Chapter 408 The Counter (3)

Standing on the front deck of a ship prepared by the Courtenay Family for the Conclave was Kyran. His eyes were closed as several dark purple orbs circled him. Within the orb's surface were glowing runic writings overlapping each other.

Behind him stood Stella, disguised once again as a member of the Alchemist Association, and the rest of the Conclave Council members overseeing the joint military exercise since day one; Callan, Noir, Malia, and Vaness.

They all wore a concerned expression as they watched Kyran in silence.

Almost an hour had passed from when the baby Echidna released its frightening aura and shook the whole island, rendering every leader of the factions watching the event rattled.

As soon as it happened, the Courtenay representatives reinforced the barrier around the island and activated the ships' defensive array to protect everyone.

To what exactly, none of them had any clue then.

After that, Patriarch Ernst summoned all their representative to an emergency meeting. The Royal Family and the Royal Army's deputy Marshals attended that meeting.

The Conclave was also invited. However, Noir declined the invitation and told them they had to contact the Head of Conclave first.

Truthfully, Noir wanted to join the meeting because their members were inside and worried for their safety. They were aware of the Courtenay and the Royal Army's conspiracy, but that would not stop them from joining hands with them to ensure their people could leave the island in one piece.

But Kyran telepathically asked him not to go, and without asking for an explanation, Noir acknowledged his request.

The Lumley Family and the Montgomeray Family remained silent. Their leaders were rattled, but since none of their members were inside the island, they decided to stay put. Of course, if the matter escalated and the emperor issued an order for them to help, they would lend a hand.

After ensuring that the ships carrying the representatives from the Courtenay Family, the Royal Family (the Crown Princess), and the Royal Army (all deputy marshals) left to return to the dome, Kyran summoned Stella, who had not left his domain after meeting with Ezra.

The council members were shocked. But after witnessing several shocking things about Kyran, they were already numbed to it.

Kyran told them he had been in contact with Neo from the start. He also told them there was a high chance that the Royal Army would be wiped out and Conclave members would follow if they did not make a move as soon as possible.

Stella and the council members did not question him. They were aware of his monstrous magic sense and were sure he had already checked what was happening on the island.

Before any of them could devise a plan, Kyran announced he would reveal what he could do to the Conclave members inside the island.

They all understood his decision.

It was better to reveal what he could do to a few people than risk having everyone in the Courtenay land caught on his real identity if he made a move from the outside.

As for why Kyran asked for Stella's presence, he needed her to revert his time while instructing Styx and the others on the island.

After all, he could not instruct each side at the same time.

Initially, Malia was against having Stella use her magic, but after explaining what the diamond studs she was wearing could do, it assured her, albeit a little. Kyran also told them he added an array within the ship's defensive array to ensure Stella's magic aura was concealed from the outside and camouflaged their action from the inside.

In any case, the target of Stella's magic was Kyran alone, so her aura would only appear within the ship.

Kyran opened his eyes and looked at the island up ahead. The dark purple orbs surrounding him were surveillance orbs transmitting information his magic sense picked up on the island. He needed them to record everything as Stella rewound his time to ensure he did not miss a thing.

"How is it?" Stella asked.

Unfortunately, Kyran was the only one among them whose magic sense's range could cover the whole island.

"Neo has started work on the Royal Army's array, while Styx and the rest regrouped to deal with the rest of the beasts," Kyran replied without looking at her.

"Is this really alright? Legendary beasts are not something three Grand Masters can handle," Malia asked.

His concern was reasonable. As far as they knew, the legendary beasts the Courtenay Family let loose on the island were incapable of overpowering themselves.

But a legendary beast was still a legendary beast.

Their innate ability and magic were far stronger even to a mage. Only Exalted mages and above could fight them. For this reason, the event's requirement when dealing with the legendary beast was to subdue and not kill it.

"Hm…" Vaness agreed. "The strongest from our side is Styx whose half-step in becoming a Grand Master. While Archel, Mitchel and Addie are all High Masters."

Vaness knew that a mage's level did not dictate the outcome of a fight. It would only affect it. What was important was to have a solid strategy.

However, one's strategy might be rendered useless in front of raw strength.

The baby Echidna unleashing its power could be counted as such an instance for Styx and the rest.

Noir suddenly chuckled, making the others except Kyran and Stella look at him.

"Vaness, I understand your concern. However, have you forgotten? Neo is not an ordinary mage."

Vaness knew this. But to ensure the Courtenay representatives would only detect Neo's mage level as Master, Kyran purposely lowered its magic input and output. Even if Kyran had a way to increase its magic level remotely, such a sudden change would not go unnoticed.

"I do remember," he replied while looking at Kyran. "But, it is one thing to reveal what you can do to Styx and the rest. If Neo's identity is revealed as well it will not be good for you."

"Styx already knows Neo is a puppet. He already told Addie," Kyran replied with a slight smile. "That geezer's intuition sure is good."

Kyran knew that showing his puppets in the Blacksmith Order was a mistake. But its consequences would not make a big difference, so he did not dwell on it. Besides, the Royal Family already knew about his puppet. The only thing they were not aware of was how many puppets he had.

"Thank you for worrying for my sake, Head Chief Vaness," Kyran said and looked at him, "But I already have thought of a story if others discovered one of my puppets."

