Legacy of the Dark Sage

When Lucian received an urgent report that one of the Blade Dancers' representatives at the Tower of the Ancients regained consciousness, he did not waste time and immediately visited their plane.

Usually, going there would take him a few days, but since he was in a hurry, he did not hesitate to use one of his treasured relics that allowed him to travel at the speed of light. It consumed an enormous amount of his magic energy and caused mental fatigue, but he did not care. To him, finding a lead to one of his prey was far more important.

Truth be told, Lucian would not have used that relic if he just waited patiently for more updates on their side's representatives. But because he did not want rumors of him being afraid of the Dragon Clan, which was why he allowed their representatives to behave arrogantly and even kill several clan representatives under his clan, he decided to visit the Dragon plane as soon as possible.

To get there as soon as possible, he used a different magic item that allowed him to teleport at a great distance as long as he properly input his destination's correct coordinates. The magic item did not require a crazy amount of magic energy like the treasured relic, but in turn, had a cooldown of three days— meaning, he could use it again only after three days had passed.

Lucian could not wait that long, so he decided to use his treasured relic regardless of its aftereffects.

The head of the Blade Dancer Clan, Geir, was a middle-aged man with ash blonde hair and amber eyes. His features could easily be mistaken as a Solis if not for his clan uniform, which was a dark red coat with diamond ornaments.

Then again, if one looked back at the roots of the Blade Dancer Clan and the Solis Clan, they were actually related. The only difference was that the Solis Clan members were created right after their light took form, while the Blade Dancer Clan came out of the light from a heavenly smith's furnace, thus taking on a weapon form.

Over time, the Solis Clan managed to retain their pure form, while the Blade Dancer Clan branched out, and their mages would have different innate magic than their forefathers.

Though Lucian's visit to the Blade Dancer was on such short notice, Geir managed to follow proper etiquette and greet him in time. However, Lucian did not care about the formalities and only wanted to meet the Blade Dancer Clan's representative who regained consciousness.

Geir, along with five elders of the five Blade Houses of the Clan accompanied Lucian as they went to meet the representative. Each of the Elders was at the peak of High Sovereign. Two of the elders shared the same shade of blonde hair as Geir, while another two others had light brown hair and their eyes were also a light shade of green.

Only one elder's features differ greatly and she was the only female on their lot. She had light blue hair and golden eyes. All of the elders also wore a dark red coat, but instead of diamond ornaments, they were platinum gold.

"What other things have you found?" Lucian asked Geir as they made their way to one of the connecting mansions of the Blade Dancer's central palace.

He had been asking them non-stop about what the Blade Dancer's surviving clan representative told them as soon as he woke up.

"Some of the things he said were beyond comprehension," Geir replied while shaking his head. "Even when he explained how the culprit used his magic is beyond our understanding."

"And yet you deemed that culprit possess the most dangerous Ancient Magic."

"That is..." he lowered his head and furtively looked at the other elders.

In fact, they did not want The Emperor to know about their clan's attempt at finding a portal for their clan and Alta's encounter with the dark mage. But given how things turned out in the Tower of the Ancients, if they did not come clean they might suffer something more than The Emperor's wrath.

"Please forgive us, your majesty. The truth is..."

Geir decided to come clean and told The Emperor what happened before the portals activated and why they believed the root cause of that was the culprit.

After he confessed to everything their clan had done, all six of them braced themselves for The Emperor's wrath.

"Hm... only the Void can indeed affect the portal to the Tower of the Ancients. It is part of its element, after all."

Geir and the elders were at a loss for words. The wrath they expected to explode from The Emperor did not happen. Instead, they sensed an emotion akin to elation coming from him.

"I see..." Lucian muttered, his eyes glistened in excitement. "After finding his way to the Higher Realm, he most likely wanted to improve himself. Since our paths have crossed, he might have used me as the threshold of this place. Because of that, he would definitely do anything in order to get stronger and avoid getting bullied."

"Y-Your Majesty?"

Lucian exhaled sharply before turning to Geir with a smile, "Good job. Alta was it? The one who found him first?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Summon her. I want to talk to her as well."

"Of course," Geir looked at the elder with light blue hair and gestured for her to go at once.

The female elder lowered her head respectfully before stepping back and leaving. Alta was part of her house, after all.

As they were talking they finally reached their destination, which was a room at the end of the hall. Geir opened the doors and allowed Lucian to enter first.

