Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 854 Where are the Rest?

At the town of Flendon, the people guarding the town had been going through a whirlwind of emotions. Seeing the entire Behemoth Army, one of the great clans in the Demonic Faction, they all feared that their life was doomed.

Even standing out on the wall, they knew very well they had little chance of surviving, that was until one brave warrior, who was only a Wanderer hire, had gone out to challenge the Behemoth Clan.

The warrior named Brack, instead of going against Sha Mo himself, faced one of the pillars sent out, Umonke. The fight was in favor of only one, as the person known as one of the pillars of the Behemoth Clan had devastated Brack in the fight.

Regardless, Brack would not fall. He stood up again and again despite clearly fighting a losing battle, which had caused the town of Flendon to cheer for him in honor of his bravery.

Frustrated, Umonke felt like his only choice was to behead Brack, making it so Flendon would lose their morale. As he swung his sword cleanly at Brack’s head, a dagger had appeared, stopping it with a forceful amount of Qi.

“Who are you?” Umonke asked.

“I guess I was the first one here, and there’s a lot more of you than I thought! Cronker said as he scraped his dagger across the slicing blade and then swirled his body to try striking again.

Umonke, though quick on his feet, managed to jump back a couple of times and avoid the hits completely.

The pillars were some of the strongest middle-stage warriors in the Demonic Faction. While the Crimson Crane were well-known, they weren’t the strongest. In the past, it would have taken perhaps all of the Crimson Crane members just to fight one of the pillars.

The only difference was they had the items of the Dark Magus with them now; however, Cronker was not one of the fortunate ones.

“Interesting” Lince said, standing from the wall. “That man is incredibly fast and quick on his feet. Even with his lack of Qi, he has great foot techniques.”

With Lince and the Lost Clan being informants for the Demonic Faction and specializing in footwork techniques, Cronker had caught his eye. Yet no one quite knew who he was, and it was the same for those who were standing on the wall.

“Why are there strong warriors fighting for us?” one asked.

“I’m not sure… should we go and charge in now? Maybe we can head out and bring Brack back?” another asked.

During the last battle with the Behemoth Clan, Cronker hadn’t taken part due to his duty in protecting the children. It was the first time the others had seen him.

“It doesn’t matter who you are” Umonke said. “You stand in our way, so you will pay with your life! Umonke moved forward, and his sword sliced through the air, making a piercing sound. Cronker managed to move to the side, but the sword had skimmed his cheek, making it bleed.

Ile noticed that this attack was far greater and filled with condensed Qi compared to the last.

I’m guessing he was holding back his power when trying to cut that kid’s head off… if I block that with my dagger, it will just slice right through it.!

“Night Force!” Cronker shouted out.

Brack was weak on his legs, he could barely see. His unconscious will was the only thing that had kept him going. As he wavered, just before he fell to the ground, three members with red headbands wrapped around their heads appeared, dressed in black everywhere else.

The Night Force was the special group that Cronker had been training up, consisting of Tilson, Joe, and Violet. They all quickly grabbed onto Brack. Like Cronker, they had focused nearly all their training on foot techniques.

Although they certainly would be no match if they were to face a middle-stage warrior, perhaps they could match their speed if it came to using their legs.

“Take him out of here. I saved his life, so I would like to not see his blood split, Cronker ordered. The three nodded and were ready to move, but Umonke wasn’t going to let them go so easily. “You think I will let you do that while I’m on the field?”

By the time Umonke finished his sentence, though, the three had already rushed over to the other side. They were far quicker than he imagined.

Using all of his anger, Umonke started to swing his weapon rapidly in the air. In response, Cronker was moving swiftly, dodging each one of them by jumping in the sand from side to side, avoiding the attacks.

Neither one looked like they were letting up, with their attacks or with Cronker avoiding them. The Behemoth Clan were quite enjoying the unexpected spectacle.

“This is not good,” Lince said.

“What do you mean?” Andy replied, overhearing one of the guards. Everyone else was cheering for this newcomer fighting for them. “Isn’t this fine? The two of them seem to be equal?”

“I guess it would seem that way to most, but that certainly isn’t the case, Lince replied. “The blond-haired man is constantly using techniques to achieve his feats to dodge. He specializes in footwork, but because of this, he’s using up a larger amount of Qi.”

“While his opponent is making him use these techniques just by swinging his sword. Eventually, time will run out, and when that happens, that Umonke fellow will win!”

