Legacy of the Dark Sage

'Platform?' Kyran repeated, looking at Shaiha in confusion through his mind's eye.

Shaiha nodded.

[The portals may have opened, but the tower itself is still closed. It will only open after all portals in the Higher Realm close. After that, the transmission array will activate, and all participants can use it to go to the platform located in front of the tower.]

Kyran fell silent as he contemplated her words. He then frowned as he realized something and asked, 'Have you been here before?'

[…]

'…'

The awkward silence stretched between them, and eventually, Shaiha could no longer take it and sighed in exasperation.

[When The Realm was divided and the Higher Being lost the qualification to wield me, I hid in the closest secured location I could find at that time, the Tower of the Ancients.]

Shaiha started to explain.

[Back then, the Land of the Ancients was already collapsing and bits and pieces of its land had already fallen to the Lower Realm. I thought the land where the Tower of the Ancients was would also fall to the Lower Realm, but instead, it got sucked into the crevices of space that appeared then and was lost.

Shaiha smiled bitterly, recalling a memory she had before proceeding.

[I thought the tower getting lost in space was for the best. At least, no one would ever inherit the Realm again and try to fix it… only to destroy it again because of greed and…]

There was a hint of anger and frustration in her voice as it trailed off.

Kyran did not respond nor insist that she continue. He did not have to because he sensed her sudden willingness to talk.

[… In any case—]

… Or, at least, he thought she was finally ready to talk.

[— I remained in the tower for thousands of years until a young mage found a portal to the tower, discovered how it worked, and entered it. He found me… and things went awry in the Higher Realm again.

[The discord did not happen at once. It happened gradually until… *sigh* well, I am sure you already have an idea of what transpired after I was found.]

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Shaiha looked at Kyran with a somewhat helpless smile.

[After all, that is how the Human plane got caught up in the Higher Realm's events. It even ended up birthing the first vessels of the Ancient Magic Cores.]

Kyran sighed while scratching his head, 'Don't you think it's about time you tell me everything that happened in the past?'

[Not until you accept your identity as the Realm Scion.]

'Why are you so fixated on that topic? You said it yourself. Maybe it is for the best that no one else inherits The Realm— no one will fix it, only to destroy it again.'

Shaiha fell silent.

Nonetheless, like how Shaiha could read and sense Kyran's thoughts, he could read and sense hers, too. Thus, even without her saying anything, he knew exactly why she was fixated on him accepting the Realm Scion's identity.

'It's fine if I inherited The Realm, is that it?'

[... I don't mind if you inherited The Realm.]

Kyran and Shaiha said at the same time.

'Don't give me too much credit. I'm sure you have a wrong impression about me.'

[I'll be the judge of that.]

'I am a greedy person.'

[As I said, I will be the judge of that—.]

'I'm also very selfish.'

[...]

'If I inherit The Realm, I'll likely destroy everything that I believe will harm everyone I care about. If I end up implicating others, then so be it. It doesn't matter if they are good people by heart. As long as they side with people who harm my people, I'll destroy them.'

[Like how you did not hesitate to kill those humans fighting for the Royal Family back in the Human plane? I know all about that and still believe you are fit to inherit The Realm.]

Shaiha shrugged before adding.

[Frankly, I approved of your action back then. Maybe they were inherently good people, but the truth of the matter remains that they chose to serve the Royal Family, regardless of all the distorted beliefs and rules the latter instilled in their heads. Even if they did that to secure a livelihood to support their families too—.]

'You're getting sidetracked.'

[— my point is! No matter how evil you try to make yourself out to be, I still stand by my belief that you are qualified to inherit The Realm.]

Shaiha ignored Kyran's attempt to interrupt her and said her piece.

Kyran fell silent, and Shaiha sensed his refusal of being the Realm Scion waver ever so slightly. It was progress, in her opinion, and it was more than enough at this point.

[In any case, I think you have a misconception about The Realm's inheritance.]

Kyran groaned when he realized Shaiha was not done with her pep talk.

'If this is your way of changing the topic about the Tower of the Ancients…'

[Ah—!]

Based on Shaiha's reaction, it appeared she did not mean to change the topic and was rendered speechless.

When Shaiha fell silent, Kyran backtracked on their conversation and veered their conversation back on track.

'The mage who discovered you… was he the Dark Sage?'

[!]

'Right on the mark, huh?'

Shaiha was once more speechless. She heaved a sigh and gave Kyran a hard look.

[Did you guess it after connecting the things I said and what that woman told you?]

The woman Shaiha was referring to was none other than Layla. Back in Somuli, when Layla told Kyran her reasons for wanting to create an army of undying mages, Shaiha got restless. Knowing Kyran, Shaiha knew he would agree to help Layla. It was not because he sympathized with her but because doing so would ensure she would stop targeting his people.

Apart from that, Layla promised to return the Soul core to Cyneah after she completed her revenge. She also promised to leave the Soul core completely so her emotions would not affect Cyneah.

'Layla, huh?' Kyran scratched his head after being reminded of her proposal, which he had yet to respond to.

'The things she said did make me connect a lot of things, from her relationship with the Dark Sage to some of the entries in the tablet Axil and the rest of the Guardians found,' he admitted. 'But there are still a lot of things that didn't make sense to me, and that is why I still have reservations.'

[The mage who found me was indeed the Dark Sage. But… you… still don't know his real identity, don't you?]

'If you know, just say it,' Kyran complained. 'I may be fond of researching, but if someone knows the answer to something, I don't mind being told.'

[Telling you, however, will threaten the original flow of things.]

'We're including the Fates in our conversation now?'

[They have always been involved in many things, Kyran.]

Shaiha told him solemnly.

[The only reason you don't sense their influence compared to others is because you are immune to the Fate Codes.]

Kyran's expression turned grim as he realized he had been too naive to wish Shaiha would start telling him what she knew. Because the moment she did, she started spouting things that gave him more questions than answers.

'I think I'm coming down with a really terrible headache. Let's rest a bit,' Kyran told Shaiha in an attempt to stop her from saying anything more.

Shaiha shook her head at Kyran's lame excuse. The headache he spoke of was only a figure of speech because he no longer experienced it. His overall condition had grown by leaps and bounds after drinking the Elixir, and that meant he would no longer be affected by minor aches like headaches.

[Now that I started talking, you wanted me to stop. You may not get another chance like this, you know.]

'I'll hold on to the fact you used the word may rather than will,' Kyran told her before looking at the portal and then the transmission array.

"The portal opened way ahead of time because of me," he wondered aloud. He approached the transmission array and reached out his hand while circulating his Void magic. "This array might also activate ahead of time if I imbued it with Void."

[If you do that, all the portals will close, and you will not be able to find the one that led to the Dragon Clan.]

Shaiha pointed while rolling her eyes.

Kyran stopped midway from touching the array and glared at her through his mind's eye. He growled, 'You should have said that earlier.'

[I did say it.]

'You only said about how the array will open after all portals in the Higher Realm close!' Kyran replied in exasperation.

'Forget it,' he added when he saw her opening her mouth to refute him. He straightened up and looked at his surroundings once more. 'I can venture away from the portal, at least, right?'

[Yes.]