, I can't, I can't!" the young man continued to plead.
Anna, walking with the elder, waved the man off; she didn't need an escort and informed
him that he could deal with the kid's problems. Maybe another person would have stopped
to listen to the young one's worries and helped out.
But Anna had her own problems, and she was in the middle of something herself-not that if
she wasn't she would have helped; she was just not that type of person. As Anna walked
past, she continued past the young man on his knees, and the elder had eventually reached
the walls.
"Please, you have to help me!" the young man pleaded. "My friend, she was taken by the
church. The one just up the hill. I need warriors, we need warriors to save her. They're
strong, and they're using strange powers, like some type of magic. Please, you have to help
them."
The elder wished to comfort the young man, as in this state there wasn't much he could do,
and the church wasn't even part of the town's jurisdiction in the first place. For clan
members to get involved would be a hard task.
"Did you say magic?"
The boy looked up, a bandage covering one of his eyes, at the strange woman in front of
him.
"This girl, your friend that you're talking about, she didn't happen to have orange-colored
hair, did she?" Anna asked.
Chapter 963: The Sun God Revealed
Chapter 963: The Sun God Revealed

Slowly, Charlotte's eyes started to flutter open. At first, she could only see a blur in front of
her, as her eyes were out of focus. All of the energy felt like it had been drained out of her
body and was still being drained now. Her body didn't even want to focus on what was in
front of her and around her.
Using what will she had, she attempted to move her hands, but it was impossible. All she
could tell was they were behind her back, and she could feel her feet planted on the ground.
'Am I in some type of chair, tied up?' Charlotte thought, but even her mind was foggy due to
her energy levels being low. 'I can't even muster up any mana or anything. What happened?
I can't even remember properly.'
Although she didn't remember how she had gotten here, wherever here was, she was
remembering what had occurred before.
'I was helping Sunder out. Those from the Church, they were attacking him, just like I
thought they would, and then they all used that illegal substance-it gave them magical
powers.'
Charlotte was a 3 star mage, and she was quite versatile in her magic abilities. She could
deal with one who had magical powers, but multiple ones were a tall task.
The moment she had been struck from behind by the strange power, more beams of energy
were hitting her. As a last resort, she had decided to muster all of her Wind magic and blow
Sunder as far away as she could. After he landed off in the distance, the last thing she saw
was him running away to the city.
'Wait, that's not quite right. They didn't even bother to chase after Sunder. It was after they
had learned that I was a mage, they decided to focus on me instead.'
Finally, her vision was becoming clearer, and her other senses were starting to work as
well. A foul stench had filled her nose. Her vision returning allowed her to see she was in a
dark room; it was dimly lit with a few lights in the corner from some sort of glowing stones.
However, she wished she couldn't see, as the sight in front of her was a tragedy. Countless
bodies were on the floor, their bodies either pierced through the stomach or slit by the
throat, lying on the floor.
Her gag reflex almost activated, but it was almost as if her body couldn't even do that. She
couldn't throw up due to how weak she was feeling.
"Mm!...Mmm!..Mm!"
Turning her head to the side, Charlotte noticed that she wasn't alone in the room. Her guess
was correct; she was sitting in a chair, tied up, her hands close to the back of the room, but
in the space there were two more, who had blindfolds on, as well as their body parts tied.
The thing was, Charlotte recognized them.
"You two, you're from the Church as well... they brought you here as well, what for?"
Charlotte wanted to shout out; she wanted to use her magic to cut their bindings and get
answers, but there was nothing.
Looking around to see if there was something she could use, that's when she spotted a poor
boy down by her side, already life lost from him.
"No... Harper... Harper... no... no, no!" Charlotte thought as she shook her head frantically.
She didn't want to look at the young boy, who had no reason to lose his life, but when she
did, she noticed there was something different about Harper compared to the rest.
For one, there were no cuts on his body, no blood, yet his life had clearly ended. When she
looked under his body, she could see a magic circle drawn underneath him. It was a
formation she hadn't seen before, and she was too low a star level to even have any idea of
what it could accomplish.
When she looked down below her own chair, she noticed the same.
"A magic formation under me as well, and then there are links."
A magic circle was drawn around her and her chair. Then branching off, a line could be seen
connected to the two that were tied up. Equally, there were two more magic circles around
them as well.
The image, if one was to look from a bird's eye view, looked a lot like that of the images in
the Church-of the sun, and connected links streaming off from it.
In the middle of her thoughts as she tried to figure out what was happening, she heard
footsteps. Eventually coming out from the stairs were three dressed in robes, and at the
center of them all was Carl.
"You... you!" Charlotte tried to go after him, but all she could muster up were a couple of
words.
Carl eventually walked up to Charlotte and stood a few meters away from her.
"You ruined my plans, you know, but it's no wonder since you are a mage," Carl said. "It's
the first time I've actually managed to get my hands on one."
"But look at this!" Carl said, pointing toward the two that were tied up. "Because of you,
there aren't enough sacrifices to perform the ceremony. Although, there's a chance because
you're a mage that things could work better."
"After all, it's you mages and your power that are able to form links between different
worlds, right?" Carl smiled.
In all honesty, Charlotte had no clue what Carl was even talking about. Them creating
bridges or what this magic circle was for.
"This ceremony is twofold. We use the sacrifices to call and link with those above. They are
always observing and watching us," Carl explained. "Then that goes down and gets stuck in
you. After that, we extract the energy from you and deliver it to our Sun God."
"That is your duty-you are to be used as a pass-through project, in order to allow us to gain
great strength. It doesn't always work though, and at times the energy we have is used to
make various weapons or tools that we can use as well."
"Our god has given us a lot, and we have to pay him back for all the miracles he has solved.
We pass on all the energy from the realm above to Gizin, our Sun God."
The moment Charlotte heard the name, she was left with deep confusion. Gizin-a name very
familiar in the world of Alterian; there wouldn't be a single person, mage or not, who
wouldn't know him. As they were the largest supplier of pharmaceuticals for the general
public and mages, creating medicine and even special clothing to enhance the lives of the
people, he was one of the Grand Magus.
Chapter 964: Visiting The Start
Chapter 964: Visiting The Start

The trio had finally arrived at the medium-sized village, and it was a place that had brought
back big memories for a couple of them. Walking down the streets this time, it was the first
in their journey where they had seen Safa slow down her pace.
As they were walking, Simyon pulled Liam by the scruff of his shirt.
"Hey, I need to mention something to you and it's pretty serious," Simyon said. "This
village, it's Safa's hometown. So she's going to have a lot of memories and feelings going
through this stuff, so calm down on the intensity."
"What do you mean intensity?" Liam replied. "Are you saying I'm insensitive? I think I'm
more aware of things than you."
Liam wasn't joking with his reply either; thanks to his system, the subtle movements in the
muscle structure of one's face told him how one was feeling or the emotion they were
portraying. Still, it didn't mean he knew how to deal with it.
"Also, isn't this your hometown as well?" Liam asked.
Simyon shook his head. "The three of us met at the same orphanage which was located
close to this town but not really a part of it," Simyon explained. "I was from another village
that was destroyed due to a portal break, and I lost everything. So the town itself, I have no
attachment to, and I've somewhat dealt with my demons. I'm just not sure Safa has done."
There was a lot of regret with Simyon originally—his sister sacrificing herself for him, him
not being strong enough to do anything, and wanting to be as strong as the Pagna warrior
that saved his life.
Because of this, he had become a shield, a strong shield, and he couldn't let the past hold
him back but have it try to push him forward.
While walking around, they had gone down an alleyway, away from the marketplace. There
were still people selling items but it was with a rag on the floor, handing out vegetables or
trinkets for coin.
As they walked, a few times Safa had even given them coin, without asking for anything in
return, and the two boys didn't say anything.
Until they had eventually stopped. Safa stared at a wooden house that connected to a row
of other houses. It was slightly slanted on its side.
"Is this your old home?" Simyon eventually asked.
Safa nodded and continued to look at the door, until it creaked open. She saw a young child
inside wearing just a long shirt that covered their knees; it was filthy.
"Mum, there's a few strange people outside staring at our house!" the young boy shouted.
"Come on, let's go," Safa said, as they wandered off.
"Wait, don't you want to go inside and have a look around?" Simyon asked.
"What I'm wondering is if they aren't family members then how did they even get inside
the house," Liam added.
"It doesn't matter; most likely they learned of what had happened. I don't even know who
got the rights to the house after our parents passed away and we moved from that. I don't
think there are many that would want to live in a house of death anyway," Safa said. "If it
can at least provide some shelter for another family, then that's fine with me."
After visiting the house, Safa didn't say much, but they had grabbed some food to eat, and
then she said they should head to the nearby church, which came as a surprise to Simyon.
"Wait, don't you want to go anywhere first? Do you want to head to the clan, or to the
orphanage to see if everything is okay?" Simyon asked.
Safa shook her head. "That would just be distractions right now," Safa replied. "Right now I
want to focus on the task. We know the Red Brigade aren't involved this time—they
wouldn't be. Besides, the more time we spend, who knows how many more lives could be
lost."
With the three in agreement, they decided to head off. It had been a while, so Simyon was
looking forward to heading to the orphanage again; he thought maybe he could teach them
a few things he would have liked to have been taught back then.
However, as he thought about his hometown and Safa's place of origin, a deep thought did
enter his mind in all of this, and he had to ask.
"Liam...what clan are you even from? We've traveled quite a lot through the Dark Faction
and we haven't run into your hometown, have we? I mean, don't you want to go home or
anything?"
"Yeah, home, I guess I haven't gone home. I didn't even go home during the break, did I?
Well, my home is wherever I am, so there's no need for that. Besides, don't you think all of
this talking is going to slow us down? Come on!" Liam said, going slightly ahead of the other
two.
Now, it was Safa and Simyon that were turning to each other.
"Did he just completely avoid the question?" Simyon asked.
"He did. Come to think of it, we don't know much about Liam, do we?" Safa replied.
Liam was the most talented individual not from a big-name family. That was all they knew,
and through a series of coincidences he had ended up coming along with them and getting
the power of a system from another world.
Although Simyon found Liam incredibly annoying, he had been with them through it all, in
every situation always willing to fight. Yet they knew nothing about him, and for a moment
both of them felt bad.
However, the issue at hand that they were going through now was the bigger thing.
"If he needs to speak to us about it, he will, and when we can we'll help him as well. It's
because of him I might find out everything to do with my brother," Safa answered.
They had long exited the town, and now having reached just over the hill, they could see
the church in the distance.
Chapter 965: Getting To The Bottom Of It
Chapter 965: Getting To The Bottom Of It

Since the three could see the Church ahead, it was time for a slight change of plans. There
were a few church members that were outside, but since this wasn't located in the major
part of the village, there looked to be few members that were going in and out.
"We can do things a bit differently this time," Safa suggested. "We know the Rylon Religion
is up to no good. I doubt that it was a one-off considering the linked deaths here as well."
Using her god eyes, even from this distance she could see a vast amount of mana coming off
from the building.
"What we do know is they have to use those strange vials to use magic, so let's try to get
them before they can do that. But be careful-we know that the Lux spear I have was from
the religion as well, so there's a good chance that they could have other weapons like this
as well."
"Alright, but how are we going to sneak up and into the building then?" Liam asked.
Safa pulled out her spear and swung it in a circular motion.
"I can use light magic to cause a reflective effect. As long as we move slowly and are in the
sunlight, we will practically be invisible to them."
The spell had been cast, and Safa needed to keep a constant flow of magic to use the spell. It
wasn't too much of a problem for her though, since her special circumstances allowed her
to essentially meditate and draw in constant mana and Qi as she moved.
The amount of mana she would take up using the spell and regain was essentially the same,
so it was perfect for them.
"Wow, this is amazing!" Liam whispered. "We're practically walking right by them, and they
can't see us at all. Right now I just want to kick them in the balls or something."
"Will you shut up!" Simyon whispered aggressively. "Although they can't see us, they can
still hear us."
Thankfully, the group weren't talking or close enough for the people to hear them, and they
eventually made it until they were around the right back side corner of the large church-
like building.
Standing in the shadow of the building, the spell would no longer work.
"Alright, let's climb this and enter from above. We should be able to stay hidden...and let's
take them out silently, but we need to make sure to keep one of them alive-we need
answers." Safa wanted to correct her own words; it wasn't **we**, it was **her**.
She wasn't doing this to be some hero of justice saving people from the Rylon Religion.
Otherwise, they would have traveled to several other churches in the other Dark Faction
cities. Maybe Safa could have informed Rayna to do the same to them as they had done to
the churches. She was doing this because she needed to find out the truth and she felt like
she was so close.
As powerful Pagna warriors, climbing the jagged-shaped church was relatively easy. They
would only need a small point that was sticking out to lift their bodies up and ascend the
side of the church.
When they had reached the very top, there was a balcony of sorts linked to the outside,
along with a door. Liam walked forward and broke it with ease, and in a way that made
practically no noise.
As they moved into the building, they now could see everything from above. They could see
the familiar large reception hall, but it was several feet down to the bottom.
All three of them kept hunched up and decided to split up. While Simyon and Liam walked
around the edge of the balcony observing the situation, Safa took a different tact; she
waited for the right time when no one was looking and dropped down onto the ground.
She saw one of the orange-robed men walking down the hallway, and she had decided to
keep up with him.
She continued to follow the man going to who knows what.
Seeing this, Liam quickly hurried to where Simyon was making a complete circuit of the
balcony that went around the main area of the room.
"Hey, she's gone off on her own. I thought we would try and take out everyone in this room
first," Liam whispered. "Should we follow her, see if everything's alright?"
"Let's just wait and see. If she isn't caught or there's no trouble, then we will continue and
take on the others as well," Simyon said.
It was a strange feeling, attacking people from the shadows rather than head-on. It wasn't
what they were used to, but they understood why it was necessary in this situation.
It was at the same time, though, that just outside of the Church, two individuals were
walking up and appearing.
"So this is the place, kid?" Anna asked.
"That's right, they took Charlotte. She has to be in there-all of them...they all used these
strange powers to attack us, you have to help her," Sunder said.
There was one reason why Sunder went on to trust this stranger he had met. When Anna
had asked him about the missing girl that she knew, she had said **orange hair**.
Sunder had seen Charlotte with her orange hair rather than black. He imagined it was
something that few people knew. At first, he was reluctant due to the people that were after
Charlotte-she seemed to be on the run of sorts.
In the end though, she was already captured, so why not at least give it a chance.
Back inside the Church itself, Safa had continued to follow one of the orange-robed men
who took a turn and went inside his room. He had gone to close the door by just pushing it
behind him, but Safa had grabbed it before it shut.
Not hearing the familiar bang, the man had turned around and saw Safa. She lunged
forward at that point and was ready to stab him with her spear.
"Safa..." the man said, frightened and startled, moving back.
Safa quickly closed the door behind her and continued to move.
"How...how do you know my name?" Safa asked.
"Of course I know your name," the man said. "Your brother...Raze, right? He would talk
about you all the time."
Chapter 966: Everyone Colides
Chapter 966: Everyone Colides

Inside the main church hall, both Simyon and Liam were observing the situation. They were
counting how many members there were and waiting for the perfect chance to take them
out. It was Liam who was doing the calculations in his head as he sorted through
everything he could see.
"It looks like there's no perfect option either way," Liam stated. "Due to the amount of them
there are, and the angles, if we take out two of them at the same time, someone will spot us.
So we're just going to have to go with it."
"Or we could be a little patient and wait. It seems like Safa hasn't acted yet, and who knows
if these religion members are going to leave the room or not."
They waited for the perfect chance. There were around eight members dressed in the
colorful clothing. The good thing was there didn't appear to be any worshippers or
ordinary citizens inside the building at the moment.
But they all wouldn't stay in one place for long, Simyon was sure of it. Regardless, though, it
wouldn't matter. A loud slam was heard, and the doors from down below were swung
open.
Due to the position both Liam and Simyon were in, they would be seen by anyone who
entered, so they quickly moved together from above to the side closer to where the door
opened.
"This church seems to have a problem on its hands, and because of it now I've gotten
involved," a woman's voice was heard. "You might have gotten away with things for a long
time, but you just happened to capture the wrong person this time!"
All of those in the room had turned around, and Simyon and Liam wondered who was mad
enough to just wander in like they had done.
"Wait, that's Sunder!" one of the men said. "He escaped and he's come back with some type
of help. Everyone, ready yourselves!"
Immediately, many of them had grabbed the vials inside their robes and gulped down the
liquid, while some had even pulled out small glowing daggers that were glowing with
energy. Anna, seeing this, went to charge ahead towards one, and that's when one of the
Rylon religion members threw out both of his hands and a beam of white energy hit Anna
right on her body. She could block the hit with her body and some of her own red beam of
energy coming from her hands. But she felt her body soon being attacked in several
different other areas as well.
'I expected some of them to have magic, but I didn't expect it to be like this!'
It wasn't so much that the magic attacks were hurting her but they were annoying; every
time she attempted to move she would be hit, and she couldn't move too easily due to the
particular boy who had come in with her.
"I... I can help as well," Sunder said as he pulled a dagger and started to charge to the side.
He had run behind a pillar, making it hard for them to attack him. Then when he was ready
he charged forward at one of the men in orange robes.
Sunder went to strike, but before he could reach the man, with one hand holding the
dagger, it started to light up and shine brightly until it had completely blinded Sunder and
he had no idea what he was running into.
"We've been prepared for an attack for a long time, you thought we wouldn't be ready!" the
man said as he faced one palm of his hand right toward Sunder, ready to light him up.
Anna was still far too busy with her own situation, that she wouldn't be able to reach the
kid in time. She felt bad, but there was nothing she could do. With him gone as well, she
thought she could actually get rid of these guys.
The beam of energy was shot out towards Sunder, and as he was gaining his eyesight back
he saw it coming towards him, until a flash of blue light and the hairs on his body stood up.
His view was blocked by the blue image in front of him and so was the attack.
"Don't worry, you can stay behind me and you'll be okay!" a voice said.
Right after, Simyon had grabbed part of the wall to the side, and pulled it out and hurled it
right toward the warrior. The warrior attacked part of the wall, disintegrating it to bits, but
he could no longer see the intruder, because Simyon was right behind him.
With an attack right to the back of his neck, the man had passed out falling straight to the
ground. At the same time, Anna suddenly was feeling she had a lot less pressure on her, as
attacks were dwindling one by one.
She could hear loud groans and when she saw what happened, she could see several
swords had been thrown and were now lodged into the enemies' backs. Eventually
dropping down onto the stage was a person she recognized.
"Liam... and Simyon, what are you two doing here?" Anna asked.
"We actually wanted to ask you the same thing," Simyon said. "It's good you came though,
that was a lot easier than we thought because you two were such a big distraction for them.
We worried that would actually be hard work."
The two had eventually gotten into the center, and as they moved Liam pointed toward the
dead bodies and raised his eyebrows. Simyon knew what he was getting at; Liam had once
again taken out more than him.
"Man, how can he even compare like that? In the first place I'm a defense person not an
offense person," Simyon sulked.
"About your question... we're looking into matters with Safa, which is why we're here,"
Simyon answered.
"Oh... I'm on the trail, looking for Charlotte," Anna replied. "That's why I've been away. It's
quite a coincidence we've both ended up here in the same place. The world is truly small.
But I have to ask, if Safa is with you, where is she?"
Both Liam and Simyon had a worried look on their faces; Safa had been gone for a while
now, and they had no clue what was going on.
Chapter 967: Her Borther's Dark Secret
Chapter 967: Her Borther's Dark Secret

Inside the Rylon church, down the hallway in one of the secluded rooms where the core
members could have time to themselves for changing or praying as well as other activities,
Safa had entered the room following a single member.
She didn't quite trust that Simyon or Liam would be able to keep someone alive for
questioning, so she decided to take it into her own hands and saw the perfect opportunity.
When she had been caught stopping the door from closing, she never expected to hear
words come out from the Rygon religion member's mouth.
"Safa!" the man said, startled, a bead of sweat dripping down his face as his eyes stared at
the spear in her hand.
Using her foot, she reached out and closed the door before asking her own question.
"How... how do you know that name, how do you know my name?" Safa said, making sure
the tip of the spear was pointed at the Rylon religion member. She was well aware of what
they were capable of, so she wanted to have his hands up where she could see them.
"Of course I know you," the man said with a smile, and gulped down his saliva to the point
his Adam's apple was quite prominent when sticking out. "I know you because of your
brother; he would often talk about you."
"You look just as he said you did—a silent beauty with long black silky hair. The two of you
also have a similar resemblance."
If it was any other person, or any other time, Safa might have let her guard down and
dropped her spear slightly, but she knew fully what these people did, what they were
capable of doing.
She then decided that it wasn't time to be playing games and shoved the spear right
through the man's shoulder.
"Ahh!" the man screamed.
"Shut up, or the next one goes through your head!" Safa claimed, which made the man
instantly shut up.
"I know you Rylon religion members, what you do, and the strange magic you use. Why do
you think I'm even here in the first place," Safa said. "Right now, I want to know, how do
you know my brother, how were the two of you close."
"If you don't tell me, I will make your death as painful as possible." At that moment, the tip
of the spear lit up, and the wound was seen healing on his shoulder. The skin scabbing over
and from the naked eye real progress was made.
Yet, Safa turned the spear and dug it in deeper, causing the same pain to vibrate through his
body again. Healing him, and doing the same damage over and over.
"Alright, alright!" the man said. "But you have to promise to let me go if I tell you anything."
Safa was ready to turn the spear once again at that answer, until the man started to speak.
"The Rylon religion picked him up and brought him from the streets," the man explained.
"Raze said he was a runaway from his family, so we decided to look after him and in turn
we got close to each other-that's how I know about him."
Safa then twisted the spear and shoved it through; now the point could be seen on the
other side of his body.
"Why were our parents killed, what is all of this that he was involved in!" Safa asked.
"After bringing in your brother, he became part of our religion, part of our goal, and
became a dedicated member to serve our sun god."
The answer wasn't satisfying to Safa; she wasn't sure if this was what she wanted to hear,
but she needed to, and wanted him to go on.
"The goal of the Rylon religion is to harvest energy from the realm above-the Divine realm.
Through rituals and incantations along with sacrifices, we summon Divine warriors into
bodies down below into a host."
"When a host is forced from the realm above they are usually weak but their energy is
strong. We then harvest the energy from the host and pass it on to our sun god."
It looked like Safa was ready to turn the spear again, and the man could tell she was getting
impatient.
"Your brother, he agreed to become a host in the end, he agreed to use your family as
sacrifices, but I don't know what happened, whether he got cold feet or changed his mind,
because you are still alive."
"The ritual, it must have ended with failure with everything that happened."
Safa thought about it; the attachment that was currently on Raze, was that a Divine being?
Was that something that came from the realm above that attached to her brother's body?
Was The then going to go back to the church?
Or was it that the ritual had failed, and in turn rather than a Divine being taking over her
brother's body, instead, the current Raze from Alterian had done so?
With it all though, she couldn't imagine it, her older brother doing that?
"You tricked him, you tricked him into doing it, you sick people!" Safa shouted.
"No, we didn't trick him!" the man pleaded. "We informed him of what needed to be done,
we informed him of it all. He agreed to help us if we completed his request; for just a month
he wanted to live a life of luxury."
"A life where he could eat what he wished and not go hungry, a life where he could buy any
items on the streets that he wanted, and not worry about where the next coin would come
from."
"We provided it for him, and he decided to be fully committed to the goal of our religion as
a host!"
"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Safa said as she pulled her spear out and then shoved it right
through the man's head, killing him on the spot.
Was this the truth she sought? That her brother had given up her family's lives, and
everyone else just for that? Was that all their lives were worth to her brother, who she saw
in a good
light?
'Why Raze... why am I the only one left alive?'
The sound of the door creaking was heard, and Anna, along with the others, had entered
from behind. They saw Safa turning her head to look at them with tears falling down her
eyes.
Chapter 968: Pure Panic
Chapter 968: Pure Panic

