Lifting up one hand, Barlan sent one of the beasts soaring into the air with a tidal wave of water. They shot up like a volcano had exploded, and then with the other hand, he formed a column of water, pushing the beast and crashing them into the wall.
He continued to do this one after the other, eventually jumping down into the middle of the mess of beasts. Seeing them come toward him, he made a series of motions, and then with both hands pushed forward.
“Surf!” Barlan called out.
A literal wave of water rose from the ground and swept the beasts away. It pushed them back down the street they had come from, into more hallways.
Those in their buildings were unsure of where all of this water was coming from and quickly made sure to keep their doors shut. Some had water seep in for a short while, but managed to close their doors in time as beasts struggled and were unable to find their footing.
Some had been swept into other buildings, but the water and struggle of the beasts gave them a chance to use their weapons to finish them. The water also helped as it diluted the juices that would come from their bodies, leaving them to have less effect.
Even those that were hit by the juices and felt a burning sensation could quickly place it in the water to wash most of it off.
‘This power,’ Barlan thought, looking at his own hands. ‘My mana, it completely restored back to what it was. I felt like I was about to lose everything, and now I have all of my strength back.’
‘And those other pills, it gave me a boost. My cast time was faster, even my thinking time allowing me to cast spells faster as well. These pills… I never knew they could have such effects.’ freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
As Barlan thought about it more, he realized something. He had heard similar effects of certain pills. The effects that he had heard about were those related to Pagna warriors though.
The Alchemist that called himself the Dark Magus. He had created pills with such effects that they were sought all over the Demonic Faction, and that’s when he remembered the marking on the pill as well.
‘I am a fool, I didn’t even notice that the DM marking on them meant that they are pills belonging to that person. It is interesting though, that these work on mages as well. I wonder how that young mage happened to get such pills, and how he knew they would work.’
‘From what I heard they are expensive, but then again, he does somehow have the means to pay for these things.’
Since the situation was cleared up, and from the look of things, they had mostly cleared up in the shop as well, Barlan decided to enter again, as he had noticed something while he was above.
When entering through the door, immediately a number of people turned, but the fearful look on their faces had disappeared when they saw it was a human, and he could tell why.
A couple of warriors had ended up killed along with a few citizens who were unable to get away. Clothes were all over the floor, racks bent and knocked over, and bodies of dead beasts on the ground as well.
“I didn’t go looking for Raze,” Barlan commented. “There were a large number of beasts outside. I’ve managed to deal with them, and I noticed something else as well. You should avoid using your weapons that make loud noises.”
“These beasts, it doesn’t just look like they have no eyes, I’m pretty sure they don’t. They’re attracted to loud noises, which is why we were drawing more attention compared to other places.”
When explaining this, Barlan made sure to say it close to Marcus. He didn’t want the regular people inside to hear; otherwise, they might fully blame them for using such weapons and try to turn on them.
“I see, I should have figured it out, the tool I used to save my life was just ending it quicker. As for you, Barlan, you did a good job; I saw how many were out there. It appears as if you have gotten stronger,” Marcus said, giving Barlan a pat on the back.
He didn’t want to tell the truth that it was due to the items, so he kept it to himself for now.
Just then, another beast had come from around the corner from the outside. It turned its head to look at the others, and Marcus had immediately by reaction pointed his gun out and aimed right for its head.
“Wait!” Barlan called out. “I’ve made a silent barrier; it won’t be able to hear us, but if you fire that thing and it goes outside, it will just attract attention. Let’s just let it pass.”
They looked at the beast for a while, and soon it moved its head in a particular direction. It had noticed something and started to run through the streets. It climbed the building, and it was off and out of sight.
“It looks like you were right,” Marcus smiled.
“Let’s go look for the young one; who knows, he could be in trouble, and then Himmy and him could owe us a few favors. I have a feeling he might have gone in the direction of where that beast headed off as well,” Marcus said as he walked ahead.
Barlan was willing to follow them as normal, but when he went to take another step, he suddenly felt all of the energy drain from his body. His legs were weak, his sense of mana had almost disappeared completely, and he fell to his knees, covered in sweat.
“What’s wrong!” Tanya asked.