Hearing these words, it made Andy and the rest of them a bit nervous. If the stranger was able to win the battle out of the gate and take down one of the pillars, it would be a huge momentum shift, maybe even causing some of the Behemoth members to doubt their actions in attacking in the first place.

“You don’t have to worry about that,” a voice said.

The men turned to look at who was speaking but were unable to see someone, until they looked down and could see a short woman with her hair tied up in pigtails.

“Get out of there!” the woman shouted with her hands by her mouth and filled with Qi.

Hearing that, Cronker knew the signal and backed off. He turned his back and started running

toward the gate. As he went through, he looked up.

“It took the rest of you long enough” Cronker said.

Jumping up onto one of the bricks on the wall, others could see who it was and recognized her, one of the Crimson Crane members.

“It’s time for me to test out my new weapon on these guys,” Froma said with a rosy red cheek smile.

Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 855: Night Force Squad

Although Cronker and his Night Force Squad were certainly the fastest with their foot techniques, it wasn’t as if the rest of the Crimson Crane were slow, so they weren’t far behind.

In fact, they had seen Cronker going up against Umonke as they were drawing closer to the town of Flendon, and Alba decided they needed a plan.

“Sha Mo’s forces are a lot larger than I thought; this is going to be a hard one,” Alba said.

“Because of the last fight, Sha Mo should only have two pillars left. Those are the troublesome ones that need to be taken out,” Rayna said. “I’m not saying the rest of them will be easy by any means, but those, including Sha Mo, are the ones that we need to focus on.”

“Then let’s split up into two groups,” Alba replied. “Me and the rest of the Crimson Crane will head to the town of Flendon. We’ve fought by the side of a lot of them before. The rest of you, cause a disruption when you see the right time.”

Rayna agreed and nodded, and as she split off, the others went ahead, following her, including Anna.

As for Alba and her group, they had decided to take a slightly longer route in entering the town and had gone in through another one of the gates. Due to the concentration of forces led by Sha Mo, it was quite easy. Mayor Yarlston and Andy hadn’t even ordered anyone to stand guard at those gates.

Heading inside, it only took a short while for the Crimson Crane to meet up with the rest of those that were willing to fight.

Heading right to the front of the group that was on the ground, Tilon had appeared with his legendary shield. He lifted it up and caught the attention of those that had fought with him before.

“Stay quiet. We don’t want to give things away just yet,” Tilon said. “Just know that we are by your side, ready to fight again.”

There were many that still had the shields made by the Dark Magus from last time.

It was then, though, that Reno and Kizer had come to the side, pulling out a large crate.

“Inside are weapons made by the Dark Magus himself,” Kizer said. “They are the best of the best. Last time, we managed to turn this fight around thanks to his weapons, and he has come back to help again.”

Kizer reached in and started to hand out the weapons inside to the others, while Reno secretly passed weapons up to the top of the wall from behind.

It was then, in the army of around two thousand that were there to protect Flendon, that they had turned into small groups. Lilly, a spear user from the Crimson Crane, was taking charge of those with spear-like weapons.

Alba was in charge of the swordsmen along with Kizer. Tilon had his hand on those with shields. While finally, Froma had made it to the top, where all the ranged bowmen were concentrated.

They now all had new weapons in their hands, but even before that, Froma went to look at Alba at the bottom.

“Trust me, Alba, let me lead this fight, and let me deal the first attack.”

Alba had trust in her members, and even more trust in the items created by Dark Magus.

She gave her the thumbs up.

‘Raze must have created quite the weapon again this time, to give her that much confidence,’ Alba thought.

It was then that Froma had gotten on the wall and, with everyone ready, shouted to inform Cronker to get back, and Cronker quickly ran back to the wall.

“Who is that… is that who I think it is?” one of the people from far off said.

“It is,” Fixteen shouted. “Everyone, the Crimson Crane have arrived, they have come to help you. In the past, they warded off the Behemoth Clan, and here they are again to do the same!”

The crowd of people, hearing Fixteen’s words and meeting the members of the Crimson Crane themselves, shouted with powerful vigor.

“ARGHHHH!” they all yelled with might.

The Behemoth Clan were taken aback; the small town, the small group of people were able to make such noise in front of their forces.

In response to this, it was Sha Mo who raised his fist in the air.

“The duel has ended with the involvement of the Crimson Crane! There is no reason for us to hold back anymore! Since the Crimson Crane is here, there is a high chance the Dark Magus, leader of the Dark Faction, is inside as well.”

“From today, the Town of Flendon is considered traitors working for the Dark Faction! Charge forward and eliminate them!”

