[I sensed a malicious intent closing in on you. So I had to rush over here, Master. I am currently circulating my magic around you to camouflage your presence.]
Zephyr’s voice sounded in Kyran’s head, while at the same time, he was looking at him meaningfully.
Zephyr’s magic was air. As long as he manipulated the air around his target, he could easily camouflage their presence to appear similar to his.
Kyran looked at Zephyr with a grateful expression. While internally, he was already racking his brain on who would suddenly have malicious intent on him.
…
Okay, so there were plenty. But Kyran was using Nar’s face right now. It was impossible for them to recognize him.
Because of Cyneah? Why? Was there someone from her past who tried to get rid of her, who recognized her here and was directing his hostility towards him because he saved her? No way. Why would he suddenly be hostile toward him? Besides, the person whom he originally wanted to get rid of was Cyneah. When he left her for three days, why did he not make a move? Why wait for him?
While all of these thoughts swirled around Kyran’s head, he had already moved and led the two, Zephyr and Cyneah, out the streets.
[Master?]
Zephyr looked at him questioningly. But when he saw Kyran’s serious expression, he decided to keep his mouth shut and followed close. He had to stay close to his master in order to keep circulating the air around him.
Cyneah also sensed something was wrong when Kyran suddenly paused. But she remained silent. She also heard someone speak to her left but was unsure whom he was talking to since there were many moving lights around. Some were unmoving, but she ignored those and only followed Kyran.
But what puzzled her, when Kyran moved, the light she heard had spoken seemed to follow them as well.
‘Who is it?’ Kyran thought.
[I am not sure, Master. But I sense three people. Although only one has the strongest malicious intent.]
Kyran almost jumped in surprise when Zephyr suddenly replied on his head.
Did he accidentally learn to speak to others telepathically due to his deep concentration?
Nope.
He belatedly remembered that Zephyr was originally a beast, and as his Sigil, their connection would be stronger. It was how members of the Regis Clan who had tamed beasts could sometimes understand what their beasts wanted even when they could not speak human language. All they had to do was concentrate, and they would naturally be able to convey their thoughts.
‘Three? Can you gauge how far they are?’ Kyran asked.
[They are close, but I cannot see them. They’re probably using a spell to conceal themselves, or maybe they are wearing a similar array you have. It could also be a magic item or enchantment.]
Zephyr added the last two after remembering how far magic technology had advanced over the years.
‘Their level?’ Kyran asked again.
Zephyr paused for a moment and tried to sense them again before replying.
[They are far more powerful than those three.]
After hearing Zephyr’s answer, Kyran’s brow immediately creased. He knew who those ‘three’ were. It was the three Elite Combat Mages from the Templar Code. He remembered that they were at least Grandmaster level. Could those people follow him at least at the same level or even Exalted if that was the case?
Wait. Weren’t Exalted mages a level just below a Magus?
Kyran suddenly had the urge to curse out loud.
Among the big factions within the empire, only two had several Exalted mages. The Templar Code had seven, and the Royal Army had three official Exalted mages; the three deputy Marshals.
But the Templar Code couldn’t know about Kyran. Even if they found a clue about what he did in the Shaiha Ruins, they could not have discovered his trace that fast.
With this in thought, Kyran could only think of the other one.
‘The Royal Army?’ He thought through gritted teeth as he remembered what he read about the Royal Army’s unofficial record from Stella.
In the official record, the Royal Army only had three Exalted. But unofficially, there were another eight.
Those eight were members of the Royal Army’s Special Ops.
Kyran smiled bitterly as he thought of them. He had thought the Royal Army was only using the mercenaries and bounty hunters to find him while they were busy dealing with his clan. He did not expect that while the army sent low-ranked officers to deal with his clan, they actually sent three high-ranked officers to find him.
Kyran had to admit he had been misled this time. He always believed he was good at reading ahead of the situation. Today, he realized how wrong he was. Aside from this, he was also confident in his ability to cover his tracks, yet they still managed to find him.
‘There will always be someone whose better,’ he thought bitterly.
Taking a deep breath, Kyran calmed his heart and mind. He had no time to brood over his mistake. He was curious about how they found his trace, but he had to suppress his curiosity to focus on what he had to do.
Kyran laid out the clues he had on hand in his head.
While they found his trace, they only managed to trace him to this place. It meant they only discovered his trace recently. If he used the ‘supposed’ trace, the Mercenary Hall submitted as these people’s starting point, more likely they were already looking for his trace in the southern cities.
Kyran remembered the incident in the Misty Forest and guessed they most likely heard of it. Since it was close to the place connected to his predecessor, they probably searched for his trace around that area.
What kind of trace did he leave there?
The first thing that came to Kyran’s mind was the bodies of the bandits. He admitted that he did not bother to clean it up because he knew the beasts around there would have eaten their corpses. Besides, he did not leave any obvious marks on their bodies.
However, those people were Exalted mages. They might have another way to link him to the deaths of those bandits.
‘Or maybe, a special ability?’ Kyran wondered.
After recalling a talk he had with Nolan and Gage about people having a distinct smell, a thought popped into his mind.
Kyran’s heart sunk.
He had killed a lot of bandits that day. Though none of their blood nor flesh reached him because of his Void Armor, what about the ‘scent’ of their ‘death’?
All of these were only Kyran’s conjecture, but he had to deal with them as soon as possible if this was true.
That was right.
Kyran was not going to run away. Knowing someone had a troublesome ability to track him, he could not let that person live.
