Legacy of the Dark Sage

When Kyran contacted Achim's side, it was Haji who answered. The latter did not beat around the bush and reported the situation on their side at once.

Apparently, Achim and his father, Ravan, along with the other prominent figures from Achim's paternal and maternal sides, who had a good relationship with them, were in a closed-door meeting. Haji was supposed to join them, given his rank among Achim's group, but Achim insisted their allies might contact them and having Haji there to talk to them would be better.

Ravan initially stated he was not against Achim receiving a call from his allies while they were in a meeting. He even entertained the idea because if that happened, he and the rest of his in-laws would meet those group Achim claimed to be leading their campaign. Ravan was clearly interested in the group's identities that could change Achim's attitude.

In the end, Achim did not budge and reasoned that the time was not ripe for them to meet. Besides, there were a few things he wanted to discuss with Ravan and the rest of his uncles and aunts before they finally met their trueleader.

Hearing Achim's reason piqued Ravan's interest in the true instigator of Achim and Kesiah's rebellion. Not because of the veil of mystery that the group portrayed but from the sound of his son's undisguised respect for the group's true leader when he mentioned them.

Haji reported all of those things to Kyran, who, in turn, let out an exasperated sigh. There was a distinct difference between how his Servants showed their respect compared to his Sigils. Since the latter's way of thinking had not been completely affected by the Sigil's mark— apart from Tritus, that is— they would still show some decorum when they spoke of him. However, the former, because they experienced a sort of rebirth, would show apparent respect no matter what they did.

Proof of this was when Achim and Kesiah pretended to be on equal grounds with Kyran in front of others; their faces would distort slightly as if they were agonized by the mere act and thought of leveling themselves to the same level as their Master.

As much as possible, Kyran did not want Ravan to know that the changes he did to his daughter and son were not figuratively speaking but in all sense of the word.

If Ravan discovered what Kyran did to Achim and Kesiah, with his righteous character, would he have willingly listened to his son's words?

The answer was uncertain. But the probability that he would not listen was higher than the opposite.

Kyran did not dwell on it, though. He believed Achim and Haji could accomplish their task even though there was a slight risk. And even if they were exposed, Kyran was confident they could keep Ravan and his group occupied for a while until he came to their rescue.

Since Haji did not know what Achim and his family were discussing, Kyran ended the call at once. He might not have received any further details, but the fact that Achim and Ravan were already in a meeting was a good start.

After confirming the situation on Achim's side, Kyran hesitated between checking on Noir's side or Malek's.

One good reason he hesitated was the fact that, unlike the character of Achim's target could be considered amiable, not to mention their personal relationship as father and son, Noir's and Malek's targets were far more tricky to handle.

Noir's target was the King's Knights, while Malek's were the rest of the Royal Family members.

Both had no relation to their targets, and their expected number was far greater. This was especially true with Noir's side because they were dealing with the King's Knight Army.

It should be noted that even when Mo took a thousand knights to the border and about two companies were staying in the castle, their numbers were still in the thousands.

Giving a rough estimate of their number, they would still be six thousand.

Though currently, most of those six thousand knights were still imprisoned from Kyran's array formation, Kyran expected some loose group of knights to be outside the formation's range and would engage Noir's group in a fight.

The explosions coming from the military district were proof that his assumption was correct, even without him asking his Servants, Anan and Tamir, to confirm it.

Then, there was the delicate situation from Malek's end. Frankly, his group's mission was filled with uncertainties yet necessary. After all, they had to account for what the Royal Family members might do once their operation commenced.

Kyran did not want the rest of the Royal Family members to provide assistance to Aran or take advantage of the commotion. When a three-way battle occurred, it would be hard to deal with attacks on both sides, given their disadvantage in number.

At the moment, Kyran's forces were divided into several locations, dealing with situations that could not be resolved in an instant:

Azikh, Gidan, Gael, and Kesiah at the Armakea Border had to keep Mo and a thousand knights busy and prevent them from returning to Larkring. Noir's group had to keep watch while taking care of the loose group of knights at the Military District. Achim's group had to convince Ravan's side not to participate in the battle— unless, of course, they joined their side. Malek's side, which was trying to figure out what the Royal Family members were up to with that 'secret' place and keep them from assisting Aran or taking advantage of the current situation. Finally, Kyran had to deal with Aran.

If any of those situations could be resolved quickly, that group could assist the others from a different location. As to how they could go there as soon as possible, others might find that the most pressing matter, but with the Void Master on their side, it was as simple as him summoning a massive purple disc to transport all of them from one location to another.

In the end, Kyran decided to contact his Servants and know the current situation in Noir's side.

Anan and Tamir answered at once, which pretty much gave Kyran a rough idea of their current situation. Since both answered him almost as soon as he called, it meant their situation was better compared to the Armakea border.

After that, Anan and Tamir took turns in explaining their situation.

Apparently, Sigma had taken care of most of the loose knights that engaged them in battle. But the other fort leaders and the other knights and officers with them joined when thirty or so enemies decided to gang up on Sigma.

Initially, those knights and officers were hesitant to attack their ex-comrades because they trained in the same place before, and everyone knew almost each other, not to mention they shared the same fate of being the King's loyal dogs.

But then, seeing how they acted despicably by ganging up on Sigma just because the latter appeared very overbearing, they finally joined in the battle.

It did not take long for them to turn the tables completely on their side. Soon, more loose groups of knights arrived. These groups were stationed in different locations all over the city and had been busy taking the Armakeans, especially the civilians, to the shelters.

There were even some independent groups, consisting of righteous Armakeans, that came to assist the King's Knights, thinking that they were doing them a huge favor. In the end, it was the humans with Noir and Sigma who took care of these groups because the knights were very hesitant to hurt them no matter how disadvantageous their situation might become.

Kyran sighed. In a way, the Armakean Knights' moral code was pretty similar to the Regis Clan. Thus, he could not blame them for not wanting to hurt the Armakeans, which could be considered an unrelated group to the current situation. Nevertheless, he found that mindset detrimental in a war.

Kyran knew this, which was why he tried to adopt a more open attitude toward the matter when he was the one facing such a dilemma. Nevertheless, if his clan members were involved, he admitted to likely being at an impasse on how to deal with the situation.

After learning the current situation on Noir's side from Anan and Tamir, Kyran could not help but frown. He had initially thought that Aran had ordered two or three of his aides to resolve the matter at the Military District so the Knight Army would be freed. But it seemed he miscalculated Aran's train of thought.

Armak and Breira confirmed that Aran indeed dispatched the rest of his aides. If that were the case, where did he tell them to go?

Kyran had a bad feeling. He hoped Aran did not order them to go to where Malek was.

For the record, when Kyran and the others discovered that secret place the Royal Family members built, they also considered the possibility that Aran was already aware of it. Because of this, Kyran considered Aran asking two or three of his aides to go there and force the Royal Family members to aid him.