Legacy of the Dark Sage

The more Kyran thought of it, the more he was convinced that they were really not originally from the Human plane— or at least, most of them.

One of the reasons he thought this, was that the Remnant Souls in the Misty Forest seemed to be waiting for Caelan's return after he left to confront Layla. They did not seem to have recently 'joined' Caelan's side as well, making Kyran believe Caelan won over the Remnant Souls from another plane, while Layla's undying army was mostly made up of the human souls who had died in the ongoing war.

While Kyran pondered these things, he continued to listen to Stella's story.

Stella continued to tell him how Caelan eventually won over the second invaders. When he did, the humans thought they could finally turn the tables against the third invaders by having Caelan asked their assistance. However, before any of the human representatives could even talk to Caelan, the second invaders' attack became more ruthless.

What was more, they had teamed up with the third invaders.

Soon, news that Caelan had betrayed the humans circulated.

When Stella began relaying that part of the story, her expression had turned miserable. As if that part made her recall things she would rather not remember. Or maybe, she regretted something during that time.

Kyran roughly guessed the reason behind her expression though.

Thus far, he knew three versions of what happened in the past; Zephyr's incomplete version— which involved two major incidents; another incomplete version that could be a continuation of Zephyr's version that Kyran found in the Shaiha temple; and lastly, the lie that the Royal Family made everyone believed.

In any case, if Kyran considered the information he got from Zephyr and the Shaiha temple — he decided not to include the Royal Family's lies— the ones who turned against the humans were Layla and not Caelan. Meaning, the one who teamed up with the third invaders, which Kyran already guessed were Ruin and his people, was Layla. As to why humans mistook her undying army as the second invaders, it was simply because the souls she managed to gather did not possess anybody and were using temporary bodies that Ruin's people provided.

Stella continued that she and Zane were devastated when they found that Caelan had turned against them and sided with the invaders. However, unlike Stella, who seemed to have been convinced too easily about Caelan's betrayal, Zane did not believe it. He tried every possible way to infiltrate the place where Caelan was last seen but to no avail.

Soon, the lands that the humans managed, decreased because the number of invaders seemed to increase while the humans suffered.

After that, one of the Generals of the invaders managed to infiltrate the human territory and targeted the Regis Family. The reason the General went after the Regis Family was obviously to remove Zane, who by then commanded the most powerful platoon.

When Kyran heard this, he guessed at once that this part of Stella's story was not true. Or to be precise, the incident did happen, but the reason behind the General's infiltration was different. It was possible that it was the truth that Layla's people cooked up to hide the real reason the General entered the human's territory. And judging by Stella's odd expression, she likely knew the truth as well but had to relay it as such for the sake of relaying the story of what happened according to how it was known publicly.

With a bitter smile, Stella then affirmed Kyran's thoughts by saying that the General's infiltration was obviously not to target the Regis Family but to find something.

Kyran already knew that the General Stella was referring to was Ruin. And he only happened to go to the Regis Family's first ancestral land because it was close to the Shaiha temple where the Shaiha was being kept.

Stella continued her story without Kyran voicing his thoughts. He reckoned it was best to let her finish her story before he say anything.

Because of the General's infiltration, the Regis Family suffered. However, what happened was not all bad because Zane managed to break through.

Hearing this, Kyran knew what Zane went through was not as simple as advancing a level but receiving the Draconic core from the King of the Dragons.

At the time that Zane was dealing with the General, something also happened to Stella. Her team was ambushed while on an errand to transfer supplies. She got lost in the process and when she woke up, she was already in a lone island surrounded by water.

Kyran immediately thought of the island where the Tower of Tribulations was located and wondered if Stella received the Time core there.

Unfortunately, Stella did not dwell on the subject and only said that she managed to leave the island after breaking through.

Kyran did not pursue the matter either because he knew she would tell him eventually.

Stella continued to tell Kyran how Zane tried to find Caelan to talk sense with him but failed to locate where he was hiding.

It was not until Stella stepped in to help Zane that they finally found Caelan.

By then, the human situation had turned for the worse. They were driven to the north and their supplies were running low. The number of mages who could fight the invaders had been reduced greatly.

Finally, Stella and Zane found Caelan's 'palace' where several invaders were keeping guard. But Stella and Zane found these invaders somewhat different from the ones attacking the humans.

First, they did not exude much killing intent, and second, they were still in their bodiless form.

Besides this, judging by their number, if they were to join the ranks of those attacking the human's last stronghold, the humans would not have lasted a few days before finally succumbing to them.

It was then that Stella and Zane realized that the invaders guarding Caelan's palace were different from the ones who sided with the third invaders. After some time and effort, Stella and Zane finally convinced the invaders guarding the palace that they were not there to kill Caelan but to talk to him.

Eventually, Caelan allowed them to enter the palace and they finally managed to talk properly.

Their meeting had been the turning point for human survival. After hearing the truth about Layla, and how she 'received' guidance from an unknown entity, the three cooked up a plan on how to expose her and defeat her undying army.

However, unbeknownst to Stella and Zane that while Caelan seemed to be actively sharing his insights, he already had a plan on how to 'take care' of Layla.

When Stella and Zane returned and were about to expose Layla's betrayal, they were already too late because a few remaining leaders were already under Layla's control.

Stella and Zane decided to openly oppose Layla but before they could even do anything, Caelan made his move. He appeared and went on a rampage, killing many of the invaders in the process.

Unfortunately, the remaining humans believed that Caelan was killing indiscriminately and did not even realize that he never killed any humans. As to the humans who disappeared from their ranks, they did not die but were warped by Caelan.

After that, Caelan used a magic item to take care of the invaders.

However, before Stella or Zane could rejoice, Layla finally revealed her true nature and managed to fatally wound Caelan by stabbing him in the heart. But the latter already anticipated her move and had not planned on evading. As a matter of fact, everything Caelan had done up to that point was to ensure Layla would stab him herself.

Stella and Zane were devastated because they failed to see through Caelan's plan. Nevertheless, with Caelan stabbed by Layla, he succeeded in getting close to her and sealing her Soul core. After this, Caelan had Zane kill him to hide the truth about Layla.

Kyran was surprised when he heard this. He did not expect that Caelan was the one who wish to hide the truth about Layla. All this time, he had thought it was the Winfrey Family.

Seeing Kyran's expression, Stella more or less guessed what he was thinking and said with a wry smile, "That's right. Caelan was the one who wanted to protect Layla's reputation even in the end. However, the fact that the Winfrey Family distorted what really happened back then was also true. They made it so that Caelan was the bad guy while Layla and Zane became the heroes."

Stella paused, her expression turning sad as she continued, "Zane was against it, of course. But many surviving humans witnessed Caelan's rampage and, the humans he warped to safety, were never seen again. If Zane insisted that Caelan was not the 'Dark Sage' as people called him, Zane would not be the only one who would receive the ire of the survivors but also his whole family."