The Return Of The Dark Warlock

The wind was sharp and biting as it raged atop the towering skyscraper. An old man, hair and beard whipping wildly in the gale, squinted against the luminescent neon lights that illuminated the city's buildings.

Raze Cromwell raised a hand to his eyes, trying to shield them from the stinging gusts. "Why on earth did I choose the rooftop for this damned ritual?" he grumbled.

As his long hair veiled his eyes, he brushed it aside impatiently. "Magic may solve many problems in this world," he mused, "but it can't fix poor decision-making."

His robe billowed, tugging at his frame as he made his way towards the center of the rooftop.

"If it weren't for this wind, I would have been done with this ritual by now."

The muffled cries of several voices reached his ears-sounds of despair, some even on the verge of a scream.

Raze's patience wore thin. "Will you all keep quiet? What could you possibly want to say?"

Below him, etched into the rooftop, was a radiant circle filled with intricate symbols and glyphs. It glowed white-not from any external power source, but from Raze's own magic. Bound with their hands and legs tied, within the circle were five individuals. Though no physical seals covered their mouths, their cries were reduced to mere muffled sounds.

"If I allow one of you to speak, will the rest of you stay silent?" Raze questioned, tracing a symbol in the air. A faint purple glow emanated from his fingers.

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At his gesture, one of the captives-a middle-aged man-found his voice once more. Drawing a ragged breath, he pleaded, tears streaming down his face. "Please, Dark Magus! Spare me. I'll give you anything! Please just don't kill me!"

Raze stepped closer, looming over the man. "And when that couple begged for their lives, what did you offer them? Where are they now?"

The captive froze, eyes wide with terror.

"How did you know?"

Continuing his circuit around the circle, Raze listed the sins of each captive. "Killed their lover in a fit of rage for looking at another person. Creating false reports of being abused, sending those that she dislikes to the pit. Selling illegal substances to desperate mages, causing their cores to burst."

The captives understood now-Raze was recounting their hidden crimes, the atrocities they'd committed and escaped.

But when he reached the last captive, he paused. "And you," he said, a note of mockery in his voice, "a zealous vegan, imposing your views on others. Truthfully, you're just here because I needed five, and time was running short."

Tension filled the air as more symbols appeared within the circle, its luminescence intensifying.

Just as Raze was readying for the next phase of his ritual, a defiant voice from among the captives challenged him. "So what! You judge us, but what about you, Dark Magus? How many lives have you claimed? How many people have you killed, you are no better than us!"

Raze opened his mouth before his response was interrupted by a bout of violent coughing, flecks of blood staining the ground below. "You're right," he rasped, wiping his mouth with his sleeve, "We all deserve to die."

Suddenly, a voice from behind proclaimed, "Not all, just you!"

The captives and Raze turned to the newcomers - five figures dressed in pristine white robes, descending from above.

"The Grand Magus! They've come to save us!" one captive exclaimed.

Among the mages, these were the elite, each holding the power to reshape entire nations. They were all 9-star mages at the very top. Due to their power, seeing them assemble like so came as quite a shock, even if they were going after the Dark Magus.

"I see you've received my invitation," Raze taunted, singling out one. "Enaxx, how does your wife cope, knowing you're... incomplete with just having one ball to play with?"

A sharp pain welled up from below, as a heat of anger rose to Enaxx's face, making him turn red.

"Raze!" One of the Grand Magus with long blonde hair stepped out before the others. He radiated with energy, lighting up the night sky around him. "I can't believe such a talented mage like you has become this!"

"SHUT UP!" Raze shouted back. "None of you, not a single one of you have the right to speak to me! You can all drop the act. All of you took everything I cared about from this world! You all know what you've done. Especially you, Idore!"

Dark energy started to shroud Raze in his tattered clothing, growing around his back even larger, causing the other magus to radiate their own energy as well.

Despite these taunts, Idore had a smile on his face.

"Did you think we didn't know?" He asked. "You're already dying, you already have one foot in the grave. Even if you did nothing, you would naturally pass away. But how could we let that happen? You, the Dark Magus, the most wanted man in the world, we need to kill you with our own hands."

"HAHAHA!" Raze let out a loud belly laugh. "Idore, Gizin, Ibarin, Trubin, and One ball. This is my last message to you all."

The magic circle from beneath was starting to light up. Cautious about what this would do, the Grand Magus shielded themselves with their own magic.

The captives inside the magic circle soon felt pressure building up in their heads. A great pain welled up, until *Pop*. The tops of their heads exploded, their bodies falling to the floor, including the man who stood in the center, Raze Cromwell.

Seeing this, the magic started to fade from the Mages, and they began to walk forward. They felt no traces of life and looked at the blood splattered on the floor.

"Do you think he's really dead?" Ibarin asked.

