Legacy of the Dark Sage

Nolan is the new Human plane's Sovereign, after all. No matter how much he tried to avoid it, it would only be a matter of time before he had to find allies and protect the Human plane.

Nevertheless, Cade was not stupid to think Loar's invitation had no ulterior motives. Even when the latter promised not to force Nolan to participate when the war started, he should know that such a thing was impossible when the Human plane was a hot spot given its rumored origin.

Besides, the new 'Dark Sage' is part of the Human plane.

Even if the other factions were not interested in the plane per se because it was said to be the Land of the Ancients, they would be interested in the 'Dark Sage' and his legacy.

Cade heard about the legacy during one of his training in the Tower of Tribulations.

However, at that time, he had no expectations of becoming the father of the original Dark Sage's 'successor.' Thus, he only took note of it before putting the matter aside.

Now that it was brought up again, Cade had to figure it out completely.

If he had to be honest, creating the Warp Formation to search for Euan, Malek, and the remaining members of the Conclave and the Royal Army was only a pretext for Cade's actual intentions.

The real reason behind his intent to create such a formation was to travel the Lower Realm and gather as much information about the 'original Dark Sage.' Apart from this, he also wanted to understand more about the War of the Sovereigns.

Nolan already knew Cade's intentions. And although he had not said anything, Cade was sure Nolan was contemplating what he should do.

Besides there was also Kyran.

Cade knew Kyran would not stay in the Human plane. He would go on a journey different to theirs.

Recalling the scene where Cyneah used the Macabre Glacier to save Kyran and how desperate True Void acted to stop the outsiders from taking Cyneah and Kyran, Cade could not help but feel ashamed. He inherited Azaloth's teachings, which increased his magic attainment by leaps and bounds. Nevertheless, he could not do anything.

Because of this, Cade also wanted to use the opportunity to travel in different planes to improve himself further.

As for Nolan, Cade wanted him to find more planes to govern. In this way, even if the Human plane got destroyed, they could transfer to another plane.

Of course, Cade hoped it would not come to that. But they had to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

With this in mind, Cade made a mental note to meet with Nolan again and get a definite answer about his plans.

Meanwhile, Kyran was busy improving his Sigils' strength in the Void World.

He had noticed it before and found his Sigils' variety of innate magic a little troublesome.

For one thing, when a battle ensued, and they were to fight to the death. One wrong move or coordination from them could very well cause their defeat— even death.

Because of this, Kyran gave them an opportunity to get used to each others' magic through mock battles. To ensure they would not cause any damage to the real world, Kyran decided to take them to his Void World.

At least, in that place, no matter how much they tried to destroy it, Kyran would only think it and all the damages would be repaired. Of course, the latter was possible if Kyran had enough magic energy reserves of his own.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Several of the mutated beasts Max had taken from the Valle of Morte were thrown into different locations after getting hit by Tritus's attack.

Max's expression distorted, sensing the pain his beasts had received. However, that did not deter him. Max unsummoned the beasts before summoning new ones. After that, he charged at Tritus once more.

On the other hand, Reuben was hidden in the darkness, waiting for a chance to sneak an attack on Tritus. Unfortunately, he could not find any gap in Tritus's defences even when facing not one or two Sigils but the remaining five!

At one end, Max was also watching Tritus. He was looking for an opportunity to summon his magic to attack. But just like Reuben, he could not find any gap.

Using his human form, Zephyr hovered in the air and looked at Tritus with a scowl. Although he told Kyran, he did not the others when they tried to 'rank' themselves. He knew Tritus's strength, when compared to him in his real form, would likely end up in a tie.

However, Zephyr discovered Tritus's strength could not be measured by normal means as well. After all, he realized there was a living soul— not just a sentient one— living in the latter's magic weapon. And that living soul's magic attainment seemed to have reached a far higher realm than Tritus himself.

If Zephyr had to put it in simple words. Because of the living soul in Tritus's magic weapon, he did not have to use his own strength to deal with them. All he had to do was hover in the air and wave around his magic weapon to put pressure on them. He could even make them kneel on the floor and worship it.

Zephyr looked below toward his left. There, he saw Kyran standing while intently watching them try to attack Tritus. Seeing Kyran was not that busy, Zephyr flew for a moment before landing right next to Kyran.

"Master, this drill is pointless if Tritus would not use his real strength and rely only on his magic weapon's sentient.

Kyran smiled as he heard Zephyr. He looked at him and said, "I know."

Zephyr scowled, "If you know, tell him to fight properly."

"Tell me then, how do you describe a proper fight?"

Zephyr looked at Kyran, confused at his question.

"What do you mean? Is that a real question, or are you just trying to make a conversation? Building up the mood until they enter the final phase.

Kyran looked back at the battle and checked on the other locations of the Sigils. 

"Once part of real life-and-death battles, none of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was one's survival."

Zephyr's scowl deepened as he also turned his attention back to the training.

"I know that."

"Then don't ask."

"But...!"

In the end, Zephyr did not know how to argue and decided to stop pursuing the matter.

"Go back there and use everything you have to defeat Tritus," Kyran told him.

Zephyr pursed his lips. But he did not refute Kyran and stood up. He left and returned to the training.

Neo appeared beside Kyran and spoke to him telepathically.

[Master, is it really alright to leave them once you venture out of the Human plane?]

Kyran smiled.

That was right. One of the things he told Iulia, Stella, and the others in the meeting at the Royal Palace was his intentions of leaving his Sigils behind.

His reasons were quite simple. His Sigil's strength would be a good addition to the plane's security. Besides, even if he brought his Sigils, they only knew the magic law of the Human plane. They would not be able to use their magic in other planes.

Although they could learn to use them, Kyran could not wait for them to learn.

'Yes,' Kyran answered.

[What about the Sigil's effect?]

'I'm surprised you're interested in that.'

[I know the benefit of the Sigil's mark. In case outsiders come, having its effect would definitely give us an advantage.]

'Don't worry about that. I'm already trying to figure something out to ensure they get its benefits.'

[What about me? Can I come with you? You said nothing about me staying but don't intend to take me either. Still, since you already possessed the Shaiha, and I am supposed to guard it, I must go with you.]

Kyran looked at Zephyr before saying, 'About that. I plan on relinquishing the Sigil mark on you before I leave.'

At Kyran's declaration, Zephyr's face paled at once.

[WHY?]

He demanded.

Kyran could not help but smile wryly. Previously, Zephyr did not want to become his Sigil. Only when he promised only to require him to be one for three years did he agree.

Technically, three years had not passed. Thus, Kyran could still keep Zephyr as his Sigil.

However, if he had to include his time in the Tower of Tribulations, more than five years had passed. Their agreement was already way past its due date.

[When you took me as a Sigil, you told me I might not want to dissolve the contract. Well, tough luck. I don't want to stop being your Sigil!]

Zephyr's words slightly touched Kyran. Nevertheless, he did not want the latter to be bound to him all his life.

Besides, Kyran wanted to do something he could not tell Zephyr. However, if he remained his Sigil, he would eventually figure it out, even without him saying anything.

Kyran did not want that because he did not want to give him false hopes. After all, his plan to revive Zephyr's brethren was nearly impossible.