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

Old Gayle snapped out of his trance, cleared his throat, and turned to Alan and the others with a serious expression.

“Sirius Academy will be permanently shut down as of today. All of you—wherever you came from—go back there immediately!”

Then he looked specifically at Blanche.

“That includes you. Go home. Now.”

The whole group was stunned.

Especially Blanche—her mouth hung so wide open you could probably fit an entire egg in it.

Francis was the first to react. He immediately flared up and protested,

“Old man, have you no conscience? We’ve been fighting tooth and nail for this academy, and now you’re just going to shut it down without a word of explanation? And then kick us out on top of it?!”

“Hold it.”

Alan stepped forward. Though he was just as shocked, the sight of even more wrinkles on Old Gayle’s face and the increase in white hairs on his head made it clear—there was more to this decision than met the eye.

And sure enough, after making the announcement, Old Gayle slumped into a nearby chair with a deep sigh.

“I truly… have no other choice. A while ago, I tried to use the academy’s subterranean energy crystal—the Amethyst Core—to summon former Sirius alumni back to support us.”

“But… they all refused. The reason doesn’t matter. What you need to understand is this: Sirius is now completely isolated. We have no allies. No reinforcements. We’ve run out of road.”

The expressions on everyone’s faces grew increasingly complicated.

Francis clenched his fists, unwilling to accept this.

“Tch, so they won’t help? Fine! Who cares?! Old Gayle, aren’t you a Legendary Mage or whatever? You can rewrite reality itself, right? Why are you afraid? Let’s just fight them all head-on!”

Gayle rolled his eyes.

“Yes, I’m a Legendary Mage. But do you think Stephen isn’t? Any reality I rewrite, he can just overwrite it. Sure, in the short term he can’t do much to me, and if the battle drags on, I might even outmaneuver him.”

“But what about you? While I’m locked in battle with Stephen, there will be waves of Lioncrest students, elite enforcers from all kinds of factions, descending on you. And I won’t have the time—or power—to protect you.”

He looked at Francis coldly.

“Just the elite group from the ruins battle would be more than enough to crush you. Now an all-out war is upon us. What makes you think you can survive it?”

His words struck like thunder. Francis, who’d been full of bluster just a moment ago, found himself completely silenced.

Deep down, he knew. He knew the fight ahead would be cruel beyond imagination.

But he couldn’t bring himself to leave—not this place. Not Sirius Academy, the place he had come to call home.

And he wasn’t alone.

Alan, Fort, and Blanche all felt the same.

Alan was quiet for a moment, then finally asked,

“Headmaster… is there really nothing we can do?”

Gayle frowned and nodded.

“If there were even a sliver of hope, I would never have said what I did just now. But the fact I did say it… means I truly see no way out.”

“You need to go. All of you. As soon as possible. Find somewhere no one can locate you. Ideally, go home. Have your families hide you.”

Those last words pierced Alan’s heart like a blade.

Memories surged up from deep within him, and his voice cracked.

“Headmaster! I don’t have a home anymore—this is all I have!”

His words came from the heart, and they deeply moved the other three standing beside him.

They formed a circle around Old Gayle, red-eyed and silent, all gazing solemnly at the man who had led them this far.

“You kids…” Gayle sighed heavily, a weight pressing down on his chest. He opened his mouth to say more but the words wouldn’t come.

Finally, he let out a bitter exhale.

“I know none of you want to leave. Do you think I do?”

“I was certain Sirius was finished. But then you—”

He pointed at Alan.

Then he pointed at Francis, Fort, and Blanche.

“You four… gave me hope again.”

“That’s why I can’t bear to see the sparks of that hope snuffed out. You all have such bright futures, limitless potential. Why throw it away? Why stay here just to die alongside an old mage with one foot in the grave?!”

As he finished, Francis seemed to realize something.

His eyes widened slightly in disbelief.

“Headmaster… you’re not planning to come with us?”

Gayle nodded silently, then said,

“To buy you time to escape, I must stay behind and hold off our pursuers. Don’t worry. I’ve eaten more salt than you’ve eaten rice. I will hold them back long enough for you to get out of the capital—maybe even out of Plantagenet Kingdom altogether.”

Just as his words faded—

BOOM!

The skies above Sirius Academy darkened in an instant, thick clouds rolling in to blot out the sun.

Dozens upon dozens of teleportation arrays began materializing in midair—glowing, shimmering, each one pulsating with lethal intent.

And at the center of the swirling storm clouds, a massive black vortex began to take shape.

Within that vortex, an emerald-colored spell array spun violently like the pupil of some monstrous spellbeast, glaring down at the world below with a bone-chilling gaze.

The moment the array appeared, everyone—Alan included—felt as if an invisible hand had seized their hearts.

Their knees buckled. They collapsed, gasping for breath, their skin turning pale and sickly, like the corpses of the long dead.

Old Gayle sprang to his feet and released a burst of overwhelming mana, dissipating the oppressive force and pulling the students back from the brink.

He clenched his fist, and with a shout, channeled a torrent of magic into the heavens.

“Damn it! They came quicker than I expected—and with this many! They’re not giving us even the slightest chance!”

Then he stopped holding back.

Old Gayle’s full magical aura erupted like a tidal wave. He raised both hands high, as if summoning the stars themselves from the cosmos.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Thunder cracked overhead like the roar of a god. The sky lit up as hundreds of meteors—glowing and massive—plummeted toward Sirius Academy.

Even the smallest meteor was the size of a ferry.

They accelerated as they broke through the atmosphere, striking the ground with devastating force.

Buildings across the academy were smashed into rubble, annihilated in the blink of an eye by the meteoric onslaught.

Time seemed to freeze.

Eventually, the dust settled.

Hovering above the ruins was an old man with a long white beard, clad in a deep navy robe. His arms were crossed behind his back, and his expression was cold, devoid of emotion.

He looked down at the shattered remains of Sirius Academy and murmured,

“Before the battle has even begun, he’s already burned every bridge. A Legendary Mage pushed to the edge really is… quite the extremist.”

Behind the old man stood a tall, silver-haired youth.

He glanced down with a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips—contempt, mockery, and not a trace of sympathy in his eyes.

From the largest meteor crater, Gayle emerged slowly, lifting his head to peer up at the robed elder in the sky.

He narrowed his eyes and spoke.

“NK Kingdom… royal court?”