Dark Magus Returns

948  An Unexpected Distraction

Looking at Belilʼs body, Raze realized that his worst fears had come true. A man who had achieved so much in the world of Pagna, who still had many followers, had given his life to him?

It was hard for Raze to understand. There werenʼt many people he had gotten close to in years, and even in Pagna, if there were those he had been close with, he would never have suspected Belil to give his life—perhaps not even those he truly trusted.

He still didnʼt fully understand; he couldnʼt empathize with the feelings that Belil had, and right now, all he had was a deep regret, feeling unworthy of the gift inside him.

In the middle of his spiraling thoughts, the transformation had begun. Every part of his body felt like it was being stretched out. His muscles twitched, the fibers expanding, tearing apart, and being rebuilt.

This wasnʼt happening over a long period of rest and recovery; it was happening continuously within Razeʼs body to the point that he could only scream for a few moments before collapsing to the ground in pain, his body frozen.

”What is happening now?” Brack exclaimed, lifting both hands to his head. ”First, the leader of the Neverfall Clan is just here dead, and now the Dark Magus is on the floor… why did you guys bring me along for this? Wouldnʼt a physician have been better?”

Brack hurried to Raze, lying on the ground. There was nothing he could do about Belil, but maybe there was something he could do about Raze, and after all, he owed Raze for saving him last time.

As Brack got close, he reached to touch Razeʼs hand, feeling his body tense like a rock, not only that but the sheer amount of Qi energy coming off just from touching his skin.

Brack felt like his entire body would be overwhelmed in a moment.

”Tell me what to do! Tell me what I have to do!” Brack asked.

Belil had warned that this would happen. He did not seem like a man who would lie, so if Raze went by what he said, this would last a little over two days.

The sun was already setting, and it was getting dark. When this day ended, there would only be one more day that the spell on the island would stay active, and on the third day, Raze would finally be able to move.

ʼThe others will have a head start on the island, and right now, Iʼm the only one who knows about it. Do I tell Brack to inform the others, to head to the island? But if I do that, thereʼs a chance they could all get hurt as well.ʼ

ʼI canʼt do that. Iʼll have to trust that Bofan has hidden the Golden Globe well and that it wonʼt be an easy task to retrieve. Itʼs the only thing I can do!ʼ Raze thought.

Eventually, he decided on something else—something that would keep the others busy and prevent them from looking for him. Magic swirled around his hand, and soon, something the size of a thumb, black in color, appeared in his palm.

”Take… this,” Raze said rigidly.

Brack looked at it and took the small device. He had no idea what it was; heʼd never seen anything like it before.

”Hand it to the one named Anna… say itʼs from Himmy… Donʼt worry about me… Iʼll be okay… keep everything here… secret… secret,” Raze reiterated the last word firmly.

How was Brack supposed to keep such big news a secret? They were in the middle of nowhere, and he honestly didnʼt know how to deal with this for now.

”Fine, Iʼll do as you say!” Brack concluded. ”Iʼll give this to Anna—say it was from Himmy. But once Iʼve done that, Iʼm coming back here to check on you again.”

”Iʼll… be… fine!” Raze answered.

”You better be,” Brack said nervously, glancing at Belil once more before rushing off. Seeing Brack run, Raze felt he had made the right decision.

The special device Himmy had given was meant to hold information about Razeʼs past. Anna, being close with Himmy, would know what the device was.

If she got an order from Raze, as a way to help him, they would try to look into this, steering them far away from the troubles that would soon unfold on the island.

——

Brack sprinted back to the town of Flendon, but once he arrived, he realized he had to go even further. He needed to reach the Dark Faction, which was a somewhat long journey.

He might not even get there until early morning the next day. The only good thing was that with his speed now as a middle-stage warrior, he was covering much more ground than he would have before.

Brack had underestimated his speed; it was close to midnight when he finally arrived at the Dark Faction academy. His legs didnʼt stop moving, worried that Raze might be in trouble.

In some ways, Brack thought what he held in his hands might be the answer to helping Raze. After entering the academy, Brack asked around, looking for Anna, but no one seemed to know where she was.

He even approached Amir, who said she was out. Wandering the academy, Brack eventually made his way to the library, where he spotted three students he recognized from before, sitting quietly.

They looked a bit bruised and battered, likely from the special missions they had been undertaking recently.

”I need… to meet Anna, as soon as possible,” Brack asked, huffing and panting.

”Anna? I think sheʼs the only one who didnʼt come back. Everyone else said they were done with that… business,” Simyon answered. ”Wait, who are you?”

”Itʼs not important,” Brack said. ”Raze gave me this, and he asked me to find Anna. Can you contact her somehow?”

Safa and Simyon turned to Liam, who was closest to her, thinking he might know how to reach her.

”I donʼt have any idea where she is! How am I supposed to know something like that?” Liam said, standing up. ”Just because we share the same system doesnʼt mean Iʼd know where she went.”

Curious, Liam approached the strange device in the manʼs hand and took it for a moment.

Brack didnʼt think it would be a big deal since he didnʼt think Liam would just run off with it.

”Huh, whatʼs this?” Liam said. ”The system is saying I can access this thing?”