Kyran connected with the old man after Dusk left.
Because of the sudden disconnection, the old man was worried and had been on edge while waiting for Kyran to reconnect. The old man was confident the latter would not be easily defeated, but that did not stop him from worrying.
On the other hand, while Kyran appreciated the old man's concern, he had a lot of questions he wanted to ask, especially about the pact. Without answering the old man if he was alright, he started asking him about
The old man did not answer immediately. But after a short pause, he explained what really happened.
The one who proposed the pact had apparently been the old man's son. Moreover, no one proxied for Cyneah. Kyran felt mixed emotions about this piece of information. The old man also admitted he did not know how the pact recognized Cyneah as a complete being, but it did.
After that, the old man explained that the pact could not be rescinded without the consent of all three involved. Kyran already knew this but did not interrupt the old man and let him continue.
According to the old man, the Nobles did not act after that because they did not know the details of the pact between Cyneah and his son's betrothal. Apparently, when a pact was made, all parties must offer something as compensation if one of them tried to break it off. Since the Nobles did not know what all three offered, they never mentioned the Sovereign's proposal again.
Kyran found the Nobles' lack of action strange. If it was him, he would have gone to great lengths to find the details of the pact and exploit its weakness.
As if reading Kyran's thoughts, the old man wore a sad smile and revealed what they offered.
"My son and I agreed to offer our Divine Armament, if we ever try to break off the pact. I know you are not familiar with Divine Armaments but all complete beings possessed it. And if we lose it, it is equivalent to becoming crippled for life. Now Sisi... since she does not possess a Divine Armament, she offered a different one... And that is her life."
Kyran almost snapped when he heard that.
If the Nobles discovered the details of the pact they would not be able to convince any of the to dissolve the pact. After all, the stake was too big. The Nobles did not know it, but they probably guessed it would have been along that line since they knew the Abbot's character.
From this, Kyran felt that the Nobles were not that unreasonable.
The old man then continued and told Kyran that although the Nobles no longer mentioned the Sovereign's proposal, he sensed that the latter was dissatisfied.
Finally, the Sovereign invited the old man along with the rest of the Eidum's leading figures to a meeting in the city. In that meeting, the Sovereign expressed his distress about the problem in the Great Divide. According to him, they had suffered defeat after defeat and could not longer assist the Eidums in protecting their border.
The old man knew at once that the Sovereign was trying to blackmail them. Basically, if they did not give the Saint, he would order his people guarding the Great Divide to pull out.
It should be noted that the Great Divide was part of the Eidum's territory. However, because the Eidums did not have military strength, the Kingdom of Cretea agreed to provide their own people to protect their borders. In return, they would have first priority when it came to 'healing' or other health related stuff.
Hearing the old man explaination, Kyran finally found one of the missing pieces to the confusing situation between the Nobles and the Eidums.
After talking to Dusk, Kyran thought the fake Sovereign's order to dispatch the old man's people to the Great Divide illogical. Dusk said the Sovereign probably decided to have the Saint killed in the borders since he could not have her. But Kyran was not convinced.
Now he knew why.
The old man lied to him.
The Sovereign never ordered the old man to send his people to guard their border. It was the old man himself who decided this.
The old man refused to give Cyneah which angered the Sovereign. The Sovereign then ordered his people at the borders to pull out.
The enemy side probably did not even engaged in a regular fight with the Nobles. But after seeing them pull out and the Eidums took over the border, they bore their fangs and repeatedly attacked.
Kyran was convinced of this because he found the casualty rate of the Eidums too much. Not to mention, if they had been protecting the borders right from the start, why had they not developed a proper strategy? Even their commander, Gidan, acted like an amateur.
'I'm sorry for lying,' the old man apologized. 'I admit I was afraid you will reject my request if you knew that it is I who sent my own people to suffer.'
Kyran did not respond. There were still a few missing pieces to fully understand the mystery. Thus he said, 'You did not tell them the truth either.'
The old man lowered his head in defeat and nodded, 'No.'
'Is the Sovereign really after you because you know his secret?'
'Yes. That I can swear is true.'
'How did he know?'
The old man was silent for a moment before he finally answered.
But the answer Kyran got was something he did not expect.
Because of the difference in time in Somuli, it took a few hours before night fell. For this reason, Kyran managed to arrive near the periphery of the Great Divide before the stars and the moons appeared in the sky.
'You... you really managed to return before nightfall,' Soria muttered in a daze.
Kyran already reconnected with them after talking with the Abbot.
Since he had been silent for more than two hours, Soria and Yalen had been worried. They immediately asked if he was okay, and only when Kyran agreed to let Yalen out and checked his condition, did they stop pestering him.
They were delayed for a few minutes because Yalen took her time in examining him.
When she was satisfied, he took her back in the Void World and went on his way.
That happened a few hours ago.
'Since I said I will, then I—.'
Kyran stopped short and looked at the direction of the chasm. His heart sank as he smelled fresh blood, as well as burnt flesh.
'Damn it,' he cursed and disconnected his feed again. He could use Dragon Steps but it was slower compared to warping. To avoid having to explain his movement, he opted to disconnect instead.
However, he did not do that with the old man.
'What is happening?' The old man realized Kyran was warping because of the sudden change of fluctuation around him. Sensing the younger man's apprehension, the old man started to worry.
'Night raid.'
Kyran only replied with two words, but it was enough for the old man to understand what was happening.
The old man paled after hearing this and regretted his decision once more. Frankly, he initially thought Kyran would get mad because he lied to him. But he remained indifferent after that. He only asked questions, and picked up his pace.
While the old man was grateful that Kyran did not get mad, he also felt it would have been better if he was. At least, he could apologize properly. But since Kyran did not say anything, the guilt he felt did not subside.
Kyran gritted his teeth. He did not like how strong the smell of blood and burnt flesh that lingered in the air. Because this meant the raid had started for more than an hour. Maybe even longer. There were only about a hundred abled fighters guarding the borders. Would they have lasted that long?
'Did I miscalculate?' He wondered.
No. It was not that he miscalculated. It was because he did not fully understand the situation until now.
The enemies were already aware that the Eidums were guarding the border. No matter how many abled figters they had, they would never take their fighting prowess seriously. After all, they were not as powerful as the Nobles.
Kyran could not warp directly in the battlefield even though he wanted to. This pissed him because even at that moment, he was still concerned about hiding his identity.
In the end, he could only endure because if he had revealed his identity, he would only invite those Sovereigns observing the plane to also make an appearance.
When that happened, the situation would escalate in a blink of an eye.
Kyran appeared just above a spot above the chasm that overlooked the battlefield below. From where he was, he saw a sea of beasts, beast-likes, and complete beings trying to push their way toward the Edium's steel walls. However, no matter what they did, they could not advance.
Kyran's eyes widened as he discovered the cause.
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