Legacy of the Dark Sage

True Void had an unsettling glint in his eyes that those familiar with him would find strange and uncomfortable. Yet, this glint faded shortly, making it seem like it was merely an illusion. Shortly after that, his eyes regained clarity.

'Where...?' he wondered, still slightly disoriented, and touched his head.

'?'

Taken aback at seeing a proper hand when he lifted it, he stopped midway from touching his head. Following that, memories of what had happened before he lost consciousness flowed into his mind.

The Macabre Glacier attacked True Void while he was pretending to be the

Original

Void Master, so his appearance still resembled Kyran's disguise used in the Crepuscule Auction House. Thus, it was not strange for him to have 'human-like' hands.

Remembering this, True Void gruntled in embarrassment.

Had he been so used to using the miniature Void Armor image that he got so scared when seeing a human hand?

'...Wait, what...? 'Had been used to...?'' True Void belatedly noticed his choice of words and found how naturally he had said it.

That was then that memories far exceeding what he had recently acquired flashed like panoramic views in his mind that he almost keeled over from the strain that accompanied it. As overlapping scenes fleeted through his mind's eye, he felt an overwhelming force threatening to crush his brain.

"...Argh...!"

The air crackled with magic as it responded to his emotions. As if to affirm his identity, his body began to absorb all the surrounding magic energies, resembling an immense void.

With such a sudden outburst of activity and magic fluctuation inside the ship's infirmary, it was impossible for anyone with powerful Divine Sense not to notice it.

The ship was docked inside the Blade Dancer Clan's stronghold, and as soon as the magic fluctuations there appeared, every mage nearby felt it and immediately reported it.

Zigor, the other elders, and the house heads immediately declared a state of emergency and had everyone prepare.

But before the situation got out of control, Kyran returned, having also sensed the activity and realizing that True Void was regaining consciousness through their connection.

Kyran still had trouble teleporting or warping, but fortunately, he could now activate some of the scrolls in his possession. He used the transmission scroll and set an area outside the ship as his destination to get there at once.

He could have chosen the infirmary itself, but because Zigor and the rest of the Blade Dancer Clan were alarmed and started to prepare for battle, he decided to appear there instead to calm them down first.

Fortunately, the tension around the ship dropped the moment Kyran appeared. Zigor, the elders, and the house heads were still on their way, and only a few talents were gathered there. Kyran gave them a short signal to stay back by raising one hand. Then, without waiting for a response, they entered the ship.

"Kyran."

Cyneah greeted as soon as Kyran entered.

Kyran looked at her and immediately saw her pale complexion.

"What happened?" he asked at once.

Cyneah shook her head, "I was in the alchemy room making new potions when it happened. When I went to check, the magic energies around the infirmary were too fierce, disrupting my magic sense. I can't see anything beyond it."

After a short pause, Kyran replied, "Go to my room. I'll go check on True Void."

He did not ask Cyneah to go to her own room because he was confident of the defensive spells and array in his room. Although he also placed powerful defensive spells in Cyneah's room, it was fitted to accommodate Cyneah's innate magic. They were now dealing with True Void, who possessed Void magic energy. That was why Kyran's room, which fit both Draconic (Chaos) and Void magic, would be safer to neutralize the latter's energy.

Cyneah did as Kyran asked and started to move. But then she stopped and said, "Be careful," before leaving.

Kyran smiled faintly at Cyneah's words before going to the infirmary.

Just as Cyneah told him, the activity of the magic energy around the infirmary was intense. Anyone would have a problem trying to observe the situation because they could not use their Divine Sense or Magic Sense properly.

However, that was not the case with Kyran.

In fact, the violent spin of the magic energies gave off a nostalgic feel that Kyran could not help but smile.

'True Void.'

[...]

It was faint, but Kyran sensed True Void perked up when he tried to communicate with him telepathically.

