Legacy of the Dark Sage

Kyran knew this was not the case, of course. But since he did not know what happened between the Royal Army and the Royal Family before the assimilation happened, he wanted to understand how the noble families saw this event.

"There is that," Ezra agreed. "After all, Emperor Euan's plan is known by most noble families, and some opposed the idea of the Royal Family's union with the Regis Clan. Their opposition is mostly because of the fact that the Winfrey bloodline is very evident in the Crown Princess..."

His voice trailed off, an evident indication of his hesitation to continue. But then he took a deep breath, clenched his fist, and finally said, "The truth, most noble families are aware how the Winfreys coveted the Regis bloodline in the past."

Kyran's eyes narrowed. Not because it was the first time he heard this, but because his Draconic core began to hum inside him.

It seemed his ancestor was aware of this fact and had a very strong opinion about it.

"It was said, the Regis possessed something that the Soul Emperor feared. That was why the Winfreys chose to form a union with the Regis instead of having to deal with them. At least, that was their goal until the tragedy happened."

Stella suddenly grabbed Kyran's arm. As if not doing so would result in him going far away. Even the air around White Lily dropped to a dangerous level.

Ezra and Zuri noticed this and were perplexed. It appeared this information was true if it could invoke powerful emotions in both White Lily and the Time Keeper.

Kyran felt Stella's hand tremble while she clung to his arm.

Stella's reaction reminded Kyran of an incident when his Draconic core resonated with his emotions when Zephyr was getting bullied by the Templar Code Elite Team. Before he knew what he was doing, his body moved. At first, he did not want to heed his Draconic core's will, but in the end, he followed it in fear of his core getting out of control again— just like when his Draconic core and Void core got influenced by the experiences of his predecessors.

It was one of those moments in life he never wanted to experience again.

For this reason, he could only imagine how much regret the First Time Keeper had felt for his predecessor, Caelan, to have made Stella react strongly in that instant.

"... treated as a friend and yet..."

Kyran heard her mutter under her breath. He knew that the four people who possessed Ancient Magic were all friends. But the Soul Emperor secretly plotted many evil things, which resulted— at least according to Kyran's understanding— in both the Dragon Lord and the Time Keeper believing Caelan had gone evil.

Ultimately, the truth came to light after Caelan's death, and the Dragon Lord and the Time Keeper viewed the Soul Emperor as the true evil.

Nevertheless, Kyran could not shake off the feeling that Caelan never thought the Soul Emperor to be evil. Because the stronger emotion he could feel in his Void core when the Soul Emperor was being mentioned were great sadness and... affection.

Because of this, Kyran could not genuinely get angry at Stella or White Lily for acting the way they did when they found out about Cyneah.

"How do you know about this?"

Kyran asked after falling into contemplation for a few seconds.

He first wanted to ask if Ezra knew what that 'something' the Soul Emperor feared because he felt that the latter did not fear the fact that a dragon blessed the Regis clan, but rather, the dragon that blessed the Regis clan was the Dragon King. Kyran noticed it from how Ezra said 'instead of dealing with 'them' as if he was referring to an entity and not anything immaterial or material things.

Dragons evoked awe and fear among humans and even other creatures. It would not be surprising if the Soul Emperor were also wary of them. And the fact that the Dragon King seemed to hold the Dragon Lord in high regard meant the Regis was a threat to the Soul Emperor.

The second thing that piqued Kyran's interest was when Ezra said 'until the tragedy happened' but decided against it. There were far too many inconsistencies in the stories of the truth that happened a thousand years ago. Thus, Kyran decided to confirm the authenticity of the information first instead of asking Ezra what he knew because in case the older man shared his thoughts on the matter instead of giving him the real facts.

"One of our founders found an ancient record which we believed was written when the previous Void Master was still alive. Unfortunately, because the record was written in ancient runes, we could only decipher a few of the information and the record itself was broken and incomplete."

This information instantly piqued Kyran's interest.

Nolan told him about his family investigating a broken ancient record that a past Patriarch of the Regis Clan had found in their land. The Regis found out that the record dated back to when their ancestor, the Dragon Lord, still lived, and the 'Dark Sage' was still known as the Void Master. Because of this, they chose the elite members of the Regis to search for the missing pieces of the record.

Kyran's father, Cade, his mother, Rin, Nolan, and Anette were the last ones who were tasked to continue the search. Unfortunately, their search got delayed because of Nolan— or rather 'Gray's' supposed 'death.'

In any case, if the broken record Ezra mentioned was one of the missing pieces of the record his clan was searching for; once they retrieve this piece then they would have more puzzle pieces to piece together and get a better image of what happened in that era.

Going back to the Chaos Palace and attempting to trigger an event where Kyran could meet his predecessor again in his sea of consciousness was another option. But since he did not know the 'requirements' in triggering that event, it could not be considered a reliable option.

Getting the record had now become one of Kyran's priorities now. Having a better understanding of what happened in the past would help him grasp the Royal Family's real intentions.

If he had to be honest, Kyran had an inkling that Emperor Euan and the Crown Princess's objectives were not aligned.

However, Kyran could not bring up the record at this point. He had not heard what the Montgomerays were after for meeting him, after all.

True they agreed to meet him because of the Snow Mountain King's recommendation, but the fact that Kyran had yet to observe how the Montgomerays treated the Spirits was preventing him from fully trusting them.

Kyran was not afraid the Montgomerays would sell him to the Royal Family though. If this discussion fell out, he already had a countermeasure in place.

In the end, his identity as the Void Master and 'Tyr' would remain a secret.

"I don't really trust what you say until I see it for myself," Kyran started.

Ezra nodded in agreement, "I can understand that."

"In any case, I want to confirm the truth about the Winfreys' coveting the Regis bloodline."

"Hm," Ezra touched his chin in contemplation, "I agree. If we don't, depending on the truth, you may end up becoming the Regis Clan's enemy especially when their Young Master is found and he with the Crown Princess becomes engaged—."

"That won't happen."

"Unacceptable!"

"That woman will receive the wrath of the Spirits if they insist on doing that."

Kyran, Stella and White Lily replied at the same time.

An awkward silence followed, leaving Ezra and Zuri at a loss of why the three reacted in this way.

But then, the older man's eyes widened as he thought of something and he replied, "D-Don't tell me..."

He looked at Kyran and asked, "Have you anticipated this and already made contact with the Regis? Could it be that the Regis Young Master has not been abducted but is currently under your care?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...."

Another awkward silence followed, before Stella, White Lily and Silas all turned toward Kyran.

Zuri noticed this and frowned slightly. While Ezra looked at the three before looking back at Kyran. He too noticed their reaction and knew he had said something wrong. Or maybe he was a tad bit off from hitting the middle mark.

Before Ezra could say anything, Kyran said, "The Regis Clan will not be a problem. That's all you need to know."

"Void Master," Zuri chimed in.

"Zuri!" Ezra looked at her. Judging from the tone of his voice, he sounded displeased by Zuri's sudden interjection.

"I don't mean to sound disrespectful. However, if you treat my father like that..."

The moment he heard her words, Ezra's blood had run cold. He looked at Kyran and was about to apologize on her behalf when the latter shifted his attention to Zuri and asked, "Like what? How do I treat your father in your eyes?"