Legacy of the Dark Sage

As soon as Estrid declared her growing interest in Kyran, her magic energy surged and enveloped her whole person. Following the increase in her magic, what little resistance the circulating Void in Kyran's body had crumbled. Her magic energy then shamelessly forced its way into his body.

"....ngh!"

Understanding Kyran's intention to fight Estrid's influence by sheer force, Shaiha let out the restlessly swirling Chaos magic energy in his Draconic Core.

Whoooong!

The Chaos magic energy immediately zoned in on Estrid's invading magic energy and spread over it like a thinly crafted net.

"!"

Estrid's golden eyes almost popped out of their sockets from sensing a foreign and sinister energy from inside Kyran.

"How very intriguing!"

Alas, that only made her even more excited as she slipped her hands on Kyran's shoulders and forced him onto the bed once more.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Because of the Chaos magic's interference, Kyran managed to regain some control over his body. He grabbed Estrid's wrists with great difficulty and pushed her off him.

However, no matter how much Kyran exerted his strength, Estrid did not budge. She even succeeded in pushing him onto the bed when he was briefly distracted by her strength.

"...ugh..!"

Kyran slammed on the bed, and the flowers on them scattered around them. When he regained some of his senses and looked at Estrid again, he found himself staring at a beautiful woman with markings on her face and flowing white hair. What was more the flowing white hair seemed to blend well with her dress.

Only then did Kyran realize that all this time, he never really saw what Estrid looked like. He only had a vague impression of her face and simply adapted the images of the Crepuscule Clan members he met to incorporate her 'person.'

Estrid's face only ever became clear after Kyran fell on the bed.

'....!'

Kyran was suddenly struck with an idea, which he immediately conveyed to Shaiha, who, in turn, whirred restlessly in response. He could not hear her speak— she could only ever make those whirring sounds while in her core form— but he was able to understand her thoughts because of their connection.

Shaiha was afraid, and Kyran could not blame her. Because what he asked her to do could very well expose his identity and alert Lucian.

Before Kyran and Shaiha could reach an agreement, Estrid released her magic pressure, which pressed down on Kyran, causing him to cough up blood.

Blood trickled down from his lips, and Estrid hungrily licked her lips at his sight. Her action should have been scary, but somehow, it only added to her allure.

"Such a beautiful face..." she murmured, but then her eyes glinted and her smile broadened once more. "But I'd prefer to see the real one underneath."

Ignoring Kyran's struggle at trying to push her off him, Estrid slid her hands on his neck and slowly slithered her fingertips to his jawline.

Kyran knew at once what she was trying to do. Estrid knew he was in disguise and declared her curiosity to see what he truly looked like underneath.

Shaiha, who was still reluctant to do what Kyran asked of her, was alarmed at Estrid's actions. They could still come up with something to prevent Kyran's identity from being exposed completely, but if his face-altering mask were removed, they would lose that opportunity. After all, his face as the Void Master was already known by so many people.

"I see you're still trying to fight," Estrid giggled when Kyran made another attempt to stop her hands from moving. "It is futile, however. If I say I want you, then you will be mine. And since I said I want to see your real face, then I will definitely remove that mask on you."

Even when Kyran succeeded in stopping Estrid's fingers from finding the edge of his mask, to his shock, her fingernails grew and easily crept under his mask.

"!"

Shaiha finally made up her mind and did what Kyran asked of her— releasing all the constraints she put on Kyran to conceal his aura and presence.

BOOOOOM!

As soon as Shaiha released her concealment, an explosion occurred outside. It was far from where they were, but it was enough to shake and distract Estrid.

"What—?" Estrid exclaimed in annoyance rather than anger as she snapped a look at the double door that Kyran only realized was located to his right (Estrid's left).

As if in response to her exclamation, the door burst open, and Reynard and the two mages that greeted them earlier hurried inside and shouted, "W-We are under attack, milady!"

Estrid's eyes constricted as three of her tails swept toward Reynard and the two mages. She grabbed them using her tails and pinned them on the wall.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

"Gah!"

The three groaned in pain as they were pressed into the wall.

Only then did Kyran realize that what he thought was Estrid's white hair was her fox tails. Her tails were numerous and quite enormous for her slim body. In any case, the number of her tails was a testament to her seniority over the rest of her clan members.

"You dare enter my room when I am doing my business?"

"A-Apologies, Lady Estrid, however—!"

BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!

