Legacy of the Dark Sage



Kyran only smiled at Chrysanthemum's warning and did not bother to elaborate.

His reaction, however, made Chrysanthemum looked at him skeptically. She then recalled what he just said and asked, "What did you mean about 'seeking our cooperation, but not the death our people'?"

If she agreed to liaise for him and the Magical Beast Community, she at least needed to understand his intentions.

Kyran was also aware of this, but he did not want to tell her his plan in details because doing so might become his bane. It would be harder to convince her, yes, but he would rather choose convincing her slowly than risk having another knowing his plan. He did not know anyone from the Magical Beast Community especially the rest of its leaders, after all. There was no telling if the King already took one of them as his loyal subject. Frankly, Chrysanthemum could also be considered a stranger. The only reason he chose to trust her was because of her relationship with White Lily.

"I think I've said that quite clearly," Kyran replied after a short pause. Seeing Chrysanthemum frowned at his response, he could not help but smile wryly and patiently explained, "I want the Magical Beast Community's cooperation and prevent them from joining the war."

Chrysanthemum's face lit up as she finally understood a little of Kyran's intentions. She said, "So you mean to ask us to step away from the war. Is that what you were saying?"

"More or less," Kyran answered with an affirmative nod. "The Armakea already possessed a large number of Knights and Officers. I don't want to deal with any Magical Beasts as well if your community continued to work with them."

"We don't work for them," Chrysanthemum snarled with a childish pout. 

Looking at her expression, Kyran could not help but chuckle. Her childish pout reminded him what Spirits were known for: carefree, yet vengeful tricksters.

"We assist them because we are their allies," Chrysanthemum continued. However, her voice hesitated a little when she said the last word. She lowered her gaze and added in a gloomy voice, "At least, we believe we are allies."

"If you cooperated with me, I will only ask you to do one thing for me," Kyran said, trying to change the subject. Clearly, being the Armakea's ally was not a good topic for her.

Chrysanthemum looked at him with raised brows, "What is it?"

"Gathering intel."

"Intel? What makes you think we have access to any intel?" Chrysanthemum asked him in confusion. "We may be the reason they possess knowledge that are not privy to inhabitants of a plane below a Sage, but we know that because we came from another plane. Besides, if you need intel, don't you think Prince Achim and Princess Kesiah have more access to that?"

"I get what you're trying to say, but contrary to what you believe, their intel is limited to system structure of the kingdom and leadership. They are not privy to the intel I am looking for."

"If they are not privy to it, what makes you think we can help?"

"A Spirit's ability," Kyran answered with a slight smile. "I can create a temporary world that exists parallel to this plane and help you guys move around."

Chrysanthemum narrowed her eyes, "You… Do you even know what you're saying? Creating a temporary world? No one is capable of doing that! Not even the Emperor…" her voice trembled slightly as she bit her lip and stopped speaking. After a short pause, she continued, "Creation magic is no easy feat. While there are Transmuters who are said to be capable of creating things, that is not true Creation Magic. Creation Magic is far more complex and only one is capable of such a feat! Not to mention creating a temporary world… even creating a temporary space will require a powerful relic to sustain it!"

"The Spirit World that White Lily and the rest of the Spirits lived in, in the Human plane is sustained using her old tiara."

"The Queen's old tiara is one of the most sacred treasures in the Spirit plane," Chrysanthemum said, her face lit up in pride as if it was her who owned it.

"The magic energy it possessed is enough to sustain our previous plane when we were once besieged by the…" Chrysanthemum's voice trailed off as her eyes widened. Only then did Kyran's words register in her head.

"You— what did you just say?"

"My predecessor created the Spirit World using White Lily's tiara," Kyran replied with a shrug. "You're right. It is a powerful relic since it continue to sustain that world up to this day."

Chrysanthemum inwardly felt her head exploded at that bit of information. If others heard what Kyran told her just now, they might not react the way she did and might even say she was overreacting. But if she heard them, she would have snarled at them for being a complete numbskull. Because such a feat was unheard of.

Most mages in the Lower Realm, especially those who possessed Space magic and were well-versed in Array would have said that creating a self-sustaining  independent  space was not hard as long as they possessed the right materials. But in reality, that was not that simple. 

A good example of that was Kyran's storage pouch. Apart from using the skin of a beast with Space innate magic, a powerful relic or stone was also used to make it a self-sustaining independent space.

If someone created something similar using only the usual approach of allowing a mage with Space innate magic craft the item with similar Space attribute, they could only produce something like a storage ring— it had limited space and unreliable quality.

Chrysanthemum suddenly frowned as she recalled that the knowledge possessed by beings in the Lower Realm, were too shallow compared to those in the Higher Realm. Considering this fact, she could not help but let out an exasperated sigh.

