Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 1766  A World Reborn

When the others had gently mentioned that Raze was going to be resting for a while, Raze only just now realized what they practically meant by saying they all needed to stay for an entire month. It was an unavoidable logistical issue because of the Golden Globe’s absolute cooldown power. The legendary dimensional artifact could only be activated once a month, and it had already been heavily used to send the army of Pagna warriors over to his side to help him storm the floating fortress.

Which meant that absolutely all of the fierce Pagna warriors that had successfully survived the brutal invasion—warriors from all of the different, historically warring factions—were completely stuck here in Alterian for the next four weeks.

“I guess things outside must have been incredibly interesting while I was asleep, huh?” Raze said, his voice still a bit raspy.

He slowly pushed the heavy blankets aside, got out of the soft bed, and walked somewhat stiffly towards the bedroom window. When he pulled the heavy velvet curtains open, he was genuinely, completely surprised at the sight before him.

Because looking down from the elevated suite, he could clearly see that major, sweeping reconstruction had already miraculously occurred across the Noble Land. The ruined, floating city was practically being rebuilt the exact same way it was before the apocalyptic clash, but with a few highly distinct, cultural differences here and there.

There were still piles of rubble and active construction zones going on, but Raze could see something beautiful. The hardened Pagna warriors were actively helping out, utilizing their immense physical strength and Qi to move stone pillars, working seamlessly alongside the Alterian mages who were using levitation and earth magic to precisely place the heavy structures. Two completely different worlds, building a new one together.

“Right now, you’re currently resting in the absolute only structure that was originally built as part of the Noble Land that didn’t completely collapse,” Rayna gently explained, stepping up beside him to look out the window. “When you passed out from exhaustion, we frantically rushed you to one of the Grand Magus’s personal manors that wasn’t completely destroyed by the shockwaves of your fight. They forcefully conscripted some high-tier Light mages and got the best medical specialists to come out from other, untouched parts of the city to make absolutely sure you were okay.”

Rayna smiled softly. “They thoroughly checked your core and said you were perfectly fine, just entirely biologically drained. But they didn’t know exactly when you were going to naturally wake up, and absolutely no one here wanted to dare disturb you. So, this entire lavish place was strictly cordoned off and left untouched for you to recover in peace.”

“Things out there moved incredibly fast while you were dreaming,” Kelly said as she stepped into the room, joining the conversation with a proud smile. “The surviving mages from the River Moon Guild had quickly, deliberately spread the news to everyone about exactly what happened all over Alterian. The terrifying legend of the Grand Magus had already reached every dark corner of the world… but then, they were loudly speaking of your absolute victory.”

Kelly crossed her arms, looking out at the working crowds below. “Alen and Liam have actively been at the helm of the rebuilding structure, directing the manpower to bring the Noble Land back to the functional way it was. Meanwhile, Alen has been brilliant. He’s been leading the delicate, global communication between the various surviving nations.”

“It seems that there absolutely won’t be a terrifying, unified front dictating the world like that of the Grand Magus anymore,” Amir added from the doorway. “The world will return to individual, sovereign nations once again, along with establishing a brand-new political structure that allows for fair, global communication and trade.”

Kelly nodded enthusiastically. “For now, it seemed like the absolute only thing that everyone could universally agree on without shedding more blood. It was also officially agreed upon by the new council that everyone was to get a completely clean slate. That the surviving mages who were forced to be part of the Noble Guild, those that were secretly part of the Dark Guild, or anyone that innately possessed Dark magic would no longer be violently punished or hunted down.”

“And the desperate members of the Underside will no longer be forcefully banished below ground into the slums,” Kelly continued, her eyes shining. “Alen had aggressively used your terrifying name for this specific decree. He flat-out told the terrified council that this was one of the Dark Magus’s absolute, non-negotiable wishes. It was tactically the only way to do this without starting another war. One single exception for Dark magic couldn’t be made without looking biased, so they simply made a wide, sweeping case of total amnesty for absolutely all factions in order for everyone to believe things were truly fair. Of course, not everything can magically work out perfectly at once.”

