Legacy of the Dark Sage

Geir knelt before Kyran respectfully as he gave a detailed report of their Elite group's first expedition around the surroundings where the Blade Dancer Clan's land had taken refuge.

Under normal circumstances, Geir would not have shown such respect, especially to a mage who appeared so young. The fact that he was treating this young mage with such deference was a clear indication of the pressure he felt from Kyran, a pressure that was no different from that of the Dragon Emperor's aides. In fact, he even sensed a trace of the young man's Draconic aura.

Most of the smart and sensible members also sensed it, and that was why they chose to keep their mouths shut. They also knew that there was some truth in the rumor of a Dragon Clan representative being the one responsible for the recent tragedy in the Tower of the Ancients. They guessed that the Dragon Clan representative had been Kyran.

Although Kyran's participation was not mentioned by the surviving representatives, and they only testified of four representatives of the Dragon Clan; there was no telling if, like the Solis Clan and most of their loyal followers, also sent hidden participants.

In any case, no matter what Kyran's intentions were for saving the Blade Dancer Clan, he did save them from total annihilation. The could not ignore it.

Kyran listened to his report while mentally taking notes of the beasts the Blade Dancer Elite group encountered.

Similar to the ones Kyran encountered in the swamp, monsters in the surrounding area used Earth-based magic. The Elite group, despite the odds, bravely led the first expedition and was not at a disadvantage when fighting these rampant beasts. Their courage and determination were truly inspiring. It was also fortunate that none of the Sound House joined them.

Otherwise, the local beasts' natural immunity to Sound magic might become advantageous to them.

"... they managed to secure most of the carcasses, and the Head Alchemist, along with the Alchemy Division, are currently dissecting them. If we are lucky, we can turn those beast carcasses into useful materials."

"I'll visit the Alchemy Division later and check on their progress."

"I will inform the Head Alchemist."

"There is no need," Kyran said, shaking his head. Then he said, "For now, let's talk about the most pressing matter."

His eyes narrowed as he asked the question that Geir seemed adamant about avoiding. "How many are voicing their discontent about our current arrangement?"

Geir's brow furrowed slightly. He hesitated for only a brief moment before replying, "Most of the conservatives are still unhappy. But rest assured, once they properly comprehend the weight of how you have saved our clan, they will come around eventually."

"I don't want to deal with vague things like coming around eventually. Gather everyone voicing their discontent, and I'll address them myself."

Though Kyran did not change his expression or demeanor, Geir still felt cold shivers up his spine. The younger mage's indifference was far more stifling than the Emperor's obvious oppressive demeanor.

"T-There is no need for you to step up yourself, L-Lord. I will see to the matter and—."

"I won't question your capability, Head of the Blade Dancer Clan. You managed to maintain a good relationship between the Blade Houses even with the ongoing rivalry behind the scenes, after all."

Geir's expression did not change, but he was somewhat surprised upon hearing Kyran's remark.

He expected the latter to have enough intel about the internal affairs of the Blade Dancer Clan since he suspected he was being raised by the Dragon Clan secretly, but he did not expect him to fully understand that it was the sole reason none of the Blade House Leaders had gone overboard with their hidden propaganda.

"But the longer we left such vague matters on their own, the harder it will make the younger generation listen. At the moment, they only follow what their superiors are telling them."

Geir did not miss Kyran's implication, and he looked at the latter with a grim expression and said, "You think they will not heed my words as the Head of the Clan?"

"They will, but reluctantly. I don't want such emotion to rule over the clan."

"Pardon my brazen words, Lord. But... you have marked the House Leaders... won't they receive appropriate punishment if they do not heed your words and allow their house members to run rampant?"

Kyran tilted his head and did not respond. He only looked at Geir without a change in his expression.

Geir found Kyran's stare a little unsettling. Still, he got the message the latter did not voice and said, "I am sorry for questioning your authority."

"The leaders of the Blade Houses are not exactly part of the conservatives. Besides, being superior not only applies to those with higher standings or rankings. The ones who can influence the younger generation do not necessarily have to be that kind of superiors."

