Legacy of the Dark Sage

A few hours passed, and the tower's entrance remained closed. This means that there were still clans that had yet to enter the transmission array on their end.

"How long are we going to wait for the others?" a representative of the Adamas Clan asked no one in particular among his clan.

The leader of Adamas Clan wandered his eyes around the platform and frowned.

"We have everyone," he started with a slight frown, "or, at least, the clans who participated last time."

"It seems there are new clans who found their portal that we failed to account for," another representative commented with a frown.

"Hm..." the leader representative agreed while looking toward the Blade Dancer Clan's leader representative.

The latter noticed his gaze and looked toward him before subtly shaking his head as if to say he was also unaware of new clans discovering a portal.

More clans arrived, distorting the expressions of most clan representatives affiliated with The Emperor's Clan.

On the other hand, the Dragon Clan representatives remained unconcerned about what was happening around them. They were aware of the stares everyone was giving them— especially their only female member, but they did not appear bothered. They even appeared to be flaunting her.

Soon, the last clan appeared, which drew the attention of all clans, including the Dragon Clan.

They looked at them not because they were familiar but because most felt annoyed at how they took their time before coming to the platform.

The last clan to arrive was none other than Kyran, Leif, and her clan in disguise.

Because the Lacus Clan was new, few recognized them.

For the record, the transformation potion managed to change Kyran's features, which were not far off from Leif and the others in disguise. His hair was dark gray, which appeared like dark ash blue, while his eyes were light brown. They were not as bright as the Lacus Clan's light yellow eyes, but in natural light, their eye color looked the same.

Unless someone purposely compared their eye color, they would not noticed the difference.

The only problem now was that Kyran's facial structure resembled Nar's, which was why he had to cover his lower face at all times.

Leif and her fellow representatives found Kyran's action strange, but except for the former, they did not give it much thought.

Leif was feeling a little troubled by Kyran's action because his wanting to hide his face even though he was already in disguise meant he was worried about being recognized by someone. If this was true, then what her father said about him being part of a clan and might be exiled or on the run was true.

Though Leif made her father believe she was no longer interested in recruiting Kyran, she was still considering it, especially after realizing his Alchemy potential. After all, no one seemed to have noticed their disguise, meaning his potion's effect was potent.

In the end, Leif had to put aside her thoughts and focus on their current situation.

They initially did not want to draw attention, but they did it because they were the last ones to arrive.

Before Leif could survey every clan near them, she caught sight of the Dragon Clan's representatives. She was a beauty herself, but the moment her eyes landed on the only woman among their members, she was drawn into her like a moth being drawn to fire.

"Such a beautiful young woman..."

Cove's remark seemed to mirror Leif's own thoughts, making her frown in embarrassment. To think that she would be affected by another female, not to mention a dragon.

Leif looked toward Kyran, wanting to see if he saw her reaction just now. However, what she saw made her regret looking his way. Because for the first time— at least in the short time she knew him— he had seen him looking dumbfounded.

Alas, Kyran was also a man. For him to actually show such a look after seeing a beauty...

Wait.

Leif realized something off from Kyran's reaction compared to Cove and Irving and was confused.

Unlike the latter two, Kyran also had a confused look in his eyes.

Before Leif could call Kyran's attention and ask him what was wrong, Cove and Irving shifted uneasily as the latter said, "W-Why— s-she's looking this way, isn't she?"

Leif looked back toward the Dragon Clan's representatives and, indeed, saw the beautiful young woman looking in their direction. Not only that, when Leif met the latter's eyes, the latter smiled before her lips moved as if to tell her something. Unfortunately, Leif was not good at lip reading and failed to understand what she said.

"This is not good..." Maren suddenly spoke beside Leif. "There is no information about the Lacus Clan making contact with the Dragon Clan. But apparently, they seemed to know each other."

This fact only hit Leif after Maren pointed that out.

That was right.

At the moment, they were in disguise. Although they were prepared to act accordingly if a clan the Lacus Clan was on good terms with approached them, it did not occur to them that they might be on good terms with the Dragon Clan.

If the Dragon Clan representatives realized that they were not the real Lacus Clan representatives, what would happen to them?

Because of this realization, Leif had forgotten about Kyran's strange reaction. Then again, what the young woman did caused such a stir among the other clans that they were now focusing on Leif and her fellow representatives. She would not have the time to think about Kyran's matter at all!

On the other hand, Kyran tried to calm his suddenly wavering nerves. At first, he tried to convince himself that the young woman might only resemble her. But the moment she looked at him and even smiled at him, he almost lost his cool.

[How is she here?]

Shaiha exclaimed in Kyran's sea of consciousness after recovering from her initial shock.

Like Kyran, she thought the young woman only looked like her. But her smile and even the words she spoke—which those who knew how to read lips would not be able to decipher because they were not spoken in Ancient language—were enough to confirm her identity.

'Is there really no other way for anyone in the Lower Realm to come to the Higher Realm?' Kyran hastily asked Shaiha.

Shaiha shook her head.

[Only those that Zephyr told you before...]

Her voice trailed off as she thought of something.

[Ah—!]

Kyran's eyes widened in realization as they shared the same thoughts.

'Winning the war of the sovereigns allows the winner to enter the Higher Realm. But in reality, someone from the Higher Realm provides the winner with a pass of some sort, right?'

[Yes. But... the War of the Sovereigns should not have happened yet even if there was a time difference in both realms; the War would only happen once the Lower Realm could no longer support the planes it had.]

'Is winning the war even required?' Kyran almost rolled his eyes at Shaiha.

[Ah—! Y-You have a point.]

'Ames is there... so maybe she...'

[If that is the case, then they are aware you have already— oh no... no, no. Make them stop!]

Shaiha exclaimed at once after seeing the Dragon Clan representatives making their way toward them.

[We have to keep a low profile, right? If they approached us now, all eyes would be on us! Besides, we are in disguise. Communication outside might not be possible, but what will happen after we leave? Putting aside implicating the Lacus Clan... your identity will be exposed as well!]

'Just now, did you know what she said?'

Shaiha shook her head.

[No. But that is unimportant right now. You have to—.]

'She said, 'You have an interesting aura.' It means she did not realize who I am.'

Shaiha frowned.

[But—.]

'She... don't normally see my aura. Not because you are concealing it, but because of the nature of my magic.'

[I know. Auras are something that a being emits outside of their bodies, but because of her identity as the true Soul Emperor, she sees the aura from its origin, which is normally emitted from inside one's core. Or, to be more precise, one's soul.

[Your magic is the Void, and because of its nature, the aura it emits is different from the others.]

'Yes. But because of the transformation magic, my aura has also changed. This is why I am confident no one will realize we are in disguise.'

[Hm... true. That has been one of the flaws of a Transformation potion. I am surprised you've managed to fix that flaw. Still, the fact that they are approaching us is not a good thing for us! We have to stay low-key!]

Kyran did not respond and only looked at the two male representatives from the Dragon Clan who were making their way toward them. He then thought back to what Maren had said just now and wondered if the Dragon Clan knew the Lacus Clan.

If this were true, it would be both a good and bad thing for Kyran.

Good, because he did not have to sneak around and follow them. It was bad because there was no telling when they would notice they were in disguise. After all, their knowledge of the Lacus Clan was pretty superficial. Not to mention, the Lacus Clan and Dragon Clans might have agreed to have their representatives meet inside the tower and join hands.

This was only Kyran's speculations, and he did not know how much was true.

Overall, he deemed going around with the Dragon Clan representatives— especially with her around, was not a good idea.

Obviously, the her or she, Kyran and Shaiha had been referring to was none other than Cyneah.