Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 1745  One Last Pill (Part 2)

Raze was faring surprisingly well in the throne room, despite the overwhelming odds stacked against him. He was a singular force of destruction amidst a sea of high-level adversaries. His mastery of Dark Magic, combined with his refined Pagna techniques, allowed him to cut through the barrage of incoming spells. He moved like a phantom, forcing his way through the chaotic storm of mana until he eventually closed the distance with one of the mages.

However, things weren't going to be as easy as the first two kills he had managed to secure.

These were eight-star mages, the elite of the elite. They weren't just powerful in terms of raw mana capacity; they were prepared. Since they were stationed in the palace, guarding the inner sanctum, it appeared as if they had been outfitted with their own high-tier enchanted items.

As Raze lunged toward one of the members, ready to deliver a fatal blow, the mage reacted with practiced speed. He threw out a piece of cloth that shimmered with a strange, heavy energy.

Raze went to strike it down with one of his swords, intending to slice the fabric in two. But the moment the blade made contact with the cloth, physics seemed to warp around him. His sword, which usually felt like an extension of his own arm, suddenly weighed as much as a mountain. It immediately fell out of his hand, crashing to the ground with a heavy clang, embedding itself deep into the stone floor.

It was a specific type of high-level gravitational magic, imbued into the fabric itself to disarm opponents who relied on physical weapons.

seizing the opportunity, two of the mages stood opposite each other, forming a pincer formation around Raze. They began to chant in unison, their hands glowing with a deep violet light. They started to use their own special gravitational magic, stacking the effects on top of the cloth, trying to pin him down in place like an insect trapped in amber.

The pressure was immense, enough to crush a normal warrior's bones to dust, but Raze was far from normal.

With a surge of internal power, he forced a step forward, the stone beneath his foot cracking from the resistance. He charged through the heavy gravity field and grabbed the mage on his left by the face with his bare hand.

"That might have worked on others, but it won't work on me!" Raze claimed, his voice booming over the sound of sizzling magic.

He strengthened his hand with Qi, his fingers turning into iron claws. He squeezed mercilessly, his fingers digging through the skin of the mage's face. There was a sickening crunch as the facial structure collapsed under the pressure, killing the man instantly.

As the gravity spell faltered with the caster's death, Raze quickly spun around. He summoned the Dark Orb—the manifestation of his breakthrough—and directed it onto the enchanted cloth that was suppressing his weapon. The orb devoured the fabric instantly, destroying the enchantment.

Free from the weight, Raze kicked the hilt of his sword. It popped up from the ground, spinning in the air. He caught it with a fluid motion and threw it with all his enhanced strength. The blade flew like a javelin, whistling through the air until it went right through one of the mages' stomachs, piercing him completely and pinning him momentarily.

Raze prepared to move to the next target, but he froze.

The mage who had just been impaled didn't fall. Instead, he gripped the blade and simply walked forward, pulling his body through the steel. As the sword slid out, the gaping wound in his stomach started to knit together rapidly. Within seconds, the flesh had sealed, appearing as if he had never been touched.

Once again, it appeared as if this was the work of one of the many enchanted items they possessed—likely a passive healing artifact of high grade.

Frustrated, Raze realized brute force alone wouldn't wipe them out quickly enough. He twisted his whole body, channeling his energy outward. Dark Magic erupted from him like a violent twister, a vortex of black energy that expanded outward, hitting several of the mages' incoming spells and neutralizing them.

It stopped their bombardment for a moment, and that was the break he needed to reassess his strategy.

'I need to get rid of the most troublesome ones first,' Raze analyzed, his eyes darting around the room. 'I need to target those with annoying items, those that can heal or suppress me, and not focus on the ones that can just do damage! Damage I can dodge, but regeneration will stall me until I run out of power.'

With a new tactical priority, Raze resumed the slaughter.

It took longer than he expected, turning into a grueling battle of attrition, but he eventually killed all fifteen of the mages in the room. By the time the last body hit the floor, silence returned to the throne room, broken only by Raze's heavy breathing.

He was tired. He stood there, huffing and panting, sweat dripping from his brow. Most of his Qi had been used up in the intense exchange.

He did a quick mental inventory of his resources.

'Knowing that I might be in this situation… I made an improved Qi pill,' Raze thought to himself, patting his sash. 'That damned thing is still cursed, so it comes with a heavy price. It will give me Qi, but only for five minutes. And worse, it won't restore my mana after a breakthrough state ends.'

He weighed the decision carefully.

'Due to how a breakthrough works, it seems there's nothing I can really do to restore that specific energy once it fades. And due to how difficult it was to make the item, I could only create one. If I use it now, I might clear the next room, but then I'll be empty. If I keep fighting and my breakthrough ends, the only way I can fight against Idore is by using my Qi and Pagna techniques.'

The conclusion was grim but clear.

'So I have to beat everyone in this building with what I have left. I have to get out of here before I use that Pill. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to fight Idore at all.'

Raze needed to be realistic about the situation he was in. He wasn't just fighting people; he was fighting the environment. He had noticed a few alarming details while fighting the other mages. For one, the whole building was enchanted. It was set up to protect itself from the magic that had been used inside, but there was a secondary layer. If someone tried to force their way out by destroying the walls, a particular spell would activate on the whole building.

Whether it was a trap to teleport them all to a different, worse location, or to just blow the entire palace up, Raze truly didn't know.

If it was the latter, he would likely survive the explosion, and his Black Hole would absorb the brunt of the impact, but he couldn't take that risk. The only way to be sure was to head to the base of the palace to find the enchanted circle that anchored the spell and use his Black Hole on it to nullify the magic.

Or, he had to find acceptable entrances and exits that had been set up by the spell's architect, rather than making his own door through a wall.

That was just one of the many problems in the palace itself. It felt as if it were purposely designed so that if someone forced their way in, or was placed inside like he was, they would never be able to get out.

The second pressing issue was his stamina. Although Raze was getting power and magic from absorbing the other spells the mages used, his breakthrough state was a furnace. It was burning fuel faster than he could shovel it in. It was using up more magic to sustain his heightened form than what he was taking in from the enemy attacks.

It was unlike the time when he was fighting against Turbin, where the balance was more favorable. Here, the math was against him. Eventually, his breakthrough would run out, and he would crash.

He had to move. Now.

Raze walked over to the large double doors at the end of the throne room. He didn't bother opening them gently. He kicked the doors open, the wood splintering from the force.

As they swung wide, revealing the long corridor ahead, his heart sank slightly. He could see down the hallway, and it wasn't empty. Mages were lined up, row after row, waiting for him.

Raze tightened his grip on his sword, his eyes glowing with dark resolve.

"I'll get rid of everyone in this building and break out of here!"