Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 1517: Thank You For The Final Gift

Raze had told the others, long before this battle began, that there was a reason he had gone after Ibarin first. It wasn’t because Ibarin was the strongest of the Grand Magus, or because he posed the greatest threat in sheer power. It was because he had been the first. Not the first Grand Magus he had ever crossed paths with, that title belonged to Idore, but Ibarin had been the first to truly shape Raze’s path. The first who had set him down the road that would turn him into the Dark Magus.

There were countless questions swirling in Raze’s mind, questions he had buried for years. If he wished, now that he had Ibarin completely pinned and the mind-projection spell already active, he could have used this chance to ask about the other Grand Magus. He could have demanded to see their plots, their alliances, their goals. He could have dug into the roots of everything.

But he didn’t.

Because there was something he needed more than any secrets about the others.

Proof.

He needed undeniable proof that Ibarin had been behind everything from the very start, that the ruin of Raze Cromwell had been carefully orchestrated. And so, he made his choice.

Raze’s voice was quiet yet sharp as a blade. "Show me if you have memories of any dealings around the academy involving illegal substances."

The magic circle pulsed. The crystal glimmered. A flood of images came pouring forth from Ibarin’s mind. They showed the present, right now, even as the tournament had been happening, clandestine deals taking place in hidden corridors of the Central Academy.

Raze’s jaw tightened as he watched. Underground guild members handing over strange packages. Ibarin’s personal aides slipping vials into lockers. Students made to taste certain drugs under the Grand Magus’s orders, their eyes clouding with addiction as he smirked in the shadows.

The crowd recoiled in disgust. But Raze shook his head. "No. Not now. Go back. Go back to when Raze Cromwell was still a student here. Show me your dealings then."

The images flickered, and there it was. The same pattern. The same hidden network. And at the center of it all... Ibarin.

Murmurs rippled through the stands.

"Raze Cromwell... that name, "

"Wait, wasn’t that the name of the Dark Magus?"

"Yeah, I’ve read about him... Wasn’t he a teacher here, before everything went wrong?"

"I saw a documentary once, he worked at Central Academy before he... before all of this."

Realization was dawning on them like a creeping sunrise. Now, seeing this memory, they understood. The drugs. The false accusations. The scandal that had led to Raze’s name being blackened. And the true culprit had always been Ibarin.

Raze’s voice cut through the whispers. "Show me if you placed those substances in my office."

The magic responded. The memory appeared clear as day: Ibarin’s hands planting the contraband in Raze’s drawers, slipping it in as if he were just dropping off harmless paperwork. Gasps swept through the arena.

And then Raze spoke again, his tone lower, tighter. "Show me what you said that day. At the trial."

His heart pounded. He had forced himself to relive this moment in his own mind for years, over and over, a scar he refused to let heal. He had sworn he would never forget it.

And now, here it was again, playing out for everyone.

The crowd fell silent as the memory unfolded. Ibarin stood before the council, voice calm, face cold and composed.

"I have reason to believe that Raze Cromwell has been distributing illegal substances on school grounds," he declared. "The safety of our academy cannot be risked. I demand his immediate removal."

The echoes of that voice lingered in the air like poison. Many of the spectators had read about this moment in old reports. They had seen the twisted stories the news had spun after the trial.

But this was different.

This was the truth.

And it hit them like a thunderclap.

Raze had not been a cruel man from the start. He had been ambitious, yes. Fierce. Talented. But never cruel. And now they understood. They could see the venomous smile Ibarin wore as he destroyed lives. They saw the pattern, every time someone rose with potential, Ibarin crushed them, buried them, and rewrote history to make himself shine brighter.

The only person who had dared stand up to him... was Raze Cromwell.

The Dark Magus.

The magic was beginning to waver. Maintaining the memory projection while also pinning Ibarin down with gravitational force was draining Raze rapidly. His breathing slowed, but his steps were steady as he approached.

The crowd held its breath. He stopped over Ibarin’s broken form. The once-mighty Grand Magus lay pinned, bloodied, and trembling.

Raze crouched low, his shadow falling across the man’s pale, sweat-soaked face.

"I killed Enaxx," Raze said softly, his voice carrying across the arena. "I killed him for everything he had done. And now... the next person’s life I’m taking is yours."

Ibarin’s eyes widened.

"Don’t speak," Raze hissed. "There is nothing you can say that will save you. Nothing that can erase what you’ve done. I am thankful for one thing, though. With everything I’ve seen... I know who my next target will be. Gizin."

Gasps echoed from the stands.

"He is next in the line of the Grand Magus. He will fall after you."

Raze’s expression darkened further.

"The only thing I regret... is that you won’t be here to see it. But don’t worry, " his lips curled faintly ", you won’t be left out."

Ibarin’s mouth opened, desperate to speak, perhaps to beg, or to curse, but Raze silenced him with a single motion.

His hand clamped over the man’s mouth. The pressure from his fingers alone was like steel bars, locking Ibarin’s lips shut.

And then, Ibarin felt it. His strength... fading.

The crowd watched in stunned silence as a dim, ghostly glow seeped from Ibarin’s body, his mana, his Qi, even the spark of his core, drawn out, pulled away, vanishing into Raze’s palm.

Ibarin thrashed weakly, but he was far too broken to resist.

Raze stared down at him with cold eyes.

"I’m going to use your energy," he whispered, "to help me take down the rest of them. So... thank you for that, at least."

*****

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