The large sound of rumbling was felt by all of those in Flendon. Even those held up in their houses could feel the ground beneath their feet shake.

As the army of twenty thousand strong were on the move, the wall in front of them was coming closer as the people charged forward.

“I guess it’s time for me to act,” Froma said. “Now is the perfect time.”

She gathered her hands, and then out from her fingertips, a red flowing substance appeared. From those watching, it looked as if Froma’s own blood had come out from her.

For Froma, it felt like her actual blood was coming out of her, flowing into the bow in front.

“I need to help them out as much as possible. This isn’t going to be the best for first-time use, but I’ll just have to go for it. A thousand arrows!”

She pulled the blood string, and a giant substance of energy swooped into the sky. It flowed and intertwined as if it was alive, and the rest of the bow had disappeared from Froma’s hand with the attack.

The Behemoth Clan members looked up, charging forward, ignoring what was above. There were only a few that stared up and eventually stopped their charge.

“What is that?” one of the men said, and before he knew it, a red arrow pierced right through his head, killing him in one go.

Arrows started to fall on the front line, hitting each of them, causing the men to fall. Those watching didn’t understand; they swung their swords, but as they did, the arrows moved,

hitting those in vital spots.

There were a few who began to fear the arrows so much they used their devastating Qi techniques, the strongest they knew, and eventually got rid of some of the arrows.

But it was too late, as of the thousand arrows that had fallen from the sky, they had killed over seven hundred of them.

The arrows that had successfully pierced and killed their enemies suddenly melted back into the red substance and once again started to form together.

Seeing this, all of the Behemoth Clan had stopped their advance.

‘This is what I wasn’t looking forward to,’ Froma said. ‘The curse of using this power.’ Tears were running down Froma’s face, and her whole body was shaking.

All she wanted to do at that moment was run away and wished she had never picked up the bow made by the Dark Magus.

Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 856: The Worst Curse

The people from the Town of Flendon, as well as the Behemoth Clan warriors, had certainly just witnessed what felt like a Divine warrior’s feat.

Although there were warriors that could take out a large number through various techniques such as Belil, and those on his level, they had yet to hear of someone whose main weapon of choice was a bow and arrow do the same, and in such a way as well.

It didn’t feel as if there was a great force of Qi used, and the deaths had come about in an effortless and odd way, making them feel as if they were being punished or helped by a Divine warrior.

From a single shot of Froma’s bow, a thousand arrows had rained on the ground below. They weren’t even regular arrow shots, but ones that felt like they had a life to them as they wiggled and moved.

With that single shot, over 700 of the great 20,000 force had disappeared.

After the strange attack had killed many on the battlefield, something strange was occurring. The arrows that had pierced the men started to melt into a liquid; the liquid started to gather, and as it did, it went up into the air as a ball of mass.

Seeing this, that was when Froma’s heart started to thump.

‘I read that note, I knew what was coming,’ she thought. ‘There is no running away from this. I helped them all out as much as I could.’

Froma turned around, and the large substance that was in the air started to come towards her. Seeing this, those that were on the wall started to move away.

Seeing what it had just done to the others, they feared that now it was going to do the same to them.

Froma lifted her hands up as tears flowed out of her eyes.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I’ll be able to help anymore in this fight.”

Alba nodded; she understood as Froma had warned her, and understood after learning that the weapons that the Dark Magus created with great power came with great drawbacks. Although Alba never did learn what Froma’s was.

The red substance in the air went inside her body. It was all drained back in, and in an instant, excruciating pain had hit her all at once.

She felt like she had been stabbed right through the head with an arrow. Not just in her head, but several other parts of her body, including that of her heart.

It wasn’t just a single pain that lasted, though, for it repeatedly felt like she was being stabbed in the head over and over, as well as her heart and other parts of her body.

The agonizing torture had begun, hitting her; her body felt in shock as the pain overwhelmed her. She wasn’t even able to move as she just fell to the floor.

This was part of the weapon’s curse. When picking up the note, Froma had learned that there were many ways the weapon could be used.

The weapon itself could be used in a number of different ways; she even could have used it as a single arrow, and fought how she usually would have fought.

However, she was afraid that the curse would be too much for her. The weapon’s curse was that she was to feel the pain that the weapon inflicted onto the others.

She would experience what death was like if she was to fight her opponents and do so over and over again.

Knowing this, she was afraid that after firing one arrow and experiencing death once, she might be afraid to fire it again and again.

This was where one of the arrow’s abilities had come in. She had the power to draw out as many arrows as she wanted in one go.

