Legacy of the Dark Sage

"Stop it, Thorn."

"What?" Thorn growled at Ladon. If this had been any other time, Thorn would have truly stopped when Ladon asked him to. However, this time, he would not allow anyone, especially an arrogant nobody, to spout such bullsh*t.

"Read the godd*amn atmosphere," Ladon growled back without looking at him. His attention was still focused on Kyran.

"Huh—?" Thorn stopped midsentence, realizing this fact. After that, he sensed the drop in temperature in his surroundings.

The drop was not a figure of speech but a literal one.

He scanned the faces of the people present, and only then did he realize that all the Ancients, including Diara, were looking at him coldly. Their gaseous-like bodies crackled as magic runes danced around them. From how they looked at Thorn, it was right to say that if he continued to badmouth Kyran, they would strike him with a more potent offensive spell.

With his attention still focused on Kyran, Ladon told Thorn, "Don\'t get too hung up on his appearance. He is using a highly advanced transformation spell of some sort to be able to fool even our senses."

Thorn frowned as he looked at Kyran again. The latter still had an emotionless expression, unnerving Thorn to his core. He wanted to scoff at his growing unease by verbally attacking Kyran, but in the end, he kept his mouth shut. He admitted to having a short fuse, but he was not unreasonable.

In any case, he sensed that if he tried to badmouth Kyran, the offensive spell the Ancients would unleash would likely not give him or Ladon a chance for survival.

"I had expected that the person Sisi and the rest are looking for is a member of Lady Ames\'s other family. They are from the Lower Realm and have a distinct feature...." Ladon\'s voice trailed off as Kyran removed the transformation potion\'s effect.

Usually, the potion\'s effect would have lasted for another four days. However, with the Void magic\'s nature, Kyran only needed to target the potion\'s effect in his system through the circulation of his magic energy, and it would be voided.

"Given the situation, there is no point in hiding my appearance," Kyran said with a shrug.

Thorn scowled after seeing Kyran\'s actual appearance. Ladon only mentioned the Regis\'s having distinct features, and seeing Kyran\'s appearance showing these features could prove that he might genuinely be the one they were searching for.

Black hair and gray eyes.

"Yes, our family does have distinct features, at least on the Human plane and probably among Ames\'s other family," Kyran added, emphasizing the last words the same way Ladon did, as if in mockery.

"You mentioned a name... N-Neia...? We don\'t remember anyone in that name among Ames\'s other family."

"T-That\'s me," Cyneah said, taking the opportunity to join the conversation. "Uhm... that\'s how he specifically calls me."

"It\'s you, Sisi?"

Ladon and Thorn had already expected that \'Sisi\' was not Cyneah\'s real name because if it were known by many, one\'s name could bring about their demise. Nevertheless, they were surprised to hear Kyran gave her differently from others.

"Is that all you want to ask?" Kyran asked Ladon, who appeared distracted by an irrelevant topic. At least to Kyran, how he called Cyneah was none of their business.

"I got sidetracked," Ladon admitted, looking at Kyran with a slight frown. "For now, we\'ll accept what you said. However, something still bothers me."

"...?"

"Apart from Sisi\'s hair color, her appearance remains unchanged. You should have recognized her earlier, so why didn\'t you reveal yourself?"

"Who is stupid enough to do that in front of others? Besides, nothing good comes from approaching you guys, or vice versa. Just look at what happened when you approached the Lacus Clan."

"Fair enough. But you could have told Sisi without us knowing."

"Maybe. Supposing no mages present with unique, innate abilities that could detect telepathy activities."

"You are quite well informed," Ladon remarked with raised brows. "Did the Lacus Clan tell you there are representatives around with such ability?"

"No."

"You—."

"Thorn."

"He\'s making a fool out of you!"

"He is not. Keep quiet, and let me do the talking."

"Tsk."

"Can we continue this discussion as we move?" Kyran could not help but say. "I don\'t want the remaining Solis representatives to find a chance to ambush us."

"Solis? Their group was also sent here?"

Ignoring Ladon\'s question, Kyran gestured for Auto-one with Diara in tow to lead the way.

