With furrowed brows, Kyran hoisted his body with the support of both arms. His arms had not fully recovered, but because his senses were still a little numb, he did not feel much pain from the strain he placed on his arms while supporting his upper body.
True Void sensed Kyran's pain. He immediately deployed a few shape-shifting plates from the bottom of the floating island he had transformed into and covered Kyran's arms.
"T-Thanks," he muttered almost inaudible gratitude and tried once more to get up.
With True Void's assistance, Kyran finally managed to sit cross-legged, after which he closed his eyes and felt his magic cores. After confirming that the stirring of his magic cores earlier and the tower sealing them again had not left any long-lasting damage, he began to circulate his magic energy throughout his body.
[What do you feel? That parting gift looked sinister. Did he leave a mark on you or something? Can you properly circulate your magic energy? How about all your magic cores? Are they still intact?]
True Void asked one after another. His concern was understandable. The Sovereign of Ruin might have said that his parting gift would boost Kyran's aura, but that was already a problem in itself.
Kyran's aura was weak because of his magic's true nature. Void was nothingness and could also be anything; this gave Kyran the ability to adjust his aura, as long as he knew how. But if the Sovereign of Ruin's parting gift strengthened his aura, then it might have altered the nature of his magic.
An altered magic nature meant changes in one's magic core.
Unfortunately, now that True Void had been released, he could not freely enter Kyran's sea of consciousness and check his magic cores. Mainly, True Void was very worried about Kyran's Void core. After all, the Void core kept all of his master's experiences.
After hearing True Void's questions and how his voice was filled with concern, Kyran did not reply immediately; instead, he rechecked his body and magic cores.
"I can't say anything about the parting gift that man left, but apart from numbness in my body and a stirring in my magic cores earlier, I'm okay. My arms are still numb, bu I can circulate magic energy again," Kyran finally answered after a few minutes.
['Can circulate magic energy again'? What do you mean? You suddenly stopped circulating your magic energy? When? Before or after that parting gift?]
True Void's worry appeared to have only worsened after hearing Kyran's answer.
"Right after," Kyran answered, not even bothering to conceal anything from him. It was a strange feeling. If this had happened before he 'snapped,' he would have brushed off True Void's concern and only focused on what he had to do.
[What?]
True Void exclaimed, but before he could bombard Kyran with another set of answers that he would probably only answer one at most, Kyran said, "It probably had something to do with the lightning but I can't determine anything while the numbness in my senses is still present."
[But—.]
"There are things we have to do first," Kyran cut off True Void midsentence. He opened his eyes and looked at the scene before him.
What greeted him was a devastating scene of destruction.
The land, which was desolate and practically dead, to begin with, was now riddled with holes from the flaming rocks. Lava spurt out from several crevices, and the magma flowed on almost all the patch of land that was still intact.
Above, the darkened sky had returned, but the constant damage it received from the arrival of the star-filled night sky as well as Kyran's summoned fissures, there were still visible cracks left.
It was as if a huge glass globe contained the plane and the outer layer of the globe was a drawn sky. After getting damaged constantly, the cracks had become permanent.
Kyran could not see any beasts in the vicinity, but with the plane's imminent destruction, even if any creatures had survived, it would only be a matter of time before they die.
Kyran heaved a deep sigh. His Void core resonated inside him as if a memory of his predecessor's first visit here was stirred awake from the scene. Maybe the plane also looked like this back then. However, Kyran felt that the plane could no longer sustain life this time.
But as he was thinking this, he saw a small glow from a distance on the side of the vast chasm. Immediately, he willed the floating island and approached the light.
[Where are we going, Void Halfling?]
Kyran did not reply. Instead, he pointed at the small light by the side of the chasm.
True Void turned his attention to the small light, and when they were only forty meters away, they found that the small light was actually a tiny white flower. Its translucent long white petals produced a soft glow that lit its surroundings, although a little faint.
