Legacy of the Dark Sage

Neo wreck havoc at the spot where the rest of the enemy mages were gathered. After killing a few during his first strike, he went on a killing spree.

During the time Kyran left to deal with Osric, Neo had already killed more than a hundred mages.

If others saw him, they would either be impressed or be scared of him. But in truth, what he he did was no longer impressive because he was no longer a Master mage, which was Disciple Tyr's known mage level.

After Kyran fixed Neo in the Regis Terram, he undid most of his restrictions. Initially, Kyran had no plans on removing them because at the end of the day, Neo's actions would follow a certain pattern that was based on his programming. But when Kyran checked Neo's recent action logs, he discovered there were times when Neo acted opposite his programming's 'best course of action' result.

One good example of this was Neo's decision to 'blow himself up.'

Kyran did encode an emergency protocol for Neo's self-destruct if his secret was discovered. But after checking what happened that led to Neo's decision to self-destruct, Kyran found out that the conditions enabling the self-destruct sequence was not met.

From this, Kyran surmised that Neo started to develop his own sentient-- an unexpected feat especially when Neo was only a few years old. To be precise, he was only a few months old!

For the record, Neo was considered a few months old because Kyran installed the energy core based on the blueprint he got as a reward in the Tower of Tribulations a couple of months ago. But technically, Neo was a few years old, because his original body parts came from the first puppets Kyran ever created.

In any case, with Neo developing own sentient, Kyran felt it was no longer necessary to restrict him.

Neo's strength was now comparable to a Magus-- or higher.  Apart from this, he could also utilize the Void magic energy in the surroundings with the help of the energy core.  Although he could not use it to summon Void-base spells, he could use its nature to attract other types of magic energy.

Neo whirled his hammer, and a powerful gust of wind gathered at its tip. After that, he waved the hammer horizontally and sent the enemy mages within fifty meters flying.

"GAAAAH!"

Because the hammer had retained its 'huge' form, the gust of wind it rendered were too powerful and even killed a few enemy mages who were ten meters away.

The enemy mages that had not been sent flying gathered and prepared a joint magic attack.

Soon, a huge flaming sword appeared above the ten enemy mages.

While Neo was still in the action of waving his huge hammer, the ten enemy mages already aimed the flaming sword at him.

Fearing that Neo would counter as soon as he stopped his motion, they immediately unleashed the flaming sword at him.

Neo already saw them creating the huge flaming sword. Once they aimed it toward him, instead of evading, he forcefully twisted his body to continue his motion toward the opposite direction. Due to the sudden shift of movement, the hammer that had yet to release its initial momentum was forced to change direction. In that instant, the wind that gathered around it stirred, its momentum increasing further.

WHOOOSH!

With a sudden increase in the wind's momentum, when Neo waved the huge hammer, the gust of wind it released had not only doubled, but actually tripled.

"AAAAAHHHH!"

The powerful wind extinguished the flaming sword, like a soft wind putting off a small flame from a matchstick. After which, the wind's momentum continued and blew the ten enemy mages away.

"Such a weak flame," Neo said with a sneer. "What can it do to a high level wind attack?"

Kyran, who had just arrived, heard Neo and could not help but look at him with an odd expression.

At the moment, Neo still possessed 'Tyr's character,' and hearing his arrogant remark made Kyran wonder if he sounded like that when he was posed as Tyr. If he did, he somehow felt embarrassed.

Sensing Kyran's arrival, Neo lowered his hand and willed the huge hammer to decrease in size.

The moment the enemy mages nearby saw Neo's hammer reduced in size, they banded together and attacked him once more.

They were too focused on Neo that they did not notice Kyran's arrival!

Kyran looked at the enemy mages and simply waved his hand. A silver-white magic energy erupted from his hand and all of the approaching enemy mages exploded as soon as they collided with it.

PAH! PAH! PAH!

Upon witnessing these mages exploding before they could even react, the remaining enemy mages a few meters away were terrified.

What kind of attack did Kyran release?  Why did they explode instead of disintegrating just like the before? Was  their understanding of Void magic incorrect? Could Kyran had the ability to kill them using the Void magic's raw energy with just the wave of his hand?

Obviously, the enemy mages were oblivious about Kyran possessing Draconic magic. If they knew, they would probably not act as brazen as they did today.

After all, that was magic originating from real dragons.

Neo let out an exaggerated sigh as he watched the retreating enemy mages. He looked back at Kyran and said, "Master, look what you've done. You scared my prey away."

Kyran looked at Neo with a blank expression. This reaction was definitely not 'Tyr's' but Neo's. To think that one of his puppets developed a sentient with sadistic tendencies.

