Legacy of the Dark Sage

As Kyran stepped into the golden door, a blinding light burst out and enveloped him and True Void. Warmth filled their senses as if the emitted light came from the sun. It swept inside them, filling every nook and cranny of their body, which immediately made Kyran frown. Sensing that something was strange about the light, he intended to rouse his magic within his body to counter it. However, without managing to rouse his magic, it had started circulating in his body as if working to repel something.

[Something is inside this light.]

True Void also noticed and warned Kyran at once.

'Yeah. If I'm not wrong, it's scanning our bodies to gather information,' Kyran replied after stealthily spreading his magic sense. To his surprise, the light around them had faint traces originating from an advanced array formation.

Kyran focused his magic sense to enter that faint trace, but to no avail. This instantly made him double his guard. The level of Kyran's magic sense was already at its highest. If even his magic sense could not infiltrate such an array formation, it meant it was not only an advanced one but already at a saint-tier. Maybe even higher.

'Looks like the Champion is an Array Master,' Kyran remarked. After battling several platform masters, he noticed that at least a quarter of them were Array Specialists. They knew different advanced formulas, but they were not experienced enough to combine more than two advanced formulas to create a higher level formation.

Apart from Loar, the Champion was the second person Kyran felt could be at a Master's level.

As the light lifted, Kyran and True Void found themselves in a vast rocky valley. The sky was reddish-gray as if the sun had just set, and of a distance, there was a lone floating inverted stone mountain.

Seeing the stone mountain, Kyran suddenly had a sense of familiarity from it.

Just as he was thinking this, True Void gasped and said, "T-That looks like the—!"

"Finally, a new challenger."

A deep thunderous voice boomed that shook the whole rocky valley.

As soon as Kyran heard the voice, his complexion turned pale, then dark, before turning red. It was a sight to see. Then his heart began to pound heavily in his chest as his breathing came in short gasps.

"V-Void Halfling, that voice..."

"N-No way..." Kyran replied, but even as he said it, his heart and mind refused to really deny it.

Deny the fact that he recognized that voice.

Huge magic fluctuations erupted that originated from the stone mountain. A powerful magic pressure bore down on Kyran and True Void. The force was too much that Kyran was almost forced to his knees.

"Ergh!" Kyran braced himself through gritted teeth. He circulated his magic energy as fast as possible to counter the pressure. But his knees trembled, and even his bones began to creak under pressure.

"Interesting. This level of pressure can't force you to your knees. Good," the deep thunderous voice said with a hint of approval.

RUMBLE!

The stone mountain rumbled as ad dark figure jumped down.

BOOM!

A huge shockwave erupted, filling the whole surrounding with clouds of smoke as the dark figure landed fifty meters away from Kyran. The figure's feet sank a few inches on the ground, with web-like cracks forming on the ground.

Kyran waved his right hand, and a semi-transparent purple half-sphere shield appeared in front of him, countering the force of the shockwave as well as the cloud of smoke. But even still, he was forced back a few steps, and his feet sank a few inches on the ground.

Normally, True Void would have disengaged some of the shape-shifting plates and formed a hexagonal shield to protect Kyran. However, he was feeling a little scared right now.

After all, the man before them was the man who had sealed him inside Kyran twelve years ago!

Cade Regis.

Kyran's eyes glowed reddish-purple as he looked at the figure of a younger version of his father within the cloud of smoke. His heart constricted as he tried to control his ragged breathing.

He already knew his parents, Nolan and Anette, came to the tower and conquered it. To be honest, he was prepared to find traces of their visit inside. But after realizing that their training might be different from him, he already felt it was nearly impossible to encounter their traces. As for the special place, he admitted expecting to encounter them as a platform master. Never had he considered encountering one of them as the Champion! Not to mention that someone was his father!

Honestly, if Kyran ever considered one of them the Champion, he would have thought it was Nolan. Not his father. Not because he thought his father was not strong enough, but because Nolan was already at a very high level compared to his father.

Then again, they entered the tower during their younger years. His father might be far more powerful than Nolan back then.

