The peak of the initial stage meant that Beatrix was a Pagna warrior at the 6th rank. Although Rank 1 to 6 warriors were all considered the initial stage, there was a large difference between one and the other.
Each rank was a breakthrough in power, martial arts, and overall body structure as well. If one was a stage higher, they should never lose to a stage below. Although there were cases where that happened, it would be an embarrassing moment for the Pagna warrior.
Being at the 6th rank meant they were on the cusp of going from the initial stage to the middle stage. These stages were where the bottlenecks were for most. Only a few in the world would be able to break out of the initial stage.
Which was why, Beatrix being at the 6th rank, was practically one of the strongest fighters in existence. She could take out an entire squadron and small clans if she wanted to. So then how did someone who had used the basic two-step shift, a martial arts move that didn't even belong to any clan, survive her strike that was embedded with Qi?
"How did you survive!" Beatrix asked, with her sword pointed at Raze once again.
The same thought was running through Dame's head.
'When he came flying through the building from before, was that an attack from Beatrix? If he's still alive, then doesn't he have something that has the same power as a Pagna warrior at the peak of the initial stage? I thought he was... never mind.'
Beatrix's eyes soon landed on the others, as she spotted the color of the uniforms the others were wearing.
"You know that this is a Prohibited Area, no one is allowed in here without the permission of the Dawnblade clan. We have the rights to this portal. State where you are from?" She asked.
Raze had seen this before; he had just been through it himself moments ago, and any second now, he was sure she would attack.
"Ha!" Dame smiled, as his men moved to his side, while the injured man remained at the back. His wound had only just been wrapped up, but it would be difficult for him to fight.
"Why are you asking questions you already know the answer to?" Dame said.
"Then I shall get rid of you!" Beatrix shouted, as she charged forward once again with her sword glowing with power.
Dame widened his stance, and so did the three next to him. Energy was building up from within. All six of their hands swung out, hitting the sword, causing sparks of energy to fly. The whole building was shaking, and part of the floor was already falling apart.
"I hate it when I'm right," Raze said to himself, but he was quite amazed. He could see that Dame and his men were able to handle the strike from the swordsman, which meant he wasn't so weak himself.
Whoever was watching this, Raze knew one thing: if he was to get into a fight with any of them, even the men by Dame's side, Raze would be no match for them. The strength that was being used right now was close to that of 4-star magic.
"Get out of here Dark Magus!" Dame shouted, looking back, sweat running down his face. "I'll survive; you don't have to worry about me, just remember our deal!"
The ground underneath Dame's feet started to break, and eventually, all three of them fell. Not letting up, Beatrix had followed the two of them down below, and several clashes, loud bangs, and vibrations were felt.
Raze could now only imagine what was going on below, but this was his only chance to get out of here.
Going to the edge, there were parts of the building that had crumbled and were leaning up against the outside of the building. It had made a type of walkway that one could jump and run across, making it to the bottom floor.
Reaching the bottom floor, Raze started to run. He had no intention of watching the fight and finding out the outcome. He had already escaped death once, perhaps twice with this new body, so he wasn't going to stick around.
Seeing the staircase up ahead, he knew he was on the right path, but something had caught his eye.
'Holy Sh*t!' Raze was standing in a field full of dead beasts. There were around eight of the same dog creatures that Raze had faced.
All of them had a clean cut on their body, having been slashed in half, head decapitated. It was clear that they had all been killed in one strike.
"Was all of this the work of that swordsman from before... wait a second, she didn't come in that long after attacking me and from the looks of it," Raze rushed over and immediately started to dig into the beast's body.
He rummaged around until pulling out a bloody crystal and holding it up to the light.
"She didn't take the crystals out. This is great! I was worried that going into this portal would have been a waste if I had just returned with one crystal, but now!"
Not wasting time, Raze quickly went through each of the dogs. From the loud explosions he could hear behind him, the two groups were still fighting against each other. Would there ever be a chance like this for him again?
After gathering all eight of the crystals, Raze now had a total of 9 in his possession. He couldn't use them here, so it was time for him to head back. Huffing and panting, he ran down the stairs, across the cobblestone pathway, and looking around, he could see the landmarks from before.
Quickly, while peeking over his shoulder, he started to redraw the magic circle. There was enough dirt on the ground for it to work.
'The sound of the fighting has stopped; does that mean one of them won? If anything, it means I need to hurry this up.' Raze thought.
Finally, the magic circle had been completed, and he activated it, igniting it with a part of his magic. The portal opened up right in front of him, and he looked back one more time.
"You said we would meet again, but I'm not too sure about that. I guess we'll have to see." Raze said, as he stepped through the portal, his whole body disappearing with it, the portal sealing up behind him.
——
A short while later, Beatrix landed back on the lower platform outside. She had a large frown on her face and some of her clothes were torn.
"Those dirty bastards!" Beatrix exclaimed. "I can't believe they would use such a cheap method to get away. I shouldn't have expected anything less from those guys."
She soon let out a big sigh, trying not to let it get to her.
'At least I can go collect those crystals and earn some coin while I'm here. It's the only thing that will have made this trip worthwhile.'
Reaching the area from before, she stopped dead in her tracks as she looked at the scene. The bodies of the dead creatures didn't look the same as she remembered. Rushing over to one, there was no need for her to inspect it further.
'Someone took the crystals… someone took my crystals!' Beatrix's face was turning red, and she was reaching a boiling point. 'It was him… it had to be that guy that escaped before. What did they call him, Dark Magus? Well, you've just added yourself to my hit list!'