'Seems like warping more than a hundred-meter radius of land puts a lot of strain on my body, not to mention it consumed quite a lot of magic energy,' Kyran thought expressionlessly.
Previously, when he transferred the cottage to the Misty Forest, he had True Void's and the array's help. Doing it by himself was actually more energy-consuming.
However, he was not worried about draining his magic core's energy. He was careful in exhausting his magic energy because he could not actively replenish his magic cores. If he did, he would definitely attract unwanted attention from his absurd ability to absorb surrounding magic energy.
Today, Kyran did not need to be careful. Frankly, he wanted to draw as much attention as possible in a short time.
Too bad the first ones who gathered were the Noser's city guards.
Stimulating the Shaiha in his body, the magic energies in the surrounding came rushing into Kyran. His body absorbed the magic energies like a vacuum, replenishing the Shaiha's core and all four magic cores.
The Shaiha masked his magic signature. However, Kyran willed it not to do so. Obviously, if he let it mask his magic signature, it would beat the purpose of drawing attention to himself.
Nonetheless, Kyran was getting impatient. He was tempted to remove the seal Mannick placed on his left arm to draw Ruin's attention as soon as possible. In the end, he did not do it. If he did, the Mark of Ruin would disrupt the Void magic energy circulation in his body and affect his actions, inadvertently placing a huge handicap on himself.
Judging by Kyran's train of thought, it was clear that he had not succumbed to his raging emotions. At least, not yet. Because he was still able to make a sound judgment.
A tangible, thick different colored magic energies circled Kyran within a fifty-meter radius. The beasts inside the rift behind him gave out a soft growl in appreciation as their bodies were also basked with renewed energy.
Back in the Courtenay Land, the explosion and appearance of the chunk of the city drew the attention of everyone inside the dome.
Shouts of pain and surprise could be heard within the city, confirming people within.
At the Crown Princess's balcony, Lira squinted her eyes and let her magic sense observe the city and the people within.
"Those people are Noser City's city guards!" She exclaimed in shock.
How did they end up here?
Even before Lira finished talking, Haylee had already made a move. She ran to the balcony's edge, and her sapphire blue eyes started glowing. Then she jumped off the edge, shocking Lira.
"Your Highness!"
But Haylee did not fall. As soon as her feet left the edge, she levitated and raised a delicate hand toward the city.
'Show me what you saw!' Haylee thought, directing her magic to a female city guard who was still feeling disoriented.
From the city, the female city guard suddenly felt her whole body tense up.
"Ugh!" She grasped her head and crouched down, feeling a crushing force grinding her head.
"Dane? Are you okay—?"
An older female city guard beside her looked at her in concern, but before she could even finish her question, the young female guard screamed as she arched her back and was lifted in the air.
"Aaaahhh!"
Haylee's expression distorted as images flashed through her mind's eye.
People were running in fear. A blinding purple light appeared at a corner of the street. Several groups of city guards gathered and ran in a deserted market district.
Finally, there was an image of a young man in black sitting on the edge of a tall building. Eight huge glowing reddish-purple-slitted eyes peered within the massive rift behind him.
This young man raised his hand, and a massive purple light covered the ground. Soon after everything, people and buildings came tumbling down.
Haylee released her connection with the young female guard as a nauseating feeling overcame her senses.
The invisible force that lifted the young female guard disappeared, and she fell straight to the ground. If not for the older woman with her, she would have hit her head hard and might suffer a severe concussion.
Haylee hastily landed on the ground and almost doubled over. The flow of magic energy inside her body was in disarray, affecting her sense of balance.
This was the problem with looking into other people's souls. Everything, including what one had felt during the experience, would also be conveyed to Haylee as if it was her own.
Haylee tried her best not to throw up. She did not expect to be this affected by a nauseating experience. But that was not important right now. What was important was the young man!
There were some slight differences, like the young man's build and the contours of his face, but that was definitely Kyran Regis! Haylee recognized him easier because he was starting to look more like Cade Regis in his youth!
"Princess!" Lira also landed on the ground and rushed to Haylee's side.
Looking at the approaching Lira, Haylee tried to stand but almost stumbled forward. But Lira reached her just in time to break her fall.
"Ugh..." Haylee covered her mouth as another bout of nausea overcame her.
"Princess!"
"Haylee!"
Euan's worried voice could be heard approaching them.
After the explosion, Euan, other faction leaders, most of the participants of the joint military exercise, and members of the Courtenay Family rushed out of the dome to see what had happened.
Seeing the chunk of a city appearing out of nowhere shocked them to their core. At the same time, fear slowly gripped their hearts.
It was not impossible for people or items to appear suddenly. But when they appear, most of the time, there would be an active transmission or transportation array in the area.
No such array could be seen. Apart from that, the city's rough edges were visible, which meant it was part of a whole before being 'transported' to this place.
That was simply impossible.
Unless...
"Father..." Haylee looked at Euan.
Euan looked at her meaningfully before looking at the city.
"They are from Noser, your Majesty," Lira reported.
"Your Majesty!" Ingrid and Imman also went to them, and they bowed their head toward Euan and Haylee.
"This is..." Ingrid started but was unsure if she was allowed to say more.
