Legacy of the Dark Sage

The hunt inside the Tower of the Ancients proceeded without much disturbance in the lower levels. After three weeks, some groups managed to gain insights and find treasures. However, even after gaining a lot of insights and discovering useful treasures, only a few managed to find their way to climb up a floor in a level.

As for how many managed to gain enough points to move up a level, they could be counted with one's two hands.

To put their achievements into perspective, only eight groups managed to move up a level, with five of them successfully moving up to at least two levels. Finally, a mere three groups achieved a feat that was truly rare, by moving more than three levels. These were not just numbers, but testament to their exceptional skills and determination.

Such a feat was not really a first since there was a time when the Dragon Clan and Solis Clan representatives successfully reached higher levels.

Meanwhile, those few that were transported to a higher level at the beginning of the hunt failed to show any progress. A few groups managed to climb a few floors at the same level but had yet to receive enough points to move up.

The rest of the people with Kyran could not be considered to have moved up a level since they were transported to different rooms.

Just as Kairos said, most of the people in Kyran's group were sent to a room with no windows or doors. One would feel suffocated to see such a place, but because there were a few pieces of furniture— such as tables, chairs, and sofa— and a counter full of snacks and drinks, it was not that bad.

The atmosphere in the room was tense, especially with representatives from three clans that were at odds with each other. The air was thick with unspoken tension, each representative eyeing the others warily, their differences and conflicts simmering beneath the surface.

Ladon calmly observed the Solis representative, and the two Blade Dancer representatives that Kyran took as hostages. The Solis representative was still unconscious, and the two Blade Dancers, Shiloh and Uilleam, seemed to know him, so they decided to look after him.

On the other hand, Leif had already regained consciousness and was shocked at the scene that greeted her. At the moment, her appearance remained that of Lady Anahia, but she had an inkling that all the people there were already aware of her true identity.

'W-What did I miss?' Leif wondered as her eyes scanned the group of people in the room.

To her left, Ladon sat calmly with Thorn, who fiercely glared at the other group sitting opposite them. Near the counter, a few more people whose form Leif found pretty peculiar because of their translucency were present.

'Why are they here? Why am I with them? Who are they? And where is Null?'

These were only a few questions that swirled Leif's poor mind.

"Stop glaring at the Thorn," Ladon told Thorn, finding the latter's attitude toward Shiloh and the others a little childish.

"Can you blame me?" Thorn hissed. Those guys dared attack us, thinking we were pushovers."

"Regardless of what they did, they are now Null's hostages. Besides, it is not like glaring at them would do any harm. You'd only exhaust yourself. At least I feel exhausted just looking at you."

Thorn raised his brow and looked at Ladon, "Then don't look at me."

"I'm not. But you are within my peripheral view, so I can't help but see you. And don't ask me to diver my eyes to another spot because this room is not particularly big that I can see everything just by turning my neck a little."

Leif did not mean to eavesdrop, but just as Ladon had said, the room was not big, so any sound made could be heard by all.

This meant, Ladon and Thorn's conversation was also heard by Shiloh and his side.

Leif cautiously looked over to Shiloh's side and was surprised to see them act unperturbed by Ladon and Thorn's conversation.

'These people... did Ladon say they are Null's hostages? How...?' Leif had already speculated that Kyran had been hiding his real capabilities. He did manage to escape Alta's pursuit back in the unnamed plane and even steal the portal to the Tower of the Ancients under the Blade Dancer Clan's noses.

But even then, Leif did not expect Kyran to be strong enough to beat three High Sovereigns and make them his hostages.

Diara and the other Ancients silently observed from their corner near the counter. None of them touched the food served there simply because they did not need it—not that Ladon and the others were the same. But they were not the hosts of the tower, even if they were Ancients, and would not bother serving the others.

In any case, Diara and the other Ancients were curious as to how these groups of people would interact now that the person who connected all of them was not present. Apart from that, they were already aware of the tension between the Dragon Emperor and The Emperor's faction, so a little dispute between them was bound to happen.