In the underground cellar, Carl was making a few last touch-ups to his preparations.
Charlotte was still tied up to a chair with the magic circle beneath her, and then there were
the two other so-called volunteers that were placed in their own magic circles as well.
He carried several large glass jars and placed them just behind where Charlotte was sitting.
"This bit will hurt slightly," Carl said with a smile as a needle was placed into the top of
Charlotte's hand and then some sticky substance on top of it. Oddly, the flow of blood didn't
come down the tube that was currently inserted into Charlotte and into the containers.
The same was then done with her other hand. Not too far off to the side, Charlotte had also
noticed other containers with strong glowing magical energy.
'These aren't regular containers, have they been enchanted with a spell, or some type of
magic to keep the energy in, and that energy doesn't feel normal either; it's the same stuff
they used in the small vials, but it looks like several litres of the stuff are inside.'
Looking around, Charlotte couldn't find what she was looking for. Judging by what Carl had
said earlier, she gathered that the energy had to be transported elsewhere but how. Was it
through another magic circle, a portal elsewhere, or were they to be physically
transported? 'I don't know why I'm trying to figure out what's going on here, when I have a
bigger problem. How am I going to get out of this situation myself!' Charlotte thought.
Carl, after setting all the preparations, then stood there for a few moments; he looked at
Charlotte and was tapping his foot.
"What is taking them so long?" Carl said out loud. "All they need is two more people. Is it
such a hard thing to do? If they are slacking, then I will just use one of them myself."
It was quite clear judging by the dynamic she had heard them speak of since her captivity,
Carl was somewhat of a higher-ranking member.
Charlotte then witnessed Carl walking off, and heading into the darkness and eventually
the sound of him ascending the staircase.
'Come on! Come on, I have to do something right!' Charlotte thought. She moved her fingers
slightly and was able to cast a small amount of wind magic, but it did nothing to break the
glass jars away from her.
In the room, there was nothing else, apart from the bodies of others as well.
'Is it just because I'm me, that this has happened, being cast into this world alone! Why was
I sent to Pagna! I can't deal with this like Himmy can, I just can't, I can't!' She wanted to cry,
and in the end she felt like she needed to give up, it was the only thing she could do.
Carl reluctantly dragged his feet as he walked up the stairs; he did so ready to give a
mouthful to all of the members. They were one of the top-performing churches, and they
needed to keep it that way.
When he reached the top of the stairs and looked down the hallway, he felt like something
was up. He tilted his head and tried to look straight ahead, and that's when he could see
something in the main hall.
A head was lying on the marble flooring, blood spilling from the person's mouth.
'A member has been killed, what is going on!' Carl went to rush forward, but after taking
one step, a realization had come. It was silent, it was deadly silent. Someone else should
have noticed something was going on, which made him come to the realization that maybe
everyone had been killed.
Looking closer, Carl had noticed something else on the floor-a broken vial-and it was
completely empty.
'They had consumed the substances and still this is the result. This is bad, this is bad, what
can I do... what can I do.'
Turning around, Carl felt like there was only one thing he could do. He turned and decided
to run right back down the stairs where he had come from.
"Hey, there's one more!" Liam called out, as he looked back into the room with the others.
"I'll go get him."
Carl had quickly descended down the stairs, and when he entered the cellar, he pulled out a
dagger. He wasted no time, as he then used it to slit one person's throat. They collapsed on
the floor, and blood filled the formation on the ground.
Moving to the next person, he had done the same.
Charlotte started to panic seeing this; her heart was beating at an incredibly fast speed. She
wondered if the dagger was going to be used to slit her throat next.
Instead though, she saw that Carl had headed straight for the jar of energy. He lifted it up
and turned around.
"I said stop!" Liam shouted as he threw his sword.
The others following him had entered right after seeing Liam's sword in the air.
The sword continued forward until it had pierced the jar. The substance inside spilled all
over Carl, while part of the sword also went into Carl's body. The substance fell all over,
and then dropped to the ground.
"Wait, we were meant to keep him alive," Simyon said. "What are you doing?"
"Don't worry, I made sure not to pierce him that deep and missed his vitals. These guys are
a piece of cake to deal with."
However, a strange sound and energy was being felt from everyone, and Safa could see it-
the energy was spreading through the room from the jar.
The strange substance then leaked into the magical formation on the ground, started to
light up, and it continued until it had completely surrounded where Charlotte was.
When she looked up, Charlotte's eyes had met with Anna's, someone she knew, but the fact
that the formation was lit up, there was pure panic running through her instead.
Chapter 969: A Costly Mistake
Chapter 969: A Costly Mistake

Liam was enjoying the little friendly competition that he was having with Simyon in his
head. He had a tally of how many more members of the Rygon Religion he had taken out
over his partner. In his mind, it made him a stand-out figure, and he would stand out in
Safa's eyes.
So when he saw another man wearing orange, he thought it was his time to shine and
rushed off after him. He had become incredibly skilled at duplicating and throwing his
swords, taking out his opponents, and he had done the same rushing off after Carl.
Liam was so focused that he didn't even have a chance to look at the condition of the cellar
or what was in it, and had just thrown the sword out.
'Even though this attack won't kill him, I'll still count it as an accomplishment over Simyon!'
Looking deep down, maybe it was the fact that Simyon had done a better job when it came
to taking on Sha Mo.
How he had used his body to protect everyone, where his attacks were useless, whereas
right now they were working. There was still a smile on his face as he saw the sword pierce
through the strange jar and stab Carl in his stomach.
"What is going on in this place?" Simyon asked.
The main thing he noticed weren't just the dead bodies and foul stench, but how fresh two
of the bodies were that were in the room, blood was still dripping out of their bodies.
"Charlotte!" Anna called out, as she had finally found her target as well.
Yet it almost felt like it was too late. The strange magical energy that was kept in the jar had
spilled onto the ground and touching the magical formation it had activated it.
"ANNA!" Charlotte wanted to scream, but her voice came out weak. How was she meant to
tell Anna to stop the formation?
Regardless it didn't matter, Anna was already charging forward.
'I don't know what's happening but it's not good. I wasn't there to help when Himmy
needed me. I have regrets that I didn't spend more time with him when I should have. I
have so many regrets that I was too focused on my task. When I lost him it was only then
that I realized what I lost.
'I was never really close to Charlotte, but if Himmy asked me to save her, I'm worried that I
might have that regret again, when she's right in front of me.
Due to her work with Alter, Anna had come across a few magic formations before. Although
activated, it didn't seem to be working straight away, and afraid she would get caught up in
the spell, instead she positioned her hand opening up her palm.
A red beam was starting to gather and she fired out toward the floor. She was just going to
destroy the formation itself.
Before the red beam hit the floor, a strange glowing white orangish energy had come out
and hit the beam instead. It was the same attack that she had experienced before above
ground, only this one was far stronger.
The moment it met with the red beam of energy it had consumed it completely and pushed
back. It then hit Anna's hand and caused it to be flung back with a large burning sensation
going through her body.
Before she knew it, she was lifted off her feet as another beam hit her in stomach and she
landed on the ground now staring at the ceiling.
The others looked ahead and could see where the attack had come from. It was from the
individual who Liam had attacked.
"He seems a lot stronger than the other ones." Simyon gulped, placing his hand on his beads
ready to transform his body.
For the Rygon religion member known as Carl looked incredibly different. There was a
glow that was surrounding his entire body, the wound that had been made on his stomach
had completely disappeared.
Yet the energy was flowing from all over to the point where the pupils in Carl's eyes could
no longer be seen, they were completely white and filled with energy.
When Safa used her god eyes, it was blinding in the cellar; the energy was rampant all over
the
room.
"So this is it," Carl said looking at his hand. "This is the energy that we pass on to the sun
god. For how long have we passed on this power to him, with us only dipping into this
nectar now and again.
"If that container contains this much power, then our god must truly be the strongest
individual in existence, we have served him well," Carl said with a smile.
"It's the same stuff that was in those small vials, but it seems the container of the stuff has
taken over his body completely. He has an immense amount of power," Safa explained. Carl
then looked at the formation that Charlotte was in, and he scorned slightly.
'It's running quite slow. Is it because of the lack of sacrifices, is it not enough to call
someone? But this time we have a mage, so there is a good chance that more of the person's
power can be drawn down.
'I'll need to get rid of them all.'
Liam was ready with his blades, and Simyon had already activated his lighting body. Safa
had drawn out her spear, hoping she could draw some of the energy out of Carl, but it was a
long shot due to the large amount of energy, and finally, Anna had gotten back up off the
ground, looking at the frightened Charlotte who could feel the formation doing something,
incomplete but the fear of a ticking time bomb going off at any moment was causing her to
panic.
They all lunged toward Carl but with a smile on his face he had pulled out a silver orb in his
hand. It lit up, and exploded.
A bright flash filled everyone's eyes but when it hit them they felt no pain. When the flash
disappeared though something very odd had occurred.
Simyon's lighting body was no longer working. Safa couldn't feel the energy going through
her spear, and for Liam and Anna both of them had received the same messages from their
system.
[Error, Error, System is unavailable.]
"What just happened?" Simyon asked.
"I think... we might have just lost our powers," Liam answered.
Chapter 970: Losing all Power
Chapter 970: Losing all Power

With Safa's god eyes, there were a few things that she was able to see: the large flow of
mana in the room, the flow of mana around certain individuals and devices, and in
particular, what type of mana was being used.
All of the vials that the religious members were taking, including the energy and powers
they were using to attack them-all of it was light magic. It was why her Lux sword was
acting up as she entered certain places and why she was able to even counter and control
other magics that were being used her way.
The round sphere-like device in Carl's hand, she also knew that it was a device that was
powered by powerful light magic. Knowing a few light spells herself, she had assumed that
the flash of light was to blind one's opponents and then give them the chance to attack.
All of them had been blinded by the magic that had come out of the spear. It had a wide
range of use, and they felt no pain. This was the case with many light magic spells, as there
weren't too many that could be used as an attack.
Even the beams of energy that the Rylon religion members were using were more like pure
forms of mana to attack rather than light magic spells.
So then Safa was wondering why, currently she was struggling to gather her mana. She
could see it flowing around her, but it was almost as if she couldn't use her mana core to
control it.
With her mana not working, she next tried to summon her Qi as well, yet this was doing
nothing as well.
She opened her mouth, ready to call out to the others to inform them that something was
wrong with her, when Liam spoke instead.
"I think... we can't use our powers," Liam stated.
"What do you mean we can't use our powers!" Simyon called out, and when he turned his
head, Carl had dashed toward him.
Carl himself didn't look to be using the magic energy, but his body was still glowing with
power. The way he moved was much more like that of a Pagna warrior. He had burst over
and with a fist punched Simyon in the stomach as hard as he could.
"ARGHHH!" A scream came out of Carl's mouth. "How is your body so hard... I took away
your Qi!"
Simyon could feel it; he no longer had Qi in his body that he could use to power himself. His
lightning body and his forms of magic were gone, but his body was reliant on the item he
wore. Although he could use Qi to strengthen his body.
Simyon's body was completely refined anew and was more like that of a weapon. So even
with strange things happening, his body was incredibly hard even to a warrior's fist. Out of
everyone, Carl had chosen the worst opponent.
With Carl in front of him, Simyon threw his fist down, but it completely missed as Carl
moved out of the way.
'My fists are so slow without Qi... I'm just using my regular body strength!'
Liam had come and tried to attack from the side, even throwing out his weapon, but Carl
shot out a beam of energy from his hands, hitting the duplicated weapon away, then hitting
Liam in the stomach and sending him away.
Safa and Anna, using this opportunity and not worrying what was going on with their
bodies, had decided to pincer in Carl, attacking him from both sides.
'Even though I don't have the system to help me out at the moment, I can guess what Safa is
doing from all my experience of fighting!'
The fist and spear were thrown toward Carl, but with both of his hands, he had hit the
spear or the sword away, and knocked the fist of Anna away. It had knocked their bodies
slightly off balance. Now Carl's hand was beaming with energy again, and it burst, hitting
both of them. Anna was flung back just like Liam, and the sensation and power was hurting
her body a lot more as well. She eventually crashed into the wall, her body feeling sore.
'I can tell the nanobots in my body are still working. I don't have the body of a natural
human, but something is definitely up with them. That shouldn't have hurt as much as it
did. Will things be back to normal, and how much longer until they are?'
However, there was one person who hadn't been hit back as far as he would have liked;
instead, he was right next to her, swinging the spear again. She swung it, hitting the back of
Carl. His body jolted slightly but it didn't hurt much.
Before Safa could pull it back and thrust the tip, Carl then held onto the spear itself.
"I see you weren't affected by the hit from before; was it because of this spear? I feel like I
recognize it," Carl said, with a large smile.
With the great strength in his hand, Carl knew he could still use Qi, while the girl, although
having survived the hit, she would be in no way able to help but forcefully allow for the
spear to be taken.
"Don't let go of that spear, Safa!" Liam shouted and launched himself, grabbing onto part of
the body of the weapon. Liam started to pull, as well as Safa, but Carl was still too strong.
Carl was ready to yank the weapon when another pair of hands had landed on the weapon;
these were firm.
"I'm here as well... if he gets this, along with that strange orb he has, who knows what he'll
be able to do!"
All three of them were pulling as hard as they could but despite that, with no Qi in their
bodies, it was a losing battle for them. Carl yanked the spear, causing the three to topple
over each other, and when they looked up they could see that Carl now had the Lux spear in
his hands.
And Safa could see the energy shining from his body into the weapon.
Chapter 971: The Strength Of Light Magic
Chapter 971: The Strength Of Light Magic

Light magic energy worked perfectly with the Lux spear, and it was an item that was
originally from the Rygon religion to begin with. Safa's god eyes were showing her the
constant glow of energy surrounding Carl and into the weapon, and she wasn't sure what
they could do at this point.
"Don't worry," Simyon said. "We're going to get your weapon back."
Safa looked around; she could see Liam was standing ready to go again, and then there was
Anna-all of them were ready to go ahead.
"There's only one real way we can get him," Anna said. "And get to Charlotte."
With a smile on his face, Carl lifted the orb in his hand, and the magic started to cause the
ball to light up. It covered the whole area, and instead of staring brightly into the light they
had all closed their eyes this time.
Regardless, they could all feel a strange tingling sensation, as if something had been taken
from their body. When opening them they could see clearly, but there was no difference
from before. Nothing else had been taken.
"I imagine that it's on some sort of timer, so he has to keep using it to take our powers
away, but it's not going to matter!" Simyon shouted as he moved in front, and saw a beam
of energy being fired from Carl's hands.
Simyon tensed his entire body, blocking the hit, and tried to push forward. He continued to,
until they had reached a certain distance and Carl had opted to use the spear instead. Magic
swirled in the air and surrounded the entire spear, spinning.
Safa, seeing this, was amazed; she had never thought to use the light magic in this way, to
make it a more destructive force of nature, but she didn't have time to be in awe for long as
she dashed to the side.
She came right from behind Simyon, using his strong body to block the attack. The man
seeing this moved his palm and started to fire away as she leapt in the air avoiding the hit,
and even diving down onto the ground so the energy had hit one of the bodies instead.
Her face and clothes were covered in blood from the ground, but it didn't matter to her;
they needed to take down this person to get rid of this target.
For a moment, while Carl's focus was distracted not caring for her own hands, Anna had
grabbed onto the spear itself. The swirling magic was twisting and tearing off parts of her
skin, while the nanobots in her body were doing their best to repair its body in time.
'It was quite easy to notice although this person holds a lot of power they're not used to
fighting. That's probably what happens when someone just becomes a member of the
church for a long time and does nothing but fighting and captures their targets instead,
anyway it's all up to you now!' Anna thought.
Liam had prepared himself and threw several of his swords as hard as he could, even
without Qi he had added strength from his own unique body substance. As the swords
came out of his hands they hit the foot of Carl, stabbing right through them.
Liam continued again and again, and eventually had reached Carl's body, and swung his
swords slashing at him left and right. The cuts weren't deep, as Liam could feel some type
of invisible force dragging his swords, weakening them before they hit Carl, but it didn't
matter; he needed to continue swinging them and that he did.
Swing after swing, cut after cut, Carl's body was becoming bloody, but as quickly as it was
becoming bloody, the cuts were healing. There were next to no cuts on his wounds, and
when Carl had even realized this, he had just let out a fit of laughter.
"Haha, you can't hurt me, you can't!" Carl claimed. "With both of these items in my hands I
am invincible, there isn't a single person that can stop me!"
Right after making that claim, something strange happened where Charlotte was. The
magic formation that was on the ground beneath her, it started to light up brightly and
consumed all of her body.
Charlotte felt a large pain from her head, that forced her head to be lifted into the air.
Deafening screams rang out through the room. The screams so loud that everyone was just
looking at Charlotte wondering what was going to happen.
'The energy I feel now, it's different, this isn't Light magic? Is it Qi? No, it almost feels like
it's something else.'
Carl knew what was up, he had seen it multiple times before; he was a little worried at first
that it didn't work because there weren't enough sacrifices, but he had a feeling that the
power of a mage would be able to suck one of those in, one of those greedy people from
above.
Little did they know that it was all a trap.
"This is perfect, this is perfect!" Carl said. "And with all of you, maybe I can all use you as
hosts as well. Our Sun God will be the strongest being there is. And I will be right there
under him."
"Why does this guy care about someone else?" Liam asked.
As Anna had long let go of the spear and had backed up, a little frightened at what was
about to happen.
"These people, they have lost all reason a long time ago, there's no worrying about that, we
just have to put a stop to him."
Anna was deeply concerned about Charlotte, but at this rate all of them would lose their
lives. When she turned her head to look at Charlotte she was surprised to see that someone
else was standing there as well though.
"Safa... what is she doing?" Anna thought.
Safa, in all of the focus, in all of the distraction had crawled through the ground and had
reached Charlotte.
"With this energy, there's a chance... I think, I might be able to control it!" Safa claimed as
she stepped into the magic circle formation, and a tingling sensation was felt through her
entire
body.
Chapter 972 The Smartist Girl
Chapter 972 The Smartist Girl

During the fight against Carl, there was a particular thought that was constantly going
through Safa's head—the word 'useless' was being repeated over and over. She didn't want
to be useless. In the fight against Sha Mo, she had practically ended up dead.
Thanks to the Lux Sword, she had received a second chance at life, but that chance wasn't
going to come again. With the way she was, she needed to become stronger in order to help
Raze.
She had learned Light Magic, studied everything she could about it, and would use that to at
least support Raze and the team by healing them, but now that she was no longer able to
use Light Magic, was she the most useless in the group?
It was the wondering thought that continued in her mind again and again. She had been
called talented by her spear teacher, she had been called talented by Amir for being able to
cultivate Qi constantly, but without all of that she knew she was useless.
Right now, Simyon, Liam, and Anna were picking up the slack. They were the only ones able
to do anything, and it wasn't right. Not only that, because Safa had let go of the Lux Sword,
now their opponent was even stronger.
Although she had promised herself never to be put in the same situation against Sha Mo,
she felt like it was worse if all of the others perished.
So she didn't care if she was covered in blood, didn't care if she needed to use the carcasses
of the bodies to avoid getting hurt, and didn't care what she had to bite through or bear the
pain—she was going to help.
It was just an idea she had in her head, a simple thought and a gamble, but she decided to
go around and step right into the magic circle.
From what she knew, interrupting a magic circle was quite deadly in a few ways. For one, it
could interrupt the spell completely, causing it to blast energy to the outside and hurting all
those in and out of the circle.
However, various other things could occur depending on what type of magic circle it was.
Seeing with her god eyes that she was still able to use, that it was a type of Light Magic,
even though she had no mana she could control, she thought she would be able to flow
through it.
She stepped into the circle at that moment to help Charlotte, and maybe then they could get
away, but when stepping into the circle, something else happened instead. Safa couldn't
control the magic at all, at least not yet.
Instead, Safa could feel it as she dropped to her knees right in the circle. She grunted as she
turned her head to look behind her.
"Safa!" Simyon shouted, and charged forward, but Carl's body looked to have disintegrated
into nothing but energy. As he moved, a constant flow of orange energy was left behind in
his path. He appeared right in front of Simyon and shoved the spear deep into his chest.
Simyon grunted as he held onto the spear, pushing it with his body. The tip had pierced his
skin but he was still holding on strong.
"SAFA!" Simyon shouted out again.
"Safa, Safa, Safa, are you in love with her or something?" Carl said as the winding magic
covered his spear again and spiraled around the entire weapon until it reached the tip. It
then forcefully pushed, exploding and ripping a large part of Simyon's skin off from his
chest and chucking him into the air.
Liam tried to move out of the way but was knocked by Simyon and the two had practically
landed on top of each other.
"That fool," Carl claimed. "Does she not know anything about that circle? She has just
decided to become a willing sacrifice instead!"
This was part of Safa's worry as well—that depending on the magic formation drawn on
the ground, her entering would mean she was a part of whatever was going on right now.
She could feel it; strangely, energy was drawing out of her, but this new energy she could
feel, that wasn't magic or Qi, was coming from somewhere.
'Focus Safa, focus, this isn't why you came here.' Lifting her hands up, she tapped the side of
her head, and activated the god eyes. When she looked, she could see the links in the room
—the flowing of different energies from all over.
The energy from the sacrifices—red lines that connected to the magic formation. From
there, the energy from Charlotte, and the threads that were connecting to above, and all of
it—the Light Magic that was being used.
"Come on, I thought you were going to save your friend!" Carl laughed. He wasn't even
charging forward trying to hurt the others, or Anna that was still very much standing.
Instead, he was just laughing.
At the end of the day, all he needed to do was wait until the ritual was complete, and with
two individuals he thought they could gather more energy than ever.
"You laugh and laugh, and although I don't have my system anymore I can tell you one
thing," Anna said. "That girl is the smartest girl that I've ever met, and if she went in there,
then she would have done so with a plan!"
Safa moved her hands in the air, grabbing threads of energy, and appearing in one of her
hands was a small stone statue. A very particular special statue which was now
permanently hers and a gift from Raze.
'I didn't want to rely on the statue, as we have to solve the problem ourselves. We have to
get stronger, rather than relying on Stoney all the time, but in important situations we have
to use him!' Safa thought to herself.
The issue was, with the strange item that Carl had originally used, it had stopped her magic
from working. With it she was unable to activate Stoney that needed magic in the first place
to work.
In the dire situation she looked for the one area where magic source was still powerful, so
as long as she could use the Light Magic in the formation, she could activate Stoney.
"Help us, Stoney!" Safa called, and the magic inserted into the statue.
It immediately started to grow in size, taking on its full form, and the mass amount of Qi
energy could be felt. Carl was quite surprised as he could feel the energy coming off from
the statue. If he was to go head to head with it, he wasn't sure that he could survive.
"Take him out!" Safa called.
Stoney immediately stepped out of the magic circle formation, and charged forward toward
Carl. Afraid for his life, there was only one thing he could do. The metallic orb in his hand—
he activated its powers, and with a flash, it filled the entire room.
The others were unprepared so this time they were blinded by the strong light. Slowly they
started to open their eyes, and all they could hear was the sound of laughter.
"Ha…ha…ha!" Carl laughed with his head in the air. "The Sun God has done it again. The
items we have obtained because of him is a blessing—look at its power, it can even stop
such things like this! There is nothing that can get in the way of those that support the Sun
God!"
The item that Carl used, just like before which had gotten rid of Safa's powers, of Liam's
and Anna's systems and Simyon's magic items, it had also gotten rid of the statue.
"Crap, crap, crap!" Simyon shouted. He knew Stoney's power was great, and with it he
would have been able to beat Carl, if it wasn't for the strange device that he had. If it wasn't
for that, then everything would have been just fine.
Now Simyon felt like Safa's sacrifice had gone to waste, and she somewhat thought the
same as she looked at Stoney.
'He won't be able to be used again…but it's not over yet, I need to think, I need to think!'
Safa thought.
Her god eyes were still activating and her head was pounding. With mana and energy being
taken from her body, it was affecting her severely, but with the energy maybe she could see
something, and soon she could.
When she looked above, there was something in the room only she could see—a mystical
power that was coming down from above, and looked to be heading toward the formation.
"What…are you?" Safa said looking at the energy.
The energy seemed to be trying to pull away, trying to move back up, but was being forced
down.
"You can see me," the mystical energy said, the voice resounding in her head and vibrating
through her body. "It seems like you can. I can see what is happening; this man is trying to
take my power…I can see the situation.
"If things continue like this, then I will not survive, and it looks like neither will the rest of
you. I suppose, if I am to finally die, after a long life, then I might as well take the one who
got rid of me as well…I shall help you, young woman…I shall give you this power of a Divine
one."
Chapter 973: A Transfer Of Power
Chapter 973: A Transfer Of Power

