Legacy of the Dark Sage

Kyran was unconscious.

This was Gael's conclusion after assessing all the clues from Kyran's strange display.

Gael discovered something odd about Kyran when the latter did not pursue him after hiding in his domain. Initially, Gael thought Kyran could not detect him because before entering his domain, he concealed his aura as much as possible. But recalling the scene when Kyran relentlessly went after Gael's summons even after they were about to retreat in his domain did not concur to this notion.

So why did Kyran not pursue him? What was different from Gael and his summons?

With too little data to go by, Gael decided to observe.

When the first batch of officers arrived, Gael found more clues.

Kyran reacted to the first soldier. That soldier did not conceal himself and even shouted before attacking. Alerted by the noise, Kyran moved to intercept him. Did this mean that Kyran reacted to the noise? If that was the case, why did he not act at once when fifteen officers followed suit and attacked? With fifteen people moving, even if they tried to conceal their movements they would still produce some kind of sound. As someone who specialized in combat, Kyran definitely had other means to 'hear' his opponent; for example the sound of their breathing and even the beating of their heart. Though the fifteen officers were at least forty to fifty meters away from Kyran, Gael knew the latter's hearing ability could be amplified through the Regis Blessing.

In the end, Kyran ignored these officers, and only reacted after they rouse their magic. Did it mean Kyran reacted to the presence of magic? Gael rejected this at once because the first soldier did not even summon his magic arrays before charging at Kyran.

Then what could possibly be the cause?

The answer came to Gael from Kyran's behavior when the officer with a silver badge, denoting his position as a major, made a move.

Though the major charged in, like the first soldier, Kyran did not react at once. He only reacted when the major roused his magic array with the intent to kill!

That was right.

With Gael's magic sense, he was able to sense the intent of the officers. When the first soldier charged in, even without rousing his magic array, his killing intent was evident. Most likely, the latter's emotions were roused by his own indignation of the situation. Next, the killing intent of those fifteen officers were concealed when they left the formation. But as soon as they summoned their magic arrays, their killing intent leaked out, prompting Kyran to attack. As for the major, his killing intent was also concealed while he barked out a command to the remaining officers. Only when he roused his magic array did it leak, which in turn forced Kyran to go after him. But when the major had suddenly came face to face with death, his killing intent dropped. With no killing intent to react to, Kyran had been forced to stop.

For someone to move in such a fashion even while unconscious made Gael rediscover the monstrosity of the Regis Clan. No wonder all the previous emperors had been wary about the Regis Clan. Just what kind of combat training and upbringing did their people go through for them to have such a reflex even after falling unconscious?

Nevertheless, though Kyran's movement appeared frightening, it had a very obvious flaw: Kyran's movement lacked initiative. He would only react to attacks with obvious killing intent.

As to why Kyran had fallen unconscious, Gael guessed it had something to do with Deception. He knew that woman was an Enchanter, so it was easy to guess that Kyran probably fell to her illusion.

'Still, even after falling into her illusion, he managed to reduce her into that state,' Gael thought with a grim expression, recalling Deception's condition before he saved her.

Honestly, Gael could not be bothered to help that woman. However, after sending a coded-message to Haylee, she replied almost immediately and told him to keep an eye on Deception and help her if necessary. That was how Gael ended up coming to her aid when she was about to get crushed by Kyran.

Putting all those aside, now that Gael knew Kyran's condition, he would take advantage of it.

Gael looked at the major who had fallen on the ground still looking at Kyran in fear and sent an order telepathically, 'Stay calm and retreat slowly. That man will not attack you unless you attack first.'

The major reacted upon hearing a voice spoke in his mind. He recognized it immediately; Grand Marshal Gael. The former did not doubt the voice and retreated at once. Still, his mind reeled at Gael's words.

Will not attack unless they attack first? Just what is this man? Or is it even a man? The man was clad in a dark purple armor, and they assumed it was a human in armor. Could it be that it was not human at all? But if it was not then... a puppet? Impossible!

Gael kept his presence hidden as he connected his domain in a nearby shadow close to the remaining eighty or so officers.

When he emerged from the shadow, all the officers saluted at once.

"Grand Marshal Gael!" All of them greeted.

Gael, his back on them, only raised his hand in acknowledgement.

The major walked in front of him in shame, "Grand Marshal, I—."

"I don't want to hear any excuses," Gael cut him midsentence.

