Night Ranger

The appearance of the light heralded their escape from the dark tunnel.

The two quickly left the tunnel, and what awaited them was a vast bright area!

The sky was clear and sunshine gently brightened the place. The earth was spacious and fertile, with flowers blooming in the garden.

Mills Garden!

Ivan had an expression of relief.

They finally found this place.

"Let’s go check."

They quickened their pace because they might be able to take advantage of the fact that the Magic Medicine King was likely preoccupied with those other four Legends to get a better harvest.

It would be best if they could obtain the Underworld River Water for the Great Elven King’s injury.

Such a formidable protector of Feinan was desperately needed for the defense against the Gods.

As they continued their search, the garden’s scenery around them was still as beautiful as before, but the expressions of the two were becoming increasingly unsightly.

Mills Garden exuded such a dense aura of Magic Medicine.

But most of the Magic Medicines had already been eaten!

Only a mess was left behind.

They could see that the medicinal garden had been divided very precisely.

Each area had very valuable Magic Medicines planted and there were wooden signboards summarizing their names and effects.

And there were still traces of arrays on the ground.

But all these Magic Medicines and arrays had been completely wrecked.

There were still some leaves and roots remaining, but the Magic Medicines were already dead.

Marvin and Ivan kept walking, gloomy.

Ultimately, they arrived at a damp area.

There was a wooden signboard with the name [Underworld River Water] in front of them.

This wasn’t literally the water of the River Styx, which was also known as the Underworld River and flowed through multiple planes.

But this Magic Medicine was related to it, so it had been named as such.

Marvin and Ivan entered the area.

As expected, the magic arrays here were also destroyed and all the Underworld River Water had been swept clean!

...

"You were right," Ivan fumed, "That wretched Magic Medicine truly swallowed everything here."

Marvin didn’t comment.

Although he had expected this kind of outcome, he had still hoped that it wouldn’t be the case.

But when he saw this scene with his own eyes, he felt quite dejected, just like Ivan.

The insatiable Magic Medicine King indeed didn’t let off the Underworld River Water, even though that particular Magic Medicine had a frightening curse.

But maybe the curse was ineffective against the matured Magic Medicine King.

Ivan, still seething in anger, asked Marvin, "For a Magic Medicine to be able to break all these arrays, were those Mikenshi Wizards slacking?"

Marvin frowned upon hearing that.

He felt that something was wrong.

Mikenshi Wizards’ arrays definitely weren’t weak.

From his search in the Desolate Tower Ruins, he could feel that the suppression was still strong after all these years. That was proof enough of the strength of the arrays.

Marvin believed the Magic Medicine King was able to swallow the other Magic Medicines.

But breaking through the arrays to get to them... This was a bit too incredible.

There must have been something behind it.

...

But since things had reached this point, it would be pointless no matter how much they conjectured about it.

The two quickly discussed their options and decided that they only had one option now, which was to capture the Magic Medicine King Eric!

If Eric was really the one that swallowed the Underworld River Water, then they could extract the components from it if they captured it.

With that secured, it wouldn’t be impossible to save the Great Elven King.

"This garden is too big. If it’s like you said and the crafty Magic Medicine King can disguise itself as a wildflower, weed, or something inconspicuous, then we will have a hard time finding it." Ivan frowned in frustration. "I’m not worried about its illusions, but if it purposely focuses on hiding, we won’t be able to do anything."

Marvin’s eyes shone. "You aren’t worried about its illusions?"

Ivan nodded, and seeing this confirmation, Marvin let out a long sigh of relief.

He had been hesitating about whether they should retreat if they couldn’t find the Underworld River Water.

Although he had originally planned on capturing the Magic Medicine King, too many strange things had happened after he entered the Secret Garden. Something still felt a little wrong.

His own resistance to illusions was very high, but according to the Mana Wraith, the Magic Medicine King had already reached an extraordinary realm when it came to illusions. If he fell into a trap, he would be done for.

But if Ivan was sure that he could see through the illusions, it would solve a lot of problems.

The Wood Elven heritage was very ancient. They were the descendants of the High Elves. After the Elven Era ended, they were the only Elves who stayed behind to take care of Feinan. Ivan, as the Wood Elven Prince, surely had a lot of good items on hand, but he would ordinarily disdain using them.

Nicholas was very strict with Ivan, but it could be seen that he was extremely fond of his son from all the buffs on Ivan’s body.

