Chapter 815 - Imperial College Scandal

“I, Han Wu the Defier, hereby declare Veritas the Wicked Dragon free,” Han Wu declared.

Veritas’s eyes filled with tears. It had been sealed for hundreds of years inside the Sealing Gate Sect, then locked away in Han Wu’s Four Guardians Seal almost immediately after. It had almost given up on freedom, convinced it would spend the rest of its life under Han Wu’s thumb. Yet here Han Wu was, actually keeping his word and letting it go.

“Noble Defier, thank you!” Veritas cried out in joy.

It got up and immediately tried to fly away, afraid that Han Wu would change his mind. As Veritas took flight, Alpheus, standing at Han Wu’s side, suddenly launched itself into the air as well, closing the distance in moments.

Veritas thought this other dragon of noble blood was simply departing elsewhere and called out warmly, “Respected Black Dragon King, wherever you’re going, safe travels.”

“Much appreciated,” Alpheus replied, slamming Veritas into the ground with the precision of a hawk attacking its prey.

Both were World life forms, but Alpheus was a king and had honed its strength through long years of battle. Its strength sat at the stronger end of a World life form. Veritas, worn down by years of sealing and Han Wu’s captivity, with part of its soul stripped away, had barely reached the early edge of a World life form. It was no match.

Three quick exchanges later, Alpheus had Veritas pinned. The instant Alpheus subdued it, everything clicked into place for Veritas. This was Han Wu’s scheme from the start! Release it only so Alpheus could catch it.

Veritas thought Han Wu was more deserving of the title “Wicked Dragon” than it was.

“Will you be my subordinate?” Alpheus asked.

Do I even have a choice?

Veritas thought.

The answer was obviously no. Veritas, ever flexible when needed, agreed without much fuss. Serving a king of the dragon race wasn’t exactly a bad deal.

“Wise choice. Serving the great Black Dragon King will be the honor of your life,” Alpheus preened before proceeding to formalize the contract between them.

Had Han Wu tried to force Veritas into directly signing a contract with him, Veritas would’ve refused to the end. Making a dragon submit to another life form with only a bit of dragon blood in him was no different from trampling on the pride of Great Dragons. Doing odd jobs without a contract was one thing, but signing a formal agreement was another matter entirely.

A dragon-to-dragon contract, however, was a different story. This produced an interesting result. Veritas had gone from being Han Wu’s subordinate to becoming a subordinate of Han Wu’s subordinate.

The status drop sucked. Freedom had lasted all of three minutes, only for it to fall an entire rank in the hierarchy. At least Alpheus mentioned that following Han Wu meant that pure Energy Stones were abundant. That took the edge off the sting well enough for Veritas to move past it.

As for the battle against the Slaughter Faction’s army, though the Wisdom Faction had undoubtedly won, the ringleader, Wei En, had escaped. There was no telling how much chaos she’d cause after this.

Sure enough, within half a day, word came from Imperial College. Wei En had posted on the campus forum, accusing Han Wu of forcing her to undress. The moment it went up, the Saintess Club members piled into the comments, condemning Han Wu and demanding that he make amends with his life, all the while hurling insults at the Wisdom Faction.

A fake story had already taken shape. According to it, Wei En had suffered repeated harassment at the hands of a senior Wisdom Faction leader. She couldn’t bear the humiliation and defected to the Slaughter Faction.

The divine war between the Wisdom God King and the Slaughter God King had long since attracted widespread attention, and Wei En’s story naturally spread throughout the Divine Civilization like wildfire. The Wealth Faction pressured the major media outlets in the Divine Civilization into silence, but that didn’t stop the smaller outlets beyond their reach from swarming in, piling exaggerations onto an already invented story, and broadcasting it far and wide.

Rumors didn’t need to be true to travel fast. Within a short time, a scandal tied to Imperial College was circulating across the whole Divine Civilization. One headline even dragged Xu Hai’s name into the mess, claiming that the Wisdom God King and another lecturer had shared the same woman.

The scandal continued. It not only battered the Wisdom Faction but also dealt a genuine blow to Imperial College’s reputation. Even when Imperial College issued a formal statement noting that Wei En’s claims were unsupported by any evidence and constituted a false accusation, many were inclined to believe the school and the Wisdom God King were simply covering for each other.

Their reasoning was straightforward enough. What girl would risk her own reputation like that?

When Han Wu heard that reasoning, he couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief. What kind of logic was that? Were there no women of poor character in the world?

Wei En had thrown herself into a smear campaign against the Wisdom Faction for the sake of the Slaughter Faction’s victory in the divine war. Even the wise Xu Hai was at a loss. He had no counter to someone willing to throw away her own reputation to deal a blow. Wei En had nothing left to lose.

Han Wu was just as stuck. He could probably manage a covert assassination of Wei En even if she were hiding deep inside the Slaughter Faction’s base, but slowing the momentum of a public smear campaign was beyond him. This was harder than any battle.

After a round of discussion, the Wisdom Faction’s senior leadership could only come up with one answer for dealing with Wei En’s attack: endure it.

However, the damage only compounded the longer they did nothing. A growing number of students from both Demonic Imperial College and Imperial College chose to distance themselves from the Wisdom Faction. Some believed the rumor, while others were warned off by their families. Either way, they wanted nothing to do with the Wisdom Faction.

As the Wisdom Faction’s numbers dropped, the Slaughter Faction saw an influx of recruits, all arriving in the name of upholding justice for the goddess Wei En. They were convinced that they were doing the right thing.

This imbalance pushed the Wisdom Faction’s frontlines back across the board. They were struggling to hold their ground.