Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 1600: The Ultimate Sacrifice

To offer some semblance of protection to the innocent citizens of the Underside from the constant, brutal fighting that had erupted across their domain, Raze had wisely instructed Beatrix to use her specialized staff. Her task was to quickly create several large, magically reinforced concrete structures that would function as public shelters. The strategic placement of these refuges was crucial; they were located far away from the Dark Guild’s central base, as the command structure correctly assumed the majority of the combat would be concentrated there.

However, the nature of the chaotic, continuous, and highly mobile fight between Harvey and the Masked Man had altered all previous assumptions. Their battle had been an unpredictable, destructive chase, and in the culmination of the latest exchange, Harvey had been violently struck by a retaliatory beam. He was sent flying, momentarily incapacitated, and landed directly within one of the civilian shelters.

The shelters were currently filled to capacity with those from the Underside who had neither the desire, the strength, nor the training to fight, the weakest and most vulnerable. This included numerous children, the elderly, or those who were simply incredibly weak with no magical power whatsoever.

“He’s from the Dark Guild, right?” a nervous voice whispered from the darkness, the fear palpable.

“Yes, he’s wearing the same dark, ragged uniform as them. He just crashed right through the reinforced entrance! The fighting must have even reached this far,” another citizen replied in hushed terror.

Hearing this, the massive crowd began to panic instantly. They immediately started trying to move away from Harvey as they saw the figure struggling to get up from the debris and the wreckage he had created. Moments later, the winged, golden-armored Cerebus member with the blank mask descended through the massive, gaping hole in the wall, surveying the trapped populace.

“Well, well, well, will you look at this little corner of civilization,” the Masked Man said, his voice cold and dripping with condescension, amplified by his helmet. “I thought the Underside seemed just a bit too empty. I am genuinely surprised that you even bothered to expend the energy to create such a quaint hiding place for them.”

He sneered directly at Harvey, who was finally back on his feet. “I never, not once, believed the Dark Guild possessed such a kind, charitable heart, or maybe this is just your elaborate plan to expand your little guild by using these useless members of society as some kind of conscripted labor.”

The general public who heard this cruel, degrading commentary reacted with a slight, collective flinch. It was an involuntary, painful knee-jerk reaction, but honestly, it was the type of dismissive, brutal language they were entirely accustomed to; they were always the ones being beaten down and treated as less than human by the surface world.

“The good thing for us, though,” the Masked Member continued, circling Harvey and brandishing his glowing hands, “is that we have specific, unambiguous orders directly from the Grand Magus to eliminate the Whole of the Underside. We need to ensure that nothing like the infectious disease that is the Dark Guild can ever be created or tolerated again.”

The Cerebus Guild knew a simple, believable story was needed for the confused Alterian public to accept this level of mass killing. The easiest and most palatable narrative was to claim that the Dark Guild stemmed from and was solely funded by the angry, chaotic rabble of the Underside. Once the Cerebus Guild efficiently got rid of them all, they could simply explain to everyone above that the root of the threat was neutralized, that the “mold” was cleared, and there was nothing left to worry about. The worried public desperately demanded simple answers and quick, conclusive explanations without wanting to dive deeper into ethical or systemic issues, it was precisely this public complacency that had allowed the Grand Magus’s rule to survive and thrive for so long.

When Harvey stood up fully, looking directly at the Cerebus member, a disturbing, grim smile spread across his face. He seemed to have made a horrific calculation.

“We are a guild that will commit to anything to achieve our ultimate goal, the goal of true freedom,” Harvey said, his voice becoming cold, deep, and resolute. “And I’m going to prove the absolute truth of that statement to you right now.”

Harvey’s massive puppet instantly grew larger behind his back, manifesting with a terrifying surge of dark power. Then, a thick, concentrated Dark beam shot out from the puppet’s palm. It wasn’t directed at the masked Cerebus member, as expected. Instead, it was aimed directly toward the panicked, huddled people in the shelter.

The second the deadly Dark Magic tore through their defenseless bodies, the victims perished on site, falling lifelessly to the ground in heaps. The puppet did not pause; it continued to fire relentless, precise Dark beams of energy at the scrambling public.

“What is going on! Why is the Dark Guild member attacking and killing us!” one desperate voice shrieked in confusion and final betrayal.

“I have no idea! We have to get out of here!” another screamed, pushing toward the damaged exits.

As people frantically turned their backs, as the children started to sprint toward any perceived opening, the Dark energy beams continued to hit them, abruptly and cruelly taking their lives.

Soon, Harvey was actively joining the carnage with his own hands and magic. He was systematically stopping people from escaping, using his base magic to push them back into the center of the room, cutting off their escape routes. He employed his powerful Earth Magic to quickly raise thick earthen walls, completely blocking the main exits, while moving his enormous puppet to physically barricade any other means of escape.

The people had nowhere left to run. As they desperately tired themselves out trying to find a nonexistent way out, they just continued to perish on site, falling to the floor.

“What are you doing, you maniac? Have you gone completely mad?” the Masked Man demanded, utterly stunned into inaction by the sheer, cold-blooded brutality he was witnessing.

“Hahah, me having gone mad?” Harvey asked, a bone-chilling laugh escaping his lips. “Didn’t you yourself state, just moments ago, that you were going to kill them all anyway? Then shouldn’t I just put their inevitable deaths to use?”

Harvey then quickly raised large, opaque earth walls between himself and the Cerebus Guild member, completely cutting off the opponent’s line of sight and buying him precious, gruesome time. He concentrated solely on the rapid massacre of those in the Underside. He continued to take them out quickly and efficiently. These were the weakest and most defenseless targets, those who had chosen not to participate in the conflict. All they could do was run around in confused circles or stand motionless in paralyzed, final terror.

That was the crucial moment the Masked Man finally understood the horrific calculation and the strategy behind the slaughter.

“He’s using them… He’s using all of them to increase his Dark Affinity,” the Cerebus member gasped in a breath of pure, genuine horror, the knowledge sinking into his soul. “He’s using their deaths to increase the power of his Dark Magic! He’s drawing the affinity from the lives he ends!”

Now he fully understood what Harvey meant. If they were going to die anyway, they might as well be of ultimate use to the Dark Guild’s goal.

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