Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 1564: A Bloody Mess (Part 1)

When Beatrix first tried to make contact with the Bloody Woman within her, she felt nothing. No response. No shift inside her chest. It was as if the other presence, the one that once burned through her veins, had vanished entirely.

Maybe she could force the power out herself, she thought. Draw it out through sheer will. But there was no guarantee it would work.

Then a thought struck her.

The last time the Bloody Woman’s power had awakened, it wasn’t because Beatrix called for it. It had happened when she was hurt, when her body was breaking, and her mind was on the edge of collapse. During that moment, her memories and thoughts had blurred, and something else had stepped forward.

What if the Bloody Woman wasn’t separate at all? What if she existed inside Beatrix’s subconscious, only emerging when Beatrix’s conscious mind was forced aside?

That would mean the Bloody Woman only appeared when Beatrix herself couldn’t act.

If that was true… then the only way to bring her out might be to fall unconscious.

But that was dangerous.

A blow too strong could cause permanent damage, or worse, kill her before the Bloody Woman ever had a chance to emerge. The entire plan was a gamble built on nothing more than instinct and fragments of memory.

Still, Beatrix wasn’t one to back down.

If she couldn’t knock herself out, then maybe she could reach that subconscious state deliberately.

She was a warrior from Pagna, trained to master her body and spirit. Meditation, cultivation, was second nature to her. A Pagna warrior could empty their mind completely, entering a state of clarity that few could achieve.

If she could push herself deep enough into that space between wakefulness and stillness, maybe her subconscious would take over naturally.

It was a risk. But one she was willing to take.

So she focused. She cleared her mind, drawing in a steady breath even as chaos unfolded around her. The screams, the clashing magic, all of it faded into a dull hum. Her heart slowed. Her thoughts became quiet.

And then, instinctively, her body moved.

The next thing she knew, she had blocked Yellum’s attack and unleashed a counterstrike powerful enough to obliterate Yellum’s arm completely.

Yellum hadn’t even seen it happen. One moment she was mid-attack, and the next, her entire arm was gone. There had been no visible movement, no telegraphed strike. It was instantaneous.

She stared at the space where her limb used to be, her mind struggling to comprehend it. Ever since she had gained her immense Light Magic affinity, she hadn’t been injured, let alone dismembered.

Panic rippled through her chest.

But the radiant glow of her magic began to gather around the wound. Light particles swirled, knitting themselves together where her arm had been. Her healing ability was working, faster than ever. In a few seconds, her arm would be fully restored.

Still, Yellum took a cautious step back.

Then Beatrix lifted her head.

Her eyes, once calm and composed, now gleamed with piercing red light.

Yellum froze.

Immediately after, the air around Beatrix began to distort. The Qi that once radiated softly from her body now rippled like waves of blood. It rose, then fell, soaking into her skin until both of her forearms glowed dark crimson. From her fingertips to her elbows, her arms looked as though they were dipped in liquid fire.

Yellum’s throat tightened.

’She’s changing again,’ she realized.

Her newly healed arm flexed as she closed her wings protectively around her body. If Beatrix was preparing another attack, she’d be ready for it this time.

Seconds passed.

Nothing happened.

“What…?” Yellum muttered under her breath. “She’s not attacking me.”

Carefully, she opened her wings, just enough to peek through the golden feathers.

And what she saw made her blood run cold.

High above the battlefield, one of the Cerebus Guild members had been flung into the air, launched effortlessly by Alen’s soldiers. The man was spinning helplessly, his arms flailing as he tried to cast a spell.

Then Beatrix moved.

She swung her arm through the air, and a pulse of red energy erupted from her fist.

The blood-colored aura swirled outward like a storm, gathering into a single point before exploding forward. It wasn’t a fireball or a beam, it was a cannon blast of pure Qi.

The attack tore through the air and collided with the airborne Cerebus member.

The impact was catastrophic.

A massive chunk of his torso vanished instantly. His body twisted from the force, blood and golden energy scattering like dust. But Beatrix didn’t stop.

One strike after another followed, each blow faster and stronger than the last. Every punch unleashed another burst of crimson energy. Each one carved away another piece of her opponent.

His leg, gone.

His arm, gone.

His chest, half destroyed.

And when the final strike landed, part of his head was missing.

Even with all the Light Magic in the world, there was no recovering from that.

Still, Beatrix wasn’t done.

The ground beneath her cracked as she pushed off. In an instant, she disappeared from sight.

Then, with an explosion of force, she erupted from the earth right behind another Cerebus Guild member. Her body shimmered with red energy, her blood aura spinning violently around her arm like a vortex.

And then, the blood began to move.

The crimson liquid spilling from the corpse above her, the blood of the man she had just killed, lifted into the air, drawn toward her like metal to a magnet. It wrapped around her wrist, merging with her own aura, forming a swirling mass of red light.

Beatrix raised her hand high, then swung it downward.

The explosion that followed was like thunder.

A colossal beam of blood-red energy crashed down from the sky, hitting the Cerebus Guild member squarely in the chest. The impact blew apart the ground, kicking up dirt and smoke that filled the air.

When the dust finally settled, there was nothing left of the man. Not even ashes.

Two of the five Cerebus Guild members, both gone. Both killed by Beatrix’s hand.

Yellum could only stare.

Beatrix landed softly, her movements mechanical, her expression blank. The faint crimson glow around her eyes didn’t waver.

Yellum’s heart raced.

’Is she even conscious at this point?’ she thought, panic creeping into her chest. ’What is this… what kind of monster is she?’

Her hands trembled as she began to retreat, her wings beating to lift her off the ground.

’I have to let the Grand Magus know,’ she thought, her pulse pounding in her ears. ’They need to know what we’re dealing with… before it’s too late.’

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