Legacy of the Dark Sage

But it was not as if Kyran had not made any progress on finding a way to restore Cyneah's sight. While he was working with Rae and the others on the new Array formation to utilize Coelus's corpse's magic energy, Rae told him about the conversation he, Aillos, and Cyneah had.

From their conversation, Kyran received a flash of inspiration on how to restore Cyneah's sight. After setting down the foundation he needed to build his own force, he planned to test it out. He would have to gather a lot of information and materials to get things ready. Most importantly, he needed the most knowledgeable Alchemist in the Higher Realm to do the test.

Finding the latter was not that hard since there was only one Alchemist with deep knowledge of Alchemy in the Higher Realm. The only issue was how to meet her and make her agree to help him.

In any case, Kyran needed the Alchemist to proceed with his plan as well, so if he accomplished both, he would be killing two birds with one stone.

Kyran contemplated telling Cyneah about his idea but decided against it at the last second. He might have had a flash of inspiration on how to restore her sight, but its predicted success rate was still only below 30%. Until he was about 80% or above sure of its success, he decided not to say anything so he would not give her false hope.

"I swear, where do you even have the time to hone your glib-tongue," Cyneah ended up saying to hide her embarrassment.

Kyran only chuckled in response and led her out of the room, with Soreen and Harrien following from behind in silence. Though they were not in a hurry when they left the room, they still managed to catch up with Aron, Cade, and Jared.

Aron, Cade, and Jared met with Aillos in his room to receive instructions on how to get to the hall's side door, where they would enter. For security purposes, Aillos was the only one who knew how to get to that door.

Apart from that, even if others heard of the instruction that day and tried to find the door again, they would get lost because the route could only be used by the people he personally gave the instruction.

Such security was necessary to avoid uninvited guests trying to gatecrash into the gathering. All invited guests were only allowed to enter the hall from the main entrance, so it went without saying that it would be impossible for uninvited guests to enter from there as well.

Of course, the uninvited guests being referred to here were not the dragons but other beings. It was true that Aillos was able to sense intruders trying to enter the plane, but he was not omnipotent. There was only so much his senses could monitor at a time, especially now when he was also preventing Coelus's corpse's magic energy from leaking out from below.

Aillos wanted the Regis representatives to enter from the hall's side door to provide them with a certain level of protection because the only ones who could use that door were Aillos, Ames, and the eight aides.

If Kyran and the others entered from there, it was similar to announcing to everyone in the hall that they were Aillos's important guests.

Kyran and the others arrived in front of the side door five minutes before the gathering started. Aron, who was the one leading the way, stopped just a few feet shy of the door. He looked at everyone behind him and said, "There are only five minutes left before the gathering starts.

It may seem short, but once we walk out from that door, the attention of everyone in there will definitely fall onto us, and those five minutes will feel like an eternity."

Everyone, including the two quilins, wore a solemn expression after hearing Aron's words.

"Don't be intimidated. Tonight, we will no longer be just the 'other family' of Lady Ames."

Jared awkwardly rubbed his nose while looking wryly at his father.

"It's been a while since I heard you give a pep talk, Father. I'm feeling a little emotional," he remarked.

Cade chuckled, "Oh? Would you have preferred it if I gave it instead?"

"Stop. I've had about enough of your pep talks. My ears almost bled," Jared snorted.

Though he said it, he knew that Cade's pep talks were more of establishing his position as the future patriarch of the family. The more he talked in front of the members, the more they would get used to him. In turn, once Aron stepped down, the members would not have a hard time adjusting to Cade.

Cade only replied with another light laugh.

Hearing his sons' exchange and seeing their calm countenance assured Aron. He then looked at Kyran and Cyneah, who also looked calm and smiled, 'Seems I worried for nothing.'

"Let's go in."

Creak~

The Tempest Hall's side door did not usually make such a distinct sound. In fact, with the noise from the hall, even if the door creaked, no one would have been able to notice it.

But the people behind those doors were no mere beings. They were dragons, possessing the most keen senses in both realms.

The moment the doors opened, everyone turned to look at once.

Every dragon in the hall expected Aillos to appear with his aides following behind him. However, what greeted them were a group of four men and a young woman in black formal wear and a golden silver dress, respectively.

Silence followed right after Aron, Cade, Jared, Kyran, and Cyneah entered the hall. The silence was so deafening that one could hear a pin drop.

Soreen and Harrien did not enter the hall. They stayed behind the side door for the most part until the group made their way to their reserved table. Only then could they step out of the door and close it.

Their action was not because they were intimidated by everyone's stares. Rather, as servants of the main palace, they were taught to appear when needed and disappear when not needed. Actually, they would not literally disappear from sight. They only moved out of the way so their presence would not be noticed as much.

The expressions of every patriarch and second-in-command of the dragon tribes did not change that much. But judging from the almost palpable silence and heaviness in the atmosphere, it was obvious that they were both surprised and displeased when they saw Ames's other family entering from the side door.

More importantly, in just that short timeframe, their thoughts already swirled with different ideas about why the Dragon Emperor allowed them to enter. While several of them had differing ideas about the reason, there was one thought that everyone considered, and it had something to do with the Dragon Emperor's successor.

As soon as this emerged in their mind, their indifferent expressions faltered. Nonetheless, they were all veterans hiding their emotions, so they only faltered for a fraction of a second, which no one even noticed. They calmed down after telling themselves that until the Dragon Emperor confirmed their suspicions, they should not jump to conclusions and worry unnecessarily.

Meanwhile, the young talents sensed their patriarchs' and second-in-commands' slight mood change and could not help but furtively observe the group. They were already familiar with Cyneah, but none of the other four looked familiar.

From what they remembered, the other family that Ames brought in a few months ago all looked young. But those four, apart from the one escorting Cyneah, the other three looked older. If they had to compare their age, they should be close in age with the second-in-command of their tribes. No, maybe even younger.

In any case, they felt somewhat restless because they could not read the young man's strength. It was as if he was cloaked in a thick veil that concealed his powers.

The only ones who somehow had an idea of who the young man was and what he could do were Ladon and Thorn. Their expression did not change much when they saw Kyran enter with Cyneah because they had already expected it. Nevertheless, they did notice something different from Kyran. They could not put their fingers on it, but they felt his change and were a little surprised by it.

"That is Lady Sisi, right? The one beside her is not the one who is always with her... I think it's my first time seeing him; who is he?" Anahita asked in a low voice while leaning toward Thorn, who was seated to her left.

Thorn leaned back and closed his eyes, "That's him. The reason Lady Ames brought them here in the first place."

The second-in-command of the Water Dragon Tribe, a middle-aged-looking man with long ash gold hair and silver gold eyes with three protruding golden horns on his forehead, turned to look at Thorn after hearing his reply.

"How did you know him?" he asked.

Thorn opened his eyes and looked at their tribe's second-in-command, named Crei, and replied, "I... can't tell you. I'm sorry, uncle." Enjoy exclusive content from empire

Crei's eyes narrowed, but he did not insist. He could not insist because if Thorn could not tell him, then it only meant one thing— the Dragon Emperor forbade him to talk. Besides, he managed to glean more things from the younger dragon's response.

Thorn only had the opportunity to meet the Dragon Emperor after they returned from the Tower of the Ancients hunt. If this was the case, he likely knew the young man before or after.

On the other hand, Anahita kept looking at the young man with interest. Of Lady Ames's other family who arrived on the Dragon plane, he was the first one to have gotten her attention.