Legacy of the Dark Sage

Millie blinked dumbfoundedly at the golden array, looking like an imposing round wall at the arena's edge. She had been worried the array Kyran made was a powerful offense-type that could knock her out in one shot.

To think, she had been worried by such a simple defensive array!

"Millie!"

The person who had called out to her a few minutes ago shouted once more.

It was then that Millie realized it had been Mimi watching the match from the spectator's side. She looked up and found the latter looking at her worriedly.

"Mimi..."

"Lady Millie," one of the participating members of the Courtenay Family approached and helped Millie up. She was a young woman with short blonde hair and olive-green eyes, wearing a similar light green robe.

As Millie stood up, she saw Kyran making his way back to the Conclave's corner. Her heart immediately tightened. She clenched her fist and pursed her lips.

This was not the result she had in mind! Her chances of winning were low, but she never expected to lose because she fell off the arena!

What was more, she created almost five arrays while Kyran created only two!

Before Millie could say anything, the announcer resumed the competition.

"Because the Courtenay Family lost the first match, they will get the chance to choose the next member from the Conclave who will fight next."

"Let's go, Lady Millie," the young woman urged Millie to return to their corner.

Feeling indignant about her match's result, Millie followed the young woman. However, she was already thinking up a way to get Kyran alone.

"That's such a half-ass match," Styx commented as Kyran returned to his seat.

Kyran chuckled, "I don't fight women."

"Sexist," Tilda spat, clearly annoyed.

"I'm not," Kyran replied with blacklines on his head. He did not want to use the same excuse he told Millie, so he left it at that.

"We choose Styx from the Conclave," the leader of the Courtenay Family declared after a short pause.

"Please choose your member and come up on the arena," the announcer told them.

"Humph," Styx sneered and stood up. "How about I show you what a match should be?"

Kyran responded with a slight smile. For some reason, Styx had been itching for a fight. Kyran even sensed that Styx would have challenged him for a match if they were not teammates.

Could it be that he triggered the older man's competitive side now that he knew his real identity?

No, wait. Wouldn't others normally avoid challenging him because he was the new Void Master?

Kyran pushed the thought to the back of his mind. There was no point in dwelling on stuff that had not even happened. Styx might want to challenge Kyran to test his limits, but being an insightful guy, he was aware there was a right time for that.

The next participant from the Courtenay Family was a man with braided long blonde hair. His eyes were also olive green and he was wearing a robe with a dark shade of green.

In an instant, Styx's eyes burned intensely. The magic energies in the surrounding also stirred as if they got agitated at his fighting spirit.

The two did not speak. They simply waited for the timer above to strike 25:00.

The crowd braced themselves for the next match!

"Second match, of the Solo Competition between the Conclave and Courtenay Family begins!"

Styx's whole body erupted with his magic energy as he took a step toward his opponent.

"I forfeit," the Courtenay participant declared and bowed his head at Styx.

"Geh—!" Styx almost slipped but managed to regain his balance in time. He straightened his back and glared at the man, "You—!"

"The Courtenay Family has forfeited! The second match of the Solo Competition, Styx of the Conclave wins!"

The hall had once more fallen into an awkward silence.

From the Conclave corner, Kyran and the rest also wore blank expressions.

What were the Courtenay Family playing at?

"They are getting rid of the people who they think are hard to deal with first, aren't the?" Deo voiced his opinion through gritted teeth.

"First, Tyr, then Styx. Since we only have five matches, it is hard to imagine them forfeiting the third match too, huh," Rake chimed, his voice turning cold.

"What? They actually think we three are—!" Tilda growled in frustration. She shot a glance at the Courtenay's corner and glared fiercely. "I'm gonna pound them to death!"

Black lines appeared on Kyran's head as he sensed the rising magic energy from the three mercenaries to his right. He wanted to say something, yet decided it was best to remain silent.

Millie might not forfeit their match, but it was obvious she was the weakest member among the Courtenay. Matching her up with one of the 'stronger' members of the Conclave was better. Then they would have their strong members fight the 'less than strong' members of the Conclave. By doing this, they had a better chance of clinching a triple win.

The result of the competition might not matter officially, but it would still have an impact especially when the Conclave had been dominating the competition.

Styx returned to their corner. They could almost see imaginary dark energy rising from his body. None of them said anything for fear of getting on his bad side.

"You three…"

Styx stopped in front of Deo, Rake and Tilda.

