Legacy of the Dark Sage

Three hours after searching for a nearby plane, Kyran felt a familiar presence and saw a familiar ship drifting nearby.

'That's...'

[Null! Where are the others?]

Leif's voice sounded in Kyran's head, and he was pretty relieved. Traversing through space was too exhausting, and he was nearing his limit. That was why he was relieved to see the ship he and the others rode to get to the Crepuscule Auction House.

'I thought you guys went back.'

[Don't belittle us! Do you think we'll leave without you guys?]

Leif replied, clearly offended. But then, with a sigh of relief, she explained.

[We know you guys will be able to escape, and that's why we have been waiting around here.]

Leif's explanation did not say much, but Kyran more or less guessed that they were not merely waiting but drifting around, searching for them. Frankly, they would have been in trouble if Lucian had happened upon them when he left. But he guessed Leif anticipated this and ensured they kept a safe distance— not close, but not too far.

'They're with me.'

[...? How—?]

'I'll explain later...'

Perhaps it was the relief Kyran felt from seeing the ship and hearing Leif's voice that made the fatigue he had been enduring finally start to settle in.

They had faced a challenging ordeal this time, and Kyran recognized the importance of reflecting on various aspects of this experience. He was conscious of his reservations throughout and wanted to organize his thoughts. Additionally, he collected valuable information to help them prepare more effectively if something like this happened again.

Leif was silent for a moment before finally responding.

[Stay put. Mira will escort you back.]

Kyran did not respond, but inwardly, he thanked Leif for her excellent judgment. Honestly, he did not know if his remaining magic energy was enough to reach the ship. For this reason, he welcomed Leif's suggestion to have Mira escort him back. ṛΆΝǒBЁṣ

An hour later, Kyran, having entered the ship with Mira's assistance and escorted to the ship's common area, could finally relax.

"Wha—?"

Leif's eyes almost popped out of their sockets when she got a better look on Kyran's face.

"You look like death!"

And Kyran did. Even with the face-altering mask adjusted to a different skin tone, it could not mask his pale complexion. Moreover, his clothes, which were supposed to be enchanted with self-repairing formula and the like, were unable to mend.

"...Do you have potions?"

"Huh?"

"Potion?"

"..."

Leif swallowed back the question she was about to ask and immediately handed Kyran a high-grade healing potion.

"Do you have any energy-replenishing potion?"

"Why do you need... no, never mind. Here," Leif handed him a similarly high-grade energy replenishing potion to Kyran.

Kyran sat on the couch and downed the potions at once. He opened his space pouch when he regained some of his strength and magic energy and immediately released Cyneah, Alta, and True Void out in the common area.

Leif and Mira's eyes grew like saucers as they watched the three appear on the floor. They were all unconscious, but judging from their soft breathing and complexion, they were not in immediate danger. They even looked like they were only sleeping.

"How...?"

"..."

Kyran stared at them with a vacant look. He knew what they were about to ask. Unfortunately, he could not give them an answer. He was surprised at what his pouch could do, too.

As far as he remembered, space storage should not be able to store living things. Then again, most space storages had limits like the number of items it could store, their size, weight, and sometimes even the magic energy on an item. However, Kyran had yet to encounter those in his space storage. He never questioned it before because his uncle was also an Array Saint. Besides, it was not like he had never seen some unique space storage— just like the storage ring he gave Cyneah a few years ago.

That storage ring could store so many plants and allow them to grow. That should not be possible because plants, especially those rare and special ones, can only survive in specific environments. Kyran did not think the ring was strange because he received it as a reward from the Tower of Tribulations. And now that he knew the Ancients built that tower, with their advanced magic knowledge, it would not be strange for them to create such a unique space storage.

In the end, Leif could only sigh helplessly and looked at Kyran. She said, "You and your people... just who is living in a privileged realm here. All the things you've shown us before... we never expected it to have come from the Lower Realm."

"..."

Kyran remained silent and approached Cyneah to see how she was doing. It was only after ensuring she was fine that he turned his attention to True Void.

"Leave them to us," Leif told Kyran, ushering him up. "Even after drinking potions, you still look like death. Let's talk again after you're well rested."

Kyran studied her face for a moment. From the corner of his eye, he saw Mira checking Alta's condition. He agreed without much resistance since he already confirmed Cyneah and True Void's conditions.

Leif and Mira took Alta, Cyneah, and True Void to the infirmary and rested them on the beds. After tending to them, the two sat in silence, lost in thought.

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It would be a lie to say they did not regret leaving them behind. Though there were no visible injuries on them, just from their pale complexion, it was apparent how drained they were. Would their condition be better if they had gone with them?

Leif and Mira did not know. They were not arrogant to think that their presence would make a difference in front of The Emperor. Still, they wondered if they could have escaped much easier if they had been with them.

"Lady Leif," Mira called for Leif's attention after a few minutes of silence.

Leif looked at her, and even without hearing what the latter had to say, she already had a good guess and replied, "Let's not assume anything and wait for Null to tell us what happened."

What Mira wanted to ask was quite evident. She wanted to know what would happen to the Higher Realm now that the Crepuscule Auction House was destroyed.

They might be far from the heart of the battle, but they still sense the magic fluctuation around there. That was how chaotic it had been. Besides, the Crepuscule Clan survived. At least, Marigold's side did.

In any case, there was no saying what would happen once the destruction of the Crepuscule Auction House was made known throughout the Higher Realm.

"However, there one thing is for sure," Leif added solemnly. "The Emperor will not let this go."

*

Kyran fell asleep as soon as he crashed on the bed. The potions he got from Leif were quite good but did not help much. As for his magic energy, he only regained enough to open his storage pouch and release Cyneah and the others. He thought he could recover his magic energy slowly after drinking a healing potion and an energy-replenishing potion. However, even after that, he still did not sense any magic energy entering his body.

That would have typically alarmed any mage.

Kyran, too. But he was too exhausted to think or even be alarmed. That was why, when he saw a bed, he did not even bother to change clothes; he simply crashed on it and slept.

Kyran did not dream. Even when he fell unconscious for a long time, he never dreamed. It was no different this time. However, he had hoped he would because at least it would give him the illusion that he had truly fallen asleep.

Alas, that did not happen, which was why the next time he opened his eyes, it felt like he had only closed them for a second.

'...ugh...'

Kyran felt his body had gotten worse after resting for a few hours. He even felt the urge to throw up, and that had never happened before, even when he was beaten to a pulp when he was young or after encountering a formidable beast and ended up battered.

When he was enduring the Chaos magic energy's influence inside his body, he could still move his body. This time, he could not even muster any strength in his arms.

The feeling was similar to when he first drank the Elixir. But it was also a little different.

'Don't tell me... is this a repercussion of being in a Void State?' Kyran wondered.

It was possible. Though he could not say for sure, that state was indeed something. From what he understood about that state so far, he was immune to magic attacks and likely physical attacks— the latter being an obvious fact since he was

Invisible

. However, there were so many restrictions while in the Void State. He only confirmed a few, but there could be more.

Kyran wanted to learn more about the Void State, especially its trigger.

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