Awakening The Only SSS-Rank Class! Now Even Dragons Obey Me Chapter 866: Chaos In Magic Tower

Throughout the tower’s hallways, the sound of guards’ hurried footsteps was louder than any other sound.

Mages who always moved with dignity and calm now walked through the stone buildings with furrowed brows and anxious looks, and every few minutes, a new group of security forces was dispatched to one of the tower’s sections.

In less than an hour, the Supreme Council had issued several emergency decrees.

All teleportation gates of the tower were sealed, ships in the harbor were forbidden from leaving, and even communication with the outside world was temporarily cut off.

Anyone wishing to leave the island had to be directly approved by the Supreme Council members.

These were the strictest restrictions ever imposed in the history of the Central Magic Tower, and they were unprecedented. All mages, especially the novices, were in shock and terror, wondering exactly what had happened.

The news that the deaths had been murders rather than suicides had spread, but no one had expected chaos to suddenly engulf the entire tower.

The tower’s atmosphere, which until yesterday was considered a center of knowledge and research, now resembled a military fortress awaiting an unknown attack.

But no decree could stop the rumors.

In corners of the compound, small groups of students and professors spoke to each other in hushed voices.

"Did you hear? They say Lady Aurelia didn’t commit suicide at all."

"So all those years... we were all wrong?"

"Has Professor Morcan really escaped?"

"Does that mean he was behind all the murders?"

"Or is he just another victim?"

For the first time in recent years, no one was talking about the destruction of the Trial of a Thousand Spells anymore.

Even that historical event had been overshadowed by a truth that had just emerged from the darkness.

But this also made many people frown. The first Trial of a Thousand Spells was destroyed, and now the secret of these murders was revealed.

Why was the magic tower experiencing chaos one after another? Could it be cursed? Otherwise, what other explanation could there be?

On the other hand, if Aurelia, the tower leader’s daughter, hadn’t committed suicide... then how many others had also been murdered?

And if the murders were true... how long had the killer been living among them? How had they not noticed all this time?

Then what was the judicial system for all these years? Could there be other crimes that had been covered up and hidden?

The spread of rumors was a heavy blow to the trust of the mages and the judicial and security systems of the magic tower.

On the other side of the tower, in one of the guest rooms, Daniel stood silently by the window. From that height, almost the entire central compound of the tower was visible.

Rows of guards running... mages searching buildings in groups...

And the heavy atmosphere that could be felt even through the glass.

Serys came to the window and smiled faintly. After days, for the first time, a glimmer of hope could be seen on her face.

She had tried for years to expose the truth, had worked for years so that everyone would finally understand that those deaths had been murders, not suicides.

But she had failed repeatedly...

Yet this man had succeeded so easily? So easily, he had finally exposed such a crime to everyone?

"Finally... finally they’re seeing the truth. Everything went exactly as we wanted."

But Daniel gave no answer. His eyebrows were slightly furrowed. It was clear he didn’t feel good about this matter. A few moments later, he said quietly:

"No..."

"No?" Serys looked at him in surprise.

"Too easy."

"What do you mean?"

"Lioran doesn’t seem like the kind of person whose entire plan depends on one potion maker." Daniel was silent for a few seconds, then continued.

"Morcan... was already a victim from the start. From the moment the potion maker was arrested, Morcan’s fate was probably already sealed. It was likely a backup plan." His voice was still calm, but every word sounded heavier than before.

"If necessary, he would sacrifice his pieces without the slightest hesitation. And clearly, he has a way to even bypass the truth spells."

"We need to figure out how he does it. We need to trap him. His pieces are useless."

"So the plan wasn’t successful?" She then asked with a frown.

"Of course it was successful, because Lioran finally felt the threat and is under pressure. That’s a benefit for us. But it’s not enough to catch him. Now we have to wait and watch for his move."

The girl nodded with a sign of understanding. It was still too early to be happy.

At that same moment, in another part of the tower... Lioran quietly closed the door to his private library.

A vast library where hundreds of wooden shelves reached to the ceiling, housing thousands of valuable books and manuscripts.

No student was there, no professor was present, and for the first time, complete silence surrounded him.

He walked unhurriedly to one of the oldest shelves and pulled out a very simple, untitled book.

When he opened it, only a completely blank page could be seen inside.

Lioran picked up a pen and, without a moment’s hesitation, wrote only one sentence on the page:

"Protocol 3 begins."

A few seconds later... the ink on the page began to glow. A blue flame silently flickered through the letters.