"He has to be, that's his body and his head, at least what's left of it," Gizin commented.

Trubin, the youngest of the mages, looked around, examining the magic circle and the blood splatter. That's when he smirked.

"Well, now I know what he meant by the last message."

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They all took a good look at the floor, and now they saw it as well. The blood had splattered in such a way, along with the magic circle, that it created a bloody image. An image of a large fist with its middle finger raised towards them.

"Raze Cromwell's death is confirmed," Idore stated, lifting his hands, summoning a ball of fire. He started to levitate, floating in the air, and so did the others by his side above the buildings. "Our secrets will die with him."

The fireball was hurled toward the building, and as it hit the roof, it expanded, setting everything ablaze in an instant, including all the dead bodies on the rooftop. As the magus flew away from the scene, they all looked back at a stain in their past, with a great sigh of relief.

---

'I can't believe I gambled my life away like that,' Raze thought. 'I put all my hopes into that book I received from the portal. I don't even know if it will work. I was dying anyway... I just wanted a chance to get them all back.

'Those damned smug faces. They call me the evil one, yet they would easily steal candy from a baby. All I would do is lick it when they weren't looking and give it back. Who's the more evil one?'

Memories of Raze's life started flashing before his eyes, especially the painful ones. Memories from his childhood, the losses he had experienced in his life, the memories that turned him into the Dark Magus.

Then, other images entered his mind: vast mountain tops, grand temples, lush greenery everywhere. Images of a man, a woman, and a young girl he had never seen before, wearing robes, and people fighting using just their fists.

'What is all of this? These aren't my memories! They don't even look like they're from my world!'

Flashing back and forth were memories that Raze could tell were clearly his, interspersed with unfamiliar ones. Intense pain pulsed in his head, sending shockwaves through his body, until Raze's eyes snapped open once again

Memories flooded Raze's mind, like a torrent of emotions, emotions he had locked away for so long. They made him sick every time he revisited them.

"When did it all start, my terrible life? Was it my father? Selling me to those men... every night? No, that wasn't what broke me. It was..."

However, the vivid memories were soon overwhelmed by something else: faces he didn't recognize, places he had never been, and names he was sure he hadn't heard before.

Suddenly, his eyes opened, vision blurred momentarily.

"Why... why am I in pain? My neck hurts, and it feels like... I can't breathe!"

As his vision sharpened, it seemed to dim simultaneously. Eventually, a pair of bulging eyes became clear, staring right at him. Now, he recognized the sensation of fingers clenched around his throat.

"I've escaped death before, and now this? I'm being strangled, facing death again!" Raze thought. "If I were to die, I'd never choose something this painful! I won't die again!"

He saw his attacker: a man draped in black garments, his face obscured, leaving only his eyes visible, reminiscent of a ninja.

Struggling, Raze pressed his hands against the man's stomach.

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"Let's see how you like having your insides torn out!"

Raze pushed, but nothing happened. No explosion, no reaction from his assailant, who kept tightening the grip on Raze's neck.

"Did I deplete all my magic using that spell? Damn it... I really am going to die..."

Darkness encroached on his vision, and he felt consciousness slipping away. Yet, he sensed the man's strength waning for some reason.

"Did part of my spell take effect? This is my chance."

Catching sight of a broken shard of a plate from the corner of his eye, he grabbed it, thrusting it into the man's side. The man grunted, his grip weakening.

Blood dripped from where the shard had also cut Raze's hand, but adrenaline numbed the pain. He pulled out the shard, stabbing repeatedly until the man's strength failed entirely, and he collapsed atop Raze.

"I can breathe!" Raze gasped, but the weight on his chest felt oppressive. He waited for strength to return before shoving the man aside and painstakingly getting to his feet.

Exhausted, Raze huffed and panted, feeling as if he might collapse. After a few moments, the pain faded, and he surveyed his surroundings.

The motionless man in black bore injuries other than Raze's inflicted wounds. Raze had seen enough dead bodies to know this man was truly gone.

"Arghh!" A sharp pain struck his head, memories pouring in, clearer this time. Examining his hands, the smooth skin told a story. They were smooth, his hands were responsive as he opened and closed them.

"The spell... it actually worked. I've been reborn!"

Judging by appearances, he seemed to inhabit a young body. That of a teenager or a young man at least. It was hard to tell without looking at himself in a mirror. "I had my doubts about that book, but it worked!" Raze mused. "Thankfully, I'm young. Who knows how it would've been if I'd ended up old again? Or in the body of a bed ridden man!"

His joy was tempered by the grim reality around him. His first experience in this new body had been a brush with death, hardly auspicious.

Scanning the room, Raze attempted to piece together events. The modest room had water-damaged floorboards and moldy walls. Crude wooden utensils and half-eaten food hinted at a bygone era. Feeling as if he had stepped back in time.

