Dark Magus Returns

When taking the cup, Raze didn't let a single drop of it not go down his throat as he looked at the elders from the back, even after learning what the contents inside were.

Anna was in disbelief. Was this man a child? Was he just trying to prove he could take the poison because she said there was poison in the drink?

"What are you doing?" Anna asked. "That poison, it wasn't designed to kill, but it was a poison that was designed to make your reaction time slower and your whole body groggy."

Raze was happy to know that what he had just consumed wasn't meant to kill him. It actually made him think of the clan in a better light.

'I guess they are just trying to make it so their contestant wins the upcoming duel no matter what.' Raze thought. 'That's fine. If it was poison to kill me, then that would be another story.'

Right now, as the liquid was inside of Raze, he was using the Dark Magic to destroy all of its contents. There wasn't a trace of what he drank left, so there was no way that it was going to affect him.

Right now, the plan would work the same. Raze would win the duel, and after tomorrow, he would head to the Light Faction.

Rayna could hear the sound of whispers. She didn't know what was going on, but could continually see that Anna was leaning in and saying a few words.

'What is she saying to him that can't be spoken out loud?' Rayna thought. 'As his wife, I should be the one sitting next to him, but as the representative of this clan, I'm stuck sitting here next to Alba.'

Rayna and Alba were at the front, while the other three were lined up at the back.

"Very well!" Halan said with a smile. "We shall commence with the duel immediately. We shall have it outside around the back; there is a beautiful flowing pond and an area that is used for some of our personal guests to train."

"I hope you don't mind, but is it possible I invite other clan members to this event? I wish for them to use this as a learning tool."

"This fight, whether win or loss, will benefit us greatly."

This was standard with a duel, although Alba thought they would want to dissuade from doing this. She even felt bad; it was clear that Raze was going to win, and depending on how he won, he could embarrass the entire clan.

"Very well, if you insist," Alba said.

The Crimson Crane and the rest of the group were led through one of the doors to head to the outside area. It was beautiful like they claimed.

A large lake-like pond water feature surrounded the entire outside of the buildings. There were several stones that were placed on the outside, placed in a way that fit in with the entire scenery.

Clearly, a lot of thought had gone into the place. The area of fighting was small. The color of the dirt was a hardened orange in one area.

There was grass all around apart from the one area, as if someone had been practicing the same movements and never expanding too far out, or a path through the fields of grass that had been trodden on again and again, only it was in one spot.

As they waited, clan members eventually came out and began to gather around the site. There was something that Raze had noticed.

Although they had claimed this to be a good learning session, no teenage students or children that were part of the clan were present.

As everyone came out, Raze's eyes had also caught the young man from earlier, and finally, the three elders along with their contestant had arrived.

A teenage boy who looked to be around 18 years old, short hair that was spiked up. He had a good strong build and a confident look about him, but Raze could tell he was at the initial stage.

"Pritter, enter the stage; this is the young man that has asked for a duel," Halal ordered.

Pritter did as told, while the Elders continued to look at Raze's condition. They were trying to see if the poison was having any effect.

It would be subtle until one had tried to fight, but it didn't help that they were nervous.

"Don't worry; remember, we always have plan B," Seran whispered. "Everyone is ready at a moment's notice to go through with the plan; they know it's for the sake of the clan."

Pritter got into position, and so did Raze. It looked like the fight was about to start. Everyone was a little tense for what was about to happen.

However, that's when Pritter noticed something. When he was looking at Raze, his eyes—they were staring at someone else. When following his eyes, he could see that he was looking at someone in the crowd.

"Hey, I'm your opponent; why aren't you looking at me?" Pritter asked.

Raze continued to look at the young man in the crowd at that point.

"Hey, stop looking at Fin!" Pritter shouted.

"Ah, right," Raze said. "So that was your name. Now I remember, Fin. Everything is coming together, the clan, your name."

In the crowd, the young man named Fin was unsure what was happening. Why was this man talking to him, why was he staring at him?

He had never seen him before, so why was he staring?

"I'm sorry, do we know each other?" Fin eventually asked.

At that point, Raze had decided to get into a fighting stance, as if he was about to take part, but his eyes still stayed on Fin.

"Oh right, I forgot you probably don't remember me. The last time you saw me, I was wearing an iron mask," Raze said.

Fin's stomach immediately sunk down below. His whole world was spinning at that moment. He was so stunned that he had even forgotten to take in a breath.

There was a certain day in Fin's mind that would repeatedly play out for him. Again, again, and again. One day, Fin had entered a portal in the Demonic Faction belonging to that of the Behemoth Clan.

While inside, he had gathered a team and set his eyes on a certain place. However, a man in an iron mask and his group refused to stand by and allow them to kill the beasts inside.

In order to get all of the rewards for himself, Fin and his group had attempted to kill the others, but what he had witnessed that day instead was a massacre.

The ones they were attacking, one man in particular, had slaughtered everyone in his group. Killed them heartlessly. Fortunately, he had managed to escape in the middle of the chaos from a Dimensional Boss.

That day never escaped from Fin's memory, the man with the iron mask who had killed them all. Fin would wake up thinking one day he would come for him, and that day would be now.

"Alright, alright, let's start the match!" Halan ordered.

'No wait!' Fin shouted in his mind. 'If that is really this man, if Pritter loses this match, and we all attempt to kill them all… he'll kill everyone, I have to stop the fight, I have to stop the fight!!!'