Earth's Greatest Magus

Just like what they had discussed and agreed upon, Annara swiftly stirred the Ouroboros ship towards the green planet in front of their eyes. It didn't take long for the ship to safely make its way and enter the planet's atmosphere.

A strong turbulence occurred on the ship as it entered the atmosphere and dived into yellowish clouds of unknown gas, as if the latter was about to break the ship apart by the sheer pressure it had.

"Hang onto something! This is going to be a bit rough!" said Annara while controlling the ship to stay on course.

"This is not normal isn't it?!!" Silva shouted and looked at Annara to see what she would said, but the red-haired girl only showed a smile as if she would not mind if the ship broke apart right this instant.

Realizing that she wouldn't get any answer from the latter, Silva turned to Emery.

"Urrgh! Emery, That girl is crazy!!"

The turbulence continued on as the ship navigated its way through the greenish clouds that obstructed visibility.

A few minutes passed, and they saw the scene in the window in front of them cleared of green clouds and replaced by a blue expanse that stretched all the way to the horizon.

At the moment, the Ouroboros ship was hovering hundreds of meters above a massive body of water. An ocean.

This beautiful and mesmerizing sight managed to quickly bring about a change to the previous gloomy mood, replacing it with a sense of relief as well as comfort.

Turning around, Annara pointed her fingers at Emery and Silva and said, "Now, both of you owe me one!"

She didn't give the two of them a chance to refute her words as she quickly turned around and fiddled with the control panel again. The red-haired girl swiftly directed the ship to move forward, towards a body of land that could be seen in the distance.

It didn't take long for the three on the ship to get a better look at what it was.

A huge tropical island with many trees visible on its shores and a massive jungle surrounded a mountain that occupied the center of the island. At glance, the place was fantastic and could even be considered a paradise on earth. 

However, the sight of such a beautiful place within a chaotic realm without any signs of civilization only served to create an atmosphere of mystery and at the same time eerie. Therefore, the three people on the ship couldn't help but be suspicious as they looked at the island below.

Under Annara's careful control, the Ouroboros ship flew across the island's shore, past the thick jungle, until finally reaching the sky near the mountain in the center. 

From high in the sky, the group could see an unfinished construct that looked really similar to a castle right at the foot of the mountain. The location where the castle stood was where the scanner said the portal gate was.

Silva quickly said, "Don't land yet. Let's scan the surroundings first."

"Of course, boss." answered Annara in a mocking tone. "Unfortunately, we don't have much fuel left. So, we're just going to scan as much as we can, and land on the beach to be on the safe side."

Turning her head to look at Silva, Annara continued, "Do you have any objection to this?"

With Silva's silence which she took as affirmation, Annara quickly did as she said earlier. 

The plan was for the group to leave the ship on the shore after they scanned the island for danger and hostile creatures. Then, they would make their way to the castle with Emery's [Spatial Gate] with the information the scan had provided them. This way, not only would it be much better for the ship's situation of lacking fuel, the ship also didn't have to be at risk to receive more damage than what it already had.

After the scan was over, the group discovered that there were hundreds of creatures ranging from mid to high level scattered and roaming around the island. 

This result was expected from an uninhabited island with no signs of human life, but what surprised the group the most was the fact that the scanner was unable to scan the castle-like construct in its entirety. This unexpected revelation could not help but make them feel dubious.

"You two needn't worry too much. There is no indication of any mythical creatures, so it shouldn't be something we can't deal with," Annara said in a confident tone.

As they didn't really have any other choice, the group eventually went as planned. The ship swiftly flew back towards the shore. After circling the island to search for an appropriate spot to land, the group eventually landed just a few hundred meters on the shore just right outside the dense jungle

Before going outside, Emery went ahead and once again checked Magus Heorgar's condition. He really hoped the man would show signs of waking up, but sadly nothing had changed.

When Emery got off the ship, he was immediately greeted by the warm sea breeze hitting him straight on the face. Afterwards, his other senses were overwhelmed by the sound of the waves rolling onto the beach and the smell of wonderful nature existing around them.

Annara could be seen stretching her rigid body while enjoying the comfortable sensation as the breeze gently caressed her body. "Such a nice planet, isn't it? If we don't have a Magus Game in three weeks, I'd love to take a vacation here for a while."

Her nonchalant words only served to further irritate Silva.

"Let's just go check the island already."

The two were about to walk towards the dense jungle ahead when Emery stopped them from doing so.

"Wait, hold on, Let me be the one to do that. After all, I can easily escape from any danger with my spell."

"Ah, yeah. You're right," Annara said in agreement. Then, she continued with a knowing smile on her face. "It will be bad if he used that escaping spell and leaving us in the middle of jungle, let him go alone"

Emery rolled his eyes at her words, knowing that she was talking about him dumping her during their collaboration before.

"No. I think we should go together; it's safer this way." said Silva

"Yes, yes. You two should go together, while I will stay here to guard the unconscious magus and the ship." Annara said, a smile still etched on her face.

Unfortunately, her suggestion was immediately destroyed by what Emery said next.

"You should stay here, Silva. I don't really trust her."

The warm gaze that Emery gave Silva made Annara show a surprised expression.

"Oh my god… I didn't realize you to be such a lady charmer. First, the lightning girl… and now, the snake girl as well. Wow… this is truly unbelievable."

"You will come with us, or be tied back!" shout Silva somehow more emotional than before

It seemed Annara finally had her fun teasing both Silva and Emery as the smile on her face disappeared and her expression turned serious. "Don't bother. I have a better way."

The red-haired girl quickly cast a spell. A moment later, a circle with runic patterns materialized on her palm and from there half a dozen bat familiars appeared.

"I'll send these little guys to do the investigation."

With a wave of her hand, the bat familiars swiftly flew into the forest and disappeared among the trees. 

Emery and Silva watched as Annara's eyes suddenly turned completely white. This was the result of her currently shifting her vision to that of the bats.

"The castle was built over a cave. This is a bit problematic."

"What do you mean by problematic?" Emery asked.

"This means that the portal must be located deep in the ground."

Realizing that her words made sense, Emery became anxious. "Can your familiar enter?"

"They're already inside," answered Annara in an annoyed tone. "Now shut up. Please let me concentrate."

Moments later, the two heard Annara say the things the bat familiars saw. 

"A few high-level creatures.. Nothing to worry about.. And there it is.. That's where the portal is.."

The two were about to approach Annara when she suddenly said something strange.

"..Wait, what is that..? What..?" 

Emery was shocked when he saw her scream and her body suddenly shook violently.

"No.. This is bad!! No!!"

Annara suddenly fell to the ground, her body trembling and shaking so much that she lost her ability to move. It was apparent that she was attacked.

An attack that could affect the caster was definitely something terrifying.

It took a few minutes for her body to stop shaking. When she finally regain her sense

"Annara, what is it? What did you see?"

The red-haired girl was still panting for breath. Dread was apparent in her eyes as she opened her mouth.

"It-It's a Beholder."

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Written by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v..e.l,