Stella smiled wryly and said, "You don't plan on saying; since the joint military exercise was proposed on such short notice, the Conclave could not gather enough members, and thus, 'Tyr' suggested using his puppet?"

Kyran shrugged, "That's another option. There is no rule that says we can't use puppets. Honestly, I am thinking of going with this excuse; since they requested Tyr to participate as representative for both the Blacksmith Order and the Mercenary Hall, technically he counts for two heads. There is nothing wrong with having his puppet participate with him."

All of them let out a dry laugh.

The way Kyran sometimes talked about Tyr as if they were two different people was a little strange. Nevertheless, he did have a point, although it was ridiculous.

"Still, Neo's abilities are restrained right now because I was not expecting this to happen. I am positive the Courtenay Family and the Royal Army will try something in this event and will not make a mistake like this. At least, I thought they properly sealed the legendary beasts' real power since they know the Royal Army will aim for them."

"That's true," they all agreed.

'Unless they sealed only one beast...'

Kyran's eyes widened at this sudden thought. He spread his arms and let his magic sense seep into all the orbs circling him.

The orbs expanded as the runic writings inside flashed in rapid succession. Kyran's eyes turned reddish purple as he scanned all the information stored in the orbs.

"Kyran? What happened?" Stella asked but got a curt, "Shh," response from Kyran.

But she was not offended. It only meant Kyran saw something very urgent and had to concentrate.

The council members looked at him with grim expressions. They stayed as silent as possible to ensure they did not disturb Kyran.

The runic writings flashed rapidly in Kyran's eyes as he looked through the information.

'There!'

Finally, he found what he was looking for and checked its detail at once.

Because of the island's Magic Interference Array, Kyran could not use the full extent of his magic sense. At most, he could only see the location of each beast, but further 'examination' of their bodies was impossible. Or at least, he could not do it at the moment. He would have dealt with the Royal Army's array himself if he did. But then, doing so would likely trigger the Magic Interference Array and alert the Courtenay Family.

A one-meter radius purple magic array spread out from his waist as he used his Void magic to recreate the images of the legendary beasts on the island.

He could not examine the beasts inside the island, but if he recreated them outside, it was possible.

The council members gaped incredulously at the legendary miniature beasts that formed before Kyran.

Their size was only a foot long, but their details made them look real.

"So the other two legendary beasts are a baby Chimera and a baby Manticore...." Malia muttered under her breath.

"Where did the Courtenay Family got hold of these beasts?" Vaness wondered aloud.

Kyran's brow furrowed as soon as he found what he was looking for, "The Courtenay Family sealed all the legendary beasts' real power alright, but the seal on the baby Echidna and the baby Manticore are too lax compared to the baby Chimera."

"No!" Stella exclaimed, finally realizing what was happening, "The Royal Army is aiming for the Chimera, but when you baited them to go for the Echidna..."

Kyran lowered his hand and looked at her, "That's not really important right now. Just think, if their initial plan went accordingly, and our side also went after the legendary beasts..."

"Styx and the others will be in danger."

"The Royal Army probably did not know the Courtenay was lax with the seals on the other two beasts, but... tsk," Kyran clicked his tongue and looked at the island again. "They were not only lax. The seal on both the Echidna and the Manticore has a duration."

"What?" They all exclaimed in fright.

That was right. There was a good chance the seal on the Manticore had also been removed. But since the Echidna was the one in active battle, it was the first to release its real power.

However, if the Manticore felt threatened, it might also release its real power.

Kyran was tempted to go to the island. However, it was not because he was worried about Styx and the others.

He was worried Neo would be destroyed if it ended up facing two legendary beasts! He did not have any spare parts to fix him!

If the others knew what he was thinking, they would probably flip.

"I'll go to the meeting right now and tell them to stop the event at once," Callan suddenly said.

"And what will you tell them? The Courtenay Family will not admit their seals are lacking. If they did, then it will implicate the Royal Army as well," Noir said.

Kyran gritted his teeth and connected to Neo while checking on the position of the two legendary beasts.

At the moment, Neo was still busy with Royal Army's array.

'Neo, how long do you need to remove their array?'

[Master, I will still need at least fifteen minutes.]

As soon as Neo replied, Kyran checked on the Manticore's position.

The baby Manticore was only a hundred meters away from Neo's location. It seemed after the Royal Army trapped the baby Echidna within their array, the Manticore ventured toward the north. It probably thought the beast occupying the northern part was no longer there.

'That's not fast enough.'

[Apologies, master. I will do my best to cut it down to ten minutes.]

Kyran did not reply. Ten minutes was still not enough.

If they could forfeit the whole thing and have Neo and the others leave the island, they would have done so already. Unfortunately, the Courtenay Family's barrier on the island forced them to stay inside. They could not destroy the barrier with magic either because of the Magic Interference Array.

In short, they were trapped on the island.

Finally, after a tense few seconds, Kyran took a deep breath.

He unsummoned all the orbs and sat down on the floor.

Stella and the council members looked at him. But before any of them could ask what he planned to do, he said, "Stella, can you keep an eye out for when the Courtenay and the Royal Army comes back? I'm going in."

"Wait, what?" Stella exclaimed.