Chapter 1517: Thank You For The Final Gift
Raze had told the others, long before this battle began, that there was a reason he had gone after Ibarin first. It wasn’t because Ibarin was the strongest of the Grand Magus, or because he posed the greatest threat in sheer power. It was because he had been the first. Not the first Grand Magus he had ever crossed paths with, that title belonged to Idore, but Ibarin had been the first to truly shape Raze’s path. The first who had set him down the road that would turn him into the Dark Magus.
There were countless questions swirling in Raze’s mind, questions he had buried for years. If he wished, now that he had Ibarin completely pinned and the mind-projection spell already active, he could have used this chance to ask about the other Grand Magus. He could have demanded to see their plots, their alliances, their goals. He could have dug into the roots of everything.
But he didn’t.
Because there was something he needed more than any secrets about the others.
Proof.
He needed undeniable proof that Ibarin had been behind everything from the very start, that the ruin of Raze Cromwell had been carefully orchestrated. And so, he made his choice.
Raze’s voice was quiet yet sharp as a blade. “Show me if you have memories of any dealings around the academy involving illegal substances.”
The magic circle pulsed. The crystal glimmered. A flood of images came pouring forth from Ibarin’s mind. They showed the present, right now, even as the tournament had been happening, clandestine deals taking place in hidden corridors of the Central Academy.
Raze’s jaw tightened as he watched. Underground guild members handing over strange packages. Ibarin’s personal aides slipping vials into lockers. Students made to taste certain drugs under the Grand Magus’s orders, their eyes clouding with addiction as he smirked in the shadows.
The crowd recoiled in disgust. But Raze shook his head. “No. Not now. Go back. Go back to when Raze Cromwell was still a student here. Show me your dealings then.”
The images flickered, and there it was. The same pattern. The same hidden network. And at the center of it all… Ibarin.
Murmurs rippled through the stands.
“Raze Cromwell… that name, “
“Wait, wasn’t that the name of the Dark Magus?”
“Yeah, I’ve read about him… Wasn’t he a teacher here, before everything went wrong?”
“I saw a documentary once, he worked at Central Academy before he… before all of this.”
Realization was dawning on them like a creeping sunrise. Now, seeing this memory, they understood. The drugs. The false accusations. The scandal that had led to Raze’s name being blackened. And the true culprit had always been Ibarin.
Raze’s voice cut through the whispers. “Show me if you placed those substances in my office.”
The magic responded. The memory appeared clear as day: Ibarin’s hands planting the contraband in Raze’s drawers, slipping it in as if he were just dropping off harmless paperwork. Gasps swept through the arena.
And then Raze spoke again, his tone lower, tighter. “Show me what you said that day. At the trial.”
His heart pounded. He had forced himself to relive this moment in his own mind for years, over and over, a scar he refused to let heal. He had sworn he would never forget it.
And now, here it was again, playing out for everyone.
The crowd fell silent as the memory unfolded. Ibarin stood before the council, voice calm, face cold and composed.
“I have reason to believe that Raze Cromwell has been distributing illegal substances on school grounds,” he declared. “The safety of our academy cannot be risked. I demand his immediate removal.”
The echoes of that voice lingered in the air like poison. Many of the spectators had read about this moment in old reports. They had seen the twisted stories the news had spun after the trial.
But this was different.
This was the truth.
And it hit them like a thunderclap.
Raze had not been a cruel man from the start. He had been ambitious, yes. Fierce. Talented. But never cruel. And now they understood. They could see the venomous smile Ibarin wore as he destroyed lives. They saw the pattern, every time someone rose with potential, Ibarin crushed them, buried them, and rewrote history to make himself shine brighter.
The only person who had dared stand up to him… was Raze Cromwell.
The Dark Magus.
The magic was beginning to waver. Maintaining the memory projection while also pinning Ibarin down with gravitational force was draining Raze rapidly. His breathing slowed, but his steps were steady as he approached.
The crowd held its breath. He stopped over Ibarin’s broken form. The once-mighty Grand Magus lay pinned, bloodied, and trembling.
Raze crouched low, his shadow falling across the man’s pale, sweat-soaked face.
“I killed Enaxx,” Raze said softly, his voice carrying across the arena. “I killed him for everything he had done. And now… the next person’s life I’m taking is yours.”
Ibarin’s eyes widened.
“Don’t speak,” Raze hissed. “There is nothing you can say that will save you. Nothing that can erase what you’ve done. I am thankful for one thing, though. With everything I’ve seen… I know who my next target will be. Gizin.”
Gasps echoed from the stands.
