Legacy of the Dark Sage

"It's you?" Ladon and Thorn burst out, their expression turning ugly. The last thing they wanted was for this arrogant nobody to save their ass.

Kyran ignored the two and kept his attention to the woman, who writhed in pain while glaring daggers at him. At least he felt the woman glaring at him because of the piercing sting that seemed to seep into his body. He really could not say because her form was a little special.

After they got near the origin of the vibrations they felt earlier, Auto-one and Shaiha already sensed and confirmed the identity of the one who caused them— a remnant of the Ancients.

Kyran was not surprised by this development because he reckoned that if Shaiha hid and survived in the Tower of the Ancients, then the possibility of some Ancients doing the same was huge.

Besides, Auto-one said that the tower was meant to train the Ancients. Kyran supposed an Ancient was undergoing training when the Higher Being attacked, which was how they survived. There was also the possibility that the leader of the Ancients forced their younger generations to enter the tower to ensure their clan would not be wiped out.

At least, if it were Kyran, he would have definitely done that because based on his understanding of the Tower of the Ancients' purpose, Ancients were the only ones allowed inside. In that case, as long as his people were inside then they would be safe.

But if the tower was only accessible by the Ancients, how come others could enter it at this moment?

Kyran reckoned that the Tower of the Ancients purpose changed after it got lost in space.

Considering this point, a question would pop up.

How did the Tower of the Ancients' purpose change?

Kyran put all the clues he got from Auto-one and guessed that there must have been Ancients who survived The Fall by staying inside the tower and they were the ones who changed the tower's purpose.

As for why they did it, it was simple: to gather information from the others and get up to date on what was happening in the Higher Realm.

Kyran also beleived there was another reason, but until he got enough intel, he was unsure of it yet.

In any case, Auto-one could not confirm Kyran's theory because the Ancients apparently did not have a permanent aura. Because of their special body constitution, they could blend, combine, and utilize any type of magic energy in their surroundings, making it impossible to identify their aura.

Learning this made Kyran wonder if the Ancients were the beings that possessed Void cores. As the thought crossed his mind, however, he rejected it. Because if they naturally possessed Void cores, why would they want to create them artificially?

More importantly, for whose benefit were they trying to create artificial Ancient Magic Cores, anyway?

Kyran pushed those thoughts aside and looked at the Ancient woman before him. She had already recovered from his attacks and retained her incorporeal body, which made her look like a 'remnant spirit,' albeit without a face.

"How dare you lowly human to have—!"

CRACKLE! KRRSHK!

"—GAAAHH!"

Kyran struck the woman again when she tried to spout nonsense.

Ladon and Thorn's faces darkened after seeing Kyran ruthlessly striking the woman again. They were used to such sight. But it was one thing to see one acting ruthless and look like one, to one doing it while keeping a straight face and without any reason.

At least, Ladon and Thorn did not think Kyran would attack the woman ruthlessly to save them. Considering this, an idea crossed their mind that darkened their faces further.

This guy did not fall for Cyneah or something, right?

Alas, both men missed the mark by half an inch by coming up with that idea.

"You—!"

CRACKLE! KRRSHK!

"—GAAAAHHH!"

Kyran struck the woman when she barely opened her mouth to speak.

"M-Master... if you keep doing that... she will not last long," Auto-one could not help but say after Kyran struck the woman yet again.

"Do you pity her?" Kyran asked without looking at him.

"Not at all," Auto-one denied at once.

The woman, upon hearing this and confirming that Auto-one was one of their automatons, seethed in anger.

"YOU DEFECTIVE TRASH—!"

CRACKLE! KRRSHK!

"—GAAAAHHH! STOP STRIKING ME YOU SON OF A—!"

CRACKLE! KRRSHK!

"—GAAAAHHH!"

"M-Master... we will need her if we want to get access to the tower's central memory bank."

"Don't worry, I won't kill her. I'll only half-kill her."

The woman twitched in anger, but surprisingly, she felt greater fear for him. She demanded, "What did I ever do to you?"

Kyran's eyes flashed, and the woman flinched, thinking he would strike again. Without a pause, she blurted, "ISURRENDERIGIVEUPPLEASEFORGIVEME!"

