Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 1699: Cleaning Up

After the grueling display of power on the training field, Raze began his walk back toward the main facility. He had burned through a significant amount of mana during the assessments, methodically breaking every mage who stood before him. To the observers and the guild members watching from the sidelines, it was only natural to assume that "Web" was exhausted. They saw the scale of the spells he had cast and the sheer number of bodies he had dropped, assuming he was operating on his last reserves.

Of course, they had no idea they were dealing with the Dark Magus.

Unlike the average mage in the Noble Guild, Raze’s mana pool was vast, reinforced by his unique experiences and cultivation. Furthermore, his spatial ring was stocked with high-grade Qi pills, pure, refined versions that could restore mana almost instantly without the debilitating side effects of the cursed pills often found in Pagna. To Raze, the "exhaustion" was merely a convenient mask. It gave him the perfect excuse to withdraw from the group and isolate himself without raising any eyebrows.

As he re-entered the main building and navigated the ground floor, a thought nagged at him.

’I didn’t manage to get a communicator in the end,’ Raze mused, his eyes scanning the corridors for patrols. ’If I want to reach the second wall and maintain coordination, I’ll need one. But the risk of approaching the commander directly right now is too high. It’s too troublesome. There are other ways to secure a device without putting myself under that kind of scrutiny.’

He had gathered enough intelligence for the time being. He knew the layout, he knew the strength of the recruits, and he knew that the barracks and the commanders were his primary targets. They were the ones who would provide the most resistance, but they were also the ones holding the high-grade equipment and information he required.

Raze eventually reached his destination: a large communal restroom. It was a mundane location, but exactly what he needed for his next move. Before entering, he paused at the door to set a trap. With a few swift motions of his fingers, he etched a delicate magic barrier across the frame. It was a subtle ward designed to repel anyone who tried to enter, pushing them back with a gentle but firm gust of wind magic.

He didn’t stop there. He linked the barrier to a small sensory circle that would send a silent pulse of mana directly to him if the door was disturbed. It was an early warning system. Finally, he manipulated a small display near the entrance to state that the facilities were "Out of Order."

In the city of Alterian, such maintenance issues were usually fixed with magical efficiency, especially in newly constructed buildings. Raze knew that a broken toilet in a brand-new facility might seem suspicious to a keen mind, but he was betting on the arrogance and laziness of the Noble Guild members. He hoped they would simply grumble about the inconvenience and find a different floor to use rather than investigating the cause.

Once inside a stall, Raze dropped the facade of the weary guild member. He didn’t have time for subtlety with the floorboards. Channeling his Dark Magic, he focused a concentrated burst of destructive energy downward. The material disintegrated instantly, leaving a clean, yawning hole that bypassed the plumbing and cut straight into the earth below.

He jumped into the darkness. As he descended, he continued to use his magic to carve out a rough tunnel, steering his path toward where he knew the main sewage and utility lines ran. After a few minutes of digging through the sub-strata, he broke through into a wide, vaulted space. He had found the primary tunnels, the massive sewer system that served as the secret artery leading directly to the Underside.

He wasn’t alone. As Raze had anticipated, the Noble Guild had not left these tunnels unguarded. Two mages stood at a junction, their lanterns casting long, flickering shadows against the damp stone walls.

The moment his boots hit the ground, Raze abandoned the persona of Web. He didn’t speak; he didn’t offer a warning. He surged forward, lightning magic erupting around his feet to grant him a burst of supernatural speed. He was a blur of blue light in the gloom.

He reached the first guard before the man could even raise his staff. Raze’s blade, hummed with lethality, plunged into the mage’s stomach. The protective enchantments woven into the man’s Noble Guild robes, meant to deflect standard spells, shattered like glass under the concentrated force of Raze’s strike. With a brutal, fluid motion, Raze twisted the blade and ripped it upward, slicing through the man’s chest and past his head in a single, gory arc.

The second guard gasped, his hands trembling as he tried to manifest a shield. Raze didn’t give him the chance. He extended his free hand, and a pulse of Dark Magic surged outward. It wasn’t just a blast; it was an erasure. The dark energy swept over the mage’s defensive barrier, devouring the mana before collapsing onto the man himself. There was no scream, just the sound of matter breaking down as the pulse completely destroyed the mage’s physical form.

Raze stood in the silence of the tunnel, the dark energy still flickering around his fingertips.

’My Dark Magic has gotten a lot stronger,’ he thought, looking at the spot where the guard had stood. ’Significantly stronger since the encounter with Harvey.’

He felt a grim sense of satisfaction. This was easier than he had expected. Throughout his life, he had rarely had the opportunity to dismantle his enemies piece by piece like this. Usually, he was the one being hunted, desperately chasing the Grand Magus or searching for a single opening while trying to avoid collateral damage or public exposure.

But here, in territory completely controlled by his enemies, the rules were different. Every person he encountered in these tunnels was a legitimate target. There was a certain dark liberation in it. He felt like he was finally chipping away at the monolithic force that had hounded him for so long.

Moving deeper through the tunnels, the air grew colder and more stagnant until he finally emerged into the sprawling cavern of the Underside.

The sight that greeted him confirmed his worst fears. The Noble Guild had turned the subterranean district into a military outpost. Most of the original residents had already fled or been evicted, but Raze knew the history of this place. There were always those who hid in the cracks, the ones who had nowhere else to go.

He could easily imagine what the Noble Guild had done to them. It was a simple, brutal choice: join the guild as a low-level servant, or be cleared out permanently. He saw non-mages being herded like cattle, forced to perform the manual labor required to keep the guild’s machine running.

"The fact that they are in this world willingly, after trying to forget it for so long..." Raze whispered, his voice echoing coldly against the cavern walls. He looked out over the transformed Underside, his eyes glowing with a faint, dangerous light. "It’s time to get rid of them. It’s time to clear this place out for good."

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