Chapter 939 Sovereign of Bulwark (3)
Chapter 939 Sovereign of Bulwark (3)
Kyran frowned in confusion after sensing the foreign energy circulating in Eikin's and Jita's magic cores. The latter two's innate magic underwent a mutation after being reborn from the Void. The nature of their innate magic was very different from the Void, but because of the mutation, it adapted well to some of the Void's nature.
It was because of this that Kyran was confused. With Eikin's and Jita's innate magic adapting some of the Void's nature, they should have nullified the foreign energy's influence. How could it survive and affect their innate magic energy circulation instead?
Shaking his head slightly, Kyran roused the Void's nature in Eikin's and Jita's innate magic, strengthening them and nullifying the foreign energy's influence.
Surprisingly, as he roused the Void's nature, the foreign energy actually reacted.
'This... don't tell me...'
Kyran's expression darkened as he soon realized that the foreign energy also possessed Void's nature, albeit it came from a different source— Obstruction's innate magic.
'Does this mean that guy's innate magic is also...'
Kyran shook his head, rejecting the notion that Obstruction's innate magic was also the Void.
It was clearly different from the Void, and while it did react, there was also a repulsive sense as if the foreign energy was tainted and unauthentic.
An idea crossed Kyran's mind as he studied the foreign energy again. While observing it, a memory of his first meeting with Dusk flashed through his mind's eye.
Back then, Dusk managed to conceal his aura well so that even Kyran failed to notice his presence until he was already within attack range. The former then made an offhanded remark about the latter possessing something that could conceal his presence.
At first, Kyran thought Dusk had discovered he possessed the Shaiha. But then he realized he was talking about a magic item that could replicate Shaiha's concealment ability.
The foreign energy within Eikin's and Jita's magic cores shared the same concept— it felt like a poor attempt at replicating the Void magic energy.
'Did Obstruction birth this energy after his Space innate magic evolved?' Kyran wondered but again shook his head at the absurdity of the notion. 'No. If this energy was born because of his innate magic's evolution, its core should have traces of Space magic. But there is not even a trace of Space magic in it.'
After Caelan imparted all his knowledge of the Void to Kyran, the latter now knew that the concept of Space magic was different from the Void's space.
The Void encompasses everything and also nothing. It is not bound by anything.
On the other hand, Space has specific positions and directions that can be manipulated if one possesses the right frequency of magic energy that resonates with it— for short, if that person's innate magic is Space.
Kyran had already confirmed that Obstruction's innate magic was Space magic. From this, no matter how much inspiration the latter had regarding Void magic, his Space magic would never evolve into one because its nature bound it, while Void was not.
Then what of the foreign energy that was a failed attempt at replicating the Void? How did it enter Eikin's and Jita's bodies? And where did it come from?
The answer to the second question was obvious. It entered their bodies after being imprisoned inside the Abyss of Despair, which was filled with Obstruction's magic energy. This confirmed that the foreign energy did come from Obstruction.
But where did Obstruction get it when his innate magic could never evolve and acquire the Void's nature?
Kyran had a bad feeling about this, especially if he added the Fates's arrival to prevent Flos's and Obstruction's deaths into the equation. If his guess was correct, then someone or something could be behind them or even their faction that did not belong to the Lower Realm. After all, no one in the Lower Realm could move the Fates. At least, based on Kyran's understanding, the Fates were beings that could not be moved by just anyone— probably not even in the Higher Realm.
If this was the case, then who was behind Flos and Obstruction? Who was it that made the Fates come and try to stop their deaths?
Now that Kyran could finally ponder through his thoughts, he recalled something unusual about the Fates. He initially believed their existence was akin to lesser gods with omnipotent magic, which was why they were feared by many. But recalling their appearance yesterday, while their presence was indeed very overwhelming as if they could easily cut off the life thread of anyone they wanted, there was something surreal about their existence.
Kyran could not explain it well, but if he gave an analogy to their existence, they were like puppets whose bodies and lives were artificially created.