She touched him and noticed his skin was slightly cold.
“It’s okay, I think I’ll be alright; this is just a small setback,” Barlan answered, thinking that this could only be because of the pills he had taken.
‘These pills, if they have something like this… are they cursed pills? Like a cursed potion, but if that’s the case, these things, they can only have been created with Dark Magic.’
A dreaded fear had set in, Barlan at that moment. Maybe it wasn’t a coincidence. This Dark Magus that was an Alchemist and created these pills, a mage that used Dark Magic and carried the same name; it was starting to link up more and more.
Chapter 477 Trying Something New
Neil, the current captain of the Lost Clan in the city they were in, found himself in a tight spot. Unable to injure the strongest beast that had attacked the city, he had resorted to trying to attack its softer body parts.
In his mind, this was the inside of the beast, and what better way to attack the inside than attacking it right through its mouth. He had no choice but to directly charge, but he soon found out that the strength of the beast was far stronger than his.
He was battling against its powerful jaws, but it felt like no matter how much Qi he placed into his muscles, he was going to be clamped down on and become food for the beast.
That was until a powerful force came from above, flinging him out before the teeth could clamp down, and he was sent skidding across the floor.
Looking up at what could have happened, there was only one answer: a man stood there with a strange sword in his hand, glowing with orange energy that was turning brightly in his hand.
A person with white hair, a young man whom he had witnessed before.
‘He attacked the beast… but he was with the Wanderer group, right… was it a fluke, or just a powerful attack that didn’t do any damage?’ Neil was trying to think.
One thing was clear: the beast was clearly not dead. It was getting up off the floor and was sweeping its head in the air back and forth. It galloped, its wings pushing the wind, but the young man stood there strong.
“Hey kid, get out of there, run, or you’ll be killed! That beast is not something you can deal with,” Neil shouted at the top of his lungs and started to get off the floor.
However, the young man continued to stand there, unafraid of what was to come. The beast pushed its legs against the floor, and then charged forward with its mouth open.
Neil was too far away from the beast to reach the young man and help. When the beast got close, he saw the young man lift his sword up and swing it right in front and on top of the beast’s head.
The sword bashed down, and when it hit the top of its head, its mouth closed and slammed shut, while it stopped in its tracks as if it had hit a large wall. Waves of Qi were forming in the air and pulsing out.
This was all Neil could see, and the fact that the young one hadn’t moved an inch from his position.
‘How… how is it possible, how could a single person do such a thing!’ Neil thought.
Some of the men at the side were watching as well; due to the noise and commotion they were creating, the beasts that had been attacking them were no longer doing so. They had moved closer to the main fight that was occurring with the larger beast, but due to waves of energy, they were too afraid to get close.
“That’s not right,” Raze said. “The feeling, it isn’t quite right, the feeling in my hand.”
The beast went to attack again, swinging its head, and Raze hit it to the side with a powerful strike along with his Qi. Its head swung, and it continued to swing, trying to bite at Raze.
Each time, Raze just swung his sword, hitting the head away again and again. ƒrēeReadNovelFull.com
‘The feeling, what is the feeling, why can’t I get it to work right?’ Raze thought.
Each time Raze struck the beast, a pulse of Qi energy was seen bursting through the air.
As Neil continued to watch, he noticed something strange: first, it was where the Qi was coming out from. It wasn’t coming from the sword itself like most when using a skill with Qi.
Instead, it was coming out from the back of the sword; it was exploding like a pulse from the hilt. At times as well, the energy that was coming out from the sword seemed to be different in size, larger or smaller than the other.
‘It’s getting better, but I just can’t get it right!’ Raze thought as he went to thrust the sword this time.
He had gathered his Qi in the hilt of the blade, and Dark Magic was starting to surround the bottom of the sword, swirling around. As Raze thrust his sword at the beast, it crashed right into its chest.
The blow of Qi exploded out of the back of the sword, but the Dark Magic had broken and disappeared.
The attack had caused a large, deep thrust in its neck, and blood was dripping onto the floor. In response to this, the beast then flew in the air with its wings, but looked down at Raze on the ground.
