Legacy of the Dark Sage

“Well… I suppose you’re not completely off the mark but…” Kyran looked at the Abbot incredulously while scratching his head. “How’d you even come up with that?”

“Gidan told us about the silver humanoid dragon. He was convinced you are related to that person, but I think otherwise. Azikh and Nahir probably think so, too.”

“Ah. That…”

“Was I wrong?”

“Well…”

Kyran planned to tell the Abbot the truth about his Void magic, but was not really keen on revealing he possessed two Ancient magic. The last thing he wanted was for the old man ending up with a heart attack before he could help him ascend.

But then again, complete beings technically are devoid of illness, thus, the old man might not receive a heart attack if he told the truth.

With a sigh of resignation, Kyran replied, “My magic is Void. And about that silver humanoid dragon… well… Let’s talk about that another time, shall we?”

The Abbot’s mouth nearly dropped to the floor at Kyran’s flippant reveal of his magic.

Others might think that hearing a mage possessing Draconic magic would shock anyone. But the truth was it was not as shocking as one might think because there were Dragons who could wield it. Although most dragon races in the Lower Realm were of mixed breed and only possessed a thin Dragon blood, reducing their magic to a mere Dragon magic, Draconic magic still existed. This was especially true in the Higher Realm where pure blooded Dragons resided.

Now, if someone said they possessed Soul magic, they would receive an even lesser reaction because Soul magic had branched out to several other known powerful magic, like Memory magic, Necromancy, and even Illusions were said to employ its nature. Others also possessed abilities that touched Soul magic’s nature, such as mind control and mesmerize. Still, there was no known person who could use pure Soul magic.

Then there was Time magic. Although there were no known species or race that could use Time magic, there were abilities, places and spells that touched its nature. An example of the latter were those people who could see the past or the future. As for places, a good example was how each plane had differing timeframes. There were also buildings like the Tower of Tribulations that could manipulate time. Then there were spells such as speed acceleration, deceleration, even restraining spells that used Time’s nature. Finally,  there were the Fates that a majority believed to wield Time magic. This was not proven, though. Since no one had truly met them.

Lastly, Void magic. Now this magic also had a branch of its own, which was called Space magic. However, there were debates that mentioned Space magic could be employing Time magic’s nature instead of Void. Simply because, one’s time could be shorten or lengthen depending on the distance of space one wanted to traverse. As for spaces that could be manipulated, such as space storage, many believed it could be considered an entirely different magic that concerned manipulating sizes, rather than employing the nature of Void magic. Unfortunately, because no one truly knew the Void’s nature, they were unable to confirm these claims.

Considering all these, the Abbot’s reaction could be justified. For Kyran to possess the most elusive Ancient magic was something he never thought possible.

But then he recalled Kyran’s strange movement while he was inside his storage space.

Wait. Space Storage…?

‘That storage space where I stayed during my abduction…!’

The Abbot reeled at a sudden realization.

“The place I stayed at… that is not a space storage created through lost technology.”

“Yeah, that’s my passive domain, Void World.”

“A passive domain?” The Abbot could not help but exclaimed in shock. But then he stopped after recalling how their talk diverge into the topic on what Kyran’s magic was. Thus, he said, “Hold on. Since we are talking about the pact before you brought the topic of your magic… you don’t mean to say that you can force-remove the pact using your magic?”

Then it hit him as he remembered what Void magic was also known as, “The Power of Nothingness! You… plan to void the pact using the Void’s nature of nothingness!”

Kyran smiled and stood up. To be honest, he did not know if his Void magic could remove the pact. Besides that, he feared making contact with Cyneah’s body using Void magic in case she got infected again, not to mention, the Macabre Glacier might act up and harm her if it sensed his energy.

Without confirming the old man’s guess, Kyran looked at Jita and said, “Tell Achim and Kesiah I’ll meet the rest after I check on Neah.”

“Yes, master.”

Kyran warped directly to Cyneah’s room and as he expected, Nahir was there.

Nahir looked at him in bewilderment. But he recovered his composure at once, and glared at him, “I heard Sisi allowed you to carry one of the tokens of this place. Can you not use it and enter my fiancée’s room however you like?”

Kyran ignored him and went to the other side of Cyneah’s bed.

His indifferent attitude ruffled Nahir’s feathers, he said, “You have the audacity of coming here after what you did to her.”

Kyran did not respond. He simply sat on the bed and leaned over at Cyneah to lift her head gently.

“What are you planning? Don’t you dare ignore me!”

Nahir was about to slap Kyran’s hand away when he saw the latter took out a glowing ruby red pill. He stopped short, sensing that the pill was of a very high quality. Not to mention, the smell it emitted actually made his blood excited. As if they were being fed with something that allowed them to improve their state.

While Nahir was rendered motionless by the pill’s quality and smell, Kyran crushed the pill in his hand and gently guided its pieces into Cyneah’s slightly opened lips.

Kyran felt a little frustrated that he could not help her digest the pill through the help of his magic sense. It did not matter if he used raw magic energy to utilize his magic sense, as long as it belonged to him he had an inkling the Macabre Glacier would act up.

That was something he wanted to avoid.

“That pill,” Nahir started.

“Will help replenish the blood she lost.”

“Blood? Father did not say anything about her losing blood.”

“Neah have to take the pills every four hours,” Kyran said, without entertaining Nahir’s remark. “I’ll have Oded and Yalen keep watch. You don’t mind them knowing about her condition, right?”

Nahir looked at him skeptically. He was convinced Kyran would act possessive where Cyneah was concerned, especially after he revealed their relationship. But thus far, he never showed much hostility. He did not even act bothered by the fact that she was already betrothed.

