Legacy of the Dark Sage

Spirits would never accept a mage weaker than them to be their contracted mage.

Others believed a contracted mage would become that Spirit's 'master.' But that was not entirely true. A contract gave equal rights to both the Spirit and the mage.

Earlier, it might appear as if Lev had punished Ignis for not listening to him. In truth, he merely cut off Ignis's provision of magic energy. A Spirit would feel an excruciating pain if its magic energy were cut off while physically in the Human plane.

Anyway, Lev made it appear as if he was punishing Ignis to fool Kyran into thinking he and Ignis had a falling out. In this way, he would 'draw' in Kyran and then he would strike!

"Fool," Lev snickered and rouse his magic. He spread out his arms and five small red magic arrays appeared behind him, forming a pentagram formation. Small flaming orbs sprang out from the center of the arrays and flew toward Kyran.

The flaming orbs spun in the air, attracting the fire magic energies in the surroundings, slowly affecting the temperature in the arena.

The air sizzled as the temperature went up.

[Do it now, Ignis.]

"Wha—?"

Lev's eyes widened in shock as he heard a voice in his head.

Before he could react further, Ignis, who was grasping its head as if in pain earlier suddenly lifted its head and howled.

A large red magic array appeared on the ground, covering the whole arena. Flaming walls spread from the edge, forming a half-sphere, instantly covering the whole arena.

Everyone gasped as the arena was engulfed by angry flames, making it impossible for them to see what was happening inside.

Styx and the other members of the Conclave all wore worried expressions. However, their unwavering belief in Kyran helped them remain calm.

On the contrary, the Montgomeray Family who had been watching indifferently from the start could not hide their shock.

The amount of magic energy a Spirit could manifest depended on their contracted mage. For Ignis to summon a large area of flame was impossible in Lev's magic reserves!

Zuri, the other member from team one who got transferred to team two stood up. Beneath her mask, her light blue eyes were wide in both fear and awe.

She was not the only one, the man with flowing long dark violet hair in the audience stared at the arena as his hand tightened around the rail. A gleeful smile appeared beneath the mask.

"Finally..!" He muttered under his breath.

"Mimi!" Millie turned to Mimi in fright.

Mimi, on the other hand, was frowning at the flames that enveloped the whole arena.

Flames summoned by a Spirit were fundamentally different from flames summoned by humans. Because Spirits' affinity to the elements was greater given how their body's composition was similar to their element.

A good example was the Fire Golem, Ignis. Its whole body was made up of flames.

In theory, when a Spirit attacked a human, it would leave a fatal injury or worse, could kill in an instant. The only reason why the Spirits were unable to pose a threat to the humans was the laws of magic in the Human plane restricted their magic. In order for Spirits to use their magic in the human plane, they would need a contracted mage. Even then, the amount of magic they could use depend on their contracted mage.

Aside from this, establishing a contract was also hard. Because the only way for Spirits to form a contract with a human was if that human possessed fae blood.

In the history of mankind, there had only been one person who managed to bypass this requirement. And that person was the one who married a Fae noble, giving birth to the human families which now possessed fae blood.

"If this keeps up, Disciple Tyr will be in danger!" Millie exclaimed in panic, turning her attention back to the arena.

Mimi did not respond.

She understood the gravity of the situation if the Fire Golem summoned these flames to attack Kyran. However, she could not shake the feeling that Lev did not approve of this move. To be precise, it appeared to her that the Fire Golem made a move that Lev had not told it to make.

Nevertheless, it was not good to let this continue.

Tapping the four-leaf clover earing on her right ear, Mimi connected to the channel where the head committee and the other Courtenay announcers use to relay messages.

As soon as she connected, she heard Patriarch Ernst talking to the male announcer for details.

<Are you sure you can't 'see' inside those flames?>

'No can do, patriarch. The flames are summoned by the Montgomeray kid's Spirit. It is hard to penetrate with only magic sense.'

<The arena's array did not trigger to stop it—?>

<<The arena's array is designed to prevent mages from summoning 'fatal magic attacks,' am I correct?>>

A soft female voice suddenly spoke, interrupting Ernst.

Mimi's brow furrowed, recognizing the Crown Princess's voice.

<Y-Yes, your highness.>

Ernst replied.

<<If it did not trigger, it means what the Fire Golem summoned is not fatal. The timer did not stop as well, correct? Meaning both participants are still fine inside those flames. Or did I have a wrong understanding in this regard?>>

'You are correct, y-your highness,' the male announcer replied, knowing the question was directed at him. 'So far, the timer is still counting.'