“That attack!” Neil’s eyes opened wide. “It managed to pierce the beast’s skin. All of my attacks didn’t work before, but why does it feel so strange?”
While watching the young warrior, there was something that just felt off to Neil, something not quite right, and it wasn’t just the confidence in his strikes.
While the beast was flying in the air, that’s when he could see Raze continue to thrust the air, using the same attack as before, and the realization had hit him.
‘He’s practicing… he’s practicing right now in the middle of battle; is his power so much stronger than the beast that he is able to do that?’ Neil wondered. ‘Could he defeat the beast at any time, and what attack is he even trying to do?’
After picking up speed in the air, the beast had set its eyes on Raze, and as it swirled in the air one more time, it dived straight down toward Raze.
Looking up at the beast though, Raze had a large smile on his face as he held the sword.
‘I’ve figured it out, the fourth Dark Edge Magical Sword Art formation: The Void Pulse Formation!’
Chapter 478 A New Dark Edge Sword Art
The mighty beast swirled about in the air, picking up more speed. It was moving in circles, faster and faster, and when it had finally picked up just enough speed, it decided to fly down, speeding right towards Raze.
Despite all of this, Raze was calm. The power coming from the beast had to be immense, but in his eyes, it was at a stage 4 at best. Most of the beasts in the area had to be at stage 3.
He had defeated a stage 4 beast a while ago, and that was when his magic powers, including that of his Qi, were weaker. He had advanced far, now at the peak of that of 4 star.
Not only that, but after killing the mages that had invaded, the effect of his special ring had taken place, giving him more dark energy than before, and he was now using the Dark Edge Sword Arts, which worked extremely well with his Dark Magic.
Raze bent down at his knees and placed his sword down at his side; he gathered his Qi into the hilt, and doing the same, magic started to form. Floating in the air, a ring of Dark Magic was swirling around the handle of the sword.
‘The Dark Edge Sword Arts, all of them are unique and can be used in particular situations,’ Raze thought. ‘The first sword formation is used for restricting one’s opponent. It mixes Qi and magic to create powerful bindings that wrap around the target based on the sword strikes used.’
‘The second formation, the Eclipse Strike, is powerful. Something that combines the sword with Qi and magic and unleashes it in a single swing down with both hands. It creates a single large line of pure power.’
‘The third formation, it’s quite a complicated strike, the Nightmare Veil Formation. I haven’t tried to perfect it yet, and this isn’t the best time for its use, but in this situation, the fourth strike is best.’
Raze had memorized most of the strikes, but there were the odd tidbits that needed to be sorted and perfected for perfect use. When trying to just use the movements, many of them felt awkward to him.
Controlling Qi and magic at the same time was difficult, and he realized that it wasn’t his magic control that caused the strikes to not work, but it was his Qi control. After what Feebie had done to him, his Qi control had reached a higher level, and not only could he produce all ten of the Descending Steps, but now he was also able to perform the fourth Dark Edge Sword Arts formation.
The Void Pulse formation.
This was only in theory as Raze noticed he was still unable to perform it. When fighting against the beast in front of him, he thought it was the perfect chance to use the fourth formation.
‘The beast, although there are many ways for me to beat it, times like this are perfect to learn new things. Another tool in my pocket I can use to defeat the Dark Faction Pagna Academy Principal is the Dark Edge Sword Arts!’
Layering around the circle of Dark Magic that Raze had created was his Qi, and right then, he thrust it forward. The tip of the blade hit the head of the beast straight on.
The moment it made impact, a large pulse of Qi and dark magic exploded just from behind the weapon itself. It was propelling forward as the energy blasted right from behind.
The floor on the ground behind the sword was crumbling, and the sheer power had caused Neil’s body to be lifted in the air, and for him to tumble back.
The sword completely pierced right through the center of the beast, ripping it apart in a single strike, and Raze had to push the rest of the body apart with his wind magic so he wouldn’t get hit by the remainder of the body.
The momentum of the beast flying caused parts of its body to fall to either side of Raze onto the ground. The energy of Raze’s attack had come to an end.
The single pulse of energy was over. Raze still had his sword in a thrusting position with one hand.