If it didn’t hit her opponent, then there was no drawback, since it was only the pain that was inflicted that would go back to her.

Still, because she knew of this, she decided to use a large number of arrows. If it was the only attack she would do in the fight, then she wanted to at least make it last.

In this situation, she had used the arrows the best she could but didn’t wish to call a number out larger than a thousand for fear that maybe even her mind couldn’t take it, and she too would fall to death.

As she experienced all of the pain, her eyes closed, and she fell to the ground. No one expected her to get up anytime soon.

“Don’t let her chance go to waste!” Andy shouted. “We have to use this chance while they’re startled and not yet at the wall. Everyone, fire!”

Those on the wall had already been given bows and arrows. Failures that had been made while the Dark Magus was aiming for the perfect creation.

Some of them were cursed items as well. Others just enhanced weapons. Regardless, the people didn’t care as they fired away.

Little effort was needed on their part as the weapons fired arrows that exploded on impact. Some of them, as they hit their target, electrified the Behemoth Clan members.

The Behemoth Clan members were rattled. What was meant to be an easy task-taking over a simple town of non-Pagna warriors-was already proving difficult at the first hurdle.

Regardless of the curse that was affecting them, or the pain that they felt, the guards on the wall continued to pull their bows and fire the arrows as they could see they were extremely effective; they already felt like they had a chance.

Sha Mo, seeing all of this, had a large vein starting to bulge at the side of his head.

“What are you all doing!” Sha Mo shouted, stomping his foot on the ground. His Qi lifted around fifty warriors who were directly in front of him into the air until they were head height, and then they fell back onto the floor.

“I told you all to charge, so why are you still standing around? If I see anyone retreat, anyone moving backward, then I will make sure to kill you myself!” Sha Mo ordered.

With no hesitation, the large army started to move towards Flendon, once again.

Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 857: Flendon Falls

With the fear of Sha Mo behind the Behemoth Clan, they were back to charging in full force. They ran over the dead that had accumulated without even checking on the ones that might have been injured or still alive.

This was because Sha Mo wanted results; they all knew that, and they weren’t going to disappoint. This was also a chance for them, getting on his good side, rising in the clan, and unlocking more techniques.

The arrows continued to rain down on them, hitting their target, but at the end of the day, these were skilled Pagna warriors. Many of them were able to avoid the arrows or perform techniques that would equal the power that was being used.

“Alright everyone!” Alba shouted. “Prepare your positions, Tilon!”

Immediately, Tilon had jumped from his shield bearers and had come over to Alba’s side. She had drawn both of her dual weapons, which were glowing red.

Then took one step swinging both of her weapons using the full extent of her Qi, bashing it right into the shield.

“Now, go for it!” Alba said.

Tilon charged forward. He burst with a large amount of speed. Just then, he was ready to reach the first line of those attacking, and when he arrived, he slammed his shield into the ground.

“Barrier burst!” Tilon shouted, planting his shield in the ground.

At that moment, a giant force field had appeared across the field. It had hit those running at full force, and they had somewhat crashed into it.

Since the charge of the shield was fairly low, it didn’t push them back too far, but it was another unexpected occurrence for the warriors.

‘The shield can hold energy from anything that attacks it; it doesn’t just have to be enemies!’ Tilon smiled. ‘It’s time to show why the Crimson Crane work so well despite having so few members.’

Due to the strange shield having pushed them, some of the warriors thought there was still a shield in front of them. That’s when Lily, with her spear users along with Kizer, had both arrived.

Kizer swung his sword, and a large beam of energy went out, flinging around twenty men in the air, sending them back.

Lily wasn’t so far behind as she had come forward with her spear users, just running in to stab the enemy. Many of the men were untrained, but there was one thing they were able to do.

That was put their hope in the Crimson Crane. Right now, they were following their orders blindly, and in doing so, they were able to have quite a bit of success.

“Don’t forget about the rest of us,” Reno said as he avoided a sword strike and grabbed a warrior, placing his palm over their mouth.

A moment later, and the complexion of their skin started to change.

“It’s down to you,” Reno claimed.

Cronker came running out, sprinting, and grabbed hold of the body. He then ran forward, directly into the center of the army.

Using his foot techniques, he was avoiding them, and when he reached a good distance inside, he placed the body on the ground and got out of there as soon as possible.

The dead body on the ground exploded, and gasses started to come out from the body. This was all thanks to Reno’s special poison arts.

Now those next to the body were starting to feel weak. Their eyesight blurry.

Concentrating on this side, Alba and another group of swordsmen rushed in. Alba swiftly struck only the vitals as she slashed a neck.