“He is next in the line of the Grand Magus. He will fall after you.”
Raze’s expression darkened further.
“The only thing I regret… is that you won’t be here to see it. But don’t worry, ” his lips curled faintly “, you won’t be left out.”
Ibarin’s mouth opened, desperate to speak, perhaps to beg, or to curse, but Raze silenced him with a single motion.
His hand clamped over the man’s mouth. The pressure from his fingers alone was like steel bars, locking Ibarin’s lips shut.
And then, Ibarin felt it. His strength… fading.
The crowd watched in stunned silence as a dim, ghostly glow seeped from Ibarin’s body, his mana, his Qi, even the spark of his core, drawn out, pulled away, vanishing into Raze’s palm.
Ibarin thrashed weakly, but he was far too broken to resist.
Raze stared down at him with cold eyes.
“I’m going to use your energy,” he whispered, “to help me take down the rest of them. So… thank you for that, at least.”
*****
Author’s Note
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When news drops about My Vampire System, My Werewolf System, or any other series, you’ll hear it there first. If I’m not too busy, I tend to reply.
Chapter 1518: Absorbing It All
The extraction technique was being used on Ibarin, and his energy was fading right before everyone’s eyes. His once imposing frame was shrivelling, skin clinging tightly to bone as not just his mana core, but his very life force, was being drained away. The proud Grand Magus who had once commanded storms of power now looked like a hollow husk collapsing in on itself.
There was a limit to this method, a point where Raze could have stopped and left him barely alive. But why would he? Ibarin had taken far more lives than he could ever repay. Many of those deaths had been of people who were far less deserving than the man crumbling beneath Raze’s grasp.
Raze had often wondered about this, back in his old life. He used to watch stories, tales where the main character walked the path of vengeance. And always, when they finally cornered the one who had wronged them, they hesitated. Sometimes, they even spared their enemy. They spoke of being “better than them.” Of proving they were different.
But who cared about that?
Whether he felt peace after this or drowned in disgust didn’t matter. This wasn’t about healing. It wasn’t about showing mercy.
This was something he had to do.
No matter what.
Finally, all shrivelled up, Ibarin lay motionless. There was no life in his eyes, no rise in his chest. The arena was filled with silence as Raze slowly stood, straightening his back, the dark aura around him fading as he looked across the stands.
’I did it,’ he thought. ’I finally took down another one of the Grand Magus. A task that was impossible for me to complete in my past life. Everything I’ve endured… every pain, every sacrifice… has led me here.’
For a brief moment, a strange stillness washed over him, but then he felt it, a tingling sensation deep in his chest. The cluster of stars swirling faintly around his sternum, the ones that marked his magical rank, had begun to shift. They spun faster, pulsing with an unfamiliar rhythm.
’It’s… happening. I’m going through a breakthrough right now?’
The realization hit him hard. He could feel it. He was climbing from the seventh star to the eighth star. The energy from absorbing Ibarin’s mana, the mana of a nine-star mage, had been enough to push him to the edge, and now he was tipping past it.
He had suspected he was close, but he hadn’t thought it would come this soon.
If he reached the eighth star, he would become even stronger, powerful enough to face the other Grand Magus with greater certainty. But there was a problem. The higher stages were far more demanding. Breaking through them wasn’t instantaneous. It took time, and during that time, a mage was at their most vulnerable.
“There’s only one thing I can do,” Raze muttered under his breath.
He placed his hand over his chest, steadying his breathing as he guided his focus inward. Slowly, deliberately, he reached deep toward the center of his magic core.
Then he took a step forward, and a pulse of mana erupted from his body like a shockwave. It rippled outward across the arena, cracking the floor in jagged lines as the pressure shoved the ground away from him.
The crowd flinched back, the shockwave snapping them out of their stunned silence. For the first time since Ibarin’s death, voices rose again, sharp with urgency.
“Did you see that?!” someone shouted. “The Dark Magus, he’s… he’s going through a breakthrough right now!”
“What do you mean a breakthrough?” another demanded. “Is he… is he reaching the tenth star? I thought nine-star was the highest level anyone could reach!”
“You idiot,” someone else snapped. “That wasn’t nine-star magic he used just now! Even the Grand Magus himself said it, that the Dark Magus is only at the seventh star level.”
There were nods of agreement, several voices murmuring at once. They remembered what Ibarin had claimed earlier.
“So… even though he was only a seventh star, he was able to beat the Grand Magus?”
“That doesn’t make sense,” another said, voice trembling. “How could he have done that?”
