Dark Magus Returns

Raze could see the blinding, unadulterated rage in Allen's eyes, and in a lot of ways, he felt it was wrong, perhaps even hypocritical, to try and stop him. Raze himself had felt that same consuming rage before, a feeling that drove him to do whatever was necessary to achieve his revenge. He understood that primal need for vengeance.

The undeniable issue, however, was that regardless of the chaotic actions Harvey had taken, Raze desperately needed him and the powerful members of the Dark Guild to achieve his final objective. Varkos and Mordain were both already dead, a harsh, unchangeable reality. There was nothing that Raze could do to reverse that. As long as Raze could keep Harvey on a tight leash, controlling his impulse to kill, he could stop Harvey from killing others, and that absolutely included Allen, who was too valuable to lose.

"Allen, I swear I won't hurt you," Raze declared, holding his dominant hand up in a gesture of peace and restraint, even as Allen bristled. "But I cannot let you hurt Harvey right now. Even as we speak, there are those outside who are still fighting against the remaining Cerberus Guild members."

Thankfully, the other Pagna warriors traveling with Raze had quickly caught up. They immediately threw themselves into the fight that was raging just outside the small, ruined structure. Along with Allen's own loyal men, the Cerberus Guild members were quickly overwhelmed. The balance of power had completely and brutally turned one-sided, and it was only a matter of time before the remaining Cerberus Guild members lost their lives.

Inside, Allen refused to yield. He continued to fling his hands, firing fireball after fiery fireball toward Harvey with furious declaration, intent on nothing but blood. Raze, however, was prepared. He quickly summoned a sword made of solidified Dark Magic into his hand. He used the blade to swiftly and precisely deal with each successive fire attack, slicing through the flaming projectiles and extinguishing them on the spot with powerful bursts of dark energy.

Allen was no fool. Even in his rage, he knew he was no match for Raze's current level of power. Raze was a higher star Magus than him. Moreover, he possessed the enhanced body of a Pagna warrior combined with advanced Qi cultivation, making him not only stronger but infinitely swifter than Allen. There was practically nothing Allen could do to win against Raze in this state, but driven by the betrayal of his friend, he simply did not care.

"DON'T STOP ME, RAZE!" Allen screamed, his voice raw with frustration and anguish as he charged forward, abandoning magic for a desperate, physical assault.

"Wait… I have a way to resolve this!" Raze yelled, holding the enchanted sword steady and keeping Allen at bay. His mind was racing, trying to find an unconventional path to defuse the standoff. "There's someone in my group that can tell if someone is telling the truth or lying."

He lowered the sword slightly, exposing himself to Allen's charge, forcing the Dark Magus to slow down. "We will ask Harvey the question right now and find out the truth, one way or another. I know you might ask how you can possibly believe me that he would have such a skill, but I promise you, Allen. For everything we have been through, for the life of your sister, I would not lie to you about something this critical."

Though Allen's consuming rage wasn't exactly quenched, Raze's appeal to their shared history and the bizarre claim of a truth-teller did make him pause for a crucial second. At the very least, he could see an immediate path to a result. If Raze was telling the truth about this ability, and Raze found out that Harvey was lying, there was also a very good chance that Raze would immediately switch sides and join him in the fight. For Allen, there was little downside; he could always disregard the result and still go after Harvey if he didn't like the answer.

Allen didn't say anything, his silence a dangerous, volatile acceptance. He didn't want Raze to think he was agreeing to this ridiculousness, but he would permit Raze to attempt his strange solution.

"Liam!" Raze called out, projecting his voice over the distant sounds of combat.

Almost instantly, Liam arrived by Raze's side, his sword drawn and a streak of blood, not his own, splashed across his face. He had clearly just finished dealing with one of the Cerberus Guild members.

"Liam, I need you to tell me if Harvey is lying when I ask my question," Raze commanded, his tone authoritative and firm. "You need to tell me the truth and say it loud and clear for everyone to hear. Do you understand?" It might have sounded almost as if he was talking to a child, but Raze wanted to make it absolutely clear to Liam that this was a deadly serious situation and that he didn't want any funny business or tricky maneuvering with the truth.

Raze then turned to face Harvey, his gaze penetrating. "Answer me truthfully, Harvey. Did you kill Varkos because he was betraying us? And I want you to be absolutely clear. Not because you thought he was betraying us, but because you found out he was the one telling the Cerberus Guild about our movements."

There was a pregnant pause, heavy with the weight of the lie or the truth, before Harvey eventually answered.

"Yes, that is true. I saw Varkos talking with the Cerberus Guild members just before starting any of this attack," Harvey answered, his eyes locking onto Raze's.

There was then a moment of strained silence before Liam spoke, his voice ringing out clearly.

"He's telling the truth. It's true."

Of course, Liam had used his system to instantly come up with the answer, and he wasn't lying about the system's finding.

"I know Varkos was your friend, Allen, but he was working for the other side," Raze said, hoping that this verifiable truth had finally cleared things up and quenched Allen's rage.

But before Raze could relax, Allen spoke, his voice trembling with a new, terrifying emotion. He was not done.

"Then what about Mordain? Was he working with the Cerberus Guild as well? Ask him about that, Raze! Why did he kill Mordain?"

It was then that Raze paused, and his eyes widened slightly in a flicker of surprise and dread. In that brief, infinitesimal hesitation, Allen, the shrewd Magus, had figured it out.

"I see now… you already knew the truth about that… and you kept it from me!"

***

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