A sense of pride welled inside Kyran as he stared intently at the figure within the cloud of smoke. At the same time, his heart ached, recalling the Royal Army had surrounded the Regis Estate at this very moment.

Apart from these two emotions, he also felt an unprecedented excitement. He wanted to know how he would fare when fighting his father at his peak state.

A silvery orb appeared within the cloud of smoke and hovered before the young Cade. This orb was the one that emitted the light that covered Kyran and True Void.

Immediately, Cade's dark gray eyes narrowed after sensing that his orb failed to gather any information from the new challenger.

A smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he looked at the new challenger fifty meters away.

'Interesting,' he thought. His eyes glowed silver as his magic sense erupted from inside him, instantly filling a 10,000 kilometer radius.

Kyran's eyes constricted as he felt his father's magic sense sweep through him.

[V-Void Halfling be careful!]

True Void felt his illusory scalp had gone numb. Right now, Kyran was still wearing the mask. But the magic sense Cade's essence used right now had a probing nature, which would recognize Kyran's aura.

The truth, True Void was scared to have Cade's essence know about Kyran and transmit what would happen here to his original self. After all, True Void was supposed to be sealed. What if Cade had a way of sealing him again even if he was not present? He did not want to be a spectator once again.

Kyran also noticed the probing nature of his father's magic sense. Half of him wanted his father's essence to recognize him. But half, he was hesitant. He did not want his father to know he was inside the tower. He did not want to add to the things his father had to worry about at the moment.

As soon as his magic sense swept through the new challenger, Cade's brow furrowed.

'Why...? His aura is a Regis,' he thought.

But something about the new challenger's aura didn't seem right. No, not that it was not right. It actually felt familiar. Not because it was similar to a Regis, but because it also felt similar to Nolan and Rin.

Cade's eyes widened at the sudden thought that crossed his mind. However, the surprise in his eyes appeared only briefly. It was instantly replaced by a stern look as his magic pressure erupted.

Kyran's eyes widened as his knees buckled from the pressure in an instant. Even the semi-transparent shield he had conjured shattered like brittle glass.

"I don't have many rules, just one. If you manage to survive my attacks for three hours, you win."

"T-Three—!"

Kyran's sentence was cut short as Cade suddenly appeared before him with his right palm inches away from his chest.

Kyran instinctively lifted his hands to block the incoming palm.

However, Cade was faster. His palm struck Kyran's chest, instantly causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood as he was blasted off at least three hundred meters behind.

Kyran hit three thick stone boulders before finally slamming to the fourth boulder. He spat out another mouthful of blood as the crack on the boulder where he landed crumbled, burying him within.

"Normally, it's three minutes," Cade said with a slight smile. "But since you are a Regis. I think three minutes is too short."

Kyran blasted the rubble that had fallen on him and knelt on one knee to look at Cade. He wiped the blood trickling down his lips with his right arm.

As expected, Kyran could not hide the fact that he was a Regis. He resigned to his fate and decided to focus on succeeding in Cade's rule. He said, "From three minutes to three hours, such a huge leap. You're giving me too much credit."

Cade chuckled and said, "Actually, it is just a bare minimum to someone from the same clan. If I am really giving you that much credit, I would have suggested three days."

Kyran's brow twitched.

[Oh! Oh! Now I know where you got your arrogance from! You sounded so much like him!]

'Shut up,' Kyran replied as he stood up. He wanted to reprimand True Void for not helping him after getting blasted but decided having True Void focus on keeping the Mark of Ruin at bay was better. Since he was facing his father, Kyran would have to be serious in this 'challenge.' This meant that he would have to use his magic at full strength, especially now that he could not use the Regis Technique to aid his physical abilities.

"Enough talk," Cade said, still wearing a slight smile as he once again disappeared and reappeared before Kyran, who had barely stood.

Once again, Cade used his palm to strike Kyran on the chest.

Unlike earlier, Kyran was prepared this time. Instead of trying to block Cade's hand, he chose to counter with an attack of his own.

A short blade materialized on his right hand as he aimed at Cade's wrist.