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
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.”
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!”
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.”
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?
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
—
“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.”
