Chapter 870 Acquisition (10)
Kyran knew that going after the Armakea King directly was suicide, especially when he was surrounded by his aides, knights, and other subjects consisting of his family members. For this reason, he thought of drawing out the king's forces one after another before confronting the latter directly.
At least, this had been Kyran's thoughts while he was out venturing around the Armakea. He had yet to come up with a concrete plan on how he could draw out the king's forces when he was attacked.
When Kyran woke up, he admitted feeling stressed at the precious time he wasted lying unconscious. But after hearing the current situation from Cyneah, his Servants unknowingly did him a huge favor.
Others felt that Gael's sudden disappearance brought a huge problem to them since the King discovered Achim and Kesiah's movements. To Kyran, however, it was a godsent opportunity.
In any case, after analyzing the situation, Kyran guessed what the Armakea King would do next.
Kyran believed that as a tyrant King who rarely encountered opposition, he was humiliated after one of his trusted aides failed to subdue Achim and Kesiah's side. Considering this, Kyran guessed that the Armakea King would dispatch a large army to subdue or even destroy Achim and Kesiah completely. While the King would still have his aides and enough knights by his side, their number would not be as overwhelming.
Besides, Kyran did not plan on confronting the King's knight. Like True Void repeatedly reminded him to the point his ears grew numb, they were outnumbered. For this reason, he had to plan out their visit properly.
The first thing that Kyran had to ensure was that those forces dispatched by the king to deal with Achim and Kesiah should be well on their way before his side did anything. After all, he did not want to risk having those forces returning to the capital, which would end up with his forces having to deal with a pincer attack.
The second thing Kyran had to do was ensure Achim and Kesiah checked in on their father. Kyran did not plan on having them convince their father to join them. Instead, he wanted them to ensure that he did not participate. Because, from the information Kyran had, Achim and Kesiah's father was currently the most powerful complete being in Armakea.
Of course, Kyran would not refuse assistance if Achim and Kesiah's father decided to join them. But knowing the latter's righteous attitude, he would definitely not tolerate his son and daughter's decision to rebel and risk the lives of their subjects. He might even despise Kyran for turning his son and daughter into Servants.
Another thing Kyran had to do was teach Noir, Sigma, and a few other Conclave members who were part of the Blacksmith Order to maintain the array he would create around the King's castle.
Finally, Kyran had to know everyone staying with the King inside the castle.
The last one was not hard to do.
.cοm When Kyran crossed paths with Deception last time, she gave him a parchment as a peace offering. The parchment, when used, allowed one to know the locations of another person. However, the only one who could activate it was someone with a specific bloodline, which Achim and the rest of the Armakea Royal Family conveniently possessed.
Kyran did not believe everything that Deception told him. He suspected that there was more to the parchment than she let on. Although Kyran had checked the array formation on the parchment and did not find anything suspicious, there were still formulas on it that could only be triggered when active. If he wanted to fully understand how the parchment operated, he had to activate it. But doing that might set off a trap or a tracking spell on the parchment, allowing Deception to spy on whoever was using it. For this reason, Kyran could only put it aside and give it to Achim and Kesiah. Nevertheless, he did not ask them to use it.
But Kyran no longer worried about triggering any trap on the parchment. With his new understanding of the Void, determining traps or hidden spells without triggering them was now possible.
A few hours after Kyran met with Achim and the rest, they went to the capital and set up camp at a cliff overlooking the castle.
The fort leaders, especially those who had only heard about Kyran, were a little skeptical about him leading them. Though Achim and Kesiah affirmed their stance in cooperating with Kyran, it did little to appease their doubts. Their reaction was reasonable, especially since they saw Kyran as a shady Imon-spawn. Especially when he made such a grand entrance by coming out of a fissure in space.
The only ones who seemed to have complete trust in Kyran were the Eidums. Something most Armakeans could not truly comprehend. The only Armakeans who could understand this were those stationed at the border and witnessed his strength.
Kyran did not try to win over the trust of those newly joined fort leaders, knights, and officers. But that did not mean he would let them be. For now, having them swear allegiance to Achim and Kesiah was enough. When the time came, they would submit to him on their own accord.
The second of the four moons above started to dim, and most of the Armakeans and Eidums were resting in their tents.
Meanwhile, in one of the larger tents in the camp, Noir, Sigma, along with the rest of the members of the Blacksmith Order, were still awake and were studying the array formation Kyran showed them.
Malek was also with them, observing them from the side while keeping an eye on Layla.
In another large tent, all of Kyran's Servants were gathered and were observing the now-active parchment that was sprawled above the long table. Achim was the one who activated it, while Kesiah and the rest provided the names of those they had to confirm their whereabouts. Gael, on the other hand, had his Shadow Minions properly track these people.
As for their master, Kyran, he was outside, sitting by the edge of the cliff and looking at the Armakea castle at a distance.
From behind, Cyneah approached silently.
"It's already too late," Kyran said without looking at her. "You should take this chance to rest."
"I am alright," Cyneah replied and stood a couple of feet away from where Kyran sat. "Besides, I believe you're far more exhausted after meeting with the others and making all the preparations."
"Compared to you, who made all those potions and pills, I only exhausted my brain cells and mouth," Kyran replied with a wry smile.
Cyneah chuckled, "I can replenish my energy just by standing here. As for you, you need proper rest to recover your brain cells."
Kyran smiled. It had been a while since they could talk without having to worry about an invisible barrier between them. Cyneah had yet to tell him everything she went through, but at least the fear and worries she kept in her heart had been lifted.
A quiet lull followed after that. But neither felt awkward nor agitated by it. They even felt content just by having each other company.
"Neah, do you still have the token I gave you before?" Kyran asked, breaking the silence.
Cyneah raised her brows in confusion. She recalled everything she got from him and finally remembered a token he once gave her.
"Oh, that?"
Kyran finally looked at her; his brows knitted slightly. He felt a little uneasy from the way she sounded just now.
"I still have it. But I'm sorry, someone broke it a few years back."
"Someone?"
Cyneah nodded, "I... Remember when I told you Uncle Gage and I got separated after encountering a magical beast? After that, I ended up alone again and went through a lot. There was a time when I was taken by a group of beast-likes and worried about my fate. I remembered holding on to that token and..." she paused and let out a deprecating laugh, "... even calling out your name. But then one of the beast-likes saw it and..." Her expression darkened slightly as if recalling something unpleasant. In the end, she shook her head and said, "—anyway, I did what I could to retrieve it, but he got angry and broke it just to spite me."
Kyran frowned. He saw Cyneah's expression just now and did not like how the last part of her narration sounded. He then remembered that one time he heard her call for him, and his mood turned sour. He suddenly had the urge to look for that beast-like and torture him.
Sensing a change in Kyran's mood, Cyneah diverted his attention by taking out the token from her storage ring. She then took a seat beside him and clumsily showed it, "Here it is."
Kyran took the token and examined it. Seeing that the damage was not irreparable, he used his magic to repair it immediately.
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