Dark Magus Returns

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.

Dark Magus Returns

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.”

Dark Magus Returns

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.

Dark Magus Returns

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.”

Dark Magus Returns

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.”