Legacy of the Dark Sage

Ezra and a few talents of the Montgomeray Family, along with their contracted Spirits, arrived in their family residence in Moor, a city located in the west near Mourchton.

Although Spirits could travel at a distance in a short time, they could not bring a human along with them. The rules of the Spirit's world were unsuitable for the human body, after all. However, the Spirits knew a magic formation that could transport others. It would require an enormous amount of spirit stones, but the Montgomeray did not hesitate to use their resources. After all, the new Void Master had given his order.

All members of the Montgomeray in Moor had already finished their preparations.

Without further delay, Ezra, his people, and the Spirits marched into Noser.

Normally, it would have taken them more than an hour to get to Noser, even by carriage. But with the Spirits' blessings, they arrived a hundred meters outside Noser in just half an hour.

They did not directly march into the city because the army was camped outside and had barricaded it.

"S-Such powerful magic fluctuations..." an elder of the Montgomeray Family, standing beside Ezra, remarked as they looked ahead toward Noser's border.

Ezra furrowed his brows as he looked at the barricade the army built around Noser. He knew why Kyran suddenly ordered them to help Zephyr in the open instead of their previous agreement to help in the dark. Judging from the magic fluctuations in the city, he was positive that Zephyr and Kyran's beasts were currently engaged in a fierce battle with several high-level mages from the army.

With a poof, a red female sprite appeared on Ezra's shoulder. She had shiny red scales and translucent golden wings. Crossing her small scaly legs, she sat on Ezra's shoulder.

The red sprite's name is Silth, and she has a high rank among the spirits.

"No good. The army has surrounded the city pretty well. We can only go in by force if we want to enter."

As soon as the elders and other members of the Montgomeray Family heard her, they could not help but turn pale.

Their reaction was understandable. Ever since the establishment of the family, they had never gone to a real life-or-death battle. Although some of them experienced hunting, which at times could become dangerous depending on the beasts, they were after; once they realized they could not win the beast, they would immediately opt to hire mercenaries or even buy the items they needed.

Ezra sensed the apprehension among his people, and to be honest, he also felt the same way. But he had already made up his mind. Even if Kyran did not place a mark on them, he was willing to risk his life. The Montgomeray Family's military strength had improved greatly in such a short time, and it was all thanks to Kyran's relationship with the Spirits.

Without him, they would still be the hopeless new member of the Three Noble Families.

While it seemed unreasonable to risk their lives when they had only started improving their strength, Ezra knew that even if they did not go to battle now, it would only be a matter of time before being pulled into it. It did not matter whether they went to battle now or later. The empire would soon end up in chaos.

"If that's the case, then we will break through by force," Ezra declared after a short moment of silence.

All of the Montgomeray family members took a sharp intake of breath. However, none of them protested. It was even a wonder that none of them felt any hard feelings about being thrown into battle. Though they were scared, their resolve to help the new Void Master was as strong as Ezra's. Their attitude might have stemmed from growing up as slaves to the previous Dinaeri Family, but those only apply to the older generation. The younger talents' resolve stemmed from their fear and awe of being subordinates of the new Void Masters.

After hearing Ezra's words, Silth stood up and nodded, "Alright. We found a weak point in the army's barricade at the south gates."

Ezra nodded. He looked at all the members of the Montgomeray Family behind him and said, "We will force our way in from the south. Squad one to three of all Fire mages and Spirits target the supplies and camps. The rest will join me and help sir Zephyr."

"Yes, Patriarch!" They all answered in unison.

"Let's go!"

*

Inside Noser.

Ten minutes had passed since Zephyr had changed into his real form.

Gael, and the rest of the Grand Masters and High Masters with him were shocked after seeing a human turned into a huge legendary beast.

They recognized Zephyr's form at once, even though they had not seen one in the empire. Nevertheless, they did not expect to find such an enormous Quilin.

Only Gael felt mixed emotions after discovering the imposter's real form. He knew about the incident in Shaiha Ruins, and the odds of having two Quilins appearing in the west were unlikely. For this reason, Gael was convinced that the imposter was the same Quilin from the ruins.

But didn't the man in a black panther mask take the Quilin away? Then why was it with Kyran?

A scary idea crossed Gael's mind as he considered the possibility that Kyran was in cahoot with that powerful man in a black panther mask.

He was not far from the truth. However, it was fundamentally incorrect since Kyran and the man in a black panther mask are one and the same.

In any case, all the mages were initially wary of the Quilin. If it could change into a human form, its level would be high. Even though Gael, a Magus, was with them, it did not ensure their advantage.

Their reaction was normal. After all, they did not know anything about the Shaiha Ruins. But not Gael, since he knew that the Quilin in the ruins was more or less at a Grand Master level.

Nevertheless, Gael did not say anything because there was no telling if the Quilin had advanced a level or two after being saved by the man in the black panther mask.

In the end, after a few minutes of probing, they determined that the Quilin's range and offensive power were devastating. As such, they immediately adjusted their formation and aligned their attacks.

A few High Masters focused on attacking Zephyr with magic that had status effects. In particular, some summoned Ice magic to slow him down. None of the mages possessed innate Ice magic. But with their number, the effects piled up and started to affect Zephyr.

With the slow status ailment affecting his movement, Zephyr could not attack them directly. He was not bothered, though, because he did not specialize in melee combat. Using his orbs, he managed to get rid of several High Masters at once.

Unfortunately, he could not easily kill the Grand Masters. Besides having more powerful magic barriers, they were more experienced in battle and could easily dodge his orbs.

Zephyr wanted to use his pressure wave but did not find any opportunity. He also did not want to use it because once he did, he would be immobile for a few seconds, giving the army a chance to launch more powerful attacks. Apart from this, the Magus had not made a move. If he used the pressure wave, which would definitely not have much effect on the Magus, he would only give the latter a chance to unleash a powerful attack.

Nevertheless, Zephyr wondered why the Magus had not summoned his domain. If he did, Zephyr would be at a disadvantage right from the start.

The reason why Gael had not summoned his domain was simple. He had already used his domain twice, when he saved Deception from Kyran and when he escaped from the full influence of Deception's illusion.

A Magus's domain was not omnipotent as some would think. There were limitations to how many times one could use their domain. Sometimes, a Magus would also be restricted in using their domains depending on location.

For example, Gael's domain would be more powerful during the night, given the nature of his magic. However, in the morning, his domain would be limited. Apart from this, he could only summon his domain in the land. If there was a body of water nearby, his domain was useless. As a matter of fact, he also hated fighting mages with innate Water magic.

Because of this, Gael did not want anything to do with the Templar Code's Commander, Tritus. One could say that the latter was Gael's bane.

Fortunately, although the Templar Code was not his enemy, or, to be more accurate, Tritus was not their enemy.

"Grand Marshal!" A low-ranked officer approached Gael.

Gale was standing at a three-story building and watching the other Grand Masters and High Masters battling the Quilin.

"What is it?"

"All squads are in position, we are ready to activate the formation at any time."

A smile tugged at the corner of Gael's lips.

"Good. Let's make this quick."