The Golem Mage

The level of confidence with which Gideon made this promise was as if he was certain that almost all the mages in that space passage would end up dead.

Ignatius stared at his smile and snorted, He had harboured a deep hatred for Gideon for a long time.

While both of them were peak Tier 8 mages, Ignatius was the only peak tier 8 Mage present in the academy that represented the disciplinary hall.

On the other hand, Gideon’s faction had multiple peak tier 8 mages still In the academy, and he held a higher position in the academy as a top great instructor.

Because the distribution of resources and ranking of the Great instructors was based on the strength of their respective disciples, which further magnified Ignatius’s animosity towards Gideon.

Gideon had managed to recruit an abundance of talented mages with the factions help, including his own son who had also become a Tier 8 Mage due to the help from the faction.

This success ensured that Gideon had left Ignatius in the dust a long time ago, causing Gideon to look down on him, Thus, Ignatius was not even on Gideon’s radar.

"I dare you to take on this challenge!" Gideon exclaimed.

"Ohhh, you give me twenty-four hours to regain control of the portal under the academy’s command, or you will shut it down, Well, I don’t think I’ll need that long, At least twenty hours. If the portal isn’t back under the academy’s control, you are free to do whatever you want," Ignatius confidently replied.

In a fit of anger, Ignatius had impulsively blurted out these words without fully comprehending the weight of the claim he had just made.

Once the adrenaline subsided, he realized the enormity of his statement.

Driven by his anger towards Gideon, Ignatius had taken the challenge head-on, but now he felt a sense of trepidation due to the magnitude of his claims.

Meanwhile, Gideon was confronted with conflicting emotions, He had known Ignatius for a very long time, and although Ignatius had not made significant progress in cultivation all these years due to lack of support, Gideon was certain that Ignatius was not an idiot.

If Ignatius had spoken with such confidence, there must have been something on his mind that could potentially enable him to win the portal back in the academy’s favour.

Recalling his own shameless claim to bear the cost for the city and compensate if they were able to reclaim it, Gideon felt a wave of self-reproach for his overconfidence.

He had believed that the city was lost and there was nothing that could be done to retrieve it.

That was why he had made that claim, although he knew he couldn’t bear the cost himself.

Rather, he was indirectly boasting about the faction’s wealth, After all, he was not wealthy enough to single-handedly support or rebuild a city.

If by any chance the portal returned under the academy’s control, the faction was the one who would have to fulfil the promises he made.

However, such actions would leave a significant hole in their pockets, and someone would need to take the blame for the consequences.

These thoughts raced through Gideon’s mind until he calmed down and thought more clearly.

He smirked at Ignatius and said,

"All your mind games won’t work, Ignatius. I won’t back down on my words, There’s no way the mages in that city can defend the portal."

"I’ve gone through the list of potential mid-tier mages there, and I can say for certain that even I can’t expect them to create a miracle and defeat whatever the Orc has planned,"

Gideon confidently declared, He leaned back in his chair, feeling relieved that he no longer had to worry about being scapegoated.

However, Ignatius only laughed at Gideon’s carefully thought-out plan.

The new Dean had been quiet all along, planning to watch from the side-lines and enjoy the unfolding events.

The new Dean was aware that his only backer was the old Dean, and he had no significant group or support.

He was seen merely as a figurehead leader until Mad Dog safely returned or the old Dean decided to come out of seclusion.

But at that moment, he realized that he didn’t even have to make a move to get his will done.

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He could always use the hands of the disciplinary hall to carry out his bidding and prevent the faction from taking actions he couldn’t oppose them of.

"You only say this because you definitely don’t know who is inside that Abyss, What if I told you that there are three mages hiding in the orc regions?" Ignatius taunted, confident in his knowledge that Gideon was unaware of these hidden forces that decided to live in the peaceful Orcs space passage.

"Of course, you wouldn’t notice this because you’re too busy trying to become the academy’s new Tier 9 Mage, But the person you should actually be worried about is the one who entered the Abyss a few hours ago, desperate to protect what is dear to him," Ignatius revealed with a cheeky grin on his face.

Gideon was still confused and couldn’t comprehend what was happening in that moment.

However, a person sitting close to him leaned in and whispered in his ear, shedding light on the situation.

"I think he’s talking about Terran, Remember, he wanted to kill your son because he believed Igor threw his disciples into the Abyss when they were just Tier 2 mages?, Well, it seems after that incident, his disciples developed a liking for venturing into the Abyss and causing major battles, Terran must have gone in with them to watch over them," the person whispered.

Gideon face palmed himself upon hearing this information.

"That idiot is trying to kill my son for throwing his disciples into the Abyss, and now it turns out that the Tier 2 mages he harboured are even crazier than him, willingly going into the Abyss again."

" And my son, who was trying to kill them, has inadvertently awakened a group of reckless students, he should have just killed them by hand instead" Gideon shook his head at how the situation had unfolded.

Seeing Gideon’s worried expression brought a sense of delight to Ignatius.

"Are you worried about not being able to keep your promise?, Do you want to back down before it’s too late?" Ignatius taunted.

"I would never go back on my words," Gideon firmly replied to Ignatius before turning to the Great Instructor beside him and saying,

"This idiot must be gloating at my expense right now, I’m sure Terran is flourishing in the Abyss as we speak, That fool is a catalyst for disaster whenever there’s a war."