There was no clear answer. They had all seen it with their own eyes, the way Raze’s attacks had overpowered Ibarin, overwhelming him piece by piece. At times they had felt something else within those strikes, something that wasn’t mana. But what could it have been?
“Wasn’t the Dark Magus from before, a different person, the one from history… wasn’t he a nine-star mage?”
“Yeah, that’s why all the Grand Magus struggled against him.”
“Stop being stupid,” a more cautious voice cut in. “These aren’t the same person. They just share the name. They’re even completely different ages!”
The debate rolled through the crowd in waves. Yet as they argued, their eyes were locked on Raze.
He had lowered himself to the ground, settling into a meditative posture, legs crossed and back straight. Faint rings of mana pulsed outward from his body in steady bursts, like ripples on a dark pond. They spread across the cracked arena floor, shimmering with the light of a newborn star.
They had read about this phenomenon in old texts, how breakthroughs changed with the higher ranks. Normally, no one could see a seven-star mage breaking through to eight, not unless they were close and attuned to the flow of mana themselves. Yet here it was, clear to even the untrained eye.
Power was radiating from him like heat from molten iron.
And with that realization came another.
“Wait,” one voice hissed, barely louder than a whisper. “Isn’t this… our chance?”
Heads turned.
“Our chance… to kill him. Right now.”
A shiver rippled through the crowd.
“He’s in the middle of a breakthrough,” the voice pressed on. “That’s when a mage is at their most vulnerable, right? We all know it. He can’t defend himself while he’s focused inward. If we act now, if we all attack at once, we could take out the Dark Magus before he finishes!”
Silence followed those words, but it was a silence heavy with thought.
Because they all knew… it was true.
They had seen Raze’s power. They had seen him kill the Grand Magus, someone they had once thought untouchable. And they had seen how his eyes had lingered on the crowd afterward, cold and calculating.
If they didn’t stop him now, if they waited until he rose again as an eight-star mage, then no one would be able to.
The thought began to spread through them like poison.
The Dark Magus was vulnerable.
This was their one chance.
*****
Author’s Note
For updates for MWS and future works, follow me on my social media below:
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*Patreon: jksmanga
When news of MVS, MWS, or any other series comes out, you will be able to see it there first, and you can reach out to me. If I’m not too busy, I tend to reply.
Chapter 1519: An 8 Star Mage
Through Raze showing the truth of what Ibarin had done, it was clear to everyone that the Grand Magus had been a corrupt man.
Yet even so, one rotten apple didn’t mean the whole orchard was spoiled.
Some of the crowd clung to that thought desperately, whispering it to themselves. They wondered if the Dark Magus and the Dark Guild had known all of this beforehand, if they had deliberately targeted Ibarin as part of some larger plan to turn the world against the rest of the Grand Magus.
Their minds twisted and tangled in conflict. They didn’t know what to do. They didn’t know what to believe.
But not everyone felt the same hesitation.
Some still harboured strong hatred for the Dark Magus. Their eyes were sharp, their hands twitching, as if they were just about to make a move, until they saw something that made their hearts freeze.
The Pagna warriors had jumped down.
They landed in perfect sync, forming a solid wall in front of Raze as they turned their backs to him and faced the crowd.
The same four who had bested the principals stood there like immovable pillars, silent but commanding. And they weren’t alone.
Several other mages leapt down from the stands, robes flaring as they landed. More and more joined them in a fluid rush until they had formed a wide circle around Raze, an unbroken barrier of bodies and power.
The crowd began to murmur. They were noticing something.
Every mage who had moved, every one of those who had taken position to protect Raze… they all had one thing in common.
They were Dark Mages. Members of the Dark Guild.
And among them, two very familiar faces stepped forward from the protective ring, Londo and Kelly. They had come down from the spectator stands as well, their presence crackling like live lightning.
“No one will do harm to the Grand Magus!” Londo’s voice boomed across the arena. His eyes swept the crowd like sharpened blades. “He protected all of your lives! He vanquished the dark evil in our world! And yet… I can see it in your eyes. Some of you still wish to do him harm.”
He raised his staff, slamming the butt of it into the cracked stone.
“We will protect him, and we will do so at all costs. So don’t any of you dare even think about moving!”
The words rang like iron, each syllable hammered into place.
It worked.
Not a single person dared take a step forward.
The truth was, it would have been an easy task. Raze was sitting motionless in the middle of the arena, locked in the vulnerable state of his breakthrough. Even a small group could have finished him off before he could defend himself.
But now, with the Dark Guild standing like a living barricade, the thought of attacking him at all felt impossible.
“I’m glad there are those here to protect him,” Nannan whispered, relief loosening his tense shoulders. “I thought we were going to have to make a move.”