Moving to the other, she stabbed a person in the heart, before pulling both of her blades out and kicking another across the battleground.

Off on the other side, Kizer, with his special Dark Magus weapon, swung his sword over his head, causing another large attack that wiped out around a hundred people in a single swing.

The effect of the weapon grew stronger with the amount of people, and this was the most amount of people that Kizer had ever gone up against before.

Lince, who was amongst those shooting arrows, couldn’t believe it. He was sure of it before, that the town of Flendon had no hope of winning, yet he was seeing a crazy amount of destruction happening and coordination.

‘I am ashamed to call myself an information gatherer,’ Lince thought. ‘What I am seeing now, their powers are beyond what I expected.’

‘Even in a large-scale battle, even though they are a small clan, they operate better than a large clan would. Their strength is much higher than I thought, and the weapons they are using.’

‘Is all of this because of the influence of the Dark Magus?’

Although what Lince was seeing on the battlefield was short of a miracle, still with everything happening, he was sure the fight still wouldn’t go to the town of Flendon.

Eventually, their Qi would dwindle among the large numbers, and there was also Sha Mo, and the two Pillars left in the fight.

As soon as they got involved, the formation and the ones the guards believed in would all crumble in a moment.

‘It is still a valiant effort,’ Lince thought.

Sha Mo, taking a back step, was observing the whole battlefield. He could feel it, little flames that were erupting in several different places.

Flames that needed to be extinguished, or they would burn the whole field, they might even end up reaching him.

‘Which ones though, which ones need to be extinguished first?’ Sha Mo thought.

“Kilper, go take out the man with the giant orange sword. He is doing the most damage to our front line,” Sha Mo said.

Kilper, another tall warrior by normal standards but not as long-bodied as Umonke or as large as Sha Mo, wielded a strange weapon.

Which held two large giant swords stuck together by a chain in the center.

“As for you, Umonke, deal with their leader, that will take some morale down. As for myself, I will go for that one with the shield. If I destroy that thing with my own hands, we will witness the entire wall of this town fall at the same time,” Sha Mo exclaimed.

Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 858: I Took Down The Behemoth Clan!

Umonke and Kilper, receiving the order from their leader, quickly decided to move. They navigated through the battlefield fairly easily. Arrows were constantly fired toward them due to their large size, but they only had to move their heads slightly or step to the side, allowing the attacks to miss them completely.

At one point, Kilper shifted slightly, allowing a part of his large weapon to deflect an arrow. It fiercely hit the metal part, then ricocheted off and landed right in the head of another Behemoth Clan member.

“Crap,” Kilper said. “I’m not used to fighting with everyone by our side.”

Although the Behemoth Clan was the largest and held the most territory in the Demonic Faction, it was the first time they had utilized such a large force like this.

Regardless, Kilper didn’t want to kill his own men, and that frustrated him quite a bit.

‘I was meant to go for the one with the big sword,’ Kilper observed as he saw another large thrust and members of the clan being flung into the air, crashing into the larger army.

It was quite clear that Kizer was doing the most damage to the army, but second to him, those on the wall firing arrows were taking down those who weren’t paying attention.

At that moment, another arrow was flying through the air, aiming right for Kilper. Raising his hand, he caught it. He could feel the energy residing in the arrow, and it wasn’t Qi energy, but using his own power, he was able to stop it from inching closer.

‘Weapons that allow regular humans to have a chance against Pagna warriors who have trained for years are certainly dangerous,’ Kilper thought. ‘Let’s go ahead and deal with the archers first.’

Qi flowed from his dantian into his hand and eventually surrounded the arrow. Leaning back slightly, with his arm over his shoulder, he then launched the arrow back through the air.

A large current formed around the arrow, pushing back the Behemoth Clan warriors who were close to Kilper.

The arrow was fiercely heading straight for the upper wall where the archers were stationed. Fixteen could feel the large amount of Qi energy the arrow carried.

‘If that hits the wall, it will break it in a single blow. The archers may be strong because of the weapons they are using, but they can’t defend themselves from an attack like that.’

Fixteen pulled out his sword by his side and stood on top of the wall. He burst off, kicking from the wall, and headed straight for the arrow.

While in the air, he spun his body several times and pierced his sword right at the arrow. However, the strength of the arrow was too much, and the Qi overwhelmed him, flinging his entire body onto the hard floor.

It just went to show how much Qi had been used.

‘I might have underestimated the Pillars’ strength. With the Crimson Crane so busy, will we be able to handle them as well?’ Fixteen thought.

