Legacy of the Dark Sage

Raelia was granted entry to the Dragon Plane and was escorted by two quilin officers to Ames's mansion.

Ames did not want to leave the Regis Terram, but because she could not allow Raelia to wander on her own, she returned to her mansion inside the Dragon Clan's Main Palace.

In her stead, Ames left another Regis Clan member to guard the gate. She also instructed him to call her immediately once the gate's path became more visible, underlining the urgency and importance of stabilizing it as soon as possible.

Ames's mansion in the Dragon Clan's Main Palace was not just bigger, it was a grand structure that dwarfed the villa where the Regis Clan members first stayed. However, unlike the villa, her mansion did not have many rooms. There were only a total of thirteen rooms: a receiving room, a dining hall, an indoor garden, and ten bedrooms.

The rest of the Regis Clan members that first came to the Dragon Plane were the only ones residing there and occupying about seven rooms. Their number was far more than the number of bedrooms in Ames's mansion, but because the rooms were large enough to accommodate four to five people, they only occupied seven rooms.

The quilin officers escorted Raelia inside the receiving room of Ames's mansion and stood guard at the door while waiting for Ames's arrival.

Upon arriving, Ames dismissed the quilin officers and the servants, who served some tea and light snacks.

Ames scowled while looking at Raelia sitting across her. The latter always wore an emotionless expression that annoyed Ames. But beyond Raelia's emotionless face was her deathly pale complexion, a testament that she was not in good condition.

"What happened?"

Ames raised a brow at Raelia's unexpected question. She intended to ask the latter that question first, but she beat her at it, resulting in her becoming stunned for a few seconds.

Seeing Ames's confusion, Raelia did not beat around the bush and explained, "I've heard the rumors about my clan and that your clan is involved."

"What kind of b*llsh*t have you been hearing?" Ames burst out in anger. "How did we get involved in an attack done by your beloved majesty?"

Ames practically spat out the last few words of her sentence in rage.

"...That is different from what I heard. The rumor said your representatives attacked our people during the Tower of the Ancients hunt. Our side managed to escape, but because of their severe injuries, they fell into a coma right after exiting the portal. Then your clan infiltrated our plane to silence them so they could not tell the truth of what happened.

If not for The Emperor's grace, who visited our clan and discovered the truth, we would not have known your clan's malicious act. Even during the attack on our plane, you used your destructive magic to cause great devastation and even implicate innocent lives."

Raelia's emotionless face showed a hint of emotion for the first time as she relayed the rumors she heard about her clan's fate. Still, she remained rational and did nothing more but tell Ames what she heard.

Contrary to Ames's usual behavior, she did not lash out at Raelia as soon as she finished speaking. Instead, she took a deep breath to calm herself.

The reason behind Ames's action was because she did not sense any ill intention from Raelia even when the latter's emotions were running high while relaying the rumor she heard. This meant that she did not completely believed the rumors and wanted to know the truth by visiting the Dragon Clan herself.

"But the cause of the destruction of our clan and plane was not entirely the Dragon Clan's fault. A mage— the sole survivor from the Demon Clan- suddenly appeared and challenged the Emperor's authority. Moreover, that survivor is working with the Void Master," Raelia continued with a slight frown. She was not stupid to believe all of that happened.

The story definitely had exaggerated and omitted parts— that was how rumors were.

"Frankly, I find those things hard to believe..." Raelia expressed her doubts, her pupils trembling slightly.

"That's why you chose to come here. To find out the truth yourself," Ames stated. To be honest, she was shocked to hear the rumor that Raelia had heard.

Ames was interested in knowing where Raelia had heard it from because the story had been modified solely to fool her. Moreover, it made the Emperor look good, as always.

"It is part of the reason, yes," Raelia admitted.

Ames cocked her head to one side, curious about Raelia's response.

"I'll explain my reason later. I want to hear the truth about what happened to my clan first."

"If you want to learn the truth," Ames said with a shrug. "Just ask one of your people."

Raelia's eyes widened in surprise. She was momentarily speechless, and when she sorted her thoughts and could speak again, she said, "They said my clan's fate is unknown..."

Her eyes narrowed as an idea started to form in her mind.

"That's what they said," Ames replied with a snort. "You're right about not believing immediately. For that, I commend you."

"..."

"In any case, one of your people is here. You can ask her about the truth."

"Who—?"

"Alta," Ames replied before Raelia could complete her question. "I believe that's her name."

