Dark Magus Returns

In the Light faction, inside one of the many inns in the city, a group sat around a table, having just finished a meal.

There was an odd atmosphere as they drank their drinks, not a single person had said a word even during the meal. While the rest of the place was lively and filled with rowdy customers.

Marcus, the head of the group, lifted his large glass of beer and finished it with a big gulp, wiping away the foam from his mouth. Ile stared at the hanging heads that were in front of him.

"I think I might be starting to prefer Pagna's beer to what I have back home, although maybe I'm just forgetting the taste, Marcus said. "It has been a long time since then, it would be nice to ask him as well, what he thought."

However, his comment didn't get a reply, which bothered him as he looked at the faces of his special squad from Alter. A squad that had been together for over a year now.

"Come on, speak up. What's going on? You've all been sulking for a while now" Marcus asked. "If anyone should be upset, it's me!"

"A person I've considered a friend has been turned into a criminal.

"I have something to ask!" Tanya said, slamming a shot glass onto the table. She had been drinking hard liquor and, along with Marcus, was one of the few who could stomach it."

"Why didn't you take the job? It would've been a big score for our squad. Instead, now we're running investigations, and that's not even the main task of our squad, Tanya asked.

"You really wanted him to take the job?" Shing replied. "When we're involved in something even Alter doesn't know about? There's a big chance we'd end up in the same situation as Himmy and his group If that happened."

Marcus let out a big sigh, knowing full well his squad was divided by the decision he had made.

As squad leader, he had been assigned a task for him and his group by one of the Programmers in Alter.

They were selected because of the large variation in their group. The task was to head to the Dark Faction and investigate everything they could about the Dark Faction leader, the Dark Magus. There was also an extra note to find out more about how the name "Dark Magus' came to be given to that particular individual.

The thing was, Marcus and his group had been present at the Martial Arts Tournament.

They had seen Raze, a person they had worked with briefly when transporting him from the Demonic Faction to Himmy for a handover.

That task was done off the books, not an official order from the Programmers. It was something Marcus had done for fellow people from the same world.

So Marcus knew that the person at the event, the Dark Magus, and the member from Alter were all the same person.

He had a good idea why Himmy was now wanted and could play out everything in his head.

Given all the connections, he had decided to decline the job, no matter how well Alter would have treated them afterward or even if their positions were raised.

"Alter is a large group, and they've already sent in Kelp's team for the job anyway. I think, with what might happen, it suits them more, Marcus added.

"Kelp's team?" the young warrior asked. 'Aren't they a bit extreme with their methods?"

"Right" Marcus answered. "Like us, rather than being an investigation team, they're more of a team used to completing tasks with their own hands, which makes me nervous!

"And if anything, the reason I declined this job is because of him. So, if you want to know why, he can tell you what he told me."

Marcus pointed toward Barlan, the mage of the group.

Not just any mage, but Barlan had been part of the Glory Guild in Alterian before joining Pagna and becoming a member of Alter.

The other members of the squad turned to Barlan, waiting for his answer.

"Come on, spit it out!" Tanya said. "What's so bad about this job? We didn't have to take out the kid... we just needed to learn more about him."

Before Barlan spoke, he took a big gulp.

"None of you understand," Barlan said. "Because none of you are from Alterian. If you were, no one would take this job."

"I don't know if it's a coincidence or not, but judging by how Alter is acting, they're being cautious too. If that kid we met is really the Dark Magus from Alterian, then we should stay as far away from him and his group as possible!

"What the heck?" Tanya said, downing another shot without flinching. "You're making him sound like the boogeyman. Sure, the kid was strong enough to go up against all of us, but we were going easy on him. And the way you're shaking right now, it's almost like he's some type of god.:

"The Dark Magus is a nine-star mage who can use Dark Magic," Barlan blurted out in fear. "The skills he used back then... now it's starting to make sense to me!

"That kind of power is enough to take out an entire faction by himself, and the fact he managed to take over the Dark Faction is proof of that!

"If we want to live, we should all stay as far away as possible from the Dark Magus and anything related to him!

The teasing from Tanya stopped, and no one else wanted to say more. They could see Barlan wasn't joking and was clearly startled.

However, there was more to it. When Barlan had met Raze and saw him saving all those people of Pagna, his actions didn't match the image of the Dark Magus Barlan had in his head.

"But it might not be him," Barlan said. "Something doesn't make sense. The Dark Magus from Alterian is an old man... but the one we met was just a kid. None of this makes sense!"

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