Greatest Legacy of the Magus Universe

It took several hours for Party B to traverse the outer layer of the secret plane that consisted of only the bloody marshes.

The further they went, the darker their expressions became—except for Merlin, who was constantly smiling and laughing without a care in the world.

They had come across over two dozen bloody beasts of the Mana Liquefaction Rank, and countless more bloody beasts of the Mana Foundation Rank.

Merlin's claim of someone having tampered with the secret plane made more and more sense with each step they took.

Mana Liquefaction-level beasts were not supposed to be present in the outskirts of the secret plane at all. They were supposed to be clustered towards the center.

Something had terribly gone wrong for such creatures to be located at the peripheries. Moreover, the deeper they went, the number of these creatures increased steeply.

Although none of the party members had suffered any injuries, their mana reserves had significantly depleted from exterminating these monsters for hours on end.

They had to constantly battle these abhorrent creatures, and only then were they able to make it out of the bloody marsh.

Not even half a day had passed. Furthermore, they had to remain within the secret plane for more than six more days.

If things were already looking bad, they couldn't help but wonder just what lay ahead.

Just what awaited them at the center of the secret plane?

Leaving the bloody marsh, the group arrived before a vast plain. The sky was still the same gray, and the ground beneath was crimson as ever.

But the terrain had changed.

Instead of the marshes, what greeted the Magi's eyes was a vast crimson plain where the grass seemed brittle and had red veins etched on its blades.

The grass stood tall, rising to about waist height on an average human. Scattered across the crimson plane were stone towers that reached towards the sky, as if holding the mystical ceiling of the secret plane.

Despite leaving the monster-infested, bloody marshes behind them, the group of Magi didn't look happy.

There was something about the crimson grass blades that disrupted their senses, making it impossible to scan the underbrush.

Earlier, at least they were able to see their enemies and fight accordingly. But now, with the red grass obscuring their view—and dulling their other senses—they couldn't even tell if they were about to walk straight into the path of a blood beast.

Of all fears, none loomed larger than the fear of the unknown.

Ironically, Magi were cursed to chase knowledge of the unknown, drawn to the very mysteries that defied their understanding.

For now, it seemed that they could only find respite if they climbed one of the countless stone towers.

But to reach the nearest stone tower also required them to traverse several minutes through the crimson grass.

Eleiney, standing at the forefront of the group, had a slightly pale look on her face. Her mana reserves were running dangerously low.

She couldn't help but begin to feel nervous. Nothing had gone according to plan since the beginning. But despite that… they somehow seemed to have made it out of the bloody marsh.

And all of this could be attributed to one person and one person only.

She turned towards the coppery-red-haired youth. Merlin had saved them on more than one occasion. Moreover, he had also been the one to hunt down most of the blood beasts.

But despite all of that, he still seemed perfectly normal, as if he were taking a leisurely stroll through his own backyard.

While the rest were exhausted and running low on mana, Merlin looked as fine as one could possibly be. In fact, he looked the same as he did before entering the secret plane. He hadn't even broken a sweat.

And there was another thing she realized about him. Something that made her shudder…

She lingered for several moments, then asked in a solemn voice, "Merlin… do you see anything?"

Merlin was, as usual, foolishly smiling. He turned to look at the sky, his gaze distant. "Yes, I see it."

"What is it?" Eleiney pressed, her hands involuntarily clenching into fists.

The others, too, turned towards him, hoping there were no Mana Liquefaction-level beasts in their way to the nearest stone column.

"I see the grey sky," Merlin began. "It reminds me of my lover. Emotionally distant. Full of gas. Ocassionally drops things without warning. One time, she screamed at a goose for looking too judgmental. Oh, I miss her when it rains… or when I smell potatoes."

Everyone was dumbstruck.

No matter how many times they witnessed Merlin fooling around, they just couldn't get used to it!

Eleiney's lips twitched. She suppressed the frustration in her voice and spoke with a forced smile. "Merlin, do you see anything in the grass? I mean, do you sense any threats?"

"Oh." Merlin awkwardly scratched the back of his head, then laughed out loud. "Fafafa, you should have been more specific."

He then turned towards the nearest stone pillar, pretending to see through the crimson grass with squinted eyes.

In truth, however, he had long since activated his Sphere of Resonance and sensed the potential danger. Needless to say… there were a lot of them.

"Yeah, I see them," Merlin said with the same smile on his face. "Hmm, let's see. One, two, three, four… ten. Right, ten Mana Liquefaction-level blood beasts waiting in ambush."

Everyone's heart immediately sank. But what Adam said next caused their hearts to be gripped by terror.

"…Each of them leading about ten Mana Foundation-level blood beasts," Merlin added with a happy smile. "So, all in all, we're looking at about one hundred blood beasts who can't wait to eat us. They must be thinking we're so clueless about them. Fafafa!"

He abruptly stopped laughing and put on a thoughtful expression. "But since they haven't attacked us yet, they probably can't leave the crimson grass. Hmm, maybe they're restricted to that specific layer of the secret plane? Eh, whatever, we should be fine if we just stay put, I suppose…"

Then, his lips curled into a cruel smile. "But I can't guarantee if the blood beasts behind us are going to attack us or not. I can already sense quite a lot of them making their way toward us."

Turning to Eleiney, he arched his eyebrows and asked, "So, young lady, what will your decision be?"

The young woman had an extremely conflicting look on her face. She looked at all the other party members, then finally at Merlin.

"Can you clear a way through?" she asked solemnly.

Merlin grinned from ear to ear. "Thought you'd never ask."

Then, without hesitating for another moment, he conjured several cards in his hands and stepped into the crimson grasslands.

His pale blue eyes gleamed with murderous light as he launched into a wanton slaughter, laughing like a madman all the while.

In but a split second, the silence of the red plains was shattered. Miserable shrieks tore through the air as cards whipped through a whirlwind of blood.

And that was the other thing that Eleiney realized about him.

That Merlin… he was an utterly sadistic bastard.