Legacy of the Dark Sage

Behind Velctor, Orena, the Earth Dragon Tribe's second-in-command, cleared her throat while intently looking at his back.

"Patriarch, please mind your manners."

Kyran observed her from his peripheral view and recalled the information he read about her.

True to the provided information, Orena did appear to be straight-laced and functions as Patriarch Velctor's sitter rather than a deputy.

"What manners? It's not as if I am doing anything rude," Velctor protested, looking at Orena wryly.

"Laughing out loud for no particular reason is rude," Orena replied with a straight face.

'I see... Rather than being straightlaced, isn't she just obtuse?'

"This is why you are still..." Velctor stopped midway through his sentence after seeing Orena's sharp look. He cleared his throat and decided to focus his attention on Kyran again, "Most young generation doesn't want to attend this kind of meeting because it can get too boring. I hope you won't find it boring and see this meeting as a chance to learn."

"Thank you," Kyran chose to respond safely and only thanked Velctor's advice. He could not very well tell the latter that his attendance was a must, rather than being his grandfather or father's proxy. Because if one looked at the hierarchy in their family, the next person who could represent Patriarch Aron, or Cade was Jared, since he was the second son and was second-in-line in the succession.

Kyran might be the new Dragon Lord but he did not inherit the previous Dragon Lord's authority and prestige. The things he inherited were the Draconic core and a title that sounded empty under his name.

The dragon tribe leaders arrived one after another, filling the seats in no time.

A quarter before the official start of the closed-door meeting, Aillos and his Aides also arrived. Again, they noticed Ames's absence and wondered where she was.

"My daughter has an urgent matter to do, and can not attend today," Aillos told them as if reading everyone's thoughts. "If you have anything you want to discuss with her, she will be present in tonight's banquet so you can approach her then.

"There is still a few minutes before the scheduled start of the meeting. But seeing everyone is already present, let's proceed."

All tribe leaders nodded their heads in consent to Aillos's declaration.

"I have said quite some things during the first day's banquet that raised a lot of questions. Instead of going around and giving you time to voice them, I will just explain it in detail. Besides, I have an idea of what questions you have for me."n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

As always, Aillos did not beat around the bush and went straight to the point. None of the tribe leaders made any concessions to his words because they were already familiar with how he did things. Besides, they were all looking forward to what Aillos had to say.

"First, let me reintroduce you to the Regis Clan's representative," Aillos started and looked toward Kyran.

Kyran stood in response to Aillos's words and faced everyone. Seeing all eyes on him, one would think he would feel intimidated. Even if everyone looked human, they were dragons after all.

However, Kyran was not intimidated by them. In fact, he seemed used to being subjected to such looks.

"Null, as you already know, is the new Dragon Lord," Aillos continued. "However, he is no ordinary vessel of an Ancient Magic Core this is because he has been acknowledged by Shaiha."

Aillos dropped the bomb with a straight face that the tribe leaders ended up gaping at him with blank looks. The moment his words finally made sense to them, most turned pale, while others gasped in shock.

Most of the tribe leaders were aware of what being recognized by Shaiha meant. Their knowledge varied based on what the elders of their tribe shared with them, but they knew how important Kyran's existence was now that they knew he was acknowledged by the Heart of the Cosmos.

"Let us not focus on how or why Null was chosen by Shaiha," Aillos declared, destroying the tribe leaders' hopes of asking to elaborate on the Shaiha's sudden acceptance of Kyran. "We'll have time for that another time. Instead, I want us to focus on the important things only for today."

He scanned his eyes over the congregation and the tribe leaders nodded in silent consent.

"Some of you may already be aware of what it means to be acknowledged by Shaiha, and how this will influence The Emperor's movements once he learns of it. For the sake of those who only have a little knowledge of it, I will explain it briefly.

"Shaiha's acknowledging a vessel means it allows one to gather all Ancient Magic Cores. This will allow the vessel the capability to possess all Ancient Magic. However, this also poses a greater threat to us. Initially, even if The Emperor managed to collect an Ancient Magic Core, he would not be able to utilize it.

It is also the same if he took the Shaiha because he is still missing one crucial requirement."