The rest of the leaders from the Courtenay, Lumley, and Montgomeray Families had also arrived.
Euan looked at them meaningfully and said, "Immediately contact our people in Noser and find out what is happening. Gather all available troops. We will set out at once."
"Father," Haylee reached out her hand to touch Euan. "I think it is best to let me go instead."
Euan looked at her with a slight frown, "Certainly not."
"We have to understand the situation first. If you go there personally, and the people of Noser see you, they may think we are dealing with a national-level calamity."
"Forget about national-level, whatever or whoever could do that—," Euan pointed at the city, "—is not something or someone we can deal with haphazardly!"
Haylee shook her head, "I can have them take care of it."
Euan, Ingrid, and Imman's expressions immediately turned rigid.
The leaders of the other factions noticed it but could not follow. All of them looked at each and saw doubt in each other's eyes.
Haylee also eyed the others before looking at Euan and the two deputies meaningfully, "She and Gael are nearby, and I can ask them to go there at once."
Euan's frown deepened. To be honest, he had a bad feeling about the outsiders. However, Haylee assured him they were part of her inheritance in the Winfrey Ancestral Lands. Since it was the first time a first princess succeeded in receiving the inheritance, Euan could not confirm its reliability. If not for his trust in Haylee, he would have ordered to lock them up. Nevertheless, it was true those outsiders were listening to her words. Thus, he could only let her deal with them while Lira kept a closer watch to ensure her safety.
Before Euan could decide, someone spoke from behind.
"Your Majesty."
They all turned and saw Mannick running toward them. He actually came out from the middle entrance of the dome, meaning he had been in the hall instead of the quarters.
Behind him, more people came running, including people from the Conclave.
Malek and Noir were the ones leading them. Tagging behind them were Tyr and the other Conclave's acting leaders.
"Mannick," Euan looked at Mannick.
Mannick bowed his head before straightening his back to report, "Before the explosion, someone reported people appearing in the center hall."
Imman, who was looking at him disdainfully, said, "Humph. Excuses. When we all came rushing out, I did not see you in your room."
Mannick looked at him indifferently, "How would you know? Did you peek into my room?"
"Stop."
After Euan's warning, the two lowered their head, "Your Majesty."
"What did you say about people appearing in the center hall?"
Mannick straightened again and nodded, "Yes. All of them are wearing the Noser city guards uniform."
Patriarch Ernst, who was among the Courtenay leaders, let out a gasp.
"T-That can't be... Though there is a transmission array in the center hall for an emergency, it is not connected to Noser...."
"Are we really going to act like we don't know what is happening?"
Someone from the crowd said.
The expressions of those who knew could not help but distort further, while others who knew but were unsure looked unsettled.
They all looked at the person who had spoken.
When all eyes rested on him, Tyr gave a slight shrug and said, "What? Do you want me to spell it out? If those guys did not come here through a transmission or transportation array, then it's through teleportation using Space magic."
Then Tyr smiled but did not reach his eyes as he continued, "But we all know that's impossible. Because teleportation using Space magic can only 'shorten' the distance between two points. Noser is on the other side of the empire, which means it's not teleportation but through..."
He paused dramatically before saying, "Warp."
An oppressive air swept through the group.
Haylee looked at Tyr. She wanted to smile like she usually would, but at the moment, she could not. She said, "You seemed to be enjoying this, Disciple Tyr."
Tyr only shrugged in reply.
"Isn't it about time you come clean as well, your Majesty?" Malek suddenly said while looking at Euan.
Euan's eyes flickered, but he did not react to him. Instead, he looked at Haylee and said, "Tell them to stall for time. I will mobilize the army and will come as soon as possible."
Haylee nodded, "Yes, Father."
"Mannick, Imman, follow me. Ingrid, take care of those people."
"Yes, your Majesty."
The four left at once.
Haylee also turned to leave with Lira. As she passed beside Tyr, she stopped and opened her mouth. However, she closed them again and left without uttering anything.
The leaders and members of the Lumley Family also left in a hurry. It was unknown what they wanted to do.
Those who stayed behind looked at each other without saying anything. Then they, too, hurried back to the dome.
*
Back in Noser City, Kyran's actions had already attracted people in the residential district, sending them into a panic. Because of this, the Royal Army stationed there finally made a move. They mobilized their people and immediately went to the market district.
As soon as Kyran sensed the approaching army, his reddish-purple eyes flashed viciously, and a smile appeared on his face.
'Three... Four... At least seven squads. Tsk,' he tilted his head to one side. 'They are underestimating me. Guess I'll have to convince them otherwise.'
He turned his head slightly to his right to look at the rift and said, "Manti, you go first."
The manticore roared in excitement as he stepped out of the rift.
Ripples of magic energy surged out from the rift as the air crackle from the sudden rise of magic fluctuation.
Manti, the manticore, looked at Kyran and growled softly as if asking for something.
Kyran raised his brows and looked in the direction of the approaching army, and he said unhesitantly, "I don't care. Do what you want."
RAWRGH!
Manti roared as he looked toward the approaching army. He jumped down from the building, and in a flash, he arrived at their spot.
In a matter of a second, hair-splitting screams filled the air.