Dark Magus Returns

An instant sick feeling had entered the stomach of Alba after hearing that name. She was sure that the other two felt the same as well, and because of it she couldn't help but ask a question.

"Why has Sha Mo been selected for this, out of all the other options?" Alba said with a fake smile.

She didn't want to offend too much, especially with members of the Behemoth Clan being here; she had even looked over her shoulder to see if Sha Mo was around.

"I am happy to explain," Xank said with a gentle bow. "Firstly, I should explain why Lince had taken the position. With the recent portal outbreak and allowing the Flesh Clan to go past to attack the Dark Faction, Lince believes it's his responsibility to go over."

"It is a chance for him to prove himself while also mending any bad relations that had been caused with the Dark Faction."

"Although we have heard that the old Lethal Bite Clan leader is no more, it is unlikely we will meet him, since it was a request of Lince we decided to accept."

"As for Yunro, of the Splitting Fang clan, he seems to have incurred some injuries of some sort. He stated that he wouldn't be in the best condition to protect those that he needed to if it was the case."

"Because of that, it left us with two options, either Belil, or Sha Mo. In the end, Belil declined the option of him going instantly, and when we told him that the only option was Sha Mo, he still gave his okay."

The look on Alba's face had dropped when hearing the conversation. Did Belil really not care about the Dark Magus or the Crimson Crane at all?

He should know based on their recent history, what danger it would be for them to go along with the Clan head.

"I can guess what you are thinking, but because Belil has given his blessing, you do not have to worry about Sha Mo, he knows where he stands with all of this."

Regardless of Xank's comments, Alba still wasn't happy with what had occurred. Things just never seemed to be easy for them.

With that explanation over, Xank walked them over to introduce them to the rest of the participants, holding out his hand as he called them one by one.

"First, I should introduce you to Kaylie from the Seeno Clan," Xank said. "She is from one of the mountain clans; they have unorthodox skills that have impressed in the academy!"

Raze gave a slight nod to Seeno. She had small scratches over her face, and half of a wooden mask with claw marks covering her face.

"Is this allowed?" Seeno asked. "I never saw this student at the academy…"

"Jake here is from the recently joined Crimson Crane; he has bested Pritter from the Necroshade Clan in a duel to earn his position today," Xank explained. Jake was the fake name that they had used, rather than Raze or the Dark Magus.

"He clearly has the strength to be part of your students and he is the same age as the rest of you. His registration was pushed through by all four of the great clans."

Saying these words, none of the other students were going to argue with the fact. Especially since he had beaten Pritter. They knew Pritter's strength well.

News of his defeat wasn't widespread because it was an action that no one had been expecting and only half a day had passed.

"From the Lost Clan, we have Beret!" Xank said.

"Umm, nice to meet you...I'm from the Lost Clan," Beret answered in a quiet voice that was hard to hear; he even moved his body facing away from Raze.

Yet for some reason, Raze felt like if he was to get closer he might strike. Maybe because this person felt quite similar to Raze in a lot of ways.

Xank also seemed to get a strange feeling from this student so he didn't linger on him for long and moved onto the next student.

"This here is Brack, from the Behemoth Clan."

When Raze went to look at the student, he had immediately turned his head away. Although young like the others, his facial features made him look older due to the full thick black beard he had under his chin.

Just like many of those that were strong and came from a Behemoth Clan, he was well-built and taller than the other students, but his body was clearly mostly muscular.

"We perhaps should move on from that," Xank said as he went to move onto the final student.

"Here is quite the infamous student, known as the strongest in the DemonicFaction Pagna academy, and even claimed to be the strongest in many generations, you might know him as the Black Tiger, Mantis."

Raze looked at Mantis, and he was standing there in the same way as he was the last time. Although wearing the same cloth as before, the upper part of his uniform, half of it was dragged off revealing a side of his body.

A large claw mark could be seen peeking out of his chest giving him his nickname.

Mantis was also a student that Raze had met before when he had come to Repton with the others. He had returned to find that Mantis was close to finishing off Simyon that day and the rest of his friends.

Raze had managed to gauge his power somewhat. He was immensely strong. Based on his talent he had the potential to grow even further.

Whether or not he was at the same level as Raze, he found that hard to believe because Raze had many outside factors helping him, but looking at the Black Tiger, his eyes had strong confidence in them.

'From the looks of things, he doesn't seem to remember me. I guess facially during this time I have changed a bit, and with my black hair, people aren't fully putting two and two together.'

"With the introductions done, I have to remind you all, that these people by your side for the most part of the tournament, are not your enemies, but they are your allies.

"You will need to work together! One of the reasons for our losses last year was because our faction is not good at working together, unlike those from the Light Faction!" Xank said.

"That won't matter." A loud booming voice was heard from behind.

Just the voice alone had covered everyone in sweat. Even Raze could feel a deep tingling sensation from behind him as he felt a shadow cast over him.

Turning around, he saw a large figure, big with hair covering both of his arms, and covering most of his face.

Although Raze had never seen this person before, he knew immediately who he was.

'So this is Sha Mo, the leader of the Behemoth Clan that has been giving me so much trouble.'

Sha Mo slowly tilted his head down to look at the contestants until his eyes started to linger on Raze. On the day of his wedding ceremony, he was wearing a mask covering his face and so far no one had recognized him.

"So you're the reason why my Pillars fell," Sha Mo said, with not even a slight raise of his cheek. His eyes were filled with anger.