The major felt even more ashamed. He had wanted to sacrifice himself and let the others retreat, but when death became apparent, his resolve crumbled. It was actually a miracle he did not piss himself and further adding to his shame.

"Don't get me wrong," Gael continued. "That man will be hard to deal with. If you have not retracted your intent to kill, you would have died in vain like those who went before you."

The nearby officers who heard him were shocked.

"I'll take command. All those who are not confident in concealing their killing intent, stand back and wait for his Majesty's arrival. The rest, follow me."

Most of them did not understand what Gael was on about, but they comply at once. They were all experienced in combat, but only a few could be considered veterans who could conceal their killing intent.

Twenty-seven officers, including the major and the three lieutenants remained while the rest retreated.

"All of you, just have to remember one thing," Gael started. He still did not face them. After experiencing Kyran's sudden attack, he did not dare take his eyes off him even if the latter would only react to killing intent. "When attacking, conceal your killing intent. Else, you will be lucky if you can survive in the next few seconds."

"Yes."

"Move out!"

Without further ado, the twenty-seven officers spread out. They were all mages but could wield a weapon or two. Of course, their combat strength could not compare to those real combat mages, but they could at least defend themselves in melee. However, they did not have any plans on fighting that monster in close combat. The safest way for their attacks to connect was long range attack.

Twenty-seven officers surrounded Kyran, hiding in the buildings and debris at least twenty meters away. With concealed killing intent, they rouse their magic and summoned their magic arrays. Most possessed Fire magic while a couple had Restraining magic.

Gael was not idle either. He retreated to his domain and checked on Deception.

Deception was in suspended animation. Her body was floating inside a semi-transparent red orb. The semi-transparent orb illuminated a faint red glow in the middle of the dark space. Gael looked at her curiously. She appeared to have fallen into a coma but her magic energy was actively circulating in her body, thus, he roughly guessed she was healing herself.

Gael was correct. In order to heal her body as soon as possible, Deception entered this state. Unlike the mages in the Human plane, in Deception's original plane, they were capable of healing themselves by entering into suspended animation and letting their internal magic energy course through their body. In the Human plane, only by employing an ancient body technique could one achieve a similar effect. In any case, she only needed a few more minutes to fully recover.

"Are you awake?" Gael asked.

Deception opened her eyes and looked at him, but did not speak.

"You have to tell me what you did to him."

Deception closed her eyes and did not respond. This human might have saved her, but she had no plans on working together with him. That boy was her prey. Only after she get what she wanted would she let him off.

Right. Ruin wanted the boy as well and to honor her promise, she would deliver that boy in a silver platter to him. But she would not be able to do so if this human interfered. Although this human might be under Haylee's control, Deception could sense his intentions. This human wanted the boy for himself. To be precise, he wanted the boy to become his puppet.

Gael's brow furrowed when Deception ignored him. He could easily crush her within his domain, but since Haylee told him to help her, he could only grit his teeth and endure.

"That boy is still unconscious—."

Deception's eyes snapped open at this at once.

"—and to detain him we have to align our attacks and— Oi!"

Deception ignored the rest of Gael's words and immediately remove her protective barrier then burst out of his domain.

Meanwhile, the twenty-seven officers had already launched their attacks. Two used restraining magic to keep Kyran in place, while the rest bombarded him with long range attacks.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Continuous fireballs attacked Kyran in all directions. The explosion creating a thick cloud of smoke in just a few seconds.

Due to the low magic level of the officers, the most powerful attack they could employ was fireballs. They had yet to learn how to mold their magic.

After more than a minute, all of them stopped their attacks. The smoke was already too thick and they could no longer see Kyran's silhouette. Nevertheless, they did not expect the Grand Marshal's words to be true. To be precise, they did not want to doubt Gael's order, but they were still skeptical about the man not attacking them.

Gael's conclusion was indeed sound. However, he failed to comprehend everything. While Kyran did react to others when they had the intent to kill, he was not reacting to killing intent. What he was reacting to, was hostility directed at him!

BOOM!

Kyran suddenly appeared in front of an suspecting officer, his left hand struck at once. The officer's head flew out. No blood and no sound came out of the officer as he fell to the ground.

As soon as the others saw this, only one word came to their mind.

RUN!

And that was what they did. The remaining twenty-six officers scattered at once.

But their escape was futile in front of someone who could warp in succession.

The twenty-six officers fell one after another, as Kyran went after them. Though they no longer directed any hostility, since they launched an attack, Kyran would retaliate.