Chapter 931: Eliminate Alter
Through Rayna’s words, they could feel the anger coming off from her in that moment. They resonated with it more because, for the last couple of days, they had been working nonstop. They had been dealing with the outcome of the attack on hand.
“I’m angry as well,” Alba spoke up. “But what are you suggesting exactly? You need to make it clear. You’re talking about getting our hands dirty and bloody; isn’t that what we’ve been doing against the Behemoth Clan and more?”
“The ones behind attacking us weren’t the Behemoth Clan. The people behind this were the group known as Alter!” Rayna said. “The Behemoth Clan, at least they attacked with reason.”
“Even if we had lost the war with the Behemoth Clan, they wouldn’t have killed every person inside. What has happened here is not something that is done by people who can be considered the same. Even for us Pagna warriors, who are content with killing, it’s too far,” Rayna claimed.
Many in the room resonated with what Rayna was saying. At least when the students had died from the harsh training situations, it was for a purpose, but what purpose did this have?
“Right now in the Dark Faction, there are many clans spread all over that use Alter for their benefits. I’m saying we use this chance to get rid of every single person from Alter.”
“We call on their services and trap them, making sure that not a single one of those scum is even on the same land as us.”
“We have been on the defensive the whole time, always just trying to protect ourselves in these situations, and it’s time we help Raze by being on the offensive.”
“We need to stop things like this from happening again. I know you all felt it as well, when you saw Raze… how dark his eyes were, how dark his heart was…”
“I’m afraid if Raze needs to resort to something like this, he will push himself in doing so, and if he does, he will never be the same again. The Raze we know will be lost.”
“Which is why I’m willing to bear some of the blood on my hands as well… but I can’t do it alone… I can’t.”
Rayna paused and looked at the faces of each individual. It was hard to tell how everyone was feeling. It was almost as if they wanted to agree with her, yet there was something stopping them.
“What about the innocent ones in Alter?” Safa said. “I don’t want Raze to go back to what he was, and I don’t want something like this to happen.”
“Maybe you’re right and we do need to go on the attack, but there are those in Alter that don’t even know what’s happening, just following the orders of the ones from above. Are they really to blame?” Safa asked.
Rayna then looked to her side, as she had someone else who could explain the situation a little better, and that’s when Amir stood forward.
“You are right; among those in Alter, there will be many innocent ones, but Alter is not a giant organization,” Amir explained. “They’re an organization with power, but there is a reason why they need to make use of the other factions.”
“In the end, there are only so many otherworlders that come to Pagna. The amount that they had killed in the Academy might even exceed the total members of those from Alter.”
“The reality is, if we are hesitant, then something like this can happen again. We can’t try and pick and choose who is innocent or who is not. Otherwise, it will just cause more meaningless deaths of others.”
“Do you know how the attack on the Academy even started in the first place?” Amir asked. Safa shook her head.
“It was a team from Alter; they had come to do some scouting work, unaware of the real task at hand, believing they were here to protect the world of Pagna.”
“It’s nearly impossible to change their views, to tell someone that they are the ones on the wrong side. It’s hard for anyone to believe, especially just through words.”
“And it was because of that innocent team from Alter that a Deleter was sent here, and the result was as follows.”
“If we want to stop this, we need to end them.”
It was then that Rayna stepped forward.
“At some point, we might be in another big battle like we had against the Behemoth Clan; it might even be on a larger scale.”
“We can’t keep turning our backs, thinking about who we can trust. While they are here, innocent or not, following the orders of Alter, they could disrupt everything… if you want to help Raze, if you want to help the Dark Faction and even the warriors, this is something we have to do… and let me tell you something, Safa.”
“If we don’t do this, then Raze will be the one that has to do it.”
Safa placed her head down on the ground, filled with thoughts. Warriors cared about life less compared to others. It was the life of a warrior, but Safa never wanted to become a warrior.
Things had just naturally become this way. In the end, though, as if Rayna knew the right words to say, she agreed with everything. It was unfair to have Raze go through everything again.
“I agree… I’ll do it,” Alba called out first.
“Well, you know if the boss is doing it, the rest of us are involved, right?” Kizer said.
Soon more and more in the room agreed, even Liam as he remembered the faces of the parents, and then there was even Simyon, with the last person being Safa herself.