Reynard started to say something but was interrupted by a series of explosions outside.

The room shook violently from the explosions, and the scattered petals on the floor flutter.

"WHO DARES ATTACK MY CREPSCULE CLAN?"

Estrid bellowed, and some of her tails snaked around Kyran's body as if to ensure he would not escape. She brought him along as she stood up.

Estrid's voice carried over the whole plane and was heard by the uninvited guest.

A smile crept on Ruin's face as he shook his head, "Seriously, you just can't do anything without me, can you?"

"What are you even saying, huh? What are you saying? I am the one who got us here in the first place! Don't speak like you came here just in time to aid Void-halfling!"

If Kyran had been there, he would have recognized the voice refuting Ruin.

True Void.

Ruin donned True Void like armor and changed his face to mirror Kyran's to keep a proper disguise as the Void Master. The two had been working together to divert the Emperor and his Elites' attention and had been waiting for an opportunity to contact Kyran again.

Because True Void was too far from Kyran, he could not contact him through telepathy. However, he could somehow sense where he was. He could not feel him with his aura or presence because Shaiha prevented him from doing that, too. But he was connected with Kyran since he was his weapon and could somehow pinpoint his location.

In any case, True Void sensed Kyran's movement and knew he had left the Dragon Plane a couple of weeks ago. He then decided to find a chance to join up with him by following him. Of course, True Void could only move around with Ruin's help. So he had to convince the latter first.

Fortunately, Ruin also wanted to see Kyran and agreed to help True Void.

But after following Kyran for some time, they realized where he was headed, and Ruin did not want to go near it. Ruin insisted that if he went there, the owner would notice his presence even if he was in an automaton body. True Void already knew that Ruin was a being initially from the Higher Realm.

Actually, that was not quite right.

Ruin had been alive before The Fall; thus, he was someone from The Realm. When The Fall happened, his clan strived in the Higher Realm for some time before a fateful event befell them. They were then forced down to the Lower Realm and escaped destruction. His clan was ultimately wiped out after failing to conquer a plane, which happened to be the Human plane.

Anyway, Ruin knew the owner of the plane Kyran went to and did not want to be found. For this reason, True Void was forced to wait with Ruin on a patch of land floating a few distances from the Crespuscule Auction House.

True Void intended to wait for Kyran to leave the plane before catching up with him. But while waiting for a few days, he suddenly had a bad feeling. He mentioned it to Ruin, who, in turn, finally agreed to go to the plane. But just as they prepared to leave the patch of land, True Void sensed Kyran's presence, which he would not have sensed in normal circumstances.

Because of this, he knew immediately that the latter was in danger.

Without hesitation, True Void teleported himself along with Ruin— an apparent result since he was wearing him like armor— and landed on the Crepuscule Auction House's Defensive Array.

That was the first explosion that happened, Ruin and True Void unintentionally— but a good move nonetheless— landing on the array and destroying it. True Void did not even try to contain his Void nature when he teleported, so anything he made contact with would be destroyed.

After that, Ruin and True Void sensed a powerful presence near Kyran, so the former immediately bombarded the inner city with magic attacks. Obviously, when he launched his attack, he used his magic. Because of this, explosions occurred all around.

If True Void had lent Ruin his magic energy, the explosions would not have been that flashy since he would have obliterated them, given the Void's nature.

"Don't shout~ geez~ I can hear you just fine," Ruin complained while exaggeratedly rubbing his ears. "Besides, if you keep shouting Void-halfing this, Void-halfling that, what do you think those who hear you will think?"

"Is that even important!" True Void shouted yet again. "Attack that place right now!"

He then took advantage of him being Ruin's armor and moved the latter's arm toward a white mansion near the center of the inner city.

Ruin chuckled and said, "There is no need to rush." His eyes glinted mischievously, and he added, "You didn't really think he would release his concealment without a reason, right?" As he said this, a translucent purple veil erupted from within the mansion and covered it. The veil did not destroy the mansion's structure.

However, all array formations on it and the mages launching attacks toward Ruin and True Void suddenly could not circulate magic.

True Void's eyes widened as he recognized the veil now covering the mansion.

"Argh! My goodness! And I mean, my goodness! What the hell is he doing releasing his Domain here? This is the Higher Realm, for goodness sake! What can his Domain do in the presence of a mage who can use Dimension!"

"Is that really the case?" Ruin wondered, clearly finding the situation amusing. "It doesn't seem like it's useless though."