Legacy of the Dark Sage

Lucian initially wanted to snap his subject's head for interrupting them, but upon hearing his report, he stopped. His eyes widened in an instant, recalling one of his prey that he lost in the Land of Desolation. A small smile crept at the corner of his lips as he finally understood why he could not find any of the latter's traces in the Lower Realm.

'So, you've managed to breach the Higher Realm,' he mused, a surge of indescribable thrill coursing through his soul, aware of the immense significance of this feat. 'As expected of the someone who possesses the Void.'

Reigning in the excitement in his heart, Lucian cast a furtive glance over at Aillos.

Fortunately, Lucian's subject, though flustered, did not forget to conceal his voice before blurting out his report. If not, Aillos would have heard him, and what would follow would be a huge headache for Lucian.

Not only would the other clans in the Higher Realm realize that there were actually survivors from Lucian's side, but they would also accuse them of lying and causing unrest in the Higher Realm.

Of course, they would not openly express this because they feared The Emperor. However, the incident would have given those annoying fleas to undermine Lucian again while raising the Dragon Emperor, Aillos's banner.

Aillos might not want to be involved, but those annoying fleas did not care as long as they could smear Lucian's image.

Regardless, even if those annoying fleas tried to nitpick, the fact that there were too few survivors on Lucian's side could not be denied either.

"Send word to the Blade Dancer head," Lucian instructed his subject, his voice filled with determination and anticipation. "Tell them that I will meet them in two hours."

"Y-Yes," Lucian's subject replied, cautiously looking at the Dragon Emperor and his eight aides. He belatedly realized that he had come at a very terrible time. Thus, he was glad he managed to conceal his voice before telling The Emperor the latest report. If not for that, he was positive his head would have already left his body.

Not wanting to stay any longer and be subjected to the Dragon Emperor and his aides' scrutinizing gaze, he left as fast as he had come.

"It appeared there is an urgent matter I must attend to." Lucian also did not beat around the bush and told Aillos he intended to leave. "I'll leave for now."

"Coming and leaving as you please, you really act as if you own the whole realm."

"You sound displeased, but deep down, I know you believe it is better this way," Lucian did not take offense to Aillos's remark and simply smiled. After a short pause, he added, "I will send an invitation to another conference. I want you to attend then."

Aillos did not respond. Obviously, Lucian's parting words were not a request but an order. If Aillos had chosen to ignore it and continue to have Ames attend the conference, Lucian would definitely have taken that as blatant disobedience.

At the end of the day, the Dragon Clan was still under The Emperor's regime. They were not part of his clan's faction, per se. But in order to return and be allowed to stay in the Higher Realm, Aillos agreed to support Lucian's rule.

However, being under Lucian's rule did not mean he could order the Dragon Clan around. After all, Aillos still had the upper hand in knowing Lucian's real name. Yes, Lucian also knew Aillos's name, but so did the others, and no one had the power to overpower the latter because he was a dragon— one of the three existences in The Realm, possessing Ancient Magic.

Without waiting for Aillos to respond, Lucian started to leave. The space around him distorted as he activated the Space Leap relic in his possession.

After confirming that The Emperor had indeed left, one of the aides standing by a few kilometers behind Aillos approached him. He had long silver hair, eyes, and a more youthful aura than the rest. His name was Yurim.

"How is it?" Aillos asked.

Yurim leaned closer and replied in a low voice, "Just now, The Emperor's subject said one of the survivors from the Blade Dancer Clan woke up."

Apparently, concealing their voice did not matter because one of the aides was proficient in lip reading.

Unlike the Lower Realm, which had several languages, the Higher Realm only used the Ancient tongue. That is not to say no other languages were used there. However, the Ancient tongue was used by all, and those other languages were only used by small and insignificant tribes that had yet to develop fully.

"So they lied about not having any survivors from their side."

"Neven did mention that there were unusual exchanges between the Solis and three other clans."

Neven, who was still investigating the Solis Clan's claims that their representatives from the recent hunt had not survived, informed them of The Emperor's return. Unfortunately, he did not expect the latter to visit the Dragon Plane as soon as he learned of what happened in the Tower of the Ancients, which is why he could not warn Aillos and the others. ṞÀŊŎΒËs

In any case, Neven intercepted one of the exchanges between the Solis Clan and the Blade Dancer Clan, in which the latter asked the former for assistance purchasing some rare herbs.

Upon checking what those herbs were used for, Neven discovered they were necessary ingredients for making a potion for severe internal injuries. From this, he more or less guessed who those potions were for. Unfortunately, he did not have enough time to investigate further before learning that The Emperor had visited the Glacio Plane.

"But what The Emperor's subject said at the last... is a little disturbing, milord."

"Tell me."

"He said that... the culprit behind the mass killing of clan representatives in the Tower of the Ancients is suspected to possess the most dangerous Ancient Magic of all."

Aillos's pupil immediately turned into slits as he barely stopped his energy from bursting.

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"What? Are you sure?"

"I... I'm not sure, but... from how The Emperor responded..."

Aillos immediately turned and made his way back to the Dragon plane.

"Let's continue this discussion below. Gather inside the Throne Room, and wait for me. I need to stop somewhere first."

"Yes, milord."

All of them replied.

Aillos did not wait for them and descended to the plane at once. He returned to his palace and immediately visited the room opposite his chamber.

Inside the room, Aillos found Ames standing at the foot of the bed while Cyneah sat by the bedside. He knew there was another being with them besides them that only Cyneah could see and hear. But that was unimportant.

"Father!" Ames exclaimed in fear as she turned and looked at him.

She obviously sensed The Emperor's presence just then, but her reaction was a little off. Rather than exclaiming and asking Aillos about what happened just now, Ames seemed frightened at his appearance.

And Aillos realized soon after why.

Because Ames shifted slightly to the side when she turned to face him, Aillos had a better view of the bed.

Kyran, who should have been lying unconscious, was sitting with labored breath. He raised his head slightly, returning Aillos's gaze, and said, "He... took the bait, did he?"

Instead of answering, Aillos noticed a glowing item in Kyran's hand. The item resembled one of the communication devices in the Human plane, but its color and the runes swirling around it were dark purple. The fact that he could not understand the runes also meant that those were Void runes.

"What did you do?"

Although Aillos asked him that, he more or less guessed what had happened.

"I had someone throw a bait, so he'll leave. He did take it, right?"

It was such a task to speak, but Kyran managed to endure the inexplicable pain crushing his insides and answered Aillos.

"Obviously," Aillos replied with a frown. "But that is not what I am asking."

"Father," Ames stepped in at once. "Kyran just regained control over himself. How about letting him recover a bit first before asking—."

"This matter is of utmost importance," Aillos cut her midsentence while shaking his head. "If we don't address this now, it might be too late to prepare for The Emperor's next visit."

"He won't visit here," Kyran assured him. "I-I'll divert his attention... somewhere near the outskirts of the Higher Realm..."

Kyran tried to endure the pain. However, with The Emperor's pressure gone, Coelus's energy finally regained momentum and was trying to take over his Draconic core again.

"K-Kyran," Cyneah leaned closer to Kyran and supported him so he would not keel over in pain. She added, "P-Please remove your domain. Let me ease your pain."

Aillos's eyes narrowed as he realized how Kyran managed to regain consciousness.

Ironically, Lucian's pressure stopped Coelus's corpse's influence over Kyran for a moment, allowing the latter to regain control over himself.

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