Dark Magus Returns

755 I Only Trust Her

Everyone had seen Murkel get trapped in the strange cube-like structure made from the hardened arena walls. It wasn't ordinary concrete; it was a special material carved from the strongest pieces by the greatest craftsmen, making it as sturdy as possible.

They knew Pagna warriors could break such a thing if the fighting got out of hand or a large amount of Qi was used, but they had the artifact that could always just reuse and rebuild the material. However, if Murkel had escaped, there should have been some sign of destruction. Either breaking one of the walls or breaking the material below his feet, yet other than the wall that Rayna had broken, everything else looked perfectly fine.

"Where is he? Where is he!" Rayna shouted. "He couldn't have gotten away!"

She then proceeded to slam a fist full of Qi into the walls next to her, shattering the entire structure, but Murkel was nowhere to be seen.

The blooded woman who had taken over Raze's body looked ahead and couldn't help but smile.

"I knew he had to be hiding something. The whole fight felt like he was planning something; that's why I didn't let him rest." The woman moved her hand over her chest and winced slightly.

"But then, where did he go?" Liam asked.

From the stands, one individual who had yet to jump in made a move and landed right in the center of the rubble where Murkel had disappeared. Zon then stared deeply at the floor before kneeling down and brushing his finger against what just looked like dust on the rocks.

"Lingering elements of spark substance have been left behind," Zon claimed. "I should have predicted that there would be others who could do this, especially hybrids."

Zon then stood up to face the others, who were looking at him expectantly.

"Are you sure you would all trust an answer from someone you just met?" Zon asked but continued anyway. "Murkel escaped through a portal."

"A portal appeared here, and only for a short while and disappeared!" Alba said, her words making it seem like an impossibility. She soon realized, though, things that used to seem impossible weren't so impossible.

After all, she and the other members of the Crimson Crane had arrived through a portal themselves. It was just that Raze could display a large amount of magic, and what Murkel had done so far didn't seem like magic.

"It's because he created the portal himself," Zon explained. "It's something I have discovered that some hybrids can do. To link to the dimension where the hybrids originally came from."

The others didn't notice it, but Dame did, that after Zon had finished his sentence, he had stared in the direction of Amir.

"Did you know this?" Dame whispered.

"I knew there was a chance, but I need to remind you that I didn't even know Murkel was a hybrid. With Murkel gone, there is nothing else I can do. What we need to figure out is who is controlling the artifact that caused this mess with Raze in the first place."

Hearing the ending of Amir's sentence, the others couldn't agree more.

——

Underground, the person who had caused the mess in the first place could hear the discussion happening above.

"What now, Ricar!" Beatrix asked. "Your plan failed. You let the red Hybrid escape. Do you plan to still go above and get rid of this Divine being?"

Ricar thought his plan had worked perfectly. The Divine being was badly hurt. The others should have gotten rid of Murkel and then the Divine being. Ricar didn't feel like he was at fault; it was the others. Why hadn't they taken out Murkel first? Why did they care for the body of the student, which had already been taken over?

"We won't be able to do anything," Ricar said. "Although those above are in a weakened state, there is one with them that seems fairly strong."

The one Ricar was referring to was Zon, who was in prime condition. He believed when the others went to attack, they would have thought Murkel, using the last of his strength, would have been hurt further, or at least attacked the Divine being. Right now, neither was happening.

"We have no choice. We have to escape with our lives and tell the Light Faction what has happened. We will go from there." Ricar placed both of his hands on the artifact, and the ground underneath started to change, not the ground above. Rubble was being cleared, and the large room had changed, revealing a large tunnel.

"We run, and when we get to the other side, we destroy it. We have no time." Ricar then picked up the artifact and held it in his hand, taking it with him.

After Ricar went, Beatrix and Hannah were right behind him, and the two of them gave each other a look, no longer sure about what they were doing.

——

Back on the surface, now knowing that Murkel had already escaped and there wasn't anything they could do about it, the attention was turned to Raze. No one had quite gotten close to Raze's body yet. It was then that Simyon tried to move closer.

"No!" the woman shouted. "No one gets close. The only one that can get close is her."

The hand with the long fingernail was pointing at Safa.

"Listen well, girl, you and I both have the same strong interest." The woman said. "We both want to do whatever it takes to keep this body alive."

"Right now, I'm the only thing keeping this body alive, but that chalice he used, its effects are starting to fade, so I will disappear."

As the woman was talking, the hair started to shrink, the nails were changing back to the way they were, and the sinister feeling that could be felt around the entire arena was disappearing.

"I have to leave everything up to you." The woman said, lifting her hand, and Dark magic appeared. Soon the Lux Sword was summoned, but a weak grip caused it to drop out of her hand and fall onto the floor.