Andy could see the arrow still hurtling towards them at full speed.

“Brace yourselves!” Andy shouted to them.

That’s when he felt another person stand on the wall. Andy noticed from behind, it was the same person who had spoken about the fight between Cronker and one of the pillars.

Just before the arrow came forward, the man standing on the wall swung his arms, and black chains shot out from underneath his garments. They wrapped around the arrow, and pulling it, the arrow flung to the ground off to the side, in an area where there were next to no people.

When the arrow hit the ground, the flooring was destroyed as it still had much of its power left.

The person who had deflected the arrow was none other than Lince, the leader of the Lost Clan, another one of the main three clans in the Demonic Faction.

‘Crap,’ Lince thought. ‘I said I wouldn’t get involved, but I wanted to see more of how this fight would play out, and if that arrow had hit, it would have been harder for me to observe from a safe position where I wouldn’t get caught.’

Lince quickly dropped back down and went to blend in with the others.

“Thanks for that,” Andy said. “I don’t know who you are, but since you helped us, I won’t be complaining much.”

Lince stayed quiet, as he still had no intentions of fully helping them.

“Hmm, the person on the wall who deflected that must have had strong Qi,” Kilper noticed. “Maybe the town of Flendon has a hidden secret after all. It could also be that was the Dark Magus.”

“If that’s the case, then I will stick to my goal after all,” Kilper said as he made a turn and instead of heading straight for the wall, he was now on his way to where Kizer currently was.

As he made his way there, Kilper suddenly felt the air shift to his right. He twisted his head, and the large weapon he was carrying on his back swung out, the chain flinging one part of the metal sword.

As it swung out, it clashed right against another sword.

Turning to look at who it was, Kilper was surprised to see such a young individual.

“Someone your age has the power of a middle-stage warrior?” Kilper said.

“I’m not just anybody though,” Ricktor answered. “And by the way, I’m not alone!”

Lifting his hand, Kilper had to react fast as his forearm arrived just in time to block a large kick. The image of a waterfall appeared, and it rushed right into his arm.

“Another young one?” Kilper thought. “How are there such strong warriors, and I have never heard of you? Are you part of the Crimson Crane?”

“Crimson Crane?” Mada said as he poured more strength into his kick. “We’re part of the Dark Faction!”

With both hands being used to block the attack, it was then a third person appeared down the center. With a gust of wind, they kicked off the ground.

Kilper saw, oddly, a large pair of wings just before he felt an intense blow right to his stomach. A powerful strike, like being hit by a cannonball, sent him skidding across the floor.

“Speak for yourself,” Mantis said, with beast wings coming off from his back. “I’m from the Splitting Fang Clan, I’m from the Demonic Faction, and everyone’s going to know-the Black Tiger is the one who took down the Behemoth Clan!”

Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 859: Stronger Than Before

Before the Crimson Crane joined forces to help the town of Flendon, they had met up with Rayna and the others. In the end, the two groups decided to split up as they entered the battle. With the large number of enemies from the Behemoth Clan, both Rayna and Alba knew that this battle wouldn’t be won by stalling for time. They needed to take out key members and force the Behemoth Clan to lose their will to fight, making them believe that defeat was inevitable.

The Crimson Crane had clashed with the main army, demonstrating extraordinary skills and powers, while the 2,000-strong guards showed remarkable courage and resilience. The Behemoth Clan now knew this wasn’t going to be a simple or easy fight. Still, there was something the warriors on the field feared more. They would rather risk death than upset their own clan, knowing the consequences of disappointing the Behemoth Clan and its ruthless hierarchy.

“Are we joining the fight?” Simyon asked.

“We need to disrupt the power of the Behemoth Clan as much as possible,” Rayna replied.

The group was currently positioned a little away from the main fight, hiding behind a large protruding rock and staying in its shadow.

“What we need to do is target as many middle-stage warriors in the Clan as possible. Sense those with strong Qi. If we take them out, it will make things easier for the Crimson Crane,” Rayna explained. “To maximize our impact, it’s best we split up, but we also don’t want to spend too long fighting just one warrior. Doing so will attract the attention of Sha Mo and his Pillars. So let’s divide into groups.”

It didn’t take much deliberation-people grouped up with those they felt most comfortable with. Safa, Simyon, and Liam stuck together. They knew each other well from the academy, having trained together extensively, especially with Amir, and they had grown even closer since then. They worked well together, and with their newfound strength, they could take on lower-ranking middle-stage warriors, especially as a trio.

