'Neah?' Kyran could not help but frown at this. He knew the Nobles had been after the Saint and that the fake Somuli Sovereign was behind it. But he did not know the latter's intentions. He wanted to ask Azikh and Gidan about it, but since he had just arrived and had not earned their complete trust, he stalled bringing up the topic.
Before Kyran could ask Dusk if he knew why the fake Somuli Sovereign wanted Cyneah, he already began explaining.
"Apparently, the Sovereign was smitten by the Saint and her Divine Armament," Dusk explained. "From what our informants gathered, the Sovereign coveted her the first time she healed him.
"In the beginning, the Nobles could easily pressure the Saint into accepting the Sovereign's proposal, but the Abbot intervened and announced that she was already betrothed to his son. Thus, the Sovereign could not have her."
Kyran's face had always acted indifferent, but after hearing that, he froze for a split second.
However, Dusk failed to notice this because he was too busy explaining.
"You're probably wondering why a Sovereign would stop his advances just because of such an announcement," he continued with a wry smile. "It seems inhabitants of Somuli, as a whole, placed great importance on betrothal. After all, it affects the lineage of their 'complete' state. They wanted to avoid producing 'Tainted' ones, as well as getting involved with an Imon-spawn.
"Right. A Tainted one and an Imon-spawn are—."
"I'm not interested in additional facts. Just get to the point."
Dusk's brow twitched, but he did not argue and said, "Fine. To make it short, once two complete beings are betrothed; they enter into a pact that can only be rescinded if everyone who signed it agrees to its dissolution. As far as we know, the ones who agreed to that pact were the Abbot, his son, obviously, and finally, the Saint. Unless all three of them agree, the pact cannot be dissolved.
"In case you're wondering, a pact can only be successful if the couple are 100% complete beings. This is how they filter anyone from posing as a complete being. If an Imon-spawn or a Tainted entered the pact, they would die on the spot."
Kyran frowned. Cyneah was not a complete being. Thus, if she agreed to the pact, she would have died. Since she was not, it meant she was not the one who performed the pact.
The image of the Saint he first met fleeted into his head, and he wondered if she also proxied for her. All three who performed the pact knew Cyneah was not a complete being if that was true.
As much as Kyran did not want Cyneah to be involved in that pact, having three people who knew she was not a complete being was also troubling. He wanted to ask the old man about it but had to suppress his urge for the time being.
Kyran was not worried about Dusk sensing the old man because he was confident in the Shaiha. He only wanted to prevent the old man from being exposed to other Sovereigns.
In the first place, Kyran was not part of any faction, and although he had a working relationship with the Guardians, that did not mean he would get involved in their affairs to this extent.
"What if one of the three tries to dissolve the pact?" Kyran asked, wanting to understand its in and outs.
"We don't know for sure," Dusk replied with a shrug. "Whatever it is, the Nobles are not too keen on trying. If they were, they would have emphasized exploiting the Abbot's weakness. Maybe even negotiate with his son to dissolve the pact."
"Were they not exploiting the Abbot's weakness by having him send all his capable people to the Great Divide?" Kyran asked with a frown.
"Their reason for sending his people at the borders was not to exploit them, to be honest," Dusk answered. "Are you familiar with the saying: 'If I can't have it, then no one else can'? Basically, that is the decision of the Sovereign since the Abbot would not budge. The Nobles were only following his orders."
Kyran was silent. He could not say he did not understand the logic, but at the same time, he found it illogical.
In the first place, the Somuli Sovereign was a fake. He was not trying to keep up with the pretense that he was a true Sovereign because he kept meddling with the internal affairs in Somuli. If he really wanted to take Cyneah, he could have done that before the Abbot made that announcement. And even now that the pact was already in place and he truly did not want others to have Cyneah by having her go to the Great Divide where she could be killed, the fake Somuli Sovereign could have done the deed himself. He could easily disguise himself and find a chance to kill Cyneah. Kyran was not saying he preferred that scenario. It was because of this that he found the fake Sovereign's decision to be illogical.