“Did you forget?” another voice said beside him, bitter and hollow. “We no longer have our powers. We’re utterly useless. Even if we tried, we wouldn’t be able to stop anyone. But look at him… that man doesn’t need our help anyway.”
They weren’t wrong.
The pulsing ripples of mana rolling off Raze were growing stronger and stronger.
Each wave came quicker than the last, the intervals shrinking like the space between heartbeats in a sprint. The tempo was building, faster and faster, until at last,
A final surge erupted outward.
A blinding ring of mana burst from Raze, slamming into the backs of all those standing guard around him. The shock jolted their feet, almost knocking some off balance, but they gritted their teeth and held their ground.
And when they risked glancing back over their shoulders…
They saw him.
A new, energised Dark Magus, standing tall, mana flowing around him in thick ribbons that shimmered like living shadows.
Raze lifted his head, eyes like storms, and then he moved.
He raised one hand, casting his wind magic into the air. The spell carried his voice across the arena so that everyone present could hear him.
“My goal,” he said, and the words struck with the weight of thunder, “the goal of the Dark Magus… and of the Dark Guild… has only ever been Ibarin. From the very beginning of this event.”
His gaze swept the crowd.
“I did my best not to get anyone else involved. Not to let anyone else be harmed. Unfortunately, I was unable to protect everyone… including those at Wilton. Including Wilton himself.”
Gasps rippled through the stands.
“Wilton had no involvement in any of this,” Raze continued. “The students were unaware of everything that took place. We tricked our way in. We forced our way here. I want to make that clear.”
His voice hardened like drawn steel.
“There is no need for a senseless witch hunt. Because the witches you wish to hunt… are standing right here in front of you.”
A charged hush fell across the arena.
“We won’t stop here,” Raze declared. “I won’t stop here. I know many of you believe you’re living a good life. You see nothing wrong with the way Alterian is run. And that is because the Grand Magus have been pulling the wool over your eyes, casting this illusion.”
He took a step forward, mana swirling off his boots like curling smoke.
“There are many, every day, who are hurt by the actions of the Grand Magus. Like the evil I have revealed to you today. I will continue to pull their crimes from behind the curtain. I will tear down their facades. I will make the world see who they truly are.
“And I will eliminate them.
“One by one.”
His shadow stretched long across the arena floor, flickering in the storm of magic whipping around him.
“I will change Alterian… forever.”
The declaration cracked through the arena like a lightning bolt.
Then Raze’s voice turned sharp and commanding.
“As for everyone in the Dark Guild… we shall commence at our meeting point in a week’s time, to plan our next attack, for the whole world to see.”
His eyes burned like black fire.
“Spread what you saw today,” he ordered. “Tell them. Tell the world… that the Dark Magus has slain not only Ibarin… but also Enaxx.
“And now…
“There are only three left.”
Dark magic exploded from his feet in a sweeping wave, rising like a midnight storm. It twisted upward, curling through the air like smoke as it thickened into a dark blanket that rolled over the arena.
****
Author’s Note
For updates for MWS and future works, follow me on my social media below:
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*Patreon: jksmanga
When news of MVS, MWS, or any other series comes out, you will be able to see it there first, and you can reach out to me. If I’m not too busy, I tend to reply.
Chapter 1520: All Of Aterian Knows (Part 1)
The dark magic spilling out of Raze swirled across the ground, curling like smoke around those who had chosen to stand at his side. To the crowd watching from the stands, it was difficult to tell what was happening within that dense wave of shadows. Some of them shifted uncomfortably, hearts pounding as they feared the darkness would continue to spread and eventually engulf them as well.
Who truly knew the full capabilities of Dark Magic? It was taboo for a reason, spoken of in hushed whispers as power not meant to be wielded, and perhaps there was more than one reason for that.
But the magic never reached the edge of the crowd. Instead, it stopped short, then slowly began to fade away, dissolving into glittering particles that scattered harmlessly into the air. As the haze vanished, the spectators gasped, blinking in disbelief at the sight revealed before them.
Where the warriors had once stood, they now remained in the same positions, yet all of them were clad in identical black robes. Each robe was enchanted, the hood drawn low to conceal the features of the one who wore it, masking every identity. Their silhouettes alone revealed who was tall, who was broad, but little else. The transformation was chilling, it truly looked as though they were all witnessing the Dark Guild assembled in its full force.
One figure stepped forward, raising a hand high into the air. “Dark Guild,” the figure declared, his voice steady and commanding, “our mission has been completed. We shall meet each other again!” Though no one could see his face beneath the enchanted hood, the voice belonged to Londo, one of the higher-ranking individuals in the Dark Guild.