Although the Magic Medicine King was very powerful, as long as they could break his illusions, the only thing left would be... a Magic Medicine.

Marvin pondered for a bit and then suggested, "I might know where to look!"

...

Before Marvin entered the Secret Garden, he had a discussion with the Mana Wraith.

The latter pointed out that the Magic Medicine King’s main body was hiding in the [First Garden of Eden].

This name might be a riddle to others because as far as most people knew, there were only four areas: Lost Villa, Desolate Tower Ruins, Astral Beast Remains, and Mills Garden.

But Marvin knew that there was, in fact, a 5th area.

That was the hidden plane called the [Garden of Eden].

A plane within a plane, this was a masterpiece of the ancient casters, a planeception.

They planted some of their most precious Magic Medicines in the Mills Garden.

As for the world’s Magic Medicines that were unique or on the verge of extinction, they were planted in the hidden plane, the [First Garden of Eden].

The Magic Medicine King’s main body was also inside because the Wizard who first discovered it believed that its unprecedented ability to consume things was worthy of being researched.

But before his research had borne fruit, this Magic Medicine brought destruction to the Secret Garden in the form of an Astral Beast.

Everything that happened after that was beyond the control of the Mikenshi Wizards.

Marvin knew where the First Garden of Eden was, but he didn’t know if the Magic Medicine King was currently hiding inside.

And though he was unsure of the veracity of the Mana Wraith’s words, it was still worth checking.

...

The two gave up on looking for remaining Underworld River Water and set off deeper into Mills Garden.

A hidden valley eventually appeared not far ahead of them.

A shallow brook was flowing down into the valley from an adjacent mountain and the water was extremely clear.

Marvin muttered for a bit before walking in the water.

He felt around on the ground for a while before finding what he was looking for.

There were five colored stones. Marvin picked them up and rearranged them.

This was a simple runestone password switch. It was very easy to decipher for those who knew about it, but those who didn’t know might be forever stymied.

After a short moment, a rumbling noise echoed from the depths of the valley.

A great amount of dust fell down, and a large door that had been hidden by moss and vines spread out before them.

Ivan gave Marvin a strange look. "Sometimes I feel that the insights of true Seers can’t compare with your knowledge."

Marvin smiled bitterly.

His prophetic abilities couldn’t stay concealed from all others, especially his very close friends.

But his friends also respected him quite a lot and trusted him.

This was enough.

Although Ivan knew Marvin was very mysterious, he could feel that Marvin had no evil intentions toward him. His origin might be an enigma, but who in this world didn’t have a secret?

There were many things that were bound to be covered up and couldn’t be shared with others.

...

The two left the brook and walked to the entrance in the valley, where they saw a shadow beside the entrance.

Marvin squinted as the other side quickly said, "You found it. Pitiful transmigrator... Since things reached this point, do you not understand your fate?"

Marvin’s mind shook.

Ivan angrily shouted, "Shut up!"

These two words seemed to be filled with magic and Marvin immediately recovered from that abnormal state.

’Fuck... There is actually this kind of spell...’

’It was the same as that thing in the Celestial Stairway.’

Marvin felt troubled. He had almost been tricked by the enemy.

He took a deep breath and looked at the Mana Wraith that had appeared so casually. He asked Ivan, "What did he say?"

Ivan shook his head. "He only opened his mouth and didn’t say anything. But I’m sure it was a soul spell. Are you alright?"

Marvin nodded.

It was indeed a spell. But only one person could hear it.

Because it was his own inner voice.

He bottled those thoughts away and glared at the Mana Wraith. "You knew I would come."

"How should I greet you? Magic Medicine King Eric? Mana Wraith Eric? or..."

"Legend Wizard Orica?"

The Mana Wraith’s expression changed when Marvin uttered those words.

With obvious shock, it stuttered, "How... How did you know..."

Marvin grinned wryly. "I saw the diary you left behind. I already had some hypotheses."

"Seems like I guessed correctly. You actually continued to live after the Mikenshi school’s destruction."

"Maybe there simply was no Magic Medicine King, or perhaps that Magic Medicine King has already been assimilated by you."

"You really did scheme for eternal life. Did your plan start forming when you first discovered the Magic Medicine King?"

"The entire Mikenshi school was your sacrifice, including your pitiful apprentice, Eric."

Marvin stared at the Mana Wraith. "Am I right?"