Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 837: The Dark Magus, Will Come!

A plan to defeat the Behemoth Clan would seem impossible. Unless they could round up every single one of the Demonic Clans, which was an impossible task in itself due to how the

Demonic Clans operated.

Not even payment could sway the Demonic Clans to their side, or unless they had support from one of the larger clans like the Neverfall Clan, but even that didn’t seem to be possible in the situation they were in.

There was no reason for two of the large clans to take a big hit fighting against each other, and not for a small place like the town of Flendon. While the Dark Magus wasn’t in trouble or Rayna, no one expected the Neverfall Clan to make a move.

Which meant, everyone who had already learned of the attack on Flendon felt like it could only go one way, and this was the same for Brack as well.

The Mayor had left his town hall and gathered at the Northern gate, where the large army of the Behemoth Clan could be seen. There was no point staying in the hall making battle plans -the Behemoth Clan wasn’t one for tactics, attacking from different sides.

Due to their large force and strength and how small Flendon was, they were just attacking from the front.

“I can’t believe it,” Andy said, standing on the wall, seeing the large force moving toward them. He estimated that it would take around fifteen more minutes until they all arrived at the front gate. “Did they not learn their lesson last time? We aren’t so easy to take over!”

Andy bashed his shield with an almighty roar. He expected a few others to do the same, but when he turned around to look at the army Yarlston managed to rally up, they all looked heavily nervous.

In total, they managed to get 2,000 people. Most who had survived the battle from the time before, and those brave enough to fight for the city again. A thousand stood on top of the wall, while the other thousand stood below, the gates currently open, allowing them to see the army coming toward them.

“Last time, we had the Crimson Crane with us,” another said.

“And the Dark Magus-it was them that managed to take out two of the pillars. Now we have to deal with two more pillars and Sha Mo himself. How is that possible?”

Even though most by the wall had managed to build up their resolve to protect the city, they were quickly losing it, especially in the face of the large enemy coming toward them.

Twenty thousand strong Pagna warriors, against two thousand mostly ordinary people, who had trained somewhat and could be called Pagna warriors, but it wasn’t their day-to-day, nor did they have a clan to train them.

Among them all, on the wall, there was a man who had most of his face wrapped up. A man no one would have guessed was there.

‘I thought an interesting result might come from this. I could tell from my clan’s information gathering that the Behemoth Clan was making a move, so I went to the town of Flendon ahead of time.’

‘I thought the Dark Magus might have already made some moves or had something in place in case this happened,’ Lince thought, leader of the Lost Clan, one of the three major clans in the Demonic Faction.

‘After seeing what he pulled off at the Martial Arts Tournament, I thought he was someone who would think ahead in these situations. Unless he’s far more distracted with other things.’

‘With how things are, I can’t see any way for those in Flendon to get out of this.’

Lince was trying to figure out his way out of the situation. With his skills, he could easily escape from the area, but doing so in the middle of a fight might cause some suspicion, so if he was going to leave, he wondered if now was the best decision.

Just as Lince was ready to turn away, he heard the voice of a certain someone.

“Do you all believe in the Dark Magus?” Brack said, facing toward the enemy.

“I heard stories from a number of you guards about him. How last time he managed to pull off

a miracle, and they managed to help and protect you.”

“Do you believe he can do the same again?” Brack asked.

The guards looked at each other, thinking this person was a madman. Why was he even talking about the Dark Magus when the Dark Magus wasn’t even here? This time and the time before were different.

“I’m not asking any of that. Do you believe if the Dark Magus were here, you could pull off another miracle!” Brack shouted again.

To this, Andy had a big smile on his face.

“I believe it.”

It was then that a certain individual was seen coming up to the top of the wall, pulling along a crate—of all people, it was Fixteen, a member of the Neverfall Clan and close friend to Dame, who had stayed in the town of Flendon.

“It was quite hard getting my hands on these, but I managed to buy a lot of them back from our customers.” Fixteen then dug his hand into the crate and tossed out a bunch of pills. Those on the ground caught them and looked at the round Qi pills, seeing the markings of DM on them.