Unlocking what had happened with her brother, that was the reason why Safa had pushed
herself into this situation. Why she had gone further than originally intended. She had
somewhat learned the truth already from one of the Rylon Religion members, but she
couldn't quite believe it.
Raze, her brother, was part of the religious cult, and he had agreed to sacrifice their whole
family? What for—to summon a Divine being from above, and then take their power to be
delivered to another figure known as the Sun God.
Not only did the ritual sound ridiculous and unbelievable, but the reason for her brother
doing such actions sounded ridiculous as well. When trapped in the magic circle she
thought back again and again to those times.
How was her brother? Was he angry at their parents for never living a life of luxury, for
never having a single day with no food in his belly? The more she thought about it, the
more she remembered the times she saw resentment on his face.
Although he would always face Safa with a smile, there was something behind the smile.
The reason she was having all of these thoughts was because she knew with her god eyes
that the energy that she was looking at from above, that was making its way down towards
Charlotte, was the power of a Divine being.
'If this is true, then maybe everything my brother did... it was true as well. I hate to say it, I
hate to even think it, but taking the lives of our mother and father... maybe him
disappearing from this world was the right thing for him, and for him to be replaced by
Raze.' She hated that she thought this way and her heart ached when she did.
Yet she had to accept this reality as she looked up at the Divine being that was in the room,
which was a cloud of mist in her eyes, that was forming a shape of a person. No one else in
the room could see the person's presence.
'Just like what we had heard from Bargo and the others. A Divine being summoned from
sacrifice—it has happened again and might be what my brother originally tried to perform,
but with what the Divine being was saying before, is it trying to help us in this situation?
Should I try and accept it?'
The Divine being's form was being pulled closer to Charlotte; there was a clear resistance
from its part.
'If I enter this body, then my life will be taken away,' the strange voice said. 'Maybe most
would have no idea what this is, but I can read the formations that are present on the
ground; I know what is going to happen to me.'
With these thoughts in its mind, it didn't even let Safa have a choice. It started to lift its
hand and the strange energy started to swirl around the room. As it went past the others it
felt like gusts of wind hit their faces yet no part of their bodies would move, like if it were
wind.
'The energy—he's not gathering it around me... I thought he would be,' Safa realized.
When the energy swirled around the room, it condensed to a certain place, and it was the
rubble that was left on the floor-the small pieces of rubble from the statue's original size
before magic was embedded into it.
They rolled across the floor until they had reached the magical transformation, going past
Carl with no bother.
Carl had no idea what was going on, only believing that the ritual was a success and that
maybe he would be getting two Divine beings. The rubble continued to move until it leapt
up and touched Safa's body.
'This is a good powerful item. It was the power of many powerful beings, I can tell. With its
power added to yours, it should be able to allow you to face most in this world.'
The rubble started to form around Safa's skin; it grew in size until it covered her body
completely. She looked to be a statue frozen in place. Slowly though, the rubble started to
melt away—at least in appearance it did-instead it was being absorbed into her skin and
the power was being transferred inside of her.
The moment the absorption was complete, her dantian that held her Qi smashed to pieces,
and blood spewed out from her mouth. She hurled over, staring at the ground, more blood
dripping from her mouth.
"SAFA!" Simyon shouted. His body still hadn't healed and he ran straight past the others; it
was only a moment later that he had been hit by Carl and was knocked back through the air
in the direction he had come from.
Meanwhile, Safa could see that the large energy that was above had dissipated. A lot of
power had already disappeared from this individual, but she was now far more concerned
about her own condition that she was in.
'Your body was weaker than I thought. The power can't combine with you, as there is too
large of a difference between the two of you. At this rate you will end up dead. I only have
one thing that I can do myself. I have to heal you.
"I have already decided that I will try not to survive. I know there is a chance that all of us
will perish if I do. So instead, I wish for you to get punishment on my behalf!"
The energy started to come towards Safa instead of Charlotte and then willingly went in
her body. It was going right through her eyes, and every single open pore that was in her
body.
'I told you, don't resist and just accept my power. I won't take presence anywhere in your
body. I have decided to sacrifice myself. Save yourself, save your friends, and heed my
warning... never go to the Divine realm, avoid it at all costs.'
Chapter 974: A Divine Power
Chapter 974: A Divine Power

Inside the underground basement, Simyon, Liam, and Anna were unsure what was
happening, but judging by the creepy smile and the smug look on Carl's face, it wasn't good
news for them.
"He has so much power," Simyon said, holding onto his chest. "How are we going to take
him out without being able to use our own powers?"
"Right, and the guy can just keep healing because of his magic and the weapon," Liam
added.
Anna was beat as well, but could she give up? Would Harvey give up if he was here? Harvey
was practically a normal human being, but she never realized how much of a presence he
had. With his limited powers and relying on equipment, he was able to do so much.
"I have to... I have to try it!" Anna said as she charged forward.
"Do you think she has a plan? Should we follow her?" Simyon asked.
"I have no idea, I don't have the system currently!" Liam shouted.
"Useless," Simyon said as he followed after Anna. "You didn't have the system before, and
you were still one of the most skilled students. I'm starting to think that system is actually
holding you back."
All three charged forward, and Carl, seeing this, lifted his spear in the air. Instead of the
magic energy swirling around it like a spiral, now the whole thing was lighting up. The light
glow made it look twice the size compared to before.
Carl then swung it, and the energy came out as a large slash aiming to hit all of them. The
attack looked far larger than any of the others and even shook the room when it was
unleashed. Being hit by this wasn't going to be so easy for everyone to get up again.
They stopped in their tracks, ready to brace themselves, until a person landed right in front
of their eyes. They swung their hand down and crashed right through the energy. Usually, a
strike at only one point of such a large attack would only stop one area.
Instead, though, the attack had spread out, breaking all of the light magic, making it turn
into nothing but particles.
"Who was that... is it Raze?" Liam asked. "Did he somehow manage to find us and come at
the last moment like he always does? I mean, where even is that guy?"
"It's not Raze," Simyon answered.
Although the figure in front of them looked slightly bigger, with an arm that seemed to be
fortified by a strange type of stone, Simyon recognized the black hair dangling on the back.
There wasn't a doubt in his mind.
"That's Safa," Anna added. "I told you, she would have some type of plan."
Safa stood up, and the transformation covering her hand had come to an end. Standing
there looking ahead at Carl, her eyes were glowing just like his, but rather than having a
yellow tint, hers looked like pure white energy.
"So you managed to break out of the formation then?" Carl said. "But you seem different. I
guess I have an idea what happened. Are you one of the Divine beings? Have you taken over
her body? Usually, you guys aren't so strong like this, as the two of you fight for control
over one another, but it doesn't matter."
Carl pulled out the silver marble ball from his hand.
"That is precisely the reason why we have this in the first place to take your power away!"
The ball lit up and shined brightly, before flashing and blinding everyone once more. When
the flash faded, though, Safa was already charging right ahead toward Carl, and it was fast,
just like that of a warrior.
Carl, in a panic, then thrusted his spear, but it was quickly grabbed by Safa, who held it just
by the pointed end.
"But how? All of your Qi should be drained from your body, even if you're a Divine being!
How are you still able to move? What Divine being are you?"
"I'm not a Divine being," Safa answered. "But I do have one to thank in this situation."
Where Safa was standing not too long ago, there was rubble on the ground. Just as the item
was used, Safa had been able to cover herself in the stone statue. Now it was linked to her
body, and she was oddly able to call its power at will.
When the statue was covering her, she felt an immense strength-the power of all of the
abilities of the statue added to her own-and her own power had even increased because of
the Divine being.
However, she knew what was to come with the orb having been used several times. If the
statue's power was with her and increased her power when using it, then was it a separate
power? What if she covered her body?
She wasn't sure how it would fully work, and she didn't really have time for testing, but she
used it anyway, and this was the current result.
"Just because you are able to hold your hand on this spear again and are unaffected by my
items, you think you can best me? You have no idea about the power that we hold!" Out
from the palm of Carl's hand, a bright light shined and hit directly into Safa's stomach.
She wasn't using the power of the spear, nor did she have the power of the statue in use,
yet despite the powerful energy that was hitting her, it was doing no harm to her body at
all. The energy continued to brush against her skin, having next to no effect.
'I don't even really know what's going on with my own body. If I have reached multiple
stages or there is a new power inside me, but right now I have the power to deal with the
situation.'
Before Carl knew it, the spear had been yanked from his hands, and straight after, in a
smooth motion, the spear had pierced through his chest and through his heart. The healing
power that was in him—the light magic-all of it was being drained away, and he knew now
that his life was coming to an end.
"You have no idea what powers you are dealing with," Carl said. "Soon the Sun God will
come to this world and deal punishment to everyone on this land!"
Chapter 975: At The Top of Rylon
Chapter 975: At The Top of Rylon

Carl's life had come to an end, and all of the Rylon religion members had been defeated in
the current church. Safa had pulled out the spear from his chest and looked at him on the
ground, remembering his final words.
The situation in the room was finally cleared, as whatever the ritual was that was being
done had come to an end.
"Whoa, what happened to you, Safa? How were you able to do all of that?" Simyon asked.
When he went to move forward, Anna quickly pulled him back to his side, stopping him
with her hand.
"If a person goes through such a drastic change like that, they might no longer be the same
person as before," Anna informed.
She had been through the same situation several times now. There were far too many
examples and cases of this happening that they needed to be careful.
"You don't have to worry about that," Safa said as she placed the spear behind her back and
wrapped it around with the cloth she usually would that was placed around her waist as
well. She had done it in a smooth motion, and even Simyon watching this, it just didn't feel
like Safa was the same.
"Don't worry," Safa said. "I got some information from one of the members, so if I explain, I
think you might understand."
Safa went on to explain about what the Rylon religion member had claimed: how they were
performing rituals of sorts-magic formations that would bring Divine beings from above
down to people in Pagna.
After that, they would store the energy from the Divine being while it was weak, and then
that energy would be passed on. She didn't mince her words, as she also explained about
her brother's involvement.
How he had decided to willingly sacrifice his family for the sake of the goal of the religion.
Maybe he wasn't a devoted member like many of those they had met today, but he had
done it in turn for a life of luxury for just a month.
They could taste the pain in their mouths when Safa spoke. After explaining that, she went
into the further details of what had actually happened-how a Divine being, rather than
going into a body to survive, had decided to just sacrifice its life and pass on its energy to
her. Right now, her Qi power was immense, like that of a top-tier middle-stage warrior.
Then there was her magic, which was still shining strong with power, similar to what Carl
was able to produce.
Lastly, there was also the fact that Stoney no longer existed, and now somehow, they had
both melded and merged into her.
After finishing her explanation, the others didn't say much; they didn't know what to say to
comfort her as they had never been in the situation before. Meanwhile, Anna had gone to
Charlotte, making sure she was all better.
"I really thought I was a goner, I really did," Charlotte said, still having no energy in her
body. She was down on her knees and wiping her tears away.
"It's okay," Anna said. "I'm just happy I found you, and I was able to complete Himmy's
wish."
"Himmy's wish?" Charlotte looked up; hope was shining bright on her face.
"I'll explain to you when we get to a place that's somewhere more safe; just here isn't the
right place."
While everyone was somewhat caring to Charlotte-including Safa, who decided to use some
of her light magic-Liam instead had gone to the body on the ground and started scrounging
until he eventually picked up the silver-colored orb and held it up in the air.
"This item caused us a lot of pain," Liam said. "And now in our hands it will be a lot better."
Eventually, Charlotte had regained the energy to move again, and as she got up, they were
slowly ready to leave the place, but there were some questions on the others' minds.
"So what should we do now?" Simyon asked. "You wanted to find out about your brother,
and you found out some things, but it's hard to confirm them or not."
"Right," Safa said. "At the end of it, I still have good memories of my brother and I'm still
alive today, so there had to be something. Still, I can't deny what happened. I thought about
maybe going to the other churches, stopping what is happening right here, but I have a
feeling there is something bigger going on.
"Charlotte, did you know what they were doing here?" Safa asked.
"Not really," Charlotte replied. "I understand some of the magic formations on the ground;
it looks almost like a transfer of energy of sorts, but I have no idea where exactly or the
process. I'm just not a high enough mage to understand this type of thing."
"I think we should find Raze as soon as possible and let him know what we found. I think
he'll know the answer to this. The last he was seen was in the Demonic Faction at the
Neverfall Clan base, so we'll just have to place a visit there."
In Alterian, inside one of the many warehouses across the planet, there was one with the
words that read **Green Magic Pharma**. It was one of the biggest companies in all of
Alterian, and they owned several warehouses in a number of places.
Inside was a factory of sorts, with large machinery churning out several items, and in one
section in a hidden room, several small capsules of yellow to gold glowing energy were
being pushed out in an assembly line one after the other.
There were rows of the vials that were being sent out, but in one row in particular, the vials
had stopped; they were no longer being pushed out.
Inside the factory itself, there was a large office room located on the second floor of the
warehouse. The operations manager quickly rushed up and then knocked on the door a few
times.
"Sir, there is a problem with another one of the assembly lines, it seems. It might not be a
big issue as at times there is a timing issue between production," the man explained. "But
with two so close together, I thought it might be something you would like to look into?"
Looking inside the room, the operations manager was shocked to see the sight-a sight only
few people had ever seen.
There was a special chair in the room, connected to it two large vats that pushed the same
golden and yellow liquid into them. They were linked to the seat, which in turn had a
needle attached to a certain individual's veins.
"Please, Gizin, let me know your order," the man said again, as he bowed his head down to
one of the Grand Magus.
Chapter 976: Raze's Second Day
Chapter 976: Raze's Second Day

Brack had left Raze alone in a place where hardly anyone passed. It was a secret location
that was known only to Belil-a place he would frequent and practice his own martial arts. It
was void of life due to the powerful disturbance of Qi that would be used frequently.
Now, no life was present there; no grass or greenery was able to grow, and animals and
even the few beasts that did roam Pagna didn't come close. So Brack was pretty sure that
Raze would be okay there and that he wouldn't run into anyone, but he wasn't so sure
about Raze himself.
It was in the middle of the night; it had taken him a long time to deliver the message, and
now he was on his way back to Raze. He had taken a few wrong turns at times as he wasn't
quite sure of his way back.
'Why did I have to rush off? I was trying to get back and help Raze as soon as possible that I
didn't even make note of where he was.' Thankfully, with Brack now being a middle-stage
warrior, he didn't really tire.
After relentless searching, he could see the large uprooted ground which had created a
stadium that appeared to have been created from nature. Rushing over, he had quickly
scaled one of the large rocks and then slid down toward the crater. He jumped from where
he was and landed right by Raze's side.
The moment his feet touched the floor, he could feel the inside of his toes tingling even
through the shoes.
'Is this Qi that I can feel... and the floor feels hot as well.' Brack quickly shook his head. 'I
need to focus.' He knelt down by Raze's side and looked at him.
He was on the ground, still but his muscles were moving. The veins on his forehead and on
his arms were bulging and twitching constantly. When Brack went to touch his skin to try
to see if everything was fine, he could feel his body was burning hot to touch.
"Seriously, what did Belil do to you?" Brack asked.
However, unlike before where Raze was able to say a few words and speak, his eyes were
closed shut and his mouth was clenched in pain. So he couldn't say anything.
"I managed to pass on that item you gave me, all is well so you have no need to worry about
that, but I have to focus on you. What do I do?" Brack tried to massage Raze's muscles for a
bit.
But his hands were burning as he did, and the strange energy was somewhat feeding into
him. At times he felt like his own energy was being drawn in as well. For around an hour,
Brack tried several things but none of it worked, and Raze was still in the same state as he
was before.
'How long is he going to be like this?' Brack thought. 'Has he been like this, in pain this
whole time while I was away as well? With no food or water, or herbs, maybe I should try
and do something at least.'
Brack was kicking himself for not bringing anything with him that could have helped Raze,
but the good thing was, at least he would be able to head to the town nearby rather than
heading all the way back to the Dark Faction.
The closest town though was a town close to the Neverfall Clan. Thinking of this, he turned
his head to look at Belil's body. It was just lying there on the floor still in place.
"I need to do something about that as well. I can't just leave it like that; it will rot, right? But
I can't exactly bring it to the Neverfall Clan with me as well, there's just going to be so many
questions... maybe Raze will know what to do."
It was then that Brack had decided it would be best to deal with one problem at a time.
Carrying the Neverfall Clan leader's body wouldn't be a good idea, and hopefully there
would be some type of Qi still left protecting his body, so the worst wouldn't happen.
With that, Brack was off once again.
"Raze, you helped me, and right now I'm the only one that knows about you like this. I'm
going to help you!" Brack rushed off as quick as he could, heading back in the direction of
the Neverfall Clan.
Due to how much time had passed, the sun was already rising, signaling that it was the start
of the next day. It had been a long time and it was hard to believe that Raze would still be at
the same spot but Brack had to believe.
Using all of the coin he had on him, in the small town that he had entered he had bought
whatever he could: buying herbs, bandages, and more, and he even went in to try and buy
Qi pills as well.
'I didn't even buy Qi pills myself to increase my cultivation and they have a hefty price tag,
but it should be fine.'
"Do you have any Qi pills that help with healing?" Brack asked in the shop.
The shopkeeper started to rub his hands, and then out from behind the counter he placed a
Qi pill out on a bed of felt. A red pill was seen shining in place, and marked onto the Qi pill
there was the marking of **DM**.
"This here is said to have the best healing properties and is a special pill made by the Dark
Magus himself!" the man said.
There was a sighing look of defeat on Brack's face. The best pill that the shop had for
healing was made by the person that needed healing. Wouldn't Raze have already used
something like this, if one thought it was going to work?
It was the last of his coin and although reluctant and seemingly stupid, Brack had to buy it
just in case anyway. With several supplies tied up in a rucksack and placed on the end of a
stick, Brack was running out of the city.
Unaware though, in the city there were two individuals following him.
"He's on the move," Fing said.
"Right, something is definitely up with Father, and the fact that Brack isn't with the Dark
Magus. We need to keep close to him and see what happens," Han added.
Chapter 977: A Whole New World
Chapter 977: A Whole New World

