Legacy of the Dark Sage

The hooded person stood in one of the floating patches of broken land outside the Somuli plane. Behind it, three similarly dressed figures gathered and observed the plane below.

From where they stood, they could see the whole expanse of Somuli plane. Apart from the constant twirling and sometimes intersecting rivers scattered all over the plane, Somuli was mostly made up of forest and woodlands, with some mountainous areas near the northern-east area. Somewhere in the middle of the plane, the chasm that made up the Great Divide could be seen even from above. This was proof of how deep and vast it was.

In between the northern-west area was the Kingdom of Cretea. Even above the plane, the kingdom's brilliance and the pillars surrounding it could be seen. At the same time, the territory of the Armakea in the southern area looked overwhelming compared to the territories of Cretea and Eidum.

The Land of the Eidum was pretty much in between these two territories. It was also smaller by far from the two, and their border was right next to the Armakea. Lastly, the Magical Beasts Community was located in the mountainous area of Somuli, and its periphery was connected to the territories of smaller nations that had already fallen under Armakea's banner.

There were other smaller nations around the Kingdom of Cretea and the Land of the Eidum that could be considered free. And there was only one obstruction that stopped the Armakea from conquering these. The only way to go over that side was through the Great Divide, and the other side of the chasm that formed it was under the Eidum's territory.

When the Kingdom of Cretea was still assisting the Land of the Eidum in protecting the border, the Armakea could not brazenly launch an attack. Armakea had powerful Knights, but Cretea was also the land of powerful mages. Apart from this, they were on good terms with the Eidums, who were unparalleled in healing and support.

It was not until the leader of the Kingdom of Cretea, the Sovereign of Bulwark, had a falling out with the Land of the Eidum's Abbot that the Armakea finally had a chance to launch an attack.

Unfortunately, the King of Armakea could not personally take up the role of commander in attacking the Eidum's border because of his illness. Besides, he was also aware that most of his heir candidates wanted to find a powerful Eidum to heal him. Although his predicament would have been resolved by simply meeting with the Abbot and asking for the Saint's service, the King did not want to owe them any favor. He also wanted to conquer their nation, and he believed letting those heir candidates at their own devices on dealing with the Eidums was far more interesting.

In any case, many more things were happening in the background, and the Armakea King's aides would frequently report the candidate's progress. Strangely enough, the border's fall and Achim and Kesiah's movement had yet to reach the King.

"... and that is everything we've gathered thus far during the past two weeks."

One of the hooded figures behind the hooded person reported.

"Good work you three," the hooded person replied. "I would have gathered the information about this plane myself if not for that Demon failure always getting in my way."

If others were listening to them, they would notice that the hooded person and one of the hooded figure's voices actually sounded the same. One could easily mistake them for one another if they were also not together. Their existence was a marvel, at the same time, a little creepy.

The past couple of weeks after their initial encounter. Ruin had kept a close eye on the hooded person's movement. Because of this, the hooded person could not enter the plane as freely as it wanted to.

"We can eliminate him," another hooded figure told him.

"Master does not want us to get involved with anyone else from the Lower Realm apart from that person," the hooded person told them with a slight shake of its head. "Have you confirmed his whereabouts?"

All three figures shook their heads, "No."

"What about his relationship with the Eidums?"

"The Abbot hired him to protect the Eidums after the Nobles pulled out their forces in the Great Divide."

"Putting this information to consideration, we focused our search around the Great Divide, but there are no signs of him anywhere."

"We expanded the range of our search, and also visited the location where the two of you first made contact. But we failed to find his traces."

"So he is also proficient in Array..." the hooded person muttered with a hint of surprise. "Somuli's Array is archaic. There is no way for it to possess a teleporation token that will not leave a trace. Meaning, he made that token himself..."

"The restrictions in this place prevents us from using our items properly, not to mention our magic. Unless we create a Dimension, the things we can do to search him is limited."

"Using Dimension in the presence of others is forbidden," the hooded person reminded them. "We are only allowed to use it on that person."

"We understand that... but..."

"Master does not want to deal with the Fates if an inhabitant of Somuli gets caught up in our mission," the hooded person said, cutting off their attempt to reason. "But keep in mind, we can use Dimension, albeit not in front of others."

"We will do our best."

"Continue the search. Somuli is not that big, and the only place he could have gone to is around the Land of the Eidum," the hooded person told them. "There is no way he could hide from you three that long."

"Yes—."

Crackle! BOOM!

Even before the red lightning struck, the hooded person and the others had summoned a four-layered crystalline-like magic barrier that covered the floating patch of land.

The red lightning that came out of nowhere struck the first layer and destroyed it, causing an explosion. However, the red lightning did not disappear and descended to the next layer.

Crack! Crack!

Web-like cracks formed at the spot where the lightning struck. Though its momentum was reduced, the might of the red lightning did not disappear and continued to strain the second layer of a magic barrier.

A diameter of one-meter golden magic arrays appeared behind the three hooded figures as they reinforced the crystalline-like magic barrier and prevented the red lightning from destroying the second layer.

"I've been looking for you all this time, so this is where you've been hiding."

CRACKLE! BOOM! BOOM! CRACK!

Another red lightning descended and connected with the first one. However, this red lightning was thicker and carried a much more devastating energy, which easily pierced through the second and third layers of the magic barrier.

An outer circle formed around the golden magic arrays behind the hooded figures, adding an additional foot to their diameter. Runes appeared around the outer circle and circulated at an astonishing speed, which caused magic fluctuations around them. In that instant, the strength of the last layer of the magic barrier tripled and stopped the red lightning's descent.

Nevertheless, cracks still appeared on the barrier's surface.

The hooded person let the other three maintain the magic barrier while it looked at the lanky figure in a red coat hovering fifty meters above.

"It's you again, failure of the Demon clan."

"I did tell you, 'anyone dared touch my prey will be destroyed,' yet you keep going back there for him," Ruin said with a slight smile.

"Is he really your prey? Because from how I see it, he is someone very important you want to protect."

"I am the only one allowed to touch him," Ruin replied with a sinister glint in his eyes. "If you think I am protecting him, then maybe I am. Only because I don't want others touching my prey."

"You are only a Sovereign from the Lower Realm," the hooded person replied in an unnervingly calm voice. "You cannot defeat us."

"Ah~, really?"

"You should not have left Somuli because now that we are outside, I am no longer bound by anything."

It raised its hand, and a silver and gold scepter materialized in its hand.

"Dimension."

A translucent veil came out from the hooded person and spread outward.

However.

FOOOM!

A red light descended from above and filtered the whole patch of land.

"How—?"

The hooded person and the other three were shocked after realizing the Dimension failed to expand. Instead, the red light started to dye their surroundings blood red, along with signs of corruption.

Ruin's smile widened as the look in his eyes turned eerily frightening.

"You said it yourself: I am a failure from the Demon clan— a clan that belongs to the Higher Realm. What was it again? About not being bound by anything now that we are outside?"

Ruin raised his hand, and a red-tinted veil came out of him.

"Dimension."

"Impossible! The Demon plane had long fallen from the Higher Realm before it was destroyed. You should not be able to use the Dimension!"

"A mere automaton dares to lecture. You beings are truly annoying."