Before Ames could reply, Raya stepped forward and respectfully lowered his head in her direction, saying, "I'm sorry, Lady Ames, I am of the same mind with sir True Void. I want to look for the young master first."
Ames scowled but did not say anything as she studied Raya and the faces of the rest of the Regis Elite. They all wore an expression that said they would look for their young master, and not even Ames could stop them.
Ames let out an exasperated sigh and said, "I understand. But the situation in the Higher Realm has changed."
From Ames's tone, a thought crossed Alastor's mind, and he slowly understood the situation.
"You don't mean..."
Ames did not say anything, but how she looked at him was enough to confirm his guess.
Alastor and the others witnessed the confrontation between Ames and the enemies from inside the meeting room. After watching the exchange, he found Raeelia's aggression toward Ames a little strange.
The rivalry between Ames and Raelia was known in the Higher Realm. Nevertheless, the two never really confronted each other, at least not in the spur of the moment. Most of their confrontation was through friendly spars or military exchanges between two clans because the Higher Realm was relatively at peace.
If they fought seriously, The Emperor would have pressured both clans to prevent the situation from escalating.
Then again, because Raelia was from the Blade Dancer Clan, who were loyal to The Emperor, he might side with them and punish the Dragon Clan for causing friction in the Higher Realm.
Fortunately, Raelia was still reasonable, and even if she was a loyal subject of The Emperor, she was not fixated on Ames or wanted to settle nonexistent scores.
Because of this, Alastor found Raelia's sudden fixation with Ames very strange.
Alastor did consider that The Emperor might have commanded Raelia to find Ames. But even as the idea crossed his mind, Alastor rejected it. Because if that was the case, why did Raelia not arrive with The Emperor's Elite Mages? Also, the Elite Mages looked relieved when Raelia appeared, making Alastor guess she did not receive an order from The Emperor personally but was invited by the Elite Mages.
Regardless of the truth, Alastor felt Raelia's appearance was unplanned. Her deliberately ignoring the Regis Elite and only aiming at Ames was also suspicious. It felt as if she did not care about what would happen to The Emperor's Elite Mages.
Not only that, even if Raelia was fixated on Ames, her attacks did not carry any weight. She bombarded Ames with her blades, but that was all. The Lower Realm might have restrained her magic, but it was the same with Ames. If not, the latter would have returned to her dragon form and destroyed The Emperor's Elite Mages in one fell swoop.
But even if Raelia's magic was restrained, her attacks should be on par with Ames. With the latter getting attacked by the Elite Mages, she would not have been able to defend herself from Raelia's every attack.
But Ames did. She even succeeded in decommissioning a few of them.
Considering all these, Alastor concluded that Raelia came there for another reason, and whatever it was, it made Ames decide to return to the Higher Realm.
Axil, Loar, and Wings could only observe the silent exchange between Ames and Alastor. Unlike the two, they had no dealings in the Higher Realm. To be more precise, they had no way of getting there. Thus, getting involved in their affairs was pointless.
"Ames," True Void called. "I don't care about your business in the Higher Realm. But if you half-heartedly deal with Kyran being chased by The Emperor, then you should not have gotten involved in the first place."
Ames narrowed her eyes, "I am not. You think I don't care what happens to him? The Shaiha chose him. Not to mention, he possessed two Ancient Magic Cores..."
Her expression suddenly hardened as a voice from her memory flashed through her mind.
"Is it possible for one person to possess two Ancient Magic Cores?"
The voice belonged to Zane, and his question was directed to Ames's father, the Dragon Emperor.
"There is a rumor in the Lower Realm that speaks of another route to the Higher Realm," Alastor explained.
To be fair, that rumor originated in the Higher Realm, so Ames knew of it. Nonetheless, the chances of a mage from the Lower Realm arriving at the Higher Realm through The Land of Desolation were zero.
The amount of magic energy a mage from the Lower Realm possessed was inferior to that of a Higher Realm mage. This alone could dictate one's life or death inside The Land of Desolation.
When Alastor saw Ames's furrowed brows, he hastily continued, "You may be thinking that someone from the Lower Realm could not possibly survive the journey to the Higher Realm from that place. And you are correct. But as you said, our young friend can control the Void.
What if— and I want to emphasize the if here— he could somehow traverse through The Land of Desolation without being affected by its magic energy restriction?
"And you may not be aware of this, but The Land of Desolation is not really deprived of magic energy. There is a barrier that seals off magic energy in that place. However, there are cracks in it where magic energy leaks. The only problem is that it is hard to absorb the magic energy from there because of the black holes that spawned near those cracks."
"Black holes?" True Void asked with raised brows.
Alastor nodded, looking at True Void with a slightly awkward expression.
"That's right."
"Young master is capable of summoning a black hole," Myst chimed in. "Is it possible for him to control those and—."
"I don't think it is possible," Alastor replied, slightly shaking his head. "Although black holes possessed a Void's nature, the ones in The Land of Desolation are natural. Besides, there is no Magic Law in that place. This means it is difficult to rouse one's magic..."
"He still can... I am sure of it," Cyneah suddenly said, garnering everyone's attention again.
Ames frowned at her words but did not say anything. Cyneah spoke with certainty that even Ames found it hard to refute her words.
"I can't explain it in words. But I know he is there and can pass through and enter the Higher Realm from there."
Silence ensued after Cyneah shared her thoughts.
After a moment's pause, Ames heaved an audible sigh and said, "If that is indeed the case... Then we have to change our course of action."
*
"Ngh...!"
Kyran let out a muffled groan as he got thrown out of what appeared to be another black vortex.
The force at which he got thrown out was quite powerful and sent him hurling forward for several kilometers per second.
Fortunately, Kyran sensed the abundance of magic energies in the surroundings, which allowed him to replenish his near-depleted magic cores. After which, he used his magic sense to control the surrounding magic energies to regain his balance and hover in midair.
When Kyran succeeded in regaining his balance, he surveyed his surroundings. Soon, his brows furrowed as he noticed something was amiss.
He intended to influence the black vortex with his magic energy and manipulate it into warping him to his desired destination.
That did not happen; instead, he was thrown into an entirely different location.
'Where the hell am I?'