Legacy of the Dark Sage

As Cade ventured deep into the cave, he was met with several trap array formations. Normal Array Specialists would have trouble deciphering the formations. At most, it might take them months to decipher one formation. But with Cade's vast Array knowledge, it took him two hours to crack the whole system and simultaneously disable all of the traps inside. Nevertheless, his mental fatigue after deciphering the system left him in shock.

He was already mentally drained by the array system outside the chamber and had not started the inheritance's trial. How would he fare once the trial started?

Cade cleared his mind of unnecessary thoughts. There was no point worrying about obvious things. If he was mentally drained, he only needed to find a way to meditate and recover without being idle.

With that in mind, Cade walked deeper into the cave and finally found a huge circular metal door protected by a highly advanced array formation at the end of the hallway.

Ancient runes were carved around the edges of the metal door's frame. They let out a faint golden glow, and a gentle hum could also be heard from them. It felt as if these runes were alive.

Cade did not approach the metal door at once. He observed the runes first and tried to understand what they said. However, it proved difficult, as his knowledge of the ancient runes was lacking. The most challenging part of ancient runes was how some of their runes looked the same but actually had a different meaning when combined with the runes before or after it or even both. Sometimes, the rune itself had subtle changes, like the second stroke was longer or thinner than the original, changing its meaning altogether.

In the end, Cade sat in front of the metal door and slowly studied the runes. He would rather take his time studying the runes than try to enter the door with half-hearted understanding and end up failing the trial.

Although Cade knew he could not waste too much time here, given their current situation, he also knew the importance of succeeding in the inheritance's trial. He could only leave his utmost faith in Nolan and Kyran to keep the situation under control while he completed the trial.

While Cade was immersed in studying the ancient runes on the metal door, more runes appeared on the walls on each side of him. However, these runes were invisible, and if one tried to move back to look at the runes as a whole, one would realize that they actually formed faces.

It was hard to tell whether the faces made of runes were female or male. They only watched Cade in silence.

*

Kyran travelled east for almost fifteen minutes before his magic sense picked up several auras more than fifty kilometers ahead. He frowned when he discovered that apart from sensing several auras, there were active magic fluctuations in the air. A pungent and metallic smell also permeated the air, telltales of an ongoing battle. Also, the battle must have gone on for hours if the smell had spread this far.

[Void Halfling, Azaloth is there!]

True Void told Kyran the moment he sensed the aura of Azaloth's essence, Mannick.

Kyran's frown deepened. He also noticed it; apart from him, the emperor was there. He roused the Draconic magic in his body, his eyes glowed, and his sight improved to an astonishing level in an instant. Even when he was several kilometers away, he could see the people within the vicinity.

He was shocked to see soldiers fighting amongst each other.

Just what was the current situation? He did not recall asking Malek and Hugh to make a move and intercept the army. As a matter of fact, he left right after he received Alary's news and did not tell anyone from the Conclave.

Kyran's brain suddenly went into overdrive as all the clues he had thus far came rushing through his head.

Could it be...?

Kyran took out the normal communication device Vera had. He had wondered why she would use a normal communication device to send a message when she could easily do so using a communication device for mages. It only dawned on him that the reason was quite obvious.

The message she wanted to send was not meant to be shared within the army's channel.

At first, Kyran did not consider the idea because any army officer with enough authorization could create a new channel. They could also create private channels if they had a high rank within the army.

But what if the message was not meant for someone in the army? What if it was for someone who did not have the authority to create private channels?

Kyran did not think a low-rank officer could order or influence Kairo, Ganza, and Vera. Besides, there was someone technically not part of the army but had enough power to order a portion of the army.

But why would they not want their message to go through the army's channel? Obviously, they did not want the message to be read by others outside their circle.

From the battle up ahead, this group's target was the emperor.

Kyran stopped his train of thought and shook his head. He should not make any definite conclusion early in the game. The emperor might not necessarily be their target. Or at least, he was not their target in the beginning. Because the first draft in Vera's communication device clearly told them to scout the Regis Estate and find Ruin. If their target had been the emperor, they would have scouted the emperor's route, not the Regis Estate.

[Oi, Void Halfling. Why aren't you saying anything? We need to move fast! If Azaloth's essence dies in battle, his original body will also be affected!]

Kyran snapped out of his musing and inwardly scowled at True Void. The latter was clearly exaggerating. Though the battle ahead appeared fierce, no high-level mages were going all out. Besides, as far as Kyran could sense, Mannick and the emperor possessed the highest mage level.

'No one can kill Mannick. He doesn't seem to be fighting the emperor, either. At least their auras are not clashing with each other. If my guess is right, someone outside the army caused a mutiny.'

True Void gasped.

[T-That's bad, right?]

Kyran did not respond at once as he contemplated the matter in his head. Several scenarios played out in his head, all depending on the step he would take. After a short pause, he answered, 'Not if I can help it.'

Hearing Kyran's answer sent chills up True Void's nonexistent spine.

[O-Oi, you're not thinking of doing something crazy, are you?]

Instead of answering his question, Kyran replied, 'Just stay put.'

[Are you going there as Nar or...?]

Kyran did not respond. The truth, his initial thought was to pretend to be Vera. He had the communication device on hand and could send a message to lure away some opposing soldiers from Mannick and the emperor. After which, he would take them out one after another.

However, doing so would be time-consuming. After all, the opposing side's leader would have to regroup before assigning who would go and reinforce Vera. Even if the reinforcements managed to arrive soon, Kyran would not be able to catch them off guard. After all, he did not look anything like Vera. He also could not use Vera because she was practically hanging by a thread before he decided to take her as a Sigil and was still recuperating. Besides, Kyran was positive she would rather commit suicide than help him.

Kyran sighed inwardly. It was a pain at times that he could not do transfiguration or transformation magic. He could use puppets, but all of them had male bodies. It was not that he did not know how to create puppets with female bodies, but just thinking of the excess material he had to use in making their bust and such pained his heart. He was already short on resources. He could not waste them on those parts.

In any case, Kyran rejected his first idea and thought of a more direct approach. He would ambush the opposition's weakest flank.

Dragon Steps!

Kyran used the Dragon Steps to approach the warring sides. In less than a few minutes, he was only three hundred meters away from them. He observed for a few minutes and identified the men with Mannick and the emperor.

Others might have trouble identifying them, but not Kyran. Knowing Mannick's magic had something to do with magic energy, Kyran easily found traces of Mannick's protection on some of the soldiers.

Kyran took out the two obsidian swords and slowly walked out from his hiding spot in the woods.

True Void's nonexistent scalp practically went numb. He wanted to stop Kyran's advance by reminding him that they would attack him indiscriminately if he came out now. After all, he was an outsider with a questionable identity.

However, before True Void could muster his voice, Kyran had already dashed forward.