Legacy of the Dark Sage

It's too bad they still underestimated the threat Kyran posed.

With the looming attack from the three automatons, Kyran remained calm and only lifted a finger. After that, the space around his finger distorted from the unimaginable power gathering on it in the blink of an eye. Then, using his thumb, he flicked that finger, sending that power streaking toward the middle automaton.

BOOM!

In a split second, the automaton's head exploded. Whirring noises followed as its metal frames and internal circuits crackled from the now severed head. Nevertheless, although it lost its awareness and directional sense, it continued to move and swung its spear at the automaton to its left.

The automaton on the left immediately sensed the now flawed automaton's threat and raised its spear to deflect the unexpected attack. Then, using the momentum of its swing, he shifted the spear's motion to the opposite direction and struck the seemingly flawed automaton with the spear's other end.

Kyran's silver eyes flashed upon seeing the left automaton's action. Because judging where its spear would hit, it could pierce through the flawed automaton's right breastplate, damaging its exoskeleton framing and exposing its main circuitry and energy core. When that happened, it would be easier for the other automaton to eradicate the flawed automaton.

Kyran flicked its finger again. This time, he aimed at the still mid-borne spear.

Before the spear struck the flawed automaton, it exploded and sent the other automaton stumbling backward from the impact.

After that, Kyran took a step and appeared directly behind the other automaton. He then lightly touched the center of its back while the reddish-purple slits of his eyes spread, completely turning them to reddish-purple before they darkened slightly. An array formation appeared at the back of his hands, resembling Noir's creation but smaller in size. Then he utilized his magic sense to reconfigure the automaton's programming in a matter of a few seconds.

However, in those few seconds, the third automaton gunning for Kyran had already changed its direction and swung the spear on its hand horizontally.

Whoosh!

The third automaton's movement was a tad late because, by the time its spear arrived, Kyran's figure blurred, and it hit nothing but air. In the next second, Kyran appeared on the third automaton's side and chopped its spear into two after turning his hand into a hand knife.

By that time, Kyran's eyes also returned to its silver color with the reddish-purple retreating back into slits.

After the third automaton's spears were split into two, it agilely caught the falling half of it with its other hand. After which, it swung the broken spears on its hands in succession, aiming them at Kyran's neck.

Kyran did not move when the third automaton attacked. Instead, it was the second automaton he had just reconfigured that attacked.

Using what was left of its spear that Kyran had destroyed, it struck the third automaton's forehead.

Runic writings, forming a hexagonal shape, appeared on the third automaton's forehead and deflected the tip of the second automaton's broken spear. However, similarly shaped runic writings, albeit with the latter in totally different runes, appeared at the top of the broken spear.

KKKRRSSHH!

A wringing sound resounded as the two runic writings collided.

Meanwhile, Kyran did not watch the two compete with each other. Before those runic writings appeared, he sidestepped and appeared at the side of the flawed automaton, which was in the middle of cleaving its spears at the other two automatons. Using his right hand, he grabbed the spear's shaft before it hit the two automatons, and pulled the flawed automaton at him. The reddish-purple slits of his eyes spread once more, turning the rest of his eyes into the same color before taking a darker shade. Then he placed his right hand on the flawed automaton's chest before letting his magic sense spread over its body and reconfiguring its system.

All of that happened in less than a minute. And within that time frame, Kyran managed to acquire three automatons. Not only that, he also discovered that these automatons had yet to unleash their full potential.

That was right. Currently, King Aran could only activate the automaton's first lock. Moreover, the first automaton that moved was given full control over the rest of the automatons in that room because King Aran did not have the capability to control all of them at the same time.

Kyran did not know how many automatons King Aran could control. But he was positive that they would not be more than five.

The golden eyes of the automaton with the great sword flashed as another group of five automatons— two of which were equipped with a shield and a sword and three with spears— moved.

They did not target Armak and Breira because they were still occupied by other automatons. Instead, they went after Kyran once more.

But Kyran was no longer alone. With a wave of his hand, the damaged weapon and parts of the previous three automatons were replaced. Moreover, their external framing underwent a tremendous change as they changed from a high-quality grade metal into an obsidian material.

With a transformation visible to the naked eye, the armor of the three automatons turned black, with dark purple and silver linings appearing on the edges of their body and joints. Even their spears were black. However, the spearheads were dark purple, showcasing a material that could withstand Void magic's nature.

"Disable them only," Kyran told the three automatons.

"Yes, Master," they replied in unison.

Armak and Breira, who were still engaged in their own battles, heard the exchange between Kyran and the three automatons and were shocked. If they were not trained to stay focused in battle while observing their surroundings to ensure they were aware of any changes in the flow of an ongoing battle, their shock could have rendered them inactive for a second and could have been fatal for them. After all, they were fighting two to three automatons that King Aran considered his Trump Card. Besides, a one-second inactivity of one party could lead to a huge turnaround in a fight.

The three automatons intercepted the approaching enemy automatons while Kyran went after the automaton with the great sword. Since the latter had control over the rest of the automatons in the room, taking care of it would reduce the time they had to take care of all of them.

Alas, the automaton seemed to have predicted Kyran's plan and made a move that made him, Armak, and Breira scratch their heads helplessly.

The automaton's golden eyes glowed brightly as it activated the rest of the automatons still on standby.

In the blink of an eye, spears, swords, and shields were raised as all thirty-six remaining automatons came to life.

On another location in Larkring, Malek, Nahir, and the remaining people on their side, including Cyneah, sneaked into an underground shelter that the rest of the Royal Family members built without King Aran's knowledge.

Achim and Kesiah were not aware of this shelter. However, while they were checking the parchment and locating the position of every Royal Family member, they found a few entering an establishment but then disappearing after a few seconds. They then deduced that there was an underground place there that had a concealing array or something similar that prevented the parchment from looking further.

Kyran thought differently. In his opinion, the underground shelter's blueprint might not be included in the parchment because it was a new location. It could also be considered a hidden place, and Deception and her people might have failed to obtain its blueprint. Or maybe they did obtain it but chose not to include it on the parchment during its creation because they planned to use it as another bargaining chip to make King Aran agree to strike up a deal with their faction.

Those were Kyran's speculations only. But he knew it held some truths. After all, he knew Deception had planned on meeting King Aran after her position as the Somuli's Sovereign's aide was made public. Unfortunately, before that happened, she met with Kyran— posing as Achim— and lost the item she planned to use as a gift to King Aran.

In any case, she still had the blueprint of that underground shelter and could still use it to sow discord between King Aran and the rest of the Royal Family members.

Gael had his Shadow Minions investigate the underground shelter before the start of their operation. There, they found that the Royal Family members were planning to usurp King Aran's tyranny after his army was spent to deal with Achim and Kesiah's rebellion.

How they would do that, Gael failed to find out because his Shadow Minions could not enter some rooms in that shelter.

Still, they managed to find what appeared to be a safe spot and gave the coordinates to Kyran. After which, he created a path that led to that safe spot for Malek and the rest to use as passage.

The objectives of their visit were simple. They were to check what the Royal Family members were hiding in the shelter and then subdue them if possible. If not, foil whatever plans they were cooking to ensure they would not hinder their own operation.

But all of these were only if King Aran was unaware of that underground shelter.

What if he knew about it all along and was already monitoring his family's movements from the shadows? If this was the case, then now that his side was in trouble, he might have ordered some of his aides to go there and threatened his family to assist him.