Legacy of the Dark Sage

Chapter 1252 Convalesce (9)

true void had an unsettling glint in his eyes that those familiar with him would find strange and uncomfortable. yet, this glint faded shortly, making it seem like it was merely an illusion. shortly after that, his eyes regained clarity.

'where...?' he wondered, still slightly disoriented, and touched his head.

'?'

taken aback at seeing a proper hand when he lifted it, he stopped midway from touching his head. following that, memories of what had happened before he lost consciousness flowed into his mind.

the macabre glacier attacked true void while he was pretending to be the

original

void master, so his appearance still resembled kyran's disguise used in the crepuscule auction house. thus, it was not strange for him to have 'human-like' hands.

remembering this, true void gruntled in embarrassment.

had he been so used to using the miniature void armor image that he got so scared when seeing a human hand?

'...wait, what...? 'had been used to...?'' true void belatedly noticed his choice of words and found how naturally he had said it.

that was then that memories far exceeding what he had recently acquired flashed like panoramic views in his mind that he almost keeled over from the strain that accompanied it. as overlapping scenes fleeted through his mind's eye, he felt an overwhelming force threatening to crush his brain.

"...argh...!"

the air crackled with magic as it responded to his emotions. as if to affirm his identity, his body began to absorb all the surrounding magic energies, resembling an immense void.

with such a sudden outburst of activity and magic fluctuation inside the ship's infirmary, it was impossible for anyone with powerful divine sense not to notice it.

the ship was docked inside the blade dancer clan's stronghold, and as soon as the magic fluctuations there appeared, every mage nearby felt it and immediately reported it.

zigor, the other elders, and the house heads immediately declared a state of emergency and had everyone prepare.

but before the situation got out of control, kyran returned, having also sensed the activity and realizing that true void was regaining consciousness through their connection.

kyran still had trouble teleporting or warping, but fortunately, he could now activate some of the scrolls in his possession. he used the transmission scroll and set an area outside the ship as his destination to get there at once.

he could have chosen the infirmary itself, but because zigor and the rest of the blade dancer clan were alarmed and started to prepare for battle, he decided to appear there instead to calm them down first.

fortunately, the tension around the ship dropped the moment kyran appeared. zigor, the elders, and the house heads were still on their way, and only a few talents were gathered there. kyran gave them a short signal to stay back by raising one hand. then, without waiting for a response, they entered the ship.

"kyran."

cyneah greeted as soon as kyran entered.

kyran looked at her and immediately saw her pale complexion.

"what happened?" he asked at once.

cyneah shook her head, "i was in the alchemy room making new potions when it happened. when i went to check, the magic energies around the infirmary were too fierce, disrupting my magic sense. i can't see anything beyond it."

after a short pause, kyran replied, "go to my room. i'll go check on true void."

as if to make a statement, multiple panoramic images sprang out of nowhere and hovered around true void. these images showed different scenes that were unfamiliar to kyran.

at least most of them.

smaller images mixed in with the rest showed scenes kyran knew and vaguely found unsettling. he was not unsettled because of the scenes in these images but because they looked insignificant compared to the others that swarm around true void.

"...you're not saying anything. did you already know?"

"...rather than know, i had an inkling."

"right... your intuitions have mostly been good."

if this had been any regular moment, kyran would have raised his brows at true void and complained about his use of 'mostly.' but sensing the latter's different vibe, kyran found himself unable to voice his thoughts carelessly.

"do you... know who i

was

?"

kyran did not answer. however, his face hardened, though his eyes faltered.

"...my title... my real title is the true sage," true void said when kyran remained silent. "caelan... retained 'true' in my name so i could keep a small part of my past self."

one of the panoramic images moved in front of true void, and because of its large size, kyran could watch the scenes being shown there.

caelan wore a sorrowful look on his face. even though true void was absent, kyran saw a glimpse of him reflected in caelan's tear-filled eyes.

a handsome face... giving off a surreal feeling... with translucent skin reminiscent of the ancients.

"..but before negative emotions consumed a part of my soul... i was once known as the king of the ancients."

when kyran continued to stay silent, true void could not help but laugh faintly.

"you do know who i was."

"..."

"before i met caelan, i could barely keep my sanity. the long time of wandering around the lower realm had fed the hatred in my heart, and it had grown to the point that it became unbearable just to breathe.

"there were moments when i lost control, and that hatred took over, spreading its negative influence and terrorizing the lower realm.

"at one point, it successfully resonated with one human... and it corrupted her soul."

another panoramic image fleeted in front of true void, replacing the one that showed caelan.

in the image was a beautiful woman with a radiant smile and brilliant sapphire blue eyes.

kyran was no stranger to that woman because he had seen her image in caelan's memories.

"layla," true void uttered the woman's name with a tone full regret. "she was the first one that my negative emotion had tainted."