Legacy of the Dark Sage

"No, don't—!" Cyneah wanted to say. But the thunderous sound of the floor's destruction drowned out her voice.

"What—?" Thorn expected the three of them to freefall to the floor below after they destroyed the one that supported them. But none of that happened.

As soon as the sound of the floor's destruction subsided, what was left of the light that lit the room disappeared, engulfing them in complete darkness. This was soon followed by the voice's gleeful laugh that reverberated around them.

"AHAHAHAHA!"

Ladon took a sharp breath as he realized what he and Thorn had done.

"No..." he muttered in frustration.

The floor they destroyed was the one the voice created through Dimension. Nonetheless, the aftershock of the Dimension's destruction caused the real mirrors outside it to shatter.

"!" Thorn stopped short as he also realized what they had done. He growled in anger and shouted, "You bastard!"

Cyneah closed her eyes with a sigh, "It's already too late. You've already released that voice."

The voice tried to get in their heads so they would not realize its move in trapping them in its Dimension, all so it could rile up Ladon or Thorn, or both, and force them to force their way out of it.

Why did the voice go through all that trouble? The answer was in the words it said to Cyneah:

"If you release me, I will show you the way to him."

"Those annoying mirrors had imprisoned me for far too long, but finally, I'm free," the voice that sounded different depending on who heard it now sounded like a woman. "I don't have trouble using magic even while imprisoned, but those annoying mirrors just absorbed any attack I aimed at them."

The woman suddenly explained, even when no one asked.

Frankly, Cyneah, Ladon, and Thorn wondered how the woman could summon such a potent Dimension yet unable to free herself from whatever was imprisoning her. But if the mirrors shackled her, then everything made more sense.

"Now then," the woman said, her voice turning solemn as she addressed them. "Since you have been so kind as to free me, I will let you go— except for her."

Even before the woman finished what she was saying, Ladon and Thorn made a move.

They knew it was futile to fight the woman with a Dimension of their own because the latter was clearly a level higher than them. Although their disadvantage would not be that big because they were using Draconic magic, the strength of one's Dimension was not affected by how ancient or rare one's innate magic was.

Ladon summoned a water barrier around Cyneah, protecting her from the woman, while Thorn let out a mighty roar as his body shifted slightly. His body expanded, and his armor adjusted to the change in size.

Although Thorn did not completely turn into his dragon form, he now looked like a small dragon with human features. His silvery gold scales glimmered with raw strength, and his eyes glinted with undisguised anger.

With the sudden change in his form, Thorn's eyes could see through the darkness. He found the woman's silhouette, and he appeared right before her in the blink of an eye.

"I'll destroy you, b*tch!"

Thorn's way of speaking was very rough. However, it was very rare for him to curse. One would know that he was furious the moment he did.

BAM!

Thorn's huge clawed fist slammed down on the woman's silhouette.

But.

"Ahahahaha!"

"Hm—?" Thorn scowled as his fist hit nothing but air. To be precise, the woman's silhouette seemed to turn into a black mist and dispersed from the force of his punch.

"Just because you can see a woman's silhouette doesn't mean it is me. Come one, young dragon. Don't make a complete fool of your proud race."

"Grr— Shut the hell up!" Thorn growled as his slitted eyes contracted in anger. Using his enhanced hearing, he found a slightly different sound from his left and immediately pursued it. He used Dragon Steps, which allowed him to appear right where he had heard a distinct sound in the blink of an eye.

"RAAWRGH!" Thorn roared as he unleashed another punch that tore through the darkness.

BOOM!

The punch he released was full of raw Draconic magic, capable of destroying even the most abstract form of darkness that enveloped them.

"Ahahaha!"

The woman's laughter reverberated around them again, annoying Thorn and even Ladon, who remained close to Cyneah.

For the record, Ladon and Thorn had their senses on full drive, searching for the woman's location. But the latter hid her presence and aura well, making it hard for them to pinpoint her exact location. It also did not help that the room was huge; if one shouted, it would produce echoes.

"Just where are you aiming, young dragon?" the woman quipped at another one of Thorn's missed punches.

"Left!"

When Thorn heard those words, his body seemed to move on its own and turned to the left. Simultaneously, he sent a powerful punch that tore through the darkness again.

"Ngh—!"

