Chapter 232: A Gathering of Thousands of Arcane Teams! Onto the Mission!

"Finally, a moment of peace."

"For a genius like me, I just need to make sure I am the most handsome. What difference does it make if I train or not? If anyone comes shouting at me to train again, I will stink them to death."

In Holy Dawn Academy's residence in the athlete village, Stingham muttered to himself as he sat atop a toilet.

"But it really does stink. Perhaps Teacher Carter has been shooed away?"

Stingham pinched his nose as he prepared to exit the washroom and return to his room to continue sleeping.

"Stingham."

But right as he walked out of the restroom, he suddenly heard someone call his name.

"You are still not going to change?"

Stingham dispiritedly looked out the window as responded, "Yes?" But as he realized it wasn't Carter and he thought about how he had not covered his face, he suddenly became a little fearful.

"I heard your voice already. I also know you were miserably beaten up by Jean Camus, so there is no need to avoid me. Come out now, we must head to the Sacred Tower to meet up with everyone else," The person shouted from outside the door.

"It must be a ghost." Stingham's eyes widened as he quietly and cautiously said, "Teacher Rui?"

"It's me."

The voice coming from outside became sterner as it continued, "Hurry up and come out."

"I'm not going," Stingham immediately shouted back, "You all have the wrong person. The person Jean Camus beat up wasn't me."

"You registered for this mission from the Office of Special Affairs by yourself, yet now you don't want to go to the meeting?" The tone of the voice didn't change whatsoever.

"At that time I…" Stingham started to speak, but then suddenly paused. He had wanted to say 'At that time, I was handsome. But now, in my current state, I'm so ugly.' but he felt like it wasn't right, so he instead continued, "I can't. My stomach is not feeling well, so I cannot go out. The Office of Special Affairs respects the decisions of its arcane masters right, so if I'm not feeling well, you cannot force me to go out and participate in a mission."

"You really are not coming out?" Rui sharply asked once more.

"Definitely not!" Stingham firmly responded.

"Then I guess you won't be needing this Super Beautifying Mask that I especially brought with me. I'll just give it to Ayrin or Rinloran instead."

"Super Beautifying Mask?" Stingham's eyes suddenly widened, "The legendary creation of Dark Elven craftsmen? The mask which is made from the softest skin of Shadow Spiders and has the strongest skin protection ability while also making one seem more handsome? Is it really that one and only super divine and mystical Super Beautifying Mask?"

"Other than this, are there any other Super Beautifying Masks?" Rui responded.

"Quick, give it to me! I'll go!" Stingham screamed at the top of his lungs as he immediately charged towards the door.

……

"It isn't just the teams participating in the national tournament. There are many other arcane teams headed towards the Sacred Tower as well. Could it be…"

The group had just stepped out of the restaurant when they saw many other arcane teams also headed towards the Sacred Tower. Morgan was stunned for a moment as a thought suddenly appeared in his mind.

At this moment, another Office of Special Affairs arcane master came rushing over. "Ah, perfect. Ferguillo, Ivan, you two are here as well. These are the lists for your two teams. You all should also head to the Sacred Tower now," the arcane master shouted as he handed a list to Ferguillo and Ivan.

"Is the mission against the Evil Dragon Followers about to start?"

Ayrin, who was slower on the uptake, suddenly exclaimed at this moment as he turned his head and looked at Morgan, "Your team also received invitations right? Will you all also be participating in this mission?"

"The teams on this list are indeed the ones who accepted the invites of the Office of Special Affairs," Ferguillo said as he looked at the list in his hand. He took a deep breath as he calmly continued, "It seems like the mission has been pushed forward."

"Pushed forward? Could some new variable have come into play, or are we trying to catch them while they are still unprepared?" Ayrin continued in a dazed manner, "But the tournament still hasn't ended yet…"

"I don't know, but I'm certain we will find out when we reach the meeting. Let's go," Morgan quietly said with a sigh.

The closer the group got to the Sacred Tower in the center of Eichemalar, the more shocked the group became as they encountered and passed by more and more arcane teams from the Kingdom of Doa who were also heading in the same direction.

"Ayrin!"

Ayrin suddenly heard his name warmly called out from behind him.

"Teacher Ciaran, Teacher Minlur?"

When Ayrin looked in the direction the sound came from, he immediately spotted two familiar figures. He couldn't help but cry out in excitement before running towards them.

"Teacher Ciaran, Teacher Minlur! How come you two have come?!"

"Teacher Ciaran, have you completely recovered from your injuries?"

Ayrin continuously cried out as he moved towards Ciaran and Minlur.

Ciaran slightly smiled as she looked at Ayrin.

