Greatest Legacy of the Magus Universe

The Battle of Ravenfell had raged since sunset.

Countless Magi on both sides had perished, and the once proud and bustling metropolis now lay in ruins.

Four and a half million people had once called this city home. Out of that, only about two million of them had been fortunate enough to be safely evacuated by Cedric Acadia through the newly formed secret tunnel that ran underneath the city.

Moreover, hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the Empire had visited the city to witness the Grand Magus Tournament. It was unknown how many of them had managed to survive the great battle, and how many of them had perished.

The city of Ravenfell was shrouded in the cold embrace of death and consumed by unrelenting flames…

Just like Old Ani had prophesied.

Fire, death, and…

Only one thing remained before her prophecy was fulfilled.

They say it's darkest just before dawn, and the worst was yet to come for the city of Ravenfell.

Though the army of the Cult of Bones lay defeated, dangers still lurked. For one, the battle between the Mana Core Magi had yet to come to a conclusion.

And more importantly… the threat of the forgotten district had yet to be resolved.

Daniel led over two dozen men across the bridge spanning the Dell River and scaled its walls. Since the founding of Ravenfell, Corvid Quarter had always been sealed off from the rest of the city by these towering walls.

The aristocracy believed that it was to keep the dwellers of the slums apart from the rest of the city. Whether out of arrogance, fear, entitlement or perhaps something else, Corvid Quarter had been walled off while none of the other districts had been.

Over the generations, many activists had cried out for those walls to be torn down, demanding that the people within be treated as part of Ravenfell, and not cast aside like shadows.

But tonight… Daniel and the rest gave silent thanks to their predecessors for keeping those walls standing. For if these walls had fallen, the horror festering within Corvid Quarter would have consumed Ravenfell!

Standing atop the towering dark wall, these men looked at the scene sprawling before them in abject terror. Never in their lives had they witnessed anything like this before. Even Daniel, who was known to be a stoic person, couldn't conceal the shock etched on his weathered face.

Raidon, who was standing beside him, couldn't stop his body from trembling. "M-my Lord," he called out, his tone laced with blatant apprehension.

"Why have the… no, what... what happened to this district?! Why have the people turned into…"

He didn't dare finish his words. He still found it impossible to believe what he was seeing. While the rest of his men and the retainers of the Ranzenberg Family were completely speechless, their beings gripped by horror.

From the beginning of the Battle of Ravenfell, the sixth and final district of the city had been quietly forgotten by its residents, or any person in the vicinity, as a matter of fact.

Strangely enough, the cultists had attacked every district except for his one. Stranger still, none of the city's forces had even thought about sending help to Corvid Quarter.

How could they?

They had already forgotten about its existence.

Everyone had forgotten… everyone except Sabrina Benton.

From the beginning, even before the Grand Magus Tournament had started, she had always thought that something strange was going on inside the Corvid Quarter.

This district, once notorious for its high crime rate and the dangers that lurked in every nook and cranny of it, had now suddenly fallen eerily quiet. Too quiet.

And that's how Sabrina knew something was wrong.

The fact that she was even remotely aware of such an insidious plot could be considered a miracle!

Perhaps it was her fierce desire to protect her home, or perhaps it was something else entirely, but the fact of the matter remained… while all others had forgotten about the Corvid Quarter, only she remembered.

And that is why she had made arrangements for it in advance. Even in death, she continued to protect her home.

Daniel's grip around the small disk in his hand ever so slightly. His eyes glistened with boundless emotions as he gazed at the dark scenery before him.

The Corvid Quarter was the Cult's final card.

It was the blade hidden in the dark, concealed from everyone's mind. Its people, forgotten and excluded, had been turned into the Cult's last and greatest weapon, meant to drive a knife straight through the heart of Ravenfell.

Over a million souls, bound in chains of death, now stirred as the Cult's undying puppets!

Standing atop the towering dark walls, Daniel and the rest of the men beheld an ocean of zombies, standing in eerie silence, all facing north, seemingly awaiting someone's command.

Daniel remained silent, unable to comprehend the gravity of the situation before him. He couldn't even begin to imagine just how long the Cult must have planned for this.

The army of zombies before him could lay waste to not just Ravenfell, but even the lands beyond!

The Counilor's eyes hardened with resolve. He knew what he had to do. He knew what Sabrina wanted to do.

Right at that moment, one of the men from the Black Legion whispered in a trembling voice, "Zombies… the entire population of the Corvid Quarter has turned into zombies!"

Raidon gritted his teeth, his eyes flickering with fear and indignation. "But how could all of them turn into zombies in such a short time? How were they even turned? Damn it all!"

It was at that moment, Daniel finally spoke:

"Many years ago, a mysterious plague swept through this district. Tens of thousands fell ill, and countless more died. In that chaos, a small gang known as the Red Fists distributed medicine to the desperate. From that day on, the people of Corvid placed their faith in them… and the Red Fists rose to become the district's unquestioned overlords."

Raidon was thunderstruck. "Red Fists?!"

Of course, as a member of the city's elite force, he knew information about most things relating to Ravenfell's security. That was why he instantly identified this gang.

"Weren't the Red Fists and the Duskfall Family executed for colluding with the Cult of Bones?!"

Daniel nodded his head ever so slightly, a grim look shadowing his face. "As you can see… the Cult has been planning this for a long, long time."

His fists clenched involuntarily, and he added, "And the medicine that the Red Fists had given to these people at the time… I believe that is what turned them into zombies."

"B-but… didn't that happen nearly a decade ago?!" Daniel was utterly shocked. "Surely, they couldn't have given medicine to all of them? No… no, it wasn't medicine at all…"

He couldn't stop his body from trembling. He was utterly horrified. He couldn't even think straight.

The population of Corvid Quarter was roughly thirty-five percent of the city's total population. So that meant, around 1.5 million people had been turned into mindless zombies!

"They didn't have to poison the entire district, just a fraction," said Daniel. "When the time was right, those few would turn… and then spread the infection until the entire district became zombies."

"A million and a half zombies…" Radion muttered in a hoarse voice. "Are they planning to turn the rest of the surviving people of the city as well?!"

"Not just our city," Daniel muttered softly, his expression turning cold. He inhaled deeply, then said in a grave voice:

"If these zombies are allowed outside of these walls, the plague won't just stop at Ravenfell… it will sweep across the entire northeastern section of Ulier Continent."

Daniel's expression turned ferocious, and he added:

"And we must not allow that to happen!"