Legacy of the Dark Sage

"This... is not an illusion," Ladon confirmed.

"No," Thorn agreed with a scowl. "But there is a residual of magic fluctuation in the air."

"A path created with magic..." Ladon muttered under his breath. After mulling over it for a few seconds, he looked at the others and said, "Thorn and I will force our way in and find the real one. Stay here and keep a lookout in the meantime."

"There is no need," Kyran told them. Not waiting for them to respond, he looked at Cyneah and asked, "How is it?"

"The one to the left is empty," Cyneah replied, her mirror-like eyes glowing as she looked at the intersection before them. "The right one had several lights lying in wait, while the one up ahead had faint glowing lights..."

"How many lights are up ahead?"

"Two..." Cyneah answered with a slight frown. "I... their lights are faint, but compared to the several ones lying in wait on the right path, they are stronger. I know it appears contradictory, but that\'s how I perceive their light."

Ladon and Thorn were amazed that Cyneah was able to see what was beyond the intersection. They both boast enhanced senses, but all they sensed beyond the paths ahead were fluctuations of magic.

On the other hand, Diara and the other Ancients looked at Cyneah suspiciously. Now that they knew her appearance was only a disguise and that she was not from the Dragon Clan, hearing her speak about lights made them recall something.

"You—."

"Don\'t say anything unrelated to the current situation," Kyran interrupted Diara before she could even form what she wanted to say.

Immediately, Diara clammed up. She had no choice because, even though Kyran\'s expression remained indifferent when he spoke, his words were obviously a threat. She did not want to be electrocuted again, so she took his words seriously.

Nonetheless, she and the Ancients already had suspicions about Cyneah\'s identity, and they found it ironic, even bordering tragic, now that they knew her relationship with Kyran.

Ladon and Thorn also noticed what Kyran did and realized there was more to Cyneah than what they were told. They did not care much about the circumstances that made Lady Ames bring along several people from the Lower Realm to the Higher Realm. But the more they learn about them, the more they discover how much trouble they brought with them.

"The ones at the right, are the lights similar to Diara and the others?" Kyran asked Cyneah as if they did not get interrupted.

Cyneah looked toward the right path, and her frown deepened.

"I... can\'t say for sure. They appeared different, but... they also felt familiar."

"The seventh floor\'s challenge mainly focuses on Array and Smithing," one of the Ancients explained. "Those lights... they are what others would refer to one\'s soul, am I correct?" he added, looking at Cyneah with narrowed eyes.

"That\'s..." Cyneah\'s voice trailed off because she did not know how to answer that. Technically, the lights did refer to one\'s soul. But at the same time, it was not limited to that. It also represented their magic core, life force, and even their very essence. It was hard to explain, but referring to the lights as one\'s soul was an understatement.

"If that is the case, Automata who awakened their sentience will possess lights. Because of the main branches of magic that the seventh floor\'s challenge focused on, it is not wrong to assume that those lights may belong to automatons."

"A room full of automatons, huh?" Kyran\'s voice was laced with undisguised enthusiasm.

Aki and Cyneah, who knew about his love for puppet creations, which bordered obsession, could not help but sigh in their hearts.

"We are not sure if they are automatons," Cyneah reminded Kyran, sounding a little helpless. "Try to control your excitement."

"Master, having you deal with the automatons is unnecessary. Aki and I can handle them," Auto-one offered. "Of course, we can always ask them to relinquish the tower\'s authority to you so you can command them at will," he added while gesturing toward Diara.

"You defect— I mean, you! Just because he is the Realm Scion doesn\'t mean we can just give him full authority over the tower. The tower has its own sentient, and it will judge who is worthy of it."

"Did you not hear me? I said not to say anything unrelated to the situation."

"It is related! Since we\'re about to choose which path to take," Diara hastily reasoned. "If we take the right path, we wouldn\'t have to deal with the automatons ourselves if we relinquish—."

"Just stop," Kyran cut her off with a sigh. To be honest, he felt a little disillusioned about the Ancients after meeting a few of them. Though they were clearly from the younger generation, he found their character a little... disappointing.

Of course, that did not include their capabilities. The fact that Diara and the other Ancients could subdue Ladon and Thorn by themselves was proof of how powerful and deep their magic and magic knowledge was.

"Who said we\'re choosing?" Kyran added after a short pause.

Ladon and Thorn looked at him in surprise, realizing the implication of his words. To be honest, they preferred to go in the middle because they were curious about how Cyneah described those two lights.

Kyran mentioned that there were Solis representatives on the seventh floor with them. To phrase his words, he said:

"I don\'t want the remaining Solis representatives to find a chance to ambush us."

From this, Ladon and Thorn gleaned that Kyran met one of the Solis representatives and dealt with him or her. That leaves them with two remaining representatives.

Number-wise, the two lights Cyneah saw in the middle path points at them. Her description of them also made Ladon and Thorn guess that they were trying to conceal their strength while they waited for their prey.

They also reckoned that initially, the three Solis representatives wanted to explore the seventh floor separately, but after losing contact with one of their own, they decided to join hands and plan an ambush.

If those on the right were automatons, they were probably lured or caught to be placed there by the Solis representatives. Their purpose was simple: if their prey went to the right, the automatons would exhaust them, and after a while, the two Solis representatives would arrive to finish them off.

But if they went to the middle, they would personally deal with them using whatever trap they prepared there. As for the left path, Ladon and Thorn could not shake the uneasy feeling in their guts. There might be a bigger trap lying in wait for them in that place. Cyneah only said that the path was empty, but that did not mean there was no danger.

In fact, the very idea of that path being empty was already a huge flag for them.

"We\'ll deal with all of them," Ladon said before Kyran could say more. "That is what you want to say, right?"

"We have enough people on our side," Kyran did not try to deny Ladon\'s words. "Let\'s deal with them once and for all."

"Ladon and I can take the middle path," Thorn volunteered.

"You\'d be most suited to go to the left," Kyran, on the other hand, did not agree.

Thorn scowled. He was about to buttheads with the latter when Ladon placed a hand before him to stop him.

"What now?" Thorn growled at Ladon.

Ignoring Thorn, Ladon looked at Kyran and asked, "Why do you think that?"

"We don\'t know much about the left side. While having Diara and her group check that path, I don\'t want them out of my sight— for security reasons," Kyran replied, looking toward the Ancients briefly before turning his attention back to the others. "Besides, you guys can force your way out of any situation using Draconic magic.

I\'m guessing the left path is empty because there is an active Dimension right there that Neah could not see."

Ladon narrowed his eyes. He did consider that and believed Kyran could deal with it better than them, given how easily he destroyed Diara\'s Dimension earlier.

Before he could voice his thoughts, however, Kyran said with a slight smile, "Hear me out for a bit..."

*

Thorn wore a dissatisfied expression as he and Ladon proceeded to the left path.

"I can\'t believe you bought that guy\'s nonsense," he grumbled.

"It is not nonsense, and you know it," Ladon replied with a sigh. "I know you dislike him because he came on too strong, but that in itself proves that he is a descendant of Lady Ames."

"..."

"In any case," Ladon continued with a slight smile, "Let\'s finish this and join them as soon as possible."

As he said this, an oppressive aura erupted a few meters up ahead.

FOOOM!

The Dimension, which was actively serving as their enemy\'s barrier, expanded as if wanting to envelop Ladon and Thorn within.

Meanwhile, Auto-one, Diara, and the rest of the Ancients were the ones sent to the right path.

Finally, Kyran led the way to the middle path, along with Aki and Cyneah.