When the others went to look at the situation that had occurred, they could see part of the beast’s body on the ground, but they noticed the center part of the large body was completely missing. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
They were unable to even see the head among the parts that were visible. The only conclusion that they could come to was that the attack that had even been produced by the Pagna warrior had completely destroyed it so it couldn’t be seen anymore.
Raze finally got out from his stance and looked at his blade; he could feel the power.
‘That was a strong piercing strike,’ Raze thought to himself. ‘The Eclipse Strike covers the entire sword, almost smothering the target with power, whereas this is more like a piercing strike of energy.’
‘Not just that, but it uses the energy to propel the sword, rather than using the energy on the sword like the Eclipse Strike.’
‘To be honest, although the strike is powerful, if it was being used with another sword other than this one, it might have destroyed the sword completely. It only worked because of the strength of the sword itself.’
It was a lesson to Raze in a way; maybe the items and equipment he was using weren’t ready for all of the Dark Edge Sword Arts.
Now having figured out how to use the fourth formation, Raze looked at the rest of the beasts. They almost were as stunned as the rest of the people who had witnessed what had happened.
It was clear to Raze one thing though; he didn’t think this was the Dimension Boss. He imagined that it was just a strong beast among these, but he was confident even if he was to meet the Dimension Boss, he could also defeat that.
At the moment though, he couldn’t feel a strong presence in the city, so most likely the portal was a distance away from the city.
Still, there was one more thing that he had to do.
The beasts started to come to, and as the warriors were making noise, they turned their heads and were ready to jump on them.
At that moment, Raze had gone to where the beasts were surrounding the others, and placing his hand on the floor, he had cast a spell.
“Silence.”
The wind magic expanded out, in the area around the beasts, and in doing so, they could now no longer hear anything, apart from noise within the bubble of air, unless they got out from the bubble.
Raze had carefully made it so it would trap the beasts but not go further than to the warriors. It was quick, and bewildered, the beasts had all stopped in confusion.
The warriors had no idea what was going on, only that the beasts started acting strange once he had arrived where the others were.
“Alright, let me help you get rid of the rest of these guys now.”
Chapter 479 A Path To The Other Side
While traveling through the city, Raze had been observing the beasts and how they acted. At times, through different dimensions, he would encounter the same type of beasts he had beaten before.
That wasn’t the case this time, but through entering a large number of dimensions with challenging beasts, he had learned that it was best to observe the enemy first.
There were a number of interesting things that a beast could present: another form, a special elemental power, or an unusual trait that could be used against them.
On his way here, he had figured that these beasts didn’t have direct eyesight the same as themselves, and instead were relying on sound. With this, he had already come up with a plan to get rid of the majority of them, but he needed to get rid of the large threat first.
After getting rid of the beast that posed the most threat to the city, Raze decided to act again. He knew he couldn’t save every person here; it would be impossible and a waste of time for him to take each beast one by one.
The better option would be to save those of the Lost Clan and allow the rest of the members to help clear the city.
After Raze had landed in front of them and used his silence spell, he quickly moved and slashed down, defeating the beast with ease. As he turned, he went directly to the other and swung his sword again.
With his Demonic Qi and the new ghost blade, he found his blade was dealing with each beast rather easily, and the strange juices and blood that would come out of the beasts weren’t affecting his sword at all.
Even if any did splatter and try to land on him, his special blazer was doing a good job protecting him.
It didn’t take long, and with another swing of his sword, the last beast had been defeated. Raising his hand, he cleared the wind spell that was active to make sure that no more suspicion was being raised.
“Wow, that young warrior defeated them all!”
“Yeah, and he defeated the one the captain had struggled against as well!!!”
“What was with the beast? Why did they suddenly stop approaching us? Was that to do with him as well?”
“Maybe they could sense his Qi or something.”
Raze, done with the task, soon walked up to the warriors who were standing there; he could overhear them still speaking about him.
“Young warrior, what clan are you from? For you to be so strong, we saw you using the Descending Steps, so you must be from the Demonic Faction!”
Raze didn’t have an answer to their question and instead decided to take another route to get them off his back.
“You guys, you should clear the city,” Raze answered. “There are still beasts inside that are attacking. They seem to be attracted to noise. So if you can use something to distract them, or take them out silently, that would be best.”
