Chapter 841 Triggered
After Nachum's and True Void's conversation, they agreed not to let the others know about Kyran's condition.
Nachum then left to prepare for his next ascension attempt. Although he had experienced it before and at his current level, there was little he could prepare; there was still the matter of his mental fortitude and resolve.
It was not to say that Nachum's resolve was weak. Kyran already told him his intentions of helping him ascend to Sovereignty. He might not know how the younger man would do it, but since then, he had been contemplating and steeling his resolve.
Still, it was unfortunate that Nachum's resolve had only been steeled after realizing how formidable the outsiders were because of what happened to Kyran.
Meanwhile, True Void took Kyran to his room on the Armakea's side because some Servants could not enter the Eidum's border— like Gael.
True Void had no idea if Kyran did this on purpose or if he did not have the time to adjust the array formation around the Eidum's border. Regardless of the reason, rather than trying to tweak the array formation when his Array knowledge was inferior to Kyran's, True Void thought it best to transfer to the Armakea's side and avoid complications.
Gael and the other Servants had already sensed something had happened to Kyran and were all awaiting an update from True Void. Achim, Anan, Haji, and Tamir, who went away with Nahir, also wanted to return. But recalling the task Kyran gave them, they endured and waited for news instead.
Eikin, Jita, and Kesiah arrived in Kyran's room soon after True Void warped in with Kyran.
True Void initially wanted to wait for Gael as well, but since he was too far away, he went ahead and instructed Eikin, Jita, and Kesiah to make preparations and be on guard at all times while Kyran was recovering.
True Void's instruction was not really needed because Kesiah was already on top of things. She coordinated with the Shadow Minions Gael left behind to patrol the vicinity and report at once for any suspicious activity.
After instructing them, True Void stayed and never left Kyran's side. He did not know when Ruin or that other being would come for Kyran, so True Void did not want to return inside Kyran's sea of consciousness. Besides, he was learning how to absorb mana instead of the magic energy in the surroundings and going back in Kyran's sea of consciousness would not allow him to do that. Kyran was unable to absorb mana, but True Void believed that since mana was also a form of energy, it could be absorbed and turned into magic energy.
True Void was actually in the right train of thought.
As a matter of fact, Kyran also wondered if he could absorb mana, but so far, he was unable to draw it out. He was different from True Void, after all, who had the ability to draw and absorb energy from any source. It was this ability that allowed True Void to save Cyneah when she got infected by Kyran's Void energy and also borrow Nachum's energy to replenish his own so he could leave Kyran's sea of consciousness.
With that in mind, True Void began to experiment.
Gael received news of Kyran's situation and also wanted to hurry back to the Armakea's border. However, before he could hand over the search in Howling Pass to his Shadow Minions, he sensed a familiar aura nearby. Not wanting to lose the aura and to uphold Kyran's order, Gael decided to stay.
Contrary to True Void's expectations, Ruin, or the being that attacked Kyran, did not appear. A week had passed since then,? but there was no news from them.
This should have caused True Void and the rest of the Servants to relax, but in truth, they felt even more on edge. There was no telling if Ruin and that being were cooking up something big. And if they were, could True Void and the rest be enough to hold them off?
In the meantime, Achim and Nahir had already taken down two more forts, increasing their military strength once more.
Frankly, they would not have been able to accomplish this in such a short time. But Achim suggested splitting up so they could take down forts more efficiently. Nahir initially did not agree because he believed their manpower was not enough. The knights had exceeded the number of the knights stationed on the other forts, but compared to the latter, they had been on the road most of the time. Their people had no proper rest, unlike those knights who had been staying within the comfort of the fort. The healers of Eidum were there to heal and support them, but in the end, they could not heal their fatigue or mental exhaustion.
Nahir had a point, but Achim wanted to hasten their task of gathering military strength. Not to mention, he wanted to return to Kyran's side as soon as possible. In the end, he proposed to scout the fort to the east and only took a squad with him— a squad consisting of three knights, six officers, and three healers.
Since this was the case, Nahir did not argue. Having Achim scout the next fort would also help them determine how best to conquer it.
But Nahir had been naive.
With Achim's lead, he conquered the next fort without even a fight. It had been simple since news of the border's fall had yet to reach that part of Armakea. The leader of the fort welcomed Achim and his men without any resistance.
After that, it did not take long for Achim to win over the knights and the officers without shedding blood.
Meanwhile, Nahir managed to conquer his target fort with minimal casualties. It did not even take a whole day to take it down. Because of this, he and the rest were able to rest for a day before destroying the fort and meeting up with Achim's group.
By the time Nahir's group arrived at the fort, however, they found it destroyed. There was also a group of three officers and a knight waiting for them. This group explained what happened and also told Nahir that Achim had already gone to the next fort. They also advised Nahir to target the fort to the west because they were after the last one.
When Nahir heard what happened, he felt a little exasperated. If they could conquer a fort without shedding blood, they should have gone with that route from the start.
In the end, Nahir heeded Achim's advice and moved on to the next fort to the west.
This went on for another week, with Kyran not showing any signs of waking.
True Void was starting to worry. Even the Armakeans and the Eidums found it strange that Kyran had not returned. Some of them had also learned about Cyneah's condition, and unrest started to spread among the Eidums. It would not have spread that fast if not for the fact that they had not seen the Abbot as well.
Cyneah and Nachum were the Eidum's spiritual support. For the former unconscious without knowing the reason, while the latter had gone missing once more, they felt at a loss.
Some of the Eidums also saw Kyran's presence as a sort of pillar, but now that he had yet to return— rumors were even spreading that he might have left for good— they were beginning to feel uneasy about the future.
Azikh and Gidan tried their best to clear those rumors, but unless those three showed up and reassured them, they could only calm them down for a short period.
While all of this was happening, Kyran still remained unconscious.
Honestly, although drinking the Elixir almost broke Kyran's body apart, it was not the reason why he remained unconscious. While it was true that his body had to recover after being torn apart and enhanced by the Elixir, it should not have taken him two weeks before he recovered. His body had already undergone its initial enhancement, after all.
The main reason he was unconscious was that he had just experienced life and death, triggering an event he had wanted a repeat for some time now.
Meeting Caelan in his sea of consciousness again.
Inside Kyran's sea of consciousness, different from the first time, when he did not possess a body, this time, he had one.
Like a spirit of sorts, Kyran hovered just in front of his magic cores and the Shaiha.
"That has been a close call."
A familiar voice spoke from behind, prompting Kyran to turn and look.
"It has been a while."
Kyran did not respond and only stared at the now familiar face of Caelan.
Seeing Caelan now gave Kyran mixed emotions. The first time they met, Kyran did not know who Caelan was and only thought they looked similar in a way, except they had different hair and eye colors.
"You looked different from last time," Caelan continued, not one bit fazed by Kyran's silence. He then looked up at the Shaiha with a slightly emotional expression and said, "I see you have also taken the Shaiha."
"Yes, it went according to your plans," Kyran finally replied.
"Do you hate it?"
Kyran chose not to respond.
"Ah... You have also learned how to conceal your thoughts. That is quite impressive, given that I am within your sea of consciousness, where your thoughts should have been easily exposed."
"The first time we met, I told you to answer my questions properly the next time we meet."
"Yes, you did."
"Then..."
Caelan smiled.
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