At times such as this, Kyran felt upset for not having the capability to create an essence. He did not even need that many. Two or three essences would have been more than enough so he could accomplish a lot of things at the same time.
Kyran did consider creating automatons that could do everything he could. Since he knew how to create an energy core that could convert magic energy into Void magic energy, it was not impossible. In fact, he already tested it with Neo back in the Human plane.
Yet, the automatons were not the perfect solution. They were bound by limitations, unable to fully harness the nature of Void magic. Their abilities were confined to the spells recorded in their program, unable to sense or manipulate the Void's nature freely. Their energy cores, though powerful, were fundamentally different from a true Void core.
Not to mention, their bodies could not withstand the Void's true nature.
"Kyran?"
Kyran's decision to leave was not an easy one. He hesitated, his internal struggle evident in his eyes, before finally mustering the courage to speak.
"I'm sorry, but I have to go," he said, his voice betraying his inner turmoil.
"..."
Cyneah did not respond, but her silence had already conveyed many things. The calm look on her face belied the torrent of emotions reflected in her mirror-like eyes.
She wanted to tell him not to be hasty and to recover as much as possible before going. But she also knew that even if he agreed to stay and recover, she would find more excuses to delay his departure. She even thought of guilt-tripping him for disappearing on them so suddenly in Somuli so he would change his mind about leaving.
Once he did, she could suggest talking to the Dragon Emperor about why he had to leave, and maybe they could come up with a different course of action.
But Cyneah knew Kyran could not ask the Dragon Emperor for help. After learning that the aides had not completely acknowledged the Regis Family, Kyran could not ask for anything that they could use to belittle his family further.
Cyneah understood this all too well, which was why it was hard for her to say anything.
In the end, she closed her eyes, smiled, and said, "I see. Then, please be careful."
Kyran suddenly had the urge to pull Cyneah and hold her tight after seeing her smile. But he stopped himself because he knew she would not appreciate it. Her smile was pure and gentle as always, but he was aware that she was trying to hide her real emotions because she smiled with her eyes closed.
"Don't over-exhaust yourself since you have barely recovered your strength," Cyneah added.
Kyran clenched his fists and replied as if he did not notice her inner turmoil, "The influence of Coelus's corpse will lessen if I'm far away. I'd recover more by then."
"... That makes sense," Cyneah replied while inwardly smiling bitterly. Though she had already suspected that he planned to go somewhere far, the subtle confirmation from his off-handed remark dashed what little hope she had that she could be wrong.
"I'll come back."
"Yes."
Kyran stood up after that and left the tent without saying anything further.
Cyneah turned her head toward the tent's entrance with a dazed expression. She muttered, "... 'I'll come back, huh'? Not even saying when... that's unfair, Kyran..."
Kyran's demeanor when he left the tent changed. He normally showed a much gentler attitude and expression around Cyneah, but now, he returned to his usual cold and indifferent self.
"Young Master."
Shimon and the others looked at Kyran in concern. Judging by their expressions, they likely heard his conversation with Cyneah.
Kyran inwardly smiled wryly. He already suspected they could hear them, but could they not have tried their best to conceal it?
"I was wondering when you'd decide to show up."
Kyran snapped out of his thoughts after hearing Aillos's voice and turned to look at him.
As he did, he noticed the long silver-haired dragon in human form, Ducal, standing beside him.
Ducal looked at Kyran emotionlessly, yet he could not fully conceal his eyes that reflected his disdain toward him and the Regis Family.
"... But it looks like you plan on leaving again."
"I'll be back—."
"Leaving after making a huge mess of Coelus's seal? Fixing the seal takes precedence—."
"The new array's creation will continue as scheduled. Auto-one and Raya will oversee everything," Kyran interrupted Ducal as rudely as he did just then.
Ducal's brow furrowed. Since the action was too subtle, it would have been hard to notice. "Are you saying that you will be back before the first and second phases so you can provide the materials you confidently said you could make—."
"I don't remember saying that, at least not to you," Kyran interrupted him yet again.
"..."
Ignoring Ducal's twitching face, Kyran looked at Aillos and added, "I don't know when I'll come back, but I'll send the materials to Auto-one."
Silence ensued as Kryan reviewed the draft. Even Ames refrained from making any sound so she would not break his concentration. Nevertheless, his words were stuck in her head.
"Overall, the draft is already good," Kyran told Myst after finishing reviewing all key points on the draft. "I've changed a few formulas and added some new layers using Void runes."
Myst nodded, "Yes. That is actually one of the missing parts of the draft. I still remember the calculations you included on the warp array back in the Human plane, but since I don't understand what each formula does because they are written in Void runes, I wanted to leave that part to you, Young Master."
"That's a good call. But you already did a good job of arranging the formation because inserting those layers was easy."
"T-Thank you."
"And? Where are you supposed to be that you are in such a rush?" Ames could no longer stay silent and voiced her thoughts.
"Are you going somewhere, Young Master?" Myst asked in confusion.
"I'll be back."
"But you're not sure when," Ames supplied with narrowed eyes.
"... That's...."
"How is the Young Mistress?"
Kyran did not know why, but he was relieved that Myst was worried about Cyneah's reaction. Actually, it was not only him. He sensed Shimon and the rest were also worried. They only chose not to voice their thoughts. Probably because they felt it was not their place to say anything.
"I'll leave her to you guys."
"..."
"You just can't stay in one place, can you?" Ames complained with a sigh.
"Thank you for looking out for them, Lady Ames," Kyran also bowed respectfully at her.
"That's unnecessary," she replied with a snort. "You are my family, and it is only natural that I look after you."
Kyran smiled, "Thank you."
"Again, with that!"
Kyran chuckled in response before looking at Myst again, "The communication device I gave you before. Do you still have it?"
"Yes."
"Use that to tell me the progress of the gate's creation. As for the materials you'd need, just tell me what they are, and I'll send them using that as well."
"...H-How are you going to..."
Like Aillos, Myst stopped midway of what he was going to ask and shook his head.
"No, I should never question the Young Master's capability."
Though what Myst had said was different, the meaning was pretty much the same as Aillos's.
"Don't get caught, Kyran."
Kyran was taken aback at Ames's words. He did not expect her actually to guess what he was about to do.
"... I won't."
With those as his parting words, Kyran left.
Kyran's next stop was to meet Leif.
Since he could not directly warp to Shiloh or Uilleam's location, the only place he could think of and knew was Ogen and the unnamed plane where the portal to the Tower of the Ancients was located.
If he went there, however, he would need Leif's help.
Leif was unfazed when Kyran appeared before her. It was as if she had been expecting him.
With a wry smile, she said, "I thought you had forgotten about us."
"That won't happen because I still need you."
Leif knew Kyran's words had no other meaning to them apart from needing her for mutual benefits, but that did not stop her from blushing.
"I'm taking you with me," Kyran told her with a slight smile.