Legacy of the Dark Sage

The Blood Sacrifice Array was an offense-type ninth-tier array meant to deal a mortal wound on a large-sized beast within its area of effect. Apart from this, it causes status ailments such as; bleeding, curse, and paralysis. However, doing so needed an enormous amount of blood sacrifice, thus, the reason for its name.

Kyran was no longer the same ignorant kid who had little knowledge of arrays and magic. The moment Anette said the array's name, he recalled its information from a book on Array he had read.

His expression turned thoughtful as he recalled how the place they appeared at smelled of blood when they arrived. Putting all these bits of information together, he realized that the Templar Code likely created an array here to use against the Quilin. Then the obstruction they encountered at the tunnel most likely had been the beast's lair. The first explosions they heard were the Templar Code attacking the beast's lair to lure it out, which ultimately led to their current situation.

When they went to the tunnel and passed the thirty-meter mark where Kyran sensed several people, he did not think they were there awaiting the Quilin. While they were traveling underground, Kyran did not stop observing the movements above ground. He did not suggest leaving the tunnel and going back to the surface because he found people moving above. Although their number was not many, and he and Anette already traveled quite a distance from where there were more people above, the distance was not that far. If something happened and they encountered a group of people, they would have enough time to call for reinforcements.

But what Kyran did not anticipate was that it appeared there was another group of people, probably at the same number as those near the cellar, camped close to where they found an obstruction underground. And those people were tasked to lure out the Quilin.

The latter was Kyran's assumption, and though he did not have proof to back it up, he was sure that the normal mages and the three elite mages of the Templar Code facing the Quilin, was not chasing after the beast but was waiting for it.

While dust and smoke still covered the whole area, Kyran grabbed Anette and focused on a spot above ground.

"I don't know how to stay midair, but I'm confident I can warp again before we fall to the ground. Please bear with it for a moment," Kyran told Anette.

Realizing what Kyran meant, Anette's face paled in an instance.

"I said no—!"

Kyran did not give her time to finish her sentence before a purple disc swept up from beneath them.

While Kyran could have warped on top of a building, he dared not do so. Because the building was too close to where the people from the Templar Code were, even with the dust and smoke around, they would definitely get discovered.

As soon as they appeared in midair, Anette felt her stomach churn. Her cheeks bulged as she made a barfing sound.

While the two started to fall, Kyran wandered his eyes and found a safe spot on the ground at least a hundred meters away. It was a two-story building, also painted in red. Though it appeared shabby, the roof looked sturdy enough.

Kyran focused on the roof as a purple disc appeared on his feet. The two of them fell straight into the disc.

RAWRGH!

The moment the two warped, the Quilin roared, and a fierce whirlwind burst around it. Like a vacuum, the whirlwind sucked at the dust and smoke and converged in front of the beast.

"Now!"

A powerful male voice ordered, and the first mage with the golden spear raised his weapon.

The Blood Sacrifice Array glowed fiercely as countless blood-red thin streaks of light shot out from the array and attacked the Quilin.

Kyran and Anette appeared on top of a building a hundred meters away.

Anette fell on her knees, and this time, she no longer made a barfing sound but actually vomited.

Kyran, on the other hand, had no time to feel bad for her because he felt a huge magic fluctuation and turned his attention back to where the Quilin was.

He saw the Blood Sacrifice Array activated and bombarded the Quilin with streaks of blood-red lights. The three elite mages from the Templar Code did not leave the array's range, and instead, the second mage that appeared to have support magic raised his staff and created a magic barrier around them.

Even under siege, the Quilin did not stop gathering the whirlwind in front. As soon as a five-meter radius whirlwind formed in front of it, it released the whirlwind toward the three elite mages.

The three were not idle. When the Quilin was gathering the whirlwind, the second mage already cast individual magic barriers for them. The first mage flew to the left, while the third mage gained altitude while aiming his bow at the beast.

When the Quilin released the whirlwind, the second mage roused his magic, and three pentagon-shaped arrays formed in front of him; one directly in front, while the other two on the side were a little slanted.

The Quilin also moved as soon as it released the whirlwind. Although it was still under the bombardment of the Blood Sacrifice Array and its scales started to crack, it was undeterred and galloped, its horn glowing as more orbs appeared around it.

The mages below, supporting the three elite mages, started to cast their magic as they focused on attacking these orbs.

The joint attacks destroyed some of the beast's orbs. In contrast, the ones that evaded the Blood Sacrifice's bombardment and the supporting mages' attacks hovered in the air and shot out dark red beams at all of them.

Kyran, who was watching all these from the top of the building, felt an inexplicable excitement in his heart.

It was his first time witnessing a battle between a group of mages and combat mages against a huge beast.

The Quilin was bigger than the mutated Basilisk, with a height of at least 12 meters, width of five meters, and length of 23 meters, including its tail.

Just from its size, it was enough to cause mass destruction on a district level if left alone.

Even Kyran would not dare say that he could single-handedly fight it.

Maybe if he was not keeping a low profile, he could deal with it as he did with the mutated Basilisks. Or he could summon an enormous void sphere as he did back at the forest near the Regis Estate and completely obliterate it.

The point was, it was Kyran's first time seeing other mages and combat mages in action, and he was itching to join in.

'Stop. This is not your business,' Kyran immediately reminded himself.

With great difficulty, Kyran turned his attention back at the task at hand.

However, during this time, he saw the first mage, slashed his golden spear, and aimed at the glowing horn of the Quilin.

RAWRGH!

The beast roared in pain as the first mage's attack grazed its horn.

This development was not what caught Kyran's attention but what happened next.

A piece fell from the scrape on the Quilin's horn, and the first mage dived as if to take it.

Kyran's eyes grew wide as he watched the falling piece glint from the sun's glare. By instinct, his eyes glowed silver as the Regis Blessing activated. His pupils turned to slits. It contracted as soon as he got a better view of the piece of the horn.

'The rare stone!' Kyran exclaimed.

His mind immediately went into overdrive.

No wonder it was hard to find the exact location of the rare stone because it did not have a fixed location. Because of the Templar Code's harassment, the Quilin most likely changed its hiding spot countless times. And the reason why the 'stone' was rare was that it was hard to get it from the Quilin's forehead!

'No wonder it could absorb and store magic energies. It is not really a stone but part of a Quilin's horn!' Kyran thought.

RAWRGH!

Before the first mage could grab the falling piece, the Quilin's horn glowed as it roared and summoned an almost visible shockwave, immediately obliterating anything it touched.

All the mages, including the elite mages, retreated before the shockwave touched them.

"I need to get back there," Kyran told Anette without looking at her.

Anette, who had yet to recover from the nauseating experience after warping twice, looked at him. Her complexion was pale whether because she was still feeling unwell or from shock after hearing Kyran's words, or both, only she knew.

"What are you talking about? That is a Quilin and there are Templar Code mages right there. If you go back there you'll only get caught!"

Kyran finally looked at her and said, "The Quilin's horn is the rare stone. I need to get near and get it."

"What?" Anette exclaimed with a dumbfounded look.