Kyran was unsure if it was good or not.

"Killing them is good," he told Neo. "But if you do, you have to make sure that you also destroy their souls."

Neo raised his brows questioningly, "Destroy their souls?"

"If the Soul Emperor recovered her full power, she could easily summon all the wandering souls and have them occupy any vessel that can allow them to move again," Kyran explained patiently.

Neo's eyes constricted after hearing Kyran's explanation. It was true that his database had a vast array of information. However, his knowledge on Soul magic was limited.

Initially, Neo's database reflected Kyran's own knowledge. But the latter had yet to completely update the former's data on Soul magic.

"Use the Void energy when dealing with these guys," Kyran reminded Neo.

Neo nodded his head, "I will, Master."

After saying his piece, Kyran turned and went to find Gael.

In the Lumley Ancestral Hall, after Aron and rest discovered the dummies, it took them a while to figure out a way to deal with them.

Actually, they did not find a solution. Only after killing the dummies a certain number of times did they notice a change in their magic output. Because of this, they discovered that the more the dummies dies, their mage level would also suffer. After that, it would only be a matter of time before they were completely exhausted and would no longer revive.

After almost half an hour, the Regis Special Forces gained the advantage and even the Special Ops that had appeared out of nowhere were unable to fight back.

Soon, all of them retreated, and Aron ordered his people not to pursue.

His reason was simple. The Courtenay and Lumley family members had suffered a lot. Their priority was to get them to Noser or meet with the Solum Tribe and have them heal first.

After the enemy mages and the Special Ops retreated, Aron had everyone gathered inside the Lumley Ancestral Hall. Then Jared and the rest of the Regis Special Forces who knew about Array helped him create a transmission array.

Although they could use transmission scrolls because Kyran already told them how to create them efficiently and cost effective, they still chose to create an array.

Because no matter how affordable transmissions scrolls were, or fast they could create them, they were already out of materials.

They also could not bear to waste their resources for creating consumable items. Although creating transmission arrays would use up quite a lot of their materials, at least, they could reuse it again. Besides, the remaining Courtenay and Lumley Families were still a lot-- not that they were complaining-- but even if they chose to create transmission scrolls, their resources would definitely end up in the red line.

"Our forces suffered quite a bit," Eleanor reported. "Even with young master Kyran's Sigil helping us out, because of the appearance of those dummies and the army's Special Ops, our forces had to deal with a lot of things at the same time.

"Still, the good news is that, we did not lose anyone."

Aron crossed his arms after hearing Eleanor's report. He already expected his people would suffer while saving the Courtenay and the Lumley Families. He even anticipated some of them would die. Thus, hearing that they did not lose anyone was a relief.

'Is this what Lady Ames said about the true awakening of the Regis Family?' Aron wondered as he recalled Ames telling them something about the Regis Family's true awakening.

Aron did not fully understand what she meant. He initially thought she was talking about the Regis Clan regaining their 'place' after hiding in seclusion for so many years. But the result today made him believe Ames was referring to the Regis Blessing instead. After all, only those from the Regis Family possessed the Blessing, and Ames specifically said 'Regis Family's true awakening.'

Whatever the truth was, Aron gladly welcomed it. It was a timely awakening that could increase their chances of winning against the Soul Emperor.

Others might think they already had the upper hand after winning the battle here, and also in Noser. But after witnessing what the dummies could do and that they were supported by the Soul magic, they realized their enemy could easily replenish her army as long as she gathered enough souls.

Thinking of this, Aron thought of the Regis Clan members in Ravenpass, as well as the rest of Euan's men.

Hopefully, nothing untoward had happened to them.

Such a thought was already wishful thinking especially when the Macabre Glacier was already out in the open.

"Patriarch, a message from Noser has just come in."

A squad leader of the Regis Special Forces reported as soon as he approached them.

"What is it?" Aron asked while looking at the squad leader.

"They have finished cleaning up in Noser and can come here anytime."

"Tell them to stay put and we'll come to them instead."

"Understood."

The squad leader left at once.

Eleanor looked at Aron skeptically, "Are we really going to Noser without checking the status in the Tower of Conclave?"

Aron shook his head, "Kyran wants to handle the matter there alone."

"I know you trust him, but don't you think he is already at his limits? As far as I remember, he has been running around all this time without rest."

Aron did not respond and only looked at Eleanor. After a short pause he finally said, "He is. Which is why, I want him to continue."

Eleanor sighed inwardly and shook her head with a bitter smile, "Alas, I still find your way of dealing with the young master... cruel."

Aron looked away and turned his attention back to the people working on the transmission array.

His expression, unreadable.