Greatest Legacy of the Magus Universe

Chapter 663: Bewitching

Everything had happened so fast that Altan didnʼt even have the time to react. One moment he was readying his magical artifact to attack Adam, the next moment he was transfixed by a sinister serpent that appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

His back was drenched in a cold sweat when he felt the snake coiled around his neck. Altanʼs breathing became ragged and when he looked into the snakeʼs bloodthirsty vertical pupils, he felt as if he was gripped by death itself.

The snake opened its maw wide and was about to swallow Altanʼs head when suddenly Adamʼs cold voice echoed inside the room.

”Those two are not food,” the youth spoke in snaketongue.

The two serpents–one red, the other yellow—looked toward Adam and hissed angrily.

”Human, this is the price for summoning us! How dare you deny us this?”

”We have heard about you, human! Suʼkis said to us how you make him work like a slave and not give him anything to eat! You dare do the same to us! This is injustice!”

Adamʼs eyebrows furrowed. ”Suʼkis? That black snake?”

He couldnʼt help but begin to massage his temple when he felt a big headache coming. It was true that he had indeed made the black serpent work a lot, that too without giving him anything in return.

However, he was compensating for the delay in payment by paying him double the price.

”Iʼve already made a deal with him. Heʼll be getting his payment after heʼs finished helping me out,” said Adam, his voice a mixture of hisses and whispers.

The two serpents looked at one another and then back at Adam. ”…Thatʼs not what he told us.”

”I donʼt care what he told you,” Adam reprimanded. ”You cannot eat those two. Well… not yet, anyway. As for the payment, Iʼll pay you twice as much but after youʼve rendered your services.”

”Twice!”

”Deal!”

The two snakes readily agreed. Meanwhile, Qamara, Altan, and Fern were rendered speechless and horrified after witnessing Adam talk to the snakes in the eerie language.

That language sent chills down their spines. It wasnʼt a language that a human should have been capable of speaking.

”Adam… those snakes,” Qamara muttered in fear as she gazed at the ominous serpents coiled around the Duskfall coupleʼs bodies. ”They are your summons?”

”Yes, you donʼt have to worry about them. They wonʼt harm you,” Adam assured her.

”Let us go, you damned bastard!” Altan growled menacingly. He hadnʼt expected to be outdone by the youth before him so effortlessly.

”From a ʼdear friendʼ to a ʼdamned bastardʼ,” Adam sneered as he walked toward him. ”You switch sides faster than a snake sheds its skin.”

He grabbed the strange black orb in Altanʼs hand and observed it. This was the magical artifact the man was trying to use to attack him and Qamara.

Adam focused his Sphere of Observation on the small orb and scrutinized the magical runes on it. ”Hmm, School of Necromancy, eh?”

After studying it for almost a dozen seconds, he had decoded the usage of the artifact. ”Rank 3 Spell: Frailty Beam,” he spoke confidently.

”How did you…” Altan was stunned that Adam was able to figure out the usage of the artifact in less than half a minute.

Adam looked at the man and scoffed as he put away the artifact inside his earrings.

Magical Artifacts were physical objects that had spells inscribed into them. Essentially, instead of a Magus casting a spell directly, the artifact itself contained the spell and could be activated when needed as long as it was made of a material that could conduct mana.

If one knew the model component of the spell inscribed on the artifact as well as had a sufficient understanding of runic magic, it would be fairly simple for them to decode the artifact.

Of course, Adam didnʼt bother to explain this to Altan. He crossed his arms and stood right before the man, asking him in a cold tone, ”So tell me, how did you know I was not from the cult?”

SPIT!

Altan spat in the youthʼs face. ”Go to hell!”

Adam closed his eyes and then conjured a small piece of cloth to wipe the spit from his face. He calmly and indifferently wiped his face before looking at the snake imprisoning Fern and commanding flatly, ”Poison her.”

HISSS!!!

The snake bared its sharp fangs before piercing them straight through Fernʼs jugular vein. A desperate scream escaped her lips in that instant.

The skin around the snake bite started to turn a ghastly purple and Fern couldnʼt help but begin to writhe in sheer agony.

”Fern!! No!!” Altan roared in anguish.

Adam calmly brushed his hair back with his hands, at the same time looking at the couple with a taunting smirk, ”Iʼve already cast a spell to cancel out all sounds in this room. No matter how loud you scream, no one can hear you.”

”You bastard!” Altan screamed in anger. ”What have you done to her?”

”If you donʼt answer my questions, she will die from the poison within five minutes,” said Adam with a calm demeanor. ”So, whatʼs it—”

”Fuck you!” Altan roared in defiance. ”If she dies, Iʼll die with her!” He looked at Fern and spoke emotionally, ”Fern! Iʼm sorry I couldnʼt protect you… But rest assured, Iʼll follow you to the afterlife right after you! You have my word, Fern, you have my word!”

”Altan…” Fern looked at her husband with teary eyes. ”I love you…”

Seeing the interaction between the couple, Adamʼs heart turned cold. He looked at Altan and thought to himself, This bastard is crazier than I thought! If he dies, then my last lead to the Cult of Bones will end up in smoke! No, I canʼt allow this to happen.

Suddenly, Adamʼs eyes flashed with a crafty glint. He lowered his head and hid the smirk that was about to form on his lips. He clasped his hands behind his back and secretly cast hand seals for a spell.

It was a simple spell, but highly effective given the current situation.

Rank 2 Spell: Compel!

Adam heaved a dejected sigh, ”You may not care about your life, Altan. You may not even care about your wifeʼs life.”

He then looked straight into Altanʼs eyes and continued in a bewitching voice, ”But what about the life of the unborn child inside of her?”