Hearing Kyran's cheeky reply made the two white-robed Grand Master mages with the middle-aged man seethe with anger.
The one on the left gritted his teeth while stepping forward and growled, "Such insolence! I will pluck your tongue and use it as feeds to the—"
The middle-aged man raised his hand to stop the man from speaking further.
"Master Tobias," the white-robed Grand Master wanted to complain. In the end, he held his tongue and stepped back, while looking at Kyran spitefully.
The people below who heard the Grand Master said the middle-aged man's name all gasped in shock.
"D-Did he call that man Tobias?"
"No way, sir Tobias? THE sir Tobias? One of the only two mages the Royal Family granted a magic amnesty token?"
"Then this pressure... c-could this be him displaying his forbidden gravity magic?"
The people from the Blacksmith Order whispered to one another.
Kyran heard them and frowned inwardly.
It was not the first time Kyran had met a person who possessed forbidden magic, with the first one being Vera from the Royal Army.
Because Space magic's nature appeared similar to Void magic, it was also classified as a forbidden magic albeit, a low-risk one. Space magic was good for espionage and sneak attacks, after all. If left alone, any mage possessing it could do all sorts of crime.
There were a number of other forbidden magic categorized as low to medium risk, and Gravity magic was also one of them.
Most mages who possessed low to medium risk forbidden magic had all been recruited into the Royal Army or the Royal Family's Royal Guards. Anyone who refused was either executed in public or put into prison depending on the offense they had committed.
Of course, there was another way to avoid public execution or going into prison, other than joining the Royal Army or the Royal Guards, and that was if that mage passed the Royal Family's requirements in receiving a magic amnesty token.
Possessing a magic amnesty token meant that a mage who possessed a low to medium risk forbidden magic could roam the empire. In turn, that mage would be closely monitored and had to answer the Emperor's summon at any time.
In the Ylfaen Empire, there were only two mages who had been granted a magic amnesty. Tobias of the Lumley Family was one.
Kyran read about the magic amnesty token before, but because his Void magic was a high-risk, not to mention, that his predecessor was known to be the evilest and most ruthless mage in history, he did not think much of it.
In any case, if what Kyran heard about Tobias was true, then his initial speculation that the other 'observers' were from the Crown Princess's side was confirmed.
It appeared the Lumley Family's decision in coming here was not as simple as Kyran had initially thought. If his new speculation was correct, then the Lumley Family's move to defame him could have been under the Royal Family's order.
Kyran was still unsure of the reason but it was probably to test how he would act and also to understand the Conclave's real stance regarding him.
"I did say, 'not on my watch,'" Tobias said, snapping Kyran out of his reverie.
His cold expression and refusal to come down from above showed how much he looked down on Kyran.
This irked Kyran. But he kept his pained expression to keep up with his act, and replied, "Ah, I see."
He shifted his hands which were still holding the hammer's shaft as if to show how much it had become a burden to hold, especially with Tobias's pressure still weighing down from above.
The hammer's weight practically tripled from the pressure.
"You're telling me that I was only able to do what I want to your..." Kyran looked at Matias before looking back at Tobias, "err... Young master because you were not around earlier."
"Of course," Tobias replied in a very condescending tone.
"Is that right? Then you and those two clowns behind you, hiding earlier doesn't count as 'on the watch.'"
"You!"
"Insolent!"
The two white-robed Grand Masters immediately flared, their magic energy rising.
Tobias smiled at Kyran, but his smile did not meet his eyes.
"Cheeky brat. Do not test me," he said and summoned a huge dark violet magic array above.
The moment the magic array appeared, the ground below cracked and everything on the surface within a twenty-meter radius around Kyran sank two feet deep.
This included the white-robed mages and even Matias who was still unconscious.
Kyran's knees almost buckled from the pressure and he was almost forced to kneel. However, he gritted his teeth and also summoned several light golden magic arrays which covered almost every part of his body to fight the pressure.
The barrier around the Blacksmith Order's building flickered but remained unscathed.
Though the pressure from Tobias's magic array was powerful, it was not enough to put any threat on the Blacksmith Order's defensive array. All the members inside remained safe and could only look at Kyran in fear.
They wanted to help but knew it was impossible. Instead, they send another distress signal to President Sigma and Chairman Noir.
Meanwhile, Tobias's eyes narrowed as he looked at Kyran. He initially thought the latter would not be able to withstand his pressure. He did not expect him to still manage to stand after this.
While watching Kyran thrash their people earlier, Tobias sensed something strange from his use of magic. But he did not think much of it because, at the end of the day, Kyran's magic was only strengthening type. He might have been capable of fighting equally or even overpowered Matias and the rest of the white-robed mages with him, but in front of a higher-level mage like him, Kyran was nothing.
And yet, Kyran managed to stay standing.
Apart from this, Tobias was also surprised that he had sensed them 'hiding' earlier. If they were hidden by a spell then he would not really be surprised. Cast spells could easily be seen through with another spell, after all. But he had used an ancient relic that was also a Lumley Family heirloom that could manipulate space. For short, they hid inside a space distortion, it was impossible for a Master level mage to detect it.
"I-If you are really here for your young master," Kyran started, trying his best to act in pain. To be honest, he was already exhausted from acting and was itching to throw the hammer at Tobias's annoying face. Alas, he had to persevere if not, he might blow his cover. "I would suggest you stop showing off and come down here."
As Kyran said this, he lifted the hammer in his hand with great difficulty, then he added, "If not, I might just slip."
Tobias frowned at Kyran's words.
"Humph, I do not take orders from a brat like you," he replied. "In any case, you have hurt young master Matias, and will have to come with us."
Kyran sneered inwardly.
After all that was said and done, it appeared their main goal was to get him!
Of course, this was only his speculation. He still felt something was off.
"Come with you?" Kyran replied and snorted, "You think I'll agree?"
"It doesn't matter whether you agree or not," Tobias replied, his eyes glinted maliciously at Kyran. "You have hurt our people and even rendered young master Tobias unconscious, you are guilty of this crime and thus, you will come with us to receive just punishment."
Kyran heaved a sigh.
This time he did not mask his annoyance. He did not even bother to act in pain anymore as he stood straight as if the pressure had no effect on him at all.
"Seriously, are all the Lumley Family members retarded?"
Tobias and the two white-robed mages behind him, all seethed in anger from Kyran's words.
"Such insolence!"
"You dare to say such—!"
"Yes, I do dare," Kyran interrupted them before they could say more.
The dark violet magic array above crackled as additional rune writings appeared.
Semi-transparent dark violet orbs appeared around every member of the Lumley Family including Matias. At the same time, a black hole appeared at the center of the magic array.
'This?' Kyran frowned slightly as he sensed a powerful magnetic force from the hole. Then almost in that same instant, he felt a powerful tug as his body appeared to be attracted to the black hole.
Was this not almost the same as his Void's absorption ability?
"Tsk," Kyran gritted his teeth, and removing all pretense of acting 'weak,' he whirled the huge hammer in his hand and slammed it on the ground before him.
The ground which had been covered by cracks instantly exploded and bits and pieces of earth filled the whole surrounding.
"Humph, child's play." Tobias harrumphed as he raised his hand and several dark violet magic arrays appeared almost filling the air.
In an instant, all the pieces of the earth from the explosion got attracted to the magic arrays.