Dark Magus Returns

Alen and Beatrix both felt it in their bones, whatever they were about to witness wasn't going to be good. The air itself seemed heavy with dread. But neither of them could move, nor intervene. They were deep inside enemy territory, surrounded by the unknown.

This facility had clearly been operating for years. That meant whatever horrors were about to unfold had likely been happening for just as long. To rush in now would risk everything, their mission, the evidence, and their lives.

So they endured it. Whatever came next, they would bear it.

The men at the control console finished adjusting their runes and pressed a few buttons. A low hum filled the room, followed by a sharp, electric vibration in the air.

Alen's senses flared. "That's mana," he whispered. "A massive surge of it."

It wasn't ordinary mana. It was pure, raw and unfiltered, without any elemental affinity. And the amount being used… it was staggering. The kind of energy that could only be produced through a stockpile of mana crystals.

Inside the large glass chamber, where the patients were held, the walls began to glow. At first, it was a faint shimmer. Then, it became blinding, so intense that Beatrix had to look away.

The light filled the room, swallowing everything in a white flood.

"It's pure mana," Alen said again, disbelief in his tone. "Exactly like what the Central Academy students used when they consumed those pills, but this… this is hundreds of times stronger. Are they… trying to kill them?"

The thought made sense. To erase evidence, to destroy the bodies, there were no better means. Fire magic could burn corpses, but always left ashes and traces. Dark Magic users could make bodies vanish, but this was a medical facility, not a Dark Guild outpost.

Still, Alen couldn't think of any other reason to unleash such a force.

Beatrix shielded her eyes until the light finally began to fade. As it dimmed, the two of them slowly turned back to look, and what they saw made their stomachs twist.

The patients were still alive.

Barely.

Their bodies were charred and stripped raw, most of their skin gone, revealing dark, red muscle beneath. Veins pulsed weakly against exposed tissue, and their breathing came out in slow, ragged gasps.

They should have been dead.

Yet somehow, they weren't.

On the glowing screens in front of the operators, mana readings pulsed steadily, confirming what Beatrix and Alen were seeing.

"All patients stable," one of the researchers said flatly. "The procedure was a success."

"Success?" Beatrix whispered, horror tightening her voice. "That's what you call success?"

She turned to Alen, her fists trembling.

"This… this was what they intended?"

Alen's jaw clenched. "Maybe they're testing medical pills after putting them in this state. Remember, those on the upper floor who stopped responding to treatment were sent down here. If they can't use them for data up there, maybe this is how they repurpose them."

His explanation made a sick sort of sense. But neither of them truly believed it was that simple.

They had seen too much cruelty in Alter's name to think there wasn't something darker beneath the surface.

Beatrix could barely stand to watch. Her instincts screamed at her to intervene, to break through the glass and free them, but she forced herself to remain still.

They couldn't blow their cover. Not yet.

Alen's fingers hovered over his spell seals, ready to fight at a moment's notice. But his rational mind held him back. They needed to escape with what they'd seen, not die here without proof.

Then, one of the men at the control panel pressed another rune.

A loud hiss echoed from inside the chamber as a door opened along the far wall. Beatrix's heart skipped.

Through the haze and mana residue, figures began to emerge, two men and three women, each dressed in golden robes that shimmered faintly under the mana light. Long, draped capes trailed behind them, each embroidered with a three-headed emblem.

Beatrix froze.

"Those robes…" she whispered.

Alen's eyes widened as recognition struck. No way.

'That's the Cerebus Guild,' he realized. 'Cerebus Guild members are here, inside this place!'

He knew every one of those faces. They weren't low-ranking enforcers or disposable scouts. These were high-ranking members, officers with authority.

Each one of them carried themselves like a seasoned killer, their posture calm, movements deliberate.

The five of them stepped into the chamber without hesitation, approaching the mutilated patients. They stood over them in eerie silence.

"Why are they here?" Beatrix whispered. "Why would the Cerebus Guild be involved with a facility like this?"

Alen didn't answer. His mind was racing.

The Cerebus Guild was already infamous for their underhanded dealings, mercenaries who didn't hesitate to work in the shadows when ordered by the Grand Magus. But this? This was something else entirely.

To see them here, in this kind of laboratory, working hand-in-hand with researchers… it meant the connection ran far deeper than anyone had imagined. It wasn't just one of the facilities this one was practically one of the more important places for the Guild members.

More so, Alen hadn't prepared to fight against the Cerebus Guild here, not with how many men he had brought along with him.

Alen's grip on the recording device tightened. Every instinct told him to back away, to retreat while they still could. But he couldn't, not yet.

Beatrix took a deep breath, her voice shaking. "If we don't get out now, we might not have another chance."

"I know," Alen said quietly. His eyes never left the glass. "But if we leave now, no one will believe how deep this goes."

*****

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