“Those are the pills of the Dark Magus, created by him. I’m sure you all know their effects. This whole thing is simpler than you guys think,” Fixteen said. “So their numbers are larger than ours-that just means each of you needs to fight ten of them. That’s all. I’m sure you can all count to ten. That’s all you need to do.”

It was a strange pep talk, Yarlston and Andy thought. Since the number seemed intimidating, but oddly, the others started to count to ten. They had the image in their heads of taking out one person at a time, going through them, and coming out victorious in the end.

“They’re here,” Brack said. “All of you, stay back for now!” Brack bent his knees and then jumped out from his position onto the sand.

He skidded ahead, at least fifty meters from where the wall was, while the army was twenty meters away from him.

Lince, seeing this, was quite baffled by the student’s actions.

‘You’ve sure changed a lot since the Martial Arts Tournament. Did the student-no, the Dark Magus-have this much effect on you?’

‘It seems that not only the people of this town believe in him, but you believe in him as well,’ Lince thought.

Rather than turning around, Lince decided it might be best for him to stay and at least see the outcome of everything that was going to take place.

“SHA MO!!!” Brack screamed at the top of his lungs, pouring his Qi into his vocals. “We don’t have to get the whole town involved in this mess… Fight me in a duel!”

The whole army of twenty thousand warriors came to a stop. All of it was done without a

single word, because Sha Mo’s Qi could be felt by them all.

Just a slight change, and the army knew what to do.

Seeing Sha Mo walk out, Brack needed to be ready. This was the only card he could play, the only thing he could think of to buy some time, and he knew it wouldn’t be much time.

‘Don’t let these people down… Dark Magus.’

Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 838: A New Item, The Crimson Crane

Raze had made up his mind. He was going to go to the town of Flendon to face Sha Mo and his Behemoth Clan. Having met him in the Martial Arts Tournament, he could guess the man’s personality.

There was a deep grudge he had with Raze, and the fact that now he held the title of leader of the Dark Faction, it was just even more reason for Sha Mo to go after him.

Sha Mo was a very petty man, and Raze had managed to catch his eyes in a number of ways. The fact that the town of Flendon was attacked without Raze even being there just went ahead and showed it.

This wouldn’t stop until Sha Mo was dealt with. There were other reasons for Raze going as well, some of them to do with the feelings of others around him, others were for his personal gain.

Raze was walking around the main academy building, heading from room to room. Since he had decided to head off, he was asking everyone if they wished to come.

He wouldn’t force them into a fight that he had decided on. He could guess most of their answers, as everyone was practically saying they were willing to go.

While walking down the hallway, Raze looked at his hand.

‘If I defeat Sha Mo, and absorb him with the Demonic Extraction technique, that should definitely increase my stage level. With that, I’m sure I’ll be able to perform more of the Dark Edge Sword Arts.’ Raze thought. ‘If that happens, then, I’ll be ready, I’ll be ready to face the Grand Magus.’

Strength wise, Raze was sure he could faze the Grand Magus, at least on their own one by one, but he knew there would still be a number of issues still in Pagna to deal with.

In the first place, he needed to find the Golden Globe to even get to Alterian.

Raze had then entered the library, and could see that most of the Crimson Crane were already gathered and had their weapons on them.

“Have you made your mind up then, on what you’re planning to do?” Reno asked.

“Yeah, I’m heading to Flendon, and I plan to take on Sha Mo and get rid of him once and for all.” Raze said. “I haven’t had time to create your weapons yet, the only one that’s ready is Forma’s.”

“MINES READY!” Forma jumped up and down, her whole face turning bright red. She couldn’t believe it. Raze hadn’t given the Crimson Crane any type of order for when the others would get special weapons.

He was just making them as he had the materials ready. Even then it took several tries before something would be created that satisfied him.

Out of all of them, only Forma’s weapon was ready.

“If you head to my crafting room. I’m sure you will be able to pick up the right one.

“If you can, bring all of the failures with you as well.”

Forma nodded with excitement as she went ahead and already ran past Raze. Looking for a new weapon.

The others who had yet to get weapons were a little envious of Forma. Lily, was waiting on a new spear, there was Cronker who was hoping for some new daggers, and lastly there was Alba herself.

“So where do you want us?” Alba asked.

