Murkel, a man who had been given the title closest to reaching the Divine Realm. It was a title that he was both proud of and one that ground on his teeth.
He had almost succeeded, almost reached the pinnacle of a Pagna warrior to finally ascend to the world above.
Yet, the title seemed to tell him he wasn't good enough. This led to a deeper belief in Murkel—why wasn't he good enough?
Was it because of his surroundings? Were those around him not strong enough to push him, or was it something else?
He thought he might find his answer in taking over the continent of Pagna. If he had been given this title, then he had to live up to it.
By taking control of Pagna, he might find his answer as to why he wasn't able to ascend above.
However, in battle right now, believing he was the strongest, his punch filled with Qi was stopped by a simple shield.
Murkel expected his fist to go right through the shield. One could power equipment with their Qi, but he truly believed there was no one with stronger Qi than him.
Just like before, it took four great middle-stage warriors to block his attack. So how was one able to stop his attack, and a person whose name hadn't even spread through the land, only his group?
"What is that shield?" Murkel asked.
"It's an item made by the Dark Magus, and it can't be destroyed by someone like you," Tilion answered.
"The Dark Magus," Murkel repeated.
The name was one Murkel had heard before. It was a name that had passed mostly through the Demonic Continent.
An alchemist who could produce special Qi pills. Recently, Murkel was even aware of some of the product reaching the Dark Faction.
All of his sources confirmed it was the real thing, and the person was indeed a talented alchemist. But now the man in front of him claimed that the reason his attack was stopped was because of a shield created by this individual.
'I wasn't aware that the Dark Magus also made physical items. Word hasn't quite reached my ears about that. But if it is the case, why does this person have such an item?' Murkel thought.
He pulled back his fist and jumped back, trying to get a better gauge of the entire situation. It seemed that the Crimson Crane was being cautious as well, not quite attacking from the get-go.
'Right, there was that rumor that the Dark Magus was part of the Crimson Crane, but it didn't make sense. Why would an alchemist that could be accepted anywhere join a wanderer group of all things?' Murkel thought.
Something had been grinding on him the entire time about the whole situation that was playing out.
He somewhat understood why Raze might wish to go against him, but not why he wanted the Dark Faction for himself.
Then, the deeper question was, why was the Crimson Crane helping him out? Why was everyone willingly defending him? On top of that, why did a student of all people also know the Noctis clan skills?
'He was at the academy; he wouldn't have time… and his strange powers, there's something about that person, and there's a good chance that the White Dragon is also the Dark Magus.'
As Murkel looked deeper at Raze, who was sitting down cultivating, he sensed a large amount of Qi from above.
Lifting his hand, he blocked a devastating kick, which caused the ground beneath his feet to be destroyed.
However, that wasn't the end of the attack. Following up the kick, a large clawed hand came crashing down as well.
Murkel decided to avoid this one. The clawed hand had grown in size and smashed into the floor, breaking the ground where Murkel had stood.
"Oh, you avoided that one?" Amir said with a smile. "I thought you said you could take all of us on by yourself."
Murkel looked Amir up and down with his eyes, seeing that both of his arms had changed. They were covered in a dark scaly-like substance.
One of the arms was constantly moving, breaking down into tentacles and forming into different shapes, eventually turning into a large axe.
"I didn't know that I had a monster right by my side the entire time," Murkel said. "If I did, I would have never agreed to work with you."
"Me, a monster? I think you need to look in a mirror!" Amir kicked off his feet. Now in his hybrid form, he was much faster compared to before.
His transformed axe hand swung out from the side, aiming to cut Murkel straight in half. But the moment he kicked off, everyone by Murkel's side acted.
Lin, Lulu, Arkon, Suzan, Wendart, Crine, and the bald mystery man all jumped to attack Amir. They were covering his view, and through it, he could see the smile on Murkel's face.
"You were on my side; you should know the strength of all these people. They are nothing to laugh at," Murkel stated.
Once again, though, before they reached Amir, Tilion came forward with the legendary shield in his hand.
Right as they got close, he lifted the shield and slammed it into the floor. The shield lit up, and as they got close, a mass amount of energy exploded from the shield in a large radius.
It hit all of those diving forward and pushed them back until they had fallen and were on their backsides.
It was unexpected. They hadn't expected such sheer power to come out of the shield, and with them moving forward, they were defenseless, causing every single one of them to fall.
Tilion lifted the shield out of the ground and back onto his shoulder.
'The stored punch from Murkel was in the shield, and each one of them just got a taste of it. I love this thing. Oh, Raze, I could kiss you right now,' Tilion smiled to himself.
The attackers were startled. They had no clue what had just occurred with such an item, and seeing this had caused a chain reaction.
"Now!" Ricktor shouted. "Now is our time to act!"
Seeing all of the opponents on the floor, the five students activated their Qi and each decided to pick one: Ricktor, Mada, Simyon, Liam, and even Safa, as they all got into position and charged forward.
"Don't let the students fight on their own!" Alba shouted. "All of the Crimson Crane, charge forward as well!"
The situation had completely changed. Ricktor had seen enough. He had witnessed enough from the Crimson Crane and Raze to put his trust in them.
It was a gamble, but it was a shot worth taking.
'Raze, don't make me regret my decision,' Ricktor thought.
Those on the floor were able to quickly comprehend the situation. The Qi being active towards them was as clear as day, and there was no going back from this.
Hannah, Ricar, and Beatrix, as well as Bubble above, were watching everything unfold. The fact that the Dark Faction students were now going against the Dark Faction themselves.
"What are we watching right now?" Hannah asked.
"I have no idea," Beatrix answered.