Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 1761  The Hollow God

Idore looked down at the bleeding stump of his wrist in absolute disbelief. Trembling, he forcefully channeled blinding Light magic to rapidly heal and cauterize the gaping wound. The holy energy seared his flesh, closing the veins and stopping the blood loss, but it became glaringly obvious that his specific Light magic wouldn’t allow him to just miraculously grow back a severed hand. His elemental mastery was absolute, but his biological regeneration wasn’t anywhere near the same terrifying level as Gizin’s flesh-weaving. That much was abundantly clear.

Now, as Raze looked at the hovering god, he could clearly see a deep, unraveling frustration etched into Idore’s face. The arrogant, untouchable smirks from earlier had completely vanished, replaced by the grimace of a cornered animal.

“You’ve lost half of your precious, hoarded items, and the very hand you use to rapidly cast your spells. Although, with your God Eyes, I’m guessing you can still do a rather good job of manipulating the elements,” Raze commented, his dark swords resting at his sides. “But you’re probably wondering what’s happening right now, aren’t you?”

Raze stepped forward, his dark aura radiating off the platform.

“It’s exactly your own doing, Idore. You arrogantly said it yourself. Through each brutal battle, through every agonizing experience I have barely survived, I have grown by leaps and bounds,” Raze declared, his voice cutting through the roaring winds of the battlefield.

“A normal person wouldn’t ever have to go through so many horrific, life-and-death situations in a single lifetime. How many have you personally been through yourself while sitting comfortably on your throne, reaching the point you have? None. Yet, because of you, and because of my absolute, burning goal of chasing you down, I have been forced through far too many crucibles. You are the one that has blindly created this devastating, insurmountable wall standing in front of you. And it’s going to collapse and crush you right now!”

When Raze charged forward again, he had a distinct, calculated feeling that there was no longer any reason for him to actively use the phasing effect of Beatrix’s sword.

And he was absolutely right. The invincible, spatial redirecting barrier that Idore had relied on… it wasn’t an innate spell. It was one of the legendary artifact items that he had worn on his now-severed, vanished hand.

Without the barrier, Raze could finally come in close. Spells were aggressively coming from all sorts of different directions, comprised of all types of different, chaotic affinities directed by the God Eyes. But Raze continuously used his Dark magic as he attacked, violently breaking the elements apart and shattering them into harmless mana, getting closer and closer with each step.

If the elemental crossfire got too dense for him to physically parry, he would briefly use Beatrix’s sword to phase through the largest blasts. Within seconds, he had seamlessly reached the blind spot right behind Idore.

With a vicious, horizontal slash of the All-Cutting Sword, he carved into the Grand Magus’s back. The cut was incredibly deep; Raze could feel the legendary blade effortlessly part flesh and bone.

But as Raze dug his sword through, Idore’s body was already starting to aggressively heal. The Grand Magus frantically pushed himself backward again with a burst of Wind magic. Simultaneously, an impossibly large, blinding pulse of holy magic spread out wide, slamming directly into Raze’s body like a physical wall.

The suffocating Dark magic that had covered Raze’s sword violently vanished for a fraction of a moment before it stubbornly returned to the blade. Raze narrowed his eyes. He knew exactly what this overwhelming, localized phenomenon was. It was Idore’s ultimate trump card. It was his magical Breakthrough.

“So, I’ve finally pushed you so far to the absolute edge that you have desperately resorted to using this, huh?” Raze claimed, shaking off the blinding light.

However, Raze wasn’t afraid anymore. Even though his supposedly invincible opponent was now actively using his ultimate Breakthrough state, Raze didn’t even think about triggering his own. He truly felt like he didn’t even need to.

He went in exactly the same as before—just as cold, just as confident. As highly condensed spells were cast his way, he spun his body, absorbing them all effortlessly into his void-like Blazer, and then ruthlessly struck against Idore’s body again with the All-Cutting Sword.

It was a perfectly clean strike, carving deep into Idore’s shoulder, only for the Grand Magus’s body to instantly heal on the spot under the blinding aura.

“A typical, high-tier Light magic Breakthrough. It allows for absolute, instant healing within a certain area to anyone whom the caster wishes,” Raze commented clinically, analyzing the spell. As he spoke, he continuously struck, slashed, and cut at Idore’s body while effortlessly blocking the panicked counter-strikes.

Although Idore was instantly healing from the lethal wounds, in some dark, vengeful way, it was actually quite deeply satisfying for Raze to just continuously use the sword to violently cut apart Idore’s body over and over again, feeling the tyrant bleed.

“It’s a powerful Breakthrough that works a lot better if you actually have loyal people fighting on your side,” Raze taunted, his blade flashing. “But when you forcefully enslave everyone to work with you through fear and manipulation, at your ultimate time of need, you will have absolutely no one standing by your side to receive your healing.”

Raze was right. The apocalyptic fighting was still going on down in the Noble Land below them. Yet, not a single person—not a single loyal soldier or allied mage—even looked up into the sky out of concern for their leader. Partly because they arrogantly thought the Grand Magus could easily handle himself, but the real reason was that they simply weren’t genuinely concerned for him like the Crimson Crane were for Raze. Idore was entirely alone.

Raze seamlessly used his Time magic, his body blurring as he moved safely out and away from Idore’s blast radius once again.

“You, Idore… you are so much weaker than I ever expected,” Raze claimed, lowering his swords as he stared at the panting, desperate god. “Trubin really was the strongest, most talented mage in existence. He only followed your orders because he foolishly wanted to please you.”

Raze pointed the tip of the All-Cutting Sword at Idore’s chest. “Whereas you? Nearly all of your supposed, untouchable strength was entirely reliant on the hoarded artifacts and rings that you wore. The other Grand Magus probably deeply feared what you had created in the shadows. My educated guess is that half of the items you forged were created with the sole, paranoid purpose of perfectly countering all of the other Grand Magus’s special traits, ensuring they would have to follow you regardless of their own power.”

Idore didn’t say anything. His jaw was clenched so tight his teeth threatened to crack. He just continued to silently, desperately cast spells at Raze. But the duel was no longer one-on-one.

The rest of the Crimson Crane and the Pagna warriors had safely returned to Raze’s side, their weapons drawn, completely surrounding the Grand Magus.

“You’re ready, aren’t you?” Liam asked, stepping up beside Raze, his energy crackling. “Ready to finally finish this guy off?”

Raze didn’t take his eyes off the Grand Magus. He simply nodded.

“I’m ready.”

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