'Unless he has other reason for doing these things,' Kyran thought. 'But what?'
Speaking of the Somuli Sovereign as fake, Kyran could not help but look at Dusk. He sensed the latter had dropped a few mage levels, which meant he was restrained. If the Somuli Sovereign was fake, that should not have happened.
Then again, Dusk might have used the 'third' option to enter a plane to prevent the Somuli Sovereign from sensing outsiders— not that the latter could since he was a fake.
Putting that aside, the more Kyran ponder the situation in Somuli, the more he was confused. The state of affairs he learned from the Abbot was insufficient to draw a conclusion. He had to gather more information. But he did not want to ask the Guardians for help.
'I'll have to find a way to get Zephyr and the others here. I will need them to gather information.'
Dusk looked at Kyran dubiously and said, "You seem to know what is happening on the Eidums' side of things but are not knowledgeable about the bigger picture. Did you come here without reading the intel we have here?"
"I'm not part of the Guardians," Kyran replied with a shrug. "Besides, my business here has nothing to do with that 'bigger picture.'"
"Did you think I don't know you're here to confirm the identity of the Saint?" Dusk said with a slight frown. "I know that much. As a matter of fact, all members of the Guardians know you're looking for your mistress. That's why you're helping out in securing resources for the faction even though you are not a member—."
"I am helping secure those resources in return for intel," Kyran corrected with a frown. "You're making it sound like I am slaving off you while I look for her."
He did not know that his 'search for his mistress' had reached the ears of every Sovereign in Guardians. He did not mind that they knew he was looking for someone. But for them to identify that someone as his 'mistress'? Now, that was a little annoying.
"Whatever," Dusk replied and started to leave. But then he stopped after recalling something and looked at Kyran again, "That's right, Axil said to be careful. She thinks the Somuli's Sovereign is up to something. You're going to the Great Divide, where the Saint is, right? Before you do, try to find a way to change your look. You look like a Tainted one or even an Imon-spawn. They will only be afraid and attack you with everything they got. You may even cause their fall, and the Somuli Sovereign would not have any problem. Also, since you did not read the intel on this plane, you probably did not know what a Divine Armament is."
Kyran looked at him. Dusk did mention that the Somuli Sovereign was interested in Cyneah's 'Divine Armament.' He almost forgot about that because he was too affected by Cyneah being betrothed to the Abbot's son.
Though he did not think she was not part of the pact, that did not stop him from being affected.
"What is this Divine Armament?"
"Simply put, complete beings possessed Divine Armament instead of a magic core. You already know how thin the magic energy in this plane is, right? It is because they don't really need it. They can produce their own magic energy using their Divine Armament."
"What about the beast-like?"
"They don't have one. Instead, their body can naturally absorb 'mana,' thus, allowing them to use magic. Their magic output is not as powerful as a complete being's. Because mana is different from magic energies."
Kyran was surprised to hear this. He had thought they referred to magic energy as mana in this plane. It seemed he had to allocate enough time to learn this plane's magic law. If not, he would only expose his identity as an outsider.
"Is that the reason you don't reveal yourselves to others? Because they might notice you guys not possessing a Divine Armament?"
"Who says I don't have one?" Dusk replied with a sneer. "Where I came from, we have something similar to it."
"And you also have a magic core?"
"Who knows? You're not part of the Guardians. Why would I tell you about my magic law? For all I know, you're looking for a chance to backstab us."
Kyran's brow twitched slightly but did not try to pursue the matter. Dusk had a point. He could still be considered an outsider. Besides, a Sovereign's magic law would be considered their strength and weakness. They would not reveal it to others easily.
"I did not know you had such a high view of me. I'm not even a Sovereign. How could I even try to fight you guys."
Silence ensued after that. After a short pause, Dusk said in a serious tone, "You really don't know what it means to possess Ancient magic, do you?"
"What are you trying to say?"
Instead of answering, Dusk turned around and prepared to leave, "Find the answers yourself. I don't want to incur the wrath of the Fates if I tell you myself."
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