She took a deep breath and then looked up.
“I’ll… do it as well.”
Rayna nodded to all of them. She knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but they were going to act straight away. They were going to be as cruel as the Dark Magus in the stories of Alterian, in order to stop something like this happening again.
“Alright, then I order everyone: the elimination of Alter starts now!” Rayna said, slamming her spear on the floor, and that was the signal to the start of a massacre.
Chapter 932: The Dark Dark Faction
The Dark Faction was on the move, and in various ways. For one, Cronker had expanded his Dark Assassin force, the Dark Hand.
He had been training up a number of students, on top of Joe, Violet, and Tinson. There were also members of the Bonum Society, proficient at using foot techniques, who had joined, and now the squad was ten members strong.
The Dark Hand, as well as several of the Bonum Society members, had spread messages to all the clans to set the plan in motion.
Letters had been received by all clans, from those high up in the mountains to those in the trenches of swamps and caves.
Not a single clan didn’t receive a notice, and it was word from the Dark Faction Academy, telling them to comply. They had all seen what had occurred that day, the day the Dark Magus took over the Academy.
How the major clans were useless, and all other clans had already suffered defeat from mysterious groups of people and organizations.
True to their word, they had continued allowing the clans to operate as they wished, not getting involved, as long as they did as they were told. And now that time had come.
However, it wasn’t as if the clans receiving the letters were unwilling to comply. If anything, they were more eager to work together with the Academy.
The letters contained details of the plan and the reason for such actions-to rid the scum that attacked the Academy, causing a great loss of many children.
One of the Dark Faction’s clans, the Black Marble Clan, was located among the mountaintops. Due to their secluded location, they weren’t large in size but had loyal followers who would become members of the clan.
The clan was quite unique as it was almost completely separated from regular citizens, only heading down to the village at the mountain’s base to trade once in a while.
Walking up a long grand staircase to reach the top was a group of three people. They were wearing regular Pagna clothing, with two of them carrying large backpacks.
“Man, why did we get stuck with this job? This thing is torture!” one of the men said, pouring sweat and pushing off his thigh to go up another step.
“Apparently things have been pretty busy. I was talking to Stacy, and she got called out too, so we were actually the closest Alter squad to this clan,” the other replied, who was
struggling less because he was a Pagna warrior.
“Don’t you have a spell to make this stuff lighter or something?” the man complained.
“If I did, then I would’ve used it on myself.” The third person was also covered in sweat, making their way up the stairs.
“Why do we even have to do this anyway? Can’t we refuse a job that’s so far away?”
“You know the deal: Alter has to make income somehow, and we need to spread our name as trustworthy people while gathering information. So let’s just suck it up and keep moving forward.”
Eventually, the Alter squad reached the top. They were treated well by the warriors, given food and drinks, and finally brought into the main clan base.
Soon after, they were invited to the main room where the clan elders were gathered. It was a large hall with wooden flooring and a raised platform where three elders sat in their chairs. “It’s a pleasure to meet you three,” one of the elders said.
“Same to you.” One of the men bowed. “I’ve heard that the request you asked about is to do wi-“
In the middle of his speech, three red arrows shot out, going straight through the Alter members’ heads. They fell to the floor and died in mere moments.
The elders had nervous sweat forming on the sides of their faces. When they turned to look, they saw a fairly short woman with dark bags under her eyes, standing by the sliding door.
“Heh… heh… heh!” Froma chuckled. “Is it just me, or is it becoming easier… to deal with these things?” She dragged her fingers across her face.
Seeing Froma look like a madwoman and how she quickly dealt with three members of Alter, including a Pagna warrior, the elders were sure they were on the right side.
“On to the next one, I guess,” Froma said, slouched as she went to walk off.
This occurrence wasn’t just happening at one clan base. Every clan base in the Dark Faction was calling on the help of Alter members, who were then being assassinated and taken care of.
As for the force known as the Dark Hand, they had gathered information from Anna, as well as all the clans. Descriptions of every person they had seen working for Alter.
After cross-referencing these descriptions, they would go out and take down the members of Alter one by one.
In one location, in a bar at night, drinks were flowing, and many were having a joyous evening.
