Greatest Legacy of the Magus Universe

After fighting through the horde of undead creatures, Lisa, Eleiney, and the rest had finally managed to arrive at the intersection. Now, they stood guard at the entrance of the armory where Edward was advancing.

However, none of them dared to enter. That would mean interrupting Edward's advancement, and that… would have extremely dire consequences.

Earlier, the group of stone knights had helped them defeat the cultists and their undead summons. Much to the young Magi's surprise, these knights were strong enough to even take on the Mana Vortex-level cultist and slay him rather effortlessly.

After the knights were finished cleaning up this particular section of the castle, they cast a brief glance at the young Magi before heading to other parts of the castle to slay the invaders.

Eleiney, Arthur, and Aiden had finally realized the identity of these stone knights. They were the silent, watchful statues that were scattered throughout the castle. There were hundreds—if not thousands—of them! The weakest of them were equivalent to Mana Liquefaction Magi, and the strongest Mana Vortex Magi!

Just the fact that the army of stone knights was fighting by their side made them feel exceedingly optimistic about their current predicament. Defeating the cultists and their undead army didn't seem so far-fetched anymore.

These young Magi finally understood what Professor Whitaker meant when she said:

"Reinforcements were coming."

However, Lisa and the rest still found themselves in another predicament. Several minutes after the stone knights had helped them clear the undead horde, a new group consisting of hundreds of zombies and undead skeletons was already upon them.

Their only grace was that the Mana Vortex Magus controlling these undead creatures was nowhere near them. But still, fighting hundreds of these undead creatures, who, for all intents and purposes, were nigh-immortal, was a harrowing task.

Regardless, they had to persevere. Failure meant not only their death, but also Edward's, who was still inside the armory.

"Don't back down!" Lisa roared, her eyes glistening with a sense of urgency and desperation.

She had once again erected a vine barrier around the five of them. It helped protect them from the onslaught of the zombies, but at the same time, it also limited their movement. For now, they seemed to be holding on just barely.

They did not know how long they could last. Their mana reserves had depleted to dangerous levels. They also did not know how long Edward would take to finish his advancement. And thirdly, they did not know how long the undead army would keep attacking them. Until and unless their summoner was killed, these creatures would continue to mindlessly attack them.

"We can't hold for too long!" Eleiney's face had grown pale. She had been constantly injecting mana into the vine barrier to strengthen it.

"We must!" Lisa spat through gritted teeth. "I don't care how, but we must!"

I'll not let them reach Eddie, she thought to herself.

Over my dead body!

A cold light gleamed in her emerald eyes as she cast another spell, causing the vines to recklessly lash outward. In an instant, scores of undead creatures had their bodies torn by the vines. But they did not die. They continued to assault the group.

Inside the barrier, Aiden and Arthur exchanged glances. Then, a moment later, they nodded, having come to a tacit understanding.

Arthur stepped forward, brandishing his sword. "Alright, ladies, Aiden and I are going to take a stroll outside and draw these zombies' attention. That should relieve some tension on the barrier."

"No!" Eleiney immediately rejected. "That is too dangerous!"

"Hah? So what?" Arthur sneered.

Aiden stepped forward and spoke to her in a solemn tone. "El, we'll be fine. Just trust us. We're not ones to go down so easily."

Arthur raised his chin and proudly declared, "We're the Dark King's disciples. No damed zombie is going to take us down."

Then, he cast a disdainful look toward Biden and said with a taunting smirk, "And what about you? Are you going to come fight with us? Or just hide here like the coward you are?"

"Why, you!" Biden gnashed his teeth in rage.

Inwardly, he thought incredulously, He's just like that bastard! I can't stand either of them!

Aiden placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder and said seriously, "Forget it, Art. He's from the Tower, remember? Apart from Edward and Lisa, the rest of them are all cowards."

This bastard! Biden was even more furious.

"Who are you calling a coward?! I'll show you what a Magus of the Tower is capable of!" He brandished his sword as well.

Lisa cast a cold look towards them. "This is not the time to be playing around—"

"Oh, but we aren't playing around." Arthur smiled confidently, interrupting her.

Lisa deeply looked at the youth, then at Aiden, and then finally at her friend, Biden.

Damn it, she cursed.

She couldn't risk their lives—especially not Adam's students. But at the same time, having these three draw the undead's attention was in their best interest. That way, they stood a chance.

Just as she was struggling to decide on what to do, the battlefield shifted.

The ancient stone corridors of the castle that had been dry and scorched by the ravages of war suddenly grew damp. Water trickled through the cracks in the floor, rising at a steady pace.

Lisa was the first to notice, and then everyone else did. Immediately, they panicked, thinking that it was the enemy's doing.

But then… they heard a familiar voice—one that they had heard recently in the First Trial of the tournament.

Through the guttural growls of the undead creatures, a haunting melody pierced through the chaos.

The song of the sirens!

As the bewitching melody pervaded the ancient corridors, the undead creatures froze in their movements. Their movements became sluggish, as if something was assaulting their already-muddled minds.

Strangely enough, the five young Magi weren't affected by the song of the sirens. They watched in astonishment as the undead creatures became slow in their movements.

But that was not all…

The walls of the corridors also grew damp. Then, they rippled. Then… the five young Magi's eyes widened.

Familiar creatures emerged from these walls. Their upper body resembled a humanoid centaur, complete with a torso and arms, but their hands ended in crab-like pincers. Whereas their lower bodies were thick and armored with crab-like legs.

The crab-centaurs had arrived!

As soon as these creatures emerged from the walls, their eyes glowed with a murderous frenzy. Without hesitation, they dove into the horde of zombies, ripping apart anything that barred their way!

Arthur's lower jaw almost touched the wet ground. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"H-how the hell did they get here?!"