Legacy of the Dark Sage

True Void\'s nonsense snapped Kyran out of his reverie.

"Stop talking nonsense. What do you even mean apart from me?" Kyran snapped at him.

"You don\'t have to be shy. You already saw her naked. Even held her in your arms when she was stark naked."

Kyran\'s frown deepened. "How did you know that."

"Duh, I can see and sense- actually, you\'re right. I am spouting nonsense. Really? You already seen her naked? Even held her naked? Wow, Void Halfling, I didn\'t expect you had it in you. I almost thought you swing the other way," True Void laughed uneasily after sensing Kyran\'s mood turning sour. "A-Anyway, she isn\'t here. When Zephyr and I left, Anette took her to her room."

Kyran the rest of True Void\'s rambling and only focused on the latter part. Using his magic sense, Kyran checked the whole cottage. True enough, he sensed Cyneah in the room next door.

When they went next door, they found Cyneah sprawled weakly on the floor. Though the room was dimly lit, they noticed her pale complexion. Beads of sweat covered her forehead and neck, and she looked in pain. Her breath also sound labored.

"Neah!" Kyran rushed inside and gently pulled her up.

\'She\'s cold as ice!\' Kyran thought as soon as he touched her.

His initial reaction was to summon Anette from the Void World and have her check Cyneah\'s condition but decided against it. After all, Anette was doing something vital to their situation inside the Void World.

Kyran lifted Cyneah and was shocked at her limp figure. It was as if all her bones had been removed from her body.

"Void Halfling, something\'s wrong with her," True Void\'s said while watching Kyran lay Cyneah in bed.

"I can see that," Kyran snapped. His mood appeared to be worsening.

True Void did not take offense because he already sensed Kyran\'s fear. Instead, he said, "Then can you sense the magic energy flowing inside her?"

It was then that Kyran noticed the magic energy circulating within her was different. He was already familiar with how her magic energy felt, like a gentle spring breeze full of life and vitality. Previously, Cyneah had a thick aura of death around her, but now that she had recovered, she was brimming with light and life.

Nevertheless, even though the magic energy flowing in Cyneah was different, it was not foreign either because…

"This…"

"That\'s right, Void Halfing. Its Void energy."

Kyran\'s mind reeled, recalling how Cyneah appeared in his consciousness while trapped in the illusion world. Could the Cyneah back then really be her? And entering his consciousness somehow made her \'absorb\' his magic energy?

No. That was not feasible. Unless Cyneah directly made contact with his magic energy and took it in, it was impossible. The illusion world was created from Deception\'s magic. Thus, being there did not mean she had direct contact with Kyran\'s magic energy.

So when?

When he held her hand?

No way.

Kyran suddenly recalled attacking Cyneah with a Void Knife. Could grazing her then be the cause? After all, the Void Knife was made of pure Void magic.

Kyran checked Cyneah\'s cheek. However, apart from being pale, there was no indication of a cut on her skin.

Then when did Cyneah take in his magic energy?

"This is absolutely impossible. Truly, an impossibility," True Void muttered. He flew above Cyneah\'s head and observed her closely. "I mean, if you did that, I would know about it."

Kyran frowned. Initially, he thought True Void was also baffled at Cyneah\'s condition, but his words sounded otherwise.

"If you know something, say it."

True Void looked at Kyran, the eye socket on the miniature armor grew wide as a small saucer.

"You tell me. How did you find time to make a move on her?"

"What move?"

"Duh, Void Halfling. Unless both of you shared an intimate physical contact, how else would you transfer your energy to her?"

"Intimate…" Kyran\'s brow twitch.

He had never touched her, alright.

Seeing, Kyran\'s baffled expression; True Void was suddenly at a loss.

"No way. You didn\'t? But then how...? You\'re not going to tell me that I\'m the one who did it, right?"

"I\'ll f*cking kill you if you did."

True Void gasped. "Oh my goodness. And I mean, my goodness. That\'s the first time I heard you curse that way."

Anyhow, he did not take Kyran\'s cursing to heart because he could not really kill him.

Unless Kyran destroyed his real body.

...

True Void subconsciously gulped nervously.

"Can\'t you just tell me how to remove it. It\'s clearly Void energy but I can\'t redirect it out of her body."

"Of course, you can\'t. Though it originally belonged to you, her body already took it. The only way to remove it is to take it forcefully."

"How?"

"Tsk. Tsk. Have you forgotten what I\'m good at?"

Kyran\'s eyes lit up. "Right. Absorb- no, wait." He paused after remembering how True Void almost killed him when he was a kid after the latter woke up.

As if reading Kyran\'s thoughts, True Void huffed in annoyance and said, "I was hungry that time, okay. Besides, I honestly believed your body can endure it because your a Regis."

"I was six years old. I have yet to learn tempering techniques then."