"They were in the middle of a meal," Raze noted.

By "they," he meant the three other bodies: an adult male, a female, and a teenage boy, each bearing fatal wounds. The memories suggested they were his new body's family. A pang of sorrow surfaced, though Raze tried to suppress it.

"They were murdered, likely by the man who tried to kill me. But why?"

His new memories were fragmented. He remembered family names, which seemed pointless, but not their lives or experiences. However, he remembered his name: Raze.

"Maybe it's coincidence this body's named Raze," he pondered. "Or perhaps the spell ensured it. Regardless, I've succeeded."

Raising a fist, he tried to channel magic. His eyes were staring hard, he was focusing, and focusing, The veins were popping at the side of his head, but there was nothing. Leaving him to delve deep within himself. After a few moments, it started to click.

'Now it makes sense, why my spell faltered earlier,' Raze mused. 'It's because this boy doesn't possess a mana core. And that means he hasn't chosen an attribute either!'

At first, Raze had been disheartened. Inhabiting a person's body with no mana core meant that he was devoid of magic, and he'd have to embark on the long hard journey from scratch. The painstaking years he invested to ascend as a 9-star mage seemed to evaporate in the blink of an eye. It was as if he was reset to square one.

Yet, as he delved deeper into the implications, he realized it could be a blessing. Had he inhabited a body with a pre-existing mana core, that individual would undoubtedly have an innate magic attribute.

In his former life, Raze had a natural predisposition towards wind magic, making him adept at harnessing its spells. But as the sands of time flowed, he gravitated towards the Dark Attribute. It was an arcane form of magic, pursued by few mages. He became an enigma as the only 9-star mage who exclusively delved into Dark magic, earning him a name whispered in both reverence and fear, the Dark Magus.

His inborn inclination towards Wind magic, however, ensured that his proficiency in Dark magic would always remain somewhat lacking. But now, with this clean slate, he could amend past shortcomings.

His gaze settled on the lifeless body adjacent to him. Grinning ear to ear, Raze settled into a meditative posture on the cold ground. Using the blood oozing from a wound on his palm, he meticulously sketched a magical circle around him.

'For eons, it was believed that one's affinity for attributes was merely a capricious act of fate. Upon a mage crafting their core - the bedrock of all magic - the core would shimmer in a colour based on one's magical affinity.'

'Yet, as history unfolded, it was discovered that certain acts could steer the formation of the mana core. As long as it hadn't been made. Consuming spicy dishes could kindle fire, while a perilous fall from a great height might awaken wind magic. But for the enigmatic Dark Attribute, the path to a jet-black mana core was paved with a most sinister act...murder.'

"HAHAHA!" Raze's laughter, unhinged and manic, reverberated through the air. "Is this fate's own design? It's as though the cosmos itself is directing my path!"

With the final touch to his magical circle, Raze's concentration deepened. The ambient energy seemed to dance, twirling and wrapping itself around him, gradually getting absorbed.

He felt minuscule orbs of power wriggling within, converging near his heart - the cradle for a mage's mana core. The energy coalesced, condensing into a potent sphere.

After what felt like hours, the process reached its crescendo. Nested within Raze was a deep-black mana core, enveloping his heart.

His eyes snapped open, gleaming with triumph.

"The Dark Magus, has returned."

The smirk on Raze's face was irrepressible. The prospect of beginning a new life with the dark attribute meant he could grow stronger as a Dark mage, reaching heights previously unimaginable.

A mystic energy, a blend of dark purples, blues, and blacks, began to swirl around his finger. It was thick, almost like paint, yet fluid as parts of it moved and disappeared.

Raze extended his finger and pointed it at one of the plates on the table. "Dark pulse!" he exclaimed. The energy dispersed and shot out like a small beam, hitting the plate and shattering it into pieces.

Using just one spell made his head throb slightly. Dark magic was powerful and destructive but consumed large amounts of mana compared to other attributes.

Now that his body physically possessed a dark core, he would need to strengthen other attributes through magical items, crystals, herbs, and so on. It was possible for mages to learn every attribute, but depending on their core, some would be more difficult to master than others.

For instance, Raze would find it challenging to increase his strength in the light attribute since it opposed his dark core, but it wasn't impossible. Raze tended to perceive things more like a game to simplify his understanding.

If it was like a game, having a dark core granted a person 10 points in the Darkness attribute to start with. This could be increased through certain techniques or items that enhanced that particular attribute. Due to his dark core, Raze's body could easily absorb items, adding to his points.

Items related to the light attribute could still be absorbed, but he would need to absorb ten times the amount of energy to see a single point increase. Other attributes would be easier to enhance, just not as easy as the Dark attribute.

Moreover, no other attribute could now surpass his Dark core, as it was the foundation of his body.