“Come to the meeting room from before, and I will explain to you all what we’re going to do, but I came to tell you in person, you guys don’t have to come, the decision is up to you.”

The other members looked at Alba, the answer was obvious to them as well.

“We all enjoyed our time in Flendon, and before even coming here, we were already content with making it our home. We got on with a lot of people and made a few friends. We’ll be there and wait for you as soon as Forma comes back.”

Raze had now visited everyone that was inside of the academy. Now there was just one more place he needed to go to and have a talk with.

Outside of the main academy, outside of the courtyard walls. Raze had entered the outer city. He had switched to a robe to cover himself rather than wearing his Blazer which stood out quite a bit.

If others saw the Dark Magus out in the open with his white hair, he was sure that it would cause quite the fuss, and finally he had made it to a certain location.

He looked up at the sign board.

“So Zon decided to relax here of all places, the Perfect Noodle’s shop… just what is he doing?” Raze said.

Forma had rushed and barged straight into Raze’s research room. The moment she had entered a waft of air had touched her body and inhaled into her insides.

She felt sick, and her entire body was covered in goosebumps as she shivered. “What is this place, and why does it feel even darker than outside, is it my eyes?” Forma rubbed them, but still the room was Darker than any of the other rooms for some reason. Trying to ignore her body’s natural reaction, she ventured inside and could see piles of discarded weapons. Daggers, Spears, and Dual swords.

It was clear they were items for the other members of the Crimson Crane. Heading toward them, Forma looked at the dual swords up close.

“These are the failures he’s talking about… I knew there was something wrong in the head with that guy.” Forma said. “No one in their right mind would consider these failures. Alba would be over the moon with swords like these.”

She reached out to touch them, but before her fingertips touched the dual swords she had stopped.

‘Ah, I remember what Tilon said about his shield, I wouldn’t want something like that to happen to me.’ Forma said with a happy smile and started to swing her arms.

She then could see a large pile of bows, and not just bows but arrows in the corner of the room, and just like the other equipment she couldn’t believe they were called failures. “Just how much would one of these things sell for! And they all are just here lying around. I guess Raze wants to give them to the people of Flendon, and they won’t even know that what they have is so precious in their hands.”

As she looked at the pile of bows though, something was calling to her from behind. Turning around, Forma looked at the table, where there was a large piece of cloth.

The indented parts made it clear that it was covering up a bow.

“This is it right, this is the weapon that I was looking for, it’s right here!”

Placing her hand on the edge of the cloth, she couldn’t help but drag the cloth right off the weapon, and her eyes were sparkling with delight.

“This is it, I can feel it, I can feel its power. This is the item that the Dark Magus made for

me!”

Not being able to help herself, she had gone ahead and grabbed the specially crafted bow. It was mainly dark red in color, with strange swirls all around.

There looked to be no pattern to the bow itself, other than the odd swirls but Forma could feel its power. The moment she grabbed it though, the red swirls on the bow started to wrap around, and started to grab right onto her arm.

“What the… ARGHHH!!!!!!!!!” The next moment Forma let out an almighty scream.

Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 839: Zon’s Happiness

After making sure they had everything they needed, the Crimson Crane had moved from the library into the main meeting room in the academy.

Upon entering, they could see that most of the others had already arrived. Anna was present, along with Liam and Safa.

Ricktor had come along with Mada, and Rayna was still there as well, among the others that had decided to come on the trip.

The only person from the core group not present was Amir. It was a given that he would stay with the rest of the Bonum Society members looking after the Academy.

Someone needed to stay behind. On top of that, Zon was also absent because Raze was somewhere out there trying to find him.

“I’m a bit more confident now,” Kizer said, slinging his large sword on his back. “Last time we defended the town, we had a lot fewer people than this, and everyone here is quite strong.”

“Right, but last time Sha Mo wasn’t involved,” Reno reminded them. “It will be a tough fight either way, so we can’t let our guard down.”

Simyon, Safa, and Liam were all nervous, but with their new weapons and tools from taking over the other Dark Faction clans, they were the strongest they had ever been.

In the current room were the strongest of the Dark Faction, and Sha Mo wouldn’t expect a full battle against that.

