Chapter 280: Preparation

Chapter 280: Preparation

"The Crown Princess?" Stella repeated in surprise.

The Conclave of the East had the largest and most intricate information network in the empire. For this reason, it was close to impossible for people to hide things from them.

As for tracking the whereabouts of known people in the empire, their information was far more reliable than other factions. Though they would not accurately pinpoint the exact location of these people, they would at least keep tabs on their activities almost in real-time.

Note that the keyword here was 'would not,' meaning if they wanted to, they would be able to. And for this was why Stella was surprised to know the Crown Princess had actually arrived in Starhorn. As far as their network was concerned, the Crown Princess had never left the palace.

Kyran saw Stella's surprise and somewhat disbelief in her eyes. But he did not try to convince her and went on his way out of the room.

Seeing Kyran leave, Stella snapped out of her reverie and went after him.

"Kyran wait!"

Outside they found Malek, with Hugh, Malia, and Noir had already arrived. Behind them, Nolan's essence was following close by. There were also a few people in the tower training outside.

When Malek saw Kyran was not wearing any disguise, his brow furrowed at once, and he was about to use his domain to obscure Kyran's appearance from the rest of the people outside. However, Kyran was a tad faster in moving. With a wave of his right hand, all of them suddenly disappeared.

And when they reappeared, they found themselves inside the Tower's conference hall.

The fluency of Kyran's movement caused all of the council members' minds to reel.

When Malek and the others disappeared back in the training grounds, those who saw them gaped in surprise.

"W-Where?'

"Wasn't Head Master Malek and the others just standing outside the training hall's entrance?"

"I think I saw the Lord of the Tower flew in earlier. Maybe the Lord has used the tower's transportation array to transport them out?"

"I did not see any array, though."

"Is that even important? She's the Lord of the Tower. She can do anything within the tower."

"Ah, now that you say that. You're absolutely right."

The people outside murmured among themselves. Though they were surprised, they did not overthink it because they had seen the Lord of the Tower use the tower's transportation array in the past.

Meanwhile, in the tower's conference hall, the four council members were shaken to their core. Although, Malek and Hugh, being a Magus, were able to conceal their surprise. Noir and Malia, on the other hand, gaped at Kyran in complete shock.

However, Kyran ignored their look of surprise and made his way to the seat he had taken the last time he was here.

As he did, he passed by Malek, who gave him a profound look.

When Kyran saw this, he returned Malek's gaze and said, "Well, hello to you again. It's been err… a few weeks now but has your body recovered well?"

Malek's brow furrowed in an instant. Before he could retort, however, Stella had spoken first.

"Kyran, just now— d-did you just—?" She stammered.

Kyran looked at her, "Warp? Yes, I did."

Then he paused as if recalling something and added, "Ah, right. Don't worry. Before I am not familiar with how to warp others along with me, so they tend to get sick. But that won't happen… unless I intend to."

"No," Stella started but stopped, then frowned slightly, "What I mean, okay."

As if realizing something, her expression turned grim, and she shook her head, "No! That's not what I want to say!"

Stella looked at Kyran worriedly and pointed, "What if someone recognizes your aura when you use such a powerful magic?"

"Powerful magic? Warping? You're thinking too much," Kyran brushed off her concern, "Warping is just a basic skill."

Upon hearing Kyran's offhanded remark, the expressions of the four council members turned blank. Their worldview seemed to have gone a dramatic change just by his words.

Kyran caught sight of Noir, and he immediately stopped to face him before lowering his head in a bow.

"Master Noir," he greeted.

Noir snapped out of his stupor and looked at Kyran in mild surprise, "No, please. I…"

Kyran straightened and smiled slightly at Noir.

"Though I'm only borrowing Tyr's identity, the fact that you taught me the fundamentals of Array doesn't change. If you feel uncomfortable with my address then—."

"No, that's fine." Noir replied at once. Then he cleared his throat and added, "I just did not think you'll feel that way… But well, anyway. Thank you. I may not be your real master, but if you ever needed any help, just let me know."

Kyran suddenly smiled awkwardly and said, "Actually, I do. But we can talk about that later."

Noir gaped for a second before nodding his head in agreement. How come it felt as if Kyran had led him on?

Kyran made his way to his seat and looked at them.

The four council members still looked a little confused.

"Kyran," Stella started. But then she stopped, clearly unsure where to start.

Kyran looked at her, then to the rest of the council members before looking to the side, where Nolan's essence was currently leaning casually at one of the columns, silently looking at them.

Nolan had lowered his cloak, but the expression he wore at the moment was unreadable.

Earlier, the reason why Kyran did not continue to talk to Stella was that he sensed Malek and the other three council members' presence nearby. Since he did not want to discuss such an important matter in the training room, he went out to take all of them to the conference hall.

Instead of waiting for them and telling them to change locations, Kyran felt it was faster to meet them halfway and warp them.

"I'll make this short, but take a seat first," he told them.

Malek looked at Kyran with a strange glint in his eyes. If he had to be honest, something about the young man before him felt different. Kyran seemed to show his animosity by commenting about Malek's body, but there was no real ill-intent. To Malek, Kyran even sounded like he was making fun of him, similar to how friends do.