A type of truce had been declared between Zon and Lince, once they both realized that they
had a common enemy. This was all because Zon could tell if Lince was lying or not through
the system.
Even with his face covered in bandages, the system was still advanced enough to pick up on
other factors to give him the information they needed. Not only that, but it also made him
aware of just who the other person was the head of the Lost Clan, one of the biggest clans in
the Demonic Faction.
The two had gathered in the captain's hold on the ship and had shared some alcohol that
was left on board. As they sat down, they talked to each other because they both had the
same destination. It very well meant that they could be after the same thing.
"So you are after this item on behalf of Belil?" Zon asked as he lightly pressed his fingertips
against his empty glass.
"Correct. Belil gave me quite a bit of information on it all and passed on more than I would
have liked. Now that this item, the Golden Globe, is linked to Pagna... I've taken it upon
myself to stop it from getting into the hands of others.
"But I do have to tell you something. I do not wish for this item to fall into the hands of the
Light Faction or Alter, but I'm not so sure if it was to fall into the hands of your friend Raze
it would do well either. There are some things I disagree with Belil doing, especially the
extreme measures he has taken."
Lince knew about it all in his last meeting with Belil-that he had decided to sacrifice his life
and pass on his strength to Raze. There was no doubt with the strength Lince had already
seen Raze display, now with Belil's strength added, he was the strongest in Pagna.
"I have to ask, you don't seem to be from the same world as Raze, yet you are getting your
hands on this item because of him? I need to know more of the reason why you want this
item as well; otherwise, couldn't you be just as bad as Alter and the Light Faction?"
It was quite clear that Lince was speaking in fighting words. Although they had agreed they
wouldn't fight now, or on the island when they arrived, who knew when they had the item
right in their sights.
"The Golden Globe is just a means for me and the Red Fortis army to get back to our world.
Following Raze, I thought it would allow me a way to return to my world. As you know,
mages and portals opening are linked in Pagna.
"With Raze's help, I thought I would be able to get into Alter. I had assumed they already
knew great details of a means of such an item, but there was something else that I found
out as well.
"A person that I have been looking for is in Alter. To be honest, I planned to use Raze to
allow me to head inside. As for whether Raze wishes to take control of Pagna or will be the
right person for the item, I don't know.
"But I can say one thing: he only cares about taking down his enemies, and Pagna is not his
enemy."
All of the storms, the dark clouds, and more had stopped around the island. The rough
waves that the ship was handling were coming to an end, and now the island was seen in a
clearer view.
It was incredibly large, almost a continent on its own. There was a large mountain in the
center, and the area was mostly covered in thick jungle and greenery. While on the edge
was a white sandy beach and several rocks and cliff tops in the surrounding areas.
"I can't believe it!" the captain said with his eyes wide. "These people, did they know the
storms would stop? Are we going to be the first ones to ever make land on this island?"
There were no other ships in sight around their area, and no one else from their direction
had even thought about coming to the island. He was sure that the news would spread at
some point and more would come, but even the captain was wondering what treasures,
minerals, and more would exist on such an island.
"Captain!" one of the men shouted. "There's a fleet of ships entering from the west side of
the island."
The captain walked over and snatched the telescope out of the man's hand, and they could
see it. Lince and Zon both quickly rushed over to have a look. Although they couldn't see
who was on board, with the large banners they could see the Light Faction Clan emblems
on board.
"It's all three of the major Light Faction... I guess it wouldn't be so easy after all," Lince
sighed. The banners were clear as day: the Illumination Clan, the Dawnblade Clan, and the
Aurora Clan were all present.
"This is going to be hard with just the two of us," Lince stated. "The good thing is that we're
on the other side of the island, and right now we have no clue just where the Golden Globe
is. Do you have any idea?"
"No," Zon replied. "I should be able to search for signs and ideas, but I have no idea. They
will have the advantage in numbers, and if they have someone like me on their side, then it
will be the same as then."
Due to the location and length of the island, they were no longer able to see the others on
the other side, but they were sure to land at the same time. As the ship approached the
beach, both Zon and Lince jumped from the edge, leaving the crew behind and landing on
the sand.
In an instant, they both fell to their knees as a strange surge of energy flowed through both
of their bodies. The smell, the atmosphere, even the gravity-everything felt different. As if
they had entered a whole new world.
Chapter 978: Island Of Terror (Part 1)
Chapter 978: Island Of Terror (Part 1)

On the west side of the island, a fleet of around six ships was seen approaching. Each of
them had the banners of the clans they represented, but all of them were from the Light
Faction. On board the Illumination Clan ship was Gelgar, a high middle-stage warrior.
He wasn't a Clan Head or Elder but was a promising man within the clan that focused on
teaching many of the students. Then there was Krynic from the Aurora Clan. Krynic was an
older man who had a muscular upper build and wore his robe across his chest, revealing
his shoulder and half of his bare chest.
He was a member of the Aurora Clan for a long time but had never reached the high
position of Elder or leader within the clan. On top of that, each fleet of ships had around ten
warriors on board.
There were sixty warriors either at the peak of the initial stage or at the middle stage. On
top of that, though, there was extra power in the group, particularly from the Dawnblade
Clan that was somewhat leading the expedition due to how much power had been brought.
The head Elder, Ricar, who had survived the Martial Arts Tournament; then there was
Impress, one of the female Elders, along with Lyon. Finally, there was the latest Elder to the
Dawnblade Clan, doing her first tasks as an elder: Beatrix. The Dawnblade Clan had
practically brought out four of its strongest warriors to complete the task, and failure was
not an option.
With the large force with them, including the invited guest 'Red' from Alter, they were a
force that couldn't be stopped.
"Sir, it seems that there were other ships spotted heading to the east coast!" a warrior
claimed.
"Ignore them," Gelgar stated. "We must focus on the main task. Let's head ashore and find
the item; that is the most important task in all of this."
Due to the large force at their disposal, he wasn't particularly worried about others
approaching the island, especially since it was just a single ship. No matter who was on
board, the strength they had could eliminate whole armies and kingdoms.
Eventually, the ships had dropped anchor and the warriors started to jump onto the white
sandy beach of the island one after the other. The moment they landed, a strange surge was
felt through them.
No matter what position they landed in, it caused all of them to fall to their knees as they
braced themselves. The inside of their bodies felt like they were being tickled.
"What's the matter?" Ricar shouted, as he and the other Elders hadn't jumped off but
witnessed many of the clan members acting this way.
After a few seconds, the warriors turned around, looking at their own bodies. They
attempted to use them as they punched the air, but there was seemingly nothing wrong.
"Nothing seems to be the problem!" the warrior shouted back. "It's just the same feeling
one gets when they enter another dimension, but it seems to not affect us!"
Ricar decided to wait a little while, but eventually both Gelgar and Krynic and his group had
gotten impatient, jumping off the ship. They had the same reaction but after a few seconds
were completely fine.
"Don't think about it too much," Red said as he stood at the edge of the ship. "This island, I
think we should think of it like a dimension. No one has set foot on it for, what, hundreds of
years now? Who knows what could be on here."
Red jumped and landed on the beach, and even he was affected with his special body. It
didn't dishearten him, but he just had a smile as he stood up.
"Is this what Henio was talking about? This must be the spell that's still active here. I guess
it stops any mages from using their powers, so I'll be on an even playing field with anyone I
meet. The good thing is, the system and the rest of my body works just fine."
Eventually, all of the others jumped onto the island as well, and the strong force had made
it.
Beatrix was exploring the area for a while and could see the leaders talking, and eventually
joined them.
"We've decided to split up," Ricar explained. "Into three different expedition forces, to
search for the item-the Golden Globe. We can choose how to split up our own groups as we
wish, but we have decided to do it this way to cover more ground."
"Now that we know others are here, it's important that we are the first ones to find this
item."
Krynic and Gelgar nodded, but there were a few more preparations that were being
completed before they headed in. They were heading in to reach for supplies on the ship.
Some warriors would carry medical supplies, food, and Qi pills for whatever it was they
would run into. "Do you really think this will be needed?" Krynic complained. "With all of
us, we'll be able to explore the whole island in half a day."
"It was a precaution from the one from Alter," one of the warriors said.
Krynic turned his head to look at the strange man, who was wearing loose flowing clothing
that was tattered and had a beard covering his face. He looked rough, like a person who had
lived on the streets for a while.
"He said that we should treat this as a dimension with beasts here as well."
"Beasts?" Krynic replied. "Do you not remember what this island was like? Volcanic
eruptions, whirling tornadoes, and constant lightning strikes going on day by day. If any
beasts were to survive that type of weather and still be here, then who knows how strong
they would be."
One of the scouting groups was walking across the beach, on the edge of the jungle-like
area. It was then that he had come across what looked like a small bunny with white fur
and red eyes, and a small horn on top of its head.
"Oh, there really are beasts here," the warrior from the Illumination Clan exclaimed. "I
guess something this small to survive would make sense."
The beast turned its eyes to the warrior and opened its mouth, revealing its teeth. They
weren't threatening, but it was a clear sign of aggression.
"What does a bunny think it's going to do to a middle-stage warrior like me?" the man
smiled.
The bunny then bent its back legs and fired off from its spot. It launched itself in the air and
with its horn ripped right through the man's chest. As it exited out from the other side of
the body, on top of its horn was a heart that only thumped one more time before it stopped.
They didn't realize it yet, but they had all landed on an island which would be hell to them
all.
Chapter 979: Island Of Terror (Part 2)
Chapter 979: Island Of Terror (Part 2)

The white rabbit's fur was quickly soaked in red blood as it landed on the ground, the heart
still attached to the end of its horn. With a quick shake, the heart fell to the floor, along with
part of the blood shaking off.
The warriors on the beach were somewhat spread out, looking to see if they could find
anything on the beach area first as clues, and that's when one of the warriors around ten
meters away had spotted and saw everything that happened.
"BEAST!" the warrior shouted. "HIGH-LEVEL BEAST HAS BEEN SPOTTED!"
His cries were powered with Qi, catching the attention of everyone in the area. They turned
their heads to look at the commotion; they could see the dead warrior on the ground, one
from the Illumination Clan, and a middle-stage warrior at that.
However, where was the ferocious high-level beast that had killed him? It was nowhere in
sight.
One of the other warriors nearby drew their sword, heading in the direction of the fallen
warrior.
"The rabbit, the rabbit!" the warrior cried out again.
"Are you talking about this thing?" the warrior said.
Just like before, the rabbit had readied its hind legs and snapped forward. The warrior
lifted his sword in the way, but the tip of the horn, the moment it touched the sword, broke
right through it, and the horn ended up piercing through the warrior.
It hadn't pierced directly through, but it was a serious wound, and it had sent the warrior
onto his back. The rabbit was on the warrior's chest and quickly lifted its horn out from his
body before jumping in the air and hurling down, stabbing right through his chest again
with the horn.
This time, it wasn't just one warrior that had witnessed what had taken place. It was nearly
everyone on the beach.
A panic had set in, with several drawing their weapons but with none charging in. The first
warrior was a middle-stage warrior; even with all of his Qi, the beast had torn through it.
It was fast and small in size, making it harder to hit. The second warrior that had been
killed, although an initial-stage warrior, was one at the peak, and blocking its attack with
his sword had yielded no results.
The ones weaker than the two individuals that were killed were now extremely hesitant at
what was happening.
It didn't matter though, because the rabbit was going to be ready to attack either way. It
bent its hind legs and then launched itself at a warrior that was far away.
Seeing this, two of the Light Faction warriors from the Aurora Clan dived towards the one
being attacked, and three of the swords met at the same point of the horn. Qi was
surrounding the area, flowing, and they had managed to stop the attack.
"You're dead!" one of the Illumination Clan warriors exclaimed and swung for the rabbit,
but it quickly fell to the floor, causing his swing to miss completely, and then the rabbit
blasted itself, stabbing right through the warrior's foot.
The warrior almost instantly fell to the floor. The panic was continuing over the warriors as
they were trying to get the handle on one rabbit.
"Seriously?" Gelgar sighed. "Is there not one capable warrior in this group to take care of a
simple beast?"
From his back, Gelgar had pulled out what looked like a trident. He was aiming carefully,
ready to throw it from his position right at the rabbit, but before he released it, another
person had caught it right by the scruff of its neck.
"I guess it's true," Red said. "These beasts are a lot stronger from this island."
The rabbit was struggling; it was shaking about and kicking the air. Each time it kicked its
legs, the powerful force hit the ground below. They could hear a loud bang, even though it
was at least a meter and a half from the floor.
Looking at this sight was only frightening the warriors even more. Quickly, Red lifted his
other hand and placed it on the rabbit's neck. It was done in a smooth motion, and then the
hand dropped by his side.
The others didn't see what happened but were only able to see the outcome of the blood
pouring from the beast's neck.
"The crystal from these things should be quite helpful, right? Maybe a level 5 power stone?
No, is it even above that?" Red asked as he dug in with his other hand searching for the
power stone.
While this was happening, Gelgar, Krynic, as well as all of the Elders from the Dawnblade
Clan, were all paying close attention to Red.
"He didn't use any Qi, at least not Qi that I could feel," Beatrix commented.
"I believe you are correct," Ricar replied. "And judging by the fact the beast was able to best
a few middle-stage warriors in combat, it's quite clear he is above them in leaps and
bounds." This was the thought that was running through many of their heads, but that led
Beatrix to think of another question.
"Is it quite possible that this man from Alter is even stronger than you?" Beatrix asked.
Out of all of those present, it was presumed that Ricar was the strongest. He was in the
Dawnblade Clan, and the other two middle-stage warriors, although powerful, weren't
strong enough to be considered the top of their clans.
"I hope we don't have to find an answer to that question," Ricar responded. "After all, we
need to remember that this man is on our side."
There was a reason why Alter had sent him after all, and this was also a chance for them to
see just how powerful the people in the organization they were working with were.
The group cleared up the dead bodies and started to treat the wounded. It was more than
they had expected from their run-in with the first beast, and everyone was far more alert
now.
They were careful to spot any more bunnies. A few times they had been startled by the
rustle of feathers, but it was just their own colleague's foot.
That's when one could hear the rustling of leaves again. The warrior's heart sank as he
retreated.
"What's wrong, did you see another bunny?" a warrior asked.
The man shook his head and pointed in the direction of the jungle.
That's when, coming out of the forest this time, was what looked like a white-furred
monkey
with two tails and four arms standing there.
It looked at the group of people menacingly.
"Well, if a rabbit was able to cause that much mess, it makes me wonder what this monkey
is going to do," Red smiled.
Chapter 980 West Beach Blood Bath
980 West Beach Blood Bath
The strange-looking white-furred bunny that had caused a small disaster for the Light
Faction was similar to white bunny beasts they had discovered in other portals. It was the
reason why so many didn't make a big deal of it, yet it still managed to cause devastation to
them all.
Which was why, now seeing a white-furred monkey that was larger, had four arms and two
tails, a deep panic was set in everyone's hearts. They didn't dare move close to the monkey,
and just like before, it was the monkey that attacked.
It jumped from its position to the closest warrior. Seeing this, the warrior gathered their Qi
and struck from above their head with a downward strike. Immediately, the monkey
reacted, spinning its body. It hit the sword away with two of its hands, and then when its
body spun in the air, with its other two hands it landed a hit square on the warrior's head
and neck.
In an instant, the warrior felt his skull being cracked, despite the Qi that was covering his
body. The rest of his body folded after the hit and crashed into the ground, laying there
lifeless. In a single move, another warrior had been killed.
"Ah, ah, ah!" the monkey jumped up and down and started to bang its chest with its
forearms. Each of the powerful thumps was heard as waves of power were sent through
them.
"How can we have gone up against two powerful beasts one after the other? Just what is
this island? It's like we've gone through a Divine portal or something!" a warrior screamed.
The monkey looked around; in the warriors' minds each one of them was begging that it
wouldn't choose them, that it wouldn't make them its next target. And that's when its head
stopped, eyeing up four warriors standing next to each other—warriors from the
Dawnblade Clan.
It jumped from its position and was in the air; the warriors didn't know whether to get in
formation, attack, or run. They were startled, and one clean hit from the beast would kill
them.
"Crescent Block!" a voice shouted out.
A sword filled with bright Qi was raised in a crescent shape before the monkey landed. The
monkey looked to be swept up in the attack and flipped backwards, landing on the ground,
but it was unharmed.
As for the person who had come in blocking the attack at the right time, the Dawnblade
Clan could clearly see who it was. It was Impress, one of the female Elders from the clan.
With one of the most skillful warriors on their side, surely she would be enough to take
care of the white-furred monkey.
Her sword was still glowing brightly, and she charged in, thrusting the weapon. The
monkey beast was agile, dodging it as it flipped in the air at each of the thrusts, and then
when flipping backwards it tried to charge forward for an attack.
That was until Impress quickly turned her thrust and struck upward, delivering a large cut
on the monkey's chest. The monkey itself seemed shocked by seeing its own blood, but
Impress didn't stop there.
She quickly slashed at the monkey, who used its hands to block the attacks from hitting its
vitals.
She slashed and slashed; the monkey was on the back foot. Although blocking the attacks,
the sword still ripped through its skin, drawing blood, and eventually, with the sword lit up,
Impress struck down, slicing off two of its hands.
To finish it off, she thrust her sword and pierced the monkey right through the head. The
beast was clearly killed, and the moment of fear was over for the warriors.
"That's the Elder of the Dawnblade Clan for you!"
"With her here we are safe! The Dawnblade Clan are triumphant!"
Even the warriors from the other clans were thankful for the elder's skills, but there was a
strange look on her face as she went to the other elders.
"What's wrong?" Lyon, another elder, asked.
"I won the fight, and you may say it was with ease, but still someone on my level wasn't
able to kill it in one strike," Impress explained.
"Which means, if there are more beasts like that on the island, then there are only a few
that can actually survive on this island," Ricar explained. "The rest of the people that we
brought with us, even the middle-stage warriors, they will be nothing but fodder."
"You worry too much," Lyon added. "Those were strong beasts that we happened to run
into. There won't be many like that."
Soon Lyon would eat his words as the rustling of the deep jungle in front of them
continued. They could hear the cries of the monkeys even more, as they went high to low
pitched and started to bang on their chests.
Eventually, several monkeys with white fur started to come out of the jungle, bit by bit, and
there were more inside. There were at least ten already on the edge between the jungle and
the island sands.
"Everyone, this is an order, we must run deeper into the jungle!" Ricar exclaimed as he
raised up his sword. "We will only have a moment. Search for the item, stay close to your
allies, and remember all the formations you are taught."
"Treat every beast you see, no matter how small, as a great enemy that you must take on!"
Beasts were territorial and rarely left the areas they were in. Ricar and the others knew
this, and he was gambling that right now they were in the strange white-furred monkeys'
territory. If they entered and got to another area, then perhaps they would be safer.
On top of that, the fighting they had already done, it was a good chance that it had attracted
more beasts and the fighting would just continue on wearing them out. The better option
right now was to run.
However, there was a risk that entering deeper into the jungle would mean they were
running away from one mess to head into an even bigger mess, but it was the only thing
they could do right now.
Ricar's sword shined brightly, and then he jumped from his position and swung it down.
When it hit the ground, a bright flash of light had hit in the direction towards the jungle.
"NOW!" Ricar ordered.
Chapter 981 East Beach Blood Bath
981 East Beach Blood Bath
On the east side of the island, it wasn't as if the group that had landed weren't dealing with
their own set of troubles either.
"It's sinking, it's sinking!" one of the pirates on board shouted out.
"She's been damaged too much!" the captain shouted. "We have no choice but to go onto
land!"
"You mean right where those monsters are!" another shouted.
In the end, the captain was tired of shouting and arguing with his men, so he jumped off his
ship into the sea and started to swim toward the shore. It didn't take long for the rest to
follow; they knew it would be harder to swim out once the ship completely sank—it was a
death trap, and they would be taken deeper into the sea.
While the captain and the others were swimming onto the shore, they could see what was
happening.
One of the men had a strange black suit covering his body with red lines of glowing energy.
He was facing two monkeys and had already broken a pair of arms on both of them. He
then grabbed onto the fists of two of them and pulled them until their heads banged into
each other.
It was a loud hit, like two coconuts crashing into each other. The two monkeys were
startled, and Zon quickly placed both of his hands on the back of their heads and then, with
a zap of his red energy, blasted through them, killing them on the spot.
As for Lince, it was hard to see where he was. He had avoided a hit from one of the
monkeys and then, with the back of his dagger, stabbed right through the back of the head
of one. What was amazing was the tenacity of the beast.
It was still moving even with the blade stuck in its head. With the Qi Lince used, he was
unable to push it right through so the blade reached the other end, but it should at least be
a few inches into its brain.
"Since I'm going up against so many opponents, I can't even concentrate on one of them!"
Lince complained as he rushed forward, wrapping from one of his arms tied around a
monkey beast, flipping it in the air and dragging it down.
Lince then pulled down on the wrapping and pushed his dagger right into its neck, killing it
in a single hit. Right after, his body seemed to vanish as a monkey tried to hit him, but Lince
was now behind the monkey and could see his dagger in the back of its head. He then
punched the sword's handle, pushing it right through the monkey's head, killing the second
one on the spot.
Finally, for a moment, for the two of them there was silence.
The captain and the rest of his raggedy crew of twelve had made it on the beach.
"It looks like it's over. When those monkeys threw those rocks at our ship I was worried,
but it looks like we traveled with the stronger monsters!" the captain cheered.
Right after, the others behind the captain cheered in succession while Zon and Lince looked
at the beasts that were on the ground—three monkeys each they had taken care of.
"Those weren't regular beasts... and for them to be on the land of Pagna and not in another
dimension, this is quite the strange thing. If these types of beasts ever got out onto Pagna it
would be quite devastating for the general public as well as the warriors."
Zon didn't say anything, but it was clear that the beasts weren't normal by any means.
"We should head in deeper," Zon eventually said. "There aren't a lot of us, and fighting the
beasts will slow us down."
"I must find the Golden Globe," Zon claimed. "I can't fight every beast we come across.
Knowing there are others, we can't afford to be held up. My system states that you won't
die, so I will go search for the Golden Globe!"
19:57
When Zon pointed into the jungle though, he so happened to be pointing at another figure
that looked to be coming out of the jungle—eyes staring at them, that was seen towering
around ten meters in height.
Not just a single set of eyes but four in total. When it continued to move out, its heavy
footsteps could be felt vibrating the land, and finally its whole body could be seen clearly in
view.
"That might be a little harder than the other monkeys," Lince claimed.
In front of them was a giant white monkey. Instead of a pair of eyes, it had two pairs
totaling four eyes. Then, where the others had two tails, this monkey had three. It still had
two pairs of arms totaling four like the others, but the sheer size of it made both of them
know this beast was going to be far harder to face compared to the others.
"ARGHHH!" the beast roared mightily, deafening the ears of the pirates at the back.
It then started to bang its chest several times.
"Let's just be happy that we're not facing a gorilla," Lince claimed.
Although he soon would eat those words as the monkey was extremely agile even at its size
as it jumped in the air, flipping itself right to Lince's position, and threw a fist into the
ground. The sand kicked up everywhere, and Lince and Zon had jumped apart from each
other.
The monkey then turned its eyes to Lince and went to strike at him. Luckily, Lince had used
his wrapping around his arms and attached it to the floor and pulled himself away, causing
the monkey to hit nothing but air.
The large monkey was relentless though as it continued to throw punch after punch at
Lince, who was barely avoiding them all.
"Are you going to help me!" Lince shouted, noticing that Zon hadn't been targeted once and
was just watching. "I thought both of us were partners."
"I must find the Golden Globe," Zon claimed. "I can't fight every beast we come across.
Knowing there are others, we can't afford to be held up. My system states that you won't
die, so I will go search for the Golden Globe!"
Just like that, Lince's trusted partner had run off into the jungle, leaving him all on his own.
Chapter 982 Something Stronger Than Beasts
Chapter 982 Something Stronger Than Beasts

