Greatest Legacy of the Magus Universe

Michael lowered his shoulder and drove the wall shield into the ground before him.

A heartbeat later, a vicious blood beast slammed into it.

The towering man grimaced under the force, but did not budge an inch. The blood beast, on the other hand, staggered and felt momentarily disoriented.

But that was all the time Edward needed.

He planted a foot on Michael's shoulder and vaulted over the shield. Blue streaks of lightning danced along the edge of his battle axe as he twisted mid-air, angling both body and blade with deadly precision.

With a single, thunderous strike, he cleaved the beast clean in two.

Seeing the corpse of the blood beast twitch for a second or two before finally going cold, Edward and Michael breathed a sigh of relief.

However, they were still not done yet. There were dozens of corpses strewn around them. They then looked around the crimson grassland and could see the tall grass swaying in the distance.

More blood beasts were already approaching them. There wasn't nearly enough time to collect the blood cores from the corpses.

Edward gritted his teeth, then gave the command, "Climb!"

Immediately, the members of Party A dashed toward the stone tower near them.

They had just carved a bloody path to it. The red plains were teeming with danger, and worse, they could not sense it until it was right on top of them.

One by one, the party members started climbing the stone tower.

Michael grasped the blue-eyed youth's shoulder and solemnly said, "Edward, go! I will hold the rear!"

Michael Isaac was proficient in the School of Abjuration. As such, he was the foremost Magi they could rely on when it came to pure defense.

The blood beasts were only a few seconds away until they reached the base of the tower.

Edward turned to the towering middle-aged man and grinned. "I've got a plan. Trust me!"

Michael hesitated for a fraction of a second before nodding. He dismissed his wall shield and began climbing the stone pillar with speed that betrayed his size.

When the blood beasts were only a few meters away from Edward, he had already finished weaving the hand seals. Then, he pressed both his palms into the ground, his blue eyes flashing with the ruthless light.

The ground beneath trembled for a moment before a large magic circle materialized with the stone pillar at its center.

Before the beasts knew it, they were drowned in a torrent of blue lightning. Bolts arced violently, searing flesh and splitting the air with deafening cracks.

The scent of scorched blood filled the plains as the blood beasts shrieked and writhed, blinded and overwhelmed.

When the light faded, the beasts fell to the ground, their grotesque bodies squirming in agony.

Edward's spell hadn't killed them. But it had certainly created the opportunity to.

By the time he had already climbed the stone pillar, Lisa, Biden, Mikar, and Chris had already begun raining projectiles upon the unmoving creatures down below.

And just like that, several more Mana Liquefaction-level blood beasts had met their end.

But that did not matter…

As more and more of these grotesque creatures had rushed in from the distance, drawn by the scent of blood and flesh.

They crawled over the corpses of their fallen, never sparing them so much as a glance. Then, one by one, they began to crowd around the base of the pillar.

None of them attempted to climb, however. Either by choice or simply because their physiology made it impossible.

They silently stared with their countless bloodthirsty eyes.

At the top of the stone pillar, Mikar looked at the corpses sprawled at the base. Then, he gazed at the number of blood beasts that were slowly crawling towards them.

He couldn't help but loudly gulp. "We are so fucked!"

The rest of the party members had grim looks on their faces. Biden couldn't help but speak in utter frustration, "Just what kind of trial is this?! This is no different than throwing us into a slaughterhouse!"

"Didn't the heads of the Four Pillars come together to create this secret plane? And didn't Mathilda Whitaker personally oversee the creation of the Second Trial?" Chris Cloud spoke in a grave tone.

"Why would they do such a thing? This is too much!"

Edward remained silent. He knew more than them, after all. Adam had warned him about dark forces secretly threatening Acadia's stability.

The Grand Magus Tournament was the perfect moment for them to deliver a crucial blow to the Acadian Empire.

It has to be the Cult, thought the blue-eyed youth.

But… how deep does their influence run for them to even tamper with the Second Trial?

He took a deep breath and then instructed, "Rest for now. We need to replenish our mana and then make our way to the heart of the secret plane."

Michael hesitated to speak. In the end, he remained silent.

"What is it, Michael?" Edward turned to him and asked.

The man had been a great help to them since the beginning. As such, he had received the respect and admiration of every party member.

Michael thought for a moment, then suggested, "How about finding other participants? The more people we have, the easier our journey forward."

***

In another section of the second layer of the secret plane—the crimson plains—Party B rested atop a stone pillar.

Arthur, Aiden, and Charlie lay on the cold stone surface, their chests rising and falling with labored breaths.

The journey from the edge of the blood marshes to the stone pillar might have only taken a few minutes, but in those few minutes… they had nearly been overwhelmed by blood beasts from all sides.

Merlin had led them through the sea of grass and bloody flesh, killing as many Mana Liquefaction-level blood beasts as he could—and he did kill a lot of them.

But the rest of the party members still had to fend off the attacks of the weaker creatures.

It was only thanks to Eleiney's leadership, Kahn's precise attacks, and Merlin's… well, madness that they were able to safely make it to the stone pillar.

The three of them stood at the edge of the pillar, gazing down at the countless corpses, as well as the living blood beasts still swarming around them.

Only one thought echoed inside their heads:

How the hell do we get out of this bloody nightmare?