Kyran appeared behind a store southwest of town. Using his magic sense, he checked the surrounding area and discovered several security group members gathering close to where he was.
It did not take long for him to find out why they were there. Two buildings to his left, he sensed three beast-like observing the security group on the building's second floor.
Kyran guessed they were part of the perpetrators who failed to escape when the security group discovered their entry point.
'Taking care of these three will not be a problem, but doing that will not resolve the problem here,' Kyran thought. He had to find the rest of the perpetrators and deal with them. Not to mention, he was curious about who was behind these perpetrators.
The old man already said that the Nobles were behind these people because he knew their Sovereign's secret, but something did not seem to connect with Kyran.
Why were they not working with the security group? Or, in general, the town's officials?
It was already established that the beast-like community favored the Nobles, so why were they attacking the perpetrators they sent after the old man?
They were not even pretending to be after them because Kyran could smell blood nearby—an obvious result of a clash between them.
'Kill two, capture the last one,' Kyran decided.
Then he stopped and smiled wryly, 'Can I even call it capturing if I do that?'
He wondered after thinking of something.
Putting aside his random thought, he focused on one of his magic cores while his eyes turned reddish-purple, 'Come out.'
Kyran's shadow suddenly wriggled as if it had suddenly turned liquid. Then a kneeling dark purple silhouette in a similarly colored hooded robe materialized.
'You called, Master.'
Kyran looked at the kneeling silhouette, and an uncertain look flashed through his eyes. But coldness soon replaced it as he said, 'Take care of those three up there.'
He gestured toward the second building to their left.
'Do whatever you want with the two, but keep one alive.'
'For interrogation, Master?'
'Yes.'
'If you allow it, I can eat them and acquire their knowledge. It will save you from lifting a finger to deal with these plebeians.'
Kyran's brow slightly twitched.
This silhouette was none other than Gael.
After absorbing him the last time, he had become one of his 'loyal' servants. However, Gael retained most of his character compared to Bas and Iss.
One of the things Kyran had learned during the year was the difference between his Sigils and those he absorbed using the Void. Initially, he had believed everything he absorbed, like Bas and Iss automatically became his Sigils, but that was not the case.
Instead, they became servants— for the lack of a term to call them, Kyran call them that for now.
One of the differences between a Sigil and a servant was the latter would carry out Kyran's order without a care for their life. Another was they were far more ruthless when executing his orders.
He did not notice it with Bas and Iss because he only saw them in action for a short while, but apparently, the way they killed the enemies before was far more sinister compared to Manti and Mera.
Another difference was loyalty.
Although Sigils and servants were loyal to Kyran, he earned the loyalty of most of his Sigils— except probably with Tritus since he had tweaked his character a bit. Void servants, however, were 100% loyal to him right from the start.
Kyran knew this because he could feel it— as if their consciousness was connected to him.
So, Gael betraying him was something he did not have to worry about.
Lastly, Sigils retained their free will— again, maybe except for Tritus, whose character was forced to change—while servants did not have them. What they did have was their previous life's battle experience, knowledge, and their character.
The latter was why Kyran felt a little uneasy when talking to Gael. Apart from becoming his loyal servant, who would die for him without blinking an eye, he was pretty much the same ambitious and cruel Grand Marshal he met.
'Eat them, huh? Won't it have any problem? They use a different magic law here and probably did not possess magic cores similar to humans.'
'It is fine, Master. With your magic's nature, anything can be cleansed.'
'I don't think that is the right way to say that.'
'Will you allow me to do so? Once I eat them, they will also become your subjects, Master.'
As Gael said, everything he 'eats' would also become Kyran's loyal subjects. Of course, anything he had eaten before did not count. Most of those had become nutrients for Gael's growth. And by the time Kyran absorbed him, they were long 'gone.'
In any case, Gael no longer required those he ate as nutrients to supply his growth since he was now reliant on Kyran's growth. The more Kyran's master over Void magic improved, the stronger his Void servants became.
Thus, every living thing Gael ate would become Kyran's loyal subjects.
'Alright,' Kyran agreed after a short pause. 'Once you attain their memories, tell me who is the person behind them.'
'Yes, Master.'ραпdαs `n?ν?| сom
Gael immediately set out to work. He sank into Kyran's shadow and disappeared from sight.
But Kyran sensed his movement. He moved from one shadow to shadow until finally arriving at a shadow of a cabinet inside the room where the three perpetrators were hiding.
Without wasting time, Gael emerged from the shadow. At the same time, the shadow beneath his form expanded, filling the room's floor in an instant.
The three perpetrators, initially oblivious on Gael's arrival finally reacted after they sensed something touching their shadows.
"What in hell is this?"
"Someone's here!"
"Look out, both of you!"
The three perpetrators exclaimed at the same time.
"G-Gaaa—!!"
"H-Help—!"
"Mmmggh—!"
Before they could fully understand what was happening, the shadow had already crept up their legs and into their bodies. Upon closer look, the shadow had become several small hands that crept at them. In a blink of an eye, it covered their mouths.
At first, these hands appeared to be etched into their skins. But after they covered their mouths, a few stuck out from their heads and began to push them into the shadow.
The three perpetrators' eyes bulged in fear as they sank into their shadows. At least, they believed it was still theirs. The truth was that their shadows had already become Gael's.
Standing behind the three, Gael remained silent as he watched them sink further into his shadows. His eyes glowed reddish-purple as a contented smile appeared on his cold expression.
Kyran watched everything using his magic sense. Once the three perpetrators completely sank into Gael's shadow, he felt three additional presences in his magic core.
Just like that, he had gained three more subjects.
This made Kyran sigh in nostalgia. When he was still swamped in finding a way to save his clan, he struggled to gather people who could help him. But now, with the nature of Gael's Shadow magic, gathering more people was no longer a concern.
'Master, your guess is correct,' Gael's voice brought Kyran out of his reverie.
'The Nobles are not behind them.'
It was not a question but a statement. Kyran had an inkling that the Nobles might not send the perpetrators here if they were not working with the town's officials.
'Whose behind them?'
'Sovereigns.'
Kyran frowned. Gael did not say 'Sovereign' but 'Sovereigns,' which meant he was talking about those outside eyeing this plane's Sovereign.
'Did you find out why?'
'Only that, they wanted to kidnap the Abbot. They might have already felt something was amiss with the Somuli's Sovereign and wanted to confirm it with the Abbot.'
'Yes,' Kyran frowned. 'That does not sound good.'
'Indeed it is not. If they discovered the truth, the mistress would also be in danger.'
Kyran's brow twitched.
That was right. He forgot one similarity the Void servants had with his Sigils. They all considered Cyneah 'The Mistress.'
Putting aside the random thought. Kyran knew why Gael said that.
Once the Sovereigns outside discovered the truth about the Somuli's Sovereign, all of them would descend, and the plane would become a huge battlefield.
When that happened, there would be no safe place in Somuli, with its inhabitants falling one after another because of the war.
After all, the level of the Sovereigns that would descend into the Somuli would not be restrained— because the Somuli's Sovereign was likely fake.
'Do you have a plan to stop it from happening, Master?'
'If I don't, will you provide one?'
Gael chuckled, 'I dared not. But if you will allow it. Can I propose something?'
?α?dαsηθνε| 'Tell me.'
'Make the Abbot disappear. Only then could we buy time and retrieve the mistress.'
Kyran sighed after hearing Gael's plan. Not because he did not think it was good, but that it was precisely the plan he told the old man.
Knowing that he and Gael thought of the same thing made him feel awkward.
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