Legacy of the Dark Sage

KRRSHK!

Cyneah's face contorted in anguish as Ladon's protective barrier shattered, and the woman's Dimension swallowed her surroundings. The weight of her helplessness was crushing, not because of the woman's power but because her desperate attempt to summon Kyran using his token had proven futile.

Meanwhile, Ladon, who regained his hands' real form and created a gauntlet made of water, tried to capture the woman. He planned to make use of the water's nature to absorb and dissolve the woman's gaseous form and trap her inside before she could complete her Dimension.

If Ladon failed to capture the woman in time, Thorn was already on his way to destroy the woman's Dimension.

But.

CRACKLE!

The woman's gaseous form crackled, and her body disappeared. As she did, the Dimension in which she trapped Cyneah also vanished.

"What—?"

Ladon and Thorn gave out a muffled cry of surprise before their attack collided.

BOOM!

The shockwave that followed upon the collision of their attack shook the floor, turning the bits and pieces of shattered mirror around them to dust.

"Ngh...!"

Both Ladon and Thorn were thrown back along with the aftershock.

"Ahahahaha!"

As the two rolled several meters away from the center of the collision, they heard the woman's laughter echoed throughout the room.

"I applaud you for thinking of using the nature of Water magic to counter my 'form,'" the woman said, her words directed at Ladon. "Unfortunately for you, my form may appear gassy, but I assure you my body's composition is not. It just so happens that we are born like this..."

Her voice faltered slightly before she added, "... right. It is no longer we, I suppose. Since I'm probably the only one left alive."

Ladon and Thorn buried their feet on the floor to stop their momentum and regain their balance. As they did and they heard what the woman had said, their eyes widened in surprise.

Obviously, they realized the implication behind her words.

"You are...?" Ladon muttered in disbelief.

"No way..." Thorn also said, shaking his head in denial. "Your clan should have already...."

"Right," the woman agreed with a chuckle.

By then, the aftershock from the collision of Ladon and Thorn's attack had subsided, and they were trying to locate the woman's whereabouts again.

The woman continued, "The Higher Being made sure that we were destroyed. He succeeded, but as you can see, I managed to survive. True, I only survived because I was trapped by these annoying mirrors while I was undergoing my training. But I'd say you lucked out by finding me and even releasing me. Now, I can avenge my people for what the Higher Being had done."

"Let go of Sisi," Ladon said solemnly. She had nothing to do with what the Higher Being had done to your clan."

"I know that," the woman replied matter-of-factly. "She may have your appearance, but her eyes clearly spoke volumes. She is not a dragon, and I can sense that she is different from the rest as well. And I said that not because she had a rare Healing magic, but rather... her body composition is different from that of the human mages in the Higher Realm."

"Since you mention the Higher Realm, then you should know that what happened back then split the Realm in two."

"Yeah, I know," the woman admitted readily. Whenever the portals opened, and the tower became accessible in your realm, the tower extracted information from all the participants who entered. You all believed you'd been benefiting from the treasures inside the tower, but in truth, the knowledge you possess benefits the tower more.

"Now that I am free, I am able to access all that knowledge and information."

"Then you should know that the Dragon Clan did not participate in that war," Ladon continued to converse with the woman.

He was not doing this to gather intel but to buy time for Thorn.

While the woman was busy replying to him, the latter was scanning the whole place with his Dragon eye. Now that the mirrors were gone, they could use their magic energy without fearing them getting absorbed by the mirrors.

"I know," the woman replied. "Which is why I did not kill you. But my patience is limited, so I advise you two to leave while I am being reasonable."

"We won't leave without Sisi," Ladon said. "Please release her."

"No. I want to learn all of her secrets, so she will have to stay with me. Don't worry. When I am done extracting her secrets, then I will release her...."

She paused before she chuckled and said, "If she survived, that is—."

"You will release her now!"

The woman was a tad bit late reacting as Thorn suddenly appeared before her.

Thorn, who had finally spotted the woman's silhouette, did not waste time and used Dragon Steps to close in on her. He raised his fist above his head and aimed it at the spot right behind the woman.