Suddenly, the door swung open, and Anna was seen entering. She scanned the room with her eyes, then moved to a table.
Upon reaching the table, she grabbed the back of one man’s head and slammed it down into his bowl. She then picked the man up by his head again and hurled him toward another, crashing him down.
A third person tried to strike, but Anna avoided it, holding the man’s arm, then striking by the elbow with her other hand, breaking it in one hit.
“It’s okay!” Anna shouted. “I’m here on orders of the Dark Magus.”
She then turned to the man who was screaming in pain.
“You know, I never did like Alter too much, but there was one man I was quite fond of, and
now he’s gone, and it was you guys who did it.”
“But you see, there’s one person he cared about, so I’m going to ask you guys… right, you’re a retriever team? So what’s your lead on a mage called Charlotte?” Anna shouted.
In a day, the existence of Alter would be no more in the Dark Faction, and Alter themselves were too busy, with their focus on something else to even react.
Chapter 933: Save Me Dark Magus
The moment Raze arrived at the Neverfall Clan base, his mind was going wild, thinking about what the relationship between the clan and the Dark Faction founder could be.
Warriors were a strange group of people to Raze, with values quite different from those in Pagna, and for Belil, he was an even stranger person.
While thinking these things, he was unaware of what was about to happen. Looking ahead in a daydream, he saw it-he saw one of the brothers, Fing, push Brack over the edge.
A normal warrior wouldn’t survive a fall from such a height, but this wasn’t just a cliffside; this was the Abyssal Mountain, where extremely high temperatures were felt toward the bottom.
“Ha, ha, ha! Did you see his face?” Fing said, pointing toward the hole.
Right after, he felt a large gust of wind blowing his hair, and he saw a man with white hair jump right into the abyss.
Raze was falling down, but he could see Brack ahead of him. As he was falling deeper, his body was avoiding the large chains that hung from the hole in the base, allowing people to go from one area to the next.
“I need to get closer!” Raze activated the magic around his hands, propelling himself
forward, pushing him further down, but he could see that they would reach the bottom at any moment.
Swinging both of his hands, just as Brack’s back was about to hit the floor, a cushion of wind hit him, breaking his fall, but he still crashed onto the ground, and blood gushed out of his mouth from the impact.
Raze landed right after, swiftly, and stood there, looking at Brack.
‘The strange heat energy stopped my magic from working properly,’ Raze thought. He also noticed that compared to the last time he was here, his body was handling the heat better.
He didn’t need to use his ice magic to cool his body. Although he was sure part of that was because of the blazer he was wearing.
Raze quickly went to Brack, who was thankfully breathing. He seemed in an okay state since he was a warrior, but it was the intense heat that was worrying him.
Causing him to have next to no energy and even draining his Qi energy away, which would help him recover somewhat faster. Quickly pulling out a piece of chalk, Raze started to draw a magic circle on the ground.
At the same time, he fed Brack one of his pills and continued with his work. When he was done, misty air could be seen coming from Raze’s hands, and when he placed them on the floor, the magic circle on the ground lit up.
The area covered the entirety of Brack’s body, and the look on his face was one of instant relief as the heat was escaping him, now feeling as though he had a shield covering him.
Raze wasn’t quite sure it was enough, so he decided to take his blazer off and placed it on top of Brack’s body like a blanket. He knew its healing properties would help somewhat.
As for himself, he still had some basic cloth underneath a sleeveless shirt, so his hard- crafted muscles were on display. A body he never had before, even at the same age when he was in Alterian.
‘Why did they even do that? What reason could they have, even if you aren’t both from the same clan?’ Raze thought.
The words of Rayna started to come back into his head, the warning to be careful of her brothers. They weren’t like her and Dame; both of them were cruel.
“Holy crap, he managed to survive. I guess that’s no doubt thanks to our brother, huh?” Fing commented.
Standing up, Raze then turned around to see Fing and Han present.
“Why did you do that?” Raze asked.
“Because if he fell and survived, he’d get stronger. Can’t you feel the energy seeping into him? He’ll be a middle-stage warrior after this,” Fing said. “He’ll be thankful.”
However, Raze knew if he had done nothing, if he hadn’t helped Brack, then he would have fallen to his death. Were these two any different from Sha Mo, who also wished to get rid of Brack?