Ricar's quick display of his power had blinded the beasts, and the warriors, knowing this
might be their opportunity to get out of a tough situation, took it and all ran deeper into the
jungle.
It was sporadic; although mainly warriors from the same clan ran with each other, many
were just running into the forest with those closest to them. The groups were mostly made
up of tens or so, some with even fewer people.
On top of that, the startling flash of light didn't last long. As the monkeys were getting their
bearings, they started to run towards the groups that had run into the jungle.
"Come on, Beatrix!" Ricar shouted. "We're going in as well."
Beatrix nodded and followed Ricar's lead as they both dived headfirst. Ricar didn't run a
straight path; instead, he jumped side to side slightly, and even swung his blade in the air,
emitting Qi from his strike, hitting a few of them on the back.
It didn't take long to notice what he was doing or why he was doing this, so Beatrix
followed his lead, and before they knew it, when they had entered the jungle, there were
around ten monkeys that were following them.
Agilely running through the forest as they swung from tree to tree. With four arms, some
had even grabbed large solid fruits that looked similar to a coconut, only darker on the
outside, and hurled them toward the two of them.
Beatrix quickly spun her body as she leapt off a tree branch and cut right through the
coconut, splitting it in two. With another hand, she grabbed half of it and hurled it back
towards the others.
'I know we led most of the monkeys away to protect the other warriors, but this might just
be too much for us to handle,' Beatrix thought when she saw the monkeys completely avoid
her throw, and just how powerful and hard the black coconut was that she had cut through.
The coconuts continued to be thrown at them; thankfully, they both seemed to be traveling
at just as fast a speed as the monkeys were. With them having to deflect countless coconuts,
they weren't so sure how long they could keep up, though.
That was when Ricar leapt up ahead and landed on the ground; he had landed in a slightly
darker area of the jungle. The thick trees were spread further apart here, and there was
more ground to fight on.
While in the jungle, Ricar thought the monkeys had the advantage; here at least he believed
that they would be able to fight more fairly. When he turned back, he saw Beatrix landing
on the ground as well, skidding across the floor and turning, readying her weapon to fight.
That's when the two of them saw it.
"The monkeys... did they give up?" Beatrix asked.
The monkeys had paused for a moment, standing in the trees, but only after a few seconds
they decided to turn and head back where they had come from.
"Beasts are territorial, remember, and it seems that we might have entered a territory of
another beast, or type of beasts," Ricar said as he looked over his shoulder and around him.
"For now, we appear safe, and I hope it will be the same for the others as well."
Rather than placing her sword in its guard, Beatrix decided to hold onto it, as did Ricar.
When arriving on the island, the last thing the two of them thought they would be doing
was running away from beasts.
At least not beasts that were so small and so large in number. These two were some of the
strongest in Pagna. Who would have thought such an island would exist? There was a
thought in the back of Ricar's mind that perhaps they should retreat and come back with
more reinforcements; the issue was seeing the other ship.
This mission was one that they couldn't fail. It had the fate of the whole clan riding on it.
"Come on, I think it's best if we keep moving. We'll continue our search on the island, and
we'll try to locate some of the others," Ricar stated.
The issue was the island was incredibly vast, and with the panic, he was sure that everyone
had run off in different directions. Originally, the meeting point for all of the groups that
were to split up in threes was back at the ship.
However, he wondered how any would even want to go back there when there were
bunnies and monkeys protecting the place. Just trying to get to the ship would be death for
most, unless they had those powerful by their side.
Both Beatrix and Ricar decided to head deeper into the dark green part of the forest. While
moving ahead, Beatrix had used her sword to carve the clan's symbol of a crescent moon
into the trees.
This was a way for her to find a way back, and also a way to tell their clan members where
they were heading, as it would be safest for them if they were next to elders. Originally, the
clan thought that everyone would be fine going off on their own even in small groups of
three, but it would need at least five people to take out one of those monkeys.
As they continued to move though, Ricar eventually placed his hand out, telling Beatrix to
stop. He then started to ascend one of the trees as he ran up on it and stood on top of a
thick branch.
Not long after, Beatrix did the same, and the two of them were squatting side by side,
looking at what was in front of them from above.
"It's like you said, we're in the territory of another beast. No wonder those monkeys left,"
Beatrix claimed.
A giant body that had to weigh a few tons, along with large scales on its back. It somewhat
looked like a crocodile, only having curved horns on its front, and the sheer size of the
thing.
However, there was something more that stood out. The beast, even though large in size
and clearly something fierce, wasn't moving due to the large hole that was in its head—a
single large hole that allowed one to see from the top of its head onto the ground.
"What I'm more concerned about is who was able to kill such a beast and is on this island,"
Ricar claimed.
"Who? You don't think it's another beast?" Beatrix asked.
"No," Ricar replied. "That wound—it looks like it was done by a fist, and I don't think those
monkeys are capable of doing something like that."
Chapter 983: The Strongest On The Island
Chapter 983: The Strongest On The Island

It wasn't just the regular warriors that had acted as soon as Ricar had given the order. The
higher and more talented warriors also saw this as an opportunity to get on with the job.
Dealing with the beasts was troublesome.
Seeing how one of the Elders from the Dawnblade Clan had already dealt with one of the
monkeys was enough to motivate the rest to do the same. So they too had headed into the
forest with people on their trail.
The man leading the group known as Gelgar from the Illumination Clan was one of them.
Following behind him were four other men from the same clan, including one particular
individual, Red from Alter.
Gelgar was slowing his pace down for the others to get ahead, and in doing so, he was using
powerful fist techniques from the clan to hit many of the monkeys at once that were on
their tail. It wasn't enough to completely stop them but to injure them and send them back.
What Gelgar didn't know was that at that point, Red was ahead of everyone else and was
taking a particular path. The others followed him until they eventually reached a flowing
river with a bed of rocks before it.
Red had stopped at this point and turned around. The rest of the warriors thought the man
was crazy and were ready to run right past him, until Gelgar had come out and turned as
well.
"WAIT!" Gelgar called out to the others.
When they stopped running just by the river, they too turned and noticed that it was
quieter. The monkeys had stopped their pursuit.
"It seems we have left their territory. That was lucky of us to enter a new place," Gelgar
said, as he took count of those that were with him. He clicked his tongue, hoping that there
would be more.
"Lucky?" Red smirked. "There was no luck involved."
After looking around for a few seconds, it was quite clear that Red was getting ready to
leave and head further up the river.
"Where do you think you're going?" Gelgar said. "You saw those beasts and how strong
they were. We will do better together, and we will be able to search for the item."
Red immediately shook his head.
"I agree with one thing-it would be better for you guys if I was to stay with you. Not the
other way around; I would do perfectly fine on my own. Maybe your luck will get you out of
this place."
"We are to support each other. You heading off will make it so more of my men will die,"
Gelgar claimed. He saw a part of the strength of Red and knew he was at least the same as
that of the Elders from the Light Faction.
They did need him more than the other way around, but this was just a person from Alter,
while he was leading the Illumination Clan. In Gelgar's mind, his position was much higher
compared to the others.
"I'm doing my own thing and finding the item myself," Red turned his head. "And by the
way, it was me who led you guys to this safe place. It wasn't luck, so I've already done more
than I originally intended."
With that, Red had run off and was out of sight. The other warriors weren't too worried
since they had Gelgar, but it was only Gelgar himself who felt like there was now quite a
loss to their group.
"I'll have to report on his actions when I get back. Come on, let's move from this place,"
Gelgar said as he pointed to the other side of the river where the greenery was darker but
the trees lessened, giving them more space.
In Gelgar's mind, it was an easier place for them to fight.
"Sir, are we going to head deeper into the jungle? What if there are even more powerful
beasts? Shouldn't we go and try to team up with the others before progressing?" one of the
warriors asked.
"Do you really think that there would be so many powerful beasts on this island? Those
monkeys are a one-off," Gelgar said as he jumped to the other side.
The warriors had conflicted looks on their faces. Was it really a one-off? Did Gelgar already
forget about the extremely powerful bunny they had come across as well? Regardless, they
had no choice, as they felt like they were safer with Gelgar rather than without him.
So they too jumped onto the other side of the river and headed into the forest.
The group of six, including Gelgar, had slowed down their pace. They were trying to figure
out where they were or where the center of the island was for them. This was where Gelgar
thought the item would most likely be.
At the same time, they tried to recall which way they had come from so they could head
back. If there weren't so many powerful beasts, then it wouldn't be so much of a problem
for them to just run around the area and find where their ship was.
Things were different now, and they were carefully going through the jungle not to attract
attention. As Gelgar broke through a few large leaves, he immediately readied himself in a
stance upon seeing something up ahead.
A blond-haired man, wearing a strange blazer a person he hadn't recognized and a person
who was on his own.
"Who are you? What are you doing here on this island!" Gelgar immediately shouted.
The other warriors stood by his side and drew out their weapons immediately, and started
to surround the man.
"Me?" the man said, pointing at himself. "I'm just an... explorer if you call it that. You don't
have to pay me no trouble."
As the other warriors had the strange man surrounded, one of them eventually felt their leg
kick something. When they looked down, they could see the heavy round weight-it was a
human head.
"A clan member, a member of the Aurora Clan!" the warrior shouted.
It wasn't just one body though; the other warriors had also discovered two more as well.
"It's an enemy! Everyone, ready your positions!" Gelgar shouted.
The man in the center looked up in the air and sighed.
"The last group of people made the same mistake in attacking me. I was hoping that you
guys wouldn't do the same. I'm starting to wonder if the Divine Realm or here is worse...
but at least here it's a bit more fun," Mosak said with a smile.
Chapter 984: Not Alone
Chapter 984: Not Alone

Deep in the jungle, there was one group who had been moving through slowly, and that
was Krynic currently leading the Aurora Clan with ten members and one of the Elders of
the
Dawnblade Clan, Impress, who had another five with them.
They were one of the largest groups that had managed to group up together. This was
because of the two skilled individuals fighting against the monkeys. Although from
different clans, both of them were skillful with the swords and were blocking several
attacks.
'I saw what Ricar and Beatrix did!' Impress thought as she spun her body and blocked an
attack from five of the monkeys, slicing and cutting several of their hands. She then spun
her body a second time and pushed them all to the ground.
"Keep moving further in, don't stop, let us two deal with this!" Impress shouted.
While the monkeys had fallen, it was Krynic who was taking advantage of the situation. He
threw his spear towards one of the monkeys on the ground and pierced right through their
body. He was relatively far, around ten meters, and after throwing the spear, he was
somewhat able to lift his body and pull himself towards it like it was attached by a piece of
string.
Hurling himself towards the spear, he pulled it out from the dead monkey and then quickly
threw it at another one, repeating this process.
'It's thanks to Ricar and Beatrix gathering a large amount of monkeys that we can make it
through. We aren't like the other factions; we also look after and protect our clan
members!'
After the constant fighting, they noticed that the monkeys retreated as they had entered a
new section of the jungle which was darker in color. Impress leapt back along with Krynic
as they both watched the monkeys' retreat.
"You did a good job," Krynic said. "I thought the Dawnblade Clan was in fallen times, but
with Elders like you, I would say those were nothing but rumors."
"I also didn't know the Aurora Clan had skillful spear users. I thought nearly all their
techniques were to do with the sword," Impress replied back.
"Correct, but there are always exceptions, those placed in a clan through fate that they
don't really believe in themselves," Krynic replied back, and the two of them looked at the
warriors.
They were exhausted, although they had thankfully managed to all survive, it wasn't
without injuries. Some had black coconuts chucked at their body parts, injuring an arm or
leg. Others had even their skin ripped by claws before others had arrived.
Thankfully, knowing the danger of the beasts, the warriors stuck together and fought side
by side, and if there was one thing the Light Faction was exceptional at, it was teamwork
and formations.
Impress looked around the darkened color and noticed it was quite strange. To her left and
right, like a curved circle, she noticed there was a cut-off point. It almost looked like a line
had been drawn in the grass rather than a general natural pass-through.
Seeing this didn't give her high hopes for what was to come.
"I think we should prioritize finding Ricar and the others rather than exploring the island,"
Impress said.
"I have no problem with that," Krynic immediately replied. "The Dawnblade Clan was given
control of this mission, and honestly, we were told to prioritize the objective over helping
the other clans, but those above have no idea about the situation at hand. So I am happy to
comply."
The two from opposing clans in the same faction looked at each other and nodded; they
were happy that at least the two of them could work well together.
While the few that were injured were being treated with Qi pills and basic herbs, Impress
had made another observation, that the safest places for them were the territory borders.
The monkeys wouldn't even get close to the borders, and whatever beasts were on the
darker side of the jungle probably wouldn't do the same to the other side as well.
Leaving a safe vantage point for them. That was if it worked the way she hoped. It could
possibly also be that on the darker side the stronger beasts didn't care so much about going
into the weaker's territory; thankfully they were at least fine for now.
"Alright, now that everyone is ready, let's move, remember your formations and stay close
to me and Krynic!" Impress ordered.
Rather than walking straight into the jungle, Impress was pacing to the left for a while and
then pacing to the right before advancing deeper. She was covering more ground of the
jungle this way.
She didn't care about advancing deeper due to the fear and was more concerned with
trying to find the others they had split up with. Judging by them being the slowest group,
she thought they would be behind the others and see some sort of sign.
It wasn't long until she saw splatters of blood on one of the trees. Seeing this, she lifted her
hand up.
"I'll go up ahead, you guys stay back and keep your wits about you, make sure you're
covering yourselves from all directions," Impress stated.
"Let me come with you," Krynic said. "With what we've run into so far, there might be
something that needs the both of us."
Usually, as an Elder and in a higher position, Impress would have declined but in the
current situation she agreed, and the two of them moved forward. They saw more blood
splatters as they moved slightly ahead and eventually on the ground they saw body parts.
An entire arm was on the ground looking to have been ripped off. They continued forward,
ignoring the arm for now, looking at the destruction and eventually stopped in their tracks
in an open area.
"What... did this?" Impress said.
Several warriors' bodies were lying on the floor lifeless. All of them on the edge pointing
towards something. However, there wasn't much destruction for the forest itself, showing
signs that there wasn't much of a struggle for whatever it was that they were fighting
against. Quickly, Krynic jumped as he recognized the individual in the center.
"This is Gelgar from the Illumination Clan, even he was killed. What type of beast did they
run into?"
"They did not run into any beast," Impress answered. "Can't you see the wounds, they were
done by martial arts. It's clear that there is someone that is very dangerous on this island."
Chapter 985: I Can Kill You?
Chapter 985: I Can Kill You?

Ricar and Beatrix, since it was just the two of them traveling, had decided to take it upon
themselves to try and locate the item first as quickly as possible. Although this might have
been seen as a selfish act in the eyes of many others, for them it wasn't.
The quicker they found the item, the quicker they could focus on taking everyone back.
'If I could, I would let everyone know not to progress beyond the darker green part of the
jungle. There is something incredibly dangerous, but finding and locating everyone would
take too much time,' Ricar thought.
'Finding the item and heading back is the best thing that we can do!'
There was another issue that he wasn't sure the others were aware of, but it was the fact
that since they had entered the island, the artifacts that the Light Faction had no longer
worked. Ricar hadn't told the Light Faction that he had obtained the artifact from the
arena-one that was able to change the battlefield through input of one's Qi. He had tried to
use it when the groups of monkeys had attacked but it didn't work, and he had tried to use
it again when he had gathered the others but there was still no effect.
It was as if the artifact wasn't responding at all, and if his guess was right, that strange
feeling they all felt when they had landed on the island could very well be part of the cause
as to why the artifacts weren't working.
They traveled through the dark green area and something had surprised the both of them.
Up ahead they could see the jungle ending, and part of the river that was leading to a large
waterfall and open caves.
There were vines on the side of the waterfall making it easier to head up, but it also
worried Ricar about how open the area was, including the flying beasts that were up in the
air. Looking at one of the flying beasts though, he saw it diving down to the ground in front
of them.
As it dived down, a red laser appeared to be shot out and ripped right through the beast's
wing. It caused the beast to fall at an angle, and then crash into the ground.
"What was that!" Beatrix said.
"...That might just be the person who had killed the beast from before!" Ricar announced
and gathered his Qi in his blade.
Beatrix stayed by Ricar's side as the two charged forward. They ran across the open area
and saw the beast lying on the ground as well as a person standing right next to it. When
the person turned their head, they then moved both of their hands in the direction of the
two, and just like the red laser that was used to shoot at the beast, two red lasers shot out
of the man's hands.
They came out too fast for them to dodge, and both Ricar and Beatrix needed to swing their
swords in a crescent shape using their Qi. Eventually, they managed to deflect the energy-
Ricar into the air for it to hit nothing, while Beatrix had deflected it into the side of the
jungle, crashing into a tree and destroying the area completely.
"That was a warning shot!" the man said. "Running up to a person means bad intentions...
and considering you're both from the Light Faction, I can confirm that you have bad
intentions."
Both Beatrix and Ricar had come to a stop. They didn't have the upper hand in delivering a
surprise attack against this individual, so now it was best if they were to talk it out. When
taking a moment, it was then that they both seemed to recognize each other.
"Wait, I know you, you were with Raze and the others from the Martial Arts Tournament!"
Beatrix exclaimed.
Now Ricar also recognized the man. When they saw him, they were unaware of what he
was capable of doing since they didn't see him act directly, but judging by how strong the
beasts were on this island and how easily he had dealt with one, it was clear this person
was very strong.
The real question was though, why was this individual on the island as well? Was Raze, the
Dark Magus, and the rest of the Dark Faction on the island? Was that the ship that they had
seen that had landed filled with those from the Dark Faction?
If that was the case, then this would be big trouble for them.
"What is your reason for being on this island?" Ricar claimed. "Is it just to gather beast
crystals from these beasts?"
Although Ricar asked this, he doubted that it was the answer. The island had just become
safe to travel to. They had learned this was going to happen from Alter, so how did the
others know about it?
"I am here for the same reason as all of you," Zon answered. "I am here to search for the
item. My guess is that you are here for that reason and aim to hand over the item to the
Light Faction. If that is the case, then I am afraid it would be easier for me to get rid of you
now."
Zon energized two red blades into his hands and held onto them tight. He knew he was
quite deep into the jungle ahead of the others, but with only him here, he needed to stop
anyone else from getting close.
Elsewhere on the island, Lince was rolling his shoulder as he walked through the island.
"That giant monkey was strong, really strong. I didn't even beat it in the end; I just ran
away from it, it would have taken up too much time." Lince then started to shake his head.
"Maybe I made a mistake teaming up with that Zon guy."
"He just abandoned me, and judging by what he said, he's not completely on Raze's side
with all of this in the first place. This whole thing is becoming frustrating, and where even
is Raze? According to Belil's plan, shouldn't he be here by now?"
Lince then pushed a large leaf out of the way and noticed the ground starting to change; it
was hard, more like a desert. The terrain on the island was certainly weird, and up ahead
he could see piles of ruins, buildings as if they had fallen, but more equally he could see a
man standing there looking through the ruins, with red hair.
The man then stood up and looked back at Lince.
"You're not from the Light Faction? Which means I can kill you, right?" Red said with a
smile.
Chapter 986: Zon's Struggle
Chapter 986: Zon's Struggle

Zon had energized two red blades in his hand, and the ragged cloth that was covering his
body seemingly disintegrated, revealing the hardened black suit he was wearing on his
body. It was no time to keep up appearances.
Zon didn't care who saw him on the island, because the only important matter was getting
the item.
"Beatrix, focus on defensive maneuvers, I'll focus on attack!" Ricar said with urgency in his
voice.
Usually, he wouldn't dare to command a high-level warrior, especially one that was skillful
enough to earn the rank of an Elder, but in the current situation they were in, he had a
really bad feeling about their opponent, and doing things this way might be the only way
they could survive.
Placing one hand over his sword, Ricar's weapon started to light up, and he charged
forward, thrusting the weapon. Zon avoided the attack with ease, moving to the side and
allowing it to go under his arm, but the attack didn't stop there.
After the thrust, a bright white light shone in the area. The attack was filled with Qi and had
the effect to blind one's opponent.
"That doesn't work on me!" Zon said as he swung his sword right for Ricar's head. Before it
reached, Beatrix swung her sword upward, performing the Crescent Moon Block. It had
knocked both of Zon's swords surprisingly well.
Usually, she would follow up with another attack, but she hadn't done so, focusing on what
Ricar had asked, for her to focus on defense. She felt like it was a good thing as well, as
Ricar and herself retreated slightly back. She could see that Zon's eyes were looking
straight at her, as if he was ready for her next move.
"Is this person even human?" Ricar asked. "How was he not blinded, and was still able to
throw an attack? This is the first time something like this has happened."
It wasn't the first time someone had deflected or come up with some counter to the attack,
but more so just taking it straight on and ignoring it. Ricar and Beatrix both had the same
thought as they looked at this person: they didn't know why, but he heavily reminded them
of the man that had come with them from Alter.
Zon then charged forward, moving at an incredible speed, and then in an arc shape he
swung both of his swords from above. Both Ricar and Beatrix had no choice but to use
defensive techniques as they blocked the attack from above.
Their feet sunk into the ground beneath them slightly as it broke, and they were trying to
skim the sword away, but instead they were in a struggle for power.
"Do you two even know why you are fighting, why you are risking your lives?" Zon said as
he scraped the swords and then started to attack again. He was swinging his weapon at
both Beatrix and Ricar, who were blocking.
What was even more startling to them was that each individual arm seemed to be
performing different techniques, meaning that both of them would have to counter them in
different ways.
"The Light Faction is just blindly following the doings of Alter, and for what? The item that
you are after-do you even know what they wish to do with it?"
When swinging with his right arm, Zon's blade had suddenly disappeared, and instead he
had blocked with his arm. The sword had hit his black suit, not leaving a single mark. Then
opening up his palm, he fired a laser, hitting Beatrix in the stomach and sending her away.
Quickly, Ricar struck the ground, breaking the flooring, and leapt back to check on Beatrix,
who had been hit, but there was no physical wound left on her.
"I have a real reason to go after this item, while the two of you are just blindly following
orders," Zon said, and he paused as if he wanted to say more, but some memories started to
resurface in his mind.
He was once the same in the Red Fortis army, not asking questions and just following what
came from above.
"This item is clearly something valuable to all," Ricar claimed. "A powerful artifact-if it falls
into the hands of the Dark or Demonic Faction, then all will be lost for all of Pagna."
"So you believe you and Alter are the only ones that have good intentions for such an
item?" Zon asked. "Do you truly believe the words that are coming out of your mouth? You
have teamed up with the ones who wishes the downfall of Pagna."
"But your faction has been so caught up in not losing against the Dark and Demonic Faction
that you can't even see it. Right now, only the Light Faction is an enemy of Pagna. You are
the only ones that are going against the flow."
Although the exchange had been small, and Ricar and Beatrix still hadn't fought with every
last fiber they had, they felt like this was a fight they would lose, because it was the same
for their opponent-he hadn't been pushed to his limit either.
'How... how is it that the Dark Faction managed to find someone so powerful and have them
by their side?'
Immediately though, Zon had turned his head as he saw a giant serpent appear from the
nearby river. It was dark green in color, and as it opened its mouth, strange gills looked to
appear by the side, spreading out and vibrating widely.
Before they knew it, the giant serpent dived, heading straight for Zon and hitting him
directly in his body, pushing him away.
"Let's get out of here, head up by the waterfall now!" Ricar shouted.
Beatrix agreed, and the two of them used all of their Qi to move as fast as possible. The
beast seemed powerful, so they knew it might keep the man busy for a while. Some might
have thought it was a chance to get rid of a powerful enemy, but the beast was a beast and
wasn't working for them-it just happened to help them out in this current situation.
While running though, and escaping the area, Beatrix did have a strange thought running
through her head.
'There was a lot of truth to what that man said though... we don't even know what we're
getting. What if bringing this item to Alter really does harm all of Pagna...?' she thought.
Chapter 987: Red's Struggle
Chapter 987: Red's Struggle

