Legacy of the Dark Sage

Within the purple sphere, Kyran was forced on his knees.

The ground beneath rumbled and something gaseous seeped from within filling the inside of the sphere. Kyran immediately sensed the thinning of the oxygen inside, and his expression turned grim. Apart from this, the immense pressure that bore down above was nothing like he had experienced before.

Kyran once experienced Malek's magic pressure crushing his insides, but that was different from now. That time, Malek was using his magic's property which had something to do with air compression.

The pressure Kyran felt now was different. It was something he could only compare to what he had read once, about the abyssal zone of the deep sea. Where if a sea creature ventured in, it was comparable to death. The zone was devoid of oxygen and was filled with a high concentration of elements that were harmful to any creature.

[Oi! Oi! This is no ordinary magic attack! This... this! This is a Saint-tier Array!]

True Void exclaimed, his mind reeling in fear.

"S-Saint..." Kyran tried to say. But with the thinning oxygen inside the sphere, it had begun to affect him.

[Yes! Saint-tier!]

True Void replied, his voice full of panic.

As someone who had been sealed by Cade, True Void knew how terrifying his arrays were. Not to mention, when Cade sealed him, Cade's magic core was already damaged.

Though array formations and seals did not require a vast amount of a mage's magic energy because the materials used in the formation would compensate for it, it still required a mage's magic sense to control it. If a mage's magic core was damaged, his control over external magic energy from materials as well as his own magic sense would be extremely hard.

Maybe if the array formation and seal were only a low-tier, it could be manageable.

But we're talking about True Void here. He was the spirit of the Void Master's ultimate weapon. Could a low-tier seal be enough to restrain him? Of course not. However, it was an irrefutable fact that True Void had been sealed. It was not even a simple restraining seal, but a forced sleep!

And Cade managed to do that with a damaged magic core.

As for Cade's essence, he could be considered a clone of the original one.

With the use of ancient Light Art, one could extract his essence to create another body. This body would have the same body, experience, magic skills, even memories of the original body from the time of the extraction. For short, this essence had the skill and experience of Cade when his magic core was still intact. This meant, his Array skills would be heaven-defying.

Kyran's mind was racing. He had gathered bits and pieces of information of his parents' magic skills from some of Nolan and Anettes's off-handed comments. Sometimes they would even drop some clues when they were talking and they thought Kyran was not listening. Or maybe they knew he was listening, thus, they mentioned some clues to put him at ease.

Because of this, Kyran found out his father was an Array Master. Same as Nolan. Nolan even hinted that compared to him, his father's Array level was above his, and probably way above Chairman Noir, who was known to be the most powerful Array Master in Ylfaen Empire. The reason why Kyran thought of this, was due to Nolan's disdainful attitude when he found out Kyran learned Array from Noir.

Kyran could not help but smile bitterly as he recalled this. Cade's image in his mind was starting to blur. Right now, he felt he barely knew his own father.

[We're doomed! I'm telling you. We're doomed!]

True Void's panic-stricken voice brought Kyran out of his reverie.

'Calm down,' Kyran thought, but whether he was saying this to True Void or himself, he was not sure.

With the oxygen inside the sphere growing thinner, Kyran's mind had started to go numb.

Anyone who experienced this numbing sense would have lost all will to fight.

But Kyran was different. The number he felt, the clearer his mind becomes. And the clearer his mind becomes, the better he could focus.

Kyran took a deep breath and spread out his magic sense. First, he checked the state of his body. He confirmed that the lack of oxygen and the bearing of the immense pressure had started to damage his internal organs. But it was not something he could not endure for a few minutes.

'Five minutes at most,' he confirmed and closed his eyes.

[Oi! Void Halfling! Don't sleep! think of something to get out!]

True Void said reprimandingly.

When Kyran did not respond and even had a very serene look on his face, True Void instantly gasped. He felt as if his non-existent blood had been drained out of his illusory body.

[No! Void Halfling! Don't die on me! Don't die on me!]

Black lines appeared on Kyran's head. If he had not witnessed what True Void could do, Kyran would have doubted his identity as his predecessor's partner. It was too easy for him to panic and even whine. Such unbefitting of his supposedly the Dark Sage's ultimate weapon image.

Ignoring True Void's whining, Kyran focused all his attention on controlling his magic sense. Since his father had attacked using an Array, Kyran was confident he could survive. Actually, he believed he could also destroy it.

