Legacy of the Dark Sage

"Oh I get it. Sisi is Neah, what a cute petname," Nolan said emphasizing Cyneah's 'nickname' then her 'petname' given by Kyran.

Kyran decided to gnore him. But inwardly he was cursing at himself. He just hoped Nolan would not be so childish as to tease him with Cyneah around. This, of course, was wishful thinking given Nolan's character. In any case, Kyran did not want to make Cyneah feel awkward. She did not even know he took the liberty of calling her that way.

Come to think of it, the Cyneah in Kyran's illusion had been too real. With this in mind, he looked at Anette and asked, "How is she?"

Nolan snickered on the side while Anette answered, still wearing a knowing smile, "She seemed to have experienced a trance right after sensing you are in danger. She has fallen asleep before we left."

'A trance... Don't tell me she really appeared in my consciousness?' Kyran frowned slightly. In the end, he pushed the thought aside. He could not waste his time figuring out the answer to such a phenomenan. He had more pressing matter to attend to.

By this time, True Void and Zephyr had approached them. Even Bas and Manti had appeared, both stood on guard behind Kyran.

Anette looked at the two beasts skeptically. Though she berated Nolan to stop talking about Kyran kidnapping others, seeing two special beasts similar to Zephyr made her wondered if he had gone and indeed 'kidnap' more beings like the latter.

"Master!" Zephyr greeted and ran toward him. He was about to change back into his human child form but True Void's reminder stopped him at once.

"Don't you dare change back! We are not sure if there are no eyes, looking, and ears, listening in."

Zephyr frowned, "With you shouting like that, they would have understood the situation."

Hiss...

Rawrgh...

Bas and Manti hissed and roared softly as if agreeing with Zephyr.

Zephyr looked at them and felt excited once again. It was his first time meeting other higher beasts and he could sense there were more of them. At the moment, he already knew Bas and Manti's name because he was able to talk to them telepathically. The other two still in the rift, Zephyr could not communicate with them yet because technically the other side of the rift was 'out of range.' Kyran was the only one who could since that rift could be considered a part of him.

"Master!" Zephyr started again, "You have taken in more Sigils!"

Even with the panther mask hiding Zephyr's expression, Kyran could imagine his excited face.

Kyran nodded, "In the future, I'll have you lead them."

"I will do my best!"

Seeing Zephyr's excitement, made any doubts Kyran felt about 'taking in' Savagery's beasts, disappeared. At least, when the time came that he had to remove Zephyr's Sigil, he would let the rest of the beasts accompany him. That way he would not feel alone anymore.

"Let's continue this warm and fuzzy reunion later shall we?" True Void suddenly said with great urgency. "The army is already moving and they will likely come in a few hours!"

"It will beat the purpose of my coming in the open if they don't," Kyran replied while looking at the rift where Mera and Iss were still at. He willed them out and the two left the rift to join them.

Nolan's eyes narrowed while looking at the beasts behind Kyran. He did not react when he saw them because he sensed Kyran's branding on them. Now that he could observe them up close, Nolan could not help but feel a little worried.

Taking a Quilin as a Sigil would already put a lot of strain on a human, but Kyran dared to take more. It should be known that beasts had a different level system. Their level could not be rated using human's standard. For example, if a beast was determined to be a Grand Master based from human's level system, their real prowess did not mean it was equivalent to a human mage Grand Master. Other factors like their bloodline and physique must be considered. It was because of this that Zephyr survived the constant harrassment of the Templar Code's Elite Team even when he only appeared to have a somewhat low mage level.

The reason Nolan was worried was because, having more beast Sigils would mean one had to 'sustain' their needs. Of course, he knew Kyran also dared take a human Sigil, but humans were capable of finding ways to breakthrough on their own. But a beast's breakthrough was different, and with one becoming a Sigil, it would then be dependent on its master.

Alas, Nolan had yet to know that Kyran's 'human Sigils' had grown from one to four. And as for his beast Sigils, there were more inside his Void world. If Nolan knew he would likely go insane.

Nevertheless, since Kyran did not seem to be suffering from overexhaustion Nolan could only keep his opinion and decided to keep a close watch.

"Kid," Nolan started. "I roughly understand the current situation from Anette, but your decision to become bait will not necessarily make all their forces focus on you."

Kyran looked at him. He knew this too. Frankly, the people he wanted to lure were Deception, Ruin and their armies since they were the real ones who could pose a threat to his clan. Unfortunately, Deception was the only one who responded. While she brought along a few of her army, they were likely the weakest. Kyran also knew Deception would return. Nolan might have injured her but that would not deter her.

"Kyran," Anette also voiced her opinion. "That woman's insistence in entering the Human plane is likely because she wanted to force you in surrendering the... S-Solum Tribe." She faltered slightly while thinking of her tribe. From what Kyran had told her, he was the only one who knew where the tribe was hiding.

Kyran shook his head, "That is already her reason for coming in the Human plane. But now I think she want to take me too."

"What do you mean?" Anette asked in alarm. Deception definitely saw Kyran as her 'prey,' but Kyran's meaning seemed different because knowing Deception's character, she always killed her prey, never 'take' them.

"She can't kill me because Ruin is also after me. They were working together in the Myedeo plane. I don't know what agreement they had but from how Deception avoid hurting me the first time she appeared, it means she did not want to cross Ruin. But seeing how she tried to force her way into the Human plane, something might have happened while I was unconscious, which changed her mind," Kyran paused and looked at the four beasts behind him, hissing and growling silently. "Based on what my beasts had witnessed, Deception's mood changed after falling out with a guy with Shadow magic."

