Imprisoned for a Trillion Years, I Was Worshipped by All Gods!

Stephen's face tightened with suspicion as he looked at the man who had suddenly appeared.

"Leonard, this isn't your cue to appear. Acting on your own like this will only expose our plans early and alert the Plantagenet Kingdom to something being amiss."

Leonard simply took the rose from his mouth and shrugged.

"Relax. I've already greased all the wheels on my way here. No one will know a noble of the Kent Kingdom showed up in this place."

Stephen massaged his temples, feeling a weariness he had never known before.

At the current rate, Lioncrest Academy was being monitored from every angle by various factions within the capital.

There was virtually no room for secrets.

News of Leonard's presence here would likely spread across every corner of the Imperial Capital by tomorrow.

And with that, their reputation as traitors to the kingdom would be etched in stone.

"You don't believe me?"

Seeing the deep worry in Stephen's expression, Leonard casually reached into his mana pouch and pulled out several severed heads.

The moment Stephen saw their faces, his expression changed drastically.

"These… these are members of the Night Order?! Leonard, how dare you?!"

Leonard waved his hand impatiently.

"Don't give me that look. As soon as I stepped foot into Plantagenet territory, these idiots tried to cause trouble. I only barely resisted, and well, this was the result. What else could I do?"

Krom's face went pale as he hurried to Stephen's side and whispered nervously,

"Headmaster… from what I know, the Night Order is the royal family's elite guard. Each member has a unique mana signal. If any of them are killed or injured, their signal will continuously transmit until others arrive and identify the perpetrator…"

No sooner had he finished whispering than a young lecturer burst into the meeting hall, panic in his eyes.

He ignored Leonard entirely and addressed Stephen directly.

"Headmaster! Just now, representatives from the royal family arrived. They're accusing us of murdering elite members of the Night Order and have requested that you return with them immediately to explain the situation."

Stephen's face grew dark. His fists clenched unconsciously.

He knew very well—if he went, there was little chance of coming back.

But if he refused… that would be a death sentence too.

After a long moment of silence, Stephen turned to another vice headmaster, Tyrande.

"Any word from the Jiner Kingdom?"

Tyrande looked conflicted as he responded.

"Headmaster, the bounty hunters from the Jiner Kingdom say the original offer still isn't enticing enough. If you want them to get involved, you'll have to… raise the price."

"Damn greedy animals," Stephen spat. "What, have the people of Jiner Kingdom spent so long living among spellbeasts that their brains have started working like spellbeasts too?"

After venting, he sighed heavily and turned back to Tyrande.

"How much are they asking for?"

Tyrande hesitated. "They want one more thing added to the original bounty—a tier-platinum skill scroll."

Tyrande had expected some hesitation. After all, a tier-platinum scroll wasn't just rare—it was essentially equivalent to carrying a tier-platinum mage in your back pocket.

But to his surprise, Stephen agreed instantly.

"Fine. As long as they guarantee Alan's death, then forget a scroll—if they want a mana core from a tier-platinum magus, I'll give it to them!"

"And if they can bring me Alan's head," he added coldly, "I'll throw in an additional high-grade magical artifact. Tyrande, pass my exact words to them—don't omit a single syllable!"

Tyrande was stunned.

He hadn't expected the headmaster to go this far just to eliminate Alan.

After all, tier-platinum mages were exceedingly rare. And those willing to condense their spells into scrolls were even rarer.

Lioncrest Academy, despite its influence in the Imperial Capital, had only managed to collect fewer than five tier-platinum scrolls over the years.

As for the so-called high-grade magical artifacts—

those were far more precious.

They were custom-forged masterpieces created by multiple master artisans over many days.

Their ability to drastically amplify a mage's power in a short time made them the rarest of treasures.

Compared to them, even a tier-platinum scroll was cheap.

How could Stephen be willing to sacrifice so much?

Seeing the conflicted and pained expressions on the other vice headmasters' faces, Stephen slammed his palm down on the table and growled.

"What? Do you all think I've gone mad?"

"Well let me tell you this—if we don't do this, then Lioncrest has no future."

"Too many confrontations, too many battles—our conflict with that brat Alan is now a blood feud."

"If we don't go all-out to eliminate him now, then when Lioncrest begins to decline, he will show no mercy."

"That's why we have to strike first. While the lion still has its claws and fangs, we bite—and we bite hard."

"If we can kill him in one blow, great. But even if we can't, the pain will make Alan hesitate to challenge us again."

"Only then can we focus on dealing with all our other troubles."

Then, Stephen turned his gaze back toward Tyrande.

"And from now on, forget reputation. Forget morality. Contact every top-tier bounty hunter on the rankings."

"If that doesn't work—go to the dark mages."

Tyrande's face twitched in disbelief.

"Headmaster… surely not. If we involve dark mages—those who practice forbidden magic—and it gets out, how can we maintain our standing in society?"

"Besides… some of them are immensely powerful. If they joined forces, even a Legendary mage might fall. Using such forces just to deal with Alan feels…"

Stephen cut him off.

"Lioncrest's reputation is already at rock bottom. What's left to lose?"

"And more importantly—how else do you expect us to break through the dual protection of the Church and the royal family?"

"This situation leaves us no choice. If we don't use unconventional methods, we'll never get close to him."

Hearing that, Tyrande fell silent.

He never imagined that the youth he had once dismissed as insignificant would one day force Lioncrest Academy into such desperation.

Before long, Tyrande left with the newly drafted bounty order from Stephen.

And as expected, the bounty hunter world was about to explode.

The sheer scale of the reward was enough to tempt countless elite killers—and some opportunistic powers with darker motives…