Legacy of the Dark Sage

Light felt indignant at Kyran's reaction to the reveal of one of Ruin's strengths. He acted as if he could not care less when he was the one who asked about it.

In the end, Light did not dwell on it and complied with Kyran's demand to know about what the Sovereigns outside could do.

Kyran entered an empty tent and listened to Light's explanation in silence. But as he listened to her, his expression began to darken.

The seven Sovereigns possessed different types of magic that the Human plane had not seen before. If Kyran had to categorize them, they would fall under the unconventional magic type, making it harder for humans to deal with them.

In general, mages in the Human plane possess element-type magic: Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, Ice, Light-- support-type magic actually falls under the Light element-- and so on. The only ones that do not fall under this category are the Ancient magic that Kyran, Haylee, and Stella possessed.

In any case, humans had no experience dealing with mages with unconventional magic. Not to mention, their mage level far exceeded the level they were accustomed to.

There was also the matter of the Sovereign Cradle not being able to hold as Light had said. If that happened, then those Sovereigns outside would retain their level once they descend to the Human plane and no one would have the ability to fight them one on one.

Kyran was no exception. He was strong, yes. But at most, he could only fight one Sovereign at a time, and winning or losing was undetermined. Of course, he would do everything in his power to win, but he was still at a huge disadvantage in terms of magic items and battle experience. Yes, he had a few battles under his belt but most of those were against mages below Sovereign level. His battle with Savagery was not even counted as a battle against a Sovereign because the latter's level was suppressed and she was unable to unleash her real strength.

Apart from the Sovereigns outside, there was still the threat of Haylee's side taking advantage of their arrival to join their ranks. Although Haylee seemed to have broken down, Kyran did not believe it would hinder her from making a move.

Kyran made a mental note of everyone he knew that had a high enough mage level.

His grandfather, Aron, which Kyran felt had broken through the Magus realm. Even if Aron was an Arch Magus, with the help of the dragon blood in his veins, the strength he could exert would be comparable to a Legendary.

There was also Kyran's uncle Jared. Frankly, he did not know if Jared had broken through the Magus realm. If he did, then the same with Aron, he might be able to exert the strength of an Arch Magus with the help of the dragon blood. Apart from this, Jared was an Array Master. If he was able to make full use of his Array knowledge in battle, then he would also be comparable to a Legendary.

Then there was Tritus.

Just as Kyran thought of him, he could not help but frown slightly. Tritus was still in the process of breaking through to the Legendary realm. If the Sovereigns descended before Tritus completed his advancement, Kyran could not count on him. As a matter of fact, even if Tritus advanced before the Sovereigns arrived, he still had to stabilize his foundation, or else, he would suffer a backlash.

Tritus's situation would be similar to Euan who had only advanced to Magus and was still consolidating his power. He would not be able to summon any complex magic because his control over his magic energy was unstable.

Putting Tritus under the sub list, Kyran still needed four or five more mages.

He had thought of including Malek, but Malek was under Stella and Kyran did not know if he would agree to fight the Sovereigns. Besides, Kyran was unsure if Malek had what it takes to face a Sovereign. At most, he was an Arch Magus. However, he did not have dragon blood so even if Kyran did something to help boost his strength, it would not be enough.

Kyran thought of Anette but immediately rejected the idea. His main reason for not including her on the list was Deception. Apart from this, even if Anette had a high enough level-- as Kyran believed she was a Legendary at most-- she was a support mage. He could more or less guess how she would fight if she did join the battle, but with her limited battle experience, she would not be of much help in the offensive.

There was also the matter of Cade, Kyran's father, and Mannick, Azaloth's essence.

Mannick obviously could not be counted on the offensive. His level was way too low. He was not even a Magus because he was only an essence. There was also the possibility of losing him entirely if Cade successfully received Azaloth's Inheritance.

Truth be told, Kyran was afraid that his father's success meant Azaloth's death. When that happened, then the Sovereign Cradle's destruction would definitely happen.

Kyran wanted his father to succeed but was also afraid that Azaloth would die. If he had a choice, he wanted to keep both of them. Having Azaloth, the Human plane's Sovereign, with them would assure them of their win because as long as he was alive, Kyran could help him restore his strength so he could maintain the Sovereign's Cradle.

Currently, Kyran could only put his father, and Azaloth under the sub list along with Tritus.

Finally, there was Nolan.

If Nolan could survive outside and return to the Human plane, Kyran believed the two of them could somehow find a way to support the rest and keep the Sovereigns at bay.

Still, Kyran had to consider Nolan's condition. He had been fighting for more than a day now and there was no telling if he was already at his limits.

'What are you thinking, Dark Sage?' Light suddenly asked, interrupting Kyran's train of thought.

She already finished explaining what the six Sovereigns-- excluding Deception, since Kyran already knew her magic-- could do. As soon as she was done, Kyran fell silent and stayed still for more than a minute-- it made Light wonder if he had fallen into despair without her knowing.

Anyhow, she knew he was contemplating the things she had told him.

'I'm thinking,' Kyran answered and returned to his musing.

Light's brow twitched slightly at his answer. She already knew he was deep in thought, did he have to state what was obvious?

'This guy is really...!'

Alas, Light could only keep her annoyance to herself because she still fear Kyran's origin.

Continuing with his thoughts, Kyran sighed inwardly when White Lily crossed his mind.

White Lily was likely a Legendary or even a Sage. But since she was a Spirit, she could not stay in the Human plane without a contracted mage. As far as Kyran knew, her contracted mage had been Caelan but their contract was not passed on to Kyran-- not that he wanted to be her contracted mage. After all, he had yet to get used to the fact that she had been Caelan's wife.

If White Lily did not find a suitable mage to be her contracted mage, then it was impossible to ask for her help.

'I'm still short on people that can fight the Sovereigns.'

Technically speaking, the people in Kyran's list were still at a disadvantage against the Sovereigns if their mage level was not suppressed. Kyran only planned on using a large-area effect Light Arts array that would boost their magic defense, output, and physical constitution. At most, their strength would increase by a level. As for Nolan's case, his strength would probably be comparable to a Sovereign.

At least, that was the idea.

​ There was actually a flaw in this plan because creating, activating, and maintaining such a massive array would require a huge amount of magic energy and its creator's undivided attention.

Kyran had no problem with the former, but the latter would be difficult even for him. Though he was confident he could multi-task while fighting a Sovereign, there was no telling if the Sovereigns would fight according to his pace. He could very well be under siege by two or more Sovereigns, which would definitely put a huge toll on him.

If only True Void could activate the array instead of Kyran, then Kyran did not have to worry about losing his concentration and destabilizing it. Unfortunately, True Void was a weapon, not a mage. He did not have the ability to cast runes different from what his body was made from-- Void.

With few options left, Kyran suddenly thought of something and let out an audible sigh.

Light looked at Kyran curiously because it was the first reaction he made after her explanation.

As for what Kyran had thought of, it was actually one of his trump cards-- well, it could be considered as such as long as he survived after using it.

'I wonder if the Regis's Grand Array can fight against a Sovereign,' Kyran thought. 'If not, should I ask Ruin's help?'

Even as he thought it, Kyran rejected the idea at once. He could already imagine the manic look in Ruin's eyes once Kyran asked for his help. There was a good chance the latter would ask for something unreasonable in return for his help.

Thinking of this made Kyran wonder what kind of agreement Nolan and Ruin had that they actually agreed to work together.

'If a war ensued, what do you plan to do?' Kyran suddenly asked Light.