“I’m just looking forward to finally heading back to my clan,” Mantis said. “I’ve been here too long, and your faces annoy me.”

No one even bothered to comment on what Mantis said. He had been like that ever since he arrived, almost sticking around because he had no other choice.

The door opened again, and part of them expected to see Raze entering, but instead, it was the small female Forma.

“I brought it with me… man, this stuff is kind of heavy,” Forma said as she dragged the large crate and lugged it into the center.

Tilon took a peek inside and could see that it was filled with weapons, each one marked with the symbol of the Dark Magus.

He remembered how much the shields created by the Dark Magus had helped them all last time, and these items seemed of even better quality.

“Wait, didn’t you go to get the weapon Raze made for you?” Alba asked, peeking behind Forma’s back. “Where is it, where’s the bow?”

“It’s… It’s…” Forma looked around, her big round eyes filling with tears. “It’s inside me!”

Forma fell to her knees and started to wail, letting out a loud cry, leaving everyone confused as to what she meant by the bow being inside her.

Inside the Perfect Noodles shop, for once, Zon wasn’t behind the counter working. Instead, he was sitting at a table, and across from him was a hooded man.

“Hey, what’s Zon doing?” Stanley asked. “I didn’t know that guy had friends.”

“He talks to people… sometimes,” Rane said. “From time to time, a woman comes to visit

him. They talk for a bit, but it’s the first time I’ve seen this hooded man.

“Either way, he must be important to Zon. He stopped what he was doing and even asked me to clear a table for them. Zon never asks me for that, not even when the woman visits.”

At the table, in the hooded robe, of course, was Raze himself.

“So, I’ve told you everything. It’s up to you if you want to come or not,” Raze said, waiting for Zon’s response.

Although the two hadn’t had much time to talk about who they were or what their goals were, Raze knew one thing about Zon for sure: he was incredibly strong.

So strong, Raze wasn’t even sure he could beat him in a fight at his current level.

“I will stay in the Dark Faction,” Zon said. “You have your things to deal with, and I have mine. Right now, I’ve found some peace in this shop.

“Don’t get me wrong, though. You’re still important to me.”

Zon placed his hand on the table and opened it up. A small square device could be seen. It then started to move, as small legs sprung out, resembling an ant. It walked over until it reached Raze.

“I have two of these,” Zon explained. “And only two. One of them I injected into your friend’s neck. It’s not the system he uses.”

Raze had no idea what Zon was talking about since he hadn’t really discussed with Liam how he was able to grow stronger or gather strength-not that Raze particularly cared.

“This little creature allows me to know where someone is at any point in time. I have appeared by your friend’s side before.”

“This is the second device, so when needed, I’ll appear by your side. There’s no need to implant it inside your body. Attach it to a piece of your clothing, and remember where it is. “If you need help, apply extreme pressure. If you do that, as long as I can, I’ll appear.” Raze didn’t know what to say. Giving him such a thing-it was handy to have. Although he didn’t plan to rely on others, it was a good tool.

“I originally planned to give that to Anna, but since I gave it to you, it means you need to look after her in my place,” Zon explained.

Raze nodded as he picked up the device and placed it on the left side of his chest. If someone attacked his heart, he thought that would be enough pressure-and enough reason to call Zon

over.

With the conversation over, Raze stood up.

“Good luck on your task, and next time, I hope you can enjoy a nice bowl of noodles,” Zon

said.

“I’ll be back soon.”

With that Raze headed back to the academy and he was ready to head into battle once again. Fight after fight, it would have worn his whole body down, but he could feel it, he was close, close to getting to where he needed to be, to the Grand Magus.

Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 840: A Gift Before You Leave

Froma was in the middle of a crying fit in the meeting hall, and none of the Crimson Crane members were able to get much out of her about what she meant. They had even analyzed the other equipment that had been brought, but nothing happened when they held it.

In the end, Froma wiped away her tears and was able to speak again, but she still was in no mood to discuss what had happened with the others.

‘It’s okay,’ Froma said to herself. ‘There was a note left on the table, so I know what’s happening, but it still feels weird. That strange Dark Magus, why didn’t he put the note on top of the cloth?’

