A Wizard’s Secret

“We need to find the palace. According to Chronos, the palace is very obvious, so it shouldn’t be hard to find.”

Merlin, while using his Hallucinating spell to steer the Slothful Beast, spoke. All of them were very cautious. This dimension was very peculiar. Although there was nothing around them, the terrifying aura was omnipresent, causing everyone to be highly vigilant and dared not lower their guard.

“Such a familiar aura…”

Flarite frowned. He could sense a familiar aura but simply could not recall what it was.

Thus, riding on the back of the Slothful Beast, they continued to move forward. Soon, a red mist emerged from the ground and a rancid smell appeared.

“What is this? Everyone, be careful.”

Merlin hurriedly wielded his Maxim to protect his body. When the red mist came into contact with Merlin’s Maxim, there was a “hissing” sound. It was corroding Merlin’s ultimate Maxim.

Although the speed of this corrosion was very slow and had no effect on Merlin whatsoever, it was still his ultimate Maxim. Moreover, he was also a strong contender among the Lords. This showed how terrifying the red mist really was.

In addition, even though it was merely a small trouble, such trouble was rampant all over the ancestral land.

“What is this place?”

Merlin and Setoh exchanged a look with a grave expression. Fortunately, Flarite and the others were also extraordinary beings, so no one was harmed by the red mist. As for the Slothful Beast, it endured the most amount of red mist but it did not sustain any harm. If the attacks of three great Arcane Wizards could not defeat a Slothful Beast, what more this red corroding mist?

As Merlin and the others continued forward, a concentrated stench of death wafted toward them, accompanied by pangs of shrill screams. It was extremely distressing.

Since Merlin’s Mind Power was incomparably powerful, its effect on him was limited. Both Flarite and Setoh were also extraordinary hence, they were able to withstand it. However, Flaroah and Flarmun were only comparable to ordinary Lords, so similar looks of pain were etched on their faces.

“Calm!”

Merlin quickly mobilized his Mind Power to shroud them both. He forcibly soothed their chaotic consciousness and stopped the agitation. With that, the pangs of shrill screams were rendered ineffective.

However, this encounter only made them even more vigilant than ever. They had only been in the ancestral land for a short time yet they had encountered the red mist and the eerie screams. Even Great Lord existences like Flaroah and Flarmun seemed slightly susceptible.

It was not surprising where Chronos had mentioned that the Giant Kings he sent into the ancestral land had never returned. All of them failed. The ancestral land was constantly filled with unknown danger.

“Watch out!”

Suddenly, Setoh called out to Merlin. An eerily incomplete puppet had suddenly appeared in front of the Slothful Beast. The puppet did not have an arm, and its head had been broken. The head hung creepily on its neck.

However, this puppet gave Merlin and Setoh a spine-tingling sense of danger.

“This is bad!”

Merlin was caught by surprise. He saw the puppet slowly lift its remaining arm, and a red ball of light appeared. Immediately, an endless danger surrounded Merlin.

Even Flarite shouted, “I remember it now…”

Before he could finish speaking, Merlin already sensed absolute danger. Without thinking, he mobilized all his Mind Power, and steered the Slothful Beast to knock into the mutilated puppet brutally.

“Bang.”

How massive was the Slothful Beast? Considering its immense body, a brutal collision was enough to crush a slightly stronger dimension. Therefore, one collision with the Slothful Beast immediately smashed the mutilated puppet into pieces. The red light also disappeared quickly.

“Phew…”

Merlin released a breath of relief. Just a mutilated puppet gave him a terrifying and threatening feeling.

“This puppet, is it the Atlan civilization?”

Merlin thought carefully. The strange metallic body of this mutilated puppet and its strange structure was highly similar to the Atlan civilization.

However, even the Atlan civilization did not possess puppets as powerful as such. Furthermore, the Atlan civilization had never left the Atlan Dimension, so why would this puppet appear in the Giant Tribe’s ancestral land?

“Flarite, what did you remember?”

Setoh gazed at Flarite keenly. Earlier, Flarite had shouted loudly, apparently remembering something.

Merlin also turned around, and looked at Flarite questioningly.

Flarite took a deep breath and looked at Setoh, Merlin, and the smashed pieces of the puppet on the ground. In a deep voice, he said, “Right at the beginning, I sensed a very familiar aura but I couldn’t pinpoint it. Now, I’m very sure. The reason this place is familiar is that there’s an aura of the Vestigial Tribe! The mutilated puppet earlier probably belonged to the Vestigial Tribe. Most probably, this ancestral land was formerly a massive battlefield involving the Vestigial Tribe!”

“The Vestigial Tribe? Battlefield?”

Merlin and Setoh were shaken. Before this, they thought that the Vestigial Tribe was merely a legend or a fearsome civilization that had disappeared a long time ago.

Right now, however, this civilization had come to life right in front of their own eyes, especially in this manner that stunned Merlin and Setoh to the core.

“The ancestral land of the Giant Tribe. During the era of the Thirty-six Emperors, did you not hear about the Giant Tribe?”

Merlin glanced around him. This ancestral land was still filled with death but looking at the dereliction around them, it did resemble a battlefield.

Flarite smiled wryly. “How vast is the Void Zone? We don’t even know all Thirty-six Emperors. How would we know whether the Giant Tribe existed back then? Moreover, when we were with the Flare Emperor, we were sent to become guardians of the Flare Region world quite early on. Thereafter, we don’t know anything about the outside world.”

Merlin and Setoh looked at one another. If what Flarite said was true that this was a battlefield with the Vestigial Tribe in the past, then it was extremely terrifying. Although they had not seen the real Vestigial Tribe, the mutilated puppet had been able to pose such a huge threat to them, which meant that they could easily vanquish a Great Lord!

Additionally, this was only a mutilated puppet. It was not surprising that the Vestigial Tribe was able to conquer the entire Void Zone.

Looking at the degree of destruction in this place, the Giant Tribe must have been truly powerful in the past. There must have been numerous Titan Giants. )Otherwise, the war with the Vestigial Tribe would not have been so ferocious.

From the looks of things, it seemed that the war ended with the defeat of the Vestigial Tribe. However, the Titan Giants of the Giant Tribe were almost completely wiped out. Thus, they finally left behind some heritage blood.

This speculation would be similar to Chronos’ narration. Most probably, the reason this ancestral land became so peculiar was because of the Vestigial Tribe. If a few more of these mutilated puppets existed, no matter how many Giants came to this place, it would be useless.

Even this time, they were fortunate to have the Slothful Beast. Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable!

“How terrifying is this Vestigial Tribe? Do they rely completely on these puppets?”

Merlin asked in a whisper. He was getting more and more curious about the Vestigial Tribe. A random puppet was able to threaten a Lord, which meant that it was even more impressive than an Atlan civilization dimension-level warship.

Flarite shook his head. “No, the puppets are merely one of the many tactics used by the Vestigial Tribe. The true power of the Vestigial Tribe is their own bodies. Using some external objects, their bodies can undergo a special transformation. In just a short period, they can transform into an existence with incredible powers. Luckily, the number of their most preeminent existences were fewer than the Thirty-six Emperors. Otherwise, this outcome of the war might have been different…”

It appeared that the Vestigial Tribe had eventually lost the war but that original piece of history had almost disappeared. This meant that the powers commanded by the Thirty-six Emperors were also almost completely diminished. The entire Void Zone suffered a massive loss that was not much better than the Vestigial Tribe.

All of this was simply Merlin’s personal conjecture. Now that he found out that the ancestral land was a battlefield with the Vestigial Tribe, he became even more cautious!