Dark Magus Returns - Chapter 1773 The Empty Victories

Chapter 1773  The Empty Victories

The town of Flendon had painstakingly established a dedicated, expansive training area after it had suffered its devastating first attack. Technically speaking, there was no official, ruling Clan residing in the town of Flendon like there were in the other major cities or large, established territories across the continent. Not that there genuinely needed to be one, considering exactly who was protecting its borders. But the regular townsfolk, the ordinary people who had bravely picked up arms and helped with defending their homes during the sieges, had learned how to utilize basic Qi. Now, they desperately wanted a safe, structured place to train and cultivate their newfound strength.

This was exactly where the veteran members of the Crimson Crane had stepped in and took the heavy responsibility upon themselves. In a practical way, they were almost functioning as the unofficial, governing clan of the expanding town; only they didn’t operate out of a lavish, walled clan base or demand heavy taxes from the citizens.

Instead, they had pooled their resources and constructed a large, sprawling training area situated just behind the city walls. Utilizing the wide open land, they had several weapon racks, roaring forges for the blacksmiths, and sturdy wooden training dummies all built from scratch. But the absolute centerpiece of the entire courtyard was a wide, elevated stone stage that allowed for full-contact fighting and formal duels.

The very first person to bravely step up to the plate, walking onto the stone stage to go up against Raze, was Rayna herself.

“I want you all to use the highest-tier weapons I gave you, and I want you to go all out,” Raze instructed, his voice ringing clearly across the quiet courtyard. He didn’t even draw a weapon, simply standing with his hands resting casually at his sides. “Don’t worry about holding back; I won’t die. Or maybe… I’m actually hoping that one of you really does push me to the absolute brink of death.”

Rayna felt a cold sweat of nervousness prickle her skin, but she knew she absolutely needed to do this. For Raze’s sake. She intimately knew exactly how important breaking this bottleneck was to him by how much he had been wandering around the town like a lost, restless spirit. So, gathering her resolve, she gripped her weapon and charged ahead with full, unbridled force. She threw everything she had at him, pouring her energy into a flurry of strikes. But the gap in their cultivation was like a vast ocean. In a matter of mere moments, her weapon was effortlessly deflected, her balance was shattered by a simple sweep, and she found herself flat on her back, breathing heavily as she stared up at the sky.

“Next one!” Raze declared, not even slightly out of breath.

Amir was the next fighter to step up onto the platform. He was the current head of the Bonum society and the highly respected ex-vice principal of the Central Academy. Apparently, he was planning to take his prestigious role back at the academy as soon as he was completely done dealing with what he needed to organize with the Bonum society. He had quite enjoyed his administrative role there, and there were good people remaining that he could trust, so he wanted to head back and help rebuild the academic world.

But for now, he was a warrior testing his lord. Immediately, Amir transformed into his towering, terrifying Hybrid form. His muscles expanded, his claws elongated, and his aura flared wildly. He knew he would absolutely need every ounce of his beastly strength to try and do even a single fraction of damage against the Dark Magus. But once again, the clash was entirely one-sided. The match ended rather quickly, with Raze effortlessly slipping past his wide, feral guard, striking a vital pressure point, and remaining the undisputed victor.

“Alright. Who’s next?” Raze declared, his dark eyes scanning the gathered crowd.

Systematically beating all of the prominent fighters that he had brought with him, Raze seamlessly moved on to challenging the elite members from the Crimson Crane. Everyone gathered around the stone stage watched in absolute awe as he took on the hardened veterans one after the other. The sparring matches weren’t even remotely close, despite whatever advanced techniques, hidden weapons, or coordinated strategies everyone tried to use against him.

They all inherently knew Raze was strong, but now they were clearly, vividly seeing the sheer, insurmountable difference in their realms. They were witnessing the terrifying improvement Raze had gone through after having absorbed the power to take care of the Grand Magus.

“I honestly thought I would at least be able to get a lucky scratch on his coat,” Alba said, lowering her weapons as she stepped off the stage, rubbing a bruised shoulder and sighing. “But that guy is completely, utterly untouchable.”

Lastly, it was time to face those who were closest to Raze in pure combat prowess. He decided to take on Dame first, and the results of the high-speed clash were pretty much exactly as expected. Dame pushed himself to his absolute limit. Even with his lightning-fast body, his intricate Abyssal formation, and channeling his own crackling lightning magic to boost his momentum, Raze was able to perfectly keep up with him. Raze effortlessly matched his blinding pace, and his precise, counter-strikes were powerful enough to bypass Dame’s defenses and send him crashing into the dirt.

As for the next opponent he was to go against, it was Liam. Although many in the crowd thought this specific fight would be rather close given Liam’s unique capabilities, it wasn’t, for a few glaring reasons.

Even when Liam fully engaged his mysterious system, scanning the battlefield for a tactical weakness, he couldn’t defy the impossible. His system interface remained entirely blank; it gave him absolutely no combat solutions or winning probabilities because it coldly calculated that he was destined to lose. And even though Liam wielded the terrifying, all-cutting sword, what use was a legendary blade that could cut through anything if the wielder couldn’t even manage to hit his target? Raze utilized a flawless, fluid mix of his dark magic and his honed Pagna warrior skills, completely disorienting the swordsman. It meant for a relatively easy, overwhelming victory. With a final, disarming strike, that was the definitive end of that match.

Looking around the quiet courtyard, there didn’t seem to be any more willing opponents for Raze to fight. Out of the entire gathered alliance, there were only two prominent figures he had yet to defeat: Lince, the current head of one of the top Demonic Clans in all of Pagna, and B.

“Don’t look at me,” B said flatly, crossing her arms as Raze turned his expectant gaze toward her. “I’m not going to fight you. There’s absolutely no point, because this blind violence is not the philosophical answer you are looking for. Even if you effortlessly beat the two of us right now, do you honestly think your core will magically reach the Divine realm? You are just going through the physical motions. So what’s the point of embarrassing myself up there for nothing?”

Raze slowly lowered his hands and clenched his fists tight. He didn’t argue, mainly because he knew deep in his soul that she was entirely right. He could tell by the stagnant, unchanging feeling in his chest that this path of empty victories wasn’t the real answer to breaking his bottleneck.

“Raze. Let me fight you,” Lince suddenly spoke up, stepping forward from the edge of the crowd. The Demonic Clan head unfastened his cloak, his eyes burning with a fierce, competitive light. “But I have a strict condition to set for this duel. You need to beat me… but you are only permitted to face me using the martial skills you have learned from Pagna. You are to exclusively use your Qi. Do not use a single drop of your magic.”