Greatest Legacy of the Magus Universe

Chapter 1951 Far More Sinister

The crimson light eventually receded.

As the sun slowly rose above the horizon and a gloomy morning dawned, Carou had long since left the city.

With its exceptional speed, it crossed vast distances as it leapt from one branch to another.

The woods of the secret plane were ancient. They were humongous, and their trunks and branches equally big. So hopping across the branches was more than doable.

Besides, the underbrush was always teeming with beasts and other obstacles. If one wanted to travel quickly through the forest, the branches were the way to go.

As it continued to travel east, it couldnʼt help but wonder about the whereabouts of the human with the Brand.

King Jacob de Vile had been oddly interested in that human. And so, he had sent it to investigate.

Carou disliked returning empty-handed.

Neither the traitor of the City Hall nor the zealot werewolf knew about the humanʼs whereabouts.

In the first place, how did this human manage to conceal the Brand? It couldnʼt help but wonder.

By all means, when the human entered His Majestyʼs kingdom, he should have been besieged by monsters at every turn in the Lands of Always War.

Yet the Brand only flared to life in the city. How odd.

Carou gracefully stepped on a thick branch and propelled itself forward.

The werewolf seemed obsessed with his human.

And why did the Puppeteer say the humanʼs hand disappeared?

How can a severed hand disappear from its grasp just like that?

What kind of magic is this!

Everything seemed so strange.

When Carou had arrived in the city, it had thought everything would be smooth sailing, and that it would return to the castle with the human with the Brand as well as the maidens.

It had already failed one of the missions assigned by the vampire king.

It could not afford to fail the other.

That girl from the City Hall will be taken in ten days, it thought.

As for the rest…

Its lips curled into a twisted grin.

Those pathetic humans.

How naive!

Just like how adventurers occupied a stretch of land on this side of the Lamiyan Mountains, to the east, a few human settlements lay beyond the mountain range.

Unlike the adventurers who had arrived from outside the secret plane, however, these humans were utterly helpless.

No. They were little more than cattle, bred for the kingʼs amusement.

Well, not just for amusement. They served two other purposes.

The first was to ensure that the vampireʼs supply of blood never ran dry.

The second…

The second was far more sinister.

Just a little more, Carou thought.

His Majestyʼs long-awaited desire would soon be fulfilled!

***

A few days later.

Adam and Luca found themselves at a small clearing in the woods.

All around them, the corpses of monsters were scattered in a bloody mess. Most of the corpses belonged to wolves, while others were large feline beasts and boars.

”You sure know your way around here,” Adam murmured as he swiped his hands, getting rid of the blood.

Luca looked at him strangely. ”And I thought you were a Magus.”

”I am,” Adam said, plopping down on one of the corpses and catching his breath.

His health had deteriorated worse than he had imagined. He was quickly getting tired from just a few rounds of battle. He didnʼt think the torture would have affected him this much.

He clenched and unclenched his hands several times, thinking to himself:

I believe a full month of recovery should do.

That is, if I donʼt further endanger my life.

The last thought brought a smile to his face.

Meanwhile, Luca continued to study him intently. ”But youʼre also a Paladin,” he said.

He never thought that this frail-looking young man would actually be someone who embarked on both paths. Either Adam was overconfident or a madman.

Definitely a madman, Luca mused.

”Yeah, what about it?” Adam shrugged.

”…Nothing.” The Lone Wolf shook his head.

”My brother is a super genius! Believe it!”

Valerian suddenly chimed in, looking up from the half-eaten corpse of a boar, his face stained by the blood of his prey.

Adam chuckled in amusement. ”Donʼt go too far, Val.”

Valerian grunted in response, then resumed tearing into the boarʼs flesh with great relish. It was a little barbaric, but somehow, raw meat tasted much better than the roasted and seasoned meals he was used to.

Luca found the strange cat amusing and cute. He was a good companion. Shifting his attention back to Adam, he couldnʼt help but comment:

”Youʼre still weak, Constantine. I can clearly tell. The journey through the mountains is going to be treacherous. And the lands beyond are completely unknown to me. Who knows what kind of monsters weʼll face. Are you sure youʼre up for this?”

Adam did not reply immediately. He knew he had to be in peak condition. At the moment, he possessed little more than half of his usual strength. Although he hadnʼt been a burden so far, there was no telling what awaited them beyond the mountains. Or what they might encounter while crossing them.

”Youʼre right,” he replied with a nod. ”How long until we reach the base of the mountains?”

”About two weeks,” Luca answered, ”provided we donʼt run into any major trouble.”

He paused for a moment, then said, ”But I know the locations of all the rank 2 monsters on this side of the mountain. As long as we avoid their territory, weʼre good.”

”Very well, then,” Adam said. ”I only need about a month to fully recover my strength.”

”Thatʼs all right.” Luca nodded in approval.

He was pleased that Adam wasnʼt the sort of man who let pride speak for him. And so far, from what he had observed, Adam would prove to be very vital to escape this secret plane.

”Anyway, this is still just a scouting mission, yes?” Adam asked.

”Of course.” Luca nodded. ”Weʼll need more than just the two of us to leave this plane.”

Adam nodded lightly. He wanted to take Genevieve and Michael with him. If possible, he would save the others in the City Hall as well, though they werenʼt his priority. He wouldnʼt go out of his way for strangers.

He opened his mouth to speak, but his eyes suddenly widened.

”Val, get in!” he hissed.

A flash of grey light streaked through the air as Valerian returned into Adamʼs spirit sea.

Luca immediately sensed that something was wrong. He had never seen Adam react like this before.

”Whatʼs the—”

Even before he could finish his question, the answer revealed itself.

”Well, well, well.” An amused voice drifted from the edge of the clearing. ”Who do we have here?”

Adam and Luca instantly got combat-ready and snapped their heads toward the speaker.

And there they saw a humanoid monster…

With the head of a goat.