<<Then there is no cause to panic.>>

<But your highness, this kind of magic is rather—.>

<<I don't see why we have to make a fuss on this when Patriarch Ezra is not saying anything. Or am I wrong to think your silence means you are not worried, patriarch?>>

Mimi's frown deepened. She was not aware that the Montgomeray Patriarch was also connected.

<<<Just as her highness has said, there is no cause for panic. Spirits will never harm a human.>>>

<<<<Humph. You say that when a Spirit tried to assassinate her highness a few years ago—.>>>>

<<Patriarch Garsias.>>

Haylee's voice turned cold as she called out to Garsias, the Patriarch of the Lumley Family.

Garsias cleared his throat and fell silent.

<Then, as advised by her highness, we will not do anything and will continue to observe the situation.>

<<Yes. If we make any move now, everyone here will really believe the rumor that we are treating Disciple Tyr differently.>>

An awkward silence filled the channel, and Mimi could almost see the ridiculed expressions on the Patriarchs' faces from the Crown Princess's words.

It was not only a rumor. Everyone was convinced the Royal Family was giving Disciple Tyr special treatment.

<I understand.>

Mimi closed her eyes and tapped the earring, disconnecting to the channel.

Millie, watching her expectantly said, "What did they say?"

"Wait and see," Mimi replied with a slight shake of her head.

Millie's expression distorted, "Wait and see? Do they not care about Disciple Tyr?"

Mimi shot her a warning look, "Stop it, Millie. This is a competition and incidents like this are bound to happen. But that doesn't mean the head committee does not care about the well-being of the participants. Arrays and restrictions are in place to ensure their safety."

The sudden reprimanding tone Mimi used to tell her off, caught Millie off guard. She was somewhat hysterical right now, but not so much that she did not notice Mimi using the term 'participants' rather than saying 'Disciple Tyr' to point out that the head committee did not favor one side.

They were all equally watching after the participants. Not just one particular participant.

Millie lowered her head and muttered, "I'm sorry."

"It is alright to worry about the other side, but remember you are part of the Courtenay Family. Watch yourself," Mimi added.

Seeing the younger woman's forlorn expression, Mimi forced a slight smile and said, "This can be a good opportunity for you to approach Disciple Tyr later, don't you think? To check for his condition."

Hearing her remark made Millie look up at her. Her expression brighten at once at the idea and nodded, "You're right!"

Inside the wall of flames, when everyone else was either shocked or worried, Kyran and Lev's match continued.

Lev who realized Ignis was being manipulated by someone did not hold back and summoned more flaming orbs.

Kyran, who had stopped behind Ignis looked at the flaming orbs and raised his hands.

Purple discs appeared above all the flaming orbs which instantly absorbed the orbs.

"What in the—?" Lev's eyes widened after seeing the purple discs.

And then, Kyran suddenly disappeared from his line of sight, catching him off guard.

"You want a proper fight, right? I'll give you that. But first, tell me why are you targeting me?" Kyran asked from behind Lev. He grabbed the latter's neck from behind, lifting him a couple of feet off the floor.

"Guh—!" Lev gasped, feeling Kyran's grip tightening around his neck. "W-What are you—? Guh!"

Lev grabbed Kyran's wrist and tried to break free. However, this only made the latter tighten his grip even more.

"I'll count to three. If you don't tell me, I'll break your neck."

"Y-You—! W-We are in the middle of a match! I-If—g-guh!"

Kyran's grip tightened one last time. Any tighter would kill Lev.

Lev's eyes bulged and turned red as the blood rushed to his head.

"One."

"W-Wait—!"

"Two."

Lev's mind reeled. Kyran was counting too fast!

"I-I'll s-speak! B-But l-let go first—!" He choked out the words.

Kyran's grip loosened but did not let him go.

"Talk."

"Y-You..."

For some reason, Lev felt as if the Kyran behind him was different from the one he was talking to earlier. And those purple discs.... what were those?

Most importantly of all, was Ignis.

Ignis, who was standing in the middle of the arena was looking at them.

Normally, as the mage it was partnered with, it would have made a move to save him.

But Ignis was looking at him indifferently. As if the contract they both shared was no longer valid.

And the voice Lev heard in his head before Ignis summoned this wall of flames.

He did not recognize it earlier, because it was a tad bit different. But now that he thought of it, that voice sounded similar to Kyran's!