Dark Magus Returns - Chapter 1574: Alterian’s Fracture

Chapter 1574: Alterian’s Fracture

It had been a full week since the news dropped, and the world of Alterian was thrown into chaos. The air itself felt volatile, thick with panic and the scent of revolution. Every street corner conversation was laced with disbelief, anger, and the terror of an unknown future.

The instability had been bubbling long before this, rooted in the colossal disgrace surrounding the Central Academy and the inexplicable, devastating loss of the revered Magus, Ibarin. Ibarin’s vanishing act had left a power vacuum that hummed with dark energy, jeopardizing the very integrity of the Grand Magus structure.

Then came the body blow. It was a haunting certainty that the notorious Enaxx, Ibarin’s dark shadow and alleged right hand, was dead, a certainty cemented by the fact that the entire Glory Guild had been eliminated. No remnants, no survivors, just a sudden, deafening silence where a powerful organization once stood. In the minds of the people, the two losses were linked, sealing the fate of the old order.

During this week of relentless upheaval, the spotlight wasn’t just on the immediate perpetrators, the chilling Cerberus Guild, but on the entire institution they had served: the Grand Magus structure as a whole. It was a terrifying, systemic failing, and the public demanded to know how deep the rot went.

The floodgates had opened. Stories that were once whispers passed in dark taverns were now pouring out onto the public forums. Testimonies detailed the horrifying atrocities and corrupt schemes executed by Ibarin and Enaxx, and the Guilds they controlled. The sheer scale of the manipulation and suffering was staggering.

Those who had been paralyzed by fear before suddenly found a fierce, collective voice. This public courage acted like a catalyst, dividing governments, military commands, and even the supposedly unified Magus Guilds across the continent. Loyalty was replaced by frantic self-interest, and Alterian was splitting down the middle.

For Alen and his small, beleaguered group, the escalating situation meant abandoning any hope of normality. They were now heavily leaning on the side of extreme caution, adopting a defensive posture that bordered on self-exile. This decision wasn’t taken lightly: Alen, his key allies, and, most critically, all of their immediate families, had been forced to move lock, stock, and barrel to the Underside.

The Underside. The very name whispered of forgotten places and erased histories. It was almost miraculous how completely cut off the place was. No news, not a single flickering status update, ever seemed to transmit or spread from their new hiding place. It was a perfect, soundproof sanctuary. More astonishingly, the powerful forces actively looking for them still hadn’t bothered to check the place. It was as if the Underside didn’t even register on their magical sensors, it simply did not exist to those in power, a blind spot that Alen and his people exploited.

There was a stark, immediate reason why Alen and his men had to run.

While various military forces were controlled by different governmental districts, Alen’s department and his closest allies had been integral members of the Central Military. This was an elite, formidable force originally created and essentially maintained by the Grand Magus himself. Its primary purpose had always been to serve as the ultimate deterrent, a tool used to swiftly, and often violently, deal with other countries or sovereign districts if they dared to become slightly unruly.

This heavy, institutional link was also why Alen had undergone direct, intense training with Enaxx. He was a product of the very system now being denounced, a fact that made his current position untenable.

The Central Military force that Alen had belonged to now felt brutally divided. There were the loyalists who supported Alen and his allies, recognizing they had done their duty honorably, and who wished to help them further, perhaps even run cover for their retreat.

But then there was the opposition, a powerful, resentful faction that felt the exact opposite way. They saw Alen’s group not as heroes but as outright traitors, and maintained strong, almost fanatical support for the Grand Magus. They actively called for the elimination of Alen and everyone who stood with him, wanting blood to restore honor.

Despite the support Alen’s group did receive, that faction was ultimately powerless to protect them anymore. The internal military structure had become too poisoned, which was the final impetus for the urgent move to the Underside. They weren’t being actively hunted, the public opinion was overwhelmingly in Alen’s favor, but it meant the rest of the Central Military was at an effective standstill. Their considerable might was being diverted away from pursuit, instead being used solely to quell the explosive protests and stabilize the volatile city centers.

Even with the military frozen, the Cerberus Guild, while having ceased all visible operations, wasn’t completely out of the limelight. In fact, their exposed stillness made them a target. When the world is angry, a secret place like Cerberus becomes the focus of all that collective rage.

Their locations were meant

The Cerberus members, arrogant in their forced lockdown, had to eventually venture out for necessities like food. They were tailed, watched, and marked. Relatives, friends, or even loosely associated acquaintances who felt betrayed by the Guild’s actions would pass on crucial information to the underground networks.

This massive, spontaneous wave of public intelligence allowed the vengeful Dark Guild and other, smaller retribution groups to meticulously track the location of every single visible Guild member. That’s when something entirely unexpected occurred.

It wasn’t just the organized Guilds that struck. Members of the public, those disenfranchised by the system, survivors from old, crushed guilds, and enraged citizens, attacked. They tried to take the Cerberus strongholds down themselves, determined to seize justice into their own hands.

Only, they weren’t going up against ordinary targets.

The Cerberus Guild, ruthless even in defeat, had responded with horrifying brutality. They openly killed anyone who tried to attack them, turning the streets surrounding their hideouts into bloody, cautionary battlegrounds. It was the spontaneous beginning of what looked like the final, violent end of Alterian, a complete collapse into anarchy, until one man stepped forward.

Idore himself intervened.

The governments were scrambling and desperate, ready to unleash their remaining forces to try and put an end to the rampaging Guild. But Idore, standing against the backdrop of a broken world, had made a monumental, terrifying statement.

He declared that he would personally, and without outside interference, run a thorough investigation into Gizin and the Cerberus Guild. He then issued a chilling threat: If any group, organization, or individual tried to get involved or interfere during this sensitive period, he would put an end to them. Updates are released by novelFirｅ.net

His words, heavy with authority, commanded a fearful halt to the flow of the vengeful people and the nervous, desperate retribution groups. He bought himself, the Guild, and the fractured world crucial time to breathe, to get an answer, and to decide the next move.

And while the rest of Alterian held its breath in fear and submission, for Raze and the others who operated in the genuine shadows, this enforced, public pause was the perfect time to attack. The stage was set, the guards were down, and the world was looking the other way.

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