Kyran shook his head. Thus far, everything that had happened did not make any sense and only gave him a horrible headache. He also felt that the more he delved into the mysteries of the Lower Realm, especially about the Ancients and the Shaiha, he was thrown into a myriad of intersecting conspiracies, making it harder for him to sift out the truth.
In the end, Kyran could only sort his thoughts, dividing them into things he understood, yet to understand, and did not make sense at all. After that, he pushed the things that did not make sense to him to the very back of his mind while considering searching for clues to those things he had yet to understand.
As a matter of fact, he believed he could find those clues in the tablets Axil and her people had collected.
While Kyran was pondering all these things, he was also healing Eikin and Jita. By the time he was done thinking, he had also removed the foreign energy from their bodies.
Because he was curious about the origin of the foreign energy, Kyran did not destroy it. Rather, he collected it with the intention of studying it further. Luckily, he had also preserved Obstruction's body. Using the latter, he was pretty optimistic about producing some results in his endeavor.
After sorting through everything, Kyran rested for a while.
Akim and his family had been busy calming the citizens after the aftermath. They had also dealt with the Royal Family members who were planning to take advantage of the situation to usurp Aran.
With Ravan in the lead of subjugating them, the Elders who survived were captured and imprisoned while the others surrendered. Because they surrendered willingly, Ravan did not imprison them; instead, they were subjected to house arrest.
After the situation in Larkring calmed down, Akim finally led his father to meet with Kyran.
The sun had already risen by the time Akim arrived at the temporary base with his father.
Filren, along with Armak and Breira, were the ones to greet them and lead them to the room where Kyran was waiting. Upon entering, Ravan's expression darkened because the room was where Aran was confined. Nôv(el)B\\jnn
While Ravan was always at odds with Aran, that did not mean he did not care about him. At the end of the day, they were still brothers— bound by the blood running through their veins. Ravan did not want to see Aran in such a state.
Sitting on a chair beside Aran's bed was none other than Kyran.
Ravan had already heard a lot about the latter from his son, Akim, and recognized him by his dark hair and eyes.
With narrowed eyes, Ravan looked at Kyran and said, "Did you do this to him?"
Kyran raised his brows and tilted his head in response.
His action immediately irked an elder from the side of Akim's mother, who pointed an accusing finger at him and growled, "You— such insolence! You are in the presence of the Grand Duke—!"
Ravan raised his hand, interrupting the elder's outburst. He did so because he sensed something dangerous about Kyran and felt that if the elder did not stop, his head would roll on the floor.
Kyran, seeing Ravan's action, smiled. Even without exchanging words, the older man seemed to have gleaned something and thus acted accordingly.
"We can talk about your brother here, or we can talk about Armakea's future. What do you think?"
"Let's talk about Armakea's future."
*
Kyran waited until Cyneah woke up before returning to the borders.
Nahir was displeased at Kyran's blatant moves on Cyneah. But he was already helpless to do anything. Previously, he used the excuse of protecting Cyneah's dignity since everyone knew she was engaged to him, and it was not good for her to go around with another man. However, the only ones who knew Cyneah as the Saint were the Eidums, and they already knew her relationship with Kyran was not simple. If she went with him, they would not think much of it.
Ultimately, Nahir could only sigh in exasperation.
On the other hand, Noir and the rest of the humans were also sighing, not because they felt for Nahir, but rather, they felt for their Lord— the Lord of the Tower, Stella! Thankfully, she was not there, and they resolved not to breathe a word of Kyran and Cyneah's deepening bond.
If Kyran and Cyneah had known their thoughts, they would only think they were exaggerating. After all, the two were already close back when they were living in the cottage. Unfortunately, the only ones who knew their closeness were Anette, Nolan, and Zephyr.
Kyran also took Malek with them because his condition still needed to be monitored.
It was quite unfortunate that Nahir and the other Eidums did not have the capability to stabilize his condition by themselves. If they had, Kyran would not hesitate to leave Malek to their care.
Leaving the matter in Armakea to Akim and Filren, Kyran and Cyneah left.