The woman, taken aback by Thorn's sudden appearance, thought he was aiming at her face. Her whole body turned into a gaseous state and disappeared. But then she let out a short gasp as she realized too late that Thorn's aim was never her face but the spot behind her—the spot where her Dimension was.

BAM! CRACK!

KRRSHK!

Web-like cracks appeared on the surface of the woman's Dimension as Thorn's fist landed.

"She's mine!" the woman bellowed, and her whole body emitted a sudden blinding light.

"Thorn! Get back!" Ladon shouted, sensing the danger from the light that the woman emitted.

Thorn did not need to be told twice. After landing a hit on the woman's Dimension, and before she actually emitted the blinding light, he already used Dragon Steps to retreat.

But.

"Aaarggh!" Thorn shouted in pain as the light's rays touched his skin. It felt as if he was being burned alive just by being exposed to such a faint ray of the woman's light.

But then, a water barrier appeared between him and the woman's light, creating a wall that shielded him from the ray's burning effect.

"Don't stop and keep retreating! I'll cover you!" Ladon shouted from behind.

In fact, he had been keeping a close eye on Thorn when he asked him to retreat. This was because when he saw the woman use Light magic to attack Thorn, he knew the latter would be in deep trouble because Thorn was a gold dragon. His body was a good conductor of heat. But Light magic was not the same as Fire magic.

Light magic had a powerful penetrative nature, which means that it could easily pass through Thorn's gold body and burn his insides.

"You two are truly running my patience thin," the woman growled in annoyance. "If you want to die, then I will gladly assist—!"

CRACKLE!

KRRSHK!

BOOM!

"...guaaah!"

A flash of purple lightning struck the woman from above, ripping the space around her and completely disrupting the light that she emitted.

Ladon arrived just in time to support Thorn when the latter landed and almost keeled over from the remnant pain he received from the woman's attack.

"What was that just now?" Thorn asked, clearly dumbfounded at the lightning that actually struck the woman.

"That's...." Ladon started but was unable to answer completely because he was too shocked at what he could see with his Dragon Eye.

Before the lightning had struck, Ladon had already sensed something approaching from below. Unfortunately, he was too occupied with protecting Thorn that he could not accurately pinpoint its location.

But then he realized that the approaching something felt familiar. Its presence was similar to the puppets they encountered from the first room.

Ladon felt an incoming headache when he considered the possibility that another enemy was coming at them. They could barely handle the woman, and if a puppet arrived— actually, he had an inkling that the one fast approaching was not a mere puppet but an automaton— they would be hard-pressed to win without losing a limb or two.

This was because the woman was clearly above them in terms of mage level, and automatons created by the Ancients were a force to be reckoned with.

When Ladon was mulling over this, he sensed another presence and was a bit confused.

The presence was none other than Ias.

Initially, Ladon thought Ias was after the automaton. However, the speed at which the two were moving did not seem to be in a hurry. In fact, they were approaching at high speed but did not appear to be in a hurry. It was pretty contradictory, but yeah, it was strange.

All of these thoughts flashed through Ladon's mind in but a brief moment, and before he could truly make sense of any of it, the lightning flashed, and the woman was struck.

Ladon wondered if the one who struck the woman was the automaton with Ias because the latter clearly did not possess Lightning magic. But as soon as he thought of it, another came to him:

'Where is Lady Anahia and that arrogant nobody mage?'

Just as the thought flashed in his mind, a powerful aura erupted from where the woman was struck down.

"Who dare strike me?" the woman bellowed, her whole body still emitting black smoke after being struck. Magic energy gathered around her, enveloping her like thick armor. The eruption of a powerful aura clearly came from her: "I'll strike back tenfold!"

CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

KRRSHK! KRRSHK! KRRSHK!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"GAAAAH!" The woman screamed as purple lightning struck her one after another.

"If you want to strike, do it. What's the point of announcing it?"

Kyran's silhouette slowly appeared a few meters before the woman.

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