Although the woman tried to stop herself from yelping in shock, all three heard her muffled cry as if she had narrowly escaped a fatal strike.

"This..." Ladon could not help but turn to look at Cyneah, who had directed Thorn to turn to his left.

"Incoming behind!" Cyneah shouted at Thorn again.

She did not have to shout the warning because he sensed an incoming danger coming from behind and had already somersaulted to avoid a magic attack aimed at him.

"Woman— you!" The woman reeled as she addressed Cyneah. However, she did not sound angry. She sounded very excited. "Is this what you mean about seeing their lights?"

"Around two meters to your left!" Cyneah ignored the woman and shouted once more.

"You—!" The woman uttered a muffled cry as she narrowly missed another of Thorn's attacks.

"Very interesting! Ahahahaha!"

Fooom!

Again, the woman unleashed the same vacuum-like force that enveloped their surroundings.

"I won't let you this time!" Ladon growled. His eyes glowed as he roused his magic.

There was a reason why Draconic magic used to be called Chaos magic.

Others believed that Chaos magic's nature was utter destruction, but this was untrue. If one delved more into how the Ancients described Ancient magic, they would understand that they were connected.

"Nothingness is the beginning of everything. It gave birth to Chaos, to which Chaos gave birth to Order. And then Order gave birth to Life."

Nothingness refers to the Void. From this line, one can understand the importance of the Void in every form of Ancient magic. Chaos came from nothing, but one could also interpret it as nothingness giving birth to everything encompassing a realm. After that came Order. Now, Order here refers to Time. This is because the order came only after Time appeared.

Finally, with Time, Life came. It goes without saying, but Life here refers to the Soul.

In any case, picking up on how Chaos came to be, one would understand that it was the combination of everything and anything from the Void. Thus, if one could use it, one could use any existing element.

This fact posed a massive threat to all creations. Only a few were aware of this, and unfortunately, The Emperor was one of those few in the know.

Fortunately, Dragons are the only ones who can circulate Chaos magic. Their unique and superior body constitutions explain this.

Ladon came from a clan of sea dragons, which is why his affinity for water-based magic was strong. Whenever he used Draconic magic, water-based magic energy responded to him.

Water magic energies gathered around Ladon, forming a small stream of waves that expanded outward. The waves started small but soon surged upward before going outward. Its momentum was unleashed with such ferocity that the formation of the woman's Dimension was disrupted instantly.

SHATTER!

Like fragile glass, the space in which the woman's Dimension was just about to take form was destroyed.

"Ladon—!" Cyneah's warning was cut short as the woman appeared right before her.

Contrary to what they had expected, the woman was not human. She did not have any form. She had an intangible form, almost like gas, that fleeted in and out of existence. At least, that would have been how she would appear if they could see her through the naked eye. In Cyneah's eyes, the woman only looked like a hovering light with a misty glow around her.

The woman unleashed another vacuum-like force, but this time, she only aimed at the water barrier that protected Cyneah.

"Sisi!" Ladon turned just in time to see the woman creating a small Dimension to imprison Cyneah. His eyes glowed as his hands shifted back to their dragon form. Water-based magic enveloped his hands as he grabbed the woman.

Thorn also saw what was happening and used Dragon Steps to get to them quickly. But rather than aiming at the woman, he aimed at the forming Dimension about to imprison Cyneah.

On the other hand, Cyneah was not idle. Offensive-wise, she admitted to being powerless against the woman. After all, she could only affect the souls of people she could touch. She did not have the Soul core, which limits her utilization of Soul magic. The Macabre Glacier served as her magic core, but that was it. It could not be compared to a real one or the Soul core.

Cyneah did not know that the woman did not have a form, but just seeing her light, she already knew she would be unable to do anything to her with her power alone.

She hated being a damsel in distress, but at the moment, rather than wallowing in her helplessness, her instincts kicked in as she grabbed the one thing she had carried with her ever since he fixed it.

No matter how often she used it, it had not worked for the past few months. But in the tower, if her guess was right... and if what the woman before her had said was not merely to mess her mind, then it might work.

With this in mind, Cyneah grabbed the pendant of her necklace. She referred to it as such, but it was pretty large to be a pendant, and she muttered a short plea.

"Kyran."

KRRSHK!

CRACKLE!

BOOM!