"If you f*cking lose to those wusses, I'll accompany you back in the Mercenary Hall's arena," he warned them, his voice cold and murderous.

Cold sweat trickled down their backs as their brows twitched.

Kyran, on the other hand, smiled bitterly and said, "I'm sure they will not lose, Leader Styx."

"Hm?" Styx shot Kyran a glance.

"We have an advantage, after all."

"Advantage?" Tilda asked.

Kyran smiled and looked at the Courtenay participants, "Experience."

Styx's fierce expression loosened slightly.

Kyran was right. Compared to them mercenaries who had taken up far more dangerous missions in the wild, those prissy young masters and young mistresses of the Three Noble Families, were likely to have only experienced a few easy missions set by their elders.

Deo, Rake and Tilda sneered.

None of them replied to Kyran's words, because what he said was obvious. Anyway, even if he did not point that out, they had no plans of losing to the Courtenay Family.

"Humph," Styx snorted and finally went to his seat. "You three go wreck them, now."

They all chuckled. Even if he said that the three of them could not possibly go up on stage at once.

Finally, the leader of the Courtenay Family chose the next member of the Conclave.

"We choose, Rake."

The Solo Competition ended with the Conclave winning all five matches. However, Rake, Deo and Tilda barely managed to win because the Courtenay appeared to have prepared a good counter for them.

As for the Team Competition, the Lumley Family put up a good fight against the Conclave and managed to end the match in a draw.

Dante was dissatisfied with it, but he admit they were caught off guard by one of the Lumley members, Claudias, whose fire magic was on another level.

Just like Matias, Claudia's fire magic had manifested into a legendary beast. A Pheonix considered the second most powerful fire-type legendary beast.

On the fifth day— technically the sixth day— competitions ended, with the Conclave still in the lead.

That night, Kyran did not wait for Millie to find him. He knew she was dissatisfied with their match and would find a way to talk to him alone. There was also the matter of settling their wager.

Kyran who had been staying in his room after the Solo Competition ended, went out to hang around the common room.

Members of both the Conclave and the Royal Army who shared the common area at the dome's left wing went back to their rooms early. As if both sides had a silent agreement to avoid each other because starting tomorrow, all competitions would be against the Conclave and the Royal Army's matches.

None of the Courtenay members who usually stayed at the bar to assist were present. They might have anticipated that the participants of the Conclave and Royal Army would return to their rooms early and decided not to come as well.

Because there would be less people in the common area today, Kyran decided to make an appearance. He had a feeling that Millie would try to sneak into their quarters and he wanted to avoid her coming directly to his room.

Kyran went to the bar and checked the bottle of liquors displayed on the wall rack.

He was not a fan of alcohol because he never get drunk. But that did not mean he don't drink. In any case, since he was here, there was no harm to have a glass or two.

Kyran grabbed one bottle off the rack, took a glass from the counter, and fill the glass half-full. Judging from the alcohol's smell, it was vodka which likely had been fermented by the Courtenay Family.

Just as Kyran lifted the glass to take a sip, a light female voice spoke from his side.

"This is the first time I'm seeing you here, Disciple Tyr."

Contrary to Kyran's expectations. The female voice did not belong to Millie whom he was hoping to meet.

After downing his drink in one go, Kyran turned and smiled at the owner of the voice, "Yeah? I didn't know you are keeping tabs on me, Lady Mimi."

Mimi frowned slightly. Instead of replying to his words, she said, "I know you're hoping to meet Millie. But she won't come."

Kyran raised his brows but did not respond. Turning his head away, he poured another drink.

"Do you want one, Lady Mimi?" He offered.

"No, thanks."

"Suit yourself," he replied and downed it again.

Mimi's frown deepened, "Don't you think your drinking too much? You have a match in the morning."

"Why are you here?" Kyran answered her question with another of his own. "You didn't come here just to tell me about your cousin, right?"

"Millie was too rash when she agreed to your wager."

Kyran chuckled, "I see. So you heard about it."

"I want you to forget about the wager. Do this, then I don't mind owing you a favor."

Kyran stopped midway of pouring himself another drink. He turned sideways to look at Mimi.

Seeing how Mimi would willingly owe him a favor just to get Millie out of their wager showed how much she cared for the latter. Yet, when Millie was in the military school, she never mentioned her. It made Kyran question the authenticity of their 'friendship.'

Or maybe, Mimi's real purpose of being around Millie was to keep her in-check. Just like what she was doing now.