Greatest Legacy of the Magus Universe

”I hope Councilor Ballard wipes those vermin off the face of this continent,” Elysande muttered coldly as Adam led her down the marble staircase to see her off.

Adam, on the other hand, remained silent, trying his best to prevent a scowl from appearing on his face.

His heart raged with tumultuous waves as he thought of a possibility.

But he didn’t delve deeper into it now, afraid that he would lose his senses.

Elysande turned to Adam and couldn’t help but ask, ”Do you think it’s Kissinger? He’s the only Mana Vortex Magus alive from the despicable thieves’ guild. I wouldn’t be surprised if the remnants chose to rally around him.”

”I can’t say for certain,” Adam muttered in a flat voice. ”But if it really is the remnants of the Umbra Thieves… then it’s got to be Kissinger.”

Elysande’s brown eyes flashed with a murderous gleam. She then closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down. She, as well as the rest of the world, was under the impression that Brigham Flynn had died at the hands of Kissinger, after all.

She took a deep breath and added, ”I suppose it’s understandable why Councilor Ballard would leave the city so quickly, then.”

They stopped before the carriage. Adam turned to her and asked, ”When did you say this happened?”

”I’m not completely sure, but I heard that the Ballard Family learned of it sometime around noon,” she said after a moment of thought.

Adam’s eyes narrowed.

Around noon… Anna and the rest left Ravenfell a couple of hours before noon, he thought, the foreboding feeling in his heart turning deeper.

Then, a new thought crept into his mind, flooding him with a wave of crushing anxiety.

”…And how did the Ballard family find out?” He asked, trying his best to speak in a steady voice.

Elysande looked at him with an arched brow. ”How else? The Soulmark Lantern, of course. Practically, every Magus family uses it.”

She stepped towards the carriage. ”I sure hope the lantern leads Councilor Ballard to Kissinger.”

Adam lowered his head, hiding the absolute rage flickering in his eyes.

Ives Ballard!!

That name echoed inside his head, his eyes turning bloodshot.

Elysande boarded the carriage and settled into her seat. Glancing at Adam with a faint smile, she said, ”I’ll share the relevant details for the upcoming auction by tomorrow. And if you want anything changed, just let me know.”

Adam raised his head and smiled as he matched her gaze. ”No need. I trust you to handle it all. I’ll just remain in the background… fending off any greedy wolves that dare bare their fangs at us.”

Elysande lightly chuckled. ”Alright then. Good night, Adam.”

”Yeah… good night.”

He watched as the carriage rolled away. Slowly, his smile faded, and his face darkened.

”Ives Ballard,” he spat through gritted teeth.

He then turned around and went back inside his manor.

***

Arriving at his underground laboratory, Adam started to pace back and forth again. He tried to make sense of this newfound information, but the rage burning through his heart made it difficult to do so.

He ran a hand through his hair, his eyes blazing with fury.

Alright, think calmly. Think, think…

He took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.

Anna and her entourage had departed in the morning. According to the snake’s report, they were ambushed not long after… by two Mana Vortex Magi.

In the end, these two cultists were slain, though not without cost. Anna and the rest managed to survive, but they suffered grievous wounds in the battle.

Thanks to Rowan’s efforts, however, they managed to board a merchant vessel and escape the Empire.

By now, they should be well on their way to the Southern Federation…

Adam paused for a moment, recalling what Elysande had told him just now. Then, he thought:

And it just so turns out that Hayes Ballard was also murdered earlier today.

His family learned of his death through the Soulmark Lantern sometime around noon…

That should be around the time those two cultists, who attacked Anna, died! This… All of this is too good to be a mere coincidence.

Adam’s mana surged, distorting the air around him into violent ripples. Fury burned in his chest as he clenched his jaw, teeth grinding with restrained anger.

Wrath.

Absolute wrath.

CRASH!

The surge of mana devastated the shelves, shattered the apparatuses and the crystal vials, and swept away everything in its path.

Even the rune-reinforced floor groaned under the pressure, and faint cracks spiderwebbed across its surface.

Adam’s bloodshot eyes blazed with anger.

”Fuck!!”

He cursed out loud.

”Ives Ballard… You fuckin’ rat! I should have known… I should have fuckin’ known! You were the mole all along!”

It was easy for him to connect the dots. At first glance, it would seem that it was Hayes Ballard, who was in cahoots with the Cult, and not his father.

But Adam knew everything there was to know about Ives Ballard and his family. From the moment the councilor tried to kill him with a sneak attack at the Duskfall Estate, Adam had already begun studying his prey in earnest.

He knew about the dynamics within the Ballard Family and was certain that Hayes Ballard would never do anything without his father’s approval.

From this, he could surmise that Ives Ballard had been the one in cahoots with the Cult of Bones all along.

And now, with his son’s Soulmark Lantern to guide him, Ives Ballard had set out on a relentless pursuit of his son’s killer!

And that would lead him directly to Anna…

Adam thought with a grim expression.

And who knew what else Ives Ballard had up his sleeves? He was now someone who had discarded any sense of self-preservation, hellbent on avenging his son no matter the cost.

Who could say what a desperate and bloodthirsty Magus of such power was truly capable of?

Adam clenched his fists, his body trembling from the rage coursing through his veins.

”Fuck!!”

For a moment, he thought of abandoning everything here and rushing towards Anna to save her from the vengeful wrath of Ives Ballard.

After all, Anna and her entourage were in an extremely weakened state right now, and if Ballard found them in such a state…

Adam was gripped by sheer terror, thinking about what would come next.

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed, and he noticed a peculiarity.

”Wait a minute…” he murmured.

Something felt off. It was only natural that news of Hayes Ballard’s death would spread through the city.

But the rumors regarding Ives Ballard gathering a force of powerful Magi to hunt down the killer struck Adam as oddly reckless.

If he were in Ives’s place, he’d keep such a plan a secret to avoid alerting the murderer.

But the rumors surrounding Ives Ballard were far too loud.

They were deafening. It was almost as if… they were deliberately sent to be heard.

Adam’s eyes narrowed. The shadowy image of the mysterious, robed figure, whose identity he could not see through, appeared in his mind.

A cold doubt took hold, and he muttered under his breath:

”What if... this is a trap?”