Kyran raised his hand and pointed at several people among the crowd of clan representatives who were busy defending against the bolts of lightning. The people he pointed at were those he would turn into Servants once he returned to the tower.
A dark purple Void rune, a symbol that meant Exclude, appeared above the heads of the few people Kyran had chosen. This rune resembled an inverted crooked trident, and it marked those people he would turn into his Servants.
Only the Ancients could read the Void rune. They avoided those people and only attacked those without them.
Demir, Quan, and Yule noticed that a Rune was floating above their heads and were alarmed. They believed it was something that came from the array formation and was meant to target them since they were the few mages who were focused on attacking it. Their first thought was to remove the rune mark by infusing their own magic energy into it.
But because of the lightning bolts that continued to rain down from the array, they were hard-pressed to spare any effort to remove the rune.
But then, instead of an increase in the lightning bolt attacks toward their direction, it was the opposite. Soon, the area around them quieted down as the lightning attacks ceased completely.
"What the hell is happening?" Quan wondered out loud. He was still trying to decipher the whole array formation, but because of the unknown runes written on it, especially those dark purple ones, he had no idea what it was supposed to do.
Obviously, the array formation was meant to summon those lightning bolts, but if that was the only reason, where did the runes that appeared above their heads come from? And what exactly was their purpose? Was it not to mark them for being the ones that were actively attacking the array and to focus fire on them? If so, why did the lightning attacks cease around them?
Before any of them could make sense of what was happening, a purple disc appeared beneath their feet and started to suck them in.
"This—!"
They immediately realized what the discs were supposed to do and had a foreboding.
Yule was the first one to react to the discs. His divine sense spread out as he enveloped everyone within ten kilometers of him with his magic energy.
Every mage his magic energy had enveloped felt a veil of coldness start to seep into their clothes before forcing their way into their skin.
If Yule had done this in a different situation, all of them would have resisted it. But because they knew what would happen if they allowed themselves to be sucked into those discs, they chose not to resist.
Yule's move was simple. He planned to create a Frozen Castle and imprison them in ice. Doing so would prevent them from getting sucked into the disc and being transported to who knew where.
Being imprisoned inside Yule's Frozen Castle was not without demerit. Unless one had immunity to Ice magic, their bodies would suffer internal coldness that would take years to recover.
But since they were all on good terms with the Glacio Clan, Demir, Quan, and the rest of their fellow representatives were not worried about being left on their own devices. They knew Yule would help them remove the internal coldness after they survived and returned to the Higher Realm.
Actually, Diara did not know what she felt. She was not angry, but she was not pleased as well. In the end, she could only keep her opinion to herself to ensure their clan's survival. After all, Kyran might not have accepted his role as the Realm Scion, but he possessed the most powerful and dangerous Ancient Magic.
If he wanted, he could revert everything to nothingness and recreate everything according to his will.
But...
'Is he even aware of what he can actually do with his magic?' Diara could not help but wonder as she turned her attention back to the scene before them. 'So far, all he's ever done with it is such trivial things.'
Kyran also turned his attention back to what was happening below. He might find it amusing to tease Diara, but he knew his priorities and thus had to keep an eye on the situation.
The Ancients had the advantage of their bodies, which caused them a natural affinity for all types of magic except Ancient magic. But the fact that they were outnumbered by a great deal could not be denied. Some of the clan representatives below were even peak High Sovereign.
They might be busy defending against the bolts of lightning, but that did not mean they were completely unguarded and could be taken advantage of.
"You guys have been hiding in the tower for thousands of years, but why haven't you managed to break through?" Kyran asked Diara.
"It's because we are the Ancients."
"..."
"I know it may not mean much to you. But the fact that our knowledge is far greater than the rest of the clans in The Realm means that it is hard for us to gain enlightenment."
Kyran was surprised to hear Diara's answer. Now that he thought of it, what she said made sense.
"If we come across something that seems new knowledge to us, we can understand it faster than the others. Moreover, we can come up with new ideas from it and improve it to greater heights."
Kyran's brow furrowed the more Diara explained why the Ancients struggled to receive enlightenment.
What she said just now sounded close to home. Was it not similar to his supposed innate ability that allowed him to understand concepts and theories even without practical use? He had always wondered why it was easy for him to learn combat and magic, but it seemed he got it from the Ancients.
Kairos explained what he meant about the Ancients creating humans. But even then, their creations mostly failed to form magic cores.
Eventually, they succeeded, and that was what the Higher Being had coveted.