Legacy of the Dark Sage

Chapter 976: The Cause of the Fall (9)

Kyran landed on a shattered plane and hid in one of the crevices of a massive crater he found. His brows creased slightly after confirming the non-existence of magic energy there.

It was to be expected since there was no longer any life there. Still, Kyran had hoped that with that plane's death, the rich magic energy from the outside could seep into it with no problem.

This was how a dead plane could gain a new life, thus giving birth to a new plane.

Unfortunately, the plane Kyran landed on had yet to achieve that feat. For short, the plane was as dead as it could be.

But it was not entirely a bad thing. Since that plane had no magic energy, The Emperor might have decided not to enter and wait for Kyran to leave instead.

After a few minutes, and there was still no sign of The Emperor tailing Kyran, his guess that the former would be unwilling to follow him inside a dead plane was more or less confirmed. Kyran did not lower his guard, though. He continued going deeper into the crevice and using his enhanced senses to survey the surroundings.

Dead or shattered planes had no lifeforms in them. For this reason, Kyran did not have to worry about unexpected ambushes from native beasts of that plane. However, there was still a danger of relics or magic items falling into a deep slumber because of the lack of magic energy in the surroundings hidden in the crevice that might pose a threat to him.

Why would these items be a threat? It was pretty simple.

A slumbering relic or magic item had a 90 percent chance of awakening once they sensed beings with powerful magic energies nearby. Since they had been deprived of magic energy for a long time, they would then go after that source and try to consume their magic energy.

At the moment, Kyran's magic cores were still filled with magic energy. The Shaiha could conceal his aura and presence. But that did not mean he would not cause fluctuations in the air if he used magic because he could. When he did, others could not detect the type of magic energy he emitted, but to slumbering relics and magic items, the type did not matter.

As long as they sensed a magic energy source, they could track and consume it.

After almost an hour of venturing into the crevice, Kyran finally retracted his magic sense and landed squarely on the ground. As he did, his knees shook slightly after realizing how great the gravity in that plane was.

Kyran used his enhanced senses to survey his surroundings again before looking at a vertical opening on one side of the wall. The opening was quite huge, reminding him of the small cave within the cave he had entered in the Valley of Morte, where he had met Cyneah.

At the sudden thought of Cyneah, Kyran could not help but sigh as he remembered his abrupt farewell before leaving Somuli to check what had happened.

Kyran did not regret leaving immediately to check on Nachum. If he had been any later, the old man would have likely been captured by The Emperor, which would then result in Somuli losing its defense.

Nonetheless, Kyran told Cyneah to wait for him because he would return soon. Yet, here he was, on a desolate plane, after being forced by The Emperor to flee.

Kyran looked at the small cave and found it spacious. He immediately took out a pre-made defensive array that worked on an internal magic energy source calculation. This meant the array would activate even if there were no magic energy in the surroundings.

Arrays were meant to work without relying on the surroundings' magic energy. Thus, it required a large amount of materials. These materials would then provide the magic energy needed for activation and maintenance.

But Kyran's Arrays were not like that. Since he primarily relied on his Void magic to create the materials, these arrays relied on his magic energy.

Kyran knew he had to conserve his magic energy, especially the one from his Void core, for when he could attempt a long-range warp to the Human plane. However, he needed to use some of it now.

This was because he was critically wounded.

Kyran retracted the top half of his black armor, including the helmet, as soon as the pre-made defensive array was activated. He immediately grimaced after losing one of the effects of his armor that helped him endure pain.

Shockingly, when he was wearing the black armor, Kyran seemed fine. But after the top half was removed, ghastly apertures were visible all over his upper torso that were about half or a centimeter away from his vital points.

The enhancement of Draconic magic to his body stopped him from bleeding out. Nevertheless, it could not entirely prevent him from taking damage.

The wounds on Kyran's body came from The Emperor's golden rays that he failed to dodge. As he speculated, The Emperor's magic was similar to Light's. However, the former's penetrative capabilities were far more potent than the latter's. Besides, when Light's Light magic penetrates through her target, she attacks by forcing them to explode.

On the other hand, The Emperor's magic would burn it from the inside upon entering his target's body and kill them without fail.

Luckily, Kyran's body had undergone an evolution. Since his body was now comparable to a young dragon's, he could endure the burning aftereffect of The Emperor's magic.

But then, enduring the aftereffect of The Emperor's magic was different from withstanding it. For this reason, Kyran could barely keep his insides from turning into mush. Fortunately, no one was around to see the state of his upper body. If not, they would have wondered how he was still alive after suffering those wounds.

Kyran sat cross-legged on the ground and took out three high-quality healing pills. He popped them in his mouth all at once and was about to force regulate them into his body when he sensed the burning aftereffect dissolving the pills in one go.

'This...'

Kyran's brow furrowed. If the pills he took were dissolved, the chance of potions meeting the same end was high. This meant he could not be healed using pills or potions.

Kyran was speechless at how potent the burning aftereffect of The Emperor's magic was.

'Does this mean I can only rely on my natural healing abilities?' he wondered. He could use Draconic magic to enhance his healing abilities. But because he had been using Dragon Steps, enhancing his physical and magic defenses, and enduring The Emperor's magic attacks with Draconic magic for several days, his remaining magic energy was already cut in half.

If he used it to enhance his healing abilities, would he still have enough once he healed? If not, he would be forced to leave the plane to replenish his magic energy outside.

Something he could not do because The Emperor was there, waiting for him to come out.

Or was he?

A sudden thought crossed Kyran's mind, remembering how The Emperor's attacks had decreased after some time. As a matter of fact, the only reason he managed to enter the shattered plane was because significant gaps in the latter's magic attacks appeared. These gaps allowed Kyran to gain enough distance.

Kyran initially believed that The Emperor's decrease in attacks could mean he wanted to preserve his magic energy. It would not be surprising if the latter's attacks consumed a great amount of magic energy each time he attacked. Those individual rays might even possess a colossal amount of magic energy.

But The Emperor was the peak existence in the Higher Realm. The amount of magic energy inside his magic core would be unfathomable. Besides that, those golden rays might not even require large amounts of magic energy to operate. Also, since The Emperor had been summoning those golden rays without even creating magic energy, his magic energy consumption was far lower than if he had used one.

Kyran realized that this was The Emperor's way of ensuring he did not kill him in one shot. After all, there was no telling if the latter could still retrieve the Draconic core and the Heart of the Cosmos if the former died.

Nevertheless, the fact that The Emperor's attacks were still fatal meant he did not care what state Kyran was in as long as he was alive.

For this reason, Kyran suddenly thought of something.

What if The Emperor deliberately left gaps in his attacks for Kyran to take advantage of and escape into a plane?

What if he deliberately decreased his attacks to preserve his magic energy?

No.

Not preserve, but reserve.

What if The Emperor wanted to reserve his magic energy so he could unleash a powerful attack?

An attack that could obliterate an already dead plane?

The Emperor already knew Kyran was not from the Dragon Clan. But he was aware of what the Draconic core could do. He was likely betting that Kyran could use Draconic magic to enhance his body and endure the plane's complete destruction.

However, even if he endured, he would still end up in a far more critical condition, and that was when The Emperor would step in and capture him with no problem.

Although these questions seemed like a lot, they only passed through Kyran's mind instantly.

However, even if he thought of it in an instant, he was still a tad bit late as he sensed a powerful magic attack about to befall the plane.