Greatest Legacy of the Magus Universe

Eleiney's breathing stopped for several moments as she gazed at the horrifying figure of the creature standing behind her.

It was a towering monster with pitch black skin that seemed to swallow any light that touched it.

Four muscular arms ended in razor-sharp claws, and its face consisted only of a gaping maw filled with sharp, jagged teeth.

Where eyes should have been, two ivory horns jutted out and curved over its forehead like a crown.

Sensing the young woman's gaze, the monster turned its head to look at her. Then, it grinned widely.

Eleiney's face turned deathly pale, and she couldn't help but instinctively let out a scream. But in the watery depths, no sound escaped her lips, only a stream of bubbles.

Despite being enveloped in overwhelming terror, she still managed to get hold of Aiden and Arthur and desperately swam towards the coral labyrinth, hoping the maze would provide her with a semblance of safety from this demon.

Strangely enough, the demonic creature allowed her to escape.

As for the sirens, they were frozen in sheer horror. This four-armed fiend that suddenly appeared out of nowehere, radiated an aura of dread that struck fear deep into their hearts.

They naturally let go of their prey and silently stared at the monster. They had never seen such a creature residing in Marian Lake, and as such, the fear of the unknown had completely gripped them.

One by one, the sirens released the participants and fled into the darkness.

The four-armed monster silently watched everything unfold. It neither chased after the sirens nor approached the young Magi who were floating motionlessly.

Only after the sirens had completely disappeared from sight did the monster make a move...

Gray smoke swirled around the towering, demonic figure, cloaking it in an eerie shroud. Moments later, the smoke dispersed, revealing a young man with coppery-red hair and light freckles scattered across his face.

An illusion!

With a mischievous smile on his face, Adam looked into the distance where the sirens had vanished.

Well, that worked out better than I expected, he thought in amusement.

He had cast illusion magic on himself, intending only to startle the sirens into releasing their sirens. He was even prepared to fight these underwater creatures.

But the results exceeded his expectations.

Rather than being just startled, the sirens recoiled in terror and fled the scene entirely.

The inspiration for this terrifying form had come from the memories Adam had inherited from the Devil of Secrets.

That ancient being, too, had borne a pair of ivory horns jutting out from where his eyes should have been, curling around his head like a crown.

Adam found that appearance quite… imposing.

As for the four arms? That was something that he improvised on the spot.

He had always wondered… Magi used their two hands to weave the physical components of a spell, but what if they had an extra pair? How many more spells could they cast at once?

It was a real food for thought.

Shaking his head, Adam scanned the lakebed. Behind him rose the outer walls of the coral maze, its towering height no shorter than the city walls of Ravenfell.

In front of him lay a dozen or so young Magi who had fallen victim to the enchantment of the sirens.

He had no intention of helping them enter the maze. He had already done more than enough. Whether or not they snapped awake from the mind hex depended on them.

Suddenly, Adam's gaze landed on a particular Magus, causing his dark eyes to narrow and a dangerous light to flicker in them.

It was a young man with black hair and pale skin. Like Adam, he had a pair of gills sprouting from his neck and webbed hands and feet.

Adam had seen this person before…

It was over two decades ago when he had first arrived in Acryon. As part of his initiation into the Brotherhood, he was assigned a mission to capture the owners of a pleasure house known as Velvet Dreams.

Needless to say, he had more than just captured the owners—Atkin and Nara Rollins.

He had, in fact, publicly executed them in front of a large crowd, freed the slaves, and then burned the pleasure house to the ground.

It was this very incident that earned him the moniker of Black Vengeance.

Adam had first seen this person inside Velvet Dreams, talking about the slave trade with the Rollins couple. This young Magus and his uncle were the ones who financed the slave trade.

Was his name Shade? Or Slade? I think…

Adam's expression darkened, and he couldn't help but wonder:

Should I… kill him?

But a moment later, he shook his head. He knew for certain that there were people watching the First Trial.

Fine, you live to see another day, he thought as he looked at the unconscious body of Slade.

He then turned away, shifting his gaze between the entrance to the coral labyrinth and the depths of the lake where the sirens had fled.

As much as he longed to explore the unknown depths, he knew his priority was the maze. He had to enter and make sure nothing went wrong.

Another time, then, he thought.

He cast a final gaze towards the depths before swimming towards the labyrinth.

***

The inside of the labyrinth was a twisting maze of tunnels and open chambers, all formed from vibrant coral walls of red, pink, and orange.

Thick strands of underwater vegetation swayed gently in the currents, sometimes blocking the path ahead.

The water was dim, with rays of light filtering through the cracks in the coral above. Strange, colorful fish darted in and out of the crevices, and the silence was broken only by the occasional groan of shifting stone or the distant echo of movement.

Visibility was low, and every turn looked like the last. It was easy to get lost, and even easier to be caught off guard.

Eleiney stood watch near the edge of the maze, guarding her unconscious friends with unwavering focus.

She had made enough distance from her point of entry and was constantly scanning the surroundings, alert for any sign of that four-armed monster that had appeared earlier.

Even now, her heart was rapidly beating, pumping fear through her veins. The image of that monstrous figure, its jagged maw, its pitch black skin, and those horned features, was seared into her mind.

It wasn't something easily forgotten.

Suddenly, a deep rumbling echoed through the water. Eleiney's heart skipped a beat as she turned towards the source. She desperately hoped that she wouldn't have to face the four-armed monster again.

But what she saw made her freeze.

The maze... was moving!

With the labyrinth shifting like that, it was easy for the contestants to lose their way. Eleniey knew that she had to stay with her friends. Facing danger together would increase their chances of coming out victorious. Being alone meant a high probability of failure.

Realizing this, she quickly turned around, reaching out to grab her friends.

But her hands froze mid-motion, and her eyes slowly widened in shock.

Aiden and Arthur were gone.