Ricktor and Mada teamed up, leaving Anna and Mantis as the last pair.

“I’ll go with Anna. The two of us have fought side by side before. Mantis, you go with Ricktor and Mada. That way, we have two groups of three, giving us a better chance to support each other,” Rayna ordered.

“I’m not part of the Neverfall Clan, nor am I part of the Crimson Crane. Who are you to order me around?” Mantis retorted. “Don’t you remember? I’m the Black Tiger, the strongest student in the Demonic Faction!”

“Then let’s have a little contest to see who can take out more,” Ricktor challenged. “Mada and I were also top students in the Dark Faction. Of course, we can all forget about Raze for a moment, but let’s see who really is the best.”

Ricktor drew his sword, and on his other hand, he wore a strange white glove. Mantis could feel the intense Qi emanating from Ricktor, and it seemed the contest between the two was

on.

With the arguments practically over, it was time for the group to move out, and that’s exactly what they did. The Behemoth Clan was vast, too vast to easily identify who was a member and who wasn’t, which made it easier for all the groups to blend in.

Eventually, they split off from each other, and once inside the large throng of people, they had to bide their time, waiting for the right moment.

“Over there,” Safa pointed. “That one’s a middle-stage warrior. Simyon, get in front of him. Liam, block the view so others can’t see. I’ll take him out in one strike.”

They were going to play dirty, striking from behind without warning. It wasn’t an honorable way to fight, but none of them enjoyed what they were doing-it was all for the sake of victory.

Simyon got in front of one of the warriors and stomped on the man’s foot. He activated the special trait of his earring, heavily concentrating his Qi into his feet. This made it feel as though his body was made of solid metal, keeping the warrior in place.

At the same time, from behind, Safa thrust her spear, piercing the man right through the chest.

As this was happening, Liam struck two more individuals, slashing their throats. Using his system, he identified who had noticed and swiftly took them down before the situation could escalate. As they fell to the ground, Liam picked up a fallen arrow and placed it in their chests. “Damn it, this town of Flendon-they killed Barry!” Liam shouted, causing the other warriors to momentarily glance over before ignoring what had occurred and continuing to fight.

It wasn’t just Safa’s group employing these tactics; Ricktor and his group were doing the same. After defeating a few middle-stage warriors, they had drawn the attention of several others around them, turning their skirmish into an all-out brawl.

That was when Ricktor noticed someone who stood out more than the others: a large man wielding a strange three-part weapon on his back.

“Hey, why don’t we up the stakes a bit? Let’s see who can take out that one over there!” Ricktor said as he was already making his way toward Kilper.

This was how Ricktor, Mada, and Mantis found themselves facing one of the Pillars of the Behemoth Clan.

Meanwhile, as Rayna and Anna fought side by side, they noticed the movements of another person.

“That man there!” Anna pointed at a figure towering above the crowd. “He’s going after the Crimson Crane. We have to stop him!”

“I’m right behind you!” Rayna said, rushing through the crowd. She eventually leapt into the air, thrusting her spear forward.

Before she could make contact, the man turned around, blocking her attack with his sword.

“What’s this… aren’t you Belil’s daughter from the Neverfall Clan?” Umonke asked, another Pillar of the Behemoth Clan.

“If you’re attacking this place, did you not expect to see me? This land belongs to my family!” Rayna declared as she landed on the ground, her spear skimming through the air.

Anna quickly appeared by her side, her body already glowing red as she activated her strange powers.

“Even if you are from the Neverfall Clan, your name carries no fear, unlike your brothers and father,” Umonke said, whipping his sword through the air.

“Right, right, I’ve heard that too many times,” Rayna said. “But things are different this time.” She struck the heels of her shoes together, and a golden ring began to light up on them.

Rayna had been involved in the attack on the Dark Faction Clans and hadn’t come out empty- handed. She had taken the top artifacts belonging to the strongest clans in the Dark Faction, and she was ready to use them here and now.

Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 860: White Hybrid

Mantis had delivered a powerful punch right in the center of the man known as one of the pillars of the Behemoth Clan, Kilper.

After delivering the hit, Mantis looked at his fist, still feeling the power surging in it.

‘That was perfect!’ Mantis thought. ‘After watching Raze break those walls, I’ve been trying to perfect this punch in that base day after day, and now I just landed it perfectly!’

While joyous in the punch, his wings on his back started to flap.

“Someone’s happy for a situation where the enemy is still standing,” Mada claimed.

“My attack was the only one that hit, so I don’t want any crap from either of you, and that guy’s as big as at least ten buffalos,” Mantis claimed.