It was Kyran's first time seeing such a flower. But seeing it amidst the devastation on the land, his determination flared as he said to True Void, "Give all your magic energy to me."
Hearing Kyran's sudden demand, True Void could not help but exclaim in surprise.
[What? You want to rob me of my reserved food?]
"I need loads. I'll help refill it when we get back," Kyran replied without bothering to correct True Void's choice of words.
[When we get back, in the Human plane? Void Halfling, the Human plane's surroundings may be filled with energies, but the amount of magic energy we got from that sovereign would not be able to compare to it. We are talking about Sovereign-level magic energy here!]
Reluctance was heard from True Void's voice. He continued.
[Didn't you notice that that man was able to deploy his magic even without the presence of magic energy in this plane? That's because he's practically a walking lump of magic energy!]
Kyran sighed after hearing True Void's reply. He knew it would be hard to convince this guy to give the magic energy he ate. He had been deprived of it for such a long time.
"I see. Alas, I did not know how valuable the magic energy you've eaten is, sorry. If you can't give it then its okay. I'll just make do with what little magic energy I have left," Kyran did not try to refute True Void and instead decided to deal with him using reverse psychology.
Hearing Kyran's retort had True Void feeling a little ashamed. The way Kyran spoke made him seem like a stingy unreasonable person—err—spirit!
He might be a glutton, but he was not stingy. However, being asked to give all of his food was too much. At most, he didn't mind giving half.
[What are you going to do anyway?]
True Void finally asked.
A smile tugged at Kyran's lips. If True Void had asked him as soon as he asked, he was sure he would not complain. Good thing, True Void did not dally and ask right after he used reverse-psychology-tactic.
Before Kyran replied, he turned his head and looked at a distance.
There he saw the red-blood tower, standing tall and resolute amidst the plane's destruction.
After his mind cleared, Kyran finally realized why he could not warp there. All the small clues he found after meeting the Sovereign of Ruin and experiencing his domain, he realized that the red-blood tower itself was not part of this plane. The land it was standing was most likely part of the Sovereign of Ruin's original plane.
It was similar to the Regis Terram that Zephyr mentioned before, where the Heaven's Conch had been hidden.
Since Kyran had no way of dealing with the red-blood tower, he could only focus on restoring his predecessor's obelisks as well as fixing what he did on the plane.
Just as Kyran was thinking these thoughts, True Void already sensed his intentions, and the former immediately reeled in appreciation.
[You—you're planning to fix this plane?]
Kyran looked away from the red-blood tower. He then returned his attention to the white flower by the side of the chasm.
"Yes," he replied honestly.
It had been Kyran's intention all along when he decided to confront the Sovereign of Ruin and destroy the circular door. He did not hesitate because he knew he could do it. It would take quite a while, but he knew in his heart he would prevail.
Besides, it did not sit well with him that he caused this plane's destruction. Though the Sovereign of Ruin's actions caused half of the destruction, the fact that Kyran had been careless right from the start made everything that happened here his fault.
[Bahahaha! You should have told me sooner! Good! Good! You have not forgotten! Take all my food. No, take everything!]
True Void's excitement was visible in his voice once more. If he had to be honest, he had been feeling bad at what happened on this plane. It was beyond repair, in his opinion, given Kyran's lack of experience in using Void creation. However, the confidence he sensed from Kyran after he 'snapped' was there, which gave him hope.
Thinking of Kyran's state right now made True Void wonder if this would now be his default state. If that was the case, he felt even more excited to see how his master's successor would fare in the future.
Kyran did not reply and simply smiled after hearing True Void. He felt how much the latter worried over the plane when he collided with the Sovereign of Ruin by force.
But he could not tell True Void during that time that he was going all out because he planned to restore everything after destroying the circular door and forcing the Sovereign of Ruin to leave.
"Though the land had become like this, I sense all the obelisks are intact. Can I leave activating the obelisks to you? I'll focus on fixing the plane's terrain."
[Of course! Of course! Leave it to me!]
