Having heard the group leave in the middle of the night, Liam felt compelled to follow them, remembering Gunther's words to stick to them like a fly. It didn't take him long to figure out where they were going since it was a destination that the others had been to a few times. There was nowhere else to go other than the hunting forest and back down to the area of fog. The real question was why, and that's what led Liam to discover their exact location.
He hadn't done this just because Gunther asked; he was genuinely curious about what they were doing.
"What should we do with him? He's seen you open the portal," Dame asked.
Soon after, the portal actually closed right up. That was because the energy from the level 1 power stone had been used already. The portals Raze opened weren't like those of others. They weren't permanent. Seeing this, it left Liam witnessing something that he wasn't supposed to see.
His teeth were chattering slightly, and the grip from Dame alone felt too strong. He had tried to shove and move slightly, but the pressure had increased on his shoulders, making it clear that he wasn't allowed to leave.
"I'm sorry!" Liam said. His single eye was watering up, and he had placed both hands together, shaking them continuously. "I know I shouldn't have followed you guys, but I wanted to see what you were doing."
"I thought we were a team, you know! We defeated the five disciples together, and we got through that mess with the dimension boss. You need the whole group; otherwise, it just doesn't work!"
Of all the things to say, this was Liam's plea, not to save his life but to be a part of the group; otherwise, it just didn't feel right. He had no clue what he had just done. If Liam weren't someone who had already known part of Raze's secret and owed him one, he would have had to end his life to keep his secret a secret. Yet, Raze could tell from the look in the others' eyes that they pitied him slightly. n(.OIn
"Look, I'll do whatever you guys want. I'll keep my mouth shut. I'm one of you guys now. If you go down, then I go down as well, and why the heck would I want to get myself in trouble," Liam continued to try and convince the others.
"Come on, man, I'm begging you here, Raze! Haven't I helped you guys out a lot, come o-"
"OKAY!" Raze eventually blurted out. "Please just stop speaking. We will let you come with us. Did you leave a note with one of the teachers explaining your absence?"
Liam hadn't done so since he wasn't so sure what was going on, but he thought if the others had left and he had done as well, then surely Gunther would know what had happened and come up with an excuse.
"It will be okay," Liam answered honestly, a little worried that a certain tick might show that he was lying.
Raze produced another power stone in his hand and dropped it to the ground. Almost like a show, at the same time, Raze's dark magic started to leave his hands and went down to the magic circle. The crystal had hit the floor at the same time as the magic, and the circle lit up, producing the portal again.
"Alright, let's try this one more time, shall we? Let's go," Raze said as he walked through first.
The others weren't too far behind, and Dame and Liam were the last two to enter. Once everyone was through, it was left for a few more seconds until eventually, the portal closed up.
Entering a portal, Liam was fearing the worst, preparing himself for another risky battle as he fought against beasts. But he was now a stage two warrior; if he had gotten through it before, he could get through it again.
When he opened his eyes, though, he felt the atmosphere hardly felt any different. It was slightly more humid compared to before, but that was all. When opening his eyes, he noticed that they were in a dimly lit cave.
"Come on, let's not waste too much time," Raze said as he walked forward, and everyone witnessed his body warp right through a wall.
It was a dead end, an area full of rocks, yet Raze had walked through it, and now none of them were able to see him. Everyone was confused and worried.
Looking at the wall, there was no way to tell if it was real or fake. That was until the person who had the most trust in Raze out of them all, Safa, decided to walk ahead. Her footsteps were confident, but when approaching the wall, she had closed her eyes. In doing so, she had walked right through.
Seeing now two people go to the other side, it started to give the others more confidence, and they started to head through one by one.
Going onto the other side, they soon realized that they were still in the cave, but just in another part, a part where they could see a clear exit, and Raze was already at the very end.
"I brought you guys along so you wouldn't get hurt," Raze commented. "But it doesn't mean that I have to wait for you; if you slow me down, then I'll leave you behind."
Walking forward onto the hard, dark orange ground, which was black in some areas, Raze started to walk ahead. The others followed, jumping out and looking around.
They couldn't see much apart from a few trees that looked to mostly be on their last legs, as if rain hadn't fallen in the area for years. However, there was something that had caught all of their eyes.
It was so large, built up in the middle like a giant tower, and even though the night sky was out, it was lit up like a giant lantern. Their eyes were glued to the sight like a moth to a flame.
"Why does this look so familiar?" Liam said. "I'm sure I've seen something like this in a painting or something?"
"Is that the city of Repton?" Simyon asked. "I guess we really are in the Demonic Faction after all."
The city of Repton was quite well-known because it was one of the biggest cities that belonged to the Demonic Faction. Immediately after hearing these words, Liam realized and it clicked in his head.
"Repton, the Demonic Faction! Wait, this is the Demonic Faction, I thought we had gone to another dimension; what are we doing in the Demonic Faction!" Liam shouted.
Liam's fear was palpable because there were many stories told to the Dark Faction about the Demonic Faction. Nearly no one, especially younger children, had been to the Demonic Faction, so they only knew about them through tales.
Immediately, Liam started to think that this might be even more dangerous than if he had entered a dimension with beasts.
"What's wrong, are you regretting coming with us now after all that talk about sticking together?" Simyon said. "Where's your balls as you would say." "Let's get a move on," Raze said, and Dame, now in his own comfort zone, had placed his hand on his face, taking off the mask. His hands dropped down by his side, and all of the others were stunned by what they could see.
"He's... quite handsome," Simyon ended up blurting out loud.
There had been so many surprises; the fact that Dame was using something to hide his face wasn't so much of a surprise compared to the rest of the things they had been through. Knowing he was from the Demonic Faction, it made sense, but it started to make Simyon think.
'Wait, but why the mask? Is he someone that people might recognize? I guess with his strength, that would make sense, and with us going back to the Demonic Faction. Just how did Raze meet these people, and how is he able to do all of these things?'
Raze and Dame walked side by side, taking the lead. Dame was looking forward to meeting his friends. He had left them all without saying a word, and he hadn't exactly been in contact with them either. One, he wasn't looking forward to was his father and how he would react to his disappearance. But for Raze, he had another goal.
"Let's start the business of the Dark Magus while we are here. We'll spread the name out and see if anyone takes the bait."