Not just the writing... but the page itself disappeared in that fire. When the flame went out, the book appeared completely intact again.

As if nothing had ever been written on it. Lioran closed the book and placed it back in its place.

His face was calm. No worry... no anger... not even satisfaction. Only silence, as if he wasn’t concerned at all about what had happened.

A few hours later... a shadow separated from the corner of the guest room. One of the Fallen knelt.

"Master."

"Report." Daniel stepped away from the window.

"Morcan hasn’t been found."

Serys sighed. The Fallen had been sent to find and capture Morcan so Daniel could interrogate him before the rest of the tower.

But it seemed there was no sign of him anywhere on the island.

And the Fallen continued.

"However... not all of his documents were destroyed." He placed a small package on the table. Inside was a half-burnt notebook.

The edges of the pages were completely blackened. Most of the writing was no longer legible, but a few sentences still remained.

Daniel picked up the notebook. On one of the pages, only a few words could be seen.

"Next order..."

A few lines below...

"Protocol 3..."

And at the end of the page... it was written:

"...must not find out."

That was it. No name, no signature, no indication of any person. Just these few short phrases.

"This is great! We finally found a lead!" Serys exhaled excitedly.

But contrary to her expectation, Daniel’s frown deepened. He flipped through the pages a few more times, then quietly closed the notebook. He tossed it to the Fallen and ordered him to return it to where it had been taken.

The Fallen disappeared.

"Why did you tell him to take it back?"

"The notebook is too clean... too clean."

"Clean? It’s burnt!" Serys asked in surprise.

"Too clean." Daniel placed the notebook on the table.

"It’s as if someone specifically wanted us to find this."

"You mean... this is also Lioran’s plan?" Serys said with doubt.

Daniel nodded in confirmation.

"The probability is high." He looked at the notebook again.

"This evidence isn’t for us. It’s for the Supreme Council, for the tower’s judicial system. If I’m not mistaken, it was placed there for them to find." His gaze slowly became more serious.

"Lioran wants them to think Morcan was just a pawn of someone else. They’ll spend years searching for that person, using all their resources to find an enemy that may not even exist."

"And every time they hit a dead end... only more chaos will be created."

"You mean... they’ll never reach the truth?" Serys whispered quietly.

"At least until Lioran gets what he wants."

"Morcan has probably either been killed by now... or left no trace... or escaped through a route the tower doesn’t even know exists." Daniel placed his hands on his chest.

But something wouldn’t leave his mind.

’No... something doesn’t add up.’

’How could Lioran have managed such a network all these years... right under the tower leader’s nose... under Azreon’s watch... and among hundreds of high-ranking mages?’

The more he thought, the more logical this question seemed. This was beyond the ability of even a genius. Even if Lioran was the smartest mage of his generation... such a thing was still almost impossible.

Daniel’s eyes slowly narrowed.

’Unless... he has a secret supporter.’ These speculations seemed logical, and if he wasn’t mistaken, that supporter must be within this tower and a member of the magic tower.

But who exactly? Who could trample all the tower’s rules without worry?

While he was lost in thought, time passed slowly. The Fallen returned the notebook to where it had been taken, and it wasn’t long before the Supreme Council found it.

And the Fallen reported this to Daniel. While he was telling Serys about it, three soft knocks came at the door.

Not loud, not hurried. Daniel and Serys both looked toward the door at the same time.

A moment later, the door opened without waiting for a response. The tower leader entered the room. Alone. No guards accompanied him, no council members.

He closed the door behind him and took a few quiet steps inside. His face looked more tired than ever, but in the depths of his eyes, that fire of rage could still be seen.

His gaze passed over Daniel and settled on Serys. A few seconds passed in silence, and then the tower leader said in a quiet but heavy voice:

"You... suspected the deaths from the very beginning, didn’t you?"

Serys froze. Images of the past years passed through her mind one by one. All the times she had screamed that those deaths were not suicides. All the times no one had believed her.

All the times she had been accused of being unable to accept the truth of Aurelia’s death.

She lowered her head quietly, and only nodded in confirmation.

The tower leader closed his eyes for a few moments. When he opened them again, he had made his decision.

"From this moment on..." His gaze still fixed on Serys.

"I am personally entrusting the investigation of these murders to you."

Serys stared at him in disbelief. She had even forgotten to breathe.

The tower leader, after years of distrust and ignoring her words, had now entrusted the most important case in the tower’s history to her.

And this was only the beginning of a storm that was about to engulf the entire magic tower.