Greatest Legacy of the Magus Universe

With Zashi’s death, the undead horde had lost their tether to the world of the living.

One by one, their bodies collapsed, returning to the silence of true death once more.

The serpents did not waste a breath.

Without hesitation, they slithered across the battlefield, coiling around the fallen corpses of the undead.

Fangs bared and eyes gleaming with gluttony, they began their gruesome feast, tearing into rotting flesh and brittle bones, consuming death as if it were life itself.

The death of the Rank 3 undead knight started a domino effect. First Zashi, then the collapse of his undead army.

Now, only one battle remained: Hayes Ballard versus the black serpent.

But even as their clash raged on, the outcome was no longer in doubt.

Even if Daryl and Kasper had no strength and mana left to aid the serpents, it no longer mattered.

The tide had turned. The end was inevitable.

Nearly a hundred Mana Liquefaction-level serpents slithered into position, forming an impenetrable perimeter, cutting off almost all possible escape routes.

And then, the gray serpent, its fangs still wet with the necromancer’s blood, turned its massive body and dashed towards the final battlefield.

It emanated a terrifying presence, rushing to join his kin in the hunt for the last enemy standing.

Noticing this, Hayes Ballard cursed under his breath, ”Damn it all!”

Before him, the black serpent stared with cold contempt, its topaz eyes gleaming like twin suns of ridicule.

Not a single scratch marred its obsidian scales.

Hayes Ballard, by contrast, was worn thin. He had already expended too much mana trying to pierce the beast’s defenses.

Every attack had been utterly futile.

Nothing worked.

Then he sensed it…

An overwhelming, crushing aura was rapidly approaching.

The gray serpent was coming!

Ballard clenched his jaw, fury and disbelief flashing in his eyes.

How did it come to this?

They had started with three Mana Vorte Rank powerhouses—himself, Zashi, and the undead knight.

Victory should have been inevitable.

And yet… one by one, they had fallen.

The knight, who had clearly held the advantage, was somehow brought down by a couple of dozen Mana Liquefaction-level serpents.

An impossibility. Until it happened.

Zashi had followed soon after, ambushed by two nearly spent enemies and finally devoured by the gray serpent.

And now, Hayes had no idea how many enemies still lingered in the shadows, lying in wait for the final blow.

He made his choice.

With a flick of his wrist, he drew ten crystal vials from within his robes. Each one glowed faintly, filled with swirling, murky gas. Slipping them between his fingers, he hurled them at the ground.

Thick smoke erupted across the battlefield, rapidly obscuring everything. Sight, scent, even mana signatures.

For a brief second, even the black serpent faltered, disoriented by the blinding haze.

Hayes didn’t waste that moment.

Eyes burning with frustration, he retreated quietly, each step slow and soundless. Ahead, he could see the silhouettes of the lower-ranked serpents, too many to count, forming a wall of writhing scales.

He couldn’t go through them.

That route was suicide.

So, he turned toward the only other option.

The narrow pass.

As he slipped into its shadowy corridor, he couldn’t help but look for her.

The crimson-haired princess.

Where is she? He wondered.

His eyes scanned every shadow, every crevice, every ledge, but she was nowehere.

Did she escape? Did the serpents take her away? Or was she with the other Mana Vortex Magus?

Damn it!

He cursed inside his mind.

Everything had gone to hell. The mission was a complete disaster. And worst of all, he’d have to report this to his father.

A scowl appeared on his face as he accelerated, no longer bothering to hide his presence. He had drawn enough distance between himself and the serpents behind him.

His speed increased dramatically. He was confident he could outrun anything that followed.

And if things truly got dire, he still had the teleportation scroll tucked safely inside his robes.

But just as he rounded the final bend, his eyes narrowed.

Far ahead in the distance stood a small group.

A man, a woman, and two children.

Ballard was momentarily taken aback before a twisted expression appeared on his face. His eyes turned bloodshot and flashed with malicious intent.

He conjured his long sword from his storage artifact, spitting through gritted teeth, ”Filthy lowlives! At the very least, I’ll kill the lot of you!”

Rowan’s heart sank when he saw this figure suddenly appear inside the narrow pass.

The sheer bloodlust aimed at him and his family paralyzed them in place. They couldn’t even breathe.

The middle-aged butler raised his trembling hands. ”N-no, wait!!”

But Ballard wasn’t listening.

Instead, he charged like a possessed beast, eyes gleaming with rage and madness.

In his blind fury, he didn’t notice the small items embedded into the cliffs. Small glass vials filled with a vivid orange liquid were half-hidden among the rocks.

But when he did, it was already too late.

His eyes widened.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The world erupted in a storm of explosions. Fire and smoke surged through the narrow pass. The ground shook violently as debris and boulders came crashing down from above, burying the ground around Ballard in a storm of chaos.

Rowan and his family stood frozen, thunderstruck. One moment, they expected to be slaughtered by a crazed Magus, the next moment… he was swallowed in fire and stone.

But Rowan’s shock hadn’t ended there…

Suddenly, the air before him twisted, and a familiar figure appeared before him and his family, shielding them from the horrors of the magic world.

Flowing crimson hair danced in the wind. Her back was straight as a sword. Her presence was steady, unshakeable, and unyielding.

For a fleeting moment, Anna’s figure overlapped with Adam’s in Rowan’s tear-filled eyes.

”Lady Anna…” he whispered, voice choked with emotion.

She didn’t respond.

Her ruby eyes remained locked on the fading explosion, her senses heightened to the limits.

She knew better. A few traps and rockslides weren’t enough to kill a Mana Vortex Magus.

Not even close.

What followed next would decide the outcome of this battle.

Her grip tightened around the grip of her sword. Drawing on what little mana remained, she split it into two. Half to cloak the blade in searing flames, the other to reinforce her body.

Golden sparks lit up in the depths of her eyes, and her blade turned brighter, the flames kissed by a faint, golden hue.

Then, she saw it…

A disturbance in the dust. A silhouette moving with the smoke.

Without wasting any moment, Anna lunged forward, sword raised.

Right at that moment, Hayes Ballard burst from the inferno, his robes torn, his body charred, blood running down a nasty wound on his forehead, likely from a falling boulder.

”How dare you!!” He roared, mistaking the mortals for the cause of the explosion.

Rage blinded him as he shot forward like a madman.

Suddenly, his pupils constricted when he saw Anna dashing toward him with a flaming sword in her hand.

Then, his expression twisted into a wild, maniacal grin.

”Good! I’ll kill you as well!”

He raised his long sword, coated it with mana, and slashed at Anna’s neck.

The Immortal Flames blazed fiercely on the blade of Anna’s sword, and she swung it with the graceful precision of an expert swordsman.

The distance between them vanished in the blink of an eye.

Their blades met.

In the next instant, the two figures moved past one another.

For a moment, time seemed to come to a standstill.

And then…

SPLASH!

A deep, brutal gash appeared on Anna’s collarbone, almost threatening to detach her arm from her body. A large amount of blood spurted on the ground, drenching it in red.

Yet her face remained calm. Cold and unwavering.

Hayes Ballard, on the other hand…

His deranged grin lingered on his face. Until it froze there forever.

A glowing red line appeared on his sword, shattering it into two.

Then, the same glowing line appeared at the base of his neck.

THUD!

His head hit the ground, and then his body collapsed.

Anna stood alone amidst the smoke and silence.

Bleeding. Trembling.

But victorious, proud, and…

Unbroken.