"Release, Neah."

"N-Ne... who?"

Kyran looked at the cracked Dimension behind the woman.

"Release her."

[You could have just destroyed the Dimension yourself; why do you even need to ask her?]

Kyran ignored Shaiha's question. But even when he did, she already sensed his reason for not destroying the woman's Dimension himself.

He was afraid Cyneah would get hurt if he tried to destroy it because he did not know what rules the woman's Dimension was under.

What if the woman made it so that any attempt to destroy her Dimension from the outside would hurt Cyneah? Or what if the Dimension itself runs through Cyneah's magic energy?

Without knowing what kind of rules the woman's Dimension was under, Kyran would not recklessly attack it. He did not mind torturing the woman, though. Thus, he continued to strike at her.

There was another good reason Kyran refrained from destroying the woman's Dimension directly. To put it simply, he did not want to show others that he was desperate to rescue Cyneah.

"F-Fine! I will release her, only if you promise not to—!"

CRACKLE! KRRSHK!

"—GAAAAHHH!"

"This is not a negotiation. Release her."

"AAAARRRGGH!"

The woman growled at Kyran in frustration. But ultimately undid her Dimension before he could strike again.

As the woman's Dimension crumbled, Cyneah's figure slowly appeared before them.

For someone who seemed to be in despair, Cyneah appeared calm as she sat quietly on the floor with her eyes closed.

Kyran did a quick scan on her and was relieved to see that she was unhurt.

"Sisi!"

By then, Ladon and Thorn had more or less recovered from the shock of witnessing Kyran's ruthless attack on the woman. They only received superficial injuries and had also recovered. Thus, they immediately stood and ran to Cyneah.

Cyneah opened her eyes upon hearing Ladon and Thorn. She felt relieved that the two were alright. Just as she was about to greet them, however, the first thing she saw in her line of sight was the woman's light and...

Cyneah's eyes widened at the spot just behind the woman. There seemed to be a huge, misty, whirly black hole standing right there. She caught her breath as she saw this strange yet familiar mist. But then she recalled that he was not the only one who possessed such a presence. They were also in the Tower of the Ancients.

Considering the tower's nature, it was not impossible for it to produce illusions to mess with one's mind.

The woman did it before. Although it was a pretty weak attempt at messing with their minds, it was enough for Cyneah to remain guarded. She calmed her agitated heart at once, trying to reason that if it truly were him inside that misty black hole, he would have already called her name. But the only ones who did were Ladon and Thorn.

Cyneah manipulated the magic energies around the misty black hole, wanting to see within, but to no avail. And that was all she needed to confirm who was inside it.

'...Kyran.'

Kyran smiled, seeing Cyneah's look of recognition. He wanted badly to run to her and take her in his arms, but he could not do that just yet—not when they were in the tower, and hidden eyes could be watching their every move.

To be honest, he had already shown a lot of concern over Cyneah. The least he could do was not allow them to gauge just how important she was to him.

Cyneah seemed to realize this as well, as she feigned ignorance after confirming his identity.

Thorn glanced at Kyran as he passed him. However, he did not say anything and only went to Cyneah.

On the other hand, Ladon stopped beside Kyran. He did not address the latter; instead, he looked at the woman coldly.

"I don't care who you are," he told her. "But if you think we're done now that you've released Sisi, you're wrong."

The woman, who had yet to recover from Kyran's attack, glared at Ladon and said, "I am not afraid of you, young dragon."

She then looked at Kyran and said, "And you... just what are you?"

Kyran tilted his head and smiled, but his smile did not reach his eyes, "Do you really want to know?"

"..."

They could not see the woman's facial expression, but they more or less guessed that she was scowling really hard at Kyran.

Ladon looked at Kyran and said, "Lightning magic, huh? Very few mages are gifted with such a rare innate magic. I don't remember hearing you say which clan you belong to."

Kyran looked at him, "I didn't. And I have no plans on telling."

Ladon narrowed his eyes. But in the end, he did not pursue the matter and went to join Thorn and Cyneah.