“No. They are her apprentices, they have the right to know.”

“Okay. I’ll tell them and give them the pills.”

Without waiting for Nahir to respond, Kyran warped out of the room.

Nahir was left feeling a little indignant about himself especially at how petty he appeared where Cyneah was concerned. He did not mind talking to Kyran in matters pertaining to the welfare of the Eidums, or about conquering Armakea. But he dislike it when the younger man was around Cyneah, or in general, he disliked everything that would connect the latter to her.

Nahir looked at Cyneah and felt remorseful. He was the one staying by her side, yet it was not him who could help her. Even though that man was the very cause of her condition, he took responsibility and found a way to help her.

Nahir was convinced he was the only person who could save Cyneah. That he was the only one she would ever need. But remembering Kyran’s silent gaze while he gave the crushed pill to Cyneah just now, Nahir was left feeling conflicted.

Kyran found Oded and Yalen helping in preparing lunch. Since he was running on a tight timeline, he could only give them a brief explanation of Cyneah’s condition and how to administer the pill.

The two were shocked to learn about Cyneah’s condition and wanted to know more. But they both know what they were about to face and that Kyran was one of the people leading them. Thus, they swallowed the question they wanted to ask and let him return to the Armakea border. They then excused themselves and went to Cyneah’s room.

Now that he had alleviated Cyneah’s condition, Kyran could finally focus on meeting the rest of the Armakeans. He went to the underground cell where all of them were gathered, and found Achim and Kesiah standing on a small platform at one end of the room. He made his way there while avoiding attracting attention. However, when he neared the platform, almost everyone had already been made aware of his presence.

A tensed atmosphere befell the congregation.

Everyone there were already aware of Kyran’s strength. And with their Divine Armaments sealed, and their movements restrained, there was nothing much they could do if they dared to fight. They could not even do suicide to save their dignity. Whether the outsider had a way to remove their suicide triggers, they did not know. What they did know was that they could no activate it.

Once Kyran arrived at the platform and faced the whole congregation, the tensed atmosphere seemed to double, nearly suffocating those low-ranked officers.

After a few nerve-racking silence, Kyran let out a chuckle and said, “There’s no need to look that serious. Achim and Kesiah might have entered into a pact with me, but I don’t plan on forcing you guys to do the same. They already gave you a chance to choose, and personally I’d expect you to choose to obey me.

“Then again, though I said I want you guys to obey me, I’d rather let you do your thing since that’s the reason I decided not to kill you.”

A cold shiver run up their spines at how nonchallannt Kyran had said the words ‘kill you.’ As if the very deed was as natural as him breathing. In any case, the way he said those last few words appeared to them like a threat. That if they did not choose to obey, they would be killed.

Another tensed silence ensured following Kyran’s words.

𝞸𝐕𝑳xt.𝒸𝔬𝓂

Finally, someone stood up, alerting the whole congregation.

“Did you really want to assist the Princess in usurping the King?”

The one who asked this question was Hohen.

Kyran tilted his head slightly as he looked toward Kesiah.

Kesiah stepped forward and respectfully lowered her head before explaining, “I told them the pact we had involved usurping the King.”

Kesiah almost called Kyran ‘Master’ but managed to stop herself. Kyran did tell her and Achim not to call him that in front of the others.

Hearing her explanation, Kyran nodded before looking back at Hohen.

“Let me get things straight,” Kyran told Hohen, before addressing the rest of the congregation. “I will conquer Armakea under the banner of the Eidums. Achim found that and came to me first, and willingly submitted so long as I spared his people.”

The rest were surprised to learn about this. They did not realize Achim, who they all believed to have set his eyes on the throne would ask for his people to be spared.

Of course, Kyran made that up. He only said this to paint a different image of Achim in their minds. Since he planned to separate them into companies that Achim and Kesiah would lead, he did not want anyone reluctant to follow Achim because of how they viewed him in the past.

“Unfortunately, you,” Kyran put emphasis on you while looking at Hohen, “Happened. If you did not stage that rebellion, none of you would have suffered. Because to be honest, one of my people is supposed to meet you and proceed with the negotiations.”

“Prince Achim had always acted… on his own interest. Thus, we never really expected him to… submit to you or request those kind of terms.”

“I can’t blame you. He did act like an assh*le,” Kyran agreed with a shrug. “But all of that is an act so the King will favor him. It worked, didn’t it? He was despised by you, and the King adores him. Because the king adores him, he granted him more knights for him to save. I’m surprised you did not realize his pure intentions.”

Achim’s facial expressions twitched slightly. He wanted to ask their master to stop saying flattering words he did not deserve. But because they were told to act normally in front of the others, he could only listen.

“Moving forward, I spared Kesiah in respect to Achim’s request. That’s why I could only restrain her during our squabble. You guys, however, overreacted and I was forced to use force to make you stop. Since you guys are also considered Achim’s people.

“After that, Kesiah and I had a talk. And with Achim there to explain his side of things, they reconciled and Kesiah also agreed to enter a pact with me.

“Now its your turn to choose. Would you follow them or would you rather choose inaction and rot in this very cell?”

“We wanted to usurp the King for his wrongdoings,” Gaham suddenly stood up in defiance. “However, what you wanted is different. You wanted to rule over Armakea. Do not try to twist our understanding by making us believe you are acting with the Prince’s and the Princess’s interest.”

“I never said I was,” Kyran replied.

“But you just—.”

“I already said: I will conquer Armakea under the banner of the Eidums. Did those words twisted your understanding? Do you want me to simplify it further?”