Why was Brack always the one on the short end of the stick?
“He could have died,” Raze said.
“And then that would have been his fate,” Han added. “The strong survive, the weak die. He is just another warrior.” Fing felt like it would be entertaining to see what would happen, which is why he acted.
“Is there a problem with this?”
Out of the two, Raze thought that Fing was the wild one and Han the sensible one, but he realized now, after talking to the two of them for a while, they were both crazy.
“So the strong make the rules. So if I just decided to kill you now… you’d have no problem with that?” Raze asked.
“The weak die, that’s all, the strong make the rules in this world and this is the law of the Demonic Faction.”
Raze started to laugh. Is that why his friend died then? Is that why his wife had perished? Just because they were weak? Just because people were weak, did they deserve to die… even if they brought no harm, only care, into this world?
Raze’s heart was beating intensely, but he was distracted as he heard doors swing wide open, and a heat wave seemed to come out, hitting him on his face from the side.
The man in question, with long straight combed-over hair flowing down his back, was Belil. He walked out of the room and was now on the floor with the others, observing the situation. “He should be fine,” Belil said. “He will live, and the energy here will allow him to reach the middle stage. Keep your anger inside you.”
“Besides, you might need your energy; after all, the two of us need to talk, Mage.” Belil said.
Chapter 934: Let Me Ask You A Question
At first, Raze was a little stunned as he saw Belil emerge from his independent training room. At least that’s what Raze thought Belil used it for; he wasn’t quite sure.
The reason for him feeling this way, he didn’t understand it. He had faced Sha Mo, someone from the Demonic Faction who was considered on the same level.
Although the power of Qi was fierce, Raze had handled it well, fighting it off with his own body. The last time Raze had met with Belil, he had felt this as well.
A slight tingle all over his body, like a small electric shock on the inside. Yet he thought that was due to the difference in Qi, so why was he feeling it now once again?
But all of those thoughts disappeared with one word that had come out of Belil’s mouth. “Besides, you might need your energy; after all, the two of us need to talk, Mage,” Belil said. ‘Mage’ continued to ring in Raze’s head because of who had said the word.
‘Everyone knows about the Dark Magus now, due to all the reports and me spreading out my name, but the word ‘mage’ is unknown to Pagna warriors.
‘Those in Alter might know it, as well as some people in Bonum Society, so why does Belil know it… why does he know this word ‘mage’, and why does he know I am one as well?’
If Raze was on guard before, he was extra careful now, thinking that at any point, he might have to fight for his life.
His guess was right: there was a link between Belil and the Dark Faction founder, but whose side was who on? Raze didn’t even know if he was on the Dark Faction’s side-he was just following in his footsteps at the moment, wishing for an item that he left behind.
“What, did I startle you?” Belil asked, standing by the door and already turning around. Before Raze knew it, he was moving his feet, but something was still on his mind. He turned his head, thinking about his blazer; he didn’t want to leave it with the two troublemakers. “Don’t worry, you two aren’t to touch him. If you do, I will deal with you myself,” Belil said. Raze didn’t know whether to say thanks or not, as he was more concerned about his blazer, but thought Belil’s threat would be enough to stop the two from doing anything at all.
“This will be a private matter,” Belil said, turning around, and when he stretched out his hand, the door swung closed.
It appeared like Wind magic, but that would have been impossible. So the only thing Raze could think it was, was Qi.
Yet how could one use Qi like that? Raze had recently gone against Sha Mo, but the Qi was just invisible and connected to him.
This didn’t seem to act the same way.
Too many questions were appearing in Raze’s mind, even more than the last time he had visited. It felt like he was finally going to get some answers.
Raze was walking down the narrow hallway. The heat was intensifying, yet he didn’t use his magic to cool himself down like he had before.
He wanted to hold on; he could feel the heat affecting his body, almost breaking down the energy inside and replacing it with new energy.
Eventually, Belil sat down cross-legged, facing the door in the circle, then in one area, Raze saw an area circling, almost like wind again.
“Take a seat; let’s talk face-to-face about these matters. I’m sure there are a lot of questions you want to ask.”