Now that Kyran had removed the transformation potion\'s effects, he had to wear his hood to hide his face. He could drink another potion, but there was no guarantee that his appearance would be the same. Besides, not many groups were on the seventh floor, so changing his appearance was not a priority— even if the ones there were from The Emperor\'s clan.

The four Ancients followed them as they moved to the next area.

On the way, Ladon continued to ask Kyran more questions.

One of the questions Ladon asked was how Kyran got acquainted with the Lacus Clan.

"I wasn\'t," Kyran admitted. "I only know a few from the Ogen Clan."

"Ogen?" Ladon frowned. "Then how can you enter the tower when they don\'t have any portal."

Thinking that it would be pointless to come up with an excuse for every one of Ladon\'s questions, Kyran decided to answer everything truthfully. At least as truthful as he could be.

With this in mind, Kyran explained how he got acquainted with Leif and Overlord Oceanus and how they wanted to employ his services because of his rare concealment innate ability.

When Ladon and Thorn heard this, they were reminded of what the Ancient had said earlier about how they failed to notice Kyran\'s presence because he possessed something.

And that something had been referred to as the Shaiha by the Ancient.

Kyran sensed Ladon and Thorn\'s curiosity but did not actively direct their conversation in that direction. While he decided to answer their questions truthfully, that did not mean he would tell them things that they did not openly ask.

Ladon suddenly thought of something as he looked at Kyran and said, "We haven\'t seen the Ogen representatives... don\'t tell me that..."

Thorn scowled as he also realized what Ladon had. He said, "What did you do to the Lacus Clan representatives."

"They\'re all fine. I just put them to sleep and kept them in a safe place."

"The only safe place outside the tower is the platform. Not even the portals are safe, especially when the array leading to the platform opens," Ladon reasoned. He had always had a soft spot for the Lacus Clan. Thus, the mere thought of them being in danger worried him.

"Don\'t make me repeat myself," Kyran complained. "They are safe. That\'s all you need to know."

"You\'re still saying that—!"

"If he said they are safe, then they are safe," Cyneah cut Thorn midsentence. She smiled slightly at them and added, "He will not harm innocent people or beings."

"Fine," Thorn replied, still looking doubtful, but since Cyneah had spoken, he seemed prepared to accept Kyran\'s words.

"So the people with you are the Ogen\'s representatives," Ladon continued as if they were not interrupted.

"Yes."

"Humph," Thorn harumphed. "No wonder those guys seemed weak."

"Hm..." Ladon agreed, no longer defending them now that he knew they were not the real Lacus Clan representatives.

"And? Why did you agree to help the Ogen Clan? You even entered the portal and participated in the challenge."

"Initially, I have two goals," Kyran admitted. "When they told me that the Tower of the Ancients is accessible through portals that spawned randomly all over the Higher Realm, I wondered if I could go to the Dragon plane by finding your portal."

Ladon raised his brows, "So you are trying to find your way to the Dragon plane."

"I can\'t stay in Ogen. They are a neutral plane, true. But in the worst-case scenario, they can\'t help me."

"Worst-case scenario..." Ladon repeated while looking at Kyran sideways. "We haven\'t heard why you ended up in the Higher Realm yet. And why are Lady Ames and your people frantically looking for you."

His eyes narrowed as he thought of something, "Whatever reason you have could not have been connected to the Solis Clan suddenly attacking the Dragon plane, or was it?"

Kyran did not reply. He did not need to because Ladon did not need one. At that very moment, the little things they had heard from the male Ancient earlier and the things Kyran had revealed thus far spun in Ladon\'s mind like puzzle pieces coming together.

"Everyone knows The Emperor is obsessed with finding the Heart of the Cosmos, the item our clan used to guard when they hid in the Lower Realm.

"You, as a member of the family that once fought alongside our clan and even became a part of it after Lady Ames married the Dragon Lord... you... were chosen by the Shaiha."

A smile tugged at the corner of Kyran\'s lips. Talking to someone who knew how to burn their brain cells was nice, rather than talking to someone like Thorn, who runs off his mouth based on his emotions.

Ladon\'s expression turned grim. Before he could say more, Diara looked at Kyran and asked, "You mean The Emperor already knows about you?"