Legacy of the Dark Sage

Because of Alary's worrying news, Kyran returned to the estate ahead of time. Initially, he wanted to meet with Byron and Silas before returning. But given the situation, he asked Alary to deliver a message to them instead.

Alary did not mind. As a matter of fact, he was ecstatic to be of help to Kyran.

Since Kyran could not warp directly inside the estate, he warped near the main gate of the Regis Estate's Outer Wall.

Alary said that the army would come from the east. If Kyran wanted to intercept them, the estate's main gate would be the best point to do so because it was located in the east.

The night had fallen, and the Regis Estate was shrouded in darkness, making it appear eerie and, at the same time, seem lonely.

Approximately two months ago, the estate would have been brightly illuminated by the lamps installed on the wall by this time. But after the army's first raid, most of those lamps had been destroyed. Even when the army tried to make the estate appear 'normal,' they did not bother fixing the wall lamps and only fixed the ones on the main gate. After they made a temporary camp within the estate's Inner Walls, they no longer turned on the main gates' lights.

Kyran, with True Void sitting on his right shoulder, stood in front of the main gates. Because of his dark clothes, he blended well in the darkness, and True Void's dimly lit purple eyes were the only indication of their presence.

Sounds of rustling leaves from the nearby trees filled the air as a gust of wind blew past them.

[Void Halfling, if they are coming from the east, Azaloth may be among them.]

'Maybe,' Kyran replied.

[Are we really going to intercept them?]

'Nolan and Ruin are in a deadlock. Even if Mannick is there and will not attack, it doesn't mean the others will do the same.'

[Point taken. Anyway, I find the army's movement a little strange. Azaloth said Ruin's and Deception's armies were camping outside the estate's inner wall with the rest of the army. Why did they leave just to have others to replace them?]

Kyran shared the same doubts. But thinking about Iulia's words and Eoin's information, Kyran was aware that Euan and Haylee did not see eye to eye. At least, the latter had her own agenda, which the emperor was unaware of. In any case, Kyran hoped to stop the army's advance to give Nolan a breather. He would have gone to help him, but if Ruin realized who he was, the latter might do something unpredictable.

It made Kyran recall the first time he met Ruin. Especially when his essence died, and he went to the Lignum plane with his real body. Because the plane was in a bad state, Ruin did not immediately enter, but the pressure from his hand alone gave Kyran goosebumps. Though Kyran's limited magic knowledge gave him a huge disadvantage, he did not think that gaining a better understanding of his magic gave him an advantage now. At the very least, he could hold his own, but he still would not win.

Ruin was already using his real body, and while the Sovereign's Cradle had suppressed his level, there was no telling if Mannick could maintain it. He was only an essence, and Azaloth was still asleep. Kyran had an inkling the Sovereign's Cradle would eventually lose its effect.

'Focus on what's in front of us first. We'll think about the rest later.'

[Fine. Fine.]

True Void grumbled.

[And? Who are you going to portray this time?]

'Nar.'

True Void looked at Kyran's profile.

[What? You haven't even tried that one.]

Kyran did not respond and took out his face-altering mask. He changed its setting to Nar's face and altered his clothes a little, adding a black scarf to cover his lower face.

[Right. What is Nar's profile again? I don't remember you telling me about it.]

'It's fine,' Kyran told him. 'Just turn into a breastplate or something.'

[Why you…]

True Void might have sounded annoyed, but he did move and disengage the miniature armor. But instead of a breastplate, he turned into a shoulder guard that covered Kyran's right shoulder and a bracer, which covered his left forearm.

Kyran took out the two obsidian swords from his pouch.

Soon after, the ground started to tremble, and Kyran looked ahead. He spread out his magic sense, and after a few minutes, he finally sensed several war chariots and infantries speeding from the east side.

Kyran frowned.

'This…'

[What is it, Void Halfling-?]

Even before True Void could finish his question, Kyran had already moved. He sprinted forward. His dark brown eyes glowed because beneath the mask; his eyes had already turned silver.

A whirlpool of fire shot down from above.

Kyran's eyes widened, and he rolled to the side to dodge the flames at once. Before he could regain his bearing, several short spears suddenly appeared in midair and flew at him. Their blades glinted red, reflecting the flames nearby.

Kyran crouched down and spun three hundred and thirty degrees; his two obsidian swords danced around as he deflected the short spears.

Ching! Ching! Ching!

Metal against metal resonated in the air as the swords and short spears clashed.

As Kyran deflected the last spear, his brow creased and somersaulted at once. When he did, another whirlpool of fire shot toward him horizontally up ahead.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Another set of short spears appeared out of nowhere, and Kyran barely dodged them by twisting his body in midair. The ground where he was supposed to land trembled. Soon after, another whirlpool of fire shot upward in his direction.

Kyran's eyes narrowed. He did not want to warp and give away his identity. But he was not entirely hopeless. He had other movement techniques he could use during ties like this.

His body suddenly blurred as he disappeared and reappeared twenty meters ahead. He had no intentions of escaping into the estate because he was here to intercept the army. That was why instead of retreating, he chose to advance!

Just now, when Kyran was trying to perceive the army's location, he had sensed three forerunners instead. These three were no ordinary forerunners because two of them were Grand Masters, and while the other had a low mage level, her magic was a little troublesome.

That was right. Kyran knew that mage. As a matter of fact, he was familiar with all three of them.

Ganza, Kairo, and Vera.

"So nice of you to deliver yourself to me!" Ganza shouted as he wielded his long spear with flaming tips and attacked from above.

Kyran did not look at him and simply sidestepped to avoid the spear's tip.

BANG!

The spear hit the ground, creating a web-like crack from the force.

[Void Halfling!]

True Void warned as Ganza recovered at once and swept the spear toward Kyran's legs.

But.

DING! CRACK!

The spear's flaming tip broke as soon as it hit Kyran's calf.

"Wha- ngh!"

Devoid of emotions, Kyran mercilessly struck Ganza's neck. However, before his sword could go deeper, the latter's body shifted, disappearing in a blink of an eye.

[Oi, oi! Just now, did he just…]

Kyran sighed inwardly. Magic that somewhat resembled his magic's 'warp' ability was genuinely troublesome.

'It's Space magic.'

[What?]

Instead of addressing True Void's question, Kyran did a reverse somersault, dodging another whirlpool of fire that came hurtling toward him from behind. While in midair, he saw the whirlpool's edge disappearing and reappearing right before him.

Whirling the two obsidian swords in his hand, Kyran repelled the whirlpool of fire, redirecting their trajectories on each side. Using his magic sense, he sensed an incoming dagger aimed at the back of his head.

Kyran's eyes flashed. He used his movement technique and reappeared in front of Kairo, who had summoned the whirlpool of fires.

Kairo did not look surprised when Kyran appeared before him. He even had a smile on his face as he raised his long swords and struck downward, aiming to slice off Kyran's arms.

This time, Kyran decided to counter instead of staying put because he knew what these long swords could do. He would not get injured, but it would definitely damage his clothes. He could not afford to lose his clothes, or else they would discover they were not as strong as his real flesh. When that happened, it would definitely raise many questions about his identity. Then again, since he did not need Nar's identity. He could pretend to be a member of the Regis Clan.

Bam! Bam!

Kyran deftly struck the hilt of Kairo's long swords before he could strike them down.

"Ngh!" Kairo gritted his teeth.

Because of Kyran's move, the angle of Kairo's strike changed, missing their targets by a wide margin.

The moment Kyran struck Kairo's hilt, he did not stop. He lowered his stance and changed his sword grip into reverse before hacking at Kairo's torso.