Inside, there was an Alchemist and a couple of mages looking after the clan representative.

If Kyran was there, he would recognize the representative as Shiloh.

Lucian narrowed his eyes as he observed Shiloh's body. He did not even use Divine Sense to know that he had indeed made contact with his prey. It was faint, but he felt a residual magic energy from him.

"Greetings, Your Majesty."

The Alchemist and the two mages knelt at once and greeted The Emperor.

Lucian waved his hand dismissively. Seeing this, Geir gestured for the three to leave the room.

"He is unconscious," Lucian frowned as he looked at Geir.

"T-That might have been due to the effect of the medicine given to him. I will wake him—."

"Leave it," Lucian waved his hand once more and approached the bed while observing Shiloh.

.net

"The residual magic energy lingering in him is indeed the Void," he said with a smile.

Geir and the elders gasped upon hearing The Emperor's declaration. They could only make speculations because they could not detect the residual magic energy in Shiloh. Even if they could, they would not be able to confirm if it was the Void because only those from the older generation, or at least, before The Fall were the ones who would recognize the magic signature from the Void.

"Then... the other Ancient Magic Cores...?"

Although they were not part of the older generation, they knew about the Ancient Magic Cores. As a matter of fact, the new generation were the only ones who had limited knowledge about the Ancient Magic Cores that the Higher Being coveted, which eventually led to The Fall.

"I've confirmed it," Lucian replied. There was no point in trying to hide the existence of mages inheriting the Ancient Magic Cores. He also believed that by telling everyone that he was aware of their existence then no one would try to covet them. Otherwise, they would have to face his wrath.

"That mage in Somuli... he is another one who possesses the Draconic Core."

Geir nearly choked from shock. His amber eyes shook wildly from The Emperor's revelation.

For the record, Geir was present at the council meeting when The Emperor showed the video of the mage in Somuli. On the other hand, the elders only have a rough idea of what transpired during that meeting. Thus, their reaction was a bit lacking. Nonetheless, they were shocked to learn that not one, but two Ancient Magic Cores had appeared and one managed to find its way to the Higher Realm.

"Since two had appeared, the other two are also out there somewhere," Lucian continued, his voice sounding a little coarse as he could no longer contain his excitement.

"I have returned to gather a group that can help me find them, but..."

A smile, full of adulterated avarice appeared on his face.

"Finding the rest would be easier if I get the Void Core, first."

If one had control over the Void, they would practically become the master of the realm. If a mage with The Emperor's level used it, everything in the realm would be within his reach.

"The Blade Dancer will see to it that we find the dark mage," Geir declared as he knelt before The Emperor.

The elders followed his lead and also knelt before The Emperor.

Lucian looked at them with a smile, "Good."

*

A cold silence transcended inside the Throne Room of the Main Palace after Ames told the eight aides the truth of their situation.

Anyone subjected to the scrutiny of the eight aides would have already faltered, but Ames stood her ground. She even summoned a barrier to keep Myst from being crushed by their pressure.

"Being angry at this point will not improve our situation," Ames pointed out as she looked at the aides. "Yes, not telling you beforehand about the truth did cause the situation to escalate, but at least we managed to avert The Emperor's eyes for now. Since we don't have to worry about him, we can focus on Kyran's matter."

"He is not part of the clan."

"He is my descendant, he has my blood, which makes him a part dragon."

"He is human. He may have draconic blood in his veins, but his body is that of a human."

"He is not just a mere human," Ames argued. "He is the human. He has the Ancient Body constitution."

"!"

All eight aides were rendered in silence from the shock of her revelation.

Myst was the same. But rather than receiving a shock after learning their Young Master had an Ancient Body, he was rendered in silence because he could not keep up with their discussion.

What did having an Ancient Body even mean?

"The Shaiha also chose him," Ames continued. "While we still have the initiative, rather than stubbornly denying them because they are not officially part of the clan, please... help us."

"..."

"..."

The aides did not respond after Ames's heartfelt plea for assistance. Nevertheless, her expression remained calm as if their answer did not really matter.

Obviously, that was not the case. If the aides decided not to help she would continue to convince them until they do.

"That is enough, Lady Ames."

Surprisingly, the one who broke the silence was the person Ames least expected.

"We understand the situation, and before we can commit to anything, we would like to observe what he intended to do."

Ducal said, looking at Ames through his silver-gold eyes.