Eventually, the headache subsided, but it posed a serious problem.

'I'm only a one-star mage right now,' Raze thought. 'My mana is limited. Since I only have the dark attribute, I can only use one-star dark spells, which consume a lot of mana. It would be wise to learn another attribute quickly that doesn't consume much mana, perhaps wind?'

Mages were ranked based on the amount of mana in their cores, ranging from one-star to nine-star mages. Raze had been a nine-star mage in his past body.

However, being a higher-star mage didn't merely mean having more mana. It also enabled the performance of higher-level skills, but that wasn't everything in a battle, especially if one had a large arsenal of spells and different attributes.

Many of Raze's early battles with mages were won because many underestimated the strength of dark magic.

Rubbing his hands together, he couldn't contain his smile any longer and burst into laughter.

'Haha, but I won't be a one-star mage for long! I wasn't entirely sure the spell would work, but just in case, I stored all my items, herbs, and crystals in a secret vault! All I need to do is access it, and I'll be back to being a nine-star mage in no time.'

Raze was already envisioning his new life-a life where he wasn't a criminal, wasn't pursued by the Grand mages, and could grow stronger even more rapidly than before. With all the experiments he had conducted and the experience he had gained over the years, he would excel faster than any other mage, be hailed as a genius in this new life, and, when the time was right, exact his revenge.

Suddenly, heavy knocks echoed at the front door, almost pounding it down.

"Open up!" a deep voice bellowed from the other side. The voice sounded slightly strange to Raze, as if it had a strong accent and a twang, but he could still understand the words clearly. "This is the Red Brigade! We received reports of screams coming from this house. If you don't open up, we will force this door down!"

'Red Brigade?' Raze pondered, struggling to recall any group by that name. It sounded like a guild. He was in a new body and didn't know all the Mage guilds' names, so he had to be cautious.

'If they discover I've been practising Dark magic, I'll be reported immediately!' Raze realised. Another reason he was hunted down was that Dark magic was a prohibited attribute to learn.

The banging on the door continued, and they could no longer wait. The door exploded open, crashing into the side of the house and breaking off its hinge. Five men in red armour burst through the door.

Raze raised his hands, eyeing the men warily.

'Hopefully, they don't think I'm the killer. Although being the only one alive isn't a good sign. I wonder what level these mages are at.'

However, as the men came in, Raze realised something was extremely strange. For one, they were wearing armour, not light clothing by any means. Their bodies were all well built as well.

Strangely, some of them had swords by their side as well as a host of other melee weapons.

'Could the Red Brigade be a magic weapon's guild? If that's the case, this could become extremely difficult.'

The men who had come in forcefully soon spread around as they looked at the scene, and a lot of the emotion had left their bodies as they looked at the dead bodies around.

"What happened here..." one of the men said. "Was it an assassination? Who would go after a family with no name?"

Raze could hear the others speaking but he couldn't understand it. What did they mean by no name? He had a name; the person he had taken over had a name, it was Raze.

'Wait a moment, wait, why can I only remember his first name... does this mean I have no family name, but everyone has a family name? And these people, they are definitely my family.'

One of the younger members had entered through the front door, and he immediately covered his mouth as he looked at the bloody sight, but his eyes soon laid on Raze.

"Raze!" the young member called out. "What happened to you... your hair?"

'My hair... What's wrong with my hair? Why would someone comment about my hair? Well, at least it looks like this person knows who I am. I don't think acting calm is good in this situation either.' 𝑂𝒱𝓵xt.𝗇𝓔t

Seeing as someone knew him, it looked like this situation would be cleared up with a bit of acting, so Raze fell to his knees and placed his hands on the top of his head while looking at the floor.

"My family, they're all... they're all... dead!" Raze said.

"Raze," the man said in a soft voice.

"Sonny," the oldest member of the Red Brigade with a thick moustache on his mouth, the leader of the group shouted. The young man who had just entered looked up upon hearing his name.

"Take the boy out of here, make sure he gets looked after. We will see what we can find here. For now, he should get some rest."

"Yes, sir!" Sonny said, rushing over and went to pick up Raze, but before he could, Raze stood up on his own two feet and shook his hand in the air gesturing to the other there was no need.

"It's okay, I can walk myself," Raze said, as he followed Sonny out of the building. When he went outside, the bright light of the sun hit him, blinding him for a few moments, and soon he could see where he was.

'Wait a second, what is all this? Nothing on the ground but just the dirt. Houses that are crudely built right next to each other... and there are no skyscrapers, heck, I can't see any lights, and why are there so many mountains off in the distance?'

The people were all dressed strangely with many carrying around weapons. They looked ordinary, no special crystals embedded into them, and there was one more thing that was noticeable just looking everywhere; there wasn't a single person using magic anywhere.

'Wait a second... is this... is this... another world!'