When Alba had learned that the Dark Magus was entering a dimension on his own, there was an unsettling feeling in her stomach.
She remembered the last time he had gone out with Reno and how much trouble had been caused. Then, after that, there was the mess with the Behemoth Clan.
Right now, the Dark Magus was more than a hot topic, so she thought he would lay low and stay wherever it was he had been staying during this time they had been away.
Yet he had entered a dimension, and not just any, one belonging to the Behemoth Clan. There was a strange feeling in her stomach that the same thing might just occur again.
'I know the Dark Magus is quite special. Reno and Kizer told me about the strength he had back then... but still, if the others weren't there, I doubt he would have survived the attack with the Behemoth Clan.'
'If something like that happens again, we need to deal with it.'
Back at where the portal was placed, Reno had changed clothes into that of what the Behemoth Clan was wearing.
Anyone that would come from the hunting groups, he would simply tell them not to worry about reporting back numbers and to inform the others to continue hunting.
To not cause any trouble, meanwhile, Alba herself, along with little Froma and her bow and arrow on her back, were running all over the place in search of the Dark Magus.
Eventually, they had reached the large mansion. Trying to get a better view of the entire area, they had climbed to the top and were looking far and wide.
They had spotted some people down below. Froma squinted and managed to catch the swords a certain person had on their back and their side.
"That man there with the iron mask, I think that might be the Dark Magus!" She exclaimed.
Alba squinted hard as well. She didn't recognize the weapons like Froma, but with her being an Archer, she had better vision compared to others and quite a good memory.
"If that is him, I'm thankful that he changed his clothing and is wearing a mask. I guess he knows that he's quite sought after," Alba commented.
As they continued to watch the Dark Magus from above, though, that's when they could see a large group of fifteen Pagna warriors heading their way.
Both of them used Qi on their ears to enhance their hearing, listening in to everything said below.
"Those guys, they're trying to bully him out of the area; they can't do that!" Froma complained.
"They can; it's a regular occurrence. Don't you remember it used to happen to us all the time? At least these guys asked."
"There are some groups that will just kill on the get-go, attack you on the way back hoping to steal the stones you've gathered."
"Well then, should we help him?" Froma asked.
"I doubt this will turn into a fight," Alba said. "I think the Dark Magus knows he's outnumbered on this one."
Just as she said those words, they both heard the words from the Dark Magus loud and clear.
"Then, prepare to die."
Hearing Raze's taunting words almost immediately, they all pulled out their weapons, ready to get in a scuffle. Plon and his group, seeing this, were beyond frightened.
It was just some crystals, although they felt like everything that was happening was wrong, they didn't want to risk their life over just some crystals.
Raze placed his hand on the sword that was by his side and was eyeing up all of the warriors in front of him.
'Most of them here will be at the third stage, but I can't rule out that there could be someone at the higher stage. With this large number of people, I can't deal with them all just by using my Pagna skills; it will be impossible to win this fight,' Raze thought.
"Prepare to die; how dare you threaten all of us and our clans. You cocky wanderer!" Out from one of the other groups, another clan member had drawn their sword.
Qi was gathered in his steps, in his sword, and he swung it down full force. It was clear this strike had every intention to hurt, every intention to kill.
"I have to help him!" Plon said, as he tried to charge forward with his shield, but he was a little slow in his reactions, still frightened.
As the sword was swung down, Raze moved to the side using the two-step shift and drew his sword out, powered with Qi, swinging it from below upward.
There was almost no sound made when the strike had hit. It felt like there was no resistance, but a short while later and a scream was heard.
"ARGHHH! MY ARM!" the man shouted, staring at the floor.
Blood was pouring out from his arm, while he could see the sword being held onto by an arm detached from its body.
"You!" Fin said, shocked. "To do that, you must at least be at the fourth stage!"
"No, to be able to slice it off that cleanly, he has to be close to the peak of the initial stage; he's either a fifth or sixth stage warrior," Graft, the wanderer who had joined Fin's group, commented.
He had joined many expeditions and many groups due to his information-gathering skills and less so his fighting abilities.
So he was more in tune with those with high powers.
"This guy? A fifth stage warrior, but that's impossible," the woman from Fin's group commented.
She was shocked, trying to downplay what they had found out, because if they had known he was a fifth stage warrior, they would have taken him in a heartbeat.
"Why?" Fin asked. "Why did you act like you knew nothing... Were you trying to trick us?"
"Are you the one getting angry at me now?" Raze replied. "I set my terms, and every group I went to I set the same conditions. This group behind had accepted me regardless of that."
"There was no bad blood between us. Yet, you, believing that you were stronger, came here and then tried to force us to leave."
"You attacked me first, with overwhelming numbers, you abused your position, and somehow all of this is my fault, because you had formed an opinion about me."
Hearing all of this, Fin's face was turning red; he then looked to the man that was holding onto his detached arm.
"He attacked us, and his group refuses to stand down, kill them all!" Fin shouted.
Even if the person in front of him was a fifth stage or sixth stage warrior, he himself was a fourth stage warrior, and their group was filled with powerful three-stage warriors, it would be impossible for them to lose this fight.
The others felt the same way; they felt safety in large numbers, and judging from the look on Plon and his group's face, they felt the same way.
From above, Alba and Froma were seeing everything. "Now do we help?" Froma asked.
"Not yet!" Alba replied. "We might just see how the Dark Magus was able to deal with the Behemoth Clan."
Down below, Raze could feel the powerful Qi coming off from everyone, leaving him no choice.
"Plon, and you girls!" Raze shouted.
"Shut your eyes unless you want to be killed as well."
"Huh, wait, what do you mean shut our eyes!" Claire shouted back.
Plon could see Raze lifting up his hand; he hadn't made a move yet, but it was clear that he wanted to do something.
Right now, if they were to fight, they would clearly lose; they were just wanderers with subpar techniques.
"Just listen to him, get behind me and close your eyes!" Plon shouted.
The girls listened to Plon and did as they were told, squinting hard. They all thought Raze had some type of technique he was going to use that would perhaps blind the others, but that wasn't the case.
"A little gift from an Elder," Raze said as he threw his hand onto the floor. "Volt Shockwave."
Magic extended out from his hand and exploded onto the floor. Blue sparks of lightning spread out all across the ground.
It hit everyone in the area, shocking their bodies and holding them in place. All of them had partially fallen to one knee, including Plon and the others.
"It looks like there were a lot of witnesses who saw what I just did, and I can't allow that," Raze gripped onto his sword.
