Legacy of the Dark Sage

Kyran paused for a few seconds and sorted his thoughts.

Only when he had properly put aside what he had pondered to the back of his mind did he reply to Zephyr. He said, "I have read about the Heart of the Cosmos."

He stopped and smiled wryly before continuing, "It's a mouthful to say. Let's stick in calling it the Shaiha."

"Well, that is how it is originally called," Zephyr agreed with a nod. Then he frowned slightly and commented, "I am surprise you know the Heart of the Cosmos."

The Human plane was a backwater world that had only been breached once. Normally, after being invaded once, a plane would slowly develop and its magic law would adapt to the change. This was the influence brought by the 'outsiders.'

But the Human plane was different.

Its magic law was very profound that the influence of outsiders were not necessary. The only reason the Human plane had not developed much was because of the plane's unrestrained magic law.

To make it simple, any outsider could use their original plane's magic law in the Human plane. This had been one of the Human plane's attraction.

"I do. But don't ask where I learned it because I can't tell you," Kyran said before Zephyr ask any follow up questions.

"I won't," Zephyr assured him.

Information about the Heart of the Cosmos was not exactly non-existent.

In planes where magic was far more advance than the Human plane, its information were recorded in almost all private archives of influential factions or family.

As far as Zephyr could tell, Kyran had a drastic change. It was as if he received a baptism of fire that forced him to grow in a short span of time.

"Far too many things are said that the Shaiha could do. And while I can't doubt its source, personally, I don't know if what has been said about it are all true."

He closed his eyes and rested his right hand on his chest. Even without fully imersing himself to look inside his sea of consciousness, he could sense the Shaiha's presence within.

"But, whether they are true or not, several Sovereigns out there believed at least one of the rumored things the Shaiha could do and will do everything to get their hands on it."

Zephyr looked at him in surprise. He had refrained from talking about the people who were after the Shaiha before and did not mention anything about them. He did not expect Kyran to know about them now.

The matter surrounding the Sovereigns was far too complicated than them knowing about the existence of other planes.

"You... Also, know about the Sovereigns."

It was not a question, and Kyran knew it. He already guessed Zephyr refrained from mentioning them because as far as they were concerned, the highest mage level was a Sage.

As for why Nolan and Anette did not mention anything about them, they were bound by the Tower of Tribulation's secrecy and could not inadvertently leak any information they had acquired there to people who had no prior knowledge of such things.

Zephyr heaved a sigh as he nodded, "I told you about the Demon General that came to this area and almost annihilated your clan. The real reason why he came here was that he felt the presence of the Shaiha. He thought your clan knew where it was.

"The King of the Dragons, at first, turned a blind eye to what was happening. After all, it is better to sacrifice them than let the Demon General find the Sacred Shaiha and eventually expose the existence of the Imperial Dragons and the Quilins guarding it."

Kyran's expression remained unreadable as he listened to Zephyr. He had guessed as much and though he was seething in anger inside by the Dragon King's lack of compassion for his ancestors, he understood his reasoning.

If he was in the same situation, he would do the same.

The only exception was if he had to choose between the Shaiha and sacrificing his own people. In all honesty, he would not hesitate in giving up the Shaiha, even if it meant the whole world would fall. Because Kyran knew that even if the world falls, he was confident in keeping his people safe.

As for what would happen to other people, he did not care. He was no hero, after all.

Zephyr observed Kyran's expression as he told him about the Dragon King's decision. Unfortunately, he failed to detect any change in Kyran's mood.

Since Kyran did not appear to be angry, Zephyr continued, "You already know what happened next. The King of the Dragons felt compassion for your ancestor's courage and helped.

"Unfortunately, the King of the Dragon's action exposed us. The Demon General escaped, and the news about the Shaiha reached the demons. In the end, all the dragons were forced to join the war to help the humans win."

"However, even if the humans won, the news of the Shaiha has been leaked. Once the Sovereigns heard it, a war that could shake the entire universe would have occurred. In the end, the dragons left the Human plane to throw them off the Shaiha's trail," Kyran interjected.

Zephyr smiled wryly and nodded, "As expected of my master. That is correct. The Sovereigns who got the news eventually heard about the dragons leaving with the Shaiha. So they did not go here and instead, went after them. But the truth is the Shaiha never left the Human plane. And a few selected Quilins had stayed to guard it."