Willingly, Raze walked over and sat down in the circle. It was slightly cooler; whatever was being used was pushing the extreme heat away.
“First, I want to talk about the positives. You have grown incredibly strong since we last met, in such a short amount of time. You are indeed an impressive person, and I am happy that Rayna happened to pick you.”
“It’s almost as if strings are being pulled all just to please me!” Belil said with a large smile. “Should we go and destroy another Light Faction base? Maybe this time, you can have some part as well.”
Belil continued to laugh, and Raze didn’t know if he was serious or not. Some people thought the Dark Magus was crazy, yet it was clear they hadn’t met Belil, Raze thought.
“Your Qi has improved so much, and you even managed to defeat the Behemoth Clan. He has been a pain for so long, but I never dealt with him. Do you know why?”
“Because going to battle with him would mean the loss of many of your men?” Raze replied, unsure if that was the right answer.
It felt strange for Raze; it was quite likely that these two were closer in age than Belil thought, but from Belil’s actions, it was almost as if he were talking to his own child.
“No, not at all. I’ve always been quite confident I could beat that man with ease. I believe he might only have half a brain. I mean, he didn’t even fully plan out his attack on Flendon and acted on pure emotion. Which is why I like you, because you seem to be a person with a head on his shoulders, at least for now,” Belil replied.
“The reason I never got rid of him was because he was the biggest deterrent to other factions attacking us. He was a useful tool to use with the large size of his clan.”
“The Demonic Faction has always been smaller in the number of warriors compared to the other factions, so his numbers boosted the power of the faction as a whole quite a bit… but I think the timing was right more than anything. We won’t have to worry about the other factions, especially with you controlling the Dark Faction!”
Belil continued once again in a loud bellow of laughter, and when he stopped, he straightened his face as he asked his next question.
“So let me ask you, how much of the Dark Edge Sword Arts have you learned?”
Chapter 935: No, Let Me Ask You A Question
It was the second time that Raze had been surprised by the words coming out of Belil’s
mouth. The thing was, he hadn’t even had time to confront him about the first thing that had surprised him, because Belil was leading the conversation, and at this point, Raze felt like
enough was enough.
“You knew I was a mage before I came in here, so it’s clear you know something,” Raze replied. “But to also know about the Dark Edge Sword Arts? Just how much do you know… what is your goal in all of this, and what are you even doing… should I be worried?”
Belil folded his arms. Even though Raze was speaking more sternly, the smile on Belil’s face hadn’t disappeared for a moment.
“You’re right, you’re right. You see, I’m just sensitive to one’s body. I can feel the cells inside you reacting, the goosebumps in your body, so I wanted to see how you would react… and besides, it’s not as if the two of us talked much last time,” Belil said.
“But first, do you mind answering my question?” Belil asked again.
Raze thought about how to answer for a bit until he finally gave one.
“I have fully mastered four of the formations. However, with how I am now, I’m sure I could perform the fifth formation as well.”
Immediately, Raze could see Belil shaking his head in disappointment.
“That means you aren’t as strong as him. I’m surprised, with you having beaten Sha Mo, I thought you would have known at least up to the seventh formation,” Belil said, and then unfolded his arms and shook his head.
“Enough of that, I should explain. I know about the formations because I was one of the two people who created the formations in the first place.”
Something clicked in Raze’s head. Why hadn’t he thought of this before? There were two versions of the book-one that could work just on Qi.
Creating arts sometimes took several generations of knowledge, and just like Raze, Bofan was originally from Alterian.
“I heard descriptions of the powers you used, especially from the Martial Arts Tournament; there was no doubt that was you. I had hints that you knew how to use magic as well, and that was pretty much confirmed when you pulled your stunt at the tournament.”
“Of course, the Dark Edge Sword Arts manual is missing, as well as another item of mine, and I’m guessing that’s because of you?”
Raze did indeed take two items from the Neverfall Clan base. Although he saw it as borrowing because Dame, a member of the Neverfall Clan, was with him at the time.
The good thing was, with how casually Belil was bringing it up, he didn’t seem to be annoyed.
“How much do you know about Alterian, about Bofan? About the portals and what’s happening here, and even about Alter?” Raze asked.
His voice was rising slightly; he wanted answers.
