An Astral Beast was on the verge of awakening!

This was a terrifying crisis for Feinan.

Although Marvin speculated that Eric's soul might not have been completely shattered but instead partially merged with the Astral Beast, this was only a hypothesis.

Not to mention, even if Eric's soul was in charge, who knew what kind of changes there might be in his temperament after suffering at Orica's hands?

The most terrifying thing in this world wasn't destructive power, but rather, the one who possessed such power and whether that person would be able to control it.

In the Astral Beast Remains area, the aura of the soul became increasingly stronger.

A lifeforce was rousing. Even though the corpse was still lying inert, it gave them a great deal of pressure!

"No good, let's hurry!"

Ivan looked incredibly worried.

This was the guy who dared to fight the Ancient Red Dragon Ell, but in front of this Astral Beast, even he had an ugly expression!

It showed how terrifying an Astral Beast was!

The two were going to quickly withdraw, hoping they could leave the Secret Garden before the Astral Beast awakened completely.

But at that time, a weak voice spoke into their ears. "Don't… leave."

"I won't hurt anyone…"

It was quiet, but extremely firm.

"Eric?" Marvin asked.

"You know my name?"

The voice sounded a bit moved.

It gradually became steadier. The lifeforce coming from the Astral Beast was still continuously erupting.

Marvin nodded.

Eric sighed, "Teacher already died? If I'm not wrong, he must have died at your hands."

"Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to wake up."

"It's a pity… I won't be able to hold on for too long."

Marvin and Ivan glanced at each other. This Astral Beast in front of them was truly too frightening.

But within this frightening Astral Beast was a seemingly young soul, which seemed rather unfitting.

They stopped and forced themselves to communicate with Eric.

Soon, Marvin understood what had been missing from the known history:

Eric destroyed the soul transfer ritual and was crushed by Orica out of anger.

He should have died.

But at that time, the Astral Beast, whose soul was on the verge of expiring, unexpectedly saved him.

The instinct-driven Astral Beast knew that its soul couldn't keep going. It had fought two unimaginably hard battles one after the other and then Orica had used a special trick to drain the power from its soul. It couldn't survive anymore.

Thus, it used its final bit of power to enclose Eric's soul fragment in its body.

The Astral Beast's body locked Eric's soul inside, not allowing it to drift away. His soul gradually fused with the Astral Beast's body over the years thanks to the body's frightening vitality.

In fact, he had already woken up a long time ago.

His soul had completely fused and he was also able to control the body.

But he wasn't allowed to actually wake up.

Because Orica was still there, and so was the original soul contract.

Orica could crush Eric's soul with just a thought.

What angered Orica was that the Astral Beast had put a terrible curse on its own body before dying.

Besides Eric, who he had chosen to save, no soul was allowed in.

And Eric's soul couldn't be removed.

Thus, with the passage of time, Eric recovered countless times. Yet what awaited him each time was having his soul ruthlessly obliterated again by Orica!

He was continuously tortured as his soul was crushed and reformed time and time again.

This wasn't something people could endure.

But Eric managed to withstand it.

He eventually realized that he could just remain in a slumber and not awaken unless Orica died, so that he would no longer have to suffer from his soul being crushed.

Now that his teacher had finally been killed by Ivan, he could awaken safely.

The only unfortunate thing was that after the endless years, his soul had suffered too much damage and he couldn't hold on for too much longer.

The Astral Beast's body was strong, yet the nourishment it could give to the soul was limited.

He could feel that he didn't have much time left.

...

"I don't know what era it is."

Eric smiled bitterly. "How many years have I stayed in this Astral Beast's body? A millennium? Two?"

"My friends have already passed away?"

"With how things are, death is also a kind of relief."

Marvin and Ivan were facing him silently.

Eric seemed very peaceful, like a bashful youth from a random village.

Even after experiencing so much pain, his character still hadn't changed.

He only felt lonely.