The First War a thousand years ago finally made much more sense to Kyran. He also got a new piece that might answer the Soul Emperor's motive of inviting the demons over to the Human plane.

"Don't you find it odd?" Kyran asked Zephyr.

Kyran's question took Zephyr by surprise. He was unsure what prompted his question.

"What is odd?"

"A Demon General suddenly appeared and sensed the Shaiha. To search for it, that demon almost exterminated my ancestors."

Zephyr frowned slightly, still unable to follow Kyran's words.

Instead of continuing, Kyran let Zephyr ponder what he said.

After a few seconds, Zephyr's expression turned grim as he realized something. He looked at Kyran and said, "As far as my ancestor's memories were concerned, when the Demon General came, the demons were still mostly in the southern part of the plane. A few groups of high-ranking demons were sent out to scout but not a Demon General by himself. And mostly, they would scout the east and the west parts but... the Sacred Shaiha might be located in the 'west' now, but in the past, this area was on the borders of the central lands."

Kyran nodded.

This had been one of the things that confused him when Zephyr told him how his clan migrated to Meliora.

During the First War, there had been no Ylfaen Empire, nor other nations that ruled in different parts of the world. There was only one Human faction.

The only reason Kyran did not raise this question, was because his knowledge was lacking and he did not want to dwell much on the past. He was far more concerned about the current situation of his clan.

"Someone else let that Demon General here. And that someone might already know something about the Shaiha. In the first place, the Shaiha had been lost for millions of years. Could a Demon General be able to identify the Shaiha's presence? The dragons and the quilins are the only ones who knew what the Shaiha's presence felt like.

"Let's say the Demon General only felt a powerful presence but did not know it was the Shaiha. Any wise general would not blindly attack alone inside the human territory just to confirm what he had felt. He would have reported the matter to his superiors first and they could devise a plan focusing on creating a path going here.

"I also found it strange that the Demon General managed to escape, even after the Dragon King intervenes. If I am correct, that Demon General was no ordinary demon. Most likely, he... was an essence of a Sovereign if he could escape from the Dragon King's grasp. And as to how the demon managed to enter deep into the human territory, it's either because he was capable or that... someone from the human side let him in."

Zephyr's mind almost blew off some steam at Kyran's explanation. He did not realize that such a conspiracy had been hidden in the First War.

"But... who in the human side would even...!" He stopped short as he thought of the answer. His eyes widened as he stared hard at Kyran.

"You don't mean... the... Soul Emperor?"

"It is a possibility."

"But master, at that time, the Soul Emperor had yet to appear."

"Really? Didn't my ancestor find proof that the Soul Emperor was the culprit behind the demons and the others entering the Human plane?"

Zephyr fell silent.

Kyran was correct.

The memories Zephyr inherited did not have the information on how the Dragon Lord learned of the Soul Emperor's deeds. His ancestor did not even witness the Soul Emperor's execution.

"Let's put the matter of the Soul Emperor aside for now," Kyran told Zephyr. "I need you to tell me if the Shaiha's defensive array was created before the demon came or after."

Zephyr, caught off guard by Kyran's question again, scratched his head.

"I... don't know. But as far as I could remember from my ancestor's memories, the Shaiha was not hidden in the temple before."

Kyran nodded, "I see. That should be enough."

Then he stood up and looked at the room's ceiling. He already sensed that the core of the temple's defensive array was located there.

"Undo your reinforcement, I need to study the temple's array."

Zephyr instantly broke into cold sweats.

When a mage studies an Array, he would need to use his magic sense. With the Shaiha currently inside Kyran's body, until they understood how it would affect him, or what changes it might have done to his body, he should refrain from using his magic.

However, Zephyr was too scared to voice this out. He felt if he said anything, Kyran would use his magic even more.

"Uhm... master. Is it really okay? I mean you have the Shaiha... It will definitely influence your magic."

"I know," Kyran replied recalling the things he had read about the Shaiha.

But currently, it was hovering right above his central core. When he used his magic sense, he only activated either his Void or Draconic cores. As long as he was careful, he would not inadvertently trigger the Shaiha.

Besides, though it looked like a magic core, it was not... right?

Kyran would soon find out how wrong he was.