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

While some of the professors expressed approval of Stephen’s proposal, others voiced their concerns.

“Headmaster, please reconsider,” one of them urged.

“With the major powers withdrawing their funding, and with the death of our top student Eisen, Lioncrest Academy is already facing a critical internal and external crisis.

At this precarious time, committing all our resources just to target Alan… it hardly seems worth it!”

Stephen scoffed at their hesitation, his tone dripping with disdain.

“Not worth it?”

“What do you people know?”

“If Alan can kill Eisen today, then tomorrow he could kill any of us!”

“He’s only a tier-bronze magus, yet he already wields strength comparable to a tier-gold, maybe even tier-platinum mage!

If we let him continue to grow unchecked for just a few more years,

then one day we might be facing a King Magus… or worse, an Emperor Magus!”

“An… Emperor Magus?!”

The professors who had been opposing Stephen were stunned.

They hadn’t expected that their Headmaster would hold such a high evaluation of Alan’s potential.

Not even Eisen or Beatrice—their most outstanding students—had ever been predicted by Stephen to reach such heights in the future!

Bang!

At that moment, the doors to the conference room burst open.

A panicked student rushed in, prompting one of the professors to glare at him and bark,

“Can’t you see we’re in the middle of a meeting? Get out immediately!”

“I’m sorry… professor,” the student bowed hurriedly, then stammered nervously,

“I didn’t mean to interrupt, but… but someone just saw Alan again—

He’s appeared right outside the Academy gates!”

“I was afraid he might cause trouble again, so I rushed over to inform the professors and vice headmasters…”

“What did you say?!”

The professor questioning him froze, disbelief written all over his face.

Meanwhile, outside the gates of Lioncrest Academy—

A young man stood casually, hands tucked into his pockets, a mocking smile playing across his lips as he looked toward the Academy grounds.

Before long, another group of students noticed his presence.

Their faces instantly turned grim.

The moment they laid eyes on the youth, their instincts kicked in—

Weapons were drawn reflexively, their bodies automatically falling into defensive stances.

It had become second nature to them by now.

The youth chuckled at the sight.

“Look at how scared you all are.”

Grinning, he tugged gently on a leash in his hand, bringing a group of small dogs—

each dressed up to look like miniature lions—forward to his side.

He crouched down, ruffling one of the little lion-dogs’ heads affectionately as he spoke with a mischievous smile,

“Come on, you cowardly dogs. Give me a bark!”

The faces of the Lioncrest students turned even uglier.

Everyone could clearly see what Alan was implying.

In Lioncrest Academy—the “Lion” Academy—he had deliberately dressed these dogs to look like little lions.

There was no mistaking who he was mocking.

“Outrageous! How dare he be so brazen—treating us like filthy animals?!”

Some of the more hot-blooded students, especially those who had not yet settled their score with Alan, immediately began cracking their knuckles, preparing to rush forward for a fight.

“Stop right there!”

At that moment, Stephen and a group of professors arrived via teleportation magic.

However, Alan, cunning as ever, had already vanished without a trace just before Stephen arrived.

The only thing he left behind—was the group of lion-dogs.

Moments after Stephen appeared, the dogs suddenly raised their hind legs one after another—

—and began urinating.

Strangely, the puddles they created did not scatter randomly.

Instead, they gradually formed distinct shapes—

Until finally, they spelled out a mocking message on the ground:

“Cowardly Dogs, Even More Cowardly Men!”

Stephen’s face turned a terrifying shade of black.

The students around him were shaking with rage, veins bulging on their foreheads.

“Headmaster! Alan has gone too far!

I can’t take this insult lying down—I’ll make him pay today!”

“No!”

Stephen gritted his teeth so hard that they almost cracked.

He issued a stern order to all the students present,

“Listen carefully—

Anyone who dares to step outside these gates today

Is no longer to be considered a student of Lioncrest Academy!”

Faced with this iron command from their Headmaster, even the most furious students had no choice but to swallow their anger and stand down.

Their fists trembled with frustration, but they dared not defy him.

However, it wasn’t just the students who were unwilling to accept this humiliation.

In a nearby tower overlooking the Academy grounds—

Beatrice clenched her fists tightly, the sunlight around her seeming to dim as if absorbed into her seething rage.

The air around her shimmered with a heavy, almost suffocating pressure.

Bang!

Without warning, she slammed her fist into a glass window.

Yet, strangely, the glass didn’t shatter.

Instead, it dissolved silently, as though swallowed whole by her magic.

“This man is too arrogant!”

Beatrice growled through gritted teeth.

Turning toward the calm figure beside her—Vice Headmaster Kelin—she snapped,

“Kelin, why did you stop me earlier?!

If I had launched a sneak attack,

I could have captured him without fail!”

Seeing Beatrice nearly boiling over with rage, Kelin sighed and responded calmly,

“Beatrice, you overestimate yourself.”

“Last time, against the Rose Duke, you barely escaped with your life.

You couldn’t even gain the upper hand against her.”

“Now, Alan’s strength has grown exponentially.

He stands on par with the Rose Duke herself.”

“Even Eisen—who was stronger than you—

Fell in mere minutes before Alan.”

“Do you really believe you could defeat him with a sneak attack?”

Beatrice fell silent, unable to refute him.

Kelin was right.

Although she and Eisen were hailed as Lioncrest Academy’s two greatest prodigies—

In private duels between the two, Beatrice had lost more often than she had won.

By overall strength, Eisen was undoubtedly superior.

And yet, Eisen hadn’t lasted more than a few minutes against Alan.

If she rushed in now…

It would be nothing short of suicide.

Seeing Beatrice’s reluctant silence, Kelin stroked his chin thoughtfully.

His mind drifted back to recent events—

After receiving word of Alan’s movements, he had meticulously laid traps around the magic railway,

enhancing the lethality of the surrounding magic arrays through secret techniques.

The result had been impressive.

Casualties among the passengers had exceeded a thousand that day.

And yet—

Alan was not among them.

Kelin still didn’t understand how Alan had survived.

The area was a death trap—

Even if the explosions hadn’t killed him, the roaming spellbeasts certainly would have.

Unless, of course, Alan had some unknown method of survival—

something even Kelin and the other masters were unaware of.

If that was true, then assassinating him would only become even more difficult.

“Listen carefully, Beatrice,” Kelin said solemnly.

“You must not act—

Not now,

Not ever.”

“The Headmaster has already made arrangements.

Your task is simply to follow orders.

Don’t let a moment of anger cause you to make a mistake.

Lioncrest Academy cannot afford to lose another top student!”

Beatrice remained silent for a long time before finally nodding.

Though she agreed outwardly, her heart still smoldered with unwillingness.

She knew full well—

Alan’s ambitions had never changed from the start.

After eliminating Eisen—

She was clearly his next target.