Froma thought back and had to admit it might have been her fault. After taking off the cloth, revealing the weapon, she had completely ignored the note on the table and went straight to grab the bow.

Now she was stuck with the bow, similar to how Tilon was stuck with the shield. The rest of the group was waiting until finally, Raze pushed open the double doors.

“It seems like everyone is here. Thank you for coming on this journey with me,” Raze said as he pulled out a piece of chalk and started drawing on the floor. He was drawing a magic circle, a large one that would encase them all.

It was similar to what he had done during the Martial Arts Tournament, but that had taken a lot of energy and magic. To avoid completely wearing himself out, Raze was drawing the magic circle this time.

‘I see, Zon hasn’t come on this one. It’s expected of him,’ Anna thought. ‘He always went off on solo missions by himself. The only time he went along with us was when he had to.’

‘But I can’t believe what he told me, his goal… it’s not to head back? I guess he still hasn’t talked to Raze about it,’ Anna thought.

As Raze was drawing the magic circle, he decided it was time to explain to everyone how things were going to be, because it wasn’t as straightforward as last time.

“When we were in Flendon, I transported you all from one position to another. So I drew two magic circles, but the magic circle in Flendon is no longer there,” Raze said. “Unfortunately, I haven’t been back to Flendon since, so I haven’t figured out how to pinpoint coordinates there, nor have I set up another magic circle there,” Raze explained.

“I’m guessing you’re telling us this because it means you’ll be sending us somewhere else?” Ricktor asked.

“Correct. There is one place I used to travel to frequently, where I know the coordinates: a cave just outside the city of Repton,” Raze answered.

“That’s still quite far from Flendon,” Rayna said. “We might not reach Flendon in time before the Behemoth Clan gets there.”

“Be realistic,” Mantis added. “The city of Flendon is already under attack. We’re going to be the cleanup crew.”

Rayna’s fists were shaking, and Raze knew why from their previous talk. She was unlike other Pagna warriors and actually cared about the lives of the regular citizens.

“Should I stop by the Clan base?” Dame asked. “It’s on the way; I could ask Father for help.”

“Father won’t do anything,” Rayna snapped. “I was given away and am no longer part of the clan, and you abandoned it. If we step foot back there and ask for help, how do you think he’d react?”

The two of them stopped after that suggestion.

“We won’t know the state of Flendon until we get there. There should be no other thoughts in one’s head,” Raze said. “The reason I’m telling you this is to not waste any time. Some of us in this group are faster than others.”

“When you get to the Demonic Faction, I want you to head to Flendon as quickly as possible.” The others nodded, and Raze finished drawing the circle.

“You guys will go first, and then I’ll need to draw another circle after. I’ll be right behind

you.”

With that said, Raze gathered the magic in the palm of his hands and placed them on the floor. The magic circle began to light up, and a bright light surrounded everyone and everything inside it.

The light grew larger and larger until it consumed them, and when the flash of light disappeared, so did the rest of the group.

Standing up, Raze took a blue Qi pill. It wasn’t the cursed pill; the regular Qi pill would be enough to restore his mana so he could fight before taking a cursed Qi pill.

‘I used a lot of mana sending them off, but I think it’s better having them there rather than just myself,’ Raze thought.

Taking the chalk, he started to draw his own circle on the raised platform he was on. At the same time, he was cultivating, trying to do what Safa was able to do to get his energy back.

He was focused, trying to enter a flow-like state where he could draw and cultivate at the same time. Then his concentration was broken.

“I expected there to be more people here,” a voice said. “I guess the new Dark Faction leader doesn’t need people around him.”

The voice wasn’t one Raze recognized. He had just finished drawing the magic circle as well. If he wanted to, he could activate the circle now, sending him to where the others were.

Instead, Raze decided to lift his head, and the moment he did, his eyes widened, and he clenched his teeth hard as he stood upright.

“Ah, it seems you recognize what I have in my hand right here,” the stranger said as he moved his right hand, holding the round object steady. “You know what this is, right?”

The object being held by the stranger’s hand was being held by its hair. The round object could be seen clearly, and Raze’s heart was thumping even louder.

“Poor Himmy,” the man said, shaking his head.