Legacy of the Dark Sage

Unbeknownst to the citizens of the Ylfaen Empire, the other nations in the north, west and south were also rattled by the explosion. They could not see the scene in the sky of Meliora; however, they felt the massive shockwave of magic energy that erupted from the fiery ball\'s collision in the sky to their side.

Meanwhile, the people that each faction in the empire had sent to investigate the hole in the sky were the first victims of the fiery ball\'s initial descent.

Although the hole in the sky was too small for the fiery ball to fall into the Human plane, the heat and magic it emitted already burned the forest beneath it to dust. Even the Fire mages that normally had fire immunity did not last for three seconds.

Everything was burned down.

When the factions lost contact with their people, they were all shocked. They all had one thought in mind: if that fiery ball completely descent on the ground, what would happen to them?

In just over a few minutes, the whole empire was sent into a state of panic.

At the Boyd Family\'s villa south of Meliora, the leaders and council elders of the family were gathered in a round conference hall. They were all facing the huge round table, where a projection of the fiery ball hovered.

No matter how one looked at it, such a huge ball could easily reduce Meliora to dust if it managed to squeeze through the hole.

Some of them wore indifferent expressions. However, most could not mask the dread they were feeling. They furtively glance toward the chair where a good-looking man with long ash-blonde hair and light blue eyes in a white with gold accent robe sat, seemingly unconcerned about the possible calamity the fiery ball in the sky would do to their empire.

Though the elders looked at the middle-aged man secretly, the latter still sensed it and shot them a glance at once.

The elders avoided the middle-aged man\'s gaze. Some cleared their throats in embarrassment, while others lowered their heads as if seeing something far more interesting on the table.

"You lot sure fret over the most trivial things," the middle-aged man said with a slight chuckle.

The voice that came out from him was a little surprising because he sounded ancient, very different from the age he seemed to exude.

One of the elders could no longer bear the fear in his heart and said, "Ancestor, that massive ball of fire is clearly very advanced Fire magic. I am afraid even if we dispatched all our Fire mages to somehow prevent it from descending, we will fail."

The Boyd Ancestor raised his fine brows; his expression mirrored confusion.

"And why do we have to do that?"

The council elders looked at each other, also confused at his answer.

"B-But, Ancestor..." the previous elder stammered. "If we don\'t, then... what do we have to do to prevent it from falling?"

"That!" The Boyd Ancestor pointed his hand toward the elder with much zeal. "That exactly is why I asked my question."

"P-Pardon?"

"You keep saying that we have to prevent that thing—," he pointed at the projection of the fiery ball at the center of the table, "—from descending, when we clearly need not do."

"But if we don\'t, we will all perish," another elder pointed.

"What nonsense?" The Boyd Ancestor waved his hand dismally. "With me around, and Her Highness, what harm can possibly come to our family?"

He looked at the projection with narrowed eyes and added, "Besides, with the location of that thing, do you think that person will remain idle?"

When he mentioned \'that person,\' the expression of every elder inside changed slightly. They showed contempt at the same time, fear.

"Still," another elder spoke up. "Where did that Fire magic come from?"

The Boyd Ancestor leaned on his chair and closed his eyes. Then he said solemnly, "You need not know. What you lot have to focus on is expediting Her Hignhess\' request."

"Yes, Ancestor."

The Boyd Ancestor opened his eyes and looked at an older man with similar ash-blonde hair, albeit it was filled with white streaks. The color of the latter\'s eyes was also the same. As a matter of fact, his facial features had some resemblance with the former.

"Have you heard from little Ingrid?" He asked.

The older man was Wayde, Ingrid\'s father.

Wayde lowered his head respectfully before replying, "Not yet. But I did receive a message from one of my aides that they had already rounded up the Lumley Family leaders. I\'m guessing she and the rest are busy with... cleaning up."

The Boyd Ancestor snorted, "I still don\'t know why you let that snake family be part of the nobles. There is nothing noble in them anyway."

"That is..."

"I am only making idle chatter. You don\'t have to answer."

"Yes, Ancestor."

"Besides, who among you lot is alive when the previous emperor bestowed their nobility other than me?"

"No one," they answered in unison.

The Boyd Ancestor snorted again before looking at the projection again with narrowed eyes as he recalled what the Crown Princess had told him before they gathered every Boyd leader and council elder:

"Some people will soon descend. There is nothing to fear. I have it under control. Still, I need that person before they arrive. Else, I\'ll have a harder time getting him under my control."

When the Crown Princess told him that, he did not fully understand her meaning. But when the fiery ball appeared, he was enlightened.

"I am leaving," he announced suddenly and stood up.

Without waiting for the rest to react to his words, his whole body turned into blue liquid and seeped into the small cracks on the floor.

The Crown Princess might not have directly told him what to do. He knew she wanted him to find that person. However, the whereabouts of that person were still unknown.

They had just received an update from Noser that the army had suffered a great deal. Apparently, their target was not there, and only a few legendary beasts were there.

From the detailed report he read, it seemed one of the legendary beasts had already achieved enlightenment and could transform into a human. What was more, that beast turned into that person.

The Boyd Ancestor cursed Gael for his incompetence. After suffering in the hands of those beasts, they retreated to Tracomill. But until now, they have yet to update them again.

Nevertheless, the fiery ball in the sky was actually a good opportunity for them. He was sure the people the Crown Princess mentioned made that appear in the sky. Was it that guy called Ruin? No, that man was already here, and from the sound of the Crown Princess, the people who were about to descend were new.

Anyway, using the fiery ball in the sky as bait, the Boyd Ancestor knew that person would definitely come and deal with it. After all, the Regis Estate might still be hundreds of kilometers away from that hole, but it was the closest. If that ball did fall, they would be the first casualty.

\'Her Highness said that person has only awakened his magic. But it has been almost three months since then and based on his profile, he has a very powerful learning ability. There is a good chance he has better control over his magic now,\' the Boyd Ancestor contemplated while traversing the winding water beneath the ground.

\'He possessed that accursed Void magic, too. Dealing with him definitely will not be easy,\' he paused slightly before confidently thinking, \'But I can still handle him.\'

With this in mind, he continued traversing underground toward the location of the fiery ball.

*

Kyran felt something amiss when the fiery ball appeared in the hole. It was impossible for Nolan to have let that come close to the hole if he was okay.

\'Could something have happened to him?\' he wondered.

Nolan might already be half a step to becoming a Sovereign, but the ones he faced outside the Human plane were real Sovereigns. And there were more of them. He might have the edge because he was an Abjurer and a Transmuter. Not to mention, his Array attainment was very high. But Kyran could not shake off the feeling that Nolan might have bitten more than he could chew when he decided to lure Ruin outside.

Because when they were in the Human plane, Ruin\'s level was restrained by the Sovereign\'s Cradle. But outside, there was no cradle to suppress the latter.