The warriors looked at each other; due to just getting out of one situation, they had forgotten about the bigger picture.
“He’s right!” Neil said, approaching from behind. “We might have finished up here, but the fight is still far from over; everyone enter the city!”
With that, Neil and the rest of the Pagna warriors were ready to leave, and Neil took one more look at the warrior before he finally left, leaving Raze be, and the area in front of the main gate clear.
“Well, I better not waste these power stones; they can at least be put to use,” Raze said.
The warriors were able to clear the rest of the beasts from the city easier than they had expected. There weren’t many left inside due to the strength of the wanderers that were already inside.
They had dealt with a large number of the beasts somehow, claiming that there was large water that had disrupted and split the beasts up, also causing them to be startled, giving them a chance.
Neil didn’t really understand it, but was just thankful that the damage was kept to the minimum. For a moment, he told everyone to remain inside while they continued to sort things out.
That was when he got word from the other members of the Lost Clan. That they had found the location of the portal break and were dealing with it. Whether that was getting rid of the portal or trying to keep the situation under control, he didn’t know.
Other than that, the city didn’t have to worry anymore and could continue to operate as they did before. A support group of warriors from the Lost Clan had arrived, low-ranking, and Neil was still in charge.
They helped the public get back up on their feet and were helping them with the repairs of the city. With all of that, it only took half a day for them to get back on their feet, and before they knew it, Marcus and the rest of his group were in the same situation as they were, lining up to exit out of the city.
“That was quite a surprising event, but all turned out well in the end,” Ponyo said with a smile.
“I’m not sure about that; right now we’re just back where we started in the same situation!” Tanya complained. “They’ve opened up the route again but are still doing the same checks as before, and we still don’t know what we have, whether they’ll work or not.”
Marcus was still reluctant about a few things, for one, the fact that there were those that had seen them use their weapons, but due to the situation, there were too many members of the Lost Clan for them to try and do anything.
The safest option was to just get out of the place.
“Perhaps while everything was happening, we should have tried and forced open the route, but if we didn’t help with the situation in the city, then maybe things would have been worse for them and us,” Barlan commented with a smile, quite pleased that he was able to do something honorable. freёReadNovelFull.com
Finally, the group had reached the front once more, and all of them had placed down the emblems the same as last time. It was almost an exact repeat of last time, with Neil, the captain, lifting the emblems up in the air.
As he did so, the emblem in his hand, right behind it, he could see the white-haired young warrior.
“These are all good; you may pass!” Neil ordered.
Quickly, Marcus and the others picked up their emblems from the table, and with that, they continued to walk, entering the entrance of the cave. Finally, they were going to head back to the Dark Faction, and Raze was going to meet Himmy and Charlotte, but they would be heading to the Lethal Bite Clan.
At the table where Neil was, one of the clan members by his side had come over closer.
“Captain, you let them through… even though those were…”
“I know,” Neil interrupted. “The fact is, without that young man, we wouldn’t be alive, and this city might have completely collapsed. Yet, he never asked for any reward, nor did he even try to seek us out for one, so therefore this is his reward.”
Chapter 480 The Dark Faction On The Move
The Dark Faction Pagna Academy had gone through a large number of changes this year. Unexpected things had occurred that none of them could predict, and all the academy could do was react to all of the situations that were taking place. freēwēbnovel.com
Currently, the new first-year students were still going through the first trial. They had picked books from the library and were learning the techniques within them, but things felt unsettling for them.
The teachers were doing their best to observe them, to watch how they were doing and giving them guidance, but their focus didn’t seem to be quite there. To them, it was clear that the focus was on something else, and this odd feeling they had, they were right about it.
Currently, inside the main academy, something that didn’t happen very often was taking place again, and that was a meeting between all of the Main Clans in the Dark Faction.
It appeared that Murkel had some news to inform them all about what was going on.
“What did you say!” Gavin shouted, slamming his fist on the round table, shaking it to the point everyone could feel his power behind the fist.
“I am afraid it’s true,” Murkel commented. “Feebie, as well as Royo, from the Lethal Bite Clan, is no longer. At the moment, they are going through the selection of a new leader.”
