Legacy of the Dark Sage

"Ack...!" Kyran covered his ears as soundwaves pierced through his eardrums and spread inside his body.

Shaiha's warning came a bit late, nearly causing Kyran to faint on the spot. Fortunately, the Elixir had strengthened his body and internal organs. Thus, the soundwaves only caused minimal damage that would normally turn an average person's insides into mush.

Still, that slight stop in his movement was enough for whoever threw the golden blades to unleash a powerful sound magic attack to close in on him.

A woman with long blonde hair tied up, wearing light silver armor, came at Kyran from up ahead and grabbed the vibrating golden blades suspended in midair.

[Dodge!]

Shaiha warned Kyran as the woman made slashing motions using the blades and aimed at Kyran as soon as she grabbed them. Her movement was so fluid that it felt like she had been holding the blades all this time.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Beautiful golden light flew out from the golden blades toward Kyran.

On the other hand, Kyran heard Shaiha's warning. However, the sound attack caused internal damage to his body and a stun effect, which froze him in place.

Slash! Slash!

The golden light tore through Kyran's clothes in the blink of an eye.

"Hm?" The woman frowned as she saw her target's clothes getting torn, but his flesh remained unscathed. Her golden eyes narrowed, and her magic aura erupted. The air around her crackled as golden magic energy circled her.

Wanting to take advantage of the situation while her target was still under the effects of her magic's stun, she closed in and weaved her golden blades in a beautiful sword dance at him.

[Kyran!]

Kyran's eyes glowed silver as his instincts kicked in. His Draconic magic energy circulated at once as translucent silver scales covered his skin.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Sounds of metal hitting on metal reverberated in the air as the woman continued her sword dance while Kyran defended. He had yet to recover from being stunned. Fortunately, the woman's sword dance did not seem to carry much magic and weight. Thus, even if they connected, his body managed to endure them with ease.

"What the hell are you?" the woman suddenly shouted in frustration after realizing her attacks did nothing to her target.

Annoyed, she increased the magic energy imbued in her golden blades, making them emit a blinding light. She cast speed magic and continued to rain down slashes at her target.

Meanwhile, Kyran, who was focused on defending until the stun's effect wore off, had slowly regained his senses. His eyes flashed as he tightened his grip on his swords and successfully blocked one of the woman's golden blades.

Clang! Crackle!

"Ngh...!" the woman's eyes widened as her momentum was broken in that instance. She estimated that the stun effect should still be active for another minute or two and was surprised that her target managed to counter so fast.

Kyran was surprised at the woman's strength. He wanted to push her away after blocking one of her blades and stopping her momentum, but he only managed to do the latter.

[Be careful; she's going to use that attack again!]

Shaiha warned Kyran. The moment she said this, the woman's eyes flashed as the golden blade that he managed to block vibrated.

This reaction was similar to before it unleashed that annoying soundwave.

Kyran was prepared this time. Now that he had almost recovered from the stun effect, he raised his free hand and aimed his other black sword at the woman's head.

The woman saw his movement and also raised her other golden blade, wanting to parry his sword.

But.

BAM!

"Gah!" The woman's eyes bulged in surprise. What she had thought her target was about to swing his black sword at her was instead a solid knee kick delivered to her side.

The golden blade charging up on another soundwave attack was stopped as the woman was hurled to the side. She skidded on the ground for several meters before coming to a watery part of the marshland. Even after arriving at the water, she continued to skid on its surface.

[This is your chance!]

Kyran did not need to be told twice. As soon as he kicked the woman away, he made a mad dash forward to escape from there.

If he was in the Lower Realm, he did not mind going up against the woman even without knowing anything about her abilities or magic. But since he was in the Higher Realm, he would not do something as reckless as that.

Besides, the fact that the woman could cause a stunning effect that actually worked on him was too frightening.

Kyran knew he would get used to it. But the question was, would the woman allow him to?

Of course not.

"You're not getting away!"

The woman snarled as she finally regained her bearing and stood on the water's surface. Splashes of water were still floating around her after she forcefully stopped her momentum.

FWOOM!

The woman launched herself forward, causing the water's surface to explode around the spot where she had just been.

In the blink of an eye, she had already gone halfway to where her target was going.

Kyran gritted his teeth. He knew Oceanus was watching him at that moment and did not want to make any move that would make the latter connect him with the Dragon Clan, but given the situation, he could not be picky.

Frankly, the woman was weaker than The Emperor, but the pressure she emitted was quite similar to his.

Then again, The Emperor's strength was restrained in the Lower Realm. This was likely the reason the woman and The Emperor's pressure appeared to be on par.

Dragon Steps!

Kyran's pupils turned into slits as he used the Dragon Steps. The distance between him and the woman increased noticeably as soon as he did.

The woman's eyes widened at once. However, they soon narrowed and turned cold as her speed increased yet again.

'You dare challenge me with speed? Don't you know the nature of Sound magic?'

Crackle! FWOOOM!

The woman once again closed the gap between her and her target.

On the other hand, Kyran felt as if the God of Death's scythe was right under his neck as he sensed the woman closing in on him. He did not bother to look and, instead, took three consecutive Dragon Steps, trying to gain more distance.

As soon as he did, however, the woman threw her golden blades.

Kyran had a bad feeling when the woman threw her blades and made a last-minute move of stopping midway from completing the third Dragon Step. This was because he sensed that the moment he arrived at the spot where the third step would take him, those golden blades would be there waiting for his neck.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Crackle!

The air around Kyran thinned as a transparent hollow space seemed to envelop the spot where he would have arrived. After that, the woman appeared and grabbed the approaching golden blades one after another before hacking downward in his direction.

Because Kyran managed to stop midway, there was still a good distance away from the woman's attack

But.

'Ngh...!' Kyran gritted his teeth as racking pain assaulted his body the moment the aftershock from the woman's attack touched him.

Earlier, Kyran still managed to endure the woman's blade attack when she performed her sword dance. He even thought her attacks did not carry any weight. That changed with this woman's attack. It not only assaulted his body, but it also tore through his flesh. The dragon scales that appeared on his skin like a thin veil of armor did nothing to protect him.

[Kyran!]

Shaiha called out to him, her voice filled with concern and fear for his safety.

But Kyran did not have the leisure to respond to her because the woman was already in front of him the next moment.

"Don't think you can run," the woman snarled while cleaving her golden blade at him.

Kyran raised his sword to block her incoming attack. However, his eyes flashed as he noticed a minute change in her movement. He only moved by instinct, but he immediately raised his arm to guard his right torso.

As he did, a powerful kick connected to his forearm, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood upon impact.

That was right. The woman seemed to have held a grudge at Kyran's feint and wanted to pay him back for it.

BAM!

The force from the woman's kick threw Kyran several meters to the side.

"Humph," the woman watched her target skid to the ground like a stone thrown on the surface of the water. "You think you can kick me as you please? I am Alta, a High Sovereign from the Blade Dancer Clan. I always return the debt owed to me..."

Alta's voice trailed off as she realized something was wrong with her target's movement. He was no longer skidding; instead, he seemed to be... running away.

"!"