It has already been a week since Raya and a few other Regises set off on their secret expedition, descending into the depths of Coelus's tomb.
Ames and Myst monitored their progress, and that afternoon, they finally reached the periphery of the seal's formation.
At the moment, Raya and the rest were meticulously scouring the area they calculated to have been where Kyran's domain touched the seal while Ames and Myst waited for their update with bated breaths.
"If Kyran felt a reaction as soon as he used his domain, the damage to the seal's surface should have been obvious," Ames voiced her doubts when Raya had yet to report back their findings after more than three hours of searching.
Myst furrowed his brows. He understood where Ames was coming from. The seal's damage should be obvious if Kyran's reaction happened sequentially. For this reason, he was similarly in doubt as to why Raya and the others had not found anything.
"Or did they?" Myst muttered as a scary thought flashed through his mind.
Ames looked at him and her expression turned grim because she had guessed what he had thought.
"True... they might have encountered something bad down there. However, Father has been using his Divine Sense continuously to observe activities underground. He should have noticed it if something happened to Raya and the others."
What Ames said made sense, and although Myst was convinced, he still could not shake off the bad feeling that came over him at the possibility of danger Raya and the others might encounter.
Between Myst and Raya, the former was far stronger in terms of magic combat because the latter's Memory magic could only be used as support. It could be used to attack enemies mentally, but inflicting mental attacks was tricky and only worked if the enemy's guard was lowered. It could not be compared to offensive-type magic that could be used directly or indirectly.
Myst was worried that if Raya and the others encountered something underground that they could not deal with their physical prowess alone, having offensive-type magic would be helpful. But if even their offensive-type magic was not enough...
All Regises that came with Ames were actually combat mages. But while they were considered a force to be reckoned with in the Lower Realm, they were nothing in the Higher Realm.
Myst knew that better than anyone, especially when they had been subjected to severe beating whenever the dragons agreed to spar with them.
As if reading what was on Myst's mind, Ames smiled bitterly and said, "Don't worry. It is true that there are underground beasts lurking around the tomb, but I am confident with Raya and the others' ability to fend for themselves, even without magic. I have witnessed your growth for the past months, after all."
Myst looked at Ames, "The tempering we've received whenever we sparred with your people has truly helped us improve, but at the end of the day, our bodies are still that of a human. There is only so much force that our body can take."
Ames did not respond. She could not because Myst was right. They might have taken a drop of dragon's blood, which helped awaken their inherent trait of being her descendants. However, their body was still human. They did not possess an Ancient Body like Kyran who could adapt well to the changes to his body.
"They will be fine," Ames finally said after a moment's pause. "If we don't get any update from them in the next hour, I will go down and see the situation myself."
.net
"T-That is not my intention, Lady Ames. I am only—."
Bzzt!
The two were jolted by a buzzing sound from the tablet, signifying an incoming feed.
Ames immediately turned on the secret channel, and Raya's, along with a few other Regises' silhouettes, appeared on the screen.
Their silhouettes were a little shaky, meaning the magic energy around them was a little unstable.
"Lady Ames—?"
Krrshk.
"Myst—?"
The feed distorted once more, with static sounds from the background.
Ames caught on Myst's implication and scowled, "Are you implying that Azaloth might also be a Regis?"
"He is a powerful Abjurer with a powerful combat prowess."
"That is not enough."
"He is related to the previous Void Master and the Dragon Lord."
"Enough!" Ames growled. She had not met Azaloth personally but she had been affiliated with the Regis Family right after Zane became the Dragon Lord. She was familiar with all of his family members and Azaloth was not one of them.
Myst wanted to argue because his instincts were telling him he was onto something. But seeing Ames's scary, slitted eyes made him shut up.
"For argument's sake, if Azaloth does indeed have Regis's blood, I cannot waste time going to the Lower Realm just to bring him here. Too much time would have passed by then, and we cannot waste any more time."
She was right.
"I will have an audience with Father, and I want you two to help each other in replicating the whole formation while I'm away."
"Yes, Lady Ames."
Ames left soon after, and Myst, Raya, and the rest of the Regises worked on drafting a replica of the seal's Array Formation.
Aillos had Ames go directly to his chamber upon receiving her request for an audience.
Ames did not beat around the bush and told her father about what Raya and the others discovered.
"Right... I have not considered the Void's nature... not that we are that knowledgeable about it."
"We will need an Ancient's assistance if we want to create a new seal."
Aillos did not answer immediately and only looked at Ames in silence. After a moment's pause, he asked, "Do you know how long it took for the Ancients to complete that seal?"
Ames's complexion paled at once as she only remembered the most crucial aspect of arrays. She let out a muffled groan in exasperation as she said, "I did not think of that."
Coelus's seal could be considered one of the most powerful Array Formations in the higher realm. Obviously, the Ancients did not create it overnight. It might have taken a couple of years or even a decade to complete it.
"Our only option is patching it up. If that is impossible, then..." Aillos sighed, unsure of what to say. "In fact, I'm not sure if Coelus's matter is the most pressing at the moment."
Ames raised her brows in surprise, "Why? Did something happen in the other clans?"
Aillos looked at her with a solemn expression and said, "Yes. The Emperor has returned."
"That butt-face...!"
"Maybe this is a good thing," Aillos said slowly.
"What do you mean, Father?" Ames asked, looking at him in confusion.
"Coelus's seal breaking... if Kyran devours him instead, his growth will be unimaginable," Aillos said. "The best case scenario would be him inheriting Coelus's strength."
"But that in itself posed a problem," Ames replied with a frown.
"Yes..." Aillos agreed while closing his eyes. "Worse case is that... he inherits his strength and his... temperament."