Few were aware that Spirits originated in the Higher Realm. But because of an incident they were forced to go to the Lower Realm. Unfortunately, their plane got caught in the previous War of the Sovereigns and got separated after its destruction. In any case, because they originated in the Higher Realm, they had in-depth magic knowledge.

For this reason, Chrysanthemum's reaction was pretty reasonable.

"Your predecessor created a world?" Chrysanthemum scoffed at Kyran. "And who is your predecessor? The Void Master?"

"That's right."

Chrysanthemum snorted, "Who are you kidding?"

Kyran scratched his head inwardly and sighed. He had expected to have trouble convincing Chrysanthemum to liaise for him. But it seemed, getting her to believe he could create that parallel world proved to be a much direful endeavor.

He could easily tell her the tower where she was in right now was part of a world he created, but the question was if she would believe him.

The only way he could probably convinced her was to let her sensed his magic. But doing so would require him to stop the Shaiha's effect— an act that would definitely put not only him but everyone else at risk. 

"Let's get back on track, shall we? Will you help liaise with your community and provide intel?"

"I don't mind liaising for you, but I don't think we can help you with that intel."

"Yes, you can."

"No, we can't," Chrysanthemum replied exasperatedly. "It's true that us Spirits can establish our own travel route, but that is only if the plane we are traversing has an existing parallel world. Unfortunately, Somuli is not such a plane. If it was, do you think we would have suffered? We would have retreated into that world, away from the cruelty of the inhabitants of this plane."

Not wanting to drag their conversation any longer, Kyran settled with having Chrysanthemum promise to help with intel if he could find a way for her kind to move around Somuli undetected.

She agreed.

With that note, Kyran took Chrysanthemum with him out of the Void World. When the two appeared in a chamber Achim prepared for him, Chrysanthemum was shocked.

All those time she was in the tower, she had believed she was transported into another location. Her belief stemmed from how Kyran initially appeared to her as a silver humanoid dragon. But when they 'traveled' out of the tower just now, Kyran did not use any item, nor activate an array to transport them back to Somuli. There was only a light purple light and then— wham— they were in a dimly lit room with a woman clad in silver armor standing a few meters from them.

"T-This…!"

"If you need anything, talk to Jita," Kyran could not be bothered to entertain Chrsysanthemum's shock because he still had another important thing to do. "As for the three magical beasts, I can't let you return with them because I need them here. But don't worry, they will treated fairly."

Without waiting for Chrysanthemum to reply, Kyran warped out of the room.

Jita looked at Chrysanthemum and lowered her head slightly, "Lady Chrysanthemum, please tell me when you wish to return to the community."

Jita's words snapped Chrysanthemum out of her initial shock and she turned to look at her. She blurted, "Who exactly is he? Is he a mix of the Dragon Clan or…."

Her voice trailed off as her mind reeled at the thought that crossed her mind.

Because Jita was wearing a helmet, Chrysanthemum could not see her reaction. In the end, the former only said, "He is our, Master. Would you like to travel along the chasm or use the Flaring route back to the community?"

Chrysanthemum was rendered speechless.

When Kyran reappeared, he was in the middle of a lushed forest, with a cave opening to his left. He frowned slightly and before he could properly survey the whole surroundings, an invisible force flew past him.

He leaned to his side, avoiding the force just in time. Then he turned toward the direction it came from and said, "Come out, Dusk. We need to talk."

"Ah… If it isn't the new Dark Sage," Dusk drawled with a slight smile in his voice. "I thought the others have found my hiding spot."

Kyran's brow furrowed at the meaning behind Dusk's remark. Before he could say anything though, Dusk materialized to his right and gestured for him to follow.

"This way. I can't have you spoiling the trail I've left here."

Kyran sighed inwardly. As he suspected, the other representatives were already onto each other. He had expected them to act when he appeared as a silver humanoid dragon but not this fast.

It had only been a day or two since then and now these representatives appeared to have started making a move on each other.

Kyran followed Dusk deep into the forest in silence.

While traversing the path that Dusk appeared to be quite familiar with, Kyran scanned the surroundings. He sensed several beasts watching them from afar and whether they were keeping their distance because of him or simply found them a curious watch, he did not know. As long as they were not minions or summons by other Sovereign representatives keeping watch on Dusk, Kyran could not be bothered to make a move on them.

It was curious how the Shaiha concealed his aura and presence, but not his scent. For this reason, beast could still sense him and avoid him. Only when he used the Cloaking Array would they stop avoiding him because it could more or less hide his scent.

Dusk led them to a spot where a huge ancient looking tree with thick trunk and several vines hanging on its branches stood atop a mound. He walked over to the side and brushed aside some bushes, revealing an opening to a hidden hollow space beneath the tree's roots.

Roots of the massive tree dangled by the hollow space's entrance camouflaging it.

Kyran found Dusk's hideout smart because the massive tree had a powerful life force that could easily mask the latter's. Nevertheless, the hollow space beneath the tree was only large enough for five average-sized adults to squeeze in.