The Golem Mage

719: Inter Academy Arc Ending 3.

719: Inter Academy Arc Ending 3.

With the king ordering the awards ceremony to proceed, several mages from the royal court appeared, using their magic to clear the rubble and restore the Grand Royal Arena to a presentable state which they deemed was enough for the presentation of the awards.

They worked diligently, attempting to make the arena worthy of hosting the ceremony despite the destruction it had endured.

As Alec observed the preparations, the weight of the lives lost because of the king’s decision to place the final battle above a space gate filled him with disgust, unable to stomach the scene any longer, he turned and made his way to the changing room to replace his tattered academy uniform, as he had already unsummoned his spirit equipment set which left him with what was left of his tattered Uniform.

While the royal mages worked, the audience remained seated, fearful of even leaving the venue due to the king’s presence, no one wanted to annoy him in the slightest, as trouble was quietly brewing elsewhere.

Henry Tudor, the rotund nobleman of the Tudor Clan, began making his way toward the VIP section.

A few mages from the Royal Mage Academy moved to block his path as they have now made themselves official guards around the entry of the VIP sections under Liam orders, but when he puffed out his chest and revealed his clan insignia, they reluctantly allowed him to pass, as Henry continued onward until he was stopped by Liam Tudor.

“Henry, this better be good!” Liam said sharply, his eyes narrowing at his cousin.

Undeterred, Henry moved closer and whispered into Liam’s ear.

He recounted the actions of Alec’s golem during the battle, embellishing his story with exaggerated claims and fabrications to paint Alec in a negative light.

Though there were glaring inconsistencies in Henry’s tale, but Liam didn’t care, as he finally had something he could use against Alec.

Liam quickly realized that Henry was using him to settle a score with Alec since Henry lacked the authority nor power to confront a captain of one of the new Great Eight Academies.

Yet, Liam’s unresolved anger toward Alec and his own connections which is capable of acting on this information made him willing to go along with Henry’s scheme.

“Wait here,” Liam said curtly before turning and striding into the first section of the VIP booth with a determined expression.

When the Demonkins had arrived, Liam Tudor had taken it upon himself to act as a guard for the king, reassuring him of his safety (the king is a peak Tier 6 Mage too who was too scared to even fight).

But Liam’s show of loyalty while the king’s Golden knight guard was frozen had earned him the king’s favour, and the monarch had promised to grant Liam one request as a reward.

Now, armed with Henry’s fabricated accusations against Alec, Liam planned to use this opportunity to punish Alec just few minutes he had gotten it.

With the ancient clan patriarchs and elders gone, the forefront of the first section of the VIP booth was occupied only by the king, seated on his makeshift throne, and his golden knight commander standing watch.

Further back sat representatives of the high rank clans, observing the proceedings on stage with quiet reserve.

When Liam entered, he was immediately face-to-face with the king.

Dropping to one knee, he bowed respectfully.

“Speak.

What brings you here?” The golden knight, ever vigilant, stepped between Liam and the king and questioned, as his eyes narrowed in suspicion at the younger royal, however, the king motioned for the knight to stand aside with a raised hand.

“Let him through.” Said the king

As the knight moved, Liam approached the king and began recounting the story Henry had told him, not satisfied with the original version, Liam embellished the tale further, weaving a damning narrative against Alec that would be hard to ignore.

—

Meanwhile, the Grand Royal Arena had been restored, and it was time to rank the top eight academy teams and crown the new champion.

The teams, who had fought their way to the top, stepped onto the expansive circular stage, awaiting their moment of recognition.

The committee members who were ready to present the awards, stood up to speak when the king’s voice beat them to it.

“A very disturbing matter has been brought to my attention, and I must address it immediately.” The king announced, his voice cutting through the hushed crowd.

Alec instinctively looked up toward the first section, his gaze locking onto Liam, who had a sly grin on his face and the strange gleam in his eyes which immediately put Alec on edge.

A sinking feeling settled in Alec’s chest, as he knew at that moment whatever was about to happen, couldn’t be good.

“During the attack, while brave mages fought valiantly to end the battle and others stood to protect us, there were those who revealed their ugly side, abusing their powers to harm innocent humans,” the king announced, pausing briefly to let his words resonate with the audience.

Alec’s heart sank as soon as the king began speaking, he could already feel the weight of what was coming.

“Alec Gordons of the War God Mage Academy has abused his powers and killed a nobleman’s guard,” Liam Tudor declared, stepping forward with an air of self-righteousness.

“For this crime, Alec Gordons is found guilty, he shall be stripped of his rights as a champion and denied access to the Mana Pool.

Furthermore, his academy shall also forfeit its position as the winners of the inter-academy competition.

As compensation, the rest of his team may still train in the Mana Pool, and the prizes shall be distributed to them.

However, in the official records, the Bloodline Academy will take first place.”

The king’s voice hardened.

“The rankings will follow accordingly with the rest of the teams moving up one rank, with the Royal Mage Academy taking the eighth position.

This is my final judgment.”

Gasps and murmurs spread through the crowd, who struggled to process the king’s decision, the verdict seemed harsh and blatantly unjust, leaving many spectators perplexed.

However, those from the Great Eight Academies, already understood the politics at play, and were far less surprised.

“Ha!

Ha!

Ha!” Alec burst out laughing, his voice echoing through the tense silence.

“Do you see what you’ve done?!

Because of your actions, we’ve been stripped of our rights as champions!” Instructor Jasper stormed toward Alec, his face contorted in anger.

But Alec didn’t flinch.

He simply kept laughing, the sound sharp and bitter.

It was evident to anyone with eyes that the king’s judgment was biased, tailored to favour the Royal Mage Academy, a faction tightly controlled by the royal family.

The move was less about justice and more about seizing an opportunity to remove the War God Mage Academy from the equation that makes them one of the Great Eight academies.

Though unfair, this was not unexpected to the previous great eight again, as they all knew the royal clan had long sought a way to undermine the War God Mage Academy since it broke through records.

And Today, the King himself had finally found the perfect excuse, seizing upon the incident to escalate tensions and deal a heavy blow to the War God Mage Academy.