But to deal with that person, Kyran had to go all out. It also meant he had to get Zephyr and Cyneah out of the way.
While Zephyr might be able to help Kyran fight, he could not afford for Zephyr to reveal himself. Kyran did plan to kill those people tracking him, but if he failed and they knew about Zephyr, it would complicate things.
‘Zephyr, I want you to take Cyneah and get away from here as far as possible.’
Kyran finally spoke after a few minutes of silence.
Zephyr immediately frowned after hearing Kyran and stole a glimpse at the figure at his right side.
Zephyr already knew this person was the one Kyran mentioned who could heal his magic core. It was faint, but he did sense the power of soul around this human. So it was understandable that Kyran did not want this person to get caught up if a fight happened.
But what did Kyran mean ‘get away from here as far as possible’? Should he not be telling him to ‘get this human to safety and come back to provide support’?
Was Kyran planning to face those three alone?
[Master, you’re not planning to face them alone, are you?]
‘I am.’
[But—.]
‘I have a way to escape by myself. I don’t mind doing it now,’ Kyran cut him off.
Of course, he could not really do that. They were inside the town, and once he used his magic, he would be detected at once. He only said that because he knew how much Zephyr hated the feeling of being ‘warped.’
As expected, Zephyr immediately clammed up after hearing Kyran. After a short pause, he spoke again.
[They haven’t found you yet. Why not escape now while I still camouflage your presence?]
‘Because if we escape now, I will only be stressed out thinking when they will find me again. It’s better to deal with them now while I am ahead.’
Zephyr fell silent. He understood what Kyran meant, and he, too, believed it was better to make a move first while they were not aware.
[I’ll come back then.]
‘No need. Just make sure you keep Cyneah safe. Remember, she’s the only one I know who can cure my magic core.’
[You can just drink the Elixir.]
Zephyr could not help but complain.
‘Just do what I say,’ Kyran could not help but scowl at Zephyr’s direction.
[I can just leave—.]
‘No. Keep. Her. Safe.’
Kyran said, emphasizing each word.
Zephyr glared at him.
[I am your Sigil. It is part of my duty to protect you. Not your woman.]
Kyran’s brow twitched.
‘She’s not my—,’ Kyran reigned in his annoyance and instead took a deep breath before saying, ‘She can’t be left alone. You’ll understand soon.’
[Fine.]
Zephyr finally relented. He, too, was curious why his master was putting such importance on this human’s safety. Anyway, he could dump this human once he found a safe place and returned for Kyran.
‘Also, she knew me as Nar. Remember that,’ Kyran reminded Zephyr.
[Alright.]
As the three of them turned to a corner, Kyran looked at Cyneah and said in a low voice.
“Cyneah,” he started.
Cyneah’s head lifted slightly toward her left, where she heard Kyran’s voice.
“I need you to go with… Zephy for a bit—”
Zephyr’s brow twitched at how Kyran made his name sound ‘cute.’
“— because I had to do something first,” Kyran continued.
“Zephy?”
Kyran then looked at Zephyr as if to tell him to speak.
Zephyr frowned slightly as he looked at Cyneah.
‘This human is strange,’ he thought before clearing his throat in return.
Hearing the ‘light’ standing a few feet to her left, Cyneah turned her head toward him and nodded her head, “H-Hello.”
Zephyr could not help but raise a brow when Cyneah greeted him while looking at the space beside him.
Seeing this awkward scene before him, Kyran could only sigh. Looking at Zephyr, he said, “I’m going now. Make sure to keep her safe.”
“I know,” Zephyr replied with a scowl.
However, Kyran could not help but feel something was amiss as he looked at Cyneah. He suddenly remembered something and took out an orange potion and a jade disc in his pouch. Then he reached for her hand and handed the items to her.
The orange potion was the Invisibility Potion he got from Anette, while the jade disc was a Regis magic item that every child of the Regis possessed. It was an item that contained their ‘life essence .’ It was something that each Regis member used to keep ‘track’ of their children’s whereabouts.
“Drink this potion if you feel you are in danger,” he told her while letting her feel the bottle.
“How rude,” Zephyr complained on the side.
Ignoring him, Kyran let Cyneah touch the jade disc before he said, “If you ever drink the potion, hide and stayput. Then hold this jade disc tightly. I’ll come to you then.”
“Okay,” Cyneah replied as she tightened her grip on the jade disc.
Kyran looked at Zephyr again and communicated with him through his mind.
‘How does your camouflage works?’
[I need to be near you. Not more than five meters.]
‘Too short.’
[How rude!]
Kyran chuckled. He realized Zephyr’s come-back words were limited and did not include curse words. That was all good. Nolan’s foul mouth was enough for all of them.
Kyran looked around and saw an alley a few meters away to his right. He motioned his head over the alley’s direction before looking at Zephyr, and he instructed, ‘You and Cyneah enter that alley. Once I am out of your range, run as far away as possible.’
[Alright.]
‘Then let’s—.’
“N-Nar, something’s wrong.”
Cyneah’s soft voice suddenly spoke.
Kyran and Zephyr looked at her. Before any of them could ask her what she meant, she already said, “I-I only see four lights.”
“Four light—?”
Kyran’s eyes contracted as he grabbed Cyneah and pushed her to Zephyr before shouting, “Run!”
“Aww, why? Let’s play~.”
A man’s voice said from above.
“Spatial Manipulation!”
This time, it was a woman’s voice who had said these words, and instantly, a huge light-yellow magic array appeared on the ground and above as the whole surrounding crackled.