The news had been delivered; there had been rumors and suspicions but no one really knew the reason why, and since the news was coming from Murkel himself, it appeared that he knew a bit more about the situation.
“And, do you care to inform us how you know of this information?” Crine asked. “I’m sure you are aware I have heard of some things.”
Gunther, being part of the Academy himself, had informed his head clan leader Crine from the Flowing Force Clan. At the time, it was the only way Gunther felt like he could protect himself.
Having already worked to go against the others, he had come up with an excuse stating that he just wanted to protect the students after what had occurred. The best lies were always those with some truth to them, and the clan which he had mostly abandoned his duties with, he had to ask for their help.
“Yes, I am sure you are aware from the last assessment there were some unfortunate outcomes, one of them being the main disciple Lisa losing her life. It appears that Feebie had a grudge against the young White Dragon; we don’t know much with what has occurred but it appears that one of the students that had infiltrated was actually part of the Demonic Faction.”
Everyone’s fists tensed up a bit as soon as they heard these words, but they didn’t say anything because the matter was no longer small.
“I’m sure you all saw that the White Dragon used Demonic Energy himself. I am unsure if he is part of the Demonic Faction or not, and the person who we had before, he is no longer alive.
“Of course, if we ask the Demonic Faction about this, they will just deny everything, and with no information to go on, or what clan he is a part of, we can’t dig into a further investigation.”
It was a lot to take in, but these things happened from time to time. The big news that they had to actually focus on though was the death of the current leader of one of the big five.
“I think Feebie got what was coming to her, chasing after a student. If you ask me, I don’t think that the Lethal Bite Clan should even be a part of our group anymore. We are an alliance of strength!” Samantha exclaimed.
“One of the pillars has been knocked down, and for the vice head to be taken out is a big blow. Royo was a big part of what made the Lethal Bite Clan.”
Murkel was thinking about it quite a bit, and he finally decided to speak up.
“It is one of the reasons why I have called you today; this is not a matter of the Pagna Academy; this instead is a matter of the Dark Faction. The Lethal Bite Clan holds a strong position in the Faction.
“Because their headquarters is on the border of the Demonic Faction, due to what has happened, I think it’s important that we keep a close eye on the situation as well.”
“So what is it that you are suggesting, do you wish for one of us to take over the Lethal Bite Clan’s headquarters?” Gavin asked.
“Not take over,” Murkel replied. “The Lethal Bite Clan has their own pride, and even without their leaders, although their strength can no longer be comparable to us, they have a large force that can be utilized well.”
“I suggest that one of us, or a high-ranking member of our clan, is sent over. We will inform them it is just while they are gathering things together.”
The leaders all looked at each other, trying to think who would take up the position over the other. It was a chance in a way for them to grow, but a lot of them had their own things going on as well.
“I will send someone there,” Gavin suggested. “The Moon Shield Clan has been affected by what has happened quite a bit as well with our main disciple. I believe they will be more inclined to take our help because of this, and there will be fewer problems.”
The others had next to no reason to object. What Gavin said had made sense, and even more so, out of all of the leaders, Gavin and the Moon Shield clan were perhaps the least hungry for power and were just happy with their position.
“I would like to ask something since we are talking about the Demonic Faction and Faction matters, how are the students doing, have you chosen who will be selected for the Martial Arts Tournament?” Samantha asked.
“I have indeed,” Murkel answered. “At this moment, every single one of them is currently training with Amir, to give us the best possibility of winning. The three no names have shown the greatest power.
“Our opponents also know nothing about them. Safa, Liam, and Simyon. On top of that, it has come to no surprise that I have chosen the two main disciples. Ricktor and Mada. These two also have grown in strength by a large margin and seem to be improving at a quick rate every day.
“It is a shame about the White Dragon and the losses we have incurred, but with that, the five have been selected, and we will focus on them. They will become the pillars of the Dark Faction.”
They were strong words said by Murkel, the principal, but Crine was thinking otherwise. Knowing more of the story from Gunther, he knew the three no names were awfully close to the White Dragon.
Raising their strength was all good and well for the tournament, and winning it would be a great achievement to get the other Factions off their back, but they could very well just be raising a future enemy.