Chapter 234

Out of all the suggestions or plans that Dame would have come up with, one of the last ones would be to reveal who Raze really was—the fact that he was the Dark Magus. Although he was wearing the disguise mask, and there was no way to discern his real face, it still came as a shock. 'What in Alterian are you doing!' Raze shouted internally. 'What difference would it make if she were to find out I'm the Dark Magus? Are you trying to leverage the debt that she owes me?' It seemed like an incredibly risky move because, in Raze's head, he was only there when Rayna was saved, but the Crimson Crane were the ones who had done most of the work. Little did he know that she felt differently. In her eyes, the Crimson Crane and her had only survived because of the Dark Magus. On top of that, there was another reason. Dame was basing this whole thing on the last conversation they had. "This guy?" Rayna said, taken aback, and pointing at the body. She then placed her hand on her chin and started to inspect the person up and down. When her gaze landed on his face, she began to scrutinize the finer details. "This… isn't what I imagined at all? And he was a member of our clan this whole time?" Rayna asked. It just didn't fit with her imagination because the things she had seen the Dark Magus do were out of this world. If he was always right under her fingertips, wouldn't she have noticed something at least? "This isn't what he looks like; he's just disguised as one of our clan members, one of the many things he can do," Dame said proudly, as if he was the one able to do such a thing in the first place. She started to look at 'Callum' closer, and her imagination was running wild. It was hard to believe that he was wearing some type of mask, yet it would explain everything. Right there and then, she wanted to lunge forward and snap it off. If she did, it wouldn't do the two of them any favors. "And you're serious; you're not playing some type of joke on me?" Rayna asked again. Seeing the change in demeanor, Raze noticed that it was working. Nearly all of the anger was gone from before for some reason, so he decided to seize the opportunity. "I apologize," Raze stated, and gave a small bow. "I didn't mean to trick you. I originally asked Dame to help me get inside your Clan so I could study a few things. I truly wish to cause no trouble, and we were on our way to leave this place just now." Hearing Raze talk, and him talking in such a way, Rayna could feel her cheeks starting to heat up slightly. She turned away just in case something was obviously seen on her face. "It's okay; it's understandable. Our clan isn't the best to strangers," Rayna said, tucking some stray hair behind her ears. She then shook her head slightly as she looked back at Dame. "Wait, so what you said before as well, about leaving the Clan, is it true?" Rayna asked. "Are you planning to leave and join the Dark Magus?" With the situation diffused and his sister's reaction, Dame felt like she was a person they could rely on, especially in this situation. So he decided that the best way to get out, with a kind person like her, was to tell the truth. "That's correct. Do you remember what happened to the Dark Magus? He was invited to join the Crimson Crane. I plan to leave with him and join them. The seat for master of the Clan, it is not a position I deserve nor one I want."

"So I decided to take a few things with me and see if the Dark Magus needed anything as well." If anyone understood how Dame felt, it would be Rayna, who experienced a similar upbringing. She understood why if there was a chance to leave, why he would take it, especially as the fourth and youngest child. There was practically no future, and it felt like twice now their father had sent him on a mission to his death. "I see," Rayna said, continuing to stare at the Dark Magus, and strange thoughts were beginning to run through her head. 'What if he came here to see me! It could be possible; after rescuing me, the Dark Magus wanted to see me again. Even when we were at the event, he could have just displayed a poor representation of the ten descending steps, but he tried his very best; was that to get my attention as well?' Clearing her voice and clearing her thoughts, she looked straight ahead at the two of them. "Well then, if that's the case, then I never met the person named Callum, nor did I see any of my brothers today," Rayna said. "And I am just speaking my voice out loudly right now, but I wish you both good luck." It was a change of pace for Raze, who had met cruel Pagna warriors ever since he had gotten here. Right now, he had met someone who was changing his views. Someone who was far stronger than the two of them, yet didn't see themselves as above and knew how to return a favor. Hearing this, Raze felt like good needed to be rewarded with good, so he had a few words to say himself. "If you ever need help in the future or a special item to increase your strength, then find the Dark Magus, and I shall make one for you for free." Rayna smiled at that, and both Dame and Raze were ready to leave. But before they shot off somewhere, Rayna grabbed Dame's hand and leaned in to whisper. "Did you tell him about my proposal as well, about getting married?" Rayna whispered. "Now's not the time for that," Dame whispered back. "But I will definitely plant it in his head. If need be, it would be good to bring the Dark Magus and the Neverfall Clan closer together." His sister gave him a thumbs-up along with a wink, and he did the same back. After leaving the library, the two were able to climb up the chains, but getting higher up to the next chain needed more strength. Raze reluctantly needed to jump up on the back of Dame, while he jumped in the air, making it to the next giant hanging chain. From there, the two of them were able to make it right to the top. Dame wanted to say goodbye to his friends, but he would still stay in contact with them. He had left a special note for them in the room that they would hang around in; he was sure they would play a big part in all of this in the future. Finally reaching the top, they had exited from the Abyssal's crest wall and were back on land, heading back to the city of Repton. While they were running for a while, Raze was relieved to find that everything had worked out in the end, and even more so, he summoned the strange metallic block in his hand and was looking at it. "I was meaning to ask you, what is that thing?" Dame asked as he continued to run. "This, this is an item from my world," Raze explained. "You can think of it as a diary, and I'm going to find out what is written inside it."