Aillos paused and studied the tribe leaders' expressions.

Most narrowed their eyes at his words. They were likely the ones who heard more about Shaiha and the Ancient Magic Cores from their elders. There were a few who seemed confused, nonetheless, seeing their furrowed brows, they more or less guessed the gist of what Aillos was trying to say.

"The Emperor is not a human."

That was the most crucial thing that allowed one to be acknowledged by Shaiha and gather all Ancient Magic Cores. Lucian was not human, thus, he would never be acknowledged or be able to gather the cores.

"But not being human does not prevent him from achieving taking Shaiha and the Ancient Magic Cores. If it is, he would not have chosen that as his goal. With The Emperor's capability, he could easily assimilate the vessel acknowledged by Shaiha and gain the ability to gather the rest of the Ancient Magic Cores."

"!"

Realization dawned on every tribe leader and they all instinctively looked at Kyran.

Kyran, who was still standing in his seat, did not flinch when the tribe leaders zoned in on him once more. He remained calm, making the tribe leaders wonder if he was trying to act tough, or if he simply did not register the danger he was in.

"That's right. Once the Emperor is aware that Null has the Draconic core and Shaiha he will come after him no matter what."

"Lord Aillos," Asherah, the matriarch of the Water Dragon Tribe, could no longer keep calm and raised her hand.

"Go on."

"Is it safe to say that The Emperor is unaware of Null's existence yet? Since he is currently busy looking for the Void Master?"

The tribe leaders burst into a muffled discussion as soon as Asherah raised this question. Aillos did not answer immediately and allowed them to contemplate this idea first. Once the discussion died down, and all of them turned their attention back to Aillos, he cleared his throat and finally addressed Asherah's question.

However, instead of giving a straight answer, he replied with a question.

"Do you remember how the Solis Clan denied their recent attack as The Emperor's orders?"

"That's..."

"They spout some excuse, saying The Emperor left on some important matter and that the order to attack us came from one of the Solis Clan elders."

"Do you also remember that before that, The Emperor had gathered all the clan leaders under the alliance for an urgent meeting? Ames attended that one on my behalf."

"Was the matter The Emperor attended to related to what was discussed in that meeting?"

"There have been some rumors that The Emperor ordered Deus on an errand after that as well."

"Right, it happened several months ago that I forgot, but wasn't there a rumor saying that Deus got injured while on a mission?"

"I heard it was Midnight."

One after another, the patriarchs and their second-in-command shared what they knew.

Not wanting the discussion to stray from the important things, Aillos raised his hand and requested them to quiet down. They all complied and waited for him to continue.

Once Aillos ensured that everyone was listening, he gave a short account of what transpired during the meeting The Emperor held.

Another round of discussions went on among the tribe leaders after learning about The Emperor discovering Kyran in the Lower Realm.

"Then, when Lady Ames left... was it because she went to the Lower Realm and..."

"Hearing that one of her descendants was in danger, she did go to the Lower Realm."

The one who confirmed the tribe leader's speculation was Ducal.

"We will not go into details on what happened there," Aillos declared before anyone started asking questions about Ames's experience in the Lower Realm.

"But one thing you need to know is that The Emperor is aware of Null's existence. When Deus failed to take him because of Ames's intervention, The Emperor went to the Lower Realm himself. The Emperor then learned that Null also has Shaiha, if not for this, he would not have chased him until he was forced to escape to the Higher Realm by passing through the Land of Desolation."

Aillos paused and let this information sink first. After all, he said something that would raise a lot of questions among the tribe leaders. And just as he expected, they realized something strange in his statement.

"Wait... pass through the Land of Desolation? Did he not pass through our route to get to the Higher Realm?"

"There is only one record that confirms a mage managing to pass through that area. The environment of that place is such that no mage from the Lower Realm could have survived it even if that one is a vessel."

"How can he survive and succeed in entering the Higher Realm?"

This time, Aillos did not reply. Instead, he looked at Kyran, who already raised his hand to drop the next big bomb. A dark purple magic energy gathered above his palm, alerting all the tribe leaders.

"I survived that place and entered the Higher Realm because I am the Void Master."