Legacy of the Dark Sage

There were three meetings left before Lucian could meet Ames. Unlike the others, where leaders were the only attendees, she would be accompanied by Attor and Eissen. This arrangement was agreed upon not because they wanted to give the Dragon Clan preferential treatment. Instead, Lucian wanted to meet all three of them.

After all, he could accomplish his goal only by having all three of them in the room.

A malicious glint flashed through Lucian’s eyes while he reined in his excitement. Fortunately, none of the leaders in the meeting saw this because they were busy promoting their clan’s talents.

For the record, one reason these clans looked forward to the third event of the conference was that it was where Lucian typically picked talents among several clans to recruit in his Elite force. In past conferences, he did not bother recruiting talents from clans that were not part of his faction. However, this year was different.

Because of the tragedy at the Tower of the Ancients, the most outstanding talents from these clans were lost. Thus, the clans from other factions, who suddenly believed themselves superior after the second event, felt it was time to join Lucian’s faction. To do that, the fastest approach was to appeal by offering their talents to work for him.

This case was similar to how the Blade Dancer Clan

Was forced to offer

Raelia to Lucian to prove their loyalty. Since the Blade Dancer Clan was part of the big three clans that supported the Solis Clan for a long time, they had to set an example.

In the end, Lucian did not even care about their loyalty and sacrifice. This was because, in his eyes, he could easily replace the Blade Dancer Clan, which was already declining, with promising clans.

Considering this, no one could blame these leaders for being enthusiastic. Unfortunately for them, Lucian was not even listening to them. He had reasons to meet them even if he was uninterested in their boasting. That was why he patiently attended and pretended to listen to them.

[It is completed, Your Majesty.]

Lucian straightened his back as soon as he received the confirmation from his people.

"Send the information to my clan executives, and I’ll review it," he told the leaders, as if he had been listening to their conversation.

The leaders’ expressions brightened immediately, believing they had won The Emperor’s interest.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

They replied after standing and bowing respectfully before him.

The twin doors opened as one of the Solis executives gestured for the leaders to leave.

After the executive closed the door, Lucian leaned back on his chair once more and casually said, "What are they doing right now?"

A silhouette appeared behind his chair and replied, "They entered the port station a couple of hours ago."

"Why?" Lucian asked with a slight frown.

The port station was an area where all all transportation ships were being kept.

"Our people could not approach and ask them too brazenly because they might suspect something," the silhouette replied. "They went to their ship, but they did not enter."

"What are they doing there then?"

"They seemed to be checking something on the ship’s surface. Probably inspecting the ship’s array formation."

"..."

Lucian did not say anything; however, from his frown, it was evident that he found their action suspicious.

"Keep watch for any magic fluctuation there."

"Yes."

"If they are still there an hour before our scheduled meeting time, approach and remind them. After that, check their ship if there is anything suspicious."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The silhouette retreated just before the Solis executive opened the twin doors and escorted the next group of leaders inside.

Though faint, Lucian suddenly sensed a foreboding.

*

Ducal and everyone inside the monitoring room at the military district continued to watch The Emperor’s forces. Thus far, there had been no noticeable change in their stance. They remained in the same spot and silently observed the Dragon Plane.

It was not evident on the monitor. However, it was easy to guess where they were looking from their location and the direction the massive combat mages were facing.

"This is a little nerve-racking."

Eissen’s subordinate muttered while focusing on the monitor as well.

Ducal glanced at him before scanning the faces of the rest of the dragons with him. Most of them were young. At least 400 to 500 years old. If others could read his mind, they would say it was not young at all. But to dragons, who could live for more than a thousand years, that age was relatively young.

They did not belong to the new generation, but they were still far from being labeled as the old generation.

In any case, Ducal could understand why they were restless. They had recently suffered a surprise attack from the Solis, Adamas, Blade Dancer, and Glacio Clans, and that memory was still fresh. However, unlike a surprise attack, where their natural survival instincts and clan’s counter-defensive and offensive lines were put to the test at once, knowing their enemies were there and waiting for them to move was different.

In fact, if they were not careful, the tension of waiting could drain them before their enemies even make their move.

Ducal turned his attention back to the monitor and said, "Don’t strain yourselves. Staying and keeping an eye on the enemy is good. However, it can also be exhausting. You know what happens if you exhaust yourselves, right?"

None of the dragons replied. Not that Ducal needed one. Anyway, the fact that they did not respond actually spoke volumes. Moreover, their demeanor improved somewhat as they released the tension they did not realize until Ducal talked to them.

"We will monitor them on rotation," Ducal announced. "All odds will stay, and evens will rest. Of course, when I say rest, don’t sleep. Sleep will only disrupt your current condition."

"Yes."

The odds and evens that Ducal mentioned were their assigned teams. Probably because Eissen preferred to make things simple, he named the teams under his leadership by numbers rather than flashy-sounding names. It was just as well because it was easier to command and send messages to other teams that way. At least they did not have to memorize the team names.

As Ducal instructed, all teams belonging to even codes left their seats. Those on standby and belonged to teams with odd codes replaced them.

Meanwhile, Ducal stayed. There was no reason for him to leave. Besides, he was the only one who could adjust the plane’s array formation now that Ames and Aillos were still occupied.

Just as he thought this, a few faces flashed through his mind, and he could not help but frown.

Come to think of it. Kyran and Rae could bypass Aillos’s authority over the plane’s array formation.

In a sense, Ducal could understand Rae. The latter was an automaton created by the Ancients. Since the Ancients and Dragons originally co-created the Dragon Plane’s array formation, it might have recognized Rae as a ’fellow’ creation. That was how the latter adjusted the formation without requiring Ames’s approval.

Ducal received the authority to adjust the formation from Ames. On the other hand, Ames received temporary overall authority while Aillos was still in seclusion.

But what about Kyran? Was it because he was the Void Master? Or was it because his Array Knowledge was far more advanced than those in the Higher Realm?

Ducal did not really care about it before. However, the fact that it crossed his mind suddenly could not be a simple

Belated

Curiosity.

If Kyran could bypass the plane’s array formation because of his highly advanced array knowledge, would that mean the enemy could also do the same as long as they had someone like him?

Ducal shook his head inwardly, rejecting the thought at once. If that was the case, the enemy should have noticed the specialized formulas Rae added to the array formation. But so far, the enemies had shown no traces of realizing that.

They simply stayed in the same position as if waiting for further instructions...

"!"

CRACKLE! SIZZLE!

"GET DOWN!"

BOOOM!

The monitoring room shook violently following an unexpected explosion. Ducal managed to shout a warning, but they could not take cover in time because the explosion occurred right after that.

Fortunately, the dragons were naturally robust. Even in human form, they managed to endure the brunt of the explosion and the shockwave that came after it.

Read exclusive chapters at empire

The unexpected explosion rattled Celestine, and the other leaders gathered in the war room. They immediately connected with the monitoring team in the military district to confirm where the explosion happened.

However, they were unable to connect.

Before any of them could digest the sudden turn of events, Celestine already issued an order.

"Tell every unit to prepare for battle!"

*

"My attack successfully landed on the target."

One of the massive combat mages, also known as the Sentinels, announced.

"There is a defensive formation around it, but it is not enough to stop my attack."

"Good. With their monitoring system down, moving will be easier."

Another one of the Sentinel said, "Proceed with the next step. Destroy the plane’s array formation."

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