Greatest Legacy of the Magus Universe

Chapter 1900 Fleeting Moment

Darren stood right next to the elf.

No.

Was Narion even an elf to begin with?

Whatever this grotesque creature was, Darren found himself frozen in place when he looked at it. When he saw the thing's lips burst open and reveal monstrous teeth, he was shocked.

"How impolite."

He heard the creature hiss.

Darren turned his trembling eyes to the Paladin standing behind Narion. He too had gone through a similar transformation. The lips had come undone, revealing razor-sharp teeth. The flesh had turned pale, and the face had turned utterly hideous.

In that moment, only one word echoed inside Darren's mind.

Ghoul!

They were a type of undead creature that perpetually hungered for the flesh of the living. They were never sated, no matter how much they ate.

Gluttony made manifest in the vessel of an undying being.

As for how they came to be, records varied. Some claimed they were turned by vampires and were forever in servitude to the one who turned them. Others said they were born that way.

Regardless of their source of origin, they lived to devour flesh.

What have I done?!

Darren forced his body to retreat, fear and guilt viciously clenching his heart. He was standing so close to the monster.

He had truly thought he had found a way out of his nightmare. He truly believed that these two people were from the city, and that with their arrival, everything would be all right. He had even schemed of a way to get rid of Adam with their help.

But now it all came crumbling down. He had unknowingly invited monsters into their sanctuary. And now… he didn't know if he'd live to see the sunrise.

Everyone was utterly horrified by what had just transpired. The terror was palpable, like a living thing that prevented the adventurers from even breathing.

No… not everyone.

Adam was the only one who seemed to have kept his wits about him.

And when Darren saw the corner of Adam's lips curling upward into a crazed grin, he shuddered.

"Everyone, scatter!!"

Adam's thunderous voice echoed in the cave, jolting everyone out of their shock and daze. It was like a bucket of ice-cold water was poured on their bodies.

It had done the job, however.

Darren finally retreated away from the two monsters.

Just in time for Adam to charge forward, seize them both by the throat, and violently slam them into the wall.

BAM!

Finally, a path had been cleared.

Earlier, the two monsters and Adam had been standing right at the cave entrance, preventing anyone from following Adam's instructions.

But now that he had hurled the monsters into the wall, a brief window of escape had appeared.

Darren gritted his teeth and burst into speed.

He grabbed Koby, who happened to be in front of him, by the shoulder and violently shoved him aside. A moment later, he crashed into Kara, unknowingly sending her stumbling in the direction of Adam and the monsters. Michael and Genevieve frantically leaped out of his path.

At last, Darren reached the edge of the cave, launched himself over it, and disappeared into the woods below.

As for what awaited him in the dangers of the crimson night, he would deal with it when the time came. For now, all that mattered was putting as much distance as possible between himself and the monsters. And Adam.

When the blood-curdling shrieks of the monsters rang out behind him, Darren became even more convinced that fleeing without hesitation had been the wisest decision he could have made.

***

Inside the cave, Genveive suddenly found her world embroiled in fear and shock.

One moment, everything had been fine. She couldn't stop herself from dreaming of the city where other adventurers like them lived — ones who had been trapped in the secret plane.

The thought of finally finding shelter from this brutal land of dangers made her feel greatly relieved.

But it all came crashing down. Her world shattered like a fragile mirror, and in the blink of an eye, all hell had broken loose.

Adam, like the daredevil he was, had charged fearlessly into the monsters to buy them time to escape.

Darren had been the first one to leave. She didn't blame him for it, for she would most likely do the same in his situation. She was in that situation.

But when she saw Darren shove Koby aside, leading the latter to hit his head against the rocky wall and crumple to the ground, and then hurl Kara straight in the monsters' direction, she couldn't help but hesitate. She was angry and afraid.

Everything had happened so fast, and she suddenly found herself overwhelmed.

On one side, Koby had been knocked unconscious, blood gushing from the injury to his head. On the other side—

Genevieve's eyes trembled in horror.

"Kara!!"

She cried out in desperation when she saw Narion — if that was even its name — viciously clutch the half-elf's throat, slowly squeezing the life out of her.

Even though Adam desperately held both monsters at bay, one of them had still managed to reach Kara, who had been hurled toward him by Darren, and seize her.

A shadow swiftly rushed from the side.

Genevieve couldn't even react in time, for her mind was in such a mess.

"We need to go!" Michael roared.

Without ceremony, he grabbed her around the waist, hoisted her onto his shoulder, and leaped off the edge of the cave.

"No!" she screamed, reaching out toward the cave.

"ADAM!!"

Her cry must have somehow reached the raven-haired youth amid all the violence and carnage.

For in that brief instant, just before Genevieve was about to disappear into the woods, Adam turned to look at her and…

Smiled.

The runes covering the walls and floor of the cave flared with respelendant light. Then, with a thunderous sound, the hill erupted.

Rock and stone collapsed inward as the entire cave caved in, burying Adam and the two monsters beneath countless tons of rubble.

Pearls of tears drifted from Genevieve's eyes, catching the crimson moonlight. For a fleeting moment, they resembled glittering rubies carried upon the wind before splashing onto the ground and vanishing.

She stared at the cloud of dust rising into the night, her hand still outstretched, as though she was still trying to hold onto his hand, his rough, calloused hand that she had only gotten the chance to hold once, a long time ago back in Davos.

It felt as though unseen hands had reached into her chest and twisted her heart.

It felt as though she had just lost a part of herself.

Why did it feel that way?

She'd only known him a little over a month…