Greatest Legacy of the Magus Universe

The Devil of Secret had created the vile art of Soul Puppetry, an insidious craft born of deceit, manipulation, and absolute control.

Adam had mimicked the Devil’s art, crafting the Spirit Parasite, a much tamer variant of Soul Puppetry, free from its treacherous flaw.

Now, it would appear that Adam’s Spirit Parasite could be used as the perfect spell to scout and infiltrate dangerous places. After all, once the maggot made out of his spiritual energy ceases to be, all the information it had gathered would be transferred to him.

A lonesome blood beast traversed through the Sanguine Forest. Slowly, it treaded through the darkness and silence, making its way deeper inside.

On its way, it passed by several blood beasts, but none gave it so much as a glance. This one, however, was slightly different from the rest. Unlike others, it possessed one crucial difference.

The eyes on its body were dull and lifeless. While others’ gleamed with hunger and a frightening spark of intelligence, this one’s eyes looked to be… dead.

Well, that’s because it was dead.

The one controlling it was a translucent white maggot made entirely of Merlin’s spiritual energy.

It’s dozens of eyes darted around the surroundings, taking in everything with curiosity and fascination.

Oh, well, this is a strange new experience, it wondered.

Merlin was used to seeing through only one pair of eyes. But now he had multiple. So, it was a lot of visual information to take in and process.

But still, it was a wonderful experience in and of itself.

Vision is truly a gift that people take for granted, thought the dead blood beast.

As the blood beast continued moving towards the heart of the forest, it noticed something very crucial. Unlike the young Magi, who had their senses altered, there was no such effect on the beast itself.

Very interesting, it thought.

So the forest only alters the senses of intruders and not its inhabitants. But at the same time, it can’t differentiate between a living and a dead inhabitant, eh?

The blood beast strutted towards a nearby tree, swiped his claw, and left a mark at the base. Then, it continued to move deeper into the forest.

At this point, there were barely any Mana Foundation-level beasts in sight. Almost all of them were Mana Liquefaction Rank in strength.

This can get troublesome, thought the blood beast.

Just how were they going to get to the heart of the Sanguine Forest?

And what exactly lay at the center?

But more importantly…

Where are those cult bastards?

Was I overthinking things? Did they not infiltrate the other factions?

Did they not make arrangements in this secret plane?

This secret plane, which was jointly created by four might Mana Core Magi, was designed to only allow Mana Liquefaction-level beings inside.

Of course, unless someone had an ingenious technique like Adam, which allowed one to alter their mana fluctuations, they could also enter.

But there lay the crucial point. Almost no one in Tron had the ability to alter their mana fluctuations so ingeniously.

After all, the Mana Suppression Technique he used was another creation of the insidious Devil of Secrets.

The devil had used this technique to alter his mana fluctuation, making himself appear weaker than he actually was. This allowed him to lower his opponents’ guards and strike them when they least expected.

A truly treacherous and deceitful technique.

And that was not all. The technique could also completely suppress one’s energy fluctuations, making others feel like they were looking at a mundane mortal.

Of course, if the other person were a very powerful Magus, they would still find out.

And then there was another technique that Adam had not used yet. If he were being honest, that was the most vile of them all.

At this point, Adam could be considered the person who had truly inherited the Devil of Secret’s legacy.

The blood beast let out a drawn-out sigh, thinking to itself:

Such a powerful Magus… and yet, he was nothing before the Eternal Soul Lotus.

To think that thousands of Magi of his caliber had fallen to this divine artifact…

The burden of carrying such a precious artifact was immense.

Even Julien Stockholm had crumbled beneath its weight.

Would Adam Constantine fare any better?

The blood beast sighed again, marking the base of another tree with its sharp claws.

Why am I bothering about Adam Contantine? It wondered.

Currently, I’m Merlin Mathias… or rather, a simple blood beast.

I should stick to the persona at hand.

This was all part of his training.

To fully absorb the legacy of the Devil of Secrets, he had to do more than understand it… he had to live it.

Each persona required its own identity, its own will, distinct and convincing.

One puppeteer. Countless puppets.

If he did not train from now on and lay a solid foundation, then one day…

He wouldn’t even remember which strings he pulled, and which strings pulled him.

Ah, so much to do, such little time, the blood beast sighed again.

Thankfully, Soul Puppetry uses the main principles of the School of Summoning. And since I… uh, I mean, Adam has chosen to walk the path of the summoner, it works out perfectly.

The blood beast nonchalantly strolled through the woods, swiping his claws here and there at the bark of trees.

If it didn’t know any better, it would think that this was the safest place in the secret plane. Yes, it was perfectly safe for the blood beasts—the inhabitants of the forest.

But not for the intruders.

After more than half a day of silent travel, the blood beast finally arrived at its destination. By then, the spiritual energy sustaining the maggot was on the verge of fading.

But it had already achieved its objective.

It had found the heart of the Sanguine Forest, and with it, the very center of the secret plane.

The third layer was the last. Beyond this… there was nothing.

And yet, what the blood beast saw slumbering in the heart of the forest made its grotesque form shudder.

A titanic presence. A formless terror.

And when the blood beast looked upon it…

It looked back.