The thought made Malek shiver inwardly. What the hell was he even thinking?

After a short awkward silence, Malek was the first to move and walked toward his seat.

His action seemed to trigger a domino effect, as the rest followed suit.

Nolan, however, remained in his spot and still looked at them with an unreadable expression.

Once the council members were seated, as well as Stella, Kyran started.

"Right now, I know you're all rushing to fix the defensive array because the Royral Army's monthly inspection is just around the corner. But I can say this now, you won't make it in time."

Noir sighed at his words.

The truth, when Sigma barged in their meeting, they were discussing this very matter. They already anticipated the monthly inspection would soon come, but they were confident they would be ready before then. Unfortunately, the letter came last night informing them the inspection would happen next week, almost a week ahead of their expectation.

"But you don't have to worry about that. I said this before. Since I caused the array's destruction, I'll help fix it," Kyran told them.

Stella looked at him, "You've already done enough."

"Let's say I do. Are you going to prevent me from helping and let the army know about the array?" Kyran replied without looking at her.

Stella fell silent. He had a point.

It did not matter whether Kyran had already done enough to help them. They needed all the help they could get in fixing the array as soon as possible.

Malek frowned slightly at Kyran's attitude toward Stella. But because of the urgency of their situation, he chose to reign in his disapproval and instead asked, "If you help us, will we really make it in time?"

Malek's question was asked sincerely. There was no hint of disapproval nor derision from his words that Hugh, Malia and Noir was taken aback. They initially thought Malek would ridicule Kyran.

Kyran looked at Malek. He was also surprised at the latter's attitude.

But then he guessed the urgency of their situation might have influenced Malek's attitude. Apart from this, Malek was a Magus. He might have already noticed the changes in Kyran's strength.

"Yes," Kyran nodded in response to Malek's question. "And you will have plenty of time to prepare for other things."

Noir could not help but frown. It was not that he did not believe Kyran's help would expedite the array's restoration because he knew Kyran's talent in Array. However, the other cause of delay in the array's restoration was a shortage of materials.

Because of the Royal Family's decree and the refusal of the Conclave to take part in the newly established Elite Force, they agreed to provide for the materials needed in upgrading the magic detectors.

Unfortunately, some of the materials they needed were also the ones they needed in the tower's array. In the end, they decided to prioritize the needs of the Elite Force to keep the Royal Family from asking why they lacked materials.

Before Noir could voice his opinion, Kyran had already guessed it, so he said, "You don't have to worry about the materials."

Even before he finished what he was saying, he reached out his right hand over to the big round table, and a purple mist appeared. The mist moved, and soon it turned into a perfect replica of the whole Tower of Conclave, albeit in purple.

If Kyran only created the tower's replica, it would not cause them to look on in shock. However, as soon as the replica of the tower was completed, it turned semi-transparent, and a dark shade of purple depicting the tower's new defensive array's formation overlapped with it.

"T-This—!" Noir exclaimed.

The array formation within the tower's replica had the exact details of every formula and even the areas where it was still incomplete because of a lack of materials.

But that was not the only reason Noir or the rest of the council was surprised.

They were surprised that Kyran could replicate the whole array without even seeing the blueprint.

"If you're worried if the array's blueprint has been leaked, I assure you it's not. Currently, I replicated what I can see," Kyran told them.

Malek and Hugh's eyes instantly narrowed at Kyran's words.

As a Magus, they clearly understood what Kyran meant about 'seeing', and their hearts trembled at once.

Nolan, who was silently looking at them, could not help but sneer. He already knew Kyran's monstrous magic sense. Thus he was not surprised that Kyran could see a lot in such a short time.

"Anyway, from what I can see, the array is about 70% complete," Kyran continued.

"I…" he paused before saying, "I'll take care of the rest, but I request you pull everyone from the order out."

"Alright," Malek was the one who agreed at once.

Noir did not say anything since it was the Head Master's decision.

Stella as well remained silent and let Malek handle the rest. She was not entirely clueless about arrays, but at the moment, she was trying to sort her thoughts about the matter regarding the Crown Princess's arrival at Starhorn.

Kyran nodded and looked at Noir before continuing, "Master Noir, I will make some changes in the calculation. Will that be okay?"

Noir raised his brows in surprise.

"I suppose… if it will help the tower's defenses, then that is alright," he answered. "But can I see it before you do?"

"Of course," Kyran replied. Then he glanced in Nolan's direction before adding, "In case others noticed the array has changed, please tell them he was the one who did it."

No one objected. They more or less understood why Kyran requested it. Besides, they initially wanted to ask Nolan's assistance after realizing Stella employed his services because he was adept in Array.

Unfortunately, Nolan was not interested in helping them and was only here because he waited for Kyran.

"Finally," Kyran continued as he lowered his hand. The replica of the tower and its defensive array slowly dissolved in the air.

"What I'm about to say is just my own conjectures, but I hope you will keep it in mind when you make your own preparations."

Kyran's words piqued Malek and the other three council members' interest.