Nolan scowled, "That f*cking d*ckhead was here?"

"I'll wash your mouth with poison one of these days," Anette could not help but berate at him.

Nolan acted as if he had not heard her and waited for Kyran's reply.

Although Kyran did not know who 'f*cking d*ckhead' was, he knew the Royal Army's Grand Marshal possessed Shadow magic.

"Deception used her magic on him but he managed to escape."

"That did seem like something that woman would do," Anette remarked.

"Do you really not know why she took interest on you?" True Void joined in the conversation.

They all looked at him.

"You know something?" Kyran asked.

"Goodness, seriously, you..." True Void was speechless. "Did you really think your Sigils killed off all the army soldiers that came here?"

When Kyran did not react, True Void sighed in exasperation and said, "You were going on a killing spree even when you were under her illusion. Of course she would be interested! Besides, you are the new Dark Sage! When will you understand the gravity of that?"

Kyran frowned slightly. True Void would normally call him the new Void Master not Dark Sage. Why did he use the latter suddenly?

On the other hand, Nolan and Anette seemed to have thought of something and their expressions turned grim at once.

Both had ventured into the Tower of Tribulations and was aware of some matters in the outside world. They had heard about a Dark Sage but none of them tied it with the 'Dark Sage' in the Human plane. After all, there were plenty of mages that turned evil who was given that psuedo in other planes. Could True Void be referring to that 'Dark Sage'?

"You know something," Nolan said to True Void. It was not a question but a statement.

"I do. But now is not the time to talk about that," True Void surprisingly did not attempt to lie.

In Kyran's opinion, True Void likely realized how pressing the situation was now and keeping secrets would be counterproductive.

"Nolan," True Void addressed Nolan. "You went to find Azaloth's inheritance. How did it go?"

Nolan was already familiar with True Void back in the Tower of Tribulation, although he only knew that the latter was connected to the previous Void Master.

"I managed to find the room where it is being kept," Nolan replied.

True Void gaped at him in disbelief. But since he was still in panther mask form, they only saw the mask's face distorted.

"What? You didn't take it? Why did you even find it if you're not going to take it?" He burst. But then a thought crossed his mind as he gasped, "Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! You managed to stop a Sovereign from entering the Human plane without even taking Azaloth's inheritance?"

Nolan sneered and smugly said, "Piece of cake."

Anette was also speechless. She had thought Nolan decided to take in Azaloth's inheritance, thus, achieving a breakthrough. His strength might still be far from being on par with a Sovereign but he could at least hold his own. To think that he did not take it for himself, and still managed to stop a Sovereign's descent. She did not realize his mage level had improved this much!

Then again, Anette knew Nolan wanted Azaloth's inheritance for Cade to restore his damaged core. Cyneah could heal a mage's magic core, but Cade's damaged core was not something she could heal completely. At most, Cade could circulate magic energy again without feeling any pain, but he likely would never be able to achieve a breakthrough in mage level.

"Just what is your mage level?" True Void asked Nolan.

Kyran sighed inwardly. The same moment Nolan replied, Kyran also thought of it.

"What do you think?"

'What do you think?'

Typical Nolan to answer that way to avoid the topic.

The panther mask's expression turned blank.

"You want to take my father in that place and receive Azaloth's inheritance," Kyran veered the conversation on track.

Nolan looked at Kyran. Surprisingly, his expression turned solemn as he answered, "Yes."

Kyran heaved a sigh. He guessed as much. When Nolan made a fuss about wasting his Transmission Scroll, Kyran already guessed he was planning to use it for something very important. Given Nolan's bad sense of direction, it was already a miracle to find Azaloth's Inheritance. This also proved how much effort Nolan exerted just to find it. But going back there might still be hard and to ensure he could return there with Cade without any trouble, Nolan needed the Transmission Scrolls.

"All the more now," Nolan added.

If Cade could restore his damaged core with the help of Azaloth's inheritance, there was a possibility he could also receive a breakthrough. He might even directly breakthrough to a Magus or even higher. It might not be enough to threaten a Sovereign but it was not necessary for him to fight the latter either. There were other high-leveled mages to be wary of in their current situation.

"What are we waiting for?" True Void said, "Let's go get your father and take him to Azaloth's Inheritance!"

"Easier said than done. Ruin is probably still in the Regis Estate. I can't directly warp inside either."

"Of course you can't," Nolan snorted looking at Kyran as if he was an idiot. "If you can then what was the point of all these."

Kyran fought the urge to punch him. He was only stating facts, Nolan did not have to look at him like that.

Seeing Kyran's expression Nolan was quite amused. Then he said, "Cade and I know an array formula to counter warp-like abilities. Knowing you, he will definitely include that formula in the estate's defensive array to prevent you from returning. Anyway, if the defensive array is in the verge of collapse, Cade will definitely leave the barrier to face the enemy alone."

Kyran also thought of that, which was why he was tempted to remove the seal on the Mark of Ruin to draw Ruin away from the Regis Estate as soon as possible. He was afraid his father would suffer in Ruin's hands.

"Don't worry, master," Zephyr said after sensing Kyran's emotions. "Your father also received the King's blood, right? Then he is not entirely helpless."