In particular, Lince was worried that after running away from the giant white-furred
monkey, he might run into an even more dangerous beast. Instead, he had come across a
man with dark red hair.
While travelling through the jungle, in order not to gain the attention of others that might
be here including other beasts, Lince was using his light footwork technique. It would be
next to impossible for someone to detect him or his Qi, even if they were a highly skilled
middle- stage warrior.
Yet as soon as he had entered the strange desert sand-looking area among the ruins, the
red- haired man had stared directly his way, and had an unsettling smile on his face.
"What did you say?" Lince asked, raising an eyebrow. "Did you say you wanted to kill me?
And people say we from the Demonic Faction are unhinged."
Right after finishing his sentence, the red-haired man had disappeared from his sight, who
had been at least thirty meters away.
The red-haired man then swung his arm trying to catch Lince, but had hit nothing but air.
The man seemed confused as he looked at his hand and nothing was in it.
"My, you are a fast one. I was quite shocked there that I had to move on instinct," Lince
commented, who was now standing on the edge of one of the ruins, out from the sand. "I
didn't know there was someone in the Light Faction as fast as you. That is where you're
from, right?"
Immediately, Red smiled, and then quickly moved from his position again. The leftover
ruins were crushed and ripped through, broken down, and the man was startled as he
looked around for the mysterious person.
"Such bloodlust, this doesn't feel like someone from the Light Faction, more like someone
from the Demonic Faction," Lince said.
This time, Red moved again, but Lince was unable to get away, and both of their faces were
staring right at each other.
"You're right, I'm nothing like them!" Red bashed his head trying to headbutt Lince, but he
had already disappeared and was behind Red. Now Lince struck with his dagger from
behind, but Red quickly stopped the hit.
Lince pulled away, and the two were in a situation where they were constantly moving to
each other's strikes, trying to take the other one down. In the end, Lince then unraveled one
of the bandages on his arms and used it to swirl in the sand, creating a dust tornado.
He was hoping it would block the sight of this stranger from him, but once again, it seemed
to not affect the man as he charged right through and headed toward the ruins where Lince
was hiding.
Lince continued to jump back and eventually stayed on top of one of the ruins that were at
the highest point.
"Wait, think about this, do the two of us really have to fight?" Lince asked.
Immediately, Red had stopped the chase and looked up at Lince. Although he hadn't
managed to catch him yet, he could tell that he was getting close. It felt like he was getting
closer each time.
The fact that they had that little scuffle and exchange was proof of that as well. Red had
figured the person in front of him was someone who was skilled in foot techniques, which
was why he was betting once the two of them fought head to head, that it would be a battle
he could easily win.
"If you are not from the Light Faction, and some sort of inhabitant of this island, then I will
leave you be," Lince said.
"I'm not an inhabitant, and I'm not with the Light Faction," Red answered.
"Then who are you?" Lince asked.
Red straightened himself.
"I'm a man from the Red Fortis army, and my name is Red, so that might give you a clue as
to who I am."
"Right, right, so if you're not with the Light Faction, there's no reason for us to fight. I will
be on my way."
"No," Red said. "I know who you are. No one from Pagna is allowed to get their hands on
the item, and all of those that are here for the item must be eliminated-that is my job as a
Deleter!"
Lince was hoping it wouldn't come to this. He was confident in his strength; he was, after
all, the head of a clan, and not just any clan but one of the three major clans in the Demonic
Faction.
The Faction was known for having far fewer people and caring about power above all. To
reach his position, there was no one that could call him weak, but there was one trait
everyone knew about Lince.
Seeing the situation, he let out a big sigh.
'I really can't be bothered with this one!' Lince thought as he gathered his Qi into his
dagger. He saw Red charge right at him, moving at his fast speed again. Then Lince hurled
his dagger right at Red.
Like a bullet, it had knocked him out of the air, and his body was skidding across the sand.
Two large waves of sand were created due to the large force of Qi that was used.
As for what Lince was known as to those in the Demonic Faction, he was known for being
incredibly lazy, wishing to take the simplest route in things, and in this situation, he
thought the simplest thing to do was to finish this battle in one go.
'Red Fortis army, I can't say I've ever heard of them, and judging by his name being Red,
was The the leader or something?' Lince wondered.
When the sand settled through, he saw Red hunched forward, the cloth he had on his body
had disappeared, and now his black tight skin suit could be seen with red energy pulsating
through his entire body.
As for the dagger, it had pierced through his suit, hitting the top of his shoulder. Blood was
drawn but it hadn't sunk in too deep. Red pulled it out with a big smile on his face.
"You might be the first person I'll have to go all out on," Red said as he lifted his hand in the
air. "I'll show you why I was considered the strongest in the Red Fortis army!"
Chapter 988: The Fortis' Armies Secret? (Part 1)
Chapter 988: The Fortis' Armies Secret? (Part 1)

The strange man known as Red-Lince still had no idea who he really was. Whether he was
an individual searching for an item, a person who was a natural inhabitant of the island, or
if he was someone working for the island's sake.
There was one thing that was clear though: he was quite the powerful person, and now he
meant business.
'I was hoping that my last attack would have finished him off... and he has my dagger with
him now as well.' Reaching behind, Lince could feel he still had one more dagger on him,
but just having one left him feeling rather vulnerable.
When Red lifted his hand in the air, red energy was gathering in the palm of his hand, but in
the air itself, small red particles-small line-shaped beams like lasers-were coming toward
the palm of his hand.
It made Lince wonder, was this energy like Qi, where it came from within his body, or was
it like Mana, where one used energy to force the energies of the outside world to be
controlled? It was hard to say at just a glance, but whatever it was, he didn't like it.
'Maybe I should stop him rather than let him go ahead with this final move of his. A throw
of my second dagger would be a bit harder this time, but then it would be harder for me to
fight hand to hand,' Lince thought, considering if his attack didn't work the second time.
Just then, from behind his ear, he could feel a tingling sensation. A low deep roar and the
sound of slight banging.
"That can't be?" Lince thought.
Turning his head, his thoughts had come true as he witnessed a giant white-furred monkey
flying through the air. Moments later, it crashed in the middle of the sand and started to
bang its chest again and again.
The monkey had a heavy landing, shaking the ground slightly and causing Red to stumble.
Right after, the monkey spun its body and started to chuck sand all over the place, and even
piles of rubble to the left and right.
Lince didn't waste any time and took his chance to head back where he came from-into the
dark green part of the jungle, searching other areas. He ran at a fast speed, and with his
silent footsteps and techniques he would leave no trace, making it almost impossible for
Red to keep up with him.
"You know, when I got rid of that monkey, I thought I would be happy to never see him
again. It turns out I was wrong. That was a good monkey-I should treat him to a few
bananas the next time I see him... if he doesn't try to snap my head off, or try to eat me
instead," Lince thought as he continued on, hoping he would never run into Red again.
The sun was starting to set on his journey, and Lince really had no idea where he was
going. He just knew that there was no point in turning to the light green-colored territory of
the jungle.
There was likely nothing there, as it would just be the outer area of the jungle, whereas the
dark green section of the jungle would lead to different places internally. At least that was
what he had gathered from his observations.
Eventually though, Lince had come across a stream of fast-flowing water. Seeing it, he knew
there had to be a strong source nearby, like a waterfall.
"That would be a good place to hide a special item, right? Aren't there usually secret
entrances to these things like behind the waterfall? If I was the one to hide the item, is that
where I would hide it, or would that be much too obvious?"
The more Lince thought about it, if he really hid an item and didn't want anyone to get their
hands on it, on an island like this, there really was only one thing he would do, and that was
to hide the item where the strongest beasts remained.
They wouldn't have a clue what the item was, and Lince wasn't even sure if beasts could
activate these artifacts by accident on their own-unless they turned into Hybrid beasts.
A shiver ran down Lince's entire body, just imagining how strong a Hybrid beast would be
that had to live in this type of environment.
Judging by the level of beasts that Lince had come across already, he had figured out that it
would be impossible to fight higher-level beasts than this on his own, and he had made the
right choice to team up with Zon.
"The question is, where even is that guy? With the sun setting, it's going to be hard for me
to keep searching."
So far, Lince had just gone down the river. If he came across the item, that wouldn't be a
bad thing either, and if there was some dangerous dragon-type beast protecting the
treasure, then he could look for Zon after.
Or just point some of the Light Faction members in the right direction, while they were
fighting the beast he could steal the item.
"Zon, where are you?" Lince sighed as he stopped walking.
"You called my name?"
Looking around, Lince was surprised to hear a response but could see no one next to him,
until his eyes caught something floating in the river. Lince had gone the opposite direction
from the stream so the current was far weaker, and he saw a man in a black skin-tight suit
just floating by.
"What are you doing in the river, get out of there, come on!" Lince asked.
Zon had quickly gotten up and pushed himself out of the river to the stone bedding, and
now Lince and Zon had reunited.
"It's getting dark," Zon said. "It might be best we camp for a while. The beasts in this place
are too powerful, and at night we have less of an advantage."
"I agree, and I think it's better we stick together and not run off from each other like last
time," Lince stated. "But you're going to have to explain why you were floating in the river
like that."
Chapter 989: The Fortis' Armies Secret? (Part 2)
Chapter 989: The Fortis' Armies Secret? (Part 2)

Lince and Zon had decided to head into the dark green jungle area and looked for a location
that would provide them decent cover. Eventually, they found a cliffside of sorts, where
they could set up some type of camp.
Because Lince was a powerful warrior, and Zon was... whatever Zon was, it wasn't as if a
campfire was needed for heat or for them to see. Zon could see well at night, and Lince
could use his other senses to help him in a fight.
The cliffside was chosen because they could at least see enemies coming from one direction
toward them, and didn't have to worry about their back or what was above at least at night.
Still, there were a few things Zon had said to set up, and they were temporary measures to
allow them to hear if beasts were heading their way. Breaking apart bark of the tree or
heavy- duty leaves, setting them up so if beasts came then it would clack several dark black
coconuts together, setting them awake.
While doing all of this, Lince had gotten his answer as to why Zon was just floating in the
water. Eventually, the two of them sat down by their makeshift camp and decided to talk.
"So what's the grand tale then? After you ran off and left me behind, it's quite clear you
didn't find the item, so why were you floating?" Lince asked.
"I had a run-in with those from the Light Faction. From my database, they were Ricar and
Beatrix," Zon explained.
It was as expected for Lince. The ships they saw were certainly the Light Faction, and
judging by who was sent, they didn't send any weaklings either.
"You don't look hurt, although it's hard to tell if you are hurt or not," Lince asked.
"I'm not," Zon answered immediately, as if he would have been offended to say he had
received a wound. But receiving one from two strong members from the Dawnblade Clan
wouldn't be a wound one should be embarrassed about.
"The reason I was floating in the water was because I was interrupted by a beast-it had to
be at least a level 7 beast. It took a lot of my energy and power to defeat it, and by the end
of it, I was low on reserves."
"I managed to pull out its crystal though, but my body is having a hard time taking in the
energy from the crystal. In order to not tire out and still travel around the island, I decided
to allow the water to just let me float around while observing all the areas I hadn't been to."
Lince didn't know what to say. He was thinking more and more that this partner of his was
a madman. Who would even think to do such a thing? Was he not worried that there would
be more beasts in the river where he fell from?
Or did he just not think that far ahead?
"Absorbing the crystal raw, not as a Qi pill? I know you're not a Pagna warrior, so you don't
use Qi. So is that what you run on, power stones from the beasts?" Lince asked. He was
curious for more reasons than one.
"A correction would be that's a type of energy we can run on," Zon explained. "In our world,
those like us can use different forms of energy. The system has to run on something, and we
can charge ourselves at certain places."
"Coming to this world, I learned that we can use crystals to power the system, the suit, and
other things that my body requires. However, it's interesting, I gave a system to one of the
warriors in Raze's group."
"It appears because the system integrated with him rather than someone from our world,
that the energy being used to power his system is his own Qi, so he doesn't have the same
hurdles as us. I'm sure he can grow up to be very strong." Zon smiled.
It was interesting to note, and it gave Lince an idea if he was ever to run into someone else
like he did earlier in the day again.
"Are you not going to even ask what happened to me?" Lince asked.
"Did you find the item?" Zon asked.
Lince shook his head.
"Then relevant information should have already been gathered. The Light Faction are here,
there are powerful beasts and we have no idea of the present location of the Golden Globe.
If you had information that was important, you would have said it already."
Lince's eyes were twitching. Although Zon didn't seem to be trying to antagonize him or
make him angry, he was sure doing a good job of it.
"The reason why I was asking you questions was because I ran into someone on this island
as well," Lince explained. "And he had the exact same black suit that you have, heck his
arms even lit up red like you did as well."
Immediately, Zon's eyes widened, looking at the ground. Numbers of images flashed in his
head. So many questions were coming to mind, but he didn't even know which to ask first,
and multiple system screens were popping up in front of him, reacting to his mixed and
various feelings inside.
"I think he said that he was from the Red Fortis army or something. Is he related to you
then? Didn't you say you were looking for someone, maybe this is your long-lost friend or
something or brother?" Lince joked.
But his happy nature stopped as he saw the look on Zon's face, and there was only one
question on his mind.
"A name... did you manage to get his name?"
"Yeah..." Lince replied. "He called himself Red."
Immediately, Zon clenched both of his hands. He had done so so tightly that his fingernails
had carved into the palm of his hand drawing blood.
"He's here... Red is really here, like I thought. The person I've been looking for is right here
on this island... this isn't good though. If you met with him and fought against him, how are
you even still alive?" Zon asked.
Chapter 990: Raze okay?
Chapter 990: Raze okay?

With the night sky coming out, and the moon rising, it wasn't just Zon and Lince that had
decided it was best to camp. All of the other groups in different areas had decided to do the
same.
Ricar and Beatrix still hadn't found any of the others in the deep jungle and had camped on
their own. They figured it was because they were in deeper compared to the others
anyway, but the thought of how many managed to survive did run through their heads.
Krynic from the Aurora Clan, and Impress were still together and had managed to gather a
few other surviving groups, and now they were around twenty in size-a fairly large
number. They feared that being in such a large group would attract attention from beasts in
the jungle.
But at the same time, a large size had its advantages in allowing many to keep watch for
anything.
Then there was Red, who was wandering around the place on his own, and lastly there was
also Lyon, one of the Elders from the Dawnblade Clan, who had gathered a group of ten
individuals from the Light Faction. A mixture of Dawnblade clan members and others.
While traveling through the jungle, they had found smaller groups and a couple of
survivors; that's how his group had grown larger. As for the other members, they weren't
so fortunate. The first day on the island was rough for many, and without groups merging
together, they had no way to tell each other what they had experienced or whether they
had found the Golden Globe or not. Leaving everyone feeling partly defeated and left with
their own thoughts on whether or not this whole thing was worth it.
With the first day on the island passing though, it didn't mean things remained stagnant
elsewhere. One person had been traveling non-stop through the towns, cities, and across
the land.
Now, with a stick and a fairly large rucksack on his back, Brack had been endlessly
traveling across the Demonic continent.
"You're going to be okay, right Raze? You're a strong warrior, Belil didn't do anything weird
to you, so it should all be fine, right, right?" Brack said to himself as he continued moving.
He was starting to remember why he had become so attached to Raze in the first place.
How, at the Martial Arts Tournament, despite the two of them being the same age and in
the same position, he had decided to stand up to Sha Mo.
For him, who was practically a stranger. His life after the Martial Arts Tournament would
have been worse than death. He would have been kicked out of the clan and unable to go
anywhere to progress his martial arts if Raze didn't give him a place.
And in the end, Brack had hedged his bets right, as Sha Mo had been defeated by this
individual. Now strange things were happening to Raze, and Brack was the only one there
to help him.
The large outer rocks could be seen up ahead, meaning Brack was at the right location. He
sped up with a spur of energy he had gotten and leapt, running up the rock and back down
into the center.
Things appeared to be the same, and there was no sense of beasts or anything like that
around the area. Not just that, but Raze was still on the floor.
Brack went over, and he was thankful for one thing, Raze didn't seem to be in as much pain
as before. The veins on his body were no longer bulging, but he still had other symptoms.
Sweat was running down the side of his face, and his skin still looked slightly paler.
His breathing was quite heavy as well, but whatever it was he was going through, the worst
of it seemed to be over.
"That's good, it might give a chance for the medicine to work better," Brack thought.
He pulled out the herbs and some special wraps, and started to wrap them around Raze's
body, allowing it to cool down. He even got a towel and hot water and was wiping the sweat
away from his face, before placing a cooling towel on top of his head.
Afterward, he gave Raze a number of mixed herbs in a liquid format and poured it down his
mouth. He could see Raze naturally swallowing the liquids, which was a good sign.
"These things usually take some time to get better, but this might be all I can do right now."
Lastly, Brack also gathered a bunch of bed quilts he had in his large sack, and placed it over
Raze's body. With the sun gone, it was quite cold, usually not a problem for a Pagna
warrior, especially one at Raze's level, but who knew what type of sickness they were going
through.
There was one last thing that Brack did, and he decided to pull out the special red Qi pill
that he bought. It had the marking of DM.
"You might laugh at me for using this on you, but the thing is I couldn't find any of these
pills on you, and they say the Dark Magus is the best at Alchemy, so here it goes," Brack
said, placing the pill in Raze's mouth and then using his hands to shut his jaw, helping him
chew the pill up.
"What is this!"
A voice was heard from behind, and immediately startled, Brack stood up and turned.
There wasn't meant to be anyone in the area. There was nothing here and no one knew of
the training area, so why would they be here? Even if he was followed, there would be no
reason for him to be followed.
When he saw who it was, or who the two were, things started to make sense to him.
"What happened to him!" Fing shouted. "What happened to our father!"
The two brothers had arrived, Fing and Han. After Belil, the strongest in the Neverfall Clan,
and right now the two of them were standing over their father's dead body.
Chapter 991: Raze is not the enemy!
Chapter 991: Raze is not the enemy!

With everything that had happened, Brack felt like the best decision was to leave Belil's
body as it was. He figured it had to have strong Qi left inside it to the point it wouldn't start
decomposing just yet, and at the same time, because of the area they were in, no beasts
would come after it.
After when Raze was better, then maybe they could figure out what was best, because he
feared bringing Belil's body back to the Neverfall Clan would incur a bunch of questions
which he didn't really have the answers to.
It turned out that now, that situation was unfolding right in front of him, his worst
nightmare.
'These two don't like me enough as it is, and now they stumble across this, what can I even
say!' Brack thought.
Fing was stood up, his hands were by his head, it was quite clear he was having some type
of meltdown. Loss was difficult for many, but usually in the case of Pagna warriors, death
was treated slightly differently as it was expected at any time.
The reaction that Brack was seeing now was worrying, as it was the reaction of those that
deeply cared for a person.
Meanwhile, Han was knelt down and seemed to be doing a few checks on Belil's body.
"He's dead… he truly is dead. There is no pulse anywhere in his body, it seems it has been
this way for quite a while, and even the Qi in his body is incredibly weak, almost everything
has been drained out of him."
Han didn't say it out loud, but he wondered how that was even possible? Unless there was a
fight of some kind that had pushed Belil truly to the edge. If that was to happen though,
wasn't the landscape too clean? More land, more of the area should have been destroyed,
and in the first place, was there anyone alive in the whole of Pagna that could even do that
to him?
Han then stood up next to his brother.
"It's true what you said, he's dead, father really is no longer alive, what does that mean for
the clan then, what does that mean for us… and who did this to him, who!" Fing shouted.
Han only looked ahead in a particular direction, and past Brack they could see another
individual on the floor, who appeared to be in a weak state. However, unlike their father,
they were alive.
"It was the Dark Magus, it had to be right!" Fing said. "Father and the Dark Magus were
going out, the two of them were planning to have a fight, it had to be him that was
responsible for this."
"Wait, wait, I think you got it all wrong!" Brack said, raising his hands in a panic.
He could see how the two had come to the conclusion. Anyone would have, and the reality
of the situation, which he didn't understand himself, would be even harder to believe than
the thoughts the two brothers had.
"Wait, wait, I think you got it all wrong!" Brack said, raising his hands in a panic.
He could see how the two had come to the conclusion. Anyone would have, and the reality
of the situation, which he didn't understand himself, would be even harder to believe than
the thoughts the two brothers had.
"It's true the two of them fought, but your father and Raze ended up like this after the fight.
Your father did something to Raze and then… he… he ended up like that. I went back to the
city to try and get supplies to help Raze… but your father, he was already gone."
"SHUT UP!" Fing said, and a wave of Qi left his body and swept toward Brack. If he wasn't a
middle-stage warrior, he was sure he would have fallen on his backside just from this Qi
alone.
"Your friend went too far, and killed our father. Killing the head, he is an enemy of the
Neverfall Clan. Stand aside and I will get rid of him!" Fing shouted, his hand on his gourd
ready to fight at full force.
Brack needed to think. Raze wasn't able to fight in this state, and if he was to go up against
both of them it would be impossible, even if it was just one of them it would have been
impossible.
"You might not believe what I said, but shouldn't you follow the Demonic Way anyway!"
Brack pleaded. "The strong have the right to rule. If you really think Raze was responsible
for all of this remember he is part of the Neverfall Clan as well.
"If he defeated Belil, then it shouldn't matter right, shouldn't you respect the result of what
happened, and not attack Raze while he's in this state while he's weak!"
When Brack said these words, he had used his eye contact mostly on Han, who seemed to
be more of the sensible one between the two of them. He was pleading with him to make
some sense.
"I can't believe that Belil was rightfully bested. Especially based on the situation. Raze, the
Dark Magus, is also a member of the Dark Faction, I cannot rule out that he used some
underhanded tactic to defeat our father." Han's hand then started to shake.
As Belil said to Raze before, maybe he had made a mistake raising these two boys, but they
were more attached to their father than they themselves realized. Always on his order,
always trying to do something for their father to be proud.
They didn't feel like they were members of the Neverfall Clan. Instead, just sons of Belil.
Wherever he went, they wanted to go as well. With him gone, and no guidance, what were
they supposed to do?
Right now, all of their anger was faced toward one person that was present and on the
ground. So much that neither of them could really think straight.
"Therefore, the Demonic way of strength above all is not valid in this situation!" Han stated.
"If Raze is truly strong enough to take on our father, then even in the state he is now, he
should be able to best the two of us!"
Now it was from Han that a wave of Qi had come out and spread, hitting Brack.
At the same time, Brack made a promise to himself as well, no matter what, he would
protect Raze. He would stand here and stop these two from getting close to him.
Chapter 992: I Gave You A Warning
Chapter 992: I Gave You A Warning

