It was quite clear that in the current situation, Belil wasn't an enemy to Raze. If anything, he was more of a means to get his way.
From what Raze could gather, Bofan was close to Belil, and there was a reason why so many things had been left with him. Since Bofan was no longer on Pagna, Belil was now following his wishes and continuing what he left off.
The question was, why was Raze needed? Was there a specific reason, or did Belil just believe that there was someone up for the job?
That was perhaps what Belil wanted to find out through this fight—to use him in some way.
'I'm fine with being used, I'm fine with all of that, as long as I get what is needed and can head to Alterian. I'm fine with all this.'
Now knowing what Belil's stance pretty much was, Raze decided to ask a question he had been holding back.
"Those words you mumbled before, do they mean anything? I saw you looking up at the sky," Raze asked.
"Ah, right, I said I'd tell you a bit more about Bofan, but I guess I can explain what I was thinking back then," Belil replied. "You know, there are several rumors about how the Abyssal base was created where the Neverfall Clan stands?"
"I also thought some of those rumors were true, that was until I reached the Divine stage and was pulled up there. The truth of the matter is…"
"Two of the strongest Divine beings were having a battle. The power was so strong that it couldn't be contained, and an attack lingered down, creating such a large hole in the ground."
"The intense heat, and the energy you can feel flowing through your body—that is the energy of their attack, still strong after who knows how many years."
"This is what I learned when I went to the Divine Realm."
To cause that much power, it was quite extraordinary. Raze didn't look too much into the Divine Realm because he had no such intentions, and there was no such thing on Alterian.
As long as he kept his Qi stage at the maximum capable at the middle stage, he would be fine increasing his magic. Still, the power of the Divine beings seemed even stronger than the Grand Magus.
They weren't an enemy of Raze's, so he would ignore them.
"The world of Pagna is being protected by something amazing; if there wasn't a realm that divided us, maybe the whole planet would have been destroyed. It's almost as if it was purposely created," Belil continued.
"I told you, Bofan's beauty and obsession with Pagna transferred to me. He cared about this land a lot, and in turn, it made me care about things I hadn't before."
"Maybe it was the fact that I was beaten within an inch of my life; going to the Divine Realm can humble you quite a bit."
"Regardless, we spent a lot of time together, but toward his end, he started speaking of strange things. He constantly talked about not wanting Pagna to disappear."
"And he kept talking about what would happen when he disappeared. Every time we met, he would frequently bring this up in conversation."
"It made me wonder, what was he afraid of? Although I said Bofan would constantly lose to me, I guarantee he was perhaps the second strongest person in all of Pagna."
"And then, just like that, he was gone."
"That's it?" Raze replied, surprised. Not even Belil knew what happened. Worry set in that maybe Belil didn't know as much as he had hoped.
"When he left, he left several things behind, explaining all of his thoughts, all of his worries. The last place he visited was the Neverfall Clan."
"Finally, I understood everything he talked about. Maybe some would think I was tricked, but I don't believe that to be the case."
"Now I feel obligated to follow in his footsteps and continue from where he left off, to try and save Pagna."
"He guessed that someone at some point would come along and be in the same situation as him. But in truth, it was a race against time, and it would be unlikely that anyone would come."
"He made a gamble, and now I need to see if his gamble paid off."
Raze could tell that was the end of his tales about Bofan. Everything else would be revealed after the talks. Finally, they had reached their destination.
They were in the middle of an open dry desert. The ground was hard, but due to the shapes of rocks, it almost looked like a fighting arena.
Giant slabs of ground were lifted up, arched at an angle, surrounding an area that was about a mile in size.
Belil quickly balanced Brack on top of one of these large slabs that stuck out of the ground, and then continued into the center along with Raze.
"This is my old battleground. I haven't used it since he disappeared," Belil claimed. "I think this is an appropriate place for the two of us, don't you think?"
Now on closer inspection, Raze realized why it looked like an arena; it was purposely done with Earth magic. It had just been so long that part of the slabs had eroded away.
Images filled his head as he imagined a mighty mage going up against a warrior. Some of the areas were darkened, and there were even hard brown stains in other areas.
"The time has come, Raze, the great Dark Magus!" Belil claimed. "You have a good strong title, I like that. In our fight, use everything you have—magic, Qi, weapons, traps… do everything in your power."
"Because this isn't just a fight to test your strength. If you lose this fight, then I will never tell you about the Golden Globe you are desperately looking for… and I am a man of my word!" Belil said as both of his hands were covered in glowing orange energy.
It was slightly transparent, and his knuckles could still be seen. Belil then bunched them both together, and a shockwave blew out from his position, pushing everything in the area and knocking all of the dust away.
Raze's feet even skidded on the ground despite him trying to hold his place.
"I… have to win this fight?"