Greatest Legacy of the Magus Universe
chapter-507

"Halt!" Adam raised his hand, signaling his team to stop.

"Professor, what is it?!" Art couldn't help but ask in a low voice, anxiously scanning the shadows between the strange humanoid-shaped trees around him.

Adam didn't respond. He extended his Sphere of Resonance to the maximum output, sensing the commotion at the perimeter of the clearing deep in the woods.

Gradually, his eyebrows wrinkled together, his expression darkening.

Noticing this sudden change, Ragnar couldn't help but nervously ask, "M-My lord... what did you notice?"

Adam spoke in an extremely solemn tone, "The number of wolves seemed to have increased..."

"What?!" Everyone blurted out in shock.

One of the mercenaries subconciously asked, "Increased? How do you know that? Are you saying that you've been here before?"

Adam coldly looked at him, causing the man to shrink back in fear. He then looked at everyone else and continued, "Those beasts seem to be waiting for us."

"How is that possible?!" Kenley asked with an incredulous expression.

"At this point, anything is possible." Adam shook his head with a sigh. "This whole damned place is cursed."

The following moment, he took out nine leather pouches from his earring. He kept one for himself and distributed the rest to his squad members.

"Sprinkle this on yourself," he said. "It'll mask your scents from the beasts."

Last time, when he had come to this place, his only weakness was that his scent could be perceived by the heightened smell of the werewolves.

Thus, he worked on this weakness and was able to create a scent-masking powder in the past few weeks.

"Remember," he warned. "This will only conceal your scent. Make sure to pay extra attention to conceal yourself and your sounds. Understood?"

"Yes!" The Magi nodded.

Meanwhile, the mercenaries helplessly glanced at each other. They couldn't wield mana, and thus, didn't have any spells that could conceal themselves.

They couldn't help but begin to feel fear slowly creep into their bones.

They were so blinded by the riches that awaited them in the Howlett Estate that they had overlooked the fact that they could die in the process.

No, they did know they could die, but they chose to ignore it.

One of the mercenaries, a bald middle-aged man, couldn't help but ask Adam with a fawning smile, "My lord, do you have something that could help cover our-"

Adam coldly interrupted him, "I gave you the Potions of Explosion and now even the scent- masking powder. You still want more? Do you take me to be your caretaker?"

The man argued, "But my lord, if the three of us go in like this, we are bound to incur heavy damages. We might even die! Please show some pity! If you could give us a few more potions..."

"Haa..." Adam heaved a heavy sigh.

The mercenary thought that Adam had fallen for his tactics and would now give him potions and artifacts to defend himself.

But little did he know that the raven-haired youth didn't care about him at all.

The next moment, Adam's jet-black pupils seemed to have gained endless depths in them. When the mercenary looked into his eyes, he felt as if was looking into the abyss.

"Start walking toward the clearing," said Adam in a bewitching voice.

The mercenary's eyes glazed over and he replied in a mechanical manner, "Yes..."

Rank 2 Spell: Suggestion!

Then, he turned around and slowly started walking in the direction of the Howlett Estate.

Seeing such a scene unfold, everyone was shocked!

Adam then turned to look at the two remaining mercenaries, and asked them coldly, "What about you two? Would you like some more potions as well?"

The two mercenaries dropped to the ground and kowtowed.

"H-Have mercy, my lord!"

"Please, spare us!"

They knew that making the bald mercenary walk toward the clearing in the center of the woods was nothing short of a death sentence.

These two mercenaries had fought plenty of battles to know that Adam was using the bald mercenary as bait!

Adam's lips curled up into an amicable smile, "Wonderful."

He then glanced at his students and noticed that they were looking at the bald mercenary slowly walking away with expressions of unease.

Seeing this, Adam didn't know how to explain himself to them. He could tell that his students didn't approve of his actions.

But it didn't matter. Staying alive was the most important thing now.

He snapped his fingers, causing everyone to shift their attention to him. He spoke in a solemn tone, "I want you all to climb the trees and make your way to the clearing. Conceal yourselves as thoroughly as you can. Your life depends on it."

Everyone nodded anxiously. Eleiney couldn't help but ask, "Professor... what about that man?"

Adam knew she was talking about the bald mercenary. He replied flatly, "He will be the bait." Even though Art, Eleiney, and Aiden had expected this, they still couldn't help but feel a chill crawl down their spines when they finally heard Adam confirm it.

They were having difficulty believing that their mentor, who always displayed a flippant attitude and joked around with them, was capable of something so heartless.

To send an innocent man to his death just so they could capitalize on the opportunity to deal with the enemies didn't sit well with the three young Magi.

"Focus!" Adam reprimanded them, causing them to involuntarily flinch.

"This is not the time to think about morals and principles!" He continued, "All you should think about is killing the enemy and not getting killed in the process!"

The three children nodded nervously, their fists clenching and unclenching several times.

They closed their eyes for a few moments, and when they opened them again, they were gleaming with resolve.

Indeed, this was not the time for them to ponder about the philosophy of right and wrong. They were at the precipice of a great battle.

If they let these thoughts cloud their judgement, they could very well falter and become food

for the bloodthirsty beasts.

"Yes, Professor!" They looked at Adam and said with determination.

"Good," Adam replied.

He then gazed at the rest of the people and nodded.

"Everyone stick to the plan and blow those beasts to smithereens!"