Geir's eyes narrowed as he finally understood what Kyran was trying to tell him.

The ones who could influence the younger generation were definitely the elders of their house, not the leaders. The conservatives were mostly elders who had been loyal to The Emperor for several hundreds of years.

"Shiloh also told me that there are a lot of arrogant members of the younger generation. I want to nip the bud before they cause any major problems."

"I understand."

"Putting that matter aside, how is the construction moving around the mansion?"

"As you have advised, we solely focused on rebuilding the mansion's walls, and currently, 30% of the walls have been restored," Geir replied at once.

To be honest, he knew that the reason Kyran ordered a group of elite members of the clan to scout the surroundings was not only so they could familiarize themselves with the beasts and the terrain around them but also to ensure that the construction of the walls of the mansion was not obstructed by surprised beast attacks.

"30%..." Kyran frowned slightly.

To be honest, he would have loved to fix the Grand Array Formation while the wall's construction was underway. Unfortunately, he had trouble using his Void magic at the moment because of the appearance of that unknown Void user. Moreover, the storage vault of the Blade Dancer Clan was destroyed.

Apparently, there were several vaults around the Blade Dancer Clan's land, and all of them were located quite close to the periphery.

When Kyran heard that, he almost snapped at them for being careless. Why would they place those vaults in places that could be exposed to crossfire? Then again, he reckoned Geir or the previous Head of the Clan did not anticipate their array formation and walls could be destroyed easily.

Apart from that, if a day came when someone did attack them, they believed it was easier to assist the vanguards if the supplies were close to their location.

Regardless of the truth of why those storage vaults were located there, Kyran only had one thought.

It was a foolish move.

Anyhow, since there were no materials to use for Array Creation, Kyran had no choice but to have them focus on building physical walls for protection.

"We need to move up the construction," he told Geir after a short pause.

"We expect more members to recover in the following days. Once they are up and about, I'll have them assist in the construction as well."

"There is no need to wait for the wounded to recover. We have enough manpower."

Geir suddenly felt foreboding upon hearing Kyran's response. He obviously knew who the latter was referring to, and he could already sense an incoming headache for the negotiations he had to do in order to make them work.

"You don't necessarily have to speak to them. I'll do that."

"!"

"Since I'll be meeting them anyway, might as well address everything in one go."

"T-That's true, but..."

"I'll leave the meeting arrangement to you."

Geir sighed. It appeared his audience with their new Lord was now over.

"I understand."

Once Geir left the audience chamber, Kyran addressed someone who had been waiting for them to finish from the shadows.

"You have put me in such a bad position."

"Fufufu~"

A muffled yet full of mirth laughter answered as a figure moved out from the shadows and into a spot with enough light.

A handsome young man with auburn hair and aquamarine eyes came into view and was smiling at Kyran candidly.

"Would you believe me if I said I was 100% lending you a hand?"

Kyran looked at the face of the young man with mixed emotions.

The face was none other than Tyr, but the one speaking was obviously Ruin.

"How did you take control of Neo's body?" he asked without even bothering to comment on Ruin's question.

"By injecting my essence's magic energy, of course~," Ruin replied matter-of-factly. "Don't worry, I made sure not to destroy your precious creation's energy core."

His eyes lit up as if remembering something. He added, "Ah, but don't worry. I can't do this anytime I want. It just happened that your precious creation's energy core was quite receptive to my magic energy being modeled to absorb magic energies in the surroundings. Besides, he birthed a very stable sentient. That made it much easier to take advantage of him."

Kyran's eyes narrowed, and they glinted in a dangerous light. Because he was currently in disguise, he looked like most mages in the Blade Dancer Clan, with golden blonde hair and light brown eyes. Thus, when his eyes glinted, instead of appearing silver, they appeared golden.

"Get out of Neo's body while I'm still asking nicely."

Ruin's face distorted slightly as he sensed Kyran's rising murderous intent.

"You know I can't do that. At least, not yet."

"..."

"You should have noticed by now that what happened back there was out of your control."

Kyran did not respond. But he did sense that something was amiss.

"That's right~ you have been played~."