"At the time when teacher picked me to become his assistant, I simply couldn't believe it."

"Everyone thought I was a waste, but teacher acknowledged me. I was crazily happy."

"Up until I found out it was a trap. After all, he only needed the help of a waste."

Eric's soul let out a bitter laugh.

Marvin could feel that the abnormal lifeforce was now continuously waning.

This might be the last time Eric would awaken. His soul might fade from this point on.

As for the Wizard Apprentice's story, he really had too much on his shoulders.

"You aren't a waste," Marvin declared resolutely. "No waste could stop a disaster that would have destroyed this world. You are a true hero."

"Hero?" Eric sighed. "If I could choose again, I would have refused that old man who came to our village saying that I had the gift to be a Wizard and that he wanted to take me to the Mikenshi school."

"Because I owe too much…"

Following Eric's sentence, an image appeared before their eyes:

An old village bustled under the setting sun. A shy youth sat on a carriage with excitement and reluctance while being urged by the coachman.

Standing on the side of the road was a group of people seeing him off with excitement on their faces. Yet among them, there was a girl wearing a shabby dress who was holding back her tears.

She looked like a very ordinary farmer's daughter.

Sadness emerged in the hearts of Marvin and Ivan.

Eric sighed once more. "She said she would wait for me…"

"I liked her for so many years and I had intended to look for her after becoming an official Wizard."

"But I never returned."

"I still owe her a confession…" Eric mumbled.

Eric's fate wasn't something he could control.

Perhaps this was the fate of a true hero. He saved the world but wasn't able to give the best ending to the people at his side.

Regardless, several thousand years had passed. Everything was gone, only leaving the soul of an ancient youth on the verge of disappearing.

"I hate it… Why was I such a coward… Why didn't I express myself while I still had the chance?"

Eric's voice rose. "I am a coward!"

"I struggled for so many years in that monster's body, but what for?"

"There's no value in my life anymore…"

The power of his soul was now very faint. It felt as if even wind could scatter his soul.

Marvin hesitated as he couldn't bear saying it, but in the end, he clenched his teeth before speaking out. "I know that saying this to you is unfair, and you should be allowed to rest."

"But this world is facing a very frightening threat."

"I hope that you won't just expire like this… This world still needs a hero to rescue it."

Eric muttered, "This world?"

"It's not the world I know anymore. What does it have to do with me?"

Marvin shook his head. "You can open your eyes to look at the world."

"I know you should be able to with your strength."

"Look at this world, what's so different from yours?"

"Children are still innocently playing around, middle-aged people are still worried about their livelihoods, greedy merchants are still conducting ruthless deals, and Devils, Demons, Evil Spirits, and even the almighty Gods are aiming at this land.

"This world still needs you."

Eric was silent for a moment. Ultimately, the last remnant of his soul power disappeared from the Astral Beast's corpse.

Marvin and Ivan looked at each other and sighed.

Eric already did so much.

Him not using the power of the Astral Beast to do evil was already the best outcome.

Choosing to leave now was a relief for him.

He was already incompatible with this world. The people he cherished had passed away a long time ago.

The Astral Beast's lifeforce was dissipating.

Suddenly, a bone appeared in Marvin's hands.

Eric's weak voice drifted out once again. "When you need me, wake me."

"I can only awaken once more. After that, even if I wanted to help, my soul would still dissipate."

"I'll close the Secret Garden. I'll be kicking everyone out, so be careful."

Moments later, the two felt a terrifying repulsive force rush over them.

After their surroundings changed, the two appeared in Breton Village.

There were many people around them, all Half-Legends.

"What's going on? Why were we suddenly kicked out?"

"The Secret Garden closed? Who got a Magic Medicine?"

"What about those Legend powerhouses? Where did they go?"

As people asked various questions, their eyes focused on Ivan.

Because he was the only Legend who left the Secret Garden.

To this, Ivan only coldly snapped, "Fuck off!"

They all froze.