Legacy of the Dark Sage

"WHAT?" Zephyr exclaimed in shock. He sprang toward Kyran and grabbed his head to force his mouth open. "SPIT IT OUT!"

"Ngrgh!" Kyran scowled and hit Zephyr's head, making him fall to his knees.

"Awww!" Zephyr winced as he crouched down.

"That hurts!" He complained while clutching his head, where a visble lump appeared from the spot where Kyran's fist landed.

Kyran glared at him while massaging his jaw.

"And what you did, didn't? What do you even mean spit it out? I did not eat it in the first place!" He berated Zephyr.

Zephyr looked at him while rubbing his head, "It doesn't matter how it entered your body, master! Take it out this instant!"

"I would have done so if I could!" Kyran replied in exasperation.

The pain he felt after the Shaiha's light covered his whole body made him blackout for a few seconds. When he came around, he was no longer in pain. However, he felt too exhausted to speak.

It took him almost a minute before he could catch his breath and check his body for any internal injury. That was when he realized that the presence of the Shaiha was coming out from him. This instantly made him break in cold sweat.

He suddenly had a bad feeling.

As he closed his eyes and concentrated to look into his sea of conciousness, Kyran's bad feeling was confirmed.

There hovering right above his central core, was the enormous Shaiha. While it hummed and emitted multicolored lights, all four of his magic cores also hummed in resonance.

"What?" Zephyr exclaimed yet again as his complexion paled. "N-No! M-Master, the Shaiha is dangerous! You can't eat it!"

"I didn't eat it!" Kyran repeated glaring at Zephyr.

How many times did he have to say he did not eat the Shaiha? In the first place, his mouth was not large enough to swallow it!

Nevertheless, Kyran understood Zephyr's worry. And to be honest, he appreciated his sentiment.

From how Zephyr treated the Shaiha, Kyran could more or less guess that it was something that should never be let out of the temple.

Yes, it was very dangerous. And although Kyran did not know why it was dangerous, he sensed the danger it pose would not only affect the Ylfaen Empire but the whole Human plane.

For this reason, Kyran was prepared to reinforce the temple's Transcendent-tier defensive array and even thought of trying to make it into a God-tier array. In this way, none of the other factions would have the means to destroy it.

After all, most factions within the human plane only had a Magus— or maybe an Arch Magus, as their core strength.

Once Kyran made sure the Shaiha was safe, then he would have one less thing to worry about and Zephyr would be more at ease.

Unfortunately, this turn of events threw off Kyran's plans.

Now that the Shaiha entered his body, if he left the temple, what would happen?

Would he suddenly trigger a world-level catastrophe? Or would his Void magic's ability to 'protect' him from other magic attack and probing be enough to keep the Shaiha protected... err no, the right word should be 'sealed,' right?

Kyran did not want to risk knowing the answer by leaving the temple and would rather get the Shaiha out of his body and seal it in the temple.

Alas, he did not know how to do that.

For now, it appeared the Shaiha was at home within his sea of consciousness and the humming it did which his other magic cores immitated, even sounded... happy.

Black lines appeared in Kyran's head as he felt an incoming headache from this realization.

He recalled how the defensive array's probing earlier suddenly retreated when it sensed his Void energy and his expression darkened.

'No way...' He thought.

He was starting to believe the temple's array indeed had a consciousness and it might be connected with the Shaiha's will.

Kyran turned to Zephyr and was about to interrogate him.

Zephyr was slumped on the ground clutching his head in despair as he wailed, "NO! THIS CAN'T HAPPEN! It is impossible! I know you have the power of nothingness and one of its ability is absorption. But you cannot be a glutton and eat the Shaiha, master!"

Kyran's expression turned dull. He had been away for almost five years and felt Zephyr's character had such a dramatic change.

Wait. In reality, he had only been away for more than a week. Why did Zephyr change so much?

The truth, this was Zephyr acting more like himself. Before, he was still a little reserved and acted all knowing like an adult. Nevertheless, he might have lived for more than a thousand years, and had received the memories of his ancestor, but he was mostly asleep.

His mind had not matured enough to be considered an all knowing adult.

Zephyr's maturity level might be similar to Nolan.

...

If Nolan found out Kyran had just compared his maturity level with Zephyr, he would definitely flip. It did not matter whether Zephyr was a thousand year old Quilin, in Nolan's eyes, he was a brat because of his child human form.

"Will you calm down?" Kyran berated Zephyr as he sat cross-legged on the floor facing him. "The Shaiha is inside my body, I should be the one in despair, don't you think?"

As if Kyran's words finally got through Zephyr, the latter stopped wailing and looked at him in silence.

With a slight scowl he replied, "True. So why are you so calm, master?"

