Legacy of the Dark Sage

Neo gave off crackling sounds and sparks after his body went into overdrive.

Fighting more than fifty mages was not easy, even to an Automaton like him. Aside from this, they used Fire magic that possessed a very destructive force.

As a matter of fact, apart from Tobias, all Lumley members in the hall used Fire magic. Their strengths differ in firepower and mage level. In any case, most of them were already High Masters, with six Grand Masters and two Exalted.

Frankly, if not for the energy core created with Void knowledge that Kyran acquired in the Tower of Tribulation, Neo would have already been destroyed.

But that was a few minutes ago. After all, those people were already dead, apart from the white-masked woman in a red gown and two newcomers.

Neo looked at the three, hovering in midair, with a face devoid of expression.

The two newcomers, a man and another woman, also wore white masks and were dressed in a red suit and a short red robe, respectively. The man was standing on a carpet-like item, a foot-tall dark red crystal — which seemed to be a magic item rather than a raw stone —  hovered before him, while the woman had small flaming wings fluttering at each side of her ankle. She held a bronze bow with a flaming string.

The white-masked woman in a red gown also had wings, but it was sticking out of her back, and their flames were a deep-shared of red, almost violet. On her hand was a flaming golden sword.

All of them were Magus.

The three glared daggers at Neo. If looks could kill, the latter would have already died a hundred deaths.

They did not expect such a tragedy to befall their family today.

In particular, the woman in a red gown was angered by how 'Tyr' was unaffected by her magic pressure. She was a Magus! Only a mage with the same level as her could have the chance to counter her pressure.

What was even more unacceptable was that the person they had detested these past few months caused it.

Was he not supposed to be a newly promoted Master mage?

"The Conclave has hidden you well," the woman in a red gown said through gritted teeth. "Has they finally decided to change their neutral status?"

Neo did not respond. He only looked at them while his body was checking his overall status.

[Left arm's capacity has been reduced to 30%. Replacement of joints required. The right and left leg have suffered first-degree burns. Their exterior material's capacity is reduced to 43%. Immunity to Fire attacks has also been reduced. Avoid taking direct hits.]

Neo's indifference unnerved the three Lumley Magus.

The woman brandished her flaming sword and said, "Don't think this day will end with just your death! We will turn the Tower of Conclave into hell!"

She charged at Neo while striking her sword horizontally. A flaming beam emerged from the sword's blade and flew toward Neo.

The man also made a move while the woman in a red gown charged. He waved his hand and willed the flaming carpet downward. Flaming shards fired off from his crystal and flew in Neo's direction.

The woman in a short red robe also moved. She raised her bow and summoned a fiery arrow before aiming at Neo. The moment she released the arrow, it multiplied and rained down below.

Neo raised his head and looked at the attacks coming down at him. He raised his hand, and a translucent purple barrier appeared and protected him.

The attacks from the three Magus collided with the barrier and was easily countered. To be accurate, they passed through the barrier but disappeared as soon as they collided.

These surprised the three Magus. However, it was not enough to make them stop attacking.

One after another, they released magic attacks at Neo.

[Warning. Void energy has been reduced to 70%...]

[Warning. Void energy is down to 67%... 64%... 61%...]

[If Void energy drops to 50%, the barrier's capacity will be reduced.]

[Warning. Void energy is now at 55%...]

[Warning. Void energy has now entered the critical level.]

Although the warnings kept popping into Neo's vision, he ignored them. With the two newcomers relentlessly releasing range attacks while the woman in a red gown released melee attacks using her flaming sword, there was little Neo could do.

Their Fire magic's destructiveness was a far cry from those he had easily disposed of just a few minutes ago. If he took their attack head-on, his exterior would be reduced to dust. When that happened, his metal frame would be exposed.

Not that it mattered. But Neo already assessed that the probability they would escape once they realized he was a puppet was 70%. If they escaped, tracking them down would take some time. By the time he tracked one of them, the news about what happened to the Lumley would have spread, and there was a good chance other noble families would attack the Conclave.

Until his Master gave the signal, Neo could not expose the Conclave in danger.

For this reason, Neo could only endure their bombardment.

It was not like he was completely helpless because his energy core was different from normal puppets. Although his system warned him of the Void energy depletion, the energy core had an advantageous capability.

Absorption.

The moment the Void energy in his energy core went down to 35%, its absorption ability activated and began to absorb the energy from the three Magus's attacks.

The woman in a red gown narrowed her eyes, sensing something was amiss. No matter how much they attacked Neo, the latter had not budged from his position. His barrier showed signs of crumbling, but it seemed to have recovered in over a minute.

How was it possible? Although the variety of their attacks was not wide, the heat of their flames was already comparable to magma. Proof of that was the floor's destruction after their flames hit. However, with the barrier protecting him, Neo now looked like he was standing on a lone island.

Just how powerful was his barrier? The energy it emitted was different from his Strengthening magic. To them, it looked like a barrier made from Array. That was the only explanation they could come up with after it endured relentless attacks from three Magus.

"This won't do. I'm going to destroy his barrier!" The woman told the other two.

"We'll lend you our energy," the man replied.

Without waiting for the woman to agree, he and the woman in a short red robe landed on the ground and formed a triangle seal on their hands. A Fire rune, which read 'Transfer,' appeared at the center of the triangle.

Soon, the flaming wings on the woman's back erupted with magic energy. Her eyes blazed red as she raised her flaming sword above her head.

Strings of Fire runes circled the flaming sword's blade, and a blinding light wrapped around it. The length of the blinding light increased upward. In five seconds, its length had already reached ten meters.

Neo looked at the woman. His sensors were already warning him of how much power the woman's flaming sword had gathered. He estimated that after the woman finished accumulating the sword's power, she could easily infiltrate the barrier and split his body in half. As a matter of fact, she would likely end up destroying half of the hall once she cleaved down that sword.

In any case, Neo had two choices. Warp at the last minute, or release the barrier before the woman finished accumulating her strength and charged while she was in a vulnerable state. Doing the former was a little tricky. With the Void energy at a critical level, he might fall short on his targetted location and still suffer from the woman's attack. If Neo chose the latter, he could take the woman by surprise and kill her in one hit.

After weighing his choices, Neo decided to do that second one. But just as he was about to move, he suddenly realized that he had gone deaf.

To be precise, the surrounding seemed to have lost the ability to produce sound.

"This—!" The woman tried to speak, but no sound came out.

The other two also looked at their surroundings cautiously. Sound couldn't disappear without reason!

Just as they were thinking this, a ringing sound reverberated in the surrounding that threatened to destroy their eardrums.

"ARGH!" The three immediately fell to their knees as their magic defences failed to defend them from the sudden assault.

Of course, with them falling to their knees, their initial move to attack Neo was cancelled.

"AAAAARGH!" The woman in a short red robe howled in pain as blood seeped from every orifice of her head.

"No—!"

SPLAT!

The woman's head exploded before the woman in a red gown could even move.

The pupil of Neo's eyes constricted as he surveyed the surroundings. Unlike the three, he was unaffected by whatever made the woman's head explode.

"I don't understand why the Crown Princess values you. But I think I do now."

An ancient-sounding male voice suddenly spoke.

Neo's sensors instantly erupted in several warning messages. As a puppet, he did not know fear. However, his system had deemed that his situation was something he should fear.

After all, his system had discovered that the magic level emitted by the ancient-sounding voice was far greater than the three Magus.

Based on his energy level, the newcomer was definitely a Legendary mage.