As soon as his magic sense spread outside, Kyran instantly saw the three-layered golden array above. He felt immense magic energy within the rotating arrays.

Kyran's eyes snapped open and his eyes glowed reddish-purple. He forced himself to sit cross-legged, as he spread out his arms.

[Void Halfling! You're still alive— eh? Eh? What are you doing?]

A miniature version of the three-layered golden array suddenly appeared on Kyran, with him at the center.

True Void gasped, before erupting in excitement after realizing what Kyran planned to do.

[You want to destroy a Saint-tier array? Bahahaha! Insane! You're insane!]

By this time, Kyran had already entered into deep concentration and did not hear what True Void had said. Even if he did, he would ignore him.

Kyran immersed himself within the complex array of calculations within the three-layered golden array. It only took him thirty seconds, to decipher everything and a smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

None of the vast collection of array formation and calculation Kyran learned in the Array room could be seen in the golden array. Meaning, this particular array was something his father had created by himself. This instantly made Kyran feel an overwhelming pride. His father was a real genius.

If others knew how much veneration Kyran felt for his father, they would have reeled in exasperation. After all, from the perspective of others, Kyran was also a genius. No, to be precise, he was a monster.

After thirty seconds, Kyran started to move his hands. Soon, the calculations within the golden array started to tremble.

At that exact moment, outside the sphere, Cade sensed something as he looked at the three-layered golden array.

"Hm?" His brow furrowed as he saw distortions in the air appearing from different points on the golden array. More importantly, the points where the distortions had appeared were the key areas of the whole formation.

Cade chuckled as he turned his attention back at the purple sphere below. He crossed his arms across his chest and said, "So you decided to aim for the array."

With an amused smile, Cade summoned his magic, a five-meter radius silver magic array appeared beneath him and a black obsidian boulder emerged from within. It hovered in midair, and Cade landed there and sat cross-legged.

"I was hoping you'll start using your Regis technique but this is also good. Let me see your level of—."

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Cade's eyes widened after hearing the explosions. He looked up at the three-layered golden array and saw, apart from the bolts of lightning that the array generated, the crackling sounds came from within the distortions, which had infiltrated and begun to corrupt the whole formation.

CRACKLE! SIZZLE!

Cade's shoulder trembled, and soon he burst out in laughter from what he was witnessing.

"Remarkable," he murmured. "It seems the Regis had produced a new generation Array Master. Soon, the Estate's formation can be revived."

In just a couple of minutes, the three-layered golden array showed signs of crumbling.

However, before that happened, Cade lifted his hand toward the array and he made a grabbing gesture which in turn shook the whole formation.

BOOOOM!

A massive explosion shook the whole surrounding. The brunt of the explosion bore down on the purple sphere and it also shattered, as another explosion shook the whole place.

BOOM!

The shockwave these two explosions produced instantly obliterated some of the nearby stone walls. Cloud of smoke filled the air once again.

From the center of the explosion, a silhouette of a young man on his knees could be seen. Soon, the sound of coughing could also be heard.

Cade's eyes glinted in amusement as he looked at the silhouette. Of course, he knew the silhouette was Kyran, and he was pleased to find that his body could withstand the detonation of a saint-tier array.

"You..." Kyran started but then started to cough once again.

Earlier, he was only two or three steps away from completely destroying the array. But then, the whole array exploded and he knew at once that his father chose to detonate the array instead of seeing Kyran succeed in destroying it.

"You're an Array Master. Good. Who taught you?" Cade asked as soon as the cloud of smoke lessened.

[Argh! Why do I feel like he was just messing with us?]

True Void ranted.

Kyran felt the same and he could only smile bitterly.

"Are you really asking?" He asked as he tried to stand. However, his feet wobbled and he fell on one knee.

Cade chuckled, "Not really."

"Then why bother asking?" Kyran complained.

"Your temper reminds me of someone," Cade suddenly said, catching Kyran off guard.

Then Cade disappeared just to appear ten meters in front of Kyran.

"It's only been less than half an hour," he started and walked slowly toward him.

[Uh-oh. Not good, Void Halfling. Really not good. I have a feeling he's up to something!]

Kyran did not need True Void to tell him because he also felt the same.

"Don't you think it's high time you start using the Regis technique?" Cade said and stopped three meters away from Kyran. He looked him over and added, "Your body will not hold much longer."