What was that? Mirror Image Magic?

Marvin was slightly confounded. He had never heard of a Mirror Image that could explode!

'This guy is very powerful. It seems that even in this world, the might of his explosion-type magic is still considerable…'

Marvin had been slightly injured, even with the protection of Magic's Foe!

With that and Marvin's powerful resistances, ordinary magical explosions shouldn't be able to harm him.

Looking the Blackfire Lava Wizard's cold smile, Marvin suddenly figured it out.

'That guy… isn't controlled by the Magic Medicine King!'

As Marvin had his realization, the ornament on his right arm glowed red!

The Spirit Armband had an abnormal reaction.

Marvin couldn't help but break into a cold sweat.

Had he unconsciously entered the Magic Medicine King's illusion?

'When did it start?'

'Hold on… Could it have started back when I entered the Secret Garden? Was I ambushed there already?'

Marvin was a little dazed.

The Blackfire Lava Wizard in the distance suddenly disappeared. This place once again seemed tranquil.

But Marvin felt that the fight had just begun.

...

'Could it be that the Great Calamity happening earlier is fake?'

'And that my grandfather never appeared to share the information? Was everything a trick of the Magic Medicine King?'

Marvin didn't use Stealth.

When inside this area, Marvin's movements would all be easily seen by Magic Medicine King Eric, even through his Stealth.

He remained vigilant of his surroundings while reflecting on what happened.

He had just entered the Secret Garden when his grandfather sent him some information. Was this a bit too coincidental?

Could it be a misconception?

Marvin couldn't believe it.

He muttered for a bit and opened his status window.

There wasn't any information about him being in an illusion.

It seemed that the system wasn't omnipotent in this regard.

The green Thousand Paper Crane Owl prepared for him had already been used. He also could feel that Owl had received it.

Even if the Magic Medicine King was formidable, it shouldn't be able to imitate the secret ability of Shadow Thief Owl, right?

There was no need to doubt this.

And the previous unusual condition of Ancestor's Mystery should also be real. Even if the illusions reflected things from within people's minds, Marvin almost never thought of his grandfather, so why would he appear out of nowhere?

'Hold on…'

'If everything was really an illusion, I shouldn't be able to see the interface.'

'But I can still think and react. That caster's explosion really injured me… Although the highest realm of illusions can turn falsehood into reality, this shouldn't all be an illusion.'

Marvin's thoughts cleared up.

He must have triggered a trap from the Magic Medicine King while he was running as fast as he could.

That Blackfire Lava Wizard just then was probably someone who had entered the Secret Garden and gotten swallowed before being repurposed into an illusion trap.

After Marvin recognized this, the latter naturally disappeared.

In other words, he was still inside the real world and not in a total illusion, but had fallen for one of Eric's tricks.

He gently caressed the Spirit Armband and Vanessa's Gift. The two pieces of willpower-boosting equipment had regained their serenity.

'Turns out it was a false alarm.'

Marvin smiled bitterly. Thinking about it, however powerful Magic Medicine King Eric was, it would have to devote more of its energy to handling those Legends, so how could it divert its attention to take care of Marvin?

Major illusions would consume a lot of energy and if it was distracted, it would increase the chance of being discovered by those Legends.

At that time, the one dying would be Eric.

Thus, Marvin should be safe for the time being, and as such, he hesitated no longer and left that path, continuing toward his destination.

He spent about ten minutes following the road to reach the bottom of the mountain, leaving the Lost Villa.

When he left, he saw a few more Half-Legends who arrived at the Lost Villa.

They might stay in this area for a long time. After all, they didn't know much about the Secret Garden and would think there was some treasure to be found in the houses.

But this area was already empty.

Marvin sped up and soon arrived at the second area of the Secret Garden.

The Desolate Tower Ruins.

...

This was a taboo area that couldn't be avoided.

It was filled with all kinds of berserk arcane energy, while also breeding some frightening Magic Beasts.

They hid in the shadows eating each other and were extremely ruthless.

If not for the Mikenshi school leaving behind some Shackles of Order, these monsters might have already come out and even the Magic Medicine King would be helpless to deal with them.

This was the only area of the Secret Garden that the Magic Medicine King was unable to control.

His eyes couldn't reach this place and his illusions weren't effective here.

Marvin stopped in front of a fallen stone tablet and looked over the Desolate Tower Ruins.

This area had been a group of buildings constructed in a valley.

Because it was a strategic location for defense, there was no way to circumvent it. Trying to go around it by climbing the peaks on either side would lead to even more dangers!

The Secret Garden was originally established as a Demi-Plane by the Mikenshi Wizards near Hell and the Astral Plane.

Although the probability of meeting a Devil or an Astral Beast on the mountainous path was very low, anyone with enough knowledge of planes would know that the edges of Demi-Planes were very unstable.

Since they might border other planes, if you kept walking, you might look up and discover that you were pulled into Hell by an unfathomable power, or ripped apart by Devil who had been wandering at the edge of the plane. The most likely misfortune to befall you at the edge would be falling out of the plane and being banished into the void by spatial interference.

In short, the Desolate Tower Ruins were dangerous, but couldn't compare with the parts along the edges.

Marvin entered the ruins.

A tall black tower that perhaps had once stood mightily over the area, as if reaching for the clouds, had already fallen and become a ruined wall.

If the [Lost Villa] was the place where Mikenshi Wizards received guests, then this valley was the place where they researched magic.

Mikenshi Wizards were proficient at cultivating Magic Medicines and were famous for it.

But in fact, their studies of magic arrays were even better.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to create such a strange space that could even suppress Legends.

Marvin walked in and could feel the desolation of the atmosphere.

Many things were already worn down by time but were maintained somewhat by a mysterious force, thus still standing straight and not collapsing.

But once touched, they would disintegrate into fine powder.

The Desolate Tower Ruins was an area where danger lurked everywhere.

On the other hand, it was also a good area.

Because the Magic Medicine King couldn't influence this area, there were still many treasures here that had been left behind by the Mikenshi Wizards.

Marvin even knew of one thing in particular.

Suddenly, a shadow in the distance roared.

Bloodthirsty fangs flickered with a light pink radiance in the cold night.

Marvin took a deep breath, his [Azure Leaf]s already in his hands.