She looked warmly at Raze. “It’s a long, difficult political process… but everything is actually coming together. And it’s entirely thanks to you, Raze.”

Although those grand, heroic words were incredibly nice for him to hear, Raze knew the dark truth in his heart. He had never actually done any of those world-saving things for that noble reason. The liberation of Alterian, the amnesty, the peace… they were all just a convenient, accidental byproduct of his own entirely selfish, burning desires for personal revenge against Idore.

As he looked silently out over the rebuilding city, watching children run safely through the streets, he subtly pinched the back of his hand just to make sure he wasn’t dead.

“I can’t believe it. I really, truly managed to do it,” Raze whispered, the heavy, lifelong burden finally sliding completely off his shoulders. He turned back to his loyal friends, his eyes softening. “Thank you, everyone. Thank you all so very much… for risking everything and helping me.”

Since the group of Pagna warriors had a mandatory month left to kill on Alterian, and they weren’t really able to do much on the highly technical side of the magical rebuilding or the delicate politics—and it honestly wasn’t their place to get deeply involved in ruling another dimension anyway—they needed a distraction.

Since they would be permanently leaving after a month, Raze had chosen to generously take everyone on a grand tour. He chartered transports and took the entire Crimson Crane and their allies to another, metropolitan city in Alterian—one that hadn’t been touched or destroyed in the slightest by the apocalyptic destruction of the war. He wanted to show his loyal Pagna friends the amazing, technological differences of this magical world.

They were mesmerized. The grand, illusion-based theatrical shows that they put on, the sleek, floating magical vehicles they rode in, the vastly different, luxurious lifestyle, and the incredibly high-end, magically prepared restaurants they went to. Everywhere they went, they inevitably caused quite a hilarious, intimidating scene—especially since they were a group of heavily scarred, muscular people that were just casually walking around civil society with , legendary weapons strapped to their backs. But nobody dared to stop them, and it didn’t matter.

The bright, peaceful days went flying past, and the hardened group was thoroughly enjoying their well-earned time in Alterian. It almost entirely felt like it was a luxurious holiday for them.

As the final, dwindling days of the month were coming up, the group had headed out to a pristine, white-sand beach on the Alterian coast.

Down by the crashing waves, there were those that were intensely enjoying a fiercely competitive match against each other in beach volleyball. However, they were playing with a specialized, enchanted magic ball that would unpredictably dart, curve, and swirl through the air on its own accord. The Pagna warriors were absolutely fierce, diving through the sand and spiking the magical ball against each other with terrifying, crater-forming Qi strikes.

Others were simply swimming peacefully in the crystal-clear ocean, while some were just sitting down on the warm sand, soaking in the sun.

“Why aren’t you out there playing with the others?” Dame asked.

The swordsman had completely, miraculously recovered from the hole in his stomach thanks to the elite Light mages and his own hybrid healing. He was currently just lying comfortably flat on a beach towel, wearing dark sunglasses.

“They all loudly complained and said me actively using my system to predict the ball’s trajectory is considered ‘cheating’ and it makes the game no fun,” Liam replied, sitting cross-legged in the sand with a frustrated pout. “So, I’ve been officially banned and kicked off both teams.”

Liam sighed, looking out at the ocean before turning his head to look seriously at Dame.

“Hey… we only have a couple of short days left here until the cooldown is over and we can finally use the Golden Globe again, right?” Liam asked, his tone dropping its usual playful edge.

“Yeah. The month is almost up,” Dame nodded, adjusting his sunglasses.

“Which was exactly why I was wondering…” Liam hesitated, looking over toward where Raze was sitting quietly by the water’s edge. “What is Raze actually going to do? Is he going to permanently stay here in Alterian to rule… or is he going to come back home to Pagna with us?”

**