Legacy of the Dark Sage

Whooosh!

Thorn's eyes widened as Kyran closed in on him in an instant and slammed a palm on his chest.

BAM!

Thorn was caught off guard by Kyran's sudden attack and did not have the time to evade it.

Ladon, on the other hand, was surprised, not by Kyran's action but because he did not expect the latter to move faster than him.

Crackle!

Boom!

Right after Kyran's palm struck Thorn's chest, he executed a swift retreat, narrowly avoiding a concentrated magic attack that sizzled into the spot where Thorn had just been. The attack, a product of a magic array above them, was clearly aimed at the latter.

Going back a few seconds, Kyran sensed the formation of the magic array and deduced its trajectory. He then realized that it was aimed at Thorn, which was why he pushed the latter out of the way.

While Kyran could have shouted a warning, knowing Thorn's unreasonable contempt toward him, he reckoned the latter would not believe him. If Thorn did believe him, his overly huge ego and pride as a dragon would not allow him to evade the attack, and he would likely choose to take it head-on.

Ladon also sensed the formation of the magic array. But while he was closer to Thorn, he was a tad bit slow in figuring out the magic array's exact location and predicting its trajectory.

Before the sneak attack landed, Aki already sensed an incoming danger and prioritized Cyneah's safety. He grabbed her and jumped aside.

If not for Aki being near Cyneah, Kyran would not have gone after Thorn and would instead prioritize her. But with Aki there and the sneak attack aimed at only one target, Kyran went after Thorn.

When the sneak attack landed, the spot it hit was reduced to rubble. The aftershock that followed could also cause a numbing effect. Fortunately, all of them managed to move aside to avoid receiving the brunt of the sneak attack's effect.

"...ngh!" Thorn skidded on the floor after getting pushed a few meters away. As much as he wanted to repay what Kyran did just then, the explosion that followed after he got thrown, made him realize what the latter did and felt conflicted.

He was angry at Kyran's attitude but also felt ashamed for not even realizing that an attack was about to hit him. He also felt humiliated because the one to save him was none other than the one guy he detested.

"More attacks are coming!" Cyneah warned them, her mirror-like eyes glowing as she scanned the whole surrounding with her magic sense.

Right after she shouted the warning, more magic arrays appeared overhead and shot down concentrated magic energy attacks. Surprisingly, these attacks were aimed at Aki, Cyneah, Ladon, and Thorn only.

Kyran frowned as he saw this.

Obviously, the enemy mages aimed at the Dragon Clan representatives because they were feared by many. Upon checking the magic arrays' calculations, Kyran also realized that the attacks were specifically created to inflict huge physical and magical damage on dragons, and the numb effect was placed as a precautionary if the target survived the initial attack.

Kyran guessed that the enemy mages would bombard the Dragon Clan representatives with powerful offensive spells once their initial sneak attack's numbing effect kicked in.

"This is a little disgruntling," Auto-one suddenly remarked after landing beside Kyran. "Being ignored like this, that is."

Auto-one also observed the scene unfolding before them.

At that moment, Aki, carrying Cyneah in his arms, continued to avoid the magic attacks that fell from above. Ladon and Thorn, on the other hand, did not only avoid the attacks but also moved about to destroy them.

Diara, whose magic was restrained by Kyran but could move freely, joined them. She said with a derisive snort, "The enemies are stupid for aiming at the Dragon representatives only. Did they think by taking them out first, they can deal with us easily?"

"'Us,' huh?" Kyran could not help but comment without looking at her. He was busy assessing the situation, but he could still hear them.

"W-Wha— Obviously, since I am with you guys, I am considered one of you!" Diara retorted defensively.

"Master only said us; why are you being defensive?"

"Silence, you stupid defect! No wonder your programming has been easily altered. You already have a screw loose—! What?" Diara was surprised when Kyran suddenly disappeared. It would not have surprised her if he only disappeared from her sight. But his presence and aura, not to mention his smell, also disappeared.

"You underestimated what my new master can do," Auto-one told Diara. "I am not defective. He simply turned me into one of his own."

Diara glowered at him, "Are you fine staying here and allowing your new master to do the dirty work? You are a disgrace as a former champion automaton of the Ancients."

"I find your words contradictory. You keep saying I am defective, but you also did not want me to disgrace the name of the Ancients as being one of their champion automatons."

"Obviously, even if you are a defective one, you should still—."

"I am here because I need to keep an eye on you," Auto-one interrupted Diara's retort. He found the latter's rambling a tad bit annoying. "As for doing the dirty work, my master is far more capable than I am. I may be able to deal with the enemy mages if given enough time on my own, but master... he can handle everything himself in a short time."

"Humph, 'keep an eye on me,' as if you can do that by yourself. I am no pushover. If I decide to escape, even if my magic is being restricted, I will be able to do so."

Auto-one looked at her and smiled gently, "I do wish you stop underestimating me, especially my master. If you think the reason his attacks earlier managed to hit you is only because you failed to adjust to it properly, then you are greatly mistaken. Master's magic is not something you can adjust to."

"You sure love to speak now that you have a new master—."

Crackle! Sizzle! Sizzle!

Diara stopped midsentence as she heard and sensed powerful magic fluctuations that covered a huge scope around them.

Soon after, the magic arrays that continued to spawn overhead crackled and sizzled as the flow of magic energy within them stopped. If one looked closely, the cause for this was that some of the key magic runes in the magic array's calculations had been damaged.

"What— How?"

"This is precisely why you should not underestimate my master," Auto-one could not help but rub Diara in the face with his words.

Diara wanted to glare at him, but she could not seem to peel her eyes away from the spectacle that the magic arrays above them were under.

Ladon was on his way to destroy one magic array near him when the space around it fluctuated. After that, the magic array crackled and sizzled as the magic energy within stopped flowing completely.

"This...?" he muttered in utter confusion.

Thorn was the same. He had just destroyed a magic array and was about to assist Aki and Cyneah when the magic arrays nearby crackled and sizzled.

"Just what in the—?" Thorn suddenly stopped short as he sensed a very oppressive pressure that enveloped their surroundings. He cursed under his breath as he used Dragon Steps to get to Aki and Cyneah, "Damn it, not this again?"

"Tsk," Ladon also sensed the pressure and clicked his tongue in annoyance.

The pressure was actually another Dimension on the verge of being formed. Whoever was aiming those magic arrays at them clearly wanted to defeat them by enclosing them inside a Dimension. They would likely aim to make use of the Dimension's created rules to ensure they would not be able to fight back.

Ladon would not be surprised if the Dimension about to imprison them would include a rule that could counter the dragon's brute force, thus ensuring that they would not be able to force their way out.

"Find the caster!" Ladon shouted toward Thorn.

"Damn it!" Thorn, who initially wanted to assist Aki and Cyneah, cursed under his breath before using everything he had to try to locate the enemy mage who was casting the Dimension.

One only had to focus on the flow of magic fluctuation in the surroundings to know where the mage casting a Dimension was. Since Dimension required a huge amount of magic energy, the fluctuation around the mage would definitely be huge.

But.

Fooom!

Crackle! Crackle!

The still-forming Dimension crumbled upon touching what appeared to be a thin layer of dark purple veil.

With Ladon and Thorn's senses, it would not have been possible for them to miss anyone who would cast such a destructive attack that could even destroy a Dimension, even if it was still in its early phase.

"Who—?"

Meanwhile, Diara's eyes widened as she watched the spectacle unfold before her. Her attention was solely fixated on the veil that countered the forming Dimension.

"That magic energy color is... No... how is it possible?"

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