Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 1762  The Gathering Storm

Although everyone’s magical Breakthrough was profoundly different from person to person, there were inevitably people who possessed the exact same type of supernatural awakening. It was statistically bound to happen due to just how many thousands of mages there were out there in the world.

And certain foundational magic core affinities would be much more likely to manifest the exact same ultimate abilities as others. One of these core affinities was Light magic.

The standard Light magic Breakthrough allowed the user to instantly heal absolutely everything within a certain radius. It was somewhat to be expected, since Light magic’s main, fundamental property was that of cellular regeneration and healing.

So this certainly wasn’t the first time that Raze was dealing with this specific type of defensive Breakthrough.

‘This is not like going up against the monstrous Gizin, who didn’t even have a set physical body to destroy,’Raze thought, perfectly analyzing the battlefield as Idore bathed in the holy light. ‘This is just accelerated biological healing on a mass scale. So, there are two simple, logical ways to deal with this annoying obstacle. And one of them… is to simply create an attack large and devastating enough to completely atomize the target before the healing can even take place!’

Raze aggressively channeled his remaining Qi into his legs. With an explosive boom that shattered the stone platform beneath him, he forcefully kicked off the ground and rocketed straight up into the sky. He moved with such blinding, supersonic speed that he instantly reached the upper atmosphere, breaching the cloud cover and essentially vanishing entirely out of sight.

Down on the platform, Idore violently snapped his head up, his golden eyes wide with confusion.

“What the hell is he doing?” Idore muttered, the blinding aura of his healing Breakthrough still pulsing around him. “He has to be planning something .”

Idore knew perfectly well that Raze currently had the absolute upper hand in this duel. Or, at the very least, the Dark Magus was on a terrifying winning streak where he had just severed Idore’s hand and destroyed half of his priceless arsenal. So, tactically, it made absolutely no logical sense for Raze to suddenly run away and abandon the fight right now.

In that brief, quiet moment staring up at the clouds, Idore rapidly debated with himself.

Should he violently launch himself into the sky and chase Raze down to physically stop whatever apocalyptic spell the Dark Magus was planning to cast? Or… was this brief intermission actually his perfect chance to quickly escape through a spatial tear? Because Idore knew the grim reality of his own power: the moment his ultimate Breakthrough state finally expired, his mana core would be completely drained, and he would be incredibly, dangerously weak. He would be entirely vulnerable.

‘No… I am the Grand Magus! I have ruled this world for centuries, and I have a vast arsenal of legendary magic I can still use!’ Idore’s pride roared, banishing the cowardly thoughts of retreat. ‘I am not weak! I will completely crush him and get through this!’

When Idore finally shifted his stance to violently launch himself into the sky and chase his opponent, his path was abruptly cut off.

Stepping directly into his line of sight, blocking his ascent, were three specific people. Forma stood tall, his bow drawn back as he rapidly fired off several condensed, armor-piercing arrows directly toward Idore’s chest. Beside him, Liam had his hands aggressively stretched out, shooting a concentrated, lethal barrage of his signature red Qi particles. And flanking them was B, her eyes glowing as volatile, crimson blood magic violently swirled and whipped around her forearms like twin whips.

Snarling in frustration, Idore swung his remaining arm out. He effortlessly cast two , roaring fireballs to intercept the incoming assault. The flames swept across the platform, violently clashing with and covering the trio’s combined attacks in a deafening explosion.

Idore still had more than enough raw, ambient magic at his disposal to easily stop their coordinated attacks, but the sheer volume of their assault meant he was completely unable to move any further upward. He was effectively pinned down and had to be cautious.

“Things aren’t exactly the same as they were a few minutes ago, right?” Liam taunted, lowering his smoking hands as he stared down the Grand Magus. “Now, you no longer have your hoarded, legendary weapons to hide behind. Although I’m certainly not one to talk—as a person who currently fights with borrowed power from artifacts myself—we absolutely won’t let you reach him up there. Because he’s incredibly busy preparing your execution right now.”

Idore bit his tongue so hard he tasted blood. He wanted to instantly vaporize the arrogant warrior, but he didn’t even have a fraction of a second to rest or cast a lethal spell. The other remaining members of the Crimson Crane—Line and Amir—had already flanked his position and were aggressively launching their own coordinated attacks at his blind spots.

“Fine! Then I’ll just violently slaughter all of you first, and go up to the clouds to kill him next!” Idore shouted, his voice cracking with absolute rage as his Light magic flared.

But the terrifying question remained: just exactly what was Raze doing up so incredibly high in the clouds? Why had he completely removed himself from the physical fight when he had the Grand Magus cornered?

Just moments before Raze had launched himself into the sky, he had locked eyes with Liam. It seemed the two of them implicitly knew exactly what the Dark Magus was going to do without uttering a single word.

Far below the floating fortress, down on the war-torn ground of the Noble Land itself, the bloody battle raged on.

There was one particular person who was currently laid out completely flat on a ruined rooftop, desperately gasping for air. He had a , catastrophic hole blown cleanly through the center of his stomach. The fatal wound was slowly, agonizingly healing up and knitting flesh together strictly due to his unique, resilient hybrid form, but he still wasn’t in a good state by any means. He was inches from death.

Sitting faithfully by his side amidst the rubble, Kelly was currently there keeping watch, actively making absolutely sure that he was safe from any wandering enemy mages, acting on Liam’s direct, strict orders to protect the wounded.

Suddenly, the air pressure around them violently dropped. The hairs on Kelly’s arms stood on end.

“What… what in the world is happening up there?” Kelly whispered, her eyes wide as she stared past the floating fortress and directly up into the swirling, darkened clouds above. “I can feel… I can feel so much terrifying power gathering.”