Legacy of the Dark Sage

Kyran, Mannick, and the others avoided being seen by the teams sent by the other factions to investigate the anomaly in the sky.

It had not been an easy journey. After all, almost every small to large faction wanted to know what was happening. Aside from this, a few wanted to go to the Regis Estate. Because of the latter, Kyran and the others had to do everything to divert their attention.

Although there was no longer a threat of getting caught in the crossfire between Nolan and Ruin— with the latter two leaving the Human plane and going outside, the majority of the empire did not know what happened to the Regis Clan.

Kyran preferred it that way— at least for the next few hours. Because he did not want the army to take advantage of the situation and use what little information these factions would discover to manipulate the truth. If that happened, his clan would really end up being the enemy of the whole empire.

With the impending threat of the Sovereigns outside the huge hole in the sky, Kyran did not want the situation to escalate further.

There was also the matter of the 'other' noble families supporting the Winfrey Family, like the Boyd Family. Kyran had little information about them and did not know what they were up to. The information they got after infiltrating the army's channel was not enough.

By now, the people with Kyran were already aware of his identity. Surprisingly, none of them showed any negative thoughts about him. As a matter of fact, they had become more respectful toward him. It was thanks to Kyran protecting them by creating a barrier when they were up against the unusually powerful mage. They were grateful for his action and realized that even if he was the new 'Dark Sage,' he possessed the Regis Clan's morals.

If Kyran knew what they were thinking, he would likely look at them strangely. He initially created the barrier to ensure they would not hear their conversation. Protecting them was only an afterthought. It was not good to have more people knowing about matters between the Sovereigns. Besides, the things the Sovereign of Dusk had said were irrelevant to their situation. There was no need for them to know about them.

It was already dawn when Kyran and company entered the Regis Estate's Outer Wall. Along the way, they saw remnants of a battle.

The army soldiers more or less guessed that the battle had occurred last night. Most likely, it resulted from someone intercepting the scout team Lira had sent toward the Regis Estate.

Kyran could not help but frown after confirming something.

'I didn't see their bodies,' he thought, recalling how he failed to destroy Kairo and Ganza's bodies. Since he had not seen their corpse, there were only two possibilities. Either a forest beast ate them, or someone took them.

The latter possibility gave Kyran a headache.

Putting that matter about Kairo and Ganza's bodies aside, Kyran led the way into the outer wall.

As soon as they entered the gates, Kyran expanded his magic sense to scout the whole area. After confirming that there were no problems, they proceeded forward.

Reuben observed the surroundings and noticed traces of battle. Based on what Kyran told them back in the Void World, the army raided the Regis Clan a few months ago. Thus, most traces were already gone. Still, with the little he could see, it was not hard to imagine how fierce the fighting had been.

Most buildings they passed through were reduced to rubble. Scorched marks were everywhere, and some even looked like human remains. The latter few they saw were too charred to identify, so it was unknown if they were from the army or the Regis.

Reuben glanced at Kyran and tried to read his expression. However, the latter kept a straight face. He also appeared calm, with no energy fluctuations coming out from him. Kyran's attitude was not something one would find in someone who had only returned after being away for a few months only to discover the state of his home had been in.

Reuben suddenly felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned and saw Max shaking his head with a solemn expression.

With a smile, Reuben said, "It's okay. I won't ask."

Max grunted and lowered his hand before glancing at Kyran's profile. He could somehow empathize with the latter because his whole family had been murdered. Though there were slight differences, how they had been ostracized because of his family's belief and then persecuted because of it was a little similar.

"I don't see any Regis corpses," Mannick suddenly said.

Max and Reuben could not help but shoot Mannick a strange look. They were trying to be considerate here, but he just brought up the topic they were trying to avoid.

"My family likely brought them along when they entered the Inner Walls," Kyran replied indifferently.

However, Max and Reuben somehow sensed an underlying coldness from Kyran's indifference.

"If they managed to do that, they had the upper hand."

"Yes."

An awkward silence followed their short exchange. But that was only perceived by Max, Reuben and the other members who were close enough to hear their conversation. The people involved did not share the same thoughts.

After more than an hour, Kyran stopped and said, "We are now at least fifty meters from the army's makeshift camp based on the map used by the army."

One of the soldiers nearby raised his hand and said, "Permission to speak, sir Nar."

Kyran looked at the young man.

Since all of them had changed into a different uniform, it was difficult to identify who belonged to the army or the Conclave. But none of that mattered. They all agreed to help; thus, Kyran would consider them his people, albeit temporarily. However, if anyone betrayed them, he would not hesitate to kill.

That was the difference in treatment Kyran had with those he had personally left a mark on.

"What is it?" Kyran asked the young man.

The soldier saluted in respect before saying, "I was meant to join the encampment outside the Regis Inner Wall but was called to join Lady Lira on her supposed conquest. But that was unimportant," he hurriedly added after seeing Kyran's expression change slightly. "When I read my new assignment, there is information about newly formed Array formations around the encampment. Someone might have already reported it to you, but I want to let you know just in case."

Mannick looked at him, "I didn't sense anything. Did it show the locations of the arrays?"

Although there was a chance that the army removed the array formations when they left the encampment, if a few had not been removed, it could be troublesome.

"It's fine," Kyran said before smiling slightly at the young man. "There are indeed several arrays around. But they are all gone now."

'Gone now...' Mannick looked at Kyran and smiled bitterly, realizing the meaning behind it. He was supposed to be the Void Master's shield, yet he could not do his job properly.

Apparently, Kyran had been silent from the start because he had been busy destroying the Array formations he found.

Reuben also realized what Kyran did not say, and he and Max exchanged a helpless look. They knew their 'master' was impressive, but seeing it time and again made them insecure. They were his Sigils, yet they felt lacking. What was even the point of making them his Sigils if he alone could accomplish many things?

Reuben immediately stopped short when he thought of this. It had not been that long since he became Kyran's Sigil, yet he already accepted his fate wholeheartedly. He glanced at Max, who did not seem to share the same thoughts. To be accurate, the latter seemed to have accepted becoming Kyran's Sigil right at the beginning.

'Could the Sigil's mark have begun to affect my emotions?' Reuben wondered.

On the other hand, Kyran tried to ignore Reuben's mullings. But that did not lessen his uneasiness because, as the 'master,' Kyran could sense their emotions and, from there, guess their thoughts.

After a few minutes, they finally arrived in front of the estate's Inner Walls.

The Inner Walls were covered by a silver barrier filled with cracks. Obviously, it had recently received a beating.

Poof!

A small cloud of smoke appeared, and Alary materialized before Kyran. Others could not see him, except for Kyran, Mannick, Max and Reuben.

"Void Master, I have already delivered your message. They are waiting inside."

Kyran clenched his fists after hearing Alary. The emotions he had held back finally came crashing down on him. It was almost suffocating.

To his family, he had only been away for a few months—  more than three months at most— but to him, he had been away for more than five years. As much as Kyran wanted to see them again, he also dreaded it. Because he would definitely check if anyone were 'missing.'

"Your uncle has disabled the restriction for warp ability on the barrier. You may now warp inside."