“Relax, we have time,” Belil waved his hand. “Let me tell you, I know only what Bofan told me, because the two of us were close.”
“I know Bofan came from another world, and he traveled across the Dark Faction continent, challenging various people. He didn’t just do that in the Dark Faction but also traveled to the Demonic Faction as well.”
“We first met in a duel, and I beat him relatively easily, of course, but he kept challenging me and kept losing. It was clear he was stubborn and hiding something, and eventually, that caused him to use magic.
“And guess what?” Belil said with a smile.
Raze was about to answer, but Belil answered for him.
“I still beat him!” Belil said, going into another fit of laughter.
“The two of us became close. I, as a warrior, liked a challenge and was curious about where he had come from. At the time, the only relationship we had with each other was through our
fighting.”
“And I guess that’s why, in the end, it felt like I was the only person he could trust… but that’s not completely the truth either.”
Belil then looked up at the sky.
“The Divine Realm… it’s a place filled with annoyance-humans who believe themselves gods. Do you know why I know all of this?” Belil asked again.
This time, Raze didn’t bother answering, knowing Belil would just cut him off with the answer.
“Because I’m actually a Divine being. I have already reached the Divine stage.” Belil held out his hand, and Qi started to condense. Strange, small glowing balls of light were coming out from his hand, forming a floating sphere.
It almost looked like magic, but it was quite clear that the energy being used was completely different.
“I left the Neverfall Clan for a short while. When someone reaches the Divine stage, one has no choice; it’s almost like a light blinds you, pulling you into that other world.”
“And getting down here isn’t as easy as people think either. In the end, I crashed down, having lost a fight above. My body was badly hurt, and I was on the brink of death.”
“As for the person who saved me, it was none other than Bofan. I owed that man a debt-the debt of my life. I learned that even though I reached the Divine stage, it also meant I was not yet ready for it.”
“And Bofan gave me a second chance to get my revenge on those above… at least that’s what it was initially. It was also because of Bofan that I found the meaning of caring and love down
here on Pagna.”
“Learning about his world changed everything for me. You might not believe it, but I am quite the family man now, even though I wasn’t before.”
“A man who didn’t care about what clan one was from, what faction or upbringing you had, yet truly cared about people. I yearned for a relationship like that.”
“I had failed with my first two sons. I learned too late, but thanks to Bofan, I tried to grow that bond with the other two, and they are very dear to me.”
Words he never expected to hear. There were too many words Raze never expected to hear. Now, though, he understood why Belil had sent his first two sons to protect Rayna.
As for Dame, who knows what Belil was doing in the shadows to support him as well. But he had only mentioned failing with the first two, so he had to have cared for Dame as well. “Because of everything Bofan taught me, I decided that I would do whatever to help him. To continue to grow the strength of the Neverfall Clan and the Demonic Faction as a force he
could use.”
“Even when he created the Dark Faction and became its leader, we would frequently meet up, and he would always speak as if someday… he would disappear.”
Belil then stood up on his feet.
“There is a lot more to tell you about Bofan, the end of Pagna, and the Golden Globe, but before I tell you any more of that… I want the two of us to fight… and I want you to win… just
like Bofan did, on that day.”
Chapter 936: An Odd Feeling
It would be a lie if Raze never thought that fighting Belil was a possibility, and he had envisioned it both ways.
Either Belil was actually an enemy, unaligned with his goals, and he would have to fight for his life, or he would want to test his capabilities.
Despite hearing that Belil was a changed man from his old days, Raze couldn’t see it. A family man? This was a man who still loved to fight and battle.
Maybe he had just changed his priorities compared to before, but it was still within him.
The last time, Belil had even asked him to fight one of his middle-stage warriors to test his abilities, but now it was to fight Belil himself.
‘When I imagined fighting him, I imagined how to survive and escape. The strength I saw that day when he took out the Light Faction Clan might be something I could match with the Eclipse Strike currently.’
‘But Belil had done it effortlessly.’
There was another thing Raze had only realized through speaking to him-that Belil was actually a Divine warrior. So he could have very well been hiding his power, even if it was limited.
“I understand you want to test my powers, maybe even compare me to Bofan, who you knew from before. I’m guessing you won’t tell me anymore, and there’s a reason for this. But you already know that I don’t know all of the Dark Edge Sword Arts, so I’m likely weaker than him.”
