Legacy of the Dark Sage

When Kyran left the Dragon plane with Leif, the destination he had in mind was the cabin he stayed at outside the city proper. Since it was his first time warping from one plane to another at such a great distance, he expected to exhaust himself again. Thus, he asked Leif to keep an eye on him if that happened.

What Kyran expected did happen, but fortunately, the exhaustion did not make him pass out cold. In fact, the one who wanted to pass out was Leif, as her complexion turned from white to yellow and then green.

"W-What did you do t-to me...?" Leif demanded as she slumped to the ground.

"..."

Kyran could only look at her with raised brows because he was too exhausted to argue or talk to her.

'Rather than exhausting my magic energy, it seems like long-distance warping is mentally exhausting...'

"Let's rest and wait here," he told Leif after taking a few deep breaths to stabilize his condition.

"'W-Wait?'" Leif repeated in confusion. "I can understand rest... but why wait?"

"Because I did not conceal my presence."

In fact, Kyran wondered why Shaiha had not spoken to him when he regained consciousness. He could sense her presence, albeit the connection they had seemed to have gotten weaker. Her concealment ability was still active, though. However, when it came to adjusting its capacity, Kyran could now do it even without her help.

'Shaiha?' he tried to call her inside his sea of consciousness.

Whir.

Kyran's central core, or Shaiha's real body, hummed inside his sea of consciousness in response, just like it used to before coming to the Higher Realm.

'No way...'

Shaiha did say that she could finally take a human form because the Higher Realm's magic was complete, and the magic energies in the surroundings were of higher quality.

'... Did something happen to the Higher Realm's magic or its magic energy?'

Kyran was not given the chance to contemplate his question as he sensed several auras approaching in all directions.

Leif also sensed them, and her face paled further.

"T-Those..."

Kyran found it strange that Leif was scared of the approaching auras when he should be the one to feel that way since he was the outsider.

But then.

"...annoying vassals! Can't they come a bit later? I haven't even recovered yet!"

"..."

Apparently, Leif was only worried about others seeing her looking pathetic. She shot Kyran a deathly glare and shouted, "W-Why did you suddenly decide not to conceal your presence? I went to so much trouble in concealing my own presence because I thought you wanted to sneak in and meet my father in secret!"

"...I don't remember saying anything about sneaking in."

"What?" Leif exclaimed so loud it almost appeared like she had already recovered. "Why would you do that?"

Kyran could not be bothered to answer Leif because the approaching auras were already nearby. He looked up ahead and could see a figure blue and green robe, flying toward their location.

Leif stood up and grabbed Kyran's hand.

"What are you spacing out for? Let's go hide!"

"It's fine," Kyran told her. But then, giving her an annoyed look, he added, "I did not hide my presence because I wanted them to notice us. Yet, you have to hide yours. What gives?"

"How should I know?"

Kyran sighed.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Powerful auras of peak Sovereigns exploded as three mages in blue and green robes surrounded them from three cardinal directions.

Without showing any ounce of fear or even surprise, Kyran faced them.

Leif, on the other hand, instinctively hid behind him.

"We are from the Ogen Clan's Immigration Office."

The mage facing Kyran from the front introduced themselves.

He continued without pause, "You have entered the plane without undergoing proper procedures. Since Ogen is a neutral plane, you will only be given a warning for the first offense. You will then be given another chance to undergo legal procedures in acquiring your entry pass as long as you go back with us to the—.

"!"

The mage and the other two took a sharp take of breath as they finally saw Leif.

"L-Lady Leif?"

All three immediately knelt before her, and the one in the middle blurted.

"W-When have you returned? The Overlord has been—."

"Stop."

The mage abruptly stopped as soon as he heard the young man with Lady Leif told him to. Even the other two clamped their mouth in fear of offending him.

'Hm? Offending?'

They belatedly realized their unreasonable reaction toward a young man who was obviously suspicious because the Lady of the Clan was with him.

Before they could rebuke the young man, however, he said something that rendered them speechless.

"I have taken Overlod Oceanus's precious daughter hostage. Bring me to him."

*

Leif stared at Kyran in disbelief as they sat opposite inside a carriage going to the Central Palace.

