Legacy of the Dark Sage

"R-Round-robin bracket, third match, Tyr of the Conclave wins!" The female announcer finally announced after a short pause. "Next match will begin in 30 seconds!"

Instead of erupting in cheers, the gallery remained silent.

Most already heard what Tyr had done to some members of the Lumley Family after the latter hurt some of the members of the Blacksmith Order. However, most thought the story was exaggerated.

How could a Master mage with only Strengthening magic possibly fatally injure those people?

Now that they had seen what Kyran could do, they could only accept that the story was not exaggerated.

Meanwhile, Kyran returned to their corner as soon as the female announcer declared the winner. Personally, he did not care whether she announced it or not, but as 'Tyr,' it meant a lot to him. Tyr was now known to have a 'temper,' after all.

Then again, he admitted he was annoyed at the Royal Army's obvious intention and wanted to get even.

"Don't think you can act as you please on my watch," Kairo said loud enough for Kyran to hear.

To be precise, he made it so that only Kyran could hear him. It was not telepathy, though. Rather, it appeared to be an innate ability.

Kyran stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Kairo. With a slight smile, he mouth a reply, "An eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth."

Leaving it at that, he turned his back and went down the arena.

Kairo balled his fists to suppress his annoyance.

It was their plan to get the Conclave's members to retire one by one. Their analysis of the latter's battle strength showed Rake, with his unique, innate ability and Styx's overwhelming defensive prowess, as the two with the highest chance of getting into the finals. Deo and Tilda were slightly inferior to Rake and Kairo, and the others deemed they would not be a threat. Apart from this, Deo's Wood magic was a bad matchup with their Fire magic, while Tilda's straightforward character would be her undoing. As for Tyr, they did not even need to delve into his information. He was only a Master mage with Strengthening magic. Though he had a unique, innate ability that complemented his Array talent, so long as they prevent or disrupt him from creating an array, it would be easy to take care of him.

At least, that had been their intention.

Who knew Kyran did not have to 'take out' materials before making an array? Kairo and the other officers knew Kyran kept pre-prepared materials within his wooden staff. But there had to be a limit to the materials he could carry in his wooden staff. At most, Kyran should only be allowed to carry common materials. He should not have been able to carry unique or rare materials.

Like some of the materials used in creating a Transportation array!

Kairo had guessed that the array Kyran created to attack Vanadin was a Transportation array. The latter's wooden staff could increase in length, and he made use of this fact and his unique, innate ability to create several transportation points that surrounded Vanadin, with the main point being the array under the wooden staff. That was how Kyran attacked Vanadin without moving from his position.

Still, the barrage of attacks Kyran launched should not be enough to break Vanadin's bones. If Kairo guessed correctly, Kyran strengthened the weight and force of his wooden staff using his Strengthening magic. Kairo would not be surprised if Kyran's staff surpassed the weight of Vanadin's weapon after it turned into hammers.

Nevertheless, for Kyran to come up with such a cruel way to get even with them was something Kairo had not anticipated.

Kairo took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He returned to his seat and shook his head inwardly, 'No. We should have anticipated it. Based on what happened between him and the Lumley Family, didn't he ruthlessly attack after the Lumleys attacked the members of the Blacksmith Order?'

Kairo opened his eyes. Without looking at the others, he said, "We'll go with plan C."

Ganza, Osman, and Rivka, a small-statured officer with short brown hair and dark blue eyes, nodded their heads.

What they had been doing till now was plan A. They would execute plan B, which was to have all their members apart from Kairo forfeit their matches against Styx if the latter decided to retaliate after realizing their intention. As for plan C, if they encountered something unexpected, they would deal with it according to their own judgment.

Kairo deemed Kyran fatally injuring Vanadin as an unexpected situation. Thus, they would now move according to their judgment. It might seem cowardly, but right now, they had to endure. Their priority was the finals, after all.

"Participants for the fourth match, Rake of the Conclave against Royal Army's Major General Rivka!"

Rake stood up just as Kyran arrived at the bench. With an appreciative look, Rake walked passed Kyran, then pat his shoulders.

"Thanks," he said before going to the arena.

Tilda also looked at Kyran with an appreciative smile. Styx, however, glowered at him.

"That should have been me," he growled as soon as Kyran sat down.

Kyran's brow twitched but decided not to respond. Seriously, this older man's grumpiness was similar to a child having a tantrum after his toy got stolen.

The next match between Rake and Rivka started with both feeling out each other's moves. None of them made any major attack that would result in someone getting heavy injuries. In the end, the time ran out, and the match ended with a draw.

This caused the audience to feel disappointed because they expected to see more actions. But their disappointment was short-lived because the next match was between the two acting leaders!

"Participants for the fifth match, Styx of the Conclave against Royal Army's Major General Kairo!"

The two stood up and jumped their way to the arena.

The arena shook as soon as the two landed, and an almost palpable pressure erupted from them.

Knowing how much the tension between the two sides had intensified after what happened to one of their members, the female announcer did not dally. When the timer above restarted, she raised her hand and shouted, "Fifth match, start!"

In an instant, Styx and Kairo exploded with magic pressure. Gasps filled the hall as the audience sensed the surging magic energy from both of them.

"Your members sure did a good job taking care of my team," Styx growled.

"Please," Kairo replied with an indifferent tone. "Your member practically reduced one of my member into a pulp."

"Don't worry. I'll make sure that other guy will have the same fate," Styx sneered while jerking his head toward Osman, the guy who burst into flames and injured Deo.

Kairo smiled, "I see. So Mercenary Styx also has a temper."

"F*ck, right!" Styx answered and made a sudden dash toward Kairo. "Nemean armor!" He roared and unleashed his signature translucent armor. A translucent giant lion materialized and roared before turning into an armor that enveloped his body.

Styx summoned a one-meter radius dark brown magic array, and three large translucent bouche shields materialized in front. These shields moved along with him as he closed the gap between him and Kairo.

"Humph," Kairo sneered. He did not make a move to avoid Styx. Instead, he raised his arms. In an instant, the surroundings crackled, and two long blazing swords materialized, one on each of his hands. Without pausing, Kairo brought down the two swords at the approaching Styx.

Styx's eyes narrowed, and he made an abrupt stop. He willed two of the bouche shields to block the incoming blazing long swords from above. At the same time, he stomped his right foot, summoning a half-meter radius magic array on the floor.

The arena shook, and an earth spike snaked its way to Kairo.

BAM! Whoosh!

The two blazing long swords collided with the bouche shields, causing red-hot flames to erupt downward from the swords and engulf Styx.

"Ngh!" Styx gritted his teeth as a sea of flames surrounded him.

Meanwhile, the earth spike, which was halfway toward Kairo, had also been drowned by the sea of flames and exploded.

Kairo's eyes glowed as he jumped with two blazing swords in each of his hands.

"RAA!" He slashed downward and unleashed more of its flames toward Styx, who had yet to recover his footing.

Styx summoned another magic array as more bouche shields appeared around him just before the flames fell. Then he summoned another magic array on the floor. An earth boulder emerged where he was standing and carried him upward to where Kairo was.

"Is that all you've got?" Styx roared as he willed the bouche shields to keep the flames around him at bay.

"No," Kairo replied with a slight smile. "We are only starting."

Still suspended in the air, he brandished the two long swords to his side and started to twist his whole body. The flames from the long swords erupted and danced along with him, slowly creating a human-made flaming hurricane.