Legacy of the Dark Sage

Neo stopped in his tracks as soon as he heard the shrill cry. He looked toward the island's northern direction just in time when the powerful aura that came with a fierce gale of wind swept through the whole surrounding.

His gears went into overdrive as he processed the magic signature and transmitted it to his master.

[It's the baby Echidna.]

'You don't know, master?'

[The Royal Army set up an array around the baby Echidna's territory, probably to ensure none of you can interrupt or interfere while they deal with it. In any case, I can't see what's happening inside their array with just my regular magic sense. I will have to use my Void or Draconic sense to get a better look.]

'And doing that is impossible with the island's Magic Interference Array— ah, not quite. With master's Void magic, you can bypass the array without a problem. But if you did the Courtenay Family will be able to detect it.'

[... Yeah, that's right. Still, if the baby Echidna has unleashed its real power, it means the Royal Army has put a lot of pressure on it. It will only be a matter of time before they subdue it.]

Neo's expression turned grim, 'That is not good, right master?'

[No, definitely not.]

'Please give me your orders, master.'

Neo waited.

However, even after a few seconds, his master remained silent on the other end.

'Master—?'

"Neo!"

Neo turned and saw Archel approaching.

Because of the powerful aura still surrounding the whole island, Neo's senses got disrupted, and he failed to notice Archel's presence.

"Archel," he responded before looking behind him and noticing no beasts were chasing after him.

Noticing his gaze, Archel gave him a wry smile and said, "I lost the beasts chasing me after that insane aura swept the whole place."

His face then turned grim as he added, "That's the baby Echidna, right?"

Neo nodded, "Yes. Let's regroup with Leader Styx and the rest."

"It seems we underestimated the Royal Army's abilities."

"Actually, I feel that the current situation is happening not because of their abilities but because of their privilege as a member of the Royal Army."

Archel's eyes narrowed upon realizing the implication behind Neo's words.

"An artifact or a relic, huh."

Neo nodded, "Yes."

His guess was not without basis. When he processed the magic signature earlier, he noticed it was tinged with two residual auras that did not belong to the Royal Army members or other 'living' creatures on the island. If this was the case, the only plausible reason was that the Royal Army summoned those auras.

It was unfortunate that Neo failed to determine exactly what those auras were. But, his master might know something. He transferred all the information to him, after all.

Neo and Archel met Styx, Addie, and Mitchel on their way back to the ambush site.

"Leader."

"Styx."

Neo and Archel both greeted.

"Neo, go north and see what is happening," Styx told Neo as soon as they were within earshot.

Neo raised his brows in surprise. He did not expect Styx to give him such an important— and also very dangerous— task.

"We will continue hunting the rest of the beasts by ourselves."

"Huh? Wait a moment Styx," Archel balked at once. "We don't know how many beasts are left on the island. Besides, at this rate, the Royal Army might subdue the baby Echidna before we finish!"

Styx ignored Archel and looked at Neo.

Neo returned his gaze, and for some reason, a phrase appeared on his head that best described it.

A piercing gaze that could make others tremble.

Styx smiled, but it lacked any mirth. Neo's lack of response to his gaze confirmed one of his 'assumptions.'

Others found his gaze intimidating. Even if that 'other' had a high mage level or even a beast. One way or another, they would show a reaction.

Yet, Neo's expression remained placid. Because of this, Styx was convinced the former was no ordinary 'Master mage.'

"You..." Styx continued and tapped the side of his temple, "... have someone speaking to you here, right?"

Neo's eyes constricted, but overall, his expression remained blank.

Styx's smile widened.

"Huh?"

"What are you saying?"

"Oi, are you serious?"

Addie, Mitchel, and Archel blurted at the same time.

"It's just a hunch, but I can't help but notice how you appear to know where to find the beasts, as if someone is telling you where to go."

Addie and Mitchel exchanged glances. Compared to Archel, Neo came back more often to the ambush site with several beasts behind him.

"Not to mention, you avoided insect-type beasts."

"You mean he...?" Archel looked at Neo as well. He was too busy luring beasts that he could not spare a glance at Neo's work.

A tensed silence suddenly filled the air around them.

Suddenly, Styx chuckled and approached Neo. He patted his shoulder and said, "I am not interested in finding out whose giving you instructions... ah, f*ck— actually, I am very curious. But that can wait until we win this hunt."

A smile tugged at the corner of Neo's face.

"Oh, so Leader Styx does not have any doubt that we will win."

Styx laughed, "You f*cking bet I do."