Kyran gave him a slight smile as he raised his brows, "I'm amazed you still call me master after speaking rudely at my face."

A reddish tint appeared on Zephyr's pale complexion as he scratched his head. He sat down cross-legged, immitating Kyran's stance, before replying, "Can you blame me? We are talking about the Shaiha! You really have to act more worried!"

"I am worried," Kyran replied with a blank expression.

Zephyr immitated his look, "Right."

Then he shifted and stomped one foot down while flipping an imaginary table.

"PLEASE LOOK MORE WORRIED! YOU ARE WORRYING ME, MASTER!"

Kyran chuckled at Zephyr's antics. He had not seen him for years and found his company refreshing.

Zephyr gave him an odd look while he returned to his cross-legged position. He suddenly worried if the Shaiha entering his master's body had also muddled his brain.

Seeing Zephyr's odd expression, Kyran cleared his throat and his expression turned serious.

He was really worried. But after training in the Tower of Tribulation, he now had better control over his emotions.

"Master," Zephyr started. "This really is a big problem— no, it is a very huuuge problem."

"Before that," Kyran interjected. "Don't you think it is high time you tell me exactly what the Shaiha is?"

Black lines appeared on Zephyr's head. As he had suspected. Kyran really agreed to protect the Shaiha without knowing what it was!

"You..."

In the end, he could only sigh in resignation and slowly nodded his head.

"Ha.... I think you took a few years off my lifespan, master. I'm afraid, I will not last three years because of your impulsiveness."

Kyran responded with a slight smile.

"Fine," Zephyr said after a short pause and looked at Kyran. "But what I am about to tell you... please make sure not to tell anyone else."

"I won't," Kyran replied almost in an instant. He had not plans on telling others about the Shaiha anyway. Besides, it was now inside his body. Who knew what kind of trouble he would attract if he told others.

Zephyr studied him for a few seconds before finally nodding his head, "Alright."

Taking a deep breath, he asked, "Remember when I told you and the others about what happened a thousand years ago?"

Kyran nodded, "Yes."

Back in the cottage, Zephyr had told them about the past.

He had told them about the First War that shook the whole world.

In the First War, the Demon plane had invaded the Human plane. It was unknown why they had suddenly arrived or where they had come from, but when they appeared, their magic strength and level were far too advance that the humans almost fell into extinction.

The humans did their best to keep the demons in the southern area to ensure the rich resources found in the eastern and the western lands would remain under their jurisdiction.

Unfortunately, because of the demon's strength, the humans were driven back time and again, and was forced to build their last stronghold in the central lands.

The downfall of the eastern and the western lands had been a huge blow to the humans.

If not for the sudden appearance of the three Hero Families, weilding ancient magic, and a genius Magic Scholar, the Human plane would have really fallen into the hands of the demons.

The genius Magic Scholar, was able to decipher the demon's language and realized that the 'demons' attacking them did not come from the Demon plane, but other planes. Becaus humans could not differentiate their appearances they all assumed they were all demons.

They found the reason why these 'demons,'— or let us call them the 'others'— attacked the humans, were because the moment they arrived in the Human plane after fleeing from the real demons that destroyed their planes, the humans started attacking them.

The 'others' were only fending for themselves.

As for the real demons, as soon as they went after the 'others' and found how rich the Human plane's resources were, they coveted it and attacked both the 'others' and the humans.

It was then that the humans realized that the war happening in the Human plane, was not between two sides, but a three-way war.

The demons, the 'others,' and the humans.

Because the genius Magic Scholar managed to establish a connection with the 'others,' the two sides formed an alliance and fought the demons.

In turn for the alliance, the 'others' would be given a third of the Human plane, where they could dwell in peace, after winning the war.

The war went on for years, but eventually, it ended and the alliance triumphed.

However, the demons were not driven out of the Human plane.

Instead, the 'Dark Sage' appeared and ruled over them. Soon, a new war was on the verge of breaking out.

The Three Hero Families also had a falling out, because they found out that the reason why the demons and the 'others' managed to enter the Human plane was because of the Soul Emperor. Because of this, the Dragon Lord issued for the Soul Emperor's execution.

When Kyran and the others asked for the details regarding the falling out of the Three families, Zephyr shook his head, because that was the extent of what he knew based from the memories of his ancestors.

"I... did not tell you this, but there is another reason why the demons had coveted the Human plane apart from its rich resources," Zephyr started.

"Because of the Shaiha," Kyran guessed.

Zephyr did not look surprised when Kyran said this. As a matter-of-fact, he would be surprised if he did not realize it.

"Yes," he nodded in agreement. Then he added slowly, "Because the Shaiha is... the Heart of the Cosmos."