The moment the hood of the cloak fell away, the entire Silent Night team found themselves staring at Liam Tudor.

A wave of surprise spread across their faces, when they had first detected an intruder, their immediate assumption had been that it was someone from the War God Mage Academy—perhaps a top instructor attempting to incapacitate Takeda and give their team a better chance at victory.

That was why, even after Liam claimed he wanted them to win, the elder instructor had dismissed his words outright, but now that the hood was off, confusion replaced suspicion.

Liam was no instructor. In fact, they all knew exactly who he was, a member of the Northern Kingdom’s royal family.

What they couldn’t understand was why. Why would someone from the Northern Royal Clan want them to win? It offered no benefit to him. If anything, the only logical gain for the Northern Kingdom would come from a victory by the War God Mage Academy.

“I know it looks suspicious, but the king sent me here and I’m sure that as agents of the shadows, you would have already noticed that the king and the War God Mage Academy aren’t exactly on good terms,” Liam said.

“If it were any other Northern Kingdom academy participating in the finals, we would have already shown our full support. But this is the one academy that has cut all ties with the royal clan and that’s exactly why we can’t allow them to win.”

“Because if they do, it will spark unrest among the mid- and low-tier academies and institutions under our rule, as they’ll begin demanding a redistribution of resources. After all, if an academy that doesn’t even receive annual support can become this strong, then what excuse is there for the ones the kingdom has been heavily investing in?”

“The king said such an outcome would be bad for the kingdom, and we believe the next thing they would demand is for the crown to give them equal opportunities as well,” Liam blurted out quickly after lowering his hood, while he was still raising his hands and it was even higher this time due to fact that the blade was still pressed against his neck, since the ninja assassin had yet to ease his grip on the weapon.

Hearing Liam’s explanation put the Silent Night instructor into deep thought, as he placed a hand on his jaw, while the rest of the team remained silent, waiting for his judgment.

“Isn’t it already too late for your king to attempt damage control at this stage of the competition?” the instructor asked.

Liam shook his head, with a weak smile forming on his face.

“You have no idea how much the king has tried to get rid of them since this competition began, yet that team is like a swarm of cockroaches, no matter what rules or formats are thrown at them, they always find a way to bypass them and come out on top.”

“Hmm,” the instructor muttered, a realization dawning on him, as some of the altered battle formats now began to make sense to him, especially the last one, which had effectively suppressed the power of Alec’s golems.

“Regardless of that, I don’t believe my team needs any help from you to defeat them,” the instructor said at last.

Liam shook his head again.

“You’re already underestimating them. That’s the worst mistake you could make.” Liam blurted out, though his words had come out that way due to the urgency he felt, however; that didn’t sit well with the Silent Night mages at all.

One by one, they stepped closer, their eyes burning with restrained anger after his words, even the vice-captain, Shin, had already drawn out his wire hooks, as if warning Liam that one more mis-speaking again and he would make him regret whatever came next.

“On the contrary, you seem to be the one underestimating us, we’ve already told you, we need no help to defeat them. If there’s nothing else, the door is right there. Otherwise... you won’t like what happens next.”

A voice came from behind, cutting through the tension, as the Silent Night mages instinctively stepped aside, clearing a path until Liam’s gaze settled on Takeda, who remained seated, completely at ease, with his arms spread across the chair he sat on, and his legs crossed over the table before him, as if none of this concerned him in the slightest.

From the way they all looked at him, Liam immediately understood that his mission had already failed, there was nothing he could say that would change their minds.

Slowly, he began to step backward, as the ninja assassin finally eased the blade away from his neck, allowing him to retreat, however before leaving he did pull his hood back over his face, before turning and making his way out.

_ _

Meanwhile, at the War God Mage Academy quarters, an entirely different scene was unfolding. Old Man Alderic refused to let Alec rest, or even cultivate in peace.

He kept pestering Alec, urging him to speak with his clan about selling the mental pills to the academy, he even went as far as promising support for their rebuilding efforts, and offered to send mages to assist them in the next Blood Moon War after their recent battle had weakened the city’s overall strength .

But no matter what he offered, Alec’s answer remained the same—no.

Because while Alderic made it sound like genuine support, Alec saw through it clearly. To him, it was nothing more than an attempt by the old man to plant deeper spies within his home.

He was already aware that their agents were operating within the city, but since Alderic wasn’t gaining enough from them, he was now trying to use this opportunity to embed himself further into the Gordons Clan.

In the end, after repeated refusals, Alec only told him one thing, he might consider selling him mental pills in the future, only then did Alderic finally leave him in peace, as he settled for the thought of it rather than a blatant No.