"Wait a moment!"

Addie interrupted and grabbed Neo's shoulder, forcing him to look at her. "Are you really talking to someone right now? Isn't that cheating?"

Neo and Styx looked at her with a somewhat perplexed expression.

"Cheating?" Neo asked.

On the other hand, Styx snorted and said, "Cheating my ass. Those royal dogs are the ones cheating. They already know beforehand the locations of the legendary beasts. Not to mention, they easily evaded the small fries. Chances are they have a lot of magic items that can assist them."

"Err... I don't think being equipped with magic items can be called 'cheating,'" Mitchel chimed in.

Archel also nodded his agreement.

Styx glared at them, "I know that. My point is if they don't know what kind of beasts are in here, do you think they can prepare the right magic items to avoid them?"

"Oh, you're right. As expected of Leader Styx."

"You!" Addie glared at Neo's nonchalance. "Be as it may, are we really going to resort to cheating ourselves?"

Suddenly...

[Is there a rule in the Beast Hunt that prohibits communication through telepathy?]

Addie, Archel, and Mitchel gasped in surprise while Styx's smile widened even further.

Unfortunately, none of them knew how to respond to the voice that suddenly spoke in their heads. They could only look at Neo, who closed his eyes.

'Master, are you sure about this?'

"You know how to respond?" Archel hissed in disbelief.

"M-Master...?" Addie could not help but mutter under her breath.

Styx's sneered inwardly. After all, he recognized the voice speaking to them right now. The truth, he had his suspicions, especially about how Neo addressed him as 'Leader Styx.'

Still, he was slightly surprised after hearing Neo address him as 'Master.' It appeared he had only seen the tip of the iceberg.

[Yeah. I can only do so much with only you to instruct. But with them, we have more hands.]

"This voice...? Where did I hear it before....?" Mitchel said.

Archel furrowed his brows. He, too, found the voice familiar.

[You're probably hesitant to listen to me, but right now, if the beasts aside from the legendary ones are not cleared in the next hour, then the Royal Army will win.]

"So that cry just now is really the baby Echidna's 'rage' mode?" Mitchel asked.

[Not really. But depending on how the Royal Army acts, they can subdue the baby Echidna soon.]

"Stop with the crap and tell us what you have in mind," Styx interrupted.

[Alright. I agree with Leader Styx's idea. You four can deal with the remaining beasts on the island while Neo will go to where the Royal Army is fighting the baby Echidna.]

"But can we really finish the remaining beasts in such a short time?" Addie voiced her doubts.

[Yes. At the moment, there are only 62 beasts remaining.]

"That's an accurate number. Are you sure?" Archel asked.

"Er... instead of asking every doubt you have. Why not let my master finish?"

[...]

"Fine."

[The objective is to clear the beasts before the Royal Army subdues the baby Echidna. Leader Styx and Addie will go east, while Archel and Mitchel will go west. I'll tell you where the remaining beasts are. Neo can take care of the ones along the path to where the Royal Army went. In any case, Neo will improvise if something comes up.]

"Improvise, huh." Styx said, "Can he do it alone?"

[Yes.]

Styx sneered, "Such a quick answer."

He looked at Neo and said, "It seems I am right about you being the key member in winning this event. Go do your best."

"Roger that, Leader Styx," Neo said while doing his clumsy salute.

[Right, before you guys split up. Neo, summon some of your orbs and let them take it.]

'Yes, master.'

A large light brown magic array appeared behind him, and ten golden brown orbs slipped out.

"This...?"

They watched the orbs circle them while looking at Neo questioningly.

Neo smiled, "I may not look it, but I am an Elementor. These orbs will assist you while you deal with the beasts."

As he said this, the ten orbs evenly split up and circled Addie and Mitchel.

[The orbs are insurance. I know you guys are also running low on potions.]

"And Neo will be fine while these orbs follow us around?" Archel asked.

Neo could not help but scratch his head at Archel's question, "You can directly ask me on that, you know."

"Ah, right."

"To answer your question, yes, I will be fine. My orbs can supply themselves with magic energies in the surroundings. I don't have to supply them myself. They will also move on their own according to the instructions I have given them before summoning."

"You already include their movements with the rune writings in your magic array?"

"Yes."

"That level of magic mastery... Are you really a Master mage?"

"Can I abstain from answering that question?"

"...."

"Alright, enough of that. Let's get moving," Styx changed the subject, cutting Archel's interrogation.

"Hm," Mitchel agreed with a nod.