Legacy of the Dark Sage

In one of the medium-sized rooms on the dome's 2nd floor, the five Courtenay representatives, deputy marshals of the Royal Army, the Crown Princess, two of her personal royal guards, and Ernst were gathered.

They were seated on carved chairs around a similarly carved, long wooden round table. At the head of the table was an ornamented high chair where Haylee sat. Her two personal guards, Lira and a man named Fye, stood behind each side of the chair. To her left sat the Royal Army's Deputy Marshals; Mannick, Ingrid, and Imman. And to her right sat the Courtenay Family members. Patriarch Ernst, a middle-aged man with short wavy blonde hair and olive-green eyes wearing a white collared coat, and five Courtenay representatives.

After Patriarch Ernst explained the situation to Haylee, the whole room fell into a tense silence.

They all looked at Haylee, who remained silent with her eyes closed the whole time. Her expression was unreadable.

Finally, after a long strained pause, she said,  "So, it's like that?"

The moment she spoke, the room temperature dropped tremendously, making Ernst and the five representatives of the Courtenay Family cower in fear.

"P-Please forgive us your H-Highness..." The five representatives stammered an apology.

"W-We did as you instructed and prioritized the seal on the baby Chimera."

"Are you telling me that the poor seal you placed on the Echidna and the Manticore is my fault?" Hayley asked as she opened her eyes.

The room was not particularly dark. However, her sapphire blue eyes seemed to glow despite the properly lit room and pierced through the Courtenay representatives' olive-green eyes.

"N-No, that is not what we meant, your Highness," one of them denied at once.

"Please, your Highness," Ernst finally spoke up, "The seals on the baby Echidna and baby the Manticore are not poor per se. Since we did not think your people will face them, we only placed just the right amount of seal materials that would last for three hours. We estimated your people would have dealt the baby Chimera by the time the effects of the Echidna and the Manticore's seals are removed and so...."

"In the end, you're also blaming me Patriarch Ernst?"

"T-That's..."

"Permission to speak, your Highness," Imman suddenly spoke, turning toward Haylee with his head lowered.

"Speak," Haylee replied, without taking her eyes off the Courtenay Family members.

"Initially, if we have stuck to the initial plan this will not have happened," he said. "I do apologize for that. I admit it was I who approved of them changing their target."

Haylee finally looked at Imman with furrowed brows.

"Why did you approve it without asking for my permission?"

Imman shivered involuntarily after Haylee's cold sapphire eyes shifted on him. He cleared his throat and lowered his head further, "W-We heard Disciple Tyr wanted the baby Echidna's blood."

Haylee's eyes narrowed, "What?"

"Yes, your Highness. Major General Miccan called us to report hearing the conversation between the Conclave participants about Disciple Tyr telling them the baby Echidna's coordinates and to get its blood."

Haylee shifted her gaze back to Ernst.

The older man immediately shook his head, sensing the unspoken doubt in her eyes.

"We did not tell them anything your Highness. Besides, if we did and their team got injured in the process, the Courtenay Family will get in trouble."

Haylee closed her eyes and sighed in exasperation.

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she said, "It seems I underestimated the Conclave. I did not expect them to also aim for a legendary beast."

Initially, she wanted the Royal Army to deal with the Chimera and let the Conclave members deal with the rest of the beasts on the island. The plan was to exhaust the Conclave members before the Royal Army declared their successful subjugation of the Chimera.

As to the reason they had chosen to target the Chimera instead of the two other legendary beasts, it was all because they had more information on the beast compared to the two.

Anyway, the objective of today's event was to get the Conclave members' Beast Hunt leader, Styx, exhausted, thus affecting his performance in the remaining events he would participate in.

Haylee was sure that even with Chairman Malia helping them reduce their physical exhaustion, she would not be able to help much with their mental condition. Physical exhaustion and mental exhaustion were different, after all.

Finally, once most of the key members of the Conclave were exhausted, she could make a move on the last event of the joint military exercise.

