Legacy of the Dark Sage

Kyran only replied with a smile. Then in the next instant, he disappeared and reappeared right before Deception, his fist inches away from her.

BAM!

Kyran's fist landed on the ground, turning it into a small crater in a blink of an eye. Different-sized pieces of earth exploded in all directions, forming a cloud of smoke that obscured one's vision.

Deception had vanished in the air just before Kyran could land a blow. Obviously, he already knew the Deception in front of him was not real, but he had wanted to hit her face even if it was an illusion.

Sultry laughter echoed throughout the district once more as Kyran landed on the crater. He observed his surrounding with his magic sense. Deception's magic could easily deceive a person's five senses, and only by utilizing one's magic sense could one have a better grasp of her location. Still, one's magic sense level had to be high enough to succeed.

"You seem bolder this time," Deception's remark had a tinge of mockery. "You had only fled away when in my territory."

"The Myedeo Plane isn't yours," Kyran replied indifferently.

What he said was correct. At the moment, Deception's party might have the upper hand on Myedeo, but she had not won the plane yet.

"Yet," Deception replied, her sultry voice suddenly turned a little cold. It appeared her failure to secure the Myedeo Plane because of Kyran's interference left a bad taste in her mouth.

Truthfully, if Kyran had not taken her things, she would have already ruled over the plane with the new ruling Kaiser, acting as the local ruler. There had been some delays in her plans after the daughter of the previous Solum Tribe's Chieftain went missing. It took some time for Deception to rectify this. Finally, after the new Kaiser succeeded, her success was within reach. She did not expect that a snotty brat's appearance could easily destroy her hard-earned work!

"Return what you've stolen, and I will spare your pitiful life."

Kyran ignored her and silently observed his surroundings. One of the reasons he did not want to draw Deception's attention was that he had little information about her. The only two things he knew were that she was an Enchanter and possessed Illusion magic. Kyran had no idea how she employed her Illusions. Was it through her voice? He did sense magic mixed in whenever she spoke.

Kyran rejected the idea almost immediately. His body was immune to harmful magic that would try to influence him from the outside. It had been the case when Celine had tried to control him before. Thus, even if Deception's voice had magic mixed in with it, it was not the trigger to her Illusion magic. If it were, his Void magic energy would have circulated frenziedly in his body to nullify it.

So how would she employ her illusions?

"There is no point in thinking. Else, I'll hand you over to Ruin."

Even before Deceptions finished what she was saying, Kyran's eyes flashed, and he turned at once while sending out a kick behind.

Another illusory image of Deception that sprang behind him vanished in the air. Then, Kyran noticed that the cloud of smoke around him, which somewhat obscured his visions, had yet to dissipate. Apart from this, he could no longer sense his pets.

After Kyran realized this fact, the cloud of smoke thickened, slowly turning into a silvery-white mist. In an instant, Kyran's expression turned grim. It seemed he had already fallen into Deception's illusion.

Most mages would have already panicked at this sudden turn of events. However, rational ones would calmly assess the situation and find a way to break the illusion.

Kyran was neither. He took a deep breath and straightened his posture.

Illusions were tricky business, especially if a Sovereign created them.

But they were in the Human plane, and Deception's level was suppressed. If she were an essence, then her mage level would only be, at most, Exalted. If not, then it would be around Legendary. If this were the case, it would be easier for Kyran to 'void' her influence.

Kyran's reddish-purple eyes turned dark purple as his magic sense expanded. Soon, he was able to confirm the range of Deception's influence.

It was exactly a hundred-meter in diameter. Not a very large range, in Kyran's opinion. From this, he was able to confirm Deception's magic level. Apparently, she was only an Essence.

A pity.

The color of Kyran's eyes turned back to reddish-purple as he roused his Void magic. He had no time to play with an Essence. For all he knew, he was only in this space for a few seconds, but half an hour or even a few hours had already passed in real-time, or vice versa.

"Nar...?"

Kyran suddenly stopped. His eyes widened in shock.

That voice... impossible!

"T-That's you, right? I-I can't seem to gather any magic energies a-and can't see well... Where exactly are we?"

Cyneah!

Kyran turned, and as if the mist was taunting him, they parted to reveal Cyneah standing at least five meters away. She was dressed in a long white dress under a light blue hooded robe. Her arms were outstretched in front of her as she groped her way around.

Kyran's mind was telling him that the Cyneah in front of him was not real. But his magic sense was active, and he could faintly sense her. Really, sense her.

Illusions could affect the five senses, which was why it was better to use magic sense when making judgments.

But how could Kyran properly judge what he saw if even his magic sense seemed affected? Or could it be that Deception had already taken Cyneah, and she was using her against him?

No.

A Void Knife materialized in Kyran's left hand, and he instantaneously threw it toward 'Cyneah.'

"Master, no!"

Another familiar voice. Even Kyran's inner sense, that natural connection he had to his Sigils reacted!

"Zephy?" 'Cyneah' called out as she turned to her left.  Because of the sudden movement of her head, she barely avoided the Void Knife. However, it still grazed past her cheeks.

"Ah," 'Cyneah's' brow furrowed slightly as she winced in pain. She brought one hand to touch her cheeks but removed it at once after feeling a slight sting.

Kyran's hand that had just thrown the knife froze. He stared at the 'Cyneah' before him, and in his mind's eye, he remembered how he had thrown a Void Knife at Cyneah in the cave, hitting her ribcage. Then another image flashed in his mind. This time, it was when they went to a pool in the cave, and he saw the scars and wounds on Cyneah's skinny body. Kyran had noticed the wound his Void Knife had inflicted. He did not know it then, but now he knew that even if Cyneah's wounds and past scars could heal, the wound inflicted by his Void knife would leave a permanent scar on her.

That was how damaging getting hit by his Void magic was. Kyran felt guilty because of it.

Looking at the graze on Cyneah's cheeks, Kyran felt guilty again.

'Stop!'

Kyran closed his eyes at once, and at the same time, his magic pressure exploded, causing a shockwave that spread in every direction, with him as the eye.

"Ergh..!" 'Cyneah' raised her arms in an attempt to protect herself from the shockwave. Her clothes and hair fluttered violently. She fell to her knees and was pushed back a few feet because of the force's momentum.

Using his magic sense, Kyran sensed the mist dispersing. However, the 'Cyneah' before him did not. Even the 'Zephyr's' connection was still there.

It was simply impossible.

Finally, Kyran opened his eyes. As he did, he felt as if he had been doused with cold water.

The view that greeted him was not Noser's almost empty market district but a patch of land. To be precise, it was a bare land soaked in red. The night sky, which was supposed to be filled with stars, had turned red. From a distance, what appeared to be the sun had turned black.

Mutilated corpses were scattered around the spot where 'Cyeanh' was. Currently, she was still on her knees and was covering her head with her arms. But she had started to lower her arms.

Kyran's heart seemed to have stopped as he looked at the scene before him.

"Kyran?"

A young girl called out to him.

Kyran's body tensed after hearing yet another familiar voice. He did not want to look at where the voice came from. But he knew 'she' was standing right behind him.

"It is you!"

The young girl spoke again. Then she ran happily and wrapped her short chubby arms around Kyran's waist.

"Where have you been? We missed you!"

The arms around his waist were warm, sending a myriad of emotions through Kyran's heart.

This was not real.

Kyran told himself.

Yet everything... seemed real.