Few outside the group knew of his status, but within their circle, his authority was unquestioned. Outside of Kelly and the Dark Magus himself, Londo was one of the most trusted leaders among them.
“Everyone disperse!” Londo ordered, swinging his arm outward.
At once, the group obeyed. The robed figures scattered in every direction like shadows breaking apart. Some dashed into the tunnels beneath the coliseum. Others leapt onto the ledges of the arena, bounding upwards with inhuman agility.
A few cast spells to propel themselves into the air, disappearing into the distance as they flew high above the chaos. No matter their method, they each had their escape, and not a single person among the onlookers even attempted to stop them. The thought of standing in the way of the Dark Guild didn’t cross their minds, it was simply unthinkable.
Meanwhile, Raze and his companions exited the coliseum. Together, they sprinted across the grounds of the Central Academy, their footsteps echoing as they left behind the shattered arena. Kelly kept close by his side, just as he had instructed her.
While the darkness had cloaked them earlier, he had whispered his orders to her with wind magic, making sure she would remain near when they withdrew. One by one, the warriors from Pagna converged on him, drawn by the pulse of his Qi energy that he deliberately refrained from concealing. By the time they reached the outer edges of the Academy, the six of them had regrouped, moving as a unit as they fled.
“Where are we going now?” Liam asked breathlessly.
“We’ve done everything we needed to at the Central Academy,” Raze answered, his voice firm despite the exhaustion weighing on his body. “We are not here to govern the world of Alterian. They will figure out how to handle the Academy themselves. In time, as the truth spreads, they will establish guardrails to prevent something like this from happening again. But as long as those in charge are the Grand Magus, real change is unlikely.”
His words lingered in the air. All the students and mages would feel the weight of what had occurred today, not just at the Central Academy, but across the entire world. The ripples of this single event would spread outward, touching every corner of Alterian, reshaping its future in ways none of them could yet predict.
“We’ll head to Alen’s estate first,” Raze continued. “The manor where we gathered before. We’ll stay there for a while and wait to see how things unfold. Then, when the time is right, we’ll make our next move.”
The others nodded silently, following without question. Even Kelly kept step with them, her hood casting her face in shadow, her presence a quiet reminder of the order Raze had given. He had a reason for bringing her along. Now there was no doubt the Grand Magus knew he was coming for them. Gizin commanded the Cerberus Guild, one of the strongest in all of Alterian.
Idore, on the other hand, held the Noble Guild in his iron grasp. To face them, Raze would need more than just his strength, he would need the full force of the Dark Guild at his back. But that raised another question, one that weighed on him as they ran: how would Harvey, the man who stood as the leader of the Dark Guild, react to everything that had transpired today?
Back in the coliseum, the silence of shock began to break into whispers. The audience turned to one another, their voices hushed yet urgent.
The event had ended, yet no one seemed to know what came next. The announcer, who normally filled the air with confident commentary, was at a loss for words. The principal, no, the Grand Magus, was dead. How could they possibly resume as though this were just another Academy event?
“We have to report this!” one voice cried out. “We must tell everyone what happened today!”
At that, people began to move. Some rushed to pull out their communication devices, which had begun working again now that the disruption was gone.
Others scrambled to leave the arena entirely, desperate to carry word of the Dark Magus and the fall of the Grand Magus to their homes, their guilds, their families. The students of Wilton Academy, however, remained where they were, caught in a haze of disbelief.
“I can’t believe they’re gone,” Yolden whispered. She wore a faint, bittersweet smile as she clutched her arm tightly. Her emotions were tangled, a storm of relief, grief, and confusion she couldn’t untangle.
“It’s okay,” Chiba said softly, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “With who he was, with what he’s done… it’s important that he left. Seeing what kind of person he truly was, there was no way he would have wanted us to get hurt.”
“Oh, so you think the Dark Magus is actually a good person now, is that it?” Moze asked, his tone laced with doubt.
“And do you not?” Piba countered, raising an eyebrow as she looked him straight in the eye.
Moze faltered. His lips pressed together, but no words came out. Finally, he exhaled. “I don’t know what to think. But I know this much, the Raze I met… he was a good person.”
The discussion among the students was cut short as the reality of what had happened began to sweep outward.
Word spread fast, moving beyond the Academy, beyond the coliseum, flowing into the world like wildfire. By the end of the day, every corner of Alterian would know the truth: the Dark Magus had slain the Grand Magus, and nothing would ever be the same again.
***
**
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