Alas, both sides remained civil, which Diara and the other Ancients found disappointing. They were expecting the two sides to start attacking each other the moment Kyran was out of sight.

While these thoughts crossed Diara's mind, she caught sight of Leif and was slightly confused. She remembered Auto-one retrieving her and the Solis representative while they were still unconscious. She did not expect her to have woken up immediately after being sent to that room.

"You," Diara arrogantly pointed at Leif.

The moment Diara spoke, all eyes turned to her before shifting to the person she was pointing at.

Others would have been intimidated if several eyes suddenly looked at them, but Leif remained calm. Inwardly, she was sweating buckets, but she had been alive far longer than most of them and was better at concealing her emotions.

"You are with the Realm Scion, correct?"

Leif tried not to retain an indifferent expression, but the moment she heard the word Realm Scion, a memory flashed through her mind. Unfortunately, she could not really recall what happened in the memory, so she ended up feeling a little nauseated.

"I... don't know what you mean."

"I see... It seems you are merely a piece the Realm Scion needed to come to this place."

Leif frowned. She did not like the sound of that. She asked, "Who are you?"

Diara shrugged. "That's none of your concern. Rather, who are you? You have quite a powerful disguise, but you cannot fool our eyes."

"That's none of your concern," Leif snapped back, deciding to ignore them while also observing Ladon and Thorn's reaction.

Just as Leif expected, none of them, even Shiloh and his side, reacted to what the translucent woman had said. Meaning that her initial guess that they already knew she was not the real Lady Anahia was correct.

"Suit yourself," Diara replied with an unlady-like snort. She then looked at Ladon and Thorn and said, "How about you two? You seemed to have succeeded in acquiring the treasure just as the Realm Scion has wanted."

Thorn scowed at her, "Don't make it sound as if it is his will that allowed us to get the treasure."

"If not for him, you two would not have gone to take the treasure," Diara reminded. "You wanted to face the two Solis representatives."

Before Thorn could snap back a retort, Ladon stopped him and addressed Diara, "Is there a point to this talk?"

"None, actually," Diara admitted with a shrug. "I'm just bored. Aren't you all?"

"Maybe," Ladon replied. "But at the moment, we can only wait for Null's return."

Diara did not respond this time.

To be honest, she wanted to talk to them and see what they thought of the situation. In a sense, she was worried that these people would leak the news of a new Realm Scion to their clan.

They had not been discreet about calling Kyran as such because they thought he would kill the others and leave only those he trusted. In the end, he did not and they were beginning to worry.

Meanwhile, Cyneah, Aki, and Auto-one were sent to a room with an open balcony overlooking a beautiful garden. A big contrast to where Ladon and the others were sent.

The garden was filled with different kinds of flowers in every season, systematically placed around to complement their colors. Anyone would have enjoyed the view, especially with a clear sky gracing it from the background.

Unfortunately, in Cyneah's eyes, the garden looked like a black-and-white sketch that failed to catch its beauty.

Aki and Auto-one looked at their young mistress solemnly. Although Cyneah's eyes remained as beautiful as ever with them, reflecting all colors in the surroundings, they wondered what she truly felt at that moment.

A tea set with a few sweet delicacies on a beautifully arranged platter was served on the round silver and gold table on the balcony.

Aki and Auto-one's programming was focused on assistance and battle, but it did not stop them from properly serving their young mistress.

The two escorted Cyneah to one of the chairs and served her tea and some sweets while they waited for their master.

For the record, upon their arrival in that room, a voice greeted them and advised them that Kyran would come after meeting with someone. The voice did not tell them who Kyran had to meet, but it was not really hard to guess who it was after all the things they had learned that day.

At first, Aki could not fully trust what the voice had said, but Auto-one remained calm. He decided to keep an open mind while keeping up his guard.