It was something Raze had to admit, especially since even he was weaker than himself as a nine-star mage.
He just had more versatility, but Bofan would have been the same; he was clearly a nine-star mage as well and had studied in Pagna for a very long time.
“If you wish to test my strength, how about I go against one of your sons outside?” Raze suggested.
He had been wanting to give them a bit of payback for their recklessness for a while now.
“Haha, and what would be the point in that? I already heard that you humiliated the two of them with ease. I want to see the full extent of your power!” Belil then stood up from his position.
“You have no choice; you have to fight me, and saying no is not an option. Otherwise, I will have to punish my son-in-law for stealing from the family. I don’t want to see my daughter crying.”
Raze stood up. If this was how it was going to be, then this was how it would be.
Although some might think Belil was crazy or rough around the edges, he was honest if nothing else.
And Raze would much rather deal with him than a large number of mages out there.
“Come on, this isn’t a good place to fight. Follow me.” Belil said as he walked toward the door and swung his arms, making it open wide.
As they exited, they saw Brack standing there, carefully holding the blazer in his hands, amazed by what was happening.
Just as Belil said, he had reached the middle stage. He could still barely move due to the intense heat and felt like he had no energy, but he mustered up a smile.
Once again, just by following the Dark Magus, he was growing by leaps and bounds.
As Raze walked forward, Brack’s shaky arms held out the blazer to him.
“Thanks for looking after it,” Raze said.
“Thank you for giving it to me. I can tell it’s very special.”
“It is… if these two had touched it, I would have sent them ten feet deeper into the ground,” Raze answered. It sounded like a joke, but to Raze, it wasn’t.
Raze proceeded to put on the blazer as he might very well need it.
“He can come with us,” Belil said. “It’s always good to have a witness to future stories that will be told. As for the two of you, make sure you look after the base.”
“There are times when both your natures are needed, but I also wish both of you were a little more like your brother and sister.”
“If all four of you come together, the Neverfall Clan will reach new heights and make history.”
The two brothers started to jump up, using the chains while Raze helped Brack with his magic. Seeing this, Belil quickly jumped, lifted Brack with one arm, and continued to leap upward. Brack’s face turned red, unsure if it was from the heat or something else.
‘Right now, I’m in the arms of the Neverfall Clan’s leader… just what is going on? I… I…’
Before Brack regained his bearings, all three of them were outside the Neverfall Clan base. They were still relatively close, but now, without someone slowing them down, they ascended much easier.
Still holding onto Brack, Belil looked up at the sky, just above where the Neverfall Clan base was.
“A fallen mountain, a strike from a demon… I guess you really could call it a demon.” They were words he mumbled to himself before he continued.
“The location of our fight is a bit far; I don’t want others to get caught up in our mess or know what we’re doing. There’s a nosy one in the Demonic Faction.”
“Um, are you going to put me down?” Brack had finally gotten the courage to ask.
“You will just slow us down, so no.”
Belil rushed off, and Raze followed, his heart pounding as he was about to face what could be the hardest fight of his life.
“While on our way, I’ll tell you a little more about Bofan,” Belil stated.
Back in the Neverfall Clan base, both Han and Fing were moving up the Abyssal base. They were moving slowly, and both were rather silent-even Fing, for a change.
“Was that strange?” Han asked.
“Yeah, Father has never spoken to us for that long unless it’s about training us… something is strange. What is he planning?” Fing replied.
Chapter 937: The Last Condition
It was quite clear that in the current situation, Belil wasn’t an enemy to Raze. If anything, he was more of a means to get his way.
From what Raze could gather, Bofan was close to Belil, and there was a reason why so many things had been left with him. Since Bofan was no longer on Pagna, Belil was now following his wishes and continuing what he left off.
The question was, why was Raze needed? Was there a specific reason, or did Belil just believe that there was someone up for the job?
That was perhaps what Belil wanted to find out through this fight-to use him in some way.
‘I’m fine with being used, I’m fine with all of that, as long as I get what is needed and can head to Alterian. I’m fine with all this.’
Now knowing what Belil’s stance pretty much was, Raze decided to ask a question he had been holding back.
