Chapter 951 The Dark Sage (3)
Chapter 951 The Dark Sage (3)
orKyran knew it would take time to decipher and understand the contents of all the tablets in the Guardians’ possession, which was why he wanted to allocate enough time to study them.
Since he expected Axil to arrive in Somuli and give all copies of the tablets in their possession soon, Kyran decided to let Akim and Kessiah deal with the aftermath of their conquest in Armakea so that once Axil arrived and gave him the copies, they would not be affected.
Unfortunately, Kyran still underestimated the complexity of the Ancient runes. It also did not help that he only had a copy on hand.
As Ames warned, sentences formed from Ancient runes would lose some of their meaning or could not be fully understood if they were shown as a copy. If Kyran wanted to understand everything, he had to read the runes on the real tablet.
In the end, Kyran had to improvise so that he could study the copies Axil shared.
Meanwhile, the others inside the receiving room continued to discuss their next move.
At present, they practically had every nation belonging to the complete beings on their side. If they could persuade all the beast-likes to join Kyran as well, then preparing for what was to come would be much easier.
At least, no one would be in the opposition— except maybe those in Howling Pass. Not that the residents in Howling Pass had any desire to meddle in the affairs of the other nations.
While the discussion was in progress, Nahir and Akim had also joined in after Cyneah contacted them.
Their joining in the discussion was not an afterthought. It just happened that their planning could not be done without any leaders from the Eidums and Armakeans sides present in the discussion.
It went without saying that even when Nachum was in the discussion, he could not provide his own insights or opinions on behalf of the Eidums. Now that he had ascended, he was not allowed to meddle in the affairs inside the plane. However, it was a different matter whenever their discussion involved matters about the outsiders.
While Akim represented Armakea in the discussion, he was not the only one present. Kesiah and Ravan were also there, along with Aran’s previous aides.
For the record, the other seemingly missing aides to the King were actually sent over to the Magical Beast Community to pressure them into providing assistance to Aran. However, before they could even arrive, their pact was removed, and they were at a loss. They were torn between going back to Larkring or continuing to the Magical Beast Community now that their King had fallen.
Ultimately, they were granted new titles as the Ten Elites of Armakea. They were called as such not because they were the only ones who could be considered elites among the Knights of Armakea but because they lacked a better title to give them.
In the end, Filren assured them that once their master, Kyran— for this matter, he had to call him Nar— got a chance to meet all of them, they would eventually be given a much better title.
Alas, if Filren only knew that Kyran was not exactly good at giving out names, what more an important title.
In any case, Ravan and the other newly appointed leaders in Armakea were silently listening to the discussion. They would voice their questions occasionally. Fortunately, those attending the discussion in person were patient enough to entertain their questions and provide them with adequate answers and explanations.
Others would have wondered why Ravan, of all people, would be willing to attend the discussion among these groups when he was such a righteous person. No matter how one saw it, Kyran’s side— rather, Akim and Kesiah’s rebels, were the enemies.
In the end, Ravan chose to give the benefit of the doubt as to what the ‘rebellion’ was about. In fact, Akim and Kesiah had more or less explained everything to him. At that moment, Ravan wanted to know more about the truth about everything that had happened.
This result was one reason Kyran allowed Akim and Kesiah to handle the aftermath at the Armakea. Since they were related to Ravan, it was not hard for them to figure out when to press forward or retreat when it came to decyphering his mood. Fortunately, Akim had more or less provided the explanation Ravan needed to know why they joined Kyran.
Another reason Kyran chose the two was because the Armakea knew and respected them. This was especially true about Kesiah.
As for the matter with the Knights, Kyran had Filren handle it because he was a knight himself. And as Kyran’s Sigil, Filren would never betray him. The other knights also respected him and believed him more than they would Mo.
Speaking of Mo, he had been cooperative ever since they confirmed Kyran did not kill Aran. As a matter of fact, what caused every knight to listen and give the benefit of the doubt to Filren’s new boss was mainly because of what they had witnessed Kyran do.
Kyran showed mercy on Aran.
To them, this move alone proved that Kyran was not the blood-thirsty conqueror they thought him to be.
While the discussion continued, Kyran was busy fiddling with the images shown on the cube to decipher everything.
Ames, who had already gone silent and did not participate much in the discussion because they had started talking about going to warfare with the enemies, walked over to Kyran and observed his work. She did not disturb him because she knew how hard it would be to decipher the cube in his hands.
Soon after Ames started observing Kyran, the latter heaved a sigh while rubbing the bridge of his nose.
“I told you it would be impossible for you to decipher the complete context of those runes without looking at the real tablet,” Ames said matter-of-factly at Kyran.
Kyran looked at her with an indifferent expression. Then he asked something completely unrelated to Ames’s statement.
“The one who ruled over The Realm, what was his name?”
Ames furrowed her brows. Her reaction was not due to her knowing the answer yet reluctant to share it. But she did not understand why Kyran asked that question all of a sudden.
“I don’t know,” Ames replied. “It is part of the lost history.”
“Not even the Higher Realm knew?”
“That’s right,” she admitted. “At one point in time, the ruler of The Realm was forgotten, and when it split in two, the Lower Realm remained without a ruler, while the Higher Realm was ruled by The Emperor.”
“What are the chances that The Emperor was related to the ruler?”
“Quite great,” Ames replied. “As far as I know, he is one of the oldest mages in the Higher Realm, and for as long as I remember, he had been the only Emperor.”
“Is The Emperor a fixed title of the Higher Realm’s ruler?” Kyran asked with raised brows. To be honest, he found the title plain. In Yflaen, there was already one called the Emperor, which basically sounded and probably was the same.
“I don’t know,” Ames replied while shaking her head. “As I said, there had only been one ruler in the Higher Realm, and that was The Emperor.”
She looked at Kyran with narrowed eyes and said, “You wouldn’t ask that question if you didn’t find something. Tell me.”
Kyran did not answer at once. He looked at the cube in his hands and fiddled with it a bit more before finally responding, “There is an excerpt of some sort in one of the tablets I am studying.”
He then looked at Ames with a solemn expression.
“It told of a person, or a being, that the Higher Being grew jealous of…” Kyran’s voice trailed off as he recalled a conversation he had with Axil before about the Lament of the King.
Sensing that it might be related, Kyran briefly told Ames about it.
While listening, Ames’s expression had turned pale. Nevertheless, she remained calm and continued to listen to him.
Once Kyran was done, he added, “I can’t help but feel that the ‘lamenting’ King was connected to the ruler of The Realm.”
“It is a possibility,” Ames agreed. “But you have to understand. The Higher Being is an existence that far exceeds anyone and anything in The Realm. There is no way for him or her to be jealous of anyone.”
“That’s funny,” Kyran could not help but say as he looked at Ames. “Here I thought you would deny the existence of that King and insist that the Higher Being might be the ruler of The Realm.”
“The Higher Being is a different existence. He or she cannot be a ruler…” Ames responded, her expression solemn.
“And? What else did you find?” she added, seeing the discontented look on Kyran.
There was a moment’s pause before he replied, “I’m not sure yet. But based on the things I’ve read so far, it seems… the King might be related to the Dark Sage.”