During Mantis’s time at the Dark Faction, he hadn’t just been lamenting over his situation. He had been trying to perfect the punch he had delivered, condensing his Qi to one point. He had done well, but for a long time, something was still missing.

His punch seemed weaker than the hit back then, and he realized what it was. When his desire was extremely strong, he unleashed part of his hybrid form.

His hybrid form gave him extra physical power, and with his Qi, he was able to deliver one of the strongest punches he had ever done before.

However, he was unable to control his hybrid form, something that he didn’t even ask for.

In the end, Mantis gave in and asked Amir for help, help in controlling his Hybrid form, and now he was able to use his hybrid form at will.

But in return for this power, he was now a Hybrid. He was willingly using his beast form. Even though he didn’t want to admit it, it was because he was ashamed that he was using this beast form for power that he had yet to go back to his clan.

How else, though, was he meant to catch up to all of the people that were around him? Even the two by his side, who were students of the same age as him, were complete monsters in strength.

Kilper, regaining his footing, stretched out his three-part weapon. One of the largest parts of the metallic weapon dug into the top of his back.

After that, the chains hung around the back of his arms, and now he held two giant swords in his hands.

“I didn’t realize there were more people to be wary of in the town of Flendon. I will fight with all my might!”

Kilper slammed both of his swords into the ground, and a large amount of Qi surged inside. Right where the three were standing, Qi exploded in their position. So powerful it lifted them off the floor.

“What is this feeling?” Mada complained.

Still in the air, the large amount of Qi was grilling their bodies. It was wrapped around their whole skin and was crippling them to the point they were unable to move or even use their own Qi to get out of the situation.

Kilper had lifted his swords out of the ground, but the Qi was still affecting the others.

“Oh, there’s one that can still somewhat move. Is it because he isn’t completely human?” Kilper noticed.

White substance was coming out from Mantis’s body and covering him; soon it appeared as if his body was wriggling out of the area, breaking down and reforming.

With one hand, Kilper swung the blade over his head by the chain and then swung it down. The blade bashed right in the center of Mantis’s body, and Mantis was slammed into the floor. The large attack caused the warriors next to them to stumble due to the power of the attack. “That doesn’t look so good,” Ricktor commented, still in the strange field of Qi.

“Not good, I’d be surprised if he’s not dead!” Mada added.

“Don’t worry, the two of you will shortly join him!” Kilper said, swinging the sword above his head again, then swung it down, this time aiming for Mada.

As the sword swung down, Kilper felt something off. Before the sword hit the ground, he pulled it back to his hand.

Looking on the floor, there was no person there. Mada was nowhere to be seen, and as Kilper turned his head to look at Ricktor, who was in the air being held by Kilper’s Qi, he saw a figure flying and grabbing Ricktor out of the area of Qi and pulling him to the ground.

Mantis stood there transformed, a strange white skull covered half of his face and arms. He looked more and more like a monster compared to before.

Yet in both of his hands, he had Ricktor in one and Mada in the other.

“I thought you were dead?” Mada asked.

“That’s a strange way to say thank you,” Mantis spoke, his voice deeper and part of it lingering.

Somewhat sounding like an animal trying to speak.

Mantis, although able to control his hybrid form, had no clue what was happening to his body.

When upraised and lifted into the air by Kilper’s Qi, his own body was reacting. The strange white substance was reacting and covering his body. The substance that would come out when one transformed.

When attacked by Kilper’s sword, the white substance gathered above his head and protected him from being cut in half by the sword.

When on the ground, the Qi had stopped, but the white substance was still covering his body.

During this time, he remembered some words of Amir.

“There are so far three known colors of hybrid transformations: White, Black, and Red. I and Dame both have Black transformation, you have White,” Amir stated.

“Right, the weakest of the three colors, right? So, the beast that attached to me was weak,” Mantis complained.

“Weak? Maybe in the eyes of many, or simply if we just look in terms of power, but there is a difference between these colors.”

“Black are more physical transformations; in some cases, body parts can have some capabilities as well. Red, well, we don’t have enough examples for that, and then White- some have healing capabilities, some have the ability to create large fogs. As for you, what

can you do?”

Mantis still didn’t understand, but it didn’t matter right now; he was alive, and he was stronger than ever.

“We can’t just let you do all the work,” Ricktor said. “It’s time the two of us pulled our

weight.”

Ricktor looked at his hand with the white glove, and Mada looked down at the boots covering

his feet.

Both of the artifacts started to activate.