Brack had tried talking to them, to avoid a fight that he knew he had no chance of winning,
but it failed, which was as expected. Despite knowing that he was going to lose, he wasn't
going to run away, and he wasn't going to abandon Raze.
Brack charged forward, and then started to run to the side. He glanced over his shoulder
making sure Raze's body was at least not behind him.
"Making the first move, like you think this is a proper fight?" Fing said as he continued to
drink from his gourd, and then wiped his mouth.
Right after, he jumped from his position, and gathered powerful Qi energy in his body.
Like a shooting star he positioned right where Brack was and dived right towards him.
Brack had stopped moving and braced himself as Fing crashed in front of him and the
ground cracked right through his force. A few chippings from the floor had hit from the side
here and there, but he did well to keep his eyes open.
He saw an opening and struck with his fists left and right.
'I'm a middle stage warrior now, I'm at the same stage as them, so I should be able to do
something!'
There was one thing that Brack was good at as well, and that was his foot techniques. He
quickly moved from his position and appeared by Fing's side but just like the additional
two punches, all of them were effortlessly avoided by Fing.
His body was relaxed and fluid, which didn't match the scorn that he had continued on his
face, avoiding each of the hits. Until eventually Fing grabbed onto Brack's hand.
"Did you think because you were a middle stage warrior that you could stop us now? There
is a large difference between us and you, that can't be made up just like this!"
Brack went to throw another hand, which was immediately grabbed by Fing, and then he
twisted them down with ease. At the same time though, Brack then kicked his legs into the
ground.
It was an odd choice of attack, one that Fing didn't even understand because the kick
wasn't directed at him but instead was directed to the ground. It was only later that a rise
of Qi was felt coming from the ground and felt on Fing's hands.
It forced him to let go of Brack in that moment as he was left confused by the invisible
force. As Fing was wondering what was going on, Brack was seen with his hands holding
onto what looked like the air, and swinging it, the next thing Fing knew he felt like a
physical punch hit him right across the face.
It swung his head to the side, but he still hadn't moved from his position.
Fing slowly raised his hand at his cheek.
"What are these cheap tricks of yours?" Fing asked.
Right now, Brack was using the special technique of the Behemoth Clan, taught to the upper
members. A constant stream of Qi that could be controlled like that of a snake from one's
body.
He held both hands in the air, and then swung them together and now two giant snake-like
Qi objects were coming right at Fing.
'The element of surprise is all I have in this fight, so I need to do as much as I can before he
can get used to it.'
Fing was still standing in place as the Qi was coming to strike him, and at the last moment
he stretched out both of his hands. His fingers were curled like claws and he held them up
in the air.
Brack could feel it, the sweat running down the side of his face.
'He's captured my Qi, even though he couldn't see it, he figured out its trick already and is
holding onto it.'
"I can't believe I let someone of your caliber toy with me." Fing said as he closed his curled
fingers and balled his hand into a fist. Immediately both of the invisible giant Qi snakes had
broken.
Before Brack could do anything else as well, Fing was already upon him, and struck hard
right at the back of his head, causing his eyes to roll to the back of his head and his body to
slam into the hard ground.
"Come on Han, we have a job to do." Fing said.
Han jumped over to where Fing was, and now the two of them were looking at Raze who
was still on the floor. They had taken two steps toward him before they stopped, feeling a
surge of Qi from behind.
"I won't let you get to him!" Brack shouted.
When they turned around they could see Brack with his hand held out. He had used his
special Qi trait again, creating a giant snake that wrapped around their bodies.
Han then pulled out his flute, and started to blow sharply into it. While Brack was standing
there now he was on the receiving end of attacks that couldn't be seen.
His body was getting cut up left and right, was getting hit and pounded, blood came rushing
out of his mouth, but he still stood there, standing his ground, despite all of the attacks on
him.
"This guy is so annoying!" Fing shouted as he rushed over. Fing then pulled his hands back
and held them behind his back.
While Han had placed his flute away and was now standing right in front of him.
"There was no reason for us to take care of you." Han said. "And in a way, our father already
saved your life once, so we wanted to respect him by saving your life again, but I guess you
just made us realize that our father is now dead."
"He no longer has any wishes left for us to follow, so we will make our own choice. Since
you are so stubborn we will take your life."
Han raised his hand, a strike to the heart or head would kill Brack on the spot, and with
Fing holding both of his hands there was no way for him to escape.
"What did I say... What did I say... about touching him." A voice said from behind.
All Han could see was the shocked, wide-eyed look from his brother, along with the sound
of his heartbeat.
Chapter 993 A New Raze
Chapter 993 A New Raze

A deep voice resounded in both of the brothers' ears, and not just the brothers but Brack's
as well. When he looked up, he could see that the Dark Magus, Raze, was finally standing on
his feet.
No longer did he have the pale complexion he did from before. No longer was sweat
dripping down his body. He had recovered, and the strangest thing was, despite him
standing there right in front of them, everyone noticed something strange.
Han turned his head around. 'His Qi, where is his Qi? I can't feel his Qi at all?' Han
questioned.
"I finally get out of that nightmare of a situation and the first thing I need to deal with is you
two troublesome kids." Raze commented.
"Troublesome kids!" Fing shouted as he let go of Brack and stood by his brother's side.
"Who are you to say that to us? We, and our father, treated you like family, brought you in,
and now look at what you did to him!"
Fing shouted as he jumped up in the air. Han wanted to be more cautious, he wanted to
warn his brother not to be so rash, but since it was too late, he had no choice but to join in
on the attack as well.
If they were both to attack at the same time, it was the only way Han could foresee them
winning this.
'This is not like before, he's not in the same form as he was before. We can do this… this
time!'
Those were the last thoughts Han remembered thinking before they were followed by
excruciating pain, and then passing out. His whole vision had gone black, it felt like he had
left the world of Pagna, and for how long he had no idea.
When his eyes finally fluttered open, he could feel pain surging through his body. When he
looked to the side, he was able to see his brother Fing, in a mangled position, some of the
bones in his arms protruding out from his body.
'Just what happened to us… what happened?' Han thought.
"You're finally awake." Raze said. "It's a good thing I had some healing pills on me,
otherwise this might have taken a long time, and I'm in a bit of a rush."
Han wanted to say something, he was trying to move his mouth and gather energy, but the
look Raze gave him immediately told him that it wasn't a good idea.
"If it was up to me, both of you would be dead right now. I gave you both too many
warnings, yet you still decided to act rashly and in this way." Raze said.
Judging by the condition they were in, Han knew it, Raze could have killed both of them.
Still, he was confused. To be in this state without even knowing what happened… this
didn't even occur when Raze had bested them the last time.
Judging by the condition they were in, Han knew it, Raze could have killed both of them.
Still, he was confused. To be in this state without even knowing what happened… this
didn't even occur when Raze had bested them the last time.
How had he obtained so much power? Was this how he was able to best their father as
well?
"The reason why you're both alive, you can thank your father for that. It seems I owe that
man a lot now, and I'm starting by saving both of you." Raze explained.
"I'm sorry about your father's passing. I never wanted this to happen, it wasn't my choice.
You can choose to believe the words I speak or go against them, but I'm telling you now, if
you decide to go after me or those close to me, you will not be spared again."
"I think even your father would understand that."
Raze waited a while, and neither Fing nor Han said anything, which was quite a surprise
even from Fing, who had to be in utter disbelief.
"The strength I have right now was received from your father. The two of us battled it out,
and I lost, I was not able to best your father, he was far too strong. Right after the fight, he
decided to give me all of his Qi."
"His power flows through my veins, and what I just used on you two was part of your
father's power combined with my own. I won't go into the details of why your father did
such a thing… maybe that will be explained another time."
"But your father wished for me to take over a task for him by giving me his power… and I'm
still not sure what to do myself."
"Still, he had words for you two. With him gone, you two will be in charge of the Neverfall
Clan. I have no interest in running a clan and I'm already running the Dark Faction."
"Our relationship can be a good one together, but you two will have a lot of growing up to
do, and quickly. As the entire clan is now your responsibility. Grow strong like your father,
and protect your family and protect Pagna… like he did as well."
Raze then went and grabbed onto Brack, holding him tight and close. It was still an
awkward feeling for Raze, but initiating contact was getting easier, he just had to think of it
like a fight in his mind.
Right after he stretched his legs, and he exploded off into the air. He had a place he needed
to be, he had spent too much time, his body had spent too much time trying to get used to
the Qi taken in from the power.
The others would have been on the island already, and he needed to make his way there
and make sure the Golden Globe didn't end up in the hands of others.
While Han and Fing were left there with each other, they felt their bodies slowly getting
better, maybe after a couple of hours they would be able to walk again.
"Do you think what he said about father was true, that he gave his powers to that guy!" Fing
said. "Why wouldn't he give it to us, his own sons, it makes no sense."
"I think right now, it might be the only reasonable explanation." Han replied. "You
remember what father said before he left, he was acting strange, both you and me knew
that… things are making more sense if we think of them this way."
"What we need to decide is… do we help him as well?"
"Help him with what, I have no idea where he's even gone, and look at us, look at us!" Fing
shouted, stuck on the ground.
The next day on the island was starting, as the sun began to rise, and one more person was
planning to join.
Chapter 994: The King Of The Jungle (Part 1)
Chapter 994: The King Of The Jungle (Part 1)

As soon as the sun rose, both Lince and Zon were on the move toward the center of the
jungle. They had decided to avoid areas they had already gone through, including the
desert-like area that Lince had discovered Red in.
This was at Zon's suggestion, which was quite surprising for Lince. It was clear from their
conversation yesterday that Zon wanted to meet this man, yet now they were avoiding him.
Perhaps it wasn't the right time?
Regardless, the search for the Golden Globe was clearly more important, and Lince was
happy about that since it was his only priority. Going through the darkened area of the
jungle, thanks to Zon leading the way, they were able to avoid most beasts.
His hearing and senses were even better than Lince's, who was a highly trained specialist
Pagna warrior. It was surprising-at times he could see things that were even hidden, or
predict where beasts would be.
Eventually, this led them to a new area of the jungle. They knew this because the color of
the jungle had changed once more. Where the outside by the sandy beaches was a light
green, and the inner areas were darker, now this section of the jungle was almost a pale
yellow. The large trees and leaves looked almost unhealthy in color, dried out by the heat,
but the leaves and such were still plenty strong-it was just their coloration that looked this
way.
Another key thing they noticed was that some areas of the ground would go from hardened
earth and mud to sections of sand. There were also broken ruins in different parts.
Just pillars that didn't seem to form any type of structure, but were clearly part of one at
some point.
"I have hope that the more ruins we see that the closer we are to the artifact," Lince
commented.
"I would agree," Zon replied. "In other dimensions, the artifacts tend to be in areas of
civilization, so it should be the same here, but we do have to keep in mind that this was an
item that was purposely hidden."
"So it's either heavily protected or not in the most obvious place."
Lince was thankful that at least now the two of them were traveling together, as it was
making the journey much easier for him. But traveling with Zon, he couldn't help but think
about what they had spoken about the night before.
There were no beasts in the nearby area, the dark sky was out, and Lince had just revealed
to Zon about his confrontation with the man known as Red.
"How are you even still alive?" Zon asked.
This was Zon's reaction to meeting the man. Lince had an inkling that the two of them knew
each other, after all, they both had the same black suit that was hidden and attached to
their skin, but to get this type of reaction?
"Hey, do you think I'm really weak or something?" Lince replied. "Remember I am the
leader of one of the top clans in the Demonic Faction. I may not have a ridiculous title like
'the closest to the Divine realm' or anything like that, but I do have some strength." Lince
turned his head away; he couldn't believe it.
Maybe him being lazy in matters had ruined his reputation around the world of Pagna quite
a bit. Right now he wanted to go out there and prove to everyone something that only the
Lost Clan could do, but the more he thought about it, the more of a drag and effort it
sounded.
"I have evaluated your strength, and added a 20 percent modifier in my predictions," Zon
explained. "Even then, based on what I know about Red, he would still win in a fight
between you two."
"I know Red well, because the two of us are from the same world."
Lince had no frame of reference to how strong Zon thought he was, but to allow a 20
percent discrepancy and still say he would lose made Lince think back to the moments
before Red acted.
He had a bad feeling, which was why he decided to abandon the fight, and realized that it
might have been a good thing after all.
"If he's from the same world as you, then why is he here, why isn't he working with you?"
Lince asked.
"I can only assume that he is here because of Alter," Zon replied. "I doubt he was able to
gather information or come here on his own, and we only saw one set of ships on the way
here. Alter working with the Light Faction and him being a part of it, it all makes sense."
"As for working with that man, it's an impossibility. That is a man who only loves war, he
has no intention of going back home. I will just leave it at that."
A troubled past—as many of those who had lived a long life or held high positions had.
Actually, Lince was one of the few who didn't have any of these things. He had earned his
position in the Lost Clan, raised himself to be a strong warrior, and that was it.
The way it was meant to be in these clans: no mysterious past, no revenge plot to get
stronger, no family issues to prove one's strength, and the reason he was helping right now
was because he was somewhat friends with Belil and cared for Pagna.
"You don't need to tell me, but if you ever want to, I have an open ear. The good thing is, I
know now that if I see him, he's an enemy, not a friend." Lince replied, although he kind of
already figured that out.
Traveling deeper into the jungle, more pillars and ruins could be seen up ahead, and
instantly, Zon could see the back of a large creature with dark fur. It was faced away from
them.
"Why are we here?" Lince asked.
"Because, if you see, there's a wooden bridge right past that creature. So my guess is there's
something there," Zon claimed.
After saying those words, the creature turned around and opened its ferocious mouth. They
could see it was large in size with white fur on its body. It looked like the white-furred
monkeys, only this one was the biggest they had seen so far.
The creature had four tails split on its back. Its eyes were fierce, and on its chest there was
a patch of black fur.
"Judging by how strong the three-tailed giant white monkey was... I have no clue how
strong this one is going to be," Lince commented.
The monkey picked up a fairly large black coconut-it was around three times bigger than a
regular sized coconut-and hurled it towards the two of them. Both Lince and Zon moved
out
of the way.
As the coconut continued, it crashed into a tree, ripping out the center of not just one, but
several of the trees further on than the two of them could see with their eyes.
Chapter 995: King Of The Jungle (Part 2)
Chapter 995: King Of The Jungle (Part 2)

The other monkeys they had come across had thrown black coconuts before; they were fast
and hard when thrown, but never to this degree. Lince was quite shocked by the
destruction it caused as he looked at the trees that were now falling due to the middle
section being
completely missing.
The four-tailed white-furred monkey then roared out loud, causing the birds in the trees to
scatter into the distance.
"The fact that we are seeing stronger beasts might be a sign that we're heading in the right
direction," Lince said.
He saw that the monkey had a pile of black coconuts next to it. Most of them had been
broken into and the insides eaten. Instead of coming towards them and fighting, the
monkey picked up the half-eaten coconuts and started to hurl them towards both Lince and
Zon with its four
arms.
Lince, thanks to his great footwork, was able to avoid them all, and each time they missed,
he could hear the devastating destruction they caused behind him. Zon was fast as well, and
thanks to his system, he could predict the path of where they would be thrown even before
they were launched.
Both of them were avoiding them non-stop, but the coconuts seemed endless, and not just
that, Lince wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but the speed of the coconuts appeared to
be getting faster.
It looked like one pile of the eaten coconuts would soon run out, and then the monkey
would switch to the whole, bigger coconuts next to it.
"I have a suggestion: let's fall back for now and pick another route. There should be
different ways to get to where we want to be," Zon suggested. "Fighting this creature, even
with the two of us, might take too much effort."
Zon was also considering if they ran into more beasts and, more importantly, if they ran
into Red.
Lince agreed to the plan, and to show it, he jumped up in the air and slammed his heel into
the floor. Several parts of the ground broke off and scattered into the air. When the pieces
fell back to the floor, the monkey could no longer see the two small men who were in front
of him.
It scratched its head and then its belly with two of its hands, while the other two went
ahead to open one of the black coconuts with just its finger strength alone.
Both Zon and Lince had retreated back to the path they had come from. Although they
could no longer see the monkey, they could still see the destruction it had caused with its
fallen coconuts. Large trees had fallen on top of others, entangled with vines.
Looking at the ground, Lince then picked up one half of the black coconut that had been
thrown. It was surprisingly heavier than he imagined, at least over 100kg, and that was just
half of the outer shell.
If one wasn't a warrior, there was no way they could pick up such a thing, and it was nearly
the size of his entire chest.
Right after, Lince looked in a direction where there was a row of trees that seemed to be in
good condition. Gathering up his Qi, he hurled the black coconut half. It went flying,
breaking through several of the trees-around eight or so-before landing on the ground
approximately thirty meters away.
"Why did you do that?" Zon asked.
"You have your ways of judging strength, I have mine," Lince replied. "And I think you're
right, fighting that monkey would have been tough for both of us. Its raw strength is even
greater than mine with Qi."
"So you think you would lose?" Zon asked.
Lince let out a single, loud laugh.
"You really do think little of me. You seem to base things just on plain statistics. Even if its
raw strength is greater than mine, what about my battle IQ? What about my techniques and
skills that enhance my Qi? I can even sharpen my Qi or place it into a weapon, making it
more deadly."
"Even if that monkey threw a coconut directly at me, I could use my skills and Qi to break it.
I'm starting to think your evaluation of me is quite poor."
Zon didn't say anything. Instead, he was already trying to figure out different paths to head
to the same area. Eventually, after going around quite a bit, they came across another set of
ruins.
The ruins scattered in the jungle were placed in different locations, so both Lince and Zon
were sure they were in a different area, but it was almost the same layout. When they
moved ahead, they could see the same wooden bridge and a pile of coconuts by the side.
The thing was, there was also the same creature, the four-tailed monkey, only this one was
on the ground.
"It's dead," Lince said as he moved closer. Approaching it, they could see several large
marks on its body. Blood had poured from its mouth onto its belly, and there were even
broken bones.
What was quite surprising was that the area looked as if there were no signs of a battle at
all. "Do you think this was your friend?" Lince asked.
"Not my friend," Zon replied. "And no, it doesn't look like his work. Maybe another beast,
another type of monkey?"
It was scary for Lince to think there might be a beast even stronger than the monkey they
came across, but they both knew this wouldn't deter them. So they both decided to cross
the bridge, and when they did, they could see a man up ahead, sitting by the bridge, looking
their way.
"Oh, you're the first visitors I've seen today... well, apart from that monkey," the man said as
he stood up and brushed off his strange blazer.
Both Lince and Zon had no clue who this man was, but they knew one thing: every cell in
their bodies, and their instincts, were telling them to run away from this man.
Chapter 996: 1 in 10 Chance
Chapter 996: 1 in 10 Chance

The man in front of them, the way he was dressed, the way he stood, and more, were all
telltale signs that the man in front of them wasn't a regular Pagna warrior, and it was
perhaps knowing this fact that made their own bodies react.
If the man in front of them wasn't a regular Pagna warrior, then what exactly was he? It
was clear a normal individual wouldn't be able to survive such an island, and he was in the
darkened yellow section of all places.
Lince, also being the information gatherer of the Demonic Faction, knew the faces of those
he needed to be concerned about, especially in the Light Faction. Sure, he didn't know
about Red, but that was an anomaly hidden by Alter.
In this case, to spot another person like this? Were they also a member of Alter as well?
"I have to ask," Lince said as he cleared his throat. "That beast just over the bridge, that
didn't happen to be your handiwork, did it?"
"Are you talking about that monkey?" the man replied. "Ah yes, I simply wanted to just pass
through here, but it was quite determined to not let me go any further. So I guess you could
say that it's my handiwork."
It wasn't as if Lince couldn't have guessed the answer to his question-more so, he needed to
confirm it in his mind, just how cautious they needed to be with this person. Would running
away even be considered a good idea in this case?
"And why are you here?" Zon asked. While Lince was thinking of the best question to follow
up with, Zon had gotten straight to the point.
"Why am I here? That's a good question," the man said, placing his hand on his chin. "I
guess you could say this island attracted me. I could feel the strong power coming from it,
so I decided to pop by."
"It turns out that this island has attracted quite a few people here, and now seeing these
beasts and more heading this way, I have to ask, why are so many people even here?"
Now Lince was trying to figure out whether the question was something to bait them or
not, but he supposed if they were an enemy, he would have attacked straight away.
'Doesn't Zon have some strange sense of truth-telling?' Lince started to think. 'After all,
that's when he realized I was telling the truth and decided to work with me as well.'
"If the two of us aren't looking for the same thing, then I have to ask, will you let us pass
here with no trouble?" Zon asked.
The man smiled as he heard the question.
"You know, you're the first pair of people that haven't jumped straight at me and attacked
me the moment they saw me. So I appreciate that, but you see, from them, I learned the
reason why they were on this island, and now that does interest me."
Seeing how only Zon and Lince were working together, they could only assume the other
people he had run into were the Light Faction warriors.
"Since you haven't attacked me as soon as you saw me, I will do you a favor. If you turn
around and stop your search for the item, then things will be fine, but if you try to proceed,
I will have to stop you."
Lince quickly moved from his position, using one of his techniques to appear right by Zon's
side. His body appeared as if it disappeared, then reappeared. The entire time, Lince was
keeping an eye on the man to see what reaction he had from the move he had just
performed. It was a high-level footwork technique, and when showing it now, Lince wanted
to display the level of his skill to ward off the option of a fight-to show that the two of them
weren't novices either.
When he turned to look at the man, he could just see him lazily yawning away, as if
everything was just another day for him.
"You are good at chances, right?" Lince whispered. "So tell me then, what are the chances
that the two of us can take him on together?"
Zon was eyeing everything, trying to gauge his strength. He had a good idea of the Four
Tails Monkey, and on top of that, how the man in front of them had no wounds, while the
wounds on the monkey were severe.
"I think it would be slim..."
"Oh, so there's a chance," Lince said.
"I meant a slim chance of him losing. We would be defeated 999 times out of 1,000."
Just as they heard that, though, they could hear the sound of footsteps approaching on the
bridge from behind.
The two of them immediately turned their heads, and both Lince and Zon recognized who
the two were who had immediately drawn their swords.
They rushed across the bridge and jumped to the side, both of their swords pointed at Zon.
"Ah great, these are the two that you said you met before, right?" Lince asked, as he looked
at the Light Faction warriors who had their weapons pointed toward Zon.
Lince knew them well-it was Ricar, the head of the Dawnblade Clan, along with Beatrix, one
of the new elders in the group.
'Having their swords drawn out towards us because of Zon is understandable, but is the
other man in front of us really someone that they can side with as well?' Lince thought.
"You have been kind to answer our questions. What's your name?" Lince asked.
"My name? You really are polite. My name is Mosak," the man answered.
"And about the people that you said you came across and met before-were they wearing
the same light clothing as these two, and are they still of this world?"
The man then chuckled.
"I told you they attacked me, and anyone who attacks me deserves death," Mosak
answered, still not coming towards anyone. It seemed he was going to stay true to his word.
But Lince had an idea, and he made a suggestion as he leaned in to whisper to Zon.
"If we were to team up with the other two... then what are our chances?" Lince asked. Zon
looked at the two of them, thought back to how they fought, and gave his answer. "1 in 10.
A 1 in 10 chance that we will win."
Chapter 997: Running On Water!
Chapter 997: Running On Water!

