Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 1550: To The minus Three (Part 1)

The crash of the heavy door frame echoed through the hall like thunder. The entire building seemed to shake from the impact. In seconds, guards were pouring out, those stationed in the corridor, others sprinting from side rooms, even a few stumbling out of the break area mid-meal.

An alarm blared overhead, sharp and shrill, cutting through the chaos.

“All researchers, please proceed to the safety rooms immediately! Repeat, all researchers to the safety rooms!”

The announcement startled Alen. He hadn’t expected the facility to have a protocol for something like this. It wasn’t their first time containing a breakout, then. The thought made his stomach tighten.

Down the hall, the crazed woman, the same one who had screamed at Beatrix earlier, snapped her gaze toward the guards. Before they could finish chanting their spells, she charged them with animalistic speed, howling as raw magic pulsed around her.

Alen and Beatrix exchanged a quick look. The diversion had worked better than either expected. They had no idea how much time they had before reinforcements arrived, but one thing was certain, they had to move.

“Go!” Beatrix urged.

They dashed from room to room, slipping through doorways, ignoring the terrified patients inside. The building rattled with alarm bells, and every second felt borrowed. Twice they passed through the same corridors, one of them being the cell where Beatrix had spoken to the man earlier.

He turned his head at the noise but didn’t call out.

I guess that commotion was their doing, he thought grimly.

Following the sound of footsteps and shouts, Beatrix led the way down another hall until a faint metallic scent caught her attention. She stopped suddenly.

“This way,” she whispered.

Moments later, they pushed open a reinforced door, and stepped into a vast laboratory.

It was nothing like the sterile, empty cells above. The place was alive with machinery and humming crystal engines. Rows of plants glowed faintly under enchanted lights, suspended in sealed glass tubes. Across the tables were vials filled with liquids that shifted colors on their own. Strange runic instruments etched glowing symbols into the air.

Beatrix had to steady her breath. “What is this place…”

Alen was already moving, eyes locked on the row of data terminals. “A jackpot,” he said grimly. “Let’s get to work.”

From his pack, he pulled out several compact devices, military-grade, clearly not standard mage equipment. He slotted one into the nearest machine. A ripple of light ran through the network of cables, and faint holographic screens began to bloom above the terminals.

“It’s a good thing you got me on this job,” he said, hands flying across the projections. “Military officers are expected to adapt to every situation. These tools can pull stored data directly. We’ll have copies before they even notice someone’s in the system.”

Beatrix positioned herself near the entrance, her staff drawn and senses heightened. Her ears twitched as she listened to the muffled chaos outside. The alarms still screamed, though fainter now, perhaps the guards were focused on subduing the escaped woman. She just hoped they wouldn’t kill her.

Meanwhile, Alen’s fingers danced across the glowing screens. Symbols flickered, changing rapidly as he searched for specific logs. Then the terminal pulsed, and a flood of data appeared, names, dates, formulas, entire case files.

“Got it,” Alen murmured. “Now to record.”

The special device projected rows of translucent text that hovered in the air, slowly rotating. Alen could rearrange them, enlarge them, even query for keywords with a gesture. As he filtered through the files, his expression hardened.

“You need to see this,” he said quietly. “They’ve been using people from the Underside to test new drugs.”

Beatrix’s brows knitted. “What?”

“They’re experimenting on them,” Alen continued, his voice thick with disbelief. “Look at this, when the test subjects show side effects, they’re discarded. It says here: ‘Disposed of due to instability.’ They target the Underside because no one will report a disappearance. No one cares.”

He clenched his jaw, scrolling faster. “Maybe some nobles will even think it’s useful, sacrificing the poor to advance magical medicine. But that’s not the worst of it.”

Beatrix’s stomach dropped. “There’s more?”

“They’re not just using people from the Underside,” Alen said. “They’re taking mages, students, families, even registered guild members. Look.”

He zoomed in on a section filled with personal data: age, origin, magical capacity. “Certain guilds have ‘selective programs.’ That’s their phrase. They recruit potential candidates, send them here under the guise of training or treatment, and then use them as test subjects. The reports even list the age groups, they’re measuring the drugs’ effects across generations.”

He paused, reading one entry longer than the others. His throat tightened. “A child… suffered hallucinations so severe he killed his entire family. And they just… documented it.”

The flickering light of the screen reflected in his eyes, cold and distant. “How can someone order this? How can anyone think this is justified?”

Beatrix didn’t answer. She’d seen cruelty before, but this, it was methodical. Detached. Like watching humanity dissect itself.

Finally, Alen spoke again, voice low. “I think I understand now. The Grand Magus, he sees himself above everyone. A god in his own right. Every life here… it’s just another piece on his board.”

A distant sound snapped them both alert, the blare of the alarm fading into silence.

“The fighting stopped,” Beatrix whispered. “Do you have what we need?”

“Almost,” Alen replied, gathering his devices. “They’re probably reassessing the situation. We won’t have long before they sweep the building.”

He yanked the last drive from the machine and sealed it inside a protective capsule. “Don’t worry,” he said, forcing a smirk. “We’ll come back for the rest, and we’ll free the others, every single one of them. But for now, we head to the lower floor.”

Beatrix nodded, gripping her staff tighter. “Then let’s finish this.”

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