Legacy of the Dark Sage

Chapter 1019: First Encounter (3)

Aki and Auto-one approached the enemy on both sides.

The enemy, hiding in a narrow gap between two towering bookshelves, sprang into action as soon as he realized his cover was blown. He swiftly cast speed and stealth spells as he darted from one position to another, his movement a blur and soundless.

These two spells, combined with his concealment ability, granted him the ultimate movement that could either outmaneuver his foes or escape them in the face of danger.

For now, the enemy believed he had the upper hand, so he decided to move to another position. Unfortunately, he failed to recognize that the two targets coming after him were not human mages but automatons.

The pupils of Aki and Auto-one's eyes, which possessed a unique composition found only in automatons, whirled and emitted a distinct sound as they calculated every possible move the enemy could make. Even when the enemy vanished from their sight, they continued to analyze his movement, eventually narrowing the potential moves he would make to the two most likely outcomes.

Now, the question would be how the two would take action without giving the enemy a slip that he could take advantage of.

If Aki was working with either Neo or Len, they could easily share information because Kyran programmed them to be capable of such a feat. They could also telepathically communicate with each other because they had the same frequency and could easily access each other's internal channels.

But the one with Aki was not Neo or Len but Auto-one—an automaton created by the Ancients. Auto-one's programming was different from Aki's, and even if the former possessed an internal channel, its frequency was different; thus, the latter could not communicate with the former telepathically or even share information.

If Kyran turned Auto-one into one of his automatons by manually changing his programming rather than absorbing him into the Void and cheating his way out of turning him, then Aki could communicate with Auto-one. This was because Kyran would definitely change Auto-one's internal channel frequency to match Aki and the rest of his automatons, allowing all of them to communicate with relative ease.

However, since Kyran cheated, Aki and Auto-one's internal channel frequencies were different.

Whiiirrr! Click! Click! Zzzzziii!

Aki was taken aback when he sensed a small portion of his brain—to be more accurate, the part where the internal channel was located—making clicking sounds. After that, several codes and images flashed in his mind as he realized Auto-one had managed to connect to his internal channel.

But Aki's surprise only lasted for a second because Auto-one also conveyed the reason he successfully connected to his internal channel and the results of his own analysis of the enemy's action.

Basically, Auto-one managed to connect to Aki because, technically, Aki's body was an automa created by the Ancients. Thus, it was possible for Aki to enter the channel where all automatons in the tower were connected. The only reason Aki could not enter was that the physical lock in his internal channel was locked.

Using Auto-one's Lightning magic, he successfully unlocked it without having to pry Aki's head open. After unlocking the channel, Auto-one immediately shared his analysis and intentions with Aki. This way, the two could coordinate without any problem.

What transpired between Aki and Auto-one seemed long, but in reality, it happened in the blink of an eye. Thus, there was no apparent delay in their movement as they adjusted accordingly to deal with the enemy.

Taking advantage of his concealment ability, the enemy moved toward the library's darker part. His plan was to blend into the darkness, find new spots where he could summon magic arrays, and then resume his attacks.

Crackle! Boom!

Bolts of lightning flashed down from the library's ceiling toward the route the enemy was about to take.

Shocked, the enemy abruptly stopped and immediately adjusted to the sudden turn of events. Whether the lightning attacks were intentional or not, he would not let his targets know he got flustered just then. He adjusted his center of gravity, immediately turned to his left, and sprinted.

"!"

The enemy mage's eyes widened as one of his targets suddenly appeared before him, his fists raised above his head. He remembered the target before him was one of the Dragon Clan participants and nearly wet his pants in fear of getting crushed by that fist. Instinctively, he raised his arms while casting defensive spells.

Yet.

BAM! SHATTER!

Aki's fist hit the enemy's forearms, shattering the latter's defensive spell. The shattering of the defensive spell did not slow down the momentum of Aki's fist as it continued downward.

CRACK! SHATTER!

"AAARGH!"

The enemy mage let out a pitiful scream as the bones in his forearm shattered from Aki's punch.

Still, the enemy mage's will to live was nothing to scoff at, as he immediately cast a binding spell to keep his forearms from falling apart. He then gritted his teeth not only to endure the pain that nearly knocked him unconscious after his arms were broken but also to crush the healing pill he hid above his gums.

Aki was not done, however. After he sent out a punch, he did a roundhouse kick and aimed at the enemy mage's head.

BAM!

"GAH!"

Because the enemy mage did not anticipate the kick above his head, it landed pretty well, shaking his brains into oblivion. Not only that, but because his head was kicked down, his jaw dropped, and he accidentally spat the healing pill he had yet to consume fully.

'Don't kill him,' Kyran immediately told Aki when he saw the latter turn his body and was about to deliver a hook kick that aimed at the enemy mage's neck.

While hook kick would not normally kill someone, depending on the weight of the kick and the condition of the person being kicked, it actually could. Judging by the enemy mage's sudden release of his concealment ability, it was obvious that he was already unconscious. If Aki landed another kick to the enemy mage's neck, he would likely break it and kill him for good.

Aki stopped midway through, kicking the enemy mage. The latter fell to his knees and then fell headfirst to the floor.

Auto-one arrived beside Aki, looking at the enemy mage with a slight frown.

"This mage... he is a peak High Sovereign, and he belongs to the Solis Clan."

"Solis Clan?" Aki looked at him in surprise. He only heard about the Solis Clan from the members of the Dragon Clan. He also knew that they had recently attacked the Dragon Clan's plane because of a misunderstanding.

At the moment, the two clans agreed to a ceasefire, but the tension between them was clearly still there.

Auto-one lifted the unconscious enemy mage, and he and Aki returned to Kyran's side.

Kyran lowered his barrier to allow them to enter before raising it again. Only one mage attacked them, and chances of his fellow mages lurking in the shadows to ambush them again were still there. With this in mind, Kyran decided to keep the barrier active for the time being.

"Seems like there is another group that entered the seventh level other than us," Aki commented while looking at the unconscious enemy mage.

"Solis Clan, huh?" Kyran muttered, also looking thoughtfully at the mage. "I don't remember seeing him outside." He looked at Aki and asked, "What about you?"

Kyran normally has a good memory, but when he gets preoccupied with other things, there are things he fails to notice or even remembers. Thus, he may not have seen the enemy mage outside, but Aki might.

Aki shook his head, "It's the same for me, master. But since he possesses concealment ability, then..."

"There is a possibility that the Solis Clan's representatives all have concealment ability," Auto-one also shared his insight.

Kyran frowned at that, "I thought concealment ability was rare."

"It is," Auto-one agreed. "However, if it is the Soli Clan, it is not impossible for them to recruit as many mages with such ability."

"That I get," Kyran replied. "But what I don't get is why they would send three here at once. If they are rare, wouldn't they be more careful about where they send them? And how many?"

If it were Kyran, he would not waste such valuable resources if he could help it. He knew the Solis Clan could help it because they were such a big clan, and they had a number of qualified mages to send as representatives.

"Yes... but... if it is the Solis Clan... I don't believe they cared much about it."

"He seemed to be targeting you, master," Aki said, looking at Kyran. He said this because when they split up, the enemy mage still aimed at Kyran rather than try to attack him and Auto-one.

Kyran shook his head, "I don't think that's the case."

"Then could it be..." Auto-one looked at Leif, who was still lying unconscious on the floor. "Are they aiming for the Lacus Clan members?"