The last traces of life drained from Gizin's eyes. His chest no longer rose. His heartbeat had faded into nothing. Raze held his gaze for a long moment, confirming there truly was no spark left inside the Grand Magus who had tormented him for so long.

One more was gone.

He lowered his hand slowly, releasing a quiet breath through his nose. Yet he didn't allow even the smallest piece of Gizin to remain. Raising his palm, Raze summoned Dark Magic in a thick, swirling wave. The shadows surged forward like a living tide, shrouding Gizin's collapsed body until it disappeared beneath the veil.

Dark Magic devoured anything it enveloped, and here it worked ruthlessly, breaking down flesh, bone, energy, every last particle of the Grand Magus, until not even dust remained.

Something so cruel and destructive didn't deserve a grave.

"Something that evil… so twisted that it tore my life apart," Raze murmured. "I don't want a single fragment left behind. No one should even have the chance to say goodbye."

He meant every word. Absent any physical body, it was as if Gizin had never existed. No monument. No remains. No legacy except the ruin he had caused, and the Dark Magus who had finally ended him.

As the shadows receded, Raze exhaled and felt something unexpected stirring in his core. His Dark Affinity was rising at an impressive rate. Not because Gizin had possessed any Dark affinity himself, he hadn't, but because of the sheer power he once held. The stronger the being Raze eliminated, the greater the amount of Dark affinity that crystallized into his own magic.

Gizin may have been hollow at the end, but the residue of his strength still echoed in the world, and Raze absorbed it without hesitation.

Yet even as the new affinity settled inside him, Raze found his mind drifting back to the words Gizin had spoken in his last breaths. They clung to him stubbornly, impossible to dismiss.

"The savior of Alterian… what did you mean by that?" Raze whispered. "Save Alterian from what? The Dark Guild? No. None of you ever took them seriously enough for that."

He replayed every conversation he'd ever had with the Grand Magus. Every threat. Every cryptic comment.

It wasn't the first time he had heard them imply something greater, something beyond their own power struggles.

But Gizin's dying words had carried weight, not arrogance.

"It didn't sound like fear of the Dark Guild. And it wasn't fear of me either," Raze reasoned quietly. "If that was the case, they would have acted differently after my disappearance."

He began to pace slowly, his sword dimming as the runes faded.

"Their entry into Pagna wasn't just to gather artifacts and crystals. That was part of it, sure… but that wasn't the real purpose. It wasn't about resources. Alterian never had a shortage of crystals."

He frowned deeper, piecing it together.

"It was more like they were preparing. Building up power. All of them were strengthening themselves long after I vanished."

Raze paused, narrowing his eyes.

"If they weren't afraid of me, and not concerned about the Dark Guild… then what else could drive them to behave like that?"

No answer came to mind. And in truth, he only half cared.

Whatever their intentions were, whatever unseen threat they believed in, Raze wasn't interested in saving Alterian. His only concern was ending the Grand Magus entirely. Whatever future catastrophe they feared, he would eliminate the remaining two long before they could act on their mysterious plans.

"Whatever they were after… it doesn't matter," Raze said, letting the thought go. "There are only two left. I'll handle them before they accomplish anything."

He turned his head slightly, glancing across the battlefield and toward the direction where the Dark Guild's presence had dwindled. His senses extended outward, yet there was no hint of another Grand Magus anywhere.

He then shifted his gaze the opposite way.

His fingers tingled.

His skin prickled.

Something powerful was happening, and it was coming from the direction of the Shelters.

"What is that?" he muttered. "That's definitely the Shelter direction. But what's causing so much Dark Magic?"

He prepared to take off, but his eyes drifted toward Safa. She sat on the ground, her posture calm but her entire body enveloped by swirling waves of energy. Divine Qi radiated from her like sunlight caught in a storm. Light magic pulsed beneath her ribs, sharp and vibrant. Her own Qi spiraled around those forces, intertwining, blending, fighting, stabilizing.

She wasn't simply recovering, she was cultivating at a speed that bordered on the impossible.

"The others should be there," Raze told himself. "They can handle whatever's happening. The truly dangerous enemy was Gizin. And it's not another Grand Magus, I know that much."

Still, the surge of Dark Magic made him uneasy. Something was terribly wrong.

But even then, even with danger in the distance, he did not leave.

"I have to stay and protect you," Raze said quietly as he looked at Safa. "You've already done more for me than I ever expected."

He took a step closer, maintaining a perimeter while she cultivated. Suddenly a shockwave of Qi burst outward. It hit him like a physical blow, strong enough to make him brace his feet against the cracked stone beneath him. The ground scraped as he slid back a short distance.

A second pulse followed, stronger than the first. Raze raised an arm to shield his face.

'What is this? This isn't normal. Is she alright?' Raze thought, his heartbeat quickening.

For a moment he suspected it might be a breakthrough. But then he shook his head.

No, if it were a breakthrough, the pressure he felt would be mana, not Qi.

This was something else entirely.

His eyes widened.

"No… this is more than a breakthrough," he realized. "She was already at the peak of the Middle Stage after absorbing Stoney's Divine Qi. That alone was enough to push her beyond what most people could handle."

He took another step back as another pulse of energy rolled outward.

"With this much new Divine Qi… Safa isn't just advancing a stage. She's pushing past the limit entirely."

The shock settled into his bones.

"She's reaching the Divine Stage," Raze whispered, unable to hide his astonishment.

****

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