“Those words you mumbled before, do they mean anything? I saw you looking up at the sky,” Raze asked.
“Ah, right, I said I’d tell you a bit more about Bofan, but I guess I can explain what I was thinking back then,” Belil replied. “You know, there are several rumors about how the Abyssal base was created where the Neverfall Clan stands?”
“I also thought some of those rumors were true, that was until I reached the Divine stage and was pulled up there. The truth of the matter is…”
“Two of the strongest Divine beings were having a battle. The power was so strong that it couldn’t be contained, and an attack lingered down, creating such a large hole in the ground.”
“The intense heat, and the energy you can feel flowing through your body-that is the energy of their attack, still strong after who knows how many years.”
“This is what I learned when I went to the Divine Realm.”
To cause that much power, it was quite extraordinary. Raze didn’t look too much into the Divine Realm because he had no such intentions, and there was no such thing on Alterian.
As long as he kept his Qi stage at the maximum capable at the middle stage, he would be fine increasing his magic. Still, the power of the Divine beings seemed even stronger than the Grand Magus.
They weren’t an enemy of Raze’s, so he would ignore them.
“The world of Pagna is being protected by something amazing; if there wasn’t a realm that divided us, maybe the whole planet would have been destroyed. It’s almost as if it was purposely created,” Belil continued.
“I told you, Bofan’s beauty and obsession with Pagna transferred to me. He cared about this land a lot, and in turn, it made me care about things I hadn’t before.”
“Maybe it was the fact that I was beaten within an inch of my life; going to the Divine Realm can humble you quite a bit.”
“Regardless, we spent a lot of time together, but toward his end, he started speaking of strange things. He constantly talked about not wanting Pagna to disappear.”
“And he kept talking about what would happen when he disappeared. Every time we met, he would frequently bring this up in conversation.”
“It made me wonder, what was he afraid of? Although I said Bofan would constantly lose to me, I guarantee he was perhaps the second strongest person in all of Pagna.”
“And then, just like that, he was gone.”
“That’s it?” Raze replied, surprised. Not even Belil knew what happened. Worry set in that maybe Belil didn’t know as much as he had hoped.
“When he left, he left several things behind, explaining all of his thoughts, all of his worries. The last place he visited was the Neverfall Clan.”
“Finally, I understood everything he talked about. Maybe some would think I was tricked, but I don’t believe that to be the case.”
“Now I feel obligated to follow in his footsteps and continue from where he left off, to try and save Pagna.”
“He guessed that someone at some point would come along and be in the same situation as him. But in truth, it was a race against time, and it would be unlikely that anyone would -come.”
“He made a gamble, and now I need to see if his gamble paid off.”
Raze could tell that was the end of his tales about Bofan. Everything else would be revealed after the talks. Finally, they had reached their destination.
They were in the middle of an open dry desert. The ground was hard, but due to the shapes of rocks, it almost looked like a fighting arena.
Giant slabs of ground were lifted up, arched at an angle, surrounding an area that was about a mile in size.
Belil quickly balanced Brack on top of one of these large slabs that stuck out of the ground, and then continued into the center along with Raze.
“This is my old battleground. I haven’t used it since he disappeared,” Belil claimed. “I think this is an appropriate place for the two of us, don’t you think?”
Now on closer inspection, Raze realized why it looked like an arena; it was purposely done with Earth magic. It had just been so long that part of the slabs had eroded away. Images filled his head as he imagined a mighty mage going up against a warrior. Some of the areas were darkened, and there were even hard brown stains in other areas.
“The time has come, Raze, the great Dark Magus!” Belil claimed. “You have a good strong title, I like that. In our fight, use everything you have-magic, Qi, weapons, traps… do everything in your power.”
“Because this isn’t just a fight to test your strength. If you lose this fight, then I will never tell you about the Golden Globe you are desperately looking for… and I am a man of my word!” Belil said as both of his hands were covered in glowing orange energy.
It was slightly transparent, and his knuckles could still be seen. Belil then bunched them both together, and a shockwave blew out from his position, pushing everything in the area and knocking all of the dust away.
Raze’s feet even skidded on the ground despite him trying to hold his place.
“I… have to win this fight?”
