Legacy of the Dark Sage

Auto-one and the others were occupied by the automatons up ahead, and the Blade Dancer Clan was approaching from the rear. The latter were still a distance from their location, so Kyran did not know if they would go after them or Ladon and Thorn since they were confronting an active treasure compared to those who were facing off against automatons.

Based on Kyran's observation of the clan representatives back at the platform, most were interested in looking for treasures or receiving enlightenment. Only a few, which included the Dragon Clan, participated in this year's event for other reasons, with treasure hunting as their least priority.

Considering this, it was not wrong to say that the allure of the treasure on Ladon and Thorn's side was far greater than the automatons Kyran's group was dealing with, to clan representatives focusing on hunting for treasures.

But what if the approaching group were similar to the Dragon Clan, which came for another purpose than hunting for treasures or receiving enlightenment?

This question fleeted through Kyran's mind as he observed Auto-one and the others battling the automatons and trying to predict where the approaching Blade Dancer Clan would go by checking the trajectory of the path they were taking.

At the moment, Kyran judged that Auto-one and the rest of their group could handle the mob ahead even without his help.

Worrying about any of them getting hurt was also unnecessary because, one, Auto-one and Aki were automatons and would not get injured as humans do, and two, Diara and the other Ancients had special body constitutions that could render magic attacks pointless depending on the situation.

Being automatons, unless Auto-one and Aki met a really powerful automaton that would target their program or core, they would not require immediate assistance. The same went with the Diara and the other Ancients. As a matter of fact, their identity as Ancients could allow them to alter the automatons' target sequence if they wanted to.

The only reason they did not do this was that it was time-consuming to communicate with the tower's central memory bank and reconfigure it. Apart from that, the tower was observing them. If it deemed Diara and the other Ancients' actions unacceptable, it might hinder their plan and send more automatons their way instead.

With all these things in mind, Kyran decided to prioritize assisting Ladon and Thorn's side rather than providing Auto-one and the others with rear support.

Basically, if the Blade Dancer Clan went after the treasure and risked confronting Ladon and Thorn, Kyran would assist them. But if the Blade Dancer Clan went after Kyran's group, he would take them on himself and let Auto-one and the others deal with the automatons by themselves.

As if sensing Kyran's thoughts, Cyneah said, "I will keep an eye on this side. Just focus on the enemies, and be careful."

'I will not be able to monitor your movement once battle amongst you commences, which means I can't provide rear support if you are hurt... I hate to admit it, but I will only be in the way if the enemy group realizes my lack of sight and offensive attacks,' Cyneah thought in frustration.

"I will," Kyran replied. In a way, he appreciated Cyneah not showing any weaknesses before him or asking him not to go and just remain by her side because this showed her great trust in his capabilities. At the same time, he also felt a little bad because he knew inwardly she felt useless.

To be honest, Kyran still wanted to have someone to stay with Cyneah. If only he could access the Void World, he could take out a puppet or two and have them guard her. Unfortunately, he could not access it inside the tower.

Ultimately, Kyran gave Cyneah a couple of dark purple orbs that had Void rune writings whirling inside in a glowing light purple color. This orb could unleash a powerful barrier that could withstand attacks from mages below an Overlord or a powerful attack that could also stun even an Overlord if it hit.

With these orbs, Cyneah could assist Auton-one and the others if an emergency happened on their side, or she could also use it to protect herself and the others if someone slipped past Kyran or another group just so happened to approach them.

"These orbs are only proto-types," Kyran told Cyneah. "But they can already be used. Still, I hope you won't have to use them."

"I'll only use them if a worst-case scenario happens," she assured him with a smile.

"Okay," Kyran replied with a nod. He wanted to say something else, but in the end, stopped because he had a strange inkling that made it feel like he was tempting fate. Shaiha said he was immune to the Fates' Fate code, but that did not mean trouble would not go looking for him.

Besides the ominous feeling, Kyran felt that prompted him not to say words like, 'Please stay safe,' 'I will return by your side,' or 'You don't have to worry about me.' In fact, telling Cyneah he would return to her side as soon as he could gave him goosebumps. He might treat her differently than the others or say things that seem out of character. But there was a limit to what he could say.

Or, to be precise, he did not think he had enough courage to spout similar things.

On the other hand, Shaiha, who could not filter Kyran's thoughts immediately, could only look at him with a blank expression.

Just as Kyran was contemplating these things, and Shaiha could only resign to her fate, they noticed the Blade Dancer Clan going to the left side from the intersection.

[Seems like they decided to head this way.]

'They might think they did not stand a chance against the dragons at this point. They might be planning to wear them out before going after them.'

Shaiha sighed after hearing Kyran's guess. She agreed with his line of thinking. The Blade Dancer Clan was one of the few clans under The Emperor who knew better than to underestimate the Dragon Clan's stamina. Having them confront the treasure for an hour or two was not enough to exhaust them.

"I'm going," Kyran told Cyneah.

"Okay," she replied with a nod. She already sensed the approaching enemies and knew that he would meet them halfway.

Kyran left as soon as he said goodbye to Cyneah. In the meantime, Shaiha started giving her side commentary in his sea of consciousness.

[This is a little strange. While the approaching auras are similar to the Blade Dancer Clan, haven't all their representatives been sent to the lower floors? They could not have cleared the floor and found their way to this floor, right?]

'Are you seriously asking me that question?' Kyran asked with a deadpan voice. He did not really need Shaiha to answer that question since he already sensed her real intentions.

Shaiha scowled.

[The least you could do is answer without sounding sarcastic, right? I know you don't know the answers to that, but don't you have any theories, at least?]

'I'm not familiar with all the representatives from the other clans,' Kyran replied patiently. He added, 'The only ones I know are those Leif pointed to me.'

[So, no theory at all?]

'You can read my mind, right?'

[As I said, I will not be able to understand the meaning behind your thoughts if I don't delve into it myself!]

'There are far more representatives who joined this year,' Kyran said without bothering to argue with Shaiha and started sharing his thoughts. 'Possibilities of clans sending out hidden members of their clan to participate is high. They might even be pretending to be from other clans earlier.
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As to how they concealed their auras, they probably have similar techniques of medicinal recipes to do just that.'

[Hm... yes. Quite true.]

'Regardless of the possibilities, isn't it you who said they are from the Blade Dancer Clan? Although, their aura does feel familiar to that woman who we met in that unnamed plane.'

[Since you brought up about hidden members... I suddenly thought of something.]

Shaiha paused dramatically before continuing.

[You probably referred to hidden members differently from my understanding. Anyway, I am leaning toward the probability that these guys are—.]

'Secret ops or assassins,' Kyran said without giving Shaiha the chance to complete what she was about to say.

[Oi!]

'When I said hidden members, that's exactly what I meant,' he confirmed.

[You, and your annoying—!]

Shaiha stopped short as several weapons, ranging from knives, short blades, and javelins, came flying in their direction.

Kyran easily evaded the incoming weapons, his expression turning grim.

[How did they know you're onto them? My concealment ability is active!]

That was precisely the reason for Kyran's expression. Not bothering to respond to Shaiha's exclamation, he took out his two swords while coating their blades with Void magic.

Tiiing!

As soon as Kyran's swords were coated with Void magic, a deafening sound like a bell chime rang out.

The sudden attack reminded Kyran of the crazy woman he met at the unnamed plane.