Raelia's pupils trembled. She heard that Alta was among the known casualties of her clan.

"She just went somewhere with my father. Once they are done with that, they'll come straight here," Alta explained before Raelia could ask further questions. "In the meantime..."

Her expression turned solemn as she started at Raelia's face.

"Care to explain why you are in such a critical condition?"

"..."

"Don't try to deny. You don't look in pain, but you look like death, and you're sweating buckets. I'm surprised you did not even notice that."

"!"

If Ames had not pointed out the latter, Raelia would not have realized that she was indeed covered in cold sweat.

"...Then I'll explain why I am in this part of the realm..."

Raelia started by explaining The Emperor's orders and why she was tasked to search for Ruin and the Void Master in that area. She did not tell Ames about the secret mission The Emperor gave her, which was to infiltrate the rebel group, and only said that she had another task there.

Ames did not pry because she was more interested in what Raelia said after that. Her face also distorted slightly because she found the being Raelia met to be bad news. If that being managed to injure Raelia to this extent, then his magic level was comparable to an Overlord.

But the thing was, there were only a handful of Overlords in the Higher Realm, and no one possessed a black mist-like magic. There was a Mist Clan who possessed Mist Magic, but they did not have an Overlord, and they were a neutral clan that lived on a plane near the Adamas Clan. They would not dare do anything rash or even hide that an Overlord was amidst their ranks.

"A mist-like magic whose nature is nothing like Mist..." Ames muttered with a slight frown. She remembered someone who possessed similar magic, but that person was only a Sovereign. Besides, he was still in the Lower Realm and was busy completing the gate on the Regis Terram located inside the Regis Estate in the Lower Realm.

"To be honest, I don't think that being's magic is truly connected to Mist. Moreover, I had this odd feeling when he attacked me. It felt like he was aiming to destroy my core while leaving my body intact."

Ames looked at Raelia with narrowed eyes, "You mean he was aiming for your body?"

"I'm not sure. But it did feel that way."

"Who could that be...?"

"I managed to extract a sample of his magic energy," Raelia said, waving her hand to take out a cylinder with rune writings on both ends that acted as seals. Inside the cylinder was a swirling black magic energy that resembled a mist.

"Don't open that," Ames told her at once, the pupils of her eyes turning into slits. "If you do, he can track your location."

Raelia gaped at her in surprise, "You can see that?"

"My senses are telling me that," Ames admitted while eyeing the cylinder with contempt. "As much as I want to better grasp what that energy felt like, I don't want to lead such a dangerous being here."

"...Are you not suspecting me of bringing it here to implicate your clan?"

Ames snorted at Raelia's question and replied, "We had been at odds at several times because we are 'rivals.' But more than that, I respect you as a mage. I know you will not do a cowardly act like that.

"Besides, the fact that you asked that question yourself already proved that you don't have any plans on doing such a thing."

"!"

Raelia was about to say something when a suffocating pressure befell the room. Though the pressure did not appear hostile, it was still enough to make her insides churn in fear.

Raelia recognized who that pressure belonged to and did not expect him to come so soon.

"I'm coming in."

A thunderous voice announced behind the closed door. Following that, the door sprang open, and Aillos strode inside without a pause.

Raelia forced herself to stand and greet Aillos respectfully, "I bow before the Dragon Emperor."

"Hm," Aillos nodded his head and waved his hand dismissively at Raelia.

As soon as Raelia straightened her back, she saw Alta standing at the door with a shocked expression on her face.

"L-Lady Raelia?"

"Alta?"

Aillos glanced at them and said, "We'll give you two time to catch up while I talk to my daughter."

Raelia looked at Aillos, clearly surprised at his suggestion. She was about to ask if it was truly okay to leave them by themselves but then stopped herself in time.

Aillos was not giving them a chance to talk because he was generous. He simply wanted to give them some sort of privacy, even if it was only for show. They were inside the Dragon Plane, not to mention the clan's main palace. It was impossible to hide from Aillos's 'watch.'

"Right," Aillos said, turning his attention to the cylinder floating in front of Raelia and making grasping motions with his right hand.

Raelia did not react as the cylinder flew toward Aillos. She planned to give it to them in the first place.

"I'll keep this for now."

"Please."

Aillos gestured at Ames to follow him before leaving the room once more.

Ames followed after him without looking back at Alta and Raelia.

Once Alta and Raelia were left alone, Raelia did not beat around the bush and interrogated Alta at once.