Who won in the end?

Lein saw the System as he wished, but the muscles in his face instantly stiffened.

It wasn't for any other reason.

The System stated that the teleportation gate could indeed transport personnel and supplies, provided someone was present to oversee its operation. In this academy, with only two people—teachers and students combined—the only one qualified was Lein himself, who possessed Beginner Teleportation.

Without a qualified operator, any forced teleportation would surely fail, and the person being teleported would most likely be caught in spatial turbulence, with a 99.99% chance of death and a minuscule chance of survival.

And yet, the Master wanted to teleport himself the most.

Lein felt his body and soul instantly turn to stone, ready to crumble into dust at the slightest breeze.

The Mage Tower, which he had practically gotten for free, suddenly lost its appeal.

Lein felt like singing "My Sadness is Made of Water," but he was afraid that if he heard his own hoarse voice, he'd kill himself first.

Alas! Enough said.

Every word spoken was a tear.

Downs subtly sensed the shift in atmosphere and immediately concluded: The Master is still disappointed in me. Sob sob sob! I got complacent just because I became a high-level mage... I'm truly too frivolous. I must work harder from now on, master more magic, ascend the ladder to legendary status, and keep pace with the Master.

Putting them aside for now, the Royal Palace had been closely monitoring the situation since Downs led the four people into the Mage Tower.

King Cervantes had specifically chosen a large terrace in the palace that overlooked Madela Mage Tower, calling it "break time" while nervously watching the Mage Tower.

The King ensured he would be the first to know of any disturbance.

"Your Majesty, the protective array is already prepared," said a Holy Priest.

A hundred years ago, after losing the protection of magic, the capitals of various countries had to change their defensive structures. Now, the protective arrays were no longer powered by magic, but by Divine Art.

Although Divine Art also had the occasional glitch, it was better than nothing.

King Cervantes nodded slightly.

Compared to the Divine Art array, the heavily armored Royal Guards standing before the terrace gave him more peace of mind.

The King turned his head, forgetting how many times he had asked Ganis: "Will they succeed!"

"They will," the half-elf advisor replied gently and patiently once more. "Your Majesty may not trust my judgment, but at least trust the power of that Legendary Archmage."

The thought of that Legendary Archmage potentially taking over his capital's Mage Tower made the King anxious again.

The ideal scenario, of course, would be for Downs or Quijote, this high-level mage, to take charge. Downs was from Cervantes, and the King had a thousand reasons to win over this promising young mage.

However, it would be very difficult for King Cervantes to support a Legendary Archmage, and their origins were unknown. What if the kingdom invested all its resources, only for the person to disappear? Then they would have nowhere to cry.

Thus, after two hours of anxious waiting with Ganis and other important officials, the King suddenly saw a hazy, brilliant blue light shoot up from the top of the Mage Tower, piercing the sky and scattering large swathes of white clouds.

"What is this..." The King, who had been pacing, stopped abruptly and looked at Ganis.

As one of the people with the best eyesight in the entire kingdom, Ganis carefully compared it with his memory of the Mage Tower and then smiled. "Regardless, the Mage Tower is under control. Congratulations, Your Majesty."

The King was overjoyed. He knew very well that only those five people had entered the Mage Tower, and Downs's Master had never appeared throughout the entire process.

If his guess was correct, it was his adorable little mage hero who had accomplished the feat of conquering the Mage Tower, which had been out of control for a century and had consumed countless elite teams.

King Cervantes had no interest in dealing with that ill-tempered and unpredictable Legendary Archmage.

Compared to that Archmage, whom he couldn't afford to support and who was even harder to tame, the young Downs was much more likable.

Youth represented hope and the future, but also immaturity.

From Downs's resume, King Cervantes was twelve-tenths sure he could handle this kid.

Downs was too young. Even though he was born into the scheming court, his age would still be a fatal flaw.

The King said with a smile, "Issue an order! Welcome our kingdom's new hero, Lord Downs/Quijote, with the grandest ceremony. All preparations are to be made to the highest standard. I will not permit any recognized single beauties in the royal city to refuse attending tonight's banquet. Uh, and make sure to have enough handsome young men too. Keep the foreign beauties on standby for now."

The last two sentences caused Ganis's mouth to twitch subtly. From the kingdom's perspective, King Cervantes's actions were understandable.

If they didn't dote on their own young hero, would they leave him for other countries to poach?

However, just as the King was issuing a series of commands, he saw his Shadow Guard rapidly pass through the main gate of the kingdom, sprinting at an extraordinary speed of less than five seconds per hundred meters.

King Cervantes instinctively felt something was wrong.

The Shadow Dancer arrived at the terrace and, under the watchful eyes of the guards, knelt on one knee at a safe distance of five meters. "Reporting, Your Majesty. Lord Downs/Quijote's Madela Mage Tower has been successfully activated. However, Lord Downs/Quijote failed at the last moment, and his mysterious Archmage stepped in to take control of the Mage Tower."

Not only did the muscles in the King's face stiffen, but the officials who had just received their orders and were about to rush off to work were all frozen in place as if petrified.

This was too damn awkward.

A young hero mage taking control of the Mage Tower, and his Master taking control of the Mage Tower—these were two completely different concepts!

One was a novice they could easily manipulate.

The other was a monster possibly older than his grandfather.

Who was in control was clear at a glance!

King Cervantes was completely stunned. He even looked at Ganis with a hint of terror.

He could already imagine a Legendary Archmage, disregarding all rules of engagement, controlling Madela Mage Tower and then aiming a legendary magic cannon at the palace.

Even if they appeared "neutral," who could say for sure they were absolutely neutral until they revealed themselves?

Ganis was more level-headed and quickly pressed the Shadow Guard for the details of the entire incident.

After clarifying the situation, the awkward atmosphere on the scene grew even thicker.

Downs was indeed powerful, practically invincible among his peers, yet he had almost failed due to the final magic problem. His master had to step in to help his disciple, who had nearly crashed and burned. There was truly nothing to complain about.

Even knowing the circumstances, there was no need to mention how uncomfortable King felt.

In this state of being stopped just short of the finish line, His Majesty Cervantes couldn't be happy at all.

"Why don't we suggest to that esteemed person that we take back control of the Mage Tower?" Ganis suggested cautiously.

Uh, this "third-hand Mage Tower" thing... it was a bit like a girl who ran away from home. Although after this ordeal, it wouldn't be like a female knight who had been baptized in a goblin nest, King still felt it was pretty much the same as a girl with "[✓]" marks all over her thighs.

And there was no guarantee that the other party hadn't left some contingency. What if the Mage Tower was controlled by outsiders again someday...