Legacy of the Dark Sage

"I'd welcome Rin's clobbering anytime than get involved in my f*cking nephew's matter."

"Ah, now you are calling him your nephew."

"Shut the f*ck up."

"Though I am already used to it, I find it amusing to hear you say the f-word in almost every one of your sentences after hearing Kyran's message."

"The f*ck? Why are you acting so f*cking friendly all of a sudden?"

"Rather than acting friendly, I just grew tired of worrying about all the little things by myself."

"You're f*cking kidding me," Nolan grumbled. Whether it was intentional or not, he did keep mentioning the f-word.

"How are the progress of the mages in the Human plane?"

"Crazy as f*ck," Nolan snorted. "Because of the changes here in the Tower of Tribulations, more f*cking righteous mages are finding their way here and improving their levels. But it was not only those g*ddamn b*astards who were improving."

He frowned as he saw the state of the Human plane through his Mind's Eye.

"Because that g*d forsaken bitch-ass from the Higher Realm came down, the magic energy in the Lower Realm has gone batshit crazy. More mages ascend to Magus, and wars are happening left and right."

Before the Regis Clan sent their most talented combat mages to the Higher Realm under Ames's guidance, Nolan staged a plan to ensure the Ylfaen Empire would not be entangled in further wars. Since he could not meddle himself, and he knew Kyran would go ballistic if something happened to the empire, he went through all the trouble of using Ames to stop other nations from invading the empire.

But because the overall mage levels of those nations kept improving, they were planning on making their move again.

The only thing preventing them from recklessly attacking Ylfaen was Ames's shadow. If they discovered she was not there or that the Regis's combat mages were fewer in number, they would attack the empire's borders once more.

At the moment, these nations were waging war on each other in hopes of assimilating each other's military forces. They believed if they assimilated one another's forces, they would have enough strength to match the Ylfaen Empire's Regis Clan.

"The appearance of more towers in the Human plane is supposed to assist humans with the impending crisis that looms because of the War of the Sovereigns," Kairos sighed helplessly. "But because of The Emperor's appearance, that war is no longer important. Something big is about to happen that might result in the Lower Realm's destruction."

The War of the Sovereigns was an event that allowed the Lower Realm to maintain its magic energy consumption by reducing its planes. By baiting the Sovereigns for a chance to ascend to the Higher Realm, they were supposed to fight and destroy each others' planes.

All that changed after The Emperor appeared, and more knowledge of the Higher Realm became available to the Lower Realm and its inhabitants. Because of that, the balance shifted ever so slightly, and the threat of the War of the Sovereigns was reduced.

Instead, the most pressing matter was to prevent a plane from destroying itself because of the inhabitants' war for power.

If nothing were done to stop them, they would destroy the plane from the inside, and the Sovereigns governing them could do nothing because they were not allowed to meddle.

"Are the newly emerged towers only available in the Human plane?" Nolan asked Kairos. Even after becoming the Sovereign, his knowledge of the Tower of Tribulations was limited. He knew that the Ancients created it and there were other Towers, but they were located in the Higher Realm— or, at least, they were supposed to be in the Higher Realm, albeit hidden.

Kairos looked out of the window of the Tower of Tribulations and wandered his eyes at the other towers that emerged a couple of years ago.

"Some can be accessed by other planes, like this tower. The remaining are exclusive in the Human plane."

Nolan frowned, "I get that the Ancients created the towers and that the Human plane is part of their land, but are they not giving too much preferential treatment here?"

Kairos chuckled and looked back at Nolan with a wry smile, "The Ancients are quite a proud lot. Of course, they would not want others to improve more than them."

"In the end, they all died. And none living in the Human plane are even their descendants."

"Well, technically, they are."

Nolan's frown deepened, "Being the tower's Overseer, you know more about the Ancients' secret and history. But after becoming one, you have never opened your mouth about them. Why are you suddenly hinting at a lot of things? And don't f*cking say that it's because I've become the Human plane's Sovereign and am exempted now.

Because if that's the case, you would have already hinted at these things when I visited last time."

After becoming a Sovereign, Nolan visited the Tower of Tribulations once. His reason was nothing noble. In fact, it was pretty lame.

The stress of becoming a Sovereign had gotten the best of him, and he wanted to vent. So he went inside to test all new tower challengers to let out some steam. Because he was one of the five who conquered the tower, he possessed certain privileges in the tower. As long as it was within the tower's objective, which was to train its participants, there was nothing wrong.

Since Nolan did not go on a killing spree and only beat up the new challengers, Kairos allowed it. But after that, he summoned Nolan to the tower's topmost level and gave him a piece of his mind.

Nolan's ears bled out that day. Thus, he refrained from revisiting the tower — until now.

"A lot of things changed after I met your nephew in the Higher Realm," Kairos answered honestly.

"Should have known it's that f*cking guy's fault," Nolan grumbled. He then looked at Kairos with a solemn expression and asked, "And? What do you think about his message?"

Kairos's expression also turned solemn as he returned Nolan's gaze, "It is possible."

Nolan let out his breath in exasperation and said, "That will completely change the rules of the two realms."

"The rules have started to change the moment The Emperor came down personally to the Lower Realm..." Kairos paused as a thought crossed his mind. He then changed his opinion and said, "Actually, the change might have started the moment a new Void Master appeared."

"You make it sound as if my f*cking nephew is the chosen one or something," Nolan snorted. Apparently, he still felt annoyed at Kyran.

"I assure you, he is nothing like that. His role in all of this far exceeds that of a chosen one."

Nolan frowned again.

A chosen one was supposed to be someone destined to do something big that could change the world. If Kyran's role exceeds that, what was he supposed to be?

"Looking at the situation from a different perspective," Kairos veered the conversation back on track. "What he wanted will require your assistance, and you can actually participate since it does not necessarily mean meddling with the Human plane's affairs— well... technically, that is."

.net

Nolan snorted and leaned back on the chair. He then said, "Opening a path that leads to the Higher Realm using the Regis Terram... yes, technically, it doesn't sound like meddling in the Human plane's affairs. Because, technically, the Regis Terram is not part of the Human plane. But creating a path to the Higher Realm? That will overturn the rules."

"That's strange," Kairos chuckled. "You sound as if you actually follow the rules."

"Bite me."

Kairos chuckled again.

After a moment's pause, Nolan stood up and said, "I'll prepare the materials then."

"Ah, regarding that."

"Are you providing them?"

"Obviously not. But he did say that you can ask Olivia about it."

"Olivia?" Nolan scowled. He knew who she was but almost forgot the fact that her essence and Kyran clashed inside the Tower of Tribulations before.

"Yes," Kairos nodded. "He said she would understand as long as you tell her he requested the items."

"Fine," Nolan snorted. "Am I Sovereign or his errand boy? That f*cking bastard is growing some balls, for g*d d*mn's sake."

"You should be careful what you say. You never know when a Spirit is around to tell Rin about how you keep badmouthing your own nephew. Besides, Cade may also feel pissed if he learned you keep calling his son a b*stard."

"Humph, you think I'm afraid of them?"

"You never won against Cade."

Nolan snorted but did not deny Kairos's statement.

"Or Rin."

Nolan frowned. He never won against Rin because he did not want to fight her. She's his twin, g*dd*mnit.

"Ah," Kairos remembered something and added with a smile, "Come to think of it, you haven't won against Anette, either."

"ARGH! Shut the f*ck up! I'm leaving!"