Soon after that, the activity of the magic energy in the air began to calm. It was still intense, but the violence that came with it alleviated it and even gave off a somewhat soothing vibe.

Still, Kyran did not lower his guard as he approached the infirmary's door. Then, all too suddenly, he felt a sharp sting on his head as True Void's emotions assaulted him.

'..Kuh—!'

Kyran closed his eyes tightly and almost fell to his knees from the unexpected assault. Fortunately, he was close enough to reach the wall and use it to keep himself from falling over. Continue reading stories on empire

When the pain subsided, Kyran opened his eyes and found himself in a familiar place.

'...'

His sea of consciousness.

The Shaiha glowed faintly as four magic cores that Kyran belatedly realized had grown in size circled it. Just above Shaiha, in her core form, was her human form silhouette. Her eyes were closed, and Kyran vaguely sensed her keeping all magic cores in check while evenly distributing what little magic energy he had.

Kyran would generally be able to enter his sea of consciousness at any given time. However, after suffering from the after-effects of the Void State, he could only barely sense what was happening there. That was how he knew Shaiha was okay, but she was also not that okay.

While Kyran wanted to check on her and the state of his magic cores, he had to rein in his curiosity and address the most critical matter first.

True Void.

True Void was seated cross-legged on an invisible floor, a few meters away from the periphery of the magic cores' rotation path. There was something melancholy from how he sat there and looked at Shaiha in silence.

Kyran did not approach True Void. For some reason, the look and vibe he sensed while seeing the latter's back was daunting.

True Void, still in human form after changing into Kyran's disguise, looked utterly human, and Kyran felt like he was looking at a stranger.

"Kyran."

"!"

Even True Void's voice sounded different, and Kyran's heart sank for unknown reasons.

"...I... recovered all my memories..."

As if to make a statement, multiple panoramic images sprang out of nowhere and hovered around True Void. These images showed different scenes that were unfamiliar to Kyran.

At least most of them.

Smaller images mixed in with the rest showed scenes Kyran knew and vaguely found unsettling. He was not unsettled because of the scenes in these images but because they looked insignificant compared to the others that swarm around True Void.

"...You're not saying anything. Did you already know?"

"...Rather than know, I had an inkling."

"Right... your intuitions have mostly been good."

If this had been any regular moment, Kyran would have raised his brows at True Void and complained about his use of 'mostly.' But sensing the latter's different vibe, Kyran found himself unable to voice his thoughts carelessly.

"Do you... know who I

Was

?"

Kyran did not answer. However, his face hardened, though his eyes faltered.

"...My title... my real title is the True Sage," True Void said when Kyran remained silent. "Caelan... retained 'True' in my name so I could keep a small part of my past self."

One of the panoramic images moved in front of True Void, and because of its large size, Kyran could watch the scenes being shown there.

Caelan wore a sorrowful look on his face. Even though True Void was absent, Kyran saw a glimpse of him reflected in Caelan's tear-filled eyes.

A handsome face... giving off a surreal feeling... with translucent skin reminiscent of the Ancients.

"..But before negative emotions consumed a part of my soul... I was once known as the King of the Ancients."

When Kyran continued to stay silent, True Void could not help but laugh faintly.

"You do know who I was."

"..."

"Before I met Caelan, I could barely keep my sanity. The long time of wandering around the Lower Realm had fed the hatred in my heart, and it had grown to the point that it became unbearable just to breathe.

"There were moments when I lost control, and that hatred took over, spreading its negative influence and terrorizing the Lower Realm.

"At one point, it successfully resonated with one human... and it corrupted her soul."

Another panoramic image fleeted in front of True Void, replacing the one that showed Caelan.

In the image was a beautiful woman with a radiant smile and brilliant sapphire blue eyes.

Kyran was no stranger to that woman because he had seen her image in Caelan's memories.

"Layla," True Void uttered the woman's name with a tone full regret. "She was the first one that my negative emotion had tainted."

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!