"Yes. Yes, and I was a huge glutton. Anyway, don\'t worry because I am full right now and will not make an amateur mistake and will only absorb the energy I have to," True Void said. With a solemn expression he added, "But her body is quite strange. She doesn\'t possess a magic core yet she can attract magic energy. She will not have any trouble absorbing raw magic energies because all excess will naturally leave her body. However, if she absorbed converted magic energies like yours, it will become a poison that her body had no way of releasing."

"Talk later, help her first."

"Fine. Fine," True Void landed on the spot between Cyeanh\'s head and the bed\'s headboard. He placed his hand on her forehead and began absorbing the Void energy in her body.

Mist-like purple magic energy flew out of her body and into True Void\'s hands.

"Hmm. The quality of Void energy in her body is very potent. If you two want to be intimate with each other make sure to control yourself, else you\'ll end up killing her."

"We didn\'t-."

Kyran stopped short after recalling the time Cyneah woke him up. He remembered feeling as if he was drowning before waking up with a start. After that Cyneah looked a little flustered and was trying to explain something but then deliberately changed the subject.

It did not take long for Kyran to put the clues together and arrive at a conclusion.

To be honest, Kyran still had reservations about Cyneah appearing in that illusion world. But now, it seemed she really did. Not only that, apparently her good will had endangered her life!

She only performed a mouth to mouth to resuscitate him. How was that an intimate contact?

When True Void spoke of Cyneah not possessing a magic core yet able to attract magic energy, Kyran realized he never really gave a thought about it. Would Cyneah\'s body continue to endure the strain of circulating magic energy without a magic core?

Kyran felt troubled by the thought.

After a few minutes, Cyneah\'s complexion started to show improvement. She still looked pale, but not as pale as before. Her breathing had also stabilized. However, her temperature remained cold. Kyran\'s brow furrowed. It was good that he went here to check on her. If not, what would\'ve happen to her? In any case, now that he knew her condition, he could not leave her alone in the cottage.

"We can\'t leave her here."

"You can\'t take her in your Void World," True Void warned him at once. "That world is basically made from your Void energy. Beings with magic core can stay in that world without any problem because they can easily avoid the Void energy in the surroundings. But not her. Besides, we still don\'t know if she and the Crown Princess share a connection like how an essence is connected to the original body. If they do, she will become a human tracking device."

"I know. But the original can remove that connection. Just like what father did to his essence."

"Point taken. But Void Halfling. I never said this because I don\'t think it\'s necessary given your intelligence. But now that I can see how she can easily affect your rationality, I am incline to remind you," True Void\'s voice suddenly became serious, "There is a chance that Cyneah is the essence, and the Crown Princess is the original."

Kyran did not respond. The thought did occur to him. He had wanted to confirm it with White Lily, but with so many things happening almost all at once, it slipped out of his mind.

Kyran closed his eyes and mockingly thought, \'No. It didn\'t slip your mind... it\'s because you never want to consider it.\'

"I know," Kyran finally said as he opened his eyes. After confirming that Cyneah\'s condition was far from good, he said, "We\'ll take her to the Conclave. I…"

Kyran suddenly frowned and felt uncomfortable. Just imagining how Stella would react if he asked her to look after Cyneah was giving him a headache.

True Void sighed. He noticed how easy it was to see through Kyran\'s emotions today.

What exactly did Kyran experience in Deception\'s illusion for his self-restraint to drop like this?

True Void only hoped it would not affect Kyran\'s decision-making later.

"I\'ll ask Stella to let Cyneah stay in the tower," Kyran said after a short pause, "Then have Aki watch over her."

Apart from Neo, the rest of Kyran\'s puppets went with Stella to the Conclave.

True Void nodded. "Yes, that should work."

Kyran carefully carried Cyneah then warped to the Tower of Conclave.

Kyran chose to warp in his temporary room with the intention of leaving Cyneah there with True Void while he go to Stella and explain the situation. Unfortunately, when he appeared, the first thing he heard was Stella\'s worried voice.

"Kyran-."

Stella stopped short upon seeing Kyran carrying a woman. It did not take long for her to notice the woman\'s likeness from the Crown Princess and instantly guess her identity.

She is that woman.

In an instant, Stella\'s heart tightened and she fought to keep a straight face.

True Void whistled in Kyran\'s head. He knew how scary a jealous woman could be so he decided he did not know Kyran until the ordeal passed and turned into a bracer before latching on Kyran\'s right forearm.

[I\'ll play dead for now. Good luck.]

Kyran wanted to curse True Void but knowing it would not improve his situation, he could only sigh in his heart.

"Stella-."

"What happened to her? She looks pale," Stella asked and rushed to Kyran\'s side. As soon as she touched Cyneah\'s hand, she was shocked at how cold she was, "She\'s freezing!"

Kyran, who was still thinking of how to explain the situation, was left perplexed by Stella\'s attitude. But hearing her comment about Cyneah\'s temperature, he pushed his uneasiness aside and said, "Yes. She got infected by- a bad energy, and fell sick. True Void already took it out but apart from her complexion turning better, her temperature has not improved."

"Alright, I\'ll have Malia look at her. Let\'s head to my quarters."