Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 1551: To The Minus three (Part 2)

Alen was certain they had gathered more than enough evidence to expose what was happening inside the facility. Everything they had seen, the records, the experiments, the tortured patients, it all painted a clear picture. This place wasn’t just suspicious; it was evil, through and through.

If they could connect this data with what they already knew about the Cerebus Guild, it would be undeniable. There would be no way for the Grand Magus to explain it away, no excuse convincing enough to make the world look past it.

Even if the people still wanted to believe in him, the truth would crush that faith. The Grand Magus would be finished, for turning a blind eye, for allowing these horrors to happen under his authority.

And now, fortune was on their side. Recent revelations had already shaken the public’s trust. The once-unquestioned words of the Grand Magus no longer carried absolute weight. The people were beginning to doubt.

That doubt would be the crack that broke everything open.

But that wasn’t the only weapon they had. In the Underside, Raze was gathering something else entirely, an uprising. Those who had suffered in silence were being given a voice. Many had no idea why they had been taken or how they ended up enslaved in the first place. Now they would have answers, and their testimonies would be impossible to ignore.

Alen tightened his grip on his recording device. "There’s only one more location we need to check," he said firmly. "Once we clear that, we’ll have enough to move on every front. We’ll strike today, in one clean motion, before they can warn the others."

Beatrix nodded, determination flickering in her eyes. She approached the doorway, checking the hall. Her mind raced with possible escape routes.

"We could head back through the toilets," she whispered. "All of them seem linked vertically, the same alignment from one floor to the next. It’s the safest route down, and no one’s guarding it."

Alen agreed with a nod. The path had worked once; it could work again. But as Beatrix peered out, movement caught her eye, figures approaching fast. A team of guards was already coming down the hall, heading straight toward them.

"Change of plan," she hissed.

She spun her staff in one hand. "Come close!"

Alen didn’t hesitate; he stepped forward and pressed against her, practically wrapping his arms around her waist. Beatrix slammed the butt of her staff against the floor. A ring of light pulsed out beneath them, and suddenly, the world vanished.

They dropped straight down through the floor, gravity catching them mid-fall. Alen reacted instantly, whispering a spell that wrapped them both in a dome of silence. Their descent became weightless, soundless, like slipping through water.

When they landed, Beatrix’s magic sealed the ceiling above them again, leaving no trace of their passage.

And then they saw where they had fallen.

The room was enormous, square, metallic, almost as large as the laboratory above. A cold white light hummed from the walls, reflecting off steel surfaces and crystal instruments. At least a dozen people worked here, but only three stood out. They sat before a massive console that stretched across the center of the room, covered in glowing runes and magical dials.

The two intruders had landed behind a stack of storage crates, unseen. The workers’ backs were turned, their attention fixed on what lay ahead of them.

Beatrix followed their gaze, and froze.

A colossal glass panel filled the front wall. Behind it was a chamber lined with cells, each one containing a patient.

Some were collapsed on the floor, motionless. Others sat slumped against the walls, their skin pale, eyes vacant. A few still moved, whispering to themselves, unaware of anything around them.

And then one of them looked up.

"Hey! You’re watching, aren’t you?" the man shouted hoarsely. He banged his fist against the glass. "I know you can hear me! Please, please let us out! What did we do to deserve this? What did we do!?"

His voice cracked into sobs, echoing through the sterile room. But the men at the console didn’t even glance his way. Their faces were blank, their hands busy adjusting controls, marking readings, shifting levers.

Alen’s stomach twisted. "What... what have we stumbled into?" he whispered.

Beatrix’s jaw tightened. "The man upstairs said the ones taken below never come back. Now we know why."

They both spoke quietly, knowing the silence spell still shielded them. "We’re safe to talk," she said softly. "They can’t hear us, right?"

"Right," Alen confirmed. "They’re too focused on their work anyway. There were no records of this lower level in the database. Whatever they’re doing here, it’s completely off the books. We have to document everything."

He reached for his recording device again, angling it through a small gap in the crates. "If we can capture audio too, we’ll have undeniable proof."

To avoid drawing attention, he modified the spell, removing its effect around their ears while keeping it intact elsewhere. They could now hear the room clearly.

Static crackled softly from the control panels. Then one of the men spoke.

"Alright," he said, turning a dial. "Looks like we’re ready. Time to commence today’s operation."

The other two nodded, beginning to chant under their breath. Symbols flared across the glass wall, marking each of the cells.

Beatrix and Alen exchanged a glance, the same question in both their eyes.

What kind of operation could this possibly be?

For a moment, Beatrix’s heartbeat drowned out the hum of the machines. Every instinct screamed at her to act, to smash through the glass and free them. But she forced herself to stay still. Not yet. Not until they knew exactly what they were dealing with.

Her grip on the staff tightened as she whispered, "We’ll record everything. Then... we’ll make sure this place never hurts anyone again."

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