Greatest Legacy of the Magus Universe

Chapter 994: Regrouping

It didnʼt take long for Party B to arrive at the stone pillar where Party A was resting.

With Merlin leading the group from the front, Eleiney, Arthur, and Aiden providing support in the middle, and Kahn and Charlie taking the rear, the party slowly carved a bloody path to the stone pillar.

They left a trail of corpses in their wake. No matter how many blood beasts came at them, they all fell to their spells and blades.

And soon, Party B had arrived at the base of the pillar.

Adamʼs three students were the first ones to scale it, followed by Charlie. Kahn turned to Merlin and said in a raspy voice, ”Go on, then. I got your back.”

Merlin deeply looked at him, his smile turning wider. ”Fafafa, how gallant you are.”

He lingered for a moment, turning his attention towards the countless corpses that had formed a bloody trail before them. ”Go ahead,” he said. ”Iʼll retrieve the blood cores and meet you all shortly.”

With that said, Merlin did not hesitate for a moment before moving away from the stone pillar.

Before the hungry blood beasts could even pounce on him, the coppery-red-haired youth had already cast an illusion spell on himself and vanished from sight.

Kahn stared at the spot where he had vanished for a moment longer, then turned around and quickly climbed the pillar before more blood beasts could close in.

Members from Party A didnʼt waste time and quickly tended to the wounded members of Party B.

When Kahn arrived at the top of the pillar, he was greeted by a stunned Edward.

”What… what the hell was that?” He blurted out.

Kahn tilted his head, his eyes flickering with slight confusion. ”What do you mean?”

Edward opened his mouth, but a moment later, he closed it. There was a lot on his mind, and there were many things he wanted to say. But in the end, only a few words escaped his lips.

”Where did Merlin go?” he asked in a low voice.

Kahn sat down on the cold surface, then retrieved several potions of healing. After consuming one, he looked at the blue-eyed youth and said with a shrug, ”Heʼs gone to retrieve the blood cores.”

”What?!” Edward was stunned. ”All by himself?! That is very reckless! He could have asked us to aid him. My party members have more or less recovered their strength.”

Kahn waved his hand nonchalantly as he drank another potion of healing. A few moments later, he added, ”Donʼt worry about it. That madman is pretty strong. Besides…”

He paused for a moment, deeply looking at Edward. ”Heʼs very, very proficient in the School of Illusion.”

***

An hour later, while everyone was recuperating on top of the pillar, a sudden commotion caused them to go on high alert.

The sound of chaos came from nearby. It was very close, and it came out of nowhere.

When the young Magi rose to their feet and glanced at the carnage below, they were stunned to see the blood beasts being attacked… by no one.

But they knew who it was.

Soon, the chaos below gradually died down, leaving only the frustrated and furious growls of the blood beasts—which were fortunate to survive—below.

Then, the sound of shuffling footsteps came from the top of the pillar.

The young magi turned around only to see Merlin standing with a bulging rucksack lying beside his feet. The coppery-red-haired youth flexed his shoulders and exhaled.

”That was a little tiresome…”

The young Magi from both parties were astonished, not particularly at the crazy Magusʼs arrival, but at the large bag that lay at his feet.

”H-how many blood cores are in there?” Michael couldnʼt help but ask, unable to believe his eyes.

Merlin turned to him, then said after a moment of deliberation, ”Should be a couple of hundred at least. Iʼm not sure of the exact amount.”

A couple of hundred!

Even if these Magi divided that number by a dozen, that still left quite a number of blood cores for each of them present.

”Hahaha!” Mikar burst into hearty laughter. He stepped forward and gave Merlin a big hug.

”Thanks to you, we wonʼt have to worry about getting disqualified, Merlin! Nice work!”

Merlin simply shrugged. He then greeted the rest of the young Magi, all of whom were ecstatic to meet him.

Finally, it was Edwardʼs turn.

He walked up to Merlin and stared at him intently. His eyes flickered with a series of conflicting emotions. In the end, he simply nodded.

”Thanks for your hard work,” he said evenly.

Merlin deeply looked at him and grinned. ”Fafafa, what a polite lad you are.”

Edwardʼs lips twitched. He didnʼt reply, however. He simply turned around and walked to the edge of the pillar before sitting down and practicing mindfulness.

Merlin glanced at his broad back and awkwardly scratched his chin.

Looks like heʼs still mad about the last time, he thought in amusement.

He then turned towards Eleiney and nodded, giving her the signal. Then, he sat down and greedily drank water. He was a Mana Vortex Magus, so he hadnʼt consumed all that much mana while dealing with the blood beasts.

But it would be a lie to say that he wasnʼt exhausted. He, too, needed to recover to his full strength before they moved to the next layer of the secret plane.

Eleiney took a deep breath and then scanned the party membersʼ faces. ”Everyone,” she began.

She lingered for a few moments before speaking solemnly, ”Thanks to Merlin, we were able to scout the terrain of the third layer.”

Needless to say, everyone was greatly surprised by that discovery. However, Eleineyʼs next words caused their faces to turn grim.

”The third layer of the secret plane consists entirely of a forest,” she began, her tone extremely grave.

”Here, in the second layer, we could find brief moments of respite by climbing one of the countless stone pillars.”

”But in the dark forest… there is no safety,” she continued.

”That place is crawling with powerful blood beasts, and there are far more of them than there are here.”