The Chimera could be found in some ruins within the empire, after all.

"To think they would be so bold," Mannick growled, both feeling annoyed and awe at the Conclave's bravery. "Even if the Courtenay Family sealed the abilities of those legendary beasts, and all three are 'babies,' they are still legendary beasts. Their members did not even have a Grand Master with them."

Haylee sighed once more and leaned on her chair.

"If this continues, it is us who will suffer the consequences. It is a good thing Chairman Noir declined coming to the meeting now," she said.

"How long will the baby Manticore's seal last?" Haylee opened her eyes and looked at Ernst.

"To be honest... with how the baby Echidna unleashed its aura earlier... I am afraid the seal will not last for long either."

"Your Highness," Ingrid looked at Haylee. "I believe it is best to call off the event and let us deal with the beasts."

Haylee looked at her with a slight smile, "I do not doubt your capabilities, Deputy Marshal Ingrid." She also looked at Mannick and Imman, "The same goes with you both."

Her smile turned wry as she continued, "Unfortunately, even if all three of you steps in, it will not be enough."

"Your Highness, we only need to deal with the Echidna," Imman pointed. "We can still try to reseal the Manticore. As for the Chimera, with its seal in tact, we can leave it be."

Haylee shook her head.

"No, it is one thing if the first one to unleash its aura had been the Manticore, but of all legendary beasts in there, it had to be the Echidna...."

"W-What do you mean your highness—?"

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Ernst was interrupted by a loud banging sound on the door. It was followed by an almost out-of-breath declaration of one of their members outside.

"P-Patriarch! There is an unprecedented development on the island!"

Everyone in the room looked at the door as the person who had spoken outside entered without waiting for permission.

"A-An unknown... e-entity appeared on the island a-and i-it seems to be on a rampage!"

"What?"

A few minutes earlier, on the island.

A black silhouette shrouded in silver and dark purple aura hovered several meters above the island.

To be precise, the silhouette was not hovering but standing on top of the translucent barrier covering the island.

None from the Lumley Family nor the Montgomeray Family noticed the silhouette. Not even when it knelt on one knee, its right hand filled with silver and purple energy, and touched the translucent barrier.

CRACK!

A deafening crack resounded as thick cracks appeared on the island's barrier. A gale of fierce aura seeped from the cracks' gaps, sending multiple shockwaves in every direction.

"What in the—?"

The ships around the island shook violently from the shockwaves.

The defensive arrays on the ships activated, and a translucent light golden sphere enveloped them. However, because of the continuous shockwaves that rammed through it, cracks began to appear on its surface.

Before any of the people in the ships could make a move, another loud, shattering sound exploded, making all of them look toward the island again.

SMASH!

The barrier on the island crumbled into bits, and another round of violent shockwaves shook the surroundings. It was followed by a fierce wind that bore the baby Echidna's malevolent aura that the barrier had tried to contain.

KWWWIIIISHHH!

An ear-splitting hiss filled the air with an evil aura.

They all recognized the hiss as the baby Echidna's cry.

In just a few seconds, the sky above the island turned dark, with a few flashes of thick angry bolts of lightning appearing here and there.

The magic fluctuations in the island expanded, filling an additional fifty-meter radius of the island's surroundings.

Everyone still on the ships around the island looked at the scene before them with fear.

It was only then that they noticed the black silhouette that hovered above the island, seemingly affected by the immense magic fluctuation in the air and the baby Echidna's evil aura.

"W-What is that?"

It was unknown who had asked this question. Since they were on different ships, it was safe to say that at least one member of each faction had uttered the same question.

The black silhouette suddenly jumped, and as it did, it raised a fist— or at least, that was what it looked like to them.

As the silhouette plummeted on the island, its raised fist extended downward, and to everyone's horror, it grew in size and turned into a massive clawed hand of a beast!

Then.

BOOOM!

The whole island shook as the silhouette's massive claw hand collided with what appeared to be an enormous red barrier.