Before As could reply, Raya stepped forward and respectfully lowered his head in her direction, saying, "I'm sorry, Lady As, I am of the sa mind with sir True Void. I want to look for the young master first."
As scowled but did not say anything as she studied Raya and the faces of the rest of the Regis Elite. They all wore an expression that said they would look for their young master, and not even As could stop them.
As let out an exasperated sigh and said, "I understand. But the situation in the Higher Realm has changed."
From As's tone, a thought crossed Alastor's mind, and he slowly understood the situation.
"You don't an..."
As did not say anything, but how she looked at him was enough to confirm his guess.
Alastor and the others witnessed the confrontation between As and the enemies from inside the eting room. After watching the exchange, he found Raeelia's aggression toward As a little strange.
The rivalry between As and Raelia was known in the Higher Realm. Nevertheless, the two never really confronted each other, at least not in the spur of the mont. Most of their confrontation was through friendly spars or military exchanges between two clans because the Higher Realm was relatively at peace.
If they fought seriously, The Emperor would have pressured both clans to prevent the situation from escalating.
Then again, because Raelia was from the Blade Dancer Clan, who were loyal to The Emperor, he might side with them and punish the Dragon Clan for causing friction in the Higher Realm.
Fortunately, Raelia was still reasonable, and even if she was a loyal subject of The Emperor, she was not fixated on As or wanted to settle nonexistent scores.
Because of this, Alastor found Raelia's sudden fixation with As very strange.
Alastor did consider that The Emperor might have commanded Raelia to find As. But even as the idea crossed his mind, Alastor rejected it. Because if that was the case, why did Raelia not arrive with The Emperor's Elite Mages? Also, the Elite Mages looked relieved when Raelia appeared, making Alastor guess she did not receive an order from The Emperor personally but was invited by the Elite Mages.
Regardless of the truth, Alastor felt Raelia's appearance was unplanned. Her deliberately ignoring the Regis Elite and only aiming at As was also suspicious. It felt as if she did not care about what would happen to The Emperor's Elite Mages.
Not only that, even if Raelia was fixated on As, her attacks did not carry any weight. She bombarded As with her blades, but that was all. The Lower Realm might have restrained her magic, but it was the sa with As. If not, the latter would have returned to her dragon form and destroyed The Emperor's Elite Mages in one fell swoop.
But even if Raelia's magic was restrained, her attacks should be on par with As. With the latter getting attacked by the Elite Mages, she would not have been able to defend herself from Raelia's every attack.
But As did. She even succeeded in decommissioning a few of them.
Considering all these, Alastor concluded that Raelia ca there for another reason, and whatever it was, it made As decide to return to the Higher Realm.
Axil, Loar, and Wings could only observe the silent exchange between As and Alastor. Unlike the two, they had no dealings in the Higher Realm. To be more precise, they had no way of getting there. Thus, getting involved in their affairs was pointless.
"As," True Void called. "I don't care about your business in the Higher Realm. But if you half-heartedly deal with Kyran being chased by The Emperor, then you should not have gotten involved in the first place."
As narrowed her eyes, "I am not. You think I don't care what happens to him? The Shaiha chose him. Not to ntion, he possessed two Ancient Magic Cores..."
Her expression suddenly hardened as a voice from her mory flashed through her mind.
"Is it possible for one person to possess two Ancient Magic Cores?"
The voice belonged to Zane, and his question was directed to As's father, the Dragon Emperor.
As rembered her father scowling at Zane's question and admonished him never to consider such a thing again. When Zane asked why, her father only told him:
"Such an existence will beco a huge bane to all of us."
Back then, As knew what her father had not told Zane. Thinking back on it, her father should have said it so Zane would not have conspired with Caelan and Stella to bring about Kyran's existence.
The thought of one person possessing two Ancient Magic Cores was already frightening. What more if that person also received the Shaiha's approval?
"... Kyran's existence practically sentenced our clan to death," As continued after a mont's pause. "No, not just the clan... but both realms."
Everyone inside looked at her in shock. They knew it was never good for one person to hold so much power. Thus far, the natural law of things has balanced everything in both realms. At least, they believed this to be the case, with the Lower Realm's rules ensuring those from the mages in the Higher Realm could not run wild within their realm.
But based on As's implication, Kyran alone could destroy both realms.
