Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 1659: The End Of The Dark Guild (Part 1)

During Raze’s fight, there was one major component that had kept him going, something he had only recently unlocked but had already begun to rely on heavily. It was the evolution of his Dark Edge sword arts, which now allowed him to absorb energy directly into himself during an attack.

This single change had altered the way Raze fought entirely.

He was thankful for it for several reasons. As time went on, any opponent he faced would inevitably grow weaker the longer the fight dragged on, and something as massive as the giant puppet Harvey controlled would eventually be drained dry. More importantly, it meant Raze was no longer wasting energy. Every strike, every clash, every burst of power was now an exchange that favored him.

The extraction technique and its applications were what had driven Raze to gain massive amounts of power up until now. Fighting stronger and stronger opponents only made it more wasteful not to take what they offered. Power left unused was power lost.

When he had defeated Gizin, Raze had only been able to consume a small fraction of his energy. There had simply not been enough left in the Grand Magus’s body to trigger a breakthrough, leaving Raze stuck at the same Star level he had already reached. This fight, however, was different.

Raze was by no means weak.

He possessed vast reserves of mana and stood firmly as an eight-star mage. On top of that, he had reached the highest rank possible within the Middle Stage as a warrior. Either of those alone would have made him a threat, but combined with his techniques, his experience, and his refined control, they made him overwhelming.

Against Harvey, it was no longer a question of if Raze would win.

It was simply a matter of time.

As the fight dragged on, those watching from a distance couldn’t help but feel uneasy. Harvey never changed his strategy. Encased within the giant puppet, he continued to chase after the Dark Magus relentlessly, trying again and again to close the distance, but never once succeeding.

It was as if Harvey didn’t even realize what was happening.

Dark magic flooded the battlefield. Massive limbs tore through the air at terrifying speeds, crashing down with enough force to flatten buildings. Yet Raze slipped through them with ease. When he didn’t evade, he destroyed them outright, his sword flashing with dark energy as it carved through the attacks.

And slowly, unmistakably, the puppet began to shrink.

"What are you doing?" Harvey shouted, his voice echoing unnaturally from within the construct. "Come on, fight me properly! You can’t take me down in one hit. You’ll never be able to defeat me!"

His words rang hollow, almost desperate, yet he sounded intoxicated by the power he had gathered. He still believed himself untouchable.

But the truth was clear to anyone paying attention.

With every failed attack, with every limb destroyed or absorbed, the puppet grew smaller.

What had once towered over the battlefield now lost its overwhelming presence. Bit by bit, chunk by chunk, its mass was stripped away. Harvey continued attacking blindly, unaware that each attempt only fed Raze further.

Eventually, the puppet was no longer colossal.

It still stood taller than a normal human, but it was no longer gigantic.

At that point, Raze landed lightly on the ground, his sword resting at his side. He no longer needed to remain airborne. There was no reason to keep his distance anymore.

"Haven’t you noticed yet, Harvey?" Raze said calmly. "Even though I’m standing on the ground now, you’re looking straight at me. Haven’t I grown larger in your eyes? Or maybe... you’re the one who’s become smaller."

Up until that moment, Harvey had been laughing.

The sound cut off abruptly.

His eyes widened as he finally looked at himself. The puppet still encased his body, still connected to him, but it was barely larger than his own form now. The overwhelming presence he had relied on was gone.

Before he could fully process what was happening, Raze moved.

In an instant, Raze closed the distance. His hand shot forward and clamped onto Harvey’s face with crushing force. Dark magic mixed with Qi surged outward, violently forcing the remaining puppet away from its core.

Like a flame extinguished by a sudden gust of wind, the dark construct collapsed. Rubble and fragments of condensed magic scattered in all directions, dissolving into nothingness as Harvey’s body was ripped free.

Raze slammed him into the ground.

The impact sent cracks spidering across the stone beneath them. Raze pressed Harvey’s head down firmly, his grip unyielding as he activated the extraction technique directly.

He could feel it immediately.

There was no will left.

No resistance.

"Why... why did you do this to me?" Harvey asked weakly. "Everything I did... everything... it was for your sake."

"For my sake?" Raze repeated quietly.

He shook his head.

"Everything you did was for yourself. Even when you told yourself it was to help me, it was about easing your own guilt, your own fear."

Raze’s voice didn’t rise. It didn’t need to.

"I’m not any different in that regard. None of us are. But there’s a difference between pursuing your happiness while lifting others up, and pursuing it while crushing everyone beneath you."

Harvey struggled weakly beneath him, but there was nothing left to give.

"You used anyone and everyone to reach your goal. You hurt people who didn’t need to be hurt. People who didn’t deserve it."

Raze tightened his grip slightly.

"Because of me, another Grand Magus was born. Someone obsessed with power. Someone convinced that their path was the only correct one."

His expression hardened.

"That kind of thinking is what created someone like me in the first place. Someone like the Dark Magus."

There was a pause.

"I’m sorry I didn’t realize it sooner. And I’m sorry I didn’t stop it sooner."

For the first time, Harvey smiled.

"I’m glad it was you," he said quietly. "That you were the one to end it. I hope my body... my power... can still be of use to you."

He let out a weak breath.

"In the end... that was always the plan."

As the final remnants of mana were extracted, Harvey’s body began to wither. Raze released him and summoned his dark magic, letting it envelop the corpse completely. Slowly, methodically, it broke the body down until nothing remained.

Harvey was gone.

With him, all the dark magic he had gathered, his own, and that taken from countless others, flowed into Raze.

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