Although several months had passed since their last meeting, Ayrin still looked exactly the same. However, he had already undergone an explosive growth and become someone strong enough to fight against other arcane masters.

"Ayrin, you're looking good!"

Minlur laughed loudly as he took a shot at Ayrin's chest and then mussed Ayrin's already messy hair, "You have managed to reach the top four! You've surpassed my expectations."

"What are you saying?! Teacher Minlur, we are going to be the national champions!" Ayrin replied with some annoyance.

"Ha ha."

Minlur roared with laughter as he looked around and said, "How come there is only you? Where's Chris and the others?"

"I was with a large group of people when we got the news. Chris went back to gather up everyone else while I made my way over first," Ayrin explained.

"So these two are Ciaran and Minlur of the old Holy Dawn Evil Six?"

Upon discovering the identities of these two people, Morgan, Audrey, and the others were filled with respect.

"What is it? There's nothing to be scared of. Teacher Ciaran and Teacher Minlur are both very nice people," Ayrin quickly stated as he saw their somewhat abnormal behvaiors.

"Yes, very nice. Very nice… but in the past, their team was considered the strongest academy team in the entire Kingdom of Eiche. How can we treat them like ordinary people?" Morgan inwardly said to himself while looking at Ayrin.

"Even Ciaran and Minlur have come. It seems like the mission is indeed about to start," Ferguillo thought to himself at this moment as he looked at the ground.

……

"The mission has really been pushed forward?"

"So many arcane teams!"

By the time Carter and Rui arrived at the square before the Sacred Tower with Stingham, Rinloran, and the rest of Holy Dawn Academy's team, there were already over a thousand teams gathered.

The square teemed with arcane masters as the air became filled with various strong and colorful auras… the terrifying scale of the situation everyone to inwardly tremble.

"Chris, we are over here!"

"Teacher Rui came as well?"

The sound of Ayrin's voice rang over form the midst of a group of people.

Chris and the others immediately made their way over to Ayrin.

"Who's this fellow?"

At this moment, Ayrin noticed someone he didn't recognized amongst the Holy Dawn Academy team members. A dim, twilight-esque glow flickered across the mask covering the person's seemingly handsome face.

"Haha, how is it? Am I not handsome?!"

The unrecognizable person immediately put their hands on their hips and laughed strangely.

"Stingham?" Ayrin froze.

By this time, pretty much everyone had accepted that the mission had been pushed forward. Now, they were just waiting for the news which followed.

"Such a large group. We must have discovered the main campsite of the Evil Dragon Followers and are about to strike a big blow!"

"To have over a thousand arcane teams cooperate for a single mission, this hasn't been seen for almost a hundred years!"

"I wonder where the Evil Dragon Followers' main campsite is…"

"For this many arcane teams to be taking part, the strength of the Evil Dragon Followers must be greater than we had thought."

Amidst all of the chaotic chattering, more arcane teams slowly arrived.

The number of arcane teams which had gathered by the Sacred Tower now already exceeded two thousand.

Even more shocking was that there was a large number of elite teams which had been called back from various Corps. There were also many unknown arcane masters with mysterious backgrounds whose bodies released extremely powerful auras.

"Can everyone please quiet down."

A voice suddenly rang out from atop the Sacred Tower.

The images of ten figures emerged atop the terrace in the middle section of the Sacred Tower.

The entire square instantly became silent.

Ayrin raised his head and looked up.

"They should all be some extremely powerful figures?"

Besides the lord chief advisor, Angil, who had conducted the opening ceremony of the national tournament, there were several people who he had never seen before.

"To those who have accepted the invitations and gathered here, I'm sure you all have already guessed…"

A wizened voice rang out.

"It's Gatling!"

Many of the people atop the square collectively gasped.

"He's the legendary arcane master of the Kingdom of Eiche, the creator of the Shackles of Starlight Domain, Gatling?"

Ayrin's eyes widened as he observed the image of an old person wearing a white robe.

Gatling was listed as a legendary arcane master on the arcane skill textbooks of many academies. Not only was he a powerful battlemaster, he was also a Draconic Scholar. After analysing countless unique skills, he had created his own famous skill, the Shackles of Starlight Domain.

As long as it was night and there were stars in the sky, Gatling's Shackles of Starlight Domain would twine starlight to create shackles. With this single skill, he could simultaneously restrict six arcane masters. This domain was considered second only to ancient Brambles Halo combination of Giants.

"Your predictions are all correct, we have discovered the location of the Evil Dragon Followers' main campsite!"

The wizened voice contained endless appeal as everyone abruptly held their breaths and felt their blood begin to boil.

"The wheels of war, they are already turning!"