On the shore of the beach, the pirate captain that Zon and Lince had forced themselves onto
to reach the island had been busy. Several of the men's clothes were soaking wet, and on
the beach itself, there was now a barrier facing outward from the shore.
It was made from the wreckage of the ship, while supplies had been gathered as well,
making some type of camp.
"We don't know how long we're going to be on this island, but if things like those monkeys
come back, we're going to be done for!" the captain claimed.
From the few dead bodies of the monkeys that had already been defeated by Zon and Lince,
the captain had ordered his men to place them close to the edge of the jungle. They were
afraid at first and, after hacking their bodies, immediately ran back.
There was some theory behind what the captain was doing-or more so just his own
thoughts that made sense in his head. The monkeys would be less willing to venture out of
their habitat and onto the sand if they could see and smell their fallen kin.
Even though the captain knew they would be hopeless in an attack against them, it was the
only thing he could do.
After making some sort of camp, they gathered several barrels of gunpowder, among other
things, and used the leftover parts and large leaves to create a makeshift bonfire.
"Captain, are you sure about this? If we make a large fire, won't it attract the other beasts
on the island?" a member asked.
"I'll keep that in mind as a last resort, but if there's a sailing ship going past in the distance,
we need to do whatever we can to get their attention. Ships will be few and far between in
these waters," the captain explained.
"I've spotted someone! I've spotted someone!" one of the men shouted with a telescope,
pointing out to sea.
"A ship? You've spotted a ship? Quick, light the bonfire, quick!" the captain shouted.
The man was pointing with his finger, shaking at the tip.
"No... not a ship, sir. As I said, I spotted someone!"
The captain paused from setting the bonfire alight for just a moment, walking over and
snatching the telescope out of his hands. As the captain looked through the scope, he could
see a white-haired man running on water.
He was getting closer by the second, and before the captain knew it, the man had
disappeared.
"Where is he? Where did he go?" the captain asked, swirling his head around, searching for
the white-haired man with the telescope.
As he placed the telescope down, though, he could see footprints in the sand, leading
straight into the jungle.
'That's impossible... right?' the captain thought.
Both Krynic and Impress felt like they were figuring out the jungle a little. Not only did the
white-furred monkeys reside in the lighter greens of the area, but through exploration, they
found other groups of beasts as well.
However, with their larger numbers, eventually, the two sub-leaders of the group had to
make a tough decision.
They had talked after making camp and now faced a choice on where to head.
"I think it will be more trouble for us if we try to head back to the beach or just stay put,"
Impress explained. "I can tell that there's a group of beasts following us, but because we are
on the border of the changes in territory, they haven't acted yet."
"The darker green territory-although the beasts seem stronger, it also seems like they are
fewer in number. With a group as large as ours, we would lose more members trying to
tread back," Krynic said.
It looked like the two leaders had come to an agreement. With their size, strength, and
formation, it was safer to encounter a more powerful beast in the darker green area, so
they decided to venture in and move slowly.
Turning back, Impress looked at the several movements scurrying in the trees, hoping she
had made the right decision.
With the large group, it was harder to move silently, but they were doing their best with
Impress scouting in the front and Krynic at the back, both of them moving in a circular
motion until Impress lifted her hand, signaling the group to stop.
They crouched lower as they looked ahead, and there was no explanation needed. They
could see the beast through the dense trees.
It had a large body and two necks sticking out-or perhaps two long eyes; it was hard to tell-
but as it reached up to the top of the trees, it was eating a red fruit. The yellow beast's body
was facing away, and Impress wanted to observe it for a while.
"Don't you think this is a good time to attack?" one of the warriors asked. "We can all go for
it at once while its back is turned."
Impress noticed something. They had been moving in a circular motion before deciding on
the safest route to edge forward, so they were still relatively close to the borders. In the
trees, there was a white-furred monkey with two tails and four arms.
The same kind they had seen on the beach, which had given their group so much trouble-
the one she had eventually bested.
Its eyes were glued to the red fruit, inching closer and closer to where the beast's head was.
As it moved closer, it eventually leapt over and tried to grab the fruit.
In an instant, the long head turned around and moved through the air, snapping at the
white- furred monkey.
The monkey was caught in the razor-sharp jaws of the beast, which continued biting away,
killing it instantly, with no struggle at all.
'It killed the other beast in an instant, and it wasn't even able to do anything. The speed it
moved at was incredibly fast as well... Did we make a mistake heading deeper into this
damned island?'
She was thinking of what to do since heading forward wasn't the right answer. In the
middle of her thoughts, though, seemingly out of nowhere, someone was now standing in
the center of the open area, close to the beast.
"Who... is that?" Impress thought.
It wasn't someone from their group, and there was one thing that stood out about him-it
was his bright white hair.
Chapter 998: Teaming With The Enemy
Chapter 998: Teaming With The Enemy

A new area of the jungle had yet to be explored further. Entering the yellow colored
greenery of the jungle, they had come across a wooden bridge, and after the ground started
to travel slightly uphill.
But just a few meters away from the bridge, several groups had come across each other.
Two individuals, Zon and Lince, and two more individuals, Ricar and Beatrix had joined.
Before them, there was another man with his arms folded, who had declared his name as
Mosak.
The man had been in a conversation with Lince and Zon, making his condition and situation
quite clear. When suddenly the two individuals from the Light Faction had arrived. Despite
this, Mosak was still calm as ever, and it looked like he was even ignoring them completely.
"Did you hear what was said?" Beatrix said leaning in to Ricar. She and him still had their
swords pointed toward Zon and Lince, and were even thinking of turning it slightly to the
strange man.
They had never seen him before, and to hear that their fellow allies had been struck.
"Don't take what this person says straight to heart. Judging from his attire, I believe that is
Lince from the Lost Clan, in the Demonic Faction." Ricar claimed.
Those at the top knew who to keep their eyes on in the other factions. However, Lince was
a little different compared to others, since not many knew what his appearance was like
due to the role he wished to play.
"So it's just a trick... but that man is with him as well." Beatrix said. "You were worried even
with the two of us it would be troublesome to take him on. So now that he has one of the
Demonic Faction's leaders by his side, wouldn't it be impossible."
This was certainly the thought that was going through Ricar's head. He slightly turned
looking toward the bridge hoping that maybe more of the Light Faction members would
have made it, and even a part of him was at least hoping for the other man from Alter to
arrive.
While Ricar had a side eye at the bridge, he could feel Qi being directed right at him, and
saw that the Demonic Faction clan leader was heading his way.
'Such straight forward Qi, this isn't how I thought the man would attack. Isn't his Qi meant
to be hidden and kept under-wraps.'
When high-stage warriors fought, the way the Qi was used in combat was quite important.
Since higher stage warriors were more sensitive to Qi, it could reveal where an opponent
was, how much power was in a strike, and even where a strike would come from.
The Qi that was flowing through Lince's sword, it was being directed straight at Ricar, and
he could even see it being directed right where his sword was.
'This is too obvious, especially for a man of his caliber, is he trying to trick me?' Ricar
thought.
But he held his sword firm, and to everyone else it looked like Ricar had performed the
perfect block as waves of Qi exploded in the air.
"Beatrix don't move, just make sure the other one doesn't come forward!" Ricar shouted.
Pulling down the mask that covered part of Lince's face, a scarred smile appeared through
it. "It seems like you understand." Lince commented.
"You didn't strike me on purpose and made it obvious, this is just a show for the man that is
there, so clearly you want to say something. So just say it!" Ricar said.
Lince started to swing his dagger about and had done it in the same fashion as he had done
before. Making it obvious via his Qi as to where he was going to attack. This allowed Ricar
to move it in the perfect place blocking.
It was a flashy performance to those watching on the outside, not knowing who had the
upper edge.
"My friend told me you met last night, and that you are after the same thing that we are, the
golden globe." Lince commented. "The issue is, our path is blocked by this man right now,
and I don't know if you can tell or not, but that man is extremely powerful."
Ricar took a glance, there was something off about him, but there was also something off
about Zon so it was hard to say.
"He has already dealt with a large portion of the Light Faction, he won't let you guys
through to the next area as well, and it's the same as us, so I have a proposal, just for now, a
temporary truce between the four of us." Lince proposed.
Ricar continued to block the attacks, and he was thinking in his head. Regardless they
would have to fight against Zon and Lince, which was already a tough battle for them. This
Mosak individual wasn't on their side either, so he would be another opponent.
"The truce continues." Ricar said. "until we find the item, when that happens, then we must
decide a fair way to get the item."
Lince wanted to burst out laughing? A fair way when they found the item? Even if they
were those stronger that could just take it? Did Ricar also have no idea what the stakes
were of this item?
Even if they lost whatever this fair way was? It wasn't as if Lince could just let it be and
watch the downfall of the world and more, he couldn't, and this was the naivety of the Light
Faction shining through.
The thing was, Lince didn't mind that about Ricar and Beatrix by his side, because they
believed this they were perhaps the easiest to deal with.
"Alright, let's do this then!" Lince said, as he suddenly moved to the point where he was
behind Ricar.
"Did you hear everything young woman, now's the time." Lince said.
He only spoke those words before turning around, and his dagger started to shine brightly.
As
it did, he hurled the dagger straight heading right for Mosak.
At the same time, the other three had charged forward following up from the attack.
Mosak smiled, as he moved his head to the side and grabbed onto the handle of the dagger
stopping it from going any further and held it in place.
"So this is your decision?" Mosak asked.
Chapter 999: Unbeatable Opponent
Chapter 999: Unbeatable Opponent

Lince had placed a great deal of Qi into his dagger when he decided to throw it this time. He
had already let one dagger go and lost it during his fight against Red, which had been a
considerable setback. Throwing another one again presented quite the risk, but he believed
that the element of surprise would be on his side this time. He felt that the suddenness of
the attack could catch his target off guard, allowing him to turn the tide of the battle, even if
only momentarily.
After all, even when he had thrown the dagger against Red before, it had still been effective
in striking its target. The problem was that it simply did not achieve the outcome he had
originally intended. The dagger had not inflicted the level of damage that Lince had hoped
for. What he did not expect, however, was for the strange man standing before him now to
catch the dagger so cleanly, as if it were the easiest thing in the world. The man's body had
not even been dragged backward. This display of strength and control was both astonishing
and unnerving.
"This is the power of the warriors that roam these lands these days?" Mosak asked with a
tone that suggested mild disappointment rather than admiration. "I suppose I shouldn't be
too surprised. I can't even remember the last time a warrior ascended to the Divine realm."
With everyone converging on his position, Mosak carefully eyed all those who stood before
him. He examined Zon, Beatrix, and Ricar, gauging their stances, their weaponry, and
perhaps even their internal reserves of Qi. Then, holding the captured dagger in his hand,
he abruptly threw it back. Immediately, it flew at terrifying speed, passing right by Zon,
Beatrix, and Ricar without any sign of slowing. It continued on its path, heading straight for
Lince with an almost casual ease, as if guided by Mosak's mere will.
Seeing the blade's trajectory, Lince decided to use all of his Qi to evade the attack. He
moved swiftly out of its path, twisting his body with trained precision.
The dagger sped right past him and disappeared deeper into the jungle's thick foliage. As it
traveled forward, it cut through whatever stood in its way. It did not fade or vanish, nor did
it lose momentum. Instead, it was like a needle piercing silk, carving a narrow, unwavering
line through the dense growth.
The difference was clear. Unlike the coconut bombardments from the beasts they had faced
before, which caused wild swathes of destruction, this dagger's path was pinpoint sharp.
There was no wide-ranging chaos, just an unrelenting blade slicing through whatever
dared to block its straight journey. Lince had no idea where it might finally come to rest, or
even if it would stop at all.
'One in ten… your estimate might have been right on this one,' Lince thought, recalling
previous calculations he had made. 'This makes me think I might have lost against that Red
guy as well. But I know one thing for sure: there's no way I could win a match against this
man alone. So you must either think highly of these two at my side, or very highly of
yourself.' His thoughts swirled as he considered whether Zon, Beatrix, and Ricar combined
would be enough to handle an adversary of this caliber, or whether Mosak was simply that
confident in his own abilities.
Ricar's sword was shining brightly. When he drew near his opponent, he stabbed the blade
into the ground, causing a vibrant, radiant light to flare up. This sudden brilliance served as
a strategy to distract. Beatrix, meanwhile, had made certain to stay directly behind Ricar,
using him as a shield from any counterattack. She wanted to avoid exposing herself too
soon.
'This technique didn't work against the man by my side last time,' Ricar thought, recalling
earlier battles. 'Still, it should give him the opportunity to attack.' He trusted that Zon
would seize the opening presented by the flash of light.
And that was precisely what Zon did. He had already energized two red swords and,
without hesitation, thrust them both forward toward their shared enemy. Yet, just as
quickly, Zon felt a force pushing back. When the flash of light disappeared, Ricar and
Beatrix caught sight of the final moments of what had just occurred. The man had been
using only his hands, covering them in Qi, moving them in a circular motion to deflect the
red energy beams that Zon had fired. It was an elegant, efficient defense, and it unsettled
them all the more.
Right after that exchange, Zon refused to give up. He continued to attack, moving incredibly
fast, lunging with his sword from all manner of angles. He tried high strikes, low strikes,
diagonal cuts—anything that might break through. For the first time, the mysterious man's
face lost a bit of its casual smile. This subtle shift gave Ricar and Beatrix a hint of hope.
Perhaps their combined assault was beginning to test him.
Ricar advanced along with Beatrix, the two of them running in an intertwined pattern.
Their footwork was carefully choreographed, each step taken to create an opening for the
other. When they drew close to the man, Zon pulled back at just the right moment, as if he
had eyes in the back of his head. He seemed to know that Ricar and Beatrix needed this
chance to strike together.
Ricar swung his sword, employing various techniques he had mastered over countless
hours of training. Although his blows were deflected, they were not brushed aside lightly.
The man had to handle them with more care, suggesting that Ricar's attacks, if not
immediately victorious, were at least worthy of more measured defense. However, Ricar
could not keep using these high-level techniques indefinitely. They were draining, and he
had a plan to address that issue.
Beatrix rolled in from behind with fluid grace, and as she rose into the air, she struck
downward from above. Her sword glowed with energy, and she brought it down toward
Mosak with a focused intensity. This was a coordinated effort, designed to stress Mosak
from multiple directions.
Mosak lifted both of his forearms, blocking Beatrix's descending attack. He braced himself
so firmly that he sank slightly into the solid ground beneath him. The earth gave way under
the pressure, forming a shallow depression. While he was locked in this blocking position,
it created a perfect opportunity for Zon to capitalize on the distraction. Zon, who no longer
held the energized swords, began to fire blast after blast at Mosak, aiming to strike him
while he was occupied.
The assaults from Zon impacted Mosak's body, causing visible damage to his clothing and
perhaps some superficial harm. Yet the attacks did not pass through as they normally
would. At least Zon knew now that these methods were not entirely ineffective. There was
some effect, however minor, and that was better than nothing.
"I no longer have a weapon, but I still need to do my part!" Lince shouted. In almost an
instant, Lince appeared right in front of Mosak. The wrappings that usually covered Lince's
arms were now wound around his legs, providing extra support for his next move. He spun
into a powerful side kick aimed directly at Mosak's stomach.
The impact sent Mosak's body flying into the air. He crashed into a tree, breaking it apart,
and then dropped to one knee on the ground. Despite this, Zon did not let up. He continued
to move his hands rapidly, firing laser-like beams into the spot where Mosak had landed.
Eventually, he ceased the barrage and summoned his two red energized swords once more.
"Working together, I think we make quite a good team," Lince said, sounding pleased that
they had at least forced a reaction, if not a decisive victory.
"Everyone should prepare," Zon warned, his tone serious. "He's still very much alive." With
Zon's enhanced senses and systems, he knew full well that their attacks had done next to
nothing in terms of truly injuring Mosak.
They saw the truth of Zon's words for themselves. Mosak began to rise from the shattered
remains of the fallen tree, casually brushing dust and debris from his clothing. It was as if
their barrage had been nothing more than an inconvenience to him.
"Alright, I have to admit, the one with the freaky black suit is somewhat strong," Mosak
said, referring to Zon's distinctive attire. "It wasn't quite what I was expecting." He sounded
almost amused. "But I like the unexpected. Everything so far on this island has been
somewhat unexpected!"
Lince, observing the situation and trying to gauge their odds, felt a deep sense of concern. If
the four of them, working together, could not bring this one opponent down, then what
chance did anyone else on this island have? If the strongest among them could not best
Mosak, who could possibly hope to emerge victorious against such a foe?
Chapter 1000: The White Haired Demon (Part 1)
Chapter 1000: The White Haired Demon (Part 1)

Krynic, who was leading the Aurora Clan, and Impress for the Dawnblade Clan, had laid low
after seeing the beast in front of them. Seeing how easily it was able to kill the white-furred
monkey, they knew taking out the beast itself was going to be a tough task.
The truth was, no matter where they went, they would run into trouble all over the place.
So they were just going for the simplest or easiest option. In Impress's mind, it was the one
that would lead to the least amount of deaths within their fairly large group.
While observing the dangerous beast, though, that was when a particular man appeared.
He landed in the center of the open area, which was void of the large trees but still had tall
grass and broken branches on the ground.
The beast was off to the side, still munching on the remains of the monkey. The man that
stood in the open area appeared out of nowhere. There was almost no noise, no action, no
Qi felt by Impress, and she had almost missed him.
If it wasn't for the fact that the young man had white hair, she might have ignored him
altogether.
"There's someone out there, but with that beast, they'll be killed!" was Impress's initial
thought, until she started to have a good look at the young man in the center.
His appearance wasn't one of their own. It wasn't someone from the Light Faction. Yet, she
had a feeling of familiarity when she looked at him.
"Are you wondering the same thing as me?" Krynic asked, moving from the back of the
group over to Impress's side. "What is the Dark Magus doing here?"
It started to click in Impress's head. She had seen this man before. It was the Dark Magus,
the student who had taken part in the Martial Arts Tournament from the Demonic Faction.
Nearly all of them had been present that day, and his countless performances had burned
his image into their heads.
When Impress looked at the young man, though, there was something different about him.
The whole air around him felt different, and she didn't feel as if she were looking at the
same individual. Yet, just by his face, it was clear that it was him.
"It's expected that the Dark Magus would be here. There's a reason Alter wants their hands
on this item after all, and it might be so he doesn't get his hands on it," Impress said.
"Well, it would be the perfect chance to take out a big enemy. Part of the Demonic Faction
or leader of the Dark Faction here alone? With all of us and us two, we should be able to do
it."
Impress quickly moved her hand out again, signaling for Krynic to stop, as she could see he
was already ready to move.
"He is not an easy target like most think. That is maybe why no one has been able to take
him out so far. Do not underestimate him." Impress didn't take her eyes off Raze for a
second, who continued to just stand there.
"This man is the one that bested Murkel and climbed to the top of the Dark Faction. Maybe
some consider it a fluke or didn't see the real results with their eyes, but shortly after, he
even bested Sha Mo from the Demonic Faction, proving that it wasn't just a one-time thing."
"No one can think of him as an easy target anymore."
Krynic didn't argue because he realized that when she put it like that, it was true. Warriors'
lives were longer than those of regular humans, and honing one's skills and Qi took a long
time.
So legends and powerful warriors took time to build up their legacy, to build up their
stories. It was something that was passed around and talked about frequently. Passed on
from when they were children, warned about in their clans who not to mess with.
These things were drilled into their heads again and again, even if they were part of
another faction. But that wasn't the case with Raze or the Dark Magus. He was a new
warrior who had seemingly come out of nowhere.
Disrupting everything the warriors had solidified over years. So when seeing such a person,
it was quite easy to forget about the things that he had done. His legacy was short, but
looking at his record, the Dark Magus was shaping up to have one of the biggest legacies in
Pagna.
"Then, we should stay put," Krynic suggested. "The beasts on this island aren't normal.
Even us top-tier warriors are struggling with them. Let him deal with it on his own, and
right after, we'll swoop in and take him out."
A worn-out, injured man-either way, with all of them, no matter how strong he was, they
should be able to take him out. It was worth the risk to them.
Although Raze still didn't move, it looked like the beast was ready to act. It turned its head
and looked toward Raze with its two long heads. One of them was covered in blood due to
its sharp teeth.
The heads were moving in a circular motion, as if swirling with the wind, until they opened
wide and let out a high-pitched screech. It screamed at the top of its lungs, and both heads
moved at the same time.
They were lightning-fast, just like when going against the white-furred monkey. It swung
them low, opening its mouths, heading right toward Raze.
"I thought beasts had better sense than humans," Raze said as he still looked down at the
ground. "You should know when you have met someone who's far stronger than you!"
Raze turned his head and stared directly at the beast. His eyes were wide open, and he
looked straight into the eyes of the beast. In that instant, its mouth stopped along with its
heads, dead still.
Then, with its large legs, it started to back away.
"What... is going on? The beast-it's not attacking?" Krynic asked.
Content from Chapter 501 Breaking a rule to Chapter 1000: The White Haired
Demon (Part 1)

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