𝙛𝙧𝓮𝓮𝙬𝓮𝒃𝒏𝓸𝒗𝓮𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝓶

In the underground section of the castle, Kyran and his Sigils, Armak, and Breira, were about to finish their confrontation against the automatons.

Thus far, Kyran had already taken control of over thirty automatons and was basically overwhelming the enemy side, which only had around twenty automatons left.

Half of the automatons that were now under Kyran's control were thanks to his quick work in adjusting their programming, while the other half was Armak and Breira's handiwork.

At the start of the battle, Armak and Breira had not familiarized themselves with fighting an automaton; thus, it took them a while to deal with the few automatons attacking them. But after a while, they were able to notice patterns in the automatons' movements, making it easier for them to subdue them.

Kyran also noticed this, which was why, after taking control of the five automatons, he stopped dealing with the rest himself and allowed the latter five to do the rest.

After Kyran adjusted their programming, the five automatons' movements had gotten smoother. They no longer appear as high-quality puppets but as genuine Automatons.

It was not really strange for the automatons' movements to be compared to a puppet because the one controlling them was also an automaton. Besides that, their capabilities had not been activated to their full extent.

In the end, Kyran was left with only one task throughout the battle, and that was to adjust the newly subdued automatons' programming.

After another half an hour, Kyran's group had successfully subdued all fifty-one automatons in the room.

"This is a little strange," Armak said with a slight frown. "The automaton that took part in that test seemed far stronger than them." He gestured at the automatons lined up behind Kyran, who were waiting for his next command.

"More importantly," Breira also chimed in. "I did not see that automaton among them."

"That's because these automatons are only the vanguard," Kyran told them while looking at another closed twin door at the far end of the room. "I doubt the King's real inheritance will only be composed of fifty or so automatons. If my guess is right, there should be no less than a company of automatons under Aran."

Kyran did not tell them that the maximum number of automatons Aran might possess was a battalion. He came up with this after seeing the serial numbers of the fifty-one automatons with them.

The serial number of the automaton with the great sword that controlled the other automatons at the start of their confrontation was 0901. Although this number did not say much, if he compared it with the rest, there was a huge gap in their numbers. The serial numbers of the automatons using a sword and a shield were from 0001 to 0020, while those using spears were from 0101 to 0110. There were also those using daggers with serial numbers from 0201 to 0210. Then, there was another huge jump from automatons using a rod and long staff, with serial numbers from 0601 to 0605 and 0701 to 0705, respectively.

Considering all these, Kyran had reasons to believe his initial assumption was correct. As much as he wanted Aran to be in possession of hundreds of automatons, he was also wary, not of Aran himself, but of the first Somulians that originally possessed them.

Who were they? Why did they have so many automatons? How did they create them, given the rarity of materials needed to create one? Especially their energy core? Most importantly, how far ahead were their Array Knowledge and Smithing Skills for them to actually create automatons like it was nothing?

It should be noted that Kyran, who possessed Void magic that allowed him to recreate any materials as long as they were available in the plane he was in, could only create puppets.

Kyran shook his head and put aside his thoughts. He would know the answers to most of his doubts eventually. Thus, he would not waste time pondering over them at this point.

Armak and Breira's eyes narrowed after hearing their Master's words. They did think there was more to those automatons from the way King Aran boasted of them. But never did they consider there were more than a company of them.

"Even so," Breira started after thinking of something. "If King Aran already possessed so many automatons. How come he did not try to conquer Somuli all this time? With the prowess of the automatons, it would not be a stretch to say crushing any nation using them is possible."

"That may be right," Kyran replied. "But this automatons required a large amount of magic energy to move. Apart from that, repairing them and such will be hard given how your plane's Array Knowledge."

"Ah, I have already forgotten about that," Breira said while scratching his head. It had only been a couple or so hours since Kyran became their Master, yet his worldview on Array had taken a drastic turn. Since then, he felt that subduing and repairing automatons were as simple as breathing.

"Let's not waste time here," Kyran changed the topic. He then looked at the automaton standing in front of the line. The one holding the great sword.

"Do you know where Aran is hiding?"

The automaton shook its head, "Apologies, Master. However, we do not possess any information about our previous interim owner. We also cannot track his movements."

Kyran raised his brows, "Interim owner?"

"Yes," the automaton nodded. "He is only an interim since he can activate us using the minimum requirements."

"And what are those requirements?"

"His blood type and our activation code."

Kyran frowned, "Blood type? That's something new. I did not encounter that when I activated you guys."

When Kyran adjusted the automatons' program, he only removed Aran's signature before using his own Void signature to reactivate them.

"You are different from them, Master."

Kyran did not need the automaton to elaborate that it was referring to the Armakeans when it said them. But that was unimportant. What caught his attention was how the automaton told him he was different.

Was it because the signature he used to activate them belonged to Ancient magic, or did the automaton mean something totally different?

Armak and Breira also caught on to what the automaton had said and looked at their new Master. They totally agreed that their new Master was different; thus, they did not react much to what the automaton said.

As much as Kyran wanted to continue this talk with the automaton, he put it on hold and diverted the topic back on track.

"Right. We'll talk more about that later. I want you, Armak, and Breira to form a group and scout the rest of the way. Inform me once you found Aran."

"Yes, Master."

After giving them more detailed instructions and a few items, Kyran let them go. Now that he had more people to look for Aran, there was little point in going with them. Besides, he wanted to go back to the previous room and recover all the exquisite spirit stones embedded in its ceiling and walls. He also wanted to catch up on what was happening with the other group.

The first group Kyran contacted was the Armakea border, where Mo, who was Aran's top aide, went along with a battalion of knights.

Azikh was the one who answered the call and provided a brief report.

It appeared that Mo had already gotten news of the attack happening in Larkring. Azikh and his team spied a group with Mo in the lead, wanting to return to the capital, but stopped midway. It was because Kesiah appeared, leading a large group of knights and officers that used to belong to the Royal Family members.

A three-way battle ensued after that.

A third of Mo's group continued to bombard the defensive array of the Armakean border from the front while the rest confronted Kesiah's group from the back.

Mo still insisted on returning, however, after realizing that the power of their rear line was pretty much on par with Kesiah's side.

Knowing the importance of taking over the border and capturing Kesiah, Mo stayed and proactively led the knights into battle.

With Mo participating in the battle, the battle's momentum started to shift toward their side.

Because of this, Gael was forced to also proactively participate in battle just to balance the momentum on each side. After all, Gael and Kesiah's goal in assisting the battle at the border was to stop Mo from returning and providing timely assistance for the King.

If Mo returned to Larkring, he would most likely target the Military District first. That was something Gael and Kesiah had to prevent because they could not allow the rest of the King's Knights to join the ongoing battle. If they did, their number alone would overwhelm them, and it would only be a matter of time before they lose their momentum.

After confirming the situation at the border, Kyran checked the situation from Achim's side first.