Could this indeed be possible?
It was reasonable for them to doubt As because they did not know Kyran was exempt from any Magic Laws in the Lower Realm.
As did not know if it would still be the case when Kyran managed to step into the Higher Realm. But she had an inkling that he would, not because he was an Ancient Magic user, but because he had the Shaiha.
In the end, As did not elaborate on her words and instead said, "This is especially true if The Emperor captured and took the Ancient Magic Cores and the Heart of the Cosmos from him."
"Then—."
"But," As cut True Void before he could say anything, "... the situation in the Higher Realm has changed. I want to return and fuel that change so I can force The Emperor back there. When that happens, wherever Kyran hid, he could return by himself once he realized The Emperor was no longer after him."
"That... is a sound plan," True Void admitted. But then the glow in his reddish purple eyes dimd as he added, "But this is only applicable if Kyran is still in the Lower Realm."
As frowned at once.
"What do you an by that?"
"Like I said, I can't sense him."
"You're not going to bring up the possibility of him entering The Land of Desolation, are you?"
"I believe that is the only place that would make fail to sense him."
"Is it not because he is already too far? Like the connection has gotten weak because of it?"
True Void shook his head, "This is different. I am not a Servant nor a Sigil. So my connection with him is a little..."
"Let us say he did enter that place. I don't believe he will get lost there," As said in exasperation. "He could control the Void. He can get out of that place anyti if he has enough magic energy. Not that he could at the mont if The Emperor is right behind his ass."
"But what if he is no longer there?"
Cyneah finally mustered up the courage to speak.
As looked at her with one raised brow, "What do you an?"
"There is a rumor in the Lower Realm that speaks of another route to the Higher Realm," Alastor explained.
To be fair, that rumor originated in the Higher Realm, so As knew of it. Nonetheless, the chances of a mage from the Lower Realm arriving at the Higher Realm through The Land of Desolation were zero.
The amount of magic energy a mage from the Lower Realm possessed was inferior to that of a Higher Realm mage. This alone could dictate one's life or death inside The Land of Desolation.
When Alastor saw As's furrowed brows, he hastily continued, "You may be thinking that soone from the Lower Realm could not possibly survive the journey to the Higher Realm from that place. And you are correct. But as you said, our young friend can control the Void.
What if— and I want to emphasize the if here— he could sohow traverse through The Land of Desolation without being affected by its magic energy restriction?
"And you may not be aware of this, but The Land of Desolation is not really deprived of magic energy. There is a barrier that seals off magic energy in that place. However, there are cracks in it where magic energy leaks. The only problem is that it is hard to absorb the magic energy from there because of the black holes that spawned near those cracks."
"Black holes?" True Void asked with raised brows.
Alastor nodded, looking at True Void with a slightly awkward expression.
"That's right."
"Young master is capable of summoning a black hole," Myst chid in. "Is it possible for him to control those and—."
"I don't think it is possible," Alastor replied, slightly shaking his head. "Although black holes possessed a Void's nature, the ones in The Land of Desolation are natural. Besides, there is no Magic Law in that place. This ans it is difficult to rouse one's magic..."
"He still can... I am sure of it," Cyneah suddenly said, garnering everyone's attention again.
As frowned at her words but did not say anything. Cyneah spoke with certainty that even As found it hard to refute her words.
"I can't explain it in words. But I know he is there and can pass through and enter the Higher Realm from there."
Silence ensued after Cyneah shared her thoughts.
After a mont's pause, As heaved an audible sigh and said, "If that is indeed the case... Then we have to change our course of action."
*
"Ngh...!"
Kyran let out a muffled groan as he got thrown out of what appeared to be another black vortex.
The force at which he got thrown out was quite powerful and sent him hurling forward for several kiloters per second.
Fortunately, Kyran sensed the abundance of magic energies in the surroundings, which allowed him to replenish his near-depleted magic cores. After which, he used his magic sense to control the surrounding magic energies to regain his balance and hover in midair.
When Kyran succeeded in regaining his balance, he surveyed his surroundings. Soon, his brows furrowed as he noticed sothing was amiss.
He intended to influence the black vortex with his magic energy and manipulate it into warping him to his desired destination.
That did not happen; instead, he was thrown into an entirely different location.
'Where the hell am I?'
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