Kyran, with eyes closed, could sense her staring but chose to ignore her.

In fact, she was not the only one boring a hole in him because the three mages from the Immigration Office were also inside the carriage. One was seated beside Leif as if guarding her, while the other two were seated on each side of Kyran. They seemed to be treating him as a real fugitive.

'I don't understand what you're plotting.'

Unable to take it any longer, Leif talked to Kyran telepathically.

'There is nothing to understand because there is no plot,' Kyran replied.

'Huh?' Leif frowned.

'Ha...' Kyran sighed inwardly. He knew Leif would not leave him be if he did not give her a proper explanation of his actions. Thus, he patiently explained, 'I already told you that I need to be somewhere as soon as possible. I can't waste time sneaking into the palace just to meet your father.'

'I get that. But why do you have to act like a fugitive and tell them I'm your hostage?'

Kyran opened his eyes and raised his brows at Leif in amusement. He did not expect her to be hung up on what he said.

In fact, technically, what he said was true.

Because Leif, Maren, Cove, and Irving were Kyran's hostages.

'W-What?' Leif demanded apprehensively after seeing Kyran's expression.

Kyran chuckled in response while shaking his head.

'What is it?'

Instead of answering Leif's question, Kyran elaborated on his thought process.

'Since I can't waste time sneaking around to meet your father, this is the fastest way to meet him. In any case, it's not like he would do anything to me because he was aware of where we were. He might even be overjoyed to hear news about you because news of what happened to those who entered the Tower of the Ancients is a hot topic right now.'

Leif crossed her arms across her chest and leaned back while nodding slightly in agreement.

'That's true. Father is probably worried sick that I also met the same fate as the others.'

'At least he did not announce your disappearance to the outside yet.'

'Obviously,' Leif replied with a smug look. 'Father is not foolish to announce something he isn't 100% sure of.'

'...'

'I may have disappeared, or all the portals leading to the Tower of the Ancients might be destroyed, but he will definitely find a way to get me out of there.'

'... Yet there has been no movement from him after what happened.'

'W-What are you trying to say?'

Kyran hid his shrug by leaning back on his seat. The two mages beside him tensed up at the slight movement, and he inwardly wondered why they seemed afraid of him.

Leif seemed to have noticed Kyran's thoughts and reminded him, 'Of course they will be tensed. Your black hair and dark gray eyes aren't exactly common in the Higher Realm.'

'That's right,' he thought.

Kyran had not been wearing a mask to hide his real face and features lately and forgot how rare his appearance was to others in the Higher Realm.

In any case, Kyran found Oceanus's lack of movement suspicious.

Oceanus was fond of his daughter, so it was strange that he did not make any movements. It was true that he would not openly search for his daughter because that would raise so many doubts and questions from the other clans. For example, other clans would wonder why his daughter disappeared at the same time that the tragedy of the Tower of the Ancients happened.

To avoid such doubts from appearing, he would avoid letting others know about his daughter's disappearance.

Nevertheless, Oceanus would have still tried to make a move, albeit covertly. Yet he did not. Discover exclusive tales on

To be honest, when Kyran decided to come to Ogen without hiding his presence, he expected Leif to take them to her father once her escorts arrived.

He also considered that Oceanus might not be in Ogen because he was outside searching for clues of Leif's disappearance.

While they wait for Oceanus, Kyran intends to study Ogen's surroundings and find the fastest route he could take to get to the Blade Dancer plane.

Alas, that did not happen because Leif concealed her presence.

Kyran wanted to avoid the trouble of explaining himself to the three mages from the Immigration Office, so he introduced himself as someone who took their precious Lady of the Clan hostage.

There was another reason he did that. And it was something that one of the mages had said when he saw Leif.

''When have you returned, huh?'' Kyran repeated the mage's words in his head.

After arriving at the Central Palace, Kyran was escorted to a transportation array. Initially, Leif was meant to stay in the palace, but she insisted that she had to see her father as well. Thus, all five of them left together.

The transportation array was connected to a room where Oceanus was waiting. Upon their arrival, they immediately met him, standing right outside the array as if he could not wait to see them.

As soon as Oceanus saw Kyran and Leif, he smiled and said, "I knew you have survived."

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