Ahem!
A lean camel was still bigger than a horse. The Cervantes Kingdom was, after all, an established nation with over two centuries of history. When a kingdom like that was willing to throw money around, it still had a respectable fortune and plenty of prestige.
Especially when Ganis brazenly declared, "His Majesty greatly admires Your Excellency Tesla, the master of Sir Quijote. He is willing to offer the royal treasury for Your Excellency Tesla to use as he pleases, in exchange for your protection." Downs was stunned, but after thinking it over, he decided it made perfect sense.
Ha! Do you have any idea who my master is?
He was the man who had once punched an evil god, trampled demons, and brought down a divine kingdom!
Downs proudly straightened his back. "To be honest, my master may not even be interested in your treasures. But you've shown sufficient sincerity, so I'm sure you'll earn his approval."
"Oh, well, naturally..." Ganis replied sheepishly.
Downs was a little—well, a lot—arrogant, but what could you expect? He had a great master, and one who was very likely a legendary figure at the heart of the great endeavor to revive magic.
That was the sorrow of a small country like Cervantes: it couldn't afford a Legendary Archmage, nor did it have much to offer.
Even if they presented all their treasures, the other party might still sneer at them.
It was like a country farmer offering a wealthy landowner a gift, only for it to turn out to be some local produce. The awkwardness was unbearable.
And yet, they still had to put on a good show.
Ganis's mouth was full of bitterness. He could only swallow his pride and continue asking about Archmage Tesla.
He didn't know that a certain Archmage of legend had finally managed to shake off his pursuer.
"Damn it! I almost got sucked into that [Five Colors of Black] thing."
Ryan had not only blasted the other party's dungeon with lightning, he had also abducted some Dark Elf warriors and dumped them in Cervantes Royal City. Naturally, this had enraged the dark-skinned woman named Shambala on the other side.
"You! How! Dare! You! Ignore my beauty—" Her shrill, glass-scraping voice and piercing pitch made Ryan keenly aware of her overwhelming fury.
But Ryan had transmigrated at a time when the "simp economy" had collapsed. Even if it hadn't, he really wasn't into dark-skinned women who were half-human, half-spider.
Sorry, my XP system just isn't compatible!
That's right! The Drow priestess looked human, but her lower half was a spider's body.
Ryan had seen plenty of this kind of thing: following a light into the deep sea, only to run into an anglerfish.
It was just the dungeon version of harvesting kidneys.
And just as the other party tried to counterattack, the big one arrived.
In the spider priestess's eyes, this hateful mage was toying with her.
As she frantically urged her dark magic to trace the attack back to its source, she could clearly feel the spatial portal humming. The priestess didn't dare take her senses off the portal for even a moment, because her opponent's spatial coordinates seemed to shift unpredictably.
The currents of light flowing through the portal's magical runes pointed first east, then west. The priestess finally concentrated all her magic in one spot, but the moment it seeped into the portal, it formed an abrupt black nebula.
She realized her magic and the other party's Arcane Energy were incompatible.
An enormous force of suction was pulling her in, along with the power granted to her by "That One" deity.
"Such a childish trick!" The priestess spat in disdain.
This was the typical mistake made by beginners in Spatial Magic. When they lost control of spatial forces, they instinctively guided their opponent's power into what they believed to be a space-time rift.
Yet though the Chaos World was vast, long years of exploration had allowed experienced masters of space to chart most of its dangerous regions.
Just as the half-spider priestess was about to scoff at her opponent's clumsy attempt, she was shocked to find that her senses had become severely distorted.
"Wasn't I in the temple?"
The astonished priestess found herself on a long, narrow corridor. Cold sweat poured down her back. She couldn't imagine how her soul had been pulled from what she thought was the most impregnable fortress in the world and cast into this place.
She couldn't stop. A faint light spilling through the crack in an archway far ahead drew her gaze.
She couldn't help moving forward...
She gently pushed open the bronze door, and a vast space suddenly opened before her: a spherical hall with twelve identical archways, like the twelve marks on a clock.
But an aura she knew all too well seeped out from each archway, forming a mist that surged toward her and coiled around her body.
Her gaze suddenly turned venomous. From between her thin lips came a single word:
"Devils!"
The Dark Elf priestess had no idea what she had just seen.
In fact, even Ryan, the one who had caused it all, had no idea what he'd done.
Even after the system explained it once, Ryan still didn't quite understand.
[Impure thoughts detected invading the campus. To prevent a 369-year-old hag from seducing innocent young men, the Virtual Director of Teaching System is activating!]
[Matching an opponent for the intruder...]
[Match found.]
[Student Downs*Quijote's (Advanced Illusion) spell has officially been upgraded to (Real Illusion)!]
[Lisangquesi*Shambala must either pass a DC 20 Will check or read (Middle School Political Ideology) from cover to cover and score over 95 on the exam to escape the illusion.]
Ryan bared his teeth as he read this. He offered the old hag who had dared invade his mind a moment of silence, squeezing out a crocodile tear.
Could a Chaotic Evil Dark Elf priestess, after being taught a lesson with Iron Fist, turn into Lawful Good?
Ryan suddenly felt a little excited.
Uh, one of the things men liked doing most was probably persuading women to reform?
Meanwhile, after Ryan had just shaken off the priestess's mental invasion and used the Tesla Tower to deal with the Dark Elves who had invaded Cervantes Royal City, he felt a little guilty.
He'd caused them trouble on a whim, and he felt at least a little bad about it.
To his surprise, he immediately sensed Downs, who had just left the tower, trotting back again.
"Master! The Cervantes king has sent an envoy. He's willing to name you Imperial Preceptor, and hopes you'll use Madela Mage Tower to help defend the royal city. In return, His Majesty is willing to open the royal treasury and let you choose anything you like..." Downs excitedly rattled off the message Ganis had relayed.
Downs was genuinely excited.
Once, he had wondered just how great the legendary masters of old must have been.
Then one day, he had actually met one. Under his master's tutelage, he grew stronger step by step, and witnessed his master's legends come true all over again.
His master was so powerful, so great!
So it was true: a king really would part with treasures passed down through his country for centuries, all for the chance to earn a single favor from his master.
Before you continue